#and i love this entire episode but i must say that without a doubt there is one line that stands above the rest

[margindoodles2407]

YOU

YOU GET IT

The thing about me is I will, at any point of the day, stop whatever I'm doing to drawl, "Ooooh, meteor shower" in Hevy's voice.

[iamnotoriginalphil]

First of all your writing is amazing!!! Second of all hope you are having a good year so far! I was thinking for a request maybe reader x Rebecca Welton based on the line If lies keep falling from your lips then I’m out the door” where it’s the episode Keeley confronts her about the picture. Rebecca and reader ended up starting dating after the night in Liverpool, ends up finding out about Rebecca’s whole plan for the club and confronts her too where Rebecca tries to defend herself but reader isn’t having none of it wants to know why she was doing this, if what they have going on is just part of her plan to get back at Rupert since reader used to work under Rupert and he tried to make advances on her in the passed. With a Happy ending

Sweet Little Lies (Rebecca Welton x f!Reader)

Words: 2k

Warnings: swearing, lying, talking about Rupert

You’d known it was too good to be true. Of course it was. Why would a woman like Rebecca Welton ever be interested in someone like you? With her elegance and her poise, she was easily the most impressive woman you’d ever met, and without a doubt the most beautiful. You’d always thought so.

You were standing outside her office door, pacing backwards and forwards, trying to build up the courage to go inside. You hadn’t expected Higgins to break down after finding a stress rash creeping down his arm and you certainly hadn’t expected him to spill the beans about Rebecca’s plans. Admittedly, he’d thought you already knew, that you were in on your girlfriend’s plan, and felt worse upon realising you weren’t. But that still left you deciding how to bring it up with her.

You froze as the door was pulled open from the other side. Rebecca took a half step out before freezing when her eyes landed on you. You felt your eyes widening, the issue coming to a head before you felt ready.

“What are you-?” she began to ask before stopping herself.

“We need to talk,” you said.

“Uh oh,” she said, a brittle smile appearing on her face, “are you about to break up with me?”

You took a step towards her, finding her hand with yours. You stepped around her, ignoring the way just the touch of her palm against yours made you feel more grounded. And also made the butterflies in your stomach turn into a tornado.

You guided her back into her own office, closing the door to keep from being interrupted. Worry was etching itself on Rebecca’s face, eyes flicking over your expression as if trying to figure out what you were going to say. You weren’t sure what your face was doing but you thought it must have been grim. She was slow to sit on her sofa, hesitant when you didn’t join her.

“What’s going on, love?” she asked.

Having her blue eyes staring up at you weren’t making it easier for you. The amount of worry, and the fear you could see hiding behind that worry made you want to reassure her. You hated being the cause of her distress but you had to talk to her. You had to get to the bottom of it all. Because if you didn’t, when she revealed that she’d never actually wanted you, it would crush you.

“I’ve been talking to Higgins,” you said, “or I guess it would be more accurate to say Higgins talked to me.”

“That’s never a good start to a conversation,” she said, with one of those uncomfortable laughs that let you know that she didn’t like where the conversation was going.

“He told me about your plan,” you said, “about destroying Richmond and taking everything Rupert loved. He thought I already knew since I’m, you know, in a relationship with you.”

“Oh,” was the only reply you got.

“You’ve been lying to me this entire time, Rebecca.”

It sounded harsh to your ears and from the way she almost reeled back as if slapped it was clear it sounded harsh to her as well. But it was the truth. You had to remind yourself of that or else you’d find yourself apologising and begging for her forgiveness. You were in the right. You knew you were.

“I didn’t lie to you.” Her voice was so small.

“You didn’t tell me the truth,” you countered.

Your hurt was turning into anger and you were scared about what was going to happen. If she kept denying it, or minimising it you weren’t sure what you were going to do. You needed to hear her say it, just once, so you could know. If she couldn’t admit it, then you weren’t sure you could trust her about anything else.

“I thought you would hate me if you knew,” she said, shoulders slumping.

“If you can’t be honest with me, that’s going to be worse. I don’t care about you trying to get back at Rupert for fucking you over. I care that the way you’re doing it is hurting other people,” you said.

“The team will be fine. No one will blame them,” she said.

“They’ll blame Ted and he doesn’t deserve it. You know he doesn’t. He’s a good person,” you said, “and I know you set up Keeley so don’t even pretend. Is everyone else just collateral damage? Is it worth all of our pain?”

“Everyone else will recover. They can come back from this. I just want to destroy the club,” she said.

“Then I can’t stay,” you said.

“What?”

Those large eyes looked at you, a sense of panic beginning to overtake her expression. The worry and the fear were gone, slipping away in the face of your statement. You waited, needing to hear her response before you could move on.

“What do you mean you can’t stay?” she asked.

“Well, if I’m all just part of this plan to get back at Rupert, and this entire relationship has been a lie, then I won’t be putting myself through dealing with the indignity of staying in this relationship,” you said, ignoring the way just the words coming from you made it feel as if you were cleaving your own heart in two.

“You weren’t… you were never… I didn’t plan for you,” she said, seemingly not able to come up with the right words. You weren’t sure there were right words to come back from this.

“Of course I was. You got what Rupert could never have. Surely that will make him sting just a bit,” you said with a shrug, trying to make it sound casual, like you didn’t care, like your heart wasn’t being torn to shreds.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, “darling, our relationship was never part of my plan. It was unexpected. Wonderful, the most wonderful thing to come out of all of this, but I couldn’t have planned for falling in love with you.”

You felt your breath leave you.

“Don’t you… how dare you try and sweep this all under the rug by saying you love me for the first time?”

All attempts at remaining calm were all out the window. There was no calm in the face of what she was doing to you.

“I’m not trying to sweep the things I’ve actually done under the rug, but you’re not one of those things. You were never meant to be part of this whole fucking mess. I don’t know why you even would be. It’s not like he was in love with you,” she said.

“No but he tried to get off with me,” burst from you. You’d never told her because you never thought it was relevant. Only now it really felt like it was, especially if she’d known all along.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” It was the first sense you got that she was getting angry.

“Back when he owned the club. He would hit on me all the time. He made it very clear he wanted a shag, and I made it very clear I didn’t want that but he kept trying to change my mind,” you said, “but you knew that because now I’ve shagged you when I wouldn’t shag him. Just another up yours to him.”

“Darling, I had no idea.” Anger was mingling with sadness, pity perhaps in the mix too. “I wish I’d known.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t,” you said, only your conviction felt shaky.

“You think I would sit idly by if he was harassing you?” she demanding, finally standing up, the anger getting to her. You’d always loved the way she towered over you, and even in her anger you weren’t worried it would be turned on you. You had that much faith in her, even if the rest of it had been rocked by the revelation.

“ I don’t…” You looked up into her thunderously angry face, “no, I don’t think you would.”

“Of course I bloody wouldn’t,” she said, but she seemed to calm at your words.

“So I really wasn’t part of your plan to back at Rupert?” you asked.

“No.” She brought both hands up to cup your cheeks in her warm palms, “you’ve been a wonderful surprise. The best thing to come out of this whole fucking mess.”

You looked up at her, feeling a flush of warmth for her. She hadn’t lied about your relationship. That had all been real.

“You have to tell Ted,” you said, “no more lies. If you keep lying to everyone then I can’t do this anymore.”

“I know. Of course. I was on my way to tell him when I found you,” she said.

“Good because I know you’re better than this. You’re better than your pain,” you said.

With both hands still on your cheeks, she tilted your face up towards her. She was slow as she approached, giving you plenty of time to move away but you didn’t. You couldn’t. She’d enchanted you, body and soul, and you were under her spell. The brush of lips was soft, still giving you enough time to pull away but you didn’t. If anything, you pressed closer, your arms curling around her body.

She was slow to draw back and when she did you whimpered. You never wanted to stop kissing her once you’d started. She was gentle as she pushed some hair behind your ear, blue eyes twinkling, lips curling up at the corner.

“You’re so lovely,” she whispered.

“Did you tell me you love me?” you asked, the thought finally penetrating through the fog of your heartbreak now it had stopped.

“I suppose I did.” Her smile faltered for a moment before stretching a little further.

“Did you mean it?”

She seemed to soften before you, a glow lighting her up from the inside out. You found yourself leaning closer, never able to fight against your impulse to fall into her. Her thumb brushed along your cheekbone.

“I did,” she said, voice soft, almost reverent in her confession.

“Say it again,” you requested.

“I love you,” she said, a little louder than before.

“Again.”

“I love you.”

You gazed up at her, feeling the intensity of the moment. Your heart was pounding and your skin was buzzing and all you wanted to do was melt into her. The first time you’d seen her, walking through the halls on Rupert’s arm, you’d felt yourself fall for her. Every day since it had only grown stronger. You still reeled from from the fact that she seemed to want you too.

“I love you too,” you whispered.

Her face split open in pure sunlight. Her smile widened and the joy was practically rolling off her. She pulled you in, kissing you without restraint. You were grinning into the kiss, not even caring when your teeth clashed together. She was laughing into your mouth and you found yourself following suit, until your cheek was pressed to hers and you were revelling in the moment.

It was an unexpected end to your conversation.

“You should go speak to Ted,” you murmured once the laughter had died down and you didn’t feel as if your heart was going to run away from you.

