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justforbooks · 11 months

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Astrud Gilberto, who has died aged 83, became the best known female bossa nova singer, thanks to her cool, breathy and delightful treatment of The Girl from Ipanema, a song that sold more than a million copies when it was released as a single in 1964, and introduced the laid-back, sophisticated Brazilian musical style to a vast new audience across the US and the rest of the world.

Gilberto did not write the song, and had not previously been rated as a key figure in the bossa nova movement, as she had never sung professionally before. But that one hit record changed everything. She became the impossibly cool voice, and face, of what would become a new global pop music fashion.

The song was taken from the album Getz/Gilberto, a collaboration set featuring the American saxophonist Stan Getz, who had become fascinated by bossa nova, and the Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, to whom Astrud was then married. She performed only two songs on the album (the second was Corcovado) but The Girl from Ipanema guaranteed that she would become as well known as the album’s two official stars. The song also transformed her husband’s career, but they never enjoyed its success together as their marriage broke up later the same year. Astrud went on to develop her own career, and continued to work with Getz.

Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, she was the daughter of a Brazilian mother and German father. He taught languages and literature, and decided to name his three daughters after goddesses of German mythology – Astrud, Eda and Iduna. When Astrud was eight the family moved to an ocean-front home in Rio de Janeiro, where she studied at the Colégio de Aplicação.

As a teenager in the late 1950s, she became friends with the singer Nara Leão, and through her she met the other emerging stars of Rio’s new bossa nova music scene, including the extraordinary guitarist João Gilberto. Also born in Bahia state, he had moved back to Rio after an uneasy career in which he had been fired from a band because he could never be trusted to turn up for rehearsals, and had then spent months living with an elder sister, practising and perfecting a new style of romantic and reflective music.

Bossa nova mixed Brazilian samba rhythms with influences from the American “cool jazz” scene, and featured an understated vocal style matched against an acoustic guitar technique that combined plucked chords with jazz-influenced harmonies and chord progressions.

João Gilberto’s work impressed the composer Antônio Carlos “Tom” Jobim, who began writing songs in the new style, helped by the lyricist Vinicius de Moraes. The first bossa hit, Chega de Saudade, in 1958, was followed by a full album with the same title the following year. Bossa nova shook up the Brazilian music scene, and João was the star performer. In 1960, when Astrud was 20, she and João were married.

The newlyweds did not stay in Rio for long. American jazz musicians including Charlie Byrd visited Brazil as part of President John F Kennedy’s Good Neighbour programme, and were excited by the new music that they heard. Back in the US, Byrd recorded the album Jazz Samba with Getz, another convert to the new style, and it became a massive success. It was now inevitable that João Gilberto would be invited to the US to perform, and in November 1962 he appeared in New York at a famous concert that also included both leading Brazilian bossa nova musicians including Jobim and Sérgio Mendes and the American jazz stars Byrd and Getz.

João and Astrud stayed on in New York, and in 1963 he recorded his collaboration album with Getz, with help from the producer Creed Taylor. One of the songs they wanted to include was Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema), a song that had been written by Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Moraes, as they sat in a bar off Copacabana beach in Rio, watching the girls go by.

There is controversy as to how Astrud came to sing The Girl from Ipanema on the album. There have been suggestions that Taylor suggested that English lyrics should be included, and that Astrud offered to sing them, because she spoke English, despite the initial protests of her husband.

For her part, she always insisted that she sang on the album at his suggestion, and that he admired her voice. What is not in dispute is the commercial success of the decision. When the song was released as a single, in a shortened version to encourage radio play, it became a massive hit, reaching the top 5 in the US charts and No 29 in the UK. It also helped to further boost sales of the Getz/Gilberto album on which it had first appeared; at the time, it was credited as the bestselling jazz LP in history. The song would later be covered by singers from Frank Sinatra to Amy Winehouse.

Astrud’s relationship with João was now at an end (they divorced in the mid-60s), but her career was just beginning. She toured with Getz and appeared on his 1964 live album Getz Au Go Go, covering both bossa and American standards, and in 1965 she released her own first solo set, The Astrud Gilberto Album, which included songs in both English and Portuguese.

The following year she released two more albums, including Look to the Rainbow, on which she worked with Gil Evans. In 1964 she appeared in two films, The Hanged Man and Get Yourself a College Girl, and in 1966 she worked with Quincy Jones on the soundtrack to the Sidney Lumet spy thriller The Deadly Affair. For many years she was the voice of Eastern Airlines, and appeared in their TV commercials.

She never enjoyed massive success as a soloist, but was a prolific artist and continued to collaborate with other major musicians. She began writing her own songs in the 70s, and her 1977 album, That Girl from Ipanema, included a duet with the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker on one of her songs, Far Away.

In the early 80s she formed a band that included her son Marcelo playing bass, and in 1987 she recorded an album with the James Last Orchestra that included several of her own new songs, including Champagne & Caviar. In 1996 she contributed to the Aids benefit album Red Hot + Rio, singing the bossa classic Desafinado with George Michael.

In 2002 she was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame, and released what would be her final album, Jungle, which featured 10 of her original new songs. She also announced she was taking “indefinite time off” from public performances. She now devoted much of her time to animal rights projects and her work as an artist. In 2008 she was awarded a lifetime achievement Grammy by the Latin Recording Academy.

She is survived by Marcelo, her son with João Gilberto, and her son Gregory, from another relationship.

🔔 Astrud Gilberto (Astrud Evangelina Weinert), singer and songwriter, born 29 March 1940; died 5 June 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Astrud Gilberto #in memoriam

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warningsine · 1 month

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Having finished season 1 of "Good Girls," let me say that:

It is a hilarious series with 3 disaster leads (affectionate), but for all of its slapstick humor, its heart is: working class women trying to stay afloat.

Retta, Hendricks and Whitman give amazing performances that complement each other. Their chemistry truly is the biggest strength of the show.

Joan on "Mad Men" was understandably guarded, so it's refreshingly different to see Hendricks let loose as Beth. The way her voice switches from sweet and girly to sharp and authoritative on the spot? 11/10.

Retta nails both the comedic and dramatic bits with ease.

Whitman is charming as emotionally immature yet completely lovable Annie.

Truth be told, the season drags a little towards the second half despite the fact that the series is fast paced in general. They could have gotten away with 8-9 episodes instead of 10.

Yes, the concept is not entirely believable or original, but who cares? Didn't see anyone criticizing "Breaking Bad" for its straight up cartoonish moments. Why do we have to be so harsh when it comes to soapy delights that do not take themselves seriously like this one or "Why Women Kill"? Prestige dramas are good and all, but please give us a break from the typical male antihero narrative.

My point is, it is not the most scathing or poignant take on #MeToo and feminism, but so what?

Watching Beth hit the guy that almost rapes her sister reminded me of that moment in "Kevin Can F*ck Himself" where Patty injures her brother to protect Allison.

They paraphrased "Thelma and Louise" during that very scene. <3

Allison Tolman, here you are again being a total gift. If only she had more screen time/were a regular. Let her extort the ladies all she wants, but get rid of Leslie.

Say whatever you want about Dean, but Matthew Lillard's scenes with Hendricks are [chef's kiss].

Really loved Annie's child. Ruby's was also a delight. Both family arcs were touching.

Ruby and Stan. What a loving relationship. It was inevitable that the lie would leave their marriage in shambles, but it still is upsetting when that happens.

For a moment there, I was afraid that they were going to make Nancy the 1D "bitchy" wife so that the audience would root for Gregg and Annie (I do like them, but I do not think they will work out). Suffice to say, I gave a sigh of relief when they had Annie sympathize with her and call Gregg out on his shit.

I do not get the hype about Rio. He was funny in the beginning, but his generic/1D bad guy shtick got repetitive and annoying pretty fast. He shows up, puts on that growly voice, recycles 3 facial expressions while threatening the ladies and flirting with Beth, leaves. It does not help matters that Hendricks outshines the actor in every scene they share. From the way people talked about him, I thought he'd be more of a male Villanelle (s1 Villanelle), but without APD. Mea culpa. Knowing that they were actually initiating a romance, not just sexual tension between them, does not surprise me in the least, but it does leave me unimpressed.

#the important questions: when does beth kill a man (or at least shoot someone) and is it worth watching the show until then?#gg

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michelleelizabethtanner · 1 year

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Belated welcome to the fandom, I am making my way through Rough Night and I am obsessed. Was curious: how would you rank the gg seasons and why? Fave character and the one you hate the most? Thoughts on 2.13 - a terrible narrative decision or a way to jump start many more episodes of delicious angst?

