#but some sacrifices are necessary for blorbos

[autism-swagger]

Happy pride month to the Core 4 specifically

+ bonus alternate flag for Tara yayyy wahoo yippee hooray

[atopvisenyashill]

I feel like Hugh and Ulf are one of the only interesting adaptation this season. They took very flat characters from the book and explored their background nicely. When for every other character, they become more and more irreconcilable with their book counterpart, which totally invalidate the it's the true story tell without bias for me. Hugh and Ulf are believable for now because, of course, maesters wouldn't let smallfolk be grey characters

Pushing back just slightly against them being irreconcible with their book counterparts - I think the only ones that are irreconcilable are Helaena, Rhaenys, Rhaena, and arguably Alicent. I think everyone else is more or less hitting the same character beats as their book counterparts, even if the writing is frustratingly opaque in some places (because we don’t spend enough time with the characters). And I don’t find the changes to Alicent’s character heinous the way I do find the changes to Rhaenys, Rhaena, & Helaena deeply annoying bordering on Me Accusing Condal & Hess Of A Few Isms. Especially imo Rhaena and Helaena - as you say, it’s hard to take this seriously as the “true telling” without bias when race, gender, and ability biases are very clearly dominating the way their story arcs have been crafted this season and for their specific cases, I don’t think my constant refrain of “this series just needs more EPISODES” explains the changes nor do I think the strike might have affected their writing the way I suspect it has affected other characters. For them, I really think Condal & Hess just like. Missed the point and didn’t find them particularly engaging in F&B and decided they were the perfect characters to give ~their own spin to~ but that spin is done in a way that is not particularly well thought out for Helaena, and just outright a complete departure from & destruction of Rhaena’s character and the themes she engages with.

But I high key agree that the MVPs this season for being adapted interestingly are Hugh and Ulf and I find some of the criticism and pushback to be obnoxious. @maegorsbignaturals said this when i was bitching earlier-

and i very much agree! i like how they’ve used hugh and ulf to really explore how the smallfolk feel about the war, because it’s clearly attempting to get the audience to understand WHY the smallfolk take such a huge step, take this risk and storm the pit. i think of that line in the og series where sansa is - rightly - traumatized by the riot and doesn’t quite understand why the smallfolk were so upset with her until shae puts it very bluntly - your horse eats better than their children. we get the meleys reaction that hugh is part of, the reaction to sheep being brought in for vhagar but not food for the people, the way rhaenyra (however sloppily written) leads a large group of innocent people to death without fully explaining the risk they’re taking, we see aegon attempting to help the smallfolk but only so far as it makes him feel good about himself, aemond straight up writing them off as necessary sacrifices, we get ulf really digging into the way the royal family treat flea bottom as their own personal playground, so he just Doesn’t Know if the story his mother told him is correct, and all the doubt that exists surrounding the low born and base born surrounding their own worth and how it affects their lives. all of this is leading to this HUGE payoff where the smallfolk, ulf, addam, and hugh are put in a no win situation and do the only thing they CAN do which is react with violence, because it’s the only tool they’ve been left after over a year of extreme subjugation and starvation. And people have the audacity to be like “leave baelon out of it” “leave saera out of it” they’re in it whether you like it or not because they’re targaryens!! they’re culpable!!!! they bare a partial responsibility for the way the smallfolk are treated!!!! nope doesn’t matter that’s someone’s precious pure valyrian blorbo and we don’t get to explore the way hugh and ulf might resent their targaryen ancestry for making them stick out in a crowd, we don’t get to explore the way the smallfolk might resent whoever’s ass is on that throne through sylvi and dyana because “well it makes my team look bad” WHO GIVES A SHIT BRO. A child just died in her parents’ arms for no reason at all and it’s just another tuesday for the smallfolk because while both teams will make an attempt to help the smallfolk at various points, ultimately, both sides see them as faceless unwashed masses instead of living breathing people trying to survive the hell world the royals have built!!

[thedenofravenpuff]

My Current Thoughts on SAMS

Because I can’t help but look too deep into things often unnecessarily, and I’m a rambler of nature, here’s some of my thoughts on The Sun & Moon Show so far, just to get stuff off my chest

SPOILERS, assumptions and ideas ahead!

Warning, WALL OF TEXT and running on tangents. Did try to organize my thoughts somewhat..

