#I'm supposed to be making a list of all the projects we've talked about doing so we can start getting things

[jedi-bird]

Finished the second coat on the cheap little fences; they'll be set into place tomorrow once they're fully dry. Ran some errands and helped partner acquire some art books on sale; also got myself some manga and a blind box figure. Tidied up a bit in the house, not that it's noticeable.

Random wildflower seeds from a few years ago finally flowered, so the pots on the patio are now colorful as well. Partner wants to put plants in the front yard now, but keeps saying no to all my suggestions; I'll get them to commit to something by next year.

[boothillssugarmomma]

Hello hello!

Can I request a Dr. Ratio x reader that's a team leader and they're assigned to work together, and while he's complaining (whining) about her team they're not having it and they bicker (divorced parents vibes fr) (they're both in denial of their feelings). Just Ratio not being used to someone else talking back to him (pls make them make out thank you for your time regardless, I love your writing!

THIS IDEA GAVE ME SO MUCH BUTTERFLIES MAKING 😭 I hope you like it as much as I did creating it!

🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀

Sparks of Synergy

(Ratio x Fem!Reader)

cw-: mean!ratio, insults of intelligence, heavily suggestive, smidge of nudity mentioned

🎀 authorsnote: this is my first request fic and I literally screamed and giggled when I saw it!

please don't steal my work!

Taglist🎀HSR Master List🎀Other Lists🎀

"This part of this project is so simple! How do you not understand!? We've already been through this part multiple times!" Ratio could already feel an argument or a migraine coming. All it took was one glance down at your paper for him to practically combust.

"Fix this." He orders. He's spent hours going back and forth with you, hovering over your shoulder like a vulture.

He could spot all sorts of microscopic mistakes that he just was practically begging to point out. He doesn't exactly know why he even bothers. It's obvious that you were hopeless the moment you were recruited for his team.

Though, he suppose it's better for your dimwitted self and the rest of your team to come to him instead of doing it yourselves.

Aeons, he wouldn't be able to take in the sight of you doing this project alone and failing or asking for help from another bumbling, no-nothing dumbass.

The doctor is the best chance you've got with actually completing correctly, whatever it is you need help with...and he wouldn't have it...Any. Other. Way.

"Just because you're the team leader of this little project doesn't mean you can be so bossy." You hum and keep working.

"Bossy? Me?" Ratio lets out a scoff. That's rich coming from you.

He raises an incredulous eyebrow as his stare narrows at your ridiculous comment. Does this fool have the guts to insult him?

He rolls his eyes at the fact that you had the audacity to claim that he's "bossy" when he's simply trying to keep things together. He's not bossy, he has a title to live up to, unlike the likes of you.

"Yes...bossy..." Your eyes glance over at his in a glare. "You want to make the team quit?" You scoff.

"Please." Ratio shoots a condescending glance your way, leaning back against a wall and crossing his arms.

"If they aren't capable enough to handle my expectations and methods, then it's best for them to leave. I'm doing them a favor here. You should be thanking me, quite honestly. I am your team leader after all. I know what's best for this group."

He smirks. You should be grateful that he even allowed you to be a part of this team at all.

as you continue to bicker and fight the whole day the rest of the team just watches on in silence, until one by one they all start to leave

Eventually you both notice that you two are the only one in the room. Ratio let out an exasperated scoff and pinches the bridge of his nose. The headache coming back.

"Look at what you've done now." He snaps, his gold eyes snapping back to you once more. "You and your incessant nagging caused the others to leave. What a surprise."

The sarcasm was evident in his voice. He can't stand this.

"Oh you're going to blame this on ME!?" You scoff and fold your arms. "If anything it was your snide comments..."

Ratio let's out a sharp laugh, scoffing once again and turning his chin in a prideful way.

"What snide comments? The only thing I said was criticism that would help you improve on your work. You, just like the rest of those dimwits, can't seem to understand. Do you have any idea of the standards I live up to?"

"It's the way you say it Veritas." You sigh and rub your forehead with your index and thumb.

The purple haired smart ass stiffens. His golden gaze locked onto your exasperated expression. How irritating. How annoying. It was like a buzzing insect flying near his ear, one he longed to swat at.

"Perhaps try working harder instead of being so sensitive, idiot..." He scoffs. He was simply offering constructive criticism. It's not his fault that your little self couldn't take it.

"Ok you see!" You groan and push off the table. "That's what they don't like!"

Ratio scowls slightly. The audacity of you was absolutely ridiculous. He steps closer.

"What, do you propose I use a more 'soft' approach? Perhaps a 'softer' tone?" *He mocks, a sarcastic smile stretching his features. Soft? That's laughable. He doesn't do soft.

"You're just like them. Soft and sensitive. I have no tolerance for useless emotions. Only facts."

"Maybe you'd have more friends if you were nicer!" You raise your voice and clap your hands together before taking a breath.

Ratio laughs lowly, mocking your outburst. You had no right to judge him like that.

"How childish. If they truly were my friend, they'd stand by my honest and factual criticism. You see it as 'mean'. I do not. What is so wrong with telling it how it is?

I don't expect you to understand. Your feeble brain simply wouldn't be able to comprehend the standards."

"Ratio not everyone appreciates your random analysis of them." You scoff.

The doctor gives you a condescending side-glance, rolling his eyes. Random analysis? Surely you were aware that everything he thought of was correct?

"The facts are just the facts. People can either be offended by it or be mature and understand. Clearly, maturity is not a word you know."

"You seem sensitive and weak minded...GET OUT!" You mock him and throw a piece of chalk at the chalkboard before folding your arms.

It takes all of Ratio's self-restraint to not burst out into a hysterical, mocking laughter. His face twists into a sneer. You were the delusional and insensitive one here.

It's not long before Dr. Ratio had pushed you back until you were pinned against the wall his body pressed so close to yours that you could feel his soft, warm breath hitting the side of your neck.

"Weak minded?" He chuckles lowly.

"I would never dream of being weak. Ever."

You both just gaze in each other's eyes for what seems like an eternity before you clear your throat. "We should probably...get back to work..."

Dr. Ratio had almost forgot he was pinning you to the wall, but at the comment, it had made him pull back away slightly. He stares for a few seconds before glancing away and scoffing once more.

"Right, there's no time to waste on worthless chatter. I suppose it's up to me to be the bigger man once again and carry this team." He crosses his arms.

You roll your eyes as you walk back over to the table and start working.

After a small while there is no talking or bickering...until you did a slight mishap on an equation

He often glanced over quietly to make sure the work you were doing was correct. There were a few moments where he had to glance away from how badly your mistakes had irked him. He took in a breath to calm himself down.

He would be lying if he said that the silence wasn't slightly refreshing. But...he's quickly pulled out of that mindset when you made a mistake.

He lets out an irritated sigh and stands.

"Really? Another mistake? At this rate you might as well give me the paper for me to finish it myself."

"Don't touch it!" You rip the paper away from his hands.

He scoffed, his eyes narrowing as a sneer stretches on his lips. He takes another step closer to you, crossing his arms.

"Care to repeat that, idiot? You dare to talk back to me?" Ratio's gaze darkened slightly, his golden eyes practically gleaming in the light.

"Oh don't act like you're all high and mighty!" You stalk towards him poking his chest with your finger. "You're not the big bad Ratio everyone says you are!"

The doctor lets out a mocking scoff, his gaze locked onto you in a cold glare. He swats your little finger away like it was nothing.

"Big bad Ratio? You clearly are more ridiculous than I had originally anticipated. What, are you scared of me? Do my words... frighten you?" He steps even closer into your personal space, his voice dropping into a low growl.

Your heart flutters as your eyes lock again. His gold gaze holding yours so perfectly. But your stance never falters.

Ratio's eyes narrow as he can feel his irritation rising once again. Why is this bothersome woman making his heart beat like this?

He scoffs.

"You're getting too comfortable around me. Have I not made it obvious that I'm superior than you in every way?" He grabs your chin with his thumb and index, angling your face up.

"Superior? Superior!?" You scoff and laugh.

Ratio sneers, practically looming over you.

"Do you want me to list down everything that makes me superior to you, little one? The list would go on for miles and miles."

He stares down at you with an intimidating smirk, his thumb pressing against your chin almost possessively.

You glance down at his lips before locking eyes again. "Shut it...doctor..."

Ratio smirks once more, a dark chuckle escaping his lips. His thumb traces your bottom lip slightly, admiring your features for a brief second before he lets out another scoff.

"You have the audacity to tell me that? Oh, you are a fool. A very adorable fool...now you should shut it."

"Shut. It. Or. I'll. Make. You." You whisper darkly.

Ratio's smirk widens for a moment, clearly amused and slightly caught off guard by your boldness. He lets out another scoff and leans down close to your ear, his hot breath brushing against your skin.

"And. How. Precisely. do you propose yourself to accomplish such a thing, hm?" He murmurs, a mocking but low chuckle falling from his lips.

You lean up and cut him off with a kiss. A soft one before pulling away slightly. You both gaze into each other's eyes.

Ratio's golden eyes widened slightly in surprise, not anticipating such a move. You...kissed him? How dare you act so brazenly? Yet...why did he like it...?

He lets the surprise linger in his expression for a few more seconds before he takes quick action. Ratio closes whatever space was in between you and pushes you back against the wall, his lips pressing against yours in a passionate and possessive kiss.

As the kiss grows to be more passionate small sounds can be heard escaping both of your throats as you entangle closer together

Ratio's hand wraps around your waist tightly, his other hand slipping into your hair to keep you closer against him. Your soft lips were so addicting, it made his heart flutter strangely in his chest. His tongue darted out to slide against your bottom lip, begging for entrance into your mouth.

You open your mouth just enough for his tongue to slide inside, and you begin to fight for dominance.

His tongue immediately sought for yours, exploring the inside of your mouth as a low groan escaped his throat. He began to press you more and more into the wall, his body pressing tightly onto yours with an iron grip on your waist.

He pulls you away from the wall to lay you on the table as he continues to kiss you

Ratio's hand traveled down to grab your thigh and hoist it up so your calf wraps around his waist as he deepened the kiss with a small hum, his body hovered over yours in an almost possessive manner. His long, slender fingers would slowly begin to slip under your shirt.

"MhM!" You groan into his mouth as he slides a hand over your breast.

Ratio let's out a low chuckle as he slowly begins to slide your shirt off, wanting to feel more and more of your skin against his. He began to trail small, light kisses down your neck, gently sucking on a particularly sensitive spot.

"V-Veritas" You whisper softly in his ear.

Ratio gives one final, rough suck onto that particular spot on the side of your neck, creating a small bruise. He pulled back slightly to look down at you. A low chuckle escaped his lips once more as he leaned in to brush his hot breath against your ear.

"Saying my name so nicely...You're almost making me want to ruin you."

You roll your eyes softly and laugh quietly.

"So doctor how long have you been hiding these feelings for me?" You tease as you kiss his cheek.

Ratio let's out a scoff, his face quickly flushing a dark red at your boldness. He was getting teased by you of all people. He doesn't remember the last time anyone has gotten the best of him in such a way.

