#and i was really not onboard with the reveal

[cantsayidont]

Two movies with actual wlw content:

THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE (1995): Low-budget lesbian teen romcom, written and directed by Maria Maggenti, about the budding romance between 17-year-old baby butch Randy (Laurel Holloman, who later played Tina on THE L WORD), who works at a gas station and is in danger of not graduating high school, and a rich Black classmate named Evie (Nicole Ari Parker), who drives a $50,000 SUV and reads Walt Whitman. Cute and generally charming, though mostly at a sitcom level, it's most interesting when it contrasts the girls' home lives (Randy lives with her lesbian moms and aunt, while Evie lives with her affluent control freak single mother, played by Stephanie Berry). A somewhat disquieting element is teenage Randy's ongoing on-the-down-low affair with an older married woman (Maggie Moore), a situation that doesn't seem to trouble anyone other than the woman's boorish husband (John Elsen), and which the movie ultimately plays for laughs. CONTAINS LESBIANS? It's a lesbian movie, Bront. VERDICT: Pleasant, inconsequential.

JAGGED MIND (2023): Awkwardly titled, awkwardly realized lesbian thriller about a young Black artist named Billie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), on the rebound from an emotionally unavailable ex (Rosaline Elbay), who jumps impulsively into a new relationship with a white woman named Alex (Shannon Woodward) despite struggling with debilitating memory problems that result in frequent déjà vu and jarring flashbacks to arguments and even violent incidents that can't have actually happened. (Or can they? Etc.) The editing tricks used to illustrate Bilie's flashbacks are dramatically effective, but the eventual explanation of what's going on is not, involving too big a leap from what's already been established while leaving some important story threads (and character motivations) largely unexplained; the film ends up relying heavily on Richardson-Sellers' looks and charm to paper over an abundance of holes in the plot. Perhaps most interesting as a companion piece to the 2022 movie HEATWAVE, with Kat Graham, another recent thriller about a queer Black heroine falling, at her peril, for a mysterious white woman — an emerging sub-genre of gay cautionary tale? (Of the two, HEATWAVE is better, mostly because while it also falls short, its more modest ambitions keep it from bruising itself quite so badly in the fall.) CONTAINS LESBIANS? Almost exclusively! VERDICT: Good-looking, half-baked.

[kaiijo]

YOU & HIM AT THE CLUB — [BLUE LOCK]

characters: bachira meguru, kunigami rensuke, rin itoshi content: suggestive notes: dug this out from deep in my drafts 🙇🏻‍♀️

bachira meguru ✶

the actual embodiment of dress slutty, i can fight (his outfit is just as slutty as yours too)

he really likes seeing you in more risque and potentially revealing clothes 

he’s probably one of the best people to go with because his energy matches yours and the people around you in the club

absolutely tears up the dance floor with you. lowkey kind of a weird, flailing dancer but he doesn’t care and neither do you!

you’re definitely one of those couples that makes out against the wall or something. seriously, all over each other — bachira has no shame 

loves 2010s club music, will scream to any lady gaga or rihanna song 

kunigami rensuke ✶

he’s not super into clubbing but isn’t opposed to it either

he’ll go if you ask him to come but he’s not actively suggesting it himself

honestly really just like to sit on one of the club’s couches with his arm around you and drink and hopelessly shout over the music 

he really just likes being there with you and spending time with you

will dance if you ask him to (he’ll basically do whatever you ask him to at the club)

decent dancer, likes to dance with (and up against) you. whispers (well, as best you can in a club) dirty things to you and grips your hips tight. you probably don’t stay long and head back to your shared home to do a more private dance

rin itoshi ✶

good luck even getting him onboard to go

when you even suggested it, rin gave you the most deadpan look and asked, “why would i want to be somewhere with a bunch of sweaty, lukewarm people?” (to which you replied, “isn’t that your job already?” and your boyfriend shot you the most unimpressed glare you’ve ever seen)

still… rin’s absolutely whipped for you and you somehow manage to drag him somewhere a bit more lowkey than a club. he’ll probably sit in a booth and grumble and glare. 

unimpressed with the music and the people and the lights

absolutely will get into a fight with someone who tries to dance with you — you’ll need to pull him away and you’re both kicked out for the night

when you two get into an uber, rin scoffs at you: “you can’t tell me you’re actually upset. we can continue anything you were doing there privately. without all those lukewarm assholes.”

[felassan]

New interview video from GameSpot: 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard Won’t Leave New Players Behind'

"BioWare talks about making sure its new Dragon Age feels like an exciting new chapter for fans and how it’s also bringing new players into Thedas 0:00 Intro 0:17 How Does It Feel To Reveal Dragon Age: The Veilguard 0:54 What Was The Mission Statement? 1:55 How Have Other Fantasy Releases Affected Dragon Age? 3:03 How Does Dragon Age: The Veilguard Introduce New Players? 4:48 How Do Characters Grow/Progress In Dragon Age: The Veilguard? 6:55 How Much Do Voice Actors Affect The Character? 8:52 Are You Prepared For The Fans? 10:07 How Do You Balance Old And New Gameplay Mechanics? 11:20 Outro"

[source]

Notes:

They have always kind of known what the game they're building is

"Once you jump in, especially the prologue, we onboard you pretty quickly, you understand the stakes, you understand what's going on, and your character is also learning about these stakes, like what's going on, kind've at the same time as you are in some cases".

"It really unfolds, the writing did such a good job of fusing the past with the future, and you can see that in the characters that are coming back, that I can't talk about"

"Our companions [...], it feels like the Veilguard is your on-guard around Rook"

"We wanted characters that offer the most difference, the most choice, to bring along in your party. So how can these seven followers really diversify, juxtapose each other, fight with each other, how do they get along?"

"Actors have lots of opinions, as they should"

"Seeing how excited and passionate the fans are, it's something that you can't really tell someone, you can only, they have to see it themselves, and I mean, we've had some of our voice actors out here and they've expressed surprise. We did the signing yesterday and I think one of them came up and said, 'yeah, I came up and I saw this giant line, and I was like, who's that for?' I was like, 'oh, that's for you'."

[paragonraptors]

YEHAW DA:V REVEAL THOUGHTS BELOW!!

Overall: Feeling so excited for this game. I'm climbing up the walls. I can't believe that was 20 minutes, it felt like 10. Need this in my hands yesterday.

What I liked:

-Holy fuck wow wow wow the hair looks like nothing I've seen in a video game before.

-Combat seems very different but also a natural progression of gameplay past. Real-time turn-based was always a little on the clunkier side, and while it never really bothered me, moving towards something more ME-style was expected. Very excited about being able to aim a bow. Would like to know what difficulty they were showcasing bc I'm considering jumping right into a Nightmare run.

-Now that I've been soulsborne-pilled the prospect of a parry mechanic has me buzzing.

-I feel like people are gonna dunk on the "stiffer" animation, but I prefer it so much more than the BG3/HZD constant wobbling. It'll make the key performances stand out instead of mostly jangling keys in front of a baby and letting the big moments get lost in the sauce. (Not that the aformentioned games didn't have good animation, just. If your characters don't need to move their whole body to convey dialogue I'd prefer if they didn't.)

-The sublety in the facial animations is CRAZY.

-The roleplay dialogue seems really reactive!! And the cuts to inject the unique dialogues feels smooth. I'm sure there will still be moments where it's easy to tell, but still cool. Seems like they're gonna be paying more attention to your personality type like DA2 too.

-So excited about Harding and Neve as companions and can't wait to meet everyone else.

-Neve's staff/wand makes me excited to see what kinds of focus options we'll get as a mage AAAA.

-God the costumes have so much swag. One of my hottest of many BG3 takes was that the costumes were overall flavorless. (Really hoping they didn't change the Grey Warden uniforms though that would really disappoint me.)

-Cinematography looks fantastic. Lots of well set up shots.

-NGL I felt something when Solas showed up. Wasn't expecting that. And while not perfect, I liked his interaction with Varric. Their relationship from Inquisition really slips under the radar if you're not bothering to look.

-Varric has never gotten over the trauma of what happened with Anders and it breaks my heart in a good way. God you could see it in his eyes!! [chef's kiss]

-However, I definitely have to kill Solas now for what transpired in this preview.

What I'm iffy about:

-The voice peformances feel a bit stilted. Not really what I'm used to from Bioware and I feel like it's important when the animations are more subdued. Hopefully this feeling will change when I get more of the game.

-The dialogue also felt a bit dumbed down. "Solas is doing his ritual!" "Yes. Solas' ritual. The ritual that we have to stop." Again, hopefully this is symptomatic of a tutorial level/trying to onboard newbies quickly and not the whole game lol. While I prefer this to dialogue that tries to sound smarter than it is, I'm really hoping we see an overall improvement from Inquisition.

-Sort of wish they went with the Andromeda dialogue system instead of bringing back Inquisition's, but I do like that it seems all dialogue options are getting tonal indicators again and they're not as easily conflated with morality. (Though I imagine people will STILL interpret it that way.)

-A little confused about them introducting Minrathous' panopticon shit and then immediately swerving into Solas' ritual. Would have liked some breathing room on that kind of worldbuilding.

- While I'm generally open minded about the change, I Do Not Love not being able to switch to playing companions. Might turn around on this if your ability to issue them commands opens up the closer you are to them/the more you grow into a leadership role. I do like that it seems you will eventually be able to command when they use abilities a la OG Mass Effect bc that was my biggest beef with the Andromeda gameplay, esp on Nightmare/Insanity difficulty.

