#because SO much of it was about tex and her father and being the best and not losing and if her father was wrong and bad

[fischiee]

#i think there's something to be said about like #i think there's (or that there Was) this awful terrible messy part of her that wants to keep with the assumption that her father is right? #that all of the bullshit and danger and pain and paranoia and self loathing Meant something? that she was a part of some grand noble#purpose? like it isnt that she doesnt want york to be right so much as she doesnt want her father to be wrong? #(her however many years in hiding tho. how much of that was spent mulling over and accepting that her father used her. used all #of them? yeah it might have Started with trying to lend to the war effort and in a way avenge her mother and the life she never got to have #but eventually it all came back to allison. worst wifeguy in the entire universe #theres probably some part of her that wishes he'd Told her what was happening? trusted her and respected her enough to let her in on the #schemes? - lmao the resentment and bitterness ans sense of Betrayal when the director is Clearly more interested in tex #also that like???? york is siding with tex! gut punch betrayal: the sequel #did anyone fucking look for her after the got tossed off the cliff?? #or was it just. out of sight out of mind the moment it became clear eta and iota were already gone? #(theres also the whole. washington in s6 i think and his whole 'they need to pay for what they did to me. and to my friends' vs like #epsilon (and kinda by extension lina) and the whole 'we trusted him and he lied to us. and used us. and manipulated us. for What. this #shadow???' like!!! #this is so tangential lmao. but i really do think that york understood like. it was never about him and tex? their betrayal wasnt the one #that was making her stay? the 'i get why she did what she did. i just wish she hadnt' or whatever #ololo. anyways #rvb nonsense [via @favvnsongs]

FAVVN DON'T DO THIS TOO ME

something that really gets me is that we see so much of york being wholeheartedly dedicated to carolina

we see him staying up late to watch over her, following her orders to a tee, not leaving her side when she’s in a coma, coming back for her and rooting for her even when she loses

AND YET his choice ISNT to stay with her!! he’s such an interesting character bc from that choice alone - to not only turn against her but ask her to change her ways - we see how he truly believed in carolina and believes that she is good. we see so little of him outside of the context of carolina and yet we know so much about him from actions like this!! york wants to be good and to do right, and he will make sacrifices for that, even if the bridges he has to burn in order to do so haunt him forever

[agentbuckshot]

I think a lot about the fact that all of the female freelancers, not just Tex were designed to fail in one way or another. For Connie, she was told she would never meet the skills of her colleagues, which put her in such a position where she was doomed to snap, and a position she was doomed to be hunted down loosing it. Carolina was taunted with the brink of failure, her whole life she believed what was perfect was being at the top of it, this was only really fueled by the Director. While not directly ever said we can assume this was the only way Carolina could see herself close to her father. Then it was just taken away from her where failures piled up on her and up on her causing her to become obsessed with someone she can literally never beat. South was the control variant of an experiment, South was forced to snap constantly and was punished for doing so. She was constantly taunted like a dog. Even Ohio, all she’s ever known was failure, she and the triplets tried and tried to make themselves known for being more then bottom of the barrel freelancers, but never succeeded until they were just left for dead

Project freelancer egged all of them on so much to the point where they can only be known as their worst qualities and the writers did an excellent job at this because most of the fandom thinks of them similarly. All of their worst qualities were just fueled and fueled to the point where during the freelancer arc, you can forget their good qualities. I think South’s the best example, because so many people can’t see her as more then a backstabbing short tempered bitch, rather than a highly skilled, well organized, timed and motivated killer, who can fucking hide amongst pipes and wipe out guards without a sound, while sometimes over her head can and will defend herself. Or Carolina, became selfish with obsession, to the point where she’d betray her partner and friends, in favor of pursuing her idea of success, because in the program, there wasn’t another way

I’m in no way a South apologist, but honestly, I feel like all the female freelancers, all had such strong themes of failure in their lives, some were able to overcome it and become so great and badass, some accepted it and became happy, and some were killed for it

[starrclown]

How'd you rank each HB episode from worst to best and why?

Ooooooo! Hi Mutal!! Here's my list!!:

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Pilot (No I don't care it's not canon): 7/10

Why: This episode is nice. It's a introduction to I.M.P, the kid is a asshole and it's funny. The only thing I don't like is that the baby in the stroller died. :(

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 1 Season 1: 10/10

Why: Genuinely this is my favorite episode. I can and will make a whole other rant about this episode. I love the dynamics everyone has. The joke make me laugh, I love the antagonist and the family. (I love the family so much.) The only thing I don't like is Stolas. I know he can hear Blitzø getting shot at because when Martha says she can hear Blitzø and Blitzø curses, Stolas says "Annnyyywayy." Go back and check. Genuinely love this episode. So much.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 2 Season 1: 5/10

Why: Stolas is a horrible father. Octavia is cool though. ALSO STOLAS MAKES BLITZØ UNCOMFORTABLE AND NO ONE SAYS ANYTHING. I hate that owl man. But that episode introduced me to Stella so it's fine.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 3 Season 1: 7/10

Why: Verosika was cool. Tex was cool. I liked this episode!

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 4 Season 1: 8/10

Why: Most people don't like this Episode but I like it! It has issues but it's what this show should have been. I.M.P fucking around in the human world.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 5 Season 1: 9/10

Why: This Episode proves that Striker and Blitzø are a better couple than Stolas and Blitzø. As a Southern Belle myself I liked them in the country. (I hate being from the south, it's complicated.) Only think I didn't like is that this is Moxxie Episode and not a Millie one. ALSO STRIKER WAS A BETTER VILLIAN IN THIS THAN ANY OTHER EPISODE!! Striker also makes some good points.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 6 Season 1: 4/10

Why: OH WOW! BLITZØ, WHO IS LITTERALY AT STOLAS'S MERCY IS AGAIN UNDER STOLAS'S MERCY!! IT IS SHOWN THROUGH THE CHAINS! WOW!! 🤯💥 (This episode isn't exactly bad but Blitzø is being abused, plain and simple.)

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 7 Season 1: 8/10

Why: Loved how they called out Stolitz and I liked how Ozzie ans Fizz are jerks. It was great. Miss that so much. House of Ausmoedus slaps.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 8 Season 1: 6/10

Why: Don't like Beelzabubs design but I like her personality. Loona and Blitzø had a soft moment. It was fine.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 1 Season 2: 0/10

Why: Hate this episode. Hate how they met as kids. Hate how we don't see little Barbie. Hate how they treated Stella. Hate how they mad Blitzø the abusive one. Hate how they wussified Stolas. Hate hate hate this episode.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 2 Season 2: 3/10

Why: Octavia got sidelined. The pacing was off. M&M didn't need to be there. Lonna's spech is awful. Blitzø's wasn't in the room.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 3 Season 2: 5/10

Why: It was fine. Crimson was fine I guess. Moxxie's mom I think is one of my favorite characters ever. Crimson should have died. Chaz was annoying as fuck. Hate how they sidelined Millie tho. Love Blitzø but he didn't need to be there.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 4 Season 2: 2/10

Why: This episode is messy and Striker is such a weakling in this. I also hate how Andrelphus and Stella are. It's icky.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 5 Season 2: 0/10

Why: Don't act surprised.

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 6 Season 2: 4/10

Why: I am not a BlitzFizz shipper. I actively hate the ship. Their brothers in my rewrite because I feel like it fits their dynamic more. This episode was average. Hate how the circus burned down because of a cake. Also hate how they pinned that on Blitzø. He knocked over a cake. Really?

☆★☆★

Helluva Boss Episode 7 Season 2: 5/10

Why: I was bored. FIZZAROLIE BECAME SUCH A LITTLE BITCH!! I HATE HOW THEY WUSSIFIED HIM!! Mammon was just boring. Wasn't my favorite.

Sorry if this seems scattered. I didn't wanna yap to much incase Tumblr had a word count.

Thanks for the question!!

(This is fun!!)

- ⭐️StarClown⭐️

[vertumnanaturalis]

so uh. arts not been arting for me the last few months, lots of complicated issues at play with that, but my exo brainrot is unending and I've taken to designing npcs in the sims when I feel the design need but art is shrimply not happening. These ones are of varying degrees of canon-ness and importance, pretty frequently picked at random or because I previously made a family member or partner of theirs.

I tried to group them together by family or age or work relation but god does Tumblr not like large images so forgive me for the spam. I'll add names/pronouns/relevant ages under them; Strato-side kids closest to Sol's age will have 3 designs, each while Strato-side teenagers between Tammy and Kom's ages will have 2 each.

Under the cut if you dare (warning! Spoilers mentioned & extremely image heavy)

Also uh. you will notice that a few of these people aren't on the current npc list or don't match with it's info. Long story short its getting some refining and that included some new kids and other changes that required a lot of pulling things out from the roots. one of those things playing into why arts not been arting while.

Anywho;

Arroyo - he/him - ages 12 / 16 / 19 - The younger son of the Stratospheric's original Chief Steward, a future member of expeditions, a convienient and accidental scape goat for people to reason away Dys's crush on an unseen pretty boy, though they don't actually have any strong opinions on one another

Simplicity "Plic"/"Lis" - she/her - ages 12 / 16 / 19 - Lazy girl born and raised in the creche, supposedly she helps out in the depot, she might "date" Nomi down the line (but by date I mean "we say we're dating but I think we might just be hanging out because neither of us know what to want or expect from a romantic relationship", there's no hard feelings after it ends) if Nomi doesn't end up with Rex or Sol

Peregrine "Penny" - she/her - ages 11 / 15 / 18 - A perfectly nice girl, but fades away in the crowd, she likes to tease the other kids a little too much, one of the passionate romances referenced in the endings where Cal doesn't settle down with Sol Tammy or Anemone, it is not a pretty breakup

Evanescence "Evan" - he/him - ages 11 / 15 / 18 - The spoiled only child of two older parents, a prolific momma's boy in childhood but a heartthrob with a bad reputation later down the line, another one of those passionate romances mentioned in Cal's ending text, with his being the last before Cal settles down with the farmer from the Heliopause

Philosophy "Sully" - they/them - ages 10 / 14 / 17 - The only child of a single father who works in engineering, loves a good game of sportsball but has no interest in the rest of what the garrison offers, the middle of Cal's three passionate romances and the only one to end on good terms

Opulence "Opal" - she/her - ages 14 / 19 - Friendly and absentminded, she can never resist a good piece of gossip, she dreams of starting Vertumna's first offical news source, her oldest child is born about a year after Echinacea (and Sol might even deliver him!)

