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mrghostrat · 2 months

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Hello and good morning/day/night :]

I was wondering, in BNF, we’ve gotten tiny little bits of information about the ‘Nice and Accurate Prophecies’ (not sure if that’s the correct title, sorry) book and TV series, if there was anything else you could tell us about it?

Character names, storylines, plots, any fun details you may have made up or otherwise, etc, etc.

I just think it’s sweet how interested both Aziraphale and Crowley are in the series, and if you might be as interested, if not more, in it too.

Thank you, and have a lovely Sunday. 🫶

this is it, my leash has snapped, i'm wild in the streets, thank u for asking; i'm gonna go be insufferable now

(hi @neil-gaiman if you see this, i think it's safe to read, but it does border on being fan fic. i'm writing a fic where crowley and aziraphale are an artist + writer in an online fandom, much like we are for good omens, and this is the fake story i've made for them to be fans of 💛)

The Nice and Accurate Prophecy

info dump of the fake 5 book series by Agnes Nutter (1985-1992) and its fake fandom:

The Nice and Accurate Prophecy

The Strange and Improbable Prophecy

The Vague and Perfidious Prophecy

The Tense and Harrowing Prophecy

The Faint and Ineffable Prophecy

a dramatic, layered story with a bizarre and unexpectedly lovable cast of characters, humour that hits you out of nowhere, and a lot of attitude from the narrator. a la Good Omens, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

fantasy/historical fantasy and mildly action & romance

a la good omens, a witch and a witchfinder become friends and help each other throughout history, despite being on opposite sides. they get closer as they fight against the immoral plays from their prospective sides (the witchfinder army and a demonic cult the witch was born into) that each lose sight of their core values in a bid to hold more power over the world.

the story is set primarily in a medieval fantasy era, but suddenly jumps to the present in the later books, catching everyone off guard and giving a whole new context to enjoy the story. the challenges they face parallel the earlier story but in a modern take with modern technological twists. the modern era is the late 80s, since that's when it was written.

the witch reincarnates, similar to doctor who, due to a high class black magic ritual they performed in their arrogant youth (which they were NOT supposed to have access to). they've had long lifetimes where they die of old age, and others where they've barely managed to live a year. their reincarnations aren't entirely random; they will reincarnate according to their growth and preferences as a person (a la Magical Boy's magical outfit generations), which includes fluctuation in gender identity. their pronouns fluctuate depending on each "face" they wear, but have canonically been a "they" before. the good side of the fandom (crowley & aziraphale) default to they/them as an overall rule. they do have a name, but they like to change that too, so the fandom almost exclusively calls them witch, or witchy.

the witchfinder also has a name, but the fandom have taken to calling him witchfinder to match the fact that witchy is called by their role. it also helps that a lot of the witchfinder narration refers to him by role instead of name. he is human, 30ish in appearance, but at the end of the first book, the witch fears to lose him and curses him with immortality against his knowledge to try and keep him safe.

witch is crowley-coded, witchfinder is aziraphale-coded. my to-do list includes an illustration of the two of them played by michael and david :') but i picture them being kind of like newt and anathema for the most part.

ship names include witch/finder, witchwitch, w² or witch², and witchfound.

at the start of the first book, they meet and become friends without knowing each other is a witch & finder. the witchfinder is a bit bumbly, like newt, and the witch is cool and suave but neurotic and insecure like many human au variations of crowley (major overcompensation vibes). witch is male at the start of the first book. their friendship is secure when witch finds out he's a witchfinder, so there's less "oh my god i'm friends with the enemy, is he going to kill me in my sleep?" and more "ah fuck, Lets Drink About This"

there's battles, horseback riding, camping out in dark woods, disappearing and losing each other for months at a time, and many missed connections as they try to work together against two common enemies, whilst keeping up the facade that they're on their respective team's sides.

there's charged chemistry in the first book, but it's more plot heavy. there's hints of shippy moments in the 2nd book that fall in between the plot. there's a Moment of almost confession in the 3rd book, and a non romantic kiss towards the end (we gotta, for neil). they're pretty much married in the 4th book, securely at each other's side, but never actually talk about it until the end, and there's a more explicitly stated shippy connection in the 5th book.

agnes herself is a total recluse who drops books out of nowhere then goes back to existing somewhere in the english countryside (people presume). she's happy to supply signed copies to fundraisers and conventions, and sometimes random bookshops across the country will be vandalised with genuine autographs on the inside covers. she's notoriously pedantic about being involved with adaptions behind the scenes, but she has no social media and isn't ~around~. she once did a talk when she was presented with an honorary doctorate, and did a single book signing when the first Prophecy book came out, but beyond that she keeps to herself.

there are a small handful of quotes from her in behind-the-scenes footage talking vaguely about character intensions and clarifying world building, but she likes to leave things up to interpretation like neil does. it's in these few snippets of interaction we've seen from her that she's steadfastly supportive of intersectionality and lgbt rights, like staring dead-eyed at an interviewer when they ask her a ridiculously heteronormative question about the characters (like "have you read my books?")

adaptions include:

(most adaptions start like the book, with a male witch at the beginning that turns into a female witch when they first regenerate. the early ones usually change the pacing by switching to a female actor by the time they realise witchfinder is a witchfinder, unlike in the book where he's male for this scene, and there's way less Charged™ chemistry between the m/m witch/finder.)

Feature Film: late 90s, kind of cheesy, but good spirited fantasy (a la Indiana Jones). focuses on the first book alone, with hints to a sequel that never happened.

Abandoned TV Pilot: early 2000s, a little too dramatic but still a good time (a la the Dungeons and Dragons 2000, ASOUE 2004). good source of gifs and Moments™ but the fandom is generally Fine with it being abandoned.

Stage Performance: late 2000s-early 2010s, a stellar stage adaption of the first book with elements of the 90s movie. f/m witch/finder the whole way through. one cast used m/m actors but it was a short run and only a handful of fans were lucky enough to catch or remember it. crowley would give his left arm (or someone's, anyway) to have experienced it, so a fan sent him some flip phone camera footage of it that he keeps on a harddrive in his safe.

HBO Streaming Series: late 2010s-present, high quality, highly revered, resurged the fandom's popularity and spread the series further overseas. made in america, but doesn't try to americanise the series. extremely respectful to the books, with easter eggs to the film, and is working its way through the entire book series (a la The Witcher netflix series). f/m witch/finder, but has had one episode that included some flash backs/montages of different witch faces. probably like 15 minutes total screentime of a male witch played by a ncuti gatwa level/style of actor, which the fandom has giffed, edited, and screencapped to oblivion.

Several bonus books: Agnes has written a few extra books (a la The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket and The Beatrice Letters), as well as curated some anthologies from other authors (a la A Study In Sherlock). there are a total of 3 anthologies so far, in which other authors have written stories about the characters in their own tellings. basically like canonised, published fan fiction, curated and authorised by agnes herself. There's also an unfinished graphic novel that retells the book series (a la The Adventure Zone comic), but has been WIP/unheard of since the 3rd book.

#ask a rat #fuck i lvoe this fucking fakedom #bnf au #i cannot get it out of my head #rat writes

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canonicallyobserving911 · 3 months

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9-1-1: Season 7

After season 6 ended, I said I wasn't going to speculate for Season 7 and I'm not but I am going to post what I hope is included in it.

Season 6 ended so poorly that at this point, I think all they can do is (to quote Eddie Diaz) "Do More" to be better.

My only hope is they make some groundbreaking TV like they did in seasons 2 & 3 instead of relying on storylines they copied and pasted from other shows (how many shows have there been that had a sperm donor storyline 🙄).

Stop forcing the narrative.

Stop giving new recurring characters more screen time than those who have been on the show for years. Karen and Denny have been on the show since the beginning, Linda, Sue and Josh have been there since season 2 and Ravi's been there since season 4. The cast is already robust so no new recurring characters are needed. Here's an idea, it would be great if 9-1-1 uses the mains they keep sidelining intstead of inserting new people like LD (which was an epic fail). Bobby, Chimney and Eddie are mains but they barely got any storylines in season 6.

It would be great if all the main cast members got an equal amount of storylines like they did in earlier seasons.

Can the opening emergency last for two to three episodes like the ones included in seasons 2-4 because the one in 6x1 lasted until the first commercial break and then it was over?

Don't kill off a main character or send one of them away for shock value because it usually doesn't work.

Can at least one of them get a job promotion? They've all been doing the same job since the beginning.

For the love of all things beneficial, please don't make a musical episode (in an interview the showrunner mentioned it would be easier but if they do this they'll end up like Grey's and it'll be ridiculous. Who wants to watch first responders singing while they work? 😕 I don't!).

Please let Bobby and Athena be happy empty nesters for a change instead of throwing more trauma at them because they've suffered enough.

Give Hen and Karen the screen time they deserve and let them remind Nathaniel he said he would follow their lead in 2x5 but he didn't.

Don't drag the Madney wedding out for several episodes like they did their proposal.

Can Chris get a storyline of his own? Denny had one that lasted for 4 episodes so why can't Chris get one too?

Finally, can they just make Buddie CANON already? It's been too long and it's time for Buck and Eddie to be happy. Stop throwing random women at them because it's exhausting to watch and no one wants to watch repeat versions of B/T with B/N and E/A with E/M. If they won't let them be happy together then let them be single because there are happy single people in the world.

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saintsenara · 14 days

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As someone who isn't the biggest Hermione fan and keeps it quiet because greater fandom LOVES her, I'm honestly gagging for more of your Hermione takes. Especially your takes on fanon Hermione, who I can't STAND. Have a good one x

thank you very much, anon - there are dozens of us!

hermione is certainly the character i struggle to find common ground with the most - and this has been the case since i first read philosopher's stone as a child.

[which has actually been a really fascinating pop-culture experience - i think we tend to overlook, both because the media landscape and its representation of child and teen girls has changed since the 1990s and because of jkr's increasingly harmful views on gender, just how groundbreaking hermione was as a female protagonist in media which wasn't marketed primarily or exclusively towards girls. there is a reason why so many girls and women identified with her when the books were coming out - and it was very interesting for me growing up to not be one of them.]

the cause of my beef with hermione is for the incredibly petty reason that i find people who possess many of her more... striking traits quite difficult to deal with in real life, particularly if they don't acknowledge [which people in the hermione vein often don't...] that these traits are things it might benefit them to work on in their interpersonal relationships...

but this doesn't prevent me recognising that canon!hermione [and any real person like her] is interesting - and that her more annoying traits work well with her more straightforwardly admirable ones to create a fully-rounded character who, from a fanfiction perspective, is a great vehicle for all sorts of tropes, themes, and storylines.

which brings us - of course - to fanon!hermione...

fanon!hermione is, at her core, another brick in the wall of mary-sues. she's beautiful, and so clever she can solve millennia-old puzzles without batting an eyelid, and she's preternaturally emotionally intelligent, and she's morally spotless, and she's always right, and the story's preferred romantic partner worships the ground she walks on, and anyone who doesn't like her is punished.

i don't think - to be clear - that there is anything wrong, per se, with people wanting to write fanon!hermione [nor, to be frank, with other flawless fanon versions of female characters, oc mary-sues, or self-indulgent self-inserts - i'll defend the right to have fun with characters to the death]. this is a hobby, and people's way of engaging with that hobby doesn't have to appeal to me - it's fun escapism sometimes to write a character who is wonderful and perfect and beloved and has a sexy partner; and when it comes to accusations of writing someone "out-of-character", let she who is without sin cast the first stone...

but i also think - and [sigh] here comes some discourse - that fanon!hermione is part of a slight... girlbossification of female characters in the harry potter fandom [and presumably in others, i just don't follow closely enough to know] which i've always been a little uneasy about.

i understand why this happens - this fandom, like many, has an overwhelming preference for making blorbos of male characters and for imagining these characters in slash relationships. the treatment of female characters in slash subfandoms - i.e. tonks in wolfstar spaces; lily in jegulus spaces - is often straightforwardly misogynistic, and even in cases where it isn't, female characters are often shuffled quietly to the sidelines, except when they pop up - often suddenly in a queer pairing of their own - to benignly cheerlead the male couple.

and i think it's good that this is challenged - as i also think it's good that the heteronormative vibes of a lot of slash are challenged - and that we, as a fandom, are increasingly interested in female-centric works [whether focused on a romantic pairing or otherwise] and discussions. i hope these continue to take up fandom space.

but i have also noticed that the way female characters are written and talked about in these context is - as i've said - quite #girlboss in its approach. the focus is on women as clever and competent and feisty and unruffled and brave.

