#this is literally just the storyline lbr

[spectres-fulcrum]

Just some S8 excitement/mishmash

Tommy S8 confirmation!!!! We knew he was going to be in it but the trickle of doubt, the naysayers whispers, is gone!!!!

And Buck and Tommy are still strong(Literally no doubt about that) and we'll see some of the getting to know each other stage still!!! The backend S7 was just so full and every plotline suffered as they vied for screentime. I miss them together on my computer monitor sososo much.

And I'm so excited for Madney as foster parents and debating having another kid and Henren getting their daughter back and the Wilson-Han family. And Hotshots meta! I've laughed so hard at so many Hotshots posts on my tumblr dash. I need the fandom to be called out via Hotshots. I need Kim and Taylor to be involved with Hotshots. I need to see Bobby be like "This is so not right. This isn't realistic" but also be throwing out shit the 118 did and be told "Nah, too crazy. Too expensive. Too one in a million chance."

I am so excited for Hotshots lbr.

I cannot wait to see Buck learn to deal with Gerrard. Have to deal, for the first time ever, with not being the white cishet guy he was for 32 years. Have to realize that not everyone wants to change. Having to deal with a new longterm captain that's not Bobby. And that this man left scars on the man he's falling in love with. Like his fire father guided him home to family, and that family led him to Tommy, Tommy's fire father left claw marks that left scars that haunts him even now. And Buck's fire father almost left without a word.

It'll be a story of men and their fire fathers. Of scars and love, of horrific words and memories, of being left and starting anew, and finding family and true love.

Gerrard could never be anyone but Buck's main storyline. Not with the Bobby and the Tommy of it all.

And Eddie and Chris. It goes without saying. We've been waiting all summer to find out how Eddie fixes this mess. I am, very thrilled, to hear whispers that Bobby's priest is coming back for Eddie. I think there's a ton of ways religion could go for Eddie and I'm open for whatever way they choose(I'd be happily surprised if he chooses to embrace it? But also what if he realizes he's attracted to "hot" priest?)

But also top priority is new Bathena home for family picnics. Plastered with no Gerrards allowed signs, of course. And who comes back into Athena's life...?

I'm just bouncing around waiting for for S8.

[sarah-cam]

This is the same anon that just messaged about Jeremiah/Conrad! I forgot to add sort of in the analysis Jelly/Bonrad and why you think one is "better" analysis-wise or even personal-preference-wise 😊

alright i’m going to start this with just my personal preference and then get into an analytical side. a lot of my opinions on the ships revolve around my opinions of conrad vs jeremiah, because a lot of the reasons i don't like jere have to do with jelly (that post is here)

again, i want to start this by saying that if you ship jelly that’s awesome for you but to be blunt lbr y’all are delulu if you genuinely believe that bonrad won’t be endgame 😂

jenny han spent several years and three books building the relationship between belly and conrad, and now two seasons of a show where not only are belly and conrad ALWAYS the underlying relationship, but conrad is imo clearly the lead male over jeremiah. he continuously has storylines outside of his relationship with belly, vs jere's focus pretty much only revolving around that so far. she’s not going to change the endgame… she’s just not 🤷🏻‍♀️

first things first — i don’t choose the ship, the ships choose me 🙏🏼 it’s pretty simple and probably is for a lot of people, i just get all the tingly feelings and that’s that

from that first slow motion walk up, the chemistry was CHEM👏🏼IS👏🏼TRY👏🏼ING👏🏼!!! lola and chris have such amazing chemistry in every single scene, even when they don’t even say anything, and that chemistry is romantic straight from that very first scene

and i will admit, lola and gavin have good chemistry too!! (lola honestly has such great, unique chemistry with every other actor) even though i have my issues with it, the scene between belly and jeremiah on the side of the road DID hit me in the feels. the issue for me though is that the vibes i get are just not romantic in the same way as it is with conrad, its bestie vibes. at the very least, they start the show with bestie vibes and romantic vibes "develop". it just feels forced in a way, especially since belly and conrad is just always there.

i should be able to see it - you shouldn't have to tell me. most notably, when trusky goes on that weird rant about their "vibes" when they were literally just standing next to each other, worrying about conrad, and jere was rolling his eyes about conrad being depressed over belly. they constantly talk about their "ESP" but when it comes time to show how well he knows her, it's not even just that he doesn't know her favorite candy is sour patch kids - he literally doesn't know that she hates swedish fish

taking some points from my conrad/jeremiah analysis, i don't like the way jeremiah is manipulative and constantly makes belly feel guilty for being happy or simply just existing next to conrad. rolling his eyes when she seems a little jealous of sophie and when she has a little smile when she learns conrad was staring at pictures of her, constantly eyeing them when belly worries about conrad in "love fool", interrupts them with an angry look when they talk in the store in "love fest", brings her up in his fight with conrad also in "love fest", keeps giving nasty looks in "love triangle" when conrad gives her his sweatshirt, the stuff with the candy, and when their hands BARELY touch at the motel. in that same lane, i just feel like he invalidates her feelings a lot, shames her for loving conrad, and dismisses/shuts her down when she tries to talk about it (which was funny when lola said in an interview that jere made belly feel more heard 😂 she's fighting for her life out there)

the episode with his narration was PAINFUL. i'm sorry but he gave off the biggest incel vibes. everything he said revolved around hating on conrad or victimizing himself, like "doesn't she know i would treat her so much better?? doesn't she know how much i want to be sitting next to her?? conrad had no right to date her after ignoring her for years." IT WAS GROSS. and also, not true. jere said himself that he started liking her after she 'turned pretty' which... i don't even believe. he only started liking her after he saw her almost kiss conrad. he is supportive of cam cameron and encourages their relationship. he's only jealous of conrad.

to conrad, this isn't a competition or a game. and if it was, he would voluntarily lose if it meant belly would be happy.

and in case you were still doubting the iconic soulmatism that only occurs in the ultimate endgames - here ya go!!

tropes: i found an amazing list laid out here and picked out some of the best ones

all girls want bad boys

anguished declaration of love (more so the 3rd book so it hasn't happened yet)

childhood friends/best friends to lovers (yes because conrad is ALSO her best friend)

childhood crush

everyone can see it

first love/first guy wins

i want my beloved to be happy

settle for sibling

single-target sexuality (conrad only ever loves belly and lbr she only ever truly loves him)

unrequited/secretly-requited love

music: like... come on... it's pretty clear (and before you bring up delicate, don't: "this ain't for the best" "we can't make any promises")

lover, "can we always be this close forever and ever?"

the way i loved you, "and i never knew i could feel that much"

this love, "these hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me"

false god, "we'd still worship this love"

august, "for me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all"

back to december, "it turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing you"

last kiss, "i never thought we'd have a last kiss"

invisible string, "all along there was some invisible string tying you to me"

sweet nothing, "i find myself running home to your sweet nothings"

snow on the beach, "time can't stop me quite like you did"

exile, "we always walked a very thin line"

when the party's over, "i've learned to lose you, can't afford to"

drivers license, "how could i ever love someone else?

