#but to say the showrunners and writers are disgusting people for it is way too far imo

[highfantasy-soul]

So I've seen some (I assume) show-only people really, really upset about Hopper's death. Like, calling the show runners sick, awful, disgusting people for it. So, insane as it is, I'm here to defend the murder of fluffy canines.

Wolves in the Wheel of Time world are not cute little companion puppies that are just so sweet and innocent and perfect. Killing a wolf is not killing a helpless creature that is relying solely on human kindness to survive, nor is it done just for shock value.

Wolves would be VERY UPSET if you viewed them this way! They are just as independent and capable as any of the human characters - they have their own society, lives, and beliefs. They fight in battle.

Hopper wasn't just standing next to Perrin as his little dog on a leash and then was murdered out of the blue - he chose to join the battle and attack an enemy. The enemy then killed him as he was seeking to kill one of them. Hopper died in battle just like any human would have (and did many times over in the story).

Yes, the Whitecloaks and people at large do only view them as animals - dangerous animals that can kill them - not as equals to humans, but Perrin does understand their importance as beings in their own right. He was reacting to Hopper's death not as a 'you just killed my pet out of the blue!' but as a 'you just killed a member of my family (pack)'.

Does it suck to see canines killed on screen? Yeah. Does that mean that if a story includes the death of a canine that means the writers are disgusting, sick, cruel people because 'killing the dog' has gotten a bad rep in media? No.

Including wolfbrothers means including their role as beings who are also fighting against the shadow. That means some are going to die in battle. Just as Uno's death was significant and meaningful to our characters, just as Rand's mom dying was meaningful, Ingtar's death, Karene and Steppin's death, etc, are all meaningful to the story and the characters, so is Hopper's death.

If the death of a canine is triggering to you, I get it. Torture scenes and graphic depictions of violence are triggering to me. But that doesn't mean that I thought the showrunners were disgusting, sick people for having death in the show, or lingering on people's last moments and giving them their due rather than brushing right past the death.

If the death of any being other than a human - especially canines - really gets to you, then The Wheel of Time probably isn't for you as the wolves play a very important role in the fight against the Shadow. They're warriors just like the people are which means they're going to fall in battle too.

I know this post is probably only for a very tiny fraction of people who watched the episode, but I felt it needed to be said. Calling writers bad people for wolf death is just wild to me.

[proudofmyanger]

Beware: a pessimistic rant with lots of speculations

Imo the decision to write Alicent and Criston having sex during b&c is really bad. I think it's a very unnecessary change, and I don't see how it fits the narrative. And it's so obvious what the writers' intentions are. They are not interested in exploring these characters and their relationship. They just want to shift the focus away from blood and cheese and make the greens look bad. Of course, in no way Alicent and Criston having sex makes them guilty of the tragedy that is b&c. But it seems that the show is taking the focus away from team black's fault to blame the greens. I don't believe that the showrunners don't know what they are doing.

In the books, Alicent was right there when it happened. She was the witness of team black's cruelty. She saw how they tormented her sweet daughter and her grandchildren, how they killed her grandson. Murderers making Alicent witness everything contributed to how vile b&c was, how unnecessary cruel. It gave Alicent even more motivation to fight her family's enemies and seek revenge. But now, thanks to hotd's bullshit she's going to blame herself more than anyone else. Wonderful. Why make her absent during b&c and add this new plotline about her feeling guilty because of it? Because god forbid Alicent starts being angry and hating her enemies again, right? They just have to make Alicent conflicted about her every action. They can't allow her to have confidence again. She has to always blame herself. They just have to make Alicent and Criston continue feeling bad about themselves.

There's also this picture:

Are they making it so that Aegon doesn't notice the murderer right under his nose?

So what do we get? Aegon doesn't notice Blood, probably because he's lightheaded or drunk. Alicent and Criston are absent having sex. And I'm not going to be surprised if they make Aemond go to the brothel during b&c, too. It feels like a joke.

B&C is supposed to show the cruelty team black is capable of. But instead of focusing on that, they're going to make all the greens look incompetent and feel guilty. And knowing this show they might even frame it as if the greens are at fault for what happened too. Tbh it's disgusting. The only people who are guilty are the ones who ordered, orchestrated and executed this bloody spectacle. But they are probably gonna not just make Daemon the only one behind it, but make the whole thing an accident. We already have leaks saying that Rhaenyra and Daemon just wanted to kill Aemond. It's going to be so bad.

House of the dragon? No, house of the accidents. House of the cringe and bad writing.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

D&D were judged too harshly. Now it's more evident than ever because imagine what would have happened with got if Condal had been the showrunner? It's dreadful to even think about it. The last two seasons were far from perfect story-wise, but still far superior to this garbage. I don't get how anyone genuinely likes it, like, I get that team black are happy because of their girlboss Rhae Rhae and her loyal Dae Dae are the "good ones", but still, if you use your brain just a little, everything falls apart. Not to mention that many of those people were way too harsh to dnd and got and still are, five years later. But hotd is somehow fine. F***king hypocrites. Now we have a proof that one of the biggest reasons for the outrage over got ending, if not THE REASON, was the fact Daenerys didn't become the queen. And I'm saying this as someone who is her fan. Because look, Aemond and Alicent's character assassinations are far worse and happened much faster than hers, but it doesn't matter apparently. Like I said, hypocrites.

Hello!

While I really dislike two last seasons of GoT, HotD earned from me something more - borderline hatred and disgust. And I think one of the reasons for it is that while D&D messed up quite a few characters (they clearly aren't the most talented writers to put it mildly), I never felt from them the same attitude as I do feel from HotD writers. The latter use the characters, plain and simple, and it is getting more and more evident that they don't really care about them - even about those who look like their favourites. All they care about is earning woke points for HBO and showing off their "writing genius" (and they fail spectacularly on both fronts - except they don't seem to realize it).

As for the wokeness, I swear it's been destroying people's critical thinking day by day - and contributing to the dumbification of modern mainstream media. Indeed, why would studios and networks invest their resources in creating a compelling story and carefully crafting all the aspects of it when all is needed is to feed people one oversimplified idea per movie/show? It is a very sad and disheartening thing to see. And that's why we need to show our support for quality projects created with love and care - for the story, for the characters and for the audience.

[ariaste]

Hello hello! If it’s all right with you, I would like to vent for a moment: Back in the day, I used to be really into BBC Sherlock. I know it was bad, but it was “Be Gay (solve) Crimes” and I couldn’t resit. One of my favorite parts of the fandom was reading fan metas. I enjoyed reading your ridiculously long meta! I am not very clever and I enjoy reading people noticing things that I can’t. It’s fun watching people passionately pick up clues and put them together.

I don’t think I’m the only one getting superwholock flashbacks lately. Sherlock also tried an unreliable narrator in S4 and it was an absolute shit show. People thought thought the finale was fake, it was so bad. TBH, the entire show was a dumpster fire that thought it was more clever than it was. Moffat was a good writer for single episodes for DW, but a garbage show runner. And they called us crazy for picking up what they were putting down.

But Good Omens gives me a spark of hope. It is unashamedly queer, fun, drinks its respecting women juice, and, unlike moffatiss, I think Neil and the crew may actually be clever enough to pull something big off. I adore the Discworld series and Sir Terry, and I have faith Neil will to do right by him.

Good Omens is restoring my faith in nerdy queer fiction and reminding me why I love fandom so much. Please keep up the crackhead theories. I love them 💕

Thank you, that's very kind!

(Ended up writing a very long reply about the response to my essay and also about queerness in media. Idk why i am writing such long posts these days SORRY LOL. Anyway I'm putting it all beneath the cut so I can tag it without clogging people's dash or the tag pages)

It does make me sigh a little when I see people scornfully comparing my long essay to The Johnlock Conspiracy or saying that they're having Sherlock flashbacks, because the both the contexts of the shows and the methodology of the theorizing are VERY different. To my mind, a more direct comparison of methodology would be the Gravity Falls fandom's "Stan Has A Secret Twin" theory. Writers and showrunners DO like being sneaky and clever from time to time, and many of them are much better at it than Moffat is.

But whether or not my theory is right or not is... kind of irrelevant to me? I wasn't out to force anyone to agree with me, AND writing it was a really fun way to spend a weekend, AND I'm proud of the work I did and the story I told, AND it felt good to have a satisfying workout at the Brain Gym. So even if I'm proven utterly and completely wrong, I won't feel like I wasted my time. :)

Good Omens is a great show, and I am SO HAPPY to see it (and other shows!) embracing queerness, sharing the fans' enthusiasm for the story, and honoring and respecting the fans' love rather than punishing them for it. As more and more time goes on, I think we're going to see more and more shows like that, because some of the people who grew up reading tumblr discourse are going to be showrunners themselves one day, and they'll have learned serious lessons about what it feels like when the audience is met with love rather than disgust and disdain. In fact, we're ALREADY seeing more shows like that than we had 10 years ago! There is so much canonical queerness on-screen these days that the me of 10-15 years ago is ASTONISHED and feels wealthy beyond counting. Of course, there is so much further to go, but man... when i was a kid, we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to see two dudes making sustained emotional eye contact, and we were grateful for it. (Jokes but also.... kind of real tho)

We've seen the exact same thing happen in scifi/fantasy publishing in the last seven or eight years, too! (Went off on a long tangent about Queerness In Media from an insider perspective, continuing below a cut so I don't clutter everyone's dash)

Even as recently as 2013--ten years ago--you might not have even been able to get your book published if it was openly gay. Hell, you might not have been able to get an agent to represent it, even. It would have been labeled "unmarketable" and passed over; if it DID get published, the queerness would have been camouflaged and downplayed and hidden in the marketing as much as possible--you wouldn't have known by looking at the cover that it was queer, you wouldn't have been able to tell by reading the back cover that it was queer. In literally 2016, seven years ago, a few months before I got my first book deal, I remember having a conversation with a friend and being very very worried that if I wrote books as queer as I wanted them to be, I would be "pigeonholed" as "ONLY writing Gay Books", that I would be passed over for any of the publisher's marketing budget and publicity efforts, that I would be sidelined and ignored... In 2016, I thought I was facing a choice of writing stories with more "mainstream appeal" OR writing the books I wanted to write and potentially undermining the rest of my career.

