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qsycomplainsalot · 2 months

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Sooooo how about that Borderlands movie huh?

Might as well repost it here too.

One of the reason Borderlands 2 and this movie hit weird is because they take these player characters meant to not interfere in our experiencing the world of Pandora, and try to retroactively slap more personality and motives on them in a way that contradicts our playthrough. Not only do we feel robbed of our personal experience by having these characters take on a completely different lives, and even beyond the terribad decision of making them all joke-a-second-delivering hollywood funnymen, it actually takes away from said world. You should have a straight forward character for the environment to shine around, not four that seem to constantly fight for the camera's attention with cheap jokes. That's not the vibe Borderlands 1 had. I've jumped piss wash gully over a hundred times, it's funny because of how clearly everyone on this miserable backwater shithole hates it here, not because someone threw a bucket of piss in my face. Like... you're being less subtle than Borderlands. It's worrying. Furthermore, why do the Crimson Lance soldiers look like a competitive paintball team; why not use anything by Cage the Elephant, Jesper Kyd or DJ Champion for the soundtrack; if you're gonna blend different games why nOT USE HANDSOME JACK ??? Why does a movie that could so easily be carried by its setting need so many big name actors ? Why does it need THESE big name actors ??? Get Anya Taylor-Joy, Dave Bautista, Idris Elba and idfk John Leguizamo. Have them arrive on Pandora, get contacted by Angel, kill Nine-Toes pretty much as they step out of the bus leading them to Sledge and the first half of the vault key. Get them to the Rakk Hive for a set piece battle mid-movie that's not just a gun fight, but the other half of the key has been taken by the Crimson Lance already. After a failed ambush from them, the vault hunters go to the Eridian promontory to wrap up the movie. Cut all the fat and make a solid movie. Instead I'm assuming it's gonna be a bunch of meandering bullshit, and the only elements from the original story will be in the form of annoying nods that will make you wish you were playing the game instead of watching whatever this is.

Also they announced a cinematic universe so now it's bound to be shit.

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asteria-argo · 3 months

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fuck it I'm elaborating on that last post actually. My preface is that I don't work in or study marketing, but I had to do extensive unit on it for my actual course which means while I'm not an expert I do know enough that the arc annoys the shit out of me! This is a disorganized rant on my part, no one read too much into it.

POINT A.1

a lot of the work we see Keeley do in season one and two isn't actually PR, it's brand coordination. That's a separate department to Public Relations. They both fall under the marketing department umbrella, and there is an overlap in responsibilities depending on the size of the corporate entity but they aren't the same thing!

This doesn't actually matter that much, and sometimes it varies from company to company how marketing teams are structured anyway but it bothers me that it's called PR when she's doing Brand Coordination! They aren't the same thing!

POINT A.2

jumping off from point A.1 into the actual rant, the show likes to treat Keeley as an all-rounder, which I'm sure is just for convenience sake so they don't have to write in or hire actors to actually be Richmond's marketing department, but I think that's stupid! Most corporate marketing and communications roles in real life require at least a bachelors degree, she wouldn't have the necessary knowledge or experience to fulfill multiple of these roles at once.

Which leads me to my actual point, which is that Keeley is supposed to be a self made character but they consistently just hand her things.

Rebecca just hands her a job she isn't qualified for, very similarly to what she does to Ted, only with Keeley her motivations are to provide Keeley with a new avenue* in life rather than Keeley actively seeking these opportunities for herself! It's not self made if Keeley isn't trying to make it happen for herself.

I will admit it's been a while since I properly watched season one, so I might be wrong about that above statement, but it doesn't change the fact Keeley, much like Ted and probably even moreso than Ted who is at least qualified to coach to some degree, is not qualified for the job that Rebecca just hands her in any formal capacity.

(*side note; I can't remember if Rebecca was being genuine or trying to sabotage the club some more when she offered Keeley the job, but if she was doing the latter that is an entirely separate rant)

Then, they just hand her her own company she is equally underqualified for! She has maybe a year of formal marketing experience at the time, she has no formal training and she is a free lancer with one known client. They never show us Keeley working for anyone but Richmond! in fact, she works within Richmond, so it's safe to say they are literally her only client!

look, I'm not saying it's impossible for her to have gotten a free lance PR job at Richmond, that isn't actually my main concern with Keeley's arc, it's a good starting point, but it's important that it's acknowledged that Keeley isn't as prepared for the role as she could be. It's a conflict and conflict is what makes stories interesting.

My main problem is that they ignore the fact she isn't qualified, make her seem perfect and on top of everything, give her multiple legs up via friendship nepotism and dumb luck, and then when she is finally shown to be struggling, the rug is swept out from under her due to external, bullshit factors that have nothing to do with her actual professional struggles. And then she gets bailed out, via more friendship nepotism. It's BORING! You had a perfect plot sitting right there and you stepped over it!

POINT B

But Asteria, I hear you asking, why do you keep calling Keeley a free lancer? Because, dear reader, if she actually worked for Richmonds Marketing department, she would be in their marketing department!

There are mutliple interconnecting roles in a marketing department, data analysts, social media teams, media coordinators! They typically work together in an office building, similar to Keeley's PR company! There are a lot of different roles and a lot of different employees involved! think cubicles and break rooms, not a private office in the dungeon of a stadium.

So, Keeley from what the show tells and shows, is a free lance PR consultant not for the stadium itself, but for members of the team and later the greyhounds as an entity. This is where I would veer off course!

Instead of ending season two with a bullshit out of the blue here's your own company girl boss arc, I'd have Rebecca offer Keeley some kind of formal training avenue to get some more experience, build up her portfolio, and make progress in her career via some kind of internship or traineeship with Nelson Roads marketing team.

Why does this cause conflict? Because Keeley sucks at it! Keeley, for as friendly and sociable as she is, is not a corporate team player. She canonically doesn't understand corporate etiquette, she doesn't respect a lot of corporate practices, and to the people who have actually spent years of their lives studying and working for their positions, she doesn't deserve to be there!

She's there because she's a rich model whose friends with their millionaire boss. She's not self made to them, she hasn't come from nothing, she owns a mansion and wears designer almost exclusively. She has weekly lunch with the owner of their company, she was dating their star player and now she's dating the assistant coach, she got hired with no experience or education because she has friends in high places, if I was some poor marketing employee with student debt who worked my ass off to be there? I'd be pissed off, I wouldn't like her!

and Keeley is a very make her own way person, she isn't prepared for the rules and parameters that working in a corporate environment has! She also isn't used to not being liked! The team all love her, she makes friends really easy! It isn't an environment that she is comfortable in or used too, and she struggles with it!

Her arc would be about deciding if it's worth it! Where to compromise and where to hold to fast! Proving that she does deserve to be there to herself and to others! Realizing that she has had a lot of things handed to her, and that she is not as self made and independent as she previously claimed to be! Deciding how to proceed with that realization! Working on herself to understand the perspective of others!

You can give her a crisis of confidence and self doubt with that! You can make her actively trying to learn more and better herself! Give her the Elle Woods Arc She Deserved! She doesn't have to be The Boss, she just has to be an active character in her own story!

POINT C

Splitting Keeley from the main cast was dumb! It was just a bad choice! It's an ensemble show, ensemble shows never work when you split up the ensemble. That's part of why season three felt so weird to watch!

