#I need like one more episode from her because so far scaring the kids /= making them unsafe

[countdown-til-sanders-take-over]

So whos your favorite chnt character? Least favorite?

SOREN BALTIMORE MONITOR DE CAMPAMENTO NÚMERO UNO 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

[bozowrites]

starved man

tom blyth x f!reader : tom feels a way he shouldn't and lets those feelings get in the way of work. (angsty)

wc : 1.2k

a/n : couldn't help myself. i love this man. might write a parallel imagine of the scene in this as a billy x reader fic.

navigaton

maybe tom was wrong for feeling this way. well, he was—he knew that, but you can’t help the way you feel; that’s what tom keeps telling himself. he taps at his leg with his finger, anticipating the scene he was about to do with yn. he couldn’t wait any longer, he was ready to get going. it felt like this exciting and nerve-wracking whirlwind. like when you’re about to ask out your crush and can’t wait for their answer, but too scared to hear the answer at the same time. tom bites his lower lip, bouncing his leg. “dude,” daniel deadpans beside him. “you’re gonna burn a hole through her if you keep staring.” 

tom laughs awkwardly, shaking himself out of it. “i was out of it, didn’t realize.”

“right,” daniel leans in closer to tom, keeping his tone low, “so you aren’t dying to kiss her in this scene?” tom gulps, raising a brow and eyes daniel. “who said i was?”

“no one, but its pretty obvious.” tom scoffs, rubbing his forehead, already annoyed, not with daniel but with himself. this wasn’t how these last few weeks of filming were supposed to go. yn was in for a few episodes of billy the kid, playing a character that billy would fall for, though, of course, wouldn’t get in the end. and, within just the few weeks he’d been getting to know yn, he wanted so much more from her. and, yeah, he was excited because, yeah, he was going to kiss her. this was an excuse to touch her body and feel her lips against his, no questions asked ‘cause this was for work. 

“it is?” tom asks, looking over to meet daniel’s stare. “to me. i don’t know ‘bout anyone else.” he shrugs. “looks like they’re ready for you. try not to have too much fun!” 

tom’s heart stutters. he shouldn’t be this excited. he can’t be. he takes his place, getting himself into it, into character, ready for the cameras. yn smiles wide at him from her spot across the set. he smiles back, he couldn’t not even if he tried. this scene wasn’t going to be the same for her as it was for him and selfishly, he hoped they’d have to redo the scene over and over again. 

on cue, tom is his character. the scene is smooth sailing, he’s practiced his lines well enough with everyone to know what he is doing, but the closer he gets to the kiss; the faster he is with his words, desperate to get to where he wants to be. his heart feels loud and hammers against his chest. he really felt like a schoolboy waiting to confess his feelings. tom’s close to yn, staring directly down at her, her lips. he can’t seem to look away to save his life. she’s stopped talking, he looks up. what was his line again? he looks down at her lips again, he just needs to kiss her. “goddammit.” tom mutters. he dives for her lips. he groans the moment he feels her lips. his hands cup her face, holding her impossibly close. he needs to be as close as he can and touch her as much as he can this way. he's hungry for her, the touch of her. she’s soft and perfectly fitted against him. her hands hold his arms, steading herself as he pushes himself closer and closer. this is by far the best kiss he’s ever shared with anyone, and all be damned if he didn’t get to do it again. 

“billy…” she moans against him. he stutters back, moving himself a step away, letting her go. they’re acting. she isn’t kissing tom, she’s kissing billy. “cut!”

the director makes a move over to them. “missed a few lines, tom, but that was great!” she goes on. tom’s only focused on yn. she’s not looking at him, she’s fidgeting with her skirt, glancing around the room and nodding along with the director. she’s nervous and undoubtedly startled. “alright, you two?” 

“sorry?” tom shakes himself out of it, looking to meet the director’s stare. 

“tom.” the director deadpans. “we’re going to do a quick take of you walking away after that kiss and we’ll move the conversation you two were supposed to have after the kiss to the next scene just before billy leaves.” 

“oh, okay.” 

“i know its a bit of a last minute change but so was that sudden kiss.” tom laughs with her, rubbing the back of his head. “right, sorry about that. i…forgot my lines and just went for it.” he excuses. 

“don’t be sorry. i think that really added to the passion of the scene. more meaning.” tom nods, smiling. “okay, lets do it people!” 

yn doesn’t look at him, avoiding his eyes. what has he done? 

...

“billy—”

“don’t. i know.” tom sighs. he glances around, gulping. “don’t matter, i’m leaving anyways. best i do.” yn nods. “i’m sorry, billy.” 

tom goes to mount his horse, the end scene of him riding off, but yn pulls him back. she kisses him. tom’s heart stops for a moment. her hands held his face this time, and he’d be dumb to not reach for her hips and kiss her back. she lets go all too soon, sighing, keeping her forehead pressed against his. “don’t forget me, billy.” 

“i couldn’t if i tried.” he sneaks a quick peck, satisfied as all can be, and mounts his horse. the stare he gives her before riding off, he’s sure she can see the desire he has for her. maybe he really had gone crazy, but he could swear something was saying the same thing in hers.

...

the scenes with yn had finally ended, they were at the end of their filming for the day. tom was watching as yn indulged in conversation with the director. he sighs. though he felt satisfied by the kisses they’d shared, he needed more and that only fueled him further. the idea of never kissing yn again was weighing on his shoulders like a boulder. it's just a pair of lips, tom thinks. that happens to belong to the most perfect person ever. he groans, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. “i’m going crazy.” 

“crazy in love, maybe.” tom sits up, shooting his eyes over to daniel. “what? no.” 

“it’s okay to admit you like someone, tom.” 

“not when they’re taken.” tom sighs, rubbing his temple, annoyed. none of this would be so bad, but yn just had to be in a relationship, a happy one at that. tom just had to fall for her and deal with it, pretending to love hearing her talk about him so lovingly and so sweetly. that scene, kissing her, was his little chance into what a world with her was like, and by golly, did he want more. there wasn’t quite anything like the feeling of her lips on his and her moaning into him as her hands squeezed his arms to steady herself.

“tom—”

‘it doesn’t matter, i’ll get over it. plus, she’s done with this show, so i won’t be seeing her.” not like she wanted to see him. she’d been avoiding him after finishing up. she didn’t join them for drinks and she didn’t look at tom once. 

he really had fucked things up.

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

Agatha all along spoilers

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Okay okay sure

First off! I’ve seen people on Twitter already going mad but I think I need people to understand, this show was never targeted at a specific lesbian ending, yes! Very queer show and of course lots of Agathario but Rio is death, I always thought a kiss of death would happen because otherwise we’re being silly with ourselves it’s not queer baiting and it’s not helpful to be mad because marvel wont want to do things like this again if we start getting angry, the cast and crew were so proud of this and we should be too (we can vent a little and I plan too but I won’t tag actors or creators because I’m not weird)

But! I will say dying for Billy (technically I know she did because of Nicky because Billy got into her mind like a loser and a bitch and she wanted to redeem herself or whatever) is a bit strange I guess I get people saying ‘oh well of course lesbians get screwed over’ but you know for a marvel show to have actual canon lesbians who are kissing, yeah it’s scraping a barrel but if it’s received well I have no doubt they’ll do it again, I mean in the comics agatha gets resurrected and who’s to say that won’t happen? Anyway I’m ranting and yeah a little sad about the ending because it does feel like the killing eve ending but! Let’s get into the two episodes

Alice! My love, my baby I’m so sorry! Rio was right you died doing your job as a protection witch but it still hurts! I hope the afterlife is good to you and treats you well I love you 🥰

Jen! My beloved you did it! You got your powers back, I can’t believe agatha bound her that’s so funny and messed up! God agatha were you that low on cash???

“He’s an abomination” Damn right Rio get him!

Also the change in agatha a little about not wanting to see Rio when she died like yeah it’s a quick change but I think it’s Agatha putting her shields back up, she does want Rio back she definitely does but also it’s like ‘oh actually I’m putting my guard back up because I’m scared and you did something that hurt me’ (she is my scar!)

