#because if not fully but i think they're actually talking about some scenes or whatever

[bubbarnes]

“... and of course, as an actor you're always looking to challenge yourself and do something different and try something else”.

#i gotta be honest and say that i didn't hear the interview lmao #because if not fully but i think they're actually talking about some scenes or whatever #so yeah. in case you wanna watch the interview #anyways #never not finding him hot #wanna kiss his pretty face #sebastian stan #sebastianstanedit #sebstanedit #fysebastianstan #gbbb

[weebsinstash]

so the screenshots are kinda janky but I was rewatching the whole scene with Ozzie and Fizz's morning routine and I remembered there were those shots of like, the imp staff who work for Asmodeus and

is she helping do the laundry in platform thigh high boots, an apron, and a thong 😅 is that her UNIF0RM? Does she pick that out herself??? Is Lust just SO HORNY that it's totally normal that Ozzie's housekeeper is half-naked? Is he banging the housekeeper? Are Fizz and Ozzie exclusive or is it an open relationship? their other imp staff member was literally fully dressed so is this an optionally slutty, pro slut dress code idk

Like I'm sorry I'm just sitting here thinking of Reader who, Sinner or otherwise, is down in the Greed Ring as another performer for Mammon and Fizz is eventually like, "look, working this job is my dream, but it isn't yours. you shouldn't be attaching yourself to Mammon if all you need is a paycheck. I've got a... close friend who always needs extra hands; let me introduce you!!" and you have no idea that he's literally organizing a meeting with The Actually Fucking Cardinal Sin Of Lust until you're standing right in front of Asmodeus himself and he's just so goddamn CHARMING like he'd have me SWEATING AND GIGGLING I'd be straight up embarrassing myself like "o-oh that's not what I expected your voice to sound like hahaha 🥴"

Ozzie assures you the ultra sexy type uniforms are totally optional, and you could be bringing him papers in an oversized t-shirt and crocs and he'd still think you're as cute as can be. But. LORD if you ever decide, "I wanna feel sexy and confident and everyone else is having fun" and wear something sexy. It has him WEAK. Him? Them? Prolly both of them tbh. Like. Ugh I KNOW these two can go from having the freakiest loudest horniest sex imaginable to like giggling and tickling each other in bed and I can just SEE them being SO SOFT for a Reader darling. All your jokes make them laugh or affectionately roll their eyes. They DEVOUR your cooking (I think personal chef/PA Reader would be cute, the boys wake up and you have breakfast ready for them and everything), they're always sending you memes and things that made them think of you, they have a special group chat (of just them) SPECIFICALLY for sharing photos of you or things about you or just, talking about you period. Gosh. Would there be cameras suddenly installed where there wasn't previously just so they can see all the cute things you get up to when they're not around. All the little improv dances and songs... all the times you bend over...

Like the hilarity of Valentino getting absolutely fucking CUCKED when "his" Reader suddenly disappears, and it's because you can travel through the Rings and you work for Ozzie now and Valentino had no idea until he saw a trending photo of you and Ozzie where you guys did a HOT HOT photo shoot together to advertise something, where you're either almost completely naked OR actually ARE completely naked, and it's because Ozzie made you feel safe and protected and unlike Valentino, Asmodeus knows what an intimacy coordinator is-

You can actually go to clubs in those booty shorts with your ass hanging out and wearing whatever else makes you feel sexy and confident now because the second some creep is coming up to you and not taking 'no' for an answer, the creep suddenly has a massive looming shadow over them as an ancient demon turns to you and respectfully asks. "Is this guy bothering you queen?" and then steps on him. In a BAD way :)

GOD ALSO I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THIA INTERACTION UNTIL I SAW THIS GIF AND. Asmodeus' VA previously described his type as "everyone" and he has a BBW on that fountain like 😩❤️ now I'm thinking of chubby reader who's gotten bullied and bodyshamed by Valentino (who is negging you and is actually down SO BAD) and then you run off to Ozzie who's like. "Baby you are GORGEOUS and if anyone ever says or does anything like that to you again, just let me know and I'll break their legs ok ^w^"

((Also. Non yandere related thing im seeing. He's one of the Cardinal Sins and imps are considered the lowest Hellborns and Ozzie not only has an imp lover but TONS of imp staff, like he is a pro body positivity anti racism fucking 👏 K I N G 👏 BANISHED FROM HEAVEN'S DISCORD SERVER FOR BEING TOO HORNY ON MAIN. i bet he would DESPISE that Heaven is discriminating and choosing who's hot, just, ugh i want him carnally (edit: i noticed they're actually all succubi/incubi and not imps but the point still stands lol))

#yandere x reader #yandere helluva boss #yandere hellaverse #hh #hb #sinprompts #ughhhhhh why is he so FINE

[smytherines]

I often wonder if I would feel differently about The Staircase Scene if I had seen SAF when it first came out in 2016. The first time I saw it was probably around October or November of 2023, and like... the context is different now.

Whatever we want to say about the personal story arcs of these characters (and I know I'm in a tiny minority because, for me, killing Owen does not constitute a satisfying close to Curt's arc, that's totally fine), there is the very real issue of the sociopolitical context that this scene takes place within- both in their time (1961) and in ours.

One very cool thing about SAF is that, in order to understand these characters better, a lot of younger queer folks end up learning about the Lavender Scare, about Executive Order 10450- which officially prohibited gay people from working for the US government- for the first time. That's an incredible, precious thing to me. Yay queer history! It's important!

The show itself never addresses the fact that both the US and UK governments had very public, very brutal campaigns equating homosexuality with communism with being a traitor to your country. But if you want to understand these characters, and especially write fanfiction, you're really incentivized to teach yourself some fundamentally important aspects of queer history.

In the 54 Below concert, before singing Not So Bad, Brian Rosenthal talks about how when they were developing the show they thought N@zis were more or less a thing of the past, that they're fully aware of how differently that song might be taken now after an escalation into a more open embrace of fascism in the US. And they're absolutely right about that.

But I think that's also perhaps an issue with the staircase scene, or at least it is for me. Obviously homophobia and transphobia were not "fixed" in 2016, they were still massive problems resulting in violence and discrimination and brutality. But institutionally, at least, you could look at the situation and point to some things that were gradually getting better.

In 2016 trans youth in my state were legally allowed to receive gender affirming care. In 2024, they are not. It's not that homophobia and transphobia went away and then came back, but there was a very real resurgence of the use of the media and of governmental power to inflict pain on queer & trans people and chase them out of public life- bathroom bans, gender affirming care bans, Don't Say Gay laws, trying to make drag illegal, equating queer and trans people with pedophilia. There has been a big cultural shift back towards the same kind of violent governmental moral panic that our beloved Curt & Owen would have lived under.

Whatever we want to say about these characters and this story (and there's tons of fascinating debate there), there is still the base of a gay man killing his ex-lover ostensibly to protect US foreign policy objectives. Killing the man he loves- or loved, at least- to protect the secret that he is gay. And that hits different for me now.

I watch that scene and it is heartbreaking on a personal level, but its also heartbreaking as a queer person who just wants to scream "your government will destroy you for being gay, you don't owe them shit!"

Owen tries to explain that the surveillance network is happening, that the future won't wait for Curt to catch up. Barb has been saying she's working on the same thing for the US government the entire show, but Curt just kept ignoring her. And I just want to say "Curt, honey, what do you think your government is going to do to you with that surveillance system? Do you think you're useful enough to keep around even though you have sex with men? Because I promise you they will not care."

It feels tragic to me because on some level it seems like Curt would actually be safer with another gay man having control of all the world's secrets than he will be if the government he has dedicated his life to gets their hands on that same technology.

And the thing is, having a tragic ending doesn't make the show bad. This show is great. This scene is spectacular. It makes you think, it makes you feel things, it does all the stuff that great art is supposed to do. Absolutely none of what I'm saying here is meant to denigrate the show as a musical or a story or even a queer story. I hope it doesn't come off as me saying "actually this show is bad," because I don't feel that way at all.

Clearly I live and breathe this show. That's why I spend all my time on here analyzing every scene, every frame, every facial expression. I love this show so much that I can't help but deconstruct it and look at all its component parts- including the sociopolitical context both now and in 1961. Because that context, despite never being explicitly mentioned, is important to our understanding of these characters.

I love these characters so much that it's actually pretty difficult for me to watch A2P7 anymore, because the staircase scene is so emotionally devastating to me that it's hard to try to swing back into that more comedic tone (even though Spy Dance is a certified bop).

I'm not even sure what my point is with all of this, other than to say that Spies Are Forever is a show that is great and fun and funny as written/performed, and becomes gradually more emotionally devastating when you rewatch it or when you understand the subtext of it. When you can engage with the themes of gender and sexuality, surveillance and technology, trauma and trust, and tease out even more satisfying theories around this show.

So yeah. It's a musical. It's about spies.

#spies are forever #tin can bros #curtwen #agent curt mega #owen carvour #saf #tcb #its about spies

[ceilidho]

Sorry to dump this here, but no one in my immediate and/or accessible circle reads as much as I do and this conversation came up at the right time.

I don't read a lot of romance and I started reading some popular ones last year to ease my way into it. I feel like such a snob to say this, but the plot and writing are never fully fleshed out nor are the characters. None of the romantic actions I see people swoon over are ever explained well enough for me to understand the hype. A scene in which there should be an emotional inner monologue is shorted to a paragraph and if the character is toxic (I understand a lot of people enjoy toxic/dark men, but romance books never write them well enough) and destroys the other character's life/says a relationship-ending lie/any other cliche, there is never enough explanation, justification, groveling, or any thought process behind the reconciliation.

It's always just one half-written and half-baked trope after the other.

Again, apologies for dumping it here, but I think there are such damning consequences for women (the main demographic of romance readers) who read things like this and don't give constructive criticism or thought when facing these problems.

no but you're 100% right. i mean, this is one annoying bitch's opinion (mine LMAO) but trad publishing is in the absolute pits right now. that's not to say that there aren't still some good books coming out because of course, every now and then you're going to get a gem. but i think the environment has become outwardly hostile to good writing.

i mean, i know this has been discussed a ton, but the "fast fashionization" of books has become a huge problem. every time there's a new microtrend or whatever, every author rushes to push out a book to meet the demand (see: the hockey romance trend). this, obviously, means that the editing time is severely compressed and you get books published by like harper collins and penguin with typos, grammar issues, and more.

i got some flack for this when i posted about it on twitter ahah but i honestly do not understand why the sequel to "fourth wing" came out so soon (not even getting into the messy qualities of the first book). sequels used to take a year or more to come out to allow for the book to go through several rounds of editing and fine tuning! what happened??!!

i think authors now feel compelled to get their books out as soon as possible out of fear that booktok/readers will simply move on after the initial hype and they'll lose their reader base. there's like an anxiety about being left behind in the current publishing world.

this is kind of in line with what i was talking about the other day with Bo actually - writing romance and smut is actually way harder than people think. you can't just use the same 5 recycled porn dialogue lines and call it a day. you have to care a little about the story you're trying to tell, not just churning it out to make a buck or to make people pay attention to you. i'm not saying belabour every single action and decision made by your main character or go crazy on description (i still think the sweet spot for a published book is between 250-300 pages, and maybe more if you're writing a genre specific book that involves a lot of worldbuilding), but as a writer you need to want to be writing that book in the first place.

no one who's legitimately excited about what they're writing is going to resort to cliches and overused tropes - they might lean on tropes they like, but there's inevitably going to be something original and exciting there.

also my lil controversial opinion about the state of trad publishing lately is that i think it's 100% influenced by this weird pervasive strain of purity culture that's on booktok where people feel like any enjoyment they get from reading a particular thing has a direct reflection on them as a person and their values. rather than it just being a book.

