#I'm only watching season 2 now so I don't anything that happens beyond that

[running-in-the-dark]

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[myosotisa]

i'm starvin, darlin - e.m.

Eddie Munson x Reader

ǁ summary: Since coming back from the Upside Down, Eddie has slowly been changing. Each week seems to bring something different and he finds himself doing things he never thought he would.

ǁ tags: gender neutral reader, no pronouns, no y/n. nickname used (sweetheart). mentions of season 4 final episode and what occurred. canon divergent (every one lived). it's not smut, but smut adjacent. it's sexy

ǁ word count: 2k

ǁ notes: i sat down and wrote an entire one shot in one sitting again. and i am also not going to edit this one. and i do not feel bad for lowercase hozier title, so don't even try me like that. if y'all really like it, i can add a part 2 with smut, but this is it for now

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There are still a lot of things Eddie is having to come to terms with since the night his heart stopped.

That night in the Upside Down, laying in Dustin’s arms, he had died. Without a doubt. Dustin had felt his pulse and there was nothing there. And though he didn’t know CPR, had no idea what he was doing, Dustin had laid him down on the ground and started to beat against his chest. Like maybe if he hit hard enough and in the right place, his friend would come back to life.

Somehow it worked. No one bothered to ask why.

But they all knew something was wrong two days later. Eddie, barely breathing and with a weak heartbeat, had been dragged back to the surface and hidden away in the RV they had stolen. Someone watched him round the clock as they debated what to do. If they should try to get him to a hospital, how they’d be able to explain it. But then something miraculous began to happen:

Eddie started healing. All on his own. Way faster than any person should have been able to.

His skin stitched itself back together faster than should be possible, leaving less scar tissue than it should have behind. His chest began to rise and fall in more steady breaths, his heart beat getting stronger, bones resetting themselves with slow and quiet creaks as he laid in that RV bed and slept. He’d been asleep since they brought him back.

The day he woke up, his body had almost entirely healed itself. From the brink of death, having even stepped over to the other side, and now he was almost back to before it ever happened. It had only been a week.

Everyone rejoiced, refusing to question anything weird that may have happened in the Upside Down and just thinking they finally won for once. Max had casts on both her arms but was otherwise unharmed, Steve had recovered from his own injuries at the rate of a normal human and now sported a scar around his throat that he sometimes felt self conscious about. Dustin was on crutches with his broken leg for another month at least. Eddie was alive and whole and back to himself. They’d made it, everyone had made it.

He began to notice more and more things that were different as the days went on.

The first thing he caught on to was that he had the capability to be strong. Way stronger than someone who had recently been bed ridden should be. It was like in the comic books with the Hulk – if he wasn’t paying attention or if he got too emotional, he could easily break anything. A walkman destroyed, a ceramic bowl reduced to shards, a metal pipe bent beyond fixing, the wooden handle of a hammer shattered in his grip. The boys were all present for the hammer incident and sighted it as one of the coolest things they had ever seen. They swarmed him, asking him how he did it, what else he could do, how strong he really was.

Only the other teens, Steve, Nancy, Robin, you, started to look a little bit closer.

When the next few changes became apparent, it was clear something unnatural had happened to Eddie that night in the Upside Down. He could feel other people's feelings. They brushed against his consciousness like ghosts whenever he looked at someone. Happiness like warm rays of sunshine, fear like a shuddering gust of wind, anger like hot coals pressed to his skin. It wasn’t a conscious effort – in fact, there were a lot of times he wished he could turn it off. Whenever he looked too hard at someone, it’s like his brain adjusted to a different frequency and their emotions reached out to him, no matter what they were. And he didn’t struggle to make sense of the sensations like he thought he might, his brain completed the dots easily at first, but then he began to recognize them consciously. It was certainly useful sometimes, especially when it came to you, but it still felt a bit invasive. When he’d explained it to a few people, he assured he tried to ignore it whenever he could, but sometimes he couldn’t help but react. The icey spike of terror he felt when you woke up next to him from a nightmare. The velvet comfort that enveloped you and him when he held you after.

The first time he spoke into someone’s mind it was an accident. Steve had whipped toward him, breath catching in his chest, eyes wide and mouth open in a gasp. Eddie felt it like ice down his spine. “Did you… You did that?” He’d asked breathlessly. It had been so shocking, Eddie wasn’t even sure what’d he said, or projected, or whatever it was.

“I - I don’t know.”

Steve stepped closer, suddenly looking determined. “Try to do it again.”

It was a slithering feeling when he dipped back into Steve’s mind. Like sliding his way in between cracks to a place he didn’t belong, seeping into the forefront of his thoughts to plant one of his own. It made him feel dirty, uncomfortable, and wrong. But it worked. Steve explained it as having a thought like his own but it came out in Eddie’s voice instead. An intrusive thought but not an uncomfortable one.

As with all of the other discoveries, a meeting was called. Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max, Will, El, Robin, Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, and you. Steve did most of the talking while Eddie sat and looked at his hands. These meetings, while he acknowledged were important for everyone to keep track of his progression into… something, it still made him feel a bit like a zoo animal in a cage. A magician with a magic trick. All the boys immediately begged him to do it to them, they wanted to see what it felt like, wanted to see how easy it was for him to do it. 

Nancy and Jonathan had shooed them, catching on to how overwhelmed Eddie was, their excitement and curiosity battering against him like a whipping wind of too much. Once it was just the older people in the room, you crossed over to where he was, kneeled down in front of him, reached out to hold his hand.

Pity felt like someone was pissing in his pants.

“Are you okay?”

How could he say no? How could he admit that he was scared, confused, and feeling more and more like a monster with the passing days? “It’s just a lot. To deal with.”

Your smile was pained as you pushed yourself up onto your calves and wrapped your arms around his shoulders. His came around your waist on instinct, the breath feeling like a wheeze in his lungs as he held tight. Face pressed into your hair with his eyes squeezed shut, he inhaled deep in relief.

That was when the next thing changed.

It was a desire. A need. One he couldn’t place a name to. Like he was desperately missing something, desperately craving something and he didn’t know it was. It crawled under his skin like ants and sent him scratching for a feeling that couldn’t be satiated. No matter what he tried: eating, drinking, masturbating, exercising. The feeling wouldn’t go away. It got stronger day after day, his mind focusing more and more on the void it left behind until it was all he could think about.

Steve threw a little get together at his house once a month or so. Just time for everyone to get together, eat some food, listen to music, play board games, maybe watch a movie. This was the first get together since his hunger began.

He was sitting on the couch on his own, decompressing. While normally he was right in the middle of everything, today it was a lot to handle when he was hyperfocused on the crawling beneath his skin. He had his legs spread wide, hands resting on them, leaning deep into the cushions of the couch in Steve’s basement. While he had initially tried to close his eyes, hang his head back, maybe stare at the ceiling – he couldn’t stop his attention from drifting back to you.

You and Eddie had been friends for a long time. Understandably, you’d gotten much closer after the events in March. The two of you had helped each other through hard nights of nightmares, panic attacks in parking lots, flashbacks in public. You’d been a great comfort to him since he came back. But today your laugh sounded like music. The smell of your perfume hit him even across the room. Each emotion crashed over him in waves, pushing and receding like the tide as he tried to get off your frequency, unentangle himself from you before he did something he didn’t mean to do.

I’m starving.

Your back stiffened, the grip on your plastic cup getting just a bit tighter. A moment of fear quickly shifted to mellowed surprise, curiosity. He’d never spoken into your mind before, hadn’t meant to do so now. But you still shifted, your eyes slowly coasting across the room until you caught sight of him on the couch.

A shock of electricity shot down his spine as you made eye contact, his hands tightening over his thighs in reaction. Unsure exactly what to do, he settled for projecting again. Slithered his way into your ears and settled a respectful distance from the area he’d never been brave enough to venture. Sorry, he offered with a wince, didn’t mean to.

What he didn’t expect was the utter flood of feeling that hit him next. Like a drip of warm honey settling into the space between his hips, pooling there in a subtle swirl as the warmth from it started to diffuse outward. You realized you’d been staring and your eyes flit away, but the feeling didn’t cease. In fact, it only got stronger. Your lower lip caught on your teeth as you shifted between your feet. Things that would be completely normal to see, wouldn’t have anyone looking twice, but Eddie could. Your desire. The want that poured from you like water when your eyes first met his.

Was this the first time? Had something changed between you and him? Or had he just never caught on before?

The ants beneath his skin began to vibrate as he narrowed in on the feeling, on you. Like the part of him that had slithered into your thoughts was now bearing down, digging in for purchase, wanting to stay awhile and feed on this new feeling, what you were offering. It didn’t even occur to him what he was doing, how invasive it might be, how wrong he normally would have felt. All he knew is that it felt like licking at the thing he’d been craving for so long and he was helpless to chase after it.

Sweetheart. It came easy as breathing now, teeth sunk into your consciousness from where you stood across the room. You whirled on him again, another flood of warmth hitting him deep as you leaned your hip against the counter you were standing next to and focused on him. What’s got you so worked up?

