#and that fandom had so much genuine love in it. it really shaped me as a person and i'm glad i was a part of it

[blitzofreeandwild]

HOKAY SO.

I am 99% sure that with how this show likes to do parallels and callbacks that this line?

Yeah, with him saying this right after Stolas was talking about Via, I'm willing to bet money that this is a hint that Barbie and Via are going to be parallels to one another. So I really think they're going to end up having similar growth arcs, both with a narcissistic parent who's swaying their opinion negatively and making them think Stolas/Blitzø caused all of this to happen.

I think that the show is honestly setting it up so that Blitzø is partly able to empathize as well with Stolas as he is because it's such a similar situation to when he had the falling out with his own family. I think Stella will be a parallel to Cash, Via to Barbie, and I think Vassago is going to end up playing a somewhat Fizz-ish role in Stolas' life. I don't know exactly how that's going to play out, but he has the potential with being an old friend who's kinda not really in touch with Stolas as much these days.

Anyway, back to the main point, Barbie. We're not sure exactly what happened when Blitzø went after his mom in the fire, but there was the faint sound of Barbie calling for him. And he definitely blames himself, and his mom is gone. So I think it's pretty safe to say that whatever happened, it was probably extremely traumatizing, didn't make him look good, and I think it's extremely likely that Barbie saw it. Maybe she didn't get the full story, or maybe she saw things from a bad angle and made bad assumptions, I don't know. But I think it's probably safe to say that if Blitzø thinks he's killed their mom? Yeah, I think Barbie thinks that too. That would be enough to cause bad sibling drama on its own. But an abusive parent using something like that to get in your head? OOF.

The thing is, Blitzø doesn't hold any of this against her, and this is a man who can absolutely hold a grudge. *cough* Spring Broken *cough* But Blitzø's still is trying his best to repair things with her, still is checking in and trying his damndest to take care of her as much as he can, and is hardly even reacting to all the terrible things she says about him. Blitzø doesn't just let people treat him like crap and walk all over him just because he thinks he deserves it. Which means that he's letting her get away with all of that because he understands where she's coming from. Honestly, I think that is the biggest point for us viewers to be on Barbie's side, even if she's been manipulated and used by The Dark One.

I think if we as a fandom can accept and understand that Via isn't evil or terrible and has every right to be upset with her dad, then I think we can give Barbie a chance. She was also only 18 when the fire happened, with a whole childhood of Cash's abuse shaping who she was. We have to give Blitzø some credit here, honestly--We all know he's a bit of a disaster asshole, but he's still had so much more chance to recover because he got out.

And as a little aside. A person's health and safety and their boundaries are often connected. They usually have boundaries in the first place for the sake of their health and safety. So ignoring a boundary because "Well, you're falling back into bad old habits!" is... not a great move. An understandable one, if you're genuinely that worried for someone's safety. But if you break a boundary for reasons like that, you have to also be prepared for it burning some bridges, even if it does end up saving the person. My brother and I haven't really gotten back on speaking terms ourselves after getting away from our abusive parents. I don't hold that or even the things he said while he was under their roof against him. I know what it's like to live with them, I know how they burrow under your skin, I know he was just trying to stay alive. But if he tracked me down after I was discharged from the hospital? Yeah, the trust isn't there, even if the love is. I wouldn't really trust him not to say hurtful things, which could be even more devastating than usual after being in-patient. So I would also be telling my brother to leave me the hell alone in that situation. And if he still didn't leave? And tried to justify it as "Well, I was right to go against what you want and what you say makes you feel safer, because look, you're already failing and falling back into bad habits!!" ...Yeah. I wouldn't exactly take well to that, either. She kind of had every right to snap at him.

I don't think Barbie will be won over right away. I think she'll need some time and grace. But I don't think she'll just be Cash's tool when the time comes, even if she's been doing his dirty work until then. And I think we also should remember that up until Oops, Fizz wasn't exactly nice to Blitzø himself. But we got past that and we all love the adorable little clown!!

This might not be Hazbin, but it's so easy to tell that these two shows are related, because the core of the story is the same: It's all about redemption and forgiveness.

Barbie's going to forgive Blitzø, even if it really is hard to ever go back to having a close relationship again, like OP said. And Blitzø has already forgiven her on at least some level, if he's seeking her out. And honestly? I trust Blitzø's character judgement. He's got a good sense of people.

"Them"- Cash and Barbie

I really hate it when I remember that this makes it very likely that Barbie and Cash pulled this crap together.

Blocking Blitz and Fizz from seeing eachother for 15 bloody years.

And that it's actually a real toss up weather his dad, or his sister told him that; 'Fizz says you're going to die alone Blitzo'.

[prismalmelonman]

Touching on Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas being a bit undermined in parts of the fandom

So one thing I notice on Twitter is how some people act about the bg3 characters whose abuses were perpetuated by women.

Gale specifically for this reason (but I will touch on others)bbecause I see him dismissed super often as "can't get over his ex".

But Gale's case obviously be has the line of Mystra being like "she was my muse, my teacher, and then my lover" and sure to some that's a red flag in itself (when it comes to adults I don't really give a fuck about teacher/student) but if you view it from not only Gale's own words "ive been connected with the weave for as long as i can remember"

And that doesn't distract from his genuine love of magic of course. And it also doesn't mean that he's actually been in connection with mystra for an amount of time.

However, if you ascend Gale, and he becomes a god, you get a bunch of new little things. Tara reminiscing of course, but you get a letter from Elminster, detailing that Mystra had Elminster scope out Gale when he was eight!

And sure is that pretty cool that he's a prodigy that got the attention of the goddess of magic at that age? Yes. Mystra is, however, known in forgotten Realms lore to seek young young boys who are in tune with magic to make into her chosen. And from context clues, her chosen can be anything from Elminster and Volo, dedicated wizards who try to keep things in check, etc etc. or they're somewhat of playthings to her.

Minsc also has a conversation where me mentions that weave-touched boys in his homeland were hidden away to hone their craft, then suspecting that it was because of Mystra, given Gale's case.

Gale always seems so proud that he got to bed a goddess, and on the surface, hell yeah, that's cool.

Gale continued to have her attention even as he went to Blackstaff Academy, and Mystra eventually did take him on as an apprentice directly to her, later making him her chosen, and sleeping with him.

The reason it bothers me that people dismiss all of Gale's stuff to just "he can't get over his ex" is because that's is like almost textbook grooming? She was in his life from a young age, shaping and moulding him up as he grew up to be her perfect chosen, rewarding him by sleeping with him, and so on. And then of course casting him away when he has his folly with the netherese orb (and to be fair, it very well could have looked like to her that he was trying to seize the power himself and yes the orb does siphon off weave. That is a problem for the mistress of the weave yes).

But she also tells gale to KILL HIMSELF for her forgiveness.

Gale is much more than "unable to be over his ex" this woman was in his life since he was a kid. She's almost all he has ever known. If course it's going to be difficult for him to 1. Say no to her. 2. Get over the fact that he's lost someone that he spent his literal entire life dedicated to. Honestly if asked, I don't even think Gale would acknowledge or really see that what he went through was, in fact, abuse until it was spelled out in front of him. (Which does happen somewhat with the player character pleading to him that killing himself for mystra's forgiveness is actually horrific and that he should in fact be angry for how he was treated)

Similarly, and this one has been discussed a lot, Wyll and Mizora. Wyll was 17 and actively trying to help his people. 17, in a vulnerable state, willing to do anything to help and prove himself. Mizora very clearly took advantage of him, and regards him as a "pet", refers to him being "leashed", and so on. Personally, I do dislike the sexualization of their relationship, because it very much is also grooming (although a different type. Rather than manipulating and shaping his life from the ground up, she takes advantage of a vulnerable and desperate state to manipulate and contract Wyll into doing her bidding. I won't go too deep I to this one because it has been discussed to hell and back. But I did wanna touch on Wyll's situation as well.

Also, Halsin as well, though that has also been discussed in many retrospectives by a very good friend of mine. Halsin's trauma often get dismissed due to his polyamory, open sexual nature, and his own somewhat diminishing/dismissal of it, which honestly I love the representation of, cause for a while I did that with my own trauma. Halsin was a sex slave to a house of Lolth-Sworn drow, a matriarchal society, where the men are generally used as fodder or for breeding, though male Lolth-Sworn drow can be wizards and rise in the ranks if wizardry, but are limited everywhere else. (Minthara mentions that the third male, and every subsequent male child after third are killed for being"useless"). Halsin often referred to them as "hosts" rather than being captors, (though he does touch on that if the Player Character threatens to sell him back into slavery). Again, everything I'd have to say here for Halsin has entirely been discussed top to bottom by a friend, their link is below!!

Anyway, long story short, I dislike it a lot when Gale, Wyll, and Halsin's traumas and abuses get diminished, even if/when the character themself doesn't see or acknowledge the abuse in the same lens that we, the players, do.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Seeing that Luke post get thousands upon thousands notes is giving me hives. How does one become this fandom brained? I know the jokes are "don't mess with fans of X they don't even watch/read/listen to their own film/show/etc." and any fandom is going to cause some amount of ooc behaviour for the sake of jokes and memes and stuff, but surely at some point the character is so bent out of shape you stop to ponder what you're doing.

Who is this Luke Skywalker, collector of wayward orphans? Why would he want to be Reys dad? You get the feeling she might want it at the start of TLJ... And then the rest of the movie happens, going into great detail, at times in overly didactic ways, as to why that's a Bad Idea for her personal growth and the galaxy at large.

Even in older Legends material, where he ends up having actual kids, most of the lauded and beloved portrayals of his character are things like the original Thrawn trilogy, and in that he spends all three books struggling with if there's any place for him in the galaxy after the emperor died. The supposed definitive alternate sequel trilogy is, at least for Luke, largely about if he even should restart the jedi order, since his own training is incomplete and he has a deep fear any students he has are going to eventually succumb to the dark side, and how if they do it'll probably be a direct result of his incompetence. He does naturally, much like in TLJ, overcome these feelings of inadequacy and re-emerge as the definitive hero of the story, but spending a few years wallowing is just a very Luke way to deal with problems in life.