(by the way i actually completely agree with you that even dark romances are as bad as everything else we've been talking about - that's another conversation lol. i also kind of agree with the idea of more romance books coming with content warnings on the front page - this hasn't really caught on yet except with some dark romance authors but i think it's a really good idea)

i don't think there's anything wrong about people getting excited about books on tiktok and instagram and youtube btw. i think it's a fun way to share recommendations, commentary, and interests. what i think is the big problem is that the publishing industry has almost become beholden to trends and online perception because they've seen how much profit they can generate by catering to it, and i think that's why books now just feel bland and soulless. they're tapping into a FOMO on both the authors' and writers' side, of either being left behind and not being able to make a living, or missing out on what everyone else is reading and talking about.

#today is the day that i cannot stfu apparently

[cogmented]

how do you come up with your designs for mcyt’s? theyre so creative and cool so i thought id ask

THANK YOU AND THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION

now entering yap city tihs will be a long post

my steps are basically

voice

personality

og look of minecraft skin/branding

player movement

other ppls fanart (if any)

things that happened/cultural associations

i start with a bunch of random sketches to get the feel of the person.. that's why so many of my early posts were doodle pages. to me, character design is more based on what the person is like rather than what they look like. i think a lot of people do that

I do this with all of the above and shape language, but in bigger art pieces outside of lineups i also use color and perspective (as in youll see more of someone like spepticle in large, sweeping scenes while someone like zam in closed, heavily perspective-based ones) to indicate personality. ill change designs when suited for this too (spoke with or without a gas mask, vi with or without a mouth, etc etc)

my first iteration of lifesteal designs heavily relied on the look of the skins and were gradually tweaked over time. my most prominent example of this is my spoke design, so i'll use him at least once in the examples for continuous comparison.

i watch a couple of each person's videos first, understand their voice, personality, and what they do, then focus on them in other people's videos too to get a full story, their movement, and what others think of them (helps with personality and things we might not see). streams are the most helpful because they're less biased and you see so much more of their antics. huge stream fan.

i get into the how after this

this process doesnt go in order for some designs and others have a more prominent focus on particular parts of the process that override or effect other parts

Voice

starting off with not spoke here's a problem i encountered when designing wemmbu

I based him a lot off of spoke and ashswag due to not knowing much about him besides the fact that he schemes (spoke&ash-esque) and he doesn't move his character around too much when talking (ash behavior). he didn't match the left one because his voice doesn't have the dramatic, flamboyant fratboy flair that spoke has, so I shifted it to be more friendly yet still dangerous with curved square shapes rather than triangles. i made his scheming, diabolical nature more evident through his clothing that's pretty jester-like and sharp, but with a smoother middle that spoke doesn't have (and to match his eyes).

voice also impacts character height. i dont know how to describe this. mapicc and zam are similar heights because their voices are similar, same goes for parrot and vortex, but leo and vitalasy are close to the same height (due to vitalasy's huge fuckass ears) despite having wildly different voices, with leo's bold text voice and vitalasy's higher-pitched jumbled kinda speech they still take up the same "amount of space" in conversation. they stand out. and even though spoke's voice also stands out an incredible amount he is still only slightly taller than average. this is where personality overrides voice in my designs.

Personality

spoke is sharp in every sense of the word, but is also able to mold himself around to get what he needs.

my first attempt at him was pretty lackluster. i didn't know much of him at the time, only his wither video, and thus understood him mainly through his association with parrot. he seemed a lot more evil and more serious at first glance. like woah! fully fledged mouth and nose?! not anymore.

i cover certain expressive parts to also depict more of their personality in some abstract, holistic way. after watching streams and whatnot, spoke doesnt actually speak (excluding his random sounds and yips or whatever he does) too terribly much, except when the spotlight is on him or he's trying to get something. so, i tweaked his design to encompass that when i understood him better.

i take away his arms to allow his hands to stand out more (character movement thing, he moves around a lot when no one is paying attention to him, punches the air when ..not talking but making a point ig. he's a big fan of hovering menacingly), i give him a slinky-like outside skeletal structure to both capture his affinity for withers (i made him a wither thing because of the wither sounds in his video.. and the withers in general) and to give him the feeling of more freedom with his movement.

i also just really like gas masks so. basically, spoke is someone that hides away until he chooses to stand out. thank lord heaven he looks like some shadow creature.

later on i gave him more magenta highlights, especially in the wormhole era because 1. magenta wasnt heavily included in his rainbow look, making it stand out on his whole being, and 2. because magenta is really really cool and people should use it more.

og minecraft skin/branding

hi spokeis here. this will be quick because his branding is so heavy. lightning, rainbow, black. boom. character. withers and white eyes? easy. causes a lot of anarchy? again, lightning and withers.

planetlord on the other hand is someone i greatly differed from the og skin and branding. i saw the design in a vision idk. i shift his colors all the time in different pieces but i use more of his pfp colors now because there's too many purples in this world. his branding, personality, and voice all connect very well. a bit misleading, he's a bit of a weasel.

Movement

i never used to look into movement, but pvp styles and conversational movement of lifesteal is intriguing. unfortunately it was only something i started paying attention to during the end of s4 because vitalasy's movement was so interesting. he's a big fan of getting in people's faces.

ill be real, i didn't really notice spoke a lot during things because he was almost always never alone, and when he was it is always at a distance or you knew he had people to back him up.

spoke's movement isn't actually too abnormal. he's goal oriented and tends to always be doing something, and when he does he finds the most efficient way possible. pretty basic. his design choices are based mainly on voice and personality.

someone like mapicc on the other hand has very particular movement. he spins around people when fighting and gets right up in their face (in nethpot pvp mostly), so i made his clothing tighter to the skin with looser parts to accentuate that movement: practical clothing for close combat battles. it was also noticed (by the lord) that he tends to look straight forward instead of the slightly down that most players do.

zam fights differently, but i made him with the og branding (he's princezam) and what he does in mind. his body language in my art is more indicative of his personality.

Other people's fanart

shoutout the community, a notable amount of ideas were from the mid-late 2022 lifesteal community.

dog leowook and leather jacket mapicc were from gen, jackalope rek from aoi i think, "croptop" jacket spoke from saints-blade, snail terrain from navy-leader, tv ashswag from kish, sock puppet red definitely from someone i dont remember, 4 armed squiddo from seri, and old cartoon jaron was from bucket

Things that happened/istarted talking about cultural inspirations

spoke and his connection to godhood influenced his redesign greatly. this section affects what the character wears most of the time.

i give both spoke and vitalasy painted palms (alta) due to their connection with godhood and destruction, with spoke in particular reminding me a lot of Kali Ma, thus i gave him a skirt (due to nppp too). vitalasy's clothing is based on Indonesian cultural clothing. wemmbu's also takes inspiration from Indonesian and Bhutan cultural clothing.

indigenous cultures inspired some designs too (i do a lot of ethnographic anthropology work with some of the tribes i base the clothing off of), with woogie having Yupik and Inuit inspiration. polar bear = cold climate in my head. and leo has Haida and Yunnan (minority Chinese providence, not a tribe) inspiration.

bacon's... not bacon strip design's clothing was based on Bangladeshi clothing (im Bangladeshi, i also added alpona patterns to ash's design), nomadic cultures, and some german pilgrim thing?? idk not my best design. i specifically looked for nomadic inspiration because of his willingness to flee at any moment lol. i didnt do this for rek despite his fleeing reputation because i dont watch rek content too much and he already had hybrid traits that took care of that presentation.

poafa's design is a goat because of the medusa trials where he was used as a scapegoat. makes sense i think. his horns are from past associations with jepex that infected mapicc as well (devil trio s1). zam's design is very much from s3 empire and s4 castle.

planet's design changed slightly, mostly rounder shapes, but also the number of "spikes" on his scarf, now stuck at three because of 3ht.. and easier to draw than five. minutetech has a bow instead of a bowtie from jumper due to s5 happenings. the gem on his crown has wemmbu's highlights from his gem's main color.

roshambo's design was also heavily influenced by medusa where i gave him a snake body. in my art that depicts before medusa events he doesn't have the snake body, and same goes with before s4 spoke where i draw him with full pants. in some sketches ive depicted mapicc with a muzzle only after the destruction of s4 spawn due to quix's mapicc dog influence shoutout.

mapicc and ro have matching things that persist seasons (mapicc periwinkle collar, ro red painted ring finger... head finger?), as did subz and vitalasy with matching shoulder pads (beginning of s4 subz had a bandana and vitalasy had a bell that traded between them through artworks of mine) Vitalasy also gained sun and moon earrings. mid and 4c have matching hoods/cloaks ^_^ marriage or something.

hope this made sense and covered everything you could have ever wanted forever... feel free to ask me questions i love explaining processes

#cog talks #long post #anon #answered #design explanation

[luvring]

Hello Nia it is bug jar anon I’ve actually resurrected myself. Had to claw through all the dirt and make a soul pact and everything yeah it was quite the ordeal anyways

If you ever have any Mhin headcanons I would be forever indebted to you but also no pressure

GENERAL MHIN HCS

gn!reader | OMG. OMGGGG OMG HELLO Welcome Back friend 🫶🫂 i respect and love a little resurrection i hope ur doing awesome 🫶 ofc i have mhin content for u

playing with mhin's hair..!!! them relaxing and letting you do whatever . think about mhin getting hair in their face and tying it into a little half-do situation. perf

we know they feed stray cats on patrols but have we considered the thought they've done it enough that the cats recognize them. that mhin has a mental schedule and map of where some regular ones are and makes sure to visit to see if they're alright :'(

THE CATS BUMPING AGAINST THEIR LEG AND PURRING 🙁💔 mhin smiling softly while petting them and talking to them quietly (because they're some of the only company they'll let themself have) (sorry.)

one more cat point. i'm not sure if they'd name them,, mhin gives me just remembering their appearance/personality vibes. but if YOU asked about names or wanted to name them,, well who are they to stop you. and of course the next time they see the cat they'll greet it with the name you chose.

you can gain mhin's trust / some affection by buying them sweets 🤞 i think it'd be very cute scene where they offer one of their favourites to you when you start getting along..

mhin and stargazing...i know they've got to have some favourite spots. they know where to get an awesome view of the night sky without any distractions!! imagine them bringing you up there and maybe talking about different constellations, how they found it, etc :(

^ you being the only other person who knows where these spots are... checking them first when looking for them.....

the others figure out you and mhin have are getting along and they won't fully leave either of you alone LOL. kuras and leander telling you to keep an eye on them / teasing you / etc yeah yeah alright guys relax

gets mad/worried if you get attacked. like in a raised voice "what were you thinking?" way before they realize and try to calm down and treat you. they can't hide the fact that they yelled your name in panic and ran over so

KISS THE BEAUTY MARK KISS THE BEAUTY MARK KI

mhin the type of person who if you started peppering their face with kisses they'd blush and ask what you're doing and why without actually pushing you away.

stares at you when you try to initiate small talk but inevitably answers anyways. same thing with dumb silly questions. they go back to what they were doing but if you keep pestering them they go "no, why would you even turn into a worm?" like

the type of person to get sleepy and do the head drooping thing so you get to pull them to rest against your shoulder

mhin has a very nice laugh...trust me. you get them to laugh and it's clear and lovely and their eyes squint and they sort of tilt their head down subconsciously and

kind of awkward about pda and initiating any physical affection but i think if you hugged them, after initial tension ofc,, they really want to melt into it. like they hesitantly wrap their arms around you but then they let themself rest in the crook of your neck

they look like they don't trust themself with gifts. they second guess anything they think of getting you but they actually end up getting something really useful/nice ? mhin pays close attention to your habits and interests even if they pretend not to

dry texter....actually no. they'd be snarky. they say stuff in a deadpan way. i think it'd be funny if they react to what they think are dumb texts with a thumbs down emoji before actually responding. oh that's so them with leander if they don't leave him on seen

#touchstarved game #touchstarved #mhin x reader #touchstarved mhin #🧾nia.answers #<3 bug jar anon #mhin gives me a little kenma energy #Who gets me. anyone. anybody #nia + touchstarved

[m3r1m4r5u333]

Look. I'm fucking done here.

