#and I would rather die than actually watch the last season

[iguessricciardo]

.

[thefreakandthehair]

cabin.

written for @steddieholidaydrabbles | prompts: cabin | wc: 699 | rating: teen & up | tags: steve pov, steve harrington has a crush on eddie munson, good uncle wayne, sharing body heat, one bed, fluff, getting together

Wayne and Eddie have been so accommodating, so kind, and almost embarrassingly welcoming to him joining their annual ice fishing road trip to Michigan that asking for an extra blanket feels criminal. With how much they’ve opened their arms to him after his parents all but ghosted for the holiday season, he’d rather freeze to death in this fucking cabin than dare to ask for something as stupid as an extra blanket. Besides, the cabin is small enough that he and Eddie are sharing a room; eventually, he’ll come to bed, feel how cold it is for himself, and go grab extra blankets on his own. 

He’ll survive for as long as it takes for Eddie and Wayne to finish the spaghetti western they’d been watching when he came to bed. 

Steve’s been through worse. 

Cool moonlight streams in beneath the thick, plaid curtains and illuminates the far wall, accentuating its wooden details and the knickknacks lining the shelves— a collection of small, handmade stuffed wildlife, framed photos of the lake, books with worn spines well-loved over the years. It’s a quiet space, a sanctuary that Steve’s never had even if he might lose a few toes. 

Is the cabin the sanctuary? Or is it the rare time alone with Eddie? 

He tries not to think about how many times he’s thought of this over the last couple years, how often he’s laid in bed imagining Eddie coming to bed with him and not just in the ways that make him squirm and sweat. He’s pictured it a hundred times over: Eddie sneaking in beneath the covers, trying not to wake him up but it’s not like Eddie has ever been smooth a day in his life. Steve would wake up from a light sleep, turning over to welcome him in and pull him close, wrinkling his nose against Eddie’s frizzy curls as he buries his face in Steve’s neck. He’d listen to him breathe, feel his body grow heavier and heavier against Steve’s and fall asleep to the even cadence of his heartbeat. 

Steve takes a deep breath and shakes his head, focusing instead on the organic spirals and swirls of the logs that make up the cabin walls. With heavy-lidded eyes that grow heavier despite the cold, he traces the markings and imagines patterns and pictures in them the way he had the starts as a kid. One looks like a moose without its antlers, another like an abstract palm tree. He doesn’t find a third one, and falls asleep trying. 

When he wakes up a couple of hours later, Steve’s warm. 

Extra blankets, soft wool, weigh him down and he sighs into the comforting presence that engulfs him. One tattooed arm rests over his hip and another squeezes beneath his pillow, a hand outstretched with silver rings that cover each finger and gleam in the slivers of light that continue to creep in between the curtains. Blinking his eyes open and biting the inside of his cheek to make sure he’s not dreaming, Steve realizes the warmth he’d woken up chasing is Eddie. 

Do I move over? Does he realize I’m not a pillow? Does he actually want this the way I want this? Did I die of hypothermia after all? Does he— 

“You think really loud, Steve,” Eddie whispers into the dark, his lips moving against Steve’s hair as he squeezes him gently around the middle. “Is this okay?” 

“Mhm,” Steve hums. “You’re so warm.” 

“Good, you were shivering when I came to bed.��� He feels Eddie chuckle behind him, quiet breaths against his neck. He wants to turn around, to tuck himself into Eddie’s comfort and maybe just never leave. 

“Didn’t wanna bother you or Wayne for another blanket. Kinda glad I didn’t now,” Steve admits, words slurring as his shoulders sag. He wiggles back, trying to get impossibly closer. 

“We’ll talk more about that in the morning.” Eddie squeezes a knee between Steve’s and tangles their legs together. 

Steve nods wordlessly, pulling the top blanket further up beneath his chin. 

The last thing he remembers before drifting back to a dream that has no chance of rivaling reality is the feeling of Eddie’s lips against his temple. 

[sillyboycam]

“I would bring you rings of gold, I’d even sing you poetry!”

“Oh would ya’?~”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I told you they’ve been on my mind.

Oh yeah, I also watched one of my favourite movies httyd2 and y’know… got a little into it as usual..

I’ve had this idea in my mind for a while, definitely before I watched httyd2 but AFTER watching season 2 of Arcane I decided “Man, this would make a GREAT drawing” .

And here we are!

Anyways this is a sort of “Au” I’ve made, Viktor as Valka, leaving and everyone thinking he’s “dead”.

While I put Jayce as Stoic, because, in retrospect they’re both people of power. Leaders that have a pretty tough life, along with losing their loved one(s). Also, Jayce finally got a beard and you know what Stoic looks like.

Since Valka and Stoic obviously had Hiccup, in my mind I think Jayce and Viktor both adopted a kid to be theirs. (Also to be the next chieftain, since they’re both men of course.) His name is Jekkel, and he’s similar to each of them in terms of appearance. His personality leaning a little towards Viktor’s rather than Jayce’s.

They’d also adopt a little girl named Viyati. (They were especially happy with the name since they picked it themselves) Viyati is the youngest dragon rider of her tribe so far. Her personality is definitely more like Jayce’s as she’s always putting herself and her brother out there. With, of course, boundaries kept in place as Jekkel isn’t usually one to actually want to be out there.

So Viyati always respects him and his needs.

>>>>>>

Viktor’s dragon would be a LightFury,

Jayce’s would be a TimberJack,

Jekkel’s would be a DeathSong,

And (ironically) I think I’d give Viyati a Screaming Death. (ie, smallest little dragon rider gets a big ass scary looking dragon, and it loves her)

>>>>>>

In this Au neither Jayce nor Viktor would die, but, would come super duper close to it many, many times.

>>>>>>

Viktor’s clothes consist of a big white hood rimmed with white tipped red fur, and lots of designs traced onto the hood itself in an off-white.

A black Viking tunic with purple embroidery along the edges and the neckline adorns him, with armour on his chest. Black and scaled.

His arms would be wrapped in white leather from the forearm down, tied in neat bows.

Giant white fur boots with black pants is what he wears on the daily. A spiky belt adorns his sleek waist.

Last thing, he has black scaled arm warmers! In which the white leather wraps around. In a cute bow of course.

>>>>>>

Jayce’s outfit would be a bit more complex, as well as the kids, so if you’d like me to go more in depth I’d be happy too! (Just not in this post, I’m not one to make long descriptions lol)

>>>>>>

Viktor is actually married to Jayce in this one! Their wedding was beautifully done (weeps…) and their rings were gorgeous. This means, the whole family is a Talis!

So that’s; Jayce Talis, Viktor Talis, Jekkel Talis, and Viyati Talis. Also Jayce’s mother, Ximena Talis. She’s a very important figure in the village, a wizard with talents for medicine.

>>>>>>

I have tons of more ideas and I’d love to tell you them all. If you’re interested, let me know!

Anyways this might’ve already been done… but I’m not sure. If it has do let me know! I’d love to chat with that person ;]

Okay,

I hope you enjoy this one!

Love you all

as always art is by me —————> @sillyboycam

[thornfield13713]

Biggest issue with Angel, one two three go

The high-handedness and self-justification, definitely, but-

I will say, the self-justification is interesting, because I can sort of see where it comes from. He is consumed by guilt for what he did as Angelus. Fair enough. He feels that, because of this, he has no right to make selfish decisions, which is-

I mean, I get the impulse, but you do need to make decisions that are good for yourself in order to live a fulfilling life. And Angel has a tendency to reason himself into the idea that any decision he makes is being made for someone else's good, rather than his own.

Like- do I agree his relationship with Buffy was a shitshow? Absolutely. But the way he broke it off with her fucked her up for years afterwards because of his framing it as a sacrifice he was making for her. Whereas if he had just said that staying in Sunnydale, carrying on the way they had been, wasn't something he could do anymore, that this wasn't a relationship he felt he could be happy in because of all the Angelus baggage and the fact that...really, he doesn't seem to have much going on in Sunnydale except Buffy...I feel like that would've been...in the moment, it would have hurt about as much. But it would probably have caused less long-term damage.

Likewise, taking back that day in 'I Will Remember You'? I don't actually mind it as a decision. Whether he is a human or a vampire is, at the end of the day, his decision to make, because it's his life and he gets to choose how he lives it. Telling Buffy about it so that she spends her last moments of this life crying and pleading with him not to was cruel, however. And so was not being open with her about why he was doing it - it's pretty clear he was having issues with not being able to fight beside her as well, not wanting to give up that vampiric strength and speed even while he desperately wanted to walk in the sunlight. He claims he did it because she would die if he stayed human, but...he never really followed up on what she would die of, whether his being a vampire could help with that. And, as it turned out, it couldn't. She died anyway. But he still frames it as him making a tragic Buffy-related sacrifice because, on some level, I don't think he can take ownership of his decisions being made for any reason other than pure selfless sacrifice to atone for past crimes.