I love Keeley, I really do, but her story was not substantial enough to stand on its own! She needs to be connected to Nelson Road and Richmond one way or another, or she might of well have been written off because the KJPR story line doesn't serve the over all plot or Keeley's character development. She starts and ends the season in the exact same spot, and she contributes almost nothing to the main story line.

This point of mine is more of technical perspective on writing but if something doesn't serve a purpose in a story, especially a story that is actively trying to be concise like the third season of ted lasso allegedly was, you need to either change it so that it does serve a purpose or cut it. Characters aren't people, they are tools used within a narrative to tell a story. Keeley wasn't used effectively as a tool to the narrative in any capacity.

Also I just think it would've been a lot more interesting to explore Roy and Keeley's relationship breaking down in real time. Them breaking up off screen and then ignoring each other for most of the season was, once again, boring!

In Conclusion

I hate the KJPR story line because it was so easy to fix and it could've elevated the narrative in so many ways but nooooooo we had to have THAT shit show. You could even keep Barbara in my version. Like,, she can still be there and it would work better. They fumbled so bad, Keeley deserved better.

#Keeley Jones #I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this as you can probably tell #does this count as meta?#I think so #ted lasso meta

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weclassybouquetfun · 5 months

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James Lance as Uncle Quentin in THE FAMOUS FIVE.

-TED LASSO received three Golden Globes nominations today: Best Comedy Series, Best Lead Actor in a Comedy (Jason Sudeikis) and Best Supporting Actress (Hannah Waddingham). And there's an adjacent nomination for Juno Temple who was nominated for series five of FARGO.

I bet the group chats are jumping. Yes...chats.

The three nominations bring a series total of nine Golden Globes nominations for the show.

Flashback to a 2014 interview Jason did with The Independent (of course).

#ted lasso alums #ted lasso cast #ted lasso #jason sudeikis #hannah waddingham #the golden globes #juno temple #james lance #uncle quentin #the famous five #awards season #david elsendoorn #tv: ted lasso

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ferrstappen · 1 year

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let me lead the way, honey <3

this is a side blog, my main is @motherlifesucker but if someone knows how to make this one my main pls help 😬💘

formula 1 masterlist

actors & characters masterlist

guidelines

only F1 requests

requests only on the ask box, please <3

please keep the messages clear so that I can understand your idea <3

no nsfw content. It can be alluded, but not explicit content.

I only feel comfortable writing driver x female!reader

absolutely not violent or sensitive content (domestic violence, SA, do I really have to explain this?)

I do not write about panic attacks, anxiety attacks, eating disorders and anything along that line, since it’s very triggering for me <3

you can send me prompts, and I'll be adding prompt lists to this post <3

I'm also always up for a chat and the ask box is always open for whatever you need (I love gossip, I'm a libra)

let's dream about...

carlos sainz

charles leclerc

esteban ocon

george russell

lance stroll

lando norris

max verstappen

you don't have a scenario?

friends to lovers prompts

soft prompts

yearning prompts

what are we?/situationship prompts

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vldkeith · 9 months

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character bios for my fanfic! 🎥🪩

y'all know how i'm writing a lengthier au fanfic right now right? well i have character bios/intros for it! these basically lay out who everyone is in this au. i just think it's neat and hopefully gets ppl excited 👀

takashi shirogane - extremely talented actor with a lot of social capital, despite the fact that he is an out gay man. played the adorable, lovable leading man in rom-coms and sitcoms for a while and has recently graduated to more dramatic roles, which he excels in. everyone seems to love and respect him for the most part. picked up keith when he tried to steal his car at a younger age (10?) and hasn’t stopped looking out for him since; they’re like brothers.

keith kogane - guy who hates celebrity culture but got foisted into it due to his association with shiro. has a reputation for being handsome goodboy shiro’s naughtier younger brother who flips off the camera, punches paparazzi, and has no filter. hates every moment he’s forced to endure hollywood life, but does so to protect and be there for shiro. has been smeared by the tabloids extensively, both for being a delinquent and for being gay. keith did not choose to come out, like shiro had before him, but instead was outed by a member of a gay forum he frequented who figured out his identity (he was 17 at this point). hates society and has a chip on his shoulder.

lance mcclain - starry-eyed hopeful fresh off of his first non-extra role and new darling of the press. gunning for lead man roles in romcoms; knows he’s bisexual but doesn’t want to come out for fear of his family’s reaction and because he believes it will smear his reputation and thus chances to get the roles he wants. this view is understandable and pretty accurate, but it means that he is actively hiding himself and presents intense complications when he and keith start being “a thing.” has a reputation for being charming (if a little sleazy) and flirty with women, which is both natural to him and carefully cultivated so he has the best chance at getting romcom roles. he idolizes shiro–in part because he’s an out gay man, though he’d never admit that–and wants to be mentored by him so badly he’ll make himself a nuisance in shiro (and keith’s) life until he can.

(more under the cut)

allura altea - orphaned daughter of famous actress mother and professor father who died in a hit-and-run when she was 16. keith’s best friend; they’ve affectionately dubbed themselves the “dead parent’s society,” but the press likes to call them “?????.” allura was being brought up as a future actress by her parents, having starred in many dcom-esque roles as a child, but when they died she quit all of that and kind of just does her own thing now. currently, she’s enrolled in UCLA as a politics major.

coran wimbleton-smyth - retired acclaimed director who occasionally signs himself on as a producer for works he thinks are particularly meaningful. he’s the producer for shiro’s next film, a sci-fi space opera a la the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, and he’s gunning for shiro’s character to be explicitly gay. genuinely good-natured and wants to be involved with his projects; has a reputation for being the kind of director/producer to bring donuts in for everyone and cancel shooting days if the weather gets too hot. would support the current (2023) strikes. wants to see everyone succeed, but especially shiro and his family.

hunk garrett - lance’s bestie and bisexual-awakening! aspiring personal chef to celebrities, but currently works at a restaurant and attends california institute of technology for engineering, because why not? met lance when lance went to eat at the restaurant he worked at and liked the food so much he asked to personally thank the chef; hunk had changed the dish last-minute as it went out the door, ratatouille-style, and so he gets the credit. they’ve been besties ever since!

matt holt - lance’s young agent! saw potential in lance because of their shared personality-type, but he can be ruthless when it comes to matters of public opinion and which roles lance should take, which lance both appreciates and dreads. committed to doing what’s best for lance’s career, whatever the cost. katie “pidge” holt - matt’s younger sibling that is pushed into lance’s orbit unwillingly due to her big brother’s job. hangs around because, whatever he may say, she really does like lance as a friend, and warms up to hunk quickly once they meet due to their shared interest in engineering/computers. has a geocities website dedicated to weird lizards and insects. low-profile enough to get away with things none of the others could manage.

nyma - shiro's ruthless but skilled publicist. knows how to turn public opinion around her finger, all while pretending to be innocent and nice the whole time. this doesn't mean she's uncaring, though; sometimes she'll let slip that she actually cares about shiro and keith's images because she cares about them, not just because it's her job and reputation on the line if she doesn't. isn't afraid to advise them to do painful and sometimes downright demoralizing things, but it's always in the interest of saving their necks, at least from her perspective.

this isn't an exhaustive list of the voltron characters that will be included btw; i'm going to find a way to put adam & romelle in if i have to die for it. but these are the main cast i have so far :) let me know what you think!

#yes im doing this instead of writing said fanfic. lol.#klance #voltron #klance fanfiction #op💢#mbim🎥🪩#this is ok to rb btw!

