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allie1985

How to write a 3rd act breakup that doesn’t have fans hating the MMC

*cracks knuckles* Well it’s been a very long time since I wrote something original but this one’s been on my mind for a bit.

SPOILERS for both season 3 of bridgerton and season 1 of Off Campus

TRIGGER WARNING as this discussion will include mentions of rape/sexual assault and domestic violence/abuse.

Like many, I put on Off Campus not expecting much. Just an easy, sporty rom com show to kill time on a Sunday night. Well that turned into me staying up until 1am finishing the first 4 episodes and then running home after work to binge the other 4 the next day. In that time I cried and cheered and felt more than I have in a long time watching a show. And then I went to find others reactions. And this is where I was pleasantly surprised. In a time where it seems shows can be so divisive of its audience, the reactions overall were incredibly positive. And what was even more shocking was that there weren’t sides taken with Hannah and Garrett’s fight and temporary break up. And that, brought me back to when Colin was ripped to shreds for how he acted after the Whistledown reveal. And yes, some “fans” really just used it as an excuse to hate on Colin and Luke newton, but a larger issue was the writing choices Bridgeton made. So if you want, I invite you to join me on this very rambley rabbit hole that compares the two shows and their respective third act breakups and where I believe Off Campus was successful and Bridgerton missed the mark.

Part I: Establishing the Points of Conflict

Yes I’m starting all the way at the beginning because I think it’s the only way to paint the picture of how we get to each of these fights and breakups (metaphorically I guess for Polin)

Something that I will applaud Off Campus of right off the bat is how naturally and simultaneously they introduce the different layers of both Garrett and Hannah. We know from Allie defending Hannah that she doesn’t drink in public and affirms that no one is going to force her to do otherwise. We know that Garrett does not have a good relationship with his father, but his friends all value the man’s opinion because of his hockey legend status.

The show also does a phenomenal job of fleshing out how their past experiences shape their current ones as well as how Garrett and Hannah’s support and understanding of each other deepens their friendship. Garrett takes the effort and asks for help when Hannah needs something non alcoholic at the party. And he doesn’t push her at Karaoke to drink, but rather affirms that if it’s an experience she wants to have, he’ll protect her and make sure she’s safe. Hannah isn’t judgmental but does ask Garrett why he still plays hockey when it seems on the surface it makes him unhappy/brings up unhappy memories from his childhood. Followed by being understanding of his feelings that’s he’s so close to getting what would make all the sacrifices worth it. And then follows with a distraction when things got too heavy.

Overall, there’s a clear path for the audience to follow as we are learning about the characters and the characters are learning about and falling for each other.

As for Bridgerton. This love story is coming in after two seasons of developing these two characters, the relationship they have with their families, and their friendship with each other. In theory, this should put them well ahead of Off Campus in terms of development. But… that ends up not really being the case. For Penelope, yes, we have a pretty good grasp of where she is and where she is in relationship to Whistledown. But Colin? He’s kinda all over the place. And that one is entirely on the writers.

For Colin, there was a pretty clear story line in both Season 1 and Season 2. In season 1, he wanted to be seen as a man by his older brothers and to some extent the Ton, but he doesn’t want to go to brothels so he becomes the hero Marina Thompson needed. Only to have his business revealed to the entire Ton via Whistledown and now not only feels like a failure, but also has had his trust brutally broken. So he swears off women to protect his heart and goes traveling, still desperate to prove himself, only to be ridiculed by his family all of S2 for talking too much about Greece and basically called a boy who doesn’t know he wants by Marina, but we do see closure there at least.

Here is the first instance where bridgerton failed to capitalize on what they already had laid the groundwork for. Colin spirals and tries to become “the man society expected him to be” because Penelope didn’t respond to his letters. He thought he had bored her and she was tired of his ramblings just like everyone else had. So he changed. He felt empty and unsatisfied but still did what he thought he was supposed to because he thought that by becoming like everyone else then Penelope would stop ignoring him. Now I am unsure if this explicit aspect was cut or what, but by watching the show with no outside commentary, this does not translate well, (Especially when you add in the incredibly unnecessary brothel scenes) I believe it was only actually confirmed in interviews that this is why Colin changed. Which, if the actor has to explain that major of an aspect of where their character is at, then multiple people did not do their jobs right.