Aw, hi anon! Thank you for the welcome. I’m excited to be here. 😁 And thank you for your kind words about Rough Night! That’s so sweet. 🥹

I really love all the seasons in their own ways. There’s something so special about each one. Ranking them is hard for me. If I HAD to, I’d say 2,1, 4, 3 – strictly for quantity and quality of Brio interactions.

Season 1 is just so full of moxy. It’s endearing and why I kept watching the show. Everyone looks so cute in it and their excitement to be working on this set really came through. I love their wigs and I love their outfits and I love their conspiratorial energy about this naughty thing they’re doing. I even love dumb Dean and his ridiculous schemes to keep his unhappy wife.

Season 2 deepened every character. It gave us glimpses into just how unhappy Beth and Dean’s marriage had been and for how long. She never looked at him the way Ruby looks at Stan. It gave us a better view into the disproportionate friendship Beth and Ruby have had for years. How Beth would choose her above everyone else every time, and how she expected Ruby to do the same. Foreshadowing for season 4. Of course, the ✨Brio energy✨ in this season is unmatched. It’s magic. The way they were so many things to each other here and how poorly they handled it all. 2.13, in my opinion, was an excellent narrative decision. Everything Brio had been to each other in this season led up to it and made perfect sense. It showed Rio for who he is – deeply emotional, imperfect, lonely, easily hurt and petty when he is. It was our first glimpse into his humanization. He wasn’t a smirky, all-knowing, impervious figure anymore. He was made into a man who feels compassion and confusion and attraction and wants validation just like the rest of us. Season two showed us just how much he NEEDS validation and how hurt he gets when he doesn’t receive it.

Idk why people don’t like season 3. Everyone loves angst in fic and this whole season was Brio angst. The way this man suffered feeds my soul. This is a much more emotionally complicated season and I love that for all of us. 😆 The indecision, the duality, the denial, the deep deep hurt. The way he made her watch while he killed someone. “My girl.” He said it to Beth, not Lucy. He held her eyes and brought a lamb to slaughter to show Beth she wasn’t above causing someone’s death. She wasn’t better than he is. And in turn, the way we got small glimpses into how Beth thinks about him when he isn’t there. Her scene teaching Lucy’s bf to shoot and what her holding that knowledge implied. How closely she was coached and guided. She was remembering as she took her aim and fired. Remembering all he’s taught her and remembering the last time she fired a weapon. The depth of her denial is so frustrating to watch because we see the care and nostalgia there for her. She just refuses to acknowledge it.

Season 4 was unmatched Rio personal development. If anything, I think THAT was probably the most out of character and out of previous scope thing to happen. The catalyst of Nick made sense but also was kind of barely believable as a plot line. It recast Rio as much less in control than we all assumed him to be, and made him much more subservient to his lonely predicament. Ultimately though, I buy it because it’s what leads Brio back to each other. And that’s all we’ve ever wanted. Rio, who’s held on to so much anger to try and maintain control, just gave it all up. Let it drift and wash away. “We can do whatever we want.” Sir! Pleeeaaaseeee! 😭😭😭 The way he did all the gestures. The way he self-sacrificed for her. Set aside all shreds of ego for her. I will tolerate all the trash boyfriends and all the bicycle bullies for the way Rio showed Beth all his softness. I wiiiiish we would have gotten to see her soften to him too. Our white whale.

#good girls nbc #beth x rio #seasons #Rough Night #Brio

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tfw-no-tennis · 1 year

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lupin....part2 anime…is amazing

ep 1 - I love this already I love that the whole squad is here. why does this guy have weird superpowers. I love everything abt this

ep 2 - this was fucking WILD I feel like a lot happened in this short episode. they stole the jesus statue from rio?! bro

ep 3 - according to the lupin wiki ep 3 is about nazis and has hitler in it but I have no memory of this at all so I’m pretty sure crunchyroll doesn’t have this ep up LMAOOOOOOOO. EDIT: they DO have the ep up but its after ep 26. so yeah we ended up seeing it lol. it was wild, lupin and zeni both did like...nazi salutes or st which was UHHH a lot lmao. the hang-gliding part was classic wacky hijinks. the quality is noticeably worse than the preceding episodes since this ep is technically from the very beginning of the series - I hadnt really noticed the increase in quality yet here’s proof

ep 4 - I love how much casual supernatural shit is in these??? nessie is real and here. anyways back to lupin hijinks- lmao

ep 5 - I love how often (in this series and in the movies) fujiko just shows up w/some random old guy billionaire. and they always know her as fujiko, like, does she not have a reputation???? anyways the guys accent was awful vbkjadfjkasnbdfkjnl also the whole golden car thing was SO extra and wack I fucking love it

ep 6 - how do they think of these plots. the trained money retrieving dolphin is my favorite lupin character. goemons swimwear is fantastic

ep 7 - this ep was WILD again w/the casual supernatural BS with lupin being POSSESSED? or something? ok so goemon and jigen being superstitious and not getting involved was hilarious. lupin and fujiko are so delightful when they work together. I was confused bc I really was expecting the whole possession thing to be a ploy by lupin and fujiko to stick it to the other 2 for not helping and being superstitious but nope apparently lupin really did get possessed? hilarious. 10/10

ep 8 - lbr lupin is a horse boy theres a lot of horse stuff in lupin. anything on a train is a lot of fun. wacky shit

ep 9 - oh this was a lot of fun. I love that the old guy was duping them and it wasn’t revealed until a lot later. and of course fujiko was involved bc when there’s a rich old guy, fujiko can be reliably found trying her best to steal his money

ep 10 - this episode was fucking hilarious. the villain guy has my favorite dub voice so far lmao. the belt bomb was wacky fun. the boys dressed as zeni was HILARIOUS I love them all. this is the ep w/the ‘WHO WANTS CHICKEN NUGGETS???’ line iirc which is just amazing, possibly the best dub line.

ep 11 - lupin is so dumb I love him. the casino scenes were fucking hilarious, especially goemon LMAOOO ‘transcend...’ ‘I have no choice, I must kill myself’ LMAO and when they lose all their stuff and leave the casino in their underwear...we stan a dumbass polycule

ep 12 - oh this was fun. I love zeni. and also I love the lupin polycule (aka fujiko’s malewives). I loved that the end was that the fancy wine was gross af lmaoooo

ep 13 - fucking hilarious turn of events leads to lupin chasing zenigata around, 10/10. why is there so much Complete Bullshit Technology involving teeth (i’m looking at you, that one movie where lupin had that pill in a fake tooth or w/e? wtf was that).

ep 14 - once again some supernatural BS w/weird green zombies. some part II eps are SUPER weird, others are particularly batshit/confusing - this was both. the swarm of evil hummingbirds was Sure Something.

ep 15 - maybe the best title so far - ‘the Case of the Risible Dirigible.’ It cracks me up that these eps have like 4 different titles each. ruth was very disappointed that he was actually called sherlock holmes and not herlock sholmes. which, same. I love how clever the lupin gang was in this, I love when they do bullshit disguises, especially when they all get roped in, not just lupin.

ep 16 - THIS was one of those completely batshit eps that had ruth and I saying ‘WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON???’ many times. the entire premise is so fucking weird and I wasn’t even gonna be shocked if they played it str8 that lupin was werewolf-ing into a murderer at midnight lmao. I love how this played out tho, especially the scene where lupin is like ‘I guess you guys have to kill me’ and goemon and jigen are like ‘ok fine’ but then lupin defends himself instinctually and jigen says ‘kill your own damn self’ hbvhajkuhdfsahbsakdfk I love him I love them.

ep 17 - I like how a lot of other IIIrd’s show up lmao. the scene where they’re all gonna be burned at the stake and fujiko is like NVM DONT KILL ME and the boys are like BOOOO U COWARDDD was hilarious lmao.

ep 18 - this was another ‘WHAT THE FUUUUCK IS HAPPENING’ ep, maybe the Most one so far. bc WHAT THE FUCK LMAO that was fucking trippy. the nudist colony didn’t feature as heavily as I would’ve assumed lmao. even the one-off side characters were weird as fuck, what was up w/that. The ending where the boys sing happy birthday to fujiko was REALLY cute.

ep 19 - wacky episode. the villain jotaro (LMAO) was especially weird. goemon failing to cut stuff is one of my favorite things.