-Not crazy about the new Pride demon design where are their leggies.

-Not really a Criticism, but they are definitely setting up for Varric to die and while I get it, narratively, I'm NOT HAPPY. Dragon Age has been almost allergic to scripted deaths so it's also gonna feel like being dunked in an ice bath. EVIL STUFF. IN DENIAL.

[imitationgame77]

ART in Network Effect - after demanding apology from Murderbot

After more or less forced into divulge its real reason for being in the colony's system, breaking its crew's confidentiality agreement, ART suddenly bursts out with:

ART interrupted, SecUnit’s earlier statement that I “lie a lot” was untrue. I obviously cannot reveal information against the interests of my crew unless circumstances warrant. Arada nodded. “Right. We understand. I think SecUnit is looking out for our interests—” ART said, I want an apology.

But instead of apologising, MB (not surprisingly) just gives it an obscene gesture.

The tension between them was such that caused Ratthi to say, "Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don’t have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now.”

What I thought was remarkable was that, despite ART getting increasingly desperate, it no longer does or says anything that might upset Amena. ART did lose its temper earlier, and told MB that it could just leave if it did not want to stay onboard, only to be told by MB that it was upsetting Amena.

It tries to get MB to understand by jumping into its private feed to plead, and when that fails, it gives MB access to sensors and cameras all over the ship.

ART is very good at manipulation and argument. It usually wins. But giving MB access to cameras - it feels something else. Like instead of calculated manipulation it seem to be throwing anything to win back its trust. It's quite touching. And MB snarling, "Stop being nice to me!" indicates that it did understand it as ART trying hard to be nice to it.

Ratthi may have found it very uncomfortable to be there, but I really love this scene! It shows how much MB had been hurt by the realisation of having been used by ART, and how it was struggling with inner conflict between wanting to reject ART as its friend and wanting ART as its friend. ART can also be ruthless in order to get its crew back, yet it wants MB - not as a necessary tool, but as its trusted friend.

Trusted friend, mutual admistrative assitance, or whatever they call it, they have something very special between them. All this emotional conflict is really revealing this.

[decepti-thots]

something that is very interesting rereading early MTMTE is that the comic is actually very much written with the assumption a ton of its readership are specifically pre-existing IDW comics readers, which can sometimes be difficult to remember because of the fact that a lot of people wound up coming onboard to MTMTE from outside the fandom in the end and now it has a reputation as an entry point as a result. this manifests in a couple ways throughout the first couple major arcs. one obvious one is that the Overlord stuff functionally makes it a sequel of sorts to Last Stand of the Wreckers, at a time no direct sequel was planned. but my favourite is that there's a kind of narrative trick the comic pulls with the leadup to the payoff Remain in Light gives us for Magnus.

the Magnus we get in early MTMTE is not the Magnus we get in earlier IDW comics. he's very exaggerated; where phase one Magnus is a by-the-books stickler for not so much as bending rules and someone we see struggling to maintain that sense of moral uprightness in the face of the war and the people around him being far less dedicated to staying on the straight and narrow like him, it's completely turned up to eleven in early MTMTE. phase one Magnus would not be doing endless doorframe audits, or throwing people in the literal brig for crooked badges. but this doesn't necessarily register as a change in character so much as a change in genre. MTMTE is also a dramedy with heavy emphasis on the comedy side of that in a way no other IDW comic is, and the shift in Magnus' characterisation therefore feels like 'well in THIS genre, that's what that archetype is like', rather than a diagetic shift in character. even if you come to MTMTE straight off those prior comics, it is very much a 'roll with the genre shift' thing rather than a 'hm. Magnus is acting… weird' thing. you let it go.

there are a couple indications this might not be the case early on. Rodimus especially seems to be under the impression that Magnus is acting uptight even for him, with his insistence on waving it off like 'he needs to relax, Swerve can you get him to chill on Hedonia because my guy is REAL stressed' and the like. (this makes sense- Rodimus is the person on the ship who has actually been directly interacting with Magnus regularly pre-MTMTE.) but it's not super obvious and not heavily emphasised.

which makes the eventual post-Overlord and RiL reveal, which is that Magnus has in fact been acting weird because he's having a breakdown that has largely gone unremarked upon by his shipmates, really really good. Magnus has not been doing doorframe audits because he's the comically uptight second in command acting as straight man for genre purposes; Magnus has been sending Rodimus a million memos a day and losing his shit over nothing because as someone whose entire identity as 'Magnus' is rooted in a wartime role he escaped into, he's been having an existential crisis now the war is over and he has no purpose and doesn't know what to do because he never expected to have to play that part in peacetime. the entire time the genre shift was somewhat obfuscating the fact this characterisation was a thing that is in-universe relevant, which also then reflects back on the fact Rodimus is like. hm. probably should have noticed that, now I feel like an asshole for not realising. (the scene where he and Rung discuss those unread memos, post-Overlord.)

it's a small thing, but it's a really effective misdirect for the payoff Magnus gets in RiL that reads a hell of a lot more clearly on reread and rewards that chance to revisit the early issues with that knowledge. of course that wasn't just a gag, of course he's actually slowly losing his shit slightly, he cannot go five seconds without making it clear he is Stressed As Hell. but until you get to that actual reveal, there's just enough room for the comic to let a reader assume it's, you know, we're in a comedy now, we need a hilarious straight man, and Magnus is it. it's great! all the stuff MTMTE pulls to simultaneously obfuscate the Magnus/Minimus reveal while also making it feel completely reasonable on reread is great. really good use of reader bias there.

[piglet26]

Reylo Scenes: TROS Part 2

After a failed attempt at killing Rey and Rey slashing Ren's fighter. He's relieved he didn't kill her. She's relieved she didn't kill him. He emerges looking fucking glorious while Rey tried to stop a ship from flying off cause she thinks Chewie is on board. What the hell are they doing putting a mask on him at this point?!

In the novel from Kylo's perspective, "But his impulse to kill Key had almost ruined everything he had been planning..... but his deepest desire, the thing he wanted most (Rey) would require planning and patience."

"It didn't matter what or who was inside that transport that made desperate to prevent it's escape, he was not going to let her have it. He reached out, felt the massive machinery in his mind, yanked it towards himself."

What's interesting in this scene is Kylo Ren is pushing her and Rey ultimately pulls from anger to best him and keep chewing. That's what always been interesting about Rey is she's the Jedi, but often times she fights with anger, fear and aggression. In the novelization it's revealed that over the course of that year she's been hearing voices. It looks pretty and it's a good shot, but I kept thinking didn't we already see this? Force wise... they're pretty even. While it doesn't hit as hard as the tug-o-war in the TLJ it does serve a purpose. Rey is a Palpatine after all.

In the movie, as per usual, this next bit doesn't make any sense. Ren seems stunned and just let's Rey, Finn and Poe run off. In the novel it makes more sense.

"Kylo Ren watched the freighter rise into the sky, Rey inside it. She had beaten him again (she thought she killed her friend not really a win but you're emo) and yet, he was filled with triumph. He'd been right to push her. She had just demonstrated unbelievable, mind blowing power. Dark power. Sith Power. The scavenger was almost ready to turn. And when she did, they would both kill their light, embrace their darkness, then the star destroyer fleet and the Sith throne would be theirs."

Kylo Ren is a Reylo and is trying to make power couple goals happen and we have to appreciate that.

This is concept art from "The Rise of Skywalker" notice how their costumes mirror each other.

The chemistry between Rey and Kylo is electric whenever they share the same space, so much so that sometimes it feels like we, the audience, are intruding on a private moment between the two.

On board Ochi's ship Rey confesses she has sex dreams about Kylo Ren. Let's be honest they both do and she confesses she's had visions of her and Kylo Ren on top the Sith throne.

Next scene is them in Kijimi. Ren is looking for his future Queen who is trying to find the sithway finder or whatever. Arriving in his pretty cool ship.

In the novel per Zorii, "As the black clad man approached the squads officer snap to attention, "Supreme leader".... the man standing below with his gang od butchers was Kylo Ren himself.....The supreme leader said his voice was tight and calm, but Zorii got the feeling he was barely containing his rage. He looked around almost as if he were sniffing the air. "We have a perimeter around the city." The lieutenant began, but Kylo Ren cut him off, "We're too late, the scavenger is gone." Zorri goes onto describe Kylo Ren having a moment whipping his lightsaber out and going beast mode.

In the movie through the force it's implied that that's how Rey knows Chewie is onboard Ren's destroyer, but in the novel it's different. He interrogated Chewie forcefully (wink wink ha ha ha) to get information on Rey. Rey was able to link mind with Kylo Ren and that's how she knew Chewie was onboard. They should've shown them linking minds more.

Then Rey was in his room, or excuse me, private quarters. Anyone else surprised his room was so white and pretty, if no impersonal. Where's his bed? I saw it in the first movie I think.

"Rey. Wherever you are, you are hard to find."

I'm wondering if at this point that can connect to one another more voluntarily. Rey is always swinging first. Like always. This scene can only really be described as exposition scenes, but there is a nice aspect to it. It's nice to see what they see from one another's viewpoint when they force bond. They just see each other. The dyad is increasing in power, not only can they now touch through the force, they can fight and their spaces even blend. They were together and yet separate. Kylo Ren also seems to be very excited his girl is in quarters and wants to lock down that ship.

