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missjoolee · 2 years

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I can't tell... if it's an "A sharp" or if it's a "B flat"!

Juke Goonies au lol 1.3k

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Julie could have never predicted that her day would have played out like this. Like, this is insane. She had overheard Bobby Wilson on the phone saying he'd seen Sunset Curve heading out of town towards the cape. The cape her brother has been obsessing over for months because of a pirate's treasure myth. And the band he hangs around when they are using her mom's studio. (An easy feat now that she's never there to kick him out.) There was no way that it was a coincidence. She knew he would be with them and that they probably needed adult supervision despite the fact three of them were 17. So, she and Flynn had grabbed an Uber to take them out to the cape. And sure enough, her brother's bike was in a pile with theirs in the lookout parking lot.

She'd just wanted to bring him home.

What she hadn't counted on was finding the boys trespassing in an old warehouse. Finding a secret entrance to a tunnel foretold by a treasure map that they stole from the archives her dad worked at. Then using said secret tunnel to escape getting chased by Caleb Covington and his henchmen. And then finding out that that same secret tunnel was filled to the brim with booby traps meant to keep the treasure safe.

She was completely unprepared to reignite her friendships with Sunset Curve and be swayed to keep on this ridiculous treasure hunt with them instead of accepting Nick's help out at the wishing well. Unprepared for the strongest hatred she'd ever felt to drape itself on her shoulders when she found out that Bobby's betrayal of the band went further than a typical fallout. Unprepared for the fierce need to protect Luke and the guys from the dirty and underhanded business practices of Caleb and HGC Records to flood her.

Completely blindsided by the realization of the depth of the hole it left within her when she'd retreated into herself after her mom passed. How could she feel the most like herself in over a year running from real life villains in a hole that should have been a myth?

No. She couldn't have foreseen the events of this never-ending day. But she is unable to deny anymore how much she missed the guys. How much she'd missed Luke.

They'd just finished a quick break after keeping Alex from falling into a pit of spikes by the strength of his fanny pack's strap and were continuing along the path. Carlos, Reggie, and Flynn in front, Alex and Luke in the middle, and Julie brought up the rear. using the moment to reflect on some things. She noticed Luke looking back over his shoulder at her several times. As her stride slowed a bit and the gap between her and the rest of the group got larger, Luke looked back over his shoulder at her more frequently.

Eventually he hangs back for her to catch up, resuming his stride once she comes even with him. They walk together in silence for a few minutes, Julie knows she has more pressing matters to be concerned about, but they all fade to the back of her mind as the skin of his biceps occasionally brushes against her arm. The tunnel isn't wide by any means, but it can fit two people comfortably without them walking on top of each other. They've drifted into each other's space, just like they used to. A small thrill shoots through her at that realization.

"Are you doing okay, Jules?"

The question drags her out of her thoughts.

"Hmmm? What do you mean?"

"You're being fairly quiet." He gestures around them. "How are you doing with... all of this? Listen, I hope you know we never intended for any of this to happen. We needed money to fight Caleb for our songs, and we weren't having any luck anywhere else. When Carlos brought up the treasure and the map, honestly, we figured it was a long shot but might as well. Nothing else was working. None of this was meant to happen. I don't even know how Caleb knew where to find us."

"Bobby."

Luke stumbles to a stop and faces her. "What?"

Julie stops too. "I overheard Bobby telling someone that'd he'd seen you guys heading to the cape. It's how I knew where to find you guys. Now knowing about Bobby stealing your songs and taking them to HGC, I'm positive he was talking to Caleb."

Just ahead of them, the rest of the group stops and appears to be figuring out how to open the next door. She can hear Carlos translating the map. Luke takes a deep breath, eyes closing in an attempt to calm himself at the continued proof of betrayal from someone he considered a friend. Suddenly, Julie feels very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Luke."

His eyes pop open and look down at her, brow dancing in confusion. She pushes on.

"Last year, after mom died... Gosh, I was quite horrible to you, wasn't I? The way things were between us... and I just dropped you like none of it mattered." Her eyes begin to well up, shimmering in the light of their lantern. Unable to make eye contact with him, her gaze drops to the tunnel wall. "But it did matter. You matter. And I'm mad at myself that it took getting chased into a secret tunnel by stupid henchmen with guns for me to face the reality that I've been incomplete, living a half life, without you guys. Without you."

Luke ducks down to meet her gaze, his hands coming up to hold her face.

"Julie, I won't lie and say it didn't sting when you pushed us away-" Julie's eyes drop again, shame continuing to course through her. But Luke tilts her face up towards his, determination burning in his eyes. "-but your mom died. We understood you needed space. Besides, we've always had an interesting little relationship."

They both smile softly at that, Luke's thumbs beginning to gently stroke the apples of her cheeks.

"I never doubted that you'd come back to me."

Julie's awareness of her surroundings narrows down to the boy in front of her, his eyes reflecting that same sureness that infused his words. And so has Luke's if the way they are slowly leaning in towards one another is anything to go by. A thrill races through her at the gentle press of their lips.

It's suddenly like the last year hadn't happened. Memories of moments with Luke no longer echoes of what could have been as their arms wrap around each other, deepening the kiss.

"JULIE!"

She startles out of the kiss at Flynn's tone. Wait, how long have they been standing here? Why isn't Flynn being smug about her finally getting her shit together?

"Flynn?" she looks over at her friend's face, finding only concern. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" she laughs sourly and gestures down the tunnel behind them. "They're coming!"

Sure enough, they can now hear voices being carried down the tunnels towards them. A rumble sounds from in front of them. They all turn to where the rest of their group is, Luke slipping his hand down her arm to link their fingers together. That same thrill from before darts through her again.

"Oh, cool!" Carlos exclaims, looking into the next room they just unlocked.

"Not cool," Alex groans. "Is that a piano made from human bones?!"

Reggie turns back to her. "Uh, Julie? I think we are going to need your help for this next part."

#eyyyyyy it's a goonies au #sorry if this is bad lol #joolee attempts writing #joolee's crack-like thoughts #jatp #jatp fic #juke #jukebox #juke fic #julie molina x luke patterson #julie x luke #julie and the phantoms

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fallingtowers · 2 years

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how would you improve buffy season 7

ah man anon don’t encourage me. alright fine. below the cut

ok, so, right off the bat let’s establish some ground rules for this exercise. first off, i’m doing s7 only, which means i’m working off the canon events of s6. as much as i might want to change certain things about s6, i won’t. also, this is going to be a look at the overarching structure of the entire season, rather than me trying to script-doctor any individual episodes.

with all that out of the way, let’s talk about buffy season 7. fundamentally, i think that s7 is conceptually and thematically sound, but that its ideas are, for the most part, poorly executed. you might say it’s a season with a lot of wasted potential (← joke). the first is a really effective villain, both in terms of sheer intimidation factor but also on a thematic level, and i really enjoy the season’s pervasive apocalyptic feel. really, the challenge here is not so much completely overhauling the season as it is just executing it more competently.

i think the biggest structural issue at hand is the haphazard pacing. season 7 starts out strong enough, devolves into a samey muddle during its middle third, and then has to rush to tie together all its loose ends in the last couple episodes. i think this would be relatively easy to fix by just introducing certain stuff (e.g. caleb, the scythe, the necklace macguffin angel shows up with, &c.) earlier. this has two benefits: one, we get more material to work with earlier, thus hopefully preventing meandering, and two, the pivotal climactic stuff will get more room to breathe and won’t feel quite so rushed.

certain character arcs and beats need to be shored up, clarified, or otherwise improved. for example, buffy should get the opportunity to process spike’s actions in seeing red. also, i’ve never liked how the wedge between buffy and giles post-lies my parents told me gets glossed over. robin’s whole arc should also get a bit of a touching up, just because robin deserved better.

(speaking of character beats, i’m not so sure about anya’s death. it’s possible that it could be cogent and satisfying if it were set up better and afforded the room to breathe. or maybe it would just suck anyway. what if buffy had killed anya during selfless? what would that have done to the gang’s dynamic? i’m not saying that would necessarily be a good creative decision, but it would certainly be an interesting one.)

the arc that needs the most tlc though imo is willow’s. poor, poor willow. she’s never been more interesting than she is, on paper, here: recovering from addiction, feared by her friends, with a human life on her conscience. and for what???

my season 7 would be very willow-centric. she is arguably on par with buffy in terms of importance here, so she deserves a commensurate arc. i would, in fact, like to focus on the relationship between buffy and willow—buffy, desperate to trust her friend while being cognizant of the fact that she may well end up having to kill her, and willow, desperate to regain buffy’s trust while being terrified that she will start backsliding.

and then they kiss.

yeah that’s right. buffy/willow endgame, mother fuckers.

i don’t think i’d cut the willow/kennedy stuff outright, but i’d nip it in the bud. kennedy makes a move; willow reciprocates only because she’s lonely and sad; kennedy realizes how messed up willow is, but is too immature and ignorant of the specifics to properly address it; kennedy pushes too hard and the whole thing falls apart.

(speaking of the potentials, i think i’d want to flesh out a couple of them more and leave the rest as background characters, just to avoid things getting too muddy. can’t remember exactly how it’s done in the show—this might actually be their tactic exactly lol.)

so the thing with kennedy falls apart, willow has hurt her and feels she has betrayed tara’s memory, she is at her wits’ end—and that’s when the first gets to her. it appears to her in the form of tara, because in this dream scenario we don’t have to worry about whether our actors will want to come back. it manipulates her and tries to get her to go dark again.

so, now we’ve got this fun scenario where willow is torn between buffy (representing the painful reality of waking up every day and continuing to fight, no matter how hard it is) and tara (representing the easy way out, the comfortable slip back into evil). not only would this make for a lot of tasty tension, there’s also a cool parallel here between what buffy wants to do for willow—to pull her back out of the abyss and into the harsh light of day—and what willow did for buffy at the start of s6.

and then they kiss. the end.

