#also apparently his gf isn’t dead

[oinkinpigprince]

I love Charlie’s autistic rizz

[byakuyasdarling]

💘: Why would people love your ship? Why would people dislike your ship? How might it start debates?

🎞️: What ‘canon’ scenes would the fandom point to as evidence for the validity of your ship?

💌: How would your dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions?

for the ask game ^__^

Thank you for the ask, Mika! <3

💘: Knowing the D//GR fandom, there would be quite a few people would probably dislike it because it’s canonically established ship and hence “boring”. It’s a real issue in a lot of fandom where female characters are often ripped out of their canon relationship so the male character can be shipped with some other guy because apparently it’s inherently more “interesting” (it’s not, because there’s often no actual chemistry and it’s just projection). It’s especially a common critique of the AT//LA fandom where these female characters are so beautifully written and developed along with their relationship… only to get COMPLETELY sidelined by the fandom because “we want this guy with this guy!” — and we all know most of fandom is just ships most of the time. It just feels like a lot of fandoms just ignore females, and it really peeves me and others. I do think Andreagami would suffer from that. — Though, there are fandoms and shows like The Ow.l Hou.se that have a beautiful portrayal of all kinds of relationships from all walks of life that don’t have this issue.

RANT ASIDE LOL, I also don’t think people would like it because it’s technically a childhood friends to lovers story (even if they’re “rivals” in between) and their dynamic may be interpreted as “enforcing gender roles” because the fandom loves buzzwords 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️. As to why people would like it — well it’s written to be canon. Their relationship narrative is healing from trauma and I think that their relationship enforces a deeper-dive into both characters (especially Byakuya). I do think a lot more of the fandom likes it and there’s a weird 10% that try to be strange about it

🎞️: Chapter 3 (T//HH) is a big moment for their relationship, as it is Byakuya snapping out of his self-imposed caricature and learns he has a losing condition in all this — which is losing her. It’s the moment reality and the reality of his feelings are slapped in his face when she’s first assumed dead.

💌: I think people would try to morph it into “sunshine gf and grumpy bf” and although I’m not opposed to that, it isn’t accurate. S/I is fairly nihilistic (as well as Byakuya), but she still find light and joy in the simple things — and that’s a trait Byakuya admires. To him, she’s not “blindly happily”, but she’s happy in a way he can comprehend and emulate. S/I is also way more guarded with everyone else for the most part; not in an obvious way, but she puts on a persona.

[themelancholyhill]

How have you been? Do you have any plans for your birthday? It’s only February but I am already tired of 2023. I’ve had a very interesting 2022 near the end and I find myself still recovering from it, trying to get a footing into some sort of equilibrium, and I’m not sure if I will ever find it. Because isn’t life like a raft? We’re all heading somewhere but we don’t know where, floating with the tides, always on the move. To be honest, I’m tired of moving. I want to stay rooted, and bind my feet with the earth.

There’s something I’d like to share with you, a bit of epiphany, I suppose, since we seem to have connected on numerous things, being friends with cis het men is one of them. I thought being upfront with the type of friendship I want and setting clear boundaries would help a friendship like this thrive, but there are extenuating factors I did not foresee. No, I did foresee them, but I thought things would turn out the way I imagined, but even with the best intentions, things can still not work out. I’m tired of fighting, tired of offering someone something they never wanted in the first place. (I say this because when I first approached my friend with the intention of befriending him, he was not receptive at all, not until he found out certain things about me)

Our friends pulling back on their interactions with us say more about them than it does about us. I’ve come to realize that this action of pulling back, of lessening their presence in our lives is most likely a boundary they feel necessary to enforce to protect themselves, which I am happy to oblige. I’ve enacted boundaries with my friend and he’s respected them, so it is only right that I return the favour. Having said that, it does seem extremely apparent to me that cis het men (not all, but definitely most) have a hard time maintaining a close platonic friendship with a woman alongside a romantic/sexual relationship with someone else. I thought once my friend gets a gf, our friendship would deepen, and not lessen to the point where he now literally has zero presence in my life. My thinking is: if you can’t do it, don’t do it. So the 2022 me did what most people wouldn’t in situations like this: end the friendship (for both of our sakes), but it had the opposite effect lol. I am valid in wanting more from a friendship. I crave deep, emotional connections and I have that from all of my girlfriends. They are always there for me emotionally, I feel safe with my feelings with them, and even though the friendship you and I have is a bit atypical from the norm (you don’t know who I am), I still feel safe to tell you quite personal things, such as my epiphany when it comes to befriending cis het men. Regardless of what I want, I am a very private person. If someone who used to be a part of my life doesn't wish to remain as such anymore, they are always welcome to leave. I’ve told my friend this SEVERAL TIMES. I choose who gets access to me, and I am also entitled to take that access away. I do not like being dead weight in someone’s life, this is why I do not maintain casual friendships. Right now, I feel like dead weight and I’m tired of prolonging something that was always going to end.

But he has different ideas.

His tenacity to hold onto my friendship is very admirable, I am in awe actually. But what I don’t understand is how someone can say they are still willing to invest in a friendship when their presence has plummeted to absolute zero. I am getting mixed signals and I am not savvy enough to analyze the inner workings of a man.

Having said all this, I also feel sad for him, that he doesn’t feel safe with me to reopen himself emotionally. There was a time when we connected on an emotional level and it really encouraged me to put more effort into my friendship with him. I feel like I shouldn’t want so much from this friendship now; it’s neither fair nor right of me to feel entitled to what he isn’t willing to give.

I know how my actions may be misconstrued as, but I truly have nothing but platonic affection for my friend. I think he is a very outstanding person, he’s definitely endured some of my inadequacies as a person so I should in turn, do the same for him. I am a very “all or nothing” type of person when it comes to relationships of any kind, and it is taking everything in me to NOT end a friendship fizzling out like I normally would. I want for him what he wants for himself—a fulfilling romantic life. I cannot give him that, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. He is exponentially more valuable to me as a friend than a romantic interest.

So for you, I think Ray pulling back and effectively ending his friendship with you is most likely a form of boundary. Women tend to want emotional closeness in a friendship, and I know that for me, I certainly came at my friend with this type of bond, even though he is a man. This type of closeness is just what is more fulfilling for us. And I think, when men start to get emotionally close with a woman, it feels like it is something they should do with their romantic partner, not a friend, which as you know, is not how women operate.

I hope my words offer some closure for you, they have for me. I’d been thinking about this for a while, wondering why all of a sudden he seemingly changed even though he said he hasn’t. Once I found out about his romantic status, it all became extremely clear. I hope more cis het men are able to differentiate between platonic love/affection and romantic/sexual love/affection, one is able to have both, from the same, opposite gender. When I befriend someone, I befriend their personality, not gender. I think it is important for a person to feel accepted, wanted and valued for who they are instead of what they can offer romantically/sexually to someone. Friendships are so incredibly pure and yet they are the most under-appreciated. It is so very, very sad.

V✖️

Hi there! I missed reading and responding to your long asks and, hopefully, I will get to cover everything you talked about. So far, 2023 feels like a haze and time’s flown so fast that I can’t believe that we are already 2 months into this new year. However, I’ve made a life-changing decision at the start of the year that will ease up things hopefully; but more on that later.

I’m not planning anything outstanding for my birthday, I’ll just have a cake and a small celebration with my parents and brother. Oh, we’ve adopted a small kitten two weeks ago and he’s been a true ray of sunshine, he’s currently napping next to me as I’m writing.

I love your analogy of life being a raft. We’ve been in one hell of a ride since last year, huh? This raft is continuously going to and fro, bumping into things, getting some water aboard, stopping a bit before being almost tumbled over. But, oh how I’m craving stability and peace. I found a post here that says that once in your 30s, all you want is peace of mind and stability; I cannot agree with this more.

Setting boundaries in any type of relationship, especially friendships, is crucial. But isn’t it ironic to see that boundaries set the scene for the end of the relationship? It is insightful from you to say that pulling back is actually a sign of protecting oneself; I felt that it was the case with Ray but I couldn’t put my finger on it. No matter how good of a person you are with good and pure intentions, some friends (close friends) will just set sail. I haven’t moved on yet, but I’d rather let Ray go, well he made it an easy decision to make by just pulling back, but you get the gist. This goes hand in hand with the idea of clinging to something that is temporary. I knew that Ray was temporary from the get go, but I was hopeful enough to convince myself that he could stay around for a little bit longer; I guess it’s like playing Russian roulette in a way, you try it out and then see who’s going to stay.

“if you can’t do it, don’t do it” will be my mantra from now on, regardless of the situation. It is important to evaluate whether someone is worth investing effort and time on or not, the only issue is that it’s an unnatural process which takes away the pure joy of connecting with someone on a deeper level. I’ve been having problems interacting with guys since the Ray situation: either for platonic or romantic purposes. Now, what I don’t get with cis het men is that once they start “catching feelings”, instead of being honest and straightforward with you, they just start avoiding you which is very confusing. Just because you can’t handle someone of the opposite gender showing genuine concern doesn’t mean that they are interested in a romantic relationship, even if they are, sending mixed signals will confuse them. Being nice and polite isn’t flirting, this is something that cis het men have to remember. Also, being too close with a friend, doesn’t mean that they have to end up as a couple in the end. Personally, I love being close with my female friends, but it’s nice to be close to a guy in a friendly way too. Ray told me about one of his best friends, who happens to be a girl, and they’ve been friends since childhood. What does it mean? You can be close friends to a cis het man only if you are childhood friends??

I think that a close friendship with girls works with me just because my friends and I are straight, except for 2 who are bi but they know that I’m straight which isn’t awkward for them. Apparently, women get that I am into close friendships and so they are ready to invest in such a relationship, contrary to guys who take a step back once feelings are involved, abandoning the friendship either because they become interested in a romantic one or end it because they can’t be around me because of how they feel. I swear, I just can’t wrap my head around this type of behavior.

It is quite baffling to see how we’ve connected in the first place despite essentially not knowing who we are in real life, but I guess that strong bounds are made in odd or atypical ways. This is a solid proof that friendships, contrary to romantic relationships, can have a huge impact on people. I say, more focus should be directed to platonic, yet deep, friendships between adults in media. imagine a show which focuses on different povs of different friends of all kinds and we get to see how these people handle their friendship including the ups and downs of it all. Because, let us remember that heartbreak from the end of a friendship is way stronger because in our minds, a friendship cannot end and has no reason to end. There’s a difference between a friendship fizzling out and ending, the former you can always have some sort of communication, even if it’s brief, the latte you can’t even ask the causal “hi, how are you?”

Not to end on a sad note, but I’m super glad to hear from you and I truly hope that you’re feeling much better, in a liberating way. Don’t hesitate and write another ask if you have the time, and sorry if the response is all over the place!

[werewolfin]

I posted 19,867 times in 2022

That's 3,755 more posts than 2021!

11 posts created (0%)

19,856 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@silly-bean

@maandarinee

@loonylunalovegood97

@teawithmochi

@gentrychild

I tagged 3,703 of my posts in 2022

#long post is long - 1,873 posts

#video - 1,535 posts

#fic rec - 135 posts

#quizzy - 129 posts

#lmao - 109 posts

#fic idea - 105 posts

#reference - 98 posts

#music - 45 posts

#audio - 39 posts

#lmfao - 14 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#some people are unhinged as in 'the door doesnt have hinges yet' but others are 'the hinges have torn out the wall and the nails stab me'

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Something is wrong on mobile. Tags seem to... just look at them! Typing here is fine, it's just tags, but still. As far as I can tell, it's interpreting it as a-ab-abc-abcd without dashes.

