#another way they've rejected their dads

[peachypaddys]

i don't usually upload edits on tumblr but something tells me desiblr will appreciate this more than anyone else. need season 2 QUICK.

[xirayn]

Steddie dads: the origin of Sam

"I want a baby."

Steve nearly chokes on his sandwich as his brain tries to process Robin - staunch feminist and critic of gender roles - wanting a baby. He knows she loves her career traveling the world as a translator and interpreter, and baby doesn't exactly fit into that. He barely fits beyond letters and lunches during long layovers in Chicago like the one they are currently having.

"You?" he asks after a few coughs to direct the bite of sandwich down the correct tube. "A baby? Why?"

"It just seems like an amazing experience. You bring a literal human being into this world and get to watch them grow and become their own person. They're part of you, but completely independent with their own thoughts and feelings and future. Like, they start as basically a parasite, then they learn to walk and talk and explore the world and question and read and get their own sense of humor and ideas -"

"I know, Robin." Steve sighs. He knows she isn't trying to hurt him, but her words do all the same. It is why he wants a kid. Nurturing a child and watching them grow is a dream he has given up on. "Eddie and I have wanted kids for a long time, but -" It isn't feasible for them. Not now. This is about Robin, though. "A kid isn't going to fit into your jet-setting lifestyle."

"I said I wanted to have a baby, not raise a kid." Robin steals a fry off his plate. Steve rolls his eyes.

"I don't think you can do that."

"Why not? Men do it all the time." She pops the fry into her mouth.

"Because they have a wife or nanny or someone who will raise their kid."

Robin smiles as she chews. Her expression encourages him toward the solution for a puzzle she has already solved. He studies her, replaying their conversation back in search for what has been left unsaid. Robin wants to have a baby for someone else to raise. Men have kids they leave to be raised by their wives or someone they've hired. Not all, of course, though men are still praised for doing something as basic as babysitting as if it isn't their own child they are watching. Robin doesn't have a wife and wouldn't have a child just to pay someone to raise them...

Steve and Eddie want to raise a child.

His mouth forms a circle of revelation. The love he has for Robin swells in his chest. Her face softens as she watches him understand what she is offering.

"I want to have your baby," Robin tells him softly, almost cautiously, as if he might reject the gift she is offering him. Naturally, she tries to cover with a tumble of words. "Not the traditional way. That would be - ew. There are other ways, though. My friends Alex and Clara did it. Alex's brother jacked off into a cup in another room, then Clara took it and, just, put it up there."

"Like with a turkey baster?" It is the dumbest thing Steve could ask, but it eases the tension developing in Robin's shoulders.

"No, Dingus," she laughs. "There is this latex cup used for periods they used. Sample goes in the cup, cup goes by the cervix, nature does the rest."

"And by sample, you mean jizz."

"Ew. No. Don't call it that." She gags and waves her hands in front of her. Steve shakes his head with a fond smirk.

"What? That's what it is."

"Sure, for sex, but I want to keep everything as non-sexual as possible. Whatever you do in your room stays in your room."

Steve chuckles. He is still caught in the mix of wonder and happiness at the idea. A child with his best friend actually sounds pretty great, especially when he gets to raise them with his would-be spouse.

"I have to talk to Eddie about it," he says. He already knows the answer, though. They have already talked about it and taken the steps to discover it wasn't feasible for them; not until now.

"Duh." There is nothing but affection and good humor in Robin's voice. "I'm going to be in Cannes for three months. I was planning on taking some time off afterward, so you better have the guest room ready."

Steve laughs. "It's never not ready, but I'll make sure it's free."

"Good." Robin glances at her watch. She digs in her bag for some crumpled bills to put on the table. "I have to go. My flight is boarding in a half hour and on the other side of the airport . I'll send you a postcard when I get there."

"Sounds good." Steve stands to give her a hug.

He enjoys the postcards, he and Eddie were even saving up to go sightseeing with her in Europe. They can wait for that to be a family trip, though.

[nostalgia-tblr]

My Next Attempt At Long Fic (by which I mean more than 10000 words and it has chapters) Should Be...

Poll and the (actually quite long) gist of each option below le cut:

The Sylki Con Artists AU

This one I have a wee bit written of already but I go back and forth on this one because it's Alternative Universe - Modern Setting and I feel like there's already a lot of those (which I also complain about a lot), and I have to justify it to myself as an experiment in whether I can do a Sylki Modern AU that doesn't just end up as "two people called Loki and Sylvie do normal stuff together". That's why they are con artists in this! Because 1) MISCHIEF (or crime, or whatever) and 2) if they have the same 'job' for similar reasons and I go on about them being similar a lot then that's maybe as close as reality can get to selfcest. (The selfcest is not just a feature of sylki, I feel it is THE feature and to admit to being Bad At Shipping (again) I'm just not that interested in it if they're different people who aren't even aliens. The same alien.) (You can tell me they are gods all you want but I've seen enough Doctor Who to know that must be A LIE so I reject it as such.)

The plot is that they meet in a bar one night and shag (obviously!) and then the reader discovers that Loki is trying to buy a painting from an old woman (planning on ripping off both her and his own buyer) and Sylvie is an artist who is selling a forged painting to some posh twat on the internet who she knows is trying to rip off her fake old lady persona on the deal but she's selling him a fake painting anyway so at least he deserves to be conned. They meet up a few times before finally realising that they are in fact conning each other under fake names on the internet, and then I have to try and fix it when they inevitably get mad at each other because of it. Also, Thor works in a shop because the brodinsons are Downwardly Mobile (dad spent all their inheritance, oh no!) Plotwise Loki is going to actually need Sylvie's painting for reasons I have not yet entirely worked out so one way or another they will have to eventually forgive each other for being con artists as they themselves are and for having attempted to con each other.

Ideally I will be able to make this one funny in some way, as I think the concept can get absurd enough to make a rom-com out of it.

2. The Jotun Heat Fic (also sylki)

I was into this one for about a day and now I have second thoughts because I am not sure I care enough about Frost Giant Biology to have to write an entire fic about it. It would continue my tradition (I did it once, that's enough for it to be a tradition) of turning a tiny ficlet into a much longer thing. This one: The Opposite of Heat, in which Loki and Sylvie go into whatever the Jotun equivalent of the fandom fave 'mating cycles/in heat' trope is, having never done so before because (see if you can guess...) they've never previously spent enough time around another Jotun for the hormones to kick in properly. They have no idea this can happen, and what starts out as Fun Porno-Fic Times soon gets a bit worrying and then I suppose they have to Investigate and that's the bit I fear might end up boring me.

This is set in an AU where S2!Loki did not instantly demand that Sylvie help him with his cop friends' problems and instead just went to live in Oklahoma with her, so the other/'real' plot is them getting used to living together and the weird-but-sexy medical issue bringing them into conflict because of course the first place Loki wants to go for help is the TVA (this not unreasonable of him, as they have a lot of info in their archives and he has no other friends anyway), which Sylvie is not keen on as she would rather just avoid them for the rest of forever. Gosh, I hope nobody goes to the TVA for help behind anyone else's back!

I need a way to make this one stay interesting once it gets to the Find Out What Is Happening part and also it needs to not just immediately end with a sensible solution like just going to Jotunheim and asking someone there for a talk about the frost-birds and the frost-bees.

Also I think they should fuck in that McDonalds. Just because.

3. Jotunheim Rejects The Guy Who Cannot Possibly Be Its Rightful King, Because I'm Annoying Like That AU (not thorki)

Speaking of going to Jotunheim, you know all those fics where Loki goes to be the Rightful King Of Frostland, as Odin apparently planned all along? That but it doesn't work, because I am not at all convinced he can have been Laufey's heir (who the fuck infanticides their only male heir?!) and even if he was well it'd just look awful, wouldn't it? Crusty Old Odin, worst friend to Jotunheim for several years running, sends back your kingdom's heir having raised him as one of his own family. (I hope at least one of you is thinking "US-Backed Puppet Ruler Who Will Do Whatever The CIA Tells Them To" because I did too! Ooh, geopolitical barely-subtext!)

