#but have the friendship get reduced to a few memes

[princess-adronitis]

.

[vampire-exgirlfriend]

I'll be so for real right now, I am absolutely talking about the hotd fandom (via this meme that @emilykaldwen made and I had a giggle fit over).

It's not burnout that's driving people away from this fandom (and fandom in general). It's not even strictly the lack of engagement. Recently, the people most vocal about the lack of engagement are the ones who go out of their way to alienate other writers, who dm authors who don't reblog their fics and harass them in their private messages while never engaging with anyone's work. People have actually come into my dm's demanding I reblog their fic/asking why I haven't, and they had never engaged with me past a few "hi how are you" dms. In what universe is this acceptable? In what universe if this community building?

You wanna know why I don't reblog a lot of fic on tumblr? Why I'm mostly just on ao3 and commenting over there? Because tumblr fic, especially in the hotd fandom, has become a circle jerk. The care for the craft is mostly gone, there's little desire to write something well, only something that performs well. It's becoming just ooc porn with a character name slapped on so that people can imagine fucking certain actors without saying they write/read rpf. So many people bought into the tiktok driven need to reduce ourselves to content farms instead of making actual friendships and building a community and taking pride in our art/trying to improve on our craft.

I will be so for real right now, I have come to a point where I mostly just engage with my friends and their work on tumblr. And this is because some of the utter insanity I've seen since I waded into this fandom. The anons I've received in the last two years in this fandom rival even those I got when I was running an active Reylo sideblog that has since been deleted because of the "go kill yourself" messages I got (no, I don't care about your opinion on Reylo). Aside from the mine field of psychological warfare that fandom and fic is becoming, it also seems like there are so few people who want to craft actual stories. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the porn - x reader smut is where I got my start, and I have read some x reader fic that was incredible, that reduced me to tears. And yet, those fics, those authors, were never allowed to flourish because the author didn't live up the ass of a select few people on this site. This is why I've stopped promoting my work on this site. This is why I stay in my little corner.

y'all, i am exhausted. we have to do better than this.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

In regards to the unit identity conversation going around in FE spaces right now i wanted to throw in my general thoughts...

When people say "unit identity" in regards to gameplay, i feel like most people mean how the character in the story matches how the unit plays.

Fates has the best reclassing system imo, because units have to build support with other units to get their class via the friendship and partner seals. Building support levels has another function in that sense, and it's another incentive to experiencing them.

This creates another way supports effect the ways you can play. As for an example, when Takumi teaches Corrin how to shoot a bow in their support chain, Corrin literally gains access bows via the Archer class.

Fates also has heart seals which change the units class based on stats, skills available, personality, or personal background (They also function as partner seals iirc, but that's more of a waste, i feel).

Three Houses, due to its lack of a weapon lock, essentially created a system where "just put everyone in x, y, or z class to make them good" has become some of the most common advice to new players. This problem existed before, but essentially making classes little more than "this one has good stats, this one has bad stats put them in the one with good numbers."

Sure, it allows those "all mage" runs that are fun to mess around with a lot easier, but it also reduces classes down to just their stats. Want to use bow? Bow Knight's a good class, but can always go for Wyvern. Want to use axes? Try Wyvern. Swords? Swords aren't good, at least use lances or axes in Wyvern.

Engage has the same problem. In fact, despite having weapons locked to classes again, it's now even more of a problem (imo). This time the problem is that so many units are incredibly same-y. The difference between Etie and Alcryst is a couple of points in Str and Spd, same for Lapis and Diamant, for Zelkov and Yunaka it's Spd/Res/Str trade.

The characters feel same-y. Unsurprisingly if you watch build guides on these characters from multiple different people, you'll see the same couple of classes recommended repeatedly. Warrior, Wyvern, Griffin. Few Sages and Personal Classes, but besides that, most characters sit in those three.

Although i like the concept of passive skills unique to certain classes, i feel like they're often times incredibly weak. Or don't synergize well with the class itself. High Movement Bow Knight has a skill that increases hit rate when not moving (the one bow using class that can make good use of Momentum and having high movement and being a Cavalry type should sit still??? It's even more offensive because bows don't have particularly horrible hit rates, and bow units typically have decent Dex/Skill).

We can all agree Berserker getting a pretty weak skill for a weak weapon type that the okay at best defense class typically doesn't want to use... might not be a good balancing tool against the other infantry Axe class with Bow access and better caps in Warrior? Or the flying mobility and Lance or Sword access in Wyvern? Or hell, even the Defense from Great Knight? (although this class is another meme pick)

Don't get me started on S rank weapons also being mid, if not outright bad

I think if there were better skills for classes with lower stats (including movement), less weapon access, then that'd be cool. Or they could do a "Infantry classes have lower growths, but higher stat caps. Therefore they've about caught up midgame, and are better for combat late game, but have less utility due to not being able to ride a horse/flier"

If Personal skills were stronger, and units had more differing stats, Weapons/Proficiencies, or had access to more personal class and/or personal weapons, i think i wouldn't care about how easy it is to get into classes, because the units themselves would actually be unique in how you can play them, even if everyone is in the same class.

I mean, look no further than the bow users in Fates, since that weapon type and its weilders have been getting a lot of attention lately. Takumi has a personal bow with crazy might that gives him the ability to move without being impeded by terrain. Niles doesn't have a unique bow, and his class is already represented in Shura, and DLC Anna on the Adventurer route, and potentially Selena and Laslow for the Bow Knight route, but he has access to capturing generic units to fight for you and has stats that definitely differ from all of them.

Setsuna has a basic archer stats, a weak personal skill, and no personal weapon, and is naturally the perfect example of a bad archer. While Reina has good stats and a useful PS that essentially make her Birthright Camilla except with lances and bows instead of axes and tomes (and Kinshi isn't really seen as a good class!). Shura's whatever in CQ, but in RV he has maxed weapon ranks, giving him access to useful Stages ASAP and decent bow chip, especially with his debuffing PS. (Not much to say about Anna except why is she not in the Merchant class by default?? Magic Anna is not more important than Capitalism Anna 😤)

But i'm rambling, so i'll just say that with the unit/class design we have now, i'd rather have limited classes so that we can at least say:

"They may not be the best unit... But they are the best Swordmaster/Bow User/Magic Unit/etc."

(sorry for the length btw!)

.

[ye-onge]

The best chicken soup recipe you will ever eat.

1 half eaten Costco rotisserie chicken

6 carrots that your roommate picked up for you

6 stalks of celery that your roommate also picked up for you

1.5 onions

Avocado oil

Egg noodles your roommate yet again picked up for you

2 roasted garlic heads, entire heads. Not cloves.

Basil

Parsley

Rosemary

Thyme

Chopped bay leaves!

Salt

Pepper

chop half your carrots, the .5 of the onion, and half your celery. Do it roughly, doesn’t need to be diced. Big chunks! Take the meat off of the bones and tear the carcass apart so it can fit in your pot. Listen to some music while you do it. Ask your roommate to pass you the avocado oil. Sauté the onions in avocado oil. Sear the bones of the carcass again too. Add the carrots and the celery to warm them up a bit. Idk, I think it helps. Add 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer. You’re gonna do this for 1.5 hours! Talk to your roommate and find a phone charger. Hit your weed pen a few times. Look around the house. Enjoy what’s going on around you. Stir the stock occasionally. Fix your Xbox 360, boot up your old favorite game. Your friends send you a bunch of memes! Think about tomorrow, you’re done with homework. Enjoy the peace for a bit, just not worrying about anything but your soup. 1.5 hours pass. You are going to strain your stock! Find another pot, put a colander on it, MAKE SURE YOU PUT A POT UNDERNEATH THE COLANDER OR YOU WILL UGLY CRY, strain and let the bones and veggies cool before throwing them out. NOW chop your celery, carrots, and onion (use a kinda small onion) into bite sized pieces! Maybe cut your carrots into hearts even. Fry some of the leftover chicken skin onto a pan, it helps add more flavor. Good grease. Add your onions and a bit more avocado oil, sauté your onions, soften them. Tear your chicken into bite sized chunks, use your hands. It makes it feel more homemade. Look at your chipped nails, they’ll grow back stronger. Add your chicken to warm it up a bit and melt some collagen. Add your Carrots and celery. Cook for like, 20 mins on medium low. Soften em a bit! Add everything into your stock now! Squeeze out all the roasted garlic. You forgot that you roasted it the other week and should put a few more bulbs in the oven later this week. Taste and season, make sure to use bay leaves. Add more salt than you’d probably think. Both of those add love to the recipe I think. Add your egg noodles. Take a few more draws of your pen. Realize how far you’ve come. Love yourself for the first time, fully and truly, and realize how capable you are of amazing things. Work and focus on yourself. Your future. You love life again. You’re opening yourself up to so much opportunity. I love you. I’m so proud of you for getting to this point in your life. Boil till your noodles are softened.

you’re home and you’re safe. Your soup is in the kitchen to share with your roommate and when your friends come over later this week, they’ll have to try some. They love your cooking. You’re safe and have healthy, long lasting friendships with so many people. You finally got to the point where you can say you’re proud of yourself. You’re doing amazing.

eat your soup. tomorrow brings even better days. The future holds true, unknowing as it is. Work towards your goals and never stop doing it. I am so proud of you. Everyone’s gonna appreciate how much of yourself you’re being and putting work towards. Your friends love you so much, you sweetheart. You genuinely deserve such good things.

maybe less rosemary in the soup though, there’s always room for improvements ;)

[antylope]

It is 10 pm and I feel alone.

