#HI SORRY ONE MORE POST TD LOL

[clearlitebergaming]

time to write down semi-coherent thought about EoD +it's post expac!

so.. somehow, compared to previous expac n living worlds, EoD feels uh, short? idk, im a person that space out story and not binge everything, but even then EoD feels short

the only memorable things i remember is stuffs with aurene and rama. everything else feels kinda like blurr.... i remember liking the humor.

i did the each map meta events this time. it does helps with the story. dragon's end especially. this time anet put on big achie icon to remind me 'hey, do the meta first before ending the story, or you'll feel like HoT all over again' -- which i appreciated

finale is good tho! super nice. i see they want to culminate the whole dragon cycle saga into these last part. certainly have epic feeling to it.

i like the post expac stuffs too. felt bad for rama for his bothced party. it felt super painful....

LOVING the date with canach

i also like how major npc in previous map's meta is present for gyala delve's story. it ties off nicely! still feels lack of build up and resolution tho. im used to it by this point, gw2 is never great at building up and resolution. and i already got spoiled about it, so im not disappointed to see lack of trahearne hahahaha

it IS jarring to see gw2 suddenly utilize NAKAMA POWAA in post expac in that manner. its so anime. i dont dislike it, could be written more smoothly. VA is doing amazing. wish id see more distressed commander in the future

can i say one thing tho, the part where aurene 'said goodbye' should be done in cgi / cinematic. unless somehow i dont see it....?

ok so gameplay wise. i never did high end content, so when it came to instanced boss fight, i was pleasantly surprised they have more defined pattern n mechanic in normal content. my xiv instict kicks back in >:3 still hate when doing strike that KO'd member cant be rezzed tho :<

being able to fish is highlight of this expac not ironically. i spend many time just fishing.

seitung is my fav map this time. its pretty, and easy to get around.

new kaineng is novel in that its a 'city' that is also explorable map. but novel wore off when getting around is hard. i remember i got motion sickness often when im in that map. maybe i just havent memorize ziplines n lift location. almost felt like tangled depth, but concrete. almost, but TD is worse. echovald wild.... is also a bit confusing to get around, but at least the ground level have 'clear path' i can blaze with roller beetle to get around for meta wwww dragons end is... okay. its a map for grand meta event, the main attraction is not on the scenery, as long as i can get around quickly, im fine with it.

and then, stuffs i dont like that i nitpick. the inflammatory part. the part that probably make people whos unfortunate to read this itching to make counter post in expressing disagreement (probably lol)

in the cut.

i hate they have to kill mai trin. she doesnt have to die, her death doesnt further anything. she can jsut be benched. it makes me dislike anka even more. i dont like her when shes hurting aurene, and i feel like her reasoning is stupid. she has similar vibe to scarlet in wanting destruction, but scarlet is bound to mordremoth, she has no choice. beside, making mai trin+scarlet fend off anka is super epic, it could be redemption for both girls. up to this point, i dont have 'ugh i dont like this character' in petty way, and congratz anka for earning that place (zojja came close, i dislike her being super petty and abbrassive esp to eir --i dont even like eir that much. but shes felt very different when i play as asura, shes super caring in tough big sister way. so i can let her slide)

post soo won got loose, and we have to confront joon, but joon threw a big tantrum. i understand shes stressed and not thinking clearly, loosing soo won and putting the whole cantha on energy disaster, but when she rambles about 'not sorry for being who she is/can' i was liek, "girl idk where that came from, now is not the time!" super out of left field. no one in commander side is questioning her ability, she just almost trauma dump on commander right when aurene is at stake.

now when i think about it, i got riled up real hot when either taimi or aurene got in harms way lol.

on to post expac stuffs,

stop making me care about eir goddamn it. its getting annoying at this point. i have nothing against eir, i just dont feel anything, stop making me to. if anything i felt bad for killing trahearne, but we cant have that grieve can we, anet?

of all ppl anet think commander is feeling guilty for...

you know who i feel more guilty for instead of cinder? those poor unarmed bastards smodur told me to drop bombs to inside bunker in drizzle wood.

id even go further by saying my commander still have regrets over shelling his own troops in PS, or over Tonn and Apatia's death. tho i understand anet cant do it because they long ditched permutations.

well, its not that bad actually.

will try to save to buy SOTO for now, or trying to get sule up to EoD as well.

#gw2 #gw2 rambles #end of dragon

[noco7]

Hi! I just read your post on Nemma and Noah's characterization in RR and, although I actually really like Nemma, I totally agree with you about how nuts the writing was. But it made me curious so I decided to ask: what are your thoughts on Emma as a character? I quite like her, but I prefer Kitty lol.

Hello! Nice to hear from you, and I'm glad n*mma worked for some people. As for Emma, I'm going to be honest - I don't know what to make of her. The first (and last) time I watched RR, I really tried to like her. I didn't want to be one of those people who hated the female love interest for getting in the way of their gay ship. And I accomplished that, I don't hate Emma. But I don't love her either. Perhaps I should love her. She's a bit like Courtney - not as extreme and so not as interesting imo, but she's still a mean girbloss. And I like evil women. Hell, I like Amy from Pakhitew and the only thing she ever did was be mean to her sister. And I enjoyed every second of it. That girl was so evil it crossed into camp. Considering all those things, Emma should have been easy favorite. But ehh, didn't happen. And I think that's more on me. The more I force myself to like something, the more attention I pay to the flaws. The more people tell me something's bad, the more I look for the good things. It's like I always want to prove someone wrong, whether thats myself or the public. But enough about me, let's talk about Emma:

IMO, Emma has three main things going for her during RR. Her relationship with her sister, her relationship with Noah, and her trust issues regarding alliances. 1) The sister plot. I have mixed feelings about how this plot began, because yeah, Emma was pretty mean. Which I should like, because I liked Amy. But I was never supposed to like Amy, so I did. But I was supposed to like Emma. Emma's a protaganist. So I didn't. 💀 That being said, even I can't deny how well this plotline resolved. Her problem had been her putting the competition ahead of her sister, but for her to accept defeat because her sister was more important? Chef's kiss. Masterful writing. Great message for the kiddies and adults alike.

So yeah, mixed feelings, but overall, I'd say it was Good. 2) Her relationship with Noah. Yeah, no. You already saw me diss this ship, which, sorry. But I will be nicer this time! Despite my dislike, It does solve the problem of her not being over her ex. That's good, that she could find love again. And tbf, I think it does make sense that she likes Noah, or at least more sense the other way around. Since she's allowed to dislike him first, it's not insta-love. And once Noah proves himself by always trying to impress her and help him out, like.. yeah of course she likes the guy who's dedicated to being her simp. I too would grow to like someone who liked me. So what's the problem? Ehh, it's her weird comments. She compares Noah's ass to apples, when the guy is flat af. Emma says Noah's funny in his least funny season, then laughs at one of Noah's jokes, before admitting she doesn't get it. Like, it feels like the writers weren't sure of how to make Noah appealing without making Emma a little insane. The family thing, the hair fish thing, the obession over him even when he's gone. I know that's her thing, that Emma is slightly obsessive. (And I'd be a hypocrite to hate Noah's SO being slightly obsessive. Like that isn't the whole plot of my Noco fic. But uhh, I use it as a way to deconstruct anxiety, neglect, and talk about the importance of consent. TD doesn't do that with Emma. It's just a funny weirdo thing she does 😜)

And perhaps that would be fine and quirky. Not everything has to deep. And that's true. Unfortunately, I'm an ex BNHA stan. For those who don't know about the manga, good, but also there's uhh some Sexist Writing in there. In this specific case, I'm talking about Deku and Ochako. Deku is the main hero guy, and Ochako is the love interest. They both start off as capable heros with their own unique motives, yet as soon as Uraraka started liking Deku, everything became about him. Every fight she thinks of him, 99% of her plot and screentime becomes about him. She stops being a character on her own and more a sattelite that revolves around Deku.

Now, TD didn't do this with Emma. She is still her own character after Noah is gone, and arguably a better one. But still, her continuing to think about Noah to the point of getting distracted rlly bothers me. It's like war flashbacks to 2018. So no, I don't think N*mma was a successful plotline for Emma, because while it did solve her problem ✅ and did kinda make sense ✅ it made her annoying to watch. ❌ And I hate Nemma, so BOOO! Negative points!!

3) But what about her thing about not being able to trust people? And I don't mean men, I mean alliances. There's this whole thing where Kitty tries to get Emma to consider alliances. The Nowen one works, sorta. (You know, if Noah was a true boyfriend, he would have continued the competition, just so he could stay and help his GF. But apparently Noah's just one of those guys who like... is lazy and annoying, meets a girl he likes, puts massive amounts of effort to woo her - then once he gets the girl, he stops. Oof. 💀) But what about the other alliance? The Adversity Twins. Uhhh. Emma kinda betrayed them. For Noah! A good cause! But it kinda weakens her trusting other people, and willingness to help her competitors, when one of her Big Moments was throwing them overboard for her bf she wasn't even dating yet. Wow. I'd be so pissed if I were the Adversity Twins, lmao. This moment isn't bad in itself, but it confuses the message. She's trying to learn how to make alliances, but she throws one alliance to save the other. Net gain 0. And if I'm remembering wrong, she also didn't trust the Surfer Dudes later on? So uhhh. Tl;dr Emma had 3 main things in RR, she aced one of them, flopped in the other, and kinda... nothinged the third. At least for me. So in the end, it all cancels out. I feel like if I watched RR again, I might like her more. And if I liked N*mma, like you do, I might have liked Emma too. Unfortunately, I have taken the path into darkness.

If you're wondering if my fic will bash her, the answer is no. She doesn't have much of a presence in this fic for obvious reasons, and if she appears, it will be brief, and as Noah's friend. Emma the dog, however, will be making consistent appearances. I feel less bad about the overlapping names now that the new TD Season also has another Emma. Thank you TD, for assuaging my guilt. They really do care about their fans. 🤧 And if you're wondering why I named the dog Emma, when I could have just not... I took a Jane Austen class in college, thought Noah would like Austen, Emma is Austen's best book imo, thought the coincidence funny, starting thinking of how to insert his Austen like in the narrative in subtle ways, thought of his dog, and well. Yeah. That's the main reason. Should I have just named her Elizabeth or smth? Yeah. But Noah hates the monarchy :(

#td rr #td askbox #this was a really long way to say im neutral #you expect the long fic writer to stop at a few words? #never #and its past midnight so everything feels Deep #you know? #tbh maybe i should blame my rebellious psyche on my kpop days #where fans were basically required to agree that everything an artist put out was good #you could not be a if you went against the grain #so now im programmed to spot any way to go against the grain #i make it sound like it was a cult #it wasnt it was just kpop twitter being kpop twitter #which is #annoying #you say you go against the grain and yet you ship noco and wt is your favorite season #okay maybe im not that much of a hippie i guess

[villainship]

[Writing WIP Questionnaire]

Reflecting on my drafts folder w/ the previously-skipped section of the questions I was answering here.

