#the fact they BROUGHT IT BACK IN S2. DESPITE IT NOT WORKING IN S1

[candied-cae]

Okay... I finished OFMD S2...

And yeah, as much as it breaks my heart, this season disappointed me in so many different ways. There are a few things I absolutely adored, but a lot of it felt like a disservice to a lot of the work S1 did to establish the universe and its characters.

Oluwande gave Stede advice like one whole time this season, even though that was a big part of the first. Him consistently being supportive was such a light, and it was pretty much replaced with him just being generally bubbly (and I fucking loved watching him be bubbly and joyful, might I add, but it's different).

Jim's complicated relationship with the idea of taking vengeance wasn't brought up at all. Jim's relationship with Oluwande was absolutely shifted, even now, I cannot watch S1 with the knowledge that they're going to be played off as "best friends who hooked up once" and see it, they HAD to have been intended as an endgame couple in the beginning.

Frenchie didn't sing even once, despite the fact that the very first scene opens to his voice! Frenchie as a character was shrunken a ton, in general. Ed leaned on him a lot in S1, that was gone. Wee John was shown as his best friend, but how many words did they even exchange this season? They let him do another grift, but it didn't include Oluwande so (personally) it felt cheapened.

Wee John didn't make a single fucking joke about fire! Even though there was a lot of fire this season, and he made like three separate comments about arson in the previous one?!?!?! And, again, he barely even talks to Frenchie at all!

The Swede was benched for half the episodes, Buttons became a bird halfway through and possibly won't be coming back at all, Ivan was killed off with a one-liner, and Izzy died as a completely backwards version of himself that we were given almost no show of him transitioning into.

Izzy, who practically stole a bunch of other character's "moments" while they rushed through his redemption so they could kill him at the end and hope they got everyone attached to him enough to care. Izzy got to sing, Izzy got to play advisor to Stede, Izzy got to do drag with John, Izzy whittled a gift for Lucius instead of Pete, Izzy pretty much interrupted every single scene Gentlebeard had... It's just... frustrating.

Season 1 was revolutionary to me, but Season 2 just felt far more average in comparison. I don't know, I was so excited, and rewatching season 1 is still exhilarating, but season 2 just doesn't do as much for me. I really feel like it was the wrong choice to spend as much time as they did with Izzy when they still skipped almost the entirety of his "redemption," condense so many of the other characters to make for time, but still make sure we could fit in some incredible jokes.

One of the only things that didn't change for me, was the humor.

But about half of my favorite things just didn't exist these last 8 episodes, so I need to go drown myself in some fanfics.

[pureseasalt]

as much as its obvious that carmy has a lot to process and go to therapy for, the same can be said about sydney. its just that shes comparably more well-adjusted than him and she's got a stable and an actually loving and reliable support system w/ her dad, but its been reinforced thruout s1 and s2 that sydney, for a lack of better term, tends to keep shit to herself. and i dont mean like chef/work related stuff because sydney is very much an open communicator about that.

she can share info about sheridan road (to carmy) or how carmy cooked the best food she's ever tasted (to marcus). sydney, however, keeps personal stuff very tightly in a box, all to herself. the fact that her mother's dead is only brought up when carmy asked her about it directly despite the number of times she's been mentioned in previous conversations (e.g., when syd told carm about the dinner w/ her dad). in addition to that, sydney doesn't seem to easily let people in her life. if the shitshow during s1 didn't happen, i doubt that she would've felt the need to talk to marcus in her house and engage in a more intimate conversation with him, thus allowing marcus to get closer with her. she was also the first to shut down the idea of hanging out with carmy in s2e1. and again, with marcus, when she sensed that it was going in that direction. and it could be read as her just keeping it all professional, keeping work and life separate and shit, and that is valid, but it is telling with the way s2 slowly allowed us into sydney's inner world (e.g., her creative process; her staring longingly at a mother & daughter at the diner) that her emotional baggage will eventually spill over to the restaurant.

i feel like her relationship (or lack thereof) with her mother is the centerpiece of this narrative. and i feel like her relationship with tina will somehow play a role in this because she's the closest thing to a maternal figure that sydney can have, given that her entire life revolves around work (i just want a sydney/tina centric episode ok sue me). like, sydney seemed comfortable with giving/receiving physical affection, but when tina hugged her sydney wasn't even able to return it (or it took her a long time to do it). she was perfectly fine hugging natalie back after she cooked for her, but with tina, although to be fair it rlly came as a suprise to her, all she did was stand there awkwardly, like she didn't know what to do with her hands. and it was quite a long hug. i hope that the writers can take advantage of this tension that lies dormant in sydney's character and just. go crazy with it. all im saying is i miss sydney adamu. i rlly wanna see more of her. like watch an entire season dedicated to her. have her personal conflict be the overarching theme that holds the other themes of a season together or smthng. give her a whole 10 minute uncut monologue.

[harleyxhoward]

The Umbrella Academy S4 (thoughts & opinions)

- HOT TAKE: The issue I had with Five and Lila getting together wasn’t the bizarre age gap or insensitivity of Five sleeping with his brother’s wife, but how they don’t resolve the tension properly before they all cease to exist. Specifically Diego and Five don’t get to hold hands the way Lila and Five did, even though it wasn’t really up to Lila to “forgive” Five, but whatever. I thought that had this affair been treated with an ounce of consideration it would reveal a lot more about both characters shared desperation for affection and emotional stimulation. Five spent decades in complete social isolation to the point where he legitimately fell in love with a mannequin and you want me to believe that, given the similar scenario that most certainly triggered the same “well I guess I’m stuck in this shit now for an indefinite amount of time” area of his brain, he wouldn’t have resorted to falling in love with the fist available person regardless of what it meant outside of the subway? Lila too seemed to get with Diego because while they did click in S2, she had never lived a life that allowed her to experience romance or starting a family like she could with Diego. She pumped out three kids to seemingly force herself to enjoy what she knows could be taken away from her at the throwing of a time traveling briefcase, but her behavior this season is baffling because what do you mean after seven years of searching for a way home she never once brings up missing those three children until the opportunity to return home presents itself? She tries to wipe her hands of the situation, but then the show just kind of ends without meaningful conclusion, so…

- The ending was sloppy. I know you know that, but my issue wasn’t the actual end. The Hargreeves having to sacrifice themselves in a way indicative of the S1 finale makes perfect sense, especially with the painfully shallow Five Diner down in that unexplained subway station where they all indirectly allude to the fact that there’s never a condition where at least one of the family doesn’t end the world. Had the Fives took time to explain that each Hargreeve possesses earth shattering abilities that eventually snowball out of control regardless of the condition, and all resistance is futile, I would accept that the ending makes more sense than just blaming the marigold despite the fact that Victor can/has been able to syphon marigold out of people, and could’ve just taken it all himself but you know, whatever.

- I also deeply resent that a show about familial trauma and bonding despite the shared adversity ultimately concluded on everyone giving up. No. You don’t get to say that they “didn’t just give up” because yes, them saying “oh no, well, there’s ten minutes left of the episode, guess we should cease to exist now” is the definition of not even trying to venture down into the subway as a family and fix the other timelines one at a time, using their newfound familial unity to solve every timeline until they converge into one. I’m not saying that needed to happen at all, or that they should have succeeded even if they tried, but AT LEAST THEN THEY WOULD HAVE TRIED. The writers gave up, the characters gave up, and the metaphor of grief and family issues the show spent so long to cultivate were just abandoned.

- Klaus regressed with no substantial reason or impact other than to provide slapstick humor and comedic relief antics that didn’t amount to any of what he had spent the last few seasons building and working towards. Ben shouldn’t have been brought back after his noble and meaningful sacrifice of S2 only to be made into the most obnoxious version of himself. Allison didn’t even get to say “I heard a rumor” this season nor did she address attempting to sexually assault Luther, and Diego’s relationship with Lila was the absolute worst case scenario for both characters. Viktor was the only one with an arc worth watching this season, which is why I thought him having a solo sacrifice would have been even more gut wrenching but whatever.

- There is an insurmountable amount of plot holes that prove this show just got lazy. There should be a kugelblitz in the finale’s timeline. If Lila/Allison were never born then there could never be Grace/Lila’s children. You don’t get to say “well what about the subway” because that doesn’t protect them from the grandfather paradox, unless outright stated which the writers didn’t even bother to do.

- Why didn’t they just kill Jennifer? Who put her in the squid? If it was Reggie’s wife then why didn’t she just kill her? Why didn’t Reggie kill her when he built the town to “protect” her? Why did she react with pure terror when shown the squid? How did Jean and Gene get their hands on it? Was it a normal giant squid or an alien? Was it her mother? No, because then how did she speak English when she emerged from its stomach? Why did she say “the cleanse” like she knew what it meant when she didn’t? Ben should’ve been able to remember in the OG timeline how he died because absolutely every other spirit does and the show can’t just rewrite its own lore to cater to a last minute subplot that went nowhere. I don’t want to be mean but Jennifer never should have existed as a S4 add in because she did absolutely nothing for the plot other than confusing the audience with the persistent question of why didn’t they just kill her to prevent the cleanse from happening. Reginald said one of them had to die, but in the OG timeline he killed both just to be…cruel? What’s the point of writing that it just had to be one of them if you’re just going to act like it’s a package deal? This entire plot line made me truly believe this season was written by AI, I’m sorry.

[leseigneurdufeu]

Please give an opinion on The Remarried Empress, especially S2

I liked S1 but S2 kinda left a sour taste in my mouth and I'd like to hear a hot take about it

General opinion:

In their world, having a concubine is totally legal so I'm not going to go after Rashta as a homewrecker, only as a scheming hypocrite.

That being said: I love Sovieshu x Navier's relationship, but I do have qualms about the fact that he becomes immediately jealous and suspicious when she spends time with other men. On the other hand, while she was being professionnal, said men (Kaufmann and Heinley) both were meeting with her with ulterior motives (the romantic kind).

While we're on the characters, let's explore:

- Our Male Lead, Heinrey: I hate him. It might just be due to personnal taste but I don't get why "puppy labrador man" is considered more attractive than "tall dark and handsome" Sovieshy. But that's just on the attractive side. Nothing to warrant hatred. So let's get to his personnality. He 1) approached Navier with the intention to destroy her and only came back on his idea when he fell in love with her, 2) used his bird form to see and touch her in ways that he shouldn't and deceived her (if we use Kenna as an example, same situations but he managed to avoid all that), 3) apparently has something to do with the magic disappearing, which is part of some grand scheme to completely destroy Navier's country, but he spares Navier and her little protegee to avoid hurting Navier's feelings. His behaviour is creepy and stalkish and him trying to destroy everything and everyone oh wait no, let's make an exception for the woman he's obsessed with, is a behavioral red flag for fictional characters as far as I'm concerned.

- Sovieshu: like said before, he might be a bit jealous and not really trust Navier. On the other hand, the situation proved him right since not only did both men who meet her fall in love with her and asked her to follow them to their country but she even accepted one of them. Yeah sure he shouldn't have put her in a difficult position by bringing in a side girl and try to make her empress. But again, in the world where they live it's perfectly normal, not a complete betrayal. The only mistake he made, in my eyes, was to try to make Rashta empress instead of Navier when Rashta is so blatantly uncapable of everything. And not making Navier aware of his double-swap plan.

- Navier: I like her and she makes an efficient empress but my brain just starts lagging then bugging when i think about how she went for Heinrey instead of having a discussion with Sovieshu to manage a common plan that would benefit both (like for example having her simulate a pregnancy, then pass Rashta's kid as her own and pretend Rashta's died at birth, idk, i've got tons of stupid ideas that would work better than Sovieshu's double-swap plan).

- Kaufmann: what the heck??? It might be because the webtoon is an adaptation and maybe his role is more important in the source material idk but he seems so irrelevant to the plot except for the time he tried to make Navier give a rape drug to her husband when she never even asked him to meddle with their love life in the first place (and even if she did it would still be wrong to suggest rape drug but you get what i mean).

- Krista: people who smear her don't realize that Krista-Navier is exactly Navier-Rashta except we see everything from Navier's pov. And I like her for that. She is not overly antagonistic. She just stands her ground and refuses to be more friendly to Navier than she wants to. To Navier = to That Girl the emperor brought in who is absolutely not qualified at the moment to be empress and who is trying to one-up you despite you having been here longer and being the former empress and also trying to sway the court to her side and make you the bad guy. Krista seeing Navier arrive is the same as Navier seeing Rashta arrive and I wish people just realized that.

Anyway now that we're done with that let's dig into the plot.

Navier and Sovieshu are basically soulmates. They've known each other since their childhood, she's the perfect empress for the empire and the perfect wife for him and he's the perfect husband for her. They're so in tune with each other and so close and all! Great couple!

He... finds an escaped slave during a hunting trip, ok. Brings her to the palace? Weird reaction but ok we need a plot. Makes her his concubine? I mean, again, in their world, it's not such a weird/bad reaction. Then she becomes pregnant from him. (he mentionned that despite a long married life, Navier had never become pregnant so i looked it up and apparently they have been married only 3 years before he brings Rashta home? like wtf dude? but anyway he later explains why he has good reasons to believe Navier is sterile other than not having children with him yet so the excuse is stupid but the reasonning is comprehensible.

That Navier refuses to adopt Rashta's child and taht Rashta refuses to give up her child, it's completely normal. That Sovieshu plans to divorce Navier, make Rashta his empress, then divorce her after the birth and take Navier back, it's stupid. Making the whole plan without even putting Navier in the secret is just plain stupid. She's smart and bright and efficient and (ok maybe lowkey a mary sue but we need some in our reads) she loves him and if she had known she could have told him why it was a stupid plan, draft a better one, make everyone happy.

