#A lot of episodes of this show leave me thinking

[spread-the-influence]

OK LET ME EXPLAIN MY REACTION

I did partially react like that bc. Yeah. Ragatha does have a thing with every female npc so it is a little funny and also hypocritical of her

but it was also like. A reminder of how Ragatha hides how she really feels, if that makes sense? Like. It reminded me of how in the latest episode of TADC, when Ragatha was high off of the sauce that makes you stupid, she said things she would never have said regularly. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense

yeah i said it's kind of unexpected because the entire page is just showing more of t.i being self-centered , so that piece of dialogue was written to be more of a hypocritical statement rather than a gotcha . but hey a reaction's a reaction ! i found it pretty nice that everyone caught on what ragatha meant regardless (:

also i kind of get that ! the surprise behind a character who internalizes everything being blunt about her feelings . while i won't be saying exactly how honest t.i is — as i think a lot of the fun behind her dialogue is leaving people guessing on her genuineness — she doesss have a looser filter compared to ragatha .

[midnightexe]

In light of Matt (EmperorValentine) stepping down from EAPS and the appreciation event for him in the SBS Discord server, I wanted to make something really quickly to just,,, show my thanks.

Ramble under the cut.

I didn’t get much of the early-written content of Puppet, Foxy, or others, just because my main focus was on TSAMS, LAES, and—well, EAPS. I didn’t really branch out into the others, but as I went back recently to rewatch old silly videos, I got more content of them both— early and new.

Puppet didn’t really interest me at first when they were brought in with Lunar’s revival. I didn’t spark interest in them because that’s ALL I really saw them do—and even then I only knew they were a character at all because of dialogue—, but as I saw them more and more—on the MAPP, in clip compilations, edits, art, specific episodes, etc, my interest grew. They clicked with me.

I love Puppet. I love their writing, their dialogue, their interactions and dynamics, their just- their characters means a lot to me in ways I can’t describe. Matt did an amazing job with all of his characters, even ones I only really have had glimpses of, and I feel like people should talk a bit more about the voice actors themselves. I love the duality of hurt and healing I feel when I think about their character. What they’ve done, what they’ve wanted to do, how they’ve influenced people both good and bad. They’ve been an amazing character and, although I am sad to see Matt’s Puppet leave, I’m also excited to see what comes next.

So yeah, in short; Thank you, Matt. From the bottom of my heart, for all you’ve done in this community.

I’m really happy for him and wish him the very best with his new projects/focuses, I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon of a good send-off.

(This is not my best piece, it was done in the span of an hour. I would’ve done more but I’ve had NO time lately </3 )

[jules-ln]

Viktor and Jinx as Zaun, Jayce as Piltover, Arcane's use of art movements as a storytelling device

I am once again writing about Arcane because I am mentally ill and I also love Art history

So anyway I've already talk about Viktor being Art nouveau And how Art nouveau's history was similar to Viktor's story, and I wanted to talk about Jayce being Art Deco, because of his fashion choices in the last episode are pretty much art deco

But then I thought, what if it isn't just about Viktor and Jayce, but it's about Zaun and Piltover in general, and how the relationship between these two cities reflects in these two characters

And somehow I ended up writing this because FUCK

Look, I even got subtitles and everything

But anyway, I won't put citations on this because I'm not that crazy so this isn't a serious academic essay, and as anything else you read on the internet, take the parts about Art history with a grain of salt and you should read more about it (yess, this my elaborated plan to get people into Art history)

Jinx and Viktor as the personification of Zaun

Zaun actually has more of a punk on top rather than just art nouveau, a lot of people seem to think it's steampunk, but honestly, I think that's the result of putting punk and art nouveau together rather than it being pure steampunk

The thing that made me connect the characters as the embodiment of the cities was the fact that I've noticed that Zaun actually has a lot of art nouveau elements; is just that this art nouveau elements seem to be old and broken (I would show you but Tumblr's dumb image limit won't let me)

