#honestly fuck you to the show runners and writers

[sunforgrace]

I know it’s heavily disputed about the extent and canon veracity of cas “picking up on dean’s longing” and what exactly that even means or entails. but thinking about that period after jack offscreen raised cas from the empty and before dean died.

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

Thoughts on TBB S3 ep8!!

PABUU

poor omega feeling guilty

and crosshair being protective again <33

Cross meeting Tech’s girl for the first time

“Transmission from Phee” “Who?”

“Bounty Hunter Fennec Shand” “Who?”

Cross morphing into an owl?

Fennec really earns her rep

Badass girly

“You think it’s in my head” and the angry storm off

*sigh* yeah I figured that’d happen at some point. Psychosomatic symptoms after trauma are common and hard to overcome or even accept (trust me I know)

I wanna hug him🥺🤍

THE WHOLE SCENE WITH OMEGA AND CROSS WHERE SHE TRIES TO COMFORT HIM AND HES NOT AS ABRASIVE WITH HER FOR SUGGESTING THE SAME RHING AZI DID

AAAAHHHHHHH

this rlly was the last reaction I expected to have to the last season of bad batch

just rolling in a pool of my own tears over Crosshair and omega

Goddamn these show runners know what’s up

Crocodiles in the river

Who woulda guessed

(me, i would’ve guessed)

The way the crocodile fucking yoinked Hunter hahahahahhaba

Fennec casually calling Hunter a broke bitch

These two will end up fucking

You heard it here first folks!

“I’m the… lookout?” what she’s saying is “I’m gonna sit on my ass and do fuckall :)”

Their target (whatever the fuck his name is) is the stuff of nightmares

Grossest ass creature I ever did see

CROSSHAIR MEDITATING HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

poor guy

“vegan daughter making me do spiritual shit I don’t understand but I love her too much to tell her this is bullshit send help”

but the hand hold was cute as fuck

Honestly Fennec is mother

I love her

I hope we get to see her more

Also the fact that we got both Phee and Fennec in one ep

Like TWO badass women of colour?

good soup honestly

I think this was our first filler? Which is fine, I get they can’t give us super plot driven shit every time and filler (when done well) can be really good and round out the story really well.

Overall I was a bit bored at times but still had casual fun watching. But again noticing that the writers are bending over backwards to avoid showing us Echo. And I wouldn’t’ve minded seeing Rex again either, but I’m sure he’s gonna come up again with the way the story is unfolding. I think he’s gonna have a bigger role other than one episode appearance for the girlies this season and I am READY!!

[kim-ruzek]

It pisses me off that people are mad at Matt because he went to see the young girl for Sylvie and saying Matt didn't do enough for Gabby. Even making it personal saying they're glad Monica stayed away.

One, Monica left the show. It was her decision. I'm sorry if you're mad that your ship didn't end up how you wanted but you have to understand it was because of the decision of the actor, this storyline happened because she left.

Secondly, Matt is at a different point in his life. He probably wasn't ready then but he's ready now. He was also there for Gabby in every way he could and loved her so much that he didn't want to see her die. She was the one who didn't want an adoption.

With Sylvie, she welcomes the help that anyone wants to provide.

I don't see how that fandom can differentiate that Matt loved/loves these two women differently and that he is going to support them anyway he can.

I really need to stay away from the bird app or else my blood pressure is going to go through the roof with some of these takes I'm reading.

LITERALLY it is so fucking maddening to see!

It already just drives me mad when people don't ever seem to respect the fact that these actors leave, because they wanted to, so it's to be expected that the end of that storyline will be a little shit. Like you can forever be sad d*wsey isn't canonically together anymore and that Matt moved on, because if d*wsey is The Ship for you that is sad but at the end of the day, the actress wanted out and the show continued.

I also hate the argument that he didn't do enough for Gabby... Because he did. He did so so much. She was the problem, she didn't want the help he gave her. That's fine, in some ways I get that attitude and it's fine to see it that way, but lord you cannot say he didn't try.

And it's not like Brettsey was rushed. It's been built up. It's been shown again and again that they love each other, how that is shown. And they've grown together. Also Matt has seen the whole development of this arc really, from helping Sylvie with Julia and then Amelia and all that and to now the decision to adopt baby Julia, he's the most qualified to speak on the matter honestly because he's seen all that.

I would generally recommend staying away from twitter atm at least. I am currently too lol. My blood pressure definitely couldn't handle it.

I'm just so fucking done with all the people who one) keep dragging Monica into this, like damn the woman left l can guarantee you the only thoughts she has is pride for her former co workers and two) people just needlessly hating on brettsey.

Idk if it's because I'm also having to deal with the same sort of idiocy when it comes to u*stead stans on twitter (which already is laughable to me bc the stans tend to be the same people as the d*wsey stans) so I'm already pretty damn tired of people not getting things and mixing up not personally liking a storyline direction Vs bad writing.

It's also tiring to see the hypocrisy (like adoption is Valid when d*wsey does it but not Sylvie or that Sigan is a brilliant writer/show runner until upstead has to be broken down because the actor left of his own choice 🙄) and like. Just ship and let ship. And if the show choices upset you... You don't need to watch. That's fine. But attacking other ships is just not on.

Ugh I'll stop now before this turns into a full on rant. I could bitch for days about d*wsey stans but especially as you only sent the ask about brettsey I should stop because I'll just also rant about u*stead and idk how you feel about them lol.

Thank you for asking!! 💖

[vampire-exgirlfriend]

so youve talked about daemon. but what are your thoughts on alicent?

Here, have some unhinged Alicent meta, anon who obviously wants me to get beat up.

Where the fuck do I even start with Alicent Hightower?

