Pretty sure you and @lyricalviolet could have/would have written a better season 3 for snw.
Oh, this is very kind. But also... well, yes. @lyricalviolet and I would have absolutely written a better SNW S3 because of the very simple fact that we would've given the leading man a freaking character arc.
The leading man being Captain Christopher Pike. Which I only clarify because it feels like the show writers might have forgotten?
To be clear, the problem with S3 is not just the lack of an arc for Pike. In fact, none of the characters have arcs this season, save for Ortegas (whose arc I like! More like that!). Which effectively means none of the characters have coherent stories this season: a place they start, a journey they take, a new place they end. We'll see what the finale brings, but I am not hopeful.
If we had all the time in the world, this would be a DREAM project. And yes, we absolutely WOULD have written a kick ass S3! Why haven't they hired us?
i wish i could unrecall (how we almost had it all) (Character Study, 6.1k)
“Sometimes,” he confesses in a whisper so quiet even her ears can scarcely hear it, “I fear this is all a dream, and—” He traces restless circles on the soft flesh inside her elbow. “I fear I will awaken in—”
She presses a finger to his lips, for none of the places he fears are names she wishes uttered in their home. “But you are not there,” she whispers. She rises, pushing him down against the furs; he does not protest. “You are here.” She draws their joined hands down the length of his chest slowly, feels him shudder beneath her. “You are mine.”
(Or: Galadriel and Halbrand explore what it might mean to find peace.)
A gift for @maeday1551 as part of the Haladriel One-Shot Exchange, who asked for, among other things, a story that explores Sauron and Galadriel's struggles to fit the moulds cast for them, particularly when the other reveals parts of themselves they'd rather keep hidden. It was such a joy to play in this sandbox; I hope you enjoy the result!
I need you to understand that when I say "comments are appreciated!" I mean that I will reply to every one of them. I mean that an email with an ao3 notification has a higher priority than a message from my mother. I mean that I will have entire discussions in the comment section if you're up for it. Message me on tumblr and I will have the same discussions on an even more unhinged level. I will dissect entire personalities and ships and fictional political structures and worldbuilding with you. I will become your new best friend. You already ARE my new best friend. At the last battle, I would raise Anduril and say "For my ao3 readers" while a single tears rolls down my cheek, and dive into the fray. I would upload from beyond the grave if someone asked about the next chapter
stuff they actually let happen on Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Godzilla tried to eat Chancellor Palpatine
Darth Maul came back from the dead as a crime boss with robot legs and had a giant angry brother named Savage
Jabba the Hutt’s uncle was an offensive gay stereotype
Palpatine had a gigantic forehead for literally no reason
Zombie episode
They named a Jedi “I’m Gonna Die” and then killed him
Some senator had a sex robot
All the Twi’leks had French accents
Ahsoka got hunted for sport
Anakin had to do elaborate BDSM roleplay with an evil cat lady
Dooku was almost murdered by the Macbeth witches
Hondo Ohnaka
Yoda made contact with Qui-Gon Jinn’s ghost but the other Jedi just thought he had dementia
0.07 seconds after leaving the Jedi Order, Ahsoka crashed her motorcycle, got a girlfriend, and ended up smuggling drugs for the mob
Anakin and Obi-Wan met the physical incarnations of the Dark and Light Sides of the Force and they looked like a goth drama queen and his cottagecore sister and both of them were furries
Ahsoka got bit by an evil rat which made her evil for awhile
Jar Jar killed a guy
ASDLSFKSLKFSJDKLSJ
sorry for the long post but I just want to thank everyone for these tags. I’m shaking. Thank you so much.
I love when Star Trek throws an incredibly traumatic back story at one of their characters, and then we just never mention it in any other episodes ever again. Like yeah, Kirk went through a genocide and mass famine crisis when he was a child. Well, anyways, let's talk about something else now.
Taggie watches him deftly remove his cufflinks, transfixed, for a full thirty seconds before she comes to her senses.