Vertex "Tex" - he/him - ages 14 / 19 - The older son of the ship's original Chief Steward, a punk who likes to get dangerous with the wildlife and a tendancy to take things too far

Tempest "Pem" - she/her & they/them - ages 13 / 18 - Rebellious older girl whos behaviors only gotten worse since losing a father during the Stratospheric's crash, rude and obnoxious to the adults but always has a soysweet on hand for the kids

Chrysocolla - they/them - ages 13 / 18 - creche-born kid and resident class clown, the smart kid who doesn't put in the effort after seeing the younger geniuses around them, takes a painfully long time to confess to their best friend

Coriander "Cory" - he/him - ages 13 / 18 - Quiet and plain-looking boy who helps out in the kitchens, he struggles to stand out next to his sisters, feeling like the lesser triplet for not being identical

Scallopini "Pina" - she/her - ages 13 / 18 - A cheerful girl who both has more energy than the rest of her family combined while still remaining total chillax, started dying her hair blue so people could tell her and her sister apart

Amaretto "Ame" - she/her - ages 13 / 18 - A meek but passionate girl, she feels like she was born in her sisters contrast, struggles to find her sense of self when the most unique thing about her is that she's got nothing unique at all

Falchion "Kion" - he/him - ages 13 / 18 - Teenager who seems desperate to find his place in life, often making dangerous mistakes in the process

[Left] Hyacinth "Cici" - she/her - age 17 - A young sniper from the Heliopause, the future Chief of Security in timelines where Sol and Anemone are not and Vace hasn't handled his issues yet

[Right] Lunation "Luna" - she/her - age 19 - Previously the Heliopause's current doctor-in-training, a catastrophic brain injury during the crash has drastically changed her life and put her on indefinate medical leave

[Far Left] Champagne "Champ" - he/him - age 9 - a young boy who starts out eager to grow up and become a soldier, but might find a different calling in life with help [Middle Left] Schnapps - he/him - age 40 - A cook from the Helio who takes the culture shock better than most, has a weekly card game with Nomi's dad [Middle] Crocus "Cro" - she/her - 38 - A cook from the Heliopause who prays in secret that her children do not die child soldiers [Middle right] Affogato "Affie" - she/her - age 13 - One of the teenage soldiers who follows Vace around, she's desperate to impress the older kids and will cruelly treat others like stepping stones to do so [Far Right] Meringue "Meri" - she/her - age 6 - The last child born on the Heliopause, she's destined to become a doctor when she grows up, she first gained an interest in medicine during gene therapy like Tangent

[Left] Harpsicord "Harrie" - They/them - 51 - An actual rocket scientist that ensured the rocketship got to Vertumna, Saga's doting wife and Evan's adoring Mada

[Right] Sagacious "Saga" - She/her - 46 - A sweet and loving auntie from geoponics who remains painfully oblivious to most well-known gossip, her casual tendancy to spoil and coddle her son drives Flulu up a wall

[Far left] Hibiscus "Hibi" - she/her - 35 - One of the surveyors in charge of rescues and it's acting emt, a control subject born from the same series of augment tests as Tonin, she's suited more to space than the planet the same way he is, Vertumna terrifies her daily and she fears for the futures of her teenage triplets

[Center left] Rumination "Rumi" - he/him - 46 - A talented guitar player who enjoys lying to children and is in a committed relationship with the bit, works in rescues with Hibi, holds the technical title of "Former Chief Surveyor" as he was the presumed next-in-line when Imbroglio abbruptly retired a decade prior, although he only held it long enough to laugh himself sick and walk out the door, he's the sole reason Utopia's accent is like that

[Center right] Paprika "Prika" - she/her - 37 - Mechanic in charge of expeditions equiptment and transports, has a hair trigger temper with certain subjects and a habit of spraying offending teenagers with the hose, the irony of her student/trainee Thicket being the biological-via-donation child of her partner and later her own biological-via-donation child joining expeditions are both frequent source of jokes for awhile

[Far right] Brassica "Braz" - she/her - 39 - One of the construction workers who had trained for that job specifically, has a lot of pratice mediating problems that her partner's anger issues cause, got on the ship by pretending to be in a relationship with a friend and convieniently "breaking up" once it was clear they were never going to form a family unit

[Far left] Revolutionary "Lulu" - she/her - age 28 - primarily a geoponics farmer, an on and off member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule, in a queer platonic relationship with Blip

[Middle left] Sorbet - she/her & they/them - age 27 - a steward who primarily works in the kitchens, another on and off member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule; she was the egg donor and surrogate for Benji (the young doggy boy npc)

[Center left] Habitation "Hab" - he/him - age 26 - one of the ships dedicated creche parents; part of a closed chain polycule of 4 people (no overlap with the greater geoponics area wlw polycule); loves his job but resents ship administration for passing him and his family unit over during the last round of children born in space, yet making him feel pressured into agreeing to surrogate one of the other children

[Center right] Oblivion "Blip" - he/him - age 26 - an engineer in space but shoved into more general work after landing; loves his best friend but her polycule stories scare him a little, you will never see his entire face, but if you did he could easily pass as Dys & Tang's relative despite not being related at all, the fourth youngest person to leave on the Stratospheric

[Middle right] Optimism "Tim" - he/him - age 26 - stuck to janitor duty in space but also shoved into other jobs after landing, one of the few people guaranteed to live to Sol's 20th birthday, the third youngest person to leave on the Stratospheric

[Far right] Jubilation "Jubee" - she/her - age 26 - same deal as Blip; she was the surrogate for the last child born in space (Enigma, the girl with the rainbow hair), and is still recovering physically and emotionally when the game starts; her twin sister Jamboree died before she left, but only one of them was ever going to be picked for the ship, she can't remember her sister's face anymore; the second youngest member of gen 2 after Utopia

[Far left] Coralline "Cora" - she/her - age 28 - the ships fourth dedicated creche parent on paper, she's frequently pulled to help on the farms after landing, a consistant member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule

[Center left] Pyromania "Sparky" - she/her & they/them - 29 - Originally just a part time security officer, her soldier duties quickly begin outweighing her cultivator ones, she started dying her hair like that when she found out the meaning of her name and keeps it another month every time someone calls it tacky, it's been 12 years; another consistant member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule

[Center right] Curarine "Curie" - she/her & they/them - 32 - A pharmacology researcher doomed by the narrative, the youngest person on the Stratospheric chosen for her skills rather than genetic diversity, she quickly disapointed Instance with her undriven personality, another consistant member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule

[Far right] Unity "Nita" - she/her - age 31 - The only one here who exclusively works in geoponics, she was four seperate farming wlw until the latest revamp forced me to compress her down into one, the last consistant member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule

[Left] Mangosteen "Maggie" - she/her - age 30 - Maggie's death when the Strato lands is unavoidable (as her infant twins Whimsy and Praline fill the role of "orphans from the wormhole crash" during babysitting), once a frequent member of the greater geoponics area wlw polycule but had been avoiding the dating scene after a really messy & very public breakup of her throuple with Yuzu and Cinnamon, she was a creche parent and a hydroponics farmer on the ship

[Right] Yuzu - any pronouns - age 31 - Yuzu doesn't 100% use the term wlw but does work in geoponics and either is currently or has previously been dating the same overlapping circle (though they've also been avoiding dating, but mostly because the rest of the polycule "doesn't want to pick sides"), they avoid Maggie's children like the plague

and that would be it for tonight lads, it is now night'o'clock and my hands are starting to hurt, I think I got all the right info down but if not I'll fix it tomorrow or whenever I notice theres a problem. If you've gotten this far I hope you've had fun looking at some of my little guys

[january-summers]

No one look at me right now. I started thinking about how the new season is going to undo one of the most defining qualities of Epsilon as an individual if that really was Tex in the trailer. Because of all the iterations of Leonard Church - Director, Alpha, Epsilon – Epsilon was the only one who managed to Let Go of Allison, to stop chasing her ghost, to be able to grow past that grief.

And then I started thinking about the fact that Epsilon is different from the two other Churches because of that, but why?

Because it was just the point in the narrative for him to get over her?

Or because as much of an impact as Epsilon left on Washington, Washington left his own impact on the AI. Washington, who was pretty social before Epsilon, who shows an emotional growth and maturity as the seasons progress, who encourages Carolina to find a balance between moving on and forgetting completely when it comes to her grief over her own lost love, York, left even the barest hint of a road map for Epsilon to have personal growth outside of his predefined Churchness.

Or because Epsilon was Alpha once, and he was reconstructed in Alpha's image, but not Alpha's image of himself. Epsilon is reconstructed in Caboose's image of Alpha. Caboose, who saw the best in Alpha and eventually learned himself how to let Church go, who, when faced with the option of saying goodbye or saving Church, chose to say goodbye even though it hurt him so much because he understood he couldn't erase what had happened even if he brought Church back.

And I feel like it matters that even though Epsilon didn't originally 'remember' Tucker, it was his mental image of Tucker who called him out on how shitty and stalkery the 'follow her down through the layers' thing was. And not just because 'Tucker's the snarky judgemental one.'

And I do enjoy the 'do we have to call them canon?' later seasons, because they continued this theme of closure and grief with (Caboose and) Carolina, except like Epsilon, she managed to confront her grief and move on. She might still love York, but she's not going to chase his ghost to the detriment of others, and she might feel like she's failed in her duty to Wash by letting him walk into that bullet, but they're going to get through it all together. She faced the thing her father did, and she did better.

I just.

Carolina said herself “Dad died when Mum did.” And yeah the Director lost himself to grief when Allison died.

Alpha was within the Meta, with Beta, when the EMP went off killing all the AIs in the Meta's head.

Epsilon managed to start healing from that bullshit.

Like, I'm pretty sure he reabsorbed the Epsi-Tex (Texsilon?) fragment he made when he did that, and that's where she went, but dude. Please. He was moving on, he had reached Acceptance.

Epsilon, who's entire identity is based on being someone else's memories, broke free from that in built script.

When Epsilon died, it wasn't chasing someone he had lost, or fixing the mistakes of his past, it was to save the people he had.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Tex, and I would love for Alpha|Church and Beta|Tex to have a happily ever after (they are way too dysfunctional for it to be considered healthy by normal standards but let them do them it's more entertaining that way) and I'm happy Epsilon's not dead anymore, but just let me lie here for a while having feels over the reasons why Epsilon|Church could do what Director and Alpha couldn't.

[somelosercritiques]

Helluva boss episode eight review‼️‼️

(I skipped seven because I decided I want to start with episodes I haven't watched yet)

The positive stuff

The voice acting was amazing if there's one that they'll get right it's everything that has to do with the voice work

There were actually some funny parts in the episode

Vortex is literally like one of four genuinely good characters in this entire franchise he just seems like a dude that would actually be cool to hang with

Finally, 40% of that song bee sung was good and the visuals were amazing

The negative stuff

Dear God where do I start with this one tbh 😭

Ok so I'll get one thing that confuses me about this entire world out of the way. This is less of a criticism or nitpick but more of a genuine question.

