#THIS is the important storyline this year

[creatingblackcharacters]

Favourite characters: Guinevere (aka Gwen) and Elyan from BBC Merlin.

They're brother and sister, children of a blacksmith, Tom, who is killed by the king (not Arthur Pendragon, Gwen doesn't marry the guy who killed her father) late in the first series. Estranged at the start, their relationship improves after Elyan returns to Camelot in s3.

Gwen starts off as Morgana Pendragon's maidservant, before becoming Queen Guinevere Pendragon later in the show. She's kind and brave, and she accepts shenanigans (two days after meeting someone: "oh you need a wheelbarrow? To move a dog statue up a flight of spiral stairs into your room off the physician's chambers? Sure, I'll help you"). She helps save multiple characters and smuggles a knight out from the dungeons under the nose of Morgana when she takes over and an immortal army, while still pretending to be loyal (okay, so Morgana technically lets her to bait a trap, but she doesn't know, so it counts). She's also the only character on the whole show to figure out Merlin's magic without being shown or told about it, and one of the first to discover Morgana's treachery because she's suspicious and investigates. She helps take down a witchfinder on the king's payroll, and can use a sword! And argues for other women to be able to fight! She's awesome! And she's still soft, and cares for people, including assisting the court physician (she has more medic skills than a lot of people seem to give her credit for). She also fits into the damsel in distress role multiple times. She's the daughter of a blacksmith and knows all about armour, and is very, very loyal.

And she becomes a queen! They cast a Black woman as Queen Guinevere! She gets to wear pretty dresses and she looks gorgeous in them (she looks gorgeous throughout but yk), and she has an important, strong role in her debut two-parter as queen.

Elyan's Gwen's brother. He leaves Camelot when he's a teenager and reunites with Gwen when they're both kidnapped by an enemy king as part of a trap. He's the son of a blacksmith, and has been a smith in the years he's out of Camelot. He reopens his father's forge when he returns to Camelot, in that episode, and although there's no timeline iirc, it can't be too long before he becomes a Knight of the Round Table instead. He's very loyal, loving of his family and friends, and although he's made mistakes in the past (leaving Gwen and his father and not returning voluntarily, not even when he found out Gwen was alone because their father was killed), he's making up for them. There's a nice (? not sure that's the right word but anyway) scene of them grieving together at their father's grave four series after his death and two after Elyan's return that shows that well (also some continuity, and them doing this despite all their duties to the kingdom is something I like, it shows the importance of family to them both).

They did them both so dirty in the last series though. They killed off Elyan (in the episode with that scene above, unfortunately) and it was in the first of a completely unnecessary three-episode storyline of her being enchanted, so there was a funeral but she didn't get to grieve and they never went back to it after the enchantment was removed, and they didn't really show any grief from anyone else either. The show just moved on. And sure they did that a lot but it's particularly aggrieving with Elyan because he's a knight of the round table, the queen's brother, the king's brother-in-law, they both grew up with the first knight, and they didn't pay enough care to it.

(this will be your surprised face when you find out I don't rewatch the last series)

ANYWAY. I love them both.

GWEN!!!! You have to understand she was the Original for me. The first time I'd ever seen a Black woman in a main role in one of those fantasy sorts of shows, where there are white people around her and everyone acts NORMAL about it. She belonged there!! So she holds such an important place in my heart and identity, even if I didn't even finish Merlin. Fuck anybody who says Black people don't belong in fantasy bc Gwen was there and she did it and I loved and needed that. And she's wearing the hell outta that dress 😤

Well I wanted to be excited about Elyan, bit of course he doesn't make it 🙄 I hate it when that happens, when a character dies and everyone's just like... All right! That's it! Especially if it's other Black person on the show, like wow thanks a lot. Well, we care about Elyan, even if I don't remember him 😤

[luminace]

The Depth of ‘Alone’

The first thing that I thought when I saw that we were getting a three headed Ghost skin this season, ‘is what in the Cerberus is this?’ Not only did I think the skin looked dumb, but also portraying Ghost as an abomination? After so little narrative upkeep in this year’s multiplayer, even if it is some people’s taste in skins, is this really the way we should portray one of our main heroes, and one of the most iconic characters in CoD? He’s already been dead, a villain, and a zombie, did we really need to be whatever this is? But these are only personal gripes; what I do appreciate about this skin, is the depth it comes with! It’s been stated that not every skin that we see in multiplayer is cannon! This is pretty obvious considering the main storyline of CoD. This skin however speaks to the narrative very well I feel, and puts some thoughtful imagery into the mental state of Simon Riley.