(also i’d cut the whole stupid fucking “is giles secretly dead” subplot)

this is all just off the top of my head. i’d probably have to rewatch s7 to get a proper feel for the intended themes and arcs, but i’m not going to do that, because i spent enough time as it is on this exercise. sorry for the wall of text, anon. love you

#buffy the vampire slayer #buffyposting #man this got long

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penname-artist · 1 year

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It took me scrolling through the dusty crophopper tag to realise your icon had changed!? I kinda did a double take and went "is that pen? Oh they changed their icon ohhh!" It looks great tho I like it:)

Anyway I was wondering if you had any headcanons for blades childhood? Does he have any siblings and such? Or just some general headcanons for dustys time with the ppaa? (I slowly feel like I'm going to start scratching at the walls in desperation for some planes content I love it sm)

I did, yes!! Hopefully it's a good combination of familiar and new, I wanted the background to stay the same XP (we don't talk about how it's asymmetrical but I'll fix that eventually lol)

And yesss, I have headcanons aplenty for the both of them ;P

Blade's the oldest child of four kids, all a couple of years apart (damned staircase children). Needless to say the house was always pretty loud, which might have been part of the reason Blake (aka Blade) had frequent migraines as a child. He was easily the most sensible and mature of the four, though April (the second youngest) was pretty similar, if a bit bossy.

Oldest to youngest of the Ranger children, there's Blake Aaron (jr), Caleb Marshall, April Beverly, and Sydney Robin. [note that that's first and middle names, yes I gave them all full ass fuckin' names lol]

Blake was always a quiet kid, and he liked to spend time alone outside. He'd catch weird bugs, collect cool objects like rocks and things, and build shit with whatever existed in the shed. Despite the nice suburbs, the kids were still, well, kids. And 50s-60s kids, to boot. They built some of the best and weirdest fortresses known to man.

He was also an avid reader, and frequented the local library for the latest copy of his favorite novels. And, because he enjoyed the attention of the kindly librarians there, who appreciated that he helped them out during the afternoons and was all around really mature for his age

He went to a relatively high-end school growing up, given the family was pretty upper-class, but even with that perk, his school years were pretty shit. He was a theater kid, and a bit of an emo (though he didn't have the balls to be a rebel) and spent the majority of his time avoiding people and being a straight-A student. That's not to say he didn't have friends, he just wasn't really a "people person". Never was, never will be lol

Had an absolute shit relationship with his father, though. He had few too many verbal fights with Blake sr, and after tearing out of the house headed for LA, Caleb (the second oldest) became the son he never had. It should figure he favored the children that followed his stead and went into the military.

Diana (le mother) wasn't too much better, although she was more sympathetic. She was just kind of an overbearing hawk parent to Blake, mainly stemming from the years of his migraines. But she didn't exactly approve of his antics either; she just wanted him to come to his senses, rather than beat them out of him.

Onwards to the Dusty bit here, I have a few fun stories of his time around with the Piston Peak team...

He may or may not have kinda sorta maybe gotten his ass whooped by the team this one time, because while helping Blade and Maru move an engine, he kinda bumped a heavy thing which fell...on Blade's foot. And he was down for a few weeks with a cast. yeah Dusty spent a night outside duct-taped to a light pole--

He earned honorable rights to the kitchen in his first week with them, after sharing some old family recipes the team started hounding him to make every time he was there. He's even got his own apron (with his seven on it, made by Dipper as a late birthday gift)

He's also joined Cabbie and Windlifter on the side during their gym sessions. He doesn't have the strength to go up against either one, but like Blade, he gets a kick out of watching them compete, and enjoys furthering his own muscle strength in the process.

He has attempted to learn chess before with Blade and Wind, but he still doesn't quite get it, so he often joins Maru or Cabbie in checkers instead (a game he's more familiar with and can kick ass at)

#disney planes 2 #disneyplanes #disney planes #planes fire and rescue #piston peak #blade ranger #dusty crophopper #ppaa

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cxentaconmigo · 2 years

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A semi brief Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2 review / thoughts

overall i liked it!! i was in awe the whole time, there was a lot of great action and tension, and it caused me a lot of emotional damage 😀👍 the characters really make this show so when they just have time to interact its great

that being said i feel like it was WAYY too overhyped. A lot of the stuff they teased/promised just wasn’t there or didn’t quite fully deliver as much as Vol 1 did

•will deserved a coming out scene and his sexuality addressed bc it was made to be such a big deal in promo and then they just kinda ignored it?

•i was prepping for the ending to be this huge infinity war-like tragedy….and then it wasn’t. Dont get me wrong im glad it wasnt a “carnage” like it was teased to be but it just kinda fell flat bc it was so overhyped. Instead of being like WOAH COOL i was like ….huh? Thats it?

•speaking of that who were the 5 deaths? El’s Papa, Jason, Eddie, and….do we count Max? Do we count Vecna? I feel like they falsely teased us w stuff.

•steve’s whole “crawl forward” speech was super nice

•mike and will felt like more of real, important characters again after being sidelined for a long time so thats nice, but yeah the byler stuff that was hyped up for so long kinda was non existent.

•the middle of the last ep was WILD i was loosing it

•eddie deserved better….fuck

•caleb, gaten, and sadie were honestly the standout actors for me, at least among the kids. they broke my heart.

•jopper <3 that’s all

•i was convinced max was a goner there for a sec. she’s def waking up in s5 right

•they wouldn’t have saved the day without argyle, kinda saw it coming that he would have a hero moment

•at least steve is safe lol

#st #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things spoilers

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lliaq · 2 years

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mhm man do I have conflicting feelings about Vol 2 (this is prob gonna be kinda rambly and all over the place but I have Thoughts™ and I need to put them down)

okay first of all I gotta commend Sadie, like she absolutely killed it this season. Definitely one of the highlights. Caleb too. That attic scene- oof. I was just straight up bawling. Max and Lucas were never my favorites (didn’t dislike them either, they were just sorta in the middle for me), but they really felt like the heart of the show more than anything or anyone this season. Which is ironic given Will’s whole speech about Mike being the heart like-the fuck where?

I just- do not like Mike. At all. idk what it is, if it’s the acting, writing, or both, but he feels so incredibly unsympathetic as a character. He was also one of those middle characters for me at first, but unlike Max and Lucas he’s just been dropping down season by season and I literally can’t stand him now. Slow clap for that A+ character assassination. He only exists as Eleven’s bf now, and doesn’t seem to care about any of his friends, or anyone, really. And don’t even get me started on how they used Will’s feelings and sexuality “storyline” to further Mileven. there’s already a hundred posts about that, so I’m just not gonna even go there.

Another slow clap for the incredible Queerbaiting (listen idec that much if Byler becomes canon or not, but they 100% used Will’s sexuality and the potential of Byler to hype up the show and string queer audiences along(during Pride month, no less), it is textbook queerbaiting)

Mileven is also one of those ships that I don’t care about. Might have to do with my dislike for Mike, but something about it just doesn’t click for me. And boy did I feel that lack of investment during Mike’s monologue. Made the entire scene just completely fall flat for me. But where I was mostly ambivalent about them in S3, I’m actively rooting for them to break up now lol. Eleven, girl, get out of there.

Like, genuinely, her character feels like it’s stuck. Or like going in circles. I think she’d have more room to grow without Mike. idk I’m too tired to be big brain about this rn

Anyways, moving on. Dustin felt a little sidelined this season. Like what even was his arc? Being Eddie’s friend (just for Eddie to die)? Wow, great. Amazing. But y’know, same thing with Jonathan and Will. Maybe they just have too many characters at this point.

Couldn’t care less about Jonathan and Nancy as a couple. I’m not a big shipper (regardless of canon status), so if a relationship isn’t actually interesting...I just won’t care. They’re boring to me, that’s all I really have to say. I’m not fully on board the potential Steve/Nancy train, if they’re even going there in S5. Def felt like that’s what they were setting up. I’ve seen some people say that them getting back together would undo their character growth and I don’t know if I agree with that either, like... if they got back together, it would literally be because they spent time apart, growing as individuals. What they had before wasn’t working, but they’re not those people anymore, that’s the whole point. It would only be regression if they got back together and went back to being exactly like they were in S1/2.

I mean, in an ideal world I would hope for Ronance, and Steve ending up either with someone else or single, but...I’m not gonna hold my breath for that, lol. After all, they gave us copy-paste lesbians. Great representation, pack it up everybody. You know what, I’ll give that one another slow clap. I’m always down for more wlw rep, but that was half-assed at best. More like quarter-assed.

Steve also felt, idk, sidelined in the sense that he just went back to pining about Nancy and that was really all there is. Idk honestly it felt like a lot of characters were just kind of there, this season. Like, they participated in the plot....and that was it. And some barely even did that. Again, might be an overcrowding issue.

I’m sorta meh about the Russia plot. Murray is ok, I guess, but the over the top kind of comedy they use him for isn’t my cup of tea, so he’ll never be my favorite. I’m pretty ambivalent about Jopper as well. It’s one of those ships where I’m like I’m fine if it happens, and I’m fine if it doesn’t. I will say that my perception of Hopper still hasn’t fully recovered from whatever the fuck they did with his character in S3, but it’s getting there, I guess?

Joyce...went to get her man. Good for her, I guess. idk, don’t really have much to say.

