#best new trope: accidental murder victim to lover

[sweetestpopcorn]

I think I found my most hated genre of fics under the Daemon and Rhaenyra tag in ao3 with any Aemond/Lucerys kind of fics and any Aemond/OC fics but no. I believe I found something I cannot stomach, in a completely different way, but still makes me wanna hurl. Fics where they basically redeem Aegon the Usurper and make it so that he becomes King without fault. Yo, I cannot stomach this. Baby Aegon Cheeks and Viserys not being King? Targs with Hightower Blood continuing the main Targ Line?😭😭😭 Im biased, I know, but man can I not stand the blood of otto and alicent remaining on the throne no matter the circumstances even if the author makes Aegon TuTu into a saint thats beatified

Hi Anon 😊

If those fics are in the redacted universe - which I can’t imagine them not being 😂 - I can’t understand the complaint about Egg 2 becoming the king.

I mean he cosplays as Aegon III, called Helen an idiot, and Almond Milk a twat. He also you know what 😎 in the same balcony as showTommen k🍡lled himself. I can appreciate his chaotic energy and other things aside, I stan him the most. Go off king!

Also at the end of the day Droopy aka Phantom of the Opera and of the Leprosy was a wife killer who got an end too good for him. Anything that comes after him is an improvement! Also please cut Alicia some slack she had to be topped by Droopy for 20+ years. My girl deserves a break. 😭

As for the real upsetting part, that clearly is the Renada/Matt content 🤢 So my question is, does Matt have the ability to get hard now that Renada is older than 18 or does Renada have to go to Dornishcel for a good old dose of potency? 🤔 she loved Matt so much ❤️ I also have a hc that notViserys is Dornishcel’s son along with Loserys, Jackarys, and Jeffrey.

Also does Renada finally fullfill her dream of becoming a knight and riding into battle? And if yes, does anyone make us a solid and end her? Asking for a friend because I might like that one 🥰

Also also, are Matt/Pentos guy endgame? Cause that’s who I ship in redacted universe. 😊

PS: to be fair to you though Anon, many ff out there was already of dubious quality before redacted and already came up with some convoluted sh:t. I have seen one (like in 2019) where actual Aegon II was called “the golden prince” by the smallfolk so imagine the level 😂 in the same one Rhaenyra slept with any man that came her way and conveniently the author cut out her ever being seduced by Daemon in her younger days because in their words they didn’t want to make her a victim. Hum… Daemon there kind of read like Matt actually 🤔 did Miguel write this? There was more like the full on platter of fics that turned Rhaenyra into the love child of Cersei and Lolita, those who had Daemon r🐻ped and humiliate her (don’t worry he was a great guy when he was with Laena and Nettles) and one of my favs one where the author not only copied several things from me like the nicknames I used but used them for Daemon and Laena. In the same fic Rhaenyra forced herself on Laenor. Yes :) the r is word.

PPS: Were all these people eventually hired to write redacted 🤔 I would think so. Well except that last person cause redacted got me screaming justice for Lana!

PPPS: where is my redacted fic where Lana kills everyone and becomes Queen of Westeros?

[alexshenry]

Hey! Can you recommand me a good bl drama? I only watched 2gether and i really liked it but i don't know how to search for more? Thank you in advence ❤

hi anon!! yes, of course!! will be listing some of my favourites and will link where you can watch them. <3

Still2gether -  Adding it in case you haven’t seen it yet <3 It’s a sequel to 2gether and it is just so lovely, so wholesome, absolute perfection all around, and i wish I could go back in time and watch it all over again 😭

A Tale of Thousand Stars - Do it. Just do it.  A priviledged boy and a volunteer teacher’s lives collide when he receives a heart transplant and she’s the donor. To fulfill her last wishes, Tian travels to Pha Pun Dao village where he undergoes a life-changing journey (and meets a very stern forest ranger). It is stunning. The best drama I’ve had the honor to watch. There’s a beautiful, beautiful romance involved, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a story of healing, the beauty of what it means to be selfless and giving, and most importantly about valuing one’s life. 1000000000/10

Dark Blue Kiss - Absolute favourite! Petekao are toptier, there are a lot of important conversations surrounding lgbtq issues, and all supporting characters are so amazing and so well rounded. i honestly cannot recommend it enough. DBK is, however, a sequel to Kiss Me Again, but GMMTV graciously added a 3 part cut of all their scenes, which i definitely recommend watching since it explains how they got together. (1 | 2 | 3)