So I actually do enjoy the changes from the book to the show, at least in the first half of season one. I think that the added intrigue and drama of having her and Rhaenyra be friends and contemporaries added a lot of good potential. I love the angle of that first forbidden love (that was actually Emily’s idea, not the show runners, so stop being weird about that, certain TB people). It added depth to her character and gave us a taste of how much she would change as the story unfolds. Young Alicent is a sad girl, but still a girl full of hope, who had dreams and a best friend that became her family. To a lot of people, she’s very relatable. She’s sassy (the gossip at the tourney will never not be one of my favorite scenes), she’s smart, she works hard to learn and to impress those around her. And then, when tragedy strikes, she’s pulled away from Rhaenyra, the person she wanted to comfort in the ways that Alicent had found comfort in when her own mother died, and essentially pimped out by her father to the king (we can have a separate conversation about the whole Laena thing, which I do actually view as very different from what Otto did with Alicent), sent in her dead mother’s clothes to a grown man’s rooms, alone, to “soothe his grief.” There is very little left to the imagination about what Otto intended with this (I pretty firmly believe that Viserys took her maidenhead the night before the announcement was made that he would marry her instead of Laena and that’s why Alicent is wearing the same dress and jewelry the next day). 

So you have this fifteen year old girl, who was assaulted by a man she’s known all her life, the father of her best friend, and king of the realm. She’s rightfully terrified, she sees her life flashing before her eyes, she sees the implosion of the one friendship she really has. And honestly, the lead up to this is where Alicent loses me a bit. She is incredibly isolated, we see this. We see how she and Rhaenyra are held up as women with power, but powerless to do anything with it - it is power in name only. They are portrayed as each other's safe harbor in the storm. And I find myself asking ‘why didn’t Alicent go to Rhaenyra? Why didn’t she confide in her best friend about this, when that confiding would have the power to remove her from this situation, or at least, have her be less alone in it and have her best friend know what’s going on?’ Like we know, Alicent is a smart girl. So I will blame this one on the writing. Because it genuinely doesn’t compute to me. Yes, her father said “keep quiet.” Viserys said “keep quiet.” But, in a more real life scenario, would she have kept quiet? Especially before the guilt and shame of any sexual events (i.e assualt by the king) have happened and made the emotional spiral messier. I very much understand how sexual assault makes us clam up, and I, in no way, would ever shame or brow beat anyone for how they handle that. But what about the months before that happened? We are constantly shown how these girls share and gossip and spend all of their time together. It would have made sense for Alicent to be like "this is happening and I don't like it and I'm nervous." So, to me, this is more of a forced drama point to push the narrative along. It’s clunky and awkward and doesn’t make sense for the people that we now know Rhaenyra and Alicent to be. 

It was the first moment where I was like “bad call, Alicent.” But I do think that this clunky narrative choice by the writers does play into the person that we see Alicent grow into, which is where she almost completely loses me. 

Alicent Hightower is both victim and abuser. These are two things that can be true at one time, and I can be full of both sympathy for her plight and fury at the way she treats those around her. She has been isolated and preyed upon by her father, and assaulted and made to birth babies for a man who doesn’t care for her or for them. She has led a life of trauma, and it twisted her into something unrecognizable from the girl we met in episode one. 

And she made Rhaenyra the center of that, the touchstone of her righteous rage. 

She becomes fixated on the Velaryon boy’s lack of Valyrian features (which is an extension on the bad blood that grew between her and Rhaenyra when she found out that Rhaenyra and Criston slept together - do not come at me about which way the power dynamics skew in that situation). Why the show made the change to Rhaenys’ black hair and darker coloring will never fail to both astound and piss me off. This was meant to be vague. It was meant to not be able to be pinned down because those boys could have easily gotten their grandmother’s coloring. But whatever. Even still, Alicent’s treatment of Rhaenyra and Joffrey immediately after his birth is nothing short of fucking atrocious at best and abusive at worst. Even Laenor’s line of “haven’t we moved past this by now” shows us that this has been going on for the last eleven years.

That said, there are eleven years of missing pieces here. And we as the audience are left to interpret what could have gone on in that time. But to me, it looks like Alicent could not come to grips with the fact that Rhaenyra no longer saw her as someone that she could trust, that she could confide in. Rhaenyra took the omission of the fact that Alicent was spending time with Viserys (of her own volition or not, Rhaenyra has no idea, because Alicent kept it a secret, and we can’t look at that through the modern lens we want to. Because fifteen year old girls were married to men in their forties all the time, despicable as it is) and felt that it was the deathblow to their friendship, which further isolated them both.

We see that Alicent has become more pious over the years, which makes sense because 1) the Hightowers have a very deep connection to and relationship with the faith of the seven 2) she says in an early episode that the sept is where she goes to feel closer to her mother, and she is very much isolated at this point, needing that connection, and 3) it gives her a more tangible reason for her hatred for Rhaenyra’s children (more than just the show narrative idea of “hey, Alicent can’t get over a pseudo breakup with her childhood sort of girlfriend). In her mind, if the Valrayon boys are bastards, they are evil, and her faith backs up that train of thought. It gives her something to cleave to, something that substantiates all the feelings that she can’t make sense of but that feel awful. And while all of this is happening, she has Otto whispering “oh, Rhaenyra will certainly kill your sons should she come to the throne.” 

Now, again, Alicent loses me here. Because Rhaenyra has never indicated that she would do that (or allow that, for those of you who want to say ‘Oh well Daemon…’ or ‘Oh well Corlys…’). Alicent has seen that, where her father is concerned, that she is “simply a piece to move about the board,” that he never had her best interest, or her children’s at heart, and still she chooses to believe that? So is it just weak writing, or is Alicent weak in this instance? And where does that piety stand when she is covering up the fact that her son raped a maid? She doesn’t hold Aegon responsible for the action, only for how it would reflect on the family. She is so quick to blame the Velaryon boys for the pig incident, when, on screen, it is very obvious to see that it was Aegon’s idea and he roped an eleven and a four year old into it. Even Viserys sees it. And when it’s brought to Rhaenyra’s attention, Rhaenyra extends the offer of a dragon egg to Aemond, as well as a betrothal between Jace and Helaena (jacelaena, my beloveds). Alicent, however, only tells Aegon that he can “cuff his brother about at home as he wishes” but that outside of their home, they must present a united front. I will say that I do believe that Alicent is doing everything she can to keep her family together, to keep them safe. She has never not been isolated. She is not a dragon, she is not a Targaryen, she holds absolutely no power. Do I think she did the right things? No. But I also don't think everything she did came from a hateful or evil place. No one taught this woman how to be a mother, no one taught her how to love her children without hurting them (metaphorically. She can catch these hands for the physical abuse she commits against Aegon. There is never an excuse for putting your hands on children).