deja vu, "she thinks it's special but it's all reused"

never really over, "just because it's over doesn't mean it's really over"

steal my girl, "we want the same things we dream the same dreams"

i'm kissing you, "but watching stars without you my soul cried"

little things:

conrad was the only one growing up that ever included her

they have their own handshake in the volleyball game (vs belly teaching jere her and taylor’s)

he gets her meaningful presents (junior mint, glass unicorn, infinity necklace, bouquet of candy)

he always knows and gets her favorite things (muffins, candy)

they call each other all the time

he gives her his sweaters even when she says she's not cold, because he knows she doesn't mind the cold but likes being cozy

pictures of the two of them are constantly showed (belly's phone, her room, the polaroid)

conrad is the leader but they also look to belly as a leader too (deciding to throw the party, boardwalk, team belly/team conrad)

conrad cheers for steven to fight milo but breaks it up as soon as belly tells him to

always worrying about each other (conrad jumps in to defend laurel from adam when belly gets upset, she always looks to him first when something bad happens)

he can tell that she's awake in the motel because she isn't snoring

they have the same dream of the future (coming back to cousins)

and most of all, susannah, laurel, AND steven ship it 👑

parallels:

first off, the flashbacks typically mirror what's going on in present day and almost every flashback is of something important with conrad

the pool scenes with belly swimming while conrad has his feet in

she dreams of him kissing her in the beginning of s2 in the same way he kisses her when they are in front of the fireplace

they continuously have important scenes on the beach

he picks her up the same way the last time they were on the beach as a couple and the first time since their breakup

her wearing his cousins rowing shirt and then still having it, wearing his sweater/sweatshirt, wearing his t-shirt even when broken up

she brings up how he helped her with trig during 'shoot your shot'

he always plays with her hair/brushes it from her face

the infinity necklace and junior mint always being there

constant parallels to staylor (i made a post about them here), jenny has literally said that steven is taylor's conrad

quotes:

conrad - "i'm glad that it was me" "i do want you" "you're it for me" "my chest physically hurts to not be able to tell her that i'm in love with her" "i don't think i could ever get over you" "[you're cold-hearted] for everyone else maybe, not for you"

belly - "you were great" "being with you is all i'ver ever wanted" "i want it to be with you" "there's only you, there's only ever been you" "i was in love, steven, like, out of my mind in love" "he made it so hard not to love him" "i loved conrad longer and truer than anyone in my whole life" "i'll probably never love anyone like that again" "i would've fought for you" "i don't regret any of the times we were together"

laurel - "for belly, conrad is the sun, and when the sun comes out, the stars disappear", saying that a cozy campfire (jeremiah) is not enough compared to fireworks (conrad)

steven - "conrad's her soulmate"

susannah - "i knew it" "take care of him", the letters she's writing in her last scene

foreshadowing:

most obviously, infinity - like it's pretty hard to argue with. also, when conrad explains infinity he compares it to a racetrack, and at the boardwalk him and belly cross the finish line of the racetrack together

dancing - all of the times belly dances, it's with conrad. the deb ball dance especially foreshadows a first dance at a wedding

venus - it is an evening star before it disappears, and then it returns as a morning star. conrad disappears from her life before returning

belly flops - conrad is always holding her under the arms, by her heart

rollerblades - belly talks about her feelings for conrad being tucked away like her rollerblades, which came out of storage in s2

staylor - belly and taylor's conversation about forgetting first loves and then taylor immediately ignoring that and getting with steven... she's so real

deja vu - belly constantly sees things that remind her of conrad, especially when she is with jeremiah. the song literally plays while she's in the car with him. like again... "it's all reused" 😂

names- isabel susannah conklin and conrad beck fisher... talk about fate amirite

lighting - the motel scene... enough said

[002yb]

absolutely obsessed with your infertile!dickjay hcs!! but also curious about your take on a kind of opposite au: any thoughts on dickjay accidental pregnancy 👀👀

Thank you so much, anon!! You're so sweet. I've written up two accidental pregnancy scenarios below just for you~ I hope you enjoy!! (´∀｀)♡

Mistaken Infertility leading to Accidental Pregnancy 👀

Honest to goodness, they both wholeheartedly believe that children aren't in their futures. So when Jason gets pregnant he's very much alarmed because how the fuck.

Dick, too, is lost because how. Also, who?

And Jason doesn't take offense to that, given their circumstances, but he swears it's only Dick. It's only ever been -

Jason being spooked and concerned that Dick won't react to the news well. And Dick is reeling, for sure. But only because they're pregnant? Yes. They're going to have a pup? If Dick wants to.

And Dick - even if he thought he could, he would have never actively tried, but now that it's here and happening? The fact that this is a miracle aside, Dick could never not want to do this.

His smile is brilliant, devastating. They're having a pup. A litter? A pup! ANd that reaction. That pure joy gives Jason so much peace of mind and assurance; it soothes so many of the fears and stress Jason would have been battling with.

Dick taking Jason's face in his hands, squishing Jason's cheeks as he kisses him. It's little more than a peck before Dick is on his knees marveling Jason's stomach and Jason can't help the sputtered laugh as his abdomen receives a similar kiss. He's peppered with them until Jason falls to his knees too and they hug each other and it's sweet.

Proud papa!Dick telling everyone about their pup, about how Jason is going to be a mom and Dick gets to be a dad. It both embarrasses Jason and makes him all warm

Intense family of bats going feral over the news because it's Dick and Jason's pup and it's the first pup their pack will get and Bruce in particular is intense because he's gonna be a grandpa, a grandpalpha? He's happy. Hugs for his boys. Especially because he knows they were convinced they would never have the option, the choice.

Jason being genuinely happy to be having a pup with Dick, but pregnancy is a long standing fear of his so Jason is stressed; Dick is there with him though. He's terrified of being a dad - as terrified as he is thrilled. They're in this together though; they've got one another. And their pack who won't leave them alone. Just them working through insecurities together and it's lovely.

So many belly kisses. Jason gets annoyed with it because hello, he's still here too. Dick laughing but smothering Jason with affections until Jason shoves him away because ugh alphas

Refraining from the angst route but please do know that my default for Jason in these sorts of routes never fails to go tragic I'm just - o(-( the pain it hurts good

Extra Unplanned Pregnancy without the Infertility Storyline 👀

Where Dick has a no strings attached one night stand with Jason

It's literally a one-time casual encounter, one time; a quick one and done fling where they both let off steam and resolve a ridiculous amount of UST between them it's good

Contrary to popular belief, Dick isn't actually the sort to do that kind of thing. Despite any efforts, he's a traditional alpha; something he's been playfully teased about by friends

So for him to do this? He's a little proud of himself ngl.

But lbr Dick fails at casual right away because he's already thinking about doing it again. Consistently. A committed friends with benes situation where they don't see other people

Anyway, Dick is happy with how everything played out. Feels better than ever.

Relationships never end well for him, but this thing he fell into with Jason? They both left happy and no one got hurt in the end.

Little does he know 👀

And then from Jason's side:

Jason turning up on Dick's doorstep, agitated as all get out

Dick, hopeful and eager for a reprise because Jason doesn't just visit him out of the blue like this

And seriously right on the doorstep Jason just bluntly blurts out that he's pregnant. It's Dick's.

And Dick is just (ʘ‿ʘ) ???? because of course this couldn't be casual of course something like this would happen what in the goddamn omg okay this is fine but no it's not because Jason is clearly freaking out but so is Dick what do what ahhhhhhhh (internal)

Continuation to the above because Dick absolutely going through the full range of emotions from denial to acceptance; panic to excitement - all the feelings but ultimately tempering himself because Jason is very clearly going through his own thing and Dick needs to be there for him first and foremost as the baby daddy

Then it follows the usual storyline of the two of them deciding on what to do which is a rollercoaster of ups and downs and do we keep or not but what if this that and the other and they fall in love along the way and it's just a good time.

