#I'd argue even that this whole thing could easily be familial

[rotisseries]

😐 this is worse than I remember but definitely salvageable if we put our heads together

[prettyinpwn]

Stan Pines: A Masterclass in Character Writing and Symbolism AKA Stan is Godly, Literally (GF Writing Analysis Pt. 5)

If you're interested in reading a similar writing analysis on Ford Pines, please visit this page.

I've wanted to write a post on Stan for a long time, because I'm going to make a bold claim: he is THE best written character in Gravity Falls. I literally have never been able to find a flaw with his writing, and the reason? Not only does he have the markers of quality I mentioned in my post about Ford's writing (a want, need, character arc, realistic flaws), but...

I would also argue he is THE main protagonist and hero of Gravity Falls if I had to pin it down to just one, and his character arc matches the external conflict, that being Bill Cipher and the theme of growing up vs. staying in childhood and ego vs. selflessness, in ways that are just - and I'm not exaggerating - poetic. And the best part is, he had a lot more time and attention in the spotlight in the show than Ford, so everything I mentioned in the other post that was good about Ford's writing, ramp that up x100 for Stan.

His character also touches on multiple other fantastic themes: breaking generational trauma, healing broken familial relationships that seem unfixable, redemption, the misunderstanding of the family "fuckup" (although Stan is not that in the least, but that's part of his character arc), positive masculinity, true brotherhood, self-love, self-identity, and probably a million others I'm missing and will find out even just as I write this.

As for the godly part, well... you'll just have to read to the end. And no, I'm not kidding or exaggerating, either.

Okay, okay, gushing aside, let's get to the analysis. I'm not sure this will be as neatly structured as Ford's was, but there are just so many damn good things about Stan's writing that it's hard to stick to just one point. Let us begin.

Stan's Backstory: I Am Not Ford and That's Bad + Protecting/Providing for Family > Everything Else

So as I discussed in my post about Ford linked above, much of Stan's childhood revolved around Ford. His entire existence as a child was summed up by one question: how do I compare to Ford? This is especially emphasized in how their father, Filbrick, treated them. One of the end credits ciphers in the show reads as follows:

"A STUBBORN TOUGH NEW JERSEY NATIVE, FILBRICK WASN’T TOO CREATIVE, HAVING TWINS WAS NOT HIS PLAN, SO HE JUST SHRUGGED AND NAMED BOTH STAN."

Haha, very funny. But OUCH. Imagine knowing that your whole name is your name, was because your father only expected one son and was too lazy to come up with anything else. So literally, Stan doesn't even have his own name - his own identity - technically. Stan also was apparently the second twin born, so came in "second" even from birth, and being Ford's (either identical or very similar fraternal) twin, well... it's hard for someone to untie their identity from their brother's with those factors surrounding them as a kid.

There are many other factors that illustrate my point (Ford got Filbrick's name as his middle name, the way Filbrick literally put Stan on the lawn for sale as a kid for failing a test, etc). All in all, Ford receives their father's love, Stan does not, although we could argue that this isn't that great for Ford, not really, as I did in my post on his writing. Because it's a love that comes with a, "I'd also like to use you." attached (just like Bill, gee).

All in all, it's very obvious from all these context clues that Ford was the beloved one, and Stan was the unexpected one, from birth to the end of Gravity Falls, where he uses that to his advantage - albeit in a different context - to defeat Bill Cipher.

Worse yet, Stan happened to have a twin that was extremely smart and talented in a way that was easily noticed. Ford is a Golden Child, as I described in his own writing analysis post, and siblings of the golden child like Stan? Well... the other sibling(s) are often the Scapegoat. As the source in the last sentence states, the Scapegoat is "often blamed for family mistakes, discarded, neglected, and has been gaslighted into believing it was their fault. The scapegoated child is usually assigned at a young age and often carries this role through to adulthood and never loses the unfortunate title.". This can highly affect the Scapegoat's self-esteem, even into adulthood.

This page also covers the Golden Child vs. Scapegoat dynamic. Pay attention to these quotes from this source:

"You are the one the parent will come after when things are going wrong."

"You are subjected to their emotional and verbal abuse the most."

"You may even feel like you need to fix your broken family."

Also, take into account these panels from the comic, Lost Legends, released after Gravity Falls ended:

Yikes. A child doesn't say these things unless a parent has taught them that everything they do is wrong and they are lesser than their sibling. This kid's noticed how Filbrick looks with pride at Ford, but not him. And here's the thing: the item Stan stole in this comic that made Filbrick mad? Stan did it to clean it to make his father proud. Sound familiar? In the events of Gravity Falls, Stan works on the portal for thirty years and gets Ford back, and he gets... yelled at for it. Stan always has good intentions. Although, Ford has a point in the above comic panel: Stan does take shortcuts that get him into trouble. He did almost get jailed by the US government and end the universe to save Ford.

But this is a consistent theme with Stan's character throughout the show. Even WE as the audience first see Stan the way his family did - a conniving scoundrel and money-grubbing criminal - but through the events of the show, just as Stan's family starts to realize it, even when Stan does things that seem bad, like stealing radioactive waste, working on a portal described as a potential cause of the end of the world, has a ton of different identities, etc... we find out Stan had good intentions all along.

Even Stan's greediness? That need for money? That also stemmed from the same good intentions, because how ELSE was he going to afford Ford's mortgage to keep the Shack in order to keep working on bringing him home? It was also likely something ingrained into him from when he was kicked out. Because Filbrick told him, basically, until you make us the money that Ford losing his chance at West Coast Tech cost us, GTFO. Literally. :'(

So Stan... really IS not what he seems. He seems like a fuckup, a criminal, a liar, and a greedy conman. But really... he's a family defender, protector, and supporter. Want to have your mind blown? Intentional or not, let's look at the very first scene we see Stan in in the series:

"Oh look, I'm a monster!"

"Just kidding, I'm not. I'm someone else under what looks like a monster."

Yes. Stan's whole character arc is foreshadowed in like... three seconds in the first episode. The very first time we see him. Not just his arc, but also his role as someone that seems deceptively evil but is actually good. And not just the arc that Ford and Dipper take from distrusting Stan to finally understanding his good intentions, but also the realization WE as viewers have about Stan as we follow the story. Additionally - which we'll get into later - it's symbolic of Stan's internal character arc he takes across the series of realizing he himself isn't the monster that his father planted in his mind as a child, but a good person worthy of love.

All of that... in a few seconds of animation. If that wasn't intentional, then DAMN did the writing gods smile on the Gravity Falls team the day they planned this scene. Back to the point about who Stan really is: the family "fuckup" (not really, but we'll get to that later), and a family defender and protector. This is the true core of Stan's character throughout the whole series. Not only was he Ford's defender as a child, protecting him from bullies, but you know those scenes the fandom universally agrees on were Stan at his most badass? Ahem...

"Everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"

"Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise-guy, but you made one fatal mistake: you messed with my family."

Yeah. Look at what Stan is doing in EVERY single one of these scenes: protecting his family. And as bad as Filbrick was, just like I explained in the post I made about Ford's writing... Filbrick also passed down some things to Stan that make him the hero he is. And it's also stuff that Stan passes down to Dipper:

Yeah, it kinda sucked for Dipper at the time. Was it a perfect way of teaching a child to be tough? Er, no, although another mark of a well-written character is that they can make mistakes and have flaws; Stan's not perfect. And the fandom has criticized the way Stan passed down this lesson to Dipper, because it can be considered very similar to the way Filbrick passed it down to Stan. But look what it did: when the world fights and threatens his family, just like Stan, Dipper fights back. With punches, too:

So... to summarize this first part: Stan was taught from childhood "I'm not Ford, and that's bad. I am a monster unworthy of love that always messes up.", and his role is a family protector, which started with how he protected Ford from bullies as a child. This is the core of his self-identity. So let's get into the writing techniques that make a well-written character that I discussed in Ford's writing analysis post...

Stan's Core Want vs. Need

I'll quote my explanation of want vs. need from my own post on Ford I made about a year ago:

"When I took writing classes in college (and over years of writing in general and drooling over writing advice podcasts and blogs), I found that the best method for me, personally, when it comes to crafting characters is to focus on two major things:

1. Their want.

2. Their need.

On the surface, these look like the same things, but in character writing, they can be vastly different. For example, say that you have a character that greatly desires fame and recognition. They want these things.

But what’s the real reason behind it? Is it because they had a parent that was famous and want to live up to their example? Is it because they want to be adored by people? Is it because they were told they’d never amount to anything by someone and want to prove them wrong?

This real reason behind it all is the core need. Yes, they want fame and recognition, but they need it because, say, they have low self-esteem and need copious amounts of outside validation to boost it.

Tied to this need is usually a backstory reason (sometimes called their wound). Say your hypothetical character was bullied a lot as a child. Or abused by a parent. Etc. Whatever the wound was, it caused a big, painful hole in their heart that they try to fill and fix with their want.

So they go on a journey. The want is often the external journey. The need is often the core journey / character arc. Our example character seeks fame and recognition on an external journey, but deep inside, they realize they need something else, which is to understand that their past trauma/wound doesn’t define them, and fame and recognition will not be the balm they expect it will be. Often, they realize they had what they needed all along. They grow past their flaws associated with their seeking this want through understanding and instead pursuing the need."

I'll summarize Stan's character writing using these concepts right here, like I did for Ford in his analysis post:

“I want to be Ford because I want to be loved like he is, and I want to protect those I care about and do the right thing. But what I need is to realize is that who I am - not Ford, but Stan - was good enough all along, proven by how I've always protected those I care about, and I never NEEDED to be Ford in the first place. This stems from a wound from my childhood where I was a scapegoat child treated like a fuckup who never did anything right and could never measure up to Ford, and was conditioned to think that being like Ford was a ticket to earn familial love. I had what I needed all along: myself, because I am good enough and worthy of love, despite what my father taught me."

Stan's Arc: I Am Not Ford... and That's Okay

AKA Stan's arc is basically: learning to love yourself and be yourself, even when you were conditioned to think you have no value. Don't believe me? Guess what Stan does for thirty years: pretends to be Ford. And he literally does it by pretending to have died. He "kills" Stanley Pines AKA himself in a staged car crash to become Stanford Pines.

And guess how he defeats Bill? By pretending to be Ford. His greatest weakness is actually his strength, and then he flips it: he reveals to Bill that he's not Ford, he's actually Stan. And THAT'S when the antagonist of Gravity Falls is truly defeated - an antagonist that represents stasis, lack of change, and with The Book of Bill's context, an antagonist that never freed himself from his own past - is when Stan learns to accept himself and admit who he really is and learns to let the past go. And it's telling that this is what he says when he does it:

"Heh. Guess I was good for something after all." AKA: "Yeah, fuck what Pa said about me."

There it is. The moment of Stan realizing his father was wrong, and he was wrong for thinking himself a fuckup all those years. And this is the expression he pulls at this moment of realization; at the peak of his character arc, all while burning in flames like a phoenix reborn. It sounds corny when I put it that way, but LITERALLY, all the fire symbolism feels like it wasn't foreshadowing Stan's death, but his rebirth as himself after pretending to be Ford all those years. He's not burning who he is, he's burning away who he thought - who he was told - he was. Funny that it takes place in the mind, huh?

This is the face of a man who is at peace and finally loves himself for the first time in his life. That ain't just his mind burning. That's him punching his demon that's haunted him and his brother their whole lives, protecting his family as always, and, symbolically, punching a demon that represents the show's overall antagonist of the shackles of staying stuck in the past, forgiveness, and the value of moving on. He literally punches the antagonist - staying stuck in the past - to pieces and THAT'S when he wins.

