what happened tonight with the wjw?

I'm too lazy to go back to watch the recording and annoy myself all over again lmao but essentially Kristian noticed someone in the chat say they had a question but they dare not ask, and said that normally he doesn't take questions from the chat but he was desperate to know what that question was. So people started tagging the person to get their attention and they came back with this SUPER appropriate and not at all embarrassing question.

Thankfully Kristian either didn't see the actual question, or ignored it, but yeah. Obnoxious as hell.

Poison into Positivity: A List of What I Liked in OFMD S2

Hello hello everyone! Things have been a little rough around here. Even away from the more heated takes, I've still seen a few "down in the dumps" murmurs. To which, I'm giving y'all big hugs, but also offering up some little bits of warmth! I wanted to share quite a few bullets of the things I enjoyed about this season. Maybe it'll serve as a reminder, or maybe it'll just serve as a chaotic, silly little read as per usual PFFF.

But I invite you to read along, and even add some of your own points should you feel inclined! Also, this might not even be my full list; these are just the ones that came to me quickly/off the top of my head. Still, let's dive on down like a fantastical, dazzling goldfish, shall we?

All the callbacks/parallels. My goodness. When I tell you I'm a SLUT for metaphors/parallels/callbacks/etc etc. Seeing so many things and being able to just *Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme.* I know people might not share that same opinion because some might view it to be excessive, but I personally LOVED being able to point at my screen and be like "oH EYYYYYYY!!!" Maybe because it makes for such immaculate gifset/meta material <3 SJKJDLHSK

The costuming and makeup. WHEN THEY TALKED AT ECCC ABOUT EVERYONE GETTING HOTTER, THEY WERE NOT KIDDING LMAO. EVERYONE LOOKED SO, SO GOOD. and listen, i am on my knees begging for them to give ed with his hair up back to us. i need Her back,,,ALSO, SOMETHING SOMETHING COMPLICATED EMOTIONS TOWARDS STEDE'S LATTER HALF LOOK, BUT ALSO...GOD DAMN, MR. DARBY,,,,,,

Speaking of Mr. Darby, the acting in this season. The ACTTTINNNGG. Everyone acted their ASSES off. Everyone put their entire piratussies into this season. Though, I'm PARTICULARLY impressed with Taika and Rhys, because again with their "oh we're comedians lol so idk drama can be Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult." MMMM I THINK THE FUCK NOT, MY GUYS LMAO??? They both did SO well with all the drama and painful moments. The acting in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7 in particular like...God. GOD!!!

I loved so many characters in this season, and I'll of course have to give two individual shoutouts to my two favorite new ladies, but man. LET'S GO FRENCHIE!!! ALWAYS A DELIGHT!!! FANG/KEVIN MY ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART. JIM SERVING ABSOLUTE FUCKING GENDER THIS SEASON. OLU OLU DARLING OLU. PETE NEVER MISSING WITH HIS ONELINERS. LUCIUS BEING SO THEATRICAL AHDJKSDK LIKE NATHAN PLEASE YOU KILL ME. ROACH MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES AS HE DOES. WEE JOHN AND HIS KNITTING AND DRAG!!! AND THEN OF COURSE MY DEARLY BELOVEDS, ED AND STEDE. I JUST LOVE THEMMMMM!!! But okay okay okay-

Zheng my beloved. I just love this badass pirate queen with her sweet little pigtails and her IMMACULATE LINE DELIVERIES SDHJKSKL. A lot of my favorite deliveries from the entire season came from her quite honestly. Please see: "Girl, how ARE you?" and "Hiiiiiii. I KNOWWW it's been a day" and "I've killed mediocre men. I've killed exceptional men. But you're the worst kind: a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional."

AND ARCHIE MY BELOVED. She kills me because I remember seeing like, those ~*~audition tape whispers~*~ WAY back in the day, and subsequently thinking she was going to be quite a different character. Only for this silly goofy bubbly energetic darling to pop up and snag my heart. HER deliveries kill me also, like when she goes "Like...STEDE Stede?" and the whole "I was IN the fuckin' snake!" also hhngngngngnershkfhslkds tattooed ladies Hot :(

Speaking of which, the comedy. THE DELIVERIES. THE WAY I LAUGHED OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT, EVEN WITH THE DEEP UNDERCURRENT OF DRAMA/ANGST. The whole bit where Stede is in hysterics over his cursed coat is just hsjkdhsklds; it will NEVER not make me wheeze. And then, like I said, almost EVERYTHING Pete says this season kills me; another thing that will never not make me laugh is "a doggie...?" weird little pirate show with weird little humor my beloved

The ROMANCE??? I genuinely was going into the season with the expectation of getting maybe like, one or two Gentlebeard kisses. Imagine my shock and utter delight when we ended up with FOUR, AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE SCENE, THE LETTER SCENES, AND THE LOVE PROFESSIONS. Like, one of them dropping a legitimate "I love you" felt like an unrealistic expectation--the HIGHEST dream tier really. And then wouldn't you know it. And that doesn't even account for all the rest of the couples either! The murder wives having their chaotic little moments of fucked up affection??? LUCIUS AND PETE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEN MARRIED??? HELLO??????

The sets! I know people have pointed out that the world felt a bit simplified this time around, due to budget restraints and what have you. But I still loved what they did with the world even with the various constraints. The market in episode 6 is a PARTICULAR favorite of mine; it's just so lush and colorful. I also love what they did with The Revenge during episode 6 too!

Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really actually liked that they filmed on location. First of all, love that the Kiwis got to be right at home in Aotearoa. Love that they have an even more special connection to the show now. But second of all, I just like when scenery is...actually THERE? It feels way more TANGIBLE. Don't get me wrong; that hugeass wraparound screen that they use to film a lot of sets is a technological marvel. But I'm a sucker for practical.

The deeper and more complex dives into character motivations/trauma. Like, homie lol...When I tell you episodes 6 and 7 utterly set my brain alight in the best way possible. I was CHUGGING through thoughts. You know those gifs where someone is walking around and ranting/passionately talking,,, yeah. Yeah. Maybe because a lot of it "struck a chord" with me indeed, but I love love LOVE getting brain food like that.

Speaking of brain food, in PARTICULAR, the deeper dives into Ed's self-loathing and into Stede's troubles with confidence and masculinity. A lot of Stede's choices were fueled by those two things, and it was SO friggin fun to catch all of them, put them in a jar, and shake them around. I've seen a lot of people fearing his actions in the latter half were out of character, but to me, I don't see it that way. I just see a man who has been so spurned, so left behind, and SO deprived, a man who is stuck thinking he has to be someone else to mean something. And I think that plays a lot into even the EARLIEST developments we saw in season 1, so it was just so intriguing to watch everything messily play out.

THE INNKEEPER. THE INNKEEPER MY BELOVED. SO much about that episode absolutely has my heart. All the different developments, the stakes, the pacing, and the payoff at the end. Not to mention that I had a FEELING that mysterious figure in the trailers was Hornigold, so it was so SO validating to see him pop up PFFF. And also, all those dream/gravy basket sequences were so so good too. I don't know if it's the chemistry between Taika and Mark, or the deeper symbolism, or the lines that have become vocal stims for me SJKDLS (please see: ooOOoooO eddie eddie eddie...you're laying some heavy shit on me, bro), but man. MAN.

And this one gets its own bullet because of course it does: the fucking mermaid scene. Like, are we kidding. ARE WE KIDDING. THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL? THE FANTASTICAL-NESS INDEED?? THE WAY IT WAS ALL FUCKING PRACTICAL AND RHYS SWAM DOWN TO TAIKA AS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GOLDFISH AND THEY HAD TO THROW HEART EYES AT EACH OTHER UNDERWATER??? WHAT THE FUCK!!! And don't even get me started on Kate Bush lol. This Woman's Work might easily be one of my favorite songs, if not my FAVORITE song from the season. And man. Man. The whole meaning behind Ed seeing Stede as this beautiful, sparkly being, and not some hypermasculine/extraordinary thing. He fell in love with Stede for who Stede really is. And so I ADORE that acknowledgement.

Speaking of songs, the MUSIC!!! Absolute bangers all throughout. And I loved how there seemed to be even more intermixed within the episodes. Like God... "These are the kids..." 🗣️ HELLO MY LOVE I HEARD A KISS FROM YOU 🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟 . And all the beautiful classic piano pieces and NINA SIMONE AND JUST HSJKDHSFJKLHSKD????