ep 20 - when I saw that there was an ep called ‘hell toupee’ I was like oh lmao that sounds hilarious can’t wait. little did I know this would be by far the most serious episode so far LMAO. I certaintly didn’t expect pseudo-nazis. I liked this one a lot, part II truly has the RANGE to do hilarious, weird bullshit, but also heartfelt serious stuff. lupin and fujiko were so so good, and so were jigen and goemon lmao the convo where goemon says ‘are we too career oriented?’ cracked me up. they’re all dating tyvm

ep 21 - goemon episode!!! I love him sm. I love that this was like a more PG version of goemon’s bloodspray, where goemon must face a foe and fujiko is like ‘lol bye’ and jigen and lupin stay to watch/cheer their man on. the conclusion where goemon uses his sword to strike the dude w/lightening was fucking epic

ep 22 - this is the episode that answers the age old question “does daisuke jigen is gay?” the answer is yes, that man is full limp wristed. it was so funny that jigen showed literally -100% interest in the women and was mostly concerned about his husband getting roped into a weird cult. and then he left to hang out w/his bf, and jigen and goemon were really cute and fun this ep. also lupin and zenigata hanging out was great lmaoooo

ep 23 - this one was fuckin weird. basically nothing happened in the first half of the ep LMAOOOO. lupin just got horny and jumped out a window. what the FUCK was up w/the tech this ep, w/the weird chess playing robot that never got explained, and the weird hologram fujiko that also never got explained??? hello?? isn’t this set in the 70s???? okay then! I can’t believe there’s continuity, they actually referenced the Egypt episode from earlier in the show. I'm impressed!

ep 24 - this ep had some fucking FANTASTIC quotes lmaoooo ‘that’s grandpas suppository holder!’ ‘goemon ishikawa is in the house’ LMAOO goemon was iconic this ep. the ending was cute. that rat guy made some WEIRD fuckin noises. zenigata was str8 up MANIC this ep lmaooooo

ep 25 - so many wacky hijinks! I love how the lads spent half this ep running around in various states of undress, panicking. The balloon at the end gave me team rocket vibes lol. I always love when goemons weird traditional underwear makes an appearance

ep 26 - in this episode, jigen catches a bout of heterosexuality. As Ruth says - ‘part 2 dub jigen is bi. Other Jigens are gay.’ It’s true tbh after this ep I feel like jigen is 95% gay 5% str8. Anyways jigen was smooth as hell in this ep...also this was way more serious/sad than I anticipated. The part when jigen hesitated before shooting the car’s tire out, knowing that he wouldn’t miss...augh. That was a bittersweet victory. Also wow they all str8 up died oof. Also wtf happened w/fujiko being held captive, that went entirely unresolved. Also jigen and lupin fighting each other and thinking the other was the bad guy disguised? Spicy. Then realizing and confirming their identities w/gay coin shenanigans? Even better. Aaaaalso lupin and goemon hanging out this ep was sooo delightful...they’re so cute. Also fujiko going all the way to japan to get Japanese food for goemon?! SO cute, I love this polycule sm. Great ep.

ep 27 - lupin gets a kid against his will lmao. a lot of this ep was just lupin + jigen gay fatherhood adventures which was fun. the part where they rob a bank like classic robbers/thieves was novel lol. the part towards the end when things get all trippy briefly was unexpected and wild. also NEW OPENING HOLY SHIT i fucking ADORE the new op, it's so artsy and FUN in the exact way that I love, so much cool dynamic movement and action, amazing colors, fun transitions...plus this version of the song is GREAT. i love it sooo so much

ep 28 - oh man this was fun. I love when things get really law-focused, and we get occasional eps like this where we see a lot of it from the law enforcement perspective. I love all the trickery and melon was awesome and cool, epic girlboss right there.

ep 29 - have I mentioned yet how much I love all the ridiculous pun titles for the dubbed eps? bc I love them. anyways, I have been waiting SO LONG to see the context for the clip of lupin and jigen floating around w/weird sound fx vbajkdshjfbakhshf and it’s FINALLY HERE im so glad. also tbh context doesn’t help much bc they just start talking about how lupin and jigen can levitate now and never really show us any backstory on this LMAO I wouldn’t have it any other way. I liked this ep, the trickery was top notch. I like how we as the audience were pretty easily able to clock the fake lupin and jigen in that one scene where they torture the guy even tho it wasn’t previously revealed bc the fact that they’re torturing some guy is pretty out of character for them. and also all the floating stuff was fucking hysterical

ep 30 - oh man I love any instance where lupin and zenigata are forced to team up, it’s so much fun. this was great, even though the entire premise was barely believable in the first place and just kept getting more absurd

ep 31 - this ep wins the award for the most confusing and batshit episode so far, by a large margin! we spent most of this ep saying WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON??? and that feeling didn’t really lessen as the ep continued. I feel like the pacing was completely insane, and there was so little setup that I had zero idea what ANY of the characters motivations were the entire time...

ep 32 - this ep was GREAT oh my god. I love a good ole presumed-dead trope and I ESPECIALLY love when the death is played mostly for laughs lol. everyone’s reactions to lupin dying were hilarious, yet also sad, but still hilarious? it was a perfectly balanced line, basically. like, the part towards the beginning when jigen tells lupin not to even joke about dying made me sad, and same w/the part when jigen says that the doctor has to try to fix lupin...and then it was SO fucking funny when jigen and goemon just run out of the room and jigen starts shooting random streetlights and goemon starts cutting down trees, both while crying, and then the camera pans out to show a bunch of random people watching in confusion vbkjadbhfkhsnbdfhk that was peak comedy. same w/zenigata slapping cuffs on that officer and running out of the room while firing his gun and making Zenigata Noises(tm). like, it was :( to see them all reacting so strongly, but we all know lupin isn’t really dead, so that just helped to make it hilarious. also the part where lupin is underwater and dumps those pills in his mouth? complete bullshit hvahbjsdkfbks lmao.

ep 33 - this was a fun ep! the cold open was great. I love when there’s emphasis on the scheming and sneaking around aspect of the thieving. I love how fujiko is usually the one to win big in the end...most of the time. the japanese guy having a brooklyn accent was hilarious.

ep 34 - this ep was AMAZING lmao oh my god. I automatically love any ep that has weird supernatural BS w/little fanfare, like the zombies ep and the one w/the egyptian spirit possessing lupin. this was amazing, vampire lupin was a delight, I love the dumb way he talked and how he kept doing the ‘nyaaaah!!! }:)’ thing. the ‘jesus christ’s secret evil vampire twin sister’ plot twist was fucking WILD I literally am still reeling hbvjadksfksl. the part where fujiko was disguised as a random elvis impersonator was equally wild and had me reeling too, this ep was just...A Lot (but in the best of ways). I love the return of jigen and goemon being superstitious. also it was really cute when they were like ‘no, we have the help lupin, he’s our friend!’ awww they all love each other <3 unlike the ep where he got possessed, lupin actually WAS faking being a vampire, and clearly having a great time doing so. they seemed to imply that she actually WAS a vampire tho, which is wild. again, I adore how this show barely touches on these weird supernatural occurrences, and just kinda trucks on w/the plot lmao. anyways I loved this ep 10/10

ep 35 - I feel like every ep of this show starts out w/me and ruth going ‘what the fuck is happening!??!’ and this is no exception. this ep was very wack lmao, I feel like fujiko was more of an enemy here than usual, the whole ‘dress up as gorillas’ thing was wild, like...2 of the gorillas were dudes in suits but there was one actual gorilla in the mix?? for some reason?? what...

ep 36 - I love when the english dub npcs have the weirdest fucking accents lmao like the flashback of that japanese couple and they just sound like white bread american greek life college kids hvhbjkhsdbfksn. anyways I thought it was cute that lupin did this whole job for goemon even tho he clearly wasn’t that into it but he loves goemon so he’ll do it anyways aww. poor jigen didn’t have a good time. the ninjas were fun

ep 37 - lupin and jigen are so married I love them. also I loved goemon and fujiko doing a job together, they’re so cute. and I really liked when the polycule came together at the end and all teamed up together aww. it was wild that they accidentally robbed a bank lmaoooo.

ep 38 - this was wild lmao, zeni was so good...hes such a good dad awww when it seemed lupin died and he swam over like ‘doesn’t anyone else here care about him!?’ DAD....also towards the end I was thinking ‘this is an unusual lupin ep, they haven’t even alluded to stealing anything yet’ and then like 2 seconds later it’s revealed that the whole thing is a ploy for them to steal something, which figures lol. the polycule was cute af at the end

ep 39 - this episode was fucking weird lmao. but also I feel like that’s true for every episode. every good anime needs a chicken episode. lupin and jigen in disguise at the beginning was cute.

ep 40 - this episode had such an intense back and forth between the gang and zenigata tbh? zeni was on top of his game for sure, but the squad still managed to come out on top. that's the power of the polycule baby. I liked that the stakes were so high/intense in this, and that the whole episode was basically the heist. a lot of eps have a bunch of weird goofy stuff at the beginning before the actual thieving starts but this one didn't. also some great polycule content 10/10

ep 41 - THE GENDER EPISODDEEEEE as ruth calls it. I love this one lmao. Its not really up to the modern standard of progressiveness but it also wasn't as bad as I thought it would be tbh. some really funny scenarios, and I loved lupin and fujikos dynamic lmao. It was so fun seeing lupin playing fujiko’s game. also lupin is Big Gender tbh, especially in this ep. I enjoyed the references to ‘some like it hot’ too lmao.

someday we will watch more and ill continue this. til next time!

