#and he is offered a choice

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Maybe we never had a chance.

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[angry-nightwing]

I keep coming back to this panel 🥲 why am I feeling nostalgia on their behalf

[frownyalfred]

Alfred, in full butler garb complete with white gloves, vigorously shaking a metal cocktail shaker: and would you like your blend of HGH, BCAA’s, and creatine up today, or on the rocks, sir?

[creating-by-starlight]

Me, every time anyone says anything about "waiting for The One God has for you"/romantic soulmates/etc: Stop, stop, stop! Why are we implying that everyone has a soulmate when everyone does not have a soulmate? God's going to get nasty letters saying "Where's my soulmate? Why haven't I found my soulmate?" and do you want Him to have to deal with that? I don't think so! Stop spouting heresy being so silly!

[stagefoureddiediaz]

The fact they keep referencing Eddie’s lying on the show and in interviews has me giggling and kicking my legs and twirling my hair.

It’s almost like we’re meant to read into the fact Eddie’s not always being truthful - with himself and others. Almost like, I don’t know, him going to confessional and telling a priest that he lied to everyone in his life and then later him telling that same priest that he’s straight might possibly be showing us Eddie not being truthful with himself or others!!

[personinthepalace]

"I didn't think you and Gilbert Blythe were such good friends that you'd stand for half an hour at the gate talking to him," said Marilla with a dry smile. "We haven't been—we've been good enemies. But we have decided that it will be much more sensible to be good friends in the future. Were we really there half an hour? It seemed just a few minutes. But, you see, we have five years' lost conversations to catch up with, Marilla."

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

[fatedroses]

Don’t let his pretty face fool you, that man is snoring his ass off.

[lucky-slice]

Do you understand how much kevin respects neil? And i don't mean when it comes to exy, like sure there's a whole lot of you're not good enough followed by you will make court bluh bluh bluh, i mean fundamentally as a human.

Kevin and Neil's conversation after the truth of Neil's father is revealed drives me absolutely insane because I think it highlights a lot about how Kevin views Neil.

so indulge me for a bit....

I think a lot of people forget, in light of Andrew choking Kevin for not telling him the truth, that Kevin's initial reaction was to tell Neil to run.

*sorry for the quality - these are all screenshots off my phone

Kevin's instinct is to tell Neil to save himself, despite what that would mean for the team's success and for Kevin himself. This is significant to me for two reasons.

It highlights that Kevin genuinely cares about Neil outside of his exy potential. For most people, this would be a pretty obvious response to finding out your teammate has a guaranteed death sentence if they stick around, so it might not seem all that meaningful, but Kevin was raised in such an environment were you continued to play no matter what - even at the risk of death. Kevin is unflinchingly callous when it comes to exy and his teammates (*see his reaction to Seth's death), but he is frantic in his concern for Neil in contrast to his fairly passive response to basically anyone else's wellbeing outside of exy. Neil's death will have no real impact on Kevin. If Neil dies or goes to the ravens, nothing changes for Kevin. He is not at a greater risk of being hurt by Riko or the Moriyama's nor will his exy career be effected. That's not to say he would tell Neil to stay if he cared about him any less, but there is a desperation that implies a depth beyond just that of a teammate.

The fact that Kevin is frantic and desperate for Neil to leave, gives weight to his decision to keep teaching Neil in the aftermath of the revelation.

Neil doesn't want to run - he wants to be Neil Josten until the end. He gave Kevin his game and now he's asking him to keep it and Kevin obliges.

This is essentially Kevin promising that he will keep Neil's secret. He will allow Neil to wear his mask and continue teaching him despite the fact that Neil is essentially a dead man walking. This, to me, is Kevin ultimately respecting Neil and his choice. At any moment, Kevin has the ability to got to Wymack or Andrew and give Neil the chance at surviving, but that would mean betraying Neil.

Some people (certainly the foxes) would view refusing Neil's request as the proper and morally correct thing to do. But I think Kevin's immediate acceptance of Neil's decision is both immensely meaningful to Neil and also a signifier of a shared understanding between to two.

Imagine how impactful it must be for Neil, who has never had autonomy over his own life and has been marked for death basically since he was born, to be told that not only will his decisions and his autonomy be respected, but there is someone who will stand by his side on the court, knowing the whole truth, until the very end.

