#trying not to ship and well I'm f*cked

[p-redux]

So, you always screeched about being right, well you were proven wrong today. Shippers have finally the proof of SC kissing at the Paramore part of the Taylor Swift concert. Right there in public. Like a couple.

First of all, I don't screech, I growl, like the lioness that I am. I'm a Leo, after all. 🦁 Secondly, um, you mean, this? 👇 😂🙄

Those are screencaps from a video of the Outlander cast at the Taylor Swift concert last week in Edinburgh at Murrayfield. Apparently, the few remaining Extreme Shippers, who are holding on to their barnacle-ridden, long-sunken SamCait ship, have been given a life boat and think the ship is sailing again due to this. First, let me get this out of the way. HAHAHAHAHA 🤣😂. OMG, desperation, thy name is SamCait shippers. Sadly, there is a fairly new account on Tumblr that is led by an OG shipper returned from the bottom of the ocean to galvanize new shippers into thinking Sam and Cait are actually a secret couple. Try to keep up with the times, people, that's SO ten years ago. And, the Taylor Swift concert video is now being used as "proof" that Sam and Cait decided to finally "out" their "secret love" very publicly at a Taylor Swift concert of all places. Again, HAHAHAHAHA 🤣😂. Lord. You can't make this shit up.

Here are the screencaps lightened up and defined. 👇

Close ups. 👇

Um, this looks like a cheek kiss to me, or even Cait leaning in close to Sam to tell him something, since the concert is obviously very loud.

Regardless, Cait was also kissing Sophie Skelton and John Hunter Bell. Is she in a secret relationship with them as well?

Here's the actual video. 👇 Of the Outlander cast, Sam is the tallest male there, Cait is the tallest female there. It's obvious they would stand behind everyone for most of the concert so that their costars could SEE. If not, they would have been blocking them. Duh.

Sam and Cait have known each other for 10 years. They are good friends and costars. They have a bond via their shared experiences on Outlander. In addition, they've fake f*cked onscreen for 10 years, they are a wee familiar with each other. And as I've said MANY times before, most actors are not like you and me. They are a different breed, they are touch-feely, and flirty. That's just the way it is in showbiz. That DOES NOT mean they are a couple in real life. Why must I have to keep explaining the OBVIOUS over and over again?

When I watch the video, ALL I SEE, is two friends and costars having fun together. But because Extreme Shippers have been waiting for Sam and Cait to "finally reveal their relationship," like it's the Second Coming of Christ or some shit, THIS video will now be used as "proof" that Sam and Cait "came out as a couple at the Taylor Swift concert." And it will become shipper canon forever more. Along with all the other LIES Extreme Shippers leaders have sold to their unsuspecting minions. Soooo, for those who are new to Outlander and stumble into shipper blogs, and get persuaded by the blurry videos, manipulated gifs, and general bullshit, here is my REALITY CHECK for you.

Here is a very clear gif of Caitriona Mary Balfe kissing her ACTUAL, REAL HUSBAND, Anthony Gerard McGill aka Tony McGill on the lips in front of an audience and on live television at the Irish Film and Television Awards. 👇 click to watch

Here are the screencaps from the video gif. Look at that smile and those heart eyes 😍 Cait gives Tony before bending down to kiss him. 👇

Always remember and never forget, THIS is REALITY 👇Tony + Cait #tait

I hate to post a pic from Cait's father's funeral, but it's to prove the point that Cait would obviously attend her father's funeral with her HUSBAND, Tony. And she even took their son. Even Extreme Shippers should have a hard time explaining away Cait's mother and sister standing right next to her in this pic. But, of course in ES' pea-brains the mum and sister are in on the charade. Boy, TPTB's budget must be HUGE to be paying off not only Tony, but also ALL of Cait's family to hide Sam and Cait's "secret marriage." 🙄 That's sarcasm, btw. 👇

For the past TEN YEARS, I've posted SOLID PROOF showing the real relationship is Cait and Tony, not Cait and Sam, but here's an old post of mine with a summary. 👇 I get that the MAJORITY in the fandom know that Cait and Tony are married and know their marriage is real. But, clearly, given the amount of Anons I got pointing to "the video, the video!," some of you STILL need a reminder of REALITY and FACTS. 👇

So, quit sending me Asks about the video, or "how can a married woman cozy up to her costar that way?!" Easy, she's an actress and he's an actor, and they're friends for ten years, and are comfortable together. Simple as that. Nothing to see here, folks.

Go back to the shipper corner of Tumblr to live in delusionland. On this side, we like to bask in the glow of REAL LOVE. And that's TAIT, not SamCait. Now, shoo...

[xoteajays]

Oh! I did message you in instant messages. I can't always remember who I message someone. And I know that I send long messages that not everyone likes. So there's also that reason too.

Yeah. The High&Low franchise came out eight years ago. So you wish there was more people who still created content for the H&L fandom.

Which is bizarre to me? Because High&Low was a popular franchise when it came out, but now there seems to be nothing for the fandom. Especially because there are similarities between High&Low, Worst and Tokyo Revengers. Pretty boys who are delinquents. [I've only ever seen the Worst crossover movie with High&Low, not even the original series. So I can't comment much on Worst.]

Chimknj also wrote another High&Low story. Well.. There story would be a one shot, a one chapter story. Not that you have to read it. But it is a smutty story between Rocky and his girlfriend (original character) - during the events of the first movie.

And, I think, there is a person who's under the name FireOfJudgment on here. They have H&L stories, and AIB stories too. But I don't know what characters or ships they write for though. In case you may want to search their work. They might be an option for you.

It's best for me to write notes for ideas to stories, and characters, and who knows what else while being involved in the fandom. Because if I try writing when I'm not in any fandom, then my thoughts and ideas... I became fickle and scattered on what I want to write. It's a problem.

Being in a fandom makes me more focused to write for that fandom. If that makes any sense.

I mean.. The color coordination to my characters was accidental for me. Because I tend to go for a specific appearance for my characters, I was very adamant about using those people for my face claims but I wasn't sure for what fandom - and I probably will use them for a lot of other fandoms too. Most likely. But not sure which other fandoms yet though. Anyway. Anyway.. But one person's favorite color is blue, one is orange, and another is red which eventually became their signature colors. So I unconsciously connected them to their respective gangs, which is kinda funny because their personalities actually seem fitting for those gangs too. And since the High&Low cast of characters have been predominantly men, I wanted more female characters involved in the story. But there have been a few things I've been stick on lately.

i am just hella awful at answering my private messages. i’ll be like ‘ill reply to that in a bit’ and then completely forget.

it’s just weird. like fandoms used to stick around for longer and h&l is still relatively recent. like 2016 wasn’t even a decade ago yet! everybody go watch h&l and feel emotions you didn’t expect about a pretty boy gang show. the song ‘break into the dark’ literally got me F*cked Up, everybody go watch the unofficial music video.

i will absolutely go read a smutty fic, that’s half of what i’ve been reading lately anyway. love me an explicit fic. and rocky has grown on me, do really like that dude.

i used to be really good at writing short original stories, but now i find it a bit harder. need that high school inspired brain back. fanfics do come a bit easier for me, but i also second guess myself a lot and some stuff i don’t end up posting or even finishing. which is a shame bc it’s supposed to be a fun hobby. i definitely need a fandom to obsess over or i just go totally blank in the brain.

im so bad at colour coordinating my ocs, i can rarely ever decide on what colour suits them best. idk if anyone’s noticed how many light blue or pink characters i have ahsjdl. my own h&l oc kinda started as an oya oc and then developed into something more and got switched around a bit, i think i’m mostly happy with where she’s at rn tho. im having a lot of fun with her.

h&l is definitely lacking in the female character department. like even the strawberry milk girls don’t get a whole lot of screen time like i thought they would, which is a shame bc i think they’re cool and i love pink. i think naomi got the most screen time out of all the girls and even that wasnt a whole lot. n-e-way yamato’s mum and the bartender lady are, like, definitely gfs tho, that’s my hc.