The problem with this one for me is it requires a fairly large cast of Original Jotun Characters, and I still fear writing OCs because of the constant 'Mary-Sue' complaints in my fannish youth. Also I would Controversially (LOL not really) make some of them women, including Angrboda the ambitious would-be consort and Laufey's tragically spurned lover who on finding out that her long-dead son is not dead makes the most of it by insisting everyone call her 'My Lady, the King's Mother' (yes, I stole that from History but I do that sort of thing now, for the LOLs). So I have a bit of an idea what happens in this one, though I'd need to think of more political type plot stuff and also I just finished writing a multichapter fic that involved the Jotun succession so maybe I'd be overdoing it if I did this one now as well.

The other problem is Jotuns are too fucking tall. I mean really. This doesn't seem to bother anyone else but they are Too Fucking Tall to interact with the shorter characters, to the point that it just seems accidentally comedic to me. Just imagine the totally-not-a-puppet king of Jotunheim sitting on a massive throne, swinging his wee legs in the air. And I don't know how to work around that other than just saying "they are Less Fucking Tall in this fic" and I don't know if that would just annoy people. Also it does feel a bit incendiary to go against the general fandom insistence that Loki Is Totally The Rightful King Of Jotunheim. Though I suppose in this he is, it's just that he attempts to become so in the sort of circumstances that make everyone start saying things like "are we really that keen on our monarchy?" or at least "surely there's a cousin or an uncle we could give the crown to instead? yeah, even a woman would do. no, she doesn't have to be alive if there are only dead ones available."

(It was a mistake to let me read books about the Wars of the Roses, wasn't it?)

Oh and this isn't a thorki fic, but Thor is going to go to Jotunheim with his bro to help him settle in and also he will be going back to rescue him from it at the end. Bros before snows!!!!

[lurkingshan]

Goodbye Cooking Crush

Aw man, I am so sad this wonderful little show is over. It delivered everything I needed and held up all the way through its run. Everything came together in this finale for some great final payoffs, and the characters stayed true. When we were watching the finale I said to @neuroticbookworm and @twig-tea that this show is writing porn, because all of the narrative threads build and converge in such a satisfying way. I posted a couple weeks ago that this show is exactly what you want from a good romcom, and I stand by it. Great outing for OffGun and a very rewarding show that I will surely be rewatching many times.

As expected, this week delivered a solid, nuanced ending for Ten's family conflict. I loved the way Ten sat Prem down at the family table, took the chair opposite his father at the other end of the table in a clear power move, and told him in no uncertain terms that Prem was his boyfriend and he had to accept it. And his dad did not have a sudden personality transplant; he pushed back and challenged Prem to prove his integrity. It made sense to me that Prem wanted to pay that money back; the money scam from the beginning of their relationship has been weighing on him the whole time, and he doesn't want any shred of doubt lingering over his relationship with his in-laws. My favorite part of that whole sequence was Prem's grandma finally finding out about the money and getting out her switch; this was never Prem's burden to bear alone and I'm glad he learned his lesson about not asking for help.

So Ten's dad was forced to accept Prem when he came through on his promise, and he even offered a classic Asian parent version of an apology by coming to Prem's restaurant to acknowledge him, which is more than I expected from him. My favorite thing about that final scene at the restaurant is that Ten's dad hasn't really changed and he and Ten are not suddenly getting along; their conversation was still adversarial even as he finally explained a couple things, and in the end he was left to eat at the table alone. No unearned parental 180 here. They are not suddenly a big happy family, but they've settled on a detente everyone can live with. It feels right.

And in another family drama, Fire finally found the courage to tell his mother how much she has hurt him, and after an initial rejection, she realized she didn't want to lose Fire and offered him acceptance. I would have liked a bit more breathing room in this plot because her turn felt a little too easy, but it's a side story so I get that they were time constrained. It was nice to see Fire finally stand up for her, and Dynamite begrudgingly accepted into the family. I liked that Dy's family didn't magically appear; not all families will accept their queer children, and that is the reality he has to live with. But it must have felt somewhat healing to see that happen for Fire and know he was a big part of giving Fire the courage to finally come out.

Meanwhile, the Three Must-Eat-Ers lost the cooking competition but won the hearts of many with the touching story of their final dish, and built careers bolstered by their show fandom. I was so pleased to get the flash forward to show us that Prem did get to open his chef's table restaurant, with Ten's full support (and with rings of some sort on, not sure if they're engaged or married but they are definitely committed). It was the very sweet cherry on top of the ice cream sundae of their romance. Ten and Prem, Communication Kings, are going down as one of my all-time favorite bl couples.

I am agnostic on the final Samsee/Pang reveal, given my hopes for a Samsee/Metha pairing. I'm not mad at the show for not going there--it would definitely have been pairing the spares to put Samsee and Metha together, which I generally do not go in for--and am mostly happy that Samsee found love and Metha is still part of the gang. I would have also loved to see those bullies get some comeuppance, but honestly, bullies often win, and it didn't feel like a true loss for our boys so I'm good with it. This was a solid finale for a feel good show and I will miss it dearly.

[greiiliss]

After this episode I have so many thoughts and feelings about the Oak-(Swallows)-Garcia men/boys that I absolutely need to write down:

Henry saw his father's example of how to treat people, and decided he wanted to be nothing like it, so he became kind and compassionate and deeply, deeply caring. And he tried to pass this onto his sons because he wanted the hurt that he went through as a child to end with him.

But Henry didn't have any good examples of how to be a parent. His father was dismissive and cruel, and his mother apathetic and afraid. He had no one to show him how to teach and guide his sons, and he was afraid of over-managing their lives the way his father had, so he erred on the side of giving them ample space to figure things out on their own and supporting them as best he can.

So the twins are told from birth that they are loved unconditionally, that no matter what they will be forgiven. They are told this so much it practically becomes white noise to them. Even if they burn down their classroom, or destroy the tree in the front yard, or start a cult in a city in another realm, their dad might get mad for a bit, but he won't really do anything about it, and it'll all be okay, he'll laugh it off and tell them how much he loves them. They're having fun, it's not like they've done anything that serious!

Until suddenly, they have done something very serious. They have done something so horrible that it very nearly ended the world entirely. What did they expect would happen afterward, do you think? I imagine that they thought -that Lark at the very least thought- that Henry would be furious with them. If there was anything for Henry to be really mad at them about, to never forgive them for, it has to be this, right?

But... he's not. Henry doesn't blame them, and when they blame themselves he says that he forgives them? This doesn't make sense to them, and we can know that this doesn't make sense to them, because Lark's spent the past few weeks hating Henry because of Walter's injury, something Henry was only indirectly involved in. We don't even know if Lark ever forgave Henry, so what reason would he have to assume his father would ever forgive him for doing something infinitely worse?

The twins are scared, because they think they should be hated, and they don't understand the unconditional love and forgiveness that their father is offering them. So Lark does what many scared and confused people do: he lashes out at what he doesn't understand. Every time Henry tells him he's not to blame for what happened, or that he loves him, or that he forgives him, Lark rejects it.

Sparrow takes a different approach. He's already been told that he needs to be a "love wolf", but he's only really taken in that lesson in a "letter of the law" kind of way. So he tries to be nice. He says the nice things, marries the nice woman, and he says the "right" things when he gets angry to try and absolve himself of all blame. He's trying to emulate his father's approach to life, but he doesn't actually understand it, so his actions are hollow, and quite often ingenuine. And he blames himself for the Doodler's release just as much as Lark does, so he also feels that he's fundamentally unlovable. He marries a woman who cheats on him because why should it matter that she maybe doesn't love him when no one ever will?

If you believe yourself to be unlovable because of something you've done, you don't believe in unconditional love, so it is impossible for you to give unconditional love.

This is the environment Normal is raised in, with a mother incapable of sharing her own opinions out of a dedication to centrism, and two father figures who believe themselves to be fundamentally unlovable and are therefore incapable of extending unconditional love to anyone else. There are conditions that he needs to meet in order to be loved by his dad, and he doesn't meet them. He probably hasn't for awhile, but he only really realized it recently when Sparrow just told him outright.