How the hell(lol) does time work in hell? Is there like a day night cycle? Are there hell timezones?? Is there a hell sun and moon??? How does time work in different rings???? Why do I keep increasing the question marks with each question I ask?????

But in all seriousness I just realized that there's time in hell so that's kinda weird to me

Ok now time for the actual critiques

I'll start with that God awful cotton candy song. Now to be honest I've never really liked Kesha. I don't hate her but she won't be on any of my playlists. I think she didn't technically sing the song but it's a Kesha song. Remember how I said I liked 40% of the song? Well that's because the chorus literally ruins the other 60%. It's so shitty and repetitive. Like saying two words over and over again is cocomelon levels of songwriting. Normally the chorus is the best part of a song but nope not here 💀

Bee as a character is very confusing in my opinion. Like when blitz was drinking himself to death why did she look sad?? She is the literal embodiment of gluttony. Like this part is genuinely annoying me the most why does she even care that he's getting black out drunk at a literal party? Is that not the point of those? And he has someone that could take him back home if needed so she should be even less worried. In my opinion it would've made more sense for tex to be the only one who cared about him.

Another thing that kind of annoys me is how much of an asshole loona is being for no reason. Bee showed her nothing but kindness and even was worried about her father but then she starts getting defensive for no reason?? Like girl you do realize you're lowkey picking a fight with a SIN.

Oh yeah and that girl that was bothering loona in the beginning of the episode was pretty much the average vivziepop female character. Bitchy and sassy for no reason and also did we mention she's skinny and white coded.

Luckily the last part of the episode was the funniest. When blitz starts breaking down on the couch I'm pretty sure everyone reading this had the exact same reaction as me LOL

Final thoughts

In all this episode was a waste of time and a strange diversion from the previous episode. The fact that this is a season finale is an insult to not only the fans but also all the episodes that came before it. This is more like an extra that should've been a short (like five minutes long). It would've worked much better. Or how about a better idea? Continue the plotline started last episode. This episode was a horrible way to introduce one of the most important figures in hell. 😭

Tbh I'm kinda dreading the next episode because I heard it was horrible and when the show started to decline but that's for tomorrows me to deal with

[twicethetrouble]

Late night realization:

Didn’t Simmons work with Tex at MOI? He was clean up with her. Have they ever talked? There’s so much potential there!

Ref: Runaway freelancer Simmons AU

Also how much better does Simmons thinks Sarge is as a father figure? Leaps and Bounds better?

How vague was Carolina when she gave Grif the shovel talk?

Oh god, Wash stumbling across the helmet Simmons wore at MOI and yeeting it at his head and demanding where got it (fearfully).

Something like that. Omg Simmons, Wash, and Carolina teaming up or doing some secretive shady skulking around when they aren’t actually up to anything.

Or wash gets a random nightmare about the demolition expert one night after seeing Simmons face.

Him getting fatherly for some reason because of Epsilon’s memories. Like a pat on the shoulder and the urge to threaten Grif. That’d probably be too silly to be real though.

….Grif getting jealous Simmons is hanging out with Wash and Carolina and not telling him what they’re doing or talking about.

Well they are married so there’s no way it’s anything that’d take his husband a way from him. He’s not even into Simmons like that so it doesn’t matter either way. Why does Simmons laughing and smiling with other people make him angry? Nah, can’t be him. Can’t be….. He needs a cigarette.

“Where did you even get that? I thought you ran out of cigarettes?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me what you’re doing with those blues?”

“They’re not blues, Grif! They’re freelancers, empathize on free.”

“Just like I’m free not to tell you where I got these.”

“So there’s more than one?”

“What does that matter?”

“…”

“…”

Simmons and Grif then wrestled for the cigarette pack he’s hidden on his body. Carolina walks in. They stop.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“….Get…. THE FXCK OFF HIM!”

“It’s not what it looks like!”

“Protect me lamp!”

-Yeah! Simmons did work with Tex on occasion, mostly for, as you said, clean up/demolition work. I don't think they talked much while he was on the MOI, at least not outside the mission. I think they both recognized each other in Blood Gulch, but kinda pretended they didn't. Simmons b/c he didn't want to bring attention to himself, while Tex was like "oh, That's South Carolina. Is he trying to be covert?... I'll let him think he's being covert. I have bigger issues than a run away demolition tech."

-As for sarge, Simmons probably thinks he's like the best father figure ever lol. (then again, the only thing he has to compare to is the Director, who was very much a dick to him, so even a half-crazy old man obsessed with war is loads better than that.)

-Carolina probably wasn't very vague about her shovel talk lol. She's not exactly the subtlest when it comes to, well, anything. She probably gave him a very detailed list of what she'd do to him if he so much as thought of hurting her brother. One that would have Grif terrified of even looking the dude's way for the next week lol.

-That would be hilarious! Unfortunately Simmons blew up his old armor as a sort of 'resignation letter' when he left the MOI. So not entirely possible.

-But wash being vaguely reminded of Demolition Tech whenever he's around simmons would be funny. Like he's just sitting there half-panicking like ''Why does this guy remind me of the demoition tech. is it because he knows a lot about explosives and once mocked me for needing to use c4 to blow up a suit of armor? I know he somehow knows how to explode armor with just an alarm clock but that doesn't match Demolition Tech's skillset. Does it???" He finds out later that Simmons and Demolition Tech are the same and he's just like "That's why?! I wasn't going crazy!" lol : )

and lol!! : ) Poor Grif cannot catch a break with Carolina around. He just wants to hang out with his husband and it is not working out at all lol.

Thank you!

[kachowthunder]

This is really important information anyone in the Cars fandom need to know about The Weathers Family...

༆ Strip is basically the father figure, Lynda is the mother figure, Cal is like Nephew who's basically a son now, and Tex is the weird Uncle-Grandpa. This is how is it.. Oh and Ig Lighting and Bobby are the unofficially adopted children, just because they're best friends with Cal and basically treat the Weather's Ranch as their second home; will come inside like it is their own damn house. They've never heard Strip curse though... so not full Weathers family. Actually they heard Strip curse ONCE. And that's because he stubbed his toe on the dinner table while Lighting, Bobby, and Cal where throwing a football in the yard. ༆ Strip might seem calm in the movies, but it is widely accepting that his southern butt is nothing but crazy once he's out of public eye. Sometimes, not even Lynda can tame him no matter how hard she tries... she loves him so much but girlie need a break from Strip sometimes; like, seriously, give her a vacation!! Poor Lynda is the only Weathers with a head screwed on correctly. Literally. Strip, if not in the cameras, is unhinged. Tex eats Jimmy Dean's frozen breakfast sandwiches frozen b/c he cannot go through the trouble to unwrap them. Cal is... basically Strip Jr. (/j), and Lightly and Bobby... are Lighting and Bobby. The most unhinged you'll get Lynda is when she starts preforming derby stunts again; then you'll have chaos reigning over the Weathers family. ༆ Strip has gotten String cheese banned from being served in the Dinoco tent. He has also gotten Dinosaur chicken nuggets banned from being served in the Dinoco tent. This is because he cannot handle that food properly. He bites into cheese sticks and traumatizes Cal with gore scenes of dinosaurs eating each other whenever those food items are out. Tex almost had a heart attack when he first saw Strip chomp into a cheese stick. He thought Strip was the devil himself for a few minutes... But, lowkey, he probably is. And we'd still love him for that. Because we love the Weathers Family. ༆ Lynda's word is always final. Always. Don't question her. Ever. ༆ Tex... thought joints were joints and not joints; Strip was not amused (/ref to that one drawing) ༆ Cal was totally abandoned by his family.. probably most likely... left on Lynda and Strip's door step by Strip's like- brother or sister or something. and like-

Lynda and Strip raised him like they were his own kid. ༆ Tex used to make little fake races for Cal when he was young! It was really cute. Strip and Lynda would participate and always make it seem like Cal was better at them at racing, just to boost his confidence. it's what made Cal start to love racing and now they plan to do it with every Weathers generation. ༆ THIS FAMILY IS JUST A CHAOTIC LITTLE SOUTHERN FAMILY WHO WE LOVE AND STAND /J ༆ AND JUST TO REMIND EVERYTHING, CAL'S NAME WAS SUPPOSED TO BE STRIP JR. AND HIS RACING NICKNAMES ARE 'THE BLUE FALCON' AND 'PRINCE'. PLEASE- DON'T EVER FORGET THIS BECAUSE IT IS REALLY, REALLY CUTE.

THIS- THIS RIGHT HERE- OMG AAAAAAAAAA

[akirathedramaqueen]

Wow, this is a comprehensive analysis. Lots of wonderful observations. I adore your ability to pick up so many things in this show.

For instance, I've never connected the starting scene in the IMP office in the 'Seeing Stars' episode with Blitzø promising to never replace Loona no matter what in the end. 🤔 And his breakdown in the TV studio a bit earlier makes so much more sense now, damn. It all ties to his little pushback he allowed himself after she acted horribly to his clients and hurt his business for literal months. And it still had such a big effect on him. It just . . . fuck, it all clicked to me.

Also, Blitzø not being able to comprehend what does unconditional truly mean. What he probably meant is unlimited, at least I suspect so—but indeed, the only type of relationship he can understand is some kind of exchange being behind that. To be useful. Not to tag along for one date. To give his body for one night. I mean, look at all his connections. He pays M&M's, his, as we found out, best friends. He cares for Loona, his own fucking daughter, and you think this is how it's supposed to be, but well . . . as stated earlier, he doesn't feel safe being stern in any way. He allowed to push himself around because he thinks that the moment he stops being useful to her, she leaves. And he'd rather be diminished and humiliated in front of Tex than stand his ground.

I do think though that 'self-forgiving journey' is a bit of a stretch when it comes to self-hatred issues. We see that Cash conditioned him to believe he's only worth as much as he can provide. We see him showing that quality throughout all his relationships.

And the problem is . . . this is an integral part of him now. You can only do so much to help it. I doubt there will be a day when Blitzø will wake up and, quote-unquote, forgive himself. It goes way back: before the fire, before the events of 'The Circus,' even before his conscious self started collecting memories. It goes all the way back to his father, who never valued him for what he was. And this is not something you can scorch out of yourself, however much you try. This is the background noise of your mind, infested, part of your self-image.

But what he truly needs is to not let this part of himself, ever-doubting, self-demeaning, self-sabotaging self rule his life. He should not build his decision-making process around his worst vision of himself. And I do believe he can grow past the point where he's just acting on his sheer fear of intimacy, of being hurt again. But it's not going to be a cure to his self-hatred. This is important to understand.

Also, he needs a stable support system—which he thankfully sort of has, as we were shown with Millie, but the issue is, Millie can't be there forever. She has her own life and even here, in this episode, we saw her being torn between two men in her life who crumbled and her already not being able to help both, being forced to choose.

