#enough of this sacrificial bs

[bleue-flora]

I just watched the finale again and what was the idea of c!drunz killing the server and reviving the server again supposed to mean, was that whole saw trap scene staged? because how were they gonna gather everyone and kill them all, and then revive them till they got their simple peaceful family and life back and if is staged, why even say all that to c!clingy if they were sick of c!clingy fighting c!dream all the time and seeing him as the big bad. If its not staged, why is it something that they thought would work? I feel like I've misinterpreted it as like c!drunz gathering everyone around like they're sheep into a pen lmao. Another thing is, they wanted to test the heroic/sacrificial limbo but the way they phrase the conversation is as if the person that died is gonna die forever while the other person leaves to tell everyone what happened which makes me believe that part was also staged because lets say if c!tubbo stayed behind and died making the sacrifice, then they'd revive him, find out the limbo and then would they like kill him again? like what would they do, put him in prison, let him be free, treat him like vikk and lazar despite saying that they made a mistake with those experiments and revived and killed too many times.

And if the server is off balance by revives and kills why would they want to kill everyone on the server then revive again to begin with. I'm just a little confused on the plan and I think you were the blog that said that it was all staged iirc and I wanted your insight into it because oh man I am struggling here. I do get their plan isn't meant to make sense though I feel like I missed something which has made me more lost.

Hmmm asking all the good questions. Well I should say to start that while I do think we should look at what staged duo does and says with skepticism, after all these two have shown they are liars especially to clingy duo so there are a lot reasons to doubt them. On the other hand 1) technically it can’t really be staged because it wasn’t super planned out, clingy duo came and they were not expecting it. 2) It is the finale and the content creators would know this so they would try and give us at least some answers…

Anyways while their actual Plan remains unclear, though I have some theories and thoughts about it [here], there are things we can determine pretty reasonably are legit or not, because we know they tell both lies and truth. For example, we know they experimented with Lazar and Vik - so they do spill truth obviously. It’s just how to determine what is and wasn’t true.

The biggest thing I can say we probably can say pretty strongly is that that saw trap was such a load of bs. For starters, it wasn’t meant for clingy duo, and when I’m thinking about characters who are willing to be selfless and die a hero, that would be significant enough to Dream or Punz to do this, not a whole lot of options come to mind. I’ve talked about it [here] about who it could be for, but since then I’m starting to wonder if it was supposed to serve a different purpose entirely… anyways the other thing and perhaps most noteworthy is that staged duo doesn’t seem to give a damn about the trap one way or another. When Tommy shows up in the finale and says Tubbo is dead, Dream doesn’t believe him, double checking with Punz to make sure he checked [clip] (checked what? No freaking idea, limbo I guess or more likely to see if there was a body probably… I don’t know). So the fact that they seem to care so little about their experiment and clingy duo in general is telling to me. The other thing is that the variables that change limbo seem to me to be pretty minor differences, like I’m not even sure if there’s a way to replicate and make it back to the same limbo, if it matters both on how you die and what happens before. I mean multiple people have died to a sword or axe, presumably specifically Dream’s sword or axe, I mean how different is Tommy dying in the finale to him getting beat to death in the jail cell with a potato, I mean plus technically Ranboo’s death could be seen as selfless right? Dying for his son seems kinda selfless, (but they didn’t even go talk to him in limbo anyways, so do they really care about limbo that much?), therefore I don’t really think that point matters. Hell even if it did, I don’t see why they couldn’t test this on Vikk or Lazar (maybe that was their original plan?…). I mean it just sounds so stereotypically evil - especially the way he presents it, the way he says they couldn’t test it because they are evil [clip], and the fact that it aligns with the hero dynamic fueling Tommy’s ego and such. In other words, playing into his world view. And whenever they are doing that I’d say it’s a major red flag. So, the saw trap I think we can say pretty reasonably, based on what we do know is facetious, the question of what the room is for and who however remains up for speculation.

As far as them killing everyone, I don’t think this is true either. I mean for starters why not kill Tubbo and Tommy to start the process, why not kill Sapnap like he talked about to Foolish, while on his own. Like if the goal is to kill everybody why let someone go tell everyone to come after them. Killing Sam, Sapnap, Foolish, Quackity… etc is a lot easier than trying to kill then all teamed up together. And we know unless they have some super weapon that they aren’t confident enough to even kill them all as they said in the finale and here [clip]. So unless they plan on trapping them in the prison and nuking them, or summoning a freaking dragon, or teaming up with XD or something, I don’t think that’s a feasible plan and they may be very screwed up mentally but they aren’t stupid.

They also are all about the balance but yet have no issues bringing Tommy back after he gets murdered, and they seem just in general so calm to whatever unbalance of such is going on. I mean we do know to some extent that it’s truth, XD tells Foolish his lives are limited because he’s low on power and he needs more death to fuel him, and we know the book is directly connected to XD since in the prison podcast it summoned him. So the unbalance is pretty confirmed as true even if perhaps their ‘solution/plan’ may not be. All the best lies have truth in them.