Now, I've actually talked about the story of art nouveau on another post but to make a brief summary, art nouveau started as a way to give common people art, to redistribute it rather than it just being something for rich people, it failed. But the important part is that art nouveau originally was a leftist art movement, like punk. Punk was a response to the social and economic crisis at the time of its origin; but where Art nouveau was a solution (solution that didn't work, mind you) punk was more of a response (again, don't quote me on that lmao)

Similar to this we can see, how both Viktor and Jinx then embody different responses to the same thing. Viktor is proposing a solution for the problems of Zaun (solution that didn't work) meanwhile Jinx is a reaction to everything that has happened to Zaun, she isn't a problem, she's a consequence

But not only are they the responses to Zaun, they ARE different parts of Zaun

We can see this with Jinx in the relationship she has with Vander, Silco and Ekko.

Both Vander and Silco nurture her and Zaun, and she wouldn't be what she is without both of them

That's why neither Silco nor Ekko could leave her. Silco couldn't give her away because that would be equivalent to him giving away Zaun, and Ekko couldn't give up on her because that would be like giving up on Zaun

Meanwhile with Viktor the influence of his style predominantly being art nouveau reflects in the background at different parts of the city,

And most noticeable is that when Zaun is in a better place, the elements of art nouveau are more prominent, like in episode 7 where punk takes a back seat to the art nouveau. It seems that generally art nouveau signifies a better Zaun, or the potential of it being better

We also see a lot of elements of art nouveau in Viktor's commune, and I know that the commune is interpreted as a negative thing. But look at it this way, what Viktor is doing, is probably doing more good than whatever the hell Caitlyn had going on during the first act (no hate to Cait btw)

Like, I know there are Caitlyn fans out there that defend her decisions of using the gray to attack the Chem barons, but in reality doing that wouldn't solve anything, just create a power vacuum that later could be filled by someone worse (like Renata Glasc) without solving the addiction to Shimmer (again, No hate to Cait). But what Viktor is doing, offering a safe space to recovering addicts and sick people, is actually solving the shimmer problem by eliminating the demand of it; and it's making Zaun better

(I also want to point out that the decision of framing Viktor's commune as a mind controlling cult is very politically charged, because even if it's not perfect; think about it; they're framing a commune in which money probably isn't used at all, and that accepts both recovering addicts and sick people freely and without judgment as something negative)

Add the fact that Viktor is one of the few characters that didn't talk negatively about Jinx (If I remember correctly); neither when he is disarming her bomb nor when he's in the commune talking directly to her; this could be interpreted as Viktor always seeing the potential within the Zaun of now

Adding to that, I want to make the point that Viktor and Jinx probably would be friends if they got to know each other. And I think this headcanon is so popular because they both are expressions of Zaun, of course they're going to be similar and get along

Art deco

Now, I'm not an expert in art deco (I've always been more interested in art nouveau and impressionism). But I know some things about it

Basically Art Deco comes from from the words art décoratif; and it was an art movement that emphasized the utility of art; it had different influences like Mayan art, Egyptian art, Art Nouveau, Rococo etc etc

Some of its characteristics are: straight lines, geometric patterns; a lot of gold, lots of triangles, more is more ideology and ornaments

But the important thing is that Art deco is supposed to be a very superficial art, merely decorative (hence the name); that signifies wealth. It also became strongly associated with machinery and progress. I would argue that in recent years there has been a new connotation of corruption and darkness to it thanks to media like Bioshock

It's definitely a perfect art movement for Piltover; to show the shallowness and money the city has. But the show not only attaches this art movement to the city, it also gives it different characters

Mel and Art Deco

This is the part where my ramblings got out of control because at first I was going to just point out how Jayce has an art movement too; then I realized that Viktor also uses clothes with an art deco pattern in them: (red lines to make the pattern more clear)

But that's weird; why does Viktor uses art deco here when later his main style is art nouveau? Then I realized, it's not just about Viktor and Jayce. But as Zaun and Piltover in general

And I realized that because of a character that also uses a lot of art deco without being from Piltover herself

Mel

Mel during the series uses different clothes, but most of them have in common the geometric pattern of art deco

But she isn't from Piltover; she isn't part of the city in the same way Jayce is. While she has a very big connection to it; the simple fact is that Mel's story is about finding herself; and she can't do it while in Piltover. In Piltover she's only doing what she's always done, searching for her mother's approval

Then why is she associated with art deco?