[including female villains, there are a lot of girlboss bellatrixes knocking around...]

and great! it should be! - but from what i've seen this also comes accompanied by a resistance to the idea that women can also be boring, unintelligent, self-infantilising, vain, arrogant, ignorant, talentless, meek, domestic, rude, dislikable, conservative, incurious, complicit in their own victimisation, plain wrong, and so on, and not only still be worthy of exploration, but be worthy of these characteristics not being automatically considered bad things for someone to possess and it not being seen as letting down the sisterhood to explore a woman who possesses them.

and, sure, hermione cannot be described as many of these things - but she is...

self-righteous; cruel; petty; from a privileged class background in the muggle world which blinkers her understanding of the class structure of the wizarding one; stubborn; terrible under pressure; shown by the text to be intelligent largely due to an ability to rote learn; a people-pleaser with a tendency towards a slightly hagrid-ish blind loyalty; extremely deferential to authority and willing to tolerate cruel treatment from authority figures [i.e. snape]; the most childlike of the trio [she takes her schoolbooks on the run and reads through them for comfort! she's an enormous animal lover!]; interested in one of form of stereotypical femininity [knitting! wearing pretty dresses!] even if she rejects the form of stereotypical femininity liked by e.g. parvati and lavender [and anyone who thinks she's not going to get along with her mother-in-law because molly's a housewife is dead wrong - she's having the time of her life helping put together a sunday lunch at the burrow]; possessed of a filthy sense of humour [i will never understand why emma watson said that the key to playing her was to be prim...]; someone who obviously wants to be liked and to be loved; and so on...

[and also, by the end of the pre-epilogue narrative, eighteen. she's often written in fics in a way which makes her sound like she's seen a lot of life - especially if the fic wants to claim she's "too mature" to bother with men her own age... but she hasn't - she's a teenager, and the reason she's so unpolished and abrasive is because literally all teenagers are unpolished and abrasive. it's just one of the mortifying agonies of growing up.]

we should love this. it makes her thorny and messy and mixed-up and human - and i am perfectly delighted by explorations of her character which delve into unravelling this tangle.

i just like her less as someone who is there to be right and beloved and uncriticised.

unless it's by ron. everyone should be uncomplicatedly adored by their wife guy.

#asks answered #in defence of...#hermione granger #annoying canon version only #we love unlikeable women in this house #reject the girlboss paradigm

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novlr · 1 month

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I have so many story ideas but I can't just write them. Moreover, coming up with tye plot is what I struggle with. I know my idea, but where do I start it, or when do I end it. My ideas are mostly YA romance but I don't know how to make the story more interesting then a simple Fall in love story.

You have a notebook full of amazing YA romance story ideas, but when you sit down to write, you struggle to turn those concepts into well-structured plots. You want to write stories that are deeper than just “boy meets girl, they fall in love.” But how do you take your ideas and flesh them out into interesting, multi-dimensional narratives? Many aspiring writers get stuck at the plotting stage. The good news is there are some key strategies you can use to build your ideas into rich, engaging plots that will keep your readers turning pages!

Start with a central conflict

Every good story needs a central conflict that drives the plot forward. In a YA romance, this is usually more than just “will they or won’t they get together.” Think about what is keeping your characters apart. Some ideas:

They’re from different social circles or cliques at school

Their families disapprove of the relationship for some reason

One of them is already in a relationship

There’s an imbalance of power or popularity between them

They have opposing life goals or plans for the future

They have clashing beliefs, values, or cultural backgrounds

Develop your main characters

Compelling characters are the heart of any good story. In a YA romance, you need at least two well-developed main characters that readers will root for. Here are some ideas:

Give them unique personalities, quirks, talents, flaws, and backstories

Develop their individual goals, motivations, and fears – what do they want and why

Highlight the ways they are similar and different from each other – what attracts them, and what causes friction?

Have them make difficult choices throughout the story that reveal their true character

Give them opportunities to be brave, vulnerable, kind, and selfish – let readers see all their sides

Avoid clichés unless they serve the characters or the story

Use the supporting cast

Don’t just focus on the two main characters. Develop an interesting supporting cast of friends, enemies, family members, teachers, etc. Here are some ideas on how to utilise supporting characters:

Have them provide advice, support, or a listening ear for your main characters, helping them navigate their feelings and conflicts

Use them to introduce new complications or obstacles in the main relationship, like disapproval, jealousy, or misunderstandings

Let them be comic relief or a source of levity to balance out the heavier emotional moments in the story

Have them act as foils to your main characters, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses through contrast or comparison

Give them their own subplots and character arcs that intersect with and impact the main storyline

Use them to raise the stakes by putting them in danger or jeopardy as a result of the main characters’ actions or choices

Raise the stakes

Think about how you can raise the stakes throughout the story to keep readers engaged. What’s at risk if the characters don’t get together?

Put the relationship at risk — make them choose between love and something else important to them (family, friends, dreams, etc.)

Introduce a ticking clock element — give the characters a limited time to overcome the obstacles or make a crucial decision

Have actions or choices unintentionally hurt each other or the people they care about

Raise the external conflicts to be life-or-death, not just inconveniences – put characters in physical danger as a result of the romance

Reveal new information that changes everything the characters thought they knew, forcing them to question the relationship

Make the characters sacrifice or lose something important to be together, and make them grapple with whether it’s worth the cost

Add twists and turns

Don’t let your plot be too predictable. Throw in some unexpected twists and turns in the relatinoship to keep readers on their toes. Some examples could be:

Reveal that one someone has been keeping a major secret that changes the relationship when revealed

Have a supporting character turn out to be working against the central relationship for their own reasons

Introduce a love triangle, forcing the main characters to question their feelings

Reveal a shared history or connection they didn’t know about, casting the relationship in a new light

Have the characters break up or be separated due to a misunderstanding or outside force

Include a major plot twist that isn’t directly related to the romance, but that impacts the characters and their relationship in a significant way

Create a satisfying resolution

Ultimately, readers want to see the characters end up together (it is a romance, after all). But that doesn’t mean the ending has to be all sunshine and rainbows. Here are some ideas for a satisfying resolution:

Have the characters end up together, but make them earn their happy ending by overcoming the conflicts and growing as individuals

Show how the relationship has transformed the characters for the better, and how they’re now stronger together than apart

Resolve the external plot conflicts in a way that feels authentic and earned, not just convenient or contrived

Give the characters a moment of romantic triumph where they declare or demonstrate their love in a meaningful way

Hint at the future and the challenges they may still face, but make it clear they’ll face them together

Leave the reader feeling like the characters are going to be okay, and that their love story will continue beyond the final page

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sepublic · 10 months

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I saw people complain that Belos didn’t see Caleb’s ghost one last time during his death, and now that I’ve really thought about it in hindsight… I don’t think the ghost sequence in For the Future was meant to set up some sort of epiphany or something like that for Belos; Rather, it was THE conclusion to his twisted little storyline involving Caleb and the Grimwalkers.

I think what happened was that in earlier drafts for Belos’ death, the writers considered having Caleb and the Grimwalkers appear, but then they decided that they wanted the scene’s focus to be between Luz and Belos; This is the series finale, it’s Luz’s triumph against Belos first and foremost, and that of the friends and family she’s made (people Belos looks down upon).

But the writers still wanted a final bit between Belos and the ghosts, so they moved it to For the Future, another time we see him dying at a low point; There’s no other part of Watching and Dreaming this would fit, not even the sequence when Belos possesses the heart, since at that moment he’s convinced he’s nearing a narrow but certain victory.

So Belos all by his lonesome with only his dark thoughts to keep him company, falling apart, dragging himself as he’s desperately trying to figure something out? That happens in For the Future, so the ‘ghosts’ happen in that episode. Apparently some color references refer to these ghosts as illusions, which points fairly solidly towards the interpretation that it’s all in Belos’ delirious head.

And I think it makes sense that it’s the end; Not only are we accounting for how a lot had to be crammed in, but I feel it’s symbolic. After being rejected by Hunter, the big culmination of Hunter’s conflict against his uncle, Belos comes crawling back to all of the other Grimwalkers. It’s that same memory of Caleb and his clones he’s chasing, he tries to inhabit another grimwalker, one last time…

But it fails; The grimwalkers are done with Belos, because Hunter finally stood up to him in the previous episode and broke the cycle. Belos can’t continue it anymore, despite his final effort to resuscitate this thread of his life; He is rejected both mentally and now physically by the clones. So in the end, Belos leaves it all behind. After being forced to suffer in the culmination of his failure with Caleb, it rejects him one final time. And by that point, Belos has gotten the hint, he can’t go back to that anymore.

So he finally let go; He moves on, he abandons it behind in the Titan’s skull. It was never about Caleb, it all circled back to Philip and what he wanted and expected of his brother, rather than actual, unconditional love. Belos has dedicated his centuries to two things, saving Caleb and slaying the witches… And now he’s forced to reconcile with the fact that Caleb is a lost cause when the last Grimwalker fails, so all Belos has left is his murder, his vengeance. And he casts aside this last thread to pursue that ultimate goal.

Plus, Belos’ relatively subdued reaction, as people pointed out, indicate he’s been experiencing this for a while now; And he hadn’t changed then, so why would he change now, from an in-universe standpoint? And I suppose a Doylist one, too. The fact that the ghosts were given their own separate scene also means the writers could focus on Belos and the Grimwalkers without worrying about other characters present, which gives us a longer sequence than a brief cameo at the end.

A lot of people insisted they just wanted a final acknowledgment of Caleb by Belos, anything at all, in the finale… But I think we DID get a final haunting, it just had to be pushed back into the penultimate episode instead, especially to make room for Luz. Whom I must remind you is the main protagonist, for whom this entire story begins and ultimately comes back to. As a contrast to Belos, who acts entitled to this assumption for himself, his motives ultimately boil down into thinking he’s the main hero. But it’s Luz, who learns to let go of that sort of pride, and healthily engage with her own story, in her own way.

And before people complain that Kikimora and Boscha took time away from Belos (whose Caleb story would still end in For the Future with or without them), I should remind y’all that there are actually plenty of reasons for that subplot; For starters, the Hexside situation follows through on the setup of Hunter telling the students about Belos’ plan in Labyrinth Runners, so something actually comes of that. A bunch of unruly kids being in charge, with an adult preying on the leader, is a parallel to the Collector’s situation.

Conflict with Boscha and Kikimora create a low point for Luz and Willow to be frustrated over, providing an opportunity for their loved ones to step in and make a breakthrough, thereby contributing to Luz and Willow’s growth. Hunter gets to develop a relationship that is healthy to him, helping him move on from his abuser.

Boscha being an antagonist leads to a wonderful scene in which she and Willow are paralleled, which of course contributes to Willow’s arc. And this is speculative, but this plot seems to be the remnants of an original plan for Boscha and Kikimora’s arcs that unfortunately had to be trimmed down thanks to the shortening; Kikimora especially, since she’s set up in the S2 intro as being on the same level/significance as Lilith and Hunter, and was likely intended to be until the shortening.

#the owl house #emperor belos #philip wittebane #the owl house boscha #the owl house kikimora #meta #caleb wittebane #grimwalker

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beeanca-writing · 4 months

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That other anon was being an asshole, but I am curious about what you had planned for EfC? Not gonna lie, I'll miss the cast—would be nice to know what happens to who!

I'm still unsure what I'll do with EfC. I might come back to it once this current period of my life is over, though it'd likely be very different. First of all, it'd be a shorter story. I'd either get rid of some of the ROs, or find some way to better integrate them into the narrative (compare Harry, who you can have this huge, important backstory with vs Val, whom I love but is also just some guy, I guess?). It'd also probably be more focused on romance since that's usually what interests me the most in IF anyway.