Rio being pissed off that agatha doesn’t want her and that she loves it when she’s like this unfortunately ladies this foreplay went a little too far and got ruined by a man (fucking typical) them basically flirting through their whole fight was great too

Also going back to episode 1 where Rio said ‘so take my power’ and Agatha replied ‘cute, but you know that would kill me’ BECAUSE SHE HAD TO KISS HER TO TAKE HER POWER! Did I get it right? Pretty sure I did so I declare that in their private moments agatha never kissed Rio but just started at her neck so not to accidentally kill herself during sex (dramatic lesbians)

Also in ep 4 when Agatha tries kissing Rio but then Rio stops her, I have a depressing feeling that Agatha was so upset at being reminded of what happened to her son she was willing to take the kiss of death I guess? Or maybe Rio can control stuff like that and kiss Agatha fine if she holds her power in but thinking she’s death I think it’s the first one

Rio cutting the road and stepping through I’m not gonna lie I was shocked! I gasped guys and I don’t do that often like obviously they knew was fake but I didn’t I love just thinking about Rio stepping in and out of the road but also where is the ‘road’? Is it just Agatha’s house? Have they been walking around in circles this whole time, god the citizens of westview may need to start looking for other places to live

The Salem era! I loved it (I do want more backstory but I think we’ll get some interviews explaining it so that’ll be fun) ‘born from scratch’ beautiful line Rio turning up I was like ‘oh daddy’s here to help with the birth’ then I quickly remembered she’s death and agatha begging not to take him and then I realised daddy isn’t here to stay for good reasons (like most dads)

Little Nicky was adorable! Such a cute kid and helping his mother trick witches? Putting him to work agatha, I like it! Start them early I say

Also they created the balled! So cute and heartbreaking since Agatha had to sing it all the time when killing these witches constantly being reminded of her son

Also her killing everyday then the one night she doesn’t rio takes their son??? God Rio give her a fucking day don’t you have like billions of other souls to take?? Just walk very slowly 🙄

Billy carrying the trauma of killing three (that’s right I count Sharon too!) witches because he created the road makes the ending worth it actually (not by much) because he has to suffer the consequences and deal with ghost agatha, get recked!

Rio and Agatha will definitely reunite (source: Me) Rio says she hates ghosts but only because she’s death and ghosts probably don’t want to move on, be a bit like trying to round up cats. HER AND AGATHA CAN FINALLY WALK TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY

Anyway I have work in an hour and I’ve been up since 4 it’s now 6 and I’ve slept about 3 hours soooo if this is all ramblings I’ll try to add things later but yeah I loved the last two episodes yeah we could’ve gotten a bit more Agathario but I truly think they didn’t anticipate the overwhelming reception for them (Kathryn and Aubrey did though definitely)

I’m up for any discussion too I love talking about this stuff but works been hectic recently hence why I’m watching the episodes before work because after I’m just knackered but I’m off this weekend so I can reply properly to people

[blush-bblushing]

Uhh first time writing for tumblr in awhile

Blush blush guys headcanons! (Pt1)

Cw: none. All fluff!

Characters: nimh, volks, kelby, eli

Hc's under the cut

Nimh

Due to his heart condition I think he grew up afraid to do anything fun. By that I mean he avoided scary movies, rollerblading, most theme park rides, etc. He still had fun in his own way. But as an adult, he tries to test what he can/cannot do. For example: going rollerblading with marshmallow/mc. Sure, he may need to rest every 5 or so minutes. And that's ok. He still gets to experience something new. All while doing it with someone he trusts.

He has a habit of holding his hands when nervous. Like when he's feeling anxious, he'll rub his thumb on his palm. It became a habit because his family did that for him as a kid. Sometimes he'll do it to marshmallow to when they hold hands. Regardless of if they're nervous or not.

When shopping for clothes, blankets, or anything with fabric, he has to check the fabrics texture. Nimh can be jumpy at times. And sometimes certain fabrics feel like a spider touching him if he forgets the texture. So to avoid that scare, he'll lean towards softer fabrics. Obviously, not everything he has is soft. It's just the majority for his sake

This is a lot more simple- I firmly believe he watched shows like strawberry shortcake, Teddy ruxpin, bear in the big blue house, etc. All of these shows are still a comfort to this day. If he feels particularly anxious he'll watch an episode or two to calm down.

Volks

Volks is pretty good at braiding hair. During childhood, he would play with his mom's hair. Mainly stemming from boredom. This eventually led to his mother showing him how to braid. To this day, he can do multiple braid styles. His personal favorite is a fish tail braid.

Obviously he isn't a touchy person. However, if the stars align, he'll rest his head on marshmallows' shoulder. Or even rarer: he'll hug marshmallow from behind. Just don't bring attention to it. Or else he'll quickly jump up and stop. It's not an issue he has with his partner. Simply Volks trying to be more affectionate.

When he first became a wolf, Volks accepted his fate. He didn't ignore the existential horror of the situation. He just didn't care too much about it. It gave him the freedom to act in ways he couldn't before. To elaborate on this: he has a lot of self enforced "rules" for himself. Like societal expectations but with stuff he made up. After the whole wolf & marshmallow thing, he has far less of these. (Men will literally become an animal instead of going to therapy/j)

With it being revealed in his coffee date that he sometimes sings: he likes laufey. Her music makes him feel comfortable with the idea of being soft. If one were to catch him washing the dishes alone (and with his phone on), he'll be singing "from the start". He knows most of her songs by heart.

Kelby

Ugh. He's underrated. So these are to give his fans some food.

As a result of his active lifestyle, Kelby doesn't play videogames. He's tried them a few times. He sadly doesn't see the appeal.... except for one. Marshmallow showed him animal crossing. And if you've played it, you'd know there's a whole subset of characters who work out. Since he first played it, he'll occasionally ask Marshmallow to check on them. He wants to encourage his digital workout buddies :]

He doesn't have nuch of a wardrobe. It's mainly sport uniforms and hoodies. As a joke I like to think that any exceptions to this wardrobe were either 1) "forced" (asked him to try the clothes on) upon by marshmallow or 2) he realized that the event he's going to wouldn't appreciate him wearing a basketball uniform.

Kelby didn't always work out. In early childhood he did typical kid stuff. Eat a bunch of candy, watch TV, etc. Until he got around 8 years old. When he thought it'd be fun to try out his dads workout equipment. After a few days, he was caught lifting his dad's 5lbs weights. Since then his parents encouraged his efforts. And he's been athletic ever since! He still appreciates dessert or binge watching a TV show about once or twice a week. To treat himself after some hard work.

There's memes about guys using 10 in one shower products. One would think Kelby is the same. Surprisingly enough, he isn't. He takes special care of his hygiene. Hair thickening shampoo & conditioner and fancy shower gels are only a couple of examples. He doesn't like the assumption that he only cares about working out. Self care involves everything about the body. Not only the aesthetics of it.

Eli

Had a massive vocaloid phase. (They call it a phase but he literally has a couple miku figures in his room. They bought the newest figure only a year before marshmallow came) he and Marshmallow have already planned on visiting miku Expo. So long as they bring back the holograms.

Because of how varied Eli's fashion sense is, he will occasionally chose to wear something nobody expects. One day, they wore an outfit similar to poe's. Most of the other guys' reactions consisted of "who are you and what have you done with Eli?!" (Poor guy only wanted to dress up :[ ) luckily, since then, the others have gotten used to it. Some of them even encourage it if it helps them express themselves better.

As most know, he doesn't I love you much. That doesn't mean he can't show genuine affection. Say hypothetically marshmallow were to have a bad day. They'd come home to not only some new clothes in their room, but also their favorite food and a comfort movie/show/videogame on the TV. From experience, Eli finds gestures like this to be more meaningful. Proof that someone does genuinely care. And that all their words aren't superficial.

And for the final headcanon of this post: Eli always has some sort of makeup product or accessory to share. You never know when a style emergency may happen! Someone who cares for their looks (like he does) is bound to worry about others. You need a hairtie? Gotchu. Never wore makeup before but wanna try? Already have the bag out. A seam tripped in your favorite shirt? Somehow a sewing kit is ready??? They have your back in nearly anything your style may struggle with

That's all for now. If I remember to do so later, I'll share the ones I have for the other guys. Hope this was at least entertaining to read

[ilikekidsshows]

Lately I've been seeing a lot of people attacking others for shipping a problematic ship in X and this somewhat bring back a bad memories when I was still active in ml tweet back then.

It was around Luka episode introduction, I think when I saw someone asked Thomas about Luka's age and he said Luka is Juleka's brother, older by 2 years. Make senses considering we never see him in Dupont and how he has part time job that time. But I also saw how people feel disgusted because Luka being Marinette love interest who's older than her makes him a potential groomer because of the imbalance power dynamic.

thing is, when I looked back at the reason why people become anti Lukanette and how current Adrienette dynamic is, it become... Very funny if not ironic? Like how they talked about power dynamic and imbalance in Lukanette and yet remain silent at how much imbalance the current Adrienette is. This also make me realize that you don't need to have an age gap in a ship to make an imbalance power dynamic or be the older one in a ship to groom the other, because power isn't always about who's older, but who has more information and knowledge. Maybe I'm jumping too far, idk, but aren't what Ladybug did in s4 basically groomed Cat Noir into obedience? By gaslight him, manipulating information, silent treatment and that judo throw.

---

I will say this: people online have turned the concept of grooming into both this big, scary boogeyman but also this thing that happens constantly with so much ease it could be accidental. Basically, there's this idea that we need to constantly be on the lookout for groomers because the world is crawling with them. There's a reason for this: online fan spaces are easy hunting grounds for groomers and the internet acting as an in-between makes the people involved ignore personal boundaries more easily because it all feels less real. So of course terminally online youths are scared of a threat that exists primarily in terminally online ingroups.

