#other than jamie

[khaotunq]

if u look close during the community service scene, you will see 50 frames wherein Ray is actively deciding to google "how i get pregnate" when he gets home

[emblazons]

(Dion. My name is Dion).

Dion Lesage in Final Fantasy XVI Game of Thrones Parallels → Jamie Lannister

[coachbeards]

TED LASSO (2020-2023) ↳ 2x09 | 2x12

[thesapphicsoldier]

“Fell first, fell harder” this, and “one partner would do anything for the other” that. What I really love is when both people are equally head over heels for each other.

When they both think each other are the coolest people they’ve ever met (bonus points if neither of them are very cool). When they both freak out after they get together and have a hard time believing it’s real. When they both get a little bit jealous when someone flirts with the other. When they both love showing each other off because they’re so proud that they get to be with a person like them. When they’d both go insane if someone dared to touch a hair on the other’s head. When one of them says that the other deserves better and they’re really confused because “wdym?? You’re the one that deserves better!”

I don’t get the craze of making one partner hopelessly in love when they could both be hopelessly in love, and that’s so much more beautiful and endearing to me.

[elloras]

Ted Lasso: We'll Never Have Paris

[jamiesfootball]

Technically the Richmond coaches had two chances to move Jamie to center and then didn’t take it: once when Zava showed up and once when they switched everyone at practice.

Both times they assumed he wouldn’t do it

At the very least we know he was willing to do it the second time (he even asked if they meant to give him the same position), but honestly? The Jamie who came to them worried about the effect of Zava on the team might’ve done it too. He is well on board with being a team player at that point, which he also demonstrated many times in season two. He probably would’ve been hurt by it, but he would’ve agreed to do it

(Then we could’ve had a whole season deconstructing how Jamie conflates scoring with winning with value in a way that really isn’t healthy but I digress)

For the record I don’t think this would have fixed anything. They probably would’ve figured out how effective Jamie is in midfield sooner, but they still would’ve had Zava, and after Zava there would’ve been the tension of whether to keep Jamie where he was or have him step back up to striker, especially since they weren’t doing total football yet. In a lot of ways, having Jamie step up and volunteer for it later really sidesteps a lot of drama

I’m more so lamenting the fact that with Jamie, when it came to ‘be curious not judgmental, they chose to remain judgmental of his past behavior instead of curious about his new ones.

[wayward-wren]

I am thinking about. Jamie and the Second Doctor.

Because out of all the incarnations of the Doctor, Two is arguably the one who uses manipulation and disguises the most. He thrives on using people's intelligence against them, on tricking people, on bluffing and his bluffs working. He has a different disguise every story pretty much and is constantly playing some kind of role.

And then you look at Jamie, and some of Jamie's most front and center traits are his loyalty and his honesty (and protectiveness, but less applicable). Jamie is loyal to a fault and extremely trusting of the Doctor. He's honest and straightforward and deeply caring.

And Jamie is the one who sticks by the Second Doctor for as long as he physically can--and you'd look at those two characters, one who is manipulative and cunning, and one who is loyal to a fault, and you'd think the Doctor would easily be able to take advantage of Jamie, that Jamie would just be a tool for him but he's not, they're on equal footing. Jamie pulls the Doctor down and reminds him what being human is all about.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Suddenly somewhat sad Roy and Jamie didn’t get more violent with each other in 1x05, not because I’m Barbara and like them a bit bruised*, but because having them both getting red-carded would have been extremely funny.

And by extremely funny I mean them being sent to the dressing room all by themselves and worked up, and the tension and frustration and anger and shame and—

Because the thing is, they’d still be really fucking furious but without the presence of an audience spurring them onto Extra Performative Masculinity, and with the dawning embarassment of being sent off for fighting your own team mate and leaving your team two men down…

Mmm. Super tense. Uncomfortable. Weird. Could go a number of ways, and they’re all really fucking delightful.

[handsomejack-ingoff]

hey man. if youre complaining about the actors in the borderlands movie being "too old" for the roles. i wanna remind you that in the trailer alone, for a bl1 based movie, hyperion is branded yellow and white instead of red and black, tina is the same age shes supposed to be in 2, krieg has escaped hyperion when jack isnt even supposed to be ruling yet, and fuckin. mouthpiece from bl3 was there. just off the top of my head. i could find more lore inconsistencies if i tried

frankly i think the only issue with the casting is how many of them are zionists and the fact that theyre trying to make roland a comedic character played by kevin hart when hes supposed to be the straight man. like. come on. roland is the only even slightly normal one out of the first games vault hunters (i really dont care that much at the end of the day, thats just my main gripe besides the zionism)

[mariocki]

A tiny Frazer Hines pops up as an unnamed bellhop in Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!: The Littlest Sergeant (1.10, ABPC, 1957)

[pedgito]

Jamie Campbell Bower at SFM6 (People Convention)

[dvasva]

Tbh? I think the radiant emperor duology deserves more critique than it gets in its tag, so after stewing it over for a couple weeks and also discussing it with my friend, I have decided to do it myself.