Okay, I've always had and STILL have complicated thoughts and opinions on Izzy, but man, seeing him interact with the Revenge Crew was really something. Seeing Stede's influence come over the lot of them like a warm blanket, extending its welcoming and familial hands...It was just lovely. I love seeing our little sea family care for each other so much. They've probably all hurt so so much in different ways, so to see them all being a collective heart is just so nice.

Speaking of which, the queerness of it all, the queer celebration of it all. The way the whole crew is just...a representation of queer people finding each other, and subsequently finding love and family in each other. Like, when the whole world wants to cast you out, you pull each other in. When no one else wants you, you take refuge in each other. And just...the joy, beauty, and wonder that can be found in that.

And speaking of which x2, the overall care that was put into the entire thing, the effort that was put into the entire thing. I know Max fucked us over with the budget, which subsequently fucked things like the intricacy, the amount of characters, and especially the pacing. But, I don't know; I personally could still tell everyone involved was trying so so hard to deliver for us. Based on the little details, the little callbacks, and the little moments that felt so catered to us, it just seemed so...gifted to us. Not to mention of course, the way they so deliberately chose to end on a hopeful note in case we never get a third season. They care about us. They've always cherished our excitement and passion, so it just...idk; it feels so special to have a bit more of an intimate connection like that. I've never been involved with a piece of media that so avidly SEES its audience, and celebrates along with us. So, despite everything, despite any sort of troubles, despite any sort of lows, that's a big part of what has me clutching all of this so closely to my chest. And I really hope they can still see that love, because I want nothing more than for them to see this beautiful story through.

Also, getting to enjoy this with everyone. Getting to ride the wave from the beginning of filming, all the way through the finale. Getting to see all the excitement, all the theories, all the art, all the fanfiction, all the gif sets, all the meta, and everything in between. It has carried me through some nastiness in my personal life, and has subsequently served as a very welcomed distraction. It's been such a pleasure getting to delight in this new content with you all, and I hope we get to do so into the future. <3

I think the whole "I had to drop my phone...and go to Costa Rica for a while" thing is very likely because Rhys has been almost entirely a comedic side character in his work for like, 25 years. He's been earning his living being funny and awkward in front of a camera, which is a different subdivision of Hollywood from being attractive in front of a camera. He probably, as he got older, settled into that identity just fine. He likes being the funny guy, he feels fine about how he looks, he married a lovely woman and therefore didn't need to fixate on his appeal in the way that people who are dating need to (or feel they need to, rather).

Being Funny as an identity (especially for Rhys's generation of comics) often means you have written off the idea of being considered conventionally attractive. Not because you're not attractive! But because you start being funny when you're a kid to get people to like you, because you're kind of weird and awkward and you have bad skin and don't really fit into your body, and nobody will like you unless you have "being funny" to offer to the group.

Being Funny also means you're probably very good at redirecting conversation away from the parts of yourself you don't want people to see, you're very good at self-deprecating jokes, and you probably feel like you need to earn your space in most situations by Being Funny (ask me how I know). And when you're in your late 40s and quite settled into this identity, becoming an overnight sex symbol and having your social media feeds suddenly flooded with incredibly detailed artistic depictions of you as a sex symbol, I would guess that is extremely hard to wrap one's head around!!! It probably feels uncomfortable at first!! If your relationship with your body is "oh that old thing, don't worry it tells jokes," then having dozens of people drawing you as a tasteful nude has gotta be weird! I get it, and I sympathize. If I had something that big happening to my identity I might also go to Costa Rica for a bit (no I would not, I cannot afford that, I would probably go to Lake Michigan for like a day and call it even).

And as for why Taika and Con have been able to embrace the fanart from the start, well. Leslie Jones has already asked the important question of Taika: "Do you know you fine as hell?" And yeah, he absolutely does. And like he says, he knew it in high school too. And I say this because he went into entertainment, he probably wanted this at least a little bit, like come on. He's funny too, obviously, but he's always been hot, and he knows that. He didn't have to fall back on being funny because he was also Fine As Hell. Before OFMD was even an idea he'd already had all these photoshoots of him being a goofball in one shot and a Brooding Romantic Lead type in another. Dude knew his range well before the first sketch of Blackbeard in fishnets dropped. He was always gonna be fine.

And Con! Con has been a romantic interest several times in his tv/film career, from the very start. He's a side character pretty often, but the man has gotten plenty of feedback that he's attractive enough to be a romantic interest on a screen. Hell, just in 2020 he was a romantic lead on a podcast drama (which was a great story, he's great in it, very fun little horror drama). So while he may not have the same Fine As Hell and Knows It energy Taika has, Con probably came into OFMD more sure of his physical attractiveness than of his comedic acting skills. And when the Izzy fanart started dropping, he probably didn't have much trouble getting excited about it after the initial surprise, because he hadn't written off his physical attractiveness in the way Rhys probably had.

i rewatched the finale just now, and I have some thoughts.

mainly, i want to thank taika and david for this wonderful show that's brought me immense joy this last month, and i'll always take it with me no matter if we manage to get a third season or not.

did i like the finale? yes, i really did. did i think it was very rushed, had weird scene placements and could've gone with another episode to even things out? also yes.

as far as izzy goes (and this is where it gets extremely controversial knowing how much this fandom loves him); i am actually glad his storyline ended here.

this entire season, we got to enjoy him and we got to see his redemption arc. from someone who is obsessed with this monster of a being, to someone who learns to come into his own, away from all the toxicity and poison. he gets to find out more about himself, and with that grow closer to the people around him and allow himself to have friends. a family, even. would i have loved to see him live a full life like this? definitely. but story-wise, this is a perfect ending for him. "you born alone, you die alone" he said, and then he passed peacefully surrounded by his family and in the arms of not blackbeard, but edward.

i need the people of this fandom to understand that just because your favorite character died, doesn't mean that it instantly turns into a bad show/season/whatever. you have to look outside of your bias, and instead of going "no fuck this show because i did not want him to die" you could go "i am incredibly sad that he died but i'm so happy to have known him and to have him in my life". it's a show, the character isn't going away simply because he died.

but then again, izzy didn't mean as much as he did to the majority of you and i don't wanna go around telling people how to feel, because feelings and emotions are real and if he meant a lot to you then yes, of course you're hurt. and that's 100% completely valid. just don't take it out on the rest of the show and the show writers (saw some ppl say that nasty things were being tweeted at djenkins and that's not ok. at all.)

idk, even after watching it twice i feel kinda... weird.... like too much happened in little time. but i am OVERJOYED that lucius and pete got to have their little wedding <3333 they're mateys!!!! i just wish it wasn't over in 30 seconds, as well as completely overshadowed by izzy's death 2 minutes before.

but i do think the finale had some GREAT bits in it. even if most of it felt rushed, there was comedy, emotion, romance, GREAT kisses (the way gentlebeard was handled in this episode made me very giddy!!)..... it just always delivers.... and watching this with everything else that happened in s2 I can safely say that this might be my favorite season of any show out there.

once again; THANK you taika and david <3 love youuu

okay, so i don't want to, like, Start Something or whatever so we're doing a barely-tagged, separate post. i also realise this is mostly pointless because others have already said what i'm going to say, and did it better, with far more grace, and sound less like an asshole than i do.

but jesus louise helen christ, the weird fucked up ideas people have around abuse and personal responsibility and the effect of trauma. like as an abuse and csa survivor, it genuinely alarms me to read posts that use arguments i remember my dad making. like, i'm assuming most of this rhetoric comes from gen z — maybe that's inaccurate; maybe that's unfair. but right now i'm very much Having A Moment Here that the kids aren't alright.

no 22-year-old should be repeating the same awful, manipulative, logically and morally bankrupt justifications for violence and torture my dad says. like literally what's in the first two episodes of ofmd s2 is torture.

i love ed; he's an amazing character. taika is hella wowza top marks acting him. but like.

like.

torture, my dude. physical and psychological. trauma. harassment. that we see the lasting effects of through s2.

just. i. what??

so here we go, okay. have too many, zealously highlighted screenshots so i can dig into details.

cut to save your dashes. content warning for discussions of abuse and trauma (if that wasn't obvious), as well as spoilers for ofmd s2.

re: ed knew what he was doing was wrong and felt guilty about it at the time:

we have no on-screen, textual examples of this. not in the dialogue; not in the acting; not in the blocking; not in the cinematography or music. nothing.

