#i think it comes down to ‘s2 was bad but the show could’ve been saved if s3 brought it.’ and… yeah. it’s over. no redeeming it now

[rappaccini]

debating how much i want to Acknowledge It at all, but for now, in brief, i wish season 3 a very swallowed-whole-by-stranger-things, and the show the speedy cancellation it's been long overdue for.

... i don't generally like to gloat, but i'll make an exception: told you.

#tuatv #somehow s3 was worse than even my lowest expectations. like an even worse fanfic come to life. #i think it comes down to ‘s2 was bad but the show could’ve been saved if s3 brought it.’ and… yeah. it’s over. no redeeming it now #just put it out of its misery instead so we can start the clock on a reboot by competent storytellers

[queerfandomtrifecta]

How Izzy’s Death Could’ve Made Basic Storytelling Sense

Just to be clear, Izzy is my favorite and I wanted him to live more than anything. This isn’t about that, and that is NOT why I hated his death. Had it served the narrative in a way that made even the most basic storytelling sense, while I’d admittedly have been devastated in a different way (i.e. the character whose queerness was relegated to the subtext in s1 and as soon as it’s textual and his whole arc is that he’s killed, but that’s a whole separate post…), but at least there would’ve been a correctly crafted arc from a surface level narrative standpoint that ended in the death of my favorite character. But that’s not what this is about. It’s is about how the show could’ve actually made the death actually make sense and work effectively. (Also, if you want my unasked for thoughts on how most of the existing plot of s2 (minus 7-8) could’ve easily been adjusted to fix the narrative as a whole and keep Izzy alive, I wrote this)

But. For those in the fandom insisting that Izzy HAD to die, including DJenks who has said as such in interviews (for reasons I do not understand), from an objective developmental editor standpoint, this is what I think needed to change to make Izzy’s death serve the narrative, character arcs and dynamics, pacing, structure, and thematic elements correctly.

It’s about 2K words just so you know what you’re gonna get into. Spoilers under the cut.

Issue 1. Izzy’s relationship with the crew and how they truly became his family this season totally vanished during his death scene. The same crew who he protected from Ed during the later, worse parts of the Kraken phase. The crew who banded together to save his life by hiding him from/lying to Ed about it, and amputating his leg to save him. The crew he saved by crawling up those stairs during the storm, hobbling out into the rain with one leg and shooting Ed before he could shoot a cannon ball through the mast and kill them all. The crew who called him “our dick”. The crew that then banded together with Stede’s half of the crew to him the leg and the new unicorn (aka the figurehead of the ship). That crew didn’t cry a SINGLE tear when he died. What?? Fang sobbed most of episode one and really lost it when Izzy got shot. Where was that when he died?? Izzy’s last speech to Ricky had something along the lines of: piracy is about belonging/family. We are Good. (Forgive me, I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist). Izzy truly did find his family in the crew outside of Ed. That was absolutely fantastic, especially in the first four episodes and episode six. It VANISHED when he was dying and dead.

The fix: To make the death impactful, effective, or even to make it make sense on a very basic acting and writing level, the crew should’ve been utterly DEVASTATED. At least heartbreaking music and like 30 seconds of everyone breaking down and holding each other. At least some of them crying and holding each other in the background when he was dying. Come on.

Issue 2. Thematically speaking, is piracy Good or Bad? Again, Izzy tells Ricky that they (the pirates/his crew) are capital G Good. Yet Ed has spent a lot of time maintaining piracy is capital B Bad. He tells the urchins as such. Here’s some money that I never had, now you don’t have to be pirates. Don’t be pirates. He doesn’t want Stede to kill Ned Low in cold blood. Ed just doesn’t want to be a pirate. Even at the end AFTER Izzy dies telling Ed he’s with his family (implied that this is the crew) and they love Ed, Ed LEAVES THAT FAMILY AND LEAVES PIRACY IMMEDIATELY. We’re left with him and Stede watching the family Izzy swore was Good and loved Ed sail away because Ed thinks piracy is Bad. Which is it?? The death served nothing in convincing Ed he could be happy with his found family on the sea as Ed, not Blackbeard, so the dying words were pointless. The thematic elements are all over the place (for the whole season but that’s another post) and that needs changing to make the death scene make sense.

The fix: Izzy should’ve told him he sees he doesn’t want to pirate anymore, he’s glad he’s found love with Stede because Izzy isn’t going to make it, go run your fokkin’ inn, you twat (affectionate).

Issue 3. Izzy died of bad planning and bad luck. Why didn’t they take the gun from Ricky? Between Spanish Jackie, Izzy, and Jim, SOMEONE would’ve thought about it. If not those three, someone else would’ve, but come one. One if not all of those three would’ve known better. Yeah, Izzy happened to be standing in front of Ed and he got shot instead of him, but you’ve gotta be REALLY looking for that to even be aware it’s what happened. It wasn’t even on purpose unless Ed strategically placed himself behind Izzy (which I doubt was the intent). Izzy didn’t position himself protectively/take the bullet for anyone on purpose. It was just happenstance and you only notice it if you’re rewatching and hyper-analyzing everything (which a lot of us, me included, in the fandom do, but casual watchers don’t. It’s totally unclear as far as the surface level narrative goes) Any sort of “heroism” is not acknowledged, it’s barely even noticeable in the shot. If that was the intent, it HAD to be clearer and acknowledged by the characters so the audience would realize the stakes and repercussions of clear choices. As it is, I don’t think it was intentional. If Izzy HAS to die, it should truly have rounded out his arc in a way that CLEARLY changed the course of the scene, leaving him to protect people he’d put in danger at the end of s1. It didn’t. It just read as terrible planning to the point of it being out of character for more than one character, and bad luck.

The fix: Izzy should’ve saved someone. I personally don’t like the idea of it being Ed. I’s have rather he save Stede (Not really, but it’s better than Ed I guess) But really Izzy should’ve died saving the crew. The crew makes the most sense to me, narratively speaking. He’s their figurehead, he’s protected the Kraken Crew for months and they should’ve been fiercely loyal to him, he blames himself for what Ed did to them (more on this later) so it makes sense for him to fiercely protect his crew. His family. Who should’ve been devastated that it happened because Izzy is the one character of the main three who’s managed to earn that status this season.

Issue 4. The death did not serve to move the plot along. There are literally zero things that would’ve been different for the end of the episode, save Izzy being alive and on the Revenge in his rightful role he earned with his crew as the captain, if he’d have lived. Ed and Stede aren’t partnering with Zheng to go after the guy who killed him in the next season. Nope. They got the offer but nah. They’re running an Inn. Which Izzy would’ve supported based on literally everything we’ve seen from him in episodes 5-8. The crew who Izzy protected fiercely and who viewed him as their leader? Not one tear during his death or the the funeral. Happily sailing away to do presumably more Muppet Treasure Island hijinks. No character development happened. No plot development happened. The season could’ve ended literally the EXACT SAME WAY with Izzy alive aboard the Revenge!!! No stakes were changed at all. No one was impacted enough for it to seem like it was even going to be a plot obstacle next season. It just happened, Izzy’s toxic situationship who maimed him multiple times over the course of months to the point of his leg needing to be amputated was sad for one (1) scene, then we moved on and did not seem sad at all at the funeral. What.

The fix: The plot should’ve been driven by the death. Ed and Stede (but especially Ed), and DEFINITELY the crew should’ve been sailing off plotting to avenge the death and defend piracy against Ricky and the British, especially with Zheng who lost her whole fleet. Ricky and the British are clearly (or so I hope, nothing’s clear here anymore tbh) the primary antagonist for the theoretical third season. No one should be running an whim-based inn for fun or sailing off happily into the sunset after the death of the most major character aside from Ed and Stede, who beyond proved himself a major part of something every character (his family) should’ve cared about this season. If he HAD to die, that death should have furthered the plot. But instead, it seems everyone shrugged it off with tears exclusively from Ed.

Issue 5. Izzy got shot in the left side. The side in which canonically NO ONE DOES FROM BEING INJURED ON IN THE OFMD UNIVERSE.

The fix: Yeah I know this is just too nit-picky but it was also just SO sloppy. Like just shoot him on the other side if he has to die, because this was a very memorable plot point more than once in s1. Like, come on y’all.

Disclaimer: Issues/fixes 1-5 would all need to happen together to truly fix it and make the death serve the narrative correctly. Issue/fix 6 is a totally separate route, which I personally hate, but at least the narrative would’ve made sense this way.

Issue 6. The idea that Izzy had to die so that Ed could be free of Blackbeard makes no sense at this point in the story. Ed already threw away his leathers and gave away his treasure to symbolically get rid of Blackbeard, and Izzy very sweetly encouraged him to follow the feeling that throwing out the leathers gave him. Izzy told Stede that he and Ed were good for each other. They balance each other out. Izzy is on good terms with both of them and their relationship, so Izzy “having to die” so Ed could flourish as Ed genuinely makes no sense and came totally out of left field.

The fix for 6: This one stands alone and is my absolute least favorite option, but if it HAD to happen without the 1-5 fixes, here’s how it could’ve made sense. If THIS is truly the way it was going to end, Izzy needed to be continuously antagonistic or avoidant to at least Ed and actually be shown holding Ed back from happiness until that last second. He wasn’t. He was so much better. Izzy clearly does blame himself (that’s for a separate post because I have lots of thoughts there) but to be fair they were both abusive in that relationship, for years it seems. Although I think by the beginning of s2, the power dynamic has clearly flipped and it was Ed who was doing most of it and Izzy was exhausted and knowingly “reaping what he’d sewed” (I don’t Blame Izzy for his abuse but I think this was his mindset) so the crew wouldn’t get the brunt of it.

If he seriously HAD to die because the writers just had to have it that way, those are the changes I think would’ve made the narrative work/make sense, served all the character arcs and dynamics correctly, and actually driven the plot as fictional deaths are supposed to, compelling things into a third season. Seriously, this season finale was a mess of baffling choices the most series finale season finale I’ve ever seen.

Anyway. There’s my unsolicited two-cents. Now back to hoping Izzy’s in the gravy basket waiting to be sea witch necromancied back by seagull Buttons in season 3. I love this show and I hate hating what I hate hating about it because it’s my absolute favorite and I can’t stand it because it’s fantastic and the worst thing I’ve ever seen. (Also, Izzy should’ve lived).

#ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd meta #izzy my beloved #izzy deserved better #we deserved better #eyyyy djenks if you need a dev editor for s3 just hmu #david jenkins #ed teach #stede fucking bonnet #stede bonnet

[puppetwoman17]

Very tempted to write a Spectacular Spider-Man(cartoon) fanfiction taking place during Across The Spider-verse.

Most events are largely the same, but instead of traveling to 42, Miles is running around different earths. He ends up on the earth where TSSM takes place( don’t know the number, so I’ll just call it Earth tssm). The spiders have been dispatched to look for him, and some have been told to keep watch over their own earths for him.

On TSSM Peter’s end, he’s been in the society for about a year after the s2 finale, making him halfway to 17 in my fic. After all the shit he’s been through, he distances himself from everyone else, save for Captain Stacy and the Daily Bugle’s Foswell, (er, “Patches”), who are the only people who know(or have an inkling) that he’s Spider-Man.

He also tends to spend more time on Society work, limiting his time in his own earth. While this causes problems for his aunt and school, you can see this really take shape with New York. Especially the villains. People from Electro to Tombstone to fucking Silvio Manfredi notice that Spidey’s been showing up less and less, even disappearing for weeks on end. He rarely works with the cops anymore, and the battles have started to become less quippy than usual.

Needless to say, the villains are both scared, and pissed. Scared because if Spidey’s quiet, then shit’s serious. Pissed because they’re needy bastards who feel ignored.

Thus begins a manhunt for Spider-Man, from none other than the people he fights every day. Turf wars between the Six, Manfredis, and Big Man are put on hold for this one instance, all in favor of finding the wallcrawler and getting answers out of him(also cause they’re actually kinda worried about him, like, it’s SPIDER-MAN).

I’m thinking of getting the Lizard involved, maybe changing some things to make it so the Connors family knows Peter is Spider-Man because he came to them after he got bit and tested out his powers with their help. Connors can still turn when his emotions get the better of him, but he’s on the good side now. Through the undernet, he finds out something’s wrong with Peter and is like: why didn’t the kid call me when something went wrong? So he comes back to add more fuel to the fire.

Speak of the devil: Spidey returns from another awful—I mean, UPLIFTING week over at SS HQ. He’s tired, Miguel is his usual annoyingly loud self, and Miles is still not found. Even worse, it’s been found that Miles is in HIS earth, so it’s HIS responsibility to bring him back. Great.

You can imagine how hard it is to get back into a normal routine(for like a couple days at least). His aunt keeps asking where he’s been, his classmates think he’s a drug addict, his villains are starting to pry into his private life too much(which is kinda nice to know that they’re worried about him, but it tends to border on obsessive sometimes), and the other Spiders are getting antsy. Especially Miguel. Very much so Miguel. All the while, Peter deals with his own issues on the Canon. The good and the bad. The relief of finding out that his trials and losses are set in stone and not his fault, and the anguish that he could’ve been Miles, desperate to save Uncle Ben now that he knew what would happen.

All the while the villains of New York are trying to gauge why so many spider-like vigilantes are entering THEIR hero—ahem—nemesis’s turf and why he always returns to the city with bruises despite no one seeing him prior.

Trying to come up with a title is hard tho. Stuck between:

The Spider Society: Spectacular’s Story

and

Converge on The Spectacular Spider-Man

Now that I’ve written it down, there’s a lot going on here. I’m hoping to maybe start on this when I complete my other fic. No promises, but I’m interested.

#the spectacular spider man #tssm peter parker #dc universe #peter parker #spiderman fanfiction #the sinister six #enforcers #tombstone #silvio manfredi #silver sable #midtown high #across the spiderverse #miles morales #miguel o'hara #canon event

[rivby]

Honestly, it’s the fact that his name is “Mayday” for me

I haven’t seen anyone talk about this yet, at least not on my feed, so I’m gonna cause it’s been running through my head since I saw the episode. Spoilers for S2, E12 of The Bad Batch below the cut

The fact that the clone we meet is named Mayday is so fitting for this episode and where Crosshair is at right now. “Mayday, mayday, our ship is going down, we need help” is a phrase we’ve heard multiple times throughout the various pieces of media, especially in the Clone Wars show. Mayday is a cry for help. Everything is crashing down around you and you’re calling out to anyone that can hear you. You are throwing a plea into the emptiness and hoping to be met with friend, not foe. 

That’s what this episode was. We saw the cracks that Cody made in the foundation of Crosshair’s ideology come crashing down around him. Throughout the entire series, the one thing Crosshair always fell back on was “Good Soldiers Follow Orders.” He used it to try and guilt the Batch early season one, then as a justification. By the time he goes on that mission with Cody, that phrase had become a life ring for him. He repeated it like a prayer, like saying it would change the fact that even though he followed orders, he was getting left behind and discarded. When Cody left, it caused the first cracks in the foundation. 

Throughout the Clone Wars, Cody had basically been the perfect soldier. He followed orders, but still tried to find peaceful resolutions whenever possible. He was a model clone, and for him to desert the Empire was a huge blow to Crosshair. And then, Mayday said something that I think really drove the point home for Crosshair. “We’re good soldiers. We followed orders. And for what?”