If you read this: . . .don’t look @ me. LOL. (Exposing my secrets -- and also hiding from them.)

-

Sum up one or more of your wips!

Most aren’t for tumblr-posting, mind u. But:

(Divided up by which character has narration rights)

-a Vette story I keep forgetting abt, where she is trying to figure out TD’s post-binge fate on Nar Shaddaa, having decided she’s actually invested in this weird Sith’s wellbeing.

-Quinn experiencing TD’s response to betrayal (TD: “I’m not mad, I just want you to acknowledge your life is in /my/ hands. Forever.”)

-like 4 separate WIPs of ‘joint midlife crisis’ Zahied & TD engaging in their unsanctioned fraternizing in early times/getting to know each other -- however eagerly (TD) or reluctantly (Zahied). -Alliance-era, mid-50s Zahied thinks hard abt where he is, tells TD he ready to dump him (probably. Soon. --For real, though. NO relapses. When it’s done it’s /done/, 100%. Swearing off this shit- . . . Yes, he’ll still teach ur damn kids their hand-to-hand fighting.)

-Alliance-era TD, fraught with relationship issues/feelings(???) beyond his comprehension (dumped by his boyfriend; wife still touchy that he is hot for his boss; boss ignoring him b/c 1. she has never considered him significant or attractive 2. she’s busy with the happiness of being reunited with her bug husband), takes a team (incl. his Apprentice) to Hoth for a mission, where they lose contact with home base & can’t send an update to confirm they’re still alive. --He thinks that’s fine he didn’t want to hear from anyone there for a While anyway-- (but something else Will go wrong.) -Agent Vensys is assigned as chaperone for traitor-on-probation Sith Lord Liio (going Where? idk) -- which may be AU content, or I might make it canon. . . or I might split off into 2 different versions (one where they potentially makeout a little, & one for sailing the crack ship onward to far-distant horizons that veer OOC for at least 1 of them). Lolll. -(?canon?) Kallir has a nice day. -Kallir runs afoul of a posse of Imperial troops privately harboring anti-Sith sentiments in a garrison on Taris (? question mark). (Visiting pumpkin Agent was witnessed holding hands with a Sith who recently came by) -- I’m evaluating how much violence I’ll include as canon. (Less than I wrote. . . but some. He definitely gets bullied. Punches someone in the throat. Maybe knifes a guy a little bit?? I wrote that scene, but I’m not sure it’ll fit.) -Kallir undergoing an entire ordeal living among space pirates & becoming slightly unhinged. -in AU: Kallir (the Minister of Intelligence), dragged away from the tail end of a formal ball, puts up with Vensys plying his charms at him (again)

-total shipping AU: Kallir, Liio, & Zahied, lonely hearts club, attempt to distract one another from mountains of baggage in the only way that comes to their minds when they recognize everyone else is hot and thirsty. (Fellas. . . you’re a mess. Sorry I’m so into that.)

Which story took the most research?

Well- the extent of research I’m willing to do is stuff like “what’s this place/object look like in SWTOR?”, or “what does the internet say about these star wars aliens?”

Which story has the most lore?

TD going to Hoth to blow up a Star Fortress maybe (regrettably, I don’t know the relevant lore & I’ve been incapable of doing the gameplay I want to do to get there).

Current word count of all your main wips?

I do Not track those stats. . . I think I know which are the longest, though.

-Part 1 of Liio/Kallir/Zahied AU is. . . 54 pages (for. . .3-4 scenes, essentially. dkfshgkjf). -Part 2 combined WIPs are 15 + 6 + 3 + .2 (a paragraph) (split up due to time-jumping mid-draft, starting a new file, & returning to unfinished business when I feel like it)

Fic that isn’t a total departure from character canon: -Part 1 (of the in-depth edition) of Kallir’s pirate story is a 32 page WIP, w/ an 18-page side chapter (which might not get any longer) -Part 2: 6 pages so far.  -Aftermath follow-up: 7 so far.

How many projects do you have going on right now? Are there any that you doubt you’ll ever finish?

(My answer to question 1 is more-or-less my entire list) It’s hard to say I Won’t finish anything, but also--I don’t often finish writings.

What was you first major project? How far along is it?

And I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them ‘major’ projects (pirate fic got pretty big--but. idk). . .

My first SWTOR fic was for TD & Quinn, and I got lost on it. lol. It’s one of those drafts that feels convoluted to look at (there’s a lot of patchwork pieces), & I’m not sure exactly how much of it is worth having in there or what I actually Want to write into it. (Quinn is hilarious to write, though.)

What are some tropes and character dynamics found in your wips?

. . . gay little scene-slice stories of charged & intimate interactions--aggressive or/and soothing. Just people having their emotional problems in various Situations (sometimes amid danger/stress. . . sometimes when they are trying to enjoy themselves. . . Sometimes those mix).

So. . . tame (generally tame.) psychological whump (mainly psychological.) I Guess. H/C-aligned.

Describe the setting of one or more of your wips

All my stories are in settings of Convenience, and usually defined more by who is there than details of the place itself. (eg. I’m picturing “Kallir gets bullied for having a Sith bf” somewhere on Taris b/c it seems like the kind of place where the military doesn’t get a lot of oversight). Nothing too exciting (or original).

What are some things that inspired your stories? Real events? Maybe a dream?

Game events sometimes, of course. ehehh.

I also have. . . not uncommonly come up w/ concepts for scenarios based on outfits. (Pirate fic arose b/c I previewed the Belsavis zap collar on Kallir. Vensys’ formal outfit was the starting point for that AU fic with the formal event)

What story are you the proudest of? Why?

I dunnoooo-- I have. . . a weird relationship w/ my writings. I don’t have consistent feelings about them (whether I think anything is so good or absolutely Unbearably terrible/cringe changes based on my own moods), and. . . A lot of the time I’m ashamed even making some/most of them for various reasons.

. . .BUT. I was (and still am) pretty proud of how I wrote our charas in the pumpkin-meets-Severine mini-story from a While back (which I just re-blogged cuz of the improvement edits last night). hehe. On fire w/ that one, writing a couple of my favorite personalities--successfully (I’d say) channeling a character that’s not even mine. 

And I don’t feel like I wasted my time if it’s a gift 4 a friend & I’ve been able to make their day with it. <3 We luv our charas. hell yeaaaaaaa

#about me: r #raikari writes

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Weird q..but i really dont understand why most fans hate season 4, especially the last episode. Why? I think it gave us a deeper look on both sherlock and mycroft! I felt it tells a lot about mycroft how he had to step in and take control of things ever since he was a kid himself. Also he is not a robot or a killer. Also redbeard thing. It was an appropriate deep psychological trauma (cause most shows usually disappoint in that area). I am not trying to impose my opinion. Just want to understand

Hey Nonny!

It’s all good, and I totally respect your opinion and how you enjoyed S4! It’s totally okay! I know that there are quite a few who got a lot of of S4, and who genuinely enjoyed it.

Sadly, I am not one of those people, and I’ll try to be as diplomatic a possible in my response, but PLEASE know that I don’t think you’re “terrible” or “stupid” for liking S4 because I DO get passionate sometimes in my responses, and I’m just merely speaking as someone who studied the series very closely for quite a long time before S4 aired, and as someone who knows Day-One-ers (ie., people who watched Sherlock on its day one airdate) who also are a large majority of the people who did not like S4. This is just me simply stating why I didn’t like it, but it’s different for everyone.

Stating what I DO like: The acting and cinematography of the first two episodes were brilliant for what they had to work with, and I’ve never faulted any of the actors for the flaws of S4. And for TFP, they did the best with what they had to work with.

That’s… pretty much all I really liked about S4.

Now, here’s my problems with S4:

Nothing made a LICK of sense to the narrative that they were telling in Seasons prior. 

This series was always based a bit in reality, and suddenly everything became comic-book rules: X-Men villains, shitty “redemption” arc, destroying favourite characters just for drama, ludicrous physics, explosions that only destroyed one small room in an apt where in previous episodes one explosion destroyed an entire block, etc.

Sherlock was OOC.

Mary was being built up to be a fantastic villain? Ah, nope, here’s the lacklustre twist where tee hee Mary’s just an assassin with a heart of gold that still emotionally abuses Sherlock and John and just won’t fucking stay dead.

And speaking of this, the DVD’s make NO LOGICAL SENSE unless she was planning to kill herself

AND she tries to make her death equatable to Sherlock’s??

Everyone was RIDICULOUSLY out of character in TFP, I’m so sorry: Mycroft is a bumbling coward for the most part, Sherlock disregards John when he gives the Vatican Cameos warning, the Holmes Parents are assholes because Mycroft COULDN’T SOLVE A PROBLEM WHEN HE WAS 12?? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? And that creepy Moriarty / Eurus thing, and LITERALLY they’re implying that EVERYTHING HAPPENED BECAUSE EURUS DIDN’T GET A HUG. Like, I’m so sorry, but that’s lazy writing.

And don’t even get me started on the ridiculousness of the entire character of Eurus. She LITERALLY had X-Men powers, and like… just nothing made sense. Her involvement in the entirety of S4 MADE NO SENSE. Why go back to prison if you can get out?? WHAT IS THE POINT?? AND I repeat: She did all this because she didn’t get a hug. Yes. I’m oversimplifying, but at the base level, that’s what it was, because she wanted Sherlock’s attention. Welcome to the club, kid, stand in line, everyone on the SHOW wants his attention.

The ENTIRE plot of the first 2 seasons got wiped out all because it wasn’t Moriarty who was interested in Sherlock, but Eurus?? What… What about Carl Powers?? Like…. the ENTIRETY of season one and TGG makes no sense now, because of that one 5 minute scene where Eurus “enlists” Moriarty. I… ugh.

The SUDDEN tonal switch from kind-of Sherlock to James Bond, for some fucking reason.

And on that note, how terribly lazy and cheap TFP looks in comparison to the other two episodes. The whole episode looks like it was filmed in a small house with 4 identical rooms.

EVERYTHING that was etablished in 2 episodes prior were COMPLETELY forgotten when Mary was “shot”.

The complete character assassination of one loyal blogger John H Watson in favour of Mary for some fucked up reason, even though AT HIS OWN WEDDING HE COULDN’T STAND BEING AROUND MARY. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe for one damned second that John would EVER forgive Mary for murdering his best friend after seeing what it did to him. That’s not love from her, and that’s NOT John’s character EVER in the ENTIRETY of the series.

And speaking of character assassinations, Molly’s character being devolved to S1E1 Molly, where instead of giving her agency like they were doing with her the ENTIRE series, so much so that Sherlock picked up on her dominance enough to give her a big role in his mind palace in HLV and TAB, only to make her a sad little self-insert Mary Sue pining for the main character, and in turn made Sherlock a TERRIBLE human being for MAKING HER say what she did. It’s gross.

AND speaking of Molly’s character, they’ve been setting up Mollstrade since as early as ASiB, but I guess that plot line got shafted. Look I LOVE Hopkins, and I am ANGRY they didn’t give her more than 3 fucking lines in the entirety of ONE episode after HEAVILY promoting her actress and character, but they essentially reduced her to a piece of ass for Lestrade to chase. AND THAT’S NOT HIS CHARACTER EITHER. EW GROSS.

