#b) rambles i must share my thoughts on

[s0lar-ch3ri]

the draft counts at 115. get ready for tonight bitches

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 14

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

New book new book! Can you believe I am on book three already? Holy heck, time has flown by.

I thought I would switch up my tea process today with a new cup but also I wanted to show off my collection XD We bought some new and some refill teas from the ren faire yesterday (one of our favourite localish tea blenders) and what a collection my partner and I have amassed. I didn't realize how huge it was until I snapped the pic- it feels very at home apothecary LOL

I went with a lady grey latte and instead of my heart mug I was feeling the spooky vibes and and using my mug by Jaxx b. I have a few other handmade mugs I might start featuring because they are fun as heck!

I've rambled enough about my tea and mug let's get into this chapter!

okay right away bless MXTX for doing such a good job immediately place setting. We are in the demon realms! p9

oof. the energy between Luo BInghe and Shen Qingqiu is so uncomfortable right now. Neither of them saying anything. I am intrigued to see how they sort through this. I know they are end game but like- this is so awkward. p9

oh gosh. Luo Binghe 10000% modeled the room he is basically locking SQQ in after the Bamboo House. Yes SQQ, there most definitely is meaning in it being familiar. p10

So. LOL SQQ's rationale. Instead of "looking too much like a respectable woman kidnapped by a ruffian" p. 10 is to essentially play gay chicken?

RIP well, luo binghe did find out about the blood. so sexually charged though in the way he decided to find out. p11

How is Luo Binghe even surprised that after SQQ being treated this way that he requests that Luo Binghe never see him/see him as little as possible? What did he even expect would happen here?? p12 There is a lot of trust broken between these two.

oh? System feature upgrade? p13

LOL "luxury edition" p14 There must be fanfics about SQQ kept trophy husband

omg what kind of novels was SQQ's sister reading XD those are some wild fantasies. pp14-15

SQQ: "I will not have stockholm syndrome" okay buddy, we will see what happens with your 'luxury edition' p15

oh luo binghe, that sweet baby boy is having them plant bamboo and is cooking SQQ's meals.p16 this would be even cuter if they talked about things instead of having such a weird dynamic.

Jesus Christ. Shang Qinghua enters again. How does this man stealth so well when he is kind of an idiot? I feel like terrible decisions and bad luck follow him everywhere- but he is just slippery enough to get away. p17

LOL SQQ: Your protagonist turned gay. Shang Qinghua: eh, it's fine as long as I'm not the love interest. sucks to be you. p18

okay but I want to know how deep the info of this world goes. Where does it pool the information to generate everything- just published content OR is it everything and anything Airplane thought about or created (ie the lost computer files about Luo Binghe's dad) p19

uuuugh not another interruption- I feel for you SQQ, I too want to know what he was going to say about your tragic backstory in the original edit. p22

Airplane really said 'no homo' "That man of yours is here. Let's do it later- wait, I mean let's chat later" p22

okay okay okay! The boys are talking for real about their mutual deception of one another. Is this the path to them figuring their shit out?? Maybe they will talk about their trust issues. p23

Okay I am with Luo Binghe on this- it did feel as though SQQ completely did a 180 on fundamental life beliefs RE: no one is inherently evil because of their race. p23. So I understand Luo Binghe here- I am glad they are talking.

OMG pp24-25

well. that escalated quickly LOL pp24-25

Luo Binghe probably "hit me harder daddy shizun" p26 +500 satisfaction points.

is Luo binghe going to assault him 😭😭😭😭 this is not it. that was not cool that entire part was so gross "If shizun see's me as no better than a beast either way, I might as well live up to expectations" p27

thank fuck all of that was interrupted, but also now i'm deeply concerned for SQQ!!!! is it the other demon blood? Is it past (young SQQ) trauma?? What's happening?? (no one actually answer this I 1000% know it will be resolved in due time, but I am having a panic about the guy).

Well that's not good at all

this was one rollercoaster of an opening act omg. Not a good time for everyone involved at the end there. I am VERY glad SQQ was not assaulted but I am SRESSED now for other reasons.

[welcomingdisaster]

Ok so I’m rotating ideas about elves and mythology and decided to drop some ramblings in your ask box because of all the wonderful theatre-related thoughts you’ve been sharing!! The thing is that the silm is a mythology right. Like it’s written in that style, and the heroes of LoTR and the later Ages in general are always explicitly looking back to the stories of the First Age (see: Aragorn wanting to cosplay Beren and Lúthien with Arwen). But what were the myths, the cultural stories, of the Elves of the First Age? In Tirion what were the stories that Maglor might write a play retelling or subverting, that Elemmírë might make a new song about, that Míriel might have woven into a tapestry? All cultures have ancient myths – but these characters are a) living at the very dawn of the world, and b) are all going to become mythological figures themselves! It makes me a bit insane. My thoughts are that they told a lot of stories about the war the Valar made on Melkor, and also about Cuivienen and the awakening of the elves, but honestly I don’t KNOW. What do you think? (No pressure to answer this is very random I realise) ❤️❤️

NO I love these thoughts!!! My thoughts generally go along the same vein as yours in terms of the general themes of elven myths. Here are some possibilities I imagine:

Whichever continent the elves in question are not seeing is often the center of the stories. The Sindar and Avari in middle-earth myth-make a lot about the lands in the west; the Eldar in Valinor myth-make about middle-earth. Since we're talking about Elemmírë, Míriel, and Maglor I'll stick to the latter.

I imagine there's aways the pervasive idea of secret Ainur no one has discovered yet. No matter how many times the Valar go "no we promise we're all here in Valinor, there's no other Valar left" there's 100% an elf somewhere going "have you heard about the Vala of bogs? yeah they live in middle earth and they're in charge of all the bogs there and if you aren't careful you'll be stuck serving in their bog court"

Not to mention elves who know Aulë and have heard that his people sleep under the earth, waiting for their time to awake. I'm sure for some elves tell it as simply that, but over time another pervasive myth develops -- stories of great dwarven kingdoms under the earth, kingdoms they're barred from seeing, stories of seven great dwarven kings, each much like Aule in face, each possessing a specific sort of magic.

Imin, Tata, Enel, etc! Not only do we canonically get them as a counting story, I imagine their fates are also something that ends up being talked about? They do not seem like they ever ended up in Valinor -- what happened to them? I feel like elven stories can tend to go along the lines of "and then he turned into a tree" or "he still dwells by the sea where he was born" or "he fell into the cracks of the mountains during the war and became one with the earth."

Myth as a way to explore cultural taboos! Elves coming to Valinor, a land with no pain or crime, with the shadows of war and suffering behind them -- I imagine they must explore taboo and pain through storytelling. What happens to an elf that leaves his wife for another? What happens to an elf who poisons her sister? I imagine there's some gruesome/creepy stories that come out there, but are told with a naïveté to the actual truth of what violence looks like. Something along the lines of "and then the servants of Melkor hacked the elven king into bits, so his wife had to go looking for each piece of him in every corner of the world and sew them back together"

The sea!! Must I say more. The elves emerged from the sea, and they long for it -- yet they cannot go too far into the waves without drowning, and they do not know what lurks under the waves. I imagine myths centering around sea-creatures, around the souls of the drowned, around elves (mer-elves?) who never left the sea and make their kingdoms underneath the waters, etc.

Just some ideas!! If anyone else wants to contribute headcanons for early elf myths to his post, please do!

[lycanr0t]

if you'd like to share your thoughts on gay trans man marcille i'd love to read them and/or see your art of him! (no pressure of course!)

oh man will I share my thoughts dfjkh I was maybe going to eventually make a post to ramble about it but this gives me the perfect excuse to now :J

This ranting WILL have spoilers for anime only fans/ppl who haven't finished the manga!

Marcille is interesting to read as a gay trans man though. Because how I see it, during the events of the manga he would not know he's trans! Or at most, he would maybe have some Gender Feelings but he wouldn't really understand it yet.

To me, Marcille is the type who would at first do everything in his power to deny it/convince himself he isn't trans. I think he would have a fair bit of internalized transphobia just as a result of his fairly rigid way of going about things. He has specific standards for himself especially but also for others.

This is where my gay trans man headcanon for Falin comes in lol.

Not for romance reasons specifically, but because I think the way Marcille treats Falin when looked at through the lens of Marcille being a trans egg is especially interesting.

For my Falin headcanon, I see Falin as a gay trans man as well, but I think that he wouldn't be out to Marcille until after the events of the manga. This is very integral to how I view Marcille's gender discovery happening.

I think that during the time they're in school together, Marcille would have feelings for Falin that are confusing. In Marcille's mind they're both girls, so he must just be a girl into girls, right? Meanwhile Falin performs girl wrong and this challenges Marcille's worldview. Marcille cares for Falin, and this manifests as Marcille trying to 'help' Falin perform girl better. Basically, Marcille doubling down on his currently held beliefs of what gender is and how it functions instead of considering that it may not be that simple, and he and/or Falin may not be a girl. Falin I think would not bring up being trans for a few reasons but primarily that boy is just not big on conflict with people especially those he cares for.

But anyways. A perfect example of Marcille forcing his idea of correct gender performance being in a daydream hour page where Falin is drawn with short hair, and Marcille is visibly pretty upset by it. (I don't have the translated image but here it is)

I know that it seems like a small thing that doesn't hold much weight, and it's not technically canon but trans mens hair is often something that people feel that they need to control. A girl cutting her hair short is seen as this horrible, unacceptable thing. Now again, obviously Falin doesn't canonically cut his hair short, but the fact that Marcille would be upset and specifically wants it long again informs us about his view of these things. I think that hair being useful for magic would end up being a justification for both being upset by the concept of Falin with short hair, and a justification to himself on why he is not allowed to experiment with shorter hair. It's more practical for his line of work/study, so it's a perfect excuse to just never think about if he TRULY loves it long or if he is just doubling down on performing what's expected of him.

Marcille is a KING of appearing way more uptight than he is. He's very by the books, very strict seeming about doing magic right, but he also specifically primarily has interest in the most taboo magic. He's the loudest about complaining about eating monsters, but he's also the first one to outright say that if they have to eat demihumans then so be it. Marcille is full of contradicting feelings and actions and I think he's prone to trying to fit into what people expect but his heart isn't fully in it so he still ends up doing the unexpected as well.

Even after the manga, Marcille has lost his desire to take care of his hair but he honestly doesn't seem... that upset by it? He is upset, sure, but for something that appeared to be a pretty big thing for him he accepts it shockingly smoothly. Almost as if perhaps, it's a relief to have an excuse to try something different. To try shorter hair maybe? Because now he has an excuse other than doing gender 'wrong'. It would feel safer to explore.

Aand I have a TON of other thoughts but this is getting pretty long and I'm losing track of my thoughts SO I'm going to drop a small list of some other random half formed thoughts I think about in relation to Marcille being a gay trans man

marcille being half elf half tallman and the parallel between that and being trans and how when you're trans you're alienated and isolated. in society's eyes youre not fully a man, not fully a woman, you're both and neither and othered in a complicated way

everyone assuming marcilles wish is to become 'full elf' also is interesting to compare to the experience of people viewing being trans as 'wishing you were X gender' in a very binary way

marcille asking if his dad is pregnant in a flashback just feels like something a trans egg kid would say

marcilles overall attachment to his father tbh.

marcille being super into romance novels and specifically his succubus presenting as a pretty boy from his novels. Obviously this can be read romantic or whatever but I know personally a lot of characters I was obsessed with as a child that I thought was romantic attraction turned out to be a combination of attraction and wanting their gender expression. I think it's interesting to read into marcille's interest in romance novels as him finding a 'safe' way to explore his attraction to men and desire to be a man without actually acknowledging that directly. (a lot of irl gay trans men do similar before they realize theyre gay trans men!)

Aaand that's my thoughts for now lmao. Here's some pen doodles I did while figuring out how I wanted to draw post-canon marcille :> Still working on figuring him out but I like how these look! I like the idea of him having some facial hair (not very long as elves seem to not be able to grow much body hair) and probably cutting his hair so it's more shoulder length and a bit easier to manage!

[frownyalfred]

okay the extent to which your amazing fucking fics are possibly infecting every corner of my brain now is starting to get legitimately concerning,,, which isn't actually news, but what IS new is the way i looked at that one BvS gif you just blogged yesterday?? and IMMEDIATELY saw the facial expression ben affleck made and went "WOMAN!!!"

....LOOK MAYBE I'M THE CRAZY ONE HERE, I GET IT OKAY but like,, something about that bitchy expression where you just KNOW he's saying the pettiest fucking line just then?!?! i swear on my life i have NEVER seen a cis man's face do that before, with the CLOSEST approximation i possibly would have thought anybody with a Y chromosome was capable of [before seeing that gif] being the sort of expressions drag queens do. (i hope that doesn't sound too weird/dismissive — not to go off on too much of a tangent, but i could probably write At Least one essay on why it's okay to admit that drag as an art form is not really an accurate depiction of femininity, AS LONG AS you acknowledge that drag is still Absolutely a beautifully, passionately written love letter TO the concept of femininity that fully deserves the appreciation it gets; but this is still not what i'm actually here to talk about lol)

okay yeah ANYWAYS that gif just absolutely SOLD me on the concept of bruce as an omega, and i'm saying this as someone who literally already has an omega!bruce WIP!! like, i've always thought the core philosophy behind batman tends to make him unintentionally very female-coded (and i must confess, i'm really curious to see whether you already have an opinion on this lol) in many different ways, but this is the first time i've seen/heard ANY GUY, let alone a batman actor with the right physicality to be batman, pull of this specific look, so i guess i'm just... shocked to be vindicated??? idk lol but i wanted to share so hope u at least enjoyed my manic ramblings a little bit <3 -krish

Batfleck is pretty! I've been saying that for years! He's this very intriguing mix of pure Batman physicality like you mentioned (man is canonically bigger than Clark in BVS) but also so beautiful and downright mesmerizing in certain close-ups on his face. Plush lips, high cheekbones, big, shining eyes? On Batman?? Sign me up!!

People laughed at me when I specifically started a coral room in the BVS universe, because I know most superbat a/b/o fics generally use a smaller, more omega-typical Bruce (which isn't bad!). But I wanted to challenge the trope stereotype by still having large, muscular Bruce lean into those more feminine moments like you mentioned -- it's an interesting contrast, seeing him hold so much space and power yet as soon as he makes eye contact with Clark, it's almost...sensual.

I think there are a lot of interesting stereotypical female roles Batman as a character unintentionally fulfills. He's the head of a family, the emotional center, the one adopting children, the one reassuring them. The fun I'm having with a sky of honey is just letting Bruce name these behaviors for what they are, in universe -- attempts at fulfilling his instincts that he keeps trying to curtail or avert entirely.

(gif in question below for those who are curious)

[kitkatscabinet]

Your aemond in the morning post was beautiful, if you have any more aemond thoughts please share them!

I’m glad you liked my little ramble I have so many more Aemond thots thoughts but here’s some random Hcs for now. nsfw under the cut.

Regarding his blind side. Naturally, he positions himself in a way where he will always have the best view of everyone else, and he particularly keeps you in his line of vision as to best keep you safe.

It takes a long time and all of his trust but eventually he’ll let his partner operate in his blind side, serving as his eye in his stead.

With a partner that he’s truly in sync with it gets to a point where there are no words needed. All it takes is a shared look and you know where you are needed that day.

He's 100% attracted to power and confidence. He adores a challenge and someone that can keep up with him intellectually

yet I honestly believe the best match for him is a) someone that can keep up and b) a caretaker.

Aemond has never really had anyone that has truly unconditionally loved and cared for him in a healthy manner, and apart from his mother he is the primary caretaker of his fucked up family.

yes he needs an equal, a partner in machinations and politics but more than that he needs someone to ground him, to stop him from throwing himself into the fire.

Caring for Helaena is and his nephews is a must as well. He won't tolerate anyone around his sister that would further torment her.

if he is truly in love then Aemond is LOYAL, there will never be any bastard children sired by him if the marriage he finds himself in is one of love.

I am personally an inexperienced Aemond truther. The combination of hating his older brother's tendencies and that forced brothel experience means that until he marries he unfortunately does not fuck.

what he does do in preparation though is find any literature he can for 'research purposes.' He's a quick learner though and oh so desperate to please. he will do what you want when you want, dropping everything just for you.

as your relationship grows and he builds confidence, however, hoo boy.

TEASING. Aemond will 100% rile you up during a family dinner, when he takes you for a flight on Vhagar. He'll tease you awake when you refuse to leave bed and then just fuck off like nothing happened. Forcing you to wait until you retire for the night.

I don't see him as subby in the way Aegon 100% is. No Aemond is mostly in control, except for those few days when he's just so frustrated and exhausted that he needs you to take care of him.

I also don't truly see him as a hardcore dom, his entire life has been violence and I don't see him wanting to bring that into the bedroom and around you unless you specifically want it too.

He can definitely be rough, especially when he's in a mood but I think he'd be prone to dom drops a lot.

Aemond has a temper and he often makes rash and hurtful decisions, and on more than one occasion he has made some particularly nasty jabs towards you.

Something that he regularly grieves about and causes him to dom drop when he might spit some particularly filthy talk your way when you are craving rougher treatment.

I think it also links back to the way he has seen his brother treat women, the epitome of everything he absolutely does not want to be.

[camilaxmartin]

gonna put them emoji’s again💀😭 so it would be: 🥑🍬🌸🐝🎨🍄

I love using these TOTALLY USEFUL emoji’s so I picked em🥰

you don’t use avocado/bee/mushroom everyday? what are you even doing?🙄

BUT ANYWAY

🥑: you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

probably @bunnylove1 and @blookyag, idk why tho honestly, just getting the vibes they’d help somebody out with hiding the body💀 (it’s a compliment, i swear-)

🍬: post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character:

okay uhh- (don’t cancel me plz) i respect with my whole heart that alastor is asexual and (?) aromantic but i don’t get the hate people receive when shipping him with someone? as far as i know being on the spectrum means he can still date? like i know, he doesn’t show any interest in that but if its just for a silly au or for a cool drawing then what’s the fuss about? i’m not talking like about erasing that part of him because that’s a big no no for me, but like…? respecting it but still having fun with his character? i saw a great tiktok explaining my thoughts exactly so maybe i’ll link it here if i can find it (add the link here later camila:) (besides all that i project a lot of myself onto alastor (still debating if im aromantic or not) and i want to explore myself with his character (if i can even phrase it that way) so all the hate and shit really bother me, you know?)

(another thing more about whole thing not a character is that “whatever it takes” is in my top 4 songs and i don’t get the hate it gets?? i love this song?? it’s so great?? two latina (?) girls singing together?? cmon??)

🌸: do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them:

i do actually! i have a dog and three rats:) (also had a rabbit but he died not so long ago and he was like my whole world so i got a tattoo to remember him, i’ll add it as well just because i can)

🐝: tag your biggest supporters and say one nice thing about them:

@kimmyisachiisaiakuma - ugh of course?? like in my head we are already besties fr fr, what can i saaaay😭 idk i love you and how supportive and just friendly you are!!:) and god of course, i love your art?? but i’ve already said it a thousand times??? so here’s one thousand first??

@bunnylove1 - just how supportive you are towards my stuff and how with exactly one request i felt like we also became besties? maybe it’s just me but yeah😭

@blookyag - liking my every post and responding to every single one of them!!! she’s a treasure, really. i’m surprised someone cares about my rambling this much💀

@informist - i’ve noticed that she’s also reacting to a lot of my stuff and she’s so quick with it like?? idk it makes my heart jump okay? i love attention from people even when it’s just my stupid rambling😭 (#iamanattentionwhore 😗😗)

@rougecreator1 - liked a lot of my posts as well, and somehow i feel like they enjoy my stuff? idk tho?😭😭 yeah just noticed interactions in my activities:)

@riveramorylunar - i feel like we were more active on each other’s accounts when i was still in my lady lesso era, but idk i really liked you then and i still love seeing your stuff pop up on my main page:)

and of course, all of my lovely anons who send me their ideas that i can’t wait to write!!:)

🎨: link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it:

okay so like it changes every day?? but for now i must say this one:

click!

why? simple. a. brokerdoll b. the marvellous style? c. i want to draw like that d. just… just look at it okay? e. lesbians.

(and a special mention for THIS as well, as it’s the first time someone ever drawn my oc and besides the fact that she looks so pretty here it’s just… idk i just love it okay, she stole my heart)

🍄: share a headcanon for one of your favourite ships or pairings:

let’s start with the fact that i even have a favourite account for all the headcanons about brokerdoll which is @vypridae (adore all the hcs, really)

buut! my personal headcanon is:

• carmilla didn’t really expect to fall for velvette, i mean in my head she just saw her as so… respectless and dumb and stupid and careless and carefree and wild and free and pretty- wait

yeah, so in my head velvette was the first to initiate anything and at first carmilla was like “ha! no way, you stupid girl” but then she started to think more and more about velvette as the time went on and one day she just got along the fact that she might be attracted to the young overlord and somehow… went with it? like she didn’t make a big deal out of it… but velvette definitely did, despite the fact she was actually the first one to say or act on her attraction in any way.

(i need to write more headcanons for them, they’re literally eating up my brain)

[weekend-whip]

This is a writing question more than an ask but how do you handle lore dumps???? Your AU is so full of em and you handle them so gracefully. I’m here stuck on a chapter because my MC really really needs to have Information in order to Progress, but having Character B explain it to him is so tedious??? It reads like a rant!! I want the information to flow smoothly for readers, but it needs to be given all at once because it’s Plot Relevant. Any advice is a godsend 🙏

Well, 90% of my "lore dumping" is done via conversation to some degree—whether it be one character happening to be knowledgeable during a particular situation, two characters sharing a personal discussion with each other, or round-robin getting a whole group up to speed on a subject. It just never reads as a "lore dump" because a) there's also character dynamics being dispersed amongst the information, and b) there's more to the scene than just the information itself, even if the information is still the most important part. And that's still true even if dialogue isn't your go-to method for info deliverance!

All right, here we go, spit-balling rambles here!

You can still have Character B outright explain things to the MC, but to avoid it being "ranty", the easiest thing to do would be to have the MC react to what's being said to break up the monotony with how they're feeling about it, or even questions about what's being told to them. And having the MC asking questions has the added bonus of allow different ways for Character B to offer information, instead of going through the points like a check list. Character B could respond to points the MC brings up, questions the MC had the Character B hadn't even considered, the MC mentioning something that jogs something else to mind for Character B to bring up—anything that isn't just "MC, you must know this: [word words words words]". Make sure there's a push and pull, give and take with the information, rather than, well, all push or all give—THAT is what will ultimately help with your flow.

(...though I dunno if the characters are in, like a "time crunch"/urgent situation at this point in time, hence why Character B would be divulging everything at once in a bombshell rant—but if that is the case, at least you'd have the excuse for doing so! That being said, you'd have to counterbalance this by limiting the amount of info that's being given, because otherwise that's going to make the "ranting" even more obvious and harder for a reader to get invested in gfdsgfd)

And also, assumedly, your audience is learning this information just the same as your MC is—think about the questions your audience might consider about the lore too, and use the MC as a way to add those extra clarifications as well! I tend to use Kai for this a lot haha

Or, if you don't want to go the "direct" route via conversation/dialogue and want to switch it up, you could have a mention of the MC learning the info from Character B offscreen, then jump right to them either mulling over everything they've learned to themselves or someone else (flavored up by their own personal thoughts about it) or by them already putting the info into practice with some reflection throughout. This is probably a little less effective strategy for a written story than something like a movie or tv show, but if your first way isn't working out, try restructuring it like this anyway! If nothing else, you can reverse engineer what the most important bits of the info you really want the MC to take away in this instance in time (or at least what's most relevant for the moment/situation at hand), thus shortening the amount of time Character B has to spend "ranting" in the first place. Or, maybe it'll give you another idea of how to frame the information!

Also, try to give a reason for why this information is suddenly being shared right now (again, if this isn't some kind of "MC I have to tell you all this NOW before it's too laaaaate!" kind of scenario. Sure, there's always "you'll need this to progress on your quest" or the overall whatever else may be going on, but think on a smaller scale—what in the moment causes the topic to come up now?

For example –using my own story here because I wrote it and I know my own thought process lmao– Lloyd starts explaining about the Moon's Triad holiday in B2Ch41 because Acidicus comes to him with concerns for how the associated traditions are affecting the Serpentine's plans going forward. Miranda discusses how the Aftershock Ability functions to Jesse in B2Ch45 because Jesse's been trying to figure out why it happened to begin with. And Wu and Garmadon's whole discussion in B2Ch36 is mostly stuff that they both mutually know for the most part —yet is shared regardless for the audience's benefit—but to avoid falling into an "As you know" back-and-forth trap, it's also framed by Wu trying to catch up Garmadon on things he's missed, with their mutual information being used as anchoring context for Garmadon, so it's there for a character purpose as well. Basically killing two birds with a stone there.

Yet when the lore dump is large enough to warrant, like, half a chapter's worth of dedication *eyes B2Ch31*, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and go all-in with an outright dump for utmost clarity—but that doesn't meant you can't dress it up or have fun with it! Like, for the Elemental Compass explanation, I literally have Jesse pull out a whiteboard and marker and make everyone sit in a circle to learn sjhgffd–I make fun of the fact that I know this is going to be a big chunk of info to take in for everybody, and using some of the techniques mentioned above, I'm able to break down all my main points I want delivered all while preventing Jesse from just throwing out text blocks in an unnatural, not-fun-to-read fashion. So, that could be an approach for you too!

Ah, how to phrase this...as long as there's dynamism in the deliverance of the information, that'll save it from reading as stale. Even if at the end of the day it really is just two people standing around talking at each other (or one at the other)—if there's action and reactions, emotions, an established point of it all to begin with (as opposed to sudden information for information's sake), and that push/pull + give/take as discussed, you should be able to get your point across in a way that's entertaining for reader's just fine~

Anyway, I hope at least even a sentence of this made sense and was even minutely helpful! Good luck breaking through your block; I'm rooting for you! ^-^)/

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Sylki Season 2 Thoughts.

So I said in my earlier post that I wanted to talk about some of ep 5's moments in a bit more depth, honestly most of the moments I wanted to talk about were Sylki moments, yeah I know one track mind. I know that a lot of fans are feeling disappointed with the Sylki content we've gotten so far this season and I get it, there is a huge tonal difference to Sylki's relationship in season 2 than in season 1. In season 1 they had that playful banter and alot of cute moments and this season its angst with an extra topping of miscommunication and a side of awkward tension. I'm not here to tell anyone how they should or shouldn't feel about Sylki this season I'm just going to share my own thoughts and feelings.

I personally have enjoyed the content we've been getting for Sylki this season, even though its a very different dynamic to season 1, I do think it makes sense for where they are in their relationship after season 1's finale. When I was thinking about their moments in ep 5 that I wanted to talk about though I thought hmm you know what would be really fun, to kind of break down and analyse Sylki's journey so far this season. So that's what this post is going to be now instead of focusing only on ep 5, I figured I would share my thoughts on the season as a whole so far in preparation for the finale. Now fair warning this did get long as I have way too many thoughts about Sylki couples with just a slight obsession. So I am going to put the rest under a read more link, obviously there are spoilers for the whole season.

Going back to ep 1 of this season, we pick up right after the citadel and Loki is having this problem with the time-slipping. But what really got me was how frantic Loki was when it came to Sylvie. He was constantly rambling about how he didn't know where she was and was instantly concerned when Dox showed an interest in her, he wanted to know who Dox was and what she wanted with Sylvie. Even his own issue with the time-slipping came second to him wanting to know if Sylvie was ok, when he hears that Dox is cleaning out the armoury and thinks she is going after Sylvie, he was ready to drop everything right there to go and protect Sylvie from Dox. He had to be reminded by Mobius that they only had one shot to fix the time-slipping and even then it was only when B-15 said she would deal with Dox and he knew someone would be helping Sylvie that he focused back on the task at hand. Which brings me to that moment right before Loki slips to the future and sees Sylvie, he goes to say something to Mobius, talking about if he doesn't make it back. Now maybe I'm just projecting here but I can't help but wonder if Loki was going to ask Mobius to find and look out for Sylvie if Loki didn't make it back. Just because it did come right after he was ready to march out of there to protect Sylvie from Dox, it seems to me that Loki's mind was very much on Sylvie and her safety at that moment so it would make sense to me that he would want to have a back up plan for someone to protect Sylvie if something went wrong and he couldn't do it himself.

Then we get that moment when Loki is in the future TVA and he sees Sylvie in the elevator. That moment was just so beautiful and yet so sad at the same time. I mean as I said above Loki was frantic this entire episode whenever he spoke about Sylvie, his concern for her was obvious. Then there's this moment where everything kind of slows down and he see Sylvie, he knows that this is the future and he can see that not only is she ok but she is looking for him and is both relieved and pleased to see him. This is the first time he is seeing her since their fight at the citadel and I think this must have kind of blown his mind because after the way they parted he must have assumed she would hate him and never want to see him again and yet here she is happy to see him.

He is so relieved to see her safe and ok that he starts to cry. I think in that moment he just gets so overwhelmed by his feelings, all he's wanted all episode was to know Sylvie was ok and now he can see that she is but it is at that moment that he gets pruned and is ripped away from her again. Also worth noting that Loki is aware that he is on a time limit here, he needs to prune himself within that allocated time or he'll be lost and yet in that moment the sight of Sylvie makes him forget all of that, his entire focus becomes her. And even after all of that, when he finally makes it back safely the first thing he says is that they need to find Sylvie.

I think seeing that Sylvie was looking for him actually gave Loki some hope, he thought she would hate him but she was actually looking for him in the future, she was the one seeking him out and I think that little spark of hope is what drives Loki in the first half of episode 2. Just like in episode 1 Loki's main focus is on Sylvie, as Brad says he's become obsessed with finding her. He still has that impatient panicked air about him as they search for her.

But here is where we hit the first bump in the rocky road ahead. Here's something to know about me, I love angsty plotlines in romantic couples. Like with all my favourite couples when I go back and watch my favourite scenes its always the angsty ones I go to, what I love about those plots in the anticipation of the reunion, the moment they finally come back together again. But having invested in more than one angsty pairing and have learned that the journey to the reunion is usually one step forward and three steps back. Our first step forward was the moment when we learned that in the future Sylvie will be looking for Loki and will be happy to see him, the three steps back is definitely the second half of episode 2.

Their reunion is awkward from the get go. Although Loki got a glimpse of Sylvie in the future, this is really the first time they are seeing each other since the citadel, so obviously there are a lot of emotions involved. You can see that Loki looks kind of hesitant and unsure, and Sylvie at first looks very trapped but then tries to play it off cool and indifferent. The other thing that is significant is that different amounts of time have passed for each of them. For Loki its only been days since the citadel, so all of that is very fresh for him, but for Sylvie, judging from how much her hair had grown out, its has been at least a few months meaning she's had alot more time to process what happened. I do wonder if she ever thought about whether she would see Loki again and whether she imagined the scenario out in her head?

There was a little detail I noticed when Loki approaches the counter and that is when he gets to the counter he looks down at it as if he has just realised its there and realises he can't get any closer, its like he's disappointed he can't get closer. The set up of this scene is really interesting to me because not only do you have that counter acting as a physical barrier between them, representing the emotional barrier between them but there is this wall as well with that stark black line running between them that appears as a visual barrier as well, with Loki on one side and Sylvie on the other:

Again really pushing home this image of there being an emotional barrier between them that they are going to have to work at bringing down.

The acting in this scene is amazing and just so full of raw emotion. I love the way Loki lets out this deep exhale when he first sees her, the tears in his eyes that he's barely holding back. They are both clearly very nervous. They both struggle to maintain eye contact and are really fidgety. The nervousness makes sense as neither one of them knows how the other is going to react to seeing them after their fight at the citadel.

The thing is despite acting indifferent and cold, Sylvie still agrees to talk with Loki, I think if it really was the case that she didn't care about him anymore she would have just said she's got nothing to say to him and sent him away from the get go, refusing to even hear him out. But she doesn't do that, she wants to talk to him.

The first step back comes though when Loki says 'I know I'm the last person you want to see' and Sylvie replies 'correct.' This confirmation clearly hurt Loki, he has a long pause whilst he tries to process that hurt, when he does talk again he really struggles to get the words out and seems really frazzled, he has to take a lot of deep breaths and pauses as he's trying to find the words he wants to say and get them out. It gets to the point where Sylvie has to tell him to get to the point, and she is clearly frustrated. Loki only becomes clear and calmer when he tells her that he saw her in the future. I think that hope he felt when Sylvie was looking for him and happy to see him took a huge knock when he found her in the present and not only is she not happy to see him but she says he's the last person she wants to see. But here he's reminding himself that she might be upset and cold right now but in the future she is going to be at the TVA and she's going to be looking for him. Its that hope coming back that allows him to calm down and actually speak coherently.

But Sylvie then says she has made a life for herself and she's happy. Loki actually looks surprised by this and I think that's because of what he said at the beginning of the episode when he and Mobius were in London looking for X-5, he said Sylvie wasn't there because it wasn't her style it was too safe. I think he's surprised to find her in this calm, safe place and I also think as much as Loki does want Sylvie to be happy, a part of him is upset and hurt that she was able to build a life and be happy without him, especially as he is clearly not happy without her. I think its also that reminder that they had planned back in 1x05 during the blanket scene to find a life together, but now Sylvie has found that life by herself.

Loki then tells her its the future and its going to happen. Here I think he's trying to reassure himself as much as he's trying to convince her. It's him telling himself, its ok she's upset and angry with me right now, things are still broken between us right now, but I saw her in the future, we were together at the TVA and its going to happen because its the future. He's just desperately clinging onto that hope.

But Sylvie bursts his bubble again when she points out that the future is no longer written, that she had made sure of that. Not only is this a reminded of their disagreement at the citadel but its also pointing out to Loki that actually what he saw was one possible future and there's a chance it might not happen.

At this point he desperately tries for a different tactic and goes with we have to work together to protect the TVA and by extension the branches you freed. I think part of the reason why Loki wants them to work together though is because it would be like old times. He's trying to get back to where they were in season 1 where they were a team working together to take down the timekeepers and then to figure out who was behind the TVA when the timekeepers were revealed to be fake. He wants them to be a team again, to be on the same side again.

But this just makes Sylvie angry because she doesn't know that's what he is trying to do, to her it just seems like all he cares about is the TVA. I think part of the reason why she does get angry is because she is disappointed, I think she hoped when he showed up that he was there to fix things between them, that he was there for her, but instead it seems to her like he's just there because he wants to save the TVA. Which is ironic because I really do think he was there for her but just did a poor job of communicating that to her.

Loki then tries that tactic of your home is in danger don't you want to protect it. Which thinking about it was a little manipulative of Loki but again shows that desperation he is feeling, also to be fair to Loki its not like it was untrue. Then of course they get interrupted by Brad and Mobius and discover that Dox is planning to bomb all the branched timelines. What is really interesting here is that despite all her protests and despite claiming that she didn't care, that she had done her part in giving everyone freewill and had now walked away, Sylvie still goes with Loki and Mobius and helps them fight to protect the branches, again something she wouldn't have done if she really didn't care like she claims.

Another interesting moment is after the fight, when Mobius tells Loki that they need to go back to the TVA and Loki looks back to Sylvie before going through the time door. It reminded me of the scene at the end of 1x2 where Sylvie looks back at Loki and waves before going through the time door, she left it open so I think she wanted him to follow, or at least knew he would. I think its the same here, he wants and trusts her to follow him through. He also looks back at her after she does follow him through which creates a nice little parallel later in ep 4 when Loki does that same double look when she arrives.

I do think it is significant that Sylvie does choose to follow him back to the TVA instead of just going straight home, its another case of her words saying one thing but her actions saying something else entirely. But we get another giant leap backwards when the true extent of the damage Dox has done is revealed. Billions of lives have been lost and this is where Sylvie's deep mistrust of the TVA comes into play. As much as she wants to trust in Loki, he had just promised that the TVA could be a force of good, of protection for the branches, yet Sylvie just witnessed a member of the TVA kill billions of lives and the TVA, Loki, was unable to protect them. I do think its interesting that when everyone else was focused on Renslayer's tempad hit, Loki walked away from them to go and speak to Sylvie. He knew how upset she would be about the branches and wanted to comfort her, but also he knew she would be angry and I think he was also desperate to convince her that despite what just happened the TVA could still be something good. Sylvie wasn't having any of it but another moment that really hit me was that as she leaves Loki closes his eyes like he can't bear to watch her walk away.

Another thing that was interesting to me was the very end scene where Sylvie is sitting on her car listening to music. The song she is listening to is Kozmic Blues by Janis Joplin and I think it can tell us a lot about how Sylvie is feeling in that moment. The song is about trying to see the good in things and about hope but always still being let down. The writer said this about the meaning of the song: 'Kozmic Blues just means that no matter what you do, man, you get shot down anyway.' Which to me makes me think that as much as Sylvie says she doesn't care, as much as she says she is happy on her timeline and has made a life for herself, that she has stopped running, actually she's just tired of being let down all the time. She wants to believe that the TVA can be turned into something good, she wants to trust in Loki, she wants to believe that things between them can get better and she wants to be able to open her heart to him again, but she is afraid of being let down again, of feeling that pain again, so instead she is just hiding in her timeline. Sadly Dox pruning those timelines is just another instance of Sylvie feeling let down and thinking that hoping for something better was useless.

The first verse of the song plays during this scene:

Time keeps moving on Friends they turn away I keep moving on But I never found out why I keep pushing too hard and babe I keep trying to make it right Through another lonely day,

To me these lyrics paired with the image of her looking down at HWR's tempad, tells me that Sylvie is regretting her choices a little, or at the very least thinking about the consequences of them. 'Time keeps moving on' no matter how much time has passed she still can't let go of the past and the connections she made. 'Friends they turn away' makes me think about how she and Loki are now at odds, but also how she must feel like she is on the opposite side to Mobius and B-15 who she also formed a bit of a connection to. The lines 'I keep moving on' 'I keep pushing too hard' and 'I keep trying to make it right' I think show Sylvie's struggle. She thought she was doing the right thing by killing HWR and setting the timelines free but things are still going wrong, she is trying to move on with her life but I think she is still feeling like something is missing and I think the thing that is missing is Loki, she misses that feeling of having a team mate, of having someone by her side, fighting with her. Which brings me to the last line. 'Through another lonely day.' I think out of all the lines in the first verse this is the most significant. It's not a lonely day, its another lonely day. Despite saying she is happy ultimately Sylvie is lonely on her timeline.

Come ep 3 it seems like there is a shift in Loki's attitude, gone is mr frantic Loki who constantly insists they have to find Sylvie. Gone, apparently is his obsession with her, now it seems like his focus is on the TVA and fixing the problem with the loom. However I actually think the shift isn't because he has decided he doesn't care about Sylvie anymore, I actually think his new focus is still about Sylvie. In the first two episodes Loki still cared about solving the time-slipping problem and the problem with the loom, it was just that he cared more about finding Sylvie and making sure she was ok, she wasn't his only priority but she was his highest priority. I still think she is his highest priority, I think his main motivation behind wanting to fix the loom is that he wants to protect Sylvie's branch. That's not to say that he doesn't care about the other branches or the TVA and his friends there, of course he does, but I think his main priority is Sylvie's branch in particular. In ep 1 and 2 it was all about making sure Sylvie was ok, now that he has found her and seen that she is ok and been told that she is happy, his motivation has switched to making sure she stays that way. It all comes back to what he said in the season 1 finale, he doesn't want a throne, he just wants her to be ok.

l also think his demeanour this episode says alot, he's just so despondent. Back in season 1 when Loki and Mobius would investigate together Loki would feed off of Mobius' excitement and would also get excited, like when they were testing their theory about apocalypses and when they were searching for which apocalypse Sylvie was hiding in. But in this episode whilst Mobius still has that high energy and excitement Loki doesn't, he is sullen and he is taking no enjoyment from his surroundings, he says the cracker jacks taste like ash, even when he uses his magic to trap that guy in the pig cage, something he would have had a lot of fun doing and would have delighted in before, he is mostly subdued about. He is clearly miserable without Sylvie.

Funnily enough the most energetic and respondent we see Loki in this episode is during the ferris wheel scene with Sylvie. Even though its not a positive interaction it still shows us just how much Loki still cares about Sylvie. Honestly I found this whole scene kind of heartbreaking just because of how much it parallels 1x6 and how much emotion the actors put into the scene.

Once again there is alot of miscommunication and misunderstandings between them in this scene. Sylvie still believes that Loki only cares about the TVA, she even asks him 'do you care about anything but the TVA?' I think she is hurt because from her point of view he doesn't care about her anymore since their fight at the citadel and on top of that he is now trying to save the organisation that hunted her down for most of her life, on top of that he is once again protecting the man who stole her freewill and her life from her. She even thinks that he played a part in 'weaponizing' Victor by giving him the TVA handbook which I think also deeply hurts her.

Of course Loki had nothing to do with that and also has his own fears and doubts about taking Victor to the TVA but from his point of view Victor is the answer to solving the problem with the loom and by extension ensuring that Sylvie and her branch will be safe, in this scene he is desperately trying to explain that to Sylvie and get her to understand that actually he is doing it for her. But I think Sylvie just sees it as him trying to manipulate her into protecting the TVA.

The saddest part of this scene for me is when Sylvie says 'This is all very familiar isn't it.' You can see how much distress and pain they are both in, how much they hate that they have found themselves in this situation again, how much they hate that they aren't seeing things the same way, how much they hate not being on the same side anymore. They are both just so distraught and have no idea how to get back to where they were in season 1, where they were on the same side. To me this is far from indifference, this isn't two strangers who don't care about the other. This is two people who love each other deeply but who have broken apart, who are hurting and who deep down want to find their way back to each other but who don't know how to fix things between them, they are two people who have always struggled with trusting others, who have always struggled to communicate exactly what they want or what they are feeling.

Another really significant moment though is when Sylvie catches up with them and Victor in his workshop. What I find really interesting about this scene is the contrast it shows between Sylki and between the relationship between both Victor and Renslayer but also Mobius and Renslayer. Victor and Renslayer develop a romance in this episode but Victor ultimately betrays her when she says his trigger word, partnership, and in response to this Renslayer decides she's never going to trust him again and is even ready to prune him. Mobius and Renslayer also had a falling out, similar to Sylki, they were friends a long time but in the end they didn't see things the same way and ultimately that relationship broke down. The difference is that again Renslayer refuses to trust or work with Mobius after that break down in their relationship. But in contrast in this moment when Sylvie is confronting Victor, Loki actually takes a step back, and even holds a hand out to stall Mobius, he is trusting Sylvie to make the right choice here, despite everything that has happened, and Sylvie ultimately ends up trusting Loki and allowing him to take Victor back to the TVA, unlike the other two relationships, despite all their disagreements and fights, trust still exists between Sylki.

So now we've reached episode 4 and I think this is a significant episode for Sylki's relationship. I already made a post analysing their pie room scene which you can read here if you would like. I'm not going to go as in depth here as I did in that post because I would just be repeating myself, but I will cover a few key points. The pie room scene that we get in this episode is one of the first times this season that Sylki communicate clearly with each other. Its one of the first times they actually both stop and listen to the other, actually consider what the other one has to say. As I said before I watch alot of angsty couples and storylines and there is usually a pattern to it in my opinion, and Sylki this season are no different. It always starts out with the couple in a really bad place with each other where they are really hurt and angry with each other, they also then have several more fights and disagreements, but they also then have a proper conversation where things improve a little between them, where they might not necessarily be agreeing with each other but where they aren't screaming and shouting either. The pie scene is that moment for Sylki where they do, for once, talk reasonably with each other. Although they don't really come to an agreement in this conversation they do both still give the other something to think about and they at least understand clearly where they other person is coming from and why they are seeing it the way that they are. Loki now understands why Sylvie is struggling to see the TVA as a solution and why she didn't want Victor to be brought to the TVA, he understands that it comes from her fear. In return Sylvie understands that Loki trusts the TVA because he trusts the people in it who are fighting to protect the branches like Mobius, Casey, OB and B-15. This understanding is a huge leap forward for them.

There is also that moment during the pie room scene where Loki says he asked for Sylvie's help but she walked away and she responds 'just so we're clear, no I didn't, I'm here aren't I?' To be fair she's right. Again despite claiming she doesn't care and that she just wants to be left alone on her branch, she still went with them to fight Dox and help protect the branches, she still showed up when Victor a variant of HWR's showed up, she still went back there in this episode and is helping to solve the problem with the loom. So she has shown up, she hasn't walked away.

But another thing I loved about ep 4 was that we once again get to see Sylki working as a team, a little detail I noticed is that pretty much throughout this whole episode they are at each other's side. Finally we get to see them back in that same dynamic they had in season 1 of being on the same side and fighting together. Sure its not exactly the same just yet, there are still some feelings and issues to work through but for me it was a big difference from the earlier episodes in the season where Sylki were having a lot of disagreements. Also I am trying really hard not to look too much into the episode where they do start fighting as a team again being called 'The Heart of the TVA.' It probably doesn't mean anything other than the loom, but I can't help but think about Sylki as the heart of the show.

And so finally we have made it to the most recent episode. Honestly overall I wasn't the biggest fan of this episode, it just felt like filler and like nothing really happened, it was more showing us what the TVA workers lives were before the TVA. But despite that I thought there were some really good Sylki scenes in this episode.

The first bit of Sylki content we get is when Dr B-15 asks if that's everyone and Loki says no there's one more referring to Sylvie. At first I didn't really think much of this moment because like yeah Sylvie was there so if they need to match all the temporal auras then they need her too. But then I've spent the day rewatching the whole season and in ep 4 there's the whole plot of them needing Victor because he's a variant of HWR and so has the same aura. So correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that mean that Loki and Sylvie also have the same temporal aura? So actually Loki didn't really need to go and find Sylvie, they could have done it without her but Loki went anyway.

I loved their re-reunion. Loki preparing himself to try and explain their relationship to a Sylvie who doesn't know him, as well as the whole situation and then it turning out that actually Sylvie does know who he is. Also I do think it is interesting that Sylvie wasn't reset like the others. I do wonder if its because they are both gods and maybe that plays into it somehow. But again I am trying really hard not to look too much into Sylvie being the only one who still remembers him, but I don't know I just find that so romantic, I blame my shipper goggles, they're a little smudged. But I also really loved Sylvie's reaction to Loki almost time-slipping, I'm pretty sure that's the first time she's seen it and her immediate reaction is dude you need a drink.

One of my favourite scenes this episode was that scene in the bar. I think I loved it just as much as I did the pie room scene. What I think is interesting about this scene is its very similar to the pie room scene but in reverse. So in the pie room it very much felt like Sylvie was a bit lost and unsure about what to do and Loki was the one telling her some hard truths, like fixing broken things is hard and hope is hard. But in this scene its Loki that is lost and unsure and its Sylvie that is spilling the hard truths. She points out that their friends are back where they are supposed to be, where they were before HWR and the TVA messed with them.

I also loved Sylvie's response to Loki saying she was selfish basically being well duh. But I do think that moment was interesting because of the subtext, Loki's rant about her not caring and how it all worked out the way she wanted. I think he is again feeling alot of pain and hurt, because he is lost and alone and she seems like she's happy on her branch, living her life without him. Its that feeling you get when you've been hoping for a particular outcome but then those hopes are dashed, Loki was hoping he and Sylvie would find their way back to each other that they would build a life together and help their TVA friends protect the branches. Now Sylvie has a life on her branch and everyone else has been reset in their own timelines and the TVA is gone. Loki is more alone than he ever has been.

Slightly off topic here, but I did wonder why it was that Loki was never reset and instead ending up time-slipping and then I realised the sad truth, Loki has no where to be reset too. His branched timeline was pruned after he escaped with the tesseract and arrested by the TVA so he can't be reset there. Unlike Sylvie he never made a home for himself on any other timeline. The place that became home for him was the TVA and the people in it. So now he is being pulled between the TVA and the people he cared about.

Sylvie also asks a couple of important questions during this scene. The first is what is wrong with wanting something and also what does Loki want. Loki really struggles to answer this question even with Sylvie pushing him. I think a part of her was hoping that he would say he wants her. He is eventually able to admit that he wants his friends back, that he doesn't want to be alone. Seeing Loki so broken with those tears in his eyes as he admitted that he wanted his friends back was really heartbreaking. But I do think that whilst Sylvie was hoping that he would say he wanted her and then felt like he didn't say that, actually Loki was including Sylvie in the statement, she is one of those people he wants back but again he is just rubbish at communicating that to her.

You can see how much it hurts Sylvie to see Loki question where it is he belongs now. Going back to the whole angsty storylines having a formula, another part of this formula that I often see is the 'I'm letting you go for your own good' scene. I think we get this moment in this scene when Sylvie tells Loki to go write his own story. There was a lot of talk about selfishness in this scene and I think that Sylvie feels like if she tells Loki to stay with her, that he belongs with her instead of letting him make his own path, then she would be selfish to do so. Instead she lets him go for what she believes is his own good. You can see how much it is killing her to do that and right after she goes to the record shop where she confesses that she had a bad day and then cries whilst listening to music, which honestly relatable.

This time the song she is listening to though is Oh! Sweet Nuthin by The Velvet Underground. The song is about a group of people who have nothing and the opening lyrics that we see Sylvie cry to are:

Say a word for Jimmy Brown He ain't got nothing at all

It's a song about people who are dissatisfied with their lives. So again we have this situation where Sylvie is claiming she is happy on her branch but then she listens to a song that she clearly relates to and it says something completely different.

It's also very telling that when Loki does go back to the gang he follows Sylvie's advice and tells them to go home, he admits that it was more about what he wanted and not about them saving the TVA. As much as it hurts him to admit, he says that they don't need the TVA. It's at this moment that Sylvie shows up and says yes they do. I think this is a pretty big moment for Sylvie but before I talk about that I just have to talk about the look on Loki's face when she shows up, my god he just looked so in love with her, it actually kind of took my breath away. Also its kind of funny that Sylvie shows up declaring that this catastrophic event of the branches dying is happening and Loki's just like 'Heart Eyes'.

But anyway, the reason why I think its such a big deal that Sylvie says that they do need the TVA is because this whole season its been Loki saying that the TVA is the answer and Sylvie saying that the TVA needs to be burnt down and gotten rid off its been the reason behind a lot of their disagreements. But here Sylvie has finally realised that actually the TVA is the solution. Guys, they are finally back on the same page, they are finally both seeing things the same way.

At the start of the episode OB believed that controlling the time-slipping was the key, he also believed that Loki needed to figure out why he wanted to time-slip in order to control. But as the room and the people begin to spaghettify it is seeing Sylvie dissolve with the rest of the room that finally triggers his control over his time-slipping and the first moment he time-slips too is just before he lost Sylvie. I do think this was significant that he slipped to just before she specifically was lost, as there is no reason the writers couldn't have just had him time-slip to the moment when Sylvie first arrives before anyone is spaghettified, so him slipping to just before he loses her must be significant in my opinion.

It is at this moment that Loki realises that its not the what, where or why that is the key to controlling his time-slipping, its the who. Meaning it was Sylvie that was the biggest factor in triggering that control, it was seeing her pain, knowing her branch was gone and hearing her say that there was nowhere left for her to go, something he himself struggled with this episode, that gave him that motivation to control it. It was that memory of hearing her ask if what makes a Loki a Loki is that they are destined to always win, this is so significant because its not just the words she says but the connection they have, back to that moment between them beside the lake on Lamentis, the moment they made that first romantic connection that caused a nexus event when it was supposedly impossible for one to happen. That was what made Loki think, no I'm not losing this time. It all comes back to what I think has been his motivation this whole season, which is that last thing he said to her at the citadel, he just wants her to be ok. It was seeing her not ok that gave him that spark he needed to gain this new power of being able to rewrite the story, as he put it. I also love that Loki turns directly to Sylvie when he says this line because she is the one that told him to go write his own story.

As I said above I actually still have quite a bit of hope for Sylki and I mentioned a few times this formula that I've seen other shows use when writing angst filled storylines about couples who have broken apart and who they are trying to bring back together and I really do think that they have followed this formula to a tee with Loki and Sylvie. They've had the fights and misunderstandings in ep 2 and 3, they've had the clarity talk, where they come to understand the other persons point of view and reasons. They've had the I'm letting you go because I (wrongly I might add) think its the right and best thing to do for you. And now, now comes the best part, the part where they have the big reunion conversation. Where they both put all their feelings out on the table and confess exactly what they've been feeling the whole time but been able to express because the writers weren't ready for the audience to see that just yet. If I am right (and to be fair there's a chance I'm not but I am choosing to hope I am) then ep 6 is when this conversation will happen. It'd be the perfect setting for it, its the big finale, they are in this high stress situation they might not make it out of so to me it would make sense for the writers to put the big emotional conversation in this episode, if we are lucky we might even get a kiss. I think this screenshot from one of the trailers will be that moment:

I said from when I first saw this very short clip that it looked to me from the way she was slowly approaching him that it was going to be a kiss scene. What's interesting is that it looks like they are in timeline OB's workshop that they were in during this episode. So it looks like we might be returning to that location. But I could see them taking a moment alone and having that conversation where they are completely open with each other about how they really feel about each other, where they confess their feelings and then share a kiss. To me it just makes the most sense as the next step in their relationship from what I've seen over this season. Of course I could also just be delulu, That is a possibility.

But anyway, those are my thoughts on Sylki so far this season. I am eagerly awaiting to see what will happen in the finale, in general and when it comes to Sylki, I would love for my theory about them reuniting romantically to be true, but only time will tell. Sorry that this got so long and thank you if you have read all the way to the end. In the meantime if anyone has any asks or wants to tell me there theories, my inbox is always open, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi! These matchups you do are really fun so I thought I’d give it a go :)

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?

I’m a Megan Thee Stallion fan! I love her songs, they get me so pumped. Right now I love one of her older songs Plan B. It makes me feel confident and reminds me not to take sh*t from anyone!

“Ladies, love yourself 'cause this shit could get ugly That's why it's, "Fuck n***** get money" And I don't give a fuck if that n**** leave tonight. Because, n****, that dick don't run me”

What is your Enneagram type?

I’m an ENFP :)

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?

Yes I do! I love to listen to them like a podcast while I scroll on Pinterest or draw. I enjoy watching Wendigoon. I’m a horror gal so I love urban legends and creepy stuff. My particular favorite is “The Deal With The Devil That Created Rock And Roll”

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend.

never had one

What is your go-to way to fall asleep?

Listening to bf asmr or reading some fanfics

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?)

The funny thing about my name is that nobody calls me by my government one. It’s one of those long, slightly formal names. So when I was baby I was given a nickname. Now everyone in my life knows me by that nickname. I didn’t pick it, but i like my nickname and I feel like it fits :)

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why?

Oooh that’s a hard choice. I like so many of them. But I’d have to pick Gavin’s first confession audio. It’s so sweet and I’m a sucker for confessions.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.)

Hmm, I think Asher. just doesn’t appeal to me. I think our personalities are too similar

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.

”The Parent Trap” with Linsey Lohan! or “Clueless”

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend?

I think Guy. He’d be a fun bestie, and he’d make me cry laughing

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.)

Not rlly. I get more quiet when I’m sleepy.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo.

Combo pretzel and cheese chips and a Coke!

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. 

It’s titled ‘Bad Bitch’ and it’s filled with Kim Petras, Twice, Kali Uchis, and ofc Megan Thee Stallion :)

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why?

Cheesy rom coms and romance books. Also Studio Ghibli movies

Extra info:

I’m an extrovert

I love the sunshine x grumpy trope

I’m a fashion girlie and I must have a cute outfit at all times if I’m going out

that’s all, thank you!

Easy peasy! I think you and your match would have a lot of shared interests, but it’s the love of fashion that cinched it. There’s no better match for that than Gavin.

Like, literally, you’d like so many of the same things; horror, K-pop, Megan Thee Stallion, romance novels. The music especially is such a fun thing you two share; he knows all the choreography, maybe even all the words. (I think he’s a Girls Generation fan if I had to pick. Given his age, I think Gavin stans the classics.) You also share a book collection, the incubus often getting saucy and using them as inspiration or quoting them.

All in all, you’re a very compatible couple, an extroverted pair who looks good together. I can see y’all going on really cute mall dates, thrifting cute clothes, buying new books, going to see the new horror movie of the week, and Gavin laughing at it to everyone in the theater’s surprise. (Because of his demonic, supernatural nature, I like to hc Gavin as enjoying horror but not being scared by it in the least.) (Also, I really love that both of you go by nicknames instead of your birth names; it’s meant to be.)

Song:

I'm talkin' all around clock/ I'm talkin' hope nobody knocks/ I'm talkin' opposite of soft/ I'm talkin' wild, wild thoughts/ You gotta keep up with me/ I got some young energy/ I caught the L-O-V-E/ How do you do this to me?

Once you get Gavin properly acclimated to pop culture and music, he becomes the king of it, always his finger on the pulse. I love to think of him as a pop idol, Sabrina Carpenter fan- especially of this fun, flirty song and how it’s performed. He loves to play this while doing chores around the house, coming up with his own naughty refrains like how Sabrina does during live performances.

Runner-ups:

Given your love of fashion, I had to put Milo somewhere in your big three. Anton, in contrast, is a runner-up because of how adorably you’d contrast. I love a good introvert/extrovert pairing, and I really get a giggle out of imagining Anton flustered at hearing WAP for the first time.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[vetrenar]

Ok, the second part of my rambles or why hugging Knives should be considered a form of convention weapon and must be used as often as possible.

A little disclaimer: what I'm gonna to talk about is applied mostly to Stampede and manga Knives. Not so much to 98, because while, objectively speaking, there is no reason for it, I kind of have a feeling that other two would very like to punch him to a pulp. The guy has an incredibly punchable face.

...Sorry, wrong picture.

Now, a question. Does Vash love Knives?

Yes, of course. Despite everything Knives did, Vash still consider him his brother and wants them to put away their difference.

Next question: Does Knives feel this love? Or, maybe, I'll paraphrase a bit: does he believe in it?

And here things become tricky. Because yeah, at some level Knives knows that Vash loves him. His little brother is a kind creature, after all, that's ready to share his heart with the whole world. He wants to save humans, wants to save Plants, why not to want to save Knives too, in this mix?

The problem is, Vash, bless his heart and everything, is a damn hypocrite. He gives promises that he isn't able to keep, runs from places to places doing essentially nothing and always, always, always, puts humans first.

So yeah, he loves Knives. Just as he loves his sisters, or maybe worms on this planet. As long as humans are safe, Vash is ready to feel sorry for them, or maybe even ask for forgiveness for everything humans put them through. They'll become better, one day.

And the worst part? Knives isn't exactly wrong in his assessment. Because Vash does put humans first, Stampede especially. And although a big part of the reason for that comes from his guilt complex and well, Knives, maybe you should have thought it a little better before putting it on your brother, but the fact stays: between a Plant and a human, Vash will instinctively choose a human.

Now, let's talk about the aftermath of Tessla's case. Stampede very suspiciously omitted most part of it, showing only Knives' choice of Vash's memories (and keep in mind that the whole point of that showcase was to break Vash, so Knives' "confession" of his motivations can't be taken at face value) and I will die on the hill that in the second season we're going to get Knives' round of it, but for now, let's go with the manga.

We know how it did go: while Vash had his emotional breakdown, Knives fell into coma. It isn't clear, did he faked his amnesia or not but even he didn't, the subconscious trauma still stayed.

And the first thing he saw after waking up? Vash and Rem, laughing together.

Think about this. Vash saw the extent of Knives shock, watching his brother being comatose for days. Even though he wasn't conscious, Vash had an affirmation that his twin shares his grief. Knives, though? He didn't have a chance to see Vash's resentment, desperation and anger. For him, his brother just... Brushed it off. Made a peace with it. And even if the wording was different, even if he was told something like "I understand if you're angry" - Knives already lost his affirmation. He had no chance of showing his anger, not when his twin was so calm about the matter and obviously decided to stay at humans side.

For Knives, Vash has already abandoned him for humans. Forgiveness is a thing that exist for sake of a victim, not a perpetrator, but Vash has already forgave theirs, therefore forcibly dragging Knives along before he even really started to proceed everything.

And so, Knives acted as he, with this mental block, was allowed to:

... And you know the reason of the story.

And after that? Constant arguing about how they should forgive and accept humans. (For manga, it's after the Fall, but in Stampede it started already on the ship. I'm sure that Knives read Bible before, just like he watched war movies before in manga. But after Tessla, he started to see evil there). Open expressions of fury, fear and hate from somebody who is never bothered to even become a bit angry on their sisters' behalf. A gun in your face after you saved his life.

Yeah, Vash's feeling are much more complicated than that. Alas, Knives doesn't have much chance to see that. From his point of view, Vash is ready to forgive humans everything, but Knives? He gets a gun and speeches how they all should live in peace. With a great plan mostly consisting of Plants forgivinig humans until they become better.

So, at some point Knives just... stops listening. He already knows what his brother thinks about him. It doesn't matter. Knives won't let Vash's hate stop his love for him. Gunshots, Vash's cries of anger, pain, fear - it all become a white noise that should be ignored.

Ignore when they hurt you, just do your thing and come to them again and again, and one day they will listen to you? Ironically, but for most part, it's exactly how Knives tries to act with Vash. Well, in his own, a bit psychotic, version of things, with him not only waiting but also taking some actions. (Ok, a lot of actions.)

And it's incredible how all that cold and collected persona dissipates on 12 ep of Stampede, where Knives is left with nothing but a desperation to make his brother understand. Only for Vash, when Knives lays his heart bare, to reject him. Again.

And Vash has his own reasons. Completely understandable reasons, I would say, because while he is a superhuman only in physical sense on things. He had his own anger, and pain, and fear, and inner struggle. Knives hurt him enormously and there is no wonder that Vash doesn't want to give up his stance. And he shouldn't, really. But...

Knives isn't strong, at least, mentally. He created this illusion of being the older, the one in charge, to protect himself (in Stampede, this illusion starts a bit earlier, with him being the "perfect Independent" who for some reason should hide his powers and "weak" Vash, who is, by Rem's words, "perfect as he is") but in the end this made-up hierarchy harmed both him and Vash, locking them in their respective positions. And Knives was motivated by fear, he wanted protection, wanted Vash to stand up for him - something what Vash, who for so many years saw Knives as the strongest one, the one who decides, the one who must be defeated, wasn't capable to do and had no idea about. He had his own personal growth to do, and couldn't be the mentally senior figure Knives needed.

And that's why one day I going to write this fic about TriMax Vash finding himself in Stampede world. These idiots clearly need an older brother.

For Knives, Vash was the one who abandoned him, again, again and again. The one who blabbed about love and peace while aiming a gun at him. For over hundred years, there was only one case when Vash prioritized Knives over everything else, took his side clearly enough that there were no ways left for Knives to doubt it.

And guess what? This single act snapped Knives out his frenzy better that all these bullets before that.

And I'm quite sure that Stampede plot could be quite shorter if upon that meeting five years after the Fall, Vash would confirmed that yes, he understood Knives' ire before confronting him over humans death. Like, the kid was one hug away from breaking down. Too bad that he never allowed himself acknowledge it.

So, the moral of the story: hug your Kniveses. Be cautious, though, because while Vashes bite, Kniveses... Let's say that they aren't very good for your extremities. Assert your dominance with care and don't force them to bottle up their anger, even unintentionally. If you do it right, everything will be fine.

... Well, maybe. Hope for the best, one day it surely will be alright.

[blkkizzat]

Well hello, I don't know exactly how to say this but basically I read your story about Gojo Otaku exactly 9 days ago but I only had time now to send this message (my college is still giving me burnout) but first of all I want to say that I'm using google translate so if anything seems confusing I apologize

PRIMEIRO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MUITO OBRIGADO POR MUDAR MINHA VIDA

SECOND. I spent 2 hours reading your story, a much longer time than I usually read any story because I feel represented (let's say humiliated) with the story.

recently I saw several stories about "loser" or "nerdy" girls and I kind of identify with all of them but your story about Gojo Otaku made me identify with Gojo and the protagonist

The first anime I saw in my life, being Brazilian, was Dragon Ball, it was on the biggest open television channel in my country and right after it, Digimon was on, so my brother was drinking coffee watching Dragon Ball and then I was watching Digimon doing homework so I LOVED it. Digimon and I have some dolls that I treat as if they were my children

my father is also a nerd he collects DC and Marvel comics, Lord of the Rings, Smallville I watch the Nolan trilogy in the cinema so you can see my dignity is "nerd, virgin over 20"

but since I was 15, nature blessed me with my mother's beauty so suddenly I'm a girl with big breasts talking about CW series and complaining about Marvel movies. and today I'm a 23 year old girl with big boobs talking about Jujutsu, One Piece, Sakamoto Days and discussing the size of the characters' dicks and how the female characters would fuck me. and I'M STILL A VIRGIN AHAHAHAHA.

with every line I read of your story I was crying and screaming and thinking

HOLY SHIT IT'S ME IT'S ME

the icing on the cake? I'm Asexual so it's not that I haven't tried to have sex but I can't crying in the jail of asexuals with high libido

I also shared your story among my circle of friends and they got into an argument (again) about Gojo being passive (which, look, I also don't know how to say no to someone of the same sex dominating me)

I know this must be the longest and most rambling shit you've ever read but I NEEDED TO TELL YOU YOUR STORY IT'S IN MY HEAD FOR FREE WITHOUT PAYING RENT

well that's it! I can't wait to see more from this idiot and the reader!

kisses and happiness!!!

Hey! TYSM for enjoying otaku!gojo 🫶🏽 💖

Happy you can relate! Haha I think we all have a lil otaku!gojo in us.

But thats so cool having parents into nerd shit too! My parents werent but my uncles were. DBZ was one of my first anime too! I never watched digimon as i was a pokemon girlie but im honestly not sure why, i think it came on a different network and at the same time as pokemon so i never got the chance. But I researched it looking up stuff for otaku!gojo, I def would have enjoyed it as a kid.

Also theres nothing wrong with still being a virgin! Honestly, while I think everyone has to make the choice when is right for themselves I am a bigger proponent of waiting as the older you are the more likely you are to have a better experience. If you aren't comfortable enough with someone to express sexual needs you either don't need to be having it with that person or having it at all. That's why even though it added to his quirky/weirdoness in the story I made Gojo's parents so sex positive. Honestly thats why Bunny felt like a virgin again even though she is a slut lol, sex with someone who cares about your needs and who you care about is a much different experience. Then hooking up with someone out for their own pleasure and you being an after thought. With college hookup culture you are more or less guaranteed to have a mediocre experience.

I honestly don't know much about asexuality but from my understanding sexual desire is different than attraction. Although I totally get the repulsion of having sex with someone you are not attracted too (honestly theres been some drunken nights i just wanted to get my nut and kinda just closed my eyes LOL). But perhaps find a friends with benefits situation where you establish you'd be open to sex but want to get to know them first. While it wouldnt be sexual attraction, you might be able to reconcile that with the fact you care about this person and feel comfortable enough around them so you could satisfy your desire? Theres asexuals with relationships so I think being upfront or maybe finding someone else who is asexual with a high libido too you would feel less pressure? IDK but I am sure there is still a way for you to be sexually gratified even though you are asexual!

hmm im curious to know more! do they think gojo in my story is passive or do they think gojo as a character is more passive?

but no worries babe! Sorry ive been so busy im so slow with answering asks lately but please feel free to drop in my inbox anytime! 🫶🏽 💖

[chialattea]

Hi hi hi I just found you as a fellow Baby 5 enthusiast soooooo I wanted to share my most recent idea about her. W/ how her and law kinda parallel with each other, I think it's honestly ridiculous to imagine her design never incorporating feathers. But she couldn't wear pink ones if she wanted to start to heal, and her signature color is black, which.... were Cora's and he. Y'know. Saved someone she cares about but still abandoned her in the process. I like the concept of a bright yellow feather jacket for her in the future, because a) reference to law, obv, the only person from her childhood she still fully respects I feel, b) canary in a coal mine motif would be insane for her given how much she's witnessed, and c) it resembles a raincoat and keeping her dry as a devil fruit user = keeping her safe, and moving her desire for security from wanting to be useful and not abandoned to being safe would be really really good. Thoughts?

man I really need to remember where asks are— how do I keep missing these

AAAAAAA FELLOW BABY 5 ENJOYER LETS GOOOOOO!!! We may be a humble size but let us stand tall about it and not think of our very likely attachment issues anyways!! (Ramble ahead)

My feelings in regards to Baby 5 and Cora (lit two of my favorite characters) are… complicated to say the least. Like sure technically speaking he had no obligation towards her, I guess, and his mission was a priority only superseded by his initial surprise at Law being a D— and sure its 100% obvious he only spent like 1 millisecond thinking about his course of action (come on man, you had no countermeasures in case you had to leave the family for a while and the Marines’d stop banging at their door?? Did the fucking Marines just immediately act on any scoop you passed along??? Is he stupid? /j) but that doesn’t change the fact that he left her there, you know. Yeah he tried to make her leave through the power of incredible violence but like after the first year or so you can stop laying it in so thick because if the six yo hasn’t already left there’s like. Zero chance she’ll do it now. And she was literally like, 11. It wasn’t like Buffalo (whom to be perfectly honest I’m pretty eh about) who was already a teenager— she was a kid too. And he knew they were taking advantage of her and honing her into a weapon by feeding into her trauma and he just dipped. Which isn’t fair to him because (waves hands at the whole shitfest) but come on. COME ON. If i finally confronted that the family who groomed me into a weapon was bad, actually, I think I’d feel pretty angry at the guy who could have saved me but didn’t feel I was important enough. Like geez. Baby 5 wasn’t chosen AGAIN which is so sad it’s almost laughable.

ANYWAYS‼️‼️ AW MAN it’d be a really cool evolution from her yellow ribbon. Her color scheme can be black, white and yellow… (I must admit I’m very happy w her original black and burgundy color scheme because it’s one of my favorite colors eheh)— I assume in this scenario she wasn’t saved by Cora but defects from the DX family to join the Heart Pirates? A yellow kimono would look good on her too…

[jdaviswords]

*PSA - Long post warning*

Man, no lie…I’ve really been mulling over how I was going to type this out that would appeal to folks scrolling through their timelines for weeks. And I’ve figured that the best way to do that would be to compose what I’m thinking/feeling right now concisely. Unfortunately, it’s just not going to be something I am able to do. So while I appreciate you reading this far, you’ve been warned should you continue.

The Leftovers is a sequel to another project that I worked on called The Funnies. It was spearheaded by one of my closest friends, James (also known as, Bone). The Funnies was a culmination of both of our works that were written over a decade ago, sewn together, and highlighted James and myself as artists. It connected musical composition and spoken word. In our opinions…it was unique.

Before I continue, I must also emphasize that James and I are not the only two involved in the making of The Funnies or The Leftovers. So many folks played part in them for no other benefit than to be a part of expression. And should The Funnies or The Leftovers be listened only once, that notion itself is a victory for us.

The Funnies left off with the character I created standing at the top of a volcano, hence the inspiration behind the album art cover for The Leftovers (shout out Kojau). The Leftovers was inspired by two major things:

a.) An excess catalog of work that was in consideration for The Funnies that never made it

b.) James McCann

It’s nerve racking putting yourself out there and without my friends and family supporting me on this, it doesn’t exist. Setting that aside, I’m putting inside this ramble, that I am proud of myself. Because I am. And also for future reference on those tougher days.

If you’re still here, I would like to elaborate just a little bit more…

The Leftovers is purposeful in its design. It’s chronology has been discussed at length, and so from the intro of Impoverished War Machine to the outro of I Write, it is intentional how they sequent one another. With that, I do believe the individual pieces can stand alone, but are better served collectively (like a pin collection). Those last parentheses won’t make sense to the most of you, unless you take a dive inside that volcano with me. Then I’d have no other choice than to Call It like it is, state a welcome, and then ask…Where Have You Been?

Now that you’ve left behind your Intimidation to Jump, Where Are You Now? Where Do You Go when you’ve lost The Idea Of Me? I type this as tonight’s version of Night Thoughts and I am so thrilled to Mash Up these song titles as I take a deep breath of Oxygen and exhale. I figured after I couldn’t put the words together originally, eventually I’d find The Right Way. I knew that once I started, it would roll together like A B C and it would showcase again me being me Unapologetically. I’m steady running now, like Two Knobs and a Faucet.

Today I turn 31 years old. It is my birthday and I’ll admit that it’s the ugliest feeling birthday I’ve felt yet. I know that’s a feeling which will subside. In the interim, I am choosing to focus on my next Smoothie Sip, and not be bogged down in negativity like a sailor walking The Plank.

I am so grateful for what writing has given my life. And while the vulnerability of this project is evident, being able to share with you a piece of my passion is both a blessing and an honor.

Lastly, (and I swear I am done after this) I would like to leave you with the mission statement for The Leftovers, as I truly feel it encapsulates the album in a shortened version of what is written above:

The Leftovers is a project inspired by spoken word, music, and friendship. The album is a unique interpretation of slam poetry and meshes with it, the love of music. It is captivating, playful, and thought provoking. Its design is geared towards the premise of embracing vulnerability and showcasing artistry. The Leftovers will take the listener to a place of reflection and enlightenment driven by its rhyming and word play. It highlights the art of writing and touches on aspects of expression, mental health, politics and more.

Inspired by a passion of words, The Leftovers (as already mentioned) is the sequel to another project called The Funnies. While similar in design, The Leftovers is my first ever fully spoken word album that truly embodies myself as a writer.

“…but even in my uniqueness, it means nothing, unless it reaches someone…and teaches them…something…or breaches a curiosity. I hope I can be inspiring for those who are tiring from the beat down of this crazy society.”

– Intimidation to Jump

One Love,

-Jdav (Justin Davis)

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/31kzYT00XSU74Q0quHOsZx?si=5wlZxGpkTJ6UPdVnSXGlPg

Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-leftovers/1728930211

YouTube Music - https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mQGXZqAuqFFrx8uTBnmryBm0_y5ET3R5w&si=diM1dAqinak8FZe4

Distrokid - https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jdav3/the-leftovers?fbclid=PAAaYZQ2K1X81V6Zco3hM8_ywdyo7QGUJUOT-C8E4y7AOgLTu8eQKHrmiLhRE_aem_ARIv9F3Eyu9tEjMzdhzZXBDDN-QmP3MpQwijMM9oZZvswaxYo2v44018mRnWtQ_zK-g

[dorizardthewizard]

High School Musical (2006) rewatch

*sigh* so... some time ago my friends and I rewatched this movie and I don't know whether it's the nostalgia or my usual love for cheesy low budget movies but I haven't been able to get this trilogy out of my head. So of course I ended up writing like 8k words of ramblings about each movie with nowhere to share them but the Random Hyperfixations Website, in the hopes that maybe one (1) person would find them mildly interesting. If not, future me could get a laugh or two!

I will also be tier ranking the songs as I go because why not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Part 1: The Start of Something New

Aaahhh nostalgia 😭 and I only remember watching this one like once or twice as a kid lmao, it just feels so quintessentially 2000’s

Are the ski lifts working at this hour? Guess it must be a special New Years thing, sounds fun skiing at midnight but you know no one there is sober, New Year or not :P Après ski started hours ago!

Mrs. Montez: Gabby, it's New Year's Eve. Enough reading. Gabriella: But mom, I'm almost done!

I was literally like Gabriella at parties – ok granted I was like 12, but whenever we’d go to gatherings with family friends I’d either bring a book or this tiny notepad and pencil I’d fold up in my pocket so I could doodle whenever I got bored or socially awkward. People would compliment my drawings and make requests so I guess it worked out?

Also the mums' fits aren't great, looks like they’re wearing theatre costumes.

YOU TAKE IT DOWNTOWN! 🔥🔥🏀🔥🔥🔥🏀🏀

Mrs Bolton: Did we really fly all this way to play more basketball? Troy and Mr Bolton: ...........yeah?

I relate to this because my mum would also have to tear my dad and brother away from the beach volleyball courts when we go on holiday. I mean I play too during the year but I prefer to laze around or swim when we’re at the beach

“I don’t sing, I can't sing!” 10 seconds later….

"Some day you guys might thank me for this" This karaoke guy is hilarious, I choose to believe he is a fourth wall breaking omniscient being. It would be hilarious if somehow, Troy and Gabriella ran into him some day before getting married

Why are there screens showing the party in the back lol

Aaaaand the opening song! The one that started it all!!!!!

I love how no one cares about them doing the karaoke at first

So for Start of Something New I’d put it in A tier, it’s catchy and cute, and idk the instrumentation just sounds pretty 2000’s like it reminds me of the OG Winx Club score? I like how, despite the song literally just being them standing there on the platform, they make it interesting by having this progression through the song where at first they’re just giving each other shy glances, Troy is ready to leave after a couple of lines because he assumes Gabriella doesn’t want to do it, but then she actually joins in. Eventually when the music picks up, they start interacting with each other properly and Troy takes his jacket off, with Gabriella now grabbing the mic instead of standing hunched over. And once they’re into it, they have great chemistry! You love to see them open up and have fun.

Also Gabriella looks so pretty in that outfit and so cute when she’s nervous!

The way the karaoke guy stands up like he was right all along hahahaha. Cupid’s arrow has been shot.

Gabriella: I guess I better find my mom and wish her a happy new year Troy: Yeah, me too. I mean, not your mom. My mom. And dad...

Waaahhhh they’re so cute and Troy’s such a dork. Gabriella must have been so surprised to hear he’s the school’s number 1 jock boy LOL

Flip phones! I kept mine until 2015 but everyone thought it was so cool because it was a pink square shaped Alcatel with a full keypad B)

I feel like we don’t talk enough about the fact that Troy and Gabriella go skiing. Like is that unusual for a brainiac in this universe? Especially if she snowboards? Just imagine Gabriella tearing down the slopes and doing tricks :’P

[riahlynn101]

"Everything."

Trigger warnings: A major (very beloved) character is brutally murdered, and there's a whole bunch of other violence. Please, use your best judgement, and remember to put your mental health first :D!!

For those that want to proceed, hope you all enjoy <3

Summary: All for One goes toe-to-toe with All Might (again).

It ends in flames.

Note:

This post and all the tags underneath inspired me to write this story: https://www.tumblr.com/marunalu/715670959100690432/okay-i-dont-have-faith-about-this-but-it-would-be?source=share.

(All of the blogs shown in the post are amazing! And I can't recommend them enough!)

--

All for One has been around for a long time, and with that time, comes enemies. He’s had many. 

Various governing bodies.

A few no-name heroes that he made quick work of.

The Yakuza.

And some low-level villains that thought they could double cross him. 

But each of them was a tick on his to-do list. Nothing but hosts from which he can quirk shop. Truly only one (does it count as one if there's a never-ending line of them?) of his enemies given a run for his money. And he means that in the worst way possible. 

All Might. 

He hates the man. 

No. 

Hate is not a strong enough word. 

Loathe? 

No. 

If he had to settle on a single word, All for One would have to pick: Abominate. Yes, he abominates the showboat of a man. The stupid blond oaf with his brother’s stolen quirk. 

The man who took everything away from him. 

It must be fate that he gets to fight him once again. Kamino hadn’t been a fair fight (neither was the one before that one), but All for One is willing to let that go (no, he isn’t) for this chance to put All Might in his place. 

They make eye contact. 

All Might smiles at him. His briefcase and car unconfigure themselves into a mechanical suit, giving him the barest of protection.

He smiles back. He smiles so hard, his face hurts. 

“All Might!” He practically screams, landing hard. The ground shakes. “Come to die by my hand?!”

When All Might responds to him, his voice is muffled by the mechanical machinery - robotic and a little staticky. It reminds him of their fight in Kamino, though it had been his own voice at that time that was muffled and changed. 

“I won’t let you get to UA!”

He grits his teeth together. A familiar burning sensation builds in his chest, creeping up his throat (not yet). 

“And how, pray tell, are you going to stop me?! You playing Iron Man will slow me down - at most.”

“Slowing you down is all I need to do.”

Something twists in All for One’s chest.  

“For Midoriya Izuku?!” He asks, flinging himself out of the way of an oncoming robotic fist. He uses the split second of the suit regaining its balance to throw a punch of his own. The impact leaves his fist and funny bone ringing, but he does manage to dent some of the metal. 

“Deku-”

For a second, All for One is transported back in time.

A time where his main concern rested with wiping his son’s tear-stained face, because someone decided to dissect his wonderfully unique name and twist it into something ugly and unbefitting of someone so, so…. good….

He remembers the anger he felt upon hearing the dreaded nickname for the first time. How much his son had shook in his arms, trembling and hurt ( they hurt him. They hurt him so badly, no amount of hugs and rambling about quirks made it better.) At the time, he elected to do the morally right thing (mostly because he couldn’t risk leading anyone back to his family), and went straight to the boys’ parents. 

The group of boys were scolded and made to apologize to his son. 

His son had beamed at him. Sunny and whole again. “I think Kacchan wants to be my friend again. He said sorry, which means everything’s all better.”

Hisashi found himself secretly hoping-despite his experience of knowing how these things play out-that his son was right. Anything to keep Izuku smiling at him. That smile means everything to him. 

But….

….everything wasn’t fine after that. 

The little brats went right back to teasing and poking and prodding his son over minute differences. Every little flaw of his son’s was judged swiftly and harshly, being tied back to that horrid nickname. And that little smile he loved and coveted so much.... slowly went away. 

All for One’s throat burns - the quirk almost has a mind of its own, crawling up his oropharynx. It waits (impatiently) for its chance at being used. Too long it’s been since he could use his favorite quirk. 

“Do not,” He starts, combining a minor strength enhancer with a spike mutation, “call him that!”

All Might-the bastard-dives out of the way. His suit creaks. “That’s Young Midoriya’s hero name! Deku’s the name of a hero!”

A tear-stained face with a runny nose pops into his mind’s eye. He can see it so clearly, like his son is right in front of him. 

“Shut up!” His voice shakes the ground.

“No!” All Might gets a hit in, using the momentum from the ground shaking to get closer. “I will gladly fight to protect Deku! My boy-”

All for One thought processes screech to a halt. 

His boy? 

His boy?

No! No! No! No!

“He’s not your boy! He’s never been your boy!” 

Even behind the mask of steel, he just knows All Might is smiling. “He. Is. My. Boy!” He pauses after each word, as if giving All for One some time to process what he’s saying. “I may not be his father, but I have seen him grow! I have seen him become the best version of himself!” A metal fist makes contact with his face. It stings and he lands thirty or so feet away. “I have seen him thrive and fail! I held him after his nightmares and kept him nourished when he was out hunting you! That boy is my son!”

The burning sensation creeps upward, he can feel it in the back of his mouth. All for One suppresses it. 

His body trembles. He blames it on the effects of rewind, which seems to be slowing down (as he appears to be the same age as when he arrived but hasn’t completely disappeared because his injuries from being punched are completely gone). It’s definitely not because he feels the stabbing pain of jealousy. 

(His son replaced him.)

“How dare you!” He bellows. “You took everything from me! My empire, associates and connections, and everything in between!” He dodges another of All Might’s attacks. He airwalk to propel himself right at his nemesis. “But I could live with that!” Water drips down his cheeks. 

Is it raining? 

All Might staggers backward but struggles due to the robot’s bulky nature. 

“I’ve lived with worse! I can always rebuild my empire!” His voice shakes a little, but he doesn’t waver even the tiniest bit. He punches the front of the machine, sending it toppling to the ground. “But one thing I can never forgive you for, the only thing that can’t be replaced or rebuilt, is my family!” 

“What are you talking about!” All Might shouts, trying his best to scramble backwards. (Keyword: trying).

“My family! You-you took me away from them!” He stalks forward. “I couldn’t go home after you…” All for One swallows, looking down. “My wife and child needed me! They needed me and you took me away from them!”

When All Might speaks next, it’s not in the expected tone of a haughty hero. “I’m sorry, All for One.”

He waits for the backhanded insult, but it never comes. 

“You’re sorry?” He falters. What’s happening right now? How does he proceed? His mouth is uncomfortably warm, but nowhere in his thousands of plans did he have All Might apologizing to him. 

“Yes- sorry I couldn’t incapacitate you sooner!”

All for One is on guard once again. This- this is the tone he’s come to know. 

“I’m sure your family is better off without you in it!”

The blond oaf’s words hit him like a freight train. They hurt. They hurt and All for One wishes they didn’t! And they shouldn’t because none of it is true!

He remembers hearing the doctor’s droning voice reading his wife’s letters to him. They all more or less read the same: Izuku is inconsolable and wants his dad to come home. 

He thinks of how tightly his tiny family would cling to him after he came home. They would lay together for hours on end, watching movies, cuddled up and happy and content with each other’s presence. 

He thinks of his wife’s almost compulsive need to run her fingers through his hair. (Height difference be damned. If his wife wanted to play with his hair; she found a way). 

He thinks of his son clinging to him during thunderstorms, or after a bad dream. How they would sit on the living room couch, and Hisashi would rock his too-tiny son side-to-side.

Before he can think better of it, “fire breath” escapes his mouth. He douses the suit in flames, listening as All Might screams in pain. Being cooked alive inside a makeshift oven can’t be fun, but then again, neither was having his face ripped off. 

“You are not his father!” All for One yells over the muffled sounds of screaming. “I am! He is my boy! You are nothing! Nothing! Worthless! Nana Shimura is looking down at you in shame! Shame!” He has to pause his rant to gulp some air down. His heart beats erratically inside his chest. “Izuku Midoriya is mine!”

And, as the screaming abruptly stops, All for One sets his sights on his primary target. 

Next stop, UA!