Gaya Sa Pelikula - It’s a Filipino BL masterpiece centered on Karl and Vlad, who become ‘accidental’ roommates and bond over their love for movies. It also includes a ‘fake-dating’ trope. 10000000/10

He’s Coming To Me - P’aof, who directed S2G, DBK & ATOTS, also directed this, so of course it’s amazing. A ghost befriends the only living person who’s able to see and talk to him; together they attempt to solve the mystery surrounding Mes’ death. 10/10. 

Theory of Love (SPECIAL EPISODE) - Love crying? Then this is the show for you! *finger guns*. It’s a drama about unrequited love between two best friends. Both characters are film majors, so there is a lot of film references which is so, so cool. It’s one of my absolute favourites. 

Until We Meet Again - Love crying EXTA HARD??? Well 😞✌... It’s a soulmate/reincarnation plotline. Two star-crossed lovers commited suicide 30 years ago, and years later their reincarnations meet again at University. It is very very very good, but it can be quite hard to watch at times. [ suicide tw ]

Ingredients - Two roommates - one a cook, the other a musician. Cooking is the language of love in this series and it is sooo cute!! The episodes are also very short and easy to get through. It’s just pure fluff and serotonin and amazing food.

I Told Sunset About You - Estranged childhood best friends who reconnect years later. Feelings happen. There’s honestly nothing I can say that will do this show justice. It’s poetic, so fucking stunning!!! The cinematography alone makes it a must-watch.

History 3: Trapped - OMG 😭😭 I recently finished watching a week ago and I want to go back. It centers around a police officer who has been investigating a gang related shooting that happened 4 years ago. In particular, he is after Tang Yi, the sole survivor. This leads them to become entangled in a deadlier game and they need to figure out exactly what happened years ago. 11/10

Where Your Eyes Linger - It’s 8 episodes that are less than 20 minutes each. Which is a tragedy because this show is amazing. It’s about a boy who comes from wealth and who lives with his bodyguard. 

Color Rush -  It’s the Soulmates of it all 👌. Main character sees the world in black and white until he meets his new classmate and through him, he is able to experience a world of colours for the first time. 

Mr. Heart - THE CUTEST!!!! A marathon runner who is strugging to reach his full potential is helped by a pacemaker. He is a little bitch, but slowly warms up to his new friend and feelings develop. This drama should have been 45 minutes long because it��s absolute perfection. 

*Links for dramas below are provided by the amazing MJ ( @phupha​ ) 💛 *

We Best Love - Enemies to Lovers with a little unrequited love sprinkled on top. I highly highly recommend it. It’s so sweet and lighthearted, and the scenes between the two leads are just soft. It’s so good, just so good. And there’s going to be a sequel next month!! So it’s the perfect time to watch it now.

Manner of Death -  A medical examiner investigates the murder of his childhood friend. He is joined by Tan, also a friend of the victim. All signs point to him being the murderer but all is not what it seems. ... this show is... something (affectionately). This was the most fun I’ve had watching a drama in a long time, and there’s just many twists and turns. 10/10

**

Below are dramas I started watching and haven’t yet finished. But so far I’m absolutely loving them and recommend checking them out.

To My Star (summary) || Cherry Magic (summary) || Gameboys (summary)

I haave a feeling I’m forgetting a few I’ve watched ajksjda, but hopefully this is a little helpful!! This doesn’t even touch the surface of BL’s out there, and since I only started watching dramas a few months back, there’s many I haven’t yet seen ☹ if my mutuals have any recs feel free to add aswell <33

[juleswritesthis]

Essay on why I fell for a soap opera character

I don’t normally watch soap operas. When I was younger I arrogantly scoffed at soaps as I found the stories unrealistic and so over-dramatic. The constant triangles, numerous affairs, characters coming back from the dead, characters with amnesia, brain transplants, actor recasts, etc. I was also under the misconception that the acting was subpar, and any good actors were normally swept up by primetime television or movies. Of course, this was based off watching an episode here and there of Days or GH or any other soap. In addition, since I worked since I was 16, I never had the time to watch soaps that aired during the day. (Ah the days before streaming television and YouTube 😊)

