#I failed to control the amount of episodes.

[d999666]

Galactik football S1 ep2 review - (1/4)

a New Home

D'jok : well mom, do you see anything?

Maya : I see 3 boys who keep moving and breaking my concentration.

Mice : what are you looking for a good-looking girl treasure a good-looking girl with treasure?

Thrans : We looking for Aarch

Ahito : but he said he was going to form a team

Mice : and you think he's gonna consider you to be his player

D'jok : Why not? we're good right?

Mice : good for nothing.

>comment : D'jok, Ahito, and Thran are positive about the future. But microice is not positive. Why is his pessimistic attitude like that?

The three believe in their football abilities. But Microice is not. The difference between them is that Microice's house is poor. It seems that he did not believe in his talents and dreams because he was poor...?

Mice: Aarch has that gang leader bellow hot on his heels you know? I'm in a good position to know that doesn't make you want to stick around too long in the same spot.

D'jok : Why? you gave him his tickets back didn't you?

Mice : yeah, but that doesn't mean he's my best friend or anything.

>comment : The story behind this is detailed in The Rival of Akillian, which was officially published.

Rocket : Why do you still resent your brother? after all these years?

Norata : I resent them because of all these years

Rocket : everyone deserves a second chance

Norata : WHAT ABOUT ME? DID I GET A SECOND CHANCE? not a day doesn't go by that I don't suffer being a martyr. Aarch still ha his two legs..... I hope he uses them to walk over a cliff

>comment : Norata's family business is a florist, and Norata does research to improve flowers of unusual colors. Norata hopes that his son will continue his work. So he gave him a snowmobile to deliver flowers. The backstory comes in detail in the novel. Norata doesn't send Rocket to school, but homeschools him. So, Rocket is a loner without any friends of his age.

Aarch abandoned his planet, where the disaster began. He abandoned his brother, who had one leg amputated, and left to fulfill his dream. Norata had no one to turn to. his wife leaves, and the son is a newborn baby. In the novel, it is mentioned that his parents were crushed to death when the stadium collapsed. The only remaining brother, Aarch, had to stay in Akillian and take care of his brother and nephew. However, he abandoned everything for his dream and moved to The Shadows. This is Aarch's sin.

I understand Norata's mind.

>comment : Mice is very good at riding magnt boards. Four childhood friends + Sinedd all have their own personal boards, and they are mentioned to be good at boards.

>comment : Akillian's stadium was crushed to death during an ice age incident, so it is mentioned that no one comes near here.

Aarch : yong man you have a habit of falling from the sky.

Mice : another thing I'm good at is slipping out the window but I'll take the elevator this time.

Aarch : hold on kid. there's something you can do for me

>comment : Microice's joke is funny. It's interesting that Aarch's name for Mice changes from Young man to kids.

D'jok : we finally had our chance to do something with our lives something big

Thran : one thing's for sure the red tigers sure aren't gonna take us bunch of snubs

Mice's mother : So boys, microice isn't ready? you know a boy, your age, short, sly, nervous, always has an answer for everything? they say he's a friend of yours but somehow I still can't believe that

Mice : perhaps you're looking for me because when people look for me? they find me not like aarch's case except that i managed to find him without even looking for him.....

> Comment : D'jok wants to get out of his reality. Same with twins. I think I know from whom MICE's jokes were inherited.

> Comment : 4 childhood friends who spread the news to their friends for Aarch's test. They seem to have a lot of friends they know because they used to go to school. The boy Ahito broke the news to is a friend who goes with Sinedd. He immediately delivers the news to bald leader Gang.

Mice : I'm out of here. nothing left for me to do

Aarch : you don't want to stick around for the test?

Mice : Tests aren't really my things. just hearing the word makes me think I'm in school.

[The moment when Microice falls in love with Mei at first sight]

Sinedd : what's up with you microice? you look more stupid than usual.

Mice : Sinedd! what'd you come for to keep an eye on your friends bags? oh I forgot! you don't have any friends!

Sinedd : I'd rather have no friends than have yours!

D'jok : That's not nice Sinedd! you disappoint me?

Sinedd : I'm gonna destroy all of on the playing field. I got more talent in my little toe than all of you combined

Mice : That's what we're here to see buddy.

> Comment: What happened to Sinedd, Mice, and D'jok? Sinedd always quarrel with Mice. D'jok protects his friend. Why did you fight? I want to know why.

Ahito : Are you staying for the tryouts?

D'jok : It wouldn't happen to be because of this girl by any chance would it?

Mice : gils? what gilr?

D'jok, Ahito, Thrans : laugh

> Comment : I think everyone knows that Mike likes girls. I think he wants a girlfriend. And, that Mice didn't know a pretty girl like mei, it's likely Mei was homeschooled like Rocket. Her mom would have homeschooled her.

To be continued....

[jinxs-gf]

The Human Spider

The Team x Spider!Reader

summary: you are this universe’s one and only spider-person.

warnings/content: set before the 1st episode of young justice s1, a few marvel references, this whole thing is from the perspective of the reader who’s basically Spider-Man so the writing is a bit silly…but I like it

word count: 2.1k

a/n: this is essentially an introduction to this world, I’m really hoping I can pop a couple fics within this little universe 😭🙏🏽 if not then…I’m sorry LMAO. only time will tell. ENJOY!!!

Life was good.

I mean, how could it not be? You got to fight side by side with some of Earth's greatest heroes. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash...oh and Black Canary and—

Yeah. It was great. Not to mention how incredibly easy it was for you to defeat the bad guys you'd fought. You definitely didn't have four near death experiences because of them!

Well you did, but they were completely your fault and not at the hands of a couple of phony villains. They happened before you got used to your powers and gone through extensive training.

It seemed like a curse at first, but now you take them with stride. Your super strength foreign as you'd broke nearly everything in your apartment (that hadn't been a fun thing to explain to your Aunt and Uncle when they came home to a trashed place). Sticky hands well...getting stuck to literally everything. The amount of money you spent replacing your clothes after accidentally ripping up your whole closet only trying to get ready for school...that was also not fun explaining to your guardians.

And the webs. Oh boy. You didn't want to think about it. The hole in your wrist that shot out webs like a proper spider freaked you out the most. You nearly turned yourself in to the government after that one. It was something that took the most mental work to control, the weird hole (yuck) closing up when you didn't need it.

The one thing you did appreciate immediately was the abs. Yeah, those were nice to wake up to one morning.

Today was just another day in your life. A simple mission happening in the middle of the city. Actually it was a pretty unusual mission, it wasn't the regular Ice Family or Joker cult you were fighting...but a Rhino. Seemingly a man in a Rhino cosplay. And his henchmen? Definitely not something you see everyday, but you have seen weirder.

Speaking of his henchmen...there was a lot of them. Enough to keep each member of the team occupied. They had insanely advanced weaponry, surprisingly keeping the fight going for a while.

You hadn't realized so many of the guys were on you now, all surrounding you and trying to shoot at you with guns that weren't spitting out regular bullets.

You look to your side and see your best friend (he doesn't think so but that's what you tell everyone so deal with it sucker). Speedy, Green Arrow's sidekick, Roy Harper under the mask, and Pain in the Ass (a nickname you'd affectionately given him) to you.

You were in a compromising position, one that you could easily get yourself out of. But now you've spotted an unoccupied Roy and you wanted to have a little fun admist the chaos.

"Hey pain in my ass! A little help here!" The men were now taking shots with their fists, all failing to land their hits of course. And your best friend had completely ignored you.

"Hellooooo you know I'm talking to you!"

"I told you I wouldn't answer when you called me that. And I thought I made myself very clear." Definitely referring to the embarrassing way he took you down in front of the team after harassing him all week with the nickname a month ago.

"Well you answered right now soo...."

An arrow suddenly flew right past you, nearly grazing your cheek. A couple more followed.

"Um hello?! You nearly took me out!"

"That's my way of saying cut it out while saving your ass. And don't your spidey senses detect that kind of stuff? Danger and threats? You should've seen them coming."

"Huh. Guess you aren't as threatening as you think you are. At least not with that silly little hat on."

He simply glared at you. He was definitely going to kick your ass later. (Again).

With your guys dealt with, you turned to watch as Flash and Kid Flash emptied out a school bus on the road. Well, watched was a strong word. The job was done before you could fully process what was happening.

And suddenly that same school bus was being throw your way by the Rhino-man. Directly above your head actually.

Uh oh.

CRASH!

This was the third time that's happened to you this week!

He had good aim, you'll admit. It landed on you perfectly, but thanks to your incredible strength he seemingly didn't know about (how could he not? You're literally the Spider-Person from tv! Spider-Person...pfft what a stupid name. No one seemed to come up with something better), the biggest indicator to this being his shocked face. Oh how you loved that look. You threw it right back at him. Jokes on Rhino-man, you also had incredible aim.

"It's gonna take a lot more than a school bus to take me out!" Although you could feel the nearly broken rib and bruises you'd need to get checked out before you went home today.

You sighed happily, dusting your hands, "light work to me. Maybe try one of those city buses next time? Might be heavier and more effective-"

The words barely left your mouth before a city bus was being throw at you, "Wait I didn't actually mean it!" You caught the bus this time. And although your senses knew the danger was coming, it was still a bus that caught you off guard with its weight. Your legs and arms quivered at the force of having to hold it up, you could feel every bruise spotted on your body with the strain and it was not fun. While your body healed faster than the average human, it definitely wasn't fast enough to recover from the previous hit.

The back of the bus was fully tipped to the sky. You prayed there was no one in this thing. And sure you were strong, but there was no way you could tip it back on its wheels without potentially hurting someone.

Luckily Superman helped you with that, seeing you struggle. He easily took it off your hands (show off) and maneuvered it so it was placed safely back on the road.

"Thanks Supes!" He gave a nod and his famous smile.

It was only a couple more minutes of fighting and cars being thrown around before the whole thing was wrapped up. The adults would give their words to the police and news reporters, blah blah blah...

While they did that, you and your best friends, the teens (the cooler ones) got together like you always did after a mission.

Superman is being interviewed by the infamous Lois Lane (the talk of the teen team, there was definitely tension there).

All while Wally stands a little behind them making faces and ridiculous poses for the camera. The rest of you stood out of shot either cackling or rolling your eyes.

Wally steps back, clearly offended. "What? All he's doing is flirting with her in front of a live audience. Remember what they said last time? No one's gonna be paying attention to me."

Robin snickers, "What? The whole 'no one can take Superman' 'but you sure can'?" He repeats their words in poorly done impressions.

"That was totally an innuendo!"

"Very mature KF."

"Hey! Robin and Spider laughed with me. And I saw Speedy’s smirk, he sat there trying to pretend he didn't find it funny. Maybe you should get that stick out of your ass, Aqualad?"

Roy, completely serious, replies, "Now that's no way to talk to the adults' favorite."

You perk up, "oh, me?"

Your friends immediately explode into disagreement, apparently in disbelief you'd think such a thing.

It was a simple story, how it all came to be. You got bit by a spider (totally cool about it).

Totally didn't scream your ass off because of it and stay paranoid the rest of the day, constantly thinking there was a creepy crawler on you...no. You found out the next day that you weren't actually paranoid—if you were in the first place, which you were not! Because apparently the spider had camped out in your clothes all day and night...

You totally didn't scream your ass off again that morning at the revelation.

You did scream at the sight of abs on your body that same morning though. And that's the only reason you'll ever thank the spider, forget the cool powers.

After that you thought it would be cool to use your powers for good, inspired by your uncle. You decided to have your own cool hero costume, symbol, and name (which you still haven't gotten. You originally thought of the Human Spider. People on the streets called it dumb, claiming they would not be calling you that). You had (unfortunately) been (TEMPORARILY!) named the Spider-Person. Which was insanely stupid and you needed to come up with something quick before it stuck completely. Maybe the Human Spider wasn't so good but it wasn't as bad as your unofficial name now!

Anyways, as for the cool hero costume. You had to use what you had at the time, which was...your normal clothes. Getting a costume online seemed cheap, and dressing up as an existing character in the media and saving people seemed wrong. It would only deny your identity as a hero. So you put on whatever clothes (mostly colorful pajamas) that you had, covered the bottom half of your face with a bandanna, and called it a night. And boy did that get you a lot of ridicule, but you got the job done, right? The only thing it didn't do was protect your body from scrapes and...stab wounds. You hated little knives.