knowing the crew are overworked and kind of traumatised by all the violence, ed bribes them with cake. because, as we know, cake like tea fixes everything. only ed wasn't even with them to share in the eating of the cake. he made izzy responsible for that. he doesn't give the crew a break; he doesn't choose less ethically-fraught prizes to hunt. there is not one scene of ed talking directly to the crew — until he points a gun at each of them.

we see ed crying (and drinking, and rhino horn-ing [way to help further extinction, man]) but it's always paired with shots or flashbacks that reference stede. ed is still all up in his feelings about stede, and ed confirms this when he tells frenchie the myth about albatrosses never needing to return to land. ed cannot go back, does not want to go back, because he was rejected. (like, stede is literally landed gentry, come on!) all he wants to do instead is stay at sea committing to this unhinged version of unstable, sadistic piracy.

but okay, okay. say we ignore all of that. let's say ed does feel sorry and guilty and ashamed of his actions. he knows what he's doing is wrong and unfair and cruel. that it's harming others. that it's particularly harming the dude that ed has, for better or worse, basically spent his life with (izzy; i mean izzy). ed… still continues to do the things! how far off are we at this point from the definition of malicious? you know action x hurts person b and then you do it anyway. is that honestly a better, happier, more ethically defensible reading of the character?

re: the crew didn't mutiny because they love ed despite his violent, sadistic actions.

mutinies were a thing, yes. but both historically and in the world rules established by the show, mutiny is disincentivised through threats, distraction via extra work, and corporeal punishment. we see both ed and izzy use all three of these to try to prevent the crew from disobeying orders. they didn't wait until the storm and izzy shooting ed to mutiny because they understood or sympathised with ed; they took the chance to kill him then because that was the first real opportunity they'd had. the reward finally out-weighed the risk given that ed was going to kill them all that night anyway.

again, we have no scenes, no dialogue, no visual or audio cues to tell us that the crew understands or loves ed — excluding izzy, obviously. fang could also be on that list, if you take into account his personality and his behaviour both in s1 and later in s2 in the fishing boat scene. but in the first two episodes, we only see the crew show trauma responses around ed. they talk about him but almost never to him. and when they do have a direct conversation with ed, it is either confrontation or head down, submissive, "of course, blackbeard; anything you say" placating. i'm so baffled where the show points to any sign of love from the crew towards ed before his "death".

re: ed can't be held responsible because he was suicidal.

uhm. no. hard no. a harder no than stede's brazilian cherry wood mast. fucked up people do fucked up things but part of being an adult is owning your fucked-upped-ness and not fucking up others while you work on unfucking yourself. children, children are not fully responsible for the impact of their actions on others when they're deep in their feelings, especially if they're feeling their feelings as a trauma response. this is because literally their brain cannot do that kind of control. it doesn't have that software pack installed yet. ed does have all the adult updates installed, even if he isn't running them at that moment. he has no right to take out his feelings on other people: to maim them, to psychologically torture them, to abuse them, to work them to exhaustion. to kill them. he does not get a free pass to do suicide by abused employees. (like suicide by cop but more indirect and passive and harmful.) talk about passive aggressive.

secondly, ed is not just passively suicidal and happy to find new risks that might end his life. he is very purposefully taking izzy with him (see: literally removing the bits of izzy that would help let him walk away from ed; the fact that ed becomes actively suicidal only once he thinks izzy is dead; the whole keeping izzy's corpse in front of his and stede's beach shack i mean inn — the codependence, she runs deep). ed is also putting the crew through the same risks, the same isolation, the same danger. both stede and izzy agreed that ed had gone full scorched earth policy. you don't get forgiven for the murder part of a murder-suicide pact just because of the suicide part. not to mention that no one (once again, you could potentially argue izzy as an exception) was good on a murder-suicide pact with blackbeard.

and then to say the crew felt guilty? i assume i'm misreading that. the crew. felt guilty. for ed's actions. that is, if not victim blaming and if not darvo, a very close inbred cousin of them. like hapsburg jaw inbred close.

re: ed healing and his view of himself as a monster.

to heal means, in part, to accept responsibility for the harm you've caused, whether it was intentional or not. it means making amends. it means building or rebuilding relationships where possible. it means putting the other person or persons' feelings and boundaries and need for safety above your desire for absolution or forgiveness. it means working through your own guilt and shame and anger (or whatever drove you to act the way you did) in a separate space, not with the people you hurt, but someone who can be a step removed, more impersonal and objective to help you reflect and face hard truths as needed. i say this as both someone involved in activism and community reparations and as an abuse survivor who has done nearly 30 years of therapy learning this in order to not hurt people. it's not ed's fault he's fucked up just like it isn't my fault i am. but it is on me, like it is on anyone, to make sure i limited as much as possible the harm i can cause to others because i learned some awful but very effective tricks at a young age to survive.

ed does not really do any of the above. he doesn't say "sorry". he speaks in generalised language. he complains about the cat bell (which he seems to wear only for one day, given the implied timeline with lucius and pete's engagement). i have a model ship on a stand that says "this is a safe space ship" as a joke because i work for the government and have written press releases that sound just like ed's "apology". where you take no responsibility and encourage "the culture" to move on.

so, really, my question becomes: ed sees himself as a monster. in s1, we had enough balance between ed's current actions and his referenced past actions to see this belief as likely untrue. in s2 though — i mean, is it? is that an unfair or inaccurate belief? i can understand how carrying that belief can get in the way of ed's growth and eventual healing but like. from an outside perspective of ed-the-fictional-character. he's not a "good" person. he's capable of and has done and continued to do horrible, cruel things. ethically, can you argue with that statement about him?

re: ed trying to destroy relationships because of his self-worth issues and instead the consequences of his actions proving that he's loved.

this is the point that made me go: right, no, i need to respond. i need to say my piece about this. izzy and the crew suffering ed's violent tyranny and then sticking around on the revenge anyway afterwards is not a sign of love. it is not showing love to bear pain for someone. it not showing love to let someone mistreat you, threaten you, hurt you, maim you. their actions are selfish and done to give them feelings of power and control over you. lying back and thinking of england to get through it is not love. it is absolutely a survival technique. but it is not love when you do it at the expense of yourself or others.

i also disagree that ed was trying to push people away or break his relationships with others. we know from s1 that ed is fairly blasé about whether crew members die. again, we don't see any friendly or intimate exchanges between ed and any of the crew to imply any kind of relationship there beyond "tools who accomplish ed's goals". the one exception, as always, is izzy. and as previously stated, ed seems bound and determined, in a very conscious way, to bring izzy into death with him. ed does everything in his power to make izzy want to kill ed, or at least agree that it's best if ed dies, and to want to kill himself so ed doesn't have to die alone. that isn't ed breaking that relationship; it's making it permanent in a really fucked up shakespearian way. the only relationship we see ed waffle between wanting to keep and wanting to push away is stede. after his corporate "apology" and the fishing trip with fang, all of ed's dialogue is with stede and a little bit with zheng until izzy's death scene. the crew loving ed just isn't a thing, at least not one we're shown. not from either side. ed's relationships are with stede and kind of, sort of with izzy (because he does manage to, if not fully break, do some major damage to that).

love did not save ed. ed wanting to live, because stede came back, because he didn't want to jump off hornigold's cliff in the first place, saved ed. izzy saved everyone else.

so yeah: that's it; that's the post. the rhetoric that abuse is love or that abuse can be "cured" with love or that trauma isn't lasting and serious and has impacts on people's daily lives is just. wild. wild.

and terrifying.

my dad was born in the 40s. why is anyone born in the 80s or later still defending this mindset? it honestly, truly freaks me out.

guess it's good i have a fucking therapy appointment on monday.

The most ridiculous take I keep hearing is “season 2 might have flaws but you’re not allowed to criticise them because of all the show has done for the queer community”

Ok, what exactly has it done? We’ve never heard David, Taika or Rhys publicly advocate for LGBT+ rights (which of course no one has to do if they are involved in a show with queer rep, but it gets weird when your whole message is “yeah we get you, this show was made for you, we are sooo happy that we are soooo amazing at creating a space for queer people”).

Creating a show with queer characters is nice but it dosnt change anything in the real world, it might help us escape from reality for a while but it won’t make the reality we need to escape from better.

When cast members/DJ talk about it at all, its always very unspecified and unpolitical “Yeah, let’s just all treat each other with kindness” vibes.

Literally the only* cast member who openly stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights, somebody who regularly shares his support for trans people online, who on his own initiative used the opportunity on panels to talk about queer rights and what we can do to keep them (“vote the fuckers out”), who is not afraid to find very clear words to defend the queer community against arseholes is Con O’Neill… you know the ONE person who’s character David decided to kill off.