As for the actual start of the overarching conflict. Colin’s issue with Whistledown really didn’t exist after it revealed Marina was already pregnant. Hurt and embarrassed? Absolutely. But angry at Whistledown and planning her demise? Not so much. And certainly by season 2 we don’t see any animosity towards LW in particular. I don’t even think we saw Colin explicitly angry after Whistledown claimed Eloise was fraternizing with “radicals”Suddenly in Season 3 he hates the authors guts, even before she writes that anger driven article. It’s a switch that really doesn’t feel natural. Even after the article she writes on him calling him fake, the “I will destroy her” seems way too intense.

Side Note: That article calling Colin out really was a low blow. Colin didn’t know what he had done wrong, and was trying to rekindle their friendship only to be hit with her telling him the mistake only to stomp off before he could even process and try to apologize. Then she goes home and writes in a public article how he’s putting on a front and doesn’t know himself. Yeah Pen, the 24 hour rule would’ve been reallllllly beneficial here.

Part 2- Impact of Secrets/Unknowns

One thing that shocked me while writing this was how similarly structured both these stories were. Both start with a deal made at the end of episode 1, and both couples get together by mid season.

Staying with Bridgerton, I know I will be sounding like many fans who were frustrated that Colin did not know about Whistledown when he proposed and when they had their first time. Something that the longer the shows been out, the more angry for Colin I’ve gotten. This is a man who nearly experienced entrapment. Even if he only thought he loved Marina, the experience of almost marrying someone who was ready to trick you into raising someone else’s children as your own is not something you forget and brush aside quickly. And Penelope should’ve known and respected that.

Now I will say in Penelope’s defense, her terror was justified. Her best friend went scorched earth and then became friends with her biggest bully. So the audience can see why she doesn’t want to tell him. However, I will then argue that she had no right to be upset when he got mad about her lying.

Regardless, she didn’t tell him, and that hangs a dark cloud over the so called “honeymoon phase”. Maybe Luke and Nic were feeling more honeymooney while filming those two episodes, but all I felt was trepidation knowing that the longer it went on the worse it would get and later reflection would leave me feeling more irritated as the only “couple” moments we really got for Polin was tainted by the fact that Pen was actively lying to Colin.

Jumping back to Off Campus, I won’t dive too much into this part because while it contributes to their headspaces during their fight, this isn’t what explicitly triggers the fight. This is probably the section of the show with the least amount of conflict (at least between Hannah and Garrett). In both episodes 4 and 5 we get full disclosure of what Hannah and Garrett went through as children. But what I love is that at no time did either make the other feel like this information needed to be known. Instead, both Hannah and Garrett disclosed the information in their own time when they felt comfortable, and when they needed the support from the other whether that be as a friend or partner. And I do believe that part of the reason why the montage in episode 5 is so damn addictive for the audience is because it just feels so light and perfect. We get to see two college kids get to be really happy and have something special that they’ve never experienced with another person. There isn’t some ominous cloud hanging over the couple and they,I argue, have much more of a honeymoon period than Polin did.

Part 3- Boiling Point

Again, I give the writers of Off Campus a lot of credit for letting Garrett and Hannah’s relationship breathe and not immediately get bogged down with more drama. Instead, they use the image Garrett’s teammates have of his father to keep Garrett’s fears of becoming an abuser like his father in the forefront of the audiences minds. But the first big step towards the blowup is when Hannah encourages Garrett to tell Logan, Dean, and Tucker the truth about his dad. And while Garrett’s response comes from a sweet place, and coming from the feeling that she’s the only person he can trust to tell and not be judged or questioned, it’s not healthy. Understandably, Mr. “I don’t do girlfriends” doesn’t know this, but you don’t have a girlfriend so you can have one person to shoulder all your trauma with.

Then we have the gut punch for Hannah. Hannah’s rapist is the one Garrett has to literally face off with the next day. And that she’s supposed to watch and can’t let on that anything is wrong. Seeing her shut down was painful to watch but Ella Bright did a phenomenal job of showing that and how the outside world can just feel so overwhelming. And then her meeting with her advisor was another moment that we can see how terrified she is of her past ruing the good things she has even now.