I'm fucking furious. I've had ENOUGH of people shit talking Kristen Reidel for being "antibuddie".

Newsflash you imbecils, it's OBVIOUSLY blatantly untrue!! She's been here for us, from the very start, to lay out the foundation for queer Buck and Eddie. She's written, directed and been the executive producer for some of the most monumental buddie moments!!

Maybe take a moment to understand that these shows are huge and one person does not have all the say for how things work out. These people do not work in isolation, doing whatever they like!

Let's remember that the show used be on Fox, which is arguably one of the most conservative networks there are!!!

The show already had several main queer characters and romances when Eddie's character entered the show in season 2. We also know that the main target audience is fairly tradional, and the show is freaking expensive to make without a huge profit in return. We KNOW it has repeatedly struggled to get renewed due to that.

Let's remember that creating a show like this is not an existence of stress-free creative indulgence - you are actually responsible for HUNDREDS of jobs! The show's survival! People's income! The crew isn't just a couple of known actors, it's also everyone else making the show, and these productions are HUGE. It's so many families income at stake.

So WAKE UP and realise what they've been against, creating this show.

I'm like obnoxiously queer but even I would get nervous at the idea of similtaneously airing several queer ships on a show about emergency responders, on freaking Fox!

Seriously, just stop to think. What if they had gone for blatant buddie early on?

The show would have had to juggle... let's do some math...

Hen, Karen, and Eva being queer and raising a rainbow family,

Michael's coming out storyline, then his and David's romance, Josh being very much gay and dating men... Add to that Buck and Eddie, and that's MANY prominent queer characters, story arcs and romances trying to compete for air time... ON FOX, in a show about firefighters!

The risk of the the largely conservative, homophobic audience on a conservative channel going "it's too much" and abandoning the show was REAL, don't you pretend otherwise.

Sure, there are other less easily intimidated audiences, but how would they know if the leap into the unknown would pay off?

I think in those circumstances they made a very sensible decision to focus on the other queer characters anf storylines first.

Again, it's hundreds of people's incomes at stake!!! There must have been people, funders, bosses voting against adding more blatantly queer storylines to the current situation because it was just not the right time.

So Kristel Reid was CAUTIOUS when she gave interviews. Remember, the future of the show has been uncertain from the start with how expensive it is to make!!

She did not want to give false hope to the viewers hoping for buddie come true. She did not want to be accused of queerbaiting. She very sensibly made sure to appear neutral about buddie, and give the UNTRUE impression that her head canon is that meh, they're just straight friends to her.

Quite frankly folks... NEVER PLAY POKER WITH THIS WOMAN, I think she'd eat you in a minute!!

She LIED. Fucking absorb that information. Breathe it in! You can do it! She's been obviously rooting for Buddie to happen for AGES.

Why do I say this?

Well here's my fucking powerpoiny about it!!! Read this and take a minute to consider her innocent "oh they're the very bestest of friends"-front against her actual work on the show!!

She WROTE 5x18, you know, with Ravi's line to Hen:

"I think it's sweet that Karen was defending you. I mean, isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

She's no spring chicken, she wrote this fully knowing the memory we buddie shippers possess!!!

She WROTE the scene in which Eddie comforts Buck at the hospital after Maddie's kidnapping.

She WROTE 3x01, that's the scene in which Eddie bursts into Buck's apartment when Buck's feeling down and has Chris hang out with "his Buck".

She co-wrote Eddie's disgusted reaction to meeting Abby, she co-wrote Buck hearing that Chris is going on a two-week school trip and freaking out like a mother hen,

She WROTE freaking 4x14 - You know, the episode SURVIVORS, in which Eddie is shot by a sniper!! In the queerest way possible!!

She WROTE Desperate measures, you know - the episode in which Eddie breaks up with Ana, freaking oozing repressed queer subtext all over the place!!

Have you even watched the talk Buck and Eddie have before the breakup?!!! It's INSANE.

---

Buck: Ah. I thought you'd be the first one out the door. Christopher know you're coming?

Eddie: Not yet. I haven't figured out what I'm going to say when I get home. To Ana.

---

Try telling me that "door" isn't the door of a closet, I challenge you!!

She freaking co-wrote 5x17!!! The META of Taylor, in 5x17 "promising" she won't "run the story", and then breaking that promise.

That same episode has Eddie visiting his home btw, and paints a very illuminative picture of the environment Eddie grew up in - it practically spells toxic masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, catholic guilt. Really, that episode basically screams "This is why Eddie is such a repressed onion."

THAT episode also has THAT insane closet door scene, Eddie opening a closet door as Buck says:

Buck: You know, your parents will understand!

Eddie turns to stare at him.

Buck: ...They should understand. *Plays with a toy dinosaur as he's talking, and pretends it bites his finger.*

... And again, after that episode she wrote 5x18, the one with "Isn't that what we all want in a partner, knowing they have your back?"

An obvious parallel to Buck and Eddie meeting and promising to have each other's backs!!!

....

Seriously, Kristel Reidel has had our back from the very beginning and I'm fed up with people talking shit about her!! I think it's no coincidence that one of the emergencies she wrote was "someone stuck in a freezer", that's fucking meta. I bet she's wanted to fucking hit the pedal but she's been forced to bide her time, and it's been fucking agony at times.

And don't even get me started on Tim fucking Minear, who people have ALSO shit talked because "hE jUst liKes tO QuEerBait".

BE FUCKING GRATEFUL FOR KRISTEN REIDEL, YOU utter... *censored*.

BE GRATEFUL FOR TIM MINEAR. They are our freaking GOATS and they deserve our love!!!

Edit. After reading up some more about the power structures of media networks like these... I would really not be surprised if it turned out that the people running this show (such as Reidel and Minear, the people listed next to the episodes) have had even less say on what sort of stories they get to do than I've thought.

After all, these people we fans focus on and know by name... They're really not nearly as influential as we think. There are still plenty of big chiefs higher up in the food chain. I've heard some vague rumours before that the network has meddled with the show's creative decisions a lot in these past years, and would not be surprised if it was true.

#kristen reidel #tim minear #911 on abc #buddie #911 buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie 911 #evan buck buckley #911 abc #eddie díaz #DONE WITH THIS SHITTALK!!!

[beanghostprincess]

Hello. I hope you’re doing well ❤️ I had a few questions (and if you’ve already answered any of them then I’ll just continue scrolling down your blog, as I’ve been doing).

Here ya go!

1. What do you think people mainly get wrong about Usopp? Like, what is a common misconception.

2. How would you describe Usopp’s relationship with each of his crewmates, in so few words (if possible)? I feel like people forget that the Strawhats are friends too.

Just wanted to hear your take.

Kind regards,

Anon.

You sound so polite, I love it 😭💖 Sending you kisses and hugs for being so sweet 🥰 (Sorry I didn't reply sooner! Busy life)

1 - I feel like the most common one I've seen around general audience/most shonen lovers (I like shonen too, but you know what I mean. You know what type of people I'm referring to) is that they take Usopp's character pretty superficially and instead of reading between the lines (very huge, separated, obvious and easy to read lines, though) they just accept what is verbally said... "He's a coward" / "He can't fight" / "He's selfish" / "He's just funny".

Most people have this misconseption about Usopp's fighting style because they assume that, because it is a long range fighting style, he isn't as powerful as others. When it is not true, by the way. They also deem Usopp to be a coward when, actually? He is just an average person? Like I KNOW the whole point is that he works on his "cowardice" but they just took an average boy with no prior experience of fighting and being a pirate to directly... Fight and being a pirate. Everybody would react like that. "He's not strong and he is a coward" first of all, wrong, second of all, you would be like that too.

And saying he is selfish? Or that he doesn't care about the crew or the people around him? I genuinely do not understand how some people can read him that way... Do you all not know how to... Analyse basic characters now? Another thing people get wrong is thinking Usopp isn't hot/wouldn't pull any girls as if he wasn't the only one with a canon girlfriend waiting for him, but alright.

2 - This is such a good question, actually 😭 I love you for this, anon. My favorite thing ever is talking about Usopp,,, I appreciate this.

Luffy: I love his dynamic with Luffy because despite being his captain, it is obvious that they are best friends. They have the same young/playful mindset and it doesn't feel, like... A job at all? Don't get me wrong, they're all a family, but their dynamic feels way more teen-like? More silly? They're stupid together. Usopp being the voice of the reason vs Luffy being extremely chaotic is my favorite thing. They feel very organic. And then there's this layer of jealousy from Usopp's side and the fact that I think Luffy will never be able to fully understand Usopp's insecurities, but somehow they will always find understanding and support on each other. Usopp is loyal to his captain and all but it feels more of a "I follow him because I consciously trust in him" than a "blind devotion" type of thing. And I adore that. Also, Luffy saw potential on Usopp from the very beginning and it melts my heart. Plus! They're both beetle/bugs lovers! The sillies <33

Zoro: They're one of the most hilarious duos because you would expect Zoro to absolutely hate being around somebody like Usopp, and yet he lets the guy do whatever he wants with him?? Zoro might be Luffy's enabler first and foremost but we forget he is even more permissive with Usopp sometimes and it is the funniest thing. I love it when they have tiny little soft scenes together because Zoro genuinely enjoys Usopp's company and I believe Usopp thinks Zoro's cool despite always being done with him being so dramatic and impulsive when fighting. I feel like Usopp feels safe around him but not only physically. I think he knows Zoro can read him like a book and after what happened in Water 7? I believe now even more than they're closer. Sometimes opening up to your captain is hard so maybe the first mate whom you have an intimate but odd relationship works even better.

Nami: My absolute beloveds. They're both on the same page when it comes to being "cowards" because their fighting styles are different from the rest and they're not built different like most of the crew. They feel so organic and genuine too! They just get each other. They're mischivious little shits together. And when they are not on the same page, it's so funny how comfortable they are around each other to just yell at the other. I think Nami gets Usopp when it comes to feeling weak and out of place but not quite, because she is always trying to make a path for herself instead of being afraid to do so? She's used to fighting on her own and standing up for herself even if it's scary but Usopp isn't, and I think she gets it but Usopp doesn't think she does because she is extremely valuable to the crew, obviously, and Usopp doesn't feel like he is. It's a dynamic with constant support and understanding and so so much fun together because they're most of the time on the same page. That's why they work so well!! They're not normal at all but the whole "we're the only normal people here" dynamic is incredible.

