#and i respect that if that's what alice wants to show in s3

[daylightisviolent]

For season 3... queerplatonic partners james and isaac? 🥺 please alice?? 🥺

[toneelspeelster]

ethics of motherhood: the jane / charlie spring essay

ever since the release of the second season of heartstopper i've seen so many different opinions on jane spring as a parent; she's the absolute devil, overbearing, completely against understanding charlie and his relationship with nick etc. etc. but i would like to delve into why i think the way alice set up jane spring in s2 is a /great/ gateway into a deeper, nuanced storyline between jane and charlie because, quite honestly - it's clearly long overdue. once again, i'd like to use backstory from the comics to infer what might be happening to jane in the series and how, maybe a bit surprisingly to some - charlie is in some respects a lot more like her than you might think.

please note: this is not an apology, or an excuse to jane's behaviour as a mother to charlie; i just want to give her actions a context and i think, show the room for growth which I think would be a beautiful, very nuanced, storyline between parent and child to take on in charlie's mental health story in s3/4.

(tw for parental abuse, discussion of eating disorder)

one thing that really informs jane spring as a character and as a mother in general is her own mother. we see in the comics that her mother is a. physically abusive and b. does not allow jane to have any criticism against her and uses that as a reason for the abuse.

jane later tells charlie the following on her relationship with her mother, acknowledging the effect that her mother had on her - to an extent. she softens the things that happened to her.

jane knows this of her being a mother: she's overbearing, her mother was too, and she was also hoping to be very different to what her mother was to her.

now what i think is a vital thing to consider is the following: jane grew up in a household where she was physically and emotionally unsafe. she was hit for expressing normal teenage behaviour. it should be okay to sometimes not agree with your parents and pushing back at them. they should provide you with a safe method of communication for doing so but they never taught jane that. as a result, i think it's a very human response of people to try and make sure they deal with things differently when they get older; but that also can result in overcompensating behaviour.

my feeling is that jane is overly focused, i think unconsciously, on keeping in particular charlie safe, and in that sometimes loses sight on making him feel actually (emotionally) safe. because safe means to jane: performing well in school, not doing anything that might be dangerous, but also: keep in line with expected social behaviour. what is the safest thing, jane thinks? that your behaviour is perfect. because if you don't give others any reason to think you're being out of order (in whatever way), you will not get abuse. safe is being perfect, doing everything perfectly. you can and should control your life in such a way that it will be possible for things to be perfect.

and guess who feels that way too?

kids learn a lot more from their parents than they would think (or even like).

one of the most interesting changes from novel to tv series i think, is the change of having jane not being immediately supportive of nick from the get go; as it fits in quite well with jane's character trait of being focused on charlie's safety (and by extension julio's character, but he goes about this differently and quite honestly... can be quite of a wet wipe lol) and exercising control over his behaviour to make him safe in her own eyes. she wants him to be socially presentable ("please change out of your pyjamas to meet guests"), to focus on school work, and for him to listen to her when she says he needs to come home; in a sense i think she wants to be aware of where charlie is at a given time and not too stay out too late, because the night? that might be dangerous.

we have to remember that charlie was severely bullied only a year ago, and julio's constant reminders of charlie in s1 of please calling him when the situation gets out of hand with nick's circle of "friends", indicates to me that his parents were aware of the bullying, maybe being informed by ajayi bc i don't see charlie being able to tell that to his parents himself. so: nick's "sort" (tao mentions his circle as "exactly the sort of people who bullied [charlie]") are in jane's eyes boys to be weary of.

so when charlie tells his parents, jane doesn't totally trust it.

this is worsened when it turns out nick is also going on the paris trip. for charlie, that's not the only reason to on the trip at all, but the way the conversation goes with julio's comment that's the reason why he wants to go, this is where nick gets associated in her mind with charlie as something that she needs to be aware of and perhaps even intervene. to make sure he's safe. she needs to control the situation if it goes wrong.

which she does. almost immediately. when charlie shows behaviour out of the ordinary for him and the only cause she sees is nick; he's the new factor in all of this.

it's like she thinks if she doesn't completely nip this behaviour in the bud in a very hard way, all the bad things imaginable will come immediately. like charlie would flunk school within a few weeks. charlie, who's been a high achiever! julio's response is actually quite appropriate, i personally think: it's not a wonder that you're unfocused bc you have been spending time a lot (which we've seen! on screen!) but also i don't want ban you from seeing him completely, just set some boundaries.

interestingly enough, this is also due to charlie overly focusing his efforts on keeping nick essentially perfectly safe in his coming out as well; unfortunately, in that final scene shown above, he's just realised that he's got no control over nick's coming outs being perfect, as david has shown to be very biphobic and dismissive of nick in a way that neither nick or charlie had any say in or could even prevent from happening. jane has the option of trying to control things because she's his mother and has some authority over his life.

jane disappears in the show after this issue of charlie handing in his course work gets resolved for a while, so it does seem like she very much keeps to her word afterwards.

she comes back in time for some growth. tori rightly mentions that the family dinner is not something that their mum would totally enjoy bc tori has seen the criticism jane has regarding nick. but charlie does know nick, feels emotionally safe with him, especially after their convo in the louvre and nick being open about his dad, so charlie is right in saying nick, as a person not the idea that jane has of him by association, might convince her.

and he does.

nick can be trusted; nick has come out to his neglectful parent, chastised his older brother for being an asshole, mentions he feels happy with his life with charlie and living openly as his boyfriend and apologises to his mother for ruining the dinner (a sign of a well mannered boy!). and when sarah tells jane that this is something that she's never seen nick do and that must be of nick's deep care for charlie, jane thinks..

and comes around (a bit).

unfortunately, her overt focus on charlie's grades slipping being due to nick's influence in his life completely makes her neglect the signs that charlie is not eating well (that's something that is building up so gradually that i don't think she sees it as an option). there are some great metas on here by @ finnicksannie regarding this being one of the biggest reasons why charlie's grades are actually slipping.

all in all, i just want to close by saying this is a deeply traumatised mother parenting a deeply traumatised son and they both need time and therapy for a better understanding of the communication between them.

and i think the end of season 2 sets up a nice storyline about that quite nicely. jane accepts nick in their circle, but her communication with charlie has not been resolved; it's just a little tick towards her needing to trust charlie more. he's got good instincts. she's starting to realise.

this is all not an excuse. it's a set up for a responsibility on jane's part to work to communicate with charlie better. but life is life. and we're humans. sometimes we need to learn to grow.

and in the mean time, in the small moments, maybe with what you would say is the bare minimum, with not agreeing with charlie's self deprecation, jane does show her love of her son.

i don't think it's without reason that this was shown.

--

i have not read the novel solitaire / nick & charlie / this winter. feel free to add in comments if there's something in there too! but i do feel the series might incorporate jane's storyline maybe a little bit differently than from in the books; but it sounds like her controlling behaviour is a throughline to it all.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I really hope they don't ruin rhaesaria when Daemon comes back because I'm SOOOO invested. Rhaenyra not showing up to council and instead going to discuss it privately with her lesbian situationship is so funny to me because exactly what a wlw woman would do. No matter the circumstances, it's just realistic, ok?! We really do go "yes babe your opinion is everything to me now and you're the smartest person in the world" (although mysaria has been objectively smart too).

It's also about the contrast between how the court makes her feel ("I remind them too much of their mothers, their daughters"). Even though I do believe they've had her best interest at large because they're right -without her, the war is just over and they lose- for her it's been stifling not being allowed to do anything about it and she doesn't really have people supporting her or giving her ideas that would help her get to where she wants to. Not even Daemon did that, tbh.

From "they must see in me a ruler" to "I believe you're meant to be queen" and "the symbols of authority are the shield and the sword" to "this becomes you" - that's exactly how she feels seen and validated in mysaria's presence. All of which is just contributing to them building not only a strategic partnership that could benefit Rhaenyra's position in the war, but trust and intimacy between each other. Intimacy and support none of them were getting from anywhere else, which is a double-edged sword anyways because it can be dangerous to be so lonely. Either way, I don't care where this leads as long as I get some more romance between them hehe.

However, I think it's impossible not to acknowledge that the writing is lacking because they're yet to make this sort of co-dependency clear in the show. I mean, so far there's only been four people (in my opinion) that Rhaenyra's ever had these "vulnerable" conversations with: Daemon, Alicent, Jace, and now Mysaria. But while in S1 it was clear from the beginning that there was attraction and mind likeness between her and Daemon/Alicent respectively, in S2 they didn't really deepen on how much of an effect Jace's input had on her after their last conversation in 2x06. Now she's already in this situation with mysaria with barely any lead up to it, too.

Anyways! I really hope they do better in S3 script-wise and that they'll keep developing on rhaesaria, amen.

[hopepaigeturner]

It's me again! I was watching a reel on ig about Benedict and Will and I remember how we want them to be friends (and Sophie and Alice too). I was thinking that in a way both of them have succeeded but not in the most honest way. Like we know what Will had to do to get his club and we all understand him. But it still weighs on his conscious because he's a good man. He feels horrible when Benedict praises him. Similarly, Benedict doesn't feel like he deserves the Academy because of Anthony. Even if he tried to do it by himself, Anthony's actions stained his achievement.

There's a much more profound discussion there, but I can't do it right now.

Hiya! I love your asks and comments it's so good to hear from you :)

I honestly think you've got it spot on with the analysis. I think this similarity is the perfect foundation to establish mutual respect.

For this similarity and feeling show that both are men of morals who share the desire to prove themselves on their own merit.

But ofcourse there is one big difference--their social statuses. See Will was forced to be dishonest to rise above the very strict social hierarchy of society. There was very little option for him unless he wished to subject his family to poverty once he was unable to perform in his boxing matches.

Benedict's privilege meant that he had a choice either to be a nepo baby or not, and he still chose to reject Anthony's assistance. Such an action shows integrity and some self-awareness of his privilege.

I think Will will be able to empathise with Benedict but this will also make him respect Benedict. I think it will make him see Benedict as more than a privileged posh boy and a man who Will can trust for they share the same ideals. I think it is almost neccessary for Benedict to tell Will about Anthony & Art School because it will create a great first step in establishing a deeper friendship between the two. (Already I can picture Ben being a recurring figure lounging at Will's bar in S3, but this will make them friends)

*~*~*~*~*

Not neccesarily profound but a little bit of a splurge inspired by your comments :)

I would be intrigued to know whether the writers inteded this or not...either way LET THEM BE FRIENDS!!!! WE NEED THE BROMANCE!!!

[pregnant-javert]

Tell me an unpopular opinion you have about all the SP main characters if you have time

BESTIE YOU ASKED AND I WILL DELIVER i'm prolly gonna put this shit under a cut in case I ramble lol. I wasn't sure like,,,what you meant by main characters? So I just picked all the characters under "main" on the Wikipedia page.

Under the cut! Please don't shade me <3 no disrespect if you like the characters or disagree with what i say <3

Melanie: The show got better when she was away for most of it. That's when the writers had to make the train and the other characters stand on their own two feets and it made the show even better when she came back.

Layton: What can I say about this man that others have not said? I think neither of his canon love interests deserve him and why does Till love him so much?

Till: I feel like sometimes her soft uwu lesbianness crosses the line into infantilisation/immaturity and I don't like that. S2 was her best moments and then in S3 as soon as Audrey came back it was like she reverted to S1 in a bad way. I also don't think the writers know how they want to retroactively look back on Till either. If that makes sense.

