Jay 愛

22 • he/they • Adventures in Odyssey fan account • Connie Kendall supporter • Olivia Parker hater • gamer • horror movie enthusiast • lover of musicals • 🏳️‍🌈

[sousujayshima]

I often find myself being kind alienated in listening to Adventures in Odyssey because of the fact that I’ve been in the process of deconstructing my upbringing in the evangelical fundamentalist church.

It’s not something I particularly like talking about, because what lead me to this place is the fact that I was outed in my church and went through conversion therapy in late 2021.

I don’t particularly want to knock anyone for their religious beliefs as I think anyone is entitled to those. But, that’s not my walk. That’s not my journey. And I just have experienced so much trauma at the hands of Christian faith that I no longer find myself being particularly interested in the faith aspect of Adventures in Odyssey and I am there entirely because I enjoy the characters.

Idk, I guess food for thought on this nice Monday morning.

[sousujayshima]

I’m bored, gimme some Odyssey related topics and I’ll give you my hot take on them (if I have one) <3

[adventuresinodysseyfan]

Buckles and Cason

[sousujayshima]

Cason (I prefer Jasonnie) is a weird one because I’m not opposed to it on paper but they’ve already done an episode addressing the fact that Jason is too old for Connie (even though Connie has been floating in age limbo for the better part of the last 30 years.). I‘ve said before that I think they’re going to set up a Jason and Jillian ship.

Buckles I have more to say about because there’s more to work with. I like them just fine, but I’m not like dying for them to be together. I think it’s possible we’re setting up a love triangle arc between Buck, Jules and Lexi. I think it could be a good learning experience for Jules to learn to have to deal with Buck being into someone else. I think that could be fun. But, again, this is AIO and I don’t have much faith they’d handle that arc well because they’ve really been fumbling some of the writing and character development for Buck and Jules lately.

[sousujayshima]

What is your favorite “era” of odyssey? like oldest odyssey episodes, that middle section, or the newer stuff they have right now

I want to say the middle section - like I’m thinking everything leading up to Rydell Revelations, everything Green Ring/Ties, also the Eugene and Katrina courtship/eloping era as well

[sousujayshima]

I’m bored, gimme some Odyssey related topics and I’ll give you my hot take on them (if I have one) <3

[i-like-too-many-things-rip-lmao]

I like to stir the pot 😈 what’s your least favorite AIO ship (either canon or fanon)?

[sousujayshima]

Right so I’m SLOW asf and I thought they were asking me my favorite ship. Let me course correct SWIFTLY.

My least favorite ship is probably Barrett and Priscilla? Probably because I don’t think it ever went anywhere and they’re not interesting to me. They’re just another guy and girl pairing to me.

[sousujayshima]

I’m bored, gimme some Odyssey related topics and I’ll give you my hot take on them (if I have one) <3

[missdrummond]

Least favorite child character?

Jillian Marshal feelings? (There is no take on her that isn't a hot take)

If you HAD to put Odyssey in a state, where is it? (There’s no right answer, but there are wrong ones)

[sousujayshima]

My least favorite child character is 110% Olivia Parker (she’s in middle school, and I’d call that a child). I just don’t find her interesting, and she’s never really involved in any of the major arcs. She’s almost ALWAYS filler, and it’s never fun filler.

My Jillian Marshall hot take is that I genuinely think she’s fun and have never really had an issue with her. I LOVE her ditsy persona, because I find most of the jokes successful at being funny. Honestly, I’m probably not in the minority in thinking they’re setting up a Jillian/Jason ship. I’m sure it’s coming, it’s only a matter of time.

Personally, I’d place Odyssey in Wisconsin. I think mostly because of its proximity to Chicago - and it definitely fits a midwestern vibe.

[sousujayshima]

oh good you’re also an Olivia hater, so am I and my sister 😭

I’m so sick and tired of her and Zoe learning the same lesson in literally every episode.

[sousujayshima]

What's your favorite dynamic shared between two characters in AIO?

Definitely a basic take, but I love Connie and Eugene. There’s nothing I love more than two close friends who care about each other so much but always seem to be in a form of competition. Kinda makes me sad that we’ve been robbed of bickering from them in the more recent eras - particularly since Buck became a more central figure in Eugene’s story (which isn’t a bad thing at all, just an observation) and most of his time is spent with Katrina and Buck. Like, yes, I did cry when he and Connie said goodbye to each other when he moved to Baltimore.

Honorable mention is Whit and Emily. I really liked the storyline where she was having trouble forgiving Whit for her trauma from the escape room situation (which I think Whit definitely got off way too easy for that, but I think the conversation about Whit having questionable logic has BEEN had). I enjoy a lot of Emily’s relationships because I feel like a lot of her conflicts tend to be about who she can and can’t trust. I’m wanting more of her lately, and I don’t think the absence of Matthew has really done too much damage to her character at all.

[sousujayshima]

I’m bored, gimme some Odyssey related topics and I’ll give you my hot take on them (if I have one) <3

[sousujayshima]

Wait bc… does this make me Jay Smouse now that I’m going by this nickname?

[sousujayshima]

God listening to some of these older arcs (Search for Whit, Novacom) makes me really miss Tasha Forbes. BRING HER BACK.

[sousujayshima]

I really would like Connie to have a love interest again. I am totally 100% okay with the writers wanting to bring back Jeff Lewis (aside from the fact my ex’s name is Jeff and that does not bring me any great memories lol) because he was really good to Connie. And since the problem of them being unequally yoked has been addressed, idk why we couldn’t have that.

I just want Connie to have someone she really deserves it 😭

[sousujayshima]

I lowkey am not enjoying this new era of Odyssey because I truly think them converting Jules, Buck and Renee all in the span of like 2 albums was a mistake — like other than Morrie and Suzu, we don’t really have anyone left.