You know what guys? Sometimes I feel really alone. Even though I have a few close friends.

Sometimes, like for example now, I just feel... unwanted? in this world. Noone really cares. Absolutely noone.

The reality is, noone cares about my feelings. Noone cares how I'm doing. Noone cares about my opinion. Everytime I try to start a discussion about some deeper topic, it instantly gets cut off. They don't want to talk about it. My attempt is met with a short, generic response, followed by sending me some unfunny meme, which they know I don't find amusing? That just makes me very lonely.

Is the only reason to be friends with someone is to exchange 'funny' pictures between each other? That's it? I am friends with people for 5-8 years and almost all of conversations are very shallow.

Do you know what else makes me feel really lonely? When my friends send me some useless news. Why should I care about some guy on the other side of the planet. It just makes me tired. Ugh..... Same thing with sending me rage baits... like; "look at this, you WON'T BELIEVE WHAT SHE SAID".... Come on.... These kind of videos just make me angry for no reason. They achieved what they really wanted - which is making me irritated and resentful? Is this what friendship is like? Endless stream of bullshit of useless info and other things which just make you feel despair? Ah, totally forgot - Misery loves company.

My friends WANT to make me miserable because I atleast try to live a more meaningful life, trying not to waste it scrolling tiktok. Hear this out - recently, I wanted to "challenge" myself and work on my self-control and discipline, so I decided to not masturbate for a week (also known as nofap). I have already took some drastic measures to reduce watching porn (with a partial success). Day 5, day 6 come by and what do I get from my friend? A lust-provoking video of a half naked woman. Seriousely man? Seriousely? HE KNEW I wanted to not masturbate for a week. He knew about my plans. He knew I kept going. Then why do this shit to me? WHY? It didn't made me lose the "challenge", but I am sure it just made me one step closer to failing it, which I eventually did, less than 24 hours less before the end of it. Like, what kind of sick bastard do you have to be to do that to your friend. It's basically a sabotage. Like hey, how about I order him some fast food while he's trying to lose some weight? How about I cook a sugary cake and put it directly in front of his door? How would that make him feel?

Or maybe he didn't even understand what he did? Maybe his brain is so desensitized about porn, masturbation and lewdness that he did not even realize how harmful the thing he did back then was? I don't know. But it feels horrible.

I have already cut off many of my "friends" in the past. They were only causing me harm, throwing logs under my feet and impairing my success. Maybe I am not respecting myself enough? Maybe I should be cutting them off too? But who would be left then. Noone? Should I be alone or have friends who deliberately or subconsciously try to not make me any good?

It is really demotivating. I should be in bed right now but thinking about all of this makes me want to tear my hair out. On one hand, if I really valued my time enough, I would probably live like a fckin hermit, completely isolated away from people. On the other hand, I know I won't manage, because people are social creatures. I think what i am saddened about is that I am surrounded by people who are my friends, but I still feel so lonely. Like, there is no way I would have this kind of conversation with any of my friends like this blog.

I know I am the one who chose these friends, but is it possible that I have not met ONE friend who truly cares about you? Who truly wants to listen to your thoughts? How many fucking times I have messaged my friend, 3 minutes later they go offline..... It's heartbreaking. Or how many times I sent something meaningful to my friends and they just straight up ignored it to send their shit? Fuck it, I'm not replying to them aswell. Fucking bastards. What is the point of even messaging these people if they ignore me or answer to one fifth of my message? Again, fuck them I'm just so tired of all of this.

I really don't think I am also like that. I do my best to be available to them. To hear them out. But the thing is - they dont' want to hear anything about MY STRUGGLES. But when they have a problem, I should be there for them because their world is about to end! The more I think about it the more I think I am just getting used by them, but I am the one allowing them to do it. I am being used as emotional support with getting barely anything back.

Anyways, sorry this post is very messy. It's just another time where I feel completely alone in this world. I just wanted to throw my thoughts out. This is what I wanted this blog to be about originally. Like it or not, there will most likely be more posts like that. I don't know if it will be in a week, a month or a year.

As always - if you have any questions regarding me or my blog, feel free to ask. I will be happy to answer EVERY ONE of your questions to best of my effort. If you want to say "fuck you sad bastard, stop whining", say it too. Put this message out in the world, I want to hear it

[meat-wentz]

you are an mcr blogger stop posting about fob and leave it to the real fans

okay so i wanna actually talk about this because it’s something i’ve seen a lot recently and kinda came to a head last night with fob trending.

ya gotta understand that there was an obvious influx of bandom with the return of mcr. like myself, although i’ve had dedicated fan accounts on other platforms, made this account so i could actually *engage* with the tour in a way i couldn’t engage with it on other platforms. you gotta understand i’ve been on tumblr for 14 years (in a week it will be my main’s 14th birthday!) but i also haven’t been actively involved in tumblr fan spaces in a really really long time, like a decade probably. so this account came with some adjusting, especially considering how different of a space tumblr is (more suited for long posting, analysis, ongoing jokes and more stable friendships/relationships to mutuals). so yeah i came here for tour but stayed because it’s really one of the best online spaces for community i could recommend (not surprising, i’m still friends on facebook with a bunch of my mutuals from 2010).

but also something to consider is, for a lot of people, this is their first dive into bandom in any meaningful way. not only are they making connections in a generally positive environment, they’re also engaging with material in a way that you can’t really get on any other platform (analysis! parallels! deep dives! inside jokes that last more than three days when meme cycles run dry after 24 hours in other places! the ability to say fuck without punishment! a more open space for queerness to thrive! and most of the time, a general welcome to horny content) so there’s also an adjustment time for everyone else too, which is why we keep having to have the same conversation about bandom racism every few weeks, and now too why fob is coming up in reference to petekey, because mcr/fob crossover fans are noticing how the mcr fandom consistently reduces fob’s line of work down to a punchline (especially considering many of which do not engage with fob at all).

personally, now that tour is over, i started posting about fob because they are an equally important band to me and because they mean so so so much to my heart and wow! i finally have a space to talk about it with people who are interested in hearing my thoughts about it (or not, if i’m not for you, i’m not for you), AND i wanna hear about and engage with all the cool people on here about their thoughts too! and i think a lot of fans now have the brain space/dash space to actually talk about fob, or engage for the first time with fob, which is so awesome!!! the way i’ve always approached tumblr is as a personalized archive, so that’s why i’ve been posting things that may have been posted before, doing intro lore and jokes and dives, because i like having a place i know i can reference in the future.

i know this is an arduous process for people who are dedicated fob bloggers and have been for years, to see a lot of people blogging about fob solely in reference to a ship for months on end and then they get recognition on the trending page for the same damn thing but this time saying “stop doing that” i know it’s hard to see your favorite band only recognized not by their artistry or their members or their music or any of the cool things about them, but by their relationship to another band. i feel like right now it’s a transitional phase for a lot of people into bandom blogging just in general, i know a lot of blogs who have never been bandom blogs but now are dedicated bandom bloggers just in the past year! so there’s adjustments to be made, stuff to learn, annoying conversations to have, but don’t doubt for one second, i hold fob in my heart and always have and i am so so so grateful to have a space and community to express that love with. i’m sorry to all the fob bloggers out there that are seeing this awkward kinda messy transition, i know it’s annoying af and will continue to be but know there are bloggers out here who are genuinely in it for their love of fob and lots of new fans out there who will look to you to guide them into their new favorite band!!! for now there’s going to be a lot of rehashing of ground already beaten to death so apologies on behalf of the post-mcr wreckage.

to you, personally, anon, idk what you consider a real fan but i don’t have to prove my credentials to you, so sorry if that’s what you were looking for. like i mean this with all good intention, but if you don’t like seeing me around, you’re totally cool to block me! you deserve to experience your favorite band the way you want to and at the end of the day i’m just some guy, don’t let me be the person that makes you upset to come on tumblr and engage in a way that feels meaningful and positive for you.

[lazy-whistledown]

<iframe allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="200" src="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-bridgerton-the-official-p-77492332/episode/peneloise-nicola-coughlan-and-claudia-jessie-81858408/?embed=true" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Claudia a bit short of breath when she joined the zoom call bc she had to move her boat. She said she got it filled w/ diesel.

Nicola & Claudia were the first actors cast. Nicola was the first one cast in April 2019 & Claudia was the next one cast.

Claudia & Nicola met briefly prior to Bridgerton through the comedy show, Porters (one of NC’s best friends was one of the writers). NC basically stalked Claudia bc she really wanted to be friends w/ her

Claudia, as we all know, is anti-social media. But she would look up Nicola online to see what she’s up to. Nicola would do really romantic things, like post a bday message for Claudia in case she goes online (I found this extremely sweet). Claudia said Nicola has done this a few times. It’s like finding a treat.

Nicola sends Claudia memes all the time. Claudia doesn’t know what a meme is (adorable 😁). Nicola likened her to a grandma, telling her what the youngsters are doing on the internet

Nicola and Claudia LOVE Peneloise fan art. Nicola sends them to her and her mom all the time. They appreciate the time people take & what the characters mean to people

Nicola said she gets messages from people telling her they’re mad at Penelope for doing this (I think she was referring to the Marina reveal)

Claudia appreciating Nicola for going with her to have vegan hot dog bc she’s vegan. Then she recounted how a drunk Nicola told everybody after a take: “Well, thanks everybody for the opportunity. This has been wonderful.”