Eddie though- man. Boy. He’s like the definition of deserved better. My man thought 86 was going to be his year and then it all went to complete and utter shit. I can’t say I’m surprised they killed him. He’s the Barb/Bob/Alexei of this season, with the exception that he was probably more of a fan favorite than any of the other 3. The thing about his death is just... it seems so pointless. I know they painted it as this whole Hero moment, he decided to fight instead of run, yadda yadda. But really he died in a “sacrificial” act that was ultimately meaningless and didn’t accomplish anything, he died being hated by an entire town, and I assume they left his body in the Upside Down bc he was officially “missing” still, so...he didn’t even get a burial. He’s like one of the very few characters that went through actual character growth this season , and he died for it. Good one. (here, I’ll toss in another slow clap) I did feel the lack of reactions was odd at first, but then I thought about it a bit and remembered that the timeframe of this season is pretty short. Idk how long exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s a week or less, and he spent a decent amount of that time in hiding. So most of the others spent like a couple hours total with him, maybe. I’d have expected something from Lucas, though. Mike apparently doesn’t care about anyone other than El, so that tracks lol. But the only one we’ve seen affected at all was Dustin (and Eddie’s uncle). So, it was still a little lackluster.

Anyways, yeah idk. Visually, the show is still stunning (even if the CGI was actually not that great in a lot of shots, imho), and there were some standout moments. I loved the one-take shootout (I’m a sucker for long one-takes, DD hallway fights my beloveds), and of course the entire Running Up That Hill Sequence, which might be my favorite scene in the entire show. But some of these writing choices really soured it for me.

This very much feels like a case of It could have been great, the potential was there, but they didn’t stick the landing.

#stranger things #st4 spoilers #just needed to get some stuff out of my system

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emerald-star-productions · 3 months

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MY THOUGHTS ON THE TOTAL DRAMA REBOOT (BOTH SEASONS)

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for both seasons of Total Dram's Reboot. Just as a head's up.

Since I never intend on discussing the series on my channel (at least not until it gets an official release in the US...thx for that WB/Max) I'll share my thoughts on the Total Drama Reboot (both seasons in context) here in detail. I'll be doing so through explaining my thoughts on the characters.

If you want my basic thoughts on both season first, here's the gist:

SEASON 1: Excellent from start to finish. Minus a few glaring issues the show has been known for (gross out jokes/fart jokes), it was absolutely phenomenal. A real & true breath of fresh air after a streak of shit seasons (not including Ridonculous Race <3) | 9.5/10

SEASON 2: This season had a lot to prove since it was gonna bring back the cast and we all know what happens when Total Drama insists on keeping characters longer than necessary. I was pleasantly surprised when they dodged a bullet and made a damn good second season with the cast. The new writing team has given this series a much-needed edge to put it back on the map. That said, some of the characters very clearly stayed on for too long or in one person's case...won the whole damn season. It suffered from keeping certain characters around for too long but it did give some (mainly my boi Caleb) some much needed screentime and development. | Gets a 8/10.

Now onto the character stuff.

First things first: Here's the tier list I made for the cast. It'll help as I explain myself per each placement.

Ok so let's start from the bottom and make our way to the top cuz I'd like to end this on a positive note.

No. Just. No Tier

Chase: Easily one of the most annoying characters in the entire show. I know that's the point, cuz he's a shitty influencer type who cares mostly about himself and the views. I totally get that. But that's ALL he was. We often saw him be a nuisance who cared more about himself or impressing Emma. I didn't laugh at him not once. He was just plain awful. And if that was the point, then good shit writers, I guess lol

Emma: Sadly she suffered from being attached to Chase. Her whole reason for being on the show was just connected to Chase. It was also the point for her but what gets me is that she was a tour de force outside of Chase's shadow. This was proven when she tried focusing on herself and was besties with Bowie. Those were glimmers of hope. And I was hoping she'd come back stronger post-S1 upon learning that Chase lied to her. But in the end, Emma was just...kinda there until she left.

Millie: Nah fam, I couldn't stand her. Started out fine enough and was fun to have around, but once she started moving forward in the game with Priya in the alliance, I started growing tired of her. I'm glad she started taking the game seriously but man oh man it was too late. Didn't need to see her in that finale, but she's lucky it was for the sake of reconciling with Priya. And the less said about her time in S2, the better. Just glad she left early.

Ripper: Fuck Ripper. He wasn't funny. He had a few good lines here & there but was just...not great. If you like him, that's cool. His relationship with Axel was admittedly adorable though. Not enough to make me like him but still cute nonetheless lol

WASTED POTENTIAL & MEH TIERS

Gonna combine these two since they have one character each in there.

Nichelle: Sweetie, I'm so sorry. We were all rooting for you. you were a victim of high expectations just by design alone. And it's a shame cuz you could've been great. You left in S1 so early & that hurt like hell. But then you came back swinging in S2 and kicked ass...until you fell for such a shitty tactic. Brilliant on Julia's part but fuck y'all for not giving Nichelle more time to shine.

Axel: I don't have much to say on her tbh. She was just kinda in the middle for me. She honestly would've been much higher if she wasn't dragged down by her lovey-dovey relationship with Ripper as S2 went on. Still adorable pairing tho. Glad she was around a bit more in S2 tho.

GOOD & GREAT TIERS

Wayne: I suppose I'll start with S2's winner. I love Wayne. He's a great friend & ally to Raj, on top of just being hella funny. Love what he was all about. Sadly, S2 didn't do him any favors. He was still the lovable goof we know & love but it felt like his IQ took a bit of a nosedive between seasons. And on top of that, IDK how tf he reached the finale over Raj. Again, I love Wayne. I really do. But him winning S2 was...a choice.

Zee: Funny af guy. Crazy how he got sent away for similar reasons twice. I don't have any critiques of the guy. He was funny everytime he was on screen. He's just good. Not great, but good. Loved him.

MK: This lady would've been a bit lower if I was only talking about S1. But the writers gave her a major glow up in S2. Seriously, her & Julia's friendship is some excellent TV. Seeing them work together and fuck around with everyone was fun to watch. She's never been a fave for me but I do appreciate having her around.

Damien: Oh honey, you were robbed. Damien was one of my faves from the beginning. Was hoping for more from him in S1 but realized he left at the perfect time, otherwise he would've gotten annoying af. S2 however...my man stepped the fuck up & I'm so damn glad. He was SO GOOD and he made merge. And then my heart broke when he got sent packing. I knew the moment he found that idol he was done for. He was gonna lose it. I hated it. He could've reached the finale.

MY FAVES TIER

Scary Girl: Scary motherfucker who had some of the best lines/moments throughout S1. I appreciated the writing for her in S2, even if it didn't quite stick the landing...that is, until she returned in the finale. She was back to her crazy self and I loved every minute of it. Entertaining character from start to finish.

Julia: Easily the second best antagonist in this reboot. One of the best surprises in the reboot. Holy shit, Julia was given all the good shit. Whether it was the writing or character moments, Julia basically delivered what I look for in villain in Total Drama. One thing that bitch is gonna do is find a way to win immunity by any means necessary and honey, she's a challenge beast in the right circumstances.

Priya: Ah yes, S1's winner. One of the best competitors in Total Drama. She was made for shit like this, as explained to us by her lol. I loved her in S1, cuz she was hella focused and stayed in the game despite being let down by Millie at every turn. Don't cross Priya y'all homegirl will win lol. S2 Priya was solid and I especially loved her budding relationship with Caleb, despite all the hiccups. She kinda lost her focus when Caleb came up but even that didn't entirely stop her from kicking ass. Also kudos to Total Drama & I having characters named Priya.

TOP TIER

Bowie: The baddest bitch out there. I've spoken at length about how I'd love to see more prominent queer black rep in mainstream media not centered around being punchlines or tragedy. And Total Drama delivered just that to me on a silver platter. Bowie is literally everything I was looking for in great queer rep. Best part? He was well-written. Dude was written perfectly from start to finish in S1. Every move he made was executed well. Even when he fumbled, he found a way back on top. His rivalry with Julia is perfection. His friendship with Emma was cute...wish they rekindled it. And of course his relationship with Raj was so damn cute. Speaking of Raj...

Raj: Y'all gave me not one but TWO queer POC in the same season?? And they ended up together??? Total Drama you're spoiling me! Raj is one half of the hockey bros. And he was my fave of the duo. Raj just kept surprising me as the show went on. When I realized he was gay, I screamed. Jaw dropped...I really thought Bowie would be the only one. So glad I was wrong. Similar to Wayne however, his IQ did drop a bit in S2 but it wasn't as bad compared to the former. I would've preferred him to reach the finale over Wayne. Raj v. Caleb v. Julia would EAT DOWN.

And finally...

Caleb: From a first boot to a literal king of the game. Caleb was one of the biggest surprises in the show and I'm so thankful he did the dam thing in S2. Seriously, Caleb could've been another one of the show's infamous first boot punching bags. He was the one I was cautiously optimistic about coming back for S2. What was he gonna do? Was he actually a threat as Bowie assumed? How will Caleb turn out character-wise beyond the good looks? All of that was answered and then some in the first ep of S2. He made a point to be a great asset to his team. He's the embodiment of the hot guy who's got a great balance of brain & brawn, while also being a very nice guy. I especially appreciated his whole thing with Priya. I was almost certain they were gonna reach the finale ngl lol. If there were ANY justice in the world, it would've been a Caleb v. Julia finale instead of what we got. But hey, at least he made it to the end. Biggest glow up from a Total Drama character.