Anyway so far that's my ideas about the series.

About season 2 particularly:

Navier goes to the new empire. Whole Krista situation in which i wholeheartedly support Krista. Heinrey suffers no consequences at all for repeatedly stalking Navier, pushing her boundaries, intruding upon her, etc, both in bird and human form, nor does he suffer any consequences for lying to her, deceiving her, touching/seeing her in inappropriate ways without her consent, or even making everyone around her and in her empire suffer from his initial plan of destroying them all which he only amended to exclude her from the destruction. As far as I'm concerned, Heinrey is the vilain of this story, but from what I know (which i hope I'm wrong) he's supposed to be the good guy but ok.

Loving Rashta spiraling down in paranoia because of Ergi. I still don't know what his deal is but I love what I see. I know I said I wouldn't judge her for being a homewrecker when she's not by their world's standards, but 1) she still is a hypocritical piece of shit and 2) I still unconsciously consider her kind of a home wrecker because the standards in my world are not the same as the ones in her world.

Anyway I'm pretty sure nobles sent gifts to her for her wedding (unless they all refused to because she's always prioritizing the smallfolks, but while it's possible I find it inplausible that all of them would do that) (also, Ergi's gift was half under a sofa so it's probable it just fell from a pile and then the other gifts were removed: either he got them out of the room to make her spiral down even more or Sovieshu took them and will tell her only later that for reason X or Y he didn't want them to stay in her room?). But seeing her accuse Navier of putting people against her when all she did was worry about people talking in her back when she was there? I love a good quid pro quo.

Seeing Rashta wearing the same dress and hairdo as Navier did, in the second-to-last episode of season 2, really shows how she's become desperate. She wants to find the secret ingredient that made Navier being loved by everyone, but she can't find it, because 1) this ingredient is partly the author's favor, 2) she has very bad advice from Ergi and 3) Navier had her whole life to learn how to navigate politics and Rashta just arrived.

The Lotteshu subplot of Rashta's previous child? I like it but I don't know where it will go. I saw a comment somewhere about how Sovieshu might be the one sterile and Rashta's child might not be his, I don't know what to think of this.

I also love Navier's brother, can't remember his name. He's... a lot, but in a good way? I guess? And I like her new lady-in-waiting who's got a spear in her back all the time. So anyway here was my whole thing.

TL;DR of the hot takes:

Heinrey is the bad guy of the story.

Rashta is actually not so bad as the fandom paints her (although she still is bad)

Ergi is entertainingly despicable.

Kaufmann is also questionable.

Sovieshu is the closest thing from a good guy we have among the male leads.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

oh defo agreed on leonard, part of why viktor frustrates me sometimes much as i love him because it feels like the tua writers keep trying to make him *the* main character (despite it being a cast show) and they keep bringing up the fact that he has trauma, and they erase his flaw’s because they’re telling you more that he’s a dysfunctional and traumatized but sympathetic character without actually showing that

like viktor having what’s effectively a mental breakdown in s1 finale and deciding to cause the apocalypse (imo he was trying to cause the apocalypse ((esp since he literally killed a guy for honking at him and went to the concert knowing his powers feed on sound)) once his siblings started attacking him but the exact way he caused the apocalypse was an accident) but that’s not really brought up and when it os, they talk about it like he took his dad’s car and had a joyride and accidentally crashed it, not causing the literal apocalypse

Viktor’s trauma w leonard isn’t addressed, nor is him literally getting tortured by the fbi (absolutely not surprising given klaus’ torture not being addressed, but not any less frustrating), his anger issues and bit of a victim complex, and his years of anger and resentment towards his siblings are magically wiped away thx to the fact that he has powers now apparently

the latter bits are esp frustrating, bc y’know, wiping away his flaws is wiping away a good chunk of what makes him interesting. I feel like s2 really dropped the ball w the amnesia storyline bc it just served as a reason to not address s1. imo it could’ve been good, if they played into the “oh viktor’s amnesiac and all his problems are solved now” and have the siblings kind of think that when they see viktor happy w sissy and carl but then they slowly realize viktor defo vv much still has his resentment issues. the only reason they didn’t see it is bc who pr what does viktor have to be jealous of the farm (or maybe viktor could be jealous of carl not just bc of sissy but bc of him being important at his job but i digress)

like diego mentions having to save keneddy and viktor’s like “what so you can get patted on the back for being extraordinary for saving the day?” And instances like that which make the siblings realize that viktor’s issues defo aren’t a quick and simple fix, they’ve always been there and it’s not something they can blame solely on leonard. leonard was merely only the one who lit the match to the bomb, he didn’t create it. and if they really wanna address viktor’s issues they have to address their own and the family’s issues as a whole

You just outlined basically all of my issues w how Viktor is treated in the show.

It's like the showrunners have forgotten who he was in S1, tbh: Viktor is angry. He's angry, he's kind of ruthless, he's selfish. He destroys the world because he's angry at his siblings and doesn't give two shits about who he could hurt. Was part of that Leonard? Yeah, sure. Was it also years of repressed anger just bursting out? Yep.

He thinks he had it the worst out of his siblings, he thinks he was the only one who's trauma really matters and he's a victim, and like... the show never addresses or even contradicts this?? It's like they want us to think he's right, that Vik was the only one with trauma and it justifies everything he does.

The thing is- Viktor is kind. He's sweet, he's passionate when he finally gets off his pills, he's a good person. But he's not perfect. He's far from perfect. Those flaws I outlined above? They didn't make me hate him at all. They make him interesting. They make him realistic. Abuse isn't pretty, trauma isn't pretty - they're awful and people have to work to get away from the affects of them. That's what we saw with Allison in S1, what we should have seen with Viktor.

I've mentioned before that I think S2 and 3 sanitized a lot of the characters, and this is what I mean.

Look, Leonard was horrible for Viktor. He was manipulative and abusive and terrifying towards the end. How is he just... not affected by that? How does he not close himself off even more, even subconsciously, terrified and wary of someone treating him like a tool to manipulate and use again? Or maybe he does the opposite: throw himself into love just to try and get rid of it's association to him?

And for that matter: how is Viktor not affected by anything from S1?? Holy shit, he ended the season trying to murder his siblings!! And yet when he meets them again they're all... fine? No resentment? No anything?

I feel like S2 was trying to show us who Viktor could have been; the person he could've been without the abuse and trauma, and yk, I do appreciate it. But if that was the case, then S3 should've been when it all came back - all the resentment and anger and abuse. But it... wasn't?

The narrative treats him with kid gloves, ngl. And that's so, so bad for his character, bc it robs him of the complexity that made me love him. I love Viktor because he's angry and selfish and good anyway - because he has his flaws but he's kind, but he's patient, but he's trying to figure out this family with everyone else.

But the thing is, the show doesn't show that. Because Viktor's flaws are suddenly gone, his trauma isn't addressed, and everything is now a joke. His powers aren't explained or elaborated on, most of his development is just a suggestion.

I love the idea you had about the resentment that Viktor could show even with his amnesia, tbh. Small things here and there - easy enough to brush of but that could explode later, just to show us it's not gone, not (totally) healed, because you can't just fix trauma by ignoring it. That resentment is still there. That's fantastic.

Something interesting, imo, could have been that Viktor was faking his amnesia. Like, he's suddenly in the 1960s without any idea where anyone is, and now he's staying with a woman he's growing to love, and a kid he really, really cares about. There's no one to compete with or feel inferior to, no siblings he has to sort out his emotions about, and no one to hold him accountable for ending the world.

Why would he want to leave?

It could sort of be like what Allison learns pre-S1: you have to take responsibility for your actions, and if you want to make up with people, you have to take steps as well. You have to be the one who wants reconciliation, not just the other people, or else relationships can never fix.

Also Viktor Allison parallels did I mention how much I love them yet-

Anyway, yes, you're absolutely right. The show has watered down everyone ngl, and that very, very heavily includes Viktor.

[mjsparkour]

So we all know s3 is basically like a copy-paste situation of the s1 love triangle only with the more compelling female lead (in my opinion, Nini works much better as a recurring character or secondary lead) and the circumstances are a little different. They are in a summer camp which is where EJNini first dated same as Portwell. Only EJNini's relationship got to form with Nini outside of Ricky. She got to know a version of herself she liked and was growing comfortable with until her past relationship and unresolved feelings (her love confession which Ricky didn't say anything to...sounds a little familiar doesn't it? just you wait) ultimately confront her in the in the fall.

Gina won't have that opportunity to form her relationship in the same way because Ricky is there, the reminder of her unresolved feelings and her past is with her. Ricky and Gina's relationship has largely been on her terms. So of course, in their first interaction since 2b the first thing Gina does when she talks to him is confront that in the same way he tried to with Nini in the pilot. She did something they're both comfortable with, wanting to start over and not talking about what happened previously, good and bad. This allows them to move forward while moving backward, which seems something so in character for both of them. For Ricky this is what he'd wanted with Nini the second she came back from camp with a new boyfriend (while she was set on moving forward), he'd just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Gina just wanted to know her place in a non-familiar environment by vying for the lead role in s1 and now. They both sought familiarity in their changing environments with their own respective schemes and poorly executed plans that ended up tying them together in a way they didn't expect. A way that felt beyond friendship or romance.

Ricky is tied to her relationship with EJ unintentionally (in terms of the character's intention, but very intentionally in terms of writing) in the same way Gina was tied to Ricky and Nini's. Gina was the one who brought him back to the show, which ultimately led to Rini getting back together. Gina was the one who told him to send Nini that song on valentines day and she was the one who told him she'd be flattered by a sweet gesture even if he'd gone behind her back (the chocolate theory better be right chile...who would've thought I'd be saying this in the year of our lord 2022). In other words, she was keeping the wrecked home together.

Even Rini's love confession isn't their own because seconds later Gina says her own version of I love you (the scene is more emotionally charged and heartfelt). Similar to Nini's first love confession it's one he can't answer back to but everything is different. Ricky said it himself that night, "-maybe I'm back to who I always was. I don't know, somethings different." Ricky didn't say it back to Gina not only because he was in a relationship at that point but because he knew that was not what she needed to hear. He knew what she needed to do was say it, because neither of them knew if or when they'd see the other again. That wasn't the convenient choice, that certainly wasn't the choice that made their lives easier but he knew she needed to say it and that's the difference. He did it out of respect for her, he put her needs above his own. Ricky joined the theater group with the intention to prove to Nini that he could still be the boy she loved despite everything changing in his life. He was clamoring at an opportunity to keep things from changing which was clearly shown in their relationship in season 2. He put his needs above Nini's, which would be fair to argue he did the same with Gina in s2 because of the fact that he didn't check with her even though she was living without her mom for the first time??? Granted I understand if he wanted to give her space after the confession but cmon.

Ricky's place in Portwell's relationship is a bit more subliminal in 2b and then much more direct with his presence in s3. It really starts with Gina doubting EJ's interest in her with not wanting to confuse a nice gesture and a romantic sign. So when she finally gets not a sign, but an outside party to clear things up she decides (because she's a person that pushes through things) to pursue it. Ricky just making the decision to go to camp (without any intention of destroying a relationship) throws a wrench in her plans because even though she's moving forward like she always has, the feelings are still there. This is something she's never had to deal with before.

Rini and Portwell feel like hurdles more than they do actual relationships. They feel like cookie cutter disney relationships, like something somebody is telling me I should root for rather than show me. They don’t feel as real or natural as Ricky and Gina. This doesn’t mean those relationships don’t have value or don’t/ didnt make the characters happy. But if we’re being real the break ups will only have Ricky and Gina become better versions of themselves upon separation. We already saw it with Ricky. The reality is EJ is about to enter college while Gina is still in high school which could put him miles away from her not just in distance but the fact that they are in different stages in life. Gina has already had to be mature and grow up so much over the years because of the fact that she’s moved everywhere. Ricky was incompatible with Nini, they needed to figure out they weren’t going to work out, to break out of childhood and find themselves outside of each other. Which has proven great for both characters.

Both Ricky and Gina haven't quite learned from their relationships yet that "love unspoken can be the loudest of all". If the chocolate theory proves correct he's a little farther in the game than she is, but Gina could catch on. This would be her sign.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Prominence [WCh. 2.37]

Social Media AU ; Idol AU ; Added Unit AU CW/TW: Language, A little tiny NSFW remark (non explicit) Genre: Comedy, Romance Pairing: NCT x Idol!Reader, Seonghwa x Reader, Yangyang x Reader; ft. (Y/N)'s university friends and Yeseul Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her) Word Count: 3.3K

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Notes: Back to our regularly scheduled programming Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

February 19, 2022

"Ready to go?" Yeseul tosses the keys in her hand. "I'll drive!"

"Sounds good," you grabbed your bag and walked up next to her. Today was the day you agreed to meet your University friends. Mostly to apologize for your own behavior, they didn't deserve that, and who were you to make such accusations?

But, they seemed rather adamant on meeting you too, they had some things to tell you themselves, and with everything going on right now, you hoped that they didn't mind that you brought Yeseul along. As aforementioned, Yeseul had met two of them already, Carson and Crystal, on separate occasions. Both of them used to come to visit you at the company while you were training, and on some days you brought Yeseul, fresh from the US, alongside with you so she wouldn't be alone. You thought that they hit it off rather fine despite having just met, and you knew for a fact that Yeseul knew Daniel. The only new one would be Rebecca.

"Where are you two off to?" Johnny was, reasonably, curious. He pours his freshly brewed coffee into his mug as he awaits your response.

