#mind i'm ALSO feeling bad for nandor

[something-about-sunflowers]

I kinda feel like too many people aren't looking at the whole picture with Guillermo and Nandor/his family this season?

Guillermo knows, to a certain extent, that it's hurting Nandor that he's avoiding him. He just can't not avoid him because of the whole 'secretly turned by another vampire and Nandor will have to kill him then himself for the sake of his bruised honor/ego' thing.

Guillermo is also hurting though. His attempt to take some agency for himself by actively pursuing something he's wanted since before he even met Nandor has massively backfired on him in every possible way he couldn't even begin to expect. He didn't know he'd have a Weird Transformation. He didn't know there was some taboo for having another vampire turn him as Nandor's familiar (and he's not actually Nandor's familiar anymore anyway, technically, they're all just dumb and forgot that fact). He, comparatively, only recently found out about the whole Van Helsing thing and that his family can't control themselves around vampires (though I feel like it probably will be different with their Memo, if we're being honest), so he very likely thought for most of his time waiting for Nandor to turn him that he'd still be able to see them occasionally and get/give closure over a longer period of time before he had to stop seeing them when it became obvious he wasn't aging like they were.

He does care about his mom, yall, did you miss him breaking down in the elevator or were you just distracted by him breaking the hand-rail? He's just been very preoccupied with a whole lot of drama (Which he complained about! He told Nandor how upset he was that the wedding and Baby Colin were keeping him too busy to see his family! The end of season 4 was days before the start of season 5.) and an extreme life change. He's an adult. That kind of shit happens when you're an adult (granted, his situation is significantly more fantastical given the whole vampires thing but still). Sometimes you get caught up in your adult life and you miss your mom's birthday. Sometimes you make a big life change that you think is what's best for you and it means you won't be able to be as close to your family. Yes. It's selfish of him - to an extent - but for fuck's sake you can't live your life for other people, even - especially, in some cases - if those people are your family. I'm kind of appalled at people saying that he's deserving to feel bad and rejected because he made a choice for himself. Do you think his mom is blaming him as harshly as some of you are? No! The first thing she asked him was 'are you happy with this change?' She cares about her son's happiness. He's not entirely in the right but fuck do yall know how to do anything but swing hard in the other direction? There's grey areas! All in the middle! Right there, look!!

And then on top of him already being extremely emotionally compromised from reckoning with having to leave his family behind, on top of the already 'emotionally difficult' avoiding Nandor for both of their sakes, he gets another big rejection in his own home from the people he cares most about. I don't know if Nandor noticed that his rejection hurt Guillermo. He's dumb but I really don't know if he's that dumb. He's been able to recognize in the past when he's hurt Guillermo so I don't see why he couldn't now. Are yall gonna blame Memo for feeling bad if Nandor decides to do something to try and win him back or cheer him up? Or if Nandor is upset/worried about having hurt Guillermo?

I don't really know where I'm going with this anymore lmao. My point is: Yes, Guillermo's choice is hurting people but it's also hurting him and he's been hurt for a while now and hurt people hurt people (which is why Nandor lashed out too!) so cut him a little bit of slack maybe? He didn't do anything to intentionally hurt anyone he just wanted to take some agency back for himself that he's been missing for like. Ten. Thirteen years or so now.

[assignedmale]

Our recent troubles with our home have made me acutely aware of how after ten years of working on these comics, I am still just a few bad lucks away from finding myself back on the street (lots of love to everyone who helped us out this winter!). It is unsustainable for my health and for the well-being of my family.

I think the main reason is that since the pandemic and the following recession, I have avoided mentioning my patreon as much as I could. It felt out of place, when so many people in our communities were struggling. Naturally, subscribers come and go and that's how it should be. However, barely promoting it for several years has made the amount of subscribers slowly but steadily decline. When you add inflation to the mix, I'm now at a point where I can barely afford groceries.

I used to rely on speaking tours to make up for it. But honestly, it has become too dangerous. I have never received as many threats as I do right now. As my husband and I are trying to conceive, it would be reckless to put myself in harm's way as much as I used to.

Of course, I could stop everything and get a job that pays real money at any time. But I don't think I could live with myself, not when our communities are facing so much violence. I believe in what I do and the importance of creating art that empowers and raise awareness.

So this is to let you know that I will be promoting my patreon a bit more in the coming weeks. It always feels awkward, first and foremost because I know that a lot of my most dedicated readers, the ones who have the highest chance of seeing these posts, are already patrons in one way or another, but also because it probably gets repetitive for many of you. I hope you won't mind!

My goal is to eventually double the current amount of subscribers (965). Do you believe that we can do it?

www.patreon.com/assignedmale

I have also two other pages, if you are interested in different content : A Frog in the Bog, about my foraging and gardening in Finland : www.patreon.com/afroginthebog Pastel Sexy Times, my 18+ art and short story page : www.patreon.com/pastelsexytimes

I wish you all the best for Pride Month - stay tuned for a lot of new art!

Love you, Sophie

[pictured : Nandor the Relentless, for engagement]

[prismartist]

the thing is, guillermo's main motivation is not just to become a vampire. it hasn't been for a while. if that were the case, he would've left and served another vampire a long time ago––which he actually did in season 2 with celeste. the only reason that didn't go through is because it turned out she wasn't a vampire.