And the incredible thing about Normal? This doesn't break him. He holds onto his identity even though he's hurt and upset that his father isn't proud of him. Normal saw his father's example of how to treat people and decided he wanted to be nothing like it, so he apologizes for yelling at Taylor, and he stands up for himself, and he still loves his family even though they've hurt him. Just like his grandfather did, Normal was raised in an environment that tried to stifle him and separate him from other people, and instead chose to love himself and others as much as he possibly can.

And this difference between the generations is illustrated so well through Lark/Normal looking into the Doodler's mind:

Lark sees inside the Doodler's mind, sees that it wants to be loved, sees that it's hurt people without meaning to, fucking sees himself in it, and decides that it deserves to die.

Normal sees inside the Doodler's mind, sees that it wants to be loved, sees how things always go wrong when it tries to reach out for that love, sees himself in the Doodler, and he decides that the Doodler needs help.

(And you just know that if Henry had been the one to see inside its head instead of Lark, he would've done the exact same thing. Normal is such a good character to carry on Henry's legacy, it makes me want to fucking cry.)

[soupandsorcery]

Day 5 - Dreams & Reality, 750 words

Jamie's resolve lasts all the way through training and a long shower, but standing in the doorway to the coaches' offices, he starts to lose his nerve a little.

Roy's got his angry eyebrows on, scowling at a notepad on his desk while he scribbles something and then scratches it out like it's gone and offended him somehow.

Half of Jamie's brain is yelling at him to bail, to come back and do this later or...or somewhere else, but the other half has a good point that if he doesn't do this now, he might lose his nerve and never do it. And then slowly die of wanting to be touched by Roy Kent, which would be a horrible fate for the world.

He's still in the middle of his mental argument when Roy looks up and catches sight of him.

"What are you still doing here?" he asks, glancing past Jamie to the empty locker room. All the other lads have cleared out by then, leaving just Roy and Jamie alone.

Unless Beard is lurking around somewhere, which is always a possibility. Weird fucking guy.

"I uh. I wanted to talk to you about something," Jamie manages. He sounds nervous as he says it, but some things can't be helped. He rocks back on his heels, shoving his hands into the pocket of his jacket.

Roy sighs, sitting back in his chair and leveling Jamie with a look. "You quitting the team?"

Of all the things he could have said, that throws Jamie for the biggest loop. "What? No! What? Why the fuck would I be quitting the team? This is...Richmond's my team."

"Yeah, but you've got to know that you've got options, Tartt. The way you've been playing this season, you could go almost anywhere and they'd have you."

This is not at all how Jamie envisioned this going. He stares at Roy for a long moment, blinking, trying to find his footing in this conversation. "Do you...do you want me to go to another team?" he asks, suddenly fucking terrified of the answer. "I mean things have been good, yeah? I know Ted's gone and all, but we've been fucking crushing it this season, and the lads and I have the whole thing down, and I thought—"

He's babbling. He knows he is, but now, in addition to being scared of getting rejected, he's worried about being sent away, which he didn't even know he had to be worried about in the first place.

"Fucking breathe, Jamie," Roy cuts in. "I'm not trying to get rid of you. I just. You've got potential. So much fucking potential. And I know firsthand what it's like to waste it because you feel like you're invincible and you've got all the time in the fucking world. I don't want you to end up a bitter old fuck like me, wondering if you wasted your life."

"Oi, you're not that old. And you're not even that bitter these days. Saw you laugh just yesterday, granddad." Jamie gives him a shaky smile that doesn't fool anyone.

Roy doesn't smile back. "Jamie. I'm being fucking serious, okay? You've got to think about what you want. Long term."

That's all I've been fucking thinking about.

Any other time, Jamie would be fucking preening from the praise. Roy Kent, talking about his potential, telling him he could go to any other team and fucking nail it. It's the stuff he used to dream about when he was fifteen and afraid he was as worthless as his dad always told him he was.

But now it's not really what he wants to hear.

"What if I want to stay here?" With you, Jamie doesn't say. "What if I'm happy here?"

"Then that's fine. But you have to be fucking sure. I don't want you to stay just because it's safe or whatever."

They're just looking at each other now, and the silence in the office is thick. Jamie thinks of what he came here to say and bites his bottom lip, weighing his options. It feels weird, to say it now. Like the moment has passed and something has shifted and Roy's... Jamie doesn't fucking know. Feels like Roy's trying to say goodbye before they've even started.

His dream about the two of them feels far away, and he just nods. "Yeah," he says. "I'll um. I think about it."

"Good lad," Roy replies. "I'll see you tomorrow."

It feels like being dismissed, so Jamie goes.

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Fic idea where Richie fully tries to reconnect with life

First chapter is Richie being invited to go dress shopping with Frank and Tiff as she's their flower girl. He gets along with them and thinks he could be friends

Second chapter is him reaching out to his parents, who he cut off contact with since he left home. He tells them what they missed, how they were partially right by their suspicion of the Berzattos because Richie feels like he keeps getting drawn in only to be pushed out when things get tough, he feels like their caretaker and the one putting them back together. It's rocky but it's a start. His dad apologises for the hard, neglectful way he treated him, and that he missed having him in his life a lot more than he cared about the rules he put in place. He shows them the Bear and his mother apologises then.

Third chapter is Richie applying for jobs. He's realised how this is another sinking ship and he can't go down with another Berzatto. I think it would be interesting if Carmy started to improve, he talks with Sydney and she ends up staying but Richie ends up leaving. He's spent most of his career in the same place and he's grown more than that. I think it would be a nice end to his character arc to have him leave the Bear, and in some ways the Berzatto family or at least him putting boundaries in place, while Sydney gets accepted in and let's herself be accepted.

This could also have him having some interviews that don't go well. Him being rejected, perhaps mirror Tina's episode with him putting so much time in at the Beef that's now the Bear but not being good enough for the same role elsewhere as he's not educated and doesn't have enough experience.

Fifth chapter is him getting a job. I can see him working somewhere not Michelin star as he doesn't care for them, but somewhere that cares about the food and the people. I can also see him working in a hotel, or, controversially (?) leaving the hospitality industry as a whole and taking his passion for people and working somewhere else.

Can anyone else see Richie as a good nurse or is it just me? Him seeing the same faces, having a rapour with them, making them smile and helping them, I can see him flirting with elderly ladies to make them smile (yes I'm thinking of him being a palliative care/geriatric nurse

He hands in his notice at the Bear and when asked why he goes into how it's heartless. He's trying so hard to improve himself but how can he when there's so much tension and he's not respected, he's earning the same wage as he did at the Beef but is working so much harder and longer and is still relying on tips even though people pay $175 a head. He also tells them, trying to be respectful, how they've all collectively failed at making the Beef better by wrapping their dysfunctions in a different jacket, so to speak. Syd wanted things to be better, for people not to feel and act shitty but now it's even worse because there's no fun. They've got more debt and everyone's unhappy and he can't put another Berzatto back together, he can't go down with another sinking ship and he respects himself more than that.

Sixth chapter could be a time skip. Think 2 years later, Richie’s finished his associates degree in nursing and is starting as a nurse for a carer company. He goes out to celebrate, someone books the Bear, he's heard that things are better, not Michelin star but not shitty quality like the Beef, somewhere in the middle.

It's strange for everyone else, seeing Richie as the customer. He kept in touch, but life's busy, he became more like a true cousin, one you see more at family functions than day in day out. He’s on good terms with his parents, good friends with Tiff and Frank, Eva’s growing up, turning 8 now. They stay close to closing, he leaves a big tip but waves through the window before going.

[call-me-double-trouble]

What if Bow and Double Trouble had kids?

Introducing, Tiberius and Duchess Trouble-Arrow! (Yes, I've decided Bow's full name is Bow N. Arrow, regardless of what it actually is in canon).

It's so funny that you thought I was done posting about DoubleBow. This is an AU where Bow and Glimmer break up, deciding they're better off as friends. This improves their relationship and solves some of the problems they were having and brings them closer together in a platonic sense. Now that Bow is single, he starts to mingle, and mingle he does with a certain shapeshifting mercenary.

It's just a fling, at first. They're cute and all, but he doesn't see anything long-term in their future. DT is fun to spend time with, and they're really, really pretty, and yeah, they've changed a bit in the years since the war and learned to prioritize friends better and--Okay. So maybe he is starting to fall for them. There's something so alluring and irresistible about them, from the excitement of breaking a few rules here and there with them, to the way they tease and toy with him and keep him wanting more, and especially the vulnerability they finally show when they realize they've fallen just as hard for him.