So. Spoilers for She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned The World ahead.

First off, so nobody accuses me of hating the series, I liked the series. I'd say I'd give the first book a 4.5/5, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I like both books. I truthfully skipped the fisting scene, it triggered some dysphoria that I wasn't comfortable with personally but I don't have problem with it existing in the book, it's good where it is, no changes.

No, my critiques come mostly from the second book, hwdts. Which sucks because I absolutely loved Baoxiang in it, it's a well known fact that my ideal type is pretty, really mean, characters. ('What about Madam Zhang?!!!???!? Shes mean and pretty!!' I hear you ask. Give it a second cause i will get to my beloved madam zhang) So, my critiques are mostly organized as 'The first part I didn't like in Hwdtw that signals the thing that became my biggest issue, the bits in the middle that i did like along with the bits that I felt didn't really work well, and Act 3 which is where my issues really were exacerbated.'

By the end of book one, I had a general annoyance but acceptance that Ma Xiuying was a bit of a weak character, and not weak as in 'dang shes a woman and cant fight' or any other sexist way you may interpret that, but weak as in structurally, she didn't really have as much depth as other characters. I thought she didn't have as much time put into her character as others. And yeah you could have a million character analysis essays over Ma and her place in the story and etc, but for me, her setup for the next book as potentially having conflict with Zhu or her own morals was the most interesting part of Ma. In general I think a lot of people tend to overlook this flaw partly because Ma is a cis lesbian character and the main 'love interest' in a book that is usually marketed to people as sapphic, which yeah there is certainly a sapphic relationship in the book but I think saying it's a major part of the book is really giving the relationship a load bearing wall ot isn't strong enough to carry. The Radiant Emperor Duology is not a romance, first and foremost. To describe it as a wlw romance is gonna leave people who read ot specifically for that reason kinda dissappointed by the end of book 2.

My big critiques didn't start until book two, and a particular scene, though. Ma, at the start of book two, was generally filling the niche of 'nagging wife' to zhu, which yknow, is a fine place to start from. I was a little disappointed there was no further discussion of Ma's disapproval of the morality of Zhu's actions, and in fact the dead child was pretty much entirely forgotten by Ma in favor of being Zhu's wife. Which, yknow, sure.

The Scene I had issue with happened (Spoilers once again) after Zhu finally captures Ouyang and imprisons him at her base of operations. Ma, dressed in her empressly regalia enters his room with the intention of being the bigger person. She walks in, looks at the stripped down and humiliated general who killed her father and famously is also really a women hater, and tells him she forgives him for killing her father. And then she gets upset and cries when the prideful general who hates women gives her a dressing down and taunts her and is like 'I'm glad I killed your father'? She nearly cries because Ouyang was mean to her (notably only cause he was mean to her and didn't gracefully accept her forgiveness, not because he killed ehr father) and runs off to Zhu. And Zhu responds with 'Wow, he's just a weirdo, everyone likes you and everyone in existance immediately knows you're a good person and you change people.' Which, my friend suggested before she finished the book, was a case of Zhu placating Ma and dismissing her feelings which would be an interesting dynamic.

Really my hangups with this scene come from multiple parts.

1. Ma' few character traits including being observant and reading people really well (a thing she's praised for in book 1) and having good social intuition are completely thrown out by her thinking being alone with ouyang and forgiving him would be a good idea and then her being shocked and upset when he spat on her forgiveness. And

2. Zhu's response is never once treated by the text as her dismissing Ma and placating her, and Zhu's statement despite never being shown to be true before and that moment being the first time it's ever mentioned, ends up becoming Chekov's moral purity by the end of the book, where the plot hinges on Ma being able to magically heal a damaged character's mind enough for Zhu to win in the end. Which I will get back to. There's a lot of other stuff happening between here and the end.

So, before I get back to Ma and her role in the story, I'll address some other bits from after this scene. Both problems and things I enjoyed generally.