The constant plot holes being gaped wide open, and the Chekov’s gun moments where they bring up shit but do nothing with it!! 

TD-12? Nope, just a lame reference to a story we like. 

John got shot at the end of TLD with a VERY REAL FUCKING GUN? Nope, it was a dart gun. 

John not suddenly knowing how to be a doctor.

The TGG one I mentioned up above. 

What was in the letter? And who was Anyone??

Moriarty essentially being erased as anything other than a hired thug and had no part whatsoever in Sherlock’s history. 

Eurus… Just all of her character is asinine. 

Everyone in T6T suddenly not knowing John’s the blogger, which is in direct contradiction to literally the entire series. 

The AGRA plotline was ridiculous, in the end.

Baby? What baby? It was only there when convenient.

They dropped whatever plotline they were going to do for Mycroft: He was being set up as either dying, or the villain.

Redbeard. I’m sorry, I disagree with you on that. Mofftiss is trying to tell me that a little boy fell down a well and went missing, and that WASN’T the first place searchers / the police wouldn’t have looked? Sorry, no. And then. AND THEN his parents just… go along with this thing where Sherlock shuts down and they DON’T get him therapy? Yes, I agree the mind is a funny thing, and we can be traumatised into forgetting or dissociating from traumatic events. I GET IT. But… like I don’t believe the Holmes are so heartless as to just never grieve or have memories around about their supposedly dead daughter. It’s another OCC thing for me.

John’s cheating.

Disappearing and reappearing characters, like this scene, and the entirety of the aquarium scene.

Mary and John being terrible parents

OH GOD THIS FUCKING SCENE. That bomb SHOULD HAVE DESTROYED THE ENTIRE BUILDING.

What… who was this girl on the plane? What? Like I know WHO, but if she’s supposed to be Eurus talking to Sherlock, why don’t we see Eurus… talking to Sherlock? I … Ugh.

NORBURY. 

The glass SUPER SECRET GOVERNMENT ROOM THAT NO ONE SHOULD SEE INTO in T6T.

Sloppy camera work that some believe was intentional, but if it wasn’t, jesus c’mon.

The RIDICULOUS amount of 4th Wall Breaking. Like… even the actors didn’t give a shit.

Essentially, everything on this list here and in this blog tag here.

And everything mentioned on these three posts:

T6T: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night 

TLD: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night

TFP: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night

There’s SO much more I can go into, but please go through my “something’s fucky” tag in that last link.

Notice how probably 90% of that has NOTHING to do with “johnlock not becoming canon” because the Johnlockers get MONSTROUS accusations as to THAT being why we didn’t like S4, even though it was, like critically panned by the GENERAL AUDIENCE who have NO investment in the series other than “I liked it in the past”.

Two of my fave YouTubers have interesting (not perfect, but still good) takes coming at the series as casual viewers:

‘The Day Sherlock Died’ by The Closer Look

‘Sherlock is Garbage, and Here’s Why’ by hbomberguy

So it’s NOT just Johnlockers. I’ve talked to Sher1011ies at 221B con who didn’t like S4 either, because most of them realized how shitty Molly was treated in the last episode. So yeah, a big middle finger to those who think I dislike S4 because of  “no Johnlock”. No, I disliked it because I need my stories to make logical narrative sense. I disliked it because I love John and they ruined his character all for the sake of drama and because Moffat has a “hurting Ben” kink. I disliked it because Mary should NOT have been “redeemed” because she was an abuser. I disliked it because Moriarty was turned into a cartoon villain, even though he was already overused in the series. I disliked it because the core of the show – the FRIENDSHIP of Sherlock and John, and their solving mysteries together – did not exist at all. I disliked it because John got sidelined. I disliked it because TFP was a ridiculous episode that, if you replace ANY of the characters, it wouldn’t make a difference, because it didn’t feel like an episode of Sherlock. I disliked it because everyone was OOC.

Anyway. Sorry. One too many accusations my way over the past 1100+ days LOL.

As for your assessment of TFP, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you. There was no growth and actually it implies something far more sinister: That the Holmes are and were terrible parents that gave no shits about their daughter, their traumatized son, and expected their eldest to essentially be a parent. It implies that Mycroft, at 12 years old, orchestrated the ENTIRE Sherrinford thing… Look I can suspend my disbelief, but there’s limits, and this is one of them. A LITERAL CHILD. Perhaps Uncle Rudy had a hand in it somehow, but then why not shit on Uncle Rudy? Why is Mycroft blamed for it all?

Look, I don’t doubt Sherlock had a traumatic experience regarding “Redbeard”. But then why play into the fact that he was a dog? Why bring another character into the series just to have a gotcha moment? Because Mofftiss wanted a “Shyamalan twist”, that’s why. They threw EVERYTHING away for a twist ending either because they GENUINELY thought it was good, or they got tired of doing Sherlock. ALL of TFP is LITERALLY a really bad plot twist because reasons. TFP makes no sense to the ENTIRE narrative structure of the previous 12 episodes. It erased EVERYTHING from the previous episodes, and coated it with a gross closing by a character no one wanted in the series, and then tried to convince us that it’s a new beginning – “a journey they had to go through” – but it SOLVED NOTHING.

Anyway. I have big feels about S4, and the only way I can enjoy it is to watch it subtextually, but even then, I cannot sit through TFP without cringing. 

That said, Lovelies, please do not attack Nonny for enjoying S4! I know you guys won’t, but Nonny came out with an olive branch and they just want to understand why the fandom is passionate about S4′s… whatever it was. We can have a civil discussion about it, and point out – without attacking – why S4 is universally panned. It’s okay to like things no one else does, and Nonny was respectful to me in this ask! 

So with that, feel free, lovelies, to express why YOU didn’t enjoy the series, or why you did! I’m interested in both “sides” / pov’s whatever :)

#steph replies #long post #sherlock s4 #s4 shitposting #mofftiss #something's fucky #the mary problem #my thoughts #my meta #shitposting steph #sorry gang if you like the season #it's easier for me to enjoy it if i tinhat

[twdmusicboxmystery]

10x18 - TTD Clues

Okay, let’s talk TTD. Usually I just have like 4-5 talking points from TTD, but there was a LOT in this episode. And, let’s face it. Given that it’s the Leah episode, there’s lots to discuss anyway. But everything in TTD just backs up what I’ve already said. Namely, that Leah and Daryl are NOT soulmates. And that there’s a lot of Beth symbolism and foreshadow here.

So, let’s just dive right in.

1)    Despite Chris calling it a “powerful relationship” in the intro (thanks a lot, Chris), when Nicole Mirante-Matthews, the writer, starts talking about it, it’s much better. She says this Leah thing will be relevant to a lot of things moving forward, including Connie. Which I take to mean that this affected his mindset and will probably change how he approaches things we’ll see in his story. 

She says that these were two lost souls, who happen to meet at a specific place and time and sort of crash together. That specifically suggests that it’s not a long-term thing. It’s more of a rebound and they were both lonely, and that’s why it happened. Then she says that this will affect things “reverberating forward into his present day story, which we’re rolling out here.” Because we understand the Bethyl template, and that Beth will be returning soonish, that just screams Beth to me.

2)    Chris talks about the grave marker Daryl looks at and how it’s kind of a fake out, as many people (who hadn’t read spoilers) would assume it was Leah’s grave. I talked about this Monday, and how it reminded me of the Beth/Tyreese fake out. I got that from TTD. Because I’d already read spoilers, the idea of that being mistaken for Leah’s grave wouldn’t have occurred to me.

And of course if she’s a hallucination, the grave marker may even be Leah’s. 

3)    Chris also mentioned massive time gaps. Now, he’s talking about the six-year time gap in which Leah happened, but still. I felt like the way he said it is to remind us that there are time gaps that have to be explained at some point, *coughs missing 17 days*

4)    Fun fact: the puppy’s name is Carl. Now, I can’t REALLY point to that as a TD thing, because the puppy’s name really is Carl. But I couldn’t help but wonder if THEY named the dog that. And even if not, they still felt the need to mention it here. I’m side-eyeing a little. Only because there are such strong symbolic ties between Carl’s death and Beth’s return. But hey, take it or leave it. Just my TD brain working overtime.

5)    They mentioned the map in the “in memoriam.” So, you know how I said yesterday that Map = Beth. Yeah, they actually treat Map as a lost character here. I’m just saying.

6)    Denise Huth’s pre-taped interview talks about a “lightening” for Daryl. Uuummmm. I don’t want to go into this in too much detail here, but this is part of the eclipse symbolism. Okay, I’ll just run through it super fast, but I’ll probably do a post in more detail later. Beth = sun. In an eclipse, the sun is hidden by the moon. So it’s the “what is hidden” or “what is not seen” theme. Some of the sun’s light is still seen around the edges of the moon (think of that as the symbolism that seeps out) but the sun itself (Beth) is still hidden. Gimple described Coda using the word “penumbra” which is the darkest part of the shadow thrown during an eclipse, and Maggie told Glennin 5x10, “This is just the dark part.” If things are getting lighter, it’s because the eclipse is almost over. The darkest part of the shadow has passed and things are getting lighter. And that’s actually what we see in the eclipse scene with Daryl and Leah. The eclipse being almost over and the sun starting to peek through. So this is all just another way of saying Beth is about to appear.

7)    There’s a point where Lynn Collins suggests that maybe we would have seen a Daryl/Leah kiss if not for Covid restrictions, but the writer immediately corrects her and says it was a creative choice. She sights reasons such as the fans being protective of Daryl and not trying to piss them off too much, but that seems very significant to me. I think they didn’t want to show Leah and Daryl kissing (even though the sex implication is there) because they’re saving that for someone else.

8)    At one point, talking of Daryl and Carol’s fight, MMB mentioned the scene in S2 where they fought over Sophia. Just seemed significant to me that she brought that up, because that’s basically ground zero for the missing girl theme, and the first person we saw Daryl searching for. Now, this entire episode, he’s searching for Rick, and it’s full of Beth themes.

9)    Back to the map. I said Monday I would go back to the opening scene where Carol picked up the piece of the map and put it in Daryl’s bag. I never did. Lol. Sorry about that. I threw a LOT of info at you and totally forgot to go back to it. Just keep in mind that this was probably a foreshadowing, and Map = Beth. And they specifically brought that scene up on TTD and drew attention to it, though of course they talked about it in the context of Daryl and Carol.

The other thing that several people have brought up is that map seems to be destroyed, and then whole again. I suppose I just thought he got a new map when I first watched the episode. Now, I agree with other that the state of the map is one of many ways they were hinting that parts or all of this is a hallucination. And again, they drew attention to the map on TTD.