(by the way, it's not a plothole that nandor let guillermo go off to be turned by celeste even though being turned by someone than your master is bad. guillermo renounced nandor as a master as per celeste's conditions, so at that point she was his master, not nandor)

becoming a vampire is definitely the thing that drives a good amount of his decisions, yes, but it's not the only one that does. the desire to be a vampire is accompanied––and i'd even say overrode––by a desire to be family.

season 2 guillermo was very fickle. his vampire slayer lineage conflicted with his desire to be a vampire, and at the same time you cannot convince me that he didn't contemplate murdering the others several times. s2 guillermo was willing to drop the gang if it meant an easier way to become a vampire.

but i don't think the same could be said of season 5 guillermo. at this point he had made peace between his nature and his want, having used his vampire slaying skills to protect his masters. he had grown even closer to the vampires, and while i wouldn't say he never cared for them, that care has grown enough so that he hasn't attempted to properly leave since the end of season 2.

and more importantly, the other vampires had become closer to him. as he grew to see them as family, they had grown see him as such too. guillermo knows his worth, and his love for them would have only persisted if they also––slowly but surely––showed their love for him. otherwise, he hits the bricks, or tries to; the one time he tries to leave since s2 is at the start of s4, when they left him in a crate for weeks.

what nadja said to him in the motel comes to mind: "at first, i was just using [the little antipaxons] to get rid of my hex. but then it turned out... i really like hanging out with those guys."

guillermo started serving the vampires to become a vampire. but over time, instead of merely being his masters, they became his family. sticking with them became less and less about becoming a vampire, and more and more about being with loved ones.

he voices his regret to ask derek to bite him. "i really don't want to die," he says about nandor hunting him down, "but i'm more afraid of losing the vampires."

i think it's possible he continued to pursue vampirism if only to obtain this newer desire. but even so, vampirism ultimately didn't do anything for guillermo in the grander scheme of things.

guillermo wants to be fully accepted. he wants to be part of the team, an equal. not pushed away or dismissed. he's worried less about this recently, but judging by his looks during the guide's rant about being excluded, he still had his doubts. perhaps being a vampire would achieve that. but it didn't!

when the vampires came to say goodbye at the motel, they didn't do so because they respected him as a vampire. in fact, when they first found out, they just responded with astonishment (laszlo) anger (nadja) or indifference (colin, the guide). and even if he were turned by nandor, i still doubt they would've outwardly respected him.

no, the vampires each went one by one to say goodbye to guillermo because he was already part of the family. all this time, over the years, they saw guillermo as someone worth valuing, because he valued them. they just didn't show it, as vampires do. it had nothing to do with being a vampire. and even after the full transformation, they went back to putting on an indifferent and uncaring facade. being a vampire has no effect over the vampires' feelings towards guillermo.

in the end, vampirism didn't do guillermo any good. he had all he could ever need and want... as a human. except being a vampire. of course. but as a vampire the vampires didn't treat him differently, and if anything he's further excluded because he's too hesitant to kill. at least as a human, it's a given that he's an outsider. it's worse when you're supposed to be the same and you still end up too different

so in the end, it wasn't worth it. and guillermo chooses humanity once more.

do i wish we could've seen more of vamp guillermo, and definitely more of him building up to make that decision to turn back? yes. honestly most of my issue with the finale is the pacing; the latter half seemed like a separate episode on its own, and i kinda felt it needed to be a whole episode in order to stick the landing better. (can we bring back longer seasons please. even just a tiny bit longer, like 12 episodes :() but overall i am greatly fascinated with guillermo's journey, i am so in love with it, and i am looking forward to how he's going to grapple with the changes he went through this season :DD

[squirrelwrangler]

Now I noticed how NOBODY ELSE benefits from the Silmarils's retrival, the rest of the Noldor, the Edain, all the other elves (Eldar and Avari), nobody gets anything, the Silmarils are for Feanor and his sons only. Which...is far, its their jewel, not anyone else. Buuuuut, its so double standards, cuz they also feel entitled to other people's stuff?

Yet the Feanorians feels like...entitled to aid? What their Edain vassals even would care for the Silmaril? Why would the elf servants? The soldiers that fought and died? The normal ass people? Their families? All Noldor mind you

Most fics show the post-Lotr Noldor begin happy and united in Valinor, but honestly? I think they would all lowkey hate each other

The Silmarils are garbage. They are a garbage McGuffin and only exist to give Lúthian and Beren a quest item and Eärendil a halo. They suck. I've gone on record that either direction would have been better -mystery of the Sampo- or having them be a truly living conscious being trapped in the form of a glowing stone (Aide from the SF series Belisarius is my shining example). The Swanships have more value than the Silmarils in both practicality, beauty, community imput, community cultural history, cultural value, and the loss that their destruction caused. The only time the Silmarils are seen positively as a good object to be around is when Elwing had in the the refugee camp at the Mouth of Sirion.

The Noldor in general are characterized by their fractious individualistic competitiveness. Vanyar have unity. The Teleri are divided (in the case of the Falmari and the rest of the Sindar, deeply so) but show a willingness to come together and reconcile with ease -Denethor and the Nandor, that Avari are welcomed in, Círdan's staunch ally-vassalage, Elwing's plea, the integration of Sindar and Silvan. With them, their branching out into a variety of lifestyles and settlement patterns (shore versus forest, nomadic versus settled, housing location, etc...) suggests that an ad-hoc flexibility strengthens rather than hurts their greater group identity. But the Noldor are the ones with dynastic jockeying occurring on the page. Often violently so. And the nastiest offenders of that are the Fëanorians. Remember, Morgoth himself laughs and acknowledges that their presence and their Oath was always beneficial to him, not detrimental.

Fëanor's actions after the Darkening is some of the foulest shit. His xenophobic political riot speech is skin-crawling. Then he rushes to Alqualondë because he knows that he doesn't have the popular majority support, and his goal, stated right on the page, is to make Valinor worse, to trash it further so that he retains his tenuous political grip. Then tries to incite a coup against Olwë and commit some of the biggest acts of hypocrisy to date in demanding, stealing the Swanships, murder, and then destruction. Melkor only kills one elf when stealing the Silmarils and then stops Ungoliant from destroying them. It's a bad sign when Melkor has the comparative moral high ground.

The shittiness of the Fëanorians and why would the Silmarils matter is a thread that runs through my Bór fics, at least the ones involving Great Lady Borte and her great-granddaughter Kreka. It's rather telling that they were the first Silm fanfics I wrote and shared.

When I write post-war Valinor, it's mostly as the peaceful aftermath of the various OCs that I tortured in Tol-in-Gaurhoth and Angband. Beren's Band of the Red Hand dudes. So I'm not focusing on internal strife because this is the promised comfort of H/C. But I do see a delicate dance from Fingolfin (and Turgon and Finrod) to ensure his followers don't destabilize Finarfin's highly competent rule. (There's a minuscule echo of this in Imin's rebirth). As for the Fëanorians? Bah, they can all stay in Mandos. Maybe one of the twins can come out, but I don't see any problem with storing all of them and the most implacably morally bankrupt of their followers in there until Arda is ReMade.

[macgyvertape]

wwdits s4 thoughts (spoilers)

I didn’t start till October so I knew some stuff through my dash, very glad I saw the post where the interviewers said Guillermo and Nador wouldn’t get together to set my expectations after OFMD

The djinn is a really fun character

Glad The Guide is more of a main character the series needed another female character.

Marhwa is one of the most sympathetic characters in the show, peak she deserves better than this dude

I saw that Guillermo embezzles from the club in a LOT of posts because it was cute to see him take care of his parents. But it’s still heavily implied from this early ep.

The season is really clear in setting up each character's motivation and character arc.

Nadja’s arc has been my favorite. Lmao to the way she said  “kill them all” to solve her workers unionizing.

Lazlo’s struggles of fatherhood where he’s a bad dad in different ways has been my least favorite. But then again I don’t want kids so I’m not interested in parenting subplots.

Guillermo FaceTiming someone twice is notable, only people he pays this much attention to outside of the vamps and family is a potential victim. But this is a very different vibe

Nador vs Guillermo fight is even more tense and charged than last season. Even after rewatching I'm confused at what parts of the fight they were staging for escape versus actually into beating the other

Nadja union busting through narcotic bribery, Nadja’s always been a fuck you got mine "girlboss", especially when her power is being challenged. Nice that it didn't work, workers unite!

The parent interview was just too much cringe comedy for me

Love Guillermo’s jewel tone jacket outfit. Hope there's a post that points out all the designer items

Wedding episode had an ad that I noted down since I was watching ad-free. Clever trick it was for the go flip yourself tv show in universe.

Everyone looks so nice in their wedding outfits. Costuming in this show has always been great and its easy to overlook it

I was trying to pin why Guillermo seems so different this season, and I really think it is that he found confidence and is less desperate . Other characters are respecting him more too.

Nandor made peak cursed wish with “like the same things I like” I was confused until the end of the season if he immediately wasted 2/3 wishes instead of fixing that wish since he obviously seemed so uncomfortable with it

“Because I’m gay” holy shit! Such an emotional moment, yeah the family always knew but still it’s such an impactful moment. The show has had a range of queer characters but it's often more played for laughs while this is more heartfelt. I'm old enough it's also a brief moment of "wow things have come so far"

Lmao at the cliche home renovation episode, I love when a tv show adopts the visual style of another genre of show (like Leverage "The office job"). I deeply enjoy home renovation shows, good or bad they're only reality tv I enjoy. I think it's my favorite episode in the show, and I genuinely wasn't expecting Simon the Devious.

Maybe because I am watching these all at once that the heavy parody parts of each episode stick out. Guillermo being the overworked friend planning the wedding is a romcom classing. The Baron doing the cliche makeover montage.

Wow so Freddie gave the business card as if he's trying to buy valuable antiques from someone he thinks is senile, and Nador is fine cheating and being a home wrecker to meet up. hmm

Wait Marhwa ends that episode overwritten and basically dead in body and mind?! Freddie is a cheater! I feel really bad for Guillermo, ESH but him

Holy shit sunrise and sunset the song from Fiddler. As a theater nerd I know this ep is going to be sad also wow Matt berry can sing

Colin feeding on anger makes sense, I though he was being annoying at times but chalked that up to finding all kids annoying, but you can farm a lot of anger as an annoying kid.

Classic that Nadja got so proud her arrogance led to the club's downfall. Very short-sighted she didn't take the money out before the arson for insurance fraud.

Colin back to himself with no memory nothing changed. Hmm did the experience of being a parent change Lazlo?

Guillermo spent a year of his life devoted to things that as he put it didnt change. The reasons he gave in first episode for not walking out didn't amount to anything in the end

GUILLERMO BUYING HIS WAY INTO VAMPRIISM FUCK YEAH. he's really changed since season 1. The chorus ending is pretty great.

I’d rate it 2nd best season behind last season, major points lost because I liked Marhwa and I’m sad what happens to her. I'm not judging Nandor's actions this season as morally "worse" than the others, but being shitty to your SO is more relatable and personal.

Wow for the first time I’m interested in fanfic for this show starting with “different choices canon divergence” au and “picks up right where season ended” since next season will prob start with a timeskip.

[purelyapocryphal]

I'd love to hear the director's commentary on Of Recklessness and Water

Oh man. Of Recklessness and Water was, to put it mildly, gnarly as fuck.

(spoilers and whining below the cut)

The preface here is that I had wonderful beta-readers who heroically hauled it into the light, and whatever redeeming qualities it has are entirely their doing. I'm sure they also put up with a lot of whining from me, though my memories of it are hazy at best. My eternal gratitude to them.

Genuinely, even at the remove of some time, this is one of my least-favorite fics I've written, and even trying to excavate my thought process about it is... interesting. It was rough and a terrible grind from start to finish and it's astonishing to me that people actually like it, because I Do Not. Through my eyes, the prose is cumbersome, the pacing feels off, and things are left underexplained and unresolved in not-a-good-way (there's a way to do that very well and... that ain't it, at least in my mind.)

It turns out I'd forgotten four-fifths of the shit that happened in that thing. How could I forget that the Blue Room is for fornication?! That's one of my favorite bits of fanon that came out of the S2/3 hiatus.

There was a lot of fun cryptid discussion happening in the fandom at the time and I was really enamored of writing something cryptidy. I wanted to pick a one that hadn't been done yet/was relevant to Guillermo. So, boom, La Llorona, who allowed me to work with Guillermo's guilt and shame. I also knew I wanted to explore the idea that Nandor and Guillermo were already in a sexual relationship and were just hiding it from the camera crew, and evidently I was in the mood for angst and ambiguity. I also love architecture and how Staten Island is "the forgotten borough" that really doesn't act like it's part of NYC. I wanted to look more into the house itself too, considering that familiars had been living there for several hundred years and had needed to do things like eat and bathe and renovate.

There are definitely tidbits in the story that had been floating around in the WIP folder for a while-- the little bit of snark about Guillermo singlehandedly destroying his charter school's college-acceptance rate had been looking for a forever home and was lifted from something I'd written very early on about Guillermo going to one of those shiny big-promises charter schools with a very idealistic and eager young male teacher who he had a complicated thing for.

All that being said, I don't think there was any part of writing this bad boy that wasn't brute force. I don't entirely remember why I forced myself so hard-- I was in the middle of the Betting Pool series, so it wasn't like the well had run dry, though I was struggling hard on that one because I'd totally pantsed it and was now having to actually figure out where the story was headed. Maybe I was trying to give myself a respite? Jesus.

So yeah, in conclusion... writing it was a grind. A big grind. It makes me really happy that people like it, though, because it does make it feel worthwhile, and I'm eternally grateful to the people who helped bring it into existence.

[ineffably-human]

guess I'm seeing enough bad takes that I'm gonna write meta about a thing I haven't even properly consumed yet, lord fucking help me

tagging this more broadly but it is about wwdits 4x9 and 4x10 leaks, mostly 4x9. here is the cut you are warned do not pass go etc etc.

So I'm not touching most of the Marwa side of things with a ten foot pole yet, because I want to hear certain specific lines in English/with full context before I determine how we, the audience, are meant to feel about how things end up with her. (Meant to is key term here.) We're gonna put that on the side table for the most part.

This is about 4x9 and Nandermo. This is about 4x9 and how it is actually good for Nandermo, in my point of view. Because if I've read summaries/translations/done Google Transcript the right way I think everyone is missing something here. Several somethings.

First of all, let me just say: this is a story in which Nandor likes the same things Guillermo likes. We'll come back to that.

Nandor specifically says he doesn't want to cheat on Marwa, marriage is important to him, he never cheated on any of his 37 wives. And he has no doubt he could steal him, but says it would be cruel to take Freddie from Guillermo.

So he reacts exactly how a narcissistic, polyamorous man with zero emotional intelligence, who's spent the last 700 years having orgies and casual threesomes with his married housemates, would react. He genuinely does not think there's a problem with what he's doing. Guillermo has a Freddie, Nandor has a Freddie, problem solved and everyone's happy.

On their twinsies dates, Guillermo says that this time with Freddie has made him realize how much he needs a life outside work, because somethingsomething about how he keeps thinking he sees Nandor everywhere and it's crazy how much room Nandor takes up in his mind. We will also come back to that.