Annnnd that's all I've got. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Share your own thoughts in the replies below. These are just my thoughts and I've been holding them in ever since S1 got leaked last year. With both seasons out, I just felt like it was time to finally speak on them since I had no plans to make a video. As I said, maybe I'll still make one if there's interest...but no promises.

Anyway, thx again for reading & until next time, peace out!

#total drama spoilers #total drama reboot #Emerald's Thoughts

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archive-double-knots · 1 year

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anyway, thomasin's new verses drop. also i finally fixed her doc so it has her verses lol

thomasin; || verse six; || i'm afraid i'll go to heaven;

Thomasin is living in Gravesfield, in the 1600s.

No matter where you see Thomasin: one of her hands is held by Caleb, the other by young Phillip. The Hathrone family takes care of the orphaned boys more often than not, and everyone knows that Thomasin is going to marry one of the Wittebane boys.

Thomasin is the ideal girl: obedient, humble, modest, submissive. She was excellent at everything a young woman ought to be: processing food, making clothing, helping with childbirth, and regulating medical remedies. It was common for the elder men to try and convince her family to give her to a different family; but her parents stuck to the idea of giving Thomasin to the Wittebanes.

Of course, what appears perfect on the surface is often hiding something below. Often, escaping into the woods, Caleb would hold her arms steady and help her aim–the musket shooting off into the distance. Mud caked shoes, and heated arguments: Caleb was a terrible influence on the otherwise perfectly pious Thomasin. And she was just as bad, telling Caleb all of her whimsical ideas, and even convincing him to sneak off into the woods to meet her coven, including her friend named Evelyn.

They sneak off often, and they try to keep up appearances amongst the rest of the colony, but it seems that little Philip has begun to suspect that something isn’t right in the Gravesfield woods.

thomasin; || verse seven; || traded daffodils for ash and bone;

Thomasin is studying under a witch named Evelyn to learn about the Boiling Isles. She lives with Evelyn, Caleb, and Philip. Things appear to be as peaceful as they can be.

Sure, Thomasin misses her parents, and has been trying to act like everything is perfectly fine, when it’s not. And yeah, the Isles are really weird, and magic isn’t exactly working the way she’s used to, and she’s struggling to understand the way that the isle’s magic works but it’s okay. Thomasin is okay.

And, yes, Philip’s been acting a little strange lately, and he’s been pulling away from Thomasin and Caleb. And Caleb’s been getting really invested in the idea of witches and magic, more than Thomasin ever thought he would. But that’s okay. Things are just settling, the dust hasn’t cleared yet.

Everything is going to be okay.

thomasin; || verse eight; || a past that never bloomed;

On one of the trips into the woods, Caleb turned around and found that Thomasin was nowhere to be found.

Thomasin ended up following Evelyn to the Isle by accident, chasing after her friend and going through the portal early. Once there, she ends up being overly excited, and manages to find a time pool that she falls through. This drops her in the middle of our modern Boiling Isles.

She has no idea how she got here, no idea where to go, and worst of all, has no idea what horrors Belos would have in store for her if he found the young witch.

#thomasin; || verse six; || i'm afraid i'll go to heaven;#thomasin; || verse seven; || traded daffodils for ash and bone;#thomasin; || verse eight; || a past that never bloomed;

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steamberrystudio · 2 years

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08/03/2022 Devlog

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late devlog - I've been sick the past few days but am finally feeling a bit better. So I wanted to give a quick update of where things stand with Gilded Shadows!

Summary:

Finished playtesting Caissa's Route

Finished playtesting Caleb's Route

Started playtesting Jack's route

Made Corrections

Inserted Mini-CG(s)

Inserted SFX and Visual effects

Worked on Content Guide

Started Quill Ch 4

The Ramble:

So basically I have been playtesting. That's about it, really. I've been playtesting with the self-voice feature enabled, which is allowing me to "spot" typos I'd probably otherwise miss. That beta testers have, in fact, missed.

It's pretty well established that our brains like to gloss over typos because our brains are really, really good at figuring out what a sentence is supposed to say and just inserting the correct meaning even if the actual text has a typo. This means that some typos might stay in hiding no matter how many times they've been seen by testers.

(Also, there's this great article about quantum typos and how typos don't exist until someone sees them. LoL)

The good news is that our ears are WAY better at noticing when things are amiss than our eyes are. Our eyes and brains have this conspiracy to make reading easier by not noticing typos. Our ears are like "SCREW THAT."

So listening to the route being narrated means a lot of typos are coming to light and being fixed.

The main problem is that the self voicing reads very slowly so every chapter takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to play test this way. (One pass - not testing variables and branches). And each route is 14 chapters.

In short. It's time consuming.

In addition, I'm adding in a lot of missing things as I go - sound effects, background animations, sprite variations - even a few instances of the wrong background being used. Making these corrections as I go also slows the process down.

The good news is that the final product will be more polished. The bad news is that it's taking a while. LoL

But I am more than halfway finished with it and I'm very satisfied with seeing all the little polished additions as well as catching a lot of the residual typos.

I've been working on Quill's route here and there too and am about half finished with Ch 4. I've introduced a new character - Vale - who I'm really liking so far. They've been functioning as someone to give Morgan some Esper related guidance, and I imagine they'll remain important for the plot as the route continues.

They're a really fun, sweet character so far. Though I still have no idea what they look like. LoL. At some point I will need to work on their design. I imagine Quill's route isn't going to have that many unique side characters. At this point it's probably only going to be 3 - Vale, Locke, and an antagonist.

So that's good at least. It's always nice when I can keep the number of side characters down.

Upcoming Weeks:

Continuing to play test and work on Quill's route in the evenings.

I'm going to be in testing limbo for a little while. I know there's not a lot to report testing wise but on my end, I'm really excited to see things come together and be polished up.

It's making me very excited for this last bit of the development process and the upcoming release. ☺️

By my next post, I expect to be in the middle of testing Magnus' route or maybe just starting Lance.

I'll see you then!

#upcoming game #otome #amaregame #gilded shadows #oelvn #updates

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murphallo · 3 years

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chenford week 2021 day two: favorite episodes

got me messed up if you think i can pick a favorite episode out of the whole show SO we’re doing one per season

season one: 1x14

oh plain clothes day how i love thee…

tim started out the day like “omg can’t wait til you wash out” and he was like protecting her all day when she messed up. he told talia WITH HIS CHEST that he wouldn’t let her get fired when he was supposed to be like a passive observer… and then the whole shit with the eval like??? first off he was so dramatic making her read it so he could give his speech????? but yeah just the way he was protecting her all day and established his favoritism for her to his fellow TO with no regrets whatsoever was like?????? and that’s all before the iconic bar tab scene 😂

season 2: 2x10-11

let’s start with jealous ass 2x10 tim threatening to jail caleb for breathing and stealing his number out of thin air just being ornery as hell. also i know it’s a bit bittersweet now but i love the scene at the end of 2x10 where he tells her to get a drink because like i LOVED how she was just waiting until grey was done talking to talk to tim about how excited she was to get home (talking about having to leave in 10 minutes but spending precious time talking to tim) and i loved how he was fully ready to leave and dead stopped to talk to her

OKAY SO 2x11…………………………. BITCH WE ALL KNOW THE DEAL!!!!! manz was ready to burn LA to the ground to find lucy, slammed a random henchman’s face into his steering wheel, pointed a gun in the face of another dude straight up minding his business, all while lucy was in danger canonically thinking “tim is gonna find me” THE WHOLE TIME!!!!! she left the ring FOR HIM to find. WHICH HE DID. and they could’ve let the team, or even like tim and jackson divvy up the rescue itself. nah tho they had tim find the ring, start the digging with his bare hands, lift the lid off the barrel himself, drag her out himself, give her cpr HIMSELF, and hold her while she recovered…… and then the FUCKING???? HOSPITAL SCENE?????? MANZ STAYED OVERNIGHT…… PLAYED DUTIFUL HOSPITAL HUSBAND…….. BROUGHT HER HER FAVORITE FOOD……….. DIDNT EVEN TELL HER HE WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND HER UNTIL 2 WEEKS LATER……… THE FUCK WAS THE HOSPITAL SCENE YALL?????

season 3: 3x09

y’all… 3x09 was just the loudest shit??? the miscommunication because she thought he didn’t care about the separation and in his mind he was like “you think you’re getting rid of me that easy? HA” the volume of lucy mentioning their relationship and middle school tim’s like “ReLaTiOnShIp?!” like she couldn’t mean idk another kind of relationship or…. and then when lucy actually was talking about romantic relationships and tim goes “i wish someone taught me how to be in this one” and lucy was, rightfully, like BITCH???? tim bradford gave us all his tea on that day. now…. the fake confession…. i know like most of us knew the confession was gonna be fake….. but i was not even a pinch ready for lucy to start actually saying shit the entire audience knows to be true. i literally was like “yeah uh huh clown me” and then i heard her start saying true shit and i had to pause and scream to process. and aur ma god the ending scene??? the way he did not plan to tell her he was gonna miss her but he gave her the eval so she knew there was no hard feelings about the *ahem* “fake” confession. the looks in that scene might also be some of my favorite looks in the history of chenford as pictured lol it’s between this scene and the wedding scene like my god the looks. the powder bomb AGH the way he was so excited for her gift before he opened it like he was so touched 😭 and the “i’ll see you tomorrow, lucy” “see you tomorrow, tim” IT WAS SO PERSONAL LIKE FIRST NAMES???? TO EACH OTHER????? FUCKING SERIOUSLY?????

so yes those are my favorite chenford episodes which i wrote essays on whilst screaming

#chenford #lucy chen #the rookie #tim bradford #tucy #chenford week 2021 #murphallo

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unbridgeabledistances · 3 years

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hi 💜💜 i got a prompt about ian x body image a while ago (my inbox is a hot mess and i may have deleted the prompt lol, but i did paste it into my phone notes)- and i was feeling some feelings today & had some spare time amidst my travels & ended up writing this!!

prompt: can you write about ian and his relationship with his body image, esp post-canon when they move to the westside

(tw for body image/eating disorder/food mentions)

He didn’t really even think about it the first times that he did it— skipping a few meals that went unnoticed in the morning clamor of the Gallagher kitchen. He noticed his skin growing tauter and tighter around his abdomen with every passing day, a hollow absence sitting like a rock in the pit of his stomach.