He couldn’t even consider how bold he was suddenly being, the fear that he might ruin this friendship well out of his grasp. Especially when your embarrassment spiked along with the want, the pool of warmth now suddenly coming to life to have a heartbeat of its own. Your eyes widened, shifting on your feet again as you broke eye contact. It only took a few moments before you couldn’t help but look back at him again. The buzzing settled further, now like a purr beneath his skin. It was bearable as long as you kept your eyes on him.

You wanna do something about it?

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thanks for reading, please reblog and leave a comment if you liked it!

[sp-ud]

Ngl my main hope for season 2 is more time learning abt Jasmine and Winn. Like these are Hazel's besties but I feel like I barely know them.

And I'm not criticizing the writers, they only had so much time to work with (I hate how that's true for pretty much every cartoon ever currently) and I don't blame them for prioritizing only really showing us Hazel (duh, we have to like the main character to continue to want watching) and Dev (they had a clear plan with him and leaving S1 on a "What happens to Dev now?" does increase fans desire for a S2)

But like, I too would get a 0% on a quiz about knowing Jas and Winn well. I want to know about them more than just "The excitable fun friend" and "The cool chill friend".

And I feel like the writers definitely want to do that in season 2, like, that's why they had Hazel wish for them to remember fairies, so future plot lines with them didn't have to always also dance around Hazel hiding the existence of fairies which would definitely get stale over time.

Also I'm not saying that we weren't told Anything about either of them in S1, I just don't feel like I know them well enough for the role they have in Hazel's life.

Anyways thank you for coming to my ramble about how I want to know more about Jas and Winn, I just want to like them beyond the fact that they're good friends to Hazel.

[aida-sparks]

Eddie liked Buck from the start, but where are we now?

I've convinced myself that Eddie liked Buck from the very beginning - but only subconsciously. I mean, look at how he's watching Buck in 2x01, even as Buck is being bratty as they work out.

Even though Buck has been anything but kind to him up to this point, Eddie's more miffed than angered by it. Maybe a little disappointed too.

We all know by the end of 2x01, Eddie wins Buck over, and they both quasi promise to have each other's back. And then the rest of their story so far has many important and telling moments, but what if we fast forward to season 6 episode 15 and that loaded graveyard scene? Is this scene the moment where Eddie Diaz finally *consciously* realizes that his feelings for Buck are not only platonic? It was such a layered scene. Of course, there is Eddie's shellshocked reaction to Buck's proclamation that Natalia, the death doula who he just met, really sees him (bites lip in agitation), but beyond that...

It's clear that Eddie goes on to have a profound revelation after Buck says that. But what does it mean?!

He tells Buck, "You haven't been the same since it happened. But how could you be?" as he turns away and processes something internally. Perhaps something about himself as well. Eddie actually looks a little startled. A few seconds later, he reassures Buck that he doesn't have to be anyone for anybody and that experiences like this change them. He goes on to ask Buck what changed in him. I think the moment Eddie admits Buck hasn't been the same, he realizes that he has changed too. Exactly how is not made clear. Even Buck's own response to Eddie's question is vague (he says he feels like he cheated death). How did Eddie change? How did Buck change? The writers don't commit Buck and Eddie's feelings clearly in dialogue, so fans are forced to speculate, and it's why the general audience members, who don't rewatch scenes and lean in hard to the characters, think us buddie shippers are clowning half the time. *deep sigh*

But being left to my own speculation, I do think Eddie's revelation here is at least partly related to Buck. He looked disappointed when he learned Buck was starting something with Natalia. He looked hurt when Buck said she "sees him" -- and maybe those reactions surprised something in Eddie. I don't think the man he was raised to be would have recognized those feelings; he wouldn't have admitted to feeling them on a conscious level. But of course, that's why "change" is a theme in this scene and Eddie has looks like he's putting 2 and 2 together. Part of me feels Eddie was in touch with his feelings for Buck well before this episode, but then I don't know how else to interpret what the graveyard scene was meant to be if not Eddie coming to terms with the fact that he may be in love with his best friend, even as said best friend proclaims he has a new love interest in the picture. This take could set up Eddie secretly pining over Buck in season 7 quite well, though. Oh, my angst-ridden heart. I'd love to read others' thoughts on this! I'm glad I joined tumblr to read all the buddie and 9-1-1 meta out there. Forgive me if it looks like I don't know what I'm doing. I don't. I'm still new around here.

[lover-of-mine]

I just saw someone genuinely argue "as a Buddie shipper" (which I don't believe) that Buddie shouldn't happen because: their close friendship is too important, the text of the show doesn't support Eddie being gay the way it supports Buck being bi, Eddie is "not ready", and that Ryan Guzman plays Eddie "too straight" to be able to pull off acting Buddie and this feels like to me someone who doesn't actually ship Buddie but is claiming to cause they think it'll give them more credibility in criticizing it.

1) if I see one more argument about how their close male friendship is too important because of toxic masculinity and that making it romantic would ruin it I'm going to lose my marbles because this is the dumbest take. TV is FULL of vulnerable platonic male friendships - 9-1-1 is FULL of them. Also them becoming romantic does not mean they would no longer be friends.

2) So we're just pretending queer-coding doesn't exist now okay.

3) I'm sick to death of the argument of Eddie not being ready. When is he allowed to be ready??? Does he have to suffer for a decade before he's allowed to figure things out??

4) They have to be watching the show with their eyes closed to think Ryan Guzman who has been playing Eddie "Heart Eyes" Diaz for 6 seasons couldn't pull off Buddie.

I'm gonna talk about all points, but the Eddie is too straight thing drives me INSANE. Four months ago, if I said "oh, Eddie is straight, no way buddie is happening" I would have whole essays on how he's gay thrown my way before I hit post. We're talking about a character who had panic attacks about his girlfriend. Who this season had literal erectile dysfunction with another girlfriend. There is no heterosexual explanation for the way Eddie was looking at Buck during the poker game. That man looks at Buck like he's the sun, the sky, the stars, and the moon. Like Buck is somehow the best thing he ever laid eyes on. Yeah, there are threads to pull. With Buck. We only need Eddie to be into one man. And boy, do we have threads to pull there. And honestly, if you wanna see Ryan play painfully straight men, go watch anything else in his filmography, that man knows how to act painfully straight. It's not what he's doing with Eddie. This narrative that Ryan is somehow sabotaging buddie's chances is so beyond ridiculous. Personally, I don't subscribe to Eddie being strictly gay, but I legit don't care anymore as long as he's out of the closet soon give him whatever label, but even if there weren't threads to pull to make it seem like Eddie is in love with Buck, and there are a lot of them, this idea that Eddie being gay is only valid if he's a stereotypical gay man from the beginning is NUTS. Why does gay have to look a specific way to be valid for y'all? This is such a harmful point of view. You want rep but it needs to fit in this one specific box or else it's not valid? What is wrong with you?

The male friendship thing, please tell me where are we lacking vulnerable male friendships in media? Media is made of male friendships. Everything everywhere is about male characters. And Buck and Eddie dating would not negate their friendship all of a sudden. Yall do realize you're supposed to like the person you're dating, right? Isn't literally everyone on the planet telling everyone to marry their best friend? How would that ruin their friendship? It just makes them a stronger couple because they have that foundation. And there literally isn't a show or movie that had two guy best friends who weren't introduced as queer who started dating. Literally, does not exist in media, how would losing exactly one friendship suddenly destroy male friendship representation everywhere? And we weren't even be losing the friendship, the friendship is gonna be a core part of buddie forever. You want strong male friendships? Go watch literally anything else. Every procedural ever has two guy best friends. Go watch house, any of the ncis, h50, the one chicago shows, hell, go watch lord of the rings or something, there are so many male friendships in media. No one is gonna die if Buck and Eddie kiss.

And the whole Eddie not being ready thing. Are we watching the same show? The show where madney started while Maddie was running for her life or bathena started while Bobby was actively suicidal? Or that even henren was presented to us when Hen cheated? Buck's own definition of love is "So every day is the best day ever. Is that really love? Right? Shouldn't it be when you're at your worst, they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up, and you still decide you want to try again?" loving someone at their lowest is the definition of love for that show. It's working through the bad to appreciate the good. And again, this idea that someone needs to be healed to be worthy of love is fucked UP. Eddie is never gonna be fully healed. Recovery isn't linear and he has ptsd. He will forever grieve Shannon. Does that mean he's never gonna be allowed to be loved because he is a human being who has been through hell? What does it take for someone to be "ready for love", huh? What's the threshold here? He was in a helicopter that was shot down and got shot 3 times, he was abandoned by a wife he later was forced to watch die, he was shot at again in broad daylight, he watched his best friend die and had to save him, his own parents just stole his kid. What does he have to do to prove that he is worthy of love, how does he have to handle all that? What I'm getting here is that someone who's been through shit can't be loved, is that the message we're sending? Really? No one seriously wants Buck and Eddie to open season 8 dating, but they are partners and best friends and they don't have to have everything figured out before they go there, they can figure it out together, they do it together anyway. Why can't they take that step and figure things out as a couple? Jesus.