I think that was the moment that things changed. This clone had been challenging his way of thinking the entire episode, and to hear his mantra thrown to the air when faced with the reality of the new future the Empire had in store for the clones... I feel like before that scene, Crosshair might’ve just left Mayday behind. But they were both forced to see the change that was coming at them, and Crosshair finally had to accept that things were changing, and not for the better. 

He spent the second half of the episode carrying the nearly dead body of this random clone he’d met hours before to try and get help. He had talked about deadweight before, he could’ve left him behind. But instead, the first thing he did once he escaped the snow was find Mayday, put his helmet back on him, and pick him up to head back. They were both on the brink of death when they got back, and that’s when Crosshair threw his mayday into the wind. 

Of all the Bad Batch members, Crosshair always had this air of mystery, of distance, to him. He wore is helmet more then any other Batch member, opting to keep his face concealed. If they can’t see your face, they can’t read what you’re feeling. And it feels really symbolic to me that Crosshair left his helmet behind without a second thought. So when he threw his cry to the winds, all his hidden emotions were on display for the world to see. And so we got to see him realize that, to the Empire, he wasn’t special. His special army and fancy gear meant nothing to them. He was just another clone that they couldn’t wait to replace with something shiny and new. 

Mayday’s death is very symbolic to me. It shows the point where Crosshair’s already crumbling foundations have shattered, leaving him in a free fall with no safety net to catch him. He watched as the Empire he swore allegiance to chose to let his brother die when they could have saved him. All because it was a “waste of the Empire’s resources.” And so, he made the choice. With the last of his strength, he killed the Lieutenant that had killed Mayday. One last act to avenge his fallen brother, then he collapsed. 

When he wakes up in the lab, being poked and prodded as an experiment, that really drove it home. To the Empire, he’s expendable. He’s not special. He’s just another clone. One of thousands of outdated models, just waiting to drop dead so they could be replaced by the newer version. Everything they’d done for the galaxy, all the good, discarded. Just like them. It’s tragic, honestly. 

Also, I cannot wait for him to reunite with the Batch. We know that the Doctors are gonna go after Omega, so they’re probably gonna end up in that facility anyways and they’re gonna find him. I think, this time, he’s actually gonna go with them. He’s not really with the Empire anymore, especially after he killed one of their officers. So, yeah. I’m excited to see how the season plays out.

#the bad batch #tbb #tbb spoilers #tbb crosshair #the brainrot is real #this went so much longer then i expected it to #long post #if you made it this far #thanks for reading ig #hope you enjoyed my rambling #this is just proof that i should'nt have access to tumblr on computer #a physical keyboard gives me too much power xD

[avamonday]

Gay thoughts on Madre Solo Hay Dos S2

Okay, so I admit, when I first binge-watched MSHD S2 I was impatient. I couldn’t wait for my ship to sail. All the hetero stuff was fun to watch, but that wasn’t the reason I watch this show. I was obviously dying to see Ana realize her queerness and end up with Mariana.

At first, I was pretty disappointed. After reading many of your opinions and rewatching the scenes with both Mariana and Ana, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that actually, this season was bloody brilliant.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I think my expectations were too high and unrealistic. During my first watch, I was SO disappointed with the lack of any blatant romance between Ana and Mariana that I even started fast-forwarding the final episode. UNTIL… I finally noticed the word “lesbian” popping up in a convo between Ana and her lawyer. I was way too skeptical and let-down at that point, so the ending was a real shock. Obviously, I LOVED IT. But I was also, so, so confused.

Why had there been virtually no queerness the whole season and now… this?

Many of you have already shared your thoughts on this, but I’d still like to share my own with you as well. I just missed SO MUCH due to my impatience. Let me take you through some stuff I only noticed during my second watch.

Ana takes over Mariana’s app to save it. WHY EVEN? I hadn’t realized this at first, but isn’t she supposed to be mad at Mariana? She has 0 reason to do this, considering she’ll have to work with someone she allegedly can’t trust EVERY SINGLE DAY. She could’ve chosen to work anywhere, but she chose this instead. Unable to stay away from your girlfriend much????

Then there’s the fight at work. About work things. About the APP. So why, when Mariana calls Ana “lady control freak” (which is fitting) does Ana call her “lady hippie confundida”? Your gay is showing, Ana. Mariana’s ‘confused’ feelings have nothing to do with the situation. So why are you bringing it up? Can’t let it go, huh?

Then there’s the bathroom scene at the gala, of course. Ana gets all mushy, talking about how the cancer scare made her realize life is short and she only wants to do things she believes in. She says “I believe in the app ‘cause I believe in you.” First of all, very cute that that’s the thing you pick. I’m sure you believe in a lot of things, but apparently, your girlfriend’s app is more important than anything else. “I missed you. Being close to you feels right.” Mmmmm. Not to mention the co-conspiracy look she gives Mariana when Alma Toca barges in to drag her away. Cute, Ana. And they play Soldado del Amor again, right after this convo 👀

In the office, Ana says “I missed you” again, and they hold hands. Idk if this is a normal thing to do with your friends in Mexico, but I don’t see anyone else in this show holding hands with their friends.

Ana is showing peak comphet signs when Mariana and her spend time with las niñas. She says she only flirted with Ferrán to make JC jealous, and that she loved that Ferrán returned her flirty behavior. Mmmmmmmm, someone send Ana the comphet masterdoc.

I just noticed the way Mariana looks at Ana in the scene where they’re working late. Friends, yeah sure……

Ana is considering to date “the hot guy who flirts with me”. Not “the hot guy”. But “the hot guy THAT FLIRTS WITH ME”.

Ana never laugh as freely as she does with Mariana, or is that just me?

Ana’s face when Ferrán tells Mariana “you look stunning”: 🙄. Don’t worry, Ana, I can’t stand him either. Aaand more eye rolling when she spies on Mariana and Ferrán. Not to mention her face when Mariana tells her about him. This woman is not even trying to conceal her dislike. Ana is basically obsessed with Ferrán. Is it bad that she reminds me of myself before I realized I was gay lol? Did you see Ana’s face when Ferrán steals Mariana's attention from her after the poker game?? How did I not catch this the first time???

Ana’s continuing obsession to unmask Ferrán makes her do weird things. Have we ever seen Ana stumble and drop things before?? Miss Control Freak is no longer in control. Why does this affect you so much, Ana? Regretting that you turned your girlfriend down? How is Mariana not mad at Ana? It’s too cute, I guess, I wouldn’t be mad either. And again with the comphet: “I won’t deny it was nice to feel wanted.” Aaaand, they’re holding hands again. Such good friends. Why does Ana look so disappointed when Mariana says they’re friends??

I do love that Ana is trying to be supportive of Mariana and Ferrán. It’s kind of sweet. Ana says this about Pablo: “You’ve both moved on. He can’t stop you just because he’s jealous.” Are you really talking about Pablo, Ana?

“We need to celebrate Christmas together as a family.” I’m just gonna leave this here.

JC’s lawyer accuses Ana of having lesbian sex, and all she says is: “That stranger is Mariana. She’s the best thing that’s happened to me in the past year. Ella y las niñas”. Sounds very straight indeed.

Lawyer: “Eres lesbiana?” “NO” ANA’S FACE hahahah. By now, I’m positive Ana is in denial. Mariana is bi or pan or similar, but Ana is definitely a lesbian. Nothing shocks her as much as being told she can’t see Mariana for 6 months. Not long ago, she allegedly despised Mariana, and now it’s impossible to live without her.

Mariana: “te necesito”. How cute. And sure, hold hands again. Of course, Ana would rather fake date Mariana than not see her for a measly 6 months. I have very good friends I sometimes don’t see for months because life gets in the way, and let me tell you, I don’t fake date them.

And then the grand finale, with the wedding vows and the over the top make-out session in front of EVERYONE, plus the pleased look on Ana’s face.

I’m so sorry for judging too fast. Ana is a lesbian and S2 was a masterpiece. I think it would’ve been too unrealistic for Ana to suddenly come to terms with her queerness while also grieving a very long marriage. It couldn’t have gone any other way. Though I would’ve loved to see more scenes with Ana and Mariana together. Season 3 is going to be AMAZING!

#madre solo hay dos #madre solo hay dos spoilers #madre solo hay dos s2 spoilers #maryana #ana servin #mariana herrera #comphet #lgbt #wlw

[phoenixes-and-wizards]

proof that diego hargreeves isn’t the hardened vigilante he thinks he is:

in his establishing character moment, he saves a mixed-race family who likely reminds him of his own, and despite the fact that he’s just single-handedly slaughtered a bunch of robbers, he takes the time to tell them “your family is safe now” in such a kind voice that they relax immediately

was so shy about dancing where people could see him that he took the time to close the living room doors before busting into the sickest dance moves you wouldn’t expect from somebody like him

when five’s portal appears, he shoves vanya behind him despite having told her earlier that she has no right coming back to the house after publishing Extra Ordinary

repeatedly guided their mother about during the funeral because grace was noticeably loopier than usual

after his fight with luther, he immediately goes to her, ushers her inside with a kind hand on her back, and opens the door for her like a perfect gentleman

despite the fact that he'd just told klaus he wouldn’t drive him anywhere, diego still waited for him, and was even smiling when klaus finally arrived and started talking about diarrhetic hippos

has outright said that his job is “saving lives, baby”

was nice to agnes, even when he could’ve just forced information out of her

repeatedly teased patch about liking his leather suit and domino mask

was friendly enough with the other policemen that even though he’d almost ruined an investigation by being too nosy for his own good, they still greet him brightly and are actually on a first-name basis with him

told patch that he does give a shit, not just about fighting crime, but also about her

went to her porch specifically after grace’s death, either because he wanted to guard her or because it was the only place he felt safe in that moment

actually jumped on hazel’s back to beat the shit out of him even better because he was choking allison

is the biggest momma’s boy on the planet oh my gosh i cannot stress this point enough and was so protective of her because she was the only one who showed him love and affection growing up

has a habit of getting mad when he’s worried about people (e.g. when vanya gets hurt, or seeing patch’s dead body)

was the only one--i repeat, the only one out of five other people--to notice that klaus was acting out of character and took the time to listen to his woes

cue a bonding moment because the both of them have lost so much in the span of a few days (“well, you’re luckier than most. when you lose someone, at least you can ... see them whenever you want”)

was polite to the soldiers at the veterans' bar because despite the fact that they were being rude, they were still heroes at one point in time and diego clearly respects that

didn’t say a single bad thing about the fact that his brother liked men; only agreeing that he was a pretty special person indeed to love someone like klaus

helped his brother get sober when no one else would

immediately offered to give allison blood, even though we all know just how scared he is of needles

was furious that luther locked vanya up, and it took luther shoving him away a few times from the handle before he gave up

watched his baby sister perform with so much wonder on his face, and was genuinely sorry that there was no other way to stop her

decides to honor patch’s memory by not killing cha-cha

lands in the past and what’s the first thing he does? save an innocent woman from getting mugged ugh idk where reggie ever got the idea that this boy was weak, the heroics run so strongly through his veins

was nothing but kind and understanding with lila because she's a survivor like him, and despite the fact that he’s got something of a hair trigger temper, he takes the time to explain simple things to her (”like yogurt”) and gives her a promise he takes careful measures to keep

was genuinely enjoying himself while dancing with lila, even though she was leading, and honestly that’s the most i’ve seen him smile throughout the series but i’m not even complaining

makes star wars references

WAS THE ONLY SIBLING WHO TOOK THE TIME TO GIVE ELLIOTT’S BODY A DECENT GRAVE BECAUSE HE WAS “ONE OF US”

is the pioneering member of Team Zero™️

was so genuinely happy to hear that ben was possessing klaus that his whole face lit up, and kept clutching him close because finally, after almost two decades of blaming himself for his brother’s death, it’s pretty clear that ben doesn’t have any grudges against him and doesn’t hold any of them accountable for letting him die on the mission

shares exactly one (1) braincell with Luther all throughout S2

forgave his sister as soon as she apologized because that was really all he needed

“you will be dead by midnight ... wrong number, have a lovely day”

“i almost had her, why the hell did you stop me?” “because ... i love her”

didn’t just use herb, and actually took the time to create a friendship + the coolest secret handshake ever with him, which is such a refreshing change from the stereotype in most media where the protagonists simply use side characters to further their goals, then discard them later on

was genuinely touched that klaus thought he looked like antonio banderas

was literally digging his knives into the FBI department floor, just to get to his baby sister and calm her down. CALM HER DOWN, not knock her out or kill her like before, because even though he doesn’t admit it outright, he’s grown fond of her, and it shows in the way he lets her lean against him on the porch

upon getting out from under a tractor that had been pinning his leg in place, what’s the first thing he does? “ALRIGHT TEAM ZERO” *awkward fist bump-high five with luther* i mean come on the levels of dork are just too much

is, in general, such a good and loving person, and that in itself is already a big thing because if you think about it, hargreeves’ training from hell would’ve turned anybody else into somebody as cruel and sadistic as him, but diego still managed to become the exact opposite of that because sure, he can be a little too cynical and snarky sometimes, but his heart has always been in the right place, and that's why we all love him

#the umbrella academy #tua #ua #yet another long post #about the one and only #diego hargreeves #baby #the kraken #number two #david castaneda #prince of pointy things #tua s2 spoilers

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Character Deaths That Made Me Side-Eye the Writers

There are a lot of character deaths in TWDG... obviously. It a series about the literal dead walkin’ around and eating people, so as you’re playing, one of your favorite characters is bound to meet such a fate. To give this series credit, it does have quite a few well-executed deaths that, while I hate them, they have a purpose in the story that works. 

The best example of this is Lee’s death-- we all hate that Lee dies, but it’s well-done. It serves its purpose, it acted as both a shock and a slow-burn for the player, and left us all an emotional mess. 

However, we’re not talking about the “good” deaths today. No, we’re talking about the character deaths that are poorly executed, cheap, lazy, and just plain dumb... they’re the deaths that make me side-eye the writing team and wonder what the fuck happened there. 

By the way, it was reeeeeeal fun narrowing it down to only five deaths, because it seems like for every great death, there’s at least two bad ones.

5. Mariana and her death that ruined ANF’s potential story

I’ve talked at length about Mariana’s death and how much I hate it. Like, I get it TWDG... you love your sudden deaths and you’re so edgy for killing off a child character because you’ve never done that before... but maybe consider things a little further before pulling the trigger?

Yeah, killing off Mariana the way they did got a reaction outta people when it happened, and we got the burial scene if you stayed with Clementine... but you didn’t consider the future of this storyline? You pretend you did by name dropping Mari when it’s convenient, but then throw it out the window when it comes to characters like David or Gabe.

Listen, I know that ANF is a mess and what’s the point in telling the mess that it’s a mess? Well, I’m still annoyed at the writers for wasting the biggest opportunity for this game’s story, something that could’ve saved it from being a mess.

And I get it, you gotta make a death quota, so instead of killing Mariana off... why not kill Kate off instead? Oh no? We don’t get the stupid love triangle that no one actually enjoys or is engaged in?

Instead of this dumb story about Javi falling in love with his sister-in-law but oh no David’s back.... we could’ve had a story about Javi losing Kate and being left to care for two children by himself. Mariana and Gabe are all he has left, and he going to do whatever he can to keep them safe all while the three of them are mourning Kate.

Then David comes back, and he immediately takes these kids away from Javi.

There is no stupid storyline with Kate, but an actual conflict between two brothers who were never on the same page and two kids caught in the middle.