I remember us talking with @lost-romantique about it, and what we found out was that Stolas is actually a perfect fucking candidate for that. With his ability to love truly unconditionally, with his capacity for sharing and repeating again and again and again that Blitzø is kind and beautiful and gorgeous and resourceful and so many more things Blitzø forgets about himself all the time. The owl loves words, words is his love language. And words—i-love-you's, reminders, real life examples—are exactly what Blitzø needs. That and someone staying by his side no matter what. No matter how shitty he feels or how many mistakes he made.

Blitz and self-hatred, plus his self-forgiveness journey.

Aka, watch me try to make sense of the massive lore drops in ghostfuckers. (Long post alert, my first meta post after ghostfuckers dropped)

Section 1: The roots of Blitz's self-hatred.

The circus fire. We know what Blitz's actions were that day, he saw Fizzarolli, and tried to call for help, but then he realized that Tilla was also caught up in the fire, and instantly rushed over to attempt to save her the moment Blitz realized that fact.

We know that Fizzarolli getting severely hurt in that fire affected Blitz very deeply, considering that it was one of the memories in that slideshow.

If you look at this frame by frame, you can see some sort of face in the fire when Blitz is rushing to save Tilla from the fire. The face in that fire looks like a mix of an angry face and a screaming face at the same time. Signaling that Tilla has been consumed by the flames. That she's dead.

There's an interesting detail within the hallucination sequence as well.

"This is your life." The fact that the fire in this sequence starts right at Blitz's hand is really telling. It tells us that Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire. Blitz blames himself for the fire that severely hurt Fizzarolli, and the fire that killed Tilla. Blitz feels like he hurt Fizzarolli and killed Tilla, his own mother.

Look at Blitz's hand during this memory, you can very clearly see that it's quite badly burned, including some that haven't even fully scarred properly yet, placing this memory very shortly after the fire happened. During this scene, Cash hits Blitz, and it's very clearly a memory that still deeply affects Blitz, a memory that most likely reinforced Blitz's own self hatred, because he's blaming himself for Tilla's death and Fizzarolli's injuries at this point, and his dad is just rubbing that in a lot by getting extremely pissed off with Blitz and hitting him because of the circus fire.

Plus, just look at Blitz's reaction to this memory, look at Blitz flinch, look at Blitz starting to struggle against the chains the moment this memory comes up. Blitz's reaction to this just proves how deeply it affects him to this day, and also proves that Cash hitting Blitz added to Blitz's self-hatred over the circus fire. Also, just how many times did Cash physically abuse Blitz like this over the course of his life so far?

Finally, we have the memory of Cash keeping Blitz from seeing Fizzarolli at the hospital. "But they told me you didn't want to see me.", Cash lied to Blitz and most likely the hospital staff as well considering the 'they' used, saying that Fizzarolli didn't want to see Blitz again, having strong implications to Blitz that Fizzarolli hated him. He also lied to Fizzarolli and said that Blitz never even visited him in the hospital. Further adding to Blitz's self hatred over the circus fire.

Section 2: Everything that has reinforced Blitz's self hatred, and is important on Blitz's self-forgiveness journey.

Let's start with Loona, we see her two times during the memories sequence.

The first having this exchange of dialogue.

Blitzo: Because, I adopted you! And that should mean something!

Loona: Oh, what does it matter?! You're not my real dad! I was almost eighteen!

Blitzo: It still counts!

Loona: Well, it shouldn't! I didn't need you then, asshole! I don't, now!

Notice the word 'need.', it's something that Blitz has internalized by now, Blitz thinks that if the people in his life don't 'need' him, they'll just leave him. Another thing that this shows is that Blitz is worried about if Loona hates him.

And it's very clear that Blitz is still effected by this exchange in s1 e3, even quite a while later. In s2 e2, we see Loona kick Blitz right in the balls, and just look at Loona's face in this scene, what Blitz sees here is his fear that Loona hates him, which is why it's in the memory sequence, and there's also these pieces of dialogue to consider.

Loona: If I'm so terrible, how about you just grow a pair and replace me?

Blitzo: Okay, well, maybe I- Maybe I might.

Blitzo: Oh, Loona, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry, I'll never replace you no matter what you--

Blitz is still concerned that Loona hasn't forgiven him/hates him for saying that he might replace her, hence why he instantly says he'll never replace her the moment Blitz sees her again, and that face and kick in the balls definitely fed into Blitz's fear that Loona hates Blitz.

And this fear that Blitz has about people who he cares about hating him seems to be something that applies to a lot of different people.

We see this fear in Fizzarolli, because this is one of the memories that comes up in that sequence. The malice-filled stare Fizzarolli gave Blitz during Ozzie's, and we all know Cash was the reason why Fizzarolli hated Blitz for so long, because he lied to Fizzarolli and said he started the fire on purpose, and said that he never visited him once. Alongside other things like Cash making Fizzarolli the golden child. So even all those years later, Cash is still contributing to Blitz's fear of the people he cares about hating him.

Don't be mistaken as well, just because they made up in s2 e6 doesn't make this fear of Blitz's go away, doesn't make the pain of the malice-filled stare go away, which this memory being brought up proves.

And, as I've said before, Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire that severely hurt him, also adding to the fear and self-hatred.

Barbie Wire, we can see this fear play out with her as well.

"I never wanna see you ever!"

Looking at both Blitz's face at the time and the fact that this scene made it into the memories sequence, it just shows us that Blitz has this fear for Barbie Wire as well, just like how he had it for Fizzarolli. The fact that Barbie Wire doesn't even want to see Blitz again just confirms that fear he has, that Barbie Wire hates him, and the memory of it also confirms just how deeply her saying that effected Blitz.

"Are you worried I may have enough of it one day as well?"

Truth Seekers, the fact that this is Blitz's subconscious telling him this is proof of the fact he has this fear that Moxxie will get tired of Blitz's behavior, that Moxxie will hate him and just, leave.

And the sequence with all the dead Millies and her appearance in the memories sequence also confirms that Blitz has this fear when it comes to Millie as well. Plus, the sequence with the dead Millies also tells us quite a few things, but I think the main ones are the insecurities Blitz has that he 'keeps fucking people's lives up' and 'leaving them worse and more broken than he found them', which both add to the fear that the people in Blitz's life who he cares for hates him.

The last person, Stolas.

There's three memories in ghostfuckers of him I'd like to bring up here.

The first being the All 2 U song memory, just look at how angry Stolas looks to Blitz in this specific memory, while singing lines like "'Cause I don't think it meant a thing at all!"

This one, Stolas was literally just crying a moment ago with all the makeup streaming down his face, but Blitz doesn't seem to remember that fact, instead, he's more focused on what Stolas said, more specifically, "You! Why are you here? I don't want you here, go home, please! Let me not feel so sad!"

And the final one, Stolas and the BTB guy. It's not jealousy, it's god damn heartbreak, especially considering the 'I mean you're a fucking prince. How could you ever actually care for an imp... Me? How could anybody?' Which shows us that Blitz thinks Stolas deserves a better partner, and then a guy literally with a shirt named 'Better than Blitzo' came in, with them dancing and enjoying each other, something that Blitz most likely wished he could do.

Plus, it had been around 24 hours since Stolas' confession to Blitz, and to Blitz, Stolas is already with someone else, someone 'better' than him. With the moment of the BTB guy kissing Stolas being all the confirmation Blitz needed, that he'll never be enough for Stolas, that Stolas has found someone better than him. That he's unlovable.

With all these three memories just massively contributing to Blitz's fear that Stolas hates him, and his self-hatred in general.

(Obviously Stolas doesn't hate Blitz, and that the BTB dude is a one night stand at most, but I'm speaking like how Blitz sees things rn)

Something else that's also relevant is this memory of Verosika, and the reason why this is specifically in the reel is because this was the moment that Verosika said "A reckless, heartbreaking freak!", all while Stolas was watching, which is something Blitz very clearly noted in his memories of the event, showing how much this effected him as well.

And to show that even more, this is the exact point that gets Blitz's tears flowing.

Another thing I want to quickly mention is that Blitz struggles to understand concepts and such of love, outside of a transactional context. Like, correct me if I'm overthinking this, but the 'unconditional support' card is yet another example of Blitz doing this kind of stuff. Everytime they give Blitz 'unconditional support', Blitz punches a hole in the card, with the one at the end being that Blitz has to leave M&M alone for one date, like, my babygirl, that isn't unconditional.

I also suspect that this has roots with Cash as well, considering that Cash was 100% the type of person to only see their value as 'how much money they can make him', and that the less they make for him, the less that Cash will 'love' them, something that is extremely clear in the difference that Cash treated Blitz and Fizzarolli on multiple occurrences. Like, here for example. Plus, there's also the fact that Blitz was bought by Paimon to be friends with Stolas as a kid.

And well, I think we all know what the biggest example of this kind of relationship has been throughout the show, it being something that only ended a few episodes ago.

Of course, I have to mention "I believe your subconscious is trying to tell you that you simply cannot fathom proper intimacy, but… also crave it as well.", which is something that is extremely intertwined with this subject, and the best example of this is probably s2 e8.

Something else in the memories sequence that this line from truth seekers also heavily applies to are these memories.

It shows us very clearly that Blitz is rather envious of the relationship that Moxxie and Millie have, because Blitz craves proper intimacy, so what Blitz sees is something he wants, but something he feels like he can't obtain.

Finally, the last subject I'd like to talk about is the fact that Blitz, hasn't really been able to see much of the good things he's done for the people he cares about or that he straight up doesn't know, by just being himself.

Blitz saved Moxxie from a life with Crimson and also busted him out of prison, Blitz gave Millie a life, a husband, and a purpose, Blitz gave Loona a home and a loving father, right before she was about to get kicked out the system, and Blitz gave Stolas the courage to stand up to his abuser, to allow him to choose for himself and get that divorce.

But, the sad part is that Blitz doesn't really see much of that.

Section 3: The progress Blitz has made on self-forgiveness journey so far.

S2 E6, the fact that Blitz and Fizzarolli was able to make up after so long removed a huge roadblock in the way of Blitz's self-forgiveness journey. The fact that Fizzarolli no longer hates Blitz. While there are still memories about Fizzarolli that still haunt Blitz, as I've shown in this post, this is still a huge step forward for Blitz being able to repair his relationships.

tbh, thinking about it, the memories sequence, and the other bits worked quite similarly to how exposure therapy works, which I believe has proven benefits for mental health. I know it wasn't therapy in the slightest, but I still believe that in the long-run, that memory sequence was important for Blitz to witness, as it tells us a lot about Blitz's self-hatred, something that is extremely important.