10) When Chris asked the writer what the inspiration was for Carol’s “strong right foot” story, she got REALLY flustered. Now, that’s definitely TD symbolism. Related to the “missing foot/shoe” symbolism, in my opinion. In fact, if they’re synonymous (we’re just not entire certain yet) then this would definitely be a reference to both Beth and Ezekiel being missing. But anyway. The writer finally came up with how and why she had Carol tell the story of her grandmother. And I’m not saying it was a lie. The grandmother story is much more incidental than the “strong right foot” bit. But I don’t think Nicole expected that question or was prepared for it.

11) They did talk extensively about parallels between Leah and Carol, and I had to chuckle at what was said. They were just doing a lot of back-pedaling. So, first they said they are two completely different characters. Then they said they share a lot of qualities that Daryl recognizes. Then they say his relationship to Leah in the flashbacks is absolutely nothing like his relationship to Carol, both in the present and as it has been for many years. Did you catch all that? It’s their way of pointing out the parallels between Leah and Carol, but also taking care to make sure people know that Daryl and Carol are NOT romantic the way Daryl and Leah are. Lol. This is why I say its kind of the death knell for that ship. But again, why put parallels between Leah and Carol if the romance angle isn’t there? For the answer, read my very long analysis from yesterday.

12) On the “Inside the Dead” portion, it says that the breed of dog they use for Dog is often used for Military and Police K-9 Unites. Yeah, that’s purposeful. I think they specifically chose that breed of Dog to use on the show as Daryl/Leah’s dog, because it both calls back to Grady (police) and foreshadows the CRM (military).

13) Norma’s interview! Yay! This might have been my favorite part of TTD. Because the way he describes Daryl’s arc here makes it clear that it was one chapter of Daryl’s life that is now over. And what he says about Daryl being unable to allow himself to be happy with Leah says to me that he’s still hung up on someone else.

This probably made me happier back when I thought Leah was real. But the other thing is that he specifically uses a Matrix metaphor (the red pill vs the blue pill.) Umm? The red pill vs the blue pill situation in the Matrix is what brought Neo out of the construct and into reality. This is Norman’s very obvious way of telling us that Leah isn’t real. Daryl is in the Leah Matrix in this episode.

14) When speaking of the arm that Leah throws at Daryl, they said something really interesting. My fellow theorists and are still batting around ideas for what the arm symbolism might mean. But MMB called it “dead weight” that Leah was basically getting rid of. And they all agreed that symbolically that was true. So the arm represented Leah getting rid of the dead weight of her past and working through it. Wow. Where to start with this?

If she were real, that just shows that this is all this relationship was. Once she’d worked through her own losses, she wanted Daryl to commit to her, but he couldn’t. Because he hadn’t worked through his. Plus, a relationship built on this sort of thing, as I’ve already described, is never going to last in the long term. But of course, assuming she’s a hallucination, this is really just Daryl trying to work through his issues and shed his past. It doesn’t really work. 

Dead Weight is literally the name of the episode in 4b where the Governor was a MASSIVE Beth proxy.

Shedding one’s tragic past while in a little cabin in the woods, with DARYL, is pretty much the synopsis of Still. So, it just backs up the symbolic retelling of Bethyl.

All right. That’s what I got for TTD. Anyone see anything I missed?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[galadrieljones]

Author Meme

tagged by @thevikingwoman​. thank you!! <3

Author Name: galadrieljones (gala)

Fandoms You Write For: Currently Red Dead Redemption 2, but I’ve written a LOT for Dragon Age: Inquisition, also Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last of Us.

Where You Post: AO3 and tumblr

Most Popular One-Shot: I’m not totally sure. I don’t do a great job of keeping count. My little story “Unsigned” about an unnamed Lavellan who has Solas’s baby, and then gets a letter from him asking if he can see her, is definitely up there. In terms of overall popularity, Yours, Sadie Adler is a more popular one-shot across platforms (tumblr and AO3 combined).

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Still The Dead Season (DA:I, Solavellan), just in terms of sheer numbers. But TDS is quite old by now. In terms of popularity to progress, The Lily Farm (RDR2, Arthur x Mary Beth) has surpassed TDS by quite a bit. Which is surprising to me, because it’s a rare pair. I’m so thankful?

Favorite Story You Wrote: Usually my favorite thing I’ve ever written is the thing I’m writing now, which would be The Lily Farm. But like viking, I love all my stories. Though sometimes I do still think about the little one-shot where Solas and Sene meet for the first time (“Nobody”) and the one-shot where they kiss for the first time (“The Party”). Those are big moments that never made it into TDS, because they’re backstory, and I really love how I wrote them. I miss my tol elves. But they’re safe, and that’s what counts.

Story You Were Nervous to Post:  I usually still get nervous when posting any and all smutty chapters/fics. Idk. I have the least amount of experience writing erotica, so I feel like I’m still learning and gaining confidence.

How Do You Choose Your Titles: Obsessively. Lol. I love titles. For me, titles play a roll in the message of the fic or chapter. Sometimes, they come very fast. Sometimes, they take some real thought. Usually, I title my chapters or fics after a recurring theme or image. So like, my latest chapter of The Lily Farm is called “The Wayward Minister.” This harkens to something Hamish says in an earlier chapter when he’s giving Arthur advice about his wedding. It also most obviously gestures to Reverend Swanson, who is a main character in the chapter and a very important thematic character in the game. But it also subtly points to Dutch, a “different kind of minister,” and how Dutch is notably ABSENT at the time of Arthur’s wedding (ie: wayward). So like, there are TWO wayward ministers in the chapter, and a hint toward a line from a previous chapter. Sorry there is usually a lot going on with my titles lol

Do You Outline: No. I usually just hold the story in my brain, which means it changes shape over time, but that’s okay with me. I also tend to plan just by sketching out important scenes ahead of time. I will rarely write down summaries of what I’m writing. I definitely don’t chart or list. For me that is all very stifling.

Complete: ?? I have completed a couple of chapter WiPs: The Dead Season and Last Call. Outside of fandom I have completed one (1) very big fantasy novel that is currently in a drawer. I have a million completed little fics and short stories I have no intention of counting them lol.

In-Progress: The Lily Farm and also technically Zero (HZD, Aloy x Nil), which I still have deluded myself into thinking I’ll get back to some day. 

Coming Soon: More Lily Farm. Also a sequel to Yours, Sadie Adler that I’ve been cooking up for some time. But it’s hard for me to switch back and forth between my Happiness AU and then the sadness of what happens in canon. Honestly it’s like emotionally distressing :’)

Do You Accept Prompts: Yes, always. I like to work from an overflowing backlog. It gives me little things to do when I feel like writing in bits and pieces, and not worrying so much about editing.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: I am really excited to just keep going with Lily Farm? I have many things in store? I love my readers because they are emphatic. They’re always like, FUCKING DUTCH FUCK YOU DUTCH and they are great defenders of my sweet darling children Arthur and Mary Beth. I love surprising them and bringing them new updates. It makes me so happy. 

Tag Three Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions As Well: @bearly-tolerable @a-shakespearean-in-paris @idrelle-miocovani <3

#author meme

[charlespatrickmcavoy]

HOW

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO REPLY TO. BUT OH BOY GET READY FOR A STORYTIME FRIENDS !!! so. my father and I went to the bruins game today, I don’t really see my dad often bc like daddy issues but occasionally I’m forced to do things with him and this time it was a game so like yes this is good. so he told me on our way into the garden that he may have something cool for us to do after the game was over, and I was like omg what is it ??? and then he told me how he is actually good friends with one of the security guards who works at the garden, and how he might be able to get us down where the players are after the game is over. SO MY INSIDES IMMEDIATELY STARTED SCREAMING BC MEETING PLAYERS??? BUT MY EXPECTATIONS WERE STILL LOW BC I JUST DIDN’T KNOW WTF WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND I DIDN’T WANNA BE DISAPPOINTED. so the game goes by and we get that dub yanno and my dad tells me that now we have to wait outside our seat section to meet up with this “mysterious security guard” and by this point of course I’m shitting my pants bc this is fucking happening. so we meet up with him and he escorts us through all the fucking cool parts of TD Garden like all the behind the scenes places with all the equipment and stuff and holy shit it was fucking amazing, I saw everything that you see on behind the b in person. I was meeting all the garden staff and security and it was so cool. so then it was so cute there was a lovely equipment man on a forklift who tossed me a puck and bc I was wearing my Charlie jersey he goes “hey McAvoy!” to get my attention and omg I died I loved it. anyways. then our fun security guard friend brings my dad and I to outside of the locker room where the WIVES AND FAMILIES are waiting for the boys to come out. at this point I was basically just having an out of body experience ??? and so we waited and I met some other security people, and then the boys started to come out of the locker room!!! omg they were all so fucking cute I could’ve just fainted on the spot. I met the whole roster as they were leaving and then CHARLIE oh my sweet boy was last out of the locker room and I thought I was going to throw up bc like this is my life purpose happening right in front of me? and so he walked down the hallway and I said hi to him and asked if he could sign my jersey and he was like “yeah of course I’d love to!” and he smiled and omg I was still screaming on the inside (I could make a whole separate post about my feelings solely about him and this moment) and then after I thanked him and he wished me a merry christmas and that was it!!! best day of my life!!!

plz tho like I actually met the whole roster and I’d love to talk about each of the boys individually so lmk who you’d wanna hear about if you wanna hear about them and I am more than happy to talk about them lol

[thewalkingdead-obsessed]

MSF Thoughts

Sorry for the lack of original posts, with this semester being as busy as it has been and some tension (what else is new) in twd fandom, I’ve kept pretty quiet on this tumblr acct. Since everyone and their mother have been posting their thoughts about the MSF, I thought I would too since I’ve been panicking about it for days now (everyone in GE can probably agree to that lol). This won’t really be based on a lot of ~facts~ more so just my thoughts and hopes more than anything. So without further rambling:

There has been SO much hype regarding this next episode. Between what was said after the last episode ended, Chris confirming on TTD that it’s going to be big according to the producers, and various tweets and social media posts, the fandom is in a damn frenzy thinking about what might happen. I feel like we all have this idea that a “big moment” means death, and hey, we’ve been given good reason with death happening a lot in the finales and mid season finales. But the whole show is death. Many people I have spoken to have said this, but at this point someone living would be more shocking than someone being alive. ANYTHING would be more shocking than another DAMN BIG CHARACTER DEATH. I’m not saying no one is going to die, we certainly know with a war going on and a ZA, death is always going to lurk, but as viewers we are so accustomed to it that it can get really repetitive to make every single huge moment on a show be someone we know and love dying. We’ve learned that no character is safe (especially after Glenn & Abraham) so it’s like.... if y’all are trying to kill someone and say it’s a shock, you’re a joke. I don’t even think Rick’s death would constitute as fulfilling the hype because even Kirkman said Rick isn’t safe. 

With all that being said, I truly believe this season, and especially the MSF, are huge breaking points for the show. There are so many mixed feelings on this season (I have enjoyed much of it but of course I have some complaints) and with the ratings not being where they once were, they need to deliver on the promises for the season and DEFINITELY on this next episode. 

