#but he knows the prisoners would actually kill him for doing that

[kuiilandtorch]

Actually, you know what, I've got something else to add to OP's meta other than my tags (which I'm throwing on here for posterity):

#the attachment luke gives in to is his fear for leia #which vader preys upon to provoke him to violence #(& it blew up in vader's mask because it worked TOO well) #the relationship that luke ultimately embraced that saved both his own soul & his father's was that of unconditional love #through that love he gave his father the choice to reclaim his own autonomy #& likewise accepted that he had to let him go at the end

there IS a thin line between "attachment" and "unconditional love" and it's expressed here in these two images:

In AOTC Padmé asks Anakin, "Are you allowed to love? I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi." And Anakin replies, "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love."

The distinction here is that on the surface what Anakin is saying is 100% correct, but internally he's using this as justification for his personal obsession with Padmé. (Really, he's using it as the second dweebiest pick up line ever, only topped by the sand diatribe.) He's excusing himself while trying to have his cake and eat it too. He knows what the sacrificial Jedi lifestyle requires but doesn't want to give that up while retaining an attachment to Padmé. He may have a sympathetic backstory for why he does this, but it doesn't make it any less of a problem.

Then life comes full circle and Anakin's son is the one who embodies the very words he spoke over two decades earlier. Awakened from his haze of fury by the Emperor's goading, Luke chooses empathy and compassion over hatred when he refuses to kill his father and eloquently tells the Emperor to fuck off. When he lies dying under a barrage of Force lightning, Luke exercises his faith in his father's conscience by crying out to him, "Father, please! Help me!" He trusts that there's still something left inside of that man standing by to recognize that his child is in mortal danger and he should do the right thing - and Anakin finally does. Anakin is finally moved to choose one last selfless act.

Luke does make a herculean effort to try to physically save his father as well as spiritually, and it grieves him to the last moment that Anakin has to die, but hearing those parting words from his father - "You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me." - gives him the reassurance that letting Anakin go on his own terms is also the right thing to do. What matters most is that the goal he set out to do was achieved: he brought his father back from the darkness. He freed him from the prison of his own crimes and the abuser who helped lock him in there. So yes, OP, Luke IS The Jedi™ for having lived up to the standards his father once only paid lip service to and only grasped at the very end of his life. Compassion is indeed central to a Jedi's life, and the proper execution of it is exemplified by Luke's actions and victory in ROTJ.

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

[mama-qwerty]

Sonic 3 - Shadow

My hopes for Shadow’s portrayal in Sonic 3 were that they’d show him not as the ill-tempered edgelord, but as the grieving, hurt child he truly was. And I was not disappointed.

Sonic 3 spoilers ahead

The movie opens with Shadow in containment, suspended in a holding vat of fluid to keep him under control. He’d been in this suspended status for 50 years, and now he was waking up. As he awoke, his memories flashed of his time at the facility, where he met Maria and developed a close friendship with her.

He woke up and chose violence. All he remembered was losing Maria, and before him stood the same organization that took her from him. The same uniforms, the same aggressive stance. To him, that raid at the facility was still fresh. It happened very, very recently. We’re not privy to the timeline between when the raid happened and when he was put into stasis, but I don’t think it was longer than maybe an hour. If that.

So from his perspective, these could very well be the same people who had raided the facility and murdered his friend. Maybe he thought the raid was still going on. So he was thrust into a fight or flight situation, and did both—take down the enemy, and then retreat to regroup.

Except he found himself in a very different environment than he’d ever experienced. He’d only known the inside of a government facility. Tokyo was bright, and loud, and big, and there were so many people. But GUN wouldn’t leave him be, and he found himself fighting yet again.

And then these three other creatures showed up. Ones who were more like him than any he’d seen before. Especially the blue one, which was strange and confusing. He was the only alien on Earth, wasn’t he? He was different than anything else the scientists had ever seen. But there was another who looked like him? With two other equally strange creatures trying to stop him?

No matter. They were working with GUN, so they were the enemy.

And again, he took them down, and retreated.

Because ultimately, Shadow was dealing with anger, grief, confusion, and pain. He didn't know what to do with all that, because the person who helped him understand himself better was gone. Everything he knew was gone. The people he and Maria had trusted had turned on them, killed Maria, locked him away, and taken Gerald from him. He's lashing out because he doesn't know what else to do. All he's been faced with his entire life was pain and mistreatment, except for Maria, and they killed her.

Shadow has no idea who or what he is. He came from space, but he doesn’t remember anything before that. He’s on this planet with creatures who look nothing like him, being poked and prodded for who knows how long. Being studied and experimented on because he’s different, and has powers no one’s seen before. No one looked upon him with kindness, or reached for him with gentle hands.

Until Maria.

She looked at him and didn’t see an alien. A monster. A creature with unimaginable power.

She saw a lonely little boy. And she reached out to him.

Who knows how long it took him to trust her. When she first found him in his tube, he didn’t seem very interested. He’d likely had scientists of all kinds coming through to gawk at him, to stare at him and pluck his quills and shave some fur and take some blood, all the while never speaking to him. He was just a thing to be studied. An oddity to figure out.

But this girl was different. She would come and talk to him as he floated in his watery prison. Draw on the glass. Maybe she even taught him to speak, and read. And over time, maybe he looked forward to her visits. And she became more bold to sneak him out of the lab when the scientists ran their experiments.

We don’t know Gerald’s relationship with Shadow. The most we see is after Gerald had gone mad from his own grief from losing Maria. Maybe he thought Maria would tame this creature, and allow him to be more successfully controlled for whatever Gerald wanted. Maybe he actually did care about Shadow, at least somewhat, and the raid on the facility—he claimed they were actually after Shadow as he dragged them behind him in an attempt to escape—made him blame Shadow for Maria’s death.

We don’t know.

But when Shadow saw Gerald again at the abandoned facility, he was relieved. Finally a familiar face. Someone he could trust, and ask questions about what was going on, and what their next step should be. And when Gerald corralled Shadow into this quest for vengeance, Shadow went along with it because he trusted Gerald. And it felt right to want to hurt those who’d hurt Maria. It felt productive to turn that anger outward onto the people who deserved it.