Like yeah I wonder why a bitter, self-isolating old man who views his life as a colossal failure wouldn't be jumping for joy when a younger, more naive version of himself shows up to his house uninvited.

For how desperate to venerate the Nostalgia the sequel trilogy project as a whole is, only TLJ really feels like it actually gives a shit about the story it's supposedly continuing. I didn't think you could look at Lukes death and not feel the overwhelming love and care for him specifically. I always shed a tear when binary sunset kicks in and I'm not even that into the originals. I was a prequel defender in 2010, Luke is the 20th character I think about when people mention SW.

Do people just not engage with the source material at all? Is this a product of the whole fandom tourism boom in the last 5-ish years? I genuinely don't want to be mean. After all, fandom is all of us playing with our toys, and you should always try to avoid a "old man yells at cloud" scenario, but like... It's a movie for 12 year olds that's very deliberately laying out all the cards. A slightly more nuanced and emotionally mature movie for 12 year olds than you might expect but... A child could get it, it's been focus grouped to hell and back so any given child on the planet should get it... How are you as an adult asking why the story had conflict?

I also broke out in hives a little bit when I found out that my addition (?) had made that thing go around. Or maybe it wasn't my addition, I'm actually not sure, but I worry that it was. The OP turned off reblogs, and I can only assume it was because people starting doing absurd bullshit discourse on the post which... hhhh I don't really like being part of inflicting that on anyone over something as unimportant as Star Wars opinions.

Also, the thing I was reacting against really wasn't the fact that people have headcanons about who and what kind of character Luke is - like, that's just normal and generally a good and fun part of fandom. I reacted against the idea of The Last Jedi being thoughtless about his character. It interprets Luke in a very specific way, but that interpretation is, I think objectively, deeply grounded in the history of his character and the thematic throughlines of the Skywalker-focused movies. So it annoyed me a bit to see people treat the depiction like it was some kind of failure to engage with the original material. I think that's not quite fair to what the movie was, and I think it leads to weak criticism of its flaws.

I think that the better angle for critique of the whole sequel trilogy and Rian Johnson's contribution is that obsesses far too much about the original trilogy, and is at its best in those few scant moments when it breaks away from it. If the sequel trilogy hadn't had the corporate mandate to be a kind of Frankenstein remake of the OT, perhaps a kindly old grandfatherly Luke could have been a fun and interesting interpretation of the character's future. Luke is what he is in TLJ because the trilogy absolutely fucking had to recreate the narrative beats of Dagobah, and therefore absolutely had to have Luke learn another lesson from Yoda about learning to let go of his attachments to and fears about the future and be present in the here-and-now.

Johnson is clearly a fucking nerd-ass Star Wars nerd, whose greatest mistake was assuming that other Star Wars nerds would engage with the material with good faith and an eye towards appreciation and discovery, rather than product-brained, screaming entitlement to their supremacy-affirming nostalgia security blanket.

To be clear, here I am talking about the culture war grifter assholes who poison the world, and not fandom people who have a cozy headcanon about Luke as a cheerful old community dad. I don't think it's fandom tourism to have a headcanon about a character, or a favored interpretation of them, even one which feels somewhat divorced from the original source-text. If I had to take a guess, the people on the original post developed that headcanon through fandom - by way of fanfics and fanposting and fanart, by way of fix-it fics and excited speculation. If I had to take a guess, they got their headcanon about Luke the same place everyone gets their headcanons about popular characters: from some combination of appreciation, projection, and a desire to see the thing you love tell a story that you need to hear. That's just human, and I don't think you can spend any significant amount of time in fandom without developing those attachments to certain stories or characters.

[hootyhoowoo]

ah! I totally get keeping your ao3 private! in any case, do you have any svsss fic recs you’d shout out? any ships is fine! bingqiu, Liujiu, 79, Liushen, I’ll take it!

Okay i'm sorry this took so long!! I was trying to look through my fics and see what would be appropriate to post bwaahahah

So disclaimer, i'm more of a one-shot type of reader for the most part, I really enjoy a nice hearty and wordy piece. I'm also a whore so I enjoy a lot of pwps!! I delve into omegaverse and some dead dove fics a lot too so please READ THE TAGS before reading

Also, these are more of my own personal reviews of the fics? You can read the summaries +tags to find out more :D I'm sure the authors can summarize better than I can

but anyway, I'll start out with the fics recommended to me by others, and ones that are so widely loved by the fandom!

These are multi-chaptered:

"I Wish You Were My Husband"- Feynite; Bingqiu, Liushen, and Qijiu all in one!

This fic was recommended by a good friend of mine, and it is sooo good anon. It's got wife stealing, love triangles, and is sooo hilariously funny it's made me genuinely laugh out loud while reading. There was times where I felt like I was just reading canon content and had to remind myself this wasn't mxtx writing. The author does a wonderful job in delving into Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan's inner mental gymnastics, and the complicated history and relationships between the different pairings is so tangible and well done. Not to mention the dialogue between SQQ and SQH made me CACKLE.

"Like A Tooth From a Mouth (I Leave A Hole)- Anonymous; Bingyuan (?)

Okay I started this fic but still haven't gotten through all of it, but the first chapter (first few paragraphs really) captivated me so much I was instantly hooked. Actually, I may draw this out at some point bc I really love the beginning of this fic. So angsty. So well written- especially once Liu Qingge gets introduced, he's so cute and I really like the dynamics of everyone in this one. Disciple!Shen yuan with his system and Shizun!Luo Binghe will always be messy and i'm here for it <3

"Shen Yuan of No Relation"- Gemi ; Bingyuan, Qijiu (i'll probably come back and edit if needed)

Ahhh. Ze fic of all time. OKAY so I haven't actually finished this one yet, i'm currently still reading. BUT I WILL SAY: It is so good so far. So good. The author's writing feels so hearty and their descriptions of the setting is something I fell in love with immediately. The way they write the characters is very endearing and i'm giddy with excitement to continue to read c: This fic was very very recommended by multiple friends so i'm happy to finally start it!!

"Love in Another Shape"- Celardor ; Starts Liushen -> Bingliu -> Bingliushen

Okay this fic was recommended to me by the same person who recommended IWYWMH so you know this shit is bangin. I have not read this yet, but I have had many people gush about it to me and had the lovely opportunity to chat w the author and they are the sweetest person so I'm very excited to start it next!!

'Satisfaction'- Raiiskaim ; Bingjiu

ohohoho ok- can I just say I love Raiiskaim's works, but this one is soooo delicious. It's got dead-dove like elements so be warned, but ahhh the follow up to this fic is "Discontent, and the spaces inbetween" and dude omg the ending literally made me gasp. Can't recommend this enough if it's your flavor.

"Blessing in disguise" - chamsie; ...implied Qijiu?

yeah i like omegaverse and i will not be shamed about it on my own blog. BUT this one is not...your typical pwp omegaverse fic. It's very shen jiu centered around him and his babby- shen yuan! it's very cute and good and I quite enjoyed it when I read it a whiiiile ago. Actually, I think it's time for a re-read. heh

-

These next ones are one shots

"We Should Stick Together" and "You're My Best Friend, I'll Love You Forever" - Pennydaniels; Liujiu

ohhhh my god. OHHHH MY GOOOOODDDD. Do you ever read a fic and have it touch something so deeply in you and it's like a soothing balm to a really rough aching burn? yeah so that's how these two fics are to me. I vividly remember reading them on an airplane and literally crying my eyes out I had to ask the flight attendant for tissues- and got side eyed by the other passengers. Specifically YMBF,ILYF.... this fic definitely shaped the way I would like to be loved. Excellent works, definitely recommend, read tags, as always. Pennydaniels is one of my fav ao3 authors, so definitely recommend checking out their other stuff too!

"Through the Widening Circles"- ancient_moonshine ; Bingjiu

Please read tags. It didn't bother me but ik it may not be everyone's flavor- but trust me when I say that this fic also made me sob like a baby, especially towards the end. The author does a great job of navigating through trauma and healing in such a touching way, but it is a pretty heavy fic because of these delicate topics. Such a good read, and I think one of my first SVSSS fanfics too!

"Vedaniya" - ancient_moonshine ; Bingjiu

Once again another fic by this amazing author, this one is a little more kinky ehehe but it's still very good and there's a gut wrenching scene that gets me every time near the beginning.

Anyways I hope this list satisfies! I can't wait to read more and get recommended more as we keep going on this scummy adventure :D if you have any recs, please be sure to drop them down below or in my inbox :3 always happy to add to my queue of reads.

[nohaijiachi]

Why I Think The Fandom Has Been Doing Aziraphale Dirty Ever Since Season 1 And It's Only Gotten Worse With Season 2 And It's Killing Me Inside

Before we get into the subject matter of the title let me preface a couple of things:

1- All that will follow is, big surprise, my opinion and my interpretation of this character. Do I think I am The One And Only Who Gets The Blorbo Right and that my ideas are 100% the way the author(s) intended to convey the character? No.

More likely than not the way I see Aziraphale could be intensely different from the way Authorman sees him, or Actorman sees him, and I don't think that my interpretation is necessarily any more correct than anybody's else.

That said, if I also did not think that I am, in fact, correct on a certain level, I wouldn't have bothered forming such a thought out opinion of Aziraphale in the first place, nor would be sitting here, writing this post that I can already tell is going to be entirely too long and might probably ruffle some feathers.

So I'll be writing the rest of this post with the caveat that I while I do think my interpretation correct, I'm also not trying to change anybody's mind nor to discredit anybody's else interpretation of Aziraphale. We can sit here in the sandpit and hold different opinions and still be able to build sandcastles together, it really isn't that deep at the end of the day; I can assure you, I'm not here to fight nor cause fights with this one.