Madam Zhang and her parallels to Baoxiang and her being the absolute queen of dissociating really was interesting (before act 3). She was a very compelling character who I completely understood and felt positively about. She had a way more interesting relationship with gender imo than Ma did, especially in book 2. I didn't really like that she was overwhelmingly shown having sexual villence done to her, that felt weirdly like a punishment. But, I did like her a whole bunch, and I liked the look we got into her head. She was probably my second, maybe third, favorite character in the whole book until Act 3.

I really, really liked Ouyangs dynamic and relationship with Zhu. The weird sexual tension between them, their weird kinda nonsexual but also kinda very sexual S&M relationship. It was somehow the most sensual, sexual part of a book that featured Madam Zhang having sex with multiple people, and Zhu going down on Ma, and a lot of other mentions of sex or scenes involving sex. Tbh I feel like, in a way, Ma was left to the sidelines for most of the book because Ouyang became the primary 'love' interest for a hot second there and the only reason Ma could get her spot back was Ouyang and Zbu's separation. Also, from what I've seen when people talk about this book, they always kinda try to express Zhu and Ouyang's dynamic as very nonsexual and nonromantic, as platonic mostly. And there is no inherent superiority of romantic over platonic, but I think to insist that it is only platonic, and not a strange swirl of romantic, platonic, sexual, frustration and relief, and a swirl of familiarity and vulnerability all wrapped into one, is doing the dynamic a bit of a disservice. And ther is, imo, very clearly a subtle hint of romantic intent and interest on Ouyang's part before he realizes Zhu has a body he hates.

Which is also another point I didn't like. Ouyang and Zhu's relationship end felt off. The entire bit with the pirates felt off, but especially how Ouyang found out about Zbu's body, and how Zhu reacted. I think Ouyang finding out second hand, from a combination of being suspicious and from Jiang saying it, was a poor way for that to be revealed. I think there was a better way for that to happen that woyld have felt more like a betrayl to zhu than this did. The fact that Zhu and Ouyang were so in tune and could see each other perfectly, but this one thing was a blind spot for both of them because of how unaffected by gender Zhu was compared to how overaffected by gender Ouyang was is a really interesting thing to explore, an interesting disconnect between two character's whose entire basis for their relationship is 'like recognizes like'. I think Zhu seeing it as a betrayl would have been more impactful if she had presented this informatuon to Ouyang herself and been rejected than how it went down. And, I think her not realizing Ouyang would be disgusted that he felt connected and felt a sameness to someone with a body he found grotesque and that he feared would have been more interesting for zhu, who views herself outside of womanhood and didnt really think that other people would not see her outside of womanhood, if she was the one who told ouyang herself.

Also, less importantly, think going into Ouyangs annoyance that zhu kept moving his target further away was a good move but it wasn't expanded on as much for my taste. I also really liked it when (spoiler) Xu Da dies, and that entire part despite some minir bits, was extremely good in that Zhu finally has tasted loss. She had, up until that point, been riding a wave of positivity, she was the underdog who won over and over again despite all the odds and despite her own reckless choices. So I did appreciate that everything went wrong for her at least once. that would have been, imo if other things were changed, a good place to end a book two in a three book series. Which will make sense as to why I mention it im a bit.

I also didn't like how Ma was nonexistant unless the plot was like 'ok we need to remind people that Ma exists.'

And there's of course other stuff but those are the main points of acts 1 and 2 that i wasn't fond of or that i liked.

Act 3 is a wholely different behemoth which can be encapsulated with 'I wish it was longer but also different' (courtesy of the convo my friend and I had).

My friend and I both agreed that we liked this kind of courtly drama game it was playing. My friend doesn't tend to like the structure or writing style of a lot of the chinese wuxia, danmei, or courtly drama translated books i read, so it was nice to know that the genre content isn't the issue for her there.

The biggest problems I had with the ending though was 1. I think Baoxiang and Ma had an interesting dynamic despite it being really rushed and how distasteful I found the entire concept of Ma being such a good wholesome goody good good person that she could change Baoxiang, quiet his demons and fix him in some way. That was annoying in an otherwise interesting dynamic. And 2. I think Madam Zhang's character traits and cleverness and all that were wiped away to make her inexplicably jealous of Ma in a way that I don't think fit her character and just served to fit a trope of jealous empress who hates the favored concubine.

So, here's my major proposed changes.