He did it for a reason—he’d been getting more lingering looks under the flashing lights at the club, more unwelcome fingers pressed against the now-present ridges on his stomach, tracing his toned upper arms. The less there was of him, the more they wanted him.

The thing about Ian is that he was always disciplined; the middle child, the one who was overlooked and ignored and blended in until he decided that he had to make a name for himself. He and Lip and gotten into hair-tugging, jaw-smashing fights about this very reality; Ian was completely, totally, absolutely ordinary. Until he made himself extraordinary—until he burst through the storefront labeled “ARMY” at a strip mall with smudged windows and said with a tall chest: I want to enlist.

Everything had led up to this— every push-up on the creaking slanted floor of their childhood bedroom, every jog at the crack of dawn. He was going to make something of himself, he was going to be a hero.

He was going to get the fuck away from Mickey, and his wife, and whatever else kept pushing him down and holding him back.

When Ian came back from the army, when he was sleeping on exposed floorboards and working at the club all night—that was when it all actually started. When he decided that less of him meant more—when he decided that he should give people the best show he could, because everything else was fucked up anyways. This was all he was good for.

But then Mickey came through the door, pale skin flashing in the strobe lights, wearing that fucking dark button-up with sleeves folded to his forearms and smelling like nice cologne that he’d almost definitely stolen from one of his brothers’ bathroom shelves; and for a brief moment after the initial shock set in, Ian was proud— proud of how much negative space surrounded him, proud of how he could press his thighs into stretched golden spandex better than any of the other men thrumming to the beat beside him on the podium. Proud of how much other people wanted him, when Mickey didn't.

It was only later, after Mickey carried him home (easily, too easily) after he’d passed out in a snowbank, and Ian had woken and waited for Mickey to burst into his bedroom door at the Gallagher house while he leaned against the wall and scribbled on a notepad— later, when Mickey was about to curl on the floor and sleep using one of Liam’s balled-up t-shirts as a pillow— that Ian noticed Mickey’s eyes lingering on his uncovered torso, a second longer than the quick glances of admiration from the well-dressed men with greased-back hair and grubby fingers at the club. It hit Ian, then, when he saw Mickey’s gaze that was soft around the edges, the same fuzziness and confusion of Fiona’s stares when he would chatter on for too long in the mornings:

He’s worried about me.

But Mickey played along— Ian was back, and Mickey stayed beside him this time, and chuckled when he walked down the stairs to the sight of Ian cutting off the bottom half of his old ROTC pants, now multiple sizes too big and hanging baggy even at the hips. Mickey curled beside him on the twin bed, silently stroking hair back from his forehead and cradling his cheeks with a feather-light touch as Lip and Liam’s even, sleeping breaths swirled around them. And Ian kept doing pull-ups, and told Carl that he liked the way that Mickey smelled. Mickey came out for him. And for a while things were really, really fucking good, and Ian didn’t even think about the gnawing hollow feeling in his stomach at all any more.

Until a grey morning came, quick and silent, and kept him frozen under the sheets for days.

In the months afterwards, Ian trained harder, faster—he met up with Fiona as she pushed Liam in the stroller and jogged beside them, ran before and after shifts at the club, did push-ups on Mickey’s grimy floor while he was out handling Rub N’ Tug shit.

I’m not Monica. This wasn’t going to happen again. His body could do this. His body could fix his brain.

It couldn’t.

Most of what happened on the “road trip” with Yevgeny (that was the only phrasing that Ian could really mentally use to name the incident, the only semiotic filler for “kidnapping” that didn’t want to make him burrow even deeper under his tattered blankets) was a blur—Mickey feeding him fistfuls of pills and room-temperature Gatorade, luring Mickey to the dugouts where he tried to do a pull-up and felt a quivering in his limbs, a weakness rather than a familiar and fulfilling burn. Slamming Mickey in the face with a fist that was too flimsy, too weak—a fist that still left the blooming of a bruise on Mickey’s jawline, a splatter of blood caking into his eyebrow. But still weak, still not enough. Definitely not strong enough to fight off two MPs with loaded guns, tangling his hands behind his back and forcing him into the backseat of a car.

More blurry days— on the road with Monica. Breaking up with Mickey. Getting a job at Patsy’s. Withering away, purple bags sagging under his eyes. Becoming less, always less.

Then, a glimmer of light— he met Caleb. He studied to be an EMT. He got a call from Mandy, got to wrap her in his arms in less-than-ideal circumstances.

“I got tired of starving myself to fit in that golden thong.”

It was the first time he’d said it out loud.

He started to run again—and he started to not miss it, the hollow feeling gnawing at his insides, the twisting lack. He met Trevor, he went to brunches, he ordered mimosas and muffins and kept himself in shape, but didn’t push himself too far.

So it surprised him, really, when once again his body and mind weren’t in sync.

That was the biggest thing he’d think about, in the idle hours of he and Mickey’s prison cell, months later—that for once in his life, years after the nights at the club or the hazy early mornings at Patsy’s or in a baggy janitor uniform, he was actually doing really, really fucking good. He had a following. He was strong. Or at least he thought he was.

But something about being near Mickey pulled him out of his head and into his body, centered him— it always did. Mickey had always liked his body; Ian remembered how Mickey’s eyed at lingered that night at the dugouts, when they were two kids doing pull-ups and Mickey watched his muscles clench in the moonlight, two sets of shining eyes and bodies warm with beer leaning closer to each other in the muggy air. But Ian never felt a need to flaunt his body, or change his body, for Mickey— and in so many ways, those first days in prison were like his body was coming home. Sometimes it was hard, and fast, and filthy words whispered into each other’s skin—and sometimes it left them grasping for breath in an entirely different way, in fingertips lazily skimming over collarbones and fisted into roots of hair, of breathed “Fuck, you’re so fucking beautiful”s escaping Mickey’s parted mouth that Ian mentally stored but never brought up again, because he knew in the best case scenario Mickey would just roll his eyes and call him a “soft bitch,” and in the worst he would just flat-out deny it. But Ian felt balanced in a way he hadn't in months, with all the "Gay Jesus" bullshit pressing in. He took his meds, he did his nightly sit-ups, he counted down the days—until the hourglass was slipped out from under his fingertips and he was teleported back to the Gallagher house, back to the place where so much of this began and so much was about to end.

The hollowness, the hunger, didn’t really need to be there anymore once he was out— it was only a dull murmur. A ghost, a memory trapped in dreams of strobe lights and prying hands.

Mickey got out, and they got married—and in the moments before Ian called Mickey an “ugly motherfucker” as he let a smile crack onto his face—and he knew Mickey felt it, knew Mickey heard: I have never known anyone as beautiful as you.

And Ian’s fullness just kept blooming and compounding and radiating after the wedding; they fought, and then they didn’t, and it didn’t matter anyways because they were fucking married. Ian kept doing sit-ups before they went to bed, even though he felt like he didn’t really have to anymore. Something big had shifted; something had settled and given way, had filled in all the cracks.

So he’s surprised, when they move to the West Side, and that feeling starts to stir again; faint, fuzzy, like some sort of invasive and shapeless amoeba in the dark corners of his brain, whispering and hissing that there should be less of him. On their first morning in the new place he heads to the gym, wearing a camo t-shit that covered his torso and shoulders—and of course he ends up making a fool of himself next to some guy, some guy that he could have been, with sweaty toned abs and bronzed skin and rippling muscles. He doesn’t know why it gets to him, that small interaction—he’s so much happier now, so fucking happy he’s buzzing with it, but there’s also something churning in the faultlines of transition; that aching for hollow absence and stretched skin and interested eyes, that feeling that made him woozy and lightheaded as a kid but also sickeningly proud, like every moment of standing tall, of dancing, of staying alive was a statement, a challenge, a test of how much he could push his ability to be desired.

He immediately pushes the thought down. He doesn’t fucking need that anymore to keep his head above water; he’s stable, he’s loved, he’s fed. He’s growing organic tomatoes, and definitely developing a farmer’s tan from his days hunched over their way-too-tiny community garden plot tenderly watering and pruning the vines and brambles. He is desired. So it doesn’t make fucking sense that the hunger, the clawing in his stomach for the absence, doesn’t really stop.

“Okay Gallagher, spill.”

Ian felt his eyebrow raise instinctively at Mickey’s tone. “Huh?”

“You’ve been staring at this fancy fucking chicken thing you made for, like, twenty minutes. Stop staring at it and eat your goddamn dinner.”

He felt a twist in his gut. I don’t want to.

“M’actually not really that hungry.”

Mickey’s eyes narrowed. “The fuck’s up? You stressed about work shit?”

Ian huffed out a breath of relief. “Nah. It’s not that.” He fiddled with his fork on the plate, drawing lines into the sauce pooled under the tomato-basil chicken he’d made. It was healthy, it was good, he’d worked out today; he could stomach a couple bites of dinner if he fucking had to. He just had to work up to it. Even the smell was making his stomach twist— it had smelled good while he was cooking it, placing fresh-scented basil leaves into the simmering sauce, but now it just was too much.