But I noticed, she isn't. Not completely

Let's look at what Mel actually does instead of what she's wearing

Here we can see one of Mel's paintings

Let's not look at what it is, (it's Noxus) let's look at how Mel painted it; it's has more emphasis on colors and ambient, the form is not very defined; it plays with the light, it almost gives you an impression of Noxus

Yes, Mel is an impressionist painter (think Claude Monet (Vincet van Gogh is post impressionsism btw))

And I think this is important for her character because at the end of the season, she goes back to Noxus looking for who she really is; who she is beyond her mother's influence and beyond Piltover. And guess what

If you hate abstract art blame it on Impressionsism. It came to be around the same time of the invention of photography. Photography filled the role painting had of representing reality, and it did it better, faster, and cheaper. So painting had to change to be more abstract instead of simply aiming to represent reality and all of that started (at least within the context of Europe at that time) with impressionsism

What I'm trying to say it's that impressionism was painting as a medium trying to redefine itself again, it was trying to find its own identity apart from photography. Just like Mel is trying to define herself

Now, if Mel is impressionism; it stand to reason that she's using Art deco, not because she's representative of the city, but simply as a way of showing how she adapted to the city, how it influenced her and helped her grow as a person

I was thinking about that before she debuted as a champion, but I think her voice lines kind of confirmed it

So, hers and Viktor's use of art deco signifies how important Piltover is for them; and if you look at it in a certain way, it's could also be a connection to Jayce

Jayce as Art deco

Now, before anything, I want to analyze Jayce's first design, when he's young

Here it is (and Viktor's, for reasons)

And you know, the first thing it jumped out to me while analyzing it, is that there isn't a lot of art deco elements; more than that, it's too simple for art deco, and he looks almost childish; like if you told me the guy was 18 here. I would believe it

But it also applies with Viktor, the clothes make him look so young and are too simple for art deco

So let's see how both of them look after the timejump

Now, Jayce here has his white blazer (is that the right word?) but again, where are my patterns? My ornaments? My geometric shapes and straight lines? There are some on the blazer; not enough that I would call it art deco

But take it off and boom

It's almost the same as his academy uniform, just change some things and colors here and there, but other than that, it's the same

Compared it with how different Viktor looks

Now, I know the first thing that stands out with Viktor is his change in health, but let's look beyond that, his clothes are completely different

Sure, he still uses elements that are reminiscent of his academy uniform, but that definitely isn't his uniform. The shape is different, the pattern is different, even the colors are a bit different. Viktor changed, but Jayce didn't?

That's because Viktor grew up, Jayce stayed the same, just add some things on top

Jayce's character design in season 1 reflects his mental state, he stayed innocent, naive

Now, why does all of these matters? Because it wasn't until I was looking at Jayce's design in season 2 that I noticed he's Art deco;

The straight lines, the geometric patterns, the ornaments. But he only won the art deco elements after he learned about Zaun, after he had to go through what Viktor had gone through. Before that he wasn't ready yet

Now, I think it's important to say that I'm interpreting Jayce as not only related to Piltover, but as the representation of the best of Piltover itself; he's the best side of Piltover in the same way that Viktor is the potential for a better Zaun

A tale of two cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and I'm a nerd

Now, I think that even after the whole magic plot, Arcane is still fundamentally a story about two cities, and that same relationship it's reflected on its characters; more than that. The dumb ending where Zaun and Piltover forget their differences and work together; I think it was the plan all along and as proof of that, I present to you Viktor and Jayce's relationship