That didn't happen, thankfully, because in the next couple years there was this incredible explosion of queer scifi/fantasy. You see, ten to fifteen years ago, a truly stunning percentage of my colleagues -- writers, editors, publicists -- were writing and reading fanfic, and they carried their tastes and story-hungers with them as they grew up and got Real Adult Jobs at publishing companies. And suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a lot of us came of age all at once and there was this absolutely enormous wave of queer SFF that in my opinion has brought us into a new golden age of the genre: The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, The Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, The Tensorate series by Neon Yang, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, the Birdverse books by RB Lemberg, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickenson, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, Reforged by Seth Haddon, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin -- and these only the ones I could remember off the top of my head in 30 seconds, and I have a flavor of ADHD that makes my brain go blank when people ask me to think of specific examples of things! It is harder for me to think of a SFF book published in the last 7 years that ISN'T queer.

And then almost exactly a year ago, my book A Taste of Gold and Iron came out with THIS COVER:

Which. Is not so much a step forward in openly queer SFF as it is a fucking gauntlet thrown down in challenge. I cannot impress upon you strongly enough how much I would not have gotten this cover 10 years ago, and that's if the book was even accepted for publication in the first place. This cover SCREAMS gay fantasy romance. There is no attempt to hide it or camouflage it. It is advertising exactly what it is, right up front.

I got the absolute privilege and honor of having this cover--and I do consider it an incredible honor--because of the work that all my colleagues put in with their own work. Each queer book that got published wedged the door a little wider for the next one, and then a little wider still for the next one, until finally someone could get their foot in the door and squeeze across the threshold, which opened it a little wider again. So when I look at this image, I don't just see a beautiful cover that I am delighted to have on my books--I see an entire history of slow, steady progress by so many incredible writers who risked damaging their careers just to drag us to a point where a book as gay as this one could get a cover as gay as that one and STILL get the full and enthusiastic support of both the publisher and the audience. And the most incredible honor and the most humbling privilege out of all of this is the fact that the success of this book meant that the door was wedged open another little bit, that I got to contribute in this small way to the efforts of everyone who came before me, so that ones who come after us will find the door flung wide -- or that there's no door left at all to block the way, because we've collectively torn it down.

So yes, @eyona, I think that having your faith restored little by little is a very good thing, and I am delighted that Good Omens is doing that for all of us. And what's even better is that even if Good Omens doesn't play out exactly how we want it to, that's... kind of okay? Because there is always the next one, and at the very very least, Good Omens is wedging the door open further so that the next one can have an easier time of it. We don't have to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to get a moment of emotionally charged eye contact anymore. We don't have to starve anymore, not like we used to back in the bad old days. And that alone is a wonderful thing. :D

[chaifootsteps]

another thing that's annoying about that tweet Viv liked and the retcons in the circus - it's so obviously implying that Blitzo being the one to seduce Stolas once means he's on the hook for Stolas getting obsessed with him

like for one it's not true since Blitzo clearly viewed it as a one night stand, did nothing but avoid Stolas since and constantly reprimands and rejects Stolas' attempts to flirt with him (some other writers will forget their shows' history but I've never seen one straight up lie to the audience like this about what actually happened literally a single season ago)

and for two it's a really awful idea to push that seducing someone and consenting to sex once makes someone responsible for them entrapping you in a sexual relationship & it's that person's job to 'negotiate their way out of the sex' (quoting the tweet verbatim here, not my choice of words) - like, seriously wtf??? did this person not realize that they're describing Blitzo's 'relationship' with Stolas like it's a hostage situation????

I don't understand how Viv hasn't gotten more pushback over some of the absolutely buckwild and disgusting tweets she's liked. it's like preserving her ego that her writing is great and flawless (and so is Stolas, apparently) comes above all else, including the impression she's leaving on a fandom with far too many young people in it. in what other situation would a so-called professional showrunner and writer think it's appropriate to like tweets telling their audience how to engage with their work?

Nothing about the way Viv interacts with her audience is appropriate, and nothing about the excuses she and her fandom make regarding Blitzo -- that he "had it coming," that he didn't say no hard enough, that he led Stolas are -- are remotely responsible or okay.

It's actually disgusting.

[1000punks]

be salty, do crime - 18, 20, 21

18. Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?

i'm actually gonna answer this one with a little bit of nuance. yes, but also no. yes in the case of something like destiel where it's clearly been queerbaiting for 11+ years but the showrunners are the ones who are too "scared" to confirm it - and it's annoying in this case to leave it up to the actors themselves. it's a popular ship? check. someone is in denial? check. this show was written by heteros? check. no, in the case where there's a multiplicity of possible ships within a fandom that aren't morally disgusting. (cough wincest). i say possible because in a case like bg3, it seems like every character is bi/pan depending on your definition of those two terms. even in a case like spn, nothing has necessarily been denied nor confirmed by the actual showrunners... you know what, fuck you. dean is bi and this shouldn't be a hot fucking take in 2024. anyway, to make a long fucking story short: in some cases, who cares?

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

let's see.... i'm picking bg3 and it's obviously astarion x d!u. you want nuance? the writers co-wrote the two storylines together. suck my di- no, but actually: i played d!u with astarion romance first and playing d!u romancing gale (in this case), while very sweet, left something to be desired that is just... je ne sais quoi. don't get me wrong: i loved gale's "you want to kill me? mind if you... don't?" line (bc it made me laugh like a loon), but i loved astarion's "you've got this, and i've got you." line objectively MORE because it pulled directly at my heartstrings. <- is absolutely biased and says this as a confirmed multishipper honestly, no you know what? anyone but gortash.

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

hmmm... well, as always: i say if any ship contains two ACTUAL HUMAN PEOPLE (coughs kpop fandom) who aren't confirmed in any way, shape or form to be together in such a way, it's fucking weird. i would define that as a crack ship. a rarepair on the other hand? let people live, for fuck's sake. multishipping? let people live. people who are anti-multishipping in fandom have clearly only been on the internet after 2019. get a fucking grip please.

[dulcewrites]

I saw girls in Tik Tok claiming that Nettles was in the way of Daemon and Nyra..they are blaming a 16 year old instead of the 50 year old man, the MaL3 wifeee that was supposed to be by her wife's side as she was grieving her sons' death.

Wow.Just wow.

Also people there claiming she is his Daughter when he never cared for his daughters in the first place in the show; also in the books, when Nettles left, Carexes' screeches broke the windows and he disobeyed Nyra's order that wanted the girl's death.

Feel bad for Nyra..he lost her sons, her family and Daemon is there fooling around with a child and the sad thing, Nyra will never blame her..groomer(if people said that their relationship is normal for medieval's standards, I'm gonna fight them, it's still creepy and disgusting)

Sorry for the rant

Also people telling that D is out of character at the end of the episode..the man killed his first wife, neglected the second and he ignores his two daughters🙄

Also people there saying the author is going to be involved in season 2 writing and changing Daemon's character because he is his favorite..I don't think so..you can love character and acknowledged how problematic they can be annd people stating "Dameyra is gonna win, D will never do that☺😡" oh boy..the point of the dance of the dragons is not the romance, but how war can change people and doesn't spare anyone from despair, death and suffering.

Gonna start right off the bat and say people give George way too much credit when it comes these shows. I haven’t finished got (the show) but based on popular opinion, it went to shit… and he still got ‘back into bed’ with hbo for hotd, and probably more shows in the future. He wants a bag. Do I think he’s proud of his work and likes certain characters? Sure. But the people making up rumors or saying he’d get involved just for daemon are pulling it out of their ass bc they are upset about his portrayal (for some reason). George signed off on s1. He does not care like that so people will just have to die mad about the changes made 🤷🏽‍♀️ (myself included).

Also tangent but people have gone as far as to make really disgusting comments about Miguel’s wife.. all bc she thought it would be a good idea to have Rhaenyra and Alicent have a close relationship? It’s funny that the people who think they are doing the pinnacle of feminism by supporting some fictional white haired girl will turn around and attack real people (Emily, Olivia, and now Alexis). Blaming his wife on a decision that was signed off by a room full of majority MALE showrunners/writers

Now onto Rhaenyra, daemon, and nettles. As long as their is a white man to champion and lift up, it really doesn’t matter what Rhaenyra or nettles do, he’s gonna somehow be the victim. In the book, Rhaenyra says some fucked up shit about nettles and that’s on her (idk if they will even adapt the classism and racism knowing how they are characterizing hotd nyra). It’s one of the reason I truly dislike book Rhaenyra and wonder why her hardcore fans would want a direct interpretation of the book. But the way people just skip over daemon leaving his wife is crazy. He groomed her, then cheated on her (first with mysaria), and now in the show abused her… so yeah she’s not in a great headspace. People can complain about how they have painted daemon, that’s their prerogative if they like him, but acting as if they have made some great character into a bad one is just false. He sucked in the book… he does in the show. There’s nothing morally grey about a good 70% of the stuff he does

[cakebeam]

Hello Darling 🦋

I can’t believe we trusted Chris to deliver us Malex. We‘ve seen 7 of 13 eps and got only two mini-malex-moments and one of them is Michael being mean to Alex.😠 Half of the season is over.