Sorry if it offends you, that I think a 57 year old queer guy, who engages with the fandom daily, publicly defends my right to exists, has played a notable amount of queer characters during his career, has probably done more for the queer community than Mr. David-I don’t know what queer baiting is- Jenkins.

————————————-

*I do realise that you can count Vico Ortiz as a queer activist, although many thinks they do that people refer to as activism are actually just them existing in public, they’re also a drag king and drag is a form of protest.  !Edit: have been informed that Vico indeed does a lot of activism in spanish that my non-spanish speaking ass just didn’t pick up on =Con O’Neill is the only one EXCEPT Vico Ortiz

Just watched Free Guy. As is the case with all Ryan Reynolds vehicles, I thought it was reasonably good. Corny at points. But one thing I found genuinely charming was the level of verisimilitude baked into the plot and premise; the writing and art people were both clearly familiar with both the mechanics of MMOS like Free City and the game industry more broadly. 

Taika Waititi’s character- a craven “whiz kid” who uses his power over his subordinates to make an ass of himself playing at being hip, is a Kind Of Guy. The Joe Keery vessel and Millie- Bright Young Developers Eaten By The Machine- are kinds of guys, in Game-Dev. (Hi, ZA/UM!) The kind of off-the-beaten-path player that Guy becomes- and the stark light it throws the actual intended gameplay loop into- is a thing you see constantly in big MMOs where players try to see what the actual affordances of the framework are.  (You saw this a lot with Fallout 76, and the sinking playerbase discovery that it was all violence all the way down.)

The plot point that the stolen content was inadequately dummied out and just left out of bounds for the heroes to discover is something that would look like shitty, overly convenient writing until you remember the ubiquity of lazy dummy-outs and weird legacy code in real life game-dev (and how pointedly lazy the villain who did it was established to be.) The early plot point about the developers going in with cheat-mode enabled to try and root Guy out manually feels like a “NCIS hacking” moment until you remember those old-school MMO stories about developers having to try and go in and manually kill hackers because the only other way to get rid of them would be to scrub the server. EVE online and World Of Warcraft are a mill for stories about emergent systems and dynamics that spiral out of player and developer control. Guy is able to win the end-game fight against Dude because despite being massively overpowered Dude was thrown together in Crunch Time and Guy had years to emerge organically in conversation with the rest of his system.

And-this is crucial- this is the first “video game movie” to successfully bridge what I think of as the “granularity gap” in fictional depictions of video games. The granularity gap is when the in-game worlds are shown with an absurd level of fidelity- avatars having the ability to interact with the environment with the same fluidity and articulation as a human in real life, et al et al. This is done either for the gag (see that one episode of Community Where Abed turns a retro RPG into a factory sim as a bit) or because the writers genuinely don’t have the frame of reference for the limitations on how in-depth a game would be. Either way I’ve watched a bunch of “stuck in a game world” shows where my first reaction is always, “yeah, there’s very little chance a consumer game would have that level of brick-by-brick simulation.” 

In Free Guy, this disconnect is elevated to the status of plot point; the universe of the game was mechanistically engineered with Dwarf-fortress levels of commitment to reproducing reality by a pair of neurotic auteurs doing it for the art. The mass-market, run-and-gun cash-grab GTA clone has such unrealistically complicated under-the-hood modelling because a craven goon butchered a system meant for more interesting emergent behaviors in order to make a marketable shooter that doesn’t use even a sliver of what the engine was coded to allow. If you assume a Black-Mirror-style near-future, this falls back within my suspension of disbelief; even if not, it’s thematically within my suspension of disbelief that a “kiss” functionality exists within NPCS but got dummied out on the player-end because it would detract from over-the-top clownshow streamer-bait violence.

Dunno how unpopular this opinion is but imo people turned on Taika before Thor 4, he was getting hate about Jojo Rabbit, and tbh people were calling Taika a predator when he first started seeing Rita, implying he had become shallow and superficial and had dumped his family and wanted a pretty young trophy wife (she's more money than him ffs) and he got hate for that three-way kiss with Tessa (which was just a bit of drunken tomfoolery between friends Rita and Tessa have both said it was nothing more).

Hey Anon! Yeah I can see that. I know a few people who got pretty weird about Taika after jojo rabbit. People are always gonna find something to be irritated about. It's frustrating that everyone gets up in arms about 3 friends kissing like that too. They're all consenting adults in this case (as opposed to creepy producers or whatever) so let them have their fun. I've certainly kissed friends before (consensually) , not everything has to be so devastating when something like that happens. Anyway-- have a good night anon! Take care!

Different Anon You'll also notice that while trying to paint Jenkins like some kind of evil het force that the poor queer actors had to subvert that they still want to downplay Rhys and Taika's contributions because the fact that those two directly influenced the series becoming more of a romcom contradicts the canyon's weird obsessive narrative about Con and to an extent, Vico, as their champions from the inside. I want to be kind, because I do think *some* of this happened in reaction to fans who were OTT in hating Izzy last season and extending that hate to people who enjoy him. It's okay to have a weird mean little side character be your fave. Happens to the best of us, I don't think it says anything inherently bad about anyone, you just gotta know the difference between Important To Me and Important To The Story, and these people have absolutely lost the thread there.

Again, so much of this seems to be such a twisting of what making art in a collaborative medium is. If a director or show runner doesn’t listen to their actors and others, then the set becomes toxic and it comes out on screen. Jenkins obviously listened, he had other writers, directors, and artists shaping the narrative and was a good enough collaborator to not try to walk over them for whatever his initial vision was. That’s pretty special regardless. No one from the outside can say exactly what a set is like, but I’ve written about and studied this industry long enough to know that a toxic set comes from an authority’s ego and being unwilling to listen to anyone else.

My understanding was always that Taika and Rhys especially were instrumental in shaping the Stede/Ed relationship, because of their comfort with each other and chemistry together. Like, there are plenty of actors who would absolutely balk at playing gay romance onscreen, and they didn’t. (Still mad about the folks who want to pick apart kisses as if to prove “oh, this is homophobic!” The…the two men in love and kissing each other is homophobic?)

Again, I didn’t participate in this fandom until now, but it does seem like the Izzy stuff is pure brain rot that a small group latched onto and invented an entirely different show in their heads. Which would be fine except it seems to have a hefty undercurrent of toxicity and racism and even, maybe, homophobia…

Does anyone else find society is still very gunhoe and Pearl clutching about divorce? Like it’s always the assumption that there is a good and bad guy. Sometimes people don’t work out, welcome to facts of life, it’s a very common thing. Doesn’t mean either side is bad or an arsehole, there are many things that can lead a couple to separation/divorce that doesn’t equate to cheating or arsehole behaviour. It was a weird thing I saw on Twitter people hating on Taika Waititi for separating and getting a divorce from Chelsea Winetanley back in 2018. Like they didn’t announce it till two years later cause it was private, as most separations are. They co-parent their kids and got remarried, like people do. We don’t have the right to make assumptions on the why, or to place blame because of some RUMOUR (in bold for a fucking reason). Like he gushed about her amazing work on the Māori translation of Lion King, and there isn’t any open animosity between them. People saying he had an affair (which no one has given any real evidence for) and abandoned his kids is just wrong. Chelsea recently married a women, maybe she’s bi/pan or a lesbian, who cares. Their kids seem fine and well developed. Idk why I made this, I think it’s the stereotype I’ve been learning of Australian/Kiwi dads being deadbeats which is offensive for so many reasons (I’m Aussie so this is extra personal) and the fact that he’s Māori makes it feel racially motivated. The guy has spoken and made amazing films about his own issues with his father and generation trauma, and then random people accuse him of abandoning his children? Some people really need to touch the grass and realise that we don’t know anything about celeb relationships, and to accuse based on rumours is disrespectful to all parties. I’ve seen a trend of people trying to find a moral reason to hate a celeb just because they think they need to defend not liking their work. You can like or dislike who and whatever, you don’t need to make guesses and spread rumours to justify it on a moral standpoint.

Little Gold Men by Vanity Fair, 6/21/22 [podcast excerpt, starting from 58:38]

Interviewer: I mean, you had talked around Hunt for the Wilderpeople about like, growing up in a culture that was maybe more invested in like, classic masculinity, like, being macho, and [about] making work that tries to kind of question that, and I feel like the show really lines up right with that, being like "there's just not one way to be a man," and a pirate is such a classic archetype of "there is one way to be a man," and this show is there to tear it down.