Ruth: Her endless fucking cuddling up to Melanie got annoying when it was pretty apparent that Melanie didn't ever treat her that well. I dislike characters with little self-respect. Get a better mentor/friend, Ruth - and I say that with love! She's a great character but her constant going back to Melanie annoyed me. I was glad she put her foot down in S3.

Audrey: She should have died in S3. And I don't know why Till went back for her.

Bennett: Maybe if he banged Wilford five ways to Sunday they'd both calm down

Jinju: She would have been a great S2/S3 character. And I think it was right of her to lie to Till considering Till was just. A bit too idealistic in S1 lol.

Josie: If developed properly, her relo with Bennett could really take off. Both of them are similar in that they pine after people who just. categorically put other people/the train ahead of them. It could be a nice bonding moment.

Osweiller: I don't like the way the show tried to make him into this uwu boyfriend character.

Zarah: I take her side in the argument she had with Layton about giving the cold-resistance genes to Liana. Layton fucked off for six months, so he's not exactly an active parent, and what parent wouldn't want to protect their kid from the cold? The whole 'you stamped her with Wilford' was a low blow, man.

Javi: He's way too well-adjusted in S3. I needed to see him sobbing more.

Roche: I'm not sure why they made him so like...unsympathetic to his own daughter late S3? I didn't get the progression there.

LJ: The way she died was fucking hilarious. Perfect way for her to go.

Miles: He's way WAY too nice and buddy buddy with Melanie considering what she did to his birth family, to Layton, to Josie, to the Tail. Like. Come on.

Pike: He looked so much better clean shaven in S3.

Alex: She was kinda annoying at the beginning of S3.

Wilford: Literally anything I've ever said about him ever. He needs to faint and throw up next season. Ben needs to give him some dick too. <3

Sykes: She doesn't really stand out though I think her and Javi's relationship was a big missed opportunity to bridge the gap between the Big Alice and Snowpiercer ways of life.

Asha: Unnecessary! We didn't need her if she was just going to fall off the face of the earth in the way she did, and also they have those new people in S4 so like. WHY?

[kaypeace21]

The door & the rose glass in the Creel house(movie eastereggs)

Since hellraiser 1-2 is said to inspire s4 of st. i wanted to mention a particular detail. I think hellraiser will have quite a bit of influence over s4. But one scene in particular caught my attention .

So we see in the creel teaser- the rose glass on the door. And it changes colors to symbolically show the darkness and or possession has taken over VIctor.

Black & red symbolically representing - death / darkness & anger/ blood, respectively. You still see a yellow halo (maybe a subversion of the holy-halo given how the creel murders had "demon " immagery in the newspaper clippings ).

The 2 siblings laying near the door is both an eastergg to s3 of (possessed)Heather attacking her 2 family members . But also to another s4 film inspo (the shinning). Where the possessed father k*lls his 2 children.

I think Alice may survive, but I digress.

So what about hellraiser? Well there's this scene. Notice the rose panned doors.

For context - this line " come to daddy" makes her realize this man isn't actually her father (he simply has his face).

Also given the fact , stephen king's " the shinning" ( was confirmed inspo for s4). And over 7 stephen king films/books were said to inspire stranger things. What about the stephen king mini series "rose red" about a haunted house ?

Hmm , sounds a bit familiar... house in the past had horrible m*rder. Decades later, a group of people visit the home. The house (called rose red) causes people who go inside to hallucinate/ "go crazy" . And most of them barely escape the house -in the end. maybe it is inspo... I mean one of the guys visiting 'rose red" is named Steve haha. I haven't had time to watch the series though.

Also we know the creels reference alice in wonderland: alice creel, the March hare, the hatter, the clock, the dream references, the roses, the madness etc. In the film : characters paint the white roses red. These red roses were the queen of hearts- who was cruel, bloodthirsty , etc. And painting the roses red symbolized her violent and "bloodthirsty" nature.

Then @ghostgirlinsatin mentioned this - beauty and the beast is another s4 film inspo. The red rose was an "hourglass and reminder of the beasts' past selfishness, cruelty (and the curse of being turned into a monster)." Which would fit Victor being possessed and becoming a "monster" in front of the rose door.

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S3 E22 Finale (Spoilers!) 

- Life would lose its meaning, if I lost you, my love is the song lyric that sends us out of Season 3 and I kept thinking about S5a. This lyric is the expression of the central tragedy of this show, namely, Jughead and Veronica, the person with the biggest heart and the biggest brain, respectively, yearning to have their love  & devotion properly reciprocated by Barchie, and not getting it. (I hate this place. I hope S5b takes me somewhere better).

Toni is the True Serpent Queen

- Toni assembles everyone and their weapons so quick, both the Serpents and the Poisons, and they know what’s what and follow her command. 

- But first, she gets drugged. Toni Topaz I feel like wouldn’t have been into Harry Potter, maybe because she would’ve figured out Rowling’s issues faster than everyone else.  Nevertheless, if she had, Toni would have known better than to accept food or drink from Penelope Blossom, especially when Penelope calls it ‘calming tea.’  When I first saw this I was convinced that Penelope had straight up killed Toni, but I am so glad she didn’t. 

- Toni is awoken by the ever wonderful Grandma Blossom who always knows whatever the hell is going on.  Grandma Blossom wants Toni to participate as a side player in the Main 4′s plot but Toni is very firm:  I NEED TO SAVE CHERYL.  Because you know, the main four always do that to Choni. Go Toni with your proper priorities.  Because when Choni do come to the rescue of the main four, NOBODY SAYS THANK YOU. 

Sidebar: Girlfriends well met, because after her valiant self sacrifice for her lady, Cheryl saves her own self, more or less. She also runs, several miles, in the dark, in heels, holding a baby, and her hair is still perfect at the end of it.  Cheryl Blossom is a witch, nobody can tell me otherwise.  And I very much enjoyed the multiple archers.  Yeah, a solo archer is really of limited utility, but I agree that a gang of archers can be all that.

I also liked the very brief, very tiny, Alice and Cheryl scenes.  They both  have snappy bitch energy. Alice answering the question from Cheryl about Why should I trust you! with What choice do you have? is the most persuasive anyone has ever been with Cheryl.  Betty could learn a thing or two. 

So then Alice stays for Polly and wants Betty to be safe from the Farm.  So it’s sometime AFTER she married Edgar that she met Charles and became the secret mole? Alice hates herself, so she can’t love her daughters and that’s why Charles’ intervention works.  I would feel bad for her, but she’s so shit.

Penelope Blossom is a Terrific Villain

-  Penelope, like a good madame (I assume?) lets people be who they are.  That has to be the key to her success as a sex worker. She understands people.  Penelope Blossom understands that Edgar’s greed for money outweighs his need to indulge in his various perversions, and so she buys all of Betty’s organs, in bulk.  (I am a sicko for finding this funny, but I mean seriously, Penelope has a way with words). She got Dagwood (Jason Jr. The Second)  because she understood that Edgar really only wants to keep girl children and gay boys. 

The total filth and lack of any sort of hygiene at the Farm’s organ harvesting surgery room gives me absolute heebie jeebies.  Edgar is such a pervert, but it’s useful that perverts in tv and film are such ornate, fussy people because otherwise he’d just straight up murder Betty and there’d be no more show.

- By the way Penelope doesn’t want to rescue Cheryl, just Betty, even after she knows Evernever is harvesting organs. Damn that is cold.

- Penelope has been observing Jughead very closely during their repeated interactions this season, so she knows that Jughead loves to give Poirot monologues, and she lets him!  And Jughead just has a whole selection of these speech openings in his head, all the time, to pull out whenever.  Use quote from Conan Doyle re: Impossible, Improbable, Truth, In Real Life, now crossed off the Jughead Master To Do List!  Oh and Jughead talks to Hal Cooper for the first time in his life, and so calls him Mr. Cooper because Jughead politeness compulsion is so ingrained.

- Penelope only wears her long opera gloves on her left hand because that’s the site of the worst injuries sustained in the Blossom Fire. I want to know where she keeps all the right handed gloves.  

- Penelope also understands that Betty is basically Alice in a Gothic Wonderland, and knows that she will, without question or attempt at escape, just obediently follow written instructions that say “Put This On, Come Downstairs.” Especially if you make the gown pink.  (Pause here to say, OMG Betty is so! very! beautiful!  Penelope voice to purr:  Elizabethhhhh Pretty~~~~)

-  Penelope is the OG Game Master.  Penelope is a homophobe but I mean she is all about that drag queen showmanship. She juices up the game like a grown up: ALL OF THE CHALICES WERE POISONED. It’s just  slow acting. And maybe there is an antidote which might work and maybe there isn’t. Or maybe it was never poisoned to begin with. LULZ  you just have to finish the game!   The singsong delivery of the line:  Tick To~~ck is so fan.tast.ic. 

Hal Cooper Is A Gormless Woman Killer

- Hal Cooper is not scary. Once more - Hal Cooper Is Not Scary.  He just isn’t.  No disrespect to the performer, but he just isn’t threatening, at all.  Chic is unsettling and weird, at least, but Hal Cooper is not scary.    What he is though, is hateful.   

I find it hilarious that Hal Cooper’s final benediction, delivered by Penelope, is:  YOU WERE A TERRIBLE SERIAL KILLER.  This neatly echoes Alice Cooper bursting out in hysterical laughter when Betty first accuses her father of having killed Jason Blossom - The man is just not capable teehee.  And it’s true that if Hal had been tasked with killing Jason Blossom he wouldn’t have succeeded, but not for the reasons Alice thinks.  Hal is a woman killer, not a plain serial killer.

Hal’s a misogynist with control issues about women,so  his heart was only in it when he was out to kill women, and that’s why he fails so badly at killing men.

Compare to Sister Agatha, who killed all of her sister nuns to tie up loose ends, and to Penelope Blossom, who mostly kills men who have directly harmed her or get in her way.

Mary Andrews Gave Her Obtuseness To Her Son, Who is Just Not Bright 

- Does Mary know who Veronica’s father is?? Fred Andrews was often a little bit uncomfortable around Veronica. He didn’t openly approve of the Varchie relationship the way he did Valerie, for example.  FP, Failure Father Jones, expressed grave concerns when his child went into business (for a bit) with Veronica Lodge, but Mary is like, So Archie, are you and V endgame? Where do you stand?  I mean, she herself is queer, so that must be why relating to her straight son (if he is) (all his most important emotional connections are with boys and he keeps needing to find Jughead replacements soooo....) are so awkward.

- Archie, going off to fight the Bear Man, asks in the most super casual way that his friends tell his parents that he loves them, if he dies, and then adds as a total afterthought, “You guys too.”  This little bit reveals everything there is to say about Archie being both so, so dumb and yet so loveable.

Sidebar: Giant Unexplained Man who is willing to wear a bear head hat and beat a teenager to death in the woods (what was the wanted ad for this job like?)  is so Riverdale.

- Archie has played two whole rounds of live action  G&G with real death stakes and still doesn’t know that it’s Gargoyles and not Gremlins because that boy is just not smart.

Veronica is the Smartest of the Main Four, says the Show

- Veronica keeps saying sensible things that are directly contradicted by Jughead and I don’t like this.  I saw this in a really well put together film commentary once - that women often ask questions in movies that are answered by the nearest man, that women posit things that are sensible but then the nearest man shows  them to be wrong by saying the opposite thing that comes true. And this exact thing keeps happening to Veronica by Jughead here and it does them both a disservice. Jughead listens to women (all people really, but especially women) very closely and carefully, you know? And Veronica is the smartest one of the main four, the all-rounder.  I know Betty gets the best grades but come on, she’s not the smartest.   