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thedanceronthestreets · 1 year

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The future of Trent Crimm: Have we only just begun?

If you are a person that isn’t into overanalysing interviews with actors, then keep scrolling because this post is not for you lmaooo. All subsequent screenshots are taken from Jimmy Lance’s subjectify interview and are in chronological order as they appeared in the interview. Let’s get right into it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this interview recently since we’re now in the post-Amsterdam era and I believe the things that happened in that episode recontextualise a lot of things mentioned here. Most obviously, this was the interview that really made fans believe Trent was going to be confirmed to be homosexual since he actively dodged an answer to that question (see screenshot number 3). Additionally, it made a lot of tinhatters believe that there might be something happening between Ted and Trent... Et voilá, Trent is gay now. And so, as I read over the interview again with that new nugget of knowledge in mind, I thought “I can read this a lot more delusionally now considering we were right about Trent.” Little did I know I’d be faced with a bit more of an emotional rollercoaster.

@ishouldbedoingalright and I were kind of disappointed to find that a lot of the things Jimmy alludes to in the interview are already well explained by the fact that Trent is gay. The fact that he speaks of a “truth” to be revealed (screenshot 1) now makes me think he was simply speaking of the fact that Trent is gay, which now has been revealed to the audience. “There’s a lot going on” could very easily relate to the new Trent lore we were presented with: the fact that he only recently came out to his (presumable) ex-wife and daughter means there was a lot of upheaval in Trent’s life independent of his career change and even if he didn’t come out because of Ted, he very likely found the courage to do so because he saw that kind of authenticity was achievable for himself, inspired by Ted. It’s perfectly reasonable therefore that Jimmy is just referring to his own headcanons for Trent here, i.e., Trent being grateful for Ted’s presence because it gave Trent the push he needed to pursue the life he so desperately wants to lead (fitting in with what’s said in screenshot 2 here). That thinking took the wind out of my shipping sails a little bit because it already makes sense with what’s happened in the show sans tedtrent shipping agenda. Ted touched Trent’s life in a way that allowed Trent to become true to himself and try new things. Those things included coming out as gay and changing his career (which is still very touching in non-shipping terms and hence a perfectly plausible way to explain the things Jimmy said in the interview).

But then I reread the interview again and something I hadn’t realised before caught my eye. The question of “Is [Trent] meant to be gay?” only appears ¾ of the way through the interview and is not what Jimmy is answering when he says “there’s a lot going on”. At that point, all they are talking about is how Trent looks at Ted. And I do find that an important detail to point out, especially considering what happens at the end of the interview. When the question of “Is [Trent] meant to be gay?” comes around, Jimmy refuses to answer it, which makes sense considering he wasn’t allowed to break his NDA and any answer would’ve been a spoiler for what happens in Amsterdam. But then Natalie Fischer aka the interviewer circles back to what they spoke about in the beginning by connecting the two points of Trent’s relationship to Ted and Trent’s sexuality. She says “That’s because of the look [Trent gives Ted], [...] the gaze I spoke about” after pointing out that despite Jimmy not being able to comment, many people back then interpreted Trent to be gay (see screenshot 4). And to this, Jimmy also doesn’t give a straight-forward answer and even more so, he says “I mean, it would be”, which half implies that to his understanding people are getting the idea that Trent might be gay not just from the ‘hair and the whole vibe’ but from the way he looks and behaves around Ted specifically (which wasn't the case, most people based this headcanon on Trent's...well...general vibe). To me, that implication isn’t explained by what has happened so far in the series. Sure, Trent can look at Ted admiringly considering how Ted has canonically affected Trent’s life, but that alone shouldn’t give people (and apparently Jimmy Lance) the impression that Trent is gay. The fact that it has could imply that there’s more to Trent’s admiration for Ted than gratitude and I don’t want to call gay people media literacy geniuses but the fact that Jimmy refuses to answer two questions in this interview and one of them has already turned out to be true just as fans predicted is all things considered... interesting.

Plus, I want to talk about the tone indicator given in this interview. At the end when Jimmy says “all I will say is people are really forensically looking at stuff in a way that is kinda like... okay!” coupled with what he mentions earlier with people saying “Ted and Trent, they just need to kiss or whatever like, what the hell!” immediately made my queer fan alarm bells ring with the alert ‘the actor is making fun of the queer fans, you’re overinterpreting again, you’re going to get burnt for being invested’ etc. Reminiscent of other fandoms... but we’re not going to go there. However, the tone indicator struck me since Natalie really wanted to make sure people didn’t get the impression that Jimmy was being snarky, and readers would feel offended or even attacked by what Jimmy said here. And the fact that right in the beginning he says “that’s really funny to hear [...] that you pick up on that and if other people are picking up on that” makes it sound like he’s genuinely appreciative of the fact that people are invested in his acting decisions and his character’s admittedly minor scenes. So, I want to cautiously presume that even though we’re all delusional and aware of it, there might be more ground to our delusion than we’re giving ourselves credit for.

Peace and love guys. In the end, it's all just a bit of fun, isn't it.

#tedependent #tedtrent #trent crimm #ted lasso spoilers

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siremasterlawrence · 1 year

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Mastering Chris Evans

Eric Micheal Lance is an old past submissive I just happen to see on the road to see on the road one day walking with Tom on the street.

I find myself in shock as I can feel his hand land on my arm when I pass him on purpose he pulls me back into the alley way and blocks Tom.

Tom fumes waving his hand at me while Eric continues to hold him off and shoves a bin from the restaurant at the exit door of the alley way.

Eric Michael pins me to the wall covering my body with his holding me in place with his his stalling me and stares deeply into my eyes.

He leans into kiss me slowly in a very sexy kind of movement, I can feel his hot heavy breath in my nose and he kisses me a bit tenderly.

I grab hold of his jacket collar yanking it into the wall with a rare force looking in to his weak eyes betraying his muscular body weighing on me.

I knew this is a momentous activity I could not let go of, each of his hands on to his face his left then his right and grabbing his face tightly.

Eric could not even attempt to move, make an escape or fight me when I take hold of both waist yanking him to my side and we kiss leading him down. He falls faint off of his balance dropping to floor his body begins to change.

“Eric! Wake up ! Get up now!” I say slapping his face a bit getting his attention back on me.

“Yyyyeeeesss! I feel so groggy!” He states a hand on his forehead.

“Because I am in control of your soul!” I add kneeling in front of him.

“What the fuck? Why did you do that to me?” He questions me.

“You pinned me to the wall, so hard pressed to have me.” I remind him.

“It’s true! I am weak” he continues his eyes dart down.

“Oh! I am aware”

“Yes Master!”

“Face me!”

“Take me as yours please”

“Who am I? Why do I feel differently?”

“Is that me?”

“A million and one answers to that”

“You once promised me “

“I don’t know…I can’t “

“Help me”

“Fuck off!”

“Please “

“Give in”

“Wait! What?”

“The void”

“Yyeeesss…must jump”

“Take one more step”

“A leap faith”

“Yyyeeesss”

“I’m ready”

“You are Chris Evans”

“A actor “

“Reprogramming at three”

“1….2…3”

“Hello! I am Chris Evans”

“Watch this video “

“Bitch”

“Sir Yes Sir”

The end

Mastering Hemsworth Brothers

@Mctf21 is someone I know very well with a little bit effort I help him by getting someone to pay for a trip for him to Australia with a huge surprise waiting for him.