"Meeting up with my old friends, we have some things to sort out after all that drama," you explained. "Need anything while we're out?"

"No, just be safe and aware," Johnny shrugs. "Have some fun, let loose. Didn't know Em knew them too, though."

"Eh, I don't know them as well as (Y/N) does, but we hung out a couple of times during trainee days," Yeseul zips up her hoodie and opens the door for you. "See ya," she waves absently and you're both on your way. You both step into the elevator and Yeseul is the one to press the ground floor button. "Hey, it's been a while since we actually caught up, huh?" She asks. Come to think of it, you couldn't remember the last time you had a full conversation with her. You'd always been busy with NCThree and she'd been hanging out with Jaehyun more, you didn't realize how long it'd been.

"It has, how have you been?" You ask.

"Pretty good, you know, everything's been feeling kinda light since Jae and I started getting serious, but we're getting kind of nervous."

"Why?"

"Some of the fans have been pointing out changes in our behaviors. We've been lucky enough that the company isn't putting us in similar schedules but... people are going to find out eventually, you know? We've been wondering if we should just say it ourselves."

"I say go for it," you shrug. "It's better if it comes from you two than an obsessive stalking fan or company," you crossed your arms and, as you both walked out of the elevator, you continued. "Just do what's comfortable for you both, though. You're lucky that you both technically live together, it's easy to sneak around in here," you teased.

"Aw, stop it," Yeseul's face burned red and she nudged you softly. "Wait, argh, you did it again!" She looks at you with an upset expression and groans.

"Huh? Did what?"

"You changed the subject! God, how are you so good at that? I thought Mark was just being a big baby..." She exasperates. "Back to the point, how are you, (Y/N)?" She asks. "And I mean seriously, how are you? You can't hide things from me." She opens the door to her car for you and you stepped in. Once she was situated in the driver's seat, you took a deep breath.

"I'm okay, a little tired, a little stressed, but what's new?" You leaned against the headrest.

"I heard Seonghwa called you." She kept her eyes on the road, but you knew she was focused on you.

"He did."

"Everything alright with him? Or am I pulling up to the ATEEZ dorms with a bat?" She was only half-joking, you knew.

"Everything's fine, don't worry," you chuckled. "We just agreed to finally talk things through, you know, for both of us."

"Oh, yeah?" She hums. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but... what are you hoping to get out of it?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Let me rephrase... (Y/N), do you still love him?" She looks at you only briefly before returning to the road.

Do you? You're pretty sure you do but... With everything going on, you didn't know what to do or what to tell him. Truth be told, you didn't know why you were meeting him either. Everything he'd needed to tell you he'd sent to you through text, and if anything, that is as complete as it will ever get. So, why then? Why would both of you go through the trouble of meeting up?

"I think I do."

"Then what's stopping you? Go to him, get back together, happy couple! I know you can be a stubborn little shit sometimes so just suck it up and go suck him!" Yeseul added the small joke at the end, but all it did was pull an eye roll from you.

"Em," your voice had a warning tone.

"I'm just kidding with you, (Y/N), but seriously. What's stopping you? Or should I say, who's stopping you?" She asks. You leaned against the door.

"I don't really know..."

"Look, (Y/N), I'm not deaf, I hear the guys talk, but you know, they're men, they think differently than us girls do. Of course, they're going to tell you not to go to him, they're going to tell you to stay single, but (Y/N), don't forget, one of them literally had or has a huge gaga crush on you."

"I'm like half sure he still does."

"Yeah, me and Jae think so too, poor guy." Yeseul parks at the base of the outlook. "Seriously, (Y/N), you need to do what you want. And it sounds like you want to get back together with him, right? Fuck whatever anyone else thinks, you're your own person!" She argues. "Quit being stubborn and go!"

"I was supposed to meet him today..."

"Shit, I'll drive you over."

"But I have to deal with them first," you nudged your head toward the entrance of the outlook spot. Yeseul sighs.

"You know what I think, (Y/N)?" Yeseul leans her shoulder against her seat and turns to you, "I think you're confused."

"Huh?!"

"I don't think you know what you want," she sighs. "And hey, that's fine. I'm the one to talk, you know I've dated around way too much and fucked around more. But, in my opinion, and I'm sure you're thinking differently, I think you either need to stay single for a bit longer to really mull over what you want, or you need to date someone else."

"But isn't that bad?"

"How so?"

"What if I really do want to get back together with Hwa, and to prove that I just use someone else? That doesn't seem fair."

"But, then again, how will you know otherwise?" Yeseul shrugs. "I thought my first boyfriend was the one for me all throughout high school, he went to all my games, bought me food after, all that jazz, you know?"

"What happened?"

"I broke up with him! That's all he ever did, just stuff for me and never stuff for him, you know? I like a devoted man, I do, but, shit, do stuff for yourself too, damn," Yeseul adds with a light tone, pulling a small chuckle from you. "But, it had to be done. You know, he's married now, he found his forever person who helps him be his own person and all... All I'm saying, (Y/N), is that maybe you need to take time to find out if that's what you want too. But, if you're deadset on the heartthrob of fourth gen, be my guest!" She smiles at the end, instantly alleviating the tension while she squeezes your shoulder. "We can be heartthrob harlots together," she lightly punches your shoulder.

"Heartthrob what?" You laughed.

"Heartthrob harlots! You could hypothetically get back together with Seonghwa and I am literally dating Jung Jaehyun, we're sisters in solidarity," she pulls the mood back up.

"Oh my god, sure, yeah, we'll be heartthrob harlots," you laughed with her and, finally, when you both calmed down, you spoke again. "Let's meet these guys now, get it over with, this has been stressing me out too much," you left the car first. Immediately, you spotted Crystal, she waved her hand in a wide arc so you could see her, as soon as she saw Yeseul behind you, she waved her hand faster.

"Oh, now I remember her! She gave me a pair of earrings for my birthday!" Yeseul snaps her fingers. You both approach them together. The group was sitting at a picnic bench near the edge of the outlook. Everyone was there, everyone except for Juliet. Thank god, you didn't want to deal with her right now.

"Hey, everyone!" You greeted them first. "Where's Carson?"

"He and Dan when to go get the food from Dan's car," Rebecca answers.

"Em, this is Rebecca," you introduced the two.

"Oh! Hey, I've seen you around," Yeseul's eyes light up. "You're working with Onew-sunbae, right?"

"Right! I'm interning at the company right now," she says.

"Huh? And you didn't tell me?" You almost looked hurt. "What are you doing?"

"Hoping to get some experience in the styling department," Rebecca says. "I applied for NCT, I wanted to surprise you, but some jackass got it first since I guess they prioritize actual employees over interns," she explains. Before you could ask her more, someone else speaks up.

"(Y/N)! Long time no see," Carson waves. He places two large bags on the table and rolls his shoulders. "Are you okay?" He asks. You blinked once. Right into it, huh?

"I should be asking you that, you found out your girlfriend's crazy."

"Ex," he corrects you. "I don't want to think about it, I always knew that she had this weird obsession with K-Pop groups, but I never knew that it was on that level," he groans. "At least I know what those insane charges on my card are..."

"What did you think they were, Carson?" Crystal frowns.

"I thought she bought herself a nice purse or something, turns out she bought plane tickets," he rolls his eyes.

"Hey, now, let's talk about this later," Daniel takes a seat next to Carson and places a large basket on top. "Let's eat first."

"Ah, I see, trying to play at my nostalgia?" You and Yeseul sat next to Crystal.

"Back at University, we used to meet here at least once a week to try Danny's new culinary creations," Crystal explains to Yeseul.

"Speaking of, did you ever get into culinary school?" You asked him. He nods.

"Yeah, actually, I'm in my fourth year now," he answers bashfully.

"Fourth year, dang, we really haven't caught up in so long," you answer. He pulls out a few containers, the inside of the glass fogged over and the container was still warm.

"I finished these just in time," he mumbles, passing around plates. "Hey, Em, the container with a green lid has seafood in it," he places it far from her.

"You remembered my seafood allergy? I'm impressed," she laughs. "Even (Y/N) forgets about it."

"It just slips my mind!" You defend. "But I always remember at the last minute!"

"It's fine, I'm just teasing. The company forgets all the time too," Yeseul sighs. "I've filmed so much content on an empty stomach," she sighs.

"Now we can't have that," Crystal starts placing food on Yeseul's plate. "Eat up! Dan's cooking is worth the wait, I was so excited when he said he's cooking, good god, I can only handle Carson's sunny-side-ups for so long..."

"Hey! I'm a good cook too!" Carson clutches his heart.

"You two moved back in with each other?" You asked while you filled your plate. The two were roommates back in uni, but after Carson and Juliet got together they moved apart.

"Yeah, Juliet threw me out, which is weird, but I get it?" Carson sighs. "Really wish I could've said 'and stay out!' but it was her apartment," he groans.

"Hey now, enough of that. We're here to reconnect with our darling (Y/N)," Rebecca cuts in.

"But... Let me apologize first," you cleared your throat. "I'm so sorry, I blamed all of you for what's going on, and it was totally uncalled for. Literally none of us could've known that Juliet was a psycho stalker, you know?"

"Maybe Carson," Crystal deadpans.

"Hey, later," Daniel stops the fight before it begins. "You're justified in thinking that though, (Y/N). It all started happening after we met up, just scandal after scandal, you're allowed to be mad. In fact, I want to apologize to you."

"Yeah, shit, me too, (Y/N)," Carson adds in. "Dude, if I was in your position, and you were me, where you would be dating Juliet, and-"

"I get, Carson."

"I'm just saying, I would've reacted the same way," Carson says. "So, from me, I'm sorry," he apologizes sincerely.

"And I'm sorry too, (Y/N), what started out as what I was hoping to be a light hearted Tiktok got blown way out of proportion," he shakes his head. "I should've read the room better," he adds.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on! The food's getting cold!" Rebecca speaks up once the silence became unbearable. "And we have a dear guest with us," she motions Yeseul. "Have your crying session later," she jokes.

"All good?" You ask and hold your hands out.

"All good," Carson nods, taking one and shaking it firmly. You nudge your free hand towards Daniel. He takes it and gently squeezes it.

"All good."

"Good, good, let's eat!" Crystal smiles and wraps her arms around you. "Food always makes people feel better! And this time there's no one horrifically toxic to bring us down!" Crystal reaches under the table and pulls out a small cooler. "I brought booze!"

"Crystal. We all drove ourselves," Carson shakes his head.

"I lied, I didn't bring booze," she places the cooler back on the ground. A small chuckle left your mouth and, of course, she has barely changed.

"(Y/N) can technically drink, I drove her," Yeseul leans against the table.

"Ooooh, I have peach soju~" Crystal sings, leaning her head on her shoulder. "And we have a Carson to hold your hair back again."

"Oh my god, I don't want to remember that," you looked up, your face hot with embarrassment.

"Hard to believe (Y/N) used to be such a lightweight, she's kind of an alcoholic now," Yeseul joins in.

"I'm not!"

"According to Yangyang you can really drink, you're always the last to get tipsy and if you're first it's because you started drinking before him," Yeseul exposes.

"Ooh, oh! Yes! Tell us some workroom tea, (Y/N)! We want it piping hot!" Crystal was practically hopping in her seat before Carson stood up and shoved a sandwich in Crystal's mouth.

"Let the girl get a bite before you grill her, Crys." Crystal answers despite the sandwich in her mouth and the group fell into the old dynamic they had before. It was like old times and you didn't know what you were so worried about in the first place. These were your first friends, of course you'd get along with them so well.

"Damn, you guys are right, this is delicious!" Yeseul says as she grabs seconds.

"There's plenty to go around, eat as much as you'd like," Daniel smiles.

"Shit, I'd take a whole container home if I could," Yeseul grins.

"This is one of the main things I miss the most, you know," you said with a joking tone.

"I can still cook for you as friends," Daniel hands Carson a tissue. "I always cook for these two," he juts his thumb toward Carson and Crystal.

"Yeah, without Dan we'd be eating takeout every day," Carson admits.

"And Carson's shitty eggs."

"Hey!" Crystal reaches over, hands open, ready, and locked onto his neck, before Rebecca pushes her back down.

"You shouldn't have given her cake," Rebecca laughs.

"Hey, (Y/N)?" Daniel taps your hand. "I have something for you," he reaches into his satchel and hands you a small box. "You left it at my place years ago, and I didn't have the chance to give it back until now," he says. You opened it and laughed quietly, the commotion next to you being enough to hide it.

"You could've just thrown it away, you know," you held up the promise ring you'd given him years ago. It was old with wear, tarnished in some places and dirtied in others.

"I tried to clean it up, but it started chipping, so I just stopped before it got worse," he sighed.

"Thanks," I'll put it next to mine," you shrugged.

"You kept yours too?"

"Dan, they were like $100 together, of course I kept mine," your lips pressed in a thin line and he laughed.

"Of course you did," he squeezed your hand again. "Here's to being friends again, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'd like that if it means I get more food," you smiled.

"(Y/N)?" Another voice is what grabs your attention. Everyone stopped talking and you turned over. Your eyebrows furrowed and Daniel quickly withdrew his hand.

"Kyungjae?" Both you and Rebecca spoke up.

"Oh, hello, Rebecca," Kyungjae waves. She turns her head away from him, but her gaze lingers. You're smart enough to put two and two together, Kyungjae must have been the one who got the NCT stylist position. "I was just going for a walk and I noticed you over here so I figured I'd say hi," he says. He now notices Daniel, and for a split second you could've sworn you saw a bit of animosity. Daniel shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze.