Taika Waititi: I will tell you, I grew up in a pretty macho culture - and a very macho country - where it's like, yeah, you play rugby, and yeah, you drink beer, and it's like, kind of life is (just?) set out for you and… how boring! Like, y'know, it's like people who say, "well, I don't want any immigrants here," and then complain that there's only one type of food to eat.

Interviewer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

TW: So, it's like, you know, that you want to have an interesting life and you want to be able to-- you want to expose yourself to art and to, you know, to various cultures and various, uh, types of people. So for me growing up, I-- I was exposed to that, like, from an early age, that feel-- like, on my mother's side especially, so it was like-- there were a lot of-- eccentric and interesting and weird artists and stuff in my life, um. So it wasn't like a later-in-life, big shock for me, it was always there. But I think I realized that there are so many ways of being a man, and–- and to be just macho and to just want to be like-- just, straight, just to be like, so determined to be straight…is so sad. And, like, and also is, it just feels so tiring. (Wouldn't?) it be so tiring, just to like, have to hold on to something that no one cares about?

Interviewer: Yeah-

TW: So, so tightly? And it's like, look, if you just let go and accept who they are, like-- then we don't have the conversation, we can talk about more important things. But the idea that we have to still talk about all of this is mad.

Interviewer: Yeah.

TW: It's 2020! And there's way more upsetting things that are happening--

Interviewer: It's 2022, actually.

TW: 2022, sorry-- Oh my god, is it 2022? Is it 2022??

Interviewer: It sure is. It's crazy.

The people who are accusing Taika of queerbaiting Im like... have they watched anything he's done or been on that isn't Marvel's Homophobic Universe at any point. Like. Getting even as little rep as he's managed there is a fucking miracle considering it's Disney and still?? Looking at what he's done outside of Marvel and calling him out for queerbait is ???? Nevermind how he works other marginalized identies and stories in his work, just looking at the queer stuff it's clear this isn't a case of him maliciously using us as token rep?????

(I also dont care that he's going for Marvel work to be clear. Im going yes king get the fat paychecks and keep being weird otherwise lol but I also dont think him going "yeh it's so gay" on thor interviews is that weird since Marvel lays down the line on what they're supposed to push. This happens EVERY TIME there's a vaguely gay background extra in their movies. If you get queerbaited by a marvel movie at this point, 3 million movies in, it's on you lmao who even watches the interviews anymore)

(Reading him straight by default is also a bit weird imo as a bi woman forever getting assigned straight bc I don't like having short hair. It doesn't let me stim and people id me as a lesbian with short hair which is also not me. Whatever he's got going on is his business though!)

it's this weird contradictory thing people are doing where first they say taika built his career off of the lgbt community and by pretending to be queer, but then people realize that a lot of his personal projects don't have anything to do with sexuality (straight or otherwise) so then they switch to "taika's riding off the work of others to make himself seem more queer by doing a bare minimum amount of work on other people's projects" and these are supposed to be two concepts that exist at the same time.

and it's like... he didn't make ofmd, but he was still a huge part of it? the way he and david talk about it makes it seem like he did a lot of the preliminary work that producers usually do (since... he's a producer lol) before dropping off to focus on acting. also i know this is shocking for many people, but david jenkins is straight lmao. nobody's coming for him tho

or people are weird about him and wwdits where they ignore that he did co-create the movie (which the charas are bisexual in) and then blame him for people assuming he has a huge creative role in the tv show or is the show runner. but he's still an executive producer on it and directed some episodes? he's still supporting queer media? also jemaine clement doesn't openly id as queer either so??

god and with marvel i don't see why people are mad at him because marvel is literally sooo fucking homophobic and we know this and the fact that they were able to get that much explicit queerness into the movie is a testament to how much effort taika and tessa had to put in. the movie isn't queerbait and once that got debunked suddenly people are stuck on how he "over sold it" by dissecting him saying two words of "super gay!" like are we being serious? like on god? when we also know that they were made to take some of the gay content out from ragnarok and it's extremely likely they had to take shit out from here too. taika being vocal about needing queer representation isn't an issue 😭 people act like he's bragging about it too when if you look up anything he's said about queer rep he always talks about how it shouldn't be a big deal, but that he understands that it is and how important it is to normalize representation. also again insane to pick a quick response to a fan question to accuse him of queerbaiting than like any of the interviews he's done about the queerness in it where he's honest that they're small scenes but that he knows those small scenes mean a lot to queer audiences.

it's just! weird! and odd! and again i fucking haaaate that people are saying he's built his career off the queer community when he straight up hasn't? his work has always been centering indigenous stories and of representations of his identities. boy, hunt for the wilderpeople, and jojo rabbit aren't romances? and complaining about him doing marvel movies as if he's not allowed to get himself a quick check for when he's already said that he uses the money to fund projects that he's passionate about which includes his production studio that funds indigenous filmmakers! and the last three projects they signed onto centering indigenous creators telling stories about colonization all sound like they're going to be sooo fucking good

idk! it's just really ridiculous nfjdndnddn

2022 in TV - My Top 10 Shows

10.  THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (season 3, Netflix)

The lovable and deeply weird adaptation of My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way’s epic mindfuck of a cult comic book from showrunner Steve Blackman (Bones, Fargo, Altered Carbon) has pulled off a particularly impressive feat, managing to drop THREE essentially perfect seasons of TV in a row without ANY signs of flagging in quality, pace or sheer sense of fun.  After the bonkers time-travel shenanigans of the first two seasons, things in the timeline have REALLY gone to pot, and now the gloriously dysfunctional Hargreaves siblings have got a truly diabolical enemy to deal with, namely the Sparrow Academy, a far superior group of superpowered oddballs that were trained by their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreaves (Colm Feore), when he discovered what a “massive disappointment” his original collection of inexplicable orphans would become.  Worse still is the fact that one of them is a new, far more unpleasant version of their late brother Ben (After Yang’s Justin Min), who instantly takes a personal set against them … absolutely bonkers and enjoyably irreverent, this show remains as unrepentantly mad as ever, with the entire cast shining throughout, although once again Robert Sheehan effortless steals every scene as louchely nihilistic clairvoyant Klaus.  Extra kudos of course have to go to the show for allowing Elliot Page to transition as his character goes from Vanya to Viktor, although we should also thank Netflix for seeing the good sense in picking it up for one more season after this given that whopper of a cliffhanger …

9.  OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH  (HBO Max)

One of the year’s biggest surprise hits came in the form of this riotously unique surrealist sitcom series based on the true life tale of Stede Bonnet, the gloriously flighty 18th Century Barbadian aristocrat who left his plush life of privilege and luxury in order to pursue his personal dream of becoming The Gentleman Pirate.  Problem was, he’s THE WORST pirate there ever was, a genuine embarrassment to the profession, who mostly rose to fame after he was taken prisoner by and become the object of playful amusement of the feared terror of the High Seas himself, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. The undeniable highlight of this show has to be enjoying the sparkling interplay between the two leads – Rhys Darby is, as always, an unbridled delight as Bonnet, the most unflappably effervescent hopeful idiot to have ever lived, while Taika Waititi’s clearly having the time of his life presenting the most feared pirate who ever lived as a disenchanted but ultimately gentle soul who’s long since grown tired of the ferocious façade he’s had to cultivate for himself over the years.  The rest of the cast are huge fun too (none more-so than Ewen Bremner as Bonnet’s entirely bizarre first mate Buttons), while the characters and sparkling scripts crafted by showrunner David Jenkins (People of Earth) and his writing team are a veritable masterclass in how to present a perfect show about LGBTQIA folk and their daily struggles through the prism of delightful absurdist comedy.

