#IB offscreen

[skaald-of-the-hearth-fires]

Y'all I've always thought it was hilarious what Anet did to warbands.

So. you have Rytlock, who in Edge of Destiny said he had "about a dozen" brothers and sisters each. so including himself, that's 25 in a warband. The wiki says a warband is 6-25 members, so Rytlock was on the high end, and average would probably be 12-18 members.

and then every warband in the game proceeds to have BARELY 6.

you have 5 options to choose from for a sparring partner. Rox's old warband had 6 members (or maybe 7). We've still never met more than one of Rytlock's 'bandmates. Almorra gets one 'bandmate mentioned by name.

most charr in the entire game, including top-ranking tribunes and imperators, are not with their warbands, do not talk about their warbands, do not go places with their warbands. Tribune Bhuer Goreblade shows up with a small handful of 'bandmates in the charr level 10 story.

You do not see groups of 12-18 charr warbands roaming around Ascalon with fascinating life stories and 'bandmate dynamics and mourning the latest one(s) who died, with mementos, with stories about how 'my sparring partner saved my life' and 'this member of the warband whom I know least of all my bandmates would die for me and they proved it last week' and 'Im unhappy with bandmate X but I would kill for them' or 'bandmates Y and Z obviously love each other. wanna join the betting pool?' and the legionnaire who confides in you about their tough decisions of who they're picking to be their second/replacement. All within the same warband.

Not even one warband like this. Much less the multiple that charr culture deserves.

Even in IBS, the, at least half-way, charr-centric story, our main focus warband is Ryland's Steel warband. Who has, predictably, 6 members. And like 10 fresh-faced, unnamed recruits who have 0 history or dynamic with the Main Cast. even the 6 named members, who have vibes and character and a bit of a dynamic, are stupid shallow. (and tbf they didn't have time to explore it much, but really?)

We do not see Bangar's 'bandmates. We do not see Rytlock's 'bandmates. We do not hear anything about Almorra's old 'bandmates. We do not see Ember Doomforge's 'bandmates. We do not see Smodur's 'bandmates. We do not see Malice's 'bandmates. We do not see Efram's 'bandmates.

We see a lot of 'cubs this' (with Rytlock and with Efram), I heard a lot of speculation about 'cubs that' in fandom spaces, we see a lot of 'ohoho relationship/mating drama' (from Rytlock/Crecia and also Almorra/Bangar). We do NOT see ANYTHING about warbands, supposedly the building-blocks of charr society.

Even the charr player's old warband is mostly disbanded/defected to Dominion.

I have yet to see any real warband dynamics in canon.

Even in the books! Rytlock's 24 'bandmates are fair game because they're offscreen. And Anet has consistently refused to show any of them. Even Rytlock's dynamic with Crecia is pretty much just "we're old exes" and never "we grew up together. we fought together. our bonds are deeper than those of biology, than the fact we have a cub. I stabbed you once and you knew I didn't mean it because we are 'bandmates." Sure, Crecia mentions once "ohoho we used to see the ice elementals here as cubs."

But in the books! Sea of Sorrows for instance! iirc the majority of Sykax's warband is unnamed! Ember Doomforge, again, no mentions of warband! Rytlock nor Malice nor Almorra talk about inter-warband relations!

we never see any warbands larger than 6 members.

And this is all because, OBVIOUSLY, who wants to come up with 12-18 whole characters when it's just the one who's relevant to the story? Coming up with 6 is hard enough it only happens in special occasions. which doesn't include the legit actual player character.