2- With the above point, comes also the fact that I won't bother continuously saying "In my opinion" for the rest of this post. You already know that. So, if something will come across as a bit caustic, do know that it is very much tongue in cheek and I am poking a bit of fun at general fannish habits that I am also very much quote-unquoute 'guilty' of having partaken into, and will partake into again plenty of times in the future, I'm sure.

So, with that: Here's Why I Think The Fandom Has Been Doing Aziraphale Dirty Ever Since Season 1 And It's Only Gotten Worse With Season 2 And It's Killing Me Inside

A large part of the people comprising this fandom prefers Crowley. There, I said it.

This fandom's preference blatantly skews toward Crowley. Can we admit that openly? Let's admit that openly.

To be clear, this isn't meant to be an accusation or recrimination or any other -ation you can think of, I am merely stating matter-of-factly a phenomena I've observed in the last four years.

It is also not a wrong nor bad thing in any way, shape or form. I adore Crowley myself. I love them both so much it's unreal.

But I started with that because I think it is very much a symptom of the fact that a lot of people don't get Aziraphale.

I remember back with S1 there had been plenty of times when I found myself reading discussions and opinion exchanges about Aziraphale and Crowley, their dynamics, all the things that went unsaid behind the things that were said, and found myself genuinely surprised by seeing how some people interpreted certain moments wildly different from how I personally saw them.

I look back at that and I think "Oh, sweet summer child". Nothing could have prepared me from the onslaught of takes about Aziraphale that make me go "Good lord, what???" in the wake of S2, and the infamous Last Fifteen.

Now because I don't want to be pointing fingers at specific things and risk upsetting somebody more than I already am by being open in admitting that, guys, yes, some of the takes y'all have been sharing make me go "Yikes(tm)", I'll move on the interesting part and what I would actually love to discuss, aka cracking Aziraphale's head open and see what that actual fuck is going on in there.

Another preface: Because this duo is intrinsically linked and woven together it is downright impossible to only focus on Aziraphale without also mentioning Crowley, so... Let me circle back to our fav demon bae for a sec, here.

I think the reason why it seems that a larger part of the fandom favors Crowley is because I feel like Crowley is a much easier character to grasp. He is very open in his thoughts and feelings, at any given moment us, the audience, have a much easier time watching a scene and sort of ruminating in the back of our heads about Crowley's motivations for saying the things he says and doing the things he does.

That isn't to say Crowley is a less complex character than Aziraphale. They are very much equally complex and multifaceted individuals with their strengths and weaknesses, their issues and the way they each cope with them, how differently they approach their existence and so on and so forth.

But whereas Crowley as a character presents itself with a certain dynamism and a far more outward openness about his complexity, Aziraphale does the exact opposite; we can say Aziraphale is downright hermetic about it.

For us, the audience, he presents a challenge that requires a good deal of thought being put into him to see over the facade he presents at a more superficial level; he requires time and effort to fully dismantle him in our minds to try and see what makes him thick (other than his thighs), and thus I think it is entirely natural that more people latch on the far easier to identify-with, and relate-to, Crowley.

And that is the inevitable consequence of everything that makes Aziraphale... Well, Aziraphale.

So, where to start? Let's try and jot down what Aziraphale truly is at his core.

He is a contradiction.

This man-shaped being is a walking contradiction, constantly existing in a state of being coated in three thousand layers of misdirection and obfuscation and double thinking.

Why is that? Well. He's an angel.

Aziraphale loves being an angel. It is a tenet of his entire existence and something he cherishes. He wants, so very much, to be his ideal of what a good angel is: An entity who is kind and loving and understanding and forgiving.

Of course us, the audience, know that is utter bullshit, because we know angels can be individuals just as complex as the humans Aziraphale loves so much, with all their inherent flaws and capability for cruelty. And, on a certain level, Aziraphale knows that too.

So there we have it, one element of contradiction: Aziraphale wants to think that angels are always Good and Righteous and Never Wrong; Aziraphale knows that angels aren't, in fact, always Good and Righteous and, by god, can they make plenty of mistakes, too.

What else? How about Aziraphale sitting there, being in love with a demon, fully knowing that at the end of the day demons really ain't that different from angels, and also desperately hanging onto the concept of Good vs Bad.

And he sits there, existing with these two contrasting idea equally taking space in his mind, neither side ever capable of taking over the other.

What else do we have? Aziraphale loves God and wants so hard to believe in Her love for humanity and Her ineffable plan, and Aziraphale also time and again does things that very blatantly go against Her will, lies to Her face, and Doubts. He Doubts, a lot, and that requires the capital letter because those Doubts are what spur him in going against everything he's ever told to believe in order to do the right thing.

Aziraphale's very existence is a constant push-and-pull of things he wants to believe and things he knows are real; things he's told to do and things he wants to do. That's how we get "My side" and "there's a bit of good in you" and "you are the bad guys".

And nothing he's lived through has managed to break him out of this unhealthy way of existing quite yet; that's why he acts the way we see him act in the Edinburgh flashback in S2, or at the start of S1 when Crowley has to ease Aziraphale into the idea of trying to stop Armageddon with the usual song and dance of "temptation" and "plausible deniability" and "you'd be thwarting me", even though from the start we can tell there's a little part of Aziraphale who is clearly not at ease with the idea of the end of the world, and once he's been given 'permission' by Crowley nudging him, he is all the way in with the whole saving the world business, not take-backsies.

Both the moments I mentioned here are very important for different reasons, but of the two is very much the Edinburgh flashback that gets a lot more flack by the fandom and is blatantly misunderstood, which I think is the inevitable consequence of that minisode immediately following the glorious, beautiful, heartbreaking piece of art that is the "A companion to owls" minisode.

I've seen a lot of people lamenting that Aziraphale acts obnoxiously in the Edinburgh flashback and, yeah. He does. But I feel like the fact that we are seeing this after watching Aziraphale struggle his way through saving Job's children, even being willing to go to Hell for it, is a though act to follow and probably soured Edinburgh-Aziraphale for a lot of people, made them think that the character had regressed instead of progressing.

But, see, the way he acts is wholly congruous with who Aziraphale is and has always been and keeps being up to the very end of S2. Yes, even after what he does for Job's children.

If you get down to it, Aziraphale had been ready to give up and let the children die, in episode 2. For a brief moment, after Crowley told him he 'longed to destroy the blameless children', Aziraphale was walking away, having tried all he thought he could try to do to stop this senseless act. That was until Crowley tested him by making the crows bleat, cuing Aziraphale to the fact that his impression of Crowley wasn't wrong, and the he could count on him to do the right thing.

To be clear, I don't want to undermine Aziraphale's action by only giving the credit to Crowley but... It is, also, only thanks to Crowley cajoling him and giving him the right excuses, that Aziraphale feels safe in doing what he's always wanted to do all along.

He'd wanted to save Job's children, and thought he couldn't until Crowley threw him that hell of a lifesaver. He wanted to save the world and thought he couldn't until Crowley nudged him on the path of plausible deniability.

He wanted to save Elspeth's eternal soul, blinding himself to the hardships she'd have to endure in her not-eternal life, and was smacked right in the face by the reality of human suffering multiple times.

The way Aziraphale acts in that flashback can't be a regression, because there never was a progression in the first place: He'd always walked the line between Heaven's and God's will and his own, personal morality and sense of justice.

By all means, if we look at Uz-Aziraphale and modern-day-Aziraphale at the start of S1, his reticence about the whole saving the world business should, by all means, appear as a regression as well. You mean to tell me that he'd been ready to become a demon for the sake of three mortal children, and then suddenly a handful of thousands years later when faced with the prospect of the whole world going up in flames he'd just be all like "Heaven will triumph over Hell and it will be all rather lovely"? Like, fuck off, Aziraphale, you lying double-thinker, you (/pos)

Aziraphale constantly exist while being at war with himself. Circumstances have allowed him to rebel the will of Heaven and God more or less safely time and again, but he never quite managed to break free entirely. He'd always ended up being reeled back in, being fed the party lines, being made to feel shame for his independent thinking, until it all becomes too much and he is forced to step back from that freedom he'd been inches away from grasping.

Back and forth, back and forth, never stopping.

And all of this, all of what he is, makes it so hard for us, the audience, to truly see him. To truly grasp him. To truly watch any given scene with him and figure out what he might be thinking or feeling.

To understand Aziraphale is to understand what he is not saying when he says something, which is a good deal harder to do than it is to understand and relate to a character like Crowley, who very much revel in saying exactly whatever the heck he thinks whenever he damn well pleases.

All those layers of obfuscation and misdirection and double thinking that Aziraphale coats himself in are as much an armor that makes it harder for the audience to understand him as they are his very own downfall because, good lord, if you exist like that, if you exist forced to keep things hidden from yourself, well... It's inevitable that at some point you are going to stumble into pitfalls of your own making.

And I love him for it.

So, there? I hope I managed to explain something with this post, and that it wasn't just the rambling of someone who spends way too much time thinking about her blorbos. To be clear, I don't think people who haven't spent as much time as me trying to dissect and better understand Aziraphale's character are like, dumber than me or anything. It's just that this pair of angelic-demonic blorbos take too much real estate in my mind, lol.

Feel free to let me know your opinion and if you think I am wildly off mark and my Take Is Bad. I might answer, I might not, it all depends on time and my mood ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜

[fictionalreads]

This Was Never Meant to Be What It Feels Like

A/N: Hey y'all! I'm not really a writer so this is my first time posting any writing here on Tumblr, but I'm apparently incapable of not thinking about Armando (*Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa plays in my head) so this kind of...happened. I figured I'd share ☺️ Also, I know Armando thinks Aretas is his dad in the movies but I changed it a bit.