I also might scrap a lot of it and stick to the storylines that interest me the most—mainly the Harry stuff. A shorter game dealing with The Hedonist returning to Court and having to face Harry sounds really fun to write, and it'd be a lot less complex to plan than this whole mess. Also, Harry is definitely a more developed character than some of the other ROs. For example, I love Camila to death, but she doesn't have much significance in the story other than "The Hedonist's friend" and I was never able to find her some meaning.

I'd also make The Hedonist even more of a fixed character by getting rid of all personality stats and focusing solely on their actions instead of worrying about personality. The stats were all carried over from CoG, and it's never been something I enjoy in their brand of IF. I was going to do this anyway when I first transferred the game to Twine, but stupidly asked Tumblr what they thought and, since most people preferred keeping the stats, I did that even though I didn't really want to.

As for to what would happen to the cast... In case I do come back to EfC, I don't think this would change much, so I'll put it into a read more in case someone doesn't want to know. If anyone has any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Grandma would die. Sorry!

Also, Cordelia was The Hedonist's twin who drowned in front of them, but that was a bit obvious, wasn't it? I'd definitely remove that from any rewrites, it's so unnecessary and cliché.

Henry would divorce Elizabeth to be with Nicholas. The Hedonist could either support him on this or not.

Due to the divorce, the rest of the family would be disgraced in Court. Evie's reputation is a little less affected if she's still with Harry.

As I mentioned in the past, The Hedonist can choose whether to stay in Court or not at the end.

The Hedonist and Evie can repair their relationship or not. Evie eventually makes an effort to become friends with The Hedonist, and you could choose whether to play nice or not. If The Hedonist romances Harry and you manage to have a good relationship, she forgives you, but asks for some time away from both The Hedonist and Harry.

I didn't really plan Camila's character arc well. She becomes a Republican rebel and can either still be friends with The Hedonist or have distanced herself a bit if they continue to be an asshole.

Sabina can choose to no longer be a nun if encouraged either by a friend or romanced Hedonist. If you romanced her but didn't encourage her to leave the convent, she dumps you. (Note: You later find out she was forced to become a nun by her family.)

Similarly to Sabina, Narcissa can choose to break things off with the Emperor if, again, encouraged either by a friend or romanced Hedonist.

Calvin's ending is the wildest one, actually. He finds out he's a father after the boy's mother passes away. The Hedonist can either tell him to abandon the boy or tell him to raise him (if Calvin is romanced, they kind of become a step parent).

Val can be encouraged to start studying to become a librarian. Also, his whole thing is that his father is the Emperor lol

Lastly, horse boy Harry will want to divorce Evie if romanced and marry The Hedonist instead. If you refuse to marry him, he divorces her anyway but doesn't stay with The Hedonist. A friend!Harry stays with Evie, I think? I don't know.

#have fun w all this info lol

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positivexcellence · 16 days

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EXCLUSIVES INTERVIEWS How Jared Padalecki Changed From A Gilmore Girls Kid To Walker Season 4's Father - Exclusive Interview

"Walker" is now in its fourth season. What about the show, and also the character of Cordell, has made you want to keep coming back year after year?

Well, so many things. But I think to answer your second question first, what I love about the character of Cordell Walker and what he is going through is that it feels, though very different, very similar to my own life. I mean, I am a father. This is the first chance I've ever had to play a father. So selfishly, I love exploring what that looks like. Our writers have been so diligent about making this show as honest as possible. I hope I don't sound like I'm disparaging the OG "Walker, Texas Ranger" in any way, shape, or form, but this is not a martial arts show as much as it's a human being show about adulting and about having relationships and having troubles, and things are dirty and messy and there's not always an easy fix.

It's not necessarily get the bad guy and everything's good for the week. It's sort of like, get the bad guy, but in the process of getting the bad guy, you ignored your daughter, so how do you fix that? Or in the process of getting the bad guy, you skipped out on your son. Or in the process of getting the bad guy, you locked yourself in your room for three weeks straight and weren't available to anybody, and now you have some relationships to repair. So it's much more similar, in my opinion, to life. Life as I know it, at least.

And to answer your first question about Season 4, I'm really excited. We haven't really explored past traumas in the sense of the Ranger world. And so we have this serial killer, the Jackal, and it's very clear that the Jackal — before Captain James (Coby Bell) was captain, he was just Ranger, and Ranger James and Ranger Walker were partners — he really terrorized these guys, specifically Ranger James, then Captain James. And Season 4 has been a great kind of dark dive into what someone can do to you psychologically when it seems like they're playing with your emotions, and they're one step ahead of you all the time, and you just can't save those around you when your job is to protect and serve.

"Walker" is your first dive into the world of executive producing. What has that been like for you?

My trailer's bigger, I get to tell people what to do. [laughs] By the final seasons of a show I did before "Walker" called "Supernatural," Jensen Ackles and I both had a say in the storylines and in the scripts and the blocking. And then, to quote the Bard, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." We weren't executive producers by any means, we weren't involved in all the meetings that artists aren't necessarily usually involved with, but we were so passionate about our characters and about the story and about the canon and about the cast and crew that our vote was counted, even though we were never producers on "Supernatural."

With "Supernatural," I think the executive producers were able to see through 10 years of example that Jensen and I cared about the story and the script and the characters, not about like, "Hey, it'd be cool if I took my shirt off. Hey, it'd be cool if I had leather pants and a motorcycle." They knew that we were doing what was best for the character. And so I think when you come in as the EP, that's assumed, and so that kind of bridge has already been passed, that speed bump has already been navigated. That's been wonderful.

I have a wonderful relationship with ["Walker" creator] Anna Fricke. Funny enough, her husband Jeremy Carver was executive producer and showrunner of "Supernatural" for many years, and that's how she and I first met. And from day one, she and I have just been on the same page. We just talked this morning, as a matter of fact, about the finale that we're shooting right now. And so it's been nicely passionate. I think what I've found in my 20-something years in the industry is that, as an actor, what happens between action and cut doesn't really interest me all that much. It's fun. But what I'm interested in is being home with a script, with the puzzle of how does this work? Where does this not work? How can this work better? What else could we do?

So to be a partner and trying to determine what storylines are most poignant and most pertinent along the way, and what works best for each character has been really special and I'm really excited about it. And even learning a lot about what happens, quote-unquote "behind the scenes," some of which is kind of unnecessary for me to know. "Well, hey, this location's going to cost $1,000, but this is going to be $1,200." I'm like, "Okay, well, what's better?"

I was a kid that spent time in my room building Legos, much like my middle son. I was just so fascinated by the way things work. And I think, frankly, for certain actors, that informs their performance as well, knowing everything that went into why a scene has to be a certain way. I can recall on "Gilmore Girls" or "Supernatural" reading a scene and going, "Well, wouldn't it be a lot better if we did this instead?" And now having been EP for years, I can read a scene and go like, "Oh, I know why this is inside, not outside. Oh, I know why they just push each other and don't get into a full-on fight. Oh, I know why this person has lines, or this one doesn't." So it kind of helps complete the puzzle, so to speak.

Speaking of "Supernatural," you've had some really big roles in your career, like Sam, and Dean on "Gilmore Girls," obviously.

OG Dean! I like to say OG Dean because Jensen was Dean on "Supernatural," but I'd already been Dean on "Gilmore Girls" for five years. So I like to try and kind of wink and nod.

What does it mean to have those fans that started with you on "Gilmore Girls" also embracing this newer character of Walker?

I can't put into words how grateful I am that people have enjoyed the work I do. And funny enough, even though it's scripted television, I feel like my work and career have been kind of like a journal. On "Gilmore Girls," I did the pilot when I was 17 years old and I was a kid fresh out of San Antonio, Texas, where the only apartment I could afford, the door didn't lock. It was in the parking lot of a liquor store. And then I grew up a little bit. And then at 22, I started "Supernatural" and I was still essentially a kid. But during "Supernatural," I became more of a man and an adult and a husband and then a father. And now on "Walker," I'm a father. And so it's really life imitates art.

And so the idea that people have taken the time to listen to me, I feel listened to. Which is ironic because I'm playing characters. This isn't a documentary by any means. But I'm flattered and I hope they all understand that I would not be here able to tell stories if it weren't for them, period.

Is there anything that you want the fans to know before they watch the "Walker" Season 4 premiere?

Yeah, we have a shortened season. We have 13 episodes. Jensen and I used to joke when we were doing a 23-episode season of "Supernatural," you're not going to win them all. If you go up to bat 23 times, you're not going to hit home runs every time. If you shoot 23 three-pointers, you're not going to make them all. But with 13 episodes, each one is wham, bam, don't miss, don't blink, don't walk away. We're bringing a lot of awesome, incredible, high-stakes stuff the audience's way, and I can't wait to watch alongside them.

Looper

#walker #jared padalecki

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cursedonyx · 8 months

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Hello, sorry to bother you, but I've had a little brainrot idea for hogwarts legacy for a hot minute, but I don't have the time to sit down and write it. The idea is that mc has a baby or toddler little sibling (male or female), and since they're both orphans, mc has to raise their siblings while in hogwarts and dealing with all the events of the game. And then the absolutely shocked faces and storylines of the people around them seeing mc beat goblins with a baby strapped to their back. Sorry if it's unrealistic, but I had to raise my neice and nephew practically by myself at 15 so I would love to see it happen in game.

Hi, what an interesting concept! I decided to do this Reactions style as it seemed it would be easier to fit in all the characters I could think of – hope you like it!

Asks are open ~ send me anything ✨

Sebastian Sallow: It was certainly a shock to see the new student march through the Great Hall later than everyone else, the rumours already circling about their arrival. Even more surprising was the fact that this fifth-year had a… a baby of all things strapped to their back! Was it theirs? Were they a teenage parent? Was it a cousin, a sibling, or some waif they’d picked up along the way?

Sebastian learns quickly enough the new student’s baby is in fact their sibling, and is always with them. Even in class. And when Professor Hecat suggests they duel, MC doesn’t even think about unstrapping the infant from their shoulders, despite Hecat’s protestations. He’d go easy on them, for the sake of the baby.

That was his mistake. MC proved to be a formidable opponent, kicking his arse seven ways to Sunday without even breaking a sweat as the baby watched curiously from over their shoulder and the rest of the class cheered them on. And as the weeks and months went by, the baby joined them in their adventures, merely shrieking with glee as MC dived and rolled out of the way of goblin attacks and clapping their hands as MC torched inferi, as if it was all some sort of game. Sebastian made sure to be extra careful in protecting MC, for the baby’s sake. Just the baby. Of course it was. It had nothing to do with the fact he admired MC more than perhaps even his own parents.

Ominis Gaunt: Ominis has never liked children, especially babies. They’re noisy, smelly, sticky, and he’s convinced if he holds one, it’ll throw up on him. It takes him a moment or ten to warm up to MC and even longer to warm up to MC’s baby, especially when he catches both of them coming out of the Undercroft, smelling like Confringo. Even so, he reins in his temper as he scolds MC, not wanting to upset the baby and cause a ruckus at this time of night. He can’t help but be concerned for the little one as MC accepts their tongue-lashing with humility and skulks away. Casting Confringo around a child surely isn’t a good idea.

His concern grows when he’s foraging for ingredients along the edge of the Forbidden Forest one day and hears MC and the baby go into the Forest itself, whistling happily as the baby burbles on their shoulders. He follows, wondering if they know how dangerous it is and planning to keep them safe from a distance when a spider attacks. MC dispatches it with ease before he can even aim his wand. He rushes over, intending to scold them again, only to find MC nonchalantly passing the baby a severed spider leg to play with. The baby promptly hits Ominis about the head with it and screams with laughter.

He smiles, and begins to spend more time with the toughest pair of people he thinks he’s ever met.

Garreth Weasley – Potions class is where he has the most fun, even though his experiments tend to cause fires, explosions, extra limbs and the occasional change of hair colour, all of which result in detention. That was until MC showed up to class with their sibling in tow, the little mite grasping handfuls of their hair as they brewed their potions. Damn it all, he’d really wanted to try adding doxy eggs to his brew to see what happened. He couldn’t do that with a baby in the classroom. He didn’t mind singeing his fellow students, that was the risk they all took as wizards and witches around such volatile concoctions, and if he was going to be the best potioneer the world had ever seen, well…

But he couldn’t risk hurting a baby. He loved babies. They were cute and fat with pudgy tummies and made adorable little faces with their great big eyes and drooling mouths, fascinated by everything around them.