Which is an interesting character flaw! Like- I don't like Angel on Buffy particularly, I never really got into his show, though I might try it once I get through season 3 of Buffy (I have been putting off finishing 'Becoming' parts one and two for a while just because Buffy's pain in that episode is just...so painful, and I'm having a rough enough time right now already, but honestly I might go back and watch them now). That doesn't mean I don't want to stick this repressed, fucked-up little Catholic man in a jar and shake him, because all the ways in which his redemption arc is...messy, and complicated, and involves him still doing a lot of shitty things to the people around him because of the way he thinks about that redemption arc...I love that shit, that's fascinating to me.

But I don't think he's ever going to actually get there until he reckons with the fact that he can make selfish decisions sometimes without it being the end of the world, and trying to justify every decision as selfless actually does more harm than good.

[alwaysgodownwiththeship]

"Got Any Better Ideas?" Aziraphale's Conviction and Crowley's Resignation

I was watching that scene in 1x06 again, and something clicked for me that never any sense to me before. In fact, it explained a couple things in season 2 .

See this scene is beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious all in one. We see yet another example of how much Crowley cares about Aziraphale... And we see Aziraphale making a bizarre move to (?) attack Crowley, then make a childish threat that won't matter given that they're both about die.

Before, I just assumed that he was just saying whatever thought ran through his head.

Now I get it.

Recap: Crowley realized that Gabriel and Beelzebub told on them Satan. Satan, who was now coming to kill them all. Crowley was this close to giving up, and then Aziraphale picked up his sword.

There's only one reason why: Aziraphale wasn't going to give up. In that moment, Aziraphale chose to fight Satan. He knew he would likely die trying.

(Psst! Past self: He's not giving Crowley some weird, friendship ultimatum!)

He's terrified. But resolved. And he knows this really will be their last conversation.

And Crowley gets it. He might not have believed that they were going to survive Satan's arrival, but he hadn't quite put together like this: If he isn't able to come up with another plan, Aziraphale will take up his sword against Satan and Crowley will have to watch him die.

So Crowley got a better idea, remembering Adam's power, he decided to give the human(s) the choice and protect it alongside Aziraphale.

Season 2

This is part of larger ongoing dynamic where (unless circumstances allow Crowley to give Aziraphale a better plan which actually addresses the problem) Aziraphale will act, like choosing to help Jim!Gabriel. If he thinks it's the right thing to do, he'll do it, regardless of the costs. It won't deter him at all.

Crowley learned that about him some time ago.

He saw Aziraphale lie to save Lot's children despite fully expecting to go hell for it.

(Plus Aziraphale straight up lied to God about the flaming sword that time, right? UMM... Why didn't he fall????)

So there Crowley is, apologizing(?), dancing, and lying about the full extent of the danger they're in.

I don't agree with Crowley's actions, with the lying especially. (Seriously, Crowley? Tell Aziraphale about the Extreme Sanctions!!) But Crowley is resigned to help at this point because he knows Aziraphale will be in danger anyways and he knows that when Aziraphale has made his mind up, he won't change it. Crowley can only offer his help or provide a different solution.

And since their communication problems are so big right now, their dynamic is to work around each other rather than with each other.

Right from the very beginning, their conception of the problem is very different.

Crowley: We're exposed to danger because of Gabriel, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel/ourselves from Heaven and Hell.

Aziraphale: Jim!Gabriel (innocent like Lot's children/rather childlike himself) is in danger, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel from Heaven and Hell.

TAKEAWAY

-Crowley wants them both to stay away from the toxic plans of Heaven/Hell so they can be safe together.

-Aziraphale wants to directly interfere with the plans of Heaven/Hell when he feels the responsibility to do good.

Takeaway on the ending of season 2:

When their perspective on the problem is so different to begin with, the breakup makes a little more sense to me. Though no less horrible.

(Wild Card: Heaven is the symbol of what is right and good? Aziraphale since when??? UGH, I have to meta more about this: Aziraphale's (and Crowley's) belief in the ineffable plan and how it affects his idea of reform/fixing the institutional problem of Heaven.)

[butterflywithsass]

Watched Dead Boy Detectives last night and I’m obsessed. If you like the queerness of good omens, but with more gore, and in the same universe as the Sandman (death and despair both show up) if you like dark academia gay boys, if you like ghosts, or paranormal stuff, or demons, if you like cats — lemme tell you this show is for you.

So, like, there’s these two ghost boys who are best friends but also gay for each other but also a secret third thing and their names are Edwin and Charles.

Edwin Payne was a demonic sacrifice in 1916 and as spend literal decades in hell but escaped. He’s a repressed Victorian gay who has zero charisma but every single man he meets becomes obsessed with him and wants to sleep with him except the boy he actually likes which is his best friend Charles. His entire character arc is about gay panic and getting over his internalized homophobia — he wears bow ties!!!! He doesn’t know what a hand job is. He’s literally the perfect tumblr blorbo. His superpower is getting tortured. He’s so sassy! His sexual awakening comes at the hands of a cat king and his first kiss is with a crow.

Charles died in like the 90s or something I’m not sure. He’s so optimistic and sunshine but also so full of rage. He’s the most supportive guy 100/10 would trust him with anything. He doesn’t like to talk about his issues. When confronted with the inexorable monsters of hell he solved the problem with a Molotov cocktail. I love him and his single earring he’s a golden retriever who would rather stay on earth with best friend than move on to a peaceful afterlife. His jawline is impeccable he can’t not press a big red button when he sees it.

Crystal Palace I wasn’t sold on because I thought she’d get between my boys but she actually so cool and I developed a bit of a crush let’s be honest I have a thing for curly haired witchy girls, she’s a physic with amnesia and a demon stalker ex boyfriend people stare at her when she hangs out with the boys cause it looks like she’s talking to herself. Everyone she knows thinks she’s insane. She’s a reformed mean girl.

Niko Sisaki I was a little iffy about because it felt like they were gonna go with the bimbo anime Asian girl but turns out she just had a parasite that made pink hearts float around her. She’s so weird she tries to help Edwin with his gay problem by introducing him to explicit gay fan fiction, she tries to get her landlord to date, she likes cool rocks. She has two tiny people trapped in a jar in her room. Her friendship with Edwin is everything. She’s ghosting her mom.

Jenny. I love her so much, she feels so safe which is weird because she chops meat and all her clothes are covered in blood. Everything about just screams big sister and her character arc is learning to embrace that. She goes on one date and almost gets murdered.

Monty. He’s literally a crow turned into a boy. He’s down bad for Edwin. He’s a secret honeypot agent for an evil witch. He has the most adorable smile, the whole time I was expecting him to be an agent of Morpheus. He’s obsessed with astrology.

The Night nurse originally annoyed me a bit (in a good way) I just wanted to get rid of her. When Charles punted her into a giant sea monster I clapped. Then it just got weird and I love it.

The cat king. He’s such a creep, but honestly, I love that for him. He has some of the best lines and he just exudes cat. He’s a classic fairy tale trickster, he a nuisance for the whole season, he’s central to the plot, he’s constantly hitting on Edwin.

Esther. She’s a archetypal evil witch. She gives off mystic trash vibes. She’s obsessed with beauty and revenge. She’s shamelessly horrible. She feeds kids to her giant snake. She literally can’t die.

All in all, I think I’m gonna have brain rot over this for the next year, go and watch it.

[raisedbythetv89]

Buffy has always been VERY intelligent and clever. She’s a quick thinker and very resourceful.

When Anya becomes a vengeance demon again Buffy doesn’t take action against her until she causes a massacre that also traumatizes a young girl so can we PLEASE stop this narrative of Buffy just easily and carelessly deciding to kill Anya?

Because not only was it not a quick and easy decision HER GOAL WAS NEVER TO KILL HER THAT’S WHY SHE GRABBED A SWORD SHE KNOWS SWORDS DONT KILL VENGEANCE DEMONS AS IS ESTABLISHED IN SEASON 6!!!!!

She recognized self destruction after heartbreak because of her own and Willow’s in season 6 and she knew talking with Anya would get her NO WHERE just like Spike trying to talk her out of turning herself in to the police when she thought she killed katrina because she believed she deserved to be punished and trying to reason with dark willow was completely pointless

She uses the fight to force Anya to confront the reality and what the consequences will be if she continues down this path while ensuring this fight won’t actually kill her. Buffy knows she can’t ignore this and she can’t waste time struggling with the decision of whether or not to kill her because she did that with Angel and so many more people died in the process.