It’s been said in a video of Tomographic, playing CoD with an old voice actor of Ghost’s, that Ghost himself is two different men in the same body. Simon Riley in everyday life and Ghost when at war. This is something a lot of people, including myself have projected onto the character, but it’s nice to have some confirmation on it. We also know that he has important personal connections with the rest of Taskforce 141; in particularly Soap. All the way back in the Zombies/Laswell and Walking Dead Battlepass, we see a cutscene of Ghost being mirrored by John Doe, taken by some as a symbol of mental struggle after the loss of his best friend. Possibly even a third, struggling personality. The last piece of lore this nods to, pun fully intended, is the very name of the skin itself. This skin has physical details of various different 141 operatives, but the name of the skin ‘Alone’ is also the name of the mission where he makes the connection with Soap that bonds the two as best friends and brothers in arms. Regardless of how cringey I think the skin is, I think the symbolism here, intentional or not is beautiful. Ultimately, Simon Riley is Alone and at war with himself, and I hope the future Modern Warfare titles do him better narrative justice than the current title.

[fractualized]

Could you give me any Batman comic(/series) recommendations? Or Joker ones?

(You can pretend I’ve never read any Batman comics)

Man, this got me thinking about (1) the number of extended storylines I still haven't fully read myself and (2) of the ones I have, would I recommend that people read them?? Tough question! Thinking about it in terms of a Batman newbie changes things too... 🤔

Ultimately, my list is mostly one-offs apart from the mainline series, but there's a few multi-issue mainline stories in there. From oldest to newest:

Batman (1940) #1, "The Joker" and "The Joker Returns" — Early comics can feel inaccessible because of their age, but I would still recommend checking out the start of Batman and Joker's relationship for a sense of the longevity and evolution of these characters (You could also read Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics [1937] #27.)

Batman (1940) #251, "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" — Jumping ahead thirty years! After a 4-year absence from comics, Joker returns, and I just love how his dynamic with Batman picks up where they left off like it was yesterday.

Detective Comics (1937) #475, "The Laughing Fish" — The infamous story in which Joker's mad scheme is to… copyright fish.

The Dark Knight Returns #1-4 — TBH, I'm not a fan of TDKR for various reasons. However, it had a huge influence on Batman and you should read it at least once.

Batman (1940) #404-407, "Batman: Year One" — More required reading (but I do enjoy it more than TDKR). Frank Miller's problematique is more acknowledged today, but as I said, modern Batman stems from his work.

The Killing Joke — Controversial-ish recommendation nowadays, considering the much-maligned choice to fridge Barbara Gordon, but I still enjoy the nuance it gives Joker and the meta element of the ending, with Bruce and Joker trapped in their cycle by choices that are informed by the needs of the franchise. Alan Moore may no longer care for it, but I do! (Also, I'd say read it with the original coloring.)

Batman (1940) #426-429, "A Death in the Family" — Another big event in Batman lore: the death of Jason Todd. It's one of those moments that gets flattened in various ways today, so I think it's important to see how everything actually played out. In particular, it's striking to see that Joker is initially nervous about Batman finding out what he did, and just how Bruce struggles with his no-kill principle.

Batman #450-451, "Wildcard!" and "Judgements!" — Joker's big return after Jason's murder, in which we see he's still not all that giddy about it.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68, "Going Sane" — This story takes place earlier in Batman's career, before Robin. When Joker seemingly kills Batman, he tries to start a new life without his instability breaking through. Meanwhile, Bruce recovers from his near-death in a little town in the middle of nowhere and thinks he might actually stay there… but he's plagued by restlessness too.