So Garreth started behaving. He saved his experiments for outside the classroom, and though it occasionally still landed him in detention, it certainly granted him more free time, and he began to appreciate the finer rules of potion-making, leading his experiments to become more successful as time went by. He changed his cauldron station to one next to MC once Sharp determined he wouldn’t be a health hazard, and got to know them both a little better. He was stunned by all MC had been through, raising such a precious little bean all by themselves. Every time they shared a class, he had a cake or two to share, a bit of homework he’d already written for them, offering to go to Hogsmeade on their behalf to get anything they needed. Maybe one day, if MC was willing, he could be another parental figure in this cute little thing’s life. He’d always wanted a big, happy family.

Leander Prewett – There’s not much Leander really understands, though he tries very hard to pretend otherwise. One of the big things he just doesn’t get are babies. He’s never been around them, and after noticing MC has their baby with them all the time, he’s not overly keen on getting too involved and doing or saying something stupid that would make him look like an idiot.

But one day, the baby has been grizzling all day long, with MC walking them up and down all through the castle, trying to settle them, but the baby’s just not having it. He spots them coming out of the main doors to where he’s trying to get a little flying practice in, and they seem to be making a beeline for him. Merlin, if there was ever a time for someone to grace him with flight skills, it was now. He attempts to kick off from the ground and merely ends up turning head over heels four or five times before tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

Wincing, he looks up, expecting people to be laughing at him. Someone certainly is, the high-pitched, free laughter soaring over their heads. Glowering a little, he stands up and tries to preserve a little of his dignity, turning to see MC beside him, bouncing the baby in their arms. The baby is no longer grizzling, but is laughing helplessly, waving its fat little fists in glee.

MC thanks him earnestly for making her little sibling laugh, and offers to buy him a butterbeer for his trouble. On the way, Leander makes sure whenever the little one looks like it might start crying to take a pratfall or walk into a low-hanging tree branch, grinning as each time makes the baby scream with laughter.

As they talk, he learns about all MC has gone through, and his admiration for them goes through the roof. He makes sure to seek them out daily to fall down the stairs or do a silly dance to get the baby laughing. It makes MC laugh too, and he loves the way they smile when he does it.

Amit Thakkar – Amit steals up to the astronomy tower one evening to get in an extra few hours of stargazing, hoping his diligence to the subject will ingratiate him with the notoriously cold Professor Shah. But when he gets there, he sees MC leaning on the railing, dandling their sibling on their hip, pointing up at the celestial heavens and murmuring some twee nonsense about the twinkly dots. He goes quietly to his telescope, trying not to disturb them, when he overhears MC talk about the stars being the souls of those departed, and how ‘mummy and daddy are up there.’

It just about breaks his heart. He’d read about tragedy, of course, it was a staple in many of his adventure books, but learning that one of his fellow students had suffered something that made him cry when he read about made-up people enduring it, well. He leaves his telescope and moves over, leaning on the railing as well and speaking in a soft voice about the cosmos, pointing out the stars and naming them until MC lays a hand on his arm.

The baby has gone to sleep, soothed by his voice. MC thanks him, telling him the baby has been having trouble sleeping since their parents died, they both have, in fact. The baby stirs, and Amit pulls out one of his favourite books and a blanket, wrapping them both up in it and settling down nearby, reading to them both until they fall asleep.

It becomes a regular thing, and Amit smiles every time he looks up from the pages to see them cuddled up together, holding each other and sound asleep. It's nice to feel useful, and he appreciates being able to do some small thing for them when they’ve already been through so much.

Natsai Onai – While initially anxious about asking for MC’s help in dealing with Rookwood and Harlow, Natsai soon learns how capable MC is from her fellow students. When they go to rescue Highwing, Natsai almost begs her to leave their sibling in the castle, but MC refuses. Not only does the baby seem to understand the danger they are in and keeps quiet, but it seems to actually enjoy it when MC Depulso’s an arrogant Ashwinder off the edge of a tower, chuckling heartily. The baby shrieks with joy as they fly on their rescued Hippogriffs, waving their hands in the air as MC and Natsai whoop and cheer. The baby really feels like a member of the team, even though it didn’t actually do anything, sort of like a mascot.

Natsai’s fears for the baby decrease with every adventure and MC proves time and time again they’re not just a hell of a warrior, but a damn good parental figure too. She delights in the quieter moments they share, often begging MC to let her look after the baby to give MC a much deserved break. Though initially reluctant, MC agrees for a few hours one evening, saying they needs to speak with Sebastian and Ominis. They return, looking a little tired and somewhat stressed (can she blame them after hanging out with a Gaunt?), and happily takes the little one back, thanking Natsai for her help. She lets Natty look after the little one more often, and Natsai teaches them both some nursery rhymes from Matabeleland.

Poppy Sweeting – To Poppy, MC having a baby is no skin off her nose. It's almost like having a pet that’s going to be able to talk one day and clean up its own poop. Bonus! But right now, like all baby beasts, this one is adorable and she takes every moment she can to spend time with MC and their sibling, fussing over them both and insisting she cuts up their dinner for them, even if they’re in different houses.

When Poppy asks MC for help with the poachers, it’s not a decision she’s made lightly. She knows how vulnerable babies are, even baby dragons, and to bring a baby into a poacher den could signal trouble for everyone. MC insists on their sibling coming with them, and Poppy needs the help. Poppy soon learns she didn’t need to worry, watching MC absolutely decimate the poachers without breaking a sweat, the baby on her shoulders waving their own little hand as if they were casting spells as well, going ‘wheeeeeeee’ when MC rolls out of the way of a hex, and burbling happily when the dragoness stares them down.

Poppy makes a point to introduce MC and the little one to some safer beasts, enjoying a cup of tea with MC as they watch the baby roll around with the Poffle of Puffskeins Professor Howin has in the pens by the Beasts classroom. She makes a point to join Natsai when babysitting.

Professor Sharp – While initially concerned about there being a baby in his class (with Garreth, FFS) he soon learns MC is more than capable of being a responsible carer, and his admiration for them grows as he watches them soldier on with classwork, homework, babywork and, if the rumours are to be believed, their rather dangerous extra-curriculars. He makes sure to slip some Soothing Solution into MC’s bag for those difficult nights, and lets the baby chew on his auror badge the few times MC lands detention with him. He won’t give them any leeway to be a cheeky little shit in his classes, baby or no. Besides, it’s nice to watch them grow up.

Professor Garlick – She’s alarmed when MC marches into her class, baby in tow, worried the baby will be eaten by a venomous tentacula or Chinese chomping cabbage, but her concern vanishes when MC proves to have the awareness of five highly-caffeinated people, keeping the baby safe during her classes. She offers to help where she can, and MC gratefully accepts dummies with essence of dittany on them to soothe the baby’s teething.

Professor Black – Most people are convinced he doesn’t even know what a baby is, despite the fact he’s got five children. He’s aloof most of the time, barely paying anyone any attention, least of all MC and the baby. But after a particularly trying day when the baby just wouldn’t settle, MC watches with apprehension as Black strides towards them, scowling. Expecting a scolding (and a detention for the attitude they prepare to give back in return) MC is surprised when Black holds out a tiny plush doll in the shape of a kneazle without a word, then stalks off like he didn’t just give their sibling a teddy.

Professor Fig – Having seen all MC can do, even with a baby on their back at all times, he can’t help but admire them, though he desperately wishes they didn’t have to do so much alone. As such, he takes on the role of not just mentor, but father and grandfather figure to the pair. When things get too tough, he happily encourages MC to take a nap in his office, rocking the baby to sleep as MC snoozes on the sofa, cooking for the three of them and making sure to help MC with their homework. Towards the middle of the year, MC bursts into his office, holding the little one aloft.

“Say it again, baby!” MC cries.

The baby grins, chewing its own pudgy fist. Around a mouthful of their own hand, they speak their first word.

“Fig,” they say.

It’s the proudest moment of his life.

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #hogwarts legacy fanfic #garreth weasley #leander prewett #natsai onai #amit thakkar #poppy sweeting #professor sharp #professor garlick #professor fig #professor black #hl reactions

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crushedsweets · 4 months

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What is your au!? If you did post about it it's super deep and I can't find it

im gonna talk so much oh my god. basically, i just tried to make a singular, coherent storyline for the characters.

i have a website here and my tag here . . some stuff is outdated. maybe ill make another sideblog for it too if that can make it easier to navigate...

So. There was this thousand old creature living in the mines of a (fictionalized) Tuscaloosa forest. it was dormant for centuries, until year 2000 and it woke up and broke into two halves - The Operator and Slenderman

the operator wants to get out of the forest. escape the mines, roam free, exist wherever. slenderman wants to go back into hibernation and rest in the forest.

the operator cannot go too far without slenderman, since he has the physical part of the entities being - which is why the operator infects people with O/S syndrome. it's basically slender sickness, with dizziness, nausea, blacking out, losing track of days/weeks/months, aggression, etc. he uses this to disrupt the world around him and lash out against slenderman

in turn, slenderman force feeds O/S 'patients' with his physical body. this forces the victim to eventually 'recover' from the illness. it can take weeks/months, and is similar to withdrawal symptoms with additional layers of aggression, bloodlust, etc.

once they are 'healed', he starts using them as proxies. not all of them, but once he has Kate, Tim, Brian, and Toby, he sends them out to 'save' other Operator victims. some people succumb to the illness and die/are arrested, and some people are 'healed' but tossed away cuz slendy doesnt want them.

additionally, the proxies are treated like herd dogs who keep cryptid beings/ghosts/etc out of the public eye and in the forest. literally will round up and chase creatures like the rake back in

as a result, i changed a lot of peoples origin stories OR i gave them a hyperspecific story that isnt canon AT ALL...

OVERALL, the main point of my AU is the Operator and Slenderman using people as pawns in their 'war' AND trying to focus on the characters growing past their backstories and with one another. most of the cast arent killers because theyre sadists, theyre either completely sick and not in control of their body, or are forced to as their 'job'. but there are some people who are still the traditional creepypasta killer, like Jeff and Ann... LOL

i have a little map and everything :3

#asks #creeped

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tommykinard6 · 3 days

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you know what the actual problem is with 911? that it never set up any ambitions outside of romance for the characters. the entire discussion about "but what about eddie?" just because of bucktommy possibly being endgame highlights once again that none of the characters have long-term goals in life that they want to achieve, something related to any hobbies or careers. they exist and haven't moved anywhere in years as characters. none of them have a defined passion or goal outside their job, and there is no clear trajectory set up for them of where they want to go in life that is not about romantic love or having a family. as soon as you take away the possibility that eddie might be together with buck someday, suddenly it feels like eddies's story is over because what else is left there that people could root for? on paper, he already has achieved everything regarding platonic and romantic and familial love. i beg 911 to finally give the characters goals and allow them to step outside the 118 cage. i know why they haven't yet, but it doesn't make for good television in the long run. the plot cannot keep going in circles or else the show has a real problem. grey's anatomy, despite all its flaws, did this much better because the workplace of choice allowed for continuous development and changing trajectories/careers.

You know what, I actually find this take really interesting and I think I agree for the most part. I think the issue with moving people forward career wise is that means we face the possibility of losing cast. Like if Hen had become a doctor, it would’ve been difficult to keep focusing on her storyline so 9-1-1 is about firefighters, cops, and dispatchers. We don’t go into the hospital unless someone is hurt. Same if someone gets promoted, like Athena, or retires. There will be a huge dynamic shift. We’ve not lost main cast like on other shows, where characters are killed off every season. To have ambition in life often means moving on and I don’t think 9-1-1 quite knows how to play both ends just yet.

Like if firefighters are promoted. Hen would be a great captain, but that would mean losing her at the 118 or having Bobby retire. If she left, Eddie could transition fully into paramedic if he so wished but what if he didn’t? Maybe Ravi? I’m not even sure about what could happen with Chim. Athena could take a promotion to lieutenant but she wouldn’t be on the streets as much. I feel like Maddie has more room for career advancement, maybe into a supervisory position with Josh.