I can’t talk about the MSF without talking about that tsdf. First, I wanted to start with the Carl rumors. Those have been around for weeks now and I try my best to go off of what’s happening in the show rather than speculation on spoiler sites (I don’t really go on them that much, but I do enjoy a spoiler here and there if I’m being honest). I didn’t really know how to feel about it and at this point, I still would not say I am convinced that he is definitely going to die in the MSF. Now the fact that they are not releasing any information is pretty alarming? Were they wrong? Are they doing it out of respect? Were they contacted by someone? Do they not know what’s going to happen? You bet your ass I’ll tune in to their page after the episode airs to see what their reasoning is... 

Through various interviews I have read, the over all theme of the MSF seems shocking/emotional but with a twist of beauty (Katelyn Nacon’s interview comes to mind). There is so much damn hype that if they do not deliver in the episode, I’m genuinely scared about the ratings/future of the show..

So let’s talk about death. Assuming there will be some death in this episode, here are the possible candidates I see (~not saying death is necessarily the big moment though):

-Father Gabriel: Obviously he’s pretty darn sick right now. Not sure if they’re playing off the whole walker blood making people sick thing or if it is something different (UPROXX posted an interesting reddit theory on how it may have to do with the chemical plant or those toxic walkers we saw which I think it’s pretty interesting). After his talk with Eugene, it seems like he may be on his way out so hopefully he did some good to Eugene and things turn around for his annoying mullet having ass lmao. I am pretty certain his death won’t be the “big moment” though. 

-Tara: idk man, she’s been through a lot and she’s all this hell bent mission to get revenge (like Daryl tbh) and maybe she won’t outlast the war, who knows.

-Morgan: From the crossover to Lennie on TTD, things don’t look too promising for him. This probably comes as little to no surprise to anyone. Stick around for a theory regarding Morgan at then end.

-Carl: Although I said I am unsure on this one, it seems like with this next episode he’s in danger and they very well could make this his end. I am not ruling it out, and many people actually think this is fact. I don’t think him going to college is a good enough reason to say he’s goner though. And again... if this is the big 

-Judith: I’ve seen this rumored around to. Honestly, if they make the death of a toddler the big moment, I’ll not only be sickened, but disappointed in the lack of creativity. 

No one is safe, but these are my thoughts on possible deaths.

In a perfect world, this is what I theorize, the big moment is (TD related, so if you’re not interested in reading it, simply don’t) related to Morgan and Beth. I theorized something similar a few months ago before the season started. Going off of the theories that Morgan aided in saving Beth, this is what I think could happen. I think Morgan, who is still struggling with his morals, journey, and identity, will be either injured (maybe on the brink of death) or put in a really uncomfortable dilemma that directly questions all those things. In some way, Beth will return, and it will be discovered that he helped her along his way to finding Rick again. In this moment he will realize that by saving her (before knowing who she truly was), and not disregarding a human life, he was able to provide healing to the people he has grown to love. He will die from his injuries, or make the morally right choice in the dilemma (maybe having to do with that rat face asshole who killed Benjamin) and get killed. I am not sure whether they will go into it in the MSF regarding Beth coming back and how she lived, or if that will be the cliffhanger and in the MSP we will start there. This makes sense in what Nacon said because the big moment seems like a give and take, some gut wrenching and something beautiful. This would be big enough, in my opinion, to live up to the hype. 

Regardless of what happen, it needs to be big. Perhaps even the biggest thing the show has ever done. Please send me messages/asks with your thoughts, and questions. Let’s all panic for Sunday, together!! Much love!

#mine #twd #twd spoilers #the walking dead spoilers #spoilers #theories #twd theories #the walking dead theories #team defiance #team d #td #beth is alive #beth greene #season 8 #msf

[bethgreeneishopeunseen]

Can you direct me to some of the latest and greatest TD theories? I've been offline for a while.

Hey anon! I’m sorry that it’s taken so long for me to get back to you. I have to say, when I first saw your ask, I was a little lost. Team Delusional generates so much during the season, that it’s staggering. Below I listed all of my favorite, and what I consider likeliest, theories. For brevity I only described some of the major pieces of evidence for each theory, but I recommend through the links, as I can only summarize so much here.

Cure Theory (Beth was bit): 

Since before season 5 aired, there was speculation that Beth’s arc would be related to a cure. She was in a working hospital after all. @bethgreenewarriorprincess​ first suggested that Beth was bit, her wound hidden under the cast. Christy noticed that Beth had an abnormally large IV bag of heparin, a blood thinner, that would help her recover from her GSW and is also often used in the zombie literature as treatment for a bite. Furthermore, Beth wore a soft-compression cast, made from gauze, which is not good for setting broken/fractured bones. Because she had a cast made from gauze, it was changed regularly. (Notice how it goes from being grimy to clean in different scenes.) Edwards also wore rubber gloves while changing her cast offscreen, indicating that he was exposing himself to infection. We think that Beth is immune, and I believe that if Beth returns in season 8, she will be part of All Out War, and then season 9 will focus on the search for the cure and the Whisperers.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/beth-was-bit

Officer Bello: 

Christy and I also uncovered evidence that Bello was the one who actually shot Beth. She was likely aiming for Dawn and hit Beth by mistake. There was gun smoke near Bello, after Beth fell, and an officer glanced at her, as if they were in on the conspiracy together. Bello was also at the perfect height and angle for Beth’s GSW to make sense. Lastly, Amber Dawn Fox, who played Bello, has done a lot of TWD promotion and even had a table at SDCC this year, even though she’s a relatively small actress.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/officer-bello

Binoculars Bethfoot & the Junkyard:

In 7x08 a hooded figure appeared in a coda, surveying Alexandria before kidnapping Father Gabriel. On 7x10′s Talking Dead it was confirmed that the figure was Tamiel, from the Junkyard, but that’s impossible. There are differences between Tamiel and Boots’s costume, especially in the sleeve material, and there are also physical differences. Boots has fairer skin and more delicate hands, as well as a faint scar above her right eyebrow where Beth’s second facial laceration is. I believe that Tamiel is a narrative decoy and Sabrina an actual decoy, filming the walkaway shot in 7x08 as a stand-in for Emily. I also think both of them filmed together in July, filming scenes that explained how Tamiel and Boots reached Alexandria before Tamiel left to follow the Saviors while Boots stayed behind.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/binoculars-bethfoot

Beth is hiding among the Scavengers, and I think she will eventually face up against Jadis as she faced Dawn. Grady and the Junkyard are thematically the same, yet complete opposites, and both are original groups in the show. I think Beth will form a group/community with people from Grady and with Scavengers.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/the-junkyard

(picture credit to @badassbethdixon​)

Beth and Tigers:

Beth’s action figure was originally going to come with a very large bear trap. I think Beth saved Shiva from a bear trap at one point, and at that time she stayed at the yellow house. Beth’s figure stressed her medical training, in relation to Hershel’s veterinarian skills, and once Ezekiel saved Shiva she trusted him for life. It would be the same with Beth, I think. If Beth saved Shiva, Ezekiel would be eternally grateful and definitely let her take shelter in his domain. It would also explain the mysterious guitar player. Furthermore, I think Beth is on the run from some Grady survivors, who are after her for the cure. It makes sense that she would stay at the Kingdom but leave, feeling too exposed as C@rol was, per Richard. It would be easier for Beth to hide amidst all of the Scavengers.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/beth-and-tigers

Beth vs. Negan: 

I believe that Beth and Negan will be adversaries during the All Out War arc, Christ figure against the Anti-Christ. There have been a few eggs and parallels planted, linking Beth to Negan, such as this bat in frame with Beth from 4x10. Though it’s only covered in blood, the gore was set up to resemble barbed wire. Emily also became nervous when asked if Beth was with Negan.

This theory also connects to the Binoculars Bethfoot theory, because I think Beth has connections to the Kingdom as well. There are clear connections through the yellow house, and as Dwight will spy for Alexandria, so will Beth spy for the Kingdom. It would contrast her against Jadis, who was Negan’s little bird.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/165661628124/httpstwittercomnam88232323status911523977155#notes

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/164057756936/hi-first-i-want-to-say-thank-you-for-all-the#notes

803 Reunion:

There was an 803 in the car trunk from Still, behind Daryl’s shoulder. For the longest time I thought it was a 03 until an anon wrote to me, and I took a second look at the writing. The 803 matches up with a Grady clock that was never accounted for, and the second season of Ride premieres after 8x03. This could be the episode that our OTP actually reunites.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/163463901301/be-prepared-to-go-beth-christ-crazy-source-wiki#notes

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/163750705966/beth-christ-crazy-anon-again-lol-hi-i#notes

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/165727563216/amc-couldnt-settle-a-premiere-date-for-r1de-or#notes

Genekie:

In 7x11 Eugene forged a tenuous connection with the wives, especially Frankie. Since Frankie hugged him, I sensed a romantic connection, and when I went back and reviewed their characters and the cinematographic elements, I realized that Gimple is going in this direction. He’s going to pair up Eugene and Frankie (Genekie as I call them). Eugene’s love for Frankie will embolden him to fully work against Negan. Eugene and Frankie share similarities with comic!Eugene and Rosita, and overall they fit Gimple’s style. Genekie is a fresh take on a trope-filled pairing type, much like Bethyl. I’ve noticed similarities in the narrative and in Elyse DuFour’s social media. Her social media and interview hint at a larger arc, one connected to Eugene’s. All of it reminds me of Beth’s arc, Emily’s career, and Bethyl. While Genekie is a ship, and not exactly a theory, it is very subtle. If we can read that correctly, then it means we have Gimple’s style down. We aren’t missing his signs.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/genekie

Season 9 (The Whisperers):

Beth being the cure is very tangible. Her kidnapping, the start of her cure arc, was linked to the D.C. trip, through the use of license plates. It makes sense to explore the cure arc fully after All Out War, when the group would have time to look for supplies and to set up a research area. (In 6x01 Eugene even mentioned that the infirmary would make a great laboratory.) With all of that in mind, I believe that Beth’s cure arc will be linked to the Whisperers. There are comic eggs connecting the two, and Heath’s disappearance introduced the first solid Whisperers egg. Tara found a card with P.P.P. on it, and it’s a musical acronym for “whisper”. That P.P.P. first appeared in Bulletproof Picasso in a scene reminiscent of the end of Still. Heath’s disappearance was even reminiscent of Beth’s kidnapping.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/162874941726/hope-is-the-distant-light-look-northward

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/the-whisperers

#team delusional #summaries #theories #genekie #asks

[theofficefantasyfootball]

WEEK 7 - Wrap Up

HOW YOU BOOIN’?!!

Yes, I know that Halloween won’t be here until next week, but when my daughter showed me this clip the other day, I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait that long to post it.  In it, Wendy Williams (talk show host) has a mild stroke/faints on live TV...and in the background as she falls it says on the screen HOW YOU BOOIN’?  LOL.  She explains in a longer clip that this was not a joke and that she did in fact fall and faint but it was because her costume made her too hot and she passed out!  So, how does this pertain to fantasy football?  Easy.  Guys, fantasy football is suppose to be fun.  Just like dressing up for Halloween is fun.  But, if you take it to serious, if you put on too many layers before you head out the door, you are going to overheat and you will pass out.  This year, I want to encourage you to enjoy fantasy football.  Don’t try so hard that you fall and hit your head on something.  It’s just not worth it.  The season will be over before you know it...for some sooner than others, so please relax and enjoy while you still can!

