#convo: ece

[moment-live]

I started playing the stupid mobile game

[cabeswaterdrowned]

imagine complaining ceaselessly that the writers hate your favorite character because they suffer at points in the show / experience emotional turmoil, only to Then turn around and get mad that the writers won’t show you your fave suffering through the effects of an illness / experiencing medical trauma.

[joejhang]

my aftg hot takes

most of these are pretty lukewarm but i'm gonna get flamed for them anyway but whatever. spoilers ??? ahead ??? idk read at ur own risk

i don't think andreil ever say i love you to each other; i feel like the discourse about this is virtually endless ever since nora said it but honestly her explanation was so valid??? they're such a show not tell couple it just makes so much sense for them to show the "i love you" in their actions than ever saying the words out loud. esp bc neither of them have ever really heard those words and have them mean anything real or true or actually loving. personally i think their little percentages and the "i hate you"'s and kisses and keys mean more to them than an "i love you" ever could. i'm not a purist on this tho i do think i could visualise it happening maybe somewhere along the road i just think nora's explanation for this is very very in line with canon andreil.

i don't hate thea muldani; i've made a post abt this but basically my thoughts around her are literally just: she's a human being, and she's never gonna be perfect. i also find it very...interesting how the fandom likes to flame thea (an explicitly stated woman of colour) for being "problematic" and a "terrible person/character" when she doesn't act all that different from andrew, neil and kevin (white men) ??? idk it seems a little strange to me bc she seems pretty on par with them on whatever moral compass this batshit crazy fandom has decided to impose on these fictional and very much morally ambiguous characters. anyway go check out my post i go a lot deeper into thea's character and why she does a lot of things wrong but i don't rlly think she's deserving of the insane amounts of hate she gets in the fandom.

i don't think andreil ever get married; this MIGHT be me projecting bc the idea of marriage is just a very complicated and rough concept in my mind but also just i feel like there's something so beautiful about andreil never really putting a label on their relationship??? like they never define it by calling the other their "boyfriend" or "husband" they just are. they have nothing "concrete" binding them like a marriage certificate but they choose to stay with each other through everything. idk it's real to me but again i'm not a purist people can do whatever they want.

i've said it before but i'll keep saying it till enough people hear me: the aftg fandom mischaracterises literally the main fucking characters; i'm mostly talking about andrew and ESPECIALLY neil here bc neil is not a sweet, sunshiney, oblivious, blushy softboy and andrew is not a cold, unemotional, stoic, "conceal don't feel" stone. since i've already bitched on and on about neil's mischaracterisation let's just talk about andrew for a sec. i think andrew is actually a deeply emotional person and is fully aware of the feelings he experiences. does he vocalise or express them often? no but more often than not they show themselves anyway. him crashing out after neil was kidnapped, letting himself get walked like a dog by neil for three books straight, choking allison for slapping aaron, idk i could go on. but yeah you get it.

i don't actually think neil is that oblivious; before people come at me like "but nora said!" or whatever yeah, i know she said he's as dense as a brick when it comes to people flirting with him. considering how much of the ec the aftg fandom likes to disregard allow me to disregard this little bit of it, yeah? this isn't me tryna impose my own projections onto nora's characters, this is lit just me tryna explain how i understand neil josten (he's my bsf btw). he literally clocks his feelings for andrew in trk (after his deep convo™ with nicky) but he just files it away for later bc he doesn't consider attraction or romantic interest anything to be thinking about considering he's got the mafia and his serial killer dad on his tail. i also don't really blame him for not catching onto andrew's feelings earlier (tho doesn't he get pretty fucking close during that one convo they have in exites in trk???? someone correct me if i'm wrong but) bc dude andrew was out here sending fucking mixed ass signals like bro was saying "you are a pipe dream" and "i hate you" in the same fucking conversations like??? neil has always taken andrew at face value and he's not about to question him now. he's also never confused or uncertain about nicky or marissa and what their comments about him meant, he just genuinely does not gaf about them so he doesn't acknowledge them or pay them any attention in his narration. i truly truly think his dismissal of all the advances made upon him in aftg were borne out of indifference, not obliviousness.

have already said this in detail but i don't think andrew's actually a misogynist; the wording doesn't feel right. i'd probably describe andrew's distrust of women (esp. those in motherly/mother roles) as a similar ingrained wariness that neil has for older men. this is something borne out of trauma and shitty experiences that takes time and trust to unlearn. nora says a lot of things the fandom disregards and for me, this is one of those things i'm a little iffy about. misogyny actually isn't reflected in andrew's actions at all, i'd say. does he respect women? no. but he doesn't respect anyone unless they've actually earned it. and among the people he does respect and care for there are women (renee, bee). he doesn't treat women any differently and obv doesn't think they're any weaker than men are (considering renee wipes the floor w him their first sparring sesh). andrew's an equal opportunity hater and i don't think he actually has any sexist or even misogynistic tendencies. i think what is there is just a slightly biased worldview of disliking/mistrusting mother figures, given his bad experiences w tilda and cass (they've left him w more long-term emotional damage that's probably rlly difficult and complicated for him to work through esp considering cass did love??? him and he did want her enough to be willing to suffer dr*ke to be close to her; there's more to it but for the sake of word count i won't go into it) but honestly it doesn't actually show that much??? if people wanna say he hates women, sure, but for one, he doesn't hate a lot of things he's just very indifferent to them and two, he holds a pretty similar apathetic distaste for most people and things, so it's not like a very big distinction. i also think the whole "no girls" thing w aaron was very much a personal thing, and his mistrust of katelyn probably came from aaron's past (apparently negative) experiences w other girlfriends and friendships in general. and if i remember correctly the deal wasn't even "no girls" it was just "family only" which is why aaron didn't make friends w the rest of the foxes either. i digress but i don't think saying "andrew isn't a misogynist" is robbing him of any nuance as a character.

i like nicky and honestly feel similarly towards him as i do about thea; he isn't perfect and never will be and i think while the way he acts towards neil and others (see: matt, kevin) is pretty untoward and inappropriate, i also do see where he's coming from, esp after aaron's explanation of it. that it's a defence mechanism coming from someone who's experienced a lot of prejudice and harm because of his sexuality. obv i think everyone can agree his assault on neil was fucked up but i think nora was right in saying that nicky was high and drunk and not rlly in his right mind at the time, and he does apologise and i'm pretty sure she also said he and neil work it out privately anyway. he's a messy character and definitely not perfect queer rep but again, he's pretty realistic, and i think he's honestly a rlly well-written and complex character.