Also, can we talk about how Bill and Filbrick share color schemes, and Filbrick even has a brick-like pattern in his suit (also, I mean... come on, he's got 'brick' in his name)? I'll let you make your own conclusion about what that means for Stan's character arc:

It's also telling that Bill Cipher's backstory is that he burned his home dimension and loved ones - including his family - to ashes. The Axolotl - Gravity Falls' equivalent of basically God, from what I can tell - says himself about Bill in one of the books released outside of the show:

"Saw his own dimension burn. Misses home and can't return. Says he's happy. He's a liar. Blame the arson for the fire."

Bill misses home. He wants the past and to hold onto his family, just like Stan and Mabel do. Isn't it funny how whenever Bill shows up... time stops?

And look what Bill says in Weirdmageddon: "This party never stops! Time is dead and meaning has no meaning!"

Time stopped. He just wants fun. He's almost like a child that never grew up. And... look at what it was that Stan wrecked in A Tale of Two Stans as a teenager:

A perpetual motion machine. That thing that's not supposed to stop, just like time. Stan 'breaking' time by wanting to hold Ford in the past, with him, instead of leaving him to go to college while Stan was stuck in the past/Glass Shard Beach? That's what broke their brotherhood.

But what makes Stan a hero, and Bill a villain, is that he lets go of the past and his childhood. Bill never does. And he's defeated when Stan lets go of the past, something Bill never did. Why? Because he has family to make facing the future easier. He has familial and self love. Bill doesn't, because he killed his own. (Sorry, got off track again, but Stan's arc and story ties so deeply to the other characters' and the main themes that it's hard not to take some detours, because it illustrates just how well-written Stan is. Gravity Falls' story IS his story.).

Wanna know something cute? Wanna know how Stan realized he had worth during that scene after he defeats Bill? Why I'm betting the show runners showed Stan clutching to a picture of Dipper and Mabel as this happens? I'll give you one guess why Dipper and Mabel are so important to Stan, and why he clutches to their photo even as his mind is burning apart in the finale:

They're the first family members since Ford (whose love he'd lost) who loved Stan for who he was, not for who they thought he should have been. Mabel trusting Stan in Not What He Seems is basically the first damn time Stan's heard in thirty plus years from a family member that, "Hey, I trust you have good intentions and aren't just a lying fuckup. You're not a monster. You're not what you seem.".

Also, he's protecting his family. That always makes him happy, too, of course.

Ego Death and the "Stan is Godly" Part

Yep, we're taking this analysis post train all the way to "damn this is deep and PrettyinPwn is likely crazy for noticing it" station. The only reason I'm tacking this part on is that I saw a Q&A with Hirsch recently that sparked my attention. He was on his The Book of Bill tour, and someone asked if there was anyone more powerful than Bill in Gravity Falls lore. Of course, Hirsch said the Axolotl, but what he said about what Bill vs. the Axolotl stands for caught my eye:

The video in question. The question and answer starts around 21:22. The quote I want to point out is, though, is what we learn about these two beings:

Hirsch: "Bill's weaknesses in terms of his overconfidence, his ego, and his lack of ability to focus on one thing at a time are things that a being that has no ego, thinks on a long scale, and does have empathy is actually stronger than him because of those things."

So when we boil the conflict of Bill vs. the Axolotl down to simple terms - what makes evil vs. good in the Gravity Falls universe - is this: ego and selfishness vs. no ego and empathy.

Guess which characters wrestle with these themes? The correct answer is: ALL of them. But especially Stan and Ford. This is really what their conflict is about at the core. They both struggled with ego and selfishness, and that's when - in the story - they lose most. But they win when they choose selflessness and empathy. When they... drum roll, please... partake in ego death.

Well, let's describe an ego death. First, we must define what an ego is (source for all of the following quotes):

Ego: "The ego is a sense of self that you develop at a young age." and, "-relates to your feelings about your own importance and abilities.".

*cough "I'm the family fuckup and poor man's version of Ford because that's what people taught me to believe in my youth." cough*

And an ego death "-is the (often instantaneous) realization that you are not truly the things you've identified with, and the "ego" or sense of self you've created in your mind is a fabrication. In some instances, it can offer a profound feeling of peace and connectedness with all that is, as the walls of separation the ego creates come crumbling down."

*cough "I'm not Ford's poor copy, I'm not a fuckup, I have worth, and I realize this in my literal mind as I pull this expression-

-of total peace as the walls of my mind literally BURN around me" cough*

And, "When one comes through on the other side having released all the things they've identified with, with only their true spirit left, Kaiser says, they begin to live from a place of pure love."

*cough "I'll hold a picture of the ones I love and realize self-love as my mind burns around me because this is who I really am: a man who protects and loves my family and my family loves me" cough*

Cheeky asides, well... aside, are you seeing what I'm getting at, folks? Look, I can't prove that Hirsch and crew intended all this, but in my opinion: you wanna know why there are so many gags of Stan or versions of him melting or burning in the show? Why fire is such an important symbol surrounding him? Why there are so many times he's killed his own identity and became a "new" man again and again and again, be it as a young grifter, or as a drifter who became his brother to bring him back again, or as an old man who "killed" his own mind to save the world and his memories returned?

Because it's ego death. The rebirth of true self from a lie you were living. That's literally what Stan's arc is a metaphor for. Even better, he reaches his character arc's zenith when he does this:

That's not an old man punching a stupid little bastard. That's an old man punching what threatens his family, punching his own past, punching his own demons, punching his brother's demon, punching his prior identity, and - given that we know that Bill is a symbol of ego now - punching the personification of literal ego and letting it burn. There are, let's count, seven symbolic meanings in that punch at the very least. Maybe eight if you count that the rightside-up triangle is the alchemical symbol for fire, and by Stan beating it, it's symbolism of his defeating the fire that's eating his memories AKA why he gets his memories back. I could find more, probably.

And yes, the chubby old conman we love so much - and is the opposite of spiritual both in action and in Hirsch's words (he's said Stan is an atheist as an adult) literally has a character arc where he attains spiritual enlightenment that aligns with the god of the Gravity Falls universe - the Axolotl, who has no ego as Hirsch said - hidden under many layers of symbolism. I don't know if Hirsch and the writing crew planned this with Stan, but holy damn... this is what I meant when I said that Stan is the best written character in Gravity Falls, even if this part was unintentional. There are just so many layers of meaning here.

And the best part? Stan was this hero all along. Everything we cheer him on for - be it punching zombies to protect his niblings or spending three decades of his life trying to get his brother back - is when he's being selfless and empathetic. We love Stan as a character because he has a big heart. He's a good person because, as we described above, he is - through beating ego in a universe where its god represents a lack of ego - godly.

No, fangirls, put the sexy Hunkle art down. I mean literally spiritually godly in the Gravity Falls universe, at least in the way good and evil is portrayed in the themes and worldbuilding. No, I'm not exaggerating, either. Let's return to that quote about the Axolotl's powers and why he's stronger than Bill:

"-that a being that has no ego, thinks on a long scale, and does have empathy is actually stronger than him (Bill) because of those things."

Well... guess what Stan does? He loses his ego so hard he regularly kills his own identity multiple times in his life and goes through a symbolic ego death, he thinks on a long scale (thirty years long), and is empathetic and selfless to the point of sacrifice. And the Axolotl in real life lore? Xolotl, the god of Aztec myth? Guess what he's a god of (source):

Why I highlighted "vulture"? Honestly, this is just a neat little thing I wanted to point out, and was a part of a massive theory I was writing about Stan and Bill that sadly never came to fruition (although I may return to it someday), but here's a hint: what was Stan and Ford's school mascot in New Jersey?

I'll let you take away from all the above what you will. Let's just say: there are a LOT of similarities between Stan and the Axolotl and its real life god counterpart, Xolotl. Does that that mean he's literally the Axolotl when I say he's godly in the Gravity Falls setting? Maybe not.

Here's one last odd something that caught my eye. This is also a leftover from that theory I mentioned above, but I'll just... leave this here, because I don't think anyone else has ever pointed it out before and it expands on what I've been talking about:

Stan in the opening. The first time we see this guy, technically. He's sitting in his favorite chair. And as we all know, he turns to look at something. But just where the hell does he turn to look?

Half of you are like, "Well, what? What's he looking at?". There's a blue glow to his right, and you know what that blue glow is? The tank, which happens to have...

Could be a coincidence, maybe unintentional, but it's... kind of odd, not gonna lie. To have a character that embodies the traits of the setting's god look over at the setting's god the first time viewers see him. Just... a bit strange... and Xolotl was also a shapeshifter god, and given that Stan goes through so many identities in his life... and axolotls are able to regenerate limbs and so are a symbol of healing and rebirth like Stan - whose whole story is about healing and having multiple "rebirths" - is...

Anyways, I've gotten far off track mentioning things from that theory just for fun that I never posted. I may still post it, so I won't spoil all of it or list any more of the very odd coincidences between Stan and the Axolotl, but all you need to know from this post is that Stan shares a lot of similarities with his setting's god in symbolism, and embodies the power of the Axolotl AKA godliness in the Gravity Falls universe: no ego, selflessness, and knowing how to play a long game, because those are exactly the traits he uses to defeat Bill, as well as the traits that help him resolve his character arc wound.

So... now what?

I'm not really sure what to put here, to be honest. This post was a lot more meandering than Ford's was, but that's because there are so many different aspects of Stan's writing that are amazing, especially in symbolism. I hope it was coherent and made sense. A part of me was considering leaving out the ego death and Axolotl parts, but I thought it interesting enough to keep in. Let me know your thoughts!

[artemis32]

yandere superfam drabble i

listen, i have a ton of ideas for the batfam. really, i do. but come on. superfam.

dc masterlist

Thinking about Clark and his family as yanderes.

Individually, they're enough of a headache, but together? Damn.

Clark Kent sees himself as your father. The problem with him as a yandere is, he's genuinely terrifying. I mean, ignoring the fact that this man is literally Superman, he's also incredibly delusional.

I think most people downplay, or forget exactly how strong this man is. He's strong, fast, and so insanely smart. All that being said, there is literally zero chance of you avoiding him, under any circumstances.

The only saving grace in this situation is the fact that he's, like I said, delusional. Not in a 'oh, I know this is kind of wrong, but I can justify it as being right' kind of way. Rather, he wholeheartedly believes he's helping you, doing the best thing for you by allowing his obsession and thoughts of you overtake your life.

You don't even have the luxury of a slow descent into the situation. His mindset regarding you shifted really quickly, and by the time you were clued in on it, you'd already been stolen away to a farm in the middle of nowhere, ripped away from your life without warning.

The only aspect of his mindset that doesn't quite fit in with the delusional yandere archetype is the fact that, if you push the right buttons, he will absolutely fly off the handle. That in itself proves that, no matter how much he insists otherwise, he knows what he's done to you is wrong.

Jon Kent is a carbon copy of his father. He firmly believes that your place in life is with them, as a part of their family. The fact that you weren't born into the family means nothing to him. If you weren't meant to be with them, the your paths would never have crossed.

The only difference between him and Clark is that Jon has no doubt in his mind that what they're doing is okay. Clark is delusional; Jon is deranged. A part of you believes you can't really blame him - he's a child, a product of his environment. If that's what he was taught his whole life, by the people he loved and trusted, then of course he didn't see a problem with it. But the larger part of you still hated him, hated the fact that he saw you as the crazy one, as if his family hadn't abducted you from your crappy Metropolis apartment in the middle of the night.

And the fact that he was a few years younger than you didn't stop him from treating you like a child. Granted, he was insanely strong and fast, but that didn't mean you had to enjoy him manhandling you as easily as his father and brother whenever he thought you were getting too fussy.

