#found this in my s1 drafts

[celebrimborium]

rings of power + central relationships*

*by gesture and touch

[risetherivermoon]

whenever i get into any stressful situation theres a voice in the back of my head that sounds a lot like Will Campos saying 'Oh Geez' in his Oak Boy Freaking Out™️ tone

[purplewilmon]

We are in this together

[thesorrowoflizards]

so is wolf's dad actually dead or did he disappear into the woods and was never found. and is LIKELY dead but not confirmed. yknow. is he going to show up in the s1 finale. dead or alive for that matter

[minecraftbookshelf]

Marriage of State: The King of Rivendell

Xornoth only really has one look throughout the AU, with a few minor variations and, of course, The Armor Edition TM.

Once again the primary sources for inspiration are the skin for the character in question and the architectural style of their home empire, in this case, Rivendell. Rivendell also draws (canonically) on Tolkein's elves, though only incidentally. I've opted to take that and run with it so the original Rivendell, and other elements of Lord of the Rings, both elvish and mortal, are incorporated. The other major contributors are viking-era Scandinavia, and Rohan, also from lotr.

The Elf Xornoth skin is a recolored version of Scott's base Rivendell skin with a few other minor changes (one shoulder cape, long pants)

Technically speaking the Demon Xornoth skin isn't super relevant to their design for the AU, but I wanted to throw it on here anyway, as something to keep in mind.

So the easiest way of doing this is going to be top to toe I think so we'll start with the antlers!

There are three main points (no pun intended) regarding Xornoth's antlers.

They are probably not as big as you think they are, because Xornoth has only had two or three sheds. They are adult antlers, but young adult antlers.

For antler design I've based them off of Scottish Red Deer.

They are made of obsidian and have been ever since Xornoth first allowed Exor into their head.

Under the antlers, Xornoth has magenta hair (just past shoulder length with the slightest bit of curl) and eyes, though the eyes tend to be a bit pinker when they are having A MomentTM

They do wear jewelry but its usually fairly simple. Earrings, an antler ring or two. They only wear their crown when they absolutely have to.

Their wings are Snowy Owl wings

specifically, snowy owl wings with a higher proportion of black on them, as in the images above, especially the one on the right.

-

Xornoth tends to dress relatively utilitarian as well, in dark colors that stand out among the blues most common in Rivendell, they usually wear black and autumn colors.

As far as style goes, the heaviest inspiration is the lord of the rings films, specifically simpler elvish styles, such as those worn by Legolas, especially in Rivendell or Lothlorien. (The main thing coming from the actual Xornoth skin is the single conclusion of "knee high boots") But with embroidery more akin to what you see in Rohan where it contrasts rather than blends in

Like so.

Rivendell has a lot of embroidery and knotwork incorporated into their clothes, a lot of it with gold-thread as well. Especially for royalty.

Xornoth does wear a cloak, it is designed to be fairly easy to remove for flying reasons, but is a sturdy and warm piece of clothing regardless, due to Xornoth being cold all the time.

Their armor is netherite, in style its basically just this

When Xornoth is older and starts wearing longer robes more often (currently only when they absolutely have to at extremely formal occasions) they will basically just be dressing like Elrond. Color pallet and style and all.

They also usually have at least one sword on them, often two.

-

Lizzie || Jimmy || Joel ||

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Art

Lizzie || Jimmy || Jimmy Eeveelution

[avelera]

So apparently, Fortiche shared concept art where Jayce's Hexcorization in the cave would extend all the way to his face:

And this is really interesting to me from a narrative perspective, here's why:

Much of S2 Jayce's arc is incredibly... punitive. Like, he is really being punished step by step for everything he did wrong in S1. From Renni terrorizing and almost killing him for the death of her son, to Viktor leaving him "for another woman" (the Hexcore as represented by Sky) much like Jayce left him for politics as represented by Mel, there's really a sense of the narrative not only tearing Jayce down to his bare essentials (something that's very common for TV writing to do, by the way, it's very common that you want to see characters reduced down to who they are for their "long night of the soul" moment before they learn the lessons of what they really stand for before going into the climax armed with those lessons), but Jayce's time in the cave really goes even further than that and not only does S2 take away his political career, his Hextech ambitions, his state as someone able-bodied, much of his strength, and certain other gifts, it looks like in this draft they considered taking away his beauty too.

I think it would have been interesting either way if they had, but I want to dive into the narrative structure of action and punishment in Arcane, why Hexcorizing Jayce's face might have been a step too far and not really addressed a lesson he needed to learn, and my thoughts on punitive character arcs in general in Arcane (or lack thereof), specifically with regards to Jayce and Caitlyn.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I always found it interesting that much of the hate directed towards Jayce by the fans was for his perceived incompetence in difficult moments, rather than at how naturally gifted he seems to be at everything.

When I first watched S1 on my own, I thought Jayce was a bit unbearable because everything comes so easily to him (after Viktor becomes his partner and Hextech takes off as a result, that is). He is naturally beautiful, he's built like a god but doesn't appear to do any sort of exercise routine to maintain this other than working in the forge, he becomes the Man of Progress and rockstar of Piltover pretty much without trying, girls are literally sighing dreamily as he goes by.

He's also naturally a genius, from what we see, revolutionizing multiple industries with one invention. Even his rescue as a child is a literal miracle and it spurs him to create an invention that makes him a rockstar. When he enters politics, he immediately dominates, to the point where he's able to get a unanimous vote to overthrow the founder of the city within weeks of going there. Even in battle he's naturally gifted and naturally lucky during the raid of the Shimmer factory (up until the death of Renni's son), even though he has no prior skills as far as we know. He also wins the love of arguably the most beautiful woman in the series, again, seemingly without trying.

Then, S2 doesn't just take all of this away from him, it seems to go a step further into actually punishing Jayce for how easy and miraculous his life was in S1.

I'm of two minds about the Hexcorization reaching his face, but I have a hypothesis. I think it would have looked fucking rad but, I kinda get why they didn't do it:

Because Jayce's good looks are not something he can control, unlike the other things the narrative punishes him for.

Insofar as he can control his looks, he gives up on the clean-cut, immaculate "Golden Boy" image. Even in the idealized astral plane, he keeps most of the marks of his time in the pit like his hair and beard. I think it's because Jayce likes who he became down there. The clean-cut version of him was always the mask of him trying to please others, Jayce's appearance after he emerges from the cave is him shedding the opinions of others (contrast this with how Viktor idealizes himself in the astral plane, removing all marks of his illness. This isn't a criticism, just an interesting point of contrast).

So basically, my theory is Fortiche may have pulled back on Hexcorizing Jayce's face on the one hand to soften the visuals a bit, but secondly because it keeps the focus on punishing Jayce for things he chose to do, rather than things he doesn't really have control over.

But make no mistake, the narrative comes down hard on Jayce in S2, for every little thing the fans could and often did hate him for in S1. He pays for all of them, arguably in excess of what he maybe deserved, since as he says he didn't ask for any of this. But he did go along with it, and there's where the hammer of consequence (quite literally) comes down on him, tears away all his privileges, drags him down to literally the level of Viktor when he first left the undercity and says, "You have to do it all again but now focused on what really matters, and it's going to be ten times harder than it ever was."

This, in my opinion, is why Jayce is so popular coming out of S2. It is a hell of an arc, it's a hell of a redemption! You gave the man everything any man could want, then you took it all away, and then as his crowning moment of showing he has truly learned these lessons and made up for his mistakes, he makes possibly the most loving gesture possible, puts his weapons down, and reaches out to the person he loves most and literally sacrifices himself on the altar of his mistakes to make things right and show Viktor he is loved, and to protect Viktor from the horrifically lonely fate of his future self. It doesn't get any more noble, loving, or self-sacrificing than that.