So, a lot of fanspaces treat age differences between characters as inherently suspicious. It doesn't matter if they're both adults or both kids, if there's an age difference, it's “grooming” to these people. Like, yeah, it's reasonable to wonder what someone in a very different life situation would want with someone who’s basically “dragging behind” from their perspective, but sometimes you just like a person and want to hang out with them and don’t necessarily want anything with them. Grooming, in this context, is a very specific thing that isn’t just about age. It’s a pattern of behavior where someone purposefully manipulates someone else to get them to fill a certain role for them, usually that of a romantic and/or sexual partner. Grooming is actions, not a situation.

Not all unequal power dynamics involve grooming, but I get what you mean. It feels like there should be a word to describe this kind of relationship, but there isn't anything specific. It's just “toxic relationship”, “one sided relationship” and “being used” when Marinette is explicitly shown benefiting and preferring when her partner doesn't ever show any personal feelings about anything. She prefers him joking and therefore keeping a distance between herself and his feelings. It’s the same way with Luka, whose family situation makes it look like he’s gone through parentification or at least suffers from abandonment issues, which would make Luka another case of a traumatized boyfriend whose trauma manifests in a way that Marinette can and does take advantage of.

The thing that makes Marinette not the groomer in either of these situations is that she didn't cause these boys to act this way; they conveniently came to her pre-traumatized/conditioned and she merely shamelessly took advantage. In the case of Cat Noir the matter is grayer, since his responses to her are reactions to her treatment of him as someone inconsequential, but him reacting to such treatment with submission instead of outrage was trained into him by Gabriel and Emilie.

[piracytheorist]

Episode 34 notes!

I was a little surprised we had a "previously on" part on this one. Were they trying to fill up time? XD

I do love, though, that they thought it very important for us to see this face (and getup) of Loid's again.

Best Spy of Westalis, everyone.

Anyway, onto the action! Damn McMahon scared me he was going to die, with how he lay there slumped like that.

Yor really got a second wind after her realization. Seconds ago she was barely able to lift her head up, and now she's up and fighting with multiple open wounds, and still getting the katana guy all bruised up and tired.

And I'm thinking, she believes Loid would forgive the blood on her hands and the fact that she may have to leave them, because he'd see how she's done it for the betterment of the world... and he actually would, because he's doing the same. We now need to see that she'll provide the same understanding and forgiveness when his secret comes out.

I find it a little funny that all this deathly action was taking place up above and everyone else, even Twilight, were none the wiser. Like we go from Yor and Katana Guy fighting to the death and then there's Anya jumping from excitement from the fireworks and Loid just being like "I'm glad you had fun".

And again, following what he thinks is her worries, he apologizes for not being able to find Yor. He's determined to comfort her and I find that so sweet. And then

Anya may be realizing she's too young to have the attention span needed for a professional spy. She's prioritizing fun without realizing it, and to the detriment of her plans, Loid is actually enabling that XD I love my weird family XD

Loid finds out about the bombs and though his spy training tells him to stay out of it and leave it to the SSS to handle the crisis, his knack for amassing responsibility rears its head.

He not only considers the worst possible scenario, he also takes it upon himself to avoid it, like he does with the cold war situation. Nothing of this is on him to blame, but he still thinks that "I can help avoid that" and he just runs straight into danger to do just that.

I wonder if he considers that a consequence of his enhanced abilities. If he believes that he's not above anyone else because he's smarter, faster, stronger, etc than the average human, but because he has all those innate skills and talents, he owes it to the world to use them for good. I don't know, maybe I'm taking it too far with this XD

Anyway. He will certainly be questioning how the very ship he happened to travel on just happened to have a ton of bombs on it to make it sink. That's another thing that will make total sense post-identity reveals when Yor tells him why she was really on that ship XD

Loid doesn't even get to start coming up with ideas for where to leave Anya, and Anya already very conveniently offers the probably best solution: a kids play room XD

Like, again, this show is comedy at its core, so even when there's action and tension going on, things will conveniently happen without making the most sense because it's how comedy works XD Endo knew what he was doing when he started it XD

But also, another thing that will make more sense to Loid after identity reveals. Because he wanted to focus on the bomb, Anya said she wanted to play and he was like "Please for the love of god not now" and she somehow went like "Imma go play on my own and have supervision so you go do your thing" and he should know this isn't common at all. He does say it's lucky but he has no idea XD

The anime added a bit more in this small section, as in the manga the daycare worker doesn't even get to speak to Anya, because she escapes immediately. In the anime Anya plays with a ball for a bit, then asks to draw, and as the woman starts picking up drawing supplies, Anya takes her chance and she's off!

"Hello, I am most definitely not voiced by Takuya Eguchi"

I just love how he just dropped his voice a few pitches instead of putting on a fake voice. And just as I wrote a meta about how Twilight uses a different timbre of his voice when he speaks as Loid, huh XD

Again, we get a mention of "Western extremists". Loid mentioned at the start of the cruise that Princess Lorelei is "the pride and joy of Ostania", so it would make sense to take it down as a fuck-you to Ostania from a rival country. However, without relevant intel, Twilight also considers the possibility that it was simply rigged to spark the fire of war between the two countries, without swearing on it. That's some pretty good deduction without passionately taking sides.

I just think it's very interesting that despite being from Westalis, he never takes the side of its government. He's only on the side of peace and he'll protect both or either West and East interests if it means peace can remain.

It's amazing how Anya's involvement helped things! And how it was even set up!

I was just thinking, a little before I watched the episode, that indeed Yor was missing her weapons. The first dagger was left in the crow's nest where the sniper was, the second was broken by the guy with the mace, and the third slipped from her hand when katana guy first fought her. Which means all this time she's managed to bruise and tire out Katana Guy with her bare hands, while he had his katana on O_O

Ok listen.

First of all, consider the muscle strength a five-year-old would need to throw that dagger that far. And it's not a simple, light dagger, it's strong and massive enough to break through a wooden door and a human skull at once, it's gotta carry some weight. And Anya was able to throw it up an entire story above her and then some more.

But then, it's also the placement of where the dagger ended up - in front of the pipes so that the other guys wouldn't see it immediately upon turning the corner.

Like, they would see the pipes, and prepare to jump over them as they turned the corner, but it would be easy to not spot it and slip on it - and again, because of its position, the guy who slipped on it had the pipes on the right height to first hit his head on them before his back could land on the ground. If it was a little closer he would hit his legs or hips on the pipes, and his body would bend over backwards, and if it was further he would first land on his back and probably not hit his head and lose control of his weapon.

But as it was, he did hit his head, he did lose control of his weapon, and he did shoot the other assassin.

Okay, it was a little ridiculous that the dagger had so much velocity from being slipped on to jump around and land with its pointy end right on the ass-assin (sorry), but it's funny so I don't mind at all.

Just according to keikaku.

Watch out, she's armed!

I love how Katana Guy had been fighting her bare arms and was still exhausted and bruised, and yet when she picked up the weapon she's proficient in he went like "Hmph! I will finish this" like my dude where do you find the confidence, she's been mauling you bare-handed and you think you'll handle her armed??

McMahon coming to at the very right moment to kick Sniff Jobs' ass and I breathe a sigh of relief. (Thanks to tare-anime for sharing the fandom's chosen nickname for that guy! It's funnier than calling him "Turtleneck Guy" XD)

Gotta love how she goes from "demonic assassin" to "sweet cinnamon roll too good for this world" in a single blink.

Katana Guy is down and I breathe another sigh of relief! That was intense!

Anya was so happy she helped her Mama! I still don't know if she grasps the actual gravity of the situation, she should normally be having nightmares about it XD

Twilight is more stressed of being surrounded by SSS agents than having to diffuse a bomb and I think that says a lot about him XD

And then Yor used too much power fighting all those assassins that she couldn't even wonder properly how her weapon ended up in the butt of a guy she wasn't even fighting. The family braincell was being thoroughly used by Twilight in that moment, it couldn't multi-task XD

I saw the blood on the ground from Sniff Jobs and immediately went like "O_O Where did that guy go!"

And then, even in the midst of a very important and dangerous situation, the SSS agent is being a dick and bossy. In the manga Twilight wonders it the SSS are trying to save face and that actually would make a ton of sense.

I like how in the manga, when Anya walks next to Sniff Jobs, his thoughts are shown in bubbles with a black background.

Dark thoughts, dark background. It's happened before.

Then he puts his nose at work and actually becomes the reason the ship is saved. He smells the explosives in the clock, Anya hears his thoughts, then casually transfers the info to someone who can take care of it.