NC talked about how Penelope should really talk about her secrets/troubles with her best friend & to open her eyes to other men bc she feels like Penelope is so in awe with Colin. “He’s lovely, but he’s just a guy.” (Preach, sis!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼). Nicola recounted how intoxicating those crushes were at Penelope’s age. Nicola not really into the romantic genre but appreciated Bridgerton especially the Hastings ball when she, Harriet & Bessie were reduced to tears by how breathtakingly beautiful it was.

Claudia said one of her favorite scenes was the one where she told Daphne: “thanks for being perfect, so, I don’t have to be.”

GC spoke with JQ and JQ said that what she liked about Peneloise is the fact that they’re trailblazers. They talked about the dichotomy between Daphne and Peneloise. How Daphne is calmly revolutionizing ways while Peneloise are charging in and trailblazing.

Shonda Rhimes said Peneloise is one of the relationships she’s most excited to talk about

Their favorite moments on set involve food. They’re both Colins!!!! Lol. Claudia simping over the quesadilla and the vegan cheesy garlic bread. Both gushing over the magic sandwich - the best sandwich in the world. It’s hash brown, sausages, and ketchup in a roll. Claudia likes hers with brown sauce.

Both were fangirling over Adjoa & Golda.

Claudia’s favorite moment on set was the very early call times (0445). She would get coffee, have a ciggy, and chant (she’s Buddhist).

Nicola’s favorite moment she said was the the first days of the actors being together (May 2019). She was with Claudia, Luke T, Harriet Cains, Jonny Bailey & Phoebe. She liked the buzziness of starting something. She loves the ensemble quality of any job. Nothing happens in isolation & what you can create together.

[forevercloudnine]

pre-new 52 scarebat ship meme

 (I actually have no idea what to call this period of comics. The dc wiki calls this the “New Earth” universe... it’s like, everything after Jason Todd was retconned out of being a circus acrobat up to Flashpoint. Anyway like a month ago I asked @heroes-etc​ to send me questions for this version of scarebat from this ship meme but then forgot that I did it because I got distracted by other ships. Sorry Jonathan...)

4. Who can’t keep their hands to themselves?

Bruce does DO physical affection — I mean, how many comic panels do we even have of him making out with Catwoman on rooftops — but he’s not especially forthcoming with it. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that his love interests are more likely to instigate contact than he is, especially when that love interest is a villain like Selina or Talia (can you even IMAGINE him trying to take them off guard in a fight by grabbing their face for a kiss? Because I cannot).

He does occasionally instigate affection with his children/proteges, though usually it’s in instances where they obviously need comfort. Bruce isn’t always great at handling complicated emotional situations, but grief and trauma is something he understands very intimately, and he never hesitates to physically reassure people who are in that kind of pain.

In situations where someone isn’t in the active process of being traumatized, he’s less forward with physical affection. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll reject it if it’s instigated — depending on who you are, of course. I’m guessing he wouldn’t put up with hugs from random members of the Justice League. Superman is his best friend and he would probably try to wiggle out of 90% of Kal hugs if doing so was physically possible. Most of his loved ones don’t really spring physical affection on him unless they need it or it’s an especially emotional moment, however. It’s not really Bruce’s primary love language. 

Jonathan seems even less physically affectionate than Bruce, though obviously doesn’t have a lot of opportunity to demonstrate how he feels either way. Master of Fear offers the only example of him expressing explicitly romantic affection that I know of (unless you count his terrorizing Becky Albright in New Year’s Evil as physical affection, which... might be how he’s thinking of it...?), and it’s entirely instigated by Sherry Squire. He does ask her to the Halloween party, but she’s the one who takes him down to the furnace room for some “one-on-one” time and tells him to kiss her. 

He also notably does not actually get a chance to kiss her, mainly because the whole thing was a prank meant to humiliate him. This might be why he doesn’t try to instigate anything similar with his next crush, Dr. Linda Friitawa (again, unless you count Becky Albright, but I can’t find New Year’s Evil to read anywhere so my only knowledge of his interaction with her comes from Tumblr. I’m like 80% sure he was supposed to be interested in her romantically, but asking someone to do supervillainy with you isn’t the most direct way to express attraction, so I’m taking that as more obliqueness from Jonathan).

He never expresses any direct romantic interest in Linda, but at the very least he clearly cares about her more than he cares for most people, since he, like. Defends her in conversation and apologizes to her for things that aren’t even his fault. Which means a lot, coming from a sociopath with no regard for human life. They do hold hands at one point, but Linda reaches out to him first, and he waits to see if she’s going to back away from his reciprocated touch before he reaches for her other hand. 

He never instigates anything further with her, possibly out of fear of rejection. Unfortunately, it turns out that this was a good call, because Linda was only pretending to be nice to him while Penguin was paying her to experiment on Jonathan without his knowledge. When Batman figures out what they’re doing, she immediately fucks off and starts dating Black Mask.

Even more unfortunately, his 45 seconds of hand holding with Backstabby McMad Scientist is probably the only mutual physical affection Jonathan has ever experienced in his entire life, so honestly I have no idea if he would be more into it as a concept if it was offered to him more often. He’s clearly willing to return physical contact when it’s initiated by someone else, so maybe it is something he would seek out in an actual relationship? He DOES get handsy with Bruce when he has Batman tied up sometimes. 

9. What is the most embarrassing thing they have done in front of each other?

Trip out on fear toxin, both of them, hands down. There are few things more embarrassing than, as Jonathan aptly describes it, being “reduced to whimpering quivers” in front of your enemy. Especially an enemy who’s presumably jotting down notes on your worst fears, since Batman/Scarecrow fights tend to just be competitions in who’s more frightening.

11. What do they hide from one another?

I mean, obligatory mention of the fact that Bruce hides things from absolutely everyone (with the possible exception of Alfred, because Bruce trusts him as completely as he is capable of trusting anyone, and also because it’s really hard to hide things from a parent whose involved in every aspect of your life and already knew you before you developed your pathological need to obfuscate your feelings and intentions).

As Wonder Woman pretty aptly describes during the Tower of Babel arc, even Bruce’s closest allies are never going to hear the full story from him. So it’s deeply unlikely he’d ever be 100% truthful with a supervillain, even if they got close AND Jonathan reformed. 

But it’s notable that Jonathan’s fear toxin has actually given him a more honest look into Bruce’s psyche than he would ever purposefully give to people who aren’t close family members. And by “close family members” I again pretty much just mean Alfred. Unfortunately for Bruce, nothing forces emotional transparency like mind altering drugs. Fortunately for Jonathan, nothing forces emotional transparency like mind altering drugs! Not that I’m recommending that anyone drug a romantic partner into being honest with them. But Jonathan is a trained psychiatrist, so I assume his psychological know-how combined with insights gleaned from the dozens of “sessions” he’s had with Batman in the past would leave him more prepared than most to decipher the mystery that is Bruce Wayne. (@heroes-etc: riddler is SEETHING.)

Jonathan meanwhile is more than capable of putting together a clandestine scheme, but in respect to himself he’s actually pretty straightforward. Though his driving motivation in this continuity gets more and more complicated over time, from the early 90’s “I just like fear” to the early 2000’s “my Granny tortured me with birds when I was a child and now I’m obsessed with inspiring the same fear and submission she forced on me onto others,” what doesn’t change is his willingness to monologue about it to anyone who’s listening.

Also, anything that Jonathan is unable or unwilling to go into detail on, Bruce is more than capable of puzzling out himself. In Scarecrow: Year One he successfully tracks down Jonathan’s old home to recover and read through Granny Keeney’s diary, and after Scarecrow’s Master of Fear origin was published, it’s clear that Bruce has done his research on Jonathan’s childhood. There’s even a (presumably unintentionally) hilarious scene where Bruce pauses mid-rescue of a man that Jonathan has kidnapped and traumatized with fear toxin to lecture him on having bullied Jon in high school.

Is this really the time, Bruce???

(@heroes-etc: oh 100% he nailed that timing.)

13. When do they realise they should get together?

Well, circling back to Tower of Babel, it’s revealed when Ra’s al Ghul has Talia steal Bruce’s contingency plans for defeating the Justice League that Bruce has “borrowed” Scarecrow’s fear toxin in case he has to take down Aquaman.

This was back when Scarecrow had a number of different toxins that induced different phobias, or made people hallucinate hyper-specific nightmare scenarios (such as “being eaten alive by roaches from the inside,” for some terrible reason). Batman notes in his contingency files that Scarecrow has already done the work for him; presumably Jonathan had already designed a formula to induce hydrophobia, so all Bruce had to do was steal a vial of it from a crime scene.

(The sentence “Why not make him incapacitate himself... perhaps through fear?” alone is like 90% of why I think these men would get along like burlap on fire if they ever actually cooperated on something. Also, unrelated, but the polaroid of Jonathan he has in the Aquaman file is weirdly adorable.)

Bruce’s plan for Arthur is incredibly effective, and notably also Bruce’s only contingency that isn’t either inherently lethal or a ruthlessly sociopathic betrayal of emotional vulnerabilities that had been revealed to him in trust and friendship (RIP Kyle Rayner).

(Notably, Bruce’s plans for Kyle and several other leaguers directly involve using their worst fears against them, even without a fear toxin conveniently tailored for this purpose. Bruce just really likes using fear as a weapon against people.)