Then we have Driftmark, an all around unfortunate situation. A dragon cannot be stolen, so I’m not even going to touch on that. But children who should have been in bed, watched by guards, weren’t, and the ensuing fight happened. Aemond lost an eye, everyone is corralled into the great hall and Jace tells Rhaenyra “he called us bastards.” I don’t think enough people understand the concept that bastardry in this instance can get you killed. Rhaenyra, the boys, Harwin, if he wasn’t already dead, could have lost their lives; it wasn’t just the crown or the throne at risk. And these are the words that Alicent is teaching her sons to use in regard to Rhaenyra and the Velaryon boys. Should the name calling have been the main focus of this? Absolutely not, a child had his eye cut out. Was it on purpose? No. Should it have been addressed? Yes, and Viserys fucking dropped the ball there, just the same way he had done for the entirety of his reign. But calling Jace and Luke bastards could cost them their lives. And I don’t think that twelve year old Aemond gets this. He doesn’t have that total understanding of it. But Alicent does. And she has been speaking these words, more loudly than she should, for over a decade at this point. 

Aemond doesn't understand what he's saying in this moment, but every adult in that room does because of how bastardry is looked at within the realm. And not just for the treason of it, but because every woman in the realm worries about her husbands bastards usurping her children on claim (look at Cat Stark and Jon Snow). There’s no denying that Rhaeynra put her sons in a dangerous position (we can talk about her rights and wrongs in another post if anyone wants to). Alicent is not the only one who sees it, but right now she's the loudest, and that's where the possible hope to get someone else to talk about it would come in. Would it have just been easier had someone other than Alicent’s inner circle bought into the bastard rumors and forced the issue? Yeah. And to a certain degree, I think that's what she wanted.

So tldr Alicent drives me fucking crazy, in both good and bad ways. I think the time skip did her and Rhaenyra, both as individuals and together, a huge disservice, and we somehow ended up with whatever the fuck happened in episode 9 where all of a sudden Alicent was back to being team “we gotta save Rhaenyra.”

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Does anyone want 345 GB of John Oliver? Because I have just spent the last couple of weeks gathering 345 GB of John Oliver, organizing and labeling everything with the original air date and show and episode titles/guest lists (honestly, that took more effort than just downloading it all), and then uploaded it to a Google Drive. A Google Drive where I get the first three months at a discounted rate, so it’ll definitely stay up as long as that. No promises after that, because the price will go up and I don’t think I can afford to pay monthly to maintain that. But I’ll see how it goes. If anyone does get this link and wants to keep what’s in it, definitely download it to your own hard drive because it won’t stay up indefinitely.

I’m not going to post the link publicly for obvious reasons, but if anyone wants this link, you just have to message me. Don’t be shy if we don’t know each other or talk on here or anything, I’m happy to share with anyone who wants it. All I ask is that you don’t share the link publicly either, that makes it more likely that it’ll stay up for as long as I keep paying the fee, at least.

This Google Drive has most things where John Oliver was a main writer and/or creator, and also appeared in it. And then it has a folder for all the acting roles he had after moving to America – so anything where he plays a character, rather than “as self”. And there’s a folder for just everything I could find from pre-move to America – panel show spots (TV and radio, though TV is just Mock the Week), radio stand-up spots, an article he wrote for The Times in 2003, videos I took off YouTube, that stand-up show he did with Andy Zaltzman that they released on The Bugle, that one time when he sat at a desk across the room from Armando Iannucci and read out fake news stories. Three different sitcoms where he appeared in one episode each, for one scene each. One time in 2001, he turned up on a sitcom that starred Ardal O’Hanlon as an alien superhero, but John’s only role was to come in for about one minute and ruin Hugh Dennis’ day. In one episode of a different 2001 sitcom, which starred Thick of It Minister and noted child pornography collector Chris Langham, John's entire role was to fuck with Robert Webb for one scene and then sit in the background of some others, looking at computers from the 90s. Is this something you would like to see? Then send me a message!

Here is a list of things that are not in my Google Drive:

- Any of his “as self” appearances, post-move to America, that aren’t in John Oliver’s own show (one where he was the host, or a writer like on The Daily Show). Interviews and other guest appearances on talk shows or podcasts – gathering all that up would take the rest of my life, so I haven’t bothered.

- Last Week Tonight season 11, after episode 1. As I write this, episode 1 is the only episode that’s out, so of course nothing past there is uploaded. As more episodes come out, I’ll try to add them, but I don’t want to commit to that, so I don’t know how much will go up.

-  The stuff I haven't been able to find from his pre-America days. That means the lost section of his "as self" IMDB page, as indicated by my MS Paint yellow circle:

I have all the pre-America stuff on his IMDB page that's not in that yellow circle, so please let me know if you know where to find the lost yellow circle files.

This, which I would say has now become my biggest white whale in terms of lost John Oliver media:

A Radio 4 show from May 2005 in which John Oliver and a runner-up for the Perrier Award in 1987 talk about the election for eight episodes. With writing credits to a young Andy Zaltzman, a young Mark Watson, a slightly less young but younger than he is now Robin Ince, and a guy who was in Chris Addison's sitcom and is married to Margaret Cabourn-Smith. And some people I haven't heard of. I don't hold out a lot of hope for finding a copy of this show, but obviously, if you have a lead, do let me know.

He also did a Radio 4 sitcom about an orchestra with Lucy Montgomery and some people I've never heard of in 2004. I bet it's terrible, I'd love to hear it.

Oh, and John Oliver doesn't actually appear in this but I've heard Andy Zaltzman describe some stuff that Zaltzman and Oliver wrote for Bremner, Bird and Fortune that I've never been able to find.

Other than that, I have most things. Please send me a message if you would like access to that, you can send a non-anonymous ask if you prefer that but it just can't be anonymous because then I can't reply privately.

[theliterarywolf]

Okay. One more question... Who is Ken Draws? I've checked and they were another worker for SpindelHorse/Vivziepop and honestly, it’s giving me anxiety.

So, before I go into this, I want to bring up something that a lot of writers/show runners/etc. bring attention to:

The reason why we don't discuss headcanons, jokes, fanfics, or plot ideas with people (friends, fans, otherwise).