The first real heart-to-heart Blitz and Millie conversation, a lot gets brought up here, just exactly how Blitz has improved Millie's life for the better, confirmation to Blitz that Millie never hated Blitz and the fact that they're best friends. Of course, there's also Millie's apology to Blitz, with this conversation being something that Blitz desperately needed to hear, and I really hope everyone else eventually tells Blitz just how much he's changed their lives for the better.

And the second conversation between the two, the first thing that Blitz mentions is Millie's best friend comment, and that is huge for Blitz, because it signals the start of Blitz learning that people in his life can care for Blitz unconditionally. That Blitz can just have friends in his life, as the line "I- I've never had a real friend that I didn't want to fuck."

(hit the image limit, so time for timestamps!) Timestamp 24:31

(Timestamp, 24:45) "The bird got to you that bad, huh?", it just means so much to me that Blitz has finally admitted the fact that Blitz has feelings for Stolas, because it shows that Blitz is slowly, but surely starting to open up, and this is gonna be a huge thing for Blitz's relationships, including when Stolitz finally gets back together.

[geekgirles]

Loona, Blitzo, and their relationship

Spring Broken has focused on Loona and Blitzo and. I. Am. Loving. It!!

Something I love about the show so far is that each episode adds some level of depth to the characters while there's always room for much more. And Spring Broken and Loona were no exception!

But today I want to focus on Loona and her relationship with Blitzo.

Not gonna lie, I really loved how competent Loona was in this episode until she interacted with Tex (still, her way of acting around him was so precious!).

The pilot showed the most apathetic, sourly and jerkass side of her character. Under that light, it looked like she indeed only kept her job because Blitzo doted on her (and it still is pretty much the reason). But both the screen time she had in Murder Family and this episode show that she can actually be very competent, maybe even more so than Moxxie and Millie.

Her reaction to finding out neither has a human disguise and, therefore, they've all committed terrible crimes in plain sight says it all.

Besides, as I said before, before she spotted Tex she was incredibly focused on her job! She blended in, lured their victims away, and allowed I.M.P to land perfect kills.

Go Looney!

Not to mention, it was heavily implied that the only reason why she doesn't often go on missions with them is because Blitzo is very overprotective of her (we all saw the furry shaming look). So it wouldn't be surprising if Loona were actually better as a field agent, rather than a receptionist.

And now that I mentioned Blitzo... I wanted to talk about their interactions together.

At the beginning of the episode, Loona was so focused on the impression she'd left on Tex to prevent her affection for Blitzo slipping, she almost called him dad! While near the end they had a heated argument about their family and her adoption, when she said he wasn't her dad.

Quite the contrast, am I right?

Leaving aside the part of her who was probably just embarrassed at his antics before her crush, these two instances reveal a lot about their relationship, moreover, Loona's stand in it.

During their argument, she revealed Blitzo adopted her when she was still 17. But we don't know how long has passed since? Although, judging by Loona's characterisation, we could say it's been... 3 or 4 years tops?

Look at that. She spent her whole life not knowing him and she already sees him as her dad! Even if she doesn't want to admit it. Imagine, 3-4 years after being adopted and you already see the person who adopted you as a parent.

That actually means that their father-daughter relationship is actually a very close one. Maybe even similar to Stolas and Octavia's.

On the other hand, this also explains her refusal to admit she views Blitzo as such and her attempts at distancing herself from him. As I said before, she was almost 18 when Blitzo adopted her. As far as we know, she spent her whole life living on her own. And if being an orphan can be hellish in real life, imagine how it'd be in Hell! (Yes, I know I'm mixing two realities up, bear with me).

Loona's probably used to the feeling of abandonment. And it's even more likely that she shares Octavia's fear of being abandoned by her dad because of it. Trusting someone only to be left behind hurts. And what's the "best" way to avoid getting hurt because you let someone in? Simple, you keep your distance.

In other words, Loona doesn't want to think of Blitzo as her dad because she fears he might abandon her, and loving him would only make things harder for her.

But, whilst Loona doesn't want to be hurt by family, Blitzo is desperate for one. Despite everything, Loona is his baby and he would do anything to protect her and make her happy. I'd even say, there's nothing Blitzo desires more than being part of a loving family. And Loona and his employees are his best shot.

But his attempts at connecting on a familial level can be overwhelming, and even intrusive, much like Stolas' own way of dealing with his crush on him. Meaning he needs to learn to reel his energy back in, or he risks spooking his loved ones away.

Summing up, what these two need is a compromise. Loona needs to allow herself to be vulnerable with her dad, and Blitzo needs to reassure her of how important she is to him, without coming off as too strong. And I, for one, can't wait to see that happen.

[knock-off-krolmeister]

Made edits on June 27, 2022

An idea for a fic I had but will inevitably never write because there's no time is a Secret of Shadow Ranch sequel with not only Bess and George coming along but Ned and Henry as well.

Tex and Mary have a small, established side business of training horses together and Tex now has an assistant working with him to manage things so he has a bit more downtime; Dave's brother is on the mend now living with Dave and visiting the farm for regular therapy with the horses and helping Bet balance the books so she can be more hands on out on the ranch; and the Rawleys have a new cook who had a much more thorough background check and is an absolute peach. (Possibly a relative or friend of Mary's.)

Crime has picked up in the area somewhat that almost mimics stereotypical bank heists and train heists and cattle rustling like back in the old days around Shadow Ranch, though they're notoriously sloppy and not always the best executed. The local rodeo might not happen that year due to fear of it being a target. Cops are stumped and bullets and guns are hard to trace thanks to their handmade origin, made in what could only be nineteenth century bullet molds and carefully reconstructed guns based on historical models. Clothing fibers, if any, mimic materials used in clothing during the nineteenth century. The Rawleys mainly invited the Clue Crew down for (insert someone's birthday/graduation celebration, the rodeo) but worry that their ranch will be the next target and encourage the kids to cut the visit short.

The culprit is someone seemingly impersonating Dirk Valentine, even down to their clothing style. Charleena Purcell is roped in once again for questions and the crew has to start investigating Dirk's old haunts and the places that got hit. An attack or two is launched and the crew pieces it together that, when mapped out, the targets will form the fancy V for Valentine. Targets are possibly related to descendants Dirk might have had it out. Shadow Ranch is next.

Someone attacks the farm and it results in a loss of cattle and clue chasing, and eventually, the kidnapping of one Dave Gregory. Nancy manages to rope one of the robbers with her lasso, yanking them off their horse while Henry gets them in ruthless pin. Dave's brother almost shoots the surprisingly weasely, neck beard looking individual, demanding to know where his brother was taken to. Nancy tries to insist they call the cops first and follow due process, but Dave's brother puts a halt to that while interrogating the man, who quickly caves and tells them where the hideout is. The brother then mounts the robber's horse and tales off.

The cops are informed and called

Making edits from here on out. Not officially done yet.

It's revealed that Francis Humber did have a descendant--Dirk's child. Or, more truthfully, a child whom she convinced was Dirk's descendant out of grief, growing up on tales of an infamous outlaw father. This great-grandchild is an old west otaku who learned of the gold treasure left for Francis by Dirk, and heard the misguided old stories from Francis's child about her seemingly daring and charismatic lover, Dirk Valentine. They see Shadow Ranch as what should have been the eventual gang headquarters Dirk would have established after eliminating the sheriff, Francis the Bonnie to his Clyde. All very romantic, all very rose-tinted glasses ignoring the fact Dirk wasn't a Robin Hood but a thief who stole money from people who'd earned it, and so terrifying he could silence a whole bar.

Where it could diverge is the descendant seeing Dave as A. The last of two living relatives of the sheriff who got Dirk arrested (being the nephew of Francis's cousin Ellie) and wanting a repeat hanging as 'closure", or B. The last of two people closest to being related to Francis and wanting him as their "Francis" in their efforts to become a new Dirk Valentine.

The gang eventually tracks down the hideout based on a few more letters of Dirk's left for Francis as well Francis's discovered journal that was accidentally forgotten at one of the targets/hideouts. They find their lair, Dave clearly roughed up and now dressed in a much older clothing style.

and save the day, yada yada. This being the second time there's been big news surrounding Shadow Ranch in the area, more folks take an interest in the ranch and historians debate if the home should have been declared a historic visit a while back instead of being put on the housing market. Dave and his brother leave Shadow Ranch for good to find greener pastures where no one knows of their ties to Dirk Valentine and Francis Humber while the Rawleys sort things out with the local historic society.

Thank you for coming to my nonsensical TED talk

[tvckerwash]

I'm not sure about all the Freelancers, but I have a few ideas on a couple of them (utc bc this got kind of long lol)

I believe that Project Freelancer was originally created to cater to Carolina, and the environment was meant to push her to be the "magic bullet to win the war". I think this because we know that deep down, The Director does genuinely love and care for Carolina—She is his greatest creation, after all—And pfl being meant for her kills two birds with one stone: He keeps Carolina (relatively) safe far, far away from the front lines (so that she can't meet the same fate as Allison), and she gets the competitive, challenging outlet she desires that she wouldn't be given in the conventional branches of the military.

Carolina is her father's daughter, and I'm very fond of the idea that she takes after The Director a lot more than she does Allison—She's smart, passionate, driven, arrogant, and she wants to be the best—That's all Leonard Church. I think this adds a very interesting perspective to Tex; As it's not that The Director is just forcing Carolina to compete with the shadow of the memory of her mother, but that he's asking her as his daughter if she will make the same mistakes he did? Or will she continue to defy his expectations and show him that she is not him, and prove to him that there was indeed another path he could've taken?

And in the end, Carolina does both. She proves to him that she is his daughter, but she proves to him that she is also Allison's daughter. Where he failed, Carolina did as well, but unlike him, she had the strength to push forward and let go of the past, just like her mother would have. It may have taken years, and a helping hand from an AI fragment, a group of colorful idiots, and Agent Washington—But she did it. She took a different path, and he couldn't be more proud of her for it.

Going off of that, I think it'd be hilarious if York was pulled into pfl because he's Carolina's maybe boyfriend, and the reason The Director has no patience for him is because he does not like him. The Director might not be able to pull the "overprotective father with a shotgun" card, but he can let a version of Carolina's mother beat the crap out of him, let him take a grenade to the face, and blast a hole through the hull of a space station that he just so happens to be in with a MAC canon lmao.

Ct is another character that I find very interesting to look at, and as much as I talk about Wash I absolutely adore her and am forever going to be disappointed with how her character was handled in s10.

But anyway, I firmly believe that Ct is meant to be the youngest Freelancer, as her behavior in s9 comes off in a way that to me implies she hasn’t been in the military long enough to have had the type of behavior that is expected of a soldier really hammered into her, or at the very least her attitude and refusal to respect those in authority positions is what got her sent towards Project Freelancer in the first place. 

The only other Freelancers who openly question The Director besides Ct in s9 are South and Wash, and the way that they both do so still showcases a respect for the chain of command.