[pnfc]

here is some train-of-thought writing that came out today while i was thinking about labels/identity for d&p, sexuality and gender.

18+ for (brief) sex scenes, you’ve been warned, door is over there etc

When Perry laid out the realities of his private life to the Flynn-Fletcher family it was not, in his preplanning mind, a gay coming-out. That was like the 9th or 10th layer of the curtain he was pulling away in the grand reveal, a flimsy one attendant in its connection to Heinz Doofenshmirtz and all the messiness he embodied, mortal threats on Perry and tristate domination schemes and more than one cringeworthy viral video.

So it’s sweet and befuddling to Perry when Phineas and Ferb gift him a handknitted rainbow pride scarf for his birthday that year, maybe the last people he’d expect to take that particular tack.

“Phineas is really taking to Home Ec,” Ferb tells Perry as they refill at the coffee table. “I don’t mean to devalue our shared gift in your eyes, but he made that in just half a period, it was his first project. And I think,” Ferb continues in his low voice, as he retrieves the creamer for Perry. “He might be just a little excited to have a gay family member.”

That’s what Perry is, now that he and his connection with Heinz are out for the world to see. He’d never thought of it in those terms before, nor had Heinz used the word to describe their still-new romantic partnership. Perry’s gay and his former nemesis turned agent-partner is now his boyfriend, is the buzz at the office.

Perry thought it might have a welcome insulating effect, word spreading that Agent P isn’t into women, on an official basis this time. But it didn’t stop Agent Lyla from flirting at him, in fact seemed to goad her on, like Perry’s stony indifference to her was funny, fun to poke at. And it didn’t stop women from cooing over him in public, even with the enamel flag pin from Stacy pinned to his hat band -- again, that may have only exacerbated the situation.

But it did spare him from at least one Monogram holiday present, a profoundly haunting OWCA calendar starring female models in states of Christmassy undress, posed with plush animals. He’d yanked it back out of Perry’s hands, with what might have been bashfulness, and muttered “Gotta get a male model calendar for next year, too, so HR doesnt get on my keister. Carl! You’re in charge of the gay one.”

Perry accepted the designation of gay man, even if he didn’t feel it in his bones. It fit on him like a well tailored suit, the rainbow aesthetic was appealing, queer human history was deeply compelling and Stacy et al were so excited to share in his education on the subject, to share a place with him behind the marching banner. It affirmed Perry’s lifelong indifference to the human and non-human women he was assumed to feel attraction for. But it all felt a bit specious, since Perry harbored attraction for one person only. He couldn’t in a century feel for anyone else the way he does Heinz.

Still here he is, a man with a boyfriend, and if the fact that he’s a platypus threatens that definition, that opinion is not possessed by the people in his life who matter. So he’s gay.

Heinz shares Perry’s ambivalence around labeling, but out of a long legacy of experience that Perry lacks, so he’s a refuge in this. “Bisexual, yeah, that was the rage back in college,” he waxes nostalgic to Perry, during their nighttime couch convos. “The only way to be, unless you were a college republican finance major. But there’s pansexual now too, right? And so many flags -- Vanessa’s friends were over here trying to explain it to me. That girl Laci had so many flags on her bag, it was like the Olympics back there. Or like the last 50 years of Drusselstein regional flags from the warring states -- except like, in more colors than just grey and brown. Drusselstein had a serious dye shortage. They finally cut a deal with the Ukraine in 2006 for green, it was a real gamechanger, but it only complicated the flag design wars.”

“…Anyway it was fun to be bi, in the 80s,” Heinz says. He’s sprawled along the couch, Perry sitting against his bare bent leg, idly rubbing a paw around his knee. “Guys really put themselves together back then, they were electric. And if you slapped on enough liner and eyeshadow to partly obscure your weird shaped face maybe one of them would give you his number, if he had enough cocktails. And sometimes that number would even be legit.”

Pausing, Heinz looking up at the lofty ceiling, his head on the armrest. “I don’t know if I am bi anymore, Perry the Platypus,” he says with a note of regret. “Everyone’s just so sad now, so Linkedin and Panera Bread, even the evil scientists of the day are so sexless -- I dunno, maybe I’ve aged out of the crowd. Once I hit 30 it just seemed easier sticking with women. They can be a lot kinder, in my experience. Or at least more liable to pity a guy like me. Plus they’re, y’know, really hot -- trust me on that one, Perry the Platypus. So I dunno if I’ve got the right to be all ‘loud and proud’ just because I knew how to party in my 20s. …At least, I didn’t have the right for a good decade there.” Perry’s smirking across at him, elbow propped on the bend of Heinz’s knee. “You don’t need to give me that look,” Heinz scolds. “I know what you are to me. You don’t need to rub it in. “But, you know what I mean: you outgrow the bi phase, you get married, you work with a lot of cute dancers, accept an arduous future of heterosexual post-divorce dating efforts -- and then you, ah -- meet a very attractive platypus,” he says, struggling because Perry is pressing his hands into Heinz’s thigh, trailing a leisurely path upwards. “And it, uh. Gets confusing. …Oh my god, Perry.” His splayed leg shakes and he props it up on the back of the couch as Perry focuses on worsening the situation in his cotton workout shorts. He told Perry not to rub it in -- that’s always annoying, being told what not to do, what not to rub.