Title is from Satisfaction by SiR (if you haven't heard it do yourself a favor and go listen)

Pairing: Armando Aretas x Original Female Character

Fandom: Bad Boys Movies

Prompt: Shay (OC) wants to get to know Armando better and figures her best bet is to ask when he's...relaxed.

Warnings ⚠️: Uh...complicated parental relationships. Talk of smut, but no actual smut.

“Tell me something.”

“Hm?”

Shay kept her focus on drawing invisible shapes on Armando’s shoulder with her finger. Her blue stiletto shaped nails going down almost to his elbow before finding its way back up to his collar bone. It was something she did often after they had sex and she knew it calmed him much like it was now. His breathing had slowed into something calmer than the frantic breaths of ten minutes ago when he was trying to catch his breath. The open window blew in a decent ocean breeze, adding to the peaceful feeling in her bedroom. She tried to play it cool, like she wasn’t disturbing the moment, wasn’t asking him to do the one thing she knew he hated - opening up.

Shay had been seeing Armando for about three months now, and she knew next to nothing about the man. She knew it was a red flag, hell she knew he probably wasn’t a law abiding citizen, but she couldn’t help it. 

There was something so magnetizing, so sensual about his presence. He commanded attention even though she got the feeling he wanted nothing more than to blend in and be lowkey. She couldn’t help but notice the way he held himself, the way he spoke and moved with the confidence of a man who was sure of himself. Don’t get her started on the way he smelled - it was divine and pure man.

The point was basically this - he was a ten but he refused to tell her more about himself.

Shay was determined to get to know him better, because despite playing things close to his chest, she was in love with him. She didn’t know his last name, but she knew he would bring her flowers and food if she was having a bad day just to make her smile. She didn’t know what he did for a living - honestly, part of her was glad for this if it was illegal as she was imagining. Plausible deniability. - but she knew if she needed him to, he would fix anything she needed him to or at least find someone who could. She didn’t know what his crucible entailed that made him like this, but she knew he loved her like she was something precious.

So she was taking the risk that this would blow up in her face. “Tell me something about you that I don’t know.” She kissed his chest, like she was softening the blow of the question. Not that she needed to, it was an open ended question on purpose. The more freedom she gave about the topic, the more likely he was to answer.

He gently shifted her to the pillow as he lifted himself on his elbow, facing her with a suspicious look on his face. “Like what?” God, what she wouldn’t give to take whatever hurt that made him so distrustful of her just wanting to know him away. Who had betrayed him? Who took advantage of his trust and made him so wary of genuine love?

She thought over her answer, a million topics coming to mind but needing to pick one that wouldn’t have him shutting down immediately. Armando had let the conversation start but he could end it if she said the wrong thing.

“Your family.” She could feel him pulling away as if it was physically happening so she quickly explained her choice. “Did you grow up with siblings? Are your parents married?” Bare minimum. 

It seemed to have worked he looked at her as if debating what to say, if anything, before laying back down and staring at the ceiling. The relaxed man that was in her bed mere minutes ago, gone. Now he was tense, as if ready for a fight. She slowly and obviously resumed her previous position on his chest, giving him time to tell her no if he needed the space. Her nails went back to their drawings in the hopes of calming him enough to talk. He took a breath before, “I grew up an only child. My mom was my world, she taught me everything I knew.”

Her nails stopped moving. “Was?” It was the word that caught the most of her attention out of everything he just said.

“She passed away a few years ago.” His face was blank, as if he was just stating a fact of life rather than talking about the death of the person that raised him and whom he clearly loved.

Shay rubbed the shoulder she wasn’t laying on in an effort to comfort him.“I’m sorry to hear that.” Armando shrugged it off but she could tell it still hurt him. “What about your dad?”

“Our relationship is…complicated at best. He wasn’t around for most of my life. We were introduced a few months before my mom died. I didn’t even know who he was to me until my mom told me on her deathbed.” 

“You never asked your mom about him before?”

“If there was one thing I knew about my father growing up, it was that my mom hated him. She always told me that he left us behind and didn’t look back at all. As a kid I was curious but as I got older, I started to hate him too. I mean he was supposed to love my mom, and he turned on her and left me behind like I was trash. Fuck ‘im. Now I know it wasn’t so black and white.”

“How so?”

“The few times my mom spoke about him, she always heavily implied that he knew she was pregnant with me and left anyway. Looking back, she never said the words. When I confronted my father about it, he said they were a doomed couple that wasn’t ever going to last. They were both too selfish. Said he didn’t even know she had been pregnant until we met.”

“Sounds like he cares. I mean if he knew do you think he would have been around?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind he would have been there, raised me. I know he loves me, that he just wants what’s best for me, but I’m just having a hard time accepting it. I spent so much time hating him that reconciling this truth with this perception I’ve always had of him is hard.”

“Not to mention it means confronting that you didn’t know your mom as well as you thought you did. The woman she was to you isn’t the woman she was to others.”

“And she’s not here to explain it, which just makes me mad all over again. He’s usually the target of my anger.”

“Makes sense to me.” She shrugged in response to his questioning look. “He’s here. Add in the fact that he wasn’t there for so long its easy to blame him for a lot.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Like a flip had been switched, he once again moves her onto the bed and hovers over her.

“Enough about them. Talking is not exactly what I had in mind for us tonight,” he pleads. 

She could see the desperation and fear in his eyes. She had a feeling that being that honest with her scared him. He wasn’t exactly the vulnerable type and telling her all this put him on display in the most raw way, an unknown for him. It also meant he had to be honest with himself about he felt, something she didn’t think happened a lot. He wanted to escape the real hurt he was feeling about it all, he didn’t want to face what the truth might mean for his memory of his mother. If a reprieve is what he needed, she could do that for him. She would do that for him.

She bit her bottom lip, looking at him through her lashes, feeling herself get wet at his suggestive tone and slight touches. “What did you have in mind?”

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

The next morning she woke up alone, his side of the bed cold. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence as he often left before she woke. She was used to him leaving and coming back randomly, sometimes being gone for days. After their conversation and the way he seemed to just need her last night, she figured this was coming. Something told her him leaving was different this time, that she had pushed him too far. She had the sickening feeling that he wasn’t coming back.

Round two had been fast and rough, needy in a way. Round three had been teasing and playful, like he was apologizing for being so rough before. Round four was…slow and passionate, reverent almost.

It felt like a goodbye.

A/N: 🫣So how'd I do? Let me know in the comments. Likes and reblogs are always appreciated! OH AND HOW SHOULD I TAG THIS?! Anything I should add to get more people to see it?

Part 2 Part 3

[king-crawler]

HEY HI HELLO

Sorry for the random message here In the asks, it's ok if you don't see this or answer it since you probably got a lot already and I understand if you don't see this!/gen

But first of all, I just wanna say

I CANT BELIEVE I HAVENT WATCHED YOUR ANALYSIS VIDEO SOONER IM SO FUCKING LATE MAN

It's so well done and so fucking funny, I was literally smiling and cackling through the whole thing, it's shocking how similar our humor is

NOT TO MENTION THE END SCENE AREE YOU KIDDING HOW DID YOU MATCH THE LYRICS SO PERFECTLY TO THE FUCKING LORE ITS INCREDIBLE 😭💜/GEN, POS

It's insane how much dedication is put into it, let alone singlehandedly feeding turbo fans as myself

Genuinely thought it's so nice seeing more content for a hyperfixation I've had since 2012, and the fandom coming back along with this video Genuinely brings me so much joy as someone who's loved this movie since I was a kid

Sorry for the ramble but genuinely thank you for making that video, I can't wait to see what other stuff you do, wreck it ralph or not I WILL be tuning in/gen, pos

Okay second of all

The main reason why I'm sending this is because of sometning I noticed while rewatching a scene in the movie

Now, this might be me over analyzing as I usually do but it feels TOO. OBVIOUS.

SO

IN the kart bakery scene where vanellope and ralph go to bake a kart, they obviously make their way into the building and into the main room

You see all the Karts of course, and It pans to the one vanellope chooses

Which, at first glance you wouldn't really pay too much attention, especially when watching it for the first time, she's just picking the model she likes

..but looking back at the scene

Vanellope's kart model, how it was supposed to look, looks very

Familiar

Because the kart she chose..

...is a red and white kart

With stripes down the middle, with a very similar shape to a..certain persons kart. Now this might just be nothing, it's probably just like I said, and over analysis on my part

But the kart the chose looks WAY too similar to turbo's, not to mention the stripe is down the middle, just like turbo's car on the cabinet art of him

And vanellope could've chosen ANY kart

But it was that specific kart she chose, out of any of the karts

Not to mention in some of vanellope's concept art...

(Art made by Lorelay Bove)

..Vanellope's concept design and turbos designs strike SCARILY uncanny resemblances to each others designs

From the helmet and colors

All the way down to her GOGGLES having the SAME. YELLOW. TINT. that candy's have in the movie, which have the same effect here. There's no way that this didn't have the intent to mirror turbo purposefully

So with that in mind, the kart vanellope chose in the kart bakery scene being turbo foreshadowing, wouldn't be too out of place, nor would it be too far off

Turbo's foreshadowing was always prominent, even in the smallest details you wouldn't focus on, just like he's infecting this world as a virus, little by little, everywhere. You. Turn.

Aaaand that's basically all I have to really say

Sorry for the long ramble, I've been thinking of submitting this for awhile now, especially after I told a friend about this and they mentioned that this should be submitted to you

So I decided to go ahead and just do it, no matter how wild my comparisons might sound-

Anyways, I hope you have a good day, night, or what time it may be, and keep being awesome! I can't wait to hear back if you see this! Bye-bye! ❤️🏎🏆

P.s

I've been quoting these since I watched the video and haven't stopped

Thanks for destroying my humor even more-/pos

Okay bye bye now-

-skitters away-

NO YOU'RE SO FUCKING RIGHT OH MY GOD VANELLOPE WAS ALWAYS A TURBO PARALLEL??? CHAT IS THIS TRUE. IVE NEVER SEEN THAT CONCEPT ART OF HER TEEHEE THANKS FOR SHARING

also God. This is 99% just a coincidence with zero merit because its such a common gesture- but Ralph and Vanellope doing their thumbs up.. maybe Turbo parallels ?? and like the EXACT same poses too:

Vanellope having one hand on the steering wheel and the other doing a thumbs up while facing the camera.