BUFFY IS GROWN!!! SHE HAS LEARNED FROM ALL HER EXPERIENCE AND MISTAKES AND IT SHOWS!!!!!! But everyone is so used to her TORTURING herself over these kinds of decisions they’re unable to recognize she has gained the wisdom and experience to act instinctively and decisively even when no one else agrees because SHE KNOWS it’s right and that is always proven to be true!!!!!! She is finally not letting a bunch of people who are not the slayer tell her how to be the slayer because she never should have been listening to anyone else in the first place. She’s proven to be right time and time again with Spike, Anya, Caleb and y’all still are doubting her….. SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING!!!!! AND IT ALWAYS ENDS UP BEING THE RIGHT CALL!!!!!!! How anyone can watch her owning her shit as a leader and a slayer clearly demonstrating the last 6 years of suffering weren’t for nothing as she is now confident in herself and her judgement and think she’s heartless or stupid or careless or biased I just CANT. USE YOUR BRAINS!!! LOOK AT THE ENTIRE CONTEXT OF THE SHOW IM BEGGING YOU FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY

It’s also the perfect way to show xander how cruel and heartless him always telling/shaming/guilting her to kill angel is at the same time. He finally got a taste of his own medicine and he couldn’t handle it even a little. She showed what a fucking hypocrite he’s always been because everyone else? If you love someone who’s done evil you’re a horrible person and they need to die but if it’s someone HE loves it’s different even though Anya has definitely caused more deaths than angel and spike combined and was forced to be good rather than it being her own choice and went BACK to being evil of her own free will after he actually fucked up and caused all of this in the first place while never taking any blame himself even though he blamed buffy for angel and spike’s actions any chance he could even the ones directed at her when the blame never lied with her in the first place

Y’all see a woman not torturing herself over every little thing and being confident and you’re like wow what a cold heartless bitch and that’s GROSS and just absolutely reeking of misogyny

[trashcandroid]

ok finished it, really rambly rant in tags lol

watching barry now, finished season one

[coraniaid]

You said a few days ago that you would have liked if season 7 went more in the direction of Help rather than the direction of the First. I know you're not a big fan of the First but I was wondering what you meant by that specifically, and what kind of direction you might have preferred season 7 go in overall?

I don’t have any good reason to think it actually happened, but I always get the impression from watching or thinking about Season 7 that the early plans for the season changed pretty significantly at some point after most of the first few episodes had already been written.  (Perhaps when they decided that it would also be the last season?  I’ve heard conflicting accounts of when that decision was made.)

If you go back and look at the then-contemporary discussions of the show, the whole season was initially marketed as something of a ‘year zero’: a return to the show’s high school era roots, to something much more upbeat than Season 6, to the original Scooby Gang as the focus of the show.  

And just to be clear, I rather like Season 6 – it doesn’t always work, and I think some of the subplots are pretty dreadfully executed, and sometimes I respect the episodes more than I enjoy watching them – but it inarguably has a clear vision for the story it’s trying to tell, one that builds on and recontextualizes what came before it.  But for the payoff for that season to land, we needed Season 7 to be different.  To be less cynical, more hopeful.  It needed to show us that Buffy was right to promise Dawn in Grave that things were going to get better.  

And that sort of reset is what we got … for about half a dozen episodes.  Then, of course, it goes rather horribly wrong.

I like Help in particular because it is, for me, the closest the show ever gets to delivering on that promise of a return to the high school era.  It’s not quite a regression or a soft reboot: Buffy is still an adult with a job, even if she’s suddenly unexpectedly back in high school.  Her more mundane responsibilities haven’t suddenly gone away. But now the job she has isn’t something she hates but has to do – it’s something that she actually has a calling for, almost literally, something that harks back to her getting the Class Protector award back in Season 3.   In Help Buffy’s inhabiting the same world she did in the first three seasons, she’s still trying to save people, but this time with a new, more experienced perspective. 

The episode feels very aware of the show’s history, too.  There are nods to Lie To Me (a teenager Buffy knows is going to die because of illness, not anything supernatural Buffy can stop) and Reptile Boy (the cult trying to sacrifice a teenage girl to a demon for material riches) and Beauty and the Beasts (with Buffy herself taking on the role of Mr Platt, worried that Mike is going to turn out to be another Pete), and of course the whole episode is a callback to Prophecy Girl.  Because Cassie – probably the show’s last great one-episode character (and yes, the actor comes back later but the person doesn’t) – isn’t just somebody Buffy is trying to save, she is Buffy: a Season 1 Buffy who struggles to make friends and has a supernatural gift she doesn’t like to talk about and knows she’s going to die heartbreakingly young.  I don’t think it’s merely chance that Cassie’s big speech to Buffy about her destiny (“You think I want this?  You think I don’t care?”) echoes Buffy’s own words to her mother in Becoming either (“You think I choose to be like this?”).

Plus, while the episode ties into the wider story arc – with Spike in the basement and hints that Principal Wood might be up to something and our first appearance of future Potential Amanda – the whole thing still tells a coherent, self-contained story.  It stands on its own right; it makes sense on its own terms.  it’s not just another installment in the long running saga of General Buffy and the friends she never talks to who later kick her out of the house she owns.

And I think there was a lot more ground there to explore, in the same vein as Help.  At least a full season’s worth.  There was so much more the show could have tried to do in terms of going back and revisiting some of the classic moments of the first three seasons from a more mature and more grown-up perspective, instead of summarily kicking Buffy out of her new job and then blowing the school up (again).  If this season is about the future – about new Slayers being called, one way or another – then what does that mean?  How else are Buffy and Willow and Xander engaged in the challenge of trying to pass on what they’ve learned about life on the Hellmouth to a new generation?  

At its best, Buffy has always been in conversation with its past, building on ideas that were touched on in one season and asking the audience to think about them again from a different angle.  And the beginning of Season 7 sets up the perfect stage to try to do more of that.

I’d have loved to have seen a whole season of Buffy trying to keep her students alive while also preparing them to go out and live in the world.  Of Dawn making new friends and finding value in being herself, not just the Slayer’s sister or the mystical Key.  Of Buffy and Willow and Xander really getting to know each other again, and having a chance to talk about everything that happened to them last year.  A whole season of, in a way, seeing the show from the very beginning, but this time from the perspective of people like Giles or Jenny or Joyce.

But instead we got a lot of boring wank about an impossibly old super-god who can’t actually touch anything (but one who Buffy would definitely let Dawn die to defeat because this godlike being is so much more impressive and scary than Glory, trust us guys, please, we swear) and her army of interchangeable and personality-free super vampires (and of course Caleb, who’s somehow even more mind-numbingly boring than they are).  Instead we get a second half of the season in which Andrew Wells has more screen time than Willow or Xander or Anya or Giles or Dawn.  Instead we get to wonder whether Giles is the First and try to pretend to care that Spike has been hypnotized.  Instead we get Lies My Parents Told Me.

Oh well.  At least Faith shows up near the end.

[chick-with-wifi]

Theory: Root is alive

The Machine faked Root's death, knowing it was the only way to protect Root and motivate Finch to do what was needed to defeat Samaritan.

5x10

The Machine is unable to see the sniper because Samaritan's operatives work in the shadows, but sees Root get shot and sends the police to their location, as it is the fastest way to get medical attention for Root and Finch into custody where Samaritan would be less likely to have another opportunity to target him.

Root is then taken to hospital where Dr Madeleine Enright performs surgery to save her. The Machine summoned her because She needed a skilled surgeon who was trustworthy and wouldn't ask too many questions, and it is mentioned in 4x13 that Dr Enright is among the past numbers who have been helping the team ("Dr. Enright is keeping an eye on Delia at the safe house.").

Once Root is stable, this is the point where the Machine decides to fake her death. As she is injured, Root wouldn't be able to defend herself when Samaritan comes to finish the job, so her only chance is for the Machine to make sure they aren't looking for her. Or rather, they aren't looking for her alive.

Dr Enright injects her with aconite (like Shaw in 2x16) to make her appear deceased long enough to be pronounced dead and for Fusco to identify her body as a Jane Doe, then revives her with atropine.

Meanwhile, the Machine had also summoned Dr Farouk Madani, another previous ally of the team who used to work in a morgue and still owes Finch a favor as mentioned in 3x05. He locates a body matching Root's description and handles the necessary paperwork. And Dr Carr, the otolaryngologist who gave Root her cochlear implant in 3x17, removes her implant and puts it in the new body (more on this later), which is then sent to be buried in Root's place.

During the chaos of inmates being freed at the prison, Daizo, Jason and Daniel are able to get Root out of the hospital and go into hiding. The Machine chose them for this task because they were shielded from Samaritan at the end of season 3, giving them more room to maneuver freely, and Root already knows and trusts them.

The reason the Machine doesn't tell the team about faking Root's death is because Samaritan has eyes everywhere and She can't risk them finding out. She also heard Finch and Root's conversations about him needing to take a more active role in the fight against Samaritan and all the people he's lost, and knows that having him believe he's lost another friend is the only way to push him into doing what it takes to win the war.