Conner Kent, a few years your senior, isn't like Clark or Jon. He's completely aware of what they're doing to you, of how invasive and creepy it is. He just doesn't care.

I'd almost argue that him being fully aware of how wrong it all was might've been creepier than the shared delusion of Clark and Jon, especially since he could stare you dead in the eye, blank faced at the sight of your tears, and tell you in the most monotonous voice you've ever heard that he didn't care about what you wanted.

Besides a few uncanny moments with him, he was mostly pretty cocky and snide, with this keen way of getting under your skin. It's almost as if he revelled in the fact that you knew he knew they were wrong, the fact that he could do something to help you get away from all this, but he just... didn't.

The worst part was, if he hadn't, you know, kidnapped you, you might've liked him. He was easy to like, if you ignored the annoying sarcasm and ever-present smirk, the type of person you might've wanted to be friends with.

Too bad he spoiled all that by being batshit crazy.

Lois Lane, to her credit, was against the idea at first. She acted as the voice of reason in the family. Or, at least, she tried to. But the men in her family were nothing if not determined.

She realised how crazy, how morally wrong it was to rip someone away from their life for what you thought might be best for them. She also realised how terrified you'd be, surrounded by people, beings who were so much stronger than you, able to subdue you with little more than the tip of a pinky finger.

But, in the end, they won her over. The idea of someone to take care of, someone normal in the family - someone like her, and a daughter to boot - the offer was too sweet to pass up on. She's an odd mix of mindsets, a point somewhere between Clark's delusion and Conner's unwavering sanity, and that makes her scarier than the rest of them, somehow.

The fact that she knows it's wrong, but is able to convince herself it's for your own good - that's terrifying.

Though, she is great in the motherly role, acting as neutral ground for whenever one of the others overwhelm you past what you can reasonably handle. She seems to have a sixth sense for your threshold too, appearing as if out of thin air whenever you're close to snapping at one of the three men who are always in your hair.

Out of all four of them, you'd admit to liking her the most, though admittedly, it's for a selfish reason. She's the easiest person to slip by - the rest of them have super sight and hearing, and even if you could slip away, they'd catch up to you in a few seconds flat. Lois, as much as you may dislike her, was only human. Yes, she had this weird sense for when you'd try to pull something, but for the most part, you had more leeway with her than anyone else.

As a result, you stuck to her like glue, which lead to Jon whining that you were playing favourites. Jon, you could understand. He was a child, one who was used to getting his way most of the time. Clark, however, also tended to develop a strangely endearing pout whenever you ignored him, one that had even Lois caving and forcing you to spend time with someone other than her.

One thing all of them had in common was the fact that they were so damn clingy. They seemed magnetically drawn to you, hanging off of you like children at all hours of the day. It was infuriating, constantly having your personal space intruded upon.

Even at night, when you tried to sleep, you'd wake to find Conner or Jon sliding in beside you, or, even worse, you'd mysteriously wake up in Clark and Lois' bed the next morning. That always made you uncomfortable - how had they managed to move you several rooms down without you once waking up?

Your only saving grace was that all four had their own lives outside of the household, often leaving for work or school, or even patrols, so you very rarely had to deal with all four at the same time. Your favourite days were the ones when it was just you and Lois. You could slip away in the morning, right after Jon caught the bus to school, and spend the entire day away from the prison-like household.

They at least trusted you enough to let you roam around the farm freely. Well, not trusted, exactly. More like, they knew you couldn't get far before one of them caught up to you.

The perks of living in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.

On the bright side, they acted as if the entire household revolved around you. You could decide what everyone ate for breakfast and dinner, you could decide the 'family activity' of the week. They tended to give in to what you wanted pretty easily, on the condition that you gave them something in return, whether it be attention, affection, or some crudely handmade gift that wasn't worth much.

Despite their joyful front though, they could all be terrifying, especially Clark. You'd learnt that the hard way when they'd first taken you. One of them snapping usually only happened if you put yourself in harm's way, but there were other circumstances where they (Clark), felt punishment was warranted.

You'd once made the mistake of making genuinely hurting Lois (or, her feelings at least), to the point of making her cry. Once, and never again.

But since then, you'd learnt how to play your cards, how to skate by in the Kent household with only a small dose of anxiety. You'd managed to avoid being metaphorically (and literally) shackled to the bed, like when you'd first arrived. Time had made things easier - time, and getting to know them.

As much as you were loathed to admit it, getting to know them had made it easier to handle them. It'd been a hard pill to swallow originally, but as the months went by, you'd had to accept the fact that you weren't going anywhere, and it was better to adapt to the situation than remain sullen and miserable for the rest of your life.

They seemed to believe you were slowly but surely coming around to the idea of being a part of their family. You definitely acted like it. But deep down, you were biding your time, waiting, planning for the perfect moment.

You'd leave, run and hide, go to furthest corner of the earth to get away from them. You always thought you would, and one day, you did.

[nym-wibbly]

Controversial question maybe--- do you believe Sam and Dean = soulmates?

Huh. I hadn't thought of it like that! I think "soul mates" could easily have been Kripke's intention with seasons 1-5, for sure. Taking Supernatural as a whole, I'm not sure that's the word I'd use... but my brain's not coming up with a better one at the moment, either. Is there one? They're kinda unique. More like they... balance each other out?? Combine to make a force greater than the sum of its parts? Like they're the culimnation of something when they stand together?

When things go bad for them, when they're at odds with each other, it tips over into that unhealthy codependency that other characters occasionally comment on, but when they're on the same page, sure. "Soul mates" works. In terms of the epic, overall story arc, they have the sort of bond - and the kind of conflicts - that you see more often in adoptive-brotherhood/best friend stories than in blood-family ones.

I think that's what twists Chuck's nuggets so badly - he wants Cain and Abel 2.0, familial jealousy and destruction, epic tragedy that they bring down on themselves with hubris and petty, self-serving desires. He wants them to mirror Michael and Lucifer and wind up fighting it out bloody in the dirt with very few nuances. But Sam and Dean stubbornly do their story Epic of Gilgamesh style instead, fighting all comers back to back rather than taking up a single cause, always returning to each other after conflict, always creating something together that's greater than the sum of its parts to let them stand against impossible odds. Against Chuck's entire rigged game. Because they bend instead, and because one of the brothers can usually be strong whenever the other falters, they're unbreakable together.

If you mean soul mates in the slashy sense then I don't get that vibe from them myself, not even a glimmer of it, but I wouldn't argue against the idea that their story - certainly their early-seasons story - is fundamentally a devotional, cathartic, and redemptive love story. And intentionally written as one during Kripke's tenure, at that. To me it's a platonic love story, somewhat removed from a standard sibling one by their status as reluctant, capital-H Heroes in their own epic narrative. But death of the author (and of the meta writer too) is totally go here on this blog!

(Yeah, especially you, Chuck. Go fug yourself with your own typewriter for what you did to these boys.)

[bellabrady]

Hey! I want to say absolutely no hate here, you can think whatever you want about characters, I just want to make some points for you to consider! If it makes you change your mind, cool! If it doesn’t, well that follow button doesn’t need my finger on it since we clearly have different views :)

I am not going to be commenting on Chim begins since I haven’t watched it in a while, but I just finished rewatching Hen Begins and was discussing Bobby Begins Again with someone, so here we go.

In Hen Begins, Tommy is never hostile towards her. He doesn’t defend her from the captain, but he’s also a young gay man who is probably terrified of that same hate being turned to him. When Hen is doing her speech on the fire truck most of the crew has tightened jaws and seems mad, but Tommy seems relaxed and thoughtful. And at the end of the episode he tells Hen: “We would’ve done a sweep of the area eventually, but eventually would’ve been too late. Good job.” with a smile and then proceeds to shake her hand and pat her on the shoulder. It is also heavily implied that he was one of the people who left a complaint about the captain and his treatment. Everything about this episode screams a man who was keeping his head low and trying to slip under the radar, not a man trying to be hateful.

In Bobby Begins Again, they throw him a nice going away party. I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to buy assholes who are rude to me a cake.

Then later Chimney is able to call him up and ask a favor that Tommy does without complaint, which makes it seem like they’re on good terms.

And in the most recent episodes, he steals a helicopter and lies to higher-ups, something that could easily get him fired and cause him to lose everything. Once again, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t risk my job and my life (they were on a dangerous mission after all) for people I’m not good friends with.

Lastly, Buck does not strike me as the type to date someone who doesn’t like his friends, his family

Again, no hate, just giving you my observations

thank you for being so nice about this!

i do disagree, however. tommy was 100% hostile to hen in hen begins. ('new york bitchiness is a compliment?' for example, or him throwing gear at her feet so she'll tidy it up and barely sparing her a glance)

i also am simply not a fan of giving characters' past actions depth when it's very clear that back then, they weren't written with that depth in mind. i can promise you the writers did not write hen begins & chimney begins while thinking of tommy as a gay, closeted man. (yes, i'm aware there was that one jacob twilight joke but personally i think you might be giving the writers a little too much credit if you think that was planned forshadowing or something. it was just a silly scene)

furthermore, even if we do run with the whole 'tommy was afraid to speak up because he was afraid and closeted'...standing up against misogyny and racism has nothing to do with being closeted, since neither of those things are related to sexuality, so standing up against those things won't make anyone assume that you're gay. tommy being closeted isn't an excuse, in my opinion.

i'm also aware that the characters have forgiven tommy but i just...don't really care about that because in this show, everyone forgives everyone, constantly. buck forgave his parents and they have a good relationship now — that doesn't mean i have to forgive the buckley parents now too.

as for your last point, i'd argue taylor definitely wasn't the biggest fan of buck's friends and family and they weren't a huge fan of her either. but i also don't think that really matters here, since it's been established that tommy is good with hen and chim, so buck has no reason to assume there's bad blood. it once again boils down to the simple fact that i, as a viewer, do not have to forgive a character's actions simply because other characters did.

anyway, once again thank you for not being rude about this and i hope you have a nice day :)

(i hope my response doesn't come across as rude either)

[elya7sstuff]

✦͙͙͙*͙*𝕮𝖆𝖊𝖑𝖚𝖒 | 𝟎𝟐 ⁎∗❥⃝**͙✦͙͙͙

❖ ── ✦ ──『𝙲𝚊𝚎𝚕𝚞𝚖 {𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗} = 𝚂𝚔𝚢』── ✦ ── ❖

↬𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 | 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙, 𝙹𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚒�� 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑

↬𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 | 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙹𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚡 𝚏!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝚏𝚝. 𝚔𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚘𝚔𝚓𝚒𝚗 𝚡 𝚏!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚓𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚔𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚡 𝚏! 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛)

↬𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎 | 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜, idiots to lovers, 𝚜𝚖𝚞𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝, 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗, 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚞, indecisive reader, mentions of (and/or) cheating, mentions and/or use of substances (alcohol/drugs)

↬𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 | 🔞 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝!

↬𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 | 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎

↬𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 | 2.7k+

❖ ── ✦ ── ◈ • • • ❀ ❖ ❀ • • • ◈ ── ✦ ── ❖

"Okay. First I'll show you around campus cause we have like an hour before classes start."

Jimin is always so kind and considerate. He's beautiful inside-out. That's why I chose him to be the closest person to me besides my family. He's like the older brother I never had.

It's not like I haven't met other good people and friends or anything, it's just that nobody could make me trust them as much as I trust him. So I kinda drifted apart from everyone from throughout my school life. Almost everyone went to different universities and colleges as well so there wasn't any reason for me to keep in touch with my classmates in the first place.

Suddenly Jimin's previous words struck me.

"Wait, what?! A whole hour? Why are we here so early then? And you were insisting we'd be late as well like my mother did! Did you and her have this whole thing planned to wake me up an hour earlier so that I can see around? Cause she's the one who told me what time to set my alarm at! And I don't care if I'm gonna get lost! And I'm telling you if this was a plan I'm going to pluck your eyes out. And that would be too much of a hustle on my very first day!"

SMACK

He slaps me at the back of my head.

"Ow- What was that for?!" I pout and rub the back of my head even though the slap wasn't nearly hard enough. He always makes sure he's gentle with me.

"Idiot! Do you really think I'd plan something like that? I was awaken by my own mother as well so I didn't realize what time it was until it was too late. What kind of friend do you take me for huh? Plus if we didn't have time for me to show you around you'd be late anyway seeing as you'd surely gotten lost, dumbo."

"Well, you can't blame me. I know you already. You'd do anything to tease me and it's not like it'd be the first time you planned something behind my back-"

"Oh hush already. It's clear what has happened here. Our moms planned this behind both our backs. So kindly put a sock in it and let me show you around."

"Tsk, fine you tyrant. Oh, I'm so going to make a huge deal out of this. I could have slept one hour extra! You know what an extra hour of sleep can do to me?" I pout even more than before. I'm honestly pissed cause sleep is something sacred to me that I can't get easily.

"If it'll make you stop whining like a 5 y/o then I'll complain about it as well, so it doesn't happen again. So stop arguing with me about it please. Also, don't you always go on about how you're a legal adult now and stuff? So deal with it 'miss grown up'." Well, touché. That Park Jimin and his good comebacks. I choose not to talk back further and follow his lead with an exasperated gush of air leaving my lips. Tsk, I hate it when I can't argue back with him.

Jimin has my hand in his, walking down some aisles as he takes his time to explain where some important classes are, which according to his words I'd definitely be needing to pin point.

What seems like half an hour of walking about campus goes by surprisingly not painfully, the reason probably being the fact that Jimin is my tour guide. Now we have come to a halt outside of the cafeteria as he tries to fish something from his back pocket which I'm assuming is his phone.

"Uh, why did we stop here? I desperately need a heavy dose of caffeine Jiminie, come on!"

I try to pull him inside but he instead stops me in my tracks, pulling me back to my previous place all while he's successful at getting his cellphone out to reply to some texts.

"Shush beautiful, I've got you covered."

I blink in confusion and open my mouth to protest but he shushes me once more as he texts away using only his one hand seeing as he refuses to let go of mine.

"Okay, who made you the shush master?"

Rolling his eyes at me, Jimin simply awaits for my silence before tucking his phone back in his pocket and speaking up.

"Now if you've had enough, behave cause I want you to meet some very important people."

"Who?"

He drags me by the hand inside the cafeteria, not even making the effort to answer my question. This boy needs to stop dragging me around like I'm some kind of potato sack.

"Curiosity killed the cat." He says that with a mischievous smile. Should I be scared? Whenever Jimin has that particular smile plastered across his face, he's planning something fishy. But since it's not like I have a choice for now I'll just follow.

We seaze in our tracks once more as a group of boys head in our direction.

Well hope in humanity has been restored for me. I've never seen such good looking guys all in one place, totally out of my league too. My mind goes blank. I've been battling with Jimin's beauty for years before I became somewhat used to facing him without reducing years of beating from my poor heart, especially after he went through puberty and came out victorious. But now, face to face with such good looks gathered all in one place I'm starting to question what life is once again as I feel like my heart won't be functioning well if they choose to further linger around us.

Okay, I should calm my tits. I think I'm actually drooling right now.

"Guys! Hey!"

Wait. No. He did not just call out to them. Are these boys the important people I'm supposed to meet? If I knew that I'd have dressed better or maybe applied some make up so that my face wouldn't have have the colour of a corpse.

They see him and speed up their walking. Kill me now or I'll have a stroke I swear. Feels like I've never been in the presence of men before. Well you can't blame me, I certainly haven't been in the presence of godly looking creatures like them. I hastily attempt to fix my unruly curls and look somewhat presentable. Seriously if someone looks our way I'm definitely ruining the picture.

"Hey Jiminie."

Jiminie? I thought only I called him that. Oh wait.. Might they be those friends of his he'd never stop talking about from the day we first met? I beg the whole universe to be them. They look so much different than their childhood pictures Jimin has showed me before, their glow up is insane. Who knew that Jimin would have hidden these rare specimens from me?

"Hyung! Guys! How've you been? Haven't seen you in a while all of you."

I'm actually speechless. It is them. Now if my heart stops beating I'll at least go in bliss.

"Well we just met again at the front gate. We actually haven't seen each other in a long time as well. You know we all kinda came back from our individual vacations a few days ago like you, so we've only talked on the phone when we had our video call a few days ago."

"I see. Well now we can all catch up with each other, we'll be living together so we have all the time we want. Oh by the way, I have gathered the last of my stuff so I can move in today." He says and wraps his one arm casually over the shoulder of the older male.

"Finally!" The other boys all smiled as they exchanged hugs and hand shakes, greeting each other heartily. God-striking beauty is the least I can say about this group before me as I watch their interaction taking place right before my lucky eyes.

Meanwhile I'm just standing here looking at them in awe like some tourist admiring statues at a museum. I'm totally mesmerized by them. And together with Jimin they make a highly hazardous sight. How to have a heart attack 101: 'Look at Jimin's group of friends for more than 5 seconds'. Why am I even standing this close to them? I shouldn't be entitled to. Now all of my self confidence has left the building.

Being lost in my own world I stare into oblivion but I'm pulled back by Jimin suddenly shaking my arm.

"Y/N. Y/N! Are you even listening?" I feel another light tug on my shoulder and blink a few times.

I snap out of my thoughts and turn my head only to see seven beautiful pair of eyes staring at me. And I blush profoundly. Great.

"Ohh yeah. Sorry. I was just a little distracted I guess, haha." I akwardly laugh at myself before covering the dry sound by clearing my throat. Shoot me. Shoot me now. I must be looking like a complete dork.

"Right, well then let me introduce you to my bros. Guys this is my very best 'female' friend Y/N who you all know by now. She's a freshman as well. Y/N, I finally present to you Seokjin hyung, Yoongi hyung, Hoseok hyung, Namjoon hyung, Taehyung and Jungkook."

"Uh, nice to meet you all." I subtly raise my hand to wave in a form of a greeting which in all honesty would look painful from a third point of view. I also don't forget to stutter and say my line in a squeaky voice adding more points to my score of 'wanting to burry myself alive moments' of today. Has all my feminine charm nullified by these boys? What kind of sorcery is this? It's Jimin's power multiplied!

"Oh you're a freshman too, just like our Jungkookie. It's so nice to finally meet you. Jiminie has talked a lot about you!"

The one who's now speaking to me despite me having a man repellent in effect at the moment, whose name is Namjoon if I'm not mistaken, has the cutest pair dimples adorning his smiling cheeks, giving a boyish charm to his bulky exterior.

"Oh has he really? All good stuff I hope."

"Heh, of course all good don't you worry. It's so good to finally see you in the flesh. All we've ever seen are photos of you which, if I'm being honest, do you no justice." The one called Seokjin takes my hand and raises it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the back of it. Did he just compliment me? The version of me before him? I'm dead.

He's seriously good looking. Like, really good looking like, model material good looking. A crimson blush must have adorned my whole face by now but I attempt to pull myself together, all the while I catch out of the corner of my eye Jimin glaring at Seokjin shortly after his action of nobility. Yet he chooses to purse his lips together in a tight line and not comment on it.

"Ahem, likewise! Though, I'm sorry but Jimin has only shown me pictures of you guys when you were little so I couldn't really recognize you from the get go. He's told me a whole lot, but never shown me a recent photo your faces, so I'm a little at a disadvantage here I guess."

"Really? What, were we like a surprise or something Jimin? Or were you ashamed of your friends you little brat? Hmm even if that's the case, no worries love. You'll have all the time in the world to get to know us very well." Does that sound a bit suggestive or what? Whatever, with a face like that he can imply anything he wants.

"I just didn't think it was necessary to show her your ugly faces hyung." Seokjin turns to Jimin and flicks his forehead to which Jimin responds with a loud 'ouch' and I snort in amusement along with the rest of the boys. They surely have interesting dynamics.

"Hehe, Jin hyung's right, we all want to get to know you as well. Jimin has always bragged about you so we were really curious to meet you face to face. Hey, by the way, do you want to see an elephant?"

"A what?" I blink in confusion, thinking it might be some kind of inside joke I'm not aware of or something. As if on queue the grinning boy raises his left sleeve and pinches the skin between two little moles on his arm creating an imaginary shape of an elephant's face.

"I- wha- pffft!" I'm at a complete loss for words at the bizarre yet adorable situation unfolding before me and I can't help but snort, quickly covering my mouth so as to not sound like I'm offending him. It's just that it's such a cutely dumb joke.

"God Tae stop being weird, the poor girl just met us." Though Yoongi -I think that's he's name- says that to probably help me out, I don't really mind Taehyung at all, his apparent weirdness is frankly endearing. But when he tries to complain the older boy slaps him at the back of his head seemingly gently. Huh, I like him too. He seems savage and blunt. He'll be my new spirit animal for sure.

"Sorry about him. He tends to be like that but he means no harm so you'll just have to get used to it. I'm really glad to meet you though. If anyone bothers you make sure to let me know ok? Everyone in this campus kinda fears me so just use my name and you'll most likely have people at your feet." He smirks in confidence and if I was a cartoon my eyes would have turned into stars.

His feline eyes are so sharp giving off the feeling that they could read your very soul with just one look. Another amazing quality. I'll tell him to teach me his ways at some point.

"Err, thank you Yoongi, that might be the best thing anyone has ever offered me so I'll definitely keep that in mind. Don't complain though if I have you cleaning up after me in the future, you can't take it back now. And it's a pleasure to meet you too." I smile cheekily at him trying my best to sound as cool as him.

"Hey. I'm Jungkook, it's so nice to meet you in person Y/N." Jungkook, who's at my age greets me a little shyly, the placement of his palm at the back of neck betraying him. What strikes me about this boy in not only his handsome face but also how sweet he sounds, projecting a gentle nature that resembles Jimin's. The latter has mentioned many times before that the youngest of their group possesses the kindest of hearts and just by looking in his big sparky eyes I can totally back that.

Nonetheless, as I now take a better look at him, his muscles are bigger than my future and his tattoos give him a bad boy exterior which I can't lie, suits him as well. Yet his eyes are almost baby-like, a duality that can be dangerous for the faint hearted, including myself.

Sigh, I'm already going nuts due to these boys. Shit, I need to regain some of my ground.

"Hello Jungkook! Jimin had told me so much about you and since we're in the same year, let's hang out and look out for each other." I offer him my hand politely and he shakes it as a smile forms on his lips making his cute bunny teeth show. Goodness he's gorgeous.

"Oh, s-sure! Of course we should! I'm a man after all, so you can count on me." He flexes his muscles a bit and I think I'm actually drooling. Hmm, maybe that's his own kind of mating call. Should I reciprocate it maybe..? Okay stop Y/N! What is actually wrong with me? Am I this thirsty?

"Uh-huh, yeah sure Kook. You're a man, pfft. More like an oversized Easter bunny." Jimin snorts and rolls his eyes.

They all laugh, teasing the younger boy and I can't hold my chuckles in either. They sure look like they share an amazing bond. It's admirable and I do hope I can bond with them too after I successfully plant the seeds of friendship between us.

"Hey hey, stop laughing, I'm being serious! Y/N don't listen to them, okay? I'm a man of my word."

"Ok ok Jungkook, I believe you. Even if you do look like an oversized, albeit hot, Easter bunny you're still way bigger than me so I'll be counting on you. But you know you can count on me as well, it should work both ways since we'll be friends." I pat his shoulder, already feeling closer to him. His eyes turn even bigger for a second before he clears his throat and peers at me for a moment.

"Oh uh, ahem, here! Jimin hyung told me to get you this." A little blush creeps up on his smooth skin as he hands me a large cup of Starbucks coffee and I swear I can see a halo forming over his head, courtesy of Jimin of course.

"Oh my, thank you so much, you're a star Jungkook!" I receive the coffee from him and take a sip, happier now that I find it's black, exactly how I prefer it. I pat Jungkook's head in gratitude before turning to my best friend not being able to see the maknae's reaction.

"And of course thank you too Jiminie, you're my life saver!" I reach up to place a little peck on his cheek to which he smiles brightly and rubs my back in circles.

"You're welcome beautiful. You didn't think I'd leave you like that, did you?" To answer his question I turn my head sideways quickly making him chuckle at my vigorous denial.

"Ahem. Well Y/N, as you can probably tell Jimin hyung has already assigned me as your personal bodyguard. He wouldn't stop calling me all summer to remind me again and again that I'll have to chase away every possible threat towards you. I swear, he was acting like an overprotective mother." The robust boy smiles slyly, taking his revenge as Jimin told him off. Hehe, he seems like such a tease. I already love him.

"Oh I can totally back that up! Jiminie wouldn't stop pestering poor Kook and had him memorize a list of duties and a strict protocol he has to follow around you." Hoseok shakes his as he pats the maknae's shoulders morally supporting him making the rest agree.

"Hey! Y'all making me sound like I put Kook through a military training camp. Y/N, pay their words no heed, they're actually tripping. I've only mentioned it like, once or twice."

Before I could answer and voice out my doubts, cause I know how Jimin can be, Taehyung beats me to it.

"Right.. Sure, keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better Jiminie." Then out of nowhere they both start bickering back and forth making me speechless as to how quickly they broke out an argument and thank goodness Namjoon immediately swoops in to tell them off for being immature.

"Ahem, well either way I've already accepted the role so no worries Y/N. I've endured extensive training for this!"

I can only giggle at Jungkook pumping up his chest and deepening his voice to look more manly which only makes him look cuter. Sure he's muscular but his adorable face makes it hard for me to not coo at him.

Overall, they are such a funny and sweet group, their interactions and divergence of characters creating a unique overture of interactions between them. At least that's what I'm sensing from this first impression of them which makes me look forward to getting to know them even more in depth.

After a while of talking and making fun of each other, Jimin interrupts our little get-to-know-each-other session.

"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt this beautiful family meeting but it's almost time for class. We have to get going now. Junkookie I'm leaving Y/N in your care so don't disappoint me." Jimin makes the 'I'll be watching you' gesture, while Jungkook rolls his eyes and to me. Before walking away he offers one last reassuring smile and squeeze of my hand. He doesn't fail to whisper 'you'll do great' in my ear before heading towards the opposite direction with Hoseok and Taehyung who also bit the rest of us goodbye for now. Frankly, now that I met them all, my nervousness levels are reduced to almost zero.

"You can count on me hyung!" Jungkook yells at Jimin while saluting him in a military way making everyone laugh.

"So, err, hey Y/N, what are you majoring in?" He asks while peering at me with those doe eyes of his. 

"Music and performance. You?"

"Sweet, we are in the same majors! That means we'll have the same classes. Ah, I'm so glad we're classmates. That way I won't have to go through the pain of talking to others."

"Are you inside my mind or something? I just thought about the very same thing! I too am so glad we share the same mood. We shall head to class while proudly ignoring everyone else!" I snort and lift my head up decisively.

"Aye aye captain, lead the way! Guys we'll meet later." He goes along with my joke before waving at the rest. 

"Sure. Have a great time little ones." Seokjin, the eldest, waves back and I catch him winking at me. Sigh. He's so handsome I wanna pluck my eyes out so my lonely ass won't look at him and cry internally cause he must surely have a girlfriend. More likely I'd be surprised unless all of them did. Well all except Jimin. I'm still baffled as to why he's been single for like two years now.

Ahh.. The first day of uni life has yet to begin, but I've already gone through a whiplash.

I shake the intrusive thoughts off and quickly wave to the three remaining boys before we head to our respective classes. I think I Namjoon with Yoongi leave together, Seokjin goes on by himself and of course myself along with Jungkook start making our way down one of the aisles Jimin walked me through previously, never ceasing our very indulging conversations.

❖ ── ✦ ── ◈ • • • ❀ ❖ ❀ • • • ◈ ── ✦ ── ❖

next

@graydolan12

[coraniaid]

Made a list of my favorite episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by the order in which they aired in their respective seasons (that is: my favorite episode 1 across all seven seasons, favorite episode 2 across all seven seasons and so on). Much easier to do for some positions than others, I found. Episodes 1, 7, 16, 17 and 22 are probably the episode numbers with the most high quality episodes, while

When She Was Bad [I could have picked from any of five different episodes here, really: the season opener is usually very strong]

Real Me [I think the only competition is Bargaining Part 2 but that two-parter works better as a single episode; Real Me is morally the season opener of Season 5 anyway, I'd argue]

School Hard [obviously I was tempted to pick Faith's debut episode but I think this one is a bit stronger, simply because Kakistos himself is the sort of one-note villain like the Anointed One which School Hard was supposed to be moving past]

Fear Itself [here I was tempted to pick Help, just so Season 7 wouldn't feel left out of the list making process, but frankly Season 7 deserves to be ostracized a little]

Homecoming [on another day I might have chosen No Place Like Home (or even Never Kill A Boy On The First Date if I was really trying to be contrarian, but I think we all know I'd be wrong)]

Family [I think this is a pretty easy choice to be honest; Band Candy is fun, sure, but it's not as central to its season themes as this one]

Revelations [this was hard though! lots of good Episode 7s]

Lovers Walk [it's this or Tabula Rasa, right? and it's not Tabula Rasa]

The Wish [again, this seems a pretty simple choice; I suspect Something Blue might be the more popular option more generally, but not on my list]

Hush [another easy choice, and to be honest I don't even like Hush as much as some people do]

Out of Mind, Out of Sight [oh, look, a Season 1 episode. Those are rare; not a huge amount of competition here either although I suppose maybe Ted would be my choice on a different day]

Prophecy Girl [... maybe not that rare? I think I like Prophecy Girl a bit more than the average person and I like Helpless quite a lot less, and I'm not really sure what the other options would even be here]

Dead Things [feel a bit guilty about not picking Surprise but I really like this episode and the Season 2 Jenny retcon really doesn't hold up]

Innocence [another surprisingly easy choice; I don't think there's even an obvious second place here]

Consequences [this was trickier though; I really do like This Year's Girl a lot]

Who Are You? [a lot of good episode 16s as well! I think The Body is comfortably a top five episode but it doesn't have Sarah Michelle Gellar as Faith beating up Eliza Dushka as Buffy in a church while screaming through tears about how much she hates herself, so...]

Passion [also a lot of good episode 17s too, actually (and only one really, really, really bad episode 17, which I won't dignify by naming)]

Earshot [another pretty easy decision; this is, I think, pretty easily Jane Espenson's best episode]

I Only Have Eyes For You [I like Choices quite a lot but this isn't a hard decision either]

The Prom [I think a lot of episode 20s are actually quite bad; by contrast The Prom is the start of the arguably the best run of three consecutive episodes in the show's history (and maybe it's even Marti Noxon's best episode?)]

Graduation Day (Part 1) [this is the second of that run of three episodes I praised above; I think the obvious/only competition is Becoming (Part 1) but -- while I think Becoming (Part 2) is a little better than Graduation Day (Part 2) -- I think the first part of the Season 3 finale is better than the respective Season 2 episode]

Restless [not quite my favorite episode of the whole show, but I think the episode it would be easiest to defend as objectively the show's best; again, there is an absurd amount of competition here]

So, looking over that list, that's two Season 1 episodes, five Season 2 episodes, eight Season 3 episodes, four Season 4 episodes, two Season 5 episodes, one Season 6 episode and no Season 7 episodes. Which doesn't quite reflect how I'd rank the seasons overall (I think Season 5, as an attempt at a single overarching story and not just a collection of isolated episodes, is quite significantly better than Season 4; and I think Season 6 is better and more thematically consistent than Season 4 too, even if it doesn't have the same high points as that season) but it doesn't feel totally off base either.

I think every season has its run of good and bad episodes and I guess those runs line up a little more often than I'd realized. The two episodes of Season 1 that made it onto the list are really the only episodes of that season that could have plausibly made it, while there were several episodes from Season 5 and Season 6 (and even two or three from Season 7) that just had the bad luck of going up against really stiff competition.

[noemitenshi]

I can’t really get my head around what Troy would be like in a relationship, the man loves to push boundaries yet seems to get obsessive about people and want to please them 🤔 what do you think?

Oh what a fun (but also difficult) question to answer haha. As I've written over 500k words of Troy in relationships I've put quite some thought into it and I'm not too sure I can distill all of that. Or, well, I'm sure I'll forget to mention things ^^0 But I'll give it my very best!

The most crucial part I think, about Troy's behavior in a relationship is that it is very much dependent on his partner(s). He will let himself be molded, even if the partner doesn't intend to, you know, do that. Like, if the partner likes to be pushed around (😉) he's gonna do that gleefully. If the partner likes to push him around (all in good fun though. I mean, I think he'd also let himself be pushed around NOT in good fun but let's not go there for our peace of mind), he's gonna fold and be into it. So in a sense he'll always follow his partner's lead (no matter if the partner is more dominant or submissive leaning (and those terms don't necessarily need to describe Dominants and Submissives…)).

Furthermore I do think, once he realizes (or is made to realize - mayhaps by a frantic kiss) he is in love, he'll be all in. I think I said this once before (and I'll probably say it again) but Troy seems like the type to move incredible fast to deepen a relationship. It probably stems from the emotional abuse and neglect he has suffered his whole life - so once someone gives him even a smidgen of that he's gonna be addicted to it. He's not gonna let go of that and do anything to get more of it, frankly. Maybe there's even a time, in the beginning of the romantic relationship, where he is kinda playing pretend. See, he could never be what his parents and his brother wanted him to be (mostly bc his parents were abusive drunks and because his brother doesn't understand him and the black sheep position the family put Troy in, instead reinforces it), so he always felt like he was coming up short, like he didn't have the ability to do things right. And probably doubly so the first time he finds himself in a romantic relationship. So he's gonna act in a way he thinks people act when in such a relationship. Probably ignoring his own boundaries in the process and I really do hope his partner knows him well enough to get that something is wrong and ask him about it otherwise that one could end badly (=turn easily into a toxic relationship).

Now I seem to have written quite a bit about the wants to please people part of your ask haha (you see, I agree, he does want to do that, badly. Needs to, I'd argue, even) but not so much about the pushing people (I have a whole seperate post about that btw, maybe give that a look to, HERE). So, the post in short. With all people he interacts he likes to push boundaries to a) get to know them better, get to know what sets them off (since he's always lived in a VERY unstable environment with both his parents being erratic and abusive due to drunkenness) additionally, this gives him a sense of control (b)) - he controls when they get angry. That's what his pushing is about. I assume that if someone enters a romantic relationship with Troy they already have found a way to handle that part of him. And honestly, I think the best way to handle this is to show him respect. Like, sure, call him out on that, don't let him bullshit you but not meanly (=not like Jake). And even beyond the whole pushing thing, I think if Troy is treated with respect, generally speaking, this antagonistic nature in him receeds. He doesn't feel like he needs to be on guard the whole time so there's no need to set people off haha. Or not as much. Mostly in a teasing way (I think he doesn't ever lose it completely, but it changes its meaning, the pushing boundaries. I think he'll learn AND respect which boundaries are, you know, actual boundaries he shouldnt touch and which ones he can poke a little uh fun at).