You're not the smartest in the world and it's not like you had the money someone like Bruce Wayne could pull out of their ass and make cool superhero wear.

Once you were recruited by Batman, he gave you your own hero costume—no, suit. Every suggestion you made was followed. It was perfect. The mask had to be your favorite part though. Something you didn't suggest was the some type of magic on it, something called hammerspace. Basically you could have any type of hair, or ears...probably even a pair of headphones on your head and it won't show through. It'll seemingly disappear to this hammerspace (you weren't sure how it worked exactly, but it works nonetheless so you won't question it). The magic was done by a team member who was needed very rarely named Zatara. Another man with a silly hat on his head.

You attempted to try it with Batman to see if his bat ears would disappear (which was completely encouraged by Robin by the way. No- completely his idea!) He was not happy. (You got benched for a month...no patrols, no missions...and Robin got off scott-free! How was that fair?!)

Wally starts to bring up your part of the fight, specifically the bus incident.

"Hey isn't that the third time that's happened to you this week?"

You sigh, exasperated and playing it up, "yes."

Robin butts in before you could say anything more, "Couldn't you have caught them? Y'know with your spidey senses and incredible strength?" He has the nastiest smirk on his face. His smartass totally figured you out.

"Well yeah, duh. But it's fun seeing the looks on the bad guys' faces when they realize I'm not dead and I can carry a however many pound bus! Is that so bad?"

"No but it's embarrassing for us."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah, our best friend who's powers include crazy senses that gives them insane reflexes? That best friend can't catch a big, yellow bus being thrown at them? Embarrassing." The one time Roy will take the claim as your best friend is when he's insulting you? Unsurprising.

Kaldur cut in, sensing your defense a mile away, "It is pretty shameful of you."

Your jaw dropped, even Kaldur of all of people was agreeing? Oh this is insane!

You point a figure at your friends, trying to get your threat across, "Well I find that incredibly offensive and you should all take that back before I-"

"Isn't the point of your powers to detect danger before it comes? How come that's the third time this week you've been hit by a school bus? It's embarrassing, Spider." Batman's monotone voice made his words all the more insulting. Your frown deepened.

You sigh, "Yup. Real embarrassing for me. I got that."

"No, embarrassing for me. I've got a reputation to keep up."

He walks away without another word.

"I can't tell if he was trying to joke around like you guys were, but I'm still offended."

"He was being dead serious. And for the record, so were we."

I wrote this before I wrote my Conner fic. I just realized I made Batman tease reader at the end of both fics…??

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Though the Hamato clan in Rise is often more openly affectionate than past iterations I’ve noticed that the amount that each family member actually says the words ‘I love you’ actually differs for each family member.

Mikey: I’ll say it again, I love you guys

Leo: We did it!

Mikey: Love you dad!

Splinter: My sons, you know I love you, but you only remember lessons when you learn them the hard way

Splinter: We are not giving them the evil teapot, we are going to save my beloved sons!

Throughout the series Mikey & Splinter are the ones who tell their family that they love them the most, often either staying it in their everyday life or having it come up in conversation. They’re the ones that most easily say ‘I love you’ because it’s a simple fact to them, they do love their family why shouldn’t they say it?

Raph: Tests are easy, it’s answers that are hard 

Donnie: I love you so much! Let’s do it!

Leo: We learned a valuable something about never something-ing you alone again

Raph: Aww I love you guys!

In contrast to Mikey & Splinter, Raph & Donnie are the ones who use the words ‘I love you’ the least out of the family because they have other ways of showing their family that they love them, Donnie shows his love for his family through his inventions & Raph shows his love for his family by protecting them & keeping them safe.

Donnie & Raph save the words ‘I love you’ for moments where they’re particularly excited or touched such as when Raph gives Donnie the go-ahead to use an untested invention because he believes in Donnie’s inventions enough to think, even untested it will help or when Leo promises Raph they won’t leave him alone again, even taking care to not say the word ‘leave’ because he knows the word is upsetting to Raph.

Leo: I love you guys!

Leo on the other hand is firmly in the middle, he says the words ‘I love you’ more than Donnie & Raph, but he’s not as able to simply say it in everyday conversation the way Mikey & Splinter are.

In fact Leo seems to save the words ‘I love you’ for situations where he feels as though something is wrong & he feels as though he’s let down or upset his family in someway.

Leo: Raphael, I love you my brother but you do tend to fail in big moments.

Leo: Raph, you know I love you but people don’t focus on punctuation when they’re stuck in concrete

Leo: Donnie, you gotta stop this! I love you and your gaming is hurting me!

Leo: Okay Señor Hueso, my beloved brother Donatello and I had a bit of a spat

Raph is the person Leo typically says ‘I love you’ to the most & he usually says it when he’s pointing out a flaw in his older brother’s plans, it’s Leo’s way of saying even when he’s telling Raph something isn’t going to work he still loves him.

The second person Leo says ‘I love you’ to the most is Donnie & it’s usually reserved for when they are fighting such as in episode The Purple Game when Leo thought that Donnie was still controlling the robot that was attacking them & during the episode The Hidden City Job where after Leo has an argument with Donnie he primarily refers to Donnie as his ‘beloved brother’.

Leo: I love you

Splinter: No!

It seems as though Leo reserves the words ‘I love you’ for when he feels as though he’s upset a family member, either by disagreeing with them or getting into a fight with them & combining this with the fact that in the episode ‘Flushed But Never Forgotten’ when Leo thinks he might loose his family forever, the last thing he wants to say to them is how much he loves them, ‘I love you’ might be the words that Leo says when he thinks he’s done something that would make him loose his family.

When Leo says ‘I love you’ what he’s really saying is ‘I love you, please don’t be mad at me, please don’t be upset with me,’ ect

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Does a bad ending ruin a good story? A comprehensive guide to my feelings on the Arcane finale

*Spoilers for Arcane season 2*

So. You just finished the show, and you're staring at the screen in bewilderment. Perhaps you’re even with some friends, shouting words of confusion to the rolling credits. Try as you might, you can barely hear them, because a single thought echoes in your mind and pushes away any other:

“What the fuck just happened?”

If this happened to you, then boy oh boy, we're on the same boat. If it didn't, well, I'm glad for you friend! We might not have been looking for the same things from this story. But this is my post, meaning I will give my opinions (which are objectively correct because this is my blog and I'm the mayor here) on everything that Arcane broke and failed to deliver in its last 2 episodes.

Let's start with characters, and why none of it mattered.

Jinx symbolized the fear we all have of not belonging somewhere, of not having anything to call home or anyone to call a family. Her anger stemmed from wanting to carve a place in a society and a world that had so harshly rejected her (i.e., Vi leaving her). Her existence was a huge middle finger to all that refused to let her live, a fight to build herself something wholeheartedly hers (hence her being an inventor). It was proof that despite the world telling her she was better off dead, she would never stop fighting to prove it wrong.

… and she died.

She died, and that means all the suffering she went through to exist simply amounted to nothing. She left nothing behind either, no trace of a legacy, something that would have left her mark on that world. Isha, the child she raised as a daughter, died. Silco, who she taught love and care to, died. Vander, who she brought back from years of trauma and torture, died. Jinx fought so hard to live, and in the end, it was as if she hadn't lived at all.

Viktor is most certainly the character that made me the angriest, because of how attached I am to the person he is in season 1 (and even the first two acts of season 2 to an extent). Everything that made him so beautifully complex… gone, in about 10 minutes. There was NO reason to make him the surprise ultimate villain. Viktor had always, always been a pacificist. That's why he was so adamant Hextech not be used as a weapon. That's why every time there were chances to test hextech to hurt, he tried to learn how it could heal. Yes, his fusion with the hexcore had changed him; but NOT into a man who didn't care for human life. He wanted to help all the hurt done to his people. People like him, living day to day in the undercity, but who had never gotten a chance to crawl out of their hell. His community was about HEALING, not controlling. The very IDEA that he would accept killing innocents and ally with Noxus, the warmongers, is so ridiculous I could genuinely laugh if it didn't make me so angry. The show needed an easy, black-and-white showdown to conclude a story that would have needed so much more time to tell. And they chose Viktor. Because it was the easy way out. It was the perfect foil to the return of the Golden Boy. And that PISSES me off.

There is this really shitty concept in popular media that the handicapped/chronically ill character is always in the pursuit of being “cured” and that they need outside help to realize “that their imperfections make them perfect”. Fuck. You. As someone with chronic illness and who just finished beating blood cancer, fuck you. That realization, that you're you with every part of your being, even the ‘bad’ ones, cannot come from outside. It's YOU who needs to learn it. It's you who needs to discover how your body and your mind are so much stronger than you previously thought them to be. Not your lover, your family, your friends, or God forbid your able-bodied lab partner. You. Others may tell you as many times as they want your illness doesn't define you; it won't matter until you, yourself, have understood why and have accepted it. Having someone swoop in and “fix” Viktor with a “you don't have to change uwu” is just….. so reductive I can barely find the words for it. That was VIKTOR’S path to find, and not Jayce’s role to find it for him.

Also… Viktor wasn't trying to ‘fix’ his leg; he was trying to find a cure to a deadly illness ravaging his body and no doubt the bodies of many in Zaun. The HELL is the message here??? That he should have just rolled with it because the deadly illness was part of him??? Again, as a cancer survivor. Fuck right off.

Of course, I can't just ignore the hideous get-up they put him in at the end. The man who laughed at Jayce's narcissism….you want me to believe… he would put on that fucking edge lord costume and not DIE of embarrassment??? The design makes no sense from a narrative standpoint either: if his cane has become the sceptre, why is he still keeping it? He doesn't need it anymore to walk, and it's a reminder of his weaknesses as a human that he apparently hated so much. Why the hell does he keep it then? And the hexclaw. Where did that bad boy come out from?? Did you all see a secret extra bonus scene where he steals it from the lab, because I sure didn't. It doesn't add anything to his sets of powers either it’s… it's a fucking laser gun. WHY. And oh sweet god that mask… there would have been so many ways of designing a mask more meaningful than the one from LoL. This one is just. A piece of metal he spawned in embryo. Get it? Because he's made of metal now and also hiding his face means no more humanity? Get it?? Of fucking course you do, because this was the easiest and worst possible way they could have integrated the mask.

Viktor and Jayce had a fantastic dynamic in that Viktor had started out as the loner, the underdog scientist from the slums; while Jayce was the leader figure, living in comfort that made him attachingly naive, his face plastered on posters stroking his ego. The shift is delightfully slow, as Viktor gains in confidence and determination to see his invention through no matter what, while Jayce is confronted with harsher and harsher truths about the world he so blissfully ignored. By Act 2, they have fully switched roles: Viktor is now the leader figure, a symbol of the future for the people, while Jayce is desperately alone, both physically in the hexcore anomaly, and mentally in being the only one who has seen the devastating future. Excellent stuff. What would be a great way to push these parallels further and to show the complexity of these characters, and perhaps how they can balance each other out? Well, Fortiche sure didn't know, now Viktor is the bad bad guy and Jayce is mister hero. Zaun bad, Piltover good. All nuance, gone. Proving that indeed, the man from poverty and inequality turns out evil, while the one from comfort and wealth turns out to be the hero of the story. The whole “giving a warm speech to the bad villain about how you care for them, somehow immediately changing their ways, and dying together to save the world” can work well in shounen anime where friendship is magic, or in the Ben 10 live-action movie (yes, that's the plot, I thought that wasn't deep when I was like 7 years old so imagine now), but not in a show like Arcane. Not with the ethical and moral nuances they have accustomed us to.

And now, let's explore...

Plotholes and incomplete storylines galore.

Ekko’s tree and the contamination of Zaun from Piltover? Fuck that. The huge showdown between the two opposite yet sister cities, like Jinx and Vi, that has been built up for two seasons? Fuck that. And for what?

For the Noxus sequel teaser.