[goldensunset]

first they complained that nonnumbered kh games come out on like eleven different consoles from eleven different companies thereby making it inaccessible and difficult for the average consumer to be able to play all of them (pre fm or collections) and now that the nonumbereds are releasing on a console virtually everyone has (phones) they r still mad about it. blehgh

and like y’know. tbh that isn’t a ridiculous complaint. the series has historically been inaccessible. it’s still inaccessible to me (because i personally can’t justify the financial investment of a playstation; i’ve poured everything into my switch) but like that’s my issue not theirs lol. (i mean i am mad that they kinda like acknowledged there’s a demand for kh on the switch yet made it cloud-only which is almost disrespectful and totally not gonna happen here. but like. i can get over it). i don’t see anyone out there actually complaining about kh being a playstation series like lbr that’s totally fair

BUT they’ve updated them with the all-in-one-playstation collections now! if you have a playstation there is no excuse! it’s not that hard and not that expensive! smh!!! and yeah, even with the updated collections now you do sorta miss out on some of the stuff that was removed or changed from the original versions. the mobile games only offer theater mode now. but like… it’s ok to have to go on youtube or wiki or second-hand sources to dig up old easter eggs and trivia sometimes…

and it’s ok to not have physically played every game yourself!!! like i honestly think if you take every single game up until now into account you’d be hard pressed to find a person who’s done literally everything from the console games to the handheld games to the mobile games etc themselves. like i’m sure they exist but there aren’t a lot of them. it is perfectly fine to just watch cutscenes. and if you care about the story of this series as a whole you really need to

like… i get it. it’s a video game series. one would expect to be able to play a video game instead of essentially watching a bunch of movies. that’s fair. but if you care about kingdom hearts as a franchise, whether you’re an old nostalgic vet or a newbie, doesn’t the story matter to you??? wouldn’t you do what it takes to be immersed in this world in order to fully understand the story going forward? if it’s just the gameplay you’re after like idk man i feel like you could find a similar style of gameplay as a replacement out there but idk

point is. one would have to be completely blind at this point to not realize that the mobile games are full of lore that are relevant to sora’s own journey and especially will be going forward. nomura has made it clear he’s not forgetting about sora and he’s never gonna replace him as the protagonist and heart and soul of the series. it is simply not possible to jump between numerical titles and still comprehend this stuff. this is where the series is going. there’s this thing in fiction called plot progression where some narrative threads will be resolved and left behind while new ones will be picked up. and it’s up to the author to determine this, not the nostalgia of fans. either drop the series as a whole or get on board with where it’s going

the original khχ came out like what, 10 years ago? almost half the runtime of the franchise. it is not new anymore. this is not new information. anyone who still hasn’t bothered to pay attention to that whole storyline at this point, even given all the hard work that fans have put to make it more accessible to either casuals or specifically stubborn people like that, then like. skill issue tbh.

and people complaining it’s all way too complicated? man.., find another series. i feel like it should be self-evident that this series is not known for narrative simplicity. it’s known for making everyone insane in a good way. even back in kh1 stuff was always kind of wild. everyone’s beloved kh2 is especially where we start ramping up the insanity. i fail to see how all that’s ok but the concepts of more keyblade wielders and like a lengthy timeline aren’t. after 20+ years it should be evident that things aren’t so simple and clean.

rant over *drops mic*

[oldsargasso]

hehehe I'm glad to be a menace 😊

You did mention Dean's age insecurity in your ficlet! I do think Winner is prob close to Kim's age, yes, even tho it's not mentioned afaik. I read Kenta as being at least late twenties, if not early thirties? Which puts some time between him and Dean (at least Dean knows how to wash dishes SDGDFG DKMM he's got service industry trauma)

Kim providing that competency kink 😌 Kinbaku would be so nice for them! The attentiveness and the constant touching. THE TRUST!! And Kenta's muscles are made for it LBR. As good as I think he'd be at keeping his hands in place and not moving, even without being tied down, I know he'd find such freedom in being able to just be.

Yes, Dean is absolutely doing it to be Good at it, he wants to be told how skilled he is and given all the compliments. And doing it under Kim's guidance is also part of it for him, too. Having someone pay close attention to what he's doing matters!

And why am I melting at the thought of Kim letting things be done to him first when one of the others is feeling insecure about wanting it?????? Like I'm? SO SOFT??? The care, the reassurance it implies. I can honestly hear his tone of voice so clearly, the forwardness and directness and lack of judgement. They would literally all be a mess without him is2g

His arms bulging, his chest puffed out, his eyes glazed over, his head lolling- IT'S… CUTE. HAHAHA 😏

I'm sitting here drawing hearts all over this ask by the way

okay I knew I had shared a Thought about it somewhere!! I went looking for Kim's profile and he's 26 (if the show is 2023) which makes sense for Winner to be around the same age. Tricky cause he seems more immature but also more established (similar experience to Babe and Way in racing?) and then Dean a few years younger and Kenta a few years older makes sense to me. (and then Pete would be closer to mid 30s which tracks with him having a well-established company) no WONDER Dean is so furious all the time, he has that customer service spirit.

who doesn't love Kim and his superpower of being a functioning human being 😌 imagine trying to name ONE thing he's not good at!! impossible!!

yesss like I think Kenta wants to be perfect with honour bondage and he CAN be but he shouldn't have to be! that's the point! also I think it would be nice for him to not have to worry about accidentally breaking free/overpowering anyone. plus his glorious chest decorated with lovely ropes... it would be appreciated greatly by anyone I'm just saying. (I wonder if Kenta understands the appeal of his body. for so long he's lived in it as a tool. it probably takes some time and a lot of compliments and such for him to understand that Kim et al. also get something out of looking at him)

actually i think that's why it would work really well if they were practicing kinbaku on Winner too - the whole neglect thing we talked about. he's just there simply to provide a body for Dean to show Kim what he's learned. they both want 100% of the attention but in such different ways. Winner because he's used to having it, and Dean because he's worked so hard and needs someone to recognise the effort he's put in. (I realise that's just Dean's canon storyline lol) but you know, Dean can't jump straight into blowing Kenta's mind as payback, he's gotta work up to it.

it just makes sense! Kim's entire thing is non-judgemental and helpful, of course he's happy to test things out for his boys. plus once he's experienced something, it's easier to tailor it to better suit whoever asked for it. and sometimes he deserves to have of all the attention like that! in the end it really always just boils down to "here's this practically perfect dude... and his three loser boyfriends" and that's what we love!

[running-tweezers]

Rant 🙃

I fucking hate having the triggers I have. They prevent me from enjoying things the way I want to. I hate that my bad experiences in fandom STILL affect me even after ALL the work I’ve done.

I’ve been working on something kinda big, a recap video of the first season of the Freelancer storyline, with plans to maybe do more if I enjoy it and people like it. I’ve been writing it, coming up with ideas for it, I’ve been really excited.

But then I’m reminded that in order for me to make these recaps, I have to talk about characters and events that are apparently ✨controversial✨ just by existing I guess. I can’t just skip over the fucking Discourse Magnets bc they’re part of the storyline, and it’s making it hard for me to make my haha funny comedy recap video.