Kevin doesn't have much to offer Neil at this point. He can not give him a future - he'll be long dead before he can ever make court, and Kevin is a coward - he is not andrew, he can't stand up against the Moriyama's or Riko or Neil's father. Kevin can not protect Neil in a way that matters. All he can do is promise to keep Neil's secret and offer him a few more months of being Neil Josten.

I'm not including this to disparage Andrew or to suggest that he does not respect Neil, but this highlights that Kevin knows the decision to keep Neil's secret is one only Kevin would make. Andrew without a doubt would immediately try to get Neil to leave or attempt to get him into protection. I'm not passing a judgement of morality on what would've been the right thing to do, but I do think Kevin's reaction is indicative of the fact that Neil and Kevin understand each other in a way that no one else really will.

Neil and Kevin are a parallel's in a number of ways. Kevin lived the life that Neil was supposed to have and they are two parts of one story.

To them exy is not a game, but it's not really about exy either. It's about deciding to stay just to play for a couple more months even though you'll wind up dead because playing means you finally get to live after years of being a ghost. It's about playing to be the best no matter what, even though the consequences are having your hand smashed and the life you know completely demolished. It's about playing even though you're shaking with fear and anxiety because you need proof that your life, whether it be running to survive or living under an abusive hand, was not a waste.

Kevin agrees to keep Neil's secret because if the roles were reversed, Kevin would like to believe that he'd be strong enough to ask Neil for the same thing. This is obviously conjecture and a heavy heavy reading between the lines, but I'd like to think there's some truth there.

Finishing up with this line because it makes me a little emotional.

Kevin starts the conversation by calling Neil "Nathaniel" and ends it by calling him Neil again. Its right there in the text, "it was a promise". Kevin is offering Neil a life that is fully his - not his father's, not Riko's, but Neil's to do with what he would like, even if its only for a couple more months. If that's not respect, than I don't know what is.

[the-unconquered-queen]

He’s not beating the allegations

[birdsong-warriors]

The claws are here! Plus some friends. uwu

Some random trivia: BloodClan uses hot tar to seal the talons onto their paws. Sunflower here is carrying an old rag soaked in vegetable oil, which breaks down the excess tar and keeps the medical damage to a minimum.

Firefall belongs to @zeekitties , and Sunflower belongs to @talkingtalltales !

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Part 1: Friend and Family

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[reindeerswillsavethisworld]

No, but you don't understand, Technus is so fucking funny, and without even trying. Like, imagine telling somebody about his whole deal, it'd be a trainwreck lmao.

"So there's this ghost who can control all kinds of technology."

"Okay."

"He looks like an off brand cosplay of Nikola Tesla and can and will villain monologue you to death."

"Yeah, okay, continue."

"One of his plans of world domination was fully dependant on making his favourite enemies-to-lovers ship canon."

"I'm sorry, what."

The most outrageous thing, tho! The thing that drives me up the wall!! Is that his convoluted plans work like clockwork!!! If Sam wasn't an MVP that she is, then Technus' plan to take over the internet by playing a fucking videogame would have been successful. Combining Technus' technology and Skulker's mastery with weapons was a real pro gamer move, and they did almost beat Danny's ass in under 5 minutes. His plan to distract both Danny and Valerie by matchmaking them was stupid as fuck and yet it fucking worked!! How the fuck did it work.

His downfalls are literally 1) his arrogance, and 2) simple dumb bad luck. The reason why he and Skulker failed was because they both were pretentious fucks and were too prideful to cooperate with each other properly despite literally sharing a body. And if Danny and Valerie were a little less afraid of the other getting hurt, he'd have succeeded there, like, for real-real.

His failings more often than not are really just unlucky coincidencies. What a loser lmao.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

I am distressed

[sophsun1]

Queer as Folk – 2.14:The Dangers of Sex and Drugs

[sammayrin]

Sometimes I think about Allen’s habit of making terrible horrible deals with the devil, not asking any of the terms… but also they always come at very vulnerable times.

the first time, he’s dying and all of his comrades have been wiped out. The second, the only person in the world he loves and who loved him has just died (and he’s like 10, max). The third time, he’s just found out that his whole life’s a lie and he’s probably a construct—though to be fair, he was kind of given the terms on that one.

but I guess that is sometimes a characteristic of deals with the devil is that they come when desperate

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Something something about Shannon in Eddie begins pushing Eddie to choose between her and his family - between her and Christopher - and Buck not pushing Eddie to make that choice between him or Christopher.