#guesssss what i found in my drafts!#so many incomplete liveblogs. classic #lj watches lupin iii #lupin iii

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sdktrs12 · 2 years

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BEFORE THE BEGINNING

BEFORE THE BEGINNING — three sentences (or more) about something that happened before the plot of my current project

Oooh, this is actually kinda hard cause I haven't really thought about pre - 'crush'!

Okay this is going to be such a boring answer, but I suppose before the first chapter of 'crush' Beth was still at home, caring for Annie and their mom, working at the ice cream shop or whatever, having a long distance thing with Dean after he went off to college.

Ruby and Stan would've talked about going to the same college and maybe while Ruby and Beth are talking one night, she convinces Beth to apply to that college too. And maybe Beth gives a weak counter argument about how Dean suggested it might be best if she waited for him to start their lives together and really, she has her mom and Annie to worry about so it makes sense.

And maybe Ruby rolls her eyes and tells Beth she needs to quit living for other people and live for herself (and also maybe selfishly for Ruby also, since she wants her best friend at her side for this kind-of-a-big-deal life change that she's about to go through).

So, maybe Beth finally agrees to fill out some forms, cause what's the harm in some forms right? And then when she's accepted, it turns into what's the harm in applying for financial aid, just to see if college is even a feasible option? And then when the financial aid actually goes through...well, what's the harm in furthering her education while working, for a better life for her, for Annie?

And so they all end up at the same college, and Beth and Ruby con their way around switched rooms so they can be dorm-mates and then of course they swing it so they end up working at the Paper Porcupine, on same shifts of course because let's face it, these two are exceedingly co-dependent and they come as a set.

And maybe Beth's newfound independence scares Dean and he lashes out via cheating and Beth finds out and dumps his ass and that brings us into the first chapter.

(And maybe Rio had started classes a year or so before they did, in spite of and/or because of Nick. Brousin's plans to groom him for his own advantages aren't exactly a secret but Rio plays along, for now. He does what he does to help support the family and to piss off the brousin on occasion. Him and Mick probably have the same kind of relationship as Beth/Ruby, in that they've known each other for a long time/are bonded and keep to similar paths - so where one goes, the other follows.)

Apologies for being incapable of writing out an actual scene for this because my brain is currently on strike.

Thanks for sending lovely! 💕

no excuses writing meme

#asks #ask meme #writing #fanfiction

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nickmillerscaulk · 4 years

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21 , 25, and 29 for the gg asks!

oh look, another ask i reblogged and abandoned for weeks! (thank you for the ask AND for making this fun list, @jacksjustright!)

21. Character(s) you wish we saw more?

JT (not only because he’s #the fourth good girl, but also because #nbc good guys)

Rhea (SHE WAS SO GREAT AND SO HOT AND WE ONLY GOT WHAT, 3 EPISODES WITH HER?? Rude. Almost as rude as the hair style they gave her.)

Rio (i will not rest until he gets the screentime he deserves)

25. Characters you want to see interact for the first time or characters you just want to see interact more?

Annie x JT (that ONE s3 scene they had together was so good and i need MORE OF IT)

Stan x Rio (I just... I feel like their dynamic would be so fun?? Maybe it’s because their wives are BFFs already??)

Annie x Rio (Their s1/s2 banter was so gd good and I’ve felt robbed ever since that scene in s2 where all they did was make eye contact before it cut to commercial!! And I mean, there’s a good chance fics have led me to believe annie x rio would be BFFs in canon, but now I NEED IT. THEY’RE THEIR OWN BRAND OF IDIOT AND I LOVE THEM.)

Ruby x Annie x Rio (Again, the s2 scene that robbed us—HEY GG WRITERS, GIVE US THE COMEDY TRIO OF OUR DREAMS, YOU COWARDS.)

Rhea x Beth OR Rhea x Rio (In conclusion... more Rhea. And more Rio.)

29. Character you didn’t expect to like as much as you do now? On that note, character you didn’t expect to lose interest in?

Didn’t expect to like: JT!!! Mick!!!!!! RHEA!!!

Lost interest in: um, all of the Boland kids? sorrrrryyyyyy

(good girls ask)

#good girls ask #nbc good girls #jacksjustright #things i answered #jesus christ give manny more than 2 scenes #manny and rio deserve better #annie x JT #stan x rio #rio x annie BFFs #rio x ruby x annie #GIVE US MORE RIO AND RHEA YOU COWARDS #also obvs want more beth x rio but i felt like that went without saying #hence i'm hiding it in the tags instead

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bethsuglywigs · 2 years

Note

top 5 tropes

1. Canon Divergence

Cross Your Fingers, Be It Fahrenheit or Centigrade, and Warm in the Fire of Us by @pynkhues

I don’t think I need to sell anyone on Sophie’s work because it’s well established that she provides high quality content. fortunately for me, she also likes the same tropes as me so i stay well fed.

CYF: a post-s2 fic dripping with angst and criminal activity. the scene where rio interrupts beth’s date lives rent free in my head.

BIFOC: set during s2, rio is sick 😷 and beth plays nurse 👩‍⚕️ ... god tier scenario

WITFOU: set during s3 (aka brio’s angst era) lets just say... clean like him changed me on a spiritual level (inspired the forbid blow job 👀)

a song inside the halls of the dark by @mego42

this fic as everything: a road trip, beth committing murder, crafts, several near death experiences, brio sexily not communicating, find my friends, AND pta moms interacting with brio... like what more could you ask for in a sprawling post-s2 fic? a must read imo

Good Sport by fireinsideforfun

i know you’re all ARC stans so I don’t need to tell you that fiff is a good writer. but what I am hear to say is that Good Sport is a slept on fic (pun intended). brio bed sharing and not communicating my beloved.

for a moment we were strangers by openhearts

this is fic is iconic for fully embracing beth and rio’s age gap (41 v. 29)... openhearts said cougar rights. but also this fic is a fun little brio playing house fic and i just can’t get enough of it

I Put A Spell On You (and now you're mine) by @sdktrs12

um hellooooooooooo halloween 🎃 prompts my beloved.

2. Hate Sex

your monster looks like mine by mego42

this fic is about having hate sex on drugs..... das it baby 🥵

satisfied through the weekend by @septiembrre

the show gave us brio having sex while beth is on a date with her husband (iconic, revolutionary, etc), but Gaby one-upped them and gave use up brio having sex while beth is on a date with the hitman she hired to murder rio... i have to stan

As Good As This by @riosnecktattoo

wire sex - i simply love betrayal

Two Shoes by pynkhues

all you need to know about this fic is that brio do a job together that requires them to dance and then hide in a closet together (sexily)... the animosity and sexual tension is off the charts

I Will Collect You and Capture You by @foxmagpie

oKaY..... these clowns 🤡 are really at their worst in this fic. like please have a conversation im begging you (jk keep hate fucking and being angsty). rio fr thinks he can fuck beth out of his system, but all he can do is think about her when he’s with other women. literally down so bad in this one.

3. Outsider POV/Interactions

Three Drops (an intermission) and If It Wasn't for All the Lights by pynkhues

these two fics inspired my own outsider pov fic... thats how influential they are. other people should NOT be forced to interact with beth and rio and yet... its so incredibly funny when they do. i would sell my soul for some more outsider pov fic i s2g.

Choose Your Own Adventure by sdktrs12

if you’ve followed me for longer than 30 seconds then you know im a cyoa stan. the concept of beth and rio having to spend time with normal parents makes me insane. and they’re just so horny for each other, but in the woods and thats just so special to me.

listening through the air shaft by mego42

another iconic outsider pov fic. truly the dean pov chapter is incredible. like it was so incredibly big brained of meg to make Dean witness brio coming out of the bathroom break bathroom together. transcendent really.

AITA for wanting to stop paying my wife’s “business partner” and yelling at her? by @lemoncupcake

spoiler alert: he is the asshole

PTA Vibes by greyish

again i’m OBSESSED with the idea of normal people interacting with brio and being subjected to their insanity. and brio being on the pta together is inherently hysterical.