When Guillermo finds them together, he basically says 'maybe this is a whim to you but it was important to me' and explains the seriousness of it, that Nandor has found a way to take everything from him. ("You take and you take and you take...") And Nandor could leave it at that. Because Guillermo is still video chatting with his own Freddie, and is resentfully just trying to kind of suck it up. Nandor can still have what he wants.

But Nandor doesn't leave it at that.

And he doesn't fully understand, at all. But he's genuinely happy with the Freddie situation, at least for now, as shallow as it is. And he still proceeds to try and give that up for Guillermo. To give his Freddie to Guillermo, first, although Guillermo refuses. (And again - this is a very dumb polyamorous man. He does not see the problem with this.) And then to let go of Freddie, which means letting go of Marwa, which means he has been trying to 'perfect' this marriage whim of his all season. He's finally located something that, at least for the moment, worked very well for him. And he has deliberately given that up for Guillermo.

He's chased after Guillermo before (which is reactive and based on his own needs), or tried to uplift him and make him feel included. But I don't think we've ever seen him sacrifice anything for Guillermo before. I don't think we've seen him do that for anyone.

Nandor at his worst is self-absorbed and self-involved. He's desperate for attention so he gets infatuated with the tiniest crumb of it. Someone who can take his reins, so to speak, like Jan or like Gail stringing him along - he can be incredibly giving to them, because he's aiming for the attention that comes with pleasing someone. But when someone shows him kindness or their own desire to please, he starts viewing them as an extension of his own whims. His own wishes. And that makes him happy for a while, until it bores him, and then that person is...just a little too familiar.

That's who Guillermo was for a long time. That's who Marwa is now, that's what Freddie might well have become eventually. And it means Nandor doesn't have to self-examine or deal with his insecurities, or be vulnerable, or risk rejection or loss.

But Guillermo both gives acts of service and is pushing for his own life and power. He'll both support Nandor and call him out. He's both lover and fighter. And Nandor spent season 3 starting to see Guillermo as someone whose power he could accept, someone he could trust to take care of him. Now he's starting to see Guillermo outside the lens of himself.

He keeps Marwa as Freddie because she seems happier that way. (Again, I...will deal with this post-season or at least post-episode because yeah.) He sends his Freddie back to England to try and make it up to Guillermo. And he says something along the lines of:

"Maybe love is more than someone liking all the things you like. Freddie always said he wanted to see the world. It looks like I'm the one granting wishes now." And he is genuinely hurting to see Freddie go.

Maybe love is caring about someone else's happiness over yours. Maybe love is learning to think about what others might want, and why. Maybe love is admitting you fucked up even if you don't fully understand it, taking someone else's pain seriously.

Meanwhile: Freddie. Who is open and agreeable and falls immediately into bed with Nandor, and just as easily starts snatching Guillermo's video calls away to chat with himself. Who has enough narcissism to not get bored by a copy of his own desires - instead he falls in love with himself, cheating on Guillermo in the process. Nothing about Nandor's wish forced him to do that. That's who Guillermo's first boyfriend turned out to be, and if that's true then maybe Freddie isn't who Guillermo thought he was. But Guillermo certainly isn't who Freddie thinks he is, either.

And in 4x10, he describes the breakup with Freddie as "my first serious boyfriend left me for...himself," so he doesn't blame Nandor for that either. There's a wall between him and Nandor but honestly? That's been happening all season.

4x10 is a whole other can of worms and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I wrote about it a bit before and I want to write about it again after it actually airs. But what I will say is: Guillermo talks about how nothing changes. And that's the question of the season, right? Can you change or are you going to stay the same person forever?

Does Guillermo think Nandor's Freddie left of his own accord, or does he understand what Nandor did? Does he view that as someone who is starting to change? And is that change enough?

[cookinguptales]

My Big Fear is that Guillermo is going to turn against his will at the end of the season. I think he still wants it, I agree with you that a life-goal change like that would be too big to happen off screen. But I think he's feeling torn between all his families and he needs time to decide exactly what he wants, and what he wants those family relationships to look like before he turns.

The extra wishes scare me. I'm afraid something bad is going to happen to Guillermo and Nandor is going to try to use a wish to help him but he'll have run out. The only remaining option being to turn him 😰

We keep seeing Guillermo standing next to signs that say "bite" (the "Love at First Bite" on the train, a "Grab a bite (or something like that)" at the convenience store). We've also seen him "dead" once already, and then in the latest episode Nandor covering his face like you would a corpse (it was tooth-achingly sweet but that was literally my first thought).

I just feel like this whole season has been very quietly hinting at something bad happening but we still have no idea what that could be... These little details are starting to add up and I am SWEATING.

full disclosure, I am supposed to sleep a lot after my ketamine infusions have worn off but I have declined to do that so my replies to everyone here are just gonna keep getting more fucked because I am very tired.

Huhhh, being turned against his will is an interesting thought that I hadn't considered. I do think he wants to be a vampire, but it would be fascinating if something like that happened in a way that he didn't want. I do think Guillermo's got a very particular idea of how he wants it to happen in mind (otherwise... he'd just ask Derek, frankly...) and it'd be interesting to see how he'd react if that's violated, so to speak.

