#does this count as a meta?

[storygremlin]

So I’m watching 9-1-1 with my friend who’s new to the fandom and lemme tell you, watching 3x05 right after 8x06?

Wild.

You can clearly see the personal growth in the ways Buck and Eddie are crashing out—neither of them is straight up self harming (Eddie’s fight club) as a form of avoidance or completely isolating and blowing up all their relationships (Buck), and this time they actually use their words and end up talking it out more directly and honestly—obviously still with things they aren’t processing, but there’s so much more of an effort to connect and confront and so much more trust that they do actually have each other’s backs in a way they each know they can depend on, they’re both just struggling right now.

But you can still see the threads of the same kinds of instincts and fears and coping mechanisms coming through, because Eddie is much more straight up and understanding of Buck this time while still calling out his behavior, but he’s also repressing the shit out of how sad he actually is about what he’s giving up so he’s getting angry with Buck’s loud feelings making him confront it, and Buck is doing his best to stay connected and think about how all this affects Eddie, but he can’t help the fear of being someone who’s easy to leave that’s slipping through and sabotaging his good intentions, leading to his swings between creating distance by lashing out and then swinging hard in the opposite direction (and making him a brat in the most insane way possible lmao, I will never get over the Blaze subplots).

And it’s so human, because that’s how growth and healing work. Your fears and traumas don’t just magically go away once you’ve acknowledged you reacted badly once, it’s a constant kind of re-confrontation as the instinct to flinch away from it gets a little easier to control, because the thing you’re reaching for starts feeling like something that’s worth facing all that fear. And it’s because of 3x05 and everything after that they started doing that.

And I’m so obsessed with the contrast of that grocery store fight with this one: “the rest of us manage to suck it up” with “if you need to be pissed at me, then be pissed at me” and “why can’t you see my side?!” “because that’s all you see!” with “I’m having a harder time with the idea of you not being around than I’d like to admit” “I don’t like it any more than you do” and “do you know how much Christopher misses you? How could you, you’re not around!” with “you’d do that for me?” “Yeah, you and Christopher.”

Anyway.

They make me feel insane.

[flaming-thing]

I've just seen someone say that Ezran and Zym have the same eyes

And like? Does this represent anything? As far as i can remember, Ezran is the only one in his family (and the whole show I'm pretty sure) who has these blue eyes, and he's also the only one whose able to speak with animals. But is this because of his link to Zym? Does his understanding of animals come from the connection he shares with Zym, or is he able to speak with Zym because he can understand animals?

Him being able to communicate with animals is probably a very rare thing in this world, as Callum most likely would've believed him about it in s1 if it was something that happened regularly. It's also odd that he can see through Zym's eyes, as this isn't something he can do with other animals. Obviously he's able to do this because of their connection, but do the eyes represent that connection? Or is it just a coincidence? Because if they do, I feel like that opens up a whole new perspective on the events of the series.

Ezran was born with blue eyes, which suggests that he was born not only with his link to animals, but with his connection to Zym, which shows how he was always supposed to be one of the ones to return Zym to the storm spire and then play a part in defeating Aaravos.

Does his gift come from the orphan queen? I know she had brown eyes, and as far as we're aware she couldn't talk to animals, but she was the one who helped to defeat Aaravos the first time, so maybe she passed down to Ezran a gift that would allow him to defeat Aaravos when he returned? And that gift was the ability to understand and communicate with Zym?

And it just makes me wonder if there's anything else in the show that I've missed that also points to the theory that the main trio were destined to meet and return Zym together? I know there's that one scene in s4 with rex igneous where we see the orphan queen in Ezran's place, but is there any more than that? Or anything that shows the theory for the other characters? The theme of destiny and a path being set out for you to follow isn't really a theme in this show that I've thought too much about, but maybe it's time to start

Hopefully arc 3 gets greenlit and we get some more information on how/why Ezran is able to do this

[spookydicks]

Just thinking about the "Bells Hells is the X Men" analogy from 4 sided dive

With VM, they're the "Flyover state Avengers". A group of do gooders who are, mostly, well meaning and want to do good with bits of chaos and utter stupidity. They're somewhat of a family but its clear that some information might be hidden from the group.