The door pulls open he walks onto the stair case he descends down the staircase to a shock he cannot believe his eyes as a hot guy waves at him.

The closer he gets the man’s image burns on to his eyes even brighter because it is his crush Chris Hemsworth posing down where he is.

Chris eyes sparkle a bit through his eyes it shocks him making @MCTF21 cocks springs up pushing outward of his pants the pang of pain imminent.

Hitting the bottom of the stairs his right foot touches the ground Chris grabs onto his waist guiding him to the side of the room kissing him.

Mr. Hemsworth smirks taking his hand and leads him to his limousine parked outside to carry them to the hotel room preparing him for the day.

“We are alone finally!”

“I cannot believe this”

“Ok shut down”

“Huh!”

“This is a clone essentially “

“He is all yours”

“You can do as you like with him”

“No baggage “

“No family or kids”

“And there is much more “

“The real Chris Hemsworth and his family”

“What did you do with them?”

“I can’t tell you all the details let’s say they are essentially on witness protection.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Zip it! “

“Do you want Liam and Luke as well?”

“Yes or no?”

“They love you too”

“They want you”

“You own them”

“Show them control”

“Show then disdain”

“Make them a bitch”

“Love them”

“Then fuck them”

“Ok then”

“I’m in”

“Excellent! Guys come in”

“All three of you “

“Immediately “

“Yes Sire”

The end

#mastering #copy cat #hypnosis #hypno slave #mind control #chris evans #andrew w walker #teddy sears #luke mcfarlane #chris hemsworth #liam hemsworth #luke hemsworth #clones

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blueskittlesart · 2 years

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tell me more about voltron please

i considered putting this behind a readmore but i dont think i will actually. i think im going to subject you all to this. okay to begin with when i say voltron i am not talking about the 1984 anime voltron. i am talking about the american 2016 reboot of that anime, voltron legendary defender. it had eight seasons within 2 years and i was obsessed with it for the majority of my time in middle school. it did irreparable damage to my brain.

voltron was run by two people named lauren montgomery and joaquim dos santos. voltron voice actors and writers also had a kind of unprecedented amount of interaction with their fans, both in-person and online. the majority of those fans were adolescent lgbt people, as are fans of most netlfix cartoons. this did not end well. i'll get into it later.

the first two seasons of voltron came out to relative praise. it appeared, at the time, to be an interesting character-driven children's show, similarly to steven universe and other cartoons of its time. As I mentioned, a lot of fans were adolescent and/or young adult lgbt people. this obviously led to fandom, and, as a consequence, shipping culture. the problem was that the shipping culture in voltron was insane. there were two MAIN ships that people were into at the time. keith/lance (klance) and keith/shiro (sheith). for context, keith and lance were 17 & 18-year old classmates and established rivals who had several heart-to-heart/romantically-coded scenes in the first two seasons, causing fans to latch on HARD. shiro was keith's 26-year-old adopted brother.

the mid-stage voltron fandom literally coined the terms "anti" and "proship." "anti" originally meant "anti-sheith" that is the kind of fandom culture were talking about here. before voltron, these debates had obviously still been present in fandom, but voltron dialed everything up several notches. it was insane. I was put on blocklists for being anti-sheith, as a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD.

I mentioned earlier that the showrunners and voice actors had a kind of unprecedented amount of interaction with their fans, and i actually think this is what lead to the show's downfall. What happened was, basically, at the very beginning of the show's run, one of the showrunners teased that they would have lgbt rep in their show. everyone assumed that this rep would be either klance or sheith, and went insane about it. the staff of the show could not have a single event without some fan asking if shieth or klance was going to be canon. they would always dance around it, which i don't REALLY blame them for. the biggest problem was that they actively REFUSED to condemn sheith, an incestuous ship between a 26 year old and a 17 year old. some fans at the time suggested that they even encouraged the shipping culture within the fandom because they knew it brought them more engagement. however, encouraging this kind of thing and refusing to condemn sheith led to several unsavory situations with voice actors and fans, most notably pidge's voice actor bullying a 13-year-old off this site after they pointed out it was weird that the voice actor openly shipped sheith. there were also several incidents where FANS were in the wrong, most notably when a klance shipper took photos of unaired material during a tour of the studio where voltron was being made and then threatened to leak it if the showrunners didn't make klance canon. it was an insane couple of years to be in fandom spaces on the internet.

this is bad, obviously. all of this is really bad. but it also all came alongside the steady, obvious decline in quality of the show itself. what had once seemed like an interesting, well-paced, character-driven narrative was clearly devolving into a badly-paced serialized mess. subtle racism began to creep into the writing. the racism became less subtle as the show went on, obviously favoring white characters. Characters would have development teased and then never followed through on. filler episodes would be full of weirdly malicious digs at fan-favorite characters for seemingly no reason. the story became disjointed, the tone shifted to be much darker with little warning, and the plot became nearly impossible to follow. what came out later on, after the show had concluded, was that sometime after season 3 or so, the showrunners had THROWN OUT THE SHOW'S BIBLE. meaning past a certain point, there was ZERO PLANNING, zero written plot, zero ANYTHING. it was obvious in hindsight why the show started to go downhill so quickly. It was speculated that the bible was thrown out specifically to spite klance shippers, who the showrunners later openly admitted to hating and wanting to screw over.

six seasons came and went with no lgbt rep like they'd promised. the fans were getting incredibly impatient. the longer they went without the satisfaction of a klance or sheith payoff, the harder it became for them to overlook the writing problems in the show. something had to be done.

at sdcc 2018, the voltron team showed a clip of their new season.

this was an EVENT in the fandom. like. i remember exactly where i was at the time. i remember refreshing the blog of a mutual i had who was at the panel, liveblogging it, and praying that they would finally fix everything they'd fucked up over the last year. they showed a clip of shiro and another man, who was named adam. the clip itself was ambiguous, but when asked about it afterward the showrunners confirmed that adam was shiro's fiancee.

this literally sent voltron fans into a rabid state. we were going fucking INSANE for those 2 weeks between the panel and the season's release. as far as we knew, at the time, we had been given the lgbt rep we'd been promised, and they'd somehow managed to do it WITHOUT PISSING OFF EITHER SIDE OF THE SHIP WAR. it was a miracle.

two weeks later, the season aired. adam was in about 2 minutes of the episodes, total. EPISODES, PLURAL. there were 13 in the season. his presence on screen amounted to the ambiguous scene which was played at the con, where it's unclear what his relationship with shiro actually was, and a scene of him DYING IN A FIGHTER CRASH.

the fandom fucking imploded at this point, and i left it basically immediately afterwards because the lgbt rep was basically the only thing i'd been holding out for. i can't tell you exactly what happened after that but the rotten tomatoes score for voltron went from like 79% to 10% overnight, if that gives you any idea. voltron legendary defender is also currently cited as an example on the wikipedia page for queerbaiting. they lost about 90% of their fanbase that day, and the rest was lost a few months later when they killed their only black character and redeemed their genocidal villains in the final season.

voltron sucked ass and i have no idea what possessed me to sit through ONE season of it, let alone seven, when it was just so obviously never going to be what i wanted it to be. that being said, the fandom was a literal cultural reset for every lgbt person between the ages of 14 and 25 at the time. make of that what you will but for the love of god do not watch it for yourself. stay as far away from this fucking show as humanly possible

#asks #god its been a while since ive explained voltron to someone. i could do a video essay on this shitshow fr

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elympios · 4 months

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in honour of Bisley being the Xillia 2 representation for the Shittiest Parent Poll, here's his character profile from the 20th anniversary encyclopaedia.

mtl as always, though thank you @lastthroes for suffering with me again and revising for me! (i swear there's something about the way the 20th anniversary stories are written that are just hard to understand…)

Bisley Karsci Bakur

Gender: Male

Age: 43

Height: 192cm

Weapon: Lance

Fighting style: Unknown

Birthplace: Trigleph (Elympios)

Profession: Spirius Corporation Leader

First-person pronoun: "watashi"/"ore"

Voice Actor: Tsutomu Isobe

Elympios' Great Leader

Surrounded by wealth, fame, and a two-thousand year pedigree, he is a man who has obtained a fearless way of life.