After Tower of Babel, Bruce obviously needed to create new contingencies, since the whole point is that they were secret plans that no one could see coming. In canon, Bruce goes on to create the A.I. satellite Brother Eye for this purpose (which backfires even worse than his first set of contingency plans, because of course it does). But I think an interesting alternative could have been Bruce tapping Jonathan for more toxin strands tailored to taking down the Justice League. If Bruce Wayne offered to pay Scarecrow’s way out of Arkham in order to develop formulas that could neutralize the world’s most powerful superheroes, is there any way that Jonathan would turn him down? I mean, obviously he would plan on betraying Wayne at some point, and Bruce would similarly be working against Jonathan’s best interests. But maybe if they set aside their “who’s scarier” dick measuring contest to work together for once, they could come to recognize their shared passion: scaring the shit of people.

Also, the Jonathan in this continuity really likes books. And you know what’s a reliably sustainable source of books that can’t be confiscated by the authorities? Dating Bruce Wayne. The manor alone probably has an insane amount of rare books that have been hoarded by his family over the years. It’s like a weird reversal of the Beauty and the Beast, where the rude rich guy who gives a library to the love interest he may or may not have technically kidnapped is the pretty one.

21. Where do they get nervous about going with one another?

If they were dating, I’m guessing Jonathan wouldn’t want to go anywhere in public with Bruce at all. Bruce Wayne is a celebrity bachelor, and celebrity bachelors get a lot of attention, and people who take celebrity bachelors off the market get a lot of NEGATIVE attention. The public reaction to Bruce settling into a committed relationship with anyone would be the kind of weirdly resentful gossipy judgement that the girlfriends of famous princes or actors or musicians always get from tabloids and entertainment television, but in Jonathan’s case it would be a million times worse. Not just because he’s a supervillain, because if there’s any town that would expect its most eligible bachelor to eventually date a supervillain, it’s Gotham. But more specifically because “ugly social outcast” is one of Scarecrow’s most enduring character traits. Not exactly the traditional trophy wife. And though Jonathan’s Scarecrow identity seems to distance him from a lot of the shame he suffered growing up, I’m guessing that the kind of spiteful vitriol that would follow him anywhere he accompanied Bruce would at the least bring back some very unwanted memories.

Bruce probably doesn’t have the same discomfort Jonathan would with being seen together in public. He doesn’t care if people think Bruce Wayne is insane or lacking in judgement as long as they don’t think he’s Batman, and I’m sure he’d find a way to spin “dating a man who prefers to dress exclusively in burlap” into something appropriately characteristic of playboy idiocy. But while he'd definitely respect Jonathan's wishes to stay out of the public sphere, he would probably enjoy any opportunity to bring Scarecrow into Gotham high society, since his presence would definitely shake up a party, and Bruce is generally extremely bored at any social event where he doesn’t have anyone to snark with. And with Jonathan’s scathing wit as entertainment, Bruce might one day fulfill Alfred’s wish and actually make it through an intermission sometime.

I’d say that Bruce would be nervous about taking Jonathan out for “field research,” but I’m sure it would be one of Scarecrow’s requirements for any long term collaboration, so it’s something that he would have to get used to pretty quickly. He would probably endeavor to keep Jonathan away from anything that could retrigger his less healthy behaviors. On the other hand, it’s not like Bruce does that for himself, so it stands to reason that he probably wouldn’t be able to successfully control Jonathan in that regard either. 

It doesn’t help that one of Jonathan’s primary motivations in villainy is his childhood, which is... exactly the same thing that Bruce is fixated on. A significant portion of Scarecrow: Year One is the two of them waxing poetic about how similar they are in this regard. 

Relating to this, even though it might be a terrible idea, I don’t think Bruce would be able to resist encouraging Jonathan to reconnect with his mom. Bruce would never recommend for someone like Cassandra to seek out a relationship with her father, but if someone he cares about has a LIVING parent who WASN’T abusive to them? It seems unlikely that Bruce wouldn’t advocate for reconciliation. Jonathan’s dad obviously never cared about the teenage girl he knocked up or their bastard child, but Karen Keeney is a different story. DC Holiday Special ‘09 makes it clear that Jonathan was taken away from her against her will, and she’s spent a significant portion of her life wracked by guilt imagining what the woman who abused her was doing to her son.  

Ultimately she attempts to commit suicide because she feels personally responsible for every terrible thing her son has ever done, which is tragic because really she’s the only member of the Keeney family completely blameless in the creation of the Scarecrow. In Scarecrow: Year One Jonathan clearly resents her for leaving him and moving on to have another baby that she actually did keep, which I would call a really paranoid case of jumping to conclusions if it didn’t seem extremely likely that Granny Keeney told him his mother didn’t want him and left him to be tortured on purpose.

(Side note, it is REALLY weird how young Karen Keeney is depicted in Scarecrow: Year One. At times her son looks older than she is, and it doesn’t help that her second born child is an infant for some reason. Even if Jonathan is only thirty years old here, then unless she had him at younger than fourteen, she should already be in her mid-forties. Why did she only have a second child so late in life? The implication with her abusive husband is that she ended up getting trapped in a bad relationship for survival when her family kicked her out as a teenager for disgracing the family by having Jonathan. It would make way more sense for her child with him to be at least in elementary school. Also the scene would have been way more interesting if Scarecrow’s sister was old enough to talk.)

Thankfully Deadman manages to convince Karen to hold on to life long enough for someone to call 911, and she ends up surviving the suicide attempt. But were Jonathan ever to reform, it seems like reconciliation would be really healthy for both of them, since miraculously Karen still seems to care about Jonathan despite everything he’s put her through, and they’re both clearly still suffering from the after effects of Mary Keeney’s abuse. 

Bruce would be enthusiastic about this prospect for obvious reasons, although he would presumably still be nervous about the possibility of everything going terribly wrong. And even if everything went perfectly right, he would STILL be nervous, because everytime Jonathan goes to see his mother there’s a chance that she will mention the time that she kissed Batman full on the mouth. And that is not information you would ever want your psychologist boyfriend to know, unless you want to be mocked with Freudian buzzwords for the rest of your natural life. 

(...This would also count as a thing that Bruce hides from Jonathan.)

[aotopmha]

AoT 137 spoilers:

Letting Eren live would precisely play into the narrative that AoT is fascist propaganda. But I guess a portion of the story's fans these days are very much into that stuff in the first place.

I also love how all actually emotionally complex ideas (imagine Eren actually let his friends fight because he cares about his friends in this very complicated contradictory way, but that possibly can't be it) are reduced to power of friendship because your Nazi wet dream doesn't happen.

I'd rather a story be as clear as possible about not supporting genocide than being more "original" and "complex" because it lets the genocide happen.

Darker and different ≠ better written.

Also, I'm pretty sure this is still setting up for some sort of twist.

There is still 2 chapters left, the action here is obviously not done. I think these past 3 chapters have been pretty usual hopeful set-up chapters for how AoT executes its tragedy. I feel like it is really obvious if you examine how the story has been told so far. It's setting ducks in a row in a pretty similar manner to all of the big tragedies in this story so far.

And I think this upcoming tragedy will still lead to a bunch of deaths before Eren is finally killed.

So, good news is, you can still get your Nazi wet dream and the evil cringvengers can still be defeated by your glorious leader.

(I saw someone unironically say this sentence, by the way, holy shit.)

So the darker version can still happen, but I think the story will still paint Eren as wrong. If it doesn't, I'm going to make a final post talking about it and be done with it.

So no matter how contrived these people say any other ending besides Eren winning is or how contrived it might end up being in my eyes (and right now I think Eren losing is perfectly thematically consistent), I'm still going to side with the alliance winning because it's the principle of the thing.

I really don't think any of these complaints are about the quality of the story anymore. I think even more self-aware people just find the Jaegerists' extremism sincerely appealing because it appeals to their cynicism and makes the whole thing simple. I think a lot of people, particularly young men, on the internet are miserable and can't see hope, either, like Zeke.

So they frown on what their definition of power of friendship is, which is finding hope or seeing any kind of positive outcome in a story, no matter how foreshadowed or grounded it is. There is no good in humanity, after all. Impossible.

I was like this for a very long time, too. But as I've now said many times, I think humanity is just as much awful as it is kind.

Some are also children or young adults who want to seem more adult because they are watching a story with a lot of cruelty and blood and gore. So a darker ending is a more mature ending to them.

But what this is actually saying is why Nazis are so horrible. It's an ideology that destroys you, your people and everyone else around you emotionally and physically and Zeke was a victim of it, too.

I think someone starting to see the good in his life is a good thing to portray in your story, just as much as someone falling into pieces is. In this chapter Eren's and Zeke's arcs are opposites: Zeke has the positive arc while Eren has had the negative arc.

Maybe these thoughts are also influenced by how this same internet culture lead to a fascist coup attempt in a country that is known for its respect for freedom.

I'm done with giving any leeway to it unless I really make sure the person behind it is talking in good faith. I've been following a couple of people leaning into this Reddit funnyman stuff and I'm done with that or anyone making light of the fascist elements of the story, like the entire character of Floch or any of the Jaegerists or the system of Marley or even just Eren.

Even if "it's just memeing" it makes light of these ideas and softens them up. It tells me you find at least some of it appealing or not as bad as it seems, no matter how self-aware you are about it, especially if you're actually pretty deeply drenched in it.

You're being a good person because you have to and not because you actually want to be one and these kind of people are very much a red flag for shitty relationships.

I hope some of these guys find happiness some day, but associating with them could end up a mess.

And oh boy, is a section of the AoT fanbase this.

These thoughts are all based on a few images and a messy summary, but I like it so far.

I thought Zeke would have a role based on where he left off and I like this.