“Can’t we just stay here for a moment longer?” she asked.

“It’s time, Rebecca,” you said, “you have to tell him.”

“What if he hates me?” she asked.

“It’s Ted. I’m not sure he knows how to hate anyone,” you replied.

She paused a moment before her shoulders slumped again.

“Fuck, you’re right. I know you’re right. The bastard will forgive me,” she said, sounding unhappy about it.

“And afterwards, we can go home and watch Wizard of Oz and eat garlic bread,” you said.

“God I love you,” she said, pulling you into another kiss.

“Go on. Stop trying to distract me,” you said, tapping her on the arse.

The smile she flashed you over her shoulder as she left her office had you needing to suppress your own smile. Yeah, you loved that woman.

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: Episode 6 Preview (Mew VS Ray)

Jesus Christ, the pain train will keep on chugging full steam ahead next week when it comes to Ray/Sand. Ray gets in an altercation with Mew (over Top), who proceeds to punch Ray in the face out of frustration. My jaw dropped to the floor.

There's an earlier clip where Ray is speaking to Boston and it sounds like Ray either finds out about the affair, or that Boston/Top have history. I have a feeling it's likely the latter, because Ray would be far angrier at Boston if he found about the affair. (As well as the fact we get another blow-up later between Boston and the entire group when this is revealed). Besides, knowing they had history is enough ammunition for Ray to believe that Top is untrustworthy and not deserving of Mew.

So Ray decides to approach Mew about it, probably in an attempt to warn him to distance himself from Top. However at this point, Mew's pretty loved up. Considering Ray's recent indiscretion and the fact he causes a scene (making this seem like drunken, rowdy behaviour), Mew ultimately defends and sides with Top, and sends Ray flying in the process. Ray hits the stage hard. Mew was not going easy in the slightest which left me speechless.

(*Has Mew become evil!Mew now that he doesn't wear glasses??)

Sand is also at the scene during this confrontation, and helps Ray up when he gets hit. Immediately after this is where Ray and Sand then also have their argument. This string of events makes a LOT more sense now, considering Ray's reaction.

Ray must be incredibly heartbroken and utterly devastated. He probably never thought that Mew - the person who saved his life - would one day be capable of hurting him instead (and all in a bid to defend another man - a giant, red flag of a man).

Then Sand decides to top that off with "Can you stop thinking about something else for a second? Focus on me for once, will you?" perhaps not fully realising that this is THE ABSOLUTE WORST time to ask that question. I love you Sand, but this is really not the time to make this about you. I know you're still upset from this week's episode, but please give your boyfriend a moment's respite.

This results in Ray exploding in his face, shoving Sand to the ground and storming off.

Ray's in an exceptionally heightened and raw state of mind in this scene. What he says to Sand is going to come out incredibly harshly, and he's not going to be thinking straight to consider Sand's feelings.

However, once he cools down, he's going to seriously regret it. Especially in immediate succession to hurting Sand just recently.

The aftermath is what I'm really concerned about. From Sand's perspective, everything that transpires 100% confirms Boston's bombshell, without a question of a doubt, that Ray does love Mew.

Both Ray and Sand will be in a very poor mental state after next week's episode, and I hope to god they're going to be okay.

Also - Ray should NOT be driving himself home when he's like this.

[spiegelgestalt]

Vi stands for Violence

One of the more ironic things in Arcane is that Vi is running around everywhere judging because they are violent and mean and idk not good enough and she’s arguably one of the most violent characters and without a doubt one of the most destabilizing forces in the entire show. (Sorry Vi fans – I say this with love but homegirl is really kind of terrible).  And the reason for that is that Vi kinda wants to be a hero in the traditional sense. She wants to do everything on her own. She wants to defeat the bad guy. She wants to save the damsel in distress. And she wants everything to be black and white.  In a lot of shows she would have thrived. But she is sadly in a show which looks you straight in the eye and says: Wow you managed to beat Sevika up. Awesome! And now? How did this help anyone? Here the damsel in distress you were trying to save is beating you over the head with a stick. Such a nice Saloon western stand off and nothing changed. No one cheered. The day wasn’t saved.

Deeper analysis under the cut

Vi’s original sin is being unwilling to see the perspective of others. She’s the oldest. She knows best. You can see that in arc 1 in season 1. Milo was correct: powder wasn’t ready. Powder messed up. Vi didn’t want to hear it because she loves Powder and that’s why Powder isn’t allowed to be criticized until Vi explodes on her in the end of the third episode. And theres something interesting about the fact that Vi apparently can’t think of Powder as a flawed person – either all she does is understandable and excusable or she’s a terrible Jinx who needs to be punished/stopped/killed. And you see the signs early on. In the “enemy music video” you see Vi screaming at Powder and shoving her, you see it at the end of episode 3, and you now see it in action in arc 1 of season 2 – Jinx doesn’t have the attitude that Vi thinks Powder should have (i.e. siding with the enforcers/Piltover against Silco - why would she do that?; accepting Vi and being grateful that she’s back) Vi trys to pick up the status quo before Vanders death. Jinx wont let her. Jinx wants to have a conversation. Both her elaborate traps remind you of the past and they remind you of the fact that Vanders death happened. Vi sees them as slights against herself and not as conversation starters. Because that’s not something she wants to think about (and notice that her mind goes immediately to her abusive behavior; because those challenge her self concept as the hero of the story). She doesn't want to admit that Powder = Jinx = Powder. Because that would mean to accept shades of grey. It would mean letting go of her anger (or at least accepting her anger) and accept that stuff changed things are complicated and people are flawed.

And she does the same thing everywhere else:  Silco caused Vanders death – ergo Silco is the cause of all evil: he’s the cause for change, for drugs, for powder being weird, for Zaun not being what it once was, for her not having a place to come home to etc. etc. I

It's even more evident with Sevika. Many have noted that Sevika hasn't actually betrayed Vander but has acted in Zauns best interest. But Vi doesn't want to even think about it that way. Sevika's to blame for Vanders death. As is Silco. (as is Powder) I dare anyone to look me in the eye and tell me that Vi accomplished anything by fighting Sevika. That was pure lust for vengeance. Especially the second time. But she messes up the most with Jinx. I find it fascinating that after Sevika is defeated and Silco is gone all of Vis anger concentrates on Jinx who refuses to become her precious treasure who needs to be protected- ergo Powder must be dead. And I’d argue that Vi is in search of a Damsel in distress and she isn’t finding anyone. Ekko is the leader Vi wants to be, Caitlyn is becoming more dangerous to Zaun by the day (and refuses Vis council) and Jinx is Jinx. Add some real resentment over Vanders death that Vi hasn’t worked through yet and it kinda makes Vis action make sense. Especially when there’s a cute blonde enforcer who admires what Vi’s doing and thinks it’s heroic and great she beat up all the bad guys in Zaun.

And one more thing. Vis attachment to Caitlyn is very similar to Powders attachment to Silco (-the sexual attraction of course). Bear with me here: who’s the first person who showed Powder kindness after the disaster: Silco. Who’s the first person who showed Vi kindness: Caitlyn. Both are charismatic leaders and both are very close to the people who destroyed their families. Vi and Jinx are more similar than you might think.

[moirindeclermont]

Bridgerton folks, you asked... There it is. Daddy!Colin in all his glory.

While I can't predict exactly where this fic is going to go (as I write on the spot) the premise in this case is that consent is assumed where not explicitly stated. Also, I'd like to be more psychological than physical, bit that's more for the characters to develop the story in the way it needs to be told. I'm merely a vessel.

Title is to be defined but I accept suggestions. Have fun!! 🥵 😈 🫠

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Second Episode | Third Episode | Fourth Episode | Fifth Episode | Sixth Episode

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"Why?"

Well, that was the crux of the problem.

Why did Pen asked her boyfriend and long time friend Colin Bridgerton to try "the daddy thing" as she presented it to him?

Knowing that honesty must be the requisite if this was going to turn into reality, she decided to go for total vulnerability.

"Because I need this. Because there is no one I love more than you and you're the only one with whom I can think of letting go like that."

That last bit got into Colin.

He want sure of the whole thing, but if it was something she needed, he would give it a try, for her.

"I'm willing to try. I have some research to do."

Pen smiled so bright for him that his knees almost dropped. Yeah, that was the right choice.

"Oh, I can do research for you," she offered him, but it wasn't the point of all of this for him to take care of her?

He got closer to her personal space. "Don't worry baby, I'll do my own research. If I think I need some help or some questions, I'll ask."

Pen melted in his arms - kissed him deeply and it was worth a try just for the way she hugged him after that talk, as if just talking about it made her feel better.

Thing is, the more Colin got into it, researching and reading, the more he wanted to try. He still wasnt so sure of "Daddy" was going to be cringe or hot, but the idea of Pen trusting him that much.. that was extremely erotic for him.

They talked a bit about it some more. They decided on a safe word "plant" and that he would call her "babygirl" when he wanted to start a scene.

Pen was being teased and she knew it. They talked and talked and talked with Colin. Everything was set up, they had a procedure for the aftercare (even if she doubt that she would go that deep on their first session) and now it was just a question of waiting. She was never good at waiting.

