#but in rewatches in a modern time it’s just so much more obvious

[juniperhillpatient]

“scream mtv isn’t racist youre reading into it”

ignoring the way every single nonwhite main character is treated let’s just look specifically at Riley, the only main nonwhite female character at the time who was told to her face by the 2 white leads & the white police officer side character that she morally needed to do this risky thing despite her valid concerns about police brutality & let’s look at how it ended for her. but the show is totally not racist

#sorry my scream mtv rewatch turned into this. did not plan it that way #again. I love the show it’s a fave of all time #but like. it’s impossible not to discuss the racism in the writing #sorry. critique is part of enjoyment for me #& there’s plenty to critique with this show <3 #I could kinda see the racism back then when nonwhite fans were discussing it #but in rewatches in a modern time it’s just so much more obvious

[junibgoode]

Bowie and Noah are both gay stereotypes, just of different times

Ok hear me out. I very much agree that Noah was written as "the gay kid" archetype bc that was the gimmick for gen 1. this is ESPECIALLY apperant in s1. like 90% of his line delivery had some amount of sass to it, as apposed to a straight up a deadpan(obviously that's present but rewatch it and tell me there's not an amount of flare to the delivery). some rapid fire queercoding. 1. the way he runs and his high pitched scream 2. his aversion to physical activity to a degree that distinguishes him from the rest of the cast 3. the ear kiss/cuddle. obviously a gay joke. that only scrapes the surface too(not even getting into s2/3 where the queercoding was him just having chemistry with various male characters). so obvious stereotype that was covered up by fresh TV with emma(JUSTICE FOR EMMA TOO I LOVE HER). personally I think he's gay but I can see him as bi too. just compare him to other 2000s gay characters. very clear similarity.

bowie IS canonically gay. and while I don't think he's the "this is my only personality trait" level of gay stereotype, I think it's clear there's aspects of his writing that are that. I'd complain more but Raj kind of displays existing as a gay character without stereotypes and most TD info we talk about is fanon anyway bc ultimately this is us giving way to much depth to a fake reality TV show(/pos). anyway he is but in a very different way. the way he dresses is the modern stereotype just like how noahs(button ups and sweater vests) is for his time. his attitude has a lighter air. more fun. he's built less skinny and more lean with sports abilities.

they're both very clearly gay characters but it's so interesting how they're very clear examples of the era. which ngl all of TD is. it's like watching the passage of time at certain points.

#noah total drama #noah td #bowie total drama #td bowie #bowie td #bowraj #total drama #total drama reboot #total drama island #this is so fascinating u dont get it #fuck it im tagging noco #noco #nowen #alenoah #yeah thats right #also im a lesbian emma truther #and i love her #GET HER A GF #PLS

[velvet-vox]

Why Doll perfectly exemplifies all of the strengths and flaws of Murder Drones as a series.

From the amount of posts present on my blog about the specific individual, it is rather obvious to assume that Doll Yurikova (I'm still convinced the fandom made up this surname) is my favourite character from Murder Drones and you wouldn't be wrong.

She just simply tickles my needy scratch for weird, cool complex villainess characters.

However, eventually I also realised that she more than any other character embodies everything that makes murder drones a great show and everything that detracts the show from being genuinely amazing.

Let's start off with the good, anything I say applies to the both of them:

Doll/Murder drones are generally cool, unconventionally attractive, have great potential (this point will be elaborated upon) and are very complex in both the themes that they bring to the table and the philosophical standpoints discussed.

Coolness factor is mostly subjective, but I am sure any Murder drones fan will tell you that the sci-fi/horror/mystery/romance/comedy show about sentient cannibalistic robots who fight against eldritch atrocities with Portal 2-esque music is an absolute blast conceptually and visually. In the same way the russian robo vampire who was previously a cheerleader before deciding to commit cannibalism to avenge her dead parents has swarms of fans simping for her.

Unconventionally attractive is determined by unconventional people, said people also have rewatched the show seventeen different times.

Now, regarding the great potential, although I've also elaborated the previous points, this is one that will carry over when discussing the negatives of both the character and the show, but as for positive, you can just feel that Murder Drones is so much different from anything else you have ever watched, it truly gives me haunted Ghibli vibes in the way the story plays out. It could really be amazing. As for Doll, every time I watch her in the show up to her death I just get really sad thinking about what could have been if she had a redemption arc or just a better life in general.

Murder drones has abuse as his main theme and how it circulates into destructive chains and Doll is definitely one of the more interesting examples of said theme, being part of the abused and mauled drone designation that became an abuser herself. I say one of the more interesting examples because her story is fleshed out better than someone else's, say Tessa or Alice.

And now for the negatives, we need to bring out the big elephant in the room:

The show is only 8 episodes long and they are writing the season one finale in the same way you would write a series finale since making Murder drones costs Glitch a crap ton of money when they could just lower the animation quality and allow the story more time to breathe (mind you this is also Liam Vickers fault). I just hate the 8 episodes 20 minute long formula, it has, in my opinion, destroyed modern show telling and I honestly can't bear it any longer.

Besides that, 8 episodes of 20 minutes means that Doll's arc has to be paced quickly in order to get all the other characters (particularly the main ones) and elements to shine and that unfortunately leads to the fact that both Doll and Murder drones lack the one thing that separates Doll from being a human being and Murder Drones from being an amazing show, and that thing is (drum rolls) the tissue.

To explain, they have the (exo)skeleton, the organs, the mandibles and all the things that would make a piece of fiction feel truly human, but without the connective tissue, the skin, they both end up just short of those standards and as a result I can't confidently say that they are truly evocative individuals. Tissue of course is a metaphor for quote on quote "filler" in regards to the show and "villain at rest" moments in regards to Doll and her arc. And let's talk about the ending of said arc because of its possibility of paralleling the conclusion of the show;

You can say a lot of things about Doll's death but one thing that's impossible to deny is the impact of her death in your mind, everything about its execution is just so brutal that it leaves you a lasting feeling in your body; in a similar manner, the show could end with an absolute gut punch that remains impressed in your mind for months to come.

#murder drones doll #murder drones tessa #murder drones uzi #murder drones alice #murder drones spoilers #murder drones analysis #glitch productions #liam vickers animation #murder drones ep 7 #murder drones

[aizenat]

I know I said this before, but I keep thinking about that person who asked about our take on how in the show, we never see Louis flirt with Lestat but we see him flirt with Jonah and then again with Armand in the teaser for season 2. And thinking about how that plays into the very interesting and disconnected narrative Louis tries to paint in the beginning of this story is s fascinating.

The way the Jonah scene is played, we're lead to believe that Louis is only doing that to "get back" at Lestat, who is rather unabashedly pursuing a fling with Antoinette. And we KNOW Louis is not happy with that. So since it's "allowed" to be open for both of them, he pursues Jonah, and thus the flirting.

But when we see him flirt with Armand in season two, for the most part, Louis has no reason to flirt with him to get back at Lestat. It's just him feeling Armand and wanting to pursue that. And it's funny because now that we're seeing this twice, we have to realize that Louis is flirtatious by nature. He flirts with men he likes. But if that's the case, why don't we ever see him flirt with Lestat?

I'm rewatching the series rn just for some background noise while doing some chores, and it's so funny seeing how Louis presents Lestat. As if he didn't see what would happen next coming. Lestat insults him when they meet, but wins him over at the card game. Lestat calls Louis his destiny, and Louis supposedly just thinks he's a weird European. Lestat relies on Louis to help him get settled in (builds a library, but we rarely see Lestat use it; Louis is the reader. Updates his clothes to styles more similar to Louis', etc).

But Louis tries to pretend he wasn't into this. No offense, but what man needs to accompany another man to get clothes? At night, too? If Lestat wanted to upgrade his wardrobe, he could have went to a tailors/whatever, and they would have pushed and encouraged whatever the modern trends were (especially when they saw how wealthy Lestat was). He didn't NEED Louis there, but there is Louis "helping." He admits that he "found himself" confiding all his struggles with another man outside of family (as though Lestat forced him to or some shit lol), and calls fucking Lestat his "coal fire" through the winter months.

It's obvious with these contradictions that what Louis is saying and what we're seeing isn't the full picture. He acts like he was just casually hanging out with Lestat, casually befriending him. But he admits that the clothes makers they went to had to open their doors later than normal, and that Louis was there for fittings and the such. He admits spending time with him, talking in parks, going to operas with him. And after all of that, admitting how much Louis made himself vulnerable to Lestat, then has the nerve to say he was being hunted. And even follows up saying "and I didn't even know it."

And sure, he didn't know Lestat was a vampire, so kinda fair. But in terms of their relationship, let's be honest: Louis was being courted, and he fucking knew it. And if he truly didn't like it, he would have cut it off quickly. Louis is obviously trying to play down how much he was courting Lestat back. Taking him to get clothes at night, going out for gumbo and stuff--foods Louis would have grown up eating and loving--walking around the park and putting him on to a bookseller Louis likely loved; Lestat was not the only one on the hunt.

I love watching this back and thinking to myself how Louis is trying to downplay how flirtatious he must have been with Lestat then. It was apparently so obvious to everyone around him that it got back to his sister how he was "catting" around town with a white man, but he wants us to believe that he was the one being hunted. It was so obvious that when Paul asks about their relationship at dinner, their sister and mother get quiet because they know damn well what it was.

But no, Louis, it was totally one sided and you def did not ever flirt with Lestat and make it known how much you were into him. Yeah, we buy that lol.

#iwtv #interview with the vampire #ah well back to work lol

[olderthannetfic]

I know this is only marginally related, but the anon post about dating your boss in the military raising eyebrows and people's prioritization in shipping wars made me immediately think of "In The Navy" by Village People and of "YMCA" (because my brain thinks since YMCA has cheeky subtext and is considered a gay anthem if I'm not misremembering, In The Navy might have some cheeky subtext, too), and it reminded me of the musical Hair and within it of the song "Hair" in which Berger is asked if he's gay (supposedly because of his long hair and homophobic stereotypes IIRC?), which I thought was a reference to fraternization regulations (due to working with a lot of other guys I guess?) and to homophobic regulations (if I haven't misunderstood it, specifically the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy?), and it reminded me of the songs "Black Boys/White Boys" which always seemed a little tongue-in-cheek about attraction between military personnel to me (and only partially subtext, some of it seems to downright be text with no subtlety found, now that I'm rewatching the scene from the film lol). It's been years since I've been to the musical though, so my memory probably forgot 99% of the musical. Gotta watch the film some time.

