#but look - i'm new here and i like parallels and symbolism so i'm just having some fun

[creantzy]

Defying God - a parallel between Fyolai and Stavrovensky

The Demons brainrot is taking over, and you know what happens when I acquire a new interest: my brain WILL find a way to connect it to my other interests, whether I like it or not!! And this is essentially what it's about xD I've come here to present a parallel I found between Fyolai (Fyodor & Nikolai from BSD) and Stavrovensky (Verkhovensky & Stavrogin from "Demons" by Dostoevsky). Before I start I want to clarify a few things:

• I don't think these two pairings are similar, I just love picking up any crumbs of connections I can find between my interests, even if it'd count as reaching.

• This interpretation (in either character's case) is in no way "the only true way of looking at it". It's merely one interpretation out of many and I chose to focus on just a few aspects out of the many others there are to explore in these complex characters. 

• Feel free to add onto or disagree with anything I say! I'm interested in your thoughts :D

WARNING: There will be spoilers for Bungou Stray Dogs and Demons.

The reason Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor is because he feels affection for him. Emotions are a prison to him, and he basically seeks the opposite of what his emotions make him want to do. Thus, in the face of affection, which makes you want to be closer and wish the best for your friend, he does the opposite and decides to kill said friend, going directly against his feelings in an attempt to prove free will. But here I want to focus more on the "You want to defy God in order to lose sight of yourself" part, specifically the bit about God.

One part of my interpretation is that Nikolai associates God with control. If there is a God who controls all, how can there be a free will? He wants to go against Him and His creations (the human mind, morality, etc.) to prove that it's possible. But God is very abstract - the idea of God is influential but varies depending on cultures, etc. For this point, I'll use the example of the biblical God, or, more specifically, some attributes commonly assigned to the idea of God:

• omnipotence (all-powerful)

• omnipresence (all-present)

• omniscience (all-knowing)

What I am leading up to is the fact that these traits can, in one way or another, be applied to Fyodor. Fyodor's character represents everything Nikolai wants to defy. Nikolai hates control; he wants to fight the idea of God and prove the possibility of complete independence. Fyodor (though not in a "direct" way) could be seen as a symbol for God. He knows everything, he is always present (metaphorically and sometimes literally, the way he spawns sometimes I swear-), and he seems to control everything. Only few people actually see him, but he pulls the strings behind the scenes, and his power is felt everywhere. For Nikolai, to kill Fyodor is not just a protest against his feelings of affection, but can also be a symbolic act of defying "God", of killing "God", by killing Fyodor.

This is supposed to be very symbolic and not taken literally. I feel the need to repeat this because I personally dislike the notion of Fyodor as a literal God (and disagree with the idea of him having a God-complex), so this is merely about the God-like traits he possesses, like a "substitute" for the idea of God, and how it interacts with Nikolai's philosophy. (I've also exaggerated some points for the sake of simplification - for example, I don't actually believe Fyodor is in control of absolutely everything, etc.)

Moving onto Demons:

Pyotr Verkhovensky grew up religious and (assuming based on Stepan's description) with a fear of God.

Now he's an atheist and very anti-religious. He plans to overthrow society, and destroying religion + everything it preaches is part of that plan. But interestingly enough, he picks not himself as the official future "ruler", but someone else: Nikolai Stavrogin. He chooses Stavrogin to be the role of the leader in Verkhovensky's ideal society. But not exactly the "leader" in the traditional sense, because he wouldn't necessarily give Stavrogin all the power. He would simply use him as a "pawn" (for lack of a better word) while himself pulling the strings behind said society. With that, Verkhovensky puts someone else above himself, in a God-like position, but he wants to do it while still keeping full control over Stavrogin. By doing so, he would overcome his childhood fear of God because instead of being controlled by God, *he* will control God.

(Same case here, not the literal God, but the character who he assigns God-like traits to.)

I am undecided (with both Nikolai's and Verkhovensky's character) whether this could be read as a solely subconscious intention or if it would make sense as a conscious one as well. Given that both have a different "main" goal (Nikolai focuses on emotions and Verkhovensky on the revolution) I lean more towards thinking it's subconscious (if present at all - like I said, just interpretations!)

It doesn't help that Verkhovensky describes his vision of Stavrogin's leadership as "hidden": Everyone believes in him and his power, but only very few people are said to actually have laid their eyes upon him. When I first read this part, I was honestly reminded of Big Brother from Orwell's 1984, but eventually realised that similar things can be said about God as well.

While these are parallels, they don't come without differences. Nikolai needs Fyodor dead, Verkhovensky needs Stavrogin alive. Nikolai wants to kill Fyodor for a sense of freedom, Verkhovensky wants to keep Stavrogin for a sense of control. Yet both symbolic goals are bound to fail:

Fyodor turns out to be unkillable, and Stavrogin ends up dead.

At the end, "God" stays untouchable.

[stackslip]

OK OK CHAINSAW MAN THOUGHTS FOR THIS CHAPTER UHHH i haven't done this in a while.

love, love the continuation of the previous chapter's yoru pointing up into these regular americans pointing up (possibly giving the gun devil more strength inadvertently?). this series of chapters is gonna be such a treat to read once it's put into a volume

lots of talk about how "freedom" and "gun" sound almost the same in japanese and this is clearly a dark pun, but the thing i also really love here is.... the arm symbolizing the "light"/flame of america/american styled "freedom" falling and replaced by a gun. the bit of the gun devil clearly having emerged FROM the statue, crawling out of it and revealing its ghastly interior, the sham it's always been. fujimoto's works starting with fire punch have always been obsessed with the idea of the image/representation and the many truths it disguises, how ugly realities are turned into stories, or propaganda, or even into merchandise to be bought, sold, covered up, used as justification for idleness or atrocities. belief is what makes devils powerful. the statue of liberty symbolizes deep held beliefs that America is all about pursuing dreams and protecting freedom, no matter what america's actual past and present actions reflect upon it. this is just the nature of that symbol and what it represents laid bare for all to see!

one of part 2's greatest strengths and worst weaknesses has been asa's passivity--which fits thematically, and makes her character that much more realistic and interesting when fujimoto bothers to draw her and put her emotions center stage (and makes it that much more depressing when she barely has a role outside of gawking at new information). but see this--this! this is what i want! this is what makes asa's passivity so devastating as a character! the exchange here is SO perfect, from yoru having committed the crime to asa suddenly being in her place, witness to the atrocity she's let herself be an accomplice to--and by extension, having committed it herself! we've seen that most of her power is fueled by guilt and regret--something that comes to her so, so naturally. and now she's confronted with it. with the results of her actions, of her dreams and attempts to save chainsaw man (to have a friend/someone who could love and understand her). the results of her passivity vis-à-vis yoru. she's committed this atrocity, essentially. she can't hide behind yoru for it. this is her body too.

just an unbelievable panel. the hole looks like it's *bleeding*, like a bullet wound on a corpse. sick sick sick!

see what i mean re asa's passivity being so compelling when used right. how could i forget? how could i get so comfortable? gd. also yoru's laugh is so good she looks so awkward. and most importantly she looks like nayuta did when making fun of asa after making her bark like a dog. sisters!

sick ass design. absolutely TWISTED parallel to when denji last faced the gun devil, with humans helping denji and begging him to save them. TWISTED parallel to makima's "save me, chainsaw man" and asa's own "i'll save you, chainsaw man!". fujimoto king of making narrative parallels so evil you'll feel sick ever rereading the first panels.

yeah uh i'm just gonna drop the parallel here and fucking run and die. isn't it romantic? you understand, don't you chainsaw man? you of all people would get the love involved in this?

the juxtaposition of the ruined city by asa/yoru and the children being led to the slaughter by the japanese government to resurrect denji is just. jesus christ man

[miwiheroes]

Hi welcome to miwiheroes <3

*australian accent* 'Ello this is Eli, president of miwiheroes club and I realised I never made an intro post, also this is a little masterpost where you can find all the analysis/ byler rambling posts without having to scrolls through my account :D

I'm 19 years old

At university for psychology

he/him

I may look like an aggressively straight man but no one knows i'm actually hyperfixated on shipping two queer guys from a sci-fi netflix show

I'm a capricorn, infp, bisexual and trans ftm

i'm in quite a few fandoms but rn im hyperfixated on byler so... i'm also into the grishaverse fandom, arcane, bbc ghosts, dan and phil, + marauders

i'm from england

my spotify is 'figflower' and: Here are my byler playlists!!

i never used to write analysis on film but thx byler tumblr because i've been missing out

if you were wondering, my favourite characters from stranger things are (in this order): will, mike, hopper and el <3 okay see ya

MY ANALYSES:

(i will update these as i make them. my more massive analyses are highlighted in blue)

Byler parallels with other canon ships

Answering a mileven ask part 2: electric boogaloo

Answering a mileven ask part 1

Mike's self-sabotaging avoidance to incriminate himself

Silly queer coding jokes

The M&M Scene

Mike Wheeler's Promise

Will's 'I'm not gonna fall in love' is a bigger proof than you think

Confirmation that Mike jumping into the quarry was about Will

Milkvan's conflict, Byler, and the concept of understanding

Byler and the insane amount of Closet Imagery

Season 1 Mike is extremely queer-coded

The most important 'Will Voice' scene

Mike's bedroom is insane

FULL airport scene analysis Season 4

What if Mike's gay from the beginning of S5 like Will in S4?

You're not delusional: What I noticed when I wasn't a byler

Thinking about the monologue…

Mike is clearly thinking about Will in the Snow Ball scene

Light is symbolic for truth = byler endgame

MY FICS:

My AO3 Account: miwiheroes

vibrant days (caution to the breeze) - 3 chapters

Mike and Will's relationship has been secret for 2 months. Neither of them want to bring it up, but things build and build until it becomes more of a burden than just a little mutual understanding. Will's growing up (and getting drunk) and it's impossible for Mike to stay in the same place forever, with words always on the tip of his tongue.

aka mike and will are hiding their relationship and avoid talking about hard subjects

is my timing that flawed? - 2 chapters

In the aftermath of a harrowing escape from the Upside Down, Mike and Will grapple with physical and emotional wounds. Faced with Will's new plan and doubt of what's real and what's not, Mike must confront reality and something that he had never been able to truly control.

aka wound cleaning fic + a devastating cliffhanger + Will not knowing what's real and what's not

it's rotten work (not to me. not if it's you) - 2 chapters

Ten years after everything, and Will hasn't been able to shake a debilitating fear of anything medical-related. So when the only option and smart thing to do is get a blood test from the hospital, Mike is sure to take the time to be there for him.

aka will needs a blood test but has a phobia of needles and mike takes time off work to support him

what you really want - 10 chapters

aka a s5 speculatory mike wheeler-centric fic about his internalised homophobia and a lot of moments where he's not so clever about his feelings with will

our hearts were singing - 4 chapters (incomplete)

aka karen invites mike and will over for christmas, but mike still hasn't told his whole family about his relationship, even after a year of them definitely not-so-platonically living together. maybe it's time.

Have fun! And if you don't ship byler ur allowed to interact but if you want to hate on it, please don't interact! I'll just delete any hate because I personally think there is no space for homophobia or negativity on my page.

You'll also find 0 byler doubt here. I don't want to worry people. So ily <3

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

I'm a fashion enjoyer, so here's more talk about Save Everyone AU/Poppy Worldwide fashion and character design:

For the AU, I'm trying my best to follow canon, despite me throwing it out of the window from time to time whenever I feel like adding or changing something would benefit the story and its themes. This is why I changed most of chapter 2's VHS tapes and documents, and I'm doing something similar for chapter 3.

I forgot to mention this while writing the chapter 2 arc, but Huggy Wuggy wears a little blanket around his neck. I need to draw him wearing it, but it has a dark blue color. I wanted Huggy to feel and look more like a feral kid and thought it would be appropriate;

Marie/Mommy Long Legs first starts out wearing nothing but the things that are already part of her plastic body, and ends the chapter 2 arc without her left arm. Similar to Huggy, in order to make her feel more like a kid I decided to make her wear Angel's green hoodie. Green in this AU is a color associated with both hope and Angel themself, as its a nature color. Marie is clingy and has a fear of abandonment thanks to what happened to her pre-becoming MLL, so she gets attached to the hoodie much like how a kid would wear their parent's outfits in order to "copy" them, while also getting attached to the idea of finally leaving that hellhole;

Poppy wears her traditional and frilly blue dress for chapter 2 and half of chapter 3, up until Angel helps Miss Delight and the group realocates to the School. Poppy's dress got extremely dirty from all the chaos, and in order to adapt, she decides to switch to a simpler one that Delight makes for her. Poppy is changing thanks to Angel's influence, slowly stopping to see most of the toys as just monsters, but victims just like her. She leaves the ribbons and intrincacies behind, as she has to survive, as she now really knows just how easy it is for her to be captured or hurt by others. Not that she didn't know that beforehand!