So, I think a romantic relationship has the potential to be VERY GOOD for Troy (the same btw is true for a HEALTHY platonic one - which we also didn't see him having thus far. He just needs for someone to take his pain and rage and himself serious and be kind and respectful to him. Don't think ANYONE has ever done that, sadly enough). It has potential to allow him to grow into himself and become more confident in the type of person he is. And it naturally would curb this need for erratic behavior. HOWEVER a romantic relationship could also lead to Troy kinda losing himself in it. He's very emotionally vulnerable as we see in his relationship with Madison in s3 (and also lack of meaningful and reciprocal(!) relationships with anyone else) so it would be relatively easy for him to end up in a toxic relationship.

No matter what, I think Troy is gonna be fiercly loyal, protective and affectionate in such a relationship. Needy, I like to call him too since he's been touch- and attention-starved all his life. So my advice to potential suitors would be HANDLE WITH CARE.

I hope I answered your question to your satisfaction. If there is something I missed or something you'd like me to expand on, just shoot me another ask :) Thanks for the ask and have a great day 🧡

[hyperfocuscentre]

giving disney princesses godly parents 'cause i'm bored

RAPUNZEL: I feel like Apollo is probably the most obvious option. She has a talent for singing and is incredibly creative: she sews her own outfits, makes candles and paints every blank space on her walls with colourful depictions of the things she sees and dreams of. Not even mentioning the healing powers. With the ungodly amount of time she had trapped in that tower, I'm gonna guess (using all the scenes of her completing her MANY hobbies) that she has a lot of knowledge of the most random shit. Also, the whole single drop of sunlight thing. I suppose you could also argue Asclepius as her parent, since she did manage to bring Eugene back to life but I'm gonna stick with Apollo.

MERIDA: So, not a godly parent but I'm counting it.. She'd be a Hunter of Artemis. The events of the entire movie are ripples caused by the rock that is Merida's refusal to get married (she's so aromantic, I love her). She'd much preferred to spend her time out in nature, shooting her arrows and doing everything that isn't expected of her as a princess. Again, I think it's pretty easy to place her.

MULAN: Okay, so my first thought was Ares. She's courageous and a brilliant fighter; an inexperienced woman surrounded by assumably-more-experienced men, yet she manages to be better than basically all of them. She's a victor of war. Maybe Mars, since I believe he's basically the more controlled and less brutal version of Ares? (atleast in HOO, anyway). You could also say Athena, she's strategic and seems to easily come up with strong plans mid action (the disguise herself as a man, the avalanche, the men disguise themself as women, the fan, the diy zipline. There's probably more that I've forgot). Maybe there's other obvious options but I'm lazy and sticking with my first thoughts but I'd be happy to hear other ideas.

MOANA: So, Poseidon was the first thought, for obvious reasons. She's got the whole connection with water and a longing to sail the seas that's linked towards her heritage, culture and it's history. Maybe, she's like Frank, a descendant of Poseidon with a family that's always seemed to be connected to the sea god (minus the shapeshifting powers, obviously). You could also link her to Palaemon, who I don't know much about so feel free to correct me, the protector of sailors (I believe he is a sea deity, or atleast thats what I read??). Choosing a greek deity for Moana is low-key hard cause she already has dieties (is that a word??) within her story so I'm gonna leave it at that because why not.

AURORA: So, most people's minds probably jumped to Hypnos immediately 'cause she's.. well.. sleeping beauty. Or maybe even Aphrodite 'cause, again, sleeping beauty. I can't argue against that because those are very valid ideas, though I'm more for daughter of Aphrodite than Hypnos because the whole sleep thing wasn't something she willingly wanted and was actually just tricked into doing. My mind kind of went to Pan- if thats possible- because I distinctly remember a scene with her in the woods, connecting with woodland creatures/wild (I don't know anything about this movie, help).

SNOW WHITE: Okay so I'm gonna say Aphrodite and leave it at that because I remember NOTHING about this movie other than her step-mother or someone wanted her dead for the absolutely treacherous act of being prettier.

ANNA, my beloved: Definitely not the most obvious option, but I want to go with Aphrodite again. She has an obsession with romance, she's desperate to be loved and feel love. She wants the butterflies, the pounding heart, the hand holding and the warm expanding feeling in her chest when she sees her lover. She literally tries to marry a man she just met. I also love this idea because it goes against almost every stereotype of a child of Aphrodite; she's a fighter, fierce and easily capable of defending herself; she isn't weak or helpless. She's one of the few princesses who gets the man whilst still being presented as a total badass. Furthermore, she loves so strongly in non-romantic ways too. She constantly stands at that door, trying to reconnect with a sister who suddenly refuses to talk to her. She SACRIFICES herself for that same sister.

ELSA: Boreas, he's the god of winter and ice. She has ice powers. I can't be bothered trying to think of a less obvious option but feel free to tell me about one that comes to your mind.

ARIEL: Triton. It's literally canon.

BELLE: Minerva is probably a very obvious option, if she can have kids the same way Athena did (can't remember). Belle values books and knowledge, the wisdom that comes with reading. She feels like the type of girl who would love to go to school and Minerva is supposedly the goddess of that. I'd like to be a bit less obvious and probably a lot more wrong (oh well) so I'm gonna also say one of the Muses is a possible option. Wikipedia tells me they were considered goddesses of literature, science and the arts. If I had to pick one I'd pick Erato probably, the muse of love poetry since, if my memory serves me correctly, Belle was reading a romance??

CINDERELLA: Maybe the child of Hestia? That is, if Hestia decided one day to throw away her oath of virginity or found a way to have kids without that. I'm not sure entirely why, it's just a vibe. Maybe favoured by Hera, since a marriage literally saved her from a life of abuse? I don't remember much of this movie, whoops.

I have absolutely no idea for anyone else and I give up so take what you have been given! Thanks to anyone who actually stuck with me and read through all this.

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S02E13 - In Pod We Trust

This is a serious episode. Somewhat.

I can't get over the fact that they all want to listen to true crime podcast when not only are they with the police but they deal with murders all the time.

What the hell, dude? Do you not have a home?

Rex: I don't know what the fuck a podcast is but it allows me to eat Charlie's burger while he's distracted so it must be good.

Me neither. Although, in S3 we learn that Charlie had followed the news of a case of a notorious serial killer when he was like in high school, so I guess it's the true crime aspect of it.

"How did he get up there? That dog is a ninja". You haven't seen anything yet.

This is a better cops-done-wrong episode than the one that was written during the BLM movement period. The latter was basically trying to placate the audience and was presenting cops reacting unrealistically as they find out that they're part of the problem, coming off as disingenuous. Cops would not react that way. Still, it's Hudson and Rex, so I don't expect much of a balanced script in terms of that, and I've seen other (bigger and more expensive) crime shows go off the deep end when when the time came to write such episodes. They do try to handle difficult issues respectfully, I'll give them that. However, this is still a cop show. I mean, if you're ashamed that you're making a cop show... don't make it?

lol Jesse saying that the case files from 20 years ago haven't been digitized because they're ancient, in front of Joe who was already a cop back then. "I think you've just bought yourself a one-way ticket to those ancient archives". That's fair.

"I went [to the crime scene] to make sure that you didn't bury the truth, again". There's a misunderstanding. See, Charlie is a good white cop™.

Hi, Vicky, who later got a redemption storyline a lot of characters would have dreamed of.

Rex, huh?

Protestors using the imaginative slogan "Do your jobs". Awful. Do yours, writers.

"But... But... they still love me, right?"

Joe: "We have to be really careful with the optics on this one". You've put an innocent in jail, I think you should care more about that.

She totally said SJDP instead of SJPD. Oops.

Dude, I know Charlie is white but you don't have to tell him a hundred times that this case is a hot potato.

"If you come peacefully, you'll be treated fairly," he says to a man who was wrongly incarcerated for 20 years!

Booking the black guy, releasing the white police guy. I mean... I'd have asked the question too.

Well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. You can argue and have tension for like 5 minutes. It won't kill you guys.

Yeah, I wouldn't trust him just for that. I mean, that was 20 years ago. During which Joe continued climbing the ranks inside the police, which means that he could have easily stopped caring about justice more than he could afford to.

This show's attempts to write some of the jargon and phrases that would otherwise be said in a proper police procedural but can't be said on this "family show" is hilarious. I assume we can't say "ass"? Like, I have no issue believing the actress in her role, I think she's good, but the dialogue...

Enjoying Charlie's on-screen suffering once again.

Joe, like 10 minutes ago: We have to be careful about the optics in this case. Charlie: Nah, I have a murder to solve.

I bet Charlie is reminiscing the good old days where suspects were intimidated by the police right about now.

"You think I murdered Ty for ratings?" People have killed for 20 bucks.

Police corruption in the SJPD is rampant. The only clean cops are our cops lol

Okay, you need at least a second paperclip, amateur. Also, in the second shot, the paperclip is not blue.

I like that line. And she's partially right. Except for the whole murder thing.

I can't help thinking that Joe was right not to get involved further back then. That way, he kept his job, he survived a toxic environment, and even managed to rise to a rank where he can now make an actual difference. And he kept his soul. I'm sure if we were to delve deeper into it, we'd have seen the cost of that on his conscience, but it still led him to where he is now. And where he is now is not a bad place. Camilla cannot understand any of that because she hasn't been nor will she ever be in that position.

Well, turns out they did all this for nothing as Tyler had recorded his own confession and it just arrived to Phoebe a few days after solving the case.

Yeah... I don't think Romeo would want to see a cop within a hundred yards ever again. But we have to get our happy cheesy ending.

[crossleft]

**VEILGUARD SPOILERS**

Finished the game last night and had some thoughts. Overall I really enjoyed it! Would definitely recommend playing it but it's also fun to nitpick lol.

Did my standard first run where I go in as blind as possible playing a dwarven warrior. Went with the Warden background because duh and it was really solid, seems like they referenced it a lot throughout so interested to see how other origins will go. Don't think I missed too too much but I know for sure I accidentally missed at least one mission when I saved Treviso too early...anyways:

As usual dwarves got the short end of the stick (hah punny). 18 codex entries to the 43 elven ones and roughly half were just letters and stuff from Lace to her mom, hell one of them was just about the basics of the fucking chantry! Seriously?? I romanced Lace so I don't mind the letters much but damn yall couldn't do more with the deep roads or with Kal-Sharok? Entire chunks of lore breezed over like nothing, and having the thaig and the titan only being one off missions where you can't even go back to the area was the cherry on top. Disappointed but unsurprised.

Liked the companions, overall no big complaints. Up until the end where you find out he's dead the whole Varric always being in bed and not super upset about Bianca being destroyed thing definitely threw me off so that was a big surprise.

Taash was fun think I'll romance them next play through but acting like Qunari are weird about gender after very specifically having Bull say it's no big deal was a bizarre writing choice.

I liked it but Laces romance felt a little underwhelming, curious to how it'll stack up to the others.

Davrin/Assan and Lucanis/Spite were perfect no notes on them, keep up the good work lol.

