Wooooowwwww.

Wooooowwwww.

Um. Yep. This tracks.

of course i have a praise kink, i'm a burnt out former gifted child.

Is it just me or they made Willow Grace 2.0 ? Like hear me out, I know that all the OG girls get merged and become bitchy towards MC cause you stole "their man", but let's look at the context before CA. Daphne and Geri were obviously Rafael's and Joyo's first choices respectively pre CA and even if Alex said he wasn't feeling it with Estelle, I don't remember him cracking on with another woman before CA and so we can assume that she was initially his first choice as well.

But Willow ? They said multiple times that Bryson wanted Geri over her and that he even flirted with Geri right in front of her face, even before MC came into the picture she was never his first choice. While the other 3 girls also come across as desperate at least they have some basis for their delusion as they've been their man's "number ones" before they twisted with MC, but for Willow it looks even more embarrassing to cling to a man that's already pied her off for a second woman. Also the way they've described her all throughout CA as the sweetest person in the world just for her to become a bitch towards you cause her crush wants you and not her is giving Grace all over.

AND THIS IS AGAIN A BLACK WOMAN ! So even when she's literally merged with the white characters with the added context she still comes across as more delusional than her white/lighter skinned counterparts MY GOD FB.

Sigh. I mean yeah. I can definitely see this perspective. I have ceased to have expectations when it comes to FB's depictions of black women because they are generally somewhere between pretty disappointing to full on rage-inducing. In this case, I'd personally lay it at the feet of the lack of branching, rather than intention. Though that's probably giving them more credit than they deserve considering the very obvious mirroring of Hope and Grace as stage five clingers attached to wishy washy men of color.

I don't know, man. I wish they'd pay any attention at all to the way they depict race. I have to deal with enough racial shit in my every day life. I'd love to get on the app and not worry that I'm about to feel just as awful while playing. But alas.

Thank you for your perspective, anon!

Spent the weekend having to talk to strangers and this is accurate

Those tags are running a cold, clammy finger up and down my spine.

I love when you’re reading multiple fics by the same author and you start to spot all the phrases and adjectives they like to use

Due to my husband being a man, I have 1.5 mile's worth of gasoline left in my tank after driving to work. I will be walking to the gas station after work to get a gas can so I can have enough gas to make it home. Someone sit me down with a crow and a warm cup of tea. I don't even need the vacation, just need to sit still and not stress for an hour.

The Inscrutability of Alex

So I might be working on an S7 Alex fic. I mean, I'm probably not working that. But I could be. Maybe. Anyway, for mysterious reasons, I decided to replay the current episodes because I found myself confused by a couple things with Alex. And a second playthrough left me even more confused. I sent @mrsbsmooth a nearly three minute, babbling voice note, asking her if I was missing something, because I cannot figure out how to write him.

This character is described by multiple others as having "golden retriever" energy. Something he absolutely does not have. I'd say he's not even that playful. It's just bizarre for anyone to say that. Nothing about him is overly energetic. Both Raf and Bryson are much better described like that. Alex has the most whistle-whilst-mowing-the-lawn-in jorts-dad energy ever. Golden retriever he is not.

So okay, his energy doesn't match the description. That's not a huge issue on its own. But like...who is he? He says he's not cocky, just confident.

Hmmm. Never is a strong word, innit?

Now, a less cynical person might say that Fusebox is just writing a realistic depiction of someone who is unaware of his own cockiness, but since I am a cynical asshole, I'm saying that Fusebox is not in the business of nuance. They make the same amount of money whether they spend the extra energy to give it depth or not. So they're never gonna bother with that. This is just inconsistent writing. Now, we all know that Alex's most overtly acknowledged trait is his desire to "Take things slow." He says he's looking for the one, and he's not gonna rush that. He knows things move fast there, but he still wants to take his time. He didn't kiss Estelle on the first night. He was uncomfortable with Summer being so forward before he knew anything about her. So how does a guy who takes things slow answer a question from a virtual stranger about what he does for a living?

A dirty joke. Yes, very much setting the tone for his lack of cockiness and his desire to take things slow 🙄 Though I do enjoy MC responding with "Very presumptive, but good to know." 😆😆😆 Not to mention, when he finds out you can snog during the icebreaker, he's not like, "Um too soon." Instead his eyes light up like he can't wait. It's so baffling. So let's say maybe he's just a slow mover who is also really flirty by nature. That feels like he's sending mixed signals at best and manipulating you at the worst. Now this one really threw me for a loop. There's a gem scene where you can ask the boys to tell you something cute about themselves. Alex tells a story about having a crush on a gym bunny and how it led him to weightlifting in order to ask her out. But he kept putting it off and by the time he finally got the nerve, she was already dating someone. So he learned not to hesitate. He learned to just go for it.

Um... what? That's a strange perspective to have for someone whose entire ethos is "Take it slow." Now, I'm aware that he is very straight forward with MC about where his head is at, so perhaps he just meant that he doesn't waste time letting someone know he's interested, but he still wants to take the relationship slow? I don't know. Last, but not least, on night one, you couldn't even kiss Alex (unless I'm misremembering). You could only snuggle. But on night two, Alex says he still wants to take it slow, but he wants to a little something. So the game gives us some options. And the first choice was to do bits. Now, this might be my fault, but I assumed that "bits" in this case would be some kissing and making out. Heavy petting. Maybe some under the clothes touching. But, to my utter shock, no it's not just a heavy make out sesh. Nope. He finger blasts you. He straight up bypasses the face lips and tiddies, and goes straight to rubbing the bean and shoving a digit inside of your person. It's an awfully intimate act for someone like him who's only been alone with you three times, and beyond challenge smooches (if you chose to even take those), has still never really made out with, nor kissed you privately. I would like to clarify that I'm not judging how fast or slow anyone goes in their personal lives. But I am I'm judging this character's pace in relation to the things he's been saying about his pace.

I wrote most of this before the last batch of episodes so I'll only lightly touch on the fact that Alex seems nearly ready to ask you to marry him the day after bringing you to the villa. So "taking it slow" really went out the window altogether.

Long story long, there are aspects to Alex I like. I mean, I'm writing him right now (OR AM I?) so it's not all bad. But it's really hard to attempt any canon reinterpretation, when I can't even sort out what canon is.

It just doesn't make sense. Is he cocky or not? Is he a slow mover or does he believe in not wasting time? Is he an inner city gym rat bro, or is he a home-on-the-range papa who wants to build you a cottage, and make babies? Is his whole "slow burn" thing some kind of manipulation to hide that he's a fuckboy (which would be hilarious) or he's just very badly written?

I love a good, lively conversation, so go ahead and let me know your thoughts. But for those who are rather... overly invested in Alex, feel free to yell at me about his perfection and how wrong and dumb I am. I look forward to deleting your vitriol.