Joker: Devil's Advocate — Joker winds up on death row, but for a crime he didn't commit! Bruce is set on proving Joker's innocence despite the clown's other sins, and Joker is too captivated by all the media attention to help save his own hide.

Deathstroke (1991) #58, "Bad Blood" — A story in which Joker causes plenty of chaos, but in service of doing something… nice?

Batman: Ego — As Bruce contemplates giving up his crusade, he falls into an argument with… Batman.

Batman (1940) #648-650, "All They Do Is Watch Us Kill" — Part of Under the Red Hood. Jason Todd's reappearance in Gotham City comes to a head when he kidnaps Joker and draws Batman in for a dire confrontation.

Detective Comics (1937) #826, "Slayride" — Paul Dini is one of the writers who consistently remembers Joker has a personality and makes him funny, and this Christmas-time story featuring Tim Drake is a great example.

Batman Confidential #7-12, "Lovers and Madmen" — An alternative origin for Joker. Bruce has been fighting crime for about a year when he encounters a bloody crime scene that he can't make sense of. Meanwhile, the culprit, Jack, is growing bored with his criminal life, until he comes face to face with a vigilante bat.

Batman 80-Page Giant 2010 (Volume 2), "Reality Check" — Is Joker really crazy? Does Joker himself even know?

Batman (2011) #13-17, "Death of the Family" — Not to be confused with "A Death in the Family." Joker tries to convince Batman that all his sidekicks make him weak.

Batman (2011) #23.1, "Time to Monkey Shine" — Joker infamously adopts a gorilla. (It ends badly.)

Batman (2011) #35-40, "Endgame" — After Joker's failure in DOTF, he decides to bring his conflict with Batman to a close.

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #1-7 — The Riddler is dead, but what really happened? A heist story in which the point of view is passed around multiple rogues, but Joker is the ringleader.

Catwoman: Lonely City #1-4 — Alright, this one does revolve around Selina, but the story is deeply tied to her relationship with Bruce and what she comes to understand about him in the end. (And Joker plays a brief but key part!)

Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1-7 — A recent team-up that calls back to everything I've personally enjoyed about Batman and Joker's dynamic.

Batman: City of Madness #1-3 — Beneath Gotham lies Gotham Below, from which a monstrous mirror of Batman escapes in search of a Robin. In his pursuit, Bruce confronts not only alternative versions of his rogues but his personal demons.

[ringsreforged]

Season 2, Episode 6 - Nat's Rambles

Okay – SO – Paulina is still on holiday, and I’m obviously DYING OVER HERE (Natalie, in case you hadn’t guessed) so TUMBLR. I HAVE RETURNED.

Truly though, I don’t think I’ve done this since S4 of The 100 which probably aired 100 years ago at this point…what has this show done to me…

ANYWAY. My immediate thoughts on Season 2, Episode 6: WHERE IS HE???????

Paulina Voice: All opinions herein have nothing to do with me, so only judge Natalie for them.

Important Note: I have only watched once, in a haze of stress and emotion, so I reserve the right to delete all of this later if I change my mind on any of it.

Arondir – Hello! Nice to see you! Glad you’re joining us for the battle!

I did like the detail of confirming that not all the orcs are on board with Adar’s war, but I was mostly laughing that ‘running through the trees’ is how the show has reminded us a character exists for two weeks in a row.

Rhun – I think this was the first episode where I was like GO AWAY, RHUN, NOT NOW. Though, I want to stress that I am super excited to see the conclusion of this, probably in episode 8. The Dark Wizard, the Gaudrim, the fate of the Stoors (honestly, I’m assuming they’re all going to be massacred tbh…which…the optics…but we’ll worry about that later…). In today’s episode, it just felt a bit like ‘hey, these characters still exist.’