Bellara felt kinda like they were trying to redo Merrill, which like...ok...then why not just bring back Merrill at that point? And the stuff with her brother felt very paint by numbers. She felt underwritten I guess idk.

Emmerich was a fun surprise since I went in blind I was expecting a standard evil/gloomy necromancer but he ended up being one of my favorite characters. Went the Lich route out of curiosity but haaaate that Fred got killed, for sure keeping him around next time.

Neve grew on me a little by the end but she was overall my least favorite. Felt like someone's OC getting shoehorned in with a bunch of cannon characters. Like the entire first half of the game she and other companions will allude to cases and interesting sounding stories but never expound on them. Every time Rook talks to her she's like "oh it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you some day 😏" then proceeds to never tell it lmao. Maybe it's alluding to comics or something I haven't seen but again, coming in blind it just made her a very boring 2D character outside of the eventual romance with Lucanis which I liked a lot.

Gameplay reminded me a lot of ME3 but with swords. Pretty low bar but as far as a dragon age game goes I'd argue it was easily the best combat in the series.

Leveling system was fine, nothing inspiring. Not the biggest fan of the companion leveling but being able to respec easily with no cost balanced it out.

Inventory was great, massive improvement over all the prior games. I really liked how stuff levels itself up and being able to change appearances easily and early was awesome. Wish you could do a little more with companion armor but that's not really a big deal and they all had decently broad options.

Was worried about only having 2 party members but it worked pretty well I thought. Between that and the bond system it does a good job encouraging swapping them out more. Felt like a lot more ambient dialog too which was a good touch.

Crows retconning into basically a mob family was...a choice. I kind of get it though and imo you can headcannon them being so different as chalked up to Zev having come in and made big changes over the years. Is what it is.

Was initially kinda pissed about the loss of prior choices but having played it now I think they did ok. Bringing the inquisitor in and getting their letters still made it feel like those choices mattered. And like in game it's been years and it all happened in other countries, it makes sense for a lot of that to be old news that most people don't discuss especially given the drama of their own current events. Would have still been nice to get a few codex entries at least.

Bringing Morrigan back felt like a bad choice to me. She's my cannon origins romance and they changed her up a bit too much post inquisition. Like where is Kieren? Where is the HoF? She doesn't mention them and nobody asks?? Just weird. Hot take but her taking Mythal's knowledge made perfect sense for her character, she always sought knowledge like that and her main objection with Flemmeth was that she would be taken over. So now she gets the knowledge and also keeps her mind, classic Morrigan work around imo.

Didn't like the direction they went with the Antaam. Had potential but making them all faceless with super deep voices felt overly dehumanizing. And them going in with elven gods made zero sense at all, like their leadership doing it secretly sure but there at the end why the hell would those footsoldiers follow them like that when they are so distrustful of magic?

Loooooved the Wardens but what's with the changes to the blight? My headcannon is the gods have made it more directed so that's why it's not infecting people so indiscriminately. But based on prior knowledge literally every non Warden character and most npc should be dead or darkspawn waaay before the end of the game. Doesn't feel like they explained it very well. Digging the new darkspawn look though, best appearance change since Origins.

Dorian, Isabella, and Solas felt very in character, no big notes on them.

Hawke not being mentioned unfortunately makes sense to me. They were pretty important 20 years ago in one city on the other side of the continent. Think of it like this, without looking it up who was the mayor of the next city over from you in 2004? They were important but why would you bring them up now decades later to people who have no way of knowing them, even if you were buds with them back then. Varric is the only one who might but he's kinda dead the entire game so again makes sense you don't hear about Hawke

Gifts are back! :) wish there was more than 1 per companion I'm trying to redecorate yalls rooms lol.

Why are there random Wardens telling everyone about the joining????? Just casually too like what the hell yall this is supposed to be secret and you're saying "wow this shitty ale reminds me of the joining where I drank darkspawn blood magically enhanced with archdemon blood" BRO??? SHUT UP this shit is top secret what the fuck???

Liked the redesign on spirits with the sole caviat that I liked rage demons as sentient lava...them having legs feels weird

Super minor gripe but why is the special dwarf armor just like form fitting stone abs now??? The bad ass blocky tank look was so cool! The elven armor having form fitting feet and stuff fits the culture why would dwarves do that? Wouldn't know since there's barely any lore on Kal-Sharok 🙃

Kal-Sharok being set up as this mysterious, secluded, hyper competent thaig where they likely formed their own society of impromptu Wardens cut off from Thedas for hundreds of years was fascinating. They expounded on this precisely not at all....bro why. EVERY thaig gone but them and traditional Orzammar and they only survived because they changed! Seemingly still in touch with Titans, was this only since Valta connected or sooner?? Such a cool story and they didn't do shit with it? After 10 years!? Losing my mind dude they just refuse to do anything with this lore and it's so fucking frustrating.

Aaaaanywho starting a second playthrough. Going with a rouge elf shadow dragon, gonna romance Taash. Probably do a qunari mage next playthrough but we'll see. Curious to see anyone else's thoughts but mostly this is to vent mine.

[thesoftboiledegg]

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about "I Know What You Did Last Xmas" because the holiday episodes were some of my least favorites from the original run. They're not bad; I just didn't care for them and figured this would be Evil Santa Part 3. But nope--this is easily my favorite Futurama Christmas episode.

What first struck me was this episode's cuteness. The whole crew getting their own stockings with tiny stockings for Amy's kids and Nibbler's worms was cute. The Planet Express armor making the building look like a gingerbread house was cute. Fry sitting with Amy's kids and looking at Amy and Kif with teary eyes was adorable, and showing his childlike nature is a good contrast to the "Haha, this guy is so dumb" jokes.

When everyone left for the holidays, I thought "Really? Fry just forgot about Bender?" But then I thought "Well, this is still Futurama, the characters are going to be a little dismissive of each other."

Nope, that wasn't the case. Fry and Leela realized their mistake, and the whole crew came back to Planet Express to surprise Bender and Zoidberg.

The Fox and Comedy Central runs could be cynical and mean-spirited--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the popularity of wholesome shows, such as Bob's Burgers and Ted Lasso, shows that audiences are tired of "edgy" TV. People want to see characters being nice to each other.

So, the Futurama writers adapted to the times. The series still has dark humor so that it doesn't get cutesy, but the Planet Express crew isn't a group of coworkers as much as it's a found family. Leela helps Amy raise her kids and Fry hangs out with them; Fry, Leela and Bender all live together; the whole crew is sad when they think Nibbler's about to lose his intelligence; even Bender and Zoidberg start liking each other.

One thing I liked about the Comedy Central run was the unusual pairings (Bender and Hermes, Amy and Nibbler), so I enjoyed seeing Bender and Zoidberg getting in trouble together. I never thought about the fact that neither of them has a biological family. That and the fact that they're both "losers" (one a sad loser, the other an angry loser) gave them something to bond over.

Their personalities blend together so well that I'm surprised it took them this long to team up. I loved their crazy schemes to get rid of Evil Santa's body, like trying to flush him down the toilet--yeah, good luck with that one.

I also LOVED the Disenchantment cameo. I don't get all the lukewarm reviews, but that's another story. It's the freshest show I've seen in a while.

Overall, this is one of Futurama's best "feel good" episodes. The characters still argue and tease each other, but the writing hits emotional notes even while Bender and Zoidberg are killing Robot Santa and trying to hide the body. Bender let his guard down around Zoidberg of all people. If he can do that, maybe the rest of the crew can be a little more open and affectionate, too.

[the-gayest-show]

It's a little disheartening to see people disrespecting Molly's decision to sacrifice what she had with Scratch in order for him to have his life back. I’m not sure if detractors of the series finale truly understand Molly as a character.

Literally the thoughts in my head! I'd seen a couple of those posts and thought to reply to them somehow but couldn't figure out a way to get to all of them, so this ask should do it...

The message has been there the whole time. In Libby's exposition, she mentions the quote from maya angelou: "What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good." I believe this sums up scratch's arc and molly's (i will get into it later) to a T. He shut himself off from the world for years before molly met him, and was very afraid to take risks or do anything new (this is seen in episodes like All Systems No, where the whole point is scratch literally saying no to things and molly always saying yes to things). And probably other s1 and s2 episodes but none are actively on my mind rn. Him leaving to take risks was practically necessary, living out his life IS necessary because he couldn't bring himself to do so before but now he can.

Scratch needed to do something. We find out he's a wraith and then what? He can't just live outside his body knowing full well that he has a body and knows of its existence! I guess the main point argued was that he didn't have to be scrubbed of memory... I'd like to bring up a tweet that involves Bill's reasoning for choosing this path https://twitter.com/InevitablyBill/status/1746595852138008750 (it's a thread btw, take a read, i love it so much!). At the end of the day, imagine this: he goes into his human body, stays with the mcgees... maybe he meets adia... but isn't the whole point that he knew adia for years, even as a child, and wanted to come with her, but his anxiety/depression always got the better of him? Isn't the whole point that he needs to leave, he can't stay forever! You could argue "he fit so perfectly fine with the mcgees! it makes their friendship pointless like this!" but the real question of the day is: why do you think he isn't a mcgee anymore? just because he forgot them (define forgot since he subconsciously remembers stuff)? family is forever. It's in your soul! I've met some wonderful people (adults and kids alike) that have semi-made me into the person I am today. Chosen family comes and goes, sometimes it stays a while and then leaves. I still feel sad for losing touch with people I thought would stay forever...But that DOES NOT make it any less worthwhile. It's what molly said: "If you don't remember me, at least you'll remember that." The things he learnt weren't erased. He didn't "forget them", not really. Because if he did he'd be right back at square one, being all "I don't need friends!" and "Being good's for suckers!" and now that would make everything pointless.

Molly has trauma. Valid point, but I raise you this: She chose to let go. She fully understood the risks even as scratch pointed them out, and despite everything. Just as easily she could've said that it was ok and he didn't have to go back, but she didn't.

This show is heavily grounded in reality for something based on silly ghosty adventures. Why can't someone leave? Because of plot? Shit happens anyways, trauma or no trauma, and if anything, molly isn't alone. Molly originally clung to scratch as a forever friend because she didn't want to be alone. She isn't alone now though! She's got Libby! She's got Ollie and June! She's got Geoff as well (technically), so she's not completely done for!

[nineteenthmay]

Something that bothers me about a lot of Dair stans and is part of the reason why I don't like Dair as much (even though apart from the fandom I realized on rewatch Dan and his ships are more problematic than I thought) is how they co-otp Serena's abuse from Chuck and pretend to care about the issue and her when they generally don't care as much or are ignorant but ignore how emotionally abusive Dan was to her by verbally degrading her, especially later, and will hate on her outside of that and act like the abuser was all her and exaggerate how good he is cause he comes off better than Chuck. They also lie so much about canon that I've had to distance myself to keep brain cells. Like for instance they often claim Serena in 6x4 said Dan enjoyed being part of the sex tape even though she used present tense and was talking about him enjoying writing slanderous articles about close ones:

S: Wow, I can't believe I ever loved someone who could write such awful things about his friends and family.

D: Right, 'cause you were thinking about my feelings when you made that sex tape.

S: You know what? The worst part is you actually seem to be enjoying it.