Mel’s plotline about finding her mage origins had NOTHING to do with the main plot. Absolutely nothing. It added 0 twists or intrigues to the story, and served no purpose except making her a deus ex machina for a broken ending. All it was there for was to lay the base for a following show on Noxus and the Black Rose. Time that could have been spent either giving Mel a proper arc related to the plot, or giving all the other rushed character arcs more development.

Finally, and I deeply regret having to say this, but… the end of Vi and Cait's relationship was majorly disappointing to me. As an LGBTQ+ person myself, who feels attraction to women, it was a delight to have such a realistically portrayed w/w relationship on screen. Popular media tends to portray m/m relationships as these doomed, sinful feelings between two repressed guys, while w/w relationships are shown to just be all sunshine and rainbows and teddy bears, because two women together are a cute little accessory to have on screen. It’s non-threatening. But not Cait and Vi; their bond was raw, and rocky, with violent lows and passionate highs in a world that seemed to want to keep them apart. Their separation and the introduction of Maddie showed the reality of a w/w relationship, where fights and cheating ARE things that happen, because they're two adult women with different beliefs, objectives, an trauma. Putting them back together, as if nothing had happened, without giving us anything about how their relationship would have evolved from the breakup? I'd never thought I'd say this, but it's too easy. How about Caitlyn's literal descent into fascism??? We’ll just ignore that? Vi will just ignore that?

As with everything else, this last part of Arcane destroys all the complex emotions that exist between these characters, the resentment, the anger, the frustration, built upon years of different social conditioning… gone. Because they had 2 episodes left to wrap it up, and there was no way to make a coherent and natural transition to them getting back together with that kind of time. And can I just say. The decision to have Vi, symbol of Zaun, go down on Caitlyn, symbol of Piltover and enforcers, in a prison cell that has held innocent Zaunites and represents their complete lack of freedom as individuals by a cop state that oppresses them….. yeah, bad. So bad.

And… the multiverse. Yup, they went the multiverse route. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing: the concept of multiverses itself is interesting in a vacuum, and quite a few properties have managed to make it work coherently. But it has been terribly overused and bastardized in serialized content in the last few years, for the simple reason that it's extremely practical. Why make a new, original series when you already have worlds and characters that are developed, and come with built-in fans? It's a money-saving hack! Why dedicate yourself to an ending that is meaningful in its finality and wraps the story properly when you can just say “It's just one ending in the multiverse!”. It takes away any accountability to the fans, and leaves the door open to a potential other version of the story! The perfect combo!

…except in practice, it comes off as lazy in a medium where that trope is overly saturated (don't start me on Marvel), and like a cowardly way of escaping from the responsibility of really taking the time to craft a good, solid ending to end your story.

So, with all that said: does it ruin Arcane for me? No, absolutely not, and I don’t think it should be for you either. The intricate artistry and raw talent that went into making the first season (and I would say a majority of the two first acts of season 2) is undeniable, and will stay undeniable. Nothing can touch that story. It will forever be one of my favourite pieces of animated media, which is saying a lot because I'm currently getting my master's degree on that topic.

However, it does give Arcane, as a whole rather than two separate seasons/entities, a very bittersweet feeling that is hard to forget. Thinking of what could have been, just if a little more time had been given to the minds behind the masterpiece you so loved… it's its own form of heartbreak. Academics have even compared it to experiencing a form of death of a loved one, before they ever got to reach their fullest potential and live the life they deserved. It may sound dramatic, but the feelings you feel in this moment, watching the horrible end of a fiction you have so much love for, are real. No one can take those away from you. You're allowed to grieve the loss of something that meant a lot to you.

Tldr; No, Arcane is not a bad series because of its rushed and incomprehensible ending. As they say, it's all about the journey, not the destination, even if that's one of the parts we tend to remember the most. And I don't know about you, but this was one of the best journeys I've ever been on.

[thesiltverses]

really curious, hopeful and a little bit nervous about how youre gonna wrap everything up in just one more episode. seems like theres so much that hasnt been given a proper ending. but i trust your writing skills and cant wait to see what happens!

I'm nervous too, I can't lie! Although, honestly - not as much as I thought I'd be.

Endings are never controversy-free. Everyone has different expectations and personal thresholds for disappointment; everyone has a different take on what constitutes satisfying closure for a character or storyline.

And of course we've been a show from the very start about limitations - our inability to comprehend the true face of the divine, our inability to let go of our need for control over our lives, our inability to break free of who we've been and what we've done or to find satisfaction in our ceaseless pursuit of our goals - so there's a certain amount of unanswered questions, failed attempts and dead ends baked into the premise.

I don't think anyone's going to step out of the woodwork and complain that there wasn't a scene where the Trawler-man is sitting in a room full of cameras and explains his entire master plan to Faulkner before getting ju-jitsued in the face, because I feel like we've been clear enough about our intent...but you never know.

Some people get very hung up on the idea of endings as an old-fashioned doling out of just desserts - Character X deserved to end up with a happy ending or a sad ending and it's a failing on the writer's part that they didn't! - which I fundamentally disagree with. And some people will have a really good and perfectly appropriate idea for how the story could end, which ultimately just won't be the route we end up taking, and there's nothing wrong with being disappointed in that case.

But this season has generally gone down really well, which takes a lot of the weight off. I'd much rather hear 'you didn't wrap up X or Y to my satisfaction' than 'this entire story fell apart 15 episodes ago'.

I also know all of our actors bring their absolute A-game in their final scenes, and so I hope the finale will serve as tribute to and evidence of their incredible skills.

So...I'm proud, and I'm happy, and I'm ready.

This is the time. This is the place.

[goodfish-bowl]

A Unicorn Hair Rope

Danny Phantom x Gravity Falls Crossover

Part 1 (Read for this to make sense)

Masterpost

DP Crossover Angst Week Day 7 - Captured by the characters of a different media

Summary: Dipper and Ford give chase, intent to take Danny down before he can hurt anyone else.

Warnings: near panic attack, it/its pronouns used for Danny by Ford

Notes: I've decided the story takes place between the GF episodes “The Last Mabelcorn” and “Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future”, so Bill is a known and acknowledged mutual threat, but not yet able to start Weirdmageddon.

Word Count: 3109

AO3 link

Grunkle Ford was on a warpath, and Dipper was helpless to stop it. The mad dash from the gas station to back to the Mystery Shack was enough to leave him breathless for several minutes, and gave Ford enough time to devolve into a frenzy of preparation and catastrophizing. Dipper could barely keep up with Ford’s ramblings, the very little of it that made sense to him at least. There was too little that made sense, and his Grunkle was not giving him any sort of explanation or at least letting him mentally catch up. 

“Grunkle Ford!” Dipper shouted, finally both catching his breath, and Ford’s attention. “Explain what’s going on!”

Ford paused for a minute, before taking in a deep breath, as if he hadn’t been breathing, before leveling a tense, worried glance at Dipper, before returning to work at a much more controlled pace. 

“That boy, or well, what’s possessing him, is dangerous beyond belief,” Ford started, sinking into one of the chairs scattered about his lab. 

“There are many beings across many different dimensions, but there are some that exist between dimensions. Spirits, ghosts, even gods. But they can’t exist on the physical planes very long, due to the amount of energy they need. If this one has been here for months, then something is very wrong. I honestly doubt there’s much left of the boy it’s been using as a vessel. We need to find it, and exorcise it before it can cause more damage.”

Dipper blinked owlishly, processing for a second before it hit him, “You want to exorcise a god?” 

“I doubt it’s actually a god, more likely a spirit of some sort, or simply a powerful ghost. Either way, the same methods will work no matter what it is. Though I fear it’s too late for the boy, he’s as good as dead,” Ford explained while answering nothing. 

“What?!” It was Dipper’s turn to panic. 

“They’re not meant for this plane, they need a host of some sort to stay for any extended period. No wonder that boy looked ill enough to be confused for a vampire. But with the way their blood has been mixed, there’s no separating them now. Best get it in its current vessel, while it’s weakening.”

“If… If there’s no separating them, then why do we have to go after him?” Dipper asked. 

The… spirit guy hadn’t done anything. Dipper already felt horrible about the entire situation. There were plenty of magical creatures already living in Gravity Falls, he didn’t see why they had to go after this one in particular. 

Ford gave Dipper a look that was likely intended to be sympathetic. “After this vessel fails, it will go after another, it has to. Even if it ‘doesn’t do anything’, that doesn’t mean it’s harmless. It’s already taken at least one life, best not let it get another,” Ford paused, taking out the machete, scraping the multi-colored blood into a vial, and into one of the many machines on his workbench, before discarding the machete into a corner. 

“There’s no guarantee of this, but there is a non-zero chance that this spirit is working with Cipher. We can’t take any chances that he could get his hands on the rift.” 

Dipper frowned, unable to picture Danny, worn and looking more exhausted than Dipper did after two all-nighters, working with someone like Bill Cipher. But he knew how manipulative Bill could be, the chance was non-zero. Danny looked like he’d do it for a decent sleep. 

“Fine… I… I don’t like this. But, fine,” Dipper gave in. 

The machine beeped, and Ford connected a different, handheld device to it. 

“But… how are we even supposed to catch something like that?” Dipper asked. 

Ford gave a confident smile, pulling the handheld device off the other after it gave a small ‘beep’, showing it off. “This device will allow us to track it based on its unique energy signature,” Ford explained. “From there, trapping it shouldn’t be too difficult, especially since we have some leftover unicorn hair from Mabel.”

 Dipper swallowed the uncomfortable feeling in the back of his throat, before putting on a nervous, tense smile. 

“I guess we’ve got a ghost to catch, then.”

Danny Fenton had not expected to encounter ghost hunters in nowhere, Oregon. In fact, he had run as far as he practically could to and from any and all locations that could potentially have ghost hunters. Gravity Falls, as odd as it was, was supposed to be safe. It was only be coincidence that it had just enough ambient ectoplasm in the air to keep him going. The veil was worn thin here. 

Gravity Falls was supposed to be safe, and it had been, Danny supposed, for all of 2 months. He had only managed to get the nightshift at the only gas station in town because no one else had wanted it, too scared of whatever metaphorically haunted the night. Sure, the gnomes were weird but they were paying customers, and he had to occasionally chase Old Mac Mcgucket out from under the dumpster, but this was the closest to normalcy Danny had experienced since getting chased from Amity Park. Gravity Falls was just weird enough that Danny was able to fly under the radar. 

There were also the kids. Mabel and her gang of girls who dragged her twin brother around. Then the group of teens (who were not always paying customers, unlike the gnomes, but Danny was not a snitch), but he didn’t have any problems. At least not until the brother had decided he was a vampire charming his sister. He had thought the kid had been joking, and Danny had laughed him off, claiming girls were just ‘like that’ sometimes. (Danny did not want to think about Paulina’s Phantom Phan Club and their treatment of him anytime soon). The kid was apparently serious enough to find someone who believed him, and Danny’s cover was blown clear out of the water. 

The silver was expected, the machete and the solid iron cross were not. Danny didn’t know he reacted to solid iron until it burned him, and that old man tried to lop his head off. He was lucky that the camera’s in the store were dummies, otherwise Danny wouldn’t be surprised if the GIW made a grand appearance. No one other than the kid and the old man had seen him use his powers. He hadn’t expected them to actually be competent vampire hunters. 

Danny had fled back to the old hunting shack he’d been staying in. No one had been there in years before Danny had decided to haunt the place, so he’d figured it would be safe enough. He clutched at the cut on the side of his neck, forcing whatever energy he could spare towards healing it with gritted teeth. That old man had tried to kill him, full and in earnest. 

After two months of being a normal human being, Danny had forgotten just how much a look like that hurt him. But at least it was from a stranger this time (even if he was vaguely familiar). It was worse when it had been someone he knew. It was worse when he knew they intended to draw out his suffering for the crime of his existence. The old man was practically merciful in that regard. But merciful or not in comparison, he had still tried to kill Danny. He probably couldn’t go back to work then. 

Danny started the process of packing, fitting the few belongings, some newer than others into his backpack when the hairs along his neck raised. It was nothing compared to his ghost sense, but Danny knew better than to ignore any sense of danger he could. He dropped his things and clicked off the battery powered camping light he used to light the space. He locked the door and closed the curtains in the same second, hunkering down, pushing his hearing as hard as he could to hear whatever was approaching the cabin, fingers crossed it was just the multi headed-bear again. 