0 notes - Posted April 17, 2022

#4

crash

0 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

#3

dreams are something your subconscious tries to tell you

it was basically a time loop where i try to figure out how this guy kept getting murdered at a massive house party but it’s not the girlfriend, best friend (who i was playing as), or even the loner trying to get with the gf. he’s just dead every single time. probably getting murked by several people; i’m pretty sure i killed him once on accident and didnt even bother hiding the body, since it was a party and people would think he was just black out drunk. tried to hide his body on the roof later on though, which just made him get spotted quicker lol.

the party was in the mountains but we were apparently right next to both the ocean and farmland, because at one point the girlfriend sprouted a wing sephiroth style and flew away out to sea. i got the impression she gave up on trying to find out how her bf died in several timelines and didn’t want to get fingered as the culprit in lieu of even any circumstantial evidence, so she sacrificed her ability to swim or land in exchange for flight and left.

i think loner guy got abducted by cannibals in the last one, because it became like texas chainsaw massacre AND the hills have eyes in that there’s a massive inbred family network out there in them there hills that just take people if they want more kids, food, or hunting for sport. There was also a cameo of michael myers because he was apparently just slaughtering them en masse and them trying to put him down but he just did not notice it at all. purely coincidental on his part that he was taking down whole cells.

0 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

#2

dreams are something your subconscious tries to tell you

had a dream i was a dude and i got dressed in pumps and a playboy bunny outfit except the bottom wasn’t a leotard it was a microskirt, so technically i’m flashing cheek with each step.

apparently i did this as a reward or something for my dream state boyfriend, like, straight up in public i am wearing this for him. because of the whole flashing thing being, you know, a thing with this outfit, i decide to squat instead of take a seat, which is something else i feel dream bf would appreciate.

he does not lol.

rather than have sex in ‘real life’ he wants to have sex in minecraft, something i do not have, with mods i also do not have. the force of my disappointment turns me into a lady again.

seeing as i’m lucid dreaming and it isn’t going anywhere fun, i decide to launch off the cliff that’s usually at the back of buildings in my dreams and just start hang gliding or w/e only to get waylaid by the fucking party going on out on the courts. i’m still in the bunnygirl outfit.

i woke up mildly aggravated that i read my dream bf so wrong, which is funny because in actual real life i had never and will never actually date this guy. this is what happens when you see a sick af cosplay and find an anime character with the same specific name the same day lmao

0 notes - Posted January 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i switch to firefox and it fucking breaks not even a day later -.-

extensions no longer loading properly, tumblr just giving me a blank page...

anyone know how to figure out wtf is happening

1 note - Posted September 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[ed89]

analysing the fuck out of byler rn (this took like 3 hours and also was done on google docs sorry for the random ass punctuation and grammar inconsistencies)

first we are gonna touch on the Byer’s phone line always being used so Mike only gets to call Will sometimes. But from what Dustin said, Mike was complaining about it constantly. We also know that Mike and El spoke through letters and the radio because of the government listening in on phone calls (and El is supposed to be dead). So Mike and Will’s primary way to communicate is via phone calls, but Mike was unable to reach Will most of the time.

Let’s just hammer in this very important piece of the puzzle: Will believes Mike is deeply in love with El.

Will thinks Mike is not calling and ignoring him because he’s more focused on El. He believes Mike just doesn’t care about their friendship anymore. However, because of this, Will also didn’t try calling Mike. This creates distance and tension between the two, but they also are completely unaware of the actual issue at hand...

...thats a mega miscommunication moment. Now it’s also Mike who thinks Will is ignoring him. The difference is, Will doesnt have a significant other to be focused on. Mike just thinks Will is ignoring him or pushing him away (Will mentions “el” (he’s talking about his own actions but under the guise of El) pushing mike away in the van scene. But i’ll talk about this in the van scene part). This makes Mike act passive aggressive. Not only does he ignore Will at Rink o Mania, he picks a fight with him too

When Will says “Oh no” when El is with Angela, Mike immediately stands up beside him. He has no idea that angela is picking on el. The reason he stands up SO QUICKLY is because hes alone with Will and Will said something. Look at mikes face after will says ‘oh no’. Like……… ??????

The rink o mania fight (going to tie this to the van scene)

“You should have told me she was having trouble”

“I didnt know she was lying to you.” 

Being a douche and ruining an entire day out apparently entails “rolling your eyes, moping and barely talking”. Not the fact his gf just got publicly harassed and is now unable to be found. Mike is focused on Will, the guy he was “ignoring” all day. He had his attention on Will the entire time instead of El. HE NOTICED HIM ROLL HIS EYES???? BRUH

“Shes being lying to you all day” “i feel like a total third wheel”

“What about us?” Will does not mean this romantically. He thinks Mike is in love with El. He has absolutely zero idea that Mike likes him back.

Mike, however, takes this romantically. We can see it in his face, the soft expression even though they were just fighting.

“We’re friends! We’re friends.”

“We used to be best friends”

Which is true. These two were inseparable

“Maybe you should have reached out more, i dont know. Why is this on me? Why am i the bad guy?” this line hurts because he isn’t the bad guy. He’s having his own issues and he also thought Will was ignoring him out of spite

Now, the first bit tells Will that Mike wanted Will to reach out more, but Will still isnt aware that Mike was trying to call him. A lot.

OKAY mike and el fight now

Mike made her eggos. He sits on her bed (parallels with that byler scene in dear billy).

“So, um, are we just gonna not talk about it?” he says this kinda rudely tbh

Mike doesnt understand why El is lying to him

El says shes different and does not belong

Also this whole fight scene??? Hes so insincere. He doesnt know how to comfort her. He also cant take the blame or admit that he doesnt love her. “I care for you.” Hes not trying to be malicious, hes just stupid

“You dont love me anymore?”

“Who said that I didnt?” YOU DID MICHAEL

“You never say it”

“I say it” NO THE FUCK YOU DONT BRO???

“You’re being ridiculous” no shes not

“You’re the most incredible person in the world” He cant say that she’s a woman. I dont think he ever has

“You cant let these mouthbreathers ruin you, ruin us” im guessing hes talking about the bullies, but… um, they didnt cause any of this. How is that related to being able to tell your gf that you love her. Bruh??? Explain??

“You’re a superhero” she hates that. And he says it again in the monologue. She doesn’t like being called that

Ok on to dear billy

“If you keep staring at that, it’s not going to change”

Mike CRUMPLES the letter and throws it IN THE TRASH. Yeah so…..they arent coming back from that fight. Im pretty sure at this point on, mike fully believes that him and el are over and the next time he sees her, they are going to break up. This is important, as it explains some of mike’s actions and words later on

Will sits next to him. Mike has a gay panic

“Me and el had a bad fight. This one felt adult. Felt more real. Like its a fight you cant come back from (a break up). Maybe i should have said something. Maybe if i had said that thing (i love you), she would want me there with her”

“We’re going to find her, and whatever you didnt say, you can say it to her then”

Mike is still having a gay moment. Bro is mesmerized. Now here comes the flirty part

“Shes going to be ok. Shes not in hawkins, thats what we should be worried about”

“You dont trust owens?”

“That was you guys who saved me. You guys.” AND MIKE LOOKS SO SMUGGGG ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!@?@#!@!&#@ even will’s reaction is sus. They are gay

“Look like its going to be up to us again” hes not looking at will here. I also think hes flirting here too. He looks back once will replies,

“It always is, isnt it?” and then michael has that big ass grin after a little chuckle. Homosexual

In will’s eyes, this is him fixing mike and el’s relationship. He doesnt know the real reason why they were fighting. To him, the words “i love you” are just “something mike didnt say to her during the fight”. Perhaps he just thinks its an apology that mike needs to say

But he didnt fix their relationship, because the issue is much bigger than some random thing Mike didnt say. Because its not a random thing. Hes not in love with her. Will thinks Mike is in love with her, and Mike still thinks him and el are probably going to breakup

NEXT BYLER SCENE!!!!

may i mention and yes ive already said this on tumblr but mike thinks his relationship with el is pretty much over. and then he goes and starts flirting with will… gay!

Mike enters. He closes the door behind him this time. Probably because he starts FLIRTING RIGHT OFF THE BAT

He checks out will and licks his lips like ok 

“Thanks, by the way. (“for what?”) For knocking some sense into me, i mean, i was being a total self pitying idiot”

Self-pity: ‘When you feel sorry for yourself, or overly sad about the difficulties you face’. His self-pitying was being ignored by Will and acting like it was the end of the world

“I didnt say it” SLY SMIRK

“You didnt have to” FLIRTING!!!!! WILL BLUSHES AND TURNS AWAY

Then mike is like ‘ok stop flirting go back to what u originally wanted to say’ and he shakes his head and talks in a different tone…

“About the last two days..” the airport scene, ignoring will at rink o mania and fighting with him, and then mike staring at the letter in the last byler scene.

“You dont have to say anything. I was being a total jerk to El, i deserved it”

“No, no, you didnt deserve anything.” mike is saying will didnt deserve to be ignored and yelled at by mike. Mike knows hes in the wrong, but he couldnt admit he was in the wrong when he was fighting with el? okay!

Now Mike has Will’s attention,

“It’s hawkins. It’s not the same without you. And I feel like maybe I was worrying too much about El and.. i dont know, maybe i feel like i lost you or something. Does that make sense?”

In the script, it tells us that it makes total sense to will. He feels the exact same way that Mike does. Mike feels the exact same way that Will does, and we know that Will loves Mike. do u see where im getting at

“I have no idea whats going to happen next” hes either talking about his relationship with El or the actual events occurring (the upside down, reaching el, etc)

Mike and Will lock eyes

Mike is trying to fix what had been damaged since they were separated a year ago. He wants them to work as a team, and be best friends again, since they had been accidently avoiding one another

Ah… episode 5. The on top of the car scene where they are literally talking about confessing to each other. No, they arent actually just talking about argyle and the agent dude not saying the number. Mike is talking about the fight with el again, saying he should have explained himself, and then maybe El would have taken him with her and things would be different, but he didn’t know what to say.

He did know what to say. “I love you”. But he didnt, because he doesnt love her

Then Will starts talking about confessing feelings, “Sometimes I think its just scary to open up like that, to say how you really feel. Especially to the people you care about the most.”

The camera is on Mike now. His expression is soft and hes watching Will intently

“What if they dont like the truth?” Mike looks down and nods. Ah, the truth. And whats the truth? That Mike doesn’t love El. Hes too scared to tell her the truth. Maybe hes too scared to admit the truth to himself, too

Their moment is seized by argyle speaking

Every moment from here to ep 8 isnt any deep or intimate conversations so ill ignore them

AND NOW

THE VAN SCENE. Which is exactly why i rewatched every other scene so i could link them to whats being said. Here goes

Will brings up El and going to Vegas with her to use her powers to win money. He’s also saying it excitedly, which is mentioned in the script. This is when hes being lit with sunlight like a disco ball, and when Mike is looking at him like hes the most beautiful boy hes ever seen

Then Will mentions playing D&D and Nintendo for the rest of their lives. A direct callback to their fight in s3 that hasnt been brought up SINCE it happened. Makes sense for them to finally mention it

But thats why Mike’s mood changes. The motive behind the vibe change is the fight being brought up. Will thinks it's because he was being childish and made it awkward, and he also thinks it's because of El (which is why he starts talking about her again, but more on that in a bit).