One of my favorite interactions between them is when she finally finds him after he’s been freaking out all game. And I love how in that moment we can see how much change he’s already gone through. The scoreboard is not his priority. He was worried more than anything that something happened to her. He knows her to know that she wouldn’t have not shown up, have left his texts and calls unanswered, unless something bad had happened. (The voicemail he leaves asking if he did something wrong breaks my heart). But the other thing he does is trust her. So when she says “I’m fine” he believes her. Even if he can clock her body language saying otherwise.

So now we come back to Bridgerton. This conflict has already been brewing since episode 1, but now we’ve really reached the point where it’s causing uncertainty in their relationship. And I argue that a lot of what gets us to the boiling point is Eloise’s fault. It was Eloise that first gave Pen the ultimatum to tell Colin, then encourages her to not tell Colin, also encourages her to give it up all together, and then begs Pen to bring whistledown back to clean up Eloise’s mess. Suffice to say, I think Eloise is a terrible friend but that’s a story for another day.

In addition, the “I love you” is bitter sweet. Because that moment is Colin giving Pen an opening. He knew something was wrong and wanted to give her space to share. But instead, she twists that opening into a confession of how long she’s loved him. While sweet, the timing of it will only be seen by Colin later as another potential lie when his trust in her is broken.

Part 4- The 3rd Act Breakup

(Seriously if you made it this far and don’t want to put duct tape over my mouth you deserve a medal)

With Off Campus, the fight honestly starts the moment Garrett decides to go after Delaney. I want to pause for just one moment to give Belmont Cameli his flowers for this moment. The story and communication with Hannah he’s able to tell in just those few seconds while wearing a full cage that literally breaks up his expression is amazing to watch. But in those moments, we see that Hannah doesn’t want him to do it but he chooses to anyway. And I’m mature enough to say that I cheered when he did.

And now, we get to the actual fight. Right off the bat we see Hannah ready to hash this out even while angry yelling “what the hell” as he’s in earshot and he tries deflect with “I can’t do this right now” and given that he just got applauded by his dad for going after Delaney and having his worst fear thrown in his face, yeah he isn’t in a good headspace to have this conversation, and knows that Hannah really isn’t either. But she doesn’t budge and they start hashing it out.

Something that I love that this show did was the use of different philosophies, particularly kierkegaard’s “two truths” to help convey the story. And it’s best seen right here. Both Hannah and Garrett have truths here. Garrett, at his core, is upset that Hannah wasn’t honest about being ok, and that he had to play and was expected to maintain good sportsmanship with the man that caused the woman he loved so much pain and that even years later thought of herself as “broken”. Meanwhile Hannah has seen first hand what happens to those who believe and support her. You see the incredible guilt she feels about her parent’s financial situation and puts all of the blame on herself for how they were all treated. And as the audience, we see the two truths. We can empathize with both parties, and neither is labeled in the wrong.

And then we get the actual break up. It’s heart wrenching because as the audience, we can immediately tell that neither of them wants that. But we can also empathize with Garrett that hearing Hannah scream “that scares me” is the absolute worst case scenario and it’s better to leave now because this has all become a self fulfilling prophecy and he’ll end up just like his dad. Even though Garrett takes the word out of context, it’s so realistic for how your brain can tune everything out after hearing a trigger.

Ok now with Bridgerton. The first problem is really that Colin and Penelope have multiple fights over this and we don’t really see a resolution to those fights. But for the sake of this analysis I will say that the fight that halts all communication and causes the most physical separation is the fight after their wedding.

So starting with Colin actually finding out. I still find Luke’s inability to do the scene angry a savior for this scene. Because a Colin that’s just flat out angry doesn’t fit with anything else we’ve seen from Colin when it comes to Penelope. Now from a writing perspective, why did he show up all worried for her only to ditch her in the street 5 minutes later? To me, that was choice designed to make a good cliffhanger and nothing more.

Then we get the entrapment comment. And yeah I’m gonna defend the entrapment comment! Yall can kill me in the comment section. But the way I see it, it does feel like entrapment from Colin’s perspective. She wasn’t truthful about a major aspect of her life, slept with him, and was actively lying/distracting from the topic so she wouldn’t be questioned. Of course someone who already had a major breach of trust was going to think that. Now a failing I see from the writers standpoint was that the comment was never brought up again. And while the feelings and fears driving the comment were valid, accusing your fiancée of entrapment is still a pretty big deal and shouldn’t have just been moved on from with one guilty look from Colin. But this comment of course sparked a lot of hate towards Colin.