"Well, hello then," you waved. Kyungjae rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. It was now you realized he and Daniel had the same coat. "What a coincidence, that coat popular?" You asked, looking between the two. Daniel looks down and then back up again.

"I guess so!" Daniel tries to fix the awkwardness with you. But he didn't miss the way you rose your phone slightly, enough to look natural, but high enough to snap a picture.

"Well, I'll be on my way now," Kyungjae bows his head slightly. "I'll see you at work tomorrow!" He waves and is off.

"Awkward much?" Crystal mutters. Carson kicks her shin and she winces.

"Jackass..." Rebecca mumbles. "He's a total weirdo," she continues. "He literally turned down a job for HYBE for SM. Look, I love the company, which I'm obligated to say, but pay wise and benefits wise, he should've stuck with HYBE," Rebecca rambles.

"That the jackass you're talking about?" Yeseul asks.

"Yup. I was just about to hand in my group request when he cut in front of me and handed his in first, total jackass," Rebecca groans.

"Huh..." You waited for Kyungjae to walk off before pulling your phone out. "Hey, I'll be right back."

"Don't go too far!" Yeseul says.

"I'm just going over there," you pointed at the edge of the outlook and opened a certain groupchat.

General Tag List: @vickylamore @chxngyunie @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lune1897 @gaiyofanfiction @jaeminsespresso @umbralhelwolf @morningsunandnightsky

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @eggoyu

Prominence: @nuoyii @leesalts @jiheonie @naphthalene-ball @thejungjaehyun @eggoyu @minimochi24 @mythicalamphitrite @zwiehe @uzumakioden @billboard-singer @shinyddeonghwa @kibblesnbites @simpery @dear-dreamie @marsophilia @samsemsame @chimmybaek7 @w4yh0me @hyvn-jaeee @stopeatread

Unable to be Tagged: @mizzdivagirl7-blog @elwiwiwi @jwyluver @sunaispretty

If you want to be added to either tag list just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

[marypsue]

hey can we maybe talk about the way that Dustin exclusively seems to go after girls who are unattainable/not going to be anywhere near his physical vicinity more than once a year? or about how Lucas was literally willing to walk straight into near-certain death to get Will back in s1, and how he wasn’t actually trying to get Max to date him in s2, and how he keeps trying to get Max back when she breaks up with him for bullshit reasons in s3, almost like he’s found a girl whose company he actually enjoys and is trying to force it to be a romantic relationship because he thinks that’s how it’s supposed to work? or about how Max keeps finding bullshit reasons to break up with Lucas, who actually likes her, but sticks to El like glue the moment she finds out El will give her the time of day, despite El treating her like dirt? 

can we maybe talk about Barbara “knows all of Nancy’s bras by sight” Holland? or the way Steve goes through girls like tissues but then latches onto Nancy almost exactly the same way Lucas has latched onto Max, like he’s met a girl he actually, genuinely likes romantically for the first time and can’t imagine it ever happening again? or about how Nancy treats her boyfriends like accessories but is willing to risk her life to get justice for her best friend? can we talk about the way Billy privately expresses disgust about the girls in Hawkins but literally practices in the mirror to be attractive to them, how it’s all a deliberate, calculated performance? 

or maybe about Karen Wheeler, trapped in a loveless, passionless marriage, who gets an engraved invitation to the perfect ideal bodice-ripper-cover fantasy she thinks she wants, only to discover, once it’s a reality that’s actually happening to her, that that’s not actually what she wants at all? and I mean I’ve already brought this up and beaten it into the ground but how about the fact that the fundamental throughline of Hopper’s character is a core-deep terror of facing his own feelings, especially for the people he loves? can we talk about the fact the Doc Owens literally tells Bob, word for word, “There’s a closet. I’m gonna need you to get in it.” 

just. can we like. please talk about these things.

[lucemferto]

I feel like Fundy's character is underutilized

I don’t know if this is a spicy take, because everyone agrees on that.

But, yeah, Fundy, despite being - as far as I can tell - a fan favourite, is not used to his full narrative potential ... and that wasn’t always true.

I’d argue that in S1, Fundy was probably the strongest supporting character of the cast. That’s because cc!Fundy had the good idea (or instinct) to combine his personal character arc with the narrative function his character fulfilled in a way where these two things worked wonderfully in tandem.

His narrative function was that he’s a spy deep undercover. But his personal journey was dealing with not being taken seriously and trying to emancipate from or prove himself to his overbearing father. There is a clear tension here, because his deep undercover spy business meant distancing himself from his father - something that played into his “Want”, but was also emotionally difficult for him - and getting closer to Schlatt - who presented him with the “temptation” aka being taken seriously at the cost of his own personal morality.

The struggle of the deep undercover spy - losing yourself in your cover - and the estranged son ultimately looking for validation worked so incredibly well with one another without being overbearing on the larger narrative plot. In fact, it also perfectly works as a smaller narrative in service of the larger season-spanning emotional focal point (aka Wilbur’s fall from grace).

So, cc!Fundy deserves serious props for that.

But in S2, the writing style shifts - and Fundy unfortunately isn’t quite able to adapt.

It starts off well enough. He has some emotional conflicts that are a continuation from his character arc in S1; he has some great acting moments and he establishes some good personal relationships between him and Ghostbur and him and Philza. Great set-up for something later down the line ... right?

Well, unfortunately not. S2 has the problem of being overly scattered and reliant on individual character writing while also not being very flexible. And Fundy gets caught up in the worst storyline of them all, which is of course the Butcher Army.

Now, there was some great potential for the set-up in the Act 1 (Reconstruction) to matter during this storyline in Act 2. But by whatever circumstances it doesn’t work out that way.

Instead Fundy spends his time on setting up Drywaters - a plot point that doesn’t matter, isn’t brought up again and just wasted his character’s screentime. Even while watching it was so transparent to me that Drywaters and El Rapids would not matter in the long run, because they ran counter to the Butcher Army storyline and because they didn’t seem to have any narrative purpose.

It was the polar opposite of how well Fundy had fared in S1.

Ideally, Fundy’s character journey in S2 would have been the conflict between his duties as member of Tubbo’s cabinet and the Butcher Army and his relationship to Phil and Ghostbur. If you’ve seen my videos, you know how much those opportunities were squandered.

So Fundy just kinda existed during the majority of S2 as Quackity’s henchman. The character depth he build up in the beginning of S2 was - for whatever reason - not incorporated here.

And I feel like cc!Fundy wasn’t too happy about this either. Because his final act in S2 kinda completely broke rank with that as he attempted a villain arc. But again, that just kinda ran counter to what the narrative was building up. It didn’t work in tandem - if anything he was actively working against the narrative trajectory.

It felt too me like a desperate attempt to recover some character agency within the story. But as the narrative didn’t account for it, it fell just as flat as Drywaters.

He has been largely absent from S3 - which is very unfortunate, because I still hold him in high regard as an actor - but I hope the resurrection of Wilbur will give him the chance to insert himself back into the narrative. Hopefully without the hiccups of S2.

[crazedtmnt]

CrazedTMNT OCs (Part 2)

It’s time for everyone’s favorite violent teddy bear to have his girl introduced.

Raph’s Girl:

Name: Margot Wright

Age, when first met: 15

Birthday: March 9th, 1988

Height: 5′0″-5′1″

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Ethnicity/Nationality: Mexican-American

Personality: Calm, collected, and does everything confidently despite not knowing what the hell she’s doing half the time. A real motivator. Radiates big sister energy even though she’s the youngest of the girls and turtles. Fiercely independent, but suffers from loneliness deep down. Disconnected from her own emotions, yet hyperaware of everyone else’s. In love with everything music; formed her own band at a young age where she writes and plays her own music. A fierce protector and loyal friend -- if you get past her walls, she’s got your back.

Bio:

Margot was born in New York City to Daniel and Esther Wright. She was raised an only child, brought up to love all the music her parents listened to and played, as her father owned a recording studio and her mother was a musician. Her parents worked hard to give her privileges they lacked growing up, from ballet to piano lessons, but dedicated too much time simply giving her things as opposed to spending time with her. As a result, Margot grew up independent, but starved for attention. At age eleven, she decided to form her own band to gather musicians like herself.

Four years later, while her band has only barely scratched the surface of notoriety, they are starting to make headway. The new guitarist, Karyn, while shy and inexperienced, has an appreciation for music and a distinct lack of pretension. However, she brings with her a whole new set of problems, like four mutant turtles and a supernatural world Margot’s never seen. They may have saved her life, but with the way the red brute makes her feel, she’s in more danger than ever.

Relationships:

Raph - Margot hadn’t even met Raph face-to-face before he took an interest in her. The turtles would sometimes sneak into the theater while her band was practicing to listen and Raph, in particular, loved their music. Once they had met, he started making a point to show up and rate her performance afterwards. He wouldn’t admit it, but her music helped him calm down and genuinely brought a smile to his face. Margot, in turn, loved testing out new tunes to get his feedback. Raph tries to tease Margot and she takes it all in stride, fighting back with gusto. The two are often found lovingly insulting each other. Margot’s calm demeanor helps with Raph’s temper and Raph helps Margot express her emotions. They balance each other well.

Leo - Margot may be Raph’s girl, but she’s actually very close with Leo. Of the whole crew, the two are the only ones trying to lead who are actually levelheaded and logic-driven. They regularly have meetings together, asking, “What reckless thing have you had to deal with this week?” However, while Leo avoids emotion, Margot is very aware of others’ emotions. She tries to to be the one to voice others’ feelings logically when Leo is missing them. As such, she’s a better mediator for Raph and Leo fights than Karyn.

Donnie - Donnie and Margot get along fine, but don’t interact very much. They’re both part of team “We Don’t Cause Endless Drama.” If there are gonna be two people in the background, rolling their eyes about how crazy everyone is, it’s gonna be these two. Donnie mostly keeps to himself when drama goes down, while Margot intervenes (hence why she’s closer to Leo). Both are total savages and enjoy snarking about the others on occasion.

Mikey - Precious baby boy, must protect: Margot’s thought process with Mikey. He may be technically older than her, but that doesn’t stop her from seeing him as a little brother. Next to Raph, Mikey is the most hooked on Margot’s music and often asks her to play for him. She doesn’t have as much patience for his shenanigans as Karyn (and quickly learns he is NOT as innocent as he first appears to be), but she still often gets pulled into his next great idea.

Splinter - Margot appreciates Splinter for one big reason: he’s attentive. Despite being disconnected from her emotions, Splinter can just sense when Margot is struggling or holding back pain. He doesn’t need to say much; he just lets her talk to him about whatever. For as long as she needs. He might comment on what she’s doing recently or something she’s said, just to show that he’s paying attention, which means the world to Margot. Splinter loves the fact that Margot helps Raph with his temper.

Trivia:

She goes by “Meg” with most everyone. The only ones allowed to call her Margot are her parents, Karyn, Peter (bandmember/childhood friend), and later Raph.

Her father’s name was originally “Diego Rodriguez.” He changed it legally to Daniel Wright before Margot was born, so Wright is her legal last name.

It’s tradition in her family for the women to not cut their hair. She only keeps her bangs trimmed.

The color of her bangs changes often, usually after she trims them. She’s begun to favor the color red.

In the TMNT 2003 series, she would appear after S1 E15, but not meet the turtles face-to-face until after S2 E11.

She knows aikido and Splinter trains her to fight with a tessen.

She started ballet when she was four and still practices today.

She can play six instruments fluently: piano, violin, viola, cello, bass guitar, and guitar.

She mainly plays either bass guitar or piano in her band.

Her band’s current name is “Under Threat.” She’s changed it seven times since its creation.

Her friend Peter’s parents own a small, indie theater which the band practices and preforms in.

She writes many types of music, but she favors punk rock, indie rock, and Tejano.

The scar on her left cheek is from a snapped violin string.

She reads a lot of mystery novels and is a particular fan of Agatha Christie.

She loves street hotdogs. Good thing she’s in New York.

[parablesoftheone]

Ginko and Adashino: a study in Daoist perspectivism

Huizi said, “I am not you, to be sure, so I don’t know what it is to be you. But by the same token, since you are certainly not a fish, my point about your inability to know the happiness of fish stands intact.”

Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to the starting point. You said, ‘Whence do you know the happiness of fish?’ Since your question was premised on your knowing that I know it, I must have known it from here, up above the Hao River.”

—Zhuangzi: Essential Writings, pg. 76

It would be criminally neglectful to talk extensively about Mushishi without discussing Ginko and Adashino’s friendship. Apart from Ginko himself, Adashino is the most frequently recurring character in the stories, and he and Ginko obviously share a connection that goes well beyond trading in mushi-related goods. 

In contrast to Ginko’s other significant relationship, this one is not with someone who shares his degree of centeredness. Adashino’s focus is markedly external, his habits of life and outlook very much out of line with the teachings of Lao Tzu. Most obviously, he stockpiles a wealth of mushi-related treasures and is always on the lookout for more, while Ginko’s possessions are pretty much what he has in his backpack. The storing up of wealth and possessions, the Dao De Jing warns, can only bring grief: "Amass a store of gold and jade,” it says in verse #9, “and no one can protect it.” And indeed, Adashino’s storehouse is invaded with dire consequences no later than the tenth episode of the first season. His insatiable desire for interesting items persists nonetheless, leaving him open to a level of emotional excitability Ginko never displays even at his most distressed.

(Still, a man’s gotta protect his property...)

