#my second fave is probably hilltop though

[st0neddew-valley]

what’s ur fave farm type and why

^peep mine in the tags lol it’s detailed

[bibatbrat]

TMA Season 2

Ooooo spooky 👻

Jon said I am back at work before my doctor said it was ok and I am SO fucking scared

What If There Was A Band That Was So Fucking Bad

ACAB but I fucking love Basira and Daisy. Sue me.

I also love GERTRUDEEEE

It’s so fucking funny that Michael Crew tried to use Boneturner’s Tale to help him, it didn’t work, and then he’s like “oh well i’ll just take it to the library i guess”

The New Door feels very much like Hive and I love it

Gerard saving Andrea Numis from the Lonely by telling her to remember her mother when he’s on vacation right after being acquitted for his mom’s murder…. Gives me feelings

Tim canon bisexual 💙💜💖

Elias being a pothead in college is true character depth and development 10/10

Alexander Scaplehorn (the tax guy) is so fucking funny. Man cares so much about preventing money laundering that he survives the supernatural 🙏

Trevor the vampire killer canonically homophobic 😔

Jon finding out that Martin was lying about his qualifications and being so relieved bc 1) Martin probably did not kill Gertrude and 2) turns out that Martin is not an incompetent idiot, just a dropout

Not going to lie, I think I could’ve hacked it on Daedalus, but that’s just me

But also letting a private company shoot you into space to do isolation experiments is so incredibly dumb and Mr. Chilcott should’ve known better tbh

Agnes Montague saving Ronald Sinclair from Hilltop House via a searing kiss on the cheek… truly who is doing it like her?

We love a workplace intervention

The Buried coffin eats a cop so shoutout to the Buried I guess

Mary Keay and Gertrude have such a fun dynamic and I would kill for just a whole season of the two of them tbh

I think Binary might be my fave episode of this season. The statement itself is delightfully horrible, and the Tim/Jon fight at the end just makes it *chefs kiss* perfect

Jack Barnabas’s statement drives me crazy. Him saying he doesn’t think he has a destiny and Agnes saying, “That must be nice.” Him asking for a kiss and her crying after she gives it to him. Him losing everything after it, even though she dies.

The Book of the Dead is such a good concept.

A Long Way Down makes me sad ☹️ I’m a sucker for brother stories

The Kind Mother is fucked up. The aspect of Lucy having not even gotten along with her mother before NotThem replaced her makes me crazy

Jon is so fucking dumb. He listens to the statement about NotThem getting trapped in the table and is like “obviously I need to destroy this table” 😔

Jon telling Tim and Martin to take the next couple of days off fucks me up, especially after the time he spends listening to Sasha’s voice recordings. He doesn’t want to lose anyone else!!!

Tim and Martin going after him though 🥺

Also, oh my God, Tim and Martin just being silent for a full twenty seconds after the recording of Martin’s poetry gets played… truly awkward enough to make you forget about your friend who is maybe being hunted/killed

John worrying about conserving the tape to record himself being hunted and maybe killed… sir, that’s the Eye at work

Tim and Martin arguing about Tim being a dick and fighting all the time with John and Martin just wanting them to all be one big happy hostage family…. 🥺🥺🥺 they care about each other and I am dying

I fucking love the “taunt you into revealing your position” trope. NotThem telling Jon about how it hurt Sasha when she erased her and him yelling at them to shut up… yes!!!

NotThem about to kill Jon and him just whispering and apologizing over and over and over to Martin, Sasha, and Tim aghhhh

<rdj voice> there was a sewer man

Jurgen Leitner really lived in their basement huh

Leitner being a parallel to the Archivist and Jon being so disgusted w the way he uses and discards his assistants to horrible fates… sure hope that doesn’t come back to bite him in the future lol

“An angry goth” yo that’s my booooooy

Leitner is like, “I diagnose you with Voyuerism” and Jon is like, “This is so scary and I am gay and need to go cry brb”

Leitner talking to the recorder and telling Gertrude that she would’ve liked Jon 🥺

Elias said hello I am here to be evil and we have no choice but to stan

(Alternatively I am really glad I wasn’t on here during the peak bc Elias would’ve gotten sooooo annoying, but now I can enjoy my funny little murder man w no consequences 😈)

He <redacted> that old man 😳

Tim and Martin not seeing anything other than the body and just IMMEDIATELY assuming that Jon clubbed someone to death in his own office… can we get an F in the chat 😔

It’s 👁👄👁 time baby

[shimmershae]

So.  Thanks to my new anonymous friend, this is going to become a thing.