He clears his throat and leans down to press a bruising kiss upon your jaw, beginning to trail his lips across your neck.

"...for a while..." He reluctantly answers.

"And is this your mhM way of asking me out?" You smirk through a small moan and tilt his chin up with your hand to meet your gaze.

Ratio's face flushed a dark shade of red at your question, his eyes narrowing as he let out a scoff. He was the Veritas Ratio. You have some nerve to tease him.

It takes him an embarrassingly long time to answer, his brain scrambled. He can feel your soft hand on his chin, gently making him meet your gaze.

"...I suppose so." He finally admits sheepishly.

"Does this mean you're going to be nicer to me?" You lean forward to kiss his forehead.

The doctors golden eyes widened slightly at the small kiss on his forehead, his face flushing a deeper shade of red. He didn't expect you to get this affectionate with him. He glanced off to the side with a scoff.

"I-I already am nice to you. I'm...simply just more blunt than other people." He mumbled almost defensively.

You both pause as you throw your head back to laugh. "You're very funny doctor!"

His eyebrows furrow slightly in annoyance. You...laughed at him. He would have reprimanded you if it wasn't for the fact that your laughter was incredibly cute. He would huff in irritation, crossing his arms.

"It's not nice to laugh at me, you know..." He grumbles with a slight pout.

"Fine fine... I'm sorry~" you lean forward to whisper in his ear.

Ratio's face flushed an even darker shade of red as your soft whisper sent a shiver down his spine. His hands gripped slightly onto your hips, holding you against him firmly. He let out a sigh at your teasing words.

"...you're insufferable...I hate how adorable you are." He mumbled lowly, his voice dropping a degree as he stared down at you.

As he lifts you off the table and puts you back on the ground you smile softly "Yeah but you like meee~" You poke his chest softly.

Ratio quietly scoffs again, although his face was still flushed a dark shade of red. Why, you...! You had him wrapped around your finger. His eyes narrowed, yet the corner of his lip twitched into a smirk.

His arm loosely looped around your waist and bring you close to him, letting out a low chuckle as he rested his chin on top of your head.

"Shut up...you are so fuckin...insufferable." He mumbled lowly, not denying anything you said.

You press a kiss to his throat and smile. "Shall we get back to work...my love?"

A shiver raced down Ratio's spine at the small kiss, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. His heart thumped in his chest, the soft fluttering feeling in his chest only growing. No, not during work hours. He must not get distracted until the work is done.

He gave a firm nod, his golden eyes locking onto your gaze.

"...Yes, my dear..."

As he turns to the table you smirk. "Oh and Veritas?" You smile innocently as he turns back to you.

"After work..." You slide a hand up his chest until it rests on his heart. "I want you to show me just how insufferable I. Really. Am."

Ratio's eyes widen slightly before they narrow into a smirk, catching onto your words almost instantly. He raised an eyebrow as he watched you.

"A challenge? You seem so confident, my idiot..." He murmured. He grabbed the hand on his chest and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss to the palm of your hand.

He leaned close once more, and with a seductive whisper, and smirk, answered.

"You're on."

🎀End🎀

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Hey Reid, really random question, but what do you discuss in office hours generally?

For context, I'm a new undergrad student (on a joint English, drama, and creative studies course, I know this isnt your department but it's not too relevant) and we've been sent forms to fill in about what we want to discuss with our personal tutor in our first meeting with them. I have no idea what you're supposed to talk about in these sessions and as the semester's only just started we're not yet doing assessments, coursework or big projects at all. Plus, as a joint honours student I don't know whether I can talk about my other subject well with her or not as she's only from one subject's department.

The only thing I was thinking I could talk about would be the fact that it's become clear already that my passion in the subjects is completely different to everyone else's on my course (there's only about a dozen of us in the classes for one of my departments) and I guess that leaves me a little directionless so maybe something about careers to do with that but I feel like it's such early doors to start discussing careers.

Anyway yeah, as someone who has already been there and who I believe is now doing it too (if wrong, sorry!) do you have any general recommendations of what students can talk about in office hours with their personal tutors or other teachers? Thank you!

Psst, I'm going to tell you a secret: the vast majority of students do not actually come to office hours. Even though they should! It literally cannot hurt! And coming to office hours is a great opportunity to build rapport with your instructor/TA and get academic help! But out of the approximately 300 student's I've had, I've met with maybe 10 of them.

I say this not to be cynical, but to drive home the point that you are winning by just showing up. You don't have to come with a list of perfectly prepared questions—you're a student, and you are, by definition, learning! Do the readings and assignments, and engage with your instructor.

Now, I'm not sure how your program works, and you say tutor rather than TA, so the etiquette might be a little different. A tutor is there to help you academically, while a TA is there to answer some questions, but by and large you are expected to be in charge of your own learning experience.

As a TA, I'm generally happy to meet with students by appointment, but I also really appreciate it when students are able to understand that I am 1) a human being with a finite amount of time and energy, and 2) my job is to support you but not hold your hand. Your section may not be the only one your TA is responsible for, and they also have their own studies to attend to.

Here are some things that are appropriate to ask from your TA:

To look over a paper draft and offer feedback (provided this is something they have offered to do as part of their job)

Request feedback on an assignment after your grade to know what you could do better next time

Schedule a meeting to discuss topics you are struggling with

And some things that are not appropriate to ask your TA:

Questions where the answers can be found on the syllabus (due dates, percentage of grades for certain assignments, the readings for a given week)

When will I get my grade? (See my above point about being only human. If assignments have been turned in, assume your TA is working on getting them back to you, and that they cannot do so immediately. Give it at least two weeks before checking in)

Asking for a particular grade on an assignment

As for your first meeting with your tutor/instructor/TA, I'll reiterate: just show up! Introduce yourself, say hi, and don't feel too much pressure to hit the ground running.

Here are some posts I've made that you might find relevant:

Tips to make your professors love you

Student conduct

Citation how-to

Thank your professors

Take a deep breath. I sense that you might be someone who puts a lot of pressure on themselves to be perfect. Nobody else is expecting that from you. You're learning, and it's okay to be unsure and make mistakes! Trust in yourself to do your best in the moment; that's all you can do.

-Reid

[learnfromdiana]

Hey, my beloved readers! Today we're going to talk about something very important, something that affects all of us, and that is procrastination. Now, I know that we've all been there at some point. You know, you have something important to do, but instead, you decide to binge-watch your favorite show or scroll through your social media feeds for hours. Don't worry, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to help you overcome this terrible habit.

Now, some people say that the key to beating procrastination is to just get started, but let's be real, that's easier said than done. So, I'm going to give you a more practical approach. You ready? Here it is: just keep procrastinating!

Yes, you read that right. Keep procrastinating, but in a productive way. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through your phone, use that time to brainstorm ideas or make a to-do list. Maybe even do some research on the topic you're supposed to be working on. By doing these small, productive tasks, you're tricking your brain into thinking that you're still procrastinating, but you're actually making progress.

Another helpful tip is to break down your task into smaller, more manageable steps. It can be overwhelming to look at a big project and try to tackle it all at once, but if you break it down into smaller tasks, it becomes less daunting. Plus, you get the satisfaction of crossing things off your to-do list as you complete each step.

So, there you have it, folks. The secret to beating procrastination is to keep procrastinating, but in a productive way. And remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, so don't be too hard on yourself if you slip up every once in a while. Just keep pushing forward and you'll get there eventually. Happy procrastinating!

[dangerously-human]

for the fic writer game: 3, 4 for take his hand, 8, 20 for merry metamorphosis (am I trying to make you write pregnancy fic... maybe), 27 for ch2 of here's a safe place, 37, 49

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

I write a lot of family life for traumatized characters, stuff that requires a lot of intentional growth but also leaves space for tenderness. Love me some literal sleeping together, too. I mostly write post-canon, and a lot of introspection. And I think I'm always working off of an assumption of redeeming the narrative, in a sense - not that things will always go well, but they will always have meaning. It's the Christian worldview, I suppose.

4. What detail in [Take His Hand] are you really proud of?

Honestlyyyy, I could wax rhapsodic talking about this fic and how it came to be. Lucy's chapter may be killing me a little bit, but there were parts of Lockwood's that truly feel like they came from outside of me (we've talked before about the Holy Spirit influence on this one). I know I already mentioned this in my reply to your comment, but the fact that Lockwood was praying with his old rosary beads from when he was a kid when the call from Penelope Fittes comes in says a lot. It's a nod to (part of) what Lockwood chose to pray about, after all those years of distance - the right opportunity to invite Lucy to come home - and it also ties the success of the company to a lasting legacy for the Lockwood family, which is such a key aspect of understanding Lockwood himself and just what he's trying to include Lucy in. It also says that he unpacked the literal box of memories, however painful, even if he's not 100% ready to unpack the metaphorical one - except he has started to, he's praying and acknowledging the God he feels let him down (or maybe the other way around, depending on the day), and he's doing this thing that reminds him so strongly of Jessica and their shared grief. It's not "solved," Lockwood still has a long way to go and a lot of Jacob-like wrestling with the Lord to do, but at least he's stopped running in the opposite direction and actually let himself feel something - which is what the Black Winter is all about, in his arc. I could go on about this for ages, truly.

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

Captives Come Home by Run Kid Run is just BEGGING for Other Side fic, - please, the number of times the lyrics repeat stuff about creeping shadows and the other side! - and maybe I'll write it eventually but I'd be equally happy to read it if someone else did. Would love to see it start with Lockwood and Lucy's first crossing ("There's hope inside that box you close/That only opens when your life explodes/On the other side, come home"), then tackle when the whole crew is there ("Don't you know you gotta get up/Get up and find a way back home?/So hold on tight, let's go/Leave behind false sense of hope/Where creeping shadows call your name") and then focus on post-canon efforts to clear the fences so the captive spirits can finally reach their final destinations ("As I'm waiting for the world to end/I'm clinging on to oxygen/I'm pulling captives by the hand/Come home, come home"). I have not shut up since my first read through TCS about the Harrowing of Hell imagery and, yeah, I just think I deserve this one, as a treat.

20. If you wrote a prequel to [A Merry Metamorphosis], what would it involve?

I know I already said this to you the other day, but bestie, do I have good news for you! Next (new) project on the list is literally this. 😆 To be fair, it doesn't exactly take a lot to encourage me to write pregnancy/kidfic, lol. But yeah, been thinking a lot about protectiveness and what that would look like for Lucy and Lockwood as they prepare for a baby, and how that would interact with their work (logistically and emotionally), considering they're still pretty young when they have Ivy.