The Strongest Fist

He keeps the strength of his Chromatus hidden from everyone, but it surpasses the powers of his sons'. A trump card of fate must be kept secret to remain a trump card.

The Blade's Edge of the Clan

His coat is decorated with buttons that appear to be a motif of swords or spears. The collar and tiepin feature the same accompanying design.

Leader of the top-most company in Elympios, the massive Spirius Corporation, and Ludger and Julius' father. Behind his immense power and influence in politics and business, he leads the agents of his company to destroy the Fractured Dimensions. His ultimate goal is to sever the fate that has bound the Kresnik clan since the time of their ancestors, for which he will even use his own biological sons, like Ludger, to obtain the Key to reach the Land of Canaan.

A Fist to Break the Rusted Curse of the Spirits

As the heir to the Bakur family name, the founding family of Spirius, the leading company that had free reign over the country, he's a man who was allowed anything since his very birth. The greatest of luxuries. The greatest of indulgences. The greatest of powers. He was surrounded by everything and anything one could want. The sole final cost was shouldering the fate of the world. The man located the "Key of Kresnik", someone who shared in his fate, to free those who inherited the Kresnik title from the unbroken shackles of the spirits that had persisted since their founder's generation.

Many believe that, be it the "Chromatus" bestowed by the Great Spirit Origin, or the "Key of Kresnik" whose power could break through the Great Spirit Chronos' hindrances, they were both privileges passed on by bloodline. For the sake of reward, several generations of blood killing blood ensued, and this foolish infighting only resulted in birth of many Divergence Catalysts and the spread of countless Fractured Dimensions. And for what benefit? They say it was a game for the spirits. As a matter of fact, the man's partner who bore his first-born son was said to have the condition of the Key of Kresnik. Lured in by fate, he involved her in the fight, and lost her as a result. Before he became conscious of that love, he confronted the fate tied to the meaning of his family's name, which was etched into his body like a curse. Offering flowers, tears of grief poured from his eyes, at the same time as curses left his mouth, as sharp as the whetted edge of a blade.

The child left behind by his deceased wife embraced rebellion and left him when he was 13. As long as the child did not neglect his duties as an agent and as a pawn, then entertaining his wishes made no difference to the man, be it to change his surname, or whatever life he spent with a foster parent as caretaker--none of it was of the man's interest. The fate/effort* commanded by blood that pulsated for 2000 years ran strong. Even if it meant sacrificing two sons who fought each other over fate, even if it meant sacrificing a granddaughter from a fractured world, the clan's dearest wish took priority over any emotion, covering up everything like pus flowing from a wound.

Despite crushing even morality and feelings beneath his feet in pursuit of his goal, in the end the man failed. The only way to overcome fate, as he had wanted, was to change the fist that punched at detested spirits into a loving embrace for family.

* = rip if either of us could figure out which definition this uses...

#bisley karsci bakur #tales of xillia 2 #mtl:x2 #official #ceci n'est pas une traduction

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absolutebl · 1 year

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10 BL Pairs That Should be Reunited in New Rolls!

1. Son Woo Hyun & Kim Kang Min

I am taking them away from Hwang Da Seul and handing them over to WATCHA (Light On Me, Semantic Error).

Try.

Again.

Korea.

2. Golden Blood’s Sugus & Tenon (PitchBank).

They never co-branded, tho, so it seems highly unlikely but I absolutely loved their chemistry.

3. Pluem & Chimon

I just like their screen presence together and I think their energy suits GMMTV’s style so if they deigned to give them a meaty script like they do with SantaEarth, these 2 could handle it. It seems GMMTV is done with this pair though, and Pluem wasn’t in the 2023 line up at all.

4. Park Seo Ham & Park Jae Chan

But I explicitly do NOT want a second season of Semantic Error. BL has a bad track record with second seasons.

I want them to play opposite personality types. Just to see if they can recreate the magic. We fantasy casting? I want it to be teacher/student trope, with Jae Chan as a sunshine sweetheart bubbly pursuer of the relationship and Seo Ham as some hurt broken angry closed off gentle giant professor type with a heart of gold.

5. Komiya Rio & Inoue Sora

Eternal Yesterday was sad from the very first moment, we all knew what we were in for. But these two had killer chemsitry on screen together so I’d love to see them in a HEA BL. Now Japan never does couple branding (anymore - they will do second seasons tho), so this will not happen, but still, I loved them together.

6. Chris & Jake

Look, we all know they’d be game, and I’ve given up on a 2nd season of H3: Trapped, so I’ll just take them in another series together. Speaking of...

7. Lance Chiu & Kawai Akihiro

I adored See You After Quarantine? and I LOVE an international pairing, so I really want these two to anchor proper full length BL for either Taiwan or Japan, I’m not fussy. For the tiniest bit of shared screen time they had amazing chemistry. So there is a large part of me that wants to hand them over to Japan and see what they could do with an actually solid existing pair and a killer script.

8. YinWar

I was super disappointed in Love Mechanics but I love these two on screen together so I really want to see more of them.

9. PerthLay

I have given up hope on the second season of My Engineer, so I just want them to do something, anything, together so long as they are the leads and it’s a full Thai season.

10. SamYu

What? Of course they make my list. This is me after all.

More on this subject:

Crazy BL Actor Pairing I'd Love to See

BL’s Top 10 Most Deserving Unresolved

Top 10 Kpop Idol BL Fantasy Cast List

MY ULTIMATE FANTASY CAST AND BL MASTERPIECE

(source)

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fingerless-glovez · 1 year

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The Performing Arts Academy of Concordia (aka, COD characters as theater kids)

MC: The long suffering director whose productions are constantly falling apart due to her uncontrollable actors screwing everything up. Takes her cast and crew out to dinner after every show and orders A LOT of wine for herself.

Guy: Constantly competing with Toa for lead roles. Usually sets up scenarios to make Toa have an "accident" on or offstage so he can swoop in as his understudy. They never work.

Lynt: Will take any opportunity to fall asleep when not onstage. He even falls asleep onstage when the focus isn't on him. Thankfully, he always seems to know where to pick up. Most of his monologues are delivered through long yawns.

Fenn: Overacting extraordinaire. Milks any role he gets so hard to make sure everyone remembers the one extra he played. His physicality is always exaggerated and sensual, which often gets a rise out of the female members of the audience, even moreso MC. When not cast, he usually does stuff like script writing, ordering props, helping with set design, and pestering Knight.

Toa: Constantly competing with Guy for lead roles. Usually sets up scenarios to make Guy have an "accident" on or offstage so he can swoop in as his understudy. They never work.