When The Director explains the reasoning for why South’s position on the board dropped despite the mission being a success, she simply accepts it. She’s not happy about it, but that’s the point: Her feelings are irrelevant, whether she agrees with his decision or not doesn’t matter—The Director is her commanding officer, and her job as a soldier is to shut up and take it.

Same thing with Wash, it’s not his job to question The Director’s authority, and his defense of The Director is undoubtedly influenced by what happened the last time he decided he wasn’t going to respect the chain of command. Wash paid the price, and he learned his lesson, so when Ct starts going down the same path he once did, he steps in.

They both know that Wash is trying to protect her, and that he can’t do so forever, so when she tells him that “They’re drawing a line between us, Wash! And it’s getting pretty god-damn clear what side I’m on.”, Wash knows that she’s made her choice, and that he can’t stop her—But he can try and mitigate the damage for as long as possible, and pray to god that she understands what she’s getting herself into. 

So, what role did Agent Connecticut play? Why was she recruited for Project Freelancer? I believe that Ct’s experiment is asking what would happen when you take an inexperienced, rebellious young soldier and put them into a group with a bunch of other soldiers who already have years of military experience under their belts, and have been conditioned to not question anything? What kind of impact would the group have on her rebellious behavior? Would she eventually concede and force herself to fall in line? Or would her attitude infect the others?

Alright I want to expand more on this reply and this reply I wrote because I was cooking and these thoughts are so good they deserve a whole post dedicated to them (this post will make more sense if you read those two posts I linked first btw, but it’s not 100% necessary lol).

I believe Wash’s role in Project Freelancer was to see what kind of impact a hyper-competitive, heavily individualistic focused environment would have on an individual who has previously been deeply embedded into the forced collectivist assimilation seen in the military, and vice versa; What kind of impact an individual of Wash’s inherently outgoing and collaborative temperament would have among a group of hyper-competitive, introverted loners.

Wash really stands out to me because he seems to outright refuse to compete with the other Freelancers. I mean, admittedly, all the guys in pfl come off as significantly less competitive than the women (which is its own can of worms), but Wash is the only Freelancer who shows no competitiveness period.

North for example, was not happy about Carolina showing up at the oil platform and voices as much to South. I think North’s displeasure is directly related to pfl’s competitive nature, because normally when you’re outnumbered and outgunned—As he and South were—You’d be very glad for reinforcements. So logically, North being upset about Carolina showing up must be because it will reflect on them poorly. 

Maine and Wyoming are characterized as sore losers—They were so pissed about Tex handing their asses to them that they were willing to seriously injury, if not outright kill her, by using live ammo and live grenades in a training exercise.

York’s competitiveness is portrayed in a similar vein to North’s, as in it’s very subtle. York was just as frustrated as Maine and Wyoming were, and I don’t see another reason for why he’d force himself to leave medical early after having a grenade blow up in his face beyond the longer he’s off the roster, the further down the board he gets.

We don’t see any type of competitive behavior like the examples above from Wash throughout the entirety of the flashbacks, but we do see a different type of behavior from him.

Project Freelancer creates an environment that is trifled with animosity, exclusion, and favoritism, and while The Director is able to fool the other Freelancers into perpetrating this behavior among their ranks, he isn’t able to fool Wash into it—In fact, Wash refuses to tolerate it, and he actively fights against it everywhere that he can.

When Ct is beating herself up over a failed mission, Wash is the one that goes to comfort her, and what kind of language does he use to do so? Language that avoids pinning the blame on Ct alone and instead puts it on the whole team. “It wasn’t your fault, Connie.”, “So the ball got dropped, we were all there.”, “Everyone make mistakes.” 

When Maine and Wyoming bring out the live ammo, and York gets injured because of it, everyone else is mad at Tex. But Wash? He’s pissed at Maine and Wyoming, it was their choice to use live ammo that lead to York’s injury, so he expects them to get punished for it—And he’s rightfully baffled at The Director’s refusal to do so.

When York shows up for the heist, Wash makes a point to approach Carolina about it. He understands that she doesn’t want to appear weak and unsure of herself in front of The Director, and that she doesn’t want to give her teammates any more reasons to dislike her than they already do. By approaching her first, he’s able to give her an out if she chooses to do so—And if she had agreed York wasn’t ready, then it’s Wash who York can blame for it.

Wash recognized almost immediately that Tex was going to get the brunt of the team's anger and outrage over York’s injury, and he makes sure to let everyone know that she likely kept him from getting killed. He also recognized that she was being set up to be excluded from the rest of the team, so the very first thing he did when he got a moment alone with her was reach out by making friendly small talk, trying to establish a connection so that Tex could use him as an entry into the team's inner dynamic. 

Now going back to the blurb I opened this post with, I ask these questions:

What would Wash—As someone who sees himself as one part of a bigger whole—Be willing to do in order to appease the people around him? What actions would he take to try and lower the mental burden that such a competitive and inherently hostile environment would put upon his teammates?

The answer? I think Ct puts it very well with this line:

“Some of us very specifically make mistakes, and some of us don’t seem to make any mistakes at all.” 

This line is meant to be seen as half Ct calling Wash out on his bullshit, and half her being genuinely upset over Carolina’s status as ‘Ms. Perfect’, because in Ct’s mind, Wash and Carolina are very much two sides of the same coin; Intentionally making mistakes that don’t get you or your teammates killed requires the same level of skill and attention to detail that it would take to avoid making any mistakes in the first place. This is why Wash’s talk about them being a team makes her so angry, and why she sees it as him trying to make excuses for her: There are no excuses for fucking up when you work with people who have to intentionally choose to make the same mistakes that you unintentionally do. 

uuuhhhhh idk how to end this post but I really love looking at Wash through this lens because it speaks volumes about him, and it adds so much more complexity and nuance to his already incredibly layered character. 

[sineala]

Holiday comics

This month I've been asked to talk about winter-holiday themed storylines! It's been miserably hot where I am; winter sounds nice right about now. I don't think many of the comics I'm going to name are going to be new to you. You can probably guess what they are! But maybe you'll have fun sitting down and reading them. Put on the air-conditioning and get some ice water.

Marvel has had a whole bunch of holiday issues over the years, and I'm not going to talk about anywhere near all of them. The most recent one I can think of is last year's King In Black Iron Man & Doctor Doom team-up, which features Tony and Doom facing off against a symbiote-possessed Santa Claus. I've never really enjoyed any symbiote-themed Marvel comics -- although I really liked the Venom movie, go figure -- so it's not one of my favorites, but it might be your kind of thing.

My favorite issue in this genre obviously has to be the Avengers vol 5 Annual. This was the annual that came out during Hickman's Avengers run. It's not written by Hickman -- it's by Kathryn Immonen -- and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the events of the run. You can read it without any familiarity with the rest of the run, I promise. It's definitely the happiest issue in that entire Avengers run. It's probably one of the happiest issues of Avengers that you will ever read. I had gotten into Steve/Tony comics relatively soon after this issue came out, and I remember seeing panels on Tumblr without attribution and not knowing if they were canon or fanart or edits. (I kind of enjoy the fact that comics fandom has this problem, actually, even if that means breaking people's hearts about that "solid dick" panel every so often.) And then it turned out they were canon!

You've probably all read it, but this particular annual is set on Christmas Eve. Almost all the team has cleared out for Christmas, leaving a skeleton crew to watch the tower. Specifically, Steve. Tony asks Steve if Steve's going to be okay before leaving for his private island. It's very sweet. But then the actual plot kicks into gear, and some kids who had been taking a tour have stayed to cause mischief, and it's up to Steve to stop them. And also, additionally, Tony and several other Avengers, because when Tony said "private island" he meant that he was shutting himself up in a bathroom with a swimsuit and swim fins and a crab floatie. Yep.

This is also the issue with the famed "Captain Handsome" line because not only is Tony a guy who has canonically used "Captain America" as his own password (good going, no one'll ever guess that) he gives everyone else their own personalized passwords to the tower, thereby making Steve identify himself as Captain Handsome, which I think says an awful lot about Tony.

Anyway. It's the best, and if you haven't read it, you definitely should.

Marvel also puts out a lot of one-off holiday specials that are usually anthologies of winter-themed holiday superhero stories. There were a few of them in the 70s under the title "Holiday Grab Bag," which I have not read. They were revived in 1991 under the title "Marvel Holiday Special." They don't do them every year, I don't think, but there have been a fair number of them.

So obviously these don't all have the Avengers in them, though the Avengers often make cameos; I skimmed through them just to check. It's also probably worth noting that although they are mostly Christmas-themed in nature, they aren't all entirely Christmas-themed; there's a story in the 2011 issue that has Ben Grimm and Kitty Pryde celebrating Chanukah, and the 1992 one has a funny story of Doc Samson attempting to tell children about Chanukah and embellishing it wildly to keep them interested, so that superheroes and nuclear weapons are now involved in it. He is not invited back.

They do have a few stories that might be of interest in the specials. The 1991 special has a story called "Precious Gifts" (by Len Kaminski, who you may remember from early-90s Iron Man) where Steve is volunteering at the VFW for Christmas (as Steve, not Cap) and meets a woman who wants to talk to him about how sad she is that her brother died in WWII and she doesn't even know how. Steve of course asks what her brother's name was. And she says his name was James Barnes, and that's pretty much when Steve's brain bluescreens.

This is Rebecca's first appearance in canon; she later shows up at the tail end of Jurgens' Cap run and then again during Brubaker's run; I haven't actually read either of those. MCU Stucky fandom really ran with her as a character, but here in 616 she and Steve don't know each other at all. He didn't seem to know Bucky had a sister at all, and she didn't know Bucky was Steve's partner, so after Steve figures it out he goes back (as Cap) to tell her about Bucky so she can at least know that Bucky died bravely, and he gives her a patch from one of Bucky's uniforms. It's very touching. I'd never read it before, so I'm glad I found this.

(I really like the scene with Steve interacting with the children at Rebecca's house, because I think it captures two key facets of Steve's character: (1) the angst about how he will never have a normal life and a family, and (2) his terrible sense of humor. "What's Thor like?" "Big." I feel like one of the things I would like MCU fandom to know about comics Steve is that he is, pretty much, Steve "Dad Jokes" Rogers. Not, like, as pithy hero banter, but in everyday conversation.)

This issue also has a Christmas-themed splash page of Steve and Diamondback that I think is pretty cute. Steve is holding up Rachel and Rachel is holding up Steve's shield so it serves as the star on a Christmas tree.

The 1992 issue has an Iron Man story entitled "Holidays on Ice." An ice-themed villain is angry that he can't find a job, so he decides to go ruin the Stark Enterprises holiday party, which was going pretty well until then. Tony suits up and of course defeats the villain handily and then offers him a job, because, well, he's a nice guy and it's Christmas. This is exactly who Tony Stark is, as far as I'm concerned. It's sweet.