Dogday also receives a new lower torso, but no new legs. The lower torso was something Delight sewn together per Catnap's request. Dogday doesn't know about this just yet, but Catnap genuinely cares for him, with the new body part being a representation of that. I don't know if I'm going to throw him into another outfit or not for now, though!

Kissy is also going to get an outfit change thanks to Angel's influence on her: A gold ribbon she'll wrap around one of her arms so Poppy can more easily climb her when needed. Gold/bright yellow will be colors associated with the main found family for this AU!

Miss Delight will also change. Not by a whole lot, but Angel is going to wrap her around in a nice and cozy blanket so she won't get cold. The blanket covers her destroyed dress: Angel is influencing her to heal, even if not completely;

Speaking of which, Angel is like my own Barbie doll for this AU. They start out with a green jacket, giving it to Marie at the end of the chapter 2 arc, and then on chapter 3 they change to an old maintenance jacket. It's bright yellow, the color that symbolizes the found family as a whole to show that Angel is becoming an actual and real parent, and to also show that this guy is doing some maintenance work around Playcare, powering up generators and trying to help all the wounds the children left behind have. Angel is going to get a blanket made by the mini critters, dark blue in color, and it's a parallel to Nossa Senhora da Aparecida, a brazilian saint whose day (October 12th) is also called "children's day", aka when we give gifts to kids, like toys. The religious symbolism will become more apparent during the chapter 4 arc, when Angel has the final outfit change, being forced into a medical gown that parallels the outfits saints are painted wearing. This change is not of Angel's own choice, though!

[dammit-tazmuir]

So I'm still relatively new to the fandom and I'm not sure if there are common "fanon" or widely held theories about the pre-Resurrection names, but I did try looking around and didn't see any so...

Hear me out. ✨Even more Biblical symbolism.✨

I don't have strong thoughts for Ulysses, Cassiopeia, or Nigella. And with Cristabel's new name (still?) having ties to "Christ" I wonder if she's closest or even was allowed to keep her old one (which, yeah two C—s without clear hierarchy would have gotten confusing, but could be another reason she was only "the nun" instead of given the same name treatment as the others), or perhaps hers was more Greek (Cassandra, for being the one who kept telling John things he didn't want to believe?).

But for others, I suspect...

Alfred / "A— Junior" was originally Andrew, after the first apostle to join Jesus. More importantly, Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, who was the most prominent apostle, generally considered in Catholicism to be the first Pope, the first bishop of Antioch, and a lot of other stuff that could make him an interesting parallel to Augustine (not that I think he shares a name, just potentially some indirect parallels). Also the literal meaning is "manly/man", see Augustine below. -

Titania / "T—" (on her papers) was originally Tabitha, after a woman who was literally brought back to life. (This was done by Saint Peter, so not the most direct parallel with the above thoughts on Augustine, but with him being part of the very original project with John, not fully disconnected either.) -

Pyrrha / "P—" was originally Priscilla or Prisca, who notably shared a home for a time with (Biblical) Paul. (It means "ancient", but that's hardly unique here, though I guess her being the last surviving member of the original aside from John and Alecto is worth something there.) A secondary guess would be Phoebe, who's mentioned in Paul's epistles; the name means "bright, pure" and also has Greek meaning (moon goddess and grandmother to Artemis), so it would kinda hit both the major name origins in this series. Or as a third guess, while I think parallels would be shared/split rather than having this instead of the other Peter thoughts, something like Petra could also work, though that might be too similar to Pyrrha to consider. -

Gideon / "G—" was Gabriel, the archangel and messenger of God who announced the births of John (the Baptist) and Jesus. The name comes from the words for "God" and "strong man" or "hero". -

Augustine / A—, the First Saint to serve the King Undying, was Adam, sharing a name with the Biblical first man, first of humanity. The literal meaning is also arguably "man", which makes for a bonus with A— and A— Junior having that much more similar names. -

Lastly, the one I'm most utterly convinced of, Mercymorn / M— was Mary. Perhaps Mary-something, mimicking the "two names" format of Mercymorn (ex: Maryanne, Mary Lou, Marilyn), or maybe a name from a Marian title (Mercedes would be especially amusing), possibly both (Marisol, Marigold). But 10,000% her name comes from the Virgin Mary in some form.

For starters, the first time Harrow sees her, she's described as

"Virginal" as one of the first words ever associated with her, with further description making her sound very much like the kinds of paintings one would associate with Mary.

But much more interesting is her role in Dios Apate, Major. Both

and

She was the both the one who managed to get the sample despite John trying to be careful about that and had been intended to be the genetic mother of the baby, but not to carry. While certainly not literally "virgin" here, she's still in a very real sense a sort of "virgin mother of (space) Jesus".

Any of them could be adjacent or have nicknames, of course. G— could have been "Gabe." The idea of P— being called "Prissy" is funny enough to me that I'd fully buy it. A— Junior could've gone by "Andy", etc. But I feel like all these have some solid merit, especially Mary-Mercy.

[bookishdaze]

My too long theory post about Mae as Reverse Caesar? This is multiple theories, really...

My theories on Mae's origins have ranged from her just being a lone smart girl among feral humans, to her coming from an underground civilization living in a bunker (My personal favorite. I like Fallout, lol).

Here's one that came to mind recently. It's not my main theory for her, (I still think she's just from some colony of smart humans) but it's my most "creative" and "crazy" one, but if people are allowed their crazy astronaut theories, THEN I'M ALLOWED THIS ONE 🤪

I'm gonna be calling her Mae/Nova for this.

Feel free to poke holes in this theory by the way, hehe.

This theory came to me after watching the new trailer, where we hear her being called "Nova," and we also get a shot of her riding on horseback with Raka. It reminded me a lot of Nova from War riding with Maurice.

So I thought, 'Huh, we're getting another blonde girl named Nova riding on horseback with an orangutan in the exact same way. It almost looks like the characters and plot for KOTPOTA could be a reworked version of what a plot could look like for a direct War sequel following a grown up Cornelius with Nova and Maurice and ohhhhhh-'

*puts on tinfoil hat* So my weird train of thought led me to this wacky theory: Mae/Nova is a human that was taken in by Raka as a child, and he has been raising and taking care of her. Just like Maurice did for Nova. She's kinda like Tarzan.

At first I had thought Raka met Mae/Nova because she was separated from her human colony and he was helping her get back home before they ran into Noa.

I also thought that maybe they come from a place where humans and apes already coexist, and I honestly still think either of these is the case tbh, but this part of a recent article made me think otherwise.

The "rabbit-in-headlights" bit makes me doubt she comes from a place where there are intelligent humans. (It's still possible she could be. I'll get to that later). To me this sounds like she's smarter, but still has some "animal" behaviors.

As for why Raka took her in, it can totally just be coincidence that we have another friendly orangutan who adopted a young girl.

Or maybe it became some sort of, ehh, tradition? Him wearing a necklace with Caesar's symbol and talking about how apes and humans used to live side by side makes him sound like a religious person. Maybe somewhere along the line, it became custom for those who follow his faith to "adopt a Nova" to raise and take care of, like Maurice did.

There is a difference, though. Raka could have been taking care of Mae/Nova, but he still sees her as an...well, an animal. A very smart animal that he feels a responsibility towards. I know him viewing her as an animal sounds pretty harsh, but keep in mind that humans have regressed to be like animals at this point.

And there's also this scene where he just....tosses her some food. It's no different from the way humans toss a friendly animal some food, really.

"But why does she seem frightened by the apes at the fireplace if she's been raised by Raka?"

I think she's scared of Noa here.

Orangutans are actually solitary creatures (I googled, lol), so it's very possible that it's just been her and Raka, and any newcomer makes her nervous.

Ok ok ok, so he's a guy who has taken in an animal that shows signs of intelligence and has taken it upon himself to nurture and care for this animal because his personal beliefs tell him that in doing so, he could potentially make the world a better place.

Like Will did with Caesar.

"So she's reverse Caesar." Yeah. That's pretty much what I've been trying to get at with all my rambling. Yay, parallels!

And we know Will cared for Caesar, but he always saw him as an animal. A very smart animal, but an animal nonetheless. He had him on a leash, and as much as he didn't want to, he still took him to the primate shelter. It wasn't Will being cruel, he just treated Caesar the way any human would have treated an animal, no matter how close they are.

Of course, like Caesar, Mae/Nova is gonna go through some changes. She's a young girl growing into adulthood. She'll have "needs and wants," as this article states.

Those needs and wants could be many things. To be regarded as equal. No longer wanting to feel inferior. And if she truly is some lone smart girl among a world of feral humans, she's also gonna feel really really lonely. (Think about it. If she does not come from a colony of smart humans and she truly is the only one, that's tragic. I'd be depressed, man).

So she'll also want friendship and companionship. To have a friend or anyone she can relate with. She'll most likely find this with Noa, since the article says, "...there are far more parallels and commonalities between the two of them than they might have originally imagined."

Okay, one question came to mind when coming up with this theory.

Why is she smarter than other humans? I got a few theories.

Theory 1. She could still be someone who grew up in a colony of intelligent humans, whether it be a colony in an underground bunker or anywhere else. It doesn't matter. But something terrible may have happened, like her colony was killed off, or she was separated from them as a little girl. Then Raka found her and took her in. Like Tarzan!

Theory 2. This one and the third one won't be as satisfying to fans, I assume. But maybe Raka noticed a lone child that was smarter than most, and he decided to take her in and help her intelligence grow.

Theory 3. She started off as an unintelligent feral girl, but being raised by an ape allowed her to slowly gain her intelligence back. I actually like this one. For starters, it's similar to the Planet of the Apes novel from 1963, where one of the astronauts became feral and unintelligent because of spending too much time in a cage with feral humans at a zoo, and Nova actually gained the ability to speak and became intelligent after spending a year or two in space with Ulysse, the protagonist.

Theory 4. She's like Megamind where she was launched into space from an alien planet as a baby while her homeworld burned all around her and she crash landed onto Earth. THERE'S YOUR ASTRONAUT THEORY.

I'm kidding. That was a joke. I know April Fool's was two days ago.

As for her name, we've gotten three so far. Mae, Nova, and Echo. I like to think of her name as a sort of symbol or indicator of her character growth, where I assume she'll gain the ability to speak at the end, or will have grown into herself as a person.

She'll start off as Nova. A common generic name given to all humans, given to her by Raka.

Then Echo. A more unique name given to her by Noa, but still not her own.

Then, finally, Mae. Her true unique name that she was either born with, or she picks out for herself.

Aaaaand I think that's it. I'm done. I know that was long, but I wanted to gather all of my thoughts and theories on Mae/Nova somewhere before I watch the movie in a month. Whatever her story is, I cannot wait to see it unfold. Now it's time for me to SLEEP.

[kindestegg]

Collector, Hunter and Caleb: On cycles of violence

Baby titans. Flapjack. Evelyn. What do they all have in common?

If you guessed "they were key components in making a character question what they've been told and pursue a new life, kickstarting major events", you're correct!

Hi, I'm Romeo the local Collector obsessed TOH fan!! And I REALLY need to talk about how Collector's backstory parallels Hunter's and Caleb's. Like I REALLY REALLY do.

Just as a quick disclaimer, if you're still feeling lost on Collector's backstory, I made a quick write up of my analysis for it here.

Now, if you're up to speed, we can start talking about the parallels. You see, I feel Collector's backstory is so fascinating because it really solidifies one of the recurring themes of The Owl House: cycles of violence.

Specifically, I want to talk about cycles of violence that aren't easily changed or broken. Societal ones, ones that worm themselves into the very norms of conduct that inform a certain people's behavior.

For Caleb, that was being a witch hunter, something that not only do we know was part of the local culture of Gravesfield back when he and Philip came to it, but that also apparently by Philip's memories, was even something he looked forward to.

I'm not going to get into how this ties into historical, real life witch hunting, because I feel it's hardly appropriate I, as someone who's not that well versed on such history, go into it in a theory post about a Disney cartoon.

But even in this fantasy world, the fact of that matter is that this witch hunting was enacting a system of organized violence. Children were brought up since early on to act out witch hunts, to understand witches were enemies and should be hunted. The othering of witches, the insistence of them as monstrous and inhuman. All this must have led to the witch hunting culture of Gravesfield.

And Caleb and Philip were deep in it.

Now, we know how the story goes. Both brothers go to the demon realm, meet a witch. Caleb gives it all an earnest chance, resolves himself to learn about how witches really are, and humanizes them, even possibly falling in love with a witch, who we now know as Evelyn. Philip despises it all from the start, refuses to ever see the place as anything but damned and monstrous.