Roy: Good actor who has all of his lines beated and memorized and has all of his blocking on point. Although he does have a habit of giving a nasty stink eye to whoever gets cast as Sherry's love interest, should she have one (Not even Grayson is spared from this). Also the head costume designer.

Rio: Supportive assistant stage manager. Often acts as moral support for the actors and stage crew. Often takes care of heavy lifting and special effects and stuff. Holds up cue cards for Tino when he forgets his lines. Often brings snacks for the actors on opening and closing nights.

Jasper: *in an alternate universe where he isn't a pervy jackass* Usher/security. Shows people to their seats, reminds people not to talk during performances, and removes unruly guests. Also a popcorn thief.

Tino: A perfectly competent actor during rehearsals. It's when he's in front of an audience that he starts to fall apart. His severe case of stage fright leaves him sweaty, stuttering and stiff in the middle of the stage, and relies on Rio to hold up cue cards for him (Vane forbid the card be upside-down).

Knight: Stage manager. Let it be known, when he enters the room, he's in charge. He's the guy directing the crew, organizing props, and generally making sure everything goes according to MC's vision (or is at least set up to). Constantly scolds Rio for encouraging the actors to eat while in costume, and Fenn for trying to use props to poke his butt.

Grayson: Actually the best actor among these people. Fenn signed him up as a joke once, but with Sherry's encouragement, he really stepped up to the plate. Dude's so good he made MC, Klaus, and Aidan cry during a really emotional scene. Shame he doesn't always get the chance to shine due to the constant need to wrangle his co-stars.

Lance: Usher and security, mostly (not really sure what else he'd do, he doesn't strike me as a theater kid)

Dia: Composer and conductor of the orchestra. Will sometimes cue a random orchestra hit if Lynt falls asleep onstage and no one else is there to wake him up. Sometimes understudies for Roy or Sherry or plays female extras (because there's only 4 girls in the school who aren't just stand-ins for other students, MC doesn't act, and nobody cares about Lonette, right?) and he does pretty well as an actor.

Lou: Main sponsor of the shows. He loves watching everything fall to shit in increasingly ridiculous and hilarious ways. Also loves watching MC slowly die inside next to him.

Sherry: Usually the leading lady due to being one of the only 3 significant females in the school. Extremely embarrassed by Roy giving dirty looks to her poor male co-stars when they kiss her. Often helps Roy with costuming.

Violet: Gets cast for a lot of villain roles, believe it or not. She gets a little excited and exaggerates her performances a lot, but it's the thought that counts, right? She also ushers and handles the box office.

Aquia: Run crew. He's a little too shy for the stage, but he likes to help wherever he can. He often provides flowers for the sets, and even helps with script writing from time to time.

Thoma: Provides concessions during intermission. Is also a swing.

MC's cat: Walks out onto the stage sometimes just so he can flop over and have everyone love him. Carefully removed by Lance, who snuggles with him for the rest of the show.

#court of darkness #guy avari #lynt akedia #fenn luxure #toa qelsum #roy invidia #rio voleri #jasper lane #tino maes #court of darkness knight #grayson hotz #lance ira #dia akedia #court of darkness lou #sherry invidia #violet muller #aquia avari #court of darkness thoma

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weclassybouquetfun · 1 year

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Hannah leading the TED LASSO pack.

Doing tourist tings.

"We saw you from across the bar and we like your vibe.."

With TED LASSO ending (and it is ending. I don't care about all the hedging that still persists about, "We told *this* story", the show's done. They need to hush their butts with that) it's time to look towards the future. What is on the horizon for AFC Richmond.

The cast next gigs...Oooh whee, what's up with that? What's. Up.With.That?

-Jason Sudeikis will appear in Charlie Day's directorial debut FOOL'S PARADISE.

-Hannah Waddingham: Will co-host Eurovision next month, appears in the four part Masterpiece mini TOM JONES

, will appear in THE FALL GUY with Ryan Gosling, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING Part 2, will have a Christmas special and will do voicework in Dan Harmon's animated series for Fox KRAPOPOLIS (alongside Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade) and voicework in 2024's animated film GARFIELD with Chris Pratt voicing the titular lasagne loving cat.

-Brett Goldstein: Brett will also do voice work for GARFIELD. He's also currently writing series two of Apple+'s SHRINKING

-Toheeb Jimoh can be currently seen on POWER on Amazon Prime. He's currently in rehearsals for his return to the stage in ROMEO AND JULIET for the Almedia Theatre.

-Nick Mohammed: Unsure whether the series that he created/writes and stars in INTELLIGENCE will be renewed as a series or as a wrap-up film, Nick has other works going. He costars in MAGGIE MOORES directed by John Slattery (MAD MEN) and stars Tina Fey and Jon Hamm; he will do voicework in the sequel to CHICKEN RUN titled CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET and he has a role in the upcoming Disney+ historical series THE BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL which will star Alice Kremelberg (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK), Frank Dillane, Joely Richardson and Craig Parkinson.

-Jeremy Swift: Will do voice work in the animated cat caper 10 LIVES joining Bill Nighy, Sophie Okonedo and Simone Ashley. Jeremy also joins the Disney Descendants universe for the musical DESCENDANTS: THE RISE OF RED. He currently has a cd out.

-Phil Dunster: Phil is sticking around Apple TV+ for the time being as he joined series two of their drama SURFACE which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (the first season saw her opposite Oliver Jackson-Cohen).

-Juno Temple: Juno was already in the DC universe with a role in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, but now she joins Brett and Cristo in the Marvel world with a role in the upcoming VENOM 3. She also has a role in the upcoming EVEREST about George Mallory's attempt at scaling the mountain. It will star Ewan McGregor, Sam Heughan and Mark Strong. However, before all that, expect to see her in series 5 of FARGO.

-Cristo Fernandez is a jobbing actor. You will hear him in TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEAST as Wheeljack

he will do voicework in SCOOB! HOLIDAY HAUNT, he appears in four shorts, the feature 3 FLOWERS and it was just announced that he's joining series 3 of Apple TV+'s ACAPULCO and the Disney+ adaptation of ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY.

-Moe Jeudy-Lamour (Thierry Zoreaux Van Damme) will costar in the sequel to cousins Stephen and Robbie Amell's film CODE 8. It will be released on Netflix.

New Village People has dropped.

-Moe Hashim: Moe will costar in Roland Emmerich's gladiator series THOSE ABOUT TO DIE.

-Charlie Hiscock: Will appear in Yorgos Lanthimos' POOR THINGS alongside Margaret Qualley, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo.

-Sarah Niles: Will turn up in the long gestating reboot of THE TOXIC AVENGER starring Peter Dinklage, Jane Levy, Elijah Wood, Kevin Bacon and Jacob Tremblay. She can currently be seen in ITVX's RICHES.

-James Lance: Always one for voicework, James has lent his talent to the short HANGING which is the writer debut of background Greyhound Joe Street (far right).

#ted lasso #ted lasso cast #jason sudeikis #hannah waddingham #toheeb jimoh #james lance #cristo fernández #brett goldstein #phil dunster #jeremy swift #moe hashim #sarah niles #juno temple #moe Jeudy-Lamour

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complicatedsquishy · 1 year

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The Voltron Rant - Or My Issues with the Portrayal of Lance

Voltron.

I jokingly refer to this as my trauma. Because watching Voltron and being in the fandom as it self-destructed was sort of traumatic. Anyhoots, I wanna talk about one character: Lance.