I've seen a lot of people say that the dynamic between Piltover and Zaun reflects itself in the dynamic between Vi and Jinx, and honestly; that doesn't makes sense to me

Because, I understand Jinx being Zaun, I've already said it myself; but Vi isn't Piltover, and the relationship Vi has with Jinx isn't even remotely similar to the relationship Piltover has with Zaun (If you want to make the case, I would say it would be more accurate to say that Jinx is Zaun and Cait is Piltover, and Vi is the person trapped between the two, unable to choose)

But if look elsewhere, you know who would be a perfect comparison for Piltover and Zaun? Jayce and Viktor, and you might say "well, Jayce and Viktor's relationship isn't at all like Piltover and Zaun's relationship either"

That's because, like I've already said, Jayce is the better version of Piltover, and Viktor is the potential yet to realize in Zaun. So basically if Caitlyn and Jinx's relationship is meant to reflect the problems the two cities have in the present. Jayce and Viktor's relationship gives the solution, which is "put aside your differences and work together as equals"

And you can see that as well in their design

Side to side, these two designs exemplify the fundamental differences between Art Nouveau and Art Deco

Art Nouveau looks flowy, soft, feminine, floral patterns, asymmetry. Art Deco is expensive, machinery, modern, sharp angles, symmetry and straight lines, but that's not all

I've already said that Jayce design changed at the end of the season because Jayce finally matured, he's ready to be the best of Piltover, now he has earned the art Deco. But what do my eyes see here?

A flowy soft pattern on Jayce? A Floral pattern even? That's art nouveau right there

And then you look at Viktor's final form (in this picture is easier to see) and What's that on his chest? Symmetry? Straight lines? Machinery? That's art deco

So are you telling me that Jayce will always have some Viktor in him, while Viktor will always have some Jayce in him?

Are you telling me that the best of Piltover will always have some Zaun in it? While the potential of Zaun will always involve Piltover?

And you might think that is a bit of a stretch, but it makes sense with the ending Arcane has

Think about it; the show says that the best solution for the two cities is for them to put aside their differences and work together as equals; and I can't help but think that's what Jayce and Viktor are already doing

Jayce doesn't care that Viktor is from Zaun, and Viktor trust Jayce even with him being from Piltover; and it's only working together that they can reach their true potential. As in every time-line in which they aren't together, they never invent Hextech

The ending of arcane

Tbh, I'm not saying that the ending of the Piltover and Zaun conflict was good even if it was planned all along; but I also think a lot of people expected a leftist masterpiece, like the moment the most revolutionary character is also a mob boss and the main villain of season 1, you can totally tell that it wasn't going to another disco elysium (funnily enough disco elysium also has the mob boss being the union leader lmao)

I'm just analyzing the things I found, and while some might seem like a reach, I'm a 100% death of the author guy and I believe in making my own meaning

And I want to say this is the first time I've seen art history used in this way for visual storytelling. They could've very well just use generic steampunk visuals; but they decided to do something meaningful. Just for that alone I consider Arcane a masterpiece of animation

[jane-d-ankh-veos]

Some people aggressively tried to convince me that it's 100% canon that the Hexcore has its own malicious will and fully controls Viktor, and, well... usually I'm only glad when there is a wide variety of theories – I love exploring them and can peacefully ignore those I don't agree with – but I really can't stand this kind of arguing. Leave others some freedom to have their own interpretations, please...

So, why persuading me into adopting this one is a waste of time and effort: I don't like that it deprives him of responsibility and meaningfulness of personally taking it. The mage admitted that he had chosen a wrong way and attempted to set it right, and this is such an admirable rare strength. It's an important part of his character: staying true to his "in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good" and desires to lessen humanity's suffering, his intentions were always for the best, so he is able to consciously renounce evil when he sees that the consequences betray his ethics. This requires immence willpower and intelligence. His own. He isn't simply cleaning up some unruly magical orb's mess after being its puppet, he acts like a complex personality.

