#i had seen s1 and th movie

[odpadki]

got a netflix notif theyr removing blue exorcist s2, something i had no idea existed lmao????

so i decided to watch it nd kinda fell back nto one of my og hyperfixations….i’ll always lov my son….

#blue exorcist #ao no excorsist #rin okumura #okumura rin #fanart #i had seen s1 and th movie #nd since s1 stops following th manga i assumed they just finished there #but apparently they simply ignore all th noncanon stuff and start back up w th manga plot for s2 #OK!!! #now mad netflix only has s2. tho guess it dont mattr since its all leaving n e way :( #hulu has s1 but only n english. tf man

[gffa]

Hi :)

I'm a pretty new SW fan, not because I didn't like the movies/hadn't seen them but because I grew up thinking it was extremely nerdy and would often feel awkward trying to bring up anything related to SW.

Fortunately I've finally reached and met awesome people who love SW just like I did but I feel like I lost A LOT of important stuff and there's so much content to the saga that it's extremely overwhelming for me to even think about diving into the whole SW universe and catch up.

I've been following you for a bit and your posts are just extremely interesting to me but again, sometimes I'm a little confused about certain things and so I wanted to ask you if you had any recommendations about where to start catching up (besides the movies which I will be binge watching soon hehe)

Hi! Welcome to Star Wars fandom, I hope you're having a good time! And around here we embrace being as nerdy as possible--I mean, fandom is such a mainstream thing these days, but I still like to embrace being a nerd about things because it leads to a lot more happiness, to just be silly and having a good time with the thing that tickles our brains.

But, yes, it is pretty overwhelming when you're first arriving, I still remember when I first came back to SW several years ago, having really only watched the movies as a kid, and there was All This Stuff and it seemed impossible to ever reach the deep end of the pool, and that was before the last seven years of books, games, movies, comics, etc. came out! I will hopefully set your mind at ease with this, though: The vast, vast majority of content that Star Wars puts out isn't anything I would consider "essential". It's wonderful, fantastic stuff! But a lot of us have just been around so long that we're combing through the finer details of supplementary material, rather than those being absolute Must-Read/Watch To Get A Feel For Star Wars.

My recommendations for How To Get A Feel For Star Wars is basically, start with the animated series and the live action series, they're the second layer of foundation in the Star Wars building, all the comics and novels and such will be built on them, and in this order: - The movies, this is the foundation on which everything else will be built. - The Clone Wars, season 1-6 are part of George Lucas' story and they're pretty essential (at least in this corner of SW fandom) to understanding wtf anyone is talking about or even watching many of the live action series. (Season 7 is fine and should be watched! It's just not part of Lucas' Star Wars.) - Star Wars: Rebels, starts off light-hearted but really is one of the best developed shows and does a lot of connective work between the prequels and the original trilogy. - The Mandalorian, set 9 years after Return of the Jedi, this show just massively blew up and while each season is slightly less well-done than the previous one (imo), it's well worth watching for wtf fandom is talking about half of the time. (The Book of Boba Fett is somewhat optional in this corner of fandom, but imo worth the watch. Generally, it should go Mando s1-2 --> TBOBF --> Mando s3.) - Obi-Wan Kenobi, because this corner of fandom lost our goddamned minds about it and still haven't gotten them back. - Andor, which is a really great show and, as long as you've watched Rogue One first, you'll follow along just fine. Does some solid connecting the dots between the prequels and the originals, but not as much as Rebels did. - Jedi: Fallen Order, you can look up a "movie" version on YouTube for the story of this game, which is a really good plot, has some great new characters, has some genuinely effective cameos, and will be referenced fairly often in other materials/in fandom.

If you're not feeling overwhelmed by All The Star Wars You've Consumed, I would personally suggest going for the comics next, over any of the novels. The novels are great! But the vast majority of them are self-contained and meant to be supplementary material even more than the comics, which get to tell bigger, more connected stories. I always suggest starting with: - Star Wars 2015 by Jason Aaron + Darth Vader 2015 by Kieron Gillen, both of which are really, solidly fantastic stories about the timeframe just after A New Hope, like there are so many absolutely banger lines that came out of these comics. I won't spoil them, just know that I think these were legitimately good comics, not just legitimately good Star Wars comics. (The first six issues of each series are meant to be read concurrently, but after that, you can just pick one and read in that specific title.) - Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 2017 by Charles Soule, which is set in the immediate aftermath of Revenge of the Sith. If Gillen's Vader keeps the mystique of the originals Unknowable Darth Vader, then Soule's Vader is more about the absolute BATSHIT DRAMA that is blending Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. This series is BANANAPANTS in the absolute best way. - Obi-Wan & Anakin 2015 by Charles Soule, which is a five-issue mini-series set between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and is both stunningly beautiful art and a solidly good plot that survives fairly serious analysis of. It's got some great worldbuilding details, but even more I like it for the look at why a young Anakin chooses to stay with the Jedi Order.

The one book I will recommend--for a list aimed at getting you caught up on what fandom is referencing--is the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover, that book is quoted constantly, and I'm not sure any other SW book has ever been as good as it is.

I feel like this is the best set of reading to get you familiarized with the source material that tends to come up the most! There's lots more that's really good, but once you get through the above, you can let me know what era or characters you're most interested in or if you have a specific question about something and want to see where it comes from!

But there's one thing to address and you're kinda going to have to figure out how to approach it on your own. 😂 There is a ton of stuff in SW fandom that's ostensibly from a book or a comic, but the version in fandom often comes from those who never actually read the books/haven't read them in a long time or are just picking them up from other fic and meta.

For example, the AgriCorps or Melida/Daan get referenced in fic and in posts all the time, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading the Jedi Apprentice series (I mean, I'm not your mom, feel free if you want to!) and often times how they're used in fic is not how they were used in the source material. Or the clones speaking Mando'a comes from the Legends books by Karen Traviss and she is a whole big can of ugly worms (both what she wrote and her IRL politics), as well as much of what she wrote was overwritten/discarded when The Clone Wars came out, but fandom likes the idea and so they put that into their fics (as they should, if they like it!). The idea of Mace using the lightsaber form of Vaapad is from Legends sources (the best source probably being the Shatterpoint novel by Matthew Stover, I'd guess?), same for his ability to see "shatterpoints" in the Force, which aren't part of Lucas' continuity or Disney's continuity, but fandom enjoys using them to flesh out Mace's character. This will get you started and, if you're looking for something more specific, feel free to ask, I enjoy these kinds of question--and don't feel you have to stick with any of the above if they're not fun for you. This is meant to be enjoyable, it's meant to have a good time, there's no wrong way to consume Star Wars media! <3

#lumi.txt #star wars #novel recs #(eh that's my tag for this kind of thing)

[stilldancewithyou]

Everyone is so focused on EJ being jealous of Ricky because of everything with Nini in S1 and Gina in S2 and it makes me sad that his character has been reduced to that. yes, Ricky "stealing" the girls from EJ (or however you look at it) is an important part of EJ's character build up and it plays into his insecurities but I don't think that's the biggest/only reason for the tension between them, there's a big chunk of the show's storyline for EJ that I feel like everyone is overlooking: It was EJ's senior year, the last high school musical productions he'd ever get to be in, and Ricky got the leading male parts in all three shows (also EJ didn't really get to audition for Frozen bc he has to direct it).

In season 1, he was soooo excited for HSM and he had spent a lot of time preparing to audition for Troy, his heart was set on that part and he even talked about how he thought he was the perfect Troy, and he was so confident about it. And then Ricky swoops in, not knowing anything about musicals, having never even seen the movie and having no understanding of the character, only auditioning to impress Nini, and he gets the part EJ wanted so badly. EJ has to be content with being the understudy and then he ended up reading Miss Jenn's casting paper to see why she didn't think he was good enough to play Troy and it was kinda mean tbh (and remember, after he read it he started really trying to be better) and I feel like everyone kind of put him down that season. He was so happy when he got the chance to go out as Troy on opening night but then he ended up supporting Ricky, building him up and telling him he was "the better Troy" and that he deserved the part. In season 2, it's the spring musical and the last musical of EJ's high school career! and we know from season 1 he really wants the lead part, and we find out about his dad's expectations so I think it's fair to say he also wanted to impress his dad and show him how talented he is, but at the same time, I feel like he just wants his moment in the spotlight that the others have gotten, he wants that validation that he is capable of playing the leading man and get it right and just that validation and confidence....but again, Ricky gets the lead, and EJ has to play the villain (don't get me wrong he was the perfect Gaston and I am not mad about that). In season 3, he's so excited to have all his Wildcats at camp with him, and have a great last summer; he and Gina talk about how they hope to be the leads together and it's EJ's last chance to have that spotlight leading role moment bc this is the last theater production for him to be in unless he gets onto Broadway or goes to a performing arts college. And EJ can't even properly audition for it bc he's been forced into directing it, and Ricky got the lead again, as Gina's love interest no less- and Ricky doesn't know the show well again and he casually jokes about it to EJ. And throughout all the seasons, EJ just puts on a happy face and supports everyone else and lifts them all up and helps them out; he's happy for Ashlyn when she got the lead, he's happy for Gina when she got it, he's even happy for Ricky. Even though the girls get to be upset when they don't get the parts they wanted, EJ is expected to just accept that he's not a leading man.

I mean...just think about it. EJ puts in all of this effort into being his best, he spends so much time understanding the character and rehearsing and preparing to be the best he can possibly be and Ricky, who puts in very little effort, doesn't know the character or even story/what the damn show is about, and doesn't really know that much about theater or acting just waltzes in and gets the lead three times in a row. (this also applies to the love triangles as sort of a metaphor in a way) Nini, Ashlyn and now Gina and Kourtney all get their time to shine in the lead roles they always dreamed of but didn't think they'd ever be good enough for but EJ has to suck it up and be happy for them and cope with the fact that this is his last show and he never got that big moment he wanted (despite the fact that he's basically a cookie cutter of the perfect leading man).

edited to add: yes, I do realize season 2 EJ chose not to pursue being the Beast bc he felt he was too busy with preparing for college and pls excuse my mistakes in this post/incorrect facts, it's been sooo long since I've watched the first two seasons so I went off what I thought I remembered when I was writing this post (so yeah, I'm a clown & I'll be the first to admit it but everyone who follows my blog already knows that lol). My mistake aside, my point is still the same. EJ has put in a lot of effort throughout all three seasons- with Nini, with Gina, with auditions, with all the shows, and he also went out of his way to atone for his past selfish actions (even tho he stepped back in s2 and worked on himself) and Ricky swooped in having no idea what he's doing and has effortlessly (if you're looking at it from EJ's POV- not trying to villainize Ricky cause I actually adore him) gotten everything EJ has been working hard for handed to him. In the present season it's not just that EJ is noticing the clear romantic tension between Rina, it's that Ricky is having the summer that EJ wanted to have- having fun, spending quality time with Gina and the other Wildcats, playing the leading male part alongside Gina in the show, enjoying EJ's camp friends (and becoming friends with all of them), participating fully in all the fun traditional camp activities and doing all of this with a carefree, Hakuna Matata attitude while EJ is literally about to combust from stress. It's as if Ricky has replaced him. (again, looking at this from EJ's POV). this is just a thought I had that I wanted to share bc I have seen so many posts about the love triangle and nothing about the other stuff so I apologize if I haven't articulated it in a way that makes sense but hopefully this clears some things up. I still think he should get his time to shine though bc he hasn't really gotten that in the show yet.

Also even though EJ was initially presented as being overly confident and kind of cocky, I always personally thought they've made it obvious he, like the other characters, has a lot of insecurities about himself and the cocky attitude is kind of a façade to hide that from everyone else. And considering how hard his dad is on him with all of his high expectations, I think EJ has probably spent his whole life putting in maximum effort to be the best at everything and acting confident and cocky bc it's how his dad wants him to be.

#hsmtmts 3 #hsmtmts #ej caswell #ricky bowen #listen. they better give ej his time to shine as director or something in the last ep this season #HE DESERVES THAT #he's going through it #i will defend ej with everything i have #i love ricky AND ej both #i also love both portwell and rina...like i'll be happy with either endgame but I really like portwell's dynamic rn #and I think both ships deserve more time and not to be rushed with the way both were built up

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Director's Commentary

I'm going to need you to tell me how Number Ten came to be. That was the first fic of yours that I ever read and I knew you were going to be my cup of tea!

When did you first realize that angst was something you enjoyed exploring? What is it about whump, specifically, that you gets your blood pumping? Does writing the happy ending ever feel like the wrong thing to do?

Trust you to come in with the big gun questions 😘 I expect nothing less. Hoo boy, okay. Number Ten. I am fascinated by the concept of 'Viscount Benedict'. Because it's a reality in the Bton world that is close enough to almost taste, but is never explored. We are always one breath away from this bizarre timeline that is depressing for everyone - especially him - and I simply had to get inside his head and see how he would react if that turned out to be his fate (because I love him and would happily write a fictional diary that documented his actions and emotions every day of his life birth to death because I have a problem. Anyway....)

Yes, Benedict was born out of the love of his parents, but as the second son, it is the functional purpose of his life to be the 'spare' and take on the title if the unthinkable should happen to Anthony. And in the duel of book/season one, we are faced with the very real possibility that Anthony could die. I feel the immensity of this risk definitely gets lost in the shuffle of the show episode, with so much focus on Simon and Daphne and Benedict being an underdeveloped character at that point. There is the great scene in the study beforehand where Anthony says "hey bro, your life as you know it is over tonight. Hope you enjoyed your little druggy art party. You'll be the Viscount in the morning no matter how his goes" and all we got out of Benedict was a pained glance (exceptional acting by LT of course, but there is SOOOOOOO much that went unexplored here).

LadyJenevia is a media critic and Benedict stan and she is desperate to get on the Bton press junket to interview LT and ask him the very pertinent question of how much weight he carried into the duel scenes of Benedict thinking he would walk off that field either as functional Viscount with a fugitive brother, or literal Viscount with a dead brother, and how that informed his acting choices. It's an incredible question and deserves to be asked. I think I was chewing on this when one weekday morning I let my mind stray to the darkest timeline and saw Benedict screaming as he shook Anthony's lifeless body. Because we were thhhiiiiisssss close to that, but I don't think any audience attention was drawn to that potential reality, or how that would impact Benedict or his siblings. Anthony was seen as a hotheaded asshole at this point and attention was largely on Simon. (Even I walked away from S1 not knowing Benedict's name, so I get it.)

So the scenes started to play out in my head (I checked AO3, this was a Tuesday, I should have been working), and I felt his desperation and terror in those moments, heard his screams, saw his panic as his brother and his life and his dreams died in his arms. I saw Anthony fall (an accident of course, Simon was not intending to shoot him, but Daphne fked it up), I saw everyone in denial, Daphne screaming, Anthony fading, Benedict showing up back home covered in blood and having to explain to his mother what happened. I even saw scenes of him losing it on Daphne and blaming her, and also opening up and crying to Eloise about it all (but these weren't written/maybe I'm saving stuff for another WIP). This alternate timeline had to be explored, because we were so damn close to it and it would be an entirely different Bton universe, balanced on Benedict's shoulders, if just a couple factors were changed. So it just poured out of me in a couple hours and I posted it immediately. This was one of those brain-movies and it felt like unburdening myself to get it down on the page for others to see 😛 And of course at the end of the day, this is an act of love for Benedict. Because as crushed and miserable as he would be by it all, he wouldn't run away or fail his family. He would rise to the occasion and do his best, but he would be a very different head of family than Anthony was. I wanted to champion his fortitude, and Anthony's single-minded focus as he died, that Ben continue the protection of the family. Because they are both amazing men aggghhhhhhh 😭

When did I realize angst and whump were my thing? Honestly, I don't think I did until just recently joining tumblr. I've been writing since summer of last year under the (perhaps misguided) assumption that the purpose of fanfic was to grind characters through bizarre scenarios of heightened emotion (be that angst, whump, smut, etc.) for gleeful wish fulfillment. Then when I saw folks calling Love to Spare 'angsty' because it had lightly conflicted romantic emotions I had a lightbulb moment of 'oh, wait til they see all the pain, grief, gore and death I've put characters through in my WIPs' 😅 My angst barometer is clearly higher than others. It definitely aligns with my taste in media, that I tend to only consume dark, angsty shows and films because the intensity/urgency of those scenarios grabs me by the gut and causes a visceral reaction. I want to feel something really hard when consuming media. It's more satisfying than letting happy fluff wash over me (though of course there are rare times for that too) because it feels like I have learned/grown through the pain and insight. Now that I have been/attempted to write a variety of fics, I see clearly that I am more motivated to write angsty and whumpy scenes and stories, than I am to write fluffy or even smutty ones, and I'm glad to have learned that about myself.