In their next scene, again, Kylo tells her the plot of The Rise of Skywalker while wearing that damn mask. I have questions when did Kylo Ren find out they were a dyad?! Why were denied this scene? Obviously they instinctually know they are connected, they just never knew the word to put to it, but were is the exact scene? The thing about Kylo Ren is he uses information to twist it like a knife. He's going to use the truth that they are Dyad, that she is a Palpatine and ultimately the attraction she feels for him to seduce her to the dark side. From Rey's perspective, "He extended his black gloved hand to her, she looked at it, remembered. The last time he extended a hand had been in the wreckage of Snoke's throne room. Their combined power had defeated him. It was true. That together they could do such incredible things. Suddenly, she sensed a weight at her back and along with it... Finn. His presence a bright beacon of light piercing the dark." Ren pulling some MJ Smooth Criminal moves there.

After Rey flees with her crew, in the novel it's gives Kylo Ren's reaction. Her surveys the damage left from The Falcon's engine wash. "Kylo considered it a small price to pay to encounter Rey again. To provoke her into a rage. To say the word Dyad and watch the truth of it wash over her lovely face......he hardly paid attention, he kept seeing her face. The way her lips had parted with surprise. The way her body had canted (leaned) toward him. If the Millennial falcon hadn't appeared she might have come to him. Taken his hand. Kylo really hated that ship.... he'd been so very close, but now she knew the truth. She would accept it."

Yeah, they're horny. It's the first time Kylo described her in such detail and really let us as the reader or audience know..... he wants power, but he wants Rey more. If Ren had the world in his hand it wouldn't mean as much without Rey. This is the first scene in the movie where Rey acknowledges how much she wants to be with him. Interesting, Finn again is really her solid base on the good side of the force.

Side note: Dark Rey is hot.

The lightsaber fight onboard the death star wreckage. I've heard criticism that this fight while beautiful is pointless. I disagree. It's actually a scene that pushes them forward. Rey said, "give it to me" and Ren giving this shudder like he just came in his pants. hmmhmm! Ren likes feral, passionate Rey. He's pushing her and pushing her when she's already at the edge. Interesting enough, Ben can take whatever Rey has to give. All the anger and the fury she's had to hide from everyone else she can express to him. The fight is really about their likeness and yet difference, their passion, how Rey has grown in her lightsaber fighting and fixing the end of The Force Awakens. Ren is fighting at full force capacity, he's not injured and he's not emotional.

The way he is in love

“He sent the thought directly into her mind: I know you. No one does, she shot back. But I do.” WHY WASN'T THIS IN THE MOVIE?!

They fight until Rey is exhausted and when it looks like Kylo Ren might strike the killing blow, Leia reaches out through the force before she passes. In a fit of rage Rey stabs Kylo Ren, but snaps out of it when she feels Leia's passing. She begins to heal the wound she created.

How did she heal? Oh, you know those books she had in the beginning of the movie? Those book were the sacred Jedi text from Acht-to. She smuggled them onboard the falcon. So they never were actually set fire. Turns out Yoda that they actually were useful.

Rey showing him compassion, healing him, believing in him almost doggedly is so empowering for Ben Solo to return. His parents might be gone, but he still has someone to return home to. This movie has flawed writing but sometimes almost accidentally that land on something that works. The line where she admits she wanted to take his hand is a great line. It's declaration of love for Ben, not a rejection of Kylo Ren. It's her saying, "I didn't reject you. I wanted the best version of you"

After the unconditional love offered by both parents and the selfless, sacrificial love offered by Rey...... Kylo Ren becomes Ben Solo again. We just don't see him for the next 20 minutes as Rey processes her identity crisis and then goes off to fight to Palpatine..... without a plan.

There's also something purely adolescent about Reylo. Even in TLJ, these two throw themselves into one another. Like Rey having a vision of their future together so she goes alone to an enemy ship based purely on belief in him. Now we have Ben Solo, in a moment of pure adolescent "I gotta get to my girl" just needs to be with her on exegol as she faces down Palpatine.

From Adam Driver, "and the thing that we started with for "Who is Ben, then? There's no ambiguity about what it is that he has to do. There's no more seesaw that's happening. For the first time, someone who has never had the answer now finally knows his purpose or destiny. But I don't know that he entirely is sure of what's going to happen from there, nor do I think he cares. I think it's so long as he is with her, he's on the right path. " Adam driver is a Reylo.

Ben solo is back and he's glorious. He's likeable, charismatic, he's funny and he shoots backwards like his dad. People appreciated Adam Driver in an all new way with these scenes. He doesn't say a word except "oh, but you know he's shifted from Kylo Ren to Ben Solo. His physical acting is so strong. The subtlety showed his talented and not many actors can say that.

It such a beautiful moment when finally Ben Solo and Rey connect instead. In the novel and in the film especially so because she reaches for her connection to Ben right before she's going to kill Palpatine.

He acknowledged her and Rey’s lips parted in surprise. The connection was… right. Good. Like coming home. They wasted a precious moment reveling in this new sharing. This is how it should have been all along. A true dyad.

Rey lowered the lightsaber behind her back, as if readying for a massive blow. She reached for the Force. The effort made tears sting in her eyes. [...] She raised her hand ... which was now empty. She had projected her weapon away. [...] The moment Ben felt the grip of Luke’s lightsaber in his palm, he knew it belonged to him, an extension of his very own self. He raised it slowly, relishing the feel of it. ”

It's a beautiful moment where Rey and now Ben Solo have a redo of The Last Jedi. Rey looks at Ben with such love, joy and relief. Ben looks at Rey with such confidence, determination and love. It's the "Are you with me? "Yes, I'm with" Now with them both in blue light.

Finally Ben Solo and Rey are united. These soulmates separate by so much over the course of two movies are finally as they were suppose to be. Palpatine and Skywalker standing together. What it should have been is act of love, redemption and hope defeating evil. It should have been Ben Solo confronting his demons with the woman he loves and fought to be with. It should have been is Rey belonging; a redeemed Ben was supposed to become her new home and/ fulfill her need for a family. It should have been a power couple fighting evil with the Force.

But no. Somehow the two of them coming together empowered the devil. Their power like a source of life itself. Then Ben Solo is chucked off a cliff after draining their energy. Why? Ben Solo should have faced his grandfather's and father's enemy, or his clone. Palpatine confirms all the voices he's been hearing in his head has been Palpatine. He literally made irrelevant to something he is very relevant to.

They fail together, but she succeeds alone after the spirits of the Jedi aiding her?! I hate all this. Then she dies after her energy being drained, or she clutches the lightsaber too hard, I'm not sure it's not described. It's annoying. Ben drags himself up broken ribs and all to get to Rey. He crawls to her when he realizes she's passed. It's a horrible moment where you feel how alone Ben feels.

"He could see her now, collapsed on the floor, and the pain in his chest was suddenly so much worse than that of a couple broken ribs."

Ben initially mourns her until he realizes there might be a chance to save. He heals her like she healed him. Oh also none of the films go into the fact that because of their bond they were able to learn the force, including fighting moves, from one another. "Ben poured everything into her. He found reservoirs he didn’t even know he had. He gave her his whole self"

Then Rey finally takes his hand! She's back! Ben is so relieve that she's there. In the novel, "She was glad to see him. Glad to be with him in this moment. It was the greatest gift she could have given him. His heart was full as Rey reached for his face, let her fingers linger against his cheek. And then, wonder of wonders, she leaned forward and kissed him."

Reylos! We finally get our kiss, they smile at one another, look they're so happy! Probably the happiest they've ever been. A celebration!

Anddddddd he's gone. Seriously. Rey mourns him in the novel like we never see her do in the film. "The girl who had felt alone for all those years on Jakku had been part of a dyad the whole time. And just when she'd discovered that precious connection, that incredible oneness, it was ripped away. A voice came to her through the Force, clear and strong. I will always be with you, Ben said."

It's tragic because there's so much to Ben Solo we just don't see as an audience after 3 films!!!!!! He doesn't have any lines.

This movie was edited until literally the week before the films release. The recall of the artbook, the last-minute editing, Adam Driver recording new dialogue in his closet..... I'm wondering if the original idea for TROS Reylo was, well, this. We know from the editor, they didn't know for sure if they wanted them to kiss until post-production. Much of the movie wasn't decided until post-production.

And then we get to the ending. Rey Skywalker. How are you not Rey Solo after the man you felt kinship with and the man you were in love with?! Like da fuq?!

Moving forward to this Rey 2025 movie. I'd like it to do well. I hope it does well. It probably won't unless Ben Solo returns. Reylo might be controversial (whatever) but it's currently one of the biggest draws this franchise has. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is the most popular character out of the sequel trilogy. We deserve it and I'd pay to see it.

sigh the ending we should have gotten

This post took me like 4 days

[xx-disco-inferno-xx]

thats right yall its time for another shadow-centric sonic au

its also a long one so ill put the lore underneath the cut (my writing isnt the greatest right now bcuz im tired and ive been writing for almost 12 hours straight lmao i can no longer create proper sentences)

debating calling it Sonic 4D Blast because hey reference

Everything is pretty much the same (wow how original, right) but on the ARK, when Black Doom gave Gerald his DNA, Gerald accidentally created a 4th dimensional entity. No one knows how or what to do about it. Gerald just did his stuff with Black Doom's DNA, turned around, and there was Shadow (named by Maria for his lack of a shadow). Shadow was able to successfully cure Maria, and when Gerald's reports indicated so, GUN became suspicious of the almost miraculous turnaround and started investigating.

Once they found out about Project Shadow and what Gerald had somehow done, they regarded Shadow as a top priority threat and began developing experimental technology to counter Gerald's "weapon" in secret.