With MN, they're the guardians. A ragtag group of misfits who, yes do good and save the world, but also crime is an option with fuck it we ball energy. They're a family. If you fuck with any of them, the others will come for you and steal your shit. Of course, after they draw some dicks and shit all over your belongings. Let Chaos Rein.

Finally, our beloved Hells as the X Men. A group of misfit outcasts who are shunned from society for a myriad of reasons that do shit outside the law, help out in their own way. Yes, they seem like a bit of a family, but each member is holding information close. At times, there's an air of mistrust. But, make no mistake. If you fuck with any of them, the others will come to your house at 2 am, eat your kneecaps, and, figuratively and/or literally, fuck you up in more ways than one.

[obsxdiannn]

Not hating on anyone who likes it, more power to you if you do, but personally I dislike the coffee theory because not only does it take accountability away from Aziraphale, I also feel like it invalidates the severity of the trauma Aziraphale contains due to Heaven’s psychological abuse and emotional manipulation.

The Metatron doesn’t need to give Aziraphale some magical mind control serum in order to get his way. His manipulation alone is more than enough, and it displays just how much of a hold Heaven has on Aziraphale, and how not okay that is and how much Aziraphale desperately both needs and deserves to heal.

[picaroroboto]

in the ShB role quests, we watch each of Ardbert's party members make some sort of personal sacrifice, forced to discard their own goals, for the sake of the greater good. The moment they make that choice is when a Crystal of Light appears, officially marking them as Warriors of Light in recognition of their heroism and sacrifice. "By your sacrifice, a warrior made.", as the Shadowkeeper says in battle.

The same lore doesn't hold true for the WoL, back when they were in crystal-collecting mode in ARR and HW, the crystals just appear after major victories without the need for some sort of momentous sacrifice, and seem to serve mostly as a marker of how much story progress you've made/need to make to the end of the expac.

But if you think about it not lore-wise, but symbolically -

With each victory over a Primal, you're ensuring that you'll be the person who'll be called upon for help when next a Primal appears. You're cementing your own role as hero each time.

And each time, you are making personal sacrifices.

You might not even realize it until much later, what you have offered up, bit by bit - your freedom, your peace of mind, your own goals and desires, for the sake of the greater good of the star.

"By your sacrifice, a warrior made."

[drbatsponge]

It just hit me that Cassandra Cain, a character who was ultimately created because of the fallout of the Killing Joke, is the ultimate antithesis to the "One Bad Day" ideology Joker states in that story and I find that beautiful.

Since she was born she's had countless bad days and yet she still chooses to be a hero at the end of each of those days.

She's quite literally the ultimate fuck you to the Killing Joke in multiple ways by not only proving Joker's ideology wrong but also continuing the legacy and character of Batgirl.

[specterthief]

the thing about charma in 0079 is that they were definitely friends with benefits in the military academy, and garma definitely immediately wants to pick back up where they left off, and he does 100% believe that this is not gay or cheating on icelina if they're just Helping Each Other Out As Bros like before, but concedes that it would be a little bit cheating if he were the one to actually ask char if he wanted to hook up again. and he believes that char is going to be so instantly overwhelmed with lust being in a room with him that he can get out of this conundrum if he just coyly twirls his hair and makes bedroom eyes across the bridge until char inevitably cracks and tries to get in his pants again because then he's not doing anything unbecoming of a zabi man, char's the one throwing himself at him and he's just going along with it, which is totally different

but char knows garma is doing this and refuses to give him the satisfaction of getting him to make the first move, so he's going out of his way to draw attention to their relationship being so different now and how they should be being professional while also being on his constant insane tease behavior with things like showering with the door open. he would instantly fold if garma did make the first move but it's a matter of pride that he does not in any way indicate that he considers his life lacking without hooking up with garma, especially if garma is going to be showing off his fiancee around him like that. he is equally convinced that this is 100% not gay behavior on his part. both of them think that they're totally straight and don't have any romantic feelings at all and are just mindgaming the other guy into being gay for them. which is not a gay thing to do at all

and then garma dies and char just kind of feels empty about this forever

[shippyo]

Let's enjoy picnic together!💕

speedpaint 🤌

and tiny extra filter with ibis paint that gave this result,i think it looked pretty cool so have it too :D

[jn3m0]

THIS!!! I'm glad that I'm not the only one who sees this.