[sage-nebula]

Enforcer Vi Discourse

Now that it's been a few days and I've had some time to think on it — and, more pressingly, since I've seen a variety of takes cross my "For You" whether I like it or not (and most of the time I don't like it) — I thought I'd go ahead and make a post rounding up my thoughts and responses to the most common takes I've seen on the discourse surrounding Vi becoming an Enforcer in season 2 of Arcane. Not because I think anyone necessarily cares, but more because that's what tumblr is for, so why the hell not.

So let's hit it. (Under a cut though, because this is long and I'm not an asshole.)

"Vi is an Enforcer in League of Legends, so there is no reason at all for you to be surprised / upset / confused by this, and it's silly / stupid / weird if you are."

I'm starting off with this one mostly because I feel it's the silliest of the lot, and one that I've seen posted on this website way more often than I thought I would considering I thought the number of League players on this website was pretty much nil. But regardless —

To start with, playing League — or knowing anything about League — is not a prerequisite for watching and enjoying Arcane. While Riot has decided that Arcane is a prequel to League (I think), and therefore tied the two together canonically, you can watch Arcane without ever knowing that League of Legends is a video game that exists. In fact, when I first watched Arcane, I didn't even know that it was based on League of Legends! I saw the banner for it on Netflix, thought it looked interesting, gave it a watch. I fell in love with it, checked the tag on tumblr, and that's how I learned that it was connected to League. (No, I did not pay attention to the opening credits beyond enjoying the song.) All I knew about League beforehand was that it was a.) a game, and b.) said game involves a lot of mouse clicking, and I knew that because my employees at my former job would play it during downtime and the amount of mouse clicking that filled the office when they did was insane. I eventually learned to tune it out, but goddamn. It was annoying before I did.

My point is, Arcane is an enjoyable experience without any knowledge of League whatsoever. Knowledge of League lore can help with speculation on what might happen in future seasons (e.g. people were speculating that Vander would become Warwick before the reveal happened), but it's not necessary at all. So to act as though people are stupid or silly for either not knowing that Vi was an Enforcer in League lore, or expecting that Arcane might go a different way given how differently Vi was portrayed in Arcane versus how she was portrayed in League (and she's not the only one) . . . that, in itself, is silly. You look, sound, and are acting foolish. People only following an adaptation or spinoff of something is not a new phenomenon, and expecting them to be beholden to source material that they either a.) haven't experienced, or b.) has up until a certain point been very different from said adaptation or spinoff is just silly behavior. Arcane is based on League, but it still isn't League. It's entirely possible to like Arcane and not League, and vice versa.

"If you're upset about Vi becoming an Enforcer, then are you upset about Caitlyn becoming an Enforcer again too?"

I'm hesitant to include this one because I feel like it's a bad faith take, but it was so bad it has not left my head since I saw it, so I have to address it just to get it out of there. I don't think there is a single rational, logical person in this entire fandom who is surprised or upset that Caitlyn joined the Enforcers again, because Caitlyn's situation is completely different from Vi's. Vi grew up in the undercity, and was a victim of police brutality for her entire life. Not just in the "she was part of a marginalized community" sense, but in the "she personally experienced police brutality multiple times" sense. Caitlyn, on the other hand, grew up as an extremely privileged wealthy girl in Piltover and dreamed of becoming an Enforcer for pretty much her entire life. She only stopped being one because she got injured and was then softly fired. And even then, she continued doing investigative police work on her own because she loved being a cop that much. Now that her mother has been killed by a terrorist, there is absolutely no way she'd turn away from putting the uniform on again. It makes perfect sense for Caitlyn's character and that's why no one is upset about it. There's no struggle to connect the dots there. Come on, be serious.

"There is no way that Vi would EVER become a cop, this is just bad writing!"

As stated in the previous answer, I understand the struggle when it comes to connecting these dots in terms of Vi's character. Vi is a character who has trauma that is directly tied to the Enforcers. And this is not just trauma in her past, with Enforcers having killed her parents and brutalized her and her family as a child (because as we see in the "Enemy" music video, they had no problem shoving her against a fence to roughly frisk her after Powder mimed shooting them with finger guns), but recent trauma with having spent the past six or seven years in Stillwater prison after Marcus put her there to "save" her from Silco, where she was then kept in a dirty cell and beaten on a regular basis. Out of all of the Zaun characters in our main cast, Vi has arguably suffered the most brutality at the hands of the police, despite who her girlfriend currently is. So I do understand those who have trouble seeing her put on that uniform to join their side, and hell, my own immediate reaction to seeing her in that uniform was, "I want to vomit :)" because, yeah, it's not a good look, Vi!

However . . .

In real life, there are many cases where people from marginalized communities do join the police for reasons that only they know. Queer people, people of color, women, impoverished people — they attend the police academy and become cops, and some of them do stay with the force until retirement age. Maybe they believe they can change the force from the inside. Maybe they believe that if they're policing their community, they can make sure those in their community are safer than if it's just "the bad ones." There's no way of knowing. But this does happen. And I would wager that some of those people were brutalized by police at some point in their lives, or had loved ones who were . . . and they still joined anyway. Maybe their trauma was what inspired them to join, because sometimes trauma responses do work like that, making you think that you can "reclaim" it or "defeat" it or show yourself that it's "really not that bad" or that "if I'm one of them, they can't hurt me" or something similar. Again, I don't know. I have no way of knowing. But this kind of thing does happen, so the idea of someone from Zaun — even someone who has directly experienced brutality from the Enforcers like Vi — joining the Piltover Enforcers . . . it's not that strange when you think about the marginalized folks in real life who do end up becoming cops, or joining the military. It does happen.

More specifically to Vi though: I think it's important to remember what motivates her. Vi is, and has always been, motivated by protecting those she loves, even if it means sacrificing herself (her happiness, her safety, her life) in the process. In arc 1 of season 1, she was ready to turn herself over to the Enforcers as the culprit of the bombing at Jayce's apartment in order to protect Powder, Mylo, Claggor, and Vander. Vi knew this meant that she would never see them again, and would likely do time in Stillwater for it. Yet, at fifteen years old, she was still ready to make that decision to protect them, because she loved them. As the season progresses, we see her make similar decisions; she ends her friendship* with Caitlyn to go after Silco on her own because she doesn't want to involve Caitlyn in the messier, more dangerous aspects of what she's about to do, despite the feelings she's already developed for Caitlyn by that point. At the dinner party, she agrees to go live in solitude with Jinx, again leaving Caitlyn and any sense of normality or friendship with anyone else behind, if it means helping her baby sister heal and get better. Vi is a character who is willing to make personal sacrifices for those she loves, even when those she loves may not want her to make them.

Why is this relevant? It's relevant because I think there is a very strong possibility that Vi is going to become an Enforcer in an effort to protect Jinx. (And also Caitlyn, but Caitlyn has backup in the form of other Enforcers whereas Vi doesn't have reason to believe that Jinx has any backup at all, so I think Jinx will be her priority.) In the first teaser we received for season two, Caitlyn has a line where she says, "If I go after your sister, one of us comes back in a box." There is a very high probability that Caitlyn's mother was killed by the rocket that Jinx fired at the council tower, which is why Caitlyn is gunning for Jinx's head. Even if Jinx is convinced that Vi can't "love [her] like she used to," I don't think Vi agrees. And I think that Vi is willing to do whatever she has to do in order to keep her baby sister alive, even if that means shoving her trauma down as far as it will go, swallowing her vomit, and putting on an Enforcer uniform so she's with the squad that goes after Jinx so she can make sure that Jinx is brought in alive (and also so that Caitlyn isn't the one who comes back in a box either). If we consider it from this perspective, I do think it makes sense for Vi.

(*Yes, friendship. I ship them as much as the next person, and it is obvious that they both had feelings for each other, and that scene was 100% written like a breakup. But even one of the writers, I think, said that it was too soon for them to have been dating yet, and I agree! They hadn't even kissed yet. I do think they will in season two though, but as of season one, they were just Friends With Feelings. Everything just happened so fast.)

"Sevika and Jinx were the same as the Enforcers but on Silco's side and they weren't hated like the Enforcers are, so you're hypocrites if you like them but hate Vi!"

I won't pretend that there aren't people who woobify Silco and his entire operation, acting as if they have never done anything wrong ever in their life, either because they find Silco or Sevika attractive, or because they relate so hard to Jinx that they can and will excuse everything she does because admitting that she has been in the wrong makes them feel like they've been in the wrong, or because they don't want to admit that they like characters who do bad things, or because they are desperate for Arcane to be a Good vs Evil story when it is not, has never been, and will never be that, or some combination of the above. This has been happening since season one, and I'm well aware of the phenomenon.

But as much as there are intentional parallels between Silco's operation and Piltover's council & Enforcers (in a way that is supposed to make you see that they are both corrupt and that you should be cheering for neither of them as they are), I also feel that reducing these parallels to "these characters fulfill the exact same roles and are the exact same and therefore fans are hypocrites for hating the Enforcers while being okay with Jinx and/or Sevika" is . . . well, reductive.

Again, to be abundantly clear: Silco's mafia is violent, corrupt, and overall a net negative for Zaun. Yes, there are people who use shimmer as medicine, there are people whose lives are saved by it, such as Vi's in season one. There are also people who are addicted to it, whose lives are ruined by it, who are essentially owned by Silco's mafia as a result of it. There are people who are murdered for daring to speak out against and defy Silco and his rule over the undercity, and Sevika helped to enforce this. None of that is being disputed here.