(the player character, whose warband is decimated to TWO flaming members (including yourself!!) in the tutorial, and! yay! fun lorebuilding! you get to rebuild the warband. this adds a flaming total of TWO members. now you're at flaming four. FLAMING FANTASTIC. the player-flaming-character gets FOUR 'bandmates. this is atrocious!! and tbf if you compile all the options across all the branches you might end up in the (low end, probably) of 12-18. which is fair!)

but like. I do sympathize. I really do. characters are hard. names especially! which would be the bare minimum yknow. have an 18-member warband with zero dialogue but! they do have names! that wander around Ascalon. not even an event chain just average-sized warband representation PLEASE.

like. I did it myself. I invented a warband and I BARELY got them to 6 members. I had name, gender, profession for each of them. they were minor characters so they didn't even get the development that Ryland's Steel got. names, professions and the vibes from that. I felt so bad for only giving them 6 bc I was reinforcing the stereotype!!

but, so, uhhhh

I have been handed an OC. from a friend. who has given me full creative license to write abt them in my story.

I gave him 23 'bandmates. They all have names and genders. They're split up into who is whose sparring partner and who bunks with whom. That is all.

I also get VibesTM from each member's name. I'm slowly building relationship maps. (mostly just. from character A's PoV, ranking who they are closest with. Then doing it from Character B's PoV. it's WILDLY fascinating.) I have three charr 'bandmates who have their own little niche, they three are besties, they're each other's sparring partners and bunkmates and everybody (main relevant characters at least) knows them as 'those three'. and I know their names. none of the characters I'm writing about know them very well (relative to the rest of the warband ofc. ofc each one would DIE for them and probably knows their struggles and combat strengths and weak points and so on. but I haven't invented any of those yet) and that's all. I don't have a single bit of info about them except that and the vibes of each name. but hey!!!! WARBAND DYNAMICS MY BELOVED!?!!

[hanawsstuff]

Garmaclouse Adventures.

I’m done with the reqs!

They k-worded Chen offscreen btw🫶

-

The clothes and the idea itself is heavily ib maiqo on twt

[tereishqnachaya]

The Queen. & The Queenie.

[tellywoodtrash]

*l hope this doesn't come across as offensive/intrusive* So, looking at your replies in the past year wrt to Shrenu, I'm just wondering how your opinion of her changed offscreen? I remember in the IB days you didn't think much of her (as compared to other cast members), and l know a lot of fans saw (still see) Shrenu & Mansi as outsiders to the show. So, I'm just curious what brought about this change.

I didn’t think much of her, coz I didn’t know of her. DBO/IB is the first I’ve watched of her. Why would I have opinions on someone I had no knowledge of? But now that I’ve seen her in 2 whole shows (3 i guess, if you call DBO a separate show) and follow her on ig, I quite like her both off-screen and on it, and look forward to whatever she’ll star in next.

[emetophobiahelp]