They didn't plan on giving their heart to anyone, but no one understood them quite like Bow did. He knew how to listen, how to encourage them to be better without it coming off as forceful or shaming them for the things they'd done in the past, giving them room to grow and the benefit of the doubt.

He made them feel safe, above all else. Safe to try new things, safe to share more about themselves, safe to show emotions they normally locked away. Despite their every attempt not to, they trusted him. They trusted him more than they'd ever trusted anyone. The idea of losing him was like swallowing broken glass. They confessed their love one night, afraid that he'd reject them and end the most perfect thing they had in their life, but he didn't. He smiled, dark eyes glistening with tears of happiness. He loved them, too.

After a few years of happily dating, they got married, and all was swell and right in the world.

And then they had a little "accident." DT was unsure of themselves, worried they couldn't be a good parent, but Bow assured them they'd work together and do what they could to prepare for their new responsibilities. DT agreed to go through with it and laid the egg, which later hatched and ushered in a little baby boy, a reptilian with patches on his scales the same color as his father's skin. DT liked the name Tiberius--it was elegant, regal, and could be shortened to something cute, like Ti-Ti.

Ti-Ti was a handful, but adorable enough to make up for it, and he loved being held by DT most of all. Glimmer stepped up a lot to help the two, still very important in Bow's life, and Bow made her the godmother of little Ti.

They found their rhythm as parents and started having an easier time. When Ti was three, Bow suggested having another baby. DT mulled it over, but eventually agreed, and thus, baby Duchess came into the world. Tiberius, upon seeing the baby with much more green than he had, dubbed her, "The Booger," much to DT's dismay and insistence that sweet little Duchess was NOT a booger.

Duchess' name started out as a pet name; a placeholder while they brainstormed. Nothing was coming to mind, and they'd both been using "Duchess" so long that it stuck. It suits her, though, and she became determined to become a princess so she can be "Princess Duchess" and have a silly name.

Tiberius takes after both his parents pretty well. Inventing new arrows with Bow is one of his favorite bonding activities with his dad, and he's got the penchant for mischief and chaos of his moddy. He's obviously taken some fashion inspiration from Bow, and when looking through Granpa and Grandad's photo albums, he liked Bow's old hairstyle and decided to try it out for himself with his own little spin on it. Ti still mostly goes for DT when he needs comfort or cuddles.

Duchess is much more of a daddy's girl. She's not good with inventing, but she's learning archery. She's bubbly and energetic, always bouncy and happy to be near her dad. She adores DT and Glimmer, too, of course, and loves dressing up and doing makeovers with them.

Both kids can shapeshift. Ti already has it down, but Duchess still struggles to maintain a form for too long. Ti is asexual, and Duchess is pan. They have a pretty standard "siblings that get along but also get on each other's nerves" relationship, and they adore Glimmer and their Aunt Adora and Auntie Catra.

One of my ideas with this is that, in this alternate reality, these are the children DT had instead of Charlatan and Masquerade, or basically who Char and Quera would've been if born to a different set of parents. So, although they are different entities, I wanted there to be some overlap, such as keeping the older brother-younger sister dynamic, giving Duchess twin buns as an answer to Quera's braided pigtails, and giving them patches on their skin like how Charlatan's skin fades from green chameleon to gila monster.

I hope you like my silly little kiddos! Of the two, I like Ti's design better, but I love Duchess' hair. If I draw them again, I may simplify their skin to make it easier to repeat, but I do think they both turned out pretty, even if Ti does look a little like a topographical map. XD

[neoyi]

I have a free three-month trial for Gamepass, found out Venba took roughly 90 minutes to complete, and decided, fuck it, why not? I've long struggled with stories of generational trauma with Asian backgrounds because I've lived through it and seeing Yet Another Plot about it tires me, but Venba hit me in a different way and I liked what the game ultimately did.

Venba isn't necessarily cozy, but it maintains a lowkey tone that the emotional struggles and pains between Venba/Paavalan and their son - being a born Canadian - when it comes to their heritage is often presented as genuine concerns without the drain I often feel from Asian immigrants and the kids they can't seem to understand (and vice versa) stories.

It still talks about isolation, with loneliness a key feature from the perspective of the mother, Venba, living in a new country and all the obstacles that prevent you and your family from thriving. It still has Venba arguing with her son when the latter refuses to engage with his heritage. It still involves Kavin's embarrassment of his culture that he'd hide and downplay it in front of his western friends, to the point where he can barely speak Tamil once he reaches adulthood.

But for me, the part of the game that stuck with me the most is Venba and Paavalan's battle to thrive in another country that did not want them. Both of them constantly worry about their financial issue because no one was willing to hire Indian immigrants, lest of all in the 80s. They talk about moving back, but resisting as they want better job and educational opportunities for Kavin when he is born. Venba is regularly rejected from a teaching position while Paavalan has to sacrifice his dreams of being a writer to take up a completely different job just to make ends meet. Paavalan and Venba regularly talk about the lack of connections they've made because of their disadvantages, forcing them to scrap onto whatever would pay the bills. There's a small scene where Kavin has to talk with his father's co-worker to ask where he is because Venba's English isn't as good. Which my sister and I have done countless times.

Venba never tells you directly the system has failed them, but you can tell. The scene where Venba and Kavin find their husband/father dejected, sitting on a bench, with a beaten up face, says a lot. Someone attacked him and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was racially-motivated.

I also grew up poor with Asian immigrant parents, and I saw this everyday growing up. Like Kavin's parents, I was often kept in the dark because what parents want to explain their situation to their kids, especially Asian parents? I don't always know what mom and dad went through, but retrospect as I got older made it clear they withheld a lot of their sorrows and pain from Little Kid Me. No matter how many times we moved for better job opportunities (eight. I've moved eight times before I hit adulthood, including at one point, overseas where I didn't reunite with my parents for three years), Dad going to night school to better his English, mom taking care of two daughters when dad had to stay out-of-state most days per week... yeah, I get it.

And Venba gets that, too.

[walker-extended-universe]

4x07 Review

The writer's threw us a bone and gave us a somewhat lighter episode this week, probably to make up for the angst coming at us in "Witt's End". That's not to say "Hold Me Now" is without its share of strife- the Walker family continues to deliver on the dramatics (and I wouldn't have them any other way).

Today, I'm going to shake things up a bit and focus more on specific characters rather than specific plots. That's just the way it's lining up in my head with how condensed the plotlines were this episode.

Let's start off with the shortest character line this episode: Abby and Bonham's Great Retirement Debate.

This one starts with Bonham complimenting Liam's PT. During this conversation, Bonham finds out that Ben and Abby are officially going into business together with their wedding planning at the ranch, something that catches Bonham by surprise. Abby can do as she pleases, but this is his ranch too and, as her husband, he should know more about what she's up to.

Later, after his and Stella's quick self defense lesson, he confronts Abby on her making that choice without him. After all, this is not his idea of what their retirement looks like. Abby rebuffs him and makes an odd comment about supporting her son's dreams and they get into a staring contest, leaving Stella in a very awkward situation.

I'm not gonna lie, this is one of my least favorite stories they've given us this season. I understand they need to give these characters something to do but this whole thing feels trite compared to what's going on in the rest of the show and it doesn't seem to fit their relationship much, especially with all the development they had. At least the other characters are having interesting reactions to it.

Moving on, let's look at what Stella was up to this episode.

We see that Stella finally recieved footage of the break-in at her dorm but there's not much to go on and campus police don't seem interested in doing anything (related too hard to that one). She's also getting more desperate texts from Witt about the necklace. When August once again points out that they should probably loop Cordell in, she again rejects it. At this point, they're in too deep and telling him would only land them in more trouble.

August makes another good point in telling her they need to play a little offense. Until they get the necklace, she's in danger. If she won't get protection from their dad, she needs to learn how to take better care of herself. This prompts her to go back home. While she was looking for Cordell, she finds Bonham and he's more than happy to give her some self-defense lessons. Let's hope that's enough.

Next, let's talk August.