Because more than we like to see a character punished we like to see them learn from their mistakes and come back better. Jayce's S2 nobility is earned, perhaps even to excess, no one can question whether he suffered enough to make up for what he did in S1 but even the most uncharitable read of him in S1, his biggest hater, would have to agree his time spent starving to death in agony, alone in that cave for months, has got to be just about the worst punishment a human can face and live.

Which is one reason I must add that I find it a little puzzling that Arcane's creators didn't predict the hate that Caitlyn would get in S2.

Keep in mind, because this is very important, the Arcane creators did not make S2 in response to fan reactions to S1. S2 was already in production and the script was locked in and done before anyone outside their organizations saw S1. So nothing that happens in S2 is as a result of fan response.

But, the creators did understand that Jayce was going to need to suffer narrative punishment for what he did in S1 in order to be redeemed, whether they predicted how hated he would be after S1, they did predict that redemption would be necessary. And boy-howdy, did they give him a hell of a redemption arc!

But Caitlyn's S2 actions are almost in lock-step similar to Jayce's S1 actions, being manipulated (by a Medarda!) into accepting power, but maybe not having a choice in the matter, but still maybe expanding that power on their own because it is useful in its own right. Caitlyn also makes terrible mistakes. A child doesn't die but people in the undercity do get hurt during her rage-fuled raids, even if most of them are mob bosses and their goons. The narrative asks, does that make it right? Caitlyn like Jayce hurts the person closest to her who is from the undercity and uses bigoted language against the people of the undercity to Vi's face in much the same way that Jayce did to Viktor on the bridge, though in Jayce's defense, he apologized immediately after.

So, seeing how hated Jayce was coming out of S1, to the point where there's still barely any merchandise of him, I'm shaking my head rather ruefully that there was so much merch made for Caitlyn this time around. And I get it! Caitlyn and Vi were very popular after S1, they are intentionally THE main romance of the show and it was a very popular romance coming out of the innocence of their meet cute in S1.

But it's a romance that dearly needed a longer third act if you wanted Caitlyn to be as embraced after her mistakes as Jayce was after making up for his all through S2. You need to give her as long or at least as in-depth of a redemption act with as much suffering and acknowledgment of her mistakes if you want Vi and Caitlyn at the end to get celebrated the way Jayce making it up to Viktor is, because as much as I understand the choice to focus on pacing instead of exposition, and I do think Caitlyn's apology and realization of her mistakes are there on the page more than people complain, I do also agree that it is a bit "blink and you'll miss it" even if it's there. Jayce got a whole episode of being thrown into the Torment Nexus for his mistakes, real or imagined, if you didn't like him or his choices, you definitely got the sadistic glee of watching life kick the stuffing out of him for what he did in S1.

But besides her fight with Ambessa, which was a result of a confluence of many events in the story, not just Caitlyn's mistakes, Caitlyn doesn't really suffer much for the mistakes she made to those she loves. Her losing an eye to Ambessa didn't happen because she said bigoted things to Vi or became a short-term puppet dictator of Piltover. It was a result of Ambessa's actions and maneuvering more than it was a result of Caitlyn's personal mistakes to her loved ones.

In contrast, Jayce's time in the pit gave him the chance to reflect on and suffer for the the mistakes he made that led to the Anomaly that led to him being down in this pit, and what he would do to make it up to his loved ones like Viktor when he returned. Caitlyn never got a moment like that and from what I'm seeing of the vitriol directed towards her, so similar to what Jayce got after S1, it seems like she really needed it if we were going to like her to the same extent again, in a way uncomplicated by lingering questions about whether she ever truly learned the lessons her character needed to learn to grow as a person.

And it's just funny to me that a narrative that was so aware that this whole huge punishment arc was needed to rehabilitate Jayce wasn't aware that we'd need one for Caitlyn too, at least if they're going to move all that merch they made for her (please give us Jayce merch, Riot, I'm begging).

[funnyscienceman]

"Where did that come from??" the saga

(or: everytime [off the top of my head] Arcane took me out of it because a line of dialogue came with no setup/confused me greatly when it happened)

"Nothing feels impossible when I'm with you."

"We're having the exact same day."

"He'll come back to us."

Viktor's fucking monologue in s2e6. What are you going on about

whatever tf ekko said in s2e7 about not believing in or having hope for zaun or smth

"You are no Medarda."

"You always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses. Your leg. Your disease. But you were never broken, Viktor. Your imperfections made you who you are."

Honorable Mentions:

Jayce and Viktor's """break up""" in s2e2 (viktor sleepwalked through it and both their dialogue felt more like someone reading the draft outline of the scene rather than the event in actuality)

"You really are a—" "Big fat hero!" (didnt know riot was disney now :/)

Ambessa proposing to work with Viktor. ...like in general. ...Ambessa in season 2, really, there's a world of difference between ambessa in s1 and ambessa in s2

Mel and Jayce's scenes together in s2e8 (slightly less egregious but Only Slightly. by like 1 millimeter)

And if you noticed the distinct lack of the caitvi-jinx-warwick side of things thats because i found their s2 story the stupidest of them all. my brain has wiped it completely. i will not subject myself to them again 👍

[returnofeternity]

Love your writing oh my days,

May I please request some more misty x butch reader?

I'd love to see how you'd write really pervy misty,, like s1 realness. Maybe along the lines of reader comes around to Misty's house to help with removing a tree that fell during high winds, out of the goodness of being a friendly/helpful neighbor. Chopping it with an axe on a hot day, only a singlet on while Misty secretly watches through the window,, maybe even taking some photos idk... reader coming in for some water, all sweaty and misty comes downstairs from watching and all flushed in the face,, and reader innocently just brushes it off for it being a hot day

she's been on my mind nonstop <33

-🦇

ty ty! i have another misty x butch reader in the drafts but my brain hasn't been working lately....

· · ⎚-⎚ · ·

misty quigley butch chaser. it's real. you know she has tabs on all her neighbors, and when you moved in, she kept an extra watch on you. even set up cameras in your yard that you still haven't found :)!

you two are kind of friendly with each other?! usual neighbor friendliness yaknow, but if you ever need anything urgently, you always go to her house. and maybe she's the one who stole said item just so you'd come over, but you'll never know. she usually tries to keep you longer, and sometimes her touches and sweet voice work on you and you guys end up enjoying a nice drink together, but you take your thing and leave, telling her that you'll drop it off the second you're finished using it.

i know she was praying and praying that the tree would fall down lmfao. she would see it sway and hear how it'd crack during windy days, and she almost did the work herself because she knew you'd come over and help if she asked, but the wind beat her to it. her first thought after it fell wasn't that it almost crashed into her living room, it was you coming over and her being able to watch you help her out.

once it's safe enough to go outside, you're surprised at how messed up everyone's yard looks. just toys, trash, and branches everywhere. and it's fucking hot as balls now. no wind to cool you down at all. then you see a blur of pink and blue, and look across the street to see your neighbor, misty quigley, waving at you. your heart skips a beat at the fallen tree in her yard, and you immediately rush over to ask if she's alright. she doesn't even look phased, she looks cheerful actually, and she doesn't even mention it when she begins to speak to you, just asking about your day. you kindly offer to chop it down for her, telling her that you just need to go home really quick and change into something more comfortable since it's blazing hot outside, and she's already drooling and rubbing her thighs together at the thought.