TREE HUGGERS vs MOOSES ON THE LOOSES

Hold up there Scotty K, not so fast!  You can have first place in the “even” division for 1 week but any more than that is not allowed thanks to The Moose!  And yes, that’s what Mitch wants me to believe.   He want’s me to think that the only reason Scott lost this week was all because of Mitch.  I have the text thread to prove it.  He wanted me to “thank him” for beating Scott.  He practically demanded it.  I reminded him that maybe he won because it was the first week this season that Tree Huggers didn’t break 100 points so maybe that was it.  No, he wouldn’t hear that.  He insisted that I thank him and you know what...I did.  I said, thank you Mitch for allowing Matt Ryan to get hurt, thank you for making David Johnson watch the game rather than play in it.  And thank you for leaving points on your bench by not playing Ekeler against the Titans.  If it wasn’t for you, I would not be where I am today.  Literally.  Sorry Scott.  I guess it’s good to get that one out of the way but hard to do it, like I did, against The Moose!  There’s always next week!

ISUCK vs LONG LEFT BALLERS

Speaking of winning.  I won.  But you know what?  Sometimes winning is sweet and sometimes it’s sour.  This week wasn’t all that sweet, I won 119 - 109 but there was literally a moment with 5 min left in the Dallas game where if Dak would have given the ball to Elliott to run in from the 6 yard line instead of taking it in himself - Bebo would have won by 1 point.  Also, had Bebo done the logical thing and played Marvin Jones instead of Calvin Ridley - he would have not only beat me but had the high point win for the week.  And let’s not forget losing Mahomes early...another reason I won.  So, am I glad I won?  Sure.  That kind of stuff happens to all of us...but I do wish that I could have beat him without knowing that 1 move here or 1 player different there and I would have been on a 2 game losing streak.  So, I guess if I need to thank anyone - it’s not Mitch...it’s Bebo for not having a Tight End to play and for the Marvin Jones debacle.  I will say he did put up an impressive 33 points on defense with the 10 point shut out bonus - which kept the game tight until the end.  Good game Bebo.  Go study!

HOWARD vs FUNK GUY

He’s the current Champion of this league.  He’s 5-2.  He just won high point and made $20.  He’s kind of a big deal.  He’s the “Funk Guy” and let me tell you - he takes fantasy football and this league very serious.  If that first paragraph applies to anyone it’s Dana.  Sometimes he might take it too personal.  If you don’t believe me check the waiver wire transactions and see how active he is.  He played Chase Edmonds just because....who does that...Dana does and Chase put up 38.  He had a great week from Brissett with 35 as well.  Howard on the other hand, how did he prepare?  Well he decided to NOT play Aaron Rodgers who had 53 points and he also played an Inactive Player - Devonte Adams.  You know what playing an inactive player tells me?  That Howard just doesn’t give a shit.  You know?  Who does that...plays a player who isn’t playing and let points sit on your bench.  He could have played AJ Brown.  Nope.  It’s disgusting frankly.  Good win Dana.  I am so sorry that you were matched up against someone who probably won’t even read this.  #neighbor

MR AWESOME vs TuPADRE

I am assuming that everyone in the league knows that Andy and Gabe are pretty much best friends.  They do the high five thing, they live in the trendy 12th South neighborhood together, they both play music...you get it.  So it doesn’t surprise me that this week Andy let Gabe win.  He saw that Gabe had only had 1 win this year...he knows he’s busy with his Taco business and he wanted to do him a solid and give him a win.  I wouldn’t even be surprise if they met about it on one of their long “high five” walks and Andy told him who to play and who to sit.  It also wouldn’t surprise me if Gabe gave him free tacos or Ladybird merch to compensate for the “arrangement”.  I don’t know how  you all feel about this but really I could care less.  Let them have their secret deals and shady backdoor football games.  I am going to focus on me and let them focus on them.  “Congrats Gabe” (wink wink)...good win!

BOOMER SOONER vs TRADE WITH ME

If anyone needed a win this week it was Stu Jones.  After losing 3 in row - he really really needed it.  Basically ever since he texted me in week 3 about how he is going to make the playoffs - he has lost...week after week after week.  Brett has a least has sprinkled in a win here and there to mask the pain.  Never mind that this match up was a bit like the Titans vs the Chargers (two 2-4 teams) meeting up in a battle to find out who is the worst.  In this case it was Brett Rutledge who came away with that honor- he is the Chargers in this analogy.  I mean there’s really not much to say about this one.  Fournette and Hopkins did what they were suppose to do and everyone else crapped the bed.  Stu left points on his bench but had enough going on in his line up to finish with the win.  To be honest, it’s possible that Lanakila vs Shart N Sweet should get the Minka award, final game still has to be played, but even if that happens I wanted Stu to have this lovely picture of Minka attending what looks like the premier of “Huntwatch” whatever that is...I am assuming it has little to do with Kareem Hunt...but maybe.  Good win Stu.  Brett - back to the trading room.  If you still want to do that deal of Watkins for Hopkins hit me up!

SHART N SWEET vs LANAKILA

Here we go - Lanakila slides into MNF once again looking to grab a win.  If he does - guess what - he will be 6-1 - something no one else in this league is so that will put him in 1st place over all.  When I sat to start writing this paragraph Lanakila was up 103 - 81.  The Patriots Defense is off to a good start and for Kyle - Sony has grabbed a TD and Meyers already has 35 yards - so it should be a good one to watch....

Ok - so once again the Patriots defense come up huge!  With the shut out bonus they grab a total of 43 points for Cliff.  Amazing.  The Patriots D could prove to be the MVP of the year in the NFL.  I know for Cliff they are for sure his MVP. 

Kyle - you had a great night with Sony Michel but it just wasn’t enough.  But once again - you outscored Mahomes with Watson this week - that HAS to feel good.  Good win Cliff - you almost stole the high point away from Dana.  So close!

SURVIVOR

It’s still going...no one lost.  Everyone moves on. 

[racingtoaredlight]

RTARL’s NFL Week 4 Extravapalooza

Another Sunday full of professional gridiron action is upon us. Each of the previous three Sundays (and Mondays and Thursdays) have revealed juuuust a little bit more of the 2019 NFL picture, and by the end of play this week, we should have a pretty firm grasp of where things are headed. LOL, just kidding, football is a perpetual exercise in random chaos, and even the most foul, waterlogged corpse of a team can heroically rise up as one to defeat a two-touchdown spread on a given day. That’s why it’s fun! Well, unless you lose a whole bunch of money when that happens. Then it’s probably not that fun at all. 

As always, my godawful picks are in BOLD, and the lines are courtesy of Vegas Insider.

Off we go!

Early Games

Carolina Panthers at Houston Texans (-4)

Cam Newton revealed in a vlog post earlier this week that he realized during pregame warm-ups for the Panthers’ season opener that he was unable to run due to a foot injury. That seems bad! It certainly explains his horrible performances to start the year, and I wish Cam a speedy and full recovery because the NFL is more fun when he’s trucking defenders and throwing bombs. In last week’s post, I mocked Cam’s replacement Kyle Allen, and he proceeded to have a great game, making me look like a dumb dick in the process. Well, I am DOUBLING DOWN, KYLE. YOU SUCK AND I’M NOT GIVING YOU ANY CREDIT FOR TORCHING THE SORRY ASS ARIZONA CARDINALS. 

DeAndre Hopkins has a tough matchup with Panthers DB James Bradberry, so look for Will Fuller to have himself a ballgame.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (-7)

I originally had the Browns as my pick here, but I just read that they’re going to be without their two starting cornerbacks for this one and changed it. Granted, if last week’s version of Lamar Jackson shows up, a depleted secondary won’t be a huge issue since his passes will be way off target, anyway. Was last week’s performance simply Lamar regressing to the mean as a passer, or was it the result of Kansas City being all up in his business for most of the afternoon? I think it was more the latter, and Myles Garrett and company are going to have to bring the heat if the Browns want to pick up a badly-needed W here.

Washington Football Team at New York Giants (-3)

I thought Daniel Jones looked good last week. If you listened to virtually any NFL talking head talk about his debut, you’d have thought he was basically peak Steve Young. Let’s everyone just chill the fuck out on ol’ Danny Dimes for a bit. I think a ghastly, division-game bed-shitting by him is in the cards here just to restore some kind of order to the universe. 

I keep imagining a scenario where Eli Manning is the Emperor Palpatine to Saquon Barkley’s Darth Vader, constantly in his ear trying to turn him to the dark side by pointing out how ridiculous it is that Daniel Jones gets all the slobbering when Saquon is the true star of the team. You can’t spell “Machiavellian” without “Eli!”

It goes without saying that this game will be hideous and you shouldn’t subject yourself to a single snap of it.

Los Angeles Chargers (-14.5) at Miami Dolphins

Another week, another game in which the Dolphins are massive underdogs. I think this is their best shot to cover so far, as the Chargers find themselves in the classic “West Coast team playing at 1:00 EST” scenario. Plus, if somebody asked you “Which supposedly good NFL team is most likely to outright lose a game in which they’re favored by two TDs?” odds are good that the Bolts would be the first team to spring to mind.

Oakland Raiders at Indianapolis Colts (-7)

I’m very much enjoying Jacoby Brissett’s success, as he was by all accounts an awesome guy during his time with New England, and he showed flashes of ability when he had the chance here. In the Battle for Best Brady Backup, he’s clearly ahead of Handsome Jimmy at the moment.

I’m disappointed in the Raiders in terms of their entertainment value so far. I was really hoping for more craziness. As far as I know, Jon Gruden hasn’t even hinted at sitting Derek Carr for Mike Glennon yet. LAME.

Kansas City Chiefs (-7) at Detroit Lions

Matthew Stafford is hurt and according to this Schefter tweet  he’s “the closest he’s probably been to not playing,” which seems bad, but that sentence is so poorly constructed that I can’t be sure. Stafford’s most admirable quality is his toughness, so if he’s thinking about sitting he’s probably quite fucked up. This is going to be such a ruthless Lion slaughtering that even Scar is gonna have a hard time watching.

New England Patriots (-7) at Buffalo Bills

I am all in on the notion of the Bills being a team on the rise, and on Josh Allen in particular, but this game has “41-10 Patriots win” written all over it. This feeling is based on a proprietary blend of rank homerism from me, perpetual fatalism from my Bills fan best friend, and a sausage breakfast sandwich. 

Tennessee Titans at Atlanta Falcons (-3.5)

This game inspires no emotion from me whatsoever. No excitement, no revulsion. No whimsical laughter or erotically-charged anger. It only conjures a sense of pure, absolute emptiness. It exists in the void between our reality and another, and ye shan’t glance upon it lest ye go mad. 