I definitely see what you’re saying and I’m curious to know what other people think

#911 abc #9-1-1 #911 show #evan buckley #eddie diaz #bobby nash #athena grant #henrietta wilson #hen wilson #chimney han #911 speculation #tk6 answers

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bcacstuff · 6 days

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From a live blog (part 1)

Program of the first Day

First panel of the day with Steven Cree

Steven Cree indicates that he is really delighted to return to Paris. He loves attending this convention.

What would he like to change about his character (except giving him back both legs)? Steven Cree would have liked Ian to have more storylines in Outlander.

Steven recalls a scene in Season 1 where he and Sam have to repair a cart. He says he couldn't stop laughing while he was doing that scene and that it took 13 and 14 takes to get it right. do it. He adds that he couldn't keep his seriousness because he had to make it as real as possible and that they seemed really ridiculous when they did this scene.

A fan wants to know if Steven Cree knew Diana Gabaldon's books before being in Outlander. He admits no and that he has never read them.

New panel at Land Con 6 with Sophie Skelton

What is the pivotal moment in Brianna’s evolution according to Sophie? She finds that motherhood has really helped Brianna grow, she is no longer just focused on herself but takes care of others, of her family.

Which Taylor Swift song could match Brianna? Sophie thinks Bad Blood could suit her for season 4. Now it would be You Need to Calm Down.

Sophie really liked the moment when Brianna is interviewing her boss in the 80s and she shows her qualities as an engineer and she is not there to serve her tea. It's a strong moment.

She indicates that she herself has been confronted with cases of mysoginia and that there is sometimes a change in behavior towards her when she talks about her job.

A fan congratulates Sophie on her performance in the scene where Brianna learns that Mandy is sick and asks her how she prepared for this scene. She says she tries to use her personal life. She imagines in particular if this happened to her dog or to her brothers.

If Sophie could travel in time, she would like to go to the 1920s for parties or to the time of the Egyptians to see how the pyramids were built.

It's Izzy Meikle-Small's turn to take the stage

Izzy says that with Joey they hit it off quickly off set and that it really helped for the scenes between them in season 7.

Izzy was intimidated to join Outlander, such a well-established series whose cast is a real family. She feels lucky to have joined the series with Joey and Charles which made her integration easier. Looking back, she says she shouldn't have stressed because they were all very welcoming.

Izzy says it's hard to find common ground with Rachel who is also religious but she hopes to share her loyal side and kindness. She adds that through her character, she learns a little more about herself on a daily basis.

Izzy looks back on two scenes that she particularly remembers from season 7A. The first is the scene in which she shaves William. With Charles, she had just met, so it was a little weird. She indicates that this is the very first scene she shot, but also the scene she performed for her audition.

The second scene is the one where Rachel slaps Young Ian after he tries to kiss her. She says it was fun to play, especially with John Bell who became like her best friend.

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thatgirl4815 · 9 months

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Only Friends Predictions

Purely for my own entertainment, I want to make Only Friends predictions now so that I can refer to them later and see how accurate they turn out to be (which I don’t have too high of hopes for, but I’m gonna go for it anyway). I’m gonna make these attempts based on what we know so far/what some members of the cast have said.

I would be really interested though to see other predictions? Who do you think will end up together? Speculating is the only way I know to pass the time before it airs, lol.

In short:

- Ray and Sand will end up together.

- Boston and Nick will be split. Boston will still be alone, but Nick will have moved on to someone new.

- Top will have cut ties with the group after Boston ruins his relationship with Mew. Mew and Ray will continue to be friends, but Mew will remain alone (but content).

Of course, this could be totally off, but I’m going with it now based purely on ✨vibes✨

Getting into the details...

SandRay

First and Khaotung said that their storyline is emotional compared to the hotness of the other couples’ storylines. I also know that Jojo has a thing for mixing up established pairings. As we’ve seen, the messiness of SandRay’s relationship really revolves around Ray’s feelings for Mew. But if they keep Sand’s characterization from the trailer, he won’t stand for any of Ray’s crap (“I won’t be in anyone’s choices.”). Does this mean Sand will end things and leave Ray to grovel for his affections again? Will Ray confess to Mew, and come crawling back to Sand after being rejected? Will Sand keep standing up for himself, or will Ray make some grand gesture to win him back? Can he be won back?

Even though this series is being marketed as messy, toxic, and chaotic, I’m certain there will be some core thematic aspects at play in each characters’ relationships. For SandRay (and BostonNick, I’d argue), self-worth could be a fundamental aspect. How much do you value the relationship, versus how much do you value yourself? I also wonder to what extent there could be a privilege check for Ray’s character. We know he’s wealthy and a playboy, but will his wealth create a division between him and Sand? Will Ray change himself? Obviously I’m posing a lot of questions, but until we get more info, I’m going to predict that Ray and Sand will end up together in the end, mostly because I think Ray navigating his feelings for both Sand and Mew--and coming to terms with what these feelings say about himself--would find its natural conclusion in Sand. Given what FirstKhao have said about how emotional their storyline is, I think it’s clear the feelings run deep for both of them. Also, I’m getting the sense from the trailer that Ray’s crush on Mew is unrequited.

Finally, FirstKhao have made a comment about their characters ending up together. They did say this before filming I believe, so might take it with a grain of salt.

BostonNick

My biggest dilemma at this point is figuring out how the SandRay plot will differ from the BostonNick one, because both Nick and Sand and Boston and Ray are in a similar position. Nick, to me, seems more likely to beg for Boston’s affection while Sand seems more ready to let all hell break loose and cut ties. In other words, Sand’s reaction in the trailer might indicate that he values himself too much to stand for Ray’s indecision from the get go. For Nick, this could be more of a slow-building awareness. By that I mean, I could see Nick coming to understand that Boston doesn’t deserve his affection if he’s going to disregard his feelings and treat him as a fwb when Nick keeps pushing for something more. I could see Nick making a stand, essentially telling Boston “him or me?” and Boston choosing Top...only for Top to cut ties with Boston after messing up his relationship with Mew. In short, I foresee Boston getting the worst outcome of everyone. But maybe this is just because he seems to be responsible for most of the chaos in the trailer.

TopMew

Top and Mew as an established couple in the trailer seems like the most likely endgame--and that’s exactly why I think they won’t end up together. I have a hard time believing Mew will just let Top off once he knows about his relationship with Boston. (I’m operating under the assumption here that Boston and Top resume their affair while Top and Mew are together...at least for a little while.) I could see Top keeping up his fwb relationship with Boston for a short time into his relationship with Mew, but as he gets more serious about Mew, he tries to cut things off with Boston. And that’s when the whole situation gets out of hand and Boston essentially confesses to Mew about their secret relationship.

Mew is also presented as content with his solitude; he only pursues a relationship with Top when Boston pairs them up. If anything, this entire situation could serve as a lesson for him. And if I’m right in predicting (hoping) that Ray will undergo a big moral shift from beginning to end, then I could see their friendship being a core part of the series. (I think it would also be good representation to keep them together as healthy friends despite Ray’s previous crush.)

...As for how Sea could factor into any of this (if he really is going to play some part in the series), I’ve seen speculation that he could be a possible love interest for Sand. I think it would depend on how big of a role he’s given. I’m sure it’ll be a cameo either way, but how much of one is questionable. He could be involved in an episode or two to stir up some drama and equal things out between Sand and Ray; I think that’s a strong possibility (and the drama would be oh so juicy). Or maybe he ends up with Nick, if Nick moves on from Boston? So many possibilities.

- X -

OK, so that’s my thought process at this current moment, but tomorrow I could have a wildly different one. If anyone is thinking completely differently, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, I’m gonna go stew over this some more until we finally get a trailer (Jojo, I’m begging).

#only friends #only friends the series #only friends predictions #only friends spec #firstkhaotung #firstkhao #neomark #forcebook #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #neo trai #mark pakin #force jiratchapong #book kasidet #gmmtv bl #thai bl #onlyfriendsseries #jojo tichakorn #gmmtv

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7grandmel · 2 months

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Todays rip: 13/02/2024

NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2)

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: FINAL BOUT ~ SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament Original Soundtrack VOL. 3

Ripped by Princess Sylvysprit Visuals by 813N

youtube

I covered KFAD just two posts ago with Unhealed, and a big point I wanted to drive home in that post was just how much effort each and every ripper and contributor put into the event, in a way that still feels unbelievably impressive to this day. It's no secret that the King for Another Day Tournament absolutely ballooned in scope from its initial proposal, with tons of things added and changed last-minute to keep raising the bar even higher. And that scope is, again, the main reason why I cover the event so prominently when discussing Season 4 Episode 1, as its unprecedented scale and quality throughout eclipsed anything the channel had done up until that point (and, arguably, since!). Yet for as troubled as production reportedly was, as unchecked as that ambition might have been, its incredible to think that...most all of it still managed to stick the landing? And there's no better example of this in action, I find, than NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2).

I think it came as a surprise to most of us, especially those who had followed the original King for a Day tournament just a year earlier, that the second contest slowly began to grow itself a sort of storyline. It wasn't much, and it wasn't in the forefront - but ones who remembered to check the King for Another Day MOJO website would get to see in universe "interviews" with the event's contestants, small little side stories in their time between matches, and full-on emotional beats of character development. As I mentioned way back in mines.ogg (unused) (and of course in Unhealed), a contestant like MissingNo wound up actually becoming a fleshed-out, fully-rounded character, more than just a vague concept attached to a source list. I truly salute the team who worked on the MOJO writing, being able to effectively improvise such an effective narrative and writing wholly unique dynamics and developments based on the per-match outcomes of the tournament. All of this all-around development, this investment into the entire cast of the event, and the excitement for the final match, made the surprise reveal to come so much more exciting - the reveal that the King for Another Day Tournament had a final boss to defeat.

Winner of the prior year's King for a Day Tournament and the in-universe host of the entire second tournament, Unregistered Hypercam 2 fell victim to possession by the mysterious "crown", set to be awarded to the Tournament's winner. Controlled by a still-unexplained sentient life found within the crown's ruby, the final match between DJ Professor K and Mariya Takeuchi wound up suspended - as this new monstrous force threatened to keep the Tournament running forever, eternally suspended with no resolution, yet another timeloop right alongside the one the Christmas Comeback Crisis already presents in the channel's main story. The Tournament calls for the help of both finalists, every other contestant - and the power of us, the viewers, to use the "MF LIKE BUTTON" from all the way back in Season 1's lore - to fight against and destroy the concept of eternal safety, the concept of maintaining stagnation for the sake of not losing those temporary moments of joy.

...look, I could over-analyze and dissect this finale as much as I want, about how pitch-perfectly each storybeat fell into place to truly connect the King for Another Day Tournament to the theming and narrative that the prior three Seasons had been so rigorously following, but...we're here to cover the theme of the battle itself. But I felt that all this context did need to be conveyed in some way - becuase NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2) reflects the tone and energy of the entire event so pitch-perfectly, it amazed me to learn just how last-minute its production truly was. Princess Sylvysprit employs her expertise and familiarity with the Touhou series to arrange Dreamscape, anthem of the old internet that Hypercam represents, into a rhythmic, hectic, exciting melody, with a sense of dread overlaid on top of it all from the heavy synth covering it (see, there WAS a point in covering Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source right before this!). It becomes a full-on back and fourth, triumphant higher-key brass responding to the droning eternity of Hypercam's synth melody - made even clearer as the melody and instrumentation occasioally changes to reflect the two finalists' own sourcelists. The amount of layers present in this theme are absolutely incredible, from the choir adding a sense of dread to the track's Hypercam-led sections, to the lone piano sounding as if the original Hypercam is trying to break free from the eternal spell he's been cast under, to the incorporation of the King for Another Day Tournament's main theme for the chorus - we may not see the battle play out, yet the music all on its own conveys a battle in such an engrossing, layered way.