At this point I believe Chris and Heather have some personal relationship bc otherweise I can’t understand why Maria is leading S3? Wasn‘t Liz supposed to be the Lead-Character? Heather directing ep 7 where everybody praises Maria??? 🤮🤮🤮

I wasn‘t expecting him to undo S2 and what Maria did but giving us hope about malex and delivering nothing but making Maria the most important person on the show??? We have genius Michael, extra-ordinary brilliant Liz, mindcontrolling Isobel, Captain Alex and smart doctor Kyle who are not able to defeat Jones but Maria who didn’t have any powers for the last ten years and didn‘t know how to control her power in the last few eps?🤦🏽‍♀️🤔🤨

I think Chris, Vlamis and Jeanine are using Malex and giving us hope and some crumbles about malex (other acknowledging their love is NOT malex-content for me. Malex interacting together, talking together and working towards a relationship is good malex-content. Not Michael accusing Alex of not caring about anybody. 😖) bc otherweise so many fans of malex would stop watching RNM. Malex is their selling-point. After S1 and and during/after S2 so many fans left RNM.

I am leaving now and stopping watch RNM anymore, bc malex will not get together in S3 and how stupid and unlogical S3 is, there no point in watching it anymore.

I will scroll through Tumblr and see what happens.

Have a nice day! 🤗

Chris, like most showrunners, doesn't follow through with their promises (i.e. we're treating Echo and Malex the same this season). And sadly, it looks like he's carrying the homophobic torch on continuing to separate Malex from each other (while having them propping Maria Deluca up) into season 3. It's really too bad, I didn't expect a huge amount of change but damn, he's literally hung the Malex fans out to dry in a REAL in your face way.

I don't think Heather/Maria's special treatment this season is because she's Chris's favorite character or person or anything. It has to do with the network trying to save face this year as they became under fire last year for treating their POC/black character's poorly in storytelling (in all CW's shows, not just RNM). Maria being in every scene this season is the CW/RNM trying to say, "LOOK WE CARE ABOUT OUR POC CHARACTERS, IT'S MARIA EVERYWHERE, DON'T THINK TOO MUCH ON WHAT WE'RE HAVING HER SAY OR DO, JUST THAT SHE'S IN EVERY SCENE AND WE'RE SAYING HER NAME 1000 TIMES AN EPISODE!". It's definitely not helping RNM's case as Maria is still being written to be the absolute worst and still hasn't had any character development this season.

Liz has not been the lead of her own show since season 1. It's absolute bullsh*t they had Maria Deluca written to be front and center this season when it's LIZ ORTECHO'S SHOW and Maria Deluca is still being written to be the f*cking worst. Also yeah, didn't really think about it but really weird how in Heather's director debut the writer's had all the characters say 'Maria' like a billion times (seriously, if it was a drinking game we'd all be hospitalized or dead).

I actually was expecting Chris and the writer's to fix a LOT of season 2's mishandlings, especially in regards to the homophobic narration wrapped around Malex and Maria. It's literally the least they could do after grossly insulting the LGBTQ+ community last season and triggering a lot of people from that disgusting scene. They seem to have no problem writing everyone to be OOC in being up Maria's ass this season, yet just simply making a point in stating on screen by ANY character that how Alex Manes was treated by Maria (and even Michael at times) was wrong and especially 2x06's actions was unacceptable. There are no excuses, the writer's are just choosing to ignore all of it because it pertains to a gay character.

It can definitely be seen now 7 episodes into this season, that in the past interviews the cast, writer's and showrunner's have just been queerbaiting fans in trying to get them to continue watching this pretty terrible show. At this point, whatever Malex scenes we get at this point, I'm not expecting much. We only have 6 more episodes left and the romance hasn't even started between the two of them, they're barely interacting or talking about one another in other scenes. Don't even get me started on Sanders/Ramos being the ones to drop the Malex crumbs, it should be the main group. You know, the people who were completely ignoring Malex all last season? Still would love to know how the f*ck Ramos/Flint/Greg/Max/Sanders all found out about Malex since NONE OF THEM WILL TELL US. They just know. It's bullsh*t.

I totally understand nonnie, and I can't give you a reason to keep watching, this season has been a huge disappointment. I'm still going to try and stick it out till 3x13 but at this point I'm heavily disappointed after seeing how the homophobic narration is still going strong on this show.

[lenaluvher]

So my thoughts

1. They turned Alex into a disgusting jerk who had the fucking nerve to blame Kara for what happened to Esme. They completely screwed over Chyler with horrid writing. I’m willing to bet Chyler cringed when she read her lines. When Lena was willing to let millions of people be changed into phantoms just to save Kara, and Alex wouldn’t let her, because you know it was wrong to put millions of people’s lives above Kara’s. LMAO only to turn around act like a complete DICK WAD to Kara, and was willing to allow the world to get destroyed by Nxly, so that she could get a little girl that she’s known all of 3 weeks back. I don’t give 2 shits if she went back to being the old Alex, when she got Esme back. Her character to me will always be a complete ASS WIPE forever..............so yeah the POS writers ruined ALEX. 

2. They have been RUINING Supergirl for years now. They made her this feeble women who constantly NEEDS saving by either Lena or Mon El. It’s disgusting and I’ve never seen SHOWRUNNERS AND WRITERS actively DESPISE their own lead character on the show. Supergirl once beat up Superman, and now she’s nothing but a shell of her former self, and I am thoroughly disgusted. I think it’s a good thing that she has put away the cape, because quite frankly just like she said she is the weakest person on the planet.

3. The writers, showrunners, and CW Executives CAN SUCK IT...............you are all horrible people for the over the top queerbaiting. Kara by the end of episode 20 must have called Lena her friend several times, and I took it as a big huge 2 middle fingers in Supercorps faces. 

4. It’s good that they killed off Lillian she’s a complete menace, and would have caused more trouble in the future, and or tried to get Lex out of the PZ.

5. Everyone else gets their romantic happy ending except Kara and Lena. Even Jonn gets Mcgann back at some point........but poor ol Kara and Lena. 

6. Did I mention how horrid the writing has been since season 2, and how they completely destroyed Supergirl for me?

7. At least Mon El and Kara didn’t go blissfully off into the future together and the Karamel shippers got ripped off too. The Supergirl show and the writers made sure that everyone got SHIT ON.

8. I’m glad Nia got Brainy back but so now the big brain will sometime in the future cease to exist? I can’t tell you just how stupid this shit is. They put brainy and Nia through hell for two episodes thinking that they had to part ways, only to turn around and have brainy give a big FUCK YOU to the big brain that will die sometime in the future along with every members of Brainy’s race???? Like why the hell did they even go there talk about stupid!!!!

Okay well that’s it and all I can say is that I am so glad this STUPID LAME SHOW IS DONE. I knew by the end of episode 14 that they weren’t going to put Supercorp as a romantic canon, and I stuck with that.....I feel vindicated that I was right, but still pissed over the gross horrid queerbaiting for years. Although I didn’t waste years on this show. I only started watching at the beginning of season 5, and I binged watched all the other seasons. Season 1 was truly the best Season, even if it didn’t have Lena in it. It’s been nice interacting with some people here I enjoyed it especially you @leighlew3. You seemed to be one of the only few people here with the voice of reason so thank you. Perhaps I will see some of you with future new ships we’ll see. As for me I am done with the CW for good. They screwed me over with CLEXA, and Supergirl. Those fucking losers will never do that to me again. I just hope many people here realize that giving the CW any publicity on Twitter with their shows is counter productive for the LGBT community. The CW doesn’t not deserve your support so please think twice about giving it to them.

[cozyforjate]

MacGyver 5x03-Review

MacRiley fam, this will be my last MacGyver review. Thanks for the support and the great feedback on my reviews so far. You guys are awesome! But i’m taking a looong break from this show. I’ll be watching the Jack episode and if we get a Bozer, Matty or Riley centric i’ll tune in to watch. But my passion and excitement for this show is mostly over now.

I have so many things to say about 5x03 but if i start to express all my feelings i’m afraid i might break Tumblr. LOL 

This probably wouldn’t feel like a proper review coz i’m gonna focus on the RETCON that the writers pulled out of their asses to keep MacDesi together.

Ok so for people who are not familiar with the word “retcon”; it means changing an aspect of a fictional work by introducing a piece of new information, typically used to facilitate a dramatic plot shift or account for an inconsistency.

The writers usually pull a retcon, when one aspect of an already canon plot isn’t working well. You can call it a “fix-it” method.

In terms of MacDesi, they retconned some moments from season 4 that defined this relationship. I think the new showrunner and the writers team realized that MacDesi has become quite “toxic” during season 4. But because the additional episodes kept them together, they needed to at least fix this relationship.

From their POV it’s understandable to a degree. But from a viewers POV it’s total BS. Because what we watched in season 4, can’t be changed.

We remember the unhealthy dynamic between them, we remember the lack of trust between them, we remember how incompatible they were, we remember how they couldn’t communicate with each other, we remember Mac not letting her in emotionally, not opening up to her at all, we remember how much they BOTH hurt each other, we remember Mac’s own words on their relationship.

Most importantly we still remember 4x12. How quickly Desi turned her back on him, how she brought his mothers and aunts names into their ugly fight, how Mac said he’d say anything to get her off his back, we remember how she and Russ left Mac no choice but to improvise a plan to save lives, we remember Riley risking everything to protect him and be there for him. WE REMEMBER.