In late 2011 & early 2012, Will Horton’s coming out story was receiving a lot of buzz. And though I knew close to nothing about Days of Our Lives, I decided to tune in to see what all the fuss was about. I watched an episode during the time Will was struggling with his sexuality. He showed up in tears at his grandmother Marlena’s house after he drunkenly kissed another guy. He was distraught, confused, and in so much pain. I was shocked at how real the scenes between Will and Marlena felt. Chandler Massey (who played Will) completely floored me. It physically hurt me to watch this teenage boy struggling to come to terms with who he was. I decided to go in search of Will’s entire story. Thus, I was also introduced to Sonny Kiriakis, a confident young gay man (the first ever on Days). Though my interest was focused on Will, not only because of his deeply moving coming out story, but because of Chandler’s extraordinary acting talent, I fell for the couple who were slowly moving from friends to lovers.

Will and Sonny’s story was very well written. Chandler and Freddie had incredible chemistry. I’m a sucker for the best friends turn to lovers trope and WilSon was exactly that. I was also pleasantly surprised at how a soap was openly showing affection and intimacy between 2 young gay men treating them exactly like the straight couples. I watched Will struggle, I watched him bravely come out to his grandmother and Sonny and then his family. I watch his parents, his grandparents all react in different ways. I watched Will fall for Sonny. I watched WilSon fall in love, break up and then come back together stronger than ever. I watched them deal with Nick as a team, raise Arianna and became a family. Then Chandler Massey exited the show, Will was recast, and my interest waned. Eventually I stopped watching all together. I would read stuff about how Will changed, the affair, Paul etc. but I never tuned back in. Then Will was killed off and that was the end. I was sad that a character who received so much love & attention in storylines a few years earlier was killed off without much fuss. Oh well soaps right?

Last year Chandler Massey returned to Days and Will was resurrected. Suddenly I didn’t care how unrealistic back from the dead plots were on soaps, Will Horton was back! The storyline started out interestingly albeit predictable with an amnesiac Will. Of course, Chandler did an outstanding job with what he was given (his reaction to Sami unleashing Ben on him was a sight to behold). But then sometime in the middle of December it just started to get boring. Keep in mind I was never a big Paul fan, first because he was introduced as an interloper to WilSon but mostly because I never found his character very exciting or layered or anything really (no disrespect to the awesome Christopher Sean or the Paul fandom). He was just the “good guy” who for some reason was constantly shown as the victim in the Will, Sonny, Paul triangle. That said I had no problem with Will falling for Paul instead of Sonny. That part was funny to me considering the history. But the story just fizzled and I lost interest.

I tuned in when the memory serum was introduced because I figured the action would start. Of course, it took forever but Will started slowly getting his memories back. The WilSon team up against Leo was ridiculous because they really sucked at getting away with murder (even accidental ones). They lost the body and still have no idea where it is. 😊. And I’ll admit I didn’t feel the old WilSon spark during these scenes. I feared that it was lost.

But then last week, at John and Marlena’s wedding it all changed. Will in speaking at their wedding about love is suddenly seized with flashbacks of his own wedding to Sonny. Will runs out of the wedding in tears as more and more memories bombard his mind. Once again I was floored by Chandler Massey’s seemingly effortless talent at conveying emotion. Then Sonny finds Will and pushes him slightly to remember and suddenly old Will is back. That’s when it hit me, the Will I was watching since November was purposely different because it was one that never lived the experiences that made him who he was 5 years ago. He only had 2 years’ worth of memories, most of which were lies. It was like watching a one year old (albeit a much more capable, mature one). And Chandler purposely muted the real Will.

So that brings me to today, excited about a soap opera, anxiously waiting for new scenes. I realize that soaps can be over dramatic and ridiculous but also deeply moving and it’s the combination that makes it so fun to watch. I don’t know how long I’ll tune in but I’m hooked on watching Will Horton and WilSon’s story play out for now. As for Chandler Massey, I both want him to stay on Days, because I love him as Will and love WilSon. But I also want to see him do other things. He truly is a gifted actor, possessing the ability to move the audience without words, just by the emotions conveyed in his eyes.

Let’s see what the future will bring!