Late Games

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Rams (-9.5)

I went back and forth on this pick, because 9.5 is a lot of points to give a team that can theoretically put up points the way the Bucs can. In the end, I went with L.A. because they’re a much better team at home where Jared Goff can clearly hear it when Sean McVay calls the plays, identifies what the defense is, and tells him exactly where to throw the ball and when. 

The Rams also have a pretty good defensive secondary, and Tampa Bay’s breakout WR Chris Godwin is dealing with a hip issue and could be limited. Might be a multi-INT day for ol’ Jameis Winston. I mean, that’s every day, but it could be particularly damaging today.

Seattle Seahawks (-5.5) at Arizona Cardinals

On one hand, we have a team with an unproven rookie QB whose head coach wants him to throw the ball as many times as possible. On the other, we have a team with one of the best QBs in football, whose head coach seemingly wants to minimize him by having him hand the ball off 50 times a game. Football really makes no sense sometimes. 

Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (-1.5)

This is probably going to be the kind of low-scoring derpfest that gets a certain brand of “football purist” absolutely rock hard. Each team has a very good defense and a QB with a propensity to make truly baffling decisions. I can already hear Mike Wilbon frothing at the mouth describing this game as the way football USED to be played before all these whippersnappers ruined it with their spread formations and head coaches that can read. God, he’s such a twat.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos (-3)

Sunday Night Game: Dallas Cowboys (-2.5) at New Orleans Saints

As loathe as I am to admit it, the Cowboys are very good. While I think Teddy Bridgewater is a perfectly cromulent backup QB who can keep the Saints’ season alive until Brees returns, I don’t this isn’t the kind of game he’s gonna win.

Monday Night Game: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.5)

Last Week’s Record: 4-11 (LOL)

Season Record: 20-24-1

#Sports! #NFL #Football

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi steph! know of any fics where sherlock dates someone else and john gets jealous and confesses his feelings?

Hi Nonny!

AHHHHHHH Okay, so I have this weird thing where I have a hard time reading fics where Sherlock is dating someone else, LOL, because I’m garbage. I dunno why… the closest I can get is fics with Victor Trevor in them as a “replacement” or “past bf” D: I’m so sorry I’m useless in this regard… Methinks these lists may help you out a bit? :)

MY FIC LISTS:

Jealous John

Jealous John Pt. 2 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 2

Jealous John Pt 3 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 3

Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 4

ALEXX’S LISTS

John is Jealous of Victor Trevor

Victor Trevor Appears

MORE Victor Trevor/Sherlock (Part 2)

Jealous John

Sherlock with Other Men

John thinks of Sherlock with Other Men

EDIT: ACTUALLY NONNY, I just found an offline list in my folders that I think you will like; I’ve been waiting to post it anyway :P I hope this is good :D

VICTOR TREVOR / VICTOR IS SHERLOCK’S PAST FRIEND (S4)

Unforgiven by 221b_hound (M, 4,721 w., 1 Ch. || Marriage Proposal, Victor Trevor, Jealous / Protective John, Jealous Sherlock, Sherlock’s Past) – Sherlock’s latest case is for his ex boyfriend, the brilliant and handsome Professor Victor Trevor. John is not too happy about that. But things aren’t what they seem, an old friend of John’s is involved in the case, and John has a few surprises up his sleeve. Also - a proposal! Part 16 of Unkissed

Laid Bare by esplanade (T, 6,529 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Fluff, Pining, Angst) – “I suppose it comes as no surprise that I always rather detested grand romantic gestures. They struck me as unnecessary and contrived, feeble attempts at desperately holding together relationships, most of which should have been allowed to fall apart.”

I can’t pretend by Salambo06 (E, 7,692 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Victor Trevor, Jealous John, Miscommunications, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Anal, BJs) – They had arrived more than a hour ago, and the moment they had walked inside the hotel reception, John had understood why Sherlock hadn’t wanted to come. Two men, posh suits and expensive watches on their wrists, had come to greet them with sharp remarks and badly hidden mockery, and John had seen red. Sherlock hadn’t said anything, mostly ignoring the two men entirely, and without thinking twice about it, John had slid an arm around Sherlock’s waist and introduced himself as his husband.

My Life for His by QuinnAnderson (E, 8,816 w., 1 Ch. || Guardian/Protector, Greek Mythology || Growing Up, Sex, Religious Themes, Suicide, Minor Character Death) – It began when Sherlock was eight, and he attempted to climb all the way up to the highest branch in the old willow tree in his back garden. He’d thought he was still small enough that it could support him, but the second he’d grabbed hold of it to pull himself up, the branch snapped, and down he went, plummeting a solid twenty metres. The odd thing was, he never actually hit the ground.

Illogical, even. by magikspell (E, 9,119 w., 1 Ch. || Grey-Ace Sherlock, Character Study, Growing Up, Victor Trevor, Romance, First Time/Kiss, Sherlock-centric) – Five reasons Sherlock never believed in love and one reason he does now.

I’m content as we are (but) by inqui (The_Circus) (E, 13,086 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous John, UST/RST, Pining, Victor Trevor, Minor Whump, First Kiss / Time, Misunderstandings) – In which John Watson sees something unusual, becomes jealous, and makes too much of a small thing as an old friend of Sherlock’s shows up in the middle of a case.

Say For Me, Love by MirabileLectu (T, 13,147 w., 1 Ch. || UST, First Kiss, Drama, Pining John, Victor Trevor) – If you had asked John this morning what the result of his quiet afternoon at home would be, discovering a truth about Sherlock’s past startling enough to shift the foundations of their friendship would not have been his first guess. So naturally, that was what was bound to happen.

Let’s Make a Bed Out in the Rain by theimprobable1 (M, 17,664 w., 11 Ch. || Pining Sherlock, Angst & Fluff, First Kiss, Unrequited, Jealous Sherlock, Protective Sherlock) – John is devastated after his long-term girlfriend leaves him. Sherlock helps him through it.

That Partitioning of the Things of Youth by wearitcounts (E, 35,353 w., 7 Ch. || Humour and Angst, Post-TRF, Fake Relationship, UST / RST, Friends to Lovers, Jealous John) – Victor Trevor is in town, and nobody’s happy.

(Never) Turn Your Back to the Sea by DiscordantWords (M, 39,968 w., 7 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It || Grief / Mourning, Victor Trevor, Friendship, Sherlock is Not Okay, Nightmares/Flashbacks/Panic Attacks, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John Comes Home) – Baker Street is very much the same. Only different. And Sherlock is just trying not to drown.

Resistivity and Relative Charge by liriodendron (E, 41,750 w., 8 Ch. || Synesthesia, Angst, Case Fic, Romance, Est. Rel., Homophobia, Religious Content, Victor Trevor, Mild Jealous John, Mild John Whump) – In which Sherlock Holmes meets an old acquaintance, John Watson doesn’t enjoy a trip to the country quite as much as he thought he would, and the past absolutely refuses to stay where it belongs. Part 3 of Conductivity

Sacré Coeur by Mamaorion (M, 95,236 w., 27 Ch. || S4 Fix It Rewrite, First Kiss, UST / RST, Eventual Happy Ending, Coming Out, Holmes Family, Marriage Proposal, Husbands, Healing, Evil Mary, Beekeeping, Caretaker Sherlock, Mind Palace, Alzheimer’s Disease, Protective / Big Brother Mycroft, TD-12) – In this s4 fixit, John must piece together the gaps in his altered memory if he and Sherlock are to face the terror that has plagued Sherlock since childhood. As they untangle the web, seven years of hidden love ignite. (TO READ)

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship’s surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there’s more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin’ the eye, he has to choose… is it a pirate’s life for him?

Colors by Quesarasara (E, 140,537 w., 17 Ch. || Pleasantville-Inspired AU || Soulmates, Colour Bonds, Alternating POV, Angst, Fluff, Pining, Case Fic, Medical Procedures) – Everyone on earth is born with eyes that see in black, white, and an endless series of greys. When you meet your soulmate, you finally see the world in color. We’re all searching for the person who brings color to our lives. John and Sherlock are no exception. Part 1 of The Colors ‘Verse

SHERLOCK AND OTHER MEN

Nothing to Make a Song About by emmagrant01 (E, 36,833 w., 10 Ch. || Post-TRF, First Time, Reunion, Jealous John, Pining Sherlock, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending) – When Sherlock returned from his faked death, John could not forgive him for the deception and broke off their friendship. Ten years later, John returns to London in search of yet another new beginning. Sherlock, not surprisingly, is waiting.

Drawn to Stars by Silvergirl (E, 66,392 + w., 42/56 Ch. || WiP || S4 Compliant to TLD / TFP Doesn’t Exist, Sherlock’s Italian Adventure, Jealous John, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, First Kiss/Time, Idiots in Love, Angst with Happy Ending) – After the Culverton Smith case Sherlock is clean, working, and looking for a romantic partner—since John has told him that’s what he needs. Shame John didn’t mention he was interested in that role himself, before Sherlock went off to Rome with a gorgeous Italian copper to try to fall in love and become a complete human being. (MARKED FOR LATER / TO READ)

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #victor trevor #my fic recs #Anonymous #jealous john #johnlock and other people #fic rec sunday

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x14: Scars - Parallels & Arcs

Okay, guys. Sorry it took me awhile to get this posted. I was originally going to wait and do a Details post tomorrow (which I still will) but I quickly realized I’d need to divide it in half because it would have been monstrously long. So today I’ll talk about wider arcs and parallels, which are actually more important for TD than the details are anyway. Though the Details will support what I say today.

***As always, spoilers abound in this post for 9x14. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

So there are basically three major story lines going on in this episode: 1) Daryl’s group coming to Alexandria for medical care. They leave again before the episode ends. 2) Judith taking off and Michonne going to look for her/mother-daughter bonding. 3) The flashbacks sequence in which Jocelyn shows up and decides to traumatize everyone. (Typical TWD newbie. 😉)

And in truth, all three of these are entirely too interconnected to actually separate them out. Michonne is an isolationist now because of what happened with Jocelyn. Judith takes off because she wants to help Daryl. And the mother-daughter bonding comes from being candid about what happened with Jocelyn…which leads to helping Daryl. It was a very beautiful but also very dark episode. Despite the dark subject matter, I really did like the episode.

Daryl and Michonne:

Many people have noticed Daryl and Michonne’s relationship this season and how it has deepened. We’ve been given signs for a long time about how they care about one another. Clear back at the prison, there was plenty of banter between them (“he’s already given me flees”) and also candid talk about the Governor. And I also think of 7x08 when Daryl returned after his imprisonment at the Sanctuary and we saw them hug. But their relationship seems deeper this season, and now we know why. They went through this terrible thing together and it brought them closer.

But it’s more than even just that.

1. The scene on the swings was a re-hash of Rick and Daryl’s “You’re my brother” scene. It didn’t click for me until Daryl told Michonne, “This ain’t on you.” With the exception of the “ain’t,” that’s exactly what Rick said to Daryl about the Claimers. “It’s not on you, Daryl. It’s not on you.” 