There were voices, very quiet, and Danny couldn’t pick up what they were saying from so far away, but there were two of them, one old and the other young. Danny hunched even deeper into the corner cabin, as far from the windows as he could. It was likely the same pair from the store. Danny didn’t think they could find him this quickly. It had been, what, maybe a few hours at most? They must’ve found a way to track him. Images of all of his parent’s ghost tracking devices came to mind. He hoped, with all he had, that they hadn’t gotten one from his parents. Either way, he would have to run, run far and fast as he could to get out range of the tracker, and mark another location off as uninhabitable. 

Danny gathered what energy he had to spare, letting it buzz just underneath his skin, and finished tossing the absolute necessities into his bag before transforming and launching himself into the air. 

Danny collided hard with what he had almost assumed was the wall of the cabin. He blinked the spots and stars out of his vision, feeling a tingling, pins-and-needles sensation burn over his skin. He was still about half a foot from the wall, he hadn’t run into it. Danny slowly reached out to touch the wall, and was met with a shimmering barrier several inches from the wall, sending pins and needles at contact. He pushed against it, sending more sparks over his skin, until the sensation became painful and repulsed him away. 

Danny painted against the threadbare carpet, more panic building under his skin, joining the burning of his ectoplasm. Danny traced the barrier, hoping for a hole. It curved around the single room of the cabin in a lopsided circle, leaving only the path the door free from obstruction. That wasn’t an option. Danny watched the barrier cautiously. It wasn’t ectoplasmic in nature, he would’ve had a much stronger reaction to running into it if it was but… it moved, shocking him in the process, pulling in tighter, still leaving the door as the only exit. 

Danny cursed a vile string of words across a smattering of languages, living and dead. They weren’t going to give him a choice, they intended to drag him out, slowly tightening their noose of a barrier until he was forced outside. Danny hissed at the invisible barrier, before taking a steadying breath, and becoming human again to try his typical escape tactic. It wasn’t one of his parents' barriers, he should be able to get out like- it zapped him again. Danny couldn’t get out. He was going to die here. 

Danny screamed, desperation, frustration, and fear spilling from him all at once.

Dipper’s knee’s almost buckled at the sound of whatever was screeching inside. The whole cabin shook with the force and power behind it, shattering the remaining glass in the windows. Dipper did his very best to swallow his fear, looking towards Grunkle Ford for reassurance. 

Ford had something between a grimace and a grin on his face. “Looks like we made it mad.” 

Ford continued pulling in the end of the rope that he had Dipper run around the cabin. He had said it was some kind of unicorn-hair laced rope, completely slipping through anything non-magical, and only snagging the supernatural. It also made a decent portable, if makeshift barrier as well. He had hammered the end of it, tied up in a slip knot in the end, slowly pulling the rope in. Dipper stayed carefully behind Ford as the barrier closed in. 

Dipper jumped when the door to the cabin creaked open, but nothing seemed to be there. Ford just continued to pull the rope in, eyes not leaving the space just above the rope. 

Ford dropped the rope standing further back from their oblong barrier, which now had less than two yards of diameter inside. 

“We can wait here all night, you’re not going anywhere. Might as well show yourself,” Ford growled. 

A figure flickered into visibility, vaguely reminding Dipper the ghosts haunting the only convenience store, and the ones from Pacifica’s party. It was Danny from the convenience store, looking several times more exhausted than he had earlier that night, with burns up and down his arms. His eyes blazed that same bright green that Dipper had only managed a glimpse of in the store. He was curled into himself, glaring at the rope, sharp teeth bared. His eyes seemed to linger on their tracker, glazing over Dipper, before settling venomously on Ford. Something in Dipper’s mind couldn’t seem to connect the earlier shriek to the person… to the spirit in front of him. 

“Well?” Danny rasped out. “You’ve managed to drag me out. What now?”

“Release the boy you’re possessing, spirit,” Ford demanded. 

Dipper held his breath as something in Danny’s expression shifted, mouth closing into a frown. 

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?!” 

Danny did not break eye contact with Ford, and Dipper was grateful to be ignored. 

“I’m not possessing anybody. This is my own body.”

“If that was true, then you would’ve dissipated a long time ago, spirit. Your kind can’t stay on this plane very long,” Ford argued. 

Danny huffed. “Know something about ghosts, don’t you? Normally you’re right, but not in this case. I’m as physical as you are. This has been my body since the day I was born.”

Dipper glazed up at Ford, finding his brows knit together. “That’s impossible. You’d either have to be possessing your own corpse or-”

“Of not fully dead. Bingo,” Danny confirmed blandly. 

“That’s impossible,” Ford denied. 

“Impossible things happen sometimes.”  

Dipper was actually able to see the resignation on Danny’s face, and his own guilt resurfaced. Ford was beginning to look conflicted too. He had wanted to end the ghost because he was a threat, and could possibly leave people hurt. 

“That depends, spirit.”

Danny’s gaze actually landed on Dipper, recognition filling the other’s gaze before drifting away. 

“Depends on what?” 

“First, what are your intentions here in Gravity Falls?”

“Nothing, really,” Danny seemed to respond earnestly. “I don’t want any trouble, just to lay low for a bit.”

Ford’s eyes narrowed. “What reason could a spirit have to stay low?”

Danny looked away. “Are you familiar with the GIW?”

The name caught in Dipper’s ears, completely unfamiliar. 

“They’re government goons. A bunch of idiots chasing things far above their understanding.” Apparently not unfamiliar to Grunkle Ford. 

“And what do you think they would do to someone like me, who they believe is completely non-sentient, nothing more than an echo of consciousness over energy?” Danny asked back. 

Something about how Danny described spirits and ghosts didn’t sit right with Dipper. A good collection of the monsters were sentient, and Dipper couldn’t imagine how people could see someone like Danny and claim he wasn’t. 

“Running from the government,” Ford huffed. “A lackluster reason. Fine,” Ford practically spat the admission. “Then secondly, how are you possibly getting enough energy to stay here? Your kind need massive amounts of energy, just to stay physical.”

Danny crossed his arms. “Eating food. You know, like a person. Other than that, the veil is thin here. There’s enough ambient energy that I’m doing just fine.”

‘The veil is thin here’? Dipper wondered if it was due to the portal. From the look on Ford’s face, probably. 

“You haven’t been feeding off of anyone?”

Danny just look straight up confused this time. “No, I thought we already cleared the ‘vampire’ charges?”

Ford looked a bit miffed at that response, and Dipper was beginning to let relief fill him. Danny really wasn’t hurting anyone but…

“Lastly, are you working with, for, or alongside the dimensional being known as Bill Cipher?”

Dipper could see genuine confusion on Danny’s face, more so than the ‘feeding’ question. “No… no. I have no idea who that is.”

“None at all?” Ford pushed. 

“None,” Danny confirmed, crossing his arms. 

Things fell silent then, Danny staring at them, while Ford seemed to try and fit things together. 

“So, what are you going to do now? Still going to take my head off with your machete?” Danny asked. 

“Machetes don’t work on spirits,” Ford retorted back. 

“Okay… your point?”

Dipper suddenly had an idea, probably not a good one, but, “Hey Grunkle Ford?” Dipper tugged on Ford’s sleeve to get his attention. 

“What if we enlist Danny’s help against Bill… or something like that? Some kind of, um… agreement so he can’t hurt anyone, but we could also use his help? Aren’t spirits really strong?” Dipper whispered. 

Ford frowned, leaning down towards Dipper so Danny couldn't hear, “It's… not a terrible idea. He would be bound by it under the right circumstances, but those things are tricky.”

“We would have to make one with as few holes as possible. Even then… Danny doesn’t seem the type to try and twist the deal. Mabel and I have interacted with in him plenty of times before, and he always seemed… kinda nice. Wendy and the older teens like him too. I just…” Dipper trailed off. 

Ford sighed. “If we’re doing this, then we’re doing it right. He can’t do anything from inside the circle, and I’m not letting him out without some assurance. He’s definitely a threat, but you’re onto something to get him to help us against Cipher…” 

Ford leveled a hard, stern look at Dipper. “This is your idea, so you’ll have to take responsibility for it, got it Dipper? We have no idea how strong this particular spirit is, so your deal has to be airtight. Can I leave that to you?”

Dipper gave a resolute nod. “Yes, Grunkle Ford.”

“Then I’m going to get the necessary items out of the car. Work out your deal.” 

Dipper nodded, and watched as Ford shot a glance behind himself, leaving Dipper alone with Danny. 

“Is the old man going to get a non-machete weapon to take off my head with?” Danny joked without an inch of humor. 

“Oh…uh…no. I… I don’t think so,” Dipper hesitantly answered.

“Okay,” Danny seemed just as uncertain as Dipper felt.  

Dipper took a deep breath, solidifying his will for this. He could do this. He had delt with more terrifying things this summer already. 

“Danny,” Dipper started, fully gaining the spirit’s attention, who seemed shocked at his own name being spoken, like he hadn’t expected to be addressed by name at all. 

“I want to make a deal with you.”

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello!!!! =D

So. We Are ep 13. I don't how they do this, but they keep making every episode better than the last. At this rate, I'll not be able to survive episode 16.

Warning: long post 😊😅 (there will be a smol part 2 because 30 screenshots are definitely not enough.)

We have the Best Parents in BL, but now I present to you: The Best Aunt in BL.

Subtle, Aunt Pui, real subtle. 😭

I get her. She just wants a nice, handsome boyfriend for her nephew. 😌

First of all, the symbolism is hitting me right in the face, but it's also so subtle because no one else knows the whole story, so they wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Secondly. Yes, the red and blue do clash a bit, and it's not the prettiest little painting. But. Not every painting has to be "pretty" or perfect. Just like feelings or emotions in real life. Peem didn't willingly draw over his precious painting because he thought it'd look better; he did it because he wanted it to express his feelings. This also ties into Peem's insecurity at having (apparently) failed at being Phum's comfort zone because see, in the painting it looks like the sea is embracing the roses, or protecting them.

What I'm trying to say, is that what makes art beautiful is not just what you directly see on the canvas/right in front of you. And this applies even to the "pretty" ones. The David is not just famous because it looks very good, but also because of the amount of skill and talent Michelangelo had to be able to create such a thing from a block of marble. (I'm sorry I'm not good at examples or analogies 😭)

Sir. What business do you have, making an expression like that and giving me a heart attack.

If I haven't said this before: find a man who looks at you like Phum (Pond) looks at Peem (Phuwin).

Two sides of the same coin.

Phum still feels guilty (which is very clear from his reaction to what Peem says) about ruining Peem's painting, so he wants to do something to make sure nothing like that ever happens to Peem again.

Peem is long over it (you don't ever forget shit like that, but he has definitely forgiven Phum). He met Phum because of that Incident™, and he has a new, upgraded painting, so this is just a light joke for him. But the moment he sees it's too soon for Phum, he immediately goes to reassure him he's just kidding, and he absolutely does not hold it over Phum.

A simple pinky promise, but how much does it mean to Phum?

He's never had someone to make a pinky promise with; Fang was in a similar situation as him, and Beer knew better to make a promise and have it broken by forces outside his control.

So this, this small, childish gesture means quite a bit to him. (Which is also probably why having broken it hurt him so much.)

And yet Peem, you're smiling so wide while saying that. Almost like *le gasp* you actually like it!

Let's be real here, Peem. You don't mind at all. In fact, you sounded unbearably fond saying this. You were quite literally giggling and kicking your feet. (Which fits my headcanon of him pretty well actually.)

This shot. Just >>>> (actually thinking of making it my header-)

Ma boy never misses a chance 😭👍🏼

And if he doen't get a chance, he makes one and nails that too. <3

SO CUTEE 🥺🫶🏼

Oh the teasing is on.

Pun: I did that 😌

Beer: Idiots in love. Again. *exasperated sigh*

[From this point on, I am extremely sleep deprived, so most comments made will probably (definitely) be forgotten by the time I wake up (I'm going right to sleep after posting this.]

Well, Chain, I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but Phum moved into Peem's heart like 6 episodes ago.

Well, yeah, but Peem has to act at least a little bit like the tsundere he is, right?