Plus, Mariana herself as a character really could’ve brought something to the table. She could’ve brought out a lot in David’s character since she seems to be more like Javi.

Her death is just... annoying. It’s frustrating when you know they could’ve told a better story with her alive, something ANF desperately needed.

My side-eye is one of disappointment and annoyance.

4.Luke and his easily preventable drowning

Ugh.... where to even begin? 

Luke really just gets butchered as a character throughout the second half of S2, and the writers end up demolishing the set up they placed at the beginning of the season for a Luke vs Kenny thing. 

Why? Well, Luke vs Kenny was the initial ending they were gonna go with, but because this season went through all kinds of bullshit, they scrapped that and replaced Luke with Jane... and it’s so dumb.

Hell, it kind of ruins a lot. Not only did it ruin Luke, a character that many players loved, but it forces the new character of Jane, who we only get two episodes to get to know, so they can fade Luke out. 

But that’s not all. 

His death is so... ugh. It’s stupid, okay? Stupid and easily preventable, but noooo... we gotta kill Luke off for reasons because all we know is that S1 killed off a lot of characters and we’re gonna do that again but worse because we failed to understand what made those deaths impactful in the first place. 

Lots of character death and despair = good game. 

Yep, uh-huh. Okay. 

So we all know that Luke’s leg is hurt, yeah? Great, so you’d think that the group that has an injured man and a new born baby would be extra cautious and go around the frozen lake. Yeah, Arvo says that it’s safe but let’s not take any chances. 

But no. We gotta go across like a group of dingdongs and whattya know-- the ice begins to crack beneath Luke’s feet. Now, even here, we coulda got him outta there safely... if Bonnie wasn’t a dingus. 

Think about it. If we shot the walkers who were coming towards Luke with all their weight, he could’ve slowly scooted away, even if he’s already fallen through. BUT NO. Bonnie either guilts Clementine into going towards him, adding more weight to the already fragile ice as Luke tells her to stop, or Bonnie will go over there herself... and she’s a full grown woman soooo her weight breaks the ice. 

Good job, you dipsticks. 

When you have to make your characters into morons in order to move the plot along and kill off characters....maybe do some rethinking, yeah? 

 3. Mitch and his shock-value death

This death is so dumb... so incredibly, dumb. Even now, I can’t help but give full side-eye to the writers every time one of them tries to justify this death. 

I’m sorry, but this death didn’t have the impact you wanted it to have. And because there’s always someone who says, “Mitch didn’t die for shock value, you just can’t tell the difference between a good and bad death” lemme tell you a thing. 

What was the point of killing of Mitch? Well, according to those who worked on TFS, it was to show that Lilly and the delta are serious. This is when shit gets real, and when Lilly is established as a bad bitch who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. We should be scared of her now. 

Except no. 

This scene doesn’t tell me that Lilly is a bad bitch. It tells me that she has good reflexes, and going off her reaction after killing Mitch.... I’m not fucking scared of this dumbass. If anything, this scene says more about Mitch than it does Lilly. It says that Mitch is also a dumbass for running at her like he did. 

Y’know what would’ve been more impactful? If Mitch didn’t immediately get stabbed in the throat, but instead, actually got her on the ground and struggled with Lilly. Then, Lilly gets the upper hand and when you think she’s about to send Mitch to the cart, she fucking murders him in front of everyone to prove a point. 

There’s no remorse, it’s slow enough for Lilly to actually process what’s happening and show that she does know what she’s doing. That would scare me. That would show me that these people aren’t fucking around and they’re willing to kill some of them if that means getting the rest for their army. 

You still get your shock value death but it actually does something other than kill a character off. 

I’m really supposed to believe this is the same Lilly who can order to have Louis’ tongue cut off? 

But it doesn’t end there. No, no... there’s another part to Mitch’s death that annoys me, and it’s how insistent everyone was that his death is going to have a greater impact on the second half of the story. It had a purpose within the story, we did it for a reason.

...I mean, it has an impact on Willy and his arc for the second half. 

But that’s it. 

Oh... oh, what’s that? Oh, you were referring to those throwaway lines about Tenn? “He was screwing up again, just like when he got Mitch killed.”

OOOOOH.... I see, that’s what Mitch’s death was really amounting to... some lines dealing with whether or not AJ shot Tenn. Well, I guess I was wrong. Mitch’s death wasn’t just shock value. It really had a big purpose. In fact, Mitch’s death has the biggest impact on the series. Fuck Marlon and Brody’s deaths, and Lilly and James, and hell, fuck Tenn’s death, too. They’re meaningless compared to Mitch’s death. You did it, guys. You really did it. 

....Okay, I’m done. I’m just... salty, I fully admit. 

Being serious again, Mitch’s death is probably the worst in TFS as far as unpreventable deaths go and the real reason I side-eye the writers is because they tried to tell us it was going to have this huge impact in the future and it just... didn’t. 

2. Nick and his offscreen death.

I’m sorry, but what the fuck happened here? Why- what are you- how the hell did this happen??

I’m actually baffled. 

Someone wrote this. 

They set up at the end of ep3 that Nick is shot.... then ep4 comes and we find him like this. I just... did someone on the writing staff not wanna do their job that day? Someone was working on the story and at the last minute forgot Nick was a character, so they were like “Eh, he’s not important anyway, and it adds to the shittiness of everything so we’ll pretend this was 100% intentional.” 

Nick was one of your more interesting characters and you really thought killing him off like this was the way to go, huh? 

Like, his first death is shitty, but in the very least it kind of makes sense. 

But this? 

This is horrible. If I wrote this, I’d be embarrassed. 

I just... I’m so tired of S2 right now. 

This is at #2 because it’s just lazy, bad writing. At least with Luke, Mitch, and Mariana, we got to see their deaths and they had some, even if just a little, impact on the story afterward. 

But Nick? 

Nothin’.

Even Luke, who is the closest person to Nick, name drops him maybe twice? It’s just.... nothing. 

And yeah, you can come at me with the “oh well not every death has to have meaning!” 

This is a story, okay? This is a story crafted with characters who have arcs by people who wanted it to be a success, and usually that means having satisfying conclusions.... or, intentionally unsatisfying if that acts as a natural conclusion to their story or is a reoccurring theme. 

Nick’s death is just the writers falling flat on their faces and hoping no one would notice. 

1. Sarah and both of her shitty deaths. 

Ugh. UGH.

Okay. 

I’m not even side-eyeing anymore-- I’m fully glaring.

I don’t have to tell you how shitty both of Sarah’s deaths are. We all played S2, we all know that no matter what you do, Sarah dies in ep4. You can try to save her, she lives a little bit longer, and then falls to her death... and both deaths have her being devoured alive by walkers. 

Now, this is enough to annoy me. First off, I guess my choices don’t really matter. Sure, you can justify this as one of those “sometimes you can’t save someone, no matter how hard you try” ...and fine. Sure, if they had bothered to execute that point well, then great. 

But I disagree that the writers had that in mind when they were killing Sarah off. 

In fact, I know what what going on in their brains-- “God, can’t wait to kill Sarah off! Give us any reason to do it! She’s so damn annoying!”

The writers have openly admitted that a lot of the team were just waiting to kill Sarah off, waiting for any reason, so when the major part of the community who take everything at surface level because why think? kept complaining about Sarah, they jumped on the opportunity to kill her off.... but the deaths are dumb.

Listen, this isn’t like when the writers planned on killing Lee off. You can plan a death and even be excited about it because you’re excited about the story and execution of it all. You can be excited to see the heartbreaking end of this character’s story that you crafted because you know you put everything you had into it.

These deaths were lazy and the product of a team who didn’t care about the character. Sarah dies and no one cares. 

Sure, you leave her to die the first time and Jane does her thing about how you can’t save everyone, she talks about Jaime, and then Luke exposes himself as the fake Luke by agreeing that leaving Sarah behind was probably the right thing. Like what?

Now as much as I hate that first one, the second one is even worse. 

For some reason, Sarah is standing in the corner while they’re trying to fight off the walkers instead of being inside with Rebecca... y’know, where she would be if this was logical. 

Then the deck breaks and Sarah falls, trapped under a pile of wood. Jane, despite being the one who sees Sarah as a liability, goes down there to try and help her after Clementine begs her to. 

But because the writers don’t know what they’re doing, Jane gets hit by a random piece of wood and can’t get Sarah out in time, leaving her to be eaten alive by walkers. 

Then AJ is born and no one cares about Sarah ever again. 

I just.... 

Could’ve had an interesting story arc with a character who just lost her father in such a gruesome way, a character that already deals with anxiety and other problems that you never bothered to explain other than “she isn’t like Clementine” and you could’ve had her grow. 

But I guess that would’ve taken effort.... and screen time away from Kenny, and god forbid we ever do that. 

---

Honorable Mentions

-Ava falling to her death in the most comedic way possible, made even more hilarious by David’s two seconds of mourning. -Omid.... because hope is dead. Do you get it? Hope? is dead? Because Omid means hope? Do you get it?? -Honestly you could put most of S2′s deaths on this list because oh my god. -Ben because I’m still a salty bitch.  -I also wanna add Louis and Violet’s deaths on the bridge mostly because they die, Clem is sad for two seconds, Tenn says sorry, and then no one cares. Yeah, yeah, they mourned off screen and I call that lazy bullshit. -Hell, throw Tenn’s death on here, too, for similar reasons-- no one but Louis/Violet and AJ seem to care. Even Clementine is like “whatever” after it happens. 

---

Y’know, picking this one seemed like a good idea at the time, but by now I’m just annoyed by all these dumb deaths. So, what are your thoughts? Are there any deaths that make you question the writers that didn’t end up on the list? Do you agree or disagree with my list? Lemme know, we can have a friendly discussion about it. 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

---

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Favorite Louis Moments

#twdg t5f #twdg clementine #twdg javier #twdg kate #twdg mariana #twdg gabe #twdg david #twdg luke #twdg jane #twdg kenny #twdg nick #twdg sarah #twdg mitch #twdg willy #twdg louis #twdg violet #twdg tenn #after this i need to talk about muh boy #louis content coming next friday

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

we are our family, even if we don’t want to be.

Titans 3.07

a bit over halfway through the season, and we still don’t have all of our main characters on the board! i love this show.

as always, typing this up as i watch. live reaction, baby! *shadowboxes*

SPOILERS AHEAD

1. i don’t think i’ve mentioned this before, but i kinda miss the old ‘dc universe’ intro. it was cool! the whole idea of it was wild and waaaaay over-ambitious, but also very very on-brand because of it.

2. this is... the third time we’ve seen dick sleeping this season? that’s a record! checking another thing off my s3 wishlist...

2.5. i guess i rag on titans all the time for its wafer-thin plotting and bad pacing, but i have to admit that this season has been a step-up from the last one in this regard. titans has very reactive rather than proactive protagonists, and a lot of the last season seemed to be: x happened, the team reacted badly, then y happened, they reacted badly, etc. this time around, it’s not a huge leap up by any means, but at least they’re doing something about it. 

i do appreciate the focus on character arcs over everything else. and when i say everything else, i mean it: arcs that started two seasons ago with no big cathartic moments, intermittent payoff and multiple relapses. big bads have ranged from interdimensional demons to superpowered assassins to whatever in the world scarecrow is, but trigon’s big weapon against the titans was to... use their worst fears against them. slade’s was to... use their fears to break them up. crane’s is to... use red hood to use their fears to break them up. even the threat of gotham’s citizens being in danger doesn’t feel real: gotham is mythologised into an entity of its own, infecting our heroes like a parasite. like. this is not to say that most other superhero media aren’t big character arcs intertwined with the main plot, but titans doesn’t even make pretend that it’s anything but.

anyway. that’s my entry #2345 to ‘give a grand unifying theory for titans’. thanks. i’ll be back with more.

3. “anger is just fear in a little black dress.” god I HATE HIM

(what’s he doing with barbara’s likeness? oh... oh god. a terrible thought just occurred to me. what if they introduce hush at the very last minute for plastic surgery shenanigans? would you put it past this show?)

3.5. jason, nooooooooo

3.75. i mean, they’re making it very clear here that scarecrow is the one in control--the one who’s always been in control--and is manipulating jason and literally poisoning him, but i hope it doesn’t end up erasing nuance or jason’s autonomy. if jason’s to reckon with the issues that brought him here, then the lines of responsibility will need to be set somewhere. 

(this applies to dick as well but more on that later, i guess.)

4. just--the phrase “40% loss of income” is so funny to me. like, gotham is full of these larger-than-life characters who are idiosyncratic beyond belief, colourful and dramatic and creating chaos just for the sake of chaos, and then there’s the regular criminals and their henchmen who just want to make a quick buck sitting down with pie charts and graphs, griping about the joker reducing their returns or debating high risk investments in, i don’t know, two-face’s next scheme.

“yyyyeeeeeaaah, my financial advisor is telling me that going all-in with a guy who literally makes decisions on the flip of a coin is probably not the greatest idea.”

4.5. god i hate smug!smarmy!scarecrow so much

4.85. as big plans to “control” gotham go, it’s pretty bog-standard. clearly scarecrow has some bigger plan in mind but it really feels like we’ve got no clear insight into him and he’s this generic creepy mystery-man who knows more than he lets on and springs a twist/cliffhanger every now and then. i liked the scenes with him and dick in 3.04 where it seemed like he was genuinely on the backfoot and things weren’t going as he predicted. for all of his faults, dick is at least familiar with scarecrow’s bullshit and knows not to give what he wants.

5. i mean... i see where dick is coming from with the “he’s not jason anymore; he’s red hood” because his immediate glaring concern is scarecrow’s drug and the damage it could potentially cause gotham? i do not doubt that it’s something batman drilled into him, too, but when you’re expected to take point on a situation where the lives of an entire city weigh down on your shoulders, it’s better to simplify things and prioritise. i’m not saying it’s great or healthy! gar is absolutely right to consider this facet of the situation. it’s just dick can’t.

6. hmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMM. 

i don’t know that i’m super fond of this iteration of oracle???? it looks like a cross between cerebro from x-men and jarvis from iron man. it’s giving me second-hand embarrassment. somebody help me.

(at least they remembered dick’s middle name is actually “john”. i like to think bruce printed D in that contract because for a while he genuinely thought richard “dick” grayson was his full name. duck duck goose, dick dick grayson, i don’t know alfred, the kid was in a circus, maybe they thought it was funny. or maybe it was a test in anger control, who knows.)

6.5 “maybe you two would like some time alone?” even AI can’t help hitting on dick grayson in this universe.

“oh mr grayson, if i only had another eye to see you better...”

6.8. on one hand, it’s a bit disconcerting that the title of ‘oracle’ has gone from barbara herself to this gigantic machine; from my impression of the comics-verse, barbara had an extensive computing and surveillance system, true, but she was very clearly the brains behind the operation. on the other hand, i’m kind of glad that the ethical boundaries that this kind of surveillance violates is a sticking point for barbara. (tho let’s be real, the nsa would kill to have this in their arsenal).

6.9. also it’s now obvious that scarecrow’s big plan is to take control of oracle itself. it’s why he had lady vic take that picture of her eyes, or why he’s meddling around with it on his computer.

6.95. if only i could ‘command sleep’ anybody overstepping their boundaries re: personal information...