Sanji: If I start talking about them I think I will never finish. I think I've left pretty clear that my favorite thing about their dynamic is that, despite arguing all the time because their personalities are very different (something people often forget like. They argue A LOT. And it's SO funny. They're both the softest and the most annoying thing to each other--) they're always there for each other. Their dynamic is easy to summarize in "they joined basically at the same time, right after the romance trio" / "they do what the other can't do". They both have different types of self-hatred and insecurities that bring Sanji to understand Usopp on a deep level that I don't think others are able to share. It is obvious that Sanji has a clear preference for Usopp when it comes to the guys of the crew and he does treat him differently, not because he sees him as weak but because he sees himself in him. Their relationship is something so personal because I truly believe they're the ones that understand each other the most. I am SO angry they barely have scenes together now,,, Or that Usopp wasn't in WCI,,, Waiting for Elbaf to parallel Water 7 so fucking bad. I have more things to say about them but-- My whole blog is literally about that.

Vivi (very necessary to include her): People don't talk at all about their dynamic and it is so offensive to me because they're so funny??? Vivi's little quirk about forgetting to mention dangerous stuff and Usopp being oh so done with her is the funniest thing. Drum island was certainly incredible for these two. I truly wanted to see more of them,,, I think that if Vivi had stayed with them, she would've understood Usopp pretty well. Screaming for help when nobody can hear you? Feeling oh so weak in comparison to the world around you? She would've been on Sanji's team kicking Luffy and trying hard to keep them from saying any stupid things. More of Usopp and Vivi,,, More of Usopp and Vivi,,, I miss them :( They were so cute :(

Chopper: They're so cute and silly together,, But not only that! They support each other so so much!!! Maybe it's because they're both from the "coward trio" but I just adore how they're pretty much always together. Chopper has this whole thing at first about feeling like a monster, but Usopp finds his abilities so awesome and,, It melts my heart whenever we see them interacting. They're not only hilarious and support each other but they're always finding reassurance on the other and I love it. Not to mention the whole Sogeking thing, too! And Chopper believing Usopp's lies! They feel sooo much like brothers, imo, it's adorable. Chopper might be one of Sogeking's biggest fans but Usopp is certainly Chopper's number 1 fan too.

Robin: I think if I start talking about them I might end up crying, thanks. But. But. But I adore them. They leave the crew pretty much at the same time and yet Usopp does everything to help them save her and bring her back. I think Robin reads him pretty well and can see so much bravery in him that Usopp can't see... While Usopp, despite being a bit weirded out at first by her, sees how gentle and caring and lovely Robin is. And how cool she is, too! Also, they're both big nerds, and I love that. The fact that he did everything he could for her in Enies Lobby despite having left the crew must've meant the world for her. And it's also the whole thing about her wanting to give up on life? I think Usopp, even if it's not on the same level, can kind of relate to that? It is not Sanji/Robin type of bond (which I fucking adore, by the way) but it is pretty personal. Also, hilarious dynamic because Robin is always telling dark jokes and Usopp gets scared easily and I just adore it.

Franky: They mean so much to me. My beloveds. We don't talk enough about Franky regretting having hurt Usopp when they first met and the guilt still haunting him. We don't talk about it enough. We should. Franky was there for Usopp on his most vulnerable moment and I think Franky's personality and masculinity mixed with his pretty emotional side is SO good for Usopp. Because it teaches him to be braver and stronger and himself, and it lets himself feel freely. They have so many things in common and I am from the "Franky father figure" team because their bond looks so,,, So much like that. Usopp getting excited for every little thing Franky makes and Franky quite obviously showing off because he knows he likes it. I think Franky is the one Usopp goes to when there's any problem in his life and,,, It is just so sweet that they always trust each other SO much. It is not only admiration but a deep, close bond. Still not over Franky wanting to overcompensate for what he did to Usopp, though, but- But they're okay now, I swear.

Brook: The sillies!!!!!!! We don't have THAT much of them in comparison to the other characters but every time they interact it is always so funny. Idk how I would describe their dynamic other than it is hilarious,, But I also think we deserve more scenes of them interacting seriously. Brook spent 50 years on his own and Usopp's fear in Water 7/Enies Lobby of being left alone too is so,,, I think Usopp would want to hear more of Brook and make him feel at home because if just the thought of being alone scares him so much, he can't even imagine what it was like for Brook. Usopp is somebody who seems to want to glue the crew together as much as possible and mostly uses fun/positivity (even if fake) to do so, and Brook does the same with music. Like- The fear of being alone. Idkk. Going insane now, actually.

Jinbe: I feel like everybody's relationship with Jinbe is very gentle and silly because he is adapting to the crew's dynamic and getting used to their shenanigans. So no matter what, it is hilarious and sweet. I actually,,, Want to see Jinbe's reaction to Sogeking,,, A lot,,, It'd be SO funny. Anyway- They haven't had much of a break to be together (please please let them be silly post-egghead) (honestly I'd kill for a silly filler arc, ngl...) but Jinbe is extremely understanding and mature and imo he sees a lot of potential and bravery in Usopp. And I'd say Usopp finds comfort on Jinbe but who wouldn't? I think it'd be funny to see a bit more of teasing/playful interactions with them because I love Usopp being stupid and Jinbe being all confused at first but having fun.

#'in so few words' you don't know me do you #i could write the bible right here and now with how much i unnecessarily write i apologize #i love all the character dynamics with usopp next question #i just love usopp in general #he means!!!!!!! the world to me!!!!!!!!!!! #i genuinely appreciated this ask a lot <3333333 #i'd talk for hours about him #one piece #usopp #ask-bean!

[thesherrinfordfacility]

Enoch in particular is interesting bc of Saraqael. It's the ONLY text that lists Saraqael as an Archangel. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel are identified as the Supreme Princes of Heaven, and Saraquel is one of the "seven holy Archangels", which also includes those four. Sandalphon isn't listed, but I DO think a fun little fact there is that he and Metatron are the only angels whose names end in -on, likely a reference to how they're the only angels who originated as humans. I don't think he and Metatron are 'twins' in the literal sense though? Enoch (pre-Noah) and Elijah (post-Noah) weren't contemporaries. They just happen to be the only humans who become angels.

hi!!!✨ god im so sorry ive taken so long to get to this, anon!!! - tbh, im finding saraqael a bit of an enigma, both from the GO narrative perspective and indeed trying to work out who they were in terms of biblical/apocryphal significance... i hope you don't mind, but im gonna talk about saraqael in general in my response; as seems to be the way, i typically get carried away in answering what seems to be a fairly straightforward ask!!!

edit: further speculation on BOL and saraqael's potential role in it

saraqael theory(?)/analysis:

i think are a couple of crucial bits to saraqael in s2, and not just the ones where they recognise crowley etc. i talked a little bit about what i think their rank is in GO, which i don't think is the same rank as the other archangels, but perhaps a lower archangel like sandalphon. in terms of what saraqael actually does... it feels like they are essentially in charge of earth operations, or something to that effect.

muriel is, by all accounts so far, a (very?) low ranking angel. and yet, when muriel finds the matchbox, it's saraqael that accompanies them to the archangels to report it. now, that doesn't necessarily mean anything - muriel could have gone to a supervisor and then it got escalated, but what saraqael says here:

makes me think that, actually, saraqael knows muriel at least to a greater degree than the separation of an archangel (or whatever tier), and a 'lowly' 37th-class scrivener would have. in fact, this is the only scene other than presenting the matchbox, i believe, where we see saraqael and muriel interact? there is some kind of history there, and potentially even a degree of fondness.

now, let's take into consideration the theory that muriel themself may have been higher-ranking, and got Got by the metatron. they originally were going to demote gabriel to 38th Class; was saraqael similarly the one who wiped muriel's memory, as they attempted to wipe gabriel's? what was the purpose of saraqael being at the trial, other than to fulfil that purpose? and they took muriel directly into their chain of command as a means of keeping an eye on them, protecting them?

this kind of supports my thought that saraqael is somewhat an operations manager (but also...not just that at all*), doing essentially the archangel grunt-work, including keeping an eye on unauthorised miracles:

then we take a look at their interaction with crowley; because i do think there's a lot more to unpack in this bit than that they may have worked on a nebula together, and that crowley doesn't remember them.

summarising a couple of observations:

the seemingly innocent but assertive point made that the trial was in fact real, and didn't take a long time to happen start to finish

the fact that saraqael even notices the interaction between crowley and muriel: he's dressed as an angel (and demonstrated as being a 'bee' when michael/uriel don't fully catch it was him), muriel seems - despite the aesthetic of heaven generally - to be tucked away in the equivalent of a cupboard cubicle, and he accessed a file without, presumably, any alarms - the file recognised his former rank/that he 'knew' the password... so what exactly prompts saraqael to come over in the first place?

saraqael looks happy to see crowley, possibly even a little relieved, but once again like they're... fond?

they use his chosen name (specifically not 'crawley'), and use it with ease despite knowing him pre-fall and therefore, theoretically, not having any cause to use 'crowley' up until this moment

saraqael seems disappointed that crowley doesn't remember them.

where am i going with this bit? well, put simply. i think saraqael had some hand in the mechanics of the fall. i think they were meant to wipe the fallens' memories, but jigged about with the settings. perhaps, now, they regret their part in it, and is working to undo it somewhat, from the inside. i think, where they can, they protect those that get fully wiped (ie. muriel, and gabriel had the wipe gone to plan). and i think, maybe just their favourites, they keep an eye on those that actually fell. and i think that they are trying to break out this information without outright saying it ("well, don't let me interrupt you! show him the trial..."), because they know first-hand the consequences. and they know the consequences, because they are literally metatron's operational right-hand* angel:

this would explain why they seem to remember metatron in the bookshop: exposure to him? seems to fully understand how dangerous he is? not only does saraqael look genuinely apprehensive on behalf of michael, but watch their eyeline movement:

(ok but a moment of appreciation for how adorably derek jacobi says 'piffle' i mean💕)

it almost looks like it goes from michael, and then flips to up beyond michael? as they clasp their hands together? and then after the cut, they're actually breathing so heavily, out of... stress? worry? this is such a tiny thing that may well just coincidental actor-choice on liz's part, but it certainly works in the scene context... that saraqael seems quietly and calmly terrified.

another point, back on the subject of saraqael's role in heaven; i feel like the source of both the earth observation files michael gets in s1, and the fact that metatron says he's "looked back over a number of [aziraphale and crowley's] exploits" may have come from saraqael themself. that's a bit tentative, but it would certainly fit that it would come, at least, from their department. say - metatron has been spying on our boys through the sigil in the bookshop (or something to that effect), has gone to saraqael essentially for intel, and then put the offer to aziraphale to return to heaven in order to split them apart, after seeing the extent to which they're entwined with each other.

we haven't seen a direct, lone aziraphale-saraqael interaction, but their line about, "we'll be keeping a very close eye on you, aziraphale.", doesn't actually feel as ominous as i once felt. in fact, it's muriel that saraqael sends down which - let's face it, by all accounts they are not the angel to send down to earth when camouflage is key - feels actually like saraqael was banking on covering up the miracle for aziraphale and crowley, or at least buying them time.