27. How long did it take to write [Here's a Safe Place to Lay Your Heart Down ch. 2]? Describe the process.

FKlejgklaegl well. According to the date I created that Scrivener file, parts of that chapter were written in early September, and I just published it to AO3 last weekend, so you can do the math. Here's the thing about Lay Your Heart Down: while the core themes/message remained the same throughout, it went through several iterations in how I conceptualized it, and that made the writing process AGONIZING, because it was a constant repetition of knit/purl steps and untangling and reworking. (I don't knit, so take my metaphor with a grain of salt.) Honestly, this mostly came about because I kept asking myself if The Necklace counted as an engagement ring in Lockwood's mind, which obviously I kind of answered in Woke Up in a Safe House Singing, and that pivoted to a very vivid idea of how Lockwood would think about picking out a ring for Lucy and what it would look like and why. So. That could have been a drabble, but I also have a lot of feelings about the Touch/possession scene in the second episode, and that had to go somewhere!! And overlapped a lot, thematically. So a lot of the Lockwood having a self-isolating freakout stuff from ch. 2 was written first, plus the bit immediately after THB with the broken headphones and remembering watching Lucy dancing. All that used to be together in one chapter, which was going to be sandwiched between Lockwood picking out the ring and a sweet future scene that featured the ring somehow - the narrative started out even less linear than it ended up. (That final scene is now its own WIP.) Then I ended up with all the canon-era relationship development in the first chapter and the second could focus on that core conflict, Lockwood panicking about those lines from the show - "he gave me the ring, he wouldn't hurt me" - but in the context of all the various ways he could get Lucy hurt, because old conflicts (internal and interpersonal) tend to reemerge at transition points like the engagement period. A couple things that got me unstuck with this chapter were actually writing out more of what happened on the job that went wrong, letting Lucy be more upset (while still understanding), working out that Lockwood's fear this time was less about Lucy getting hurt and more about being the reason for that happening, and drawing direct parallels to Fairfax and Annabel (which in turn let me work in that good stuff about devotion and mutual belonging).

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

I'm not shocked Onward, Ontologically has gotten very few eyes on it - if nothing else, Continuum is a tiny fandom, even less active now than when I was originally writing for it, plus Kiera and Alec are a complicated ship (I'm often curious if they would still be a rarepair if the fandom were larger, though - I could see it going either way). It worked for my Yuletide recipient, though, and that's all that really matters. I really like the quiet domesticity of it, and that it leaves space for the S3 conflict between Alec and Kiera to remain somewhat unresolved - I like complicated, and I don't think an easy resolution would have been realistic after everything these two went through and did to each other, and the tangled doppelganger web.

Within this fandom, one I wish got a little more love was Smoke & Shield. Gen is usually a bit, idk the right word, quieter? So I wasn't expecting as much excitement as with my Locklyle works, but I do think it's a really good character study of Jessica and her relationship with her little brother. I got some truly lovely comments on it that tell me it still found an audience to resonate with, though!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

Well, since you attacked us all with baby fever, here's a snippet from the "Lucy learns she's pregnant with #4 via George's powers of observation" fic. (I don't think I've posted this bit before? Idk, this is the problem with lingering WIPs!) I've been WIP-hopping a lot, but this is one that's gotten a bit more focus lately:

With arms outstretched to take one twin off my husband’s hands, I explained, “I’m not even sure yet myself. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me until George said something, but…” My voice got smaller as I finished, “I think he might be right.” Transfer completed, Lockwood let his hand linger, then drop to hover just over my belly. At the open wonder on his face, I blushed. It wasn’t as though we hadn’t done this part before - twice, in fact - yet it seemed even at the mere possibility, he couldn’t help looking at me like I was made of something magic. To be fair, that wasn’t all that far off from Lockwood’s normal.

[ughmyreality]

I'm ready for Disney to go back to being Disney ANIMATION studios! I'm all for inclucivity, but you can't just do the bare minimum and claim it's good because it features minorities. Or even worse, start remaking every single thing you've already done before, just in a lackluster version. I wish these companies would see that these projects aren't doing well and change directions. Besides, you'd think they'd learn because nearly every live action remake (Disney or not) involves some sort of "scandal" with one of the actors.

Examples:

Ian Ousley (Sokka) aledgedly lying about his race.

liu yifei (Mulan) supporting Hong Kong police causing people to boycott the movie.

Rachel Zegler (Snow White) acting like she couldn’t care less about the role and having an overall entitled attitude, making people dislike it when the film hasn't even been released yet.

The list goes on. I am absolutely tired of seeing the "magic" being sucked out of everything. I feel like I grew up with some pretty good animated movies, but what is there for people nowadays. Elemental? Wish?!?!?!?

And please don't start to mention the countless different "companies/shows" Disney has bought the rights to. Really, I think that's part of their problem. They're trying so hard to keep all these different things afloat that they're all sinking. They are trying to do too many cash grabs at once, and the quality is seriously suffering.

Disney knows, or at least knew, how to make a classic romance. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd say stick to what you know until you can get going.

And another thing, I hear there's supposed to be a Moana 2! Moana isn't even that old. They're not even letting an ample amount of time pass before they start another ploy. Where are the original ideas? Because all we're getting is revisited versions of things they've already done. And isn't common knowledge by now the running joke that the majority of Disney sequels are trash?

Now for the extra controversial option. I'm over the live action race swapping of characters we've already seen. It's one thing if it's a book. Sure, I can get behind that. But it's getting to the point that they're just swapping out anyway white person with a minority girl and calling that diversity. Can we PLEASE have some more diverse main original characters?

Plus, diversity is not having one person of color and calling it a day. Diversity isn't even having a full cast of one minority. In order to be diverse, there actually has to be a group of multiple different types of people. They think they can just throw in one black people, and all of a sudden, they're so with the times.

Then you only ever see 3 different types: black people, Latinx, and Asian (typically only Japanese or Korean). But I just have to say that that is not as diverse as people make it seem. And why is it that these minorities never interact. It's either all one minority or minorities with white people. Absolutely no in between.

Then, to top it off, I want to get back to catchy songs. A good example of this was Encanto. Not only did it focus on a topic besides romance (family bonds), but it also features a minority family in which each member looks like some actual representation. That on top of the fact the music was good, made Encanto popular despite not having much marketing I'm the beginning. You go from songs like "we don't talk about Bruno" and "Surface Pressure" to.... "This is the thanks I get" from wish.

I feel like they need more people who are passionate about what they do. Even if it's not for the whole movie, just certain aspects. Lin Manuel Miranda is known for his music. Great! He's passionate about it that's one of the reasons it was so good. Who exactly wrote the songs for wish? That is the question.

Anyway... that's all I had to say. Just felt like complaining.

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Toot toot! To all fans have subscribed Luke Arnold's mailing list from his official blog, check them out! There are good news are awaiting for you!

I will share the letter down below here

From Luke Arnold's letter:

A few things on the horizon…

Hello to all the beautiful people who have asked to be kept in the loop regarding my work (but have found the loop largely non-existent). I write you this brief but hopefully exciting message as I sit in an airport lounge on my way to the Gold Coast for Supanova (an Aussie convention where I’ll be signing books and photos and hanging out with other lovely creative people). Supanova will also be in Melbourne next weekend so any Melbournians out there should come along.

Though I’ve been quiet on the "mailing list" front, rest assured that I have been keeping myself busy. All last year I was shooting the new Disney+ series Nautilus which will be incredible, but I'm not allowed to say anything else about it until the time comes to unveil what we've been up to. Soon, I hope! I also just finished filming Scrublands, a 4-part crime thriller based on Chris Hammer’s best-selling novel. That will be coming to Stan in Australia, and Sundance Now in the US, with more networks surely announced soon.

I have a few writing projects that I’m forced to keep secret for a little longer, but this big news is… Fetch Phillips is coming back for another book!

It seems people are so used to trilogies that many assumed One Foot in the Fade was the end of Fetch’s story. These books were always supposed to feel more like detective stories than fantasy epics (at least to begin with) and though I never intended things to end at book 3, I did want to make sure that each instalment was satisfying on its own. I’m happy that, for some people, I succeeded to the point where they thought Fetch’s adventures were over for good. Please be rest assured that he still has a few miles to walk, a few mistakes to make, a few punches to take and more monsters, secrets, and magical rumours to uncover. I love writing Fetch and I’m grateful that Orbit are happy to continue sharing him with the world.

I’ve been rereading the books myself recently - making sure my maps and wikis are up to date, and taking note of any loose threads that have slipped my mind over the years – and I must say, I quite like them. Though I have been tough on poor Fetch. Not letting him off too easy. Not rewarding him wins he doesn't deserve or allowing him grow too quickly. But the scope of his story is really about to open up. I enjoyed keeping Fetch's world and mind contained for a while but he's kicked over too many stones and now some dark and mean things are ready to crawl out.

Okay, that’s enough blather. I’ll go put my words where they belong - in the middle of Book Four of The Fetch Phillips Archives!

I do plan to occasionally look up from the laptop and finally do some events, talks and signings this year. Some in Australia but probably a few in Europe too. I’ll let you know how that goes as I lock in dates.

Thanks for being interested. Stay tuned!

[the-firebird69]

And her son is saying these Macs are nuts they find something out they swarm around it they keep going after it threatening everybody threatening our son until they grab it they find something else they continue doing it and now there's a big list of stuff and they're just threatening everybody and they're going down just like these guys it's very similar in technique and they're losing pretty soon they're gonna lose in a big way.

- Those fleets are moving towards Venus and they're under the influence it's the dumbest thing you've ever seen history everybody is on to learn about any kind of Mac. They don't like these people they're all about destroying people threatening people for stuff ruining lives and they're no fun to be around they're just annoying. so They go into a room and say they should be ruling over everyone but they don't bother managing it controlling it or having the personnel they're much of lazy idiots ultimate to be rulers because they found out that some of them are ruling that's how they lost to the claims and they're gonna lose again I gotta tell you I can't stand them they're just so repulsive everything that they are talking about doing to our son is a 100 percent insult and threat like we're supposed to tolerate it what we said is you're gonna be doing this we're gonna tear you down every second of the day until we find you and publicly kill you on TV we've been doing it to these people that's the punishment. They don't even get it you you people are so dumb you're making everybody on the planet irate your people too and you suck **** buddy you are an animal you're gonna go down talking about people laughing chortling and running your soap opera it's disgustingly rude These guys are too they sit here saying whole bunch of garbage all day long now we're gonna start fixing it. Those ships are moving.

- They're going in the direction of Venus they're being hit we're up to 20% and I'm hearing it's going to 30 real quick and past it needing 30% of the fleet will be out in moments probably minutes and more. This represents the loss of three quarters of the Mack Morlock Fleet that is up and it includes ships in the ground of course not but there's not that many it's like 100 million and they're not class A at all. They have a lot of small ships it doesn't include with those going seconds now they're trying to raise ships not really they say this is for their plan the Midwest and huge ones are theirs and they don't know about these massive ones when they find out they're going to be screaming that and they'll try and do stuff it's a lot better than what they're doing now. So they're gonna send apparently their whole fleet to their doom thinking it's great and the Macs are encouraging it 'cause they think they'll get stone chips out there but you haven't done that.

- There's other things happening with the fleet is heading towards our empress and it must be destroyed we see that people are stepping up their attacks on them that's left is about 700 billion chips they're going to be out shortly I'm told 800 billion and they're going to be hit shortly people are losing patience with them and don't wanna hear their stupid talk anymore and they are coming in and pulling them out.