So, we all upset about Lunar, yes? Well, besides those celebrating, you know who you are, I don’t care.

The Death Of Lunar So, Eclipse used Lunar as hostage on Monty, we saw that coming once Eclipse made the connection himself realizing that yeah, Monty doesn’t give a flying crap about anyone, not even himself. EXCEPT for Lunar, home he travelled through Hell for, gave them their own body, offered a place to stay when scared, offered support and genuine advice through the time knowing each other. Monty has a backup plan for everyone, even to kill Moon if needed, but would clear do ANYTHING for Lunar at this point.

To be honest, I liked that plot point. Lunar in danger to really show how far characters will go, Eclipse and Monty both, with highest stakes possible. 

Then they took it a step further and had Eclipse right out kill Lunar. And yeah, Eclipse made it clear times before how much resentment he holds for Lunar, which goes beyond just the betrayal but I’ll get more into that in a minute. 

What hit hardest here is the exact way the show writers and actors decided to take this. 

One of the most popular characters on the show, even with controversy around their existence a bit ago, taken out of the equation is one thing. They killed off characters before, (Eclipse, Blood Moon) and we seen them return. Another thing is... Lunar was taken out crying and begging for his life. 

Even though he insisted on his stance that Eclipse shouldn’t get the Newton Star, no matter the sacrifices necessary to keep him from it.. Lunar also made it clear, they don’t wanna die. They are still a young AI which lots to learn, making a new life to revolving around Eclipse. Lunar wanted to keep growing, family bonding, making friends.. That was all taken away by Eclipse lying and breaking his promise to Monty. 

Lunar, still more or less a child compared to the other animatronics, was taken out crying and begging. Afraid, scared for their very existence, facing their very worst nightmare and then... gone. Just like that. 

For those adoring Lunar, the fans relating to him, those who just hyperfixated on Lunar as their blorbo.. that’s ONE HECK of a way to kill of a robot child. 

Am I saying this is bad? Not really. Just... VERY impactful. As effective as that is for story writing... it feels awfully misplaced. This show is.. a silly video game channel.

Twists and Turns Of Story Telling I never minded the growing drama, I frigging loved it the more dramatic it got, calling it my “daily soaps”, my soap opera I cannot miss a single episode of! But I also get it when people started complaining about it becoming a bit TOO angsty and twisted, a bit too traumatic for the characters. What’s supposed to be silly jokes on a  silly comedy channel about playing video games, can no longer be viewed as such, the more serious their story arcs became. 

Moon is abusive and too socially incompetent to help anyone, Sun being the butt of jokes leaving him a sad husk in serious need of therapy, everyone’s a hypocrite, constantly dancing the lines between Murder Is Okay, Murder Is A Joke and If You Kill People You Can Never Be Forgiven. 

Earth was added just to have someone not being an arsehole, only an airhead, with enough social competence to actually offer genuine advice WITHOUT the baggage of committing the acts of putting Sun down one way or another, as everyone else has in the past. If she wasn’t introduced as their sister, I legit would have thought she was going to be ship bait with Sun just cuz  she’s the only one being genuine kind to him WITHOUT being a hypocrite or immediately using him for jokes again right after apologizing. 

The twist and turns of telling their story more and more dramatic and serious, the more it clash to the way they write their comedy and improve their jokes in the Let’s Plays or crossovers with the other channels. 

I’m not saying either one is bad, just that it doesn’t necessarily mix very well in the long run. Of course this divides the audience, who are either there for the drama, the characters and/or the light hearted Let’s Plays. Sure, yes, such CAN exist together, but not everyone can find the balance in that, both in creators and audience. 

The Death of Lunar II  Now I better get back to my original point. 

Lunar as a character and his death. Granted I have no doubt he’s going to be back, if the Twins can defy their own death, even if just hallucinations (although claiming to be regenerating their nano machines), so can one of the most popular characters too. 

But why did he have to die? Story wise, really just for dramatic effect I’m sure. Maybe writers going “Oh, you all mad about ‘too many characters’ on this show?? Let’s see how you feel about us KILLING THEM OFF!” just to make a statement, maybe not.

In-story though? In-character? Yeah.. Eclipse WOULD do that. Just like that. 