She didn't want to start this adventure with some brat behavior, but as the day passed it was clear that Colin was not waiting out of fear or insecurity.

He was waiting just to drive her mad.

Pen knew he would be good at it.

It was on the verge of begging him, when after a particular stressful night, she was close molaining with Colin about everything and it was madness how tired she was of even thinking, when she head him saying "come here, babygirl".

Holy fucking shit.

She turned to see him and he was on the sofa, his legs opened. A cushion on the floor.

Did she already said Holy fucking shit?

She moved towards him, knellingon the cushion without instructions. He seemed pleased at that.

"Such a good girl for me," as Colin tilted her chin to kiss her. She was already trembling.

"Unzip me and take me in your mouth."

She looked at him agape, as she could not believe what she was hearing. She took a moment too long to follow his instructions.

"Are you my good girl?"

At that she could only nod. "Then, do as I say."

She thought he was good. But Colin was shooting for the stars.

His entire demeanor was confident and sexy. He embodied security and she knew she was safe in his hands.

She had yet to move though. He looked at her with such intensity that her heart skipped a beat.

"Do not test me, babygirl"

And she shook her head. Pen didn't want to test him.

"Words, love."

"No, I don't want to test you"

"I don't want to test you..."

A lightbulb in her head.

"I don't want to test you, Daddy"

Tbc

[hopeful-puffin]

Thoughts on 167 - A long and rambling post

Yes, I did fast-pass. But I have some thoughts concerning this episode that I wanted to share now that it's free. No spoilers for 168 or 169 here.

This first one is subtle and likely amounts to nothing. My partner has noted that I pay a lot of attention to tones and verbiage, so that might be playing into it as well. But, here goes.

I know what you're thinking. "But Puffin, that's not from this chapter! That's from episode 46." Which is true, but here's my point.

It's the difference in vocabulary. "Gonna," VS. "Going." This might not seem like much, but I took it as a clear sign of the changes within Siren. The first images as post his rage-fit in his bedroom before speaking with his mother. He's calmed down (sorta) and falls back onto a rather laid back cadence when speaking his intentions. Whereas, when addressing Fizz, Siren is understandably enraged. He uses hard consonants instead of softer vowels; "-ing" vs. "-na." And I think it displays the differences his disposition; Sharp vs. Soft.

I'm using episode 46 specifically because, after reading 167 a few times, I realized it was making me think back on his interactions with his mother. It started I think due to the obvious; Finley begging Siren not to kill Fizz mirroring Siren begging Susca not to kill Kappa. The rage in Siren's eyes during both fits is palpable and reminds us that, while he's a sweet bean normally, Siren is still a shark by blood and instincts. He's powerful and terrifying when he throws his weight around.

Granted, destroying scrolls as opposed to beating a man within an inch of his life (not to even mention the magic heart development) are by no means equivocal in scale. My point is merely the destructive power behind this guy. Don't get me wrong; I adore Siren. Easily my favorite character of this entire comic, which is saying a lot given my love for Kappa, the witches, Nee, Silver, Skiff, Herm, and even Susca herself.

By contrast, the gravity of the situations weighs differently on Siren. With his mother, he tempered quickly yet still bit back verbally. This was despite her witnessing his rather violent release of emotion.

Granted, here he is addressing the person he feels who wronged him. Who wronged Kappa. We haven't gotten to a point where Siren must face Fizz. But, if it ever happens, it'll be a conversation I wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall overhearing. To me, Siren struggles with forgiveness (at least when it pertains to his boyfriend being wronged). He's even still bitter with Susca over the undue pressure he grew up under.

However, Siren is still capable of forgiveness. He displays as such when he isn't hostile to the mer in the trench despite him admitting he was one of the ones who attacked Siren.

Siren ceases being hostile towards the man and instead listens to what he has to say. At one point he’s even vulnerable with him. This eventually culminates into Siren asking how to save them. Even though this man and others were going to hurt Pim. If this isn't forgiveness, I don't know what is.

Will Siren forgive Fizz? I highly doubt it given that he hasn't even forgiven Susca fully yet.

Returning from my brief tangent, Siren seems to the opposite when confronted with how he's lashing out at Fizz. Instead, he backs off with fear.

Despite that, Siren still reaches out for Kappa. I interpret it as out of fear of being alone; of losing himself to the magic. He knows this will hurt/kill Kappa too.

He then calls out Kappa once he's had a moment to realize what's happening, only now properly facing the consequences of losing himself like that.

He's worried. He's scared. He understandably doesn't want to be alone.

What did Kappa do?

Jumped right on in after Siren without a word.

That's not someone who's afraid of being hurt by Siren. That's someone who's afraid of being hurt by losing Siren.

Susca accepted that Siren might no longer want something to do with her. Massive respect for her over that by the way. Kappa, on the other hand, said, "To Hell with that," and doesn't pause to question whether it's his fault Siren ended up like this in the first place.

I know these two situations are not the same. It's Siren against the one who wronged him as opposed to Siren against the one he feels was wronged (in both scenarios actually). I'm just making observations at this point.

One last comparison. I love how Siren automatically thinks Kappa whenever he encounters a light in the darkness.

In the wise words of Siren:

[cienie-isengardu]

Iroh's "I looked away"

“The Storm” [s01e12] provided us a great insight into Zuko’s character, one that undoubtedly helps to understand his motives and anger but also how Ozai’s physical and psychological abuse influenced the banished prince. There are plenty of things to talk about, many little details that build layers of a complicated relationship between Zuko and his father, uncle, or even his crew and how perception of Zuko changes once we learn the truth behind the scar. But the episode also shows us a great deal of insight into Iroh’s character and though I do love how “The Storm” challenged our perception of those characters, rewatching ALTA makes Iroh’s “I looked away” much more devastating to me. 

Because it is not just about his guilt over abuse Zuko was forced to endure. A guilt that won’t disappear no matter if he could or couldn’t do anything to prevent it, but… Iroh truly looked away from Fire Nation as a whole, didn’t he? Understandably, he was grief-struck after Lu Ten’s death and he did not fight back Ozai for the throne, as I suspect he either did not care anymore for it or did not want a civil war to destroy Fire Nation from inside. But he still was The Dragon of West, a very respected general and powerful political figure that others weren’t willing to openly challenge, including Ozai himself.

And no, I’m not wondering why Iroh did not interference with Agni Kai before Zuko’s face was burned to “teach him respect” but about the fact that he did not say anything at all against using the division of new recruits as a bait - and from the episode alone, we know he agreed with Zuko on that matter. It wasn't the right strategy - even if it has merit from a military standpoint, it definitely wasn’t moral or good for Fire Nation’s wellbeing. Beside Zuko, who openly challenged the strategy and called it betrayal, the only person that questioned it at all was an old unnamed general (“But the 41st is entirely new recruits. How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?) while Iroh simply kept quiet and this detail makes me think the “I looked away” is as much about Iroh looking away from Ozai’s cruel abuse toward Zuko as about Iroh’s passivity during the war meeting, and in greater scheme, Fire Nation’s politics. I doubt Iroh could change Ozai’s mind and sure, I do not have an idea how the relationship between Fire Lord and ex-Crown Prince looked like, but the point is, Iroh did not even try to question the strategy and choose to sit quietly and dunno, it makes me wonder, did Iroh give up at this point of his life? Was he so afraid of the consequences for speaking his mind that he allowed Ozai and Fire Lord’s court to subdue him so much? Because if he did, his words to Zuko “[...] But you must promise not to speak. Those old folks are a bit sensitive, you know?” is as much warning to Zuko as to himself. 

Iroh said to the crew that Zuko was right but it wasn’t his place to criticize the strategy, but who else was supposed to speak against this plan, if Iroh himself chose to stay quiet on the matter? If all generals - then and three years later - didn’t have any respect for life, whatever for their own subjects or civilians of other nations? And I think this is what truly kills me about this situation, that 13 years old boy had courage to speak against this dehumanization of Fire Nation’s citizens when Iroh, our good uncle Iroh, kept quiet and looked away again and again from what was happening until he couldn’t do that anymore because too great damage was already done.

(And isn’t it ironic that Iroh gave little Zuko a knife with the description never give up without a fight - words Zuko adapted as his life motto - but Iroh himself gave up? First at Ba Sing Sai, after Lu Ten’s death, now here during a war meeting and maybe, just maybe it is Zuko that unexpectedly pushed him back on the right track to actually do something, to make a choice and fight for what he believed was right instead of passively watching all the abuse done to an innocent child and young soldiers serving loyalty to their country. Was Iroh already a White Lotus then or did the travel with Zuko give him an opportunity to join it because he couldn’t anymore look away from how messed up Fire Nation became?)

[thursdayinspace]

Tell me all your Requiem thoughts please

All of them would amount to quite an essay because I have a lot of (mostly positive) feelings about it, but I assume this is about my tags saying I have conflicting feelings about the scene in that motel room bed where Mulder tells Scully that there has to be an end and that she should go home. So I will happily talk about that!

I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely love their dynamic throughout the episode. And I love that moment when she comes to him feeling sick and he lays down on the bed with her and holds her and tells her there's more for her, that he wants her to have more. He wants her to be happy. There is so much love between them there, and it's so strong and so gentle at the same time, it's one of the most moving and beautiful moments between them without a doubt and I love it and it never fails to make me cry.