Ralph hunched over doing the double thumbs up with the visor tinting his face yellow. EXCUSE ME HMMM?? WHAT THE FUCK??

NOW COULD I BE CHERRY PICKING? PERHAPS. but when Turbo has barely a minute of screentime, there's not a lot i can pick from, and things SURE ARE LINING UP... (I'm cherry picking)

SO SHHHHHH... ❤️❤️❤️❤️ LET ME HAVE MY LITTLE CONSPIRASCY

[hollowed-theory-hall]

hey! i’m not sure whether you’ve read the percy jackson books or not, but i was wondering — in which cabin would you place harry? like, which god would he be descended from?

i’m only asking because, well, first of all i’m genuinely curious, and second of all it’s become somewhat of a trend on tiktok — this thing with placing characters from different fandoms into each cabin. and many many people associate harry with zeus, i assume because of the lighting which supposedly ties in with his scar?

i mean, yes, i could see that working for harry, what with him being quite a good leader when he needs to be, the fame tied to his name, etcetera.

buuuuut i would strongly consider him as being a descendant of hades. just to list off some of their core powers: necromancy, sensitivity to death, they can sense/see someone’s life aura and there’s also a skull ring which makes the nearest dead restless upon twisting it. like come onnnnnnn

I have read Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series (though, I consider the second of these and all subsequent series non-canon, and it's why I didn't watch the new show. I just think Rick Riordan doesn't actually know his own characters. When I read HoO, Percy was just, not Percy, and it annoyed me so much I dropped the series after Mark of Athena, but I digress). I used to love the PJO books in, like, 7th grade. I was a PJO girl before I was an HP girl.

(I also reread the first 3 PJO books 4 years ago, so I remember some stuff from it. Not as much as I remember for HP, but when I was 12 I could just, recite the entire first PJO book. I can't do so anymore)

Honestly, the lighting shape of Harry's scar has more to do with Hades than with Zeus. In HP, lighting is repeatedly used as a symbol of death:

Harry's scar, left behind by the Killing Curse is shaped like lightning.

When Dumbledore is killed by the same curse, the Astronomy Tower is referred to in the chapter title as "The Lightning-Struk Tower".

When Harry describes the killing curse, it's described as "lightning-like":

“Avada Kedavra!” The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut. . . .

(DH, 296)

Harry's scar is lightning shaped because it symbolizes death.

Not to mention the Deathly Hallows and him being the Master of Death and an actual descendant of the Peverells who made them. Like you said, there's a lot to support that he's a descendant of Hades based on it.

Not to mention he really does feel death, or, at least the Killing Curse as I mentioned in this post:

Moody raised his wand, and Harry felt a sudden thrill of foreboding. “Avada Kedavra!” Moody roared. There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air — instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him. [...] So that was how his parents had died . . . exactly like that spider. Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?

(GoF, 216)

But, I also want to bring up the fact that Harry speaks Parseltongue into consideration.

This brings up the caduceus, Hermes' staff, which has two intertwined snakes or the Rode of Asclepius, which is a staff with one snake coiling around it — both staffs are connected to medicine and the god Apollo (Apollo gifted Hermes his staff and is the father of Asclepius). And Apollo is associated with snakes in his stories in general, so, you could make an argument for the Apollo cabin as well.

The snake specifically references Apollo's victory over Python and the establishment of the Oracle of Delphi. So the snake, as a symbol of Apollo, represents prophecy (and that's just as relevant to Harry’s life as death. Apollo as the god of medicine and plague is also associated with death, albeit from a different angle). Not to mention, Crows/Ravens as messengers of prophecy are also symbols of Apollo. Harry's talent as a flyer and his love of gold things fits with Apollo better than with Hades (in PJO, Apollo is the driver of the sun chariot, not Helios. Giving us flight and gold).

(And Harry spends so much time in the hospital wing, yk...)

Also, Harry's polyjuice potion turns gold. Gold is a color usually associated with the sun in alchemy, so it also lends itself to Apollo (and godly ichor in PJO, in general, but the series aren't working with the same rules of magic).

So, I can see an argument for either Hades or Apollo, really. (These are the two I thought of at least when I saw your ask).

Personally, I think a more distant Hades descendant on his father’s side (Peverell) and then Lily as a daughter of Apollo could be really fun for Harry. Becouse he'd be placed in the Apollo cabin but have the aura of a Hades kid (and have more Hades powers than Apollo ones. Like, he'd speak to snakes (Apollo) with no healing or musical ability whatsoever, but could sense death and have the fear aura, but not constantly (Hades)), and he'll just confuse everyone, and I think that'll be funny.

(I just want him to have both James and Lily as parents! I can't give up on either of them and make him a full demigod! Maybe they had a threesome with Apollo/Hades instead of the above, and godly genetics made it work, so Harry has three parents in this AU? Then he'd be like Gilgamesh)

[princeblue]

I’ll never not mourn that we didn’t get the zenitsu arc that was set up, because I truly believe it would have done wonders for how the fandom views Zenitsu.

It makes me quite angry that he’s dumbed down to nothing more than a pervert and a coward, now. I wouldn’t even go as far to say Zenitsu is a pervert, a coward sure, he even says so himself. But a pervert is someone who purposely creeps on women, tries to feel them up, tries to be a peeping Tom.

Zenitsu does literally none of that, he’s a girl lover/chaser when we meet him, I’ll admit. But he in no way shape or form harasses a woman from the point on where Tanjirou rips him off the woman he’s begging to marry him. After that, he’s very kind to the women he meets, cringe sure, but still polite and respectful,and he’s extremely devoted to Nezuko. Even if she cannot reciprocate, and even then he’s not a fucking creep, he just has a puppy crush on a pretty girl.

So to compare him to someone like, let’s say mineta from MHA, is not only extreme but just plain wrong.

Back to Zenitsu’s cowardice, I think it’s actually pretty cool he’s a coward. We get to see him grow from it, we get to see him learn to be more confident with the support of Tanjirou and Inosuke behind him, the most noticeable moment of this is when he defends the girl that Daki is harming in anger, even if at this point he’s semi aware he’s found the uppermoon, he still steps in front of her and tells her off.

Even during the actual confrontation with Daki, he still tells her she’s wrong, and cruel. And tells her to apologize to the poor girl she hurt.

And Zenitsu is intimately aware of his own flaws, even going as far to say “I hate myself more than anyone else” and listing off that when he’s scared, he freezes or runs. But he also mentions that he’s hurt that Inosuke and Tanjirou just left him at the mountain, he says that if they had tried to coax him, he more than likely would have went. And this claim is 100% supported by the flashbacks we see with Jigoro Kuwajima who was the only character to never give up on Zenitsu and constantly push him to be better and stronger.

If Zenitsu truly wanted to leave the demon slayer corps, he would, now that he’s a full fledged demon slayer and out from under Jigoro’s thumb he had every single opportunity to leave the core and go pursue an actual life outside of it, and yet he doesn’t. Because he wants to make his gramps proud, because he wants to help Tanjirou, because he finds a support system/family with Inosuke and Tanjirou that he’s never had with even Jigoro and Kaigaku.

He’s insecure, he has anxiety, he has anger issues, he wants to honor his mentor and help and protect his friends, he wants to live a happy life, he wants to be respected, he wants to be genuinely loved. He’s so much fucking more than a “pervert” and a coward, but the fandom still sticks to this perception of him because we never got the Zenitsu backstory, I don’t like the term “there’s always a duo in a trio” but at times it really felt like Zenitsu was just kind of there, while Inosuke and Tanjioru continued to get more depth and he didn’t.

[classicanalyzer]

Andor Arc 3 Thoughts

Andor Season 2’s penultimate arc, "Messenger", "Who Are You?", and "Welcome to the Rebellion" is one of the best arcs of the show, and Episodes 8-9 are two of the best episodes of Star Wars ever. We finally see the horrifying Ghorman Massacre and Mothma's speech against the Emperor and the Empire. This arc will stand the test of time as some of the best storytelling in both Star Wars and TV.

Also Star Wars Explained’s review of the arc is one of their best videos if not the best video SWE made. I think I’ve been watching their channel since 2015, and man it’s so great to see them be this bright spot in this fandom, especially on YT. They did not hold back and spit facts. The video also helped me process and understand the intense emotions and events in this arc which you can see in my thoughts.

"Raise your hand to homeland skies. We are the Ghor. Breathe the air and know you're here. We are the Ghor. Valley. Highland. Let me spend my every day there. Call your kin to come and sing. We are the Ghor. Voices loud and standing proud. We are the Ghor. Valley. Highland. Let me spend my every day there. Tight the weave and roll the sleeve. We are the Ghor. From Navishare to Palmo Square. We are the Ghor. Valley. Highland." The Ghorman National Anthem

The Yavin 4 base being built up is amazing to see. It just reminds you of the growing rebel movement before the Alliance.

I really love the inclusion of the Force healer and the Force in general. It's great to see the Force in a show that has mostly shied away from the spirituality of the galaxy. I love how the Force healer is a genuine Force-user, as we see Cassian's injuries heal a bit. I really love how she sees Cassian's future and how Cassian carries on so many lessons from people he met and events he participated in and witnessed. He is a messenger.

I really like how most of the cast is now away from Luthen's strings and are now helping build up the Alliance military on Yavin 4. I honestly thought Wilmon would be with the Partisans after the second arc, and it's a bit weird to see him work with Luthen.