The Sopranos

Masterlist of warnings below the cut

Season 1 S1E1: In a chase scene with Tony and Christopher, you see Tony chasing a guy down with Christopher and Christopher bending over, presumably sick, though only the posture is visible (and nothing heard) S1E5: Mentions throughout of Meadow feeling n* from drinks but nothing seen or heard. After mentioning AJ would be sleeping over with a friend, Father Phil goes to the restroom and v*. Audio only. S1E7: The kids break in and drink wine. During basketball, one of the kids holds their stomach and runs off camera g* to v*. Audio only. S1E8: When digging up the body Georgie says he’s going to p* then runs off to do it. Audio only, you do see him in the background hunched over with nothing visual aside from posture. S1E12 After someone blocking an assassination attempt goes into a donut shop and walks back out, it abruptly cuts to a visual and audio scene of Junior v* from the backseat of a car. Season 2 S2E3: Walking into the kitchen at the beginning to collect Meadow there’s a girl on the floor v* into a trashcan. Audio only, heard before you see her. Mute when he walks into the house if sound is triggering. Audio continues until scene changes to Tony in the car. When Janice gets the mail and walks inside the home later, it pans to v* on the walls and floor from the party. Safe to look when you hear the door shut as she leaves. Later on you see Meadow cleaning the mess (only soap on the floor) and g*/coughing as she does so. S2E13: All scenes are audio only. Tony clutches his stomach after a bad dream and rushes to the bathroom to v*. You do see him moving to bend over the toilet. Second time is waking up after the threat of being made to eat something. You see him rushing from the bed and hear v* offscreen. Third time is when Artie goes upstairs to talk with Tony. You see him rush from the bed to the bathroom and v*. He does crawl off the bed at one point to be sick again with them helping walk him. Though he coughs and sputters it ends before anythingi s heard. At Pussy’s place Tony grabs his stomach and rushes to the bathroom but there’s no audio. When Tony goes back up to the top of the boat where Sylvio is, he sees Sylvio clutching his stomach by the back of the boat. Mentions n* but nothing happens. If d* is a trigger be advised that every time he v* he also has gas and it’s a frequent sound effect during all the dreams. Season 3 S3E5: Possible Trigger. Bobby Sr. has lung cancer and does deep, hacking coughs, occasionally with blood. Off and on throughout his scenes. S3E7: After Paulie tells Tony nothing will happen once Adriana and Chris are married, he holds his hands up in defeat and he and Tony walk offscreen. It immediately cuts to Junior being pulled back from over the toilet with a gasp. At the end of the scene Junior says batter up and is carried back offscreen to v* again. You hear audio as it shows Tony but nothing is seen. Season 4 S4E2: After telling Adrianna she could be in trouble for bringing someone to family dinner with Tony, mute or look away for the next 15 seconds. She will say “oh my god” and immediately v* (very graphic audio and visual). V* remains on surfaces until the scene ends. Safe when the scene changes to the doorbell ringing and only missed dialogue is calling for a wastebasket. S4E6: There’s a scene transition from Artie to a far away shot of Chris and someone else (Eddie). As soon as it closes in and the music has started, Eddie leans forward from the front of the toilet and begins v* for the next seven seconds. Audio and visual. Safe visual when it shows Christopher looking in the mirror with some background coughing. S4E9: Tony gets into a fight in the kitchen. When it’s over, he g*, covers his face with his arm, g* again and v* brielfy (audio and visual) before going half offscreen to v* in a kitchen sink (you see his back half only). Safe when you hear the water running. S4E12: You get a few seconds of warning. Tony apologizes for the mess in the limousine (implied only) and Furio mentions how Brian v*. He’s helped to the helicopter and as he walks towards the camera he bends forward and v*. Full visual, very light audio. Safe when Tony calls him “old faithful.” Unsafe again when Tony yells something while urinating with Furio. Furio looks at the spinning rotor and then back to see Brian once again v* repeatedly by the copter. Again slight audio, full visual, about three seconds. Season 5 S5E1: Slight choking during lunch at a golf club as someone suffers a stroke. Person is hit with a brick and collapses, seizing for a long time