It took a few years of observation to make sure Maria really was cured, and during that time, she and Shadow became extremely close. Most of the scientists on the ARK either feared him or were cautious around him, though, not quite sure if he could be fully trusted due to all the uncertainty around how he worked.

Eventually, GUN decided to launch a raid on the ARK. Everyone onboard was given sufficient warning that the shuttle was approaching thanks to Shadow, but no one knew why. Once onboard, they immediately began interrogating the scientists and searching for Project Shadow. A soldier shot at Maria in an attempt to get them to cooperate, but Shadow revealed himself and stopped the bullet from hitting her. (im tired pretend theres a conflict escalation here) One thing led to another, and Shadow ended up getting a gold ring forced into his wrist - the experimental technology GUN had been developing the whole time.

It was a set of four golden rings meant to confine Shadow to the 3rd dimension, and while one didn't do it immediately, it slowed him down enough for the soldiers to get the others on him, trapping him in a 3d form and shooting Maria anyway to punish him for acting out.

yap yap yap the rest of the scientists are massacred and Gerald is arrested as per canon event. Shadow is also taken into GUN custody and tortured in a variety of ways, under the guise of scientific research (green line down torso on ref is a scar from vivisection), all while being in indescribable pain from being confined to the 3rd dimension. For 50 years, this is an on and off thing, and he is kept top secret, only known about by some of the highest clearance agents.

Eggman, looking through GUN's databases for anything that could be of use to him, finds one of Gerald's old reports that slipped through the cracks, and begins the search for Project Shadow. The events of SA2 happen, and after Heroes, Shadow is able to break free from the confinement of the Inhibitors, finally freeing himself from the 3rd dimension.

i think theres more id usually add at this point but my brain has literally clocked out so ill just add more like tomorrow or whenever. but basically now shadow just kinda chills like that one homie you see every once in a while

[genericpuff]

The LO TV show isn't happening, and here's why.

Now, before I begin, courtesy to /u/Princess_Space_Goose because they're one of the driving forces behind these observations concerning stuff in the entertainment sector and they were the first ones to make a comprehensive post about it over on reddit shortly after we got into it in the Discord and compiled everything we knew. But I also REALLY wanna talk about this and I'm surprised to see I haven't yet. They've covered reddit, so I'm covering Tumblr LMAO

Disclaimer: Long post ahead. Much of what I say below is speculation but there's a lot of damning evidence to support it. Take it with grains of salt.

Rachel has vague-posted about the show a couple times over the past few years, but very sparingly so, always stating that it's "in the works" without anything to actually show for it. This would have been fine back in 2020 or even 2021 (the pandemic did bring a lot of television/movie development to a crawl) but we're over halfway through 2023 now.

So where's the show? Who's running it? What is it gonna look like? Which streaming service is it going to be hosted on?

We literally do not know any definitive answers to these questions because nothing has been revealed and at this point in the game, that's basically a death sentence. LO has been on a noticeable decline in stats over the past year, while we obviously can't access the backend numbers (and neither can Rachel as far as I know because WT guards them with an iron fist which is a whole other topic for discussion) it's still very clear by the comic's rating slowly but surely dropping and the like count average lowering (obv the like count isn't indicative of view count but if the ratio has remained the same, that means if the like count lowers, the viewership is likely lowering too). There's also been certain behavior from WT over the past year that hints at the comic not doing well, such as its VERY aggressive ad campaigning which often undercuts other series on the platform that are far better than LO and deserve the spotlight, but lose it anyways because WT just wants to keep its golden goose on life support even after its heart has stopped beating.

So the fact that we don't know the answers to these questions still after 4 years is NOT good. We don't know anything and while that was excusable 3 years ago, at this point, it's more indicative of the project being at a standstill or dropped completely, and what we dug up and discussed in the ULO Discord (and what was later posted to reddit) proves it with some very telling information dissected from LinkedIn and other sources.

So far, the only people we know connected to this project are Rachel Smythe (the creator of LO) and Stephanie K Smith (the appointed showrunner). Showrunners are the lifeblood of television series, remember this. Here's a little bit about her:

Lore Olympus still doesn't have a network, this means it has no definitive spot to air, which is not good at this point, because the network is what primarily funds these projects. Think of "Netflix shows" - they're not necessarily made by Netflix, they're made by studios that Netflix funds and as such they're given the Netflix branding because Netflix is their proprietary distribution network and benefactor. So LO has no network or streaming service funding its production. All of her other credited works have affiliated networks/distributors, but LO doesn't.

"But what about Jim Henson Company?" Jim Henson Company bought the rights to LO in 2019 to produce it, that doesn't necessarily mean they were onboard to fund the entire project. Again, these studios need networks to back them, not just for monetary purposes, but with the promise that their project will have a place to go when it's finished, whether it's Netflix, HBO, etc. Think of it like a movie theater - the movie theaters aren't the ones making the movies, but they have deals with the studios to air those movies with the agreement that both sides will be making money.

Jim Henson Company is a production studio, not a network. Not only that, but they're primarily for-hire for puppetry/animatronic projects, they're not the same kind of studio as, say, Laika, or Disney, or Warner Bros. Much of their work is done on the backend, creating animatronics and puppets for kids' productions, monster movies, etc. Currently they're working as the animatronic designers for Five Nights at Freddy's, but that movie isn't a JHC movie, it's a Blumhouse production, which has hired JHC to create animatronics for them.

So, the fact that they were the ones to buy out LO for production rights is... very odd. Because for starters, they don't tend to buy out production rights like major studios, they're typically for hire, but they're also not an animation studio. Any animation projects they've worked on were for concept art and design, such as Word Party, but the folks at JHC primarily specialize in conceptualization and practical effects. That's their whole shtick, it's what they're selling, it's what they get hired for.

That's all early stuff though, stuff we've been speculating on for ages. What came to light recently that spurred on this whole essay was discovering this one section on Stephanie K's LinkedIn:

There are a couple things we can glean from this. First, we know this has to be LO even if it isn't being named, because LO is the only one that was bought by JHC.

This also confirms that LO did end up with a distribution network, specifically HBO Max.

But it also confirms that Stephanie K Smith, the showrunner, is no longer on the project, either due to willingly quitting or being removed. According to the time stamps, she left in April of this year.

This is especially not good because without a showrunner, there's no leader. Showrunners are essential to these projects. So without a showrunner, and without any sort of announcement of a replacement, LO's television show is a ship without a captain, a car without a driver, a Hell's Kitchen without a Gordon Ramsay.

There's mention of an "animated presentation" but as mentioned in that reddit post above, that's not necessarily a pilot, it's more likely it was this. Which can't even really be called "animation", it's just video editing, rigging and tweening, but I digress.

There's a lot more in that reddit thread that dives into some of the details of Stephanie K's stuff, including the HBO Max affiliation and how that potentially connects to the Sydney Sweeney trailer, but ultimately, all of these breadcrumbs add up to one of two things:

LO's television show is in severe development hell which it likely will not come out of for quite some time, especially right now with both the writer's strike and streaming services gutting their animation connections.

LO's show isn't happening at all but with LO's numbers declining and its audience growing more fed up with the series (look no further than the comments on Instagram about LO's recent Eisner win, people are PISSED) Rachel and WT are trying to do as much damage control as possible by dangling a carrot in front of the audience they have left in the hopes that they'll stick around long enough on the promise of a TV show happening to keep siphoning cash and views. After all, there are two things many readers are still sticking around for - the SA plotline, and the TV show, and both of those things are being unnecessarily dragged out in the vaguest way possible with no real resolution in sight.

Neither of these are good, but I think what's even more telling is that, since that post was made on reddit, Rachel has attended SDCC and taken part in a new interview from Girl Wonder Podcast, and when asked about the show, all she had to say was this:

"Um, it’s been really interesting. It’s been educational for me. So, what I—what has been done so far is beautiful. Like, if I could share it, I would. But I can’t. Because it’s very naughty."

IDK if the "naughty" bit is referring to the show or just her revealing info about it, but the fact that NOTHING was shown at SDCC is just. Y'all, I'm sorry, but the show is not happening. If you're gonna show off previews for television ANYWHERE, it's SDCC. It's like the E3 of comics and entertainment media. So the fact that she's STILL VAGUE-POSTING ABOUT IT EVEN AT A MAJOR EVENT WHERE IT'S COMMONPLACE TO REVEAL TRAILERS AND PREVIEWS OF NEW PROJECTS, like... it's just not happening. Jim Henson Company bought the rights to produce LO as a TV show in the summer of 2019. Since then, we haven't seen a SHRED of news, if you google "Lore Olympus TV show" it'll still be the same 2-3 articles from 2019 talking about JHC buying the rights and that's it. If you do further sleuthing, all you'll find is Rachel saying "yeah it's still happening but I can't say anything!" which means fucking nothing at this point. The only 'hope' I have left is that they'll announce it at NYCC which has Rachel in a top billing spot in its advertising, but I'm really not holding my breath at this point.

Animated productions take a while, sure, but LO wasn't the only comic bought for TV production in that late 2010's/early 2020's era. Heartstopper was bought in 2019, and it made it to Netflix by April 2022. And it was live action, a medium SEVERELY affected by the pandemic, unlike animation, which wasn't affected as much because a lot of animation development can be done from home. What did affect the animation sector was streaming services like Netflix gutting their connections to animation studios and putting animated projects on the chopping block... which also doesn't bode well for LO.