Whump, IMO, is the perfect recipe for character exploration and reader engagement. You've said it yourself - when characters are suffering and/or facing mortality, everything else is stripped away and you get justification for really raw and intense emotional interactions and personality revelations. Readers can feel the stress of the situation and wonder how it's all going to pan out, and you can deliver that joyous happy ending or devastating tragedy which forces them to examine new perspectives of the characters and world. And to answer your final question, I do think there are scenarios where happy endings are the wrong conclusion. As we all likely know and have experienced by now, that is not how the real world operates, and I think its healthy and cathartic to examine that in our media sometimes. Art imitates life, so it should imitate the times when the bad guys win, or people die, or you don't always get what you want. Not only does that make it more realistic and relatable, it creates a safe, fictional space to examine how you would respond to that scenario, and contemplate it as a potential reality you may need to prepare for. Thus, it was worth seeing how Benedict would have reacted if things had played out just an inch differently, and his whole world was transformed in an instant.

Thank you for the ask my dear 💙

#directors cut #ask game #I wrote you another novel for an answer #thank you for asking #partner in whump crime #angst ally

[thequeenofshebasays]

There’s an Insider article claiming the show edited the scene with Jonathan taking pictures. Fans (particularly Steve and Stancy fans) are claiming Jonathan took pictures of Steve and Nancy hooking up but he only took inappropriate pictures of Nancy and it wasn’t sexual in his eyes at all. It was still wrong but he freaking apologized and was punished enough in the show and by fans. It just makes me so angry. Do these same fans not see how pushy Steve was to Nancy about sex or his bullying in S1

Insider is stupid tabloids so don’t listen to them lmao. Also anyone can write an article for anything these days. Steve Stan’s need to stop pretending to he objective and admit they worship they dude.

Anyway back to the point: I remember that scene perfectly upon first viewing of the series. And I’m going to be honest with y’all, I never personally had an issue with him taking the photos lmao. Not for any moral reasons just that I guess as a person that views media I’ve seen worst things and I also understand narratives and try to understand why a certain scene was put in the show. Jonathan Byers up to that point was my favorite character, and he was still my favorite during and after that scene lmao.

But I’ll tell you why: the scene had a LOT going on: Barb dying, Nancy being pushed into having sex for the first time by her pushy boyfriend, Jonathan taking the photos. It’s amazing how folks ignore all the other shit happening in those few minutes just to dredge up that Jonathan took photos.

Jonathan was taking photos of the whole party… AFTER he stumbled across it by mistake, he was looking at where Will’s bike was found, he was trying to be helpful and look for clues. He wasn’t looking for Steves house. He started to take photos of the group and it’s interesting because he captures Barbs last moments, he sees that she looks sad. And he draws his camera up and takes a photo through the window bc he’s human and then he stops. He realizes what he did. Nancy was in her bra yes but nothing beyond that… … Nancy and Steve were not having sex against the fucking window lmao. Like if you only listened to idiots online you’d think he was in the crawl space above Steve’s bed with a video camera… like holy crap.

And I’ll keep going: he stops and he legit visibly looks uneasy like he realized what he just did. It wasn’t sexual, Jonathan isn’t like that. He just got caught up in the moment, and he stops.

And only looks back when he hears Barb make a sound and he doesn’t see her anymore. And he shrugs and heads back to his car.

When I watched that scene the first time I was intrigued and confused, I was wondering where they were taking the Jonathan character, I was wondering why they had this scene, but mostly I kept thinking that Jonathan was going to get attacked by the monster right after Barb bc I’ve seen horror movies. My take away was how Nancy’s (horrible) first time was being cut with Barb being killed… like the scene was intense and also just like really telling… it wasn’t a pleasant scene for anyone involved… accept maybe Steve…

I honestly forgot about the photos until the scene where the girl sees Jonathan developing them, and again… this was ONLY done for the plot. He wasn’t developing the photos to do anything with them later. And honestly it was lazy writing on the duffers part. They included the photo taking scene because it happened in an 80’s movie they thought was cool where a peeping Tom accidentally witnessed a murder… sort of rear window if you will. Just call Jonathan “Jimmy Stewart”… kids these days act like Jonathan Byers was the first to do this and is oh so evil for it… oh no…

But I’ll get back to the plot: it was a lazy way to move the plot along, how else would Jonathan gotten a photo of the demogorgon? He wouldn’t just be taking photos of the forest at night lmao. And we had to have to him not believe his mom or that there was a monster for a bit. So he couldn’t have seen it himself.

It was a plot device and that’s it. Folks need to move on from it. They’ve moved on from:

Steve pressuring Nancy to be intimate on multiple occasions.

Steve spying on Nancy through her window

Steve having a horrifying temper and jealous tendency’s that’s result in him slut shaming her publicly.

They’ve moved on Steve forcing HIS future plans on Nancy, not listening to her and telling her to just move on in S2

They moved on from Steve once again behind a dick and this time leaving her blacked out drunk at a party… which is honestly evil and if this show wasn’t this show but a normal teen drama on like WB or something, there wouldn’t be a Jonathan to save her… it would be horrifying.

And they moved on from him yelling at her because HE is jealous. Because HE is insecure. HE takes his issues out on her (I want anyone that brings up the S3 Jancy fight to shut the fuck up)

Everyone is ready to forgive and forget for steve, because they love his stupid block head and his dumb hair… because let’s face it… he’s very bland. But Jonathan did ONE thing that he apologized for (steve never apologized to Nancy for all the shit he did) because they don’t think Jonathan is cute or he’s boring… we’ll boo fucking hoo.

Anyway. Yes: the fandom is very stupid and selfish and horrible and it feels like they only watch the Steve parts and ignore ANYTHING else.

Also I wanted to add, when we look at how unhappy Nancy was after being with Steve that night and how she was just not happy with anything and then how happy she was with Jonathan and he made her smile… and then in S2 how happy she was the morning after… yup….

But yeah. Idk where this went lol. I clearly had a lot to say, I did want to add that I don’t condone what Jonathan did, like of course it’s not, but in the context of the show and how like… they forgot when Will’s bday was. Y’all can forget that one scene and move on and stop being idiots.

Go worship Steve and leave Jonathan Byers alone.

#FUCK ALL YOU STEVE STANS THAT WANNA DRAG JONATHAN #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #like move the fuck on #if Steve’s so fucking great? y’all can talk only about him #stranger things #jancy

[countessofravenclaw]

The *Real* reason why Gastón and Delfi didn't work

Okay, I don't know how many know that I actually have a dark past of being a Gasfina shipper. Yes, I actually shipped Gastón and Delfi. Granted, this was when I have not actually seen the show and the fact that they for some reason told Malena and Agus to have chemistry during the Corazon performance and I didn't know about Gastina. Anyway, Delfi Gastón is a ship that you just always forget that Delfi was actually the og Gastina's love rival (Oh the times).

Why did Delfi ever even like Gastón? We may never know, but I think she never really liked him in that way. It was pretty surfaced level. He was the most popular guy at school and hot and Matteo's best friend and Matteo was Ambar's boyfriend and Delfi strived towards to being like Ambar in the start of S1. Fact is that her attraction for him was pretty surfaced level. And that is my point here. It was not real

I used to think Gastón had abandonment issues, but I don't really think that anymore. He is insecure, definitely, just look at S2, but nowadays I think more that he has imposter syndrome (Purely my hc here, but to me, it is mainly about the fact that he will inherit the million fortune of his parents that they build almost purely for the purpose that he will have it someday. This may seem nice, but a huge fortune comes with huge responsibility and can cause anxiety. Luna never dealt with this, so I will make someone be).

Anyways, moving on. Don't you think it is a bit odd that Mateo and Gastón don't really seem to have other friends at Blake outside of Ramiro sometimes third-wheeling them? This builds up to my point that how many people really act genuinely around them, as they are the most popular guys at the school? I always have though that NIna was Gastón first real relation ship and first time, but she was not his first kiss or first exploration to a relatioship just not a serious one.

How many girls have only been genuinely interested in knowing real him? Because again, he is popular, good looking, smart and has rich parents. (I am not saying rich family, because it is not the Perida or even the Vasquez family who are rich, it is just his parents. Again just my hc here.) Who wouldn't wanna be with him? It very often had been about the status. So he wants someone who is so said real, someone who is interested in him, as a person and would be her real self around him.

We see in S1b that when he is swarmed by girls during his "player" era, he absolutely hates it. His popularity was really surfaced level and I never really got the sense that he actually cared or enjoyed.

I am not trying to put Delfi down here, but she was pretty surfaced level person in start of S1, because she was under Ambar's influence. After she breaks free from her, she gets more depth and I really love her character development.

This is not true. Gastón never went out with Delfina Alzamendi. He went out with Delfi pretending to be Felicity. Delfi was not being herself with him, she was trying to be something she though he wanted. She was not being real. I genuinely think that if for example Delfi would have tried to tell her own opinion about the movie they went to see, since she is into graphic design and video editing, she probably would had to things to say, instead of trying to "sound like Felicity", the thing would have gone pretty well between them for a while, until they probably would have realized that they don't really work together, since Delfi belongs with Pedro and Gastón with Nina, which would led to a mutual break up.

I really don't like that Pedro told Gastón off about this, and I hope he apologized at some point. Lets be honest, he only did it since he liked Delfi. But Delfi catfished Gastón, and that is not something you should be flattered about.

The most real Delfi was with him was in that letter, which led him to forgive her. BUt they still didn't get back together since I do not fault Gastón not trusting her after that and he never was interested her in that way.

There is no Gastón slander in this house, he did nothing wrong. And I wanna note that he reacted almost the same way with Nina and the whole Oxford application fiasco. He only forgave her because because he absolutely loved her and because in the end she was only trying to help him, even if she was party motivated by her insecurities.

Why Gastón fell for Nina was not because she did not like fashion or other stereotypical girly things, because lets be real, she actually does. Have you seen her outfits in S3? And actually, even in S1 when Nina kind of revamps her look and wears more saturated stuff and does more with her hair, basically just break out her shell and is more confident in herself, that's when Gastón really takes notice of her. (If someone in this show doesn't care about fashion, it is Luna, who just wears the first thing she can find from her closet.)

He fell for her because they had things is common and they bonded over those and having a similar look of the world, but also because she was not afraid of being herself with him and was authentic and unapologetic about the things she liked and allowed him to be just himself as well and let so said walls down. She was being real with him.

He literally says this. That is what he means by this, not that she is not like others in the stereotypical way.

I gotta say abut this scene that it is super weird, because this is not a storyline that was followed through at all. I am sure that if there were any Gastón&Delfi shippers left in S2, they probably got so much hope from this, only to be let down. Since they had to bring all the Gastina love rivals back in S2 so they could be kept apart for so long, I guess this was Delfi's contribution. (Actually this storyline for Delfi would have had so much potential if Gastón and Nina were together and they would have mentored Delfi at photography together all Liv and Holden style)

Delfi's interest in "girly" or little more generic thing so to say was never portrayed as bad, not by Gastón or anyone else. It is just different and their point of views didn't match.

This was in no way, shape of form Delfi slander post. I love her and I love he and Pedro. This is just me looking everything from Gastón's point of view, because show doesn't dug into him at all, so someone has to. He is a pretty blank slate teaming with story potential for a writer like me.

#Soy Luna #Gastina #Gasfina

[theforgottenmcrmy]

Thank goodness you mentioned that timeline issue 🤣. The math isn't matching for me there. It doesn't make sense for him to have a 15? year old that just magically popped up.

I also feel like big Dylan (since sprayberry is in the movie pretty sure) really won't be there since he gave the jeep to Scott at the end of the show - even if he says he has the jeep irl at his house or whatever. You never know though 🤷, they might even have a random fbi phone call between Scott and stiles or something.

I feel the same with Peter and Isaac popping in, that would be fun. I personally had my fill of Jackson in the show since they made the mistake of not ever going deeper into that kanima to werewolf storyline.

I just feel like they wrote the movie thinking - if we can't get stiles, we can get Allison! And I was not an Allison fan, I tell you 😐. I was alright with her in s1 but s2 had me so mad, that's all I can remember everytime I try to rewatch. I distinctly remember when she died in the show that I felt a single tear go down my face because everyone else was crying 😂.

That also might be why I'm like 😐 throughout the previews. At the same time though, if we're bringing back characters that were dead for multiple years, let's bring back the twins and Deucalion - that could've been fun to see how everyone interacted after their redemption arcs imo.

Exactly😂 and since Derek’s own canon age is disputed which I may or may not know because I once seriously considered writing a fic for him that makes the whole 15 year old kid thing even more confusing. Plus, who the heck is this kid’s mother?🧐 Hopefully we get some answers here, because the math is not mathing and the canon is not cannoning😅 I’m legitimately thinking they just *to hell with* the timeline and established canon so that Derek’s son could be a teenager, and hence a main face for the spin-off show.

Ahhhh, you got me there. Low key forgot Stiles gave the Jeep to Scott😅 I would loveeeee some kind of nod to Stiles, even if it is just a phone call or something prerecorded and altered to fit whatever’s going on. On the topic of little Dylan/Liam though, I’m also looking forward to seeing what his relationship with Scott is like at this point. Felt like they had a decent big bro/little bro mentor/mentoree dynamic, and that was one of the aspects I loved about the later seasons.

I feel like Peter is a given, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. But every time in the main show, where it got to a point where he hadn’t been seen or mentioned for some time, he’d find a way to show up. So we’ll see.👀 Isaac may be more wishful thinking, but I’m hoping for it big time. He deserved a happy ending, and I hope he found it. That’s true about Jackson though…. Like, I appreciate the fact that they brought him back for the later seasons, (and for the show, he’s in this too, right?🧐 I thought so but now I’m doubting myself lol), but since they didn’t really acknowledge the Janina/wolf elephant in the room anymore, it felt a little off. But if he’s back, I’ll be happy to see his character. He was a jerk, but… a jerk I could possibly tolerate(?) I’m not sure how to explain it.😂

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to meet someone else who wasn’t totally like “Allison😍”. I agree, she was okay in season 1, but in season 2 her character really just started to irritate me (honestly, probably just how she was written more than anything), and it never really turned around from there. I think I felt sad about her death more because of how the others would deal with her loss, rather than the loss of her character herself 😅 But I just don’t think her return to this was NEEDED, know what I mean? Could’ve easily written this without.

You know what Argent I would have liked to see return? Kate. That may be a hot opinion, but since the whole show started with her and what she did, and there still was never any proper resolution received, I think it would’ve been cool to have the movie and conflict of the main characters end with her too.

Yesssss Deucalion and the twins. I dig it. Fingers crossed, maybe they just wanted to keep some surprises for the movie?😅🤞🏻 We need more grey characters to keep things interesting, and I’d say that fits those three to a tee. I agree, would’ve been really interesting to see the dynamic between them all. Maybe even a somewhat awkward conversation or two between Jackson and Aiden.😂

#love this #teen wolf

[fific7]

Russo the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo - who hates the whole Festive Season thing - gets drawn into it by his new neighbour. Billy POV throughout.

A/N: A little belated Xmas present for any Billy Russo fans out there. Set in my S1 Punisher AU which does not follow canon. It’s mainly fluff with a tiny twist of lemon zest 🍋

Warnings: Some drinking & swearing.

(My photo edit)

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Billy heard another ‘thump’ outside his apartment door, and eye-rolled dramatically. Since he’d moved into his penthouse bachelor pad a year ago he’d been the only one occupying the top floor, but now the other apartment had obviously been rented out.

When all the banging and crashing around had started earlier in the day, he’d sneaked a quick look through his cracked-open door and seen some guys dressed in removal company overalls bringing furniture out of the lift and carrying it into the apartment opposite him. He’d sighed. How he hoped it wouldn’t be a complete asshole moving in there as it would be difficult to avoid him, being such close neighbours.

Now it was several hours later and they were still bringing stuff in. There was an extra loud bang but actually against his door this time and he leapt up, racing over and flinging the door open, yelling “Watch what the fuck you’re doin’!” as he did so. Three faces immediately swung round towards him, eyes wide and mouths agape in surprise. One of them - oh - was a woman, he noticed, and she was not dressed in overalls.