This one starts off in the morning, with Cordell and August talking in the kitchen. August offers to do a make-up family dinner when Geri gets back from her trip and Cordell accepts, acknowledging that he may have been wrong about why he and Stella went AWOL. However, August is still stuck with a 5pm curfew.

This is also the day of his bootcamp graduation, which is the entire crew finishing an obstacle course. Everyone who finishes the course in under 8 minutes will be a step ahead at the military training. Durin ghte early practice run we see August is at the head of the pack and one student is struggling more than the others. Trey reminds them that it's never too late to help otu a struggling trooper as they all need to be able to rely on each other before they break to run it again.

We pick up here when it's time for the actual run. August runs the course very well, so well that he's on track to break a record. But, just as he's about to finish, we see him look behind to see the student who was struggling from earlier. After a moment of hesitation, he runs back to give the student advice and encourage him through the rest of the course. Both of them still finish on time and Trey looks on with pride.

Side note: Trey has officially made it up to August for lying to him about still being a guidance counselor way back at the end of season 2.

While everyone is celebrating, we see a brief flash of disappointment on August's face when he processes that Cordell wasn't there to witness it. He puts a smile back on when Trey comes over to congratulate him and ask if he's ready for bootcamp. For the first time, we see August hesitate a bit about his military career as he says he's not sure and that he has a lot of options. Whether this indecision is related to Cordell's absence is unclear but it's nice to see him considering other options for his life.

Up next (for better or for worse) is Cassie and her work/life dilemna.

We start with Cassie arriving at work- and Luna arriving right behind her. We also get her calling him by his first name, David. As they head to the conference room to get back to the case, we get a conversation about their potential relationship- or rather why Cassie doesn't really want to explore one publicly. Not only is she up for lieutenant, but after everything with Kevin she doesn't want to rush into another workplace relationship. Luna respects that but we still get some playful banter.

Side note: I'm glad to hear there are candidates from outside the office; I feel like that makes this all more suspenseful than if it was just Trey and Cassie.

Cordell immediately gets them all focused on the job, starting with running down the suspect lists to make sure they have up-to-date information. While this doesn't seem to lead them much of anywhere at first, Cordell points them at a potential lead which- unfortunately- doesn't lead much of anywhere. Cassie and Luna are both disappointed, but understanding. It wasn't that likely that a grainy security camera that caught a partial on a guy's face would grant them a concrete lead right away. However, they both notice that Cordell is taking this whole case very hard and won't listen to anyone who tells him to take it easy.

This only adds to how overwhelmed Cassie feels by the case. The Jackal is not going to be an easy killer to catch and now she's seen it wreack havoc on both rangers and civilians. She asks Luna for advice on how he keeps it all from getting to him and he has an idea: karaoke.

While Cassie is apprehensive of this idea at first, she's more than happy to try it out. And we the audience are treated to both of them singing in between them getting closer to each other. While it does seem like their relationship is moving a bit fast, I can't blame Cassie one bit for wanting to jump on that.

Side note: I refuse to believe anyone would cheat on Luna.

The next day, Cassie and Luna are more than willing to leave the office after James dismisses them from a good day's work. However, Cordell's reluctance to move on gives them pause. They listen to Cordell's questionable theory on the zookeeper and, when Cassie realizes he's not going going to let it go, she offers to go with him and Luna is right behind her.

The zoo search is short but intense and, surprisingly, they do find something. Whether this is related to the Jackal or not is still up in the air but it's enough to call in the cavalry and check it out. While this is all going on, James takes the time to let Cassie know he approves of her and Luna, even though it's none of his business. This gives Cassie the confidence she needs to hold Luna's hand at the crime scene, which is a very sweet moment.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Let's talk about Cordell.

As we all predicted would happen the moment he picked up that notebook, Cordell is completely throwing himself into this case. It's clear he's taking his responsibility as leader seriously in James' stead and he's not going to let his old partner down again. He's not going to stop until this lunatic is off the streets, regardless of the consequences.

At least, that's the intensity he gives off at work while he struggles to make connections between their potential leads and what little they know about the Jackal. I noticed he relied heavily on James' personal notes during this episode, which I think speaks a lot to the trust between them. Even though Cordell knew this case made James a bit crazy, he's still trusting his old partner's judgement here.

While he's leading the game at work, he's letting things slide at home, missing out on family dinner in favor of eating cereal and reading James' notebook again. When Abby tries to confront him on this, he assures her that everything is fine. He just has work to do. She accepts that answer, but I doubt that will last very long.

After the disenheartening failure of their first lead, Cordell seems more determined than ever to find some kind of connection between the Jackal and their suspect list, diving down to a former zookeeper that doesn't really have any of the hallmarks they're looking for. He's so determined to find that connection that he's willing to risk missing August's bootcamp graduation to check out the old zoo, which just happens to be near the Jackal's first kill. Despite the stretch of the lead and the fact that this could wait a day, he insists on going right away and lets Cassie and Luna tag along.

Side note: I have to wonder if he really thought he could search a whole zoo and make it back in time for August.

As they search the zoo, Cordell finds footprints in the mud and soon finds a strange figure to hunt down. He gets close, but doesn't get their man, getting a concussion and a good look at his shoes instead. While it's more than they had before, he's not satisfied. He wants to catch the Jackal above all else, even at risk to his own life.

Later, he comes home with his work duffle to find Liam sitting at his dining table. And he's got a lot to say, starting with berating Cordell for missing August's event. This leads into him pointing out how he's been ignoring Stella's needs after the break in. He then goes as far as to compare this current case to the Rodeo Kings mission- Cordell leaving his kids behind for work and leaving Liam to pick up the pieces.

Cordell brushes him off, insisting that he- and his kids- are fine and Liam can back very far off. Liam leaves the house in a huff, leaving Cordell to go back to his Jackal Investigation Porch, where he drops the duffle bag. He puts on gloves and we see that the bag is full of evidence, including some rope. We then get a very odd sequence where Cordell wraps the wrist around his own wrist and gets flashes of images of similar rope going over a victim's wrists. Which leaves us with the very big question of: What the fuck?

And that wraps up this week's episode. As usual, I'm left with far more questions than answers. Why does this retirement plot with Abby and Bonham need to be dragged out so long? Why did they tease us with Liam being an addict and just drop it? Will August ever convince Stella to own up to everything? Why is Luna so perfect and does that mean he's the Jackal?

Hopefully we'll start getting more answers next week. See y'all then!

[dootznbootz]

Opinion on Nausikaa? :D (My girl-)

Feel free to ignore btw ^^

She's a neat character! :D

I've always kind of seen her as a bit of another "temptation" for Odysseus. At least in the sense of "there's this young woman who fancies you, her parents even mention you possibly being a suitor for her, this kingdom is favored by Poseidon, who is working to fuck up your life, this is kind of a perfect set-up."

But it's not. Not for Odysseus at least.

As that's not his wife, so this is not his home.

She's intelligent and beautiful. As it's clearly shown with how she wished to keep rumors from spreading if he walked alongside them all. (it also appears as though she does not like the idea of getting married)

I actually don't ship her with Telemachus if that's what you're curious about. They've never met and I think it's a bit weird to have a "If you're attracted to this old man, he has a son that you can go for." If I were Odysseus, I would feel weird about it, especially after all the unwanted advances he's gone through.

As idk, I know it was unintentional, but Odysseus was clearly very uncomfortable with her crush and making it very clear that he was not interested. I think him bringing up his son was kind of a bit of a "Miss, I'm old enough to be your dad. Please stop. :') " As he even compares her to Artemis when he first meets her, in order to let it be known that "Just like Artemis is the virgin goddess, you will remain as such too" to say he's no threat to her.

I think it's another piece of proof that Odysseus didn't want the goddesses either in a way, as they're "forever young" and favor him but he just wanted to go home. But Nausikka is MORTAL, so he can actually reject her affections without consequence. It's also a place where we can know his tales at sea, as it was custom for guests to tell their hosts any news and/or stories. :)

...Also, I don't think her kingdom would be too happy about him coming back as with Poseidon's ship shit he did to them xD

She's a very neat young woman. And I know that if she had a myth of her own, I think she'd have a very interesting one, as we are shown that she is smart. :)

[yoinkschief]

I remember watching this one movie called Us by Jordan Peele

What if the eddsworld lads were dropped in this universe lol

It's actually so funny that you ask that cause I just finished watching that movie after my friends recommended it to me !!!