Example 1:  Archie says “The invites say not to tell anyone or bring our phones,” to which Veronica explains, to Archie, “So it’s a trap.” Archie’s face is like OMFG WHAT I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT but Jughead glares at Veronica like she’s stupid and snaps, “What that ever in doubt?”   Um. Hey now.

Example 2:   Veronica, who has never played any version of G&G, is the one to say,  “We don’t even know where to go!”  and immediately, Jughead answers, “Actually, Enchantress, we might.”   Let me reiterate, Archie has played the real life version because Warden Norton and Hiram Lodge forced him to from when he was in prison and he knows the rules enough to hallucinate the game when he has Bear Claw Fever, but he still doesn’t know what the game is called!  Betty must’ve gotten a quick tutoring session between when she didn’t know anything about the game and when she moved into the Farm and was comfortable addressing Jughead as Hellcaster. So there is no justification for Jughead to be so irritable with Veronica for her questions.

Example 3:  When given the Poison Roulette game, Veronica at first refuses to participate, which is also a sane response, and yet again, Jughead, who was waiting for her to object,  then reads her the rest of the instructions.  Jughead, why are  you being so mean to Veronica? 

Example 4: In the throes of the game, Archie wonders aloud WTF  is going on because he’s slow, and Veronica says, as she’s dying of poisoning, that maybe they can figure out the whys and wherefores later, which is a sensible thing to say, and then Jughead goes, Nope, figuring out how all this is connected is the answer!

Example 5:  Jughead then goes on this Bible infused ramble (Did FP put Jughead in Sunday school at some point?) - Jason Blossom death begat the Black Hood  which begat Gargoyle King, but our Cafeteria Catholic Veronica isn’t having it because it is wrong, and so she points out that Black Hood existed before the Blossom murder, and Jughead goes, in essence,  Oh oopsie but I am still right.

BUT!  After all that, the Show realizes that in order to shoehorn Charles into the story, and make the character turnaround for  Alice have at least half a chance and  establish that law enforcement does sort of exist in this universe, they have  to have Veronica say, “Actually, it kind of tracks.”   This is a signal to the audience that since the smartest person in the show has accepted that this tracks so we all need to just fall in line. 

Performance sidebar: Betty’s chuckle of surreal disbelief is a golden piece of acting genius in this show and I love it, and Jughead’s mind getting wiped completely clean as he figures out that he shares a half sibling with his girlfriend is just as classic. 

Jughead Loves Archie & Betty, in this order

-First up, Jughead loves Archie more than Veronica does.  I love how the one reaction you see of the remaining three when Archie gets slammed by the Bear Man is Jughead, and Jughead’s legs just give out from under him when he sees Archie take the blow.  Both of the girls are dry eyed, but Jug definitely starts to cry.   It’s dark and it’s hard to see, but I swear.  The Archie POV shots are fascinating too.  He does look at Veronica first, and that helps him decide to fight harder, so he grabs a big branch.  Then he gets flung in a way Archie does not get flung, and this is when he seeks out Jughead, and his eye contact with Jughead is what gives him the critical second  wind to win.  

-  By the way, is Bear Man dead?? Is he the second man Archie has killed?  

- Before Betty’s solo challenge, Jughead tells her he loves her.  (Betty just doesn’t do that for Jughead. I know, it’s petty, but girl, learn to take a moment.)  Anyway, they share a long kiss, in the dark, and I am annoyed because I can’t see. Show me!  And when she’s drinking the poisons he doesn’t take his eye off her for even a second.  Oh Jughead.

Veronica Loves Betty & Archie, in this order

- ‘K so ... grabbing and downing a goblet that you both think is full of cyanide that will make you die a gruesome death immediately, and declaring that you did it BECAUSE I LOVE YOU is the most piercingly romantic thing anyone has ever done for anybody on Riverdale.  I feel like this is neck and neck with Jughead making that final phone call to Betty before letting himself get Aslan-sacrificed by the Ghoulies in the S2 Finale.  You’re my best friend... and... and  says Veronica and my heart is breaking and so is hers because she can’t finish the sentence. To which Betty says, I love you too.  

OK primal howl break here to ask Betty how could you! How! Could! You! How!!!! And WHY???  And what did it get you?

- Oh golly I am so upset. 

- Veronica is supposed to choose her closest companion, and Betty volunteers.  So Betty knows that Veronica loves her most.  Note the very careful wording of this - Veronica has to choose the companion she feels closest to. Betty knows. 

- And fucking Archie, after witnessing how much Veronica loves Betty, and how golden and perfect and whole Veronica’s love can be for a person, picks the worst possible fucking time to say he loves Veronica. Sure you do Archie. Yup. Uh huh.

- Oh, and then we find out that nothing happened with Reggie after Archie cockblocked him that night after Reggie gave up everything for Veronica once again. Veronica is committed to Archie and wants Archie, and I love Veronica so I want her to get what she wants (even though I know she’ll never get it - sob!), but also, justice for Reggie when?

Chic v Jughead. 

- I absolutely love Jughead’s WTF disbelief throughout the final quest.  When Penelope announces, Let the final quest... Begin! in the same theatrical way he himself had when he was gamemaster, he quirks his eyebrows at her like, Is that the best you can do?  

Sidebar:   Penelope’s very gender traditional ways of thinking are revealed - the girls have to poison themselves and boys have to fight off an attacker.  

- Jughead learns that learning the motives of a serial killer are unilluminating.

gif by @rudys-pankow​

I mean, this is the Wow, OK, heard ‘round the world.  The single best delivered line of meta commentary in a television show ever. No, just, ever, ok? No contest. Just accept it.

The Farmies

- When Cheryl first finds them in their room at the Farm, Kevin and Fangs are doing some sort of hand holding, loving-eye contact type of semi-dance ritual, and ... but for the cult context this looks so adorable.  The fact that they both overcome this experience enough to be in a long term stable relationship, both finish college, both work out a stable (enough) adult life, and want to start a family together is so heartwarming to me. (And yet sad, because it just breaks apart in S5a.)

- The Worthy ascended and we’ll never see them again. Dun dun. Except they just.. moved. What does Kevin thinks has happened?   The Ascension of the Farmies is a weird misdirect, because Ascension just means We Move Houses. Farmies are such drama queens.   Riverdale is down in some sort of valley, right?  So they just literally ascended to a house geographically higher up!

Set Up for Season 4

- I mean obviously, the S4 set up is the Is Jughead Dead but that was never a true cliffhanger, to begin with, and now I know Jughead lives into his mid twenties at least, so Betty insisting the other two stand naked in the forest burning the beanie was just her being very dramatic.  And her pronouncement about ‘We never speak of this ever’ is contradicted immediately because they involve the entire village almost immediately.

- Cheryl has Jason all to herself, finally. Cheryl discovering Jason’s corpse and her horror at it contrasts nicely with how casual she is about this corpse in the next season. 

- Hermione arrested for attempted murder of Hiram.  Oh, and Mad-Dog Monroe and Archie want to create a community center. 

- Meanwhile, Preppy Jughead was my jam so I am very hyped for S4 retread.

[piracytheorist]

Unpopular opinions about Killian Jones

Liam was a fuck-up long before the writers decided to make him a mass murderer out of nowhere. He was lawful af, Killian was chaotic af, and combined with his big brother complex it's a miracle their relationship even survived this long and you could argue that it was only because of their conditions that they were so close. There was nothing he could have offered Killian if they had a reunion pre-5x15, aside from maybe showing him that he'd moved on so Killian could feel at peace.

Long before 5x14 I wanted Killian to see Milah again though and have a proper goodbye, never did I ever see a fic about that before 5b though oops

When he met Baelfire in Neverland he was at the worst of his grief for Milah and he would've been a horrible influence for him. He wasn't ready to move on and he would've seen him as an emotional replacement plus the amount of lying from his part or the anger from Bae's part upon finding the truth would have made for a poor ground for any kind of relationship. After they met again in Storybrooke, yeah. In Neverland? Nope.

The main reason Wish Hook was a good father to Alice was practically all instinct to help that poor baby survive. After that it was him dealing with himself and his own issues that made him a good father.

On that note, physically he was over the top brave. Throw anything at him, any physical challenge or pain and he'd be like "Is that all you've got?" Emotionally he was a fucking coward. Instead of actually facing the pain of his losses he hid himself behind façades and bravado because it was simply easier. Not shading the dude, of course, but it carried on post s3 - he lied to Emma because he didn't want to face her judgement and whatever negative feelings that could've caused him, he focused always on the tasks at hand after Emma became the Dark One because dealing with his emotions was just too much for him to handle, heck you'll tell me about him letting her go in 5x20 and I'll tell you "Bruh he didn't say goodbye to David and Henry or even Regina and Robin even though he knew the risks they'd taken trying to save him."

(Again it's not an effort to shade him. I fucking love him. But he was super unwilling to ever deal with emotions if he had any way to avoid them, either that being evading or simply focusing on something else)

He wasn't the least bit afraid of being killed by Rumpelstiltskin - he was afraid of being killed before he got his revenge.

On that note, I think it's kind of unpopular to think he had a death wish?? And like I'm not saying this in an uwu, woobiefying, trying-to-justify-his-actions-in-s2 fashion, I'm saying this in a "He was fucking destroyed and didn't care for the consequences of his actions because he only thought of his revenge and didn't think he'd survive long enough after getting it to be burdened by guilt" fashion. Like in 3x17 he hates himself for betraying Ariel from the very first moment - it's because he had tasted his revenge, realized it wasn't worth anything he had gone through and had done himself but by that point he didn't see many options other than returning to his evil ways but surprise bitch this time you wanna live and now you have to deal with the consequences of your actions.

Despite being respectful towards women he didn't know shit about them until Milah taught him what's what and like honestly homeboy lost his mother as a child and grew up among macho men who mistreated him where exactly do you expect knowledge about women to come from

And like yes I'm talking about periods and pregnancy and fuck you if you dare think I'm fragile kinda stuff

After that he's a fucking expert though to the point where Emma is shooketh when he knows exactly how to help her the first time she's on her period while they're dating

Similarly Wish Hook would have had a lot of talk about that stuff with Alice and he'd have zero shame teaching her sex ed and stuff

He loves sea shanties and I’m putting this here because I’ve nearly never seen it mentioned by any other fan even though we weren’t given one (1) single reason to think otherwise so yeah. His world has its own shanties (since many, many of our shanties mention places in our world) but the style is similar. And because when singing the cockiness comes out he always sings the main melody.

[rochellena]

What makes Quentin different and lesser than the others? Why is this being done this way? Why won’t they ask the questions of him, they’ve asked of Alice and Eliot? Will I ever be ok?

So, I’ve been trying to find the words to explain what is upsetting me most about the way the Q story is being handled in s5. I won’t lie, there are some things that hitting the right notes for me (I’m easy person to win over. I won’t lie. My standards do not exist.), but at the same time, I keep coming back to how quickly this has been wrapped up. Julia was sad for about 5 minutes and Margo acts like she doesn’t know who this Q person was. I heard there had actually been a touching scene where Kady showed some grief, but it was cut, which is a shame --I always thought the Kady/Q almost friendship was interesting (I loathed that the only thing she could think of to bring to the finale fire was the autographed book that had been one of the final straws for breaking Q’s spirit. Anyway not the point, but boy I would love to do a whole write up about that), and with how detached Kady’s story is from EVERYTHING ELSE, it would have been a good way to incorporate her into this bigger story of mourning and grief (though it also just goes to show how much of the glue that Q was to these characters).