1. Ma gets sent to Khanbaliq extremely early on. Like, act one maybe after ouyang is captured early. This serves three purposes. A. Ma has something to do and is more present in the story. this could be a good xhance to let her actually feel frustrated or upset at Zhu in some tangible way that needs to be resolved or talked thru eventually. B. she gets more time to build a relationship with Baoxiang, whose entire defeat hinges on him having a strong connection with her. and C. Her absence in the other parts of the book feel less like she's being ignored or forgotten. It makes Zhu's lack of haste more than just a way to annoy Ouyang, and turns it into an interesting moral choice. Should she rush to Khanbaliq to save Ma or trust that Ma will be ok in favor of gaining power? Her lack of haste means Ouyang leaves, depressed, and she loses Xu Da, all while she doesn't even have the assurance that Ma is ok, she is truly at her lowest point with nobody with her. If Ma is in Khanbaliq and that's explored, then Zhu and Ouyang can also explore their dynamic without Ma feeling a bit like she is battling for Zhu's attention.

2. Madam Zhang is suspicious of Ma, or feels actually tangibly threatened by Ma. In act 3, Madam Zhang's anger towards Ma feels really out of place. She got exactly what she wants, she is empress, her emperor isn't interested in removing her from her position and her position isn't threatened by anyone. Baoxiang won't get rid of her, he won't demote her, he has shown zero sign of ever even considering it. So, why is Madam Zhang jealous of Ma? Imo, especially since she very clearly has dissociated into oblivion and has no love or affection for anyone anymore, and no real desire or motivation to secure her position further aside from maybe producing an heir to make sure shes taken care of after Baoxiang dies, there's no reason for her to be inextricably jealous of Ma. It kinda just erases all of Madam Zhang's political savvy and cunning into jealous, petty woman, and that sucks. If she was suspicious of Ma's intention, or Baoxiang genuinely expressed spmething that actively threatened her position, her hatred of Ma would make sense, but instead she hates Ma cause Ma is ugly and spends every night with Baoxiang. She hated rice buckets concubine cause that concubine used a lot of funds and competition genuinely made her position less stable. She needs better motivation for hating Ma.

3. As I mentioned earlier, Zhu needs to be the one to tell Ouyang that she does not have a dick. That's just all around better, it feels more like a betrayl to bare your secrets and be rejected, etc etc.

4. The duology should have been a trilogy, with book 3 starting when Zhu is at her lowest, ouyang is dead, ma is in khanbaliq, Xu Da is dead, a new guy is the emperor. This is where a book three should have started. in a series that has so many important characters, i feel like it needs more space. she's in a 10 gallon tank when really she needs a 30 gallon tank. Lots of it, especially towards the end of book 2, felt rushed and the extra book will absolutely push that back a bit and make it less rushed.

Anyways that's my critique of The Radiant emperor duology. Once Again, I liked the series, its one of my favorites i've read all year. I don't dislike it, and having a critique or opinion about something doesnt mean I didn't like the book or understand the book (because obviously if i understood it i would understand why its flawless). I liked it, there are things I wish were different, that's it.

[youwillfindilluminating]

phil “mostly straight” dunster and con “thank you for being a part of my community” o’neill, we are truly winning this summer 🌈

[thefiresofpompeii]

just gotta wait 16 years, hang in there 🤞🤞

[elloras]

do you ever just get emotional about how much brett and phil love each other

[jamietwat]

I should be doing other things, but instead I'm typing out a long ass post because I know we talk a lot about the throuple implications in Mom City from Keeley and Roy putting their whatever was going on on pause to have their undivided attention on Jamie and stalk him when he took off on his own, Jamie bringing them both home and his mom totally outing that he talks about them both all the time, the side by side posters in Jamie's room (and Jamie pretending like he has to introduce them as if they're not clearly both on his wall and his mom doesn't know exactly who they are), Simon deliberately giving them a tour and showing them the posters and pointing out that Roy's the one player that's poster always stayed, and the whole walking off arm in arm in arm to go get drinks together

And yes all that, but also I don't think we talk enough about "Mommy, I'd like to introduce you to Keeley, and this hairy prick's Roy." Not "You remember Keeley, and this hairy prick's Roy"

No, it's very clearly established that this is the first time Georgie is meeting either of them. And like season 1 Jamie absolutely fumbled Keeley, but he was quite clearly serious about her and quite clearly already a momma's boy and while the Keeley/Jamie relationship certainly had its flaws, it also was strong in a lot of ways. And Keeley was clearly very involved in every aspect of Jamie's life in like a codependent he wanted her around all the time kind of way

And yet Jamie never brought Keeley around his mom before and the writers felt the need to establish that and that no, he's bringing Keeley and Roy home and introducing them to Georgie and Simon for the first time together. Keeley and Roy might be feeling like they're third wheeling Jamie and his mom's moment, but neither of them is third wheeling Jamie and the other or any less important to Jamie historically or currently