From this, Caleb and Philip become symbols of opposing forces: That of change, a break in the status quo, a shining light of questioning why things are and calling for peace VS That of tradition, the desperate want to keep the cycle going, inability to envision anything different than has ever been, to question the old teachings.

Each fought for what they believed in. But Caleb lost and the cycle continued, evolved.

In the real world it is much of the same. Change happens gradually, but even when it does, the cycle does not break easily, it evolves into something else.

Philip's hunt turns to the entirety of the Boiling Isles. He creates the Coven System, to get rid of all witches, yes, but also to keep them easier to control, predictable. He becomes Emperor, and now there is a new system of control, a new cycle of violence.

The Emperor's Coven is suspiciously the only one allowed to use all kinds of magic, a way to assert this authority as well as making recruiting Coven Scouts easier. Witches who do not conform to the system are captured and petrified en masse, the Coven Scouts ensure all witches and demons must fall in line, or else. The parallels to our world and state forces used to control the population is not something that goes unnoticed.

Hunter is part of the Emperor's Coven, too. He's placed as the Golden Guard, the most important symbol of the Emperor's Coven, a substitute for Lilith once she reforms. As such, Hunter too starts out by enforcing a system of violence, just as Caleb did before.

The cycle even more glaringly becomes a cycle now, as Belos literally keeps making grimwalkers and restarting the cycle of the golden guard. Belos enforces the cycle of violence, and hopes this "new Caleb" will do it too, and every time he attempts to break it, Belos breaks him first. In a way, there are two cycles of violence at play: that of which is systemically mantained over the Isles, and that of which Belos mantains over Hunter and every other grimwalker he's made.

Hunter, of course, eventually defects as well. He meets Luz, Flapjack, and then Willow and Gus and when he knows it, he's got a whole lot of people he cares about and that care about him. And he becomes a little less willing to carry out the system of violence he was placed in every day. Until he defects for good.

So the cycle breaks once more, but this time, Belos doesn't catch up to him, at least not yet. In the present, Hunter is still surrounded by friends and a loving mother figure. He was part of breaking the cycle, of at least helping stop the Day of Unity. Change is starting.

So where does Collector fit into all of this? Well I'd first like to address the elephant in the room. For a character whose backstory also involves breaking cycles of violence he sure was aiding in one, by giving Belos the draining spell and encouraging the creation of the coven system. But that's just another aspect of cycles of violence.

Because cycles of violence don't just imply systemic violence or even violence perpetrated through constant abuse. But also, the cyclical nature of violence. The ability that someone who has grown up with violence normalized and has had violence done unto them can then channel that into violence towards others.

Now, before I am misinterpreted, I'd like to make some things clear: One, I am not of the simple opinion that "abused people turn into abusers", that is an ugly myth. Two, I have been a victim of abuse myself, and am a psychology graduate. I feel confident speaking with authority about this subject. Third, there is a difference between the psychological concept of generational trauma and internalized violence and the idea that being abused will turn someone violent.

What I am implying here is that Collector's behavior of dismissing both the violence done unto the grimwalkers, as well as towards the victims of the draining spell is something that he has learned and internalized as normal due to his life experiences.

Recall if you will that Collector is a member of an alien species that has a high disregard for life. In the same breath that they will say they preserve creatures to study them, they will also attempt to destroy all that opposes them. Collector grew up with this violence being seen as normal. He was brought to meet the titan trappers and taught to wear the titan skulls, following in his family's footsteps.

But... just like Caleb and Hunter before them, they saw a different path they could take when it came to the titans. A way to approach them without violence. They gained an interest for titans, just like Hunter with wild magic, just like Caleb with the demon realm.

Once left alone to do so, they approached the titans, specifically young ones, close to their age. They played and maybe even learned some of their favorite games for the first time there.

They also became horribly traumatized.

Both Caleb and Hunter have suffered greatly as a consequence for their defiance. No system of violence lets itself be broken peacefully. Caleb had his life taken, so did all the grimwalkers. Hunter, while having escaped with a good support system, lost Flapjack.

For Collector, that came in the form of having to watch all the remaining titans he had so happily introduced himself to play with get killed off by his own family. We do not know the full logic of how or why his family did this, but we know it was brutal and we know the end result: King's egg alone and Collector in the disc, imprisoned for centuries.

Collector is a child, and if there was still any doubt in any fan's mind of this, For the Future stomped it out for good. Collector was a child when he had to watch his family kill off his new friends. He was a child when King's Father, likely in the middle of these attacks and motivated by it, sealed him away. He remained in stasis for centuries during this imprisonment.

I can only imagine that would really mess up any kid up. And through that, I think we can begin to understand what the mindset was for Collector when he took Philip up on his offer.

I've seen people be surprised by how friendly and childlike Collector acted in this latest episode when compared to his previous appearances in season 2, and I think we need to remember that Collector was in a much different condition back then. He had lost everything he cared about, got stuck in a prison for centuries with no one to talk to and no hope of anyone ever finding him, and when someone did find him, it was Philip fucking Wittebane.

And something I think most of us have already clocked about Philip is that he prefers the people he collaborates with to be vulnerable. Someone he can easily control, usually through their emotions and attachments.

We see this in Elsewhere and Elsewhen with his tendency to praise and lead Lilith and Luz on to get what he wants, knowing they need something out of this and are desperate.

We see this with Lilith, whom he uses the guilt of her sister being cursed to make her follow his every command and not question his rules.

We see this with every grimwalker including Hunter as they're told he was the one who "saved them and took them in".

We see this with Luz and how he leads her thoughts around in Hollow Mind to twist it in how she helped him unwittingly before.

And though his relationship with Kikimora and her schemes is more of an odd one, with him mostly paying her no mind, Follies at the Coven Day Parade at the very least touched on the fact her mental health at the Emperor's Coven is not doing well. She's also desperate for something and being led around by Belos' promises, even if that thing she's desperate for is... power. But er, we love an evil girlboss.

Look, what I'm trying to say is that Philip saw a child that had been horribly traumatized from seeing his friends die and then getting stuck in fantasy perpetual prison for centuries with no enrichment, no one to talk to, just eternal loneliness and sadness and he absolutely took advantage of it.

He used every single part of Collector's broken psyche to his advantage, including possibly withholding his freedom to interact with the outside world through the disc, shutting him up and cutting his vision whenever he might have wanted to.

And Collector, having grown up in an environment that encouraged killing everything in your way if necessary, having nothing else to lose because everything he could have cared about not killing was to his knowledge gone...

Absolutely took him up on the offer. And so, the cycle of violence is mantained, the one who had to witness such violence, unable to stop it, now carries out the same type of violence against others. Out of anger, maybe, but mostly out of desperation. For Collector, there's nothing left to do but do what Belos says, otherwise it's back to loneliness and darkness. And if Belos says "kill every last witch and demon in the Boiling Isles", he'll get that.

Collector's glee in this is not something that can be excused, however. It must be examined through the lens of understanding this is a bad thing, that this is a case study in how children internalize violence and learn to be not only compliant to it, but also even revel in it. He's gone from victim to perpetrator. Not because of any of the abuse or trauma he faced, but because of his environment creating the perfect conditions for it.

But that's when our heroes come in. The cycle of violence did not complete itself. The draining spell was stopped. And the way it was stopped is also incredibly powerful in its symbolism.

Because it was King who went out of his way to contact Collector and who freed him. King, a titan, the last of a species that was at war with the collectors, now extended a hand for our Collector to be free. Despite everything indicating that they should not find each other, should not be together, they came together to stop the Day of Unity.

In the Day of Unity being stopped by the Collector, so another cycle of violence is broken: that of titans and collectors being at odds with each other. In them is represented the hope for the future: two children who are free of the anger their species would hold for one another, now united in their wish for a better future.

When King decides Collector shouldn't be imprisoned again and insists to Lilith and Eda that they let him talk to them peacefully, that's him taking a step to break the cycle of violence. When King says "it didn't work" he's not just talking about the fact Collector could go free. He's talking about the fact imprisoning Collector was a violence done unto him that only brought about more danger and more violence, did not teach him anything, and doing so again could risk worse things to come.

When he says "it's worth a shot if no more people get hurt" he includes everyone in that equation. He includes Collector. And that's breaking the cycle of violence.

In a way, you could say if Belos and Collector's arcs as villains are both about stopping cycles of violence in different ways.

With Belos, he has spiraled down so deeply he has become the cycle itself, eating everything in the way and infecting everything, unable to live on without creating more violence onto others, and so he must be stopped by force if necessary. In this, The Owl House doesn't shy away from the fact that in the real world, sometimes you need to fight back, you cannot resolve everything peacefully, and breaking the cycle will involve hurting someone before they hurt more people.

But with Collector, another side is shown, one that reminds us that we must have nuance, and sometimes, we will be faced with the difficult reality that those doing violence unto others are also people who are hurting, who are lonely, who are sad. Specially children who have grown in environments where violence and prejudice was normalized. Sometimes children will be violent, will be bigoted, will repeat every little horrible thing the adults in their lives taught them. But they're still children. And they still deserve a chance to learn and a chance to grow.

It's about recognizing the difference between a young person who genuinely wants to learn and hasn't had the opportunity to, and someone who is not interested in this. Collector's backstory tells us he does have an interest in being good, he just needs the opportunity.

Collector isn't an easy character to approach like Hunter or Caleb. They do not have the benefit of starting off the narrative dead and buried, leaving the audience to assume mostly good things out of his deviation. Neither do they have Hunter's rebellious teenage bravado that allows him to show his defiance to Belos or his tragic fate of being a grimwalker binding him. They just are an alien child with immense power who tried once to deviate from the norm and then got the worst luck of the entire universe after them, and procceeded to become bitter and angry and absolutely sadistic afterwards.

But there's still good in them. And just like Caleb and Hunter, their efforts to break the cycle of violence they were raised in, as well as the efforts to denounce their fellow collectors will not go unnoticed.

[waddledeedee]

My Top 10 My Hero Academia Ships

10) Shoji x Asui

Unarguably the most underrated ship on this list (probably because Shoji as a character is PAINFULLY underrated, I literally love this man so much no one understands). But anyway, I think these two are absolutely perfect for each other, and I'm surprised more people don't see the potential here honestly. Like, this isn't even the FIRST TIME I've seen Shoji carry Asui in his arms like this??? Even putting all of that aside, I feel like Shoji and Asui's hero ideals just complement one another's so much, because the two of them from the very beginning excelled impressingly well in prioritizing the safety of citizens above all else and I just think their heroic personas in general just mold so well together. Not to mention they are both heteromorphs, which is even more perfect if you ask me. Asui comes from such a big, loving family too, and I think for Shoji to become apart of it would actually make him the happiest man alive I'm not even kidding. Moral of the story, SHOW MORE LOVE FOR THESE TWO, PEOPLE!!!!

9) Stain x All Might

I never considered these two as a ship until the very scene below where I could only be like "wait hold the phone..." I never actually thought about it before then about how dedicated Stain is when it comes to All Might, which I know should have been obvious given his entire ideal but STILL. The way Stain was the only person who was able to instill confidence back into All Might to get back in the fray and find himself again??? Not to mention they are EASILY a "two sides of the same coin" trope because they are both worshipped symbols in the eyes of their followers: the good of mankind and hero society worship All Might, whereas the bad of mankind and those who felt shunned from society saw Stain as their icon. Idk man I just think their dynamic in general has so many layers that could be dissected and I absolutely LOVE it.

8) Tetsutetsu x Itsuka

These two are an absolute power couple you guys, I don't care if they aren't canon I wholeheartedly believe these two have a connection. Like DO YOU GUYS SEE THE WAY TETSU THREW HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A FUCKING GUN TO PROTECT HER???? And you know what, even though Tetsu is a badass of his own, I DAMN WELL know that man admires / looks up to Kendou like it's nobody's business I'm telling you. She's the "big sis" of the class, and while I'm not sure if it was stated who the class rep of B is, I put all my money on it being Kendou because she is just so smart and a hell of a fighter, which is why I KNOW Tetsu is her guard dog on sight, no argument there. Even still though, I think Kendou would also admire Tetsu's strength SO MUCH as well, I think the two of them see the other as being so far out of their own league in terms of battle prowess, especially after the fight below; I just know Kendou developed a new-found admiration for him after he risked so much in this fight by her side. I really see them as a parallel of Mina x Kirishima in a lot of ways.