But from the perspective of the viewer — and particularly viewers who perhaps live in marginalized communities, who do feel the oppression of wealthier classes and police organizations represented by the city of Piltover and their Enforcers, but who don't experience living under a criminal rule similar to Silco's mafia — I can understand why they would view the Piltover Enforcers differently from Silco's mafia in the sense of, "The Piltover Enforcers are the oppressive ruling class, while Silco's mafia is what happens when the oppressed use what resources are available to them in an effort to defend themselves and fight back against said oppressive ruling class." Remember, Sevika was the primary person to confront Vander for not doing anything to fight back against Piltover and the Enforcers in the Last Drop in arc 1. Vander's argument was that they should wait for the investigation into the explosion in Piltover to blow over; Sevika's argument was that they should fight back against the Enforcers patrolling their streets, hassling them in their pubs, beating and oppressing them. When the first arc of the show sets the stage in this way, is it any wonder that some in the audience continue to see it as such even when Silco's mafia amasses the power it does? When Sevika herself was speaking as the voice of the oppressed wanting to fight back?

Again: Yes, Silco's criminal organization ends up becoming as brutal and powerful in Zaun as the Enforcers are in Piltover (although the Enforcers have just as much violent power in Zaun as well, particular in arc 1). But again, I feel that simply reducing it to "they're the same" brushes away the surrounding context, as well as ignores the perspective that viewers may bring in from their personal lives — not to mention that "the monster you created" doesn't refer only to Jinx's perspective on how she feels that Vi had a central hand in creating who she is now, but also refers to how Piltover's treatment of the undercity is what allowed Silco to not only create his mafia in the first place, but what allowed it to flourish and become what it is now (and what it will continue to be even now that he's dead).

TL;DR: There are reasons why people view the Piltover Enforcers differently than they view Sevika, Jinx, and others who work(ed) for Silco. Yes, all are violent in the name of carrying out orders, as well as maintaining power and a status quo, but economic and social class politics play a huge part in how they're perceived and I personally feel that it's important not to forget that.

Anyway, those are the primary takes I've seen on the issue, or at least the ones that I had actual thoughts on more than "yeah true," or "nah." Now that it's all off my chest and out of my head, I can be at peace and not think about any of it again until season two comes out. Which means, of course, that if any of this makes you mad and you feel the need to rage, I'm not going to engage with any of that silliness. I'm an adult, and I don't have time to get in fights over TV shows, even masterpieces like Arcane. It's why I made my own post, instead of reblogging the posts making the above points to argue with them.

Anyway, that's it! Time to go get my daily win in Splatoon 3 and then spend the rest of the night playing Stardew Valley.

[rainbow-crane]

Something I've been thinking about recently is how incredibly Blitz-focused all of Helluva Boss is. Like, I get that he's the protagonist, but every single episode feels like it has to involve Blitz somehow. Whenever we have an episode focusing on a different character, it's always someone Blitz has some important relationship with (Queen Bee, The Circus, Exes and Oohs, Mammon's Magnificent). There isn't a single episode of the show that doesn't involve Blitz, even if it's just to take a backseat and watch shit happen.

It's no wonder we're never gonna get an episode that focuses primarily on Octavia or Stella, and we're probably never seeing Glitz and Glam ever again. They have no immediate connection to Blitz, just Stolas, and even if we could work Octavia into the main plot through him and Loona, there's not much reason to involve Stella any further than as a villain. Regardless of the marriage she and Stolas were both forced into, she became an abuser of her own will. That's all we need to know about her for the plot to function. That's all she needs to be because the story isn't about Stolas, it's about Blitz. Maybe if we're lucky we'll get a short Hell's Belles style about one of her weekend outings w/ Octavia, but I'm not holding out hope for anything beyond that.

That said, when are getting a fucking Barbie episode? Where the fuck did she go??? I wanna see more of her ASAP, please! Even if the point of it would be to say that sometimes you can't fix the relationships you've messed up in the past, I want to see her again! I wanna learn more about their falling-out and what she's up to now post-Unhappy Campers! Hunting her down 100% should've been the A-plot of that episode and I'll never forgive them for sidelining her in favor of Moxxie being an insecure baby about his wife being more popular than him.

Based off the fact that we only have 4 episodes of season 2 left, I don't think we're seeing her this season, so all I can do is hope for a season 3 for a Barbie ep and some more much-needed focus on Millie and Loona. Bonus points if Sallie May moves out to the city or appears in a couple more eps, too.

[mariejordans]

I agree Jordan Marie and cate are the best most interesting characters if they're going to kill someone it should be Andre like you said he's useless and also unlikable as a person lmfao he ain't doing anything right. I love cate and I love villains so whatever way they go with her as long as it's believable I'm all for it. My thing with them killing more characters is because we're in the endgame now as in the boys probably has 2 more seasons to go and they're also going to start killing a lot of people like by the end I expect most of the main supes and at least half of the boys to be dead so as the gen v characters get pulled into that they're also going to start getting killed off but idc they better not touch Jordan and Marie I'm not kidding I already have hives thinking about stranger things maybe killing Steve in the last season I don't need this 😂😂😂😂

right EXACTLY jordan marie cate 🔛🔝

i genuinely didn’t expect them to pivot on cate’s character bc i really thought they’d stick with cate wanting to be good/wanting to be a hero, trying to earn her friends’ trust back, but i’m SOOO glad that they’re going the villain/anti-hero route. especially with marie and cate now on opposing sides and them basically being each other’s narrative foils, like i need them to go full on villain with cate like it’s just too good a set up for a really complex relationship between marie and cate.

*sighs* okay so my thing with andre is that he COULD’VE been a really interesting character. like, daddy issues, bisexual, doesn’t really care about being a superhero and lowkey in love with his best friend (the writers are cowards for not making the throuple happen) like there were so many ways his character could’ve been done, but then he ended up being a stereotypical nepo baby. it’s kinda like the writers put little to no effort in his character development and didn’t even try to make him likable 😭 he just constantly gets thrown around by the other characters, he slept with his best friend’s girlfriend, and he’s just kind of a dick in general. really the only thing i found really genuine and likable about andre was his love for luke, and to a certain extent, cate. but beyond that, he’s just not a very sympathetic character to me idk 😭

honestly, i’m not suuper attached to any of the boys characters, maybe it’s bc i always end up taking super long breaks between binge watching but if they decided to start killing off main characters, i think i’d be fine (except kimchie or starlight pls don’t touch them thx) but THEY BETTER NOT TOUCH MARIE OR JORDAN OR I’M STARTING A RIOT IN THE PRIME VIDEO BUILDING FR like you could even take cate from me just dont touch limoreau…

i’m gonna be honest, i kinda wish gen v was less tied into the boys and got to stand on its own more bc i really need homelander to stay FARRRRRR away from marie and jordan and cate. butcher too. but also bc i really liked the college setting but seeing as how we now know the entire college is a scam, it might completely move away from godolkin, which is a shame bc i loved the superhero college-sky high esque concept of it and i wish we had gotten MORE of it before we got into all the plot heavy stuff but…it is what it is ig 🤷🏼‍♀️

[bonnieisaway]

hi scissor seven fandom. i still have not watched season four and i'm going insane in the membrane so i'm here to discuss how we dont talk about this scene enough

anyway so i was editing again and i got put off because i found this specific screenshot again

and i was put off about it because he smiles here. he smiles. this like absolutely mortifying, fucked up smile. and i went back and now i think it's really fucking cool (atleast by my interpretation)

ANYWAYS: to jog your memory Redtooth just fucking MAIMED Dai Bo and Xiao Fei and now Seven is next- and he has this internal dialogue with 'his past self' in his head. A few episodes before this, Seven says to Dai Bo that he has "An idea" of how he used to be- though, "My memory is still choppy." And this scene, when he looks to talk to his past self, I think illustrates what he can remember now:

We see an unnamed woman dying, and then Seven standing at, presumably, her unmarked grave. Then we see Seven approaching the Killers League- or another building in Xuanwu- and after that, the day the girl in white stabbed Seven. The last 'memory' (though, this one might just be more of a conceptualization of what he thinks he was,) is Seven standing on top of a pile of broken swords and bones, and this is the last 'memory' we see

These, and what Seven has been told by others like Captain Jack, are what Seven uses to form this concept of his past self. Notably, in Captain Jack's nightmares, past Seven is also depicted as smiling- when in reality, he had only ever smiled once, with the girl in white.

'Past Seven' approaches the current him and asks, "You've been looking for me, haven't you?" Which, more literally, would mean Seven's been searching for these memories, and the remnant of who this person was in himself today. The first time we see this Seven's face, he is smiling. This massive, terrifying grin.

fucking christ bro put that away

Seven tells himself that he cannot escape this- he will never escape the Shadow Killers, and he tells himself that he has to let this part of him 'take over.' To be clear, this is not to paint Seven as having a split personality, but more to represent that he is at war with himself. When Seven smiles and slashes Redtooth, that is not a different person, but Seven, what he thinks is, regressing to that person that he used to be.