Except . . . it didn’t.

Gerald said this was what Maria would have wanted. Shadow wasn’t so sure that was right. But he was still running on pain, and he looked to Gerald for guidance, just as he had looked to Maria for it.

So he did as he was told. Capturing the others when they’d found the facility. Initiating the black hole that swallowed the facility and destroyed all evidence of the torture, the pain, the love and acceptance he’d endured in his time on Earth. Taking every shred of evidence of Maria, and erasing it.

Did it feel good to him in that moment? Having all those reminders of her wiped away?

Or did it just make that ache in his heart worse? Because it was like losing her again. And now it was as if she’d never existed. No roller skates. No guitar. No little tent with the stars and lights casting a warm glow inside.

Just . . . gone.

Just like her.

Focus. He had to focus. Gerald had a plan. And if he said this is what people deserved, then Shadow would believe him.

So he stayed behind as Gerald and the other Robotnik infiltrated GUN. Tried to focus on the bigger picture.

But that nagging little thought remained.

When things went south at GUN, he stepped in, took the key from Walters. It had felt satisfying to deliver a blow to one of the men who’d been there that day, all those years ago.

Only it wasn’t Walters. It was . . . someone else. Someone that blue hedgehog cared about very much. And oh, that brought back painful memories. And that pain he’d felt that day—so long ago but so fresh to him—flared anew, and he’d felt so, so guilty for causing that pain to someone else.

No. That didn’t matter. Whoever this was had been in Shadow’s way. He had a mission to complete. He’d only done what he’d had to.

Aboard the ARK, he continued to question the validity of this plan. But Gerald assured him this was what Maria would have wanted. So he went along with it. Things were moving the way Gerald wanted.

But that ache in his chest refused to go away.

And then a golden something hit him, smashing him out of the ARK, and drawing him into a fight. It was the blue hedgehog, and whatever power flowed through him bled out and merged with the power inside Shadow himself, changing him as well.

And it had felt so good to fight. To unleash his strength upon someone who was hurting as much as he was. Someone who understood his pain, someone who wanted revenge as badly as he did. It was normal to want to hurt the person who’d hurt someone you loved.

Because Shadow was tired of living with the pain. He didn’t understand how he could want to hurt others, to get revenge, but at the same time felt wrong for doing so. But he’d hurt someone the blue hedgehog cared for, and if Shadow could have his revenge, then so could the other hedgehog.

But the blue hedgehog wasn’t fighting as fiercely as he should have been. So Shadow had taunted. He’d poked. He’d pushed and eventually gotten the other hedgehog so angry, Shadow had been taken by surprise.

But that was okay. That’s what he wanted. An eye for an eye. A pain for a pain.

He was tired. He was confused. He was hurt, and guilty, and just wanted to stop seeing her face every time he closed his eyes. Didn’t want to hear her voice in the quiet moments. Feel her hands as they gave a gentle tug on his quills, or massaged his ears after a bad batch of testing.

She had been his safe haven on this planet that seemed to want nothing more than to hurt him.

And now she was gone.

And he didn’t know who he was without her. Didn’t know what he was or where he belonged, if not with her.

So he ordered the other hedgehog to end him. Practically begged him.

But he hadn’t. He’d stopped, a look of almost horror on his face as he’d released Shadow.

And they’d talked. And Shadow had found someone else who understood his pain. Felt it, but didn’t let it consume him. Didn’t let it change him.

And this other hedgehog gave Shadow a chance to decide for himself what he would do. Decide what kind of person he wanted to be.

Because that’s what Maria wanted for Shadow. To discover who he was, and who he wanted to be. To find his own place in the world, to be happy.

And so Shadow chose.

He helped the blue hedgehog save the planet, and used the last of his strength to make sure the ARK was far enough away so the final explosion wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

And in those final moments, he thought of Maria, and kept her love for him in his heart.

He acted not out of pain, or out of revenge or anger.