The easy answer would be haha Spares ! And they just kill them all ofc, but I think thinking about it in the setting of Us is the best way to go about this,,,

To me I immediately go to character 1-to-1s, like who would be which character in the movie, yk ?

I think Edd would be Adelaide, I mean cause duh main characters, but also they just,,,, I dunno something about them fits, I think it's cause to me they both have that same instinct of wanting to protect everyone themselves but also holding all responsibility on their shoulders and not letting anyone else feel that weight if that makes sense (This is just a personal HC for Edd, but I think Adelaide might genuinely feel this way, at least in some regard, seeing as she hadn't told Gabe about her fears with Santa Cruz's beach until the movie, which sure could be for plot reasons but I don't see why she wouldn't have told him way sooner since they've been to the beach house before if it wasn't because she was scared to let him hear that cause he'd think she's crazy, yk, keeping all the "burden" to herself)

I think Tom would be Gabe, because I mean fucking look at them, goofy ass dads the both of them I mean it's perfect it fits something something TomEdd propaganda

Matt would be Zora in an odd sense,, I dunno him and Tord's character placements are a little flimsy to be fair,,, honestly I have Tord as Jason cause he's a little shit who loves fire

Also I'm mostly doing this because I would LOVE to see Eduardo and Jon as Kitty and Josh,,, I think Kitty would be Eduardo and Josh would be Jon, and I know a lot of people aren't going to agree with that but I see it with the times Kitty turns to Adelaide and is just like "I think about killing him sometimes" like as a joke obviously cause haha ball and chain, but also mostly because of the scene where Kitty's on the balcony and telling Josh to go and look outside since she heard something

and there's another reason why but it's cruel and would have minor spoilers for the movie

As for who's Becca and Lindsey I don't care I hate them bitches Mark can be both he's blonde enough for it

BUTTT thinking about this in a more "The boys but their next shenanigan is Us" it changes a bit

(WARNING: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS)

Leaning more into that whole "haha, Spares!" moment but mostly just for Bing and Larry cause they totally fucking would be the type to create soulless copies like that I mean they already fucking did and I will never forgive them from throwing Scribble Tom in the reject room he deserves to be free

But also imo if we're going down this route I think it would be better to have Tord as Adelaide with the whole leaving and coming back bit he did, I think it would be a great way to incorporate the twist if ykwim I don't wanna outright spoil anything yk but I think that would be the extent of like the one-to-one comparisons with the main cast versus eddsworld casting since everyone else has pretty different personalities

But they wouldn't hesitate to not give a damn and just kill every doppelganger they came across, I think the neighbors would still get killed but they'd show up in the next eddisode like nothing happened, and I think Edd would know about the whole twist at the end,,, kinda like how some people speculate Jason does :ppp

[loreintheaether]

dex and stina both have parents in the black swan (initially against their knowledge). BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, both character's have experience with their dads' being talentness. the difference between them lies in their families' reactions to their bad matches. where stina's family will lie and appease to fit into elvin society (albeit not *well* considering their tempers...) dex's family completely rejects the prejudice thrown at them. however, it's DEX'S FAMILY that are accepted. it is DEX that is given solo council tasks--based on his OWN merit as an extremely talented technopath. stina's family, on the other hand, is shunned despite how much effort they've put into being what this society wants them to be. she is also only noticed by the council to be on a team, not as an individual, where she wasn't even the first person they considered(keefe was originally thought of for team valiant--and stina's just another empath after all! right!) timkin took his wife's last name and essentially stripped himself of his previous identity. therefore, stina is expected to follow to the same drastic degree. dex, though, is encouraged to take up as much space as possible, to never shy away from his family's status. stina MUST BE jealous of dex, but in reality, they both intimately know familial responsibility--stina as an only child, dex the oldest of many--with the added layer of shared family shame, from the internal as well as the external. let's circle back one moment to their parents being in the black swan together. despite living diametrically opposed lives, both their parents saw the error in their society's ways and reacted. even if they didn't rebel in the same *visible* ways, timkin and juline ultimately landed on common ground. so when will dex and stina follow?

[thatgirl4815]

Side Character Roles/Functions

I've been thinking about the roles of side characters in this series and how they function as narrative devices. I have no specific point to laying them all out other than I think it's interesting to take a look back at what they've shown us about the main characters.

Yo & Plug - I'm putting them together because they're almost always in scenes together. To no one's surprise, I think they are intended primarily as a mirror to SandRay's relationship. What is first presented as a seemingly ideal relationship turns sour fast when Sand and Ray catch their breakup outside of the bar. Yo is afraid of commitment much in the same way that Sand is afraid of setting boundaries or rejecting people he cares about lest he lose them. In that way, Yo's behavior almost contradicts Sand's own--Yo is so afraid of losing someone that she opts to leave them first, while Sand is so afraid of losing someone even if they treat him badly. There are so many juicy comparisons to Sand and Ray's commitment to each other.

Atom - Also unsurprisingly, Atom functions as both a point of conflict for Boston and, more importantly, a turning point for Boston in his own self-reflections. What makes Atom different than Boston's other hookups is that Boston had established a genuine friendship with him prior. Not only that, but Boston was under the impression that Atom was 100% straight up to the point that Atom asked if he could try things out with Boston. Judging from Boston's reaction, the fact that this friendship leads to a sexual encounter is disheartening in that it once again affirms Boston's worth as coming from his body. This topic hasn't been explored in too much detail, but I like that the situation with Atom subtly hints at it. Additionally, we see Nick tell Atom that he knows what it's like to be in love with someone who doesn't love him back (right in front of Boston!) which is a poignant line for Boston to hear. Boston was already aware of this, but in light of his recent revelations, I think it hits harder to hear Nick say it in the interaction between AtomBostonNick.

Boeing - Boeing is here to ruin everybody's day. I think he serves multiple functions given that he is involved in multiple relationships (I'm sure he will have an important function in BostonNick's relationship as well judging from the Ep12 preview). For TopMew, Boeing is both another road block for them to move past and proof that though Mew wants to forgive Top, he still wants to take revenge against him. Boeing is a convenient way for Mew to take that revenge; Boeing even invites it. Mew deciding not to take the bait though is what allows him and Top to move forward. For SandRay, Boeing is a source of conflict that they must overcome too, but he also plays a very integral role in illustrating Sand's boundary issues.

April - April is here to be the unproblematic gf of the year. In my own personal opinion, I think she deserves better than Cheum. I do not think Cheum is a bad person, just like I don't think anyone in this series can be considered a bad person, but her behavior--especially with the Atom/Boston incident--frustrates me to no end. But back to April. I think her relationship with Cheum is important in that it remains fairly consistent even though it has its own issues. I'm glad they encountered some conflict to remain realistic and show the audience that not even the lesbians are safe from drama.

Moms/Dads - I won't go too deep into this since there are so many avenues (might be better-suited for a longer post), but moms and dads play an important role for many of the main characters, particularly Sand, Ray, Boston, and Mew (with variation of course). Contrasting the relationship that Ray had with his mom to Sand's mom/Mew's moms illustrates how Ray has been lacking in a familial support system for much of his life. On the other hand, Sand's father is an absent figure while Ray's father is only mostly absent, though he does care about saving Ray from his mother's fate. We also see small glimpses of Boston's father and Nick's father; Boston's father is an especially good indicator of the role of reputation, expectation, and even toxic masculinity in Boston's life.

[nobodysdaydreams]

I Should Have Guessed Psycho-Boomer Would Be A Fanboy of His Own Manual. And Where Is His Glorified Secretary Getting Her Attitude From? (or my reaction to Wolf359 mini episodes 6-13).

Welcome back dear readers. Thanks again for your patience. Everyone has been excited for the mini episodes, so I'm eager to see what they've been so excited for.

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom

Mini Episode 6: Once in a Lifetime

Okay, just from these episode descriptions, I'm starting to think that these episodes are gonna be Cutter BSing them into this mission.