7) Mirio x Tamaki x Nejire

I'll be honest with you here I'm usually not much of a poly shipper but THESE THREE???? Underrated as hell. Tamaki and Mirio are a great ship, but including Nejire in there too is just so sweet to me, I just see them as a package deal through and through, especially since Nejire was once so lonely and outcasted until the two of them came into her life. Hell even Tamaki who is so shy around EVERYBODY practically flourishes around not just Mirio, but Nejire too, I can just tell that platonic or more, Tamaki has an undeniable amount of love in his heart for Nejire too, even if Mirio is at the forefront of it all. Of course, Mirio and Tamaki doesn't require too much of an analysis because Tamaki is easily the gayest mf in the series (I think he even out-gays Bakugo let's be real here) and his backstory with Mirio is just absolutely incredible, and while I don't think we get much Mirio and Nejire solo action, I think those two just complement each other so well??? Like they have such bright and sunny personalities, they are absolutely radiant, and I think that's why Tamaki draws to them both so much (it's easily a sun x sun x moon ship <3). Honestly though, I'll take this ship in any equivalent though; Tamaki x Mirio? Nejire x Tamaki? Mirio x Nejire? I love all three together or separately to be real.

6) Spinner x Shigaraki

People need to stop SLEEPING ON THESE TWO god damn it! It's not even Fanon that Spinner was risking it all just for Shigaraki, I swear he was the person in the league who held Shigaraki's well-being and best-interest above EVERYTHING and EVERYONE else, he fucking LOVED that man and no one can tell me otherwise. I'm telling you right now, Shigaraki lived his entire life with no family, no friends, no one who actually loved or gave a damn about him without their own ideals at work, without manipulation. Spinner was the first and ONLY person to come into Shigaraki's life who actually SEEN him for his humanity, for the person he was and would have become if only he hadn't been groomed towards evil. When Spinner and Shigaraki were together, they were just boys; boys with hobbies, who just exist, and I know damn well that was the future Spinner would have wanted. I just wish Shigaraki would of seen it sooner that there was actually somebody in his life who loved and cared for him all along, and god what I wouldn't give to let these two be happy and together. Spinner's confrontation with Deku at the end of the story, it says everything that needs to be said. Really, all he wanted all along was what was best for Shigaraki </3

5) Aizawa x Hizashi

Of course they are here. Why wouldn't they be here? What list WOULDN'T they be on come on now. LMAO in all seriousness though I was not on board this ship at ALL for a hot minute, I just couldn't see the vision. But after reading so many fics where those two are married and adopt Shinsou and Eri, oh my fucking god I cannot see these two apart anymore, I can't enjoy a good dadzawa fic anymore if these two aren't - not even just Together, they have to be MARRIED for me to be satisfied and they have to have all those god damn cats ok??? I'm telling you there isn't a single reality where those two don't end up spending the rest of their lives together, I don't care what manner it is these two are inseparable either way. I don't think anyone can honestly sit there and think stoic-ass Aizawa wouldn't love his absolute fucking shit if Hizashi was in danger, ESPECIALLY with how intense his trauma of losing Oboro is, there's no damn way he is failing a second time to protect the people he loves I'm telling you that right now. It's just always been the two of them against the world, grumpy x sunshine, and that's the way it's gonna damn well stay! thank you ^_^

4) Kirishima x Kaminari

Underrated af ship surprisingly enough, but I get it because I love them platonically too. However, the bakudeku-kirikami double-dating brainrot is rotting so bad I need it on my desk right now pronto, ASAP :) Idk like I see the vision with Kirishima and Ashido as a couple, I love them together too tbh, and of course the Kaminari and Shinsou parallel to Mic and Aizawa people go wild for, which I can see too though I personally just ain't a fan of that one for some reason I can't manage to get into it. Idk as someone whose favorite trope is best friends to lovers, I just love these two so much, ESPECIALLY with Kirishima being the golden retriever, sunshine type of lover to Kaminari's black cat, yet matching type of energy to Kiri's, idk I really don't know how to describe it but there's just a certain appeal that's there for these two that I can't explain. Best friends pining for one another is just so satisfying as a trope, and they just look SO damn good together I can't deny it. I feel like Kirishima is definitely the protective type when it comes to him, whether somebody says something bad about Kaminari or if he ends up in a situation needing physical protection; not to mention he would be Kaminari's BIGGEST supporter and vice versa. And like, what's better than being in a relationship with your best friend? Having the same interests, already enjoying each other's company twenty-four-seven, like I don't think we would even see a huge change in their dynamic except they are just together and sharing an apartment and being more physically affectionate. These two just WORK so well by my standards.

3) Iida x Uraraka

I love love love love LOVE these two so much! Gahhhh I miss their early season shenanigans though, they really left the spotlight after a certain point and it makes me so sadddd (though their moment at the end of the vigilante arc was amazing by my standards). Anyways, I think these two are another underrated pairing, they just fit together so well I don't know how to explain. Uraraka brings out a certain silliness in Iida I think, and not to mention I seen someone post on analysis on here once about how Iida was the only person who supported Uraraka's reasons for wanting to be a hero in the first place, understanding her viewpoint of wanting enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle unlike Deku who thought she was lacking more of a heroic ambition. I think the two of them just even each other out, and I know Toga and Uraraka had a much more developed (and gut-wrenching) storyline, I just think Iida and Uraraka's dynamic has a lot of potential; I wish Uraraka would of been more involved in the ordeal with Stain and could of been portrayed as having been there for Iida in the aftermath since she and Deku were canonically his closest friends at U.A.. I just think they both have similar ideals and would be a good fit for each other :)

2) Inasa x Shouto

I still cannot fathom how THIS isn't one of the most popular Todoroki ships below Todoroki x Deku / Bakugo. GENUINELY I can't understand it, the potential is literally all laid out for you and yet no one bats an eye???? Like, the depth of LORE is some gourmet fucking cooking; Inasa initially being a big fan of Endeavor, secretly idealizing Todoroki from afar at the entrance exams because he admired him so much as Endeavor's son, then the ANGST fest of Todoroki still being closed off and prickly and pushing away Inasa's attempts at friendship MY GOOD GOD!!!! They both have elemental quirks that are literally DEPICTED as being so complementary of one another, they are both bull-headed and stubborn to a fault, and not to MENTION they BOTH have the exact same footing when it comes to Endeavor wherein they both hate him for his past actions but want to see an improvement from there, and that point alone makes these two mean so fucking much to me. Inasa seems like the ideal support system for Shouto (even during the end of season 7 when Inasa came on the battlefield he was cheering Todoroki on in the back of his mind even as he was far away fighting his own battle like GUYS PLEASE). And we can even see in canon already that Inasa's hyperactive personality has been able to soften Shouto's defences and make him more relaxed; I'm so giddy over the fact that the popular moment of Shouto's first real, soft, and genuine smile is DIRECTED AT INASA oh lord these two I need more fan fiction ASAP please I'm starving over here. Anyways, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk :D

1) Bakugo x Izuku

Chat do I even need to explain bakudeku to you guys come on now. Obviously I in no way shipped or supported pre season 3 bakudeku by ANY means because Bakugo was a piece of shit and Deku deserved NONE of that, but Bakugo stepped the FUCK up and finally appreciated Deku for the absolute angel that he is and frankly no one but Bakugo is at the front of the line for the Deku protection squad- hell he isn't even IN line he's the fucking AMBASSADOR for that shit I'm just saying. You guys can't tell me these two aren't literally soulmates in every sense of the word, and you know it's something really special I think that Deku never once held a grudge against Bakugo at all for how he was in the past even though he had every right to; he STILL cared about him, he STILL referred to him fondly by the nickname he had for him as kids, and he STILL supported his journey towards becoming a hero every step of the way and now in the time skip Bakugo is no doubt paying it forward in every way that he can. These two are just made for each other, and I don't think anyone can deny that.

[atlaskrr]

HOLY SHIT I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO SEE THE NEW SPIDERVERSE MOVIE TODAY AND GAH DAMN

Here's a penny for my thoughts:

The animation team continues to impress me with the animation and in this movie more so than the first cause of how they made each universe feel

THAT OPENING (love me ambiguous openings where you slowly piece it as it continues)

Spot = traumatized silly guy turned into very dangerous traumatized guy

We all thought pavitr would be ✨TRAUMATIZED✨ but I'm so glad miles was able to help him save both (maybe he is traumatized if his universe is destroyed but let's hope not since he's so blorbo)

Love his silliness with his whole introduction introduction the romantic tension comments and "Oh he doesn't know about hobie" like a whole romantic drama is about to play out

I thought I was gonna hate hobie with how much police he was talking but I grew to be amused and fond of him (the true mvp)

Idk if this is controversial or not but even though miguel o'hara is traumatized I still don't like him (if it's not clear I hate it when people try to be "the system". Looking at you light yagami)

THE COLOR THEORY ON THIS 👏✨🙌

Like the color shifts in gwen's universe and the inverted colors on the scenes of earth 42 and gwen's universe is another on point moment

There is so much more that I can't possibly mention of the top of my head at the moment but all the visual symbolism (not just in color) is *muah*

PARALLELS (that's all I have to say)

MAYDAY 💞 is. so. ADORABLE AND CHAOTIC.

I love peter b. parker having a child cause he liked the idea of raising his child to be like miles... cause he's a good person

Also peter b. parker is SUCH a father figure towards miles

Speaking of miles THEY REALLY CANT LEAVE THE POOR BOY ALONE WTF (give him a break man)

The humour in this movie. PEAK. (Idgaf what you say)

I love all the cameos and references of the many spiders and will deffo pick apart every scene once I can get my hands on the full length movie on my pc

They make every spiderperson's attack feel unique and get creative with techniques and styles

I love the 2d-3d look it has as always

I love miles' parents and its nice to see gwen reconcile with her dad

GOOD OLD PARKER TRAUMA

EARTH 42. ITS ALL CONNECTED. THAT REVEAL WOAA.

I'm glad they brought back the old spiders that miles first met into the squad

GOD DAMN THE CLIFFHANGER

i LOVE all the details in this movie

I also love the theme and characterization

[fullscoreshenanigans]

No other option for this poll since it's based on the options that won a top 2 spot in the previous rounds.

Grace Field Kids Edition Goldy Pond Edition Lambda 7214/Paradise Hideout Edition Free-For-All Edition Other Platonic Duo Polls Suggestions Post

Copypasta'd propaganda from my other posts under the cut:

Grace Field Poll: I was glad to see how well Don & Emma and Gilda & Ray were doing on the Grace Field poll. ;w; Both feel the most criminal to me given how big of a role Don and Gilda play in the series, but ultimately I went with Gilda & Ray because I couldn't think of any moment for them that was equivalent to Don being the first of the larger group of kids to voice his support for Emma's plan:

(Chapter 130)

Except for maybe this brief exchange they added to the anime:

(S1 Episode 12)

Episode 10 also nixes the scene of Don and Gilda privately conversing in the woods in chapter 31 and instead has Ray apologizing to Don and Gilda directly rather than just Emma, which is made even more poignant when you consider how strongly he reacted to Emma and Norman giving them false hope about still being able to save Conny in chapter 11/episode 4.

He's not even trying to feign the distance he self-imposed between them in his mind at this point. He's genuinely sorry for failing them for their own sakes, not as extra able bodies who could assist Emma and Norman outside the wall. And it's a genuinely distressing sight for the two of them, seeing him at his lowest point after everything he sacrificed for this plan.

To have her then knowingly hum and hold that look of fondness for him when she sees how shocked is, after years of believing a better outcome was impossible, and how worried he is, because try as he might to keep the other children at arm's length mentally there's a way Ray frets over and looks after them that is reminiscent of Gilda's own (they are united in being the Mom Friends™ of the escapees 🤝), is such a sweet, gentle kindness that they didn't have to include but I'm very glad they did.

Goldy Pond Poll: Emma & Oliver has always felt like one of the most pertinent dynamics to come out of Goldy Pond alongside Emma & Violet with the amount of focus each are given individually as effectively the leaders of the Grace Field escapees and Goldy Pond kids, respectively, and together. The latter is significantly less, unfortunately, but Oliver usually acts as Emma's point person when she needs to confer information/plans and Norman and Ray won't work for the situation because symbolically the scene calls for a representation of larger group cohesion with the kids she didn't grow up with.

Also, after losing so many older siblings at Grace Field and becoming the big sister/leader of them, it's nice to have her regain that kind of relationship with any of the Goldy Pond group; Oliver just happens to have more panels dedicated to it lol

(Chapter 69)

(Chapter 110 & 111)

(Chapter 122; this moment is so minuscule, but again we have Oliver acting in a leader role and Emma using him as a point of reference to confirm that taking it easy in this new place is wise and safe for everyone. If even Oliver thinks it's okay to act like this—to say nothing of the way he tells her so gently and in so few words—then she can rest a little more soundly.)

(Chapter 161)

(Chapter 179; he's not the only one given focus here, but I like that he's the one this bit ends on to drive the point home to Norman and Ray about Emma.)

And then this piece by @nagaikei-ajin is my favorite of the two of them for the intensity and parallels.

i want to believe emma and oliver are carrying on yugo and lucas’ will and even got a pair of gloves for remembrance... 