[gravityknife]

Adventures of The 144p Progenitor

Story #1

"Why did we switch— ships— after spending all that time fixing— the door panel?... on the other ship?" Asked Mana, complaining.

Peter took a moment to process what Mana said and hastily answered, "Because the other ship was small, man."

Mana whined mockingly, "Noooooo. I don't like that answer—"

"— you don't like having a bigger ship?! Now we can build support rooms and facilities twice as large, larger than we were able to in that small a$$ frigate—," explained Peter.

"No. I don't— f$cking— care... Ka'el-uuhh, Peter," said Mana, mumbling in low tone. "But no, yeah, this is better."

"Who else is here? Is it just us?" Asked Stavros.

"Hey, there we go, now my brother is here and he's going to help us finish building these facilities," said Peter. "Mana, did you hear that?"

"Oh, Mana is here?" Stavros asked with a slight reluctance in his tone.

Mana retorted, "Yeah! Look who it is! Stav-b$tch!"

Peter cackled.

"No, that's not my name. I don't change my name for d$ck suckers named Mana," declared Stavros unenthusiastically.

"You know what?!" Mana shot.

Peter cackled again.

"No, I don't know what you're saying. Peter, Mana is harassing me, and I think we should throw him off the ship," complained Stavros, nonchalantly childish in tone.

"No, you know what?! I'm gonna hit you," Mana stirred, trying not to chuckle.

"See, Peter? Mana is a liability to my health, and I think we should throw him overboard," teased Stavros.

"Yeah, just jettison him into space and watch from the windows," Ka'eo joked.

"F$ck you, I'm not going anywhere, you b$tch!" Mana chortled out.

"Alright, will you guys calm down for a second so we can actually figure out what's going on?" Ka'eo inquired in a demanding manner.

"No, I'm not going anywhere with you guys until we get rid of this alien anomaly you guys have carelessly stowed onboard the ship," Stavros punched.

Mana groaned, "No, f$ck you, then, you b$tch, I'll f$cking blow the ship up, then. Yeah!"

Stavros cracked up.

Peter cautioned, "No, Ka'eo's right, we want to get out of here as soon as possible before a real alien anomaly shows up and then we're really f$cked."

"Yeah, Mana! Leave!" Stavros continued, laughing.

"You know what?! How about I throw you off the ship!" Mana joked with him. "I'll just press the f$cking launch button and eject you into the sun!"

"Nooo, don't touch me, because then I'll have to be decontaminated," Stavros joked back.

"Alright, guys, seriously, get into your positions so we can get this ship moving. We're going to pick up some more crew members, too, and that way we'll be prepared for some more challenging objectives," Ka'eo commanded.

"I don't listen to black people!" Mana crudely joked.

"Yeah, me neither," added Stavros.

Mana and Stavros both chuckled. Ka'eo sighed, much to Peter's amusement as he cackled again.

Peter teased, laughing, "You hear him?" He mimicked Ka'eo's sigh. Peter disengaged from the jabbing, "Ka'eo, come up to the bridge and help me make sure we're set on the right course. You said that we're going to— what solar system?"

"F$ck system!" Mana jabbed.

"Yeah, we're going to f$ck system!" Stavros joked with Mana.

There was a long pause.

"Well, it looks like we're going to f$ck system, then," said Peter, laughing loudly.

Ka'eo stayed focused on climbing up to the bridge area of the ship. He noted to himself that the ship was too large for only a crew of four members, having hoped for more people to be a part of the initial crew. Still, he felt comfortable with his crew mates, and he knew that with any surprises, they would manage their way through to workable solutions. Despite their unorthodox communication, their flair was unique and acceptable in the cosmos.

[nebelihood]

Yo ya no les creo nada

I HAVEN'T FINISHED WATCHING THE SEASON- but I wanted to practice sort of s disney style trying to keep the features as practice? didn't work out that much (specially Guillermo- sorry buddie. Better luck next time) I FEEL LIKE I DRAW NANDOR PRETTIER AAHAHA- LIKE instead of masculine as he is, I make him like a disney princess or something L (maybe I'm the only one who sees that) ANYWAY-

SPOILERS AHEAD

arghhh I have no faith in the ship anymore but we'll see. I hate/love the little crumbs they leave cause I'm completely lost as in to what I should believe. I think there are some good signs (Like Nandor mourning Guillermo's absene (although Guillermo literally leaving some steps away from their house), other members of the house (Nadja) acknowledging Guillermo is a soft spot for Nandor, Nandor respecting Guillermo's boundaries. BIG ONE TO ME WAS- how they could have f+cked everything up on the third episode and forced Guillermo into going just they way he was before.THIS REALLY TOOK ME BY SURPRISE. IT WOULDN'T HAVE BOTHERED ME- I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS HILARIOUS but definitely would have ruined their relationship big time when Guillermo finally remembered everything in the future. For Nandor a character who is very... egotiscial? Having a person who is somewhat (actually) meaninful to him (even if he has never brought himself to admit it with confidence) a person who has lost respect for him- to actually like him back again- to admire him and compliment him just like the first time they met. I bet the first time they met he couldn't careless for Guillermo's little sad back story and his high regard for vampires and his compliments. I bet he would have shut him off as soon as possible. But now Guillermo is a person he esteems and has grown somewhat interested in him and his well-being. I bet he craves now to be part of his world. But now he esteems him enough to also be respectful (somewha,,,,) to his boundries. And for Nandor- I feel like that's such a big step x'000 (Anyways I'm in the 4th episode so I might be wrong aaaa but these where my thoughts) Besides- what I love about wwdits it's their dumb plot-twist and how they barely take anything too seriously so we'll see.

I have no hope for them anymore. I guess I wouldn't hate it if they ended up as friends or even if their paths got separated. Enough things have happened- maybe they were never meant to be (AAARGHHH oh well)

[vanimy]

So late for this but... let’s talk about two TV shows I’ve been obsessed with lately

I’m a very weird person because while everybody and their mother posted a lot of stuff during the various lockdowns we’ve been having for two years, I was keeping to myself and kinda dropped off the face of the Earth. For those who still care, I’m alive and for the others who’ll see this well, hello, there. 

Before talking about the two TV shows that kind of occupied my free time, a little digress on the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. Yes I’m kinda excited to see Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen get back to their iconic characters. Yes I liked seeing lil’ Luke out there who looks roughly the same age as the Luke I’m currently writing in my WIP that has yet to be posted BUT what kind of acting Hayden is going to have from under the suit? What on Tatooine is Obi-Wan going to do? Are they going to meet in total contradiction to the classic trilogy? Have chess games every year like Magneto and Xavier ?(I would actually pay to watch that but I’m not holding my breath) Do I trust Disney to not  ruin two characters I love? NOPE. Which is why even though the mere announcement of that show fueled my need to write SW again (actually pick up an old project that was collecting dust on my hard drive) I am not about to suscribe to Disney and give money to the monster that ate my SW babies. 

I’ll wait to see gifs on tumblr. 

- Lucifer : 

I started watching it during the first lockdown because I found myself watching a random  Tom Ellis video on YouTube and his accent did things to me.

