#but also an obsessed ex

[trampledore]

Agatha and Rio's deal in ep 8

And their hostile dynamic in the end

After watching the finale the first time I really wasn't sure anymore what I thought about Agathario.

If they actually mutually love each other,

if it's a toxic one-sided thing that Agatha just plays into for her benefit and to survive.

If they maybe were in love once but then being in Death's constant company grew too much for Agatha and she wanted to be left alone. And Rio just won't get the message

Or maybe the mutual relationship just ended when Agatha couldn't forgive Rio for not using her powers to save Nicky. And now they're pining.

After the finale it really looked like the whole thing was quite toxic and sort of one-sided, especially after Agatha wanted Rio to "let her go" and not "pursue her anymore" as part of the deal at the beginning of episode 8.

HOWEVER, I have become completely obsessed with the finale. Just watched it for the 5th time again and

I've also come to the conclusion that Agatha does love Rio. As the person Rio appears at. She just resents Death. When they make the deal in ep8 about Rio never showing her face to Agatha again when she dies.. Agatha looks really put out that Rio actually agreed to it. I think she was trying to manipulate Rio.

Agatha's goal was to protect Billy. That was her goal from the moment Rio showed up on the road. She said herself that she was trying to distract Rio from Billy (and his true identity). And I think she did it again with this deal.

Effectively, if Agatha ends up handing Billy over to Death, then Rio would have to stick to their deal and stay away from Agatha forever. Obviously, after all these centuries, Agatha assumed that Rio would never agree to that, or not be able to go through with it. As a result, she would maybe not take Billy at all to avoid having to fulfill her part of the agreement.

I think that was the "calculated risk" Agatha took that she mentioned to Billy in ep 9 ("Btw I didn't sacrifice myself for you, I took a calculated risk"). Of course she could have referred to returning as a ghost, idk. But I think it's a possibility. But I digress.

My point is, I do believe that Agatha does not actually want Rio to disappear from her life forever. She merely tried to use Rio's love/obsession as leverage to protect Billy.

I might be wrong. I might be delusional. But I think it makes sense.

On the topic of their strange new dynamic in episode 8, when there was so much softness before: I think that also makes sense.

In episode 4, Agatha was getting attached to Billy, all the while remembering the time she spent with her son. She was also thankful that Death spared Billy after the second trial. All in all, she was feeling sad, and maybe melancholic, and overall glad that Death gave her special treatment again (with Billy, in that moment). So of course she was having a moment where she maybe missed their relationship and love. And was also sharing some of her grief with her ex, who might have been a big part of her dead son's life.

The softness makes sense here.

And the playfulness before that also makes sense, since Agatha probably spent centuries killing witches (partly) for Rio. So it's like old times for them, being on the road and massacring people. Yey.

BUT, in episode 8, there are no positive feelings flying around. There is no reason to be sad, or grateful or turned-on etc. Rio tells Agatha directly that she wants to collect the soul of another kid that Agatha cares about. And Agatha can only think about all the terrible experiences she's had because of Death (or at least she blames Rio for them in any case).

So they revert back to their disagreements and hostility. They end up back at the beginning - in episode 1, with Agatha fighting for her life, cause Rio wants to take her more than anything (pun intended I guess). Obviously even more than she wants to claim Billy's soul.

So, again. There is love, but there is also resentment. And for me it made perfect sense that there was no softness in their fight in episode 8. They are like any ex-spouses who hurt each other in the past. In good moments of shared memory, they want their old happiness and love back and wonder if there is a chance. But when the reason for these old hurts becomes apparent again, they go back to hating each other.

For them, that means Rio trying to collect her due (as Death), and Agatha trying not to get killed by her.

(I hope this made at all sense. I might just have followed my own incomprehensible logic.)

[monlestat]

my brother!!!!! he tossed himself off a roof! my sister!!!!!!! she buried me alive! my daughter was my sister was my throw pillow when he wouldn’t look at me kindly!!!!!! lestat lestat lestat lestat lestat lestat LESTAT-

[lotus-pear]

doing skk meme redraws instead of sat prep >:)

[mint-fixates]

There's this weird take I've seen floating around on TikTok that Bill doesn't actually care about his family/dimension or Stanford at all; that we're supposed to take everything in TBOB as non-canon basically because he's lying to garner sympathy from reader to make a deal with them. I'm all for having your own interpretations of media, but I just don't think this idea that Bill is a completely heartless unfeeling creature is supported by canon at all. In fact, it kind of feels like the opposite of the point of the book.

Like, yeah, most things Bill says should be taken with a grain of salt because he lies a lot, but he's not actually a very good liar? It's usually pretty easy to clock when he's full of it. But okay, even if we assume every word Bill says while trying to recruit the reader is a lie, there are three major things that this doesn't account for.

Bill is not the only source in the book. The lost Journal 3 pages were written by Stanford, we only know about the interdimensional Taco Bell incident because of an included police transcript, etc.

Even once he's lost any chance of making a deal with the reader to escape, Bill is having a complete breakdown and mentions all the people he so totally doesn't miss for real you guys. Why bother with reverse psychology double-lying for sympathy once his shot at getting the reader on his side is already gone?

Trying to garner the reader's sympathy makes sense to a certain extent, but why go out of his way to make himself look pathetic? Does revealing that he got drunk and cried over his ex in a fast-food drive-through really help his cause if that cause is to convince the reader he's still a powerful being capable of starting the apocalypse again so they can rule with him?