7. “you can just sit back and watch as the titans destroy themselves.” i mean... he’s not wrong

8. “dick’s parents were killed by a criminal mob; he won’t work with them.” it’s wonderful that you have this insight into dick, kory, i just wish we could’ve watched some of these conversations actually happen on-screen.

8.5. i’m glad that kom’s being treated with such nuance and understanding, though it’s obvious that she definitely has a Plan of her own. (and did i entirely imagine her ability to mimic other people flawlessly at the end of s2? or is that going to come into play at some point?) i think her story has the potential to be genuinely poignant, and in a universe where being Different, either because of mental health or physical differences or whatever else, leads a straight line to Evil, it’s important to acknowledge and then emphasise that the mere fact of your existence as a Different Person doesn’t predispose you to evil. maybe your act of destroying a system that has destroyed you and not scrambling to “fit in” is only evil as defined by that system. 

8.8. “you’re trespassing, i should call the authorities, i feel unsafe.” now this is a villain lady who’s definitely aware of her privilege.

8.85. kom smirking knowingly at her sister is everything.

“oooh that’s the kory i remember”

9. conner and dick working together woo!

9.25. god i hate a villain who’s always just a step ahead, no matter what. so crane anticipated dick using oracle to track his personal communications and set him up? how did he know when exactly dick would get to do this? how long did he have that poor man tied up in that van?

(the “save me, grayson” is a nice touch, tho. send dick spiralling even further! because if there’s one thing dick will do, it’s take responsibility for every goddamn thing that goes wrong.)

9.5. ahem. i’m going to need a million gifs of conner yeeting dick across that yard, fandom, thankyouverymuch.

(i understand conner is invulnerable to explosions, but how do his clothes survive??)

9.8. oooh crane is already in oracle! i’m just sitting here laughing helplessly because they’re overpowering this goddamned guy so much. he can build a lab in arkham’s basement! he has access to lazarus puddles! he has minions working across gotham, including a fully functional chemical laboratory staffed by chemists who only answer to him! he has the crime families of gotham quailing in his very presence! he has assassins at his beck and call! he’s enough of a manipulative bastard to have red hood under his thumb! and now he has enough of a tech know-how to not only be aware of oracle, but know how to hack into it! i’m sick of exclamation marks! i’ll shut up now!

9.95. dick leaving behind that smouldering grave for a person he failed to save without taking a second to process how he feels about it and running towards his next plan to corner scarecrow: a microcosm of where his head’s at right now.

10. really hammering in the themes of this season, aren’t we. 

10.25. the interesting thing is the titans repeatedly call themselves a family this season (none more so than dick) and while that found family has helped encapsulate and put away their traumatic experiences with their ‘original’ families, it’s meant that they’ve not really dealt with those issues. and dick and gar and jason come from ‘found families’ of their own: they are twice removed, traumatised two times over. they still cling to this identity however, and because of it they’re losing each other. a family isn’t static. it’s an ever-evolving dynamic and you have to put in work constantly to keep it healthy.

10.5. anyway, that’s entry #2346. i’m here aaaalll night.

11. lookit gar the detective! half-transforming and using his powers to deduce things! what a hero! i’ve said this for a long time, but gar is the bedrock of this team, and an unsung one at that.

11.25. i’m confused about him calling this room jason’s though. it seems to me that this is dick’s room that jason later used, and one that dick’s using now. so the unmade bed isn’t really jason’s fault; dick was woken by barbara that morning, and in his hurry, he left without making his bed.

(it still confounds me that bruce didn’t find jason another bedroom in that gigantic mansion of his. you really didn’t give this kid a chance, did you?)

12. oh well. so much for the oracle.

13. ... sorry, wait. you didn’t think i wasn’t going to address the bit with dick right now, did you?

12.5. i honestly don’t think it’s very complicated: dick’s been reeling from one traumatic thing to the next, and just when it seemed like at the beginning of the season, he felt happy and secure with his team and his place in the world, bruce ups and leaves gotham to him, specifically naming him a successor and calling him a ‘better batman’. he’s lost garth and jericho and donna and jason and now hank and dawn. he’s not even sure where rachel is or what she’s doing. after being told that batman was a psychopath for moulding him into a weapon, he’s also been told that his failure to be a ‘better batman’ lead to further disaster. of course he’s going to get batman-goggles. of course he’s going to be a prick. 

12.8. i don’t know what to say. i feel his frustration acutely. i don’t think he should’ve said what he said to barbara (can people stop pushing her around this season????) but that pressure to step in where your parent fails? to clean up their messes and try to think like them? to fall into habits drilled into you when you developed them as coping mechanisms growing up? I FEEL THAT. 

every step he’s taking he’s putting 110% of himself in it and scarecrow’s still playing mindgames with all of them: i absolutely feel his desperation to take control of that game and turn it on scarecrow, no matter what it takes.

and he did apologise almost immediately, and finally--finally--actually works with barbara. 

12.9. again, not excusing him! but i get it. and i think that’s a sign of great character writing.

“did you know i just reminded emmram of all of her daddy issues? what the fuck????”

12.95. i love that dick&barbara, kory&kom, and gar are all approaching solving this mystery from different angles, each as valid as the other. also, conner is there as... emergency bomb defuser man?

13. it’s like all fancy rich people in fancy rich houses do is pour fancy rich alcohol into fancy rich glasses on pristine, untouched tabletops. i wonder what it’s like to live like that.

13.25. I KNEW IT! poor michael. it was nice knowing you.

13.5. man, kory is contending with a lot of issues that she’s successfully bottled up and compartmentalised until now. the cold reality that a child can seek out their parents as refuge and they can view the child as a piece to be moved in a greater game (never out of cruelty, though, never, and somehow that makes it worse), that truth of blackfire’s treatment on tamaran because she’s different, and her own culpability in what happened. she exchanged one family for another, after all, and left that family to die and her sister to suffer. like dick, like gar, kory’s being forced to reckon with what the titans are meant to be, the larger implications of creating their found family in their own space.

14. it’s probably because it’s one in the morning and i’ve had two glasses of wine but i did not follow that bit of exposition at all and victor freeze??? what? 

anyway. look at them solving things! together! go team!

“you made a deal with the mob?” oh the sense of betrayal on his face! fuck off, dick, your issues aren’t kory’s. 

15. conner is really sweet and a bit of an awestruck crush on kom is to be expected. especially after that power rangers-esque transformation (i say this as a former huge power rangers fangirl. i’ve seen every series until 2007 including the original japanese versions and written fanfic for all of them. so i love a cool costume transformation, is what i’m saying.)

also?

FUCK YEAH

16. i love the gotham crime families just chillin’ around eating ice cream. I LOVE THEM

16.5. that was a fun fight sequence, if marred slightly by that bit of awkward flirting between conner and kom. i wonder if she’s really planning to use him in a larger scheme to get kory back to tamaran, or maybe something else. 

16.75. so i’m assuming that scarecrow has jason either so paralysed by fear that he can barely move, or jason’s withdrawing from the drug that he’s been sucking in every few minutes. 

17. it’s nice to see them chill after a successful mission! and it can be awkward, but conner’s crush on kom and him striving to impress her is also, well, uh... cute.

17.5. i guess the dick/barbara scene was inevitable, especially given the... unresolved nature of their relationship in the flashbacks? and they’ve been through a rollercoaster together this episode, discovering and then destroying an incredible tool within a matter of hours, re-discovering just how well they work together as a team. dick’s swimming in the nostalgia. i don’t expect it to last as a long-term relationship, but i totally get why this is happening now. and hey, they’re cute!

i have a weeeirrrrd feeling that kory is going to leave to tamaran at the end of the season and that dick and kory will rekindle--or rather realise--their relationship just before that. it’s going to be devastating and beautiful and painful and i will be writing essays about it which would be me just wailing into the screen.

18. gar found molly!!!!!!! MOLLY’S BACK! \o/ gar is the BEST

19. that was a fun episode! i love this silly show, even if it does destroy me sometimes <3

#titans #titans spoilers #meta #dick grayson #barbara gordon #koriand'r #komand'r #garfield logan #jonathan crane #conner kent #a byronic cupcake #badass strawberry truffle #manic pixie pop tart

[annapogorilayas]

here's a bunch of my rambling, incoherent thoughts LoD S6, H, and the show's overall trajectory since S4

under the cut because it's LONG, these are just my personal opinions and feelings

the show's trajectory

i've been disappointed with the show's overall direction since S4 for multiple reasons. to be fair, the show had an uphill battle to maintain the level of quality that S2/S3 had. lindsay denton was this show's most interesting character and keeley hawes was phenomenal, and her storyline tied in perfectly with the conclusion of the caddy storyline. that was always going to be a tough act to follow.

the show has always had shocking twists and explosive action sequences, but when the show moved from bbc2 weeknights to bbc1 the show began to lean more heavily on them. in S1-3 these scenes fit in with the plot. after S4, it began to feel more like the show was a series of shocking twists/action sequences with a plot written around it.

the OCG is way too big and powerful

after S4, the OCG(s) became very big, powerful, and all-knowing, without actually showing us how they were achieving this, making it hard to believe. in S2, we had an ambush, the murder of hunter and trotman in the hospital room, the setup of dryden for blackmail, and lindsay's abduction from custody. these events were carried out/enabled by five characters: prasad, cole, dot, akers, and lindsay. we met them, we spent time with them (except cole), we had at least a rough idea of what motivated them or how they got involved, and how they pulled off what they did.

in S3, two important events (steve's firearm paperwork being forged and Urgent Exit Required) were enabled by one corrupt AFO. we didn't meet him or find out what his motives were, but i don't think we needed to - he was probably just one of dot's lackeys. but it's not that hard to believe that dot could get one corrupt AFO to do his bidding.

in contrast, since S4, it seems like the OCG has an endless supply of corrupt prison officers, AFOs, and balaclava men that they can deploy at a moment's notice, and these people are pretty disposable - how many of these people have been arrested, imprisoned, or murdered since S4? how many balaclava men died in the 6x04 ambush alone? aren't the OCG(s) running out of people to send on suicide missions by now? a story driven by a revolving door of disposable, mostly nameless people is much less compelling than a story that revolves around a small, familiar cast of believably corrupt/bent/blackmailed coppers. i think S4 and S6 could've been better if more of the plot was driven by the other officers on huntley's and davidson's teams, or just... any recognisable named character, rather than these disposable hired guns.

additionally, the OCG just silences/pays off/kills people off so easily the plot has become very predictable

the problem with H

so H wasn't an evil criminal mastermind, just some guy in it for the money. that part i had hoped for and expected - LoD is almost never about criminal masterminds with grand motives who just want to watch the world burn. LoD's antagonists/villains fall into the following categories:

a) people who make decisions that spiral terribly out of control (tony gates, roz huntley)

b) people who do bad things for the right reasons because the system offers no alternative (lindsay denton wanted to save carly; danny waldron killed his abuser; john corbett believed his crimes were the only way to unmask H because peartree was dragging its feet)

c) people who do bad things out of self-preservation because they've been blackmailed or groomed (dot, jo, maneet, ryan, hargreaves, hilton, hari baines)

d) bad people who do bad things out of self-interest, whose behaviour is enabled or incentivised by the system that fails to protect people (hunter, the murphys, fairbanks, prasad, cole, gill). these guys are not geniuses and they don't have grand motives, they do bad things because it benefits them directly and they can get away with it.

i think (?) Buckells falls into this last category. i don't have a problem with him being H in theory. i don't mind that he turned out not to be the "top man" bc i never liked the idea of there being a "top man", it's way too close to "a bad apple". i'm much more intrigued by the idea that there is a loose, semi-transient network of officers who are all acting out of a combination of self-interest (money, power, access to vulnerable people) and self-preservation (they all have an incentive to be loyal to the network because they all know dirt about each other, but if there's a motive and opportunity to take someone down without it coming back on them, they will). for this reason, i don't find it necessarily disappointing or implausible that buckells was the last man standing and that he was motivated by money.

however, the way the reveal was set up throughout S6 and executed in 6x07 was anticlimactic to me. buckells had a laptop in prison? he ordered kate's murder FROM PRISON? of course he did, that whole prison appears to be run by the OCG. this is the same problem i mentioned earlier, the OCG is just too powerful to be interesting. the reveal could've been way more effective if buckells hadn't spent the last half of the season in jail. i also would've liked to hear more from buckells about precisely what motivated him, exactly how he came to be involved, and how the other corrupt officers fit into his story. i would've loved it if, for once, someone just said fuck it and spilled the beans instead of going down the "i'll tell you a bunch of useless nonsense in exchange for WP" route.

that being said, i think this whole clusterfuck could've been avoided entirely by simply not making H into such a big deal. way back in S4, the fixation on H worked as a plot device to get hilton to issue ted with a reg-15 and cast doubt on him, but i was bored of H approximately 1.5 episodes into S5. the idea of this shadowy figure calling all the shots was inconsistent with everything this show had been about, and it dragged on for way too long. i wasn't opposed to the idea that H is a group of people not a single person, but morse code? srsly? you couldn't just have them sit down and say "hey, maybe dot just blinked on H because he'd had his eyes open for a while and also he'd lost a lot of blood so he was probably confused anyway?"

#line of duty #line of duty spoilers #spoilers

[asterekmess]

S3A - E8

I’m realizing just how damn far behind I am on working on season 3, but I don’t wanna skip any episodes of the rewatch, so let’s get to it! Double time, double time!

Content warnings for discussion of cannibalism.

Forewarning, this one is a doozy, so be prepared to Read More:

Lesgo!:

First thing’s first, Derek has experience with those awful sound thingies? Can you imagine how freaked he must’ve been seeing Chris bring those out when they were tracking Boyd and Erica?

Also, Chris Argent has been hunting Derek one way or another since he was a child. Even BEFORE Kate. Why the hell do we have a Derek & Chris broness in the later seasons? This kind of shit doesn’t just go away. I can’t believe I forgot about it.

I love how awkward sweet bby Derek is trying to run through the trees and tripping on branches everywhere. It’s honestly so much more realistic for a teenager than just the crazy cgi stuff. Also, since we know Derek is comfortable in the woods, it really gives you a hint as to how truly messed up he is from fear right now. He’s off balance in a dozen ways.

DEREK HAS BEEN WATCHING PEOPLE DIE IN FRONT OF HIM SINCE HE WAS 15. I’m gonna CRY. If I wanna hurt myself even More, you could argue that the Random Beta (RB) got shot bc he stopped to talk to Derek. So...guilty minds would assume Derek has been watching people die because of him since 15. I hate everything.

PETER comin’ in clutch. Also, hilarious that they use that arrow catching move so much.

I almost like how they tried to make Gerard look younger by just having him wear a douchey leather jacket instead of the serious grandpa one he wears in S2. He swaggers over to the body of RB, and it’s hilarious.

Okay, what is this bullshit about “Bring them back alive, we go by the code?” If you were going by the code then you wouldn’t be fucking hunting them AT ALL. They’re innocent! Why the fuck are you ‘bringing them back’ in the first place? Chris, you piece of shit. This is supposed to demonstrate that you’ve always been a stickler for the code, but all it does is emphasize how little that code actually means. “We hunt those who hunt us.” Fuck off, you hunt anything you deem ‘dangerous’ and find excuses to kill them so you can feel righteous.