(BTW I'm not from the USA or an English-speaking country, so I'm not very familiar with US American laws and military culture stuff or with US American LGBT+ history and culture, though I am even more unfamiliar with it in my country apart from a few things because I'm from germany and I know for example that gay people were also targeted and murdered by the nazis - one thing that comes to mind immediately is "Aimée & Jaguar", which is a film based on a book that's about the actual lives of two real people and which I recommend watching very much, though you might want to prepare yourself for seeing horrifying violence and for crying a lot - but I don't know much more about other things in german LGBT+ history, which now makes me pretty sad... Then again, I only realized I was bi less than 10 years ago when I learned about the existence of the term bisexuality, so it's possible that I've just somehow managed to overlook tons of things I've heard and read and that they never registered in my brain, which is very likely TBH.)

Sorry for babbling in your inbox, I shall be off to research more queer history.^^

--

I guess YMCA doesn't literally say "Stay there to suck cock", but it's still sung by a bunch of dudes in intentional camp stereotype outfits. There's subtext and then there's those pieces of art that are like 99% subtext with one tiny fig leaf of text as cover.

Germany had such an interesting history immediately prior to all that death, Magnus Hirschfeld and his Institut für Sexualwissenschaft being particularly obvious examples. Most of the research materials and art from that era were destroyed, but a few things escaped, including a copy of Anders als die Andern. Good luck researching, nonnie. Germany actually has a lot that was once recorded compared to many countries/societies even if it was systematically purged. It was the birthplace of modern sexology, after all.

[lonely-soul-02]

The Loch Lomond kiss - what was the reaction at the time?

I've been diving into #gcest and reading all sorts of super interesting observations, analysis, questions and answers, and this question was one that cropped up a couple of times, so thought I'd attempt to answer it as best I can.

For context: I'm a lifelong Oasis fan, but new to shipping the Gallaghers.

I do remember when that kiss appeared in the paper. And I do remember my reaction, and that of my friends. Obviously, I can't speak for a whole nation, or fan base; I'm just relaying my personal experience.

So how did people react? They were shocked. Nobody I knew thought it was funny, or cute, or sweet, or romantic.

'That's gross!' was the word I remember using (seems that word has fallen out of favour nowadays). All my friends - male and female - thought it was disgusting.

I was at uni at the time, and I'd shown my mother the picture on a visit home. She thought it was proof that modern society lacked a moral compass and thus was doomed. lol. Bear in mind, this parental opinion generally went with the entire grunge and post-grunge movement, maybe not so much with Brit pop.

Anyway, the shock didn't last because the image appeared once and, unless you held on to that paper, you didn't see it again as it wasn't published like that again (to my knowledge). Without the internet as we know it today to spread the image and amplify any subsequent chat/reaction, the kiss simply faded from people's collective consciousness. It quickly lost its Big-Dealness. Unlike today, we weren't given the means to dwell on it or analyse it. We just...moved on. Besides, there were so many other Gallagher antics making the news in those days.

Fast forward to today and we now have access to a plethora of historical video, photos, articles, gifs with slow-mo that we watch and rewatch endlessly, all the online musings that we read. And the more you watch, the more obvious and outlandish some of their antics appear (the numerous kisses, the numerous gropings, the questionable things said on live TV), until you're thinking HOW can this not have been talked about more over the years? Why isn't the entire fandom talking about this still?

I suspect it's just because your average older Oasis fan has put it to the back of their minds, like they did at the time. It's only the Gallagher shippers who really care, and we're in the minority.

I do wonder though...if there's a reunion and that image, along with all the different angles, starts to gain some traction with the new, young Oasis fans, how would Noel and Liam feel about it? Particularly as they have older kids now.

#gcest #Loch Lomond kiss #loch lomond #oasis Loch Lomond #liam gallagher #noel gallagher #oasis #gallaghercest

[lowcountry-gothic]

I just finished season 7 of my Dexter rewatch, and wow, that gut-punch of a scene. I always thought of it as a plot twist, a surprise, as the episode’s title—“Surprise, Motherfucker!”—would suggest the viewer is meant to think about it, but this time around, knowing what’s about to happen, it feels inevitable. As if there were nothing else that could possibly happen. And I’m rethinking the way I view this entire show. The first time around, when it was first airing, I always thought of Dexter Morgan as an antihero, someone like Batman, who achieved justice where the system failed, albeit a much more bloody and violent justice. Now it seems clear to me that Dexter isn’t an antihero, and almost certainly isn’t meant to be one by the writers. He’s the main figure in a sort of modern day Greek tragedy.

The tragedy of what happened to his mother, sure, and the trauma her death caused, and the way it made him fascinated with blood and death...that much is obvious. But what I’m seeing now are things that, for whatever reason, escaped me before. Things like his adoptive father seeing this fascination with blood and death and, instead of treating it as an unhealthy coping mechanism for his trauma, seeing it—and more tragically, explaining it to Dexter in such a way that he believes it himself—not as something he could possibly heal from, but as a fatalistic, permanent, and defining aspect of who and what Dexter is. Harry’s belief that Dexter just isn’t normal, and never can be, and the way this shaped Dexter’s own sense of himself and the possibilities his life could hold. The way Harry uses Dexter to fulfill his own cop vengeance fantasies that he can’t enact, and the way that Harry’s subsequent suicide makes Dexter feel like it’s all his own fault.

And there’s the fact that Dexter builds a normal life for himself first as a mask to hide what he thinks truly defines him, but doesn’t even question the idea of this side of his life as “false” until midway into the show, when he begins to see that he is just as capable of meaningful human relationships as anyone else is, and that his brokenness isn’t something unique to him but a feature everyone shares, though in much less extreme ways. How he only realizes, after so much personal loss and tragedy, that his “need” to kill is only a passing emotional state that doesn’t control him, and the way he only realizes this after so much killing when it’s too late to live a life uncomplicated by murder and criminal guilt and murderous habits.

The way he, based on Harry’s beliefs, makes decisions and prioritizes things in ways that seem very small at first, but it’s soon obvious, cumulatively, that he’s unintentionally hurting those he loves in ways that don’t stab but cut like paper.

And the way his ultimate decision that his “fake” life—his career and relationships—is the most important thing to him, and he doesn’t want to lose it, the way this realization comes too late because at this point he’s already given up so much to the altar of his hidden life that so very little of the “normal” life he now values so much is even left at this point.

And of course there’s Deb, and her love for him, and how it causes her to make so many bad decisions, so many instances of giving up her own self for him, and the way this culminates in such a horrifying way for her at the end of season 7—we’re not really even sure if the shot was intentional or an accident, but that doesn’t matter, not for her. It’s so tragic. And the way that she’s so overcome by horror and grief, for herself and for Laguerta, and the sheer agony evident on her face as she breathes, “I hate you,” a line that not even the subtitles caption—you just have to pay attention and listen or be able to read her lips—Damn.

And above all, how things didn’t have to be this way. If Harry had had more faith in Dexter as a child. If he hadn’t—just like a cop—believed that people’s dark sides are the most important things about them. that people are either good people or bad people and that the former need to be protected from the latter at all costs.

How could anyone see this show as being about Dexter’s little darkly comic adventures and the way he forges his own deadly brand of justice, and not about how his entire life, and that of everyone he becomes important to, is just one sad, devastating story after another????

#text #mine #dexter #rewatches #dexter rewatch #dexter morgan #debra morgan #harry morgan #maria laguerta #rita bennett #tragedy

[lost-technology]

I really don't like it when I browse a fandom-space, tags on tumblr or wherever and I see people dumping on any of the Trigun media. You know, the whole "My favorite part of the franchise is better, so this other part of the franchise sucks." (It's been like that for years, actually... I remember digging in my heels on my love for the '98 anime back in the day when I ran into some manga!only! snobs - despite absolutely loving the manga). We all have our favorite things, I just get a bit annoyed when people think expressing their affection has to come with a side of snide at something else adjacent to it. For instance, I recently re-watched Badlands Rumble after several years and found out - "Hey, I actually like this / still like this!" (I think people see BR as the black sheep of the franchise because Vash does his "fake perv / stupid annoyance act" a little too over the top in it and because its plot is simple and doesn't have any bearing on the rest of the narrative. (Which was actually the point of the movie - something non-lore heavy to bring in random new fans). And I see some people new to the fandom because of Stampede who don't like the '98 anime so well. It seems like everyone loves the manga, though, so there's at least that. (As well they SHOULD, the manga is awesome). Anyway, the Trigun franchise has core unifying themes and characters, but much like "the film of the book" or "the reboot of the old show" or "pick a Legend of Zelda game out of order in the canonically fucked up chronology" they're all fairly different. And people might just hardcore prefer one in particular over all others. And that's fine. My thoughts as an inveterate fan: I feel like Trigun Stampede is just so *different* from the 1998 anime that people brand new to the fandom coming in because of it might not actually vibe with the old anime. It draws more from the manga - has more of the serious and dark manga-vibe (and Orange's modern tech really allows those frenzied gun-battles that Nightow liked to draw that some of us COULDN'T EVEN FOLLOW without reading about 10 times to shine). But... the manga is black and white and also very long and also really goes off the rails in places. I feel like the different versions of the story take different tolerances: 1998 anime - Tolerance of a lot of goofy. I've been rewatching parts of it recently for fanart purposes and have been "Wow, sometimes I forget how FUNNY this show is!" You also have to have a tolerance for the goofy turning into the serious as the story goes on. Manga / Maximum - Tolerance for mood whiplashes (light to dark, often more dramatic than the first anime). Tolerance for (black and white) blood and a lot of it. Tolerance for the Western wending its way into deep science fiction lore / genre shift. Tolerance for "sometimes you aren't going to understand these 10-12 pages of straight action scene, just re-read it, honey." Stampede - Tolerance for sadness and brooding. It starts with some goofy, but quickly turns to the Holy Shit Quotient that the manga took a little time to introduce and poor babygirl Vash has such an obvious depression in this that he hurts to look at. Stampede = Trigun: The Emo Version. (I absolutely love, it, though - I'm allowed to rib it). So, you know, I can see if a given person has a particular attachment / came in with one version that they might not quite "get" the others. To love them all is a gift.