[geekade]

Welcome to the F.C.U. (The Fargo Cinematic Universe)

In 1996, Joel & Ethan Coen created what many feel is their masterwork film, the murder mystery, crime drama, sociological regional study we lovingly know as Fargo. Near the end of the film, the only remaining living suspect, Gaear Grimsrud, is found stuffing the foot of his former partner in crime into a wood chipper near a cabin on a pristine frozen lake in the dead of winter. When the true hero of the film, pregnant law enforcement officer Marge Gunderson, stumbles across the crime scene, she shoots the eerily vacant-eyed psychopath in the leg as he tries to escape across the lake. As she transports him back across that frozen white tundra, she tries to make sense of the inconceivable tragedy which has unfolded.

“So, that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there,” says Gunderson. “And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper.  And those three people in Brainerd.  And for what? For a little bit of money? There's more to life than a little money, you know.  Don'tcha know that?  And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day.  Well.  I just don't understand it.”

It was an amazingly well-crafted moment and perfectly captured our feeling of revulsion and bewilderment.  Why would anyone commit those horrific acts on another human being?  What could happen in anyone’s life that would allow him or her to think that this was any way to behave?  Fargo would go on to win two Academy Awards – one for Frances McDormand for Best Actress and one for the Coen brothers for Best Screenplay.  

I’ll be the first to admit that when FX announced it was doing a television version of Fargo, I was very skeptical.  I mean, how could FX top the movie?  Without the Coen brothers? 

Well, the third season of showrunner-extraordinaire Noah Hawley’s expansion of that world is now underway on the FX network.  What began as a sparse, tightly written 98 minute film has now spawned two (going on three) seasons of gripping crime drama with a healthy dose of absurdist humor and a sprinkle of supernatural goings-on.   So what’s the secret?  How was Hawley and his team of writers able to so brilliantly capture the magic?  Not since M*A*S*H has there been such a critically renowned film that’s been turned into an unforgettable television program. 

So here, then, are the ingredients for what I think you need to create what I think is the most imaginative program on television.

Strong female lead characters

It is a tired old trope, but with very few exceptions, crime dramas generally tend to have far more testosterone.  Fargo, I can happily report, is the exception to the rule.  Following in the film’s footsteps, the lead female characters are strong-willed, capable women who can take care of themselves, thank you very much.  Molly Solverson (played by Allison Tolman) in season one and Carrie Coon’s character Gloria Burgle in season three are both dedicated, heroic police officers who innately can sense when something is amiss.  And Cristin Miliotti’s portrayal of Molly Solverson’s cancer inflicted mother Betsy in the time jump in season two is a testament to her acting ability and the level of writing on the show.

Even better, the women on the other side of the law are all well-drawn, motivated characters.  Jean Smart’s portrayal of the Gerhardt family matriarch was Emmy-worthy in season 2, as was Kirsten Dunst’s performance as hairdresser turned criminal Peggy Blumquist.  And my favorite femme fatale so far is season three’s stupendously-named Nikki Swango, wonderfully played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  Every time Nikki Swango is on screen you can almost hear Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” playing in your mind.  You know she’s in charge, and her manipulation of Ray Stussy so far has been wondrous to behold.  The women in Fargo are every bit as heroic, villainous, dedicated and savage as the men, if not more so.

Quirky Secondary Characters

Maybe it’s the accents.  Maybe it’s the names.  Whatever it is, the secondary characters in Fargo are so cleverly created.  Every character has a significant purpose in the plot and every character seems to have personality quirks which draw us in.   Bokeem Woodbine’s Mike Milligan, the philosophizing hit man.  Brad Garrett’s Joe Bulo, an almost bureaucratic mob boss.  Nick Offerman’s hilarious portrayal of Karl Weathers, an alcoholic libertarian lawyer.  Ted Danson’s gentle Sheriff Hank Larsson who is trying to create a new language to foster greater understanding between people.  And my favorite, the always reliable Oliver Platt and his portrayal of supermarket king Stavros Milos, whose discovery of a certain briefcase full of cash on a lone, desolate highway connects the television Fargo with the movie.     

Star Power

The ever expanding list of top flight actors who appear in Fargo is truly mindboggling.  The shorter shooting seasons which have now become the norm in television dramas has allowed an influx of a-team talent to lend the very capable writers a never ending parade of remarkable performances.  When your program can list the names above as well as Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Stephen Root, Adam Goldberg, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Adam Arkin and David Thewlis, you’re doing something right.