Chain: "Well, can a cupid shoot an arrow at himself?"

Toey: *very telling side-eye*

Q: You really think one flirty line will trigger his half braincell to understand what he didn't in the past however many years? ...go on, I wanna see how this turns out

Pun: *pikachu meme face*

Beer: Oh damn here goes another one, we must be nearing the last episode

Phum: ????

Peem: Don't say anything don't say anything DON'T SAY ANYTHING DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING SAY A SINGLE WORD- (internally: Idiots. They're idiots.)

Ah, I love the sibling energy here. Also, initially I was like nah you're more like Tan. But then I gave it some thought. And had a Realization: he really is the Fang in their relationship, and Q really is the Tan. (I do not have the brainpower to explain rn, but tell me if you want me too, I'll include it in Part 2.)

Phum can't wait. (And neither can Peem, because I didn't see ya denying anything, babe. Instead, you gave him the softest shoulder bump in the history of soft shoulder bumps and that bigass (smitten) smile.

Oh boy this scene.

Right before this, when Peem called Phum immediately after the last brushstroke, I was smiling so hard and giggling like yesss do boyfriend-y things with each other!

Him waiting on the porch: still big smile. Here comes Phum! Ooh are they gonna flirt in the car??

My smile started dimming as the seconds ticked by and no Phum appeared on screen.

Until I finally realized what was happening.

I almost stopped breathing.

And as the scene went on my heart broke a little more with every text and every call, and I was watching that mall scene again. Except it was much much worse this time.

So long story short, I was heartbroken for both of them. Especially when Peem showed up alone with the saddest lost-kitten face ever.

But, at this point I knew Phum must have had something really urgent/unaviodable to miss his meeting with Peem because 1. He really really loves that boy and 2. He was very much looking forward to doing this with Peem.

Unfortunately, I will have to end Part 1 here (please don't kill me), and I'm loathe to end on a sad note, but I promise the next part will be much happier. It will hopefully be posted a little later today.

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊

Here, have a pudding 🍮

My previous We Are posts.

[itsjustmylifeconfessions]

I loved episode 6 for so many reasons (Pedro your Emmy nomination is secured!) but two things really caught my attention while watching the episode and seeing people reacting to it (on YouTube, twitter, here...)

The amount of male reactors that didn't know what a menstrual cup was, and even thought it was some sort of birth control, shouldn't have been surprising to me but damn y'all really don't know anything do you?

One video I watched they were saying Maria was trying to control Ellie, by giving her birth control and cutting her hair against her will. They did not think Maria was being genuinely helpful at all.

Now let me tell you, as a woman, I would have helped another woman with everything she needs immediately. We have a shower, let me get you a nice soap. Need period products? I got you. I have scissors do you need a haircut? Let me get you clean underwear, do you need a bra? Here have a hair tie.

When Ellie found the tampons in ep 4 that made me so happy, then this happens and this display of not only women's solidarity towards each other but this awareness of our daily issues actually warms my heart.

I've always wondered what it would be like to be a woman in an apocalyptic world. We need these things. We don't just want them, we need them. I have cramps that are so bad sometimes I think I'm gonna pass out, even if I take meds, but I have never, not even once, watched a scene with a woman even acknowleding her period. unless if for some bulshit pregnancy arc but don't get me started

The second thing was that a lot of people (not just men in this case) thought that Joel was having a heart attack, when it was so clear he was experiencing something like a panic attack/anxiety/PTSD episode.

The lack of awareness on mental health is so clear. Maybe it's because I deal with anxiety and know what it feels like, but I understood immediately what was happening in those scenes.

We are so used to not talking about it. It should be so obvious to everyone but it wasn't. Because we don't even discuss this in real life.

I love that the show doesn't shy away from such important things that somehow for us are taboo. Mental health, women's health, these are things we don't really see in shows like this and I love that they are not hiding from it.

Ellie is a girl, she has periods. She also has a lot of trauma to unpack. Joel is not a robot, he's been through so much of course there's trauma there, of course he'll have PTSD and anxiety and have panic attacks on the possibility of caring for someone so much again and failing to protect them.

Anyway, I'd love to talk about everything I've been loving about this show but this post is too long already. I'm loving how they are adapting this story, they are doing a fantastic job, and the things they are changing/adding are only making the story better, and I can't wait for what's coming next.

[edupiii]

*slams head into marble counter top, causing cups to fall onto the floor with the sheer amount of force*

I HAD A THOUGHT. POSSIBLY EVEN A THEORY.

or im just late as hell to the party

Spoiler Warning for Episode 7 of Murder Drones Below

ALRIGHT! Now I KNOW this shit is going to sound kinda crazy but STICK WITH ME HERE PLEASE-

I was just wondering around YouTube and I got this video made by @sutekh94 (sorry if you didn’t wanna be pinged Sutekh, if you’d like i can take the @ out) suggested to me. I watched it cause I like to see what other people say about the cringy media I consume rapidly.

At one point in the video, Sutekh is talking about the end shot of Uzi being in sppaaaaace saying that she was “shot into Copper-9s orbit”. I paused the video and looked at the clip on screen which was this BEAUTIFUL scene. Absolutely stunning.

Now at the end of the new episode I had a brain thought that this could be an outside shot of Copper-9, but then I found that too odd. However, seeing someone else say it has me looking into stuff. So I went through all the times we’ve seen Copper-9 within the series and found that yes, this very much is Copper-9 and Uzi stuck on its orbit:

highlighted circle is of the Little Rock’s orbiting Copper-9 that bump into Uzi

We can see the rock orbits, the space between Copper-9 and the (possible) moons it has. The Saturn moon being close up in the first angle we see from the first episode, but it being far away in the newest episode. This shows the distance and that despite being seen as farther away now, the Saturn moon is still the one we see so commonly in MD during the night.

But I was confused why it was like this? Why would it lead to the planets orbit? I understand the planet has a massive hole in it, but still it seemed like an odd occurrence.

Now- this is where I start sounding like I should never be let outside in public spaces-

Before we see this final scene of Uzi in spaaaacee, we watch The Solver/Fleshaa/Cyn go down that exact same hole saying: “honestly, I’m starving.”

It also references eating earlier on in the episode when talking to N: “Let’s eat.”

The Solver/Fleshaa/Cyn came to Copper-9 to initially get rid of other solver users that it knew of (Uzi and Doll), as well as find the cross with the patched code in it. First it destroyed all possible evidence involving the solver and the patch (scene where it explodes the computers and lockers in episode 7).

Secondly, it goes after Doll. Doll was against the Solver because she refused for it to use her to “eat the planet”, to which Flesha says, “not sure it needs you buddy”, then killing her.

Next it went for Uzi. It was originally going to kill Uzi acting as Tessa, however when N decapitated her that was no longer an option. Instead, it shifted into using Uzis body. At this point, she also has acquired the cross thanks to N. It goes ahead and destroys that too, checking another box off the list.

The Solver then went to kill N but was stopped by Nori, causing there to be a new target added to its hit list. In the fight with Nori and N, the Solver shows little respect for Uzis body. On multiple occasions it try’s to get Uzi killed. It knew N would try to stop this from happening, but even if he didn’t save Uzi, that would still be a win for the Solver.

It then try’s to eat Nori, wanting to get rid of her as quickly as possible since she poses the most threat to its plan. It’s interpreted by N and then loses control over Uzi. However, Uzi then proceeded to PUNT her mom down the flesh hole, resulting in Nori to be checked off the hit list as well since she would be assumed to be dead.

With Nori, Doll and the cross/patch gone and Uzi no longer under its control, the Solver retreats back into its Flesha form, surprise attacking N and Uzi. I would assume that the Solver doesn’t perceive either of these traumatized goobers to be a threat, seeing as it try’s to kill the pair but ultimately fails.

With all other players out of the field, The Solver no longer has anyone it deems as a threat. Dropping down the hole in victory and into Copper-9s orbit.

The Solver as we have seen eats oil, drone cores and human flesh and blood. With all human life (possibly) being wiped out entirely by being eaten, the Solver is starving. The next best option: drones.

Copper-9s current residents are only drones. Specifically worker drones who have no weaponry or Solver powers. The drones have governance over themselves (aka, sentient), so the Solver can’t just brainwash or order them into being eaten. So it plans to do it in one big final swoop.

It has been said on multiple occasions throughout the show: eating the planet, eating worlds, etc. but i (personally) never thought of that being an actual possibility. With the Solver/Flesha/Cyn in the orbit of Copper-9 and all possible obstacles taken care of, it is free to gorge itself on the drone inhabited planet, finally satisfying its endless hunger.

I would think it would do this by creating a NULL void, as the endless void/black hole can be acquainted with the idea of a always starving being. Something that can never be full. Never satisfied. We see this with earth and the core of Copper-9. We can also see this in the other times we have seen the NULL void appearing: a flash back in episode 4, killing the Sentinels in episode 6, it being in the sky in episode 7 during the murder drone apocalypse and probably a bunch of other times I didn’t write down.

The Solver didn’t get to fully eat Copper-9 all those decades ago, but now it’s come to finish its meal.

If this has already been a known thing and im joining in late, i profusely apologize for wasting both your time and my own.

As for a motive for The Solver doing this: to eat. It isn’t fighting for the freedom of drone kind or fighting against humanity because of the way they treated the AI they created, but rather uses drones as vessels and a food source. Often, Eldritch beings have little reason to care for anything. They do what they please and it’s horrifying because there is absolutely no way to deter this force or even try to talk it down. It’s above emotion and morality. It is all that matters and those beneath are seen as nothing but insignificant animals to yield to its power. It doesn’t want to dominate or rule a universe, it just wants to consume it.

[itsclydebitches]

I really want to take a moment to appreciate the conversation between Roy and Trent in 3x02, as a part of Ted Lasso's larger commentary on toxic masculinity.

Because these two are classic nerd/jock archetypes, yeah? (At least on the surface. The fact that they're far more complex than that is kinda the whole point.) Roy Kent is the handsome, talented, scariest motherfucker around, able to treat people like shit and still earn the devotion of the fans because he possesses the coveted Sports Skills. Trent, in contrast, is the queer kid who was never able to participate in sports himself, instead needing to turn to writing about them to find that in. As he tells Ted, for him sport is the metaphor and his words, delivered with an "edgy" style that pulls no punches, defend Trent in a way he's never been able to defend himself physically; they gain respect in a field where he'd otherwise be considered a joke. ("Is this a fucking joke?") Plus, given the implied backgrounds and present day characterization, I don't think it's much of a reach to believe that scathing articles like the one Trent wrote contain a certain amount of bitter satisfaction: Roy is "over-hyped," "mediocre," "disappointing," and driven by "rage." If that doesn't sound like a bullied kid finally getting back at all the jocks Roy represents, I don't know what does.

Notably, they repeat a version of this history during Trent's first week at Richmond. He's easily the most anxious we've ever seen him, jumping at loud noises, hands twitching in his pockets, very self-consciously trying to form a connection with the players and failing miserably. Trent is without his armor now - that of a high-profile journalist, safe behind his cutting words - and he's unable to rebuild any given that he's being denied the chance to write his stories. Why is that the case? Because top dog Roy Kent has decreed that no one talk to him. Now, we know based on Roy's characterization and what's revealed later in the episode that this is done out of a desire to protect his players from the abusive press, but outside of that context this looks a lot like the popular kid playing the part of a bully. Trent is the new kid entering class, being clocked as the outsider, briefly welcomed by someone with no prior bias (Dani)... and then that's shut down real fast from Roy. Funny as Ted Lasso is (and I was legitimately cracking up throughout the episode) there's also something extremely disquieting - in a very familiar way - at watching someone go from, "Hi! :D" to "FUCK YOU!" all on the say-so of someone with a lot of authority and social power. This dynamic continues throughout the whole week, with Trent growing more and more on edge until, finally, he just gives in. When Roy starts popping balloons he doesn't stand up for himself and demand that he share their office respectfully, Trent just tries desperately to ignore the bullying - and it is bullying, given that Roy stops popping the moment Trent leaves - and then quietly runs away, acting apologetic as he goes. When the players refuse to discuss strategy with Trent he tries to leave again, defeated, which is a far cry from the doggedly confident reporter who would wait for Jamie after practice. Woven among the humor, Trent is at his most vulnerable here, looking more and more like the victim in a hostile, traditionally masculine space.