The Machine then chooses to use Root's voice for multiple reasons: 1) to sell the story that Root is really dead. 2) She needs to be able to communicate clearly and quickly so Her usual spliced-together recordings wouldn't work. 3) This is the first time She will have prolonged contact with someone other than Root and She is on her own, so using Root's voice is a way to have part of Her interface with Her still.

When the Machine calls Finch from the hospital, he asks, "Root?". The Machine replies, "No, Harold. I chose a voice." She does not tell him Root is dead, but rather allows him to come to that conclusion based on the state in which he last saw her and the fact that She is now using her voice.

5x11

When the Machine talks to Finch about Root being dead, this is the only time She uses a name Root no longer identifies with. Therefore, when She says "I watched her die 12,483 times in the seconds before she expired. I couldn't save her, but I kept trying.", She is actually talking about accessing old footage of young!Root, watching her become the Root we know and running simulations to see whether things could have happened differently ("You taught me to see everything, see everyone, and I do. But I see thousands of versions of them: what they were, what they are, what they could be."). The Machine couldn't save her because this happened before She was built.

Much like how She went behind the team's back to protect Root by faking her death with the help of past numbers, in this episode the Machine goes behind the team's back to protect Reese by giving his number to the DC Team made up of past numbers.

5x12

The Machine says, "You know I can't lie to you, Harold." As we've seen, She can withhold information or choose to phrase things a particular way, but can't say an outright lie. At no point does she ever explicitly say Root is dead.

The Machine also says that in a world where She didn't exist, Shaw "never would have met Root." Finch adds, "Or lost her." The Machine does not address this comment at all.

5x13

When Shaw visits Root's grave and discovers the soil disturbed, the Machine comments that it "looks like they dug her up. Guessing they got to her cochlear implant. I should have had her cremated, but I just didn't have the heart. My bad." The Machine is only stating what it 'looks like', not what actually happened. And it is very suspicious that the Machine, who was created to predict human behavior and watched Samaritan try to cut the cochlear implant out of Root's head while she was alive, would fail to predict them going grave robbing for it.

Unless, after deciding to fake Root's death, She knew they wouldn't stop until they found it so lets them have it on Her terms. (As previously mentioned, the cochlear implant had been inserted into a body matching Root's description that was buried in her place. Having her cremated, and by extension destroying the cochlear implant beyond use, would have prevented an innocent person's body from being desecrated, but She couldn't give up a chance to defeat Samaritan.) 

Once Samaritan scans the implant to access the location data, the Machine is also able to access more information on Samaritan which She then integrates into the copy of Her core code made by Shaw. This, along with the greater defensive capabilities created by Root and activated by Finch, allows her to beat Samaritan in the satellite, when She couldn't win any of the simulated fights.

The Machine knew that this would lead them to the team's frequent locations, so She arranges to protect them by stationing a sniper near the precinct ("It seems Thornhill Industries has been on a hiring spree.") and instructing Shaw to blow a hole in the wall of the subway station that allows them to escape.

Later, when Shaw asks "Is this the guy who killed you? Killed her, I mean.", the Machine changes the subject. This is because She can't lie and couldn't risk telling the truth when Samaritan might find out. Although they don't have much time, it wouldn't have taken long to confirm what Shaw already suspects and she has never been the type to let a desire for revenge interfere with completing the mission since "a good soldier does both" (2x16).

When the Machine directs Finch onto the rooftop, he asks, "Wait, are you sure this is the right place?" and She replies, "Yes. This is where you're supposed to be." It is then revealed that She secretly made a deal with Reese allowing him to sacrifice himself in Finch's place. This shows once again that She will go behind Her assets' backs to protect them and uses careful phrasing to misdirect them without lying.

After defeating Samaritan, the duplicate Machine downloads Herself to the subway station computers and declares 'mission unknown. Awaiting instructions…'. The message left by Her predecessor then begins playing and tells Her about Her assets ("let me tell you who we were") and Her mission ("let me tell you who you are").

As the next scene is Her calling the payphone by Shaw, She must have been given instructions to contact any surviving assets. Shaw answers and it is unlikely the Machine gives her a new number, because She had only just gotten back online and the last time She was reduced to Her core code in order to fit in the briefcase, it took Her a while to start operating normally. We also see that She only begins to scan the crowd after Shaw hangs up.

It can't be Her signature 'can you hear me?' because Shaw doesn't reply. Instead, it must be a message Her predecessor told Her to relay - that She survived, Samaritan is gone for good and it's time to get back to work, followed by a set of coordinates that lead to Root's location as she is both a surviving asset and someone who can help Her get back up and running.

It is doubtful the Machine tells Shaw Root is alive in that moment, because she would have reacted with more shock and betrayal than we saw, and likely demanded an explanation immediately. Instead, she is smiling because they won the war and she can continue saving people.

Shaw then goes to the location, which is a new safehouse where Daizo, Jason and Daniel have been looking after Root, who is still unconscious but recovering. The building has been set up as their new base of operations, since the subway was somewhat destroyed during the final battle.

When Root soon wakes up, she and Shaw are very happy to be reunited and promise never to leave each other again. The Machine moves Herself to the computer equipment in the new safehouse and Root helps Her get recalibrated, as we saw in 5x02 and the flashbacks in 4x05. "There we go. Now, can you see me? Excellent. Next question, who am I? That's my girl." Root becomes both Admin and Analog Interface and Shaw is the Primary Asset.

Together, Root, Shaw, the Machine and Bear get back to working the numbers, with help from their friends and allies.

[darkpoisonouslove]

HotD S02E04

I watched this at 6 in the morning and I have to say that I'm glad I took the risk of ruining my entire day because I loved this episode. It flew by so fast and had me chanting the dragons' names several times. That is not to say that some things weren't questionable or just plain irritating despite actually making sense so lets review:

Daemon was tripping so. hard. These hallucinations are fucking him up real bad and I love it. He's sososososo pathetic. The fucking nerve to just go "Hey, won't you kill your grandfather? It would really help me out." Have fun losing your mind, asshole!

So Alyn and his brother are Corlys' bastards. Corlys gets so little screen time, especially in this second season, and he's still so hateable. At least Otto is funny and a great politician. What does Corlys have? A stubborn refusal to acknowledge his granddaughters despite his wife being denied her inheritance? Anyway, he should have been the one to die instead of Rhaenys.

Alicent, bestie, what the fuck? Not her going around and trying to assuage her guilt by still clinging to the delusion that Viserys might have wanted Aegon to be king. What even is this behavior at this point? Her grandson's death should have confirmed what Otto told her so many years ago - that Rhaenyra pursuing her claim to the throne would kill her children in one way or another. We should be past this by now, my god!

The disrespect to Baela is so unreal. I love that she snapped back. "We StIlL kNoW vErY lItTlE" And without Baela you'd know fucking nothing! The fact that even Rhaenys has to deal with this bullshit and Corlys had to come in after her for everyone to remember their place is just an insult.

Criston haters must be so mad at how he's succeeding despite everyone thinking the odds are against him.

Larys not giving a fuck about Harrenhal is so funny. If he thinks it's useless to them outside of the possibility of it driving Daemon mad, then you know it really is. (I am curious about Larys' feelings on Alys, however.) And the way he bragged about controlling all the finances of Harrenhal. He really drained it and the whole situation back in 1x06 to the fullest, got everything he could and then left the castle and everyone in it to rot.

Aegon at that Small Council meeting, the poor soul! No one gives a shit about him, only enough so to steer him away from messing up their plans. And his brother bullying him back (deservedly so tbh) but I have big question marks about that part. Why would Aegon not know how to speak High Valyrian? This doesn't make sense considering how they later show him being so close and affectionate with Sunfyre. High Valyrian is the only way to control the dragons. Unless Aegon and Sunfyre's bond is so strong that he doesn't even need words to direct his dragon, which is actually such a great implication that I could relinquish my anger about this choice otherwise. For the umpteenth time the writers make choices to make Aegon look bad but the implications just decimate the effect.

Alicent has certainly grown less bothered by Larys or at least learned to hide it better. To be fair it seemed like he'd lost interest in her lately but at the same time, she has been evading him pretty successfully for the last few episodes. Not to the point where he doesn't know everything that's been going on with her but at least enough so that she hasn't had to deal with him. And this conversation was more a veiled communication of the truths they've uncovered rather than her depending on him. I am enthralled with how their dynamic evolves and hope we see a lot more from it. He did run to her first chance he had, though I find it interesting that this conversation is only happening now with Criston out of the way. Alicent's relationship with him is certainly reflecting on the dynamic she has with Larys, much to his chagrin, I'm sure. His behavior towards Alicent is fascinating. He was certainly attacking her, digging into every weakness he noticed, and yet, he validated her "indulgence" and seemed pleased with the conclusions she's reached. It's so obvious he wants to wrest her from her faith and conscience because he identifies with the woman he believes she would be without them. And for the purpose of accomplishing that he's not moving in to decimate her relationship with Criston (tbh they're doing that well enough on their own). He said "It's important that she has sex. Doesn't have to be with me. It just needs to happen to draw her away from clinging to her morals." His obsession with her is so insane and deeply twisted. I can only watch mesmerized. Next they should make him run around trying to fix Alicole, make sure that they're having all the sex. That would be the funniest direction to take this love triangle.