Gonna casually note that RB was shot in the Throat with an arrow, but bc of makeup necessities they moved the arrow down to his chest when he’s shown on the ground. It’s funny. :)

It’s seriously so hard to hate Peter, do the writers realize that? Like, yes, he did horrible shit and I’m not denying that, but when you show him running into the hunter-filled woods to save his nephew’s life at 24 years old, then hiding with him in a cellar for two fucking days when he could probably have escaped on his own, it’s hard to see him as a heartless bastard.

I’m almost afraid to find out why Cora knows the details. Can you imagine? She would’ve been, what, 9-10? Her big brother and uncle both go missing for two days after a hunt and she had to stay at home waiting for someone to say they’d found their bodies. God, the lives of the Hales are so fucked up.

The rain is really making the mood here.

I gotta say, I’m confused about this initial Cora-Stiles interaction. He goes on about everyone who’s died or nearly died, but then Cora assumes he wants Derek to do something about the deaths, and Stiles agrees? Except that Derek currently fits the COD that all the other sacrifices have hit. Missing for about two days. Everything Stiles has said implies that he’s worried Derek is also dead. I don’t get why they go with ‘I’m worried about the missing man that I’ve been helping for the last four months because I blame him for the Alphas even coming to town”?

One thing they got on point here is just how disgusting they made Gerard. The slime and the spitting and ugh *shudders* it’s just so gross.

I’m also...I think intrigued is the right word--that they shoved this whole story into the episode without ever addressing the fact that Derek IS missing and they should go looking for him or something. It starts with Stiles asking where the hell he is, but then everything else is about this past moment. Talk about going off on a tangent. I mean, I don’t blame them, but if I shoved this much character background into one chapter people would call me out for the infodump that it is.

Which is all this episode is. Info-dumped exposition. Here’s how werewolves were made. Here’s why Derek’s cranky. Here’s why Duke’s an asshole. Here’s why the Hales are ‘special’

Again, I don’t blame them. It’s just...a lot.

Just a tiny thing: Why do they both roll up their sleeves when Scott only has to touch Gerard’s hand?

It is also very hard to believe that either Allison or Scott are remotely good people when they’re both lying to everyone about Gerard’s existence.

*finger guns, bc now i have to use the tag* I think this is the longest I’ve ever gotten before using it.

Another thing: Why does Gerard make the gross noises like he’s in pain, when we know it doesn’t hurt to get the pain taken away from him? It certainly didn’t hurt that lady in the ER.

I know this is a weird thing to notice, but I find it interesting that Paige is wearing actual makeup. Not just the ‘natural’ look, but eyeshadow that’s visibly dark. *shrug*

Is she Actually playing the cello? The notes Don’t look like they match up with her bowing and fingerings.

HA that music cut in is fucking Hilarious. Derek turns around like he’s in a teen rom-com, with that casual “I never stop smiling all the way bc I’m the coolest guy around” grin and the music just WHAM. That’s right, Derek Hale used to be a JOCK. He didn’t used to be ‘a lot like Scott.’ He was a lot like JACKSON.

So, this group of cronies Derek has. What is that about? He’s gotta have that posse just like Jackson did in S1? Unnamed people to cackle at his jokes.

Paige’s face, right there? That is the SHIT for me. That’s not hidden attraction, that’s genuinely “What the fuck is my life, why are you so lame?” and I am LIVING for it.

Derek peacocking is also hilarious. Peacocking so hard he (THE WEREWOLF) didn’t notice that she’d left the hall, is even more so.

I hate to tell you this Paige, but THAT is where I could tell you liked him. Giving in to his bullshit offer was the first step, that look on your face when he said, “Hold on” was Blatant “Holy shit, my crush wants to talk to me” but then all you idiots did was make eye contact. Paige, if you’re trying to get the ball, try looking away from those pretty eyes, okay?

Derek, you always go too far. You can see Paige lose interest when she realizes that he’s not actually into Her, he’s into showing off.

OOOF, i guess they weren’t such good friends after all, cus’ they left when Paige did.

I also feel the need to point out Derek is WEARING A CHECKERED SHIRT. *inarticulate screaming* Everyone who makes jokes about him thinking plaid is disgusting owes me five bucks bc he CLEARLY didn’t think checkers/plaid were that bad when he was in high school.

I’ll admit...the instant sorry is like...really good. If they’d had him come in and be More of a dick and then end up together, I’d be a lot more bugged. But his First real introduction to her is an apology.

THEN he goes back to being a dick. But at least this time it’s not about him, he wants to know about Her.

And I LOVE the turnaround! THIS is flirting. THIS is cute teasing. She plays his game Back at him, shows her own skill and forces him to get on her level. Then he weasels out of it, but in a Cute Way.

If there’s one thing that I’m routinely impressed by in TW it’s the scoring. They’re Really good with music to fit the moods and the vibes of the whole episode. For instance, all the transition music in this episode is Cello, bc it’s about Paige.

I hate agreeing with Gerard on Anything, but he makes a good point about the Dark Druid taking and killing someone else right alongside Deaton. Why would she take 4 people when she only needed three? She wouldn’t know that Deaton got a message out or that Scott would save Deaton. Plus the addition of the mountain ash circle is kind of weird, don’t you think?

Yah, I have no clue why your body is producing anything Either. You literally make no sense and you shouldn’t be alive. Period. Bringing you back was a lazy way to have someone who could be a sub-sub plot and hand out exposition and red herrings that are totally useless.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT GERARD? You weren’t There when Deucalion found out he could still see with his Alpha Eyes (Which makes no sense btw, he doesn’t have TWO sets of eyes???) and if you’d interacted with Deuc since then he’d have ripped you to shreds.

SERIOUSLY people, why the FUCK are we getting this information from Gerard when it makes WAY more sense for Deaton to tell them this? He was THERE for the whole thing!

I get that the point of the episode is supposed to be “Unreliable Narrators” (The whole show has an unreliable narrator.) but you had that covered with Peter’s story. You could’ve Instilled TRUST in Deaton by making a contrast and having Deaton TELL THEM THE TRUTH. Show the difference between reliable and unreliable. Gerard doesn’t need to be here!

Stiles, asking the real questions.

AND GETTING THE MOST BULLSHIT ANSWER IN THE UNIVERSE.

Could these writers GET any lazier? Put some fucking effort in and give us some information about Werewolves IN YOUR WEREWOLF TV SHOW.

What the fuck were Paige and Derek into that they knew where an abandoned distillery was when it wasn’t even in TOWN? And you’re telling me they left town every time they wanted to make out? Even worse, are you implying they had SEX in that distillery? And then trying to tell me that none of the fucking Alphas and their packs noticed the smell of Derek and his girlfriend all over the building?

...what...do people seriously not remember being teenagers? What the fuck Peter? In what fucking universe  is “one minute it’s ‘i hate you, don’t talk to me’ the next it’s frantic groping in any dark corner’ remotely accurate to real life?

Teenagers in the majority don’t DO that. I really fucking hate that all teenagers are made out to be like this. Like they’re “run by their hormones” and “everything is sex to you” STOP. Seriously, STOP. Saying shit like that completely negates the fact that Teenagers are Real fucking People. They’re not just buckets of hormones and sweat that need to be shaped into an adult. They’re fucking PEOPLE and reducing them to sex-crazed idiots is lazy and stupid.

Are you ALSO telling me that the hunters dragged RB’s DEad Body to an abandoned building, then strung the corpse up and cut it in half? AND that someone happened to go the abandoned building and found the body and called the cops, or that they MOVEd the two halves somewhere they would be found, Or that They were the ones to call and report the body?

Has teen wolf got even a Single brain cell?

ALSO, what the fuck is this timeline? Derek and Peter went missing for two days after RB was killed, but the packs don’t get together to discuss RB’s death until After Derek has run out of the building with Paige because he could smell blood from RB being hemisected. So, they waited at Least two days before talking to each other about RB’s death? And Derek apparently recovered Instantaneously from his two day nightmare and went right back to macking on his girlfriend and laughing freely the Day he was found? Or did they wait even longer? I’m so fucking confused!

Okay, you tell me that this place is their favorite makeout/groping spot, but they seriously just walk in the door and start kissing in the middle of the room? You guys didn’t bring some blankets and pillows here? You’re gonna stand there the whole time?

WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU MAKING PETER A PERVERT? He was fucking watching his nephew make out with his girlfriend through the wall??? WHat is WRONG with you?

ALSO, Cora was alive and active in Derek’s life at that point. She wasn’t That young. She could easily point out that Peter being Derek’s best friend is total bullshit if it weren’t actually true. Which means Peter is telling the TRUTH here. Hell, she doesn’t call out his heartbeat for lies the entire time, and while they imply at the end of the episode that Really Good Liars can just force their heart to be steady while lying so they don’t get caught, that isn’t a thing for the entire rest of the show. Derek trusts KATE when she says she’s not lying. So the evidence actually points toward Peter telling the TRUTH in this entire episode.

THAT is accurate to teenagers. Using the word “like” and “liking” so many times in a conversation that it doesn’t even sound like a word anymore.

Paige...dude, I’m so torn. Like I’m glad you’re being honest with Derek about your worries, but also it’s a complete dick move to just Assume that he’s gonna bail? To say to his face that you Know he’s leaving you and you’re just waiting for it? Fucking rude.

Ennis...bro...how exactly did your Beta “Accidentally” kill a hunter? How would that happen?

AGAIN WITH THE TIMELINE. If the packs only CAME to beacon hills because of Ennis issue with the hunters, why was RB running through beacon hills when he was killed?

Also, side note: Where are all of these werewolves staying? Are they territorial so they like, all claimed different hotels to take over? Or do they not mind, and THAT’S why the Hale house is so big for such a small family? Because they had a ton of guest rooms for packs that visited to get that sweet, sweet Hale Wisdom?

I firmly believe that werewolves are clothing-optional people. Talia straight shifts into a naked human form in front of over a dozen other wolves.

Also, where the hell is the Hale pack here? Some random chick comes up and gives Talia a robe, but that person is standing with Deuc’s pack. So....what?

I’m so curious about the formation the wolves make when they hear Talia coming. Everybody backs away, except Deucalion. And they do this weird focus on his face as he watches her come in. And her eye contact is JUST with him.

OH GROSS. DID DEUC HAVE A THING FOR DEREK’S MOM????

I will admit that watching things with subtitles sometimes ruins the surprise. There’s that little pause before “I’m just a deputy” like it was supposed to be shocking to the audience, but the subtitle on Amazon Prime just Pops up right away and it kind of ruins the effect.

Here we go! The one piece of concrete information on “Packs” and “pack members” that we’re given in the whole fucking show. Word for Word. “Losing a member of your pack isn’t like losing family, it’s like you lose a limb.”

That is....severe. Now imagine that your entire family IS your pack. And losing almost every one of them. Is it any wonder that Cora, Peter, and Derek are so messed up? That they’re so dark and wounded looking?

I s2g sometimes Peter literally just sounds like he’s a self-insert for the writers. He explains shit that the writer’s are showing Really Badly as if to wave away the fact that the Ennis flashback is pretty much Completely unnecessary. “You just don’t understand my artistic genius, it’s never just a single moment, it’s a confluence of events. I have to show you all these random flashbacks because you need to understand why Derek is soaked in MANPAIN all the time. Which is totally relevant to the current plot bc....bc....bc ART (and also Tyler Hoechlin was busy so we could only get one shot of him for the entire episode)”

That is just the cutest shit oh my god. Derek listens to Paige’s music while he’s in class and doing homework. THAT is love, you realize? He doesn’t just deal with her dedication to her music, he loves it.

THat little wince when he says “Are you sure about that?” Paige knows he’s gonna screw with her.

THAT IS A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP. He gives her space! She likes studying during lunch so he Leaves her Alone. I LIKE IT.

What do you mean “Laura told you about the packs being here.” Derek KNOWS they’re here because he watched RB DIE IN THE WOODS. Seriously, I”M SO CONFUSED.

FUN FACT (that I might’ve already shared) Oak wood was liked by the Celts because it was really sturdy and hardy and bore food, but it wasn’t their favorite type of wood! Rowan was the favorite, and Irish pagan practitioners used to sleep in rowan trees so they could have prophetic dreams. After that, it was Hazelwood. :P

I...do not enjoy when they bring up the Celtic Druids. *Scuttles to get my textbook bc this is my nerd shit*

“We’re in a Nemeton” This is the correct wording, actually! A “Nemeton” isn’t a thing, it’s a “sacred meeting place” as Chris calls it. Go chris! Nemeton refers to the entire grove/area around the main tree.

I can’t speak to whether they chose a ‘Large, older tree in a grove” but it does make sense bc if we’re talking about Oaks they were a symbol of food and safety (acorns were a staple to Celtic diets) so choosing an older tree would not only look more impressive, but it would probably bear more acorns for the clan.

“It would represent the center of the world” *Puts on vine voice* THat is NOt Correct! The tree at the center of the Nemeton was called a “crann bethadh” or “Tree of Life” and it was essentially a Totem that marked the center of the tribe’s territory. It was not ‘the center of the world’ it was the center of THEIR world. Their land.

“There was a belief that cutting or harming the tree would cause serious problems for the surrounding villages” Not sure if ‘villages’ is the correct term for the era, but the rest of it sounds like a close mistranslation. See, in Ireland there were raids people would do against other clans where the SOLE PURPOSE was to destroy their crann bethadh, because it was demoralizing. It’s like graffiti-ing the front of a church. But technically, it WAS severely frowned upon to harm the tree in any way.

This is mostly because in most Celtic areas, Oak trees were considered symbols of the “Father of the Sky” or the “God of Thunder.” Of course you don’t wanna piss off Thunder man.

Also, you notice how I’m saying CELTS and not DRUIDS. It’s because DRUID isn’t a cultural label, it’s a SOCIAL CLASS. It’s like saying “The Educated”

Okay, back to the--OH WAIT. Before anyone gets any ideas, the blood on the crann bethadh isn’t human. Estonian Celts smeared animal blood on the tree roots as an assurance for rain and good harvests. This is the same concept as TONS of other religions, including Christianity. (Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God, but God stopped him and had him sacrifice a Ram instead. So, Yes. Christians used to perform animal sacrifices.)

NOW back to the show.

THe fact that gerard doesn’t know this stuff implies that Chris is the nerd of the family.

I LIKE THIS. I hate that I like it bc it’s Gerard, but I LIKE IT. Gerard gets up from his wheelchair. He doesn’t need it All the Time.

I’ve never seen another show that bothered to have a wheelchair user who wasn’t wheelchair-bound, which is stupid because it’s Very Common for people using wheelchairs to not need them all the time.

though it does beg the question of why he’s sitting in a wheelchair when he’s in his own bedroom? Was he going somewhere? Or did he know he wouldn’t have enough chairs and didn’t want Allison or Scott to sit in his chair?

The story of Lycaon, who was considered a savage ruler of Arcadia and Zeus went to his house disguised as a human (this is v common in myth) to find out if he was batshit. Lycaon and his FIFTY SONS (he also had one daughter) wanted to know if the stranger was a human or a mortal, so they fed him human flesh in stew. Zeus flipped shit and blasted the room with thunderbolts, murdering all but one of Lycaon’s sons, and then turned Lycaon into a wolf.

So...this whole ‘myth of lycaon’ is totally fucked up when it didn’t need to be? Like, they didn’t NEED to change it to make it a messed up origin story of wolves. It already was.