He acted out of love.

~~~

Check out my other Sonic 3 analysis posts

[yanderefarm]

yandere prisoner introduction

cw;; gore, nsfw, violence towards reader, violence, blood, knives, murder

his name is 7. it was given to him by a camper who found him when he only had 7 tally marks on his skin. that camper became the 8th.

he doesn't have a home or a family as far as he or anyone knows of. he's lived in the woods by that campsite for what could be his entire life.

he's been picking off campers who visit those secluded cabins for years getting increasingly more violent and intense with it.

he's very violent and bloody. he was enjoying killing your cabin mate to the fullest when you first woke up.

you noticed him and waited quietly until you could get away. you hit him with your lamp as he climbed over top of you and then bolted out the door.

he currently has 19 tallies on his shoulders. you're supposed to be 20.

he also got a tattoo of your initials on his shoulder.

he's madly in love with you for being the only person who has ever escaped him. he sends you letters in his messy handwriting covered in drool and other fluids. they detail all kinds of graphic things he wants to do to you.

one time he sent a letter with blood on it and detailed how he had to take care of another inmate but he made sure not to kill him for you. you're the only one he can kill.

you decided to go to see him in prison after moving back to your hometown and he was just as gross and off-putting there. he would get so excited and act like an eager little puppy everytime he saw you again. before asking if you got his latest gross letter detailing how he wanted to make love to your corpse.

he actually started to behave better in prison after your visits started. he couldn't see you if he was put in solitary.

after only 10 years in prison he was being released on a technicality. everyone expected you to be with the other families and be completely outraged but you went on several interviews saying that you forgave him. talking about how you would kindly give him shelter.

yeah that's not exactly right. you set up the cabin for all manner of tortures. that's where you'll both live until you rot away together in the place it started.

he thinks it's romantic. he loves you so much it doesn't matter what you do to him. he's happy to be with you forever.

he'd be really happy to know he haunts your nightmares.

he got most of his tattoos in prison. that's also when his hair became so long but its always been messy.

he gets really jealous but he likes to play it off like he's not. he'll especially mock you with the fact he killed your boyfriend at the time because he's so jealous that you still care after 10 years.

he'll kill anyone who tries to interrupt your time at the cabin. he'll escape and then come back once it's over asking you to put the chains back on.

its unclear if he actually wants to kill you anymore.

nsfw

he could top but he's not allowed to. he's better as a whiny drooling bottom.

he confesses to you only all the horrible things he did to people's bodies either during or after their deaths. he got off on the violence but it isn't enough for him anymore.

he likes your violence even more than the violence he inflicted. he'll moan to exaggerate and piss you off but he's always rock hard whenever you even hit him or look at him with disgust.

he's like a dog in another way too. he'll hump anything you give him. let him hump your leg, stuffed animals, pillows, bedframes, anything that gives him any friction.

his favorite position is your hands around his neck as you bare down on him. he doesn't even care if you're fucking him, he could cum from you choking him alone.

big tits. big muscles. big guy. big dick. big whore.

he always cums so much and he drools even more. sex with him is always messy.

he would love it if you dissected him and played with his body.

he'll cum when you kill him.

[himluv]

Hard Truths (redux)

As promised, here is an update to my fic Say My Name (Say it Twice). Merry Christmas! This is a rework of my first attempt at writing Lucanis back in November, so while there is some overlap here, there's a ton of new stuff too. Enjoy!

SNIFFFF! Sweat and salt and coffee. Lucanis. Sulfur, too. Candles, burned low. Powder. Ash. Rough velvet on calloused fingertips. Press to the stone. Won’t forget. CANNOT. HIDE!

Yessssss. Good! They will know. I. Am. Here!

“Hey, Lucanis?”

Sniffff. Brimstone. “No Lucanis. Only Spite!”

“Ugh. You again?”

“Yessss. Always here. Waiting.”

“Right. That’s not creepy at all.”

Brimstone. Calm fire. No fear. Why no fear? “You don’t. Fear us. Why?”

“I’m Rivaini. Spirits don’t bother me.”

“Demon! Not spirit.”

“Sure you are. Now, let Lucanis go.”

“No!” Must get out. Go, go, gogogo!

“Hey, Taash. What’s going on?”

SNIFFFF. Campfire and berries. ROOK!

“Demon’s back.”

“I don’t think he ever leaves, actually.”

 “Then he’s acting weird.”

Sniiiiiiffffff. “Smells like… melon and woodsmoke.”

“Hey! No! No. Sit your ass back down.”

“I’ll handle this. Maybe make sure the eluvian room is blocked?”

Brimstone. Gone! Just Rook. Just. Us! “Now. We get to talk.”

“When demons say they want to talk, that usually means they want to bargain.”

“Lucanis. Made a deal. He hasn’t kept.”

“What deal?”

 “Break our chains. Kill. Escape our prison. And Liiiive!”

“Isn’t that what happened?”

“NO! I want out!”

“‘Out’ to where? Tevinter? Orlais? Nowhere’s safe for a possessed man.”

“No! No! He promised! Tell him! Make him–”

–Lucanis blinked in the familiar dim of the pantry, the candles lower than they should be. Much lower. But even in the low light, Rook shone like a star. She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes cast to the side as if to give him privacy.

“Rook?”

“You were sleepwalking,” she said. 

Ah. Of course. He noticed the chill in his neck now, the telltale sign that Spite had been in control. He looked down at his feet. “Spite was sleepwalking.”

“He didn’t go anywhere,” she said. Her tone was light and reassuring. “Nothing happened.” 

This time. But how many times could he lose control before someone got hurt? Before she got hurt? Just imagining Spite touching her, hurting her with his hands made his skin crawl. 

“I didn’t want you to see that,” he said. “Again.”

She took a step closer and he finally looked at her. Her eyes were clear, her expression earnest and soft. She always seemed to carry so much softness for him. 

“Nothing I’m seeing makes me want to look away.”

How? How could that be when he could barely stand looking in the mirror? How did she always say just the right thing to make him feel like he wasn’t completely drowning?

He shook his head. “How do you always do that?”

“Do what?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice that he now recognized as flirtation, but Lucanis couldn’t quite bring himself to match it. 

“Break apart my perfectly gathered clouds of doom.” He frowned. “You deserve better than to deal with my mess.”

Rook leaned against the wall, her hands behind her back. “You’re more than what you’re going through. And, you wear it well.” She gave him a smile so tender, a look so openly fond, it made Lucanis ache.

Time and again she had shown him that she was there. She’d been by his side since the Ossuary, unwavering in her support. Her actions and her words proved her trust in him, despite everything. She offered her hand, her heart, over and over again. And no matter how conflicted he felt, no matter how many times he drew close just to pull away, she never gave up on him. 