#trigun #trigun maximum #trigun stampede #trigun analysis #editing because as I was typing this my laptop ate some of my type #working with a very sensitive new laptop right now that acts like a cat if you touch it wrong

[marypsue]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on S1 of ST being a tragedy! No main character dies, so I never thought of it that way before

I mean, nobody has to die for a story to be a tragedy (at least, in the modern definition. I'm pretty sure '(almost) everybody dies' is a requirement of Greek tragedies and Renaissance revenge tragedies). But also, no main character dies in season one...if you take season one as part of a series. Which it wasn't originally conceived as.

I am not going looking for copies of the original pitch bible, because I am lazy, and also I only saw them floating around this webbed site. But the show changed a lot from the initial pitch (Joyce had a Long Island accent! Lucas' parents were divorcing! Murray was there and named Terry Ives! Most of what ended up in Hopper's character originally belonged to Mr. Clarke! The original pitch bible is fascinating). And part of the original pitch was a proposal for possible sequels.

The Duffers' proposal for a possible sequel was "It's ten years later, and Eleven is dead".

So that's the setup. Everything that came after season one was made up wholecloth after season one was a hit and people wanted more, but also people loved the adorable little psychic murder child (cue the Duffers shockedpikachu.jpg) and Netflix obviously recognised it would be a bad call to make a new season without her in it. So it makes sense to take season one as a unit, as a self-contained story on its own. You can also take it as part of a whole, but it makes sense to read it first as a complete story. Especially given the thematic drift of later seasons and the way they are...I'm just going to say it, each new season is very much added-on to what came before rather than being built on foundation that the earlier season(s) laid. It is very clear there was never a planned five-season story arc from the beginning. (This isn't necessarily always a bad thing, when it comes to sequels, but it does mean it makes sense to 'read' each season as its own thing.)

Okay, now that we've established all of that. Season one has one very clear goal, one very clear stake for the characters: save Will Byers from the Upside Down. (I like this. It makes the stakes both extremely high and extremely personal, it makes it very easy to understand each character's motivation, it also keeps the stakes grounded in reality. I like this a lot.) And by the end of the season, that goal is accomplished. So at first blush, you're right, season one doesn't look like a tragedy.

But when you start to unpack it a little, you start to see just how many important things were lost along the way. It's most glaringly obvious with Mike and El, with Nancy and Barb. The whole Wheeler family is fractured down the middle, with Mike and Nancy on one side and Ted, Karen, and Holly on the other, and Karen, who's been trying so hard the whole time to be part of her children's lives and understand what's going on with them, is aware of the ever-expanding gulf between them but will never be able to cross it, and will never fully know why. Hopper's finally managed to snatch a kid out of the jaws of death, save a woman he obviously cares about from the pain of losing a child, and Joyce has finally had someone believe her, support her, trust her. But it became blindingly obvious to me on my fourth rewatch that Hopper's plan, from the moment he went to leave the middle school gym, was always to trade El for Will. And that decision (and the fact that Joyce obviously understands that he did something to get the lab to let them go after Will, but she obviously doesn't dare press him on what) has broken her trust in him, and left him with what looks like an equally heavy burden of guilt as what he was carrying before. The lab stays open. The government gets away with everything. No one will ever know the true extent of the hurt they've caused.

And in the end, none of it even saved Will. He's back. He's alive. But he's spitting slugs in the sink. He's permanently marked by the Upside Down, and by trying to hide it from his family, he's putting a crack down the centre of them, as well. They're losing Will, just as surely as they had when they thought he was dead, just without him going anywhere.

And there's still a hole in the world.

The fragile bonds of community, the things that people share in common, the way catastrophe can bring people together and bring out the very best in them, are the major thematic threads woven through season one. Human connection is the only thing that can change what seems inevitable, the only thing that can bring back what's seemingly lost forever.

And it's still not enough to protect anyone from the random tragedy of the world.

The love was there. The love mattered. The love bent the entire course of the world around itself.

And it still wasn't quite enough.

If that's not a tragedy, then I don't know what is.

#stranger things #the pitch bible is also part of why I think they're gonna kill el for real at the end of s5 #and that the final epilogue scene of s5 is going to be a callback to the eggos-in-the-woods scene #a) the show's ending so they don't HAVE to let her survive. and we all know the duffers love it when other people are upset #b) they've said themselves they're 'going back to season one' #c) netflix would absolutely cream their pants for an opportunity to update the nostalgia marketing for this show to the now-trendy nineties #d) and also would want to leave the door open for 'well MAYBE she survived you don't know that we're not going to resurrect this franchise! #one of many many many reasons why I'm not bothering to watch any more of this show #I'll stick happily with my s1-s2 duology and steal characters from other seasons thanks #it's so frustrating because it's so CLEAR in season one that the love MATTERS #that these people care about each other and that MATTERS #even though it's not enough. #and by season four it's just like. well what if we just kept introducing new characters so we can kill them. aren't you sad about it #like there are so many ways to write a tragedy well and 'kill everyone kind of indiscriminately' is not one of them #okay rant over. i am climbing off the cafeteria table

[flutishly]

When “unliked” doesn’t mean “unlikable”, or, Expanded thoughts on Janine Teagues

I’ve been rewatching Abbott Elementary quite a bit these past few days. It’s not an organized rewatch, but a sporadic, messy mishmash of a few episodes from season 1 and mostly episodes from season 2, in no particular order (and I’ve rewatched some of the same episodes a few times already, even in the same evening). The more I rewatched, the more I found myself recognizing just how much I love Janine - something I’ve already posted about - and recognizing just how much the show leans into the idea that Janine is not well-liked by many (if not most) of her peers. And it got me thinking about the differences between “unliked” characters and “unlikable” characters, particularly in modern television.

At the peak of “peak TV” discourse (ugh), critics and cultural writers loved to talk about antiheros, unlikable (men) characters who were fairly obviously not good people, but compelling protagonists. But Abbott Elementary somewhat flips the script. Janine is a character who is demonstrably unliked by several of her colleagues, with the show’s writing often teasing her directly. And yet she remains the protagonist and the viewer is still clearly supposed to be rooting for her.

Janine’s radical optimism is easily mocked. Her insistence on believing that things can happen by sheer intention is taken down in both plot-direct and -indirect ways. Her tendency to rush to try to fix everything is shown to irritate those around her, though they also depend on it. Her chattiness and outward friendliness exhaust some of her more jaded fellow teachers. Some even go so far as to comment dismissively on how precisely they dislike Janine, whether they’re side characters brought on for one episode or part of the main cast. Ava in particular is often very vocal about her dislike of Janine (even if some of it is obviously performative and there’s a seed of genuine appreciation or admiration at the core of their relationship), but she’s not alone; in season 2, we see numerous occasions of Melissa rather unkindly pillorying Janine or shooting her down. Time and again, we see examples of people simply not liking Janine or not having the patience for her. We see Janine struggling to make friends. We see Janine struggling to connect with fellow teachers. We see Janine struggling to gain recognition for her work. Season 2 in particular is filled with such cases or situations where people are outright mean to Janine, which can often feel especially jarring given the show’s general “feel-good” tone. 

And yet despite all of these obvious textual examples of being “unliked”, Janine is not “unlikable” by any stretch of the imagination. Her intensity is also her greatest asset, which the show demonstrates again and again. Her passion and devotion are looked upon with love by Jacob, Gregory, and even Erica. We see Janine solve problems, do her best to stretch out of her comfort zone, and grow as a person. We see that she’s not trying to change her personality; her growth is about finding space for herself after a lifetime of giving it to others, but this has nothing to do with how she presents herself to the world. (I think this can also be seen in how the show treats her fashion choices, but that’s a bit of a tangent.) 

Janine is a character that the viewer is meant to generally like, whether or not everyone necessarily loves her or sees themselves in her (the way that I rather undeniably do). Janine is still very much the main character of the show and much of the narratives presented surround her relationships with her coworkers, which often do center on their respect for her. The show is not trying to cast her as an antihero or irritating “love to hate her” sort of character. She doesn’t have the cringe factor of a character like Michael Scott of The Office, or even Leslie Knope’s obvious over-the-top humor (though Leslie is probably the closest mapping, at least the Leslie of later, more settled seasons of Parks and Recreation). Earnest characters - and people - are easy to mock in an era of cynicism, but it shouldn’t be the case. 

Yes, I wish that Abbott Elementary could be a bit kinder to Janine, truthfully, and to Jacob as well (though he is much cringier...), but I still appreciate that the show is demonstrating how even when a character is disliked by many around her, there are those who still love and cherish her. That maybe the problem with others disliking Janine has more to do with those characters’ issues than Janine’s personality itself. That being “unliked” says nothing about whether the character - the person - is inherently “unlikable” or worthy of love. And I find this helpful when I look at the fandom too, where it often feels like Janine is forgotten as an independent character and is compelling only in the context of her relationships with others. It almost doesn’t matter how others view or appreciate her character. Ultimately, I will continue to love and appreciate her character for all that she is and all that she represents.

#Abbott Elementary #Longer thoughts #tv shows #character analyses

[chocolatepot]

Good Omens s2 thoughts!

I was expecting it to be really fanservicey based on the reviews going woooo it's so fanservicey! But ... it only felt fanservicey in that the fans really wanted to see Aziraphale and Crowley interact more, and so we got more episodes and they're the main feature.

Crowley's angelic hair killed me, what on EARTH was that.

Muriel's so cute, oh my god, they're so cute I love them so much they should have been in so much more of the show.

Is it just me or is the sound mixing/leveling really bad? I feel like I missed a lot of lines all over the place.

MAGGIE AND NINA! They work as A/C parallels both ways, don't they? Like, obviously Maggie is the Sunshiney One and Nina is the Grumpy One, but Maggie's also the one who stands up to the demons, and Nina's abusive relationship isn't far from Aziraphale's with Heaven.

I did think that setting the magic show stuff right after the Blitz shenanigans undercut the Blitz shenanigans. Also felt like Elspeth accepted her gf's death and the selling of her body pretty fast. need to rewatch that one.