 I really enjoyed the first season, the show was basically crack (I mean the very premise of it being about the Devil who opens up a nightclub, goes to therapy and solves crimes I mean come on...) but I liked the fact it was crack and the show didn’t take itself seriously. Then I was obsessed come season 2 because the story got deeper, the character issues and relationships really pulled me in and it was still as funny as the first season. Then I watched season 3 which was less enjoyable because Tom Welling is one of the worst actors I’ve ever seen and some plot twists were kind of ridiculous but the ending was great and then season 4 which is to me the best season of the show along with season 2 and by then I was ready to worship Netflix because I thought the writing and acting had been raised to the top during that season which happened to be when the show was bought by Netflix. But then season 5 happened and boy was it a mess. The show started to take itself way too seriously and the plot twists (I mean seriously an evil twin that no one ever talked about before? I know it’s in the comics but I think this is one instance where written form doesn’t translate well into visual media),  the main female character whose story never revolved solely around Lucifer in the first seasons suddenly is all about the male lead like all she talked about was him and their relationship all the time and I was fed up by half season and while I really enjoyed God and Lucifer making up (yeah I know how that sentence sounds like) I think I liked that God was a mysterious figure throughout the show, sure the comic potential of bringing him to Earth brought out laughs but in the end I liked it better when the main characters were as clueless as we are in real life. And since I’m weird, the last season which really brought a divide amongst fans and made a lot of people mad, well this one I actually liked. Maybe because I didn’t watch it right away and thought it would suck and by the time I did, I was genuinely surprised, I liked the ending, it was the right kind of bittersweet. But I shouldn’t be surprised, I’m usually in the minority. Sure Linda is great but the know it all attitude and the focus she kept on getting to the detriment of other characters and the fact every man seemed to fall for her became kinda ridiculous at some point. I’m not even going to touch the whole baby story. Sure Maze is badass and one of my favorites but why is she NEVER held accountable for her bad actions? Like never. Everyone always forgives her betrayals and that’s... lame.  Sure I loved Chloe but I had a hard time reconciling the Chloe from the first season with how she was later on, like she had a personality transplant or something. The only characters that I felt had good evolutions were probably Lucifer and Amenadiel.

Anyway, farewell Lucifer. By the time it ended I wasn’t as obsessed as I once was with the show so I’m not sure I’ll rewatch it again but I thought the ending was satisfying and I enjoyed these characters. That was really bittersweet to see it end. 

- Shadow and Bone :

The need to rant somewhere about something as trivial as a TV show I was starting to get invested in made me turn back to Tumblr and reactivate a long dead blog. Because all of us still around here know this is the only place to be when you want to do that.

So here we go !

I'll start this review by saying my lil sis convinced me to watch this show by the mere following promise : There's a dark hot guy in there I KNOW you're going to love.

Cue end of the pilot and that first shot of Ben Barnes standing there all dark and hot even though we only see him from the back and...

yep.... I was gone. So first warning, this review/rant is going to be partial to the Darkling which explains partly why I was disappointed by the end of the season and fighting against myself regarding the Darklina ship. Second warning, I haven't read the books, I only searched a bit for what's next so I know how it ends basically but my feelings are only based on the show.

So let's start with what I loved about the show :

-New mythology, characters, locations. Cool powers, I really love the whole Grisha thing, the discrimination that goes along with it. Really cool environment I got sucked into.

-Apart from one character in particular (I'll come back to that later) I really loved all the characters. I liked Genya and Nina but my absolute faves are Alina, the Darkling and all the Crows, especially Inej and Jesper. The Crows' story is the only one that never disappointed me actually, I loved their dynamic and their tight group and Inej is my QUEEN alright? I hope we're going to see much more of her later on. Kaz and she were too cute together as well. Probably the only ship I liked that ended on a good note by the end of the season, lol.

-The visuals of the powers being used in action, the action sequences. WOW. That first ambush scene with Alina being brought to the palace and we're shown the way the Grisha powers work was chef's kiss. And right after that, the first time we see the Darkling summon the shadows then the Cut was so beautiful visually it actually gave me inspiration for something I was working on for my Star Wars fic in progress (sidenote: I'm currently writing a SW fic where Anakin becomes more powerful and can see the Force Matrix!Neo like and those visuals of the shadows around him like in that scene stayed with me and inspired me to picture the dark side. /end of sidenote). Also some shots are really well done and so symbolic I can't. For example one of my favorite scenes in 1x04 with Alina and the Darkling chatting late at night in his room. There's that beautiful moment when her light literally chases away the shadows and they're inside a bubble of sunlight and the expression on my face was close to Ben Barnes' when he looked at Alina. Also at the end of said scene when Alina is like “hotness activated must go” and leaves the room, there's this beautiful shot of her leaning against the closed door in the light and him coming closer to her in the darkness but they're both separated by the door and she leaves first as he approaches and I can't with the symbolism and the foreshadowing.

-I know I'm repeating myself  but Inej, Inej, Inej. Kicking ass, her dilemma about taking lives, her faith. I really loved that the story that was given to her ( the whole dilemma of killing vs her faith) was a plot that would usually be reserved to a male character but was given to her here. 

-The whole shenanigans around Milo. Seriously. This was so good.

-The turns and twists of the story. All this time I really didn't know why the Darkling would need Alina's power if he was a bad guy because I could only picture her power being useful to destroy the Fold and Episode 8 threw me for a loop. Also the collar thing did but that's for later about the things I didn't like.

-Alina, Alina, Alina. In terms of female characters I fell for Inej first (and I really loved that those two became almost instant BFFs). I liked Alina from the get go but I didn't stan her right away because at first I was fed up with Alina's constant moaning about having luxuries at the Palace, her powers and needing Mal (more on that later) but once she grew into herself, started to befriend other people in the Palace and became more confident about her powers, oh yes she became my second Queen definitely.

-The Darkling, the Darkling, the Darkling. First Ben Barnes. Man he's not only very very easy on the eyes

 (yes I'm shallow, sue me),

 he's a great actor and he has such presence on screen. I talked about that wonderful scene in episode 2 when he arrives and summons the shadows for the first time, that quiet calm he exudes and from the start he keeps you on edge. He looks and feels like a dark character from the start so you ask yourself can he really be trusted? and then you keep changing from “yes” to “no” to “yes maybe?” to “no definitely” to “Ugh I don't know”. Even when he started to turn full villain at the end, he played the character so well I couldn't quite hate him. I really really wanted to (more on that later) but dammit even when he's in full Villain mode he's still fascinating to watch. Best roasting lines, best entrances à la Darth Vader  (for those who follow my blog you know this is one thing that will always be good in my book).

 I was disappointed by the ending but I think he was at least more or less consistent in his character development, I could always follow his line of thinking (even when he was an asshole) and the backstory was a nice touch even though it was definitely too short.

-Last but not least. The Darklina ship. At first I didn't want to ship it because I'm a canon Nazi and I could feel from the get go that ship was probably doomed. I mean, the Darkling is called the Darkling and he cuts a guy in several pieces like two scenes in. It was also very obvious the writers wanted us to ship Mal/Alina, since that ship was very much shoved down our throats all the time, what with those few flashbacks scenes (that was more or less that same meadow scene on repeat) and emphasis on them despairing away from each other. I'm really happy for those who ship Malina, seriously you're probably right to, since it's clearly written as the only ship you're supposed to root for, time and time again. So power to you shippers, it's kind of obvious it's going to be endgame (and from what I read here and there after watching the show, it ends up that way in the books). But for myself, I never managed to like the Malina ship (mainly because I seriously dislike Mal as a character but more on that later). And then I got sucked in by the Darklina ship from the very first scene they shared. GODDAMMIT THE CHEMISTRY between the two actors. I hadn't witnessed such chemistry in a long time. I mean, the first episode we see them together and they share like what 2 or 3 scenes, I thought they were going to literally start making out by the end of their second scene together and I wouldn't have batted an eyelash at how fast it would've gone. That was insane chemistry. And on top of that you have other things that made this relationship or at least the potential of it fascinating. First, Ben Barnes and Jessie Mei Li played the characters as those two always fascinated by each other and longing for each other in a very real raw way (yeah, even at the messy end except for that last episode I will return to shortly). Second the parallels and the fact they're the exact opposites in terms of power yet complete each other. From the get go I was like “OMG he's the yin to her yang” their powers complete each other, she's the light he's the darkness and so on. I was really excited about the possibilities for a beautiful relationship.

I mean...

But that was before THE TWIST.