- There's a couple more things that are big to announce we have two projects starting tomorrow they're very very large one of them is.

- Campers trailers RV Motor Homes and mobile homes but not small homes or tiny homes those are built in place most of the time we have a humongous amount of them that have not been purchased and they keep saying they're using them we need to find something to do with them and our son and daughter say right away construction crews and we make a temporary camp close by so we're gonna do that and grab them all too bad for you it's another project and it's very big there's other aspects of people want to use them they wanna go places we have huge ideas for an RV Parks and their progressive. Also

Also-

- Large scale housing projects and we needed to we have smaller scale projects and we have a different division large scale would be one million units or larger per project at one location. They are tremendous and we have requested tons of them from all over the world and only some of them are serious believe it or not there's a lot of crank calls out there and it's hard to get through to people these days they try and find people who work there and they network and they get a bonus and we do give out the bonuses we do give out apartment complex units and it is not small these people need it. It's also coming from within and we do the same thing but a little bit better. There's more work to be done than just this but we are going to approach this in a serious way we have a lot of construction techniques not all of them will work that great for us but our sons ideas are really good building with the concrete the way he came up with it and we reinforced it correctly is intense it will be so fast it's not even funny the form in place method is the fastest I've heard about on Earth nothing will defeat it it comes pre wired in everything and it's modular there's no way on Earth that we should build slow and we are starting this project these are going to be massive massive massive housing projects. And everywhere on Earth they'll know that our son is helping. And it will give him what he needs as a boost that these people need out and they're screaming for it. Actually they're getting to run their plan that's what they're saying but really a 30 year preamble cuz you're stupid yeah your plans gonna suck. And really they have to run their plan before anybody can do anything it's coming up pretty quick on the 25th it is a kickoff shortly after they will be destroyed piece by piece by piece and then we will be build massive numbers of apartments condos and huge towers and tons of stuff and the towers go up to a couple miles in their housing towers and they're big wide and a lot of them are teraced for strength.

We do have a couple other large announcements we're going to make it a moment. But we're hoping ours will sign on to this duty from now forwards tomorrow make the formal announcement.

Thor Freya

Olympus

I wanna see my husband on one of those jobs so I can be thereI wanna see my husband on one of those jobs so I can be there too . I wanna be a big wig I wanna these people see I'm a big wig not some idiot imitating me and yeah I don't have to be there for hours but I was and I wanna see them to see that I can do it. It's important to me. Him and to all of us.

Hera

And we shall do that it's a great idea.

Thor an d shut up cramer no not yoiu the one here Freya

[dawnstudies]

Yesterday, I went to an oral exam to test my English. We had gotten an offer to have a B2 language exam at Euroexam to see what level we're on. Euroexam is an international thing so I was expecting something challenging. And it was challenging but in the worst way possible.

I thought a language exam is supposed to test how good you can speak English and how well you can voice your thoughts in a natural, casual environment (except obviously in higher C1-C2 levels, where there's business stuff too). However, this was not casual at all. The prompts we were given were not casual, everyday things. Native English people, I ask you specifically: do you often have to speak about things you have no idea about? Things that you don't like, that you don't participate in? Are there times where people don't take "no," or "I'm not sure" for an answer?

Next to the fact that we had to finish the exam fast so we didn't even have the preparing time we were supposed to be getting, the situations I had to act in were completely out of my league. How should I give swimming advice to my best friend if I don't even like swimming? How should I recommend beaches if I've barely been to any?

To add on top of that, there were many times where we had to make a lot up ourselves and we had like 5 seconds to read the prompt then we had to answer immediately. I'm honestly disappointed. I mean, personally I had to make up an art project and materials to use for it there on scratch, and I had to ask a shop assistant for them. This wouldn't have been so bad in itself, but I had no time to think of anything and had to make up something while I was speaking (spoiler alert: it did not turn out well). Firstly, I always write shopping lists and never go shopping for something so important blindly. Secondly, I always think things through before I go purchase the thing I'm looking for. Thirdly, I like to ask for advice. What's the purpose of a language exam if it asks impossible situations? What does it even test? How good I am at making stuff up? This is why language exams are so difficult. There's a difference between talking about something you actually have a clue about and making things up. Smart people never talk about things they have no experience of, however here you're forced to do so.

The examiner was kind and told us what mistakes we've made. Of course, I've made a lot. The worst part was when she had told me that the situations requiered fast answers and no actual, normal conversation. Where am I ever going to use that?

Of course, I shouldn't be surprised at all, since most countries (including mine) have a messed up educational system. Still, I feel disappointed since I really wanted to have a good score, but I know that I won't be getting one because of my poor performance. Still, the writing part was better. I hope I won't get the worst score.

What do you think? Is my opinion baseless? Is this the way it's supposed to be? Is this way of testing people good?

[copperbadge]

Re: the monthly donation thing. Dumb workaroud that might work: a programmer charity where people donate scripts for other charities. Of course somebody with significant experience and knowhow sould read those through.

I love the idea and I would definitely have a shopping list for them, but the problem is that payment processing really can't ever be "set it and forget it". The processor has to navigate financial laws and institutions, and even professional companies that do this for a living aren't fully functional in that sphere right now. Plus, when you add in that it's a nonprofit, there are additional laws in place to prevent abuse because nonprofits don't pay taxes.

Just for example, last month someone found our payment page and began using it to test stolen credit cards. They would make small donations to ensure the cards were still active, and then make massive donations to check the card limit, then immediately cancel the donation. So we got like 300 donations from people who don't exist living in places that look plausible but also don't exist, like San Jose, Idaho. This was a nightmare for our Data team, who has to balance our books each month, and also for me, because I see every donor who gives more than $200 and have to figure out who they are and what they do. So I'm like, elbows fucking deep in this fraud scheme, emailing Data all "I don't think there's a Tucson, Massachusetts". Data had to talk to our payment processor and they had to institute a special program to screen out fraudulent donations. That unfortunately can't be coded in and left alone.

All this said, I do think the idea of such a thing does have its merits! There are certain for-profit companies that actually do something like this, in fact -- they offer their staff with specialized skills as consultants to nonprofits for free, paying the staff to work on projects the nonprofits need. In 2019 we won the services of a Google marketing team to help us put together a digital campaign, and while it wasn't more successful than previous campaigns, we learned a lot about what Google was capable of. We've been implementing suggestions from that team for two years so we saw lasting value, even if the fundraising didn't blow us away.

So I suppose the upshot is if you're interested in helping a nonprofit with dev services, your best bet is to talk to your company and ask if they have a program where you can volunteer and the company can get the credit, or if they'd be willing to institute one. Or talk to your local nonprofit and say you'd love to volunteer and have this unique skill set, and see if they need help with their website, data integrity, program-to-program connections, or other digital issues.

[ceydsmelayne]

Conclusion -She Let Go-

Our journey is bumpy together. Our childhood is traumatic. One shines their Light, the other sits in her darkness. As I've said before, our mother has conditioned me to be there for her no matter what, and I have. We've endured drug and alcoholic parents, sexual and physical abuse from them, moving and separation from the family we love, and hardships through high school. No matter how wrong she is in any situation, I held her heart and she held my hand.

After high school, I moved to Florida. She felt I abandoned her. Left her with no one to hold her heart and make sure she was okay. I had been gone only for a few months when I got the call; Michael had been caught videoing her in the shower. The call was from himself. He was ashamed and scared, I could hear it in his voice. What did he expect me to say? All I could say was, well... you have to own up to this and make it right, I don't know how, but this is bad. He already had history with me, and now my mother failed us again, by allowing it to continue on with sister. I couldn't be there for her, I knew she hated me for it.

From a young age, she developed a way with manipulation. She would turn our parents against each other, taking the focus off her so she could do as she wanted. Disregarding the history our step-father had with me and advisement from mother, she chose to wear tight and revealing clothing around him. Almost enticing him so she can turn mother against him. What was her thinking on this? He shouldn't be looking. Well, duh, of course not, especially considering he's supposed to be our "father". He has a problem. There comes a point where you have to protect yourself, why did she choose not to? I by no means blame her for what happened. Mother failed us, but she failed herself too. She always wanted the attention; if I was talking, she made sure she was heard, if Michael was focused on mother, she was distracting him, if mother was focused on Michael, she was distracting her. No matter the cost. Attention whore.

My sister has a history of drug abuse, since she was 13. Drinking robitussin and alcohol, pills, coke, I can only hope meth isn't on that list. All the while being medicated for depression and anxiety. A few years back she had a major medical situation. The doctors couldn't figure out what was causing her so much pain in her hip. She was on the pain meds and drinking. The only way she knew how to cope. Grew up watching our parents. After a long few months, many doctor visits, and a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, she got an answer. By then she was dependent on the meds and the way of life she grew to know. She cut me out most of this time of her life. I knew she wasn't well because of it. Like I've said, she's part of me.

As I'm living my life in Florida, I do my best to water the relationship. The phone calls got shorter and her tone towards me grew colder. She was being molded by the way of life she was choosing. She was already a moody child, but the substances just made it worse. We'd be in the middle of a healthy conversation about whatever she was going through and like a light switch, she'd flip and I've turned into the enemy. I'm against her and she's projecting her anger towards me, causing me to question everything in the conversation. Gas lighter. She's become a narcissist. As her sister, I fought to look past these traits and see the origin of it. I endured for years.

She moved in with me 2 years ago. Excited and hopeful to be together. Nothing but turmoil and chaos. I started divorce papers and we moved in together, it barely lasted 4 months. I couldn't take the verbal abuse and destruction she caused. The moment I realized I needed to move out was the night of her birthday, February 22,2021. We had gone out and the tequila was smooth. My best hometown friend was visiting and we were celebrating. The last bar we went to, a friend, who I had always felt connected to, walks in. My silly self is to the moon excited to see him, while realizing I need to go home. Thankfully, he lived in the apartments next to mine. But I didn't go home. Both of us drunk and in the back seat, I wish I could remember more. Thanks tequila. The door flies open, and I'm being dragged out by my ankles. She proceeds to beat the shit out of me. I barely remember her banging my head against the pavement and her thumbs pressed against my eyelids as I scramble from her hold. She punched Jakob 3 times in the face and threw is wallet and phone across the parking lot. She ran off, calling my ex to tell him I was with his best friend. What a night. I've come to the conclusion that she was jealous, why else would she react that way. When I asked her, she said " because you shouldn't have been there", as if she could tell me how to live my life. I didn't drink for a while after that and I moved out in April.

We didn't speak for a few months. She tried to cause turmoil at my secondary workplace, the kava bar, what had become my safe place. She started to work at one of the locations, even came in as a customer on my shifts. Making friends with my friends and guests at my bar, she enjoyed telling them how she beat my ass that night. It hurt and embarrassed me, which is what she wanted. With time, though, many saw who she was and didn't pay her any attention. She stopped coming around which was nice, but I worried. Come November, maybe early December, she totaled her jeep. Drinking and driving. How that girl didn't go to jail is beyond belief. When she told me, I had a meltdown. She nearly died. I nearly lost her, forever. In December, I Baker Acted her. The scariest call I've ever received. The relationship she was in hit an ending and she swallowed a handful of sleeping pills. She hated me, again, but only for a few days. I helped through that month. It was hell on both of us, but she came out stronger. For a short time.