But I loved that Crowley addressed the fact that Gabriel told Aziraphale to shut up and die - you want to talk fanservice, that's fanservice.

LOVED THE BALL! The seamstress conversation ... (There was also "C.M.O.T. Dibbler" on the laudanum bottle in The Resurrection Men.)

More actual fanservice: Gabriel and Beelzebub alliance/romance. I do find it kind of funny that "Everyday" is their song ... I was imagining Aziraphale trying to take steps toward liking modern music for Crowley by listening to dorky 1950s pop (/affectionate).

VERY obvious A/C parallel though, yikes, like it treads over the line from "cute" to "gratuitous". But it could just be that I never got into Gabriel/Beelzebub during the interim. But like ... there's a LOT of character development necessary to make me believe that someone as shitty as s1 Gabriel could fall in love with anyone at all let alone an opponent, and we didn't really get any of it.

It's also a bit weird to follow the acceptance of this frankly bizarre relationship with Maggie and Nina, who make a lot more sense and have more of an arc together, giving the "you can't just push us together, we need time" speech?

Whyyyyy would Aziraphale still be on the "Heaven is good" train after like the entire point of the first season being that he learns that choosing to be their own side >>>>>> working for Heaven?

(I have already come around on this jsyk. I absolutely buy that his takeaway from Notmageddon was that God meant for him and Crowley and Adam et al. to stop it, and that the real problem was that Michael, Gabriel et al. wanted it for their own messy reasons.)

Oh man, Crowley hates trying to express how he feels and I love it.

fjdskljfkldsjfljsdkfjlksjflkdsjlkfjlkdsjflksdjfkjlksjflkdsjflkjskfjslkJAGFSJDLK

So on the one hand I'm like, "Good, an angsty ending, nothing like that to light a fire under a fandom and get them writing the most passionate fix-it fic"

On the other, what an INCREDIBLE bait-and-switch, showing us the kiss in the "queer liplock sizzle reel" and then having it be entirely one-sided and Aziraphale freaked out afterward. I am living. This is studio malfeasance at its finest and I am frankly delighted to have been fucked with.

Also lmao Metatron replacing Gabriel as the abusive boyfriend in all the AUs when?

#good omens #good omens s2

[delirious-donna]

Hey I am a big fan of your work! Are you still taking requests?If yes can you do Dom!naruto x reader smut?Maybe in modern au and plot can be anything Pls make as flifthy as possible😀

Sweetheart [Naruto Uzumaki]

an: hi anon! Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean a great deal. I hope you like what I've come up with, it was meant to be short but I went a little nuts..!

pairing: Naruto Uzumaki x f!reader

warnings: NSFW, modern AU, teasing, flirting, bully behaviour (not Naru!!), office sex, oral sex f!receiving, unprotected sex, potential for being caught, slight exhibitionism, soft Dom Naruto, boss ass bitch reader (she is great!)

Masterlist

This was so embarrassing.

Your cheeks burned with mortification so intense that you could definitely fry up some eggs if you wished. If the ground would only open up to swallow you whole, you would welcome the abyss with wide arms. When had the conversation taken such a wild detour that it was now acceptable to question your love life? More specifically – lack of love life.

Wiping your sweaty palms as surreptitiously as you could manage on your navy pencil skirt, you tried to excuse yourself from the break room chat without drawing further attention.

“Where’re you going, y/n? Weren’t you just about to tell us about your weekend plans?” the acid-laced voice of your snake of a co-worker hissed with a nasty looking smile. The words may sound sweet to an observer, but having known Ino since high school, you knew differently.

It wasn’t enough that you had spent the past year steadily climbing the corporate ladder, throwing yourself headfirst into every opportunity that presented itself and earning the attention and respect of the higher-ups, now you had to contend with her wicked machinations on a daily basis.

The day that Ino had waltzed into the office with her long platinum blonde hair flowing like a shimmering waterfall down her back and designer stilettos that clicked with every step she took, it was like receiving a death sentence. It didn’t matter how innocent her expression may seem, the fire of deceit was obvious in her eyes.

“I – I don’t have any plans,” you stammered, annoyed that your gaze fixed upon the tiled floor and refused to lift to meet her eyes.

“But surely your boyfriend – oh wait, that’s right – you don’t have one,” she sneered before letting out a falsely cute tinkling laugh.

A few of the others gathered in the small huddle let out quiet chuckles but some wore expressions of unease at the exchange that was unfolding. Although it was nice to see you were not alone – a sheep tossed into a lion’s den – you also didn’t wish for any pity. It wounded your pride and with a burst of confidence in your chest, you ended the conversation.

“No, Ino, I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t need a man in my life to feel complete, unlike some.”

If you could have captured that moment in video format, you would play it over and over just to rewatch the look of shock that morphed swiftly into angry humiliation on the blonde’s heavily made-up face. You were able to return to your desk with your head held high, your heart thumped wildly but it was hard to keep the smile from your face as you looked to your stack of work and resumed the project you had been entrusted with.

~

Two weeks went by with no further comment or incident.

The routine you had set for yourself was back in place; arriving into the office well before anyone else to get a head start on the tasks of the day, eating your packed lunch at your desk whilst hastily replying to emails and leaving late into the evening when the cleaners were practically shooing you out the doors.

It was commonplace for your colleagues to meet for drinks on a Friday night, yet you declined every invitation. If it were an event related to business then you would surely attend to broaden your networking connections and represent your company, but you had no time for simple socialising.

Your colleagues were nice enough – apart from one – and you did enjoy chatting with them briefly in the moments that you found yourself without an immediate task, but you wanted to ascend into higher management so making friendships would only complicate your life later on.

As for men, well, if you were being honest, there had never been anyone that had caught your attention. Aside from silly little crushes in your college years, you hadn’t found yourself connected to anyone outside of fiction. It was a dark secret of yours that you preferred the idea of men portrayed in animation than in real life, there were plenty of anime characters that you would happily invite into your bed and you wondered if you were somehow broken.

That was until you met him.

Naruto Uzumaki was the newest recruit to your project team and holy hell was he attractive. The man radiated confidence and warmth, from the tips of his neatly trimmed blonde hair right down to the trendy black sneakers that just passed as formal enough for the enforced company dress code.

You had openly gawked at him as he approached your desk, a wide grin plastered across his face and a hand rubbing at the back of his neck as he spoke. It took you a moment to even realise that it was you that he was addressing, every syllable had gone straight over your head due to your wandering imagination. More intent on detailing how his white dress shirt stretched to the very limits of the seams capacity, obvious muscle mass from broad shoulders and bulging biceps bunching from his movements.

The golden coloured tie that was knotted against his throat was far too distracting in how it matched the colour of his hair and reminded you of wheat fields ready to harvest. His skin tone was the epitome of summer, honeyed perfection that made you want to reach out your hand and touch it – to see if it would feel as warm as it looked.

Where the hell is my mind going?!

“S-sorry, can you repeat that?”

Sky blue eyes filled with mirth met your own and you would swear all the saliva from your mouth evaporated on the spot. This man was akin to the male protagonists of your favourite shows, it didn’t seem possible but for the first time in many years, your heart thumped with desire sparking to life.

“No worries, I asked if you were y/n? I’m Naruto, transferred over from logistics. I’m joining your team and I believe you’re running the project?” he asked cheerfully.

“Yes – yes that’s right, I’m y/n. It’s nice to meet you Naruto,” you replied at long last finding your manners.

Standing from your chair, you reached out your hand and almost instantly regretted it. It looked tiny within his much larger hand, heat traced along your palm and wrist from where his fingers brushed and you might have whimpered a little but he didn’t seem to notice.

Get yourself together y/n.

You are his superior on this project so stop drooling over him like he is a tasty treat. Oh fuck, he really is delicious looking and I bet his skin tastes as good as it looks…

~

From that first meeting, your world tilted on its axis. It started out innocent enough but the game between the two of you was quick to escalate.

Naruto was an open book, very unlike yourself, and he found it easy to voice his thoughts and opinions no matter whether they were truly appropriate or not. Little compliments over your outfit had been flattering to say the least, his easy smile always genuine when he noticed you had been to the hairdressers or wore a new pair of shoes.

In short, it made you feel good and for the first time in your professional career, you found yourself spending more time in the mornings on your appearance. You tried to reason with yourself that it was all in an effort to further your career prospects, but deep down you knew it was for him.

On more than one occasion you had found his stare lingering longer than what would seem innocent, the blue of his eyes darkening as if a storm approached and his knee bounced in agitation beneath the desk. Every little glimpse you witnessed sent shivers to race across your skin and it was safe to say that your trusty vibrator had never seen as much action as it did currently.

The naughtiest of thoughts would surge into your mind when you finally crawled into bed at the end of the day. A tall and broad blonde male would inch his large hand slowly up your thigh, forcing himself under the tight skirt until he could reach your panties. Found them damp to the touch and ripping a menacing growl from his throat that would reverberate in your ear.

You swore to yourself that it wasn’t Naruto, your fantasy man just happened to be the spitting image of him but it was not okay to fantasise about your subordinates. Speaking of, he was possibly the most compliant of your small team – quick to follow instructions and never questioning your logic – it was refreshing.

There had been many altercations in the past, especially with male colleagues, where you had to impose your authority in a calm and controlled manner. You had no wish to appear as a ball breaker, but if you were in control then you would not bow to another’s whims and definitely not simply because of their gender.

Naruto wasn’t like that.

He was laid-back yet still a hard worker, offered suggestions when prompted but was happy to follow along with the consensus and most importantly, he had your back. After a conversation with one of the team that had become somewhat heated, later that day you had walked past the kitchen area and heard Naruto having words with the person in question.

His mannerisms were so natural that it was impossible for anyone to get annoyed at him, he didn’t reprimand but casually suggested that they were perhaps out of order and to your surprise, an apology followed not long after.

How could one man be your knight in shining armour and boost you up as an effective team leader?

You enjoyed the verbal sparring that seemed as normal as breathing; yes, he left you breathless at times, but talking with him was a true pleasure. It was nice, if not a little startling to find you both shared similar interests and there had been times when confused faces had watched on in alarm as you heatedly debated over favoured characters in manga and waxed lyrical over certain bands.