And that's all without even mentioning that, as previously stated, I think the entire point of the book is missed if we're interpreting Bill as having no genuine feelings or attachments. The book ends with Stanford healing from his past by being open about what he went through with his family and accepting their help, while Bill insists he doesn't need anyone and refuses to heal, actively making himself worse in the process. The clear theme imo is that accepting your past and accepting help from people who love you is essential to healing, while denying those things just makes everything worse. If Bill doesn't actually care about his family, his dimension, Stanford, or anything/anyone else, he has no trauma to heal from or regrets to learn from that he's refusing to accept and deal with, and the entire meaning of the book is made moot.

[flowersandfashion]

the fact that Jeremy Brett played both Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward AND both John Watson and Sherlock Holmes throughout his career. he has the range.

[anna-scribbles]

does anyone have like a pet ml episode that is not one of the huge banger plot-heavy ones but just feels like your special episode you’re so fond of. i think mine is psychomedian

[moomoorare]

Autumn Gem inspired by my Scales of Fate AU and based on Alfons Mucha's Autumn painting. This will be the first of four art pieces, hopefully coming soon.

In the meantime you can find my SOFAU ao3 fics here, and Alfons Mucha's The Seasons Paintings wiki page here 🍇🧡 leave your thoughts in the reblogs if u want, have a nice day, it's Autumn!!! 🍁🌼💜

[achillean-knight]

Screaming and crying bc these were so fuckin' fun to draw bro

[moeblob]

Impulsively shoving a guy's hand in your mouth after having the thought "oh just like when my little sister used to prick herself on a rose thorn" and then immediately being treated like a pet who ate something they shouldn't have? Wonderful. Thank you, Thane.

(also not pictured is Thane apparently trying to scrape your tongue with his hand BEFORE pouring the holy water down your throat because NO. BAD.)

[iwatcheditbegin]

Swifties have got to be one of the only fandoms that regularly shits on their fav to seem like a superior fan

[zivazivc]

For those of you wondering about Les's mysterious younger sibling. It's Hed, he's the little brother.

They share a mom who was a rock troll. Les's dad is funk, and Hed's dad is rock, but he lived in Vibe City since very young so he's also basically mixed genre like his bro.

In the second pic he's singing/rapping Tastes Just Like Chicken by Scatterbrain. I feel like this is the kind of music he would make when younger.

and bonus: meet the nominees for the worst parents award

[wired-heartbeats]

I think self shippers are allowed to have complicated-ass relationships with their F/Os, like yeah we love the lovey-dovey sweet flustering stuff, but also some of us go nuts for a good case of

‘we want to and probably have practically strangled each other but also you’re my soulmate and fate has intrinsically tied us together and I would protect you and fight for you in any given universe but also you’re an actual dumbass and I will tell you so and if we ever go down it’s going to be by the others hand’

Or other related variations, I think it’s great to go hogwild and not all F/O relationships stop at Romantic or Platonic or Familial, the dynamics are endless and can be so fun to play with and navigate

[katiekatdragon27]

you got me into aircorn godbless (derogatory. I'm now hyperfixated. THEM ..) /silly /lh

You know what that means?! I get an excuse to post these super old doodles!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA /lh

I have not been super involved in the OSC as of late, but I won't give up an opportunity to share art, whether new or old, of all my sillies.

I have a stockpile of aircorn art that I've been sitting on, I really need to share more of it. But here are some of the lighthearted ones. Like this skating doodle! (Popcorn try to remember Airy's face is made of glass challenge IMPOSSIBLE GONE DANEROUS GONE DEADLY????)

A bunch more doodles under the cut:

Some older older doodles of Popcorn's beef with Rotton Apple.

After Showvember, Popcorn and Rotten Apple dated super briefly. It was incredibly sour for the both of them. Neither of their needs were not being met, and both (but mostly Popcorn) were not pulling their weight in the relationship. When they separated, both talked very poorly about the other.

Beanie, RA's current partner, completely validates all of RA's feelings. Airy, on the other hand, is chill with Popcorn venting to him but doesn't entirely believe her side (cuz she exaggerates everything). Also, Popcorn is very flip-floppy with her views on RA, cuz on one hand he annoys the hell outta her, but she really liked his company when they were together and just kinda wants to hold onto that. She wants everything and nothing to do with him. RA just wants nothing to do with her, but she has an uncanny way or wiggling into people's lives without their knowledge.

But other than that...

AIRCORN WEDINGGGGGGG!!!!!!

Yeahhhhh in my hc they get married. Their kids are the ring bearer and the flower girl, but they're not illustrated there. And you can only imagine how fun the wedding was for the two best men (minus Clock cuz he's just happy to be there). Worst music playlist on the planet was played during it too and the food was either banging or ass lol.

Also some Rotten Apple and Beanie for the road <3

Hopefully I can draw these dudes again, but like newer. I care for all of them deeply lol. Have a good one homies 👋👋👋

[yansurnummu]

TES fest day 6: abandoned

In the grief of supposedly losing her brother, Lilanwe certainly made some choices. She joined the Worm Cult, becoming a much more cold and cynical person. Granted, it wasn't entirely Auredil's fault for what happened to him, but I don't know that she'll ever really forgive him for leaving her behind.

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

harry, as venus by botticelli

the birth of harry finally come to life, thanks to the incredible visions depicted in de amore ex tempore, a fic by @persephoneflouwers that has me dreaming like i haven't in a while. thank you <3

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

i have this really stupid idea in my head that im frankly a little obsessed with and the idea is this: trent crimm doing a drunk history episode on ted lasso's first tenure at richmond. is that how drunk history works? i don't think so. do i care? absolutely not. it's a special episode who cares because this image is not only hysterical to me but treasured. i treasure this image. i hold it close in my heart and also laugh and laugh and laugh.