And it’s not that I’m even discussing the discourse shit in the video! I’m actively avoiding it actually, just like I actively avoid it everywhere. And it’s never even one “side” or the other of these “controversies” that bothers me. I don’t fucking care. It’s the fact that it exists in the first place. My shitty experiences with shitty fandoms and shitty people (lbr person) have made just the mere existence of fandom discourse triggering to me. And it’s fucking frustrating bc as much as I try to control my experience and block ppl and tags that stir shit I STILL SEE IT. It’s inescapable. And I guess that’s inevitable but it just makes it hard for me to do the things I want to do.

Idk it just feels like every time I take one step forward, I end up two steps back and I can’t do the things I enjoy. But hey, I chose to come back here, and if I want to see literally ANYTHING in fandom I guess I have to deal with it. 🙃

[littlerosetrove]

Just had a thought. Thinking back on season 7 and how many honestly crazy storylines there were - and some were fun in the moment - um. I honestly hope that the writers don't think that they need to or should try to top the Bizarre stuff that happened in season 7. They're fully capable of telling more grounded and "smaller" storylines, so there's no need to up the Drama, you know?

At its bare bones season 7 had - fucking pirates on a cruise ship that sank - Chimney contracting some infectious virus that had him forgetting shit, wondering LA, and almost dying - "cartel" stuff throughout part of Bobby's story. Amir getting shot and kidnapped by them. - the "cartel" literally burning Bobby's house down - Bobby had a heart attack, but was up and about in less than two weeks (this show sucks anyway at portraying realistic recovery time for injuries and whatnot, so...) - Eddie meeting a doppelgänger of his dead wife (that went nowhere beyond blowing up Eddie's life in honestly an unnecessarily cruel way) - Chris dramatically leaving for the foreseeable future (because no one was communicating during that situation, lbr) - Some council woman trying to fuck with Hen's life to get revenge - Gerrard is back???

I may have missed a thing or two, but it was a lot. So much was packed into 10 episodes, yes, but man. They really dialed up the Drama this season, and as I said, now that I've had some time to think about it a little bit, I... don't really want this level and type of drama to continue forward.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate season 7. There's quite a bit I enjoyed, but yeah. Idk, I hope the writers bring it back down to the "reality" this show lived in like via seasons 1-3, you know? Bigger isn't always better, especially if the writers feel like they need to keep one upping themselves.

[ryttu3k]

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Dot and Bubble!

You know what, it's a bold new choice on Doctor Who to go, "Actually, this entire pastel-washed Celebration-meets-Tiktok society probably should die" but I can't say it's like. Entirely wrong in this case. Can't help someone who's so thoroughly wedged up their own arse (or stuck in their own bubble, ofc) they actively refuse help due to their own bigotry, y'know?

Actually, it's very much an 'offering mercy to the enemy' kind of thing. Which, historically, hasn't tended to go great either. It just hits a little different because we spent the entire episode focused on Lindy's storyline that we go, "Oh, she's the protagonist" and it's only at the end that we really get confirmation of, "Ah. She's the enemy." Although, in fairness, the endless microaggressions piling up culminating in killing Ricky was a pretty big hint, so…

Kind of refreshing that the first episode in which the Doctor's skin colour comes up is set in the future, which normally are pretty free of like. Racism and bullshit like that. Like Martha, Bill, Yaz, and Ryan all mention racism being an issue in historical episodes, Thirteen only gets talked down because of her apparent gender in a historical. You kind of make this assumption that even if there are still massive issues in the future, something like race isn't one of them. Only, it is. And Fifteen is the one to come up against the brunt of it. Any other Doctor, and the entitlement may have shown, but the racism may have stayed hidden (unless, again, Martha, Bill, or Yaz and Ryan as companion). Fifteen, however, gets them to show their asses just by virtue of existing. He was literally trying to save their lives!

Quote from RTD: "The moment we cast Ncuti, everyone said to me, "Oh my god, what's it going to be like when he goes into the past? Because a Black Doctor's going to face such racism." You sit there going, "What about now? Why do you think that racism's only in the past, when you look at what's happening to the world?""

Did come across as very nihilistic, ending-wise. RTD has said this episode was Black Mirror-influenced, and yeah, can definitely see that. You know what, that planet and the Finetime community are doomed. The planet's population is gone, a good chunk of Finetime's population is gone (or couldn't be led to safety, in which case it's only a matter of time), and lbr these kids only learned to walk a few hours ago. I would be amazed if they lasted a week playing Pioneers outside. And there's nothing that the Doctor can do, because they're so entrenched in their own racism that they refuse the literal lifeline he's throwing to them!

Conclusion: Fascinated how they went from, "Social media bad!" and "Killer AI!" to, "Actually, maybe social media isn't the problem and maybe, just maybe, it's people being so obsessed with staying within their literal bubbles that they begin to systematically dehumanise anyone who doesn't 'belong'" and also, "Actually yeah I'm kinda going for the AI deciding that the best way to deal with institutionalised and entrenched racism and bigotry is to kill them all with giant slugs."

(I mean, if the Dot AI could see how literally everyone was, I assume they realised they wouldn't accept a sapient AI as a new life form…)

Acting: Not quite as Doctor-lite as 73 Yards, this was more… Diet Doctor and Companion. That said, what we did get from Ncuti Gatwa was goddamn masterful. His reaction when he realises what's going on the end was heartwrenching - the disbelieving laughter, then the anger and frustration. So goddamn good. That said, Callie Cooke as Lindy was obnoxious and thus perfectly acted. Like at the beginning you were lowkey hoping she'd get her head out of her arse, and by the end you were hoping she'd get eaten :D Also enjoyed Tom Rhys Harries as someone who's been raised in the bubble but is at least trying to start just… slowly stepping out of it, only to be violently rejected by the rest of the bubble.

Continuity: Another Susan Twist! This time, actually called out! You know, there are two possibilities here, and both are extremely funny: 1) RTD intentionally cast an actor named Susan Twist to appear in every episode in order for her multiple appearances to foreshadow a twist revealing Susan Foreman, or 2) RTD intentionally cast an actor named Susan Twist to appear in every episode in order for her multiple appearances to have absolutely nothing to do with Susan Foreman and the repeated appearances are something else entirely. Either way, it's goddamn hilarious.

Nothing on Ruby's backstory this week, including a lack of snow. Ruby did feel somewhat unimportant here, she was only really there to make Lindy actually listen, because she's white and blonde and therefore Like Them and therefore worthy of listening to, and could have been replaced by any other young white companion, like Rose or Clara. If it had been the Doctor on his own, or Martha, Bill, or Yaz and Ryan as companions (or potentially even Donna, who might have got caught by ageism?), Lindy would have just kept blocking and blocking and never, ever listening.

The Big Bads of the season continue to oscillate between the possible Pantheon (the Toymaker, Maestro, possibly Mad Jack/the Fairies?) and just. Humanity. The humans who forced babies to be born then abandoned them, the military industrial complex, nuclear ambitions (the only one so far not set very far in the future), and now pastel-washed white supremicists. Very much a 'yeah, humanity definitely still hasn't solved these issues yet' kind of thing.

The 'stories being real' theme was handled kind of obliquely. Still definitely there, but it was a human consequence of being stuck in their own bubbles/narratives and being unable to see or accept anything outside it, and less a metatextual example like with other episodes.