I, too, am getting a megabad feeling about the end of this season. (That's a technical term.) I don't know whether to trust my super bad feeling about Freddie, tbh. I know I'm a nandermo shipper and that might be influencing the way I think about it, but the way they keep teasing Freddie feels more like foreshadowing than relationship-building and I do not mean that in a good way. I've said it before and I've said it again, the way they've been giving us drips and drabs of Guillermo's life in the UK and his relationship with Freddie is really reminding me of the way they peppered Colin Robinson's birthday and questions about his life through season 3.

It just feels bad, man! I feel like bad things are going to happen and episode 9 feels like where bad shit in a season happens! Maybe you're right and it'll involve Guillermo's "death" somehow! idk! It feels too early for Guillermo to actually get turned, but you're right that there have been a lot of weird hints...

Maybe it will just look like Guillermo is dead and that will be the cliffhanger. :c

Dead house mate fake-outs two seasons in a row would be kind of repetitive, though...

As for the wishes, I do think that at least one is going to go to Marwa and at least one is going to go to Guillermo. I have a few private theories about how one might be used on Guillermo, but I don't necessarily like all of them...

idk idk. I, too, am feeling nervous about the end of this season. I hope it doesn't hurt us too badly.

[kraviolis]

do you have any wwdits fic recs?

oh buddy i sure do

blanket warning that uhhh some of these fics are rated explicit so. beware the warnings & tags and such.

first one, obvious, is scenes from an alliance.

its a fantasy & arranged marriage AU where guillermo from the de la cruz clan of vampire slayers agrees to marry the infamous vampire warlord, nandor the relentless. it's a very different dynamic between the two of them because they start off as equals but guillermo is just as ambitious & crafty and nandor is just as controlling & bad at communication.

it's still on going (100k words and counting) and normally i dont rec fics that arent finished/close to finished but this one is so juicy, like even if it doesnt ever finish i'd still be glad to have read it. fully recommend it.

going 180 from lengthy & meaty AU fics is this really fun and cute one called better get a chaperone. it's laszlo and guillermo fake dating to make nandor jealous and it fucking rules and i need like 7 more of these little bitches right now.

i lied about the whales is a season 3 finale au/fix it where nandor and guillermo do go on their roadtrip but also try to talk about their feelings. so fucking good so fucking delicious go read it rn.

this one is rated explicit so fair warning, but scars is a rlly good trans guillermo/nandermo fic. do be very mindful of the tags, it is not a lighthearted fic!! but it IS very cathartic and explores guillermo's religious trauma & his transness in a very enjoyable and realistic way. (it DOES make guillermo's dad out to be extremely transphobic btw cus i know thats a deal breaker for many people)

a different trans guillermo fic that isnt as heavy is portraits, which is technically nandermo but pre-slash. its by the same author as scars but its entirely fluff about guillermo braiding nandor's hair and coming out to him. its just cute tbh.

ofc there's also this absolute fucking delight there is a shortage in the blood supply (but there is no shortage of blood) which is also very much rated explicit. its a season 3 canon divergence nandermo slow burn with smut. very simple and fucking entirely delightful.

if you like accidental baby acquisition, here's a short and sweet and funny fic about that called Guillermo Has a Secret, Nandor Suspects Cats, and Laszlo and Nadja Couldn't Give a Fuck, Except That They Do. the title says it all i think.

OHHH okay i'm gonna need you to read this one called you're dead (and out of this world) which yeah classic title but it was written post-s2 and pre-s3 and is a funky and really fun and super fucking interesting AU about guillermo having more than just quick reflexes and sharp aim passed down from his great (x30) grandfather. so fucking fun i love it.

human teeth is just... man. MAN. it's a post-wellness center fic about nandor's deprogramming and its so fuckin...... i dont even know what to say just read it i promise its good.

of friendships, reunions, and wooden knitting needles is a season 4 speculation fic where guillermo is stuck in england with nadja. technically its also trans guillermo but thats only mentioned briefly. its a really nice fic and it definitely helped to sate my hunger for season 4 content.

another season 4 speculative fic is ship to wreck which is entirely nadja & guillermo being stuck on the ship together and having forced bonding time and i LOVE IT. its done so well and its so so so fucking good i really love it.

here's another season 4 fic about my favorite concept to think about these days, guillermo being turned into a vampire! its called to die in england is no fun. contrary to the title it is a very fun fic, short & sweet too, feat. nadja & guillermo friendship.

another fun vampire guillermo fic is we all bleed the same damned blood but SURPRISE its another fic with trans guillermo and trans laszlo !! its transgenderism just for you!! very fluffy & sweet and just nice 2 read.

and to round this up for now is another fun vampire guillermo fic that is actually mostly just a nandor whump fic called deliria.

and ok i KNOW that doesnt sound fun but its my favorite kind of hurt/no comfort which is kidnapping & torture with some yearning mixed in. dont ask me why its my favorite, im not sure, but its pretty good fic if you just want to hurt emotionally for a while. though i will warn you the ending is not satisfying and is very open ended. be wary of the tags ok i warned u you legally cannot get mad at me.

i hope you approve of these fics!! i didnt have them all bookmarked so i had to go scouring my ao3 history & the wwdits tag to find em.