And for that matter, even when Roy makes a move to try to get back with Keeley, Jamie isn't in the room and yet his presence quite palpably is (I mean Roy's literally trying to talk things out and get back with her while on Jamie's bed) and that's the point when things turn from the setup that Roy and Keeley are on the path to getting back together into no, that's not something they can slip right back into even though the feelings are still there... And then, there's Jamie, interrupting but not really and really just sparing them both the awkwardness of it and it's like a relief that he's there to intervene

And it's not an oh look, here's Jamie, the obstacle to the romance and Roy's romantic rival that Roy's annoyed to have around like early season 2. It's way more of an actual triangle than the usual love triangle drama that kind of scene would be and there isn't weird tension and uncomfortableness between Jamie and Roy after or Keeley feeling weird being around them

No, they all three happily leave together arm in arm in arm to go drink together. And that (and the whole episode) is very much that Roy tries to help Jamie and fix whatever's wrong with him and it doesn't work. Then Keeley the senior Jamie expert steps in and tries to help him and fix whatever's wrong with him and it doesn't work either. And it's only when they're both there together with him (and with his mom but I'm going to get to that aspect still) that Jamie starts feeling better and anything works. And then Roy tries to fix things with Keeley and it doesn't work then things are so much more natural and uncomfortable once Jamie's back with them because basically the whole episode is look any pair on its own isn't the answer and isn't working on its own anymore because they all three care about each other and are inextricably tangled up in a good way instead of the toxic way it was back when Keeley was pouring coffees together and hoping that would avoid a huge fight

And back to the Jamie for some reason not having brought Keeley around his mom or even having FaceTimed with her with Keeley in the room like look at my girlfriend thing. We know that Jamie's dynamic with his dad is fucked up and he didn't want people knowing about it or the extent of before they'd witnessed it and it became kind of apparent. So if he didn't introduce Keeley to his family and kept her separate from Manchester, he didn't have to get into that or worry about her hearing the shit his dad said or seeing him the same way. And we know that Jamie's bravado is a whole thing and like yeah he is that full of himself but it's also a shield too

And season 1 Jamie doesn't really let that bravado slip outside of the scene with his dad that he didn't expect anyone to witness, for like three seconds with Roy when he admitted that he had a poster of him before immediately swerving to toasting to the idea of Roy dying, and the scene when he burned his boots and let his guard down just to end up transferred and dial the abrasive cockiness up more after

And even when season 2 Jamie let people behind the bravado, it was usually to try to get something. And I don't mean that in a manipulative way, I just mean like there was something he wanted that was a carrot to make him dial back the cockiness and open up. Like when he realized he'd fucked up his career and went to Keeley for help. Or when he went to Ted to try to get back on the team. Or when he started acting differently around the team to try to get them to stop shunning him (and obviously also to try to be a better teammate and whatnot but like them shutting him out was the push that got him to do it). Or trying to convince Roy to coach him too

And then there's season 3 Jamie who is starting to open up to people and drop the bravado just because he wants to or wants them around when he feels like shit. And then there's Jamie catching Roy and Keeley stalking him when he's taking off on his own to go be sad with his mom away from the team. And instead of getting mad at them or telling them to fuck off or asking what the hell they're doing, there's no conflict at all. It's just okay, come on then

Like sure neither of them knew what to say or do to help him, but he knows they're worried and he knows they're his go to people outside of his mom, so sure, why not come along? And he lets them both fully into the last part of his life they weren't in yet and brings them both along. And that's the point that it goes from I don't know what's wrong, I just know I feel like shit to sure come meet my mom and my stepdad (who we never saw Jamie mention in the show and who at least Roy looked surprised existed) and watch me sulk on top of my mom and complain about every single thing that's upsetting me without putting on any cocky act or turning any of it into a joke. He's next to Georgie's Jamie Tartt shrine and it could have been a Roy and Keeley awkwardly listening to him talk about how great of a player he is scene, but no

Instead, it's Georgie being Jamie's biggest supporter but not caring at all about how Jamie plays (in a good way) and Jamie being at his most vulnerable walls down level. And it's Roy and Keeley being the ones a little uncomfortable with that shift and awkwardly sitting there eating Simon's baking while watching this while Jamie seems fully comfortable with them being there for all of this and he isn't even the one that suggests them going off somewhere else for a while

And anyway, I didn't mean to ramble for this long but I just think that says a lot more than if Keeley had been around Georgie before or if they'd been introduced in some happy cocky this is my mom and this is all the pictures of me she has up because I'm such a star kind of scene