4. School AU

delinquents, stunner, and I'll Fall If You Do by foxmagpie

queen of high school aus it has to be said. the high school teacher just JUMPS out and im obsessed.

delinquents... my beloved... where to even begin? a must read for sure. i love this fic so much it inspired my entire fanfic fanart series.

stunner: blockt for this one; intentional infliction of emotional distress law suit still pending

IFIYD: i love two dummies with a requited crush on each other playing spin the bottle

Both Sides of the Law by @joeyjoeylee

if you’re ever been to law school then you’d know that joey captured it perfectly. its the perfect au setting for brio because only insane people go to law school. thats just facts. this fic made me cry (real actual tears from my eyes) several times. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

QuikGrove University by sdktrs12

a staple in the brio college au category. just two college students having sex and committing crimes like god intended.

watermelon sugar and Seven Minutes in Heaven by @querenaxx

ws: rio spends this entire fic with his tongue 👅 inside beth and i love that journey for him

smih: the title really says it all. and what im saying is that it needs a sequal as asap as possible.

Jawbreaker by riosnecktattoo

tay does simp rio like no one else... its the longing for me... (also rio sexily plays basketball)

Pre Season by @wakeupflawless

if you follow my main blog then you know im obsessed with soccer so of course a brio soccer au is going to be my bread and butter. they literally want to fuck each other so bad, but also, they want to beat each other on the field and that just feels so right.

Sliding Into Third by @fairhairedkings

baseball rio... das it baby... that’s all i need to say i think

A Special Kind of Business by CaptainCabinets

beth x rio x high school x drug dealing = incredible

5. Very Brio Specific Sex (i.e. pool table, hot tub, desk etc.)

Invitation to a Beheading by riosnecktattoo

they literally have sex next to a dead body (🥴)

Say It by riosnecktattoo

desk sex with a twist bc its at boland bubbles instead of boland motors (cucking is cucking babes)

trade my heart for honey and now use both hands by mego42

tmhfh: antagonistic pool playing leads to fucking on the pool table

nusbh: desk sex but they make it other peoples problem lmao

Lining Up the Shot and Part of the Equation by brokensatellites

luts: he bends her over the pool table just like in canon, but its actually sexy

pote: hot tub sex like literally fucking in the hot bubbly water

Show Me How To Get Offended by FakePlastikTrees

hot tub sex, sex in the hot tub - its what we deserved but never got

your tongue told me every lie by carrythesky

desk sex on THE boland motors desk... 😌

Salty Sweet by foxmagpie

desk sex but beth is sucking him off under the desk while hes conducting business

#asked and answered #fic recs

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pynkhues · 2 years

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Ooo can you rank your least fav and fav good girl characters? Pls 💕

My least fave to faves of the main ensemble? Sure! I feel like doing all the characters would take forever, haha, but! In reverse order:

6. Dean Boland

I mean, no surprises here, right? I actually still really appreciate Dean as a character and think he's pivotal to the story Good Girls wanted to tell, and I love Matthew, but Dean is also The Worst™ and should go down as the lesser half of one of the most toxic marriages in TV history, haha.

5. Stan Hill

Interestingly, I actually think Stan is probably the character who had the most complicated growth across the four seasons. It wasn't always the most nuanced growth, but I think the show really did try to balance a sort of erosion with him where a character who started off as pretty naive and inherently good went through phases of cynicism and ugliness, selfishness and misbehaviour while also at his core being someone who was still empathetic and kind. He was just navigating a new world, and trying to reconcile who his family was with who he wanted them to be, and while I didn't always like the direction, I thought it was always compelling.

4. Rio

I really do love Rio as a character. I think the show did a lot of work to round him out across the four seasons, and that Manny really built off of that to create a bold, complex, charismatic character that was a key ingredient to the range of dynamics within the show. At his best, he made for absolute TV magic, and there's a reason he's one-half of one of my favourite ships of all time, haha.

3. Annie Marks

Annie's a total disaster and Mae's one of TV's best cryers and look, I love her a lot. She drove me insane half the time, but what I love about Annie is that for a character who's so depicted as snarky and cynical, she's also so full of hope and love and kindness. I think she grounded some of the most emotional scenes of the show, and that wouldn't be possible without the nuance of her character and Mae's stellar performance. I just wish the show had really commit to the EMT storyline, because if they had done that instead of the Kevin storyline, I think her arc would've been close to perfect.

2. Ruby Hill

I genuinely think Ruby's probably one of my favourite TV characters of all time. She's not a ruthless survivor like Beth is, rather she's a stalwart fighter, something we don't often see in shows like this. Ruby's not the one running forwards into the fray, but she's the one holding her ground, determined and focused, and she's the one who inches forwards when she gets the chance, dragging the people she loves behind her. A lot of my favourite scenes in this show belong to Ruby ("I'm that bitch" in 2.01 is probably one of my most re-watched scenes of the entire series, haha) and I especially love Ruby for being such an absolute showcase of Retta's talents. She really can do it all.

1. Beth Boland

What can I say about Beth that I haven't said a million times before? She means a lot to me, and I love every complicated, messy, fucked up inch of her. I miss her terribly.

#beth boland #ruby hill #annie marks #rio #stan hill #dean boland #nbc good girls #welcome to my ama

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jade-marie · 3 years

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The thing is..... Beth fucking hates Rio and the fact that theyre having mike/annie point it out that he would never go after her is so so annoying like????? Ik this is the Beth show so it wouldnt make sense for Rio to go after her but at least stop making him look like a lovesick puppy dog. Like why does he still care about her!!!! Like i don't understand.!!!

Okay so, controversially, I don’t think Mick was trying to say that a) Rio's in love with Beth or b) that his love for Beth has anything to do with the current situation. I would say his choice of wording in that scene is very important. He specifically says that Beth has "a hold on so many people", not just Rio, which is more likely a reference to how much everyone's life is impacted by Beth's actions, up to and including Annie being kidnapped and Mick having to come in on his day off. Having a hold on someone can be born out of manipulation or emotional leverage, as much as romantic feelings, so again - word choice is important. Beth has a hold over literally everyone in this show. Ruby, Annie, Dean, Stan, Rio, Nick, the list goes on, and it's not because they're all in love with her!

I also think it's quite a leap when people think Annie's "he never will" is somehow Annie saying he'd never hurt her because he loves her (for one - he already has 🤣). That may be true, but Annie has never trusted Rio or his feelings for Beth. She's basically only ever seen the worst sides of him, so she's got no reason to think that the he cares for Beth at all, let alone that he cares about her too much to harm her. More likely, she realised that everyone in Beth's life is expendable to Rio because Beth is the moneymaker. Beth is "the boss" and the rest of them can be replaced, so he's always going to use the people she cares about as pawns to keep her in line. Again, this is all Annie knows Rio as. She doesn't know about the bedroom or the dubby, or the words of encouragement that made people love brio. Annie knows that he was going to kill Beth in early S1, he shot her husband as revenge when she got him arrested, presumably that he kidnapped her in 2.13, he was going to kill her in s3, he killed Lucy, he threatened Beth's family, and now he kidnapped Annie. Why on earth would she think Rio has romantic feelings for Beth? If anything she'd think it's some psychopathic obsession.

So, in this particular instance, I don’t think it’s actually the show making Rio look like a love sick puppy. Rather, I think it’s shippers who want the Brio dynamic to be made up of Rio‘s undying obsession with Beth, regardless of what she may do to him, twisting what’s happening onscreen. As far as they seem to be concerned, his entire universe revolves around her, his every action is motivated by her, meanwhile she couldn’t give a flying fuck about him.