So when you dismiss all of that and re-write MacDesi as if they’re this great couple, it’s not going to work for people. And when you tease MacRiley the whole week with promos, exclusive pictures, articles, SM promotion; promising progress between Mac and Riley only to walk over everything that made them special, you get a lot of NEGATIVE reaction from the fans. With good reason.

* * *

Episode started with Mac and Riley on a picnic mission. The scene was amazing in every sense. The colors, lighting, the conversation between them, the almost kiss, the way Mac held Riley and they lied down for a while, the smug smile on his face and the looks he gave to Riley were all awesome! The car chase was super fun too!

But then everything went down the toilet. Coz in the next scene Mac was complaining to Bozer about how Desi wasn’t spending time with him and avoiding his date attempts. In this scene they retconned Bozer too. For the first time, Bozer encouraged Mac to go ask Desi out and fix their relationship.

Normally Bozer would never do such a thing. Why? Bcoz he’s been against a romantic relationship between them ever since Desi first showed up in 3x14. Bozer thought it was a bad idea from the start, called them Mesi (messy), he didn’t think it was a good idea to bring Desi back on the team in 4x01, coz MD break up was NUCLEAR. So up until 5x03 Bozer was never on Team MacDesi. Lets also remember this exchange between them:

In 4x12 when Bozer was trying to save Mac and Riley’s lives, he turns to Desi... 

Bozer: Desi, back me up here.

Desi: Sometimes we need to sacrifice the things we love for the greater good.

So after 4x12, one would only expect that his thoughts on MD would get stronger. But guess what? Bozer is now supporting MD. Just like that. I don’t buy it writers, sorry.

Back to the scene… Mac wants to go on a date with Desi. And he is so desperate about it. We had to witness one of the most awkward scenes between them. Not only that but we had to sit through Riley throwing smiles at MD, saying her feelings for Mac was just Codex adrenaline. Riley, who couldn’t watch any interaction between MD, is now totally cool with them!

And lets just say that Riley was pretending she’s over Mac, that she lied to Bozer bcoz she’s trying to move on. We already watched her having feelings for Mac, hiding those feelings and pining for him. Her one-sided love can’t drive the plot anymore. 

Besides she didn’t need to give her blessings to MD. It was an overkill. I really hated the scene where she says “Don’t screw up this time” to Mac…That was totally out of character for Riley.  

Riley who reminded Desi that Russ & her were gonna nuke them,

Riley who said she went after Mac coz she trusted him &asked Desi "Why didn't you?",

Riley who risked it all to protect Mac, tells Mac not to screw it up with Desi.

By saying those words, Riley makes it known that Mac was the one screwing up his rl with Desi. Desi had no fault. Once again the writers used my favorite character to prop my least favorite character. Shame on you!

***

I’m not gonna talk about every MacDesi scene in this episode. But let me just say that the writers turned Mac into a desperate, begging, lovesick puppy. He asked Desi for a date like 5 times, apologized twice. Kissed her out of the blue. Bcoz lets face it, that scene was so unnecessary. Nobody was onto them, the police car was passing by slowly and if the police were really suspicious, why would they look at the couple kissing instead of checking who’s in the car? So stupid. Oh and while they were kissing for minutes with great lighting and all, General Ma escaped. Mac acting this stupid, is not something we are used to see. But what you gonna do? I guess love is not only blind but also destroyes brain cells in the process.

Anyway, Mac literally begging Desi to go on a date with him was agonizing to watch. Every time he offers a new dating idea, Desi’s answer is NAH. Back in the picnic scene she made it sound like she wanted to date Mac, but of course she needs to make him suffer first!

I only like to point out the scene where Mac –finally- opened up to Desi about the fishing trip he and his father went together. This story is obviously precious to him. He called it a happy memory. Clearly he misses his father, still mourning for his loss. So he shared his happy memory and asked if she would like to go fishing with him. Desi’s answer? “Not gonna go fishing with you as our first date!” You can read the dissapointment on his face. And my heart breaks for Mac but this kind of treatment is something he’s asking for.

He is desperate to get Desi back. The fact that they are the worst match ever, doesn’t change sh*t. Mac wants Desi and he loves Desi for god knows why.

***

Btw- the whole “lets blame only Mac for Codex and ignore Desi’s wrongdoings” plot is disgusting. Yes, Mac suffocating Desi and Russ to escape Phoenix with Scarlett was wrong. Yes he hurt her, yes in a sense he betrayed her. AND HE APOLOGIZED. But what about Desi? What about her betrayel? 

First they made Riley apologize to Desi for following Mac and now they made Mac apologize… But no apologies from Desi. The writers are obviously worshipping Desi and they’re ready to sacrifice every character to make her look “perfect”. I’m sorry but i’m not here to watch the Desi show, or more MacDesi nonsense.

***

Mac said Desi is the woman he loves… but not only that, she is also the woman who guided him back. And the RETCON is really strong with this scene.

Lets remember…

In 4x08 Mac loses his father, at the end of the episode Desi wants to go with Mac but Mac stops her, telling he’d see her tomorrow.

In 4x09 Desi says he can share his burden with her, Mac’s not interested, he says what he needs is to stop Codex.

In 4x10 Mac makes apocalypse kits for Riley and Desi. Desi’s so happy she got a crossbow and didn’t think those kits were a bad sign. But Riley notices that Mac is not in a good place, he needed help and support. Riley shares her concerns about Mac with Desi. She probably thinks it’s not up to her to be the one doing that when Desi is the girlfriend. So after her conversation with Riley, Desi makes soup and gives Mac a compass. Saying he’s not lost (he clearly was tho). She askes if everything’s ok, he looks different but Mac says, he’s just tired.

In 4x12 Mac is lying in bed, lost in his own mind, he gets up, leaves the compass on her side of the nightstand… On the run he ignores Desi’s calls.

Then things get really ugly for MacDesi. Desi says “You are so drunk on somescrewed-up cocktail of your mom, your aunt, Codex science...”… She says “You're compromised”…  Mac was just trying to get Scarlett on their side to stop Codex but Desi couldn’t see it. She thought Mac was losing it!

And then Desi sides with Russ and turns her back on Mac. Russ dismisses Mac from the Codex mission. Mac's forced to improvise. Bcoz he wants to stop Codex without bloodshed.

So as you can see they completely re-wrote the events of 4x12 to fix MD.

Desi says: “I had front-row seats to the war that raged in you last year, and I can't do that again. Lose you.”

She was ready to sacrifice him for the greater good. But yeah, sure! Why not.

Mac says: “Des, I know it looked like I was lost, but you were there the whole time, guiding me back home.”

THE WHOLE TIME.

In 3 times she “tried” to be there for him, Mac didn't let her in emotionally but lets just say that she brought him back to his senses.

Lets just say that the compass he left on her side of the nightstand represents that it guided him back. (btw lets also ignore that the compass Mac gave Desi back was a different one. Who knows, maybe he threw it in the garbage during the pandemic and bought a new one)

Lets just forget who really brought him back. Lets just ignore what Riley did for Mac. How she saved him, how she was the one who risked everything for Mac. How she was the one there by his side when they were facing a missile.

Only if we forget and retcon history we can all buy MacDesi. 

But i can’t… I can’t forget, i’m not ok with a retconned half-ass love story that they want to sell with MD. I can’t sit through the episodes and keep watching the “flawless Desi” show.

This show isn’t entertaining to me anymore. I can’t recognize Mac, i’m pissed that my fav characters are being used as tools to prop Desi.

One last thing before i say my final goodbyes:

The lighting in this episode was so weird. In almost every scene, heavy light effects distracted me. Usually they use it when they show you a flashback, a dream or a hallucination to seperate the real-time scenes from others. But this episode had them from the start to the end. So i don’t know what to make of this.

Some of the dialogues had subtexts…

Leland to Russ: Now, I know you don't care about much in this world, but even the best of us can be blinded by those we love.

General Ma to Mac: I was blinded by him (Leland) once. I-I won't be blinded again.

Mac: Many things blind us. Anger, betrayal, even love. But sometimes, a little blindness can work to your advantage. You can create a fog that will cause the world around you to disappear.

Normally i would dive deep into the subtextland. But i don’t think the writers were trying to give some deep message or anything. 

I do believe that Mac is totally blinded by his “idea” of love… But i’m done waiting for him to open his eyes. The Mac i watched in this episode is not My Mac.

Writers made their choice. They made Mac's feelings crystal clear. He's all about Desi. At this point, Desi breaking up with him would mean nothing to me. Just like Riley still having feelings for Mac means nothing anymore.

Official accounts tweeting “There’s more to come for MacRiley” means nothing to me anymore.

Noone wants a rebound plot but unfortunately it's the only possibility they left to MacRiley. My ship is tainted forever. 

And as a Riley stan, i don’t want this Mac with my girl. She deserves better.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

Hello, first of all I want to apologize in advance if this post seems too distressed and hopeless, but for me this episode was like the nail in the coffin. If I had any hope left in the showrunner's direction for Aemond, after this it was all crushed to pieces. Based on Aemond's scenes with Alicent and Aegon, plus the leak of episode 7 (spoiler: https://x.com/cliffsidesiren/status/1815228663568208337), they really don't give Aemond any sympathy. From now on he will only be a soulless character containing all the most terrible sins in The Dance. So that every time he appears, people will be disgusted by every action and word he does on screen. I feel too tired to be angry, only extreme disappointment . Maybe it's partly my fault for being too attached to the character, and Ewan was the first actor I followed even before he joined HOTD (Orferth was my favorite character in The last kingdom). Some people say that one of the reasons why what Ewan said in the interview contradicts so much with what is shown is because he himself is not happy with what the writer wrote about Aemond. So he trying to interpret Aemond's intentions in his own way, it's no different from the headcanon where he wanted it to happen but couldn't. It reminds me of Tom and Phia having to ask for more scenes together, or Tom not being satisfied with Aegon being turned into a rapist. No matter how attached he is to his character, Ewan cannot influence the script. I don't know if I should continue watching ss3,small part of me still wants to go with Ewan until Aemond ends up in God Eye. But each episode leaves nothing but bitterness, not only for Aemond but also Alicent, every plot holes that cannot be ignored in each episode, and the departure from the original and the ridiculous fan services. And those are some of my thoughts for the new ep, hope you have a nice day.