(Just imagine, for example, how boring BG3 would be if instead of its interesting vivid characters all the communication/flirting/teamwork was in fact happening only between their illithid tadpoles...)

Even the original Machine Herald, despite being devoted to the Glorious Evolution for a longer time and certainly not going to abandon it, is also capable of genuine self-introspection and honest abidance by what he thinks is right. (My precious ironclad cinnamon roll ❤️)

As for the argument that the Hexcore recoiled from him in S1 like a living creature, even our own world's nature has a lot of things that can react to a potential threat without necessarily having sentience. Some of them can even learn and distinguish:

What I could somewhat accept is the version that the Hexcore was given life by his blood. If its alleged independent mind is a direct creation and part of Viktor himself, then at least it's more logical than appearing from nowhere (or from the Void that is almost a whole continent away and would have already destroyed Piltover and Zaun long before these experiments if it was somehow involved), has actual on-screen basis and doesn't take away his responsibility so entirely.

Anyway, even after their fusion, there are so many scenes clearly showing that it's still this same Viktor who speaks, watches and makes decisions:

Or his monologue at the end of S2's sixth episode. The character himself explains his reasons, that's why I don't get those saying that there were none so the eldritch influence can be the only possible explanation.

Speaking of which, I do get his logic in some of my own personal ways. The heavy burden of empathy... The constant frustration... The feeling that only some near-impossible universal change would be able to make things better because life is so fundamentally injust and so tragically vulnerable to evil/violence/illness/death/pain... But this would require a whole another post, I'm afraid, and would be highly subjective.

What I see as actual villainizing influence is his own despair. First he had already been about to take his life, then he was horribly killed within an arm's reach of achieving a better future for Zaun, then his hopeful commune was destroyed, a close friend/lover shot him, etc... Anyone in his place would run out of patience to act rationally and nicely, so I understand and forgive him wholeheartedly.

[zebulontheplanet]

This post is going to talk about mental health, specifically bipolar, and how it affected me as a higher support needs person compared to what I see in media.

I have been showing symptoms of bipolar since I was pretty young. Early teens. I think it ties a lot into my Schizoaffective (of course). But growing up, and seeing bipolar portrayed in media, made it very hard for me to believe I was bipolar, and even after my diagnosis.

I grew up with my adopted sister, who has her own traumatic past much different than mine. But I remember at the end of our contact, she was in the process of getting diagnosed with bipolar. My sister had a very outwards and “stereotypical” (hate that word) presentation of bipolar. She was textbook bipolar. Because of this, I didn’t believe I was bipolar. Because I didn’t have the same symptoms as my sister. Which I now realize is silly, because every person with bipolar is different. However, I failed to realize just how different our lives are.

I am higher support needs, my sister is not. She doesn’t have autism (although she is ND, and has her own disorders). But she isn’t autistic, or higher support needs at that.

When you’re bipolar and higher support needs, it’s so so different. Bipolar in media(movies, books, TV shows) and even other parts of social media, was so different from my experience. People in the beginning of my diagnosis period would tell me their experiences and I’d be like “yeah, that isn’t me”. Because it wasn’t. All of these people were not at the same part of support needs as I was.

They’d tell me “yeah, I’d go out and do risky things. I’d go to bars. I’d have sex. I’d do other risky things” and that just…didn’t sound like me. Which left me confused and feeling invalidated (not these peoples fault. THEIR experiences are THEIR experiences). Because when you’re higher support needs, you can’t just go out. You can’t just go to a bar or meet random people on dating sites for hookups. You’re monitored. You aren’t allowed to go out by yourself. You aren’t allowed to go to these places.

And I lived in a VERY rural town also. Everyone knew everyone. I couldn’t just walk into a local bar. Everyone knew me, and they wouldn’t serve me because i was obviously underaged. I couldn’t meet up with people because I couldn’t leave the house.