“What are you doing?”
“You said that I could help or fuck off,” replies Rupert nonchalantly. “Budge up. I’ll wash; you dry.”
Taggie opens her mouth to protest, but no sound comes out. She’s hallucinating. All these hours in the kitchen have made her delirious, there’s no other possible explanation—
His lips twitch, amused. “I do know how to wash dishes, Taggie.”
brooding men who cannot communicate their feelings if their life depended on it are only hot when they're fictional. if i have to deal with one in real life i will curse him and pray for his downfall every night before i go to bed
It's because the writer communicates their feelings for them. If people wanna pull that off in real life they need to hire a guy to walk around behind them narrating.
I know some fic writers get stressed about writing tropes they think are too popular or overdone, and I need you all to know that I just spent 4 hours reading every iteration of the same exact fic plot I could find, and they all brought me an indescribable amount of joy. Listen. Listen. Sometimes you want cakes of many flavours and sometimes you want Nine Carrot Cakes
I would like to know who had the idea of making Galadriel and Sauron have a romantic narrative, to contextualize some plots in the future, the truth is that it was very bold and I think it was one of the best decisions they made.
Ted Lasso, the character, is one of the only representations of 'sometimes getting better with your mental health issues means that you are less visibly happy, and that is okay, because you are not required to be happy in order to be loved' out there and I am really discouraged that so much of the audience is angry at that.
As someone who’s been working through a lot of mental health issues recently, this resonated so much. A huge part of the therapy process is just grief: coming to terms with the things that you’ve believe about yourself, the experiences and traumas that you’ve internalise. Ted is coming to terms with these things, and struggling with missing Henry and grappling with Michelle moving on (which, regardless of how you read his feelings for her, is going to be an adjustment) seemingly easily when he’s struggling.
In some ways, I think you can Ted’s return to Kansas not as an end, but a beginning - the beginning of his journey to believing in himself. Ted loves coaching and is so good at it because it’s all about helping others - as he says himself, it isn’t about him. It’s never been about him, or his wants, or his needs; his sense of value has always been derived from his usefulness. He is happiest when he’s helping others be the best version of themselves. Ted’s understanding of selflessness as total self-erasure is what drives a wedge between him and Michelle, kickstarting his journey in s1. He’s started on the journey of self-acceptance in s2, but I don’t think he’s in a place at the end of s3 where he believes it. He seems to genuinely think that people are better off without him because he’s a mess, so he goes back to the one place where he can still be useful, the thing that makes him happy: being Henry’s dad. Because that’s always been the most important thing, and it’s a thing he knows he can do well even if he’s not okay. He might not have the energy to help everyone right now, but he can be there for Henry, and that matters a lot to someone whose system of self-worth is externalised.
Yes, he could have stayed. Everyone wanted him to stay, because he is intrinsically valuable to them, as a complex, messy person whom they love. (I wanted him to stay.) But I think what’s important is that Ted isn’t ready to stay. He might want to (I think he does), but he needs to come to terms with his value and his desires on his own terms, and I think that’s ok. This is what makes the end bittersweet, but I think it also makes it hopeful, and that’s the whole point of the show.
I know there's a lot to unpack in James' new interview but I am feral, FERAL I SAY, over this fucking line right here:
"His need was to be loved, and his tragic flaw was the belief that he was unlovable."
Back before Season 3 hit and Tedependent became ~trendy~ (not actually lol) I was heacanoning and writing Trent as a pretty anxious individual, someone with a ton of internalized self-loathing whose "whole vibe" was more of a mask than legitimate self-confidence. At the time I worried about him coming across as too OOC because really, what did we have to support this? Ted Lasso's prevailing theme of men discovering love and support when they previously had none? The lovely parallel of Trent struggling with many of Ted's own flaws, but presenting in opposite ways (cutting cynicism vs. endless optimism)? The then—far less developed—comments from James that Trent might have a rough relationship with his father? It felt unsubstantiated, unpersuasive, built more on my own interest in those kinds of characters and the occasional awkward moment from Trent than actual canon. Even into Season 3 I questioned whether my reading of him as struggling, significantly, with the care Ted offers wasn't just a result of my own, imagined inner life for him.