The 1994 issue has a Cap story where Steve is chasing human traffickers on Christmas Eve (cheerful, right?) into a farmhouse "where [his] grandfather lived sixty years ago" because I guess someone didn't know Steve was the son of immigrants. Maybe it wasn't canon yet. Steve saves the kid and reminisces about Christmas, the soul of America, human trafficking, et cetera. I would recommend the previous Cap story over this one.

I think the last holiday special I can recall that had Steve and Tony actually interacting was a Gwenpool Holiday Special, and that was way back before Secret Empire (but after Secret Wars), while Steve was still old. I don't recall much about it except that they were attending the same party.

But the one of these that you definitely want to read is the Marvel Holiday Special 2005, which has an Avengers ensemble story by Jeff Parker; if you're familiar with comics because of their Steve/Tony potential, you'll probably recognize his name because he wrote several of the first issues of Marvel Adventures: Avengers, and though this is a early New Avengers-era story it definitely has that MA:A dynamic. It's not particularly shippy as far as the Steve/Tony goes but if you enjoy Comics Being Comics, you should know that this story is called "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santron!" and features the Avengers fighting, um. Santron. Santa-themed Ultron. Yesss.

Anyway, it has the Avengers attending a holiday party at the Sanctum Sanctorum, because why not, and it's generally amusing and has some great team dynamics and I love Santron. There is an unfortunate subplot involving all the male Avengers maneuvering to get Jess Drew under the mistletoe which I think was supposed to be funny but to me came off as kind of creepy. But other than that, I really enjoy this issue.

That's all I can think of as far as holiday special issues go, but there are of course issues of regular comics that just happen to be set in or near various winter holidays. I actually can't think of any holiday-themed Cap issues, but I can think of a couple of Iron Man ones. You probably think I'm going to talk about the second drinking arc, but I'm not -- well, okay, not directly -- because even though that definitely features winter it's not really very holiday-themed. But there are other issues that fit the bill.

Iron Man #313, published in 1995, is called "Resolutions," and I feel like New Year's Eve definitely counts as a winter holiday. Which is when it's set. It's by Len Kaminski, who you may remember from several paragraphs ago as the guy who wrote that story about Bucky's sister. Ha. He's clearly very good at winter-holiday-themed character moments, because that's what this issue basically is. If you've read it, you know exactly what I mean; if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's one of the only issues from this era of comics that I bothered to track down in paper.

So the entirety of Iron Man #313, pretty much, is about Tony going to an AA meeting on New Year's Eve and recounting his entire history of alcoholism up to this point. If you need a convenient refresher on Tony's drinking problem, this is actually a pretty good issue to pick up; there are later issues that recap Tony's alcoholism, like Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man #500.1, but this issue features the motivations and characterization that get the most play in fandom.  This is the issue where Tony recounts a New Year's Eve he spent as a child. The one where his father forced him to down hard liquor, which Tony did in an attempt to impress him. (Tony describes his father as "not a bad man," because Tony is not a very reliable narrator where his father is concerned.) Anyway, yes, this is that issue. It's dealing with the fallout of Tony drinking during the Vor/Tex arc, though if you love yourself I would suggest not reading the Vor/Tex arc and just reading this. It's good.

The only other issue I can think of that's at all holiday-themed is the arc toward the end of Iron Man volume 3, "You Can't Always Get..." (IM v3 #62-63), which is itself a sequel to "Jane Doe" (#51-52), which I would recommend reading if you enjoy Tony funding a women's shelter and generally being a really good human being. As far as I can remember, the first arc isn't holiday-themed; the second one takes place during the Christmas season, but the women's shelter from the first arc plays a big role here.

Mostly what you will want to read here is Tony and his girlfriend Rumiko going Christmas shopping in #62. The issue opens with them going shopping and Tony carrying all the bags and also taking Ru to go see Santa Claus. After that, they're walking down the street talking about what they really want. And Ru asks Tony what he wants, being as he's The Man Who Has Everything. His reply is: "Something money and power could never buy... something I've been searching for all my life. Someone to watch over me."

Fandom tends to feel like that quote is a pretty telling look into Tony's psyche, as far as I can tell. I think we all like it. So, yeah, that's worth reading.

I'm bad at writing conclusions, but anyway, yeah, that's all of the winter-holiday comics I can think of that are Steve, Tony, and/or Steve/Tony-related; I went through the Marvel Holiday Specials so you did not have to. Definitely read that Avengers annual if you haven't, though. It's a good one.

[gdiobie]

excuse me did you see alex fitzalan hanging around palmwood studios? oh no, that was obadiah " obie " shredder , the twenty eight year old actor who plays tyler colby on beautiful small untruthers. yeah, you know rumour has it they're - detached, and - smart aleck, but their fans all say they’re + endearing, and + inventive. around palmwood studios they’re known as the polymath. ( cis male, he/they)

BACKSTORY

obie was born in missouri , where he doesn’t care to remember and he’s never bothered to go looking in the shredder family records for his adoption papers. his birth parents were drug addicts.

obadiah was born on a stormy night , there was a tornado which is why he was born in a hospital instead of the trailer. it was probably the care he got as an infant that helped him turn out so  “ normal “ all other things considered.

his infancy and childhood up until age four was hell , obie has a photographic memory so he remembers every detail but refuses to speak about it to anyone other than his grandfather or therapist. tw ( think food insecurity and abuse. ) 

the state took obie into custody after he showed up to kindergarten with burn holes in his clothing and visibly unkempt. after being placed with an awful foster family , he and one of the older foster siblings ( wanted connection!! ) made a run for it. the two of them made it to texas where they were taken into state custody again , unfortunately the two were separated. this was only made worse by how large and unorganized the texas state government is.

enter the shredders. bud and annabelle already had six children when they adopted obadiah , they didn’t change his name saying it fit rather well already. turbo , keithan , drew , cooper , aza and noah were all so different that it took a bit of adjusting to really find his place in the new , large, loud family. 

bud shredder and his father tex ( we love pop pop ) are known for NASCAR , being some of the best drivers in history. they helped make the sport what it is with the oldest ( turbo ) following in her father’s footsteps until a tragic accident. annabelle is a famous writer and former teenage actress ( think s.meyer mixed with drew barrymore ) who has a very loyal and large fanbase , she’s basically been able to focus on her novels and being a stay at home mom.

obie’s relationship with his siblings is strained to say the least. at around eight years old , the six of them collectively played a prank consisting of them acting like he was invisible for a whole year. this fucked with the final coalescing of his personality and he developed a mild form of depersonalization/derealization disorder. struggles with the idea that he’s real ( like truly real and what he does has an effect on the world ). it generally manifests as an unawareness of consequences as well as an assumption that he is immaterial to life.

after cycling through every single after school activity and hobby the shredders would let him do, he settles on piano at ten and by age thirteen , obie auditions for the competition starspot and makes it to the live rounds. unfortunately , he’s not strong enough to go on as a solo act and is placed into a band with other hopefuls called two places. the group didn’t win starspot but they did grow a massive fanbase. shoutout to the travelers! 

his life changed after that , the shredders moved to LA to support his career which took off much to his surprise. going from ignored to adored was a challenge but for six years straight he was just going and going. deemed the smart responsible one of the band in the meantime.

after the contract was up , obie didn’t think he wanted to renew it or really go back to music. the media liked to portray him as the one who ‘broke up the band’.  maybe one day he’ll sing again but for now , he wanted something different. polymath brain craving to learn something new so acting it was , auditioning for tyler colby partially because the part was interesting but mainly because his childhood best friend was on the cast.

[willywonderfan]

Willy's Wonderland vampire hunter au part 14

(It is the next morning in Hayesville, Knighty Knight is making an announcement with Tito and Sara tied up next to him.)

Knighty Knight: Everyone, I've got an announcement to make!

Tex Macadoo: What is it!?

Knighty Knight: I'm done with my break from hunting vampires!

(The people of Hayesville cheer in rejoice, Knighty Knight, draws out his sword and stabs Tito's heart.)

Tito: ¡Maldito traidor! (You fucking traitor!)

(Tito's body is reduced to dust, leaving only his clothes.)

Sara: Tito!!!

(Sara looks up to see Knighty Knight about to do the same thing to her.)

Sara: Knighty Knight, please don't kill me!

Knighty Knight: I'm sorry, but I'm a vampire hunter, this is my job.

(Knighty Knight stabs Sara in the heart.)

Sara: I thought we had something....

(Sara is turned into dust, only her clothes remained, Knighty Knight starts to regret his decision. Freddy puts his hand on Knighty Knight's shoulder.)

Freddy: You did the right thing Knighty Knight!

Knighty Knight: Then why does it feel so wrong?

Freddy: Probably because your love is still messing with your head, don't worry, I've set you up on some dates with NON vampires to help you get over it.

(The Bloodmoon Elite find out about Knighty Knight choosing his reputation and killing Tito and Sara, Willy was in so much shock he couldn't speak and everyone else was crying. Toki's sadness quickly turned in vengace fueled rage.)

Toki: I shall avenge my husband and my friend, and killed that heartless bastard!!!

(It cuts to Knighty Knight on his 3 blind dates, the first date was with an accountant mouse named Jamie who he found to be so boring, the second date was with sassy flamingo named Mavis who he thought was such a bitch, he was missing Sara even more , then the third date showed up and it was a zebra named Eleanor, and she was a lot like Sara, she was cheery, kind, loved to laugh, and so full of life. He settled for her because she was closest person to Sara that he could be with now. Three years have passed.)

Eleanor: These have been the best 3 years of my life...

Knighty Knight: I was thinking the same thing...

(Knighty Knight was lying but he just desperately wanted to be with someone that reminded him of Sara.)

Knighty Knight: Eleanor, there's something I want to ask you.

Eleanor: Really, what is it!

(Knighty Knight bends down on one knee holds out a ring.)

Knighty Knight: Will you marry me?

Eleanor: Oh my god yes!

(They get married soon after and settled down in Knighty Knight's house. 20 years have passed, Knighty Knight's massive wave of guilt from killing Sara and Tito and from only being with Eleanor because she reminded him of Sara was starting to take a major toll on him.)

Eleanor: Knighty Knight it's been 3 years since we slept in the same bed, do you not love me anymore!?

(Knighty Knight didn't answer, he just kept thinking about what could've been if he chose love instead of his reputation.)

Eleanor: Ugh, it pisses me off that I can't even have a conversation with you anymore!

Knighty Knight: I never truly loved you, I just decided to be with you because you reminded me of Sara!

Eleanor: What the fuck did you just say, you vampire simping son of a bitch!?

(Their 16 year old son tried to calm Eleanor down.)

Jacob: Mom, please chill out!

Eleanor: Pack your things son, your dad and I are getting a divorce!