The only characters who actually seem affected by what happened are Alice and Eliot, which while not surprising, it kind of hurts a lot to see the memory of Quentin Coldwater reduced down to his two major romantic partners. And after the newest episode, it hurts more to see how these two have officially given up on him now too. These two that he fought so hard to save. I mean, you can even compare the s2 arc of saving Alice to the s4 arc of saving Eliot, and they’re almost beat for beat the same--the initial denial and hope that something can be done (going to the flying forest, helping the monster in hopes he’ll release El), some outside force assuring him that it can not be done as they’re dead dead (the questing beast and the monster), he believes it for about a half second before something happens (ghost|niffin!Alice haunting him, El breaking free from the monster for a moment) and then he gives every ounce of energy he has to saving them-- some of them silly (interpretive dances and talking to mummies), some of them painful (niffin!alice doing everything she can to emotionally hurt him, the monster constantly touching him and using Eliot’s body as a tool to keep Q in line), hell, he even visits Mayakovsky for help during each of these arcs. All of this to say, there’s no one who could deny that Q did not give up on Alice and El, never, and definitely not so easily or quickly. 

So to see these two people, the two that at different points of his life, he gave everything to bring back from death, it hurts. And that’s what it was, Niffin!Alice was not just another version of Alice. Our Alice died that day. Q brought her back, but she died the day she became a niffin. Now because she was a niffin, it was a whole different life, kind of like Fred becoming Ilyria on Angel. Niffin!Alice ended up having her own set of experiences (good and bad) and her own life, and the question of whether it was right for Q to strip that away from her to bring back our Alice was the entirety of their s3 story, but at the end of the day, the answer settled on yes, it was right to bring her back because no matter what she experienced as a niffin, the power she had, it only happened because a 23 year old girl was tragically killed. 

El was a little different, but at the same time, as time went on, we saw the Monster developing his own views and thoughts. For the first time since his creation, he was able to act on his own accord and he discovered he liked churros and television and touching and Starbucks and Quentin and those quiet moments in the forest under an old tree. I mean, that last moment of the monster, sitting under that tree, demonstrated that to get Eliot back, they had to eliminate this new existence. Again, this isn’t the same as niffin!Alice because even post-rehumaning of her, there was a part of her that enjoyed that other existence (but it was still the right thing to do) while Eliot was invaded and did not like it. But in the end, the similarities of what Q did, what Q gave up, and what Q destroyed to bring back the people he loved are present and strong. 

So, it brings me to this thing I’m really struggling with-- every one keeps saying that the reason they can’t/shouldn’t bring Q back is because it was his choice. But it was also Alice’s choice to go niffin that day. She admitted it; she let herself burn so she could destroy the beast. Eliot might not have known he’d get possessed, but he knew he was putting his life in danger when he pulled that trigger, but he did so he could try to protect Q. Just like Q doing what he did to defeat Everett (which there is so much stuff to support that this was NOT THE ONLY OPTION but that’s not the point here), Alice sacrificed herself to defeat the beast and save her friends and Eliot was willing to sacrifice himself to kill the monster and save Q. 

So why is Quentin’s choice the only one that sticks? Why his “sacrificial choice” more concrete than theirs? Why does it need to be respected? All three of them would sacrifice themselves to save the people they love. The question at the end of the day is though, would they like to save their friends and also be alive themselves? Alice and El (except for Q) both got to answer that question (and from what we know about this season, Eliot will become more sure on this part, much like Alice over s3 and 4): though it’s rough, though it’s painful and messy and dirty, life is worth something. But for Q, this isn’t a question that’s being asked. The idea that they can’t change time because it has to have happened for them to be alive now doesn’t hold weight when Q brought back Alice and Q saved Eliot. 

And this gets to the crux of my issue: If you ask that question, and the answer is yes, saving your friends is important but so is being alive, then everyone giving up on him and not reciprocating what he would do for them, is terrible and heartbreaking and basically an affirmation of his every negative thought--disposable, useless, unnecessary, unlovable, he breaks things. But if the answer is yeah saving my friends is important but my own life is not, then it’s canon confirmation that his death was a suicide, and then the question of choice becomes void, and they should be doing everything they can to save him a la What Dreams May Come. 

If they aren’t going to bring Q back (and I truly dgaf about bts stuff, as how this is all being handled rests squarely on the shoulders of the people writing it. And honestly if this is the result of JR leaving because he wanted more creative control, than they should have probably given it to him because he would have done a lot better by Q-- end snark), then it should be a bigger impact than 2 characters being sad, but accepting with very little pushback, and moving on. Or at the very least, give better reasons why beyond “it was his choice.” This is magical fantasy world where anything can happen and no one stays dead, give me something with meat. Q deserved better than that, and it’s really breaking my heart that in universe, no one else thinks so. 

[callunavulgari]

Scrapbook 2021 | Part I

For anyone that’s new to this, this is how I keep track of all of the things I enjoy and/or create throughout the year. I have literally been doing this since I had a livejournal. I think the first one was 2011? Maybe? In which case, woohoo, ten years of scrapbooking!

It’s a nice little snippet of my life and helps to organize my brain.

A reminder:

Normal font - Indifferent/Neutral Italicized font - Enjoyed bold font - Loved with an asterisk* - All time favorite (bracketed titles) - Re-watches/Re-reads strikethough - Disliked

Goals are: read 80 books, finish five video games, write more than 20 fics or something larger than 20k, and write either an original short story or start a novel. 

Past Years

MOVIES

January

(Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring)

(Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

(Lord of the Rings: Return of the King)

Robin Hood

(Hook)

Wolfwalkers

February

(Age of Ultron)

From Up On Poppy Hill

(Tangled)

(Onward)

(The Mummy)

(Hercules)

(Promare)

March

Raya and the Last Dragon

(My Neighbor Totoro)

April

(Hunchback of Notre Dame)

(Tarzan)

(Beauty and the Beast)

Weathering With You

BOOKS

January

A Deadly Education | Naomi Novak [Fin]

Home Body | Rupi Kaur [Fin]

The Sunken Mall | K.D. Edwards [Fin]

Bloom | Kevin Panetta [Fin]

The Angel of Crows | Katherine Addison

All the Stars and Teeth | Adalyn Grace [Fin]

The Adventure Zone: Vol 1 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

I Hope You Stay | Courtney Peppernell [Fin]

Pillow Thoughts | Courtney Peppernell [Fin]

Piraneesi | Susanna Clarke [Fin]

The Ex Talk | Rachel Lynn Solomon [Fin]

February

The Adventure Zone: Vol 2 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

The Adventure Zone: Vol 3 | McElroys & Carey Pietsch [Fin]

The Angel of Crows | Katherine Addison

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink

March

Winter’s Orbit | Everina Maxwell [Fin]

Fireheart Tiger | Aliette de Bodard [Fin]

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink

Fire | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

Bitterblue | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

The Witch’s Heart | Genevieve Gornichec [Fin]

Winterkeep | Kristin Cashore

April

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink [Fin]

Winterkeep | Kristin Cashore [Fin]

The Memory Theater | Karin Tidbeck [Fin]

These Violent Delights | Chloe Gong 

(Red White and Royal Blue | Casey Mcquiston) [Fin]

Rule of Wolves | Leigh Bardugo [Fin]

Alice Isn’t Dead | Joseph Fink [Fin]

Not the Girl You Marry | Andie Christopher [Fin]

The Echo Wife | Sarah Gailey [Fin]

The Midnight Library | Matt Haig

Catherine House | Elisabeth Thomas [Fin]

Séance Tea Party | Reimena Yee [Fin]

Lumberjanes vol 1 | Noelle Stevenson [Fin]

PODCASTS

January

The Unseen, Christmas and New Year Special

The Penumbra Podcast, Juno Steel arc, Heart of It All and What Lies Beyond

The Penumbra Podcast, Second Citadel, Strong Arm of Justice and The Priestess’ Fortune

I Am In Eskew, Episode 16

Welcome to Night Vale, Episode 67, 68, and 69

The Magnus Archives, Episode 190 and 191

February

The Magnus Archives, Episode 192-194

The Adventure Zone, Episodes 15-60

March

The Magnus Archives, Episode 194-200 [Fin]

The Adventure Zone, Episodes 60-TAZ BALANCE ENDING

MBMBAM, Episode 1

I Am In Eskew, Episode 17-22

April

I Am In Eskew, Episode 23-END

Alice Isn’t Dead, Episode 18-END

TV SHOWS BY SEASON

January

His Dark Materials, s2 [Fin]

Watcher Entertainment

Buzzfeed Worth It

(Black Sails, s1)

The Queen’s Gambit**

February

Cherry Magic

Wandavision, s1

Watcher Entertainment

The Owl House

(Little Witch Academia)

Star vs the Forces of Evil, s3, s4

Bridgerton

Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime

Heaven’s Official Blessing

March

Wandavision, s1 [Fin]

Watcher Entertainment, Puppet History & Watcher Weekly

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Word of Honor

April

Word of Honor, s1

Watcher Entertainment, Puppet History

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, s1

Kim’s Convenience, s1, 2, 3, 4

Leverage, s4

Shadow and Bone, s1

The Great, s1

VIDEO GAMES

January

Hades, 37 hours [Fin]

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

February

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

Hades, 75+ hours? 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 16 hours

Persona 5 Royal

March

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 45 hours

Persona 5 Royal, 141 hours

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, 35 hours

Concrete Genie, 3 hours

April

Concrete Genie, 6 hours [Fin]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, 65 hours

Persona 5 Royal, 160 hours

Monster Hunter Rise, 2 hours

Civ, 5 hours

DELIGHTFUL FIC

January

Modern Rustic by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 22k | “I think,” he says, finally, “that if we looked around this place hard enough, we’d find a rose underneath a—a glass thing, what’s it called—losing petals. Metaphorically.”

easy livin' by sarcasticfishes | Buzzfeed Unsolved (Fallout AU) | Ryan/Shane | 6k | The Wasteland - and Ryan - through Shane's eyes.

(in nocte consiliam by oxymoronic | Bartimaeus | Bartimaeus/Nathaniel | 4k | London, 2003. Britain is on the brink of war, and someone is trying rather hard to kill John Mandrake.)

made of glass the way you see through me by uneventfulhouses | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 19k | Will it always be like this? Ryan wonders, watching Shane lope up the snowy walkway and pushing his way through the front door, humming some jolly old tune in that way Shane’s prone to do. Theatrical, performing for an audience even though Ryan is the only one around.

All Your Stars In View by alpha_exodus | Harry Potter | Draco/Harry | 18k | Life after the war is difficult for Harry, especially when the only thing that makes him feel better is, oddly enough, being around Malfoy. So when Malfoy asks to paint his portrait, Harry can't refuse, even if it means baring himself in more ways than one.

13 Genuinely Awful Things About Steven by thefourthvine | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 10k | Andrew’s learned to like cake, he’s learned to like oysters, and he’s learned to like Steven.

we’ll make a brand new start of it (in old new york) by misantlery | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 10k | “Just to be clear,” Andrew says. “You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend at a party to spite your high school bully and your high school girlfriend and possibly the entire state of Ohio?”