Free-For-All Poll: I'm glad other people are also fucked up by this panel of Ayshe & Mujika:

(Chapter 144)

The way she's staring at Mujika in rapt attention, left hand grabbing for hers while she holds her right in front of her chest to show how animated she is in the conversation, either because she's gesturing to herself or is at a loss for words in the the excitement of the moment or because the adrenaline from the skirmish with Hayato and Jin is wearing off and trying to will the words to spill forth.

It's been months since she's been able to hold a conversation with anyone in the language her father passed down to her because he believed it was something worth preserving of his culture from a millennia ago, so to be able to have that back with someone as kind and graciously loving as Mujika is something special.

[andguesswhat]

I knoooooow, I'm wayyyy too early... but I thought so much is going to be posted on his birthday that this will be overlooked anyway.

Feel free to read it on his birthday again... ;)

BIRTHDAY.

*

The doorbell rang and something in his head told him that the ringing did not belong to the dream he was dreaming.

Armie groaned. He was still lying in bed, too sleepy and too much attached to the sweet dream he just had to be able to move or even have the will to move. He blinked dozily to the alarm clock. Who the hell rang their doorbell so early anyway? And on his birthday at that?

Their friends should know by now that this really wasn't the right time. By the way - he looked around puzzled. Where was Timmy? And why wasn’t he lying next to him? Had he run errands and forgotten the keys? Again? The doorbell rang for the second time. Sighing, Armie got up, put on underpants and a shirt, and reluctantly trotted down the stairs. It looked like someone was standing right outside the door, so it had to be Tim somehow, and Armie was already about to teach him a lesson about always forgetting his keys, but when he opened the door and Tim was standing in front of him.... something was... different. He couldn’t quite put his fingers on it yet. The curls... somehow coiffed... boyishly.

The clothes... somehow ... shabby, and actually not far from a rent boy’s.

The smile... polite. As if he was seeing him for the first time.

Plus big Bambi eyes, innocent and young... and cute, very cute... but also kinda secretly and curiously checking him out.

In summary: Puppy alert with a slutty touch.

Hmh. And then, on top, that: "Good morning, Sir! Are you Mr. Hammer?" And because Armie was still really tired, really confused and wondering if maybe he was still asleep after all and just dreaming something really weird, he just said, "Yeah." "I have a delivery for ya, Mr. Hammer!" Timmy chewed nervously on a piece of gum and handed Armie the large cake box he was holding. "Um… Thanks," Armie said and accepted the cake, because he was still pretty perplexed, besides well behaved.

One look through the clear cutout of the box told him it was a cake with lots of white cream around. "Happy Birthday Armie" was written in fondant, the letters shaped like little hammers and nails. Cute. "According to the cake it's your birthday, Sir, so please let me wish you a very happy one! All the best to you, Mr. Hammer!" Timmy grinned mischievously at him, but then immediately gulped with agitation and nervously tugged at his shirt. What the hell was this? But before Armie could formulate any thought in his head, Timmy said, "Nice house that you have, Mr. Hammer. You live here on your own?" Armie was kind of lost. Some new role he didn't know about and Timmy wanted to try out now?

"... No. I live here with... my husband." He still couldn't quite get used to the fact that Tim was now finally actually fucking officially and not just symbolically his husband. He smiled about that for a second before he added dryly, "But it seems he has something better to do, he's not here." A mini tiny grin flit across Timmy's face, so Armie could at least assume that this was his Timmy in front of him and he hadn't ended up in some freaky parallel universe.

Or had he?

Because now Timmy was all serious again and looking at him with those big big Bambi eyes, saying "Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, Mr. Hammer. No one wants to be alone on their birthday, do they, Sir?” Armie desperately needed a coffee.

But somehow he decided to join the circus. This strange Timmy was just too cute to be disappointed, so he said with a lot of self-pity, “No. Not at all." Timmy chewed his gum twice, then said, "Maybe I could cheer you up?" Armie had to laugh. Now the penny had dropped for good and he was more than ever in the game.

“And how do you wanna do this?" he asked Tim provocatively. Timmy shrugged his shoulders shyly and bold at the same time, "I don't know."

Sure, he wouldn’t know. Armie laughed again. Man, there was something about the way Timmy looked at him. There were all kinds of things in that look. Kind of admiring and awestruck, but also kind of audacious and hot.

It wasn't like he had to complain that Timmy wasn't looking at him with desire after all these years anymore, but this pretending to not know each other…. It was hot. Fucking hot.

Added of course that Tim looked like some cute slutty twink. It certainly made Armie feel awake. And horny. And because he was really into this Timmy, he said, "You could come in? So that I'm not so alone on my birthday?" "Oh I don't know... I don't want to disturb you..." Armie laughed again. Now all innocent again. Timmy played his role really damn well.

"What's your name? I guess it's not Timmy?" he asked.

"Timmy? No, Sir, why? My name is Danny, Sir." "Okay, Danny,” Armie let all his charm play. “Would you please do me the honor of joining me for coffee so I'm not so alone on my birthday?"

For a second they just looked at each other and Armie enjoyed how he could see on Timmy’s face Danny weighing everything up, before he finally said, “Ok.”

There. Armie smiled.

“But,” Timmy continued and raised his index finger, “but just for a minute. I'm sure your husband will be back soon for your birthday and ..." He trailed off and stepped into his own house, respectful, marveling and curious as if he had never seen it before. "And what?" asked Armie to pick up Timmy’s or better Danny’s thought. "Nothing, Sir. I just don't want to cause any trouble." Armie laughed. "I'll bet you don't.” He walked into the kitchen and Timmy followed him cautiously.

“So … Danny… you're working as a delivery boy for cakes?" Armie put the cake on the table and began operating the coffee machine. "Yeah, just started.” Timmy began to tell, “Just moved to L.A. recently. Found out I wanted something different in life.... " "And what would that be?" "I... I have to be honest with you, Sir, I hope you don't mind. It wasn't easy in my hometown,.... to find like-minded people, if you know what I mean."

Cute, hot and very adorable. "And did you find what you were looking for?" Armie pushed the button on the coffee machine. "Well, I live in West Hollywood now.... Crazy place ... I'm a little overwhelmed… I’m shy, you know.... I'm still new to all this.... But I think I can feel at home there." Oh, God, there was really something special about this Danny. So innocent, so sweet, and so damn sexy. So ready to get down in the dirt. So ready for everything to explore. Just a little inhibition threshold that had to be overcome. And that was the moment when Armie decided that there were really more important things than coffee.

Like fucking this newbie here for example. Showing him all he wanted to explore. So Armie took a step toward this Danny, leaned in close, really close and said, "There's no need to be shy in West Hollywood, Danny." For a moment, just closeness and breathing, senses heightened. As if this was really their first encounter. Crazy. Really crazy. And fascinating. Fascinating as fuck. Timmy swallowed noticeably. "I'm sorry, Sir," he breathed, licking his lips. "I think I need to go now, Mr. Hammer." "And why is that?" Armie whispered in Timmy's ear, making sure his breath brushed Timmy's cheek. "Because I might have a huge boner in my pants, and I don't want you to think I'm being disrespectful or anything." Armie bit his lower lip with a grin. What an adorable little shit.

"Oh, I don't think you’re disrespectful, Danny. Besides, it's a good fit. I have a big boner in my pants too, you know." "You have?" Timmy turned his face up a little so that their lips were only inches from each other. How could those lips suddenly be so irresistible, when he'd already kissed them countless times? "Yeah, I have.” Armie murmured. “And it craves for attention. Do you want to feel it?"

Another swallow. "If you want me, too, Sir." Fuck, where was all this tension coming from? His whole body was tingling. "Yes, I want you to. Come on, touch it, Danny. Feel my big cock." Tim slowly reached out and felt Armie's hard cock. He swallowed immediately, as if feeling Armie's boner for the first time and being impressed about its size. This little motherfucker. "Do you like what you feel?" "Yes, Mr. Hammer..."

God, Armie was hard as a rock from all this shit. "But I was just wondering ... Sir." "What are you wondering?" Armie asked darkly.

He was enjoying all of this way too much. "I was wondering how it would - . But like I said, I’m new to this, Mr. Hammer." Timmy's voice was no more than a huff. "How about you just try it ..." Armie's fingers were sliding over Timmy's cheek, over his lips, feeling the soft flesh, but he resisted the temptation to kiss them, the tension was just too hot. He didn't want to break that. "I'd like that, Mr. Hammer. I'd love to try, Sir." And then Tim slowly knelt down while Armie put down his pants and pulled out his hard cock. Tim swallowed once more, nervously licked his lips, his eyes focused on Armie’s dick and then slowly approached it with his lips slightly parted, slowly sliding them over the swollen tip and finally taking Armie’s cock deep into his wet and hot mouth. Fuuuck!

He shouldn’t like this so much, should he?

Tim began sucking and licking on his cock while looking up at him with wide, devoted eyes, asking him silently if he was doing good, and yes, of course he was doing good! Fucking good.

"Yes, Danny, just like that, suck my dick," he assured him, moaning loudly because it felt so incredibly good. And as absurd as it was, as this was Timmy in front of him, Armie really wanted to show this Danny what it felt like to be fucked in the mouth.

"Do you like sucking cock, Danny? Do you like sucking my big, hard cock?" Tim eased off him, his lips wet with saliva. "Yes, Mr. Hammer." "And do you want to know what it feels like when I fuck your cute little mouth with my big, hard cock?" Tim pretended to be both shocked and immensely aroused by the thought and even topped the absurdity with saying, "I'd love to, but I'm not sure I can take it, Mr. Hammer?" Yes, you can, you little shit, Armie thought laughing inside, before he said understandingly, "I'll take it slow, okay?" Tim nodded sheepishly, and Armie unceremoniously grabbed his curls, causing Tim to gasp. Armie was completely fascinated by this game. How well it was working. How many times had he sunk his cock into Tim's mouth, and now he was looking at Tim, who was looking at him excited and aroused, as if he was doing it for the first time. "So open that sweet little mouth of yours for me." And Timmy did just that. Slowly Armie slid his cock into Tim's open mouth, slowly pulled it back out, figured that was actually enough foreplay now, and fucked Tim's mouth a few times until Tim almost choked and stumbled, supporting himself with his hand.

Armie knew that Tim was of course fine, but since it was Danny somehow, he asked, "Everything okay?" Tim looked at him, smiling proudly, "Yeah," And Armie could tell that the Danny in Timmy had caught fire and wanted more. So Armie once again grabbed his face and fucked his mouth a second time.

God, this was high class porn and it definitely had its effects on Armie. "I bet you want to get fucked in your tight little virgin ass by that cock too, huh?" Tim moaned at those words in response and reached for his own cock to squeeze. It was obviously craving attention as well. Armie smiled. "You've got something nice and big hanging between your legs, too, kiddo. Wanna show me?" Tim stood up, all shy but incredibly horny, fully in character.

"Go ahead, show me,” Armie encouraged him. So Timmy opened the button of his pants and when Armie immediately saw Timmy's pubic hair, it was his time to pretend to be surprised. "Oh, a nudie!" Timmy almost giggled in response to Armie's feigned surprise and the delight in his eyes was more Tim than Danny.

But immediately after, Danny was there again, taking his hard cock out of his pants, coyly but proud and horny as fuck. And god, did he look sexy! Armie grabbed Tim's cock and massaged it, making Timmy immediately moan tentatively. "Not bad, Danny. And what a beauty you have. Do you want me to suck your cock too?" Danny probably like Timmy clearly got very aroused at this thought, because the cock in his hand twitched, and Armie once again could only laugh at the whole situation. What a sweet sweet birthday surprise. He grabbed Timmy by the lower jaw, pulled him close and kissed him, kissed Tim, his husband, briefly but tenderly, just to say thank you in advance, before grabbing Danny and pushing him onto the table. "There, now let me show you what sucking cock feels like best, Danny." He slipped Timmy’s pants all the way off, forced Tim to spread his legs, to give him the feeling of being exposed, slid his index and middle finger between Tim’s lips, let Tim suck them wet, spit on his fingers for more wetness afterwards, slid them between Timmy's legs to the hole, pushed against Timmy’s entrance, steadily over the threshold, deep inside him so that Timmy had to hold his breath, encircled Timmy's throat with his other hand, felt Timmy swallow under his palm, knelt down in front of him, with his finger still deep in his ass, reaching for that sweet spot, his other hand still tightly closed around Timmy's throat, and finally encircled Timmy's hard cock with his wet mouth and swallowed it whole.

"Fuuuuck!"

Armie smiled triumphantly.

That had clearly been Timmy.

And if Timmy couldn't act anymore, then it had been good. Armie was already wondering whether Danny was now gone for good when Timmy gasped, "Sir... Mr. Hammer, that was…!" Armie laughed defeated. Ok, apparently he had to come up with something better to get his Timmy back. He sucked him, good and thorough, rubbing his finger over the sweet spot again and again, making Timmy lean back in ecstasy and start moaning unrestrained until he suddenly panted, "God, Sir. I'm close." And Armie stopped immediately.