Then we get the fight outside of the modiste. This, in my opinion, is the fight where they make the most progress in actually getting to the root of why whistledown is such an issue. In this fight we see Colin’s desire to be taken seriously as a husband and the role he believes he needs to play as breadwinner and protector at odds with Penelope’s hyper-independence. It also touches on Colin’s insecurities about his writing abilities and what Penelope said about him in whistledown in episode 1. And this is where again I think the writers tried to paint Penelope too much in the right. Because when you watch episode 1, there really isn’t anything from Penelope’s expressions or conversations with Colin that convey she was angry at how he had changed. She was the one who blew him off at the garden party when he tried to talk to her. She’s the one that left before he could apologize. But instead of apologizing she doubles down and argues that it was ok to write what she had because he was acting differently. But again there’s the missed opportunity that her ignoring his letters was a major push factor for that change.

I also wish they had dove into the fact that Penelope uses whistledown without thinking (like ep 1) and is selfish when it comes to Colin. Yes, Penelope did try to warn Colin. However, there is a huge difference between telling him “she’s in love with another man” versus “she’s pregnant with another man’s child”. That’s critical information. And I argue the reason she didn’t tell him was because she knew he’d still marry Marina regardless. She knew he wanted to play hero. So selfishly, she published the scandal in Whistledown, knowing Violet, Anthony, or someone else would end it for her.

Side Note: I don’t know if it was the writers laziness, assumption that audiences wouldn’t know he was talking about, or what but why does Colin continue to call Marina Miss Thompson. At this point she’s been married to Philip for nearly two years!! She’s Lady Crane! Having Colin continue to refer to her as if she’s a maiden makes it appear as if he believes that she’s still available. It’s like she’s an ex he can’t get over. It’s weird and not good writing

Now they end this fight with Penelope screaming that she loves him, and a make out session that of course gets interrupted by a horse. But that leaves a level of uncertainty for them and frustration for the audience. Because nothing really gets resolved here beyond that Penelope does love Colin. And while an important step, allows for the next fight to fester.

(A note here: As much as I adore “You Belong With Me” it’s very obvious that it was a later change. Neither Luke nor Nic’s expressions match the tone of that song and makes it even more obvious that overall tone changes were made in the reshoots)

Ok so we finally get to the wedding fight and let me just tell you, this fight feels so. Fucking. Forced. Because first of all, why is Penelope mad that Colin wants her to stop whistledown when the queen just personally crashed their wedding and threatened their entire family. I think sometimes people forget just how damn powerful the Queen was. Like this a monarch of the British fucking empire. The “the sun never sets on the British Empire” empire. The British Empire that colonized and enslaved thousands because they had what they wanted. Now I will remind myself that this is a TV show and nothing bad actually happens (unless you’re John) but if we are putting things into perspective even slightly Colin’s fears and pleas are valid.

And then we have the for lack of a better term “it’s hard being a woman” speech. And this speech feels so fucking out of left field it takes me completely out of the show (Penelope’s heavy blush and Luke’s terrible wig don’t help). Here it feels like the two of them are having two separate conversations and of course nothing is going to get accomplished here.

Which now brings us to what I consider the breakup and what many fans love to shit on Colin for: not having a wedding night. In Colin’s mind his family is now under threat and Penelope doesn’t care. They can’t reach an agreement and so he makes a boundary and decides to sleep on the sofa outside their room. In a house that has multiple guest rooms. And this is another time where the writers really failed. Because we as the audience should explicitly know why Colin doesn’t want to have their wedding night while they are still fighting. But instead, this decision is heavily criticized by fans and used to make Colin the bad guy.

Ok Soapbox time: NO ONE EVER OWES ANOTHER PERSON SEX. Yes it was their wedding night. Key word here: “their”. Colin was not punishing Penelope by denying her sex. He did not feel comfortable and that was his choice to make. Same way if Penelope decided she didn’t want sex, that choice would need to be respected. Neither of their families were requiring a public consummation. So please, stop using this to hate on Colin.

Part 4- Space Apart

Something that many have already complimented but I will as well is the use of split screens to show the similarities and/or differences in Hannah and Garrett’s lives. And the post breakup is no exception. From the first second of the last episode you can immediately see both are hurting yet are connected by listening to the same sad song.