I also like seeing Draven again with a proto-rebel rank badge. I wonder if that means given how Phoenix Cell had the more official rank badges if the Yavin cell didn't get as much priority yet or if it's still being organized.

"Who is he?" Force healer

"A pilot. A soldier. Tell me what you saw." Bix Caleen

"I sense the weight of things, things I can't see. Pain, fear...need. Most beings carry the things that shaped them. They carry the past. But some... very few...your pilot...They're gathering as they go. There's a purpose to it. He's a messenger. There's some place he needs to be. Have you known him long?" Force healer

"I don't remember not knowing him." Bix Caleen

"Maybe you're the place he needs to be." Force healer

Episodes 8 and 9 are not only two of the best episodes of Star Wars, but some of the best episodes on TV for me. The opening title crawl and end credits music of Episode 8 feels like funeral music for the Ghor as the build-up and the actual Ghorman Massacre and Genocide take place in this episode. The transition to Palmo instead of fading to a black screen also sets the tone of the upcoming Massacre very well.

The situation with Cassian and Dedra feels very similar to Ferrix but instead of Dedra hunting for Cassian, it’s Cassian trying to assassinate her.

It's nice to see Wilmon find love again with Dreena. After the second arc, I was worried he would completely let go of his personal life after being convinced to accept the Partisan way of thinking.

I really like how Lezine, the most angered of the Ghorman people in the second arc, now emphasizes unity despite differences, reminds the rebels what they're fighting for, and deescalates the protest by being the first to sing the Ghorman Anthem. Likewise, Samm, the triggy happy Ghorman rebel in the second arc, has grown a lot in the one year since his accidental killing of Cinta. He's a lot calmer and competent as he provides good fire against the Imperials and later saves Cassian and Wilmon by ramming a hijacked Imperial transport on a KX droid. He's grown from a pathetic wannabe rebel to a level-headed rebel warrior. In many ways, Samm is the anti-Karn as I'll elaborate later. The Ghorman Front, despite everything, still managed to hold back any signs of firing first and committed to a peaceful protest just like the rest of their fellow citizens. Instead of a narrative of the Partisans firing first, they instead showcase peaceful resistance against the Empire. However, the Empire was never going to allow any peaceful resistance at all.

The Ghorman Massacre made my stomach churn and gave me goosebumps. We all knew since Season 1 first mentioned Ghorman that the show would eventually build up to the Ghorman Massacre. But my God, just knowing the Massacre would happen didn't prepare me for the Genocide that unfolded before me. The whole Massacre and Genocide reminds me of the Gaza genocide. Those FOX Imperial News reporters manipulating the public perception of Ghorman with outright lies is disgusting, but sadly, we have a lot of those kinds of right-wing news outlets and people in real life who do the same thing. Alex of Star Wars Explained points up excellently in his review how Fascism rejects and demonizes many communities and groups from the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, people of color, etc, who don't fit into their right-wing "norms."

The false-flag operation by Dedra and Captain Kaido is beyond disgusting. That being said, something is unnerving and disturbing about Kaido that makes Dedra, of all people, look "better" by comparison. At least Dedra appears to have some emotions, even though it's her breakdown towards Karn's death, since I don't doubt she was really breaking down at the Massacre. She, like Kaido does justifies it as "following orders." Speaking of Kaido, he simply smiles at the deaths of both Ghormans and his fellow Imperials as he's just "following orders" and intentionally letting an Imperial sniper shoot down a young Imperial Army Trooper to make them martyrs in a false-flag operation. It's no coincidence that young, anxious Imperial Army Troopers who lack the faceless helmets of Stormtroopers are killed. God, that whole situation is so sinister and speaks to the "Imperial norms" the Empire wants to promote.

The show made the Empire scary and terrifying again. I was terrified the moment I saw the Stormtroopers close in. The way they and Imperial Army Troopers shoot down innocent civilians without any hesitation. At least, the Ghorman Front fought back and didn't make the Empire's genocide of their people simple and easy. They'll go down fighting to protect their people against their genocide.

Those KX Droids feel like they were lifted straight from the Jedi games, except this time there's no Jedi to stop them, only civilians and rebels.

I hope Thela survives the show. I really love how he's the one to tell Cassian, "Rebellions are built on hope". He needs to survive the Massacre and the bombing to join the rebellion. Though the realistic part of me knows how unlikely it is to survive a grenade blast.

There's a heartbreaking parallel between the Ferrix Uprising and the Ghorman Massacre/Genocide. Wilmon lost his father, Salman, while Carro lost his daughter Enza, and both took action against the Empire after the loss of their loved ones.

The ending of Episode 8 just leaves you with a soul-crushing feeling. As Cassian drives away with the KX droid remains, all he can do is listen to the radio as he hears Dreena's voice telling the truth of the Ghorman Massacre and Genocide and asking for someone to help. It seems hopeless as the Alliance has not yet formed to respond to that call...however, the Ghormans did not die in vain. Their peaceful protest will echo across the galaxy and eventually result in the Alliance forming to destroy the Empire. But it doesn't help the Ghormans now as the Empire enacts its "final solution" to the "Ghorman question," aka genocide. That one tear in Cassian's eye really demonstrates how much the event affected Cassian. Diego Luna's acting is simply amazing.

"Palmo One. This is Palmo One. This is the voice of Ghorman. This is Palmo One making an emergency broadcast on all open channels. This is Palmo One! This is Palmo One. We are under siege. We're being slaughtered. The Imperial murder of Ghorman has begun. There are hundreds of bodies this moment. As I say these words, hundreds of murdered Ghormans lay dead in Palmo Plaza. Thousands more on the streets. More every minute. We're being destroyed! This is Ghorman reaching for any open channel that can hear me! If you can... If you can hear me... If you believe in truth, if you have any faith left in truth, please, please mark this message and pass it forward. This is murder! The Empire built this fire. They made this fire and led us to the slaughter. Now they expect us to die without knowing why. The conspiracy we've feared is real! It's here today! Imperial ships are already landing across--Help us! Is there no one who can help us? Is there no one?" Dreena

A friend describes Syril as a "wet, sad napkin and died that way," and that's the best description of Syril's life and death. He delusionally believes the Empire was looking for outside rebels influencing the Ghorman Front. His whole reality began to crumble apart as he saw how the Empire was conducting false flag operations and fake news propaganda. He even reverts back to his violent nature by choking Dedra, which reminds us that he was and still is a (rental) cop, to get answers. As the slow motion of his reaction to the Ghorman Massacre, you can see that maybe this is the moment where he'll finally join the rebellion...until he sees Cassian. Unlike other Imperials turned protagonists, he chose to let his obsession, base programming, and desperation consume any common sense and realizations. I really like to believe he didn't even know he saved Dedra, and that he was that consumed by his obsession with Andor. The fight between him and Cassian is one of the best and just fierce fights in Star Wars. Just a simple hand-to-hand using what's anything that's around you. And what does Syril get for his troubles as he raises his blaster at the man he's obsessed with for the past three years?

"Who are you?" Cassian Andor

At that point, you can see that subtle look on his face as he slightly lowers his blaster. Maybe this is the moment where he's reevaluating his entire life, he finally turns his life around, maybe he's been asking that question himself, and other possibilities. A lot could've happened, but he ends up dying to the Carro Rylanz, the former pacifist leader who trusted him the most.

Syril died as a pathetic tool to a Fascist regime that never cared about him and the law he's so desperate to uphold, only realizing way too late about these facts. Before he could even make any amends, he let his hatred consume even that chance. He's such a fascinating character regarding the delusions of low-level workers of the Empire and Fascism.

On a dark but funny note, it’s funny to see how Cassian not recognizing Karn at all is literally the Thanos and Wanda meme. Cassian must’ve been fucking confused at what just happened.

The opening of Episode 9 using the Ghorman National Anthem as the music is heartbreaking and reminds us of the genocide of the last episode and now.

Mothma absolutely slays in this episode. The build-up to her speech is filled with tension. I love how her anger is shown by how she destroys the listening device. Then she has to learn from Luthen that Erskine was working for him, which is a surprising reveal. She truly showcases why she's the leader of the Rebel Alliance and later the Chancellor of the New Republic.

Senator Dasi Oran's thanks to Mothma for her efforts in helping him and his world are really heartwarming. In a role where Mothma barely gets any gratitude for what she does, hearing that one thanks must've given her a renewed drive to deliver that speech. Similarly, as Oran is being arrested, he is spitting facts. In two years, as seen in A New Hope and the 2015 comic, the Imperial Senate gets dissolved, and all Imperial Senators on Coruscant get arrested just like Oran.

"I am a Senator! With the full rights and protections...Stand back and get your arms off! No warrant! No charges! This is the Senate Chamber, I have every right to be here. Will no one help me? Ghorman is being slaughtered! It's my people today and yours tomorrow! Remember this day! Remember Ghorman! Remember this day! Remember Ghorman! This will be you soon enough. Remember this day!" Dasi Oran

I like how Luthen ackowedges how many events Andor was at which helped influence the show and by extension galactic events.

I fucking love Bail (Benjamin Bratt did an amazing job) and his Senate ally Erveen using the Empire's own protocols against them. After seeing Luthen being a paranoid control freak to Mothma, it's nice to see Bail as a comforting, positive influence on her, even if Bail was too trusting of his team. It's funny yet also awesome to hear Senator Bail Organa say the word shit.

"Don't worry about me. I'll have my head down. Next year. In Yavin." Bail Organa

"Take care of yourself, Bail." Mon Mothma.