It's 2023 now and we still don't even have anything beyond those initial announcement articles and Rachel making empty promises. It's not happening. Don't fall for the "it's coming soon but I can't say anything" nonsense. It's far less genuine now than it was 3 years ago and it has nothing to support those claims that it's actually in development, and ironically far more to support mere speculation that she's lying or doing damage control.

And, if it actually is happening, on a shred of belief in that being a possibility, then it sure as shit isn't being marketed well. Knowing how to build hype in a product is an entire course of knowledge. Marvel is practically the king of building hype, they're why people sit until the very end of the credits now in the hopes of seeing an after-credit scene, even in movies that aren't made by them. LO's numbers are bleeding right now, so to not show anything at even the major events like SDCC is a blatant misfire. Almost like there isn't anything to show in the first place.

You can take all of this evidence as you will. Some of it you may dismiss as "overthinking" or whatever have you. And a lot of it is speculation based on the crumbs we've picked up along the way.

But let me pose you this as a final thought: how can it be a good sign when everything being asked about the show, by fans and critics alike, comes down to "Is the show still happening?"

The best time to reveal proof of the LO television show was 3 years ago. The second best time is now.

[shallowseeker]

Dean’s grief on speedrun

How long was Cas dead, anyway?

I think they reunited around day 18-24 days ish. The scripts give us some clues. (Based on this post)

==Dean is grieving hard==

He’s not in denial, like Sam seems to be -> “Is he really dead?” “You know he is.”

And because Dean now knows Chuck & Amara, he’s not getting stuck in bargaining stage (his usual MO). There is no door of hope to leave ajar after the cosmic consequences are rendered. (Not even the symbolic going-through-the-motions kind that he never intends to open again.)

No, this time, Dean’s in the throes of an incredibly frightening, paralyzing despair (images).

This is partially due to the fact that he saw it coming, and he fought so hard. He resolved to avoid the looming, cosmic consequences, to “not let Cas walk away, not again (script).” Dean made up his mind to act to protect the, “everything he’s ever wanted (script).”

And still, everything went so wrong.

///

The grief, then, is different. It’s a despair born of crushed hopes and dreams. Not to mention, forgiveness and acceptance—as Dean got onboard to help Cas, regardless of his own misgivings, because Cas “had faith in the kid.” This time, he stood behind Cas when he asked, and it still went rotten.

After everyone dies, Dean pleads with God/Chuck. Chuck is the one who brought Cas back before and the only one who seems able to rebuild angels. He doesn’t answer.

Even though Dean had a special connection to Amara, the one who resurrected his burned-up, supposed-to-stay-dead mother, she doesn’t answer either.

This time, he knows they’re out there, perhaps even listening. And they’re not answering because Dean’s run out of free passes and miracles.

This time, that knowledge crushes him where he stands.

///

DAY 1-2 (Lost and Found)

13x01 starts in the twilight hours after the big Lucifer fight.

Dean takes a shot at Jack, and Jack flees.

Heaven and Hell hunt them relentlessly.

They retrieve Jack from North Cove police station.

An angel stabs Jack in the chest with an angel blade, and he seems astonished to be “fine.”

Sam and Dean take time to grieve and scatter ashes.

The funeral occurs that evening, and they quickly get on the road.

///

DAY 3 ish (The Rising Son)

In 13x02, they're still driving home from the funeral towards the bunker, "12 hours till we get home," and Sam convinces Dean to stop at a motel.

Addition: When they eat, Jack remarks that he's 3 days old. "3 days, 17 hours, and 42 minutes."

Over the course of this episode, per the script, 2 days pass.

They eat dinner, go to a tattoo parlor, meet up with Donatello, and stay overnight in the motel.

Heaven and Hell continue to hunt them relentlessly.

Sam, Dean, and Donatello debate nature vs nurture, with Dean and Donatello leaning towards nature.

Sam psycho-analyzes Dean and delivers euphemisms to Jack about Dean “wanting to protect everyone and getting his wires crossed,” but ultimately, he isn’t forthcoming to Jack about the reality of the situation. (That is, it was Lucifer that killed Cas, and Lucifer who pulled Mary into another world--that Dean's grieving!) These important details might've helped Jack to understand his situation with a lot more clarity and grace. This will cause Jack to cool towards Sam when Dean reveals the truth during an argument.

Demons find them the next morning.

In fact, Dean nearly dies against a common demon, getting cornered on a hotel bed, but he is saved at the last minute by Sam’s interference.

Jack, tricked by Asmodeus, nearly releases the Shadim.

They drive home.

Later, Jack freaks out about being impervious to stabbing. In his new bunker room, he laments, “What the hell am I? I can’t control… whatever this is. I will hurt someone.”

Dean tells him he will be Jack's executioner if Jack loses control.

At most, it's been only 5 days since everyone died.

///

DAY 5 ish (Patience)

13x03 picks up mere hours after they get home, and it covers 5 days total. So, that brings us to a decently solid total of 10-ish days when this episode finishes.

Dean can't bear to be in the bunker with mission-mode Sam and Jack, so he takes off on a hunt.

Clearly in no shape to hunt, Dean dies at the hands of a wraith (and so does Jody). They are both saved by Patience’s interference.

Dean tells Patience there’s no joy in this life. Only pain and death.

Sam and Dean have a huge fight about Jack, during which Dean accidentally gives Jack context to the situation (re: Cas’s death, Mary’s plight). This causes Jack, already exhausted by Sam’s well-meaning training regimen, to cool towards Sam the next morning.

Cas appears to awaken in The Empty on day 9 or 10.

///

DAY 10-11 ish (The Big Empty)

13x04 SEEMS like the very next morning, because Dean AND Jack are both still chilly towards Sam. The air is described as arctic, with Dean giving Sam a, "don't even try it, motherfucker," face. Jack accuses Sam of wanting to use him as an interdimensional can opener and "being just like Asmodeus," and Sam comes clean about the truth.

Sam pushes them all to go on a case together. Jack says he doesn’t want to go at first. Sam wants Jack to go with them for the express purpose of forcing Dean to be around him and warm up to him, which isn’t fair to Dean or Jack…not really.

This storyline covers the family therapy scene (great analysis), wherein an interesting attempt at therapy is made under dishonest constraints.

Dean, still clearly in no shape to hunt, is easily overtaken by the shifter and nearly dies. He is saved by Jack’s interference.

According to the script, 13x04 occurs over 4 days. Commentary//

That means that Dean thawed to Jack, after our total of a mere 14 days. By the end of this episode, they're on shaky terms, and by the beginning of 13x06, calling out to each other in a friendly manner, "How was the case?"

Jack "puts a dent in Dean's armor," per the script, even before he saves them with his powers. Dean is doing everything he can not to like Jack, and it’s clear from the script that he’s failing.

At the end of the episode, Dean tells Sam to absorb the weight of the hunting burden, because he’s got no hope left.

Cas appears to awaken in a field on day 14. Presumably, his ashes are in the middle of nowhere, and he starts walking.

///

DAY 14-20 ish? (Advanced Thanatology)

Here’s where it gets foggier.

I can't tell exactly when 13x05 picks up with respect to the previous episode, but it seems like only a little bit of time has passed.

I would say a week at most has passed, but possibly as little as a day or two, and the case itself, per the script, covers another 4 days.

However, if Cas awoke in The Empty on day 10, and woke in the field around day 14, I think I favor a shorter timeline here with some of the “days” being overlapping back story from the case itself.

Anyway, Jack has been making his way through Sam's DVDs, "Red Sonja, Beast Master, Beast Master II." Commentary//

Sam does not intuit why Dean is up late at night/early twilight hours, making a PB & J (analysis).

Sam tries to remedy Dean’s overwhelming grief by pushing breakfast beer and strip clubs toward him. Alcohol to numb the pain + sexy stuff as a distraction. Now more than ever, Dean seems to perform those only for Sam’s benefit. (It seems Sam did not pay attention to Mia Vallens's therapy, except as a means to validate his own motives for trying to save Mary. Ouch! Poor Sam!)

Sam is not great with empathy here, bless my neurodivergent man-child. He’s dealing with a loss of his own, of course, and he’s been shown to be an impatient, mission-motivated griever (analysis).

Anyway, he’s completely at sea with Dean’s powerful grief, and he seems tragically unaware of Dean's close calls/being off his game over the course of the last few hunts.

Sam, perhaps understandably, wants Dean to be there for him n’ Jack, as caretaker and comrade, but Dean is too mentally wounded to bear the weight of that expectation. (Btw, I don’t think Sam really “gets” the Cas thing till 15x09 The Trap: Sam’s future is symbolized by Eileen-as-hope (analysis) and Sam realizes Dean’s future is built around Cas-as-foundation.) Dean dies...again//

Dean attempts suicide.

He tells Billie he doesn’t matter.

After he revives, Dean tells Sam, “No. Sam, I’m not okay. I’m pretty far from okay… And I would take the hit… And now Mom and Cas… And I – I don’t know. I don’t know.”

This is an elegant parallel to season 7’s grieving Dean, about his not being able to “shake” what happened with Cas, and admitting, “he doesn’t know why.” (Cas is different. Cas has always been different.) In season 7, he also says, “I’ll do what I can,” in response to Sam telling him to get his head in the game and stay alive. Cas is a core wound in both scenarios.

///

==Death & resurrection==

So, that would bring our guesstimate to Cas reuniting with the boys around 20-24 days. So, at most a little over 3 weeks but possibly closer to 4, especially if the backstory timelines of actual “case days” overlap, like 13x05 potentially does.

I am reasonably certain Cas awakened in the field near day 14. I’d personally put the actual reunion at 18-20 ish days, and certainly not longer than a month. They reunite in early June, I think. Blackberries are a summer fruit, and there are wild blackberries in the field where Cas awakens.