Mickey’s boot nudged against his calf from under the kitchen island. “Ey. Is it a tired thing? Or a… sick thing?” His eyes darted to their kitchen cupboard, where Ian kept his meds on the bottom shelf by the water glasses. “Or, like, a food thing?”

Ian felt his fingers go slack around his fork. “A food thing?”

“Yeah, man, y’know. When you get all weird about food.”

A tightness in his chest. “What the fuck? I don’t get weird about food.”

Mickey’s eyes flickered to meet his—and Ian would have gotten more pissed off if he didn’t see the soft concern bleeding into Mickey’s gaze, how cautiously Mickey was trying to broach the topic. Ian blew out a breath. Of fucking course Mickey noticed this shit— he always did.

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know, man. You’re usually good, especially compared to when you were fucking starving yourself when we were kids. But, uh… I don’t know.” Now it was Mickey’s turn to play with his food, scraping his fork along the remnants of sauce on his plate that was nearly clean. “You got kind of weird about working out and shit in prison. And then at the house, with all the quarantine bullshit the first few weeks. Eating fuckin’ cereal all the time, then not eating at all. You’ve been normal since then, or whatever. Lookin’ healthy.” Ian felt Mickey’s gaze drag over him. “Just don’t want you getting stressed out and not eating again or whatever.”

Ian felt a muted warmth blooming in the hollow of his stomach, filling in the cracks of where the jagged feeling continued to claw. If it was anyone else laying out this fucking analysis of his habits Ian would’ve gotten defensive—or at the very least annoyed, that someone was pinning down yet another one of his behaviors, putting them under a fucking clinical microscope.

But of course, this was Mickey— and the difference with Mickey was that he cared, he cared so much that it made Ian’s body ache every time he realized it. Those words wouldn’t have come tumbling out of Mickey’s mouth if they hadn’t been building for a while, hadn’t been gnawing away at some corner of his mind over time.

Ian raised a hand over the table to clasp into Mickey’s warm palm—reaching over the empty plate, the plate of uneaten food.

“It’s, uh. A food thing.”

Mickey’s eyes met his—open, listening.

“You’re right about all the starving myself shit from forever ago. And the not eating. And the… quarantine stuff. I guess I just thought that now that things were good, it’d go away? And I feel so fucking good right now. But sometimes I just have weird days.”

Mickey huffed out a breath. “I fucking know you do, dumbass. M’just saying that I notice that shit. And we can figure it out.”

Ian felt the corner of his mouth tick upwards. “I really thought it was gonna go away. I’m a fucking adult.”

Mickey shrugged. “Sometimes shit doesn’t work like that, Gallagher.” He chugged a sip of water from his glass, apparently glad that this heavier part of the conversation was over now that he knew what was up. “It’s like what you tell me about my shit with Terry. Trauma doesn’t just magically fucking disappear.”

Trauma. He’d never really thought about it like that before—he had plenty of childhood shit to work through, between abandonment and raging mental illness; and he’d never really thought that his body image issues made the list.

But maybe they did— maybe this was another wound, one that he could learn to heal.

Mickey kicked his shin under the table. “There’s cereal and stuff in the cabinet, I got the Fruit Loops shit you like. Want me to wrap up the chicken and shove it in the fridge?”

All he could do was nod— and once again feel that warmth on his insides that Mickey was this good, that he knew how to make shit like this easier.

And he snuggled into the couch beside his husband, a bowl of soggy cereal in his hands.

#idrk what this is but i wrote it at LIGHTNING speed #can u tell that i reached the destination of my childhood home & am having lots of thoughts and feelings about body image LOL #i was like !!! i have a prompt about this #love u all xoxo #gallavich #shameless #shameless fic #gallavich fic #gallavich fanfiction #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #ian x mickey #ixm #tw eating disorder #tw food mention #tw ed #tw body image

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alirhi · 3 years

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10 Sebastian roles as boyfriends

Because... I'm bored and I feel like it. 😂 Probably some spoilers for, like... everything? So yeah... That.

Putting it under here for easy scrolling:

10: Chase Collins

Who doesn't love a goofball? In the first half of the movie, Chase is basically perfect. He's sweet, funny, not all caught up in his ego, and actually pays attention to what the girls around him are saying, not just to what he wants to hear. If not for the whole... it was all an act to get close to Caleb and try to steal his magic thing, Chase would actually be a damn good high school boyfriend. He's adorable and would be a fun date, but he's also only 18 so best not to start making long-term plans lol. Also, y'know... the whole psycho revenge/power grab thing.

9 Jack Benjamin

Y'all. Y'all. Words cannot describe how much I love Jack. Pretty sure I've made this clear. As a person/character in general, he's absolutely in my Top 3 - not just of Sebastian's characters, but any character ever. ❤ But as a boyfriend? Boy's got baggage. It's what makes me so protective of him, but seeing as how he's trapped in the closet thanks to his overbearing homophobic family and the insane expectations heaped on him, as the show left him, he can't handle an honest relationship. He's too easily influenced by all the wrong people, poor babe.

8 Chris (Destroyer)

On paper, undercover cop sounds cool and exciting, but even if you ignore the fact that he, y'know, dies... Chris got in too deep and kinda lost the mission, so to speak. Best case scenario, you're his sexy partner and in on it all with him and end up on the lam for the rest of your lives. Worst case, this man lies for a living, so can you even trust him? And... yeah. The whole dead thing. Chris is hot af but getting involved with him is a recipe for disaster.

7 Ben

Min and Hathor have mercy, I love Ben! He's smart, he's snarky, he's caring and loyal... he's an absolute disaster. He's another one who seems allergic to honesty, until his lying and avoiding nearly kill his girlfriend. Not exactly relationship goals lol. Everything before totally was, though! Ben's adorable, and I love how he stayed up all night to protect his girlfriend (from a ghost/demon thing... with a baseball bat. I said he was smart, not perfect, okay? XD points for effort lol)

6 Mickey Henry

I. LOVE. MICKEY. Oml I love Mickey. He's a spazz and - even more so than Ben - an absolute disaster of a human being, but I love him. Pros for dating Mickey Henry: he's fun, he's carefree, he'll cook for you even though he's kinda bad at it lol, he loves his son and wants to be a good dad, he wants his partner to be happy and to love life as much as he does. Cons, and the reason he's not higher on the list: He's a pushover; easily influenced by the toxic people in his life, and it gets him into a lot of trouble. Being easily influenced by toxic dumpster fire of a human being Chloe almost lost him the partial custody of his son that he barely even had. He's an absolute sweetheart, but he's a complete man-child, and dating him would often feel more like raising him.

5 Frank "Suffer Buddy"

Come on! You know he and Mickey had to be back-to-back - they're practically the same character! 😂 Frank is Mickey... slightly more grown up. He's still a disaster, but he's respectful of boundaries, he's caring, he's funny in a dry, witty way that I just adore, and hoo lordy that man is a giver! 🥴🥵 Honestly, if he didn't smoke and didn't ditch Daphne in the middle of a party hours away from everything familiar to her surrounded by strangers to go do drugs, I'd call Frank perfect. He listened, he respected her wishes, he tried to keep some distance between them when he found out she'd gone on a date with his best friend (it failed utterly and brought us to the "damn that man's good with his mouth" portion of the movie lmao but still)... I don't have a whole lot of experience with men who actually give a shit, okay? So Frank is like a goddamn unicorn to me lmao. But that drug thing... That keeps him at the bottom of the Top 5 for me. Sorry, bb

4 Bucky

I can already hear everyone on here raging at me for placing Bucky so low on this list, but hear me out: I love this man. I love all four iterations of this man. Flirty 40s Bucky was a doll (fun date, not commitment material). Post-POW camp 40s Bucky had a fire to him that set me on fire. The Winter Soldier can choke me any damn day. Unf. And TFATWS Bucky... Oh, lady above, 2023 Bucky is a gem! He's sweet, snarky, and broken. He feels utterly, wretchedly alone in the world, and everyone around him, including his only friend, is telling him to "man up" and "make amends" for shit that was never his fault to begin with, rather than helping him come to terms with all that he's suffered and all that he's survived. Bucky needs and deserves love. A relationship with him would be so solid, if he found the right person... But it would take a fuck ton of work. He needs someone strong, patient, and more stubborn than he is to prod him until he finds a better therapist and actually opens up, and to keep him on track because even good therapy comes with homework. He does have to "do the work," Sam was right about that much, but he was way off base with what that "work" is. Bucky needs help and understanding, and he would be an amazing boyfriend... if he found someone with the strength to help him weather his nightmares and flashbacks, and help pull him out of this PTSD pit he's been in since 1943.

3 Chris Beck

Big brains turn me on, okay? 😂This man is an astronaut and a surgeon! Yes, please! Come here, you sexy genius! He's smart, he's funny - pretty sure Sebastian is incapable of playing anyone who's not delightfully snarky lol. He's pragmatic when he needs to be but there's also nothing he wouldn't do or risk for the ones he loves. This man is husband material and I cannot be convinced otherwise! So why isn't he #1? Cuz of the whole... spending years in space, thing. Super cool job and I'd be his biggest fan on the ground, but god damn, I would miss him while he's away!