(She grabs Jacob and takes off.)

Jacob: No, please don't take me from dad, please no, father!!!

(Knighty Knight could only watch Eleanor take Jacob away from him. A year after Knighty Knight lost everything and ended up on the streets, Toki found him, still wanting to avenge Tito and Sara.)

Toki: I finally got you right where I want you, ya son of an asshole!!!

Knighty Knight: Just kill me...

Toki: Wait, you want me to kill you!?

Knighty Knight: Yes, I've drove my wife away, she took Jacob in the divorce, and I lost my house because I was too depressed to pay the bills, I want to die because I no longer have anything to live for, so please kill me!

Toki: Alright then, here comes what you deserve!

(Toki rips Knighty Knight apart, as Knighty Knight is succumbing to his injuries he utters his final words.)

Knighty Knight: I should've chose love....

(In the afterlife Knighty Knight sees Sara and Tito, he runs up to talk to them.)

Knighty Knight: Sara, Tito it's great to see you again!

(Tito immediately punches him.)

Tito: Well it's awful to sees you again you asshole!

(Sara walks up to Knighty Knight and he smiles.)

Knighty Knight: Sara, I just want to say I'm sorry and-

(Sara slaps him without hesitation.)

Knighty Knight: Ow!

Sara: It's too late to apologize you prick, I don't know what I ever saw in you!

Tito: Come on Sara, let's get the fuck away from this guy!

(The both start walking away and Knighty Knight frantically ran after them trying to apologize while in tears, the screen fades to white.)

The end...

Is what I would say if this wasn't just a dream!

(Knighty Knight wakes up in his room, he looks around and sees that Sara is still in his bed.)

Knighty Knight: Oh thank God, it was only a nightmare, but it felt so real, if that's what the future could be like if I chose my reputation, then I don't want to be a vampire hunter anymore...

The end of part 14

[introvertguide]

High Noon (1952); AFI #27

Our next film up for review is the not-so-standard western, High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards and took home four trophies for Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Song. Westerns at the time were generally focused on the flawless hero who everybody loves and the citizens that band together to fight the bad guy. The good guys were all good and the bad guys were all bad. This is not the case with current film and it was one of the few Westerns nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing (although these were the awards that the movie did not win). It is a genre film that completely went against type. I really want to continue but I realize that now is the time to go through the plot, so let us first give the warning...

SPOILER ALERT!!! I AM GOING TO SPOIL THE WHOLE MOVIE AND IT IS WELL WORTH SEEING SO DON’T READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU WATCH ON YOUR OWN!!! IT IS ONLY 85 MINUTES LONG SO GIVE IT A CHANCE!!! IT IS VERY WORTH YOUR TIME TO SEE WITHOUT IT BEING SPOILED!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember that the film has a run time of 85 minutes and this is the amount of time that passes in the movie. With this in mind, there will be no “meanwhile” or “while that was happening...” in this review. Everything is shown that matters and assume that time is passing for everyone in town whether or not they are on screen.

Three men meet outside Hadleyville, a small town in the New Mexico Territory, are gathered and ride over to the train station to wait for a train. The scene switches to the retirement and wedding of Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper), newly married to Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), as he kisses his bride and turns in his badge and gun. The happy couple will soon depart for a new life to raise a family and run a store in another town. However, word arrives that Frank Miller, a vicious outlaw whom Kane sent to jail, has been released and will arrive on the noon train. Miller's gang—his younger brother Ben (Sheb Wooley), Jack Colby (Lee Van Cleef), and Jim Pierce (Robert Wilke)—are the three men awaiting his arrival at the train station. It is not directly stated by the three men, but it is clear that Miller intends to exact revenge since Kane put him in jail previously. A glance at the clock shows it is 10:45. This is especially a problem since the new marshal won’t arrive until the next day and Kane doesn’t want to leave the town with no protection.

Amy is a devout Quaker and pacifist so the solution is simple—leave town before Miller arrives. They actually start out in their buggy, but Kane turns around and takes them both back to the jailhouse because Kane insists on facing Miller and his men. "They're making me run", he tells her. "I've never run from anybody before." At this point, it is assumed that Kane will get his deputies and form a posse to face Miller. He is the beloved retiring lawman and the town had banded together before to put the man in jail in the first place. Amy gives Kane an ultimatum saying she is leaving on the noon train whether he joins her or not. Kane says he has to stay so they basically split up literally minutes after being married by the Justice of the Peace. 

Kane finds one man that immediately volunteers and then goes to the deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges). Pell won’t help unless Kane puts in a good word and actually quits because he believes that Kane didn’t promote him to Marshall because of some old grudge over a woman. Kane denies even knowing about the relationship and Pell turns in his star and quits. Another person that Kane thought would help is Judge Percy Mettrick (Otto Kruger), who he finds packing up to get out of town because he doesn’t believe he will survive. The judge is the one who actually sentenced Miller, and believes the outlaw will want him dead.

Further dialogue reveals that Will Kane had stolen the lover of Frank Miller, a Mexican women named Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), and this was what prompted Miller to go wild and convinced the town to have him arrested. Kane is no longer with Ramirez and was not aware that she had been sleeping with the deputy. All together, it seems like Kane is not that great of a guy and that Miller has a legitimate grudge with him. The whole town knows this and some of them want Miller to kill Kane, so nobody will help him and he is again encouraged to leave. One friend named Sam Fuller hides in his house and has his wife cover for him. The old marshal is played by freaking Lon Chaney and he won’t help because he notes that members of law enforcement die and nobody really cares. Nobody at the church will help and even the one guy who volunteered backs out because he realizes it will be a slaughter. The only person who openly offers to help is a young boy, but Kane rejects that help and tells the boy to go home.

All this happens and is taking up the time before the noon train. Helen realizes that one of the men she loved will die and the lack of town support upsets her. Amy goes up to meet Helen and the two decide that they will go on the noon train together. Ramirez says she would stay with Kane and not abandon him, but Amy tells her own story of tragedy (she watched her father and brother die in a shoot out). 

Deputy Pell again expresses his anger at not being named the new marshal and so he corners Kane in the horse stables and demands that he be made made the marshal and Kane ride out of town. Their conversation becomes an argument, and then a fist fight. Kane finally knocks his former deputy senseless. Forlorn, Kane returns to his office to write out his will as the clock hits high noon.

Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) arrives on the noon train and his group of men are waiting for him with a gun belt. Helen and Amy get on the train as the outlaws ride into town. There is a very famous overhead shot which shows Kane all alone in the streets with a genuine look of fear, assuming that all of his friends have deserted him and he is about to die. The gang walks into town and starts shooting at Kane, which Amy hears from the train and she decides to go back and help. Kane is able to gun down Ben Miller and Colby but is wounded and hides in the stable. He escapes by hanging on to a fleeing horse but is again cornered by the outlaws at the jailhouse. Amy runs into town and takes a gun from one of the bodies and hides. She is able to sneak up and shoot Pierce from behind. Frank Miller sees this and takes her hostage to call out Kane. The marshal comes out and Amy scratches at Miller to let her go and Kane gets the opportunity to gun down Frank Miller.

Kane helps his bride to her feet and they embrace. As the townspeople emerge and cluster around him, Kane throws his marshal's star in the dirt, glares at the crowd, and departs with Amy on their wagon.

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I keep harping on about how this was not like any standard western of the time and I should probably explain more clearly now that the plot is known. Movies at the time focused on the American marshal as a pseudo superhero. They were honest and always on the side of good, they could ride horses and outshoot any outlaw, everybody loved them except bad guys, and women swooned in their wake. They also tended to be ruggedly handsome, tough as nails, and fearless. The antagonist, on the other hand, was completely wrong and had bad moral character. These bad guys mistreated women, disobeyed the law on purpose, stole, robbed, cheated, and had ugly scars. They traveled in groups in an attempt to intimidate people, but they were no match for the single good guy. But this movie changed everything.

An old marshal who just retired to marry a much younger woman sticks around town to fight a man whom he convicted to die. This villain had an issue with the old marshal because the lawman had stolen his woman. The deputy won’t stand with the retired marshal after being passed over for the job opening and many of the town members won’t help because they think the marshal should leave and let the new marshal deal with the problem. The marshal is scared and alone when he takes on the villains and it is his young bride who actually comes to his aid while he cowers in the jailhouse. At the end, the marshal throws his star on the ground and leaves without saying anything else. 

All members of the cast need to be commend on acting against character type because the general sense of fear at what was coming explained the realistic choice of most of the town running away. It is almost comical when all of the villains are dead and the entire town comes pouring into the streets and it is obvious that there were more than enough men to make a posse and easily protect the town. But the only person that came to help when it counted was a female 20-year-old pacifist Quaker. 

It has been noted by directors and film critics that this was not a very strong performance by Grace Kelly, especially when next to veteran Mexican actress Katy Jurado. Alfred Hitchcock later noted that she played a very meek part for such a strong role, but saw something in her (likely her blond hair and good looks) and gave her a much more fitting part when he cast her for Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. 

I could not find the film on any of the subscription services when I was looking to watch it so I had the DVD shipped through Netflix. This is a good way to go because I got to watch some DVD extras and learned that everybody and their dad was attached to the making of this film. The cinematographer was Floyd Crosby, the father of rock/folk singer David Crosby. The Deputy was played by Lloyd Bridges, who had two young children on set, Beau and Jeff Bridges. According to the extras, Beau was actually in the barn loft watching during the fight between Kane and his deputy. The singer of the theme song was country musician Tex Ritter, father of actor John Ritter. A very rich history of Hollywood royalty in this single movie.

Many of the actors and writers involved in the film were concerned that they were going to get black listed for being part of this production. It was the early 50s and the Red Scare was at its height in the United States. Many actors and screenwriters were being publicly prosecuted for committing acts against America, and any movie that did not actively promote patriotism was in danger of being accused of being communist. It was a bad time for Westerns that were innovative or went against the norm, which partially explains complaints that many films in the genre during the 50s were the same. This film that depicted a lawman sticking to what he believed in and finding all his friends shunning him was interpreted by some as promoting communism or attacking McCarthyism. Director Zinnemann did say he had all this on his mind during the filming and would consider it an allegory for the Hollywood blacklisting, but that was not necessarily the point from the start.

So should this movie be on the AFI 100? Absolutely! It is part of the most American of genres at a focal point in the country’s history, yet flies in the face of all the standards of that genre. Despite this, it still was nominated for a bunch of awards and highly acclaimed by liberal and conservative leaning viewers alike. The movie is full of Old Hollywood greatness as far as the stars and the crew. The AFI list was created for innovative Americana like this. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Just the innovate shots and the use of real time alone makes for a great watch. The story is great and the acting is great. There are few movies on the AFI list with pacing this good and it is a very easy film to watch and enjoy. Highly recommend.