Fics (at least post-canon ones I've read) tend to focus on how Ty Lee and Mai are good now and how they could help 'fix' Azula and make her good too. My thoughts on that trope aside, they dont even call back to how lowkey sadistic they were.

What I wouldn't give for a scene where the three of them gather and just reminisce about beating up some random scrub. Without going out of their way thinking about the morality of it.

Mai and Ty Lee are essentially sadists in the original cartoon, looking for socially accepted excuses to hurt people. I know that official canon will never acknowledge that, because complexity is annoying and they need to be uwe little birthday girls who would never hurt anyone, were always good, and always hated Azula, but that's how the cartoon depicted them, since the cartoon needed them to serve as villains and antagonists.

[lichanicksstuff]

It's funny how the comic version of Dream and Hob's 1889 meeting and the show equivalent are completely different. Because in the show it's like a tragic break-up in the rain:

Show!Hob: I think you're lonely... *says with love in his eyes (get a room, man, fr)*

Show!Dream: How dare you?! *walks out in the rain, making the guy run after him and the rest is history*

But in the comic it's more like:

Comic!Hob: You're like a lonely wet cat.

Comic!Dream: Excuse me?

Comic!Hob: You heard right. Tbh, I think you just come back here because you're desperate. Really man, I'm just a guy and you're a scary being with creepy eyes. At least admit you like my company.

Comic!Dream: NEVER! FUCK YOU! *walks out like an offended diva, he is*

[thequeenofsastiel]

So because I apparently have nothing better to do, I decided to list the names that Spike used when he was talking to Buffy ever since he realized he's in love with her, and the number of times he used those names. So here they are, by season, for posterity's sake:

Season Five:

Buffy-9

Slayer-4

Love-4

Baby-2

Summers-2

Pet-1

Honey-1

Sunshine-1

Blondie-1

Season 6:

Buffy-26

Love-15

Slayer-12

Pet-4

Sweetheart-1

Goldilocks-1

Buff-1

Season 7:

Buffy-18

Love-4

Pet-3

Lamb-1

Slayer-1(it should be noted that he only called her this before he revealed that he'd earned his human soul back)

I know no one asked for this but y'all have it anyway. Infer what you will from this knowledge.

[kingthunder]

I saw a few of those "bg3 characters driving a car" headcanons and decided to do one myself for fun.

Lae'zel: She learned how to drive on the opposite side of the road from everyone else and her instincts are all wrong for her current location, but back home she's an excellent driver with a spotless driving record. She actually follows the service schedule in the car manual. She gets incensed at people who don't maintain their vehicle properly or who disobey road rules. Her car is immaculately clean. She would love to speed a motorcycle down one of those desert highways with no speed limit, but she's never gotten the opportunity and knows it's too reckless besides. But she wants to.

Karlach: She's had a motorcycle for ages and is a skilled if aggressive driver. However, she only recently learned how to drive a car. She is very enthusiastic about it and always volunteers to drive even though she's not very good yet. She's one of those people that do driving "pranks" like swerving back and forth to make people shriek/laugh, or doing "3, 2, 1 BLASTOFF" and gunning it. Could easily be provoked into an impromptu street race. Drives way too far on empty or with the check engine light on.