2 TJ Hammond

Look, I'm gender fluid and he's a little bit bi 😂😂😂 Let me have my fantasy, okay? TJ's definitely got a lot of shit to work through, but love brings out the best in him. Before that fucking closeted shitbag broke his heart and stomped on it for good measure, TJ was clean and sober for months, he was happy, he was playing piano again, he was pulling himself together. Not only would he be an amazing boyfriend, but his partner would get the extra joy of getting to watch their love and devotion to him be the thing that saves this beautiful man's life. It's not healthy overall to tie your self worth and will to live to a relationship, but if he found the right person who would be there for him through all of life's shit and stick it out, I think he'd be okay. Even after his lowest point and without the support of his family, TJ still had a dream and he still chased it. He's not just the sweetest person to ever grace our screens, but he's ambitious and business-savvy, too. Keep him off drugs and watch this man take over the world, I'm telling you!

So why is TJ only #2? Well, besides the fact that he's like 99% gay and I have no bits he'd be interested in lmao, there's also the fact that this guy owns my heart:

1 Will Franklyn

And not just because we get to see him wet and mostly naked lol. Will is fucking perfect. I would die for this man... because he's already shown that he would die for his love. He almost fucking did, and they weren't even together yet! He's smart and very aware, he's a writer so we'd get to bond/geek out over books together, he's not all full of himself (self-deprecating humor ftw!) and he's willing to help a total stranger despite actual mortal peril, just because it's the right thing to do. Fierce, intelligent, sassy, strong-willed, and a flawless moral compass? YESYESYESYESYES! Forget boyfriend - let me MARRY this man! 😍🥰

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sunsetcurvecuddles · 3 years

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Willex, stay

anon this accidentally played into the fact that i’ve been thinking about touch starved willie nonstop for weeks. so. here you go. sorry it got long lol “a lil something” this ended up 1.5k words so it’s now available on ao3 as well

(send me a ship and a word and i’ll write you a lil something for clowngate // completed prompts)

Things have been weird, since Willie moved in.

Not bad weird, Willie doesn’t think. Or, a little bad weird. But everything was going to be bad-weird, after what happened with Caleb, anyway. He’s trying to move on as best he can, but there’s a lot of adjustment at once, after he meets Julie and she breaks his curse and suddenly he is - as far as he can tell - a regular teenaged boy again, alive and well, able to graze his knees if he tumbles off his skateboard.

(Yes, he learned that the hard way).

Usually, Willie’s good with change. He likes life to stay fresh, and exciting. It’s just that sometimes he looks around the Molina’s spare room, with its cozy blue bedsheets and little bookshelf on the wall, and thinks about Ray Molina’s kind eyes and the way he’s basically adopted four ghosts that he knew nothing about prior to this out of the sheer goodness of his heart. Willie wonders if he’s stepping on people’s toes, by being here. If he’s in the way.

Everyone else knows each other so well already, is all, and he can’t help but suspect that maybe they resent him for causing all this trouble in the first place, no matter how many times Alex and Julie assure him that’s not the case. He just doesn't feel like he can ask for anything, since they've given him so much already.

And Willie also has this weird sort of pain, maybe leftover from his curse, maybe his soul being a little battered and sore. But it’s this ache that sits just under his rib cage, that thuds with his heart, and that won’t shift. He lies awake at night and feels it, like a very blunt dagger, or a really cold stone. Sinking deeper and deeper in him, like his chest is a bottomless pool of water.

It’s not all bad. Ray lets him skateboard in the little courtyard outside the garage, when he doesn’t feel like going far. He hangs out in the loft and sketches in a book Julie got him, as he listens to her and the boys rehearse. They sound amazing, and getting to watch Alex is Willie’s favourite thing. He looks so relaxed, when he’s drumming, so unselfconscious. Like Alex finally sees, in himself, the Alex that Willie sees all the time.

He just wishes Alex would be that Alex around Willie, again. The way he was before. Alex treats him so carefully now, so tentatively, like any wrong move could make Willie flinch.

Maybe Willie just flinches more than he used to. Maybe it’s not all Alex’s fault.

The ache is back, and Willie’s lying awake, and staring at the ceiling, and wondering why Ray Molina has a copy of The Communist Manifesto in his guest room, when Alex appears at the door. Not literally appears, as in poofs in, but appears by poking his head through the gap Willie left and saying, “Hey, are you still awake?”

Willie looks over at him. Alex is clearly dressed for bed (it’s weird, having to sleep again after all these years), and his blonde hair is all shaggy and in his eyes.

For some reason, the pain in Willie’s chest deepens further. Maybe it is because of the curse. He knows how furious Caleb was about his feelings for Alex. How threatened he felt by them.

“Yeah,” Willie says, belatedly, when Alex gives him a stranger look than normal. “I mean. Apparently.”

“Can I come in?”

Willie nods, sitting up and shuffling his legs up so there’s room for Alex to sit on the end of the bed, which he delicately does.

“I just wanted to check on you,” Alex tells him, folding his hand in his lap and looking up at the roof, the way Willie was moments ago. Willie is looking now at the distance between his toes and Alex’s thigh.

In the past, he never would have hesitated to just tuck his cold feet under the legs of a boy he liked. In fact, that sounds exactly like the kind of thing Willie-from-before would do. He’s just not Willie-from-before any more.

Usually good with change. Not sure how he feels about this change.

“Check on me?” he asks. Still looking at his feet, and Alex’s pajama-clad leg, and Alex’s hands in his lap, now. Wishing he was holding one of Alex’s hands.

God, his chest hurts. It makes him feel shaky.

“You’ve been... quiet?” Alex offers, and then cringes at himself like he regrets the word choice, his beautiful eyebrows pulling together, his beautiful mouth pulling to the side, his beautiful nose framed by the light from the hallway, streaming in through the gap in the half-open door. “Not that you can’t be quiet! Not that you were loud before, either, just...”

Not yourself.

Alex doesn’t have to say it. Willie knows already. His throat feels tight, and man, he doesn’t want to cry in front of Alex, that would be such a shitty thing, after all of this. “I’m sorry,” Willie says softly, though he’s not even exactly sure what he’s apologising for.

Maybe for not being as much fun as he was before. For being yet another thing Alex has to worry about, now, instead of being somewhere Alex doesn’t have to worry about anything.

For some reason, those are the words that break Alex, that make him impulsive. It’s like he moves before he thinks, when he puts his hand on Willie’s knee, squeezes tight. His other hand he moves to Willie’s cheek, cupping his jaw, tilting his head up so they can look at each other properly. “Please don’t be sorry. None of this is your fault.”

The feeling of Alex’s hands burns and soothes all at once, and something in Willie breaks. The floodgates stored in his ribcage burst, the pain overwhelming and then washing away, and he feels the tears spilling over before he has a chance to stop or hide them. He can’t remember the last time someone touched him like this, so gently, with such kindness.

Oh. Yeah, he can. It was Alex, then, too.

“Shit,” Alex exclaims softly, trying to withdraw his hands, but that’s the last thing Willie wants, and he manages,

“Stay? Please, Alex, I can’t be-”

Okay, well, ‘alone again’ is a little melodramatic, he thinks to himself, even in the middle of his own breathless crying. No need to take it that seriously, Will. Alex is saying, “Okay, okay, I won’t go - I’m not leaving, just - what do I do? Am I helping or making it worse?”

Willie just surges forward, rolls onto his knees, and buries his face in Alex’s neck, arms around Alex’s shoulders. Alex holds him back, tight, soothes him in sounds more than words.

The pain washes away down the river. Everywhere Alex touches him, every time Alex runs a hand through Willie’s hair or down Willie’s spine, the ache recedes, reduces, dies down.

“I wanted to give you space,” Alex whispers, lips practically against his ear, the warmth like a bucket of water over Willie’s head in the best way. He’s doing some of his best overthinking, Willie can tell even through his upset. Alex is an astonishingly good multitasker. “But I gave you too much, huh? This... I should’ve been doing this.”

“You didn’t have to,” Willie says, sniffling in a truly disgusting way. “Shouldn’t have to now. Don’t want to make you worry.”

“Please make me worry,” Alex interrupts him. “Please. For once, let me play to my strengths?”

That startles a laugh out of Willie, and Alex grins, Willie can feel it against his face. Now that he’s done crying, now that they’re just sitting there holding each other, he can feel the blooming warmth inside him, the relief. The quiet.

“Better?” Alex asks.

Warmth where there was cold. Comfort where there was pain. It wasn't the curse after all, he guesses, but this is a change Willie can deal with. It’s not Caleb, haunting him still somehow. He just needed a hug. He hums his affirmation. “Can we just... stay like this, for a bit?”

“I guess so,” Alex groans, smiling, and laying back on the bed with his arm outstretched and welcoming, shaggy hair still in his pretty eyes. “I guess we can.” When Willie lays down on his arm, he says quietly, “Just. Tell me next time? If it gets like this? I just wanna help, but I can’t know what you need if you won’t ask me.”

Willie’s instinct is to brush him off, even after everything that’s happened, but the relief is still so palpable, and Alex seems so warm and genuine, and safe, like everything Willie’s ever dreamed of. Better than he deserves, for sure, but that doesn’t mean he has to say no. He’s seeing that now.

“I’ll ask,” he promises, and he means it. “I’ll ask you.”

part 2

part 3

#willex #jatp #netflixwewantjatp2 #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer #willie #mine #my fic #not touch starved willie... my kryptonite....#Anonymous

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larsisfrommars · 3 years

Text

Rewatching Campaign Two: Curious Beginnings

Oh not even a “WE PlaY DuNgEoNs & DrAgOns!!” Yet.