But notably, I think, this is not the Seven that he used to be. This is, by no means, who he was in the past. Seven, in the past, never smiled, nor had shown any emotion indicating that he took pleasure in these things. The only times Seven is painted this way is from other characters who are inherently unreliable narrators, because they themselves do not know the full story of who Seven was. Season 3, with the help of 'Two Heroes' from Season 2, paints past Seven as somebody who was going through to motions: he did what he needed to do, and that was it. And sometimes, through this, he is compassionate or merciful- though only in a way that is obvious when you have the bigger picture. Beyond this, the 'past Seven' we see here says something that directly conflicts with what he had truly believed: "You cannot escape your past."

Younger Seven does not speak enough to actively say he does not agree with this, but I think he did believe he could because of what happened with the Girl in White. Seven here, in his scattered memories, sees her entirely as a catalyst for him to put his emotions aside. Seven in the past directly betrayed the organization and fought every killer in Xuanwu for her. If Seven believed that he could never escape his fate, that he would never be able to run far enough from the organization, I don't think he ever would have risked everything for the Girl in White. If he never believed that, if his emotions had never won, he never would have walked into what he KNEW was a trap to save her- he never would have done anything and everything for her, because he would have believed it would've been pointless in the end.

This 'past self' that Seven forces himself to embrace, the one that smiles when he draws his sword against an enemy that logically, he should've known was nigh impossible to beat, was never Seven. This was the ideal of who he was, and he himself can hardly even try and stick to this: Not even moments later, he stares down at his sword once again and thinks in silence, questioning who he is.

This past Seven, the ideal of who he was, once again tells him that his emotions will weaken him, but even if that's what Seven had been taught all his life, somehow, through the Girl in White, this belief had began to unravel. And beyond that, objectively, he is wrong about this- this ideal Seven tries to force himself to embody does not stand a chance against Redtooth, and his forced apathy gets him nowhere. Redtooth- who did not even recognize this Seven who smiled at him, but when he stood the same way he did before- directly says Seven's sword must be weaker than he thought.

Green Phoenix says "He's out of practice- that isn't how you use the blade." And, originally, I took this line to sound a bit snooty, because technically, this looks no different than how Seven has used the sword in the past, and fuck if Green Phoenix knows how to use the thing, but I think this line is a lot better when you read it as "That isn't how Seven used the blade." I don't know if that's really how it was meant to be translated, or if I'm looking to deep into it, but it's a nice touch.

Seven does not stand a chance in defeating Redtooth until he forgets what he's told himself, and reaffirms to himself once again: he is not that person he (thought he) once was.

Seven, evidently, still loses here: he nearly pushes Redtooth to his very limit, but this is the closest he gets to defeating him, this is where Seven is his strongest, when he uses his emotions to reaffirm who he is today.

I think Seven is still very much stuck exploring who he once was: and he may not ever truly know that he's never actually been this cold, unfeeling villain, but this episode goes so far to show how Seven learns that he will always choose the island, his friends and his emotions above all else, and the small ways it shows us this isn't even who Seven really was, and it's so so fucking cool and I absolutely adore it.

if i watch season 4 and it actually just smacks me in the face and contradicts everything i say here i'm going to blow up a building also i still haven't watched it so let's pray i dont get notes that spoil it

[jaskierx]

little pre-warning for suicide (i'm fine though!!)

sorry if this isn't articulated very well but like. i got into ofmd only last october when season 2 was airing and i still remember it's bc i got a clip on tiktok of the "is that blackbeard?" "no, i'm blackbeard" scene which is SUCH a good fucking hook btw. and before watching it i kind of actually hated it LOL like people do with anything that's popular and Everywhere it just oversaturates sometimes. and it made me feel kind of silly to go back on my own opinion but i didn't even really dwell on that bc me getting into it also happened to coincide with a failed suicide attempt (that kind of funnily also included a gun that misfired like in-show lol). and like i was pretty understandably all over the place, but generally still in the "i want to live" moment that happens right after you nearly properly die. and the thing about suicide recovery is that you don't actually want to recover. so it was a really up and down left and right kind of situation and you're left feeling kind of like a puppet with no strings that's also been thrown into the ocean or something.

but then i liked this show that was funny and silly and i also got to see trans and gay people existing happily and normally which isn't necessarily NEW but it did feel really cool and unique to be able to go Oh and this is the moment where they would usually leave it to subtext and then they actually KISS and it's like woahhhh. i didn't know they could do that... and then as i was still processing what was happening with my own life and like mortality i got to see this character go through the exact same thing and come out on the other side of it ENTIRELY by himself and experience love and self determination and actualisation and i'm not saying it made me want to do it myself but it did feel like a really personal thing for me (hence anon also lol).

and for the few weeks it was coming out i got to sit there and think about how he was doing and it gave me another reason to not do something again. like i am so definitely not the only one who can say "this show saved my life" but honestly it literally did. like there's that thing when you're suicidal where the things that you're sticking around for are the only things you've got so they're as important as anything even if it's like... going to a concert the following week or something. or getting a burger. and i really honestly stuck around just to love this show and my cat.

it's been a few months now ofc and it still sucks and i'm not better or anything but being able to indulge in something fun for fun's sake is the biggest source of joy in my life and tbh it's not gonna go away just because there's going to be no season 3. when i'm feeling too much of particularly anything i have a handy little balm which i know everyone feels but still. a little gifset of ed always makes me feel better if i'm freaking out so it's cool i don't care if it's a bit lame. i'm a bit sad for season 3 and everyone being sad is also making me sadder but i still have a lot of love left so ah. it'll be fine :)

if anything i hope this inspires people to have a little boom in the numbers re: content now that we know there'll be no canon to possibly diverge from and we can make up our OWN season 3 ‼️ which will be fun :)

hi anon sorry i didn't reply to this yesterday i wanted to sit and think about what to say

and then i didn't really come up with anything lmao other than you're right and i love you and i love this show and it's so incredibly important to me and so groundbreaking in so many ways and has made me feel seen in a way that no other piece of media ever has. the queer rep is groundbreaking. the portrayal of ed's suicidality moved me beyond words. there are dozens of other people sharing stories about how ofmd helped them to come out or meet their partner or start transitioning or quit something that was making them unhappy. i watched s2 at a time while i was really struggling with post-covid symptoms. i've met so many incredible people through this fandom. i think about the show dozens of times a day. the show brought me so much joy and they can't take that away

they can't ever take away how special it was and how much it's changed people's lives

i'm very excited to see what the amazing fic writers in this fandom are going to give us in place of s3. i just wish we could've had the rest of the story david wanted to tell

[tblsomedoodles]

Okay you've been throwing around the idea of the twins getting kidnapped by the hidden city council and I would love to see you flesh that out, like how does Donnie get captured, what happens to him, others reactions, and how they get him out/what amount of stuff gets destroyed.

Ok, it took me a few days to think on this b/c i didn't have it all planned out. like i knew they capture him while he's alone and that the council isn't quite prepared for the number of people that come to fetch him. but beyond that, i didn't have anything solid.

But! I think i've got some of that now?

Ok, first things first. Leo saw the vision of Donnie getting captured, which means Donnie knows he's going to get captured. What they don't' know is when. Leo's visions aren't the best at depicting things time wise (Donnie's are much better at that) so they know it's going to happen soon, but not the exact day or even week.

So when Donnie's working late on upping lair security and finds he needs some parts, he doesn't really think twice about sneaking off to the junkyard like normal.

by then, the council has had people watching them whenever they're on the surface for probably a week. They know that the best time to grab him would be during such a trip.

So they do.

Donnie's far from defenseless, so he does put up quite a fight. But, as i've said, they've been watching him. They know how powerful his mystic tech is and how dangerous he can be even without it. They're prepared.

Almost immediately they had dosed him with a potion/mixture/poison (whatever you want to call it) that blocks mystic powers for 24 hours. the boys are particularly susceptible to this b/c they were created with mystics. So, once dosed, not only is he not able to use his mystic tech, he's suddenly slower, weaker, and not as durable as before (not to mention healing slower, but that's not immediately important.) And that sudden change to his abilities throws him off enough that they can capture him.

Once they have him, they try to keep him contained in a room, but Donnie's an absolute bastard. He knows he can't escape the council's building as a whole (too much security) but that doesn't stop him from breaking out of the room every hour or so to torment any guard that gets within his reach. (if anyone's seen sword art online: abridged, season 2, he's absolutely pulling an Asuna. by the time he's done, every guard has a new fear of turtles lol. [and now i want to do a video to some of that audio. damn it.])

The council doesn't want to keep giving him the mystic blocking potion b/c it blocks visions too, so once they figure out how to keep him in the room (probably involving some mild sedatives and a lot of mystic proof chains), they try to put him in a waking vision state. ie. wait until he has a vision and wake him up.

But, again, Donnie is a bastard. A bastard that's always been very good at keeping himself awake even under mild sedatives. Plus, he knows his brothers are coming soon. He's seen this part himself. all he has to do is wait. Wait, and not fall asleep.

[I had toyed with the council actually being successful in getting him into a waking vision (at one point, the first waking vision he had was from this) but idk. It feels a bit much? Let me know what you think, if you like.]