-Which brings me to the things I disliked :

-I have no idea how it's played out in the books but even though I loved her, at times Alina's character suffered from inconsistent reactions that kind of irked me. Like for instance, Alina goes from moaning about Mal every two seconds to “he's not responding to my letters so I don't give a rat's ass about him anymore” in the course of one scene even though Mal might have had good reasons not to respond to those letters. I mean it's not like the guy wasn't fighting in a freaking war, you know? The fact she was wary at first yet never even doubted once her letters could be intercepted was also plain stupidity. Then she jumps straight into a relationship with the Darkling (I mean, we all get it, look at him but still...) and then in the space of literally two minutes  Baghra reveals the plot twist (it wasn't much of a twist that Aleksander had a hidden agenda to be fair but the reveal that he was the Black Heretic, was immortal, wanted to use the stag to control Alina, Baghra was his mother and so on, that felt like a lot and THAT was a twist for me at least), then Alina shows two seconds of grief then completely gets over it (after being completely in love with the guy two seconds ago) believes Baghra on the spot (had the information come from Genya I would've totally believed it but why would she believe Baghra so easily ? Baghra's always been mean to her and everyone and is Aleksander's mother which makes her not to be trusted as well?) then flees without even showing the slightest emotion to part from her friends in the Palace and everything. There was also that missed opportunity of her grieving for Marie who got killed to protect her and about whom she was supposed to care.

(I'll admit though, the scene when she ends up being the Crows' sort of captive without knowing it and the timing of it were really much fun).

Then she goes back to mooning over Mal and hating the Darkling (with good reason after the antler scene) then not so much then not caring at all. Look hating the Darkling's guts I get it but being indifferent about his apparent death didn't sit right with me. It gave me whiplash.

-In that same vein I didn't like how Zoya did a 180 turn at the end. Sure it was her family out there but first that information should've been something that appeared beforehand, not shoe horned it in the very last episode, right when they're already sailing (unless I missed something). As soon as she started saying she had loved ones on the other side of the Fold I knew they were toast. Zoya should've appeared more conflicted at the end, IDK make her turn against her fellow Grisha to do the right thing then make her mourn the people she had to kill or something, or make her resent Alina still and dislike her instead of becoming instant BFFs at the end (it worked with Inej but with Zoya it felt way too forced) things aren't black and white. It also portrayed Zoya as fickle IMO because she was shown to be jealous of Alina because she was the new General's favorite and pissed because the Darkling turned her down so this made her look like she changed loyalties because she was rejected. Which I know isn't the reason but it could be interpreted that way since there was no sign at all she was doubting her orders or whatever before that and was “ride or die” for the Darkling right before that.  

-I said I shipped Darklina. Hard. Yeah well that was before Episode 7 and that awful collar twist. That whole thing was disgusting and turned me off, made me really dislike the Darkling (the only time when I softened the slightest bit was that “Make me a villain” scene because Ben Barnes and Jessie Mei Li played that scene with such emotions and that almost made me melt me again). Until then I thought there could be a way for them to patch things up, that the Darkling was kind of Magneto and Alina could be like Professor Xavier in X-Men you know, like they're on opposite sides of a war because Alina is a good guy and the Darkling is an extremist but when it comes down to it you just know these two will never hurt each other personally. But then he put that collar on her, took away her power, and I was so DISAPPOINTED. Man the potential for that relationship, it all turned to waste in that single act and I was like so bummed. No offense to the Spike/Buffy or Reylos shippers but I've always hated those ships, that's going too far for me, this is entering toxic territory and I was like Alina with Adele singing in my head “We could've had it all...”I was pissed because I knew I couldn't really ship it afterwards and damn it that waste of chemistry, of great potential for a story on light and dark and their powers and rivalry while still loving each other and everything. I felt like I was gaslighted you know. Why make him a sympathetic villain until then?  If only he had done something redeeming like IDK withdrawing the collar afterwards or stopping during the sailing or whatever, I could've been there for the angst and redemption but nope by Episode 8 the Darkling had become that cartoonish villain, showed no remorse (seriously I was half expecting him to shout “unlimited poweeeeeer” à la Palpatine at some point), Alina was looking at him “like that guy's a monster I can't wait till he dies”, telling him she never needed him (which irked me TBH I would've preferred something like “I don't need you anymore” which would've been more accurate but still badass because that would've still meant “fuck you” but I digress) and he was about to kill her if Mal hadn't intervened and the writers so obviously wanted you to hate the Darkling at the end it wasn't even funny. That ending scene when he exits the Fold all villain like was badass but it's obvious more than ever he's supposed to be The Villain TM and that just made me mad as hell. I know a lot of people still ship Darklina but I know I was disappointed.

Me after finishing the season : I'll never ship Darklina again.

Also me after watching Darklina YT vids in the midst of this review : 

Fuck I still ship it.

Alas I don't believe we're going to see any change to the story from the books so that means he's probably going to die and Alina won't care and you wouldn't blame her and fuck this ugh. I mean, they wouldn't have ended the first season with Mal and Alina against the world and the Darkling being rejected by his own troops, fully evil and surrounded by dark creatures (and his beautiful face marred dammit) if they were going for a redemption arc. Hope I'm wrong (really do) but I don't think so unfortunately.  

-I really dislike Mal as a character. Sorry I just really dislike him, he's just so... bland. At the end, I don't know much about him and I don't connect or relate to him at all. He's brave and loyal and that's it, that's all I know about that guy. The actor tries but he can’t make up for the way the character just doesn't do it for me. Before someone tells me that’s because I’m the Darkling’s b*tch, I have to mention I just wasn't interested in Mal from the get go, before the Darkling appeared, not the way I was invested in Alina and the Crows from the get go, and after that, Mal was portrayed in such a ridiculous Gary Stu way it just took me out of the show. The amount of times when he should've dropped dead yet miraculously survived was preposterous and made me roll my eyes so hard. I also dislike his dynamic with Alina. At the end of the season I was hoping Alina would drop both men and find herself another third better guy (or hook up with Inej, I would root for that ship).

Look, it's not like I’ve always been a gal who shipped toxic enemies to lovers ships usually, far from it I'm actually usually rooting for the sweet ships and the whole first love thing is usually my thing but I like it better when a ship isn't shoved down my throat with the whole “We are epic TM” stance while giving us only literally two scenes before separating the characters. Mal and Alina gave me major Dawson/Joey vibes (for those of you who followed that delicious 90s show) and that's not a compliment (yes back in the days like a lot of teen girls I was shipping them at first because the writers wanted you to ship them but then the superior Pacey/Joey ship happened and a lot of people including me jumped ship and never looked back because Dawson was the embodiment of The Nice Guy TM and we were starting to realize how toxic that was back then).

Another nail in the coffin is that I don't feel the chemistry between the two actors who felt more like brother/sister when they reunited at the end than anything else. Also I can't root for a ship where the guy never saw her for who she was even though they knew each other for so long and only wanted her when he lost her. I also couldn't get into a ship where the female character was sabotaging herself to be able to be with the guy and thrived only once she was away from her male counterpart - it really felt like she blossomed away from Mal - AND fell in love/was infatuated with another guy two minutes after leaving the first one. I just can't. There were times when I felt something close to caring like when Mal and Alina reunited in the woods in episode 6 and when he told her she didn't owe him any explanation about the Darkling and her, that was a real mature way of handling everything but shipping it? Nope.

So the novel is over. I didn't like the ending of the season (and probably the end of the series as a whole down the line) because it’s such wasted potential to me. But the good I listed outweighed the bad so I'll probably watch the next season anyway and try to focus on the Crows and Alina as a character, watch the Darkling as the Villain he is and... not expect anything on the Darklina front.

*watches YT vids and reads Darklina fics on AO3*

Dammit.  

[gwyns]

Is it true that there is an artwork of Lucien searching for Elain while she's banging Azriel? And an artwork of Lucien abusing Elain?

If so, could you or anyone else tell me the name of the artist? I don't want to support them nor see their content. I want to stay far away from that artist.