I did love the little snippet of Tom and the Stranger, though I felt like it could have just been included in their previous scenes. He is 1000% Gandalf, and I stand by my opinion that this isn’t supposed to be a twist or a surprise. It’s just the narrative telling the story. Destiny or friend is super intriguing to me. It’s very Luke and Yoda from Empire, but I do wonder if his destiny IS to choose his friend…and in so doing, THAT is how he finds his staff…

Nori talking with the Gund was very sweet, and her willingness to give herself up to protect everyone was super in character. Poppy and Merimac were cute (I pray to all the gods that THIS was the kiss Morfydd teased but I doubt it very much…), and Poppy wanting to fight for the Stranger made me pretty emotional. However, I have some bad news…

Guys…I think I’m adding Poppy to DEATH WATCH. And I HATE IT. BUT I CAN’T UNTHINK IT.

Moving on…

Numenor – This continues to be the choppiest of storylines this season, but I do think the broad elements are super on point. And, actually, where we end up makes the Eagle sequence make more sense in retrospect. Pharazon didn’t have things locked down, Miriel is very much still a player on the board, and Mr. Eyebrows is THE BIGGEST HYPOCRIT.

Then again, if you told me I’d see Halbrand in the Palantir I’d probably touch it too…

Ahem. Loved that detail by the way! Part of the reason I felt like Halbrand would be his Numenor form was the small scene he shared with Pharazon back in S1, while Galadriel was taking out the guards. A connection was formed then – perhaps his eyes even bored a hole – and if Halbrand rocks up as an enemy of the elves, that’ll only make him more appealing.

Everything with Miriel and Elendil was absolutely stunning. He was willing to give his life for her, she was willing to give hers for his. WHAT ABOUT MY HEART. Honestly, from the way Owen and Cynthia talked about this season, I felt like they weren’t going to get anything at all romance coded. But I’m just starting to think people in TV only see active kissing as romance, because HELLO?? THAT’S THE SCRIPT????? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY ROMANCE????

I’m very excited to watch the sequence with the sea worm again, and to really let it wash over me (heh), because I was starting to get time anxious at that point in the episode (my brain starts panicking ‘don’t end, don’t end.’ Honestly, my brain SUCKS). But it was incredible, the implications were wonderful, Elendil’s relief was beautiful, and so was Pharazon’s rage. Also, the whole sequence was UTTERLY STUNNING, WOW.

Note for the show overall, or maybe just for myself, though – PLEASE stop spoiling so much of the season through promotional material. My biggest gripe with this episode is that I felt like I’d already seen/put together 90% of it.

Anyway, I’ve left Earien until last because this was a MUCH better episode for her (though, not letting her have any reaction to Valandil’s death was CRIMINAL). To the point that I’m now reforging (heh) my thoughts on last week – who directed her to have such bratty energy last week? Weird.

Anyway, we saw much more of her conflict and fluidity in this episode. She isn’t Faithful, she believes the new order is the way to go, but she’s also struggling massively with it. Her desperate hug with her father broke my heart, I had instant tears in my eyes, but then I also cheered when she brought Miriel in! What a great surprise that was! I’m REALLY interested to see where she goes from here…I’m assuming in the finale? I was sure she was locked onto a super dark path, but she witnessed Miriel survive the Valar’s judgement…will that sway her back around?

I’m going to finish this section with something that’s maybe a bit controversial…Elendil sucks as Earien’s father!!! Now, I’m willing to put this on pacing/editing issues, because I don’t think the show really wants us to feel this way. But good god, man. HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR DAUGHTER. I really enjoyed their cell scene, but sweet lord baby jesus, these two needed a deep conversation in episode 3. Watching him turn to go when Miriel walked in, and just forget Earien was even there hurt me man…even though I enjoy the Miriel aspect VERY much…

Like, I know you’re mad at her, but you’re all she’s got left…and your pride might mean she watches you die…can you be a little kinder to her???

Dwarves being dwarves, AKA perfect – Flawless. No notes.

The initial sequence with the Durin’s and Annatar was PERFECT. Annatar being rejected (that Balrog glimpse was SO EVIL), and Baby Durin’s flicker of hope. But then the reveal that Daddy Durin is deep in the shit because he’s really just being greedy. My gooooodnesssssss. The show has done SUCH A GOOD JOB setting this up, because we know Daddy Durin isn’t this way! We feel Baby Durin’s pain!