We grew closer after that. Helped celebrate her birthday again, the sober way. Jakob and I crossed paths again that night, too. The Universe is a beautiful force.

Over the summer, I had heard from concerned friends that she was abusing nitrous. A can had blew up on her and she had turned blue in the face. Ugh, I wanted to cry. I'm scared to lose her. I called my mother, in hopes of getting sound advice and support for my concern. It was the opposite. I was told that my extra curricular activities were no different. On a rare occasion I smoke pot, but more so I eat mushrooms. Not only for the psychedelic effects, but the mental stability I gain from it. It's called micro dosing. In my mind, my mother just compared nitrous to mushrooms, like meth to pot. I was so disturbed by this, I lost even more respect for my mother.

The last couple of months I saw her grow tremendously. She was a joy to be around, we laughed, we cuddled and we told each other how much we love and mean to each other. She had been eating mushrooms. I watched her transform. She loved life, she loved to think deeper about the bigger picture. We went to the beach and talked and comforted each other. Our rollercoaster ride was on the up. I enjoyed telling my grandma, mom and aunt about how she was doing.

What changed? Where did she decide to turn on me? It's come to a point in our story where she let go. I don't think she realizes it, when she does, will she be okay?

Jakob and I had gone to a music festival in Georgia. She calls me frantic about what's just happened. Someone she fell for, but was complicated because he wasn't over his past relationship. No doubt he cared about her, but she didn't want to give him the space he needed. She grasps onto him like her life depended on it. She learned that from our mother. So the fight that caused this call, she's videoed cornering him in his room and aggressively going towards him. He wanted her out. Understandably so. She tells me she has no where to go, I tell her to figure it out, it'll be okay. She has friends she could stay with until I got home. We could figure it out then. I live with Jakob and his family, there's not much for room to help someone figure out their living situation, let alone with an 18 year old cat. I wanted to be there for her, but I'm out of town and cant do anything from Georgia. On that call with me, she didn't mention staying at our house, just that she'll figure it out. She called Jakob's mom. Bless her heart, she heard my sister distraught and wanted to help, of course. We get the text on the way home, that sister is staying with us. I was upset. We have a history of rollercoaster rides in our relationship, this was going to derail us.

She stayed for a week, but that wasn't the problem. Her attitude and entitlement in the situation was. When we walked in the door from our long weekend, she's wearing my clothes, she had been in set up in our room all weekend with her cat. In our space. Trying to talk to her about her plan throughout the week, ended in her gas lighting and manipulating the conversation. By the end of the week we had finally calmly and clearly converse and talked about options and a plan; she felt better and so did I. She left Friday. The entire issue with this situation was that Jakob and I felt like we were taken advantage of and disregarded. I needed to tell her, but timing is everything.

The next week Hurricane Ian was headed towards us. 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hitting our coast. Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, and Captiva nearly wiped off the map, flooding and storm surge was catastrophic in surrounding areas. We had friends who lost their home staying with us, family of 5 with 4 dogs and 2 bunnies. No electric and everyone's feeling a little tense. The day after the storm, I missed her calls. Cell service is spotty, so I hardly looked at my phone. Thinking its an emergency, I call back. She answers upset because I didn't pick up her beta fish from the guy she lived with. The whole conversation was so ridiculous, I hung up on her. At this point, there's bigger fish to fry.

As life is getting back to normal after the storm, I'm amongst the many who return to work. It felt great to be behind the chair, being there for my guest as they endure the hardships from the storm. Draining, but happy to be a shoulder to lean on. She texts me to touch up her under cut and take care of her brows. I love taking care of her, however she texted me a few hours later telling me she doesn't have the money and if I can spot her. So now I've blocked my last hour for her, so that I can pay for my services. She has a habit of nonchalantly being an inconvenience and she doesn't care either.

She asked me to pick her up from the airport. Mother paid her way home for the weekend. Slightly jealous of the favoritism, I was happy she was able to take a break from her reality. It's not a terrible drive up there, so I had no problem agreeing to it and I brought Jakob's brother. He enjoys adventures with me. I looked forward to hearing about her weekend. Sadly, there was a lot of tragedy back home. Her friend from high school committed suicide and my high school best friend's ex step dad murdered his girlfriend. Emotions were high. I could tell when she got in the car she had been coked out and drunk all weekend. So I knew to tread lightly. I tried to stay focused on my mission for the day; laundry, clean the bathroom, schedule my oil change. She wanted to talk about whatever was bothering me, which good for her on picking up on my vibrations. I tried to deflect the conversation as much as possible, but she kept pressing the buttons. I started with the situation on how I felt about her staying at our house and that was as far as I got. She only heard that I felt taken advantage of. She interrupted me, started defending herself and lashing out. What pushed me the most was her telling me that I'm a shitty person, a piece of shit and worthless. The intention she put behind it and the forceful energy triggered me. As I was moving out of my ex's house, he screamed those same words to me; saying anything to tear me down and break me. The look on his face is scarred in my memory. It was demonic. From that day I vowed to myself to never allow anyone to speak to me that way, ever. The adrenaline rushing through to me, I could feel my throat tightening, palms sweating as I'm driving her to her destination. I pulled to the house and she left. I blocked her immediately, on all platforms. I will stand by the vow I made myself. Never again.

She let go a long time ago. I was grasping hard as she was pulling her hand away. I finally said okay and let go of her heart.

[tedturneriscrazy]

Here's Eclipse Lake, an episode that has been highly anticipated! Will it top Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door?

I'll skip the pretense: No. It won't.

You'll see under the cut.

Hmm, that list of ingredients for the Grimwalker...I'll let other people theorize about this (like @sepublic ), but it sure looks like a thing

Guess the mysterious green goo won't cut it, huh?

Belos face reveal already?! Huh, didn't expect it so soon.

Oh, no, he's hot! (And I'm mad about it)

Still an ass, though

Now we know why Hunter was wearing a different outfit (because people fixated on that for some reason)

Amity with the clipboard gives me strong Dipper vibes

GHOST! My beloved!

I need a moment because CAT!

(Also, someone pointed out earlier that Ghost was based on Dana's cat, and that's super obvious in hindsight)

Raine?! Oh, wait, you mean rain. Sigh.

Eda gets training tips from DBZ confirmed

(Also Amity's face when reacting to Eda's explanation is priceless)

Oh God Eda's a weeb I need another moment

Damn, Amity just straight up calling Eda old

Oh, loopy Luz

(The abomination holding the tissue box is adorable for many reasons)

Yeah, don't want Luz to eat the McGuffin

I have several questions about those Tamagotchis that I'll refrain from listing here

Amity your Odalia is showing

Girlfriend counter: 1

(Yes I am introducing a counting gag, deal with it)

Was wondering if they were ever gonna reference the dissection incident. We've come a long way, baby!

Oh, so that's what everyone was looking at

Luz honey your enthusiasm is admirable but no

Luz burrito is quite cute, though

Girlfriend counter: 2

(Damn, still wild to think that that's the case)

Just occurred to me that "Boots" is probably shortened from "Bossyboots" from earlier

Guess the Luz hiss compilation needs to be updated again

Those tunnels ain't the only thing around here that's unstable, amirite?

Oops, guess Kiki was justified, after all

Maybe don't talk so loudly about your plans, dude

That is her son, get it right!

Serves you right for having that stupid strand of hair sticking out like that

Is this just the episode where everyone dunks on White Boy? Because I can totally get behind that.

Already mentioned this, but I am loving the parallels between Katara and Amity with that bottle of abomination goo. Insert obligatory "Two Nickels" meme here about Mae Whitman.

We really are just dunking on the white boy and I am living for it

Hooty had to get it from somewhere, I suppose

Nothing says mother-son bonding like shooting things at each other (see also: Separate Tides)

I'm sure the magic bouncing off the veins won't come into play later at all

Oh well, at least the echolocation looked cool

At this point Amity would kill Hunter for a Klondike bar

Wait why does Hooty need a chair

Willow with the galaxy brain ideas

"A bad but sad boy" Luz is a genius at succinctly summing people up

Kikimora continues to be unhinged. Ironically she's not wrong about Hunter.

Motherfucker stop acting like you know what that says

(Also, projecting much?)

Girlfriend counter: 3

Friendly reminder that Hunter is still an antagonist

Uh oh

UH OH

I know someone mentioned Willow having the brain cell, but honestly it seemed like Luz had it this whole time. And that's not good.

WHY IS FOOL'S BLOOD EVEN A THING

Aaaaand cue the getting screwed over

Further reminder that he's still an antagonist (Apparently there's a vocal segment who's Really Mad at him that seem to forget this fact)

You unhand Ghost right now!! And Amity too, I guess.

(I kid, she's literally my second favorite character)

For what she did to Raine it warms my heart to know Kiki has had zero peace of mind

Wait, the Abomatons are Transformers?! Okay, that's kind of awesome, actually. Alador might be a shit dad but he is a brilliant inventor.

Chucking kids off cliffs is a surpisingly common pastime in the Boiling Isles

Owlbert no!

Eda did spend literal decades fighting the Owl Beast within, so I guess she can't be blamed for not thinking to talk to it

Also hurry up guys I'm very concerned about Owlbert

Fuck yeah Harpy Milf!

Yay Ghost returns!

She's glad they're okay (I didn't need to take this, I just thought it was cute. Also this is surprisingly high quality considering I just took a photo of my TV screen)

Oh, so they do have video games in the Demon Realm. That or Luz introduced them.

Trailer shot!

Oh dear, we about to have a fight over the key

Wow, being so high ranking under Belos is really bad for mental health

Jesus Christ Belos what have you been putting in this poor kid's head?

Leave it to King to give radical recontextualizations

Amity, I'm glad you remembered/realized this about Luz, please don't let the sad white boy play you like that again

Also, I appreciate the gesture you're making, and it's a wonderful summary of your character development, but goddamnit he's gonna go for that key because he's STILL AN ANTAGONIST

"Being nice usually works for Luz!" A) Not always, and B) Amity I love you but Luz you are not. A valiant attempt nonetheless.

Ooh, cool fight scene!

Always lovely to see such superb animation

I was privately griping about not seeing Amity use magic for so long, and now I am fed

Don't think I didn't hear the glass breaking

Appreciate your ass from a hole in the ground, Golden Boy!

(jk I don't actually feel that strongly about him still. That kind of threat still isn't cool, though)

Oh so that's why it's the Common Mold!

It's kinda cute, actually. Or maybe it's just because it's Luz.

TIL Hooty is heat resistant

Apparently Owl Beast just wanted a snack

Girlfriend counter: 4

Also love how calling Amity her awesome girlfriend is literally the first thing Luz says to her upon returning.

Yesssss return the hug! You deserve it!

(I know there are higher quality versions of this screenshot, I just didn't feel like looking around)

King demands huggies, too! (And gets 'em)

Reminder that Amity is smart as hell. I knew that glass breaking indicated something!