Risky sex wasn’t even a thing and still isn’t a thing that I experience, even with hypomania and mania. It’s just not a thing I have interest in. My mind would much rather have me hurt myself, or go out and walk until I can’t anymore, or ruin relationships, or ghost people, etc. Risky sex is not on my radar and never has been.

When I was diagnosed, I was in the middle of a hypomanic episode. I remember it clearly. The way my skin buzzed. The way I didn’t sleep for a week. The way I felt like my body was crawling out of my skin. The way I felt like I had so much energy. The way I felt invincible and had so much confidence and felt like nobody could touch me. I remember the rage. Picking fights with my fiancé, getting angry over the littlest of things. Hurting myself just for the fun of it. I remember that so so clearly. I remember the meltdowns, the crying, the everything.

I don’t even know how to explain properly the difference between being higher support needs and having bipolar, vs someone who doesn’t have higher support needs.

My bipolar isn’t any less valid because I’m not doing heavy drugs, sex, and very dangerous activities. I’m heavily monitored even at my school.

I still do dangerous things and things that are bad for my body…they’re just very different than what I feel is more common portrayed. I now realize that everyone’s experience with bipolar is different. It just is very hard(damn near impossible) to find peoples experiences when they’re heavily monitored and not able to do the things that some people with bipolar do.

Bipolar isn’t for the weak. I hate it. But I’m glad I finally have a name for something that I’ve been experiencing.

Bipolar has and will continue to try and ruin my life. I have done many things I wish I hadn’t because of bipolar. I have done many things I can’t take back. But I feel like i have to talk about it more, and the differences.

I have been admitted for my bipolar. I have had countless therapies and treatments for my bipolar. It just then didn’t really have a name for it.

[laniemae]

ooo ojima thoughts oki

i think ojima a character who's intelligence is EXTREMELY dumb-downed compared to characters like kamimura and hiroaki

he suggests the idea of using the incinerator during the motive, he picked up on how okazaki literally BEAT UP wada

not to mention his contributions in the trial, specifically in ch3

he told okazaki to open her coat and also was the one who brought up the idea that the weird objects and states of the dorms were done mid investigation, props to u man

ojima is also an extremely emotionally intelligent and caring person despite what he went through being the one to care for hasegawa during the investigation and standing up for wada during the trial

ojima takeshi u absolute icon

I think the biggest thing with Ojima and the concept of his intelligence is that he’s the best student at asking the right questions. Like all the time you can see how much he’s quick to pick up on things and ask about them, especially in dies irae when he kept asking monomoko about what the title of ultimate means. And even to if other people were watching them and if the school had run at some point. And also in lettuce asking if Monomoko could leave the school, and asking Hasegawa for help on trying to figure out the meaning of the ultimate talents, just to name a few.

Like by far he’s the student who has gotten the most info from Monomoko, and is trying to infer the grander mystery of the school they’re trapped inside of. He’s skilled in picking up something from one detail, and connecting it to another, as you mentioned. And especially with him being the one to fully prove Okazaki was the culprit by asking if she could open her coat.

To me it feels like Ojima is more intelligent in certain aspects than others. I might be getting philosophical here but I don’t exactly believe too much in the idea of a person being fully “smart” or “dumb”. As much I like to joke about Ojima being dumb at times from the top of my head I can think of more times he’s made smart contributions rather than dumb ones (*COUGH* Tamba, I still love you). Like it’s funny that he’s extremely illiterate and says that preteen shoujo manga is a hard read and only reads children’s books. And in tech support when Wada said that he was surprised that Ojima couldn’t fix a PC when he wears glasses and responded saying that he had a good point but still- actually I can’t explain that one maybe he was just being dumb lmao. But I feel like a lot of Ojima’s behaviour dumbs down to him being very inattentive and unfocused at times, and when he puts his mind to something he can ask really good questions. Hence how it was Hiroaki who called him dumb and Monomoko called him intelligent.