There’s three major versions to choose from

Lycaon was a pius man who founded the city of Lycosura on Mount Lycaeus and used a child as a sacrifice to Zeus, thinking it would please him. Zeus flips shit and turns Lycaon into a wolf. FROM THEN ON; at every sacrifice made to zeus a man was transformed into a wolf and if he managed to restrain himself from eating human flesh for 8-9 years, he would be turned human again.

The same story as the first, except Lycaon Knew Zeus was in disguise and the child he fed him was Zeus’ own son, and it was revenge for seducing his only daughter Callisto.

If you want to make it match what you’ve already said about wolves in the show, they could’ve used the last one and it would’ve demonstrated how Ingrained the concept of vendetta/revenge is for wolves.

If you wanted to focus on the Turning Human part and working with Celtic Druids to learn to become werewolves, you could’ve used the second one.

there was no reason to add in the bullshit about Prometheus except as an excuse to make Deucalion look like he picked his name to be an asshole, which he fucking didn’t.

 I’m so sorry about all the classical shit (i’m really not) but I studied it in college and I can’t just let this bullshit stand.

I’ll give them a pass on the ‘the lesser known part’ bc it’s technically plausible for the wolves to have run north to the Celts and beg for help, And the Druids (those who’s education was specifically in magic, not all of them) were known for shapeshifting (though not usually into animals. They did that to Other people, not themselves)

I cannot believe this is so long, i’m so sorry.

But WHY tho, Cora? How is an Emissary supposed to keep you connected to humanity if No ONe KNows Who They Are?? How are they supposed to do their job??

Yeah, well now Deaton is a sour bitch who has a chip on his shoulder against the Hale pack so like...fuck his advice.

I will say though! Pre-fire Deaton doesn’t give me the heebies like post-fire Deaton. He’s much more clear about the advice he’s giving, and it’s actually helpful! He still has a dumb little anecdote/parable about the scorpion and the frog (which...in most circumstances I hate. It doesn’t even match what happens) but he gives Real Advice instead of vague asshole nonsense.

“I’m an Alpha, I never walk alone.” I have an inordinate affection for this line.

Paige is clearly some kinda bad bitch if she thought nothing of going to hang out in the school in the middle of the night with Derek.

Okay, but like...why would he attack Ennis like that if he was the one who asked him to bite Paige? And why is the moment played up “A fifteen-year-old boy against a giant” Derek was literally swatted to the side while Ennis walked out of the building. this wasn’t some big showdown.

If she’d already been bitten, why was Ennis still grabbing at her??

....seriously? Peter is literally right there? And no one noticed?

Again with the “Scott is a genius now” LIsten, bro, why the fuck would Scott know a sanskrit fable? If he Did know a story like that, it would be bc Deaton taught him. In which case he would know the FROG and the scorpion. Come on, guys.

OH MY GOD GERARD DOES IT TOO. GERARD, PETER, AND DEUC all have a CHRONIC case of verbal diarrhea when they’re trying to be intimidating.

I do NOT understand this warehouse scene. It’s a GAS gerard, if you stabbed yourself with some sort of...antidote or whatever it wouldn’t save you from the GAS you’re inhaling. At the very least you would be shouting like everyone else because it HURTS going in.

why did it take so long for Talia to come? It’s implied that Peter left to get her, so why did it take so long? Even PAST peter looks fucked up at seeing that Paige is dying, it’s not like he would wait.

I’ll be real, i get weepy so i’m skipping the actual death. Just know that it hurts me. Severely.

Y’all know how much I hate this ‘innocent life’ bullshit for blue eyes. It’s very True Alpha-y in that it’s impossible to pin down the specifics. What constitutes an ‘innocent life’? What constitutes taking it? With wolf claws? With a gun? What counts and what doesn’t count? Ugh.

Eyyy, so I’m exhausted and this is so long that my computer is fritzing. There are five minutes left and nothing happens in them at all. Just Scott pointing out the heartbeat thing and threatening to kill Gerard (so he’s still fine with murder at this point in time. Good to know). Stiles telling Cora that he doesn’t think Peter was telling the truth (which she would Know if he wasn’t) and that he’s gonna ask Derek about it (which we never got to see). And Deucalion murdering his own Beta (who, tbf, tried to kill him first. Which, again, what the fuck is up with Deaton’s office that wolves are able to rip each other apart in it, but it’s still ‘hard for someone like Scott to cause me any trouble.’ I’m just so confused

Final Thoughts: This episode actually had some interesting stuff in it, which is kind of sad considering there was no PLOT, just Exposition. I look forward to tweezing the bits out that I want and dumping the rest in the garbage where it belongs. Oh, and like I said, the music was on Point.

#personal #anti-Scott McCall #TeenWolf-Rewatch #long post

[angelhummel]

So I saw a post about the eras of the Glee fandom and I am in the Resurgence Era. I began watching the show back in May 2020. I know people like to make fun of the show a lot, and I totally understand, but I unironically enjoy this show. Well maybe not a majority of S4-S6, but I like the music, the comedy, the heartfelt moments, the zany characters. But I can also see how even in the early seasons, which people hail as Glee's Peak, how it could have been better. (1/?)

With the exception of a few song changes and polishing clunky dialogue, there isn't much I would change in S1 or S2 (although I would cut down on the cheating plotlines in S2). S3 should have been about the club finally being unified with almost no infighting, and they shouldn't have tried to cram so many PSAs into one season AND Santana's coming out story should have had more focus than it got (and it should have been handled more sensitively period) But the music in S3 still rocked.

In S4-S6 I can see almost exactly when people began dropping from the fandom and I understand why. S4 through S5 (especially S5) seemed to be flailing for some sense of direction with the characters and juggled too many nonsensical (and often tone deaf) storylines for it to be coherent. S6 saved it from ending disastrously, but by then it was too late to truly save the show. Not to mention Ryan Murphy's unprofessionalism leading to actor drama and just butchered story lines.

But I can see how the show could progressed coherently and satisfyingly. In S3-S4 the New Directions should have become the champions for the underdogs. In S4 with most of them graduating, they should have had the theme of branching out into the big world beyond their small, closeminded town in Ohio. S5 could have been them getting too big for their britches and then failing because of arrogance. Then S6, they go back to Lima as a humbling reminder of where they started.

In S6, with the allotted 22 episodes they should have had, they could have started up the Glee club again, and be reminded why they joined in the first place. It makes me sad that bad writing and Ryan Murphy's unprofessionalism tanked a show that had all the groundwork for being absolutely amazing. Glee is many things: wacky, musical, bizarre, heartfelt, frustrating, insensitive, sometimes all those things in the same episode, but when it was good, there was nothing else like it.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I mean that last plot is basically what they tried to do but just with Rachel while everyone puttered around for ten episodes before they wrapped all the pointless crap up. I mean I was never a fan of them having to go back to Ohio in the final season just bc they’d already done it multiple times by then and it’s like can we please see something new?? All I wanted for the last two seasons was all my faves and a few guest stars in NY lmao. It’s still an ensemble show with like 7-10 characters and some good guest stars, right?? 

Also like I’ve sort of said this before lately but. S2 is a hot damn mess. If you didn’t have Kurt or Klaine and you didn’t have Santana or Brittana?? That season would be nothing lol. Maybe it’s just me but idk all the het nonsense that season really drags it down for me. And s3 is fucking awful but that’s what so many people cite as their favorite. Which to me it just proves that people talking about “it was really good at first then sharply declined when everyone graduated” is complete bullshit and it’s just people looking at the seasons they actually watched through rose colored glasses and just saying it got 100% when they stopped being interested in it. 

And I swear I’m not trying to just shit on everything you’re saying lmao but again people saying s3 had the best music of all but like. I dunno I think DWS had the best music and was the best actual tribute ep. Michael also had really good performances. Then there’s maybe five other performances I’d put in the iconic tier lol. Idk I think it’s overrated all around and I just hate s3 so damn much (: But yes it does have some good music

But anyway your last paragraph. If I could rewrite Glee with 20/20 hindsight I would have the s4 and s6 newbies switch. So the new and interesting characters for s6 are introduced earlier and actually bring something new to the table. And then in s6 we get the wannabe copies of the oldies so that when all the alums are there, they pick out the person that reminds them most of their high school selves to mentor them. So like Thanksgiving but for like half the season or whatever lol. And it’s like sweet and nostalgic for them to sort of see themselves at the start of their friendship again and to give everyone the advice they wished they knew back in the day. Stuff like that. Could’ve been cute

And idk I don’t agree with everyone else saying s5 sucked lol. I mean obviously one of the contributing factors to the strangeness and sloppiness was one of their main characters dying and having to write around that. And poor Sam having to fill Finn’s crap shoes and become Finn 2.0 and I think you can see that best with the nurse Penny stuff. But idk I mean there’s twerking and puppets which are nonsensical and only one of those things comes off as tone deaf to me. I don’t think it’s as bad as people wanna say. But after the boringness of them coming back to Ohio for the glee club in the middle of the season?? And then my favorite characters are in NY after that?? Those are some of my absolute favorite episodes. I mean I’m in my top 40 glee ranking episodes and I’ve got 5 eps just from the back half of season five to go. I love it. It’s some of my favorite Glee

Although I still agree that s1 is the best. And that’s with the show focusing mainly on Mr. Schue, Finchel, and Quick. And I still adore it as much as I do. Season one really is something special. I mean just about every season is like watching a different show. And no one is going to agree on what they like best or why. But idk I’m just glad everyone in the fandom has something to hold onto. 

#glee #asks #answered #long post #my thoughts #oh and rm letting cast drama fuel his writing choices #fuck him for that #i didnt need a pezberry feud just bc nr was sick of lm's bullshit #seasons-of-stories

[michael-runs-hot-guerin]

Ok so the last 2 episode synopsis came out for season 3 and IDK how to feel. Neither one of them (episodes 12 and 13) have Alex in the main plot. In season 1 Alex was in 6 episode plots as a main storyline, in season 2 Alex was in 7 episode plots as a main storyline and then in season 3 Alex was only in 4 episode plots as a main storyline. I thought with Carina gone we would get more Alex spotlight and stepping up on his own but we have actually gotten less! Its like this season they gave Maria and Kyle the spotlight and basically said f*ck Alex. Also when it comes to Malex we have gotten wayyyyyy less! Yes Chris put Malex together unlike Carina but at the same time we got less interaction which sucks!

In season 1 Malex interacted:

1×01

1×02

1×03

1×06

1×07

1×09

1×10

1×12

1×13

In season 2 Malex interacted:

2×01

2×02

2×03

2×04

2×05

2×06

2×09

2×10

2×11

2×12

2×13

In season 3 Malex interacted:

3×03

3×06

3×08

3×09

(We have a few more episodes to go but still look at how much less! And we are told Echo and Malex are equally important and held to the same standard! 🙄)

I mean granted a lot of the most memorable and well loved Malex moments happened in episodes where one of them or neither of them were in a main plot for the episode which gives us a little hope for the rest of season 3 I hope! I mean Tyler did say he likes how season 3 ends which means something good for Malex because why would he like it if something bad happened to Malex and they break up or something unless he was a fake fan (lol jk) but the show needs to stop treating Alex like nothing and give Tyler actual screen time, storylines and plots both for Alex and Malex! I thought when Chris took over things would change and get better. I mean they changed a bit like having Malex get together but at the same time they were trying to sell us the friendship thing and only interacted for 3 episodes before deciding to date and even then they didn't even interact until episode 3!

But my question is do we think the rest of season 3 will have good Malex content even though they aren't in anymore main plots and do you think season 4 will be better in terms of Alex getting what he deserves and Malex being together with actual screen time, storylines, and plots together?!

Ahh the discourse. For one thing Kyle deserves his screen time and story lines, each and every second, the man is fabulous and they did him dirty by basically ignoring him & hardly even mentioning him in passing since he got kidnapped slash put in a coma (twofer!) aaaall because Maria was a much higher priority. I suppose the degeneration was more urgent but god, can't y'all multitask? Besides, Kyle could've been dead for all they knew.

Honestly if they were trying to make up for her writing the first two seasons, they didn't manage it. She's still a plot device: 1) the vision was overdrawn over the first half of the season, was still nonsense at its conclusion (why would Liz be late? Why would Max be crying inconsolably and unable to speak? Where was Kyle's mom?), and was thrown out as soon as Kyle got kidnapped! 2) the information she gets abt the Lockhart Machine was probably the same as the Caulfield file that Alex received. She could've stalled and waited for Liz and Rosa to split the connection. Yes, they don't know that, but the writers do! (They also used this memory to kill a black alien off screen and show him on an autopsy table, thanks for that 🙄) 3) she's been so focused on Her Vision the entire first half of the season (never mind that jumping off the building and making Max try to catch her could've killed him), then on how Patricia's memory affects Her (never mind her grandmother who actually lived it), and then on how Jones was preventing her from boning a less gay Manes brother, that they even had Isobel regress to her early s2 self where she didn't know who she was just so that Maria could sound "wise" or whatever even though she was 💯 WRONG about where Isobel's focus should be (on saving her twin brother and best friend!! Her person!! Y'all remember the first time the phrase "your person" was used on this show it was @ Isobel abt her brothers right?) ANYWAY

Tyler is supposed to be contracted to miss one more episode, as is Trevino. Heather has yet to miss ANY which 😒 whatever I guess. I think malex ought to be glued together at the hip. I think Alex needs storylines that are less isolated from the whole group. Like once a season he gets a scene or a few with someone other than Michael. And his scenes with Michael are obviously 🔥 but this man has friends! He can have his hand in multiple plots!

As for echo and malex being equal, I actually think they've done that this season...by bringing echo down to their level. (Liz please shake Max next time he insults his brother who literally helped to save his life with the pacemaker. What the fuck was that. "Help Michael be like Michael like" my ENTIRE ass.)