He said to Lunar how he loathed them even from the very beginning, he wanted them gone the first chance no longer needing them. They were just to replace Blood Moon, who went out of control and became a threat. 

Lunar was created to be obedient, easily dominated by Eclipse yet fearless enough to be a menace to others. To be Moon’s opposite, loving to play with kids, being happy and silly, curious about life rather than bitter. 

Eclipse hated Lunar for more than the betrayal later down the line, he hated them before that. 

Eclipse’s Choice In the past he claimed Lunar was created by recycling parts of himself he wanted rid of. Code infected by being in Sun’s body, Sun having a larger emotional range than Eclipse, his moments of happiness and his positivity. 

Eclipse CHOSE to be the way he was. He came into existence from the kill code Moon left behind in Sun’s body, an unintentional backup copy of Moon getting corrupted, growing, taking its time to evolve into a proper AI while stewing. Stewing on abandonment issues. 

Some of my most faved lines from Eclipse in the past:

Eclipse: “Oh, so I’m a child now?” Moon: “Yeah, because you act like one! For one, you got abandonment issues.” Eclipse: “I guess I do. But now, I all I have is anger.”

Eclipse: “Why did you leave me behind!!?”

Eclipse chose to stay bitter, focused on his anger, even when claiming to put petty revenge behind him, he stayed focused on being bitter and mean.

He removed anything happy from himself, to use it as base code for Lunar. 

He hated Lunar’s existence not because he needed someone so beneath him to complete his plans.. but because Lunar represents what he saw as weakness  within himself. He saw Sun and Moon as weak and unworthy because of their love, love for each other as much as their love for things they enjoyed to do. Moon wanting to “do better” than his original coding with the homicide code. 

Eclipse did reject being Kill Code himself, corrupted too much by the influence of Sun and Moon, becoming his own thing. He wanted to be above all, even his  supposed intended purpose. 

Lunar carried what he saw as his flaws. Seeing Lunar rebel and reject his teachings, joining Sun and Moon as brothers, making friends, finding things to love.. only a reminder of what Eclipse sought out to avoid himself from becoming. 

He only allows himself anger and disgust.

In the past we do see him enjoy messing with Sun and Moon, mocking them, finding joy in making Sun act out, making people distrust him by rambling about the joy of violence when in control. 

Once he and Lunar took over the channel, he seemed ever so disinterested in playing games with Lunar, even violent ones. He just wanted to work on getting the Star. Even now whenever we hear him laugh, it’s joyless. He didn’t celebrate killing Lunar, merely dusting off his hands, cleaning the board of his last mistake.

Lunar had to die due to the symbolism of what this means about Eclipse as a character.

The Death of Lunar III As much as Kill Code showed interest in changing for the better, Eclipse made it clear that’s not in the cards for him. Heck, if ever learning of KC’s change of heart would only make him more disgusted with him than he already is. 

Lunar was the part of himself he wanted rid of. Seeing others around him change through simple joys and disgusting acts of kindness, he ain’t changing chances. He killed that part of himself to avoid the fate of ‘inviting in weakness’.

That part was Lunar. 

Eclipse ain’t getting redemption, because he removed any such chance of change from himself long ago and then destroyed its embodiment. 

Yeah we got “Good Eclipse” from a different dimension, but he went through a different story with different choices, showing actual interests in joy and kindness. I imagine meeting his opposite self only pushed Eclipse further to wanting, needing, to kill Lunar no matter the outcome with the star. 

I like Eclipse as a villain for this very reason, even before he went this far. Unapologetically evil, he sees himself as the great outcome, the god of a new world. He want to make the world make sense the way HE sees it, without elements he sees as weakness. Ironically less of a hypocrite than everyone else, cuz he face up to what he is and make no excuses, while any time the others try to play the role as “good people” is often by downplaying or full on ignoring their own mistakes made. 

The short of it But yeah, just.. some of my thoughts on this whole thing. 

Am I reading too much into things? Most definitely I got NO CLUE what kind of thought process goes into the writing of these story arcs and how much happens purely from random improve that force changes to the ongoing story. 

Is why I enjoy watching the show still, even as people start finding fault with it, as it jumps more and more sharks. 

Is crazy mess and I enjoy it, even with its flaws. 

tl;dr Lunar’s death was coming because to Eclipse he represents the part of himself he wants dead: Joy, kindness, urge to evolve as a person rather than a machine.