Also as you said Ojima is a very caring person and you can especially see that with his relationship with Hiroaki. Ojima isn’t perfect with everything he does on an emotional level, such as getting too invasive in that one episode where he was pestering Hiroaki about his drug usage after confession game. But he was the one to realise that and to step back and apologise, and he’s done this a lot of times always if he feels like he’s messed up in some way or felt like his emotions got ahead of him to say sorry. Especially in the beginning of recovery effort he really shows this side of him and it’s very sweet.

[ejzah]

A/N: What happens when I watch “Paper Soldiers”, a fairly angst free episode? I immediately write a very angsty fic borne from a few random lines of dialogue. I’m also back to borrowing random lyrics from Wicked.

***

Unlike I Anticipated

“Agent Blye continued to pursue,” Deeks muttered to himself, typing along with his monologue. He had about half of his report written when he fell Kensi’s gaze on him. Sure enough, the next time he checked his notes, he saw her watching him out of the corner of his eye. It was just the two of them now, in the quiet of the empty bullpen.

“Yeees?” he prompted. Kensi didn’t say anything. “Come on, I can literally feel you thinking. It’s super distracting. If this is about what that guy said to you, because I would have understood if you punched him.”

“No, it’s not about that creep,” Kensi told him. She fiddled with her pencil, pushed a couple of trinkets around her desk, increasing Deeks’ curiosity with every second she stalled. It either had to be something embarrassing or that he wouldn’t like.

“When we were talking about you being a public defender, it got me thinking. I was wondering what that was like?” She shrugged, and Deeks understood why she felt so uncomfortable.

They weren’t this direct. Not in this way. Not without jokes and work to act as a buffer. Not when it was just the two of them late at night.

He turned to face her. “What’s going on with you? First you’re imagining me at my former former job, now you want to know what it was like?”

“Sorry.” She held up her hands, instantly defensive. “God forbid I show some interest in my partner’s life.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that.” Brushing her shoulder to stop her from getting up and leaving, Deeks waved her back down. “Just, stop for two seconds, ok? What exactly do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. Most of the public defenders I’ve run into through cases have either been jerks or seemed like they just stumbled out of law school,” she said.

“That is pretty accurate,” Deeks agreed. He’d worked with one guy who’d hated his guts from day one and a woman who’d shook every day she walked into court. She’d quit after two months.

“You put up with a lot at LAPD, right? Bad partners, Bates, working rough undercover cases all on your own with almost no support. So, the LA court system much have been particularly awful for you to just up and leave after a couple of years,” Kensi surmised rather shrewdly.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I just up and left,” Deeks hedged. “It did suck though.” He leaned back, addressing Kensi more seriously. He never liked talking about his time as a lawyer; he largely considered it one of the more miserable and disheartening points of his life. Which was saying something.

“I went into law because I wanted to help people. I had this idealized notion that I could—rescue kids like me before the worst happened. Or stop the people like my dad,” he explained. He smiled sardonically. “I guess I pictured myself as a modern day Atticus Finch.” He chuckled to himself at how poorly his own attempts at playing judicial savior had gone. Kensi would have a field day if she ever found out he shared a middle name with a literary attorney.

“So you weren’t stopping the injustices of the world?” Kensi guessed.

“I knew I’d have to defend criminals and generally bad people, but I, naively, thought I’d also get those cases with the wife who shoots her abusive husband or the teenager who needs a second chance. Instead, I had to defend truly awful people and watch their cases get dismissed because I had a better argument, or there was an issue with evidence, or the victim dropped charges. Nine days out of ten, I hated it.”

A moment too late, he realized just how much he’d revealed, and he swallowed self-consciously. Kensi’s eyes held a little bit too much sympathy and compassion as she watched him.

“So, I quit.”

“And you thought LAPD would be better?” she asked.

