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itstheimpossibledream · 3 years

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Only A Play

Part 5

Word Count: 2213

Pairing: AU Henry x FemBlack!Reader

Warning: Smut, Angst, Some fluff

Summary: Can reader & Henry work out their differences or will they be better apart? Breakup sex? Idk it’s the finale let me know what you think!

“ and that’s when I packed my things and came to New York.” Henry finishes.

You’d been looking down at your hands, trying not to get lost in his features while he spoke, knowing the tabloids would make a day out of it. Angling the photograph and captioning it something cheesy about ‘love being in the air’ or the fact that you’re ‘just in time for Valentine’s Day’. The dating speculations you could take but, the photographic evidence that made your mom ask questions was a different story entirely.Since the show had opened the two of you toured from interview to interview and then performed at night. The day usually culminating in a needy fuck at his apartment or in your dressing room if he couldn’t wait. You stayed at his place often and while it was still mostly in booty-call territory, (despite the previous year of apartment crashing and drunk declarations of love) the dinners and breakfasts remained consistent. You answered the interviewer’s questions calmly but,nothing could have prepared you for the final follow up. He turns to Henry, “And so aside from your new relationship(he motions to you),have you made any other friends during your time in New York?” He only hesitated slightly,before answering. He smirks but,the curve of his lip is gone before you know it. “I have really enjoyed working with her, and I hope our artistic relationship will flourish long after this production has ended.” he smiles diplomatically while reaching for your hand.“As far as new friends I believe my doorman Jason and I have gotten pretty close.” he laughs. When he laughs, the whole world laughs with him and the audience is no exception.Eventually , the hours of embarrassment have passed and you’re being rushed back into a cab to Henry’s apartment.

“So what was that?” you say as he closes the door, sliding into the car behind you.

“What?” he asks blissfully unaware of your annoyance.

“That whole continuing relationship thing?”you push.

“I said artistic relationship.” he corrected sternly.

“ You gave them ammo.” you cut back quickly.

“And so what? Two people in a romantic play together are speculated to date?How awful.” He grumbles.

“You don’t get to make a choice like that before talking to me about it.”

“It wasn’t a choice, it was the truth.” he quips back sternly.

“A truth that will put the tabloids on my ass.It’s been bad since we opened the show but, you and I both know this is only going to make it worse.” you mirrored his tone, clearly losing your cool at the idea of being followed to your apartment by cameras.

“Well you can stay with me as long as you need.” He says, firmly setting his jaw.You roll your eyes towards the window, Watching the people who pass by.

“So, this is what it was about? control ?”

“Please!” He scoffs “I don’t need the paparazzi holding your apartment hostage,to get you to stay at my place.You’re practically there every night anyway.” It comes out sounding like more of a complaint than he had meant for it to. Your blood boils with resentment of his comfortability.You can feel the heaviness in your eyes when the car pulls up to his ‘flat’. A term you had started using sarcastically but had slowly begun to stick. Even now, you despised that while being a convenient fuck , he had permeated your subconscious enough to make you even think to refer to it as a flat.

“What’s on your mind?” he finally asked, breaking the silence that had been holding court in the elevator. He didn’t sound like he really wanted to know, infact he seemed like he was solely asking for courteous purposes and that was it. You turned your entire body to face him, you could feel that no matter how hard you were trying your face had begun to break.

“You know, you were right. There’s no reason for me to be here.” your lips upturned in a smile as you saw the glassyness of your eyes reflected in his face. It was an odd pain , not one you could name but, one you knew without a doubt was real. You had shared something special, he knew that. But, anyone could see that the lack of compatibility outside of the bedroom left the relationship forever doomed.He rolled his tongue between his lips and you couldn’t help but think of how blissful the silence was between you two. Someone had to say it, and in true fashion Henry was not strong enough.

“ What are you talking about?!” He followed behind you into the hallway as you fled the elevator, opening the door to the apartment.

“We aren’t compatible Henry. You don’t get me. My lifestyle, my friends,my choices; you think it’s all a fucking joke or something. Well, it’s not,It’s not a fucking joke.It’s my real life. I know we play and talk about how much money you make but when it comes down to it I’ve never seen you put a red cent to helping anyone else. But, you watch me tithe everything I earn to give back to the communities that raised me. If you wanted to be with me, like really wanted to be with me,you would have already invested yourself in the things I find important. Instead, what you do is stand on red carpet at a black, trans fundraising gala and steal the attention once again.”

“I thought you were mad about the interview, now you’re mad about the gala?!?”

“I’m mad about all of it!” you screamed directly into his beautifully manicured face. Not an eyelash out of place and yet he still couldn’t contend with the neatening of his moral compass.

“I’m mad because you center yourself in any safe space for people of color I take you to.I’m mad because you don’t ask for my opinion or consent before doing anything, because you don’t care.Actually, I’m not even mad anymore.I just see it for what it is.”The tears had started to slowly flow now, and while your pride kept you from full on sobs,a total breakdown was on it’s way without a doubt. You removed your bag from your shoulder,sitting it in the chair by the door and headed to your bedroom. You had graduated from the guest bedroom, to mostly staying in Henry’s bed with him, a convenience thing really.

“And what is it?” he asked , finally unable to continue being berated by you.

“A mistake.” you said calmly, what had to be mere minutes felt like passing hours, the two of you standing there, looking at eachother, seeing the relationship for what it was.

He spoke first.

“I love you.” his baritone timbre you had become so accustomed to sounded far away, you questioned if you had even heard him clearly.

“I love you, does that not matter to you at all?”he sounded stern, almost scolding you for not immediately reciprocating his affection.

“It’s not real Hen.” you said between tears “Someone who loves me, wouldn’t need me to explain all the ways his privilege consistently harms me. I wouldn’t have to ask him to donate to causes I’m passionate about, causes I’ve devoted my whole life to getting fundraising for. Someone who loves me would not make party conversation about how their black girlfriend has to sleep with a bonnet on.” He was silent,now. He stepped towards you, closing the void of misunderstanding.

“I'm sorry that I ever made you feel as though you aren’t the most important thing in the world to me.” He kissed your forehead, and then on the top of your head.

He whispered into your hair but, you could feel his voice reverberating through your curls.

“Can we not fight tonight ?” You exhaled, relaxing the weight of your body into his. You didn’t have to fight anymore because you heard his answer loud and clear. He didn’t want to fight because he couldn’t. He could not think of something important enough to cause him discomfort,couldn’t think of anything worth his unhappiness. He placed his hands on either side of your face, pulling you in for a kiss. You kissed him back slowly, making up your mind to give in to your emotions for one last time. A spark went through your body as you felt his hands trail their way over your curves. You tugged at the bottom of his t-shirt and he quickly obliged,pulling it over his head. He lightly pushes you towards the bed and when he rolls ontop of you it feels more like a safety net than a sexual maneuver. Even as he undresses you, slowly, kissing over your body. He touches you so gently,assigning value to every square inch of your skin.Before long he’s looking into your eyes as he thrusts into you, rutting his way inside you of.Your breath hitches as you begin to synchronize your breathing with his, becoming one, breathing as one whole. He held the backs of your knees, pushing them up further into your chest.You cried out at the depth of the new angle and he smiled, moving a hand from the back of your knee to your neck, lightly applying pressure. You loved his hand around your throat, the way his veins looked, the muscles in his arm , all of it. And he knew that, he was pulling out all of his best moves tonight.

“You’re so bloody beautiful right now.so tight for me.” He murmured close, into your ear.

His dirty talk alone sent you over the edge but, the added view, from this angle of his body was everything a partner could want. He moaned as he pushed into you , the result of your walls tightening around him. Your spasms brought him over the edge,as he came into you.You latched your nails onto the skin of his back, clawing for safety in his embrace.

“I love you. I love you.”he said in between kisses as he came down from the high of physical contact. “I love you too.” you returned the words, because they were true and in that moment, nothing could have been more honest.He rolled over onto his back and you snuggled up next to him.

“I do love you” he whispers into your hair. The room is dark,aside from a sliver of light where the moon shone through the blinds. He slowly runs a hand over your hair and down your back.

“Then why haven’t I met your parents yet?” you sighed,turning your head upwards to face him.

The loudest silence of the night fell over the room, that was what made it real to him. He couldn’t deny it anymore. Even he knew, he had never invited you to visit his family, or even out to dinner when they were visiting in the states. You didn’t know if it was that he was embarrassed , or that he just didn’t know how to tell them. You weren’t even upset anymore, as much as you were resigned to the fact that you had to begin putting yourself first, to choose your needs first. And whether you wanted to admit it or not, if you were honest with yourself you knew he wasn’t the one. His brows furrowed and you could tell he was running through every possible response. His hand smoothed it’s way over your hair again and while you had resigned to the fact that it was over you couldn’t help but allow a piece of your heart to break as you saw his eyes become glassy.

Before long he was fast asleep above you. Henry would be leaving the show, for another movie gig in two weeks but, since the first rehearsal you hadn’t spent a day without Henry, or Kal for that matter. Sun peeked through the shades as you redressed yourself in the dark , you couldn’t be sure if this was something you wanted, or simply something you knew you had to do. You looked back at that beautiful apartment one more time,and then finally closed the door behind you. You recall the first time you entered the building, that day you had been instructed to bond as you step into the elevator. Watching the city below through the glass,a flicker of light catches your attention, then another and you realize it’s snowing. It had been a full year since the first time you had actually spoken to him. The doorman held the door for you,as you sparked your lighter. Touching the flame to the end of your cig as you stroll down the street.

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arsenicpanda · 4 years

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Bughead Appreciation Day 1 Except It’s Day 2

So I spent yesterday nice and cozy in bed and put this off (good choice, tbh, I was very snug as a bug), but now, now comes the time for me to gush about some people in the fandom! This is definitely not a comprehensive list, I have absolutely left some people out because I am very forgetful, but, in no particular order and under a cut because I’m a wordy bitch:

@tory-b: A delight and a dear, leading writer of monsterfucker!Betty, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, a legend and a friend, we have no choice but to stan. Her stuff is so good and varied and just *chef’s kiss* a delight, two favorites of mine are Fangs/com/Match (Betty/dragon!Jughead meet via monsterfucker Tinder, has some great friendship moments with Kevin and Veronica and is v sexy and funny, features the horniest Betty) and Sticky Sweet Serenade ((past)-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers bughead, mixes up some statuses in Riverdale, excellent mystery, I remember reading it and going, “holy shit, a believable take on Northside!Jughead”). I’ve also gotta mention Whats in a Name? (Betty and Jughead meet on tumblr, Betty writes poetry and Jughead is a shitposter, they slowly connect, it’s great) and To Balance the Scales (scientist!Betty/mermaid!Jughead, currently a slow build, I cannot wait for you guys to see the excellent worldbuilding she’s done). I could keep going, or you could binge all her fics today, an excellent use of your Saturday, I assure you, because I’ve left a lot out.

@stillhidden: Always good for some great thoughts on the show, one of the best reasons for my your thoughts on Riverdale please show them to me tag, I get psyched every time I see a Riverdale text post or ask answer because I know I’m in for a good time. Thoughtful and funny and nice, what a combo!