Oh and those worried about revival stuff, if there is a heaven, it will probably be gone once the parasite is killed.

The only way one could exist is through paths and if that's gone, there would be no more afterlife, either and all the Shifters and Wall Titans would just probably die.

So this will probably be the final time everyone sees them again.

I think I'm most confident with the take that there is a twist next chapter.

I can be wrong, but it really feels like it to me based on how the story has been told so far.

I'm looking forward to reading the complete chapter.

[deivorous]

@icybreaths​ asked: 001 section | Bleach? (for the meme) 

Fandom Ask Meme || Accepting

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: G.... Grimmjoooowww (does this surprise anyone?)

Least Favorite character: Pernida Parnkgjas (theres a lot of characters i dont care for, but theres few that i actively dislike, and RP gives me a new lens which i do appreciate them. A good mun can make me like any character!)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): FIVE?! GrimmIchi(hime). YoruGrimmKisu, NelHarri(Grimm), AiGrimm, ShiroIchi(Grimm) hjkasfhjdkghfjgl if Grimm is in the ship I like it. and i especially love polyships!  but all of these can also break down into their component parts (ie YoruKisu, NelHarri, ShiroIchi etc)

Character I find most attractive: Shiro/Zangetsu. That is a long standing crush like *dayum*.

Character I would marry: LMAO none of them bc then I would be killed off for plot angst... Probably Kisuke though, for many reasons!

Character I would be best friends with: I feel like I'm quite a personable & charismatic person myself, but I can also be quite domineering, so someone who isn’t too bothered by my being bossy lol I feel like Renji andI would get along? Tatsuki as well. Picking friends is hard!

a random thought:

An unpopular opinion: I liked the fullbringer arc. Genuinely enjoyed it.

My Canon OTP: Isshin & Masaki

My Non-canon OTP: GrimmIchi

Most Badass Character: Zangetsu (Shiro) I love every single one of his scenes where he comes to the rescue

Most Epic Villain: Aizen, I really do feel the villains declined after Aizen.

Pairing I am not a fan of: GrimmUlqui Its quite popular but it never really worked for me.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Oooooooh Yourichi got the shot end of the stick and she deserved better than to be reduced to fan service and a damsel in distress.

Favourite Friendship: I think the Rukia and Orihime friendship is Pure and Good and i would have loved to see more of it.

Character I most identify with: Grimmjow (in case that wasn’t obvious, but good luck guessing why!)

Character I wish I could be: None. All of these guys have a bad thing going on to them. If i had to pick tho then I’d want to be the MC so I’ll take Ichigo!

[elfyourmother]

Krile for the character meme

How I feel about this character:

Krile is great. She's not a character I think about a ton, but I really like her and what she brings to the Scions, as someone who's generally a noncombatant but is still pretty active. FFV is like in my bottom tier of FFs but OG!Krile was one of the few bright spots for me in what I found an otherwise very lackluster story, even though she was basically just a replacement character for Galuf. XIV!Krile couldn't be more different from her namesake in most respects but I love her just the same. She still has that stubborn determination. She's easily underestimated but is brilliant and tries her best. But I have to say that despite her relative lack of screen time in ShB, it was her part in that story that really endeared her to me. I was gutted in 5.3, in the scene where we actually check in on the Scions' bodies for the first time, and we finally saw first hand what Krile had to deal with. I cried, thinking about what she took on.

Krile loves her friends and colleagues and worked tirelessly to keep them safe, with little thought to her own well-being. Her sense of empathy is off the charts.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Tataru. The idea of them leaning upon each other for comfort while the others are away, giving each other emotional support through so much uncertainty makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

In my verse, she strikes up a friendship with Ysayle due to helping her continue her recovery similar to Urianger and also . They both have the Echo obviously but beyond the common traits it's a little different for everyone, and Krile is obviously very curious. And Ysayle has the Blessing, not just the Echo. So from an intellectual standpoint there's curiosity and the basis for reaching out and trying to connect.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I really, really am deeply unfond of the running gag with her bullying/blackmailing Estinien with the Echo into helping out while the Archons & WoL were on the First. Not only do I think it makes Estinien look incredibly shitty to the point it smacks of flanderization (regardless of his feelings or how you interpret the relationship, Estinien clearly cares about WoL, and had no issue helping out on his own accord in SB), but I don't like the way it's reduced Krile to basically a meme. It does a disservice to her character imo.

And even setting all that aside, it frankly creeps me tf out, the idea that this power would be used that way even as a joke.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.:

I'm salty that a lot of her screen time seemed to be locked in Eureka, which was a confusing nightmare as a new player during SB. She was understandably sidelined during ShB but I'm hoping she takes a more active role in EW to make up for that; her going to Sharlayan is a positive sign and I hope we get more on her and her background there.

[tenebrius-excellium]

Could you do Katara and Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert for the character ask meme, please?

Woooooooow. Now someone's just trying to make me really happy. You saw the "favorite comfort character" post, didn't you? <3 Well, THANK YOU anon for remembering!!! That's super special!

Katara and Eugene it is! I'll keep them shorter than the Douxie / Hiccup one though, if that's okay!

What I love about them:

Katara: HER. I could talk about her all day. She's driven, yet kind. Doesn't take shit from anybody and is extremely capable, yet has extraordinary compassion. She'd mad beautiful, I adore her hair. I wish I had her physical grace.

Flynn: There are few occasions where Flynn Rider gets something right, but when he does, he's very lovable. Standing on top of the castle and saying "yup, this is what I want" was one of them. Another was not only taking Rapunzel to see the floating lights, but getting two lanterns for them to launch as well.

What I hate about them:

Katara: She's too serious at times. Too square and stuck up.

Flynn: He's dishonest to himself. He's trying to mask his flaws, bragging and cheating his way through life in the hope that no one will see the scared man behind the hot bag of air. I love Hiccup and Douxie for exactly the opposite quality.

Favorite Moment/Quote: Umm I actually don't remember for either of them. I don't watch AtlA or Tangled that often. If I did, I'd be a member of their fandoms. Love the characters anyway!

What I would like to see more focus on:

Katara: I feel AtlA characters aren't fleshed out too well in general. They're reduced to a few major personality traits and conflicts, and the rest of the time is spent on jokes and silliness (mostly Sokka's). Maybe that's just compared to Trollhunters though. I really don't watch AtlA often. So, more depth, I suppose.

Flynn: His background and why he became the way he did. Tangled the series doesn't count - because I haven't watched that, actually. Would also have loved to see him dance with Rapunzel, but the Kingdom Dance scene cut off right as they were about to :/

What I would like to see less focus on:

Katara: Her conflict with Toph.

Flynn: Less. Talk. The guy talks entirely too much lol.

Favorite pairing with:

Katara: I belong to the Zutara clan.

Flynn: Rapunzel. There's no one better for him out there. These two are a truly great match.

Favorite friendship:

Katara: Aang.

Flynn: Can't decide between Maximus and Pascal. Both are hilarious.

NOTP:

Katara: Jet.

Flynn: Idk, like I said I haven't watched the series and I'm not really in the fandom either, so...I actually don't know what match there could be besides Rapunzel. But Cassandra is a hard No.

Favorite headcanon:

Katara: She LOVES to dance. I think we only got that one dance with her and Aang though, didn't we?

Flynn: He's been on the castle roof plenty of times. Some tower niche is a secret hideout of his, because it's the last place anyone would look - and also because of the spectacular sunset views.

THANKS ANON! This reminded me I need to rewatch a couple things!

Cheers

Reddie

[nileqt87]

Despair For Castiel: A Review

From a series of posts before and after watching:

Before:

As far as I'm concerned, I'm now imagining the Empty having to deal with Gabriel and Balthazar redecorating the Empty into the angel/demon afterlife (probably with a lot of wacky alternate realities and bad porno) with all the free will angels and redemptive demons invited, Cas finding Meg and eventually Jack again for his true happy ending that he can have and Crowley probably trying to install himself as king again. Then when Rowena finally exits as Queen of Hell, she'll join and Crowley will annoyed, but Gabriel will be happy to see her again. LOL.

Megstielers also got robbed hard with all that setup of Cas still pining for Meg for YEARS, the Empty using her image (not Dean!) to taunt him (the Empty clearly saw Meg in Cas' head when it could have taken the form of anyone, including Cas like last time) and a whole dropped plot thread that Cas made a deal with Ruby to break a demon out of the Empty, which only makes sense with the one and only demon he'd actually want to let out of the Empty. That's dangling one 'ship a whole bunch of carrots (like every single Clarence reference for a decade) to rip the rug out from under them.

I suppose I should've seen it coming when the previously on segment for 15x13 was a Pizza Man and the Babysitter retrospective that shoved Cas out of the Pizza Man role beside Babysitter Nurse Meg to shove Dean into Megstiel's sexy times meme. I guess it turned Cas into just Dean's Baby in a Trench Coat (which was an insult about being useless to Dean's cause without powers, which suggests Cas has no worth to him otherwise), since he got infantilized with the removal of the Pizza Man originally being him.

I still haven't watched the episode. The Tumblr crap is that off-putting.

What should've been an epic moment in Cas' story is now tainted by his love of humanity, found family and free will (his real love story is with all of humanity and finding belonging, in spite of always being on the outside looking in on a life he can't have because he's not human) being reduced to horny girls who just want fetish smut with Dean and don't give a fig about canon Cas outside of a toxic, abusive crack!ship. It's always so immature and vapid!