8.  THE MIDNIGHT CLUB (Netflix)

Mike Flanagan continues his assault of sheer small screen horror brilliance with this pitch perfect (sort of) anthology series based around the tales told by a group of teenagers thrown together in Seattle’s Brightcliffe Hospice for terminally ill adolescents in the mid-90s as they attempt to deal with impending death and all the horrific emotional baggage that comes with it.  Iman Benson (Uncle Buck, Black AF) shines incredibly brightly in an astounding youthful cast as Ilonka, the desperate dreamer who’s checked in with the intention of discovering the source behind a little known cure for her thyroid cancer which may exist somewhere in the hospice, while Nightmare On Elm Street’s Heather Langenkamp is wonderfully complex as Brightcliffe’s firm-but-fair chief resident doctor Georgina, and a winning selection of Flanagan regulars show up in a variety of roles (along with the resident cast) in a variety of intriguing roles in the titular group’s cathartic late night pastime of telling each other spooky tales.  These are the undeniable highlight on offer throughout the series, covering a fascinating range of genres from mysterious whodunnits and ghost stories to time-twisting sci-fi brain-melters that never fail to impress as Flanagan gets a chance to stretch his range a bit, but the overarching storyline is intensely compelling too as we come to really care about and root for these kids.  As we’ve come to expect from his work, this is spooky, creepy and insidiously unsettling, but once again there’s as much emotional intensity on offer here as bone-deep spine-chilling terror.  Unlike the rest of his TV work to date, however, this one was CLEARLY intended to be a proper ONGOING series … so of course Netflix has gone and cancelled it. At least we’ve got his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher to look forward to, and he’s DETERMINED to bring Stephen King’s legendary The Dark Tower to the screen in far better style than the criminally awful 2017 movie, so there’s still hope …

7.  CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS (Netflix)

Another big surprise hit sneaking in under the radar this year was this unexpected anime gem from Kill la Kill creators Studio Trigger, based on the cult tabletop RPG which spawned the troubled yet deliriously popular video game.  Anyone who knows me, of course, knows this is RIGHT UP MY STREET, I’m a total sucker for anything cyberpunk, as well as anime in general, so this was a perfect combo for me, but even so I was generally surprised by just HOW UNBELIEVABLY GOOD this actually turned out to be. It’s pretty short too – with ten episodes each clocking at around the 25-minute mark it’s pretty easy to binge in a single sitting – but thoroughly sweet, each instalment propelling the impressively robust story forward at quite the pacy clip towards a suitably explosive climax, with plenty of blistering action and compellingly dark techno-shenanigans along the way.  The real reward here, however, is the characters, a crew of dysfunctional misfits brought together over the course of the series who perfectly encapsulate the brilliantly crafted universe’s dark and dangerous criminal underworld – the central love story between teenage dropout turned cybernetically-enhanced mercenary David and born-survivor elite hacker Lucy is compellingly intense and realistically written, but the best addition here has to be hyperactive pint-sized cyber-badass Rebecca, who’s an ultraviolent delight from start to finish.  The animation is some of the very best I’ve EVER seen in anime, and the design work throughout is never less than stellar, wisely taking its lead from the impressively inventive game but still happy to carve its own path.  The end result is one of the best animated shows I’ve come across in quite some time (it’s not on Arcane’s level, but comes damn close), so it’s a shame that, since it was apparently intended to be a standalone, we’re unlikely to see any more in the future …

6.  WARRIOR NUN (season 2, Netflix)

Debuting in the middle of the Pandemic turned out to be a stroke of truly great luck for Continuum creator Simon Barry’s unique but also intrinsically challenging adaptation of Ben Dunn’s gloriously bonkers comic book Warrior Nun Areala, which became an impressive runaway hit for Netflix and made a second season inevitable.  Gods knew it quickly earned a rabid following (myself among them) who were champing at the bit for more, but shooting restrictions meant we’d have to wait a little bit … but it’s finally arrived and it is REALLY GREAT, actually IMPROVING on the previous run as we follow unlikely Warrior Nun Ava Silva (a truly spellbinding turn from the thoroughly adorable Alba Baptista) and her gang of rogue holy helpers on their quest to take down the Big Bad false messiah threatening to turn the world into hell on earth, the fallen angel Adriel (William Miller).  Along the way they get into an endlessly inventive series of scrapes, fights and misadventures that are a gleefully subversive joy to watch, but once again the real charm here is the will-they-won’t-they back-and-forth dance that continues between Ava and Kristina Tonteri-Young’s precocious but also thoroughly awkward Sister Beatrice.  Plotwise, things are tied off in a fairly neat little bow by the end of this season – albeit through an emotionally devastating climax which you definitely need to keep the tissues handy for – but even so there’s enough room for more that it’s a criminal shame that Netflix have decided to pull the plug on this one too.

5.  PEACEMAKER (HBO Max)

Whatever you might think about Warner Bros./Discovery in general regarding its current treatment of the future of the DCEU (especially after the shocking fate that befell the heavily anticipated Batgirl movie), and about filmmaker James Gunn in particular now that he’s taken over as the head honcho on the franchise itself, you can’t deny that he did a phenomenal job with this deliciously non-PC spinoff from his awesome 2021 Suicide Squad soft-reboot.  Michael Cena’s Christopher Smith was one of the film’s biggest hits, so a series following his exploits as the titular antihero was a damn smart move, the former wrestler-turned-actor once again proving what a comedic genius he is as he flexes, gurns and drops hilarious inadvertent one-liners as one of THE WORST SUPERHEROES in the entire DC Universe.  That being said, the show’s frequently stolen out from under him by Unreal and Time After Time’s Freddie Stroma, who’s even more of a blissfully awkward joy as Smith’s best friend/unwitting nemesis Adrian Chase, aka Vigilante, a ridiculously talented combat nerd who desperately wants to be a badass dark avenger like his bestie, while there are similarly game turns from Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee (both reprising their roles from The Suicide Squad) as the downtrodden ARGUS agents charged with keeping Smith under control along with Danielle Brooks’ geeky new recruit, and there’s an irreverent and perfectly scummy turn from Robert Patrick as the Peacemaker’s white supremacist supervillain father August Smith, the infamous White Dragon.  A riot from start to finish, this show is packed with over-the-top, ultraviolent action, jet black humour and an endless series of razor sharp winks, nods and homages from one of the best geek-master filmmakers in the business.  Best of all, though, has to be that STONE COLD GENIUS title sequence, choreographed to perfection to the brilliantly awful earworm Do You Wanna Taste It from irreverent Norwegian glam metal band Wig Wam, which is guaranteed to have you crying you’ll be laughing so hard.  Personally, I can’t wait for more of this one.

4.  GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (Netflix)

Anyone who’s been following me long enough to know what I like should know that Guillermo del Toro is one of my favourite filmmakers of all time, I simply ADORE his work, so an anthology show of dark and disturbing horror stories shot-right-through with his irresistible geeky stylistic DNA was a no-brainer for me. ESPECIALLY since he opens every episode with an adorable intro where he presents his philosophical thoughts on what we’re about to experience in the style of Rod Serling. XD  The stories on offer, meanwhile, are an eclectic bunch, ranging from short-sharp-shock creature features to broadly satirical body horror, but there’s an impressive line in cosmic terror on offer here too, with several entries wearing del Toro’s deep-seeded Lovecraft influence on their sleeves.  They’re also consistently impressive, without a single dud in the selection, although the undeniable highlights of the whole bunch, for me, have to be the adaptations of actual Lovecraft stories, Pickman’s Model and Dreams in the Witch House, which perfectly encapsulate the author’s restless sense of endless low-key dread and horrific anticipation, with the eldritch horrors unleashed brought to deeply disturbing life through a selection of impressively palpable physical effects that’s become one of del Toro’s greatest strengths.  The production values on offer here are second to none, as is the quality of the ensemble casts and the directors bringing each story to life, which includes the likes of Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice), Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home At Night) and David Prior (The Empty Man) - each filmmaker does wonders for their individual stories, showing spectacular flair and skill throughout, but every single episode still has the titular master of weird cinema’s fingerprints all over it.  Which is exactly what you want from such a wondrous tribute to one of the best visual storytellers out there right now …

3.  THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA (Amazon Prime)

Netflix really seems to have dominated all on the small screen this year, but Amazon have still managed to make their presence felt with one of this past year’s BEST OFFERINGS, in the form of a gleefully irreverent animated adaptation of the first Campaign of wildly successful Dungeons & Dragons-based live-play table-top RPG webcast series Critical Role. Most of my followers should already be keenly aware that I am quietly OBSESSED with the ongoing games, so when they announced this I was almost delirious in my excitement, and this first season paid off all our mad expectation MAGNIFICENTLY.  Starting out as a Kickstarter by the Crit Role gang themselves with the intention simply to make an animated special, the resulting support was SO STRONG they were able to spring for a whole series, which was then picked up for genuine syndication by Amazon, and the rest, as they say, is history … best of all, though, is the fact that, because it’s their baby, the original cast IN THEIR ENTIRETY are involved in bringing it together, from the writing to the character performances, and since they’re a collection of highly talented voice-actors they’ve done a STUNNING job here … but then THEY DO know their characters right to the bone.  Animated with EXQUISITE attention to detail by Titmouse (Metalocalypse, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Animaniacs and Pantheon among others), packed with stunning action and dark thrills and shot-through from start to finish with an infectious sense of humour, not to mention a veritable DUMPTRUCK’s worth of epic feels, this is an absolute riot from start to finish.  I’m waiting with eager anticipation for the imminent arrival of the second season, and am sublimely happy Amazon have already commissioned a third …