@satelliteinasupernova: So talented! Author, artist, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, funny, haver of good thoughts on Riverdale is there anything she can’t do? No, there is not. Every time I see her art I’m like !!!, the colors! how well-drawn the hands are! the accuracy of their hair! the backgrounds! the way I can see the love in their eyes! I cannot even, there are no words. Also! Her fics! So original! One of my earliest memories in the fandom is reading The town called Riverdale (a sort of mystery about the meta fuckery going down in Riverdale, explores time loops, stories that control lives, the roles the Archie characters are “supposed” to have, a mash-up with concepts in Princess Tutu that requires zero knowledge of Princess Tutu) and going !!! is this a Princess Tutu mash-up? Have I been #blessed enough to see a mash up between Riverdale, a story that fucks with archetypes, and Princess Tutu, one of the shows about fucking with archetypes and the way stories ontrol lives? I was and I am and I raved to my non-fandom but Princess Tutu liker friend about it. Has also wonderfully tackled eldritch horror in return to Eldervair and gothic horror/romance in The Lady of the Manor, does fluff, does angst, does it all, so go check her out!

@go-ldy: An angst and time skip queen, tbh, and always has some great thoughts on Riverdale, another reason I’m glad I have that tag. Every time she answers an ask, I’m like, “Yesss, incoming Good Thoughts, I am HERE for this”. But do not sleep on her as an author! Into the Deep is some delightful dark!bughead, and I’ll walk with you in the shadows is such good time skip angst and a mystery and there’s a certain surprise I love but is a spoiler but you simply must read this, you must. The Time after Time series is giving us that good angst bughead content that season 5 is not going to, and I’m so glad it exists and just thrilled that she trusted me to beta it. I’m leaving a lot of stuff out though, so you should go check her out!

@milajovovich: One of the best gif makers in the fandom, I will fight you on this. Makes absolute miracles with footage, the way she makes season 4 webrips look like they’re actual blurayrips is godly, they’re so crisp and so smooth and the coloring is always great. And like, jesus, the way the bluray footage looks? Fucking outstanding, the talent is off the charts. Go marvel at their gifs, go, go.

@imreallyloveleee: A prolific, talented author and funny to boot! loveleee is one of the people who has been here since the beginning, a mainstay in the fandom, and we are so, so lucky she hasn’t left. How do I even begin to rec you some of her stuff? She can write smut with fics like burn, baby (a 3x16 missing moment of bughead fucking in the car as the trailer burns, what a gift to the fandom, I can’t even), is queen of pining with fics like boy problems (season 1 post 1x05 canon divergence, a bughead get together but with that quality pining) and her i’m just a shot away series (two fics, one from Jughead’s POV and one from Betty’s, that are fully of pining and sexual tension and miscommunication and major teenage vibes, you gotta read them), and writer of one of the funniest fics in the fandom and one of my favorite, like spirits in the night (the core four + Kevin perform a seance to contact Jason Blossom and yes, it is just as funny as it sounds, perhaps even funnier). And there are countless others, so settle in and go check her out because she does it all, fluff and angst too, I just don’t have time to rec them all.

@meditationonbaaal: Absolutely one of my all-time favorite fic authors, like across fandoms, the talent, I cannot even properly describe it, like the quality of the prose, amazing, iconic. the devil’s daughter (a season 2 rewrite with some differences in season 1, jumps back and forth through time in the best way, has the best and creepiest dark!Jughead, has some great smut that includes dom!Betty and dom!Jughead can you believe we are so blessed, such a good rewrite of season 2, and you know how I love season 2, so that is some high praise, let me tell you) is easily in my top 10 all-time favorite fics across the many, many fandoms I’ve read many, many fics of, and you simply must check it out, you will not be disappointed. develop, stop, fix just blew me away as a kink week fic of bughead playing with bdsm in a dark room, the layers, the smut, the trust, the feelings, I cannot even. And doll parts! doll parts is so good, just such an amazing take on drop dead gorgeous, a fabulous Jughead and Betty as per usual, dare I say even better than an already fantastic movie. I am behind on loose lips sink ships, but I can already tell it’s going to be a great exploration of the Stonies and a great take on season 4. Keep an eye on her stuff here and here, do not miss out!

@dieqohargreeves: An icon and legend in gif making, just makes the most beautiful and intricate and creative gifs. The coloring is amazing, the techniques are amazing, that shit is Art, I will fight you on this. You gotta check ‘em out, you just gotta, I can’t do their work justice.

@sullypants: The wit! The humor! The observational skills! The talent, my god! Sully is the genius behind @bettycooperoutfitwatch and @riverdalearthistory as well as a fabulous writer of both meta and fic, yet another excellent reason for me to keep up with others’ thoughts on Riverdale. Her a comic miniverse series is so funny and sweet and such a great take on the Archie Comics version of bughead, and the after-party series (Betty and Jughead attend a, well, prom after party, and the events that happen, and I am not doing it justice, but it is v good, I promise) has such a great vibe and such great characterization. And young adult friction (librarian!Jughead is in a kind of competition with librarian!Betty, it’s so funny and so great) is such a delight, and we do not have time to get into everything great she’s written, but go check it out here.

@lilibug--xx: The queen of bughead smut, can you believe she has graced us with her stuff? It is steamy and it is in character and it is amazing. Dark Cherry Chutney is still a fandom favorite of mine, just some great dark!bughead who are unaware of each other’s darkness (but oh, they find out!) as well as some excellent smut. And Pressed for Time (Betty teasing Jughead with her skirts in an effort to get him to fuck her and he is barely holding on until he isn’t, alternating POVs in the best way) is sexy af but makes you work for it, it’s a delight. And give you mine (Betty and Jughead fuck at work and it is so hot, I can’t even) is so goddamn good, just some of the best dom!Jughead out there. Has also written monsterfucker!Betty, which you know I’m a fan of, in once upon a midnight (werewolf-hunter!Betty/werewolf!Jughead with sex pollen where she does not shy away from some wolfy-ness and it is hot af) and has written monsterfucker!Jughead, a rarity but always a delight, with reap what you sow (witch!Jughead/undine!Betty and Betty is so delightfully otherworldly and it is so sexy but also sweet), and there are countless other smut fics, we would be here all day if I went through them all, so you gotta check her out here. One more thing though: she can also write fluff with Lemon Drops and Chocolate Chips, a sweet fic of Betty and Jughead as neighbors that you should definitely check out.

@thatiranianphantom: Funny and thoughtful and talented and has correct opinions on musicals! Writes such good explorations of post-4x17 (and post-4x17 adjacent) scenarios. Like, the we are a masterpiece series is v good and so interesting, and no one else is singing my song is such great angst as a post-4x17 fic and a great use of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend songs. I am forgetting a lot of stuff, I know I am, and I think I might be behind like a fool, so let’s go check out all her stuff together here, yes? Yes. Also? Great for Riverdale speculation, especially about the season 5 musical episode.

@heartunsettledsoul: So talented, queen of canon missing moments, and funny to boot! I love reading her liveblogging of the episodes, and I cannot recommend her stuff enough. Her Forgotten Moments series of canon missing moments is iconic, you must go read all of it, especially there’s witchcraft in your hips, a post-2x13 fic of Betty and Jughead being such teenagers and Jughead being a dweeb about his cheerleader girlfriend and I am not doing it justice but you gotta go read it, man, you gotta. But the series is full of gems from the beginning with Midnight Silence (Betty and Jughead talk post-1x04 about the Grundy debacle and it’s such a delight) and going all the way through to the most recent it might’ve been a nightmare (a 4x12 through 4x16 fic that gives me a wide range of emotions and is fantastic) and your eyes look like coming home (Betty’s diary entries throughout season 1, simply inspired). But she’s also so good at AUs! a dark world aches (for a splash of the sun) is already looking so good as a bughead mystery with some varchie fun on the side, just some quality core four content, and won’t be the same (if you’re not here with me) is a favorite of fake dating, Christmas, and there was only one bed, just the best tropefest. And there are so, so many more, so you must check her out here.

@lovedinapastlife: She writes such a variety of AUs, I am just in awe of them all! The talent, I am amazed. The dark!bughead in The Society is peak dark!bughead with a simply iconic yandere!Betty, and you are seriously missing out if you have not read it yet. Oh, and there’s some more dark!Jughead with a side of dark!Betty in the key to harm(ony) that you must check out because it’s such a great ride and is sexy, what more could you want? Every movie AU she does really takes the source material and makes it her own from works You Drive Me Crazy (but I'm gonna keep on loving you), based on Drive Me Crazy and definitely better than the movie, to the most recent to all the boys (but especially you), based on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and just so sweet. But also can write otherworldly fics like Heart’s Desire with genie!Betty and The Second Coming with fae!Jughead, as well as regular aus like Detention (Betty and Jughead in detention and it gets a little sexy but also quite cute), and pure porn like Eye of the Beholder (Betty and Jughead as sorcerers who hook up over sorcerer Tinder and it is sexy but also sweet), as well as some of the best ABO in fandom with her A/B/O Mine series (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty in high school and holy shit is it hot as hell). I am only just skimming the surface here, so definitely go check her out!

@kyloren aka @jughead-jones: Mila is so talented at making gifs, like goddamn, and also so funny, but I bet you didn’t know that she also has written some damn good fic! She hides it, but it is out there and it is very good, my favorite being let me hang my hook on your splendor, a fandom fave of a Scooby-Doo au that is so much more thoughtful and clever with its casting, and also very amusing, you must check out the rest of her stuff here.

@elizabethbettscooper: A delightful person and a delightful writer who is largely retired from the bughead fandom but still such a talent, like seriously. Her Twin Peaks Riverdale AU The Past Dictates the Future is so good, you simply must check it out, like you must. And yours was the first face i saw is such a fun AU of “what if Betty’s crush on Archie was a front for her crush on Jughead”, you must go read it. And holy shit, her i may be bad (but i’m perfectly good at it) series is peak dom!Jughead/sub!Betty taking place when they’re in college and fucking in so many varied ways, like if you are into that, you must go read these fics, you must, you will have a great and sexy, sexy time. And there’s so much more good stuff, you gotta go read it all here.

@bettycreeper: She does so much for the fandom and she makes such gorgeous gifs! Like, the coordination she does on the @bugheadfamily server and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and probably elsewhere cannot be understated, she is such a valuable presence in the fandom. And have you seen her gifs? Gorgeous quality, just gorgeous, and her movie poster gifs for fics are simply inspired. Also? She’s an amazing beta, just outstanding.

@stillscape: A very thoughtful person and excellent writer who I can’t seem to tag. Dianthus Caryophyllus is still one of my favorite fics in the fandom, a high school bughead fic with some amazing pining from Jughead with an oblivious Betty, I can feel it, it’s so good. And of course there’s Ninia, an amazing take on the soulmates trope, just so good, I cannot do it justice, you must check it out. The for the life of me series is also such a good AU for Betty and Jughead getting together pre-Riverdale at a summer internship, I have such fond memories of it. And la peste (the plague)! So good, I cannot even. We don’t have time for everything, except you should make time and go check all of it out here.

@theheavycrown: God, where would we be without Sarah? She does so much work for the @bugheadfamily and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and @riverdalecentral and I’m probably forgetting some, tbh. And so sweet and talented! Her gifs are fantastic and so are her fics. Like, Rain Comes Down (Betty and Jughead fucking in the car on the side of the road while cars drive by)? Iconic, some amazing exhibitionism. you had me howling(Betty in heat in the woods and then Jughead finds her and fucking ensues)? Fantastic ABO, so horny, so desperate. Beneath the Silver Moon Rising? Excellent dom!Jughead, excellent sexy times. You must go check out all of her stuff here, you must.