From compliments to chats to physical touches, the game changed swiftly from the innocent to straddling the line of decency. A hand that brushed your hip as you reached on your tiptoes to grab at your mug in the kitchen, a chest that pressed into your back as Naruto squeezed past you to get to the door instead of taking the long way that was clear of obstructions and a knee that parted your legs beneath the canteen table as you both ate your lunch.

Is this merely a coincidence, or does he like me more than a co-worker?

~

Naruto was a ball of boundless agitation from the moment he entered the office building to the second he arrived back at his apartment. Every day was a fresh agony that he had to endure with an innocent smile on his face. If only people knew what was lurking beneath the surface – if only you knew what was there.

He wanted you in the worst possible way. Skin itching from every second he wasn’t touching you, molars grinding with how he hadn’t learned your taste, and blood boiling in his veins with the knowledge that he shouldn’t act upon his desires. It was wrong but fuck it would be so right if he could only figure you out.

Naruto wasn’t stupid, he had seen your glazed expression on the day you first met as well as hearing that breathy little whimper when shaking hands. At that moment it had taken all his restraint to keep his cock from pitching a tent in his slacks. You were pretty – an understatement, truly – but your natural look only served to highlight how attractive you were without the need for make-up or adornments.

For weeks he had judged your every little reaction and he grew bolder from what he witnessed. A broad palm rounding the curve of your hip all in the act of steadying your frame as you reached for a mug up high. How he wanted to curve that hand further round, caress your thighs through the tight fabric of the skirt before hiking it up…

It was obvious that you appreciated how he responded to your authority and it honestly didn’t bother him in the slightest, you were a good team leader so following along was no hassle. He presented the docile side of his personality; full of easy smiles and bright enthusiasm. All whilst the darker side screamed for freedom and perhaps it was approaching the right time to put the key in the lock.

The day had started much like every other Monday did, with the hustle and bustle of colleagues sharing tales of their weekend exploits. Naruto half-listened whilst setting up for the day, scanning through the dozen or so emails that had appeared and lazily answering questions thrown in his direction.

The blonde already knew that you had been in the office for at least an hour or so, although you were currently absent from your desk that ran diagonally opposite his own. It afforded him the luxury of being able to take you in without appearing like he was openly ogling. The waft of fresh raspberries hit his nostrils and he turned to find you sneaking back to your desk, clearly not wishing to be noticed and he frowned.

“Y/n!”

Naruto cringed at the high-pitched squeal that vibrated throughout the office, loud enough that everyone else fell into hushed silence. The blonde girl that he had come to find out was called Ino stalked towards you, much like a predator would approach their cornered prey. He didn’t like this girl, not keen on the way that she had so openly propositioned him despite not even knowing his name. In turn, she had disliked his rejection and he remembered the scarlet colouring to stain her cheeks and the grind of her teeth as he had left her floundering.

He listened more intently to the exchange, as did everyone else and he wished there was some way to remove the attention from you, he could feel your unease pulsing outward from where you stood. You bit your lower lip but he was proud of the way you straightened your spine and met the blonde girl’s gaze in defiance. You were quite a bit shorter than she but your chin tilted up and he could punch the air at your bravado.

The more he watched, the less he heard. Something about y/n not having done anything this past weekend much like every other and that she would never find a man if she didn’t at least try to look presentable. Naruto took that insult personally, he was more than interested and this Ino girl must be blind if she didn’t see the beauty you radiated without even trying.

An internal war raged inside his mind – did he interject or not?

In the end, he needn’t have worried.

“Listen, Ino. Perhaps you should worry more about your own life than mine. In fact, it’s quite sad how you feel the need to quiz me every Monday morning, it looks pretty obsessive. Don’t you have anything better to do?” y/n said in the calm tone that came so easily.

You didn’t even wait for her reply, breezing right by and sitting with a flounce. It took a moment for everyone else to process what had gone down, the air felt charged like lightning would strike the ground at any moment. Ino gave one final stamp of her heel – much like a petulant toddler – and marched back to her desk with hands clenching.

Naruto swallowed thickly, unaware of how jittery that interaction had made him until it was over. His eyes snapped to your desk, something was off but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The minutes ticked by, the drone of normal office life picked up and that was when you fell apart.

Your head lolled forward, eyes scrunched up as tears slipped down the apples of your cheeks. Silent crying caused your shoulders to shudder and you rolled your chair closer to the desk to hide as much of yourself as possible from prying eyes. Hair fell like a curtain, fingers clutching at the wooden surface to the point that your knuckles were white and straining.

Naruto snapped, he would not allow you to feel unloved and unwanted. He had to stop himself from striding the fours paces to your desk, grabbing you up over his shoulder and absconding with you. He needed to teach you a lesson – badly. He waited, patient and vigilant until the perfect moment unfolded like a gift from the gods.

~

You hoped to goodness that no one had seen you fall apart at your desk.

It might have happened hours ago but that little drama played over and over in your mind. You were proud for standing up to your bully, glad that you had the courage to look her in the eye as you told her how obsessive this little act was becoming, but you had trembled like a leaf the entire time. A fragile leaf clinging to its branch in the storm-filled night, praying you’d make it through until daylight broke anew.

Adrenaline had kept you planted on the spot, and gave you the energy to walk away as if you didn’t have a care in the world but it all came tumbling down as the chatter increased. Your desk was fairly concealed and when you had looked over to the space Naruto occupied, his head was lowered and a look of concentration masked his handsome face, there was no hint he had seen your tears. Hastily checking your reflection in the compact mirror you kept in your top drawer, you cringed at the red puffy skin beneath your eyes and gave them a gentle prod in annoyance.

Some hard work will take my mind off things.

The morning passed in a blur of activity, your head never lifting long enough to even notice that it was well past lunchtime and the afternoon lull was in full swing. A presence by your side made your head snap up and found the figure of Naruto looming large over you. A weak smile traced your lips and he returned it, not his usual full wattage grin that made your stomach flip, this was a tight-lipped smile that left you uncomfortable.

“Do you have any index cards? I wanted to make a start on cataloguing since I’ve finished the tasks you set last week,” he asked.

His gaze flickered from your face to observe if anyone else was watching your exchange, his voice low and even. A chasm opened up in your belly, yawning wide with the hint of anticipation, it was unexpected and something was amiss.

“Oh. You’re ahead of schedule, that’s excellent,” you replied happily, “uh – I don’t think I have any to hand but I can show you where they’re kept if you’d like?”

He nodded curtly.

If you weren’t very much mistaken, the blue of his eyes had darkened once again and spears of lightning crackled within their depths. You watched as one finger hooked into his collar and tugged at the stiff fabric of his shirt and tie as if he were suffocating.

Pushing your chair back, you waited for him to back up but he didn’t. Instead, you were forced to brush against his front as you extracted yourself from the desk. His scent wrapped around you in the most obscene way, bitter grapefruit invaded your nostrils and made your mouth water.

You thought you heard a quiet chuckle but looking back his golden face was blank, that in itself should have been a warning sign yet you were oblivious. His stare was white-hot upon your back as he followed you down the hall to the stationery cupboard, the silence hung thick in the air, almost sticky like molasses on your skin.

The handle rattled as it always did, everyone knew how difficult this door was to open and it was why you propped it ajar with the wedge before walking further inside. You eyed the shelves looking for the manilla index cards that Naruto would need, shuffling along until a hand ghosted your hip.

You tried to turn but the grip tightened and a hard torso pressed forward until you were trapped between the shelves and a wall of muscles. Warm breath tickled against your ear, the delicate flesh of lips grazing you softly as Naruto spoke in your ear.

“Do you like me y/n?”

Heat was quick to pool between your legs, desire surging within the confines of your lower abdomen until you were sure your legs would give out had you not been supported by a strong hand.

“Course I like you, Naruto,” you replied honestly, cringing at the waver in your tone. In truth, all you wanted to down was lean your head back on his shoulder and let his hands roam you freely, but this wasn’t acceptable behaviour.

He hummed, a mixture of humour and admonishment. His chin rested on your shoulder for a moment as the hand that lay flat on your hip curved over the plush of your flesh, gripping and kneading until his fingertips could brush your bare skin at the hem of the skirt.

Your breath was coming in short pants, your grip on what was right and wrong slipping as you fell into the strong embrace of the blonde at your back.

“Not quite what I meant sweetheart,” he cooed, his lips pressed against the wild pulse in your throat.

At long last, his other hand joined the exploration, and it was like he knew of the fantasies that played out in the dark of your bedroom. Roughened fingers inching over the smooth fabric of the pencil skirt and finding their way beneath, stroking at your thighs until you were quaking in his hold. Your legs parted instinctually and he chuckled darkly.

“For someone that likes to be in charge, it seems you don’t mind when someone else takes control from time to time,” he murmured, kissing up the side of your neck and jawline. Sharp teeth nipped at your skin and you whined at the heady sensation.

“You can tell me to stop you know, but I think this is proof you don’t want that, right?” he questioned whilst his forefinger pressed against the damp stain on your underwear. His other hand reached up to cup your face and turn it towards him.

He was so handsome it hurt to look upon him in all his carnal glory.

The dim room dulled his golden hair and cast shadows to play over his face, it only made you suck in a breath as desire swept you into a maelstrom of sensations. The usual sky blue hue of his eyes was almost navy, darkened by his own obvious lust. The peek of red that raced along the sides of his neck only made your feelings grow all the more prickly, it was one thing to desire someone but being openly wanted was another and it was overwhelming.

You could spend an age detailing his every feature but you would never do him justice, it would never compare to being in his presence as some things simply could not be translated into any form of art. The way he made you feel when those piercing eyes swept over your face, you knew that he saw you for who you were, not hiding behind a mask – the real you and he liked it all.

His thumb stroked your lips, dragging the plush flesh of your lower lip down before smirking, “suck.”

It was no question, a flat out command that parted your lips instantly. Your hands flew from where they held on to the shelf and wrapped around either side of his wrist whilst your tongue spiralled around the meaty digit.

A pressure rubbed against your ass, his erection prominent and elicited a moan from your throat as you sucked his thumb like your life depended on it. A groan rose from his throat as he pressed your panties into your slick heat, spreading your essence around wantonly.

Aroused more than you could contemplate simply from the lack of his usual sunshine demeanour, this was a much darker Naruto yet the warmth never left. He was demanding but attentive, with smiles against your skin and encouragement in your ear that made your heart swell.