"We do what we can. Tear the shit out of this place." Bail Organa

Mothma's speech is simply peak. Genevieve O'Reilly acted the hell out of this arc and this episode. She did an amazing job acting as Mon Mothma as she now publicly condemns the Emperor. It really feels like she's discussing Gaza genocide. In our current day and throughout history, truth is sacred and important. We need the truth to function and understand the facts. The death of truth is when evil wins. Influential figures, companies, and governments are distorting the truth to manipulate people to feel angry and to give them enemies to hate. Those people who support them and scream the loudest with the goal of making people feel alone, hate groups and communities, and get angry at enemies who never existed. Those people who do that are the monsters. I fucking love how she emphasizes the word genocide and the Empire’s actions is “unprovoked genocide” since most of the Imperial Senators don’t believe and refuse to believe the Empire’s actions as genocide. The Empire’s excuses and “justifications ” for ethnic cleansing and genocide without using those terms parallels well with countries like Israel. There’s so much real world applicability to the speech and it what makes this speech one of the best Star Wars speeches, especially in the times we live in now.

I really love the track Euology playing during Mothma's speech. It really brings up the memory of Maarav's speech and how it inspired the people of Ferrix to riot against the Empire. Just like Maarva's speech, she will soon rally the disparate rebel cells into a Rebel Alliance. The same Rebel Alliance that will bring down the Empire and restore the Republic.

I also love how the technicians who prevented the ISB from shutting down the broadcast are heavily implied to be agents of Luthen. They like Bail use the same Imperial procedures against them.

Erskin really stepped up as he helped Cassian enter the building and later distract the ISB plant for Cassian to kill. No wonder, Mothma regained her trust in him. There is something funny about how casually Cassian dispatched both the ISB plant and Kloris. It's also funny how much of the ISB's and Empire's failure to prevent Mothma's speech and capture Mothma is due to the incompetence of Lagret to the point that Yularen gave him a call.

I also love the track Past/Present Suite playing during Mothma's and Cassian's escape from the Senate. As the last time it played, it indicated a new beginning for both child and adult Cassian. Now it signals a new beginning for Mothma and the soon-to-be rebel captain Cassian. I absolutely love the connections to the Rebels Secret Cargo episode and the fact that Mothma is going to make another speech about the Ghorman Massacre and one to unite all the rebel cells.

"Fellow Senators, friends, colleagues...allies, adversaries. I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart. I've spent my whole life in this Chamber. I came here as a child. And as I look around me now, I realize I have almost no memories that pre-date my arrival...and few bonds of affection that cleave so tightly. Through these many years, I believe I have served my constituents honorably and upheld our code of conduct. This Chamber...is a cauldron of opinions...and we've certainly all had our patience and tempers tested in pursuit of our ideals. Disagree as we might...I am hopeful that those of you who know me will vouch for my credibility in the days to come. I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in a crisis. The distance between what is said...and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk...the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This Chamber's hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Plaza. What took place yesterday...What happened yesterday on Ghorman was unprovoked genocide! Yes! Genocide! And that truth has been exiled from this Chamber! And the monster screaming the loudest? The monster we've helped create? The monster who will come for all of us soon enough...is Emperor Palpatine! Mon Mothma

Melshi has finally joined the Rebel Alliance! I really love how Karn's blaster has finally made its way back to this season. Ironically, Vel recognized Karn's blaster from Aldhani while Cassian doesn't even know who Karn is.

I also really hope Wilmon survives. It'll feel a bit unsatisfying if he dies off-screen in the next arc. In general, I hope he survives the show to see the sunrise of the New Republic alongside Bix which leads to the next part.

I have mixed feelings about Bix's departure from the show. On one hand, she deserves to live, and at least she does...it's just the how where I'm very mixed on. She didn't get to do much in this season, in my opinion, and she was literally on the sidelines in this arc. I also really didn't get why Cassian thought they could live in peace away from the conflict when the whole point of Niamos and Narkina V is that there is no escape from the Empire, and there is only one way out.

At least, we got Cassian and K2's first interaction. I'm happy K2 was always this sassy from the moment he was reprogrammed to serve the Alliance.

One thing I hope for next week: We need proper closure for the fate of Kenari and Cassian's sister. It'll be fitting if the last episode ends with resolving those two plot points since the first episode of the show, and the events of everything started with Cassian looking for those answers.

There's one thing left to say: all roads lead to Scarif and Yavin IV...and those two destinations are near with the last arc of Andor.

"My love. You're sleeping now. You're sleeping now. You look so peaceful. I wanna be brave, but I can't. If I was brave, I would stay and do this in person...but I know you and you'd just talk me around, and I've been thinking about this too long to let that happen. I have to leave. I have to go away. I'm not sure where or for how long, I just know that I can't stay here with you now. I believe what you said. It is a choice. It just can't be me. I can't be the reason you leave here. If you ever gave this up for me, I'd...I'd never forgive myself. We have to win. We have to beat them. And I believe you have purpose in making that happen. I need to believe that. So, I'm choosing for the both of us. I'm choosing the Rebellion. And when it's done...when it's over...and we've won...we can do all the things we ever wanted. Everything we'd know we've missed. I'll find you." Bix Caleen

[fly-with-the-flock]

So it’s April 11th. The 20 year anniversary of Maximum Ride. That’s a pretty big deal. I wish I had more to do, to say. Max means so fucking much to me that I can’t even put it in to words. I would absolutely not be who I am today without her, these books genuinely shaped me as a person. I had originally planned to push back my year long art block and draw something for the anniversary, but I’ve had so much going on irl these last two months that I just haven’t had the time unfortunately.

But it’s now almost 9am Florida time. Which means that at any moment now Jimmy p could be active online and making posts, or god forbid, announcements about the series. I really hope he doesn’t announce any new books, but I do have to say, I think I will be a little disappointed if he just forgets it completely.

It’s still early in America, but it’s nearly 11pm here in Aus so I’m going to bed soon, and I just really really hope I don’t wake up to bad news in the morning.

But anyway, happy 20th anniversary to my favourite fandom ever. Yall are truly amazing and I love being a part of this community so damn much. I know I’ve said it before, but the current Maximum Ride fandom is seriously the best fandom I’ve ever been in. I hope to be here with all of you for another 20 years.

[theegemini92]

I have a genuine question. Why do people cape for Elain? We know so little about her. Why do you like her? I really want to know.

Before you read don’t quote me, out of your own thoughts just tell me why you like her and I am all for non-warrior females especially MC in novels because the warrior mean girl trope is so played and overrated to me. All of us women come in shapes and forms with our own thoughts. It’s about time we start breaking this fantasy curse of warriors only. And I will say this ViVianne is my fave female character in ACOTAR. A female worthy of High Queen status.

Now personally have a lot against Elain though. I don’t know why people like her so much. My main issue with Elain that came to light in AcOMF is that she is just not the kind of person would be there for you in hard times. She won’t wait it out with you. I think this showed that with her and Nesta. their closeness was one sided.

• She always clung to Nesta because Nesta had the mean streak and will physically protect her.

• She is made rich by Tamlins so called blood money and she finds the next best thing to a king to marry. Now she’s fae the in a new utopia with little poverty and the next best thing who would protect her delicate self is Azriel the simp once again simping and pining for a female not his 🤣 And he clearly has money and a secure job. Why would she hang out with Lucien? No money no land, titles nothing and lives in the human world eating human food?

• She from Feyre pov laughs at her when Nesta is mean to her.

• she was always gardening. Gardening what? To me all that gardening was her burying dead bodies. 😂 It’s always the quiet ones.

• She does not out right rejects Lucien as a matter of fact she tries her best to ignore him and I get it she doesn’t know him and clearly wants nothing to do with him so why can’t she tell feyre, the one constantly bringing him over she doesn’t want to see him and accept the bond? What sort of game is that?

•is she not also an older sister to ferret? What did she do for ferret? Why does Nesta take the brunt of all the hate? Why is Elain IN THE SHADOWS like azriel? Why does everyone in her family protect her and has made the fandom do the same? I call bs honestly. In the original beauty and the beast all sisters or one was evil in the end but I know sjm would go with the direction of the triple goddess blah blah blah and she will be good etc. I love drama and if she is an evil sister I’d be here for it 🤣 but in the meantime I just don’t get it.?

• And don’t get me started on the whole theory of her being in the spring court we don’t want her there. her love for flowers etc.

Like someone explain to me why you like Elain Archeron? I don’t get it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[bloodismymedium]

Mona Lanius Headcanons Part IV because I’m actually obsessed with her 💀

🩸 Mona finds the rain very comforting, she’ll stand out in a storm and risk pneumonia to get completely soaked, her head pointed directly at the sky, eyes closed and a soft smile on her face. It’s also the closest thing to a bath that she will ever take.

🩸 Mona’s favorite book is Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and she relates to the Monster a lot since she too feels like an inhuman outcast not meant for a world that hated her since birth.

🩸 Mona wishes she could sing but her voice is too raspy for it but her humming is flat out ethereal, her voice becomes beautiful and soothing when she hums and she could easily lull someone to sleep with it.

🩸 Mona inherited her parents’ drug problems. She takes so much drugs and so many different kinds that it’s nothing short of a miracle that she hasn’t overdosed yet. She also takes a lot of pain killers but that’s for her back and joint pain on account of her Kyphosis and double-jointed limbs.

🩸 Mona prefers cold, damp climates, she can be completely comfortable in below thirty degree weather and is cold as ice to the touch 24/7. She absolutely hates being hot because it makes her bromhidrosis act up and she hates the sensation of being sweaty in general.

🩸 GG Allin is Mona’s personal hero, she legitimately wishes she could’ve met him and do heroin with him. She often cites GG Allin as one of her biggest inspirations along with Valerie Solanas, Albert Fish and the Zodiac Killer.

🩸 Mona doesn’t care for makeup or jewelry in the slightest. On rare occasions she’ll wear lipstick but only if it’s as black as her soul. She’s always been interested in getting piercings though and she isn’t against the idea of body modification either.

🩸 Mona also HATES wearing shoes because she has large and oddly shaped feet caused by her Marfan syndrome, which makes wearing shoes very uncomfortable for her. Years of walking barefoot has caused her feet to become very tough and calloused to the point where she can walk on broken glass and feel nothing.