@50shades-of-bughead: Just some of the absolute cutest art that you must check out, especially their series of dark!bughead that is just fantastic.

@thepointoftheneedle: The variety of work here is phenomenal, the talent, I cannot. Took my ridiculous double fake marriage/draft-dodging concept and turned it into an excellent, thoughtful period piece with phenomenal characterization and a great mystery with Never No Locomotive, I cannot recommend it enough. And Ghosts and Clouds and Nameless Things (ghost!Jughead/grieving-dead-Jughead!Betty with a side of mystery) gave me so many emotions, I think I almost cried, and I am not a crier, I assure you. Hey Pixie Dream Girl, I’m Coming for Your Man! (Betty in her bookstore saves Jughead from his date with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl) is so delightfully funny, and Sunflowers (Betty and Jughead share a working space and fall in love) is so goddamn cute. I have actually found myself behind on her work, which is a crime, it all looks so amazing and I know it will be, and you must check all of it out with me here.

@hellodinoflower: Such an amazing presence in the fandom, such a delight, so clever and funny. She ran @bugheaddrabblechallenge this past summer and gave us all so much joy in the process, and, while her fics are deleted now (as is her right), I promise you that they were amazing, you all missed out if you slept on her. She’s such a great follow, you gotta follow her.

@bluevelvetvideo: A delighful soul, great character insight, great writing. Like, her smut is fantastic, have you read Arsenal (a double feature of Betty and Jughead fooling around in public and then having some sexytimes back in private with some quality dom!Jughead, let me tell you, v steamy)? Because you should. Christmas Lights (Jughead ties Betty up with their Christmas lights, it’s fantastically sexy) is a delight, and you can’t blame gravity (for falling in love) is a very fun take on soulmates and soulmarks, and you simply must go read it. She is a master of smut, let me tell you, and you must check out all her stuff here. Also? An excellent beta, 10/10, I’m so lucky to have her.

@a-true-janian-reply: Very funny, has excellent thoughts on Riverdale! Like, truly, every time I see an original text post or a reblog from her, I am PSYCHED because it’s always going to be SO GOOD.

@writeradamanteve: Such great talent across genres, really impressive. Drive (illegal drag racing Betty and college student but former-ish Serpent Jughead, just fantastic) is one of my earliest fandom favorites, I remember excitedly telling my non-fandom friend about it because I thought it was so clever, and we all know how good Daemon Bound is, yes? Yes, I’m sure we do. Let’s go make sure we’ve read all her stuff here.

@thugheadjones: Has some great insights, some great responses to dumb anons, and some fantastic art, like holy shit, I cannot even.

@bugggghead: A delightful soul, so nice, so talented. Writes some amazing smut, like, have you read intimately acquainted (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty, meeting up on an app to help Betty with her heat in a heat retreat, four chapters of excellent smut)? Because you should if you’re even kind of interested in ABO. And en pointe is the bughead knifeplay fic of dreams, you gotta check it out. And there are so many other ones, we do not have time to cover them all. She also does cute fics, btw, and Message Me (fanfic-author-who-is-actually-the -real-author!Jughead/gif-maker-and-fangirl!Betty meet on tumblr and fall in love and it’s great) is such a delight, definitely go check it out. In fact, go check out all her stuff here. Also a fantastic beta, I really owe her for that.

@heavy-lies-the-crown: A talented soul who has written so much high quality fic, from the hilarious red ribbon winner (a Christmas fic comedy that I cannot describe well but I assure you is both hilarious and sweet) to the emotional and moving road to me (Betty and Jughead break up, find themselves, and come back together and it’s perfection) to the heart-ripping angst of apizza (a semi post-4x17-speculation fic of bughead together but apart at Yale and the way they will come back together and it is so good and so angsty) to many, many more. You gotta go check it all out here.

@lurker-no-more: Yet another funny person, we as a fandom are so blessed, you must check them out, you just must.

@iconic-ponytail: Another excellent writer! a revelation in the light of day is SUCH a great slowburn and SUCH a great take on both FBI!Betty and Sheriff!Jughead and the two of them falling in love as adults. Also, the side varchie is fantastic, and the mystery is amazing. I have not yet checked out the nighthawks, but I already know it’s going to be good, I can tell, you can trust this author to be quality, so go check all of her stuff out here.

@soyforramen: Funny! Very funny! Also? Writes some great ficlets that are, I think, exclusive to tumblr, which is a tragedy, tbh, but as is their right. But I do have the link to this genius fic about bughead and a platypus in honor of the platypus anon that was going around this summer. Definitely go check them out!

And now I am very tired, I have used up my energy, and I am so sorry if I forgot anyone!

#Riverdale #fandom #fic recs #I mean they're buried in there but they're THERE #can you tell I ran out of steam at the end?

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thegaysarequaking · 5 years

Text

The Society

*SPOILERS*

Okay, so the following is my take on the new Netflix show ‘The Society’.

I liked the society a lot, set in a dystopian world in which all of the parents and younger children disappear it shows promise for following seasons. Such as finding ways to develop, for lack of a better word, a society. Also, dealing with limited food, no escape, and confounding variables of being alive in a world they know nothing about.

When it comes to originality of the show it lacked it quite a bit, the storyline of this story is one that has been used quite a bit. I know there is a difference than basing it off of something and having it be similar to something.

The Sparticle Project - A story about a bunch of teenagers in Great Britain who from one moment to the next lose all of their parents and everyone above the age of, i think 19. The whole story was that their parents were moved into an alternate dimension in which the kids needed to find their way back to. When i started watching ‘The Society’ i thought of this show immediately, the only thing that i find different between the two is that ‘The Society’ is way more formulated and has direct ties to nowadays, rather than ‘The Particle Mystery’ In which, in my opinion was kinda dumb because they were just running around Britain searching for something that they didn't even knew existed.

Gone (Book Series) - In a dystopian society, the kids of the world are put against one side of an impenetrable energy barrier and the parents on the other side. These kids need to learn to survive amongst themselves while dealing with supernatural abilities that they have. Now i know this one is far-fetched when it comes to the supernatural abilities but the part that I'm paying attention to is the sequestering of the children from their parents.

These 2 instances really hit me when i was doing my research on the show because, well... have nothing better to do with my life than fall down plot holes and internet spirals about a tv show. Hehe *Laughs and Cries at the same time*

Characters

Cassandra

Fearless leader and got more crap than she deserved, she was just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I didn't like her relationship with Gordie though, she knew all he wanted was her, and she played him like a fiddle. A pretty toxic relationship.

Allie

Power Hungry. But what can you do when over 130 teenagers have no leader and your sister was killed by one of them. I get where she is coming from, but many of her decisions could have been avoided if she had the council election when she came into power.

Will

Utterly Hated him. Honest to god one of the worst characters out there. I think that the way that he played both Allie and Kelly was ass. At the beginning he was all like “I can't do this Allie” then he was like “Allie lets do this” Then “IDK Allie, and he fucked Kelly” Then it was “Allie are you ok? Lets be together.” Listen bitch make up your fucking mind.

The Guard (Luke, Clark, and Jason)

I get why by the end of the season they were unhappy, SO i don't blame them for wanting power. Who i do blame is Luke for going along with it. He could have told Helena about it and got her #GirlPower squad to get her guns and take back control. But no. The high school jocks really did... That.

Harry, Lexie and Campbell

Terrible People all around. Harry kept getting depressed because he didn't have anyone to do his work for him cause sis was rich. AWW that fucking white privilege. Harry and his intentions for the town were complete garbage and he really does not deserve to live but the need for an antagonist is palpable. Lexie on the there hand had good intentions but turned awry, she really sucks. For no good reason. She really doesn’t know how to be a leader as shown by the finale when she shows compassion for Allie. Campbell, a legit psychopath, i hope will die in season 2. The whole, antifreeze in the pie, really shows how close to death he is. I think that Allie is going to kill him to regain power season 2. Season 2, these ppl boutta fall and fall hard.

Kelly, Gordie and Bean

Goodness, though 2 of these people have made questionable choices and said things that legit blasted me into orbit i love these three with all of my heart. Bean really tried to help everyone and i can see the producers giving her a bigger role next season because i can see she was under represented this season; she is legit the best. Kelly, though split between Will and Harry really gave all that shit up to be a self-actualized doctor. Same goes with Gordie, he was a creep, still kinda is... but he actually cares for all of the people now that Cassandra is dead.

Elle and Helena

Okay i love both of these characters so much I just feel like Elle has to learn to stick up for herself. I think she is going to play a vital role in the demise of campbell. Helena is such a good character but with a bitch for a boyfriend, she is probably going to lead New Ham after they get Allie, and work side-by-side with her.

Becca, Sam, and Grizz

OOOOOOH. Y’ALL BOUTTA GET A PARAGRAPHHHHH. OK, i love Becca and i think that her and Eden are going to be the best Mother-Daughter Duo in the world. The only problem i have with her is probably the fact that she is lying about the identity of her baby’s father. It is under speculation that it may be someone that maybe sexually assaulted her or that it may have been one of the parents.

Okay. Sam and Grizz... MY BABIES. Okay we love grizz for his cute ass and not just wanting to have sex with Sam, he actually flirted and learned some ASL and it was the cutest thing in the world. He deserves love and protection at all costs. He is amazing. Was it just me or did this man cry so freaking much but it was so pure, because he is so adorable. Grizz is going to have a lot of trouble coming out because now the guard has turned on everyone, and Sam is the “father” of Becca’s baby. I think Grizz is really happy with sam and the fact that they both promised to see each other after he came back gives me hope for the relationship. Also Sam is such a pure boyo, and he and Campbell are gonna have a lot more problems in season 2 when campbell finds out that he and Grizz are together. I love all three of these characters so much and they deserve the world.

Ask me questions, send me shows, talk to me about ‘The Society’ because i have minimal things left to do with my life and this is the best use of my time.

#the society #grizz #grizz x sam #netflix the society #netflix #this is some cute shit #the gays are quaking #sam eliot #gareth grizz #sean berdy #jack mulhern

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notagoodideatodothat · 5 years

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Why Veronica Mars broke my heart.

Ok let’s start this. Everything I’m going to write is my opinion, how I felt and my views on season 4. And it’s the first time I’m writing anything that I want to make “public”, but I’m honestly doing it for myself more than anything.

To start with logic, let’s talk about the story of season 4. Some part of the mystery was not too bad, but to be honest it was quite messy. I think it was a bit much for an 8-episodes season and I don’t really think the thing about the Mexican cartel was necessary, and let’s be real, I felt it was a bit racist, but I won’t say more about it because I’m not Mexican/Latina nor American and I don’t feel it’s my place to say anything about it. The bombing of Neptune during spring break could have been brilliant, and the idea of it being link with the debate in town was a great reminder that Neptune was a place with no middle class, which is also the root of the show. But the going back and forth about who the suspects are and the motivation behind all that just confused the hell out of me. I think this is the first issue in the writing of the new season.