Tim gasped for breath and looked at Armie questioningly. “Sir? Please!”

"I think you need to get fucked in your tight little virgin ass, before you come, Danny," Armie explained. “So turn around.” "But Sir..." Timmy wanted to protest, but Armie didn't listen and just turned him to the table.

“But Sir, what if…” Timmy tried again, but Armie put one of Timmy's legs on the table for good access, pressed his hand on Timmy's back, grabbed Timmy's hip with his other hand, and positioned his cock at Timmy's entrance.

Timmy groaned in anticipation but apparently still needed something to get off his chest.

“But what if your husband…!” Armie pushed slowly but steadily into Timmy, “Aaah…! Comes home …!!” spread him good, “uuuhh… !! And sees us like that?” and was all the way deep in the heat.

“Fuck that motherfucker!” Armie growled in feigned annoyance and began fucking Timmy.

“If my husband doesn't manage to be at my birthday…,” he continued hoarsely before thrusting into Timmy again, who desperately gasped for air, “he can fuck himself…” another thrust, another moan from Timmy “And if he does come home…” thrust, moan, “he’s welcome to watch. He does not need to think…” Armie thrusted once more and Timmy panted in response, “that he is the only fuckable twink in town!” and this time Timmy quickly turned away from Armie trying in vain to suppress a giggle but Armie of course noticed it anyway. And at that moment Armie felt an ache in his chest. Because he didn't feel like fucking Danny anymore, he just wanted his Timmy back.

Armie paused. His thumb caressing Timmy’s lower back. Timmy turned to him frowning. “Something wrong… Sir?”

“No” said Armie, “I just forgot something. The best part. You’ll see, Danny.”

And then Armie started sliding his hands all over Timmy's back. Very gently, kissing Timmy on the shoulders, between the shoulder blades. His hands ran through Timmy's curls, releasing the back of his neck, and Armie kissed him there, kissed him softly, his lips on soft skin, the small strands of hair tickling his nose, before he let his tongue slide down over the spine, making Timmy contract his shoulders and breathe softly. He knelt in front of Timmy's ass, embracing it with his two hands, gently kneading it while kissing the insides of the butt cheeks, right, left, softly biting them, left, right, and finally, very gently and lightly he ran the tip of his tongue over Timmy's entrance. Timmy gasped softly, his body twitching slightly, his entrance contracting.

“You want more?”

“Yeah…” just a whisper.

Armie massaged Timmy’s hole, with his thumb, with his tongue, licked and pushed inside, the hands constantly kneading the flesh of Timmy’s perfect little tush.

He went on and on, ate him out, long and lasting, and Timmy’s body writhed more and more under the experience, sensual pants and moans filling the air, the groans coming more and more from deep inside Timmy’s body. The intensity increased. Even more so when Armie also massaged Timmy's balls, licked them and pumped his cock.

“Fuck, Armie, this feels so good…” Timmy breathed.

And Armie paused again and straightened up.

“No, Armie... don’t stop, baby, please!” Timmy begged.

Armie smiled warmly. "I just wanted to say hi to my husband. Glad you came after all." Timmy turned around and chuckled sheepishly before he wrapped his arms around Armie.

“Yes, I’m here. Happy Birthday, baby!”

They kissed.

Home.

There was nothing like that feeling.

Danny was fun but this, this was what he wanted. Needed.

“Had things to do?” he asked smiling softly.

“Yeah… Sorry to have kept you waiting.” Timmy’s nose twitched while he grinned.

“No worries, I had nice company. But now I want to do something, baby. Do I have a free wish on my birthday?”

“Yeah… sure.”

"Mind if I fuck my husband now through his orgasm?" Timmy laughed, his eyes shining, his voice a soft hush. "No, I don't mind." And that's what Armie did then. Because the bottom line was that it made him happiest when he satisfied his man to the max.

Just that. With eyes interlocked, he thrust into Tim, his thighs bumping against Timmy's, getting Timmy nearer and nearer over the edge. "God, Armie...!"

Armie’s hands grabbed him mercilessly, and when Timmy’s head reared back, Armie could see how his mind slowly drifted to nirvana.

Because there were all kind of sex. There was "God, you are so fucking hot" sex, there was "I love you more than anything” sex... but now, now it was "I'm off to nirvana" sex.

Armie loved that, that he could bring Timmy there.

At first Timmy always had felt guilty when this had happened. I want to be with you when I come, he had said, don’t we need to look into each others eyes until the end?

No.

Because what could be more beautiful than to let the man you love the most feel this incredibly sensual, body and mind connecting experience of pleasure? And to be responsible for it. That was the sexiest sight ever. So he watched with the greatest devotion as Tim's slender body writhed under his touches and thrusts, loved how Timmy's eyelids fluttered as his head fell back into his neck, loved how his face contorted with lust, loved how those sexy little gasps came out of his half parted mouth, one after the other, loved how every cell of Timmy's body vibrated with pleasure, loved how his moans became more and more urgent, coming closer and closer to the edge, reaching ecstasy, until finally he came with a jerky twitch, the orgasm surging through every fiber like waves, waves, waves.

So beautiful, so incredibly fucking beautiful.

Armie came too, came in Tim, his love, his husband and wanted nothing more than this.

After he had reluctantly detached himself from Timmy, he lay down next to him on the table and just looked at him. Watched how Timmy slowly, ever so slowly, came back down here to earth from his nirvana, smiling softly as he turned to him.

Pure happiness, exhaustion and still, after all these years, shyness because he was out there, gone.

Who wouldn’t fall for that.

“Hey...”

“Hey...”

They kissed.

Soft kisses.

Sweet kisses.

Fingers touching the other.

Until Timmy’s curiosity won. "So, what did you think of Danny?" he asked eagerly. Armie laughed. "Well, … he was very cute, definitely. And hot. What more could you ask for? But I think he was an impostor." "What? Why?" Tim pretended to be indignant. "Because he acted so inexperienced and naive and then he sucked me like the sluttiest angel ever." Timmy giggled the cuddliest giggle existing. "Maybe he's just a natural." "Maybe. He had a very nice cock though. Thought about letting him fuck me. But I wasn’t sure if you agree to that.”

“If you like him. I would let you. Maybe he comes back some time.”

“Maybe.”

Timmy opened the box of cake beside him, stroked two fingers over the cream of the cake and held his coated fingers in front of Armie's mouth, who immediately accepted the invitation and licked the cream off. "I was actually expecting, the cake would have an entrance as well,” Timmy said and took another dollop of cream from the cake and shoved it this time into his own mouth. “Sorry, I kind of only had eyes for Danny,” Armie apologized. “But I can make up for it later if you want.“

Timmy bit his bottom lip, grinned, his eyes sparkling with joy.

Once again Armie realized he would never get over the sweetness of his man.

Also, it was not to believe that he was so horny for him again.

And it was the greatest pity that Timmy’s birthday was not until December.

Because he could hardly wait that this time it would be him to ring the doorbell.

And when Timmy would open the door, he would say: "Mr. Chalamet? Here's the hammer you ordered. I hear you have a big pipe to lay? "

*

[ananke-xiii]

"The Born-Again Identity" is one of those SPN ep that I like despite the fact that there are so many things in it that drive me a little bit insane (truth be told, in part it's only my fault cause I can never completely turn up the "suspension of disbelief" volume and I go to a default "but why?" mindset everytime I see something on screen, so okay it's a *just me* problem). However, I do think that S7 was not that bad and it had some quite intriguing and original ideas while the execution was... well, let's say clunky. So, all in all, I think this episode is kinda cool.

the things that drive me a little bit insane:

the imagery of sam desperately running alone in the night along some tracks in a supposedly dangerous part of town. The "derailing" and "going off the tracks" symbolism was a bit on the nose; him buying drugs from the "tweaker" and sleeping with the guy in his car: mmm I feel like that was, like. a lot. to be just thrown away like that.

sam being admitted to the hospital with no mention of said drugs use and the whole scene with the doctor telling dean that they had to put sam in the locked psychiatric floor. I don't know, it also feels like.a lot. and.all of a sudden. they could ease into that way better, it's too ham-fisted as in: we have to find a way to put sam in an horror asylum-like facility in less than 5 minutes for the ep to make sense. so that what feels like to me.

daphne. everything about her drives me insane. I have a whole story where she has to clean up the mess dean has made and hide the body of the demon or something. she'll later start her own private hero's journey to find emmanuel and bring him back to their white picket fence life so perfect and so based on manipulation and stockholm syndrome.

the demons showing up at the grocery store. like what? it was established just a few scenes before when dean told the demon that he was "hands-off" or something and that the demon was actually looking for emmanuel. so why oh why would the other demons look for dean when there's emmanuel.alone.in.the.car. nonsense.

that one demon torturing sam with the electroshock. what was the point? why were demons there anyway? weren't the brothers hands off? maybe i missed something here but to me just felt like "asylum ep= electroshock scene is a must" and meh.

sam leaving the hospital.just.like.that and "swapping place" with cas. i'm sorry, what? i won't even comment on meg being suddenly hired as a nurse cause okay i want to give the writers that, but wtf? oh okay, this guy that has just showed up here (and has definitely possibly murdered 4 or 5 people at the entrance) is maybe not okay, let's not call his wife or someone, let's just lock him up. whaaaaat?

the quite intriguing and original ideas:

the cas/sam parallel: they are both evidently mentally unstable for very different reasons. cas has, in a way, "left the life" and dean, of all people!!!, is not 100% cool with him regaining his memories because what if he leaves???? sam is quite literally very close to leave life in general because the trauma is affecting his body in an irreversible way. they are both "born" again identities at the beginning and at the end of the episode. Very cooooool.

sam and lucifer interactions: the actors really did their job well in this ep cause everytime I watch it I'm exhausted, like I can't bear to hear Lucifer talk and talk and taunt and I definitely feel worn out like sam. I think Jared works very well with Mark Pellegrino, too bad that the whole Lucifer storyline was a mess in later seasons cause the actors had great chemistry.

meg. every scene with meg is just joy for me. and her storyline? left alone looking for "friends"? sure, she totally plans to use cas as her ally but what's new? (jokes aside, there's a whole pattern of women manipulating and using cas, am i the only one seeing it???).

marin. first of all, hello abigail????? (hannibal memories flooding in). second of all, cool MoTW-Not-So-Much-MoTW story. ofc she's a sam's mirror used to basically explain what happened to sam but the ghost who's tormenting her is also her brother and he must die-die-die because he won't let her go. hello??? paralleling sam's hallucinations with sam's issues with dean was super intriguing and too bad that the MoTW was Not-So-Much-MoTW cause marin's story was maybe not even 8 minute long.

bonus: "Peace of Mind" from S14 echoes this ep brillianty, they even cast one of the same actors (the doctor/the mayor) and they used the same surname for sam (sam smith/justin smith). cool cool cool (although unrelated to s7).

[kooki914]

How do you think would Noelle and Ralsei interact with each other if they got the chance? What would their relationship bring out of the other?

This is something I've given a lot of thought to, and something I'm still salty wasn't explored at all in Chapter 2. So this post is both going to answer your question as well as be my excuse to write an essay about these two.

The thing is, Noelle and Ralsei are narrative foils to each other. That probably sounds weird on account of the fact that they never interact, but both mechanically and through dialogue, we see parallels form between them. They're both enigmatic, mysterious, while keeping up friendly appearances, while also being literal or figurative royalty in their respective worlds (Noelle is from a rich family and is adored, Ralsei is a prince with no subjects). They're both love interests to the leads (yes, to Kris and Susie BOTH, the snowgrave route is essentially an exploration of a toxic friends-to-lovers but I'm not getting into that here), and they're both rife with religious symbolism, as well as the fact they're both prey animals (in a world where boss monsters like Toriel and Asgore can look more lion-esque, Ralsei's decidedly goat-ish appearance is kind of striking to me). They have the same heal spell (a pray to light) and they're both "passive" in that kind of way a mage usually is in RPGs.

Noelle's arc mainly centers around agency, while Ralsei's arc mainly centers around identity. For all the struggles she faces, Noelle doesn't really have that... crisis of character that Susie and Ralsei are prone to. Even in the snowgrave route, she doesn't question herself, she questions Kris. And, while Ralsei IS an obedient doormat, it's not out of a lack of agency (he shows us as much when he puts his foot down right before the kids open a fountain), it's an active choice he KNOWS he can simply... Not Do (as evidenced by how upset he is with Susie's behaviour in chapter 1 and his epiphany about it in chapter 2, he essentially equates mean behaviour to Purposefully making people around you suffer, instead of a personality quirk or showing of emotion).