Russian Roulette Croquembouche by misantlery | Buzzfeed Worth It | Andrew/Steven | 9k | “Get that on your business card,” Andrew advises. “Steven Lim, video producer, world traveler, fancy dessert boy. Human cream puff.”

rose-colored boy by juniperProse | Buzzfeed Worth It | Steven/Andrew | 2k | Andrew’s eyes are pink.

Like Wildfire by makemadej | Watcher Entertainment | Shane/Ryan | 20k | “Is this gonna be a thing with you?” Ryan demands. “You can’t keep committing to stuff that no one else knows about! When people online say they want you to be more open and vulnerable, this is not what they mean.”

Scratching the Itch by bendingsignpost | Doctor Who | Rose/Ten | 20k | Her mum had always told her that blokes had only one thing on their minds, but this was taking it to an entirely new level.

lie back and let me unlock you by Lise | The Untamed | Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang | 7k | Xiao Xingchen, reluctantly, admits to certain fantasies that he has. His friend is happy to indulge him.

in our respective ways by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji | 6k | Jiang Cheng has his golden core back. But he seems to have lost Wei Wuxian.

By Proxy by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji | 12k | Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, looking for comfort in all the wrong places.

some good mistakes by Lise | The Untamed | Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji | 18k |  Or, the one where Wei Wuxian vanishes and Lan Wangji, reluctantly, asks for Jiang Cheng's help tracking him down.

efforts in a common cause by Lise | The Untamed | Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang/Song Lan | 12k | Everybody's walked out of Yi City alive. Now it's just three badly adjusted adults (and one badly adjusted teenager) trying to make things work - a project somewhat derailed by a night hunt that turns out to be something else.

swinger of birches by astronicht | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 23k | Lan Zhan is a little witch in the house on the hill, whispering out a love curse. Wei Ying is a witch undead, undone.

let me desecrate you by hkafterdark | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 6k | “Dangerous words.” Wei Wuxian drew back. The flickering candlelight gave him an otherworldly appearance; that, and his beauty, unchanged since the first time Lan Wangji had seen him. “You aren’t afraid to be at the mercy of the fearsome Yiling laozu?”

The Demon Affair by stereobone | Yu Yu Hakusho | Hiei/Kurama | 9k | Kurama accidentally seduces Hiei into a relationship.

i came to win (and i won) by paperclipbitch | The Queen’s Gambit | Beth/Benny | 3k | They play chess, and they fuck.The two things are not the same.

February

Sylvain Gautier Would Love To Try To Solve All Your Problems Through Sex (Hey It Might Help) by Fall Out Boy by harriet_vane | Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Sylvain/Felix | 22k | In which Sylvain wakes up on the wrong tour bus, and refuses to be their sex therapist (unless Felix asks nicely)

Turnabout and Start Again by runningondreams | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 34k | WIP | Wei Wuxian lives. The siege fails.Thirteen years later, Lan Wangji wakes in a body that is not his own.

μήτηρ, in the Greek by antistar_e (kaikamahine) | Hades | Nyx & Persephone, canon relationships | 37k | At the end of this recounting, she tilted her head and asked politely, Is this not how you have children?Uh, no, said Persephone.

that voodoo that you do so well by veterization | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 18k |  Ryan buys a voodoo potion oil at Voodoo Authentica meant to attract Yummy Boys. Appropriately, things happen.

A Bridge Between by Runespoor | Spirited Away | Gen | 3k | Years later, Chihiro moves into a new apartment; her parents help.

the ghost king's bride by arahir | Tian Guan Ci Fu | Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 10k | Ghosts won't stop giving Xie Lian flowers, Hua Cheng won't stop teasing, and Xie Lian is out here doing his best, man.

Side bitch out of your league by rohkeutta | Captain America | Steve/Bucky | 3k | “I tried to call Sam,” Captain America says, bewildered. He’s sprinting like Usain Bolt and doesn’t sound even a little out of breath. Fucker. “Who’re you?”

cause in your warmth (I forget how cold it can be) by madnessandbrilliance | Promare | Lio/Galo | 7k | Lio is always freezing. Galo is always warm. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the rest.

backdraft by broments | Promare | Lio/Galo | 32k | It happens in an instant, Galo gaping like an idiot while Lio presses forward to defend against the perceived threat, the weapon sparkling but not burning as it kisses Galo's throat.

your perfect crime (& how you laugh when you lie) by aroceu | The Untamed | Lan Zhan/Wei Wuxian | Death Note AU | 8k | The first time a convicted murderer dies of a heart attack in their jail cell, no one thinks anything of it.

Yosuke will now die for you! by DragonBandit | Persona 4 | Yosuke/Souji | 5k | ...This, causes problems.

dramamine by brawlite | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 7k | Song Lan is having a bad morning. Help comes from the last person he'd expect: Xue Yang.

Hearth and Home by lady_ragnell | Leverage | Alec/Eliot/Parker | 1k | When Eliot goes to a temple, or when he’s in one place long enough to build a shrine, he doesn’t do it for Ares. He does it for Hestia.

Where One Ends and the Other Begins by kalliopeia | Leverage | Alec/Parker/Eliot | 30k | Nobody’s particularly shocked when the job goes spectacularly sideways because their loot turns out to be magic. Parker and Eliot begin reading each other’s minds, accidental sharing happens, and shenanigans result.

Hungry Thirsty Roots by coolkidroland | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 56k | In which Akira absolutely does not learn to leave well enough alone. **

Without Grasping Yet by Angelic_Ascent | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 8k | Akechi and Akira end up far too cramped for comfort in the Morgana bus. And then they're left alone in Mementos.

Falling Up by KivaEmber | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 2k | “If it helps…” Akira spoke up suddenly, his tone morbidly amused, “I forgive you, for shooting me in the face.”

March

Touch of Forbidden by tirsynni | LoZ | Ganondorf/Link | 2k |  Nabooru warned him not to travel to the Spirit Temple. So of course Link went to the Spirit Temple.

breaking the same old heart by tardigradeschool | The Adventure Zone | Magnus/Taako | 11k | Taako and Magnus in triptych: before, during, and after the Bureau.**

your head is good, it’s loyal, it’s clean by Anonymous | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 4k | "Here, I do this all the time."Too quickly for him to react, Taako plucks away one of his golden rings and slips it onto the ring finger of Magnus' left hand.

bruising kisses, whispered confessions by tangerine_skye | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | The trio stop over at an inn for the night. Taako and Magnus share a bed.

i can see what's coming (but i'm not saying it) by pansywaist | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | His breath is still hot on Taako's lips, distracting enough he almost misses the strained whisper: “I thought I was gonna lose you.”

Emergency Consolation in the Pocket Spa by Anonymous | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | If Magnus wants to hug a wizard, Magnus gets to hug a wizard.

together for the long haul by kismetNemesis | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 6k | Magnus and Taako were married on a bright spring day in the year after they saved the world.

thin skin, bruises, and a cold cup of tea by GayFrankensteinsMonster | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 3k | Sleep is for the weak, and Magnus has no weaknesses, except for his own natural curiosity.

tender is the night by dollylux | TAZ | Magnus/Taako | 10k |  “It’s just…” He runs a hand through the thick bramble of his hair, gripping the crown of it to anchor himself. He sighs, slumping back against the footboard. “I guess I’m just not very good at one on one. Like, not… not in any way.”

a note is attached to the top of the vial by GayFrankensteinsMonster | TAZ | Kravitz/Taako, Magnus/Taako | 5k |  Elves have a lifespan of up to six hundred years. The people that you know don't even come close to that.

Pieces of Memory and Heart by ellemaris | Raya and the Last Dragon | Raya/Namaari | 1k | Raya isn't sure how to heal everything between Heart and Fang, but returning something important to Namaari seems like a start.

the gods laugh by miss_aphelion | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 11k+ | WIP | Wei Wuxian is just getting used to being alive again when he's ripped from the world he knows. He wakes in a place where his sister and her husband live, where his brother doesn't hate him, where the Wen remnants have all survived.

In Your Room, In Your Bed by giraffeter | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji/Jiang Cheng | 25k | After Wei Ying is disowned, Yu Ziyuan forbids Jiang Cheng from letting Wei Ying live with him. Jiang Cheng lets him stay anyway because Fuck That. He tells his parents Lan Zhan is his new roommate instead.

in the blossom season (in the pouring rain) by varnes | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 14k |  “Doctor Flowers,” Lan Zhan repeats, pointing at the tiny plum tree, just to confirm that his son is suggesting a magical tree named Doctor Flowers sprouted overnight and made their tame family project turn into a verdant jungle.

34 years old - 5'8" - DL - no-BB by withpractice_ff | Ace Attorney | Edgeworth/Phoenix | 3k | Phoenix finds Edgeworth’s Grindr profile

spinning with the stars above by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 7k | Wangji returns home to Vulcan for the first time since he left for Starfleet Academy, this time with Wei Ying at his side. He’s not expecting Wei Ying and his uncle to be fast friends, but things go poorly in a very different way than he was expecting.

every breath that comes before by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 10k | Or, what if that cup of wine Wei Wuxian drank for Lan Wangji after the Phoenix Mountain hunt wasn't just wine?

never love an anchor by tardigradeschool | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 31k | A fisherman and a selkie fall in love beside the sea. Regretfully, things are never quite that simple.

Be Careful by giraffeter | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang | 5k |  Song Lan and Xue Yang try to survive a week in their shared apartment without Xiao Xingchen as a buffer.

  won't you let me know you now by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 12k | WIP | “Have you ever heard of a mind meld?” Wangji keeps his voice as level as possible, as if he is not revealing foremost Vulcan secrets.

April

running for a soft place to fall by tardigradeschool | The Untamed | Lan Xichen & Lan Wangji | 10k |  As he leaves for his coming of age test at age twelve, half-Vulcan Xichen has a goal in mind. The rules of the kahs-wan prohibit taking food, water, or weapons. In accordance, Xichen is bringing none of those things, but he does have a compass tucked into his pocket. He is going to find his father.

an act too often neglected by Ariaste | The Untamed | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | 60k | The single faceless, anonymous photograph on the profile that catches his eye is shot in elegant black-and-white, and there’s something about the crispness of the focus and the markedly off-center composition that says art, for once, rather than mugshot.The caption below is equally sparse: “5’6. Demanding.”

where you go, I'm going (so jump and I'm jumping) by Aria | The Magnus Archives | Martin/Jonathan | 6k | "I don't think so," Alex said. She looked at Martin. "Is this really how it went?"

Morning, keep the streets empty for me by feyburner | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 6k | Ghosts were drawn to the ring roads.

2am on a saturday by detectorist | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 11k | In which Lan Zhan gets high, slides into Wei Ying's DMs, and somehow ends up having the harmonica played to him at 2am in the morning.

Grief Kindly Stopped by ShanaStoryteller | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 5k | Nothing leaves the Burial Mounds alive.

superhero love triangle by Asuka Kureru (Askerian) | Bleach?! | Grimmjow/Ichigo | WIP | 17k | You know those classical superhero-genre love triangles that actually only contain two people? Yeah.

Boat Basin by downjune | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier | 5k |  He thought the 21st century now maybe suffered from an overabundance of classifications for all the different ways to fuck and/or romance a person, but the most important thing—and his therapist had emphasized this—the most important thing was connection.

my touch magnifies by isozyme | Word of Honor | Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu/Ye Baiyi | 7k | Wen Kexing gets hit with fuck-or-die sex pollen on the way to Longyuan cabinet. Everything would be fine, except Zhou Zishu’s been keeping an unfortunate secret: the nails in his chest mean he can’t get hard anymore.