Shae’s thinky thoughts about the latest episode--Acheron:  Part 2--beneath a cut. 

Because spoilers, however vague they might be.  

Let’s be real here.  This is more a stream of consciousness than anything else so if that’s not your thing, you are most welcome to nope right on out of this post.  Trust me.  I’ll completely understand, lol.  Sometimes?  I wish I could nope right on out of my own brain and the way it operates.  

That said?  Without further ado--

Episode 2′s opening, though.  Maggie trapped with hungry Walkers converging?  It totally gives me Glenn under the dumpster vibes.  I don’t know if that was intentional or just happy coincidence but way to link Maggie to her dearly departed better half, show.  

Is it just me or has Father G had more OOMPH to him these last few seasons?  Again, I have to ask--Rosita’s influence or no?  Regardless, I bet Seth Gilliam is loving the job these days.  

Side note:  am I gonna have to go to bed early every Saturday night from now until the end just so I that I might be able to SEE?  Something?  Anything?  My curtains are flimsy-ass.  I admit it.  But this is more frustrating than TXF.  Angela, WTF?  

No, seriously.  It’s like complete guess work who’s in these subway scenes.  Some of that has to do with them being overly populated by redshirts and the rest of it has to do with me having to squint and turn sideways to make out their facial features. 

Look at Daryl busting through concrete walls!  Should I call him the Kool-Aid Man considering NR has once again allowed himself to be led right into a biased, shipper trap?  Hmm.  I might.  

Imagine seeking refuge in those dark, filthy subways.  Any second now I expect to hear the skittering of rats.  Will Dog lose his effing mind a la Divergence?  He’s been shown to go off half-cocked that way, lol.  Oh well.  Guess it’ll be in character if he does.  

Impressive graffiti storyboards.  Does it mean something that it immediately cuts to the Commonwealth storm troopers afterward?  Maybe.  Who really knows at this point?  They been trying to gaslight us forever.  

LOL at Princess yet again.  Yumiko is just like da fuq is this person?  

No, really.  LMAO.  “That was her.  From last night.  Did you see how she was looking at us?”  

Then you have Eugene, hahaha.  “Oh God.  Why did he tell off the big guy?”  Like the man is totally me in this type of situation.  Not even gonna lie.  

“That’s right.  We want to talk to the manager.”  

I literally cannot wait ‘til Carol and Daryl meet Princess.  Can.  Not.  Wait.  

How sad is that note on that $100 bill?  Small moment but it totally gives me Season 4 vibes when they were on their way to Terminus seeking sanctuary.  

Hmm.  Remember how that place wasn’t what they thought it was?  I’m sure neither is the Commonwealth.  But I feel like what’s left of Team Family is totally going to do Rick proud, lol, and prove they’re messing with the wrong people if they try something.  

Daryl, Man.  You gonna have to get a better handle on your headstrong Fur Son.  I wonder if Dog would listen better to his mama?  Things to ponder.  

Sounds like Miko has this group’s number.  Or does she?  

Princess and Eugene totally look like they’re waiting their turn for the Principal’s office, LOL.  

“Stop moving!  You’re taking my nerves over the edge to a proverbial 11 on a scale of 10.”  I feel you, Eugene.  I do.  Also you, Princess.  Two of the most relatable TWD characters right there, I’m telling you.  

Princess is me when I really, really, really have to pee.  TMI?  Sorry, lovelies.  LOL.  I just...she’s so relatable.  

LMAO.  “If that fine ass dude in the orange suit...”  Princess and Mercer incoming in 3-2-----

Princess’s excitement over the toilet paper=PRICELESS.  

Eugene, Man.  You desperately need to develop a poker face.  

There’s Daryl getting another cool camera shot.  Angela?  You playing favorites again?  

Carol’s claustrophobia could have never.  I bet that’s in the back of Pookie’s mind.  You can’t tell me it’s not because Carol lives in there rent-free.  

Ohhh.  Back to the subway car.  Looks like we got the Maggie redshirts leading the way.  First sacrificial “lambs”?  

Maggie pistol-whipping Negan was kinda deserved, but he wasn’t all wrong so.  

Damn.  I’m no Gage fan.  He can fuck all the way off for what he did to my baby Lydia.  But Maggie over there with ice in her veins.  

Yep.  I think the dude just got one of the most gruesome deaths in a while.  Yuck.  

I think Alden’s faith in Maggie definitely took several hits.  I feel like he kind of had her on some sort of pedestal dating back to Hilltop times.  Father G, though?  The man is continuing to show himself a SAVAGE MFer.  

Josh gives Eugene such believable tics and mannerisms.  He IS Eugene.  

Thank you, Maggie, for lighting that flare.  I could not see a damn thing.  

What are these bad memories Negan alludes to?  Hmm?  Him being a shit husband to Lucille back when he was still taking her for granted?  

Father G on Gage’s Walker--”All that is, is a shell of a man, who died a coward.”  Kind of ironic considering Father G’s own origins, huh?  Has he any warmth in there for anybody but Rosita and Coco?  Does he equate it with weakness?  

“There are worse ways.”  And Maggie proceeds to paint us a horror story with mere words.  

Dark Maggie really surpasses anything certain fans have ever accused Carol of being.  Is she too far gone?  Who the hell knows?  I think it’s clear that she and Carol are both on a sliding scale of sorts when it comes to being able to compartmentalize shit to survive.  Personally?  I feel like Maggie might have leap-frogged Carol in this episode but it matters none because of the double standards so deeply entrenched in this fandom.  Both women have endured and had to do some horrific things.  It’s not a contest.  But it’s probably going to be turned into a season-long one.  

It’s almost like Kang was like, “Ya’ll bitches think Carol’s dark?  I’ll show you DARK.  Check and mate.”  

Whatever the reasoning, Maggie just got exponentially more interesting to me if not likable.  And before anybody out there comes at me, it’s entirely possible to be on a character’s side in some things and not be all up their ass in love with them, lol.  Like I’m attached to her because she’s family and Glenn loved her.  There’s a loyalty there and she absolutely is justified in her hatred of Negan.  But I’m not going to pretend her shit don’t stink like everybody else’s.  

Speaking of my baby Glenn.  What would he think of this version of Maggie?  I think he would be gutted and heart stricken that events led to her being like this but he’d understand because he’s pure like that.  Don’t mean he’d be A-OK with it all.  

Dog must be protected at all costs.  

Confession.  I know not the fuck who Pony Boy is, but I know him because all my fandom friends have pointed him out to me, lol.  RIP, Man.  I think you’re number’s up or close to it.  

Okay, though.  I admit it.  I am kinda LOVING Badass Father G.  

That scene in the subway car with all of them working to take all the Walkers out was already badass.  Then Daryl arrived and made it, in @freefromthecocoon’s words, HAWT.  LOL.  

Eugene staring at that little black book like it contains torture tools, hehehe.  

“Processed?  As in administratively?  Processed as in bologna or other meat stuffs?  This inquiring (enquiring?) mind needs to know.”  OMG, Eugene.  I admit it.  Even if it makes me look like a lunatic, LOL.  I straight up LMAO at that one.  I mean, ten years later and Terminus still fresh on the man’s mind.  

“You like feeling nervous?”  Well, no.  None of us that do, Mercer?  Do.  

Then he proceeds to make me howl with his “You can’t lie for shit” to Eugene.  

Josh McDermitt?  I love you, Man.  40 year old virgin, LOL.  

All this talk over the seasons of Daryl’s virginity and we have Eugene, hahaha.  But was he telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  

Finally.  Some daylight.  Where I can see.  

Eugene’s relief at seeing his friends safe and sound was such a beautiful thing to see.  I loved those hugs.  

Mercer’s face when he snarled “beat cop” in disdain to Ezekiel.  I think I’m gonna love this dude.  

“I went to West Point.  Asshole.”  Yeah.  I am.  

I know they probably catfishing Eugene right here because spoilers tell us that ain’t Stephanie.  But my heart still did a little d’aww.  Angela.  Don’t play with his poor heart like that.  

What’s got Daryl so pensive, huh?  Is it that the note reminds him of kids being lost or taken from their family? Or separated from their family?  Is he thinking of those Grimes babies and wondering if Michonne will ever make it back and why and how she was able to leave them behind?  Tell me it ain’t that Find Me nonsense.  

“This place sure has gone to shit since the last time I was here.”  LMAO, JDM.  I mean Negan.  Sorry.  Sorry.  I still hate Negan, but JDM has me entertained at least since they gave the asshole some shades of gray.  And speaking of shades of gray.  I’m loving the gray beard.  JDM’s looking GOOD (hear that NR?  Embrace the gray).  Negan can still kick rocks, lol.  

Anyway.  That scene was CREEPY AF.  Not even gonna lie.  

The Reapers strutting right on up to our group like it’s The Purge:  ZA.  

My bad, Pony Boy. Now RIP.  

Dark, dark episode with loads of tension broken up by some welcome humor by Princess.  The girl is fast becoming a fave of mine.  

My baby’s back next week!!!

I’m just going to plug my ears and pretend they’re trying to capture/recapture the horses because they’re pets.  Not because they’re starving so bad they feel the need to eat them.  La la la la la.  I can’t hear you.  

[no-literally]

THINGS I HAD TO LEARN THE HARD WAY ABOUT STUART ALAN JONES (a queer as folk uk meta)

good-enough-for-me said: What did @checkersandbalances​ do to make you like Stuart even more? ;)

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WHAT DIDN’T SHE DO. omg. ahem. I first watched Queer as Folk UK in college and adored it, I’ve shouted “Vince is my favorite” from every hilltop (I’m dramatic that way) but I didn’t feel any need to do deep analysis and hadn’t thought about it too much since then.

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And then I SOMEHOW drew checkersandbalances down the rabbit hole with me. We’d met as Sherlock fans, so I knew hard-core obsession (and long-winded meta!) was in our nature. But a funny thing happened: as much as I shouted about Vince, as loudly as I wanted to sympathize with every one of his bad choices, as much as my heart went to him...checkersandbalances felt the same way about Stuart.

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Like, I hope you all have the life-changing experience of having a fellow friend/fan love another character in your favorite show as much as you love your fave in that show. Suddenly we started getting into fights about Stuart’s motivations; checkersandbalances was usually right. And suddenly Stuart moments that were mildly humorous to me became outright hilarious. And suddenly, inspired by about a trillion capslock texts, I started writing meta. So here’s a rundown of what I gained, complete with some links to the meta it inspired.

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Stuart’s A Good Man:

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Okay, so obviously I KNEW Stuart is a good person, or I’d never have shipped him with my baby AKA Vince (and I ship them SO HARD). But. Like. I sent checkersandbalances a LOT of texts early on that implied Stuart is incredibly selfish. Or rather, she’d be like, “Stuart’s got good intentions here” and I’d text back “YOU SURE??? PROVE IT” but probably more subtly because I knew she loved Stuart. Here’s the thing: she was right, every time. Some key moments when I underestimated Stuart:

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STUART’S STRUGGLING WITH GRIEF IN THE FUNERAL EPISODE (e4).

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I saw this through Vince’s eyes the first few viewings. I thought Stuart was saying rude things about Phil because Stuart likes bragging that much. Um. Nope. Wrong. Stuart is trying to distance himself and Vince from Phil as much as possible, to reassure himself that they’ll never die in the way Phil did. Turns out its a valid fear. Vince assumes Stuart’s story means he’d sleep with anyone besides Vince--but Stuart’s trying to show that he sets Vince apart. (Also, that time Stuart calls Vince good-looking? Not a joke.)

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STUART’S WORRIED ABOUT VINCE’S SELF-ESTEEM.