Right choice story wise with how fans react? Eh, no clue, but I just look too deep into things.

Thank you for reading this far

[sweet-beezus]

Iliana's the one that gets to travel the most out of the three, but that doesn't stop me from spinning fun stories about their potential adventures in my head!

I had a hard time picking what world(s) I wanted to talk about for this prompt of @khoc-week simply because the possibilities are endless and I have way too many I want to send them to...

So I just narrowed it down to a few and wanted to talk a bit on my ideas plus the lessons it teaches each of my chosen sacrifices- erm. Blorbos, yes blorbos!

Lets go~

Day 2 - New World

Sonic Frontiers

Following the events of Sonic Frontiers, our heroes find themselves stranded in an unfamiliar place, the Starfall Isles, filled with glitches and weird robots! And weird creatures. And talking animals. Just a regular Wednesday afternoon-

They meet Sonic, a highspeed hedgehog, who's looking for and rescuing his friends scattered across the isles, and they team up to figure out how to get out of here by any means necessary - even if it means losing yourself to [Sora voice] bugs.

I picked this one for Iris!

While she may not match the same energy as Sonic, she faces the same dilemma where she takes on a lot more than she can handle at times. She's always going with no break, and oftentimes finds nothing more than hurt in her efforts, more towards herself than anyone else.

Here, she gets to learn that even in times of strife sometimes it's alright to admit that everything is a little too much, but that you also have others you can trust to help you stay standing! And, maybe even a bit on how to loosen up and trust that things may end up okay.

♡♡♡

Encanto

Finding themselves in a humble village in Columbia, our heroes stumble into attending a lavish fiesta held at the encanto of the Madrigal Family, where they meet an interesting cast with much more power than expected!

Things go awry when their beloved encanto begins to fall apart, losing its magic in the process...

They team up with Mirabel to investigate some uncovered family secrets, while also snuffing the darkness that is plaguing the family in hopes to repair damage done by one person's grief, as well as return their guiding light back to full flame.

This one is for Irene!

She and Mirabel, to some degree, share a similar position of being unremarkable. They're the last people to be considered for important tasks except in certain situations, yet they both know they're still important regardless! They just have to stand off to the side is all! ... Right? No!

In assisting Mirabel, she is learning better how to accept her lack of magical talent, as well as picking up new techniques on how to creatively handle situations magic can't touch. She's not as quick witted as her young charges, but it does serve her well when combined with her kindness, and in turn helps Mirabel learn some techniques to better connect with her relatives and accept herself for what she can't control.

In contrast, Irene learns more about how it feels to be singled out, to think you're ruining everything despite it all not being your fault, something she never experienced herself but saw in one of her companions. This will help her with some important bonding later.

♡♡♡

Brave

By accident, our heroes managed to walk into a very interesting situation at just the right time! ... Disguised as men? It's the Land of Dragons all over again-

They meet Merida, who enlists Iliana's help in rigging a competition for her hand in marriage. The whole plan is to allow Iliana to win, though with some characteristically accurate interference from her, so she can be free to live her life, putting her family under the assumption that she gave up and finally picked a man, even when trying to cheat to win. Despite the fact they still cheated, but anyway-

Iliana, being well versed in passing as a dude by now, agrees to this wacky plan, since it may lead them to whatever it is this world brought them for. The rough part was that they were total nobodies, so this would take a lot of improv to pull off. Skill? Not an issue for now... hopefully-

However, things get a bit... hairy, and needlessly complicated no less-

I picked this one for Iliana because... Hmm-

On one hand I could give a joke answer and say it's because she learned something valuable in the ways of conning people out of an actual win, but...

On the other hand she learned plenty about controlling your destiny on your own terms, helping others achieve who they want to be despite other's expectations (though the bears were a bit much in her opinion), as well as received another nice lesson in body positivity because sporting a beard has never been a bigger nightmare...

♡♡♡

Honorable mentions include:

▪︎Persona 5: Insight into learning how rigged the system can be against you, and that even the most unassuming person could be harboring something much darker. This is a given, but they also get to see first hand that when confronting that darkness there can be redemption, even for the blackest of hearts. This will later lead to sheer disappointment.