Despite all of Heinz’s wordy equivocating he is loud about Perry’s role in his life, the first to introduce Perry as his boyfriend or himself as Perry’s, though he tends to prefer the word partner, maybe for its alliterative quality. “Yes, Perry the Platypus is my partner,” is the line trod out to whichever party guest, since more often than not Perry is the one who needs no introduction. “And I mean romantic partner, just to be clear, so there’s no confusion. Because we used to be work partners too, and we still are. But we’re an item.” And if Heinz deems the partygoer in question to be sufficiently magnetic and therefore threatening he will follow this up with the even more unnecessary “So don’t even think about it.” Perry should find this more mortifying than he does, probably, except that it’s cut short conversations with a lot of people who turned out not to be worth Perry’s time. Quite efficient, letting your boyfriend trim the homophobic tallow off your social sphere with his blunt-sheared social crudity. More than one social blowout has turned into a furious makeout session back behind the venue, Perry dragging Heinz’s back down a brick wall so he can suck his tongue, so Heinz’s pleas of “Perry we’re parked right over there” muffle into whimpers under a canopy of evening cicada call.

Perry came up in OWCA right when they were transforming their internal messaging, making it superficially friendlier. Some changes were Carl’s well-meaning suggestions that became enshrined. “The agents shouldn’t be shamed out of exploring their natural desires,” was the gist of his plea to Monogram -- Perry retains a fuzzy memory of the scene, he couldn’t have been older than 3 then, was delivering a hot beverage to Monogram’s office as part of his daily duties. “Even the ones who aren’t, um… intact, they still feel things.”

“So we tell them not to. Anything less is insanity. It’s sick, Carl.” He took the heavy coffee from Perry’s hands. Perry’s palms were wet and burning. “The animals need to focus on one thing, and that’s the mission. Lord knows I don’t need to hear about whatever nasty business they get up to back at the zoo, in their off-hours. But we’re dealing with dumb, wild animals, Carl. We need to stamp out all that mating distraction with a vengeance. This is a war, Carl, against evil itself, and they’re humanity's front line.”

But Carl must’ve gotten something through, because the recruits younger than Perry endured less scare mongering around sex, fewer militaristic tirades from Monogram about the primacy of the fight and the evils of carnal temptation. Mono’s coffee mug featured a hula dancer whose bikini vanished at high temperatures -- it had always been difficult to take him seriously.

And one day they’d all been gifted a Carl-designed asexual pride tee, the OWCA logo in purple and grey, and a “Be who you are!” platitude written in Carl’s loopy cursive. This messaging was muddled to say the least. This was a human designation, asexuality, of which Perry had only partial comprehension -- and Carl seemed to be prescribing it to the agents even as his words encouraged free identity. But the design was nice, Carl had a flair for that -- the flag colors were classy and austere, not quite to Perry’s taste where t-shirts were concerned, but definitely suited to Heinz. Except Perry knew even back then that if any human pride flag fit Heinz, this was not it.

He still has that shirt bunched in the bottom of a drawer with the other old employee tees, including one with Carl’s face and chocolate stains on it. Maybe that human designation does fit Perry, in a certain technical sense. In the fall and winter. Seasons when he sits with Heinz watching trashy old 70s flicks that burgeon and bulge with more nudity than the plot demands. “You see how they filmed skin back then, Perry the Platypus?” Heinz will lament. “It’s crazy, her legs are like glowing -- people don’t look like this anymore.” He works himself up trying to explain the magic effect to Perry, while Perry just leans into his side and gazes up at him. Human attraction is cute, defanged like this, watching Heinz helpless in the thrall of some chainsmoking director’s bad movie about a city cop taking down apocalyptic gangs. And just to be mean Perry won’t touch Heinz’s hard-on -- but he’ll touch everywhere else, as the movie plays, nose his bill up the side of his shirt and kiss his hot skin, and he’ll watch Heinz shudder his way to breaking point, whereat he digs himself out of his pants and pulls himself off in a few fast strokes. Perry doesn’t need to get off to enjoy this. It satisfies just like the old thwartings. Perry’s just hitting other self-destruct buttons, on Heinz’s body -- he’s really one big button, if Perry’s honest, and Perry savors pushing it again, and again, and again.

So he could take or leave the labels. He likes that he and Heinz cut a different shape, one that doesn’t slot neatly into a human-made hole. But they mean a lot to the kids, Perry observes, as they grow into high schools and colleges, as they get passionate and motivated, as Vanessa breaks up with Monty and doesn’t look back. And Perry, Perry’s not even a person to so many of the humans he encounters, much less one with an orientation worth caring about. So it’s nice. He carries the cheery rainbow umbrella with the London skyline that Lawrence brought back from across the pond. He wears Ferb and Phineas’s snazzy rainbow scarf, Stacy’s hat pin. It’s not borne deep in Perry’s bones, this identity, but it’s a lovely accent, fortified by the people he loves. No depth required.

Which is why it does not seem too jarring, many years in the future, a decade onward, when his partnership with Heinz looks different. After they’ve danced through years of late night karaoke, hitting up gay bars and the vanishingly rare sapient-animal-friendly club, both of them growing loose and happy in their linkage to each other, holding each other’s hands and feeling the clink-clink of their rings. It was just more playtime for both of them, Heinz bustling around Perry to deck him out in 70s throwback fits with the big cheesewedge collars and migraine stripes, Perry standing tiptoe to zip up Heinz’s dress as he sits craned forward on the floor, holding frizzy wig ringlets out of the way, before Perry smooths his hands out across Heinz’s shoulders and he lets the hair bounce back down.

It’s still play, maybe, until the year that Heinz’s mousy hair is long and shoulder-brushing. Perry lounges in the balcony hammock with one hand trailing on the ground, as he watches Heinz pull it up into a ponytail before tearing into a vintage radio repair, an ongoing collaboration with Lawrence. And something that wasn’t serious now is, because even now, dressed down in oil-stained sweats and a holey tee, with wispy silver hair and no 80s eyeshadow on to obscure her charming face, Perry sees that she’s beautiful.