“The – the door,” you gasped as his thumb pulled from the heat of your mouth with an audible ‘pop’.

His hands switched places, the saliva soaked thumb pressing directly against your little nub and making you jerk as spikes of pleasure shot through your clit and joined the pit of desire that was rising in your belly. The other palmed your breast through your satin blouse, it was like he had no care in the world despite your well-founded fear of being discovered in this compromising position.

“Taken care of,” he answered quietly, “now bend over for me sweetheart.”

Am I really going to do this? Are we really going to do this here?!

A hard smack landed on your ass, the noise smothered by the skirt but your cheek still stung from the heavy impact, rocking you onto your toes.

“Don’t make me ask again, y/n. I’ll happily break you but not here, it’s not the right place or time,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

Confusion descended like a fog over his implication but you dared not risk another smack that might be heard from outside. You bent at the waist, eyes screwed shut at the way you displayed yourself to him.

“Mm, so pretty sweetheart.”

You missed the warmth of his body immediately, pining for his touch that had lifted whilst you positioned yourself for him. His words were like honeyed wine, intoxicating and bringing happiness to your chest. Naruto, this god among men, found you pretty, it didn’t seem plausible but you could tell he wasn’t deceiving you.

A nose pressed against the sensitive skin of your inner thigh and it was all you could do not to squeeze his head like a vice. He sensed your dilemma and braced your thighs apart with a wide palm, letting him inhale your scent and nuzzle at your dripping underwear.

“Naru- ah!”

The squeak of surprise sounded far louder in your head than it did in the hush of the stationery cupboard, so taken aback by the prod of a wet tongue against your folds. Panties pushed to the side as he licked a stripe along your cunt.

“Gonna eat out this pretty little cunt and you’re not to come, d’ya understand?” His words were staccato between teeth nipping your flesh and marking it as his territory.

You nodded, it was all you could do, all words had emptied from your head at this lewd prospect.

“Good girl, want you to cream on my cock,” he continued and you might just pass out at this rate, your eyes rolling to the back of your skull and knees knocking together dangerously.

Naruto gave no time to prepare for his assault, he was everywhere all at once yet his pace was as leisurely as if he were strolling in the park. He hummed his appreciation whilst exploring your puffy folds, the flat of his tongue dragging languidly to collect every drop of nectar that flowed like a broken faucet from your heat.

You would die from this pleasure, it was a full gone conclusion at this point and the twang of pressure in the very depths of your stomach was becoming painful. It would snap soon if Naruto didn’t let up, there was only so far an elastic band could be stretched before it would give out and the recoil would be an absolute bitch.

Your hips rocked in time with his fingers that prodded teasingly at your sopping hole, an index finger pressed firmly against the fluttering walls that tried desperately to ensnare him but never gave in to you.

“Please,” you keened, feeling tears springing to your eyes from being denied.

“Need something sweetheart?”

He knew what he was doing, an effortless dance of bringing to the very brink of orgasm to dial it back and leave you quivering and wrecked from his wickedness.

“You – need you,” you huffed through your nose, so close to stamping your foot but sensing it would be a dangerous move to make.

Without warning a finger sank into your cunt, the pad massaged along your walls until he found that special spot and there he stayed, rooted up to his knuckle in your core whilst his tongue flicked against your swollen clit.

“This what you want?” he crooned between sucking pulls on your sensitive flesh.

Your hips rolled in time with his lazy pumps, chasing the friction and finding it lacking the intensity that you craved. Sweat clung to your brow, hair sticking to your neck as you shook your head vigorously.

“Not enough,” you whimpered lowly, “want you inside me.”

Naruto sniggered, his breath fanning your thighs as he moved where you could not see. Your skirt was hiked fully around your waist, your plump ass swaying gently and then he bit. Sharp teeth sinking into the fat of your cheek before soothing the sting with gentle kisses, “I am inside you, y/n.”

He was maddening, you could growl at him in frustration but instead, you bit down on the inside of your cheek.

“Fuck, Naruto. I need you to fuck me with your – your cock!”

The smug bastard laughed, head tipped back in sinful amusement at your pitiful request. He was a menace, but despite it all you still wanted it – wanted him. He pulled from you, leaving you feeling unsatisfied and empty. Thighs clenching together as your sought out something that would fill that emptiness.

“Don’t laugh,” you whimpered softly, feeling delicate all of a sudden.

Naruto stood to his full height, your head twisted to the side to see the genuine look of sadness lining his face. He bent over your frame, a gentle hand cupping your cheek and bringing your lips to meet at long last.

The kiss was soft and chaste, just what you needed.

“Sorry sweetheart, that was mean of me and you did tell me what you want. You should be rewarded,” he sighed, a twinkle in his eye as the loud sound of a zipper being undone met your ears.

He straightened once more as your gaze fell to the impressive cock that he pulled from the confines of his clothes. Your mouth ran dry at how thick it was, the tip weeping precum that Naruto spread down his length until he was coated.

He stepped out of your line of sight and you might have pouted had you not felt the slide of his shaft grazing along your slick centre. The prominent veins snagged your puffy lips, the blunt head catching against your clitoral hood until you were sure you would cry.

You were on the verge of begging him to fuck you, to just use you as a cocksleeve as long as it meant sliding his dick into your heat, but before you lost your entire dignity, Naruto found an ounce of mercy.

The sudden grip of your waist was the only warning of his impending entry, strong fingers flexing into your stomach as he eased himself into your cunt on a long drawn out hiss.

“Fuck, so tight.”

His pace was slow but incredibly deep as he bottomed out, your ass jiggling against his hips on every stroke he delivered. The shelves started to shake from how tightly you clung to them, the drag of his girthy cock causing your brain to leak from your ears.

Naruto reared over you to grab at your wrists, pulling them back until he could hold both in only one of his large hands. Your tits bounced from the pounding, sweat dripped along your spine making the blouse stick to your skin and your toes curled in your shoes.

“Gonna – gonna,” you tried to tell him, warn him of how close you were but to be able to speak a sentence required more of your brainpower and it was currently on hiatus due to the arousal that replaced everything else.

“That’s it, sweetheart, come on my cock. Give me it all,” he barked and the rough lace of his voice was enough to tip you over the edge. You were freefalling, wave after wave of unbridled ecstasy ripped through your body from the tingling of your scalp to the scrabble of your nails that dug into Naruto’s skin as you clawed him like a feral animal.

You could hear his gentle coos, the precise roll of his hips that fucked you through the most earth-shattering orgasm you had experienced. He was slow and gentle as you fell back to reality.

“Want you to know that you’re the strongest and most beautiful girl I’ve laid eyes on, I’d like you to be mine,” he whispered against your shoulder.

Buried deep in your cunt and he was telling you this now, your bottom lip quivered as a wealth of emotion bubbled to the surface in your delicate moment of raw exposure. One brutal thrust stole the breath from your lungs, “Is that a yes?” he asked.

“Yes, I want to be yours only.”

“Good.”

Naruto had snapped, the link between his brain and body sheared clean in two at your sweet admission. He released your wrists, slamming you forward until your front was entirely braced against the swaying shelves and his hands could grab and fondle you at his leisure.

Feral instinct dictated his every move as he pulled you by the waist onto his cock, fingers digging hard enough to leave imprints of where he had been and he couldn’t be fucking happier. He grunted deep within his chest and you felt his pace falter.

Two more sharp thrusts and he was rigid. Sticky seed spurting in hot waves to paint your insides white, his jaw clenched to keep himself from outright roaring his pleasure. You were woozy, lightheaded was an understatement after that experience.

Your combined breathing was heavy, mingling together as Naruto held you in reverence to his body. It made you giggle at how he was still fully clothed, and technically so were you. A blonde head fell to your shoulder and your fingers carded through the damp locks, not wanting him to let you go but knowing he would have to.

“I don’t ever want to see you cry at your desk again, is that understood y/n?”

You gasped, so he had seen. You worried your lower lip between your teeth. With a low groan he pulled from your dripping cunt and turned you to face him, he tipped your chin up to meet his fixed stare.

“Sweetheart, you’re perfect.”

#delirious writes #naruto smut #naruto #naruto uzumaki #naruto x you #naruto x reader #soft dom naruto #dom/sub

[uncl3badtouch]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Alright y'all! I'm back baby, getting into the groove!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the new movie and I kind of actually loved it more than I was expecting. I'll start off being super honest in saying that I haven't watched any of the past two movies. The all lady cast and the Afterlife one. But I think that if you have any knowledge of any of the movies, you'll be alright watching it.

I also want to say that Paul Rudd is an icon no matter what he does.

The story is a pretty good one, and the way it was written and put together really felt like a classic buster movie. It was witty and pretty funny, but also heartfelt and family friendly.

I really liked the ghost god that appears and how he appears. The backstory is a pretty typical villain one, where humans tried to use a power they couldn't control and now the spirit wants revenge. I mean, I totally get why this guy wanted to kill all of humanity. We were so unfair! But the busters wouldn't let it happen.

I did like how they have modernized some of the equipment too. It was kind of refreshing but it wasn't unnecessary like it was some kind of product placement. Everything was useful and had meaning. Like all of the fun little guests that appear. It was so much fun!

The beginning started pretty intense with a lot of action, and then of course the mayor had to get involved and was trying to shut them down. The man is always trying to shut the good people down, am I right? Anyway, I wouldn't say it's a coming of age story, but it definitely was a 'listen to the little guy' type story, and it ended in a pretty cute way that makes me hope that we have another one.

I plan on rewatching all of the movies and seeing if I missed any Easter eggs in the new one, and really catch up with the times. I have asked around, though, and had been told that the movie right before this one was better, not in a super obvious way, or a way that said that Frozen Empire was bad, but just that it was a little better. I'll have to watch it and really let everyone know my opinion myself.

I give it 8/10 stars

It was entertaining, it was fun, it felt like a fresh way to get a new generation in on the Ghostbusters action. I want this franchise to survive, and with movies like this one, it will. There was a lot of room for future movies in the way that it had ended. My biggest complaint is that some of the ghosts seemed almost shoe-horned in. Like the company was putting people in that they thought would draw a crowd. It didn't upset me and it wasn't terrible, but felt a tiny bit forced at times.