But. I still have very ambivalent feelings about the whole arc with Scully wanting to be a mother. NOT with the motel room scene (I love that one), but specifically with the arc. These feelings have nothing to do with the show or the characters specifically, and it's not an issue I had with it when it aired, but rather something that's only begun bothering me recently. I just sometimes wish that they hadn't introduced it at all, or done it better. For the simple reason that not all women want to be mothers, or they decide against it for other reasons -- like feeling passionate about their work and making that their priority, which is a perfectly valid reason to decide against something you might want very badly otherwise. And sometimes it doesn't sit quite right with me, especially in light of CC's general take on women, that eventually Scully simply has to want to have a child. I may be wrong about this and this might be the most unpopular opinion ever, and that's fine, but it reads to me a bit like "she must want this because she is a woman and women want kids."

The way it's written, it makes absolute sense for Mulder to tell her that there has to be an end, that he wants her to have everything she wishes for. I just sometimes wish for a version of events where we had seen her more conflicted about it. Where she could have made it clear in the moment that if it came to a choice between that dream and their mission, she'd choose to continue their work, with him. I also wish for a version of events where Mulder could have admitted that having a family is his dream as much as it is hers, because why does it have to be the woman who wants a family while the man wants to keep saving the world? (Just as a personal aside, I have friends who are right now getting divorced because he wants kids and she doesn't. It just rubs me the wrong way sometimes when the wish for a family is the woman's job.)

BUT! I know that Mulder and Scully are not in the same place emotionally about their work. Mulder has been committed to it pretty much his entire life. It's never been just a job for him. It always has to come first, and whatever dreams he may also have, he cannot give up the quest for the truth. Scully believes in the work too, it's important to her, she has suffered so much because of it and never stopped going. That says everything we need to know about how important it is to her. She doesn't want to give it up. It's been more than a job for her too for a long time. Her wish for a child is never about not being committed to what they do. And I think it becomes clear enough over time that Mulder does indeed want the same things she does, it's just more between the lines, less obvious. I do believe that under different circumstances, they would have decided to have a family together -- we see more to that effect later on in season 8 and at the end of season 9, not to mention in the revival. Which is why my issues with all of it are more about the way the story is handled, and less about it existing in the first place.

One more But: I do like the fact that a woman who loves her work and is fully committed to it can still want to be a mother. Both things can be true. And that can lead to great personal conflict. And that is a very interesting thing to explore. I just also feel like that is exactly what they didn't do. They sort of just stop at "she wants this one thing and also this other thing." She wants to keep fighting and searching for truths and she wants a kid, but what that would mean for her future is something that is never really properly addressed. It's never properly addressed what it does to her feelings, being torn between two things that mean so much to her. But that would have been really interesting to see. What does she actually want? What is going on in her heart and her soul?

Still, that scene, Requiem as a whole, is still very well done, in my opinion. Within the context of the story they're telling, that scene with them curled up in bed together is beautiful. It's as close to a declaration of love as we get at that point. And he's talking about her health as much as about her wish for a child. He's telling her that her happiness and safety is more important to him than anything else in the world. Her reaction is to hold onto his hand and touch her lips to it -- she doesn't want to go. He means as much to her as she means to him. His happiness and safety come first for her too. And I think they both know in that moment that she would never do what he's suggesting. I don't think she'd ever leave and let him continue on his own. He says "There's so much more you need to do with your life. There's so much more than this." But what is "more?"

Long story short: I love the scene in the motel room. I love the love between them and the tenderness of that moment. But I wish CC had been better at writing women, and had taken more time throughout all the episodes that address this to flesh out that part of the story, both for Scully and for Mulder.

Please, feel absolutely free to disagree with me, I never mind discussing these things or even being convinced otherwise. This is just my take on it.

[hausofmamadas]

Plastic Gangster | Anatoly Givenchy Romanov

(He is modern man but don’t even think about trying to play tickle fuck with him bc he is serious man too)

The Gentleman, Episode 3 - Where’s My Weed At?

∴

So, remember how I actually despised this tiny, angry little mess of a man until I’d lain eye on his alter ego. Well comrades, this is that alter ego.

And what exactly is it about this scene that turned me around so drastically? where literally like if my body were a car, my brain’s grabbing the steering wheel and pistol whipping it, full 180 in the opposite direction as fast as Tam’s pitching that McLaren around the parking lot ?

OHHHH I don't know.... could it be the over-the-top, Boris-and-Natasha, his-and-hers Russian accents? Could it be the fact that they clearly do it against Eddie's explicit instructions? that he prob recited like a drill sergeant in the car no doubt, to avoid another I-just-killed-someone-E-I-E-I-O!!!!! on the way there ORRR could it be the fact that for whatever reason the shit seems to work? bc like somehow it does work, and in a way that Eddie's strategy was super .... not, at least in terms of getting them into the building.

Idk if Mama Mercy was so put off by the accents, she just wanted to get the sale over with, or if she heard the words, "Little Leopard Lady” and/or “FUCK. money” come out of ‘Anatoly's’ mouth, and decided that only someone with more money than God would say some edge-lord shit like that out loud. Whatever it is? It fucking works. Mercy caves. Okay and she was stone-walling tf out of Eddie who's wildly capable of doing pretty much anything and everything else except this. But for Anatoly it’s red carpet, the whole PIA pain-in-the-ass VIP treatment.

And I think the reason this success is so remarkable is bc at this point, the stakes are high, and yet the bar for Freddie is so low, it might as well be the core of the earth. Like he's managed to fuck things up so consistently and with such catastrophic results, if there was a drunk, coke-sniffing, constantly-crying version of the Tasmanian devil, Fredward would be Her, okay. But this is one thing he does correctly, the first thing in the entire show (this is ep 3 of 7, for reference), the first moment when he shows a modicum of value besides being hilarious for reasons that are usually-but-not-always accidental to the scooby gang as it were.

And honestly?? it kinda makes sense that, in this case, he comes thru in a way Eddie can't. Bc what the actual fuck has Fredward Horniman been doing all his life, if not bullshitting bouncers and promoters, charming them enough so they lift up those red, velvet ropes to exclusive (read: pretentious) underground clubs, boxing matches, raves, bath houses, key parties bc no one will convince me he and Tam don't love a good key party once in a while. No one will, it just won't happen like Freddie has CONMAN written all over him, doesn't he? Not necessarily like good? con-man? okay he's no Madoff, right but good enough that he can make you think for a split second, if you really tilt your head and squint your eyes, that this person must be telling the truth.

Bc only someone telling the truth would feel comfortable acting that fucking unbelievable.

Like who would look this woman in the face and say without an ounce of irony, “listen, in my life funny little lady, if you are not safe…. You are DED” I mean the only thing missing is him dragging his finger across his neck, all miming a guillotine. FREDDIE. FREDDIE FUCKING HORNIMAN, THATS WHO.

Beautifultropicalfish Edwina makes the mistake of trying to sell a believable story, a lie grounded in too much reality, when it's clear that the clientele for Mama Mercy prob consists of like eccentric arms-dealers and kooky billionaires ppl with some really sus, really weird, uniquely terrifying ‘hobbies’ that none of us ever want to know about but that will inevitably be the subject of a true-crime doc on HBO someday. Like this woman speaks to the most mind-blowingly ridiculous men on the daily.

And is Eddie over here with his sexy professor cardigan and sexy look-im-such-a-bookworm glasses, rolling up to negotiate on behalf of some white-collar-crime, new-money, C-suite, tech exec with ‘only’ a seven-figure salary, when really he needs to be coming at this with more of that oil tycoon, crimes-against-humanity, Fuck-You-Money energy that Freddie's serving.

Eddie also just can’t seem to suppress the Narc vibes that are seeping from his pores and tbh it’s actually what makes him such a great gangster but not a great con man. Bc Mercy sniffs him out p much every time he speaks, like so👆

Now, it's unclear if Freddie enacts Operation!BorisandNatasha in response to Eddie's evident flailing or if he planned to do it the entire time but either way, you cannot tell me he's not responsible for them being able to get into the chop shop to test drive that car. Bc again, it’s not enough to just walk into this place and act like you belong there. In this case, acting like you belong has to be: giving a ruthless, machete-wielding murderer a cute nickname like “little leopard lady,” claiming that she “laaaavs” when you call her that even tho she seems less than enthused, pitching a fit about wanting something less “poof-poof,” and “more sexier,” and spitting general bars like, “don’t play tickle fuck with me, lady” BC WHO TF SAYS SHIT LIKE THAT UNLESS YOU HAVE MORE MONEY THAN GOD AND HEAVEN AND ALL THE COSMOS

And bc it's not entirely clear whether or not Freddie decided to do this on the fly, I feel liek it’s one of those choose-your-own adventures situations. So I, for one, choose to believe that this was a plan deployed in the face of Eddie's plan not working, and for all of his flaws, Freddie is savvy enough to know how to bullshit someone to get his foot in the door. Bc I firmly believe he can be competent juuuuuuust long enough and lbr probly only long enough to do that.