Perry wants to tell her this, when they’re getting in from an anniversary dinner out. He has the words in his hands, he’s already told her several times, because she needed to hear it those first few staggering attempts to hit the daytime streets in skirts, that she looked right in them, looked cute. Perry says it differently now, as he presses her down into the pillow with a hand, leaning across her skinny torso. Heinz’s natural hair fans the pillow, heat-curled and sprayed for the special night. Perry presses his soft bill to her forehead, trails down to her rouged cheek, further down to her lips, where her plum purple lipstick looks black in the dark. Perry says it with hands down her face, trailing into her soft hair and gripping it tight as she touches him. He says it with clawmarks trailing up her thighs and snapping the net of her tights as he swallows her down, the ritualistic tearing of Heinz’s fabric newly modified into a synthetic cherry pop, and if in the dark beads of blood flower up under his claws Perry licks them too, with love and apology, with a want to get more of Heinz into him. And he says it one more time when she’s asleep and curled around him like the crescent moon, and he reaches in to unhook her earrings, puts them on the nightstand.

Is Perry gay now, when the shape of him and Heinz seems so the same, despite her changes? Well, it’s not the most pressing question. It’s hard enough contemplating how Perry will introduce his girlfriend to his family, when he used to swear up and down the day would never come. But not girlfriend, wife, and not wife, partner -- so he’s circumvented it rather ingeniously, actually, a fact he hopes Phineas and Ferb appreciate. They decide to do it that week, packing the fixed-up radio and a few fresh loaves of zucchini bread, decoratively ribboned, into the truck. Perry helps smooth Heinz’s hair in the driver’s seat, and Heinz smooths her floral skirt down before taking off the brakes. Perry adjusts his hat in the mirror, and judges the scarf around his neck. It still looks cute on him, now flaming more vibrant in hue against the greying fur of his chest. It’s still his boys, hugging around him, all the unrestrained cheesy love they felt for Perry as kids preserved in rainbow yarn. So he wears it, as he and Heinz drive ahead together through the rest of it.

[ciaomarie]

Part 3: What Then?

This was supposed to be a three part series, but it will probably be 4 or 5 parts. Sydcarmy is a tangled mess of intense care interlaced with anxiety and denial. So they need HELP from their friends and family along the way! Here's a convo with Natalie and Carmen. It takes place just a few days after he found out that he'd made Sydney's best meal ever. Then he inadvertently confessed she's the best part of his day and his heart's dearest wish...j/k, but not really ;)

On a brisk Monday afternoon Carmen rang the bell at Pete and Natalie's home. The doorbell's speaker answered back, with Natalie's hurried voice. "It's open Bear! Just come up to the nursery." He entered their home noting the new family photos hanging on the wall leading up the stairs. They were black and white shots with Pete and Nat walking into the hospital, the next just after Baby Angeline was placed in Natalie's arms, another with Pete and the baby, one shot of her curled bitty toes, and the last was all three of them in the hospital bed. Pete had hired a hospital photographer and as antithetical as that was to anyone with an ounce of Berzatto blood, Natalie let him do it. The result was so unexpectedly tender and beautiful that he paused on the stairs to soak it in. Pete is really a good guy. He was made from an entirely different mold than any man Carmy had grown up around. "Carm?!" Natalie called. "Coming." He turned into the nursery to find Natalie bundling up "Angie" and fastening her into one of those baby slings. Then with one fluid motion before he could speak, she slipped the sling over his shoulders. "Okay, Uncle she's yours!" "So, how does this work?" he asked, looking down at his tiny niece, his eyes as big as beach balls. Angie blinked back at him extremely unbothered.

Natalie rolled her eyes and chortled.

"It's already working. It's fool-proof! Okay, let me get my coat and we'll head out." They strolled down the older suburb's tree-lined streets past others pushing babies, walking dogs, and the occasional Amazon delivery truck. "Carmy, this is really nice and you're welcome to drop by anytime, but what did you want to talk about?" Natalie enquired. He had texted her the other night asking to discuss something important. He kept his eyes on Angie's blissful little face, swallowed, and began. "I'd like to split my share of the restaurant with Syd. She's put in so much work, took several months without pay, and even though I'm the EC she's the main developer of at least half of the menu and the weekly specials. When I was sick recently, she ran the place like a pro. She deserves it. Also, I think if I give her a financial stake she'll stay for at least 5 years. We need that. What do you think?"

Natalie contemplated him for a moment. "Well, part of me agrees and the other part...Carmy, please don't get defensive." "Nat. How can I not when you’ve said that?" "Is this a solely a business decision? Because if it isn't I don't think you need to or should do this to keep her. " Carmy stopped walking, his face falling with frustration and shame. "Have you been talking to Richie?" Natalie stopped and took his arm in hers. "No, I haven't. Look, sorry. What I meant is things are so good between you two." They resumed walking. "Yeah, and that's a problem?" "Not at all. The way you are together...maybe it's the hormones but I've cried sometimes because you are just yourself with her. I've never seen you smile so much with anyone else. Your freakin’ posture is more relaxed when she comes in the room. I could go on, Bear." "You see all that? What about-what about her? Am I any good for her?" he asked in a low, wistful tone. Natalie pulled his arm tighter. She paused, to choose her words carefully. She and Camry were no strangers to family interference in their love lives. "Well, I haven't known Sydney that long, but she tends to spiral, and she pushes through until she's sick or lashes out. Kinda like you do. I noticed that it’s gotten better though. Since we opened, you've been consistently checking in with her, collaborating with her, encouraging her, making her take breaks, and pouring time into her. She's far less doubtful; she believes in herself."

Carm nodded slowly, reflecting on Sydney's growth. "Well, she deserves that. I promised her that she wasn’t alone in this. My focus was not where it should’ve have been during the reno and Friends and Family.”