It's upsetting to me that El/riels have painted Lucien as this abuser. I have been in a extrem abusive friendship before and I know exactly how it feels like to be in that kind of friendship and having such difficulties to leave that friend, because you think you owe them everything and that you're in the wrong. This is one of the things that make me relate to this character. Lucien did try to help Feyre and had to make decisions that were not easy. Everytime he tried to help Feyre, he would get abused by Tamlin. Of course he would try to bring back Feyre from the NC in order to stop Tamlin to make a deal with Hybern + thinking that Feyre is hurting in the NC, because of the reputation that Rhys has. Lucien has seen and heard about the many f*cked up sh*t that Rhys did and he's known for manipulation, so obviously in his eyes, the NC wouldn't be a good option. Even if, Lucien has apologized and made up for it by freeing Vassa and bringing a whole army to fight Hybern. Then, Lucien has never ever done anything to Elain. Tugging on the bond? Feyre told him to find out what is "wrong" with her. Claiming she's "his" in his mind? That was the mating bond speaking and he claimed he is hers as well. Giving Elain presents? He did that on winter solstice and he brought presents for Feyre too. He visits Velaris rarely and it's not even always for Elain. When he's there, he doesn't watch her like a hawk, he talks to the others. It's all funny, considering they're the same people that claim he doesn't care about Elain because he's far away from her. But when he breathes the same air as her, he's abusing her?

Azriel has done and said worse things about Elain. "He hadn't gotten that far with his planning certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to" "yet the third is given to another" "I could easily beat him" + underestimating Elain and going so far as to tell the IC that Elain shouldn't help, when she wanted to. But that is not entitlement, it's all love and "omg he cares so much for her"?! He's worse to Mor even, yet Mor got all the blame. But Is it even surprising? Gwyn had done nothing wrong at all, yet you've seen all the evil theories that include Gwyn's SA.

Abuse is not a godsdamn joke and I'm dissapointed to see people see it as one. It's hurting me 🙁

unfortunately i think these do exist. i haven't seen them myself (thank god) but i've seen enough people discuss them. if anyone can help anon out with who the artist(s) are that would be very much appreciated !!!

i understand how frustrating it can be to see a whole side of the fandom purposefully misread a character and villianize them all for a ship. lucien has always been my favorite and it sucks, it really does, to have so many go out of their way to be so obtuse. lucien tried to help feyre, MULTIPLE times. and if there was anything for him to be forgiven for, she already has so what's everyone's issue? he "wronged" feyre, not you.

i never see lucien antis talk about how literally EVERYONE saw rhys as this horrible, sadistic, monster... bc they did, and you know why? BC RHYS HIMSELF MADE THAT HIS REPUTATION. it is not wrong for a character to be wary of him, especially if they don't know him as well as feyre or the reader does. i don't understand how this concept is so hard to grasp?

exactly anon, ex-fucking-actly. if lucien shows an interest in elain, he's abusive and not respecting her choice, but if he leaves and gives her space, he simply doesn't care!! lucien is the most respectful man in this series. he's showing elain that he would like to get to know her, if she chooses, and giving her the time and space to figure out what she wants. he's doing everything right. if i wasn't already convinced that e/riels haven't read the books, this would do it for me.

YES!!!!!!! azriel has CANONICALLY treated elain as an object. being called "the third" is so fucking gross. he doesn't view her as elain, a PERSON, he views her as a mate that the cauldron "gave" to lucien. i understand that azriel isn't in the best place mentally rn but this behavior is so.... disgusting.

i'm so pissed at how this fandom treats mor. azriel is a GROWN ASS MAN if he can't understand that mor doesn't reciprocate his feelings after 500+ years, that's on HIM. not her. do i think they should sit down and talk about everything? sure!! but it is in no way mor's fault for how he has acted.

don't even get me started on gwyn... the way they treat her is so disheartening. i just know they're awful people irl too.

i hope with the official announcement of acotar 5 that all of this will calm down some, it might be a bit delusional to think this way, but i'm so tired of all the negativity within this fandom. this used to be my safe space but now..... :/

i'm so sorry you have to deal with this, anon. i'm always, always here if you need anything 💕✨

[ectora]

REVIEW 313

took me some time to actually get into that review lmao But i really loved the episode. I know some people will probably have complains about it, but as someone who absolutely loves Abigael, I really liked it. And honestly the fact that abigael was finally included in the main story is not even the reason why. I loved the pacing, it actually felt like Charmed. The stakes, the construction, the format, it was all on point. It was genuinely their best episode alongside 307 (two episodes related to the tomb lmao) and one of their best in the show imo.

I've put it in "hidden" cause it ended up being so long I did not expect that im sorry 😭

SCREEN TIME

Maggie: 29m20s

Macy: 27m36s

Mel: 25m39s

Abigael: 20m17s

Jordan: 10m32s

Harry: 47s

Not gonna lie, I did not miss Harry this episode. Maybe it's just cause I don't like the way they have been writing both him and Macy this season, way too focused on the relationship, but his story does not really interest me. And I enjoy watching Macy interact with other characters a lot more. I think we could have had a little bit more of Jordan as well.

What I liked

where do i even start. I genuinely enjoyed so many things in this episode.

As said earlier, I really enjoyed the structure of the episode, to me it finally really felt like charmed. The way the episode was done was beautiful and I LOVED the trial in a general manner. They're terrible lawyers, but still loved it lmao

Ok hear me out, the fact they had abigael and macy say what the fan had been saying but reversing the roles was actually sent me lmao

I really enjoyed that they balanced the rights and wrongs of abigael. I'm part of the people who think that overall, most of what she did was not that deep tbh, but the episode allowed to have nuances and hold her accountable for things she did while also recognising that she did good things.

Abigael finally interacting with the sisters. To me, that's the sign of good characters tbh, how they can interact with different other leads/mains and such relationships being interesting. Abimel, i'll talk about it a bit later cause i have lots to say. But AbiMacy ? I absolutely always love their scenes, one of the reasons being that I genuinely think they're the two best actresses in the show and you can really feel it when they're on screen. They have easy chemistry and whatever they are doing, they just work. They also had one of the best potential of the show in terms of dynamic and I will never forgive the writers for ruining this, especially because it's in part because of a man. Anyway, their scenes were amazing to watch and I need more. I was especially happy because let's be honest, if Macy has valid reasons to dislike Abigael, they often miss-portrayed that in the show and it often came across as being mostly based on the whole love triangle between Macy Abi and Harry. But this time it really was not and Macy was quite fair, even reaching the conclusion Abi doesn't belong in there - she does not- and I liked that they actually were fair on Macy's dislike and distrust. Then there was AbiMaggie. Honestly, it's not a relationship i expected to enjoy that much but oh god i love them. I loved them in episode 207 and I still do. They just have such a funny dynamic, I can't even explain it correctly but it just work. They're throwing remarks at each other sure but it's almost in a sweet funny way. Abigael calling Maggie 'Legally Brunette" was so funny and cute at the same time.

Talking about Maggie, I really liked her this episode. I love how she reacts in situations where they need a cold head. She takes the lead, she does what needs to be done and she reaches the goal. I really enjoy seeing her taking that role a little bit more. Especially because to me Maggie was always the one with the most nuanced view on the world which I really appreciate. I loved her speech at the end and she grew so much since season 1, she's really so great. The more we advance in the show, the more she shines.

I really liked what happened at the end with the sisters recognising that they are themselves not perfect and are even chaotic. I have a point about being chaotic for later but anyway. Yes the sisters are not perfect. Honestly, they have done questionable things in the past themselves and often are the cataclysm of new things happening. I think it just makes them more interesting and better characters. Black and white can only get so long. Nuanced, imperfect, that's where the complexity lies and what is more interesting imo.

The perfecti really are good characters. I mean their logic was completely f*cked, but they are so entertaining to watch, it's actually great. I like also that they continued that idea that logic without emotion is dangerous. But in some ways tbh, the Perfecti are not even logical. They want to think they are, but their own logic is flawed and like Macy said, completely lacks context.

Finally the power of three and FINALLY, the plot goes forward. Maybe that's another reason I really enjoyed the episode, the fact that it actually had a good flow, it felt like one constructed episode and it actually advanced the story which cannot be said about a lot of the episodes. So I'm happy that happened.