As far as getting Donnie out, i don't think i've fully got that fleshed out. Just that Leo probably goes in first b/c they're expecting him, and does the whole Talk a lot to keep them distracted bit. Whether the others try to sneak in or just eventually do a dramatic/destructive entrance i'm not sure. (maybe a combo? like they sneak in and then very obviously, and very deliberately break their way out?)

I doubt The council has fully learned their lesson though. They'd probably try again, but not for a while. Between Donnie repeatedly causing chaos in the building, and his brothers wrecking things on the way out, there's probably, at the very least, a lot of clean up to do. not to mention new, not terrapin-fearing guards to hire.

Thank you!

[thecoffeelorian]

Overwatch, Chapter 3

Inspired by ASMR

SFW

Word Count: 1.1k

3 of 5 Chapters

Created for TBBAW 2023 @tbb-appreciation-week

DAY 5: CROSSHAIR

Characters: Crosshair and Omega, aka You are Omega because the usual ‘x reader’ tag will not work here.

Tags:  Smoking, Imperial Horror

A/N: I brought in one of the members of Delta Squad for this one, because they were shown around the end of Season 2 as Imperial Commandos, even if their faces were covered the whole time. Also, even though Omega doesn't know which Commando it is, my inspiration settled on Scorch for...reasons. *wink wink*

Tag List: @groguandthebadbatch

AO3: Click Here

“Hm.”

Crosshair goes and takes another puff, only this time, you're careful to lift the rag over your nose and mouth in case he tries to exhale any more smoke at you. After what you saw and heard on Ord Mantell, maybe that’s why you're not about to be caught unawares by anyone else’s surprises.

"And how are they going to find you?"

What you are ready to do, however, is not allow yourself to fall into despair, or sadness, or any other low feelings that can otherwise disrupt a person's well-being. Not when you could literally be within spitting range of the ship that could fly you to freedom.

"That’s easy. I'll just sneak out to where the hangar is, steal a ship, and then comm them once I hit hyperspace."

By contrast, Crosshair just sits in silence, watching you and then...smirking. He's got the look of someone who's acting as though you just told him a droid joke, though you don't remember saying anything silly. What is he reacting to this time, or are you too foolish to ask?

"You're going to find your way past all of these guards and doctors, sneak up to the uppermost levels of this facility without setting off a single alarm, and then convince one of these pilots to look the other way while you fly off with their shuttle...?"

"Of course. I've gotten away from two bounty hunters already, how can some Imperials be any—"

"—How do you plan to steal one of their key-cards?"

"Their what now...?"

His smirk widens.

"Their key-cards, kid. The things they have to use to get from one level to another, without which nobody has proper clearance. How are you going to get one?"

At first, you imagine the ground dropping out directly from under you, leaving you to fall forever into whatever lightless void waits beyond all the floorboards, dirt, and everything else than lies between.

Then, you get your first of many ideas, and hopefully not your last. Specifically, your mind turns to Emerie Karr, not just the strange woman who claimed to be your sister, but also the second 'doctor' you happened to meet in this scary new place. She might have the clearance you need to go snoop around a little, never mind to help create your escape plan.

Provided, of course, that you manage to work your way into her good graces first.

"I can go to Emerie. She’s also a clone, right? Maybe I can just ask to borrow hers one day, like...to go help Nala Se, or something."

"Uh-huh…"

His smirk hasn't vanished yet, but at least the two of you are thinking ahead rather than arguing. So far, so good.

"...All right. So you now have the key-card, but you're going to need your weapon back. How do you plan to get it?"

Your memory rewinds for your a second time, back when one of those Imperial guards took your beloved energy bow and traveling sack away from you, seemingly because they thought your journeys were over. However...since this facility has dedicated itself to various forms of research, would they choose throwing a potential asset away over studying its strengths, weaknesses, and overall capability in combat?

"Well, there's got to be an armory here, if not also a weapons testing room. I'm good at snooping in places where nobody would expect me, so maybe I can start there."

"And then what?"

"Then, I'll...eavesdrop in secret to learn their pass codes, after which I'll sneak in after dark and take back what they took from me."

"Good, good...so you're armed, and you have clearance. Now lie down."

"What—?!"

Crosshair barely pushes you back onto your bed in time before you hear the footsteps, the one sign available to you that an Imperial Guard is coming. Did he hear you talking? He must have. Those upgraded helmets could have also upgraded their comm devices and earbuds in the time you spent away from Kamino. What if he—

"—Shhh. Just lie still until he leaves."

He doesn't dare speak above a whisper, but then again, he won't have to tell you twice. The growing sound of this Guard's breathing is more than enough to make you go rigid and silent, your face turned toward the wall to purposefully avoid having to stare into that faceless visor. Each new breath he takes makes the sick feeling in your stomach return, and with it, your fear of being discovered by him grows a little at a time.

"Who's still awake? Status report."

It's a sound you only ever heard in the hospital bays before, the sound of respirators keeping so many Troopers alive while they healed from blaster wounds, broken bones, concussions, infections, and so many other strange descendants of the Republic's battlefield. This Guard, curiously enough, rarely made it into those same bays because of how accomplished his team—also known as Delta Squad—had once been, according to all the stories. Curiouser still, you had once believed him to be far above serving any dictator—let alone this new 'Emperor' Palpatine—because as far as you were concerned, they were the closest things to heroes besides your own Clone Force 99.

How quickly the galaxy has seen it fit to teach you otherwise.

“...Ya know, you’re not in trouble. Every Trooper has a rough night here and there, so. Any of you shinies wanna tell me who ignored the ‘Lights Out’…?”

His voice sounds a little bit clearer now, so he’s got to be a little bit closer to you than before. He’s coming. He’s on his way, but you’re not going to look back at him. He may be so close as to notice that you’re only pretending to be asleep, but you are not going to look back at him. The moment that you do will be the same moment you disappear behind those massive gray doors, and then—

“—The kid had a bad dream.”

Then...nothing happens whatsoever. You’re fighting the urge to turn and see if he’s standing right behind you, but this Imperial Commando makes no sound of response. Shouldn’t he be trying to punish you right now, or something…?!

“You do know how kids can be, right? You obviously had nightmares at her age. I never met any other regs who didn’t, so...maybe you could do her a favor, and ignore the usual protocols just this once?”

You hear a low sigh from nearby, a shifting of old armor rattling in spite of its new technological upgrades—

“All right, Trooper. Just this once.”

—And then, whichever part of Delta Squad this Trooper is supposed to be—be he Boss the fighter, Fixer the hacker, or Scorch the accident-prone, as there was never any further word about Sev—simply walks away to continue his rounds of guard duty.

He’s gone now.

[maya-matlin]

What are your top 3 least favorite episodes from each Next Class season & why?

Ooh, least favorites. Okay.

Next Class season 1:

1.) #ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin: This episode pisses me off. It's not just that Zig cheated on Maya. I still think it was a somewhat lazy writing choice that simplified what was going on with Zig and the tension between Zig and Maya, but in terms of what was actually happening during this episode I sadly bought that Zig would make the decision he did in a vulnerable moment. For me, the biggest issue was the Zoe/Grace arc. All these years later, I still can't rationalize why the show felt the need to write Grace as straight and make the entirety of the fallout Zoe's fault. Experimenting plots are fine. Questioning your sexuality only to realize you're cis/straight plots are fine. The problem is, none of that was told from Grace's perspective. Everything about Grace during the first season of Next Class was kind of shrouded in mystery with everything she said or did implying she liked girls and reciprocated Zoe's feelings. The show went as far as allowing Zoe and Grace to have sex only to have Grace come out as straight less than five minutes later all to facilitate a bullshit plot twist to break up Next Class's main straight couple. It felt really condescending and like the writers were almost lecturing the fans as well for making assumptions when the writing, editing, directing and acting was all intentionally done the way it was to lure everyone into believing they were getting lesbian representation in a pretty cruel way. In universe, I'm still not sure why Zoe of all people needed to learn that lesson when Grace refused to use her big girl words to tell her otherwise. Then obviously, there's the mess with Zig and Zoe. It was never confirmed that they slept together and outside stuff from the crew suggests they only made out, but it was definitely implied something sexual went down in the actual episodes. As a biased Zaya fan, obviously I'd like whatever they did to be anything else. But also, Degrassi repeatedly wrote sketchy sexual encounters that unintentionally skirted the line of how consent is supposed to work so I really don't want to have to work through "Zig only slept with Zoe because he was unaware she was making a sex tape of their underaged selves" on top of everything else. Needless to say, I can't be objective about this episode. The acting was strong and the Miles story line was good, but those aspects couldn't make up for such a frustrating episode. For all these reasons it will probably always be my least favorite Next Class episode, period.

2.) #BootyCall: In my opinion, this wasn't a great series or season premiere. It did an okay job reintroducing the characters to viewers who hadn't watched TNG or the recent seasons prior to the show's cancellation, but the tone always detracts from the episode for me. I can't explain it. I know Next Class is considered the weakest Degrassi show, but even beyond that something didn't translate well. it felt like a hard reset and not in the best way. In terms of writing things I didn't love, this was the beginning of Tristan's frequent biphobia that the writers never seemed to find problematic. Zig's suddenly bad at guitar. It's almost funny now.