I mean cmon look at Mercy👇you know she thinks he’s a lil funny

And as if the above display of uncharacteristic competence wasn’t enough, I’m more endeared to Freddie bc of how crazy he is about his wife. And why tf wouldn’t he be when she’s clearly way too cool for him which he seems to be vaguely aware of just casual busting out these moves ripped straight from from stunt choreography of like the fucking Italian Job or something and for like exactly no???????reason????whatsoever?????

Which brings me to the next point bc can we talk for a bajillion yrs about Tamzin is out-of-fucking-nowhere an incredible stunt!driver/renaissance!woman??? and they drop that on us and move on like I'm not asking a bajillion questions like whywhenandhow’d she learn to do this????

Like???? was she once, in her early 20s, engaged to an F1 racecar driver who taught her all the Ways of the Track before he tragically died in an accident, and in her grief, sought solace in a boy named Freddie, whomst she met at a race once, and then later married??? Was she a stunt double who worked on hollywood sets, appearing in some of the most critically lauded, well-known movies, before she settled down and married an aristocrat for his money, a boy named Freddie, whomst she met once at an afterparty, and then despite his lack of wealth bc she was in way too deep at that point and made the fatal mistake of actually falling in love later married??? Is she the long, lost daughter of legendary stunt performer, daredevil himself, Evel Kneivel who taught her everything she needed to know about her birthright before shipping her off to boarding school in the UK when she was just a lass, and then grew up and was charmed by a boy named Freddie, whomst she met when her all-girl’s high school or secondary school whatever tf they call it was paired up with his all-boys high school at a cotillion, and then later married???

I NEED ANSWERS, RICHIE. COUGH UP SOME ANSWERS, MAN. OR DON'T, BUT BRING TAM BACK, WE NEED MORE TAM IN S2, IT'S OFFICIALLY A MANDATE.

taglist: @drabbles-mc, @narcolini, @bellinitini, @ashlingiswriting, @when-did-this-become-difficult, @noctuabunda

[selfdestructivecat]

I’ve seen quite a few posts in response to Thomas’ recent video, specifically his year in review. In this video, he discusses the setbacks he’s faced the past few years — such as the quarantine, Joan’s departure, and his own personal doubts and insecurities — and how they impacted the production of Sanders Sides.

And I truly sympathize with him. No, seriously! It’s already difficult to create something this big almost entirely on your own, but I’m sure this year only made things even more difficult. I know I’ve definitely felt insecure to the point of feeling sick when it came to things I created, so I can empathize with the enormous amount pressure he must be feeling.

However, many posts I’ve seen following this video are saying things along the lines of “If people still criticize Thomas after this video, then I’m going to lose it” or “Not that people who criticize Thomas even care, but Thomas really struggled this year. I’m with him all the way!”, or even “I bet SaSi critics will still demand the finale even after this. I doubt they’ll even watch the video!”

I want to clarify that this is obviously not everyone who doesn’t like ts criticism. People who block criticism blogs and/or the tag, who ignore criticism in general, or who feel upset when they see criticism of something they love: this is not about you. You are absolutely valid and entitled to feeling the way you do, and I hope you have a lovely day. Feel free to block me if that would be good for your mental health. Please take care of yourself. /gen

But to those vocally condemning ts critics, I want to make several things clear.

First of all, you are lumping everyone who criticizes the show in with people who demand the finale with no regard for Thomas’ well-being, for the well-being of his crew, and for basic common sense. While many people are upset that the finale isn’t out yet, we aren’t specifically mad that we don’t have a completed video to watch; rather, we are frustrated with what this says about the SaSi crew, their work ethic, and how they treat fans of the show.

We aren’t upset that we can’t watch the finale right now. We are upset that we’ve gotten very few updates about the show during this period between canon episodes. This video provided wonderful insight into why the finale has been delayed, and we would have loved something like this years ago. Obviously it didn’t have to be a 20 minute video, but maybe a Twitter thread? Something small that made us feel heard?

Hell, even announcing an official hiatus would have satisfied the vast majority of critics (myself included), instead of throwing SaSi into this limbo of “Oh it’s going to be finished this year, we promise- oh whoops, never mind! Next year for sure!” It’s been a constant chain of broken promises, and we were more than happy to give the crew some grace the first few times, but after a while, a repeated mistake becomes a pattern. And this pattern is not pretty.

We are upset that the crew seems incredibly disorganized (going back to the lack of updates, and of course taking into account how we haven’t gotten even a single part of the finale in five years), which could affect the quality of this series we all love so dearly. beauty-and-passion has spoken about this a lot (and is a lot more eloquent than me lmao, please go check out their stuff!) The most recent Christmas video seems to demonstrate that the series may be on the right track, and I will admit I was wrong in regards to this video, but the Inside Out video is a mess in so many ways. Even if this doesn’t prove a decline in quality, it certainly indicates a lack of consistency, which can be just as damning for a series.

We are upset that, while SaSi is in this limbo, Thomas seems to have been focusing on his other projects without telling us about this change in priority. He is welcome to pursue other projects, obviously. I’m thrilled that he is having fun with Roleslaying with Roman and My Roommate is Hades. But these new projects have come at the cost of Sanders Sides content, which also points towards a lack of organization. Some clarity towards which projects Thomas chooses to focus on would have been wonderful and greatly appreciated, so that we know not to expect something we won’t receive. And hey, maybe if we knew not to expect SaSi content until much later, maybe we wouldn’t have been constantly asking why we weren’t receiving SaSi content?

(And this is not an excuse for aggressively demanding content, obviously. But I feel like people who are confused and frustrated at not receiving something promised to them are justified in these feelings.)

And maybe we’re jumping to conclusions in many regards. I won’t pretend that we are prophets who can peer into Thomas’ mind and know what he’s thinking and feeling at all times. But it’s pretty damn difficult to say that NONE of the above could suggest that Sanders Sides isn’t held in the same regard as it once was. Hell, Thomas even admits in the video that he doesn’t feel as connected with these characters as he once did.

Second, many people attacking critics are also quick to drag their character. We are impatient, greedy, selfish, and cruel. We don’t care about Thomas; we only care about the end product! More Sanders Sides at any cost! We don’t like critical thinking, since we obviously didn’t watch the video; we only want to find mean things to say about Thomas and the show! We don’t like engaging in civil debate with our fellow Fanders who may disagree with our opinions; we only want to make other people feel bad, and to make others hate the show, too!

Well, guess what? You’re doing to us exactly what you think we’re doing to Thomas: you’re assuming the absolute worst of us and looking for any reason to drag us down.

We are critics. We analyze media (media that we love, mind you) and we acknowledge that it isn’t perfect, that the creators aren’t perfect, and we point it out. But we still love it anyway, because to truly love something is to love it with its flaws, to know that it could be better, to brainstorm how it could reach its true potential, and to keep doing so because you believe in this potential.

We aren’t trying to take away the joy you feel from Sanders Sides. So please don’t try to take away ours.

[confundida25]

My hero academia and the Straight agenda

Ok, listen

I have seen a lot of Anime, I had seen Anime for more than 20 years, I hear all the excuses for the poorly written female characters in shonen, all the stupid contrived ways the protagonist and his lame love interest get together in the last second of the last episode because this is a shonen this is not a shojo we don’t have time for silly little romance plots discourse. How it is not that the protagonist is gay, is just that romance is not his priority, and let me tell you that excuse doesn’t work with my Hero academia.

In My Hero Academia, we follow a bunch of teenage kids in their first year of high school, which is a coming-of-age history. 7 seasons and more than 140 episodes, now, I have not read the manga this is only an analysis of the anime.

Now, in the class 1-A, we have 20 students, 6 girls and 12 boys. Did all these girls and boys have a romantic storyline? No of course not that would be insane.

BUT all of them in some way or another talk or act in their view of romance, lets discuss about it, i have nothing better to do with my life and this show is living rent free in my head.

First, the girls, we have, along the seasons multiple times of the girls talking about crushes, about boys, who the cute boys are, we usually see them gossip and whispering about it, hell we have an entire subplot of our only female villain been crazy about her romantic feeling, almost as if this show were written for a middle age man who hasn’t never touch the female experience, but that is beside the point. We can tell without a doubt that at least: Ashido, the invisible girl, and Uraraka like and want male attention, I´M NOT SAYING THAT THEY WANT TO BE HARRAS, I'm saying that they pretty much like things like a boy telling them they look pretty in a nice dress, ok? Are we OK?

Now the boys, Mineta is a caricature of what a teenage boy is, I must say I remember being in middle school and hearing some of the boys be gross about the girls and plan elaborate ruses to harras them, sadly that happened, I also worked as a high school teacher for a few years and there are boys (and even men) who are like him, so yea that.

Besides Mineta, who other boys crave female attention? (in not a creepy way)

Kaminari is mostly the usual Mineta companion in his shenanigans a long with Sero.

Among them we have Tokoyami, he never participates in the russes of the others BUT when they go and examine all class 1A rooms, he along with the Octopus (I don’t remember his name sorry) says that the girl's rooms are “A forbidden paradise” and they are excited to be allowed to see them. Again, pretty standard teenage boy behavior, the girls are equally excited to take a peak in the boy's rooms. Tokoyami also comments in how, when he is carrying Jiro into the battlefield that her but is doing stuff to him, so please stay still to which she responds that he is a stupid boy or something like that, I saw it in Japanese with subtitles in Spanish please don’t fight me.