He exhaled heavily and went on.  

“So, it sounds like she lights up my life and for her, I'm a good boss or even her big brother."

Natalie shook her head, smirking.

" Yeah, you’re a great boss now, but little sisters don't look at their brothers the way Sydney does you. Do you remember when we were all talking in my office and you spilled hot coffee on your shirt? You peeled it off and the poor girl looked at you, as your sister it pains me say this, like she wanted to jump you. When you left to get a clean shirt, she didn't remember what she had been saying." " What!?!? Okay...." Carm scoffed trying and failing to suppress a huge smile. "Also, does she ever leave before 11 instead of sitting in those greasy whites with you every single night for how long? One to two hours!?" She continued. "My point is if you want to divide your share with her because it's good business and fair, and I agree it is, then let me do it too so we're even. Otherwise, I think you’re already three-quarters of the way there with her. She doesn't need to be bought."

They walked in silence for a few minutes. "Natalie, I understand, but I still want to split my share. I think it’s the right thing to do. You don't need split yours though." "First I don't want the largest share of the restaurant and second.... Pete and I may move to be near his parents next year." Natalie bit her lip and glanced at Carmy worry etched in her brow.

"We think it would be good for Angie. You know, to be close to her grandparents and she'd have young cousins nearby too." Carm squeezed her arm, missing her already. "Yeah, I met them at the wedding. They were...Pete’s parents for sure. Angie would have a normal set of grandparents around." Natalie took a deep breath, a gamut of emotions crossing her face. "Choosing Pete was the biggest act of rebellion of my life. I honestly felt repulsed by him at first, until I realized that he was real, and I didn't have to be on guard all the time. Angeline should have that from the start." She bent over to kiss her baby's head which was protected from the cool air by a lilac-colored beanie. "Sydney's a really good choice too. Businesswise and/or otherwise. So, if you're certain about this call Uncle Cicero. This won't change anything with our loan repayment, but his lawyer could help draft a contract. Then we'll ask Sydney if she wants to accept and if she refuses...just give her one of those Sydney-land stares of yours."

Carmy groaned. "You did talk to Richie!"

Natalie erupted into a storm of giggles. Carmen dropped her arm.

"Look, he started it. I told him to chill, but that Sydney-land thing...You have an season pass, bro! It’s very cute though.”

Next time on "What Then?"- Sydney's workversary (work anniversary)

[beethebisblog]

Episode 9: You’re Dropping Out of RYDELL.

We finally got a Shy Guy name drop!!! Edward! I love him. I am so glad they talked it out and Cynthia apologized.

Someone said what if he’s gay, and honestly I can see it. We love to see wlw mlm solidarity. (Someone said wlw mlm hostility last week and I cried laughing because #accurate)

Nancy’s plot line this whole episode.. girl I have been the one trying to keep friendships together, I am so glad it was mostly successful for you. I’m glad she didn’t go back to her old friends because she already has three best friends. “I’m in love with our friendship” me too

Now she and Potato need to actually have a conversation, but I have a feeling they will resolve things amongst themselves.

SOMEONE ARREST THAT CRAZY, PERVERT AND GET HIM AWAY FROM MY 16 YEAR OLD CHILD PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Jane and McGee 🫶 girl power fr

Cynthia and Gil: I’m having feelings I don’t want them. Have a beer. 😭😂

Buddy acknowledging that none of this would have happened if he had JUST BEEN HONEST

SOMEONE ARREST THAT CRAZY, PERVERT AND GET HIM AWAY FROM MY 16 YEAR OLD CHILD PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Go Hazel, always having the right words for Buddy.

Glad Buddy stood up for Susan. The moment in the home ec room was really sweet.

Cynthia and Jane and Nancy made up good!!

THE SONG THEY ALL SANG TOGETHER WAS SO GOOD I MISSED THEM ALL SINGING TOGETHER

Olivia, girl, if you have to ask yourself if you are just afraid of being lonely, the answer is probably yes, just TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS

We got like halfway through the episode without a song and I was so confused lol.

Nancy’s vision thingy in the Frosty Palace was very much an homage to Frenchy’s, and I loved it.

The girls comforting Jane at the end 😭🫶

Jane’s sad puppy dog eyes at Olivia in her house, I know what you are.

For the finale, here’s what I think will happen: they are going to try to disrupt the wedding process, someone is going to get richie, Nicholson is going to decide that Buddy and richie should stay at RYDELL in some work around “I’m so smart” way, Lydia and Cynthia are going to talk!!!, Hazel and Buddy are going to have/ talk about their little moments? (I want someone to acknowledge them because I want to like them, but at the same time, it’s Buddy), Susan and Olivia convo???

I can’t believe there��s only ONE more episode

There was a criminal amount of Richie this episode. (But that’s better than the creepy CGI superimposed one from 1.08)

[altocat]

My current EC plot trajectory theory regarding Seph

Sephiroth will befriend the rando trio

Rando trio will defect

Sephiroth will be required to hunt them down as traitors

Sephiroth has to choose

Either he or Shinra ends up killing Lucia and Matt, whether directly or indirectly

Glenn hunts him down in the opening cutscene years later in revenge

Sephiroth kills Glenn but not before they have a convo about why Sephiroth did it. Sephiroth lamely states he was ordered to. Glenn scoffs at that and dies

Tragic. And Sephiroth loses Angeal and Genesis and remains too loyal to Shinra to even go with them.

Ties in to Sephiroth questioning Shinra in CC as well as being asked why he fights in BC.

Nibelheim is effectively his "rebellion", but at the cost of losing everything, including his humanity.

Wouldn't be a bad arc! And everything would come full circle imo

[silver-wield]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review Chapter 4!

Okay, this collection of posts will be filled with spoilers, including clips and screenshots, so if you don't wanna see things, then don't look. Some of the things I'm gonna highlight will include references to Remake and other sources to link with the overarching plot. This is a straight path playthrough with no sidequests or extra content.