In fact - Billy’s eyes did a swift recon - she was dressed in a classy dark blue top, navy fitted trousers and ankle boots. He found himself thinking that if she had been dressed in overalls, she’d’ve looked a helluva lot better in them than the two schmucks who were also still staring at him, a bookcase suspended in the air between them.

Embarrassed, he decided he’d better rein in the language a bit. “I mean… can ya be a bit more careful?” he backtracked, then looked down at the scrape in his door which had lifted off the top layer of paint. “I’m gonna have to get that repainted,” he grumbled. The woman stepped forward, holding out her hand and saying her name, so he shook it and muttered his own name back to her. She was extremely easy on the eye he was thinking, but perversely was still annoyed at the damage caused to his door.

She replied, “Nice to meet you, Mr Russo. I’m your new neighbour and I’m really very sorry about your door! I’ll arrange for that to be repainted and pay for it to be done, of course.” Somewhat mollified, Billy said that he’d be able to do it himself but it was kind of her to offer. He nodded and backed into his apartment, closing the door.

A woman?! He’d been sure it would’ve been a guy moving in. Not sure why but… he supposed he’d always thought of these apartments as being kinda… well, masculine, with their clean lines, open space, exposed brick walls and picture windows. Didn’t women like more… soft and frilly types of places? With cosy small rooms? He mentally shrugged, maybe not all women then.

The noise continued for about another hour or so but thankfully there were no more attacks on his door. He’d taken refuge in his bedroom while it was still going on but after about ten minutes of silence, he sighed with relief and settled back down on his sofa, picked up his half-full beer bottle and went back to the movie he’d been watching earlier. It had been pretty crap anyway if he was honest, so he hadn’t really missed out.

His mind started zoning out after about half an hour. He’d never had a woman as a neighbour before. Oh god! Was she going to have lots of parties? He wasn’t averse to partying or anything, but he considered his apartment to be his sanctuary - he never held parties there. He’d either meet up with his friends in a bar or club or someone else in the group would host a house party.

Billy’s thoughts began to make him feel a little unsettled. While he didn’t want to turn into one of those ‘banging on the walls’ kind of neighbours, he definitely wasn’t going to stand for loud partying in his vicinity. He was determined that his peace would not be disturbed - here was the only place he got a chance to properly relax, after all.

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He managed to avoid his new neighbour for the next three days. He’d repaired his door one morning after he heard her leaving for work (he assumed). That had meant he’d got to Anvil later than he’d planned which put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Frank had insisted they work out before they left as he’d noticed Billy’s grumpy demeanour, and as they showered after a gruelling round of the gym equipment in Anvil’s basement, he questioned him as to why he was in such a bad mood.

“New neighbour,” muttered Billy, towelling himself dry, “it’s a woman.” He’d felt better after their workout but this conversation was now bringing back his irritated feelings. Frank laughed, “I’da thought you’d love that, Russo?! Or is she not up to your high standards?” Billy scowled, “She’s attractive, to be fair - but she might start having loud parties.” “What makes ya think that?” Billy shrugged, “Don’t women always have parties and girly sleepovers and things?” Frank laughed again, for even longer, “Some do, some don’t! When she move in?” “Two days ago.” “Aw give her a chance, Bill! ‘Fore you write her off as the noisy neighbour from hell.”

Billy had merely grunted and started getting dressed before grumbling, “Yeah, whatever.” Frank shook his head, “Bet ya won’t have any trouble with her!” Billy buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his trousers before zipping up, “She dented my door.” Frank’s head appeared as he pulled his sweatshirt on and he was laughing again, “What? Was she that desperate to get to ya, Bill?” “Ha ha Frankie, no - her removal men scraped my door with a piece of her furniture. Had to repaint it this morning so that’s why I was late in.” Frank nodded, “That explains your shitty mood today then,” and ducked as Billy threw his wet towel at him. The two of them laughed and made their way back up to the main floor, before they went their separate ways.

“Try and put a smile on ya face tomorrow, Russo!” yelled Frank, as he climbed into his SUV. Billy flipped him the finger, grinning at his friend as he got into his own vehicle. It was an SUV too, as he’d left the Wraith in the underground car park at his apartment that morning - the weather had been pretty awful and he didn’t want his precious baby getting splashed with dirty New York rainwater.

When he got home and pulled into his other car parking space next to the Wraith, he was horrified to see a large scrape on its rear bumper. He couldn’t get his seat belt off quickly enough and jumped out, walking swiftly to the back of the Wraith and squatting down to view the scrape up close. A stream of swears left his lips and he stood back up, brain working overtime. He’d get the CCTV footage from the condo management, he’d find out who fucking hit his fucking beautiful car, he’d make them pay for the panelbeating and the respray, no fuck that, he’d just fucking kill them instead. He beeped the remote key fob at the SUV and it beeped back at him and as he turned away to head to the lift, he spotted a note under the Wraith’s windscreen wiper.

He walked back and grabbed it. Neat writing stated….

“Dear Mr Russo, I’m really sorry but I dinged your car’s bumper! - someone nearly crashed into me and I had to swerve. I will pay for the repairs. Please call and let me know the cost. Apologies once again about this accident.”

….and there was his new neighbour’s name and phone number.

Her!!! Holy hell, thought Billy, what is it with this woman and her apparent need to damage my property?! Is she maybe trying to get my attention? He whipped out his phone then and there and dialled the number on the paper. It rang but went to voicemail.

He heard her message start to play. “Hi, if I haven’t picked up I’m probably flying. Call you when I land if you leave your name and number. Bye!”

Flying? thought Billy. She a fucking angel or something?!

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After making himself be as polite as possible on the message he left, he said that he certainly would let her know the cost of the repairs to his car.

Then he headed to the security desk, explained what had happened and asked the guy there if he could view the CCTV footage from earlier that day. He had a good relationship with the security people here, mainly because he was in the same business - well, more or less - so was shown the relevant footage without any argument. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her… well okay, no, he didn’t believe her. He would bet anything that she was just shit at parking and had reversed carelessly into his car.

But much to his surprise, his slightly misogynistic take on things was completely wrong. The security guy searched through the digital video files until he found the images Billy wanted to see. She had made it partly out of her parking space (right behind his) when another resident had pulled out of his space next to hers seemingly without checking his mirrors, and had nearly smacked right into her car. She’d whipped her steering wheel round and avoided the idiot heading for her but had - yes, just as she’d said - dinged his bumper in the process.

Billy suddenly felt very guilty. He’d assumed she’d lied to cover up the fact that she was totally to blame.

Then his jaw dropped as he saw her get out of her car to check the damage on his.

She was dressed as a pilot. Even had the hat.

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He heard the muted ‘ting’ of the elevator later on that evening. Taking several long strides to his door, he opened it to see his neighbour across the hall, about to open her own door. She was still in her uniform.

“Er, hi,” he said, and even he could hear a sheepish tone in his voice, “I left you a voicemail.” She turned and looked at him, “Oh, hi. Yeah, I did get your message. Sorry again about that. As I said, just let me know how much and I’ll pay it.” Billy shook his head, “No. it wasn’t your fault.” She smiled, “Look, it was my car which hit yours, so let’s not argue.” “I’m gonna speak to the guy who nearly crashed into you - he can pay.” “Good luck with that,” she scoffed, “he just drove off this morning, not a word or anything.” “He knows me,” said Billy, somewhat menacingly, “he won’t argue with me. He’ll pay up.” She looked amused, and he felt compelled to add, “I usedta be a Marine sniper y’see, and he knows it.”

She nodded, smiling, “Ahh, did you now? Well, I guess he will probably pay up, then! Well, thanks for being so understanding, Mr Russo.” “Billy.” “Okay… Billy. Well if anything changes, just let me know.” Turning back to her door and putting her key in the lock, he said quickly, “So… a pilot, huh? I wasn’t expectin’ that, I can tell ya.” She looked over her shoulder at him, “Ah I see… did you think I was a bank clerk? Or a secretary or something?” He heard her chuckle. “No… no,” he replied, “I…err… just didn’t think of you bein’ a pilot, that’s all.” “Well I suppose there aren’t that many of us women flyers out there, so I’ll let you off.” “Who do you fly for?” he asked, “Commercial?”

She turned back to him, “Business. I fly private jets.” “Ooh, nice,” smirked Billy, “any chance of you taking me for a spin?” “If you’ve got the money,” she laughed, “they don’t come cheap.” Moving into flirtatious mode, he drawled, “Yeah, I got the money.” She reached into her blazer inside pocket and took out a business card, handing it to him, “Here you go. If you want to book a flight, call the office and they’ll sort it out for you.” “And I can book a flight with you as the pilot, can I?” Now she smirked, “Well, it depends on my schedule. You might have to make do with one of my male counterparts.”

“Nah, wouldn’t be the same,” said Billy, giving her a flirtatious look, “it’d need to be you.” She laughed, turning back to her door and opening it, “Well, we’d just need to see at the time. G’night, Billy.” She smiled at him as she closed the door in his face.

Well, thought Billy, I always did like a challenge.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

A couple of days later, Billy had called her again. He’d managed to speak to the jerk who’d nearly crashed into her and had intimidated him into paying for the car repair. The guy hadn’t argued at all when he’d been caught in the obsidian glare of Billy’s dark eyes.

He wanted to call and tell her that he’d sorted it out and had decided to use this as an excuse to ask her out for a drink. His new neighbour had been on his mind more and more, and had decided he really wanted to get to know her better. And if she had a boyfriend hanging around in the wings.

If there was no other guy on the scene and she accepted his invitation, he’d take her to his favourite local bar. It was now mid-December but they thankfully didn’t indulge in too much of all that Xmas crap - no tinsel, no same damn stupid songs playing all the time.

Billy was really not the least bit invested in the so-called Festive Season. Probably because of his childhood. Not quite the same, Xmas in a children’s home. So he dreaded this time of the year, if he had to be honest. Brought back too many melancholy memories for him, and he covered this with a veneer of complete boredom and disinterest.

Hearing her voicemail message again, he smiled. A pilot. He could hardly believe it. Found it exciting, in fact - and if he ever got that flight booked with her, he’d ask her to hand over to her co-pilot and see if she’d like to join the Mile High Club with him. Not that he knew if private jets actually flew that high but she’d know what he meant, he was sure. His smile got wider as he began thinking about the luxurious leather seats they had on board those jets and how good they’d feel against his naked butt. He almost forgot to start speaking when the beep sounded.

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She’d called him back later the same day, leaving a message on his voicemail and laughing as she answered the first question he’d asked in his message to her. No, she wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment but had too many flights scheduled to go out with him right then, but said that in three days’ time she was planning to take some vacation time and they could meet up then.

However he was surprised to get a call from her the following day, and she sounded super-excited. “Billy! You can get that flight tomorrow if you like - free of charge!” He’d sat up straight at his office desk, “Really? That’s fantastic! How d’you manage to swing that for me?” There was a small silence at the other end of the phone. “Ummm… there is just one tiny string attached.” “Uh oh,” said Billy, with a quiet laugh, “what is it they say? No such thing as a free lunch?” He realised that Frank, over in the corner of the office, was now staring at him and swivelled his chair to the side so that he couldn’t see the enquiring look being sent in his direction.

“We’re taking Xmas presents to under-privileged kids up and down the Eastern seaboard! I’m so excited - it’s been in the works for a while but it’s finally all set for tomorrow. We’ll be taking them to children’s homes and hospitals.” Billy felt his stomach lurch. Children’s homes? Oh lordy. But then he shook off the thought - he’d have loved it back then if he’d had a present delivered by private jet. And he was sure these kids would too. She’d still been speaking, but he’d zoned out for a few seconds and only heard the tail end of what she’d been saying. “So what size will I get for you?”

“Huh? Sorry?” he asked. “Your Santa suit! What size do you need?… not unless you want to dress up as an elf?” she said, laughing. Realisation dawned on him, “We’ve gotta dress up?!” “Yes! Weren’t you listening, Billy?” “I, uh, guess I missed that bit.” He heard himself saying “Okay, then,” and gave her his chest and waist measurements. She said she’d drop off the suit to him that night and rang off.

Billy swivelled back round and met Frank’s stare. “I’m… uhh, I’m gonna be playing Santa tomorrow, Frankie… can you handle that meeting on your own?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy leaned back in that luxurious leather seat he’d been thinking about a couple of days ago; he wasn’t naked liked he’d imagined but he did take his Santa hat off and ruffled his fingers through his hair. He looked out of the window next to him; the plane was at cruising altitude, flying smoothly back to New York.

It had been such a long day, really early start and now it was well after midnight. He was shattered, but the look on those kids’ faces…. it was all worth it.

They’d been brought to whichever was the nearest airport to their location, and given special permission to go airside while the private jet landed and taxied to where they were lined up, waiting to see who was on board and wondering why they’d been brought to meet them. When they saw the crew and volunteers (including Billy) coming down the plane steps dressed as Santa and his elves, they’d been so excited - jumping up and down, yelling and screaming at the top of their voices. They would quickly distribute the presents amongst the kids and then it was back on board, off to the next destination.

If they were visiting a children’s hospital, the crew would remain with the plane and the volunteers were driven to the hospital, more excited kids, presents given out and big smiles all round. Then once again, they’d jump into the cars and head back to the airport for the next take off.

Now they were done, having visited several locations up and down the coast and Billy admitted to himself that he’d been feeling very emotional all day. He kept thinking he caught fleeting glimpses of his younger self in the sea of excited faces in front of him. Yeah, it had definitely been emotional. He put thoughts of the time he’d spent in children’s homes out of his mind. That was then, this is now… and he’d just spent a whole day bringing happiness to kids who were just like he’d once been. Those were the thoughts he had to hang onto to.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

He was aware of something soft hitting him in the face. He jumped, realising that he’d dozed off. Oh - it was his Santa hat. He removed it from his face and saw her leaning down towards him, “Sleepyhead!” she laughed. He stretched, “Hey, I’ve had a busy day, y’know!” “Yeah, yeah - I’ve just been flying the plane of course!” She sat down opposite him, smiling at him, “Well, some of the time anyway! Split the flying time between me snd my co-pilots of course, as we cant exceed our flying hours.” He smiled back, “So have we landed?” “Yes, and very smoothly too if I do say so myself!”

“So I’ve missed the opportunity to join the Mile High Club, then?” he asked, grinning devilishly at her. She burst out laughing, “It’s overrated, Billy, believe me!”

He was aware he was staring at her, but he couldn’t stop himself. She did look like some kind of angel to him at that moment. I think I really like her, he thought. Not just find her attractive… like, really like her. “What?” she asked, as he’d just kept on staring. “You’re beautiful,” he said before he could stop himself. “Why thank you,” she replied, and he could see that she was blushing slightly. She stood up, “Come on, sleepyhead, let’s get ourselves home.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Standing outside their respective apartments, opening their doors, they both suddenly turned to each other at the same time, with Billy managing to say, ”D’you wanna…?” just as she started saying, “Do you want to…?” They both started laughing.

“I’d love to offer you a drink,” said Billy, “why don’t you come over to mine and you can change into something more comfortable?”

She looked puzzled. “Don’t you mean I should change and then come over to yours?”

Billy took a couple of steps towards her, sliding his hand onto her neck and moving even closer to her. He leant down and tentatively kissed her, running his long fingers up to the nape of her neck, gently stroking her skin. When she didn’t resist, his kisses became more urgent. His other hand began slowly undoing her uniform blazer, button by button.

His lips next to her ear, he whispered, “Ma’am… I love a woman in uniform.” Another, slower kiss.

He drew back and gazed into her eyes, a mischievous smile playing over his lips.

“But I love her even better out of it.”

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@blackbirddaredevil23 @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry @odetostep @supernaturalcat7 @obscurilicious @strawb3rrydr3ss @bruxa0007 @aleksanderwh0r3 @theshadowkingsqueen @bat-luna-cat @carlywhomever @paracosmenthusiast

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#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfiction #billy russo imagine #billy russo fanfic #ben barnes

[kaypeace21]

Will’s fear of clowns

*Ps -not mine. this is a submission from an anon. tw: for s.a. It’s an interesting submission. ANON-please make a tumblr account already . I’m begging you XD

Hi! It’s me, Lonnie Meth Anon. Back with more depressing thoughts about Lonnie!