🩸 Mona has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Sexual Sadism Disorder. Her NPD is genetically inherited and she had symptoms since she was very young but she developed Antisocial Personality Disorder from years of abuse and trauma and her sexual sadism was formed over years of exploring her sexuality while committing murders during her teen years.

🩸 On top of painting and her arts and crafts projects involving human flesh, Mona is an aspiring filmmaker of sorts as she has made hundreds of snuff films and stag films with a video camera she stole from Mark and has an impressive collection of VHS tapes containing her and Bill’s twisted home movies. Mona takes them pretty seriously too, she’s always looking for the perfect light to really capture the pained and horrified look of her victims actors.

🩸 Mona has genuinely developed an underground fandom after her capture. Her murders and paintings captivated the country as it is but as soon as it was made public that she is a woman, people went rabid. The amount of “I can fix her” and “I love a woman who would actually just kill me” memes that would come out of it would break the internet.

🩸 Some of Mona’s paintings would even start being purchased by members of her “fanbase” for thousands of dollars a piece and she would already get dozens of people ranging from psychiatrists to E-celeb content creators wanting to get interviews with her, and you better believe Mona is LOVING all this attention.

🩸 Mona was born on December 24th. Her birth on Christmas Eve was actually planned by her parents as planning births to be on Christmas Eve was one of many odd, semi-religious rituals the Lanius family practiced as part of their agenda to achieve genetic and cultural purity, along with practicing incest and drinking each other’s blood.

🩸 The Lanius family are nonspecific Pagans who believe in a lot of strange superstitions and worship no particular deity but believe in a more nonspecific idea of spiritualism that feels like it’s composed of bits and pieces taken from many different religions. Mona is not religious to any capacity but still practices some of the odd traditions her family had out of nostalgic reasons.

🩸 Mona has tried dozens of times to send letters to Tina while she is incarcerated, still under the delusion that they’re an item and that Tina loves her like she loves her. The letters range from poems, to fucked yet strangely romantic drawings, to really horny ramblings of how much she wants to seek her teeth into Tina’s flesh while she weeps into her chest 🥰

[coolingrosa]

i have a little question. Would you rather reffer to Ink as a ''soulless being" or 'person who lacks a soul"? (saw this discussion a while ago and apparently there's a different with both terms)

This is weirdly timed due to me working on a video talking about what Ink’s soulless identity could be metaphors for…nice job anon /gen

I have a small section about this in my video, but I won’t mind adding it here and expanding on it. The only reference we have of a monster who is soulless is Flowey, but what most people tend to forget about Flowey is that the reason he is who is he is due to the determination inside him as well. Unlike Ink who is capable of feeling genuine emotions, even if they are technically artificial, Flowey feels nothing but animal instincts and a drive to survive. I see some people say Flowey CAN feel some emotions, and while I want to agree with that, it’s clear this is through an animalistic way. Flowey “feels’ fear when his life is threatened. He cries when the last bits of his good memories, the memories his determination latched onto, are brought up due to the influence they have over his remains. He doesn’t truly feel things like love or empathy, so he fits the criteria of a ‘soulless being’ a lot better.

Where the problem had risen in the fandom is people using their knowledge of how Flowey acts for a baseline of what Ink is like- using terms like “soulless being” to describe him and making him cruel and overly rude. It’s confirmed that Ink is a selfish prick, but it’s also confirmed he CAN feel love, and feels love for his dads. He can also mourn and feel genuine connections to people due to his vials and the lack of determination serving as metaphoric survival instincts. He CAN love, and he can cry over losing someone. That requires empathy and compassion- and due to his vials serving as his soul, he’s still a person.

Flowey is more of a vengeance spirit in a way- haunting the narrative until Frisk holds him through his turmoil and reveals the soul of Asriel. Though it’s hinted he will become Flowey again, I like to think that Asriel REALLY means that his soul can move on, and Flowey will be all that remains, which will be an empty flower. Without his soul and lasting strings, nothing can hold Flowey together. That’s not exactly the means of a person- just fragments stitched together by determination and past memories.

Ink is a person- even if everyone and himself doubt it. He has the capability of care and love and has a drive that isn’t just connected to survival. He’s able to maintain positive connections and make enemies at the same time, upholding both in a way that’s reminiscent to others. Even without his soul, his vials are his support- almost like how people get mechanical legs after losing one. They are foreign and not in the shape of a soul at all, but they were given to him as a replacement and to keep him going. They will never be on the same par of an original soul, but they hold him together anyways. That’s the structure of a person who just seems to have a disability- not a completely separate being.

TLDR: I think the term a person without a soul fits- however, basing Ink off of the one other soulless character we know of (even though he isn’t a good comparison due to the immense differences between them and their situations) is what drove so much of his mischaracterization throughout the years, and we need to remember Ink had a artificial soul in a way and shouldn’t be considered a completely soulless and empty person when he has things to support him.

[pearl-likes-pi]

i honestly dont know hoe to say this, but you really had a hand in shaping my brai chemistry while i was growing up, no kidding. i remember when i was 13 or so and whenever you posted a pearl rap career chapter it would unironicaly make my day (specially when you dropped the peridot chapter i had a stomach infection or smth, so that video and the last one out of beach city episode were on replay for me for a few days). its really weird seeing that rebecca managed to make a safe space for lgbt folks (it was really hard for me to accept myself as gay, it seems really simple nowadays but back then it was so discomforting to even thinm about it so su and its fandom, and by some extent, your vids, helped me externalize some feelings or queernes i guess, do you remeber when someone said your video editing was raw and masculine? lol). anyways, its wild to think i was in 5th grade when i first watched laser light canon and now im finishing my journalism course in college and seeing how this show raised me in some way and helped me to be aware of my own mental health i only have good memories, thankfully, and its really sad to see that it ended, but i honestly wouldnt have had it any other way. its kind of a long rant but id like to thank you, mackenzie, your videos made me laugh a lot when i was a teen and they still make me now. this show was truly a gift, it made us connect to something bigger and magical. this was kind of a long rant since ive kinda forgotten that su existed and remined that it existed because of some dreams lol. i remembered back then when i was super anxious about the cluster episode, i remeber checking your tumblr everyday and seeing fanon content. i really dont know how to express myself since english is not my first language and i tend to ramble on a lot on my native one, but id like to say youve made me smile a lot, it was so cool seeing you present the su podcast and being an intern at CN. i honestly wish you the best.

Dude it means so much to hear that my lil shitposts have had an impact on people!!!! I completely understand where youre coming from re: SU's impact on your life (and acceptance of queer identity) and feel the same way!!! im so grateful for this show and everything it represents. in a world without Steven Universe my current life would be completely unrecognizable. like genuinely I dont think any single aspect of my life would be the way it is without SU. which is nuts but it's true!!!

I love engaging with this community and it gave me a lot of support when I was at a place in my life where I felt pretty isolated. I'm kind of rambling now too but this seriously has been sitting in my inbox for a bit now and I just knew i needed to respond and say thank you for sharing. <3

ALSO LMAO I FORGOT ABT THE RAW AND MASCULINE COMMENT THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME HAHA

[oscconfessions]

I feel like gushing about how much this fandom has meant to me for a moment. Having a Time.

I genuinely love the memories I have of the OSC that I've been collecting since I joined the fanom in 2015. I've spent so much of my life in this fandom and it genuinely has done so much for me.

I got to witness idfb's release. I was THERE. It's hard to believe sometimes. I got to watch the comments freak out as they realized it wasn't bfdia 6 but something entirely different. Some positive, some negative. All surprised. I remember being so mad I couldn't vote or contribute because I was too young to have a YouTube account at the time. I remember watching idfb a million times in pure awe that it wasn't a competition show, so excited for the next episode to come out.

I remember when Kick the Bucket released and everyone collectively gasped at the reveal that Apple wasn't truly using Marshmallow and that it was all Bow. I remember how excited I was that my theory was RIGHT. I didn't know how common of a theory it was back then, I was just so excited because I'd been able to figure it out. I remember how surprised I felt when Nickel got eliminated alongside Balloon and how excited I was to see how Suitcase's character was going to develop. It was the first time I'd really watched something that intense and gotten so invested in it. I remember waiting for each and every episode of II past that point on the edge of my seat, eager to see what would happen next.

I remember when the first episode of bfb released. I wasn't expecting it. I don't believe anyone was. I found the art style so cool, and I loved how different it was from the traditional bfdi style. I loved the huge cast of characters and I had such fun trying to get a grasp on their personalities. I was so THRILLED when I realized I was able to cast my very first vote on a bfb episode. It was so fun, realizing that I could truly contribute to the community for the first time in my life. It was just one vote, but it filled me with pure glee. I was a part of something. It was a feeling of collaboration I'd never felt in any fandom space before.

I remember waiting through every hiatus, every pause in production, because I was so in love with these shows I was ready to wait my entire lifetime for them if I had to. I loved discovering new shows and new ways to interact with the community outside of the shows themselves. When I realized there were fandom spaces outside of YouTube that I could talk to other fans in I was over the moon. Finally, I had people who I could share my adoration for these silly talking objects with. I had people who I could start considering my friends.

I accepted the loss of bfdia because it meant there would be new stories that could be told with characters familiar and new. I adored each new story beat added to II because it meant these characters I'd grown to adore would get to have new, interesting scenes for me to watch over and over again.

And now. Here I am. Finding myself falling back in love with the community that shaped my childhood. Still giggling over the newest bfdia episode, and awaiting the next part of the Inanimate Insanity finale with nothing but pure JOY.

This community has meant a lot to me. And I'm so glad I've always found my way back to it. I know the community is pretty rocky (hah) at times, but it's been so special to me for so long.

I just love this fandom. A lot.

alright time to go die out of embarrassment now!!!!

.