until they are ultimately killed. There are choking noises during the seizure that might be distressing. S5E4: After a friend says “where’s the patient” it cuts to someone passed out with v* visible on the toilet. S5E5: A running theme of this episode is Adriana developing and being diagnosed with IBS. Nothing explicit seen or heard but frequent mentions/scenes of her being distressed and people discussing her having d*. S5E9: A joke during work on the construction site doesn’t go over well, prompting Finn to look visibly n*. Cuts away before anything is shown, but cuts back to Felicia over him as he’s bent over, again visibly looking n*. There’s a final shot close up on them but again, nothing explicitly shown. S5E11: A scene at the therapists leads to a joke about the Honeymooners (One of these days Alice). Tony spits out a mouthful of water in amusement. Tony tries to shoot a coach in the dream and makes some potentially triggering sounds as the bullets melt. Season 6 S6E1: Opening scene: In the car Agent Harris starts coughing and they pull over. Car door opens and he leans out to v*, audio and visual. When Barbara calls Tony about needing to leave Junior, after Tony tells her “go, go” it cuts back to Barbara and Junior v* in the background. Audio until it cuts back to Tony, Junior has a handkerchief so no real visual. S6E2: Scene change from helicopter lights bearing down to someone on a hospital bed pulling their breathing tube out in confusion, making several g* noises as they do so. Can be triggering. S6E4: Talking to Paulie, Tony v*. Audio and visual. There’s little warning so when Paulie says he’s “just repeating what Phil told him,” mute and/or look away. You miss Tony saying that they better understand their obligation (he v* on himself almost immediately after saying obligation). S6E5: Episode ending with very slight spoilers. Tony fights with Perry and leaves him on the floor. You only miss him smiling so I’d strongly advise ending the episode after you see Perry on the floor. If you want details: When it cuts from Perry to Tony in the bathroom, he rushes to the front of the screen and v* graphically and with audio into the toilet. Wiki says it’s blood and while I partially agree, there’s more than blood so be warned. There’s an overhead audio as he continues, he moves back to the sink to wash up and smile at himself before moving back to the same front view as he runs back and v* all over again, the episode ending to the sounds of him continuing to v*. S6E8: Tony picks up AJ (you’ll know the scene) and AJ v* almost immediately after Tony says, “you gotta grow up, you’re not a kid anymore. You gotta grow up.” Audio and visual for the next twenty seconds. Look away after he says you’re not a kid anymore because it’s a very quick cut from his last line to v*. S6E9: Chris discusses business in the car with Corky. Audio cues work better for this one. The conversation lulls and music takes over: “Sometimes I think about Saturday’s child And all about the times when we were running wild I’ve been out searching for the dolphins in the sea” When the “I’ve been searching” line starts it will pan to the back of Chris’ car and then around to the driver’s side where he has his head hanging out, v* a moment later before the line finishes being sung. Visual and audio despite the music. Safe ten seconds later. S6E12: Julianna crawls away from the couch where she’d been cuddling with her lover and towards the camera to grab a small trash can and v* into it. Dark lighting so slight visual, light audio. Audio is over once the scene changes. S6E18: A wreck happens and when the passenger moves around to break the window and help the driver, the driver v*/coughs blood (only) a few times. The driver chokes and makes distressing noises with all the blood. There’s very little warning on the next instance. Tony takes peyote with a friend and continues on with the person. I give it 20 seconds before you need to mute and/or look away. As soon as light flashes indicating a scene change Tony is going into a bathroom and v* graphically and with audio. From the moment he takes the peyote and the bottle hits the table with a clunk you can safely skip the next minute and miss it. It’s safe again when he’s sitting back and looking up at the light. S6E21: A woman cries out in surprise and abandons her car (with two babies inside). The car starts to move on its own and runs over someone - almost immediately after, it cuts from a crowd to someone shouting, “oh shit!” and then back to the crowd where a person leans over and v* with audio and visual.