Of course, given that this is Ted Lasso, the situation is far more complex than just, "Bullies exist and that's #bad." The locker room scene is initially set up to look that way, in large part because it takes place in a locker room/bathroom. AKA, two spaces where bullying tends to occur unimpeded - and we've already seen that in Ted Lasso back when Nate was the underdog, cowering before the rest of the Richmond team. Roy's control over the group is so complete that no one dares challenge his order to ignore Trent (except, of course, Ted himself. The guy who sparked Roy's growth from the get-go) even though the group is clearly very relieved when the ban is lifted. Roy screams at Trent, making him jump, and orders him into the semi-privacy of the showers. It speaks volumes to me that Ted feels the need to give a reassuring nod and that Trent clearly needed it because, again, outside of the fact that they're both obviously adults now and that on a surface level this moment is meant to make us laugh, this is all very reminiscent of the bully pulling the nerdy kid somewhere where he can hurt him without consequence, all while everyone sits there and watches, not really wanting it to happen, but not willing to stop it either. Everything from the setting, to Trent's defensive body language, to Roy pushing the wallet against his chest in a move reminiscent of the classic shove to start off a beating, all of it heavily implies that kind of bully/victim dynamic.

But, as said, it's not that simple. Because Roy isn't the bully here and Trent, crucially, isn't just the victim. The scene goes on to reveal that Trent is the one who has caused Roy harm, by printing a unnecessarily cruel article when he was just seventeen years old. (A revelation that pairs very nicely with his introduction this season - "Love that" - reminding us that just because Trent approves of others standing up to bullies doesn't mean he's never been one.) That was a decision that "wrecked" a young Roy, to the extent that he kept that quote in his wallet for years, only now reaching a point where he can admit how much that hurt him. Trent's explanation is understandable given his heavily implied backstory. Not that he was trying to build his career, but that he would do so by "seeing the worst in people" and hurting them first before they could hurt him. Roy was right all the way back in Season One, Trent is a colossal prick... but that's likely because others were colossal pricks to him first. Here then, we see that cycle of abuse once more, the same one Nate is currently trapped in. The difference, however, is that when Ted says, 'Your ego is hurting us, Roy' Roy listens and when Roy says, 'You really hurt me, Trent' Trent listens, and the three of them together put a stop to the cycle then and there. Trent apologizes. Roy forgives him. Roy lifts the ban and by the end of the episode they've reached a place where they can speak honestly with one another. Not just about Roy's feelings - which is a HUGE thing for him to make Trent privy to - but about the complexities of Trent's career too. We've already seen that balancing the truth with compassion is fine line for him to walk - as evidenced by him texting Ted, but still publishing his article about the panic attacks; leaving his job, but still sniffing out the Richmond story - but here we get the reversal of that. Trent has already said, 'I'm working on emphasizing the ethics of my profession' and now Roy comes in with 'I'm working to admit that a cruel article isn't necessarily an inaccurate one.' He did play like shit at Chelsea and though Trent didn't need to break the spirit of a seventeen year old, the players do need to come to terms with the fact that they're in a high profile career where everyone is judging their performance (something Ted himself is all too aware of). This is the kind of nuanced understanding that's only possible post-apology/forgiveness, wherein the story has reminded us, 'Victims are capable of becoming bullies themselves and they need to own up to their actions just as much as they deserve an apology themselves.'

All of which is REALLY important for the framing of Nate's arc because he is in Trent's position, poised somewhere between victim and bully. It's obvious the ways in which Nate was a victim of the Richmond team, of his father, and even of the public, but it's significant that he's still a victim even as he now consciously hurts others too. Rebecca had a long speech this episode about how charming Rupert is, how he'll pursue you and in the process make you feel like you're the most important person in the world, someone chosen... and though she was talking about Zava, all I could think about was Nate. He's still being charmed and wooed by Rupert, what with the compliments and the new car, but all of it comes with reminders that he's worthless without that approval (surely a cleaning lady must have parked there...). Rupert is the top dog at the moment, his oh so benevolent popularity extending to Nate, encouraging him to model that behavior in order to keep his interest... but inevitably Rupert will toss him aside, just like he did with Rebecca. He'll become bored and Nate will have to grapple with the fact that, in his effort to avoid being a victim, he became the bully instead, just like Trent had. Rebecca is waiting to help Nate understand the ways in which Rupert can demolish your sense of self-worth. Trent is waiting to help Nate understand how to own up to your mistakes. And of course, there's Ted Lasso in the wings, the American outsider who can offer a much needed, compassionate perspective on the whole of it - as well as some personal insight into panic attacks during interviews. The entirety of the Richmond community, thematically, is being built into a reflection of Nate's struggle; a collection of experiences and wisdom and kind-hearted insight that can help him if (when!) he chooses to accept it.

[essycogany]

The Apology - Sonic Prime Alternate Ending

Just a heads up, this story is different from what happened in the last episode. Characters know things they didn’t before, the Chaos Council are not present, and stuff like that. Enjoy!

Sonic landed on his stomach, coughing as he tried to regain his sense of awareness. He seriously needed a 12 hour nap after this. Maybe more, depending on how things go. He was in Nine’s now polished lab after a huge fight between them ended. Shaking his head, Sonic stared up at a hammock that wasn’t originally there, being held up by fresh and healthy palm trees. It swayed back and forth by an unexpected breeze from a hole in the shield that protected the shatterspace. Crystals collided together in a storm of destruction. Which also caused parts of the shield to break. Perhaps The Grim was starting to decay now that Nine was losing control of his powers. Sonic was too brain dead to tell.

Standing up, Nine was already on edge and no amount of sanity was left in his brain. The little fox snarled at the hedgehog. Ready to pounce like a wild beast, charging at its opponent. But an instantaneous thud distracted him, causing him to flinch. The uninvited guest charged at Nine defensively. They didn’t touch him, but made sure he didn’t attack Sonic. Shadow came into view from behind the group. His hands were already curved into fists. “Sonic, quit stalling. We don't have time for this. We have to take him down,” he demanded. Sonic stood up quickly but didn’t leave his post. “I can reason with him, okay? Just trust me.”

“Didn’t you already try that? And failed,” Rebel asked in annoyance. Her ears flattened as she slapped her face in frustration. “That’s it, the kid’s gone insane,” Knucks stated bluntly, holding onto Rebel’s arm to comfort her.

Nine’s eyes and ears twitched in fear and his head jolted every time someone spoke. His lips dried and his heart rate increased, but his smile was cunning. He slowly approached Sonic with a freshly baked condescending comment ready for him. “As usual, Sonic The Hedgehog only cares about himself and what he wants.” Nine sounded as if he regained his confidence, but Sonic wasn’t fooled. He knew Nine well enough to understand he was still hurt. He hardly heeded his comment. Not because he didn’t deserve it, but because it wasn’t true. He walked forward with his ears down and put a hand to his chest. “Nine, I’m sorry I hurt you. I really am. But there’s people out there…” He pondered his words. “A you out there with a Sonic who’s failed to keep him safe.” Sonic struggled to not sound emotional but the lump in his throat wasn’t getting the message. Nine scoffed. “How many times do I have to embed into that stupid head of yours that I am not Ta-!”

“You’re right,” Sonic admitted. “You’re not him and you never will be. You are your own person and I shouldn’t take that away from you.” Nine chuckled awkwardly and tramped backwards. “What was with this guy? His stubbornness could've been admirable if it wasn’t at my expense.” Nine thought as his mechanical tails shifted. Was he starting to believe him?

Sonic realized Nine's attitude lightened up, but braced himself for his next words. “You said I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to be the hero, am I right?” He looked at Nine for confirmation and he didn’t move an inch. He only gave an agitated grumble under his breath.

“Well, I can’t live with myself now because I still haven’t fixed the mistake I caused. My home is still gone and my friends…m-my friends…��� Sonic stuttered. Then pulled his face away from everyone, staring at the now bigger crack in the shield. His eyes marginally felt wet. Shadow noticed this and unclenched his fist. “Sonic, you don’t have to…”

“They’re the reason I’m still fighting. If I couldn’t protect them before, maybe I wasn't the hero they deserved.” Sonic put a hand to his eyes as his face fell. He let out a breathless laugh, forcefully keeping himself together.

“That’s an understatement,” Nine spat out with a snicker. He didn’t exactly know why he said that. Nine didn’t even know if he felt bad or not, but immediately regretted his reply once Sonic’s body aggressively tensed up. The crystals started hitting the shield severely, helping the intense ambience of the room increase.

Sonic quickly wiped his eyes and marched towards Nine assertively. “But I’m not stopping until I’m able to see them again.” Sonic glared at Nine and the others joined him, walking behind him despite little room being left in the area. Shadow stood next to Sonic. “And we’ll do everything in our power to ensure he does.” Sonic gave Shadow an addled look. He stared back and uncharacteristically softened his expression. It wasn’t quite a smile, but close to one. Nine’s eyes fired up and his mechanical tails bolted out from behind him. His hair spreaded out as if lightning struck it.“Y-You’re crazy. You seriously think a stupid disquisition is going to make things better?”

“A dis-wha?”

Nine turned to Shadow with a humorous grin. “Sad that this is the one you got stuck with, isn’t it?” Shadow rolled his eyes while folding his arms like a disappointed dad. Sonic retorted with his arms raised in vexation. “The point is yes, I’m the reason all of this is happening. But Nine you have the ability to bring our worlds back together.”

“You see what he’s doing?! He’s manipulating me into bringing his home back! Without thinking about the consequences or what could happen to us in the process.” Nine’s turbulent eyes couldn’t believe what was happening. Suddenly Thorn jumped in front of Sonic, feeling offended on his behalf. Her hammer was up and ready to strike at any given moment. Sonic just needed to say the word, and she’d defend him. “All we know is he’s at least trying to bring back a world where all of us are connected. That is what you’re doing, right Sonic?” Thorn turned to him. Sonic gave her a sad smile and nodded slowly. She nodded back and loosened the grip on her hammer. Sonic mouthed a thank you for keeping her temper in check.

“So that’s it? You’re willing to give up your own existence for some stranger because he told you to?! Are you kidding me?!”

Knucks came in front, hitting his mitts together every few seconds.“If it means we don’t have to constantly fight the Chaos Bozos to get our homes back, sure. I’m willin’ to trade.”

“Unlike you…” Rebel said with authority. “Sonic has done more than enough to save each of us. We should return the favor.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “Really? All of you are willing to…” He trailed off.

Gnarly stood behind everyone else and nervously scratched his hat. “Are you guys sure we shouldn’t vote on this?” The other scavengers growled at him.

“This might be our only option,” Thorn sighed. Then she inadvertently held Sonic’s hand. “You might think you’re not the hero your friends deserve, but I definitely believe if they were here, they’d be just as proud as we are. And angry at you for giving yourself a hard time,” she added while tightening her grip to admonish Sonic. The rest of the shatterverse crew nodded in agreement and their stances grew less rigid. Sonic smiled at them sweetly. These guys may not be his original friends, and it might’ve taken him forever to realize that, but he still felt their spirits within his new ones.

“Idiots! All of you!” Nine lashed out, gritting his teeth. His fangs stuck out in front of his lips and he bit them with every word he was ready to unleash. “And Sonic, you might as well accept the fact that you lost because…”

Sonic gritted his own teeth and pressed his own words furiously towards Nine. “I’m not finished!” Shadow for once was proud of Sonic and slightly smiled in approval. It’s about time he silenced this crazy fox. Knucks on the other hand, tilted his head to the side. “Are you sure about this, kid? Because he seems pretty finished,” he warned, trying to calm Sonic down. Luckily, his temper fell and he let out a heavy exhale.

“Friends don’t force each other to stay with them forever. That’s not how friends work. Neither of us gets to choose our futures. I’m sorry I didn’t explain that to you sooner.” Nine backed up again. This hedgehog is full of surprises. He could admit that. “I also appreciate how you wanted to create a place for the two of us, but Shadow and I can’t be stuck here forever. The longer we’re trapped is the longer he’s not home and I’m not with Tails and the others.”