Will believes Mike loves El. Mike and Will’s fight was because of Mike spending too much time with El and ignoring Will and the rest of the party (because Mike was trying to get rid of his gay thoughts). Mike is the one who brings up playing games together for the rest of their lives. And then Will, always having loved Mike, says “Yeah. I guess I did.” ouch

Will isnt going to think Mike is upset because of the garage fight. But of course Mike is upset about it, because Mike is gay too. Mike regrets the fight. he regretted it WHEN the fight happened!! 

So will brings up el again because he must be upset about el, right? 

“We’re gonna make it, mike. Shes going to be okay”

[nervously] “Yeah, i know. I know she is.” He wasn’t worrying about El being in trouble, which is what will thinks the issue is

[contemplatively] “but what if after all this is over, she doesn’t need me anymore?” 

We’ve been over this before.

Will is always trying to fix his and El’s relationship. Why would they break up if they are both in love? In jonathan’s bedroom, he tried fixing their relationship: “Whatever you didnt say then, you can say after we save her.” but its not that easy, because Mike literally cannot say “i love you”, and he definitely can’t say it in a genuine way, either

So yes. They have been over this before, and will can’t seem to understand why Mike needs to keep talking about it because ‘isnt it just something you want to say to her?’

Mike’s rant is pretty just him saying that him and el are going to breakup because they didn’t meet because of ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ and theres no greater reason for them to stay together or be in love. No higher power has told them to be in love. Hes just some nerd that got lucky that superman came to his aid when he lost Will.

his rant, at its core, is mike trying to convince will that him and el arent working out, and that mike might not love her anymore, or maybe never did. he wants will to agree with him, but he doesn't, because will thinks mike loves el. hes not going to try and sabotage their relationship because he respects them both

also mike is sus af for regarding himself as lois lane (a woman) and his GIRLFRIEND as superman (A MAN)

Will doesn’t get what Mike is saying. He doesn’t understand what the issue is because he wouldn't think Mike doesn't love El. i mean, mike hasn't actually shown any disinterest in El to other characters. we only know hes queer because we see private moments between el and mike and how not in love he acts and how IN LOVE he acts with will. mike is TRYING to admit he doesn't love el but will misunderstands completely

Mike sees Will’s reaction and immediately apologises

Then we have “You’re scared of losing her.” i think we should all know by now that its MIKE who was talking about losing will in the dear billy scene. And ive always thought that in this part, when will said that, mike wasn’t thinking of el. He was thinking of will. The way they are looking at each other here… why would they both react like that when will is talking about mike’s girlfriend? Perhaps its because MIKE ISNT THINKING ABOUT EL

They lock eyes. A BEAT; then: Mike nods

he’s scared of losing Will. but he goes along with what will is saying, because hes too scared to actually continue with the confession he was originally going to make. He wasnt expecting will to say that, was he? He must have had more to say, but then will changed the subject

When Will lies about the painting, not only is it the first time he ever lies to mike, but it creates that miscommunication again. They dont understand what the other is saying

(Will tries to get what Mike is saying) and (Now its Mike who doesn’t get it)

These ones are the killers. We know exactly what Will is talking about during his confession. He’s confessing his feelings under the guise of El. Mike doesn’t get that Will is talking about himself!

But if Will didnt get what mike was trying to say then mike wasn't actually "scared of losing her", bringing me back to my point about his rant: He was trying to admit he didn’t love El and he was under the impression that he was going to inevitably break up with her. They aren’t meant for each other, they aren’t fate or destiny.

Mike doesn’t get it, though. He really does believe Will is talking about El’s feelings. I mean, that is what will was trying to do, anyway; fix mike and el’s relationship. but mike is in love with will, and mike feels the exact same way that will does (Mike also feels different, hes been ostracized and bullied, he’s scared of losing will), so it makes sense that Will's speech gives Mike the desire to try and salvage his relationship with El. Mike doesnt fully comprehend his falling out of love with El, obviously. His attempt to fix everything with a shitty monologue backfires when it fails miserably. His monologue wasnt genuine because he doesnt love her. Will gave Mike his feelings, not El’s. and mike and will are soulmates , so yes, hes going to think that the relationship advice is going to solve everything, and will even brought up points mike didnt think about! and now hes like damn ok will doesn't like me and maybe i could make it work with el

ok now im just ranting sorry

ive also forgot to touch on something i mentioned before so ill add it now. in the coded confession, will says "if she was mean to you, or she seemed like she was pushing you away-". im sure its obvious but el HASNT been pushing mike away. mike may have picked up on this and thought 'wait, something is off' because he kinda did have that expression?? but alas his thoughts were Stolen so idk. but mike felt like will was pushing him away, did he not? they both felt like the other was pushing away and creating distance. that's why mike regarded himself as a "self-pitying idiot" because he was feeling sorry for himself because will was ignoring him. so yes, its possible mike picked up on this, because el wasn't pushing mike away, but mike thought will was pushing him away. not sure if that means anything but i wanted to bring it up

anyway. here are my final points

Will fully believes Mike loves El

Mike thinks he's just some nerd that got lucky that superman came to his aid when he lost Will

Mike is scared of losing Will

They both feel the exact same way toward each other

Mike didn’t get that Will wasn’t talking about El during his coded confession

Will didn’t get that Mike wasn’t talking about losing El during his weird, coded rant

[ifwebefriends]

Gravity Falls Rewatch: Post-Canon: Between the Pines

I thought Time Baby was dead? Did they come back?

Awww I missed the original theme song instead of the fucked up Bill one

Love how Alex is conveying this information: pretending to be trapped by Time Baby awesome

THE PRISM IN CARPET DIEM WAS MEANT TO INDICATE THAT THE ROOM BELONGED TO THE AUTHOR?!?!?!?

Alex won’t reveal Dipper’s first name lmao

Yo has anyone else figured out Dipper and Mabel’s name similarity?

“When Mabel isn’t on-screen she’s knitting the next week’s sweater” okay that makes a lot of sense

“Pay attention to how Stan talks about family” okay if I rewatch the series again I’ll try to remember that

Soos’ sayings are based off a GF crew member who says weird slang

Soos is based off a guy who Alex went to college with!

“Everyone poured the coolest person they knew into a pot and Wendy was born” true that fr

Deputy Durland is named after a real guy!

“Toby is days away from giving up on everything” lmao

“Preston runs a mudflap factory and his wife was Ms. Mudflap ‘85” why is that so unexpected but also so not surprising

“Gideon originally may have had a conjoined twin hidden by his hair” oh my god I don’t know if that would be hilarious or horrifying

Okay so Bill was inspired by the triangle eye on the $1 bill and was even named “Bill” after the bill, I didn’t figure out the name part until now but the inspiration makes sense

“Bill was originally green” okay that sounds cool and weird

There was a secret government surveillance device in the floorboards in Sock Opera?!?!

“Mabel’s sunset sweater in Dreamscaperers symbolizes the shift from a brighter story to a darker story” ALEX HIRSCH HOLY SHIT YOU GENIUS

“Dreamscaperers originally had Bill going into everyone’s dreams and Mabeland was inspired by those ideas” I kinda want to see that plot and what would happen with that

Wow did Alex do that Duchess Approves intro from memory?!? And off the cuff?!?!

I’m actually so so so glad that Alex put those codes in GF because that’s kinda what got me into the show when I was 10

“Fans are smarter than I am so we upped the ante for season 2” I love how they adapted to make it more of a challenge for fans

Holy shit there are so many codes and secret messages in this show that I didn’t notice I kinda love that

“Our most elaborate code was cracked 10 minutes after the episode came out” yeah that’s the GF fandom for you

THE END-OF-EPISODE FLASHES IN SEASON 2 WERE LEADING UP TO THE FORD REVEAL?!?!?!?

Holy fucking shit I didn’t notice that Stan has a bandage on his hand for several episodes after it gets banged by a pipe in “Society of the Blind Eye” AND it was a way to say “we haven’t forgotten about the mysterious portal”

“Something will change and stay changed for the rest of the show” yup that’s the godlike continuity of this show

“Each audience member gets to BE Dipper and have a mystery to solve” YES that’s the charm!!

“Mabel wears a key sweater in ‘Not What He Seems’ to say that she’s the key to opening the portal” yooooooo okay Mabel’s sweaters have more meaning than I thought apparently

Holy shit there’s just so many secrets explained that just make so much sense

Ariel Hirsch voiced a girl in the Sev’ral Timez episode?!?!?!?!?????

“This show is us making fun of each other” lol I love that

Whoa Matt Chapman is an unsung side star of this show apparently

“Jeff Rowe is the most attractive of our writers” didn’t expect that but okay go off I guess

“all the writers have a secret personality trait that sneaks into the show” yo that’s beautiful dawg I love that

Stan’s singing what he’s doing is inspired by something Alex does apparently lmao

“Chanting happens a lot in the writers room” lol that’s not surprising

I never realized how much chanting is in this show lmao

“The crew likes to make fun of me” lol I love how apparently the entire GF crew had fun with this show and with each other

“GF isn’t about codes and Easter eggs but characters” yeah I didn’t fully realize that when I was a kid and that’s why I’m glad I rewatched the show

I LOVE that montage at the end showing all the coolest Gravity Falls moments

This special was fucking awesome!!! I learned so much!!! I would highly recommend watching it if you haven’t seen it already

[guynamedultimax]

Obligatory Friday Night Funkin’ fighting game AU post (part 2 of idk how many)

Even though I’m a lazy fuck I know there’s people out there who wanna read this so let’s just get it over with

-AGOTI: Trapped in the Void like in his own mod’s continuity, has tentacle-based powers that allow him to raise pillars from underneath the ground like he did in the Void. Usually freestyles and is pretty damn good at it. Chaotic neutral, hangs out with Tabi and Ayana when not busy.

-Aldryx: AGOTI’s older brother, they’re mostly the same but he is more composed and responsible...even if you can barely notice it. Has been scouting for AGOTI ever since he disappeared in the Void under the “orders” of Solazar. They have the same powers, but Aldryx prefers a more aggressive rock beat in comparison to his brother’s freestyling.

-Solazar: Solazar is a unique type of fighter, a Composer. They’re exceptionally well-versed in most types of music and have their own unique fighting style that can’t be easily imitated. Most of the times Composers are figures of great wisdom and/or power. DD is also secretly a Composer but rarely uses all of his powers. Sol is to this day one of the few other people who is actively fighting off DD’s rise to power and is trying to push his adopted screen demon sons to cooperate with GF and BF’s efforts to stop DD (despite the fact that one of them is friends with Tabi, who still has beef with GF).

-Nikusa: Not doing anything for her until her part of the FNF Entity mod drops but she exists in this universe.