Do we remember why? Anyone? Anyone at all? It's because if you, someday in the future, are working on something and you end up utilizing anything you may have seen in a headcanon/spoken about with friends, fans, etc) you run the risk of people accusing you of stealing their ideas.

Yes, this even includes if you yourself own the IP that the jokes, headcanons, or plot ideas were centered on.

In fact, for those of you who have followed me for a long while who may remember that 'dark magical girl deconstruction that centered around magical pets' project and may have wondered 'oh, why didn't she ever continue that's, everything I mentioned above fed into the reasons why I just left that project as is (there were a lot of different people chucking ideas and story beats into the pot for it).

So, with that out of the way, after reading through Ken's doc (which, fuck off, was damn near 30 pages), I can say that this is the headache that Viv got herself into.

With the tracing complaint, I am keeping out of it. With the 'Viv trying to get Ken to sign release documents even when he was sick' thing, while it does sound shitty on the surface, I can kind of understand the push because if I had the opportunity to get a project of mine funded and produced by a major studio but I had to make sure that everything on the legal end was buttoned up? Damn straight I would be hitting up everyone to square that shite away; I'm sorry. Big studios aren't going to want to hear 'oh, I just have to wait for this one guy'.

But. With all that. Being said:

WHY ARE YOU WAITING UNTIL NOW, WHEN THIS SHIT IS RIGHT ON THE HORIZON OF BEING RELEASED, TO SPEAK UP?!?

Holy shit, not only does it reek of trying to stir the pot (like the infamous Helena Taylor situation) but if you really cared about speaking up so that no one else would get hurt, you missed the windows for the house.

And with all the 'Viv threatened to get me blacklisted from the industry', do you not think that that would have been substantial enough evidence to get people behind you early on?

I don't know, it's like I said: there are some shitty things in that document that I can believe Viv did, but a lot of the rationalization for why he didn't come forward sooner doesn't make sense and, with all the other nonsense going on in the world of Viv allegations, doesn't read very strongly.

[escapism-from-the-real-world]

I’ve been meaning to make this post for a while but it’s a long post so… have fun

So, the power rangers movie, right?

Garbage.

As someone who watched power rangers growing up and is rewatching a lot of the series it does NOT hold up to its legacy.

All the characters lack any real characterization and they (the makers of the film) know it. Instead of showing us there growth, we are literally told, to our face, the struggles they are going through and how this connects them to each other.

They literally have to force them to interact and have heart to hearts because they lack so much chemistry.

And I think part of that is that they are all the “outcast/loner” archetype. Now, I usually really like this archetype in PR (read Dillon from RPM) but they have every. Single. One of them as this kind of character.

Instead of having a typical group dynamic with a heart, leader, smart guy, strong guy, and lancer, with diverse character archetypes, it’s all just, outcast who used to be popular, outcast with autism, outcast because she sent nudes of her friend to other people, outcast for some reason, and, you guessed it another outcast!

In other PR shows, we have so much diversity in how the rangers are. Like, PR is surprisingly good at having a bunch of completely different people mush together to form a team.

But no. They wanted to be edgy. And they could have been!

Like RPM would have been a great version to base the movie off of since its more mature and, in my opinion, the best power rangers and it is edgy! Almost all the world is dead and the air is toxic and the team is full of really interesting characters who just feel so natural and pretty much everyone had a tragic backstory where someone they care about gets hurt/killed by Venjix and it so good.

If I was the writer for this movie, I wouldn’t have so many outcasts. And I know part of it is they need a reason why they all gathered together and got their morphers, but PR has been putting a group of strangers into unlikely situations in order to form their teams for years but now suddenly you can’t think of a better way to bring them together than “they were all outcasts and didn’t feel connected to the city”

Also, Zordon is a bitch. Sucky mentor who doesn’t tell his rangers shit and doesn’t train them and is just disappointed no matter what they do. He barely changes by the end of it and I. Don’t. Like. Him.

Also, the little robot is not friend shaped. I don’t care what they were going for, it failed.

It’s like the movie runners completely forgot that part of PR is that ANYONE can be a ranger and its not just the angsty, lonely outsiders fated to protect the world.

Also the music choices? Bad. Horrible. I could’ve picked way better song choices and let the audience here it. Seriously, how do they not know how to use music?? Don’t even get me started on when they used the power rangers theme, that was so bad.

They should’ve used a orchestra version that shook your bones. But no, we’re left with an unsatisfying play of the theme that can barely be heard with honestly crappy suit designs that I don’t really like and bland, soulless characters that I don’t want to root for.

Just, why. It could’ve been so good, but it stinks. Especially in comparison to other PR shows like RPM where they were angsty and edgy but still fun and good and able to use fucking music in their show like holy hell how hard is it to turn the volume up a little

Ugh, I am so bitter about it. They all deserved better. They all deserved to be campy. Shit, man.

[ashtraythief]

That post you just reblogged made me sob, wtf was that. Anyway I can’t stand Mary in the later seasons. She is super uncaring and callous towards the boys, which is just so hard to imagine because that is not how I pictured her at all. Ooof, I always thought she’d love the shit out of them. I mean, who wouldn’t? Your kids gave up everything up to avenge you, literal years of their lives. That just breaks my heart. Honestly, I just pretend Mary coming back never happened. Jody was a better parent figure? What is up with that?

Omg yeah, so good. Hurts in the best way.

I think my thoughts on this matter deviate from yours here, and I'll put my ramblings under a cut. 

I wasn't a fan of them bringing Mary back. I don't understand what the point was except that J2 wanted more time off and the writers/Show runners were too uncreative to go beyond which dead character can we bring back??? 