The way they juxtaposed Shannon choosing to step out and leave when he doesn’t immediately choose her - when he chooses Christopher and his family - making that choice because he knows deep down he is not in a good place and that his family can provide the stability Chris needs in that moment, in order for him to heal himself.

With Buck - who is acting out in a way that is making it seem he is trying to push Eddie into making a choice between him and Christopher but who ultimately makes a choice that allows Eddie to choose Christopher - because he knows that’s what Eddie needs to do and will support him in that choice even if it means causing himself pain.

The way the show has essentially paralleled the idea of family providing the space needed to heal - having Christopher deciding to return to Texas and the stability of his wider family whilst Eddie needed the space to heal himself. Christopher was deeply affected by Shannon abandoning him in Texas - the show doesn’t explicitly say it or show it, but it’s clear it’s a trauma that has impacted him and continues to do so. So his choice to return to Texas - to the grandparents who supported him through that trauma - at a moment when he is confronted with the ‘ghost’ of his dead mother - having been given and read her letter to him in the recent past - makes complete sense. He’s subconsciously repeating his past experiences with Eddie’s trauma and Shannon being gone - being raised by his grandparents while his dad is a semi presence in his life - until Eddie makes a choice and actually talks to Chris about it.

I’m not getting into the nitty gritty of Shannon because this isn’t about the rights or wrongs of what she did when it comes to Christopher - it’s incredibly nuanced and she’s a complex character we don’t have enough background on to pass full judgement on, but isn’t what I’m looking at here.

What we’re seeing, is a clear paralleling of the situations Shannon and Buck find themselves in - in a not great place themselves and looking to Eddie for help and support, but we get a loud juxtaposition between the choices they make when Eddie is not able to provide that support and reassurance - when Eddie makes a choice that he feels he needs to make.

Eddie is struggling with trauma and his mental health is compromised (ptsd in both cases in my opinion).

The military ptsd is obvious in Eddie begins, which Shannon compounds with her desire to leave almost as soon as Eddie is back, making things worse and Eddie digs in.

While in season 7 Kim triggers his ptsd and her decision to role play Shannon only compounds the situation.

Both result in Ramon and Helena taking care of Chris and we have it implied that Eddie has found his way through his military ptsd in Eddie begins , seemingly on his own and while he worked - with little support for himself from his parents even as they supported Chris, and we are shown Eddie working through his trauma in the first half of season 8. Again seemingly on his own (not saying buck hasn’t been there for him - but we’re not shown Eddie actually opening up to him in any way - father Brian is the only real opening up of Eddie we’re shown) and while he continues working - with little support from his parents for himself - they are once again focused on Christopher.

But where Shannon pushes and then chooses to abandon him and Chris when he doesn’t immediately agree with her and go along with her desires, Buck takes the opposite tack - he pushes (semi subconsciously) in a similar but less explicit way to Shannon - but where she had already made her choice - and streps out and away. Buck realises pushing is the wrong tactic and alters course - understanding what Eddie needs is actually a helping hand and so Buck steps even further in with him and gives him that hand in the form of taking over the lease.

The beauty of this parallel and then juxtaposition between Shannon and Buck - and Eddie’s arc is that we then get to move back into another parallel and juxtaposition between them. We’re likely going to get the parallel of Eddie and Chris sat on the porch deciding to go to LA together (once they’ve reconciled and rebuilt their relationship) in the aftermath of Eddie standing up to his parents. But we get the juxtaposition of Eddie (semi) subconsciously choosing LA because Shannon is there with him actively choosing LA because Buck is there - both instances led/lead to the reconnecting of family, to a do over or a fresh start. But where reconnecting with Shannon ended in tragedy because it was built on the idea of the same relationship they had before and not something new or different, reconnecting with Buck will end happily because it will be a different relationship to the one they had before, it’s a new beginning - and that is why it will be successful.

[mossterunderthebed]