I love how Alys is just toying with Daemon like he's her food. Harrenhal is really not agreeing with him. He is haunted as fuck and it's so funny. Him seeing himself as Aemond especially was 10/10. The implications! Aemond is a kinslayer, who's hurt Rhaenyra the most by taking her child away and the fact that Daemon sees himself as a reflection of that says so much!

Aegon is also having the worst time. The fact that Alicent instantly assumed he's destroyed the books says how much faith she has in his ability to actually consider the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, I can't defend him because he instantly proved her right about that. However, I believe we're seeing the alternate version of that scene where Alicent found him crying and left play out. This is what would have happened if she'd tried to comfort him back then. She's been angry with him her whole life and it's really been brought to the forefront now when his rash actions have hurt them and she has to face the guilt over her own actions. She's not capable of comforting when she's so angry but while in 2x02 she was looking to avoid hurting him, here she just doesn't care after the realizations of last episode. She's viewing Aegon and his impulsiveness as obstacles (and his temper and recklessness certainly are) but she doesn't care about approaching with care to cultivate the behavior she wants. And I doubt that would work regardless when Aegon has his whole life as proof that whatever he does will never be enough for her but he can't understand the why. He just wants her to love him and he doesn't have all the context of how he - most of all her children - is the embodiment of her pain and suffering. They really are a tragedy and it's heartbreaking. Though, this scene wasn't as bad as I feared. It makes sense for Alicent to act this way despite how frustrating her refusal to deal with her own feelings is. Not to mention the fact that she brought up her own reign with pride and self-confidence. That was more than I could have hoped for!

Jace being so angry with Rhaenyra is the first interesting thing he's ever done but, of course, they refuse to linger more on these feelings and instead give us a bonding moment where Rhaenyra passes down her father's legacy on to Jace. They could have focused a little more on why she waited so long and why he was so angry but I guess we can't have even a little trouble in paradise. I mean, for someone who wasn't sure she believed the prophecy, she sure made it out to be her whole reason to fight for her claim. It's almost like she's in denial about the fact that she's not doing this out of noble intent but because she wants the crown and the vindication of being queen when so many are against it (which doesn't at all mesh with the sense and wisdom they've tried to imbue her with). Her and Alicent are such mirrors when it comes to that.

Rhaenyra wanting to go into battle herself is legit on the same level of bullshit that Aegon is pulling, regardless of motivations. It's almost like she was hoping to get killed so she won't have to bear the consequences of engaging in this war. Again, I know what they intended for this scene to accomplish but it doesn't really do her any favors. If anything, she should have sent more than one dragon to ensure victory. You know Aemond has Vhagar and you're willing to walk into that alone and later send someone else alone? Girl, be serious! It's just bad strategy.

Sunfyre being so playful with Aegon is the cutest thing we've seen on this show. He's like a big puppy. I was, however, literally yelling at Aegon to stop drinking and he did... only to go driving while fucking wasted. What was he thinking? (I know what he was thinking but, god, he's never beating those reckless fool allegations.)

Aegon being grounded both figuratively and literally so fast was just painful to watch. The way that Sunfyre was screaming in pain hurt me personally and Aegon's attitude changed from "I'll show them all. Fuck Aemond in particular!" to "Thank the Seven, my bro is here to bail my ass out of trouble" to "Fuck, I'm cooked!" so swiftly that you know he was regretting probably all of his life choices. He really doesn't use High Valyrian to communicate with Sunfyre, though. The only word in High Valyrian he used was "dracarys". His part in the battle wasn't long but I sure am living for these implications like I said above.

I do hate what they've done with Aemond. If he'd joined sooner, Aegon probably wouldn't have gotten so badly injured. He certainly had it coming but that makes it practically three times Aemond was looking to have him killed in the span of about as many minutes. But the last scene in the woods with his sword drawn? Wow, okay! They decided to really go in full force on that kinslayer title and I just don't think it makes sense. Not after the way Aemond felt guilty even for killing Luke. Aegon bullying him for a minute surely wouldn't have set him off that badly if he felt regret over killing the boy that slashed out his eye. They're just trying to make you hate Aegon by making everyone around him hate him.

Criston scrambling to do PR and fix their image was so funny, though. You know his inner monologue is just "Shit shit fuck shit" but externally he's giving a motivational speech. XD This is what I wanted to see from him being Hand - having to deal with Aegon's whims. While I'd say he failed there, it wasn't like he could do anything once Aegon was on his dragon, and otherwise his plan was pretty good so... Criston keeps winning, I guess.

I love the way that it was shown how Rhaenys is more experienced than both Aegon and Aemond. Vhagar also took some damage in that fight that would have been more fatal if she just wasn't a whole, entire mountain. But at the same time, it wasn't just Vhagar's size that won this for Aemond (though that certainly did most of the heavy lifting). This man rides the largest dragon in the world and he managed to hide it in the midst of battle and ambush his opponent. That certainly took a little strategical thought if nothing else. And then Vhagar's size did all the rest. The boys certainly are not experts in dragon battle and it will be interesting to see them proceed from here on out, see if they've learned anything from this or not. I'm sad to see Rhaenys go so soon. She should have gone back to Dragonstone when she could. Rhaenyra certainly took a big loss with that.

The way I just knew Criston would get knocked out. I was yelling at him to watch where he's going... and he didn't. He survived AND won the battle but at what cost? The way that soldier crumbled to dust under his touch was bloodcurdling. And Criston's prominent worry for Aegon might be the first time it occurred to him that this war could take away the people he loves.

P.S. Why was Aegon wearing his crown on top of his helm? Unless that's another crown that's specifically designed to go with the armor, it shouldn't fit him both with and without the helm.

[asexual-fandom-queen]

Look, am I probably going to get myself in trouble making this post? Sure, but I accept that, because I actually do have to say it. Tommy breaking up with Buck is not homophobic what the fuck are you guys talking about??? You know part of asking for queer representation and queer storylines is that you get representation and storylines right??? Queer characters have as much right to be complex and flawed as straight characters. Not to mention that this energy is nowhere to be found for the female love interests of Buck's who haven't worked out. Tommy Kinard is getting fucked over by a prejudiced narrative but Taylor Kelly wasn't? But Abby Clark wasn't????

Tommy broke up with Buck when things got serious for reasons that are beautifully in character, especially when you consider that we don't actually know Tommy that well. He is not a main character. He's not even a supporting character. Still, what we do get to know about him completely supports the behavior we see. We know that his relationship with his father was strained growing up, that he spent his young adult years as a closeted (maybe even to himself) gay man in a homophobic work environment, that all these formative experiences were traumatic enough to push him into a relationship with a woman that was serious enough to lead to getting engaged. Which means it's only been what, seven or eight years, since Tommy's come into himself enough to live his truth? That's just not enough time to be over it.

Tommy Kinard, and the broader purpose his character serves, is to be a mirror to Abby and for his and Buck's relationship to mirror Abby and Buck's relationship, and the 9-1-1 writers are executing that perfectly. Because let's not forget, Tommy is not a real person. Every week, the writers have 43 minutes to tell their stories, and that just does not allow for every character to be at the center of their own narrative. Tommy's character is a tool to explore Buck's character. This is not a unique phenomenon. Karen is a tool to explore Hen's character. Michael was a tool to explore Athena's character.

And it happens to straight characters, too. You think Marisol No Last Name was a character that existed outside of her relationship with Eddie? Did Doug exist outside Maddie? Does Sue exist outside the walls of 9-1-1 dispatch? I mean, in fandom they can. The thing about the transformative power of fandom is that we take the underdeveloped and we expand on it. We pull at threads the writers, in 43 minutes, just can't. And because they can't, they also don't always - or even often - intend to.

We are making more of this than it is. It's in our heads. And that's not wrong. But my god, we cannot be holding the narrative responsible for a thing it's just not doing. Your attachment to this fanon version of Tommy you've created, and to the fanon version of Buck and Tommy's relationship, is on you. And you're allowed to be sad that canon isn't playing out the way you would have chosen if you were the one telling the story. What you don't get to do is call it homophobic because it's just not.

And the thing is, I know this is the trauma talking. To borrow Josh's analogy, this is a question of pre-Glee fans watching a post-Glee story. We remember Sterek, and we remember Destiel, and we remember McDanno, and we remember Rizzisles.