she gives you That Look when you knock on her door with your axe, and it's awkward as you wait for her to look you in the eyes. eventually she lets you in, inhaling your sweet scent and subtly touching herself down there before she closes the door and follows you. you place down your hat and axe and ask her if you could use the bathroom real quick before you start working, and she eagerly shows you where it is. what about perv!misty who goes to the bathroom after you exit and start working, rubbing the towel you wiped your hands with on her face..

it's canon that misty records every corner of her house so of course she downloads today's recording so she can rewatch you out there for later. and for masturbation purposes.

she's able to sit on this wooden basket near the frontyard window and stuff her fingers in her pants while watching you!! to you, it just seems like she's protective of her house, maybe even a bit wary of you, but ohhhh if you only knew :)

misty who has audio in the cameras outside and plugs in her earphones to her phone so she can hear your grunts even better. taking screenshots from the surveillance on her phone and also taking perverted pictures of you. zoomed in on your ass. zoomed in on your biceps and stomach when she gets glimpses of it. zoomed in on your pits. she's just trailing after every single sweat drop she can see on your body, subconciously licking her lips while she touches her phone and admires you.

mistys gone when you decide that you need a break otherwise you'll pass out in her yard, and you quickly fix yourself something refreshing to drink. you feel disgusting and sticky as you feel the amount of sweat dripping off your face and back, and grab a paper towel from the rack to wipe it all off. surely misty wouldn't mind, right? where is she anyway, you think. you wander out into the living room, passing by caligula's cage and sticking your finger in his cage as you take another drink of water. he squawks out and playfully nips at your finger, making you pull back quickly. "ow! you little fucker." you moan, wiping your finger on your thigh and glaring at him. before he can squawk out an insult at you, you hear the sound of misty coming down the stairs and turn around to see her gripping onto the rail tightly as she walks down, a bit wobbly too. she huffs out and swipes at her bangs covered in sweat, swyaing to you with a slight frown on her face. "are you finished?" "oh. no. i just needed a break." you tell her, taking a long sip of your drink. "i hope you don't mind that i helped myself to some water." "help yourself to anything!" especially me, misty thinks to herself, smiling sweetly at you. her eyes wander to your sweaty neck, eyes lighting up with desire as she thinks about cleaning you all up with her tongue. you nod and awkwardly stand around, not knowing what to say to her next. it feels a bit unnerving with how hard she's staring at you, and you start to think you have something on your face. "is it hot up there too?" you mumble, pointing up with your finger as you bring the glass to your lips. misty cocks her head. "in your room? you're all... flushed, so i thought it must be hot up there." misty forces a laugh and shakes her head. her thighs still burn from riding her vibrating dildo while watching you on her laptop, the camera she angled perfectly in the front yard giving her the best view of you working. her lips twitch with want when she thinks back to how amazing and full she felt when she stuffed her mouth with another dildo of hers, imagining it being you throatfucking her with your packer.

thinkingg about misty who makes sure to rub up against said packer when you leave, hugging and thanking you for doing such a good job. it makes you feel some type of way, you even get goossebumps as her lips graze your ear.

and of course she steals your hat that you left on her couch! she took it and brought it up to her bedroom the second you went outside to start working, and she humped it. grinded her pussy and clit on the brim while going through the cam again later that day.

[squirrellypoo]

I sewed a Wolfkiller Cloak!

I have been a fan of Lestat's Wolfkiller Cloak for 30 years(!!) so when it made a surprise appearance in season 2 of Interview with the Vampire I just knew I would be sewing one for myself.

It looks incredible in the show, but then we also got to see more of it in better lighting during the short, behind the scenes "Episode Insider" for the episode. Essentially, this is a calf-length, blood-red velvet cape with an additional, elbow-length capelet on top, and a fur-lined hood.

But having made capes in the past, I realised that they are really impractical to wear due to limited arm mobility and having either your arms or body freeze through the openings.

So instead of sewing exactly what I saw on screen, I realised I could instead sew a swing coat + little capelet on top with fur-lined hood! And even better - make the capelet removable via hooks at the neckline so that they could be worn together or separately. This was a Eureka! moment for me. I wanted to make something that is somewhat authentic to the look of the original, but also practical to wear as an every day winter coat!

After quite a few muslins, I settled on the Charm Patterns Swing Coat (with some modified sleeves), and a self-drafted capelet (similar to my earlier cape from Claudia S1 NYE look) with a fur-lined hood. I drafted the hood pieces so that the fur lining is longer and wraps around the opening edge. This makes the fur more visible when its down around the shoulders, as in the show.

I used 5m of burgundy velvet and 0.5 m of Arctic Grey Wolf faux fur from CRS Fabrics (UK) - the fur itself was £60/m(!!) so I'm extremely pleased the show version wasn't entirely lined in fur like the book description (scroll down for more on that!). I underlined it for warmth using cotton flannel to block the wind, and found an incredible dark grey skull jacquard lining fabric at Mood Fabrics (US).

The swing coat pattern only has one button at the neck, so I made it count! I found the most perfect wolf head button on ebay and adjusted my bound buttonhole accordingly, but it really is the best statement button I could've ever asked for! The rest of the front opening is closed with enamel hooks and hidden thread bars to not distract from the clean lines when worn open.

In all, this took me about 6 weeks to sew and I am SO chuffed with how it turned out. I usually only take daytime photos for my sewing in order to best show off the details and seamlines, but for this I couldn't resist an additional nighttime shoot, too.

Even better - after I posted it to Instagram, the costume designer for the show, Carol Cutshall, not only said she loves it, but revealed a new piece of iwtv lore - they originally tried the cloak entirely lined in fur, but it was too heavy for Sam to move in!! (Which I can totally believe because mine is super heavy even with a lightweight lining!)

[raisedbythetv89]

So I finally have time to watch JJK in Japanese w/ English subtitles instead of the dubbed version and I’ve only watched one and a half episodes so far but oh my god????????????????

Megumi asking Gojo to save Yuji WHY DID THEY CHANGE IT SO MUCH IN THE DUB I WASN’T PREPARED

So in the English dubbed version it’s:

Megumi: “I don’t want him to die”

Gojo: “Personal?”

Megumi: “I suppose. So can you save him?”

like obviously still vaguely implying megumi already has formed a serious attachment to yuji in a short amount of time but still VAGUE & with the “I suppose” it sounds like megumi is reluctant to admit it but gojo who has played these games before knows what’s up regardless (I know what you are megumi fushiguro 😏)

BUT In the original w/ subtitles???

Megumi: “I don’t want to let him die”

Gojo: “Your personal feelings?”