Now you know, let's go!

Chapter four is a meaty fucker. Once you discount all the waffle you can do with sidequests and other random things, chapters 1-3 aren't actually that long and involved story content wise. Chapter four is really the start of the bulky content. And I'm gonna summarise most of it because I'll be here all day otherwise.

Okay, once we cross the plains and reach Under Junon, we're basically thrown into the fight with Bottomswell, although it's not called that anymore and icba to recall what its new name is.

The battle itself is pretty fun and makes full use of Tifa's flight capabilities if you know what you're doing.

The plot has been changed slightly. We don't rescue Priscilla, but instead it's Yuffie in trouble. Our buddy, Mr Dolphin, has his moment at the end with a combo and he comes back into play later when we climb the electrified tower, which I honestly thought wouldn't happen because it's pretty cringe originally, but they made it work so I can't complain.

Once we've dealt with Bottomswell and made it back to shore, we find the mayor giving Yuffie CPR. Now, I noticed Cloud scrutinising the procedure, so I'm suspicious about this coming back at some point in part three. There was originally a draft of Tifa giving Cloud CPR that didn't make it into the game, so it's possible they're planning on doing something with the idea.

Anyway, we save Yuffie and get a hilarious bit between her and Barret. I honestly love their dynamic. She's such a kid and he's got so little patience for older kids. I feel bad for future teenage Marlene 🤣

After we agree to meet Yuffie, it's back to the inn for some convos and rest. This one with Barret amused me. Cloud knows he likes the limelight and plays along with it. This detail also comes into play later the GS when Cloud's defending Barret to Dio.

On the way to his room, Cloud overheard a strange voice coming from Aerith's room. This is the first hint that Red isn't exactly what he seems to be. We also hear more about the whispers and what happened to them both. This is actually interesting. What exactly did Sephiroth need to steal from them?

This chat with Tifa is non-optional, unlike the others, and delves deeper into their relationship and her suspicions about what he remembers. They have a heart to heart, but aren't quite on the same page, which leaves them both a bit downcast.

Next morning, Yuffie intrudes to let the group know she's been hired to kill Rufus at his inauguration. She escapes and they're left to pursue her and hide in plain sight as troopers. But they also want to talk to Rufus about whether they're actually being hunted.

But before all that, Cloud has to go hopping off the back of a dolphin to climb the tower. And yes, he looks smug when he's done because he's a lil shit 🤣

Meanwhile, we get some snippets leading into part three's storyline in Wutai with EC's Glenn making an appearance. Rufus literally killed him, and going off what he spoke about, it's possible he's actually just Sephiroth in disguise and using Glenn to stoke war and gather more dead souls in the lifestream to corrupt it. But we won't know for sure until part three.

After the failed assassination, Cloud splits up with the others and finds himself stuck with some of the platoon he was directing in the parade. You have to keep them alive to succeed at this part.

At the end of the gauntlet is a rematch with Roche. And after you kick his ass, he helps you get to the dock to board the ferry.

Cloud reunites with his team and has picked up a few stragglers. And Yuffie. Who's in disguise as a robe. But that's for chapter 5.

A lot happens plot wise in this chapter, but most of it is set up for part three. Rufus mentions he's read Cloud's file, so that'll be interesting. There's also the plot with Glenn and stuff with Roche. And that's before we even get to Sephiroth.

[sab-teraa]

Just watched the second trailer for the upcoming ep and I have so many thoughts! Spoilers ahead for ep 23 (well kinda since this is what I got from the trailer lol)

First, I’m absolutely LOVING the Aslaz angst. The consistent parallels to their first kiss, first time, first convo etc ???? Such a serve 😮‍💨🤌🏽

Second, Dede is little shit for what he did to the twins and Ece. My family, it’s time you return to your father. He is and will be the only one who truly cares about you guys.

Third, ruining relationships between friends and family for the sake of pushing the “Yaman is an angel and a captain save a hoe” narrative needs to wrap up! It’s sooooooo boring and overdone at this point. It’s actually making me not root for Yaman. If anything, some relationship development between the siblings = them all being on the same side against the villains is overdue tbh.

Anyway, this storyline is here to stay. Thus, since Alaz has wayyyy too much on his plate (ie. raising his siblings, parental problems, heartbreak and now poverty + maybe being forced to become a breadwinner) … I need Deniz character to be unhinged and make the show fun again lmaoooo.

[esther-dot]

Why do you think show makers didn't show malformed Rhaego like in books?

(continuation of this convo)

"Weak? I am strong, Jorah." To please him, she reclined on a pile of cushions. "Tell me how my child died." "He never lived, my princess. The women say …" He faltered, and Dany saw how the flesh hung loose on him, and the way he limped when he moved. "Tell me. Tell me what the women say." He turned his face away. His eyes were haunted. "They say the child was …" She waited, but Ser Jorah could not say it. His face grew dark with shame. He looked half a corpse himself. "Monstrous," Mirri Maz Duur finished for him. The knight was a powerful man, yet Dany understood in that moment that the maegi was stronger, and crueler, and infinitely more dangerous. "Twisted. I drew him forth myself. He was scaled like a lizard, blind, with the stub of a tail and small leather wings like the wings of a bat. When I touched him, the flesh sloughed off the bone, and inside he was full of graveworms and the stink of corruption. He had been dead for years." Darkness, Dany thought. The terrible darkness sweeping up behind to devour her. If she looked back she was lost. "My son was alive and strong when Ser Jorah carried me into this tent," she said. "I could feel him kicking, fighting to be born." "That may be as it may be," answered Mirri Maz Duur, "yet the creature that came forth from your womb was as I said. Death was in that tent, Khaleesi." (AGOT, Daenerys IX)

In retrospect, it’s really hard to say why they made some of their choices. It's possible they simply weren't sure what was being said with it/where Martin was taking that, but since F&B includes other Targ babies in similar fashion, it seems to say something about Dany's chances of having a healthy child, so perhaps this wasn't included as they intended to tease Targ restoration once she met Jon? People are still convinced boatie was real. They have pics of EC from s8 they think prove it! I’m not sure they planned that far ahead though, and we do know D&D wanted to minimize some of the fantasy elements of the show, so they may have thought it was too much too soon for the normy audience they wanted to capture? It's also possible there were budget issues or other practical concerns, and we can’t dismiss the possibility that they didn’t want the audience to guess Dark Dany which means they could have not gone there for the sake of making Mirri seem solely responsible/worse, thereby making Dany burn her a more believable form of “justice”?