But the reality is, for every queerbaited ship that didn't go canon, the trauma runs deeper. Because we also remember Caroline Forbes' gay father deciding he'd rather die than "be a vampire." We remember Mulan walking away from Aurora and letting her have her prince. We remember Tara dying in Willow's arms, and we remember Lexa dying in Clarke's. So it's hard to watch a queer romance, especially one involving a character that we've spent seven seasons headcanoning as queer before his coming out, end.

The thing is, this is a queer relationship ending on a beautifully queer show. They aren't shoving their gay under the rug. This isn't a brief queer chapter in the book they opened purely to pander and that is now slamming shut. Hen and Karen are right there. Buck is still there. Michael may no longer be on our screens, but while he was, he and David were also treated with care and grace.

Just because we remember how it used to be doesn't mean that's what's happening now. Tommy is a plot device exploring Buck's first queer relationship, but not because it's a queer relationship. Tommy is a character whose purpose is to move Buck's arc forward because sometimes that's all a character has the capacity to be in the confines of a story that gets to be told for 43 minutes 18 times a television season.

And having Tommy be Abby's ex, as a narrative device, is brilliant. Having him walk away from Buck the same way Abby did is brilliant. Seeing those parallels and highlighting them, from a writing standpoint, is brilliant.

Buck's relationship with Abby allowed him to become Buck 2.0. She was a partner who shaped him and helped him grow in a deeply profound way. And just because she left him in a way that was hurtful and driven by her own trauma doesn't negate that. It also doesn't make her a cartoon villain.

For the same reason, Tommy walking away from Buck in a way that's hurtful and driven by his own trauma doesn't make him a cartoon villain. But it is clever writing. It bookends Buck's transformation into Ready For A Relationship Buck with his transformation into Bringing His Whole Self Into A Relationship Buck. And linking Abby and Tommy with a history of their own affirms for the audience that that's what this narrative arc was always about.

And who knows, maybe Buck and Tommy will get their romcom arc. Maybe Tommy does come back. Maybe he grows past his trauma and the defenses he's put up to survive in a world that raised him to hate himself. If he does, I won't be unhappy about it. But I also won't consider it the righting of some profound wrong. Because nothing about Tommy's arc, or the arc of the Bucktommy relationship, has been wrong.

[lipstickchainsaw]

Alright, I have one more Arcane post in me before Act II (or maybe two, if I can find the time to get my thoughts on Jinx as Janna in order), so let's talk about Vi and Caitlyn, what they did to and for each other, and the fallout of episode 3.

Vi is a notoriously protective person; it's been her driving motivation from the very beginning, and the great tragedy of Vi as a character is that she has to watch herself lose the very people she's trying to protect often for reasons outside of her control.

Because her protectiveness, her self-conception as the older sibling, is the rock she built her identity on. It is the thing that kept her going in prison, even as the who she was protecting her sister from shifted from Piltover and its enforcers to Silco and his goons. It provided her with stable ground, and she needs that stable ground to fight from.

And then Acts II and III of season 1 are all about destroying that stable ground. Her home is no longer what she thought it was, her sister is so very different, what is she doing all this for? Who is the person she's protecting here? She burns every bridge with the Undercity in order to resolve this tension, tears down her childhood home, wrecks her second home in a (rather pointless) fight with Sevika, joins in an extrajudicial raid against her people, is willing to step over a dead kid to answer this question.

And in the end, she no longer recognises her sister at all.

All that's left, then, the only place she has left to go, is with the sole companion throughout this quest, the woman from Piltover, an enforcer, hell, a council woman's daughter, the woman who seemed to get it. That could be her rock. That could be the one she was useful for. That could give her the stability of purpose she needed.

So she clung to Caitlyn, trailed after her like a lost puppy, but that came with ever more compromises. Little ones, that no doubt irked, like being offered a job as an Enforcer, like hearing she was one of the good ones, having her people called animals to her face. She doesn't get upset about any of that (compare her to the way Viktor responds to Jayce when he crosses that line, and how Jayce actually reconsiders his stance as a result), she can't get upset about any of that.

Because if she got too upset about that, she might lose her rock, she might lose what keeps her here. She can't press Caitlyn on this, because Caitlyn might show herself as having changed, and then where does she go?

So she compromises further. She wears the uniform, she gasses the people of Zaun, ignores the moments where the Strike Team is more brutal than necessary, and when the cognitive dissonance here threatens to become too much, she tries to resolve it by begging Caitlyn to stay who she is, who Vi got to know in season 1, who Vi thought she was.

But when she has Jinx at her mercy, when Jinx is ready to die by her hand, Vi sees Powder in her eyes yet again, and hesitates (because Powder wants to die, but the world won't let her), but it doesn't stop her. What stops her is Isha throwing herself on top of Jinx to protect her, and what breaks the cognitive dissonance isn't even the thought that Caitlyn might shoot her, it's the fact that killing Jinx in front of Isha would create another Jinx.

And this time, Vi is the monster, because while she begged Caitlyn not to change, she had not realised how much she'd changed. How she forewent the 'good heart' Vander so praised her for. As this snaps into focus, she realises this is one bridge too far, one compromise she can't countenance.

And it gets her called evil by virtue of her blood.

So she loses the last bit of stable ground, and her step away from her moral event horizon sees her lose everything.

For Caitlyn- well, okay, look, I'm just going to quote what I said about her sociological role before the season started:

She has seen just enough from the Graysons of the world to see that as a more honest way of living life than what her mother does, and so she decides to slum it, insisting she should be treated just as everyone else, unaware of how her class privilege affects any of those interactions as well. Seeing it as a more honest living, as a goal to target with a single-minded focus, does lead her to approach the problem with a bit more understanding, allows her to actually see the Undercity and its many aspects, but even then, she's still coming from above, and her family is still responsible for much of that suffering, and when that check comes home, her appreciation for those nuances doesn't exactly survive.

Nailed it.

It has been noted that the name 'Kiramman' shows up a lot more in season 2 than it did in season 1, and that's because, in season 1, Caitlyn was removed from her sociological role. As she approached and moved beyond Grayson's appreciation for the Undercity, she got to live that more honest life she'd always dreamed of. She got to experience the Undercity alongside Vi, not as Caitlyn Kiramman, heir to one of the most influential families in Piltover, but as just another person.

She spent most of season 1 separated from her class position, but in season 2, she no longer gets to have that little luxury, because her last name starts mattering more than her again (last names the people of the Undercity don't have), and while she resists its trappings at first ('Hextech may keep us alive, Jayce, but it's not what will save us'), by the time she gets the key to the family records, accepts becoming the representative of the Kiramman legacy, she has very much lost that battle.

The thing that makes the Grey so thematically beautiful is that it is very much a representation of Caitlyn's grief choking Zaun, as she undoes her mother's good work to try to avenge her. It's a very rich representation, too, because it also narrows her perspective, and worsens the problems that already come with the single-minded, targeted focus that her sniper represents.

Because throughout it all, Vi's been there, and Vi, to Caitlyn, has been the proof that she is still living that more honest life. That she hasn't fully lost herself to grief and anger, that she's still able to see the good in Zaunites, so she can't be too far gone.

And so, as she takes aim at Jinx, knowing for certain that she'll make the shot (and justifiably so, I think), she doesn't see the stuff surrounding it, the consequences of shooting Jinx, and the way it will perpetuate the cycle of trauma and violence through Isha.

And she hasn't been able to see the journey Vi's been going through, and how Vi responds to her actions.

So when Vi resists her, she can either take a step back and ask herself what the fuck she's doing (like Jayce did), but that'd mean changing the target. The alternative, then, is that Vi is also one of Them, instead of one of Us. Because the position of 'one of the good ones' is inherently fragile.

And without Vi to keep her honest, to keep her Caitlyn instead of Kiramman, she lets Ambessa seduce her with that very name into becoming a dictator.

[whirlpool-blogs]

Matthew Tkachuk Daddy Issues primer

1) https://floridahockeynow.com/keith-tkachuk-rips-the-florida-panthers-calls-them-a-soft-team/

“This is do-or-die for the Panthers right now,’’ Keith told First Up with Korolnek & Colaiacovo. “I watched them the other night and I know I am staying at Brady’s house and Brady’s team played really well. They have some jam and, you know, I am a little disappointed with the Panthers.

“They are a soft team and they are getting everything they deserve right now.” To continue on that point, Keith Tkachuk said for the Panthers to snap their losing streak in Toronto, they need to bring a little more toughness to their game.

“Instead of trying to get autographs on the ice from Matthews and Marner,” he said, “they probably should check them a little harder. Whatever it is, it is disappointing. I know I sound like a frustrated person, but I know every time I come and watch Ottawa, they may not be the most talented team but they’re going to play hard. Perhaps Florida could take a page out of their book.”