Megumi: “Yes. Please do something about this”

HELLO????????????????? MEGUMI SAYING PLEASE GOJO DO SOMETHING????????? IM SICK 😭

and the LET him die is so crucial?????? Already he feels it’s his responsibility to protect yuji because he’s only in this situation now because yuji was determined to help megumi that honestly just is not as clear in the dub. The sub just makes it so much clearer how immediately an inexplicably yuji and megumi are tied together by their shared belief systems that while even though they don’t see eye to eye on how they should utilize their energy saving people when they want to save someone they behave identically risking everything in an attempt to save who they set out to save and they both equally hold the burdens for the other for saving them “don’t tell itadori” “don’t you dare tell fushiguro” truly everything is just clicking in a new way just how fated yuji and megumi are

Like how yuji is always one step ahead of megumi- finding the finger megumi himself was sent to retrieve, being a vessel for sukuna, risking death to save megumi, being saved by sukuna from death, the pace at which he is advancing after the exchange event, sukuna using his body to take lives+losing family both blood and found fathers/mentors leading to him wanting to give up completely - yuji has already walked megumi’s path!!!!! Which is why he is able to save him at the end!!!!!!!!!! Because yuji already knew exactly what megumi was going through!!!!!! And on the flip side megumi was DETERMINED to never let yuji go too far ahead on their shared path to where he couldn’t follow always one step behind him to make sure yuji doesn’t isolate himself “i’ll be so lonely without you fushiguro” megumi the protective shadow to yuji and yuji the guiding and inspiring light to megumi (megumi lost demon dog white and yuji in the same episode (ep 4) further showing how yuji represents megumi’s light) AND THE SINGULAR FISH!!!!!!!!!! In the opening credits in s1 Yuji on the train half filled with water with ONE black and white stripped fish like yuji has already arrived and set up the aquarium and now he rests waiting for megumi to catch up as it cuts to megumi UNDER the rail tracks on the street level in a tunnel where there is only shallow puddles of water like yuji was just there and he just missed him but is hot on his trail as he’s squatting down studying the water like they’re animal tracks (which by the way re: the water - yuji is literally a pisces - the fish of the zodiac while megumi is a Capricorn - a SEA goat - which can obviously take the same path as the fish but will not be able to move along said path as quickly and needs half air half water like the train yuji is on??????? - gege is SO into astrology I have a half finished post in my drafts about all the astrology of jjk and it’s literally too perfect not to be intentional) in contrast to geto’s all black and gojo’s all white beta fishes that literally CANNOT be in the same tank together without killing each other. Showing the while geto and gojo were true opposites that worked well together for a while but eventually their paths sharply diverged both wanting to build a better world but the methodology behind it being the polar opposite geto’s being completely ego driven and gojo’s ironically being completely selfless with the goal of his students surpassing him rather than it being about a world he personally can enjoy geto and gojo were like two opposing forces who collided and that collision caused them both to ricochet in completely opposite directions - megumi and yuji are two sides of the same coin on the same path going the same direction just one tailing behind the other - yuji and megumi both have a mix of gojo and geto’s strengths and weaknesses dispersed between the two of them in a way that allows them to survive TOGETHER as represented by the one fish with black and white stripes

It’s unfortunate but honestly no wonder gege burned out under a time constraint the level of detail he put into his characters, their design, and all these hidden things in the anime it’s actually mind boggling

It’s also hysterical when ppl try and tell itafushi shippers “megumi and yuji are just best friends” it’s like BRO they are genuinely literally fated soulmates bound together by destiny and all the tragedies that came before them you don’t have to view them as romantic if you don’t want to (but I will and nothing will stop me!!) but like even just calling them best friends is an INSULT to what they truly are lol

[twig-tea]

With 23.5 finally coming out, the people are rejoicing at finally getting a high profile gl from GMMTV. But there have already been several gls airing this year, including my fav TsukuTabe, that have been flying under the radar with fandom, and in general there are more gls already out there than folks seem to think. I just know you have a list of all the gls we should be watching, please share with the class!

Thank you for the ask! How did you know I had a draft of GL recs to make at some point? [Trick question, I mentioned it to you.]

It may seem like I'm out here hating on GL because i've made a couple of negative reviews of recently airing series recently (Love Senior and Chaser Game W in case you're curious) but I actually have lots of GL that I love and that I wish were better known! Thanks for sending this ask so I am inspired to actually finish it! I've limited myself to series so that I could keep the list and this post to a reasonable length. Where possible I've listed where you can find each of these and included a link. And I've included an 'elevator pitch' summary but I am NOT in marketing for a reason, so please don't roast me too hard for my terrible comparisons. Alright, enough waffling!

Twig's GL Rec List

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat S1 & 2 (Japan, 2022 & 2024, both seasons fansubbed by @furritsubs; if you need help accessing this show feel free to DM me!)

Elevator pitch: Our Dining Table with lesbians and an even slower burn. Watch for beautiful food, acespec rep, mental health and therapy rep

What might turn some off: Extremely low heat, and quite slow-moving; warning for a disordered eating and family trauma plot (v gently handled)

Let's start with the one you've already mentioned. This is a heartwarming slice-of-life slow burn in which an autismspec-coded woman who likes to eat is invited by her neighbour, a femme acespec woman who loves to cook, to come and eat her food. It starts from a very practical place (when you love making food you need someone to help eat it), but their relationship grows as they spend more time together. The story follows them as they both move towards self-actualization in several ways: as a lesbian, as asexual, at work, with their families, with their friends, with each other. This show is so careful to say the important words aloud. And there is so much delicious cooking! Each episode highlights a particular recipe, and the food porn is real. Do not watch while hungry, but definitely watch. The found famiy vibes in this one one are also immaculate.

She Makes My Heart Flutter (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Younger lesbian friend group tries to help out (slightly) older lesbian bar owner with mixed success. I can't think of a good BL equivalent, The Moment Since feels the closest with its similar bartender/patron romance

What might turn some off: Comedic tone; short runtime; struggles with being closeted

This is a gem of a miniseries about a bar owner and an interior designer who smoulder at one another while an intrepid group of younger bar regulars (including the bar owner's neice) meddle. This series is really cute, solid, and full of sapphics! Once again found family vibes are immaculate (you may sense a theme in my faves). Run don't walk.

Fragrance of the First Flower (Taiwan, 2021, GagaOOLala)

Elevator pitch: Right-person-wrong-time/second chance romance; tonally is a little like We Best Love 2: Fighting Mr. 2nd but with an ambiguous ending.

What might turn you off: Medium heat, second chance romance means they break up once, internalized homophobia, adultery/cheating, at one point there's a creepy dude, child with autism (depicted well), ambiguous ending

At its core this is a story of a woman who can't stop getting in the way of her own happiness. This series is a little more sad than the rest of this rec list but I couldn't not include it because this relationship is so poignant. Plus there's a s2 that supposedly is to come out in 2024 so maybe we'll get our happy ending after all?

Love Greater Than or Equal to 70 Degrees C (Korea, 2019, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ingredients but with lesbians staring at one another over beautiful tea pairings! What more could you ask for?

What might turn you off: Low heat; short runtime; ambiguous ending; like Ingredients this is essentially a long ad for the café it's filmed at.

This is a Korean miniseries about passionate tea sommeliers making really fancy tea while staring at one another a LOT. Perfect sapphic representation, 10/10 no notes. This one packs a lot of the drama tropes into its short runtime, so even though it's short it's full of butterfly-inspiring moments.

Sleep With Me (Philippines, 2022, GagaOOLala/iWantTFC/Netflix w/VPN set to Philippines)

Elevator pitch: The Truth About Cats and Dogs but the self esteem issues are handled without catfishing. BL equivalent: Hmmm. Closest I can think of is Gaya Sa Pelikula.

What might turn you off: There's some ableism (treated as such) in this show; Open ending.

Stellar GL between a late night radio DJ and an insomniac who listens to her show. One of the main couple is a wheelchair user and the show tackles ablelism and navigating disability in relationship as well as feelings of inadequacy in a relationship and how that manifests as interpersonal conflict.

Our Relationship Ended Before it Began (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Along the lines of I Cannot Reach You; the show gives both perspectives and they are held back by queer angst.

What might turn you off: No kiss (but they make it very clear both want to kiss), internalized homophobia

Really sweet miniseries about having a crush and being afraid of being hurt so you don't actually make a move. I really like the way the girl who has not dated a girl before defaults to gender roles and it throws the more experienced lesbian lol I also really like the way this show makes clear that both of them are waiting for a kiss, and that if you get in your head about things, it can get in the way of your own happiness!