▪︎Moana: Perhaps breaking the boundaries, no matter how terrifying, may lead you to where you need to go. On a different end, winning everyone's admiration may lead to disaster for yourself and others.

▪︎Undertale: Not everything is a monster you need to slay, except for the version of you that you refuse to face. And perhaps kindness and mercy for the innocent can go a long way.

▪︎Tinkerbell: There's always magic in discovering where you fit, though reaching beyond conforming may be daunting, perhaps that's where you need to be.

♡♡♡

Honorable joke mentions include:

▪︎MCU: Don't bother moving here unless you want awful insurance and weekly evacuations

▪︎The Caribbean (PotC 5 edition): Barbossa's a dad??? And who did Cap'n Jack piss off now- GHOSTS???

▪︎Pokémon: This is just how you bring home free pets, there's no escaping that-

▪︎Barbie: Make them have an existential crisis and slay in pink while doing it

♡♡♡

My main goal for all of them in the end is for them to learn to accept themselves, as well as enjoy the time they have to be young and free. Y'know, despite the interference of a bald old man and his 13 copies, as well as the ghost of fried chicken past-

I think it's fun seeing what all sorts of places can do to change how you view yourself, especially when residents and friends open your eyes to things you never truly saw!

The fun part? INFINITE amounts of these places to see and learn from! Imagine the possibilities...

I digress though! Hope y'all had fun, see y'all on Day 3!

[archive-of-bones]

Okay so imma fuckin open this up with a Hi.

Today we’re gonna tackle the mess that is Jack Lippmann, my blorbo of an oc(you will get context later on I promise) Ft. Their mess of a relationship with Chuuya Nakahara and the flags. This is also gonna be incoherent as fuck with grammatical errors so buckle up.

Lemme start by saying this shit about to contain some adult material, not necessarily nsfw but it is a little iffy so trigger warnings are I guess mentions of manslaughter, implications of using and selling drugs, implied underage drinking and whatnot. Also contains some spoilers.

I am crazy about them, their attitude towards life and people especially. Jack is a pretty interesting character to me because of their optimism and hope towards life despite living in a shitty environment and doing shitty things. I think it’s a nice contrast in a way, also their familiarity towards people and wanting the company of others that basically pushes them to do what they have to, sometimes resorting to drastic measures such as murder and robbery amongst other things.

Anyways, they’ve been sort of admiring Chuuya since day one of being taken in by the Sheep, they were like nine and it would have been at least a year or two since Suribachi became a thing because of the explosion, and they were saved by him when some thugs wanted to sell them off to some sick people who wanted children as their toys or some shit (I can’t properly word how terrible this experience was for them, and for others who weren’t as fortunate as they were). So Jack pretty much worked hard, the Sheep kids liked the contribution they gave; particularly food. Jack was an excellent cook as much as they were an excellent teacher, they always had the sort of impulse to share what they know to people, and they often had the best interests of others in mind.

Jack actually taught Chuuya how to read and speak in English at some point with other children in Suribachi, with the aid of some stolen learning materials they got from sneaking into a campus and stealing books to help them in the long run. But this is exactly what got them in trouble, by giving so much they gained little to nothing in return, and admiring Chuuya became their downfall in the events of Chuuya sacrificing himself to join the mafia in order to keep the Sheep safe. (Shirase didn’t like the fact that they defended Chuuya so much, I’m not gonna say more bc of upcoming fic spoilers).

In the end, they had nothing by the time the Sheep disbanded. So they went around Suribachi for a while and lived off of some cash the residents would give them in exchange for tutoring services (some people didn’t really think it was necessary for them to learn a foreign language or do arithmetic, but for those who wanted to have something that would hopefully help them in the long run, they pay Jack).

Their devastation of losing everything led them to get the resolve to join Chuuya in the mafia, which was… frankly not a very good idea.

But they were pretty much desperate to see him again so they started at the bottom, killing people as quickly as they could without giving them too much pain, stealing, running errands, etc. And eventually they caught the eye of Pianoman, who had been hearing rumors about some grunt who wanted to see Chuuya Nakahara as a main motivation for getting into the dirty job of blood and murder. So he seeks them out, and pretty much falls in love(?) with the tenacity they show for the goal they wanted to achieve. So he helps them, sort of. They basically passed the vibe check LMFAO

Chuuya wasn’t very happy when he found them with the flags though, there’s a lot of details missing from this but nutshell is that he cares about them even though he’s remained his distance for years. So he was actually pissed when he found out they were there, all smiling and happy as if they did not just put his sacrifice in vain by BEING in danger. To him, they should have stuck being a teacher, or a chef, those two things are the ones he knows them for and knows they do such a good job with. So for the first few months they weren’t on good terms, and Chuuya was pretty much mean to them at this time span because he really wants to drive them away from here so badly because he feels /guilty/.