-Tabi: Before Funkin Fightin’ was a thing, GF was in love with Tabi but nonetheless used him to try and conquer her father’s empire. When he turned music into a form of fighting, Tabi didn’t know how to hurt a fly, and so GF ditched him to DD, who turned him into what he is today. He is now out to personally get GF, DD and anyone who might get in his way for revenge. Uses a fight style similiar to BF’s but isn’t afraid to play dirty against someone who he feels has wronged him. After the restaurant incident he’s a tournament member who is wanted by the authority.

-Ayana: Before Pico, BF dated her, and while she still clearly loves him, it’s clear for her that he moved on. Still, she knows GF’s up to no good and is repeatedly trying to warn BF about it. She and Dalia have Tabi hidden in their house. Has a fighting style similiar to that of Mommy Mearest, although unlike her she actually fights fair and doesn’t try to seduce her opponents.

-Dalia: EDM has been less and less mainstream as time went on, but Dalia still isn’t afraid of spewing out good tracks. EDM artists are known for being glass cannons in the Funkin Fightin’ business, and she’s no exception, she’s the second strongest EDM artist on the block. Is in a relationship with Ayana. She is also prone to stopping her sets to help her friends back at Apollo against demons.

-Miku: In-universe she’s BF’s older sister, and due to her working specifically in the Vocaloid industry, GF’s parents can’t lay a single hand on her. More often than not she insists on protecting her brother as if he was still little. Has Camellia as musical backup during her Funkin Fightin’ fights due to her being mostly a martial pacifist.

-Sarvente: Nuns shouldn’t fight, am I right? Sarvente is one of the few people who is in DD’s tournament to promote her church. Still she knows in the moment she’s going to go full power she’s going to scare away literally everyone in the arenas. Has been costantly receiving funds by a mysterious sponsor alongside Ruv.

-Ruv: As a former hitman, he knows exactly how to fight. He just needs to learn to do it to the rhythm of the typical Russian ballads he listens to in his free time. Has refused to fight Sarvente even in her demon form. Is also in the tournament for the church, but also to avoid other hitmen sent to kill him for his retirement. Also has been receving funds by a sponsor.

-Selever: The mysterious sponsor. Has found a way to enter this universe (and is doing money with cryptocurrency), but if he interacts directly with Ruv or Sarv, or if he gets found and defeated by a being of higher power like Composers, Updike or Auditor, he’s sleeping with the fishes. Annoying as ever, half of the tournament opponents have beef with him due to him behaving like an annoying asshole. Also calls for Rasazy’s backup with some attacks and plays dirty like hell. His goal is to defeat DD so he can live with his parents in peace.

-Shaggy: In this continuity the entirety of Mystery Incorporated is alive and well and not dead of old age. Not even Shaggy knows how he has his powers, but he isn’t really complaining, as long as his friends are left in peace by the supernatural. Is fascinated by Funkin Fightin’ and is choosing a musical style on which to base his rhythm.

-Matt: Originally trained other people in various sports, but after his loss with BF he became obsessed with trying to defeat him in Funkin Fightin’. Trains under Shaggy to achieve this goal. Still, he has a code of honor and wants a fair fight by any opponent. Doesn’t have a specific musical style yet and is not willing to use Wii Sports music like one would expect from him.

-Zardy: Isn’t partecipating in the tournament and interacts with nobody. There is only one rule: don’t enter his maze for absolutely no reason. He’s going to wreck you with Halloween songs and by swinging around his farming tools. The only ones allowed in are Tricky, Monster and Starecrown for the Friday night poker game, where he is prone to winning at least against Tricky; Starecrown and Monster are just too 300 IQ for him to face head-on.

-Camellia: Remember when I said Dalia’s the second strongest EDM artist on the scene? Guess who’s first. His techniques as a Composer are known for breaking many body parts, so Masaya Oya only ever works as backup for BF’s sister Miku. But if you actually manage to bring him to a Funkin Fightin’ fight on his own you’ll regret it deeply. Dude is as strong as Shaggy and Matt COMBINED.

-Sky: BF’s number one fangirl and leader of his two-member fanclub, her beef is mainly with GF, but to beat her she has to go through BF first. Behaves a lot like Knives Chau from the Scott Pilgrim franchise. Writes fanfics. Has a very...weird fighting style, and does it to the beat of anime openings apparently.

-Starecrown: The, erm...OTHER member of BF’s fanclub. Is unironically best friends with Sky due to their shared interest in BF and usually carries her around as if he was her pet. Is very polite and tries not to come off as scary with his stares, but it’s beyond his power. Nobody ever even understands his fighting techniques, only the musical screeches he emits when he does it to the rhythm.

NEXT TIME: Hopefully everyone related to Bob, Undertale/Underverse characters, Eddsworld cast, CJ & Ruby, ENA, Nonsense, if possible even more

[incorrect-natshig]

My gf and I started an AU where Natsuo runs into Shiggy in the city and knocks him down, getting him a light concussion...he feels guilty and brings him to his apartment and cares for him - Shiggs is kinda like 'wtf' and wants to call Dabi but in the accident he lost his phone so he calls Dabi on Natsuos phone... he tries to get out immediately without saying 'thank you' or anything.

Natsuo on the other hand is interested now and calls the unknown number in his phone, not knowing he's talking to his own brother... :)

11/10 AU ANON THIS IS AMAZING��✨

Shigs would be really confused, like... who is this NPC? Does he not know who he is? And he brought him to his apartment, just like that?? And now he’s trying to treat him? And he also handed him his phone without question?? Who even does that?? natsuo apparently

Bet Dabi’s wary at some unknown number trying to call him at first but it’s just Shigs having a crisis™✨ The second time when it isn’t Shigs he tries to hang up but Natsuo's quick to introduce himself 

Dabi: ...Natsuo? As in Todoroki Natsuo? Endeavor’s son?

Natsuo: [sighing] Technically yes, but drop the Todoroki, it's just Natsuo.

Dabi's currently 'this' close to hanging up now (fingers touching) but decides to go with it and they end up dissing Endeavor for a while natsuo now has a new best friend

Natsuo: So anyway... the guy who was here a moment ago - he's your friend, right?

Dabi: ...He's my boss.

Dabi: [wondering what kind of rock Natsuo's been living under to not recognize the Shigaraki Tomura on sight] [thinking how he also probably doesn't know he's talking to his dead brother] [suddenly realizing with increasing dread where he's going with this] Please tell me you don't think he's cute. Anything but that. Please.

Natsuo: It- It's not like that! I mean, he kind of does but-

Dabi: GODDAMN IT-

[1kook]

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT 

— AN EXPLORER UNIVERSE DRABBLE :)

SUMMARY So now there’s a present for him under the tree, but none for you. Apparently that’s up to Jungkook to purchase, which leads him to this dilemma: what did you want for Christmas? WARNINGS alien!jk, tentacle mention hehe, and uhhh nothing else its just dorky n sweet :( RATING e for everyone <3 WC 1.2k 

NOTES hello the other day i said something abt explorer jk not rlly understanding the concept of gift giving so here it is more in depth <3 just 1k of dorky alien boy trying to impress his human gf !! 

Jungkook thinks this Santa Claus fellow is quite possibly the oddest figure on your planet. A man who single handedly visits the home of every single child across the globe on a flying sleigh pulled by flying deer? Ridiculous. It’s even more ridiculous when you honor this man with a plate of cookies in the living room. 

“It’s just for fun,” you tell him, wobbling dangerously on a step stool in front of this massive tree you killed and then hauled inside to decorate its rotting carcass. The ornaments aren’t even placed in the most aesthetically pleasing pattern, a fact that greatly displeases Jungkook and his perfectionist mind. (You don’t see his extra arms slip out and rearrange them.) “It’s cute, isn’t it?” 

In all his time traveling the galaxy, Jungkook has had the honor of studying many foreign races. He’s learned the intricacies of their societies, the mechanisms of their anatomy, and the beauty of their cultures. Yet he does not recall ever seeing a society where one bearded man— who apparently gorged himself on cookies year round —held such superiority. The concept of gods isn’t exclusive to your planet, but from what Jungkook understands, this Santa Claus fellow is not a god at all. 

Oddly uniformed beings aside, there’s another thing Jungkook doesn't quite understand about this celebration, and that’s the bright red box beneath the dead tree with jungkook♡ written on the corner. It’s a gift, that much he gets, but he’s not sure what. Or why. You don’t tell him much either, simply warning him not to touch it until Christmas. 

Jokes on you, because Jungkook is no ordinary being. He knows how to gather resources from his surroundings and put them to use, an ability that is very valuable when visiting foreign planets such as your Earth. The projection box plays a variety of movies surrounding this Christmas event in the days leading up to it. It’s a festive day, primarily for large corporations to profit off of holiday cheer and convince people they, for some reason, must participate in the act of gift giving. And the thing about gift giving, Jungkook learns, is that it is reciprocal. 

So now there’s a present for him under the tree, but none for you. Apparently that’s up to Jungkook to purchase, which leads him to this dilemma: what did you want for Christmas?

The projection box says Humans similar to you enjoy being presented with jewels and clothing, occasionally electronic devices that are apparently ‘new’ for you Humans. 

But the jewels displayed are practically worthless in Jungkook’s eyes— a diamond ring? As far as Jungkook and the rest of the Sixamians were concerned, the sole purpose of a diamond was for recreational sports. Anyone could get a diamond in Sixam, they were as common as the avian beings on your planet were. But you and the rest of the Humans obsess over them, retail them for ridiculously high prices. 

Diamonds are out of the running, which leaves Jungkook with clothing or electronic devices. Similar to the diamond dilemma, the electronics don’t convince him much either. Smilodon had gotten into your room one day, completely knocked everything off your desk. While Jungkook had been able to revive your PC box, the cracked screen of your monitor was irreparable. Jungkook’s first trip to the city was that day, your visit to a Best Buy his first real outing. (You had sat him down in the kitchen and dabbed warrior paint, called concealer, over his facial markings.) The complete wonder he felt at seeing the city for the first time was shattered upon entering this Best Buy and seeing the horrendous quality of your electronic advancements. 

Needless to say, electronics are also out. 

By then, Jungkook can’t even fathom searching for clothing as a present. What did you like? He’s not sure, your preference in clothing varied everyday. Some days you enjoyed being bundled up in thick, cozy sweaters, but at night you would strip down to the thinnest materials. Did you like thick clothing or light? What was the most appropriate clothing for this season? Was there a specific size chart he had to refer to, or did Human clothing abide by the same form configuring rules that Sixamian clothing did? 

Christmas is tomorrow and Jungkook has not found a suitable present for you! His head hurts, but more importantly, his heart hurts. The projection box says Humans are greatly dissatisfied when they are forgotten in the gift-giving tradition, and Jungkook does not want that. He wants you to smile at him like the figures on the projection box do— maybe kiss him under the viscum album, or ‘mistletoe,’ plant —and just genuinely enjoy yourself. 

Time is running out and Jungkook doesn’t know what to do. Smilodon is giving him a rather disappointed look from the windowsill that Jungkook does not appreciate. It’s as he’s huffily shooing the creature away that he sees it. And by it, Jungkook means the flowerbed on your windowsill. The dirt is cold, the plants practically near death. But Jungkook knows you like flowers, these flowers in particular, because you spent all summer watering them and tending to them. You’re one of the finest botanists Jungkook has ever seen— and that’s saying a lot, considering Jungkook also considers himself an amazing botanist. Surely you like flowers?