That being said, I really like the idea expressed in ameliacareful's post. I don't remember how callous I found Mary bc I've only seen S12 onward once or twice because they really lost me in S12 and I only finished to watch it all. I do kind of get it though. I mean Mary had a toddler and a baby, a husband and bam she's dead, bam she's back and her little children are grown men, living a life she never wanted for them and her husband is dead. Not to mention the time jump. I mean that alone is enough to fuck anyone up I'd think. As for loving Sam and Dean, they're not her Sam and Dean. They're grown men. She needs to get to know them first. Knowing someone wanted to avenge you is not a sufficient basis for love I think, because you love someone because of all their bits not just one thing. And Mary never wanted them to go on the revenge hunting train to begin with so she was probably more horrified than anything. I would have been. My beloved tiny babies growing up into giant hardened hunters? Ouch. Also when Mary was a parent before she died, she tucked her kids into bed, made them sandwiches, changed Sam's diapers and put bandaids on Dean's scratches and read them stories. She can't do any of that with Sam and Dean. She thought she'd spend her next 20 years watching her boys grow up, making them food, helping them/herding them with their homework, driving him to little league games, comforting them when they cry, etc. I mean a parent's relationship with a young child is so different from an adult child, I don't blame Mary for not knowing how to behave with them. Also, Mary is more than just a mom. She's a whole person and reducing her to just their mom makes her a really one dimensional character. The problem was that the expectation of course was there for her to be a mom, from the boys too and the show didn't do the best job to show Mary's struggle. They tried. But then there was the whole men of letters thing. And I kind of get that maybe Mary is so confused and displaced that she goes back to something that is familiar and unconnected like hunting but again, the writing was so weak. The subject of a resurrected woman confronting her grown children is so complex and they just… didn't do it justice. And don't even get me started on her and Ketch and the brainwashing. And then they killed her again for drama. that whole story just didn't work form me at all. 

As for Jody, I didn't really see her as a parent or mother figure. She's a mother hen type, sure, but I didn't see a parental relationship there. I do like her and her relationship with the boys, I just didn't see her that way. Sometimes, you just have a friend who does that caretaking, planning, worrying, mother henning thing, but it's not necessarily parental. At least that's my impression of that relationship. 

[dirigibleplumbing]

How many times do you think Ben Edlund and several other Cas centric/Destiel positive writers pitched pining Misha Collins to the ceiling of Dean’s bedroom and lighting him on fire? Even as a dream sequence. I can also imagine Carver and Dabb being all for it as show runners but getting the big No from higher ups/the studio/Jackles (depending on the season, earlier Jensen says no, season 12+ Jensen yeah) for various reasons ranging from homophobia to budget issues

damn, I would've loved to see this. honestly, I even would've been down if this had been one of the ways Cas died (provided he came back, of course).

I don't have enough info to speculate whether this was ever actually pitched. it's so queer to have Cas in the position of the wife/girlfriend like that... but also if you'd asked me before it happened, I would've said there's no way the CW would ever allow anything as explicitly queer and shippy as the fucking mixtape to appear on our screens, so what do I know.

anyway, thank you for this image, I'm surprised I don't see it in fic, I will 100% be using it in a future story.

[outrunningthedark]

"If Tim is “no longer involved” with OG, there’s less of a chance his influence can fuck things up for the fandom."

Me, to whoever unironically believing that: Kristen Reidel and Buck's cheating/sperm donor drama hello? Anyone?

She's picked as the co-showrunner because Tim likes her brand of drama the most. Why haven't people realized that? Is being a "911 writers' stan" cloud the judgment so much?

I don't think it's about "stanning" a show runner as much as it is wanting or trying to promote the belief that their choices have a purpose that matches the fandom's, especially when a lot of the activity in this space comes from people who write fics and paragraphs worth of analysis and speculation. If Tim was still dividing his time between both shows or there was no spinoff, you wouldn't see the "good riddance" reaction going around since s4 of LS started. They'd *have* to put their faith in him because there would be no backup plan. This is evident in the "defense" of the two story lines you mentioned. Buck cheating was (from a fandom POV) supposed to spell the downfall of BT. It did not. It was also supposed to be an indication of Buck's "regression" and inevitable breakdown. It was neither of those things. Mainly because Eddie's breakdown followed immediately after and Buck had to be on his best behavior to care for Chris/offer Eddie emotional support. Now that the arc is closed, nobody brings it up because it added nothing to his story. BT broke up because TayKay's work got in the way, giving people the excuse to harp on about terrible they were together or she was as a person. (We were never supposed to like her for him or them together. Maaaaybe if the fandom wasn't celebrating her #charactergrowth in s4 and pushing the idea that she would stay on as a platonic friend, the trajectory of the relationship could have gone differently, but alas. They were duped.)

With the sperm donor arc, the initial thought process (my preferred outcome, obv) was that Buck wouldn't actually go through with it because he'd realize he isn't built for not being a constant presence in his bio kid's life. And for the bloggers who think they know everything, it doesn't make sense if canon!Buddie isn't the outcome. (A lot less likely now that the spotlight is on another couple. Can't have social media talking about Buddie and Buddie only.) Making a rash decision, but then having the universe "scream" via failed donor attempts or having Buck speak to someone from his family about the mistake he'd be making and then he realizes he shouldn't do it, would have been a good story, absolutely. Stop doing things for other people, Buck! Do them for you! Because you understand your worth now! But here we are months later and: - His attempt at helping make a baby was successful, and proven successful in the 6A finale, meaning we're nowhere near the end. - The show runner was already talking about the impending birth in her s5 post-mortem interviews. Unless it turns out that Connor was able to impregnate his wife (still rooting for this no matter how unlikely, especially when the reaction could have changed what was meant to happen down the line) there's gonna be a kid, and it will be biologically Buck's. IMO, the people who will still "applaud" the story line if it turns out Buck has a kid out there somewhere are the ones who want to see him with his "own family" because Chris isn't actually his. (Apparently "the family we chose" doesn't apply when there's an option for Big Man, Tiny Baby? Okay.) But to everyone else? RED FLAG. Kristen would not create a fictional child just to never bring it up again. It's easy drama. Also, the audience is going to know that Buck has someone else with his DNA. They are going to be thought of as "his kid", not Christopher, until canon says otherwise. It's a way to appease a certain part of the base in the event that Buddie goes canon because at least he got to have one of his own, right? And honestly, it works in the opposite scenario - Buddie remaining friends throughout - because TPTB have no way of knowing how long OG will run for or how long OS will stick around. If Buck gets a LI that's not Eddie, there may not be time for a pregnancy plot.

[greenerteacups]

Following up on the side characters ask -- hi same person -- thank you for the thorough answer and honestly I admire the background stories (and research!) You've done for them!