I just read your post on Jonathan’s ab*se at the hands of Lonnie, and I second it all. It breaks my heart. But it also got me thinking deeper about Will’s fear of clowns. I think you’re right that part of the horror for Will is that the clown attacks in bed. The bed is, obviously, like you say, a common site for s*xual assault. (Doesn’t El’s picture of “three legged Brenner” also have a bed in it? In a picture with not much else?) The fact that Will needed Joyce to sleep with him for a week suggests he was specifically feeling unsafe in bed, or at night. 

But maybe it’s not just the location of the attack in Poltergeist that Will found so harrowing. Maybe it’s the combination of that location with the fact of a clown being the attacker. 

I think Lonnie might have dressed up as a clown for Will’s birthday one year, and something happened. 

In this instance, I don’t think Joyce would know what happened. I think the incident in her mind would be something like “Lonnie dressed up and Will was scared of the costume”. She might even have thought it was cute. Just a typical little kid fear of something mundane. When she teases him about Poltergeist, she doesn’t actually say the movie was the START of his fear of clowns. Just that he was afraid of that particular clown. The general fear of clowns could have been an older one, going back to when Will was even younger.

Maybe Will even liked clowns, before whatever happened with Lonnie turned them into a source of fear for him. Will has a lion plushie (lions are commonly found in the circus) and the circus seems like the kind of vibrant, colorful environment full of outcast, that a young gay kid would really enjoy. If Will did like circuses and Lonnie poisoned that for him, that’s just another reason to hate Lonnie. But it definitely seems possible. 

Lonnie is a deadbeat dad in general, but we’ve seen before that he’s capable of faking the “family man” act in front of Joyce and their neighbors. We’ve also seen that even though he treats Will horribly, he would also try and keep Will on his side with father son bonding activities, like baseball. And Will’s birthday is one of the few occasions Lonnie makes a half-assed kind of effort, even when there’s nothing directly in it for him. He sends that card, even though it’s late. Maybe Joyce made called him up and made him send it, but she always seemed happy to keep Lonnie out of the picture. She didn’t even want to involve him when Will went missing. And we know Jonathan would never try and facilitate more interactions between Lonnie and Will. So it seems like Lonnie did this of his own accord, when he realized he’d missed the day. Kind of weird. And it’s classic abuser behavior, to make contact on an anniversary date, reminding you they exist and you can’t escape them. Reminding you to keep quiet. Or hoping you’ll miss them, remember the “good times” when they made an effort, and let them back into your life. (Ugh.)

So, anyway, back to my theory. Young Will likes circuses, and the Byers family are poor, so they can’t afford to take him to one, or throw him a party at an ice cream parlor or a bowling alley, like other kids. It makes sense that they would have a party at home instead, and that the family themselves might dress up. We know Joyce made Will’s Ghostbusters costume in season two, and a clown is a pretty easy costume. Most of it is just make up. It’s possible the whole thing was Joyce’s idea, and she made the costume, and Lonnie just went along with it to look like a good dad in her eyes. 

Remember how we see Bob (Will’s new father figure) dressing up in costume for Halloween? Joyce loves it. This is a thing good dads do, to have fun with their kids. That’s also the same episode we see Will scared by a guy in a clown costume, and Jonathan is hyper-protective of him that night. School is okay, but he doesn’t want him trick or treating. (Like he knows that school is a safe environment, but in other contexts, costumes and parties might be a trigger for Will.) Jonathan is convinced to leave Will and “let him have fun” and what happens? The clown attacks. Later that night Jonathan goes to a costume party himself, where he finds Nancy upset and takes her safely home.  Maybe this is how Will’s birthday party ended - with Jonathan finding Will upset, and trying to comfort him. The whole night could be playing out like a parallel to that birthday party, from Jonathan’s perspective. 

What actually happened with Will and Lonnie is up for debate. It’s possible there was a s*xual assault, and that’s why the clown scene in Poltergeist was such a trigger for Will. Or maybe Lonnie thought circuses weren’t “manly” enough for his son to like, and actively tried to scare Will, so he wouldn’t like them anymore. It’s hard to know. Something would have happened though, and probably something pretty formative, because the fear of clowns lasts a long time. 

Something else interesting is that when Mr Clarke is talking about the Upside Down in season one, he uses the metaphor of the flea and the acrobat. Acrobats are a main act in the circus, and, well … fleas. Flea circuses. That’s a thing. Maybe it’s a hint that the trauma that created the Upside Down was circus / clown - related?

Kali, El, and their gang wear clown masks too, when they’re going to confront their childhood trauma, and the child-like Alexei is surrounded by clowns when he is killed at the fair. 

Clowns are just so associated with birthday parties and little kids, that it doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me they’re Will’s biggest fear. Especially as the show keeps dropping hints about Lonnie and Will’s birthday. It feels like there’s more to the story. I have a horrible feeling SOMETHING happened. 

RESPONE (kaypeace):

I think it’s very possible-that maybe he did dress as a clown for Will’s birthday and something happened. We have alexi (paralleled to Will) playing carnival games with kids. Then he's attacked by the Lonnie-look alike : and alexi looks at his wound then stares at all the clowns laughing around him. Joyce and Murray find Alexi bleeding/dy*ng next to a clown statue. As joyce looks in horror and Murray says to her, he was “only gone for a second” (which sounds like something you’d say in relation to a kid you were supposed to watch-running off ). We also had sarah at age 7 die while wearing a gown with clowns on it (Will: it was a 7 the demogorgan it got me). Death of innocence symbolism? Hopper also describes his depression as a cave- he goes through the carnival ride where it mentions a "cave of horrors", which had decor of a tiger and a clown painting. So yeah... whatever happened probably isn't good. So- there may be some symbolism there in relation to Will’s past. Not only because (like I and you have mentioned before) Lonnie is highly associated with birthdays. And canonically we know he mentally scarred jonathan on his b-day. But also, s4’s ‘victor creel’ may be an easteregg to the xmen character victor creed- who had a tradition of tra*matizing family members specifically on their bdays

As another alternative:I could also totally see Lonnie “ruining” circuses for Will because it’s not “manly” to him. Like how Jonathan liked thumper the rabbit-from the film bambi. in the film, Thumper is bambi’s bff, and the hunters are the bad guys who k*ll Bambi’s mother and terrorize all the wildlife. SO yeah- making Jonathan become a hunter, and k*ll a rabbit ,despite this fact, is really messed up. And shows Lonnie has already tried to ‘ruin’ things the boys like. By mentally scarring them in one way or another…

I also mentioned how Will’s bday could even be a trigger for jonathan in a diff post.

if the s4 bts calender hinting it’ll be near Will’s bday and easter it could be relevant to Jonathan.we know in s1 el has tra*matic flashbacks when seeing certain things- coke, closet, cat, etc. And Will in s2 has his ‘anniversary effect’ where memories flood back based on the time of year.But like … Easter has bunnies - could seeing rabbits jog stuff up for Jonathan? El seeing a cat made her have a flashback of brenner trying to make her kill a cat. Would Jonathan seeing like Easter bunny decor jog up a flashback of lonnie making him kill a rabbit? (It happened on his bday too). So Will’s b day being around easter would only fuel that memory. (heck even popped balloons may trigger gunshot symbolism idk). And then for Will there is clowns that could be a tr*gger at a party.

The flea and the acrobat analogy (in relation to Will and circuses is very interesting) and could be foreshadowing- it’s even a title for an episode so I feel like it’s narratively an important hint to …something. similar to a s1 ep being called “the bathtub”.  Also, Will was compared to a circus flea- which were placed in an enclosed space, where heat was applied as they jumped  and tried to escape the increasing temperatures as they burned .Which could relate to my theory about Will having a se*zure due his body overheating due to Lonnie injecting him with m*th.

 If Will’s bday is in s4- I feel like Lonnie will come back in some capacity (flashback or literally). The ‘sorry, I forgot you b day’ card from Lonnie in s2, in Lonnie’s shed Joyce mentioning Will’s b day, the rainbow ‘happy birthday cup’ placed next to Will at Mike’s -while Will explains the supernatural, Lonnie already tra*matizing Jonathan on his bday, etc…

#submission #stranger things theory #will byers #lonnie byers

[finnyboywolfhard]

Song That The Morning Brings (Prologue)

Steve Harrington x Henderson! Reader Series

Summary: Y/N Henderson is new to Hawkins and what better to have than someone willing to show you around. She befriends someone who eventually becomes her best friend, but the ties begin to break as they face some changes. 

a/n; hellooo! this is going to be a S1-S3 slowburn fic. I’m going to try to update regularly but I can’t promise anything. Let me know if you want to be taglisted or anything :) enjoy!

warnings: cursing, angst, slight mention of abuse, alcohol

word count: 2.1k

The  Hendersons arrived in Hawkins only a few days before the beginning of the school year. Luckily for Dustin, he had only just finished 4th grade, his friends were mere technicalities in the move. However for Y/N, that meant that she had to leave her friends right at the start of high school. She couldn’t necessarily be mad at her mom for leaving her dad finally, Dusty was still a little too young to understand the severity of some of what happened between their parents. Their dad didn’t ever get physical with their mom, but the damage done to her mentally was enough for anyone to break. So, Claudia helped her kids pack their things while their father was away and move the distance to Hawkins.

“Hey mom, I’m gonna walk around the town a little bit just to try to get acquainted. I’ll be back.”

“Okay honey, please be careful. “ Claudia kissed her daughter on the cheek and let her wander off.

It was still warm out, which was nice but what was even nicer was the cool breeze blowing in her direction. She walked down past Lincoln Park and found herself wandering into a clearly richer neighborhood.

The girl was scared from her thoughts as she bumped into a boy who had been running in her direction attempting to catch a ball.

“Ah shit! I’m so sorry.” He said.

“It’s alright; I was kinda in my own little world anyway.” She said with a smile, slightly taken aback by how attractive he was. Maybe she could get used to being in Hawkins.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but do I know you?” He asked her.

“Steve! Dude! Come on!” A boy yelled from far away.

“No you don’t, I just moved here. My name is Y/N” She reached her hand out for him to shake it, “It’s nice to meet you Steve, but I think you should probably get back.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to but tomorrow I can give you a proper tour of Hawkins if you meet me here tomorrow morning at like 10 AM.”

“Steve that would be lovely.” She waved goodbye to him and began walking back to her house.

When she got home, she ran to tell her mom about what had happened, before her mom sat her down for a serious conversation.

“Y/N, I know this was hard for you, and I’m so sorry that you had to move away from your friends.”

“Mom, it’s okay. I’ll make it out okay. I just know it. And I know Dusty will be just fine too. You don’t have to worry about us.”

“I know, I just know I can’t be the male influence in your guys’ life, and that worries me.”

“Mom, you’re the best influence we have, okay? I’m gonna head to bed and I think you should too. I love you mom.”

“I love you too my dearest. Trees, Leaves and Needles.”

Y/N went to bed that night with her mind going ninety miles an hour. She couldn’t stop thinking about Steve and whether he was playing some grand practical joke or if he was being super genuine. She thought about what her mom said about a male influence, because in all reality she never had one nor needed one, but Dustin would. Neither Claudia nor Y/N could be that for him.

When she rose the next morning, she was eager to get ready and head over to Steve’s. She didn’t even say goodbye to her mom and brother. The walk was super pleasant and she got there quicker than expected.

“Y/N! Hey! I’m so glad you actually came!” The tour was the official start of their friendship.

After that day the two were inseparable. For all of freshman and sophomore year, the two were never seen without the other. On the last day of Sophomore year, Y/N had just gotten back to the school to clear her locker out for the summer.

“Hey Stevie!” Y/N hugged Steve from the back, hands flying around his waist.

“Hey Y/N/N, where have you been all day?”

“I told you! Today was when I went into meet Chief Hopper about being a work study for him over the next few years.”

“Oh yeah, and you’re positive it’s not because of your dumb school girl crush on him?” She slapped his arm for that response, having been embarrassed of the fact that she opened up to him about that in the past.

“I am 100% positive about that. I am also 100% over that. Anyway, I’m primarily gonna be working with Flo, and if I’m not with her, I’m gonna be filing shit away for them. So, how was the final day in Hawkins High for the year without me?”

“I got invited to a party!”

“Wait, really? By who?”

“Tommy H! He said it’s gonna be super laidback and fun, and I was thinking that you could come with me….” He was nudging her in the side, her blatant disgust by the idea stayed on her face like cement. “Come Y/N, just one party that’s it, that’s all I’m asking.”

“I’ll think about it, when is it?”

“Tonight.” He muttered under his breath, knowing she was gonna freak.

“Tonight?! Steve! I told you that I have stay with my mom and brother tonight because we’ve hung out every other night this week.”

“I know, but I was hoping that maybe your mom would be chill if you just stayed home tomorrow instead.”

“Steve, we have plans to hang out tomorrow already. Remember?” He shakes his head a little. “We are gonna go see Trading Places and then dinner.”

“Y/N, please. I really want to go to this party but I don’t want to go alone.” The girls heart broke a little at the sight of him so let down. But she had made a promise to her mom, and seeing her mom like that would be so much worse.

“I’m sorry Stevie. I made a promise. I’ll drive home if you want? I don’t have to pick up Dustin for another hour.” The boy agreed to her driving him home.

Later on in the night, she had just sat down in the living room to watch Raiders of The Lost Ark with Dusty for probably the sixth time in the past few months when her phone started ringing off the hook. She rushed over to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Y/N! Oh thank you for ans-s-swering. I n-need you to come-“ A burp interrupted the sentence deliriously coming from the other end of the phone. “To come get me. I’m a little drunk.”

“Steve, where are you?”

“Tommy’s house. He lives on Holly Avenue.” This sentence a little more clear, but definitely still slurred.

“I’ll be there in like 5.”

She hung up the phone and walked over to Dustin, letting him know that she would be back soon and that he could keep watching the movie without her. She walked to her car, already feeling the anger she was gonna feel when she got there. As she started her drive over, she played her favorite Grateful Dead album, Wake of The Flood. They always helped her stay calm when she was gonna burst. When she pulled up, she could already hear the loud, overbearing music and could already see the stumbling teenagers rejoicing in the end of their school year. She parked her car, and decided to dive head first into the sea of her peers in search of the dumbass boy she had befriended last year. The floor was sticky beyond belief, and the smell of the air was a mixture of disgusting and putrid. Her blood was already beginning to boil, but reached its point when she heard, “Harrington, your girl is here to pick you up.” The girl whipped her head around and saw a pack of boys standing around Steve cracking up, all of them visibly less gone than he was. She hurried her pace to go over to the group, she grabbed his wrist with a firm grasp and an authoritative “Let’s go”. Steve followed close behind her, stumbling ever so slightly, slowly becoming closer and closer to her, almost as if she was a stable surface to push his body weight onto.

“Y/N. Y/N. Y/N. Y/N, you’re going too fast. “ The girl slowed her pace a little bit.

“Y/N, are you mad at me? I don’t want you to be mad at me. I was just trying to have a little fun for once.” It felt like a dagger going through her heart, ‘for once’. That one hurt her.

“Y/N, please talk to me.” They had just reached the passenger side of the door, and she was buckling him in, just as Chief Hopper arrived to break it up.

“Steve, stay here.” She had rushed over to Hopper when he was getting out of his car.

“Hey Hop. I’ll file this tomorrow morning; this is Tommy Hagan’s house just so you know.”

“Believe me, I know. This isn’t my first time coming here. Why are you here?”

“I had to pick up an idiot friend. I’ll let you go do your thing, just thought I should inform you just in case.”

“Thanks Y/N, see ya.”

She prepared herself for what was coming once she got in the car. Her heart was beating out of control. However, she was pleased when he was quiet while she was buckling herself in, but once she started her car the chattering was back.

“Y/N/N, why are you mad at me?” His voice was super sad, but she was also really upset.

“I’m mad because I didn’t really want you or me coming to this party tonight, but you came and I had to come to get you because you can’t handle your alcohol. Also, you said have fun for once. I thought we had fun when we hang out but whatever.” At this point, she was on her way to his house.

“Y/N, I’m Sorry. I promise.”

“Yeah, whatever its fine.” The car then fell silent, until he realized she was taking him to his house.

“You can’t take me to my house.”

“What? Why?”

“My dad will kill me if he finds out I have been drinking.” She could tell he was starting to sober up, even just a little bit.

“Okay, well I can’t take you to my house with me, so how about we drive around until you think you can see your dad?” The boy nodded his head. Just as he did that, her favorite song from the album came on. She started humming along until the chorus hit, where she started full on singing.

“Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,” he began staring at her as she sang along, “This is my favorite lyric Stevie, ready… Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings, Isn’t that beautiful?”

“Yeah, it really is.” Love starting filling his eyes, but she never saw it. They drove for a while longer, until he felt comfortable enough to go home. She looked at the clock, and saw her curfew was about to expire in about 20 minutes. This dwindled down to ten by the time she got to Steve’s. She put the car in park, got out and walked him up to his room, knowing the layout of the house as well as she’d known her own. She got him up to his room and ready for bed, before walking over to the door to leave, knowing she’d be the one to have to talk to Mr. Harrington. Steve stopped her as she was leaving by saying,

“I really am sorry Y/N. I promise you that this will never happen again.”

Except that promise was repeatedly broken. The amount of times that she had to leave her house to rescue a drunken Steve Harrington, or as people would say “King Steve”, from a disgusting party became too much for her. The last time he called her, was the last time that they had ever talked after nearly 2 years of nonstop friendship.

Junior year came at her like a flash, and here she was three months in, finding herself lost without Steve by her side. But deep down in her heart, she knew that this ‘King Steve’ character was just a façade that he needed to deal with, and that her best friend would be himself again eventually. That didn’t make her feel any better about the whole situation regardless.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things x y/n

[darkpoisonouslove]

“The Battle for Magix” Thoughts

I am pretty hyped about this because of how good the previous special was and because the events it is supposed to cover are my favorite part of season 1 of Winx Club. This should be intense due to the nature of the events it will have to depict so I am anxious to see how they’ve done. Fingers crossed that this will deliver!

- I am actually pretty glad we didn’t see that conversation between Winx about going to get Bloom because it was annoying to me (and it wouldn’t make sense considering they never got punished for the Day of the Royals). Besides, this works well even without it since Bloom didn’t tell Winx she was leaving so it was only natural for Stella to go look for her.

- I like the lack of dialogue as they enter Alfea. Appropriate with the heaviness of the situation and also removed that line of Stella’s about “this could be the end of the world”. Considering what we’ve seen from the Trix already, I think the threat that they are is coming through even without being spelled out for the audience.

- Well, the conversation with Faragonda was trimmed significantly but I actually don’t mind. It got the important bits in and I think the way Faragonda’s reasoning from keeping this from Bloom was worded a bit better here than in the original. Plus, they already thought of contacting Griffin which nobody thought of in the original. Not that they’ll have the time to do it but still.

- There were some weird pauses in the scene with the Trix fighting Griffin and almost all the dialogue was completely abolished for some reason. Also, I was going to screech at Griffin’s initial reaction to seeing them because they aren’t supposed to be expelled in this but from her words, I guess she was just outraged that they’d been nowhere to be found the last... At least two days? I suppose that could work but the other witches’ reactions didn’t make much sense. I like the way Icy’s ice encased Griffin in this one, though. It looks much more solid than it did in the original. Also, the fact that Icy totally steps on the ice in her heels that almost says “Yeah, she can walk on ice in stilettos and still be regal as fuck.” XD

- “I am not a fairy. I’m not anything anymore.” Aw, baby no! What have these specials done to me? I actually feel pretty bad for Bloom?! Now there’s a surprise. I guess I just feel that the way her guilt is portrayed is realistic to me and I also wish that she wouldn’t dismiss herself like that. She was something before she discovered she has powers so this is not true. But please, tell me they won’t be going to Domino!

- Why did Riven have to go to Cloud Tower if he and Darcy can communicate from afar? But besides that, I LOVE what they have done to this scene! I love how Riven had no idea why they were in Griffin’s office and the way he instantly was like “Well, I’m fucked. Everything is wrong.” This is so much better than the original! And the confrontation was intense even if it was a bit shorter than it was originally.

- Eh, I hope they’re gonna say something more about the Army of Darkness/Decay. They aren’t even calling it that and I will be disappointed if they don’t say it is made up of everything that has rotted in the past 1000 years because that was one of the best ideas I have ever seen.

- Why were the creatures attacking Knut? Or was it that he was simply in the way? I like that Saladin wasn’t that suspicious of him in this one but they really sped through this scene. There was hardly any room to breathe and the tension could’ve used a few more moments to build. Also, Knut’s sudden change of heart was indeed very sudden since we never saw him past the first special. In s1 there was a bit of a gradual change in him before he decided to leave the Trix. Oh, and the mention of his mother that he wanted to protect wasn’t in this which was sad because it gave him character, some kind of miniature backstory and motivation.

- Oh, they actually kinda prepared for the battle? And Saladin gave a motivational speech that resonated with the Specialists? Instead of, you know, “whoever survives passes the semester”? I am on board with that. But damn, I guess there is no barricading yourself when the things just appear from the ground. Also, I am living for this guy:

- Ah, I see mini Ogron is also here:

- Knut’s save was cool but there is no end to the creatures. I also liked Saladin using his magic but Red Fountain still fell. However, I feel like that will prompt Bloom to go to Cloud Tower to look for her powers so no Domino. Yay!

- *screams* The scene where Diaspro comes to take Sky from Red Fountain was missing! I sure hope that means that she was the one to dump his sorry ass! You go, girl! You deserve better! (I just hope they won’t say something else later on. Leave me in my land of make-believe, will you?)

- Why does everyone have flames in their eyes? I get it that the Trix have the Dragon Fire now but what’s your excuse about Faragonda? I know the situation is dire and they are all “aflame” with both worry and determination but chill with the “Eyes on Fire”.

- “Hey, kiddo”? XDDD I’m dying. I never thought I would hear Griffin say that. I like this scene, though. I like that there was some student-teacher interaction, especially since Riven isn’t Griffin’s student. And him wanting to help her both with getting out and blaming herself was just adorable. They have trimmed this one a bit from its original, too, but I get why that is necessary. And they removed that detail about Griffin using magic to help Riven pick the lock which has always annoyed me so much. Are you seriously telling me that Riven can’t pick a lock on his own?!?!?! Really?

- Well, I’m glad they removed the “Riven is the living Red Fountain manual” part. And they showed him falling from the window? Nice! But omg!!!!!!!!! Are you seriously telling me Sky just sensed that Riven was in trouble?!?!?!?! That is, like, only the basis of the true love/soulmates connection. I said what I said. Or rather the writers said what they said.

- Sky just called Bloom a lunatic. Great! I am a bit sulky about the fact that the tunnels between the schools were only mentioned now (since they cut all the times they were used before). It would have made this smoother and not seeming like it just popped out of nowhere. But awwww! at Stella being so ready to go with Bloom. I just don’t like that we still haven’t seen the rest of Winx this episode.

- I kinda agree with Stella on Knut getting his shit together. 14 near death experiences in 30 minutes is A LOT.

- Bloom’s Earth powers are coming in again! It is said that we won’t have them dubbed as such here (since I think that happened while they were on Domino in s1).

- Okay, but the fact that they skipped the trip to Domino does one big disservice to all this and that is that Bloom and Sky originally reconciled on the way back from Domino and here that never happened.

- Ugh, again with the “we’ve been friends with this person for years but we can’t recognize their voice for some fucking reason”. I hate it when they do that in movies/shows. Unless you have a cognitive condition, you should be able to recognize people’s voices.

- I can’t decide which is dumber - the original s1 “my cape is aerodynamic so I survived the fall’ or this one’s “it was just luck that he didn’t break anything”.

- Prince “I’m glad to have you back” Sky aka Riven’s boyfriend. I don’t make the rules here.

- Didn’t Bloom say that the Trix wouldn’t expect them? Because they sure look like they expected them.

- Riven deliberately went looking for Griffin? I like that change! And it actually makes sense.

- Well, he found her. Three seconds later. This right here doesn’t make sense because she would’ve had to have been very close in order to arrive to the room so soon after Bloom and the rest did. Not to mention that there was none of the dialogue here. They really butchered that scene. And removed some of the next ones. Though, I guess they weren’t that crucial.

- At least they removed the “enter the portal in alphabetical order” part that was just stupid. But I still don’t like the fact that Bloom decided to stay with Sky (it is kinda out of place since they haven’t resolved their relationship drama here but they act like they have and I know that is not the most important thing right now but still) and both Griffin and Stella allowed it. This is stupid from a tactical point of view. If Bloom gets caught, they won’t have a chance to stop the Army of Decay without her to get her powers back. And Stella just left her behind? Yeah, right.

- Where were these magical blasts coming from? The Trix were still back in Cloud Tower but that magic appeared to come from the front. That was kinda nonsensical. But damn, what a crash.

- Wasn’t it dark when the witches entered the portal? Why are they only arriving now? The idea of a portal is to transport you instantly, you know? Bloom and Stella got from Alfea to CT faster on foot.

- Sky even sounds like an asshole. Like, the tone of his voice is asshole-ish. And he called Bloom crazy again. I cannot stand him.

- Why didn’t they bring Mirta to Faragonda or Griselda? I am sure that they could have reversed the spell Icy put on her. She didn’t even have Dragon Fire back then. That spell can’t be so strong.

- “They’re ganging up on us”? You destroyed Red Fountain and took over Cloud Tower. It was only logical that they would all gather at Alfea. What else were they supposed to do?

- At least they got rid of “the Invisible Road” that made no sense at all.

- Am I supposed to root for Sky and even be impressed by him? Yeah, I don’t think so.

- They also removed the first wave of attack against Alfea. I know they don’t have much time but that’s kinda disappointing. Well, nothing to do about it.

- Well, the crown of Domino is not Bloom’s birthright. It is Daphne’s. But now that she’s more or less dead, Bloom is the only living heir of Domino that is left. There is a difference, though.

- I wish Bloom would have left Sky to deal with it on his own. And yes, I know he couldn’t have.

- Darcy and Stormy never gave Icy their Dragon Fire in this one, though. So they should have been able to break out of Griffin and Faragonda’s prison since they still had the most powerful magic in the universe. Come on, people! And Darcy waited until that tornado was right in front of her to start running instead of getting out of its way the moment she saw it was out of control and heading in her direction.

- Oh, damn! There’s some real fury in the battle between Icy and Bloom. From both sides. But it’s obvious that ice can’t defeat fire. As long as Bloom has her flames, Icy can’t defeat her.

- Okay, this was actually more intense than the original. And it was the wave of Dragon Fire energy coming off of Bloom that destroyed the monsters instead of them just disappearing once the Trix were defeated? That was a solid change.

- What are those shackles that Darcy and Stormy are wearing? Those look kinda... painful.

- “Here you go, Miss Faragonda”? Did Bloom just give Icy to Faragonda like “now you can handle this from here”? Omg, what a power move!

- That sentencing them to Lightrock scene was kinda... meh. I mean, I think I prefer the original. This just had a weird feeling to it. Also, why is Icy’s makeup running? Did Bloom’s flames make it melt off or what?

- Bloom and Sky are kissing? Why? They never resolved the Diaspro drama. I hate this part.

- They dropped the part where Bloom was looking for her origins. She still has no idea what happened to her parents and she didn’t even think about it. I get how that went to the background once the Dragon Fire was stolen from her but they should have brought it up in that last part when she was telling Sky that she was thinking about everything. She sure wasn’t thinking about her parents. And it should have occurred to her after meeting with Daphne.

Well, idk if it is the fact that some of the battle scenes were missing or that they really cut down on some of the others, but I didn’t really feel it in this episode. And Musa, Flora and Tecna were barely in it (but they still wasted time on the ugly transformation sequences). Objectively speaking, this had almost all the elements necessary for the plot to come to a logical ending. There were two or three huge things that were left out that really make some of this nonsensical but, overall, I guess it was okay. I didn’t really like it as much as the previous one and I can’t even say why. Some of the original feel of tension was lost to me, I suppose. Let’s see what the last special will deliver.

#winx club #winx bloom #winx stella #trix #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy #winx riven #anti sky #winx griffin #winx faragonda #winx saladin #winx specials #the battle for magix #thoughts #review

[shakethispeare]

DARK : S1 - EP2 [ LÜGEN | LIES ]

NOTE: I’m only pouring my thoughts into this post. I’m taking notes every time I watch Dark since I heard the story-line is complicated. Also, my memories suck. It’s not spoiler-free, of course. So, only read if you have seen this episode.

The episode starts with a notice, 9 HOURS AFTER MIKKEL’S DISAPPEARANCE. From afar, the man in a raincoat overlooks a group of police looking for Mikkel in the forest. He had a suitcase with him too. Then, he looked at the ground and picked up a dead bird. When the camera showed his face, I tried to make it out, wondering if he's one of the characters already introduced to us in the previous episode. I don't think he is.

JONAS KAHNWALD POV

Jonas wakes up from his sleep and hallucinates a black liquid flowing down from his ear. When he saw his dead father behind him through the mirror, he snapped awake, ending the dream.

Jonas goes to his father's studio as if to investigate. Then, he sits down on the floor when he discovered a wall covered in thick paint.

Jonas lies on the floor in his father’s studio. Then he sits up and looks around for a clue or something out of place. He finds a loose board in the ceiling, and inside that, a large, handmade, detailed map of the Winden area. Jonas spreads it out on the floor and begins looking for recognizable landmarks.

Jonas is in his room and had brought the map to examine it there. He notices a note which says, “Where is the Crossing?”

The power in their house is still out at. Jonas wonders if Mikkel will be found. He asks Hannah if she misses Michael, and if she thinks he had secrets he kept from them. Hannah replies she misses the idea of Michael more than the reality. She’s also not sure if she ever knew who he really was. She then wonders if we ever know who people really are. When Jonas asks if she loved Michael, the power comes back on. She smiles but doesn’t answer.

CHARLOTTE DOPPLER POV

Charlotte is in the autopsy room, examining the child's body. The coroner reported the victim is male, between 10 and 12. The wounds around the eyes are strange as if they have melted, no sexual abuse and no foreign DNA on him. Red soil was found all over his clothes, which contradicts the place they found him. Meaning, someone had moved him from somewhere. His ear canal destroyed, the inner drums are damaged, and both eardrums have burst. Charlotte asked if it's because of extreme sound. The coroner replied it could either be caused by pressure or by intense rotation, such as in a centrifuge. She then explained what otoconia is.

I've seen enough movies about time-travel. If I remember, literally every time someone tries to use a time-travelling machine, it would start rotating at high speed, and everything becomes blurry as heck. Now, this got me thinking. The burn marks on his eyes eerily resembled the metal piece used on Erik when he was placed on the torture chair. Could the marks be from that? So, it probably emits heat. But what about his ruptured eardrums? If it's from a centrifuge, I doubt it. The torture chair doesn’t seem to be able to spin. Pressure? Probably. From extreme sound? Most likely, considering that there’s always a loud noise every time the camera points at the cave. Also, when the kids were near the cave in the last episode, their flashlights started flickering, which is probably caused by radiation.

Charlotte declared the dead boy is neither Erik nor Mikkel. Other than pointing out what the coroner has said previously, she also mentioned someone had dressed the kid in 80's clothing, including the shoes and the Walkman. A one-pfennig coin from 1986 was found around his neck on a red cord. The cassette contains a recording; which played the same song heard in the place where Erik is held in. Then, she decided not to make the discovery of the boy's body public, since the town's already got a handful with Erik and Mikkel.

Let me pause for a sec. I realised Tronte earlier said that he had got out to get cords. Hmm ... fishy.

The cave becomes active again, causing the lights all over the town to flicker and animals, specifically birds, drop dead. Charlotte steps out of the police station only to find hundreds of dead birds on the pavement.

ULRICH NIELSEN POV

Ulrich enters the cave to find Mikkel, but the farther he goes, he found a metallic door with a hazard sign on it. Thinking Mikkel might have gone behind the door, Ulrich tries to push it open. However, the door remained locked. I suspect that this door leads to the nuclear power plant.

Ulrich burst during Charlotte's meeting, saying to her he had found a door in the cave. Speaking in private, Ulrich tells her he found a door that leads to the nuclear power plant. He asks for a search warrant in case Mikkel had somehow accessed the grounds through the door. Charlotte said the place is a high-security area and Ulrich can not just enter. Ulrich assumed Mikkel climbed the fence, where Charlotte's unconvinced because they have checked it. The fences are barbed-wire, also, it had remained undamaged. Ulrich realises Charlotte was right, that all three boys' cases are connected. He's sure that it has something to do the power plant. Mads disappeared from the same area as Mikkel. Charlotte will try to get the search warrant.