The second issue I see in the writing is how Veronica was portrayed. It’s like they forgot who she was, everything she went through and survived. I felt that her relation with Keith is still strong but a bit off; it felt like Veronica was still a teenager. Let’s not mention how she is ignoring and judging Wallace for having a family and a house and showing it as something boring; and the big mess with Weevil. But let’s take a quick second to thank Tina for not getting into this mess. Her friends were so important to her, and that’s also why we loved her. Also her rejecting and making fun of Logan for going to therapy and encouraging her to do the same, like isn’t she suppose to have a degree in Psychology? I couldn’t read the books completely because season 4 came before I could finish them, and I’m not really in the mood for anymore VM right now, but in the movie she was so different than how she was in the new season. The other issue I have, like many fans, is with the alcohol and drug use. Everybody can do whatever they want of course, and even more if everything is legal, but this is so out of character. She was raped because of alcohol and drug. Her mom was an alcoholic and she saw it destroy her family. And this is just in season one. The only time we saw Veronica drinking was in the movie and it was one drink and a beer. If you just really think for a minute you can see the issue. I’ve love this character for a good portion of my life, and I couldn’t recognize her. And I know they wanted to make things more adult, but you can do that without completely destroying everything who’ve built before. Also she has been a PI for so long now, in what world, would she not check her car? There is just no logic to that and you can’t tell me otherwise. Her relationship with Logan had issues too. Like I said the thing about therapy is problematic. But the whole angry sex scene was so wrong. He’s actively trying to get better, to heal his anger, and the only thing she wants is old Logan, when in the previous seasons, particularly in the third, she was so judgmental of everything he was and did. This is just messy writing, and a lack of consistency. And every problems or fights they had just disappeared and they just didn’t really talk about it. If you want to make Veronica more adult, let’s start with her acting like an adult in a stable relationship, which she was suppose to be at the beginning of the new season. It’s not like we decided that it was who she was, you put her in that place. Also telling us that Veronica is more interesting when traumatised, telling that no matter what you do you won’t ever be able to access happiness, that a married woman is not as sexy or interesting; I can go on and on and on. We are in 2019, your show used to be something people brought up when talking about woman on TV, about feminism, and you absolutely destroy that. You just showed us that you know nothing about feminism and what women go through. And the fact that you protagonist is a woman doesn’t change anything about that. A woman doesn’t have to be a survivor of sexual assault to be strong; a woman doesn’t have to be single to be independent; a woman doesn’t have to have multiple sexual partners to be sexy.

But you know what, as a fan of the show for 15years, I was bothered by all that maybe I could have accept it as just flaws, without it completely ruining the new season for me, and hoping they’ll improve her character in a potential season 5. And honestly I thought I was going to rewatched it over and over so I was not really focused on the problems, but on the fact that I was watching new episodes of Veronica Mars, which is something I didn’t think was possible. But they had to kill Logan with no respect, the best character of the whole show, no matter what people say. He went from a proper jackass, a bully, and a victim of abuse, to an adult in the process of healing, with a career no one expected. And also, he was not just part of the relationship with Veronica; he was also a character that we loved on his own. Of course he was an awful person at the beginning of the show, but first he wasn’t the only one (let’s not forget Duncan please thank you and Leo who sold the tapes of Lily and Aaron, which apparently everyone in the writers room forgot) and I’m never going to ignore that, but you can’t deny the changes he made, and his real motivation to get better and this is not something you can say about Veronica in season 4. You know what I need as a victim of traumatic event? To Heal. I’m getting there, it is hard work and this how Veronica should be in season 4, but who was in that place? Logan. But you decided that it was not enough.

I don’t know what happen behind the scene, and I’m not going to speculate about that, but Jason did such a good job portraying Logan, from the start to the end. And his death was unfair, to Jason first, and to the fans. And what was even more unfair, is the lack of closure and grief that was giving to us. We just saw a character that we loved for 15 years blow up after a wedding that we weren’t sure we were going to have and nothing. Of course, I think you can kill major character in show, if the motivations are good, and the death is going to improve the story and/or a character but you have to do it properly. Because otherwise you’re not doing it for the good reasons. I can give you examples of shows that killed major character and did it properly : How to get away with Murder killed one of the main character and we had a whole season dedicated to that death and Laurel’s grief ; Peaky Blinder, and it was quite violent yet still acceptable, proof that you can have a violent end and still do it respectably ; Desperate Housewives killed one of the most important character in one of the last episodes of the show, a fan favourite but we had some time of grief, with a funeral and how every other character had to deal with this death ; Downton Abbey killed not one but two major character in one season ; Grey’s Anatomy is known for killing major character but every time we had closure and grief for us and from the characters ; and to go on the SF side, Game of Thrones did it better than Veronica Mars, which wants to make me laugh. And Glee, for which the death was real, was able to respect their fans, actors, crew and everyone who was devastated by the passing of Cory Monteith.

I completely support that the creators and the writers are free to do what they want with what they created. I honestly believe that if Logan had to die for the show to keep going; I don’t agree but it was Rob freedom to do so. But there were a million better ways to do it without being disrespectful to the actor, the character and the fans. Because yes, a show without an audience, and without fans is nothing. That is why brilliant TV shows get cancelled and mediocre show can go on for ten years. A vocal fandom and audience is what’s keeping a show alive. And when you look at the facts, the Veronica Mars fandom is what made everything possible. Without us, Veronica Mars would have disappeared in the world of cancelled show with good potential but that didn’t have a lot of success. I couldn’t give to the Kickstarter campaign, because I didn’t have a bank account at that time but I bought the complete collection of Veronica Mars when I was a broke student, and I can tell you 45€ is a lot of money, I bought my Team Logan t-shirt, I bought the books, I put my money in it because I wanted to show I was supporting Veronica Mars, and I wanted more. As soon as I heard on Kristen’s Instagram that it was coming back, I was absolutely ecstatic. I followed every account on every platform I was on. I commented on Instagram to express how happy and grateful I was and this is something I never do. I couldn’t stop talking about it to my friends, even though they don’t really watch it. The week before the surprise release I was non-stop on Veronica Mars. I haven’t been excited about anything for a long, long time. And it was destroyed in 10 minutes.

And as you know we can fight to have our show back, but we can also do everything we can to make sure that Hulu and Rob, and everyone involve know how we feel. And ignoring us on social media won’t stop us from expressing our thoughts and feelings. And for the first time you can see fans fighting to end the show we’ve been supporting for so long. After season 4, I can assure you that I’d rather give the movie and the books back so my favourite show would not be ruined for me. And if Rob thinks that the mystery is why we were all watching, he is so wrong. Being a PI is part of Veronica’s character, not everything about her. Her relations and the other characters are what we loved about the show. The mystery part of it was nice sometime, and could be well written, especially in season 1, but this was not the heart of the show, no matter what Rob is saying. He says he wants to make a show 100% about mystery and a detective. My mom loves police shows; she watches everything, Murder she Wrote, every fucking CSI, Criminal Mind, Cold Case, really shitty French Show,...and I can assure you she still watches for the characters. Because no matter the story you’re telling, the characters are the heart of it.

The first feeling I had after spending a whole night watching the new season was real sadness. I think I cry for over an hour. I was truly heartbroken. I’m not in a really good place emotionally at the moment and I was so looking forward to this, I cannot even begin to explain what it did to me. The next week I almost didn’t sleep, and I was a real mess. I had some family that was visiting and all I could think about was a fucking TV show. But when the interviews and videos started to come out, I was absolutely pissed. It felt like a betrayal. Telling us this is what we need, saying Logan was a sacrificial lamb, saying Veronica is in that place now, that they’ll be no grieving. We are adult now; we are not children throwing a stupid tantrum. And presenting us as angry fan girl, who are just pissed because our ship is over is so fucking sexist. And even if we are pissed about that, which I also am, what is the problem? We can love a relation and the character, and still be a “good fan”. Also can we talk about how you used Logan and LoVe in the promo, the trailer, all the social media, to make sure the fans who love LoVe where going to watch. This is manipulating your audience, and from the bottom of my heart, fuck you.

I use to associate Veronica Mars with something positive, a safe space, where my problems were not real, now it’s a lot of pain, regret, rage. The only good thing about all that is the community, you know the fans that you don’t care about anymore. People from all over the world; supporting each other, checking on each other, loving each other. You honestly had one of the best Fan Base behind you Rob, and you just gave us the biggest fuck off of all time. You say you made a bet, and that you hope the fan won’t hate you for it. I can tell you, even if you have a season 5, you still lost.

Because you lost us; and our support.

It’s been a month, and I’m only able to finish writing that now, and it still feels really fresh. I’m still devastated, and angry, and betrayed and so many emotion that I never thought I would associate with Veronica Mars; yet here we are.

And to Rob, and Hulu, of anyone that worked on this, please no more, no season 5, no more social media post. You didn’t give us grieving, so please now leave us alone.

I’m sure it was not really well written, and that I forgot a shit ton of stuff but this is what I think and feel, and if anyone read this, I hope this will maybe give comfort, like reading everyone else’s opinions helped me a bit. Like I said to a dear writer that I love, like always we will get through this together.

@hulu @officialveronicamarsonhulu

#veronicamars #veronica mars season 4 #logan echolls #logan echolls deserved better #jason dohring #vmars revival #burntmarshmallow #weusedtobefans

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sometimesrosy · 5 years

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you think there is a huge probability or chance that we see bellarke first kiss and declaration of love this season? and if season seven is really gonna be the last one jason can put them in a established relationship and being endgame without erasing that.

yeah that’s what i think.

i know i said s5, but after the season I did some re-evaluation of my s5 theories and noted that they weren’t actually debunked. they followed my speculations for bellarke development but much, much more slowly. And when I looked at the various character arcs, i realized that only some of them had been completed, while others had been left open and hanging and still others had not even started, which led me to the conclusion that they slowed down narrative that dealt with interpersonal relationships and split it into (at least) 2 seasons.

Putting them in cryo made no time pass, even though 125 years passed, and they were clear about how when they woke up all the betrayals and relationships and repercussions would still in play. And you can SEE it already, in the trailer.

I have always had a hard time finding the timing of the character arcs, because they don’t follow the season long narrative arcs. Because it is not a traditional tv show structure. It’s long form storytelling and I was not sure how long his vision went.

BUT because we’ve started some stories, finished some, and not started others, I can see the pacing that he’s working on for these ACTIVE narrative arcs.

Bellarke romantic storyline started, explicitly, in season 5, and was left hanging with one secret revealed (2199 calls) and one secret still unrevealed (octavia poisoned for clarke.) The love triangle is CANON and unresolved. Echo’s character arc has not yet begun. Bellamy’s hero’s journey has been met. Clarke’s has not. Clarke’s reunion with Murphy and Raven has not happened yet. Memori has wrapped up more or less, Marper is fulfilled happy ending, Kabby is paused in the middle, the Blakes are a BIG story stopped in the middle and may take three seasons to resolve.