Pearl Next Door (Philippines, 2020, Youtube)

Elevator Pitch: Gameboys but with lesbian vloggers.

What might turn you off: Love triangle, lots of teasing but low heat in the end, a lot of (good) conversations about mental health issues, ambiguous ending

This is the GL spinoff to Gameboys, starring Pearl from Gameboys. Pearl ends up being fought over by the two gorgeous women in the gif, an old love and a new. I love the queer friendships in this story as much as the relationships. I will say it's an open ending (that felt a bit like the showrunners didn't want to decide between ships) and definitely the love triangle features prominently but even in the face of these aspects that would normally turn me off a series I had a good time. The characters and interpersonal conflicts feel very real, and are allowed to be complex even when the show tone is comedic.

Dear Uranus (Taiwan, 2021, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Schoolgirl ensemble GL; a little like My School President but without the singing.

What might turn you off: Short runtime; ambiguous ending; a little bit of bullying; very standard romance trope execution

The first Taiwanese GL miniseries, this series was produced by a Taiwanese lesbian couple (Rabbit & Wolf)! Lots of excellent drama tropes, and incredibly gorgeous women (I think the entire watching audience fell in love with Erol.

Lily Fever (Korea, 2015, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Complete crack; YYY but with more kissing and frankly an even less coherent story.

What might turn you off: The lack of coherent plot; less a romance and more a very thirsty lesbian kissing everyone she can

This miniseries is utter chaos. Nothing really makes sense, it's all just random excuses to cause very suggestive moments (and kissing) to happen. I love so much how this series depicts women being so absolutely thirsty for one another (and yes that date isn't a typo, this series is ~9 years old). Not an "happy ever after" ending but it really isn't that kind of story.

Chasing Sunsets (Philippines, 2020, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ocean Likes Me with lesbians. Resort romance with a mental health twist.

What might turn you off: Some of the mental health stuff gets intense, this was filmed in 2020 so the pandemic features heavily; hopeful but slightly ambiguous ending.

A complex story from the Philippines covering mental health and finding yourself. A woman shows up to a resort and befriends one of the women running the resort. They get closer as they spend time together, and the resort owner realizes something is off. There's also a BL side couple in this series.

Show Me Love (Thai, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: A little like My Day the series with lesbians, in that they work together and fall in love and it's full of tropes

What might turn you off: The advertising for the Miss Grand competition, there is some bullying and cheating (though way less than I was expecting tbh), not a lot actually happens, the editing gets a bit wonky at the end

This is essentially a massive ad for the Miss Grand Thailand competition; this GL was produced by the same company that produces that competition, and the stars are mostly Miss Grand competitors. The main pairing were shipped in the actual competition, and the company decided to make a GL about them. It's very slow paced and low-stakes, and there are better kisses than I expected considering everything I just said about where this show came from. There are a lot of cute moments!

Girlfriend Project (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Love Class with lesbians

What might turn you off: One of the leads is kind of mean in that pgitail-pulling way? It ends abruptly (but happily)

This is a short miniseries about two girls paired in a class that are assigned to "date". The chemistry is chemistrying. And there is a kiss (a good kiss, and a tiptoes kiss at that!). This show also has one of my favourite tropes, in which someone who seems like a pushover stands up for themselves and their partner finds it very attractive. For the record, in this show they are watching another GL by the same company, Love Tech.

Lulu (Philippines, 2022, Vivamax/grey)

Elevator Pitch: Present Perfect with lesbians (but with a better ending).

What might turn you off: Depictions of panic attacks, brief depiction of drowning, pandemic lockdowns, illness, exes, waffling, happy but open ending (which I actually liked for this story)

Two women trying to move on from the garbage in their lives meet at the beach of a B&B (where one saves the other from drowning) and become one another's company during their escape and then something more. They both have baggage that seems determined to keep them apart even as they continue to be drawn together. In the end, they decide to stick it out and see where they end up, with no guarantee of happily ever after, which I found very sweet. Requires either a VivaMax account or searching the grey for it, but it's worth the effort (check MyDramaList comments for suggestions on where to find it). Plus one of the leads has a cactus as a pet.

Welcome to the Lesbian Bar (Korea, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: A little like Fudanshi Bartender but without the fudanshi bartender and all of the bar patrons are lesbians lol

What might turn you off: Short, can get a little bit preachy, abrupt ending

Cute short series with different very stories every episode as different patrons visit the bar. The stories range from women who have been together for awhile, to people meeting from an online app for the first time, to someone visiting a lesbian bar for the first time; and yet the story all weaves together in a way that's satisfying though ends abruptly. Includes some solid marriage equality propaganda.

GAP the Series (Thai, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Kind of the vibes of Together with Me but lesbians and in an office instead of school. Angry boss falls for charming new intern and

What might turn you off: This one is the highest heat of all these recs; homophobia especially amongst family, brief depictions of death by car, brief mentions of suicide, cheating, bullying, abuse of power in the office.

A list would not be complete without this one! Honestly the plot is a bit wobbly but the show is a lot of fun. The girls are very cute, the feelings and tension builds really well between them, the friend group is excellent, and in the special we get a wedding.

---

The rest of these have caveats of one kind or another, but i couldn't leave them off a rec list, so here are the side couples and censored stories that are still worth your time anyway (I might do a separate more detailed post for these, as well as for films, one day if there's interest):

Nevertheless (GL side; Korean, 2021, Netflix) Not sure it's worth watching a whole kdrama for side lesbians? Search soljiwan on youtube. They are great. Even the Netflix account stans them. I watched this (ngl, I watched the SolJiwan cut) as it aired and was constantly braced for it to let us down but it did not! A really good friends-to-lovers story.

Friend Zone 2: Dangerous Area (GL side; Thailand, 2019, YouTube): These sapphics are messy and I love them. Decent conversation about dating someone with mental health issues in this series, and they're one of the only couples in this ensemble to get a happy ending. If you're just watching the lesbian couple (which you can, their story is pretty self-contained) you don't need to have seen s1.

Six Survivors (GL side; Japan, 2022, Viki) This show is a horror comedy and it is SO MUCH FUN. Warning for zombies and blood, but way less than you might think. One of the eponymous 6 survivors is a lesbian who keeps trying to convert them to veganism lol. If you watched Chaser Game W you'll recognize one of the actresses in this, the lead actress is from Kamisama no Ekohiiki, and one of the guys is from the prequel series His as well as I Want to See Only You! And yes there is a kiss. Also a surprising number of Mallrats references. Not for people who can't handle gore or relationships being complicated/not a "true love" story/ambiguous ending.

Kamisama no Ekohiiki (complicated question of is it GL in parts, Japan, 2021, furritsubs once again coming through to save the day) This one is a bit complex because there's bodyswap, but the girl who falls for the bodyswapped boy-in-a-girl's-body is clear that she is only interested in the girl. One of the better bodyswap stories because the bodyswap is not a secret for very long, so instead there's a lot of introspection about what gender means and who/what they are attracted to. Feels wrong to call this GL, necessarily, but it's very queer.

Couple of Mirrors (Censored GL, China, 2021, Viki) Story of a rich girl and her assassin girlfriend. This production did an amazing job getting away with what they could, just don't watch the last five minutes and we've got essentially a happy lesbian family.

Legend of Yunze (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) Very cute very low budget xianxia miniseries with two seasons and a special. The special is set in modern times in a future lifetime so if you want a cute censored-but-clearly-a-soulmate-love-story this is the one for you. Don't be thrown off by the weird cuts/abrupt episode endings, that's in line with cdramas in general.