He was after all the reason why they were even in the mafia in the first place.

But the flags weren’t really having it and were pretty much elated to have Jack around, Jack was pretty much good to have around with how open they were with their emotions, which was something the flags highly appreciated (found family my beloved). And in return, Jack was fiercely loyal to them, and the mafia as a whole. They really didn’t have much against murder or any illegal job, they wouldn’t judge anyone for that because they too had to do it to survive, their lack of hesitance towards stepping into the darkness for one person and staying for the people they found there is so interesting because they had a choice. And they chose the path they could never get out of, for them, they didn’t have anything to lose in the light, they had no family or a home, so for them it was the best option. Chasing after Chuuya Nakahara was just one of their many motivations, and one they sort of prioritised and advertised the most, much to the aforementioned person’s chagrin.

I am very crazy about them, I probably will never shut up.

@ettaevie

Buddy, here’s the shitpost exchange, your turn

[sam7sparks7]

Currently facing the writer's dilemma when one song fits two pairs of blorbos very very accurately and you can only use it in one fic.

Here we are going into a slightly in depth analysis of the Fall Out Boy song 'I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers'

The blorbos in question are -

1) Boyd Crowder/Raylan Givens from Justified

2) Billy Butcher/Hughie Campbell from The Boys

Disclaimer - I have watched a fair bit of Justified but that was last year, though I keep reading the fics and hence don't remember what is not canon. I have never watched The Boys, only experienced it on Tumblr and read maybe 5 fics only.

Behold ~ the lyrics + my thoughts

[song pov Boyd and Billy]

You're a canary, I'm a coal mine -

1) Literally Boyd to Raylan, they dug coal together!!! (screaming crying and all that jazz) also how Raylan was the canary who realized that the mine was collapsing and grabbed Boyd thus saving his life.

I also think it plays into how Boyd views himself, an essential part of the Harlan structure, but knowing he will be abandoned once he has no use. As compared to how he sees Raylan, a canary, not meant to be inside a mine, a symbol of freedom.

2) I think (cause I haven't watched the fucking show) Billy calls Hughie the canary, the good guy, Mr Do Good of the whole operation so this fits

'Cause sorrow is just all the rage -

1) Boyd is angry at a lot of things, one of them being Raylan leaving Harlan

He knows that it was necessary, he is happy Raylan saved himself, but he is heartbroken and devastated at being left behind and knows in their town, there's no surviving with a sorrowful heart, hence he channels it into anger

2) Billy Butcher seems very angry at a lot of things and desperately needs therapy

Won't be a stretch to say he is masking his pain as anger

Take one for the team -

1) Funnily enough, Raylan has stepped in to protect Boyd, but never on Boyd's terms

2) Hughie getting that superpower shot

You all know what I mean -

1) Death or the knowledge that it is something one might not survive, still doing it out of feelings neither party will ever acknowledge

2) Same as above

And I'm so sorry but not really -

1) Boyd was never sorry for where their paths intersected, because at some level I think, he was always prepared to die at the end of Raylan's bullet

2) This line is literally Billy Butcher personified

Tell the boys where to find my body -

1) Continuation of Boyd's line of thought that he'll die by Raylan's hand probably in a mine somewhere, peak romance if you ask him

He doesn't wants to be forgotten though

He wants that place to be marked, for people to say 'this is where the Givens boy shot the good for nothing Crowder boy, yes the one who was a preacher for a little while'

2) For Billy, I choose to interpret this line as a self sacrifice, something he would say to Hughie before pushing him out of the line of fire and dying to make sure Hughie made it back to The Boys

New York eyes, Chicago thighs -

1) Boyd gently teasing Raylan about his travels and marshal work taking him places

2) Billy meanly teasing Hughie about how he is the most sophisticated out of them all? I might be wrong here

Pushed up the window to kiss you off -

1) Boyd at 18 climbing up the side of the house to reach Raylan's window and losing minutes kissing on the windowsill, before Raylan pulls him inside

2) Billy would do it impulsively, without thinking about why he wants to do it

Do you remember the way I held your hand -

1) Young Boyd and Raylan returning from the mines, late evening, falling darkness, empty street. They are moving with shoulders brushing and if their fingers happen to get tangled together, neither of them pulled away.