last little bit: the comment on aziraphale's frisbee halo trick makes me think once again of saraqael's potential role as, essentially, head of operations (declaring war is rather messy, they're right), but also brings me back to the point i made here about the halo toss... somehow, i feel like it signifies something a bit more than just a casual hand grenade.

and now for the bible-y bits

well, i mean, there isn't really a lot to go on, lbr. as anon said (hi, anon, if you made it this far✨), they're described as one of the seven archangels in the first book of enoch (20:6), and if ive read correctly, the second book describes that they brought enoch himself to heaven... so maybe the GO narrative will follow this somewhat? if saraqael feels somewhat responsible for metatron being in the position he is, and having done the hypothetical things he's done? and that's why they might be trying to undo it, or undermine it?

i think the first book also describes saraqael (who i believe is synonymous with sariel and suriel, as well as other different but similar angel names in biblical/apocryphal texts) as being essentially the observer of justice and injustice on earth, "who sin in the spirit", which would also track against them having potential control over earth observations, and them potentially guarding over those that have fallen/have been punished by heaven.

i think some islam and talmud texts also indicate that saraqael may be azrael and metatron respectively, but i doubt that is an arc that the GO narrative will follow, nor indeed other bits and pieces from enoch that ive read through... but certainly there's enough that looks like it could have hypothetically inspired the saraqael story that im interpreting at the moment!

and as for metratr-on, and sandalph-on, iirc that is the meaning of the -on suffix, to reflect being born of man...? i looked at this a little while ago and found zephon as another example... parsing out abaddon kinda drove me a bit insane though, so that's where i left it! i agree that i doubt that metatron and sandalphon are twins, but definitely seems to speak to their origins, perhaps!!!✨

#another theory/analysis noone asked for #im so excited for more saraqael #i need them to be aziraphale's friend pls #good omens #ask #the fall/the great war spec #AWCW spec #metatron spec #memory wipe theory #book of life theory #saraqael spec #s2 meta #s3 narrative spec

[longbobmckenzie]

THTH2 Episodes 1-3 Thoughts!

Eeeek it's THTH2 (Too Hot to Handle the game) time!! Last season fizzled out halfway through but based on the first few episodes of season 2, I've got hopes that this one will be better!

First of all, it's 15 episodes as opposed to 10 - there's room for development (and more bombshells/dumpings!)

There's more customization! I feel like it's improved, although others have said they had a harder time with it. I'm not a huge fan of the hairstyles and outfits we've been given so far, but we'll get more

In the initial episodes, there are 5 friends and only 4 LIs - that might be a little disappointing at first (especially since the friends are all hot - URGH I want Santiago!!), but this actually fixes some of the problems with the first season

More non-romanceable characters is a good thing because it means there will be more storylines besides MC/LI and Jada/Justin/Carter

A lot of us started to hate Jada after a while because she kept popping up and we were forced to be friends with her. Having more friends is a good thing because we'll be able to talk to more people instead of just one person. I'm hoping there will be some branching involved where some scenes are dependent on who your highest relationship is with, but we'll see!

Less LIs is fine for the reasons above - sure there's less choice up front, but with next to no branching in S1, every route was the same, and there were only 3 couples at the end. It didn't make sense. Plus...

We're already getting at least one bombshell next week! It's highly likely they'll be LI(s), and no doubt there will be more people incoming

In Season 1, all the LIs had hard-ons for MC even when MC didn't show them any interest - so far that doesn't seem to be the case, and I love that. It was weird that 9 people were obsessed with us, honestly. This time, our choices matter more

They're already setting up a love triangle! It makes so much more sense to have a LT early on when everyone's new rather than force it with a bombshell we don't even like midway through the season

The characters so far seem to have more personality traits than just whatever their jobs/interests are. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, and there is definitely still some of that, but I feel like I've already had deeper chats with them. And they ask about us too, and we can define a bit more of a personality for ourselves

More under the cut...

I picked Antoine so far (love a Canadian hockey player!!). He's basically an upgraded (yes, I said it) version of Theo (the art style is slightly improved - the smiles aren't as creepy this time!). I wasn't a Theo girlie but so far I'm vibing with Antoine

I was a Liam girlie, but Liam 2.0 (Wesley) doesn't have quite the same appeal. He's still hot, but Idk, he's not my Liam

There's a fun Antoine glitch (not sure if any of the other characters have it) where he's fully naked. It's pretty funny

I've already broken a bunch of rules, mwahaha!

The list of achievements this season is interesting 👀 There's an achievement for getting eliminated, which I will definitely be trying to do. And stuff about the others trusting us (probably a way to earn back money)

They still have the "beach hut" confessionals, but I feel like those episodes are shorter, which is great because they could be a drag on replays before, or when you just want to get to the next episode

Santiago is my boy, I'm loving the representation with him. I'm curious if we'll ever get a chance to get our hands on him even without romance, because we do have a flirty vibe and I would absolutely jump at that chance!

Overall, I'm excited to see how this goes! It does seem like they've taken our feedback so far, the initial episodes felt a lot like last season but that's not at all a bad thing - last season started off great, and this one has too. I do think this season has better potential overall and my fingers are crossed that it delivers

#not litg #thth #too hot to handle #too hot to handle the game #thth2 #thth2 game #thth game #too many fucking tags #longbob has thoughts

[cowgurrrl]

I’m Still Standing

Pairing: rockstar!joel x actress!reader (except he’s at home with the kiddos in this one)

Author’s note: yes I was influenced by Pedro’s Actors on Actors interview

Summary: Actors on Actors: You and Carolina Garcia-Long [2.0k]

Warnings: talk of pregnancy/family life, the age gap is finally ✨revealed✨, relationship stuff, Carolina being the best, discussions of sex scenes, I think that’s it!!

Carolina sits across from you in a beautiful white dress that perfectly compliments her olive skin tone, smiling big and bright. You've already been talking as the crew sets up around you, and you're struggling not to have too much conversation without the cameras rolling. It's been a long time coming, but after more than a decade of working together, you two are finally sitting down with Vanity Fair to discuss your jobs. Somebody calls to action, and a set of questions pops up over Carolina's shoulder, but you don't look at them immediately; you look at her.

"I'm so happy we're doing this," you say, and she smiles. 

"Me too! I feel like I haven't gotten to pick your brain about this stuff in forever." She says, settling into her big plush chair, and you nod.

"Well, it's like every other year one of us is pregnant."

"That's true because you had Sam like three or four years after I had Victoria, and then the girls were born last July, right?"

"Yeah, they're gonna be one soon." You say bittersweetly, and Carolina pouts her lips sympathetically.  

"Do you think becoming a parent has changed the way you work?" She asks, and you nod.

"Oh, absolutely," you say. "Even before we had Sam, Joel and I's older daughters totally changed my life and what roles I took and how much I worked. It's kinda crazy to think about how fast it all happened. Like one day, I was able to binge-watch Law & Order: SVU with no problem, and then all of a sudden, these girls came into my life, and I couldn't even think about it because it would make me sick to my stomach."

"That's how I felt after I had Elizabeth! They just change your whole world, man." 

"And can I gush about you really fast while we're talking about our kids?" You ask, and she laughs.

"Uh oh."

"No, it's all good. After I had Sam, I was so worried about how having a baby would affect my career, and my body looked different and whatever else, but you made me feel so safe and secure and loved. You reminded me I was able to have a career before I was a wife and a mother, and I could continue that career after. I don't know if I can ever describe... what you gave me because it was so integral to the actor I evolved into, and I've always had so much respect for you, not only as a friend and an actor but as a mother. And seeing how hard you worked made me want to work just as hard. Not just for me but for my children. So, thank you." You say, and Carolina reaches across the couch to grab your hand, and you smile. 

"Thank you for saying that. You know how much Ryan and I love you, so I'm glad to know that we were able to give you some actually good advice," she laughs, squeezing your hand. "We've been friends for a really long time now."

"Fifteen years."

"God, are we old?" 

"I don't know. Our first project together is about to turn thirteen." You say, both of you groaning as the fact settles between the two of you.

"Oh, my God, you're right!" She exclaims, dropping your hand to cover her face. "When we did Sweet Water, you had just moved to LA, right?"

"Yeah, it was my first series ever. Ryan told me you had just been cast, but they were still looking for someone to fill the role of Alex, so I went in for the audition, and I wasn't expecting anything, and they cast me right then and there."

"Which never happens."

"No, never." You agree, still not fully understanding what it is those directors saw in your all those years ago to cast you on the spot. Carolina points to her nose like she's remembering something, and you smile at the habit. She always does that when she has something to say.

"I will still get people who come up to me and tell me how much they loved that scene of us in the hospital because it was so raw." 

"Well, yeah, neither of us had slept the night before because we were filming, and we just let whatever was going to happen happen, and it ended up being one of those scenes that is just… once in a lifetime, y'know?" You say, and she nods. "You were and still are such a generous scene partner in everything you do, like in how you listen and react and really find your characters. It was an amazing thing to work on with you, and I still brag about you whenever I get the chance."

"I remember filming the scene where you came into the hospital all bloody and bruised and going home to tell Ryan, 'I think this kid has some serious potential.' I mean, you were just phenomenal, so I was not surprised when you started getting picked up by all these major studios," she says. "Speaking of which, tell me about The Beginning of the End."

"What do you wanna know?" You sigh as memories of those fifteen months flood your brain. 

"Everything. What was it like filming it? What did you think when you read the script? What was it like shaving your head on camera?" She asks. 

"Well, shaving your head on camera isn't much different than actually shaving your head because you pretty much get one shot to make sure it's good, and that's it. But, yeah, that was a hard movie to make. I was in a really weird place mentally, and Ruth was such a complex, nuanced, broken character, so it was interesting getting to know her and hard to let her go when we wrapped up. For better or worse, I still find pieces of her in my daily life."

"I remembered you calling us from Ireland and being like, 'I don't know if I can do this. It's so hard.' And I remember telling you there was no one else out there who could bring Ruth to life the way you did, and I still believe that to my core. There is nobody who could've played Ruth the way you did."

"You and Ryan were such an anchor when I was over there because I was alone and I was working all the time, and then it was always fucking raining, which is just not good for anyone's mental health and-"

"And you and Joel weren't together at this time, right?" She asks, and your jaw drops a little as you look at the cameras.

"Caro," you say, laughing. "I don't think I've ever talked about that publicly before."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Her hands fly over her mouth, and you reach out to grab her hand.

"No, it's okay. It's fine. All our loved ones already know the story, so it's okay," you say, squeezing her as a comfort. "But yeah, Joel and I were separated at that point which is another reason why it was so weird to be there alone."

"I remember you telling me you guys broke up, but it's been so long, and you are always together, so it's easy for me to forget about that. How long were you guys separated?" 

"Pretty much the entire time I was there."

"Wow," she breathes. "Do you think that separation made your relationship stronger, or have you just not thought anything about it until I brought it up in front of cameras?" She asks, and you laugh.

"No, I definitely think it made us stronger. We were both going through a lot, and I won't speak to Joel's experiences, but for me, separation was the best thing I had to offer at that specific point in our lives. And we really didn't speak at all while I was over there because it just hurt too much, and we were both working, and he was being a dad, and there were just too many moving parts. But when I got back to LA, we had coffee, and it was like no time had passed at all."