[rikaraishq]

[hirakdesherrani]

Few thoughts on the so-called on past week’s IB track:

(A sort of disclaimer) In a country where the top court acquitted the accused because a/c to the judges, the ‘victim did not struggle enough’ and ‘raise an alarm’ (Mathura rape case, 1979), speaking up about sexual harassment is nearly impossible. Representing this issue in popular fiction is thus, a huge challenge. What a survivor is going through, what are the repercussions/consequences of speaking up, etc is too difficult to portray in fiction. 

One recent film which revolved somewhat around this issue was Pink. I really liked that film, ‘cos as a Delhite, that movie, at least in some parts, was quite relatable. The movie starts out with 3 girls emerging out of a horrific scenario one night, and deciding to forget about that night. The fact that these were three independent, strong-willed, ‘urban’ girls who chose to suppress the incident, instead of reporting it; made it believable.  Because the question is: who is going to believe them? The immediate reaction of girls was that we’ve escaped, so lets try to put the night behind us. Its only when the perpetrators do not let the girls forget, and actually threaten/intimidate them to apologize for protecting themselves, that the girls are forced to take action. 

Coming back to subject here, portraying this issue with sensitivity is not something one can expect from Indian daily soaps. Upar se if its Ishqbaaaz to toh aur sone pe suhaga. I mean, Gul begum thinks that by making her heroines wear jeans she is presenting a ‘modern’ and ‘progressive’ female lead on television, so suffice to say that this woman has the least credibility in Tellywood to portray an issue as sensitive as MeToo. But madam ko shauk chadhta toh kya kar sakte hai. 

Bringing it back to the plane of IB, I don’t get it that why do the CVs choose Gauri as the poster girl for their so-called “empowering” tracks? Be it the 2rs version of English Vinglish, and now this. 

The problem is that Gauri is an unreal character. I dunno what Gauri was supposed to be, but a/c to me Shrenu and Atif had significant leeway/freedom to portray Gauri the way they wanted to. Because everyone watching DBO was aware that they are watching the ‘Gauri Kumari Ssarma’ show. DBO is probs the only Gul show, where the OTP or the AYM male lead is not the highlight of the show. Gauri was the ‘hero’ of the show, and I’m consciously using the term ‘hero’ here because she got to do everything that the ‘heroes’ in Tellywood do. Gauri had almost become like this Batman-sort of character who is a fighter, she makes mistakes, falls down, but always gets up and defeats the villains at the end.  It was almost as if Gauri was not allowed to accept defeat or fail. 

To then make this Gauri, the subject of such “empowering” tracks, the CVs have to significantly change her character sketch and introduce artificial insecurities or other traits which do not set in well with her original character sketch. 

Despite my misgivings, I gave in and watched a few parts of this track, because my friends really praised it. I didn’t mind the Tuesday and Wednesday bits where Gauri is assaulted. The direction was off though, and it looked like some bits were cut because they overlapped weirdly. If Atif or LM had been directing the scene, it would’ve probably looked better, but then it would have been too scary for me to watch. 

My issue started with the Thursday episode (or whatever I saw of it). The fact that Gauri decided to keep quiet about the incident was not OOC, because DBO starts on the point that the whole village chooses to believe Kali Thakur instead of Gauri who they’ve seen grow up in front of their eyes. Omkara, the objective outsider in this plot, also chooses to believe the worst of Gauri. No one listened to or believed Gauri that time, and can well explain why she would think that no one will ever believe her. 

What annoyed me a lot, was that Gauri decides to let the perpetrator go scot free. Because this undos all the development in Bareilly track 2. [A short break here, I’ve seen a lot of fans comment that Kali Thakur did not actually molest Gauri unlike the superstar, and I feel people totally missed the danger KT presented. KT wanted to make Gauri his sex slave for life (and for his brothers too). I’m not comparing KT and the superstar, but it irks me that people really underestimate KT’s villainy]. Anyways, so by the end of Bareilly track 2 Gauri is not scared of KT anymore. Yes, she wants to escape him, but this time its a do or die situation for her. Because Gauri understood that as long as KT’s alive she (and her mother) would always be in danger, she cannot run from him forever. Which is why Gauri stabs him to death. IMO I think Gauri fully intended to close KT’s chapter there, because she looked like an avenging angel in that scene, it was not the fear she present in the first Bareilly track. 

For that Gauri, to now let the superstar go unpunished is out of character. Gauri would not speak up about the incident but she would let the matter rest. DBO Gauri would find some way to expose the creep for what he is, and in this case, take help from Anika and Bhavya, because it would be too much for her to face him so soon after the incident. 

For the sake of the track, the CVs had to significantly alter Gauri’s character sketch (like they did in the English track) to ‘fit’ the popular perception of a survivor of sexual harassment as portrayed in television and movies. Here I feel, Shrenu had to make a performance choice. There are moments were the real Gauri slips in the scenes for example a particular teeth gnashing and eyebrow frown expression which is peculiar Gauri expression, I really can’t explain it properly but there it is, and one sees that when Gauri traps the superstar in a carpet and escapes. 