This is hardly the only particular in which Adashino and Ginko are decidedly unalike. S2 E8 "Wind Raiser” especially develops their differences. When Adashino takes credit for Ginko’s cure, Ginko completely ignores it; when Adashino speculates about what the young man Ginko advises will do, Ginko responds with a laconic, “Who knows?” These simple interchanges point toward their fundamental contrast: Ginko’s mindset is Daoist, and Adashino’s is (mostly) not. In accord with multiple verses of the Dao De Jing (#2, #10, #30...), Ginko doesn’t care a damn about who gets credit for his work; neither does he care to speculate about future events, preferring to “move with the present” (Dao De Jing #14). His focus is centered; Adashino's is outward.

Given these divergent values and the fact that Ginko reguarly cheats Adashino—of which Adashino is well aware—an observer might wonder why these two have anything to do with each other, much less why they’re such good friends. 

But their bond makes perfect sense through a Daoist eye. 

Daoist perspectivism

To the Daoist mind, contrasts and differences are part of how the world functions—and this includes differences from the Daoist mind. Zhuangzi not only teaches followers of the dao to not disdain non-Daoist values but hold “perfectly to the differing allotments of things” (Zhuangzi: Essential Writings, pgs. 70–71); his own closest friend Huizi is a man with whom he trades debates and criticisms throughout the Zhuangzi (pgs. 8, 38, 112...). This worldview doesn’t seek the exclusion of others—the Daoist idea of “oneness” means that opposing views and forces are inherently one, without being made to unite or agree.

Along with this embracing of contrasts comes a firm belief in perspectivism: that anything that can be affirmed from one perspective can be negated from another and vice versa, and that each person and creature’s nature and experiences determine what is right from her/his/its own perspective. "The embrace of the same viewpoint,” says the Zhuangzi, “comes simply from being in the same position” (pg. 101).

Just as Ginko understands that the natures of the mushi are rightful parts of the world whether they’re valued by humans or not, he also understands the validity of differing human viewpoints. Though he scolds Adashino for the trouble his collection causes, he doesn’t consider him lesser or unworthy of friendship because of it, or because of any other contrasts between them. Through all the disparity in their values, they share a connection—and in true Daoist fashion, their differences are likely what brought them together in the first place. Ginko gathers mushi-related items, and Adashino wants them. Ginko has no desire to collect things or haul them around, so he’s happy to sell... if not always honestly.

Which raises the next point about their relationship: Ginko’s shady business ethics. 

Perspectivism applies here too. As Zhuangzi tells us, “whatever might be [from some perspective] strange, grotesque, uncanny, or deceptive” (pg. 13) can be affirmed as right from another view, and this certainly applies to Ginko and Adashino’s exchanges. To an outsider, they’re questionable as all get out—but it’s not an outsider’s view that matters. Both Ginko and Adashino freely choose to associate with each other on their current terms, because that choice makes sense to them. Adashino knows from the start that Ginko isn’t always on the level—from his first appearance in S1 E5 “The Traveling Swamp,” he’s questioning Ginko’s story about the green sake cup. And as Ginko points out, Adashino is under no obligation to buy from him—he chooses to, knowing the odds, and continues to choose to. And we can see in “Wind Raiser” that Adashino values even the more questionable items Ginko’s sold him; he’s held on to all of it, even the stuff he's probably guessed is junk.

Whether this arrangement makes sense or seems right to an outsider is irrelevant. Ginko and Adashino accept each other as they are, and the only ones who need to validate those choices are themselves. 

So, for all their differences, do Ginko and Adashino have anything in common? 

In fact, they do—and one significant value they share is the very perspectivism that shapes their relationship. We can see as much in “The Traveling Swamp,” when Adashino asks Ginko why he’s so determined to save Io from becoming a mushi. 

“If the girl said she wanted desperately to live,” he says, “I’d understand. But she wanted to become part of the swamp, right? That might be her happiness... Sometimes that’s the way it is in this world, though it sounds cruel...”

Adashino’s statement points to the path along which he and Ginko connect: No less than Ginko, Adashino is open to another’s perspective, even one that he acknowledges sounds terrible. He fully understands that “rightness” for one person is not the same as “rightness” for another.

Ginko’s reply underscores that he shares this value. In S1 E1 “The Green Throne,” he made a human a mushi because it was her choice—despite his own assessment that becoming a mushi is a terrible fate for a human. He seeks to prevent the same from happening to Io, not because he doesn’t value her choice, but because his observation of her has convinced him that she doesn’t understand what she’s giving up—that she’s making her choice without full knowledge. 

Interestingly, in this sense, Ginko and Adashino’s exchange is reminiscent of one between Zhuangzi and Huizi. Crossing over a river with his friend, Zhuangzi comments on the happiness of the fish below. Huizi protests and asks, "Whence do you know the happiness of fish?” In his frequently smartass fashion, Zhuangzi replies that he knows it from the position where they stand, above the river, watching the fish (pg. 76).

Not simply a play on words, this exchange is an illustration of Daoist perspectivism. Zhuangzi’s point is that, while we truly can’t know the perspectives of anyone other than ourselves, we must proceed from our own—including our observations of what may or may not make others happy. Not able to consult Io on the matter, Ginko has to proceed from his own observations, which lead him to believe she still cherishes human feelings.

Like Zhuangzi and Huizi, Ginko and Adashino both know that perspective is individual, and they respect the choices others make from their own. Adashino respects that Io may, after all, want to become a mushi, and Ginko respects that, in his assessment, she probably doesn’t—just as, in Renzu’s case, he respects that she does. 

By this same principle, they respect each other’s natures, Ginko accepting that Adashino is an outward-focused, obsessive collector of things, and Adashino accepting that Ginko will occasionally chastise him or sell him a bad coat. 

On these multiple levels, their relationship is one of Daoist perspectivism. And in the same way that Ginko can guess what Io’s happiness might be, we can “know” from observing them that Ginko and Adashino value their relationship just as it is—with no need for any foundational “rightness” other than their own choices.

With all that said, there is another kind of rightness to their friendship. In their contrasts to each other, Ginko and Adashino fit together. This is even signaled visually: Adashino's light-reflecting monocle signifies the yang within his yin, just as the tokoyami in Ginko's opposite eye is the yin within his yang. Like Ginko and Tanyuu, Ginko and Adashino form a Taiji, interlinked and corresponding through their similarities and their differences alike.

[beetleboo]

long post. one i’ve been trying to make for a while now. hell, i wrote this like... third week of may. didn’t post it until now because i didn’t know if I wanted to.

but something i want to lay out, been wanting to lay out for months. dont want to talk to anyone about it, just want to put the info out there for it to be seen.

if you re/blog this i will block you. i may put this on the relevant sideblog at some point.

because 2020 was the worst year on record for me for a number of reasons, and it’s torn me down to the lowest point i’ve been in a long time, and this is just. everything that’s gone down. not a callout post, no one gets named, but these are all the events

partially in relation to my fandom sideblog, because that’s where i had community, and where it’s all just. gone. doesnt exist anymore.

i started up a server, ages ago now. somewhere i curated to be a positive and safe space for things, and for a while, it was that.

around the end of 2019, spilling over to the start of 2020 when it picked up, i found, both on my blog and in discord spaces, in particular the server i ran, that people no longer talked to me. no one would hold a conversation with me past a few basic responses, no one replied to anything i shared, no one engaged when i tried to start discussions. so i pulled back from the main server - S1. thought it was just a lull in activity. stayed that way for weeks, months, and I just muted the server. no one ever cared about anything i had to say. was lucky if anything i posted got even a token emoji react

was in another, smaller server - S2. people i talked to damn near every day, even in voice. played games together - that became... no fun simply because everyone else was so much better/further ahead in the game. i was completely useless, so didn’t server a function in game and never really felt like anyone actively wanted me around, but i still participated in chat.

but again, no one ever responded to anything I posted beyond maybe a token react

couple people discussing something one day. I contributed with Theory A, and quite immediately got that shut down. few minutes later, they rephrased exactly what I said and happily nattered away. so whatever I said wasn’t worth it when it came out of my mouth but if they talked about it, it was all well and valid. so again, between that specific experience and no one interacting with me, nor anything I post. server muted. treatment taught me no one cared about my presence there.

gave admin rights to S1, my server, to someone I trusted. two requests only: dont delete channels and let me know if you want to invite anyone (since I kept it private)

RYE (i’m just assigning random three letter names to people to keep this straight) posted public invites several times. never asked me. one of the two things i asked. brought it up with them that it bothered me, just got vague noncomittal responses. more public invites. eventually, after having the server muted for months, i handed over full control and left. that was almost a full year ago. none of the people have talked to me in that entire year, through discord or here or anything.

except RYE who sent me a message after a couple months like ‘wow i havent heard from you in a while hope you’re doing ok’. i wasn’t. after a bit but still the same day, i said as much. that i wasn’t doing well. they never responded. and i don’t mean like, they didn’t respond that day. i mean i literally never heard from them until months later when they sent me a meme and also didn’t respond to me commenting on that meme.

and this is one side of things. all of the above was the first half of the year. this next bit happened about. march2020? I was in another server - S3. another place that was a good space at the time. was in voice chat with two other people. started talking about one thing. MIN very suddenly said something along the lines of ‘i don’t care about this i’ll come back when you’re done’

this is one of the very few things that can trigger me - i’ve had a lot of people talk down to me if I dare look excited about anything. when they came back, i asked if they could try to just. depart conversations more softly. MIN always said ‘if i do anything hurtful to you just tell me! i dont want to do that kind of thing!’

this was clearly a lie as they exploded on me, telling me they always have to walk on eggshells around me, that I ask so many things from them. before what I asked them that day, I can only recall one other thing i asked (which was not to talk about a person who was abusive towards me, and they were like ‘yea sure np’ about that, over a year prior’)

the whole thing turned into basically me having to shut down the fact that i was hurt by what they did, had to ignore that now and i had to fawn and placate them and the only thing i got out of that was that my feelings were irrelevant, only theirs.

(incidentally, I have had two other people turn on me in similar ways, accusing me of doing shifty/bad/terrible things, and not being willing to tell me what they are when I ask, only saying that ‘i should know what i did’ so that’s also now a Fun New Bit Of Trauma.)

and that entire weeklong event lead me straight to a breakdown. literal genuine breakdown i cannot convey how devastating that entire scenario was without going into far too many details.

so between all of these things happening in less than six months, with three different community spaces folding and collapsing and fading away from me, with many of the friends i thought i had just. moving on to other things and dropping me. people i talked to every day just not bothering with me anymore. they all have gone on to other stuff and no one ever went ‘hey beets wanna see what i’m up to’ or ‘wanna do this thing with me’

a handful of instances of me saying ‘yeah i’m dealing with these fears that have been reinforced lately that people aren’t safe to deal with, even thought part of me knows they’re probably irrational it feels like i have evidence to back it up’ and people immediately take it personally like i’m saying they’re not safe. despite. me outright saying. i know logically it should be irrational. but their reactions just reinforce it so it’s just a loop and tells me, again, never to bring up any of my problems with anyone.

so this all just reinforces that there’s something wrong with me. couple years back i spoke to a friend and how i was frustrated that I seemed to end up in bad spaces and they said ‘well you’re the one thing in common so its probably your fault’ and obviously they’re not my friend anymore but that has affected me so deeply. i can’t do anything without overthinking, whenever anything goes wrong i tear apart everything i’ve done and everything i’ve said or thought and i don’t know why things keep going bad. i try so hard but i’m just. not right.

so it all teaches me that there’s no point in reaching out in trying to talk to people because if i say ‘hey this hurt me’ i get ignored at best or torn down, yelled at, scolded. no point in trying to talk to new people because everyone just walks away at some point. not even a natural drift apart, i can handle that. but just very suddenly, they’re gone, off with better people doing better things.

roundabout, ties back to ‘consumption versus community’ - this is why i’ve been struggling so hard with lack of engagement on my sideblog. lucky to get a dozen notes on anything i make, unless it’s something other people can use (like mods) and even THEN it’s rare to see much activity. and that was FINE because i had people to talk to elsewhere, who would ask questions and we could back and forth and i shared my stuff and they shared those and it didnt matter if my posts only got a dozen notes because i had friends to talk to.

now i get (example) seven notes, six of which are likes and one is a reblog with no commentary. when i have something with a ton of notes, still, minimal commentary, no one talks to me. even on a mod with five hundred notes it just feels like i went ‘hey i made something :)’ and everyone picked it up and walked away with it, no one went ‘hey this is cool i want to talk to the person who made it.’

and it just feels like 95% of the time, i’m just overlooked. 

and it’s worse than it’s ever been in my entire life, and I wonder, what’s the point of any of this anymore.

why bother to make the posts to share when it all just gets passed by. what’s the point in trying to reach out to new people and make friends when i get lashed out at or left behind? the social is gone out of my social media. i had community, and now it’s gone.

so this has all been going on for months and months and months and hey! suffering. and i dont expect it to get any better, don’t expect this post to fix these issues, but i’ve been trying to say something about all of this for fucking months and i think just, laying it all out is all I can do about it. i’m sure i’ve forgotten some things to touch on but as it is, all these events, all of it happening all together. new traumas, old traumas reawoken, reinforced, i’ve been torn to pieces i don’t know how to function, i can’t remember the last time i felt like even half a real person. taught that the safe, positive spaces that meant so much to me don’t actually exist and they’ll all turn on me and be torn away. nowhere is safe anymore, and trying to make it safe is just going to ruin me again.

people aren’t safe, places aren’t safe, been proven to me time and time again so i just. stay away.

no matter how much i try to fight that, it just doesnt work.

anyway tl;dr beets needs therapy probably

[cinematicnomad]