So then I went back over the conversation and there are lots of parallels. Michonne talks about how she desperately needed a friend in the wake of Rick’s loss and wanted Jocelyn to be that friend. It’s a lot like Daryl talking about how he knew the Claimers weren’t good, but he was alone, so he joined them anyway. Michonne also mentions how Jocelyn saw her through the loss of her mom. Rick and Daryl didn’t talk about that, but we know how devastating the loss of Daryl’s mom was to him, so he sympathizes with that. It’s just a really deep bonding moment for them, and then there’s that line about it not being on her.

So I think they’re kind of trying to show that Daryl and Michonne’s bond is now as deep as Daryl’s and Rick’s was, which is nice.

2. Michonne and Daryl are being paralleled. It’s not exactly the same thing as showing their Rickyl-esque bond, but it may be even more important for TD purposes.

Take a second to appreciate how closely Rick and Michonne’s story is paralleling Beth and Daryl’s. From looking closely at things they showed us in S5, we’d already surmised that Beth’s body disappeared somehow, and Daryl searched for it. Rick made him move on when they couldn’t find it, which was why he was angry with Rick in 5b. 

Much the same thing is happening here. Michonne is looking for Rick’s body, but can’t find it. Without anyone (or any reason, since they have a home now) to stop looking, Daryl hasn’t.

Even Michonne finding Rick’s gun is interesting. It feels like a parallel to Daryl getting Beth’s knife. Both were the missing person’s signature weapons.

And this leads me to something of an epiphany. Thanks to the research of @wdway, we’ve long thought that the Xs represent Beth in some way. Both because we saw them around her, both before and after Coda (by after, I mean 5x10, Them). And since then, we’ve seen them entwined with a lot of the other symbolism we associate with her.

So of course we jumped at the X scars on Daryl and Michonne’s backs. And now it makes a lot of sense, even symbolically. Not only did they go through this terrible, traumatic event together, but they’ve both lost their significant other, thinking their dead and searching for their bodies, when they really aren’t dead at all. So my epiphany was that the Xs don’t just represent Beth in general. They represent the arc whereby one member of a couple disappears and is thought dead when they really survived. 

So for example, when we saw the Xs in Crossed when Rick and Daryl were making a plan to enter Grady, 

it foreshadowed this arc was about to be employed. Seeing them in the dry river bed in Them showed the arc was now playing out.

I can’t help but wonder if, if we end up being correct about Carzekiel also having an arc like this, one of them will end up branded with an X. After all, one of Jocelyn’s kids—Winnie—who branded Michonne, did escape and is alive somewhere. Something tells me she might resurface at some point.

Let’s talk about Psycho—I mean Jocelyn.

So Jocelyn had trained a gang of kids to be terrorist-like soldiers and both brand and kill people. “Mark your kill, kill your mark.” *Shudders*

This led to Michonne having to kill these kids in order to keep Judith, RJ (in utero) and the other Alexandrian kids safe. Very dark stuff. I want to talk about two things with this. Well, three actually.

1. Parallels to The Grove. Obviously we can parallel this to 4x14, The Grove, because we’re dealing with very dark subject matter and the death of children. But it was more than that for me. 

Several of us in my group discussed how we didn’t actually think this was worse than The Grove. Neck and neck with it, for sure, but not worse. The reason being that Michonne didn’t really know the kids she killed. That doesn’t make it any less heavy, of course, but she didn’t love or mother any of them, where Carol definitely loved and mothered Lizzie and Mica.

But what jumped out to me was that, in both cases, their hands were kind of forced. In both cases, the kids (Lizzie in S4 and Jocelyn’s kids here) were almost too messed up to be helped. Personally, I think Carol could have tried harder to help Lizzie, so I’m not making a judgement about the morality of either decision, but I can see that the writers are trying to parallel them. 

One of my favorite scenes in The Grove—mostly because it gives me chills—is when Lizzie plays with the walker and Carol kills it and Lizzie has a meltdown. The way Carol looks at Lizzie is just so haunted. I remember watching that episode and wondering how on earth you would even begin to help this child. She’s just SO messed up. In the end, Carol decided she couldn’t because Lizzie was too dangerous to let her near other people.

I felt like the situation was similar here. Michonne even offered to take Jocelyn’s kids back to Alexandria, but they still tried to kill her. A pregnant lady! I just feel like if they’d have brought these kids into the community, they would have killed everyone in Alexandria in their sleep. With axes. So there are just heavy parallels here with how messed up the kids were and how Michonne/Carol felt forced to the decision of killing the kids.

Also, in both cases, it was done to save Judith, which is important. Carol and Tyreese didn’t want Lizzie around Judith, who was a baby at the time. 

Remember Lizzie admitted she was going to kill Judith, same as Lizzie, but Carol and Ty got there in time. Here, the kids were going to kill Judith as well, and Michonne begged Winnie not to.

Even as I’m writing this, it occurs to me that, more than any of the other kids, Winnie, the one that survived, is a parallel to Lizzie, since she was the one who was going to kill Judith. So if she survives and brands Carol eventually, well, that would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

It’s also interesting to remember the convo between Carol and Michonne in 5x06. Remember when I said that the line about both of them losing children was both a callback and a foreshadow? Yeah, definitely true. And I think there’s still more to fulfill because of Henry, at the very least. But we now know that not only have they both lost children, they’ve both killed children. That’s some damn subtle and powerful foreshadowing, y’all.

While this isn’t a TD thing in particular, you COULD argue that this is a callback to Lizzie in S4, which was right after Beth disappeared and before Coda. Perhaps having such an obvious rehashing of that storyline could foreshadow Beth’s return.

2. Michonne is a foil to Alpha. I know I said Beth would be the anti-Alpha, and I still believe that, but here, Michonne is also being set up as one. I totally didn’t pick this up at all until watching TTD. Right after the “In Memoriam,” they said this:

“Michonne did the unthinkable to the ones who took Judith. But is anyone ready for what Alpha will do to the ones who Lydia?”

 So I realized they’re purposely pointing us toward drawing a comparison between Michonne and Alpha. Michonne killed other people’s kids in this episode, but it was done reluctantly, as a last resort, and severely traumatized her.

We already know from spoilers that Alpha will also kill other people’s kids, but of course it will be a conscious choice, a power play, and won’t traumatize her in the least.

So one really tragic way to look at this is that this episode foreshadows what will happen with Alpha and Henry. 😥

So I know these parallels are all over the place. Before, I said Alpha and Beta = anti Beth and Daryl. So if Michonne is also a foil to Beta, then in some ways, Michonne and Daryl symbolically = Beth and Daryl. And Michonne and Daryl = Daryl and Rick from S4. And Michonne = Carol. Lol. I get that it’s a lot, but I think this is all being purposely done, both to retell arcs, show character growth and how tables have turned, and also to foreshadow what’s to come.

And now it’s time for another episodes of Totally Crazy Theories from TWDMusicBoxMystery Sparked by This Last Episode.

Here goes. So, while watching this episode, I couldn’t help but be struck by how much the Jocelyn situation was a lot like what we’ve imagined for Beth…except exactly the opposite. Because of all the Child/Baby Symbolism around Beth, many of us have often thought Beth would show up with a group of kids in tow. I have plenty of head canons about that myself. Of course the major difference here is that Jocelyn was evil and turned the kids into killers.

Many of us have also theorized that maybe Judith would be kidnapped by an evil group and Beth would save her. That’s exactly what happened with Jocelyn, except Michonne and Daryl saved her.

And I think there must be a specific reason besides just rehashing a Lizzie parallel. I think there must be some plot reason for it. So what did this incident do? Well, at the very least it made Michonne and Daryl very freaked out by warrior kids and old friends, right?

So let me tell a quick story. In my group, we read spoilers before the episode aired. The first ones posted just said an old friend of Michonne’s from a long time ago shows up. Naturally, we jumped at that as a possible Beth thing, but we all also agreed pretty quickly that it wouldn’t be her. It seemed too casual and easy to be Beth. Besides, it’s not like Michonne is the only one who would remember Beth. She wouldn’t be billed only as Michonne’s friend, you know? Then we read some more spoilers that said her name was Jocelyn, etc.

But thinking about that, combined with the kid stuff made me think this could be a Beth anti-parallel/foreshadow.

So here’s my insane theory for this week:

I think Beth is going to show up with a slew of kids, just like Jocelyn did. The difference being that Beth isn’t evil and the kids will all be little Judiths, rather than little Lizzies. I think this makes a lot of sense based on what we saw in last night’s episode.

Jocelyn was a friend from a long time ago that Michonne hadn’t seen in years. Ditto Beth, when she shows up.

This group of kids led by Jocelyn seriously messed with Michonne and Daryl’s heads. They’ll be naturally worried about another group of kids showing up, even though they’d obviously trust Beth. But what better way to counter this incident and facilitate healing than by welcoming in a group of kids trained by Beth…who are good?

It would go a long way toward explaining a lot of the parallels we saw here, as well as fulfilling the Child/Baby symbolism around Beth. And, while I’m not going to go into this in detail today—mostly because I need to think about it more—I think this could explain parallels/anti-parallels we’ve long seen between Beth and Lizzie. Even though they stood for polar opposite things and had opposite mentalities, I always felt like there was some kind of tie between their stories. This may be it.

It was also mentioned in my group that Jocelyn was a callback to Carol at the prison. She tried to train the kids to take care of themselves, and inadvertently turned Lizzie into a killer. It wasn’t truly Carol’s fault, since Lizzie was kinda crazy to begin with and no one realized it, but a lot of what we heard Jocelyn say to her kids here matched Carol’s philosophies in S4. So maybe the idea is that Carol’s flawed mentality when training kids resulted in killers, just as Jocelyn’s did here, even if Jocelyn did it on purpose and Carol didn’t. But if Beth trains kids to survive, her faith and positivity will have the opposite result.

While watching, I also thought we could throw the Whisperers into the mix. I mean, they waited to show us this until after we were very familiar with the Whisperers, rather than showing it in chronological order, as it happened. I’ll get into this more tomorrow with the details, because they used a TON of dialogue foreshadows during the flashbacks. And I don’t mean dialogue dialogue that showed TD stuff. I mean dialogue foreshadows that pointed toward what’s happening at present with the Whisperers.

Okay, let me give you one example. Remember how during Daryl and Michonne’s convo on the swings, Daryl said the thing about how some people are evil and don’t show it. It’s almost like they’re wearing a mask? 

Even on TTD they talked about that being a foreshadow of the Whisperers. So in the flashback, which was 5 years ago, they had dialogue that foreshadows what’s happening in the present day on the show with the Whisperers. And like I said, there were quite a few of these that I’ll go into tomorrow. 

But my point is that showing this thing with Jocelyn and foreshadowing the Whisperers tells me there will be a replay of it when TF encounters the Whisperers. So I’m thinking the rehash will be Beth showing up with another group of kids. Or at least I hope so.

So I’ll stop there for today. Tomorrow I’ll do details. Most of them reinforce what I’ve said here. Stay tuned. What did everyone think of the episode?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl