#anyway onto season 5 which i remember being much better

[aliferousdreamer]

how i felt finishing season 4 of the next step:

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 19

Hello All! Welcome to the episode in which we get the start to the worst couple in this entire series being shoved together by the writers!

I've got a few points to talk about on this: Firstly, this episode runs headlong into the problem that the writers cannot be consistent to save their lives. Their efforts to try and imply Gabe used to be a good person before wealth and success corrupted him basically fall apart here; even ignoring how Adrien being forcibly isolated and not allowed to have friends vastly precedes Emilie dying, this episode shows that Gabe's philosophy as a fashion designer is cold, exploitative, and basically embodies the worst of trends and market-based business models, all wrapped up in Gabe's narcissistic belief that his usage of them is unique and some form of personal genius on his part.

Secondly, when Marinette tries to refute his awkward and lopsided pancake metaphor, it runs into the issue that her refutation comes off as her going "get with the times old man." The way she frames the issue, rather than her condemning Gabe's controlling tendencies or belief that he can dictate all around him, she basically just calls him outdated and presents a broad, sweeping statement that "nobody likes that anymore." It makes her come off as shallow.

Thirdly, if I'm remembering the tangled mess that is continuity right, this episode gives lie to the glaring problem with Marinette and Adrien's relationship. Throughout this Season, despite it being so late in the series, Adrien has starting chafing harder and harder under his dad's control, not helped by his dad basically gaslighting him into willingly going along with it... and what makes it worse is that Marinette has been ENABLING THIS. Despite his schedule going from "relatively busy as a model, but he can make time to go see a race between Alix and Kim" like he did back in Season 1, his schedule is now so ridiculously packed that he can BARELY spare four minutes to have a "date" with Marinette... yet when he expresses his frustrations about his dad, Marinette tries to dissuade him and convince him better he has it, how much more freedom he has, when he really has no more freedom at all, and in fact has LESS. It basically puts a spotlight on the fact that, when it comes down to it, Marinette would rather let him live a comforting lie then confront an unpleasant truth and work things out for himself. It's not healthy.

Lastly, we get to the most... unpleasant portion of this episode. Namely, Felix and Kagami. Leaving to the side Kagami just... starting to like this guy out of nowhere, the biggest issue with this episode is that it tries to claim that Felix has poor social skills, and his doing things like, you know, KIDNAPPING SOMEONE are because he doesn't know how to express himself. This, in spite of the fact that a recurring factor of Felix's appearances is that he can easily and effortlessly manipulate people around him and routinely impersonates his cousin well enough that nobody can spot the difference until it's too late. As well as emphasizing Kagami's damsel in destress type role in how she seems incapable of standing up to her mother... this in spite of the fact that one of her first major appearances was her taking advantage of her mother's lack of sight to trick her into going out and joining a contest as an excuse to make friends and get out from her mother's thumb. This episode is basically trying to cram Felix and Kagami into the same mold it crams Marinette and Adrien, and if anything their relationship is even MORE toxic, as whereas Marinette and Adrien's problems just got flanderized by the writers, Felix and Kagami's characterizations are just plain incompatible with those molds... yet they are being made to fit them anyhow, despite being totally unsuited for them.

Wow, that has to be the longest forward for a Review so far! I wonder if that'll change...? Anyway, onto the review! As always, please forgive any profanity on my part.

Episode 19: Pretension 

Okay, we get a brief recount of Adrien's schedule, with Adrien and Marinette planning on maximizing their time together under Gabe's nose by getting his stuff done early. Like THAT won't have any flaws in it... 

Okay, and we get a brief glimpse of Argos spying on Adrien and Kagami from the roof of the school... yeah, this does not sell the idea that he gives a shit about them. It makes him look like a fucking stalker. Next we see a scene of Gabe getting his wounds from the Cataclysm checked out... why does he look like he's wearing a sweater? 

Seriously, WHY does Gabe's cataclysm wound look like he's wearing a black sweater? 

Okay, it looks less so from the top view, but still. It just... blends eerily with his skin. Like, if his body looks like THAT, he shouldn't even be able to MOVE HIS ARM. Also, apparently he and Tomoe have access to hightech healing couch things. I wonder why we don't see more advanced tech like this? We KNOW it exists in-universe. 

Apparently Gabe is stealing energy from the Kwamis to reverse the progression of his wound. Why, it's almost as if he shouldn't have BURNED SO MUCH OF IT WITH POINTLESS RESETS USING THE SNAKE MIRACULOUS!!! For fuck's sake, it would've been smarter to just empower an Akuma with it!! 

And he mentions saving his wife. Yeah, that'll make him tormenting Paris, emotionally abusing his son, and just all around being an abusive shit-heel all better, right?

And we get more vague talking points from Tomoe about "the future" and "we are connected, just like our children." WE STILL HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN GIVEN HIS MOTIVATION!!! And apparently Felix left behind some monocle thing. For some reason. 

Marinette trying to talk up Gabe to make Adrien feel better, by listing off either the outright bullshit (him giving Adrien all the freedom he needs, despite him still having a schedule so strict his "dates" with her last at most FOUR FUCKING MINUTES IN DISGUISES), or moments of pandering that don't actually do anything for him as a parent (making pancakes). 

He hasn't come far AT ALL, he's still every bit the controlling asshole he's always been. The writers are seriously trying to shill Gabe as having matured as a person when, if anything, HE IS FUCKING WORSE. Oh, and the show once again trying to "joke" about Marinette's creepy behavior by describing Gabe as worried about Marinette due to thinking she's an obsessive stalker. WHICH SHE WAS!! Even if she hasn't acted on any of the creepier stuff in a while, she still STARTED that way!! For fuck's sake, they are almost making Gabe wanting to keep her away from Adrien look REASONABLE!!! STOP TRYING TO BE SELF-AWARE!!! 

They seriously had her try and brush aside her stalking by saying "she was doing it out of love." That is basically EVERY OBSESSIVE CELEBRITY FAN STALKER EVER. And she says she's changed a lot. Yeah. She has. NOT FOR THE BETTER. 

And Kagami is now gonna try and talk with Tomoe... this can't end well. 

I wonder if the fact that Marinette left her scooter at the school will come up again later? 

Marinette finally realizing that maybe she should've given Gabe SOME KIND of heads up about her coming. Yeah, even if he's an asshole, running the fact you are having a friend over with your folks is Childhood 101.

Adrien reassures Marinette... and Gabe is putting on the happy father routine. This can only go SO well... /s 

Yeah, he didn't even last a minute before he "asked" Adrien to go to his room so he and Marinette could have a "comfortable chat." Stranger danger, anyone? But yeah, no, he hasn't changed at all. 

Okay, so he's still keeping up the act. And Plagg appears to talk with Adrien! I can't remember, when's the last time that happened? 

"I can't... I can't disobey my father." Wow, they aren't even trying to be subtle about this. My eyebrow is literally twitching right now. 

And now Gabe's dropping the pretense and going for a roundabout way of talking about how he thinks Marinette is a social parasite by comparing her future to a pancake. 

Like, he's not even trying to be remotely subtle about this. He talks about how he can make her the "perfect pancake, just the way she likes it." He even compliments her skill as a designer (Hey, her love of fashion is suddenly FUCKING RELEVANT again!!), but then he lays down how he'll never let her be with Adrien, pointing out how he's not in the room with her. "She'll never be able to share her pancake with him." That just SOUNDS fucking weird, doesn't it!? I would point out how the metaphor falls apart, but given how Gabe has emphasized his own role in the "pancake" so far, the implication is strong that HE is the one in control.

Now he's talking about some "destiny" for Adrien. Why? WHY!? What is the FUCKING POINT!? THEY HAVEN'T EVEN FUCKING EXPLAINED WHAT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HIM AND TOMOE EVEN IS!!! 

"That future doesn't include sharing pancakes with you." WHY DOES THIS SOUND SO WEIRD!? 

He describes life as being "like fashion, how you think you have a choice but you only have the illusion of choice. A choice I have given to you." My takeaway from THAT creepiness being that he's a fucking control freak who thinks he's smarter then everyone else and that the world runs on deterministic rules for everyone but himself. 

Marinette's counterpoint being that fashion is about communication, listening to the wants and needs of people and appealing to those wants and needs. Congratulations, you understand supply and demand on an emotional level! That's surely something to be proud of! 

If you ignore the idiocy of this all being about Adrien, the commentary on the fashion elements is mildly interesting. Gabe representing big business designers that make mass-appeal products under a huge brand, meaning profit and "one size fits all" tend to be the rule of the game, with Marinette representing smaller businesses that (in theory) out the customer's needs and feelings first. 

Then Gabe laughs in her face and the symbolism is gone and he just straight-up mocks her as being "childish" and "making dresses for dolls" while going full blown "I control this industry and what people like and want." Because apparently being able to understand basic trends among social groups makes him this genius and he apparently thinks people give enough of a shit about fashion in general that they won't just ignore what a big business pushes in favor of stuff they personally find appealing.

He's seriously just mask off control freak at the moment. It's genuinely disturbing that THIS is the guy they want us to see as tragic, when he honestly just comes off as an obsessive and self-important creep and a loser to me. 

He even admits that he creates "perfection" but deliberately makes it unachievable as a way to manipulate the market and the masses. This, more than anything, feels like Thomas' commentary on the 1% at work. Like, if he focused more on shit like THIS, of Gabe being a selfish, predatory businessman who sees the public as fools and tools, SO MUCH of the nonsense in this show could be avoided. But Noooooo... we gotta make him SYMPATHETIC and make people wanna comfort the poor widdle terroristic psychopath!!! 

What makes this more disgusting is that so much of what Gabe is saying right now is so utterly repulsive, both on an individual level and in-general, that it shows how little he really understands the world or people. He genuinely cannot accept a reality that doesn't dance to his whims, and it's what makes the show trying to whine about how "HE USED TO BE BETTER!!!" so pretentious because he's FLATOUT ADMITTING HE HAS ALWAYS RUN HIS BUSINESS LIKE THIS. 

Also, after "losing her appetite" over Gabe's cruelty, Marinette walks out, spots the stairs, and takes off up them. The most Gabe does being to shout "no, I forbid you!" Instead of, you know, ordering the bodyguard RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR to stop her! WHY DIDN'T HE STOP HER ANYWAY!? CLEARLY SHE WASN'T MEANT TO RUSH FOR THE STAIRS AND HE'S GOT A BIGGER REACH THEN A TEENAGE GIRL!!! 

Okay, he ordered the bodyguard up AFTER she's already all the way up the stairs. Like THAT will keep her from talking with Adrien, who she's already spoken with. /s

Then we get her triumphantly marching out of the house and the bodyguard just jumping out of the way rather than escorting her out. UGH... 

And Marinette brings back the weird pancake metaphor of him using an "old, outdated recipe." Which would be impressive if it weren't for the fact that they had ALREADY ABANDONED THE METAPHOR and she hadn't even EATEN the pancake, so she's making shit up off the top of her head. You don't continue a metaphor after the characters stop using it to dance around a topic, writers!! 

And the metaphor falls apart even further because she makes a sweeping generalization with her metaphor that "no one likes them like that anymore," which falls apart because there is no fucking way she could know everyone in the world's tastes anymore than Gabe does, so she comes off more as tone-deaf then inspirational. 

Okay they actually address that she didn't even try them. STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE METAPHOR IN THE SLIGHTEST, because again, they already stopped using it, and AGAIN, SWEEPING GENERALIZATION. For a metaphor to work, it has to be consistent with the stance the person pushing it forth intends. It comes off less as Marinette challenging Gabe's control freak tendencies and more as her setting up a "old vs. new" dynamic with her stating that she, the newer generation, knows better then the old "tasteless" generation represented by Gabe. 

Aaannnndd Marinette has a freakout literally the instant she makes it past the gates.

 Now we get to Tomoe berating Kagami for going against their "family quest" and describes her as "if you are not your own master, then you are already your own slave," which could make for an interesting commentary about not letting your emotions rule you if it weren't for the fact that Tomoe literally dictates every aspect of Kagami's life, so she isn't her own master OR her own slave. 

Oh, they even made it deliberate by having Tomoe flatout accuse Kagami of being a "slave to her emotions," which again falls apart since Tomoe DICTATES HER LIFE ENTIRELY. Also, Argos apparently is hitching a ride on the top of their car, HOW IS NO ONE SEEING HIM IN THE STREET, HE IS LITERALLY ON TOP OF A MOVING CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY IN BROAD FUCKING DAYLIGHT!!! 

Okay, and now Argos is trying to bust Kagami out. Since apparently Tomoe being a mean control freak justifies FUCKING KIDNAPPING!!! 

HE LITERALLY CRASHED THEIR FUCKING CAR AND DRAGGED HER OUT THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF! DID HE SERIOUSLY NOT THINK SHE WOULDN'T GET HURT!? 

Alright, it's back, and apparently Felix sheds feathers which was enough to convince Tomoe that it was him, and now she's letting herself be Akumatized with a full detail of Alliance Rings to get the Peacock. Because CLEARLY she isn't worried about her KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER!! 

Them renaming the Bee Miraculous as the Miraculous of "Action" sounds even worse when it's described as giving the power of paralysis. It's an oxymoron. Okay, we also get the Rooster, AKA "whatever random bullshit the writers need that they could just include in the Akumatization!" 

And after dragging Kagami back to his lair against her will, Felix nearly gets hit in the face with a chair. Which he totally deserves.

Felix describing himself as not being Kagami's enemy and just wanting to talk to her REALLY doesn't work when the last time they met, he had admitted to planning to genociding the world, lying to her, and had basically killed her mother (who she still cares about). What a moron. 

"Ever since I saw you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." Felix, dear boy... THAT IS CALLED BEING AN OBSESSED STALKER!!! 

"We have so much in common." Name one thing. ONE. FUCKING. THING. 

"We don't even know each other." YES!! KAGAMI IS FINALLY TALKING SENSE!!! ...They're gonna ruin it, aren't they? 

Then Felix literally admits to having been stalking her since the last time he saw her. 

(Bangs head against a wall, weeping) 

And Kagami spelling out all the ways that's fucked up! Hooray! If only this show didn't have the world's WORST FUCKING TRACK RECORD AT SELF AWARENESS!!! 

Kagami, no, he isn't utterly incompetent at social relations, he is a DISTURBED LUNATIC YOU NEED TO GET AWAY FROM!! DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET WHAT HE TRIED TO FUCKING DO LAST TIME!?

I am sincerely disturbed that they are trying to frame this insanity as him being unaware of social interactions. This isn't "unaware of how to express emotions," this is "disturbed lunatic who doesn't understand how to function in society!!" 

This is the dude who has repeatedly given Adrein mocking, evil grins whenever he tries to fuck with his life. He knows damn well how social interactions work, and how to HURT others. 

Writers... do not... FUCKING...DARE have Kagami make a tender expression over him pointing out the very basic fact that Tomoe shouldn't verbally abuse her!!! 

Okay, now back to Marinette. Tikki, Marinette was NOT incredible in any way!! She was an idiot! And before she goes any further down her mental spiral at having stood up to Gabe, she spots Tomoe's Akuma form and instantly pursues it, meaning any possible reflection on how YES, Gabe is still an absolute piece of shit, is left unexplored. God FUCKING DAMMIT!! 

And the same thing happens with Adrien and Plagg. Oh, so the weird spy lens did come in handy, they are using it to track him. 

And now we get the sight of Felix "bravely defending Kagami from her mother." Gag me.

Tomoe really shouldn't be letting herself get distracted by Chat Noir and Ladybug, and the fact that she somehow doesn't seem to comprehend that she's just as much of a danger to Kagami as she is to Felix in her current form makes me bang my head against a wall. And Felix apparently thought it was a good idea to JUMP OFF THE FUCKING TOWER WHILE HOLDING ONTO KAGAMI!!! WHAT THE FUCK IDIOT!? 

Marinette shoots down the idea of just leaving Tomoe to go after Felix and then taking the opportunity to get back the Peacock. It's actually the smart decision, seeing as they are, as previously stated, just as big of a threat to Kagami as they are to Felix, and Chat forgot that Tomoe is currently Akumatized, she is GOING to attack them anyway, regardless of whether she saves Kagami or not. 

Tomoe going "if you're not with me you're against me" really captures her double-standard behavior of demanding respect and obedience above all else. WHAT IS EVEN HER FUCKING DEAL IN ALL THIS!? WE STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN A REASON FOR HER ALLIANCE WITH GABE!!! 

And then we get the writers trying to once again set Felix up as the "good guy" because he's "trying to set her free from Tomoe." THAT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK WHEN YOU HAVE LITERALLY ESTABLISHED YOU DON'T ACTUALLY RESPECT ANYONE'S FEELINGS OR OPINIONS BUT YOUR OWN YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!! And Kagami flips him over her shoulder. GOOD.

You know, something just occurred to me: why isn't Felix or the others getting paralyzed by the Venom Arrows? We literally had it shown with Safari that they will paralyze ANYONE they touch, even semi-indirectly. Unless that's something shown before S5 that I missed... 

Kagami... your mom IS AKUMATIZED!! YOU SHOULD FUCKING KNOW THAT SHE IS NOT IN HER RIGHT MIND!!! DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BLUE-SKINNED SUPERVILLAIN HOLDING YOU!!! 

"You've never met my father, he was a thousand times worse!" Wow, what a GREAT reveal that utterly destroys whatever possible reasonable motivation he could've had for treating Adrien like a piece of shit in his debut episode! LITERALLY THE ONLY THING THAT MADE FELIX TORMENTING ADRIEN AND TRYING TO RUIN HIS SOCIAL LIFE IN HIS FIRST APPEARANCE NOT PURELY AWFUL FOR THE SAKE OF BEING AWFUL WAS THAT HE HAD RECENTLY LOST HIS FATHER!!! ALL THIS REVEAL DOES IS MAKE HIM COME OFF AS AN ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT TO ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT HIM!!! 

"Fighting's no longer my priority, all I care about is your safety." Yes, because DESTROYING YOUR WEAPON WILL SURELY MAKE KAGAMI SAFER!!! 

IT'S NOT AS IF HE COULDN'T HAVE JUST RIPPED OUT THE FEATHERS AND USED THEM THAT WAY WHICH WOULD STILL HAVE LEFT HIM A FUCKING WEAPON!!! Okay, apparently Adrien's staff didn't disappear when he detransformed. WHY!? WHY DID IT ONLY DISAPPEAR WHEN HE TRANSFORMED BACK!? IS IT BECAUSE IT HAS TO MANIFEST ON HIM!? WHAT IS THE REASONING BEHIND THAT!?

Felix going "don't call them monsters," and then goes on a whole spiel about how he refuses to create a being to manipulate, use, and abuse... yet it somehow never fucking stopped him from treating Adrien like utter shit and playing with his trust and feelings to hurt his friends and endanger Paris. 

Writers... STOP HAVING KAGAMI BLUSH OVER THE PSYCHOPATH WHO TRIED TO FUCKING WIPE OUT ALL OF PARIS IN A MASSIVE TEMPER TANTRUM, ONE THAT LITERALLY MAKES A LIE TO EVERYTHING HE IS SAYING BECAUSE HE LITERALLY DID ALL OF THAT ALREADY WITH RED FUCKING MOON!!! 

How does he EVEN FUCKING KNOW KAGAMI IS A SENTIMONSTER!? HE LITERALLY HAS NO EVIDENCE OR PROOF! LITERALLY NOTHING BUT A GUT FEELING!!! NOTHING IN THE SLIGHTEST!!!! 

DO NOT EVEN FUCKING START WITH THAT 'DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS HIMSELF' BS!! HE HAS BEEN EXPRESSING EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS AND WHAT HE MEANS SINCE LITERALLY DAY FUCKING ONE!! YOU CANNOT MAKE EXCUSES FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS GLEEFULLY TREATED EVERYONE AROUND HIM LIKE SHIT OR LIKE PAWNS AND WHO LITERALLY TRIED TO KILL EVERYONE HE DOESN'T LIKE THE LAST TIME YOU MET HIM!! HE IS NOT BAD AT EXPRESSING HIMSELF, HE IS MANIPULATING YOU FOR HIS OWN FUCKING BENEFIT!!! 

At least Chat and Ladybug are as confused as I am.

Okay, if her plan was just to tie up Tomoe's duplicates and cut the string on her bow, they literally could've just had CAT do it!! The Lucky Charm was completely fucking superfluous!! 

And Tomoe throwing a tantrum over how she could've failed. Honestly, I'm wondering the same since those arrows should've been paralyzing them every time they used their weapons to block. So... yeah, this was bullshit to me. Unless I'm misremembering, they utterly fucked this all up. 

And Tomoe goes full mask off emotional abuser on Kagami standing up to her. FANTASTIC. That's not completely and utterly expected and symbolically worthless at all! 

And we get a scene of Adrien being pissed off at his dad when he says he's going to London next year. Then he just marches off. He's REALLY made progress on standing up to his dad, hasn't he? It's not like he has some blatant supernatural REASON why he's unable to stand up to his dad, after all! And once again their efforts to show how Nathalie has turned on him turn out to be all for nothing since she refuses to do anything more than mildly criticize him despite having all the power in the world to blow the lid wide open on his plots, since even sick she can manhandle him with ease. 

I honestly hate how the show keeps insisting that Adrien wishes he was as courageous as Marinette now. Like, what the FUCK happened to the guy who was willing and able to sneak out of his house against his father's wishes to live the life HE wanted back in Origins!? 

"What are we gonna do?" Plagg, you and Adrien can just fucking run away. 

Them trying to make this touching scene between Kagami and Felix falls totally flat on its face given how much bullshit asspulls and retcons coat this episode like a layer of grime. And with THAT, this episode's done. I FUCKING HATED IT.

[variousqueerthings]

SOOOooooo Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone

these episodes are great set-pieces with a lot of fun twists and turns, such as the Angel coming out of the screen, and the gun from the trailer being used not in violence but to save them with the gravity, and the trees in the ship, good fun, good fun

of course it also completely obliterates a bunch of its own Angel concepts by showing them moving, and by undoing the idea that if they see each other, they are trapped forever

and then there is The Problem Of River Song. I really think I should listen to some of her audio dramas where she's not hanging out with the Doctor, because my goodness... anyway all in the Score!

a criteria will be rated 0-10, with 10 being best score:

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 5/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 6/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn't trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 2/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 61/100 (if I can count….)

I do think this is the first episode to showcase Karen Gillen's potential, and I think it's also the episode to show that she's not... quite as good as some previous leads on this show. she just doesn't emote very well. her fear in both the first episode when she sees the Angel to her terror when she's told there's an Angel in her eye is barely anything -- I don't know if this is Karen Gillen (who I thought did very well in M*rvel!) or a direction problem (my favourite Karen Gillen moment was early in the first episode, when she squeaked excitedly about going on the planet surface, which was very cute)

if I were prone to blaming everything on M*ffat, I'd say that he talked about how he cast Gillen because she was hot. so how does that map onto having Amy Pond be a rounded character? some actresses have risen above this kind of casting in the past, but it's an extra hurdle for sure, and one that I don't think Karen Gillen at this point could do much against, especially considering the episodes don't let the character properly have a feeling about being abandoned for 14 years (she will later on in the show, I remember, but right now nada)

on the flipside, the Doctor babbling for 30 seconds to land on "there's an Angel in her eye" and then grabbing his mouth in shock, is one of my favourite eleven moments generally!

OBJECTIFICATION: OKAY. okayokay. okay. like. Amy is wearing her third miniskirt of the season, because Amy wears them as a Choice (because she's not a character I guess, she has agency, it's nothing to do with Karen Gillen's legs), and River Song is introduced in heels and a sexy dress, because she's a sexually liberated woman, but actually one we get past that it's not so bad. River Song is actually wearing very practical clothes of the same shape and make as the army dudes

the real issue is going to come in the sexiness bracket, so it's hard to say where the objectification ends and the "sexiness" begins...

PLOT-POINT: Amy is all-emotion arguably, while River furthers a lot of plot, and gets some backstory. the frustrating thing is that Amy is still oddly... distant from her own history with the Doctor

he leaves her again, and then asks her to walk with her eyes closed through a forest of Angels. the Doctor tells her to shut up, yells at her, and she's very helpless and while this is technically compelling, Amy doesn't... have much of a reaction to it. to much of any of it. the music is doing the emotional heavy-lifting here more than the writing

BUT all in all, both Amy and River get some interesting stuff to read into!

COMPLEXITY: It’s a good plot, the crashed ship, the running, the forest full of angels, and I think it works because fundamentally it's not actually that complex at all. it's got a fair few set-pieces and plot points happening, so it's good that the central plot is essentially "get away from Angels before they catch us."

and it all comes back to the gravity of the ship several times, fun set-up and payoff

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: so technically there's a lot happening here -- the crack in the wall, the Angels, River Song, the Doctor putting Amy in a precarious situation...

I'm not sure that it all comes together completely, the weak point is... Amy and the Doctor, to me. and there's a lot of quite subjective feelings within that, especially related to casting and writing of their relationship. oh dear that ending.... and the "it's all about you" as a symptom of things to come

and of course the Angels are kind of... cool and then a bit eh (but not as much as they're going to be)

"The Pandorica opens" is mentioned again and it's kind of cool

knowing that River knows that Amy is her mother... I am not sure that this was established as plot yet or not or if Alex Kingston knew, but watching it that way is interesting (even if I'm not a fan of it)

"Time can be rewritten" I remember that from Ten...

COMPANIONS MATTER: Amy is kind of damseling. she damsels. that's her role. Damseling sometimes is not a crime, but anyway. she does what the Doctor says (as a symptom of writing to come)

and the "if I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me," as a symptom of writing to come..... the Doctor used to trust Companions -- generally the power imbalance between the Doctor and Amy, where she has to blindly trust someone she barely knows who has abandoned her several times... unclear if this belongs in this bracket or the sexism plot-point one, but it certainly belongs somewhere, because it's not really a thing that I believe is done on purpose... it's because the Doctor is so Interesting, and Amy is right to hang onto his every word, even when the Doctor hasn't earned it

I note also the "oh she's good," thing which River says about Amy this time, and Churchill said in the last episode, and is another symptom. lot of symptoms in this episode

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: The Doctor says shut up a loooot in the second half of this one, and yells when frustrated, which I wasn't a fan of -- this isn't really "godlike" Doctor as such, but it very much is the "I'm so smart and you're so useless in this situation," Thing, which after Sherlock makes your eyes twitch...

but overall the Doctor is just a guy in a situation that they're trying to solve, same as everyone else

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: soooo it's a couple of smallish? things, but it's part of the River Song problem as a whole, which is that she knows so much more and is much better at things than everyone else, because she knows the Doctor and the future etcetc. and she's more important than all past companions and emotional connections the Doctor has had

so you've got these bits early on - River tells the Doctor how to steer the Tardis using the "blue stabilisers" which stabilise the Tardis. rather than what was established end s4, which was that the Tardis needs more than one pilot, it's just that the Doctor never... stabilises it

And then she lands the Tardis and it doesn't make the familiar sound, and she says, “it’s not supposed to make that noise, you leave the brakes on." sigh. fuck the beloved noise I guess, it's just a stupid thing that the Doctor could change at any time

“SEXINESS”: And Now! To the Crux!

HOW MANY ONE LINERS CAN YOU FIT INTO AN EPISODE??? I wrote this when watching the first 4 minutes:

Sexy shoes

Sexy lipstick

Hello sweetie

Sexy wink

Amy doing a sexy “it’s how you keep score”

Sexy speech pattern

Sexy innuendo

then I had the: “he thinks he’s so hot when he does that” and “ooh, you sonicked her"

and ends on a handcuffs joke

poor River Song, there's this moment when the Cleric has threatened to tell the Doctor about her Past, and then later she makes a joke, and the guy does and the way her face twists!! Kingston is a good actress!!

and then for Amy there is... the ending......

INTERNAL WORLD: it's not really too important for this episode, but it all works

POLITICS: also not so important for this one, but there's nothing egregious going on in it

One thing I've noted that I'm not sure where to put is that at this point in proceedings lives still tend to matter -- some people die in various episodes and it's a tragedy. I don't know if this is politics, or Godlike Doctor or Companions matter, but it's a good thing overall

FULL RATING: 61/100 (if I can count….)

I'm surprised this has a lower rating than the beast below, it's overall a stronger (double) episode. Perhaps it's that several pieces are coming together (for example Amy not having opinions on her relationship with the Doctor rankles more now than previously), perhaps it's that I'm harsher now than then

overall it has a fair few high rankings through being relatively inoffensive, with lower points being granted because of how River Song affects the structure of Doctor Who as a whole, and because I need Amy to feel some kinda way. and the longer it takes without that, the more it becomes obvious

the high notes of the episode are the plot itself and that Amy and River balance a certain amount of Doing Plot to Things Happening To Them

Amy kissing the Doctor at the end is so... I mean it leads into Vampires of Venice, but really Amy is so... aggressive. and intense. and does not take in any cues. and it doesn't help that I know the deleted scene after this is even moreso Like That

[rainbow18]

Miraculous’s problems with how they try to redeem characters.

Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura

Nathalie has known about Gabriel being a terrorist since the beginning. She has aided him. She willingly allowed Gabriel to akumatize her. She has kept secrets from Adrien. She murdered Senti Ladybug.

Nathalie’s redeeming qualities is that She treats People a little better than how Gabriel treats them.

To try to redeem her, the writers first made her have problems in the hopes that she’d get audience sympathy. They made her get sick from using a broken miraculous and confirm that she’ll die if she isn’t healed. They made her have unrequited feelings for Gabriel and possibly Emilie. Then, They made Nathalie and Gabriel fight and have Tomoe replace her as Gabriel’s main partner in crime.

The problems here is that Nathalie’s “Redemption” isn’t much of a redemption and She gets a happy ending. (Unless something happens in the future seasons) Nathalie’s crimes are left undiscovered.

Nathalie has done and will continue to do little to make up for her villainous behavior.

Gabriel Agreste/Monarch

Gabriel Agreste is literally the big bad. He’s a abusive parent, a terrorist, a brainwasher, kept secrets from Adrien and he’s made death threats. He just gets worse as the series goes on. I do wonder what exactly he would have done if he had succeeded in getting the Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculouses in the beginning because a lot of his lines imply that he fully intends to continue being a terrorist even if he gets Emilie back.

There is literally nothing redeemable about him other than the classic “Even Evil people have loved ones”.

Gabriel’s “Redemption” is how when he gets his wish, he sacrifices himself because he’s dying anyway to save Nathalie and possibly Nathalie.

In the new world, He has a almost 100 % approval rating because everyone except Marinette seems to have completely forgot about his bad behavior. Instead, They believe that He’s a Hero that had stopped Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth/Monarch.

The problems is After everything that he did, He doesn’t deserve to be remembered as a Hero. Especially when they believe he defeated himself. Marinette should at least tell Adrien what he did.

Felix Fathom/Argos

Felix has been mean, showed signs of speciesism, stalked, kidnapped, impersonated Adrien, stole and more. Felix gave the majority of the miraculouses and One of the Rings that control Adrien to Gabriel, knowing that Gabriel’s a terrorist. There’s also how he harassed Marinette and wanted everyone except a select few to disappear. Felix also kept secrets from Adrien.

Just like with Gabriel, Felix’s only redeeming quality is the whole “Even Evil has loved ones” thing.

To try to redeem him, Felix was retconned into being a Senti Rights person. (although Adrien appears to be a exception) Felix began dating Kagami, who we all know would scold and beat him up if He continues causing trouble. Colt was said to have been abusive as a explanation/excuse for why Felix is crazy. (What happened to the shows message of “Trauma is a explanation, not a excuse”? )

In The Season 5 ending, Felix’s crimes are forgiven and/or forgotten and he gets to keep the Peacock Miraculous.

The problems here is that Felix and Kagami got together much too quickly. Felix should not be with a Character that’s Good unless He’s behaved himself and regrets his bad behavior for a while, which he hadn’t. Felix has literally stalked and kidnapped her in the same Episode they got together in. Felix at this point, only likes Kagami because she’s a senti and on Kagami’s end, She might be projecting her feelings for Adrien and possibly Marinette onto Felix.

Another problem is Felix expresses very little remorse for his bad behavior and does very little to make up for it.

Mayor Andre Bourgeois

Andre has allowed Chloe to misbehave for years. Andre is a bad mayor.

To try to redeem him, The Writers first introduced Zoe and “reveal” that Andre never wanted to be a Mayor. Then, The Writers had Andre refuse to send Zoe away. Finally The Writers have Andre quit being Mayor, divorce Audrey while giving her full custody of Chloe and adopt Zoe while saying She’s his favorite.

Andre’s ending is basically having a Fresh Start but with Zoe as his daughter instead of Chloe.

The Problems here is that how Andre treats Chloe and Zoe isn’t right. Andre doesn’t take responsibility for how he raised Chloe. Instead, he decides that Chloe will stay with her abusive mother. Andre could’ve easily started giving Chloe more boundaries or send her somewhere that knows how to deal with people like her. Andre has no grounds to adopt Zoe. Zoe’s in her teens and What about Mr. Lee?

Sabrina Raincomprix/Miss Hound

Sabrina and Chloe have been friends for years. Unlike Adrien, Sabrina never had a problem with Chloe’s bullying and has sometimes been shown to enjoy the bullying. Sabrina does Chloe’s homework for her. Sabrina has remained friends with Chloe even after Chloe willingly worked with Gabriel.

To try to redeem her, The writers sometimes show her as a Docile but Nice girl. As well as have Chloe treat her terribly to try to get her sympathy. Then, in Season 5 Sabrina becomes frustrated with Chloe and judging from some clips, Sabrina appears to help Marinette expose Chloe and Lila.

Sabrina’s ending is getting to keep the Dog Miraculous and her friendship with Chloe is over.

The problems here is Why on earth did Sabrina not mind Chloe’s bullying? Her father is literally a police officer, Surely He would raise his daughter to dislike rule breakers? Plus Just like Nathalie, Felix and Gabriel, She doesn’t deserve what she got.

In Total, in every single one of these, Their Redemptions are all “Too Little, Too Late” and in most of their cases, “Went Too Far” to deserve their endings.

The writers appear to mostly just write the story as they go along and they are really bad at writing proper endings and/or redemptions.

Plus Thomas Astruc hates Chloe and Felix which comes out in the show. In his debut, Felix was deliberately made to be as nasty as possible. Chloe’s father and best friend get officially redeemed in the narrative by cutting off ties with her. Chloe’s the only villain/antagonist without a good ending in Season 5.

[runawaymun]

Not to sound like a boomer but I genuinely am starting to feel that Netflix is one of the worst things that happened to television.

It’s all the same now.

And I don’t mean like, genre diversity. I mean the art form. Like Netflix has really just cursed the world with television that now has an absolutely breakneck, relentless pace. So few shows are casually watchable anymore. It’s hard for me to find good new comfort shows. All of mine are older. Seasons used to have 15-30 episodes, sometimes more! They used to be episodic. So you could literally just drop in at any point in a season, nearly, without having to remember where you’re at or be sucked in by cliffhangers for twelve hours. You could just sit down with your favorite characters for one episode and be done.

And sure, people still marathoned favorites, but that wasn’t the norm. And the thing is, shows like Psych, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Doctor Who etc? I remember distinct episodes. I can name them, and I’ll go back and rewatch them over and over again independently. With newer shows I just don’t. If you ask me to name an individual episode of Cobra Kai, I can’t. If I’m rewatching then I’m rewatching the whole damn show and I just don’t have that kind of time, usually, so then I just don’t rewatch and it’s onto the next series— which gets super exhausting. Sometimes I don’t want that commitment.

And you lose a lot of character depth in my opinion. The beauty of episodic longform shows is in the sheer room you have. Yes. Seasons had arcs, but usually the plots were contained to an episode and the season arc was purely character development. And you had room for dumb episodes where characters go to the beach, or a party, or just dick around and live their lives. The viewer had time to get attached— which is why so many older shows still have such strong, old, thriving fanbases who are immensely loyal to their show.

And also??? Shows didn’t used to be cancelled for a bad first episode or season. That’s not normal!!? Netflix and other provider’s habits of cancelling shows that “flop” in their first three episodes or first season isn’t normal. With older shows it was just sort of accepted: the pilot and first season are like the first ugly pancake. Give the show some time. And that time is worth it. That’s why shows could run episodically for 6, 7, 14, 20 seasons, because people just accepted that some seasons are better than others and that’s okay. Some episodes are better than others. Shows didn’t used to rely on cliffhangers to keep their audience. They relied on characters. That was what we were watching them for and why we kept coming back.

I just really am starting to hate how every single tv show is now essentially a really long movie tbh. Give me my episodic, campy, 30-episodes a season shows back. They really are worth it and I’m so sad that those seem to be actively squished by tv providers. It’s an art form in of itself.

It’s just a symptom of late stage capitalistic churning of things for mass, quick comsumption. Like the fast fashion of film. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of new favorite shows I genuinely enjoy like Schitt’s Creek, House of the Dragon, Cobra Kai, Gentleman Jack, etc, but I just wish I had more options in terms of length/number of episodes/and how episodic a show is. It feels like a damn shame that episodic shows are being pushed out in favor of quick, bingeable ones. It also feels like writers are no longer being given the time to really craft a good story. There’s so much pressure and time crunching from studios and drive to cram your story into less than twelve episodes and that’s why you get, rather than a mediocre season, absolutely genuinely ruined seasons like the last season of Game of Thrones and the most recent season of Stranger Things. Both literally needed more episodes to make their story make sense. (If we ignore the dumb bran ending.)

Anyway this is your latest “old man yells at cloud” by your friendly neighborhood old person. Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

[japplejottomjeans]

STRANGER THINGS 5: A NEW EVIL

DISCLAIMER: i am not a THEORY GUY. i am a FAN who is CHRONICALLY ONLINE and TOTALLY NORMAL about this show. this is just me SAYING SHIT.

Hear me out…So apparently after the first season, people were theorizing how the thessalhydra could make an appearance in season 2. Obviously, that never happened—it ended up being the mind flayer instead right? I guess, eventually, people forgot about it, which is fair considering it was only mentioned like, 5 times. But, because im a fucking nerd i and read too much into everything, i realized that the thessalhydra, or any other monster alike to it, was never mentioned again. Of course, it could just be a slip up or inconsistency or fuckin any other excuse they conjure up, but i dont like that way. Heres a different reason i like better

THEORY: THE THESSALHYDRA, OR SOME MONSTER LIKE IT, WILL BE A NEW VILLAIN IN SEASON 5

Wills painting depicted a dragon of some sort with several heads--the thessalhydra also has several heads

There are other theories of Wills art foreshadowing the future. In season 2 when he was possessed he draw a map of the town, purely from his subconscious.

Because he is still tethered to the upside down and/or vecna, hes still able to foresee the future—even if he doesnt know it—specifically the painting he gave to mike in season four. Its of the partys d&d characters facing a dragon type creature wearing three heads. To be fair, the thessalhydra can have up to 9, but the fact that they both have over 1 i count as a similarity.

Alot of people think theres gonna be a dragon next season—personally i dont think it makes sense, just a fucking dragon comin outa nowhere. The GA wouldnt clock it unless it looked exactly like it, or there was some flashback to the painting, or something. Idk, i just think itd be tricky. But the thessalhydra could work for several reasons: 1. its been mentioned verbally in the past, so it would be easier for the audience to remember it. 2. it could make as a sort of realization that their d&d games are having an effect on the real world.

Mike, will, even dustin or lucas would be the first to have that epiphany. I feel like that would give the main party a reason to stick together as they go over everything that happened in their campaigns, try n think of what the fuck is gonna happen next so they can be prepared.

Alternatively; they could be tryin to figure out what campaign could happen next, and before they do the thessalhydra jumps out and theyre like “shit, how did we not realize? it was so long ago…” etcetera etcetera

When vecna shows nancy "the future", she described what she saw to be "a giant creature with a gaping mouth"

The first reason could easily be explained as just a coincidence, but this part kinda sold me ngl. In season four nancy described what she saw in her vision: the town up in flames, dead soldiers, a dark cloud looming over the city, the four gates, but also a another monster. I watched her vision in .25x speed n there was no fucking monster. She goes onto say there were more—a whole ass army of em (probably demodogs).

Anyway, she described the creature as one weve never seen before (unless the mind flayer has another form or sum). I think it looks a lot like the thessalhydra. And these things are like…huge

And so far, everything vecnas showed her has come true

D&D games in stranger things have a record of predicting the future--in the finale of season 1, the party's faced with the thessalhydra. Will defeats it with his fireball (to which he rolled a 14 to cast but thats just the delusional in me 💀)

Ion got a picture for this one but most of yall will know what im talkin about. this is actually another theory thats popular among the fandom. There are tons of variations of it, but ill judt be talkin about the main theme

So whenever a game of d&d is played, it reflects onto real life events (re: season 1 with the demogorgon, season 4 with vecna). Just think of jumanji. Almost all games that have been played in hawkins have had an impact on the town itself— almost all.

The only ones weve seen that have never been referenced again is the one at the end of season 1 (where they defeat the thessalhydra) and in season 3 (where mike sacrifices himself for the town, but uh, ill save that for another post cuz that shit is lowkey concerning ngl)

Anyways—and im reaching with my whole ass torso—the “hoard of juju zombies” could be foreshadowing the “army of monsters” that nancy saw. the thessalhydra could show up with them <- and im talking about this like its endgame material, which it is. heres how i think it could go

Pre time skip, shit happens—i bet the army of monsters nancy spoke of will emerge from the gates. The soldiers will do everything in their power to stop them, but they dont understand whats going on, so they dont defeat them. More shit happens, the town is fled by most, then the time skip.

Its sort of post apocalyptic yk, they dont do much—just try their best to survive. there isnt much they can do. theyre mostly inside, and when theyre not they wear gas masks because of the spores in the air. theyre lives go on, but its not normal. its nowhere near normal.

Anyway, the main conflict ensues, but near the end (probably episode 7 or so) is when that monster that theyve been silently waiting for finally shows up. i think dustin, cuz hes always making the fucking connections to the ud and d&d, coins the monsters name with the analogy that fits it best—the thessalhydra. with this comes a sort of epiphany that maybe these arent just analogies for the sake of it; maybe theyre real.

so dustin tries to contact mike and will (theyre stuck in the upside down right now) to warn them of whats happening. maybe once they all reunite and are brainstorming how to defeat it, they could be like “well how did we defeat him in the game?” silence “a fireball” and will realizes he needs to help defeat it. (protective mike moment)

Yeah this post as all over the fucking place. Seriously im just spitballing. sorry if this is like, incomprehensible 💀 ight bye

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Are you confident Bughead will be endgame on this show? That’s literally the last strand I’ve been holding onto, but the thread is weakening. I really can’t believe that they would take this ship, their absolute most popular and loved one, and just end it like this forever. I am so angry with the writing!!

Hey there, anon! It is unbelievable, isn’t it?

What a tricky question you ask! confidence + prediction + the Riverdale writers ... As Jughead would say: yikes!

The thing with these writers is that they use a lot of words without knowing their meaning. “Endgame” is one of them. “New” is another. “Exciting”. “Darkness”™. “Adult stories”. “The message”…

Dangling the bughead “endgame” carrot at the end of one or two seasons of no bughead or -worse- of b*rchie and j*bitha f.e. is not an endgame. The general definition of endgame -outside of chess- is: the last stage of a process. If the process (i.e. the season’s content) isn’t about bughead, then bughead coming together at the very end is not an endgame, it's a peripeteia i.e. a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances.

In shipping, endgame is a couple that will inevitably end together (for ever and ever and ever). In order for something to be inevitable, you have to create that sentiment, you have to build the couple up.

There’s an article about the misappropriation of the word “endagame” that I find particularly funny, as it starts by mentioning Riverdale!

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that, yes, I do believe that the show will end with bughead and varchie as their main canon couples. It’s just that, like you, I’m so very tired with these story lines. There is satisfaction to be had at the notion of endgame but a seasonful of investigative bughead would be infinitely preferable. For me (and I can only speak of myself) the journey is more important than the destination -even if for the simple reason that -in TV show time- it lasts longer!

Why do I think bughead is still … that word? Everything’s under the cut, so as not to clutter your dash!

1. A lot of people have been theorising that what happened in 5x18 was not the original plot. I agree.

Let’s start with 5x18 varchie.

Their break up came completely out of left field. Its unexpectedness is reminiscent of 4x17. I make fun of how s5 is a reboot of s1+s2’s leftover ideas, so another copy-paste shouldn’t feel out of place, and yet … really? Another repetition? To what end? If the season’s goal was not varchie, b*rchie was already there waiting at the beginning of the time jump! Why abandon that plot? In terms of romantic varchie time, that was extremely limited, since after their kiss in 5x7, Veronica’s divorce kept them apart until 5x17 … Why have Archie being extremely jealous of Chad, Veronica getting involved in all of Archie’s schemes (firefighters, bulldogs), Archie getting involved in Ronnie’s (rescuing daddykins) or Veronica telling her father she chooses Archie over him in 5x17? Also, for those who remember, there was this by the-writer-who-shall-not-be-named.

The reason of the break up is as ludicrous as Veronica moving into Archie’s childhood bedroom (with its effing slanted roof!) on the premise that long term the Andrews’ residence has more room! (By the way, I don’t know what surprised me more: that Veronica thought that Archie and uncle Frank would know who Ina Garten is or that Jughead didn’t.) Why is Veronica astounded by Archie’s involvement in the same activities he has been involved in all through the season?! For f***’s sake, she’s the one that gifted him the fire truck!

Ok. Now let’s give 5x18 j*bitha a try.

For me, 5x18 could either have gone bugheadwards or j*bithawards. J*bitha had some heartfelt talks, a hand touch, a hallucination and a kiss. Bughead had one unfinished heartfelt talk (the only one in the whole season for Betty), two shoulder touches, two hallucinations and Jughead attempting to reconnect with Betty (without specifying what his intent was, it's true).

While I do think that j*bitha is a ship that has been adequately teased, the way they were explored in 5x18 was … not underwhelming exactly (after all, they’re not my ship, so I didn’t have any expectations about them) but … maybe lukewarm is the word? They had but minimal dialogue, only enough to establish that Tabitha’s parents were in town. Then a song where Tabitha initially rejects Jughead, although she had been supportive before. Then another song, where the lyrics were heavily altered and didn’t make much sense anyway (we hadn’t been properly introduced to the Tates) but where the original lyrics were very compatible with Bughead’s history and state of being as of 5x17. The kisses were ok, I have no problem with the actors’ chemistry. But -and this is strictly a personal opinion- Jughead’s flirting scenes (not the make-out ones, you perverts!) with Cora were better and so was the j*bitha kiss in 5x10. For the 5x18 j*bitha to flow, more dialogue and more flirting was necessary (always a persona opinion). So, no, I don’t think j*bitha were supposed to sing what they sang in 5x18.

Production for s5 wrapped up one week after the official announcement of the 5 special episodes for Riverdale and The Flash: “we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule” was the official quote. Re-organising the cw’s overall schedule didn’t happen overnight. Yes, more likely than not, the writers knew about the specifics of s6a before shooting 5x18-5x19 and had time to re-write them.

2. The couples spoilers for s6 do not make sense plot-wise.

If the end-goal for 5x19-6x1 had been b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie all along, these were pairs already happening (except from v*ggie) at the beginning of the time-jump. As for v*ggie, last time we saw them, Veronica pulled a face when she heard that he had had (still has?) an affair with Hermosa. And what about Nana Rose?! (ok, that was a joke! ... or was it? 👀)

The majority of both the fans and the general audience are bugvarchie shippers. Teasing b*rchie and j*bitha as a means of maintaining the viewers’ interest in a will they/won’t they way, only works if the audience finally gets what they want. In this season. Not the next one! There is so much trolling one can take after all. In the space of 1.5 year (4x17-5x19) b*rchie will have been teased ... THREE times (and still lacking build-up)!

I cannot myself see b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie as endgame couples. For the audience to invest in them after 4 years of bugvarchie, the writers have to a) give j*bitha an absolutely incredible development that will surpass bughead and the cinematography to go with it (good luck with that) and b) undo Archie’s character (highly unlikely) and/or give Betty a lobotomy (at which point a lot of people will quit en masse, because Archie as The One All The Girls Want just doesn't resonate with the majority).

I have no idea if s6a is an AU or not. But if it’s not, no one will be left to watch 6b.

Can I guarantee a bughead endgame? Of course not. I have no idea how the minds of the Riverdale writers work. But I do think that Jughead and Betty getting back together is more than wishful thinking.

Fervently shipping Jughead/Betty, Jughead/his book and Betty/therapy, sincerely yours, @raymondebidochonlifechoices

I hope you have fun with the Riverdale universe regardless, dear anon. Riverdale has given us one of the most beautiful getting-together stories in s1 and lots and lots of beautiful canon bughead afterwards. Here's to many more! Much love to you!

[sortasirius]

what makes you think the writers want deancas? not trying to be an asshole, i'm just genuinely curious as to why you think that. i know berens' episodes are pretty heavy with subtext so i can see why you'd say that he wants it, but i'm not so sure about the rest of the writers/dabb. it seems like meghan isn't a huge fan either, given her "they twisted it so fast" tweet :/ of course she's a very new writer (think she's only writing one ep this season?) but still

OKAY this is a great question, welcome to my dissertation.

I’m going to address the end of your question first. Meghan is actually DeanCas positive, she has been for quite a long time. She actually, a few years back, posted a picture of her reading a literal book about Destiel and captioned it “writing reading” or something like that.

This whole thing just comes out of a boiling over of tensions because of how nasty fandom twitter can be. Like I said here, I think this has just gotten blown out of proportion, they shouldn’t have posted all this randomly disparaging stuff, but also like...can you blame them? The fandom is a lot, we always have been, and they’re probably also under a gag order not to talk about the finale, and are annoyed that people keep asking.

So nah, Meg is not anti Destiel.

To the first part!! So let’s take a look at the show runners since Cas has been around.

Seasons 4 and 5: Kripke

Seasons 6 and 7: Gamble

Seasons 8-11ish: Carver

Seasons 11ish-15: Dabb

So starting with Kripke. Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit that we have some pretty incredible Destiel moments in these seasons, but it’s less directly written into the plot and much more from Misha and Jensen’s uhhhh ~chemistry~. The only times it was directly written into the script was when the episode was handled by someone like Edlund (“On The Head Of A Pin,” “The End,” “My Bloody Valentine”). And you have to remember, if in season 5, there are moments here and there where you’re like huh that’s suspiciously romantic dialogue, remember that Cas took Anna’s place. Anna was supposed to be endgame for Dean, but due to a myriad of issues and Misha’s general greatness, Anna was replaced with Cas.

Onto 6 and 7. Hmmm. Gamble. 6 and 7 are my two least favorite seasons and that’s no secret, and that’s not only due to the plain old weird shit in the overall storyline, but also that homegirl killed off Cas in s7 and then Bobby like four episodes later. (Also it ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way they couldn’t have Baby in that season lol). We still had some great DeanCas moments, but again, it wasn’t really written into the overall arc (until they had to change the end of season 7 because of tanking ratings and bring Misha back lol, anyone remember the fact that Dean kept Cas’ jacket and would randomly dream of him? Yeah.). But we still had those moments, those distinctly romantic moments, probably the best example in these two seasons is from Edlund again, specifically “The Man Who Would be King,” I wrote a little about that here.

We move onto Carver, who gave us, at this point, the most overt DeanCas season with season 8 (season gr8 is a better name imo), and this is the first time Dean and Cas’ relationship is directly written as an arc of the season.  I mean, you have everything in Purgatory, Dean “seeing” Cas everywhere, the fact that he felt so guilty that Cas stayed in Purgatory that he manipulated his own memories to think that he was the one that failed Cas, because he couldn’t comprehend that Cas would want to leave him, and let’s not forget Dean snapping Cas out of Naomi’s hold on him in “Goodbye Stranger.”  It was a very obvious shift, not enough to alert the general audience, but more than enough for most of us in fandom.

It’s also important to note that this is when Andrew stopped co writing with Loflin and started writing his own episodes (”Hunter Heroici” anyone?)  I like Loflin fine, but Dabb was able to stretch his legs a little bit more once he stopped co-writing, and we also began to see some DeanCas themes in his solo episodes.

In any case, them and their issues being a big part of the seasons continued with Carver, and Berens entered the scene, his first episode (”Heaven Can’t Wait”) is one of my favorites, with human Cas and the fanfiction gap and Dean and Cas just generally being awkward and funny and sweet.  This is Bobo’s FIRST episode, remember that.  He comes right out of the gate with it.

Also in Season 9, this is when Dean takes the Mark of Cain, and the Cas/Colette mirror is born, so obviously, Dean and Cas are the fabric of the season once again.  This is also the season where Metatron says Cas is “in love with humanity,” and then immediately refers to Dean as Humanity so uhhhh yeah.

Onto season 10, Dabb and Berens continue with their greatness (I could write pages on the DeanCas date in “The Things We Left Behind” alone).  And then we have one of the best scenes in the entire show in “The Prisoner” where the Cas/Colette mirror continues and Dean, driven by grief and pain and rage and the Mark, still doesn’t kill Cas.  He still can’t kill Cas.

Season 11 is important because it takes choice away from both Cas and Dean, and shows us, as the audience, how much losing each other takes out of them. We saw in season 10 how much losing Dean takes from Cas, but what about Cas losing Dean?  Dean loses his choice with his connection to Amara this season, and loses even more when Lucifer reveals he’s been possessing Cas, and plays on Dean’s connection to Cas like a mockery.  It’s also worth noting that, similarly to season 8, Dean breaks out of the connection with Amara when he’s worried about Cas, and that’s something that even SHE is surprised by.

But then season 12, the beginning to the Renaissance.  This is when we get the writer’s that become important for what Dean and Cas are today, and, truly, why I believe they want canon Destiel as much as we do.

This is the first season with Dabb’s writers: Davy Perez, Meredith Glynn, Steve Yockey, and of course Bobo all come in with their incredible talents and gave us episode after episode of good content.  “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” is probably my favorite, probably the best example of what I’m saying.  An episode where Dean is called out by an enemy directly, told to “roll the dice” on Cas’ life.  And Dean won’t, it’s not even really a hesitation.  And this comes from a character that has known Dean for ten seconds.  I also wrote more in depth about this episode here.  There are also some.....distinctly domestic details we get this season, specifically in “The Future” (written by Berens and Glynn) with the mixtape.  The most tropey of tropes mixtape.  Yeah, I’ll just leave that one here.

And then season 12 ends with Cas’ death, but also with the parallel between Sam and Dean with Jess and Cas.  Sam literally has to drag Dean away from Cas, just like Dean had to drag Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot.  The episode drives it home in every way that it can: Dean is the one left kneeling by Cas’ body, while Sam goes to find out what is upstairs.  Dean is the one who stares at the sky, finally broken.  This isn’t a random thing, this is Dean’s whole arc, it’s the entirety of the beginning of 13.  Dean’s pain, his anguish, his anger.

Season 13 starts with them burning Cas, with Dean, who has begged God to bring him back, who has split his knuckles punching a door, standing, staring at Cas’ pyre with brokenness on his face.

I mean.....

Anyway, season 13 is where it gets interesting (well, I think all of this is interesting but I’m a writer nerd so).  So Cas comes back from the Empty in “Advanced Thanatology” written by Steve Yockey, and then a wombo combo of “Tombstone” by Davy Perez next (”Brokebacknatural” as the PR said at the time).  Listen.  This is the part that SPN crossed a line that they couldn’t come back from.  With Cas being Dean’s “big win,” the fact that Dean and Cas watch movies together, “I told you, he’s an angry sleeper.  Like a bear.” Talked about it here.

This is where, in my opinion, the network stepped in, but the damage was already done.  They had already established that Cas was Dean’s big win, that Dean’s poor coping was not due to Mary’s disappearance, but solely due to Cas, and that Dean and Cas have more married energy than anyone else.  The network had nixed blatant canon at this point, and they writing room had been pushing the boundaries of what the network would allow. 

After these episodes, we see a marked drop off of DeanCas heavy scenes.  They’re still there, still a part of the fabric of the season, but not as...obvious as it had been in early season 13.

And this continued through season 14, we’re back to scraps of Destiel scenes here and there, but to me it always felt like there was something bubbling under the surface, something distinctly unsaid in the themes of the season, even after the walk back of obvious “Dean and Cas are in love” scenes.

And then we get to season 15, which, y’all know I talk about all the time.  What’s important here is that Bobo and Glynn are both executive producers, calling more of the shots than ever before.  Additionally, it’s important to note that, though they only co write occasionally, Glynn and Berens refer to each other as “work husband” and “work wife.”  Each episode has just turned up the volume, and, not for the first time, but certainly the most obvious, Dean and Cas ARE the season.  Sure, they’re trying to beat God, they’re trying to finally find peace, defeat the final big bad, but really?  This season has been about Dean, and Dean’s relationship to Cas.

And not only do we have obvious and clear Destiel in nearly every episode, but we have episodes like “Last Call” which canonize bi!Dean (wrote about that here).

And, maybe most importantly so far, we have “The Rupture,” the breakup, and “The Trap,” Dean’s confession (both written by Berens).  And here’s the thing.  These episodes feel connected, but also feel like they’re missing something.  Beren’s last episode is 15x18, “The Truth.”  We’ve all spec’ed about what could happen in this episode, and I think *I* know what it’s leading to.  But for it to be leading to that, it means that the network has to have approved what we’ve all been waiting for years for.

Who got this change to happen?  Who got the network to change their minds?  It wasn’t us.  It was them.  I am fully convinced that Dabb and Berens quite literally put their careers on the line for Dean and Cas.  They believe in them, they’ve shown that from the beginning, but the only thing standing in the way was the network, never allowing them to take the final step. 

So, to answer your question: I think the writers want canon DeanCas because they’ve already shown us that they do.  Take a look at their episodes, at Dabb’s, at Beren’s, at Glynn’s, at Perez’s, at Yockey’s.  They’ve been telling us what’s going on with Dean and Cas for years.

Sure, I’m not in their heads, I guess I don’t know for *sure* that this has been their thought process, but if we put it all together, from the marked shift when Dabb fully took over in s12, to the change right after “Tombstone,” to the new shift, the blatantly romantic shift in season 15, what else is there?

I’ve said for a long time that we, the SPN fandom, are beyond lucky to have the writer’s that we do.  They’re all going to go on to have prolific careers and we were lucky to get them at the end of our little show.  I give them a lot of credit for what we have in the show today.

Just remember, they’ve been telling us in all of s15 who Chuck is.  He says he’s the writer, right?  But a writer who doesn’t have control of his characters?  A writer who wants to do the same ending over and over because it “works”?  That doesn’t sound like a writer, it sounds like a network exec.

They’ve been showing us what they want for years, and the way s15 is going?  I think they may have convinced the network to let us have it.

[antiloreolympus]

7 Anti LO Asks

1. Do you know what really gets my blood boiling about this comic? Persephone and Demeter's relationship.

In the myths, Demeter and Persephone loved each other more than anything. Their reunion is so important - it marked the coming of spring and growth. A whole cult was dedicated to this for crying out loud. Yes, the myths were far from perfect, but the Persephone and Demeter myth showed the strength of a loving mother-daughter relationship with Demeter searching endlessly to find her child that was ripped away and had her innocence forcibly taken.

Now, RS is not the only author to make Demeter this over-bearing mother type in order to put more positivity onto the Hades-Persephone relationship. However, RS takes this trend to a whole new level - to the point where I would even consider it misogyny.

How is it, she takes this beautiful mother-daughter relationship and makes it out to be an abusive and controlling one, and then takes the Hades-Persephone relationship from a forceful one to a loving, perfect relationship with no problems? How is it ok to ruin one relationship to elevate another?

I understand that many versions of the myth try to downplay Hades' actions, and even make it so Persephone actually falls in love with him and there is no rape. But it doesn't change that this relationship was problematic, and meant to represent the loss of innocence.

Then fans have the gall to claim this comic is feminist and then claim on top of that that Demeter and Persephone's relationship was the same in the myth? These fans clearly don't know the myths, and neither does RS.

Making Hades a good person is fine. Changing it up a bit to make Persephone's loss of innocence something else is also fine. But ruining Demeter and Persephone's relationship? Especially when Persephone has to spend half the year with her? So horrible. 

2. im sorry, but rachel cant introduce KRONOS coming back and then dropping it for several episodes to focus on a stake-less trail and persephone not knowing what lingerie to seduce hades in. like thats too much of an earth shaking development and huge stake plot point to just ignore for months to focus instead on something as minor as hxp's relationship, which only points out a huge flaw: why is hxp's relationship so minor in this? isnt the whole point supposed to be about them?

3. I think LO completely dropped the ball over Hades’ characterization. 

From the first ep I thought ok, this is good, we have some bones to see he’s not that lucky in love and is just tired and lonely, and while ignoring the creepy actions towards Persephone, I thought ok, Artemis hates him, Hestia hates, even Ares hates him, maybe once Persephone finally sees the underworld and probably gets to know him it’ll be a clever twist and they’ll be proven wrong. The underworld will turn out to be fair and just, the citizens will love Hades, he’ll be revealed to be a good leader and king and not like his brothers, it’ll be like everyone saying Hades of myth isn’t actually that bad, and it’ll help reinforce why this sweet and bubbly Persephone wants him, she sees the real him, not the mean rumors and assumptions, this is perfect.

And then it just didn’t happen. The exact opposite happened, actually.

We’re shown the LO underworld is cruel and unjust, where the poor dead are forced into slavery and Hades created a harsh class divide with him and him only on top, the citizens hate him, the underworld gods don’t trust him and openly seem ok if he’s taken out of power, he’s not a good leader and king and doesn’t even want the job yet keeps it for his own ego and grip of power m, and on top of it all he is just like his brothers, if not worse. He loves to get violent over any little slight against him, he hoards wealth and resources to enrich himself while his citizens starve and struggle to survive, he’s corrupt, he controls all the media and laws to bend to his will, sleeps with his brothers wife for centuries behind his back while claiming to be holier than thou, he has sex with his secretaries who are made dependent on him for any way to survive, and now he lusts after his barely legal intern who is also now dependent on him for her way to survive, and that’s only what I remember off the top of my head.

LO perfectly set up to prove Hades isn’t the devil or the false pop culture assumption that he’s evil and to show some actual facts from myth, and yet Rachel only ended up reinforcing exactly that and even making him even worse with her made up ideas, all while thinking having Persephone ignore or excuse it somehow makes it not bad or even a good thing. It’s honestly kind of impressive just how bad of writing that actually is. 

4. Chapter 172 is not that interesting. It’s setup had me excited to see Hephaestus and Hera and learning more about echo, but it’s cut so short. Because again the story can’t leave HXP out for 2 seconds.

I can also see why Zeus is gonna go insane. 

5. i agree w/ other anon. LO should have pulled a PJO or a BoZ and just made up OCs and have them interact with the gods than whatever Rachel thinks shes doing, which is lying she's being accurate and faithful while completely changing all of it, removing what is needed, and adding what isnt so that it lines up with no actual myth besides like, various 50 shades fanfic she read in 2015 and some popular tumblr text posts.

6 . the animation studio behind blood of zeus literally can only draw one face for the men and one face for the women and they were still able to make the gods all look distinct and hot while LO can't even bother to use more than 6 colors and can only have the women look as tiny as possible with the biggest boobs while the men are all just lego men.

7. ////FP SPOILERS////

Okay so like I stopped reading LO way back before season 1 ended, and a majority of my knowledge of the series comes from what I read here on your blog which is enough for me lol and I decided to read the latest 5 chapters just to see what's up (on zahard. I refuse to give the actual series any views)

And I just. Could not take the whole scene with Daphne running from Apollo seriously? The anatomy and art inconsistency was so distracting that i genuinely could not find it serious. Even when Thanatos discovers her hibernated body I couldn't take it seriously because of how she looked?

And when Hades had that call (??? Was it a call? Or his inner dialogue? I couldn't really tell ngl) with Zeus and said he's causing Persephone unnecessary distress, and that she didn't pose any threat. B!tch??? She killed a ton of mortals??? She has no control over her powers???? She's literally a fugitive for the aforementioned things??? She apparently woke Kronos up? (Idk if anyone knows about that, again my knowledge only spans to whatever I read here) Hello????

And I have a lot to say about the chapters starting the trial but I'll only mention one thing; Hades saying "I don't think blindly supporting my little brother would be doing him any favours (as a ruler)" had me cackling. This is coming from a guy blindly supporting a girl he's literally only known for a few weeks, who's like what, only recently turned 20? Sit tf down Hades you're not cool, you creepy ass overgrown smurf.

Overall I still hate this series lmao. Regarding art though I feel like I wouldn't be so miffed about the anatomy much if the character designs were consistent and the story was compelling. They literally change hairstyles and body types frame by frame, and it's distracting.

The timeline from what I read here is laughable. 4 years in publication with almost 200 chapters and you're telling me only like a month has passed canonically. That's wild and such poor writing.

And as someone who literally will sympathise with any lead character pretty quickly, the story makes me hate them. It makes me want to root against them. I also hate the fact this trash is somehow top ranked on webtoons when so many other stories are far better then it.

Anyway, many thanks to this blog for existing and allowing me to dump so much text here to vent out my hate for this series lmao. You the mvp fam, hope you're having a good day 🥂🥂🥂

[kurohoely]

mask (sakusa x y/n)

What happens when Sakusa realizes masks are better off than on?

genre: hurt/comfort, sakusa is in time skip!

wc: 2.2k

It was known that Sakusa is reserved, he only shows his most relaxed self to those who he trusts, which includes you. He can show those random, whacky emotions, teasing you and giving some gen z emojis but being open and vulnerable? That’s just not him.

You have been dating him for almost a few months now and a lot of people were surprised that you both actually worked out. The dynamic you both have was something people often quote as ‘not compatible’. You knew him before since you both have few classes together in college but who would’ve thought from those unintentional crossings lead you here. Sakusa’s character is pretty obvious and you kind of get it by now how he works and acts but was there any difference between before and now? Why does it feel like the walls are kept up, and builds higher than before?

You tried to initiate a lot of things. He does too but he was indeed more awkward, baby steps as you call it. Despite all that, you appreciate him, all the things he did were definitely out of his comfort zone. You kept saying to yourself that he's trying, remembering that he was the one that confessed first. You hold onto that memory in hope that it will be dynamic throughout the relationship.

But how about right now? With the new season up and running, you kept seeing less and less of him. Countless lonely dinners and cold bedsheets. Rescheduled dates and missing out on one another. You almost excused Sakusa for forgetting your anniversary, thinking it was a given. You signed up to be with someone that has no constant rhythm in their life, always the next big thing to keep their lives afloat. Again, you put on another layer, masking away, reasoning to yourself that things will work out. You don't want to bother him, let alone be the reason why he is stressing out. Patience has always been a good nature of you but sometimes, you question if you should stop being selfless and start being selfish. He is your boyfriend after all.

Sakusa noticed the subtle changes that happened. He felt that you were perfect. Too perfect, as a matter of fact. He wanted to sit down and try to understand why and where this was coming from because he definitely didn't confess to you for perfection. He wanted you. Not any other version. Pure and transparent. No mask. But as much as he wanted to, it is still out of his nature, and with the season starting, it will be quite some time before he can bring this again.

Mid through the season, work is piling up, matches are getting tougher each time they win. That’s a given. You came to almost all of his games and have them recorded on tv. Whatever the outcome, you will always be proud of him. He was basking in his prime condition; you were there for him and his plays were getting synchronized with the team at a rate that even the coach was surprised. He left the thought at the back of his mind, focusing on what he has to do first. After each match, you both have this little ritual, spending some alone time together starting with dinner as both of your schedules sometimes don't overlap quite nicely. Sakusa told you about his plays as if you weren’t there to witness it all and you can’t blame him. You love seeing the sparkle in his eyes when he talks about how good it felt when spiking. The conversation flows naturally and you both talked about how your days went. You were both walking diaries of each other. Not until Sakusa flipped a page that has been long overdue.

He cussed himself to have the audacity to forget about this issue. He doesn’t like this. It was as if he’s taking advantage of your facade, your mask. Even though Sakusa tells you many times that you need to wear one physically, this was something that he wished to be stripped off completely. He hates it. He hates that he can't be a safe space for you. Someone you can let yourself breathe from the suffocating expectations from the outside world. But what he hates the most is that you changed yourself to accommodate his own ignorance.

Sakusa flipped his match schedule. It looks like there won't be another match in 5 days. He called Meian and Iwaizumi if it’s okay if he takes a few days off from practice. Both of them were surprised that Sakusa would even ask for a day off but they agreed anyway. He’s not the type to ask for one so this must be something really important.

Saturday shifts are hard. You only have one day of rest before hustling again on Monday but oh you were SO GLAD that your manager said that you can have a paid leave on Monday after helping out on a side project for some other team.

You pushed your shared apartment door, dragging your feet inside. You saw Sakusa peek his head from the kitchen. He took off his apron and walked to you, grabbing your bags from the floor and giving a peck on your cheek. You went to the bedroom and saw the bath bomb that you bought impulsively on your previous date. A bath sounds nice, you thought to yourself.

Filling up the bath to a slightly hotter temperature, a much-needed one to shake that fatigue out from your body and start your long weekend with a fresher body. Gently dipping your toes, you hold the sides and lower yourself in, letting the heat seep into your skin. As you were shuffling your position, a knock on the bathroom door.

“Can I come in?”

“Doors unlocked so yeah baby come in”

Sakusa twisted the knob, letting himself in. He sat on the floor next to the tub, a rare sight for Sakusa and you. He folded his arms on the dry part of the tub and stared into your eyes. Losing himself in your mind, finding where he actually belongs. He knows this isn’t the right time, not even a good one, to bring up this matter but it has been pushed back for too long, he couldn’t care less about what setting it was in right now. You were always firm on your stands, confronting those to have the middle ground in everything but now, it was as if he’s with someone else.

“Hey sunshine, how's the bath”

You flushed at the pet name he called you. When was the last time you heard that softness, that warmth? The sense of home and belonging to another person, solely wanting to give your whole life away in exchange for his.

“It's pretty nice. Do you wanna join in?”

“Hmm sounds nice.”

He removes his mask and strips quickly, submerging himself into the tub in front of you. He pressed his muscular, toned back to your chest, taking its warmth into his body. Taking in whatever he could take from you between his skin and yours. Your scent, your heat, your touch, the friction, sensation - everything. He knows he wants everything but how about you? He sometimes thinks that he forced you into the relationship, going above and beyond to go with how he handles things. His fussy attitude when it comes to cleaning, being in crowds, and towards people in general. Whatever the train of thought was, he needs to know, He can’t bear seeing his future bland and monotonous because you were not there. You were his yellow, heck, you were his entire spectrum.

“Hey y/n, I know it's not a good time to ask this but, did I do something that makes you uncomfortable? I know I’m not good with words or being affectionate, doing all those sweet things that you see in movies but the last thing I want you to be is forcing yourself to be something that you are not.

“If there’s anything wrong that I did please tell me I…”.

“No! You did nothing wrong. You were perfect but maybe too perfect. I have this feeling that you weren't being yourself for quite some time. It's like you have this mask that you put on whenever you are with me. I know you are sensitive in nature - both to other people and towards yourself, which is why I fell in love with but aren't relationships supposed to be a two-way thing? I need to know what’s bothering you so please talk to me. I want you to feel safe with me. I want you to be your most comfortable as if both of us are the only ones that are living on this earth. I wish I could come and talk to you sooner about this but I got too caught up in the games. It's my fault. I’m sorry. I’ll try to be braver on confronting things like these. I’ll try to be more attentive to the small things”

Hearing this from Sakusa made your heart burst into so many emotions that were buried for so long. Happy, sad, hopeless, desperation, anger, guilt but most importantly, longing. You could only cry when he finished his last words. You were gasping for air, clawing yourself into Sakusa’s shoulders to grip on whatever you can. Wet streams trickled down Sakusa’s nape, dampening them. Sakusa was flustered as if it was the first time he ever saw you broke down. The first time? Oh God, how much has he been missing in this relationship...

“I’m sorry Omi. I was trying to be understanding. I tried to make this home at least a space where you can have at least some peace. I wanted to be with you more so badly but I know by asking it, you have to take time off or you might just think I'm annoying. And I hate it. Words cut more for me since it is the least effort to bring out but weighs the most. I don't think I can bear with it. So I avoided it. I avoid creating any chances that would lead us to fight. But then, it hit me when you started to slip away, distancing yourself subtly. Our dinner time became shorter, we didn't even cuddle anymore because your muscles were sore and I want them to heal fast so you can play your best. It seems like it backfired huh?”

Sakusa was taken aback due to a lot of things. How he finally was able to hear you say his pet name, the range of small things that you do, putting him as your topmost priority when you yourself are buried down, succumbing to earth more and more. How could he be so blind? It hurts him. It hurts him that you didn't even consider being comfortable with him. It destroys him that all of your actions were threaded with the thoughts of him when he did nothing, even worse, he forgot. Sakusa felt a sting poking through his heart, thin-like rods thrusting through it slowly. He felt a burning sensation that he was sure he didn’t like. If he felt this after hearing all of these, what about you? You’ve been carrying these for weeks, stretching out to months, yet you’re still here. How did he end up with someone as thoughtful and wonderful as you? He turned his body around, facing you. Your legs tangling together, bringing you inside his embrace, pushing your foreheads together. He lets out a breath after his thoughts finally reach a verdict.

“Hey bub, it’s okay. We’re here now. I’m sorry it took my dumbass this long to have this conversation. You don’t know how much you meant to me even though I barely show it. Please know that at least. I love you. I love you so much, too much that I cannot imagine waking up the next day without you. You were the reason I can handle Atsumu’s ass, thinking about if I can go through that part of the day, I can see you again. A little reward from me to myself. I asked for a few days off, shall we do a bit of catching up session?”

A tint of coral pink brushes lightly on top of your cheeks. Seeing Sakusa being all vulnerable and open, is a view that you wish no one will ever see besides you. You smiled and chuckled lightly.

Sakusa's heart swells. There it is. The smile that got him smitten all over. The small chuckle that you made was a symphony to his ears. It was as if at this moment he fell in love again. He found the you that he fell for but even deeper. He swore that day he would never make you feel like this.

You both get out, drying yourself together. Omi blow-dried your hair and you did his. He's pretty good at managing your hair because of his curls. You both did a random 14-step Korean skincare routine and cuddling around watching your favorite movie - Pride and Prejudice. Sakusa never understood why you liked this movie so much but today he finally does. When two lovers placed down their masks and finally faced each other, all became visible. The adoration in one's eyes, longing for the warmth of the other, to finally be together.

[zirkkun]

🤍ULR Speed Date Event Results - Part 4/5!🧡

Today, in second place, we have Duo with 53 submissions! The thing with Duo, however, is that he’s pretty much alright with a date with pretty much anyone -- and he’d probably go on a date with all the people who submitted things... so, rather, the person I picked was more just whose results would best fit a story for the scenario I had planned in my head.

Which, of course, you can read who won a date with Duo by clicking read more or on AO3!

🖤--✨--❤️

Undertale (c) Toby Fox Underlust by @/nsfwshamecave Underlust Reimagine by myself

Thank you for your support, but do remember to support and read Underlust (18+) if you can!

ulr masterpost || ulr main tag || ulr ask box || ulr comic beginning || kofi?

... the anon going by the name Cherry!

🤍🧡🤍🧡🤍🧡🤍🧡

The moment the proposition of cooking at home was offered as a date, Papyrus was completely sold. He barely gets a chance to practice cooking nowadays, but it's a skill anyone looking for a datemate should have!! After all, is food not the window to someone's SOUL? Or, maybe it was the way to win them over. Papyrus was starting to get his cheesy romantic sayings mixed up now -- ugh, probably because he was never given the chance to use them!!

Well, that didn't really matter anymore, anyway. He was living seperate from Sans on the Surface, so he could do anything he wanted without being watched over like a hawk. Sometimes he did feel bad about the fact he didn't even so much as consider living with his brother when given the chance to move out, given everything he did for Papyrus… but, it's not like he cut ties with him entirely. Papyrus just wanted somewhere where he could fend and decide for himself.

And now, because of that, he finally got a date!! He'd been waiting YEARS for something like this to happen, but every time he tried to go on one previously -- even when he tried to do it in secret -- Sans would find out and force him to cut ties immediately. But now it didn't matter! Now he didn't know, and didn't need to! And Papyrus was so happy!!

The human who'd come by his apartment for dinner this evening -- which they were cooking together, by the way, for it to be extra cutesy and romantic (declared as such by Papyrus) -- was, as far as he was concerned, very pretty. He'd been convinced she'd been on many dates before this because of that, but apparently she hadn't?! Which, as far as he was aware, was practically criminal in itself. So, might as well change that!! Besides, a stay-at-home cooking date was too fun of an idea to pass up.

And, of course, what better date food dish is there than pasta?! Specifically farfalle (you know, the little bowties!!) with chicken alfredo. Which was Papyrus's favorite dish. Like, absolute favorite. Nothing could beat it. And the human said she can eat anything, so she'll love it too!

Currently, she was helping him by boiling the water for the pasta, while Papyrus was cooking the chicken cutlets. The apartment's kitchen was already filled with an apetizing aroma, even though they hadn't been cooking for that long yet.

"It's been a while since I've done something like this with someone else," the human commented with a smile.

"I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER COOKED A MEAL WITH SOMEONE ELSE!" Papyrus announced, though sounding more excited about the endeavor than anything else while sprinkling on seasonings for the chicken. The human was a little taken aback.

"You're joking, really?"

"I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS!"

"Wow," the human gaped. "You're so open and kind to others that I would have never expected something like that!"

Papyrus didn't respond right away. He didn't really know what to respond with, frankly. "YOU REALLY THINK SO?"

"What? Of course! Why wouldn't I think that?" The human started opening a fresh box of bowtie pasta as the water started to fully come to a boil. "You're a great person! Don't you even declare that yourself?"

Taking this as an excuse to change the subject, Papyrus jumped in with, "O-OH, OF COURSE! I AM THE GREAT AND FABULOUS PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL." The human seemed satisfied upon hearing this as they started laughing while dumping the pasta noodles into the boiling water as carefully as she could. Papyrus returned to cooking his chicken in the meanwhile.

Papyrus was starting to become hyperaware of the fact he had no experience with dates whatsoever. He didn't really know what else to say from this point forward, especially not after that kind of… compliment? statement? conversation? He wasn't even sure how to address it at this point. Hm… well, any old topic might do, he supposed.

"I KNOW YOU ALREADY TOLD ME YOU LIKE TO COOK TOO, BUT WHAT OTHER TYPES OF THINGS DO YOU DO?" he asked.

The human set the empty box onto the counter before looking to him with a grin. "I like all kinds of art. Like drawing, painting, singing, playing the piano…"

"YOU KNOW HOW TO SING?!" Papyrus asked excitedly.

"W-Well, yeah, but --"

"COULD YOU SING ME SOMETHING?" But the moment he said that, he took it back and shook his head. "NO, NO, SINGING ON THE SPOT WOULD NOT BE GOOD. YOU HAVE NOT HAD PROPER WARM-UPS! AND THE UNEXPECTED REQUEST MEANS YOU WOULD NOT BE THOROGHLY PREPARED FOR THE PERFORMANCE! BUT WHENEVER YOU DO HAVE A TIME WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO SING, PLEASE INVITE ME!"

The human couldn't help but laugh. "I'll make sure you're the first to know," she responded, a bit of playfulness lining her tone. Even despite that, Papyrus still found himself a bit giddy at the thought of going to a performance for someone he knew, to go there to support them. It seemed a bit like a dream more than anything.

Without really thinking out a transition, Papyrus blurted, "DO YOU HAVE ANY DREAMS, HUMAN?"

Unsurprisingly, she wasn't really expecting the response, and after her initial shock disappated, she pondered the question for a while. "I…" But she stopped. "Well…" Still, no answer. "Hm. I… don't think so."

"YOU DON'T THINK SO?"

The human shook her head. "Not really, no. I prefer living more in the moment and just seeing what happens next, and going forward with what's been given to me, I guess?" She let out a soft hum. "I haven't really given it a whole lot of thought?" But even that sentence seemed uncertain. Even still, Papyrus seemed a bit disappointed to hear this answer. Then again, being now on the Surface without the Royal Guard, on a date, no longer living with his brother… all of his dreams he'd been working to achieve were, well, achieved.

He wasn't wholly certain on whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

But, what he did know for sure, is that he's felt happier than he has in years.

[ktinastrikesback]

Listen LISTEN bestie about your 2x04 post, you are absolutely onto something bc if there's one thing 9-1-1 doesn't have it's throwaway lines. I'm consistently blown away by how overall TIGHT they keep the narrative. There are certain waypoint episodes (stuck, buck actually, what's next, future tense, Jinx, Parenthood)—and by the way i would LoVe your opinion on those—that I feel pave the way for the characters in purely subtextual ways (some of which as you've pointed out turned out to be true!) So yeah, what am I saying? Who knows, but the writers are absolutely insane, they make me feral.

Hi @kitkatpancakestack! First of all, your comments on my posts always make my day...thanks for supporting all of my crazy thoughts lol! Thanks for the ask, here's my long ramble for you😜:

Listen...I'm not quite sure I've watched any other shows that foreshadow so blatantly? The only other I can think of is This Is Us...which like...the whole point of the show is foreshadowing and hinting and interweaving different storylines. Is 9-1-1 as complex? No, but it's close enough! I mean, gosh, look at all of the hints dropped in the first few episodes of season 4 and how those ended up coming into play in the last few episodes. For example:

-4x01, Buck and Eddie in the elevator and on the roof. I wasn't here on tumblr at the beginning of the season, but I remember going on a HOT rant to my roommate about how the emphasis of Buck and Eddie being alone would come into play later. I didn't even read it as romantic, I literally was like "hmm, maybe they're going to end up in danger together near the finale" and? Look what happened.

-4x02, obviously, because it's us, I HAVE to mention the invisible string stuff...Again, I remember watching that and noting that okay, it serves a purpose in this episode and relates to covid, whatever. But I remember seeing someone here say (I was lurking) that the book Carla was reading from is intended for children dealing with a dead/dying parent. My brain immediately went: Will Eddie be in a coma or come close to dying? And.....look what happened.

And of course, Future Tense we already know set up SO much. The one-on-one phone call between Buck and Chris in Future Tense set up Chris running away to Buck in Breaking Point which set up Buck promising that he is there for him which set up Buck literally being there for him in Survivors? It's INSANITY. Each of these little moments are fantastic in their own way, but then when you string (see what I did there) them together, they paint a full, intentional picture? This is whyyy I read so much into everything.

Especially after this season and the way they so clearly laid out the blueprints for character arcs from episode one onward, I am SO ready to look over everything in 5x01, 5x02 and maybe even 5x03 with a fine-tooth comb.

We also have two lines that I think need to be re-addressed in season 5:

-First, "You don't find love, son, you make it." (2x08) This story and this line being in an episode about Buck's search for romantic love is SO significant, but we've yet to see how it directly relates to his love life at all. The relationship he entered into with Ali at the end of that episode was...a waste of time, he was single all through season 3, and now he's with Taylor...and like? How does this quote fit with that relationship? Answer: It doesn't, which is why it won't last. When this line gets called back, it will be significant, and right now, the only way it can meaningfully relate to Buck is through what he's built with Eddie and Chris.

-Second, "No comment, Taylor." (4x14) It's been on my mind since the episode aired, and since we know that the writers don't just throw in lines for the hell of it, we can assume that this will come into play at some point in Buck and Taylor's relationship. He doesn't trust Taylor. They tried so hard (not really) to convince us that Taylor has changed, that she is better for Buck now. And okay, yeah she's a little better, BUT we get this line plus her eagerness in Treasure Hunt to leave and go after the assistant story in the Maldives. If I were to bet money, I'd say Taylor's job is going to become a problem in season 5 and Buck ends up deciding to break things off because of it (what a cool parallel to Ali breaking things off with him bc of his job, huh?).

Looking at all of this and at how everything in 4x13 and 4x14 played out, Buddie happening by end of season 5 narratively makes sense. I'm feeling very confident about it, and maybe I'll eat my words later, but it just seems like things have been laid out so well over the course of season 4 (where I think we can all agree, something shifted with these two) that will end up (like the Buck and Chris stuff) painting a larger picture.

Anyways...thanks for the ask! I'll be here til we get that canon love confession 😂

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 21: Joey Takes A Snack at that Cray Sauce

Hey guys! The 17 yo cat with kidney disease I was out of town watching lived to see another week (she was a very good girl). Which means now I can get back to the good stuff. This episode is brought to you by the colors red and orange, and I hope you like this color, and I hope you like this after effects they CGId onto this volcano.

Anyways, they first have to do this familiar ledge fall, because, it’s Yugioh, and if there’s a bunch of lava, Tristan wants

in

that.

And then Joey decides...hey you know what? I’m gonna jet. And...it’s not the first time he’s pulled a wild card and been unpredictable, I mean none of us can really forget that time he decided to get murdered by Mai instead of going in a straight line towards the end boss last season, but this time it was kind of funny how it was hastily composed.

And off he goes, folks.

As he left, Tristan was like “Ya dummy!” and Tea was like “nono, we gotta encourage him--run Joey! You can do it! See? Now he’s gone.” and it’s like...Tea is either trying to kill Joey with her support or honestly thinks that’s good support and I can’t fully tell which she is.

(read more under the cut)

It’s at this point that Grandpa has the gall to say “Did any of you happen to catch the lore? I fell asleep during that part.” Just like my Dad when we watch any movie as a family.

Meanwhile, maybe 100 ft away from them, Joey is in mortal peril but it’s Joey, so he’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.

In fact, this episode seems like it would have been a better arc if it stretched out more episodes because the Joey neglect happens so quickly and out of nowhere that it’s...less organic than your average children’s show. Honestly it’s kind of funny how fast the fall of Joey Wheeler happens this episode. And I think it could have been a fun interesting time if it was handled better but youknow...it’s crammed into one single episode and you’ll se what happens.

As Yugi ruminates a cool thing that would have been really interesting this season--like running into more rando’s from other periods of time than just Alexander--Tea looks across the lava highway and was like “found it.”

Back at the dragon situation, Joey starts opening his heart to this dragon and it’s like...did they originally intend for Seto Kaiba to be here? Because I guess Joey uses Red Eyes a lot, but I also skip a lot of the card games, so when I think “who likes the dragon card?” Joey is not the first one I think of.

That and like he got over his Atlantis dragon card like hella fast, right? Like totally already over that?

And also if you thought Joey would pull out his other dragon to try and communicate or get a hold of this dragon like...nah.

Back at the fort, these guys decided to ditch Joey to get to this sword at the top of a volcano to solve the riddle, and what follows is some weird ass canon.

As I’m pulling up my Google Doc with my deathcount on it, Tristan decides this is the time he won’t freakin die and turn into a robot monkey for 15 episodes.

And he makes a huge ass green dragon. You’d think this MASSIVE dragon would do more in this episode, but nah. Although he pulls out Massive Dragon, it’s like kind of worthless, so he mostly puts it back in his pocket.

And then Tea pulls this elf chick out and it’s freakin hilarious because look at her giant elf.

Like Tea is not a small person! Are Yugioh monsters all 12 ft tall???

Yugi is also all ham about fusing with his dude now. It knocked him out a couple episodes ago, but Yugi is so keen on destroying his body that he’s back in clown town. And like...took his Grandpa for a ride, I guess, although I’m pretty sure Summoned Skull has wings.

Course, Summoned Skulls insides are his outsides...and I dunno if you’d want Summoned Skull to give you a big hug and carry you around. Summoned Skull just seems like he’s sticky.

And, once they make it to the top of the volcano where the plot sword lives, we first have to visit this plot twist of the century.

YEAH.

OUT OF NOWHERE.

THIS EPISODE IS NOT LONG.

Aaaaaaand now Joey is going to try and kill everyone here. I did not skip anything, PS, Joey dipped off-screen.

PS, everyone’s reaction to “I will kill you!” was a whole lot of rolling their eyes at first being like “Joey, stawp.”

So, now that Joey’s randomly possessed by this dragon, we get a peek into what Joey’s brain zone looks like. It’s a whole lot of nothing in between his ears.

Consistent to S1 actually, when we had a bit of a Joey Brain Zone moment. It was a blank void there, too.

So apparently Joey decided, back when he was confessing his love to Red Eyes Black Dragon, that he would jump on it’s back to calm it down--and it just...fused with him. So...now he’s a dragon.

Sure, I guess. I mean...there’s really no limit on what a Duel monster can’t do, so I’ll allow it.

The team tries to just say “ah screw it” and pull up this sword themselves (you can kind of see it in this shot) and the sword just slurps into the dirt even more out of spite. Seeing that there’s a bit of a time limit, Grandpa pulls this one out of his back pocket.

Yo, Grandpa’s not even possessed. Hey, remember that time that Grandpa nearly died giving Arthur Hawkins the last of his water back in Egypt? Remember that?

Like uh, you can definitely tell this was made by a different team that may not have gotten that cue card. It may have been lost in the mail. Either way, kind of a hilarious heel turn on Grandpa’s personality here, although it does make logical sense to save most of the kids from sacrificing one kid. It’s just...that kid is Joey...so...that’s like his adopted Grandson, right?

So Yugi does something very on brand for Yugi and invades a brain.

And like...obviously Yami and Yugi would say no to this. They would never do this. Not after all the dozens and dozens of times they have sacrificed the world and everything for their best friends.

But...maybe just this one time we can kill Joey? As a treat?

So uh...Yami hella vaporizes Joey with his new powers. Luckily, Joey Wheeler has Shaggy Doo energy and just...he survives it for some reason. I don’t know why he isn’t dead, maybe because the dragon made him stronger? Eh, don’t do the math (on any part of this episode).

So Joey gets up and is like “I know the answer to the riddle!” As the sword kinda melts into the volcano and Gramps is like “Well we’re dead, actually, so no one cares!”

And Joey’s like “Look!” and he hops onto the back of the Red Eyes Black dragon and reveals this random thing:

Because it turns out, that the dragon was the real problem and not this volcano with a sword in it.

Which youknow...could have been cool if this episode wasn’t so many insane plot points so quickly. Kind of a lot of episode here. This episode could have been a whole season of a show.

Like how long was Joey Possessed by Marik in S2? Like 5 or 6 episodes? And you can see how much more successful it was at selling the story although it was a lot of the same themes and ideas. Pacing is important.

And then Joey passes out from the suit juice.

Which is when we get one more Alexander cameo, just kinda watching them leave and onto the next arc of their little journey.

They sure did put a lot of eyeliner on Alexander the great, and, being real...he may have actually been wearing a hell ton of dope eyeliner when he was alive, so this could be historically accurate, for all we know. Those old marble statues used to be painted, after all. Maybe they had dope Yugioh eyeliner down to his cheekbones? One can wish.

And like if you ever get the time--seeing what those marble statues looked like with paint on it is so freakin goofy and fun, I love it. I love that for 600 years we thought those marble statues were supposed to be naked and white but it’s like, nah man--this guy’s just wearing a skin tight breast plate and when you paint it, it’s so garish it’s like a freakin clown outfit.

But anyway, that’s all for now! Hope y’all have a good weekend, and as always, here’s a link to read these in chrono order, if you just got here!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[pitviperofdoom]

"Vet AU" as in veterinarian? Definitely curious about that, vets don't get nearly enough love in fiction :) I had never considered that as an AU, but now I'm immediately picturing how it would go!

The Vet AU! Yes, Vet as in Veterinarian.

This one’s a bit scattered, so I’ll just post what I have written and let it speak for itself:

---

Martin was in the middle of doing payroll when Sasha poked her head into the office with a polite knock on the doorframe. “Hey Martin, Room 2 is ready for you.”

“Oh! Thanks.” Quickly, Martin finished filling in the last number, then saved the spreadsheet and got up from his chair. At the sight of her, he bit back a chuckle—she had one of the new puppies settled against her shoulder, wiggling and poking around like a furry little worm. “Tim leave you on babysitting duty?”

“Not his fault,” Sasha said with a grin. “He’s dealing with the rottweiler situation in 5. You good?”

“Yeah, fine—remind me who’s waiting for me in 2 again?”

“According to the appointment schedule, you’ll be handling a general check-up for ‘Sticks’,” Sasha replied. “New patient, new owner.”

“Right, right, yeah.”

They usually stuck him with the first-time patients. Not that Tim and Sasha weren’t perfectly friendly and welcoming, but Martin—at least according to them—had very calming manners. He had the appearance of someone pleasant, patient, and according to Sasha, far less likely to go off on people who came in asking to declaw their cats.

“I have gone off on people for asking to declaw their cats,” Martin had said when she told him this.

“Oh, obviously. You just look like someone who wouldn’t, that’s all.”

That was what he got for being the only one with years of retail experience.

As he approached the door to the examination room, he took a few settling breaths. First-time appointments weren’t always a big deal. A majority of the time, they went smoothly; the animals weren’t familiar enough with what went on in a vet office to be nervous about it, and their owners were just as eager to be polite and pleasant as he was. But once in a while…

Well, once in a while you got someone like Peter fucking Lukas—

He shook his head. No, don’t think about Peter Lukas. Peter Lukas wasn’t worth wasting the space in his brain.

Martin settled his face into a resting pleasant expression, and opened the door.

It didn’t take a great deal of self-control not to stop in his tracks, but it did take a little. More than none. It wasn’t anything bad! Nothing against this new pet owner.

Less than nothing, if Martin were privately, sheepishly honest with himself.

The person was standing by the examination table, with a cat-sized pet carrier beside them. They were tall enough for Martin to look them in the eye without tipping his chin down, which put them a cut above most. Their hair was shoulder-length, mostly black with a bit of dark blond creeping in at the roots, framing a jawline and cheekbones so sharply defined that there had to be at least a bit of makeup involved. The snakebite piercing and the bar through the eyebrow really rounded out the whole look, especially with the long black coat, and the tattoos on the hand that rested on top of the box.

Very nice hands, Martin noted, then shrugged off the observation and funneled all his nervous energy into the safety of politeness.

“Good morning,” he said. “I’m Dr. Blackwood.”

They shook the hand he offered. “Gerry. Ke—Delano. Thanks for seeing me.”

“No trouble at all,” Martin replied, nodding toward the pet carrier. “I assume that’s my patient in there?”

“Oh, right, yeah—gimme a second.” Gerry Delano unlocked the carrier, then carefully reached in and lifted its occupant out onto onto the table.

“Oh, aren’t you lovely,” Martin murmured. “This is Sticks?”

“That’s him,” Gerry replied, as the small, fluffy, and perfectly black rabbit stretched forward to give a spot on the table a sniff, then retreated back into a loaf shape. Gerry stroked him gently. “Least I think it’s a him.”

“Well, let’s see, then.” Martin reached out, careful not to spook his new patient, and started examining her. He—yes, he—handled it all about as calmly as a nervous rabbit could. Martin didn’t have to grab a towel, at least, nor did he have a repeat of the time a nervous lop tried to jump off the examination table entirely. Sticks tolerated all the poking, prodding, and manhandling, and only got wriggly once before a quick pause and readjustment calmed him back down.

“So how long have you had him?” Martin asked, once he was done. Sticks immediately fled to the nearest safe haven, which turned out to be his owner’s armpit.

“Less than a week, since Monday,” Gerry replied, petting him as he attempted to burrow deeper into his jacket.

“Well, he’s a touch underweight,” Martin told him. “There’s some information I can give you on rabbit care, if this is your first time owning one. He’s not neutered, is he?”

“Probably not,” Gerry replied, grimacing. “I don’t know much about his history. I took him off an acquaintance who got him as a present and wasn’t doing a very good job of things.”

Martin pulled a face. “Pets make poor presents, yeah. Well, he’s old enough to be fixed, and with history like that he probably hasn’t gotten the shots he needs. After we’re done here, you can talk to Rosie out front, schedule another appointment to get those done. What do you feed him?”

Gerry, as Martin discovered, was an absolutely model rabbit owner. He’d done his homework, read up on how to keep a rabbit happy and healthy, and hadn’t scrimped on expenses. It was no wonder Sticks was happy to hide under his arm for the remainder of the appointment; he had a good home with good food and toys and what sounded like a nice setup, habitat-wise.

“What sort of vegetables are good for him?” they asked at one point. “I’m thinking of growing some. I’ve got the space, but I’ve heard too much causes problems?”

They want to grow vegetables for their pet rabbit, Martin thought, a little dreamily. “Leafy greens are a safe bet,” he replied out loud. “Romaine, parsley, cilantro, kale, that sort of thing. Work them in slowly if he’s not used to them, and he’ll be fine. I can give you a list, if you’d like?”

When the appointment was done, a future one scheduled, and the patient safely back in his carrier, Martin finally let himself ask the question that had been on his mind.

“So, is there a special meaning to ‘Sticks’?” he asked. “Is it short for something, or does he like to play with them, or…?”

“What?” Gerry looked confused for a moment, before the question seemed to click. “Oh, no, not Sticks like—he’s Styx as in the river.”

“Oh! Styx, of course. Sorry, I just—I heard it, but I didn’t see it written down—”

Gerry’s grin was crooked, like they were trying to hold it back but only partially succeeding. “It’s fine. And thanks for everything.”

“Oh, no problem, you’re doing great,” Martin assured him, smiling back. “He’s lucky to have you.”

He was pleasantly baffled when a bit of color crept into Gerry’s face. “Right, well, who can resist a bunny.”

“You’d be surprised,” Martin said as he showed him out of the room. “If I get one more new rabbit owner telling me about their lovely outdoor hutch—”

Gerry looked scandalized at the thought as he left, which was another point in his favor.

“What’s that look for?” Tim asked as Martin passed him on the way back to the office. “Oh dear. Don’t tell me Jon has competition again?”

“Oh my God, Tim, give that a rest. There was never any competition!”

“Yeah, Tim, keep it straight, will you?” Sasha called out from the temporary puppy pen. “Oliver wasn’t competition. Martin was jealous of him, remember?”

“Nothing straight about it,” Tim shot back.

“I have payroll to do,” Martin reminded them primly. “You trust me with our finances and then you treat me like this. How dare you. I’m defrauding both of you, see if I don’t.”

***

It wasn’t that Martin fell in love easily, per se. It was just that he had a very specific set of standards when it came to who he found attractive, and in his line of work he always ran into people who either met every single one of them, or disappointed him in every possible way.

When he stepped into examination room 4 and found Jon Sims trying to herd three kittens away from the edge of the examination table at once, he kept his deep sigh on the inside. Jon was batting a thousand, and he’d been coming around long enough for everyone in the clinic to know about it.

“Hello again, Jon,” Martin said, doing a wretched job of hiding his smile.

Jon looked up with a helpless expression. “It’s kitten season,” he said, and Martin poured all his sympathies into a more situation-appropriate sigh.

“It’s kitten season,” Martin agreed. “So, where did these little ones come from?”

“These came from the colony in Battersea,” he replied. “Well, sort of. The mother already has an owner, and said owner keeps letting her out every day, even though I’ve told her time and again there’s that unfixed tom I’ve never been able to catch—and that’s just the one I know of—”

Martin scowled as he examined one of the squirming kittens. Much easier to manhandle than rabbits, he thought, apropos of nothing. “Better than being born on the street, I suppose.”

“Small mercies,” Jon agreed. “Anyway, when the kittens were born she told me either I could take them or she was going to take them to the park and give them out for free, which really isn’t a choice at all. Poor things.” The ginger kitten in his hands squealed until he settled it more comfortably against his shoulder, where it calmed down and immediately tried to eat his hair.

“Gonna find a foster for them, then?” Martin asked.

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Jon sighed. “I’d do it myself, but—you know how Duchess is.”

“Yes. How is Duchess, by the way?”

“Cantankerous as ever. You don’t happen to have room, do you?”

“Room, yes. Time…” The black kitten was finished with her exam, and protested when she was put back in the carrier. “Did Sasha tell you about the puppies?”

“I haven’t seen Sasha today,” Jon replied, handing over the ginger kitten when Martin reached for it. “What puppies?”

“Rosie came in early this morning,” Martin informed him, wincing when the kitten bit hard on his thumb. “There was a box waiting by the door, with four puppies inside. No note or anything. So, that’s been fun.”

“I can imagine,” Jon said distastefully. “Are you serious? Someone just left a box of puppies on the doorstep? Like foundlings in a Dickens novel?”

Martin snorted before he could think better of it, startling the kitten into biting him again. Jon was the only person he’d ever met who would use a word like foundlings. “More or less. They are cute, though. Tim says his brother might be interested in taking one, and Sasha says she’s got friends who volunteer at a dog rescue. Retrievers usually aren’t too hard to adopt out.”

“Well, good luck to you. I suppose the season’s hard on everyone.”

The three kittens were in good health, which Martin was more or less expecting. Kittens tended to have a better chance when born in a home than out in the street—even in a less than responsible home. Between the two of them, Martin and Jon got them back into the battered old carrier, where they went back to wrestling each other in the blankets. Jon reached in to tickle one between the ears and got nipped for his troubles, but it only made him smile.

“Well, anyway,” Martin went on, realizing that he’d been staring long enough for it to be rude. “I don’t think you need any follow-up care instructions?”

Jon laughed quietly before closing the carrier. “No, I think I’m alright. Thank you, Martin.”

“It’s not problem. Always a pleasure.” Martin beamed. “Good luck on finding them a foster. And—catching that tom.”

“One of these days, I swear.”

Martin showed him back out to the front. Not necessary, considering how often Jon walked that hallway. But it felt nice to walk beside him, talking shop or chatting about nothing, all to the background tune of healthy, vocal kittens.

After waving Jon off, he turned back to find Sasha watching him from behind the front desk, chin in hand, the very picture of unimpressed.

“What,” said Martin.

“He’s been coming in for months,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to make a move or not?”

“No I’m not going to—Sasha, he’s a client.”

“So? It’s not like you’re his doctor. There’s no conflict of interest or weird power dynamic when your role in his life is taking care of animals he brings in.” Sasha sat back, letting the swivel chair roll backward. “You’re already chatting like old friends every time you see him.”

“I know, I know, it’s just—it’s weird?” Martin shrugged helplessly. “We only ever meet during business hours, so it’s like—how much of our, our, our friendliness is just a working relationship?”

“Easy fix!” Sasha spread her hands wide. “The man works at a cat rescue! You can just swing by and say hello anytime!”

“He works there part-time, and I don’t know what hours! Not like I can just stand outside and case the place until I see him.”

At that moment, the door to the back swung open, and Tim poked his head out. “Could I get some help? Bailey’s giving me some trouble and I need an extra set of hands.”

“Be right there,” Martin replied. To Sasha, he said, “Look, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal, we’re just two people who keep meeting in very specific circumstances. And that’s all it needs to be.”

Sasha sighed. “I just think you’re making this out to be more complicated than it needs to be.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Martin muttered, and followed Tim into the back.

[youngbeezer]

number 5 for the tiktok thing with jon toews?

Referenced Post

Prompt-- 5. Running into each other's arms after not seeing them for awhile (w Jonathan Toews)

A/N: Here's another blurb from the 14 oddly romantic things blurb set. I only have one more after this, so this series(?) is coming to an end. I have enjoyed writing all of these sm! Welcome back captain serious!!!

Thank you for requesting, hope you like it :)

Word Count: 1345 (these have been so long lately idk whats going on)

Warning(s): mentions of his illness(?), but other than that i dont think any!

join my taglist :)

The sound of my phone’s ringtone awakens me from my deep slumber. It takes me a few moments to come to my senses and to rub the sleep out of my eyes, and once I am able to recognize my surroundings, I realize that I am once again waking up to a cold and empty apartment. It’s been the same feeling for almost the past four months.

Like usual, after last year’s NHL season ended, Jonathan and I went back to Winnipeg to spend our summers there in his hometown with family and friends. But this time, when I went back to Chicago for work in mid September, Jon did not come back with me.

During December, he started to experience these symptoms that left him feeling drained and lethargic. So, after seeing multiple doctors, Jon thought it was best to stay back at home to try and better understand his condition and get his health back on track.

Unfortunately, my job as a teacher was still in Chicago and needed me back right away, thus preventing me from staying in Winnipeg with Jonathan during this difficult time for him. It was definitely hard on our relationship being so far from each other, especially since Jon was sick and I couldn’t be there for him. But, we talked everyday and we both are very comfortable in where we are in our relationship, so we made it work.

So far, Jon does not know much on when he will be back in Chicago, and right now it is starting to seem like the next time I’ll be able to see him is when the school year is over and I am able to go back to his hometown.

I am brought out of my jumbled thoughts when my ringtone goes off once more signaling I have a text notification. I reach over to my bedside table to retrieve my phone off of the charger.

‘Good morning, beautiful.’

‘Hope you have a great day, say hi to all your kids for me.’

‘Love and miss you.’

I let out a sigh and go to wipe off the few tears that I feel running down my cheeks. Coming up on that four month mark has been extra hard lately. I miss waking up to his lazy morning kisses along my back. I miss the way we move in perfect harmony when we are doing our morning routines in the bathroom. I miss his goodbye kiss he gives me every day before going to practice. I miss everything about him. I also feel like such a bad girlfriend not being able to be there in support and to take care of him when he has been dealing with such a scary and unknown illness.

I wipe off the few remaining tears lingering on my cheeks and go to text back my boyfriend.

‘Love and miss you too! I’ll call you on my lunch break xx.’

I go to get ready for my day since I have to be at the school by 8:00 AM and it is already nearing 7:15. I take a quick shower and quickly blow dry my hair. I make a quick pitstop to check my phone and find another message from Jon.

‘Sorry baby, I think I have a doctor’s appointment during your lunch break.’

‘I’ll talk to you later, love you.’

I frown a little at his message. First, I worry that he has another doctor’s appointment-- since last time I heard, he was getting better; and I also frown at the idea of having to wait all day until I can hear his voice.

Today’s gonna be a long day…

(...)

Today was a long day.

First, I forgot to bring in the worksheets I printed out last night for my lesson plan so I had to switch everything around. Then, one of my students scraped their knee during recess so I had to take care of them and bring them to the nurse’s office, thus making me miss out on my lunch break (where I wouldn’t have been able to even talk to Jon anyway). And now, I am putting bandages on the back of my heels where my wedges gave me blisters. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to look cute today instead of being practical since I walk around and stand all day long.

My students were just dismissed, so I am currently just organizing everything that I’ll need to have ready for tomorrow. Once I finish up, I gather all my belongings and start making my way out of the classroom. I make sure to say good night to my favorite security guard before trekking to the parking lot.

When I make it out of the school building, I immediately go to take off my wedges. As I look back up in search of my car, I stop dead in my tracks.

Standing in front of my car, with my favorite flowers in his hand, is Jonathan.

Everything that was once in my hands has now clattered to the ground as my hands instinctively move to cover my mouth in both shock and excitement. Tears start to gather in my eyes as Jonathan gives me a huge smile.

Once the initial shock wears off and I realize it is actually my Jonathan standing right before me in person, I let out a little squeal and start jogging over to him. He sets the flowers on the hood of my car as I get closer and opens his arms to welcome my body.

He stumbles back a little when I jump into his arms, but he quickly recovers with a breathy laugh and by tightening his arms even more around my torso. As his arms wrapped around me, tears flowed freely.

“Oh my god. You’re really here.” I cried out, clinging onto him in fear that this was all a dream and he would soon disappear.

“I’m here baby. I’m right here.” He soothed into my ear, running his fingers through my hair.

At this point I felt like I was just uncontrollably sobbing. All the pain and loneliness of being apart, and the stress of not fully knowing how he was feeling and doing-- all of it is over now.

“Hey, y/n-- baby, please stop crying.” He shushed into my ear, trying to calm me down.

“I missed you so much.” I hiccup out. I pull away a little from his embrace to instead cup my hands around his neck to get a good look at him. “You look so good.”

Before I can ramble even more, Jonathan leans in and kisses me. Our bodies pressed together and our lips molded as though we were never apart. His lips were softer than I remember and tasted sweet against my own. I could feel his breath tickle beneath my nose as my left hand moved from his neck to his head to card my fingers through his hair.

It eventually started to grow sloppy as both of us could not contain our smiles any longer. I let out a little giggle when our teeth clack once more which prompts us to break apart from each other-- but not before Jonathan gives my nose one last peck.

“I love you so much.” I breathed out.

“I love you too.” He beamed back. “Let’s go pick up all your stuff in the middle of the road, eh.”

I look back at my belongings, totally forgetting that I dropped everything when I first saw Jonathan. We both make our way over there and gather all my stuff up before making our way back to my car.

Jonathan’s hands card through mine, giving it a little squeeze before mumbling out,

“It’s good to be back home.”

I smile but raise my eyebrows just a little up at him and ask, “I’m glad you are too, but isn’t Winnipeg technically you’re home?”

He gives me one last little peck before murmuring against my lips,

“Wherever you are is my home.”

Taglist; @heatherawoowoo @barzysandmarnersbitch @joelsfarabees @hockeyplayerstories @barzy-xoxo

tagging a few mutuals as well,,,,

@lovereadinghockeyy @carepriceisgoodathockey @prettyboyjackhughes @2manytabsopen @frederikanderson @bb-nhlqueen7 @cherrybarzy @jamiesdrysdales @luukasreichel @gigissports @cherrylita

[theseerasures]

For the meta thing, how about big sisters with absent mothers: Winter and Yang? Like, how they dealt with things differently and what a friendship between them would look like

anon i just want you to know that as soon as received this ask i barged into my girlfriend’s room to be like “is this you???” because this ask is so EXQUISITELY tailored to my personal interests that i was like “literally who else would cater to me like this” and it was not her, apparently!!! so thank you very much for this ask.

of course i have SO MANY thoughts about this topic that it took me a complete month to marshal them into something faintly coherent, if staggeringly long, so. i hope it’s worth the wait.

S(chnee)-side: how to lose brothers and alienate sisters

let’s start from some well-trodden ground: the season 5 character shorts, and their subsequent caricaturization via Chibi, which posit the Yang vs. Winter dichotomy as something like “Yang loves Ruby by diving into a monster’s mouth for her, and telling her she always has her back, and Winter does the same for Weiss by...siccing monsters on her, and telling her that she won’t always be around to save her from them.” much hay has already been made about the reasons why the two of them would act in the ways they did, so for the purposes of my own meta i’m going to skip over those, and concentrate on how content since season 5 has updated these conceptions.

and on Winter’s end of things, these conceptions have been updated by showing that she’s, uh.

...full of shit.

we’ve now had TWO instances of Winter going above and beyond to protect someone vulnerable. the first time was for Penny, with whom she has a sisterly bond, and the second time was for Ren, with whom she has...exchanged a few lines of dialogue. if she’s so ready and willing to hurl herself bodily into the path of an aggressor for someone who is basically a stranger, then why all the pageantry with Weiss about how she can’t (or won’t) save her? did she carve some kind of blood relative exemption into her saving people thing? does it only apply to people who wear a lot of green?¹

to properly address this question--and to bring in the Willow of it all--i think we should step back and ask: how does Winter actually feel about the Schnee name?

not Jacques’ name, mind. nor anything he did to besmirch it. Willow’s name, and Winter’s birthright.

because what has always been interesting to me is that while Weiss has talked about reclaiming or rehabilitating the Schnee name from their father’s meddling and still clearly wants to reconcile herself with it, even after being disinherited, Winter has only ever talked about distancing. it’s entirely possible that she had similar aspirations when she was around Weiss’ age and was just more thoroughly disabused of them, but my point stands: Winter shows a discomfort with the Schnee name overall in a way that Weiss has yet to. you don’t have to look any further than Winter’s combat style to see how this discomfort is telegraphed, as she barely uses any Dust, or Glyphs, and the one aspect of her Semblance that she does use and tout are Summons, which just so happens to be the part that emphasizes her own individual ability to conquer foes. something about the Schnee name feels irreconcilably tainted for Winter,² and while i’m sure a large part of it has to do with her father, who can make her explode into emotion confetti by just being in the same room as her for thirty seconds, a not-insignificant part can probably be chalked up to the fact that...

Willow Schnee was probably never all that good a mother.

granted: we’ve have exactly one scene (two if you count the 8.2 sneak peek) with her, so i’m fully ready to be called Boo Boo the Fool if we get a flashback and Willow was some kind of crusading super-mom prior to her descent into alcoholism, but. the idea that she hasn’t ALWAYS had to compromise herself and her children just to get by feels facile. this is not to victim blame, but to say that Willow is an imperfect person (in that she is. a person) placed into a horrific situation, which means that she could not always deal with the situation perfectly. it’s important to remember her agency--both before and after she became an alcoholic--but it’s just as important not to idealize it into something it’s not. Willow was by no means a co-abuser to her children, but she was probably always inconsistent, because living with your abuser for years on end does that to you. personally, i’ve always envisioned pre-alcoholism Willow as...well-meaning and much more perceptive and intelligent than people give her credit for, but beset with her own flaws that grew in proportion to her hurt and bitterness. she was capable of shielding her children from her husband’s worst excesses, and often did; but she was just as capable of retreating when she might have fought, of excusing Jacques’ actions to try to keep the peace, even of lashing out at those who shouldn’t have to handle her negative emotions.

her descent into alcoholism exacerbated these tendencies, but Willow has always been a complicated woman, and the idea that there was a prelapsarian time when Willow was an unmitigated good, before...idk, her Good battery ran out and she became Drunk Victim Non-Mom, is...well, it’s definitely something that a ten-year-old who had an ENORMOUSLY traumatic birthday would believe (and blame herself for), but Winter might disagree. i don’t think her view would be any more objective, if only because the day Winter Schnee has an un-myopic thought is the day i pass gracefully into the West, but her view is probably more complicated and less flattering, because Winter knew her mother more as a person, and that’s something we’re gonna talk about more with Yang and Ruby, later.

the point i want to make now, with Winter, is that her determined inconstancy, where she’ll readily jump into the jaws of a monster for her siblings in one breath and berate them and caution them against needing her in the next--that comes from her experience with Willow. the lesson she wants her siblings to learn is not just “the people who are supposed to love you are cruel, so get a helmet,” but “the people who are supposed to love you disappoint you, which is worse, so it’s better to not rely on them at all.”³ better for them to learn it from her than firsthand, but also--better for herself, because when she does disappoint them (and she did. she left.) at least she can take comfort in the fact that surely it doesn’t hurt as much; she warned them, after all.

in Winter’s mind, this kind of disappointment is an inevitability, so what’s paramount is to make sure that when it does happen her siblings are at least prepared for it. in the face of that the fact that she would actually risk life and limb to help them if they ever need it falls to the wayside; i don’t think it was a mindful decision that Winter consciously made--like, i don’t think she ever thought “i’m going to withhold the fact that i would die for them because that would contradict the whole social Darwinism thing i’m trying to drill into their heads,” because Winter’s just...not that kind of deliberate rational actor, in any arena. rather--and maybe even more damning--i think she just assumes that Weiss and Whitley already KNOW, that it’s a given for them the sacrifices she’d make for them in the same way it’s a given for her. but they don’t! because you have to say these things, and Winter has been force-feeding them the precise opposite.

ultimately all of these contradictory impulses stem from Winter’s deep-seated need for control--both of herself, and of the environments around her, and those in turn come from the fact that she was a) repeatedly wounded as a child and b) had to shoulder responsibilities far beyond her own ability as that same child, which...continues to this day. from this perspective, what matters is less keeping her siblings safe, and more her own ability to save them. she knows that’s imperfect, so she compensates by enforcing what worked for her onto them, and also by keeping them away from anything that could harm them, without their input. i never thought much of the contrast in environments for the character shorts--like of course Weiss would spar with Winter’s Summons at home like the untested shut-in she was--but what did take me aback was that in season 7, after Weiss has waltzed across an entire continent and been promoted to a full Huntress, Winter...still exclusively trains Weiss with her Summons up in Atlas, while Ruby and Yang are traipsing across Mantle killing ACTUAL Grimm. i have no doubt that this was for foreshadowing reasons, but still: it points to the fact that for all Winter loves Weiss and would fight giant monsters for her, there’s a part of her that...doesn’t trust Weiss, and wants to maintain control over her.⁴

this, i think, is part of the reason why Whitley treats her basically like an un-person: it’s not just that she left when he was too young and Jacques filled in all the gaps with lies and slander, it’s also that even when Winter was around the bigger age gap made it much easier for her to reconcile keeping him out of the loop, for his own good. she can’t ever be vulnerable around either of her siblings, but especially not Whitley, because he’s too young; he might let something slip when they’re around Jacques, and she shouldn’t be putting that kind of burden on him anyway. if he resents her when she’s just trying to protect him--except you said that you wouldn’t, Winter you absolute moron--then that’s his prerogative. it doesn’t change her own responsibilities. they can be miserable and Byronic in their own separate cubby holes and it’s fine.

(it’s not fine.)

R(ose)⁵-side: tonight, the role of Replacement Goldfish will be played by...everyone

let’s get one thing out of the way: Yang is a GOOD big sister, and some of the ways that she is good can be chalked up to the fact that she had a better home life, but only some. her character short ends with her promising Ruby that she’ll always have her back after spending the short proving it, and she has--until recently, and we’ll get to that--lived up to it. people get caught up on how much time Yang spends with Blake nowadays, but it’s important to remember that the entire impetus for Yang reuniting with anyone during the Mistral arc was about Ruby. so is the thing that separates a Yang from a Winter is that a Yang preaches what she practices, and isn’t firing a million zillion mixed signals at all times?

well--yeah, basically, but we’re gonna make a big thing out of it anyway.

what made Yang and Ruby different from the Schnees--even before the character shorts--was a sense of parity. in contrast to Winter insisting on maintaining a) the most unapproachable facade in the world, and b) a death-grip on every situation at all times, Yang was characterized from the outset as...chill (ironically). despite her Semblance being LITERALLY hotheadedness, Yang’s passionate energy never manifested in any real desire to take charge. the fact that she was fine (even happy!) with Ruby being bumped up to her year and then becoming leader speaks volumes to how much Yang trusts and respects Ruby’s judgement. rather than try to mask her flaws, she exudes this kind of...radiant fallibility and lets Ruby take care of her, or keep her in line. they complement each other: Yang takes care of more grounded concerns like individual fights and making friends, while Ruby--again, until recently--set more abstract goals and gave them moral direction.

a lot of this can be attributed to the smaller age gap, but i think it also comes from growing up as two motherless free-range children on an island--and the motherlessness is obviously a huge deal for both of them. when i started writing this i honestly thought i’d talk more about Raven, since she’s the mom who’s actually a character already, and her absence plays a huge role in how Yang deals with her abandonment issues in the present, but to be honest: the loss that cut the deepest for Ruby AND Yang is Summer, because Summer was actually around enough to be lost. despite the show frequently dividing custody of Team STRQ right down the middle between Ruby and Yang, where Ruby “gets” Summer and Qrow and Yang “gets” Tai and Raven, it’s the admixture of Rose and Branwen that makes the two of them who they are.⁶ Yang spent more time with Summer, but Ruby spends more time with Qrow, who is Yang’s blood uncle, so the dichotomy between nature and nurture is fascinatingly blurred.

i know this is an unpopular opinion, but i hope Summer really is dead, because the ways that her daughters interpellate their own identities from her absence drives so much of the story. that SUMMER was the first mother Yang lost--not Raven, because Yang didn’t even know about Raven until Summer died--is what shapes her relationship with Ruby, but also her relationship with Raven. what’s always simmering just below the surface of any Yang-Raven confrontation is that the person Yang actually wanted to find the whole time she was looking for Raven was Summer, because she wanted a mom, and a mom looked like Summer. Raven’s not stupid--it might be her one redeeming quality--so it’s likely that she’s always known and resented this. it’s not an accident that the moment Yang stopped looking for Raven for Raven and started looking for her for an easy conduit to her real family was the moment she actually found Raven.⁷ it was the first step to Yang outgrowing her old habits, of waiting for a mother to return--a classic “she needed a hero so that’s what she hurdy blah”

in a way that’s what she’s been doing this whole time. in contrast to Winter, who compensated for her mother’s flaws by ratifying them into universal law, Yang did the same by defying their supposed truth: people might leave her, but she won’t leave Ruby, and Ruby won’t leave her. it’s telling that whenever Yang leaves--even as a literal child--she always took Ruby with her, even if she planned on coming back. (it’s just as telling that when Winter left she didn’t.) she’ll always be there for Ruby, to give her the boost she needs to become the Summer they all want her to be, which means being a little of Summer herself--the part of Summer that baked cookies and slew monsters. and in return Ruby gave her...a sense of certainty, i think: that Ruby needs her and therefore won’t leave, but also that Ruby has the parts of Summer that Yang can’t muster herself--the grand heroic ideal, the moral certitude, etc.

...and now we’re finally gonna talk about the Schism, which i honestly think is the best thing that has happened to their relationship, development-wise. by the end of the Mistral arc Yang has arrived at a healthier perspective with respect to her relationships with everyone: now it’s not about indiscriminately giving herself away to people in the hopes that they might not leave her, but about choosing to give herself away to the people she loves and trusts. on one level this should not conflict with her relationship with Ruby at all, because Yang loves Ruby, but on another...the fact that Yang no longer feels obligated to perform unending support, to be the grounded complement, to fill in the parts of Summer that Ruby can’t--of COURSE that’s going to bring about conflict. because it turns out Yang never needed Ruby to give her direction or discipline. she’s now had time to think of the things she herself values, and those...don’t exactly match up with Ruby’s--or Summer’s.⁸ Yang, having known Summer as a mother, having been confronted repeatedly with the fallibility of mothers, is starting to outgrow Summer, and grow separately from Ruby.

but growing separately doesn’t have to mean growing apart, and i think Yang, at least, knows this. she clearly feels Some Kinda Way about their disagreement (and Blake’s implicit alignment with Ruby), but she’s also confident enough in her own beliefs by this point to commit to them. Yang’s taking charge instead of deferring to Ruby, and it turns out that...she’s actually not a bad leader herself, since she and Jaune have pretty much split a lot of those responsibilities. for her it’s not a question of losing faith or love in Ruby as a person, but about discovering what she herself fights for.

Ruby...sees it differently, because Ruby sees Summer differently. if Yang has always defined herself against Summer by deciding that she can NEVER fully be Summer, so she’ll make do with what she can, then Ruby’s always defined herself against Summer by marking Summer as the endpoint of her personal trajectory. what Ruby knows of Summer--that she was a person who enjoyed life and did not believe in original sin, that had a magical special destiny that was totally fine and awesome and didn’t drive her to her death, that she was a baker of cookies and slayer of monsters--is what Tai and Qrow--and Yang--told her about Summer, because Ruby was too young to remember the real Summer. so Summer for her is this abstract paragon to live up to, and no more. she can’t possibly exceed Summer, because the Summer Ruby knows encompasses literally all that is good.

when Yang tells Ruby “i’ve always got your back” in the short, a lot of it is about Yang, and the ways Yang needed to be there for other people so they’ll be there for her in return. but it’s also something Ruby really needed to hear, because Ruby needed the security and comfort of knowing that even if she screws up there are people around her who can help shoulder the burden. that security already took a serious hit after Yang lost her arm, but Ruby, kind and generous person that she is, was able to reconcile with that, because YANG HAD JUST LOST HER ARM. it would be ridiculous to expect Yang to have her back the way she used to, and besides--it was time she grew up, and growing up means becoming more like Summer, all of Summer, by herself.

and...she gets pretty far, is the thing, because Ruby IS a lot like Summer, and is incredible and amazing all by herself to boot, but the point is that no one should feel this much pressure to be All That Is Good, especially when you’re a teen. Ruby’s not ready to recognize that, partly because at this point so many people are looking to her for leadership, but also because being Summer’s heir is the only real link she has to her mom.⁹ so she hunkers down and does the best she can, in a situation that has far spiraled beyond anybody’s control...and then Yang tells her that it’s not working out, that this time it’s not that she can’t have Ruby’s back, but that she won’t. in Ruby’s mind, this could only mean one of two things: either Yang no longer believes what Ruby believes--what Summer believed, or...Yang no longer believes in Ruby, because she wasn’t good enough.

and well. it’s Ruby. it’s not hard to guess which reason she’s picking right now, especially since she pretty conspicuously refused to call the shots during the Amity heist.

but this is of course a false dichotomy. it’s not about which one of them is right, or even more right, and the show does a very good job with the framing to show that both of them have a point. similarly, what Ruby needs right now is neither confirmation that her long-held beliefs are objectively the best ones, nor that she is good enough to become Summer after all. no; what she needs instead is the knowledge that she’s allowed to fuck up, to deviate from what people have told her about Summer, to become what Summer never was. that’s something Yang can--and will--help her work out.

oh no this analogy is breaking apart: how they’d get along

...oi.

look, even beyond the fact that Winter doesn’t get along with ANYONE over much, i don’t think there’s any universe where she wouldn’t immediately rub Yang the wrong way. not only because Winter’d initially treat Ruby with the same cold tyranny that she (up until very recently) treats Weiss, but also because Yang’s partner is Blake, and--to say nothing of Atlas/Schnee-on-Faunus oppression--she was personally made collateral during the fallout with Blake’s abuser.¹⁰ i myself wouldn’t say that Winter abused Weiss, but to Yang’s protective and skewed view...

well, can you imagine Weiss trying to explain the way Winter ~~~trained her to the Bees? “oh, she sent a pack of Beowolves to hunt me! it was a meant-to-lose fight and when i started doing well she just moved the goalposts. one of her wolves almost ate me before i begged her to stop but it...probably...wouldn’t have...it was fine! my Aura didn’t dip THAT much. Winter’s the best!!” Yang’s hair would have been on fire after the first sentence, is all i’m saying. this coupled with the fact that Yang would very likely view Winter leaving Weiss and Whitley through the lens of Raven doing the same thing to her, and i think it would take a pretty long time for the two of them to see eye to eye on anything.

which is not to say that they have nowhere to go but antagonism, because at their cores Winter and Yang both have a) no hesitation whatsoever when it comes to protecting the people they care about and b) a tendency to define protection literally, often bodily. the difference is that Yang’s Semblance weaponizes these protective instincts for her, and she learned the limits of taking that too far. Winter...doesn’t, and hasn’t.¹¹ that COULD lead to some interesting conversations, but i don’t think Yang has quite the emotional clarity and generosity to reckon with that yet, and they’re not about to talk about it inside the Giant Whale.

a necessary part of Winter’s development is learning to respect the people around her instead of instantly categorizing them into boxes labeled “to fight” and “to protect and order around.” her friction with Yang could be an intriguing way to explore that; i have no doubt, for example, that Winter would have hurled herself between Elm and Yang just as readily as she had between Elm and Ren. similarly, i think if Winter ever were in the same room with both Raven and Yang she’d last about ten seconds before trying to rip Raven’s hair out with her teeth, because Raven is neglectful and casually demeaning in ways that are instantly recognizable to Winter (in the same way they were to Weiss).¹² the issue is that her doing any of these things for Yang--y’know, the same Yang who IMMEDIATELY gave Blake the cold shoulder when she tried to pull the whole “i’ll protect you” crap--is that she would only find it confusing and frustrating, and likely wouldn’t mince words expressing that.

Yang’s a big sister herself, and therefore knows all the big sister tricks, and Yang has a consistent pattern of not wanting to rely on other people, particularly people she sees as adults. so the best path toward a Winter and Yang friendship is probably not the head-on approach, but obliquely through someone else. that someone else can’t be Weiss, because Yang would be already hypervigilant about the way Winter treats Weiss--but it could be Ruby. even putting aside the fact that she is now one of the most important people in the world for BOTH her sisters, Ruby herself is very easy to love, and Winter loves very easily, despite herself. what they have in common--idealism and a martyr complex--would also engender some cool interactions, and Ruby would let Winter take care of her, if only to make Winter feel better.

i could see that being the impetus for Yang tentatively, grudgingly forming her own friendship with Winter, because there ARE things that Winter can give Yang, even if Yang can’t (or won’t) admit she wants them. it’s nice to try out being the kid sister, once in a while.

still, even if they get that far: i can’t imagine their relationship as anything friendlier than this.

¹ tbh neither would actually surprise me; what Winter does and doesn’t let herself do is only knowable to the Gods Who Have Forsaken This Land, and they’re certainly unknowable to Winter herself.

² maybe she knows that the whole “the Schnees were up-from-bootstraps-good-capitalists until that guy Jacques came along” thing is stupid!! i don’t care that he’s Santa Nicholas Schnee ain’t shit

³ this i think is why the current thing with Ironwood is such a bitter pill to swallow, because...she thought she’d been so careful. not in thinking that she’d chosen a man who couldn’t disappoint her, but in caring so deeply about him and investing so much of herself into him, despite the fact she’s only ever let herself call him “sir,” or “General.”

⁴ though i will say, to give Winter some credit: she actually accepts the fact that her sister is totally her own person now with a lot more aplomb than i’d expected, both in the “you stole an airship” scene and during all of Sparks. i wouldn’t be so generous as to read subtle treason into her disclosure of Ironwood’s Winter Maiden plans, but it does point to Winter’s desire for control being much more easily unlearned than that of her boss.

⁵ geddit? it’s a joke about handed-ness because now they both have the Hand Tremor

⁶ Tai is, as always and on purpose, the stabilizing agent. “appropriately underwhelming,” as Winter might put it, but absolutely essential.

⁷ of course then Raven had the gall to resent THAT too, because she’s the worst, and...see above, about Winter Schnee’s self-unknowing.

⁸ curiously, the values that Yang most espouses now--the importance of knowing what you’re getting into, protecting what is tangible, what is within your ability--are a) hard-won from years of taking care of Ruby and b) ones that she shares with Raven. the only difference is that Yang’s circle of protection extends far beyond Raven’s, which only includes herself.

⁹ weirdly enough the best person to talk to Ruby about this might be Raven, who has a very skewed perception of Summer herself (because Raven’s perception of EVERYONE is generally fucked up), but probably won’t hold back when talking about Summer’s flaws. Ruby won’t want to hear any of it, but i think she needs to.

¹⁰ i do think Blake and Winter would have some interesting conversations, if Blake ever...was generous enough to deal with *gestures at all of Winter.* it’s easier to compare Blake to Willow given the shared nature of their interpersonal abuse, but Winter on the other hand knows what it’s like to be hand-picked and groomed by a charismatic man with a singular vision who ended up wholly compromising that vision for the sake of their personal ego. that the White Fang are a good force perverted while the Atlesian Military is rotten to the core would...make the conversation more lively? it’s probably fine?

¹¹ “i’m Winter Schnee and i have maladaptive coping mechanisms that i am currently clinging to, as a maladaptive coping mechanism”

¹² though there...probably IS a world where Raven and Winter end up getting along after the initial skirmish, and it disturbs Yang and Qrow to no end