Shadowheart: Drives stick so that no one else can drive her car. It's a beat up old station wagon with a busted tail light and looks like shit on the outside, but inside she turned it into a goth mobile with like black velvet seat covers and stuff. She named the car but she won't tell you what. She has an air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror that smells like night orchids. She's a perfectly good boring driver with nothing to note about it UNTIL one day a cop tries to pull her over for her busted tail light and she hits the gas and pulls out all these street racing moves that you had no idea she was capable of and shakes the cop. She'll let you pick the music but if she doesn't like it her silent disapproval is so withering that you voluntarily change it to something she does like.

Astarion: Never got a driver's license and isn't about to get one now. Passenger princess who likes to control the radio but his taste in music sucks. He makes funny mean comments about other drivers and pedestrians. He'll complain if you ask him to fill the gas tank but he'll do it; you're paying for it, though. Actually pretty fun to go on a road trip with because he doesn't care about stuff like "making good time" and he's up for stopping anywhere that looks like it might be entertaining.

Gale: Never got a driver's license because he was always too busy with his studies to care and his mom drove him around and/or did all his errands for him anyway. He's real good at maps though and likes to be helpful by being the navigator. He's the smartest man in the world but he's completely stymied by a gas pump; you're better off pumping the gas yourself and sending him into the gas station for snacks. He always manages to conjure a full meal out of convenience food, somehow, and he's really good at feeding you while you drive.

Wyll: He saved up and bought his own fixer-upper car after getting kicked out of the house as a teenager. Good driver in general. People always think he would make a good designated driver, but actually he likes drinking socially and will politely decline requests to be the DD unless there's no one else available. Sometimes when he's having a bad day he blasts music really loud and finds a deserted area to just fuckin tear ass down as fast as he can go (he'll only do this alone and doesn't tell anyone about it). Never lets you pay for gas even if you offer. Will pick up hitchhikers.

Halsin: Has been driving the same car since 1973. Drives that specific car really well. If you gave him a modern car he would have no idea what anything on the dashboard does. Honestly, he prefers to walk or bike anyway.

Jaheira: Has a fuck-off huge SUV full of empty cans and wrappers from her kids. Absolute maniac of a driver who tailgates and speeds with no regard for road signs or lane markings. She is going to GET where she is GOING and gods help you if you get in the way.

Minsc: Failed the driving test three times and just gets rides from Jaheira. This does not bother him in the slightest. He tells you that Boo can drive vehicles you've never even heard of.

Minthara: Has run someone over on purpose.

[queen0fm0nsterz]

I really like how Little Nightmares explores masculinity and femininity.

The experience of a female presenting LN protagonist (and even character, if you want to extend to the antagonists, notably the Pretender) is generally one of survival induced solitude, where companionship can be sought but ultimately denied due to circumstance - especially among each other. Six, Noone, Alone and Raincoat Girl all display different degrees of longing for someone to understand them - Six being an extreme on the side of isolation with the occasional source of comfort (the Nomes), Alone being a comfortable middle where she is indipendent and curious while also having a companion, and Raincoat Girl being the other end, an helpful force who seems to desire companionship. In Little Nightmares 1 especially femininity is displayed as the painful experience it can be. It's raw, visceral, and worst of all it's isolating both when you conform to it until it destroys you, like the Lady does, and when you reject the standard of what is expected of someone like you, like Six.

The pain you feel, physical and emotional, doesn't seem to be as important no matter how deep it cuts you. Noone's tumor being hidden and neglected, her headaches being dismissed... and of course Six's hunger, unforgettable in how much it hinders her, but I could also point to her monster form and the physical and mental toll the entire ordeal in the Tower has left on her.

The conflict between Six and the Lady becomes especially poignant under the lens of this argument because it is a confrontation of the two opposing sides of the spectrum, metaphorically. It's a little girl who has yet to experience the devastation of conformity performed as a means of survival facing a woman who lived all her life so set on following these rules that anything outside of them is perceived as a threat.

(One can't ignore the more obvious point of the class difference with Six being at the very bottom of the chain and the Lady being at the top, which certainly influences the dynamic, but I digress.)

Femininity is hyperindependance in the Little Nightmares world. It's the desire to be left alone while also longing for understanding. It's ambition and curiosity, but it's also the loss of identity both in the pursuit of it and in defiance of it. You end up being alienated either way; you can't really win.