The visual of the Unrestrained Hypercam 2's looming figure just adds the final touch upon it all, wielding the same spinning buzz-saw that was seen severing the thread of hope for all contestants way back in the "opening" to the tournament as a whole. The finality of the story was conveyed so expertly on every front, and the excitement back then was palpable - I still have my contribution to the MF LIKE BUTTON's power left on the video from all the way back in 2019, alongside 14 thousand other viewers (19 thousand on the video announcing the battle!). A duel with the Hypercam, and NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2) by extension, may not have been part of the initial plan for the event - but I am so, so happy that it wound up happening. Because the sense of community and excitement that I, and so many others, felt at this very moment of the channel's life, is one I'll forever cherish.

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lixiesbrowniess · 11 months

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Ⅵ.Complete the collar - Omaticaya storyline

Words count: 2,8k

Warnings: nsfw, p in v, fingering, switch, thigh riding, aged up characters 18+, him being needy, sex, mature content, praising, belly bulge

Aged up to 22

Na'vi vocabulary: yawne: beloved,

A/n: proofread x

Follow the don't like don't read rule please - minors DNI

Summary:

“I want you to choose y/n” Ronal said looking at you. You personally loved weaving so why not. You decided to finish that marvellous collar Ronal was making.

She nodded in agreement before telling Neteyam to help you out. “I'll happily do that” he said while a warm smile spread on his face. “All right then, I'll be leaving. Come Rotxo” she handed you the collar before leaving with your other friend.

You sat on the mat and started to search for some good shells to weave into the macramè piece “Here, use this, I think it would fit well” Neteyam handed you some tiny and shiny shells, he left them slide into your hand.

“Wow, these are really pretty!” You exclaimed admiring the little things roll on your hand. “Not as pretty as you” Neteyam said proudly, sitting next to you and staring at you. You blushed heavily snapping your head to the boy.

He just went all smirky, liking your reaction, you chuckeld softly turning away from his gaze “w-where did you found them?” you muttered changing the subject. He smiled cheekily “In my secret place” he said looking into Ronal's shells basket.

“I could take you there if you whish” He giggled, holding in his hands the shells that would fit perfectly in the macramè collar, still trapped in your little hands.

You started to weave the shells around a bigger one, Neteyam approached you and he began to weave with you to the other side of the clothing piece.

Neteyam's pov

It's been a while since he had an enormous crush on you, always so gentle and caring, serious and smart. He fell for the way you laughed, the way you spoke, the way your little hands weaved seeds and feathers back at the Omaticaya village.

Oh, and how much he loved seeing you get mad, it didn't happen many times but he loved it. Not that he liked making you mad, but to see how your ears twitches, your pupils constricts and your nose scrunches as you hiss out of rage.

Even now, you were so pretty, weaving those little shells into the already woven seagrass. Fixing your hair behind your ear when they slid down to your face.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly with a slightly concerned face. “Oh, yes of course! It's nothing” he smiled directing his eyes into the shell he was trying to weave, without success.

Your pov

There was a thick silence between you two as you were focused onto your works. You were nervous, honestly you didn't know why. But you couldn't help to cast quick glances to his hands.

You noticed how the shells looked even smaller into them. How fast and skilled his hands were, long fingers tracing the thin material. You would glance at his arms and biceps too, capturing every move and every twitch that passed to through them.

He noticed you staring but he acted like he didn't. Smiling to himself as your eyes trailed all over his body, quickly and smoothly. “You're going to pierce hole into my skin if you keep staring Y/n” he said chuckling.

You quickly looked away. “I-I'm sorry” you muttered continuing your piece. Suddenly a shell fell from your hands rolling away from you. You leaned smacking your hand on in to stop it's rolling motion. Well actually you smacked onto another hand, a bigger one.

You pulled away quickly apologizing for your move “don't worry” Neteyam said giggling at your concerned face “It's okay” he tilted his head smiling at you.

As you continued to work on your pieces, you couldn't help but steal quick glances at Neteyam every now and then. You were still nervous, but his presence was calming you down in a strange way.

You noticed how focused he was on his own work, his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he concentrated on the shells. You found it endearing, the way he seemed to be so invested in something as simple as this.

But your eyes kept wandering back to his hands, watching how he held the shells with such ease and grace. You wondered if his hands would feel as soft as they looked, and if they would be gentle or rough if they were to touch you.

Neteyam caught you staring again and chuckled, making you blush. “You know, if you keep looking at me like that, I might start to think you're interested in me” he teased.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't help the smile that formed on your lips. “As if” you retorted, pretending to be offended.

But then, as you were handling a particularly tricky shell, you accidentally pricked your finger causing you to gasp as the shell slipped from your grasp and rolled away. You panicked for a moment, worried that it might break, but then you felt a larger hand on top of yours, stopping the shell from rolling any further.

You looked up and saw Neteyam smiling down at you, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Careful there” he said, his voice soft and warm. “I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself”

You felt your heart skip a beat at his words, and you couldn't help but feel a flutter in your stomach. There was something about the way he was looking at you that made you feel like you were the only person in the room.

“I-it's nothing” you muttered looking at him as his hands wrapped around yours as he looked carefully at the small cut on your digit. A trail of blood was visible, he brought your finger to his mouth and liked it away. “We must disinfect it” he said looking into your eyes.

You quickly pulled your hand away, feeling flustered. "Th-thank you" you stammered, trying to compose yourself.

But Neteyam just chuckled, as if he knew exactly what was going through your mind. “Anytime” he said, his smile never fading. “I'm always here to help you out, Y/n”

You two were strangely close. You could feel his heartbeat through his chest. You were wondering if he could hear yours. You hoped he couldn't because it was so strong you though your heart would've shot out of your chest.

But he could. He was listening to your heart beating like it was music. He leaned a bit closer as he took your hands in his again pulling them to his chest. “Y/n...” his breath fanned over your face.

You couldn't hold back anymore. You wanted to kiss those plump lips. They looked so dry, you were just going to help him to hydrate them, right?

You closed the gap between your bodies and his arms immediately wrapped around your smaller figure. Your lips crushed onto his, moving in sync with them as you two shared the most heated kiss you've ever had.

When he pulled away you both stared into each other eyes breathing heavily. “My, my, what has gotten into you?” Neteyam teased smiling widely.

As you pulled away from the kiss, you felt a rush of adrenaline and a mix of emotions flooding your mind. You had never acted so impulsively before, but something about Neteyam made you lose all control.

You looked up at him, catching your breath, and noticed the sparkle in his eyes. He was surprised but happy with what had just happened. “I couldn't hold back anymore” you said, still feeling the tingling sensation on your lips. “You looked so irresistible, and I just wanted to kiss you”

Neteyam chuckled and pulled you closer to him. “Well, I'm not complaining” he said, his lips hovering over yours. “In fact, I've been waiting for this moment too”

Before you knew it, his lips were on yours again, exploring every inch of your mouth. You melted into his embrace, savoring the moment as if it was the last.

When he finally pulled away, you were left breathless, but with a sense of fulfillment you had never experienced before. “You know” Neteyam whispered, his forehead resting against yours “You're the only one who managed to make me feel this way”

You smiled at him, feeling your cheeks flush. “I'm glad I could help hydrate your lips” you teased, making him laugh.

“You're a naughty one” he said, his hands still holding you close. “But you like it.” He chuckled at your words as a mischievous smile spread on his face.

⇊incoming smut [if not comfy skip till the next warning]⇊

He hurriedly laid your body to the woven mat leaning towards to you marking your neck hungrily, his body pressed against yours, trapped between your legs.

His lips moved on your skin until they reached your breasts. Your top shifted exposing your mounts. He licked his lips kissing the soft flesh, he planted an open mouthed kiss onto your nipple, gaining a groan from you.

He took it as an invitation and started to suck at your perked bud, your back slightly arched at the feeling of his fangs grazing on your skin. He sucked harshly swirling his tongue around your nipple.

He didn't forgot about the other one as his fingers started to twist and tug it lightly. You moaned tugging at his braids as he buried his face into your breasts. “Teyam−” you breathed out sighing in pleasure.

“Yes yawne?” his lips ghosting over your flesh as he spoke. “Need you−” your voice trembled imperceptibly as his hands gripped your thighs.

He pulled your hips close to his “Mhh where exactly do you need me?” he teased as he played with your loincloth, you squirmed as his touch ghosted onto your lower abdomen.

He leaned close to your face, his braids forming a barrier from the surroundings, allowing you to see exclusively his features, his freckles glowing slightly.

“Right here” you muttered as your hand rubbed onto your lower stomach. “Wanna see a bulge right here” you teased bucking your hips against his hardness.

He grunted softly at your move, hands flying to your waist. “You love to tease hm” he chuckled grinding against your warm clothed pussy.

“Please−” you whimpered squirming under his touch. He pushed your loincloth out of the way exposing your arousing. His fingers grazed over your clit causing your body to jolt lightly.

“Let me tease you a bit first” his finger slid past your slit causing a soft whimper to escape from your lips. You bucked your hips against his hand taking his fingers deeper between your walls.

Your soft cries of pleasure filled the empty marui, he thrusted his digits into you brushing against your cervix causing You legs to tremble lightly.

You were getting closer to the edge, velvety walls clenching around Neteyam's fingers. The intense pleasure stopped suddenly when he pulled his fingers out.

You whined in frustration “No worries baby” his honey like voice filled your ears “I'll take care of it” he pulled his erection into his now free hand, your pussy clenched around nothing at the sight

He gave it a couple of pumps smearing your wetness on his length. He lined himself to your slit, stroking the tip against your clit. You jerked your hips, hoping to get some satisfaction.

He stopped your movements holding your waist tightly, one of his hands flew to his dick as he held it while pushing the tip into your wet folds.

Once his tip was swallowed by your pussy he started to carefully push his hips forward watching you squirm under him, legs spread open and breasts completely at his mercy.

He pushed until your pussy swallowed him whole. You whined softly at the burning feeling between your legs “hurts−” you managed to mutter.

“Shh it's alright yawne, it'll get better soon” he murmured kissing your forehead. He leaned down and began to leave wet kisses all over your breasts, as you were still adapting to his size.

Your legs trembled lightly as he attempted to move. An involuntary moan escaped your lips, mouth slightly agape as you felt his hips slowly moving back and forth, building his pace.

He grunted against the soft skin between your boobs. “You− feel so good” a silent whimper left his lips as he thrusted inside you painfully slow. The pain began to fade leaving you a whimpering mess as your walls finally relaxed around Neteyam's dick.

His thrusts increased both in strength and speed causing you to throw your head back as you moaned loudly. He buried his face in the crook of your neck inhaling your scent.

He was intoxicated by the way your walls squeezed around its length. Your moans encouraged him to fuck you harder, to mark you as his.

His tongue trailed your shoulder, fangs gently grazing over the skin. With a particularly strong thrust, he hit your cervix. You screamed int pleasure, arms wrapping around his neck.

He wanted to mark you, and you could sense it. “Do it...” you breathed heavily, you tilted your head to the side giving him full access to your neck. He groaned as he snapped, his fangs dug gently into your skin.

A whine left your lips as he marked you as his, “Mine.” he growled “mine forever” he pounded into you faster.

He whimpered pulling your legs to his chest as he drove himself deeper, a bulge finally forming onto your belly everytime he shoved inside you.

He pressed his hand on it causing a loud cry to leave your mouth as your body shook in pleasure. “Cum with me please−” he whispered into your ear as his hips moved faster chasing his release.

“I− can't” you felt yourself getting closer and closer to your climax “just− a little longer” he grunted as he held your waist pulling you to meet his feral thrusts.

You held your orgasm the best as you could until you felt him thrust deep into your womb, finally spilling his seed into you. Before you knew it you came as well, calling his name as he held you close.

He pulled out collapsing next you. His arms wrapped around your body. He kissed your shoulder as he snuggled into you.

⇈smut ends here⇈

His arms instinctively wrapped around your body, drawing you closer to him. In that tender moment, you could feel his racing heartbeat gradually slowing down, syncing with the rhythm of your own.

With his face nestled against your shoulder, his warm breath tickling your skin, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss on the exposed curve. It was a gesture filled with love and vulnerability, a silent proclamation of the deep connection that existed between you.

You felt a surge of tenderness and protectiveness for him, knowing the weight he carried on his shoulders, the battles he fought both within himself and in the world around him.

It was then, when he allowed himself to be vulnerable with you, that you understood the magnitude of his trust and the strength of your bond.