Season ranking

As of s40e05:

73 Yards

The Devil's Chord

Dot and Bubble

The Church on Ruby Road

Space Babies

Boom

[the-kipsabian]

listened to a podcast talking about this a bit, so im gonna be unhinged for a hot second about the orange cassidy belt corruption arc

i would love one day to write a kinda comprehensive "guide" to all of this, but i'd have to go back to watch a lot of stuff for it (so it would probably have to be after im done with all kip vs oc rewatch stuff. ofc if theres critical changes to this situation that might change idk let me know if this is anything of interest?), buttttt heres a few misc highlights for what i can pull out from the top of my head

first of all, here. what i believe is one of the most pivotal moments in this whole thing. so during the match with pac where oc won the title, danhausen threw a curse at pac literally right above the title

now this was because pac was trying to cheat by using a ring hammer (twice). which honestly kind of already tells us a lot about corruption, i dont remember if he was already kind of mean and wicked with the hammers before his reign, i mean pac has always been a bastard, but you know. did he start doing this after he won the title? cause that would be saying a lot

this also goes hard in this match, cause after pac is caught trying to use the hammer, oc also almost uses it on him. at this point, its just almost tho. its very close, but he chooses to throw it away, and win the match clean. the key here is, what the title is already doing to him before he even gets his hands on it

anyways. so oc does this title reign. all is swell up until the point kip challenges for it, cause thats where the mind games begin which i believe is an important part of this whole deal. kip separates him from his friends effectively, continuous taunting and mind games, he pushes oc to his limits mentally, forcing him to tap into a very dark place in his mind to overcome the odds to beat kip (also oc was showing the first cases of more vicious behavior in this match so like)

like literally this whole storyline is confirmed by the man himself to be about this like. how could this not tap into and mess with ocs psyche going forward tho

also this is just my things but. at revolution, that one time he tagged with danhausen to challenge for the tag titles, oc was the one to change his gear to black. tbh this is personally for me where this whole corruption brainrot started, but its worth mentioning, cause he has not done it since. even when teaming with hook, it was hook who changed his gear colors to match the denim. im just saying (as in, danhausen has to have a finger in this pie somehow. he just absolutely has to)

i didnt watch a lot of what happened with house of black, but thats where the physical issues started. im just inclined to believe that the physical pains just amplified his need to push himself, to show the world that hes worthy of holding this belt and being a champion despite being injured - cause thats what all this was about, right? oc having to prove to the world that despite how hes been viewed up until this point, hes actually an incredible wrestler and a worthy champion. come hell or high water, he will prove that

and thats part of why the belt was so important to him, which could easily be also turned around to be the so called "siren call" of the belt. get me and keep me with whatever way is necessary to prove yourself as a worthy champion. yes even if it costs your mental and physical health and all your friends

and so this got pushed until he literally couldnt do it anymore as mox took oc to his limits and defeated him after physically beating him down worse than before (or i mean, a week after stadium stampede? yeah both of these are factors here lbr). and you saw the miserable creature oc was after losing that title. finding solace in friends that were champions (hook and kris. i think this is an important plot point, i dont think we saw him around chuck and trent during this time. the best friends with no titles....), maybe trying to grasp for some of that former glory that he used to have

until he won the title again. and he was HELLBENT on getting it back. and after he won it, well.. i shared thoughts about this here. which is a very interesting contrast to the first time, a year ago, when he won it the first time

i dont know if i had more thoughts rn, i have lost the plot so heres everything for now. just.. yeah. i have way more things somewhere in my blog and like said i should watch all this back to get everything, but quickly putting it together heres few key points of things. anyways enjoy or whatever. feel free to share thoughts im all ears (especially if i missed anything seemingly key stuff)

[friendly-jester]

honestly considering how last episode went i feel like it could be possible that one of the two of them realize their feelings in the finale and that becomes a major storyline for next season. like all season buck has been talking nonstop about eddie and his entire sexuality arc and the buck x tommy stuff has been basically haunted by eddie. i thought i was losing it or something fr because i went back and rewatched and literally EVERY. SCENE. BUCK AND TOMMY HAVE EDDIE IS EITHER THERE OR MENTIONED. THEIR FIRST KISS SCENE I COUNTED THAT BUCK SAYS EDDIES NAME EIGHT FUCKING TIMES. tommy even said “my attention?” like he was shocked and thought it was about eddie 😭 and maddie saying “you seem confused and if you have anything you need to tell eddie you will when you’re ready” felt SO pointed too. idk if they’ll do a full blown triangle with them but i do think a potential breakup with buck and tommy will be about eddie tbh. they made such a point to put eddie in the narrative when they really didn’t have to. im trying so hard not to get my hopes up but when the dots make a clear picture you cant help but connect them

also this sounds so crazy but the shannon clone has a birthmark in her hair. the white stripe? its the most noticeable in the boat scene but once i saw it i was like 😀 hey why did they do that. one of my friends back in high school had one. and then making buck meet her……. and then EDDIE only comes clean once BUCK lightly asks him about it and says hes worried……….. i feel like im that one meme from its ways sunny in philedelphia

also im fully convinced bobby isnt retiring and he’ll be fine and have some sort of wakeup call idc im in denial

also holy fuck @ the hen and karen storyline??????? when will the writers let them keep their foster kids its been years let them be happy and have their family 😭

anyway sorry for the essay in ur inbox i have so many thoughts about this show and idk where to put them. my friends are probably so sick of me because i cannot shut up about it -ebd anon

i would actually lose my mind if it happened in the finale asdfghjkl. i'm also trying not to get my hopes up (i've been burned so many times 😭) but i could totally see buck telling tommy about the whole doppelgänger wife thing and talking about how concerned he is for eddie and tommy being the one to realize "this doesn't sound platonic" and points it out to buck. tommy's whole role has been for buck to discover things about himself and i would love if tommy helped him realize he has feelings for eddie. i honestly think buck and tommy are really cute together but they just don't have the chemistry buck and eddie have and i just think it would be neat if tommy's the first one (besides maddie lbr) to notice it and bow out gracefully. that's just the kind of guy he is 🥺

WAIT i didn't realize it was a birthmark i thought it was just a gray streak but!!!! that FEELS SO INTENTIONAL *screams*

i am also in denial we can be in denial together 🤝 if he does retire there's no way he'd be gone from the show. not just because he's athena's husband but because he's dad!!! he's got too important of a role to leave!!!

FOR REAL JUST LET MY GIRLS BE A HAPPY FAMILY!!!!! they have to get mara back. that whole scene made me want to cry. she finally got a family and they finally got a daughter and denny finally got a sibling LET THEM BE HAPPY 😭😭

feel free to drop by and ramble anytime! my only other friend who watches 911 isn't caught up so i have no one else to talk about it with besides my mom who is not in as deep as i am lmaooo

[invisiblegarters]

Only Friends Character Rankings - Ep 6

Well this was an episode, wasn't it? Finally the mess really begins and now the mettle of every single person who says that what they were looking forward to was messiness is about to be tested. Because every single one of these characters is gonna bring the mess, even the one we like best. Maybe especially the one we like best. Here comes the point when they really start to tear strips off each other. Can we handle it?

For myself, I can't definitively answer that (temptation compels me to say yes but also you just never know and I refuse to pretend otherwise) but I can say I can't WAIT to find out.

Character Rankings (Fave to Least Fave atm)

SAND. Sand my darling my shit stirrer my passive aggressive asshole. I've already made a whole post about how calculated he was in his manipulation this episode - he wound Ray up and watched him go, and literally only interfered when the result flared out at Nick. Which shows me exactly how little he cares about any of these people and desperately makes me need his ex to be alive and to show up real time because Sand has some very complicated, very unresolved issues there and frankly, caring about Ray or not I think he's still in love with them.