On the other hand, I find that generally, masculine Little Nights protagonists tend to be driven by sentimentalisms and emotion. They are often defined by what community surrounds them, be it a single friend, family member or group; the most lampant example of this are, of course, Mono and the Thin Man, but the same argument can be made for the Runaway, whose story ends up leading him into finding a genuine community with the Nomes, something that no female protagonist experiences. You could argue it was clever foreshadowing, and it was! But does it make the observation any less valid? Personally I don't think so. Low also seems to be pretty set on keeping Alone by his side, although it might be too early to tell; however we do know he's a dreamer who dreams of a future where he and Alone can escape the Nowhere. You could call him a romantic.

Masculinity in this world can be care and fortitude, but it's also singlemindedness. It's the ability to find companionship and meaning while also letting one's own hubris destroy it.

Otto himself is an incredibly interesting example of this because we can hear how his desires, his emotions, are eventually what ends up driving Noone into the arms of the Ferryman. It's a prime example of how masculinity and femininity clash with one another -how his emotional wounds and eventual loss of clarity caused a little girl to fall prey to that hyperindependance where she refuses to be helped by him even when he does mean it.

(Along with his vaguely misogynistic remarks, but again, I digress...)

This singleminded focus on one's own emotions is what I think makes the Thin Man and Mono as relatable to many as they are. His is an endless cycle of violence caused by his own hand; by his own inability to process his emotions in a way that can allow him to progress and move forward. It's not a justification of Six, whose eventual exhaustion was what caused her to react the way she did, but rather it is an observation through again metaphorical lens.

The Thin Man is stuck in a dark room that gets progressively smaller because his inability to understand his wrongs causes it to shrink. He's locked in a bubble that is not entirely of his own making, but it is his responsibility to burst. But how can you burst it when you have no conscience of the fact that the room has been getting smaller to begin with? How can you care, when all you can think about is the emotional hurt that brings out the worst of you, the part that you don't even realize is the worst of you?

Masculinity can be just as isolating as femininity not because it's visceral but because it's fragile. It's unaware of itself while also being incredibly concentrated on the self. It's based entirely on how one is perceived and treated and thus easily destroyed once one is left alone to their own devices, which is why it requires community. Once that community is taken from you, it shatters, and leaves one without the tools to rebuild it.

I suppose the true difference here is that, at their worst, while one is self aware to the point it is actively damaging to the self and everyone around you, the other is so out of touch with itself that it can cause unintentional hurt to the self and others which can't be processed properly.

At their worst, they're monsters that help make each other, you could say. At their best, they're companions who help each other.

(This is in no way an attempt to diminish one or the other, by the way, nor does this reading apply to every single character. Both social constructs have their good sides and bad sides. The main quartet of Six, Lady, Thin Man and Mono are very strong cases, but I was simply making a general observation.)

[transholmes]

Much as I love BG3 I really hate how the game treat platonic relationships as less than romantic ones.

And before someone comes at me this isn't a "game too horny" post. If you ask me the game isn't enough horny and especially not enough weird horny but that's beside the point of how it treats platonic relationships very badly and as inferior.

Like maybe it wouldn't make sense for you to go with every companion in every case if you hadn't romanced them but why the hell can't I go with Lae'zel to free her people just because I didn't romance her? Why can't I help Halsin rebuild Moonrise Tower and Reithewin just because I turned him down? Why the hell can't I kick up a fuss in the Underdark with Minthara because we didn't smooch? Or go traveling with Shadowheart or Astarion? While we're at it why does Astarion just run away if he's unromanced but appear the next morning if he is?

And these are only handful of examples. Like I could add how extremely different Gale is as a character in Act 3 depending on whether you're romancing him or not. Like it doesn't matter if you have high approval or built a good relationship with him otherwise. Only romance counts. Which really does seem to be the battle cry of this game when it comes to relationships.

This is what I mean when I say that BG3 consistently treat friendship as less important, less meaningful, than romantic relationships. I'm neither ace nor aro but man it really bothers me.