Tails. Sonic must’ve really cared about the kit. Tails might appear to be nothing like Nine, but he felt a familiarity to the name whenever it was called. It was the same feeling he felt on his first meeting with Sonic. Then he swallowed it down. Sonic was still wrong. Though Nine didn’t know why this time. He turned his head from Sonic, but couldn’t break their gaze simultaneously. Sonic stared into Nine's sad blue eyes. He wasn’t looking at Nine with anger but leniency. A few minutes passed and the audience behind Sonic grew impatient and muttered bitterly to themselves. “Look outside Nine and tell me your actions are any better than mine. If you can do that, I’ll back off.” Nine laughed, but for seemingly no reason in particular. “We’d be doomed.” Sails huffed and kicked a rock on the ground with a pouted lip.

Nine’s ears twitched again and he almost retorted. Until he saw the cracks of the broken shield tearing apart like glass. Then he noticed a bit of light from the prism growing darker. He turned back to Sonic. From Nine’s perspective his face was full of anger, pain, exhaustion, and determination. The dude was so stubborn. So annoyingly stubborn. He’s putting everything on Nine’s shoulders and it wasn’t fair. The fox had nowhere to run. No one else to blame. Sonic already admitted his faults as if it was the most unpretentious confession in the world. Nothing. That’s what was going to be left of his own shatterspace. Nine took a breath, walked towards his computer, and began to type.

***

Surprise! A Sonic Prime alternate ending! I wanted to make a short rewrite of the apology and address things I felt needed to be addressed. Why did I leave on a cliffhanger? Because I wanted others to have their own conclusions. While I do like the idea of Nine not quite “becoming good” but just gaining a respect for Sonic, you can interpret however you want. Thanks for reading!

[fizzigigsimmer]

Fargo s5 Episode 8: Manipulation and Codependency.

I am UNWELL after this last episode. I have so many thoughts. What it says on the tin, this is just me processing my reaction to the latest episode so if you are not caught up, spoilers will be found within.

Let’s start with the lady of the hour. Miss Dot. Miss Dorthy Lyon 👏🏾 Put some respect on her name. This character is endlessly fascinating to me. She’s incredibly complex. Almost over powered in one sense, but also incredibly fragile. We’re seeing now in clearer detail what an accomplished manipulator Dot is. She’s not just a fighter. She’s not just hiding and masking her trauma. She is actively playing the people around her and moving them around a board in her mind. The same way Roy does. The same way anyone in a position of power does, honestly.

Roy and Loraine and people in general, we seek control over others out of a place of insecurity, in order to make ourselves feel safe in our little worlds. Survivors of abuse are particularly good at this, and it’s something I am so glad to see the narrative touching on. The media likes to paint victims with cinderella syndrome. They are often childlike innocent caricatures who are endlessly kind and pure in the face of unjustified cruelty, purely so that audiences will emotionally attach to them quickly and feel whatever amount of fear and revulsion the creator wants for the antagonist. But the reality for real people who suffer domestic violence and other forms of abuse is that they’re just people. They have the same potential for good and bad and selfishness, they developed unhealthy coping mechanisms and they learn to play the game just like everyone else. And when you live your life in fear, you have more incentive than most to get good fast at controlling your surroundings.

We see another example of this in Karen this episode. Roy’s current wife is no stranger to her husband’s violent temper and is very aware of the danger he represents. When he’s humiliated in spectacular fashion and likely to lose his election, there’s this palpable tension in the air as the family rides home. We know heads are going to roll, and from the look on Karen’s face so does she. When she first opened her mouth I was so scared for her. lol I wanted to reach through the screen and shake her, like “shut up! That man will kill you.” At first I thought she was being hopelessly naive, saying exactly all the wrong things to try and comfort Roy that were only pressing on the wound. BUT THEN! Then we watch her turn it on Dot. She calls her a curse, playing into Roy’s belief that there are scales to be balanced in order to make the world right again, and pointing out that all of this only happened when Dot came back. She basically says, Dot’s the reason you have bad luck not me. Go hurt her and not me. And then he does. It’s brilliant.

I was on the edge of my seat watching Dot desperately try and hang onto her world. Everything from her name down to who gets to remind Wayne to take his Lactaide medication, using anything and everything at her disposal to do it. When Roy isnt impressed by being reminded he married a child around his own son’s age - oh please, she had hair and her period so she wasn’t a child - she switches tactics quick as a whip and leans hard on Roy’s family man ideals. She relentlessly forces him to confront the contradictions in his actions by reminding him he is destroying a family. Finally, when that fails too she delivers a violent threat. You will do as I ask, or I’m going to hurt you. The writing here was so masterful. They are opposites. We’re rooting for her, and yet, they mirror each other. Dot has been using manipulation tactics she learned at the hands of her abusers to carefully curate a place where she feels safe, and now that it’s all crumbling around her she’s finally starting to see it for herself.

Her scene with Gator was particularly poignant. Because when he comes in, he’s subdued and we get the feeling that he’s there (whether he’s going to admit it or not) purely because he wants to see her. Her, the big sister who used to comfort him while he watched his father abuse his mother. Who then replaced his mother and became his father’s wife while his own mother seemingly abandoned him. The way she plays him in this scene is so heartbreaking to watch but also incredibly insightful. She knows why he’s here: because deep down he wanted to see her. She dances back and forth between playing on their buried bond ( “I didn’t tell the FBI anything” implying, she wouldn’t tell them anything that would hurt him) and plucking on his insecurities (you’re sloppy, you’re weak, you’re a fuck up and your daddy doesn’t love you).

But the biggest card that Dot tries to play is Linda. She tells Gator that she saw her and tries to bring him into her fantasy that Linda got out and has healed from her trauma. That she loves him and never meant to leave him, and that everything will be okay if he just helps her get out. She can take him to his mother and they can leave all of this behind him, and he can finally be free to be the person that deep down she knows he wants to be. And I just love the way this scene was played. Because while it is tempting to believe that Dot is purely just confused from the accident and the sleep deprivation, the music lets us know that more is going on here. We hear flutes, specifically those played by snake charmers. Gator is the snake, and Dot is hypnotizing him before our very eyes. This isn’t the first time Gator has been connected to snake imagery/symbolism either. When Dot decides to tell him why he’s not named Roy after his father, she likens him to a pale little lizard. @tdciago did an excellent post on some of the symbolism we’ve seen in the show thus far, and it really emphasis how often Gator is likened to or associated with snakes: His character bio compares him to the snake in the Garden. His LOL tattoo has forked tongues on the Ls. He's got a "Don't tread on me" flag featuring a snake in his room. He stopped at the Gas 'n Go to "drain the snake." He left an empty Slim Jim wrapper in Donny Ireland's evidence box, that looked like a shed snakeskin. He said that Munch came up "snake eyes."

And as much as Dot’s speech about Linda is about playing on his natural yearning for his mother, it’s also about them too. It’s about Dot. In a way, Dot is also saying that she’s sorry. She never meant to leave him alone. She loves him and she wants things to be alright. They can be if you just help me. Gator obviously wants to believe what Dot is saying is true all of it, but he’s not as dumb as everyone seems to think he is. He knows Dot lies to herself and to others and he calls her out on it. With a single line “You’re lying. You’ve never once in your life told the truth.” we’re left to wonder about all the lies Dot has had to tell over the years. First in order to survive on her own as a teenage runaway, then when she was taken in by the Tillmans, and again when Linda disappeared and she became Roy’s wife.

She told herself that Linda got out, that she was somewhere safe and free and building the life that she wanted. At first she used this lie not to have to face the reality of Roy, of her own likely end, maybe even to appease the twisted sense of guilt she would feel taking Linda’s place and in the light of Gator’s grief over his mother’s sudden absence. Later, she probably used this lie to give herself the courage to be her own Linda. To get out and make the life for herself that she deserved, even if it meant having to leave Gator behind. Even if he doesn’t understand all of the pieces, in his heart of hearts Gator knows his mother is never coming back. She’s either gone or dead, and either way she left him just like Dot did, and Dot is lying to herself.

“I hope you die in here Nadine and that you never see your kid again.” Because that would be justice in his eyes. That would balance the scales. Because he’s never getting out, so why should she?

“No you don’t.” And it’s true. She knows him. Knows he wouldn’t even be here if he weren’t soft. She gave him an opportunity. This was Gator’s crossroad and he chose to stay his course, and the looming figure of Munch reinforces the message that Officer Witt Later delivers, the consequences for Gator are almost here.

Dot too is approaching a crossroad. Because as the episode progresses she is forced to finally confront one of the lies she’s been telling herself for years. Linda is dead. She never made it out. She’s buried under the windmill with Roy’s other enemies. This is not the first time that Dot has seen this windmill, because it was also in her dream about Linda. I would not be surprised if all of Roy’s wives did not witness a body going into that ground at some point or another because of how Karen was so quick to redirect Roy’s rage to Dot. They’re on different sides of the line but they are both fighting for the same thing. To be with their children and not to end up rolled into an early grave.

[blazingstarrr]

when you dive into nathan's relationship with oral sex, it's actually really interesting.

throughout the entire series, he shows an obvious liking to blowjobs- wayy way more than the rest of the band. he mentions it all the time, most of the interactions he has with groupies are him getting blowjobs, he even works it into multiple songs in doomstar requiem. it's nothing crazy for him, just normal. he just really likes getting head.

but then you turn to s4ep9, where basically his whole plot for the episode is that the mere thought of eating a girl out makes him unbelievably grossed and freaked out.

it's so interesting because nathan is, from the outside, the most emotionless and brutal member of the band. but when you see him from a personal viewpoint, he shows probably the most wanting for a deep emotional relationship than anyone out of the band. even in s4ep6 in the quick blurb that shows the whole band jacking off, nathan's the one who shows the most emotion in this scene. he craves the emotional intimacy to go along with the physical intimacy, as the show goes on he's more starved for that emotional deepness and romance- i mean, he's the only member of the band that's shown having multiple actual girlfriends.

my take on nathan's love of blowjobs is that he's not in control.

all the groupies and fans want nathan to do something to them, all the dethklok songs are about what nathan would do, how brutal he is and the metal and gory things in these songs, it's always him doing them. even in the thunderhorse music video (show version) it's nathan that is on the horse and is killing the other members, nathan that kills skwisgaar and takes the woman he was sleeping with as his own. it's always what nathan'd do, even with the song of salvation. nathan is always looked to, nathan is always THE ONE, again and again without fail.

and with getting a blowjob, nathan's not doing anything. the control has left his hands for once in his life and he can just lean back and let it happen to him. he doesn't have to do anything, he finally isn't the one making the decisions, leading the operation. somebody else is taking the reins of not just the situation, but nathan himself- somebody else is taking control of nathan's body and his pleasure, and i think he gets off to that in a literal sense yes, but also the fact that he isn't in control feeds into his need for emotional intimacy. nathan craves a relationship that goes both ways, and when he's getting head, it's finally not just him giving. finally not nathan giving it all and macho metaling it up. for this short (or long) amount of time, he can hand over the wheel and hope, or pretend, that this is something that will be more, that this is something that can be given both ways.

and i also think he's scared.

and i also also think he just really gets off to tongue mouth tongue tongue around.

[sophosoterica]

If I want to know, I have no choice but to prostrate myself to the idolatry of information. I must devote myself to ingurgitating the most inhuman amounts of material. I have how many years left? How many days? I have wasted time already. Ignoring the necessity of the practice of discipline, I feel as though learning itself is a sacred art. Too many are heretics- defacing the conventions of learning because one is unwilling to learn. The most pitiful, submissive state of them all: the recognition and wholeful acceptance of one’s stupidity. It requires humility. Look around. Do you see humility? We are now cut off from the very thing that makes us human. Mankind explores. We have used our telescopes and equations to chart the passages of space and time - what wonder! No, no longer do we celebrate such things. To do so would be unironic, would fail to dismiss everything that makes us good as everything that makes us, us. Make no mistake: now, to be human is wrong, verging on immoral. We catapult ourselves to the status of God (as individuals and as societies and cultures) while refusing to attempt to reach His intellectual capacity. 