He hurriedly gathers the last of the plants, hands shivering from the cold. He isn’t sure how to present them, how to wrap them like the Humans on the projection box do, so he’s left awkwardly hovering by the window with the dead flowers in his hand. He can’t set them down either because then they will unravel from the careful bouquet Jungkook had organized in his haste. 

You have extra limbs for a reason, his brain just about screams, and Jungkook snaps into action. Just as the tip of his limb touches your laptop, ready to watch as many instructional videos as possible, you come strolling into the living room. 

Jungkook can’t even play it off, he’s got one tentacle stretched over the entire length of the living room. 

“What are those for?” you ask curiously, casually stepping over his extended arm on your way over to him. 

Jungkook sighs, slowly retracting his limb until he can feel it slide naturally beneath the skin of his back. He wonders if his markings are that shade of pink again, the one that makes you kiss him and coo at him. “Felicitations on your Christmas,” he murmurs, handing you the bouquet of half dead, half frozen flowers. Your mouth forms a little circle, surprise and confusion painting your features. Jungkook hopes you are not as disappointed as he is in his atrocious attempt at gift giving. 

But Jungkook should know better; your Human heart is nothing like his. You’re not raised on perfection like he is, don’t even think there is such a thing as ‘the perfect gift.’ The flowers are taken from his trembling hands, clutched to your chest dreamily. “Did you pick these?” you sigh dreamily, gazing down at the dead bouquet like it’s the most beautiful thing in the universe. 

Jungkook doesn’t understand. Maybe it’s better this way. “Merry Christmas to you, too,” you beam, on your tippy toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “I love them.”

And he loves you.

Copyright © 2020, 1kook on tumblr. absolutely NO reposts allowed.

[cupidsintern]

FUCK im LATE because im forgetbrained but!!

cupidsintern's fic recs for harringrove feedback fest!

these are my absolute favorite harringrove fics of all time. i read them and i read them again and my gf endures me gushing about them for hours on end seriously. these ones changed my life

you're cold (and i burn) by @holdenduckfield (@/jill_ian on ao3) hey king i miss u sm - Rated E

Move on. Let it heal.

Maybe that’s why Steve said yes when Max asked him to help move boxes out of Billy’s room after the dust settled. He could hear her voice. Too many. Too heavy.

Just like his wounds. His grief. Too many. Too heavy.

(Or, Steve steals the glass ashtray from Billy's bedside table and things start to go bump in the night.)

samarra by @gothyringwald ((hey so this fest is literally the best thing ever thank you so much also im a huge fan of urs for this fic lmao<3)) Rated T

When the kids bring Billy back from the dead, it doesn’t go quite as expected: he’s alive but his soul has been left behind. And Steve is the only person who can bring it back.

for u by @awickedplacethisis (@/FlashMountain on ao3) Rated M

He’s doing stupid shit on the clock again. There’s no one in the store anyways. There’s also no one there to tell him to stop.He’s making a mixtape. An actual cassette tape mixtape. ‘Cause Spotify isn’t enough, apparently. He’s making a stupid mixtape filled with dumb indie shit he found in the back, and all those 80’s The bands he knows Billy listens to. Half of the songs are just half disguised wanna fuck? and the other ones are so pathetically in love that he kinda wants to brain himself on the tape recorder.-He was a skater boy, Steve said You’re My Soulmate

(so true bestie)

On Loving Billy by @margaretpens-deactivated2021050 OH MY GOD DEACTIVATED TODAY??? fuck dude. @/lilpeas on ao3

“I’m good, you know.” Billy says. His face is empty, expressionless, the way it was when Steve threw books at him and shouted, what do you mean you’re leaving? That’s it? We’re done?

Steve can do nothing but stare at Billy.

He wants to say, I’m not. I’m not and I never will be. You didn’t just break my heart Billy, you blew it up. It’s not lying on the floor ready to be put back together, it’s floating in microscopic dust in the motherfucking air.

(OR, The Trials of Two Idiots in Love)

He Made It Easy by @ezra-starkiller (GOAT fr) Rated E

But he has Steve now, and he’d almost died but he didn’t, and he never thought he’d be intimate with someone again, believed he’d live the rest of his life never letting another person touch or see his body but, lo and behold, Steve Harrington. Stealthy Steve fucking Harrington.

so this next part is a bit cheesy but i actually joined this fandom when i was barely an adult and id never really been in a fandom community before. It was hard to navigate and hard to re-learn how to socialize and be a part of an online community, so I want to thank the following blogs for making me feel pareticualrly welcome in the harringrove fandom.

@awickedplacethisis

@thinger-strang

@prettyboyporter

@imyoursandthatsitwhatever

@greyspilot

@holdenduckfield

@jimhhawkins

and the now deactivated @/steveskhakis (miss u gio glad i still have ur #)

[jaggedcliffs]

I decided to do a fourth rewatch of The Untamed even though I haven’t finished my third (which I was doing with my gf and is stalled thanks to the current lockdown restrictions), and after finishing up the first two episodes I have Thoughts:

The magic stuff going in those first two episodes is still incomprehensible to me, which might be part of mashing up the book in order to pass censorship, like the hands/sword thing in the first episode. But I still have no idea what’s up with the Dancing Goddess Statue

If the theme of the first episode is “rumours” (and “what the actual fuck is happening????” for new viewers), the theme of the second episode is “ghosts” (with a minor side of “the fuck is happening??”)

Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng really just are introduced as The Worst, aren’t they. Like the Malfoys but with anger management issues. And allowed to publicly commit acts of violence/murder

*Points at Jiang Cheng* *jazz hands* ~negative character development~ *jazz hands*

Love the contrast of: Wei Wuxian vs. Little Apple (Little Apple, a donkey, wins), with Wei Wuxian vs. Jin Ling & several other Jin cultivators (Wei Wuxian, a man with no sword and barely a golden core to speak of, wipes the floor with them in under 10 seconds)

And also a cave full of about 30 cultivators with their swords all pointed at the statue vs. Wei Wuxian and his two little fluttering talismans as he takes charge immediately

I don’t know why Jin Ling isn’t struck down for telling the Dancing Goddess Statue “I wish whatever is eating souls will appear before me,” and instead it’s Random Cultivator #4 who gets his soul sucked out, but man that kid is lucky to have his plot armor. Between this and man-eating fortress about 2 episodes later (chronologically), I’m surprised Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng managed to keep Jin Ling alive for this long

I know we like to make fun of Wei Wuxian being The Most Obvious with making himself a flute before the 2nd episode is out, but it is out of desperation, like “oh no, I don’t think I can take care of this on my own (without any other tools), the Lan kids don’t have any flares to call Lan Zhan, Jin Ling refuses to call Jiang Cheng because he gets yelled at for asking for help (and also apparently yelled at for not asking for help), and now my dumb brat of a nephew is going to get himself killed unless I do something drastic and possibly reveal my identity.”

Love Jiang Cheng, this emotional mess of a disaster man who just keeps digging himself deeper into denial over his brother being dead, shouting desperately at Wei Wuxian “What’s going on??? Who are you?!?”, and in response Wei Wuxian just...passes the fuck out.

Why is Wei Wuxian passing out? Is it from getting whipped with Zidian? From using demonic cultivation? From the stress of seeing everyone who he still cares about (and are still alive) again in under an hour? From the stress of coming back to life? All of the above?

Anyway, I’d love to know how they go from Wei Wuxian passed out on the ground, Jiang Cheng shouting, and Lan Wangji refusing to speak a word to Jiang Cheng, to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji safely back at Cloud Recesses.

[juniaships]

Odelloyd (Yodel shipping)

Since @minecraftninjerkid expressed interest I wrote a particularly long post about Odette and Lloyd Garmadon's relationship. It's basically set in my AU of the while Ninjago canon. It's pretty angsty in some parts, and honestly I love this couple because it's a story of two individuals who learn to trust and like TALK with each other and work out their issues together! Plus I feel like if Lloyd needed another love interest within canon it should be someone who can match his energy, a strong young lady who works side by side with him!

Harumi is still the princess but now she has a LADY IN WAITING!! YAYAY

Mostly because she needed a morality pet in some way but also a foil to show if Harumi hadn't been so consumed by personal demons

Odette was a homeless orphan living on the streets with her sister; often stealing from food carts to feed themselves

One night Odette made the mistake of stealing from one of the SOG and they catch her and bring her to their base

Instead of being mad Harumi was impressed by her thieving skills and decided to recruit her. Odette didn't want to at first but then she had second thoughts thinking the extra money could help her and baby sis

So Harumi brings her back and manages to convince the Emperor and Empress to hire Odette as a lady in waiting & decoy if Harumi needed to sneak out to do her business Odette is So instead of it being Harumi it's Odette who stays and befriends the ninja

Odette had NO IDEA her friend plotted to blow up the palace - with her still inside - not great thinking there o' Quiet One

She also had no idea how AWESOME Lloyd is on a motorcycle: "Sweet moves grasshopper!"

They stop at several places gathering clues on the location on the final mask leaving a lot of time for Lloyd and odette to bond; for the first time in forever Odette starts to enjoy life again

The Ninja take Odette in and decide to search for the final mask. Odette does what she can to help out (and find info) getting close to them and my OCs

Lloyd even buys her a gift: a lotus shaped hairpin to replace the one she lost in the palace fight

The jungle incident happens; Lloyd and Odette separates for a while and she comes across the real princess who had stalked the group the whole time undercover

But she's afraid that her big secret might come out everywhere she goes she's often looking over her shoulder

Odette starts to really enjoy the Ninja's company and all her perceived notions about them fade; but she still had to find Harumi to try to talk her out of her plot

Odette meets up with Lloyd inside the caves and they look for the final mask. Finally they see it and Lloyd grabs it, happy that they found the masks before the gang did but notices Odette isn't feeling the same

She's tells Harumi that they're all making a HUGE mistake with the Masks; Harumi of course refuses and orders her to stick to the plan or else

He asks her what's wrong and that's when Odette becomes hysterical and begs Lloyd to destroy the mask or run

Lloyd doesn't know whay she's talking about and tries to calm her down suddenly they hear some sarcastic clapping and in steps in Harumi. Dressed in full Royal Garb

Lloyd is confused and doesn't understand looking back and forth between the newly revealed Princess and the one next to him

Harumi reveals that she is - was - the real princess and that Odette was acting as her decoy to spy on the ninja. She hadn't count on Lloyd catching feelings for Odette which made it all the more sweeter

Odette pleas with Lloyd claiming that while she was ordered to spy, her feelings for him and his friends were genuine. Lloyd coldly brushes he brushes her off and calls her a liar and demands Harumi why she planned all this. The Princess explains that the Ninja failed to save her family from the Great Devourer & that it was Lloyd himself who unleashed such monster on the city killing her parents and several civilians

Harumi also revealed that she had the Emperor and Empress assassinated as punishment for their inaction during that event, and subsequent failure in treating her like a person. "They didn't want a daughter they wanted a Princess."