“Maybe not. I figured I’d at least have the opportunity to intervene where it mattered. I’d be able to make sure the chain of evidence wasn’t broken and maybe that mom wouldn’t need to shoot her husband because a cop actually listened to her for a change,” he said, his voice hoarse. His lips twitched in an approximation of a smile. “Then I jumped ship when Hetty offered the liaison position.”

“I’m glad you did.” For once, there wasn’t a hint of teasing in Kensi’s voice. “I hope NCIS is better than the courts or LAPD.”

“It is.”

“Good.” Kensi grabbed her pencil again, seemingly ready to get back to her paperwork, then paused, hesitating for several seconds before she added, “For the record, you did make a difference. Even if it didn’t feel like it at the time.”

Deeks sat back, letting Kensi’s words sink in. He didn’t know if he fully believed her, but for the first time, the thought of his previous careers didn’t leave him feeling bitter and hopeless.

[beesarthur]

The X-Files, 7:8: The Amazing Maleeni

What is the plot? Wherever Mulder and Scully went at the end of Orison, and whatever they've been doing since, they're back on a case, and they can still surprise each other, or at least act surprised by each other. There is, quite frankly, plenty to be surprised by all around in this episode, though it rests on some classic tropes and archetypes (some innocuous, some not), including: impersonating your twin!; framing someone!; misdirection!; negative stereotypes of Latinos!; professional rivalry(?)!; and, of course, pretending to be physically disabled so as not to be suspected of a crime. Is the whole episode misdirection? Maybe!

What does this episode suggest about Mulder and Scully’s relationship with each other? Like I said, they can still surprise each other. Which is partly the show gimmick ("What, you really think this was magic?"), but I like to think it's also something that's rather beautiful. Scully calls Mulder a skeptic in a faux-insulting tone at one point. And the camera choices when they're talking close to one another really seem like they're doing something, however subtle.

Where are the aliens? the ones who can shape-shift would be great at the turning-your-head-all-the-way-around magic trick

[meagancandraw]

You ever think about how neither of them got to say goodbye?

[oddly-casual]

Fiona and Cake spoilers seriously

(Something I noticed abt Betty and Simons relationship)

I love Betty and Simon’s relationship, I think their back story is so cute and romantic and all that lovely stuff don’t get me wrong.

But there’s this under tone of Betty constantly giving things up for Simon and we don’t really talk about it a lot???

Like, Betty let Simon have his moment with the artifact and the pubic, she also doesn’t go to her trip in favor of going on an expedition with Simon. Then when she goes to leave again she stays for Simon.

Even Fiona is like “you went with her on the bus?” And Simon just looks all confused like “what? No, why would I do that?” Like- hello???

Then after that she gave up her entire life and mind to get Simon back to the point where she literally says “I don’t know who I am without him anymore.” And that just sucks! Since the beginning Betty has been the one giving up the most, her mind, her own possible career, and it’s a story of love of course and it’s very sweet but it’s also a story of sacrifice.

Their love wasn’t a perfect solution, it was already sort of imbalanced when it started and I lowkey love how we see those cracks even before they’re together.

Again, I love their relationship and I think it’s sweet. I just think we should talk about Betty’s side more, especially when she tells a story of what most women do in relationships, sacrifice.

[lover-of-mine]

Fought 'til you tethered me, swept under surfaces, never enough of it...

[tiredgeekgirl]

fellas it has been three months since the beach episode and thinking about neil and eva in any capacity still makes me ILL

[blaithnne]

my timephoon hot take is that the episode was literally fine, it's the episodes that came AFTER it that fucked things up

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

thinking about the vaguely cannon state of the empires musical again and i think we should exploit that for as much comedy as possible. oli falls out of afterlife and is like “sausage please you have to recognize me from somewhere” and sausage just goes “wait a minute… aren’t you the narrator from the ocean queen musical?” and oli just sort of stares at him for ten minutes before officially giving up.

[puppppppppy]

Atla live action 😐

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!