Wow, I forgot how heavy Nott’s accent used to be and how light Caleb’s was. Headcanon he was still using a lot of Zemnian. Also everyone’s reaction to Jester’s voice is wonderful! Lol

Man the over and underhamming the accents is so weird! I am so ready to be violently reminded what a dick Beau was lmao

Awwwww Fjord has always had that lawful good streak in him even if it waited a bit mid-campaign, I love it. Laura having to train herself out of Vex’s greed lmao.

JESTER lmfao, she was SO rude! I love her good god, I find it so goddamn funny that Caleb ended up being sweet on her when the first thing she basically said to him was “my dude, you smell like ass. 😄💕” Beau clearly already has a crush Lmao. I forgot how early the whole “entire top table has a crush on Jester” thing started XD

Sam pretending to not know he knows Halfling, well played.

Caleb accidentally over sharing 😂😂😂 that is fucking wonderful, and low-key in character lol, nervous as hell lmao.

Every fan artist immediately deciding “a bit taller than the average lass” meant fMUCKING H U G E is so Good.

M O L L Y !!!!! Molly was so… himself lmao, if only they knew! Man. Immediately charming the shit out of Jester.

Listen I know how tarot works, but at the SAME time, THE FORGE (Fjorester? The Star Razor?!), snake in the future, could be Uka’toa or the fact that Molly/Lucien has a serpent tattoo. Yoooo tarot can be so cool lol. Jester does it even better though, because she did it at random and you didn’t have to bend ANYTHING about what cards she pulled to make it fit.

“I AM A VESSEL FOR HIGHER POWERS” *draws the eye card* EXCUSE ME

Ah yes, the birth of Beauyasha lmao “wow… she was awesome.” Lmao. Nott trying to chat Caleb up, Travis/Fjord’s immediate repulse at Frumpkin for being cat god XD. “I USE THAUMATURGY TO OPEN ALL THE WINDOWS” legendary! Low key forgot Beau was a cat person lmao.

“I’m sticking with this accent for the next two years” and then he didn’t. Lol

Caleb getting excited by books is so wholesome given the context of what we learn about him. 😊

THE CIRCUS IS ✨HERE ✨

Molly and that farmer, bruhhh go see a physician lol. Maaaan Yasha used to be grumpyyyyy lmao. Bo vs Beau! Lol Beau is so fucking awkward lmao I love her, reminds me of middle school lmfao. Ooof that little casual “hahaaaaaa my parents traumatized me” side comment, what a MOOD!

God I MISSED Molly and Beau’s sass fest SO MUCH!!! Holy moly! They were so funny “are you patronizing me Mollymauk?” “No I was hoping you’d patronize us!” I misssssss themmmmm

SWORD OF FATHOMS IS HERE REEEEEEEEEE

OH! Molly thought Jester was a follower of The Moonweaver with those cards and was trying to keep it on the down low!!! I JUST picked up on that!! WOW! :D

Early Beau is a fuckboi mode ACTIVATE, Yasha being coy tho lmao. Molly knows what Yasha’s hugs are like for sure.

Gustav’s talk of imagination is so interesting given how everything turns out. “Making one whole out of two bodies” or two souls from one body. The fire! The beasts of Xhorhas! These themes that carry through the whole campaign HOW!? EVEN?!!

Man this campaign could’ve been SO different if anyone died super early on! Lol Sam actively murderering Scanlan lmfao.

First ever POP POP! Woo! Lol Tal saying “shot” way back in early days like he’s still percy! Lol. First TRAVELER mention. First I Would Like To Rage!! My babies!

God the sass continues, I can’t believe how much I missed this dynamic.

BEAU gets the first HDYWTDT of the campaign! I forgot! Awesome!!

Even in a fantasy world the cops suck! Jester bamboozled that crownsguard lmaoooo

Wow lol leave it to this party to be like “it definitely wasn’t the frog demon it was the DWARVEN CHILD of course it was!!” Lmao. I love these idiots, so much.

Why did they let BEAU talk to the cop?! Whyyyyyyyyyy. Can’t wait for Fjord and Caleb to start really doing the Charisma checks. I love Beau, but she is not high Charisma.

FAKE NAMES HERE WE GO! Shirley, Temple, Caleb, Beau, Beau (Fjord), Mary, lmfao. Molly glaring daggers at the thought Yasha ratting out Toya was a neat touch. First Cerberus Assembly reference 😬

Yasha ghosts the partyyyyyyy for the first time ever! Lmao!

WOW these cops SUCK, “you need to show us you’re not guilty but your not allowed to leave the inn” w h a t?!

#Crit role rewatch #critical role #the mighty nein #c2e01 #crit role #CR2KO counter project #critical role spoilers #Lars watches CR

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luckyjak · 4 years

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thinky thoughts: Why is Jester a Child?

I’m going to preface this with say that I don’t think this is intentional, I don’t think negatively of anyone in the cast for this portrayal, I think this speaks of a large societal issue than just Critical Role (namely, the oversexualization of little girls), and I think the world of Laura Bailey.

But I was having a conversation with a friend, and part of the discussions last night made me think: why do we think of Jester as a child? I don’t think there’s an easy answer, but who am I if not someone to over-analyze everything?

My friend and I were discussing what would happen, if the Mighty Nein had “banishment” cast on them:

My friend: “Jester ends up in a too-small bed. Fjord goes about 1500 feet to the wreckage of the ball eater.” Me: “Why would Jester's bed be too small? Lol, Fjord ends up in the middle of the ocean, where his first ship sank.” My friend: “I like the idea that she ends up in the room she had when she was a small child.” Me: “Yeah but she lived there until she was 20. She probably had a normal sized bed at that point.” My friend: “True I’m sure she did. I like the idea that they go back to the place that made them happiest though. So eight year old jester getting told stories by the traveler.”

My friend’s not the only one who has this instinct to make Jester a child. Everyone does.

So my question is...why?

In canon, people treat Jester like a child.

Oh, they’ve gotten better. But early game especially, characters in the game treat Jester like a child. It’s easy to: she’s got a high pitched squeaky voice, she dresses very cutsey like, she has an incredibly naive outlook on the world, she has a pet weasel named Sprinkles, she loves and is obsessed with candy--all things we associate with children. Jester doesn’t know how sex works and thinks it works exactly like smutty romance novels she’s read, and Beau has to tell her that reality is a little different.

At the same, Jester is incredibly wise and compassionate (well, sometimes.) I’ve seen people argue that Jester is actually very mature for her age, and in some ways, they aren’t wrong. The way Jester interacts with Yasha is very mature; the way she helps her friends and cares about people--like Essek, for example--are all very mature.

So why do we see her as a kid?

The game reinforces this in multiple ways. The biggest is probably the animated introduction: when we are introduced to all of the characters, we see Jester first as a little girl, drawing in her bed before the Traveler takes her chalk and pokes her nose. Then there is a shift from child Jester to a grown one, but it’s still odd that our first look at Jester is that of a child.

Could they not have shown Jester’s relationship with the Traveler with her being grown?

No one else--bar Caleb--is shown as a child. And the way Caleb is framed as a child is very different from the way Jester is shown.

Caleb is shown as a teenager, surrounded by flames as his parents die in front of him. It makes sense that we see this aspect of Caleb: it’s fundamentally important to understand him as a character, it’s a quintessential part of understanding Caleb’s character. In fact, everyone’s part in the introduction is essential to their character:

Fjord drowns at sea; Beau fights with monks; Nott hides her face and steals; Caduceus tends a garden; Yasha rages at a storm; Caleb is surrounded by flames. Molly is a stick in the ground with a raven on top.

Why is Jester a child?

Is it to empathize her relationship with the Traveler? Are there not other ways to showcase that instead of showing her as a little kid? If we do see her as a little kid, could it not be a quick montage of her growing with the Traveler? Why spend so long focusing on her as a little kid?

Is it because she dresses in a somewhat Lolita fashion?

(spoilers for last night’s episode) Even when Caleb was doing his memory dome, he paints a specific image of Jester as a little kid!

Why? No one else is portrayed as a child. We don’t see a little Beau playing in the mud, although certain we could imagine it. We don’t see little Caduceus playing with his siblings in the dirt, although again, just as easy to imagine as a little Jester playing pranks.

He puts up an image of their pasts on the memory dome, but everyone else is grown. Beau is with monks; Fjord with sailors; Yasha with her wife; Veth with her child. The only other person who gets seen as a child is Caleb himself, which makes sense. His biggest regret is the murder of his parents: of course he wants to see them again.

So again: why is Jester represented as a child?

Is it because she’s “innocent?” But she’s not--she reads smut, makes sex jokes all the time, and has killed a fair number of people. She once even put an ax in somebody’s head--that’s not innocent! She even says she’s doesn’t care if people die at Traveler-con, provided the Traveler doesn’t hurt her or her friends.

Is it because she’s not jaded or cynical? Caduceus isn’t jaded or cynical, but we don’t show him off as a child.

Is the narrative trying to say something specific about Caleb and Jester as characters? Namely, Caleb’s incredibly tragic childhood juxtaposed by Jester’s childhood that lasted too long? Her childhood that is still going on, in some people’s minds?

Is it because we meet her mom? But we’ve met Beau and Cad’s moms now, too, and again, we don’t see them as children?

Is it because she’s a girl??? Hell, she takes care of Kiri like a mother would, but no one goes “ah, it’s Jester’s bird daughter”...because we treat Jester like she’s still a kid, too.

I don’t have a good answer, but I’m super curious as to what other people think. I’m not seeking discourse here, but I do wonder if this view of Jester as a child is why a lot of people have negative reactions to Jester ships--some who view Beau’s crush on her as “predatory” or people who don’t like her with Caleb or Fjord due to the age difference.

#critical role #cr spoilers #jester lavorre #cr meta

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