If they are dead though that would make a lot of sense, mostly because now Sand is sort of frozen in that place of betrayal and anger and yeah, love, thwarted as it was. It would also explain his need to destroy Top at the cost of everything else.

I still wonder if it was a woman. I want it to be Mix but we keep referencing that San likes both and he's yet to be seen with a woman, so.

And nope, did not miss his passive aggressive digs at Ray either. "I see why you like him." "He's lucky he has someone like you looking out for him." Especially that first one. Lbr that was entirely a dig and while I get it - he's smarting from everything that happened with Boston before (regardless of how hard he pushes it down it's still obvious) and he figures why the hell not, no one else gives a shit so why should I, I know exactly what I am to this person and it's practically nothing so what does it matter if I use him? Tit for tat - I'm not so far up his ass (yet, there's always next week) that I can't see how fucked up it is. I just also kind of love it. I'm impressed, tbh. I was fully expecting Sand to reveal the tape to Ray out of some stupid "I just want you happy wah" thing and to have him do it this way floored me. I have said before that what I want from his storyline with Ray is mutual destruction and if things keep going along on these lines I will be very pleased. That second fight still worries me though.

I will also say that I bet I'm angrier about Ray calling him a whore (twice! In less than ten minutes!) than Sand will probably be. Sand did this, he wound Ray up as I already said, and if there's one thing that has been entirely consistent with his character thus far it's that he takes responsibility (perhaps takes it when things aren't even really his fault). He takes responsibility for his own feelings and he takes responsibility when he fucks up. I can definitely see him deciding he earned what he got, even if Ray went straight for what he knew would hurt the most - hasn't Sand told him over and over that he's not going to be bought? - he also went straight for Ray's weakest spot to get what he wanted out of him. Tit for tat.

That said, I can very much also see him internalizing that that's what Ray thinks about him. Especially if that turns into Ray's go-to insult when they fight (as I guess it might just).

I'd say he's the episode MVP, but actually he's tied with

MEW. Oh, Mew. I keep saying that it's always the reserved ones that go the most nuts when crossed and neither Sand nor Mew has proven me wrong this episode. Also the man just has a delicious sense of drama and who doesn't love that? The way he lulled Top into thinking all was well and then lured him into believing that there would be sexy times, followed up by that fucking line. I screamed and then started cackling (very quietly, it was early here and people were sleeping). MEW YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND. I had clocked that he wasn't having fun and that he was extremely subdued about Top's showoff gift but him punching Ray really convinced me that he was gonna ignore everything Ray had been trying to say.

That said, they better not reveal that they cooked this up together because then why did Ray go full scorched earth? If it was a plan they could have executed it in pretty much any other way.

Nah, feels wrong to me. What I think is that Mew punched Ray because he was ruining Mew's on the spot plans to confront Top himself, but also because wow bestie how about we don't humiliate me in front of all our friends? Plus he knows that if he apologizes Ray will forgive him anything. It's a benefit of the whole BFF being in love with you business.

Loved the bath smile in the preview. My guess is he's gonna revenge fuck Ray, but only after Top thinks that he's forgiven him and they get back together. It'll be very messy. Why can't he fuck Sand instead that would be the ultimate revenge for both really.

Boston. Yeah, Boston. He read Ray to filth in this ep while ALSO trying to lead him into thinking that telling Mew about him and Top fucking behind his back would be just as bad as fucking Top behind his back. Like it's genius and fucked up and eighteen levels of wrong and it ultimately didn't work but jesus.

And then at the end of the whole mess he is the only one who got to go home with a dude that still wants him. And I have to appreciate that that's because Nick already knew. Sure it wasn't fun to hear I bet but it's not like it's not something Boston hasn't been clear about.

He got a reprieve this week but I suspect he knows that. He's gonna go gunning for Nick too because he's not a dumb man and he can put two and two together and get four (even though sometimes it suits his purposes to make five instead) and it's gonna dawn on him sooner than later that he has someone very very close to him who has access to all kinds of fun spy equipment, doesn't he? Why yes he does.

Looking forward to watching Mew yeet him into the pool next ep though.

Ray. I love mess, and boy howdy did Ray bring it this ep. I'm incredibly unsure why he decided to burn all his bridges so spectacularly, but well, he's drunk and maybe high definitely feeling sorry for himself and we don't always make the best decisions in those situations. Seen speculation that he fully intends on hurting himself by getting behind the wheel and yeah, that also rings true.

He also knows just where to hit everyone where it hurts and he didn't hold back, did he? If I can't blame or hate Boston for what he did last ep then the same must be said for Ray - he wasn't spewing anything that wasn't true...until he got to Sand. There it was entire untruths but I don't like Ray enough to try to unpack that, especially since my less than rosy view of Ray means that I am inclined to think the worst. Frankly what I want to say is that all Sand is to Ray, whether he's actually paying for it or not, but even I know that's uncharitable. See, growth (mine, not Ray's - I think we've got at least three episodes before we see growth from Ray).

And frankly I don't think Boston was entirely wrong that he hopes that Mew finding out about Top and Boston will send him to Ray's arms - it's not the whole reason he needs Mew to know, but yeah. it's there in the back of his mind. I still don't blame him for telling him.

But also I'm with Sand - getting in a car the way he is isn't entirely about him, he could seriously hurt someone else and that pisses me the fuck off. I have a real bug bear about drunk driving. No excuse is a good excuse for that shit and that's why he's lower than Boston this week. Fuck him for that honestly.

Top. This might be controversial, but I feel kind of bad for Top this ep. I mean, not horribly bad, I was having a great time watching everything fall apart around him, but a little bad.

And here's the reason why: I don't think that he is entirely playing a part with Mew. I do think he likes him - not sure if I buy love but he does like him, perhaps a lot. The man is a nasty piece of work who slips into cocky assholery way too easily for my tastes, but I also think that he's kind of put in that role and so goes with it. He did try to be cordial with Sand this ep - kind of insane when you think about the fact that Sand hates him, Top knows Sand hates him, and he also knows why - but he didn't switch to assholery until he took his cue from Sand. Same when he ran into Sand with his car - he was sorry and worried but then Sand wouldn't follow that script so he followed. He does the same thing with Boston when they interact.

I think he enjoys being with Mew because Mew lets him be the best version of himself. But of course the asshole is still there underneath, he can't run from it, so it all falls apart around his ears. I do think he holds genuine affection for Mew, but what does that matter when he's screwed over so many people in the past? I think he also likes the novelty of doing love and sex Mew's way, but I also believe that he'll only play the penitent for so long before he loses patience. I'm curious to see if I'm right, and how things will go if so.

Chuem. Every time this woman opened her mouth it was to be a dick. Like, damn. I knew she wasn't some sweet angel but I get the impression the only one of her friends she really likes is Mew. Curious why, because she seemed to at least like Ray well enough two years ago. At the very least Mew is the only one that she's not casually cruel to.

Nick. Babe. You're pretty but I'm gonna need you to do something okay? Yes, even if your revenge hits Sand at least it'll hit SOMEONE. Because right now you're just a succession of "oh shit" faces and I need more.

Relationships (Most to Least Fave atm)

TopMew. Yep. They finally got really interesting and beat out BostonNick. I am so curious what Mew is gonna do to Top. I already said that my top guess is making Top work for it, making him think he's forgiven him...and then fucking Ray and making sure he finds out about it. This suspicion will turn into a certainty if he finds out that Top fucked Boston because he thought there something happened with him and Ray.