2) https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/senators-brady-wins-tkachuk-battle-bettman-hints-lebreton-flats-a-little-small/

There was a “Brady is Better” chant at a game when the two brothers played each other, and Keith was at that game. Some speculate that Keith started it.

3) https://www.bladeofsteel.com/Keith-Tkachuk-explains-why-he-would-not-throw-his-hat-for-his-son-hat-trick-goal-126638

Keith refusing to throw his hat for Matthew’s hat trick, even when Taryn and Brady were also at that game.

4) https://theathletic.com/351173/2018/05/13/in-the-tkachuk-family-its-chantal-who-is-the-captain-of-the-house/

[On the family chalkboard in the kitchen] “It’s always like, ‘Happy birthday’ or ‘Welcome home, Brady!’ or ‘Can’t wait for you to leave, Matthew,’” said a chuckling Keith Tkachuk.

xxx

[A little insight into Matthew being the intense one and Brady being easier to get along with]

It’s an interesting snapshot because Matthew, a fiery competitor who was twice suspended by the NHL last season, is smiling, while Brady, a happy-go-lucky personality, is scowling.

“This picture is great because now it’s the opposite,” Keith said.

“That’s so true, so true,” Chantal said.

xxx

Chantal reads everything about her boys, too, noting that she is a subscriber to The Athletic.

“I like it,” she said.

“Except when they gave Brady a bad draft rating,” Keith said.

xxx

Keith then reminded his kids, “You guys better get your butts to the store and get some cards for your mom.”

“Actually, Matthew bought me a Mother’s Day gift this year,” she said.

“He had to have gotten you something that benefited him,” Keith responded. “What did he buy you, like eight beers or something?”

“No, Lululemon shoes,” Chantal answered. “He’s a great gift giver now that he has his own money.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Matthew said.

5) https://theathletic.com/229963/2018/02/02/he-has-that-face-you-just-want-to-punch-matthew-tkachuk-isnt-about-to-change-the-way-he-plays/

“He has that face you just want to punch, according to other players,” said his father Keith.

“I’m sure if I played against him, I’d go after him, too.”

“This kid, I find a lot of flaws in his game because I’m his dad, and that’s what dads do.”

“I love the fact that he plays with an edge,” said Dad. “I told him that I’d rather see him sit out a game for being too aggressive than sit out a game because he’s soft.”

6) https://www.bardown.com/brady-matthew-tkachuk-s-parents-explain-why-they-re-happy-their-kids-aren-t-in-the-same-conference-1.1121784

Chantal, by the way, told me she is happy Matthew and Brady are not in the same conference. Keith said: “I’m glad too. I don’t trust Matthew.”

7) https://theathletic.com/1984477/2020/08/10/its-distinctly-matthew-tkachuks-postseason-presence-drawing-rave-reviews/

“Keith wanted Matthew’s coaches to push him as hard they could. He would tell me, ‘You can be more demanding,'” said Granato. “It’s delicate because, as a coach, you have to consider how hard you can push a guy. And you love the guys you can push harder. Those are the guys you fall in love with as a coach. With Matthew? There was no limit.”

8) https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/tkachuk-brothers-vibrant-personalities-stem-from-colourful-st-louis-roots/

Keith said he remembered watching Matthew on the After Hours segment on Hockey Night in Canada as a rookie, conducting the whole interview with his head down.

“I said, ‘What are you doing? Get your head up and talk,’” said Keith.

“But now it’s like this (as he snaps his fingers).

“I watched Matthew interviewed last night and he was pretty good. He adds some normal stuff to it that people like. It’s not about the same answers. He does a good job.”

9) https://theathletic.com/4503016/2023/05/10/matthew-tkachuk-florida-panthers-nhl-playoffs/

From his father, Keith Tkachuk, he learned to accept responsibility: "You didn't win? Play better."

10) https://www.tumblr.com/matthewtkafuck/190505229656?source=share

Keith: “Matthew’s in love, but with himself.”

11) https://www.tumblr.com/raliegh/680996428961726464/lettucemakar-matthew-daddy-issues-tkachuk?source=share

Q: "What sort of text message do you think you'll get after getting five points against the team your dad works for?"

MT: "Um, I'm not sure, I'm sure he would have, I don't know maybe I'm putting words in his mouth--I'm not even going to say it, what I was about to--but he probably wanted it to be an OT game but for us to play well. Um, I don't know who he wanted to win the OT game but uh, no he, he, it doesn't matter what team he works for but he's obviously my [and] my brother's biggest fan and great mentor and obviously not only him but my linemates and teammates know how much I want to win against those guys, hometown team lots of people watching, same as, we got a lot of guys from Toronto, its like when we go to Toronto we want to win that game for the guys that are from there, tons of people watching so, I don't know exactly what he'll text me. Maybe he went to bed early and I won't even get a text I don't know."

[ijustwanttoreadfanfiction]

Dirty Dancing

Jim Hopper x AFAB! Reader One day I'll write a story which actually has strange things happening but today is not that day. Bob didn't die, Eleven closed the rift at the end of Season 2 everyone is happy, leave me alone. I'm a Jopper fan 'til I die, but not for the purposes of this. Set 1987 - Jim is approx 44/45, reader is approx 30/31.

Warnings: Swearing, p in v sex, lots of references to Hopper's size, creampie, multiple orgasms, slightly rough Hopper, cock bulging, age gap, nicknames - baby, babygirl.

_______________________________________________

Jim has been oddly detached and quiet since yesterday evening. The stars had aligned along with your busy schedules and you’d managed to have a rare date night, going to the movies to watch ‘Dirty Dancing'. You thought he had enjoyed it, seeming engrossed rather than trying to get under the skirt of your dress like normal, but when you asked him what he thought on the drive home he simply shrugged and went to bed.

The following morning he’s still in his funk, not saying a word, departing for work with a distracted kiss to your cheek, a far cry from his usual passionate goodbyes that often left him running late and you in a state of undress.

His attitude bothers you all the way to the Diner.

“How was date night?” Donna asks you cautiously when you arrive, instantly noticing the way you fling your purse to the side and how you punch your card in with slightly more force than necessary.

“Well, I thought it went great, I really enjoyed the movie, evidently Jim’s experience of the evening was vastly different.” You rant, trying to tie up your apron, before giving up, elbows resting on the counter, head bowed in frustration.

“He didn’t like it?”

“I’m guessing he didn’t, but how would I know? He’s barely said two words to me.” You mumble despondently, the whole thing has left you feeling rattled, you and Jim fought plenty but you’d never been given the cold shoulder without a good reason. Donna opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by Joyce coming in to collect her usual lunch order to share with Bob.

“Hey! How was the date ni-?” She greets you excitedly, cutting off at the look on your face, and Donna’s frantic shaking of her head. “What happened?”

“Jim hasn’t spoken to her since the movie.” Donna stage whispers, hastily departing to wipe down tables at your glare. 

“Hop’s not talking to you?” Joyce asks in concern, sitting on one of the vinyl stools.

“Apparently not.” You grunt, making up Bob’s sandwich.

“Did you have an argument?”

“No, we went out, we watched ‘Dirty Dancing’ then he was just off with me and still is.” You snap, knife ripping through the slice of bread you had been buttering, Joyce reaches across taking your shaking hand in hers. “Sorry Joyce, I didn’t mean to -” You trail off gesturing at her apologetically, she gives you a small understanding smile in return.

“Bob and I went to see ‘Dirty Dancing’ last week, and I think I know what’s bothering Hop - he feels old.” She says softly.

“Old?” You ask, feeling lost.

“Sweetie, you gotta remember Hopper, and I -” She adds with a slight wince, “- we were in our twenties in the sixties, the stuff they do in the film, the dances, we were doing that years ago. I think maybe it’s made him feel his age.”

“That's ridiculous! You and Jim aren’t old.” You say laughing.

“But we’re not young either, certainly not as young as you” She reminds you gently.

When you and Hopper had started dating a year ago it sent shockwaves through Hawkins, which was ironic considering all the other crazy shit that had happened, kids going missing left, right and center, secret government lab, literal demon creatures crawling out of the ground. Oh no, all that was nothing compared to the chief of police dating a woman 14 years his junior, 29 to his 43 at the time, never mind that you were a fully consenting adult, and you were the one that had pursued him.

Jim couldn’t for the life of him work out why ‘a sweet young thing like you’ could ever want ‘a grumpy, fat, miserable, old guy like him’, you couldn’t give him a proper answer, all you knew was that you loved him and there wasn’t a single thing he could do or say that would change your mind.

"So what should I do to make him feel less old?” You ask Joyce somewhat desperately.

“I might have a suggestion.” She grins wickedly, leaning in close.