Sooooooo I'm going to end this little rant this way:

Would I watch it again? I probably will. It was pretty great, and I'm trying to get into the whole Ghostbusters lore.

Would I recommend it? Hell yeah! You should all go and see it. See it with the whole family! There's fun for everyone!

Does it need a sequel? I think it is kind of like a sequel? but I am so down for having another one, in fact, I hope that there is another one.

Once you see it, cuz I think you just gotta, let me know what you thought! I'm especially interested to hear if you think that Afterlife was better in any way.

#film review #movie review #movies #ghost #ghostbusters #spooky #ghost movie #fyp #fypシ #new movie #review

[quillyfied]

Things I’m noticing on this rewatch, which I’m hoping to take slow and ponder on but we will see how it goes, PART ONE (obviously major Good Omens season 2 spoilers throughout, specifically for S2E1):

- Angel Crowley’s hair is so bright and curly! The shade feels more like his new post-apocalypse ‘do, which I find curious. New hair is obviously still much darker but it’s that more unnatural shade of red that could be very bright indeed under the right lighting.

- Aziraphale trying to soften angel Crowley up for his warning by complimenting the colors of the nebula first. People pleaser already, I see.

- The opening: that bit where they separate. They’re on the wrong sides. Then they move past each other to the right sides. Then they separate backwards to the wrong sides again, and that’s when the bridge between planets behind them breaks apart. Pretty obvious visual representation of where they end the season, but I do have to wonder about the emerging “they swapped again” theory and if this back and forth motion could be pointing to that.

- Initial analysis about Maggie: cute as a button, blonde, runs a shop of antiques not particularly useful or lucrative in the modern world, formal style of writing, accommodating to the people around her (perhaps to excess), vintage aesthetic all the way around: immediate thought is that of course she’s a mirror to Aziraphale the same way Newton Pulsifer is. Let’s see where it goes.

- I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS SPY EXCHANGE ON THE BENCH BEFORE SHAX SHOWS UP. Also why aren’t we talking about Shax more??? She’s a delight! The way she’s absolutely befuddled by how humans outdo her at her own job, the weird strained but sort of mentor/mentoree and also informant relationship she has with Crowley, how she is also probably one of the best dressed in Hell without the smell and blemishes and obvious animal aspect…she’s fascinating and I can’t wrap my head around her. Is she supposed to be a dragon? I could deffo see dragon.

- “What’s the point of it all?” Oh Crowley. So correct.

- His hair matches her dress. Significant that they match??

- Half rations of what???

- The correction of the peas. I weep. Has the air of all the times Neil has probably been corrected about it on tumblr and elsewhere for the bread in the book XD

- There are a lot of Statues of Liberty in Nina’s coffee shop. Why??

- Initial analysis about Nina: cool, collected, blunt, friendly but not familiar, hipster vibes, popular store and business model without being a model business owner, seems like she has it all together but has a pretty big lingering anxiety in the form of a controlling relationship: perfectly fine mirror for Crowley, like Anathema Device. Continuing to see where it goes.

- John Hamm’s befuddled face is the highlight of his performance for me, bc he has such a commanding gregarious menace for playing Gabriel and it’s weird to see it replaced for just…gregarious :P

- I know this is a horrifying moment but can we take a moment to just appreciate the comedy of Aziraphale seeing Gabriel’s whole bare bottom before realizing whose bottom it is? Gosh and the hug. So awkward. (THE JIGGLE)

- John Finnemore also excels at writing idiots. Jimbriel has John’s fingerprints all over it. The conversation is golden.

- This conversation with Michael makes much more sense now tbh but. Want to talk about it in full later, when we have all the information.

- I’ve noticed it since we got promos but: Jimbriel using the angel wing mug and Aziraphale using the blue teacups just…strikes me. Could be because he’s having tea and not cocoa. But still. Hmm. Interesting.

- Aziraphale’s immediate panic over knowing what it’s like to be close to a person. Hmm. Yes. Quite. (And a moment to enjoy Gabriel, even in some pretty extreme amnesia, knowing Aziraphale is safe and will help him. Not so much warm fuzzies over GABRIEL knowing that as it is Aziraphale getting to HEAR that from someone who should by all accounts not feel safe with him at all. Guardian instincts being validated. This won’t backfire.)

- Listen maybe it’s just because I watched the Barbie movie the night before I watched GO2 but all I’m thinking when seeing Jimbriel is that his Kenergy is off the charts. And I know that basically just means he’s at peak himbo performance but Kenergy feels more appropriate right now. More introspections there later, I think.

- Formulating a thought about the box, about how it has very prominent double red arrows and “this way up” on it…and the instructions were on the bottom. Something something Heaven/Hell Gabriel/Beelzebub symbolism?? Foreshadowing for The Final Fifteen Minutes, maybe for season 3 itself????

- “You’re funny. I love you.” UH HEY JIMBRIEL. JIM CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT. GUYS CAN WE JUST. DISCUSS THE LAYERS OF THAT. Not here, obviously, but at some point.

- The thing about writing an idiot is that they have exactly the wrong intelligence for the situation at hand. It makes them very funny. Even more so when their intelligence actually happens to be helpful.

- THE FLYYYYYYY

- Muriel!

- Oof. Sexy Bentley animations.

- “Now that I’m not reporting to Heaven” INGRAINED BEHAVIORS THAT NEED ADDRESSING, PERHAPS?

- I feel like we don’t talk about “six shots of espresso” enough. I realize it’s been like two days and there’s a lot going on but SIX. SHOTS. OF. ESPRESSO. CROWLEY. It expressly does not calm him down. Oh hey instrumental Bohemian Rhapsody!

- I paused just to fully take in the affronted look on Crowley’s face at “naked man friend” XD

- Crowley downs six shots of espresso in one go and then comes face to face with the exact being of his worst nightmare. No wonder he blows a literal lightning gasket.

- Aziraphale knows about Shax. Interesting.

- Ask him properly? Interesting turn of phrase. And Crowley leaps in immediately between them. Of course he does. Ask him properly meaning be threatening about it this time, I suppose?

- I. AM. DUSTING. ITS YELLOW. HHHHHGK.

- Crowley solution: get rid of the problem, run from it. Get away from it. Aziraphale solution: confront the problem, solve the problem, go charging into the helping of the problem. Hmm. Interesting.

- The whole “our exactlies are not the same exactly” IIIIINTERESTING.

- “I thought we carved it out for OURselves.” “SO DID I.” Y’all I cannot WAIT for the parallel gif sets. This conversation, the bandstand, the sidewalk, and The Final Fifteen Minutes. Phew. Knockout parallels.

- That was a surprisingly petulant lightning strike tbh

- Michael and Uriel sniping at each other. Somehow love it. BUT ALSO. This conversation has so many damn LAYERS now!! Heck!!!

- The floating armchair. Heck yeah.

- The distance between Muriel and the archangels, the way they talk down to her so thoroughly…heck.

- Like how the Resurrectionist matchbox has the skull and crossbones but also the Bible verse on the side. The two halves of the sign, brought together.

- MORE FLIESSSSSS

- Beelzebub’s tactic for trying to get Crowley to help find Gabriel is…interesting. I might have to make a whole separate post to analyze this scene. The matching chairs, the determined way Beelzebub’s pursuit of the hunt isn’t immediately suspicious, the flattery, but most importantly, it’s getting its own bullet point:

- The way Beelzebub shares the bit about Extreme Sanctions and how that is enough to flip Crowley’s Protect Aziraphale switch. He’s on the hook, because now there are actual stakes.

- I wonder, though, at how I didn’t immediately catch that Michael saying “anyone found HELPING him” was said. Anyone caught helping Gabriel. Why would helping an archangel be cause for Extreme Sanctions?? Surely it would be a good thing for anyone, even Aziraphale, to have kept a vulnerable Gabriel safe all this time. I’m chalking it up to first time watching excitement and sleep deprivation but huh. HUH.

- Anyway, back to Beelzebub; they immediately offer a reward to Crowley, a carrot instead of the stick. And Duke of Hell is on the table. Interesting. Weird. And their wording is anyone “involved in the affair.” Very slightly different context. Wouldn’t give away that Heaven is indeed on a manhunt (angel hunt?), but not for the exact reason you would expect.

- I wonder about the temporal implications of being erased from existence. And how this very serious and apparently mythological mode of punishment is coming back in season 3. Hmm. Hmm hmm hmm.

- Also Beelzebub’s “report to me first” I SEE YOU NOW

- Nina and Maggie’s lock-in is…hmm. The “no judgement” about drinking thing strikes me as something someone with a very religious upbringing would say to a friend who drinks. Bit clunky, lot condescending. Interesting way to get to a segue.

- Good old fashioned lover boy better have an amazing comeback next season XD

- LOVE seeing the onscreen effects for the text messages, love the way they’re like crumpled up notes, love the immediate energy that brings to this already suspicious relationship. Sigh.

- I knew “I’m back” had petty marital bickering energy from the trailer but I HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH.

- Also brief moment of real sadness for how this is a rehash of “angel, I’m sorry, whatever I said, I didn’t mean it. Good? Yes? Get in the car.” Just smoothing over the rough patch so they can move on rather than. Yknow. Talking about it and fixing it.

- Also notice how the apology dance doesn’t actually involve saying “I’m sorry.” It’s more an admission of the other person’s intellectual or moral superiority. Which is. Funny! But also. Sad!

- Jim. Jim you were just outside earlier. Jim please.

- I notice the “little” miracle is done over the portal to heaven. Hmm. I thought at first maybe Jimbriel’s latent archangel abilities were at play but I much prefer the “together Crowley and Aziraphale are super powerful without meaning to be” interpretation, because it makes The Final Fifteen Minutes make SO much more sense.

- The miraculous plume is pink <33333

- The inherent comedy of “nobody will notice a thing!” *BLARING ALARMS* XD reminds me of “he’ll have an enormous hellhound with him! He’ll be easy to spot!” *cut to Dog* from season 1 :P

- Okay, final thoughts on this first rewatch: yeah the foreshadowing and scene-setting is impeccable. Great energy. Loving it! Picking up on so much more tiny hints and clues! Missing God’s narration but it really says a lot, actually, that She isn’t there anymore. No Agnes Nutter book for guidance, no scriptural references to necessitate God’s voice being present…different flavor.