Also, there was this particular dialogue which a lot of people had interpreted as “victim blaming herself” but I don’t think it was that. Victim blaming would have been if Gauri had said that its her fault that she is the fan of such a person or she was foolish to ask for a selfie. But what Gauri said that she should have been smart enough to smell him out, because, obviously Gauri being more intelligent than most should be the first one to smell a rat. 

If I analyze the track ignoring this character issue, there are still some false notes. No doubt Shrenu acted well (when does she not?) but the entire track seemed hollow. We have all the “checklist scenes”: the villain pulls the dori, tears the sleeve, the survivor screaming in half-darkness, trying to wash off the incident under the shower, sitting in darkness in the ‘typical’ pose depicted in posters, etc, but it was a conscious attempt to ape such tracks from movies than to come up with something original. The one shot that i did like was Gauri’s handprints on the painting of the woman, when she was struggling. That was symbolism done right, and it was organic. 

What really ruined the track for me was the whole sting operation bit. The idea behind MeToo is to have the victims speak up and find support in each other. If they had to go with the sting operation bit, then why not have Gauri devise a plan to expose the devil like she exposed Buamaa? The CVs altered her character sketch for the sake of the track only to have Shivika do what Gauri would herself have done in DBO. 

The only reason for the sting operation bit was to take close up camera shots of Surbhi. Surbhi is a stunning woman offscreen but I hate it when writers almost abuse the actor’s physical charm just because the actor possesses it. For example, how the makers of Jodha Akbar showed Akbar practicing sword fighting half-naked on the terrace of the palace, only because Hrithik Roshan has amazing abs. Like it was sooooo unbelievable that Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, would be training like this in the open unprotected, that too shirtless. This smacks of lack of integrity in the writers. 

After that the whole track lost meaning. And then we have the obligatory ‘everyone praising Shivika’ and Shivaay giving a lecture at the end, effectively murdering the entire set up for the track, which was precarious in the first place. So, this ‘track’ might have checked a lot of boxes, but at the end of the day it just came across as tokenism, for me.  

[larksinging]

welcome back to the memestream, where everything is terrible and we never know what we're doing! tonight we're going to be finishing up IB, an old RPGmaker horror game! and then maybe something else

content warnings:  from the game's site: "Minor jumpscares. A few instances of blood (not very detailed at all). Mention of hanging, and a person hanged offscreen. Very low-resolution nudity on one painting."

also: bear with me if obs crashes again. it should be up a few minutes later.

[vishwaspur]

Hi ! I know you aren’t watching Ishqbaaz any more and for me it’s been inly Insta viewing. My question is about the story offscreen, just wanted to know your thoughts... do you think they are intentionally not writing any scenes for Rikara ? To me it feels like the writers are intentionally not giving them any couple scenes ! Is it because they’re not sure what to write or they’re afraid it might overshadow shivika? Also no Kunal at all in vanvaas track is disappointing and no Gauri scenes also

This here is a mystery which had boggled me for months. Now I just don’t care. Basically it’s like this - IB writers just do NOT know how to write for ANY other character other than Shivaay and Annika. Period! Everything is written around them or for them. Even when it’s not, it ultimately becomes like this. Ab why is it like this..God only knows. I gave up trying to decipher this mystery ages ago.

As for Kunal’s absence toh, like I said in my last ask, IB writers are forcefully trying to fit in the Ramayan narrative here and there Bharat, the guy they are paralleling Omkara with, wasn’t present in Ayodhya when Ram was sent to his vanvaas. That’s why Kunal enjoyed chutti. But he’s back now.

[tellywoodtrash]

Do u think that IB would have gone off air even with the OG cast or do u actually think that it's the new cast that's not accepted?