Hey there, i‘m really interested in your opinion on where this Bucktaylor storyline will go. I’ve seen you say that you think that they will break up eventually, and i‘m right there with you, but i‘m also a delusional Buddie clown so i don’t think my personal assessment is really worth anything 😂 you seem like a much more level headed person, which is why i would love to hear what you think about this.

anonymous asked: Where do you think the Bucktaylor storyline is going? I like them a lot better than EddieAna, and used to think that they might be endgame (although i wouldn’t have been too happy about that) but the way they handled them in the finale not only disappointed me, it also kind of left the impression that they are definitely not going to last. I think if they seriously wanted this to go somewhere, they would have waited a while and developed them a bit more until they brought them together (yk, like a proper slowburn) If they are endgame there’s no rush, right ?

i'm not sure if you're the same anon or not, but i figured i'd answer both at the same time!

i have no idea where bucktaylor is going! i'm not stressed about it. for one thing, despite my enjoyment of buddie and despite how much i like to clown and read meta and make parallel gifsets about them, i?? have no real expectations that they'll become canon. so the bucktaylor of it all doesn't stress me out. i like taylor. i liked her when they introduced her in s2 and i liked when they brought her back in s4.

and i don't? actually think that their relationship was rushed in s4. i know i've seen some other people say that and like, to each their own, but i much more appreciate the way that taylor was brought back into the storyline, how she and buck clearly spent time together and started to build that rapport back up, that the show made it clear that buck was interested in more, and then they got together. like that's WAY BETTER than just having eddie run into ana on the side of the street and then the show just being like "lol they're together now, we don't need to show any development, here have a cringey math date and a 10 second scene of them cuddling on the couch with chris."

and honestly, other than madney, 9-1-1 isn't GREAT at developing romantic relationships. they kind of did it with buckabby in s1 but like...the less said about s1 the better. but otherwise, bobby/athena? spent an entire season having v little interaction with each other and then by the end they were like 'oh let's go on a date' and in s2 it was just full throttle they are COMMITTED. michael and david got trapped on an elevator together, went on a date in the finale, and then in s4? LIVING TOGETHER. buckalli was v reminiscent of eddieana which i already covered. so like, bucktaylor? actually having scenes over several episodes where they build up their friendship before kissing? Not The Worst. in fact, Actively Kind Of Good in my opinion.

like, was it perfect? no. i wish they'd payed that scene outside the grant-nash house a little differently—i know the actress who played taylor tried to take a cop out on twitter and was like "if you rewatch this you can tell taylor ~*doesn't really*~ mean it" but like...nah, fuck that noise, it did not come across. i don't know if that's bc the writers retconned their decision, bc the director didn't give the right notes, bc the editors chose a bad take, or bc the actress herself didn't get it right but that didn't work (though i was, like, genuinely amused at how many people on this site were like "HA! BUCKTAYLOR IS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!" bc?? have you SEEN a television show before, sir, that's not how this works). and the decision to get them together in the finale kind of sucked bc like, that episodes was OVERSTUFFED already and we didn't really need the bucktaylor of it all. honestly i wouldn't have hated if we'd had the first kiss and then left things more open and come back in s5 to find out they were dating (i mean i would have PREFERRED if they explicitly decided to stay friends in the second scene instead of getting together but that's neither here nor there).

anyway, i don't think they're endgame just bc i don't think the writers are really ready to tie up buck in a serious final romantic relationship. plus i think buck and taylor are a little too similar to tell a variety of stories about them (they kind of seemed to already hit a rut in s4 with just a lot of repetitive "let's solve this episodes mystery together"). and also bc when buck does enter into an endgame relationship i imagine it'll be with a first responder (ideally obviously eddie, but i wouldn't be surprised if they introduced someone new). i don't think the 9-1-1 universe likes slow burns. i mean, maybe i'm a fool and they really ARE playing the long con and actually do want to get buddie together, but i think given what we've seen in OG and LS, the writers just. aren't interested in telling stories about people falling in love (i know everyone loves t*rlos but omg that relationship development was like...NIL). they're much more interested in stories of committed partners IN a relationship (henren and juddgrace are their BEST relationships).

i've just been rambling this whole time and i don't think any of it actually makes sense but i have a meeting in 3 minutes so i gotta wrap this up. basically: taylor is here for now, i like her way more than ana, i don't mind that she's here, i DO think they will eventually break up for the reasons mentioned but i have no idea when or how it'll come about.

[luulapants]

Digging into the Teen Wolf credits

So I fell into a bit of a rabbit hole researching the shift in writing and directing credits in Teen Wolf, trying to find some explanations for the lack of continuity, whiplash change of directions on storylines, and the messiness of the later seasons. A lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on casting issues and Jeff Davis as the be-all-end-all of these issues, but here are a few interesting things I’ve put together:

1. Waning involvement from the original producers/directors - 

Russell Mulcahy was a producer/exec on all 100 episodes and directed 39 episodes, including every season finale and all but one season premier (5a). He was a big-shot music video director in the ‘80s. According to his Wikipedia, “Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans.”

Tim Andrew came on as a supervising producer and progressed to executive producer, holding a producing credit for all 100 episodes. He directed 35 episodes, including some of fan-favorite suspense episodes like Night School, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Riddled.

While their producer credits stayed steady, it’s the director credits that interest me. Between the two of them, they directed 75% of S1, 100% of S2, 83% and 75% of 3a and 3b. S4, it drops to 58%. Back up to 70% and 90% for 5a and 5b, then plummeting to 60% for all of S6. It’s worth noting that S4 is the first season where we start to notice that whiplash effect, not really sure what characters’ motivations are. In one episode, the focus seems to be family financial drama, and then we forget about that and focus on Lydia’s powers. Then the focus is assassins, then Kate Argent - and what the hell is up with Peter?

It’s hard to say for sure, but one could draw the conclusion that the decline in director credits from Andrew and Mulcahy also suggest a decline in interest from them in maintaining the show’s storylines.

In fact, in 5b and season 6, you see a third long-time producer, Joseph Genier, step in to direct a few episodes: the rather sloppy Maid of Gevaudan, Blitzkrieg, and Genotype. We can’t give him too hard a time over it, since his only other directing experience ever was a 2016 Netflix horror movie The Secrets of Emily Blair, shitty even by Netflix standards. He also has some late-season writing credits, but we’ll get to that later.

2. The curious case of Angela Harvey - 

In order to understand the writing on TW, you need to know Angela Harvey. She climbed the ranks from personal assistant to writers’ assistant, then, starting in 3a, staff writer.

A staff writer is a salaried, stable figure in the writing department, who works with what is often a rotating door of producers and head writers. They’re usually not the “ideas” person and don’t get the final say, but they help the head writer work through the story and stay on track. Most larger shows have a whole team of staff writers. TW never had more than one at a time.

Shortly after her promotion to staff writer, Harvey got her first full writing credit for Frayed, which is a controversial episode! It’s both praised and detested for the non-linear storyline, the sometimes confusing flashbacks, and Allison’s emotional hallucination of her mother.

After that, she went back to staff writer and was a rock for the show for all of S3 and 4. In S4, she got full writing credit for I.E.D. and Time of Death. Both got mixed reviews on-par with the rest of the muddled mess of S4, but I will note one thing: the human factor. I.E.D., for me, was the first episode that really gave a more rounded picture of Liam, who until that time felt very much like a new puppy coming in to replace our favorite old dogs that went to live on the big farm in the sky.

S5, Harvey gets a promotion to ‘story editor,’ which is pretty much just a title and pay promotion. She wrote A Novel Approach and Strange Frequencies, two more mixed-bag sort of episodes with some golden moments and some crippling larger-story issues. Then she writes the slightly stronger The Sword and the Spirit and... 

Gone. She vanishes from the credits for the rest of season 5. I haven’t been able to find any specific explanations, but I did find a rather telling quote from her in an article about how black writers get hired but not promoted in TV:  “I repeated staff writer four times,” she said.

Harvey then returns for 6x2 with a shiny new title: executive story editor. I can only draw one conclusion from this sequence of events, which is a contract dispute. Harvey demanded a promotion (as she should have, given her longevity on the show!), was denied, and walked off. The show floundered in her absence and begged her back with the new title.

She got full writer credits for two more episodes for S6 but left the show for good after the second, After Images.

To me, it seems clear that they had a strong, stable voice in Angela, but her commitment to the project waned as she realized that the show had no commitment to her. She may not have been the strongest head writer, but she was an essential core, a beating heart of the show. Her contributions were undervalued and, ultimately, the show suffered because of it.

3. The rotating door of writers - 

It’s not unusual for head writers to come and go on shows. Then again, most shows have a stable core in the writers’ room to host those head writers. TW had Jeff Davis, who has frequently been acknowledged to be overly hands-on with the writing (even in episodes he did not take writing credit for), and a single staff writer: Angela Harvey and, before her, Andy Cochran (who was staff writer for S2).

S1 did not have a staff writer, but that was because Jeff had a very firm grip on the story and also because there were only four writers other than Jeff Davis (and the original Teen Wolf movie writers). Interestingly, none of those 4 writers ever returned to the show after S1. This would become a theme for TW writers.

Jeff kept even tighter control on S2, writing 8 of 12 episodes with the help of Cochran. Other than them, there were four other writers, two of whom were a writing team.

Jeff wrote 15 of 24 S3 episodes and brought in 6 new writers and one S2 writer, Christian Taylor who also produced and directed. Of the new writers, only Ian Stokes, who wrote The Fox and the Wolf would become a regular writer afterward (though Alyssa Clark did write two more episodes in S4). Stokes wrote three S4 episodes and three for 5a.

Jeff wrote 6 of 12 episodes in S4, 5 of 10 in 5a, 4 of 10 in 5b, and then did not write again until the series finale.

Starting in Season 4, the writing credits are all over the place. Most writers come in for a single episode and never again. The few notable exceptions are:

Eric Wallace, a later seasons producer

Will Wallace (not sure if related) who was a writers’ assistant that seems to have been randomly granted writing credit for 5a’s Ouroboros, despite having no other writing credits to his name previously. He got writing credit for 4 other episodes in S5 and S6, plus a random staff writer credit for 6a’s Ghosted. 

Lindsay Sturman, a lalter seasons producer who now writes and produces for Supergirl. 

And producer Joseph Genier who, as he had been allowed to direct later seasons with no previous directing credits, was also allowed head writer credit with no previous writing credits.

What can we divine from this? Chaos, honestly. An inability to resist the uninformed and careless whims of the producers. The lack of lower-level writing staff, who are usually the ones there to give stability and cohesion to the story, meant that every new writer brought in new and contradictory ideas of what the story was about and where it should go. Looking at these credits, I can’t tell if the problem was that everyone wanted to write and writing spots were being given as thank-yous in exchange for producers laying down money or if they had such a difficult time finding quality writers willing to work in that environment that producers had no choice but to step in and write as well as they could given a lack of resources.

4. The vanishing first assistant director - 

Compared to the other issues, this one seems minor. However, it seems like TW gave up on the position of ‘first assistant director’ at some point. This position is essentially the right hand of the director, making sure that set runs smoothly and the director has everything they need. 

James J.D. Taylor held the position for 50 episodes, including all but 4 episodes in S1-3a. In the first 3, Jeffrey January filled in. For the fourth, Eric Sherman, who would come to be Taylor’s backup, it seems. For 3b and the first half of S4, Sherman and Taylor traded off every other episode. Taylor tried his hand at directing for S4′s Monstrous, at which point Sherman started trading off episodes with Matt Rawls.

Taylor went back to first assistant director for S5, but intermittently and with no backup for his position. 8 of 20 episodes in 5a had no first assistant director. Taylor directed 6x2 and was first assistant for 6x4 and 6x5, but 17 of 20 episodes of S6 had no first assistant. 

Sure, there were second assistant and second second assistants, but it seems very odd to neglect such a pivotal position. What is especially baffling is that 6b had first-time directors Tyler Posey, Linden Ashby, and Joseph Genier all working without a first assistant director. To me, this speaks to staffing issues and difficulty organizing a show that was clearly on its last legs.

In summary -

Where the early seasons had focused attention and investment from the original core producers, directors, and the show runner, clearly their attention and care for the project waned over time. They failed to promote the show’s most valuable workers and failed to bring in lower-level staff to do the grunt work in the writers’ room. Instead, they pulled in more and more higher level executives, who tend to have lofty ideas about where a show goes but no willingness to dig into the nitty gritty details. Film schools could make a study of Teen Wolf: “How to run a show into the ground.”

[gaycrouton]

A Long-Standing Curiosity

This is a part of my "Countdown" Series, where I play with the "X" times Mulder and Scully "X" trope. 10-2 will be UST-y with the final one being their first time.

This one is Five times Scully was reminded of Mulder’s impressive size. NSFW

I - A Hint (S1)

Whenever Mulder dragged her over to the Gunmen's, she felt a wicked sense of dejavu from her years of being a tagalong little sister. When her parents were out and Missy was busy, Bill was saddled with the duty of watching her. He'd hang out with his friends, usually riding bikes around the neighborhood while she exerted herself trying to keep up, her equilibrium tilting back and forth from training wheel to training wheel scraping against the pavement.

She was the outsider, but she wanted to be included.

"Some spies are said to keep asps in their pockets in preparation for a quick suicide," Frohike proclaimed. For what reason, she didn't know.

"I heard that too," Langly agreed. "That when they feel they've been compromised, they just aggravate the asp into biting them and releasing their venom."

"Like the historical myth about Cleopatra," she added, wanting to contribute since she hadn't been able to chime in during the last several conversations.