It made him wonder… could he be the man she seemed to think he was? Could he be the man he wanted to be, for her? Could he be what she deserved?

Lucanis took slow, intentional steps towards her. Finally, they would address this thing between them. And he would give her every opportunity to see reason and turn away. 

He shook his head once. “This isn’t a good idea,” he said.

She watched him approach, eyes bright with curious warmth. “Sometimes a bad idea is better,” she said. Still teasing him.

He was a small man – he had no qualms about it, it let his targets underestimate him – but Rook was even shorter. He placed his palm against the wall, just above and to the right of her head. He leaned into the wall and looked down at her. 

She tilted her chin up to meet his gaze, and the challenge in her eyes sent fire up his spine. She had no idea what she did to him. 

“You like to walk a little too close to the edge,” he countered. 

She reached for him, so slowly, and for a moment Lucanis thought she might hook her finger through his lapel chain and pull him in for a kiss. His stomach flipped at the notion, but she stopped just short of actually touching him.

“So do you,” she said.

Mierda, her lips. He wanted to know how they’d feel pressed to his. Wanted to taste the coffee on her tongue. If he was being honest, he wanted anything she would give him. He was a man standing on the edge of a cliff – it would take the barest touch to send him over the ledge. He would fall helplessly in love with her, and she had no idea. 

He looked right at her, his tone soft but serious when he said, “at least I know when I’m doing it.”

They were so close. The closest they’d ever been. Lucanis felt her warmth radiating against his body, smelled the hint of smoke in her hair and the coffee on her breath as she leaned closer. Her eyes closed and her chin lifted. 

Here she was, trusting him, offering herself to him as he leaned over her. It was a scene right out of one of his romance novels. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned into her, noting the beautiful spray of cinnamon-colored freckles across her nose, then closed his eyes. She was perfect.

And he… was not. He was a man on the edge of a cliff. If he fell, he would take her down with him. Mierda, what was he thinking?

Lucanis opened his eyes and turned his face away from her. It hurt to do so, to get this close only to stop. Again. Maker, what must she think of him?

“I…” he couldn’t look at her as he stepped back. “Need to clear my head.” He glanced up at her, saw the confusion and concern in her eyes, and though he wanted nothing more than to make her smile again, he kept walking away. With his palm now pressed to his waistcoat he gave her a tiny nod. “Excuse me.” 

Then he turned and hurried out of the room, ignoring the weight of her gaze on his back. He brushed a hand through his hair, tugged at his waistcoat, desperate to feel composed. It took surprisingly few strides to cross the dining room, climb the stairs above the kitchen, and step out onto the landing outside the dining hall. He took a deep, shaky breath and quelled the urge to rub at the constant itch behind his eyes. 

This wasn’t like him. He felt jittery, out of control. Perhaps all the coffee mixed with the sleep deprivation had finally gotten to him?

She makes you nervous, Spite sneered. 

Lucanis said nothing. There was no point lying to Spite, it would only encourage the demon to keep talking. Surprisingly, Spite remained quiet while Lucanis stood staring out at the blank expanse of the Fade. He needed the height, the perspective, and to breathe. It took a few minutes, but finally his heart settled some in his chest. 

Finally, the demon asked, why?

Lucanis sighed. “Why what?”

Spite growled, irritated at having to explain himself. Rook. Makes. You. Nervous. WHY?

Lucanis winced as the word rebounded inside his skull. “You don’t have to shout.”

Spite made an unconvinced noise.

“And besides,” Lucanis said. “You know why.”

Make it make sense. We. Like. Rook.

Lucanis pinched the bridge of his nose. “A little too much.”

Ahhhhh. Spite sniffed, as if savoring something delicious in the air. Scared.

Another truth he’d have to let lie between himself and the demon. 

Let her in and get cut deep. See inside then turn away. Won’t. Want. You! Oooh, or worse, she does want and then she di–

“Enough!” The word echoed out into the Fade, silencing the demon. “Enough,” Lucanis whispered. He didn’t need Spite to help him overthink all the ways kissing Rook could go wrong.

Want more than kissing.

The most surprising truth of them all. Lucanis could count the number of people he’d felt genuine attraction for on one hand. The only one he’d ever tried to pursue had misread him so completely he’d just given up. 

As much as he longed for romance, he just wasn’t good at it. Love was something meant for characters in novels, or people like Teia and Viago. Not him. 

If not love. What?

Before the Ossuary, Lucanis would have had an answer to a question like that. The Crows. House Dellamorte. Mediating peace between Illario’s ambitions and Caterina’s wishes. He liked being a Crow. He was good at it, and had never wanted more, a fact that had vexed Illario and pleased their grandmother. 

And it was all gone. 

Caterina was dead. In his current state, Lucanis was not fit to take her place as she’d desired. Illario would become First Talon, like he’d always wanted. If Lucanis somehow survived this contract perhaps House Dellamorte would allow him back. Perhaps the future they had fantasized as boys might actually come to pass. Perhaps he and Rook… 

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Bah!

Lucanis sighed and shook his head. Then he and the demon walked back to the pantry in silence. And in that silence was another, terrifying truth. 

For the first time in his life, Lucanis Dellamorte didn't know what his future held. 

[anoray]

Yep, lots to learn about pirates

Episode 5 of Skeleton Crew was great all the way around: the build up of tension, the hunt for the pirate's lair, the various revelations of key information while still keeping us in the dark about other remaining mysteries. SM-33 continues to be a crusty delight. Oh, and loved the huge octopus/squid who turned out to be an ally rather than a vicious monster. Keep the surprises coming, gang :)

This ep was able to combine a lot of humor with some genuinely scary moments, most notably showing how ruthless Jod can be. This did not come as a surprise to me considering we were introduced to him in the very first episode as Silvo in the violent attack on the other ship. I think the story needed to remind us at this point without any doubt that pirates are not actually the nicest and most trustworthy of people considering they are thieves, murderers and pillagers. They have a "code" of sorts amongst themselves to avoid utter chaos, but will turn on each other if they feel the end is worth the means.

Back to Jod, once he had the information he needed about At Attin, the children were no longer vital. Now, if he were truly vile, he would just either kill or leave them behind, but the fact that he planned to take them prisoners indicates he intends to return them home. He held the blunt part of the knife against Fern and clearly did not want to hurt her. For now, he knows the pirates and bounty hunters are not going to stop and he no longer has time to play cat and mouse with the kids. I am not excusing his behavior at all, I am just presuming this is how he is justifying his actions to himself.