But NOW.
I'm sorry, hold up, can I just re-confirm that TRENT'S TRAGIC FLAW IS HIS BELIEF THAT HE'S UNLOVABLE? Unlovable??? Thank you, James Lance, for validating every reading I've had of this character since he first appeared on screen. Do people realize the depth this adds to every interaction Trent has? Particularly with Ted? Unlovable Trent Crimm starts off this relationship with a sincere compliment on his style ("I like your glasses"), something that Season 3 will present as a core part of his personality, something he's largely hidden away. Unlovable Trent Crimm grappling with the fact that yes, Ted enjoyed spending time with him. Him. WHILE he was playing the part of the asshole journalist. Unlovable Trent not being rejected when he admits, in moments of vulnerability, that he "Loves [their] chats." Unlovable Trent having his father's (likely snide) "Independent" comment reframed as a fun pun + advice to follow his "bliss": you have support, Trent, no matter what you choose to do. I don't care if you're successful covering a masculine-coded sport, I care if you're happy. Unlovable Trent committing the ultimate betrayal and being forgiven for it, immediately. Unlovable Trent being forcibly integrated into the Richmond family; actively accepted rather than passively tolerated: yes you should work here, yes you're a Diamond Dog, sit your butt down, Trenthouse Magazine, you will never be excluded again.
I'm sorry for the rambling post but I'm just so!! Insane about this!!! So much of Trent's hesitance could have been written off as a result of his career. That is, it might have been merely a learned reaction after decades of deliberately pissing people off. Of course they dislike him, but take him out of that environment and everything's fixed. Yet James has confirmed that he played Trent as intrinsically believing this. The career was a result of that unfounded fear—Might as well keep people at a distance before they hurt me first—as well as, simultaneously, a desire to somehow achieve the love that should have been unconditional from the start—Maybe my father will like me if I can be that "alpha male man's man" in print. Because this isn't just a flaw, it's a tragic flaw, a literary term that denotes a deficiency that leads to the character's downfall. This belief is so entrenched that it has led to Trent actively self-sabotaging his chances of being loved in the first place; a horrible self-fulfilling prophecy. He NEEDED someone like Ted—a fucking love sledgehammer that forces people to accept his care in the least subtle ways possible, even when they're acting as their own worst enemy—and by god, he got him!
Aside from Nate, Trent has always felt like the most isolated character to me at the start of the series (and even Nate has a good relationship with his mother and sister). What we've learned in Season 3 and James' interviews has only reinforced that reading for me: he was closeted in his marriage, unintentionally hurting his daughter, he's suffering under his father's expectations, he hates the press persona he's created to survive, he's bored at his job, footballers and other potential interviewees despise him—and not without reason (Roy). He has no friends that we see pre-Richmond and he's reached a point where the simple act of someone saying that they liked spending the day with him—again, while he's actively TRYING to piss them off and keep his distance—has him in such a state of shock he runs for the door, pens an uncharacteristically hopeful write-up, and is well on his way to upending his entire life for that man.
Because of course he is!!! From Trent's perspective Ted is a fucking impossibility shaped into human form. This is a man in his 40s whose greatest lifelong fear—now all but a certainty at his age—has been dismantled in a matter of hours. I'd write a book-length love letter to him too! And RIP to finale!Trent, but I would have run fucking Rom-Com style after the man who not only changed my life, but my entire sense of self-worth. (Ah fuck, but there's that tragic flaw again, keeping Trent hesitant. I now stand by my reading of the "I'll leave you be" scene as an unrequited goodbye.)
But finale aside, the man who'd convinced himself he was unlovable fell for the man who was love incarnate.
If that's not the most romantic shit you've ever heard idk what is!!!