Then Daddy Durin has his IT’S MINE moment with the ring and swats his son away. Anguish. And the anguish only anguished harder when we cut to Durin and Disa. Disa talking about her love for her father-in-law, and her own father, and then DURIN’S TEARS. UGH. UGH. UGH. I was weeping, honestly.

I feel like Durin being suss of the rings this early on is a pretty big change (don’t quote me on this) but I’m for it. Watching Disa turn back Narvi and the others (poor Narvi) was beautiful and then that I LOVE YOU. UGH. UGH. UGH. PERFECT, I SAY.

I doubt Disa has anymore bats to summon, though, so IDK how the heck they stop what’s coming next. Is Durin going to get drawn away by his desire to help Elrond, leaving Disa alone and vulnerable?

I REFUSE TO PUT DISA ON DEATH WATCH, SHOW. I REFUSE. DON’T YOU DARE.

Adar and Galadriel – I wish we’d gotten more, especially because they released a clip yesterday that I obviously couldn’t resist watching, but what we got was JUICY.

I felt that Adar knew Halbrand was Sauron back in the premiere, or at least suspected it. Getting that confirmation paints their scene with the talk of the wine, the tears, and the kneeling in such a different light. TASTY.

I’ve seen people question this, because why did Adar not try and kill him there and then? To my mind, that’s pretty straightforward. He killed him once and it didn’t stick. And last time he had the element of surprise. He knows that Sauron is powerful enough to get out of his chains/to not get caught by orcs, which means he’s here for a reason. If Adar tries to kill him, best case scenario Sauron is off the board for another few centuries, but he’ll likely take down some orcs with him on the way out. And for what? For him to just come back again?

I think Adar decided to play the long game. I think talk of Eregion and Galadriel let him know that something more was going on, and he was biding his time to act.

So, Sauron promised Adar children. Honestly, the Adar/Sauron/Galadriel dynamic that played across this episode was the stuff of my dreams. Adar is holding his own relationship with the fella up against hers, and there’s so much subtext for both dynamics. Was there romance between both? Was it solely manipulation for both? Is Adar what Galadriel might become if she succumbs?

Galadriel definitely wasn’t being entirely truthful with Adar when she mentioned that Sauron promised an army, because that was more what she thought she could get out of Halbrand. And yes, sure, Sauron might have nudged her that way. But Sauron’s true offer came later on the raft, after the army had been delivered. Adar even acknowledges that she’s not being truthful, that she needs to let go of her pride. I feel like we’ll see that play out over the last two episodes for sure…

The line that really stuck with me from a Hal&Gal perspective was Galadriel finishing Adar’s line about the world with Sauron being full of colour, and without him it’s a dull grey. It fits with how Galadriel has come across to me this season. Since Elrond shut her out, she hadn’t had anybody to open up to, and she’s certainly not being fully honest with herself yet. That dull grey speaks to how she’s mostly been…quite contained? The only moments where she’s truly come alive were with Nenya, and when she was fighting.

Later in the episode, she DOES put aside her pride. She calls Adar Uruk!!! She opens up and sees the possibility of an alliance. And I think this goes back to Sauron too. She’s had a taste of darkness and the temptation of it, she knows she’s not secure from succumbing, and so her perspective of Adar – who was once an elf – has massively shifted. However, when he asks if he and his children will be able to return to their home…we all know the answer to that.

I actually never stopped to consider that Adar would be the one manipulating/tricking Galadriel, which is silly in retrospect. Because this much better explains how she ends up in a cage facing the elves (sorry guys, I don’t think she’s bait for Sauron…she’s facing the wrong way…). I’m looking forward to watching this bit again, as I feel it was a bit rushed on first watch. I would have liked to see these two chat for a good two scenes more, honestly.