We also have Izuku.

Izuku Midoriya is a shy teenage boy, he reacts in panic and immediately flushes and stutters when a girl or a woman shows him any affection, we saw this with Uraraka, with Toga, with the girl from the first move, etc, he likes female attention, he thing about the female attention as something positive and desirable

Iida is a strange case, he never said anything explicit about the girls, and he never participates with his classmates in any elaborate ruses because he is the class president and in general a very strict dude, BUT we have that weird exchange when he goes with Midorya to visit Hatsume and make a super weird comment about Hatsume boobs. Like, honestly I don´t know what the hell was that.

Sugarman likes to bake and is more than happy to give pastries to all the girls and feels overwhelmingly good by their response. He seems like a nice dude.

We have explicit confirmation with  Kaminari and Kirishima, they are explicit in their feelings, Kaminari has a crush on Jiro and Kirishima with Ashido.

I'm not saying all these characters are straight, they could be bi, but in the text, in the actuall Text of the show, all of them at least want the opposite sex's positive attention.

Who is left?

The guy that talks to animals, tailman, Aoyama, Todoroki and Bakugo.

Todoroki is a special case because he has his issues, he doesn’t respond like others to social clues, you can read his interaction and admiration toward Momo as romantic or you cannot, I think is pretty ambiguous and we cannot with all true said that he likes girls. He likes positive attention in general, he likes people and taking care of his own business.

So ok, the guy who talks with animals is a shy introverted kiddo, and tailman I don’t know if I´m misremembering but I'm pretty sure that he joined their classmate to ogg the girls during the sports festival when Mineta and company trick them to dress as cheerleaders, I could be wrong.

Aoyama is mostly explicitly gay, or you know, the most explicit gay a shonen anime could be.

But they are minor characters (except Todoroki), is understandable that we are not sure what is their deal, again they are 20 1A students and like a trillion other characters.

But Bakugo Katsuki is not a minor character. He is pretty much a co-protagonist. And we never. Ever. Watch him wanting female attention in any way, nop, zero, nothing. So, it must be delivered.

And this is not me being delusional and claiming Bakudeku is real, this is me confronting the facts.

Bakugo's group of friends are the boys, the bros, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero, and he never join them in anything related to the girls.

His interactions with women are few, first, his battle against Uraraka in the sports festival, now, Kaminari also fights a girl and he slips a comment about how pretty his opponent is, Bakugo never comments on Uraraka´s body, he has the opportunity, he doesn’t.

We see him concentrate in the fight, he doesn’t want to lose, not because he doesn’t want to lose to a girl but because he doesn’t want to lose to anybody, he goes hard on her and the audience buuuu him, even his friends call him out in his behavior, to which he responded that Uraraka was not weak, he must take the fight seriously, I know I know Feminist icon Bakugo Katsuki (I'm joking).

We have another interaction with that girl from the other school, the sexy lady that creates illusions that were part of the group of people who fail the test for the provisional license. She pretty much flirts with Bakugo and he pretty much ignores her.

Bakugo is a character who wants fame, he wants power and glory and money, when he is being a brat in the first episode he rants about how he is going to be the number one hero and he is going to be rich and famous, he wants all those significant of success.

He never talks about women in those fantasies.

Girls pretty much don’t matter to him.

But does he ever crave Male attention?

Yes, he does, he likes it when his minions follow him around and obey his orders, he is tormented by Izuku's admiration, he wants all might attention.

I'm not saying that his friendship with the Bakugo squad is not genuine or that he had a crush on All Mighty (he totally had one when he was little and grew out of it but that is my headcanon), im saying that he had no female friends, he doesn’t want or need or crave female attention, his necessity to be the best comes from himself and other men.

So, there is nothing in the text that suggests that Bakugo Katsuki is a straight boy, yeah I know, I also had read the ton of Bakugoxfemalereader works floating around, they are good and fun, but they are an extrapolation of the character.

Nothing in the text ever suggests that Bakugo Katsuki likes girls and that is fact

[alltingfinns]

TEH, part 3

I wasn’t sure how much there was left after the bonfire scene but apparently there’s about a half hour left, meaning these parts are in neat thirds.

I write as if anyone else knows what I’m talking about when these drop randomly once a year or so.

Sherlock remained more in focus from John’s perspective.

Still so cute how Sherlock immediately must hustle his parents out when his crush heterosexual former roommate shows up.

Mum putting her foot in the doorway in case there was any doubt who’s the “sherlock” of these two.

“Your parents? Your parents? Those were your parents?”

John who desperately wants to understand Sherlock. How much he would have wanted to interrogate them, I’m sure. But then he has to giggle at the absurdity of the Holmes brothers having such (seemingly) ordinary parents.

And then the hurt. “Did they know too?”

“So that’s why they weren’t at the funeral!” Because if they had been, John would have recognized them now of course. But also he probably thought they had died or something, making their existence as ordinary people even more shocking.

“Wasn’t working for me.” If Molly and John not mirrors then why this exact line. Why not “Well, everybody hated it” or “Didn’t fit me” or “Kept tickling my lips”.

Just saying. Plenty of options.

“Last night” “Too nebulous” goes on with the case.

There’s all the likelihood that, like with Sherlock’s survival, the writers just didn’t care who put John in the bonfire. They just wanted John in the bonfire. So that Sherlock could heroically rescue him.

And yes I was thinking about how this episode takes place “today” as in 5th November as in Guy Fawke’s Day. (Though the cool kids call it John Johnson’s day.)

Am I just that Johnlocked that I find it adorable that Sherlock angled the laptop so that John would see more/be more included?

Sumatra road is 28 minutes by car from Westminister. Definitely not below it. Gotta take some creative liberties for those sweet canon references.

Why hasn’t Moran just left town entirely? Oh well.

A bit of illegal breaking and entering as people walk by without giving them a second glance. That’s big cities for you.

I forgot how far they have to go through this.

Love that John got to comment on the demolition charges.

Ah, I get it! Moran still has to be in like radio range or something.

“Why do you think I know what to do?” Really, Sherlock? Really?

“And a soldier, as you keep reminding us all!” Sherlock why are you being so petty, you love him being a former soldier.

051113 is the bomb code.

I just love the line “Use your mind palace” because it makes me think of how intelligence is weirdly used as a superpower in media.

Also that you can vaguely hear Sherlock saying “off” as he’s panicking with his hands around the bomb.

John is so fucking smart but also maybe he also just has faith in Sherlock being clever enough. But anyway just cutting through the bullshit, this is a trick.

Maybe Sherlock is underhanded here. But John finds this sort of stuff difficult.

So here we get John Watson’s version of Dean Winchester’s purgatory prayer. “Of course I forgive you”

This explanation is definitely unreliable narrator. Sherlock wasn’t quite as in control as he likes to portray himself so of course he makes it out otherwise. But he’s convinced that Moriarty died but again: A. Singular. Body.

This explanation means that it was John that most importantly had to buy it. Possibly because close friend, with medical certification who Sherlock nonetheless felt he couldn’t trust the acting skills of.

I think this scene happened (more or less) and sometime after the proper end to the episode. But like even Anderson(Philip) noticed that the explanation is lacking.

Sherlock laughing like the utter little shit he is.

“There’s always an off switch.” Say that to the undefusable bomb. Although technically it did have an off switch, it was just too complicated to be tried without knowing the proper sequence.

Getting John to laugh even when he’s angry with him.

They really are the right kind of wrong for each other.

Mycroft being les miserable. XD

“Weddings. Not really my thing.”

You’re going to be planning and arranging the whole thing you miserable bastard!

A difference between Molly and John. She went for the suspiciously similar substitute, he went for (what he believed to be) the exact antithesis.

Oh my little lestrolly heart at Lestrade asking if Molly and Tom are serious. Although he is likely doing it because he is the one who would comment on the elephant.

“Real life is rarely so neat.” The goddamn bonfire.

They’re literally saying that the one true explanation for Sherlock surviving is that John asked him to.

“Time to be Sherlock Holmes.” *wears the damn hat*

Sherlock’s mind palace is certainly nicer than Magnussen’s.

[wouriqueen]

Okay so I'll obviously need to mull this S02E05 episode over but first impressions.

General thoughts

Dubai trio my beloved. This ep is a fave right now despite the lack of Claudia.

Louis' memories. I still believe the showrunners know Louis and Armand staying together without Louis having some doubt about his involvement in Claudia's death would be boring, but regardless of what happens later, I'm glad we at least know Louis remembered Armand's involvement in Claudia's death until 1973!

2 amnesics at the table. Love the concept of them trying to recover their memories together.

Acting off the charts in San Fran . Louis seductive, then manic and resentful, then drugged up and scornful, then back to self-containment and the careful navigation of his relationship with Armand. Armand standing there so fucking full of RESENTMENT in that first shot of him at the apartment, the anger the pain the JEALOUSY the contempt then the tenderness as he's about to kill Daniel. Excellent.

Still not a fan of how they executed Armand's pupils vibrating but the concept itself is awesome and the timing here was excellent.

Armand and Louis

Worst argument in this entire show. Some heinous shit has been said before but damn. So violent, especially Louis. Horrible.