It was immediately clear when I joined the fandom that shockingly few gave a crap about any character but Dean, even refusing to see what he's become in later seasons. Also numerous examples where they admit having not seen the show in a decade or only knowing the show via manipulative .gif sets. Cas and Sam (if they remember him at all) are just props or prizes to be won. They ignore context of familial/platonic relationships. Canon love interests aren't good enough because they're not the big prize of being a main. I also note the deluge of Wincest girls who hate Cas for existing (he's in their way) in the anti-Destiel tag.

I can't say the .gifs are making me want to watch, even though the dialog is vague enough to still fit Cas' actual character for the general audience who isn't glued to social media.

As for Dean's non-reaction, I had similar problems with Jensen's constipated acting back in 15x03 when Cas finally walked away while Dean looked like he couldn't care less, which the writers coincidentally praised Jensen for (holy crap that interview was up his backside) and completely ignored Misha actually giving a good performance in a scene that actually meant something long coming for Cas. I certainly can't say the same about the quality of this scene, which just looks forced on both ends.

I hope I like the episode more than the sounds of it, but my hopes aren't high. This is not how I wanted Cas' final moments on the show to be.

After:

Well, I got up the stomach to watch it tonight. Thankfully, in context, it definitely got blown way out of proportion by what the Hellers turned it into (as usual). Yeah, even when watching while unfortunately not blind to the wackadoodle fandom discourse, it played out better on screen than the .gifs. And frankly, a whole lot less like creepy Care Bear stare nightmare fuel than the few choice screenshots kept showing (yikes). I still wish Sam and Jack had been there, because they're just as much part of what connected Cas to feeling like part of a family (even more so in the later years), but it's not the total monstrosity it was turned into online.

Average viewers who just take canon as is without trying to read into it what they want to be there instead, IMO, will safely interpret it platonically (even if coming after a particularly hellish few years in Dean's personality rot where the whole friendship was beginning to be questionable) more often than not because that's what the canon has said for a dozen years. Again, I repeat that Cas already told the Winchesters he loved them when he thought he was dying.

It's a crime to have Cas' perfect philia (brotherly), storge (parental) and agape-style (sacrificial and unconditional) loves being immaturely twisted into eros in a way that degrades the whole meaning of the character's journey. People telling each other they love one another when it's not sexual should never be mocked into being afraid to do so because of this insidious, willful misinterpretation. If only somebody had told Cas they love him instead of him always being the one with his heart on his sleeve!

This character went from being tortured into a robotic, emotionless, ancient, not-remotely-humanoid being who couldn't relate to the simplest of human needs to being someone deeply in love with humanity and wanting to find belonging amongst it despite knowing it would always end with him watching them all grow old and die after having families and such experiences angels are forbidden from having (another reason why Jack was so important to Cas' story).

The wording is valid for that philia/agape interpretation, given Cas definitely equated Dean (whom Cas watched sacrificing himself for Sam endlessly, including why he had to be raised from perdition in the first place) with a guide role in his learning to understand humanity and proudly-defiant free will before he could love it. It's valid enough to say that Cas wouldn't have broken his programming permanently without being challenged to question everything he'd ever believed and give up his entire angelic belonging. That much of it did begin with Cas just happening to be the angel who succeeded in the Hell rescue.

Obviously, it's also canon that Cas had a long history of not following orders and getting lobotomized by Naomi, but Cas actually understanding humanity and what free will means did happen only after this particular rebellion. I'm very glad at least that was in the speech, but of course, it's being hopelessly ignored.

I stand by my interpretation that what Cas can't have has always been the tragic version of The Little Mermaid where she turns into sea foam in the end. Cas has always looked in on what everyone else takes for granted from the outsider's perspective. There's a part of him that will always be left out, no matter how well he learns to fit in and how much those around him begin to treat him as a real person. Cas never really got to truly belong with humanity, no matter how much he loves and is loved by it. He's also not getting to stay where he wants to be. There's no Pinocchio ending for Cas that turns him into a real Winchester.

Sadly, Dean's constant othering of him and Jack like they're just more monsters to hunt only alienated them more. Jack was someone Cas could relate to as a supernatural being capable of human emotions, which might also have furthered his draw towards Meg. Sam was also someone Cas could relate to as freaks and abominations amongst their own kinds. Sam always had that same struggle, also with his own family. It goes a long way towards explaining why Sam was always so empathetic to Cas and Jack in a way that Dean couldn't be. All three kept conflicting with that black & white humans = good/other = bad mindset that sometimes creeps in with Dean. When Cas was Dean's "best friend" in the early days, he rationalized it by thinking of Cas as being "like" a human ("You used to be human, or at least like one.").

Yet it still remains true that Cas often found himself looking to Dean to teach him about humanity back when he didn't know enough about it to be inconspicuous amongst them. Dean gave him the crash course in both what humanity is willing to do for each other, but also its flaws and failings at the same time.

Perhaps the saddest scenes in the episode were actually Sam watching everyone poof in front of him. Sam has really been forced to watch a lot of death scenes this season all by himself (as with Rowena), but he looked the most broken by Eileen's. Cas is going to be hard on him, because I genuinely think Sam was far closer to him in the end. Sam was the one who actually was trying to reach out to Cas when Dean repeatedly kept him out of the loop. Sam being left out from the final words with Cas or even hearing first-hand about the deal with the Empty just furthers that tragedy. While Dean has been raging at everything in sight, Sam and Cas have both looked broken, sad and tired all season.

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #22: My Friend Karen (Baby-Sitters Little Sister)

I remember back in primary school (Grade 2 or 3, or maybe it was 1) when we were first allowed to borrow library books from the fiction section (instead of picture books) and the first book I picked up was Karen’s Worst Day. There was a whole section full of The Baby-Sitters Club and Baby-Sitters Little Sister books and so, I was hooked on the latter series from then on; I was never really interested in the former. I’ve seen people review the books on “BSC snark” blogs in the past few years and, well, let’s just say that I never realised how Karen was from the perspective of older fans who have probably read more of the series than I have. I guess the Karen meme isn’t without some cultural context.

Did I implement The Baby-Sitters Club in my personal project? For the longest time, I didn’t. By the time I went to secondary school, I stopped reading the series as I was getting hooked on Horrible Histories and later, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. But the memories of reading the Baby-Sitters Little Sister books and implementing the characters in me and my friends’ imaginary adventures stayed over the years; it wasn’t until 2019 with Soulbound Series 3 that I finally got the idea to pay tribute to the series before I finished up my personal project. However, given the original period that the books were published (1988-2000), you would imagine that there would be some sort of culture shock that I never thought about during primary school; needless to say, I found a way around it.

Oh, and by the way, I am following the graphic novels as well. The graphic novels are quite modernised compared to the original books and I like the art style, though one detail that didn’t sit right with me was how they made Hannie Papadakis’ family part-African American when they were entirely Greek in the original books. Oh well, diversity and inclusion, I guess. It’s not that surprising given that the artist, Katy Farina, is LGBT and based in California. I don’t know how many books they’re planning on making into graphic novels given that there are 122 books in the Little Sister series, though I do hope they publish more novels more often instead of every 6 months. Anyway, let’s get right into the story.

History’s Strait

This story takes place in Soulbound Series 3.

The story begins with two different people in two different places and two different time periods. In 1986 and 2006, a young Karen Brewer and Hiroki Ichigo encounter time portals in their homes. Walking through them, they end up in the year 2016, where the Doctor and his recent companion, an older blonde woman, are investigating a time disturbance that is making things appear and disappear around the city. The cause of the disturbance is revealed to be King Goldras, a monster that was summoned by Yanagiri, the main antagonist of the series.

Hikaru Tomokaze, who was travelling with the crew of the Barrier Base, UltLives into Ultraman Nexus and puts up a Meta Field, reducing the effect of the time distortions, before finishing King Goldras off with the Over-Ray Schtrom. There’s another fight between Hikaru and Yanagiri as Ginga and Venokatto, but that’s not important right now. The monster’s defeat causes Karen and Hiroki to fade away and return to their original places in space and time… or so they thought.

The Doctor and his companion then head to 2019 to meet present-day Hiroki. It is then that the blonde woman reveals herself to be the present-day Karen, who is now in her 40’s. The two head into a café and catchup on what happened in the many years since their seemingly random meeting.

A Friendship that Crossed Time

This story takes place in Soulbound Series 4.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic on Earth, Karen decided not to go back to the US, instead deciding to stay with the Doctor (because even the Doctor isn’t exempt from travel restrictions and quarantine requirements lol).

By 2021, Hiroki was investigating the identity of the demonic overlord who was constantly changing his timeline even after the time-space anomalies (particularly associated with the Time War) had subsided. As he is discussing this with Karen over dinner one night, they hear screams coming from outside their restaurant and head outside to discover an enemy invasion from Che Antara and Gengilas. Seemingly remembering how they fought beside each other in the past, Hiroki and Karen work together to fight the two villains, who retreat after a quick battle.

As Hiroki and Karen wondered how they even remembered fighting alongside one another, some Reapers begin appearing around them and devouring people. The Fifth Doctor quickly brings them to the TARDIS, where he explains to them that there is a paradox connecting 1986 with 2006 and they are the ones at the centre of it. He discovers that one particular timeline at the centre of the paradox, where Hiroki and Karen kept meeting after the original incident with King Goldras, is being powered by the same time disturbances caused by said monster, but is shocked to learn that it is being maintained by a TARDIS.