So once again I've been had. I let the fandom trick me into thinking this episode would be way more intense. Guess that one screenshot was from the next episode.

Overall this was...fine. Some nice Lumity moments, Harpy Eda strutting her stuff, that gorgeously animated fight sequence; those were all lovely.

I do wish Willow and Gus had a bit more to do. And I'm still rather unenthusiastic about Hunter, to be honest. I've seen his type several times before, and the path they have for him is rather obvious. I may never share the fandom's love for him, and I guess I'll have to deal with that.

Anybody who says this was better than KKKOHD is a damn fool.

Mid season finale next week! I think Yesterday's Lie will finally bring the pain!

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen (chapt. 4)

[Donnie x fem reader]

sfw, chapt. 3, pt. 4 here

Sighing, you set your phone face-down after sending your last text to Bo. What an abrupt end to something that had been so good. You were confused, a little taken aback and honestly sad. You'd thought the two of you were getting along well. Bo was smart, well-spoken, funny, and all around, a really nice person. He listened to your venting and seemed like he had a response to everything. Always, he had some random fact to hit you with whether it was about biology, chemistry, astronomy, language—you weren't sure where he got all his knowledge from. He'd never mentioned school, if he went. He didn't mention a lot about himself, actually. 

People come and go, someone had once told you. You guessed that he was one of those passersby, as much as you wanted it to be more. 

More?

When had you started thinking that? More what? 

You were tempted to pick your phone back up, to check and see if there were any new messages. Not that you could expect much; Bo had been so curt about his exit from your friendship that it was left at his last text, "Again, I'm sorry." You wanted to say something, but what was there to say? It was his decision. A sudden, uncharacteristic, and frankly odd decision, but still, his. Thinking back on it, you tried to remember any instance you might have crossed a line, or maybe said something you shouldn't have. That's what made you open up the messages again, scrolling up and up and looking for anything weird, but finding nothing of the sort. It had all been normal up until when you texted him about the clamor you'd heard outside your apartment building. And then it went flat—he didn't even respond to it, just said his apology and his goodbye before going offline.

You wanted to take your mind off it with a game, but as you looked through your list and saw the one you and him had played together, you knew it was near ruined for you. It just wasn't the same to play alone or with your acquaintances. An otherwise boring game made fun by one particular person, but now it was barely what it used to be.

Unfortunate. 

The next morning might have felt more normal if it weren't for the fact that everyone was pretending like it was. For the sake of secrecy from their father. As far as Donnie knew, Splinter still didn't know anything was or had been going on, and he intended to keep it that way, too. He wanted to tell his father, he did, but all he saw coming of that was reprimanding, or at the very least an awkward discussion, and possibly, time in the Hashi. He was already feeling the aftermath of his actions; he didn't need any more. Especially as he checked the messaging app one last time, only to find it empty, aside from her goodbye. 

Donnie stood at the kitchen counter, mask off and groggy as usual, scrounging for something to eat. Maybe a cup of coffee (if they had any), which he was looking for when Mikey bounced in. Normally, his brothers would avoid him when he was in one of his "moods". He hadn't a passionate temper like Raph but a slow-brewing one, the kind that festers until it's alleviated or boils over. Cold quiet was his thing. 

But Donnie knew why he was here. So did Mikey. He had that familiar glint of mischief in his eye. 

There was no coffee, so he settled for some kind of pastry they'd found while looking through the dumpsters. Really, the item was fine—only the packaging and appearance was defective. It was a wonder just how much food grocers wasted over arbitrary reasons, but regardless, he was happy to oblige his secret sweet tooth. 

From the corner of his eye he could see Mikey waiting eagerly for him to turn around and regard him. To listen to whatever he was about to talk his ear off with. Their youngest brother was more often than not bright-eyed in the morning, something Donnie's morning fog could not always entertain. He picked at his food at the counter for a moment, mind wandering back to his night and subsequently,  the unresolved feelings. Dreadfully unresolved, he groaned inside. And they probably would continue to be, as after sleeping on what had happened the previous night, thinking about her, he realized something that made his face flush. Oh, no. 

He froze in his place, suddenly very awake. He looked over his shoulder and found Mikey was distracted rummaging through the food for his own breakfast, and with a faint cringe, tried to sneak out of the kitchen undetected. No way would he admit to Mikey's words on the rooftop that night, the ones that made him flinch with embarrassment. The same ones that bounced around his head despite all attempts to stuff it down. "You like her, bro." 

Things involving him could never be simple, could they?

Abandoning his plate, Donnie began tip-toeing out of the room right behind Mikey. His foot hit the leg of a chair and caused a creak—he winced. As he thought, Mikey looked back, "Why are you sneaking around? You didn't finish your breakfast. Can't go on patrol on an empty stomach, dude." 

Before Donnie could even answer, he continued in a whisper, "Plus—"

"Whatever it is, Mikey, not now," he cut his brother off, "last night was the end of it, alright? You need to let it go." It sounded harsher than he would have preferred, but he felt the need to drill it into Mikey's skull that it was over, that it was just something he'd have to deal with. There were a lot of things they dealt with despite not liking it. With time, he'd forget—more accurately, be able to ignore— and maybe he could find the same enjoyment in his brothers once again. That sort of friendship.  But at the moment, it was ruined for him—he got a taste of something more and it was taken away what felt like second later. 

Mikey's face fell. Donnie couldn't stand that, seeing him upset over something he'd said. He had a bit of a soft spot for their youngest, no doubt. Just wasn't always obvious. 

"Aren't you afraid you'll regret it?" he asked, voice soft. 

Fear was a strong word, but of course Donnie was anxious. It was the thing holding him back from being able to simply compartmentalize everything, to put it in a box and on the metaphorical "deal with this later because it's uncomfortable right now" shelf. Or to deal with it at all, as ignoring his problems with studying and unrelated research and experimentation wasn't exactly prime management. He knew that. 

After a while of thought, Donnie was able to give him an answer. "Well…I mean, how could I not be?" he inquired in return before leaning out of the doorway to scan the lair. Everyone was either in their room, the dojo, or there, in the kitchen. Mikey has always made him feel most comfortable, and he was sure that was the case for the other three, just that they had other ways of showing it. He was certainly easy to talk to; if Donnie weren't so careful of his mouth and what came out of it, he could probably spew way more to him than he liked. Mikey could come through sometimes, though, which prompted him to keep going, "It was a big thing for me. We've been disconnected from everything else for so long that it was just...exciting, to get a look into what it's like. Being 'regular', you know?" 

Mikey sat down on one of the bar stools, feet idly shuffling against the floor as he folded his arms and rested on them. "You didn't hear it from me, but I'm a little jealous," he said playfully, but Donnie was aware that it was the case. "Maybe I'm pushing you to go after her because I'm trying to live vic–vicrous–v–…" 

Donnie smiled, he couldn't help it. "'Vicariously'?" he suggested. 

"Yeah! That," Mikey beamed, nodding. "You get what I mean." 

"I understand." 

The conversation died off soon after as Donnie decided to get breakfast over with and do whatever needed to be done before they left for patrol that night, darkness falling earlier due to the upcoming winter. It wasn't too cold for them to be out yet, though, so that still meant a chilly patrol in the Autumn breeze. He hated the cold. 

As Donnie was making himself busy at a circuit board in his lab, he heard the beads in the doorway shift, and to his surprise, Splinter came shuffling in. 

"Sensei?" 

He put down his soldering iron, spinning around in his chair. "Something the matter?" 

Splinter ran his fingers along a shelf on the wall as he wandered by, careful to not disturb any of the items lining it. Beakers, recently-repaired electronic parts, projects put on pause, things that would loathe to be broken. 

"There is always something," Splinter replied enigmatically, "I would not be here if that weren't true. Would you agree?"

 I'm compromised!

Donnie had a strong but hidden dislike for vague speaking, even if he did it himself sometimes. When spoken to you it's much more bothersome. 

Splinter waited for his answer, looking at him expectantly. "Donatello?" 

"Yeah, um…yes, I would—I would agree. I suppose. So...what is it again?" Damn his stutter, he couldn't get away with anything, hardly. He was only able to stifle it just enough. 

Picking a random pipette on the desk next to Donnie, Splinter studied the green liquid close for a second before his nose twitched, and he put it back down. "You have been very busy lately, it seems. What is it that you work on all day in here? Or are you playing games?" 

Donnie's heart thumped. His hand found that particular spot on his neck and began to scratch, and Splinter looked at him dead in the eye. He should have known; there was no hiding anything from their father, he was too good. Stupidly, infuriatingly perceptive. Donnie caught himself scratching that spot and slid his hand away, he hadn't even noticed he was picking at it again. He knows, Mikey told him, I probably look like a guilty idiot right now, I'm—

"I haven't been playing games," Donnie blurted out. 

Quizzically, Splinter gestured at the computer screen on the other wall, which had the menu of the game he'd opened up just earlier. Reminiscing over it even though it had been only a couple of days since he and his friend had last played together, but he stared at the screen as if it had been years. It made him realize how easily he'd gotten attached to that. Well, to her. He was on the fence about whether he wanted to try playing again or not and left it on.

Oh, you have to be kidding. I'm a fool in a man's shoes. 

Donnie laughed uncomfortably, "You caught me, Sensei," he said, "I guess I have been playing games more often lately." 

It was honest enough, right? 

Splinter hummed and cupped his hands behind his back. "I see."

Straightening out, Donnie dipped his head a little. "I'll...lay off on them. Sorry for lying. I've just been really distracted recently." 

"Liars never prosper, my son. Take care of yourself." 

He then left. 

So he didn't know. Donnie still couldn't say it with any degree of confidence, because Splinter would trip them up here and there, but it was assurance enough to know that if Splinter was aware of what had gone on between the four brothers and his new—rather, former—human friend, he would have confronted Donnie about it. Or all of them, considering it was now a secret they were all in on actively hiding. And on top of that, Raph and Leo didn't know Mikey was conspiring. Layers and layers, he sighed. 

With Splinter gone, he let out a breath of relief. Too close. Much. But, swiftly evaded. A chuckle left him, not of humor, but more because he was actually feeling a little confident. Just a little. They were really hiding something from Splinter; it was reason enough to pat himself on the back, nothing got past Splinter. Except for him.

Briefly, he thought of Mikey's outlandish idea as he spun back around in his chair. "Mikey, you are crazy," he mumbled to himself as he took his soldering iron, resuming his work from before. "But..."

Chapter 5

[anzcty]

Analysing Episode 6 Sylvie - her actions, her choice and a whole bunch of theories (Spoilers!)