I love how the security guy was so worried about how to find the bombs that he yelped when Anya said a simple "Excuse me" XD

The guy dismissed Anya's request at first, which got her to cry, and I wonder how real that crying was. She was, after all, facing the threat of a bombing attack. But it got the guy to check the clock in the end! And also because Anya is such a small kid that he wouldn't suspect something's up with her.

Sniff Jobs was right - the assassin profession is one built on trust, yet he didn't follow his own advice. The informant didn't trust the assassins and put bugs on them, they didn't trust him and planned to betray him, and because of that they all died. The informant planted the bombs, and the guy followed him to kill him, and one of those bombs ended up being the death of both of them.

That said, I kinda love how that story ended. I have a weakness for a felled villain trying to reach out in despair and anger, even while they're heavily wounded and in pain, and then just getting their comeuppance for good. There's some sort of humanity shown there, but that they use to such wrong lengths that you can't feel sorry for them. But it is interesting to me, in a way :D

I guess Informant Guy didn't expect an elite spy to be on board who'd want to stop his plans. Twilight wonders what purpose the bomb in the clock had and I'm a bit confused. The bombs in the lower decks were there to create holes to make the ship sink. Wouldn't the bomb in the clock cause commotion in the upper decks, making it harder for people to escape as much as it's possible?

If anything, Informant Guy was counting on the devices being retrievable so that the Ostanian government would blame the bombs on Westalis and start another war. It's creepy, too, how lightly he was taking the whole thing.

Knowing how it goes it's actually pretty funny to see Twilight just rip the clock off and go like "Imma throw this into the sea bye" and then just run for it.

Rip I guess, whatever that was.

THIS WAS SO SWEET AAAAAAHHHH

AND THEN THIS

And what Olka says to her too! It's practically the realization Yor had on her own about her job. That she gets her hands bloody and risks her life to provide a better world for her loved ones, but she doesn't see those hands as worthy of affection. And yet Olka shows her that, and an innocent child does as well!

This is what she coats her hands in blood for, and this is a moment of someone recognizing her for that, giving her physical affection and affirmation as a thanks for her sacrifice.

Yor reached that point on her own, but Olka and Gram giving them their affection reassured her of it. It's worth it. She is worth it.

Just let her work under a less abusive boss please I beg

Olka actually wishes for Yor and her family to find happiness. Yor was there simply to provide protection, but they both gave each other hope for the future. And that ties back to the main theme of the entire story. Hope. Humanity. Connection. We're not meant to fight. We're meant to love.

Excuse me while I ponder over this for the next three to five days and probably my entire life T_T

As others have mentioned, McMahon reminds Yor to not become sentimental, that they're merely foot soldiers on the trenches of the cold war, yet he gives her the last day off to relax with her family. And he actually says that is a reward for her doing her job well. The music even turns hopeful and sweet.

I just realized that it looks like Yor hasn't sleep at all during the trip? The first night she stayed vigilant while the others slept (though Olka was awake for some time, too), then she had a long fight with a bunch of assassins, and now McMahon told her to stay on alert until dawn breaks. So she's pulling two all-nighters with an extended fight in between where she got injured and hit her head. Is my girl okay???

And a bunch of steps back on the acceptance front stands Twilight.

He worries about having left Anya on her own, not because he might look suspicious, but because he's spent most of the trip focusing on her emotions and trying to help her have fun. And in the midst of that, he had to pass her off to a daycare to go be a responsible spy saving the world. The fact that Anya had the time of her life and was excited that he was saving the ship is irrelevant, since he doesn't know she was, and he only sees that as a failure of his as a pretend father.

And then catches himself, but even then! He can't even fully justify it to himself!

Boy is starting to slip majorly and he's starting to lose his footing on his denial. His "for the mission" excuse is starting to not suffice... and he's starting to see that.

That's a big step both Yor and Loid have made in their progress of accepting their place in the family, though Yor has a huge head start and Loid will probably still hang onto his denial as much as he can. I'm really curious to see how their dynamic will develop now that they'll meet on the island, and how it will continue once they return home!

As I said this was sweet af but it's also funny how there's so much inconsistency on Anya's size. Like! She legit looks like a baby here! I know Loid is supposed to be bigger than you'd expect but Anya isn't that small XD

The music that played in this scene was a soft variation of the theme playing when they board the ship, as well as during the fight in the previous episode after Yor secures the trio. It's very subtle cause it's mostly a piano playing the harmonies instead of the melody.

Yor put her earring back on! As in the manga, in the end of the fight with Katana Guy she's still missing the earring that she threw at Sniff Jobs and probably ripped her earlobe with. But when she met up with Olka and helped them off, she had put it back on. So she did an absolutely insane thing and put the earring back on even though her earlobe was wounded. This woman eats hot coals for breakfast.

And off we go! Three episodes left in the season and this anime only is trying to not lose her mind 🤪 it's been a wild ride and I've loved every second of it but I am really trying to not despair over the fact that it's three weeks left and then another year of waiting 🥲

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

What is your view of Aemond and Daemon?

Aemond is really fun. I love that he’s like such an over-the-top kind of anime character aesthetically but also all of the overlooked second son tropes.

It’s fun how strongly him having been picked on and ignored in childhood informs the false glass jaw ego he’s developed for himself in adulthood. And how he’s become overly cruel as a result. He always wants to get his own, he wants to prove himself. He’s so quick to try to crush anyone else underfoot if given any sort of advantage because he has such a tremendous chip on his shoulder and he needs to feel powerful to make up for his youth/how much no one cares for him now because he’s so annoying lol.

The entire scene where he stole a dragon— because he kept being picked on for not having one– and then immediately attacked the other kids because he finally had the upper hand and then lost an eye and went crying to his mom really exemplifies all of this! He really doesn’t know how to be normal. And in the present he’s still trying to constantly prove himself and to command respect while just being… kind of a fuck up.

I’ve said this before, but I did love him trying to just be kind of an asshole and scare Luke in the season one finale, talking up such a big game and demanding that Luke cut out his own eye. Then Luke leaves (normal reaction!) and then Aemond tries to scare him… upon dragon back and then shdhfhfd accidentally kills him and is like “oh fuck I accidentally started a war fuck fuck fuck.” Like that is such good character writing!

I was worried that season two was going to squander it tbh with the pilot just not doing anything with his feelings about that. But now that we have episode two, I nominally enjoy him pretending that he totes did it on purpose and was just out for blood. And then in episode two he’s crying in the lap of a prostitute in a brothel, while drinking milk, and telling her that he didn’t actually mean to do it 🥺🥺 but at least B&C means that Daemon considers him a threat and wants him dead. Like yayyy he was noticed 🥺🥺

Idk he’s just so embarrassing! It’s great!

As for Daemon, I started re-watching season one recently and it’s really interesting how little anyone respects him! He and Aemond are def similar while being kind of the inverse of each other in terms of what makes them tick. Daemon is similarly a volatile fuck up, but he seems to be more genuine of a wildcard whereas Aemond is consciously trying to look cool all the time. Daemon just kind of… does stuff, hoping to get some attention from his loved ones, and is bewildered when it’s perceived as some sort of big political move. He also just seems more genuinely loyal while always being perceived as a serpent. Like imo Aemond just is happy to overtly betray people. But Daemon is more untrustworthy because he’s fucking insane, rather than deliberate malice.

There is a consistent line in the show of people just fucking up or allowing things to happen and then that being perceived in a more dramatic way they never anticipated. A lot of people have complained about how a lot of the choices in the show are accidental, and I can agree that sometimes it does go a touch too far, but with a lot of these characters I think that’s a compelling choice— like Aemond! I think it works particularly well for Daemon too. On rewatch, it really stood out to me that after Aemma and her newborn die, there’s that point where Daemon’s out drinking and the crowd, somewhat pushed by Mysaria, start cheering that Daemon’s going to be the heir now that the kid’s dead, and he’s going to be the future king etc. Essentially celebrating the deaths.

And Daemon’s just drinking, barely listening and is half heartedly like “yeah, sure. fuck it” because the crowd is cheering. He doesn’t even seem particularly ambitious in that moment. So when Viserys is completely outraged and confronts him he seems kind of surprised that it’s something that comes up at all. I get the sense that he really wasn’t thinking about it!

Frankly, I think the late season one writing, in general, flags a little bit. Once we start getting time skips, there’s a little less continuity in terms of what these characters are doing and where they’re coming from. It’s just harder to follow their day to day priorities. I find Daemon particularly the most interesting early on, because he especially just drops off the map for a bit.

But in general, I think it’s really interesting how Daemon seems mostly motivated by just wanting attention and recognition. He wants the crown as a status symbol, but he doesn’t want to rule necessarily, like I doubt he has any strong policy opinions or any desire for administrative duties lol. But he wants to be treated like he’s someone of consequence, like it wouldn’t be a joke for him to rule.