Following the incident with King Goldras, the Second Doctor believed that Hiroki and Karen were supposed to meet more frequently as kids in this timeline and so, he reopened the time portals and used his TARDIS to maintain them. As a result, Hiroki and Karen were able to travel to each other’s time periods and hang out with their friends, go on adventures, fight battles and so forth. After some time, a time differential caused the Second Doctor to appear older because of what was about to happen.

The Fifth Doctor confronts his older incarnation and tells him to close the time portals before the paradoxes swallow up time and space. Not wanting to let their past selves move on without closure, the Doctor allows Hiroki and Karen to tell their past selves that this is the last time they can see each other, reassuring them that they will see each other again in the future.

The time portals are closed and everything returns to normal, with Hiroki and Karen now remembering the adventures they had in that seemingly forgotten timeline and the Doctor now knowing the actions of his past self.

And so, that concludes the adventures between Karen Brewer and Hiroki Ichigo. You may be interested to know that they became confidants given what they went through over the years. Heck, I probably could have done a Kamen Rider Kiva with that 1986-2006 time gap. The forgotten timeline in that last story probably wasn’t the only timeline where Hiroki and Karen met; there could be timelines where they existed in the same time period or went on more adventures between time periods than what we saw. But for now, Hiroki can brag to Akari and everyone else he knows how he once had a friend named Karen Brewer.

Anyway, here’s some Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi to round off this post. It’s the insert song that would be played among the montage of Hiroki and Karen having adventures in each other’s time periods.

[sanchoyo]

Looks like you’re gonna have to gush some more cuz I meant in general uwu🌸

🌺😌🤟 Always happy to! Okay here’s just some General bnha Thoughts ™ Mostly Lov centric. You asked for them, and you said GUSH about them, so here’s. A Lot! :)

This isn’t a lov one but it’s really funny so I thought I’d put it out there:

-when bnha was first gaining traction on tumblr, it was all art of Tsuyu. I have no idea why. People were talking about the funky frog lesbian superhero anime. Maybe it was just the people I was following, maybe it was a general trend, but I LOVED her design!!! my fav color and frogs r super cute!!! And I already loved superhero media, so I was like. I’ll watch it. For Her. SO. FROPPY IS THE REASON I WATCHED/READ BNHA. I went in thinking she was the protag and I was sooo confused when Izuku was... tbh I still think it’d be more interesting if she was lmaooo aus where? ...seriously if anyone has good aus where this is the case send them LOL

-I don’t actually feel that bad abt what Shigaraki’s doing. I still feel bad for him. I’m this post. yes im an apologist. its not my fault hes sexy and has been running around shirtless. hes a lesbian icon like thor is. I want to touch his hair. hes never done anything wrong in his life. he could kill all might, deku, bakugo, whatever, I’d still be sayin this. I don’t feel bad for gt. like. was anyone genuinely attached to him? lmao

-well u know how spinner’s quirk is just sticking to things? We haven’t seen him use it in canon except like, (1) time iirc?? I think this is probably bc he’s embarrassed about it even in front of the league... I loooove the idea that he gets more comfortable with it around them :”) and also how shigaraki. um. does that falling asleep thing while standing up with his eyes open, canonly? (which I still love lmfao) Imagine someone in the league walking in a dark room, turning on the light n just seeing. Spinner upside down, stuck to the ceiling asleep bc heat rises and its Warmer Up There. (cold blooded thing like tsuyu?? come ON give him a big fuzzy coat and scarf...) and Shigaraki in the center of the room, slouched but still standing, eyes open and motionless. Theyre both sleeping. Whomever sees it just...slowly walks out. LMAO

-Toga roller derby au. No deep thoughts I just think she’d be good at it. 

-Toga 100% is a social butterfly and could befriend anyone if they didn’t just judge the fact she was trying to stab them smh :/ (ok but seriously anytime I see cute friendships with her n the other kids im like :) aw. I feel like her and Camie...would be good friends. Camie feels chill enough to be like ‘ok whatever thats totally fine I forgive you!!’ LMAO we love airheads here)

-HOW DID TOGA GET SO GOOD AT FIGHTING? We know she’s been on the run since middle school or so, but good enough to pin Deku down after he’s been formally trained at a ~hero school~ for a while? (she pinned him TWICE I think, once when his arms were messed up, but, the other time as Camie, so? AND THEN WAS ONE OF THE 100 PEOPLE TO GO THRU TO THE 2ND ROUND OF THAT? even tho she didn’t bc she had to leave) good enough to beat Aizawa in a fight and stab him? A professional hero and teacher for YEARS? Is that seriously just street training??? Can people acknowledge how amazing her combat skills and reflexes are??? More Toga appreciation when?? Also her backstory??? SO subversive and incredible, hate when people reduce her to just a ~typical anime yandere~ :/

-Tomura doing stuff with his hands/fingers to train his quirk!!! And to learn to be careful with it!! obv I’m a Big Fan of him playing piano to do this and video games are prob the canon answer, but like, guitar or any stringed instrument that requires Hands would work too. Or knitting/sewing? EMBROIDERING? ??? Please, let me give you the mental image of him knitting aggressively while mentally scheming, watching a twitch streamer or smth too while doing it. (Doing stuff with your hands is a great way to let your mind come up with creative stuff, that’s how I come up with writing/drawing ideas 70% of the time)

-Tomura actually PREFERS cutesty, relaxing games. I mean, he does fighting and bloody stuff irl, games are a way to relax...he’ll play shooters and gta type games with The Lads, but. on his own?? animal crossing. pokemon. kirby games. mario. zelda. BIG ZELDA FAN (not saying this bc I, personally, am biased, but,) slime rancher, stardew valley, funny simulator games... he really enjoys those :”) God forbid he has a kid bc they’re 100% getting named after a viddy game character unless someone can talk him out of it LOL. Toga and Tomura are that animal crossing /doom meme where she’d be asking for doom and him asking for animal crossing :”)

-Bits and pieces of Before are kinda stuck in Kurogiri’s brain, but like. mostly useless stuff the doctor didn’t care about removing. Like, types of clouds. So Tomura kinda picks up on stuff like that. He can just look at clouds and tell you what type they are because Kurogiri used to take him up to high places in the city and point them out to calm Tomura down from a panic attack when he was younger. He can tell you if the sky looks like it’ll rain with a 80% accuracy rate too. 

-Kurogiri left food out for kitties in the alley beside the bar. They weren’t allowed in for Health Reasons (it IS a bar with sanitation standards!!) And Tomura really wouldn’t stop it or encourage it either way so long as Kurogiri did his job, but occasionally would stand outside with Kurogiri and just watch the kitties from a distance. If any approached he’d go back in (lowkey afraid he’d hurt them by touching them :( ) They kinda kept that between them tho, bc they both Know AFO is a big bag of dicks and no fun

-people have pointed out how similar aizawa and tomura look. this was 100% the intention. tomura has a hatecrush on him. THIS IS SO FUNNY AND HORRIBLY AWKWARD FOR KUROGIRI LMAO

-Sako??? Mr. Dramatic?? Opera fan. Drama kid. Like, obviously, but. Really. He is. I feel like he can speak a dozen languages. I also feel like he used to be an overachiever but got too ambitious. He was def some kind of leader at one point of a diff Group or something that fell apart. I LOVE how creative he is with his quirk and the magician theme??? incredible. I don’t show him enough love but I Love Clowns :o)

-I don’t care what their canon heights are. Spinner and Dabi? short kings. My height hcs are (tallest to shortest) Kurogiri, Twice, Sako (who also has heels on his boots and a tall hat, keep in mind), Tomura, Magne (Tomura and Magne are about the same height imo) Toga, Spinner, Dabi. LISTEN. Dabi has short energy. Sorry. it’s true tho

-This is a semi-popular hc I think bc I KNOW I’ve seen it before, but Dabi having Terrible Vision and needing glasses is so so good. (seriously, with burns THAT close to his eyeballs, how could he not?) 

-he tries to be a tough loner coolguy. you’d think he’d smoke, but I hc his ‘weak constitution’ comes with weak lungs (esp from years of a flame quirk?? inhaling smoke over so much time is SO bad for you, most people who die in fires actually die of smoke inhalation...) so he’s got like, an inhaler, can’t smoke, actually gets carsick, needs glasses, overuses quirk to save friends constantly, likes napping, a little awkward and rude. Tomura put him in charge of the vanguard so he’s smart, and good with strategies too, like a nerd. this is the Dabi I wanna see, not the popular fandom version of him tbh also step on hawks one more time sir :”)

-I wish all the lov fics weren’t?? villain!deku like I said earlier, but also, chatfics? I have nothing against them but most of them are just a bombardment of Memes with NO PLOT!!! Listen. text/chatfics CAN have plot and be an interesting way to tell a story. I almost want to write one just to show what I mean...

I know I’ve said I like spinaraki and blackmagic, but I am a multishipper, so a few ships I don’t talk about that I like that involve the lov in some way:

-toga/any of the 1A girls??? or Camie??? super interesting. ALSO in the radio drama, bakugo’s voice actor said Toga was his favorite girl??? so?? bakugo/toga ?? I WANT TO SEE IT. but specifically my fav dynamic with her is when someone ELSE is the one to like her first, it’s what she deserves.

-Kurogiri/aizawa/mic?? any variety of that is also 👌🏻 I also kinda wanna see kurogiri/all might bc. Dads. COME ON. they bond over ‘well, I raised him, and you want to have a part in his life now?? ok. earn it. prove it. I’ll screen you first’ or something LMAO they’re both genuinely concerned for the boy, and SOOO biased. let them bond.