Despite being broken up, we still get some really healthy communication from them both. After Hannah confronts Garrett about the “hands off” rule and finds out it was actually a throwaway comment that spiraled through the rumor mill, Garrett assures her that he’d never do something that would put her in a position that took away her choice and reaffirming that she is free to be with whoever she wants. We also see Hannah continue to support Garrett in his own doubts of if he actually loves hockey or not. Reminding him that he didn’t have to be on the ice and yet there he is, choosing to be there.

And, despite being broken up, we still see them falling back to the friendship they had before getting tons and trying to support each other and give them the push they need. Garrett understands Hannah’s decision to drop out of the showcase, but still gives her that boost of confidence that she would’ve done incredible had she chosen to perform. And Hannah gives Garrett one more push to talk to Logan about his dad, and gives him the much needed reminder that Logan has had his back for a long time.

And lastly, the role their friends play is such an important piece of this time they have broken up. I love that Allie knew Hannah so well that she knew Hannah was the “friend” whose experiences made Hannah not want to drink in public. I love that as soon as Garrett opened the door to talking about not wanting to be like his father, Logan stopped everything he was doing and gave his full attention. These pieces especially in my mind are what make Hannah and Garrett eventually getting back together so healthy.

Quick shout out to coach jensen. His “why would I yell at you when I want you to listen to me” was such a perfect response and I really hope we see more of that in future seasons.

Now this is the time where I grew most frustrated with Bridgerton. Because instead of seeing Colin and Penelope address the Whistledown issue and now Cressida’s blackmail, audiences are met with multiple cutaways to Benedict’s fucking threesome. It was bad and unnecessary and that’s all I’ll say for now. This is another instance where we see a lot of issues make the situation worse but then never get addressed. The biggest one being Colin going to Cressida to plea to stop the blackmail and failing. (which, why are we NOW getting Colin being upset Penelope didn’t write back? Did the writers forget this detail until the last month of filming?) all we got from this was Colin upset he failed again, no one saying anything other than Penelope looking disappointed, and then Colin not wanting to be with Penelope again. If you can’t tell, the lack of communication boggles my mind to this day.

This would’ve been a great opportunity for Eloise to have a no holding back conversation with Colin about Penelope and whistledown, but instead we get a weak “don’t let it ruin your marriage” as if Eloise didn’t cut Penelope out of her life for a year.

Now we do finally see Penelope tell Colin that she loves him for him and that he doesn’t need to do anything special for her to love him. And that all she wants him to do is stand by her and love her back. However, this then cuts to a plotting sequence and ball in which Colin and Penelope don’t interact besides one weighted look during her speech. So what really got accomplished here?

Part 6- The Reconciliation

(I’m never writing this much on tumblr ever again)

Ok I’m gonna be completely honest. I don’t like Colin’s speech at the butterfly ball. Because to me at least, jealousy was not the major issue he had. It feels more like a bone they threw in to make it match the books, but show Colin and book Colin are incredibly different. I also have issue with the idea that he’ll be happy with just “a little bit of her light”. By this point in the show it feels like they wanted to make Penelope end up on her own but then remembered it’s a romance show so she needs to end up with Colin I guess. Colin has his own aspirations. And one of the special things about Polin is that they were both able to become writers. Personally I would have made Penelope’s “just being you is enough” their reconciliation and then allowed them to truly be on the same team and visibly supporting each other as Penelope claimed whistledown.

Now for off campus. While Garrett’s grand gesture is incredibly sweet, and Hannah’s song is a communication to him in itself, there’s not much to say about their reconciliation. And maybe they knew there would be a good chance they’d get a second season so they left his apology more general. But at the same time there’s a beauty in the simplicity of it, and a guy who “doesn’t do girlfriends” promising to do better and wanting to be the one she chooses to be with is very sweet.

Conclusion

Well I hope you enjoyed your time down this little (big) rabbit hole. Even after all that I still probably missed some details. My final thoughts are this:

I think it’s very likely that off campus has been able to learn from the mistakes bridgerton and shows like it have made along the way. How these characters communicate should really be the norm rather than large portions of the audience being pleasantly surprised when the guy doesn’t start yelling and flinging accusations at his girlfriend the moment she walks through the door.