I mean ofc, it would eventually HAVE to go off air, even with the original cast; every show has it’s ultimate endpoint. But in this case here it’s def. all the offscreen drama PLUS absolute weaksauce ONSCREEN bs that’s lead to its demise - the adla-badli of the female lead, all these random extras who don’t have 1/8th the charm of the originals, hero and his ‘kal ho naa ho’ issues, on top of all that, god knows what kinda offbrand IPK + the lowest rated track of the Redux (the fake murder) garbage they’re even serving up right now????

The show could have survived had the onscreen stuff been strong and compelling enough to draw audiences and overcome the fan backlash but they were dragging their feet even with the original cast. They should have just ended the show with dignity at the end of the redux (actually it should have ended in Nov 2017, but……….. Khair chodo.)

[tellywoodtrash]

Personally TT, with regards to the offscreen IB stuff going rn. I understand the need for a generation leap and all of that jazz, but why must they kill RU Annika for it? I may not be interested in the show anymore but people get attached to characters and for a character that has suffered so much throughout her life and finally got some happiness or her happily ever after and then to just tragically kill her off is senseless. What do you think?

There’s “attachment” and then there’s whatever this fuckery is. People need to realize that the character(s) run its course and that there’s simply no more story left to tell for it. TWO WHOLE ITERATIONS OF IT. This is what happens when a fictional character gets its happiness. IT ENDS. You don’t just endlessly watch it do its laundry and taxes and get regular medical checkups and update its iCloud or whatever the hell ppl do routinely in their mundane everyday lives. They lived happily ever after. That’s it.

People need to gracefully let characters/shows come to an end than holding on to it like this. It’s a show. A goddamn show. They really need to get a fucking grip. (And this coming from the person who has used this very show as a coping mechanism to deal with cancer/death/mental illness for the past 2 years, and writes several thousand-word essays on it in a week.)

[tellywoodtrash]

Hey TT, my question is, since the show hasn’t really been coming thru w good content ever since the redux and before that, do you regret investing in ib long term?

Naah, I don’t regret it. I don’t regret any Tellywood show I’ve watched. I’m well aware of the cyclical nature of the medium. No show I have watched has been consistently top-notch amazing, where I’ve loved every single track. I’ve accepted that any show I watch will go through these periods of crappy plotlines, and just wait it through; like I’m doing with both IB and KZK right now. I avoid the tracks that don’t interest/annoy me and watch when the going is good (or if I think I have the capacity to tolerate the crappy track.) 

If there’s a frustration with IB in particular, it’s that everyday we’re moving further and further away from the established characters and what made the show special when it started out. That the makers itself have zero clarity on how to write entertaining plotlines that still make sense, how character arcs should work, what their actors’ strengths and weaknesses are, how to utilize the whole cast properly, etc. I’m annoyed that there’s so much potential being wasted, both in canon and offscreen, talent-wise. But oh well. Mere paise se thodi banta hai show. I don’t lose any sleep about it. Jab track achcha ho/I’m bored enough to watch kuch bhi tatti, I watch; jab frustrate ho jaati hoon, I quit. Simple.

[hirakdesherrani]

Why did you say Kunal is expressionless? Is it because you are a Shrenu fan?

Hi anon!

I didn’t say Kunal is “expressionless” period. I just said Kunal is expressionless/stiff in romantic scenes. Otherwise, he’s got a lot of potential. 

Er, I dunno what this has to do with being a Shrenu fan. I’m just a fan of her acting btw, and she seems to be a nice person offscreen. 

I dunno why Kunal fans think that Shrenu fans hate him and vice versa. I’ve seen some crazy fans on both the sides. And I don’t get it. 

I like Shrenu ka matlab yeh nahi ki I hate Kunal. Mujhe ghanta padi hai Kunal ki.

I mean, ShreNal are two professionals who keep to their work, and try to make work fun. Yes, I know we are not getting any Rikara onscreen and ShreNal segments offscreen, so people are frustrated. Iska matlab yeh thodi hai that ShreNal hate each other. 