"Things were back to normal. Just like that?" She asks, snapping her fingers, and you nod.

"It was kinda crazy because we had both grown so much in that year or so, and I was worried that he wasn't gonna like the person I was coming back as or we wouldn't feel the same, but, oh my God, I'm gonna start crying," you say as you dab at the corner of your eye. "I still had so much love for him, and being with him and the girls… it just felt right like there was nothing I wanted more in the world than to be with them. And I knew if we could survive that, we could survive anything."

"And now look at you." 

"I know. Five kids and ten years later."

"How old were you when you met Joel?" She asks, and you have to look at the ceiling as you do mental math. 

"I was… Gosh, I think I was twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Somewhere around there. We met when Ryan and I were filming Hyde." You say, and she furrows her brows as she thinks.

"And how old was Joel?"

"Joel was either thirty-nine or forty when we met. Or..." you trail off. "Maybe he was forty because we met in the fall, and his birthday is in September."

"Can I tell you something I've never told you before?" She asks with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Please."

"When Ryan told me you were dating Joel, the first thing I did was google how old he was because I knew he had two kids, so I was a little worried," she says, and you laugh. "But then we met him, and he was so goddamn charming. It's really hard not to like him."

"Isn't it the worst? He's got that accent and those stupid guitarist arms and those big, brown eyes," you gush, rolling your eyes. "And he doesn't even know how pretty he is, which is the most annoying part!" 

"Wait, so if you guys met during Hyde, did he know what the movie was about?" She asks, and you make an eek face.

"No, and I wasn't going to tell him because I didn't know how serious we were gonna get, but then he showed up to set with me one day, and we were filming the cabin scene-"

"Oh, the cabin scene!" She half-yells, and you laugh. "Dude, when that movie came out, I got asked about it all the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Well, everyone knew how close the three of us were, and when the movie came out, people were shocked that I would let my husband do a scene like that with one of his best friends. But Ryan told me he wasn't going to take the part until I read the script and approved or disapproved or whatever, but I thought it was just fantastic. Because it wasn't just about this relationship between these two people, it was about the different paths each wanted to take when it came to your character, Amber, being pregnant. Plus, it's just work. It's not like this was a real thing that was happening." She says, and you nod in agreement.

"I remember I got cast first, and then they brought us both in for a chemistry read, and we were like, 'this would be so crazy if we got to be in this movie together,' and then we were. And I think I do recall Ryan saying something about letting you read the script and you encouraging him to do which, thank you, by the way." 

"I didn't do anything except give him a nudge," she shrugs. "Wait, so Joel was there when you filmed that scene?"

"Oh, my God, yeah. I tried to get him to wait in my trailer, but he didn't wanna listen to me. So, he was off in the corner while I'm, like... filming this sex scene, and it was so embarrassing because we had only been dating for a few months at that point. Plus, you're already so vulnerable in scenes like that, but Ryan and Tanya Reid, our intimacy coordinator, were so supportive, so I felt really safe," you explain. "You did a good job with that one." You say, and she laughs.

"Yeah, you too."

#one for the money two for the show #rockstar!joel x actress!reader #rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader #rockstar!joel miller #tlou au #the last of us au #dad!joel miller

[innerchorus]

Chapter 127 of Arslan is ahead… Forgive me for the cruel thought, but… Will anyone from Arslan’s squad die? This is the denouement. It will be strange if they all survive.

Well, as I mentioned in my initial thoughts on the chapter, I'm not convinced this is the final confrontation against Zahhak (I feel like the purpose here is to establish that 'oh fuck the Snake King is back' and the final fight will happen at a later point).

So in terms of what we might see in Chapter 127, I'm not actually expecting any major character deaths there! Perhaps we might see some of the Zot get eaten? But the snakes are already pretty well-fed, and if as I've theorised Zahhak isn't fully resurrected and conscious yet, the snakes are what's in the driving seat. (Consider the fact that from the views we've had of the snakes alone, it strikes me that Zahhak's body might actually be lying down/underground? Which gives more support to the idea that Zahhak's actions right now are solely the instinctive ones of the shoulder snakes. Hopefully they're full for now, and hopefully they'll sense Rukhnabad and be repelled by it once more. Quick, everyone in Team Arslan group hug Don Ricardo right now!)

But to leave that aside for the moment, do I think anyone will die during the final fight against Zahhak, whenever that happens to be? Honestly, it's possible. Those of us who are familiar with novel spoilers will know that many characters met their end this way, but I do think Arakawa will go about things a little differently.

It could be that, having now had warning that the Snake King is free, Team Arslan manage to disrupt whatever ritual the Master is brewing with those head jars that are probably beneath Ecbatana (my current working theory as that this is something necessary for Zahhak's true resurrection) and they kill Zahhak off at that moment. Or even though I don't think it's likely, because to me a resolution right now would feel rushed, perhaps they really will kill Zahhak now and get to throw that fact in the Master's face whenever they encounter him (because he surely has to die before the end, too). But if there is a dramatic battle against Zahhak at a later point, how will that go down? Who will face him in combat? Who, if anyone, will fall, and who will survive?

I keep wondering whether any of the other characters will be on the scene at that point. If it's post-whatever happens with Andragoras and Hilmes, maybe all of Team Arslan will be united once more. My main hope is that Kubard is around to tell them that the notion of fighting the Snake King one on one in an honourable duel is a really fucking stupid idea.

As should be obvious by now, this post covers some novel spoilers, and these are about to get more graphic because I want to talk about the characters who canonically died against Zahhak in the novels and what I think might happen to them in the manga. As such, I'll place this and some other thoughts about who else might die under a Read More.

Okay, I'll go through these in chronological order.

Don Ricardo (okay, known as Parahuda in the novels whereas in the manga he's not exactly a member of Team Arslan) — it feels a bit mean to kill him off now? He's so traumatised there's no way he'd be able to bring himself to fight against Zahhak in the near future anyway so I feel he's going to live, and maybe he'll go back to Lusitania with Estelle.

Merlaine — I don't think so. If he dies right now then there's more pressure on Alfarid to become Zot chieftain, and actually what I think we might see is a begrudging agreement by Merlaine at the end of the series that he'll shoulder this role, leaving things open for a relationship to develop between Narsus and Alfarid.

Kishward — slightly more likely than the previous two but again I really don't get that feeling like he's going to die? Arakawa's shown us his family, I think he'll get to live to see stability restored to the country where he can have an easier time of things and continue balancing his roles as Marzban and family man.

Daryun — it's hard to imagine him not fighting Zahhak, isn't it? He's Pars's strongest fighter, after all. I want him to do it while wielding a ji like he does in the novels! But I don't want him to die. I think he's more likely to receive a grave injury, and we've all seen how Arslan reacts when he thinks Daryun might die...

Arslan — I just don't think he's going to die. It doesn't seem like a possibility in my mind. As I mentioned I think in many ways Arakawa is steering us towards a brighter future than Tanaka, in terms of Pars becoming stable under Arslan's rule rather than falling into a dark age after his death, plus I really do believe she'll allow Hilmes and Irina to live happily in Maryam. (Maybe Daryun will even be able to visit Serica again!) Arslan dying at this point will not allow for a fitting resolution to the plot or his character arc, in my opinion. So I'm going to say he's safe!

Okay, those are the characters who were killed off in combat against Zahhak in the novels. Now let's look at some of the other casualties of Team Arslan and what I think their fates might be in the manga if they are involved in a fight against the Snake King.

Jaswant — this would be devastating but I could see him giving his life to protect Arslan. If it happens, I'll cry buckets. He's possible the most likely member of Team Arslan to die in Chapter 127 because he doesn't have the innate cultural fear of Zahhak that the Parsians do, so if they are paralysed for an instant he might react faster and do what it takes to save Arslan's life.

Kubard — before Book 16 was released I thought he was likely to die in it, and sure enough he did, but not against Zahhak. But honestly, I could see him dying here in a reversal of his point of view at Atropatene; rather than leaving a chaotic battlefield after an unworthy king has fled, he'll stand and fight alongside Arslan, someone he views as worthy. Kubard is undeniably brave but also not foolish so if someone does choose to fight Zahhak alone maybe he'll give them a helping hand. If he does die it had better be badass. His death in the novels was one that Tanaka got right, in my opinion.

Isfan — I don't think this is going to happen but if it did I'd never get over it, it's too unfair. I do worry about his reaction if he sees those head jars because if Zahhak or the Master happens to be there, he's not going to stop and think, he's just going to attack. (Please keep on looking out for him, Kubard. I say this because the thought of it is something I love, we've seen it in the manga already, and in the novels Kubard does intervene when he's going up against 'demon general' Ilterish in a highly emotional state after one of his wolves was killed). Again it's a situation where it just doesn't feel fair to think of him dying here. His death really fucked me up in the novels.

Hm, thinking about the others who died before Book 16 now.

Tus — not getting any strong feelings but how neat would it be to see him immobilise a shoulder snake with his chains?

Zaravant — honestly, if I had to pick one member of Team Arslan who didn't die fighting Zahhak in the novels but who might in the manga, it's Zaravant. Sorry to say it but I'm pinning the 'most likely to die' sticker on him. Especially because his death in the novels was Team Zahhak-related.

Jimsa — maybe, if he's around for the final fight then he might go for glory/reward, but I don't have a strong feeling that he'll die.

Narsus — now, if any of the 'main/central' members of Team Arslan were to die, I think it'd be Narsus. Yes, this would be devastating, and it would come with the shadow of Pars having lost its best tactician who has made so much possible for Team Arslan, but what final battle is without cost? If Elam were older and more experienced he'd be in a place to become his successor and it would be a pupil replacing teacher moment where the torch is handed to him, but realistically we're not at that point yet. My gut feeling is that Narsus will survive.

Alfarid — just can't see her dying, to be honest. Her and Narsus both get to live, maybe we'll get teased with the possibility of something developing between them when she's older, but I'm not sure it'll be confirmed in the manga.

Estelle — as I said, I think she'll return to Lusitania in the end. I'd love to see her grab a bow and shoot a snake, though. (Her snatching a petrified Parizad's bow to shoot a winged ape despite her horrible leg injury is my favourite Estelle moment in the novels!)

Now for the characters who survived the final battle and died later of unrelated causes.

Farangis — she'll live, I just feel it.

Gieve — yeah I don't think he'll die either.

Elam — also going to survive.

This post is super long but it was actually pretty fun to write! We'll see how wrong I am in the next few months, I guess. And if anyone else has thoughts of their own on whether we'll see any of Team Arslan meet their end in the manga, please share!

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki novels spoilers #zahhak #many character deaths discussed so beware! #place your bets now #i hope i didn't forget any characters 😅

[airenyah]

How BAD BUDDY SERIES | EP.11 [4/4] Tricked the Fandom

Those who were there watching Bad Buddy live will remember the chaos that ensued after episode 11 (my beloved) and with it the episode 12 preview (derogatory) dropped. Watching a happy and hopeful episode, ending in a lovely montage with an even lovelier song, being told things such as "we became two people who can’t be just friends" or "I want you to know that this world can’t change someone like me either", only to be punched in the gut by "Pat and I broke up" in the very next moment. Those of you who were there will remember how – after the fandom had finally picked up its shattered pieces – there was a scramble to figure out what the hell was happening exactly, how the hell we even got to this point.