But to be honest, for a queer ship to be on the same level as a m/f ship, they have to give us more. Because there's simply not enough queer relationships on tv for us to make assumptions about who's feeling what. Plus they have to make up for all the, you know, hate crimes, and "if I were you I'd choose (a woman) too" and things I will not mention for the sake of my mental health. Meanwhile Liz and Max's other partners each acknowledged that they weren't The One ("no, use me, use me" "we're just using each other as scratching posts") whilst Michael said "I love you" to someone besides Alex. 🤢

#rnm s3 spoilers #axed me a question #anti maria deluca #stop asking me questions involving her and I won't get salty 🙏 #uhhhh #rnm discourse #anti miluca #okay anyway.gonna shut up on this one. thanks! #long post

[one-more-fangirl]

let’s all appreciate john murphy

hi, hello.

i’ve been watching the 100 on and off for a while now (like, i started the show before quarantine and i’m still on s5). and i wanted to come here and share my love for all the evolving that john murphy has done up to the point where i’m at. (spoilers of the 100 ahead)

i’ve liked the guy even when he was a motherfucking asshole bc i’m incapable of not falling for a broken asshole with a sarcastic and dark sense of humor, but his character development omg. i think it might be one of the best i’ve seen (this is my opinion, don’t come at me pls)

he starts the show being an asshole. i’m sorry, but he is. s1 murphy was a son of a bitch. he gets pardoned for a few things bc they hang him when he’s innocent, but still. can you please not try to kill a child? or slow tf down with those bigones?

then at the beginning of s2 i was like “oh, he’s an asshole with feelings and he’s been through a traumatic experience. that’s it, he’s my child now”. he tries to protect finn, even when people are also blaming him for the slaughter, and i really think this was a step into trying to help others, but these others just shut him down. and then he went with jaha and i got more of his sarcasm, and he met emori and at that point i was just watching the show like this “so my child is still a little shit, but he’s following a crazy man and he’s got a crush on this beautiful fierce lady. nice”

let’s go to s3. poor bby (bc he was baby by then) has been trapped in a bunker, after jaha left him to die and he’s gone nuts, and he fucking wanted to kill himself. not only does the boy use his brain when saying no to A.L.I.E., but he also saves emori, escapes with her and they get together. and he loves this girl. like, he’s being used as ontari’s bitch but still trying to protect her, even when she turns out to be in the city of light. also, he could’ve left her and the otehrs to fend for themselves in the tower at the final battle, but he stays and basically keeps clarke alive by pumping ontari’s heart with his fucking hands. he basically saved the world by doing that, just saying. (btw, i’d like to point how much i hate pike. the way he dictates arkadia, how he manipulates bellamy, and how he treats the grounders (like dude, i get that azgeda did some awful, unforgivable, shit to you, but not all of them are like that), and then when they make this flashback scene about the earth skills class and he beats the crap out of murphy to “try and show the students something”... not gonna lie, i was ready to throw hands with him at that moment. anyway, i really didn’t like the guy)

i feel like s4 murphy keeps s3 murphy’s track of development. slow but steady. he steals the meds for the kid, then he distracts the drone so that the others can run... one of the things i liked most about this murphy though was how they show that he’s regretting stuff. “see that limp she’s got. yeah, that was me”. like it’s obvious by now, i love love love, memori. and how he lives with emori, cooks for her, reassures her that he won’t let anything bad happen to her even if he has to turn against “his people”, the “please! i love her! clarke, don’t do this!”... i was like “omg, get married”. smth else, the others start to appreciate him and “reaccept” him, they even let him into the bunker, which basically proves he’s not the douchebag that he was in s1. and then he helps them go get raven (which he only does so that he and emori can survive, but still) and launch the rocket and stuff.

we’ve gotten to s5, and although i haven’t really seen much, 6 years in the ring have changed him for the better. he’s one of the group now, he jokes with raven, he stays with her after the others leave ( i absolutely adore their friendship) and he tries to keep them safe when they get back to the ground. (i’m sad bc memori ain’t a thing anymore, but have you seen their moment in the rocket?! so precious, my babies)

also, this place is full of spoilers and i’ve seen a gif of memori searching for madi (i’ve no idea what happened but i intend to find out, bc madi is also now my chid, like half the people in this show) and murphy saying that she’s just a child for whatever reason. he goes from trying to murder a kid (which i’m pretty sure he wouldn’t’ve done) to protecting kids.

in conclusion, john murphy has come a long way since s1 and everyone should appreciate that more. you already appreciate it? do it more, it’s never enough.

#the100 #john murphy #murphy x emori #emori #emori kom spacekru #murphy #the 100 bellamy #the 100 murphy #bellamy blake #octavia blake #octavia #clarke griffin #the 100 clarke #raven reyes #monty green #jasper jordan #the 100 raven #the 100 cw #the cw #the 100 monty #harper mcintyre #the 100 octavia #praimfaya #a.l.i.e. #jaha #marcus kane #abby griffin #john murphy appreciation #john murphy protection squad

[inmyarmswrappedin]

What do you feel about Kieu My actress' acting skills. I cannot decide weather it's her or the direction and writing that didn't do their best to extract a good performance from her overall. I did like her when she showed sad emotions though, but for the ice-queen or infatuated-with-Fatou part she simply wasn't convincing for me.

Fatou's actress is actually so good, I have a certain amount of anger towards the makers of s6 for not doing justice to her. Introverts and chilled out people can have intense moments that are in line with their personality (Matteo comes to mind, but that's mostly down to Michi's incredible screen presence.) I really liked that she was already out and her sexuality wasn't even that much of a topic, but overall the pacing and the pov were not very strong. The aspects where she felt dumb and was hard on herself were tugging at my heartstrings, but I like that they didn't completely tear her down and left her with some agency, I just wish it was clear on screen and not just in my mind. The Ava and Mailin story could've been left to Ava's season or done in a way where it doesn't overshadow Fatou. Or maybe it never did actually, but it was so widely discussed in fandom that it distracted us from the nothingness of the Fatou pov. I don't know I love the new gen, but they done fucked up with s6....

Also, I hear that they cut a lot of scenes... It was probably because even they couldn't make any sense of their own pacing and add to that some poor acting and directing choices that rendered those scenes unwatchable.

Hi anon! 👜 There’s a lot going on in your ask (which I love, I appreciate you guys sharing your thoughts), so I’m going to try and tackle each thing bit by bit.

1. Nhungi’s acting skills: It’s hard for me to judge acting in a language I’m not fluent in, unless I have another performance to compare it to (like for instance Axel Auriant and Philippine Stindel destroyed everything Tarjei Sandvik Moe and Lisa Teige did in s1) or it’s so bad that it transcends language, like so much of wtfock. Nhungi originated her role and I honestly think she did a fine job (but I find Sira to be superior personally). I felt like she nailed everything Kieu My was supposed to convey in every scene, and she added small, hard to notice tics like rubbing her fingers together, that were cool to catch on rewatch and realize there was more all along to her apparent ice queen persona. It’s that kind of small acting choices that make it so gratifying to rewatch a good Skam season.

2. I think it would be interesting to rewatch Fatou’s season without all the sm (I haven’t done that yet), because I didn’t think the pov wasn’t tight. Like, there was maybe one scene where I felt like Fatou was more of an observer than participant in the storyline, and that was the clip where Mailin apologizes to Ava (and Fatou). I think that clip could’ve worked a lot better if they made a stronger connection between Karin firing Fatou because she thought Fatou was a thief (rather than having dyscalculia) and Mailin becoming aware of that. I think that the pov maybe doesn’t feel as tight because there were many other storylines taking place over sm that grabbed our attention, which is why I think I want to binge the season and see. I do think the pacing in Druck could definitely be improved (their Friday clips can flop super hard), but that’s not exclusive to this season, I felt the same about some Friday clips in s5. 

3. I didn’t think the Ava/Mailin storyline overshadowed Fatou’s, but I do come from Skam España where every season had subplots having to do with the other girls. I remember that during Cris’ season, people were really mad because they felt like Nora and Alejandro were taking over the season in the way Noora and William did in Sana’s season in Skam. I think that Nora and Alejandro’s storyline in s2 had little to nothing to do with Cris’ storyline, and even in parts we stepped out of Cris’ POV to get some pomenora moments. Anyway, I think part of this idea comes from the fact that Isak’s season in Skam had a very tight POV because Jonas, Magnus and Mahdi were props to Isak’s story more than actual characters, the Magnus and Vilde stuff was really very minimal, and Julie Andem managed to make all of Noora’s woes relate to what Isak was going through. Whereas Nora, Ava and Mailin aren’t props, they are all mains or potential mains with their own storylines. (Just like Eva, Viri, Nora and Amira did in Cris’ season.) Anyway, I do think the Ava/Mailin storyline could’ve connected more explicitly to Fatou’s struggles at work, and I feel like maybe that would’ve alleviated some of the complaints. But I absolutely do not feel that storyline should’ve been saved for Ava’s season because that’s nonsensical. As a black lesbian, racism is as important a topic for Fatou as it is for Ava. And like, no one is arguing that Kieu My/Fatou shouldn’t have been set up in s5, and their story has even less to do with Nora’s struggles.

4. Jasmina Wesolowski’s messages re: the reasons why they cut a lot of scenes, have for me less to do with pacing reasons, and more to do with budget reasons. While ARD/ZDF/Funk has time and again acquiesced to the team’s suggestions, like when they pushed for David to be trans, and I imagine a lot of the decisions they made with new gen, it also feels like they’re less supportive financially when the stories cater to more “niche” populations (which is how they referred to David being trans). I think this is the reason some seasons are longer than others tbh. The budget isn’t there for certain seasons. I also completely understand why the team would want to push s5 and s6 out in short order, so they’d have more time to regroup, incorporate feedback and potentially have time for more than 2 additional seasons after renewal. But I can believe that the actors were tired because it’s the first acting job for most, and they didn’t have that much of a break in between. I would hope that, if and when they are renewed, there’s a bit of a longer break between seasons, so everyone is on top form for every subsequent season, and they don’t have to cut scenes for lack of money or time. 

#ask #druck #wall of text #Anonymous

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

hey! thank you for everything that you do! you are awesome. im just wondering if you any fic were Stiles is fae? thank you!

We sure do. - Anastasia

till the moon has taken flight (to the waters and the wild) by WindyRein

(5/10 I 1,426 I Not Rated I Steter)

It's not fair! But he knows already that life isn't fair, doesn't he? He can feel the bitter smile curling his lips.He, if there is such a thing anymore, floats and is torn apart and doesn't exist. (but that would be kind, wouldn't it?)

Bloody Secrets by cywscross

(1/1 I 3,085 I Teen I Steter)

Stiles has silver in his veins.

Peter could’ve done without finding out this way though.

Somewhere to Start by Lissadiane

(1/1 I 3,352 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles has always known that he isn't quite human - the plant life that tends to sprout around him whenever he gets upset or excited gives it away. He's never really fit in among the regular people in Beacon Hills and is determined to wait it out, go to college, and find somewhere to belong. He's forced to abandon those plans, however, after he desperately agrees to enter into an arranged marriage to save his father's life.

An arranged marriage with an angry, sometimes furry dude with trust issues. It's all very Beauty and the Beast, without the singing candlesticks.

Dance Under the Moonlight by Therapeutic_Steter

(2/2 I 3,440 I Mature I Steter)

Fae!Stiles saving Peter from Pack's stupidity and washing his hands of them. Please?

The Other Side by Green

(1/1 I 3,769 I Explicit I Steter)

Stiles doesn't know anything about his father, only what his mother told him, that he's human. Despite her words, Stiles has had his doubts. So when the queen sends him through the veil, he's nervous and isn't sure what to think.

Seven Years Falling by InfiniteAlexisA

(1/1 I 3,880 I Not Rated I Sterek)

“I don’t mean to!” Derek yelled throwing his hands in the air.“DON’T YELL AT ME!” Stiles screeched, his entire body going up in flames.This is what Derek gets for dating a fire elemental.

we're not so different (you and i) by colferstilinski

(1/1 I 5,621 I Explicit I Sterek)

For many of the fairies that lives here, Utopia is their sanctuary—haven, in other words—and why shouldn't it be? It never rains on this stretch of meadow, the clouds in the skies always pink with interest and it smells like the breaking of spring every dawn and dusk.

Stiles detest it, the least to say.

It’s too much and he hates swinging along with the status quo with the other fairies. Yeah, with their blooming shades of colours and the shimmering, silken tunics they don on and fuck, the limitless sparkles. There’s even a new trend going on with the younger generation where they gather allium blooms to form a flower crown, oh—with added glitter!—and it makes Stiles wants to roll his eyes.

-

Or the fic in which Stiles is a fairy and wants to escape the horrendous, boring world of fairyland to have an adventure. And by adventure, he means meeting Derek. The plant. Or... not-so plant.

Cold Iron by the_problem_with_stardust

(5/5 I 5,641 I Teen I Sterek)

Derek thought the disaster that ended with Kate Argent almost burning down his family home was a relationship worst-case scenario. So, when Dr. Deaton reveals that his current girlfriend is not what she seems, Derek is ready to swear off romance forever. In an attempt to escape his well-meaning (but insanely overbearing) family, Derek volunteers to take over remodeling the small cottage that was left to the Hale siblings in his grandmother’s will. Connemara is nothing like California, and Derek feels like his luck just might be looking up.

salt and a waltz by The Byger (Byacolate)

(1/1 I 7,433 I Explicit i Sterek)

"Not that lubed-up Q-tips aren’t the sexiest thing in the world, but I kinda want to know what it’s like, you know. To be impaled on your huge dick without actually being impaled.”

“It was about to get sexy there, but you shot the mood right in the face.”

In which Stiles is a faerie and Derek is sick and tired of not being able to fuck him.

Don't You Wanna Be My Sky? by WhoNatural

(1/1 I 9,420 I General I Sterek)

Stiles got ratted out by the Realm Guard for sneaking off with Scott a total of seven times before his dad buckled, promising sabbatical once Stiles reached Faehood, and enough Earth culture in the meantime to have him talking like a born-and-bred Californian teenager.

He just didn’t have the tan.

(Or, in which Stiles is a Frost Fae sent to the Earth Realm on the Fae version of Rumspringa and immediately falls head-first into a Coffee Shop AU)

No Love in Idleness by Elpie (Horribibble)

(2/2 I 11,687 I Explicit I Sterek)

Stiles is the sole grandchild of none other than Robin Goodfellow, the most mischievous faerie ever to wreak havoc among the Folk and Man alike. To the people of Beacon Court, he is at best a merry wanderer of the night.

At first, Ser Derek is inclined to agree, but the little bird on his shoulder has quite a bit to say about that.

Trees are always a relief after dealing with people (except when they aren't) by ravelqueen

(1/1 I 15,889 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek Hale decides to become a hermit before he reaches 25. Too bad he picked Beacon Hills as his retirement home.

(Or the one where Stiles is a wood nymph/pixie/human hybrid who falls in love with his new grumpy werewolf neighbour)

Broken People Get Recycled by poemwithnorhyme

(1/1 I 16,389 I General i Sterek)

Nothing is ever just calm in Beacon Hills. No, something always has to go wrong, and this time, it's Stiles' turn in the spotlight. That doesn't mean he has to like it. Post S2 AUFae!Stiles

The Magic's in the Coffee by xxxillusionxxx

(8/8 I 17,596 I Explicit I Sterek)

Ever since the tall, muscled, leather-clad werewolf had begun his daily coffee routine at the Skullery—a horrendous name in Stiles’s opinion, but his boss was a skeleton who thought he was terribly clever—an impromptu competition developed among the baristas.

When Trust is Everything by hellbells

(12/12 I 27,913 I Teen i Sterek)

For a secret to remain true then only one person can know it; if not then it will come out. Beacon Hills is the converging point of several secrets all wrapped up in the supernatural. For Stiles, the unravelling of several will let him find peace, love and safety in the arms of his true mate. The only question is can he trust a Sourwolf and his pack well enough to show his true self.

It just might be the one thing between Beacon Hills and safety!

(Or observe the really awkward distrustful courtship between a Sourwolf and a hidden Fae Mage)

A Little Bit of Sunshine by 100KlicksAway

(21/? I 29,600 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles woke with a start, dreams of pixies flitting around his head. He’d dreamed… He’d dreamed that he was a wolf? Or…. He wasn’t sure. Something with fangs… His mouth had been dripping blood in his dream, and when he woke, he could still taste the thick copper taste coating his mouth.

Stiles has been working hard for the pack since Scott was bitten. They leave him out more and more frequently, though, until Stiles realizes that he's strictly unnecessary. Then, the pack's activities throw him into danger and he ends up in a shitty situation with no one helping him.

Stiles leaves Beacon Hills. He doesn't care anymore, he just... Needs out.

The Last Chills of Winter by LeeHan

(1/1 I 42,525 I Explicit I Sterek)

“He didn’t magically charm me,” Derek shot back in his defense.“Oh, so he just regular charmed you?” Laura said with a smirk.“What? No,” Derek growled.“Was he hot?”“No! He just—“ He just had a laugh like a sun shower. Fuck.