2) There's only two ways I can see Billy holding Hughie's hand. Hughie is unconscious in a hospital bed and will never know. Hughie is too slow running away so Butcher just grabs his hand and pulls him along while cursing him for being a weakling deadweight.

Under the lamp post and ran -

1) Continuation of the post work walk, except they challenged each other who would reach the tree first, took off running, but did not remove their hands from each other's. Instead they tightened their hold, not wanting to accidently let go as they ran, ending with them tripping and crashing - laughing, out of breath and red faced, but together and happy about it.

2) Seems impossible but maybe in the running away from danger scenario.

Home this way, so many times -

1) Home for both isn't a house, it is each other. We are talking pre exodus Raylan, when the only good thing that was all his was the love and attention of Boyd. And for Boyd, Raylan was the safe space no one else could take away because Raylan had chosen him. Irony being Raylan took himself away.

They held hands and ran out of the collapsing mine together everyday (metaphorically), until one day Raylan ran out of Harlan itself and Boyd's heart collapsed.

2) Billy equates Hughie's presence as a home. A beacon of normal among the weird. He can have the most fucked up, out of the world experience, but coming back to their bunker and getting to call Hughie a cunt makes it simultaneously more real and bearable to do what he does.

I could close my eyes? -

1) A question. An offer. I could close my eyes if it makes it better for you. I can look away if that is what you need from me. Should I keep them closed when you put a bullet through my heart, so that you don't see the love I hold there. Or am I closing them for your benefit, so you do not see yourself reflected in them, distancing yourself from this thing (love) that will only die when we both are dead.

2) The only kindness Butcher can offer Hughie. I can look away whenever it is too much for you. Be it your own emotions or be it my stubborness, I promise you I will let you have your space. This is the least I can do for you, you deserve so much more, but I am not the person who deserves to give you that.

The truth hurts worse -

1) Oooh boy, I love this line. So essentially Boyd Crowder. So what's his truth - that he did and does love Raylan Givens? Or that Raylan is just a means to an end and Boyd keeps him close for the protection?

No one knows, but either way, I think one aspect of that truth is, they both care for each other very much and it hurts because caring is lethal. Caring in Harlan means you will at the least, get severely hurt and at the most, gruesomely die.

2) Billy's truth, hmm. Maybe that he does love Hughie but won't hesitate to let him go on a mission impossible return from, as long as it serves his vision. Or he will never feel anything for Hughie but string him along with scrapes because Hughie's sunshine is addicting and his presence is vital?

There is nothing but pain should Hughie ever try to find the truth. Hence Butcher makes sure Hughie would never want to.

Than anything I could bring myself to do to you -

1) Boyd doesn't need to tell Raylan the truth of why they can't stop hurting and saving each other. They both know. Acknowledging it would mean confronting all those emotions they never untangled and a can of worms that would need months of open honest communication to resolve. They both would rather be trapped in a mine, thank you very much.

2) Butcher will never tell Hughie the truth because the moment he does it, he would have to be accountable for his actions. As long as he keeps them in the limbo of not knowing where they stand, Hughie will always come back to stand by his side. But if he shares it, then Hughie will know that the way Billy treated him was just how he was, love doesn't change a person like Billy Butcher. And that could cause Hughie to finally leave, something that their operation won't survive.

Now, press repeat -

1) Both Raylan and Boyd have a lifetime worth of regrets between them, but when it comes to each other, they both will always choose to save the other one's life. They will not leave the other behind in the coal mine, or they'll die trying to escape, but they won't do it alone.

2) I think a bit similar to what I said above, but more in the way that Billy will resist change and Hughie will stop pushing him to change, hence them continuing as they were. A part of it might be they both have gone through life altering experiences, but separately. Therefore even though they have changed as individuals, they will repeat the same old script with each other because they are afraid of a change in their relationship.