Dean drives to Cas and meets up with him, "in the middle of nowhere," so it seems Cas's grave and subsequent walk to civilization was in quite a remote area.

///

Going back through this, I was pretty astounded how Dean kept dying or nearly dying in those days following Cas’s death. He was definitely in no state to be hunting.

(images from CSN, SPN wiki, fangirlism.com)

[theweeklydiscourse]

I’m re-reading Shadow and Bone right now and I’m suddenly reminded of why I could never take the Darkling seriously as a villain.

Baghra reveals the “horrifying truth” about the Darkling to Alina and she folds instantly. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that it takes Baghra only two tries to get Alina onboard with her plan. You mean to tell me that the Darkling is an ancient being who has had hundreds of years to practice his manipulation skills, yet he failed to sink his claws into the easiest possible target?

Really Alina should be extremely susceptible to the Darkling’s supposed brand of manipulation/seduction. I mean come on, she’s a lonely, insecure orphan who is still pining after a guy who has ignored her romantically for most of their relationship. This should be a walk in the park for the Darkling, and yet he fails so badly at manipulating her that it only takes ONE crotchety old woman (who had previous voiced her disdain for him ) to sway his target into knocking down his centuries long scheme like a house of cards.

Baghra: Alina, he is evil and has plans for world domination! He has manipulated your weak mind!

Alina: You are senile.

Baghra: Wait look at my shadow powers!

Alina: OH MY GOD HE’S GOING TO KILL EVERYONE!!! I HAVE TO RUN AWAY!!

The fact that Alina believes Baghra almost instantly when Baghra’s only piece of evidence is her shadow powers, is a testament to how lax Bardugo was when it came to actually writing the Darkling as an abuser. How am I supposed to buy into the idea that the Darkling is a scary and abusive man when the alleged pattern of abuse he displays throughout the book is nearly nonexistent? In fact, Alina’s realizations after this reveal are meant to recontextualize his past actions which she interpreted as benign but really just contradict what actually occurred in the text. She fully rewrites the narrative and retcons events that happened earlier in the book as a narrative shortcut. It is Bardugo pretending that she wrote an insidious process of manipulation into the narrative, when in reality it is lazy and condescending writing.

Honestly this scene would make more sense if the story Baghra told Alina was her trying to get rid of Alina. I mean the whole reason the Darkling keeps Baghra around (despite her terrible attitude and verbally abusive tendencies) is because she has been the only constant person in his life for centuries. They have a toxic and codependent relationship where Baghra can be as mean as she wants and the Darkling will never get rid of her for fear of being alone. It would make Alina a threat to that tenure since she is his equal and opposite half who could match his eternal lifespan, making Baghra’s position less secure. Thus, Baghra scares Alina into leaving the Little Palace and endangering herself once she leaves the safety bubble.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Part 16 the Straw Hats and Eri!Reader meet Camie the Mermaid and Pappag the Starfish, along with a former enemy now friend Hachin (Who treats them to some delicious Takoyaki) after fighting Duval

She and everyone else were shocked about Duval’s face reveal, but she was the only one willing to comfort Sanji since he was the most ‘traumatized’ by the shocking reveal (Which made him bust out crying over the kindness of his ‘Baby Sister’ since she’s so kind for worrying about his feelings) *I snorted when I saw Brook drop to the floor laughing*

Sanji also made sure to help Reader enjoy eating her Octopus Fritters (And wiped any sauce that got on her face) though he would gush when she fed him some of her Fritters to him (He feels honored by how Reader is such a kind and sweet girl)

Their next stop is Sabaody Archipelago! (Not knowing of the looming danger that’s ahead of them)

-Your brows furrowed, sitting between Robin and Chopper, a frown on your face, “Ark-e-pel-lego?” Robin giggled softly, as you had been having trouble trying to pronounce archipelago (I swear I’m not projecting at all- lie).

-Nami had told everyone that the ship would be docking in a place called the Sabaody Archipelago, and it was the gateway between where you had been traveling all this time, to the New World.

-A dark shadow appeared over the ship and your eyes went wide as a massive sea beast rose out of the water and Luffy quickly charged in, dispatching it quickly.

-Your eyes went wide when it spat something out and Sanji quickly dashed forward, catching a mermaid! Sparkles were quickly surrounding you as the beast swam away, now afraid of Luffy.

-Camie was so pretty! You had never met a starfish before, until she introduced you to Pappag and she Camie was so kind to you, shaking your hand, “I’ve never met a human child before!”

-Sanji was flirting, “And I’ve never met a mermaid before!” question marks surrounded your head before you went to speak, wanting to remind him of Kokoro, but Usopp put his hand over your mouth, giving a weak smile, “Let Sanji have this.”

-You were scared when Camie said that her friend, Hachi, who you remember from Arlong Park, running over to Nami who immediately kneeled, hugging you close, but Nami was surprised to hear that Hachi had changed- opening a takoyaki stand.

-However, when she tried to call Hachi, to come and get her and Pappag, someone else answered and you froze, hearing the voice telling Camie that they were going to sell Hachi to the auction house, as fishmen and mermaids always sold for a lot of money.

-Luffy turned to Nami, leaving the decision to her. Nami squeezed you close before nodding softly, knowing that the crew could easily handle Hachi if he were to try anything against any of them or you.

-The Flying Fish were so cool! You couldn’t help but watch, from the safety of Nami’s grove, after you were told to hide, as you watched your family fight against Duval, who was really angry at Sanji for some reason, while they were trying to rescue Pappag, Camie, and Hachi at the same time.

-Your jaw dropped as you saw Duval’s face, seeing that he looked like Sanji’s wanted poster, which didn’t look a thing like him, but Duval was furious at the similarities.

-Brook was laughing loudly as he landed near you, after taking care of some of the Flying Fish riders, holding his stomach… or where his stomach would have been if he had one, while Sanji was yelling at him.

-Duval was prepared to catch everyone onboard Sunny, wanting to sell everyone, knowing that the auction house would love seeing fishmen, a mermaid, and a heavily wanted crew.

-After the battle had been won and you were all on the Sunny, Duval now a friend to the Straw Hats, as now he was extremely beautiful, in his opinion, Hachi was treating everyone to Takoyaki.

-You could see Nami was hesitant and angry with Hachi being on board, which he knew, but she did tell him that his Takoyaki was yummy at least.

-You were sitting on Sanji’s lap, as he was pouting lightly still, however he was helping you eat the Takoyaki, blowing on it as it was a little too hot for you.

-Seeing your cheeks fully, looking like a little chipmunk, quickly turned Sanji’s mood around, smiling down at you as he wiped your mouth, “You really like those don’t you?”

-You nodded rapidly, “It’s so yummy! I’ve never had anything like it before!” Hachi couldn’t help but smile, thanking you for your compliment which did surprise you- he wasn’t scary like he was before.

-Your eyes went huge as you approached the archipelago, seeing the towering mangrove trees and the massive floating bubbles, staring with Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp, all of you with sparkly eyes as Hachi told Nami that to get to Fishman Island, they would need to get the ship coated to travel under the water, and that he would take him to the best person he knows for coating.

-You were excited to explore the island, not hearing the dangers of this place, with the World Nobles and other powerful pirates, as well as marines on top of it. You just wouldn’t wait to get off the ship!

[usedtobecooler]

long hot summer | Ralph Penbury x fem!reader

Pairing | Ralph Penbury x fem!reader

Warnings | sexual content (18+ minors dni), stripping, boob fondling, coming in pants (times two cause i'm a heathen), cunnilingus, eager ralph, rude reader, train sex

Word Count | 1.9k

A/N | listen i really should be working on prompts i know, but i needed to try out writing for our little ralphie and my heart wouldn't rest until i did it ))):

The steam train was stuffy, a warm July day making the heat onboard unbearable. You'd never witnessed muggy heat like this, so used to the cool sea breeze in Spain that the air in central London was disgustingly dense in comparison.

You're only in a chemise, cooling yourself with your fan but inevitably still warm enough that drops of sweat slide down the dip of your breast, pooling into your corset. Damn this weather, damn the Brits, damn Victoria for subjecting you to this horrid trip. You made a mental note in your head to never return after this trip.

Things weren't being made any better by the fact that Victoria's ridiculous twin brother, Ralph, had been expected to chaperone you during this entire journey north. He was always so loud, unable to shut off at any given moment, he always had something to talk about. You swear this was the quietest he'd been the entire train ride, as if the cat had gotten his tongue.

He's disheveled looking, cream suit jacket thrown on the empty seat next to him and shirt rolled up to his elbows, top button popped to reveal a glimpse of chest hair. You stare too long, he's going to catch on soon, and your peaceful silence will be over.

He's disheveled looking, cream suit jacket thrown on the empty seat next to him and shirt rolled up to his elbows, top button popped to reveal a glimpse of chest hair. You stare too long, he's going to catch on soon, and your peaceful silence will be over.

"How long is left of this journey?" You snap, fanning yourself a bit harder, but all it does is wave the warm air back to you, prickly heat attacking your skin and making you feel disgusting, in need of a bathe.

Ralph shrugs, doesn't even lighten up any as you talk, smile faltering and failing to appear, "I'm not sure, an hour, maybe."

The heat truly is getting to him, you can tell. He isn't his usual bubbly, ridiculously puppy-like self, he sounds worn out. Tired. The blistering heat becoming too much.