[meanderfall]

The thing that gets me the most about Nie Huaisang's quest for vengeance is that when it's finally accomplished, he just looks tired.

Like, Jin Guangyao is a practiced hand at appearing inoffensive and biding his time until the right moment to strike, but when he does, he's always got that satisfied smirk on his face. Just so smug and vicious and pleased that he brought them low and he is the victor.

Nie Huaisang just looks tired. Sad. Even in the moments leading up, he looks intent, maybe even angry, but not happy or pleased or excited.

It just kind of hammers home to me that this revenge plot is against his nature, and just how much grief he felt at not only Nie Mingjue's death, but the betrayal and hurt that Jin Guangyao did it, because they were friends.

[the-crooked-library]

I would like to point out how clearly remake shows us that Ellen is not satisfied with Thomas sexually because their sex scene which is shot to be not sexy on purpose clearly, also shows us that when Thomas takes her Ellen thinks and talks about Orlok and wants Thomas to be like Orlok aka kiss her heart. But he can’t. He can’t give her what she wants.

^^^^ YES this aspect is incredibly prominent, and a significant component of the disconnect in Ellen's marriage to Thomas! There's a few intersecting issues there, but they all do come down to the same thing. Ellen isn't satisfied, because Thomas is never willing to actually take her desires and preferences into account when they are together.

It's shown numerous times that, in a sexual context, Ellen wants to be worshipped. She has a dominant and possessive streak, she is extremely sensual, and these elements are essential to her pleasure. They also intersect with her desire to be seen and recognized for who she is, as well to be given the respect she is so consistently denied. These desires are all strongly discouraged - both in her time, and sometimes in ours. As a woman, she is expected to be deferring; and chaste, except for when her husband chooses. Her opinions and complexity are also never really considered; which is not unexpected, of course. Ellen is a Tragic Madwoman - it's Ophelia, all over again. If you recall, when Hamlet appears mad, the people around him assume there is more to it than his father's death; but when Ophelia does, everybody chalks it up to her father's murder, and nothing else. With all that said, what I personally love about Ellen is that, despite whatever shame she might feel around the subject, or her efforts to be proper, she always knows exactly what she wants. In part, that's what makes her married life so tragic - she keeps reaching out to Thomas, offering him these vulnerable aspects of herself, as well as an opportunity to understand her and connect with her; and she is met with one rejection after another. Still, she cannot ignore what she is - and her choosing Orlok in the end is symbolic of her deciding to "deceive" herself no longer.

Thomas, by contrast, is playing mind games with himself. In theory, he could be submissive. If he indulged that potential within himself, it could be a way for them to connect - considering Ellen's inclinations; however, he sees this aspect of himself as weak, emasculating, shameful, and thus never explores it - except by force, as per the usual gothic exploration of shame/desire, which muddles the waters in that regard. Much of the way he treats Ellen is rooted in the patriarchal rules he cannot bring himself to abandon, since doing so threatens his own sense of masculinity - and, by extension, dignity and self-worth. As such, whenever faced with a situation that might prompt him to be soft, emotional, or worshipful of her, he overcorrects instead. He is afraid of Ellen's perceived "abnormality" because of what it might mean for him. Additionally, he is fairly obviously queercoded, in a classic vampire-genre way; which, in my opinion, is yet another reason they just don't quite seem to click. Whatever he might want out of a sexual relationship, he doesn't really want it with Ellen - and, of course, given his homophobic society, that just piles on more shame, emasculation, and repression. This is why, after their one depicted sexual scene, when she laments her "uncleanliness," he cannot reassure her, no matter how he tries. He cannot accept the "abnormal" aspects of her, because the way he sees her is always affected by the way he sees himself - through a lens of misogyny, queerphobia, and horror. His care for her is therefore largely superficial; he does not know her.

All in all, I am obsessed with this aspect of their failmarriage. They're both so lonely and so desperate for companionship; but neither of them is getting what they want. Not with each other.