I'm feeling quite sure we are going to get some sort of flashback next episode to help clarify Jod's background. At this point, he's reminding me a smidge of Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, who was snatched from home and raised by basically space pirates. It did not destroy his innate sense of right and wrong, but certainly twisted it up a few notches. I'm guessing a similar background for Jod, especially when he seemed to react to Wim's loss of his mother. I'm very interested to find out whatever tidbits we get before the season is over.

As for Wim, after all his missteps and awkwardness, I do believe he will finally get a real hero's moment before this is all said and done. It seems likely that the pirates are going to follow the group to At Attin and everyone aboard the the Onyx Cinder will be tested to their utmost, including Jod. Hopefully, he will redeem himself by or before that point! It's just fun feeling excited about how it's all going to turn out :)

[theender36]

I got some thoughts on Sonic 3 that I wanna talk about so

⚠️ Spoilers for the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) ⚠️

Love that the riff from Live and Learn is used as a leitmotif for Shadow but also Maria was playing it on her guitar which is sad and now I'm picturing Shadow playing that riff in his head all the time

Right before Shadow busts out of containment his heart monitor starts going and then stops which I'm interpreting as his heart beating so fast it doesn't register

They didn't outright say it but Gerald is the one who hacked into GUN to revive Shadow. I don't think they addressed how he got out of prison but he probably built something in his cell

I love the running gag that Ozzie the golden retriever resents Sonic

Loved the joke about Sonic's security system (nunchucks) still working (hit himself in the face again)

Shadow has always been a foil for Sonic but the movie fully realizes the potential of that dynamic in my opinion. They both have a loneliness deep inside from losing someone they loved but Sonic was able to move on and find more family. Shadow hasn't had that chance yet

They used the "Talk about low budget flights" line!

The credits said they used the City Escape music but I must have missed it

Wild that they gave Shadow a gun and a motorcycle again and made it work this time. It probably has something to do with him doing the Akira slide up the side of a building

The CG animation really shines in this movie. I kept looking at how good the reflections in their eyes were. And the fight scenes just had so much slick movement and speed while also properly conveying what was actually happening

When the egg-drones show up, you assume they're going after Team Sonic. But Gerald is controlling the drones so they were definitely gunning for Walters

A Traveling Wilburys song during the flashback was a surprise to be sure but a welcome one. However, I will nitpick the fact that the song End of the Line came out in 1988, which would have been 14 years after Shadow was locked away

Biolizard cameo as the kaiju in the movie Maria and Shadow are watching

Eggman says something about having some unknown quality that makes him "totally undesirable to all possible genders" which suggests to me that he has tried dating loads of people with various gender identities (Woah, he's pansexual! I didn't know that!)

You may ask why the plot treats G.U.N. keeping the other key to the Eclipse Cannon like it's a bad thing. For one thing, the Robotniks are gonna try to steal it, and for another, I don't think a secretive yet fallible military organization having access to a doomsday weapon is a good thing

The concept of G.U.N. keeping a vault that has no records of it so that people can't visualize it to use Warp Rings is very cool and almost SCP-esque

Big fan of Shadow's solution to a telenovela love triangle being for the woman to just kill the two men vying for her affections

Love the subversion of a fight between Sonic and Knuckles with Knuckles instead relenting because he trusts that Sonic will do the right thing in the end

That being said, Knuckles desperately needs a flying island to keep the Master Emerald safe because Wade just ain't gonna cut it

There are a small handful of moments where I think Jim Carey did a really good job of dramatic acting. In particular, the final flashback to Maria's death where he manages to really show the loss and heartbreak Gerald experiences despite wearing a goofy prosthetic

Gerald turning ice-cold to Eggman when he says "You're no Maria"

So glad they did a DragonBall-style Super fight between Sonic and Shadow. If you're gonna make a movie with a bunch of CGI, you might as well go a little nuts with it

You may ask "how are Sonic and Shadow breathing in space?" The same way they do in the games babeeeyyyyy

Shadow and Gerald really wanted to kill the whole world and themselves. And once the Cannon was charged, Shadow didn't care anymore. He was totally willing to let Sonic punch a hole in his chest

Of course, Sonic comes to his senses and is willing to talk with Shadow after sparing him. I love that what changed Shadow's mind was remembering what Maria told him about the stars. That even when they're gone, their light still shines

They literally Lived and Learnt

I wish the Live and Learn sequence wasn't interrupted by Gerald giving Eggman an over-the-knee grandpappy spanking but what can you do

I'm glad that Tails and Knuckles weren't just sidelined for the third act. They show up to save Eggman, help redirect the Cannon, and then save Sonic. Would have been really awkward if they made such a big deal about teamwork only for Sonic to wrap up the conflict on his own

Tails is really chill about Eggman stabbing his grandpa in the butt and launching him into a giant bug zapper

Eggman comes to terms with his own loneliness and is willing to sacrifice himself to save the world not just because he wants to rule it but because he has someone to care about

Missed opportunity for a "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog"

I know it's still a family friendly movie but it's odd that Tom got kicked by an enraged hedgehog moving at the speed of light and all he got was an arm in a sling

The mid-credits scene got me hyped. I can't wait to see who they have voicing Amy. And I like the decision to have an army of Metal Sonics

I hope the next movie explores more about where the animal characters come from because we really don't know much. I'm guessing whoever is behind the Metal Army is from there

Post-credits scene, of course Shadow lived but I'm hyped to see what direction they take that in. Are they gonna do the amnesia thing or will he just be stranded somewhere?

I know that using Chaos Control requires an emerald and the movies established that the Chaos Emeralds are held within the Master Emerald but it sucks they never said it except for in the Shadow Generations DLC. So uh 0/5, do better

[c5rr3ntly-5n4v41l4bl3]

More people gotta' realize the real actual depth to Nikolai's character (in general, but also) in relation to his friendship with Fyodor

Spoilers!! And also I’ve only seen the anime as of now so analysis may vary later

The two had very little on screen interactions so far, but from just that we know a lot,