Adar is falling into the trap, which is pretty devastating, and Galadriel is the one seeing through it. Honestly, I really don’t know how things roll out in the finale. I flip from it making no sense for it to be a S1 rehash, to being sure she’ll defiantly resist, to being sure the show is setting her up to not be able to. I JUST DON’T KNOW. I wish I’d never seen those stupid leak spoilers…the promo makes me think they are real, but then we MUST be missing full context.

Adar is still on DEATH WATCH but like…a little bit less than before, honestly? Mostly because I don’t see how we have time to get ALL the confrontations into the last two episodes. When Adar goes out – and he will – he deserves the biggest death.

Random aside: I am pondering sharing something of a Haladriel ramble/rant but I’m also like…IDK if I want the hassle, so we’ll see.

Celebrimbor and Annatar

Oh, Brimby. My heart aches. The sequence with him forgetting Mirdania’s name was so heartbreaking and watching Annatar isolate him so completely was chilling. First, by taking away the other smiths, then with the illusion.

I actually don’t think I have a lot to say on this section, because it’s been rumbling along all season and we’re just about to reach the climax. Sauron is Sauron’ing his hardest in this episode.

I am now quite convinced that Mirdania is not Celebrian (I already didn’t really believe it, but it’s firmer now) and I do think she’ll die. I think she’ll either be killed by Sauron himself, or she’ll be caught in the crossfire of the siege, and as she dies she’ll make eye contact with him and he’ll just coldly leave her. I feel like there has to be some sort of climax to the whole…you look like Galadriel thing, but I’m not really sure what that could be?? I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of time next episode, so maybe that really was a one and done so the viewer understood he’s thinking about her…

Celebrimbor trying to snap on Annatar, and that flash of true rage in Annatar’s face…oh god, next week is going to be soul destroying. I honestly can’t wait and dread it at the same time. Celebrimbor has fought so hard but then comes the illusion, then comes the lure – more talk of the Valar, of his work, of Feanor and the Silmarils. CELEBRIMBOR. GET OUT, PLEASE. GET OUT.

Sauron was then absolutely buzzing at the end there, as war came, and I wonder if there are more twists to come or if things play out fairly straightforward from here. We know the elves will charge the orcs. Does that happen straight away? Is there any communication? Because it’s complicated, isn’t it? On one hand, let Adar and the orcs try to take our Sauron…but then, you know innocents are being killed. You have to save them, surely?

And that’s that, I think? PHEW.

I must say, it’s harder to get through this season being in fandom because I KNOW SO MUCH MORE and I WANT SO MUCH MORE and people STRESS ME OUT. But, at the same time, it feels nice to love something this hard again?

Let’s get episode 7 and [redacted] out of the way fast, though, yeah?

[astroavez]

as the (self-proclaimed) biggest fischer frey apologist in the world, here’s how i would handle his (potential) arc this season.

assuming that fischer isn’t once again a one-off character thrown in for no reason & given screen time only to be forgotten about in the very next chapter with no explanation whatsoever, i think now would be the best time to really push his relationship with mc & get some much needed character development in there.

fischer frey has … a lot of catching up up to do in terms of redemption. as far as fleshed out characters go — he’s just not there yet, no matter how many scenarios i like to create in my head. he’s the oldest twin, but other than the fact that he’s mean, we don’t really know a whole lot about him.

i really think this season would be a great opportunity to do a deep dive into his character. he was obviously trying to impress his peers with his troll story in the first chapter — understandable. he’s a fourteen year old boy, he wants people to think he’s cool (as most kids do). the twins are not popular. on the social totem pole, they struggle to keep a standing, if at all. they don’t get invited to things, cassandra has friends other than them — they don’t have friends. they have each other.

i truly believe that deep in his heart, fischer knows that colby could make friends - easily. i think that fischer struggles socially. his personality, he’s found, turns people away; so, fischer keeps colby on a short leash. colby isn’t allowed friends due to the simple fact that fischer doesn’t want to be alone. he knows he doesn’t have friends, but he does have a brother that he can pull down with him so that he doesn’t look like a complete loser. fischer realizes he doesn’t really need anyone, just as long as he’s one step ahead of colby.