Family Rivalries

Each season seems to focus, at least partially, on a rivalry between family members.  Whether it’s desperate bad guy wannabe Lester Nygaard (played by Martin Freeman ditching his British accent) sneaking out of the hospital in the middle of the night to plant evidence to frame his brother Chazz for murder, or the season long war between the crime family Gerhardt brothers in season two, Fargo excels at capturing the out and out animosity that can (and frequently does) exist between siblings.  Season three’s stunt casting of Ewan MacGregor playing both Ray and Emmit Stussy, brothers in conflict over a rare stamp and a decrepit Corvette Stingray, continues the almost biblical family battles we have seen to date.

Unfathomable Pinhead-ery and the Inevitability of Fate

When Nikki describes the official cause of death of drug addict Maurice LeFay, a parolee who was crushed by a two-hundred pound air conditioner pushed out of a window by Swango and her lover Ray Stussy after accidentally killing the wrong victim at the wrong address, as “unfathomable pinhead-ery,” you know you’ve struck gold.  Many of the plot complications on Fargo are not the result of a master criminal carrying out a complicated, Ocean’s Eleven-type scheme.  Inevitably, the crimes committed in Fargo are of the purely accidental variety and are the worst possible idea anyone could ever have in their short, strange lives.  The ideas never work, but the randomness of the crimes lead to a far greater ripple effect of violence and bloodshed.  Those ripples always begin as diminutive pebbles thrown into the frozen waters in this series.  But those ripples always grow exponentially into destructive waves. 

The fact that we know almost certainly that certain characters will meet their end is something we always see coming from the beginning.  But what is remarkable is how the characters meet their ends.  After Lester spends the better part of ten episodes wiggling out of one jam after another following the mutually agreed upon murder of his wife by supernova of evil Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), Lester finally dies by falling into a hole in the ice trying to evade the police, echoing the previous accidental death of a man mistaken for Lorne Malvo.  Whether the death is by a plummeting air conditioner, the sudden random savagery of murdering twenty-two people in an office building, being hit by a car after murdering everyone in a diner or a car accident caused by a mysterious rainstorm of fish, the inevitable fate met by Fargo’s characters is probably one of the most satisfying and inventive aspects of Fargo.

Beautiful and Inventive Cinematography

I could spend pages just writing about the camera work done on this series.  So many moments of stark beauty, creative storytelling and flat out kick ass cinematography.  Case in point.  The P.O.V. camera on the air conditioner falling in free flight.  Or how about the final shot of the season opening pre-title sequence in East Berlin that slow zooms into a picture on the wall of what will become the Stussy backyard looking at rows of frosted trees in what is now the traditional Fargo title sequence.  Gorgeous and forlorn horizontal lines of tundra and snow.  The camera work on Fargo challenges the standard bearer Breaking Bad on creative placement and use of cameras.

Unspeakably evil characters with little to no compunction of any sense of morality

And…

Morally ambivalent characters who find themselves tempted to commit crimes either by accident or the temptation of a better life

In Fargo, these two categories go hand in hand.  The absolute evil of Lorne Malvo and his ingenious yet devious means of eliminating his targets is an example of the first category from season one.  As is the hilarious savagery of David Thewlis as the mobster/money launderer V. M. Varga in season three.  The truly evil characters in Fargo don’t care a whit about life or the morality of protecting it.   Inevitably, there is a huge chemical reaction when the truly evil meet the morally ambivalent.  (spoiler alert – evil always wins due to a failure to recognize that evil doesn’t care about a “no rough stuff type of deal.”)  The moments where the morally ambivalent see the true depths of depravity that humans are capable of recalls what Marge Gunderson was commenting on in that police cruiser.

What’s most remarkable about both the film and the television show is that writing never stoops to condescension; the plots and characters in Fargo are not being written in a fashion seeking to humiliate the people who live in the northern Midwest “flyover states.”  Instead, the world Fargo inhabits is simply the setting of a grand drama, like Elsinore, Verona or Athens.  The characters may have funny accents we’re not used to hearing, but they are fully developed three dimensional characters who only enliven and enrich what is arguably the best program on television.