After watching the Loki finale, I have been scrolling through Tumblr for quite a long time. I already knew that people's opinions were gonna be incredibly different but I definitely did not expect this much negative backlash. Especially when it comes to two specific topics - the Sylvie and Loki kiss and Sylvie's betrayal (/choice/actions). I'm gonna be talking about the latter, for it is another time I'll talk a lot about Sylki's relationship. (Beware that this post is also really long though)

First of all, everyone has different opinions and I respect that. I absolutely adore movies, books, TV-shows and videogames because despite what's happening within the story, each viewer has the opportunity to see something else in what they are shown (besides the obvious canon). What I mean is that everyone interprets certain scenes differently and gains the opportunity to make up theories. Therefore I want to clarify that I do, by no means, want to force my views upon others. It's nice to see people talk about the Loki Series (as long as it doesn't get too negative and hateful, iykwim) because every viewer can share their specific experiences with it :)

I'm gonna analyse Sylvie's character a bit ( because, well, I'm bored and I kinda wanna protect my beloved character that I've only had for a few weeks >:^0 AND the only thing I could think about the past day was this episode) and try to explain her actions in the finale (keep in mind: not justifying them, but explaining them).

I'm terribly bad at concentrating on one single topic point so I kinda made a 'list' with questions and whatnot that I wanted to dive deeper into. Your thoughts are also more than welcome!

I already want to apologise for grammatical mistakes, for I am not a native english speaker.

Sylvie's reason for being taken away by the TVA is still kinda unknown

You know, I've heard quite a few theories about Sylvie's nexus event by now. Some people say that she got taken away because she was playing with her toys in a way that indicates her having a good heart (playing as a Valkyrie and wanting to save someone, another hint may also be the reaction she showed towards someone else who got kidnapped by the TVA, yelling at the soldiers to "help them out"). Another theory is that she already knew she was adopted, unlike Loki who found out way later than her. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but we never got to hear the actual reason why Sylvie got kidnapped. Even Renslayer didn't say a word about it.

Now I'm gonna come up with yet another theory. What if Sylvie didn't really have a nexus event in the first place how we know it? In the final episode, Kang has said that he has planned out everything beforehand so both Loki and Sylvie would end up right in front of him. Did Kang's plan also possibly involve him getting killed by Sylvie? Hear me out: We don't actually know if the Kang we saw in episode 6 is the actual 'nice' Kang and not one of his evil variants. He has already talked about 'reincarnation', so who says that after ending the first universial war, Kang didn't reincarnate into someone with an unpure heart (aka, one of his evil variants)? That'd mean that the real Kang would have been killed and the Kang we've seen in the finale is actually an evil version that simply lied to both Loki and Sylvie. Besides that, we also don't know if Kang actually had that 'point' where he didn't know what would happen next. The show revolves a whole lot around trust, not only regarding the characters, but also the viewers. Who's to say that Kang said the truth? Maybe he planned it all out: He created the TVA, let Sylvie get kidnapped and therefore give her a reason to hunt after Kang, who in return could reincarnate if he got killed OR get killed and therefore give his other variants a possibility to conquer the universes yet again. Don't you think that it was kinda suspicious that Sylvie escaped so easily out of Renslayer's hands? The one person who's probably closest to Kang? (Even though, yes, she doesn't know who he is but Renslayer seems to play a very important role in his plan). What if the Kang we saw was the nice Kang though? Would he plan everything up to a point where another universial war would break out because he might know that there is indeed something/someone out there who could end it and therefore, possibly end Kang as a whole or create a new kind of system revolving around the universe? And therefore, get rid of the possibility of another universial war happening? Who knows. I am definitely overthinking and reaching at this point. One more thing that stood out to me while thinking about the episode again today (which kinda weighs more into my theory of Sylvie being a keypoint (or rather a puppet) in this plan): Kang has talked about his Tempad and that he knew that he would need it to have enough energy. But for what? Yes, his initial idea was to give it to Loki and Sylvie to rule over the TVA, but what if it was supposed to be used for another reason? Sylvie used it to transport Loki back to the TVA (though I kinda think he was accidentally transported to another timeline, hence the reactions of both Mobius and Hunter B-15) and therefore get rid of the only thing that could prevent Sylvie from killing Kang. The Tempad was used to secure Sylvie's path and therefore eradicated Kang's only option of safety. You can see the Tempad loosing it's glow after Kang was killed, possibly due to Kang himself being the origin of it's energy. But maybe, it only had enough energy for one specific action: getting rid of Kang's protection. I do think that Sylvie is now stuck at this place and somehow has to find a way back to Loki's reality. The Tempad clearly doesn't work anymore (at least in my opinion) and there was quite a long shot showing the Tempad up close, which is kinda suspicious tbh. Also, something regarding Sylvie's unanswered nexus event feels kinda odd to me, too.

My theory in conclusion: Sylvie (and Loki) are unconciously helping Kang with his plan (a big, big, BIG plan). They're his puppets, especially Sylvie, because she's the one who created the Multiverse to begin with. Think about Loki, who was said to be manipulated by Thanos in Avengers? It's basically the same train of thoughts.

Sylvie does not take Kang's offer into consideration

To be honest, this was something to be absolutely expected of her. Sylvie was kidnapped as a child, taken away from her home and family, and had to grow up in countless apocalypses where she could never form a real bond with anybody because she knew that those people were all going to die anyway. (Please don't judge me if I got that wrong, maybe I understood the next thing wrong? Idk, if so, I'm very sorry) She revealed that she was kidnapped way before Loki was even born (something I have to think about, too, because, if Loki is the actual Loki the other variants are based off, why did he exist after Sylvie? Wouldn't that make him a variant of Sylvie instead? Idk timelines and parallel universes are hard to understand for me :') I'm kinda stoopid ), therefore she must've had spent several decades of her life running away. She had no life at all. Her only goal was to bring down the TVA and whoever is behind it, driven by pure rage, seeking out revenge for stealing her life and basically forbidding her existence. And now that she has found said person, the only thing that'd be right for her character would be to go for the kill. As immoral as it may sound, it is the only thing that makes sense. And I am actually very happy that Sylvie's goals didn't change besides the fact that she did indeed soften up a little and has gotten someone really close to her. In contrary, it makes sense for Loki to do the exact opposite. His goals have changed. He does not act the way he did in Thor or Avengers anymore. He has found another goal for himself: to make Sylvie feel alright. He has had immense character growth and didn't take a chance to change his goals back in the Thor movies or in Avengers, (....maybe later in Thor: Ragnarok, kinda). This is exactly what I think might happen to Sylvie, too. She is at the beginning of her character arc. She doesn't take the chance to change her goal, but goes for her original goal instead. Said goal does not really have positive consequences (though, maybe it might have some? We're about to find out), which results in a so called 'negative character development', which Loki has already gone through. I think that Sylvie is gonna grow as a character in season 2 and get a positive character development in addition, just like Loki did. I highly doubt that she's gonna become the antagonist, it does not make sense at this point.

Why does she not take Kang's offer (besides her very obvious intention ofc)? That leads straight (or not so straight, pun intended) to the next thing I wanna talk about. Sylvie's distrust in everything and everyone. Besides not wanting to let other people go through what she has been gone through and wanting to let people have a free will, she also does not trust Kang with his offer of 'ruling' the timeline. And it might be because she also does not trust the one she'd be ruling with: Loki.

Why does Sylvie not trust Loki?

I don't even have a specific answer to that, except that Sylvie has an incredibly thick wall built up around her. Loki has always been portrayed as the one you should not trust because he's known for backstabbing people. Loki could have thought the same about Sylvie, but he didn't. Due to his character arc, he himself has learned to trust other people and tries to redeem himself with making himself a person others can trust (He may project that onto Sylvie, meaning that he puts his trust into a Loki variant and therefore in himself, too). You can connect that fact with both Sylvie and Mobius. They're both people who are incredibly important to Loki. He wants them to trust him. He openly told Sylvie about his mistakes and tells her that he's not that person anymore. Sylvie on the other hand does not trust that easily and is - in my opinion - a very important key regarding Loki's character development. It is incredibly hard for Sylvie to trust others (probably due to her trauma) and it therefore creates a very difficult situation for Loki, where he has to 'prove' himself as trustworthy. It's basically about 'trusting yourself' if you put it that way. It's something Loki has to learn about himself: not betraying the trust of others. Sylvie might have to learn something like this, too: learning to trust someone else. It's kinda like a two sided coin - one side is about putting trust in others, whereas the other is about gaining trust from others (and what you do with it). (Good) Relationships in general are always based off trust and honesty. So in order for them to be able to have healthy relationships with others and themselves, they have to learn about trust within themselves (I hope you understand my point, I got carried away, sorry). Loki started to trust Sylvie very easily (maybe because of love? Maybe because of something else? There are still a lot of unanswered questions) whereas Sylvie doesn't trust Loki very easily. Sylvie's character arc might (hopefully) carry on with this topic in the next season.

Was that kiss initiated due to emotional or practical reasons?

Kinda both, somehow. I do think that Sylvie used the kiss to her advantage but you can also clearly see how moved she is while hearing Loki's words. Facial expressions are insanely important when it comes to acting and both Tom and Sophia delivered perfectly. You might've already heard of the quote "The eyes tell more than words could ever say". Look at Sylvie's face when Loki tells her that he wants her to be okay. She is teary eyed, sighs even. She is indeed touched by his words and I strongly think that Sylvie also has non-platonic feelings for Loki, despite barely showing anything.

Here's a snippet out of an interview with Sophia:

(Source)

Both Sylvie and Loki are said to be people who can not trust others. They both have a vulnerable side though. Loki clearly showed that several times when with Sylvie (singing to her, the blanket scene, the comfort scene in the room of the timekeepers, the confession of wanting her to be okay) and is also shown incredibly vulnerable at the end of episode 6: there are several shots showing him, crying. Sure, we have already seen Loki cry a few times beforehand but this time, it's different. He cries because the one person he is the most vulnerable with doesn't trust him, and that does hurt like hell. By the way, if you look at the close-up shot of Sylvie after she yeeted Loki back into the TVA, you can see pain in her eyes, too. But that pain quickly shifts into rage and determination. Something that I have to admit was incredibly well executed by Sophia and the people who directed this shot. Sylvie does show her vulnerable side for a brief moment before putting up her walls again and reaching for her goal.

In conclusion: I think Sylvie initiated the kiss as an emotional response to Loki's words but also used it to distract him to be able to kick him back into the TVA at the same time. Keep in mind that it was because he was in her way of fullfilling her goal. She didn't want to kill or hurt him, so she sent him away instead. So, yes, I think the kiss had both emotional and practical intentions.

Did Sylvie betray Loki?

Even though it really felt like she betrayed him, she didn't. Let me tell you why:

Loki knew exactly what Sylvie was gonna do after reaching the person behind the TVA. Loki supported her all the way up until Kang suggested a deal to them, that's where Loki's and Sylvie's paths divided. Loki is a very smart character, he outsmarts a lot of Marvel characters and therefore I think it's very in character for him to consider one part of the deal and outweigh the pros and cons. Not because he wants the throne, no, but because he wants Sylvie to be okay. A universial war could lead to countless casualties - possibly those people close around him, so of course he would want to keep her safe through that decision. Making them both rulers over the TVA and the sacred timeline would probably guarantee a strong protection from several threats. Also, maybe he thought about the possibility of Sylvie regretting her decision (which she clearly did in the end) and wanted to protect her from even more emotional pain. But as we know, Sylvie's intention has always been laid out in front of her and it didn't change. Loki knew what choice she was going to make and merely tried to change her way - without being successfull.