I’m not really a Daemyra shipper. Shockingly, I guess, they’re just a bit too creepy for me. But the early Daemyra dynamic was the most interesting imo. I see people frequently say that he’s only ever been interested in her for the throne and I think that’s distinctly untrue!

Before they get married, his desire for her is framed as directly at odds with him wanting the crown actually. This is encapsulated by that moment where she shows up at Dragonstone and she’s literally like “I’m the thing that standing between you and the throne” and she’s right! He could literally just punt her off the bridge where they’re having that standoff, and Viserys would no longer have an heir. Would it be smart? No, it would be catastrophic! But he was obviously ready to throw down with Otto, who is literally there representing Viserys. It clearly wasn’t good sense holding him back.

He’s a character without much strategy, he’s just ready to do what the fuck ever, at any given moment, just to get people mad at him. He wants attention. I think it says something about Daemon, that he is so emotionally unregulated, and so immature, that he does have this continued bond with his 15-year-old niece. He’s grooming her for sure, but there’s this element of like shdgd that’s his buddy, you know? He emotionally relates to a 15-year-old, and then suddenly Rhaenyra’s grown up, but he’s the same. I think the last episode highlighted that very well when Rhaenyra says that she used to view him as a challenge as a child, but now she has too many challenges of her own. (If they lean more into their relationship fracturing and her disillusionment with him I might actually give a damn about them lol)

In season two, it’s so shocking he’s somewhat briefly the voice of reason. Frankly, he’s correct to point out that Rhaenyra should not be just randomly looking for her dead son alone and in enemy territory. And, sorry, he’s right, but she is shirking her duties while they’re in a civil war. I’m not really arguing about whether or not he’s like correct about everything now (Blood and Cheese was… a terrible fucking choice) but like it’s interesting that in his old fucking age he’s trying to rise to the occasion and strategize where he can. I honestly think that suggests that, while he has his own entitled feelings about power, and what he views more as his brother’s crown etc, he does love Rhaenyra and is trying to do right by her. But he’s just… such a perverse mess.

I also remember it was extremely controversial that he choked her at the end of season one, but I mean it’s in keeping with him as a person. He’s volatile, he’s awful. He killed his first wife with a rock, he barely mourned his second wife at all, like he was fucking Rhaenyra at the funeral. He’s just a terrible, terrible mess but that’s what makes him compelling.

[the-arkhamwolf]

Current lay out for my random reverse robins Au

-Damian getting dropped off at Bruces's step and forcing Bruce to take him on as a sidekick; Something-Wing (yeah that's the best I got)

-Bruce becomes a more lighthearted Batman for Damian's sake. After all the kid's been through.

-Wally and Damian meet and eventually become friends (They most likely will have a friendship similar to my Falling in Reverse AU)

-Bruce and Damian grow pretty close until a bad fight over the Joker, which causes Damian to move out

-One day he walking home he sees a woman being attacked. He saves her but ends up getting shot by the Joker (All this happens while he's a civilian)

-Bruce finds his son lying unconscious in the middle of the street bleeding heavily

-Damian wakes up in the hospital unable to move his legs

-Damian becomes bitter toward Bruce and the two have an even bigger falling out

-Bruce becomes a harsher Batman

-Tim appears on Bruce's doorstep with his Batman Needs a Robin propaganda

-Tim comes in to stop Bruce and somehow gets pushed into taking Damian's mantel

-For a good while, he spends most of his time trying to get Bruce and Damian to talk to each other

-Damian treats Tim harshly believing he hates Tim for taking his place

-Damian really hates himself because he thinks he's broken and sees what he could have been in Tim

-Tim eventually does break through to him and Damian comes back taking up an oracle-type role

-Damian starts to see Tim as a little brother and enjoys having him around

-Tim meets Stephine one night on patrol and through a series of events gets her to join the bats

-Tim works on a secret project called Titan that only Steph and Damian know about

-he plans to leave Gotham to work on Titan so He trains Steph to take his place

-Angst coming up

-Tim gets shot in a scene kind of similar to Batman Beyond; he goes to save a woman only for the woman to shoot him in the stomach. Tim gets away but he's bleeding heavily.

-Damian's on the comms trying to help him

-Everyone is to far away

-Tim stumbles through the street before sliding down against a pole

-Damian is on the comms the entire time helpless as his little brother dies

-Steph and Bruce fight/She leaves

-Jason steals tires and Bruce adopts him because no one said he couldn't

-Jason trains

-Damian disapproves but comes around for Jason's sake, not Bruce

-Steph hates Jason but they become friends later

-Ras brings Tim back and Tim Scares the heck out of him and then destroys his league (This is going to be a what the heck moment as it is revealed Tim was playing Ra's the whole time and I am so excited for it)

-Tim saves Cass from her father and then trains her

extra

-Tim has trouble sleeping due to nightmares. He also has the episode called freeze outs (Yeah I suck at names) where the pit takes over making him very cold and withdrawn and dangerous to everyone.

-Barbra becomes Cassandra's little shadow and Cass has no idea how to deal with a child (Which just leads to a lot of adorable Cass moments)

-Tim's living room is always cluttered with projects he and Roy are working on

-Rose is like Casse's big sister

-Damian gets conned into taking Jason to the fair and ends up coming home with an extra kid

-another pairing Wally and Jinx (not really a big part of the story but may be of use )

-Dick is a little monster who will disappear every chance he gets

I know this makes no sense but I love it

.

.

So either Wally will be there for Damian when Tim dies or Damian will push him away for two years (around when Tim comes back) then the two will reconnect and Damian will be shocked because Wally has a kid.

Reasons I want the second one

1- I love the angst of Damian feeling guilty as he realizes his best friend has a Daughter and he never knew about it

2-I love the fluff of Damian getting to be like an uncle and interacting with a baby

but also I don't want Damian to push away everyone because that is a lot of angst since Steph leaves for a while Idk

.

.

Original Post

any thoughts? also what should I name this Au?

[xecutivecucumber]

Executive Cucumber's Thoughts on the Bad Batch 03x09!

Spoilers under the cut

Apologies for this being late, I worked overtime and then immediately went to rescue my sister and her kids from a car breakdown. I got overwhelmed pretty quick.

I really liked this episode, but as I was in a not great mood when I watched it, I didn't absorb as much as I normally do. (My mood really affects how much I enjoy something, regardless of quality. I was in a foul mood when I first watched Faster and was fairly critical of it. I was wrong.)

This is really the first time we've seen not beautiful weather on Pabu and that's terrifying.

CROSSHAIR IS PART OF A COMMUNITY!!! Have yall considered that he's never been a part of a community before? Like yes, he's has his family, but a community?

'Does it matter? We're not giving her up.' This man. I love this man. If Tech did not already reign Supreme in my heart, I think Crosshair would be my favorite character in Star Wars.

ASAJJ VENTRESS MY QUEEEEEEEEEN

Oh Omega, that story fell apart faster than Hunter's resistance to adopting you.

They leave a space for Tech 💔

Apparently those blood tester things that Qui Gon had were Jedi issue only.

YOU CAN DO IT OMEGA!!! Wrecker, honey, if Omega CAN do it, that means her life gets WAY harder.

They one hundred percent sent Crosshair to look at Tech's data because Hunter and Wrecker can barely do it.

'Go get a flower kid, I gotta beat up your dads'

Okay, I honestly think Hunter doesn't have the time for romance and could honestly see him as asexual, but-

HIS WAIST IS SO SLUTTY. HOW IS IT SO SLUTTY.

I don't think we've seen such well choreographed hand to hand fighting in animated Star Wars. Except maybe that time that Rex absolutely destroyed those Zygerrians. But I might be biased about that.

'SHE'S A WAR CRIMINAL OMEGA' Okay now I need to know what defines war crimes in this universe. Did they have space Geneva?

You know, good thing Echo's not here. He'd probably be WAY more pissed than these three.

'You're naive' says the man who was changed by the child saying people can change.

I love Crosshair's 'oh shoot she's right' face.

Wrecker's little gasp when Ventress looks at them is AMAZING.

I love it when Star Wars is using the Force to connect with animals.

I'm sorry, Hunter girlies, I guess we getting wet hair everyone except Hunter. (Though Ventress looks SO GOOD)

VENTRESS YOU QUEEN I LOVE YOU YOU'VE COME SO FAR (I haven't read dark disciple but my sister has, and she informed me that Vos' Dark Side training by Ventress culminated in him summoning a water monster and killing it. This is such a beautiful parallel that she calms it.)

Crosshair helping Omega on is my everything.

I really love that Crosshair has decided to give Ventress a chance, because he was given a chance. (And also I lowkey ship them in a one night stand kinda way. Crossajj is such a good ship name too)

DAD DUO.