The world outside seemed distant and insignificant almost causing you to forget why you were in that marui in the first place.

His breathing steadied. The rise and fall of his chest against yours felt like a steady heartbeat, a comforting reminder of life's ebb and flow.

“Teyam” you called stroking his hair softly. “We have to finish this collar first. Don't want Ronal to walk in and find us like this. ”you chuckled “Not yet, at least”.

“I agree, let's finish to weave first” He slowly placed you to sit on the mat. Your hands got back to work but all you could think about was him. The way he held you, the way his breath fanned over your shoulders, the way he called out your name.

“You alright?” Neteyams asked a bit worried by your blank stare. “Uh.. Oh yes, yeah I'm ok I'm just...” he tilted his head looking at you “...thinking” you murmured taking your eyes off of him.

“Hmm me too” he said smiling, his tail sliced the air in excitement, what you didn't notice was that your tail was wagging as well. You smiled back as your cheeks and the tip of your ears turned purple.

As the light was getting dimmer you could see the bioluminescent freckles glowing on his face and body. How beautiful. You thought smiling widely.

“I see you” you voice was a whisper as those words left your lips. He wasn't sure he heard well so his gaze lifted to you, but you were already concentrated on your work.

He smiled to himself “I see you, Y/n” he whispered going back to work leaving your and his words flew in the air around the two of you.

#avatar the way of water #avatar twow #avatar #neteyam sully #tsireya #avatar rotxo #aonung #avatar x reader #lo'ak sully #neteyam x reader smut #neteyam x reader #neteyam #neteyam smut #lixiesbrowniess

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filmmakerdreamst · 6 months

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How Lyra and Will suffered as Protagonists in BBC's His Dark Materials

Despite the cast and crews open love for the novels, and the insistent diligence to stay as faithful to the source material as possible — even trying to fill in many of the gaps in the books, as seen in all three seasons of the show — the BBC adaptation never manages to capture the spirit (the only time I felt like it did was in the third season) because of the fact that every character is altered and changed. Not just adaptationally changed either like making a character dumber, softer or harder. They’re completely different characters, separated from the source material e.g. Mrs Coulter is changed from a seductive, calm character to a feral, suicidal character. I must admit, I did like the expanded self harm element that she causes her daemon. However I felt in the novel, if she were to harm her monkey, it would be ‘to keep her lust for power at bay’ rather than shame for herself.

The atmosphere was off yet the events were similar and the complete opposite at the same time. But you can’t have similar events play out with different characterisations, at least not with ‘His Dark Materials’.

Philip Pullman’s characters in ‘His Dark Materials’ are extremely charismatic, but to put it lightly, are not very palatable to say the least. As stated in @clarabosswald’s analysis, there seemed to be this weird need to make EVERY single character digestible or palatable in some way or another in the BBC adaptation, regardless of it making sense or not. I noticed this upon my re-read of ‘The Northern Lights’ that they even humanised the doctor that sexually assaulted Lyra by grabbing Pantalaimon, which was very troubling.

Now with the opposing ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ film, they changed the characterisations to make them more sympathetic and accessible to a contemporary audience. They even dug deeper with the character Edmund which I thought was a fantastic choice. But the reason why those character changes worked was because C.S.Lewis was not concerned with building character, he was much more concerned with the place of Narnia itself. He almost used his characters to explore the world of Narnia, e.g. some characters would leave one book and come back 5 books later — which is why some of the later adaptations of Narnia didn’t do as well in the box office as the first one.

The character changes in that film enriched the story without effecting it in a way, because ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and the other books are driven by the plot. Where as ‘His Dark Materials’ is primarily driven by characters.

Philip Pullman in total contrast to C.S.Lewis, built the world (you could say he used the world) around the characters in order for them to get to Point A to Point B. But he was not concerned about exploring the multiverse so you could see the entire picture, like with C.S. Lewis.

I heard once that he described writing as wondering through a forest on a path and the path is your story. Theres a difference between the story world and the storyline. And as an Author, your concern is the storyline. It would be easy to step away and stray from the path and explore the forest and admire all the trees, but for him the most important thing to do was to remain on the path and focus on the story rather than the details along the way.

I’m not apposed to different versions of the characters or different storylines. But with ‘His Dark Materials’, those books are driven by specific character traits. And the fact that they changed them, while still being faithful to the events in the story, the story beats either don’t land or don’t hit as hard or don’t make sense altogether.

More specifically with the main characters Lyra and Will, but mostly Lyra since she’s the heart of the story.

Lyra is first and fourmost a liar, which may seem a small part of her character but its huge. Her ability to lie and get her way out of situations is the cause of many events in the books. She’s feral. She’s wild. She’s manipulative. She’s described as a ‘half wild cat’ and a ‘greedy little savage’. She can’t sit still or behave herself. She’s impulsive. She’s a leader. She gets into fights. She gets dirty. She spends all her nights on the rooftops. She’s an extrovert. She’s street smart. She’s selfish. She’s brave.

She’s an emotional and passionate human being. Thats what makes Lyra a real girl, not just a character on the page. These nuanced character traits of hers is how she pushes everything forward in the story.

All of those negative/positive aspects of her character in the books were watered down so much in the series. To the point where alot of them were removed. Not only is that incredibly dehumanising but makes the plot points where “she lies” not land as well or plot points revolving around her “telling the truth” make no sense at all.

The whole reason why she’s called Lyra Silvertongue is because she tricked the bear king with her lies, a trait which is consistent throughout the entire story — but completely nonexistent throughout the show. Her tricking the bear king in the adaptation came off as a lucky experience rather something that comes naturally to her. Even the ironic plot point of her being given the Alethiometer “a device that tells her the truth” didn’t hit as hard. They tried to establish her as a ‘liar’ in the second episode of season one then gave up completely as the show continued on.

But the weird thing is, those flaws were still mentioned by other characters in the show, when it was not the character they were developing. Characters would mention that she’s a liar, insufferable, selfish or that ‘she doesn’t apologise easily’ — which seemed like an over exaggeration since the show version of her isn’t really any of those things. This applied when characters such as Lee praised her for being ‘brave’ and ‘good’. I heard a HDM podcast recapping season 2 saying that “her character in the show wasn’t hitting the right emotional beats” to be a child of a great destiny that every character seemingly falls over themselves to give their lives for her.

TV Lyra hasn’t completely lost her flaws, but she’s not as nearly as flawed as she was in the books. She felt so contained, rather than passionate. Which felt so odd because yes, Lyra grows out of some bad traits such as her rudeness, due to the influence of Will. But she isn’t naturally like that.

They changed her so much, but also tried to keep her “the same” that her character growth which is huge in the books felt like nothing had moved at all. It kind of got reduced to a simple thing like her innocence being taken away. It was like she wasn’t allowed to have any sort of loud, dislikable reaction in any way. It felt like they were taking away her agency.

And I know one of the biggest reasons why they changed her behaviour in the TV Show is because they aged the character up to 14–16 at the start. I get it. Theres a huge difference between 12 and 14 in terms of maturity . It works for the Will & Lyra romantic scenes as an adaptational choice later in the story (because she’s allegedly 12–13 in the books).

I think Dafne Keen was an inspired choice for the role of Lyra, since I saw some scenes of her in ‘Logan’ and I 100% believe she would of pulled off Book Lyra given the chance, but by the time they started filming she was already 13/14. And in all honesty, Lyra just becomes odd looking older. She’s just not convincing as a misbehaving little girl who can’t sit still, she just comes off as a really strange child thats immature or lacking in social skills. For example, there’s a scene between Mrs Coulter and Lyra in ‘The Idea of North’ where she’s telling a lie, but it doesn’t come off natural because 1. They didn’t establish her as a liar immediately and 2. Part of her ability to lie comes from her spontaneous nature of being a kid telling stories and using her imagination. Dafne Keen didn’t really look that age, for it to look like something she would do.

They also made her relationship with Roger more of a focus in the show, which makes sense as her motivation in the later half of the books comes from wanting to rescue him. However, they made him ‘the only friend that she has’ which I found to be a strange decision because Lyra in the books has tuns of friends. I would say their friendship is more balanced in the series, where as in the book it wasn’t so much.

She forgets him a few times while staying with Mrs Coulter in the book where as she remembers him constantly in the episode ‘The Idea of North’ which felt like a confused choice to me. They were trying to have it both ways; have her be seduced by Mrs Coulter while also actively asking her to look for Roger.

The imbalance in Roger and Lyra’s friendship is important because it adds to the need to set things right with him in The Land of the Dead. It goes to the core of how everyone thinks she is selfish. She needs to save Roger to prove to herself she’s a good person.

In the book, when Lyra dreams of Roger in The Land of the Dead, the two of them have constant talks of how much he’s suffering. In the show, she just has alot of ambiguous flash forward dreams of Roger, with the story not prioritising them as important as the main plot of ‘Asriel’s War’.

When she brings this up to Will in the episode, he dismisses it instead of agreeing to go (like in the book) because of his daddy issues, no I’m sorry, because of Asriel’s War which makes sense as it’s one of the main plots in the season — where it was more of a distracting B plot in the book — but it just kind of adds to the idea that “its unnecessary” or “why are they doing this?”.

The desire to get to Roger and apologise in the show doesn’t hit as hard because there was more of a balance in Lyra and Rogers relationship plus the changes to her character just made it seem like “she just wanted to do it” rather than it being the most important decision she ever makes, to try to better herself.

While they go to the suburbs of the dead, Will and Pan constantly question why she’s doing this (a conflict that was not in the book — Will is steadfastly loyal to her by this point and Pan is too shivery to speak) while Lyra just snaps at them, making her seem mean for no reason. When she has a chat with her death, she doesn’t lie that an angel told her to do it (because they didn’t establish her as a liar properly), she just says that she wants to be good which is not a convincing argument considering what happens next.

When Pan and her have the argument while she leaves him on the doc, which is a great scene on its own (it made me cry), it also adds to the unnecessary nature of it all. It’s a scene that makes sense in the book because of Lyra’s impulsive nature, but because of her seemingly calculative nature in the show, it just looks odd. It’s described in the book that if Lyra had heard Pan speak, she would have folded and never would of got on the boat, but since the show did the complete opposite of that, It makes the scene more harsh and cold.

I think what the writers were trying to do was make it more of a mystery like ‘why is she doing this’ ‘its not too late to turn around’ a mission that appears fruitless at first, but turns out to be the greatest act of humanity — but again, I still don’t think that works because of how much Lyra’s entire character is changed. The act is not just for everyone else. It’s a major step in her character growth, to care about others.

In the Land of the Dead, obviously they had to cut out the whole section where Lyra literally looses her ability to lie while she’s telling lies to the harpies, then learns to tell the truth to the dead. This is the final step for Lyra’s character, finally learning the power of telling the truth instead of lies. They didn’t replace that with anything, only with her telling the dead true stories, which was heartwarming on its own, but obviously those story beats don’t hit as hard in the same way because like I said, its not presented as the final step in her character growth, its presented as a one off scene. This is one of the reasons why her character is pretty static in the adaptation.

In the Land of the Dead, its Lyra for the most part (apart from one instance) that keeps a cool head, while Will looses his — which again, the complete opposite. In the books, its Lyra that goes off the rails and its Will that keeps her centred.

Which brings me onto how the character of Will is changed in the adaptation, and how that effects the story from the second book onwards.

Will was brought in by Philip Pullman in ‘The Subtle Knife’, to represent Lyra’s other half — in another parallel universe literally, and also to help her on her quest to fulfil the prophecy. If it was just her on her own with Pan, it wouldn’t work and would fail.

Though I was taken aback by his entrance in ‘The Subtle Knife’ — as it was such a jarring change coming from the suspenseful cliff hanger where Lyra walks into the new world after her best friend Roger got murdered — he quickly but surely became my favourite male literary character of all time.

I don’t have as a big of a problem with his character changes then I do with Lyra, because there were at least a few times in the show where he was allowed to act like ‘himself’. Amir Wilson was perfect casting as Will. It was like the character had just walked off the page it was that good. But all together, he’s a completely different character — which I can understand. Out of all the characters, I feel he’s the hardest to pin down and his development is done in a subtle and subconscious way.