3.) #SorryNotSorry: Hunter is literally an attempted school shooter who made an actual hit list involving multiple main characters, some of which were his own friends and a girl he'd already emotionally tortured for weeks. Somehow, the entire episode ends with Hunter crying prettily into the camera and being embraced by Miles. I understand Degrassi aims to make us empathize with all the characters and wants us to understand why they do what they do regardless of whether or not we like them. But at the same time, I'm so sick of sympathetic school shooter narratives. This is a perfect example of one thing I hate about later Degrassi. Hunter gets away with all of this rather than be held accountable. The school never knew Hunter actually had a gun and he returns to the school the next year like it's nothing. He's allowed to form another group with the friends he sent rape threats with the previous year as though nothing happened. Maya doesn't even get a proper apology from Hunter, and she helps that trashy group multiple times! I know I'm focusing a lot of the aftermath, but this was the beginning of that shift. Otherwise, Frankie starts dating Jonah and Zig keeps doing the "maybe he actually understands he was trash for cheating on Maya, maybe he doesn't" dance. I just feel terrible for Maya in all this.

Next Class season 2 (I'll have to do the rest of these from memory because I recently rewatched season 1 but have yet to get to seasons 2-4):

1.) #ToMyFutureSelf: I don't think I thought this episode was bad. I think it was just kind of underwhelming? Small things bugged me, but the plots weren't terrible. Lola was insufferable in this one. Five minutes after being educated about institutionalized racism, she lectures and shames Shay for considering sending an apology letter for taking part in the protest. Even Tiny understood. It's just one reason I'll never be a fan of this friendship. I barely feel like Shay and Lola like or respect each other. This was also the awkward plot where Maya had a thing for Peter of all people and was rubbing up against him on stage. Gross. Craig and Sav were right there and presumably single. Definitely one of the cruelest things the writers ever did to Maya.

2.) #TheseAreMyConfessions: I don't even know who Grace is during this episode. For some reason, she really wants to go on a summer road trip with Zig and is trying to become his girlfriend without having a proper conversation with either Maya or Zig about it, telling both of them things like "I think Zig's ready to move on" with it being clear that Maya assumes it will be with Esme because she actually knows him while Zig is told Maya's cool with a Zig/Grace coupling when she has no idea any of this shit is happening. I still remember watching this episode for the first time at like 5:00 AM over a stream from Australia because they were randomly airing this season first with my jaw dropped in disbelief. Grace finally got an A plot after all the bullshit and confusion and that's what she was given.

3.) #SquadGoals: Mostly, I just like the other episodes from this season better. I think it was a better season premiere than #BootyCall, but the plots mostly didn't keep me engaged. The aftermath of Zaya's breakup with Zig showing up at Maya's window was bittersweet knowing things between them were still pretty thoroughly broken and that there was zero chance of anything improving without time and distance away from each other. Otherwise, it's a pretty Hollingsworth heavy episode. I hate Hunter, and I cared less and less about Frankie with time. The Triles moment was sweet, though.

Next Class season 3:

1.) #HugeIfTrue: The thing about season 3 is that all of the episodes are good, so there aren't very many writing complaints from me. That might change when I rewatch the season. But out of all ten episodes, I liked this one least. I know it's a fan favorite, but I didn't love any of the story lines. I don't care about the gamers' dick sizes. Frankie and Jonah were never a compelling couple. The Shay/Tiny friction needed and deserved more screen time so that it could be understood where both were coming from. Shay at times didn't accept all of Tiny and it was unclear when that changed for her or if she was projecting due to her own insecurities about sex. Poor Tiny was mostly a peripheral character despite the fact he had loads of potential. And finally, I just don't like Mola. I've never felt the magic or been impressed by Miles's fourth consecutive romance with the only person that understands him. I do love that this is a bottle episode, though. It was well written and executed. It's just not a favorite of mine.

2.) #ThatFeelingWhen: Again, this is a good episode. I just like it less than most of the other season 3 episodes. I still don't like Miles and Lola together, so their part of the episode makes me cringe. But otherwise, Zoe and Rasha getting together was sweet, I liked Frankie beginning to realize relationships bring out the worst in her and (massive unpopular opinion) I was glad to see Tristan finally wake up.

3.) #PicsOrItDidntHappen: I keep repeating myself, but this was another good episode. Maya's plot was fantastic. I liked the other two plots slightly less. Miles was unnecessarily a dick to Rasha and seriously cast himself in a play that had only three parts. I'm never getting over that. I don't love watching Frankie and Jonah story lines. I'm really stretching to find reasons.

Next Class season 4:

1.) #ILookLikeA: I feel bad when I shit on episodes with really strong Miles plots just because the others are mostly terrible or forgettable in some way. Again, I will never like or care about Hunter. I'm not interested in his reaction to Yael's gender identity journey. I was also indifferent to Goldi and Winston hooking up. Otherwise, Miles's plot was great. I just wish the writers had bothered to touch on Tristan's biphobia because the opportunity was RIGHT THERE to resolve it.

2.) #GetMoney: I feel like the first half of season 4 is slightly weaker than the second half. This is still a good episode. But no plots jump out at me as being great. Saad's is probably the best one, but it's mostly set up for stuff that happens later in the season. Shay's story line didn't grab me as much as I wanted it to, but maybe that will change when I rewatch season 4.

3.) #GetYouAManWhoCanDoBoth: There's nothing wrong with this episode. It's just kind of average considering 405-407 and 409 and 410 are some of Next Class's strongest episodes. I actually like Tristan's story line, but I'll always be disappointed this was all we got of his recovery. His character was put in a coma almost entirely in service of Miles's plot. So as a result, whatever development he has is kind of relegated to this one episode because the writers gave him nothing else. The subplots are pretty good. The Lola/Saad stuff was mostly setup while the aftermath of Shay and Tiny's first time is mostly just there to give Richard Walters an excuse to dance. So, I can't complain.

[buddiebuckley-diaz]

So here’s the list of my fav 911 quotes. I have it divided into seasons but sometimes the seasons blur together after watching them 100 times like I have so some quotes might be in the wrong season, if you notice this let me know!! Also if you have any other amazing quotes from the show PLEASE reply/reblog with them, I always love seeing great quotes from the show! (I also ah e not added any from the last couple episodes yet)

Season 1

When we take the uniform off at the end of the day, it symbolizes letting go of all the sad, crazy, inhumane things we've seen that day. -Athena

You never go beyond the glass doors. -Buck

He broke up with me, and he did not have my permission. -Abby

Sometimes the right kind of no is better than the wrong kind of yes. -Abby

I get to be the tough guy, but I also get to help people. -Buck

My family is everything to me. And there ain't no trouble from the inside, or evil from the outside that's going to tear it apart. -Athena

No one is good when it's personal. -Buck

Karma is a wild animal... And she won't be caged! -Hen

Season 2

Okay. You. You're my problem. - Buck

You can have my back any day. -Eddie

You wanted us to bond, we might end up real close. -Buck

We all feel pressure, but it's how we respond that matters. Pressure doesn't have to break us down. It can show us who we really are. -Maddie

The point is you can't trust people, only yourself. -Josh

My father's from Mexico. My mother's Swedish. I can help you out with the Swedish half but no one told me which half that is. -Eddie

Yeah but it's hard to know though right? If you're hanging on too long or giving up too soon. -Buck

We’re not the story. We’re just here to make sure no story ends before it should. -Buck

So maybe the greatest love stories aren't the ones that end in tragedies. Maybe they're the ones that start with a second chance. -Maddie

Standing in between you and anyone who thinks they can hurt you is exactly where I want to be standing. -Buck

Here's how you make it to the end of the day. You don't worry about the things that you can't do anything about. -Bobby

You want to be a hero, be the one who lives to tell the tale. -Athena

I'm real. You're real. We can be real together. -Athena

You don't find it, son. You make it. -Old Guy

Our parent's approval is something that we all crave. We just can't let it stop us from doing the right thing. -Athena

Don't be afraid to run. Be afraid to stay. -Officer

Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -Chimney

Yeah, but this time he only got stabbed. -Hen

You want to be punished? Your punishment is that you lived. Now make it worth a damn. -Phil

I spent years not having a voice, and now that I do, it just feels like what I'm saying doesn't matter. -Maddie

You're a fool. But I love you, too. -Athena

Season 3

Where did all the water go? -Christopher

Buck, there's nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you. -Eddie

A few choice words can sometimes be the life raft that gets you home. To be seen… to be found… isn’t that what we’re all searching for? -Buck

I learned one thing from that tsunami; it's that I don't quit. I fight. -Buck

They’re my family, there’s nothing stronger than family. -Buck

You want me to watch Christopher? -Buck

It’s easy, he’s not very fast. -Eddie

Maybe try going to the zoo this time, something inland. -Eddie

Out there in this world, helping people, that is where I belong. -Buck

Because you’re exhausting, we all have our own problems but you don’t see us whining about it. You know somehow we just manage to suck it up. Why can’t you? -Eddie

You know how much Christopher misses you? How could you? You’re not around. -Eddie

No, it prevents me from reaching out to you! I couldn’t even call you to bail me outta jail… If that was something that happened. -Eddie