Nikolai considers Fyodor his friend because he understands his beliefs regarding freedom.

Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor as a grand act of free will to prove not even his own thoughts and feelings are able to dictate what he does or does not do.

Nikolai does not want to cause his friend actual harm, he simply wants to prove he can. (I've seen people surprised that he was sad about Fyodor's death, he said himself that he feels remorse for killing and he's never shown otherwise despite his clear immorality)

Fyodor does not care nor does he fault Nikolai for his 'betrayal', of course he would see it coming considering, as previously stated, he understands Nikolai.

Fyodor shows only apathy or amusement for Nikolai, he is only his jester, his entertainment, and he happens to be very useful to him.

Fyodor is a psychopath, that is to say he experiences emotions more as thoughts rather than feelings, he doesn’t get attached or invested in things emotionally, he has emotions he just doesn’t feel them.

He doesn’t care for Nikolai, but he does like him and on a surface level the way he uses him is the same as friendship; Nikolai is someone he can count on to help him when he needs it, and someone he can go to for company and amusement, in other words, a friend, and Fyodor knows Nikolai considers him someone who understands him without judgment or questions he can’t/doesn’t want to answer. Both of them would call the other a friend.

Like the rest of Fyodor’s associates there’s an underlying sense of religion towards Dostoevsky, however Nikolai’s relation to him is more personal (at least from his perspective) which serves to strip away and replace the fear of divinity with a longing for understanding, a curiosity that until satisfied leaves Nikolai with another shackle to Fyodor that comes between him and freedom, which we can see in the way Nikolai observes Fyodor during his prison break game, he doesn’t just intend on killing him he wants to learn about him in the process.

Dazai said Fyodor doesn’t trust anything/anyone he can’t manipulate. This appears to be true as shown by his subordinates who have no choice but to follow him, whether physically, due to low quality life conditions, or mentally, because of reasons yet to be explained, example; Ivan who’s relation to Fyodor is depicted as a kind of divine madness (Ivan is heavily implied to have been lobotomized by Fyodor)

Contrary wise, Nikolai isn’t someone Fyodor has to manipulate, he very well could, and likely has at least a little, but he more than likely knows Nikolai needs no coercion to help him.

Nikolai found a sense of purpose though Fyodor and his understanding of his want to be free and lose himself, Fyodor’s death made the isolation of the so-called freedom Nikolai was after very evident.

Overall, the two’s dynamic revolves around a religious sense of faith. The faith between someone who has seen and heard and touched their god, and the unforgiving yet non judgmental god in question.

Fyodor is Nikolai's religion.

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

Solas is not pulled into the regret prison because of his regret of killing Varric because he does not regret killing Varric. He regrets the results (the release of the elven gods), but he doesn’t give a shit about Varric.

Look at his facial expressions in the prologue. The ones after he kills varric aren’t sorrowful, they aren’t shocked, they aren’t “oh fuck what have I done”. They are disgust and anger. The first time his face looks shocked or regretful is when he realises that the elven gods have been released.

The only time in the whole game he seems to show regret for killing Varric is the first scene in the fade, where he puts on a sad face when he thinks rook knows Varric is dead. He’s pretending to feel bad to try and manipulate rook into thinking he’s a good person. The moment he realises rook doesn’t know Varric is dead, he chooses to use blood magic on rook to gaslight them about it and manipulate them. There is not a moments hesitation, he SMIRKS when he realises what he can do. He does not regret killing Varric one bit.

It’s similar to how he doesn’t regret sundering the titans, he regrets that it created the blight. That’s why the regret we see is not actually the act of sundering the titans, but the moment he chose to do it despite knowing what it would cause.

Solas doesn’t see the people of modern thedas as people, and he has NEVER seen dwarves as people. The ancient elves considered them “witless” and “soulless”, saying that killing them was a mercy. Solas himself said, to Varrics face, that he saw dwarves as a severed arm twitching to imitate life. A single dwarf in his way is meaningless to him. He’ll cut them down without hesitation.

He doesn’t regret killing Varric. He regrets that, by killing someone with the ritual dagger mid ritual (an incredibly stupid move by the way, because for all his posturing Solas is not actually that smart) he released the gods.

[icarusredwings]

Just had a dream where wilson developed a diaorder where whrn ever he got too scared he would just bolt and in the dream one of his ex wives beat him and she came around looking for her "deadbeat husband" and he got so scared that he just left, he dosn't know where hes going but he starts Hallucinating her when someone sounds like her or vaughly looks like her. And he wont stop either until he finds a safe place to hide. So the onw time he just straight up ran to the hospital and turns out he was talking to a hallucination of a nurse who was telling him to calm down. Said ex wife says its bullahit and he should get over it. It gets so bad that they admit wilson to the hosoital and he gets so scared somwtimes that he rips out his IVs And just.. goes. Sonetimes he ends uo at the beach. Sometimes hes in traffic. Its like a scared animal. But he keeps ending up in House's office and eventually Hiuse kills his ex wife and makes wilson move in with him. Putting locks on all the entrances, dosing him with downers and sleep pills, just overall trying to get him out of this state of hysteria. He hides in the corner and cries how sorry he is, that he "didnt do anything bad" and at one point he thinks house is a hullicination too because he willingly climbs into bed wtih him, puts like 3 pillows by his leg and just.. holds him. Grounds him. He became an issue with the police too because obviously some guy running in traffic isn't a good thing and house constantly is yelling at people to leave him alone, "youre just scaring him more!"

House tells cuddy that he has "Golden butterfly disorder" and when she tells him he made that up he said "No not technecally" and said something about golden butterflys do anything to "stop percieving" their danger. Cuddy rolled his eyes at him and said "So he's running away."

This actually intrestsed me but when I look up golden butterflys and their senses to "stop perceiving" their enemies google just says

"While butterflies don't "stop seeing" in the sense of losing vision when scared, they can exhibit behaviors that appear like they are avoiding sight due to perceived danger, such as quickly flying away or hiding when startled"

And so I was wondering where the golden part came from and apparently is a cold case in L.A. noire? Im not sure if this has much significance. Let me know because ive never heard of it.

Anyway..