_______________________________________________

The plan was in place. Jane was staying at Max’s for another evening.You had primped and prepped yourself, wearing a dress not too dissimilar from Penny’s red halterneck in the film. The wine was poured, a couple of glasses already consumed for Dutch courage, you’d thrown pieces of coloured cloth over the table lamps to give the cabin an orange-reddish glow, and finally you had one of Jim’s favorites from his vinyl collection queued up and ready; Solomon Burke’s Rock ‘N Soul. You wring your hands nervously upon hearing the truck pull up outside, straightening out your dress, and quickly rechecking your hair in the small mirror on the wall as Jim tiredly trudges in toeing his boots off without looking at you.

“Hey baby, sorry I’m a little late Callahan screwed up a report and I -” He trails off finally glancing up at you, brows creased slightly in confusion, as he surveys you and the cabin. “ - what’s all this?” 

“I know what’s been bothering you since yesterday, and I want you to know that I understand why, and I want to help.” You say softly, approaching him, going up on bare tiptoes to kiss him gently. He returns the kiss eagerly albeit somewhat surprised, a large hand coming up to cup your cheek.

“Baby, I'm at a loss here.” He murmurs against your lips, but allows you to pull him by his belt to the centre of the room nonetheless.

“Joyce said the film last night might have made you feel - nostalgic, and I want to show you that you’re not down and out just yet Jim Hopper.” You purr, leaning away to put the record on, Cry to Me filling the room. “Dance with me?” You ask quietly, unable to keep the pleading edge out of your voice.

Jim lets out a shaky breath, as you loop your arms around his neck, your height difference making him lean down slightly, chest to chest, his strong hands splayed across the top and small of your back.

You weren’t one hundred percent sure how to move so you simply rocked your hips, letting the music take control, running your fingers through the hair at the nape of Jim’s neck. He sighs softly, eyes closing at your touch, and you smile as you feel him start to move along with you. You experimentally lean back, pressing into his grip, he follows you lips tracing against your throat, before bringing you close again. You’re both smiling now, swaying more, his pelvis flush with yours, grinding against each other. You unbutton his police shirt, the fabric falling forgotten to the floor, leaving him in just a tight white vest, hands wandering again tracing his muscles stopping just shy of crotch. 

“Tease.” He rumbles.

“Not teasing baby, just dancing.” You say sweetly.

Jim’s touch snakes from the small of your back to the flesh of your ass, gripping firmly, using his hold to hook one of your legs up, slotting his broad thigh into the gap, smirking wickedly when you gasp at the pressure against your clit, the material of your panties shifting with Jim’s movements.

“Hop -” You sigh dreamily, as he uses his strength to rock you back and forth.

“This is how we used to do it in the good old days, baby.” He says, voice gravelly. “You’d hold your best girl tight, dancing nice and close.” He grips you harder for emphasis, dress half bunched up around your waist, fingers digging into the soft swell of your ass.

“I’m your best girl?” You ask softly, clinging onto his shoulders, gyrating slightly as your head falls back.

Jim lifts you up suddenly, your legs automatically locking around his thick hips, breath catching in your throat at the look of desire in his eyes. 

“My best everything.” He whispers before bringing you to his lips in a searing kiss, tongue licking languidly into your mouth. You reach up, pulling at the straps of your halterneck until they come undone, the dress slipping past your bare breasts. Hopper groans, nipping at your earlobe, your jaw line, your throat, you can feel his hardness pressed to your center straining against his slacks.

He carries you to the bedroom, lowering you gently to the bed, pupils blown wide as he steps back to watch you pull the dress off your lower half, taking your panties with it, leaving your glistening core on display.

“Shit baby, I am one lucky son of a bitch.” He breathes, yanking his vest over his head, you crawl towards him on your knees, unbuckling his belt, both of you working with frantic hands to get his pants and underwear down.

Jim wraps his arms around you again, manhandling you with ease to rest against the pillows, his large frame dwarfing you. Your kisses are messy, verging on desperation, hands petting each other heavily, hips bucking with need. 

He rubs his thick cock over your dripping slit, and you let out a soft moan, back arching up into his strong chest, nipples peaked and sensitive.

“This all for me, baby girl?” He hums, grinning as you nod wordlessly, rocking the swollen head of his dick against your aching pussy, slipping in just an inch before pulling back again.

“Don’t tease me Jim.” You pout, hands on his ass trying to bring him closer.

“Not teasing baby, just dancing.” He coos smugly, filling you with a single thrust that has you crying out, cunt clenching at the delicious stretch.

His hips are flush to your own, the coarse hairs at the base of his cock tickling against your clit, heavy balls slapping your ass with each drag and hit. Hopper is marking up the delicate skin of your neck with multiple hickies, like you’re teenagers, the harsh suck and gentle soothing lick sends you higher, a fresh surge of wetness coating his cock in a ring of cream.

“I can feel you squeezing me baby.” He growls, muscular arm braced against the headboard, driving him harder and deeper into your fluttering cunt.

“Hop!” You squeak, unable to do anything other than grip his shoulders, anchoring you to him through the onslaught of pounding thrusts. You feel your slick dribbling out, pussy squelching obscenely, being made to fit around Jim’s hard length.

“You gonna cum for me baby girl?” He asks, panting, the large hand that was gripping your hip moving to stroke over your swollen clit. 

“J-Jim…” You whine brokenly, orgasm rushing through you like a flash-flood, wrapping your legs around his hips again, cock hitting you relentlessly.

“Yes - shit - so good, my best girl.” He groans, flipping you suddenly so you’re on top, limp like a rag doll as Jim squeezes your hips in a bruising hold, rutting up into you. “You’re getting my balls wet baby.” He chuckles, voice strained, you can only whimper, nails digging into his chest, back arched, skin covered in a light sheen of sweat.

He sits up, strong arms wrapped tight around your back, jackhammering his cock so deep you feel your belly concave with the bulge. You’re keening into his mouth, tongues sliding against each other, your stomach tightening again with a telltale warmth.

“Jim - I’m - oh my god.” You stammer weakly, foreheads pressed together.

“That’s it baby girl cum with me, let me fill you up.” He says roughly, grunting as you clamp and spasm around his cock once more, drawing out his own release, spurting thick heavy loads deep within you.

There’s a vague ringing in your ears, and you register that the record has long stopped playing, the only sound in the cabin being your light gasps and Jim’s staggered breathing. He kisses you tenderly, as he pulls out, dick twitching at the sight of his seed dripping from your puffy cunt.

“I love you so much baby.” He murmurs, cradling your face, laying back against the pillows, with you still sprawled listless on top of him. 

“I love you Jim.” You smile blissfully, pressing kiss after kiss to his lips. 

“Sorry for being a grump.” He sighs.

“Hop - I don’t care how old you are, I’d have loved you when you were twenty, and I’ll love you just as much as I do now when you’re sixty.” You say sincerely, giggling when he grimaces at the word ‘sixty’. “There’s no one else I’ll ever want.”

“You keep saying sweet things like that, we’ll be dancing again.” He warns, hands slipping down to squeeze your ass.

“Sure you don’t need a rest, old man?” You tease, choking on a moan, as Jim presses his rock hard cock back into your tight wet heat. 

“You’re in for it now baby girl.”

_______________________________________________

[thedaywillcome]

Okay okay HOLD UP!

In season 1, last episode, Nancy gives Johnathan a camera for Christmas. Cuts to Steve asking “Did you give it to him?”

Am I the last to know? Am I the last to like, give this a really hard thought and, well, connect the dots?

Was it Steve who actually gave him the camera?

I feel like this has already been widely acknowledged and I’m just making a fool of myself, but I don’t really give a damn because Steve is now second on the list of best character development (Zuko continues to hold first place but he had more time).

I mean, listen, this young boy, who was raised in a shitty family with no affection and so he learned that the only way to be loved is to be generally likable, and so he learned that he’s of no worth unless people tell him he’s popular and cool, this young boy decided HIMSELF to grow. This young boy, who cares about his friends so much that he gives them his food when they mess up theirs, treated another boy in a way that didn’t sit right with him and said: “I have to make this right immediately.”

He acknowledged his mistakes, he apologized for them, and he did his best to prove to himself and others that he can do better. On his own. Because he wanted to.

Now, I’m a firm believer that Johnathan taking pictures of Nancy and Steve while they were both clothes down was horrible and actually deserved to be called out, but this just makes it even more powerful. Steve thought: “I went too far. Even if it hurt me, I shouldn’t ever hurt back.”

We see this in season 2, 3, and 4 as his thing later. Nancy hurts him and he goes to apologize, eventually letting her gently go. Robin turns him down and he tries to make it easier for her. (Sure, Billy got punched, but in this case Steve was protecting children. And again, these children were kind of mean to him, still he went to bleed for them.)

In season 4, he goes to the Upside Down first, putting his life on the line for others.

He remembers when he used to do things he would regret, and now he would rather die than have to sit with these regrets again.

I love him. Please let him have a nice life. Please let him and Robin get an apartment and laugh while watching Full House and Friends and make margaritas on Friday evenings.