The dynamics were dynamiquing. I'll have more thoughts later but Armand accepting Louis' "authority" only when it's working in favor of their relationship stood out to me.

Renewal of vows? That coffin scene. The tender hand on the cheek. Louis making it clear to Armand he has NOT "crawled even an inch forward" towards forgiveness for Claudia... yes choosing him again over Lestat again, it seems right now. This looked like a renewal of their commitment ("Yes, Maître" parallel to the bench scene included - that scene was their real beginning).

Armand

Armand is so HUNGRY. For love and acceptance. It's almost ugly to see. Like I've seen book-readers say it but only now am I feeling it and if only for that... yeah. Fave episode. Fave character. He's got me here I'm obsessed.

ARMAND HORROR MOVIE VILLAIN YESSSSS! THE CHAIR TORTURE. THE CRAMPS TORTURE. THE UNSPOOLING OF THE TAPES WITH HIS MIND. The vibe was awesome too, with Daniel's sobs, Louis' pained grunts and the TV all in background of Armand's interrogation.

Daniel and Louis

Danlou. Did this show give me Danlou without giving me Danlou?

"Just make me your Claudia, your Lestat" This was insane like I know he was on drugs but to think he said that AFTER Louis told him the whole story all the way up to Claudia getting on the train. The IMPLICATIONS for how he envisioned their relationship after turning...

More Danlou. Daniel looked disappointed when finding out he and Louis didn't sleep together and Louis jokingly asked "do you wanna do it now"? Yes that's how I saw and I'm dying on this hill. In the flashbacks he was sooo eager.

Even more Danlou... I LOVED that Louis' words are revealed to be what kept Daniel afloat like maybe Armand's prediction would have been correct without it!

Daniel

Daniel's relationship to his own sexuality. It was interesting to see the nuance to Daniel's attraction to men like on one hand he was clearly eager to fuck Louis, even before he was given any drugs. Like his first thought seeing the coffin was "we're gonna fuck in it"??? He wanted it BAD. But on the other hand the way he asks Louis if he's in San Fran because of the large gay community is huuuh a little condescending? We knew about that contradiction but it was interesting to see it live.

Sex and addiction. Most importantly, I think his addiction really muddled his views on sex as well, as in, having that transactional relationship to sex, not even really as a choice but to deal with his addiction, must not have helped him to get clarity on the matter. The fact that he so quickly propositioned Armand to save his life shows he did that very, very often.

I liked the empowerment in this episode. The Talamasca gave him clues, he has a lead to follow, so he can do more than react in anger now and go back to being a journalist. But not just a journalist. The connection between him and Louis flourished. I'm actually very worried for him now LOL the green eyed monster in the room with them.......

[bluemooniegif]

besides bungo stray dogs, can u rcm me some manga having thought-provoking theme like that

ABSOLUTELY I CAN!! here are some manga, book and movie recs for you, cause I couldn't help myself :>

MANGA RECS:

1: The Case Study of Vanitas (Vanitas no Carte)

I knowww it's a cliche that BSD fans must also enjoy VNC, but it's genuinely just AHH so good!! it currently sits at 62.5 chapters (10 volumes & 9 uncollected chapters) and it has a 2-season anime adaptation. it's the second manga series by Jun Mochizuki, who's also well-known for her series Pandora Hearts, and is still ongoing.

set in 19th-century France, our story begins with Noe, a young vampire, who's excitedly travelling to Paris for the first time. in his travels, he encounters the strange and enigmatic Vanitas, a human who somehow possesses the power of the Vampire of the Blue Moon- a feared being shunned by the rest of the vampire world.

we learn from the very beginning that Noe is recounting this story to us, and that he kills Vanitas with his own hands- but why? how? nobody knows, but we're bound to find out!

2. Attack on Titan

I doubt anyone was expecting me to mention this one, because it has quite a reputation for being gore-filled and action-packed, but when I say this literally changed my life I'm really not kidding (I wouldn't have this blog or be into anime at all if not for AOT!). it's a completed story, with a four-season anime (including 3 OVA episodes) and 139 manga chapters (in the main storyline; there are multiple spin-offs and 2 bonus mangas/light novels).

many years ago, the final remnants of humanity were forced to flee into a city surrounded by three giant walls. these walls are the only things keeping humanity from perishing at the hand of the titans, giant humanoid figures who hunt and eat them. but a young boy, Eren, wants nothing more than to see the world beyond the wall- until a titan taller than their walls breaks into the city, throwing humanity (and Eren's life) into disarray.

though it's true that a large chunk of this animanga is action, the lore is incredible. I can't say too much without spoiling, but the thought-provoking aspects aren't talked about nearly as much as I think they should be. once you've finished watching or reading, I highly recommend you watch this video, which is one of my favourite video essays of all time!

BOOK RECS:

1. Slaughterhouse Five

this is one of my favourite books of all time, and it's only 177 pages, so it's a super quick read! not only is it severely anti-war, but it's deeply though-provoking. I think about it every day. I quote it regularly. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially now, with everything happening in the world.

I honestly don't have words for how much I love it, so here's the synopsis on Goodreads:

Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

2. No Longer Human

there are so many editions of this, and I would recommend all of them- this is my other favourite book of all time, by the way. I may be barking up the wrong tree when I tell a BSD fan to read Dazai, one of the most accessible and relatable Japanese authors for a Western audience, but hey, I've got to remind you just in case you haven't given it a shot.

No Longer Human follows the life of Yozo Oba, a boy born into a big rich family, who constantly feels at-odds with the world around him. it's an exploration of mental illness, social isolation, self-expression, and compassion. I actually have an entire youtube video talking about it and how BSD-Dazai reflects Yozo as much as irl-Dazai, and it's my pride and joy so please go watch it!

MOVIE RECS:

Okay, I only have one rec for you, but this movie haunts me (in the best way possible):

Forgotten (기억의 밤)

I really need more people to watch this actually because holy shit it was amazing and nobody talks about it!! WATCH IT!!! PLEASE!!!!

Jinseok watches his brother get kidnapped right before his eyes, and it powerless to do anything. 19 days later, he returns, and... something is different about him. Jinseok is determined to uncover the mystery surrounding his kidnapping.

the twists in this are actually insane. I can't tell you anything aside from the synopsis without spoiling major plot points. if you only take one recommendation I bed you to take this one.

okay that's all bye!!

[luxlightly]

Bob's Burgers and self reflection and improvement as an act of love

More Bob's Burgers posting because I've been on a Bob's Burgers kick lately.

You know what's really nice about the climax of the movie? When they're in the clam car in the hole?(Keeping it vague to try not to spoil anything major for people who haven't seen it)

Bob works out the issue of what he's been doing wrong in his relationship with Linda all by himself. And takes it upon himself to improve. The moment of realization that he's been relying on her upbeat attitude without reciprocating the same level of optimism for her is not because she tells him. It's not because anyone helps him get to that conclusion.

He just talks through it and figures it out himself and makes an immediate change. He doesn't need to have his hand held and guided through the idea he needs to improve himself.

"You don't give up! You're Linda! I'm the one who gives up! And you tell me everything will be okay and get me through it until the next thing when I give up again and oh my God saying this out loud I realize that must be terrible for you! You shouldn't only be encouraging me all the time that must be so exhausting!"

Linda prides herself on her ability to be motivating and on her upbeat attitude. And so it's easy for them to fall into a pattern of "Bob gives up and Linda inspires him to keep trying". Linda enjoys being able to do that. It makes her feel proud of herself. Bob on the other hand has some pretty deep anxieties. It's easy to see how this became routine through no fault of either of them. Bob deeply appreciates Linda's optimism and is very vocal about that but, just by talking himself through it, realizes that he's been taking advantage of it. In trying to praise it, he realizes the dynamic isn't fair.

The basic dynamic of "Linda usually cheers up Bob" is not even a bad one. She LIKES to do that. And it's generally easy for her to do because of her natural optimism. There's no reason that dynamic should go away entirely. But Bob realized it had become "Linda ALWAYS is the one to cheer up Bob" and that's too unbalanced and therefore needs to improve.

And he immediately changes his behavior even though Linda tries to say "oh. It's fine. It's not that bad. I'm used to it."

He essentially just says

"No. Being married to me shouldn't be a chore. It shouldn't just be draining for you. It needs to be a balance and a partnership. You need to be able to be the one who needs encouragement sometimes and I need to step up to be the one to give it to you and that's what I'm going to do starting right now!"

And that's just such a wonderful way of depicting a reasonable problem in a relationship and and emotionally mature response to it. It makes total sense how the level of encouragement between the two became unbalanced. It's a relatively small issue and neither of them is at fault for it. But it's draining for Linda, emotionally. And that's not fair.

And, most importantly for me, the conflict of "Linda is giving more emotional energy to Bob than vice versa" is not solved, as it so often is in media, by Linda giving even more emotional energy to explain the problem to Bob and possibly even fight about it, then guide him through improving himself.

It's solved with Bob recognizing the problem on his own and taking immediate steps to improve himself.

Bob and Linda are such a great example of a couple who has been together a long time because of the fact that they truly deeply love each other. We're never left to doubt that for even a second in the show. We're shown it constantly. And sometimes love is work. But they're happy to do it because they deeply enjoy each other's company and they constantly inspire the other to improve themselves. And that's refreshing.