#asks #anon #good girls nbc #rio good girls #nbc good girls #beth boland #brio

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sothischickshe · 2 years

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What do you mean you didn't enjoy the Dave content???? 😱😱 He's my favourite character this half-season! 😂

lol, well tbf i havent rewatched s4 & maybe i'd be able to enjoy him more with some distance but i found him particularly and the secret service plot generally pretty boring and kinda repetitive of the previous fbi stuff while being de facto less interesting (due to lack of turner) & therefore at least low level annoying, and (as a result?) a time suck from stuff i wouldve found more interesting/particularly wanted to see, especially from a final season.

i think the longer the show went on, the more both beth and rio managed to irritate me, and the more of a turner fan ive retroactively become lol. one of the things that annoys me the most abt the s2 finale is the squandering of the beth + rio + turner dynamic, which is doubled down on by turner's (apparent!) death in the s3 premiere. we only get one beth + rio + turner interaction in the whole show! and they're never all active participants in a scene together!!! wtf??!??!?!

i was fine with the law enforcement storyline being dropped (tho i still think it's super weird that we never got a realisation of or acknowledgment from the girls that rio was (presumably!) responsible for turner's death?? like wtf???!! is he ever mentioned again????), so to have another one almost immediately with less interesting characters seems a bit...silly? i mean it's kind of an upping stakes i guess but it just felt needlessly repetitive, and i think as with other things in the later seasons (e.g., beth getting rio arrested again, or kidnapping 2.0) couldve been easily improved with concrete references to previous occurrences from the characters! even if kind of oblique?

like the secret service storyline was overall pretty inoffensive but i just found it quite bland/boring, and it frequently stretched the limits of my ability to suspend disbelief? (tho being not american im sure helped lol.) i sometimes enjoyed phoebe (and particularly her dynamic with beth), but i think the show squandered the opportunity to do something with the ~women in male-dominated industries thing, like that didnt really go anywhere? i thought ew guy (i wanna say henry?) was a kinda fun character, and i was hoping he and annie were gonna meet and get stuck in an ew off, but he swiftly disappeared into the bg?

also the weird all of law enforcement are gay thing was just.... so odd??? (i did super enjoy that nick's assistant lampshaded it lol.) if dave didnt fuck dean on the books & kick off the dean coming out storyline we deserved....i just dont really get what the point was yknow? and along with the unfulfilled potential of the women in male-dominated fields thing, it feels like there's a sort of wasted opp to properly mirror the phoebe/dave & beth/rio (~professional) relationship thing.... or like.... idk it feels kinda like the show accidentally said the key to career success is either to get your boss to leave his wife or fall in love with you LOL (am now obsessed with the idea that dave and rio went to the same management conference offscreen at the tail end of the season and suddenly learnt how to listen to women tho....)

the wrap up of their storyline with the blatancy of the beth protecting rio / beth and rio as the co-presidents of the we hate nick club WAS super fun but it repeatedly felt kind of preposterous that dave and phoebe were being so agreeable to the girls?

ultimately i'd put a lot of the secret service stuff in the chaff i didnt really care about column, which is frustrating when there was other stuff i wish the show had had space to focus on e.g., why set up this beth-stan conflict to just have it putter out?! we deserved a scene of the two of them absolutely losing their shit at each other!!! And/or destroying everyone at scategories!!!!! christina and reno as scene partners was such a treat!!!

and like honestly....law enforcement exist to kick off a brio fake dating ploy... turner understood this.... all of fanfiction understands this.... why were they there otherwise yknow?!

plus i def think the whole thing could have benefitted from a surprise: turner’s actually alive reveal!!!! #mencantdie

but im glad someone was getting some serious enjoyment from his presence, haha

#Ty this was fun I miss yelling about this ridic show lol #Although I'm supposed to be ✍️🙈#Nbc good girls #TV #I didn't hate the secser plot; it did set up some great moments #And I generally have a lot of time for stuff like that where plot was ALSO happening at rio #Bc it made his behaviour less distractingly batshit #But overall it was pretty boring #Beth/the girls + rio already had a common enemy #To get rid of the fbi storyline and then rehash it with a different agency... Hmm. Just feels quite reductive to me #Plus in s3/4 it felt like they had too many common enemies lol... The secser plus nick plus kinda Fitz plus arguably the bike cult...#That's kind of only an interesting turn of a dynamic if it wasn't treading old ground?#I like that the Fitz and secser and nick storylines ended up dovetailing... I think I would have preferred if the bike cult had (more) too?#Idk it just felt like there was way too much going on #And not enough beth-stan or nanny or rio/Ruby content and I'm sour lol #Also whoops think I fucked the formatting on this but I cba to even attempt to fix... This thing is terrible.#also whoops im not sure i said that much abt dave lol #but basically he bored me (which is really the only cardinal sin)#and turner set a high bar which he got nowhere near

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dcbnam-aep · 2 years

Text

Star Trek picard 204 thoughts

- here to appreciate getting to watch the borg queen say agnes impressed her in the 203 recap

- Agnes still has the blanket wrapped around her kskskd

- agnes is gonna be so pissed at rios

- she’s shivering picard go be the father figure she deserves and get bestie another blanket

- “are you alright mr?”- pls as if they aren’t on first-name basis

- DONT ENCOURAGE HER

- love a calculus genius

- gosh picard shes way too self-destructive for rest

- even subconsciously agnes is too smart for this world

- *queue opening credits*

- the rock guy on the bus is such a legend

- Raffi fiddling with elnors necklace im not ok

- THEM HOLDING HANDS I CANT 🥰🌈

- borg queen just staring at agnes

- “I’m counting on you agnes, we all are”- no pressure

- the validation she’d be getting from her counting on him tho

- “Poor agnes jurati”- the borg queen is manipulating her and im not here for it but at the same time here for it cause love it when my favs get angsty storylines lol

- NO SHES SO DESPERATE FOR CONNECTION AND THE BORG IS GONNA USE IT AGAINST HER I CAN SEE IT COMING

- not picard grabbing his head in pleasant surprise what a cutie

- I want some criminal rios content

- Picard my fav dog lover (also shoutout to archer and porthos tho cause my #1 spacedog deserves some respect)

- seven so done with this in the background as raffi pops off

- “urgh i hate everything” “and u hide it so well” gfs who tease each other are my favs

- gosh this security is pretty intense

- good on rios for being a good human tho stan a moral king

- dog sense for the win

- “What are we doing?” “Finding rios” “in the parking lot!?!?”

- “Better?” “not better” *pulls out phaser* “NOT BETTER” “i have no idea how this got here” *deadpanned* bickering gfs we love 🥰🌈

- the way agnes isn’t even surprised that rios got himself into a detention centre

- road rage seven haha

- “Jurati give me some good news” “shit”- throwback to ep 2 haha

- not agnes giving them relationship issues love them

- FUCK OFF BORG

- NOT THE BORGS SMILE GO AWAY

- love a good ferengi reference (another shoutout to porthos supposedly being a higher being)

- “a ragtag group of misfits” - my fav type of crew

- they all need therapists

- “what does a yellow light mean” “go faster… no wait red light means stop stoooooppppp” *goes through light anyway*

- literally living for seven and raffi driving scenes rn

- i guessed the trust line ✋😫

- “thats why u are so frequently alone”- agnes id talk to u whenever u want just saying, even about calculus

- car chase love

- also loving that there’s more men that women in the police force (even tho they’re highkey problematic in this timeline)

- pop off bestie agnes ur da best dont let borg manipulate keep doing what ur doing

- Picards shock as she actually decided to help him pls-

- loving Picards facial expressions this ep

- Q wtf did u do-

- episode takeaways: agnes is still the loml, raffi and seven being chaotic is my new favourite thing

#star trek picard #star trek #agnes jurati #raffi x seven #seven of nine #cristobal rios

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hypermania · 3 years

Note

I'm sorry that you were disappointed with Outerbanks, but I'm selfishly very happy that you're continuing to work on the amazing GG fic idea! I also love reading your thoughts on the show. I was curious to know your favorite moments of season 4?

bahahaha i actually am kind of glad i was disappointed with it too because i'm so excited about this fic idea, i don't want anything to distract me from it. even if i never actually make enough progress to post anything, just working through what i hypothetically want to happen has helped me find closure in the unresolved ending we got with the unexpected cancellation (but i do want to actually write the damn thing and post it haha).

i'm so glad you're excited about it too! this is such a sweet message and it makes me want to work on it even more : )

as for my favorite moments of s4? jeez, i don't even know. s4 was such a mixed bag for me. there weren't a lot of things i was lukewarm on. i either really hated or really loved what was happening and i'd have to do a rewatch but luckily i've been going through my tag so i've got some ideas. here are some of the stand-outs:

rio looking at beth like she's lost her damn mind when she asks his bartender if they've got anything without caffeine or alcohol

the whole 'mazel tov' exchange

beth putting fitzpatrick in his place with 'oh i'm sorry. was i supposed to enjoy it?'

annie leveling up and doing right by ben because she really truly loves him more than anything in the world

'heroin and hookers?' 'so obvious' and just the entirety of that conversation because it was one of the few times beth was really truly being honest, despite the fact that she was using that honesty to manipulate rio (which is why it worked so well tbh)

ruby thinking stan was cheating on her for all of one day before confronting him and them moving past it in zero point two seconds flat because their relationship is built on trust and respect, even if they've got a boatload of other problems right now

the entirety of 4x06 and the fact that rio was using his family to manipulate beth but he played himself like a damn fool! introduced his crime wife to his family and then got all protective and possessive and !!!!!!! the introduction of nick into the fold is one of the best decisions the show's made in a long time. it gave us so much insight into rio as a person, into his history, into his business operation, and into his feelings for beth. like????? i truly could not ask for more!

i also love that marcus was just sat there quietly the whole time and did not say a single thing about how he already knows beth both from the park and from the rhea situation. kid's already learned snitches get stitches and he ain't saying shit.