I rebuke it all. These people are high on the drug of ignorance, and I want to be clean. The haziness and comfort of knowing absolutely nothing of are universe come at an insurmountable cost: the beauty of knowledge, and the inexpressibly passionate joy that comes from learning. It is comparable to a religious episode, where once control and pride are relinquished, one is only then able to witness the divinity of their simpleness. The universe teaches us that to be human is good, and therefore learning is too; how else would we have made it this far? Alas, the universe has few pupils. But I have decided I shall never forgo my seat in the lecture hall as long as I live. 

Language, history, literature, mathematics, and the great many sciences that call my name in the night, knowing my soul is wasting. To these I will devote my being. I was obviously never made great by my hands. My mind, though having gotten me this far, is nowhere near exceptional. It is my soul that is unique. I have an emptiness in my heart that is only filled when I convert the unknown to the known, an angelic maneuver that anyone can enjoy. When I was young and truly myself, I studied at an inimitable rate - the voraciousness of my hunger would be directed to my very being if I did not send it after knowledge. It became a well-trained, sinewy beast, one that has fallen into weakness in my current state. No more.

[mariacallous]

News that $6 billion worth of outstanding U.S. military aid to Ukraine could expire by the end of September if Congress doesn’t take urgent action is unsettling some in Kyiv, where the painful memory of a larger package delay that led to battlefield losses remains fresh.

Delivering the $6 billion in additional U.S. aid depends on Congress extending the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpiles to Ukraine. It is part of a larger $61 billion package approved last April after a seven-month delay, despite being critical to helping Kyiv fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has asked Congress to include the $6 billion, provided via the Presidential Drawdown Authority program (PDA), in any continuing resolution lawmakers may pass before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 to fund the federal government and — yet again — prevent a shutdown.

U.S. officials said they hope to have the authority extended for another year, but the Defense Department is looking into other options if that effort fails.

It’s unclear why the $6 billion in military aid was not provided earlier, given the urgent needs of Ukraine’s armed forces in repelling Russia’s full-scale invasion, nor what weaponry it could entail. Multiple government sources in Ukraine and the U.S. declined to discuss the issue in detail.

The $6 billion is part of the $61 billion package approved in April, a congressional advisor who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the aid told the Kyiv Independent.

The advisor added that the delay in disbursing it due to absorption capacity issues, domestic US stock constraints, and a “constant flexibility issue with each withdrawal” in a situation where the U.S. adapts to Ukraine’s needs.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told the Kyiv Independent that the weapons and equipment for the full amount were not yet sent to Ukraine due to “the lack of the necessary weapons in the Pentagon's warehouses.”  The ministry didn’t specify which weapons were requested but assured that “there is no reason to believe that these $6 billion will ‘burn out.’"

“As far as sources in Congress tell me, the situation is under control, and the money won’t be lost – that’s the main thing,” David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People faction in parliament, told the Kyiv Independent.

But the episode appears to be the latest in which Ukraine’s top Western ally is drip-feeding weaponry supplies to Ukraine, on purpose or due to a lack of urgency, in an existential war waged by Russia which Zelensky’s administration has described as “genocidal.”

Addressing the annual Yalta European Strategy forum held in Kyiv on Sept. 13-14, Biden’s national security chief Jake Sullivan spoke of plans to announce a significant assistance package for Ukraine by the end of this month.

Yet the sense of many in Kyiv, which is shared with some European allies, is that while the U.S. has stepped up military assistance sharply, it is still not providing sufficient amounts and fast enough to help Ukraine decisively win the war.

“It is crucial that all states, and especially those like the United States, implement our agreements really promptly,” Zelensky said in his Sept. 14 evening address to the nation.

“Every delay in military packages has its negative consequences at the front. Every truly timely, fast delivery has a positive impact. I briefed the Congressmen on the current situation and the prospects,” he added.

Zelensky, who is to meet with Biden later this month in the U.S. for talks on future assistance and lifting of restrictions on using Western missiles to strike Russian territory, expressed the same frustration one day earlier about promised but not yet delivered military weaponry from Western allies without directly mentioning the $6 billion U.S. aid.

As he addressed the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kyiv, Zelensky said that it’s “really difficult to hear the same answer every time – ‘we are working on it.’”

He also said that the talks on equipping Ukrainian frontline brigades with the West’s help had been ongoing “for months,” with the same vague answer from some “leaders and states that have made responsible commitments” earlier.

“Frankly, we are still far from fully implementing what we have agreed on a long time ago,” Zelensky added.

Washington’s delay from late 2023 into this spring in passing a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine contributed to the deteriorating situation on the eastern Donbas frontline, where Russia’s grinding offensive made advances.

In almost seven months of political infighting in the U.S. before the aid was allocated, Ukraine lost some key territories, including the city of Avdiivka, and suffered significant damage to its energy infrastructure around the country due to the lack of air defense systems to counter Russian missile strikes.

The legislation was first opposed but later approved by Republican legislators loyal to Donald Trump, who seeks to return as president in a Nov. 5 election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sense of urgency often lost despite sky-high stakes

The risk of yet another delay in crucial assistance from Ukraine’s top Western ally comes as the country’s Armed Forces, outgunned and outmanned, continue to battle Russia’s full-scale invasion two and a half years into the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.

And as Zelensky continues to press the U.S. and other Western allies for permission to use their long-range missile for strikes into Russian territory.

“We have seen this pattern time and again — delays in the allocation of funding, delays in deployment, and delays in deliveries,” Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and former advisor to Zelensky’s administration, told the Kyiv Independent.

“The sense of urgency is often lost in the Western capitals, but this directly translates into lives lost and an unsafer world. Simply irresponsible," Mylovanov said.

The Biden administration and some European leaders have in the past years expressed fears that arming Ukraine too much — in essence, giving it enough weapons to win the war —  could provoke Russia to escalate and potentially use nuclear weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and others in his regime have made such threats. Repeating them recently, they said that the West would be at war with Russia if it allowed its long-range missiles to be used by Ukraine for strikes deep inside Russia.

Ukraine, which most recently seized a patch of Russian territory with the Kursk incursion, claims such threats are empty.

“Putin's threats do not work. Ukraine’s allies should not fall for them,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a Sept. 15 post on X, where he outlined how Russia has during the war repeatedly threatened escalation if Western allies armed Ukraine.

“Putin uses threats to weaken support for Ukraine. Instead, allies should boost it. Lift restrictions. Bolster Ukraine’s long-range strength, air shield, and economic and energy resilience. Fear and inaction only lead to deaths and crises. To restore peace, we need bravery, not fear,” Sybiha added.

Some influential members of both Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. Congress have called for the Biden administration to lift restrictions on using Western missiles on Russian territory and to further boost long-term military assistance to Ukraine.

They also wish to swiftly resolve the $6 billion aid issue.

“It is highly disappointing that nearly $6 billion of the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) remains untouched as we near the end of the fiscal year,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, told the Kyiv Independent.

“The administration must utilize all remaining PDA to provide Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to win this war — just as Congress intended when it provided this authority in the national security supplemental earlier this year,” McCaul added.

Democratic Congressman Jim Costa told the Kyiv Independent, "We are set to work this out," adding that there might be some friction on the new appropriations package, but the issue is a priority.

When asked about the matter by the Kyiv Independent, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor said he was assured by a senior Pentagon official “not to worry” — that the funds would not expire.

“Six billion dollars is serious money… And there are two people in the U.S. government (who know the details of this question) that I talk to all the time… One of them is Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary for defense for arming Ukraine,” Taylor said during an informal press briefing in Kyiv.

Cooper “knows the details of this $6 billion… and she said, ‘Bill, don’t worry.’ And for her to tell me that, I take it,” Taylor said without providing any further details.

‘Dangerous’ delays as rogue states weaponry flows into Russia

But Mylovanov said the pattern of delays and restrictions on the use of weaponry provided "is very dangerous and in fact irresponsible.”

“It was so difficult getting the ($61 billion) supplemental passed. And now there is this bureaucratic (and political?) process that jeopardizes $6 billion,” Mylovanov quipped.

He pointed to uninterrupted missile and other weaponry supplies to Russia from rogue states Iran and North Korea.

"Iran and North Korea don't appear to be constrained by delays, permissions, and bureaucracy when sending weapons to Russia. Nor are they constraining Russia in how it can use their weapons,” Mylovanov said.

The Pentagon is seeking an extension from Congress of PDA authorities beyond the end of the fiscal year, a spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent.

“The Department will continue to provide drawdown packages in the near future," the Pentagon’s statement said.

Publicly, the Pentagon gave similarly nebulous assurances.

“I have no doubt that we are going to use everything we can that's available to us to make sure that we are continuing to provide Ukraine what it needs both in the short term and the long term,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said during a press briefing on Sept. 5.

“We're in this fight with Ukraine for the long haul… So you're going to see us make use of those funds in any way possible.”

Despite Ukraine’s plea to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to defend its cities, Singh said that it would have “very little strategic value”, since the U.S.-provided ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) couldn’t reach most of the Russian airfields located beyond its 300-kilometers range, according to Pentagon’s intelligence.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky said in his speech on Sept. 13 that without the ability to strike inside Russia, ATACAMS in Ukraine are “pointless.” He added that he discussed the matter with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy who visited Kyiv recently.

“I hope that after our conversation, there simply cannot be any unanswered questions about why Ukraine needs sufficient long-range capability,” Zelensky said.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

The Artful Dodger Spoilers!

So I may have rewatched the artful dodger a few times, ok so it may have been an unhealthy amount of times and I may have a slight obsession but the show is just too good and dodgerfox has a hold over me.

But anyway on my most recent rewatch something struck me and I just love how poetic it was that Jack finds the solution to saving Belle's life in a noose.

Like Jack is someone who has always had this threat of the hangman's noose hanging over him. When he was a child he was a pickpocket and there was always that danger of getting caught, now he's an escaped convict and if anyone finds out he'll be hung. This is something that is established in the show from the first episode with the scene where Jack watches a man who is an escaped convict hang. Throughout the series the hangman's noose continues to be this looming threat over Jack and is brought up consistently, like when they go to Tim and say 'the noose is upon us' and there are other instances were the characters talk about the danger of them being hanged.

Then you have that scene with jack after he and belle have failed to do the surgery on the cadaver, the woman he loves is dying and it seems like there is no hope at all, then he looks out the window and sees the noose and that is what gives him the idea to tie the thread into a noose allowing him to have more control when tying the ligation. It gives him hope.

What I love the most about this moment is how it links back to the conversation Jack and Belle have in 1x02 when Belle tells him that there is more to medicine than just death, there's life, there's hope. I think Jack has struggled with how limited he has found medicine up until Belle came into his life. It's established right from episode 1 that Jack does care for his patients and when he loses a patient it effects him deeply. It also seems like due to the way the hospital is run and the limitations Jack has to work with, because the prof is ignoring all new progress in medicine, Jack loses patients alot and has come to frustratingly accept that its just part of medicine, nothing you can do about it.

But then Belle comes into his life and she starts introducing all these new, ground-breaking things to medicine, the ether, the carbolic acid, access to literature on medical breakthroughs from around the world. For Jack this opens up a whole new side of medicine for him, he is able to do procedures that just weren't possible before, like abdominal surgery. Before Belle an abdominal injury meant his patient was going to die, but now there was hope that they could be saved. As the series goes on we see Jack going from 'no that surgery is too much the patient will die from the pain, its not possible' to trying and succeeding at performing more and more difficult procedures in the hope that his patients will live and it works, charlie lives, rotty lives, the sailor is able to continue navigating. I think Belle very much becomes his hope.

Which is why for me that scene with the noose hits so hard. At the time when he feels like he is losing hope, literally in that he can't save Belle who has become his hope, it is something that Jack associates with death, with the finality of death, that gives him hope that he can save Belle. It's just such a beautiful scene, even in the way that it is shot, the way they use light in this scene is just perfect. How when he first looks out the window and sees the noose and he turns around to look back at the heart he is experimenting on, sunlight just floods through the window. How when Jack is tying the thread into the noose and the sun has lit him up all golden. Also how when Jack holds them up side by side and we get the close up of first the hangman's noose and then the thread and the thread is again lit by the sun and seems to be glowing with a golden light. It was all just so well done.

I really do think its such an under-rated moment. Anyway I think I've rambled on enough now.