The three unfamiliar men looked over at her with a quizzical look. Much like in the summer days spent with Bill's friend, she'd distanced herself more in an attempt to bridge the gap. She squirmed in her seat under their attention, but she didn't lower her eyes, meeting them each with a raised eyebrow that said "What? I'm right."

"Myth?" Mulder asked, drawing her attention to the corner of the room where he was lounging comfortably. Whereas Bill would look over his shoulder, just to make sure she was still there before taking off even faster, Mulder kept a steady gaze on her, unwilling to let her fall behind. "It's a fact she killed herself with an asp," he challenged.

The Gunmen's heads went back and forth with each volley of this proverbial match. "No, it's not. Despite the paintings of Reginald Arthur and Michel Corneille or the writing of Shakespeare making millions believe she held an asp to her breast after the death of Antony, historians have proven that it was either the stab of a sharp implement like a hairpin or a toxic ointment that caused her death."

"I'd never heard that before, that's really interesting," Byers remarked, offering her a sincere smile.

Mulder was nodding at her with what appeared to be pride as she explained this. "That does make a lot more sense than someone just having a snake in their pants at the ready," Mulder teased, turning his attention over to the more eccentric two of the trio.

"Why? You do it all the time," Frohike joked, causing Langly to cackle.

"Except he's packing a python instead of an asp," Langly added, smiling wider as Mulder grew redder.

And just like all those years ago, the group of boys defaulted to dick jokes. Except Mulder wasn't her brother, and she was a woman now. Hearing them talk so openly about a topic she'd mentally sanctioned as taboo made her eyes widen and her curiosity flare.

"How many women you bite with that thing, Mulder?" Frohike, teased.

Scully observed as Mulder's previous position of comfort became tense as his eyes flickered over to see how she was reacting to the crude locker room talk. The ease with which the comments rolled off his friends' tongues made her think that this wasn't unusual talk for them nor that it was unfounded. The only thing that seemed out of place was Mulder's embarrassment.

"Guys, come on," he chastised, glaring at them while motioning his head towards her.

Frohike looked at her and coughed away his chuckling. "Sorry, Agent Scully."

She waved her hand in front of her face in dismissal. "It doesn't bother me."

But a nagging curiosity in the back of her mind now was.

II - A Glimpse (S2)

Scully didn't even realize it until afterwards. A flash of a bulge in her memory coming unexpected like an after shock in an earthquake.

She was standing at her kitchen counter, sipping from a glass of water with a shaky hand while Mulder's weapon sat next to the sink. Her body was exhausted from the effort of removing Mulder's clothes without any help from the double-her-size man. She'd stumbled back into her bookshelf when his pants finally came free and she'd been too worried about waking him to realize what she'd just uncovered, but now that she was calming down, she could recollect it perfectly.

An elongated bulge in his briefs, resting innocently on his upper thigh.

Elongated.

She hadn't really seen anything. Not in the flesh at least.

But in the morning when she checked on him, after he'd shucked the comforter off in his sleep, she was greeted with the same visual she knew she should be politely ignoring: Mulder's impressive, albeit flaccid, penis.

She stood next to him in the silence of her bedroom and looked down at it - a one woman gallery to an amazing show. Was he a shower or a grower?

Despite the fact that question was running through her mind, many were presently answered. He was big, showing or growing be damned, and he wasn't a Jewish stereotype.

III - A Brush (S4)

"Well, you could lock the door to the office," Mulder offered, accidentally brushing against Scully's back before leaning away from her.

"Folks know I never lock the door," Sheriff Taylor responded in an uncompromising tone. Adding, "They'd start rumors," as an afterthought.

She'd been reaching for the gloves, preparing to slide them over her hands, when he shut the bathroom door. As he did this, Mulder took a few shuffling steps closer to her so he could make himself fit in the tiny room. It probably was no larger than her wingspan, but half of the area was taken by either the sink or the toilet, making it so they had no room to shuffle. She could feel his knees and chest against her, so she could tell he was trying to lean his hips back to avoid pressing against her.

However, as she snapped the latex gloves on, he tried to readjust his footing and something ended up brushing against her ass. A significant something.

Her eyes froze on the blue lip of the faux-autopsy-table lunch tray laying in front of her as her brain quickly caught up to what her body instinctively recognized. Scully turned her head, too surprised at what she was feeling to acknowledge how close his face was.

Mulder was obviously aware of what caused her look and he smoothly deadpanned, "Oh, that was my penlight," acting as if their bodies touching so intimately was just a run of the mill occurrence.

"Oh," she murmured, turning back to the tray. "I thought a longstanding curiosity had just been satisfied," she replied, with feigned despondency before intaking a breath and widening her eyes.

"What an awfully big and warm penlight you have," was the response she wished she could have said.

Mulder moaned in appreciation low next to her ear and it sent shivers down her spine. The feeling of him pressed against her on top of his warm breath tickling her ear began to feel overwhelming, so she pulled back the sheet to kill the mood instantly.

IV - A Tease (S6)

A four hour stakeout? No problem. Six? Manageable. Ten? They were going insane.

It was one thing when they were on the X-Files. A stakeout then usually didn't last too long. But now under Kersh's orders, they were stuck with grunt work that was redundant and usually fruitless.

During the first time they'd endured this, Mulder had come up with some hairbrained twist on a children's game so they could pass the time. After a few rounds, it became perfectly clear that the game was just them asking questions back and forth, and they decided to just do that unabashedly. "You're my friend, Scully. I just want to know more about you. Why hide behind a game?" he smirked, bumping her leg with his.

After he'd said it, she was reminded of a night only a couple of years ago where Eddie Van Bluhndt had given her a similar sentiment. Mulder had just gone on and on about a potential X-File for hours before that, so she had no doubts that this was her Mulder in the flesh, but that made it a little more intimidating than it was back then. She knew he'd always harbored some anger towards what had happened with Eddie, not at her but at himself, and she had an inkling that this was an attempt at him doing what she'd inadvertently demonstrated she wanted.

It was initially awkward for them both, but at the end of the day - they truly did just want to learn more about each other.

However, this was now their third stakeout and they'd exhausted awkward high school stories and menial facts about themselves. She supposed it was that, plus the hours of boredom under their belts that led him down this line of questioning.

"What's your bra size?" he asked, shifting in the driver's seat while trying to find a good position.

His last question had been "When did you get your first fish?" so the abrupt topic change made her start in her seat.

Scully turned to him, and didn't see any traces of humor on his face. It was like he'd just asked what her shoe size was. "My bra size?" she repeated.

There it was. A little smile on his lips as the sides of his eyes crinkled with mirth. He turned to her, his smile widening when he didn't see any angry indignation on her face, and he replied, "Yeah."

If he was going to blame their exhaustion for his boldness, so could she. "Guess."

Without even looking he replied, "34B."

Her mouth dropped as she turned to him. "Cheater!"

He laughed and held up his hands. "How?" he asked in shocked amusement.

"How did you know, you didn't even look?" She knew it was stupid as soon as the statement left her mouth. Him not looking now was his way of subtly telling her he'd looked enough in the past to have it committed to memory.

He lowered his head ever so slightly closer to her and murmured, "I thought that would have been improper of me." Her eyes fluttered to the stubble coming through across his jaw and she was brought back by the shrug of his shoulders. "But, if you insist," he declared dramatically before letting his gaze fall to her chest.

She elbowed him playfully and chuckled as he mockingly rubbed his arm. "Ow, ow, okay. Your turn."

Feeling emboldened by his question, she decided she wanted to satisfy a curiosity of her own once and for all. "How big are you?"

"Six foot even," he replied innocently. He knew damn well what she meant and his cocky grin told her that he just wanted to hear her say it.

"No. How big is your…" she stumbled over word choice. Cock was vulgar, dick sounded childish, penis sounded clinical - what effect did she want to go for? "...cock," she settled on defiantly. The last word was slightly softer than the rest and she felt the friction of every consonant in the back of her throat as her mouth opened around the vowel. She'd never realized how, if said right, the word was like an oral invitation for the namesake.

His nostrils flared in response to her bold choice and a devilish gleam twinkled in his eye. She knew what he was going to do as soon as the smile erupted across his face. "Guess."

She swallowed thickly and turned her attention to the streetlamps littering the street, wanting to appear as indifferent as he had. "Well, from the glimpses I've seen over the years-" she started with a lilt.

"Glimpses?" he asked in surprise.

She turned to him with a coquettish smile and explained, "Mulder, I'm your doctor, and you're reckless. I've seen it all."

It was too dark to see fully, but if she could trust her eyes, he was blushing. "What's your verdict, Doc?"

"Six inches," she stated firmly.

He nodded amusedly and she was just about ready to gloat when he murmured, "Half right."

"Half right?" she replied quizzically.

He turned to her and smoothly told her, "You're assuming I'm a shower."

Bigger than six inches.

"Okay, okay," she mused. "Five inches flaccid, seven inches erect."

"Good guess," he smirked.

"But you said-"

He shifted in his seat and her attention was inadvertently drawn to the ever present mound in his lap. "Six inches flaccid, eight and a half erect," he replied.

She sat there stunned for a moment and was flustered when he waved his hand in front of her face and sang, "Earth to Scully."

"I don't believe you," she laughed breathlessly.

"Even about this?" he chuckled.

"Mulder, the average is five inches. Anything above eight is so rare," she explained, trying not to think about what he could do to her with that thing.

"Wanna see it?" he teased, undoing his belt.

Mulder was just joking. She knew that. But her gaze fell into his lap anyway, eagerly committing the image of his fingers deftly undoing his belt to memory. She couldn't find her voice to stop him, so she just sat there watching him.

When the anticipated words of 'Mulder' or 'stop' didn't happen, his hands faltered and he paused, watching her until she met his gaze while he held part of his undone belt in both hands. His eyes were curious, but there was a tint of something else. Something she only saw when she dreamed of him. "Scully?" his voice came out as a whisper.

A loud banging sound reverberated through the empty streets as a woman started screaming at the top of her lungs. "Shit," Scully swore, hopping out of the car as she ran towards the suspect fleeing the scene.

V - A Curiosity Satisfied (S7)

After coming to Los Angeles spur of the moment, following an unseen fear monster around for the entire night, watching multiple people die, and having to deal with infuriating pests following their every move with cameras - they were exhausted.

She'd been asleep in the car the entire time it took him to drive back to their shitty motel, and when he woke her up, it was only so she could reassure him they did everything they could and all but collapse face first into her mattress. The only thing she could physically muster up the energy to do was take off her shoes and coat.

However, her sleep was interrupted by Mulder's staggered breathing from the other room, more audible to her because their adjoining rooms were still open. It was common for Mulder to have nightmares, but there had been a definite spike because of the stress from the last few weeks.

It had become a bit of an unspoken pact as of late between them that if one of them was having a nightmare, the other would just sleep next to them. It was simple and innocent, just carnal comfort of having another person near.

Scully sniffed lightly as she pulled herself off the mattress, trying to shake her exhaustion away for long enough to get to him. She grabbed the warm pillow she'd been resting on and hugged it against her chest as she shuffled across the floor to the adjoining doorway.

Along with the staggered breathing, she could hear him grunting lightly. Her eyes were barely open, but her lip tugged downward in empathy. He'd just worked so hard and he can't even find solace in his dreams.

She made it to the doorway when her eyes registered more flesh than what she'd anticipated. Blinking the sight in front of her into view, she had to bite down on her lip to suppress a gasp.

Mulder was lying on his back, his boxers shoved around his knees, and he was pumping a massive erection with a vigorous fist.

Two. Two fists.

The sight alone was like a shot of adrenaline to her system and she felt a coiling in her gut. When he wasn't fucking his hands, he was using one to rub his precum over his head while the other fondled his balls. Mulder's face was contorted in pleasure, sweaty and flush, as his hips lifted off the bed.

Her feet felt like lead on the floor and she didn't know what to do. Go to him? Run away? Watch?

Mulder's breath continued to hitch as he continued his thrusts, but he was becoming erratic and she realized she was stumbling in at the tail end of it. She wasn't sure how long she'd just been asleep for, but Mulder had worked himself into a frenzy and he wasn't going to be able to hold it in for much longer.

She knew she should leave, but she didn't want to. She wanted to see Mulder in his most primal form. His eyes opened for a moment and she felt excitement run though her body like a shiver. Not fear. Not worry. She was excited at the idea of him knowing she was watching him.

But when his eyes opened, it was just to rip off the shirt he's been wearing and throw it to the floor, rolling over to grab a box of kleenex and setting it next to him on the bed before continuing.

His eyes fluttered shut as he resumed his frantic pace, his arms working so hard she could see the muscles in his biceps flexing. He looked so long and lean like this, wearing nothing but tangled boxers and arousal.

Mulder's mouth dropped open and she knew he was coming undone. His back arched off the bed as he ground himself into his hands, spurting thick lines of come all over his abdomen. Her groin felt heavy and swollen from her own arousal and the sight made her want to go over to him and beg him to finish her off. She was hugging the pillow she'd brought so tightly to her chest that she could feel her own heartbeat through it.

Mulder's breathing slowly started to return to normal as he grabbed some tissues and started cleaning himself up. It took a few wipes, but once he was done, he lifted his hips and gently eased his boxers over his hips.

Not wanting to be caught, as quietly as she could, she tiptoed back into her room and into her own bed. Now it was her turn for her breathing to turn erratic. Scully could hear Mulder's sheets shifting around, presumably from him trying to get comfortable.