and i mean obviously there was another thing that happened in 4x06 that was fine i guess. :)

ruby giving beth shit about her sexual escapades as is her right as a BFF

dean was actually funny this one time

the bench scene in 4x09, my beloved. i love everything about it. it is the perfect brio scene to me. i don't know how to explain what it is about this scene that does it for me but there's just something so... intimate in what they're acknowledging and what they're not saying. 'sometimes it's worth it' should imply that this time it was worth it but when rio admits that he got the black eye by being himself it negates that. sometimes being himself isn't worth it. sometimes being us, doing what we do, isn't worth it. sometimes all of this doesn't feel worth it. it sucks. and this is the first time since 2x09 that he's acknowledged that this shit isn't easy. 'it's lonely at the top.' but this time there's also this undercurrent of resentment and anger between them so he's not nice about it. it's lacking the softness that 2x09 had but i actually think that makes it more authentic? he's not trying to comfort her. he's just... saying it. because he means it. because he's fucking tired and who else is he gonna say it to? there's no one else. there's just her. so he says it and he's a dick about it and he makes a joke about getting her something special that's meant to be snide and he leaves her sitting there on the park bench by herself and still, still, doesn't it feel like they're both a little less alone for it?

stan and beth finally having it out. i actually hate this because i think it's so unfair and yet... that's what makes it so good. stan's words are so cutting. it's the kind of fight you can only have with someone you've known for twenty years and let the resentment build and build and build and now there's nowhere else for it to go except straight to the heart of the other person.

dean walking in on beth and rio being frustrated with each other and maybe realizing for the first time that he understands nothing about what's going on at all because it doesn't seem like they even like each other all that much and somehow he's the intruder. it's not about sex, at all. it's about the fact that this stranger is privy to a part of his wife he didn't even know existed.

the re-centering of the girls' relationship and how when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other. their lives don't work without each other. they don't all want the same things but they do want each other. they need each other and i think the final stretch of the season demonstrated that.

rio's sad boi hours. never in a million years did i think we would get something so explicitly about his personal feelings??? i don't even have words for this. he was really going through it and i could not be more thrilled.

mick loves the ice capades

diane's a patriot

nick's 'that was before jesus got involved' line was REALLY funny to me and i laugh every time i think about it

you think you'd have her? because beth is the only thing that matters to him in that moment! he's got tunnel vision.

rio! returned! her! furniture! and! told! her! he! believes! in! her! and! he's! ready! to! stop! playing! games! he really was so afraid of losing her that he was like 'okay it's time to get serious i'll get down on one knee if i have to' like homeboy was not playing around.

annie learned how to pick a lock and she did it in character!!!

rio knocked because he listens and he wants her to know that!!!

and he is DELIGHTED to find out that beth isn't in bed professionally or personally with nick

i mean really i think it's safe to say that i'm ecstatic with everything that happened in that last two episodes with beth and rio (and subsequently how quietly the boland marriage actually ended).

so i think i'm going to leave it at that because this list is already pretty long, and it's not exhaustive by any means. it's pretty limited to what existed in my tag, which was admittedly mostly brio, but yeah. lots of good stuff to work with this season! what about you?? what were your favorite moments?

#nbc good girls #anonymous #replies #i really do love that bench scene though #top ten moments for me

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harpersplay · 3 years

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Genuine non-troll white woman here - you wrote "So I already knew that Good Girls was a white feminism phantasmagoria...But, jesus fucking christ, y'all are just showing your true colours lately. The way you talk about a MOC in relation to a white woman is disgusting." Not asking you to call out specific people or posts or start any kind of flame war but what would be a general example of what you are talking about? I follow a good chunk of people and I'm not seeing this maybe b/c I'm not following the same people, maybe out of willful blindness, maybe I'm not recognizing it - again, b/c of ignorance, etc. Just trying to understand what you mean - and not do it obviously, if I am doing it.

I apologise for taking a longish time to answer this. Honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to get into it. Anyway, I'd first like to say that this is all my opinion. What bothers me might not bother someone else. BIPOC are not a monolith. Even subsections aren't. Not all Mexican trans men are a monolith. Neither are all Japanese lesbians. You get the idea. And that's not even including people like Ben Carson or Caitlyn Jenner—people who support and work for policies that actively harm the marginalised group of which they are a part. Secondly, I know this isn't your intention, but asking POC to tell you what is ok to do and what is not is a slippery slope to "my [blank] friend said this was ok." Finally, the fandom is quite small so it is pretty hard to give general examples. I don't know if it's more trouble to quote specific posts or not, because some will think it is about them anyway. Anything I'm going to mention I've seen on Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit and/or Twitter. But there are definitely popular Tumblr blogs that all push the same narrative. Oh, and one last thing, I haven't seen any of what I'm referring to from people I follow.

Ok, let's go. For a very long time, mainly WOC have pointed out the racial problems within the show and the extremely dismissive attitude about those problems from mainly white women. And while these same women have written thousands (even tens of thousands) or words about Beth (it's always Beth) and her struggles and the amazingness of such a complex female character (ymmv), they brush aside commentary about racism as either nitpicking, not understanding the show is about the 3 women (tell that to all the white men with fleshed-out storylines), or misogyny. The last is especially hostile because they are often talking over Black women and misogynoir is a very real fucking thing that couples the fun of being hated for being a woman with the delight of good old-fashioned racism. They espouse the idea that people having a problem with Beth are all covert & overt misogynists. But talk out the other side of their mouths that they can't possibly be racist even when they support racism in the show or ignore concerns brought up by fans of colour. And that is just the absolute height of hypocrisy. Because by the former they acknowledge that people in a marginalised group (women) can still be anti- that group (a phenomenon with which I agree). But in the latter, suddenly they don't understand that concept.

Specific to the post you are responding to, fans that purport to like Brio write about the relationship in ways that reveal how much of their enjoyment comes from Rio being inferior to Beth. It's all about what he can do for her, how he acts against his best interests for her, how he literally denies himself sexual pleasure for her. Those are all meant to show how in love he is with her. But the show never bothers to tell us why. And, no, this is not because the show is so deep. Other romantic relationships they have scenes that are explicit about the characters' feelings. But Rio, after being shot, after being betrayed, after being mocked, is just so in love with Beth....because. (MYSTERIOUS!) And the Beth stans are more than fine with this because they think everyone should be as obsessed with Beth as they are. But it's bad storytelling. And, in this particular case, it gets into very dicey racist tropes. A white women treating her Latino lover like an afterthought is not the same as a white women treating her white lover like an afterthought. It just isn't. And if some of these fans are as smart as they pretend to be, they know that. They just don't care. Much like the showrunners.

There was so much talk defending the drawn-out Boland marriage because why can't we understand how hard it is for Beth—who is, at various times, claimed to be emotionally abused by Dean or staying with him because it is safe and comfortable—and we don't appreciate how difficult it is for her (I may be one of the few divorced people talking about this show on Tumblr, so this has always made me laugh). Yet there was nothing but glee when Rio flipped on his brousin (who was written as both abusive and safe) for Beth. Where was the empathy for Rio and how hard it was for him? Especially because, unlike Beth, he didn't even have one parent? Hadn't the Beth stans used her very tragical history™️ to explain away her every shitty act? idk, not having any parents and going to jail (as a minor?) and being betrayed by your family seems pretty tragic. But I didn't see them all of a sudden excusing Rio's bad behaviour. Because, feminism or something?

What about Beth's feelings? Last season she spent trying to have him killed. This season she spent looking annoyed by him. Throughout both she talked down to him in a specific white woman way that every BIPOC has experienced, even if some of them are cool with it. There were multiple opportunites for Beth to talk about her feelings with Ruby and/or Annie, but the writers made the deliberate choice to always make it about sex (and god, the immature way they had these three grown women talk was fucking obnoxious). She spent the last 2 seasons also wanting him out of her life to the point that a majority of her actions in S4 were motivated by getting to Nevada with her husband and kids. Beth doesn't care about Rio but Rio needs to put Beth above everything because he's just so in love like he's never been before (which is blatant Marcus & Rhea erasure). And anyone who doesn't think Beth would have just as happily been sitting on that bench plotting how to "run the city" (hahahahaha!) with Nick if the situation worked out differently hasn't been paying attention.

So, what do we have? A white woman who is constantly excused (by the loudest portion of the fandom) for all her ill treatment to her Black BFF & her Black husband, her Asian coworker, her Latina "friend," and Rio (among others) because her life is hard and who is not required to even be nice to her supposed "endgame". And a MOC who is expected to accept being treated poorly by the white woman because he loves her.