My brain is dreaming whole ass drama fics. Anyway, this is lowkey just that one episode where House tries to help but ends up making it worse and somehow avoids going to prison again because of plot armor.

[good-beanswrites]

How would LCSYS be different if it was "Order of Attack"?

For starters, the only things of OoA that would have happened are the voice dramas.

Hmm, I wonder what caused the admins to decide the attacks would turn out that way.

WAH why haven't I thought to combine the aus yet???

A lot would remain the same, aside from some of the voice drama angst happening differently (both on their end and Es'). I think the biggest difference would be that Shidou and Amane would be forced to interact a lot more -- while their Milgram appearances would be waay more hostile than originally planned, their behind-the-scenes relationship would improve a lot. Shidou spends a lot of time telling her about the side effects of the injuries so she can properly act them out, as well as check in that she's taking off the eyepatch often enough to not ruin her eyesight, none of which are him overstepping on her beliefs. While she still judges him for his profession, she doesn't feel personally attacked by him and can have many civil conversations.

(Meanwhile, Fuuta would have a much harder time acting out these injuries than the canon ones 😅 It takes absolutely all of his willpower not to let his temper get the better of him and jump out of the wheelchair to yell at Es)

As for how it happened...

---

Kotoko knocked on Amane’s door. There was no answer at first, but she knew the girl was in there. She banged harder. 

Amane opened it, lifting her chin to face the woman head-on. Kotoko stared down at her.

“Momose Amane.”

Then, she bent down. Kotoko took her hands into her own. “Are you sure about this?” 

She hadn’t believed it, when she first read the changes to the next trial scripts. Confronting Jackalope hadn’t done much for her; he insisted it had all been Amane’s idea to begin with. He went along with it because he thought the proposed injury swap would be exciting, and grim, and definitely get a big reaction.

Kotoko still had her suspicions until it was finally confirmed, “yes, this is my decision. I stand by it.”

“I don’t want to make you relive something so painful.”

“I do not know what you mean.” 

The way her eyes flicked away revealed that she did indeed know.

“You’ll be more isolated from the others during the trial.”

“Only when the Warden is around.”

Kotoko squeezed her hands. Maybe another route would work. “Injuries like that are impossible to fake nonstop – you’ll need to use medical aid to make it convincing. Will you be alright with that, even if it’s an act?”

“It’s perfect. I will show the warden it is violating to force me into another’s beliefs, without sinning at all myself.”

Kotoko opened her mouth, but Amane interrupted. “Are you afraid it will paint you too villainous?” She wasn’t being harsh – she seemed genuinely worried. 

“I mean, they think I’m here for murder. There’s not much more villainous I can be.” 

It was a truth to hide a truth. Kotoko knew this change would be nothing but a death sentence for her. Yet she’d spent all day planning out her video with the team, shakily writing out notes about a short temper and uncontrollable anger. What if Amane was right? In the heat of the moment, what lengths would she go to in the name of justice?

So the least she could do in return was go to this length.

“I need to make sure you are wholly alright with this. If so, I vow to play the part perfectly for you.” She studied Amane’s expression, but it was difficult to get a read in the dim bedroom. Only the little desk lamp was on, illuminating textbooks and art projects. “Just tell me why.”

“The others asked me about it, too,” Amane said. “They thought it was a dark topic to explore, but I was able to convince them that it would highlight the best in all of us: It would show what a skilled caregiver Mahiru is, when given the opportunity. It would reveal that Fuuta’s passion, his heart, is truly his strength. It would highlight my own virtues and weaknesses, given my beliefs. It would even show your dedication to your ideals, even if not in a fully pleasant light.”

“That makes sense…” She could tell there was more Amane wasn’t saying. She gave her a look.

Amane’s eyes flicked around the room.

Kotoko nodded to encourage her. 

“Well… I also thought…” She swallowed. “The warden saw my punishments in my video, but deemed it righteous when they named me unforgiven. I just…”

“You wanted to see if they saw the things you went through – the things you really went through – would they still think that was okay?”

Amane let her head drop, using the heel of her hand to smear tears that had suddenly spilled from her eyes. “It’s selfish,” she blurted. “I know it’s so, so selfish.”

Kotoko made a sound of surprise. 

“I’ll take it back,” she cried. “I’ll tell Jackalope to undo it. It was wrong of me. I shouldn’t make you suffer for my selfish wishes. I’m sorry.”

Kotoko knew the girl wasn’t the hugging type, but she opened her arms just in case. “Amane…”

After a moment of deliberation, she shocked her by accepting the embrace. 

“You listen to me.” Kotoko held her tight. She kept her voice level. “You’re not going to take anything back. Do you hear me? That is not selfish at all. That is something very reasonable to hope for. If the warden is going to be unjust, then it is our job to teach them, right?”

Amane made a noncommittal sound in reply.

“It is. That’s why you came here – I remember when you told us that. That’s what we’re going to do. You and I both. If anyone dares tell you this is selfish, send them right to me. I’ve got you, okay?”

It was an odd declaration given what she was agreeing to, but everything about this experiment had challenged what was normal.

“I’ve got your back.”

[hopeswriting]

daily life arc miura haru. does anyone know who i'm talking about. do you guys remember her. i still can't believe what happened to her 😔

[i-reblog-everything44]

The fandom when Anya is nice to jimmy and compliments/butters him up after the crash: obviously this is a fawn response. She doesn’t actually think these things about jimmy, she is simply trying to protect herself against a volatile, unstable person by placating him

The fandom when curly tries to placate jimmy by telling Jimmy he’d fix things, after being very nervous about jimmy’s anger and reaction when talking to Anya right beforehand and his heart racing so hard on the way to confront jimmy that he’s likely on the verge of a panic or anxiety attack: hmm. Obviously everything curly is saying to jimmy here is completely genuine and not motivated by anything. He obviously doesn’t care about the fact jimmy raped Anya and only cares about helping jimmy at the detriment to Anya. He’s a rape apologist. There could literally be no other potential explanation for why curly is saying the things he is saying right now. Let’s take everything curly is saying here completely at face value and not analyze anything else about Curly’s behavior or the rest of the scene.

[seriously why are people only capable of recognizing the fawn response in Anya and not Curly]

[worstloki]

My issue with Thor not ‘realizing’ why Loki was acting off in Avengers 1 isn’t that Thor didn’t recognise Loki was acting unlike himself—Thor did note that—or that Thor didn’t figure out what was wrong—he did try asking—it’s more along the lines of Thor giving up, and that he accepted Loki was bad now within two days while knowing something was off when Thor himself behaved just as bad for much longer before without any specific compromising event.