It's interesting to think about how they'd complement one another. Not even strictly in a character arc sense (I'll get to that), but just in a... character interaction sense. Noelle has this pattern of putting the spotlight on other people. Even when she talks about herself it's always framed as a way to lift up those around her, while Ralsei has this sneaky way of getting to know you without you even realising (if the rooms he made for Kris and Susie are anything to go by). I think this would result in a dynamics where Noelle (passively, almost accidentally) allows Ralsei to open up in a more genuine way, while Ralsei still tends to Noelle's needs like he does for everyone else.

It's also interesting from a worldbuilding sense. We've seen Ralsei not give a flying fuck about Anyone that isn't directly connected to the prophecy, both for humour reasons and for horror reasons (as seen in the snowgrave route), so giving him a friend that's 1) a lightner, 2) not part of the prophecy, and 3) trying to actually know him on a personal level - it'd probably cause him to actually rethink his worldview. If someone like Noelle, someone who's got nothing to do with the prophecy, can be an important person to him and a good friend to people she doesn't *need* to care about, then why can't he? Can he be someone outside the prophecy? Is his identity and purpose not confined to this, and what does that mean for him in the long run?

And, on Noelle's side of things, Ralsei would probably be a healthier outlet for that feeling of nostalgia she's so addicted to. With him around, she's allowed to just be a kid again. No appearances to keep up, no expectations to fulfill, he's a fresh start and a new friend that she's allowed to be her authentic self around because his existence is essentially rooted in tending to the inner child of all the lightners he comes across. And maybe then she'll be able to let go of the past. Maybe, though viewing her childhood through an outsider's eager point of view, she can see how far away it is, and how she doesn't NEED it to be happy. Things can't be the same, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe they can be better.

Overall, there's also a... vague "burden of femininity" they both have. They take on emotional labour even when they don't have to, just because that's what's expected of them. I so badly want a Dark Fun Gang-esque arc with these two where they defect from the team and just decide to be bad guys on their own terms for a while. Just because they can, just to see what it brings out of them. And, they'd be complete dorks about it of course, but it'd be nice to see them breaking their moulds with people they don't feel judged by, with friends they don't feel the need to impress because they're already so similar to.

There's this one bit of dialogue I wrote for them for one of my AUs, specifically in the above scenario where they decide to be bad guys for a bit, and I feel I need to share it here because it puts into words something I can't without taking away from the feels of it:

[mothzarellaman]

The Life Series and Eyes (A Headcanon Rambling)

hello traffiblr! Y'all voted to have me rant about the life series and my personal headcanons regarding eyes, so. Here we go!

Overview

So let me hit you guys with a quick overview.

here's a quick reference. While these all depend on the individual, and the series, I'll explain what each general eye color means.

4+ Lives

People with 4+ lives fall into this category. Their eyes are a dark green, bordering on teal. I think it would be interesting if A. eyes act as a sort of weak gradient in terms of 4-1 lives. So, there's a bit more blue. 2. Personal headcanons regarding speakers, and their colors. 3. A sort of parallel to the Boogey eyes. both are very dark. So its harder to tell if they have 4+ lives somehow, or if they're boogey.

3 Lives

A classic. A nice, simple green. While the exact hue varies depending on the person (because of either violent or peaceful behavior/simply what looks good with them), greens have generally bright green eyes.

2 Lives

Similarly to 3, the exact hue depends on behavior of the individual. Someone who's more violent would be closer to an amber, while peace loving players lean towards more of a yellow-green. The eyes are always clearly yellow, though.

1 Life

While the others would go towards a color dependent on behavior, all bets are called off for reds. The hue is purely aesthetic. It is no longer a clue towards general behavior. There's rarely any allowance for personal preferences in reds. All they can see is violence and conquest.

Boogey

Basically, I reject the idea of boogies having purple eyes or glints for symbolism with watchers. It's far more threatening to me if their normally bright colored eyes are chips of the void. Obviously, characters still have pupils, I just don't include them in my style. I can't decide if Boogies have pure black eyes, or if their eyes are a dried-blood color so dark it only seems reddish in light.

0 Lives / Dead

And finally, we have grey eyes. When it comes to deaths before the final death, the bodies disappear quickly, as soon as the person respawns, I'd wager. But after that final death, their body remains. Their eyes quickly lose all color, and end up as grey. This was chosen just out of design choice, the lifeless look, and also, by incident, Scar's red-life skin. It makes him completely greyscale, so a similar logic applies here.

Character Specific Colors

Here's a quick guide to character specific colors. Again, everyone has a unique one. Do note that most of these are simply what looks good, as I've only had the time to watch Grian's pov, and not anyone elses.

Ik they don't really... look good and may not fit, but hey, I'm here to rant about design ideas, not actual colors lol. And you will not believe how hard it is to make 16 different palletes unique and at least kinda match the character while having the same main 4 colors. I will address Grian, dw. Boogey and dead eyes are the same color, regardless of character.

3rd Life

Alright, so, from the base rules, nothing changes. It uses the same logic mentioned up above. Green, yellow, red, and grey. There's no real special mentions here that are exclusive to 3L.

Last Life

Similarly to 3L, LL lacks any specific changes to eyes. The only addition are the new eye colors for boogey and 4+.

Double Life

Here, characters share eye colors. What do I mean by this? I mean, their signature eye colors are at a gradient with their soulmate's. So, for example, Pearl and Scott's Green eyes are mixed as a gradient with both are on green. This applies for every life, and every soulbond. It gives people slight clues as to who exactly their soulmate is, but its hard to tell. When scar showed up boasting purple eyes, everyone was confused, to say the least lmao.

Limited Life

ok i'm definitely the happiest with this one. The idea is that everyone's eyes are functionally, like a clock. I illustrated it really badly, but the idea is cool ok. The idea is that like, idk, every 1/8 of someone's eye represents an hour. Every hour lost from the 'benchmark' turns to the next color. For example, if someone has 24 hours, their eyes are pure green. If they have, say, 18, they only have 1/4 (2/8) of green left, the rest of their eye being green. If they have only an hour left, they only have an 1/8 of an eye red, the rest being grey. The color of their current life slowly recedes in an almost spiral pattern as time goes on. If someone somehow had 24+ hours, same rule would apply to their 4+ life, so to speak. they'd only have a sliver of the dark green, with most of their eye being their 'normal' green.

Grian

okay, I know for sure people are questioning why Grian's eyes are neon purple. The reason why is on the simpler side. Watcher. He's the only one out of the players to be an actual watcher. Some people (like Pearl and BigB) definitely have some ties to them, but Grian's the only full blown watcher. (Martyn is tied to the listeners, who are green to me, so his colors are greener despite being prone to violence lmao. And Scott is tied more to the Speakers, who are blueish/cyan to me. Pearl, as Scott's soulmate in DL, has that bluish tint to a degree. )

But, you might ask, how do people not notice??? Well, its because of my Grian design.

This is old and it doesn't quite show my idea well, but alas.

I've already made reference images for this and I can't find the motive to draw a Grian headshot lmao. The idea is taking the Watcher's face plate. You know the one. The mask. And taking that, and instead of having the Evo symbol, no, it has, guess what. Grian's weird freaking eyes. Yep. Whether this was his attempt at camouflaging himself among non-watchers, or if it was his basically middle finger towards them, refusing to show obvious alliance with them, idk. All I know is he basically vandalized his Watcher mask. Still, you might say, that doesn't explain why is eye color is purple. Well, if you take away his mask, it's either basically a void with purple eyes inside, or probably some sort of void looking crack through his face, as if it isn't actually flesh. He can choose to have 'normal' eyes, but they always remain that Alexandria's Genesis purple, and it messes with his sight. Basically he sees too much. (I'd elaborate in my Watcher/Listener/Speaker post if people wanted 👀)

[kohakhearts]

goh starter trio meta perhaps? i was ensnared by the goh-scorbunny parallel subpoint in the cubone meta bc i'm making myself unwell thinking about how scorbunny latching on to goh and goh latching on to ash.... but also more generally, sobble's whole thing and the absolute tearjerker drizzile evolution episode, and goh's weird ass dream about his rillaboom parents and then waking up to baby grookey clinging to his arm, you get it, i know you're galaxy brained about this

YESSS I AM *SO* GLAD YOU ASKED!!

so my tl;dr here is that all of the galar starters represent something about goh specifically relating to his childhood. their growth and eventual evolution (or lack thereof!) therefore serve to highlight his character development (as an aside, i think this is a very common theme in anipoke. ash's pikachu not evolving speaks to the fact that ash's growth isn't about becoming someone new but about staying true to himself and embracing a battle style that reflects the creative ingenuity that, in the early os, other characters mocked him for. similarly, dawn's piplup chooses not to evolve because it doesn't want to change how things are between them. does this not seem fitting for the partner of someone like dawn, who has always admired her mother so much that she never even considering doing something other than following in her footsteps? i'm sure there are other examples, but these seem to me the most obvious ones!).

let's break down each one, then!

scorbunny

when we meet scorbunny, goh is still determined that mew will be his first pokemon. this is a point of stubbornness that, while impressive and arguably kind of admirable, is frankly kind of stupid. how is he supposed to get to mew without any pokemon to help him? there's an interesting implication in this resolution, which jn004 and jn005 really highlight for us - goh isn't comfortable with having a pokemon. he knows a lot about them, is interested in researching them, but as far as the bond between pokemon and trainer goes, i don't think he feels prepared for that. it's easier to pick a target that is far from reasonably attainable for him at this point, especially since he does have some history with mew - didn't it take an interest in him? didn't it give him a reason to chase after it?

so meeting scorbunny, he's obviously not thinking about catching it. but he lies to the guy at the scone stand, in an interesting parallel to how scorbunny steps in to protect the nickit. he doesn't even seem to know why he does it. but just before that scene, he sees scorbunny wipe some of the dirt off its face. he doesn't get the whole story and connect all the dots until after, but i think he realizes then that scorbunny is trying to hide itself in some way. that it's performing as something it's not. and on some unconscious level, that motivates him to lie for it. after, we get this whole exchange, where the scone seller tells ash and goh the story

and this note is what makes goh get up and approach scorbunny and the nickit:

it's very symbolic that he wipes the mud off scorbunny's face. and then later, he even points out when they see it again that it looks better without all the mud covering it up - it looks more like itself. it's not pretending to be something it's not. goh wiping the mud off its face is him saying that he accepts it as it is. that being resigned to living a certain way just to fit in or just because that's how it's always been is pointless.

and i mean...even ash says in this scene that the things goh is saying are things he's only recently learned himself, right? goh denies it (and tbh when he says that he's always thought the world is big and anyone can explore it if they want to or whatever - i don't think that's untrue! i think it's just that, prior to meeting ash, he didn't have it in him to explore it), but ash has a point. and what goh is doing for scorbunny here is the same thing that ash did for him.

relatedly, scorbunny follows him, right? in the same way that goh "accepts" ash as his friend, scorbunny chooses goh as its trainer. goh recognizes that it travelled far for him, that it saw a vision of its future with him, and changes his mind about not catching it. i think the determination he saw in scorbunny to chase after its dreams resounded with him, because he's only just started doing the same thing. and his entire character is built around this idea of like, learning how to adapt and how to let other people help you find the courage to chase your dreams (and even to help you chase them). how could he possibly deny scorbunny the same thing?

but while scorbunny's enthusiasm helps motivate goh to chase his dreams, he is very flippant and dismissive, as we see when it learns ember and he says it doesn't matter, that scorbunny doesn't need to know a fire-type move and this gut-punch of a line, of course:

goh is someone who needs a lot of convincing to do things he doesn't think he'll be good at (or enjoy). he only joins project mew because gary goads him into it. he spends most of his life refusing to make friends, because he had one bad experience. he's a fairly black-and-white thinker, which makes sense considering his background. he doesn't really believe in change. he especially doesn't believe that people (or pokemon, in this case) can change their circumstances just through hard work and determination. as we see in jn003 with the ivysaur, he also doesn't think that it's anyone else's place to intervene and "help" others. if you can't change something, then don't. and there's no point in hoping it'll change on its own, either.

when scorbunny storms off here, his expression is interesting. this isn't the expression of someone being judgemental. it's the expression of someone who sympathizes.

he sees scorbunny trying so hard to do something he thinks it can't do and thinks that scorbunny's determination to change things is, if i had to guess, kind of immature. a lesson scorbunny will have to learn, whether it wants to or not. at first it's kind of endearing, but then he actually gets frustrated, because he feels like scorbunny's determination to learn ember is harmful to them both. here, there's a degree of "why won't you just trust that i know what's best for you?" for sure, but on a deeper level, i think that stems from a place of "can't you see that i'm just trying to protect you?"