And you will also remember the fandom deciding on a specific scene being The Breakup Scene. But how can that be? How can a breakup scene even exist when we know (in retrospective) that they never actually broke up? Did the fandom just collectively hallucinate a scene that wasn't there?

Well, no. Of course not. I think the reason why it worked, the reason why this scene managed to trick the fandom into believing that this was actually the breakup talk was because for one terrifying moment Pran himself thinks it's a breakup talk. However, the fandom was so blinded by the ep 12 preview that it completely missed one key factor from that scene which Pran did realize: it's not in fact a breakup, but the exact opposite of it.

So let's get into it, let's take a closer look at Bad Buddy Ep. 11 [4/4] (01:58 - 05:15) and Pran's emotional rollercoaster during this specific scene:

The scene starts out with Pat sitting on the bench, lost in thought. His exact thought process here is for the viewer to decide, but whatever he is reflecting on has to do with him finally accepting the inevitability of having to back home. And considering his upcoming monologue, he's probably also thinking about his love for Pran and Pran's love for him.

His thinking gets interrupted when Pran walks into the scene, dangling the shirts into Pat's face. They have an interaction about the shirts, Pat puts one on while Pran can't keep his hands off of him, they exchange some words and Pran doesn't really notice Pat's pensive mood, when suddenly –

Pat grabs Pran's hand. Pran was not expecting that, and he looks up at Pat in surprise, asking a silent What is it, what's going on? And I think it's only here that Pran really notices the weird mood Pat is in.

Pat says "thank you" and although Pran looks concerned about Pat's sudden mood change, Pat's words also make Pran smile, though he's still very confused, having absolutely no context for Pat's emotional state and thus having no idea where this is suddenly coming from. "Thank you for what?" Pran asks, still with that searching look in his eyes that asks What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Is everything alright?

Pat replies "For trying to make a silly guy like me happy". And Pran's smile falls just a little bit as he realizes that this? really isn't just Pat being his usual sappy self, this right here is a Serious™ conversation indeed:

Finally, Pran too has arrived in serious mode completely. He now shifts his attention fully to Pat, listening intently to Pat's words, staying focused on Pat the entire time.

Pat says "I know that sooner or later we will need to go back." This gets a very subtle smile out of Pran (you can see how the corner of his mouth on the right side of the screen goes up just a tiniest bit):

Pran reacts to those words, because this has been their conflict throughout the entire episode so far: Pran being realistic, having accepted from the start that they would have to return at some point while Pat was so desperately trying to stay in that pretense that they could just make a new life somewhere else and not turn back, refusing to acknowledge that in the long run this just wouldn't work out. But now Pat is finally acknowledging this, letting Pran know that he understands and that they're on the same page about this. "I know too well",* Pat says and Pran looks like he's about to cry from adoration for Pat pls he's so in love takes that acknowledgement in, still with a hint of a smile on his face.

*(Side note: I seem to hear ทำไม​กูจะไม่รู้ว่ะ (tammai-goo-jà-mâi-róo-wâ) and I think the more literal translation of this sentence would actually be something like "Why wouldn't I know?". Though I'd have to ask a Thai native to confirm as I don't trust my own Thai skills yet. Anyway, I just thought the rhetorical question was interesting in regard to Pran reacting to Pat's statement, bc the rhetorical question addresses Pran more directly compared to the declarative sentence from the subtitles. His reaction is kind of like a reply to that rhetorical question.)

But that hint of a smile is wiped right off Pran's face when Pat continues with "But I just want to stay as long as we can."

And this the moment where the thought hits Pran for the first time that Pat's speech might actually lead to a breakup. He is confused (why would they need to break up over this?) and there is now fear and worry in his eyes. He looks a little scared, his mouth twitches a little, accompanied by the tiniest headshake and there are many questions written all over his face: What are you talking about?? Where is this going?? No, it can't be... Are you implying what I think you're implying?? I don't follow...

And Pat just keeps going: "Be with you for at least one more day."

One more day. That very much does sound like a breakup, doesn't it? Especially if you're already half expecting one. This line confirms Pran's fear of Pat actually being in the process of ending their relationship, leaving Pran on the verge of tears.

But Pran is a fighter and he's not giving in that easily. He sniffs away his rising tears and says "What are you talking about? Get dressed. The bar is opening soon."

What are you saying? We're not breaking up. We're staying here, we'll work at the bar and we'll be together. It'll be fine, don't worry.

Now it's Pran's turn to deflect. To indulge in that fantasy of being able to just run away together into the sunset where everything is all sunshine and rainbows. Because Pran would much rather face the hardships that they might run into if they actually stayed at the beach together than go back home to live a life without Pat. I can be anywhere as long as I have you.

If this is Pat letting him go, Pran really doesn't want to hear it:

Unfortunately, the scene cuts to Pat really quickly, but I just need you all to appreciate Pran's pouty puppy eyes at the end there, because they're the saddest thing I've ever seen:

I won't let you do this, his eyes say. Please don't do this to me, his eyes say. Please tell me you're not really doing this, his eyes say, tell me you're coming to work at Uncle Yod's bar with me. We're staying here, together, you hear me?

Except then Pat surprises Pran yet again. And here comes the part that the fandom completely overlooked in the light of the ep 12 preview:

Because then Pat says "Nobody works on their honeymoon."

And it's absolutely hilarious how Pran's brain immediately gets stuck in "error 404 not found" mode. You can literally see the loading circle going round and round in his brain as he tries to comprehend what Pat has just said:

Honeymoon?? Why are you suddenly talking about something that's related to weddings? Weren't we breaking up a second ago? What in the world is going on?

"You never leave me. You fight alongside me. That makes me feel very happy." Pat says and that's when Pran realizes. This conversation was never about a breakup. This is a conversation about commitment. It's an acknowledgment of Pran's love for Pat and the commitment he's shown over the course of their relationship. And it's a promise that Pat appreciates it, has appreciated it in the past and will appreciate it in the future. Pat has more or less just said his wedding vows to Pran.

And that's when Pran can no longer hold back his tears. Partly due to the relief that he won't lose Pat and partly because he's so moved by Pat's speech, by Pat's love.

And then Pat tells Pran that he's finally ready to go home: "I will let Uncle Yod know that we quit. Wait for me here."

And with that Pat brings closure to the conflict of this episode. They are finally going back home, they are finally going to face their parents. But in this scene right here Pat and Pran made it clear to each other that they'll be doing so with full commitment to one other – they will be doing so together, and that's a promise. They really did just essentially get married on their little beach getaway. They got more or less engaged on the staircase in ep 10 and now in ep 11 they are following up on that engagement. This trip really was their little honeymoon. And this calls for a celebration:

"It’s our last night on this honeymoon. I will not just stay in and be lonely. If we aren’t going to work, then let’s get drunk."

You see, for an entire week the fandom was so blinded by the ep 12 preview (derogatory) and the prospect of a looming breakup that unlike Pran it completely missed the part where Pat points out that they're on a honeymoon. And who goes on a honeymoon? People who just got married.

BONUS:

Can we just appreciate Pran's face when Pat says he'll tell Uncle Yod about quitting:

You fucker really had me thinking we were breaking up for a hot moment there when the whole time this was actually a wedding. I was worried and scared for notHING, can you believe this man

#bad buddy #bbs #patpran #bbs meta #bbs ep11 #my meta #bbsmetamine #adrm #whewwww i finally finished this #this has been sitting in my drafts for months maybe even close to a year idk #i had actually written most of it already i was mainly missing an introduction and i still needed to make all the gifs #(the gifs were mostly the reason for my procrastination on this lmao) #anyway i was rewatching ep 11 on saturday for the one year anniversary and i had a loooooot of feelings about this again #which finally pushed me to finish this post and publish it #so here you go... enjoy :) #not me posting new bbs meta a whole year after the show ended #aaanyway this is beautiful acting on nanon's part #(both of them actually but if you've been following my posts recently where i talk about acting you'll know that #i've been going on and on about ohm and so #this time around this is a shoutout specifically for nanon) #he tells an entire story in this scene despite the fact that he has next to no lines #ohm's got his entire monologue and all the while we can see EXACTLY what is going on in pran's head #it's truly nice acting everyone say thank you nanon

[inklessletter]

I think I've seen this film before (and I didn't like the ending)

Read it on AO3

Both Robin and Steve know that Dustin shipped them. Hard. He was the first one to actually acknowledge how awesome Steve was, and how much of a badass Robin was, so obviously, he was the most insistent on getting them together. The fact that Robin and Steve spent all of their time together, had internal jokes, teased each other constantly, Steve drove her around, had dinner at Robin's a few times a week and, practically shared the same braincell, hadn't definitely helped for Dustin's annoying dynamic to spread to the party. Soon, everyone else was dropping hints about when they were going to publicly announce that they were a couple.

It's something Robin dealt with also at home. Steve didn't lie when he proudly said "parents love me, I'm a catch," because Robin's parents actually do love him. They also seemed eager for their daughter to tell them that they were dating.

Her parents are something she can deal with on her own, but after two apocalypses together, and frankly quite bored of the same joke over and over again, Robin started noticing something in Steve. And see, Robin has a lot of great qualities, but if there's something above all that, it's that she's wicked smart.

So, she started paying attention to their tease, trying to understand why this dynamic was now affecting his very much platonic soulmate out of the sudden, and she fully understood a new layer of Steve.

And fucking hated it.

Although they shared almost everything, she didn't go straight to Steve to talk about it; she knew him well enough to know beforehand not to press him into talking about something he wasn't ready to share yet, even with her.

So the next time they teased them (soon enough, because, c'mon, get new material, bozos) she dropped the smile and asked them, begged them to just stop. It wasn't funny anymore, if it ever was.

And their stupid kids were, well, kids, and also stupid, and didn't pick up. So they continued to tease them, and Robin's patience started to grow thin. But she kept repeating to herself: they're kids, they're just kids, they're dumb by default. So she kept asking them to please, please, drop it.

And see, she can deal with stupid kids, but she drew the line on inconsiderate shitheads (and after two years of saying no, Robin reconsidered their idiocy; they were being plain mean now). So, when Dustin pried about how boring it was that they kept their relationship a secret, in front of the whole gang, again, Robin snapped.

"Who is it, Dustin?" Robin asked, curious expression.

"Who is what?"

"Who are you crushing on, me or Steve?"

"What the hell, Robin? I don't have a crush on any of you!" Dustin said, almost offended. "What's wrong with you?"

"You see, Dusty-bun, after a year and a half of prying non-stop about how crazy is that we are not sucking face and absolutely not believing it, my guesses are that you consider that one of us is so painfully irresistible that we must be obviously lying when we tell you that we are not together. So, cut the jealous crap and please tell me whose name you whisper at night, huh? Is it me or Steve? I'm dying of curiosity here."

Dustin's cheeks went bright pink almost instantly. There was a brief silence in which Robin appreciated their faces with a smug smirk. Some of them were gapping, some holding a laughter. Nancy looked away with a tight smile. Eddie's face was priceless, he stopped whatever he was doing to attentively watch the upcoming scene. Only Steve looked really annoyed.

"What? Ew, gross. I don't whisper your name at night-"

"Steve's, then?"