It's something we've seen from even the very first episode of the show, too. In the first episode, Linda admits to Bob that he's not a great kisser compared to her ex fiance. And the episode ends with them kissing and her noticing he's improved and he explains he looked up tips on the internet and has been practicing. Even though she told him earlier that it wasn't that important to her, compared to things like how passionate Bob is, he goes out of his way to improve himself for her. And not to prove a point. Not to show up the ex or because he's comparing himself to the ex. He is proud of himself but he didn't do it to be proud of himself. He did it because he wants Linda to get good kisses.

The idea of self improvement being an act of love is established from the first moments of the show and continues being fundamental to it all theses seasons later. And that's so great.

[horizon-verizon]

I'm seeing people claim Daemon has been grooming Rhaenyra since she was a little girl both in the book and the show but that's not true? In the book he gets banished when she was 8 and doesn't return to King's Landing until she's 15. And in the show we have no idea what their relationship looked like pre episode 1 and it's implied he spends a lot of time away from court.

I wrote about the medieval ages of consent, ages of marriage, and how they can relate to thoughts of grooming in the universe of ASoiaF HERE.

You are correct, but it's after Daemon leaves KL in anger at Rhaenyra being named heir that he voluntarily leaves with Mysaria to Dragonstone ("A Question of Succession"):

It is when Viserys later hears that Daemon gave Mysaria an egg for their unborn child that Daemon is actually exiled ("A Question of Succession"):

Ultimately, I think that if the frame of mind for characters default to how little choice a lot really have in choice of partner (especially for women & girls) is going to affect how they think about childhood and be more open to those relationships we'd avoid, condemn, call the police for. In other words, before I hate Daemon for his maybe grooming maybe not grooming of anyone only-specificially-uniquely (for no other reason), it would behoove me to really think about HOW AND WHY he or any person can marry/fuck much younger people & get rid of that problem. Because that larger force is guiding these people's actions more than them thinking "this is a child, I love to fuck children, lemme fuck this child".

Rhaenyra was born in 97 A.C. and was proclaimed Viserys' heir at the age of 8 in 105 A.C., which also means Daemon left that 1st time in 105 A.C. Daemon did not come back to KL until 111 A.C., when she was 14-15 and she had decided to wear her red-black dress to unsubtly declare her opposition against Alicent and the greens. Daemon was not there often enough or around Rhaenyra enough to have that much of an influence before he came back. Again, for BEFORE.

He also did not begin to give her gifts and attention like what the text explicitly says he did after he came back, which implies EITHER that he didn't do that as often when she was younger OR if/when he did no one thought that it was a weird or suspicious bc family members gives gifts to each other.

The following is what he did after he came back, in terms of what would be identified as grooming and would alert many readers ("A Question of Succession"):

Intermission (ignore, this popped into my mind when I was thinking of my response)

Ironically, Rhaenyra's red-black dress moment almost matches and simultaneously contrasts with Jaehaerys' 14-15 yr old working harder to become a "better" king by working on his swordplay, fighting, bearing, etc. as a way to reduce and put to bed doubts over his leadership, referring to the medieval belief that a king must be not just physically able but also strong and good with a sword (hence the ableist rhetoric against Daeron II, no matter if he was disabled or not). It's not about truths so much as manipulating and controlling the image--Jaehaerys barely actually went to war during his entire reign. He did it once on his dragon with his sons, it was barely a battle AND he, as a male, is encouraged to learn swordplay (the avenue towards respect and trustworthiness on a ruler's capability in such a society) more than if he were a man, but his reign nor right to rule at that moment wasn't really as under attack much as when he was younger. And here Rhaenyra must form some sort of self-defense and advocacy, some show of strength both for herself and to put on for others. Without swordplay or participating in martial arts (things discouraged for women), she shows strength where she needs to--in court, through dress. Social "performance" can mean different things but stems from the ability to be what one uses to self-affirm/self-advocate, bc it's about controlling one's own image and having some sort of awareness of your relationship with those actors/people you need to control/manipulate/influence. And those we are able to look at a distance from as "children" are pushed into such positions bc of the society they live in. We can't refute its importance in social interactions and politics nor how those people we real, modern people call children have been involved with such practices as if they were adults--even nonsexually--in ASoIaF.

END of Intermission

Grooming can happen at any child age as long as it is an extended period of time because it needs constant reinforcement.

Viserys had been planning--with the council--for some time as to who 15-year-old Rhaenyra should marry. Only a little under a year after Daemon comes back. In 112 A.C.--again, she's 15 here--Daemon was exiled (again) AND she went on an unofficial tour to attract possible admirers & supporters on a semi-official "progress". So that the heir could also "know" her soon-to-be subjects and those subjects would be putting a face to the name of the woman they swore to protect and be loyal to ("A Question of Succession"):

Note how even after Daemon leaves, there is Mushroom's account of Viserys being very worried and angry over Daemon's words/actions AND Eustace's account of Viserys commanding both to never speak about whatever happened, later exiling Daemon. After this event, the court "returned to its customary tranquility" for at least a little under a year before he forced Rhaenyra to marry Laenor.

And it is after he does this that we have two other accounts of how exactly Rhaenyra and Criston finally separated.

And really, Viserys favored her marrying Laenor since a Velaryon alliance was perceived as necessary esp after he spurned a marriage w/Laena: ("A Question of Succession"):

This makes the tour even more likely a means for Rhaenyra to attract favors from her not-"suitors" to build her image, NOT to actually get a suitor to marry.

There is an interesting phenomenon in Rhaenyra going on a tour other than just an heir meeting those she will rule. Twofold: one because she is a woman, and one because of herself and what happened/didn't happen w/Daemon:

she gets to present herself, be charming, and show off her physical beauty, dragon, and clothes as a sort of "treasure" and show why she's called the "Realm's Delight" to make a very feminine-but-desirable picture to her subjects (female paragon of beauty to match the image of a ruler being the "supreme" example of the aristocracy) -> a crossover of sexual desire and the motivation to be loyal to her as a subject when a woman being a ruler is an uncomfortable notion

the idea being to "bait" others in her tour: why would she present herself in such a way if not for marriage prospects, or at least if she "likes" someone she sees, the lords/sons can make a case for their devotion to her; making her visit these lords and their sons is not an event that happens for women and girls and many would feel as if it were some sort of suitor-progress -> thereby, as she's presenting herself as if she were marriageable (a sort of business as usual) and emphasizing her virginity and sexual "purity", she could also be getting ahead of any possible rumors of her lost virginity for the sake of her reputation and future with Laenor.

Of course, we'd have to have evidence of supporting materials that indicate the possibility of Viserys or any of his council being actually this forward-thinking. But that tour really came in handy for Rhaenyra. The timing...

Anyway, yeah, all this indicates that it isn't enough for us to see Daemon give Rhaenyra gifts and pay special attention to her when she's already in a situation where the "childhood" we recognize in her does not have the same meaning as "childhood" for any person in some medieval societies, even with people trying to get their kids married with as little age gaps and as older as possible in noble circles. It certainly shows how sexual purity for girls makes men automatically/likelier and more often seekers of young girls for sexual partners bc it makes a prize/attraction of youth in women/girls more than boys. But we'd have to destroy the entire system and world and/or convert it to a more modern world (doesn't have to be the digital age specifically)--and that's not happening anytime soon within the timeline of Rhaenyra's period.

So the question after identifying Daemon as a groomer is what takes away with that information? Other than hating Daemon--which is your prerogative--in the context of examining the text &SOCIETY, how does it serve us to understand Rhaenyra's story in-text when she must learn/build strength in a world where she must marry and have sexual relations much younger than how we'd want her for her to even gain power (other than explaining how ludicrous that she and all women here are in this)?

la pheacinne states:

All I said is that it doesn't matter in the context of the story because all women got married in their teen years. All. All mariages, all classic love stories basically have a grooming element, and it's so generalised that it looses its value as a point of criticism. Yes, technically, if you sterilise the context and isolate the facts, it could be considered "grooming", yes technically there is a power imbalance, obviously, it's just that these points cannot constitute a valid criticism for the character because in the context of the story, they lose their meaning. They cannot be used as a proof that the character is bad or immoral or a pedophile. [...] The problem with the word "grooming" is that it's not a neutral word. It's a word with a very heavy meaning, that frames an individual who has a perverse, unnatural sexual desire for children whereas the society this individual lives in has decided (fortunately) that these children are not to be considered in a sexual way. So this individual breaks a fundamental moral code of the society they live in, and they do it so skillfully that they go the extra mile as to manipulate their way into basically, committing the crime that constitutes child sex abuse. It is a crime punished by law. You go to prison for it. Everybody knows it is perverse, unnatural behaviour, everybody tries to protect their children from it, and children themselves have a certain knowledge that it is NOT ok for an adult to approach them that way.

AND HERE:

Well GRRM is creepy with age differences, that is a fact. I'm ok if you adress this as a meta commentary. What I mean by a meta commentary here is a commentary on the choices of the author himself and whether these choices are wise/unwise, or if there is a pattern that should be adressed. All of this can be discussed in a meta commentary. Dead Ladies Club was one for example, in a different subject though.