...but obviously, all he really does is wind up lashing out and hurting scorbunny's feelings. he tells ash that he was trying to draw out scorbunny's strengths (and he was, by telling it to use moves it was already good at!), but ash points out that their values weren't aligned and that's kind of the opposite of strength when it comes to pokemon battling. so he reassesses the situation and finds a way to bring out scorbunny's strength that also aligns with what scorbunny wants. that compromise is what makes scorbunny evolve. it was the right call! but then raboot starts ignoring him.

and this is like. a running gag with scorbunny - goh gets distracted by other things and doesn't notice that it's trying to show him things. it happens when they meet and it happens again in this episode with its ember. we see something very similar with goh and his parents in jn032 when he's excited at the prospect of their vacation together, but when he tries to ask what they want to do, he turns around and find they're both asleep (and we see the flashback of something similar happening last time, too).

with raboot, in a lot of ways, goh is grappling with...himself. or at least, the person he was before he met ash - cold and distant, more interested in doing whatever he thinks is worth his time than in school, for example. so if goh saw his child self in scorbunny, he sees his more "adolescent" (i mean. he's still ten so still child, technically. but older child lol) self in raboot. and he actually responds to this in a way that's a lot like how we see his parents responding to him. in jn022, we see him

buy a bunch of apples for raboot, even though he thinks it doesn't need them (and is hurt when it doesn't let him have one, despite raboot seeming pleased that he bought them for it). compare to the device he shows horace in jn032, for example, which he says his parents built for him. or his six computer monitors. his parents reach him best through material means!

question why raboot hates him when it's not responsive to his overtures. contrarily, goh's parents don't think he hates them; they just automatically assume the worst case scenario (like in jn015 when he calls and they immediately wonder if he did something and got kicked out of the institute). but while that's their worst case scenario about him, raboot hating him is kind of goh's worst case scenario, right? it took him time to open up and accept scorbunny as his partner. now that it's evolved and is acting differently, he's terrified that he came to care for it only for it to leave him.

which leads to my last point here, which is that he doesn't actually ask what it wants. in this episode, he concludes that raboot would be happier without him. so he leaves it behind, but he never actually considers how it might feel. goh's parents do the same thing! they worry about him, but they don't share their concerns or ask how he feels. they just assume that he must feel a certain way and they adapt to compensate for that. but they never actually ask him what he wants.

this episode ends with him realizing that he hasn't been reacting to raboot's feelings so much as to his own, of course, and we see their relationship smooth out quite a bit. he's acknowledging that he's done things wrong, but also that it's not all his fault - and raboot's change in temperment is just a consequence of it evolving. they accept each other again and move on.

then, it evolves into cinderace and kind of opens up again more (though it's been doing that little-by-little since jn022). i think the fact that raboot and riolu evolve at the same time was a really cool move by the writers to kind of demonstrate how like...the relationship between ash and goh is reflected in the growth of their pokemon. they trained together! in a way they kind of grew up together! riolu, ash's token baby pokemon in jn, evolving at the same time as goh's starter feels like a very deliberate choice to highlight how ash helped goh's pokemon grow, too - through getting the ball rolling with how he helped goh grow as a person and a trainer. if that makes sense?

anyway, i don't have much to say about cinderace, other than that if he saw himself as a child in scorbunny and as an older child in raboot, then cinderace's level of openness and its enthusiasm aren't just reflexive of it getting back more of its scorbunny-esque personality - it also shows how goh has changed and has learned to embrace these parts of himself, now that he's in that "coming of age" age (well, for pokemon. he is still only ten lmao).

i think we see something similar with his other starters, though maybe a little less on the nose.

sobble

the drizzile episode, as you mentioned, is probably Thing here. but i think the theme with sobble is sort of that, where scorbunny maybe reflects more of the way goh thought about growing up and his aspirations (and how hard it was to open up to people), sobble more so mirrors his social experiences at school and with chloe.

VISUALLY, i think it's really telling that when goh catches sobble, he's...literally speaking to it from the other side of the water:

this whole episode (jn028) is about goh kind of...forcing sobble into positions it's not necessarily comfortable with, and not realizing that it's uncomfortable until it runs away from him. as we saw with raboot, this is a common theme with goh - but it's most obvious with sobble!

he realizes, of course, and says this:

even in flashbacks, goh never comes across as a shy kid. he doesn't exactly relate to sobble, but i think he's drawing a parallel here between them. he wasn't shy, but he was always on the "outside" - that's why he's so good at researching. he strives to see things as they are without getting involved. eventually, this is something that will make him a pretty thoughtful and strategic battler, though at this point he's still learning how to apply that to more than just research for the sake of research.

and then after sobble meets inteleon, we have these bits too:

goh's childhood motivations on the surface appear to be like...he doesn't want to bother with friends, because they aren't going to be able to serve a purpose for him. he isn't interested in making friends with anyone who is less into pokemon than he is. but after what happens with horace, it seems to get a little more complex, and then we have to wonder if his motivations really were that surface-level to begin with, or if, maybe, his policy of not making friends has always been a way for him to protect himself from betrayals like he experienced with horace.

we see chloe as early as jn001 trying to convince him to make friends, to no success. she doesn't even refer to herself as his friend - he doesn't seem to be willing to let her. he believes he doesn't need friends and is better off alone. but he doesn't realize until after meeting ash that his solitude is more of a self-imposed exile, in that it's hurting him more than other people. he can't improve as a person and reach his goals if he's too busy trying to protect himself to accept that he needs help from other people to do those things. so, again - i think he sees that side of himself in sobble. so it feels very impactful that he reaches out to help sobble become a better battler, but rather than forcing it to battle in a way that makes sense to him, he comes up with a way to have it train that plays off of its strengths of running and hiding.

and then, of course, there's the episode where sobble evolves, jn062. the writers themselves do most of the work here of drawing the parallel between goh's childhood and how drizzile is feeling, but i think it goes even deeper than that. drizzile is unhappy because it wanted to evolve into inteleon, not into drizzile. it's not comfortable in its own skin. and it doesn't necessarily want others to see it, because it feels like it's still growing and it's not ready yet. it kind of just...needs time to sulk and brood. drizzile runs away again, because it's not ready, and while they're looking for it, it's chloe who makes goh start thinking about when he was a kid, by saying this:

which prompts him to think about how he was searching for a "reason" for why drizzile was acting how it was, just like how adults used to demand reasons from him even when he didn't have them. and then of course we get this scene:

but i think he does on some level know why, because he talks immediately after this about how his parents weren't home and often felt lonely. he's more comfortable being alone. he's protecting himself. which is reinforced by the fact that he then tells drizzile this:

goh has a hard time putting his feelings into words, which is something we see throughout jn. he sees that drizzile is the same and this is a huge moment for him, because he's saying here that it doesn't matter what inspired its feelings; he understands it is experiencing those feelings and that's enough. he'll wait until it's ready to fully process them or whatever else it needs. drizzile kind of returns the favour when he starts crying here and it reaches up to brush away his tears, then disappears again.

overall, this episode does an amazing job of showing us how goh has become someone who actually acknowledges his and his pokemon's feelings - this is the only time we see him as a child where he's not doing something to try to ignore his feelings, or trying to walk away from them. in flashbacks, his back is often to his parents. in jn032, he gets upset, and then tries to cover his disappointment up immediately with anger and avoidance. the writers set this scene up so that we can see the reason behind his feelings clearly (just like we can see the reason behind drizzile's, even though goh and co. can't), but they rightly emphasize that goh's ability to analyze "why" he or his pokemon are feeling a certain way isn't always helpful. emotions are meant to be felt, not intellectualized. it's a good message, and a huge area of growth!

drizzile's evolution into inteleon also shows us how this acceptance translates into it eventually being comfortable enough to be who it wants to be. and the characters are impressed by it - it even earns kecleon's admiration, the same way that other inteleon earned its when it was a sobble. this is a pretty clear mirror with goh's social life, where he went from being this friendless outcast figure to someone with a lot of friends, and a great willingness to make more, as he became more comfortable and confident and willing to reach out to others.

and lastly,

grookey

the only one of the three that doesn't evolve, for reasons that aren't ever really made clear to us. but i think that as random (...and tone deaf) as his dream sequence at the start of grookey's debut episode is, it actually makes a lot of sense. in the original, the dream has camille and walker transformed into rillaboom, and goh is understandably freaked out. but i think the bigger, more symbolic thing is that even if it is a dream, his parents are the ones that foist grookey upon him. this does seem like a really weird choice, until you start thinking about the parallels, right?

in reality, grookey is team rocket's pokemon. the episode title "when a house is not a home" tells us that grookey obviously doesn't feel like it "belongs" there. but the episode doesn't open in team rocket's base. it opens in goh's apartment. and the part i didn't show in the drizzile scene above is when he says this:

the fact that goh was home alone a lot as a kid gets brought up fairly often. it implies that he kind of had to adopt this lone wolf persona, because there was no one else around to take care of him. he had to learn how to console himself and meet his own needs (hence why he's so combative about ash intervening with the ivysaur in jn003!), which is a lot of responsibility for a kid. grookey is handed to him like it's a responsibility in his dream, but then they bond. and he starts to appreciate having grookey around, to the point that he misses it when it returns to team rocket.

to me, the choice to have grookey not evolve kind of comes down to grookey being kind of...emblematic of goh's childhood. like, in his dream, grookey is this burden that's forced on him. someone he has to take care of, even though he isn't really prepared to do that. in reality, grookey is escaping from an environment that doesn't meet its needs. putting those two things together, i mean...that's just my reading of it, anyway. so grookey not evolving, and goh accepting grookey as it is - without any of the "growing up" analogs we have with cinderace and inteleon - is a way of showing that goh has come to terms with his childhood and that he accepts (and cherishes!) his childhood self. which he can only really do after he's done all the growing we see reflected in the evolutions of his other starter mons. (relatedly, grookey is the only starter of goh's who goh considers leaving with other mons in its evolution line. specifically, with two thwackey and their child, i.e. a family unit not unlike goh's!)

anyway! this is a very long post, so thanks for sticking with me if you did. hope my takes are as galaxy-brained as you hoped hehe

[lover-of-mine]

okay so I had a really terrible thought and I’ve been following you for a while and I wanted to hear your thoughts (maybe i’m just in a place of doubt rn) BUT

since they’re basically writing the episodes as they go, and are seeing fans reactions (and possibly taking them into consideration as they write), do you think if they see such a positive reaction to buck/tommy, they’ll make him more long term (and possibly endgame)…? again, I could be overthinking it but I’ve been seeing a tON of buck tommy stuff and idk if they’re going to consider that when they write the upcoming episodes for the rest of the season…like buck/tommy is cute ig don’t get me wrong bc we see bisexual buck and him enjoy his first male relationship and like i’m so proud, but…i’m an eddie-girl and buddie has always been my endgame

Okay, hi, ngl, I had this exact thought too when Tim kept insisting there's no plan. But the thing is, I don't believe him. I believe he doesn't have the full plot locked and loaded, but I doubt he doesn't have any idea where the story is gonna take him. Personally, I doubt that a few weeks of excitement over Buck being bi will be louder than 5 years of people BEGGING for buddie to happen. Buck and Eddie have a compelling relationship that's been cultivated for YEARS. And, look, far from me to make Buck's bisexuality about Eddie, but making a character who's HEAVILY shipped with another man for years queer in season 7 while having no plan on following through with the love story they've been building for 6 seasons would be dumb. Buck with a new guy and Eddie doubling down on being straight and ending up with some random woman is the worst case scenario here. This fandom is weird in the way that most of it is mono shipping. It's Buck and Eddie together or nothing. So they would piss off the homophobes, who are already pissed, and a solid amount of the people who have been following buddie for years and that's bad for business. They have the power to have a ridiculously compelling queer love story that's built on a foundation that's been there for 6 seasons. Buck and Eddie getting together could be EPIC. And they made the move to make Buck queer. They didn't have to. I love that Buck is getting a queer storyline, but if we are going there with Buck, what's actually stopping them from going there with Eddie? I don't see how you can have one of them being queer and not go there just because people are excited that Buck is bi. Tim can't say it's gonna go there. That would be a spoiler. A huge spoiler. But narratively speaking, or from a business perspective, Buck being bi has to mean buddie getting together. Because that's what people have been wanting from them. And honestly, if they wanted to play Tommy as having any chance of being Buck's endgame, he wouldn't have so many parallels with Taylor. The TK of it all, the helicopter of it all, the kiss that happens because Eddie is injured, Buck is even wearing a shirt that looks like the one he's wearing when Taylor comes back, like, seriously, what the fuck? And that's not going into the symbolism they have to know is there on the way the loft itself is a symbol of romantic doom, because Buck got it in a relationship that instantly Ended and the 2 times he started something there it went up in flames, so like 🤨🤔 I'm curious to see where it's going, but, personally, don't see them actually lasting the rest of the show. At least that's what I'm telling myself to calm down when I panic and trip into the bad place lol