Get ready for some ✨Cutter hate✨

2013? I think that's one of the first times we've gotten a year.

"He doesn't bite. Much" YES HE DOES RACHEL AND APPARENTLY SO DO YOU.

"Director of Communications?" Wrong. That's DOUG's job and he's better at it than you Cutter. Even if he is a pizza delivery boy.

Cutter shut up.

Cutter and Rachel shut up! THANK YOU MINKOWSKI.

"All they want is poster children and sob stories. We like people that can fly ships." Sounds like Renee wasn't the ONLY one rejected from NASA, huh Cutter? 👀 Aw, did they not like the fact that you murder people? Did they think your space ideas were crazy and unethical?

I think I'll call Rachel Cutter's glorified secretary. As for Cutter, I think that's simply enough for him. There aren't enough words in the English language or any language to give him

Wait what does her dad have to do with this? Andre? Astrophysics? Early retirement?

Why do I think Cutter had something to do with that "early retirement"? How old is he? He sounds about as old as Minkowski, but the actors all seem around the same age and Doug's Hilbert voice sounds older, so it's hard to tell their ages. Based on where Cutter is in his career, I'm guess he's older.

I hate this because YOU KNOW THEY ALL SAY YES. And you just want to shake them and scream not. PLEASE TELL ME YOUR HUSBAND SAYS NO.

Journalist? I hope he blows this wide open Cutter.

Oh my gosh he can adjust his salary? That means he controls the press.

Why is Cutter talking about Renee's parents like he knew them personally? "They would have done so much more if they hadn't gotten married and had kids." Why are you talking like a bitter male tenured professor who never found love to his female graduate students?

SHE MATTERS A LOT MORE THAN YOU CUTTER.

"Don't make your parents mistakes Renee" hm. sounds like someone is projecting his own issues.

"no one will dare reject you again" BECAUSE SHE'LL BE DEAD.

"My husband is going to kill me" No, but Cutter will.

But I hope you kill him first. And I hope your husband destroys him in his newspaper.

I am loving and hating these episodes.

Mini Episode 7: Rebranding

Look like it's Hilbert's turn for the chopping block, oh sorry! I mean uh...✨exclusive job opportunity✨

St. Petersburg 1989?

But this is number 2? So...these aren't in order? Is this Cutter organizing his files because he's numbering system makes no sense.

Yet another way he has proven incompetent.

Ugh. It even sounds cold. I had it.

CUTTER BROKE INTO HIS HOUSE.

Okay granted, that's far from the worst thing he's ever done, but still man, kinda creepy.

"Tricks don't scare him?" Tell WHO he should know better? Who else is threatening Hilbert.

"I prefer to think of myself as a citizen of the world" "That's very nice for you" 😂 It's nice to actually see Hilbert not going for Cutter's bs.

And he's right. There are other geneticists closer to home. Ah...the retroviruses.

The most realistic thing about this entire show is "oh I want to research something very important! Let's see who's doing it so that I can contact them and get a job" and it's one guy in the middle of nowhere.

Who is Victor Stewkoff? Why does he knew about Hilbert I mean uh Dimitri's research?

"Dr. Stewoff died last year" "Of course he did"

So either Cutter's lying about the conversation, when it took place, or he for sure killed that man.

"Are you referring to the human trials?"

That silence is an overwhelming yes.

"Matter of time" mmm... Cutter does not seem like that patient type.

And I'm sorry. If you're doing creepy illegal experiments, you should know better than to trust a man who comes to you and says he's cool with it. Takes a monster to know one.

So he promised him a chance to perform his illegal research? But...what does that have to do with space?

"The last member of your family died when you were 9" wait...what about his sister? I thought he said she survived, or maybe she died a little later?

"Any discoveries you make will belong to us" don't like that. I mean, that's how it is, but in this case, I don't like this.

Cutter's like "I'm paying off the IRB man, geez do I have to spell it out for you man?"

Again, sad because we know what choice they are going to make.

Does the retrovirus have a name? Decima. Wait. The what? Oh rebranding.

WAIT. WAIT.

WILLIAM CARTER.

AS IN PRYCE AND CARTER?

AS IN THE TEXTBOOK THAT CUTTER FANBOY'S OVER.

Let me listen again. I think I heard that right.

Oh my gosh. I'm so stupid. Rule of writing: don't give your characters similar names that can easily be confused by the readers UNLESS you're trying to make some sort of point with it. Don't know how I let that one get past me.

He really is like that professor who makes all his students buy his book.

Who the heck is Pryce? Is that another one of his fake names? Or is that a colleague he axed off years ago?

And why did he change his name?

Also if he's already a powerful adult with his own company in the 80's then he and Hilbert are for sure older than Eiffel and Minkowski.

Actually, I take it back. Maybe I do have a nickname for Cutter after all. "Psycho-Boomer". Probably did some surgery on himself to make himself sound like he's in his twenties (though by the way he laughs, you'd swear he was a nine year old tee hee hee 🙄).

Hopeful we'll get to see the boomer go "boom!" very very soon...

Mini Episode 8: Language Mapping

This one is Maxwell's. How is Cutter ordering these? Oh back to 2013.

Is Cutter organizing these in terms of threat level? Because if so, it's honestly accurate to put Minkowski first and the scientists next, though I KNOW his errand boys would be devasted. Doug probably wouldn't care.

Oh no wait this isn't Cutter. Huh. Hello Whiskey boy.

Why doesn't Maxwell want to be here?

HOW MANY SECRETARYS DOES CUTTER NEED?

Yeah, this IS harassment. How on earth could they have not broken any laws?

"You could have come to work for us." That's...that's not a solution.

Redneck teachers? Did not expect that background.

Sounds like she's very different from her family. Maybe that's why she doesn't talk to them. Is she embarrassed by them?

Hm. Don't like Maxwell yelling at the AI ethics committee. Well actually I suppose it depends. Was she advocating for their rights or against them? And was she doing so for the wellbeing of humanity and the AI or her own interests?

"Someone has to bully them into being brave. Somebody needs to push".

Maxwell. I agree that sometimes progress needs to happen. But if you don't do it carefully and with ethics in mind, bad things tend to happen. Very very bad things.

Especially when someone else controls the rights to your technology. Of course there's the whole "if they didn't hire me they'd find someone else" but still...Maxwell this is bad.

Do not be fooled by the flashy lights and buttons and sound effects!

"Whoever built this is brilliant and they already work for you. Why me?"

Good point.

"I need someone who can talk to things that aren't human."

^Great idea Whiskey boy. I'll call Doug. Dr. Robot needs to earn my trust first. Not sure how I feel about her nickname. It doesn't have the same punch as the others, but it does fit.

Oh great the Whiskey speech again. At least he earns his nickname.

Mini Episode 9: Greensboro

Number 4, 2010. Ah Lovelace.

Once again, if this is the order in which crew members present a danger to Cutter, I'm agreeing so far.

I wonder how similar hers will be the Minkowski's.

"We don't do interviews, well yes we do some. But that's only when we don't want to hire someone and need a reason." Why do I feel like that's a straight up lie?

"Infiltrate the company and bring it down from the inside" I love the foreshadowing and double meaning. It also makes me sad to remind me that Lovelace used to have Doug's sense of humor before she lost all her friends.

It's not standard protocol. No one else had a polygraph, and Hilbert was doing human experiments.

"Convicted of a crime? Are you an alien?" OH MY GOSH PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS FORESHADOWING.

(Actually don't tell me, but...I hope it is).

Do you love your father? Have you always wanted to serve in the armed forces? What are these questions?

Ma'am this medical stuff is private.

They interviewed the people working for her? Cutter is literally everywhere. Well, I suppose Psycho-boomer has been blackmailing people since the 50s so such. I wish he'd hurry and die.

"You do this for everyone?" No they don't.

"We're screening you for a different job" Nope. Nope. Don't like that. Usually means you're about to get underpaid for your talents. "Sorry the job you wanted didn't work, but oh look! We did find something." In this case, something worse.

I hate the lie detector.

I want to hook it up to Cutter, but psycho-boomer probably knows how to trick the test.

Mini Episode 10: Things That Break Other Things

Duck boy! Are we gonna get to see him get attack by a duck? Boy do I hope so.