You sigh, "This is ridiculous," you fuss, slapping down your fan on the table to make haste of unfastening the top clasps on your corset, grateful that today your chemise adorned buttons along the chest also.

"What - what are you doing, madam. You can't undress yourself here." Ralph strains, unable to take his wide eyes off of you as he watches your breasts spill from their confines, slick with sweat and flushed pink in the heat.

"We are in a private carriage, Ralph. The blind is down, nobody will come in. Do you have a problem?" You quirk an eyebrow at him, continuing to undo buttons with your eyes on his, unable to decipher how he feels right in that very moment.

He looks distressed. Hand tightening on the rim of his hat on the table, his cheeks flushing darker than before, and you don't think it's from the heat this time. You smirk a little, removing your hands from the boned material of your corset and setting them prettily on the table, fingertips dancing along the solid mahogany.

"Ralph, have you ever seen a woman's breasts outside of their undergarments before?" You're teasing him, a glint in your eye. You hit the nail on the head, clearly, because Ralph can't meet your gaze anymore and he's turning away, suddenly the ceiling becoming ever so interesting to him.

"I, um, well I - you see," Ralph stumbles over his words, cheeks burning hot, the flush beginning to spread down his neck, "not - not really, no."

"Not really?" You ask, faking wonderment so he'll keep going. You toe your heels off under the table, your stocking clad foot connecting with Ralph's calf and eliciting a gasp from his bitten lips as you run it up and down, "A pretty boy like you, never been with a woman?"

Ralph stutters, sucking in a sharp breath as he lets your foot glide over his leg through his pants, the feeling making his cock spring to attention fully, as if he hadn't been at half-mast the entire journey just by watching you fan your bosom, "They say I'm too eager, madam. They'd be right, but I don't think that's a bad thing."

Your tummy tightens at his admission - eager. How could a woman deny an eager man willing to please them? It's a crying shame, that Ralph had never laid his hands on a woman and pleasured her - even if he lacked experience, eagerness would always make up for that.

"Would you like to see mine?" You say eventually, foot rising higher and higher until you're rubbing the inside of his thigh and he's positively whimpering, hazarding a glance back at you.

You make a show of it for him, unbuttoning and unclasping your layers until your plush tits fall loose form their confinements, nipples hardening in slight temperature change in the air. You never take your eyes off of him, keep your foot running up and down his inner thigh, "What do you think, Ralphie? Is it everything you dreamed it'd be?"

"Can I -" Ralph starts, fingers gripping onto the edge of the table as if he's stopping himself from lunging over, "Can I touch them, madam?"

You suck in a sharp breath, a tiny little moan escaping you, "Of course you can, Ralph. Anything you want."

He barely allows you to finish the sentence before he's reaching a hand out to cup your left breast, thumb running over the hardened nub of your nipple curiously, eliciting a breathy whine from you, "Wow, this is brilliant!"

You roll your eyes, as usual his silly mouth ruining the illusion, so you shut him up by running your foot up higher, ghosting over the hard outline of his cock in his pants. And something unexpected happens;

"Gosh, madam, I'm going to -" Ralph cuts himself off with a groan, hunching in on himself, thumb and forefinger pinching your nipple hard as he comes in his pants. You blink at him, almost stupidly, as you watch him moaning, feeling his cock pulsing under the sole of your foot as he unloads in his confines.

"Oh, Ralphie, I didn't realise you'd release so quickly," You pout, because what a crying shame that is, over before it had even began, "I was only just starting to have fun having my way with you."

Ralph blushes, looking up at you with watery eyes as his fingers fall deftly from the curve of your breast, "I'm so sorry, ma'am. I don't know what quite came over me."

You have to stifle back a giggle at Ralph's choice of words, inappropriate considering what just happened, "Maybe I have a way you could make it up to me?" You hazard, core still aching and cunt desperate to be touched, you just hoped Ralph truly was as eager as he said he was.

"Anything, madam. Anything you want." Ralph's pleading with you - begging, even. It's adorable, has you clenching your thighs as a blooming begins in the pit of your stomach.

"Why don't you slide under this table and take a glance up my skirts. You'd like that, right, Ralphie?" You coo, a dirty smirk spreading over your features and darkening them. You spread your legs as an invitation, getting yourself comfortable.

He doesn't have to be asked twice, sliding under the table and pushing his head under the skirt of your dress, the curls in his hair tickling at your thighs, "Gosh, madam. No panties?" He gasps, and you giggle as you lift your skirts up to watch him wide eyed, face to face with your glistening wet pussy.

"I always wondered if the day would come where my lack of underwear would come in handy," You quip, feeling proud of yourself, unable to tear your eyes away from Ralph's fascinated stare at your anatomy, "Come on then, Ralphie. Don't you want to work that mouth of yours?"

Ralph nods eagerly, gripping at your thighs and nuzzling into your cunt, flat of his tongue coming out to tentatively slide between your folds, catching your clit on the upstroke. You gasp, hand coming out to grasp at his curls, winding them between your fingers.

"Oh, Ralph," You moan, his inexperience telling in the way that he's trying to find his footing and there's no real rhythm to his movements, but his tongue feels delicious on your pussy, the occasional slip over your clit driving you mad, "Such a good boy, Ralphie."

Ralph moans into your cunt at your praise, and your eyes glisten, delighted that you'd hit a nerve with him. Of course he had a praise kink, he was as puppy like as a man came, you're almost positive if you threw a bone at him he'd chase it. Adorable, almost pitiful to some, but maybe not to you.

You find the knot in your tummy winding up unexpectedly, his large tongue deftly licking over you just enough to have you teetering on the edge all too quickly, and you're almost saddened by how fast this will all be over.

You glance down at Ralph, and he must feel his eyes on you because he looks up, a pleading look on his chocolate brown, wet loser boy eyes, almost like he's asking if he's doing a good job. His nose perches prettily on your mound, nestled in amongst your trimmed hair, and well, if it isn't the prettiest sight you've ever seen.

You open your mouth in a quiet moan when Ralph licks over your clit and stays there this time, "That's it, Ralphie. Right there, what a good little pup. So good for me," You praise, and Ralph whimpers into your skin, you feel him rutting against the air, "Oh, oh!"

You come with a sharp cry, tipping your head back until the vast expanse of your sweat slick neck is bared, thighs squeezing at Ralph's head as fireworks explode behind your eyes. You shake and shudder through your orgasm, body feeling impossibly hotter as the coil unravels in the pit of your gut.

Ralph's hands grasp onto your thighs pathetically tight, a broken, choked, wet moan escaping his mouth as he shakes against your leg, a tell-tale sign that he's coming again. Your pussy clenches as he whines into the meat of your thigh, eyes squeezing shut whilst he ruts against you.

You pet his head to help him through the last of it, and he keens into the touch. Ralph truly was like a puppy, it was so endearing.

You glance out of the window, eyes widening as you see the train station in your near sights, "Ralph, Ralph!" You hiss, shaking at him, "Get up and compose yourself, we're almost here."

Ralph waves you off like an idiot, your fingers fumbling with your clasps to tuck your bosom away before somebody saw you, a wreck over a virgin boy who touched you. Mortifying, truly.

When you both eventually step off of the train, Victoria is there to greet you, and her smile falters, a grimace taking over her features, "Good grief, you two. You look disgusting, like you've been working like dogs in the prison. Up to, you need to bathe before tonight's party."

She claps her hands, turning around without a second glance and you roll your eyes once you're sure she's not looking.

She really was not your favourite Penbury.

[magical-oppas]

Now that the season is over, here are my predictions as to what will make it into Drive to Survive.

!Disclaimer! DTS was my entry into this sport. I think the show is great in its own way and an excellent way to reach new fans, this is mostly just for fun. (If you can't make fun of the things you love I'm the wrong person to have on your dash)

Here is my list in no particular order

HAAS: They love a HAAS focused episode, partly because it brings Steiner into the picture. I personally never got why people like him but if it works it works I guess. Expect many "Suck my balls" jokes. Otherwise we are scheduled for our regular viewing of HAAS being absolutely washed on track with Guenther calling Gene every five minutes.

Qatar: Things they WONT cover about Qatar; the drivers collapsing and passing out from heat exhaustion, the tracklimits and tyre fiasco. Things they WILL cover about Qatar; the mercs crashing into eachother on lap 1 (with THAT clip of Lewis playing like 50 times), Oscar winning the sprint. I imagine them spinning it in a way that makes the sprint a huge deal (cue clip of Will Buxton talking about how essential the sprint is for F1 as a sport and almost more important than the grand prix itself). This brings me to my next point

Civil wars: We have the real civil wars and the fake ones. I imagine them using the Qatar gp to make up a war between Oscar and Lando, framing it as Oscar as a rookie getting a win before Lando. Not sure who they are gonna make the villain here, probably Lando. They could also fabricate one at Ferrari given how this car suits Carlos more than Charles, will probably blow Monza out of proportion. Merc civil war might get a whole episode(be honest, we all know that one is a competitive car away from blowing up). The french civil war is the one I'm looking forward to the most because BOY do those two like to play it dirty. I'm frothing at the mouth already to see the backhanded compliments, the jabs, the shady comments they have probably been giving in the dts interviews. Speaking of Alpine

Alpine vs Mclaren(Oscar): This is a must because they made that whole thing last season. Episode will start out with a really smug Alpine team but we will get to witness the horrible car crash of a season they are having with the amazing dts editing. Can't wait to see the Silverstone part where they show the double DNF side by side with the Mclarens celebrating a p2 p4.