[sidewalk-scrawls]

I was like... I'm not even attached to Marwa and this is still really going too far into horror to be funny. There's no coming back from this wish! Even for this show's calibration of what's acceptable fun behavior for a vampire this is too far! The stuff with Guillermo too, it was too cruel to be fun. The show seems aware of this, which is what's going to keep me watching by episode instead of season (or dropping it) but we'll see. I hope Guillermo gets to stab Nandor we deserve to see it

It's genuinely so grim. I've been a bit on edge about Marwa's story line for awhile, but I was hoping the writer's were aware enough to let her have the win in the end. I don't even need Nandor to learn his lesson! I just need her to have her agency back!!! It's frustrating because we haven't got a lot of Marwa, but I was already pretty attached to her character because of the elements she could've brought into the story. Like... a character taken out of time and put into the present day? Within a setting where parts remain dated (the vampire life), but the human world is so different? It would be so fun to see how she dealt with that! Especially given how quickly she seemed to adapt to the modern world and the way she described herself as an "intellectual" in her talking had interview.

As for Guillermo, yeah, that also feels cruel. I'm a little less focused on that just because I'm still drowning in existential dread over Marwa's plot line, but yeah. That also wasn't funny! It was just incredibly uncomfortable to watch! I'm not really sure how you recover from that sort of thing, honestly, this season is slowly tearing up my desire to ship Nandermo lolol.

Idk it's like we've reached the point where the characters are behaving so badly to each other (especially Nandor lol) that I'm starting to stop feeling compassion for them?? Like the balance of having characters do *terrible* things, while still allowing the viewer to have sympathy for them is a a tricky thing to manage, but a lot of darker comedies do... IASIP comes to mind as a show where the characters do terrible, terrible things, but like... you can *also* see the parts of the characters that are damaged and the way that their actions are hurting themselves, too!

WWDITS doesn't really seem interested in doing this, which fine, characters don't necessarily have to be sympathetic, and there are other ways you can frame a dark comedy (although personally, the above tends to be my preferred approach.) But still, if you're gonna write a story line this dark, and have none of the characters *change* in response to it, you've at least got to have some of the comedy land. And I didn't laugh once this entire episode.

ANYWAY, I'd be less concerned if the writers seemed aware of what they're doing, and maybe they are but like.... Tonally, this episode is a pretty strong flop and also, the way they've treated Marwa just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They *might* fix it next episode, but given the way they've handled her story line so far, I personally doubt they will. (Would love to be surprised, though!)

[tharacelehar]

I posted 21,140 times in 2021

148 posts created (1%)

20992 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 141.8 posts.

I added 137 tags in 2021

#liveblogging my descent into spn hell again i guess - 34 posts

#liveblogging gaac - 26 posts

#;; - 22 posts

#oh my god - 16 posts

#:( - 12 posts

#i love him. - 6 posts

#i love him - 6 posts

#oh - 5 posts

#my sewing projects - 5 posts

#me at work - 5 posts

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

You know how sometimes you have a friend who has a significant other that you don’t really like but it’s not like they’re bad or anything you just wouldn’t get along with them if you didn’t know them through your friend but you’re like well my friend loves them so I will put up with them, they are kind of a package deal

That’s how I feel when I see art of Ukoku Sanzo with Koumyou

7 notes • Posted 2021-06-15 20:22:43 GMT

#4

I HAVE MY VACCINE APPOINTMENT!!

7 notes • Posted 2021-04-12 01:51:48 GMT

#3

I just said to my parents, "man every time we finish watching that show I'm like, I know vampires aren't real but I also don't want to go back into the dark hallway you know?"

and my mom, who had only been out in the living room for when we were watching WWDITS S3's finale and apparently had not caught that we switched to Midnight Mass next, went "those vampires? THOSE VAMPIRES? You could confuse them by handing them a box of chocolates and telling them they needed to sell them door to door. THOSE VAMPIRES?" and by that point my dad had to explain because I was laughing too hard

7 notes • Posted 2021-10-31 04:38:01 GMT

#2

refreshing the shipping updates for my 5th copy of The Goblin Emperor (because I keep giving my copies to other people who don’t give them back) like Where Is My Emotional Support Novel

7 notes • Posted 2021-10-12 20:15:41 GMT

#1

Not sure if I’ve just lost my mind or whatever (hi, it’s Monday morning and I just said to my boss “I’m on it!” about something that was due on Friday, HAHA OOPS). But like, Nandor telling Guillermo that Guillermo would “take a knee” when they got to Nandor’s homeland and Nandor would make him a vampire like what am I missing here that makes that NOT the most awkward physical position for that particular act? I mean the echoes of a marriage proposal in the statement, sure, there’s that. But Nandor will also have to be on his knees for this to work. Or bent over? Is Nandor picturing Guillermo holding up his wrist for Nandor in an echo of courtly deference? Nandor you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this, what is going on here, please explain

16 notes • Posted 2021-11-08 17:14:20 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[cookinguptales]

I've seen some well-written defenses of the newest episode, claims that it was an intentional choice by the writers to remind us of how inhuman and selfish these characters are, that even when the characters try to do well they hurt themselves and others. and that's probably true but the way they went about showing that felt so different from previous episodes where they made that exact same point and kept it funny. TBH I feel like somewhere in the process the writers got tired. not "lazy" bc that implies an intentional disregard for the work. but let's be honest...

WWDITS is no one's full time job. The EPs all have other gigs outside of wwdits. The writers, directors, crew embers, even the cast... this is one of many gigs they work on over the course of the year.