Bellarke romance? I see it as 2 or 3 seasons depending on your definition. The first season (5) was Bellarke reunion, Clarke back from the dead, her fantasy boyfriend who ended up being real and too much for her to handle, and breaking her heart, and so she betrayed him, then repented and let him go so he could live and be victorious. Bellamy discovering Clarke was alive, dealing with his panic/trauma from losing Clarke again and again (particularly with leaving Raven behind and sending Echo off and poisoning Octavia to save her,) confronting his romantic feelings for Clarke in the face of Echo and also Clarke’s abandonment (again) of him. And his discovery of the 2199 calls which told him that Clarke did indeed care for him and changed everything about how he dealt with her. Bellarke are REUNITED, once again TOGETHER, soulmates where they are supposed to be. They are each in love with the other but withholding their feelings for the other because they are not sure and also b/e is an obstacle. s5 was their reunion and facing the effects of 6 years apart. And the reunion was resolved, but it opened the door into the next phase of Bellarke which is:

Bellarke romantic feelings and expression thereof. We KNOW already that they are going to address the 2199 calls. We know already that B/E exists still in ep1. I expect feelings to be revealed and to change how they behave with each other. How that will affect b/e or c/b/e is still to be seen, but according to the character of Clarke, Bellamy and Echo separately, it will not be ignored and B/E will end. As early as ep3 (that’s a guess and a possibility not an absolute. just a feeling. beginning of the end for b/e.) I think we’ll start getting that romantic tension AND sexual tension. They are back together, but they CAN’T be TOGETHER TOGETHER, so that means the feelings and desires must be held back. I don’t know at what point the kisses, confessions and sex will happen, but I expect them to come in stages, just the way the reunion did. With some backsliding to make them uncertain and put the end in doubt (conflict adds to tension.) I expect that there will be a bellarke separation and Bellamy, in particular, won’t have faith in her feelings for him, because he’s never believed in that. I expect that we’ll see a parallel to “it’s worth the risk,” when she sent him into the mountain and he thought it was because she didn’t care for him after all, but it was actually canon confirmation that she thought her feelings for him (love) were a weakness. “I was being weak.” Love is a weakness. It occurs to me that that is the scene where the Bellarke romance was broken. Just like all the traumas, we’re revisiting them to resolve and fix them. And create a better world. Clarke did not choose Bellamy in the “it’s worth the risk,” scene, walking away from Camp Jaha, In Polis with Lxa AND Hakeldama. I expect to see Clarke CHOOSING Bellamy in ep11 I think. Where she makes clear to him that he is her choice, and they resolve all those abandonment issues, which leaves them TOGETHER, in all ways, including romantic and probably sexual, and possibly newly established and public as a relationship, so that they can face their final battle together, strong.

Last season I couldn’t place the romantic development with the story lines of other characters or other narrative threads, this season, I can see the storylines coming up because they are either unfinished from last season, or there are CLEAR parallels to previous traumas, like MW=Sanctum. Or princess mechanic=c/f/r=c/b/e. The more separate storylines that can connect back to the romance, the more likely it is that the romance is going full main plot. And canon. There are A LOT of narrative threads connecting back to bellarke this upcoming season. It is not just about their feelings anymore.

As for s7? Yeah there’s no room for established Bellarke in season 6. But established Bellarke in season 7 would allow for a culmination of the post apocalyptic REBIRTH of the world. Clarke and Bellamy are the mother and father. In canon. Mama Bear and Captain Daddy. space daddy. best daddy in the universe whatever. Y’all know it’s Captain Daddy. In trigedasleng, that has a phrase. Nomon and Nontu. Mother and father, number one and number two, a mated leadership pair in charge of a village. That’s bellarke. There is no reason for that phrase to be in the lexicon because it has NEVER been used in canon, but it’s been there since season 3 when I was looking for a trigedasleng name to call Bellarke in one of my fics, and I found that one and I was like, well heck, that sounds like it was made for them. And here they are now, named mom and dad and heading into marriage/paired leadership. AS we also head into the resolution for s1 declarations of purpose like “life should be about more than just survival,” and “i’m trying to make sure humanity deserves to survive.” AKA Monty’s charge to Bellarke. Be the good guys. Live a good life.

The story sounds like it’s wrapping up and part of the wrap up is to bring Bellarke together as a mated pair so they can help create a new society and usher in the rebirth of humanity. Bellarke established couple. Because that will reach the culmination of what Bellarke has been heading for, every season getting deeper.

So.

s5: Bellarke reunion.

s6: Bellarke romance.

s7: Bellarke marriage. (whether that means an actual marriage or symbolic idk.)

#the 100 #bellarke #bellarke development #bellarke speculation #believe in bellarke #this spec is based more on the narrative we have already. last season i based it on hypotheticals of romantic pacing #so this one is MUCH clearer. it did follow the hypotheticals of romantic pacing it just took longer

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dimples-of-discontent · 5 years

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There’s always a sequel: post-watching notes for 14x04

AHHHHHHHHH!!! I LOVE THIS EPISODE!!! I may never be over how much I enjoyed it, not least because I was eating pizza and drinking beer while watching it just like my dear nerd Dean Winchester. Anyway, I’m sure most people are going to hit the big ones right away but just so I know what I might want to return to:

This was Mirrors 101, as others have said elsewhere, since the Sam mirror was actually named “Sam” and the Dean mirror was named “Dirk,” in outfits that were so Salmon Dean letter-perfect that we had been speculating that they were cosplaying as Sam and Dean. Oh, and the Cas mirror was unconscious for most of the episode.

Little Dean Mirror was so cute and so brave and, in a way, the kind of kid/young man that Dean never allowed himself to be. It was so sweet to see them together and I loved their interactions. I especially enjoyed him stepping up to defend his friend the Cas mirror and saying, “He’s my friend. He’s our friend” to show that Davy knew exactly what he was doing when he FREAKING WROTE 12X12 and had Cas say “I love you. I love all of you.” Davy was like “Hey, just in case you were thinking that this wasn’t being used to make a meaningful distinction, here it is in another iteration to show you that it means singular vs. plural and, what’s more, that it’s about Dean and Cas.” Brilliant.

Davy’s repeated dragging a certain corner of the fandom was actually one of the best parts of the whole episode. From “the Internet...where everyone can be a dick” to the Sam n Dean convo about costumes where Sam’s face told us all about what they think of the idea of them in couples’ costumes it was just so delicious. Also, the bad Yelp review that they got for a stupid argument about who might or might not beat up Superman? That was a great parody of the kind of online fandom drama that can happen. *hat tip*

I want a separate number for Sam’s face as they discuss things that are, and are not, couples’ costumes. Dean is reasonable enough to recognize that Bert and Ernie would be “weird” (AHHHHH SO MUCH VINDICATION!!) because they are brothers, but he ends by suggesting Thelma and Louise! Not only does Sam’s face convey that “oh God, Dean has fundamentally misunderstood Thelma and Louise and somehow Doesn’t Know the subtext” (actually the queerness of that movie isn’t even subtext but let’s be generous to Dean here), but it also tells us a little about how he might feel about this as an ending for them. Sam didn’t look too enthused at the idea, even aside from him clearly thinking of his brother in drag. Now, I don’t think Dean was serious in this suggestion about throwing the car into drive and hurling themselves off a cliff (no mention of the kiss...hmmm), but he’s been serious before both in the scene where he actually mentions Thelma and Louise (the one with the thick, leaden Deancas sexual tension) and in S7 when Cas was dead and he threatened to drive himself and his “beautiful mind brother” off a cliff. This is a response that Dean has when things get Really Bad and it’s also, not coincidentally, an ending that Jared and Jensen have talked about for the show, though they too have generally moved away from it. To suggest it to Sam in a playful way is still slightly concerning because of the valence that it has for Dean generally.

The intercut chase scene where we switch back and forth between the Final Girl vs. the movie slasher and the Dean Mirror vs. MOTW. It’s funny and clever and comments on commenting on cultural artifacts (the two guards watching the movie are exactly the wrong kind of viewers in so far as they are missing things that are happening in real life. These dudes think they’d be movie heroes and are happy to criticize the one they are watching but, actually, when the same thing is happening in their world they are just oblivious viewers who THINK they would be heroes; the real hero is actually an obsessive nerdy viewer who takes on the role instead of commenting on it. Love it. (I want to do more later with Dean as the Final Girl and what that role means within horror movies.)

Ok, this is going to need expanding, but I want to relate this to 13x05 and I need some time but I think it’s worth it. 13x05 which, obviously, Perez knew well because it set up “Tombstone” and brought Cas back. It was also an episode that dealt with ghost possession in the wake of the death of one of a group of friends (two of whom were Dean and Cas mirrors). The ghost in that case was also a masked villain. The Dean mirror came back traumatized by his inability to save the Cas mirror (the Sam mirror didn’t even turn up to the haunted house) and then later, possessed by the ghost, returned to the scene of the haunting and died. Dean himself died in that episode and, even by the end, recounted his motivation being unable to save his mom, Cas, or even “a scared little kid.” He was clearly haunted by Cas’s death. Dean was prepared to let the ghost kill him in 13x05, making a surprised face when Sam stepped in to stop it and then doing the job himself. Dean in 14x04 was actually similarly braced for the axe until the Dean mirror (part of himself) stepped in to save him. That’s progress! Dean’s haunted in 14x04 too, by his own possession (which he says he’ll never be over), but it looks symbolically like he may be able to step in and save himself.

Obviously we’ve got yet another possession narrative going, which ties into this season’s overall theme/concern with possession and its aftereffects. Because, yeah, we know that Michael isn’t gone, just like we know that at the end of a horror movie when a Jason or a Michael Myers is killed he isn’t really dead. The reanimated dummy of the movie villain even shows us this at the end in the scene with the guard. It may look like the Winchesters took care of the possessing entity-- “Is that it?” asked Sam and they said yes, just as they had said yes about Michael being vanished, but, well, what about the sequel?

All in all, I loved this and it was just SO much fun!! I’d like to do more with the titles and plots of the “All Saints’” films that Dean describes but I’ll need to rewatch for that. Hope you all had fun too!!

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couldnt-be · 5 years

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Biopolitics?

I’ve been on a huge Jason Mraz kick lately, where Jason Mraz is my wholesome vegan king who just sings about “Living in the Moment” and has songs like “The Freedom Song” and they’re super cheesy but they make me feel better. Usually when I’m listening to music I’d say it’s normally pretty dark.

The lyrics are always kinda sad and the melody is kinda angry or melancholic at best. I think it’s definitely because I was reading Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood and some of the events she writes (even though it’s pure fiction [or rather speculative fiction as she calls her herself]) seem so possible and as if it’s all unstoppable it really makes me panic. This of course goes alongside all the things we talk about in class about biopolitics, the bioeconomy, etc.

It’s genuinely terrifying to think that the fight to reduce fossil fuels, conserving the environment and species is already an antiquated thought? Industry is not limited to the limits of the environment. Who cares if we’re running out of oil or coal or fossil fuels? Who cares if we’re running ourselves right into the limits of Nature? It doesn’t matter because industry has already moved on from this fight of working against the limit, of pushing back, of conserving the environment, and instead moved onto how to bypass those limits (in fact it’s already past it).

We’re already living in the bioeconomy and it’s kind of crazy? We accept it and know it’s happening. We are so enmeshed in it that we don’t even realise it? We have always seen power as something huge and monolithic, something we can see and give a face to (whether it’s the government or some other authority figure) but biopolitics doesn’t exert its power that way. Power in the biopolitical era is diffused throughout all of us.

The two types of biopolitics, regulation and disciplinary have been working in tandem this whole time, while we and environmentalists have been focusing and mourning the loss of the triumphs from the environmental decade. We still sit on the broken remains of the CAA, the CWA, the ESA, all acts that have been similarly passed in other countries or even internationally (in treaties such as the Montreal Protocol) and wish we could recreate a surge of interest in the environment like we did back then. But the ones we blame for the destruction of the environment the so-called industry, has already moved on and become the biotechnology.