Hello! Thank you, hope you have a nice day too😊 And that you found something to cheer yourself up with after our weekly dose of disappointment.

There is no need to apologize, really, I understand how you're feeling. This show has pretty much become a joke and is trying to make a joke of its characters.

I myself kind of resigned myself to watch Aemond collecting all the fictional sins imaginable - but at the same time I discovered that there are still people among GA who, while not being approving of his actions, still do not treat him with hatred. This actually made me feel a bit better.

Actors at this point are hostages to the writers' whim, true, and I feel really bad for Ewan - and not only for him. But I do believe that HotD actors have still gained a lot from working on the project, and I truly hope it's enough to compensate for the disappointment about the way their characters were handled.

[whencallstheheart]

Something I’ve noticed in interviews with the actors or from statements from the show runners is that they like to compare this negative fan response of the S8 finale, to the negative fan responses when Jack was killed off or when Lori left. They frame it in a way that says “well the show will survive bc it did after those two devastating changes - same way with after E picks L, fans will find a way back”. Yet, for the life of me I can’t remember back to when Jack died or when Lori left where the showrunners/writers ever got THIS aggressive with fans. I mean BB has only barely stopped short of saying Nathan fans are delusional (agreeing with Lucas fans really). And now, WCTH’s official PR page has begun to bait Nathan fans on FB with (now-deleted posts that read) “Nathan was not shy about pursuing Elizabeth this past season. #TeamNathan, were you worried when she canceled their dinner at the end of the first episode?”...

While I wasn’t really on social media religiously following along with the internet segment of WCTH when Jack left or when Lori left (which personally I moved on from quite well), I don’t at all remember hearing that the writers/show-runners were being incredibly dissing towards fans (I can only remember a few official statements put out - but nothing rude) ... this is just feels a million times worse to me, their response (not just from BB but from all of WCTH and Hallmark). The last couple days I’ve told myself “let’s just move on, not look at anything WCTH related for a few weeks, mute it all, be done with the show”... but MAN I cannot escape the mere turmoil the show-runners are creating surrounding the show. BUT since you’ve been here since the beginning really and have experienced many, if not all, of the off-seasons and the two scandals (Jack being killed off and Lori being fired) on social media, do you believe that this situation has been worse or is becoming increasingly worse on social media? Btw, Thanks for all your hard work responding, making polls, making gifs! I appreciate it all - this is one of the only safe WCTH spaces I’ve found consistently to vent - plus you actually approach things with logic which seems lacking these days! 💓

Exactly. What had to happen with Dan and Lori were completely different situations. The HAD to kill off Jack. They HAD to edit out Lori. They didn't have a choice in the matter so it was easier for them to convince the audience to stick it out with them. Season 8 was totally different. They consciously made the choice to not give the fans a good story to justify the outcome. The outcome would've been more accepted had they actually written to the ending. Clearly they didn't do that. They claim they did but when you have this many people upset about it, obviously that wasn't the case. Hearties tend to be very forgiving of poor writing and will blindly love everything the show does so for it to have gotten this much backlash no one should be denying or doubting that something went wrong somewhere.

I think it's definitely worse in general. TPTP don't know when to shut up. Their egos have gotten SO BIG, especially Brian's. He's worshipped as Papa Heartie. That's gone to his head. He's always been an asshole. He can't take any criticism (that's usually very valid and not presented in a rude manner towards him) and is consistently disrespectful to fans. It's really disgusting what's happened. TPTB stupidly didn't expect the backlash to be this bad and they don't know what to do about it. Insulting the fans definitely isn't the correct plan of attack if they're trying to win them back. It baffles me, honestly. The gaslighting really, really bothers me too. We know what we watched. Don't try to tell us otherwise and make us question ourselves. That's fucked up.

There's this attitude towards the fans that's like "if you don't like what we did screw you" but also "PLEASE KEEP WATCHING we promise you'll like season 9!!!" What? And all the "facts" that don't add up with what others have said. The audience can't trust these people and that's really sad and disappointing. We're getting this from the Hallmark Channel?? Where are the Hope Valley values that Papa Heartie loves to preach about? He sure as hell doesn't practice them. It's all so strange and exhausting and upsetting. It didn't have to come to this and I feel so bad for the fans.

Thank you and you're welcome. I've always wanted to make this a space where we can have actual conversations and not be forced into being positive about everything. The fandom has been through a lot. It'll be interesting to see what the long term outcome will be. It's hard to know where to go from here. Hopefully people will still appreciate the blog moving forward but we'll just have to see.

[lizacstuff]

SCK / Edser asks - ep 31/32

Asks about episode 31, some discussion of 32 under the cut

Anonymous said: with the past two episodes, i realized, for me at least, it's not so much about it feeling disjointed (31 didn't really feel disjointed to me tbf) but about the lack of edser screentime. when we do have their scenes, they're good! but the last 2 eps haven't had a lot of it which is what's frustrating (more annoying to me than even selin believe it or not). the fragman for next week looks good though.. with serkan losing his shit more and more.. which can only mean good things for us! lol.

Yes, I agree with this. This episode was a lot less disjointed than 30. 30 felt weird. For 31, there wasn’t enough Edser, but I found it leaps and bounds easier to watch than the last two episodes. As for not enough Edser, I was wondering if that was partly about the short shooting week. For episode 31 they only shot 4 days, a couple of paps said that they did that to give Kerem 3 days off last week because his family was visiting from US/Canada. I don’t know if that’s true, but they follow him around so they pry know if the fam is in town or not. Perhaps in doing that, they had to rely more on the second unit and focus on other characters?? Because there was a lot of focus on other characters this episode.

Speaking of other storylines, I do have to say that I’m very relieved that there is an actual reason why Ceren has lost the thread a bit. If she’s off her meds it explains a lot, and I’m thankful that while she tantrumed a lot about Eda and forced herself on someone who wasn’t inviting it with Deniz, she didn’t do anything unforgivable like actively try and hurt Eda. 

Also the Erdem and Leyla scenes were amusing, and my queen Melo can do anything she wants. The only character who actually gives a damn about Eda and Serkan.  

While there wasn’t enough Edser, there was more than a lot of people are giving the episode credit for.  They had several really good scenes in the office with the balloons and the staring and later him questioning her about Deniz. We got jealous Serkan sniffing around Eda and Deniz’s cafe, and a really nice outside Eda’s house scene that got them being kind to each other and really, honestly talking. Then the funny scene inside with everyone thinking they were back together and Aydan freaking out. (we even got Serkan getting a few cathartic slaps!)  The boat scenes were good, but they could have been better. I think they could have given us more and Eda could have been a bit more open with him trying so hard. 

The final scene was a slap in the face and I think sort of tainted the rest of the episode, but without that, I thought there was actual progress made. 

As for the fragman (and the extra scenes released in the VDay video yesterday) I actually have hope for 32 being a turning point. We’ve seen him be curious about her and opening up with her, now I think we’ll see the ye olde sexual attraction hitting him hard. That should be good!  Plus banning love in the office! Vintage jealous Serkan!

Anonymous said: Last week's episode was not my favorite but after this week's, I'm just confused at the writing situation. You could jump from episode 30, to the last minute of episode 31 and you would've seen all you needed to see. It feels like they're wasting potential. Maybe the showrunner knows something we don't about how much time they have but I'm at the "not mad, but very disappointed" phase with how this story is going. And the "Ceren is crazy off her meds" storyline is particularly striking an nerve.

I’m sorry that the Ceren off her meds story is upsetting to you, I can see that. Unfortunately, I really don’t have faith they’ll do it justice. This show has treated some very big issues like agoraphobia, claustrophobia, narcolepsy, panic attacks and lets not forget amnesia and PTSD, at a very superficial level. However, I am glad that they at least gave a plausible reason for Ceren to undergo a behavioral change.  

However, I don’t agree with you that the rest of the episode was pointless. I thought the Edser we did get was very good and Serkan made big strides. He was drawn to Eda, intrigued by her, asking questions, very jealous of Deniz, lying to Selin, getting annoyed at Selin, and meanwhile Eda and Serkan had some nice quite conversations. Remember the man doesn’t know her, but he feels that primal pull towards her and it still terrifies him. Especially now that we’re past her heightened emotions of ep 29, and he’s realizing what a competent professional she is and also caring and sweet, not quite the picture that Selin painted him. 

The problem is the 1 step forward, 2 steps back that they’re having him do.  However, what I’m hoping will happen is that all these experiences, these big steps forward he makes with Eda, before he freaks, gets back under the influence of Selin and jumps backwards, will have a cumulative effect and he’ll take a giant leap forward soon. 

There are so many moments that show his tendency to be carrying and attentive towards Eda (offering to drive Eda home after the yacht, vs telling Selin he’s busy and she can go on ahead so he can sit and think about Eda), the switch has got to flip sooner rather than later for him. 

Anonymous said: So I noticed that "March 20th" is 5 Saturdays from now. I sincerely hope they don't drag this fake engagement out until then

Good GAWD, don’t even say that! LMAO. Honestly, truly, I don’t think we’re going to drag her fake engagement out that long. Really truly. Have I convinced you yet? Have I convinced myself yet? 