Led Astray by Love (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) A very fun and adorable isekai story in which a modern day girl is transported to a wuxia novel setting and has to figure out how to get home, and gets romanced by the princess along the way.

And a few additional links for people who even more content:

My Indian sapphic webseries rec list

My suggestions for content with toms (Thai category that's similar to but not exactly the same as butch lesbians) in response to this post.

This really good GL MyDramaList list (not made by me!) lists what seems to be everything I've mentioned and about 200 more. Even I haven't seen a few of these!

My YouTube playlist of sapphic content: This includes anything I stumble across or find in my searches, a lot of music videos and random shorts as well as some microseries and miniseries that I don't consider GL but are WLW/sapphic in addition to true "GL" content. For serialized content, I add just the first ep. A complete mess, but you can trawl through to find stuff to watch, like Hetero!

SOONOTSUE: The same producers of She Makes My Heart Flutter have other short series on their channel worth checking out; if you liked that one, try Out of Breath!

Shakeshoulder: Thai YouTube producers of very pulpy (read: low budget and dramatic plots) shorts

FuFuKnows: This YouTube channel is owned by a gay Taiwanese couple that produces shorts every week, including some with GL mains and sides. These are very low budget but cover a whole swath of queer themes.

@douqi7s is a godsend providing subtitles for all kinds of content, including sapphic shorts and more series than I've listed here. Check their tumblr for links to all of their content; A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant has one of the best setups to giving us great moments in the guise of something else so that they get past censorship I've ever seen; I also recommend The Vampires if you're into genre fiction, as well as Legend of Yunqian if you enjoyed the xianxia parts of Legend of Yunze. @wlwcatalogue did an excellent summary of many of the non-wuxia options here.

Quick pitch for the streaming platform GagaOOLala; it's affordable, has a ton of content, including a whack of GLs (originals, license series, and a ton of shorts), and is run by queer people out of Taiwan who care about good quality queer content being made and having an audience, and using the soft power from those successful series to support social change. And if you can't afford a subscription it's worth checking out what they have for free, they open up temporary free access to some things for various events throughout the year.

In searching for gifs for this post I found fellow tumblr user @drowningparty 's WLW compendium list; they've listed more series and films so check it out if you still need more content!

*wipes sweat off brow* that should be enough to be getting on with, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg! If there's something specific you want to see with sapphics let me know and I can tell you if I know it exists. Anyway, I hope this gives you and everyone else a taste of what all is out there! I of course always want more, I am serious about being a sapphic dragon hoarding every crumb i can get my lizardy hands on, but I do think what we have should also be appreciated more. If I missed one of your faves, please tell me!

[mino491]

tw slight mention of sex trafficking

ok so I know this has probably been brought up a lot here but I just saw someone on twitter make an AMAZING point about Klaus's character growth from s1 to s4. The tweet boiled down to the fact that through the seasons, Klaus's character lost a significant amount of his queerness/ feminity. In season 1 we see him wear skirts, makeup and traditional feminine things much more freely than we ever do after s1. I understand why this was done for seasons like s2 where he was literally in 1960's Texas and at risk of being hurt for how he presented himself but strangely his self-expression becomes tied to his drug abuse pretty early on.

In s4 we see Klaus as a new sober hypochondriac version of himself that formed from the lack of his powers and newly acquired mortality. He loses a lot of his self-expression too in this season only ever wearing less traditional male clothes when he's literally being sex trafficked and high for the first time in about 3 years. His queerness becomes linked to his drug abuse and tendency to have unhealthy sexual relationships which I've always found odd.

I've kept this thought in my drafts for a while because I thought I was looking at his character the wrong way but now I'm reconsidering. St*ve Bl*ckman's newly found out transphobia and homophobia are definitely changing my previous opinion because now the way Klaus's character has progressed,,,,,, makes more sense.

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

"Mirror of Galadriel" and what future seasons might hold for Galadriel and Sauron's characters in "Rings of Power"

First things first, let’s take this out of the way: the showrunners have the entire story drafted and planned out, and they revealed this before the show even aired, and there are things from Season 1 that will only pay off in Season 5. So, any talks of “we don’t know” or playing coy with huge things like “we decided the Stranger would be Gandalf after S1 finale” is either trolling the fandom or trying to damage control. They know where this story is going, even if they, like Patrick McKay said, have room “for discovery and for surprise and for taking advantage of unexpected things that you discover along the way" (x)

I searched interviews from circa 2022, before the show aired, to get a more neutral idea of what their plan is:

What’s their plan for Galadriel’s character? 

“She’s full of piss and vinegar and she’s got a sword that’s broken because she’s killed so many orcs,” McKay says of their version. “This young hot-headed Galadriel… how did she ever become that elder stateswoman? What’s more important than Galadriel’s armor and weaponry is the turmoil of emotions we see raging inside her, having already survived multiple attacks by Sauron and his predecessor, Morgoth, and losing her brothers in the process. This internal conflict still lingers in the striking Fellowship of the Ring sequence where, tempted by the One Ring, a booming Cate Blanchett goes photo-negative.”

“In the History of Middle-earth, Tolkien describes the One Ring as “all that Galadriel had desired in her youth.” She has a lifelong flirtation with the darkness inside of her, and even in her later years she remains one of the few people Sauron fears. It’s what makes her much more complex than a simple and serene lady of the woods.” (x)

And Sauron?

"It's the rise and the fall of Sauron," Payne said. "That story struck us as one that could match up to the grandeur we can give it." (x)

“We try to make it so that things are as enjoyable to rewatch as they are to watch. One thing we talk about a lot is Titanic, in that if you know the ship is going to sink... you're going to be watching it with a layer of tragedy over it... If you watch this knowing he [Halbrand] is Sauron from the beginning, then you're going to have this feeling of sickening inevitability as you watch it go towards its inevitable conclusion.” (x)

What was their plan for Galadriel and Sauron?

“From the beginning we wanted to build a relationship between Sauron and Galadriel. There was text that we found to be really, really fascinating from the Mirror of Galadriel, in which she says, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or at least all of his mind, the concerns, the elves and ever does.” (x)

"That character [Halbrand] was always Sauron from the very beginning. [It was] one of the initial sparks and ideas and in our, / think opinion, right or wrong, is that Galadriel talks about Sauron in the books in a way that indicates that she knew him maybe really well. […] has been a thing where he's been reaching after her for a long time and there's been this sense of back and forth between them. We found that in the writers' room endlessly fascinating, and we said, 'Like, there's an entire history between them. He's not just some eye in the sky who's looking at her from afar; there's a relationship. And so we said, 'How could you have a relationship between the Dark Lord and Galadriel, you know, in a way that was good, really let them get to an interesting place?'(x)

“And then there's the Tolkien idea of chance meetings. That is a thing throughout his books and that he's obsessed with over and over again. The chance meetings are preordained in Middle-earth and that idea of like, 'My God, what if Sauron is in a place where he's sort of repentant and lost and Galadriel is in a place where she's desperate and obsessed with a meeting? What might happen?” (x)

“That chapter incident [Mirror of Galadriel] was one of the inspirations for the entire show. The idea that she must really know herself pretty well and her temptation to evil pretty well. The ring is temptation personified and that temptation that the ring exerts over you so exists through his force of personality and charisma. So we’re watching her struggle with things she’ll struggle with later.” (x)

Not to repeat myself, I have several posts connecting Sauron and Galadriel to Tolkien legendarium:

Sauron and Galadriel and Tolkien legendarium in “Rings of Power”

“Power” and “Elf Magic” in Tolkien legendarium

Galadriel connection to “power” and her “overwhelming temptation” of the One ring

“Mirror of Galadriel”

We know this chapter is the main inspiration behind Galadriel and Sauron’s interactions in “Rings of Power”, especially her temptation with the One ring (with Sauron being the One ring personified, like JD Payne has described him), and her interaction with Frodo. Now, what has the show already dealt with? And is there anything they haven’t dealt with, yet?