Ulrich received a phone call from Charlotte saying that Aleksander has blocked the search warrant. A minute later, Hannah called but Ulrich blocked her call.

Ulrich arrived at the gates of the power plant and Aleksander approaches to meet him. He begs Aleksander to open the gates. But Aleksander remained blank-faced, unmoved by Ulrich's desperation. He tells Ulrich that the nuclear power plant is high-security area and he can't just let anyone enter, while also claiming his men searched the area every day and if Mikkel had been there, they would've found him. Ulrich snapped into a fit of rage, shouted at Aleksander for not letting him search for his own son. He vows to come back with a warrant but Aleksander just continued to watch Ulrich with flat eyes. Then, he tells Ulrich he's sorry he can't help and walks away.

Ulrich is surprised by Hannah's presence at the police station. She wanted to see him. He quickly brought her to the records room, probably so no one would know of their affair. Hannah tries to console Ulrich then she tries to initiate sex. Ulrich stops her and tells her he’ll call her. But I think Hannah doubts Ulrich will call her. She probably understands and can't blame him for wanting to focus on his family, especially with his son missing. I feel like Hannah's going to do something later on that will finally tick Ulrich off.

Ulrich looks over the evidence found with the boy’s body. He goes to the computer and investigated tire tracks near the scene belong to a van. He recalls Jürgen drives a van, also works at the power plant and was present the night, Erik, his own son, disappeared.

Then, he goes to ask one of the officers if she had questioned Jürgen, to which she replies yes. But she hasn't questioned Jürgen regarding whether he was at the power plant last night, in other words, he hasn't been questioned about Mikkel's disappearance yet.

Ulrich drives out to Jürgen’s house and searched the buildings around. Jürgen lives in a trailer and brought a shotgun with him after realising someone was in his area. Inside what seemed to be a barn, Ulrich discovers a trap door with a chain leading down into the hole underneath. Ulrich pulls the chain up, discovering a sack at the bottom. But before he is about to open it, Jürgen found him and tried to stop him. But Ulrich keeps going.

It was filled with a drug cache. Ulrich asked if it's his, to which Jürgen confessed that it's his and Erik's and that they were in business together. Ulrich forgets the drugs and instead asks Jürgen if he was at the power plant when Mikkel disappeared. Jürgen said he wasn't there and couldn't offer any other useful clues. Disappointed, Ulrich leaves. He tells Jürgen that also doesn't know where Erik is.

Ulrich finds Katharina in Mikkel's room when he returned home. His face looked exhausted and defeated. Katharina made him promise that no matter what happens, Ulrich will tell her the truth about what's happening with Mikkel and the case. It's clear here that Katharina doesn't want him to lie just to protect her. Then, she hugs him. As a mother, I know it's tough for her, but in all honesty, she also deserves the right to know.

TRONTE NIELSEN POV

When Jana was in a phone call, Tronte was about to wash his clothes. The camera shows one of his sweater's sleeves covered in what seemed to be dry blood. Or could it be red soil? From where did he get it? How did it come to be covered in blood or soil?

Jana said she couldn't get hold of Ulrich and is worried. Tronte replied that they have search parties organised while wearing a jacket, looking ready to leave the house. She asked where he was last night, to which Tronte answered that he couldn't sleep and went to the garden to get the bushes ready for winter. Jana keeps pushing her suspicions on him by saying that his car wasn't present. Tronte said they ran out of cord and had to go to the gas station. From the way he deals with Jana, I have a feeling Tronte is kind of distant from her and seemingly doesn’t want to deal with her.

Late at night, Tronte gets out of bed again to go somewhere unknown. Jana is awake but stays still so he wouldn't know.

ALEKSANDER TIEDEMANN POV

In the power plant, Aleksander Tiedemann tells Jürgen that the police will be looking around the power plant sometime tonight. He said "we need to get rid of them tonight," but somehow seemed to be ordering Jürgen to do the job instead. Jürgen tells him someone else should do it instead, afraid that the police will be suspicious of him because of his missing son situation. Aleksander asked if he's trying to blackmail him and Jürgen answered no. However, Aleksander continued to make a veiled threat so Jürgen would do the job.

On the other side of the woods, under cover of darkness, Aleksander supervises heavy machinery being loaded into trucks with whatever it is the power plant needs to hide. This is probably happening at the same time Rain Coat Man No.2 was dragging Erik's body.

BARTOSZ TIEDEMANN POV

Bartosz is Aleksander and Regina Tiedemann's son as shown in a family portrait. Bartosz tries to get a hold of Martha's phone but fails.

At night, Bartosz examines Erik's bag of drugs. He finds a cellphone inside and it's locked with a password. He tried to guess but failed.

RAINCOAT MAN NO. 1 POV

So it turns out, this episode has two hooded man. I’m just going to call them Raincoat Man from now on until they’re properly introduced.

Raincoat Man No.1 went to Winden Hotel and asked Regina for a room. I'm curious as to who he is. Like, I think he could be Mads? I know I said in the previous recap that the dead child found in the woods could be Mads, but, what if it isn't him? What if he's still alive?

Also, the soundtrack as he walked in was just, ear-piercing. I legit got chills.

In the hotel. he stayed in room 8. While he's taking a shower, the camera shows how messy the room is, clattered with pieces of paper lying on the floor. Those papers are filled with sketches. The man stepped out from the bathroom, and finally, I get a clear view of him. Yep, don't know who this guy is. Also, his body had scars as if he was tortured before. There was also a red scar on his neck as if he's been garroted. 

On the walls, he has papers and diagrams, probably his the results of his scientific research and articles regarding Mikkel's disappearance. The diagram had one thing in common. Circles. On the table, he has a book with the title, 'A Journey Through Time' by H. G. Tannhaus and a key on a string. Then, he unpacked his suitcase and got out an intricate-looking machine with a lot of gears. What is this machine? Is it a time-travelling machine?

Raincoat Man No.1 pins up more papers on the wall, and one of them is an article about Mikkel, with the headline, where is Mikkel. He crosses out the "where" and changes the headline to "when" is Mikkel? Seems like Raincoat Man No.1 knows Mikkel time-travelled somehow.

MIKKEL NIELSEN POV

My boy, he’s alive. Thank Lord.

Finally, Mikkel appears, still alive. He tries to find his way out of the cave. I noticed that he exited from the same cave opening, but something seemed out of place. Since the police are still investigating the cave, there should have been police lines all over. But when Mikkel walked out of the cave, there were none. Also, he kind of noticed something felt different. Mikkel is covered in dirt but still looks the same. Still wearing his Houdini custom and red jacket.

He runs to find his home. Here, I noticed the cars were different. It looked antique for 2019. Mikkel paused to stare at a motorcycle, which I don't think his family had one before.

When he tries to unlock the door, his key didn't work. Then, a teenage boy opens the door. Mikkel asked who he was, but the teenage boy asked him the same question back. The teenage boy turns out to be his dad, Ulrich. Ulrich somehow acts like a jerk.

Suddenly, a girl's called for Ulrich, who Ulrich immediately introduce to us as Katharina. When they're about to leave for school, Ulrich pushed him and said that he doesn't live there. Katharina asked who he was, and Ulrich answered he's the Grim Reaper, based on his skeleton suit.

Mikkel still stood in the front door. Looking down, he saw a newspaper and reads the headline and the date of the paper: Chernobyl - Half a Year Later. Then, he sees the date: November 5, 1986.

MY THEORY:

Peter Doppler is hiding something. Also, he seemed estranged from his wife and his wife to him too. Possibly an unhappy marriage? They don't seem divorced though.

When Peter is in his car parked near a nuthouse located somewhere in the woods. His radio is on and is currently talking about Mikkel's disappearance. But Peter was grieving about something like he just did something terrible.

When the camera showed the cave, I was expecting to hear a loud noise. However, another man, wearing a raincoat and a hood, walks out instead. My jaw dropped, because, that's clearly not the same guy in the hotel. So, who is he? So, there's actually two? What the hell?

I do have my suspicions on Aleksander. He could be up to something dirty. He is the director of the nuclear power plant, which also makes him the richest guy in town. He seemed worried that his time as a director of the nuclear power plant is coming to an end. Usually, people who are involved in leadership positions often have their hands dirty. In our world, many are corrupted. So, it's no surprise if Aleksander would risked doing a dirty job just to keep his position. I don’t know. It’s a hunch.

The note on the map that said: "Where is The Crossing", sounds kind of obvious. It definitely means a doorway. But a doorway to what? Well, since this show is about time-travel, it's probably a doorway that leads to either the past, present or future. Michael, before his death, never seemed to have figured it out. But I bet the mysterious guys in hoodies knows about this.

It was shown again that Erik Obendorf is back on the torture chair, still in the same bright room with childish decor. The TV in the background is playing and the scientist, who is presenting about black holes, has a voice that sounds similar to the one from the opening voice-over in the first episode. I'm not sure if they did a couple of experiments on him, or is it just a one-time thing like if he failed, he dies. I was right that he died at the end to which I'm assuming Raincoat Man No.2 failed his experiment. When the episode showed Raincoat Man No.2 dragging Erik’s dead body through the woods, Erik’s face, especially the eyes, are burned, exactly the same wound as the boy's body. It's kind of sad though because I can't imagine what Erik's parents' reaction is going to be when they find out their son is no longer alive. Also, I have a feeling he's going to find other kids to continue his work. So, he might kidnap one in the future episodes.

Last, MY BOY MIKKEL TRAVELLED BACK IN TIME, How did he do it? He wasn’t in the cave when it happened, he was running away with Jonas. Now, connecting this with Raincoat Man No.1, what he meant by “the crossing“ is definitely a doorway. Perhaps, he’s like Mikkel? Or does he want to go time-travelling somewhere?

Ah man, I think starting from episode 3, the timelines are going to be divided. This is going to be tiresome. It still fun to watch though, haha. This show is mind-boggling.

#dark #dark season 1 #episode recap #dark tv series #tv series

[sol1056]

git along little nonnies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netflix paid, DW delivers, end of story.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and

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

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

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

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

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

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

#vld #voltron #television production #marketing #business #sol thinks about stuff

[massmurdera]

2018 best (and some worst)

2018 was the shittiest year of my life personally and I was a trainwreck almost instantly. I was real hopeful going in, but I got my heart broken as badly as I could get (and it somehow just kept getting worse). Ugh. It’s boring to articulate, but it was a never-ending Russian nesting doll of heartbreak, disappointment, and frustration. But I made more positive changes in the last 12 months than I did in the last 12 years. So that’s something.

TV Funniest go-to show: Desus and Mero (wish they didn’t go on hiatus when they left for Showtime) Favorite shows: 1) Big Mouth 2) Atlanta 3) Killing Eve 4) Bodyguard 5) Haunting of Hill House

Other shows I enjoyed: American Vandal; Homecoming; Americans; GLOW; Better Call Saul; Succession; Cobra Kai; Kominsky Method; Corporate Meh: Barry; Sharp Objects; Who Is America?; Daredevil Favorite Comedy specials: 1) Rory Scovel 2) Bert Kreischer 3) John Mulaney

MOVIES 4 ½ stars: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse; Sorry to Bother You 4 stars: Quiet Place; Hereditary; Mission Impossible: Fallout; Blackkklansman; Deadpool 2 3 ½ stars: To All the Boys…; Incredibles 2; Game Night; Revenge 3 stars (solid rental): Game Night; Upgrade; Revenge; Ant-Man; Hold the Dark 2 ½ stars (OK rental): Black Panther; Avengers Meh: Love Simon; Support the Girls Probably Good but bored the shit out of me: Roma; First Reformed; Eighth Grade Hated: Mandy; Ballad of Buster Scruggs 

STILL NEED TO SEE: Bad Times at El Royale; Bodied; Creed 2; Death of Stalin; Favourite; First Man; Free Solo; Green Book; Halloween; If Beale Street Could Talk; Minding the Gap; Solo; Star is Born; Vice; Widows

MUSIC Favorite Records: 1) Brian Fallon-‘Sleepwalkers’ 2) Story So Far-‘Proper Dose’

1975 has great songs but they have too much filler in their records. Damn good songs: Foxing-‘Nearer My God’; Wonder Years-‘Pyramids of Salt’; Thrice-‘Beyond the Pines’ PODCASTS Favorite Podcasts personally: -Filmdrunk Frotcast (Movies/comedy) -Dollop (history PLUS comedy) -Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast (one-man rant from the best comic alive) -Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend (comedy + conversations) -Rewatchables (Movies/comedy) -Bill Simmons (conversations) -Pardon My Take (sports + comedy) -Chapo Trap House (leftist politics + comedy) -Press Box (media) 

Intercepted’s takedown of George HW Bush is great. That show and Citations Needed has its moments. I think if you’re a historian/leftist, the best podcasts are Hardcore History or Common Sense (Dan Carlin), Citations Needed, Intercepted, Chapo Trap House, and the Dollop. Dan Carlin is the one you can enjoy if you’re on ANY political spectrum—and the Dollop is not too far behind; that’s truly the most special when it hits.

Other: My Favorite Murder; Revisionist History; Matty + Nick; Hound Tall; We’ll See You in Hell; Binge Mode: Harry Potter; Bertcast/Open Tabs; Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez

Re-listening to Walking the Room for the 3rd time; that’s my favorite podcast of all time. Late pass: ‘Embedded’ series on Trump is amazing. Doesn’t come out often but when it does? Fascinating and goes in on Trump stories that don’t get talked about. Podcasts I’d recommend: In the Dark; RFK Tapes; Slow Burn (S2 on Monica Lewinsky scandal is great)

‘In the Dark’ is by far the best. S1 in 2016 I prefer over S2; check out both.  Podcasts I’m going to check out: Crimetown: Detroit; Serial S3

Vince Mancini (Filmdrunk/Uproxx) has an annual best list on the best investigative/true crime podcasts each year that are the best lists I’ve seen. Best Dollop Episodes of the Year (must-listens on serious subjects): Donald Trump; the Resnicks: Water Monsters; George HW Bush; John McCain; Wells Fargo; Erik Prince & Blackwater 

The above subjects deal with subjects to be genuinely outraged about versus faux things to be outraged about everyday (Russia; Louis CK or what a comic said) and the way the media talks or ignores subjects completely. The way it’s done is so great (Dave reading a topic coldly while his friend interjects with commentary—and then in the end coming together with a South Park-esque take on what the fuck is happening)

Other: Feinstein and the Flag; Levittown: the White Suburb Funniest episode of the Dollop:  1908 New York to Paris Car Race (live w/ James Adomian). Hands down the funniest. Dave purposely saved a great one for the fucking great and underrated James Adomian.

I can tune in and out of some Dollop episodes, but when it goes in on a subject or has a particular guest, you know it’s going to hit.

BOOKS Favorite book: City of Thieves by David Benioff Late pass great: ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ Pretty good: ‘Devil in White City’; ‘Lexicon’ Meh: ‘Sirens of Titan’ Hated: ‘the Bell Jar’

Best twitter follows/online writers: Justin Halpern; Drew Magary; Brian Grubb

BEST EVENTS: 1) Gaslight Anthem 59 Sound 10th Anniversary 2) Boston Calling: the National, Menzingers, Queens of the Stone Age, the Killers 3) Bert Kreischer @ Wilbur: near front row 4) Bill Burr @ TD Garden 5) Pats-Titans playoff game

Biggest regret and disappointment: Moving my ‘ex’ into my friend’s house in January (with the hope that I’d be living there half the time too)—only for her to end up wanting NOTHING at all to do with me that same day after I helped her unpack out of nowhere, threaten suicide in a non-joking manner in front of her new roommates and my friend after a political argument at the end of the first night she moved in, get with someone we work with behind my back almost instantly (a bland and lame cokehead who got busted for cocaine 18 months prior and faced 7 years in jail), try to fuck my friend when I was mid-conversation with them both first time seeing her 3 months after it all ended—and for her to eventually date my friend’s roommate who my friend warned me would try and fuck her but I didn’t take seriously because I thought he wasn’t good looking, tiny, just vaped all day long, and kind of a douche. Cool. Awesome.