That would be way too much. By March 20th I’m expecting them to be sexing each other up! 

Anonymous said: Think I am going to shake off the not so greatness of the last two episodes by thinking about how hot it is going to be watching Serkan try to win Eda back. Because we ended yet another episode with Serkan apparently still having zero interest in putting his engagement on hold and no progress made towards unmasking Selin’s game. Edser scenes were fire always but still too short & too far in between. At this point I think most of us could write a novel about how all over the place the writing is and how little things makes sense but that is just too depressing.

Yes, I think this is very true. IMO they really miscalculated by going with these engagements. They are really wearing on the audience. But I do think you’re right, that them constantly changing writers is a big part of the issue. Also I think it has to do with constantly living on the edge and not knowing how many episodes this show is going to have. I don’t know how any show could have a clear and consistent narrative with that constantly hanging over the creatives heads. It’s an interesting way to do things. 

It is a bit head spinning when you think about how much time on this show they spend with Edser together and how much apart. HOWEVER, I’m a big proponent that from 16-26, they were basically in a romantic relationship the entire time. Even though they weren’t together, they were together, they belonged to each other, they couldn’t leave each other alone, every decision they made was with the other in mind. But I’m one that doesn’t find those episodes as tortuous as some, there are a LOT of good moments and scenes in there. 

Anonymous said: So was Deniz agreeing to work with Selin supposed to be the start of her downfall? Or not? It honestly seems like the show is not even going the route of Selin doing something to mess with his memories anymore and just going to have Serkan flat out choose Eda over Selin but who knows. Only shining light on that front was the fact that Selin & Serkan had very few couple scenes in the last episode.

You are me, I’ve been wondering about this. The last episode sort of made me give up hope that Selin is going to face any repercussions for the disgusting way she has manipulated and brainwashed an amnesia victim.  I mean, she will be heartbroken and will have to slink out of town again, but it’s possible she may not face any blowback from the other characters and that will suck. 

On the bright side (you know I always have to look on the bright side) that means instead of her being unmasked, it will be, as you say, just Serkan, once again, straight up choosing Eda over her. Which is delicious and romantic in it’s own right. Their love once again triumphing over the biggest of odds, with everything stacked against them and people actively working against them and him suffering from a brain injury. That’s big. And I think after the way Serkan has treated Eda, it’s important that he choose and not just have th choice taken from him by Selin being “unmasked.” Though I’m happy if she’s unmasked after he’s already fallen for Eda (which lets be honest is actively happening). 

So there’s a lot of upside to that, to Serkan just choosing, however if that happens and she leaves prior to him regaining his memories, we’ll probably have to suffer through Serkan thanking Selin and apologizing to her and that might make me break whatever screen I’m watching the show on that night. I keep telling myself the writers have to know we need some comeuppance and consequences for Selin, but I’m not sure I trust them to do that. It’s possible she’ll skate again. 

The spoilers (which so far are batting about 50/50, so this is still all grain of salt) said that the last scene of 31 would be “bad” (it was IMO, ouch!) but that it would start the unmasking of Selin. If Deniz is playing Selin (which I think is very possible) then that spoiler cold still be true.  

Maybe Deniz is a straight up a manipulative villain, but it feels like we have enough of that already. Doesn’t he seem smart enough to realize that he’s never going to get Eda through trickery, and would be much better served by championing her best interests instead of employing underhanded tactics to separate Eda/Serkan? So maybe he’ll help humiliate Selin by reveling what she’s doing. Who knows, we shall see. 

Anonymous said: The thing that bothers me the most is serkan's attitude towards eda. When he is alone with her he is vulnerable, attentive to her, listens and tries to find out more about her and their love and the moments they spent together, he tries to remember. And when he is surrounded by other people especially selin he is completely different with her. He is cold, says cruel things to her (the moment he said that he will never marry her seriously serkan?) and he humiliates her constantly. PART1

Really I wonder why this sudden change every time there is surely something we don't know yet. PART2

Yes, there could be something we don’t know that’s contributing to his behavior. 

Though @echoapothecary had a good theory about those spoilers that came out about how Selin was doing something with pills and potential drugging of Serkan... what if the spoiler types got it wrong from call sheets and mistook Ceren with the pills for something Selin was doing? 

Serkan’s behavior could just be his pre-Eda robotic personality terrified of the person he becomes after Eda, combined with Selin’s abusive manipulation and brainwashing, combined with traumatic brain injury, combined with PTSD from the plane crash. That’s a lot to overcome. 

Anonymous said: Poor Eda how much pain can she bear , she is suffering so much and she tries to stay strong and do everything she can to get her serkan back. I feel so much sympathy for her character, she has endured so much but she remains strong in spite of everything. If she decides to give up I wouldn't blame her, she has the right to think about herself for once. It's up to serkan now to open up to her, to show that he cares about her and wants to remember her.

My heart breaks for Eda. However, come on, it’s been like a week. Eda is stronger than than that, she wouldn’t be Eda if she gave up. She knows Serkan is suffering from a brain injury and being manipulated by that barnacle.

Also, remember how we spent episode 20-26 with Eda keeping her distance and controlling everything while Serkan worked his tail off to get her back, his love never wavering. They work because they don’t give up on one another.

Anonymous said: The only way for serkan to react is to feel that he is going to lose eda (she had already tried everything, recreating their moments, kissing him but nothing worked). Eda knows this and that's why she decided to start this game with Deniz, it's her only motivation. To make serkan react, be jealous, feel that he is about to lose her just like in episode 11 to finally confess his feelings. P1/

At first I was totally against this fake engagement but now that I see it from another point of view it seems to me that it is a good idea. Just how could eda have guessed that deniz was not sincere in his intention to help her and just wanted to take advantage of the situation. P2/

Yes, you’re right. Eda knows that Serkan needs to be pushed into a corner to act. That’s what happened the first time. If only we see a reaction like he had the first time around!

What I didn’t like is when Deniz expounded on their “love story” and made up the whole thing about them promising to get married which prompted Serkan to ask Eda if he knew about that. Eda had to say no and I feel like that gives Serkan a mistaken view of their relationship. That they were not in a place where they would have confided such things. It feels like it works against Eda’s objective. So that move puts a mark in the “Deniz is actually a manipulative shit-stain” category. 

I just so badly want one of the other characters (Engin, Leyla) to accuse Serkan of being jealous and for him to respond that he doesn’t get jealous and for them to be all like, “Yeah, maybe you didn’t used to get jealous, but with Eda you were jealous of anything that competed for her attention, including babies and dogs!”

Anonymous said: i love that scene on the boat where serkan stays behind after dismissing selin (when he all too eager to take eda home before btw!!) and he's thinking about their moments together.. it's not flashbacks to his memories of her, but he's thinking about the moments that they've shared the DOES remember right now... boy is he already falling for her all over again

Yes, me too! That was very good moment. He sends his “fiancé” on her way without really even questioning where she’s been and then sits and thinks about another woman. 

He’s got to be close to catching a clue! If only he didn’t emotionally destroy Eda every time he freaks out. 

Anonymous said: i think it's hard for most people to watch serkan be "robot-y" after sooo many episodes of him evolving and growing and being in love with eda.. but i remember back to the first episodes and there are times and moments where he IS harsh with her there too.. they would have a close moment and then the next day he would be ice cold.. the same things happens now.. he has always, even back then, fought himself falling in love until he couldn't any longer and felt like he was actually losing her.

Yes! This is Serkan circa episode 3 when he freaked out and was a total and complete asshole to Eda. It just hurts so much more this time around. Then Eda, and the audience, could let it roll off our backs because they didn’t have history. Now we have 30 episode of history and love and evolution and it is hella painful to go back to that place again. 

However, it is pretty realistic to his character and the guy we met in the beginning. What’s not entirely realistic is him taking refuge in Selin. But I suppose you take the fact that the last thing he remembers they were together, and forget the reason they broke up is that he was never going to marry her, throw in her trauma, manipulation and brainwashing and here we are at engaged!

Anonymous said: you know i never considered how the show must feel if you binge watched all of it.. i started watching from the 1st ep so it's always been this cycle of waiting a loooong week in between, but it must feel different if you've binged it.. i feel like storylines def won't feel as dragged out and therefore you wouldn't feel as frustrated by how long the plot would take.. like we waited 10+ weeks for edser to get back together but now someone can just breeze thru those episodes lol.

Yes, binging would take away a lot of the pain those of us week to week have felt. I binged through episode 9 and it’s been week to week for me every since. Like I said in that other ask, I like week to week, because I like fandom. I like talking to you all in my ask box and I like content, and having time to digest things and I like following the cast and getting spoilers, but the downside is the PAIN. LMAO. 

Anonymous said: wow, they even stole your caption. so sorry this happened to you , i hope they take it down soon! i know you work hard to create these gifs and posts ❤

This is about the gal who reposted my gifset yesterday. Thank you so much, she did delete it. As I say, I’m more than fine with people using the gifs for reactions and meta and stuff like that, but it’s against every bit of tumblr etiquette (and rules) to repost entire sets as your own. Please don’t do that.

[rachelkaser]

Stay Golden Sunday Reissue: The Heart Attack

Note: This is a repost of an older Stay Golden Sunday that had to be redone for housekeeping reasons.

Sophia becomes very ill one night and is convinced she’s going to die. The Girls confront the idea of mortality.

Picture It…

The Girls bid farewell to their guests as a storm rages outside. They praise Sophia for the meal she cooked for everyone, and Blanche says it was even better than the food she ate in Italy. The Girls tell Sophia to take a load off in the living room. They start the dishes in the kitchen, while Rose talks about her family’s Scandinavian cooking.