Voltron was a show that was diverse and about found family which is my type of shit. Not to be obnoxious, but as a Latina I tend to look for latine characters in media especially when I was teenager.

Lance was one of my favorite characters. Not just because he was Latino-coded and Cuban according to the paladin handbook but because he was relatable. He was a funny guy who talks himself out of trouble and struggled with his insecurities. Once again my type of shit. Him being latino-coded was like the icing on cake for me.

And then the show just kept going.

As the show declined in narrative quality, I felt as if the portrayal of Lance declined in an almost detrimentally stereotypical way.

For instance, Lance referred to himself as a player or a lover boy. But, in the first few seasons, it was suggested that he wasn't really. For me, I thought this was a push against the Latin Lover Stereotype.

For those who are unfamiliar, this stereotype was popularized in early Hollywood with Latino/Spanish actors and excotized them. It led to the stereotype of Latin men being passionate and romantic and great lovers. It's not necessarily bad but it does tend to lead to fetishizing of Latino men. It reduces their characters to be based on pure physicality and ignores any other part of their character.

So imagine my reaction to the showrunners leaning into this exact stereotype as the show progressed from the other characters calling him "lover boy lance" to the paladin show where he does this whole sexually powered ariel dance routine. It was weird for me but it wasn't necessarily painful or damaging. But I still think it's worth pointing out as Lance's later character in season 8 is revolved around his relationship with Allura.

Moving on, the slap to the face for me is Lance's epilogue.

Lance is a farmer.

The only Latino character on this show becomes a farmer.

If that is not upsetting to you let me unpack that.

First off, I'm not saying farming is a bad thing. I come from a family of farmers and ranchers and field pickers. It's a position that's commonly associated with Latine and mostly Mexican immigrants in the US.

However, Lance made no verbal declarations that he wanted to be a farmer. That he missed farm life. All we know about his experience is that he knows how to milk a cow.

What we do know, is that Lance wanted to be a pilot. He loves being a pilot. He was honored to be chosen by the blue lion. He was heartbroken when she shut him out. Lance wanted to be a top pilot. He wanted to be the team's sharpshooter. In a way, he wanted to be a defender of the universe.

So I get, him turning away from fighting/being a soldier after the Galra are defeated and Allura dies. I don't understand him becoming a farmer. There was no set up that he loved farming like Hunk loved cooking.

It felt to me, like the showrunners said Latino + farmer sounds good!! There was no consideration for the Latine children/teenagers watching this show and trying to find their representation.

Further-fucking-more, it suggests that Lance's goals and motivations were tied solely to Allura. Which flashback to the earlier section is just reinstating the latino lover stereotype. That there is nothing more to him than his sexuality.

I hope this doesn’t come off vengeful and hateful, it wasn’t my intent. Voltron maligned a lot of people hoping to see representation. This is how they upset me and why it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Why even voltron fanfiction is hard for me to swallow. I don’t see anyone talking about this flaw in the show so I wanted to put my piece out there.

#voltron #lance #langst #cuban lance #latino lance #voltron defender of the universe #voltron and the pain it brought me #I wonder if anyone will read this long ass rant lol #Latine #Latines in Media #latinos in media

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kawaii-kozume · 3 months

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i finally finished the disney+ pjo series. overall its, an adaptation. not a retelling but it was good, i think. details below readmore

Okay, I'm still pretty salty about the lack of side characters and camp life being shown. I guess the bit with Luke in the final episode works? But its not enough. We, the viewers, don't really feel like Percy sees the camp as home at this point and that's something very big to his character as the series progresses.

Minor gripes: I'm sad we didn't get the bathtub scene or the DOA Records. I'm sad the Underworld looks like That. Personally, it felt weird even by mythos standards? Like, the desert-scape for Tartarus, the woods for Asphodel just, eh. I did enjoy Hades' palace on the ceiling. That's a good one. (Highest point in the Underworld and as close to Olympus as he can get, nice and well thought.) No acknowledging Zeus' fist as if it isn't going to be important later on.

A little sad Sally didn't turn Gabe to stone. I feel like that's a big turning point for her, not enough to just sell him. Plus the statue should have been him at the poker table, yadda yadda. I feel the entire Gabe and Sally subplot was just fuckin thrown out but different post about why that's important later.

Annabeth being at the Luke v Percy fight?? It being a sword fight?? Backbiter to cut into space/time was neat, now that I'm thinking about it. But I wanted the scorpion(I'd have even taken a spider after they're conversation about Annabeth and Spiders.)

I have issues with Annabeth not being treated like a kid? Yes, she's supposed to know more than Percy, but she should have backed off leading the quest more than she did. She also was given very little space to express anything other than superior knowledge or snark? It did get a little better towards the end of season, I'll admit.

Oh? The furies killing Thalia?? That threw me off??

Things I did like:

The Cerberus scene was good. This was a scene where Annabeth showed a different emotion.

Alecto just being loyal to Hades, no other skin in the game other than trying to get his helm back.

Actors for Hades and Zeus were great. (RIP Lance Reddick)

@amamaxmo pointed out that Kronos' design looked weathered, almost weathered by time kinda deal. She also pointed out that Thalia's tree kinda looked like someone holding a sword and shield. If those were intentional, I do enjoy it.

I think this is about it until I rewatch it and then I'll probably do a video about it?

#disney+ pjo #dri speaks #this ones long y'all

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registered-morro-simp · 1 year

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In loving memory

Chapter 1/?

(This is a story about the events of Clay's death from the perspective of Aaron)

"And we think it should be you."

His words felt like they were echoing in my head, me? The new leader? He can't be serious

"Hah! Nice one Clay. i know you're not gonna die. Merlock will find a spell, and it's going to be fine."

They both exchange a glance. They must be committed to the bit

"Aaron, i am afraid i can not find a spell in time."

"And that's why we're telling you this, if anything happens to me, i trust you to lead the team."

What kind of joke is this?

"Clay, you're not gonna die you- you're joking, right? Please tell me this is a joke."

He doesn't say a word

"Clay! This is a joke, right?!"

"I'm sorry, Aaron, but it's true Clay doesn't have much time left."

I must be dreaming

"But-"

This is just a nightmare

"But you-"

I grab both of his shoulders, trying to shake sense into him

"Clay, you can't die, We need you. I need you."

He's silent for what feels like the longest minute ever, then he finally says something

"I'm sorry, Aaron."

This can't be

This is Clay we're talking about he can't die,

right?

I can feel my eyes starting to tear up, and it looks like Clay noticed it too cause he took me in for a hug

"I know this is a lot to take in right now."

I can't find anything to say it's hard to find the right words when I'm holding back tears

Even Merlock doesn't say anything, the room is completely quiet before Clay breaks the silence

"Aaron, can i trust you to lead the team once I'm gone?"

I pull my face out of his shoulder to look at him

Being a leader? It's certainly something I haven't tried before, but am i really up for the job? I'm sure Macy would be a better leader, but Clay is asking me?

I don't wanna let him down, but I don't know anything about being a leader. I'm supposed to tell others what to do and schedule team training? That's what Clay does

He's been waiting for my answer long enough. i have to say something

Alright, no matter how hard being a leader might be, I'll have to try

For Clay

"Yes."

He gives me a slight smile

"And one more thing."

Merlock's voice surprised me. i forgot he was here

"Try not to bring this up to the others. The less they know, the better."