Test-tube babies (CRISPR babies), GMO seeds that are patented and disallowed from being grown from the seed without purchasing it first, the forced sterilisation of populations, the shirking of refugees (who are often climate refugees) by masking them as security issues. It’s crazy to see how we have been made to work inside this? Biopolitics doesn’t work within the confines of Nature’s limits; it takes our problems of limits and finds a limitless resource. That resource is life. If you can industrialise life, and if life is constantly moving, changing, reproducing, you will never run out of life, you will never run into the limits of life. Animals are selectively bred, recombinant DNA is created, GMO seeds are dispersed, soon it will be hard to find something that hasn’t been genetically eroded to nothing.

The disciplinary arm of biopolitics is in the working and management of individual humans so that they continue to produce and be efficient to the point of docility. We are made to work and constantly keep living our lives, producing and working to create a force that can be used against us. In Oryx & Crake, Crake creates a pill that prolongs youth, increases sexual libido, and makes its user immune to all STDs. Similarly, bioengineering and biomechanics has been building and creating tools to keep us working and functioning (always at a price of course). We can be fed pills (supplements, vitamins, Purdue Pharma pumping out opioids to treat our pain so we keep going but keeps us addicted and then creates Naloxone to treat opioid addiction), made to keep our bodies running how we think society needs us to run but without knowing why.

The regulatory arm of biopolitics is in the regulation and control and management of a whole population, of us humans as a species. Like the example I gave about Purdue Pharma: they’ve taken us for a ride. A whole population hooked on opioid and then given the cure. They’ve been managing the whole population perfectly. Biopolitics is controlling our whole population, keeping the worthy close to its chest and casting the rest away. The global south is used for drug trials, kept shut out from the elite circle where we have access to nutrition and health and just life (anything but a bare life existence that refugees are forced to live). Meanwhile, the “elite circle” gets smaller and smaller and we feebly keep trying to keep up.

Plants, crops, food, indigenous medicinal knowledge that used to be a global common is being slowly privatised, shutting all of us out. We can lull ourselves into the false pretence that if we are valuable and put value into ourselves by being smart, attractive, functional, we will be able to be let into the secrets of science. That we will be able to have even a foothold into this huge network of power that has excluded us all as a species from the moment a global common (such as a seed) was patented and privatised.

But we don’t. Even if we are the most privileged people in the world, we will never be on the level that we need to be. We are not perfect beings and that isn’t even what biotechnology wants us to be (they still need the imperfections of the human society because how else will they keep creating something we want and need?). The world of science will always keep moving up up up up and past and against and away and crossing the limits of Nature. Even if I am not stressing on the ways we are all being profited off of for some kind of gain in this privatised world (Monsanto can and will and has been profitting off of their GMO seeds, disallowing farmers and the rest of us from planting and growing food that we need to survive, that up until now has been a global common we all need), we are still stepping on each other for what? The scariest part is that we really, really, really, are still stuck on the conservation of the environment. The continued mourning of strong protective and conservative legislation. This is still important, but when we see how hard biopolitics has played us, it’s difficult to feel like it is. There’s so much more to say but I’ll just say that me listening to Jason Mraz is the embodiment of Dollar Sign’s “Shallow Pop Songs” :/ When life was easy the music was harsh, now I wanna escape cause life is hard. All I ever listen to when I get inside my car, all I want is shallow pop songs

#text

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margarittet · 6 years

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“Tombstone” (1993): cowboys and gay subtext

Disclaimer: I wrote this text long time ago, when we first heard the title of the episode, and we knew perfectly nothing about the plot - I just somehow never got to posting it. Back then I never DREAMED that we will be getting Cas and Dean roleplaying Texas rangers, and running around in cowboy hats. (What a time to be alive!) Anyway, I hope this little rant about how “Tombstone” (1993) is relevant to tomorrow’s episode will still be fun to read.

Disclaimer 2: I do not equal effeminate/weak bodied/flamboyant = gay, just different from the surroundings in the context of this movie. At the same time, the movie uses cheap stereotypes to characterize their characters in subtext. It is 1990s, and this is not good, but it happened back then.

File it under the “Things I do because of my “Supernatural” obsession”: I watch and read stuff I hadn’t expected to before I started watching the show - you know, like a 1993 western telling the story of the legendary gunman Wyatt Earp and his two brothers, hunting and killing some Old West gang of outlaws in a frontier town.

Nevertheless, I did watch it, and now I will write about it because I am painfully aware that episode 13x06 is called “Tombstone”, that it has a western theme, and that it’s an episode by the writer who gave us “Stuck in the Middle with You” (12x12). It is therefore quite possible that the source material is relevant to the final product - plus with Tarantino being a western buff, it all connects nicely.

I will not speculate about the actual episode since we have almost nothing to go on at the moment - besides a few pictures from which we can gather a couple of facts:

The boys are most probably in Dodge City at some point (we saw pictures from the set saying “Dodge City” on one of the buildings). The city is about 3,5 hour drive from Lebanon - where the bunker is - and it was here Wyatt Earp was the sheriff before he moved to Tombstone. It also is “the cowboy capital of the US” because of it being the main city on the old “cattle trail”, famous for its cow markets and for its gunfights. We saw Dodge City on the show once before when Krissy’s dad was attacked in “Adventures in Babysitting”, but otherwise this is the first time we visit it,

We also know that at some point we will visit a cowboy-themed motel.

[While all of this gives us no story hints whatsoever, I think it’s safe to assume that the keywords for the episode are “cowboys” and “western”. Since Davy Perez’ most noteworthy episode last year was Tarantino themed, I am not remotely surprised this season for him is “westerns” (he is also bringing us the train heist episode later this season - yes, please.)]

I can, however, present the movie “Tombstone” that may or may not have something to do with the final episode (we’ll see). As I am aware that not everyone is as dedicated (read: bored and obsessed) as me to check out every pop culture reference on the show, I decided to share my newly aquired wisdom with the class.

Ok, so the story. The movie tells a (rather idealized) version of the shootout that occured in the frontier town of Tombstone, Arizona, between Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp (plus their friend, Doc Holliday) and the gang of outlaws who called themselves “the Cowboys” - known as the gunfight at OK Corral. I will talk just about the movie here (since the historical truth is a little different, and a compare-and-contrast historical analysis is not what we need right now).

So, Wyatt Earp got famous being the marshall of Dodge City, while also being a pacifist and trying to avoid starting conflicts as much as possible. Tombstone was supposed to be his retirement - he wanted to settle down, finally having his family around, and earn some money for a comfortable and silent life. He came to Tombstone together with his two brothers and their wives; upon arrival, he found out that his best friend, Doc Holliday, also ended up in the town, searching for his luck and trying to cure his TB - an illness that will later kill him at the age of 35.

We meet Wyatt Earp when he has people closest to his heart right around him, and is very content with his life. He is also very adamant to leave the past and the fame behind, and start a completely new chapter in Arizona. The Earp brothers find out very quickly, however, that Tombstone is very far from the sleepy abode the name might suggest. The town is full of colourful characters - gamblers, gunslingers, preachers, prostitutes, outlaws etc. And of course there is a conflict boiling just below the surface.

Unwillingly, one by one the Earp party is pulled back into being the law officers again, and into the bloody frontier war.

SPOILERS AHEAD (you know, if you wanna watch the movie yourself)

So many themes here that remind me of SPN!

We have a duty bound man who meets a maverick and outgoing woman. She offers him excitement and adventures, and of course he falls for her, but doesn’t let himself have what he wants because of his mission, his situation (he was married at the time), and the need to act honourably. He is, however, perfectly aware of his feelings and that a part of this behaviour is fear of following his heart because he had never done this before in his life;

It takes a death of his closest friend to realize life is too short, and he should go for what he wants, which he does;

Before this, however, he follows the murder of one of his brothers by going on a shooting spree, and killing every bad guy he can find until they all are eradicated,

There is also so much gay subtext between two of the characters that the movie is always mentioned when “gay westerns before Brokeback Mountain” are discussed.

“Tombstone” as a lesson in gay subtext:

It is never mentioned in the movie that Billy Zane and Jason Priestley’s characters are gay. Yet, it is so obvious from the way they are portrayed that even people who are not used to reading subtext are perfectly aware the two characters are most probably lovers.

The characterization

The first thing we notice is the look of the characters. The two man are both dressed in a way that differenciates them from the enviroment around them - Billy Zane’s Fabian is completely different from the masculine world of the Old West, with his soft hair, boyish good looks, clean shaven face, and elaborate outfits.

Jason Priestley’s Billy is more in accordance with the tough world of Tombstone - he is the deputy sheriff after all, and can be tough when needed - but still, in his time off he is portrayed as soft, effeminate, especially while contrasted with the criminals he usually runs with. His outfit is not too different from everyone else’s, but he is the only person to wear a bowtie (everyone else wears neckties or bandanas) and spectacles. He is portrayed as a slightly weaker and more vulnerable person.

Exposition in relation to other characters

The two characters sexuality is shown, not talked about, especially through the kind of interractions they have with other people.

We meet Fabian when he steps out of a carriage, all confident, flamboyant, well-groomed and witty. His person awakens the reaction in the manly-men of the West, which is shown by Morgan Earp asking the local sheriff “What kind of town is this?” (at which point Wyatt shushes him, as if he said something offensive).

To hammer the point home, Fabian is an actor who travels with a gorgeous woman, but obviously has no sexual interest in her - they are best buddies who ogle the Earps together, and comment on their attractiveness.

As for Billy, we meet him when he arrives at the theatre to see the actors’ performance, and right away he is shown bullied by the Cowboys. The quips obviously refer to his sexuality (“Hey, sister boy, gimme some!”). He doesn’t try to shoot them down, just tries to avoid being touched. Quickly he is “saved” by the leader of the gang, and seated beside him. Shortly afterwards the camera shows us the difference between the Cowboys and the deputy sheriff’s approach to Fabian onstage (mocking vs in awe).

Later, during a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Billy grabs Fabian in the saloon, and cordially invites him to his table. This is the last time we see the two men together, alive.

Fast forward to the end of the movie: Billy is riding around with the Cowboys while Wyatt Earp runs around, shooting everything he can find. The outlaws stop a carriage and find the actress and Fabian in the back: the actor is dead, shot by the Cowboys. Everything here happens completely beside the dialogue and the rest of the scene. Billy watches dead Fabian while the actress holds her dead friend, and angrily discusses the war with the leader of the gang.

(Just for your viewing pleasure, I created THIS GIFSET of the scene)

It is never said out loud that Bily and Fabian are lovers. It is still pretty damn obvious. It is perfectly clear from the way they are presented, their interactions with other characters, and the (very limited) onscreen interactions with each other.

“Tombstone” is a cowboy movie that takes a step towards the actual reality of the Wild West, and makes it almost textual. Homosexuality was a natural part of the cowboy lifestyle - it was after all a society full of men, where the men to women ratio was around 8:1. Everyone had needs, not everyone had money, and love and sexual encounters between men were as common as in any other, similar enviroment. There is a reason why the uber-masculine cowboy stereotype is one of the main figures in American gay iconology - think everything from “Midnight Cowboy” to The Village People and “Brokeback Mountain”.

Why Davy Perez chose to call his episode after the kettle-market town in Arizona, but also after the movie with such a strong gay subtext?

WE MAY NEVER KNOW!