And finally Abimel. I mean, no one can be surprised Abigael has feelings for Mel tbh, girl has not been subtle about it lmao But that declaration was actually cute and their scene at the bar ?? paralleling the one in season 2, it was so sweet. I just love them tbh, and I really think they could have been the ship a lot of us were waiting for in the sapphic community especially.

Abigael's past. Like I loved learning more about her past and her mom. Obviously her traumatic past does not exempt her from her own actions but I do believe it give strong grounds for redemption. it also gives us a lot of insights in her character. Her mom was an absolute monster and what she did to her was terrible. There is no surprise in Abigael's absolute lack of self worth and her unhealthy coping mechanism. Like her mom basically spent her life telling her she was deficient and then punished her for something she had no control on whatsoever. She punished Abigael for her own action and her own liaison with a demon. She probably projected her anger about that relationship on the child that came out of it and it's absolutely horrifying. Like no wonder Abigael is not fond of witches and went into the demon side tbh. Like that's not surprising at all. It also explains why she was so against the idea of witch = good that the sisters keep perpetuating because that's simply not what she experienced. Again, it does not excuse everything she did but I do believe it helps understand the character better and that ultimately, it gives space for a redemption. And again, kuddo to both poppy and the actress who played her mom. First that was great casting and it was really well played.

Remarks

To be honest, I don't really have things I genuinely disliked so I'm more gonna do like a section where i could criticise some of the aspect which to me did not necessarily made sense but were often still funny, and who knows maybe done on purpose. It's gonna be a mix of a little bit of everything.

One of the first thing I was kinda confused on was their use of the term chaos. Because, well, chaos doesn't equate evil. But that's the angle they started taking at the beginning which to me was confusing. It didn't make the episode bad, but the more I think about it, the more I'm like the defence they were going with had nothing to do with the charges 😭 Like, the sisters tried to prove that basically Abigael was a good person. But the charges were that she was chaotic. and by the end of the episode we did reach that kind of point where they said everyone was chaotic and everything - which i liked - but also didn't really match the angle they took the entire episode. Because, I personally never saw Abi as evil. But she is 100% chaotic like that girl is the definition of chaotic and I love her for it. But her doing good or bad is not necessarily what makes her chaotic. Good deeds can be as chaotic as bad ones. For example, Abi binding her own power could be considered as good by some people (it's not really but you see what I mean) but by doing so, she would lose the title of overlord and therefore end the treaty. In that case the war would start and that would definitely be chaotic. If she was to stay overlord however, and control the demon world, which can be seen as bad i guess, she is keeping the war from happening and stopping attacks toward witches and innocents, which is the contrary of chaotic. So yeah, the angle they took did not actually make that much sense cause the two are not the same.

Not gonna lie, bringing Godrik up was so weird to me cause like he tried to kill her first and they all know it, yet she was the one said to try to murder him and I was like ? did we all forgot what happened ? 😭

Some of the things brought by the perfecti - such as her killing those humans or demons - seemed weird because like, the sisters did the same in the past 😭 But also that's part of the whole lack of context aspect I guess.

No they really used Francesca as a witness out of all the people in the world like the woman is a whole child abuser who asked help to the elders, which have been established as like, not good people lmao I know it was part of the whole the perfecti are very selective on the information they actually take into account and they use the information as well as twist them to fir their own narrative but still it came across as weird because that woman was the definition of evil. But that's also what ticked the sisters so well.

Why did they not call Harry to testify was also kinda like ... weird. I mean at the same time I can't really complain but still, it was a bit odd. Also the fact they never thought about showing what was abigael actually doing with Jordan lmao I mean it wouldn't go along with the plot but still.

Ok, that take is subject to controversy and I know it but anyway : to me, Abi stealing Macy's power was ... not that deep. Don't get me wrong, the story was bad. The execution was even worse. In the show itself tho, objectively, as an act, it was not that bad. It actually made a lot of sense for Abigael to take it for herself. Macy wanted to get rid of her demon powers, no one was forcing her. And Abigael actually asked her multiples times if she was sure. Macy definitely had her reasons to do so. But at the end of the day, Abi picking them up when they were gonna disappear in thin air is really not that bad. It's logical. Don't get me wrong I'm glad Macy is getting them back, but I also think there has been a lot of mix up between the actual act of stealing the powers and the way it was done/optics ( I still don't understand how anyone wrote that scene and was like, yeah kneeling is a good idea ??? Like what's wrong with you 😭). But like ultimately, the act itself is not bad. questionable ? sure. Evil ? really not. Like let's be honest here. Abigael never hid who she was (past ep3 obviously). She did not pretend to be an angel, nor that she was a good samaritan. At the end of day, the sisters knew who she was and how she worked. They came to her knowing this. At some point, there is a need to acknowledge that, she was no angel, but they knew that and still went to her. She said it herself, she is used to fight for herself, and she'll sting to protect herself first - which i personally don't really hold again a character. If you go in bed with a scorpion, you can't ignore the fact there is a chance you're gonna get stung. Plus, when Abigael "stung" she also actually still gave them what they wanted/needed. I personally never saw self interest negating a good action. I don't really care if she gets something out of helping. Like at the end of the day, why wouldn't she take them ? In some ways however I do understand why Macy would be mad, she asked for help and she didn't realise Abigael stole them and she doesn't like abigael in the first place so why would she be ok with Abi taking them. That's valid too. But objectively, it was more a she was offended and mad that Abi herself had them more than a it's a terrible thing to do kinda feeling. So like it's a bit of a weird situation because Macy being annoyed and mad is valid but at the same time, it's really not that bad in itself. But overall that story should have never existed in the first place. And certainly not happen like this.

Abimel. I loved it but I also have issues with it. Mostly based on the fact we learned Poppy was leaving the show. And not gonna lie, I cant stop myself from feeling like it was almost a bit .. baity if I dare say. They had basically admitting having feelings for Mel and low key hoping it could lead somewhere when honestly, if she's leaving, they did not need to make it romantic. Because honestly, watching this episode not knowing she would leave ? You'd definitely could think it's happening, especially with all the other hints in the past. They could have made it like more about how Mel was the one giving her a real benefit of the doubt and they had a connexion and she wanted to be worthy of that. It would not be romantic. Especially cause she admitted caring about all sisters so it would have worked. Again, don't get me wrong, I want the most Abimel i can get lmao but also it feels a little weird. It's complicated. 😭

Jordan is definitely coming back, I just wonder what are going to be the circumstances. I completely understand why my boy needed a break. Like their time in the tomb was long. We don't exactly know how time works there but remember, in episode 7 when the sisters were stuck, the normal time was like what ? hours ? while in the tomb it was days for Maggie. So there it was days in normal time so in the tomb ? could potentially feel like weeks, months even. So yeah, give him a break and some time to breath. I know they're dragging this whole Joggie thing but because of Covid i also understand and will let it go. I really like them tho.

Abi has some alcohol problems I feel like should maybe be talked about. Like she uses it as an escape, as a way to numb her feelings. There is a reason it was used to symbolise her submitting herself to the tomb. And her first reaction after leaving the tomb was drinking. When she feels unhinged or vulnerable ? She drinks ? When she lost the title of overlord ? She drank. Alcohol is her escape which is a bit worrying.

Not about the episode but I think it needs to be brought up. I've seen people trying to say they brought up the abuse storyline for abigael out of nowhere and like. Listen I completely understand not trying to give more thoughts to a character you dislike, that's fair enough. But saying that storyline is out of nowhere is just a lie. The only new elements we had here were the details of the abuse she went through. They showed the clip again in the episode, where Abigael talks to Mel about her mom. She rejected her, she made her felt, deficient, wrong. All that is emotional abuse. She said her mom tried to fix her which can easily be thought about physical abuse. Like none of these things were new. To be honest, not a single thing they clarified/established for abigael this episode does not follow up with what was in the show in the past. Her feelings for Mel were honestly rather obvious at this point. Her not wanting TCO to get hurt ? There is literally a scene where Godrik tells her it's her head or the sisters and she never really even thought about throwing the sisters under the bus. She even asked who knew and it's easy to think it's because if no one knew she could put it under the rug. Again, it's fair enough for people to dislike her to not try to put more thoughts into her motivations or scenes in a general manner, but then you can't really say things are out of the blue.