What we’ve seen:

“The tides of fate are flowing.”

“And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen.”; “I shall not be dark”; “Fair as the Sea and the Sun”; “Stronger than the foundations of the earth”

“I would make you a queen. Fair as the sea and the Sun. Stronger than the foundations of the earth. [And you. My king. The Dark Lord.] No. Not dark. Not with you at my side.” (1x08)

“All shall love me and despair!”

“I know what it was that you last saw [Sauron/Eye of Sauron]’ she said; `for that is also in my mind.”

Galadriel is the ring-bearer of Nenya, and Sauron not merely “suspects”, he knows.

"I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer”

Ambiguous:

Introduced in Season 2, might come into play in Season 3:

“I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!”

Why is this ambiguous? Because during Season 1 and 2 Galadriel doesn’t “know” Sauron’s mind, at all, but she thinks she does, mostly because of the visions Nenya keeps showing her (the nature of which are still to be revealed).

Sauron still doesn’t “grope her mind”, either, because the only scene we saw him communicating with her telepathically was in Season 2 finale, after he stabbed her with Morgoth’s crown, and after she said “the door is shut”. Which is a clever way to play with your audience expectations. The door of Galadriel’s mind is not shut, and Sauron only now began to “grope” her mind.

What we haven’t seen:

“Beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night!”; “Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning!”

“She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful.”

“How am I to know which lights to follow?” (“She raised her white arms, spreading her hands toward the East in a gesture of refusal and defiance. Eärendil, the Evening Star, most cherished by the Elves, shone bright above. Its light was so brilliant that it cast a faint shadow of the Elven-lady on the ground”).

Sam wants to see “Elf Magic”, and Galadriel calls it her “magic” (“magic of Galadriel”), because “magic” in general is associated with Sauron (you can read the explanation in my post about “Elf Magic” and “power”), and then Galadriel shows them her Mirror, and warns them it’s a “dangerous as a guide of deeds”. Frodo looks into the Mirror and eventually sees the Eye of Sauron (“The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing”).

Galadriel ability to perceive the minds and hearts of others (in this chapter, she looks inside of each member of the Fellowship and perceives their greatest desires, tempting them with the choice, to test them).

Galadriel as “a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings”

Her relationship with other characters, namely her husband, Gandalf, and the Dwarves (she hasn’t been to Khazad-dûm, either… yet)

Lothlórien (+ Galadhrim)

White Council (“I it was who first summoned the White Council”)

[leverage-ot3]

Is leverage redemption worth watching? I love Leverage but idk if i could enjoy the show if hardison isn't in most episodes or if the reboot sells out in some way.

okay so I showed up to this ask like four months late with a smoothie so I'm sorry about that BUT

does redemption have it's flaws? yes, I will be the first to admit that!

however, as someone who deeply loves leverage, the characters and what the show stands for, I still can find myself enjoying redemption.

there's one post that's in my drafts talking about the differences between the og and redemption and the so-called universe physics (how logic works in both shows and how they are the same/differ) and there are definitely some differences. there are some really good posts comparing them in the tags and I'll try to tag them as watch redemption when they come up!

I'm going to be really honest right now and say that (no shade) I feel like redemption s1-2 were lacking because john rogers was not a main writer for them. devlin and the others are great and know their stuff, but redemption was missing some of the grit (balanced with everything else) that the original run had. redemption is more fun and lighthearted (where the og was still fun and had comedic elements but also had a more jaded perspective). I think part of that change is the absence of nate as a character and what he brought to the table, but the other part of that is very much the way the show is written overall

I have seen some criticism about parker being a caricature of what she was in the original run (ex: how she goes to a child's psychologist and uses puppets sometimes, is overtly weird, more loud about stuff, etc) BUT I will say that I think there's some nuance to that

I don't think the child psychiatrist thing is infantalizing- some methods of therapy work for people more than others and that is me speaking as someone who works in mental health. if play therapy and stuff like that work for you as an adult, good for you! whatever works for you is more than enough the overtly and loudly being weird thing I really do think can be taken either way. in the original run part of parker's character progression was that she was learning how to interact with people normally (or at least more efficiently), but her being more out about that now can be taken as she is more comfortable in her skin and acting like she wants because she is surrounded by people who love and support her. maybe she doesn't want to (or have to!) mask all the time and I don't see a problem with that

HOWEVER! there are certain criticisms that are related to her characterizations and overlaps with her autism and I don't want to speak over the autism community about those aspects and how they have manifested in her character in redemption so I'm leaving it there

as for the hardison being absent aspect- I was REALLY afraid of that at first BUT the loss isn't so deeply impactful when you have characters like breanna and harry added to the mix. I went in ambivalent about harry and excited to have breanna (a canon queer) joining the team, but I have come to love and cherish both of them dearly and wouldn't want to replace them or lose them as characters in this found family ensemble. I think the writers handled aldis' packed schedule really well and even though he isn't there in most episodes, his presence is still very much around. parker and eliot talk about him and reference him when he's gone. so do sophie and breanna, even harry. he isn't on the screen but the relationships he's formed with the other characters and the impact he's had on them is very evident.

there are some takes from users about whether or not the ot3 was queerbait, un-canoned, etc in redemption. I have a lot of thoughts about it and a lot of them are incomprehensible but what I can say is that I have renewed hopes for the progression and canon development of their relationship now that john rogers is back as the main writer for s3

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

I visited the WGA library to read Yellowjackets scripts and wanted to share some of my findings! (Pt. 1)

So as some of you may know, scripts for the latter half of Yellowjackets Season 1 have already been released to the public (you can find 1x05-1x10 here: https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1FctrMniXqWRFJOe-rX6dSgvmXEO2KyLE?usp=share_link) and the Pilot script is pretty easily accessible on the internet if you look it up.

However, I have never been able to find the scripts for the rest of S1. An old draft of 1x04 can be found on Script Slug but A LOT has been changed from this script to the final product (Van is dead, Nat actually killed her dad, Javi is called Cody?!). It’s an interesting read for sure but it seems the actual final script of “Bear Down,” along with “F Sharp” and “Dollhouse,” are not accessible on the internet. So I headed over to the WGA Library and checked out those three scripts to read! It was super interesting (highly recommend going if you’re in the LA area!). I was not able to get any pictures of the scripts due to the Library policy, but I took lots of notes and saved some of my favorite lines!

I’m going to start with 1x02 and make two separate posts of 1x03 and 1x04 because otherwise this post would be way too long!

1x02 “F Sharp”

•The episode starts with Misty’s POV of the crash, and there’s this line that I love:

“Across from her, Lottie reaches forward to desperately clutch Laura Lee’s hand in the aisle. Their shared terror making it all the more clear that, in this moment, Misty is all alone.”

This shows Misty’s longing for companionship and affection. Even in what she thinks might be her last moments, she is utterly alone. I think this moment is part of what tips her over the edge into obsession in her relationships with Coach Ben, Crystal, and Natalie.