Back in the living room, Sophia says she’s got a “bubble” of pressure in her chest. Rose thinks it might be gas, but Dorothy says her mother isn’t looking so good. Blanche goes to call the doctor. Sophia clutches her chest as the bubble turns to pain. Dorothy lays her down, while Sophia worries she could be having a heart attack. Blanche says the doctor was out, so she called the paramedics.

DOROTHY: Ma, you know, you don’t look good. SOPHIA: I’m short and I’m old. What did you expect, Princess Di?

The two discuss their family’s deaths – which include a fall from a donkey and misfiring a gun while taking out the garbage – to rule out the possibility of heart disease. Blanche and Rose talk about how death should come without pain or illness, getting sidetracked until Dorothy shuts them up. They go to make coffee, while Sophia begins to worry she’ll die. She starts giving Dorothy instructions on what to do after she’s dead, and says Dorothy was always her favorite, even if she never showed it.

In the kitchen, Rose and Blanche discuss death. Rose says her family members live to their 90s and 100s, which Blanche attributes to the Minnesota cold slowing down the aging process. They also discuss cremation vs burial: Rose wants to be buried with all her sentimental items, while Blanche wants to be buried in Arlington Cemetery because it’s full of men. Sophia tells Dorothy she loves her. When Rose and Blanche return with the coffee, she thanks them for keeping her company. She decides to rest while Blanche goes to call the paramedics again.

BLANCHE: Do you want to be buried or cremated? ROSE: Neither! BLANCHE: What do you want to be, flushed down the toilet like a goldfish?

Rose tells Dorothy it’s probably not a heart attack, as she’s seen one and they’re bigger. She recounts Charlie’s heart attack to Dorothy, which happened while they were making love (she told Arnie this back in Episode 3, but this is the first time she’s told one of the other Girls). She dressed him before emergency services arrived, and his last words were that he loved her. Blanche returns and says the paramedics are held up by the storm, and they’ll just have to wait… and pray, as Rose adds.

The Girls crowd Sophia, who wakes up and tells them she had a near-death experience and saw Heaven. She describes seeing her husband and asks Dorothy to get her rosary. Blanche’s main interest is if there are lots of men in Heaven (which… why wouldn’t there be?), and eventually goes to help Dorothy. Left alone with Sophia, Rose bugs the crap out of her by recounting farm stories.

BLANCHE: What about men? Are there lots of men in Heaven? ROSE: Oh Blanche, come on! BLANCHE: Well you asked her about God and Jesus!

In Sophia’s room, Dorothy’s going through Sophia’s things, looking for the rosary. She tells Blanche that she’s not ready for Sophia to die, and that she’ll still feel like an orphan at her age. She breaks down in tears at the thought, and Blanche comforts her by saying Blanche and Rose are her family too, and they’re there for her.

In comes Dr. Harris, presumably Elliott’s replacement as their house-call doctor. He inspects Sophia and finds her side is sensitive, so he asks her what she ate recently. The girls list a truly disgusting amount of food, including scungilli, fried mozzarella, and two boxes of Milk Duds. Dr. Harris says it’s not a heart attack, but more likely a gallbladder attack from overeating. Sophia is instantly relieved, but takes back what she said about Dorothy being her favorite now that she’s not dying.

Later that evening, the Girls minus Sophia (who’s presumably resting) talk about mortality in the kitchen. They question the reason they worry about things like dieting when they’re going to die eventually – a thinly veiled excuse to eat some chocolate cake and ice cream. They do eventually get turned off of the dessert when they realize that, while they are going to die eventually, they’ll feel the negative effects of overeating immediately, like Sophia did. They decide to go out for a walk (one hopes the storm is not still raging), and Blanche brings it back around to her favorite topic:

BLANCHE: Let’s go for a walk. ROSE: Right, burn it off! DOROTHY: Are you kidding? After what we ate, we’d have to walk to Canada. BLANCHE: Oh, Mounties! I love Canadian men!

“You couldn’t say ‘belch?’ What is it, a Viking curse?”

This is the first episode that centers around Sophia, and given the multiple references to her age and health in the preceding nine episodes, it’s fitting that it’s about a health scare. Estelle Getty, who has mostly played comic relief up to this point in the series, gets her shot at carrying the dramatic half of an episode – and she definitely delivers.

To be a little real with you, this episode has been hard for me to watch the last few years, ever since my mother died. She was the one who introduced me to Golden Girls, and episodes like this hurt both because I know now she and I will never have that Dorothy-and-Sophia rapport in old age like I always assumed – my mom was not even 60 when she died – and because I was basically in Dorothy’s position at the time. If I could have chosen a quote to describe the months of my life after my mother died, it’d probably be this one:

DOROTHY: It doesn’t matter. You lose a parent, you might as well be six. It’s scary. And it pushes you right up to the head of the line.

I appreciate that, when confronted with the possibility that she might die, Sophia’s not accepting or serene even though she’s very old. I think there’s a perception that, when you get old, you just have to accept that you might die soon and be okay with it because you’ve “lived a full life” or some such nonsense. Instead, Sophia outright says “I’m not ready” and that she’d take even one more day of life.

I leave it to other shows to try and teach people to accept death with grace. I prefer Golden Girls’s way, which is to say “Screw that,” and portray the octogenarian matriarch as not wanting to die. There’s something very real in Sophia saying she never really thought she would die.

SOPHIA: 80 years old, and it would come as a complete surprise.

There’s quite a bit of real-world backstory to this one, too. Originally, it was intended to be broadcast live, which is why it’s the first episode since the pilot to take place entirely within the confines of the Girls’ home. According to Golden Girls Forever (quite a treasure trove), NBC had done a live episode of Gimme a Break and attempted to replicate its success with a night of live shows, ostensibly to promote Saturday Night Live. Golden Girls would have been one of about five shows to air its episodes live.

At first all the other shows were onboard, but then showrunners protested the final offering of the night, a detective show called Hunter, couldn’t be filmed live. So the live plan was scrapped. Director Jim Drake remembered it as being for the best, since the actresses weren’t really equipped to do the show in a single live, continuous taping. While their shows were filmed in front of a live studio audience, they still had the option of doing multiple takes. Somewhat relevant, but here’s a video of Golden Girls bloopers:

The other real-world issue that influenced the filming of this episode was one that also cast a pall over the previous episode – the death of Bea Arthur’s and Betty White’s mothers. But while it seemed to throw off the chemistry of the previous episode to a certain extent, if anything it helps this one. There are differing accounts as to whether Rose’s monologue about Charlie’s death was drawn from the deaths of White’s mother or her husband, Allen Ludden. I suspect it’s a combination of both, but you can see she’s genuinely crying while talking about it.

My only real criticism of this episode is that the final scene doesn’t really seem like it’s attached the rest of the story. The Girls talk about their own mortality, and how the fact of dying makes things seem trivial. They don’t even mention Sophia, despite the rest of the episode revolving around her. It feels like a discussion they might have after a friend died – or, more accurately, a scene inserted by a writer who wanted to opine about death for five minutes.

That’s not even mentioning the fact that the way the Girls behave in this scene is very at odds with the rest of the episode. It’s just strange to me that they’d come to the conclusion that, since they’re going to die, they might as well gorge themselves on rich food, when doing so is the exact reason Sophia had a gallbladder attack – and they just heard a doctor tell her that.

Regardless, this is another great Susan Harris episode, and the first episode that puts Sophia front and center. While it’s a bit melancholy there are enough jokes interspersed throughout to keep it from being a downer.

Episode rating: 🍰🍰🍰🍰 (four cheesecake slices out of five)

Favorite part of the episode:

The Girls crowd around a sleeping Sophia (see the image at the top of the article), and she wakes with a shout, scaring them all. When Dorothy asks her what’s wrong, she says:

SOPHIA: What? You’re sitting on top of me. I open my eyes, I see pores like that, I think I’m on the moon!

[loveistherootofhappiness]

Not to be controversial but...

Sending hate towards the writers, the producers, the actors, other fans because you don’t like the way the show is heading, a particular character/actor/ship, a particular story arc, or the way you feel the characters you do like are being treated is nasty, disgusting and completely childish as fuck.

Being passionate about your faves, great. The show, it’s characters, it’s storylines resonate with a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. Indulge, loves.

Speaking openly about things you don’t particularly care for about the show and why you don’t, fine. No one’s disputing that at all.

Engaging people in respectful discourse and dialogue about things you do and don’t care for, lovely.

Being out right hateful towards people because they like/are/are involved with a character/ship/actor you don’t like, what you think needs to happen on the show, what has and hasn’t happened on the show, etc is where lines need to be drawn.

Come on now. It’s not now and never will be that serious. If you’re just that angry about things that happen on the show you feel a need to send out right hate towards people, just stop watching the show.

At the end of the day, the show is what it’s gonna be. Whether we like it or not. Nothing is gonna be gained by screaming at, bitching at, or trashing anyone. There are always going to be things that we do and don’t like about the show. It’s inevitable. No one deserves to be made to feel uncomfy or down right unsafe in fandom spaces because of that. The actors don’t deserve it. The writers don’t deserve it. The showrunners don’t deserve it. Other fans don’t deserve. NO. ONE.

And it’s not a lot of the fandom, not even a large chunk, but this is one of those scenarios where one is one too many. It’s been catching my attention on off for a while now, but I really just felt compelled to say this after it came to my attention again.

I’ll end this by saying take care of yourselves and each other. Above all else, let’s enjoy this show and be happy we have it in our lives.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk lol.