I don't really know what to think about this scene though. To me, it doesn't meet the requirements of a 'betrayal' but at the same time it does feel like one. It's very difficult to explain :'D

Also, I've seen some people asking themselves how or if Loki will ever be able to forgive Sylvie for making her decision. Let me assure you one thing: he will forgive her. He has said it himself: "I know what you're feeling, I know what you're going through". He has been at Sylvie's point, too. Not only once, but several times already. He seems to have learned from his mistakes, Sylvie has yet to do so. ("I betrayed everyone I've ever loved" is a line to keep in mind now, too. Maybe it could even be projected onto Sylvie this time, because Loki is indeed very dear to her) If there's someone out there who can empathise with Sylvie the most, it is Loki.

Why would Sylvie straight up cause another Universial War?

As I already said. Sylvie's arc is a negative character arc. It does not end well and causes a lot of chaos. Think about Peter Quill in Infinity War and his rage moment on Titan. They could have had the infinity gauntlet way before but Peter got emotional (understandable) and therefore destroyed the chance of an early good ending. The same happened with Sylvie. Her decision was mostly emotional, but also practical on the other hand (giving people free will and freedom). She will face the consequences and I'm pretty sure she's gonna redeem herself and tries to help fix the big mess she has caused.

Sylvie's breakdown

Another scene that was absolutely brilliant was the scene after Sylvie has killed Kang. She backs off slowly and then slumps to the ground, breathing heavily (now that I think about it, I think she even started to cry). She has waited for this moment her whole life, but now that it's done, it kinda feels like she didn't exactly get what she needed. Hunter B-15 has already mentioned it before that Sylvie needs to hunt the person behind the TVA down, unlike Renslayer, who only wants to find out who it really is. Although Sylvie might have recognized that this wasn't everything she needed at this point. We already got to know that she didn't have a clue what to do after she's done with the TVA. She didn't have a goal beyond that. And now that she has reached the point where she is clueless, she might have recognized what she really needed beyond finishing her goal: friends, a life, literally anything that doesn't make her feel alone. And she literally just kicked that one thing away from her. Loki, the one person who has been closest to her and gave her the feeling of not being alone anymore, the feeling of having a friend (or someone more than a friend), has been pushed away by herself. I think that in this exact moment where she sinks to the ground she recognizes that not trusting Loki was a mistake this time and that revenge isn't enough to satisfy her forever.

But maybe that one thing that will satisfy her for a long time is something she's returning back to in season 2. I am so excited to see her again and find out more about Sylvie's character!

Thank you so much for reading this! If you want to add something to this list or correct something or anything, feel free to do so. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sylvie's character in the finale and what you think might happen with her in season 2 :) see y'all, stay safe and have a nice day/night!

[static-in-the-airwaves]

Hey y'all, I know it's been forever but I've got a new short fic up. Sorry I never finished the Killjoy Christmas, but I might occasionally steal ideas from the list from time to time. This week on the docket we've got some soft Party Poison & Jet Star content, next week I'm hoping for some backstory stuff.

---

The ashen snowflakes drifted across the landscape and all they could do was listen to the radio sing about death.

Party Poison drew their knees up to their chest and tucked their chin between the sharp points. The snow was building on the sand dunes, an incongruity that made them think of huge campfires with ashes that drifted on the wind and built up into forest fires. It lowered the visibility around them into an ethereal, formless grey, until all that was left was the neon lights of the diner, swirling into the emptiness around them.

Footsteps crunched behind them on the fresh-fallen snow, and a pair of clunky workboots appeared beside them. Jet Star dropped to the concrete with a huff, fiddling with the edge of his helmet.

He didn’t speak, not at first. Poison could appreciate that. Some things don’t need to be clogged with noise. Some things could just be quiet and still, even if it was just for a moment.

They were a little sad when Jet’s frown deepened and he opened his mouth to speak.

“You doing okay?” he asked. He didn’t look at Poison, not now. His black-chipped nails scrabbled at the little ridges of hydraulic cabling on his helmet.

Poison wasn’t sure how to respond. How could they be okay? How could they be okay ever again? They were out here, and everything they’d ever known was irretrievable. They had Jet and Ghoul now, sure, but that didn’t make up for seventeen years of study and training and feeling wrong. That didn’t change their brother’s success or their father’s death or the horrible, awful loss of it all. How could a desert rat like Jet ever get it?

Poison shrugged. “I’m fine.”

Jet sighed and leaned back on his elbows. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll take it. At least you’re talking.”

“I . . .” Poison found that, suddenly, they didn’t know what to say. They cast a glance up to the empty sky, looking for something to say. The snow fell and caught in their eyelashes, and they blinked it away. “I like this,” they settled on. “The snow. The desert. The cold. It never did this in the city.”

“It’s not supposed to happen here, either,” Jet said, pulling a box out of his jacket and tapping it twice on the concrete steps of the diner. “But the weather’s so fucked up now-” he pulled a thin black cigarette from the box and lit it- “that we’re having shit like this. Little grey snow, ice but not quite.”

“It looks like static. Like, the TV broke or something.” Poison was well familiar with broken TVs. They had a sudden memory of their father stomping around their small apartment, periodically whacking the top of the thin screen to see if it would come back on. Their brother, sitting in the corner and playing with his action figures like he couldn’t tell that Dad was in a bad place. Like he couldn’t tell that something was wrong.

Jet looked at them sidelong, reading the sudden swell of memory like a magician with a well-practiced trick. He took a long drag on his cigarette and exhaled purple smoke. “It’s funny you say it like that. My mom used to say that the snow was God’s way of changing the channel.”

“God?” Poison asked.

“Uh, an old thing. Before the Analog War, even. A man who created things. Lived in the clouds. Used to be a big deal.” Jet sighed heavily. “All gone now. Mama was a Catholic, not one of those new ones in 5 either. Really traditional. Had this scavenged copy of some text. Burned candles for the saints and everything.”

“The ones in 5 do that,” Poison said. They looked at Jet curiously. “Do you miss her?”

“All the time,” Jet said. “She died a long time ago, though. Radiation. It’ll eat you from the inside out.” He winced. “She was an environmental scientist, sent by the city. Took all kinds of readings that I never understood. Sent ‘em off to the higher-ups. Gardened and gathered water and sent that off, too. Never saw any help when she got sick, though. Dad was on the phone for ages, but it never . . .” Jet shook his head. “It never helped.”

“I’m sorry,” Poison said. Jet looked mournful, tapping his cigarette with one finger and letting the ash scatter onto the concrete. “My- my dad, he got hit with radiation too.” They laughed darkly. “’Course, it was the bullet to the head that finally did him in, but still . . . I get it.”

“Thanks,” Jet murmured. He stubbed out his cigarette on the stair and left the butt where it lay. “Are you heading in soon?”

“Maybe,” Poison said. “Maybe not.”

“Okay. Well, Ghoul’s cooking. Hope that’s okay.”

“I’ll stay outside, then.”

Jet laughed. “Yeah, that’s probably the smart choice. He seemed really excited.”

He picked up his helmet and turned to go, leaving Poison on the steps. His heavy footfalls crunched over to the door but stopped before going inside.

“Hey, Poison . . .”

“Yeah?”

“You doing okay?”

Poison took a moment to answer, mulling it over. “No,” they admitted.

“Okay,” Jet said. “I’ll take it.”

“Thanks.”

The door jangled open, and Jet was gone. Poison sat back, watching the grey snow fill up the sky like the ashen cloud of a giant campfire left to smolder. On the radio, another song was starting. This one was a little something about life.

[legionnaireslover]

Hmm, something doesn't make sense...

The Haters have been trying to convince anyone within earshot that Ben is the complete laughingstock of the industry for the past 7 years. They are on record as saying that not only is his popularity evaporated, but that except for "vanity projects" he is virtually UNEMPLOYABLE! All because of Sophie naturally!

But now we see THE POWER OF THE DOG publicity starting to ramp up and what do we find - NOT connected to SunnyMarch, well respected auteur director more than excited to work with him, and ALL sorts of enthusiastic interest in this film on the festival circuit (and the potential for awards looms large!).

I think this has left the Haters sputtering recently. They barked soooo long about how he's a pariah in the industry because of his TOXIC private life that they now are in a bit of a bind. The Haters who aren't complete dumbness, now have to admit this Campion film may be something that bears sitting up and taking notice about.

But that leaves with a conundrum - what's ACTUALLY changed with BC's private life and the answer is NOTHING! He's STILL married to Sophie, he's still wearing his wedding band, he's still a father of 3 boys!

But Haters assured us that he would ONLY get his "mojo" back IF he dumped Sophie, so how does that jive with the gathering buzz with TPOTD?

Hater solution: send in new "anonymous" posts all suggesting that BC has actually already dumped Sophie! That they are separated. That she has gone completely round the bend because of the split and started up her own Twitter account (pretending to be a native Spanish speaker... WTF?) so that she can garner more attention since being shut out of BC's life.

And for the short term this might work in a half-cocked way with the diehard Haters. They can PRETEND that Sophie's gone out of BC's life and that is why suddenly there's serious Oscar buzz about TPOTD.

Trouble is this little delusional ruse can't sustain itself because you know Sophie will be back, either along side him at at least some promotional events or Ben will be mentioning his family when discussing the New Zealand covid interruption of the TPOTD filming.

And of course the Haters will end up looking like horses patoots AGAIN!

NYE "ICELANDGATE" anyone?

Just as a refresher (we've gone through this song and dance before with Gator and Friends) - Gator and her gang swore up and down, when Sophie was quietly out of the glare of the paparazzi for a bit, that she was being "handled" by Disney and the split was much in motion!

And then he showed up in Iceland around New Year's Eve and all the new reports just mentioned him NOT Sophie! The Haters were all joyous and crowing about how this was PROOF that the "Sham" was over!!

But low and behold there came some pix (taken by an ordinary person) of Sophie and Ben TOGETHER GOING OUT FOR NYE!

Talk about embarrassment! The Haters looked like COMPLETE FOOLS! If they had any common sense at all (which they don't) they would have crawled away and hidden under a rock.

But of course they didn't! Instead they sputtered a bit and then started scurrying to make up absolutely RIDICULOUS lies to cover their complete disaster at predicting the end of Sophie. You know the usual horseshit - it's been photoshopped! It's a doppelganger! It's a very old photo taken a loooong time ago which Sophie cleverly stowed away only to bring it out when the time was right!

And so on!

So while I'm waiting for the Haters to fully explain how a man's career, which supposedly was circling the drain because he wouldn't dump his wife and disown his children AND was supposed to be UNEMPLOYABLE because his reputation has been RUINED, suddenly is in a topline movie at world class festivals, on the awards watch lists, being sought after to work with by very coveted directors and NEVER seems to lack any projects.

If they ever square that one, I'll be waiting to see if they can get the egg off their faces, in the near future, when Sophie, once again, pops up beside Ben to support him as he walks down the red carpet!

Oh those Haters! Their ALWAYS entertaining with their sheer stupidity!