Every weekend there is some new cock-and-bull story about how they are at loggerheads and what not. And then Kunal and Shrenu fans are at each other’s throats, for no damn reason. Ab weekdays ko bhi shuru ho jaao. 

Guys, let me tell you something. Actors NEED to get along with each other on sets because otherwise working together will be really tough. And they have to look like they are friends, because its good PR for the show.

Who knows? Probs ShreNal won’t even talk to each other after IB is over. Anyways, Kunal is close to Leenesh and Surbhi, while Shrenu is close to Mansi and Reyhna. So, its not like they are best buddies even now. 

When the actors involved just care about their paycheck, toh bhai, unki personal life ka soch ke tum kyun itna load le rahe ho? 

Also, stop intertwining personal preferences with professional capabilities. Its best to separate an actor from the character. 

Coming back to the question, I’m really not interested in Kunal’s future projects. And that’s because of his mediocre acting, not his equation with Shrenu.

Yes, I’ll keep an eye out for Shrenu’s future projects, again, because she is a superb performer. But that doesn’t mean I’ll sit through shit if I don’t like it. The serial has to hold my interest. 

The only actor for whom I’ll watch anything right now is Surbhi Jyoti. After all, I’m going to watch Naagin 3 for her. God help me! 

[larksinging]

welcome back to the memestream, where everything is terrible and we never know what we're doing! tonight we're going to be continuing IB, an old RPGmaker horror game!

content warnings:  from the game's site: "Minor jumpscares. A few instances of blood (not very detailed at all). Mention of hanging, and a person hanged offscreen. Very low-resolution nudity on one painting."

also: bear with me if obs crashes again. it should be up a few minutes later.

[larksinging]

welcome back to the memestream, where everything is terrible and we never know what we're doing! tonight we're going to be starting up IB, an old RPGmaker horror game!

content warnings:  from the game's site: "Minor jumpscares. A few instances of blood (not very detailed at all). Mention of hanging, and a person hanged offscreen. Very low-resolution nudity on one painting."

[hirakdesherrani]

Has Kunal and Shrenu's equation offscreen changed? They don't seem to be the same anymore?

Umm, did something happen recently, ‘cos this question is???

I don’t think so. As in, I think the last segment of Shrenal together was around Holi (?), some time in Feb/March. And they seemed fine to me that time (?).

I think post-March they haven’t shot together, so there is no offscreen segment or anything. Maybe that’s why it seems that their equation has changed. During DBO there used to be just 5 people in the show, so the offscreen segments were lit! Even post-merger, they used to shoot a lot together, so we used to get all segments, photos, insta stories, etc. Ab jab saath kaam hi nahi karte toh, there is nothing offscreen to show for it. 

Like I still see a lot of Shrenu/Surbhi stuff offscreen, ‘cos they shoot together, plus SuShreMan (+Reyhna) seem to hang a lot after work. Kunal just doesn’t hang out much with IB cast offscreen, unless its a cast party or something. He mostly still hangs around with his friends from his previous show. 

What I’m saying is that there is little opportunity for ShreNal to interact like before. So, ab pehle vaali baat nahi hai. In any case I always felt that only the girl gang will possibly still be friends after the show ends. Baaki I love how the IB cast bonds and hangs out together, but yeh sab show chalne tak hain. 

In any case, Shrenu and Kunal, both are sensitive ppl (if I’m not wrong Kunal restricted comments on his photography page?). The  manner in which IB fandom just doesn’t understand the concept of privacy and gets into the celebs bedroom, bathroom and beyond, its highly annoying. Maybe they both just don’t want to share their equation with fans anymore. TBH the fans are responsible considering how mad they went a few months back when Kunal got hitched. Bashing ShreNal left, right and center. So, I totally get if they want to keep their lives private, anon.