I don't think Ventress is lying when she says Omega isn't Force sensitive. Omega doesn't show ANYTHING in this episode that implies that she's sensitive. Yes, she uses Batcher, but she'd trained Batcher with normal friend methods. I think that Ventress stops the testing prematurely before she can be more sure, because she sees the possibly unhealthy attachment the Batch have. It might also be to protect Omega to not know for sure. My personal theory is that Omega is slightly more sensitive than the average clone, but not to any natural talent degree.

Oh gosh, I'm so scared for the next few episodes. Ventress gives them such a clear warning. This episode did such a good job of getting the tension tight again.

I know some people call this episode redundant, but the characters NEED this in order to catch up. We as an audience knew that M Counts meant midichlorians. But the Batch had no idea. Sometimes, we need to let the main characters catch up with us.

(This is also why Tech as CX-2 works on a reveal level because the mystery isn't for us, it's for the characters)

But yeah, a great episode! I'm terrified for everything and everyone!

A quick note- I've seen people say that it's too late in the season for Tech to return. I'd like to remind you that it took exactly two episodes in season 2 to get us behind Crosshair's redemption. They can do a lot in a few episodes.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Bob's Burgers Halloween specials ranked

(Because screw it, why not?)

11. Tina and the Real Ghost--This one's more awkward than funny. I honestly feel bad for Tina for falling in love with an empty box...and grow to hate Tammy for being so petty to steal the box away from her. Even the B-Plot of ghost hunters in the restaurant isn't all that funny. Honestly, the funniest bit is when Bob's unexpectedly swarmed with bugs after a brief moment of cockiness. Other than that, pretty weak episode.

10. The Wolf of Wharf Street--PROBABLY the most irresponsible Linda's been with the kids and Bob believing Teddy's a werewolf was a bit of a stretch. Still, some spooky atmosphere carries this one a bit, so I can't hate it THAT much.

9. Apple Gore-chard! (But Not Gory)--There need to be more episodes with Louise and Jessica. Their friendship is easy and cute in a lot of moments. Anyways, as for the episode, it's pretty standard. Some REAL Halloween stuff doesn't happen until half way through and the jokes aren't all that funny. There's barely any attention on the lesson, making it feel more like a waste of time if anything else. It's just Louise and Jessica's friendship that carries things if anything else (Seriously, MORE of that)

8. Pig Trouble in Little Tina--A great episode about peer pressure and with a fun subplot about Bob's gross ear wax. It's just that none of it screams HALLOWEEN to me. There's some spooky imagery, but a lot of this episode feels like something that could happen in ANY episode, especially Bob's subplot. Great episode, but not so great of a Halloween special.

7. Heartbreak Hotel-oween--This one's cute. That's all I can say.

6. Teen-a Witch--Tina trying to be a witch is more cute than it should be, even if the jokes aren't strong with this one. Thankfully the subplot of Bob obsessing over who's stealing his jack-o-lanterns is funny enough to carry it.

5. The Pumpkinening--Weird title, but it's an episode with Gayle. They're naturally weird, and this one's no exception as Linda and Gayle hunting down who knows that they smashed pumpkins from a contest. Add that with a warm ending and a great subplot of Bob dealing with the stress of being a house with GOOD candy, and you got something fun.

4. Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street--The kids hunting down a candy kidnapper is fun and Bob and Teddy trying to show up an impressive handyman has some good laughs to it. Solid special.

3. Full Bars--It's always fun seeing the Belcher kids use their brand of chaos to do something good. The only thing that drags it down is the guinea pig murder mystery. Some good jokes are there, but I can't help but cringe as Teddy ruins his own party and the payoff isn't all that funny. That credit scene where Bob danced in the fat suit for Linda was cute as shit, though.

2. Fort Night--The introduction to Millie, and a great one at that as she tortures the kids who are in a situation that's...way more dangerous than you think in hindsight. They really were that close to death, huh? Still, a pretty empathetic episode as we all know there's no worse fate for a kid than missing Halloween and you REALLY want them to get out. And I'm sure some parents can relate to Bob and Linda's plight to make a costume for their kids and the payoff for this one is pretty good.

1. The Hauntening--A genuinely creepy and intense special for this show, where the jokes don't take away from the scares but add to them. This really feels like how these characters would react to a horrifying situation, making you fear for their lives even more. And even the big twist in the end doesn't ruin the episode, but adds to it, showing how much this family cares for each other and how much they'll do to make one of them happy. They might have gone a LITTLE far, but it's in that gray area where you can accept it. Being sweet and spooky is no other combination you can get from any other show except for this one, and I love it.

And that's all. Well, for now. Season 14 hasn't had its Halloween special yet. It's probably pulling a Simpsons and waiting until November for some reason. And I'm not waiting until then. This is the Halloween Special on MY blog, so there. Happy Halloween.

[hunters-heathen]

I know you wanted headcanon or blurb requests but I actually just want to know what your favorite thing about each batch member is?? If that's okay? I know you said Hunter so you can just do him specifically but if you have something for every member that would be so fun too :)

First of all, anon, how dare you make me choose just one thing… how am I supposed to do this djdjdjdjdj I’ll give it a try

Hunter: god, what can I even say as my final decision?! I think overall I love Hunter’s grit and determination. I love that he’s willing to go above and beyond for his family, no matter what it takes. No matter how scary the mission may be. He reminds me a lot of Joel Miller in that respect, with his determination and feral behavior trying to get Omega back. And his attitude with Hemlock while being tortured- GOD like he must have been so scared & in so much pain but he still fought back (also? His voice is so sexy 🤭🤭🤭)

Crosshair: his character development. His arc. I can confidently say it was one of the best character arcs I’ve ever witnessed (on a more superficial level, his sass is so real like what sass can you give me in the bedroom, sir??) and I hope that those who never gave him a chance before can see how far he’s come and reconsider their opinions

Tech: oh, Tech… how I miss you… my favorite thing for Tech would be the way that he comforted Omega in the little cave after Echo left the group in season 2. Like he’s just so comforting for everyone in that scene and I feel like so many people need his “change is a fundamental part of life” advice. I know I did, and I loved it. For someone like Tech, who hates change, to acknowledge that it is inevitable and very much a part of our journeys… idk, it just really helped me. And it continues to help me (and he’s also such a cutie?????)

Wrecker: his balance between playful personality and getting serious when he needs to! Wrecker knows how to light up a room but he also is able to go from 0-100 when it comes to protecting his family & friends and I love that for him. He was easily the best character for comedic relief when tensions were high during the show

Echo: you already know I’m obsessed with that ARC badassery. His strategy and fighting in the finale was mind blowing and I don’t think I’ll get over it anytime soon. Like seriously I think he practically soloed that whole thing (props to the whole team though! It’s just that Echo’s skills really shown through this episode)

Omega: I’m doing 2 things for omega because screw you (kidding!!) - so a) I love how she copies each of her brothers’ specific movements and/or just carries so much of her brothers in her own personality, b) the fact that she never gives up. If I had been her, trapped inside that mountain? I would’ve given up. Accepted the fate I thought I was dealt. But Omega pushed forward & I’m literally so proud of her (so are the boys!)

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

I simply must speak my truth

🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞

🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼🔼

Thanks so much cal💕

💋

Hahahaha love it!

60 for 🪞:

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Buck can’t stress enough the fact that Eddie helps with everything. All of it. In fact, in the lead up to Buck getting the yay or nay decision on Dove coming to live with him, Eddie is very involved. 

There’s no reason for Buck not to take it at face value. Eddie said he’d have his back and he does. The same way Buck has always done for him where Chris is concerned. At least, when he can. Buck assumes it’s just Eddie supporting him the way he said he would. 

Beyond just being someone to lean on and finding Buck the apartment, he does a ton. He helps Buck move. All the heavy lifting and annoying little repairs, right there beside Buck. He helps him shop for new, kid-friendly furnishings. Including a whole new bedroom. He gives over what things of Christopher’s he can; old kids books and toys. He gives Buck pep talks before different appointments with social services. He’s there every step of the way, and Buck never has to ask. 

Buck gets used to it, sort of. Not that he isn’t already used to Eddie being around a lot. He is. But it’s a bit of a different dynamic than it was before. Their roles are shifting slightly, and Dove isn’t even here yet. But already, Buck can feel himself relying on Eddie. Like there’s a steady thrum accompanying this pulse, saying, as long as I’ve got Eddie, I can do this. 

Then, two days after he officially moves in, he gets the call. He’s been approved. Dove will be with him within forty-eight hours. 

It��s all sort of a rush. He prepared for this, but part of him never really thought he’d be approved. No matter how encouraging his friends and family - and Deirdre and Angie - have been, he doubted it. Like it’s one thing for Connor and Kameron to ask him for sperm out of the blue, but would the actual government trust him with a full person? It sounds unlikely! And yet, here he is. Anticipating her actual arrival.

What a world.