2.  STRANGER THINGS 4 (Netflix)

After season 4 ended in such a crazy place, with Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) depowered and Hopper (David Harbour) assumed dead but actually VERY MUCH ALIVE in a Siberian gulag, we were left with a hell of a lot of crazy questions, but we never had any doubt The Duffer Brothers would deliver those answers and more in style. That being said, they really pulled out ALL THE STOPS with this season, not only upping the scale to delirious levels but also massively increasing the overall runtime, which even prompted Netflix to employ a somewhat frustrating tactic of splitting the season into TWO PARTS with an entire month of waiting in-between … but at least the end result was some of the year’s most engrossing and thoroughly AWESOME television. Certainly this one packed the small screen’s biggest amount of WOW, as we’re finally given the fascinating but also thoroughly horrifying origin story to both the Hawkins Lab psychic experimentation project AND the Upside Down itself … giving away more threatens MASSIVE spoilers, but once again every aspect of the show deserves LASHINGS of praise heaped upon it, from the spectacular effects work (particularly some truly stunning prosthetic make-up work bringing the series’ ultimate Big Bad to life) to the uniformly astounding cast, with the ever-reliable returning players (particularly Brown, Harbour, Winona Ryder, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink and Joe Keery) once again doing their fair share of the heavy-lifting while the newcomers (most notably Joseph Quinn, Jamie Campbell Bower and Tom Wlaschiha) each make strong impressions going forward.  By turns thrilling, terrifying, heartfelt, funny and inventive, but always pitch-perfect in its nostalgic charm, this show continues to be one of the very best pieces of top-notch small-screen entertainment around, and I cannot wait to see what’s to come in the final season …

1.  THE SANDMAN (Netflix)

If ANYTHING was gonna beat Stranger Things to the top spot, it could only have been Neil Gaiman’s VERY hands-on adaptation of his own thoroughly beloved revolutionary cult comic book series.  Seriously, Gaiman changed the game with this title, so he was THE ONLY ONE we, the hardcore faithful, could possibly trust to bring his masterwork to life on the small screen, and after his astonishing efforts with the Good Omens show we had the utmost faith that he had the chops to pull it off.  We were not wrong … working closely with fellow showrunners David Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins) and Allan Heinberg (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Wonder Woman), Gaiman has produced a series that wisely stays faithful to the original source material, essentially splitting this first season into two arcs, with the first realising Book 1 of the comic, Preludes & Nocturnes, while the second focuses on Book 2, The Doll House.  Tom Sturridge (The Boat That Rocked) was PERFECT casting as Dream of the Endless, one of a unique family of near all-powerful cosmic beings charged with the control and caretaking of various aspects of the Universe itself – Dream, obviously, rules over the province of the Subconscious, while his sister, Death (Killing Eve’s Kirby Howell-Baptiste), is pretty self-explanatory, but not at all what you’d expect.  After imprisonment for almost a century, Dream is looking to put his house back in order, but this brings him into direct conflict with various entities, including, dangerous “sorcerer” John Dee (David Thewlis), the Devil themselves, Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie), and monstrous rogue nightmare The Corinthian (a chilling performance from Boyd Holbrook), while the foundations for a far darker, more wide-reaching conspiracy are being laid by hands much closer to his heart … this adaptation is nothing short of a MASTERPIECE, Gaiman and his helpers bringing his creation to life in the most magnificent of ways in one of the most spectacular chunks of television I’ve ever had the privilege to witness.  Spellbindingly beautiful, emotionally devastating, spine-chillingly horrifying and effortlessly entertaining in equal measure, every single element of this show was brought to bear with the utmost attention to detail, and the results are nothing short of perfection.  Netflix have wisely picked it up for a second season, but we can only hope they maintain their faith in the series long enough for Gaiman to bring the entire saga to life …

Honourable mentions:

The Boys (season 3, Amazon Prime); Andor (Disney+); House of the Dragon (HBO); 1899 (Netflix); Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+); Obi Wan Kenobi (Disney+); Reacher (Amazon Prime); Interview With the Vampire (AMC); The Man Who Fell To Earth (Showtime); Gangs of London (season 2, Sky Atlantic)*

*What can I say?  There was A LOT of great TV this past year …

I think u need some perspective. A. It's normal for people to work remotely since 2020 especially if they're at the corporate level. Plus if her focus is on the Warhammer stuff it makes sense that she's always with Henry. B. Social media is an extension of a person not the whole person. Henry probably made a conscious choice not to post as much for whatever reasons. Also it's normal to post the person ur in a relationship with.

The reason you're so upset is because you put Henry on a pedestal in the first place. He isn't required to interact with fans on Instagram or post about his life, and demanding that he post what you want him to post is entitled. Daddy isn't punishing you (also so weird to call him that even if you were being sarcastic). For example a celebrity years ago stopped posting on social media and wasn't interacting with fans as much and his fans were being demanding and angry about it like you. Then it turned out his mother passed away and that was the reason he took a step back and it was quite disgusting that fans were demanding he post selfies and updates while he was going through that.

And C. You only know Henry through Instagram and magazine/tv interviews which are not on the fly. Usually famous people choose which questions they answer and practice what they will say to seem relatable and interesting. So basically even if Henry said he likes xyz, we don't really know if he's telling the truth, but people in his real life like his family and gf know him for real and she probably fits his type despite what he has said in the past to seem appealing to the masses. Also he might have said he wanted a lowkey relationship but as far as famous people go this is pretty low key, just look at taika waititi and Rita ora for comparison or any "power couple" constantly posting about each other. Also if Henry is in love which it seems like he is, it's natural for him to want to post his partner, that's a normal thing that people do. He's still posting about his projects in between so it just seems like to me even if he never posted her again you would still be unhappy.

Let's just say, the way my brain works, when I noticed a change in behavior I need to find a cause for it to understand it. He was a way with fans and since Miss Influencer showed up in the picture, he's been acting in a completely different manner. He's been avoiding us and doesn't even take the time anymore to post things like "Thank you for watching my show/movie, I truly appreciated it" like he used to. Why if I acted like a "good fan" (don't talk publicly about his personal life or pretend everything was ok) and don't comment or send nasty dms to her or anybody, am being punished because some fans do?

And the "He isn't required to interact with fans on Instagram or post about his life, and demanding that he post what you want him to post is entitled." is a stupid argument on your part. He's not forced to but when he acted a certain way for years and all the sudden he changed and didn't engage with social media anymore without explanation and, the only "explanation" is a "f*ck off" post he made calling out all fans when in reality it was just a loud minority the ones behaving "badly" (I put badly in quotation marks because some were actually nasty and others just questioned him for flying an American woman to the UK in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, showing how he abused his privilege as a celebrity), he should expect those fans who acted like he considered good, to question why are we being punished and blamed for other's actions, especially how in the past the same happened with his other girlfriends and he still was nice to all fans (not just the ones he sees live at events). Am I supposed to wait until he decides to come back to Argentina, if he ever does it, for him to show appreciation for supporting him? And, about your point of me being entitled for expecting him to act like he used to and the only reason I see why he wouldn't is that he's punishing us for fans not being in the Nathlee fans club, is that's an entitlement, well, go ahead an call me entitled. For all I care, you can call me the Entitled Karen of the fandom, idgaf.

About your point that something serious could be going on with his family; Charlie, and Heather act normal. His "girlfriend" is doing her influencing online so, if something serious happened, she doesn't give a single f*ck.