I really can't say on that one, anon. It’s hard to know where / if logic was being applied now that we saw their ending 😅

[hikarikiiro]

A very old unfinished skit idk. I never read the EC LN, im sorry

[Based on Margarita's area convo during the Evillious Chronicles collab in prosekai]

[jils-things]

Wait, wait--I forget you're my Pokémon Mutual™ (/lh) so I could maybe mention my Pokémon AU for Heathlock ... I base my stuff more on the games (as you probably know from our past convos), so my current AU for them is based on Scarlet/Violet andnis the only reason I'm getting through the game-- (the graphics and stuff can be a bit rough on me, unfortunately--it's because of my bad eyes ;;)

ANYWAY. I love the idea of Sherry and Heathcliff attending the academy and accidentally ending up traveling together during the self-guided adventure portion of the year ... Sherry's goal is to just catch Pokémon, while Heathcliff is ... uh ... coasting. He's only really passing home ec and I think it's cute because he ends up going with Sherry since he has nothing else to do, but she helps him catch new Pokémon and Heathcliff helps her by making sandwiches.

Sherry's team is still a WIP, but her main Pokémon is Pachirisu!! Also thinking Meowscarada since Sherlock is a master of disguise, and it has that mask ... it's a fun Pokémon, too. Heathcliff has Mightyena, of course, but he also gets a Maschiff!! And a few others I can't remember off the top of my head asdfghjkl ( <- is at work).

OH. And I know you like Ishy, so she and her friend Queequeg are in this AU, too!! I found out Dondozo's shiny is white, so my friend and I joke their goal is to find the White Dondozo (since their literatary source is Moby Dick and that was about hunting a White Whale).

Sorry--this is random but I have been thinking of playing more, after school gets out ... I miss the AU and imagining Heathcliff frantically doing the quizzes and midterms in-game asdfghjkl

~ throughpatchesofviolet 🪻

'TIS I, YOUR LOCAL MUTUAL IN THE GAME WE ALL KNOW 🔥🔥 always a pleasure to see you pop here 😋 HEHEHEH HALLOOO

adorable au actually???? love how they just eventually go along with each other and providing mutual benefits to each other. that's honestly really adorable and most definitely sustainable as its a self-guided experience. wouldn't hurt to have company and help around... 🥺

IMMEDIATELY LOVED THE MEOWSCRADA REASON THAT'S SO CLEVER 😭😭 definitely the trickery type. love that. i wanted to suggest a few mons for your team maybe but all i can think about is a stoutland because pokemas steven has a sherlock inspired skin and... yes he has a stoutland as his pair HSHSHAJAAKKAAHS AND KNOWING THAT SHERRY'S BASED OFF OF SHERLOCK... I couldn't help it 😖 /lh but moving on - heath with the dog mons!!! love that! the mightyena fits so well (dare i say, looks like him too? /pos). I'd love to see the rest of the team you come up with, especially for sherry!

ANDB OUSHGFSIGS MY JAWS DROPPED THATSSO CLEVER!!! shiny dondozo being the "moby dick" figure for ishmael is so?!?! bro that's so smart 😭 i can imagine her being like... wanting to find that shiny dondozo.... looking super determined about it plss that's so. 😖 i love her... /p

heathcliff sounds like he'd struggle big time in the midterms, that's not to say he's not smart but he probably wasn't prepared ... im cheering for you best friend 😭😭😭🙏🙏

[yuukei-yikes]

ok SO. usamerican here. haruka is totally the kid who lives in the art teachers room. let’s assume they go to a high school that doesn’t give you a 15 minute lunch where you can only be in the cafeteria or, god forbid, have an assigned table/seat. haruka eats his lunch in the art room bc he spends all four years working toward ap art and it’s his faaaaave class even when sometimes the teacher tells him his art is too anime bc he drew a person. takane sits on the floor somewhere until tateyama is like uh. bc of health concerns you need to sit at a table. you can eat in my room i guess i don’t really go anywhere. so she sits in there and haruka sometimes eats in there too bc “health reasons” (even tho he’s already in a room with a teacher). takane does NO extracurriculars bc that takes so much energy and socialization. shintaro loves music but he refuses to associate with the band kids out of false superiority so he doesn’t take the class and god forbid he even CONSIDER marching band. ayano hangs out with haruka sometimes in the art room when they become friends (and takane comes along too once ayano is her excuse) and sometimes drags shintaro, but shintaro definitely eats on the floor in some remote hallway. momo kind of tries out every class and all the extracurricular teachers adore her but her core subjects are sooo frustrated. but she’s that kid who shows up to the classroom and has a whole convo with the teacher while everyone’s like who is this why isn’t she in class (she’s in study hall and left to “pee”). seto loves home ec and bio and is in key club and is helping mary and the bio teacher to set up a garden behind the school. everyone thinks he’s the guy inside the mascot costume (it’s a secret at a lot of schools) but it’s actually kano, who vapes in the bathroom and always takes 20 minutes to “pee” and took band for his art extra curricular and eats in the band hallway. kido TOTALLY ENDS UP IN MARCHING BAND SOMEHOW wearing the tall hat and drenched in sweat and momo who’s now a cheerleader is like OMGGGGGG beautiful… while kano as the mascot keeps posing with shintaro in the bleachers (it’s a mandatory pep rally and shintaro already got caught trying to skip it by hiding in the bathroom) and he’s like WHY WONT IT LEAVE ME ALONE OH MY GOD YEARBOOK STOP TAKINH PICS OF ME oh my god wait who’s in yearbook. hmmmmm momo definitelt is but she can’t be taking pics bc she’s also a cheerleader. HARUKA. HARUKA TAKES PHOTOS FOR THE YEARBOOK AND HES LIKE YAYYY SHINTARO SMILE while kano keeps trying to high five him