And most importantly, I'm sorry, I don't care if you dislike the character, but if you dismiss the abuse just because of the dislike, that's a problem. What a character goes through in her past does not, in any way, have to change your opinion about them. Whatsoever. However when it comes to issues like child abuse, the bare minimum would be to be respectful of the subject and not say "she deserved it", "should have done more" or just say you don't care cause that changes nothing. Again, it doesn't have to change anyone's opinion at all and it does not excuse behaviours, but man, minimal respect is not that hard.

Highlights

This episode genuinely had such funny moments, i loved it.

« Is this a hard time to admit I failed debate in high school ? » and « could the defendant keep her commentary to herself » competing with each other for the funniest part of the episode. The delivery was perfect on both part. And Abi and Macy interactions are always so good and them bantering more or less seriously all the time is sending me. Macy was just so annoyed with her, i loved it.

« Need something legally brunettes » I said it already but I loved that little scene between AbiMaggie and that line particularly.

Abigael went from saying "I could care less about any of you" to "because I deeply care about her" followed by a whole ass declaration AND admitting she does actually care about all of them. My girl got absolutely played and it was genuinely so funny. Like Abigael was so freaking smug about testifying against herself and she got played so hard, she was SO annoyed it was actually hilarious.

"Every battle I fought, I fought alone" like excuse me while I'll go cry in a corner. Again, Poppy has been absolutely killing her role this season.

"Your arguments are illogical" the perfecti have such audacity like girl have you heard yourself ? 😭 no one is being less logical than you right now.

Lmao when Macy said Abigael belonged into the tomb, Mel was not agreeing 😭 And Maggie was having none of the drama either she just wanted out.

The sisters realising they had to be Abi's character witnesses lmao it was hilarious pleas idc.

Theories

With Poppy Drayton leaving, there are two theories I kinda have. Obviously Abigael is either gonna die or leave. Ngl, I can feel the dying one coming more but well, that brings the two theories.

Abigael would sacrifice herself. Which I don't like but honestly let's be honest, there are 95% chances of that happening. I could see her sacrifice herself for Mel or for the sisters in general. But that's where my abimel issues are coming. I love abimel. I want the most abimel i can have until the end. But Abigael admitting have feelings for Mel just in the purpose of having her sacrifice herself for her and to be 'worth it' ? that's not only a byg trope, it's also lazy.

If she just leave, which wouldn't really make sense to be honest cause why would she just leave, would she give up the title of overlord (why even) or would they bound her powers (i would hate that) ? but anyway, if that's the case, I could actually see her learn Waverly is not actually the one rejecting her. Waverly could very possibly not be the one who communicated with Jordan and the sisters. No one ever saw her, the letters are only signed by her name. It's a bit sus tbh, so nothing stops it from being Francesca actually impersonating her daughter to keep her away from Abigael.

I want to know more about the perfecti. We know they killed charmed ones before, and it doesn't seem like charmed ones existed when they were created ? Maybe the charmed ones were created after they went into the tomb ? I still am not sure about them going into the tomb by themselves tbh. But also they don't seem to be evil in the sense they want power or whatever, more in the fact like they consider themselves perfect and that if someone stands in their way, they'll just get rid of them.

[itsclydebitches]

(of vol8) This shit writing and fandom giving me SPN flashbacks. The cult-like following that dismisses most unless it's to critique a ship.

Yall...really going to justify James suddenly being a mass-murderer by pulling up the last 5 minutes of vol 7, like that kind of randomly shooting people isnt EXACTLY what we're saying is OOC.

So he's just killing random people now instead of arresting them? And people are saying rumor has it that he's going to use Watts to hack Penny? So they're going to pull a crow and Tyrion thing where they are going to have this guy who's usually smart suddenly pair up with a serial killer they JUST captured?

They really f*cked up by having him spare Watts, because now, him *murdering* instead of arresting children and councilmen makes little to zero sense.

I'm done with this series now. This went so stupid so fast.

Which - as I’ve continually said - is my problem with the Volume and what I mean when I say it’s badly written. The issue is not that Ironwood did become a villain, it’s that he became a villain in a stupid, completely unpersuasive manner. When I say “He’s not a villain” I’m not denying that he’s now shot people, I’m acknowledging that these events occurred with no buildup and contradict five volumes worth of information about him including, as you say, the fact that he spared Watts. But suddenly he tries to kill Oscar? After giving us years of Ironwood as a sometimes misguided but ultimately good man with the patience of a saint, you can’t just turn on a dime and erase all that, especially for no reason. We either needed a decently long decent into villainy that wasn’t continually undermined like it was in Volume 7 (e.g. Why is the story acting like Ironwood is a horrible person for using resources to save the world when the team won’t tell him that plan won’t work?), or we needed an outside force to turn Ironwood villainous against his will (e.g. Salem takes control of him via a grimm). What we’ve gotten is just bad writing. 

And I always come back to Ruby as a counter example. Ignoring all the horrible things she has done lately, what if she, next episode, started killing people? As far as we can see it’s entirely out of the blue and by no means necessary. RT has just randomly decided to take a flawed but ultimately good hero and turn her into a killer. Ruby kill shots Harriet with Crescent Rose because she’s sick of hearing her talk. Winter runs into the room screaming at her, wanting to know what she thinks she’s doing, and after showing empathy towards her team Ruby goes cold and shoots Winter in the hallway. Then the fandom starts scrambling for explanations. Regardless of whether RT would frame those acts as villainous or justified (because you know they would try to justify it with Ruby) it’s ridiculous either way because we haven’t done the work to build Ruby into someone who would just kill people at the drop of the hat, certainly not current/former allies. There’s a reason why, despite everything else she’s done, she stops at knocking out the Ace Ops. We understand that Ruby killing them because ‘Well now they won’t get in our way again’ doesn’t work for her character... so why do so many insist that it works for Ironwood? The Ironwood who defended Weiss? Begged Ozpin to come back? Was ready to let Qrow slice through him rather than raise a hand against him? Because he made a joke about shooting Qrow four volumes back? Funny how Qrow didn’t follow up on his own half of the threat when he indeed ended up working for Ironwood because it was a joke for he audience. 

Tl;dr “This went stupid so fast” yup. I’m afraid so :/

[bardicious]

Witcher Season 2 Spoilers

Onto more points.

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Main idea: I love this show and I realized I love Jaskier, but I also love everyone else. Random points and big points down below.

Ciri is downright adorable and witty, and it's been fun getting to see her outside of her run from Cintra. She continues to be traumatized and it's really fucked up how so many people come to fear her (what's kind of pissing me off about Triss because Ciri really doesn't need anymore of this shit - I'm not sure if Triss has a change of heart later but meh - I also get her feelings, but again, Ciri really doesn't deserve all this shit.)

Also Ciri's powers are siiiiiiick!

Yennefer, I love her, by far one of the most compelling characters. I honestly wish she had way more time with Jaskier and Ciri. Her interaction with Geralt was lovely, but not nearly in how I enjoyed her interact with the other two. And by the next season I hope she properly becomes Ciri's mother! :D

Geralt is Geralt. I like him, but I like him more as Ciri's dad, so glad he's not actively trying to run away from his feelings.

JASKIER, I JUST ADORE HIM, OKAY. Not nearly enough scenes for him, but it's understandable. Also the whump was kind of lacking if I'm being honest. But I enjoyed the implications of it. Genuinely wanted him to get beat up more. LMAO. (Hoping my fic writing peeps will have my back - it's okay if not... unless?)

Jaskier's SONGS. JUST OMFG. HIS SONGS.