You know, Buck, someday you're gonna figure out when to stop pushing and learn some patience. I hope we're both alive to see it. -Bobby

I just want you to talk to me. Even if it's just to say that you're still mad. -Buck

There's no one right way to deal with trauma. -Frank

I killed someone I used to love. I will never be completely free of that. -Maddie

I get taking things slow. But tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. So if you love her, tell her. -Eddie

People make mistakes. Doesn’t mean you give up on ‘em. -Buck

Love me anyway! -Buck

You can’t save someone from themselves. Not if they don’t want it -Buck

Look I’m sorry I wasn’t there Eddie. You and Chris needed me and I had my head so far up my behind with that stupid lawsuit. -Buck

We’re way past that Buck. -Eddie

I’m not! -Buck

I should’ve been there. -Buck

I could’ve told you not to buy that truck. -Buck

Yeah you’d have talked me into buying something more expensive. -Eddie

At least be honest with me. -Buck

You don’t think, while you were going through your phase, just maybe you were throwing your punches at the wrong guy? -Buck

I’d still take you… wanna go for the title? -Buck

No matter what happens, I'm always gonna fight to come home to my family. -Eddie

You're always the one who leaves. You don't know what it's like to watch someone you love walk away. -Buck

But the thing about bad news. You never see it coming. -Bobby

Look, this moment is about you. It's not about what you're supposed to say. It should come from your heart. -Maddie

Season 4

So, let's try being scared together. -Chimney

You never give up. That's what being Buck means to me. But whatever you do, don't stop. -Athena

I have walked through fire every single day of my life because of you. -Buck

Nothing I ever did was good enough! -Buck

I have spent my entire life feeling like a constant disappointment. And you wanna talk about our jobs? You think my job is dangerous. I have walked through fire every single day of my life because of you. That is why I am in therapy because nothing I ever did was good enough! -Buck

You're allowed to give yourself some time, you know. To process. -Eddie

It's like the universe is screaming at you and you refuse to listen. -Buck

The universe does not scream. -Eddie

I know what it's like to be stuck inside the worst moment of your life. To be afraid to hope. To try again. -Bobby

Guess everyone has their breaking point. -Buck

Sometimes being lost is not knowing how to get from where we are to where we wanna be, where we need to be. -Buck

I am exactly like that woman. The day I forget that, that will be a very dangerous day. -Bobby

Hold on Eds -Buck

I need you to hold on. -Buck

You ok Buckley? -Captain Mehta

No. -Buck

I was just the guy standing there when it happened, who couldn’t do anything to protect him. -Buck

Still, I think it might have been better for him if I was the one who got shot. -Buck

Because, Evan, you came in here the other day and you said you thought it would have been better if it had been you who was shot. You act like you’re expendable… but you’re wrong. -Eddie

It's in my will, if I die, you become Christopher's legal guardian. -Eddie

That’s what the 118 is, the family we choose. -Eddie

Season 5

Let this be a lesson. Never give Buck a clipboard. Never. -Chimney

Stay focused. You get distracted and people die. -Buck

You just need to learn how to stand your ground. Bullies don't back down unless you make them. -Harry

Because you don't talk to the women you're dating. You just go with the flow and find yourself in a relationship, with no idea how you got there and what to do when things start to go wrong. -Bobby

You know me. I don't always listen. -Buck

You could be dead next year! -Chris

Buck, you need to move on. I have. -Eddie

I got out of the ocean for you. For both of you. But I had to stay here to learn to stop running. -Maddie

What are you afraid of? -Buck

That I’m never gonna feel normal again. -Eddie

I wonder how many other people we inadvertently saved by saving someone else. -Hen

This is Firefighter Eddie Diaz. Metro dispatch is on fire. -Eddie

And I don't want to keep on making the same mistakes. -Buck

Shouldn't it be when you're at your worst, they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up and you still decide you want to try again. -Buck

Season 6

Buck, you don't even have a couch. -Chris

Maybe I don’t want to pick the wrong couch again. -Buck

You're a great firefighter. When you're all in, nobody goes harder than you. -Bobby

Are you capable of being a father and walking away? -Hen

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. -Buck

Buck! Where the hell are you going? -Eddie

[larathia]

School Spirits blither

Behind a cut for spoilers, and also because it's long and i haven't really talked about watching the show much here.

First, not all questions have been answered. We still don't know why all the blood in the boiler room, or the crowbar. There was good reason to think Maddie was dead, and that blood had to have come from somewhere. Someone had to have disposed of that crowbar, too.

If this gets a season 2, I suspect a fair chunk of it is going to be Maddie proving to Simon that she is who and what she says she is. She's going to have to prove that she isn't a figment of Simon's imagination, that she knows things Simon couldn't know or guess, and that she isn't the only ghost in the school. Hopefully, this means at some point he'll be talking to that nice teacher he gave a note to.

It will be an interesting plot point if Xavier turns up as a ghost too. I'm kind of hoping he does. The scooby doo stuff is just...bizarre at times.

I'm reluctant to demonize the teacher ghost juuuust yet. What the kids were reading sounds to me like he's analyzing "why THESE kids" and "why THESE things". He may be trying to think his way out of ghost-dom, which is at least on par for a chemistry teacher. As to the newspaper articles...lbr here, it's not unusual for a tragedy to be blamed on the adult in the room. That's part of what being the adult in the room IS - taking responsibility for what happens. He's the teacher, he's the one who's supposed to know how to handle the burny fire and the dangerous chemicals. So if there's a fire in the chemistry lab that kills a student, it's going to be on the teacher. Because he's supposed to know better. It doesn't have to be anything more than that. In this show it might be? But it doesn't have to be.

Likewise...I'm actually not sold that the teacher had anything to do with Janet taking over Maddie's body. It looked to me like Janet was being pressured to do something and intended to just run away. The circumstances of Maddie being psychologically devastated and in despair and in the right place at that exact moment are beyond the abilities of the ghosts to engineer. I think the teacher may well have been being honest when he said Janet, from his perspective, 'just disappeared'.

And Janet isn't working with any of the ghosts. She'd have had to come back to the school for that. There's no indication she did - on the contrary, it looks like Janet took a bit to realize what had happened, and is now just trying to get as far away from the school as she possibly can.

[lazyscience]

So just knocked out Castlevania: Nocturne.

Beyond the readmore there be spoilers. You have been warned. Opinions forward from someone who has just watched the series, not played the games.

I cannot WAIT to see Olrox and Alucard politely bitchfighting over who's the prettiest. Especially if Mizrak is involved somehow.

Frustratingly, my least favorite characters this time around are the Belmonts. They are just not that interesting compared to Annette, Edouard, Mizrak, Olrox, Tera or even Marie.

Juste Belmont - what the fuck, Netflix, that big dramatic Grandpa Belmont reveal just to have him completely disappear again? I mean, I suppose what must have happened is as soon as Richter's magic woke up and he made his big Martyrdom Declaration, Juste beat feet to Wallachia to wake up Alucard. He's the only one who would have known where to find him (I am going to be disappointed, Netflix, if this is not the case. Not because I particularly love him per se, but because it's terrible storytelling to show him then just ditch him like that)

Did I say the Belmonts were my least favorite? I meant Erzsebet. Horrible job on the villains this time around, Castlevania. Only Olrox is interesting (and it's questionable if you can even call him a villain based on what we've seen so far, his Belmont issues notwithstanding). Erzsebet, Drolta and Vaublanc are cartoon evil cutouts with no ambiguities or contradictions to make them interesting. Fuck, even Godbrand had more characterization as far as who he was and why he was that way than these two. The random Egyptian myth butchery is confusing af, what does Egypt have to do with Hungary?* And the Abbott is even more terminally simple than Hector for thinking he could bargain with these insane bitches. Maybe Tera will be corrupted enough to be both villainous AND have a personality? I live in hope.

Edouard - I am very interested to see how that ends up playing out. It's like a more refined version of the Isaac storyline from the first series, expanding on exactly what night creatures are and what they can become.

Olrox - I really want to see how his storyline plays out because he's both involved and a wild card.

Annette - She's amazing and I love everything about her.** I don't love that they're lampshading a Belmont romance from the game there because the show has a LOT of storytelling to go before they've built a relationship as good as Trevor and Sypha. Right now, they're BARELY comrades in arms. I don't want to see blushing or awkwardness, Richter hasn't earned it.

Maria - I like her, but WTF with the going to warn the abbott? He didn't earn that. and they didn't foreshadow anything about her and angst about a missing father figure. It's not THE worst choice, but. I feel like it's unlikely given his well established antagonist credentials, and even for an established idealist a VERY naive choice.

Overall, it's uneven but I'm intrigued. It'll be interesting to see what happens next, and hopefully the next season won't take 2 more years...

*i will give a tiny bit of credit that Sekhmet was the goddess of pharaonic authority and putting down rebellion. someone gets a gold star for that. if I thought someone actually did that on purpose.

**I am withholding my judgement on how they're handling the Yoruban gods/voudoun because that's a closed practice and I don't know enough to say what they're doing wrong. Although if they're doing the same horseshit job as they are with the Egyptian ones I wish they'd stop.