I mean, that’s a simplistic breakdown of it all and how I feel about it when I’m angry. It’s more complex and fucked up than that and I could write a book on it to elaborate my thoughts, good and bad. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to articulate it and I withheld that from her:  part of the reason why I moved her into my friend’s place (she didn’t know him or anybody) was because I wanted her in my life and didn’t want to lose her. Instead, it felt like I locked myself out of a party, I’m banging on the door and it’s cold outside, but nobody hears me. It’s just that feeling constantly. At the same time, it’s also very simple: she just wasn’t that into me, valued me, gave a damn, respected me, or cared. It’s NOT as angry or mean as it sounds. It just is what it is. Do NOT move the person you’re seeing into a friend’s place. If it doesn’t work out, make sure you can get a clean break. Oh, and probably do NOT date at work if you can until you know one of you is leaving (or, in my case, she leaves 10+ months after it’. I fucked both up and it’s been impossible to move on. Thankfully, she just left work 2 weeks ago and there’s less anxiety, mental work (thinking about her all the time which I still do but it’s not on maximum overdrive) and tiny heartbreaks each day. I mean, I was devastated when she told me she was leaving and there was finality. I miss her and have missed her all this time, but it’s a good thing: there was nothing I was getting out of it. But still: why did she say yes to moving into MY friend’ s place if she was just going to do a 360 heel turn, be an asshole and resentful towards me out of nowhere, never bother seeing the place I moved into/what I did with it?. Just a disaster of my own creation. I like to think in time I’ll get over it all and move on. I highly doubt I’ll ever see or talk to her again. I refuse to ever go back to my friend’s house for a variety of reasons and I had those thoughts even before the Cinco de Mayo party, but definitely after. I just don’t belong there and it hurts. And I know she’s uncomfortable too if I’m there even if she says otherwise.

Best thing personally: my brother got married, his wedding, friends, and my family. It’s cool to see my brother have his life together, be married into an awesome family, and meet a nice girl. I’ve seen my brother have his heartbreaks, but it’s nice to see him finally have peace and consistency. He’s got a really great house near where the Pats play (closer than where we’d park to games), works 4 days a week and makes bank too. 

BIGGEST CHANGES I MADE moved out to a place of my own in late January-it’s my uncle’s 3-decker, which he intends to pass on to me. So I’m saving $ by being here and it’s decent. The drawback is that it’s 3rd floor and inhospitable during the summer when it’s an oven with no windows where they should be to put an AC unit in (I just stayed at my parents: I would have toughed it out but I desperately need sleep for school). But yeah, I’m over 30 and needed a place of my own. I’d love to live in Boston, but it’s completely fucking unaffordable unless you work 2-3 jobs.

One annoying thing: my driveway gets egged EVERY day since May. We have fake cameras, but pretty sure it’s the next-door neighbor and not some punk kids on their way to school. It is enraging. Who eggs a house everyday? And it’s literally only my car or the lady next to me, not even close to the street. I keep on looking at the trajectory of the eggs and it’s fucking ridiculous. Luckily, because of school (and because I was away during the summer), the egging doesn’t happen until after 8-10 AM.

I’m 10 minutes from my parent’s place (halfway to my workplace and gym as a cut-off place), 5 minutes from the school I attend, and centrally located to things I want to be (Boston, my brother, Cape Cod, possible job changes or to where I intend to move if I can)… went to school to be an electrician-In school 715 to 1245 Monday-Friday. Pain in the ass schedule and tiring, but a big change. I suck at being handy. Most people are sons of people in the trade or went to trade school. Then there’s me: never picked up a drill or a hammer. But I’m working on it. 

I mean, the job IS risky (it’s not an office job) and any job outside of going back to school for a master’s or doctorate to get ahead (I fucking tried!) requires backbreaking manual work that breaks you down in most cases (construction, plumbing and smelling bad to even fixing cars where I hear that breaks your body down). Being an electrician seemed like the least of them all unless you want to be a linesman stuck outside no matter the weather for National Grid or down in manholes—because they pay REALLY well (most people in class actually want those jobs without reservations). I’m fine with being paid pretty well while enjoying myself. I’ll stay away from something monotonous like solar panels or being on a roof all day though.

Jiu-Jitsu-did this for 3 months and loved it. Had to take a break because I can only do weekends and it’s expensive. And I’m too exhausted for 9 AM class come Saturday. After a 6 AM to 12AM schedule M-F, I just completely fucking crash come Saturday. I fully intend on going back and doing yoga too when I finish school in July. 

Most people start doing jiu-jitsu because of Joe Rogan. My answer got a laugh. ‘Yeah, I wanted to try something new. Also, I watched John Wick about a 100 times.’

Therapy-post ‘break-up’ I realized I needed help. I spent a month in February not being able to fall asleep (maybe 24 hours sleep in 3 weeks) before I finally got meds. About a million waking nightmares (holy shit that’s a thing). Constantly crying, particularly on the weekends without her, separation anxiety and just anxiety that did not go away at all: a constant weight. We had a Jim-and-Pam relationship at work, even when it was over—but once she started dating my friend’s roommate, she distanced herself more than ever and it was just fake as fuck. I was frustrated with not finding a job to not passing a test that I studied my ass for 3+ months for that would allow me to leave my job AND the girl. They threw in shit that was not on the study guide at all in the test. Blah. I punched a hole through my bedroom wall (like they do in the movies) and fucked up my hand a bit. 

But yeah, I’m working on my confidence, following through with my goals, challenging myself, making adjustments, facing fears, getting over my anxiety, relationships. I’m proud of how, even without therapy, I handled the girl who was cold and distant: I was ALWAYS warm and welcoming, had a good attitude about it with her. It wasn’t a point of pride to be that way; I just was. If I was around her, the hurt just kind of all faded, however briefly. In the back of my head I wanted to light her the fuck up for how she was acting or NOT acting, but I just didn’t. But it’s hard. I am depressed all the time, but not nearly as overwhelming as I was. I’m really lonesome—and I want to reach out, but I don’t know to who a lot of the time. I feel left out and it’s hard to maintain relationships, but I am trying. It’s hard at 32 but people fade away. You think you’re wiser and more mature that it won’t happen, but it does. It’s just harder to make friends, I guess. I ruminate all the time and think too much. I’m trying to be mindful and in the moment. But I keep on thinking about all the things I’m NOT doing or the things I’m waiting for to happen. But there’s always going to be that. I am doing a LOT and the changes aren’t coming all at once. I like my therapist (I had one when I was in 5th grade and again when I was 19: I didn’t like them: finding a therapist that fits you is the biggest thing)

I realized a lot of the problems I had were patterns even going back to the heartbreak I felt at 18-20 when I was the worst mess I ever was. It wasn’t the girl who broke my heart, but it was me. I should have been better and stronger far before I met her. I wasn’t really living I don’t think. In some ways, I gave up and was sleepwalking through things. But everything I thought I was past just bubbled to the surface. And I had to get it right, something needed to change, and I needed help.

I withheld my problems from everybody because I didn’t want to be a burden. I especially did NOT want to be depressing but I think I became a burden for the girl who broke my heart. She had nothing to give and she was upset at me for talking to her at work and being cheerful, telling stories, or anything. Secretly, I was a mess and it was painful. In a way, I was denying myself and that made it worse.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m that big of a mess. I might be lonely, but I got a good head, attitude, and people generally like me. I make people laugh easily and without trying. I got a lot going for me and I got support.

Tattoos -got the lighthouse tattoo I always wanted since I was 18. I didn’t believe a tattoo artist could carry out my idea. Liked the tattoo artist so much that I stretched it out into a full sleeve. I want to do more and have some ideas. We’ll see.

Other-new car; collecting board games; got tour posters and Pats memorabilia framed WORST POLITICAL: the chaos that comes with Trump-Well, that hasn’t changed. I’ll hate the GOP/Republicans and that goes without saying. I have some small hope with people like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, but I don’t have any faith in the Democratic party at fucking all: they will rather work with Republicans than work with people who actually want to make an actual change. You kind of just realize how shitty a party they and Obama were and how they are bought/paid for and resistant to any meaningful change. We are fucked.

LOOK AHEAD TO 2019: -finishing school in July and starting new career as electrician -cousin’s wedding and going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party (I’m more psyched for the awesome house we are staying in than Vegas itself) -Pats playoff run and possible end of Brady-Gronk: I’m not hopeful, but I’m going to enjoy my favorite Boston athletes of my lifetime. Couldn’t ask for anything more from them. I just wish Bill Belichick did a better job as a GM and not fucking up nearly every draft since 2006 besides 2010 and 2012. They’ve won 5, but feels like Belichick cost the Pats 3-5 more minimum. Every year you have Tom Brady, you’re in the AFC Championship or Super Bowl. Belichick and Patricia mailed in the Eagles Super Bowl on defense. WTF was that? -doing jiu-jitsu, yoga, taking up swimming, continue following through on my gym program: my goal is to delay having a bad back as long as possible. I’m in the best shape of my life by far, so that’s good. I want to cut some of my gut weight out though: when I bend down to put on my work boots, I feel it. -more tattoos? -dating again (I am struggling so BADLY with online dating and need to work on having better pics: I can’t get a single match/date) -looking at buying a condo or home. I’ve got about $100K saved up and just slowly collecting things in my apartment for the big transition. Still would like to see where I end up working. Ideally, I’d love to have a lake house somewhere decent and centralized.

BOOKS: -Don Winslow wrapping up cartel/border trilogy -new Gillian Flynn?!? -Marlon James’ African Game of Thrones trilogy begins -Stephen King

TV 1a) Desus and Mero returns 1b) Game of Thrones final season 2) Veep final season 3) Lovecraft Country 4) Watchmen 5) Stranger Things 6) Good Omens 7) Devs 8) Fosse/Verdon

NEW: City on a Hill; Deadwood movie; Star Wars; Veronica Mars

MUSIC -Boston Callling -new: 1975, Bruce Springsteen

MOVIES: 1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2) John Wick III 3) Us Toy Story IV 4) Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw OTHER: Avengers; Captain Marvel; Glass; It 2; Joker; Lego Movie 2; Spiderman; Star Wars; Under the Silver Lake; Where’d You Go Bernadette; Zombieland 2

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hey Lovely! I was wondering how you first became a part of the fandom? When did you start watching the show, at what point did you feel John and Sherlock might be(come) a thing, what made you start a blog on these two? I just want to know it all ^^ Hope you don't mind sharing a bit :) Thank you for everything you do for this fandom, love you lots!

Hi Lovely!

Oh gosh, what a nice question! I think I’ve talked about this in snippets in various posts, this post being the one talking the most about it, but never as a whole! Apologies if this turns into a long ramble, hah hah!

So I remember exactly when I got into the show SO CLEARLY. It was July of 2013, just a few months before S3 was to air in January 2014. I was over at my friends’ place, and they suggested the show to watch, since we always watch movies together whenever I visit. I remember asking, “Is that the show with Martin Freeman and that Khan actor from Star Trek 2?”. We finished Season one all in one go, and immediately fell in love with Ben and Martin’s portrayals and their chemistry. And then I had to head back home. I was ANGRY because OMG WHAT HAPPENS NEXT and my friends just laughed.

So as soon as I got home, I downloaded S1 and S2 and watched them ALL the way through. I needed more. So, because I already had a Tumblr and knew it was for fandoms, I decided to see what it had to offer. 

Oh boy what did I get into???

So I lurked for a bit, and then I discovered something called “meta”, back when the TRF theories were the prominent meta in the fandom. So while I was getting deep into meta, I started switching my fanart from Ninja Turtles to Sherlock, because I was warming up to Ben’s ethereal face and I wanted to draw it. And I wanted to be a Sherlock fanartist. I briefly shipped Sher1011ie for a week or so, until I rewatched the series again and it just didn’t jive like it did the first few watch-throughs. I was too invested in John and Sherlock’s friendship – I saw them as bestest friends ever, too devoted to each other.

Now, at this point, y’all need to remember this: I was naïve, have never been exposed at length nor ever heard of subtext, was and am not part of the LGBT community (I grew up in a different time and in a conservative city, so being “gay” just wasn’t a thing), had a very heteronormative view on my life, and I just had always just insisted that in all of my fandoms, when I liked two male characters together, it was because “bestest friends ever!!”. I didn’t know I was ace and I’d never read smut up until 3 years ago (yes hi hello I’m so old and so innocent LOL).

Okay, so I was just lurking for a bit, learning my way around fandom, reading meta and just generally dipping my toes quietly into the fandom.

Then came Season 3. 

As many of my followers know, a lot of my fondness for season 3 stems from this being the season that LITERALLY opened my eyes to EVERYTHING: subtext, Johnlock, my own sexuality, and my meta-writing career. 

So, season 3 aired and I decided to dip my toes into “reviewing” the episodes as my first “meta”. They were posted onto my multi-fandom blog here, here and here. I was so proud of them, because it reinvigorated my love for writing (I used to be a pretty prominent Sonic fan-fic author back in the 90′s… I never finished my stories because my interest in the fandom died before I finished them), despite how laughably bad they were, haha. I got a couple compliments on them, but nothing beyond that, especially since I sat down and wrote them for HOURS after each episode aired.

Sometime between TSo3 and HLV, I discovered loudest-subtext-in-television (aka LSiT) and deducingbbcsherlock completely by accident and I was FASCINATED. I ate up everything they wrote. The first time I watched TSo3, something was niggling at my brain but I couldn’t quite place it. It was one of LSiT’s meta that twigged at it. That’s when I learned about subtext, heteronormativity and the queer community. And suddenly, just like that, something in my brain clicked.

Oh. My god. This show is gay, and I actually SHIP these idiots like I did in the Mother Ship (ie. The X-Files Mulder / Scully). That’s why I was SO ANNOYED with Irene. Why Molly was slowly grating on me. Why Mary’s introduction kind of annoyed me but okay I guess I can deal with it. Why everything seemed really romantic but it just couldn’t be, could it? 

I rewatched the series. And it was gay. Y’all, those rainbow-coloured glasses were suddenly GLUED to my head, and I saw gay EVERYWHERE.

So, after HLV, I discovered The Johnlock Conspiracy and I was eating up all the meta about Johnlock I could. Around this time, I also was learning a lot about the LGBT community, its history and sexual fluidity from wsswatson. It was also around this time I discovered asexuality, and I started reading a lot about it. 

In February of 2014, I started this blog because I wanted a place to reblog Johnlock meta. This was the first post I made on this blog, and looking back at it now, I am DYING because wow I never imagined I was going to be this deep into the fandom the day I wrote that. I don’t even remember writing it, to be very honest. I just shake my head, HAH. I think I really started understanding Johnlock because of this post here. It’s still one of my favourites and is one of the ones I credit for helping me understand what I was watching was actually a romance, not a “crime show”. 

Anyway, after learning how to read subtext from mostly LSiT (they wrote a meta about how to read subtext and it was super informative) and other Johnlock bloggers, I wanted to try my hand at my own little Johnlock meta. It was more of an observational post, as my way of trying to interact with the fandom. I am a terribly nervous and shy person, so I never tagged anyone in anything. It was an overwhelming fandom, and it was terrifying to interact. A few bigger bloggers noticed me and were nice enough to comment on a couple of my posts, but I mostly stayed in my little corner, and interacted with my small little group of other smaller fans. I dabbled in both fanart and writing, just plopping my thoughts and art into the aether, hoping something would interest someone enough to start a discussion. 

I started getting braver, and I was “moderating” some of my favourite posts that weren’t mine, but had my additions to it. Mostly, the Phones and Hearts post. I didn’t want to impede, but it was one of my favourite posts, so I went and copied all of the comments in the notes and put them onto one post. I don’t honestly remember HOW I ended up moderating it, but I just did because I was FASCINATED with symbolism, and I was excited because I could finally read subtext and understand it. I still had a small following, and a few people I regularly interacted with on my blog.

So, during the hiatus between S3 and TAB, somewhere along the way I suddenly had a sexuality crisis, when I suddenly realized I wasn’t broken and there was absolutely nothing wrong with me, and damn it, there’s such thing as split attraction model and asexuality?? Mind was BLOWN. I was also slowly becoming obsessed with Mary’s character, and at the time I couldn’t understand why (inevitably, it was because of events happening in my own life and me trying to understand them), but I really enjoyed just psychoanalyzing her. It’s something I’ve ALWAYS loved doing – character studies; I’ve done it in EVERY fandom I’ve been in – and I was doing it for her, Sherlock and John’s characters. 

So yeah, nothing much really happened to me during the S3 hiatus, except my entire world view flipped on its head and I was completely Johnlocked beyond repair. I became known for some painful posts and some lovely revelations and writing a lot of character study posts on both John and Sherlock. I’m very proud of some of my earlier meta, just sad they never really got seen (some of my earliest meta can be seen on my Ao3).