that being said, no matter how bad you want to seem cool — nobody is going to risk their life to go into the forbidden forest to do it. why does it matter so much to him? that should be focused on, i think. mc has a habit of putting other people’s needs before their own, and fischer needs someone other than cassandra, (whom uses the twins as guard dogs more or less) and colby, (whom wants to do his own thing.) fischer needs someone that genuinely wants to be his friend. someone that is able to slowly wean him off of colby and make him realize that he’ll be okay without his brother.

making fischer a core character, whether it be in this season or a future one is so important to the twins’ storylines as a whole. i really hope that the game takes a similar route, because when the twins inevitably have a falling out, there needs to be a common ground between the two — someone that goes out of their way to bring them together again, and i don’t mean cassandra. in order to do that, mc has to make some sort of connection to fischer, as that bond with colby has already been formed.

in a perfect world, they’ll survive near death experiences together & next time fischer decides to impress his whole class with a story, it won’t be a lie.

[cementcornfield]

I can't tell if jamarr exaggerates his stories to an extreme amount or if joe justhas to constantly tell him to chill haha. but based on tee confirming that jamarr does buy joe clothes ocassionally and he did buy him a chain - im going to say joe just likes privacy lol

ALWAYS THRILLED TO BE ASKED ABOUT UNRELIABLE NARRATOR JA’MARR!!!

more under the cut because literally i could talk about this all day and i don’t need to subject anyone to that. 

Honestly I think it’s a combination of both? Ja’Marr exaggerates, says one thing then immediately another contradicting thing, doesn’t seem to have much of a filter, however you want to categorize it. Which I think is such a funny contrast to Joe - who is (almost) always very careful about how he expresses himself and how he wants to be portrayed. 

The “Ja’Marr Buys Joe Clothes Except No He Doesn’t Except Wait He Definitely Does” saga is probably my favorite thing in the world because what on earth is ANYONE talking about in this situation. Like, first Ja’Marr claims in the GQ interview:

"Joe literally won’t buy his own clothes. He always asks me to shop for him and drop it off at the house.” 

Which is almost definitely an exaggeration. I am sure Joe buys plenty of his own clothes (although loving the idea of Ja’Marr literally filling Joe’s closet with things he thinks he’ll like). 

And then, bringing it up completely unprompted in an interview a week later he says that actually that was “kinda” a lie, and that he hasn’t bought Joe anything but dinner - although now he’ll “have to [buy joe clothes] since that’s out now”. like ?????? First of all just because you “kinda lied” about buying Joe clothes does not mean that you now have to actually buy him clothes? And why did you lie about it in the first place? How badly do you want to buy this man clothes??? 🤨🤨🤨

So we spent the rest of the season completely confused about this story but just kind of accepting that Ja’Marr just says shit sometimes, who knows… and THEN in a groundbreaking (to me) interview with Tee, we learn that actually Ja’Marr has in fact bought Joe clothes: 

“Chase definitely gets Joe right. I’ve seen him buy clothes for Joe multiple times.” 

MULTIPLE TIMES??? and Tee has seen it for himself?? Which at this point means that Ja’Marr has now potentially lied about lying about buying Joe clothes?? For what purpose??? 

I have imagined and talked with beloved mutuals about what could be going on in this situation, presented here with varying levels of realism and hilarity: 

Ja’Marr has never bought Joe clothes and all the receivers are in on a big joke where they’re claiming that Ja’Marr buys Joe clothes just to fuck with him. Because it’s funny and why not.

Ja’Marr hadn’t bought Joe clothes before the interview, but had been planning on doing it and was so excited by the idea that he got ahead of himself and told GQ he was already doing it. And then “since it was out there” he had an excuse to start buying Joe clothes, with Tee as a witness. 

Finally back to the point of your ask (so sorry for all my rambling) and probably the most likely scenario - Ja’Marr tends to exaggerate and Joe tends to value his privacy. 