#spn vs tombstone #spn 13x06 speculation #pop culture references #gay subtext #destiel #spn season western romcom 13 #yeehaw

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njawaidofficial · 6 years

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Taylor Swift And Karlie Kloss Are Still Friends And I Have All The Receipts To Prove It

https://styleveryday.com/2018/03/20/taylor-swift-and-karlie-kloss-are-still-friends-and-i-have-all-the-receipts-to-prove-it/

Taylor Swift And Karlie Kloss Are Still Friends And I Have All The Receipts To Prove It

There’s no feud here, people.

Over the past few months, rumours have been swirling that the once inseparable Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are no longer friends.

Leon Neal / AFP / Getty Images

Things began after Karlie’s name failed to appear on the T shirt covered with the names of Taylor’s friends in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, and the speculation has been raging ever since.

Big Machine Records

However, over the weekend Karlie diffused rumours of a rift, confirming that she and Taylor are still friends and saying “people shouldn’t believe everything they read.”

instagram.com

Now that Karlie has spoken, I am here with all the receipts from the past few months to prove that Taylor 👏 Swift 👏 and 👏 Karlie 👏 Kloss’ 👏 friendship 👏 is 👏 fine.

CBS

First up, let’s deal with that damn T-shirt. We know that Taylor shot the “LWYMMD” video in May, meaning that the T-shirt would have been conceptualised before then. We also know from the work of Taylor Swift detectives that Karlie and Taylor both attended Gigi Hadid’s birthday party in April.

So in order for Karlie’s name to have been omitted on purpose, the pair must have somehow had time in the space of a couple of weeks to have a monumental bust up so severe that Taylor decided to spontaneously incorporate it into her art. Given how much time and attention Taylor gives to every last part of her videos, this seems unlikely.

Big Machine Records

Next, cast your mind back to August 2017. After Taylor wiped her social media profiles, she made a dramatic return to Instagram with this announcement.

instagram.com

And who liked it almost immediately?

instagram.com

In November, the 51st Country Music Awards took place. Unfortunately, since it was the same week as Reputation‘s release, Taylor couldn’t attend because she had a pretty important appearance on Saturday Night Live to prepare for.

instagram.com

However, who was in attendance? Only Miss Karlie Kloss herself.

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Not only did Karlie attend, but she was also selected to present Taylor with the most prestigious award of the night: Song of the Year.

CMA

Now, let’s be clear – the CMAs are very much Taylor’s stomping ground. Not only is she one of the most successful country artists in history, but over the years Taylor has been awarded 12 times at the CMAs. It goes without saying, then, that Taylor probably calls the shots when it comes to this event.

If she were in a deep and bitter feud with Karlie, it seems unlilely that Taylor would even want her former BFF there, let alone on stage presenting her with an award – especially since Karlie has little connection to the country music scene. And yet there she was, on stage reading out Taylor’s name.

Jason Davis / Getty Images

What’s more, just look how damn happy Karlie was to announce that Taylor had won!

youtube.com

This to me looks like the face of a supportive BFF, not an enemy.

youtube.com

And as if to prove there were no hard feelings, she also tweeted this which is happy and lovely and positive.

Twitter: @taylorswift13

OK, onto exhibit D. In late November, Karlie celebrated the birthday of her and Taylor’s mutual friend, Lily Alridge. Karlie chose to mark the occasion not with a photo of her and Lily, but one in which Taylor was also present.

instagram.com

Seeing as Lily and Karlie have known each other for eight years it seems likely that they’d have a bunch of photos together. So why choose this one? Probably because there was no feud.

instagram.com

Well, Karlie delivered. She posted this cute photo of the pair on Instagram and Twitter.

instagram.com

The choice of photo should have reasurred everyone that things were fine between Taylor and Karlie, because this was a never-seen-before BTS shot from their iconic 2015 Vogue cover.

The shoot was a recreation of the road trip the girls took in the early stages of their friendship.

Vogue

In fact, the trip and the Vogue cover were such a big deal to Taylor that she even has the photos framed in her home.

Vogue

And she also used another BTS photo from the shoot to wish Karlie a happy birthday in 2016.

Instagram: @taylorswift

Throwing it back to such an important time in their friendship was pretty sentimental move if you ask me.

Vogue

Later in December Taylor was unveiled as one of the cover stars of Time’s “Person of the Year” issue, dedicated to the women who had spoken out against sexual harassment and assault.

Earlier in the year Taylor won a lawsuit against the man who sexually assaulted her in 2013.

Time

And as she flew home for Christmas, Karlie shared a photo of her inflight reading material. No prizes for guessing what it was.

Yep. She posted this photo of herself reading the magazine to her Instagram stories.

Time

Now, I know what you’re thinking – at this point things feels a bit one-sided on Karlie’s behalf. So it’s worth pointing out that since Taylor wiped clean her social media and and went all incognito for this album cycle, she hasn’t publicly interacted with any of her close friends and family.

She didn’t publicly acknowledge the birthdays of Gigi Hadid, Lily Alridge, Cara Delevingne, Camila Cabello and her brother Austin. She also failed to publicly acknowledge Lorde’s Grammy nomination, Ed Sheeran’s engagement or her closest childhood friend’s wedding. The fact that Taylor hasn’t interacted with Karlie on social media isn’t proof that they’re not friends; she hasn’t interacted with anyone.

Big Machine Records

Which is why looking at the social media activity of Taylor and Karlie’s friends is very interesting.

CBS

Let me introduce you to Abigail, Taylor’s long-time best friend and confidante since high school.

They’ve been through many highs and lows together – Abigail supported Taylor when she was being bullied, Taylor wrote a song about Abigail’s hearbreak and she was also maid of honour at Abigail’s wedding last summer.

instagram.com

It’s safe to say that Abigail is the epitome of a loyal best friend, especially since Taylor became famous. So her Instagram likes are very interesting.

instagram.com

Because despite the “feud,” Abigail has continued to like a bunch of Karlie’s Instagram photos. In fact, here are just a few of the photos she’s “liked” throughout the months when Taylor and Karlie were said to be feuding.

instagram.com

Perhaps the most interesting like was on this photo of Karlie at the Country Music Awards – that important night which all but confirmed she and Taylor were fine.

Would Abigail really still be in touch with and/or liking Karlie’s photos if she and Taylor had actually fallen out?

instagram.com

And if that’s not enough to convince you, let’s recall the fact that Taylor and Karlie have a history of describing one another as “sisters” or “family.”

Twitter: @karliekloss

Well, their families are really close too. So close, in fact, that even Karlie’s sisters are still publicly communicating with Taylor.

instagram.com

Karlie’s sister Kimby not only wished Taylor a happy birthday, but chose a photo featuring Karlie for the message.

instagram.com

And then on the eve of her 23rd birthday, Kimby shared this photo alongside a very ~familiar~ caption.

instagram.com

👀

instagram.com

But perhaps most convincingly of all is the fact that while Swifties were spamming Karlie with the rat emoji after she was photographed with Katy Perry, a fan begged her to confirm that she and Taylor were OK.

instagram.com

And who should respond but Karlie’s ACTUAL DAD, confirming that Taylor and Karlie are still friends.

instagram.com

So now we know they’re fine, the countdown is on until we receive the next Kaylor candid. Please don’t make us wait too long, ladies.

CBS

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junker-town · 6 years

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16 amazing things about the day Tennessee almost hired Greg Schiano, but didn’t, after incredible backlash

There’s a lot to digest here.

On Sunday, people took to the internet, the streets of Knoxville, and the phone lines to prevent Tennessee from making Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano its next football coach.

Word came out in the early afternoon that the Vols were closing in on Schiano, and the sudden backlash was massive, even by college football standards. Players, politicians, and fans all raged against Schiano’s hiring.

Many of them cited an allegation that former Penn State assistant Schiano had been aware of sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky. Other arguments by Vols fans included Schiano’s failed Bucs tenure, his one-game-above-.500 record as Rutgers’ 11-year head coach, the fact that his best year in the Big East was more than a decade ago, reports about many of his NFL players and even Peyton Manning hating him, his defense giving up 55 points to Iowa this season, and his perceived similarity to recently fired coach Butch Jones.

By nighttime, it was clear that Tennessee wouldn’t follow through with the hire. UT athletic director John Currie looked out of touch, careless, and incompetent.

That was an unusual day. Here were a few things about it that stand out.

1. It worked.

Tennessee fans, boosters, politicians, and alumni refused to accept the hire, and they found a way to take charge of the program.

2. Tennessee’s first-year AD, whose job is to hire coaches, might have gotten himself sidelined from hiring a coach.

Just asked a source familiar with the Tennessee search who might be offered next. “Gotta see if Currie is still involved.” https://t.co/TUuJhweRq2….

— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) November 27, 2017

3. A Facebook account pretending to belong to the White House press secretary weighed in and got widely cited in sports media.

Also, the fake page has since been deleted or something. It’d been posting daily for months with tens of thousands of followers. A Tennessee coaching search is what got it removed from public.

At least, I think it’s fake, but in this particular moment in both the United States and the Tennessee football program, I can’t say with certainty. The thing about the Vols is that I don’t think anyone has a firm grasp on where fantasy ends and reality begins.

4. This fake Twitter account seemed believable for a second, because this is the kind of staggering incompetence Tennessee could pull off.

Sources close to #Vols AD John Currie tell me he wasn’t aware Greg Schiano coached at Penn State - nor was he aware of the sworn testimony identifying him as having witnessed the abuse of minors - Currie only vetted Schiano’s time from his days at Rutgers thru present day

— Jimmy Hyams (@JiminyHyams) November 26, 2017

Again, that’s not real.

5. Same with this almost certainly incorrect tweet:

There are reports that TN will owe Schiano $20 million in a buyout for a contract that was signed but TN backed out of it. But only speculation on this. Fox Sports Knoxville mentioned this.

— Brad Jones (@BradJonesBBBTV) November 27, 2017

6. All of these local politicians spoke up.

I have reached out to @John_Currie and others in administration at UT expressing that WE as a TN Community do not approve of Schiano. #higherstandards

— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) November 26, 2017

@UTKnoxville if you hire him, the backlash will be insurmountable and devastating to the University and the state.

— Jeremy Faison (@JeremyFaison4TN) November 26, 2017

Our Tennessee standards mean something, and a Greg Schiano hire would be anathema to all that our University and our community stand for. I sincerely hope that these rumors are not true, because even serious consideration would be unacceptable.

— Eddie Smith (@RepEddieSmith) November 26, 2017

@John_Currie YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!! So you plan to hire you're close friend... someone who knew about the Penn State abuse? This says volumes about your judgement & lack of respect for Tennessee. St. Rep Dan Howell http://pic.twitter.com/69TOlTTYQa

— Dan (@DanHowell10) November 26, 2017

We expect the highest standards for our public institutions. The special few chosen to lead within those institutions should have a demonstrated history of integrity and character. I hope today’s rumors are not true, because protecting children is more important than anything.

— Bill Lee (@BillLeeTN) November 26, 2017

7. This politician is the pro wrestler Kane.

Too many well-founded concerns about Schiano from our community. Hiring would be very unpopular and hurt UT.... https://t.co/MryvM8Qrfc

— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) November 26, 2017

This guy:

WWE

8. One prominent Vol announced he’d choose a new college.

I’m just going to say this if we hire Greg Schiano as our next head coach my options will be open to which college program I will Be donating my TIME and MONEY to. (No disrespect to GS) but if UT leaders don’t take football serious then I will find the program that will!!!