"No! Robin, what's wrong with you!"

"Oh my god, look at you, you're blushing! You must definitely like him! Oh, is it both?"

"I don't like him , or you! I've got a girlfriend!"

"You're so red, Dustin. I just—I guess I just don't believe you."

Robin's smile grew wider when the rest of the party started picking on Dustin, too.

"I am just saying that you two are really close, there's obviously a vibe between you two, and it's fine! I don't know why you keep denying it. Even I can feel your electricity!" Dustin looked at Steve, who raised his eyebrows, clearly upset. "Is it because his ex is here? Nancy's over it—"

"Please, don't drag me into this."

"—and what you just implied is disgusting!"

And at this point of Dustin's rambling, her smile went off.

"Which part is disgusting, exactly?"

"That—That I think of you at night or whatever!" Dustin shouted, all dramatic.

"I mean, that's pretty disgusting," Lucas added.

"So, you don't have dirty thoughts, like, ever," Eddie muted, holding a mischievous smile.

"Why would I have dirty thoughts about them?"

"I don't know, why would we have dirty thoughts about each other?"

"Can we just stop saying 'dirty thoughts'?" Mike asked, grossed out.

"Because it's a cliché!" Dustin yelled, standing in front of her, suddenly, and completely ignoring Mike. "It's bound to happen! You're always in Steve's orbit, and you're getting pretty defensive about this, you must have a reason to—"

"To what? To not be jumping on his dick right now?"

At the mention of Steve's dick, the whole gang reacted. The youngest pulled disgusting faces, but clearly amused by the turn of this conversation. Eddie was no longer hiding how much fun this was, and he was giving his full attention. Nancy looked around, cheeks pink, not really knowing how to react. Steve, though, was mortified.

After the fuzz of complaints and comments stopped, Robin spoke again.

"I have a reason, though."

Steve looked at her.

"Robin-"

"And the reason is I don't like him that way, and he doesn't like me that way, and that should be enough. And begging you to stop just once should be also enough for you to be respectful about it, but you're not. It's beyond annoying now, it's hurtful, Dustin."

She spoke softer now, and stood from her spot.

Steve muttered "fuck this," and left the room. Eddie followed him. There was a charged silence after that.

"I know you maybe don't see it, but you are implying all the time that there's no other reason for us to be friends if it is not to get in each other's pants, like we have nothing else to offer. And maybe it is not my place to say, but Steve has spent the last few years trying to prove himself right all the time, and he cares about what you think because he loves you. So much. And he's not gonna tell you this, like, in a million years, and I'm breaking an unspoken vow of best friend here telling you, and I'll atone for it later, but if you keep going on with this crap he won't ever stop feeling worthless of being anyone's friend if there's nothing to get out of it."

"Robin, you know that's not what I mean." Dustin's voice was apologetic, sad.

"I know, but we asked you to stop, and you're not letting this go. This is not a riddle you have to figure out, this is just—"

Robin thought that maybe it was the moment for her to come out. If she told everyone now that she was a lesbian, they would drop it for good. She'd been thinking about it for a while now, but she didn't want to do it like this. It just didn't feel right. It wasn't.

Nancy was gazing at her with a knowing look, lips pursed. Robin didn't really tell Nancy about herself, but she seemed to understand. She was smart like that.

"Besides, I am—"

"Right. You're right," Nance stepped in. They shared a look, and Robin briefly smiled. "I think you owe them an apology."

Dustin looked bewildered. The kids were silent. Robin could read in their faces that they never thought about it this way. It took a few seconds for Dustin to recover, and Robin could swear she saw his eyes getting glassy.

"I'm sorry," Dustin said, low voice. "I'm going to—I'm going to talk to Steve."

Dustin left. Shortly after, the rest of the kids followed him, leaving Robin and Nancy alone.

"Steve is lucky to have you," Nancy said, with a soft smile, looking her straight in the eye. Robin felt her cheeks flush red. She looked down.

"I'm the lucky one, here," Robin said. "Thank you. For... for stopping me."

And then Robin's world crashed, because Nancy cupped her cheek, softly, and pressed a small kiss on the cheek.

"I've got your back."

With a smile and candid eyes, Nancy left the room, and Robin let herself fall where she was previously sitting, sighing dramatically.

She needed to talk to Steve.

Right now.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

#stranger things #fic #ficlet #stranger things fic #robin buckley #steve harrington #stobin #dustin #ronance #nancy

[cgspirl]

Regarding Antlers (Spoilers for NOPE [2022])

Working on a video essay for 'Nope' and I ended up ranting on Discord about Antlers, so I'm gonna post it here, unedited for the Full Effect™️ of the brain damage Mr. Jordan Peele has inflicted on my churning little brain:

ALSO. antlers. antlers is such an interesting character because he comes off as like. the apathetic, jaded remains of someone who is a hollywood legend, who never wanted to be a hollywood legend, who just. now has to live with that because that's just how it is.

and on the surface? yeah! that's antlers holst. but frankly there's more to him than just. grizzled jaded cinematographer who was going to fuck everything up for everyone because he's a selfish artistic prick.

to make a long comparison short he's like o.j. down to earth (heh), no-nonsense, straightfoward type of guy who knows what to do within his field of expertise and only wants to do his job and be left alone to do that job

unfortunately, because he is someone that can be commodified by hollywood (cinematographer), unlike o.j. who can't (animal-wrangler), he's stuck in the claws of the fame machine even though he doesn't want to be.

a big thing i noticed on my rewatch was the purple people eater scene. at first, it comes off as threatening and ominous, like a warning; and then you put it in perspective of who the fuck he's actually talking to. these 'kids' (grown adults but antlers is old n therefore probably refers to anyone younger than him as 'kids') have already been through the worst of it. all that's left to do it pull it off. think about it in perspective of the lyrics, specifically the verse he chose to recite:

'tree' of course. not being an obvious tree but rather being a reference to the mountains jj resides in; but the specific one is the "i wouldn't eat you / 'cause you're too tough" because. because they're quite literally the protagonists. they are too tough to eat because of plot armor. this was quite literally antlers' strange artistic way of saying how much he believes in them because he sees them as 'too tough' for jean jacket to eat. they'll outsmart it. they'll outpace it. n by god they'll get the impossible shot.

also extremely important to me that antlers a) predicts his own death and b) always stands away from the group, which can symbolize both him being an outsider AND his foreshadowed death. i also think it's very important to mention (because so many people have been so quick to write it off as 'selfish' or 'stupid') how antlers dies.

if you watch the scene before the run, antlers takes. some sort of cocktail of medication while angel watches both vaguely concerned and confused but ultimately chooses not to say anything because frankly. well frankly it's none of his business whatever they've got shit to do.

now they get the shot! they get the shot, everyone's celebrating, overjoyed they got it! except antlers. antlers comments on the light, how it's going to be magic soon.

remember he joined this operation late; to him, he hadn't done enough to fully like. constitute his contribution (despite bringing the equipment that actually allowed this come to fruition but to him that isn't enough. it's not enough. he has to get the impossible shot. the shot that will finally, finally prove to himself that he is, in fact, the artistic genius hollywood claims he is. but instead of getting it right there, with angel and the equipment near by, he chooses to walk away, to distance himself from angel, the equipment, and essentially the rest of the group. why? he didn't want to put them in danger.

what he was about to do was essentially suicide! fuck he even leaves angel with a warning before he goes: "Don't worry Angel, it's gonna be alright. We don't deserve the impossible."

|now a lot of people have imposed this 'we' as antlers referring to the group, but frankly? i 100% he was talking about himself and hollywood as a whole. they don't deserve the impossible; they'd just squander it. these kids? these kids do. these kids have put their asses on the line far more than any big wig hollywood anybody has in his lifetime; they deserve the impossible.

granted, if he'd been less cryptic, angel's stupid ass probably wouldn't have followed him up and nearly gotten himself killed by that's neither here nor there at this point tbh THE POINT IS. antlers knew exactly what he was doing (give or take on account of The Meds:tm:) and wasn't going to let those kids get hurt for him to do so because, at the end of the day, it wasn't them who had anything to prove to hollywood; it was him.

tl;dr antlers is a weird cryptic old man who might've been on a lot of drugs but his heart was (kinda) in the right place

#nope #nope movie #nope 2022 #antlers holst #o.j. haywood #em haywood #character analysis #he's MY shitty old man and I get to analyze the fuck outta him #i love him so much #artist to artist communication (literally) #like. i get it! 100% #my weird old artist man #i love him #nope spoilers #jordan peele #jordan peele nope #jordan peele movies

[arcadiabaytornado]

Do you think Pricefield is a little toxic? I mean Chloe pushes Max to do stuff she's not comfortable with, which on its own isn't bad but the actual things she convinces Max to do are dangerous.

Like with her powers. Max is worried about using them too much and as a toy because she doesn't want to waste them or risk her health but Chloe pushes her to for her amusement, calling them a toy, and also to find Rachel.

Plus, forgive me if I'm wrong, but she never really checks in on Max after yhe incident with Kate. Whatever the outcome Max is rightfully upset but Chloe brushes this off on several occasions.

I like the ship, and love both the characters but the relationship doesn't really sit right with me and I wanted to know your thoughts because I love your analysis!

OKAY SO: I think the answer to this question is "a little bit" but it's improved a lot by the end of the week. (Also! I didn't find a place to put this in the meta, but Chloe does check up with max after what happens with Kate. She sends her a text message that you can read at the start of Episode 3.)

I think Pricefield has some unhealthy elements on both sides at the start of the week.

Max is not good at communicating and is downright dismissive of Chloe's feelings a few times. Like when they're in the trunk after Chloe finds out about Rachel and Frank, Max shrugs off her feelings and can even tell her to "grow up" and stop being upset that she was abandoned once again by someone in her life.

More Undercut

Chloe, as you said, can push Max too far. Like when they're in the junkyard, and Max tells her she doesn't like guns, Chloe responds with "Boohoo. Max is afraid," and pushes her for her entertainment. The guilt-tripping she can do with Max if you don't side with her also isn't very healthy, considering you can talk about things more constructively.

I feel like you could also argue that Max's feelings for Chloe are a bit on the unhealthy side, considering she can and will put Chloe before herself. This is one thing that isn't solved in Episode 5, but it is an extremely interesting and unhinged side of their relationship.

I think the neat thing about Pricefield though is that Max and Chloe's more negative traits have been reeled in a lot during Episode 5 because of their character development. At the Vortex Club entrance, Max is finally able to fully communicate with Chloe and tell her about the alternative timelines and being kidnapped by Jefferson. In return, we see Chloe's growth as she doesn't push Max to go into the party regardless, instead she puts down the gun and takes Max's hand to get help from David.

They also show a lot of growth during the cliff scene where Max communicates with Chloe about how much she loves her while Chloe is willing to die partially to spare Max the guilt of taking out the town. They're both showing that their relationship has the capacity to be one where they're communicating well and Chloe is being more considerate toward Max.

So the short answer to this is: In Episode 1-3 it's a little unhealthy because of Max and Chloe's more negative traits. In Episode 4 it's a little unhealthy because Max's love for Chloe does go into unhinged territory. In Episode 5 it's a little unhealthy because Max's love for Chloe falls off the deep end into unhinged territory, but other than that they're doing pretty good.

#lis #life is strange #max caulfield #chloe price #pricefield #asks