DELIGHTFUL FANVIDS

January

2020 || Multifandom Mashup

Hades - Official Animated Trailer

Hades Mini-PMV: This Year

2020, I guess

MARVEL || Energy (ft. Easy McCoy + Black Hydra)

obi-wan || give it

2020 ll Multifandom Mashup

Multifandom | Goodbye 2020

Multifandom | Goodbye 2018

2018 Multifandom | MASHUP

His Dark Materials - No Sanctuary

Lyra & Mrs. Coulter | Hurricane

► mrs. coulter || way down we go [hdm]

Wonder Woman || BORN READY 

Vikings | The End of the Journey

February

MARVEL || Ready Set (ft. Vo Williams)

MARVEL || Here We Go (ft. Chris Classic)

MARVEL || Is You Ready || The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Never forget || Hualian - Hua Cheng x Xie Lian AMV 

【魔道祖师 / MDZS】Animatic - The First Siege | Safe & Sound

The Jedi Way | THE MANDALORIAN

Multifandom || Going Bad (feat. Drake)

March

Broccolli Casserole--The Untamed

Hey Brother - The Adventure Zone Animatic/PMV

The Adventure Zone: Balance trailer

The Adventure Zone: Balance Arc Trailer (Animatic)

13 Year Olds (A MDZS Animatic by Arcxus)

Multifandom || Die In This Town

DNA | shadow & bone

(Marvel) Wanda Maximoff | Grief

Defying Gravity | MDZS/CQL Animatic

It’s Quiet Uptown | MDZS Animatic

To The Stars

(Marvel) WandaVision || Awaken

Walt Disney Animation Studios | A Magical Journey

We don't have forever.

stop living a fake life.

► Wanda Maximoff | PAINT IT BLACK (+15k)

Multifandom || Take It (c/w Quang Truong) ft. @SEIGE WORLD​

Kylo Ren | STAR WARS

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

April

MARVEL || Natural ft.ImagineDragons

​ xue yang & xiao xingchen ➤ gasoline

WEN KEXING || GASOLINE

Wen Kexing ✘ Zhou Zishu || Dandelions

Play With Fire - Wen Kexing

TOXIC ~ Wen Kexing ~ word of honor ~ 山河令

(Marvel) Bucky Barnes | Free

Bucky Barnes | Feeling Good

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier || Next Level ft. @7kingZ​ || (Marvel)

Eternity looking down on us.

The complexity of reality.

Captain America

✗ The Crows | Trouble (Shadow&Bone)

Shadow & Bone | Paint It Black

The secret fate of all life.

DELIGHTFUL MUSIC

January

A Better Version - Jessie Shelton

Start a War - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

Meet Me in the Dark - Melissa Etheridge

ily - Surf Mesa, Emilee

Space Man - Eurielle

To Be Loved - Aurora

In the Blood - Darren Korb

Can’t Help Falling in Love - Tommee Profitt

Astronomical - SVRCINA

Oh Comely - Neutral Milk Hotel

In This Shirt - The Irrepressibles

goblincore + cottagecore

moonlit love letters 🌙💌 (sailor moon-inspired lofi mix)

Moonlight Densetsu Lo-Fi Remix 1 hour version

Peaceful Meditation

February

Never Forget You - Zara Larsson

Is You Ready - Migros

Recomposed Four Seasons - Max Richter

The End - JPOLND

Love Yourself - Sufjan Stevens

Deja | Daniel Roure

Used To Like | Neon Trees

Material Boy - Sir Sly

Willow - Taylor Swift

Overture - Apashe

Evangeline - Josh Garrels

Gris, pt 1 - Berlinist

Inferno - Hiroyuki Sawano

March

BAMBAM - Angie

Dictator - Rei Ami

Demons - Hayley Kiyoko

Runaway - Rei Ami

Deep Blue - Marcus Warner

Brave New World - Kalandra

Nero - The Speed

The Path of Silence - Anne Sophie Versnaeyen

Tuleloits - Kerli

Soft to Be Strong - Marina

Relic - Reeder

Ascension - Gorillaz

Will You Follow Me Into the Dark - Klergy

Voidfish (Plural) - Rachel Mitchell

Raya and the Last Dragon soundtrack

Unicorn Wizard - Ninja Sex Party

Me Too - Meghan Trainor

Umbrella - Rihanna

Colors Flying High - Lollia

Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There - Lyn

lovely - khalid

Burn My Dread - Lotus Juice

Progress - The Dear Hunter

My Mother Told Me - Rachel Hardy

Savage Daughter - Sarah Ross

Four - Sleeping At Last

April

The Other Side - Amarante

Predator & Prey - Griffin Puatu

As the World Caves In -Matt Maltese

Tell Her I Wasn’t Scared - Dan Thiessen

Esmeralda - Adriel Genet

Woods - AfterInfinity

So Human of You - Shireen

Flags of Rome - Jesper Kyd

Do It All the Time - I don’t Know How But They Found Me

Hummingbirds - Venus Hum

On and On - Curtis Harding

Grand Escape - RADWIMPS

my ex’s best friend - machine gun kelly

Sofia - Clairo 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Charlotte Lawrence

Next Level - 7KingZ

Tell Me - Johnny Jewel

Get Out of Town - Firefles

Music for Anglo Saxes

I See Darkness In You - Red Mecca

Satan Is His Name - Holly Golightly

Rocky Trail - Kings of Convenience

Story - NF

Because the Night - 10,000 Maniacs

Use to Be (L.O.V.E.) - Chelsea Collins

Bird on a Wire - Simone Istwa

Huzzah - Nathan Barr

POSTED FIC

January

gonna make you feel, boy | Hades | Megaera/Thanatos/Zagreus | 1,101 words | “You can touch, you know,” she murmurs, satisfaction and anticipation warring within her. Her pulse pounds. Zagreus’s eyes have darkened, his pupils eating up all that color. He looks good enough to eat.

February

how long do we have? | She Ra | Adora/Catra | 1,539 words | “The war is over, Adora,” Catra tells her. Adora hums. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

March

only fools rush in | The Adventure Zone | Taako/Magnus | 5,209 words | “Okay,” Taako says, sitting down heavily. “So. Ancient ritual to… bring people together?”

til my lungs both billow out | The Magnus Archives | Jon/Martin | 748 words | The knife goes in. The tape runs out.

the echo, as wide as the equator | The Untamed | Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian | 2,927 words |  “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispers after it is done.

April

N/A

WIPS | UNPUBLISHED | ORIGINAL

January

1685 words of Buzzfeed Unsolved, tattoo AU

February

N/A

March

3121 words of Magnus/Taako, Stolen Century verse Posted!

April

852 words of Steve/Billy

FANMIXES/GRAPHICS

January

got the morbs: sad/somber songs for sad/somber people

2021: a mix for the year that comes after 2020

Sahara Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Spanish Sahara

Fire Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Play With Fire

Consequences Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Consequences

Paradise Baby: a mix for songs that sound like Paradise Valley

Real Boy: a Zagreus playlist

February

N/A

March

only fools rush in: a taako/magnus playlist

pomegranate seeds: a persephone playlist

make them bow: a megaera playlist

fuck feelings: a taako playlist

til my lungs both billow out: a jonmartin playlist

April

i am my mother’s savage daughter: a playlist for the girl

[leavemealonetoread]

mind sharing your riverdale top 5 ships and top 5 characters?

Ok this was hard! Sorry for the delay, anonymous friend. Also, I haven't seen season 4 though I'm aware of spoilers. So:

Ships, in no particular order:

Jughead x Sweet Pea - unsure if this is just a rarepair or what people used to call a crackship, idk. Anyway after they got off on the wrong foot in early s2, I was hoping to see them get closer, at least become better friends, but this show forgets about my son Sweet Pea!!! I also enjoyed their clashes over Serpent stuff and was hoping to see more of them (+ Toni) making decisions together

FP x Alice early on in the show, when it was hinted that they had a history and season 1 kept using FP's appearances to surprise us (first he's Jughead's dad, now he's a figure from Alice's past? Alice???). I loved the mystery there! Everyone in this town has secrets!

Reggie × Veronica in season 3, I was rooting for them even though I knew the show wouldn't make it long term because Reggie isn't a ~core four~

Toni x Jughead because I liked their dynamic when they first met, and because if Serpent leadership HAS to be a monarchy, wtf? Toni is right there? Yes it's weird that Jughead the new kid got named leader at the end of the season, but someone young and brand new won't be stubborn when co-leader Toni wants to get rid of ingrained traditions like that silly dance. 2x11 also shows that Jughead can screw up but listen to Toni's criticism eventually

Betty x Veronica because Veronica was SO COMMITTED to Betty immediately. In episode 1, I kind of hoped when Betty moved on from Archie she might be into Veronica. She was so hurt and angry when Archie and Veronica kissed! Veronica was so desperate to fix their friendship which was 5 minutes old! This could have been such a great slow-ish burn!

(Speaking of slow burns, is it just me or should Toni and Cheryl have gotten more time to have that? S2 had 22 episodes, they could have spent a few more scenes on the getting-together part. Right?)

Honorable mention to Sweet Pea & Josie because I thought they were cute and hoped their fling would stick, but I respect a girl who knows her priorities + a boy who knows his emotional needs and sets boundaries. Also to Joaquín & Kevin because they were cute and my heart broke for Joaquín during his conversation with FP (another FP surprise, at least for me, because I didn't suspect Joaquín of being a spy when he seemed so genuinely into Kevin). Finally, Betty & Jughead because I found their getting-together arc in s1 sweet even though I kind of? Wasn't expecting it? I thought you guys were bros? Oh well. The show spent a lot of time on them and I ended up caring a lot.

Characters:

Toni: loved her immediately and was kind of disappointed that she and Jughead weren't able to restart the Red & Black because the teacher got arrested then their school got shut down. That would have been great for college applications lol but I also would have liked to see the paper come back as season 2 unfolded (how would their stories compare with Blue & Gold articles?).

Her being into true crime is something that I wish had come up more, instead of a thing she and Jughead bonded over for 5 minutes while it was relevant to the Black Hood plot and then???? Then what?

This show makes me worry about Toni so much! In s3 when she was living with Cheryl and they argued? And Cheryl threatened to kick her out? No!

Sweet Pea: a couple of times in s2 it was implied he was a hothead who always wanted to fight, but these are kids. Most of them are ready to fight someone. And I wouldn't have minded in season 2. Sweet Pea can stab a Northsider, as a treat.

Anyway, he was interesting as one of the main teen Serpents, bc he had enough influence to confidently say things like, "you're not getting the Serpent vote." Despite how inconvenient his anger was for the lead characters, he was looking out for his friends and tbh, he was right. (He was also kind of right about Jughead using them for information but holding himself separately. Jughead wasn't obligated to hang out with and like everyone, but he made friends quickly w Toni and this was her main friend group; he was going to be required to meet them sooner or later.)

Despite being the first person to WANT to fight, he mostly listens when his friends try to stop him. His friend-telepathy with Fangs is the best.

I LOVED his conversation with Josie, when he said he liked her and couldn't be casual with her anymore. That's so healthy and honest! I love him

I'm sad he disappeared, but at least I can't complain about how people treat him.

Jughead: his narration is occasionally a but much for me but that's the show, right? I loved his little aside/daydream in 1x04 about how maybe the town would rebuild the old drive-in in 100 years and wonder about them. And his narration about there being only 3 teens sitting in the booth at Pop's, the first time the main 4 all sit together.