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In episode 5, Vince goes on his first date with Cameron and comes back mad that Cameron didn’t try to sleep with him on date one. It’s how we get Stuart’s AMAZING line, “Vince, is it so hard to believe that someone fancies you?” (YES, YES IT IS STUART, WHICH IS WHY VINCE PICKS UP NONE OF YOUR SIGNALS IN SEASON TWO EVEN WHEN ONE OF YOUR SIGNALS IS INVITING VINCE TO A THREESOME, omg.) Vince picks up a meaningless (and awful!) shag rather than deal with his self-steem issues, and we see Stuart watching Vince, upset. This moment (and Stuart trying to convince Vince he’s good looking post-funeral last episode) is HUGE because it lays the groundwork for Vince’s bday in e7, where Stuart tries to manipulate Vince to leave him because he believes it will be better for Vince’s self-esteem. I don’t even remember what I thought the first time I watched the e5 scene, because it was so clearly wrong that I don’t even have space in my head for it now that I understand what is actually happening and how important it is.

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STUART KNOWS AND ALSO DOESN’T CARE (AT ALL) THAT VINCE HAS A “SMALL AND TINY WORLD.”

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Unfortunately, I do remember my first impression of this scene. The s1e8 “Good Enough for Me” scene is probably my favorite scene EVER, and I knew that Stuart was demonstrating his love for Vince by naming all the Doctor Who actors. But I thought,for sure, that Stuart believed Vince’s world was too small for Stuart’s goals. He tries to run off to London at the end of the show, after all!  When Vince is like “please get lunch with me again” and Stuart turns him down with that conflicted look, I thought that was a SURE sign Stuart was trying to discourage Vince’s romantic attraction because Stuart couldn’t return it. But, um. NOPE. Please enjoy/feel your heart break at this original script excerpt:

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“IF IT GOES ANY FURTHER, HE’LL PULL VINCE TO HIS SIDE,” the script says, and Stuart thinks this BEFORE he tells Vince that Vince doesn’t fit in his world. So OF COURSE Stuart still wants to include Vince--he just thinks that if he doesn’t distance himself from Vince now, Vince will never find his self-esteem and flourish on his own. (As if Stuart would EVER be upset that Vince follows him around, blatantly in love. Stuart doesn’t want Vince to lie to people and say they’re dating (see: s2 wedding episode) but boy does he sure enjoy kissing and slow-dancing with Vince about 5 seconds later in that same scene.)

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STUART IS A TOTAL MESS OVER VINCE BY THE END OF S2.

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Like, obviously I spotted Stuart’s breakdown during his fight with Vince (Adian Gillen, way to be the Best Actor Ever, damn) but I had failed to appreciate a whole bunch of moments where Stuart is struggling so much in s2 with his feelings around Vince, and how to stay friends/something more with Vince. There are a lot (here are more) but I’d like to take this particular opportunity to remind you that Stuart hoped Vince would join him on a balcony at a wedding in the evening while a romantic song played in the background. (Also, that the music that plays, encapsulating Stuart’s emotions, is a love song about how madly in love with someone the singer is, even though it’s a difficult feeling. And that right after the song ends Stuart asks Vince to slow-dance with him for the first time ever; WHAT A GREAT SEQUENCE.)

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STUART IS A FUCKING NERD. (AND ADORABLY SO!)

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If his utter enchantment with Vince’s Doctor Who obsession isn’t enough (it’s enough! it’s so good!!), please recall in s2 when he welcomes the police into his apartment and goes through his  cabinet of, like, every issue of Attitude and Gay magazine ever published to pull out some magazines for his coffee table. Like, I get that he was performing his sexuality to make him seem more innocent to the police, or whatever. That doesn’t negate the fact that he has a perfectly curated cabinet of every issue of attitude and gay magazine he’s ever received. You know he started that collection the moment they started publishing Gay Times in 1984, right? It’s my headcanon that Stuart is an expert on queer history, he cares about this stuff SO MUCH, and no one can convince me otherwise.

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Stuart’s Unintentionally Hilarious

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Once you understand that Stuart’s motivations come from a good, flawed, even awkward place (because he’s in an emotional place of rapid growth around his relationship with Vince) the experience of being a Stuart fan becomes a lot of more fun. Because, um, those who don’t yet grasp his emotions kinda think he’s like Satan? (Not my language!) And that’s delightful in part because Stuart would love being seen as all-powerful SO. MUCH.

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tl;dr: I loved this show a lot, but @checkersandbalances made me love it 1000x more because now I better understand her fave, Stuart Alan Jones.

[even more QAF UK meta]