Buck has to accelerate his preparations. He calls and takes a leave of absence from work. This qualifies him for parental leave, and with Gerrard at the helm of the 118, he won’t miss the job as much as he might have. He calls his doctor and asks what he needs to do to add her as a patient. He calls his dentist and does the same. Apparently he’s overthinking that process, because it’s not so complicated. He calls the school district to get her enrolled for fall. He stocks his fridge with any snack, cereal, or meal ingredient he ever remembers Chris or Jee liking. Probably overdoes it, honestly, but he doesn’t know what she likes. 

By the end of the day, he’s exhausted. Completely drained, but he can’t sleep. Laying in bed, brain moving a hundred miles an hour, he calls Eddie. Eddie, who also doesn’t sleep great these days. 

“I’m terrified,” he admits into the phone. 

“I’d tell you not to be, but that won’t help anything,” Eddie says.

“No. It won’t.”

“What I will say is, just because you’re scared, doesn’t mean you won’t do great.”

Buck takes a deep breath. “Thanks, Eddie.”

---

60 for 🔼:

---

The first boy Shannon ever kissed was Sterling Macleod. They dated in the ninth grade. As much as fifteen year-olds can date, over a span of three months. Her best friend at the time, Destiny, called them Stannon. She kind of hated it but didn’t say anything. 

Sterling was nice. He really liked Green Day. Like more than Shannon thought was normal. But she could overlook it because he was a good kisser, as far as she knew at the time, and invited her over to his place to play with his chocolate labs. He had a bunch of SNL episodes on his DVR and they’d watch it together while eating his mom’s homemade snacks. It was a good, easy time in her life. 

A week after Sterling broke up with her because he didn’t need the distraction from lacrosse, he almost drowned in his friend’s swimming pool. He hit his pool doing a trick off the diving board. Sank like a stone, apparently. Shannon doesn’t know. She wasn’t there. 

She just remembers feeling guilty. Deeply, strangely guilty. When she found out, she cried until she threw up. Her mother, stunned at the level of Shannon’s upset, rubbed her back and made her herbal tea.

“It’s not your fault, baby,” Janet had said. “It was an accident. You weren’t even at the pool.”

“We were supposed to go to the movies today,” she’d hiccuped. “But he broke up with me.”

“That’s not your fault, Shan. You didn’t choose it.”

“If I’d been a better girlfriend he wouldn’t have had to dump me and then we’d be at the movies and then he wouldn’t have gotten hurt!” 

The next day, Shannon’s period came, and her mother laughed off the whole thing.

“That’s why you were so hysterical, my sweet girl.”

She hadn’t meant any harm by it. And for a while, Shannon believed her. She’d just been hormonal and overreacting and that’s why she felt a sick, anxious pit in her stomach for two weeks after the pool incident, and then again for two years whenever she thought of Sterling. She was just hysterical. Dramatic. 

But then it kept happening. 

She got pregnant and ruined Eddie’s future. She couldn’t give birth properly, the one thing her body should have been able to do. Christopher got stuck and hurt because of her body. Eddie got shot out of the sky, battered with bullets, because of all of that. It didn’t matter how many times she asked him to come home. He was there because of her. And it almost killed him. 

So there was that pit in her stomach. That anxious, guilty pit. And it grew and grew and grew… 

None of this really matters right now. None of it’s really relevant. What’s relevant right now, as she leans over the rooftop of a fucking Panda Express, watching the water drag Buck’s Jeep away like it weighs nothing at all, is that she can’t see Buck. He has plummeted beneath the water and she hasn’t seen him resurface again. 

So for some reason, all Shannon can think of is Sterling Macleod. 

This is your fault, Shannon. 

“BUCK!” Christopher is shrieking. “BUCK! BUCK!”

Shannon stretches her torso a little farther over, careful not to overextend her top-heavy midriff so that she might not pull herself back again. 

“BUCK!” She calls, too. 

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting Raphael edition (Part 2):

Part one can be found here. I really wanted to talk about my favourite little guy but I didn't feel like I had enough space to get all my thoughts down in the last post. So technically the entirety of part 2 is dedicated to 87 Raphael.

When asked who my favourite version of Raphael is, my answer is always a tie between 03 and 87 Raphael. I'm probably biased because they're the versions of Raph I grew up with, well 90s movies Raph is also in there but I really don't remember enough about the movies besides the Ninja Rap scene and I haven't rewatched it yet. The point being, 03 Raph tickles that itch for "more traditional Raphael" while 87 Raphael...I kinda just vibe with the little guy.

At face value he seems about as much of a traditional 'hot head' Raphael as Rise. Neither of them really fit into the "explosive temper" territory as 03, 12, 07 or the original Mirage comic Raph. He's a silly little dude. He likes playing dress-up, stand up comedy, and acting. Of all the versions of Raphael, he's definitely the most 'kid-like'. He's childish, he'll heckle his buddies for laughs, he even tells Shredder to go suck a lemon in the first episode. He's hilarious! But that type of comedy usually ends up getting him, and the other 87 turtles lets be real, into crossovers that horribly mischaracterize the poor kid.

As much as I loved TMNT 03, Turtles Forever is such a disservice to what TMNT 87 was, and who the 87 turtles are. 2012's second crossover with 87 also follows the TMNT 87 hate train, and it's so frustrating as a fan of most TMNT media. I get that the OG cartoon was super silly and tame compared to the others at face value, but every time someone says this I need to remind them it's 1) a cartoon from the 80s, and 2) lowkey really dark the more you think about it.

Such as:

-every time slavery is brought up and a plot for some other planet

-the entirety of the Red Sky seasons

-the humans of TMNT 87 always threatening to eat and or shoot the turtles because they're mutants

-the whole mutant hate sentiment being an allegory for the civil rights movement

But this is a post about Raphael. He's definitely still a funny little dude. But a lot of his humor stems from sarcasm and his cynicism towards the world. Raphael, is well aware humans are not fans of him or his compadres, and often sides with Donatello whenever he and Leonardo get into arguments about helping the humans. Their human friendship circle pretty much just ends with April and that's a dubious friendship at best since they're more or less a bridge towards her next scoop. None of them are really fans of Irma, Casey rarely appears, and the other human characters in the show are usually trying to turn them into kebabs until Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter which already kind of says enough for itself.

This poor kid is honestly the bravest little dude. More often than not he'd rather run from a fight, or push Michelangelo into one for him. He's scared a lot, really giving off those youngest sibling vibes that are rare for Raphael. He's such a little scaredy cat that he his voice will sometimes sound like a squeaky toy. If Turtles Forever was correct about anything, it would be that Raphael would absolutely burst into tears meeting his Mirage counterpart.

But despite this all, Raphael is still probably the bravest version of Raphael they've ever created. Even though he'd rather scram, and read comics or watch TV. Despite knowing humans have it out for him, and will never accept him into their society. Even though he knows every time he saves them it will be a thankless job, Raphael will fight until his last breath. Like every other Raphael, he will protect the people and city he loves because that's who he is!

One of my favourite episodes in TMNT history has to be Raphael vs the Volcano because it really shows who 87 Raphael is as a person. There have already been a few posts about it recently who have all been far more coherant than I ever will be but let's do it anyways.

Raphael vs the Volcano:

-Donatello's latest invention, a health machine, malfunctions leading Raphael to believe he's unhealthy

-after panicking in the sewers a little bit, he goes back to the lair, only to overhear Michelangelo and Donatello lamenting over the loss of their dear friend.

-assuming they're talking about him, and that he only has a day to live, Raphael runs off, deciding that despite the fact the world sucks he's going to use his last day to make the world a better place

-he does a bunch of good deeds, increasing in danger, wearing a musketeer costume while the other turtles and April try to catch him

-some botanist is mad that a rich lady is taking credit for his discovery so he decides to eliminate all organic life on earth...not really important for Raphael's character except the fact he catches wind of this and takes this as his last deed before croaking.

-Raphael literally jumps into a live volcano to get the canister of anti-life juice, only escaping seconds before it erupts because the turtles arrive in time.

-the lesson of the day? don't jump into live volcanoes.

There's so much to unpack about this episode, but it'd mostly be reiterating the same things I said earlier about him. With a time limit on his life Raphael, despite the way he's been treated by the world will let go of his cynicism and crankiness to help people if it benefits everyone else. The kid shakes the moment he realizes it's been a huge misunderstanding and he's perfectly fine. Throughout the episode he's even saying things like "yeah too bad this is gonna be my last day". Like...he is CONVINCED he isn't making it to adulthood. If you think about it, it's basically what the other Raphs are as well, without the super explosive tempers. They're all just good-natured kids who have circumstances weighted against them, but they'll do whatever they can for the safety of their friends and family.

Please PLEASE give the 87 TMNT cartoon a chance if you've never seen it before. I promise it's actually good, and it has some extremely funny episodes.

[gnougnouss]

Ya know I feel like there's a shit ton of hyprocrisy going on when people compare RTD's writing and Moffat's on dw but nothing irks me more than when they say Moffat era made the doctor too important when he was portrayed as just a guy in RTD. Like. Are you fucking kidding me. Be for real.