•In the final product, we don’t really see what Nat’s POV of the plane crash is (other than her nightmare in 1x03 but I’m not sure if that actually happened or not?) but in the script she gets knocked unconscious and buried under a bunch of luggage and equipment and the other girls have to dig her out.

•Misty and Taissa are the ones to pry the exit door open for everyone to escape.

•Jackie doesn’t even try to save Van in the script, she just immediately runs over and tries to drag Shauna away from Van from the get-go.

“Jackie runs after Shauna and starts clawing at her, trying to get her to move toward the exit.”

•After Shauna and Jackie make it outside the wreckage, Jackie and Shauna “begin fighting angrily in the dirt, Jackie clearly still desperately afraid to remain so close to the fiery wreckage” as Shauna tries to go back in for Van.

•And I just thought this descriptor was a cute little addition; after Misty chops off Coach Ben’s leg, we get this line:

“And as we realize this little show called ‘Yellowjackets’ is sick, unexpected and awesome, we smash cut to—

MAIN TITLE”

•“Laura Lee trying in vain to hold and comfort a struggling, hyperventalating Javi.”

A nice little moment of Laura Lee comforting Javi as he’s trying to find his dad.

•”Jackie: For the record, I was trying to save you. I thought…

I was going to lose you. Jackie bites her lip, a little teary. Shauna glances at her and nods, I know—but we also get the sense that Van isn’t the only one judging Jackie right now.”

A little Jackie/Shauna moment. You can see how much Jackie loves Shauna, but Shauna is still conflicted over Jackie’s choice to leave Van behind.

•Some things Caligula says when Natalie breaks into Misty’s house:

“Hello, pretty lady!”

“Hells bells! My dogs are barking!”

Love this.

•The information Misty has in her secret file: articles and magazine covers about the crash, press clippings, a local wedding announcement for Shauna and Jeff, Taissa’s campaign flyer, and a brochure for Natalie’s rehab clinic.

•When Nat asks Misty why she has all of this information, Misty says:

“You guys are the most important people in my life.”

Just another reminder that Misty’s whole existence revolves around the Yellowjackets, even after 25 years.

•Nat is hyper focused on looking at Travis’s drivers license in the bar scene when Kevyn walks up to her. She totally ignores Kevyn, just focused on Travis’ picture. She is described as looking “pale” and “like she’s seen a ghost.” Just shows how hung up Nat is on Travis and how much that relationship fucked her up.

•Misty says “Holy macaroni” when she sees Coach Martinez’s body. Insane.

•Okay brace yourselves for this one guys, in the script Coach Martinez is STILL ALIVE when they find him impaled on the tree.

“The coach’s eyes pop open. He suddenly grabs Travis. Eyes wild with pain and fear, the coach tries to speak but only makes raspy sounds as blood bubbles at his lips.”

“Travis: Dad! Let go!”

Travis’s dad won’t let go and there’s a scene where Travis is trying to claw him off of him, then the tree branch cracks and Travis shakes his dad off of his arm, “knows it’s his dad or the both of them” and the tree branch falls.

Wow. As if the scene that ended up making it in the final product wasn’t traumatic enough, Travis has to actively let his dad fall to his death when he’s still alive and desperately clinging to him? Ouch. I’m glad they cut that scene honestly poor Travis.

•Shauna is holding Javi and comforting him during and after this scene.

“We see Shauna still comforting Javi, we can’t hear what she’s saying but her body language is very giving—a maternal streak she didn’t know she had.”

Love the nod to Shauna’s maternal nature here. She’s naturally very nurturing and caring, but after she loses her baby she becomes more cold and distant with her other child, Callie, in fear that she will lose her too. I just love seeing the before and after here, we get to see what Shauna was like before all of the trauma. Shauna wants to nurture Callie, it’s a natural part of her personality as this scene with Javi shows, but she can’t get too attached after what happened in the Wilderness.

•In the adult timeline, there’s another deleted scene in which Nat drives to Shauna’s house and spies on her from outside.

“She seems to be fighting an impulse to get out of her car, but her feelings are unclear. Does she look uneasy? Vindictive?”

Another hint the conflict between these two that we still haven’t seen yet? Maybe this is lingering resentment from Shauna challenging Nat’s leadership as the new Antler Queen?

•When Nat hands Travis her flask to drink from after the whole Coach Martinez incident, there’s this line:

“She wants to tell him there is nothing he could have done. How guilt like this is poison, and if he’s going to blame himself she will punch him in the face”

I think this is clearly a nod to Nat’s own guilt around her father’s death. She knows that Travis is likely tearing himself apart inside because she did the same thing after her father’s death. She blamed herself, as Travis is doing now. Also love the punching him in the face line, it’s very on-brand for Nat and honestly wish she had punched him in the face a few times when he deserved it.

*1x03 and 1x04 notes to come!*

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ST5 STUFF FROM MICHAEL MAHER’S PINTEREST BOARD

So I saw this post about Matt’s pinterest boards & Michael Maher Jr collaborating on some of the boards, and so, I went to go peek at Michael Maher Jr’s pinterest page, and I found something very interesting- a Pinterest board titled “Tree Flayer”:

Which a.) this makes me think of the ST3 scene of Holly seeing the trees moving when the Fleshflayer is moving through them and b.) makes me think of the MF’s general tree-like shape, especially the red MF visuals in TFS with how it branches off- and it also makes me think of c.) something I’ve been on about for a Long Time- that official ST concept art of the green version of the UD with the giant tree and how it parallels Greenwood the Great (pre-shadow Mirkwood) from LOTR/the Hobbit:

This is why I’m very much inclined to believe that this “Tree Flayer” pinterest board is, in fact, for ST5, and not for onenof Michael’s other projects.

And brings me back to a very old draft I’ve been working on re: oak trees as a recurring motif in ST, especially surrounding the Creels.

And speaking of oak trees and the creels, Michael also had this “seed-rock-henry” board, versus The Hobbit movies being confirmed inspo & Bilbo’s acorn & the Oak tree on top of Bag End vs all of the Oak tree references with the Creels & the parallels between the Creels and Bag End:

And this ^ “seed-rock-henry” thing also has me staring directly at the weird “egg” from S1 that we see with the Demogorgon…

And then, there’s a bunch of other boards too, including a board titled “Seeker” with a ton of cool stuff on it, as well as stills from two movies that are on the ST4 board and have Henward connections (Bladerunner and Dont Breathe) , and this “Seeker” board also has so many creatures that seem to be like a mixture of the ST Doppelgorgon and Vecna and the MF etc vs what I’ve been saying re: the overlap between all of these creatures & my current draft about that + Massacre Henward likely being a Doppelgorgon creature vs the overlap between Doppelgorgons and the MF/being the “same creature” somehow.

Like, the inspo on here has stuff thats very clearly Doppelgorgon inspired and Vecna inspired by also has a ton of MF-inspired stuff like wraiths & ringwraiths & weird spider creatures…. And “Seeker” is also a type of Warlock in DND which is a WHOLEEEEE other can of worms on its own.

And not to mention that there’s ANOTHER board titled “Asylum- Seeker” which LITERALLY HAS A PICTURE OF PENNHURST ON IT:

And then there’s also a “seeker- plantations” board which is Very interesting considering the racial aspects of ST & TFS & things like Hawkins High in TFS not being segregated despite supposedly being in the 50s, and the 1800s stuff with The Dark of the Moon…..

And there’s also this whole “seeker lookbook” board that has SCREENSHOTS OF THE ST LAB SCENES IN ITTT

There’s SO much more i could say & that I’m going to say in future posts but I just wanted to get this post out there quickly!!!!