I just found out Clay is probably going to die, and he expects me to act like nothing happened?! Lance is the actor, not me!

Then again, he is right. i wouldn't want the rest of the team to find out either

"I'll do my best."

"Thank you, Aaron."

Merlock zaps away it's just me and Clay now

"Aaron, one last thing."

Clay gives me a quick kiss on the cheek

"I know you can do this. I believe in you."

He gets into his mech suit and gives me a smile before he leaves

Now it's just me alone in the room

I... I need to sit

Clay is going to die soon, I'll be the leader when that happens, and they want me to be quiet about this?

This is even more pressure than the Knights Academy

And to think that someone I've known this long is going to die soon...

I woke up hoping that it was just my imagination that Clay is fine and that i made it all up, but Clay took me aside and asked

"Still feeling down about last night?"

"Last night?"

"Um yeah? Last night?"

"Ooooh, that last night! The one that wasn't my imagination or a dream or a prank, yep, I'm totally chill about it."

"Are you... sure?"

"Yeah, dude, I've never been more sure about something in my life!"

Luckily for me, Clay has always been bad at telling when someone is lying

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling ok. i was getting worried that i might be putting a lot of pressure on you."

"Pressure? Please, this is nothing. I've been under more pressure when i was in the academy."

I'm probably digging myself into a hole

"In fact, I'm so chill if monsters attacked right now I'd easily beat them without stressing out."

Why am i still talking

"Sorry to interrupt you, lovebirds-"

Luckily, Lance is here to stop me from digging myself into an even deeper hole

"-but Jestro's monsters are attacking we need to go"

Ah shit i jinxed it

We're all on our way to Jestro's army now but it's ok i can do this so what if there's a lot of monsters i can easily defeat them it's not like they can outnumber me or anything i can definitely do this i can do it

I can do this. i can do this. i can do this

"Monsters attack!"

I can't do this!

Why is this happening! All these thoughts racing through my head are making it hard to focus and do these monsters ever end?

Every time i get rid of one ten more appear, how will i be a leader if i can't even hold my own in a fight

"Aaron, watch out!"

Before i can react, i am hit by an attack that knocks me off my shield

I try to quickly get up and hold back the incoming monsters, but then i realise that i don't have my bow

Damn it, it must have gotten lost when i fell. What do i do now

I am trying to find my bow and shield in a sea of monsters, but they're not gonna let me get away that easily

"AARON!"

Clay shields me from a monster that was about to hit

"What are you doing?"

"I can't find my shield and bow."

"Hey, isn't that your shield over there?"

Lance points at the ground, beneath the monsters is my shield

I go running trying to catch my shield before it slips away, but I'm not fast enough it keeps getting kicked around by monsters

While trying to get my shield, i hear Macy talking

"Merlock, we need a nexo scan."

No, not now. I'm still ruining after my shield like and I've yet to find my bow

I can hear the peeping of the nexo signal i am running out of time, and my shield is just within my reach if only i was quick enough

"Peep"

Come on, come on

"Peep"

Almost got it

"Peep"

There!

I grab my shield and raise it in the air just in time for a scan

I'm still without my bow, but at least i can defend myself now

I am now looking for my bow while the others are fighting the monsters

Sorry guys, I'll help once i find my bow

I see a yellow glow on the corner of my eye, could it be? It is my bow!

I go to grab my bow. Now it's time for a fight

"Alright, monsters, get ready for a-"

But as soon i turn around, i see Jestro and his monsters running away. The fight is already over, and all i did was run around like a fool

Axl puts a hand on my shoulder

"Where were you the whole fight? I didn't see you flying it's not like you to not fly around. "

"I uh i though i might try fighting on the ground for a change"

Axl can tell that it's a lie, but he doesn't care enough to ask more questions

Clay, however, is glancing at me

It's not a look of disappointment nor anger it's a look of concern he knows I'm panicking he doesn't say anything tho none of us does it's gonna be hard to convince him that I'm fine after this

I can't even sleep after what happened today

How did i even graduate? i must be the worst knight in all of Knighton

Why did Clay pick me when I'm that horrible he should've picked Macy she's a princess! if anyone knows anything about leadership, it's her

Now, Clay is going to die, and I'm going to fail him by being a horrible leader

Clay is counting on me. i can't give up

If Macy is a good leader, then I'll have to be a great leader. No, an amazing leader. I'll make Clay proud!

But where do i even start? How did Clay become so good at leading? He's always talking about training, battle formations, and the knights code

The knights code?

That's it! Books! There must be a book on leadership, right?

Hopefully, no one hears me trying to go on a midnight trip

I can imagine the look on their faces when i tell them I'm going to the library it's hilarious even i can't believe it. i haven't set foot in a library since the academy days

And now that I'm in a library once again, I'll have to say it's as boring as i remember

I hate this place it's always quiet, and the people here are killjoys. i gotta find a good book and leave as soon as possible

But which to choose? "Leadership 101"? "The leaders guide to success"? "How to be a great leader"?

All of them are so long, and none of them have pictures. Can i even finish reading a single one before Clay dies

What am i saying? Of course i can i have to!

I grab every leadership book i can find. I'm gonna need every bit of advice if i want to be the best

Turns out finishing books is as hard as i thought it was gonna be

it's been weeks, and I'm still not done with a single book

I thought reading a little of each book every night would make it faster, but i was wrong reading a single passage takes the whole night, and my lack of sleep is starting to show

The others will get suspicious

"Hey Aaron?"

Lance's voice made me jump

I've been zoning out. i haven't even noticed him

"You ok? you're acting strange."

"Strange? What do you mean strange? I wouldn't know anything about acting strange, nope, not me!"

"..."

"See? You didn't even make a single joke in this entire sentence!"

"Uh-"

"You're not joking, You're on edge all the time, and you don't even play games with me anymore!"

Am i this obvious?

"I... I'm sorry, man, you know how it is with Jestro, and his monsters can't catch a break."

"Of course you can! There hasn't been a single attack all day."

"Oh,"

"Now I'm forced to play with Axl, and he doesn't even know the rules."

"I do know the rules!"

When did Axl get here??

"I told you your chaotic neutral thespian has to roll a red sided dice on that charisma check."

"Ugh, Aaron, tell him that i obviously have to roll a blue sided dice."

"No, you roll a red sided dice."

"Um, no? It's obviously a blue sided dice!"

"Guys, guys, calm down. i don't know anything about chaotic lesbians or whatever. You know i haven't read the guide it's way too long."

"But this is the third edition we're playing it's shorter than fifth edition."

"Yeah, and it has simpler mechanics, mechanics that Axl clearly doesn't know."

"Hey!"

"Who the hell makes a full series of books on a game guide!"

Lance wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer

"Aaron, you clearly don't know the beauty that is Kobolds and Castles. Maybe you should try it."

"It'd certainly be better than arguing with you about rules all the time."

"Hey! I'm right, and you know it!"

Lance is right

About me, not the rules

I'm getting too worked up about this, and if i don't relax the others are gonna realise something is wrong

Maybe i should try this "Kobolds and Castles" game

A little break from stressing out might be nice

What's the worst that could happen?

"Knights! It's an emergency! the Queen has been kidnapped!"

Damn it

#wow can you guys believe i actually used proper punctuation?#me neither #anyways #chapter 2 will come out when i feel like it #nexo knights #Aaron #nexo knights aaron #aaron fox #in loving memory

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