[sousujayshima]

The Real Housewives of Odyssey: A Concept

I’m imagining this in a universe where these women all have reasons to dislike each other in some way. I’m basing it around my exposure to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, as it’s the franchise I’m most familiar with.

💎 Connie Kendall - center diamond, our lead (sort of the Kyle Richards of this group, audience surrogate). I think they’d showcase her guardianship over Jules and all that.

💎 Penny Bassett - probably fan favorite, Jennifer Tilly coded in a lot of ways. I think they’d showcase her and her husband’s antics as filler between conflicts. Could see her also taking a Dorit approach to conflict and getting really loud.

💎 Katrina Meltsner - the voice of reason, often the most sensible one in the room (I’m thinking Yolanda or Adrienne energy for her), plus they can talk about the whole situation with Buck. I think that could definitely lead to some conflict for sure

💎 Joanne Allen - sweet and classy, often not at the center of drama but will definitely back her friends. I could also see her filling a sort of similar role to Katrina, though I think this could lead the hypothetical fans of the show to find her “boring” (sort of Eileen Davidson coded)

💎 Eva Parker - one season wonder, probably. Boring and not interesting.

💎 Zoe Grant’s mom (I lowkey don’t remember her name, I just know her in that one episode where she’s a cop) - I like the idea of her being the queen of confessionals and also being kind of an outsider, since I don’t think we’ve seen her interact with these other women. I think maybe her and Eva could have some chemistry since their kids are friends.

💎 Jillian Marshall - I think she’d be one of those women who the other ladies would speculate about a lot and this might lead to conflict (sort of like the women of Beverly Hills did with Camille in season 3) and the concept of her living a double life is interesting, especially since Connie knows about it.

Tasha Forbes - our “friend of” who I think would be fun to have around because of her connections to the FBI and there could definitely be be some tension between her and Jillian, since they’re both there.

[sousujayshima]

Question for my followers!

As I prep to start working on my Adventures in Odyssey deep dive, would it be acceptable of me to kinda skip over the episodes/characters that might kind of be considered filler?

If so, which of those would you prefer me not to cover? I’m open to suggestions!

[sousujayshima]

Robert Mitchell my beloved.

[sousujayshima]

Hey… hey… how y’all doing?!

Hi Adventures in Odyssey Tumblr! I’ve missed you all!

It’s me, I’m back. Everyone’s favorite hot take person from 5 years ago coming out of the woodworks. If this post gets a few likes and stuff, it’s possible I’ll start making more Odyssey content again. I posted previously that I’m planning a multi-hour long video deep dive into the series - and unfortunately that’s kind of an ambitious undertaking and I don’t have money right now. I likely won’t be able to even start shooting the content until after I can afford cosplay (I want to do like a different character cosplay for each section, I’m very into that concept) and I have to relisten to over 1,300 episodes which equals a good 700+ hours of listening I need to do. Not to mention taking notes on all of the episodes (which, it’s likely I’m going to skip over a lot of the filler—I’m looking at you KidsRadio)

I guess I should share my thoughts on the goings-on in Odyssey!

1) happy for Renee, Jules and Buck and their conversions. I’m happy they’ve finally found their way onto that path. Though, I think that having all three of these characters get saved in the span of like 2 albums is a lot. I’m sure Bridget isn’t far behind.

2) In that episode where Connie was having like a midlife crisis I genuinely went into fight or flight mode, because I thought they were soft launching writing her out of the series.

3) I’ve noticed we’re not seeing a whole lot of Whit lately. I’m not necessarily mad about that, because Whit is probably my least favorite part of the show? Which, I know he’s literally the main character, but I feel like Whit tends to be very one note.

4) The most recent album ended with… Olivia and Zoe having a fight. Groundbreaking. Never been done before. I’ve been saying for years that those two really have had their time, and I’m ready for them to go.

5) Question! Why the hell doesn’t the team at Focus ever really give us any content or updates on characters from before? Look me in the eye and tell me the last time we’ve heard the names “Lucy Cunningham-Schultz”, “Donna Barclay” or “Joann Allen”. Now, I know that the Barclay era is long passed, but it might be nice to bring some of those older characters back for guest appearances for long time fans. I’ll give them credit for at least giving us the odd mention of Tom Riley every now and then. I miss that man.

6) I really would like Connie to have a love interest. It’s possible maybe they’re trying to have it so she kinda represents the concept of “God doesn’t always call people to marriage”, which sure. But, they could always write Jeff back in (though don’t do that, because that’s my ex boyfriend’s name and I don’t want to deal with that nonsense), because they were really cute together. I’m still upset about Mitch, I loved Mitchonnie so much.

7) I’m dreading the introduction of this new Whit’s End employee, Paxton. I knew right away when I heard that episode and they introduced a couple new people - that the annoying one was the one who was probably going to be sticking around. I REALLY miss Nick Mulligan these days. I don’t know if they ever explained why he doesn’t live in Odyssey anymore. I’m sure I’ll find out during my full run-through.

8) Katrina Meltsner you are still the diva of all divas.

9) Petition to bring back the Adventures in Absurdity podcast! That show really was goated and it was the reason I even joined Tumblr in the first place. There’s so much that can be talked about too (pls have me on as a guest and we can kiki about my hatred of Olivia Parker). I’m sure many of the original members definitely have lives now, but it might be fun to bring it back in some way!

I think that’s all I can think of right now? If I can think of more stuff, I’ll post about it later.

Missed you guys!

~ Joshie 💋 (formerly known as Chanellance)

[sousujayshima]

My ability to go months without posting is actually hilarious to me lmfao