In the GODDAMN first episode, one of the first thing we learn about the doctor is through Clive (rip) in that scene :

The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion. ROSE: Who's that? CLIVE: Death.

So yeah the Doctor is a Legend. Next, in New Earth he is called "the lonely God". Very normal guy core.

It gets worse, who could forget this wonderful speech in The Family of Blood ?

LATIMER: Because it was waiting. And because I was so scared of the Doctor. JOAN: Why? LATIMER: Because I've seen him. He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. DOCTOR: Stop it. LATIMER: He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe. DOCTOR: Stop it! I said stop it. LATIMER: And he's wonderful.

The Next one is by Steven Moffat but crucially still during 10s era so STILL part of how the doctor was characterised. RTD approved you might say.

DOCTOR: Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up. (There is a pause, then the shadows withdraw.) ANITA: You have one day.

I added it because I saw people act as if the Eleventh Hour's resolution with a doctor boast was completly out of character and not something he literaly did one series before.

Ok now for the real silly, that scene in Last of the Time Lords where the power of PRAYER turned 10 young and hyper powerful. For real. Yeah like a sort of Space Jesus.

Bonus: that part in Voyage of the Damned when he flied with two angels lifting him like ok lmao.

Those were just the ones I could remember out of the top of my head but "just a guy" my entire fucking ass. Go rewatch that show.

I feel like Moffat is often accused of turning the doctor into too much of an incredibly powerful figure not because he did it more than RTD but because he discussed the trope and as such put a lot of attention on it . All of those I pointed out in RTD are played incredibly straight but in Moffat's era the doctor's legend is a problem. It's the plot of the s5 finale, he became so big his ennemies allied. It's the reason he gets called out in "A good man goes to war"

RIVER: This was exactly you. All this. All of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name. Doctor. The word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word Doctor means mighty warrior. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down. And all this, my love, in fear of you.

It continues in Asylum of the Daleks where Moffat tries to erase the doctor's legend and is concluded somewhat in s8 finale with the proposition that what the doctor actually is, is in fact an idiot.

DOCTOR: I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you! I am not a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise.

But nobody saying stuff like "Moffat made the doctor too important" ever watched Capaldi's era anyway so it's not like they would know.

[sarnai4]

Went Out For Some Milk

I think that Dagur and Hiccup have more in common than most people realize. An underrated example of this is how they both have parents who just plain abandoned them. To a certain extent, I understand Valka and Oswald. On a deeper level, I really can't get it at all. Here's why:

I get that Valka didn't willingly leave. She was taken by Cloudjumper. That's not her fault in the slightest. She was trying to protect her baby and was taken by a spooked dragon; however, why did she stay gone? She learned how to fly on dragons. Therefore, she had the means to return. The idea of her not being able to come back is gone. The realm with the dragons wasn't too far from Berk. She could ride a flying creature. The next suggestion is that it would've been unsafe. That's the one she used to explain it...but how? I'm genuinely curious if anyone has a reason because I can't think of it for the life of me. Just have Cloudjumper drop you off near Berk, swim to shore, and say you escaped. Or don't say that and try to gradually get the other Berkians to accept dragons. Heck, if she loved dragons so much and didn't want to ever be away, she could have flown to Berk and been like, "Hey, hubby, I'm a dragon rider now. Be cool with that and we can stay together." Stoick probably would've loved her enough to accept one of these. He loved her enough to accept that she made him a single dad for 20 years and wasn't even upset. It's also not fair to Hiccup that he grew up without a mom because she was too scared to be herself around the Berkians or risk losing her new freedom away from the island.

Oswald runs into the reverse of this. For him, I understand why he didn't return. The guy was shipwrecked on an island with dragons who didn't want anyone leaving. My issue with him is that he left in the first place. Why did he go? Why did he not tell anyone? Dagur never should've been able to convince the other Berserkers that he killed Oswald because the man should have told the others he was heading out. If he was going to a peace treaty signing, I'm sure he would've gone with more people. As a chief, it's irresponsible to not let his Vikings know where he'll be going or if he will since they might need his help. As a father, it's irresponsible to leave his son 50,000+ people to be in charge of without so much as a goodbye first. All he had to do was tell someone. An argument could be made that he told Dagur, but the question then becomes why on Earth would he do that and not tell anyone else? Mini Dagur isn't the person you give your location to so that he can be your emergency contact. If he even paid attention, he'd probably laugh at the idea of there being an emergency. Even still, I doubt that Oswald told him because Dagur seemed to really have no idea where he had gone. So, it's highly likely that Oswald just decided he had enough of being a chief and dad, then went to the great beyond.

I'm sure these are both unpopular opinions, but these parents really do bug me. What annoys me more is that I don't think either is shown to be anything other than loving despite that. It's unfair to their kids. I don't want the movie to tell me Valka is just the best mom ever and that they're going to be a happy family now that they found her. She could have returned to them years ago and we wouldn't have had that sad episode back when they were kids with poor Hiccup being desperate to find the one item his mom had given him since that was the only thing he had to remind him of her. I don't want to see a happy scene with Dagur reading about how much his dad loved him. Oswald should have proven it by not abandoning him, then in that same episode with the supposed happy moment, Dagur wouldn't have voiced his doubt that his dad did in fact love him. Just a little something that irks me, but I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

[singofsolace]

Thoughts on "Alberta's Fan"

So I like to put shows on while I eat dinner by myself to make me feel less alone and it wasn't until I had watched this episode for the second time that I was able to focus on all of the new information we get about Hetty?

like, the first time around, I was focusing on the A-plot (A for Alberta, how fitting!) and so it wasn't until I watched it again tonight that some of Hetty's lines really sunk in.

For example, when Thor, Alberta, Sam, and Hetty are going for their morning walk, Sam makes a comment about how Hetty walks slower than the rest of them, which results in this exchange:

Hetty: "Well, excuse me for dying in heels! Plus, I did not sleep. You know I suffer from nerves. At least when I was alive I could take laudanum."

Sam: "What's laudanum?"

Hetty: "It's a simple mixture of alcohol and morphine. You should try it, Samantha."

Sam: "Oh sure, I'll pick some up next time I'm at the alchemist."

Hetty: "Well, I didn't always require such elixirs. When I was a little girl, an angel-voiced servant would sing me to sleep. Some footman or butler."

....

We get so much from this one exchange!

1) Hetty most likely died unexpectedly, since she was still wearing uncomfortable heels and a corset when it happened. I've been racking my brain trying to think of what could have killed her that didn't leave a visible wound but still caught her by surprise enough that she didn't so much as take off her shoes? I have to assume it was some kind of unexpected medical event, and not a long, drawn out illness, or else she would've been in far more comfortable sick-clothes; was it a stroke or an aneurysm, perhaps? I think I've seen others speculate that it could've been a drug overdose, which tracks, but wouldn't she have died high, like Flower, if that were the case? Wouldn't she be a little less lucid, and wouldn't Thor, Sas, or Isaac have mentioned it when other drug-related deaths came up? And would the writers really want drugs and alcohol to be involved in four out of the eight main ghost deaths? It's a mystery, to be sure!

2) Hetty has trouble sleeping, and apparently all the ghosts are already aware that she has anxiety which contributes to her insomnia, because she says "you know I suffer from nerves" as if to imply there's no need to offer an explanation as to why she didn't sleep.

3) When she was alive, Hetty regularly self-medicated with a combination of alcohol and morphine to help her sleep. We already knew about her cocaine use prior to this exchange, but I think this is the first mention of her using them specifically to "treat" her anxiety and insomnia.

Then, in a later scene, when Thor and Hetty are having their heart to heart, Thor tells her that he thought she would remember him after she died, but instead she had "terror of Thor." So not only did she not remember him or his voice, she was scared of him when she first died. And, in fact, she still flinches when he yells, despite having 130 years to get used to it.

Side note--when Elias comes out of the vault, he says that he's spent 130 years talking to his corpse. Hetty also says at one point that she's been friends with Isaac for 130 years. Does that mean Elias and Hetty died around the same time? We know Elias died first, but does that mean Hetty only outlived her husband by less than a year...? And since she says her children weren't fully grown yet when she died, does that mean her kids were taken in by someone else? Her sister, maybe...? So much to think about!

Hetty also says to Thor, "You were there for me when no one else was. Thank you." Does that mean that Hetty's parents were absent and/or neglectful? Was she treated poorly as a child? Did she not have much of a relationship with her sister, even before their looks were being compared to decide who would be forced to marry Elias...? Why was "Gordon" the only person Hetty remembers who supported her? That's just heartbreaking, especially when you think about how she went from a lonely, neglected child to an even lonelier, neglected wife.

Anyway, I have so many thoughts on this episode, I just wanted to get them out! Let me know if you all have any thoughts, too.