Nick and Sand. I want them to hash it out and make up. I said I'd be okay if Nick's revenge hit Sand but I really won't be haha, I want them to end the show still friends. They are usually really good at talking to each other so I have some hope. Don't let these men you probably won't even know anymore in a year screw up a friendship that might actually last beyond college, guys. Also you should make out.

Sand and Top and the ex. The way I am being teased about this is not nice. GIMME. I want answers, don't care how I want them now. Make it messy please. Please please please please please I want the ex to show up like a wrecking ball and for Sand to utterly lose all his shit over it.

BostonNick. Still think these two deserve each other. Am READY for Boston to put two and two together and get Nick fucking bugged his car, though. And maybe he can get Nick to play the recording from him since at this point he and Chuem are the only two who haven't heard it. I am curious to see what if anything Nick does when it all falls apart. I kind of want him to ascend to unhinged lengths as yet unseen.

SandRay. I guess the mask is off now (even though I kinda think it was always off, lol). I do not ship this. They are bad for each other and Ray especially needs to just not be anywhere near a romantic relationship, but especially not with Sand who has a serious caretaking complex that is going to foster some really nasty codependence, as well as a far too patient streak which will only encourage Ray to keep lashing out at him whenever he wants (yes this ep he did what he did but I cannot stress enough that it wasn't really about Ray. Oh, he took his shots but at it's heart this was all about getting at Top. Top is a special case for Sand, he's a dude who riles him up just by existing. Ray might get there eventually but currently he's nowhere near on Top's level for Sand, he'll put up with perhaps a LOT more before he finally gets to that point).

Every week I worry that Sand is gonna enter his doormat era, and every week they've neatly dodged it happening. But oh, we still have six weeks to go and the worst fight is yet to come so that worry ain't fading anytime soon.

As I've said, mutual destruction is more fun for me so this ep wasn't half bad on that front. If things stay in this vein I might actually work around to enjoying it as a disaster ship.

In Conclusion

I'm gonna need everyone to stop it with the slut shaming, please. Boston's an ass, but he's not an ass because he likes to sleep around and I'm kind of tired of the conflation of the two.

[laufire]

repeating last month's reading meme, with the stories I completed this month (many of them started waaaaaaay before though. thus is the nature of comics).

list and some thoughts under the cut.

NOVELS

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. As with every other Discword novel, I practically devoured this one. Very enjoyable, especially Granny's plot, which did hit close to home for me lol.

Dare Me by Megan Abbott. This is proof that, despite having aged out of the YA bracket, some of it, the really good one, still holds up. Still, I know that if I had read this as a teenager, I would've made it my whole personality for at least a while xDD. Nonetheless, it was a great read. It's a pity that the show was cancelled before it covered the entire story, because I would've loved to watched an adaptation :/

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Of the Austen novels I've read so far, I would probably put it in the last place, but I did end up enjoying it. I had a good laugh with the Ferrars family drama, and I enjoy how... anti-karma Austen can be. Sometimes shitty, selfish people behalf shittily and selfishly, and that works out perfectly for them, lbr.

COMICS COMICS COMICS

Arsenal. And absolutely great mini (four issues long) in Devin Grayson's melodrama era. Vandal Savage collecting body parts of his descendants to replace his rotten ones is A Concept. And I loved the cameos by Dinah, Oracle, Connor... perfect.

Robin (vol. 1). Tim goes to Paris to train a bit more after Bruce decides he's ready to be Robin. There he ends up in between mob complots and gets trained by Shiva for a little while. My main takeaway is that Tim should have a musical staff in more stories.

The Cull. I kept waiting for this miniseries to go somewhere and... eh. The ending is a bit open so it might continue, but unless I hear something really solid I wouldn't pick it back up.

Batman: City of Madness. The concept of this story ended up being far grander than its execution, and I think I would've liked a longer, more involved, riskier storyline... The art is still amazing, though. It's given me some proto-ideas, though.

Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special. I could literally copy-paste the last paragraph here lol.

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood. Amazing. Perfect. 10/10. One comic I'm going to recommend.

Robin II: The Joker's Wild!. This should've gone harder with the Jason-haunting-the-narrative concept, IMO, but I am NOT an unbiased party lol.

All of Jason Todd's New 52 (2011-2016) appearances. There is... so much I could say about this. Not much would be good, because yes, I still rage against the reboot xD. RHATO vol. 1 ends up looking even good after Red Hood/Arsenal (which improved a bit at the very end, admittedly); Lobdell is the worst, either way. Batman Incorporated/Wingman... too little effort put on it. Appalling, poorly thought-through characterisation all around, really, alongside a lot of choices I'm still baffled by (chessmaster Joker by beloathed). Batman & Robin Eternal got on my nerves, and not just for Jason. Robin War, Grayson... all of it needed a lot more development for me to be sold on it. The cameos in Deathstroke were... fine, but forgettable, when they shouldn't have been.

I did use the cover for Supergirl vol. 6 #35 because that's the ONE Jason appearance I can say I fully enjoyed! Jason is competent (aided by some "venom" which was an arc that amounted to nothing, but whatever), he is a MENACE, he seeks a team up with Supergirl but is a fucking asshole about it despite clearly wanting to be friends xDD... it felt as if I was almost reading new earth!Jason circa Green Arrow/Outsiders, which I really enjoyed! The stupid uncanny valley helmet makes an appearance but I just ignore that xDD

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress. Tim and Helena meet for the first time and team up! It was all right.

World Without Young Justice. I read the Tim-centric issue as it was one of the firsts in Lewis's run, so I decided to read the other four issues in the arc. Tim's is my favourite, though: it has Steph as the original Robin, in a story that really caught my eye and I might use at some point... honestly, I think superhero!Steph/civilian!Tim is a DELICIOUS set-up for the ship that I know I'll revisit in some fics where I don't have Tim donning a mantle (or at least, not in a traditional way).

Batman Plus Arsenal. Great one-shot (Devin Grayson does it again etc.). The moment where Roy gets on Batman's case for how sparse he is with praise was gr10.

Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam. Another one-shot, by Winnick this time (I have my selected favourites). The dynamics are very clearly inspired by the DCAU despite being a new earth comic, but as those are my favourite versions of the characters involved, that works for me. It's about cycles and how hard it is to break them, of course

Knightfall. I started reading the arc in January. Although I'd read part of it before, this is the first time I really set out to read the complete thing. My veredict is that it focuses way to much on JPV, who I simply don't connect with LOL. The parts with Bruce, with Tim, and especially with Dick, and even with Gordon and Essen, are far more appealling to me, and I would've preferred them to be expanded upon to JPV's detriment tbh.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive. Amazing story arc, and as far as I'm concerned, a must-read among Batman/Batfam fans. Bruce's reasons for finally getting his head out of his ass were also very poignant and rang very true to him, as did his shitty non-apology about his actions lol. And in the end, Sasha and Bruce-Sasha ended up being a really fascinating part of it all. I might go back and read her older appearances.

Jon Lewis's Robin Run (vol. 2 #100-120). Really fun! A very enjoyable take on Tim Drake, very cute Steph/Tim stories, really good overall! And the plot with Tim's birthday... jail, jail to Bruce for one thousand years xDD. Very sad that Tim can't be allowed to be mad at him for longer than five pages smh.