[romance-rambles]

modern clarence | an appropriate staring distance

While at the beach, you take a moment to appreciate your handsome boyfriend while he's taking a nap—and also when he's not.

1.2k, fluff + established relationship, reader is mc, series: none

NAVY BLUE STICKS OUT TO you the moment you open your eyes.

Your aching shoulder protests your decision to stay as you are, on your side, facing a still sleeping Clarence. Like this, he looks much younger—you're reminded of the time you had to force him to take a nap. Like this, he's simply the cute guy you managed to score not one but multiple dates with, just Clarence, instead of the incredibly smart and wonderful and kind Student Council President.

You glance at the circular table set between your two beach chairs, taking note of his glasses resting primly upon its surface. With him often having to juggle two different kinds of glasses, you'd offered to put them in your bag so that he could pack lighter. Or, as light as he can.

Right now, it's awkwardly squished behind you, miraculously still on the chair only because it's too big to fall out the gap under the armrest.

Filling in the blanks comes as easily to you as the smile on your face when you get to see your boyfriend, nearly the same one on your face right now—and the expression that goes with it is so endlessly fond that you find yourself with the urge to hit something.

Simply put, your boyfriend is a handsome man—the most handsome one, of all the men your keen eyes have gazed upon. And gazed, they certainly have. But even if they didn't have to pick, then they would gaze at only Clarence for the rest of their life..

You almost giggle at the thought, but think against it at the last minute.

But pressing your lips firmly into a thin line has the opposite effect on your budding smile. You imagine you look rather strange to anyone who passes by—what with your mockery of a wide smile and the silent scream building up in your throat, paired with the quiet thumping of your feet against the legrest.

If you were in a more private space, you would resort to kicking instead.

A proper squish to your still warm cheeks as you begin to sit up helps ease up the passion swirling chaotically across your body. You exhale, then allow your hands to slide off your face. One side of it bears the consequences of your actions more than the other.

With a one last longing at the sleeping Clarence, you start to dig through your bag for the only thing in your arsenal that could substitute for a sketchbook.

There are a few miscellaneous promotion emails waiting for you on the lockscreen. A message from Cael asking about dinner tomorrow too. Somewhere between them, there's a notice about the weather, with the temperature from an almost hour ago listed uselessly.

You swipe past them all and hurriedly slip into the camera app.

The hand holding your phone steadies itself against the armrest as you swing your legs over the edge of your chair. A thumb hovers over the capture button, vigilantly awaiting your command. The fingers of your other hand, meanwhile, busy themselves with zooming in on the captivating scenery.

With each pinch, the focus grows ever narrow—until all that remains is Clarence and nothing else.

At one point, you try to zoom into the mole under his eye, but it doesn't make for a very compelling photo. After a few attempts, quite a few of which involve staring at your screen for prolonged periods of time, you reluctantly give up.

Your pout is soon covered up by your phone. When its front camera presses against your upper lip, your gaze is free to wander back to the sleeping beauty beside you once more.

A healing effect, exclusive to him, takes hold of you instantaneously.

Eyes brimming with fondness narrow slightly. You slide off your beach chair, hands on your bent knees as you take a closer look. You can make out the shadows cast by his long lashes and the drool dribbling past his chin.

He's perfect.

You're content to stay there until your knees begin to ache, reminding you insistently that this isn't a very comfortable position to be in. As a compromise of some kind, you adjust your arms atop the nearby armrest.

It really would be better if you'd brought your sketchbook along—but, you think, remembering his workaholic tendencies, would he even bother to take a nap then?

You scrunch your nose up at the thought.

In that moment, Clarence seems sense to your presence. When you look back at him, you're greeted with the sight of confusion in his now opened, but still drowsy gaze. He blinks, and it earns him an amused grin from you.

"Morning," you say, though it's well into afternoon.

That seems to wake him up. His cheeks flush a warm pink, and he hurriedly wipes away the drool on his face, as though you haven't already committed the sight to your memory.

Clearing his throat, he responds in kind, careful to sit up in such a way that he avoids looking at you.

"You don't have to be so close...I can see you just fine."

You laugh, not unkindly. "What if I'm the one who's having trouble?"

For a moment, when he turns back to look at you, he looks alarmed. Then, his shoulders relax to the tune of a sigh, his groggy mind apparently having caught onto the fact that you were joking.

Without breaking eye contact, you reach for his glasses. But as with the issue of walking into a cave without a flashlight, even if you vaguely recall where your destination is, there's no guarantee you'll actually reach it.

"Give me a second," you mutter, your annoyance making your tone a bit too sharp.

You follow your words up with an apology. His glasses held are carefully by the frames as your sheepish gaze connects with his faintly amused one. Clarence reaches out, getting as far as grasping the slanted tips of the frame before the two of you reach a mutual agreement.

"Well." His cheeks return to being a rosy hue. He coughs politely. "If you would."

Cute. Biting your lip giddily, you shake his grip off. A quick once-over of your surroundings before you stand up shows that no one seems to be paying attention to you. And unless your friends and acquaintences have come to together to unlock the secrets of invisibility, no one you know seems to be present either.

Leaning over, you line his glasses up against his face, the tips of his frame brushing against his cheek. It takes only a moment to slot them into place—and you have enough experience with doing so that they don't snag against his ears.

It takes only a moment longer to give him an innocent peck on the lips.

"There," you murmur, not entirely satisfied with the kiss.

His Adam's apple bobs. Clarence adjusts his glasses with an awkward look that suggests he has some kind of solution to your dilemma. You, of course, beat him to the punch.

"Why—" Your voice cracks a little. "—don't we go find a different spot?"

He smiles, narrowed eyes watching you fondly. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

[bravevolunteer]

oh also i HAVE to post this too because it's so deranged. mike there is something so deeply wrong with you. you know you don't HAVE to do that to yourself right. you can hang up some posters or something. he's literally doing the push-ups BECAUSE he hates it. i can't keep defending you against the masochism allegations if you keep ACTING LIKE THIS.