As for bridgerton, you can tell they chose manufactured drama over telling a love story. Many of the issues I feel were caused by sidelining Colin and not actually letting his story be told. Viewers chose their sides and then villainize the other. And honestly that’s on the writers and editors who decided the main couple needed less time because those threesome and brothel scenes were sooooooo necessary. I don’t think this conflict could ever be completely equal, but the writers certainly did Colin dirty a lot more than Penelope. The focus was really on whistledown more than anything else. And watching S3 two years later? It’s honestly pretty clear that the shows success didn’t come from the writers or producers but from Luke and Nic’s on and off screen chemistry that got people hooked.

#off campus #I haven’t seen Bridgerton but I loved how off campus handled the MC conflict

quietwingsinthesky

like the betrayal’s always going to be worse if they cared about you and it didn’t matter. someone discards you because they didn’t give a shit, then you can be angry about that, you can feel vindicated in that, you can get over it. but if they can look you in the eyes and say “I love you. I would make the same choice again.” You will never sleep peacefully again, is all.

quietwingsinthesky

“I thought they cared about me, but they were lying this whole time.” <- tired. boring. removes all the nuance of this relationship to make it easier to move on from.

“I thought they cared about me, and I was right, and every minute they were there for me, every time they said they were proud, every laugh we shared leaning against each other bruised and breathless, all of it was real. and they still left me behind. They could put their love aside. I couldn’t.” <- insane. will never leave you alone. reminds you that even the worst people are still people and can still care about even the ones they hurt the most and that undoes neither the harm nor the love.

“Dutch?”

*sees whatever the fandom is doing* there's a really good story happening on the actual show if you want to watch that instead

sophsun1

Happy Pride 🌈 | The Golden Girls (1985-1992)

#golden girls

theodysseyofhomer

odysseus absolutely does present a threat to penelope if he perceives her as at all unfaithful, and i feel the unfairness of this, and i think people tend to undersell how much tension at least potentially exists between odysseus and penelope. but i'm also like. his reaction, all speculation aside, his actual reaction in the odyssey to her flirting with the suitors is delight, because he immediately ascertains that she is running a con. sorry that they're so in-sync in spite of the forces that try to drive a wedge between them, including their own misgiving hearts. sorry that they invented homophrosyne ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

strinak

oh, you meant they literally did, ok

theodysseyofhomer

would i, tumblr user thee odysseyofhomer, lie to you?

polyphemusthecylcops

...

theodysseyofhomer

this is the only funny addition to this post

#fun stuff #greek mythology

brehaaorgana

Greatest hits of FIFA cultural exchanges thus far:

Learning about flyovers and pyrotechnics at American games being a thing

Non-americans discovering the size of American football stadiums....for high schools in texas. Also the size of our stadiums in general.

Going to baseball games as a side treat! Lmao.

Non-americans losing their minds over "like, 100 petrol pumps," at buc-ees.

Related: Americans often forget how huge target and Walmart is.

People discovering American BBQ

Non-americans being obsessed with mid American restaurant chains like Golden Corral and Taco Bell

A lot of them really did feel god in this chile's apparently

The rightful obsession with waffle house

New understanding of American Big Drink With Ice supremacy as summer creeps in

Begrudging acceptance of mandatory water breaks during games

Americans realizing we have a Team USA and we are not, in fact, just "hosting our friends" from around the world — mostly because we won our first match and our team is decent??? Not amazing but not the worst.

Side rant: us women's football team is legendary good and we should care about that more like. Hello???

Admitting Americans are right about air conditioning

Related: the english team did warm ups in Florida RIP, and also the there's a video of the French team just being like fuck the heat, fuck the sun, this is so hot...

Americans who do not normally care about international football but fucking love a sport and cheering so we're just hyping whatever team is nearby, like we see a party and just show up and learn the chant. Like sorry many of us don't know shit about soccer but if we see a bunch of people in viking helmets or kilts or holding a bunch of flags and cheering we're game.

TAILGATING!!!!

I already said this but American yellow school bus is an international celebrity

The Scottish drank Boston dry of beer apparently, like they quadrupled what Boston normally sells for fourth of July weekend. SAM ADAMS HAD TO GET AN EMERGENCY BEER DELIVERY.

Also the English team fans got kicked out of The Londoner pub in Dallas after drinking 5,000 beers and going over max capacity lmao

Free refill drinks, tortilla chips & salsa.