Harumi takes out her knife and begins attacking Lloyd; Odette watches helplessly as they fight and in the ensuing chaos Harumi knicks Lloyd and orders Odette to return to their group

The Ninja wait by the docks and discovers Odette and the real princess together. They're shocked to see two Princesses; the real Harumi admits her plan knowing they wouldn't last for long to do anything to stop her. An Angry Kai yells at Odette for selling them out

Then the monster attack happens because it is drawn to the mask's essence; Lloyd saves Odette from being crushed, she tries to use the brief chance to explain but he still brush her off

The SOG board their ship and leaves; Odette wallows in guilt Harumi snarky asks her if she really thinks the Ninja are her friends. Odette shakes her head no and looks out the window praying for them to be alright

Back at the city the SOG takes Misako (and Cole's gf Rhenée) hostage to draw Lloyd out. Odette is no longer in her casual clothes but in SOG attire; at the ritual she pretends to be clumsy hoping to stall the ritual long enough

Rhenée asks Odette if she's willing to risk her soul for the terrible actions of other, hoping that Odette can make the right choice. This makes her think about her placement in the SOG

Suddenly the ninja crashes the party just in time and battles the gang. Odette frees Rhenee and Misako and allows herself to be apprehended

Outside she's sitting in the police van when Lloyd walks by and she begs him to hear her out. He wants to listen but is furious with her for betraying them and cuts her off

The ninja head to a bar to celebrate their victory; Lloyd has an honest talk with his mother about Harumi and vows to never trust again. Rhenée says that while Odette lied to them she notices that she's very different from the rest of the SOG

At the jailhouse Odette is sobbing at having lost everything - her friends, her life, and maybe even her sister. She takes out the lotus pin and is about to throw it way when she hears some commotion outside. Apparently the ritual brought back a monster. Fearing for her sister's safety she uses the pin to unlock her cell and sneaks out

Lloyd is too occupied with protecting Baby Wu to fight off Harumi; before she knocks him off Odette arrives & saves him and the baby

In the chaos the Monster arrives and tries to crush them all, Odette gives Lloyd enough time to escape but she falls to her supposed death in the process

Once the battle is over the four original ninjas are nowhere to be seen and are presumed dead

They find out Odette disappeared also, and believe her to he dead too

Harumi and her gang express joy at their enemies demise; and the gang no longer recognize Odette as their own seeing her as a traitor. Deep down Harumi feels a tiny bit pain over the loss of her only real friend but quickly sets that aside to prepare one last scheme

Lloyd grieves Odette's loss regretting they never had the chance to really TALK about what happened between them.

Unknown to everyone, the ninja and Odette were transported to the First Realm

Seasons 9&10 ramps up the angst

Cole is the first one who demands to hear her explanation. Odette explains her backstory and says whole none of it justifies her lies she has now become aware of her actions and is willing to help the ninja FOR REAL FOR REAL

The ninja do NOT want Odette anywhere near them after her betrayal and for a while shuns her.

Zane is the second one; his relationship with former merc Jetta he understands a bit what it's like to choose bad things for survive

Jay and Kai takes the longest: Jay because he's paranoid that Odette may just be evil and insane as Harumi; Kai because he is very protective of Lloyd (who he sees as a younger brother, and even had begun to saw Odette as another sister) and furious that she'd hurt him and their whole team like that

This leads to a series of trials for Odette to prove that she's willing to atone; she actually finds the last dragon's nest and vows to protect it

Meanwhile in Ninjago the city started an underground resistance led by Lloyd and Nya; Lloyd took in Odette's sister to take care of her now that she is gone

Odette and the Ninja finds a way out of the first realm and arrives with their new dragons. Odette splits off to confront Harumi and sees her on top of a building...which is about to fall much to her horror

Lloyd witnesses the scene and shouts Odette's name; the building collapses and he sinks to his knees in fear

Everyone watches with baited breath and cheers as they see both girls and the dragon coming out of the smoke alive

Lloyd and Odette apologize to each other then go off with their friends to fight off the Oni invasion

Once everything is over & Harumi decides to turn a new leaf and surrenders, everyone gathers at the monastery to celebrate. Wu invites Odette and her sister a permanent home with them

After s10 they don't get back together that quickly. Lloyd still has trust issues as in canon and Odette feels like shit believing herself to tbe the cause. Lloyd says it's not her fault, he's simply fed up with random villains coming at him for the crime of being the Chosen One.™

Odette isn't exactly let off easy by the public; there's multiple conspiracies about her and stuff and some aren't exatly forgiving her for working with a group that killed the royal family and destroyed the city. In order to redeem herself in the eyes of the public Odette starts training to become a real Ninja, doing little side missions to help people even something as simple as helping little old ladies use an escalator. Lloyd supports her every step of the way, using his popularity "and natural charisma" to dispel any rumors about her.

[mollymauk-teafleak]

The Problem with Magic Markers

Soooo Critical Role campaign 2 just ended, I've got major brain rot over it and my wonderful gf gave me a wonderful idea for a fic so! This happened! A gift to @spiky-lesbian who came up with this adorable concept and is just generally an all round wonderful person who deserves the world. Also huge thanks to my ever patient, ever helpful beta reader @minky-for-short

If you liked it too, please reblog and leave a comment over on Ao3!

-----------

Mollymauk is so proud of Caleb in so many ways and, now they have their lovely lives with their wonderful children, he finds more reasons to be every day.

-----------

Mollymauk Tealeaf had learned many things since he’d become a parent, now five years ago. A short amount of time, he’d used to think, but plenty of time to obtain a lot of knowledge you never thought you were ever going to need in your life.

Like how sandwiches cut into triangles were disgusting but sandwiches cut into squares could be eaten by the hundreds. Like how to make a bath appealing to a toddler with the liberal addition of bubble bath and a willingness to get absolutely soaked playing Sharks with them. Like how a scraped knee and bumped forehead could be cured with his cuddles and kisses alone, like how a promise from him that everything was going to be okay was enough to make it so.

And how silence was very, very worrying.

So when Mollymauk walked past his son and daughter’s room and heard only silence, when he knew for a fact they were in there, he stopped dead. He put any thoughts of getting to go and spend some time with his sewing kit out of his mind. Because he’d been a parent long enough to know that something was up, two five year olds weren’t that silent unless some game was afoot, something they didn’t want their parents to know about. Which meant he should probably at least poke his nose in.

So he knocked lightly on their door, the one covered in whichever drawings they were most proud of that week and a hand painted sign Jester had made for them the day they were born, prettily proclaiming ‘Trinket and Una’s Room!’ amongst a flock of miniature unicorns.

“Sweetlings?” he called gently, “Mind if I come in?”

There was a sudden scrabbling from behind the door and he heard a muffled grunt from Una before Trinket answered hurriedly, “Um...yes! Okay daddy!”

Raising a curious eyebrow, Molly pushed the door back, disturbing the usual scattering of toys left on the floor like the aftermath of a felt based battle. Although it did seem like there was more mess than usual…

Trinket stood in the middle of the room between their two little beds, his backpack at his feet and an expression of perfect innocence on his face that was just a little too polished to be anything but an act. Molly had to admit he’d probably learned that from him.

“Well hello there, little man,” he leaned in the doorway, smiling crookedly, “What game are we playing today?”

Trinket shuffled his feet, “Um...packing?”

“That sounds like a fun game,” Molly’s gentle concern upgraded to full blown wariness, “And where’s your sister?”

Trinket turned a deeper shade of purple, looking down at his fidgety feet that were poking more holes in his innocence by the second, “Um...she...um…”

Which was the point Una helpfully chose to poke her little head out of the backpack, dark eyes blinking curiously and ears flapping, trilling, “Here daddy!”

Trinket flushed guiltily, frowning at her, “Una! I said you had to stay shh!”

Molly took a breath, wandering over to sit down on Trinket’s bed. As his eyes swept around the room, he noted a great deal more chaos in the room. Almost like someone had been going through the toy box and the drawers and bookshelves, hurriedly pulling things out, making quick decisions about what to abandon and what to stuff into a little blue, dinosaur patterned backpack. Molly supposed he should at least be grateful that Trinket saw his sister as worth taking.

“Why don’t you talk to me, babies?” he offered gently.

Trinket swallowed, eyes darting around nervously before the last of the fight went out of his narrow little shoulders and he mumbled, “Daddy...can I tell you a secret?”

Molly had to smile. This was almost a running joke between the three of them, his kids running up excitedly to tell him they had a secret for him before whispering into his ear about some apparently very cool bug they’d seen or that Uncle Caddy had snuck them an extra cookie or that he was the best daddy ever. He loved being brought into their world where everything was brighter and more exciting and there was fun to be found in the smallest things. And where everything was felt so much more keenly.

“Of course you can, sweetling,” he murmured gently, patting the bed beside him, “You can always tell me secrets. Whatever it is, I promise we can make it better together.”

As Una rolled out of the backpack, apparently unconcerned and rather enjoying herself, Trinket clambered up beside him and stood so he could whisper into his ear. Molly tucked his purple curls behind one ear, smiling encouragingly.

Voice already trembling, Trinket leaned in and murmured, “I messed up Papa’s coat.”

Molly absorbed that in silence, feeling his son’s anxious red eyes on him. He leaned back, keeping his face carefully neutral before taking a long, deep breath through his nose, marshalling his thoughts.

“Trinket, I’m not going to lie to you here. We might be in trouble.”

His opinion didn’t change when he actually saw the coat. The coat his husband had been wearing as long as he’d known him and refused to be regularly seen without, no matter how many attempts Molly had made to buy him a newer, less ragged, less musty smelling version. It was more a comfort blanket than just clothing, stained and scorched from numerous spells and spills, old leather worn shiny from overuse. He hadn’t said so in so many words but it didn’t take a genius to guess that Caleb had worn it since before he came to the city. Which meant it had probably come from his parents. And though it was old and faded and stained today, it must have been new when he got it, a costly garment for people like the Ermendruds. The sort of gift that would only be given if your only son was leaving home to join the Academy and wanted to show him how proud you were.

A lot of Caleb’s life was like that. Even as his husband, Molly found himself having to piece things together from passing comments and turns of phrase, things that dulled his love’s eyes and tightened his jaw. Molly had about a quilt and a half’s worth of assumptions and semi-finished anecdotes by this point, telling of a sad and fractured timeline.

But he knew enough to see what the coat meant to Caleb and the place it held in his husband’s black and white, yes or no, yours and mine way of thinking.

The coat that now had a minor gallery’s worth of doodles and drawings scribbled in magic marker across the sleeves and all the way down the back. And if he wasn’t comfortable with Molly washing the thing, he wasn’t going to be okay with this.

Trinket had been fretfully watching his daddy since he’d first pulled the coat out from where he’d guiltily stashed it under his bed. As Molly’s mutely horrified silence dragged on, he only became more and more anguished until he was barely in tears, wringing his tail between his pudgy fists.

“I only wanted to make it pretty,” he whimpered, “Papa will hate me. I won’t be his special boy any more.”

Molly looked up at him, reaching out and putting his hand on Trinket’s shoulder, “Oh sweetling, your papa loves you a lot, you know this isn’t going to change that.”

But he couldn’t stop thinking about the times he’d picked up a pen from Caleb’s desk without thinking much of it, doodling with it until he’d looked up to see his husband gaping at him in scandalised horror. Or the times he’d stolen sips from Caleb’s drink when they were at the cafe, the same way he’d do to any of his friends, but Caleb would frown if he caught him, unable to understand why Molly was taking his coffee?