We Follow Darkness Like a Dream by GreenasCole

(10/10 I 51,106 I Mature I Sterek)

When a mysterious note is left on the Stilinski's door it leads Stiles and his best friend Scott out into the woods on quest for answers about Beacon Hills's most infamous tragedy. After a surprise encounter with a monstrous wolf the two boys are hurled into an ancient and terrifying world, only for Stiles to discover he was secretly a part of it all along. Will he manage to survive the insanity of Fae politics and avoid the enemies that are suddenly crawling out of the woodwork to find a place in this new world? Or will the very revelation of his existence be the catalyst that plunges both worlds into war and chaos? And why can't Scott just stop teasing him every time he catches Stiles looking at their new "friend" Derek too long?

Laughter in the Dark by Starshaker

(13/? I 56,148 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles is a fae. A trickster spirit with too much curiosity for his own good and a knack for getting into trouble. When he's just trying to help things don't go to plan and coincidences don't seem to end up for the better.Trapped, isolated and aching to get home, though it's better than what Gerard would have had planned for him initially, Stiles learns to deal with his new set of circumstances.

The Fairy's Wolf by kuki

(57/? I 90,602 I Explicit I Sciles)

In a world where non-humans mingle with humans in public schools until they became of age, about high school age, going instead to a specialty finishing school, a young halfling fae fights to stay with his friends. His fear of losing touch with his best friend, a young Alpha werewolf, has the pair pushing their relationship to the edge; and their relationship has the world on the brink of war.

-or-where I apparently ship Skittles hard now, hate myself with this work load on top of my school work, switch up species because f-u that's why, make up mythology, and try to give Derek a nice life.

Where You Still Remember Dreaming by yodasyoyo

(15/15 I 95,612 I Explicit I Sterek)

“What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you Balto.”

“What’s yours?”

“Stiles.”

Derek raises an eyebrow. That isn’t his real name. There’s no way. But now he thinks about it, he has a vague memory of someone, probably Uncle Peter, telling him that with the fae, names have power. “I’m Miguel,” he says.

“Lie.”

“Are you trying to tell me your real name is Stiles?”

Stiles runs his tongue across his teeth and considers Derek carefully. “Fair enough,” he says, “Miguel it is.”

Grabbing his groceries and pocketing the change, Derek turns to leave; he’s nearly at the door when Stiles calls out, “By the way, Miguel, if you’re interested, it’s two for one on bags of kibble at the pet store down the street.”

Derek doesn’t look back, doesn’t hesitate, just raises a hand and flips him off on the way out.

#teen wolf #sterek #sciles #steter #stiles stilinski #peter hale #scott mccall #derek hale #fae!stiles

[theatrediva1975]

Coop | Seal Team

Summary: Bravo 4 makes a trip cross country following the events of “Never Out of the Fight”, S2, Ep22.

Pairings: Trent Sawyer, OC Zoe “Coop” Cooper

Zoe Cooper let out a shaky breath as she turned the key in the ignition and her Jeep engine quieted in the dark outside her bungalow. Letting her head thump back against the leather headrest, yet another tear rolled down her cheek. After all these years, she thought that this - saying goodbye - would get easier. But it didn’t. How could it? These were kids she was losing. No matter how hard she tried, how hard her team fought, it was just never enough for so many of these kids they were trying to help, to save. The drugs and the violence - they were losing more than they were saving most days.

She knew she was winding down. After all these years working with so many troubled kids, each loss weighed heavier and heavier on Zoe’s heart. Losing Miguel tonight...she shook her head, trying to erase the image of the 15 year old as the light went out of his eyes.

Zoe took a deep breath and got out of the Jeep, grabbing her bag from the back seat. She was halfway up the walkway when she looked up and saw soft light streaming out her living room window. She didn’t recall leaving a light on when she left at first light. She had wanted to get some painting done at the studio before she headed to the outreach center for what she thought was a short afternoon but turned into a ten hour long nightmare.

Looking back out to the street, Zoe didn’t see anything much out of the ordinary except for a blue sedan parked across the street. Turning back to the front door, she uncapped the mace on her key ring but changed her mind. Instead, she reached into her bag to put her hands on her Smith & Wesson. Only two scenarios came to mind - either her ex had shown up for a booty call (fat chance) or someone had neatly broken in and announced themselves by leaving the lights on while they tossed the joint. Whichever one, she was ready for either.

Quietly sliding the key into the lock, she found it already undone. Strangely, as she cracked the door open, she smelled something delicious coming out of the kitchen.

Definitely not her ex.

He could burn water.

So, burglar who cooks dinner as a way of saying sorry?

“You can put that away,” the voice said.

That voice.

No, it couldn’t be, Zoe thought. Could it?

Taking another step into her living room, Zoe froze in place as the body that the voice belonged to stepped around the corner.

“Hey Coop,” he said softly.

Zoe took one look at the clean shaven face and short hair…

And busted out laughing.

Looking nearly the same as he looked when they first met all those years ago, when he was starting BUD/S and she was tending bar in that dive just off base, stood Trent Sawyer.

Rolling his eyes at her, Trent shook his head, spread his arms out and turned in a circle in the dining room archway. “Go ahead, yuk it up. But this is actually what I’m supposed to look like. Not the long haired hippie freak look you love so much,” he joked with her, a small smile on his face. Man, he had missed her laugh.

But then the laugh began to fade out and the look on her face - one of surprise and joy at his arrival twisted into one of pain and misery as her laughs turned into sobs. In three strides, Trent was in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she collapsed against his chest. Not completely sure what was going on, he just held her tightly until she was ready to tell him what was going on.

After several minutes, and no signs of being cried out, Trent bent down and picked Zoe up, bridal style and sat down on the couch in front of the large picture window that dominated the front of the house. Now set in his lap, Zoe curled in even further into Trent’s chest. He slowly ran his hand up and down her spine, hoping to soothe her a bit, calm her down. He rested his cheek atop her head and whispered affirmations, letting her know he was there, she was safe and that he had her.

Always.

He cupped the back of her head with his right hand, kissing her forehead as another wave of emotion hit her. He ran his left hand lightly up and down her right arm, noticing a few new pieces of art that hadn’t been there the last time they saw each other. It had been nearly two years after all. He had been spun up to Liberia, Estonia, South Sudan, the Triple Frontier, deployed to Afghanistan - again. If he was honest, he probably could’ve come to visit after the helo crash but he had felt compelled to stay close to home while the team recovered. He and Coop had talked and she understood his need to stay close. Then Alanna died, they lost Adam in Mumbai, deployed to Mexico, almost lost Sonny, Clay, Ray. Now Swannie. It had gotten to be too much and he needed time.

So after visiting his mother, he got on a plane and landed in San Diego seven hours later, rented a car and was digging up the rock in the Coop’s backyard with the spare key in it without really thinking about it. It had always been like that between them. Just show up. No questions asked. After another few minutes lost in thought, Trent noticed that Zoe’s breathing started to even out. While there were still a few hitches in her breath here and there, she seemed calmer and Trent started to wonder if she had fallen asleep in his arms. It wouldn’t be the first time. But after another minute, Zoe lifted her head. “Hi,” she smiled sadly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Looking into her bright blue eyes, Trent pushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear. “Hi. Surprise,” he chuckled.

Zoe smiled a little brighter in response to the levity.

“Definitely. And one I needed tonight,” she replied, as she tucked her head back against his chest.

“You hungry?” Trent inquired. “I managed to scrounge together the ingredients for some spaghetti.”

Zoe smiled into his chest and hugged him a little tighter. “Do you mind if we just sit like this for a little longer?”

“Bad day?”

Tears threatened again as she nodded. Curling further into Trent’s chest, Zoe took a deep breath and said, “Can’t talk about it yet.”

Pressing his lips against her forehead, Trent simply nodded, learning long ago that Zoe wouldn’t talk until she was ready to. Her stomach, however, had other ideas, growling loudly. Trent chuckled. “When was the last time you ate?” he queried. Zoe shrugged her shoulders. She honestly couldn’t remember. A scone with her coffee at the studio? Some chips or a bite of a sandwich at lunch?

Zoe lifted her head to once again look into Trent’s eyes. She lifted her right hand, lightly running her finger tips along his jawline. She smiled softly, remembering the clean shaven young sailor who walked into the bar she was tending in Coronado all those years ago. They had clicked immediately. She had been dating...Matt? Steven? Bodhi? Hell, she couldn’t remember after all these years. Didn’t matter. She had been involved with someone, Trent had had a girl “back home” but they still clicked and started a friendship that had outlasted every other relationship both of them had had. He was her rock, and she believed she was his, though he’d never said it out loud. Hell he was here, wasn’t it.

Wait, she thought. Why was he here?

“What’s with the babyface?” she questioned.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Trent dropped his eyes. “Funeral,” he answered.

Before he even knew what was happening, Zoe flipped up and straddled Trent’s lap, wrapping her tattooed arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as she dared. “I am so sorry,” she cried. “God, I suck. Here I am, freaking bawling and mopey and you spent all day on a plane to get here to get away from all that and I just...just, ugh, I’m sorry!”

Trent chuckled at her. His Zoe. Just like that, she could flip that switch and all of a sudden, BAM! All that focus was on someone else now, her own pain and heartache forgotten. His arms snaked around her waist and held her just as tight as she held him. It always amazed him how they were the only ones who could do this for the other - hold each other tight enough to glue all the broken pieces back together.

They sat like that for another few moments until Zoe’s stomach once again made it’s displeasure at being empty known. Both chuckling, they pulled away from each other after a brief forehead bump and got up off the couch.

For the next hour, the two old friends sat at Zoe’s dining room table, eating spaghetti and a small Caesar salad Trent had thrown together with what was left in Zoe’s fridge. As they were loading the dishwasher, she turned to Trent and asked the question she always hated asking when he came to visit. “So,” she began. “How long do I have you for?”

Turning back to her from the stove, Trent smiled at her. “Return flight is on Monday at 1:20 pm.”

Zoe’s head snapped up so fast, Trent thought she would give herself whiplash. “I have you all weekend?” she asked incredulously. Rarely did his schedule allow him the opportunity to spend more than 24 hours with her. Now she had him for 3 and a half days. She jumped up in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist like a koala bear. It was his favorite thing in the world when she did that.

“Yep, all weekend,” he managed to get out, given the squeeze around his neck.

Zoe felt lighter, just a bit. While she was pretty sure there was going to be a funeral that weekend, at least he would be with her. She always felt like she could get through anything as long as she had her best friend by her side.

“Coop…” Trent whispered. “Can’t...breathe!”

Rolling her eyes, Zoe pulled back, releasing some of the tightness in her hold on him. She was, foolishly, she knew, scared that if she totally let go, he would disappear and that was not something she could handle right now. He was there and she was going to take full advantage of having him by her side the next few days.

Knocking her forehead against his, she let out a sigh that turned into a full blown yawn. Trent chuckled at her. “Am I boring you already? I can always get on the next flight back to Virginia Beach,” he kidded with her, even as he pulled her even more snugly against his body, hoping she understood he was just messing with her.

As he suspected, she again adjusted her grip around his neck in protest. “Not happening, big guy. You’re mine until 1:20pm Monday afternoon. And not one second sooner,” she protested. Unfortunately the force of said protest was nearly drowned out by another yawn.. Trent looked over at the clock hanging on the dining room wall and saw that it was after midnight now. No wonder she’s exhausted, he thought. With whatever it was that happened today, combined with the time, he knew he needed to get her to bed.

“Come on, Coop, time for some sleep,” Trent informed her.

Not even bothering to set her feet on the floor, Trent flipped the switch on the wall and walked back into the living room, flipping the wall switch in there as well. He carried Zoe down the hallway to the bedroom and unceremoniously dumped her on the bed. Zoe answered with a small howl of complaint. “Rude,” she snapped at him, as he chuckled at her.

“Go get changed,” he ordered. Sticking her tongue out at him, Zoe started walking towards the en suite when she stopped in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

Zoe turned back to Trent with the same sad look that had haunted her face earlier. Tears threatening to spill again, Trent walked around the foot of the bed and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them soothingly. Letting out a shaky breath, Zoe quietly began to speak.

“His name was Miguel. He was coming to the center this afternoon to help tutor some of the younger kids,” she said with a small sob. “He was so good with them. He made doing homework fun for them. He would do these little puppet shows or come up with silly songs to sing to them to help them memorize how to do a math equation. Sometimes, I would stay late and paint at the center and he would hang out and ask me all kinds of questions about art and painting and history. He was such a good kid” Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks again. “It was a fucking drive-by. He didn’t deserve...in the middle of the street for Crissakes…surrounded by strangers,” she choked out. “Trent, he died in my arms.” Now fully sobbing, Zoe sank to the floor, in the doorway of her bathroom, repeating one word.

Why...

Once again, Trent felt more than a little helpless. All he could do was hold her, and hope that the newly broken pieces could somehow fit back together, but he knew that wasn’t how it worked. All he could do was sit on the floor with her, stroke her hair and hold her tight until she was able to cry it all out.

Slowly, Zoe’s uncontrolled sobbing started to slow. Her breath continued to hitch every so often. Trent had to admit, this was not the most comfortable position but he refused to move until Zoe did. He was a SEAL after all. He had been in much, much worse conditions. At least here, there was air conditioning. The hardwood floors sucked though.

Trent felt Zoe going limp in his arms, so he looked down to see that she had, indeed, cried herself to sleep. Not wanting to spend the night on the floor if he didn’t have to, Trent began to stand up and move Zoe to her bed. She flinched and grabbed the front of his shirt tighter. “It’s ok, hon. I’m still here,” Trent said. “I’m not going to leave you.”

“Better not,” Zoe sleepily mumbled.

Smirking, Trent started to pull the covers down the bed, laying Zoe down on the cool sheets. “Sweetie, let’s at least get these jeans off of you, ok?”

Zoe just grunted at Trent. Shaking his head in amusement, Trent gently stripped her out of her jeans. He left everything else as his because, frankly, he valued his life. The one time he thought he was being helpful by taking her bra off when she had passed out after a long night of tequila, her foot connected with his junk and he swore he didn’t sit right for a week. So, friendship ended at taking her jeans off.

Zoe was still whimpering in her sleep, so Trent decided to just kick off his shoes, take off his own jeans, and crawl in next to her. As he was getting ready to turn the light off and climb into bed, something caught his eye. Zoe’s tank top had ridden up just a little, just enough for Trent to see a tattoo he never remembered seeing.

It was his insignia. Well, the Bravo insignia.

And it was right on her ribcage.

As he got closer, Trent saw that underneath the small insignia it said “TSB4”.

Trent Sawyer. Bravo 4. His initials and his call sign.

“Hey,” Zoe sleepily called out.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Trent replied as he turned off the light on the bedside table. In the dark, Trent got settled in bed and pulled Zoe’s back to his front, winding his right arm around her waist. Zoe ran her hand down his arm, over the scars no one else ever wanted to look at or acknowledge, let alone touch. But Zoe? She never shied away from touching him there. She always said it meant he lived. She touched it because she could, because he was still here.

Trent lightly kissed the back of her head as Zoe linked her fingers with his. “Love you,” she said sleepily.

“Love you, too,” Trent answered, as he squeezed her just a little bit tighter into him, drifting off to sleep with Zoe in his arms was always the best night's sleep he had.

#seal team #trent sawyer #seal team cbs #oc