So many non-americans are going to be here for the 4th of July for our 250th anniversary which is going to be great and hilarious

Non-americans discovering ranch as a beloved condiment

Non-americans understanding American obsession with hamburger now

Japan's homebase is in Texas and the cultural differences are frankly great and also the Japanese fans are SO NICE and helped clean up the stadium after a match???

All the short videos with the eagle screech (which I think is actually a hawk but whatever)

sweaterkittensahoy

On the note of Americans embracing whatever team is nearby, please enjoy this clip of Kansans going all in for Algeria:

prof-grace-aspen

Americans: always down to party

gator-crusador

When you don't know the sport or but a horde from across the world has shown up for it:

#world cup 2026 #fun stuff

takechonceonme

the most underrated bit of off campus season 1 is when dean and beau keep giving Tucker the fruit and as the episode goes on the fruit just keeps getting bigger

#off campus

chimaerakitten

Inspired by a conversation on discord.

Friends who *haven’t* watched Stargate, pick a bonkers bit of lore with minimal context

Daniel’s parents died in a tragic Wile E Coyote style museum display accident

Most powerful villains in SG1 were defeated with an Atheism Ray

Jack had a telepathic connection with a barber for 7 years. never mentioned it.

Because of time travel Hammond secretly knows *everything* ahead of time in S1

McKay and Bill Nye the Science Guy know and dislike each other

SGA is really just the universe’s most convoluted shopping trip for AA batteries

The gate can literally be dialed manually like a rotary telephone

Advanced aliens need SG1 so they can think up *dumber* solutions to problems

The writers used “evil legos” as a villain concept *twice*

Merlin is real and he used to be an energy squid

An even sillier and lower budget version of the show exists in-universe

I have watched Stargate/show results

Voting ended onJun 25

These aren’t even the most wild parts of the lore they’re just what I thought of first

#stargate sg1 #sg1

loveyazy

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS (2026-?) 1.03 | The Squire

#akotsk

skulandcrossbones

some people really do need to start reminding themselves that the answer to "why didn't the character just do [something entirely different]" is often simply "because then there wouldn't be a story"

mynonclicheblog

Seriously, the storytelling and character work in Off Campus is so far beyond anything I expected going into it. The way that every point of conflict stems from established traumas or fears getting triggered rather than lies and miscommunication? The dismantling of toxic masculinity (especially within male friendships + their treatment of women)? The portrayal of women's tendency to feel guilty once they start enjoying themselves? THE GIRLBESTIES, HELLO? The early theme of "how can two things be true at once" resonating with Garrett's confusion over Hannah's feelings, and then the show taking that a step further by introducing all these nuanced conversations across the entire cast where neither party is in the wrong? The fact that we actually spend time with the main couple in a healthy relationship, facing issues together, rather than spending it all on dramatized buildup just to prolong tension?

This really feels like a group of flawed people who are so supportive of one another in their time of need. Everyone has moments of gold. Yet, when they do something that hurts someone else, the narrative doesn't reward nor punish them for it, rather it asks the audience to consider: why do you think they've done this? Does it define them? Can you see both sides? The writing trusts you as the audience to look inside these people and draw your own conclusions, while onscreen the characters themselves respond to hiccups with maturity and emotional honesty. It's incredibly refreshing.

Also, just, the framing of all this is outstanding. There are times you'll enter into a confrontation with an idea whose side you're on, but then you listen to what the other person has to say, and suddenly you understand that this isn't black and white. They're adding context, or they're missing context, or you simply hadn't thought of it that way. But it never feels like pulling the rug, either. Based on what you know about this character, their perspective on this situation makes PERFECT sense as soon as they've shared it. And you know what? They're valid for thinking that way.

Speaking of framing don't even get me STARTED ON EPISODE 6. Recontextualizing moments you've already seen, "deleted" scenes, hidden storylines my beloved!

I have to give flowers to all the actors and the editing team as well- acting performances are super naturalistic and believable, plus cast chemistry is out of this world! Such fun choices with the occasional use of split screen, quick cutting parallels, details in the background that come up later, it's just so engaging to watch and follow along with. Music choices, too! One of those shows that is actually elevated by its soundtrack.

Anyway, none of my friends have watched this yet and I have soooo much to say. I'm so impressed with what I thought would be just a silly porny YA romantic drama. This shit is REAL, including the topics it covers. Immaculate season of television in my humble opinion.

hell-comes-to-gotham

#off campus

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