And point "C", I don't claim to know who he's really inside and in his personal life, I just loved his public persona before Miss Influencer showed up (admittedly ignoring some red flags like the fact that he dated someone much younger than him and he dated a woman that hunted animals as a sport because, at the end of the day, he made the right decision to call off those relationships) But now, his public persona is someone who doesn't engage with fans unless it's obligatory for press; he only posts ads, posters, and trailers (no thank you posts, I appreciate your support); we spend a f*cking year asking for a picture of Kal and he only posted when he could make it about Natalie and made a coordinated post, like if she was f*cking important.

watching a new simpsons episode for the first time since... season 32? and let's be real I don't remember anything past season 29 because the simpsons got reeeeeeeal boring. but taika is in this episode so fuck it amirite? anyways here's my reaction to season 35 episode 9 "Murder, She Boat."

wow the animation seems worse? something is noticeably worse

I like that bart is acting like a 10yo with the vroom-vroom thing. a big issue later simpsons have is the kids acting like teenagers or even adults (in lisa's case)

homer simpson: nerd hater

wow they're parodying that thing from phineas and ferb!! :D (asdfhbsdgjl I know p&f was doing a parody too)

also there was already a simpsons episode where they went on a cruise and it's one of the best damn episodes of the modern era if you ask me (23x19 "A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again")

ANNOYING ANNOYING ANNOYING ANNOYING

"Oh my God is that Taika Waititi?" I stg lisa's had a line like this every since since season 11. STAHP IT INTRODUCE YOUR CELEBS NATURALLY YOU PIECE OF SHIT HD SIMPSONS EPISODE

remember when simpsons celeb cameos used to be good. because I don't because it was all before I was born.

Why is everyone moving weird. seriously wtf is up with the animation they're too damn smooth

"You know it's good, because it's based on existing IP" ouch wow ouch... ouch it hurts

Comic Book Guy acting Like That™ is the only guy who works because CBG is supposed to act like that. Like CBG should be an obnoxious nerd that you'd root to see homer actually beat up lol. not any other random motherfucker!

CBG shredded bart's comic right in front of him??? jesus christ that dude sucks

You can really tell the producers were like "taika, just read the lines" because his performance is giving "taika, just read the lines"

shut up with your vegemite american writers

see it's cute when taika pretends to have a stupidly inflated ego of his own volition but when the simpsons writers make him do it I'm like "BRO ARE YOU OK BLINK TWICE IF THEY'RE HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE UNTIL YOU SAY THE LINES IN THE BLANDEST VOICE YOU'VE GOT!!!"

What... what the actual fuck was that joke with Kumiko. Like her whole character has always been kinda racist but that was such an incredibly racist joke... what the fuck actually for real was that.

The Futurama reference was cute tho.

CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE

there was like, a halfway decent albeit tropey bart & lisa moment in there but then we went straight back into the cringe

"Of course I'll help you. Why? Because I have a medical condition that forces me to be multitasking at all times." ok can everyone shut up forever actually and stop speculating about that man. if the simpsons writers are making that joke it's time to stop

taika actually sounds like he had a gun to his head and recorded these lines for 18 hours until 3am

something weird about the simpsons going on for 35 years is that all the characters sound slightly different than they did in seasons 2-15 now. like they've all aged 35 years and you can hear it in their voices. the kids have this... oldness to them now that, even tho the voice actors on this show are talented as hell, can't totally hide (and who knows they may not be trying to because who gives a fuck it's simpsons season 35)

taika being distracted joke. haha. what if I release the bees on everyone who speculates about that.

I can't listen to the horrible lines they gave him anymore 😭😭😭 "egomaniac" isn't funny 😭😭😭

I mean like it's not like the dialogue anyone else is getting is great either, just to be clear. it's pretty terrible across the board lol. I'm just a titch sensitive to how taika (real man) is being written for... reasons... I mean maybe I shouldn't it's not like it matters and nobody thinks your portrayal on the simpsons is how you truly are. there's a time honored tradition of celebrities being portrayed as egomaniacs or fucking crazy on the simpsons when everyone knows they aren't (bette midler doesn't throw cans at people irl and darryl strawberry isn't a kiss ass... although both those celebrities have their own issues). I guess it bothers me because it is playing up something that's real and fake at the same time, and also this man is getting unduly criticized for a lot of shit rn.

Kumiko's speech was actually painful. "When we got married, I was his priceless collectible." DID NOBODY FUCKING SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT IN THE WRITER'S ROOM?? DID NOBODY SEE HOW THAT BLATANTLY PLAYS INTO THE FETISHIZATION OF AISAN WOMEN??? Like holy fucking shit what the hell was wrong with the writers of this episode???

wow I love seeing marge and homer be really depressing bad parents -_-

Ok so when Rainer Wolfcastle shouts out his latest movie, that's funny and doesn't bother me. Troy McClure's shtick never bothered me either. Probably because they're FICTIONAL

Lisa said "damn it" ?!?!?!?! SHE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT. Lisa doesn't curse wtf are you doing she'd say "darn it!!!"

cringe cringe cringe cringe

if I had a nickel for every time lisa simpson solved a murder mystery because of the cuprit's signature favorite food being left on a weapon, I'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right? (the first time was the 3rd segment in treehouse of horror XV, "Four Beheadings and a Funeral")

taika being mad at people tearing apart his room was the best line delivery he gave in this episode. like there was a real emotion.

sideshow mel saying "who speaks with such an exaggerated affectation!" got 1 chuckle out of me

damn. CBG dropping the doll into lake springfield is just like ed dropping his leathers into the ocean. (not even remotely true)

in conclusion is this a bad episode of television don't watch it

I have been really enjoying reading the collection of asks - there are so many truly brilliant people on tumblr I love it!!

Trying to gather some of my thoughts to see if I have something to add. I guess I’ll linger on that moment I mentioned in my ao3 comment where Ed & Stede kiss on set and it’s Real, Ed isn’t pretending for once, and he expects to see Rhys’s face. And the cliche at this point (because I’ve been reading a bunch of the r/t RPF oops) is “but it’s Stede’s face” but instead you pull “he doesn’t look like anyone” and the thing about “ethereal electromagnetism” and i went WHOOOSH

The thing that it hits, for me, I think is that mystical psychedelic sensibility which is hard not to feel cliched about, where on some level we’re all just “waves of energy” or “vibes man,” there’s some kinda spirit thing vibing out and creating patterns and interweaving on some ~dimension~ where our individual faces and identities don’t really matter because ~we’re all interconnected~

Which is a cool thing to feel sometimes! And in my experience that feeling or sensibility comes on strong in relation to Love and also sometimes Sex (and like, music) (& other creative things) so it just feels poignant here

And there’s something related I can’t quite articulate about storytelling and how fictional characters can feel as real as real people and why is that? How is that? What does that mean?? Which your story addresses in other ways too

Ok yeah that moment of weird intimacy where you lose your face and are just “ethereal electromagnetism” (sorry I really like that phrase lol) also makes me think of… the relationship between a storyteller and a reader too? Like there is a way in which you, anonymous-to-me person, reached into my (& lots of other people’s) brains and mashed a bunch of buttons and I’m like “oh ho ho… how did you do that??” A weird moment of contact in a weird liminal space. It’s cool!!! I love stories and also metafiction!!!

thank you so much again for sending your thoughts, and sorry it's taken me so long to do a longer response!!

i love hearing you talk about the psychedelic sensibility of WFU, cause i, uh, am quite familiar with psychedelic sensibilities lol. i do a lot of ego work and have done some hardcore ego death in my time, and i feel like a lot of ego is essentially internal mythology about self--not mythology in, like, a fake sense, but in the sense of narrative with a belief structure, the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves that shape what we believe to be true. and this is very interwoven with themes of identity, how we want to be perceived vs. how we are perceived, and the relationship between the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and the stories other people tell about us. and those moments when the ego collapses are so powerful because those stories collapse too--it isn't that those stories aren't true, it's that all narratives are always partial, and there is a greater whole that cannot be contained with any singular narrative (and therefore is very difficult to comprehend), and it's that greater whole that is glimpsed when the ego and it's narratives collapse.

also what you said about fictional characters feeling as real as real people--this is such a fascinating thing to me about the human mind, and something i've thought a lot about, because fictional characters and imaginary friends are SO real to me. i think it has to do with the fact that we hold real people in our heads basically the same way we hold fictional characters--i have imaginary conversations with my friends and family (and taika waititi) in my head, and that's distinct from having an actual conversation with them in real life, but it is not distinct from the imaginary space where i concoct fictional characters and narratives. like, i can and do distinguish between imagining a real person and imagining a fictional person, but they are both equally in my imagination. i think it's a pretty cool feature of the human mind that we can take the ability to hold real, existing people in our heads, and then be like, "ok, the same thing, but someone who has never existed," and then write about that non-existent person and have other people be like, "feels like a real person to me!"

i will always maintain that writing is magic, cause i am also regularly blown away by the ability to combine these symbols in a particular way that transfers a whole imaginary world from my head into yours. and, like, through a combination of technical training, working on craft, and intuition, it's possible to literally change the minds of total strangers, who you may never have any other interaction with. it's so fucking cool lol

thank you so much again for writing up and sending your thoughts, so so great to read!!! <3