NO ONE WORKS ON WWDITS FULL TIME and it is 100% possible, even plausible, that when we see stuff that just doesn't track with previous episodes...the simplest explanation is that the writers forgot they'd laid the groundwork for an arc and then never picked back up. or they changed their minds. or there was an argument about how to proceed and what we saw on the screen was the result of compromise. i think it was paul simms (correct me if i'm wrong) who admitted in an interview they dont have a multi-season plan. they're flying by the seat of their pants season to season and if the show feels like when a fic writer goes on hiatus and comes back and the fic just isn't the same anymore... that's exactly what's happening here.

there are a lot of cooks in that metaphorical kitchen, none of them are full time (not even the head chef!) and apparently there's no recipe book. so yeah.. the dishes are going to be inconsistent. but the restaurant has a lot of charm and good memories, so it stays in business

I'm not even upset at the new episode. i didn't loose sleep over it, i just... didn't feel much of anything. i stared blankly, got a few half heartedly chuckles and then went to bed feeling like someone really phoned that one in.

This is a fairly long ask but... I'll admit I don't have a fairly long response to it. I've seen those metas and while I respect that others have different opinions, I'm not convinced by the argument that these things were done purposefully to "remind us" that vampires are bad. We've always known that, and they've always been bad in a fun way. That's... kind of the point of the show. Nothing about Marwa's arc in particular felt fun and there's really been nothing in the show to indicate that the writers are aware of how awful her story was and did it on purpose. Nandor didn't acknowledge that it was wrong to change her in the first place, no one ever talked about changing her back for her sake, there were no lingering shots of her last moments alive or anything. Literally nothing was done in-show that makes me think the writers thought of this as a real problem.

As for the rest... look, man, I'm the last person this argument is going to appeal to. I also work on multiple creative projects at a time for a living and I also forget things. That's why I take notes, because I'm a professional. I'm gonna keep holding these writers to the same standard as they've had in other seasons. If you put your name on something, you've put your name on something.

[cookinguptales]

"But some of his reactions have felt… god, I don’t want to say out of character." I didn't want to see either but, yeah. it reminds me of posts that i'd sometimes see in the tags like "g deserves better than n! he should get over him him and get a nice bf" and i'd think lol how boring and oc, like THAT would happen, as if the whole point of g isn't that he chooses NOT to be normal. and now it's canon? and this isn't even about the ship, more about the reasons why i love the ship in the 1st place

The way I look at it is... well, his reactions to many things have felt very un-Guillermo-like and that worries me. I think some of the things I love most about his character (admittedly mostly the unhinged things) are much less apparent in this season and I don't always recognize his reactions.

That said, I also thought that Laszlo was acting very weirdly in the last season and there turned out to be a reason for it. So while I'm kind of wary of the way Guillermo's been written thus far, I'm trying to keep an open mind on things. I'm hoping we start to see more of the Guillermo that I've come to love over the past three seasons.

It just feels very weird, honestly, because if anything, Guillermo has gotten progressively more unhinged as the seasons have gone by. I mean, we're talking about the guy who was cuddling a corpse in the last season. His reaction to Gail was just so visceral. His reaction to Marwa seems kind of shocking in relation to that, especially considering we didn't actually get to see any of the things that caused him to change his mind. So it's very hard to adjust to the character.

One of my least favorite things in movies/tv shows is when a major character has a ton of character development offscreen and returns acting totally differently. (I'm looking at you, Star Wars original trilogy.) So I'm really, really hoping that these aren't long-lasting and intrinsic changes to Guillermo. I'm really kind of missing the gremlin from s3.

My hope here is that Guillermo will quickly devolve into the little weirdo he always has been as soon as he's around Nandor again and that he'll eventually realize he's been lying to himself about the possibility of ever being a normal person and having a normal relationship. I think his loneliness and trauma made him think about the life that he wishes he had but not necessarily the one that would actually suit him. (See: Guillermo wistfully talking about being a manager at Panera, like he would ever be happy doing such a safe, boring job.) And we all know how wishes are going so far this season. lmao

It's possible that they really did just decide to make Guillermo's motivations and personality change drastically between seasons, but like... being honest with you, that would feel like bad writing. So... I hope they don't do it. :(

[cookinguptales]

Also I'm realising now I don't really have any scenes to back me up with the sexuality thing lmao. I think what was on my mind was a comment that maybe Harvey made when he said Nandor already knows Guillermo is gay because they know each other so well. That's always kinda stayed with me? But it's so hard to figure out what Nandor's thinking a lot of the time. I'm not sure it would happen in canon but I would love to see Nandor and Guillermo have a conversation about sexuality

Oh, I hadn't heard that comment! That's really interesting. It brings up a lot of questions, tbh. Like Guillermo has always come off as gay to me throughout the show, but that's partially because of his devotion to Nandor. If Nandor knows he's gay, I do wonder if that means he's picked up on any of Guillermo's feelings...? Or if it's more just a vibe. Maybe he's seen Guillermo checking out other guys, who knows. Or maybe Guillermo had some weird, sad hookups at the familiar mixers.

And right, I agree. As much as I'd love to see them talk things out, it's not really that kind of show. That's not necessarily a bad thing! It just means we have to pick up the slack in fic haha.