I ID'ed so hard with him being technically part of a larger friend group even though he really only considers 2 of them his friends, also that bit early on in s1 where he's sitting in the bleachers w his laptop, alone in a crowd and unimpressed? Lol

He seems like a kid who holds a lot back to protect himself, but he keeps forgiving his dad and he was initially happy that his mom and JB came back to Riverdale. Like, he's so cynical but he just wants to belong somewhere and be accepted!

Anyway once he decides you're his people this kid does shit like: Have meals with Alice. Help set up baby showers and school dances. Get blackmailed into delivering a mysterious box for a shady lawyer. Meet with a rival gang so they can beat him to death

[serenity-the-firefly]

Wickinn is a god tier ship: an essay by me

Alice Quinn and Julia Wicker are an incredible ship, and here’s why:

they are, to put it simply both very booksmart. 

they both have this deep love of knowledge but also a drive to learn

there’s an intensity about both of them which i think means they can understand each other

but i’d argue it’s not the same intensity; i don’t think they’d fall into a negative feedback loop

julia would help alice to loosen up a bit, be a bit more reckless, maybe go to a party! have some fun!

 alice can also be very one track mind-y and i think julia would help her see the larger picture

conversely alice would be a voice of dry reason for julia, asking her to think things through one more time

they are smart enough that they respect each other and therefore will listen when the other challenges them!

are essentially the only people who can understand what they have been through

they’ve both experienced the horrifying trauma of having some essential part of them ripped away

and living with the guilt of what they did in the aftermath

they also have the shared experience of having unthinkable amounts of power and knowledge at their finger tips, and then losing it

and losing it because someone else decided it for them (quentin bringing alice back; penny deciding julia should stay human)

complementary modes of action

alice likes to have all the information before she makes a decision

the main weirdness with alice in s3, is, i think, that the writers- and by extension alice- don’t really know what she wants. She spends most of the seasons flipping sides and carefully weighing her options, gathering as much info as possible.

julia starts from a place of knowing what she wants, and figuring out the rest from there

see: every decision she made after brakebills kicked her out and then again after marina banishes her

basically: alice needs direction; julia needs a path from a to b

alice prefers to find the perfect solution

like i said above, alice likes to have all the information before she acts. 

remember in s1, when she was trying to figure out how to get everyone from josh’s bunker to the fillory fountain safely? alice was frozen, trying to come up with the best solution

julia will take whatever works

one time julia just threw herself repeatedly at a magic battery with full knowledge that every time killed her, on the grounds that probably this would work if she did it enough times and she didn’t feel like wasting time trying to figure out a better solution

the hedge vs classically trained brakebills magician is really showing, huh?

i also think it’s just really interesting that this ship essentially cannot exist without the context of the show. like the reason these two would work well together is because they’ve undergone some of the same stuff and have grown into people that can understand and care for each other and i just think that’s so cool!

A SHORT LIST OF GAY SHIT

julia carrying alice’s shade

niffin!alice and shadeless!julia’s interaction

literally the entirety of season 3

[goodnightsweetme]

Some thoughts about The Magicians S4 finale

I want to write a bit (recreational activity for me) and I have thoughts about The Magicians, especially about what went down in S4, so there we go. It will probably turn out long and rambly, so buckle up. But first, a few disclaimers.

X

As I will discuss The Magicians plotlines & the writers' creative choices there will be spoilers. If you haven't seen S1-S4 and you don't want to be spoiled, don't read past this point.

X

I won't be discussing the writers actions after the finale, neither the silence nor the interviews. It's garbage fire and I don't have time for this. (It's rather baffling that in this day and age tv business professionals still handle the communication with the fanbase this badly.)

X

Now, I would not call myself a fan of The Magicians, but I got engaged in the story. I'm a fan of very few shows these days and usually I steer clear from the fandoms' open waters. I don't have the time or the energy, so I stick to the friends I've made back in the day.

As such, I haven't watched The Magicians until after the S4 finale. Recently I've been thinking about the treatment of the queer characters in the ongoing tv shows, so the Q's death controversy was right up my alley. I also had some time for a binge and some personal issues to be distracted from (no worries, I'm dealing with them, I just couldn't allow them to cause me obsessing over them).

X

I've tried to read Grossman's books when they first came out and I decided they weren't for me. I still think that. If you want some quality fantasy recs, hit me up.

When the show first came out I watched first few eps and then noped out of it. I thought it was pretty bad and full of issues and, and upon rewatch, that's still my opinion about the first half of the 1st season.

X

The show does get better. It's ocasionally great (S3 is pretty strong and thoroughly enjoyable – with eps 3.04 & 3.05 being really really good, the first one for its storytelling quality, the second one for its emotional payoff). However it has various issues throughout that would have made me mistrustful of the writers, even if I didn't know what happens to Q.

X

So, you may say I went in prepared and with my reservations. As a consequence I didn't really have the feeling of rage and betrayal that the long time fans did. But I get them and they are so valid. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take your time to process the grief in a way that works for you. And stay hydrated.

Now, processing what happened might include some action and engagement. I've seen fanfic writing, article writing, venting on different platforms, sharing the experiences of your lives and loves and mental health, #PeopleLikeMe campaign, Change petition, decisions to stop watching the show and fundrasing for the Trevor Project. Things big and small, heartbreaking and inspriring. The only thing we shouldn't do is harass the writers (and thankfully I've seen very little of that), because harassment is never ok. And we are better than that.

Creators can fuck up (and I will defend their right to fuck up, we're all only human) and we can call them out. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes, maybe not (and if not, well, fans will move on to the greener pastures, where we will get better and kinder stories), but maybe someone else will, someone who is or might become a creator themselves. And maybe there's a little consolation in that.

(And this is why we shouldn't stay silent.)

X

Thinking about it, I see two explanations for killing Q:

the writers did it for shock value, knowing it will get them some buzz (and they miscalculated how much and what kind of buzz)

the writers really don't understand their own show and characters

I believe it may be both.

Even in the first season, when Q introduces us to the world of the show as he himself gets introduced to it, I'd still say The Magicians are an ensemble show. And the show deals with Q being the „white male lead” in the S1 finale when Q gives Alice the knife (and has a speech dealig with that directly, the show does this kind of thing repeteadly, characters monologuing or explaining trope/plot to another character, it's terrible writing, but it's explicit, you can't say the show didn't say something) and uses the fact that the Beast sees him as the „hero” against it, providing distraction for Alice to act. And the show reinforces the notion of Q not being the main hero of the story repeatedly throughout the series and in various ways (Julia being the variable to make loop 40 successful, Eliot becoming High King and so on and so forth).

So when we arrive to S4 Q is:

one of a diverse group of pretty fucked up but still lovable friends (effectively a millenial found family)

average magician

dealing with his mental issues that didn't go away when he discovered magic/Fillory

canon bisexual

caring and loyal and nerdy and awkward

(Gee, how come so many people identified strongly with that.)

(Sorry for the snark.)

No one holds against Q that he isn't some kind of Chosen One, because it was never what his friends expected from him or valued him for. He sometimes/low-key expected it from himself, but the show dealt with that. Repeteadly. And that was fine and that was subverting tropes.

So when the writers first sideline him and then have him killed in S4 finale (in a pretty straightforward Heroic Sacrifice scene), they don't kill a straight white male hero wearing the plot armor, they kill a vulnerable young queer man with mental health issues. And guess how many of them we have on our screens.

What makes the matter even worse:

they handled Q's history of suicidal thoughts/tendencies horribly

it turns out that what looked like a clear setup for future romantic relationship between Q and Eliot was in fact a setup for Eliot's grief story (Right up the Bury Your Gays alley as if that's still the only story a gay man can get on tv. In 2019.)

X

I do belive you still can write a valuable and respectful story of a queer person comitting suicide and their family, friends and community being left to deal with the aftermath, but you'd need to put into it a lot more work, time, thought, talent and sensivity than The Magicians writers did or even are (in my opinion) capable of.

X

For all of the tropes subverting, sometimes very entertaining, The Magicians still were an escapist story at heart. And I really can't think of anything worthwhile the writers archieved by pulling the rug from under its fans.

X

Other issues with S4 finale that I might write about sometime in the future (but now maybe I’ll go and rewatch some Black Sails, Doom Patrol or Killing Eve):

treatment of Julia and Penny 23

treatment of Kady

treatment of the Monster (really)

treatment of Margo and Josh

resolution of the two main storylines (The Library & the Monsters)

[riverdalenerdlol]

I’ve been sitting on the idea of tonight’s episode for a little while, trying to grasp it all, trying to put my thoughts into words. 

I know I didn’t get to see the entire episode because of some frustrating things with my cable provider, but I finally hopped on and saw when Archie couldn’t bear to go see if it was Fred or not in the coffin and sent Betty and Veronica instead. Just because of that scene with Lili and Cami, I was already on the edge of crying because they were just that good. 

The scene where I lost it was when Shannon pulled up. She explained what happened to Archie and I - not knowing by then how Fred died in the show - couldn’t help but just... sit there as silent tears rolled down my face (in my university library - no, my earlier post was not a joke). The prayer Shannon’s character said for Fred was just twisting the knife in my heart. During the next commercial break I had to take a step back. 

Archie and Co. are members of the high school class of 2019 (Yes, that’s right. Just because you stretch one year into two due to filming doesn’t mean that their graduation date goes anywhere). I was also a member of the HS graduating class of 2019. My own father was born in 1966... Luke Perry was born in 1966. 

My point here is that Luke/Fred could have been my dad. Seriously. My dad could have been in that position (assuming that Luke’s age was approximately the same as Fred’s). I could have been Archie, picking up my dad’s car off the side of the road before my senior year started, trying to understand that he’d been hit by a car as he helped someone change their tire. I could have been in the position of Luke’s children, my father dying at 53. 

I know I might only be 18, and I’ve only been moved out of my parents’ house for about two months... but it’s scary that someone can be gone so quickly in the way that Luke was, in the way that Fred was, in the way that many go.

Tonight’s episode made me realize that you don’t have to have any sort of persistent health condition to leave this world. Something can hit you by chance, full force. What happened to Luke could have happened to my dad, and that’s a hard thing to grapple with. 

Maybe I’m just rambling because it’s late and I’m tired... but that hit me hard. 

(Now on to the bit of symbolism that stood out in the episode)

Fred was welcomed back to Riverdale like a hero, parade and all, police escort, posters, etc. Archie’s dad. He had a beautiful service, a gorgeous display of common grief, many of those who loved them surrounding the coffin...

And afterwards, it’s a cut to Betty, all alone. She’s not with Jughead, she’s not with Archie, or Veronica, or Mary, or FP. She’s by herself, just like she was left in the S3 finale. Her mom is gone, her sister is gone, and she’s standing over her father’s grave. She clears the trash and dirt away from the massive headstone... the headstone that’s been vandalized with black spray paint and a cruel message. 

She doesn’t look remorseful, or extremely sad, she doesn’t say anything at all, which doesn’t clue us in to what she’s thinking. She doesn’t really do anything but look at the headstone and clear the trash away from the grave... but it’s still one of the most powerful scenes in the episode (that doesn’t have to do as much with paying tribute to Luke - because those win on the powerful scale). 