It was just part of the way his brain functioned, the rules it spat out after absorbing years of poverty and trauma, along with some different wiring that had simply occurred naturally. Mollymauk had learned a long time ago how to fondly work with these Caleb-isms, making concessions where it was best to and encouraging his wizard to gentle the restrictions his brain built when he needed to. It was like tending some kind of creeping vine in a garden, the way he saw it. Sometimes things needed moving aside so it could flourish and sometimes it needed pruning so it didn’t strangle the flowers around it. Caleb had been as brave as Mollymauk could have wished in managing his idiosyncrasies and sometimes he just had to sit back and admire how different the Caleb he lived with today was from the anxious, mumbling wizard he’d first met.

But how much patience he’d be able to muster when it was one of his favourite things in the world, Molly couldn’t say. But he wasn’t looking forward to telling him about it.

“Should I go?” Trinket’s lower lip wobbled, glancing back at his half packed bag, which Una was back inside, the front half this time as she munched away on some snack he must have stashed in there.

“Absolutely not, your papa would never want that,” Molly squeezed his shoulder gently, “We’re going to put the coat in to soak so we can get all this ink out and then we’re going to find him and I’ll tell him what’s happened. But you need to be the one who says sorry, okay?”

Trinket nodded frantically, still clinging onto his tail for comfort, “I am sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

“I know, buddy,” Molly drew him close and hugged him tight, hating to see him so upset, “But we’ll be laughing about this before long, you’ll see.”

Maybe if he said it confidently enough, he’d start to believe it too.

Caleb wasn’t hard to find for a number of reasons. For one, their apartment was very small and there were only a handful of rooms to look in. But more importantly, it was late afternoon on a day where Caleb didn’t have any reason to go down to the Academy and fulfill his duties as an adjunct professor and when his bookshop was closed, as it was once a week. Which meant there was only one place he would be, in his half of their spare room, either playing one of his video games or reading.

Molly wasn’t quite sure what they’d do when one of their kids decided they wanted their own room and were tired of sharing, meaning Caleb would have to store his books and he’d have to store his sewing somewhere else. Or if they had another kid. He’d been toying with that idea in the back of his mind lately.

Maybe best not to float that idea with Caleb right after this.

Mollymauk could feel Trinket in his arms, his offer to pick him up and carry him having been immediately, breathlessly accepted. He could sense him getting more tense, more anxious, growing heavier against him as Molly knocked lightly on the door.

“Ja, come in,” Caleb’s response was immediate, not even needing to ask who it was or having to pause over whether he wanted to see them.

When Molly went in, Caleb was in the old, ratty wingback chair they’d liberated from some sidewalk when they’d first moved in, Molly announcing teasingly that a future professor needed some grand leather throne from which to smoke a pipe and pontificate. Caleb had blushed and rolled his eyes, not even believing back then that one day he would get the job he’d always dreamed of having, thinking trauma and past hurts had stolen it from him.

So now Molly always got a small flush of pride when he saw his Caleb sitting in that chair.

His hair was getting a little longer these days, it’s auburn tangles pulled into a small knot at the crown of his head so it wouldn’t fall in his eyes. His beard was growing a little thicker too, more than the usual rusty shadow that dusted his jawline. Molly absolutely was not going to be complaining about any of that, he liked his husband looking a little more rough around the edges like when they’d first met.

As soon as he saw them, Molly with Trinket balanced on one hip, Caleb’s face lit up with a smile. His smiles had been rare once upon a time but now just the sight of his family was enough.

“Hello,” he set the book he’d been reading to one side, already expecting Trinket to want to sit on his lap like always, “How are my loves?”

Near Molly’s ear, Trinket whimpered mournfully and pressed his face against his daddy’s neck. It was more than an ache to listen to, Trinket idolised his papa, following him around whenever he could, listening devotedly as he explained his work even when it wandered far off the track that his little mind could understand. Molly had no doubt the attempt to brighten up his coat had been a genuine attempt to make him smile and he couldn’t imagine how much it was hurting his little boy, to think he’d upset the man he looked up to more than anyone.

Caleb’s smile dulled a little, seeing Trinket hesitate, immediately realising they weren’t here for playtime, “What’s wrong?”

Molly exhaled slowly, carefully keeping his voice calm and level, “It’s okay babe, Trinket just...did something he wants to apologise for.”

“Oh?” Caleb frowned a little, eyes still fixed on Trinket, arms still open.

Molly opened his mouth, ready to do the hard part but before he could, Trinket bolted upright and tearfully burst out, “I wanted to make your coat pretty because you always like my pictures and I thought you could take them everywhere not just in your pockets but I made a mess and I’m so sorry papa! I’m really sorry!”

For a moment both of his parents were a little stunned, not quite sure what to say as his rambles tapered off into spluttery sobs. Molly warily glanced at Caleb, looking for any change in his blank, closed off expression, any flicker of discomfort, even anger.

After a few beats, ones that felt longer than usual, Caleb only nodded, getting to his feet. Gently, he reached over and put a gentle hand on his son’s face, catching some of the tears dribbling down his cheek on his thumb.

“Little Kätzchen, it’s alright,” he murmured softly, “Please don’t cry.”

Trinket sniffled, blinking blearily, “You’re not angry? Don’t want me to go away?”

Caleb’s eyebrows shot up in alarm, “No! Oh, Trinkie, absolutely not. I’d never want that.”

“But…” Trinket’s eyes were wide, hopeful, wanting to take this relief being offered but hesitant to, “It’s your favourite thing in the whole wide world…”

Caleb chuckled quietly, his smile back with all it’s warmth as he leaned in and kissed his forehead.

“Kätzchen, you and your sister are my favourite thing in the whole wide world.”

Molly nearly yelped in panic as he felt the weight of Trinket suddenly leave his arms before realising his son had thrown himself at Caleb, locking his arms around him tightly. He didn’t doubt for a moment that his husband would catch him, only smiling fondly as he gathered Trinket close and buried his face in his hair.

“It’s all okay,” Caleb whispered against the rust red curls he’d given their son, “It’s okay, little one.”

Molly let them have their moment, letting Trinket cry the last of his tears out happily against his papa’s chest, hanging back and feeling his heart thudding warmly against his ribs. Eventually he was their beaming, bright little boy again, if a little damp, wriggling down from Caleb’s arms determinedly after one last little kiss against his papa’s cheek.

“I’m gonna make you a sorry card. The best sorry card ever,” he promised Caleb, already toddling towards the door, “It’s gonna have glitter.”

“Wow, that kid is definitely my son,” Molly observed wryly once his little lavender tail had disappeared around the corner.

“Then you can clean up the mess he’s definitely about to make,” Caleb chuckled, moving into his husband’s arms.

“Hey,” Molly kissed the crown of his head gently, “Well done. I know that must have been hard for you and...I’m really proud of you.”

He couldn’t see it but he could hear the coy smile in his voice, “Well...I meant what I said. Some coat is never going to be more important to me than my kids.”

Molly smiled knowingly, “I know baby….but you know, if you want to scream into that cushion for a little while, that’s okay too?”

There was a short pause before he felt Caleb’s shoulders drop in relief.

“Thank you, Katze…”

“Is it done yet?”

Molly had to fight a smile. He’d explained to Caleb that soaking his coat would take exactly thirty minutes, knowing his husband fixated on time easily, but still he asked every five minutes on the dot. He’d expected nothing less.

“Not just yet, babe,” he repeated, as he had all of those other times, looking up from the laundry they’d been folding so Caleb would have an excuse to hover anxiously in the laundry room, over the tub of hot soapy water and a little rubbing alcohol his coat was submerged in, “Soon though.”

Caleb gave a small grunt, poking a finger into the water curiously like it was some potion he was working over. After a moment, before Molly could turn back to folding the clothes, he frowned.

“This sleeve isn’t in the water…”

Molly’s smile turned crooked, coming over and putting a hand on Caleb’s before he could move the one sleeve into the tub, “I thought maybe you’d want to look at it...decide if you want to keep that one.”

Caleb blinked, not understanding until he turned it a little and saw the drawing his Trinket had chosen to adorn the sleeve with. It was done in bright red, standing clearly against the dark fabric, unmistakable a child’s drawing. There were four figures there, two taller and two smaller. The first had a set of horns drawn a little too large for it’s head, as well as a tail. The second had a long scarf and a scrawled head of shoulder length hair. The next was much smaller, with another set of horns and a tail but the same scribbled hair. And the last was tiny, with voluminous ears and spikes on the end of it’s fingers. All of them had immense smiles and held hands, a lopsided love heart hovering above them.

As the other scribbles and swirls turned into formless ink in the water, Caleb held this one like it was the most precious thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“Yeah,” he murmured, smiling softly, “I think this one can stay.”

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 3.08 - Someone to Watch Over Me

Why am I such a sap and the end scene basically had me tearing up?

(Also why is the last scene now- some an hour later - the only thing I remember of the whole episode? Selective amnesia anyone?)

Anyhow, let’s take a breath and try to bring some thoughts back...

We start off with our somewhat clingy “Higgy and Ethan acting like they’re in high school” scene... then progressing into being college students leaving a party to go hook up...

Which I mean...alright, at least we got interrupted with a phone call (also someone i having way too much fun with everyone personalizing their ring tones!)

Honestly, I kind of like Ethan at this moment. 

(When he’s leaving to go take care of a patient, like a good doctor, leaving Higgy all frustrated and ready to play poker and take everyone’s money!)

Then we get one of my favorite moments:

Higgy just casually walking into Magnum’s bedroom and poking him, trying to wake him, and then pouring some water on him to get the job done. I can’t imagine how much fun that was to film (well for Perdie at least).

Anyhow, let’s run down the ep. 

Case of the week is finding Ethan’s dying patient before he...well... dies. 

Magnum/ Higgy are annoyed with each other because she’s trying to help with his sleeping problems  and he is upset she talked to Ethan about him. I kind of see both points of view but I fully agree with Magnum on the whole “What’s between us stays between us, cone of silence”. Which Higgy realizes is right too at the end and that gives us that fab #soft ending! 

Then there is also the side plot with the recruit and the painter girl from last season coming back and maybe being Rick’s love interest (which was on my season 3 wish list!! Yay! Well Rick having a GF/ some more female characters) 

It felt like there was just kind of a lot of things, or so it seemed to me, which meant I only focused on what I felt was most important. Which is Higgy and Magnum, Higgy and Ethan and kinda a bit on the case. 

The case for me was the weakest we’ve had for a few episodes. There was nothing wrong with it really. Some twists and turns, yadayada, feel good moment, take responsibility, at least you have each other... I liked it BUT wasn’t it a little hard to connect with? 

I wish they’d have shown us an actual picture of the person we were looking for at the start (rather than just his lung scans...). Given us a second where Ethan met him even? Or the two brothers taking care of on another in some way? It was like it took too long for me to actually care even though I felt pretty awful for the little kid getting shot, he didn’t feel connected to the adult dying missing character. Does that make sense?

Some of my favorite moments through out this was...

Higgy coming back to the poker table and everyone being just a little confused and then smug about it (presumably until she starts taking their money). 

Magnum being sulky about being dragged along to help Ethan (well for a minute).

TC being honorable and all about the right thing through out the ep.