Okay! Might do episode 2 tonight, as well, but I have Things to do first! We will see!

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #gos2spoilers #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #time for the deep dive #me brains is marinated and I’m happyyyyyyy

[rueitae]

Season 2, Episode 6: the need for speed caper for @csweekly

I simultaneously love and hate this episode. It’s an excellent showcase of Ivy and Zack and it ends so well. But it highkey gives me secondhand embarrassment. It’s what makes it excellent but man do I find it hard to watch Zack going off the deep end here.

I continue to be obsessed with how VILE works in general. Coach Brunt has a BEST FRIEND. THE others REACTION to her though is the most Hilarious. They are so unenthusiastic. Just that little “hello”. Just. There is so much That separates Brunt from the Faculty in an obvious way. Just every opportunity they have she’s completely in another world as the other three. And Shadowsan WAS different but he blended in Dhchchcg. I feel like I’m on the tip of analysis here. It must be intentional. I just don’t know if Brunt was meant to eventually get some sort of redemption or if she doesn’t and that was the point.

And lol Neal foreshadowing.

This season I love that we are introduced to a lot of the senior operatives: Cookie is part of a caper, the Mechanic, Lady Dokuso, Roundabout. It really gives VILE so much more depth to show how they keep running. What is interesting to me, is that the current Faculty was so young when Black Sheep arrived. It makes me wonder. Has VILE been ongoing for a thousand years continuously? Or did the current Faculty revitalize it? Modernize it. I want to know how all of the Faculty became Faculty. We’re they all students at one point like Shadowsan? (Which is a whole other can of worms can we assume that VILE has partnerships with criminal organizations all over the world? The yakuza seem cool sending one of their most talented young members to school and Lady Dokuso seems to have kept ties)

This NUGGET of info on how the team spends their plane rides. We are blessed to have Ivy and Zack.

Listen, as an adult I feel very viscerally Shadowsan stopping. Taking a deep breath to ground himself. And grunting in disapproval.

Then Carmen saves the day!!! Listen I think this was planned. Carmen is very aware that Player is not Shadowsan’s biggest fan. Carmen has to acknowledge that it’s 95% her fault that he feels this way. Player knows that Carmen knows this. They talk. They’re open with each other.. BUT put yourself in Carmen’s shoes. How desperately must she want her very best friend to approve of Shadowsan. Who she regards as a parental figure. She must want so badly for the two of them to get along. This, I feel, is the root of why Carmen wants Shadowsan to stay behind. Certainly he could have chatted with Player on the plane? They’re the two most important people in her life. Carmen wants them to like each other. So bonding time. Though Shadowsan learning their operations is an important thing as well as decoding the hard drive. From the way Player is already on video chat on Carmen’s phone and he’s ALREADY grumpy, he and Carmen had this conversation about what was going to go down before informing Shadowsan.

Please I would have given my left leg for Shadowsan to actually go to Player’s house. The PANIC on Players face.

IVYS EYE ROLL. Specifically at Zack gagging one second and drooling the next. That is peak sister energy.

I love knowing she’s the Driver upon rewatch. That was so well done by the writing team.

Trey puts on his cocky airs. But. This is key. He still remembers Zack and Ivy. Considering we are about to meet his dad, I wonder if this isn’t the first time that Zack and Ivy have been spoken of fondly in his own home.

I’m a Duke and Ivy’s a rocket scientist. 😂😂😂

The Driver looks SO ANGUISHED.

This part is so hard for me to watch, I hate seeing Zack so bothered and angry when he’s usually not. Especially since it’s usually Ivy who is on guard. So it’s striking to see the situation switched and Ivy letting it all roll off her shoulders. And especially when Carmen yells at them. The fact that they were late in meeting her was really nice foreshadowing for it though.

Okay also interesting that Carmen isn’t *upset* until Zack and Ivy are caught. This…parallels interestingly with VILE’s “failure is forgivable, capture is not”. I wonder if that was ingrained in her on the island?

OH I think so! All Shadowsan says is that she needs better help than amateurs. And she defends Zack and Ivy in that moment. And out if the blue mentions no HQ? She loves Ivy and Zack because they’re everything VILE isn’t. I think…I think that Carmen wants to show Shadowsan how good her team is. She wants him to be impressed with all of them. And she’s angry because Zack and Ivy did themselves no favors (though Zack’s the one at fault). Urgh. “Not a good time” for Shadowsan to check in. Carmen was hoping to smooth it over after the fact but she’s holding to her end of the bargain of “no secrets”. I’m losing my mind this episode all goes back to Carmen distancing herself from VILE. That’s the real reason she’s mad at Ivy and Zack.

Shadowsan’s at least impressed with Player. CoNFIRMiNG that Player is Carmen’s secret weapon my mind is going nuts what must he be thinking. “I’m sure glad we didn’t know about him when I was Faculty”

THEYRE more upset about letting Carmen down 😭😭😭

I LOVE this subplot to the episode. It increases the stakes so much. Ivy and Zack have a legit job offer from a guy who has no problem outright saying they are family. Carmen at this point hasn’t said it herself and Zack’s attempts to bond with Shadowsan have been, as Ivy says, embarrassing. At this point they are at their lowest and Carmen’s mad? Yeah the script does an excellent job to really make the audience wonder if they’ll take up Mr Sterling on his offer. It’s a 1:1 trade off. Crime fighting or racing. That’s what this episode becomes about. And for Carmen there’s a choice too. Her team has changed. What changes does she need to make.

The separation of the team for even one night kills me emotionally. Carmen just isn’t good with being vulnerable. She confides in Player the next morning that she hopes she didn’t run them off. Player is interestingly neutral. He doesn’t support or condemn either side. He kinda just. Guides Carmen in telling her that she was direct. She’s not in danger, so he doesn’t intervene. Gives her the freedom to figure things out. Because VILE didn’t let her have that.

Okay this is such cool emotional maturity from Ivy? She acknowledges correctly that Carmen doesn’t hate them?? Okay so that’s a fic concept I can run with. I wonder if Ivy’s been talking to Player? They likely collaborate a lot so wouldn’t be surprised if their conversations drift to “is Carmen okay?”

THE STIG?????

Zack, are you telling me that you don’t have race car boxers?

Ivy spends this whole episode assuring Zack and the audience that Carmen does not hate them. And she gets vindicated in the end. I think I’m appreciative for what that is now. Because this is for younger viewers it’s good to reinforce that. Refreshing honestly. It could have been even worse miscommunication. But it shows that the team was close even before this. Ivy wouldn’t be so certain otherwise. Proves they’re family.

Legit car chase scene. EPIC.

Carmen is THIS close to having a Chase Devineaux moment and I’m mildly sad we didn’t get it. I guess that was last episode.

“Look, I think you know you’re more than just my crew” GIVE ME ALL of the in between caper gossip sessions and fun times PLEASE. I can only read between the lines so much. But also again Carmen not being emotionally vulnerable. She says she loves them indirectly here, but the message is clear in her actions. Zack and Ivy jumped in to continue to help despite her yelling at them. Carmen takes them along no questions asked. RIP Ivy and heights

Ivy and Zack response to facing a senior VILE agent excellent and fearful. Meanwhile Carmen literally is bored waiting lol

Lol! The Driver was gonna right the blimp but Carmen’s all “I’m the main character and good guy I’m gonna save the day here”

Ivy thinks of the plan the same time as Zack and she’s still terrified out of her wits during the execution

Awww Carmen apologizes in her own way. “Pro moves”

“Who were they?” WHY HAS VILE nOT SCOUTED Zack and Ivy???? There should be FILES and background checks VILE could know everything about them and use it against the team.

The warehouse scene is SUCH a good fake out. It was set up so well.

Midnight calls to room service. They tease the bonding moments so much. Give me all the fics.

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix #liveblog #cs weekly #csweekly #carmen sandiego weekly #I can predict when baby will sleep now so I can actually schedule time to do these #I feel like I keep learning things by doing a liveblog #things I didn’t notice before #what a joy #cs liveblog

[lydiablackblade]

I just would like to humbly stress out how Good Omens S2 ruined my life. I cannot think of any TV show, movie, book, music whatever that engaged me that much. Of course I have favourites, I loved and I'm loving certain shows etc. But I do not remember I felt *constantly* devastated by any of them. Been there, done that, got over it. But not this time baby. I was not into any fandom before. Not even after S1. I do not have Insta, Twitter, TikTok you name it. (I know, I know...) but now I had to register at least to Tumblr because I needed the comfort I am not alone with my madness. I do only the bare minimum of my job (thanks god for Home Office) because I'm searching for every available video with Michael Sheen and/or David Tennant, just to find out even IRL they are the cutest old (non-)married couple in the world. Going into almost every meta in my feed and liking basically every second piece of fanart. But hey, I learnt a lot of new words! My vocabulary is exploding xD I keep thinking about Az and Crowley all the time walking up and down in my apartment. Listen to the OST in loop. And this is all only after seeing SE2 once. I do not have the strength to rewatch it. I feel like I'm slowly building it up, but I'm not there yet. I have never invested into merch and here I am, browsing Etsy, Amazon etc, waiting for the delivery guy like he'd would be my angel and gave a kick to the campaign. Not sleeping at night hanging on my mobile. Try to talk with my friends about my kink (usually I keep it to myself ) - not that they understand anyway. Yesterday evening I went to the local town festival (to hear something modern, but not bebop!) with a local band doing 80's, 90's rock/metal (they were very good btw) just to get me out of misery. And you know what, every song was about Az and Crowley xD I mean while I listened to "Somebody give me some water" - I saw that: Crowley in the bath "Can't you see I'm burning alive" (Crowley in the burning Bentley) "can't you see my baby got another lover" (naked Gabriel hugging Az) "I don't know how I gonna survive" (Crowley's struck by the lightning)

or "If you don't love me know you will never love me again I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain" - Obvious

Killing' in the name of? Oh sure. "You gotta do what they told you" - "well the fuck I will do" - Crowley's personal anthem imho. And so on and so forth. I should make a playlist to myself just to suffer more xD Suddenly everything is about Az and Crowley. Love those two ineffable idiots.

I'm feeling like I'm really a child of divorce.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #good-omens #ineffable idiots #child of divorce