That moment when Yennefer realized he was in trouble. 😭😭😭🥺🥺 THEY'RE FRIENDS.

I WISH JASKIER AND LAMBERT GOT A CHANCE TO TALK BUT YOU KNOW BLAME FIC WRITERS FOR THAT ONE. Also feel like fic writers got Lambert's personality spot on. 🤷‍♀️

I am probably going to be shipping Jaskier with Yennefer or Lambert, because a. both are hot b. I enjoy both of their personalities c. I want Jaskier to be with a proper badass d. I've never been a gereskier shipper really - probably just cause I'm not too into henry cavill? looks wise, I mean)

And uuuuuh, unfortunately Eskel is completely off the table, cause show Eskel felt.... meh.

Dara makes a come back this season which is great! And I'm so glad that the elves are siding with Ciri??? Literally the only people I am sympathetic towards. I know they've done bad too in some cases, but literally out of fear and constant abuse soooo....

Nilfguard, the Northern Kingdoms, and the Mage Brotherhood can go to hell.

Anyway! These were my ramblings. I imagine you've gotten nothing useful from this. Literally just gushing nonsensically. Main points of both my reviews, costume department did bad bad! Writing department had different choices than I'm sure the ole Witcher fandom won't like (Eskel change - which fair), but I honestly don't know or follow the other stuff so I really don't care, lmao. And so little whump for the bard! Which is bad! More whump next season! 😡(Glad that only the bad guys really got f*cked in certain cases, or people I don't know well)

PS. Lets not forget Jaskier's poor lute. And Roach. May they both rest in peace.

[pruehalliwel]

hey so I'm also really excited for the reboot and really bummed about all the hate it's been getting but seeing you so excited for it makes me happy!! i hate how anti a lot of the fandom is and it just makes me so happy to see someone else excited for it!

Hey! Aww lol well I am super excited! Yeah, I’ve seen so much hatred and rude comments to the new cast and the reboot, many racist comments and literally fans trying to get these new girls fired, but honestly I’m not surprised, I don’t claim any of them, I am no part of that “fandom”, there’s some great people who are in it and even if they don’t want the reboot, they’re respectful about it and move on, but a lot of f*cked up people are in the fandom as well, so I want nothing to do with any of them.

I mean, this is the same fandom who constantly talk about how much they hate Prue half the time, but say one word about their beloved Piper (no offense to people who favor Piper, some are amazing people) they’ll bite your head off. As a big fan of Prue, you can see why for that alone, I don’t want to associate with them lmao. Oh, and same with Paige, you can’t like Prue and Paige, it makes you a fake fan, you have to choose!!!!!1!!1  I could go on an entire rant about all the characters/ships I have issues with in the show, seriously, but I don’t because I’m not an assh*le who feels the need to shame anyone or make them feel bad for liking something/someone/etc. and tagging it for the rest of fans to see, just to cause and stir up trouble.

You will never see me bash any characters or be disrespectful in a place where other fans will see it because that’s a place for fans to show love and that’s what fandoms should be, but they’re not, especially this one, as much as they like to pretend they are. If I have opinions, they don’t need to be projected so the entire fandom hears it, they are mine, they stay mine, I keep my mouth shut if I don’t like something and keep it moving. But I have met some great people who are fans of the show, I’m glad I can talk to them in a positive sense and we appreciate the show together.

They’re already bashing the new show and the actors when it hasn’t even come out yet and acting as if the reboot “disrespects” the original, when in reality seasons 5-8 of og Charmed were a plot-hole filled sh*t show and was disrespectful to the original 4 seasons of the show, if you want me to be honest. Plus, they wanna act as though the new show erases the original, like there is 8 seasons literally in like 4 different dvd box sets, go buy one, stream it, whatever, literally just shut up and go watch it if you love it so damn much lol ain’t nobody holding a gun to their heads saying “you can’t watch the old charmed anymore!!1!!”. Literally, there is zero need to spread hate about a show they have yet to even see and to go sending hate to the new ladies, who haven’t done a damn thing to deserve it. None of the old cast/characters are perfect, neither was the og show and neither will this new one. I just wish everyone would stop being dicks about it.

Anyways, I love the original, even with all of its countless flaws, I am still super excited for the reboot! I can’t wait to see how similar and different the story will be and how their powers are different and will evolve from the original.I’ve been a long time og Charmed fan, I watched it since it came out until it ended and I love it, but it doesn’t mean I can’t love the new one either, so I’m happy to see others that are excited and open minded about it as well! :)

[heavens-trashh]

awwwwww tyvm! @emrysofealdor for the tag:') 💖

ok so:

3 Ships: i kinda hace a lot of ships but ill try to put only my otps.

we have my first and most precious (and hetero lol) ship, STYDIA from teen wolf and well they are an ICON. probably the one and only hetero ship that I have* :).

umm u know, I have a lot of british gay (or homoerotic u choose) ships but my otp maybe is MERTHUR, tho i think johnlock hittted me harder and earlier. those two just took my heart and broke it into thousand of pieces.

and well, this one is new but for the same reason i will FIGHT FOR THEM :), JJ/POPE from Outer Banks(? im bad with names sorry) and thank god im not alone in this one, rudy made this whole thing between them more than just a friendship and SPOILER ALERT jj literally sacrificies himself and gets f*cked up for him and much more, im feral about this one lol.

Last Song: oh god umm it was meet me at the pale moonlight by lana del rey, I love that song and I havent heard it in a long time so :) but i had to stop it cus i had an online class:(.

Last Movie: umm i dont remember *goes and checks netflix* i watched a documental on Netflix "Disclousure" its about transgender people and their experience on screen. (really good and i've learned a lot so go watch it) and also Doctor Strange.

Currently Reading: oh god the academia side of me its so sad, I havent read anything in months:'( cus idk what to read BUT i saw two books lately and I hope i can get them:(.

Currently Consuming: Not much, i've just woke up, I've put water to boil so I can make tea and welp i think ill watch something on the TV, but meh.

Food I'm Craving Right Now: Lays Stax Sour Cream and Onion® chips:) they're my fav! im finishing them:) (this is crap to my colesterol but then i take two or three cups of tea) ✨

*that was a lie cus i have more hetero ships i just didnt remember them.

hey hey hey!

@fishoutofcamelot @doctorqueensanatomy @qollophead @dianahprince @justtrashperson (and probably i have more but god im terrible with names😪, also you arent forced to do it🤗✨) 💗

Aww thank you for the tag! @credentiast <3 This was fun! 

3 ships: MERTHUR - They’re my absolute otp of all time ever <3 I just love them and their story is constantly inspiring. They’re my heart and soul.

I have ships that I think are cute and sweet etc but I’ll try to include 2 more which mean a bit more than that to me. I’m gonna go with Frodo and Sam from LOTR for my next one because they’re just EPIC. And lastly Mulder and Scully (from classic x-files I never liked the reboot series)

Last Song: Oh it was one from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack ‘Be my Baby’. I have a very weird wide taste in music xD

Last Movie: Lord of the Rings Return of the King. I actually re-watched the entire trilogy again for the first time in ages and I tell ya I bawled like a baby. Those movies mean a lot to me and even though I’ve watched them 100 times literally they never lose their emotion or power. I just remembered the last film I actually watched was mamma mia 2 on Netlfix but I’m not gonna talk about that

Currently Reading: The BBC Merlin books and also a Merthur fanfic :)

Currently Consuming: I was the same as you is this food or shows lol?! Well, always chocolate lol currently a bounty bar and on Netflix, Once Upon a Time, The Sinner, The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance <3 again lol and The Witcher (again)

Food I’m craving right now: Chocolate. I have a problem xD

Tag 9 people you want to know better or want to catch up with: I’m gonna tag these lovelies: @witchmd13 @tolkienlockian @pen-dragonlord @dollopheadsandclotpoles @cominguproses13x @qollophead @poetryincamelot @butterbun @mother-of-lionss @brighter-side-of-the-coin @clotpole-merlin @merlinemrys okay I did more than 9 xD