-WAIT WHERE IS THE MIC/COMPRESS CONTENT. THEYRE BOTH DRAMATIC. ENEMIES TO LOVERS?? HELLO??? SOMEONE?? ANYONE. rarepair hours

-giran/twice is cute. like he was hyping him up so much and so ready to go save him...

-dabi/magne where is the content. when. why not everywhere??? I’ve also seen magne/compress which was cute!! or twice/magne? they’re the big sibs of the lov...

-dabi/spinner?? come ON dabi could get over his learned biases and spend time with him and they could hold hands. I want them to.

-dabihawks. Obviously bc the Drama. yes even still, don’t @ me. (also, shigahawks, seen some REAL interesting fics with it tbh) or spinahawks?? adding hawks to a ship is like adding extra chili powder. makes it SPICY dramatic)

-nine/tomura don’t @ me once again. both kinda afo’s playthings, nine obviously was the test for tomura’s new upgrades...they both love their friends...That Scene in the Flower field </3 hmmm tragicships are fun.

-tomura/mirko. more enemies to lovers. big fan of her and bunnies. remember when he wore bunny ears in bnha smash. (ok its crack but. CUTE.) 

-I’ve also seen shiganatsu and shigafuyu and I’m like. these are cute, but also Dabi’s reaction always makes me cry laugh. so good.

-MOST EVERYONE IN THE LOV IS LGBTQA+!!! heres my personal headcanons:

Toga: pan or bi (CANON BASICALLY)

Magne: transwoman (CANON BABEY) bi, leans towards men. (her crush on dabi in bnha smash... uwu content where)

Shuichi: gets sooooo flustered canonly, I think he’d go for the first person Who Hit On Him (I can see him being the target of those mean pranks where someone says ‘my friend likes you!!’ and the friend is like ‘eww!!’ :(((( ) he’s super hesitant for romance, lots of repressed stuff. gay but takes sooo long to realize it bc he thinks most women are conventionally pretty Aesthethically, feels obligated to Like Them, but has bad self esteem so never goes after them, then only likes (1) guy so hes like?? is this allowed?? is this allowed???? (HES LIKE. IN LOVE WITH SHIGARAKI)

Dabi: bi but rly hasn’t ever gotten to date anyone, so he’s actually more reserved about it and while he’ll tease, he absolutely is absent and kinda oblivious (again, I KNOWWWW bnha smash isnt canon, but. my god. when magne is hitting on him and he Just Doesnt Understand.) also hes ace

Tomura: doesn’t care. (just prob says ‘its whatever’) trans/nonbinary (i’M NOT PROJECTING, BUT. :’/) probably goes with like, the label queer if any but doesn’t care much for labels

Kurogiri: bi??? kind of??? I say kind of bc well, I hc U Know Whom as bi, I feel like thatd carry over but he’d be really avoidant to date anyone bc hes gotta Watch His Kid u know? this is gonna sound surprising but I think he’d be the type to be like ‘ok we can have a one night stand/fling BUT it cant get personal bc I have a Job to Do for my Son so don’t get up in your feelings’ and act a little coldly at first or very ..not personable... depending on who it was he’d prob turn around eventually, esp if that person valued his feelings/job :”)

Sako: that mans Not Straight. I hc him as gay and also trans :3c

Twice: Bi and HAS dated prob more than anyone else in the league imo, super comfortable with his sexuality and supportive of everyone else’s :)

ok that’s about all I can think of atm, come back in 5 minutes and my brain will refill with lov headcanons :3 thank you for asking!!

[found--family]

@ Blue Heart Nonny in my inbox (yes, i can answer your ask without posting it. no worries 💙) 

here are the cliff-notes for everyone else: 

there ARE Bronly blogs that are unhappy with Dean's ending because it wasn't fulfilling/he didn't get happiness/was killed off/the narrative undid years worth of character growth 

those same blogs as well as others think Sam's ending was lacklustre 

okay. so because i don't interact with such blogs i wasn't aware of this, but after a quick inspection thanks to Nonny, i find that it's true. 

I'm not surprised, exactly. most of the Bronly blogs I've come across over the years have been vocal about Dean as an individual, a character who deserves his own narrative journey separate from Sam as well as Cas (of course 99% of them were anti-Cas so ofc i skiddadled out of there). And Sam Stans wanted a happy ending (domestic or otherwise) for him, one that's full of sunshine and smiles and yes, Found Family (the members of which do change from blog to blog). 

all ships and Cas-hate aside, it was reassuring to see these bloggers recognise the endgame narrative as lacking, regressive, depressing and OOC for both Sam and Dean. 

they didn't like the ending. 

*cue solidarity meme* 

this is important to note because what makes this fandom so special is our love for these characters and the complexity of the characters themselves (as has been mentioned on a fair few reaction posts already). we all want them to be happy, but we also want their journey not to have been for naught, we want their individual endings and the narrative as a whole to make sense because we've been with them through all of their struggles to learn and grow and try to find some peace and their own sense of purpose and meaning. 

what I'm trying to say, is that while I'm a Destiel shipper I am first and foremost a fan of the characters - Dean and Cas, and Sam and Jack and all members of the collective Found Family the boys have met and embraced along the way. 

I've shared a LOT of anti-Bronly content over the past 24hrs, but i'm not just angry that the bros-only ending pushed Cas and Destiel out of the narrative, I'm angry because that ending also did a disservice to these beloved characters as individuals. it brought back the toxic codependency after 15 seasons of the brothers fighting to be their own people, to be in each other's lives but not have their happiness dependant solely on each other. 

*

Dean didn't get to live his own life and he died laughably, pitifully. His Heaven wasn't even his own and he ended up right back where he started: on a roadtrip to nowhere, alone. And in the end (Heaven) Dean was denied being allowed to embrace the self-love he'd learned on his journey and discover a life of his own and happiness that he deserved, /before/ reuniting with Sam. Sam got a liftime, Dean deserved the same, especially considering Dean's the one who never really believed that he deserved such a thing (but was recently convinced he was worth saving, worth happiness, worthy of giving and receiving love - yes, thanks largely to Cas) and canon chose to hammer home that idea like the nail in Dean's back, like the blunt little instrument Dean thought he was (but isn't). 

Sam's domestic montage was lacking substance and emotion and the overall vibe was wholly depressing, sending the message that he couldn't live a happy life without his brother when we know he has managed that/wanted that through the seasons. It was like he was just going through the motions for Dean's sake until they could be reunited by death. 

Frankly, Sam's montage would've been a LOT more heart-warming if his Found Family was present, or at least if Eileen was his wife (we still don't know) and they shared smiles/kisses/dancing in the living room. Maybe the Found Family thing was Covid, but for Eileen i call bullshit on the account of Jenny's presence and the fact that Shoshannah is also one person, not a bridge-full. Worst case scenario they could've shot her scenes separate and blended them with body doubles etc. Hell, i would've accepted a video call presence as a last resort. It would've made for an ending I was emotionally connected to. Instead we got strangers, a swiss-cheese life (missing pieces), and a depressing oldman!Sam. I could've bought the oldman!Sam dying after a long full life - but the montage left me (and Sam) unsatisfied with that Life. I mean, 15 years worth of content took.. 15 years to go through and emotionally invest in, so you really have to bring your A game to condense 50-odd years into a minute or two - and they didn't. That was some C-minus bullshit. 

And then there's the Heaven thing.

Sam pretty much shows up in Heaven right after Dean dies. I reiterate, Dean didn't get to live his own Life nor his own Afterlife. Sam had the chance at a Life, and Dean could've easily had his own Afterlife if the writers had allowed it: a montage of Dean fishing in Heaven, sharing drinks with Bobby, Miracle the dog showing up, Dean working or karaokeung in the Roadhouse (an improvement on the Rocky's bar fantasy) Dean experiencing all kinds of happy and domestic things - and it should've been with Found Family, but again if Covid is to blame there were ways to work around that with blurred background people and body doubles and voices off-screen. 

Instead, Dean's individual storyline is erased as he's reduced to a footnote in Sam's afterlife. No happiness in life and no meaningful afterlife he can call his own. Sam's family will eventually join him in Heaven, but Dean is left lacking in friendships as well as a romantic partner. The real Sam's heart would've broken at that, and the real Dean would've been unhappy and would've sought out people and meaningful relationships (again, Found Family). 

BTW: i saw mention that the lack of Found Family in Heaven is because they're not dead yet.. *cough* let's recap some dead loved ones who could've made an appearance shall we: Jo, Ash, Ellen, Rufus + Mary + John (all mentioned but none shown), Pamela, Kevin, Adam, OG!Charlie, Missouri.. hell, even Henry or Ketch or Frank.. i would've been overjoyed at seeing Cassie again, because we don't know who's dead or not. Krissy, Cesar, Jesse - they could've died, especially since in the time it took for Dean to take his little roadtrip, Sam lived 50-odd years on earth. So, if we're going by canon's timey-wimey rules they could've easily brought back any Found Family member they wanted. 

but, again, we got random vamp Jenny.

simply put, Covid is not to blame and there were many simple tweaks that could've made the finally on some level. instead the characters and the audience are left devastated and wanting. 

i know we don't see heart-to-heart on shipping matters, but even Destiel shippers and Bronlies can agree Sam and Dean didn't get the happy, satisfying endings their characters and 15 years worth of narrative deserved. 

* note: Bronlies (not Bibros) are invited to share their thoughts on this post about Sam and Dean's individual endings, but please avoid negative Destiel talk, negative Cas talk, and any wincest talk.