And, a last thing, this attitude grossly crossed over into talk about real people when the fans—who self-righteously claimed to be above anon sources or talking about the actors—latched on to the narrative and enjoyed blaming the MOC actor for the cancellation of the show, even dragging his insignificant (in terms of influence) Black wife into it. All while conveniently ignoring that the creator/showrunner is a white woman. The star & producer is a white woman. The people making the decisions at NBCU & Netflix were white women. All white women with so much more power than the Latino actor.

Shit, did I answer your question? I know this is a lot. But I could honestly make mulitple posts on each issue I touched on here. Basically, white people ain't slick, be they content creators or fans. We see how & what y'all talk about. We see that Rio not having a last name is not a big deal to you and we know why that is. So we're fucking tired. And we're over a show that had so much potential crapping all over their POC characters to prop up a white woman. And we're repulsed by the white women in the fandom who use their tears to seem oppressed and who toss around the word misogynist because POC dare call a Karen a Karen.

#nbc good girls #good girls nbc #racism in the text #racism in fandom #fragile whiteness #white feminism #what fandom chooses to talk about #and what it chooses to ignore #anon asks

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mrslackles · 3 years

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what do you think are gg's biggest flaws?

Ooh, Anon! It’s like you’re in my head.

I’m busy making a video (that will probably never see the light of day) about this -- my distance from the show has really helped with some super objective clarity -- so I’ll use my notes from that to help me answer.

I’ll preface this by saying what I was most shocked by after putting down all the points was that Rio isn’t even mentioned until really far down??

Anyway, let's get into it.

These are Good Girls' greatest flaws in my opinion (and relative to season 1 -- while I think it had its flaws too, the list is far smaller and I think that's a separate post)

1. It didn't stick to its guns

What set this show apart from others in the 'Everyday person does crime (poorly)' genre was its comedic lightness, strong friendship element, relatability and emphasis on girl power.

a) By season 2, the lightness was already slowly disappearing to make way for season 3's darkness. (Quite literally; this show said sunlight scenes for WHO.) It also stopped being as fun. Remember how it genuinely used to be fun? I mean let's not forget The Best Scene Ever where Ruby shoots Big Mike by accident and we all laughed our asses off. (Compare and contrast to a similar-in-tone-and-context scene -- or even the whole episode -- like Boomer popping up behind them as Rio's package in season 3.) I think season 3 had some great lines and laughs, but in general, the fun element was completely missing for me.

b) As was the friendship. We already know Annie and Ruby basically became Beth's backup dancers in season 2, but at least then they still seemed to have some type of agency. In season 3, they rarely question Beth's (truly questionable) decisions, don't talk to her about shit like why she's still with her horrible husband and have very few true friendship moments as they did in season 1.

c) Which made it less relatable, but what also contributed was the major plot holes (it's less easy to relate when you're constantly having to remind yourself to suspend your disbelief). And, to be honest, their stupid actions. Just the most common-sense things weren't followed, like not taking your children to a crack den or not putting a hit out on a gang leader. It's frustrating watching a TV show -- where characters are supposed to learn things, have arcs and improve over time -- and feeling like you have more logical sense than all the main characters in every scene. (WHO would think a hitman was going to use a sniper rifle on people in broad daylight on the side of the road???)

d) You don't have to look any further than the title or the stans who shout "THE SHOW IS ABOUT THE GIRLS" -- or, hell, the first 10 seconds of the show where Sara is literally talking about the glass ceiling -- to know that the main characters being women is very important to the show. If not formally feminist, it was at least supposed to be empowering or feel like "girl power" (a term I hate, but we won't get into that now).

And I think it did it pretty well in season 1 -- it actually played on my favourite theme of the show, which is the world's perception of these women being what ultimately allows them to get away with so much. (Rife with opportunities for commentary about white privilege, but also a genius way to upend patriarchal beliefs.) But more and more it seemed like the show was asking you to accept empowerment as simply "these things are being done by women, yay".

And, well.

2. Its marketing

I'll keep this one short because I think we all know how messed up this situation is. Basically they're selling a show (every week!) that they're not making while ignoring all feedback on every social media platform. Which brings us to...

3. The marriage of Death

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times -- Beth's character development starts with getting rid of Dean. Her growth is stunted by him on multiple fronts and it's frustrating to viewers since she's constantly put forth as the main character. Not to mention how the audience, separately from Beth, was originally conditioned to see Dean as the scum of the earth (think of scenes like him crashing his car because he was perving on a woman jogging) so keeping them together is really... a choice. To actively root for this marriage (which seems like what the show wants, at least for the protracted moment) means either thinking Dean is a great person (which, as I said, we've only seen the opposite of) or believing he's all Beth deserves. Which leads me to...

4. Beth's (socio)path(y)

Is sociopath a 'good' word? Probably not. Have I seen dozens upon dozens of posts talking about whether Beth is one? Yes. And I see it from a huge variety of people -- from viewers who just binged the show last weekend to those who've been watching for years, the question keeps coming up. And I entirely blame the writing of the show that, by the way, I don't believe is deliberately creating Beth to get this reaction. I think she's written (and, to an extent, acted) in a way that is much too aloof and I'm not convinced it's meant to come off as cold and unfeeling as it does. Everything else leads me to believe that the audience is supposed to root for Beth, but it's just so difficult.

Beth does a lot of messed up shit that requires dialogue to sympathise with her and the inner workings of her mind, but in the later seasons Beth rarely gets to express herself verbally. And every time she does get to speak about her emotions, the dialogue is a pick-your-own-adventure between "She's in so much denial", "This person feels no emotions" and "I'll go find an analysis/fic later to explain this" (scenes like "Nothing" or "I was just bored"). Compare and contrast with some of the great scenes in season 1 where she emotes, like her paralysing shock after they first rob the store or admitting she enjoys crime, or (one of my favourites!) the one in the park where she's mimicking the other mothers beside her.

5. Brio

I said in the beginning that I was shocked Rio doesn't get mentioned until this point and that's because I've always felt like he was an integral part of the show. When people say the show is about the girls, they're truncating -- the show is about the girls getting into crime. That crime is represented by Rio over and over again -- they never bring in another criminal at his level (which is another one of its flaws, but that's also a different post); Rio is it.

And though I stand by Rio's importance, the truth is that Brio isn't as essential to the show, by which I mean that if all of the above were done well, it wouldn't be as sorely missed. In lieu of riveting plot, a fun friendship, character development and empowerment, most viewers have glommed onto Brio like a lifeboat (or ship, heh).

Unfortunately it's also what the show has most stubbornly refused to develop significantly.

It's honestly a toss-up for why I feel Brio is a flaw: is the flaw that they got together? That they never got together well enough? That the writing keeps bringing in these 'chemistry-filled' scenes that are ultimately filled with air?

I don't know. Maybe all of them; maybe just one, depending on the day.

6. Its criticism falls flat without intersectionality

This is a big one because Good Girls is *trying* to do something very clever. As mentioned previously, my favourite theme of the show is how the women's apparent innocence/vulnerability in the eyes of society is their biggest strength. The show plays with this and other interesting themes with varying levels of success, but ultimately they all fall a little flat when they don't feel intersectional.

When Ruby gets sidelined. When Turner, who sees and all but calls out by name Beth's privilege, is portrayed as the villain. When Rio is told he's gonna "pop a cap" in his young child's "ass". When the racist grandma becomes a sympathetic character whom we must later grieve. (And she really didn't have to be racist, now that I think about it? It was just that one line for laughs and that was it.) When, despite the real-world implications, Dean can loudly announce in a store that he's buying a gun to kill someone with and the show just glides past it. When Ruby has to grovel for forgiveness from Beth for trying to protect her husband and family from the system, with no acknowledgement from Beth about how their realities are different. When Rhea gets booted off the show as soon as she's done serving Beth's plot. When Rio gets treated like a prostitute for absolutely no reason. (Oh, and is accused of raping Beth and is literally spoken of as an animal and starts only existing in zero dim lighting as a one-dimensional stereotype... the list goes on.)

7. PR/The actors

I'll risk my life here to sprinkle this in because I do think it's a massive problem. The Manny/Christina of it all is just the tip of the iceberg (although wtf Good Girls? There's nothing you could do to get these two into an interview together??). The main actors do the bare minimum to promote the show and it's weird. I also think it's the height of unprofessionalism to keep characters on the show against the wishes of the majority of the audience just because you enjoy their actors (Boomer confirmed; Dean highly suspected). While, on the flip side of the coin, limiting a character's screentime because you aren't best buddies with them. Having less and less Rio when he's such a fan favourite is dumb; as is not including him in any series marketing material. It feels personal and that isn't how a TV show should be run.

8. The entire hair and wardrobe department needs a stern talking-to

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