Then came the announcement for TAB in 2015, and the start of my “Tumblr Career”. I put a lot of my energy into my fandom life. I was OBSESSED with TAB, and became known for it. I put my moderation skills to use and created the TAB Starter Pack, which started gaining me some followers because OMG some loser is taking the time out of their day to compile all the news about this new series! AWESOME. I remember, it was around this time I was excited because I got to 1895 followers and it was one of those milestones all Johnlockers like having, hahah. 

In October of 2015, I lost my job and was unemployed. Conveniently, this is also the time when the promo season for TAB started, because we now had a name and airdate. I devoted a LOT of my time, when I wasn’t job hunting, to working on this blog. I was just writing a lot, and obsessing about the upcoming episode.

Then the trailer aired.

And immediately after that trailer dropped on October 24, 2015, I made this post here, which, some would probably say, was the beginning of everything for me. As I was writing that post, with a cracking headache, something clicked in my head, and several hours later, I had written and posted the original Mind Palace Theories of TAB at 2AM-ish, and went to bed.

When I woke up, my post had suddenly gone viral and I couldn’t figure out why. Then it just kept expanding from there, and I made sure to include everything I could onto it, because WOW something I wrote was gaining traction, and interaction, and I just wanted us all to have a good time with it. And as the time for TAB drew closer, suddenly I was gaining followers, and more people interested in what I had to write. I welcomed everyone to continue to predict the outcome with me.

January 1st. Was a complete and total mind fuck. I was liveblogging the episode, and inadvertently created another viral post with my Mycroft’s Death post because FUCK ARE THEY KILLING MYCROFT OFF?? kind of freaked people out (sorry loves!), which gained me some more followers, and at the time, my top post was my December 31st reblog of my Mind Palace Theories post, so anyone who came to my blog, it would have been on the first page of it.

After the episode aired, suddenly, EVERYONE had questions for me, about EVERYTHING, but mostly to scream at me that I was a mind reader, LOL. No, I’m not, I was just a sad, unemployed twat with too much time on my hands and was avoiding job hunting. But good god, all DAY on Jan 1, I was replying to asks, gaining followers like crazy, and pretty much just stating my opinion on anything that someone wanted to know. 

I became known as the unofficial TAB blog, and the one to come to with questions about my interpretation of the episode. I was SO obsessed with TAB, studied every nuance and narrative structure I could. 2016 was “my heyday”, and it was fun. I found my niche, and meta-writing is what I became known for. And until I got a job in April of that year, I was a pretty solid presence in the fandom, if I understand some of what I’ve been told correctly. I still ran my blog as full-time as I could having a full-time job, and still do in some ways, but yeah, 2016 is when I produced a LOT of meta, mostly Mary meta because, as I said above, I was and am obsessed with her character arc. I was learning about myself a lot more by writing meta, and my “original” meta turned into “asks” meta, which was fine by me, because I do like a good prompt to get me going.

Somewhere in there I also somehow became the blog new bloggers came to, which I didn’t and don’t mind at all, because being new in a fandom is scary and I wanted to be a friendly face because I like meeting new people. 

Then we got an announcement for S4, and like TAB I also kept track of anything and everything S4-related, so once again I was sort of the “go-to” place for everything S4 because I compiled all the stuff from setlock bloggers and listed them all for easy-access. I kept track of everything promotional, and I reblogged some of my favourite pre-S4 meta here.

Essentially, I LOVE organizing things, and people liked that I LOVED doing it, so that’s sort of how I kept my following when I wasn’t posting as much new meta. I did make a few original meta before S4, and I made a 68 day video countdown to the series which is cringy AF and I’m not linking it (lol you can find it if you look hard enough). 

We all know what happened in S4. I took a bit of heat after S4 aired, because I got people’s hopes up. I was discouraged for a bit, but then I started receiving asks that weren’t really asks, but “I need advice” and “I need support”. 

And I started answering life questions, and realized people LIKED my responses, liked my little personal anecdotes in each of my replies, and felt comforted by it. So, after S4 aired, I became an eclectic mix of life advice, meta, fics, music and TJLC / tinhatting blog. I have a “no judgement” approach to my blogging, and I think that’s why I’m still gaining a steady dozen or so followers every couple weeks, rather than losing. The only time I took a big hit was the Tumblr Feedpocalypse, where they fucked up the algorithm and I’m not getting nearly as many hits on my posts as I used to, but that could also be because we lost so many people to S4, especially after Jan 1, 2018 when people were hoping for another episode.

I personally don’t think I’m popular, but I suppose I am by Tumblr standards. I dunno, I think we all have that “starry eyed” view of popular bloggers, and I just can’t picture myself as someone anyone would fawn over. I’m just me, and you can take it or leave it.

I think where I’m at now and what I’m known for is a good place to be, to be honest, despite how S4 turned out. I’m not certain, but I FEEL like I have a positive reputation here, but don’t quote me. I know I have people in this fandom who hate me, and quite frankly it saddens me that they feel they need to expel energy on me that way when they deserve to just be happy and forget about me. 

ANYWAY, sorry that got long and rambly, but it’s something I’ve wanted to talk about for awhile, but I was waiting for the prompt to come because *shrugs* I dunno, self esteem thing, makes me think no one REALLY cares until someone actually asks, hah.

And if you made it all the way to the end here, Love ya Nonny, and thank you for asking and thank you for being a follower of my blog

#steph replies #about me #fandom life #steph's storytime #fandom history #Anonymous #long post #my blog

[pirirps]

Piri’s Ultimate List Of Horror Recs (2017 Version)

my go-to compilation of ever single horror/horror-related media i’ve ever enjoyed, including slashers, paranormal, thrillers, creature features, and much, much more 🎃

note: this list has trigger warnings but i am operating under the assumption that you are okay with the standard level of explicit sexuality, vulgarity, violence, and gore present in mainstream horror

horror

original nightmare on elm street series, but especially 1, 3, 4, 6, and freddy vs. jason (tw for implied pedophilia and explicit child murder, tw for rape in #6)

friday the 13th (original and remake)

honestly all the friday the 13th sequels are A Treasure but if you want The Core Canon watch 1-3

my bloody valentine (original)

psycho (original) and tbh all its sequels (tw for sort-of-kind-of incest vibes)

psycho ii and psycho iv are my favorites because (1) meg tilly is adorable in psycho ii and (2) psycho iv has a harley quinn/norman bates cameo and nobody can convince me otherwise

child’s play, child’s play 2, bride of chucky, maybe some sequels after that idk i haven’t seen them yet :(

scream franchise

not the mtv scream series

i mean s1 is decent but there are definitely other horror shows that i would recommend more (will show up later in this post)

1-3 are the best, 4 is worth watching if you really like the characters but as a concept the series has p much run its course by then

tw for rape mentions in scream 1 and 3

predator

peeping tom

kenneth branagh’s frankenstein (tw for a graphic depiction of death in childbirth)

james whale’s frankenstein

bride of frankenstein

the phantom of the opera (1925)

the phantom of the opera (1989) (tw for mild body/surgical horror, general grossness; personally speaking, this is one of my all-time favorite phantom adaptations, because 1. robert englund as the phantom hello oh my god, 2. although it’s much more of a slasher movie than a gothic romance, it does an amazing job of portraying the tragedy in erik’s backstory and his attraction to christine, without implying that he is entitled to christine’s affection and that her love will magically fix him, as some phantom adaptations do)

the phantom of the opera (1943)

alien franchise

the wolfman (2010)

darling (tw for rape)

house on haunted hill (original and remake)

final destination franchise

medium raw: night of the wolf (tw for pedophilia and child murder)

the babadook

the final girls [horror comedy]

the shining (tw for implied child abuse)

the cabin in the woods

hellraiser (tw for incest-y vibes for very brief periods of time)

heathers (tw for eating disorders, suicide, everything high school kids are insensitive assholes about)

from dusk til dawn

an american werewolf in london

the guest

it follows (tw for dubious consent)

nightwatch (tw for implied necrophilia/descriptions of necrophilia, self-mutilation)

re-animator (tw for rape, pedophilia mentions)

carrie (original) (tw for child abuse, religious iconography)

the remake had some interesting like... subtext/imagery but other than that it was pretty *wet fart noise*

the awakening

the craft

the blair witch project

honestly i loved the book of shadows: blair witch 2 bc it kind of parallels the crucible but i can admit that objectively it is Terrible

elvira, mistress of the dark [spooky comedy]*

american mary (tw for rape, (consensual surgical) genital mutilation)

fright night (original and remake)

jaws

listen. this is a horror movie. it was a horror book before that. it was specifically written and later adapted for the purpose of scaring and entertaining people. real life is nothing like this. real sharks are nothing like this. there’s nothing wrong with this movie scaring you but there is everything wrong with using this movie as an excuse to advocate for the wholesale slaughter of animals. sharks are quite possibly the most graceful and beautiful creatures on this earth and i will personally fight anyone who says otherwise

halloween franchise

1-5 are the best imo but no matter what skip #3 because it literally has nothing to do with any of the other movies

not the rob zombie remakes, those are awful

let the right one in [swedish (?) film, watch with subtitles]

rosemary’s baby (original)

night of the living dead (original)

28 days later

suspiria

silent hill (tw for child molestation)

crimson peak (tw for incest)

the lost boys

interview with the vampire

the ring

one missed call

the raven (2012)

repo! the genetic opera

teeth (tw for rape, incest, it’s??????? about a girl who literally has razor-sharp teeth in her vagina and it’s a very tongue-in-cheek commentary on religious repression???? so idk like it’s a wild ride and i love it but watch at your own discretion)

american psycho (tw for rape, general misogyny)

sweeney todd

speaking from experience, this is much better live, the movie sucked out all the fun and humor that wasn’t literally written into the lyrics, so i recommend watching the original broadway cast on youtube or something

there’s also a 1936 movie which i haven’t seen so i can’t speak to its quality BUT i would recommend it on the basis of it being made before the musical was created and thus being based more directly on “the string of pearls” novel which is where the sweeney todd urban legend was originally documented

abott and costello meet [insert universal horror monster here] [spooky comedy]

little shop of horrors (original and remake) [spooky comedy]

the last man on earth (1964)

adapted from the same book i am legend (2007) was adapted from but the last man on earth stays much closer to the original book imo

c. h. u. d.

ghostbusters (1984 and 2016 versions)*

ghost ship

sick girl (tw for bugs, pregnancy horror)

misery (tw for torture)

puppet master series (tw for rape, nazism)

the haunting in connecticut

zombieland**

jurassic park series

lizzie borden took an axe

wolf creek (tw for rape)

it (1990, 2017)

i have........ some nitpicky issues about putting it on this list, because neither movie adaptation really did justice to the whole concept of “derry itself is an extension of an eldritch horror and the real scary part of the story isn’t the clown, it’s the horrible violent tragedies that have repeatedly occurred and then been dismissed throughout derry’s history, leaving the entire town in a large-scale sort of cycle of abuse” so ????????????? idk like i truly do recommend reading the book as well as seeing the movies for The Whole It Experience(TM), but i totally get that not everyone is gonna do that

the 1990 version tells more or less the complete story, but because of that it didn’t have time to include a lot of fun details

the 2017 version only tells the childhood portion of the story, which leaves it time to include fun details. i was really hoping to see more of derry’s backstory or more development on mike and stan as members of marginalized groups -> how that influences their life in derry, but we didn’t get much of that? mike’s importance to the losers (researcher, somewhat of a skeptic/hardass at times to keep the others together) was removed, his healthy family dynamic was removed (mike, richie, and possibly stan are the only characters in the book with healthy family dynamics, somewhat underscoring the concept that derry itself is trapped in a cycle of abuse), and derry’s history of racism is never touched on aside from the kids mentioning “the fire at the black spot” a couple times in passing. overall it was a fun movie and you can tell everyone making it had a blast but compared to the book it’s like. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

BASICALLY what i’m saying here is that the book is really deep wrt social issues, and while neither movie really touches on those concepts in-depth, they are still good horror movies on their own and ofc a part of american pop culture

house of wax (1953)

marnie (tw for rape, abuse and coercion in a marriage dynamic, animal/pet death, graphic depictions of psychological abuse, graphic depiction of a violent death involving a child)

cabin fever (tw for sickness horror/body function horror/unsanitary horror, occasional slurs)

mega shark vs. giant octopus

i don’t even have a real reason for listing this i just can’t believe it exists and i want the whole world to know

texas chainsaw massacre (1974), texas chainsaw massacre 2, texas chainsaw 3d

ju-on: the grudge

phantoms

the plot is pretty ehhh imo but the effects are great; rose mcgowan is gorgeous as always, peter o’toole’s character is great, and ben affleck’s character lowkey has some batman circa arkham knight vibes going on. also, liev schrieber becomes a tentacle monster. i couldn’t make this shit up if i tried y’all

vamps*

this movie. this movie

krysten ritter and alicia silverstone are a couple of vampires, sigourney weaver is their hot mess of a vampire mom, dan stevens is krysten ritter’s boyfriend, wallace shawn is van helsing but he’s basically just vizzini: vampire hunter au and it’s GOLD

it’s literally the cutest and funniest vampire media i’ve ever seen in my life as well as one of the most detailed when it comes to vampire lore i cannot recommend it enough

bram stoker’s dracula

death becomes her**

what we do in the shadows**

disturbia

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

flatliners (1990) (tw for drug use, uncensored depictions of cadaver dissection)

the cabinet of dr. caligari

the limehouse golem (tw for sexual assault and csa)

repulsion (tw for sexual assault)

the trial (1962)

*spooky comedy: a comedy movie with a spooky premise that i am categorizing with horror movies due to the genre overlap, but that lacks the intense violence, gore, etc. of a horror movie

**horror comedy: a spooky comedy that does not lower the level of violence, gore, etc. that is standard in a horror movie

thrillers

stoker (tw for incest, has a scene in which the protag’s mother verbally abuses her)

m [german film, watch with subtitles] (tw for themes of pedophilia/child molestation/child murder, but it’s worth noting that the whole point of the movie is to condemn and demonize pedophilia)

also one of if not the very first detective movies

nightcrawler (tw for rape)

the vvitch/the witch/however the fuck it’s spelled

rear window (1954)

zodiac

hannibal lecter franchise (tw for cannibalism, obviously)-- the silence of the lambs, hannibal, red dragon, manhunter

manhunter is adapted from the same book red dragon is (red dragon) except manhunter was made before anthony hopkins became The Iconic Hannibal Lecter(TM) so it focuses much more on will graham and francis dolarhyde

hannibal rising is worth watching for gaspard ulliel’s performance but the book was much better

the hannibal movie adaptation changed the ending of the hannibal book while still maintaining a really good and really compelling storyline so the book and movie are definitely both highly recommended by me

gone girl

shutter island (tw for asylum horror)

pan’s labyrinth

tiger house

the champagne murders

the plot and pacing are a little ehhh; in my opinion there was too much tension buildup between characters and not enough actual plot development. BUT, anthony perkins is in it so it’s worth watching if you love him like i do

documentaries

cropsey (documentary on child murders)

urban legends (another documentary, by the same people, talks about how real-life crime affects the american psyche and lives on as urban legends/horror tropes)

the poisoner’s handbook

h. h. holmes

nightmares in red, white, and blue

his name was jason

never sleep again: the elm street legacy

american ripper [currently ongoing tv series]

television/youtube

bates motel

ahs s1 (tw for... literally everything)

slasher

similar basic premise as ahs, but imo ahs is v exploitative and builds the plot on violence and vice, whereas slasher builds the violence and vice on the plot

supernatural (LISTEN........ LISTEN....................... conceptually it’s the bees knees okay)

penny dreadful (tw for constant explicit sexuality, religious iconography/sacrilege, asylum horror)

criminal minds

bbc broadchurch

bbc river

bbc sherlock but literally only ep. 3.4 “the abominable bride”

rosemary’s baby (2-part made-for-tv movie)

unedited footage of a bear

marblehornets

true detective

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

tbs’ search party

podcasts

the black tapes podcast

small town horror

alice isn’t dead

king falls am [spooky comedy, more sci-fi than horror but there is One Episode that positively screams “love letter to 80s horror movies” so i can’t leave it out with good conscience]

limetown

welcome to night vale [spooky comedy]

the dark tome

video games

until dawn

outlast series

five nights at freddy’s

dead by daylight

bioshock

#recs #horror #*mine #masterlist