Throughout the course of ‘The Subtle Knife’, he’s incredibly off putting as he’s mostly angry and tired and then he’s in pain because of his knife wound. It works in a book format, because your’e in his point of view and you understand that he’s a child thats at the end of his tether. But it would be hard to portray that in a nuanced way on screen, unless your’e clever with it.

They unfortunately took the easy route with his characterisation on screen by making him softer. Not only that, the writing for his character was incredibly inconsistent at times.

Will from the books is fierce. He’s frightening. He’s stoic. He gets angry. He’s a strategist. He does whats best for someone. He likes to stay invisible. He’s sarcastic. He’s an introvert. He likes to stay hidden. He’s practical. He’s a child carer. He’s naturally aggressive e.g. He beat up a bunch of boys at school because they were hurting his mother. He hardly smiles. At times, especially in the second book, he becomes incredibly depressed. He’s pretty much a 35 year old man in a young boy’s body. He’s incredibly soft, but the reader can’t tell until Lyra brings that out in him.

I would say Will is a more contained version of Lyra, yet the complete opposite of her. They’re like yin and yang. They both have something that the other lacks, and that helps them both grow up. Lyra brings out a softness out in him, brings out his impulsive nature where as he helps her strategise and learn not to just rush out and do things.

TV Will suffers from the same problem that TV Lyra does.

Every negative/positive aspect about him is watered down. Revealing a quite mild character. I feel that they didn’t touch on the fact that he was a child carer enough, which is a huge part of his character. It just came off as ‘he loves his mum’ more in the show. Will being a caterer is supposed to contrast Lyra whom didn’t grow up with parents and got to live out a childhood that he was never allowed to experience. This is a theme. Every character trait that contrasts Lyra in the books isn’t present so much. I would even go as far to say that they’re too similar in the TV Show.

I was wondering throughout the second season why the storyline was static and wasn’t going anywhere. Certain plot points such as Will being a murderer, Lyra helping Will find his father, The fight for the subtle knife and Will becoming the bearer of the Subtle Knife felt tacked on or weren’t hitting as hard as they should.

At first, I thought it was because the novel was ‘the weakest in the trilogy’. I often see ‘The Subtle Knife’ as a bridge between both ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’.

But since re-reading the book, I went ‘Oh my God, its because they changed Will’s character arc’.

TV Will, the more I think about it, does not suit becoming the bearer of the subtle knife. The only times we see him fighting is in the boxing ring. He expresses incredible regret over killing a man instead of brushing it off because he was protecting his mother. Even when he’s under threat, he says ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ He even has to be persuaded to fight. There’s even a moment in the show where he says “Maybe we’re better off not fixing the knife at all.” which kind of dismisses the practical nature of his character in the book. Plus the knife being a part of him, the same way as the Alethiometer is a part of Lyra. Even the remarks that Lyra makes about him being similar to Iorek the armoured Bear don’t make as much sense, because of the fact that he’s softer.

Book Will struggles with his warrior nature, and eventually learns thats not who he wants to be. But he isn’t naturally a soft person. He learns to be through his experiences and his relationship with Lyra. Which is why it was so odd to me that they included the line in the show where Will is saying to his father in the Land of the Dead “You told me that I was a warrior; That I can’t fight my nature. Your’e wrong.” I was just like, what are you talking about? That is so not the character the show had developed. TV Will had hardly been shown to fight anyone of his own free will — it didn’t make sense to me. They were trying to have it both ways. Completely ignoring his basic character traits and flaws, yet still going through the same arc (a somewhat watered down one) one e.g. idolising his dad for his whole life, realising his dad ain’t shit when he meets him, finding Lyra missing, ignoring the task his father set him etc.

Even the task that Lyra has to help Will find his father didn’t land as well because of the fact that the two of them were bonding straight away in the show, instead of it being like ‘oh no we’re stuck with each other’ to this slow process of her and Will learning to trust each other.

I understand that you have to translate Lyra and Will’s relationship alot differently in a Show format, because subconscious development doesn’t really work due to the lack of intimate point of views. Plus it adds to the narrative to flesh out their dynamic alot more on screen. The more something is changed in an adaptation, the more it stays the same.

I have openly praised the shows depiction of their relationship in another analysis I wrote (before i re-read the books) and how I loved how they gave them more soft moments. However, I will admit now that the soft moments that they had in season 2 felt off to me because they weren’t in character. I think, looking back I would of preferred more soft moments if they were in character.

Will’s initial softness towards Lyra in the show is partially to do with TV Lyra being much less feral and less of a threat. As a result their journey is warmer and far less angstier than it was in the books.

And that in turn messes with the tension.

The element of Will being slightly dismissive of her at the start, is important to how certain story beats land. It adds to the ‘OH SHIT’ when Lyra’s been taken and the task that his father set him that he’s been dreaming of his whole life suddenly isn’t important to him anymore. Thats why it’s such a big deal when he spends most of his time through ‘The Amber Spyglass’ looking for her.

But in the season 2 finale, it ends with Will going off into the sunset, presumably to fulfil is fathers wishes. Then in season 3, he finds her missing, goes ‘whoops’ and then there’s a montage of him trying to find her. Then when he does (quite easily) — he goes on about how “since his dad died he’s done none of the things that he asked him to do’ which makes him looking for Lyra within the show feel even more anticlimactic.

Also, this is more of a personal opinion that an analytical one, I did not appreciate when Lyra brought up going to the Land of The Dead, TV Will went “I saved you. I did everything I could to save you. You told me not to but I did it anyway” which felt to me like ‘Wow brilliant, of course you had to save her’

And instead of agreeing to go to the Land of the Dead with her like in the book, they had to insert some tension from ‘The Subtle Knife’ (because they messed with the tension in season 2) and have Will go on a rant about what his dad wanted him to do, Asriel’s war, dismissing Lyra’s wishes and even having him suggest maybe her dad regretted killing her friend.

This is something that Will from the books would never ever say, let alone to the girl that he loves. He’s fully aware how much her dad hurt her and he respects her too much by that point to ever suggest something like that. Even when he does think about ‘what his dad wanted him to do’ he’s still steadfastly loyal to Lyra. They were completely undermining the turning point in their relationship and Will’s character development by adding pointless drama to extend the episodes running time.

As mentioned in a very articulate post by @mamsellechosette24601 ‘the quest to find his father and fulfil his fathers wishes’ isn’t the point at all, its Will letting go of his childhood dreams, of realising what really matters is Lyra all along.

Now I’ve seen in another analysis of the adaptation that their path to falling in love in the show is alot clearer than in the books which I can understand and agree with (to a certain extent) because the books were much more concerned with philosophy than romance. This is true for the romance between Asriel and Marisa in the Book vs the TV Show as well.

The concept behind their relationship remains the same:

“Will and Lyra are very good people who learn to trust each other when they’re at their most vulnerable, they become the only thing they have in a terrifying world of enemies. By the end, when they realise they're in love only to discover they can never be together, they make the mature choice, however hard it may be.”

But their relationship is totally different in the TV Show because of their character changes.

I would say Lyra and Will have more of a enemies to lovers storyline in the books — where as the adaptation version of them doesn’t. The screenwriters clearly tried to iron out alot of the problematic elements, especially in the beginning and focus on them being “friends” more. I’m not apposed to them doing that, but the way they did it ended up muting a few of their scenes together.

I’ve actually made an argument in my other account (against the ‘His Dark Materials’ analysis saying that ‘the adaptation did a much better job at showing when Will and Lyra fell in love’) that their relationship development was a lot subtler in the books because the characters were alot younger and more immature. And that it was more ‘obvious’ in the tv show because they aged the characters up, therefore they could have more mature conversations and scenes together.

This was before I did my re-read.

After re-reading ‘The Subtle Knife’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ comparing it with how their relationship is handled in the TV Adaptation. I would actually argue the opposite .

In some ways, the growing romance between the two of them is much more mature (and makes more sense) in the books than in the show, at least to me. Unlike in the TV Show, their relationship never enters into neutral territory, even when they finally learn to trust each other. Theres much less emphasis on their ‘friendship’.

After their brutal first meeting — where they attack eachother — in ‘The Subtle Knife’ Lyra is immediately taken with Will and constantly thinks about him and what he thinks of her. There’s even a moment in ‘The Amber Spyglass’ where she’s trying to hide that she’s in pain while they’re walking (because of all that time she’s been asleep) because she doesn’t want to appear weak in front of him.

The way Lyra and Will meet in the show, is reminiscent of how children meet for the first time. Though quite skeptical of each other, they instantly bond and make friends after 5 seconds, because why wouldn’t they? They’re kids the same age after all. Even though there’s still an element of mistrust there, there’s hardly any conflict between them. They don’t play off each other as much. There is one moment where he gets angry at her for making him wait, but all that is solved in a minute because of Lyra’s ‘calm nature’

Even when Lyra gives Will away by accident and says that she lost the Alethiometer, he doesn’t shout at her. There are few comments here and there but theres no real tension between the two of them.

When Will and Pan have a conversation, its presented as Pan going up to him to have a chat after he had a bad dream rather than Will finding the courage to speak to him in the book and saying ‘I think Lyra’s the best friend I’ve ever had’. This is presented more as a statement in the show because their friendship has already been established and less of a discovery (as he wasn’t reacting to her that much in the book as he had alot on his mind).

Lyra and Will even have a talk about Pan’s conversation with him afterwards in the show. But in the book, that never happened. It’s mentioned later but never discussed, because of the fact that it was a private conversation between Will and Pan.

You could say this was another problem that the adaptation had. It’s mentioned multiple times ‘YOU CAN’T TOUCH SOMEONES DAEMON’ but not emphasised why thats the case.

In the books, it’s heavily implied that touching someone else’s daemon is the equivalent of touching someone’s genitals. There’s a moment in ‘Northern Lights’ where Lyra and Iorek find Tony in the fish house without a daemon and Pan wants to comfort him but holds back because of the taboo. Thats why it’s such a big deal when Pan comforts Will and starts licking him in the book.

In the show, its quite an underwhelming scene that lasts 5 seconds where Pan strokes Wills fingers and Lyra says in a quiet voice ‘In my world, your’e not supposed to touch someone else’s daemon but you didn’t do something wrong’

And don’t get me started on the 5 second panning away shot where they’re finally touching each others daemons, instead of the moving moment from the book. It didn’t feel like they really understood the gravity of what those scenes meant and what it meant for their connection.

Again, this is more of a personal opinion. Near the end of the final book, when they enter the world of the Mulefa, Lyra and Will trust each other more than they ever have, which shows how much they’ve both grown since ‘The Subtle Knife’. Mary even describes that she never saw ‘more trust on a persons face’. But in the show, there’s this weird forced tension between them for the sake of ‘romance’. They’re suddenly awkward teenagers with each other — which was not a choice that I liked because it didn’t come naturally.

And when they have to be ripped from each other, a whole page worth of them bargaining to be together is turned into ‘I didn’t think it was possible to feel this bad.’ and ‘This is all wrong’, plus Mary and Serafina being weirdly insensitive while Will and Lyra are in different locations rather than being with each other.

This is possibly why I didn’t feel anything when they had to be forced apart because, the way it was handled felt rushed and soulless.

Overall, despite there being more ‘soft moments between the two of them’ Show Lyra and Will’s connection feels alot more shallow and simplified.

In the books, I got the vibe that even though they were very young, you couldn’t imagine them being with anyone else but with each other. They were each others other half. They were essentially the only family they had in a world full of enemies. There was never a moment in the books, where they weren’t already in love with each other to some degree. It went beyond the typical romantic duality.

In the show, it felt more temporary. This is mostly due to their character changes (they were too similar in my opinion). Like a connection between friends that became romantic at the end of the journey. And it’s something they’ll get over because “It won’t always feel like this” or “Its much more romantic to live for love than to die for it” or “It might not seem like it now but you have a future”

I think that was one of my main problems with the TV Show, it lacked emotion. Not just as an adaptation, but in general.

More than anything, the adaptation felt too confused. It was trying to reimagine the story while also paying homage to the original material. And thats why overall — despite my enjoyment for some of the episodes especially in season 3 — it didn’t work as well as it should have.

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