Singapore: The only non Redbull winner so I will be surprised if they don't feature it. They also love a dramatic crash and Lance's one in Singapore qualy is probably the most intense one we had this season. Will probably also use the onboard footage from Lando to show the tyre skirting by him to really amp it up.

Red bull: Will it be about their amazing achievements as a team this year? No. Will it be about Max and his fantastic race craft and the way he hasn't put a single foot wrong? No. It will be about Checo and his struggles. Will also have interviews of Christian defending him that become fewer and fewer the longer into the season we go. The win streak and the domination will be mentioned only in contrast to Checo. I also have a theory that red bull might drop checo and if they do I promise you the reveal in the show will go exactly like this:

Christian: We have given him time and patience, but at some point we need to start looking elsewhere, Mclaren have an amazing pairing, Mercedes have an amazing pairing even Ferrari have really started to get into their groove. He really left us no choice.

*Dramatic music, cut to black*

"Hi I'm Daniel Ricciardo and I'm a driver for Red Bull racing. Fuck, that felt so good to say *big Daniel smile.*"

Las Vegas: Will be shown as the most epic race this season with all drivers hyping it up (Might be able to include Max in that one with enough editing). What they WONT cover: all of the thursday/free practice shenanigans. What they WILL cover: The fact that the race was a banger.

Alpha Tauri: They have the perfect angle for this set up already. Nyck was talking himself up big time last season so they are just gonna overlay that with Nyck having a mare on track. They're gonna make whole "I'm back bitches" thing with Daniel. Then they're gonna make his accident real tragic (they could also make it into a Thing that it was Oscar that Daniel tried to avoid when putting it in the wall). Not really sure what they're gonna make out of Liams short stint.

Ferrari vs Mercedes fight for p2 is gonna be HELLA dramatic. They are going to drag out that race and insert radio messages where they don't belong. I also think they are gonna make it look like Carlos was closer to Lewis in the race than what he actually was.

As I said, these are just my speculations. based on the way the show has been and are mostly just for fun.

[storyspinner91]

Willow Month 2023: Day 1 - Favorite Character

Please.

Ok, more seriously, it's absolutely and 100% Jade. There are myriad reasons: I love this kind of character who's duty-bound but wants things outside their duty, I love a character who has principles and sticks to them and reveals that Principles Can Be Good, Actually (I feel like so often these characters are just revealed as hide-bound, not the case here!), and I think Erin Kellyman did a great job performing Jade. I was hooked by her and her obvious yearning for Kit from the first time she flicks her eyes down to look at Kit's lips while Kit isn't watching her...like 20 seconds into the show.

(Because I didn't hear much about the show before watching, that moment also made me sit up straight and say, aloud, in an empty apartment, "Wait, are there lesbians in this Disney+ show?!" which is very funny.)

I wish we'd gotten more of Jade throughout the show, to be honest. I was fully onboard for this to be the Jade Claymore and sometimes Kit Tanthalos show, and while I understand why it wasn't, one thing that makes me sad about not getting Season 2 is that it sounds like they were intending to give her a little more to do, especially around her history and her discovered family with the Bone Reavers.

Does her sword-staff-glaive-thing make any sense as a weapon no not really but this is a fantasy show so far more importantly it looks dope as fuck and that is the primary thing a weapon derives efficacy from in this universe. ;)

[bridgerton-bard]

Bridgerton Season 3 Rambles

Warning: Spoilers for Romancing Mister Bridgerton and Season 3 of Bridgerton on Netflix

Just a compilation of thoughts that I have had about Netflix's adaptation of Romancing Mister Bridgerton for Season 3.

The combination of writing and/or editing was definitely different, and not necessarily in a way that I enjoyed. I am not a cinematographer, so I can't necessarily say why, but this season definitely felt like a much faster pace than S1 & S2. This is especially true for part 1. Prior seasons felt like they were meant to be watched casually and understood easily on the first watch. This season was so dense that I ended up re-watching part 1 again just to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Part 2 did feel like a slightly more reasonable pace, but still faster and more chaotic than any other Bridgerton season. Given that Netflix controls exactly how many episodes and how long they are, I wish they had decided to do 10 episodes so that the story could be slowed down to a more enjoyable pace and less context for each storyline had to be cut for time.

I liked all of the side stories. There are no characters in this show that I don't want to watch. Knowing the backstory from Queen Charlotte, it was so great to see Violet with Marcus (her garden is most certainly in bloom 🌸) and to see Lady Danbury get some closure from the past. It was also great to see more of the continuation of Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte's friendship. Watching the Featherington women reconcile with each other was probably my favorite of the side plots. I enjoyed the Mondrich storyline. (🎉 Welcome to the ton, officially, Mondrich family! 🎉) I was a little skeptical about how the Benedict/Lady Tilly storyline was going to prep him for S4 (🤞) at the end of part 1, but fully onboard after part 2! I just wish we had more time to see the romance between Colin and Pen build before and after their wedding.

Side note: Do we think that Netflix/Shondaland had always planned for Benedict to be bi/polyamorous, or do we think that choice was made after they were heavily accused of queerbaiting in their characterization of Benedict?

Colin's realization of love seemed rushed even in RMB, but it seemed out of place as it happened in the series. There needed to be more development. Maybe we were meant to see his feelings growing through Colin's conversations with Eloise about Penelope and Cressida, but due to his characterization as "good guy Colin", it mostly just seemed like an older brother who wanted his two friends to reconcile? There was something missing. If the show had gone in book order and Kanthony/Benophie had been around, Colin maybe could have realized his love based on witnessing how those couples interacted?

In my opinion, all of the time in part 1 spent on the Queen coming up with a new name for a diamond ("sparkler") and then agonizing about naming one could have been put to better use. I know that the show doesn't want to bore watchers by automatically having the female Bridgerton lead of the season being named the diamond on repeat, but it's functionally the same and 10ish minutes of screentime that could have been better served elsewhere. Especially with the Queen playing such a big role in the potential match between Francesca and Lord Samadani as well as the reveal of Whistledown, I could do without the agonizing over the special title the female lead will get.

I really missed Lady Danbury playing the role of encouraging Penelope to be herself the way she did in the books. I know Lord Debling might have taken on some of that role in the Netflix series, but there's a different dynamic when Penelope realizes her worth based on a suitor compared to the objective perspective of a smart woman in the ton. To me, Netflix Pen felt like she gained some confidence simply based on that Debling was interested and not that she actually realized she was desirable. Whereas in the books, Lady Danbury encourages Pen to be more confident and show more of her personality because it makes her more authentic and fun to be around.

Speaking of Lord Debling, we were promised during the press tour that Debling wasn't going to be used as a plot device to make Colin propose, and that Colin would express his feelings to Penelope without that sword hanging over his head. But what we got was Violet mentioning to Colin that Lord Debling was planning to propose to Penelope which prompted Colin to rudely interrupt them and cause Debling to rescind his proposal????? I really did enjoy that book!Colin loved Penelope for being Penelope and proposed to her even though he knew that nobody else would and it would lower his social standing to marry the unpopular spinster girl who read romance novels.

In general, past seasons have felt like even where Netflix/Shondaland changed plot points in the books, the changes were still correct in the characterization. While the above might be correct to Colin's characterization it's a significant downgrade from the story that was already written. Why did that need to be changed?

Speaking of characterizations, I really enjoyed the characterizations for Francesca and John. They're such different characters to the other leads on the show and I really appreciated that both seemed to be characterized as neurodivergent in some way. It's nice to see the show acknowledging that gay people, neurodivergent people, etc. still existed in regency times even if the public awareness/conception of them was different.

I wish we had seen more of Colin and Pen repairing their relationship after Colin learned that Pen was LW. I know they were trying to build the drama, but the whole time it felt like Colin was two seconds from applying for an annulment, which was not even mentioned in RMB. Again, it just felt like too much was implied and not shown here, or that the show's characterizations were off from the books.

I enjoyed the peek into Cressida Cowper's world that we got this season. She's no longer just an antagonist cardboard cutout that's moved around the ballroom to create conflict. It's nice to understand her motivations. I really appreciated her storyline this season and I'd love to see a spinoff about her life in Wales and her eventually making her way to the continent or back into the ton. The scene where her mother threw her under the bus as she was counseling her that it was every woman for herself in the ton was beautifully sad. I think it was only in that moment that Cressida realized the only way for a young woman to do well for herself in the ton is to befriend and rely on her peers. I appreciated the aspect of tragedy that Cressida only realized her bad moves when it was far too late to go back and correct them.

Another issue with the writing: some of the modern language was slightly jarring. I know Bridgerton flirts with the modern/regency dichotomy because there are multiple parts of the show that aren't period-accurate. That being said, you're really on the cusp when a character in a regency period drama says "Don't come for my cane". I'm not saying I want it to be 100% period accurate with bonnets, etc. However, I think maintaining the use of Regency slang and slightly modernized regency phrases/syntax is part of what helps make it feel "regency" even though the fashion, music, and social norms about race and sexuality are not accurate to the regency period. The same can be said for obviously acrylic nails. Not everything needs to be period accurate, but some things are definitely a step too far. Big disparities like this are distracting and remove people from the story.

I know people have a lot of feelings about Michaela Stirling, however, I want to let Netflix/Shondaland cook. We don't know yet whether Francesca is also going to be bi or whether she's going to be a late-to-life lesbian. We truly have no idea. I have liked how they've handled Francesca/John so far, so I'm just going to wait to see how this plays out.

I think that's all for now. I'd love to hear anything you'd like to add, as I could yap about Bridgerton for hours.

Varley . . . release the BUGS!