What I imagine is this, Ja’Marr has probably bought Joe clothes a few times. We already know that he’s bought him grills and he mentioned in a few interviews last season that he had bought Joe some pants. And probably a few more instances we don’t have details on. The man likes fashion and he likes Joe and it seems like he has a gift giving love language! He probably got excited and exaggerated a bit in the GQ interview because again, I’m sure Joe does not “always” ask Ja’Marr to shop for him lmao. And I wonder if the exaggeration is the part that Joe took exception to (if he even did! Joe’s never said anything about any of this! all we have is Ja’Marr’s word which we can NOT trust) - Joe likely doesn’t want the whole world thinking Ja’Marr buys ALL his clothes, he likes fashion too and I’m sure puts a lot of work into those game day outfits, even if Ja’Marr does help out sometimes. Plus he really doesn’t like sharing details about his relationships, even one as public as his friendship with Ja’Marr. (All he says is that he’s one of his best friends and they hang out all the time, Ja’Marr is the one giving details about UFC moves and going to Vegas together and keeping his stuff at his place etc etc). 

Joe likely gave Ja’Marr shit for how he phrased it and honestly sharing it with the world at all. Plus!!! I am always thinking about the timing of the article, coming out right when Joe’s appendix burst. I bet Ja’Marr was worried about his friend, felt bad about sharing some exaggerated details of their relationship, and simply decided to take ALL of it back. Because again, he really seems to only operate in extremes. So to make Joe feel better, instead of just clarifying his quote, he just decided to say ‘nope, sorry, that was a lie, never bought that man clothes in my life 😊' while Tee was probably at his locker listening to the interview like 🤨???

Anyway. that’s WAY TOO MANY words to answer your ask but please know I so appreciated getting it. Any excuse to ramble about these two as you can see!! 

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[gideonisms]

eowyn should have been a lesbian. Eowyn/faramir is like, fine, but it misses the point of eowyn for all baby dyke eowyn stans which is not that she longs for glory in battle and doesn't realize war is ugly and brutal, but that she's caught between two awful options and she doesn't want to be given one based on her gender. She's not in love with aragorn, she envies him because she finds the tasks he has in life more preferable and she hero worships him. Is this the point Tolkien was trying to make? Well, no,

[seance]

Are you sure you've got the right man for this? Of course I am. You're the Sandpiper.

[nocturnalazure]

[sweetberrylover]

⚠️ After the synopsis for the new plastic man book it might be shit.

Yeah I remember reading it and thinking to myself “ Shit they are going to do another Everyone-Hates-Plastic man plot line, aren’t they ?? “

Also why tf is Metal Man involved in this who even gaf about Metal Man in this day and age ???

I really hope theses issues are ATLEAST decent because it’s the very few rare occasions where DC acknowledge Plas AND some of his supporting cast ( Woozy, Angel and Luke all in the same book?!? Most be a Christmas Miracle)

But I also learned from the Valentine Days Incident to not give DC TOO much credit cause somehow they keep disappointing me when my expectations are in hell at this point

[dingdawny]

Sunshine Institute story?? ‼️ OH OH I’M EXCITED-

Built so much for this silly story and in the end it's an oc x canon 🫶 cowardly old bald man filled with regret and a longing for something more, doomed by the narrative and forced to conform to the will of a god who is no longer himself... meets a tired soul who has spent his whole life in the shadow of those above him, sent below the bedrock, submitting to the will of the universe with no real idea of what he had just done... only to once again be placed second in the ranking, an even darker shadow cast over him.

It's ok tho they're just silly billies !!

[mikesbasementbeets]

just realized all three boys' parents are standing behind them at will's funeral

these are clearly meant to be lucas' parents, who were then recast for s2, when they took on a more significant role. and mike's parents are behind him which means that these two people on screen right:

are meant to be dustin's parents

[five-wow]

i'm so sorry, but the phrasing of this had me wheezing. danny, on day #603 of "i can't possibly go home, there's mold in my kitchen":

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

At some point I want to try doing SFX makeup on myself (and maybe seven other people) to look like a horrifying, rotting corpse of a fish from the depths of the ocean; and do a whole bunch of weird shit on camera for a piece of performance art to go along with a song I wrote at age fifteen. I could pull it off.

[agendratum]

and now i just need to play trespasser i guess