Idk if this would matter, but really I was curious to get a little peek at your brain when writing these characters as I really thought you're doing a consistent job on their voices because really it is hard! I'm actually working as a show runner/writer for - uh - a published tv show and even when doing a second season right now me and my coworker in my writers room would get confused once in a while when writing in different voices and we have 11 people on our team!! That being said I really really think aside from talent, you're just a really hard and consistent worker in your writing. Please know you're doing an amazing job.

Wow! First of all, congratulations on being a showrunner/writer and on landing a second season — you're doing an amazing job, man. Game recognize game. And thank you for the kind words! It's a special treat to get a compliment from a fellow artist.

For me, side characters got a lot easier to do when I started thinking of voice in kind of clinical terms. I get stressed out when I think about big concepts like Voice and Plot and Atmosphere, and my brain works better when I think hyper-technically: it's not Voice capital-V, it's just — what type of contractions do they like? Do they stutter? Are they wordy? It's not Plot capital-P, it's: set up Element A, hit Reinforcement B, hit Payoff C. Cool. You've got a subplot. It's not Atmosphere capital-A, it's: how much attention are you gonna pay to the weather in this scene? How much time have you spent talking about light, temperature, noise? Literally, CTRL+Shift+W, what are your word counts? Is the pacing of a conversation wrong? Cool, CTRL+Shift+W again, check the ratio of gesture/narration to spoken dialogue, that's probably it. If your normal writerly gutfeels aren't helping you out, fuck em, we can brute force this shit with Rules.

Specifically, and I don't know if this works for everyone, but I picture voice as essentially a set of parameters: Ron uses slang a lot, Draco will generally say "that isn't" instead of "that's not" (sounds older/more formal), Hermione speaks in full sentences unless interrupted and likes her run-ons, Daphne's overfamiliar and loves an endearment. I just give them these things I can lean on. And then, when I want to have a Character Moment, I can have one of them break those parameters, and the audience goes !!! because it's surprising but the trend is so consistent that it feels real and earned — for instance, Draco doesn't swear a lot, at least out loud (in the early books anyway), so when he says "fuck" for the first time in Book 4, it underscores the moment. Anyway: best of luck from one writer to another, I can't wait for your project to come out, it's gonna rule.

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

TBB s3 ep 14

Only one more to go after this, we ready!? (no, pls help)

Yes Hunter, how IS Echo gonna get off the ship?

Oh I see we’re just gonna let him wing it and do it on his own?

Like don’t get me wrong I have full faith in Echo I just don’t like how Hunter is so focused on Omega he doesn’t even try to find a way to help out Echo

He also doesn’t listen to Crosshair’s remark about the Jungle being dangerous

Love how Omega is like “oh base on high security alert? Multiple explosions? it’s my brothers!!”

I swear Rampart and is constant bitching is so tiring

HAHAHAHAHHAH THE BITCH SCREAMS LIKE A CHILD

Gaaaahh Cross talking about his first time on Tantiss

His hand tremor acting up

Poor baby I love him give him a hug

“…but Omega didn’t leave me behind when she could have. I owe her.”

Bro just say you love your baby sisters like it’s not that big a deal we already knew

The utter fucking relief I felt when Echo made it off that ship unharmed

Jesus, I am so scared that we might,,,

Okay I don’t wanna jinx it so I’m just gonna say “scared that the writers pull another Tech”

Aaaaaaand Rampart’s bitchiness got them a) attacked by a giant beast and b) discovered by imperial troops

I hate him so much

Emerie not only recognising Echo but immediately volunteering to help?

She’s growing on me tbh

Is Omega gonna free the Zillo? To get out? Like as a distraction?

Idk that seems kinda dangerous girly

wait wtf that’s it???

That was already 20mins?

I wasn’t ready for the end there I though we were gonna get more😪

Tbh, I think it felt so short because they had to fit three storylines into twenty minutes. I really wish they were allowed 40 minute episodes, then they could’ve really done a deep dive into all three moving parts of this episode. Like at this point it’s not the writers or show runners fault, it’s just that they probably didn’t get the budget to make their episodes that long, which rlly sucks but like,,, ya can’t be mad.

But! I honestly still don’t understand how ALL OF THIS is gonna get wrapped up in 1 more episode. Like how? Genuinely, how?

On the one hand, that makes me worry that the last episode is gonna be super rushed and feel unfinished or whatever but on the other hand it gives me hope that we’re gonna get another show. Because we still don’t know how Gregor, Rex and Wolffe ended up on Silos (?) alone, what happened to their rebellion, where the entirety of the batch went, what the hell Echo Base on Hoth is all about, who tf CX-2 is and Hemlock and Rampart are still alive also?? Which seems like an oversight.

AND all the clones still need to be busted out of Tantiss and relocated and why am I getting the feeling that Tantiss is just gonna blow up with everyone still there and that’s the reason why Rex gives up SHIT FUCK DAMNNIT

Anyway, point being!! This can’t end well any way you slice it. Lovely.

I will say that all in all I did like this episode!! Rampart getting panic attack after panic attack was rlly fun, we got a heart to heart between Wrecker and Crosshair (brief as it was), Echo again proofed why he is an ARC Trooper and why, after the apocalypse and the explosion of the galaxy he will still be standing, and Omega showed us once again that she is a far cry from that scared kid in season 1 and has instead turned into a sharp, competent, mini soldier (lets not talk about the fact that she’s essentially been turned into a child soldier out of pure necessity)

Anyway!! Good stuff, I am terrified of the finale!! Hope y’all enjoyed!! Thanks for reading!! See you next week when I try not to have a breakdown!!

[matan4il]

Buddie challenge question because honestly these 2 things bug me to no end of things I wish I saw. And if the writers said I could only have one like gah I can't choose one. Would love your tie breaker in my head.

1. The conversation that ever happened when Buck explained absolutely everything about the tsunami, from picking up and running with Chris. The keeping him safe from bodies floating. Him diving in to save him. Bonus points if we got Eddie telling him the Chris version. Just the tears. But also I sometimes want to really have seen Eddie see fuck this man went through hell for my heart.

2. The conversation about what Buck felt and saw when Eddie was shot. Explaining just the determination of his actions. And in turn Eddie revealing his fears of why is Buck covered in blood, is he hurt, how did he wake up near Anna? Did he search for Buck right away. Bonus points for Chris Explaining it all to Eddie later.