Deciding that it was unlikely he'd get up and mimic what she just did, she let her hand slide down her abdomen and under the elastic of her underwear as she thought about the best eight and a half inches she'd ever seen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Other finished “Countdown” parts

10 times Mulder and Scully were as intimate as a couple

6 times Mulder saw Scully in her underwear

4 times they got a little too close

[nmoroder]

L4D(2) Actor AU

This is a (not complete) list of headcanons for the Actor AU me and my bro came up with during our Expert runs and running extremely low on morale. We created this as a sort of ‘happy’ AU which would also give some room to our own ideas, so some of this stuff below may only slightly be related to original. We understand.

This post won’t be updated but instead followed by other ones if something else arises, so check ‘l4d actor au’ tag on my blog for more!

Overall setting

The Left 4 Dead universe itself is a series of 90-min movies divided into first and second season, L4D1 and L4D2 respectively. This list will further refer to them as S1 and S2;

L4D is a series about, of course, zombie apocalypse, but teamwork and forming bonds between people are brought to spotlight. Both seasons consist of episodes where four Survivors try to find a solid ground and safety with every episode ending on a cheerful note but every next one starting with the cheerfulness destroyed. The episodes share their names and events with Campaigns;

Originally, L4D was created by a team of enthusiasts, consisting of friends, families and family friends, so they are all very immersed in process and really giving their best. Their collective is also the reason their funding isn’t very high and they’re mostly using their own equipment and props; this makes the series look less expensive and polished but retains the atmosphere and the main goal: to show people growing warmer to each other and learning to stick together;

The actors’ names are mostly created by combining the face model’s first name and the voice actor’s last name, though some other versions do take place (see S1 and S2);

The safehouse graffitis are inspired by the fans’ responses from forums and contests, so it’s some sort of communicating with audience through screenplay;

The Third Strike, more commonly known as Black and White Mode which occures after second incapacitation, was firstly discovered as a camera malfunction but then the team liked it so much that they decided to leave it as a feature and add the heartbeat effect and stuff;

Main plot line consists solely of canon Campaigns (that means it doesn’t include Last Stand and Cold Stream) but there were also suggestions to shot additional episodes - the Mutations. After S1 success, the authors posted their ideas on different ‘modes’ and fans added theirs as well and thus during S2 some more episodes were made using, for example, a male synchronized swimming team to create the Hunting Party mutation. The original Hunter actor also participated and the swimmers required to copy his behavior; they did it so well that sometimes the whole Survivor team was being overwhelmed once they began the take;

There are no stuntmen on board so every fighting scene is shot with original actors. When it requires to shove someone off with a weapon (e.g. Zoey shoving a Hunter off Louis in the L4D1 intro), after the take actors always ask each other whether they hit too hard, should they improve the movements etc. Different actors have different range so it’s a tricky thing to cooperate but they still manage (I’ll come back to this topic in L4D2 section);

Most Infected, especially Special Infected encounters are improvised, bringing more life and realism to the Survivors’ response. The Hunter is responsible for a fair share of their shock as they noticed him stuck at a saferoom ceiling only after a while (this is a reference to the glitches that allow the Hunter to get stuck under the roof in Versus);

There was a suggestion to run a Kickstarter campaign to gather money for a fanservice episode especially for shippers. While it was most likely a joke from actors who didn’t mind shipping, it’s still a suggestion and not in work.

L4D (Season 1)

Zoey shares the zombie movie obsession with her actress; Sonja was the most familiar with the topic among original team and provided a lot of help with setting up the scene, behaviour writing etc. Along with Louis and Boomer actors, she was the creator of original idea and can consider herself a founder of the series. She is also older than Zoey as a character, being already in her 25s while Zoey is a college student;

The original Boomer actor was a CGI specialist and offered his skills for post-processing while also playing an Infected role. He came up with the idea of a Boomer Infected himself and suggested his large physique to do the role with a little touch of computer graphics and makeup;

While discussing the major characters and personalities worth including, Zoey’s actress instantly remembered her neighbor, the big buffy tattooed guy who was her childhood friend, worked as a driver and spent his weekends with his favorite bike. She figured that it’s a nice image to have in a zombie apocalypse setting, and thus Francis’ actor made it to the set;

When it came to the image of a war veteran refusing to give in to monsters, Zoey’s actress was also the one to suggest another person to fill up the space: her father. He was younger than Bill was written to be but did the impersonating well. He’s got an overall friendly but bickering attitude towards Francis’ actor so most of lines written for Bill and Francis interaction were the ones actors remembered from their own conversations, slightly exaggerated;

Zoey’s actress and Louis’ actor were co-workers for several years and bonded over their mutual interest to zombie theme and shooting. She foud out that Sean attended a shooting range in his spare time and asked him to take her out too; thus she both found out he aces in ambidextrous shooting and got him to teach her how to wield a hunting rifle. The weapon preferences were carried over to respective characters;

Hunter’s actor became a surprise for the team as Francis’ actor brought him over saying that the guy’s got a fantastic voice (and a music band) and physique to make some badass new Infected for them. They got him to voice the crowd extras of common Infected but also came up with an idea of shrieking hooded parkour bastard to rip someone’s guts out, thus creating the Hunter as another Special Infected;

As the next Special Infected concept came out of the shadows - a lanky coughing tongue-twisting zombie who would grab the Survivors and restrict them, Hunter’s actor brought another person to the set. It was his music band co-participant who did drums and back vocals and also had an ability to eject the most horrible coughing sound out of his throat while being (seemingly) healthy. He took over the role of a Smoker;

Hunter’s actor is named Mike after Mike Patton, the voice actor for Infected and SI like Hunter and Smoker. Smoker’s actor is named Mike too but the fact that he plays drums and does back vocals is actually a reference to Faith No More, the band where Patton actually does vocals and Mike Bordin does what Smoker’s actor does. It sounds complicated but originally the idea of Hunter and Smoker actors sharing a name came from Patton voicing them both, and then I found out about the band and two Mikes present so... that was a weird but happy coincidence;

The fact stated above was the reason the team came up with nicknames just for two Mikes on the set - Hoodie and Tongue respectively. The tradition was carried over to S2 where the new Hunter actor would receive a patronizing nickname Kid from Survivors (see S2)

Of all Infected actors, Hunter’s actor was the least level-headed and even Francis’ actor sometimes doubted his past decision to bring him in. Nevertheless, Hoodie’s cheerful attitude and energy helped the collective stay positive and fuelled during especially hard days. It also brought out the less lethargic and melancholic part of Tongue and made him more lively about things;

Despite Hoodie being the Endless Energy Core which people tended to adore, he was still in a lousy relationship with Witch’s actress (her name, by the way, is different from the voice actress - it’s Rose). He kept a charmer’s attitude towards her even though she was a married woman; Rose tended to be neutral or mostly positive towards most colleagues but this behavior pissed her off big time, leading to Hoodie being injured by her stage costume claws after she punched him in the face for a really bad dating joke. Hoodie toned it down afterwards but their relationship didn’t improve much up until the end;

Witch’s actress is keen on baking and sometimes brings some to the filming set;

Since the budget was comparatively low, the team couldn’t afford a lot of crowd extras so they hired a group of people to then create an image of a Horde attacking by using CGI. That’s why there’s so much repeating common Infected on-screen;

The first season included all L4D1 original Campaigns, leaving The Sacrifice out as it was added later in a DLC. As S2 came into development stage, the team wanted to add an episode with the old Survivors team but Bill’s actor was unavailable at the time and was overall not hot with the idea of shooting movies anymore; so eventually they plotted the episode (The Passing campaign) to feature Bill being dead. The fans were shocked to find it out and demanded to know what exactly happened, thus leading to actually shooting The Sacrifice as a bonus episode to S1 (and requiring Bill’s actor to come back despite his attitude).

L4D2 (Season 2)

The collective decided to take a sharp turn on the new Survivors and create them being unacquainted and sort of separated at the start but growing closer as time passes by. The idea of S1 Survivors being almost a family to each other sounded great and played along just right but the team wanted to delve deeper into relationship problems and also have a change of scenery - and so they did;

The Infected team for S2 still consisted of some old faces (Boomer, Tank and Witch) but some had to leave the set for the time being and were unable to rehearse the roles, this being Hunter and Smoker actors. They got into music harder than zombie movies and planned to go on a tour so they could only leave their old Infected sounds as a legacy;

The new Smoker actor was a treasure Coach’s actor brought to the set. Since Coach was in fact a college coach, he kept a close eye on some problematic students under his wing and picked out the one he’d considered perfect and at the same time worth looking after. The guy was recovering from compulsory drug treatment and had some ugly scars all over his arms, making him an easier candidate for makeup;

Hoodie, on his part, brought a replacement on his own, and it was his brother - four years younger, even more insanely into parkour and a huge fan of L4D series, he made a perfect new Hunter. Despite being only a few years younger than Hoodie, he instantly became treated like a restless constant-questioner child, a literal piece of sunshine on the set, so the team came to call him just Kid. He adjusted to the nickname after a couple of weeks, though being seriously surprised at it at the start;

The actors of Ellis, Jockey and Charger all come from one family, being two sons and a father. Coach suggested the family as well, being their close friend for many years and pointing out Ellis’ actor appearance being something close to the laid-back mechanic they wanted for the new Survivors team;

Although fluently speaking in a Southern accent, Ellis’ actor isn’t very fond of it as he tried to get rid of it and move to a different state; the role obliged him to use the accent again though and it wasn’t hard to recreate, but he still didn’t take pride in it and was mostly annoyed with it and Nick’s jokes written in script;

Ellis’ actor is also the one more frequently complaining about amount of money the actors receive for their work on set. Their funding increased a bit since S1′s popularity strike but still;

Most of Ellis’ stories were written based on actual on-set incidents, usually featuring Nick’s actor (see below);

Nick’s actor, Taymour, is married to Witch’s actress and is a big fan of her performance in S1. When she heard the idea of having a snarky self-centered ladies’ man in the new Survivors team, she immediately knew who’d handle the role at his best. She also rehearsed the role of Witch just to make sure nothing bad happens to her husband on-set (also see below);

Nick’s actor suffers from constant bad luck incidents. He can accidentally break or twist something without serious effort; he’s also allergic to artificial blood and he is the reason the filming set actually features painkillers and functioning adrenaline shots. Despite all that, he’s got a positive attitude about bad luck and got used to being in a state of constant non-obvious danger, unlike others who geniunely worry about his well-being and fear that one day an accidental injury might end him once and for all;

This trait is also the reason Nick’s line “Can’t you see I’m limping here?” made it into the script - it was improvised after Nick’s actor badly hit his leg and was the last to make it to a saferoom during a take. The team liked it and decided to leave it in;

Nick’s actor treats his role with all respect and doesn’t consider it a small one despite the not so large fee. He’s also a complete opposite to the character, being a very friendly and kind-hearted guy to everyone on set; he can however switch back to his script personality with startling speed and it scared some of the new actors at first. Despite playing an asshole which is very different from real him, Nick’s actor enjoys it a lot and overall finds great joy in working with the team and bringing them together;

Bringing back the topic of being gentle to each other, Nick’s actor takes great care when it’s required to hit or shove someone in the take, keeping it mildest possible, unlike for example Ellis’ actor who can smash you in the face without a second thought;

Nick’s actor and Witch’s actress keep their loving attitude on set as well, sometimes making it hard to shoot scenes featuring a Witch killing; as they were shooting the Witch Bride scene where the same actress took place but had a different outfit and makeup, they ruined several takes by driving the dialogue in unwanted directions, e.g. “Ellis, go kiss the bride! No wait, I’ll do that myself” or “N: Sounds like my ex-wife... W: I still AM your wife, darling! >:C”;

With her husband on stage, Witch’s actress is probably closest to her role - she will tear apart anyone who dares to hit on Nick’s actor or mean any harm to him (as if his own harming isn’t enough...). The only one she’d go loose is Ellis’ actor, being an old close friend;

Ellis’ actor was the one who introduced Nick’s actor to his future wife. They’ve actually been close friends since the university and Ellis’ actor was among those who obviously saw Nick’s actor and Rose being in love but completely oblivious to it. Ellis’ actor is still kinda jealous that she took his best friend away and they can’t hang out anymore like they used to, but they get quite a lot of time on set so he’s less irritated about that;

Nick’s actor is especially supportive towards Rochelle’s actress, Shanola. She feels self-conscious because of her character’s rating being lower than expected and blames it on her performance, but Taymour keeps reassuring her that she’s doing amazing. Rochelle’s actress is also the one least accustomed to shooting a weapon and handling violence of any kind so it was hard for her to get her head into action. With the team fully supporting her, the progress sped up tremendously;

Ellis’ actor’s name is Jesy and he gets salty about people misspelling it or mistaking it for a female name. It was the inspiration to include the “El kinda sounds like a girl’s name” part of Ellis’ dialogue;

The team is overall friendly towards shipping dynamics in the series’ fandom, with the only one explicitly stating otherwise being Ellis’ actor. He’s espeicially upset with Nellis ship as people started shipping actors over it too; he stated multiple times that he and Nick’s actor have been best friends for so long that it’s simply wrong to imply any romantic and/or sexual relationship between them. He once stated in an interview that he’d rather believe an Ellis/Hunter ship and the fandom exploded with it on the next day, much to the actor’s chagrin. The Hunter’s actor, or Kid, however, wasn’t that upset and supported the idea. The team made no confirmation to any ships yet;

Nick’s actor is neutral to most ships including Nellis and doesn’t see why his friend is so angry about it. His personal favorites are Nick/Witch for obvious reasons and Nick/Hunter for less obvious reasons that he doesn’t state. He jokingly suggests Jesy from time to time to start a Kickstarter campaign for a Nellis-centered episode; it’s still unknown whether they’ll take it serious one day.