— Albert Haynesworth (@haynesworthiii) November 26, 2017

9. A local coffee shop joined in.

Greg Schiano is not allowed in our establishment.

— Remedy Coffee (@remedy_coffee) November 26, 2017

10. There was in-person protesting.

https://t.co/OpziFKo6Wn

— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) November 26, 2017

One leader of the picketing in Knoxville said, “We’re reclaiming our program tonight.” That person was right.

11. Lane Kiffin, who once literally abandoned the Vols in the middle of the night, suddenly seems like a great idea.

Protests on Tennessee's campus on hiring of Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano - Now.. per @Mark_Schlabach - it's not happening - #bringbackkiffin http://pic.twitter.com/FK2P0c5DKW

— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) November 27, 2017

12. This is what was written on The Rock, a Tennessee icon.

The Rock on UT's campus. http://pic.twitter.com/aG3BXrkKOW

— Louis Fernandez Jr (@LouisWBIR) November 26, 2017

The basis for this allegation was a reference to an alleged secondhand discussion. Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel, who’s covered the case, explains the origin:

From the deposition [of former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary]:

Q: “Did [former Penn State assistant Tom Bradley] tell you that he had had information concerning Gerald Sandusky and children?”

A: “He said he knew of some things. … He said another assistant coach had come to him in the early ’90s about a very similar situation to mine, and he said that he had — someone had come to him as far back as early as the ’80s about seeing Jerry Sandusky doing something with a boy.”

Q: “Did he identify who the other coaches were that had given him this information?”

A: “The one in the early ’90s, yes.”

Q: “And who was that?”

A: “Greg Schiano …”

Q: “And did he give you any details about what Coach Schiano had reported to him?”

A: “No, only that he had – I can’t remember if it was one night or one morning, but that Greg had come into his office white as a ghost and said he just saw Jerry doing something to a boy in the shower. And that’s it. That’s all he ever told me.”

Bradley and Schiano denied it when it came out.

In response to media reports from earlier today: I never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse, during my time at Penn State.

— Greg Schiano (@OSUCoachSchiano) July 12, 2016

13. Tennessee got itself blasted for trying to hire a former Buccaneers head coach.

This after a search that had included the following Jon Gruden-related things:

A continuation of a decade of Knoxville infatuation with the former Super Bowl winner.

Thousands of UT fans tuning into a live stream of an airport parking lot in the hopes that it’d reveal Gruden getting off a plane and heading to an introductory press conference at Neyland Stadium.

A local ribs joint confirming false reports that Gruden was dining in Knoxville one night, then walking back that confirmation in an apologetic tweet.

A fan following Currie around the stadium hollering Gruden’s name for the better part of a minute, as the AD masterfully pretends not to hear him.

14. Currie seemingly thought a hire of Schiano would go over fine.

This might be the most amazing part.

15. Now the Vols still have to hire a coach.

Some actual good ideas are here.

16. And while this was all happening, SEC East rival Florida was hiring a great head coach who happened to be the one Currie actually wanted.

Other than that, Tennessee had a smooth and positive day.

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holbyconfessional · 7 years

Text

Holby City S19 E13 - I Do, I Do, I Do.

What follows may be a disjointed review. And long. Sorry! I really ought to have a rewatch before I post, but I’m not ready. So, there may be future reblogs if I miss anything important.

Firstly, Mr T’s wedding. I was ridiculously pleased to see Hanssen back, I always miss him when he’s gone. And it’s remarkable how well he managed to pull the Swedish trad attire look - never more noticeable than when he and Hanssen were making their way back to find Mo after Hanssen applied his uncanny ability to see right through everyone’s personal feelings - let’s call him the Feelings Fairy, or the Fairy Feeling-Father of Holby... But I digress.

Hanssen was great in this episode. As just mentioned, his counselling of Mr T that it’s Mo that he loves - coupled nicely with his wedding speech with the nod to Mo about everything that is meant to be happens eventually. Hiding in the tower, looking for woodpeckers to avoid being chased by Mama T, and just generally his reaction to the totally inappropriate sexual harrassment from the aforementioned Mama T.

Mo was great in this ep too. She looked amazing and had some great one liners, something about Swedish feet and lack of nerve endings, or some such! She knew what she was doing, telling Mama T about the lack of baby. She knew Mama T would blow the whistle. And hell, fair play, why not? If she couldn’t do it herself, best to hand the reins over! Also loved the birthing scene, with Mr T, Mo and baby Charleston. (Wonder how long they get to be happy before Charlie’s life is threatened?)

Without a doubt, the undeniable star of the wedding show was the inimitable Jac Naylor, Queen of sarcasm. She was just an absolute delight, from her first appearance in her suit, to her reluctant wedding dance and appeal to Mo to rescue her, down to her complaints about being Mo’s unplanned birthing partner for a second time. But then just getting into the water with all her damned clothes on to help Mo out regardless. And then, missing the drama and getting drunk... I can say without question that Jac was the saving grace for me tonight.

HOWEVER. I barely concentrated on a moment of the damned wedding. Even the Jac bits just flitted before my eyes. Because the whole episode was waiting for the next Elinor/Jason bit. There had been no secret in the spoilers that there would be a) an accident involving Elinor and Jason, and b) Serena and Mo would be having life changing experiences. Now, I may not be a rocket scientist, but...

So, on to the only bit I managed to really take in.

Wow, the accident happened early in the episode. When Elinor came in wired, talking about her report that she’d written, it appeared early on that her drug use was going to play a bit part in the episode. Actually, that theme was continued on later, when she was asking Jasmine where she could put her bag so that it was ‘out of the way’, ie hiding the evidence. However, from that point, the drugs were not really mentioned. I am surprised, however I suspect the issue may resurface (theories later).

The basis of the argument, or Serena supposedly keeping things from Elinor, turned out to be something as minor as Serena having stepped down as CEO and not discussed it with Elinor. It seems silly, but I guess if Elinor is feeling a little at sea having to adjust to a new relationship in her mothers life (gender irrelevant), then I guess she’s more likely to be a bit sensitive about everything, even the littlest things. And the drugs don’t help, kids!

Cue the racing to follow her out, and the accident - which Serena puts down to Elinor being so tired from being up all night.

Bernie was absolutely awesome, taking control. I guess her army training coming to the fore, as she has undoubtedly got feelings for Jason herself. She was amazing in theatre, although I felt the ‘it can’t be done’ from Morven, followed by the highly risky, almost impossible liver lac repair being successfully achieved by one Bernie Wolfe, Trauma Surgeon extraordinare was a mite heavy handed. Especially considering later events.

Bernie’s moment after the surgery, when all her emotions came out, was just beautiful. At the time, I was disappointed that we didnt get to see her break the good news to Serena, but again, later events explained why that wasn’t done.

Serena’s chat with (most probably shiftily playing around with drug paraphenalia) Elinor in the locker room was lovely. I loved the attempts at openness on both sides, of course designed to make Elinor a more sympathetic character before sending her to her fate, and Serena’s game was really sweet. Also Serena’s later reveal to Jason that she was thinking about inviting Ellie back to live with them again, ramping up the angst.

I will mention Liberty briefly, but I don’t think she deserves it. I can’t really see the point of her character anyway, so she showed up whilst Serena had to perform life saving surgery - she served no purpose to me at all, she didn’t make Serena look bad, she just showed up then buggered off, leaving nary a ripple on my screen.

Now to Elinor’s collapse. Naughty, naughty Jasmine. She is a doctor, yes? Since when is it OK for doctors to let themselves be talked out of giving a patient neuro obs? I know people can refuse treatment, but Ellie technically didn’t do that, and hells, woman, she’s Serena’s daughter. Mindless stupid girl. Not endeared her to me at all.

Bernie and Serena whilst watching Ellie’s surgery were lovely. The hand clutching for support, perfect. And finally, Serena at Elinor’s bedside running through the neuro tests that Ellie had failed - all the basic tests to determine brain stem function. Which seemingly is not present in Ellie. An absolutely heartbreaking scene. Bernie has clearly demonstrated her commitment to be there for Serena, which is great. BUT, I do feel that this disaster has been of rather epic proportions, quite unnecessarily so. I believe exactly the same committment could have been shown without tearing Serena’s life apart quite so dramatically.

I rather discordant note from that scene - for me - was Bernie asking Serena if Elinor was a donor. I don’t think Bernie should have done that at all. She was there as Serena’s support, not a transplant co-ordinator. And to have brought that up as a ‘spouse’, well, I think perhaps it’s a little soon in their relationship to be claiming joint parental responsibility for Elinor, especially with Elinor’s reaction to them.

This a pretty long post, seems a bit pointless to put a cut in now, but since I’m about to chuck in some speculation, here goes.

Elinor’s drug use. As I mentioned, with the repeated nods to it within the story, it seems that Serena is still unaware.. I feel it’s likely that the discovery has something to do with the chewing out she gives Jasmine in the Autumn trailer - so that’s one way they’re going to use it. But how will it come up now? My main bet is that Serena will decide to donate Ellie’s organs, so something good can come out of her death. But then some test or other will somehow highlight her drug use and render her organs unusable. Yet another blow for Serena. But with this theory, why do it? Does it really add to the drama? They’ve already established that the car accident could just have been a combination of tiredness and upset from the argument. They didn’t need to have Elinor as a drug user - the pain tht the knowledge would have brought Serena would have been far greater in life than after Ellie’s death, surely? It just seems extremely unnecessary - unless it really IS just a tool to allow Serena to yell at Jasmine, and surely, she’s got more than enough reason without that one.

My other theory, and I am aware that this is not going to happen (apparently some writer on Twitter categorically confirmed that Elinor was dead?) was that the drug use could have a far more interesting part to play. In an (quite possibly outdated and superceded) medical paper from the 1980s detailing the criteria for determining brain death, as seen here, in the case of head injury combined with a history of drug use, accurate measures of brain stem activity can’t be determined until several days have passed, as drug use could cause a temporary lack of activity. Therefore, I feel the most effective use of the storyline would be to have this happen - in other words, the drama without the death. It would still have been unlikely in this scenario that Elinor would have recovered unscathed, so still plenty of scope for long term angst. That, folks, is how I would’ve written it anyway :-)

Anyway, I rarely speculate quite so wildly in these reviews, so apologies. There are a lot of feelings out there at the moment, some folks are hopeful, others disheartened, and others still are painfully affected by the story. Regardless of which each viewer is, it’s undeniable that it’s going to be hard to watch, because if you’re reading this, there’s a fair bet you care about the characters. Bernie wasn’t wrong when she said that no parent should outlive their child. As an avenue to explore Bernie’s commitment to Serena, it all seems a bit crass to me. But we will no doubt get some amazing acting out of it.

Grief sometimes brings couples together. But sometimes it drives them apart. And since I’m all aboard the speculation train, I am just going to throw one last thought out there. I don’t know when JR’s contract is up, but Serena’s grief and pushing Bernie away, hell, it’s not inconceivable that a few months down the road it could be a departure storyline. Grief doesn’t pass overnight, the ramifications can be seen months down the line. And there’s only so long Bernie can try to be there for Serena if Serena chooses to repeatedly push her away. (Not specifically saying this is what I think will happen. Just generally sayin’!)

#Holby City #bbc holby #Mo Effanga #Mr T #Derwood Thompson #Jac Naylor #Serena Campbell #Bernie Wolfe #jason haynes #Elinor Campbell #berena #campwolfe #Henrik Hanssen

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