[oretsev]

hi helloo, i'd just written a novel in ur askbox about s&b and then tumblr crashed and it was all lost :') maybe for the better because it was a total mess of thoughts lmao so let me try to summarise my feelings a bit (im sorry this turned out REALLY long)

i HATE that they speedran s&s and r&r in the most bullshit way possible. the entire amplifier hunt was basically removed, at least journey-wise - they just. find the sea whip in that one cave and then they go to morozova's workshop and thats it?? wheres the shu han quest. where the fuck is the ACTUAL spinning wheel. and why is alina not hounding everyone to find the firebird??? she's supposed to be obsessively seeking it now, why does she barely seem to care? also where's the actual ending to siege and storm. WHERE is my darkling & alina fight. wheres her being saved by mal... where's her white hair !!!! idk that scene was my favourite and once i knew we were getting a tv show i really wanted to see this on screen :((

all the characters and relationships they cut... harshaw, misha, ONCAT, tamar&nadia (because lbr they basically weren't there), honestly i even missed sergei and stigg (who i'd barely even remembered before), nadia and adrik as siblings even. they just cut all these people and their journeys with alina for what, a fetch quest for a magic sword?

also, where's the apparat and the soldat sol? we hear people call alina 'sankta', sure, but the entire religious part of ruin and rising is just. completely sidelined. which is really weird because it's so important!! tolya and tamar's faith is basically nonexistent and i don't like it at all

the whole firebird reveal was soooo boring. like i'm sorry but that scene in the book? absolutely perfect. but in the show... it's just a story! baghra just tells mal and thats it! honestly this entire season was so much telling and not showing too, soooo much exposition and it just really didnt work

now then. ive put this off long enough but. the fucking ending. dude... i don't even know where to begin. how do you fuck up the rewrite of your book so badly that the entire moral of your book is just. completely lost?? literally the entire trilogy is built on the "what is infinite? the universe and the greed of men" quote. you CANNOT disregard that in this way. the point of the entire story is that alina's greed is punished! she loses her powers and she loses mal (sort of). the fold is destroyed by her power but not by her, because she never should have had that much power! now... she loses nothing. she has her power, she has three amplifiers, she brought mal back with merzost (which is still. insane to me like i legit laughed out loud when that happened) and now she's general of the second army and also soon probably queen of ravka??? she doesnt lose ANYTHING to her greed.

and with the ending too... where the hell are they going to take this next? because theyre sure as hell not following the kos duology storyline, what with alina now being nikolai's general instead of zoya (which im also. really pissed off about because zoya's story is SO important and theyve just. shoved her to the side)

i also have some thoughts about the crows and how theyve been handled of course i just don't feel as passionately about them (also because they shouldnt have been in this show in the first place but thats just my opinion <3) but i do wonder how theyre gonna start the soc spinoff when theyve basically done so much of the crooked kingdom plot already? and inej is literally already sailing and finding slavers like... i have no idea how theyre going to dothis spinoff and make everyone happy

very small last points but im so mad that they did the "an ordinary life full of ordinary things" line and then decided to. include nikolai? what the actual fuck? and then they didnt even GIVE malina their ordinary life... sorry im so so angry about this ending

i'm sure ive got more to say but this is already wayy too long and i don't wanna bother u anymore but ive just been mad for 3 days straight and really needed to get this off my chest <3 im really disappointed that theyve managed to screw up my favourite book series of all time so i'm just going to reread r&r and forget this season exists :D hope u have a nice day and thank u for reading this dump slfksdj

RIP but ty for venting!!! i totally get everything you’re saying. all of this comes down to the writers smashing basically all of the books into one season for NO reason. all of the things that make the trilogy & duology interesting & compelling & complex are gone bc there’s no time to show them. it’s constantly going GO GO GO with the plot, & for what?? nothing got added to these characters this season, i didn’t feel any impact during any of the big reveals, i didn’t get any emotional payoff from these characters’ journeys.

& why change the ending the way they do? eric’s already said that a season 3 would go back & touch on s&s things they didn’t address. so this ending is meant to draw out alina & mal’s stories, but why do it this way? why backtrack like that? you could certainly draw out the trilogy without speed-running the original ending like this, but that doesn’t fit whatever weird narrative he has for the crows ig.

[dittolicous]

i guess unpopular opinion at this point but i think we need to acknowledge buddy daddies is like. a C/C- anime at best. it was cute but its not a game changer or anything.

the ending was actually enraging for me cuz. it literally makes NO SENSE. ok, rei has handicapped himself so he's useless to the organization. good metaphore i guess.

but.

nothing we know about his dad suggests he gives a shit about metaphors. ok, yup, rei is no useless to him (supposedly). yknow what happens next? his loved ones are taken, tortured, and killed as punishment for his disobedience and then he's killed (or trained to work with only one arm). look at what happened to his mentors wife and misaki. killing them wasnt necessary, but it was to make a point. killing miri was to make a point. killing kazuki was to make a point. every suffering in reis life was to make a point.

all he did is make it harder for him to protect them.

there is zero reason to believe his father wouldn't send someone out to finish the job as mere punishment and to make an example of him. and it doesnt even kill his bloodline, cuz lbr, he could very easily sire another child and just be 1000 times worse.

along with that, the relationship between kazuki and rei was a pendulum between eps swinging between 'practically strangers' and 'life partners'. sometimes itd ferl like they were hella close, then theyd suddenly be just coworkers/roomates and were kinda bummed about moving apart. do they care about each other or not? you cant say that they do and then not show it. and no, flashbacks and pretty speeches dont count. we need action and interactions. they most likely didnt have the time to really delve into their relationship, but they still could have done better than what we got

they didnt do a terribly good job balancing both of kazuki and reis storylines and blending them together to get a satisfying ending. kazuki felt pretty one dimensional towards the end and even when they were on the same page, it felt forced and unearned.

and why did such a short anime get a freaking *recap* episode? that was a wild waste of time and energy. it did not bring anything of substance into the story that could not have been placed elsewhere.

plus you have the average misogyny and mishandling of misaki and yuzuko. there was no reason to give misaki cancer! sogh. it was expected, but still disappointing.

so like. i dont hate buddy daddies now, it was cute and fun, but i doubt I'll rewatch it much. good idea, bad payoff. they needed more time and funds, i suppose.

[thestobingirlie]

genuinely do not understand people (lbr nancy stans) who ship r*nance and then get pissy about having to think about steve. like. just save barb and ship her with nancy and there you go! problem solved! you no longer have to think about one half of your ship’s horrible male life partner

literally. why ship r//nance, and then get pissed off that the love of robin’s life is steve. just find someone else.

they picked two of the characters whose storylines most involve steve, and then get annoyed that he’s there!

[auberginefarm]

There are times when I wish I had the Time/Energy/Focus to get into modding because there are storylines I'd like to see played out.

Kent getting recruited into the Adventurer's Guild

Shane getting hired at the Movie Theater post Joja OR taking over Marnie's Farm OR going back to school/joining Demetrius as a biologist

Literally anything that gives Shane his sense of purpose back he has so many routes he could take

Any kind of character arc for Demetrius OR something that expands on his and Robin's relationship to show WHY they're married

An infodump mod for Demtrius where he just talks science at you

Resolution to Marnie and Lewis's affair. She should dump him for Marlon lbr

GUNTHER

Pierre marriage mod when???

Could I just write fanfic? Sure, but it wouldn't be as satisfying as having it happen in the game itself so that every time I start a new file I can sit back and relax with the knowledge that I don't have to watch Shane sulk around the Stardrop Inn for the rest of eternity.