THIS IS SO FUNNY I AM SO OBSESSED WITH MARCHING BAND KIDO AND CHEERLEADER MOMO THATS HILARIOUS also kano in the mascot costume. god. THATS SO FUNNY also takane wouldn't need an excuse to go see haruka theyre bestfriends OKAY!?!?!?! this is all so funny

[tarotmundomonde]

Name : Simran

Sun sign : Taurus ♉

Moon sign : Leo ♌

Venus sign : Gemini ♊

I choose : 3- Them about you.

Context about this person:

His initials : E C

Sun sign : Aquarius ♒

I'm 19 (f) and he's 22 (m). We met on an app (not a dating app) and initially our convo was just casual but later it escalated and we started sexting. This was my first time being on any such app/sexting. I've shared some pics (not exactly nudes) with him but nothing beyond that. He got cheated on in a relationship by someone he thought was the one for him, and I've seen how his views about relationships have somewhere been affected even if subtly. He's single but sexts other girls too He's shared few things with me, where he works, his fam but nothing deep which is understandable. I've known him for 7 ish months now and it was fine earlier but from the last 3 or so months I've realised how much I like him (I don't wanna say love but I won't deny there's an urge to say that.) We've not had any 'serious' convo but I've expressed my liking towards him and that I have a crush on him. He lives in a different country and I don't even know if we'll ever meet? But we're both adults and it's not impossible either. I've asked him if he would date me to which he says yes but I think that's not cus he likes me but as a 'why not I'm attracted to you so I can give it a shot' kinda. I recently started talking to another guy (same country but different places, we plan on meeting if things work out. The guy likes me but I've told him how I'm not ready for anything yet although I won't deny I do have a crush on him.) and told EC about him, to which he said "congratulations" and I could see him being distant with me but I couldn't handle it. There's some jealousy but idk if it's coming from a place cus he likes me or cus ofc we're sexting partners and friends so..? I wonder what's on his mind.

I'd say I like him and if there's a possibility for us, I'll wait even though I realise it's stupid cus it's all online and I understand the problems with it but some guidance would help me get over this situation.

Tbf the only reason why I want this reading is because it will help me bring some conclusion to the situation that I constantly think about. I understand that tarot reading is not the ultimatum but I'd still be grateful for the guidance. I'd like to know where this situation might lead me in the future because this is the second time I've felt so much for a person and I really wonder if it's worth putting that much energy into it? Last time I did it, I lost hopes for love to a certain extent.

Gif for us :

I can imagine us being like this. Me sharing about my life with him and him comforting me cus I'm his friend and he cares for me. He'd be so close to me but not close enough.

Gif for you :

Although I'm new here, I get the vibe of you being mature, kind but straightforward. The blog itself is very chill and I like it. Someone I'd definitely listen to and ask for advices from. Wouldn't let them be dependent on you but still guide them.

Hello Simran, let's dive into your reading, shall we?

First of all, what comes to his feelings for you, he isn't trying to push you away. He feels like letting you have your way. In general his heart space isn't much open, but with you he has lowered his defences. However, he is not fighting for this connection. He feels like things are changing and he doesn't know what you two will become.

He sees you as an opportunity. He does find you to have some good qualities in you. He knows you are offering him a door to open. But the connection in itself doesn't seem to mean much to him. He only sees it as two people having a small talk. Just chatting. And he doesn't intend to do anything. He just will be who he is and just be there and people know, where to find him, if they are interested. But he does want to be wanted! He just doesn't feel like giving anything nor wants to make changes. On top of that, he wants to keep you a secret! He wants you two to be an online thing. If you have someone else, he doesn't want them to know about him. Also, the cards are saying he likes to "watch", as in he likes his eyes to be entertained 👀🫠

Action-wise, it seems he is connecting with multiple people. He wants people to compete over him, to fight for him and for his attention. The strongest shall be the winner. There is a sense of free will, like he is saying it's your choice, if you choose him, if you want him, if you get involved. He is saying he is not responsible for anything. Also, he really takes pleasure in everyone trying so hard to have him. It makes him feel ever so powerful. He likes it, how everyone catches feelings for him, how everyone wants to have a new beginning in love with him. He loves to see, what each of the females can come up with it: tactics, communication, etc. He enjoys the competition, how everyone is trying so hard to be chosen by him and how everyone wants to get through to him. And in his eyes, you are one of the females, one of the participants in this love competition.

ps. feedback is always appreciated.

[findyourrp]

🌀🕊️ !

looking for someone to play an older man against an inexperienced / younger guy. some kind of crazy power dynamic, one maybe being dependent on the other or even codependent? just fucked up, needing each other. they're both shitty to one another but also just! so in love. we can come up with more ideas together.

requirements:

- semi active !! like one response a day/brief convo in passing. i love making friends !

- capable of 2+ paragraphs per post

- 18+ !!

- i prefer !! realistic appearances and people who gush over ecs:))

(dead dove topics encouraged)

.

[ask-the-owl-house-squad]

[OOC: THEORY TIME. Everyone is chill because we've been dead for a while. EC anon is just the new guy]

(SOBBING THAT'D BE SO FUNNY. DURING THIS CONVO, EC WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH BY THE FUCKING EMPEROR BELOS HIMSELF AND THEY'RE LIKE BEHEADED OR SOMETHING. THEN JUST POPS INTO EXISTENCE BESIDE SOME RANDOM AUTISTIC HUMAN AND SOME OTHER GHOSTS AND THEY HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN LMAO)