Higgy trying to explain why Magnum is wrong to be upset about her talking to Ethan about him...

(I really liked this, because she’s all “YOU CAN’T BE MAD I CARE ABOUT YOU!” and I think she does have a point, even if you know it’s not really right -or in Ethan’s case, professional- of a thing to do, it is coming from a good place. She cares about Magnum. He isn’t doing anything about his sleeplessness and so she talks to the person she’s getting closer to who is also a doctor... I can see why to Higgy that makes sense.)

Continuation of this is the Abby-thing!

OMG, I love the Abby conversation. 

I love every single thing about it.

Juliet: Um, what did Abby know about me? 

Magnum: Huhm? 

Juliet: Well, you seem to have this issue with Ethan and I discussing you, but you and Abby were pretty serious there for a minute. And since it's absolutely normal to discuss your partner with your...partner. Surely I must have come up in conversation?

Magnum: No. Not at all.

Juliet: *surprised Pikachu face*

(Okay, I tried to get a good screenshot of just how upset this makes her but I couldn’t. But I think she was actually genuinely surprised and hurt he hadn’t talked about her to Abby!)

Also is it weird I have a dream that I’ll one day find someone to stand next to and just have us look half as good as these two mange all the time?

Moving on...

So yeah, we get a bit too much surgery/ hospital stuff there for my taste. I don’t know what was going on, like where they trying to show off Ethan’s doctor skills? Make us worried about the outcome? But honestly I’m not watching Grey’s Anatomy, I’m watching Magnum PI!

IDK, I for one would maybe have liked the guy to have died and the brother to have gone off the deep end and for the dad to have been a bit less remorseful and really have gone off the island and into hiding! Like an actual Not So Good ending for once? Perhaps the dad comes back to say goodbye before doing the right thing and going prison but his son is dead?

Because sure, I love me my happy ending and I’m glad that’s what we get most of the time but come on folks, once in a while you gotta throw some else in there. IDK, this was nice too, but maybe one out of 20 cases ONE should be a total fail?

This was a nice moment through.

The most important question I have after this episode is however...

Is Rick not the bartender at La Marianna?

Like I thought that was kind of what he did. Owner and bartender. Apparently not? (I mean I don’t really care if it means we’re getting Susie as a regular character, like come on, how can we have only 2 recurring female characters and 6 male ones?)

Also, not really a question but... can two people just be any more adorable together?

Just look at that; two (NS)SM having a beer and being soft together... does life get any better than that really?

[haveyoumetmythief]

Had a dream that was an episode of House where House was supposed to babysit this receptionists kid and gave him a long list of stuff he had to do, and he was like "that's dumb" and didn't do any of it then when she found out, she was realllllly upset and apparently it kinda actually fucked the kid over, so she left him a resignation letter that ended with the line "your team may be able to put up with everything for your greater good, but for me, simply working for a good man isn't enough."

And it DEVASTATED him. So he went home and turned on the gas stove in order to kill himself by poisoning but his team interceded and were like "obviously this man needs a break." So they arranged a bird watching vacation with one of his old friends, Sir Gaylord.

BUT! It turned out he was dead! But! His great niece wasn't, and she agreed to go. And as she's getting ready, she's talking to a picture of her great uncle like "I hope you're right, and he's handsome. Maybe he'll be handsome enough to make you look like a man whose hat is only slightly tilted" which we as the audience implicitly understood to mean she was DOWN to get down during this bird watching excursion.

Back at this house House was bitching like "I don't need to be chaperoned" but his team was like "obviously you do. We do not trust you to go alone." So he goes full Hamlet and starts pretending he's crazy so that they'll think it was all just an accident or whatever? Anyway, the niece shows up, and he's just waxing nonsensical poetic and giving all these weird monologues. And she's like, cool, get into the elevator, we gotta leave. And he crawls into the elevator on his hands and knees, and we the audience are like "ah he's gonna look up her skirt." But he DOESN'T! At which point we start to wonder if he really is mad.

So anyway they're walking to the castle/villa they're staying at, and he's still rambling. Also it's end of autumn and snowing a lil. And he quotes some poem about how snowflakes become tiny mirrors on the heads of blond children, and she gestures to a group of blond children and goes "Looks like we're at a disco then." And he laughs which is like, oh! He's NOT mad! But then he tries to backtrack by starting a new rambling thing about roman emperors? And she goes "and what of Lancelot? Or have the wicked saved him all for themselves?" Which is a super witty retort to his ramble apparently and establishes that she is smart enough to keep up with him, and he's taken aback.

So they go to the place theyre staying at and the host person wont look up from his laptop, and just keeps typing as her offers them coffees or water. And she's like "no, im fine," but House makes a BIG show of meekly accepting, then struggling to get the sugar from the shelf, and "accidently trips," spilling a bottle of red wine on his laptop, but then jumps onto the table to uptight the bottle. And the host quickly wraps him in the tablecloth (which is pink crushed velvet) so he cant cause any more trouble and super angrily is like "would you PLEASE escort the gentlemen to his room?"

And as theyre walking upstairs I come to the realization that I'm super high and in a bathtub, and had just been rewatching an episode I saw with my gf in my mind's eye, and wasnt actually watching a screen. Then I woke up for realsies.

[lassieposting]

Hi i havent read the books post-resurrection so im kinda lost on why you dont like phase 2 val? She was easily one of my favourite characters ever, she was flawed (and the books took time to acknowledge them) and relatable and still really admirable (intelligent, brave, loyal) and i really liked her and really appreciated that she wasn’t perfect unlike every other young adult heroines. What went wrong😢😢😢😢

Okay I'm gonna put this under a cut because I very strongly dislike phase 2 val and I know it bugs people who don't feel the same, so. Dead dove dont eat

Okay so first off, phase 1 val and phase 2 val are completely different people. literally. phase 1 val was based on an ex-friend of lardo's who used to apparently be involved pretty heavily in like, editing the books and "she'd react like this" or "val wouldn't say that", and that val she was one of my favourite fictional characters from when book one came out to the release of resurrection. phase 2 val is based on his whiny little girlfriend who likes to start shit with 14yos on twitter, and you can absolutely tell she is no longer the same person. so the long story short of "what went wrong" is "the original irl val's friendship with dirty laundry ended for whatever reason and he decided to retcon her entire personality to suit his gf"

Phase 2 Val, in my opinion:

Weak, like won't even fight back when she gets jumped bc boo fucking hoo she's so awful, bitch get up already, nobody signed up for ur pity party

Whiny. So fucking whiny. All the time. And she's the POV character so it's inescapable.

"Pacifist" but in a really pathetic virtue-signalling kind of way like "Oh, I've done such terrible thiiiiiiiiiiings I'm so awfulllllllllllll look how good I'm trying to be nowwwwwwww pay attention to meeeeeeee" kind of way, it was both boring and a massive eye roll. It's a book about magic and asskicking. Kick some ass. We're here for escapism not "realistic" whining. Yes, irl she'd be a mess. As an author it's his job to strike a balance between the "realism" he wants to portray and making his readers so depressed and done with his heroine that they quit reading, and in my case, he absolutely failed.

Everything must be about her at all times. Skug is having personal problems? Fuck him, they're about her now. Everything is about how it affects her, and her feelings, and be damned to the person actually having the problem. Fucks phase 2 val cain gives about anyone except herself: 0

Bitter and jaded. Which yeah I get why but it's like jesus christ what do we get out of reading about this? It's not even good bitter and jaded where it makes you empathise or admire her strength in adversity or whatever, she's just become a really nasty person with no redeeming features that I could see. Which? Landy outright said she's based on his gf? If your boyfriend is gonna drag ur entire personality through the dirt like that and write "you" as just a collection of incredibly negative traits...yikes.

Really ungrateful about the awesome life she leads? Which bugs me bc I fucking hate mundanity and knowing that all there is to life is fucking working and bad mental health. I would kill to live her life. All she does is moan about it. Like? Quit then. Fuck off back to being a mortal if it's that bad and live the shitty life you wanted to get away from in the first place. That way we'd get no more books, and quite honestly, thank fuck for that. But anyway, she needs to pick one, stick with it, and stop complaining about whatever she chose.

The girl wallows in self pity. And if someone else isn't indulging her enough, she'll wallow harder and louder and more obviously. Yawn.

Her POV is now so depressing to read that Resurrection literally tanked my mental health. I'm not kidding. I fell off the self-harm wagon, the suicidal thoughts came back, reading her dissociating would make me dissociate, I just did not cope whatsoever. Being in her head was just like being in my head during my worst points, and I hate myself, so naturally, I hate her too. Like I get why some people like phase two val. I get that her depression is "realistic" and that trauma does just make some people completely dislikeable and self-pitying, and if people want to read about that, then...sure. you do you, my dudes. But I live that reality, I am that person whose trauma made her a dysfunctional, isolated bitch, and I hate, passionately, having it infest the media I consume to escape.

Essentially if I wanted to engage with a bitter, spiteful, depressed piece of shit in her 20s who pushes everyone away and sucks at everything, I'd live my gd life. Yall see me tryna engage with my real life? Hell nah I'm on tumblr dot com burying my head up the ass of whatever fandom will force my brain to produce some s e r o t o n i n and that is what I need this series for

Also? The dynamic she had with skug in phase one? "Until the end"? "You save me, I save you, that's how we work"? Forget that, it doesn't exist anymore. I stopped reading after Midnight, because she was written like he was a coworker she could barely tolerate. They went from "Lardo confirms on twitter that they talked on the phone a bunch while she was in america and he'd always ask her to come home" to "she comes home and proceeds to blank him for five months while she sits in her fuckin multimillionaire's mansion feeling sorry for herself". Their friendship completely disintegrated, they were totally separated for most of the book, she's written as not giving a single shit about him. She treated him like dirt, and their dynamic basically felt like it was becoming "Local Man With History Of Gravitating Towards Abusive Women Makes Same Terrible Choices For Fifth Time" and? that was the point of no return to me. he supports her unconditionally, no matter what he's going through at the time, he's walked on broken bones to try and get to her when she was in danger, she can tell him anything and he'd never use it against her. I did not, for one second in phase two, believe she felt the same about him. tbh it felt like she could - and wanted to - drop him at the first opportunity and not even feel bad about it, and that's not the dynamic that made me so emotionally attached to phase one. i signed up for "until the end", not whatever bullshit phase two has going on.

Apparently she's "less depressed" now and their relationship is "better" in the books published since midnight, which! might well be true. but I haven't read them and don't intend to, and she's gone from one of my favourite fictional characters ever (which! was impressive! because i almost never bond with the female lead - i normally get attached exclusively to the character i crush on, which would be skug here. val was the first female lead i actually cared about since xena! so im deeply salty about losing her!) to a character i? honestly prefer to pretend doesn't exist. i live in war era dead men/generals crackship land because that way, i don't have to acknowledge her or the fuckin character assassination phase 2 pulled on her.

so yeah, no hate towards phase one val at all. phase one val was awesome and flawed and gave me something to aspire to despite my shitty mental health and trauma, and if she'd kept her original personality she might still have been those things. but the original "real life" val is no longer involved (and doesn't talk to landy at all anymore, apparently), and the val based on landy's insufferable gf? i cannot get behind her at all ever, four for skug and none for phase two val cain bye

(tldr; you're not missing anything by quitting after spx)