Also I'm not against all of the above being in the Buddie Begins episode if I'm being honest. Please flashback to these moments team. But if you had choose your fighter, which one is it?

OMG, Nonnie, what are you doing to me? XD Those aren’t just fighters, those are super-fighters you’re asking me to pit against each other!

Let me just say I adore both. The tsunami was the first time when I thought to myself, “Oh.” As in, “Oh, they can’t back away from this. What just happened isn’t an elf lady scene that the show runners can write off as a joke or a gesture for the fandom. This is intense. And it’s the emotional climax of a three-ep major arc! They can’t pretend this didn’t mean something more.” But then the shooting arc is an even more blatant play on romantic tropes, which means it’s another one that’s undeniable. Another critical moment in the evolution of Buddie. So how can I possibly pass up seeing more of either one?

Hmm. OK. We can assume that the first happened. That Buddie must have talked about everything Buck and Chris went through during the tsunami, because Eddie explicitly comments to Christopher’s therapist in 304 that he's still not sure what his son saw that day. The most likely source of info for that would be Buck and Chris themselves, so I’m sure Eddie talked to both of them about that day. But the second. That hasn’t happened canonically as far as we’re aware, right? I guess I’d like that, because it doesn’t have to play out just in flashbacks, it can happen in the here and now, and give Buddie some critical insights for realizing what their relationship is actually all about. And yeah, I would sell a kidney for that!

I hope I managed to answer you, Nonnie? Thank you for this! xoxox

(and if anyone’s looking for it, here is my ask tag! xoxox)  

[thephantomcasebook]

You know, about the Matt, Emma, Olivia thing … I’ve heard so many versions, one of which is that they were protesting Sapochnik/Hess’s script, not the new one, and they’re part of the reason for the rewrites and Grrm was on their side. This doesn’t completely make sense as it seems Emma and Olivia liked Sapochnik’s ideas… but then again Hess was the one who made Larys a creep and Daemon a domestic abuser, so maybe they were protesting those elements, which I’m sure she would have tried to make worse? Because I honestly can’t see Matt sticking his neck out over simple disagreements about the characters, even the DV stuff, he is on record saying that at the end of the day, he does what’s in the script. He gives opinions/suggestions and improvs some things as any actor does, but he seems pretty willing to do whatever. Like I just don’t think he cares that much about HOTD, beyond his job as an actor. I can’t see him raising a stink about the script unless it was truly egregious and Emma and/or Olivia were legitimately uncomfortable with something (and I don’t mean uncomfortable as in Olivia wants Alicent to be a lesbian and is mad she’s not, I mean there’s some really serious sexual or domestic violence). Idk, that’s just the vibe I get from him based on interviews, but maybe he’s more invested than I think. I do agree that Olivia is probably too invested in her headcanons and is arguing with the writers about it, but I think that might be a separate issue from the alleged meeting the three of them had with the execs. I guess I just err on the side of believing that HBO would absolutely be willing to put an actress in an unnecessarily degrading scene for shock value (and that Hess would insist on these scenes as part of her “men are evil” pseudo-feminist agenda) considering GOT’s history.

Look, I'll always be up front with you, nonny.

I'm completely open to being 1000% wrong on everything.

If Cooke was out there defending the sanctity of Alicent and Criston's relationship, cause, Hess wanted to ruin them, or ruin Criston's character. I'll gladly take my Katana, basket hat, and a bindle of food, and leave the village with my braid cut from my dishonor.

But from everything I've ever seen of Olivia Cooke through the years, I just don't believe she capable of something that selfless for the integrity of a show that she has made crystal clear that she does not care about. She's an activist first and an actress way down the list. Cooke would do anything to press her message, and I don't think that she'd go out of her way to protect a male role or character to the tune of fucking her entire career for the creative integrity of something she sees only as a stepping-stone.

From my prospective, as someone who deeply distrusts activists of any kind - for good reasons - I'd genuinely believe that Cooke was trying to defend Sapochnik and Hess's original creative vision of this being a tyrannical story of how patriarchy destroyed a Lesbian Romance. And that them going over the show runner's heads triggered the studio to bring in a ringer to completely dismantle that vision and bring the breakaway producers and cast to heel.

However, I do keep open and will entertain the slight - however small - idea that Hess had tried to ruin Criston's character and lean into that all the men on team green - all men in general - are evil. Just because, it seems that the studio acted by bringing in a third party to story edit after the alleged incident. And there is a possibility that they got Hess benched for the former head writer of "The Crown" who has experience writing character driven assembles about royalty.

But, like I said, I could be completely wrong. And I'll own it if I am ...

But I just don't think Cooke capable of falling on her sword. There is something incredibly angry and spiteful about her and the way she expresses her opinions and agendas, you can feel it. And I just don't think she's capable of anything but pushing her agenda and personal bullshit, not caring about anything or anyone.

As for Matt Smith ... look, I can't be objective about him. I've been a fan of Lily James for years and years, and he did something to that girl, something bad, and she's been running - hurting herself and others - to get away from it. And anyone who knows anything about her, knows that Matt Smith has everything to do with it. She ran all the way to Los Angeles, to the other side of the world, to get away from him. I don't know, so I don't comment ...

But I don't trust any story where Matt Smith stands up for women.

[agaypanic]

who is your favorite character from each show you write about? and why?

ooo this is fun

Derry Girls - i honestly can't choose between james and clare, i love them both so much!! james seems so awkward bc he doesn't know what's going on and clare is so funny when she gets panicky, i love the english fella and the wee lesbian lmao

I Am Not Okay With This - stan!! he's just so unapologetically himself, plus i love his style. his fits go hard. (also i love bloodwitch, i'm so glad that netflix made an album for a fake band lmao)

My Babysitter's A Vampire - obvi benny, that man's the love of my life (atticus mitchell is so dreamy). he's like one of those guys that immediately comes to mind when someone brings up stereotypical disney 2010s boys. but rory is so close up there, i love dumb blonde men

Malcolm In The Middle - malcolm!!! despite being an only child, i relate to him a lot. he's the whole reason i started writing for mitm in the first place

The Maze Runner - gally, mainly bc he's the only tmr character i write for (although ive only written one thing for him and it was over a year ago). i absolutely love will poulter, plus gally's so real for being like "fuck this greenie we can't trust him" bc imagine being stuck somewhere for 3 years and this newbie comes along and breaks all the rules and figures out how to get out in like less than a week (love thomas tho)