San Francisco 2011?

Duck Boy is a heavy drinker. Fantastic. Just the man you want holding your explosives.

"Buy you a drink." Uh. What. Oh it's a fancy one too.

Yeah Jacobi this is weird. He's coming on too strong. Time to bail.

My gosh what happened to Jacobi in the military? He sounds traumatized. Did it involve the Duck?

"Did you serve?" "No." Hm. Wonder why.

Oh Duck Boy has daddy issues. Why is no one surprised.

Jacobi's dad: "You think you're man enough for the Airforce? Can even fight one lousy duck?"

Oh he has bad depth perception too? Wow, yeah, sounds like it's a great idea to give him explosives.

"I'm good at making things that break other things. Including people".

Don't like that. Sounds like Duck Boy might not either. Haunted by ghosts perhaps? Perhaps Discount Cutter can take that conscience off your hands.

Went off early during a test. Two guys died. Well ain't that a shame for you Duck Boy. But hey, what better way to get over the guys you killed than by killing more people for a boss that doesn't care?

"You'll never work in this planet again" well funny you should mention that...

I see. So this happened in 2009.

"most of the world is profoundly stupid" why would I not be surprised that discount cutter is into eugenics?

Oh he left his business card.

Would have been funny if Duck Boy had just knocked if off the table or forgot to call the number.

Mini Episode 11: Decommissioned

EVERYONE SHUT UP THEY'RE DOING ONE FOR HERA!

No longer do I agree that this is in the order of "threat to Cutter", but I suppose from his perspective...

Ah 2012.

Unit 214? Her name is Hera. And how many of her are there? Do they all have the same voice and personality?

"Do you remember me? Do you know who I am?" Ugh. Don't like that.

"Where am I?" poor Hera.

Yeah they need to stop talking like she's not here.

"Your science board rejected me." Interesting. Most of Cutter's approach has been "X won't let you do something. But I will :)." But with Hera, his own people rejected her, but he seems to like the reason. "Poor social skills". Huh. Odd thing to prioritize.

"Don't think of it as dead. Decommissioned." Yeah. It's basically dead. Or asleep. Depends on whether someone wakes you up again.

"Helpful for everyone". No helpful for you Cutter.

What did Hera do? Misguided bid for independence? Record for rogue AI attempting jailbreak?

Psycho-boomer is so unstable. I swear, he likes the risk of using Hera just to prove to himself that she actually can't destroy him.

"We're not about to start forcing anyone to do something against their will. But if you don't do what we ask, we'll kill you :)" Cutter you suck.

And it's sad because Hera probably just thought this was how he spoke to AI. So she didn't warn the other humans because she figured they'd be fine.

"Maybe I should see if Dr..." What doctor?

Oh he called her Hera. Feeling a little disgusted by that fact that he's the one who gave her her name.

Though it beats "Unit 214"

Mini Episode 12: Pagliacci

Doug's turn!

Oh dear. Are we gonna find out about his charges.

Texas. 2013.

Ugh I HATE the sound of those heels and fancy dress shoes.

Oh he's in jail. Yep, called that one pretty quickly.

"Are you my lawyer?" oh Doug you really are lost. And yeah, that's not how it works.

Wow. Glorified Secretary is very classist. Girl your salary comes from a man who'd kill you without a second thought. Maybe cool on the comments and take a breath while you still can.

"Scary Ally McBeal" nice nickname.

"You are extremely and infuriatingly lucky" Yep and he's gonna be lucky enough to kill you by the end. If Doug's going back to prison anyway, he has nothing to lose by ending your life.

"What do you want from me?" Your soul. What else?

Doug. He's not kidding. He's crazy. Now PLEASE go back to prison.

"Maybe I don't want your way out." Oh Doug feels like he deserves to be there. 🥺

Who is Ann? Yikes, yeah, Cutter you crossed a line there. Is that his wife? Daughter? Mom? Girlfriend?

DAUGHTER?

Oh. And he's promising everything Doug can't give her.

For my TMBS mutuals: something something something...MBS space AU...something something something...Curtain, Milligan, and Kate...you get what I'm saying right?

Mini Episode 13: Kansas

2009. Oh the same year Duck Boy had his little accident.

And...Discount Cutter is last. Where he belongs. How sweet.

Looks like somebody's not as "in" the "inner-circle" as he thought.

How do you like being on the expendables list Whiskey Boy?

"I am accountable to two men in this company"

Cutter and...who? Pryce? It doesn't sound like he's talking about Rachel.

"Step into the elevator" Nope. Miss me with that tower of terror bs.

Who the heck is Richard? Did I miss something? Another errand boy?

Oh Cutter's voice is infuriating. I now imagine him as a 70 year old man who has given himself throat surgery to sound younger. Like an smug elementary school know-it-all-kid voice. Yes, I understand it's just the voice actor's voice and age, but it's still funny to imagine. "William Carter" it even sounds like an old man boomer name.

"You're never going to stop are you? You're like me." Exactly. Discount Cutter earned his nickname. But Whiskey boy is nice too.

Richard Littlewood. What a name.

"It's a shame that you weren't there." Ohhhh... he's using Kepler to edge out Richard Littlewood.

"You're going to crucify him." "No silly, I'm going to hang him."

Cutter really said I want him gone without the mess. Psycho-boomer really is the worst.

"Am I going up or down?" You're going to the very top...metaphorically. But we're going very very far down."

I would have to agree. Hell is very far down indeed.

"Don't tell me you believed that." I didn't. Why would anyone?

Oh. The Black Archives. FINALLY.

The files on a 1978 early deep space mission. First contact.

Wait. So they've known about the aliens this entire time? Not surprised but...what happened to the first crew? And why do they keep sending teams up that don't come back? What are they testing? Or rather, what deal did they make with the aliens? Are they studying the aliens, or are the aliens studying them? Is Cutter an alien too?

Well I guess that's all dear readers. Find out next time.

Once again, very much disliking Cutter, but now I'm also wondering how long Rachel has been around. And who Richard and Pryce are. And when Cutter changed his name and why. Interesting that Richard, Pryce, and Rachel didn't have mini episodes. At least, not yet...

[y-rhywbeth2]

Love how you mentioned it would make sense if Durge was given the form of CHARNAME, cause my silly little head canon for my Durge play through was precisely that:

My (evil) CHARNAME ended up squishing all the other Bhaalspawn and taking the essence of Bhaal, then I suppose in a fun and tragic way they lost all their own autonomy and soul as Bhaal reclaimed them, wiping CHARNAME's essence from existence so he could claim his divinity back, but later Dad was like "what if I made another little fucker sculpted after CHARNAME (he did do me a solid after all) but just a bit more FUCKED UP", and BOOM, Durge is born. And Durge has no idea that nothing about him is unique: his physical form is taken from a guy who already lived and died his own mortal life, and his flesh and blood is directly from Bhaal. TRAGIC.

It's nice Larian leaves the form/birth of Durge open so this kind of roleplaying is possible, even if it makes the Bhaal/Bhaalspawn lore even muddier than it was before.

Accessory question: seeing as Durge is a 'construct' of Bhaal in many ways, does Durge have a soul? and if they do, where does it come from?

Bhaal trying to literally "recreate" Charname, and Durge getting additional layers to their identity crisis is always a fun idea.

Hopefully they leave the exact details on Durge vague and open, because the ability to fill in the blanks is what makes me love them so.

As for their soul; Withers describes it as something new that grew over the course of the game. Durge had their own individuality before that though. I'm assuming that technically, their little sliver of soul is actually just a bit of Bhaal's divine soul/essence given independence, and being cut off from the whole and then managing to further develop that sense of identity outside of Bhaal that they've sort of made it theirs? And Jergal sort of freed it from Bhaal and made it a fully independent entity in the rejection ending? Of course that doesn't explain why Jergal thinks you're going to get judged as a mortal soul (except he might actually be making that up to talk you out of suicide, because in the actual post-death epilogue he says that actually even he has no idea what'll happen to Durge in the afterlife, so who knows!)

And if you fail the duel or accept Bhaal then this new soul is overwhelmed or once again merged back into Bhaal (the "wedding" between Durge and the Urge, as I recall Sceleritas calling it)