[crazy-loca-blog]

Personal thoughts on… 2019 releases (Part I)

Note: As the title says, these are just personal opinions on Choices books and chapters. Of course, you may agree or disagree with them, I only use this platform to express my thoughts on what I read every week.

After dealing with a lot of work and stress (to the point I ended up being sick in bed for a few weeks and now after a few months I still haven’t fully recovered), I’m finally back!

I’ve been playing Choices for over two and a half years now, and I honestly can’t remember a busier year than 2019. We’ve had the chance to read over 30 books! So I wanted to take some time to give my personal opinion on these releases. As there are so many books to talk about, this will be a three-part post and I will also include current releases and books that were released during 2018 but were finished in 2019. The list is organized in alphabetical order and it doesn’t include the VIP Books (as I don’t have access to the feature) or the seasonal books (as I’ll talk about them in another post, after all of them have been fully released).

A Courtesan of Rome (November 14, 2018 - June 12, 2019): I have a feeling that ACOR was one book before the hiatus and a completely different book after the hiatus. At first I found the story interesting, but it wasn’t like I was waiting every week for a new chapter to be released (honestly, those “8 years ago in Gaoul” scenes killed my mood so, so badly during half of the book!). However, after the hiatus, things seemed to move faster and that caught my attention. Overall, I really liked this book and I enjoyed reading it. I have a soft spot for these MCs that are super smart, so I loved to see our badass girl using her beauty and her brain to reach her goals. The LIs were awesome, too. I don’t think it was one of those “They’re all so good, I don’t know which one to choose” situations, but it was nice to see how every LI represented a different point of view of the conflict, so kudos to the writers for it. Of course, after the final chapter it was pretty clear that we won’t be having a second book, but I’m not that sure if it was actually planned to be a series. Sad.

Across the Void (August 20, 2018 - May 13, 2019): This book has probably one of the best graphics in Choices… but it also has probably one of the worst plots and some of the most hated characters in the app. We got this nice MC whose only mission was to be the captain of a luxury spaceship in the middle of a civil war. Of course, we got caught in the middle of it. And what does our MC do? He/She throws parties so the passengers and the crew can relax! We also had these annoying siblings who didn’t even think about making our job easier, a male LI that we shared with our brother, a male LI that hid very important information from us (and we got to know about it at the end of the book), and a male LI that we barely saw in the book. Thank God for the female LIs in this book! On top of that, we had to choose if we supported the Jura or the Vanguard without even knowing what their role in this conflict was. Thankfully, the hiatus helped to improve things a little and the final chapters were way better than the first ones where nobody seemed to have clear what was going on with this war. Of course, the fact that we had a choice to kill our MC at the very end of the book means that there is no chance to have a second book, but I wouldn’t mind revisiting this era with a better story in the future.  

America's Most Eligible: All Stars (January 16, 2019 - May 1, 2019): Have you noticed how reality shows that are pretty successful in the first season tend to become lame, boring and repetitive in subsequent seasons? That’s exactly what happened to me with AME. I enjoyed the first book, even though I don’t think it has super memorable characters and there is nothing like “wow” in the plot, following the story was easy and (don’t deny it, because you know it’s true) it definitely made our competitive side to blossom. But in Book 2, things became repetitive and boring. Sure, we got some new characters, such as Vince and Slater. Sure, it was nice to see Mack, Jen and some other familiar faces once again. But Carson continued being Carson, Ivy continued being Ivy, and Bianca was denied as a LI (again). So, overall, we got nothing new or refreshing in this book… and we ended it with a proposal? After dating out LI for like 2 months? We just didn’t need another wedding book.

America's Most Eligible: Wedding Edition (September 18, 2019 - Present): I seriously think the only reason why AME got a third book is because of us, the fans. The whole series has been about competitions and winning… and of course, we have to spend A LOT of diamonds to win. So I assume the first two books were very, very profitable for PB because of course, we all want to win. However, as we’ve learned this year, having a wedding book may actually end up “killing a series”, and AME is not the exception. From the moment that the writers turned our wedding special into a competition, I knew things were going to be weird. In my very personal case, having Slater in my party made no sense at all, because my MC has never trusted him, so they’ve never had a good relationship. Then, having to compete against Vince and Ivy, our biggest enemies in the competition is so… basic. I’m kind of tired of the dynamic with them… it’s been two books already. And then we have all these super weird storyline with Jen. I mean… how is it possible that she is the showrunner, but at the same time she is a contestant… or even our fiancée!?!? The only thing I may rescue so far is that finally all Bianca and Slater lovers got a chance to express their feelings (and I’m so waiting for drama if you reciprocate them!). But that’s all.

Baby Bump (December 9, 2019 - Present): I know this book is on the list of the “most hated books in 2019”, but for some reason I can’t explain, I still haven’t found anything that truly disgusts me about it (maybe I’m lowering my standards?). I know and I understand that some people feel uncomfortable because we didn’t have a chance to choose our baby’s dad, or because our baby’s dad acted like a total freak by proposing in the second chapter, but I have a feeling that things will improve, especially because our own MC seems to be a grounded person overall. Probably my main complaint goes to how some stuff seems to be repetitive from other books (besides those Big Sky Country vibes all over the place). I mean… why is the evil girl always a bitch? Why do we always have to choose between an insanely rich LI and another LI who’s not so wealthy? When did the MC, both LIs and Luisa become “a gang”? I know there are too many things that seem out of place now, but I have faith. It won’t become a masterpiece, but it won’t be a complete disaster either.

Bachelorette Party (July 18, 2019 - October 17, 2019): Humor, fun, romance, but above all, friendship. I really liked this book at the very beginning because it was a light story, but at some point I felt the writers ran out of ideas right in the middle of the story and started dragging things. They tried to add a more serious touch with the case plot (I even thought we would be having some plot twist as we did in the Perfect Match series), but I think they failed. I kept waiting forever to see a connection between the case and some characters such as Reed or Skip, as everyone seemed to be connected with it in some form, but that never happened. Also, we had Aisha, a trans character who most of us loved at first, but who became annoying after blaming everyone but her for losing the case and not telling the truth behind it (even when she knew we could have been killed she didn’t say the truth… come on, girl!). Finally, I missed our MC having her own self-healing plot after breaking up with her boyfriend/girlfriend… there were only mentions and a few questions about how we were feeling, but that was all. I would have loved to see our friends doing some things for us. At the end, I got a bittersweet feeling about it. I enjoyed the story overall, but there were so many things that could have been explored within the plot, that I’m not fully satisfied with the story.

Big Sky Country, Book 2 (July 27, 2019 - November 9, 2019): I never, ever in a million years would have thought that Big Sky Country would have a second book. Even though I love all these beautiful characters in the story, I thought the plot was pretty lame and boring overall. I can perfectly remember how criticized it was. So I was prepared to read the second book just because I had already finished the first one. But I’m soooo glad that PB proved me wrong here. Not only we had a second book that was much better than the first one, but we also got a story where the writers did a fantastic job trying to balance the screen time of all the LIs and they succeeded when trying to blend all the different plots in one single story. In my opinion, the weakest point of this book was actually the final chapter… Asha won, Clint died, and we became official and got engaged to our LI in like 10 minutes… it just felt too rushed for me.

Bloodbound, Book 2 (May 17, 2019 - August 30, 2019): Even though it’s not one of my personal favorites (and probably that’s why I don’t understand all the hype for it), if I had to choose between the first two books, the second one is the one I like the most. I feel a lot of things improved when compared to BB Book 1, but my special mention goes to Lily… she annoyed me so much in the first book, for some stupid reason I can’t explain, I barely could stand reading her lines… but she definitely grew (A LOT!) in the second book. Also, we were introduced to some new characters, such as Serafine or Nikhil (I’m pretty sure that there’s more about him that we don’t know yet). Sure we had some fantastic moments, such as the crossover with Nightbound (I hope to see more of it in Book 3) or discovering who was behind the Order. But there’s no doubt that my favorite part of this book was when the gang went to the Order headquarters and discovered that the only one who could access was the MC… realizing that the real power of our MC (at that point) was simply to be human, and not a vampire, blew my mind. That’s why I wasn’t rooting for her to become a vampire.

Bloodbound, Book 3 (November 9, 2019 - Present): One of the biggest complaints made by Choices players is that the writers seem to have problems trying to make a series attractive over time. We see unnecessary content that doesn’t add up to the plot, and a tendency to drag things in general. By the third book, people seem to be struggling with the series more than enjoying them. Well, this is not the case of Bloodbound. The series not only had its biggest plot twist by turning our MC into a vampire, but also we may notice the writers have not stopped to impress us. Of course, this book is the darkest one in the series, and after 6 chapters I still have so many questions… should we trust Rheya? Is she good or bad? What’s the real power of our MC given the fact that she’s also the bloodkeeper? Will our MC end up being the villain of the story? So far, I’m pretty happy with this book. If things will continue to be like this, I would LOVE to have a fourth book (especially if it’s said that this is the last book in the series).

Desire & Decorum, Book 2 (December 17, 2018 - April 8, 2019): Even though in my opinion this is the weakest book in the series, one of the things I value the most about it is how the writers managed to create this powerful MC in an era where women actually didn’t have much power and they were basically expected to get marry and obey their husbands. Of course, the whole plot where we were forced to marry Duke Richards was the main focus of the story, but seeing our girl standing up by herself, being helped by her friends and her true love, and saving the queen (and England) was an absolute pleasure. However, it wasn’t enough to fully convince me. The duel between Duke Richards and our LI, Duke Richards becoming Mr. Richards and getting arrested, and Briar’s happy ending are probably the best moments of the book, but even though I enjoyed it, it’s far from being one of my favorites.