From Betty’s perspective, Archie’s dad has come home a hero (as he deserves to be, of course)... but her dad doesn’t even get the common decency of existing without people trashing it. Unlike many (I’m sure), Betty can actually remember what Hal was like before he wen’t full dark. Chicken noodle soup after ice skating, teaching Betty how to fix cars and engines, being the less stressful parent (in comparison to overbearing Alice and what that family dynamic used to be like)... He’s still her father. Yeah, she knows he did those bad things, but the person that did all of those bad things just so happened to be her dad. 

During the entire scene, I was waiting for Jughead to come along, to comfort her about what happened to her father’s grave, to wrap her up in a hug, maybe pull her away... but he didn’t. It’s not that he doesn’t care... but he’s being respectful of Betty’s time alone to be with her thoughts, just like the Core Four had to let Archie be alone during the episode. 

Betty dealing with her father’s death from last season is one of the mini plot lines I’m interested in Betty exploring this season. One, because there’s a lot of chances for comforting!Bughead. Two, because I want to see how Betty deals with it. Three, because I want to see the lasting effects it has on Betty. (It can be a powerful dynamic, opens a lot of doors for friend/boyfriend comforting, and goddamnit, Betty needs a hug.)(This is also one of the dynamics that I was going to include in The Forgotten Oneshot I Was Supposed To Post This Week)

(And I’m not going into the trailer at all because that would be a lot of HOLY SHIT that not everyone needs to see five times on their dash.)

[imaweirdoforriverdale]

Riverdale: S3: E9 | What in the F***ery is Going On?

Hey y’all! Your second favorite weirdo coming to you live from my bedroom while listening to depressing ass music and typing my recap/reaction to this week’s episode of our “favorite” show. Tbh, all I see about Riverdale is how terrible it has gotten and that people just can’t stop watching it because of the actors. Everyone just wants Riverdale to go back to how it was like the first season. But anywho, let’s get this party started! And I watched the show on Friday, I just haven’t “had the time” to post on here! I love you guys and follow my instagram @imawierdoforriverdale for some of my quirkiness.

!!!!!!!!SPOILERS LIE AFTER THIS!!!!!!!!

1. Jughead stays with Betty? When the fuck did this happen? That’s just odd to me. I still don’t like bughead. That ship is cringey af. I just wish people would realize that just because two people date in real life does not mean that they have o be together on the show. Riverdale writers, let’s talk. Let’s schedule a meeting or something. I got time. (Love Sprousehart though.)

2. Archie needs to go home. And he isn’t dead. Wanna know how I know? Because he’s core4, his hair is still red, and he’s gonna be in the musical episode. Therefore, they’re probably gonna just do what they did with Jughead and Archie is probably gonna be back in Riverdale for the next episode. 

3. Jughead was kind of an ass this episode, but I understand all decisions he made regarding kicking Fangs, Cheryl, and Toni out of the serpents. I liked that he gave Fangs a second chance. I don’t like that Toni’s character development was solely following behind Cheryl. Fangs should’ve kept his mouth shut like Jughead told him to when regarding keeping the secret.

4. Speaking of Cheryl and Toni, I have lost all respect for them. I really like Cheryl and her character development. This episode made me say wow and shake my head at her because she was doing so well. 

5. I don’t like Veggie or Varchie. Why can’t they all just be single on the show? This is also what I mean by just because two people date in real life does not mean they have to date on the show and I’m thoroughly annoyed. 

6. I really hope someone gives Hiram what he’s asking for. He’s so annoying and every time I see him, I roll my eyes.

7. ALICE KEEPS FUCKING EVERYTHING UP! Every time Betty solves the problem, Alice turns around and fucks it up. I’m honestly tired of Alice and this farm situation. I mean seriously, how is she gonna tell Betty to figure out shelter for the kids and then go back and make them go to the farm? I’m over it. 

Tbh, this episode was hyped up and I’m annoyed with the comeback already. Hopefully the next episode is better. Thank you guys for tuning in and Happy Belated Birthday to Ashleigh Murray and Happy Birthday to Skeet Ulrich! Don’t forget to follow my instagram @imawierdoforriverdale for some headassery. i love you guys and have a good night!

[bugheadfamily]

Bughead Family Discord Member Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Mari ( @writeraquamarinara )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones | Graphic by Katie, @betty-cooper

Mari | @writeraquamarinara

Name: Mari

Age: 18

Location: Montreal, QC.

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: Italian.

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: Betty, Jughead, Pop, Fred, Mary, Kevin, Joaquin, Bughead, Joavin, and Choni.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: The scene that got me hooked to the show was when Reggie questioned Jughead about killing Jason, and he replied with a snarky little “It’s called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?” Other favorite moments are pretty much any Bughead scene from S1, but especially their first kiss. I had been shipping them together since the Blue and Gold scene in 1x03, but 1x06 really hit me hard. They’re both two broken kids who find solace in each other. As someone whose mother is all too similar to Alice Cooper, hearing Jughead tell Betty that they aren’t their parents made me so emotional. I rewatched that scene on repeat when the clip came out on Youtube the next day. To this day I can’t listen to Emily Afton’s Lost without crying. I also really love the hug from 1x13 after Betty, Veronica, and Archie go to Southside High for Juggie. S2 favorite moments are also only Bughead scenes, but not all Bughead scenes, if you catch my drift.

What are your hopes for S3?: Are a coherent plotline and consistent characterization too much to ask for? Also maybe have the parents on the show (other than Archie’s) actually respect their children and treat them well, but that’s never going to happen. On a more realistic note, I’m hoping to watch some fun interactions between Josie and Kevin now that they’re going to be step-siblings.

Other fandoms you’re into?: I don’t really have an online presence in other fandoms, but I do love to geek out over Percy Jackson, That 70s Show (specifically JackiexHyde), The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and nearly all of the Marvel movies.

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: As I mentioned: That 70s Show, The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Marvel. I’m currently bingeing The Good Place and The Mindy Project. I also went to watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters and loved it. So basically I’m trash for rom and com. Sue me. (Or don’t. I’m a broke college student who can’t afford that ish.)

Favourite books?: The Book Thief, The Color Purple, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Pride and Prejudice, and, most of all, The Glass Castle.

Favourite bands/musicians?: Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, ABBA, Of Monsters and Men, Christina Perri, and Imagine Dragons. 

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: I thought a lot about this question. The obvious answer would be “one with magic, or mermaids, or superheroes”. But then I thought that I’d rather live in a world like ours, more realistic, but where women are equal to men, diversity is celebrated, people accept each other for who they are. That’s a very idealistic world, I realize, and (if my preteen love of dystopian novels has taught me anything) one that’s most definitely unattainable, but it’s still nice to think about it. If anyone knows of a fictional world like that, sign me up.

Favourite food?: Gosh, that’s a hard one. Probably my grandma’s lasagna.

Favourite season?: Fall, definitely. It’s my birthday season, and I love the colorful leaves and breezy weather and going apple-picking with my family and friends. Unfortunately, Canada’s fall doesn’t last much more than a day, so I missed out on all that this year.

Favourite plant?: Nelumbo nucifera, aka the Lotus Flower.

Favourite scent?: Aftershave? Weird, I know, but it reminds me of my childhood and my father.

Favourite colour?: Periwinkle.

Favourite animal?: Hummingbird.

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: Night owl, definitely.

Place you want to visit?: The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan in Iran, and Ryoanji in Japan.

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I don’t have any pets that live with me currently, but I’ve got a pet back home with my parents. She’s a rescued pup from Mississippi, probably some kind of mix between a Pointer and a Labrador Retriever. Her name’s Sassy and she’s super energetic. If you had asked me this question a week ago I would’ve also said I had a cat named Puma but he was twelve and had cancer, so…yeah.

Tell us a little about yourself?: Um, I never really know what to say to that question. Like, what do you really want to know? I’m Mari (the name comes from my AO3/tumblr username, and not my real name). I was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York and Italy, now go to university in Montreal. I’m super passionate about art history, women’s rights, and politics. I hope to be a dermatologist, but honestly, who knows where life will take me. I’m the oldest of four and the first in my family to go through the American school system, so my parents have always referred to me as their “guinea pig”, and that totally hasn’t given me a weird obsession with being the perfect child, perfect student, perfect daughter. For some very obvious reasons, I relate way too much to Betty Cooper.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I fenced competitively for eight years of my life, traveling all around the US and to Europe for training and national competitions, including the Junior Olympics.

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: I’ve been writing since I was little, but they were always stories with original characters. I didn’t start writing fic until I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, so it’s been a little over a year.

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Geez, that’s a tough one. As much as I love my little one shots, I’d have to say Little Talks. It’s largely based on my own high school experience, and therefore my own way of coming to terms with the end of that chapter of my life.

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: Oof. Another tough one. Um, I’d have to say that I really love my characterization of Alice in Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. She’s a villainess, but hopefully one you love to hate.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Again, Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. I have a bit of a plot twist planned for the story, but I’m really not sure what kind of reception it’s going to get from readers, so I’ve had the chapter half-finished for months. I just need to get the motivation to finish it, and the courage to say “I don’t care if people hate this, or think it’s weird.” I’ll get there eventually.

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I’ve answered this in a tumblr ask before, but I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Mainly from real life, because I like to observe and speculate and ask a bunch of “what if”s and go from there. So, like I mentioned, Little Talks is largely based on my life. But there are definitely some plot points in the story that are a result of me going “well, what if I had done this? Or he had done that?” Another example of a real life-inspired fic is my oneshot I <3 You, which was inspired by that instastory (Cole or Lili’s? I can’t remember) of a cake with bright orange frosting that spelled out I <3 You. I also take inspiration from other creative works, such as books or movies. One of my many upcoming fics is based on How To Train Your Dragon, and another is a crackfic based on the Suite Life. Other times, fic ideas come to me out of nowhere. I was in the lab last summer, waiting for my breast cancer tumor slides to go through antigen retrieval, when I came up with the idea for Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. My brain works in very strange ways.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’ve always wanted to write a lot of fics (I have a whole list of them), but they’re in the works so I won’t spoil any more than I already have. The main fic that I don’t even have an idea for but just want to write is a heartbreakingly angsty fic. One that makes me cry while I write it. Here’s hoping it comes to me soon, because I feel like that could be a really interesting experience as a writer.

Favourite character to write?: Alice. Which is strange, because I don’t like her in the show, but there are so many different directions you could take her character that she’s always so interesting to me.

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: Oh, well, all of them? Is that an answer? Because all comments and reviews make me super happy. But if I had to choose one then I’d say any comment from @earthlaughsinflowers, @mothermaple, @dottie-wan-kenobi, or @notanotherotherone. I kind of cheated by not picking one, exactly, but oh well.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: The best part of being a writer is putting a story that you put a lot of your soul into and getting support and love for it. Because I only put stories out there that I’m happy to write, happy to read, but to see that they make other people happy, too? That’s an amazing feeling. The worst part is the amount of time it takes to do absolutely anything, especially when you’re not in the right headspace to write. When I’ve had the worst week ever, and I have to physically push myself to spend time that should be spent resting to write because an update needs to come out soon, it goes from being a fun hobby to being a stress-inducing chore.

Do you have any advice to offer?: I haven’t been a fic writer for a long time, so I wouldn’t say that I’m going to offer up the wisest advice, but here’s what I’ve garnered so far: Do what makes you happy. That goes for all of life, not just writing, and is often hard to follow, but here’s how I see it: If you want to write a story because it makes you happy, write it. If you want to quit your WIP to start something else because that makes you happy, do it. If you need to take a break from writing altogether because it’ll make you happier, take it. Write what you want to write, at the pace you want to write it, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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This is the twelfth instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.