That 70's Show - eric!!! i love nerdy beanpole men. he has his moments but for the most part i think he's def one of the best members of the friend group (the writers did him and topher so dirty at the end tho, making him have like no direction in life and then making him move to africa and break up with donna, that felt so out of character imo) (topher grace <333) (i still have to see that 90s show, if youve seen it lmk if its good!! no spoilers tho pls lmao)

iZombie - even if i wrote for more than just him, i love ravi. again, i love nerdy men. there's just something about him and his sweaters that has me kicking my feet and giggling. also, when he ate that brain the first time we see him getting his monthlies RAHHHH made me feel stuff

obvi i love all the characters i write for but for some fandoms, i def have favorites lol

[mdhwrites]

Hot take:

Hunter is a worthless character that never should have been in the show and you can tell by how he's written just how much of a writers pet he is and you can see Dana's blatant favoritism with him.

Labyrinth runners had MANY plot holes that highlight this issue perfectly.

(for example, did you know that Hunter somehow knew Adrien was in the gym despite this never being said and him being knocked out?

Equally why WAS Hunter being aimlessly dragged around instead of with Gus, despite being identified as a high value target who needed to be brought back to Belos?

Why did Willow trust him to help Gus when he admitted he had zero clue what was wrong and would have been better suited to fighting the abomaton as a supposed trained fighter? Although to be fair, the writers routinely make Hunter incompetent when the plot suits, such as when he stood still for an abomaton to whack him out the sky.

And why did hunter have the line 'have you seen her play flyer derby?' did the writers just forget Gus was in ASIAS?)

So... I won't say Hunter is a worthless character. He is likable which is better than I can really say about say... Alador at this point, who went from quirky and a bit funny to just... THERE. Hunter at least has a theoretical narrative point and a likable enough personality. Of course, when you're given the narrative position of Lilith and are a corrupted copy and paste of Amity, you're not going to be entirely useless or unlikable. -_- So while not worthless, he is incredibly unnecessary and repetitive. I would have to rewatch Labyrinth runners to comment on a lot of the plot holes you bring up and for how important they are. Something like him knowing Adrien is in the gym when he shouldn't is one of those nitpicks that isn't good but not something I'd inherently hold against the show. It's a writer fucking up but it's no big deal and i want to make sure people understand the difference between a nitpick, which I do at times myself and also fuck you Cinema Sins for making writing discussions so much worse, and an actual problem in a story's writing.

BUT. Let's actually start getting mean because you're not wrong but the problem is only half Hunter. The other half is that you're asking the writers to actually care about Gus and Willow because you know? I bet you they didn't fucking care that Gus was in ASIAS, especially when they gave him no reason to be trying to ride his broom normally before showing how he actually rides it. Or in Labyrinth Runners, you have the MUCH bigger problem of the fact that Hunter, a guy who has spent like two hours tops with Willow, knows her better than her best friend? "That's not the captain." Yes, Gus is experiencing some level of a panic attack at that point but it's BEYOND dumb nonetheless that this total stranger knows Willow better. And unfortunately, Hunter takes the lead with Willow a lot post being added to the cast for the sake of Huntlow because the writers are fanfic shippers instead of remembering the entire cast. So shove Gus to the side because he is the third wheel to the ship they want to have interacting and getting closer.

Side note on favoritism with Hunter: THREE different girls all do the same routine of "You can be better. Oh, you disappoint me. That's okay, we'll work it out someday." Luz, Amity and Willow all are very potentially shipped with him in one way or another, have similarities drawn between them and Willow gets to keep him because she's not already in a ship or a lesbian already. It is... awkward that they use the same trick three times in general but I'm not sure how many tricks TOH really has in its writing playbook when it comes to ANYTHING. But moving away from Hunter, because I've honestly talked before about how shit he is... I do want to talk about how shitty Gus is treated in the entire show. Despite the fact that he gets more true episodes than Willow (Holy shit is Willow not a character btw and talking about her status as a plot device to the writers is its own blog), how much actually expands his character. His first one is about wanting to keep his club and his human fascination but is also the first, and only time in S1, where illusion magic is taken... seriously? At all? Otherwise he's a complete joke? Then Looking Glass fucks up his magic sideways just to make glyphs look REALLY COOL AND REALLY EASY AND REALLY BORING with a finale that... Feels entirely out of line. We have never even been led to believe, especially by THAT episode, that illusion magic could be that strong. Besides Gus skipping a couple grades, he isn't ever portrayed as strong either with his illusions honestly being on par with the twins AT BEST. And then suddenly he pulls out an illusion that has to be so many different spells at the same time to function as it does that you would expect a TEAM of witches to have to be needed to do it, not a TWELVE YEAR OLD. And then we finally get Labyrinth Runners which is the only one that actually tries to do something with his character beyond "Take me seriously, jk maybe not?" (because seriously, the fact that his episodes are about taking him seriously when he is a joke literally any other time in the series is a PROBLEM). It does this in a compelling way... And that episode is still dominated far more by Amity, Willow and Hunter. He gets honestly only three real scenes for him in that episode and one is teaching Hunter the breathing technique. So when the end comes around and Gus takes out a coven head with a version of illusion magic that's never even been hinted at before, during a panic attack nonetheless... It creates a response from the audience not of "HELL YEAH! THAT'S OUR LITTLE GUY!" but instead "Wait? What just happened? And by him? How?"

And all of this fucking blows. Honestly the writing with Willow and Gus just sucks in general. And I could say "Man, it'd be nice if Hunter didn't exist so they'd have gotten more time," but that's implying they would have. I don't think the writers literally ever cared about these two. They were only useful in S1 in order to help cohesion with Amity (a term in romance writing for the moment when a couple starts sticking to each other rather than having glancing meetings) and that's really it. That and introducing Hexide I suppose. But besides that? How little of TOH changes if you just remove both of them? And that question is honestly SO much worse for Gus, who effectively replaced by Hunter over time it feels like, than it is for Willow. And that sucks really badly. But hey, what do you expect from a show where pretty much every male character sucks? More on that later this week because someone has taken the bait to get me to talk about it.