They also ignore that Dan committed a sex crime by posting a picture of Serena's tits being visible when they were 15 and the few that do acknowledge claim he can't be blamed for it cause it's OOC for his character and "Gossip Girl reveal" was a last minute decision while blaming Serena for the sex tape which can easily be argued as OOC, which I believe to be less in character than Dan. That logic is faulty to me cause Dan slept with a girl that he knew roofied her multiple times while already drunk and tried to have an adult force himself on her and record a sex tape that she tried to blackmail her over. Yeah after Serena found out they had sex at NYU she told Dan she was ok as long as he's happy and keeping her at a distance cause Georgie had issues but he got his dick wet the first time without finding out Serena's feelings. And he was a serial cheater so cheating again was unsurprising. But because he committed a sex crime with the picture I'd say whatever sex he had with Serena before she found out about GG was dubious consent as argued for the sex tape case but I've never seen anyone call out fuckboy Dan for the questionable consent. Also Dan was said to kiss her while giving her wine in 3x22 despite the emotional state she was in because of being in a low place with her dad and family, Nate, Jenny, etc and the fact that he knew in addition to her mental health she had a history of substance abuse and poor decision making or getting taken advantage of by adults under those circumstances that she often agonized over and I feel it's worth mentioning that Serena was the first and also more in expressing guilt over what happened that Dan was quick to take personal offense and even while guilty and depressed she tried to reassure him. I don't understand how Dair fans can claim Chuck/Jenny was noncon because of her emotional state when Chuck was in a similar state (it'd be more credible if that wasn't the case) but ignore that Dan was mentally stable unlike Serena when he kissed her and immediately flirted when she showed regret. They also lie that Serena made him drink even though I doublechecked the ep and she never asked or told or handed him a drink; he was already shown drinking cause it was a party. What Serena did was bad, but unlike him who posted her picture for the world she had the decency to delete the video although Georgina unfortunately stole her phone and found it in her recently deleted and was shamed before and after the tape was released and she apologized to Blair the tape and admitted she "acted really badly" out of insecurity. She should've apologized to Dan too but then again he didn't apologize to anyone for the picture and romanticized it as getting power to move up and had the moral high ground the whole time and said Serena manipulated him as if he didn't manipulate her and he barely called out Georgina after she released the tape but tormented Serena and acted like she was the biggest attention whore. Found it weird how Dan was happy he was getting female attention from the tape while Serena wasn't happy about being hypersexualized over his GG post. I like Serena better cause she didn't act like she was morally superior to him while hiding her skeletons to him. Dan is a terrible boyfriend, terrible brother, and terrible writer and I don't like Chuck either, but I hate how fans shame others for who they like and act like Dan is a better person than he actually is.

I assume that this the same message split in two parts, so I put it together. :)

What can I say? I think those dair fans you discuss here have some alternative series going in their head, they don't understand what they watch, they don't understand the characters and they only care about their own fantasies that have little to do with the actual series. It's useless to argue with these folks and I can only recommend to ignore them and enjoy what you like.

Obviously I like Chuck better than Dan for many reasons. One reason is that Chuck had more character development than any other character and his character demonstrated uplifting trajectory. I think it's often forgotten that Gossip Girl is a coming of age story, when we first meet the main characters they are teenagers and by the end of the story they are adults in their early twenties. By the rules of the genre, they are supposed to have issues, to make mistakes, to learn along the way, to grow up, to mature, to fix their issues. And Chuck did just that. He owned his wrongs and mistakes, admitted them, learned from them, felt remorse, worked on his issues, and that all helped him to make his life better, to grow up, to become more stronger, mentally more stable and to not repeat his wrongdoings. If we compare Chuck in Season 1 and Chuck in Season 6, we can see the difference and how much he has matured, like we don't see him doing anymore desperate and crazy actions he was prone to do earlier under similar circumstances.

With Dan it's opposite. His story, for me, is about moral degradation. Like, Dan, although not without his flaws, in Season 1 is more likable, than older Dan in Season 6 where he throws temper tantrums left and right and blames everybody but himself for his troubles. And don't even get me started with Dan's career as Gossip Girl. I don't accept the argument "the Gossip Girl reveal was random and ooc and we will ignore it", first, because I don't think that making Dan Gossip Girl was a random decision, second, because however poorly it was executed, Dan being Gossip Girl is the series' canon and should be taken into account discussing his character. But even without the Gossip Girl matter (for which, btw, he didn't feel any remorse or regret, but instead congratulated himself smugly in the finale like for a well-done job), Dan had plenty of flaws, wrongdoings and mistakes. But more often than not, and the series nearing its end, he refused to admit them. Like that bit of a dialogue between Serena and Dan regarding the sex tape is actually very characteristic to Dan. Did Serena wrong by filming them having sex? Yes, she did, she shouldn't have done that. Does it make ok Dan writing those articles? No, it doesn't, Dan is doing wrong as well. Furthermore, Serena didn't force him to have sex with her, it was his decision as well. Yet, Dan refuses to take any responsibility for it and admit that he did wrong regardless of what Serena did, and shifts all responsibility to Serena. He has a very similar dialogue with Blair too in 6x05 when the sex tape is revealed, making Blair to realize that he is a total hypocrite and it's better to be alone than with him (btw, it was not the first time Blair calling out Dan's hypocrisy, she did it in Season 2 finale too).

Dan envied Upper Eastsiders for their wealth, privileges, and power and wanted to be a part of their world while considering himself morally superior to them, he was self-righteous, he lacked self-reflection and tended to exploit people around him for his writing purposes without any remorse. I find it hard to sympathize with him in the end.

[lansplaining]

idk, but I feel just because JGY needed to do what he had to survive doesn't mean that he's right persay? Like, Wei Wuxian could have easily just survived if he'd just hung around with the Jiangs and left the Wen remnants to die. He however was willing to die for what was right, and s I'm not sure if he'd sympathise with JGY.

I was gonna do this whole bit like ‘Mingjue, thank you so much for writing in,’ but then I realised that doesn't work because Mingjue doesn't think Wei Wuxian was right to fight for the Wen remnants.

Let's break this down backwards: would/does Wei Wuxian sympathise with JGY for doing what he needs to do to survive? In canon, he doesn't really-- though it's worth pointing out that in the novel he repeatedly draws parallels between himself and JGY as the whole Lotus Pier discussion with Sisi and Bicao is happening, and even in the show I'd argue doesn't seem horribly enthused by this rising tide of mob justice.

But would Wei Wuxian actually do what JGY did, in similar circumstances? Well, yeah. He killed and tortured hundreds of Wen soldiers as revenge. He used the corpses of Wen soldiers and their families to kill more Wen soldiers. He invented demonic cultivation to survive (alongside whatever else he did in the Burial Mounds the first time), and whatever you think about whether we're supposed to think demonic cultivation is actually bad or not, he used it to kill people.

If, one of the multiple times from the end of Sunshot onwards that NMJ physically attacked JGY, JGY whipped out a knife and somehow stabbed him, would we be saying that JGY was not justified? If NMJ locked JGY up to teach him a lesson, and from his cell, JGY invented the evil music and slowly destabilised NMJ in hopes of being freed, would that be justified? Or is the point that he, for some reason, doesn't have the right to defend his life? Or he doesn't have the right to defend it like that-- but if not, why not?

The question of WWX and the Wen is completely separate from the question of survival, in my mind. But if the point is that it was okay for WWX to act extremely, to kill a bunch of cultivators, because he was doing it in pursuit of the greater good... well, I think JGY saw himself as doing the same thing. He wanted to survive because he had goals and dreams and plans. He built watchtowers, he kicked the demonic cultivators out of the Jin, he helped rebuild Cloud Recesses, he helped raise Jin Ling. From the sounds of it, the watchtower project was almost as controversial and radical as what WWX did, to the point where a child was killed over it-- but JGY was operating within a different system. And, of course, we don't see it play out as a narrative, just as a passing anecdote, so we don't get the full impact.

The moral system of MDZS's society is inseparable from an extremely personal sense of justice, equality, and revenge. It's a world that says everyone has the right to kill to protect themselves... as long as they manage to persuade everyone else after the fact that it was a good idea. As long as the person they killed doesn't have more power and resources than them. As long as they get away with it.

[thebroccolination]

Question…. How do you feel about Win Hitting Team in the face after he saves him?

I wasn’t a fan of that part and I don’t know if I’m comfortable seeing it on screen. I know it’s a mix of emotions he angry, nearly lost him, but ……. I don’t know. Hope you understand .

I understand, Anon! It's a polarizing scene, and people don't need to have a unanimous opinion of it.

I personally really liked it in the novel! It was a moment of raw anger and flawed humanity from a character who's been composed and responsible ever since he got through a rebellious phase that mainly consisted of skipping class and body modification to get attention from his parents. Literally the tamest rebellion in teenage history. The punch is also framed as a mistake, and something he clearly feels guilty about almost immediately, since he then yanks Team into a hug. The novel describes Win as shaking like a frightened animal, which just underscores for me how primally terrified he was. After all, he was alone when he walked into the building and saw Team at the bottom of the pool, probably seconds from death. If Win hadn't acted as fast as he did, he would have had to watch Team die.

And Team put Win in that position through his negligence. Even worse, Team doesn't even have the grace to even act apologetically after he regains consciousness. He's dismissive and almost petulant, and while that's his whole thing, it's just not the time for it. Of course, Team's clearly suffering from a host of mental traumas, so it makes sense for him to diminish nearly dying, but from Win's perspective, he's probably imagining previously unthinkable things: would CPR and potentially breaking a rib have killed him instead? Who do you call to take a corpse? How would he ever swim again? Sleep again? I'm not arguing the punch was deserved, only that Win's so far removed from rationality at that point, he's just trying to get Team to understand the severity of the situation they're in.

Imagine how Win feels seeing Team shrug off his near-death. That could easily make Win believe that this could happen again. If Team doesn't value his life, if he takes risks like this again, if Win's not there the next time, if he doesn't take this seriously—

Anyway, that's why it worked for me. Plus, after the punch, after the hug, Win takes Team not back to the dorms, not even to his own dorm room, but to his own family's home. Win drives Team's car, stops at a convenience store to get ice for Team's face and snacks for him as a treat, literally feeds him at home, lets Team shower on his own to respect his space, and at the end of it all, he falls asleep with Team safe in his arms. Because this is who he is at his core. He's the one who talks Team down from intimidating Alex, and he's the one who gives rational advice to Dean. So I like that the novel shows that the only way to make him lose it completely is Team dismissing his own brush with death. Is it romantic? No, of course not. Is it healthy? Also, no. But I don't want a character to make the right choices every step of the way. Their mistakes and how they try to make up for them enhance their complexity for me. I mean, if Win were a real person, I'd be like, "He punched you?" but he's fictional, so I just see that scene as fascinating to explore his mentality instead.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, it works for me because it's that version of Win.

The Win we've seen in the series isn't the same Win we see in the novel. Boun made the decision in December of last year while they were filming the post-drowning scene for the pilot teaser for Win not to punch Team, and it works so well. Because it's Boun's version of Win. Novel Win didn't have a meticulous, restrained conversation about consent with Team before he slept with him the first time. Novel Win didn't even hook up with Team a second time. There are a lot of overlaps with Novel Win and Series Win, and they're both written by LazySheep, but Hemp Rope is a novel she started around 2017, and she had to take her time and a lot of consideration to adapt the novel into a script with 2022 sensibilities and growth.

So I think Boun was right to change it because he knows what this version of Win would do. And I think it says a lot in favor of Sheep and New that they saw the wisdom in his decision and allowed him to do so for the main series as well. (They show him raise his fist but switch to a hug in the trailer, just like the pilot teaser.) When directors understand and value the input of their actors, I'm always deeply impressed and appreciative. Collaborative art can be some of the most powerful, and I think Boun was incredibly smart to show that Win did have the impulse but decided against it. I think that's just as powerful for this version of him.

Essentially, I appreciate the novel scene for what it is, and I like that the series has presented a different version of it with unique nuances influenced by an actor who loves his character tremendously. <3