Which brings us to more questions than answers. Why bring clingy duo to prison in the first place? What and or who was the saw trap actually for? What was the actual plan? And why monologue to clingy duo at all? To which I unfortunately have little satisfying answers, which trust me frustrates no one more than me ;). What I can say perhaps their reason for lying and putting on a show at all was that I think they planned on letting someone go and for some reason wanted them to tell the others. And I base this on two things - their utter nonchalance, the way they just don’t seem to even care about clingy beyond being infuriated by them murdering Dream, and just the absolute unhinged way they act at times. The villainous, “This is so cute. We shouldn’t interrupt them” [clip]. The way they talk about the saw trap/experiment - “we’re just too evil” and like Punz’s ominous “choose wisely” as they leave [clip].

I don’t know but a good portion of that monologue feels very - we were practicing our evil laughs backstage before we walked out here, ya know… ;D

[wutaiiwarrior]

a  thrill  shivers  up  the  length  of  her  spine  ;  her  eyes  widening  just  a  fraction  beneath  wolfwood’s  attention.  the  concept  eerily  on  the  edge  of  ick  &  no  thank  you  —  &  she’s  just  about  to  voice  as  much  when  she  picks  up  on  his  underlying  intentions.  it  took  a  second,  sure,  but  her  hind-brain  has  finally  kicked  back  into  gear  &  she  got  there,  thank  you  very  much.    

what  a  cheeky  bastard.  —-  

&  just  like  that,    he  just  easily  became  one  of  her  favorite  people  on  this  dust-caked  planet.     deciding  that  she  too,  can  play  this  game  &  probably,  using  her  covert  training  to  her  advantage,  yuffie  pales  ;  lips  parting  as  her  gaze  shifts  &  re-focuses  first  on  the  building  directly  behind  him.  “seriously?”  her  shoulders  slump  ;  exasperation  clouding  her  countenance.  “why  do  these  things  always  hafta  happen  when  i’m  on  th’  job.”  she  pauses  with  a  prominent  sniff,  her  weight  pivoting  to  her  left  heel  as  she  continues  to  glances  around  ;  intently  surveying  their  surroundings  “listen.”  yuffie  quips,  brows  drawing  high  into  her  fringe.  “i’m  not  being  strung  up  for  any  sacrificial bs.  not  again.    once  was  more  than  enough.”  &  then,  quieter,  she  mutters  a  “whysit  always  gotta  be  angels…i  could  live  without  another  angel  encounter.” 

@crucifixedsin , continued

[stellar-solar-flare]

I read this immediately when it came out but I just couldn't find the right words to comment on it, and I'm still not sure. There's just something about this that hits on a very deep level, and I'm not sure I can name it - but it's emotional in its very subtle way, and that's always an achievement that makes me take my figurative hat off.

(rest under the cut for spoiler/length reasons)

There's this contrast between the sort-of-quiet, yearning beginning and the rest of the fic, how the whole atmosphere is very different but just flows from one state into another so effortlessly. The beginning is all quiet and sort of hazy, and then it changes after this line:

He’s barely listening, focused on the way your touch has jump-started his heart, his lungs, and… everything else.

That line caused a visceral-level reaction in me, and I feel like I just need to breathe. And then the tea working as a sort of time-out for them to talk about things - and I'm always here for communication, even though it broke my heart a little here.

Steve groans in gratitude, angling his head in welcome and grasping at your hips to drag you onto his lap where you belong. He sends up a prayerful apology to any member of his family that still checks the earthly realm to watch him live a sinless life.

I always adore all sorts of religious metaphors in connection to Steve, because they just fit so well, and this was no exception. But I also adored the fact that Steve thinks of this as sin, as his selfishness because he can't make the sacrifice he feels like he should - regardless of Reader telling him that she can handle this.

Those thoughts flee the battlefield when you urge him to lift up enough to tug his pants out of the way. Impatience sings through his veins. He wants to take charge and--

I loved the tone of the smut, too - the atmosphere and the electric charge and the metaphors of their physical actions mirroring their relationship is just beautiful. It's tender and scorching at the same time - always my favorite.

“Hasn’t anyone told you not to say that in the middle of sex?”

I beg to differ, I feel like words of affirmation during the moments of physical touch are one of the hottest and most tender things ever. But I do get it's a tease, hehe.

He reaches for you, pulling you onto him, into him, straight through his skin, your sighs writing your name on his heart. It's exactly where you, where he belongs. The result is a rolling boil, a volley of exploding shells, a Brooklyn apartment with a pair of red heels at the door. It’s been a battle, but he’s home.

I had to quote this entire thing because I just loved it so much, and if I'm reading it correctly, it feels like there's this acceptance of the fact that Steve doesn't get to leave her behind when neither of them really wants that, and how he can now carry her and their shared home with him wherever he goes, as he's not done. Like he surrenders, and I just... love that for him. I love him with strong women who can call him out on his bs when his self-sacrificial side gets the better of him.

Thank you for sharing this, I absolutely loved it so much!

Heyyy. I hope ur requests are open. Anyways. Can I get a shot of tequila w/ Steve Rogers and the reader reunited after like 6 months apart because he went on the run and didn’t want to disrupt her life. Like maybe she was on Tony’s side in Civil War but helped Steve anyway because they were together since CA:WS. She tracks him down in Switzerland and he comes home to the safe house to see her heels by the door like they usually would be back in New York. Then he sees her sitting in the dark, save for the fireplace, and they argue about how he can try to leave but she will find him everytime because she loves him. So they have some “reunion fun” and maybe after, they’re having some pillow talk where she’s worried that he’s been with other women in 6 months apart. because let’s be fair, we can’t blame her. have you seen the nomad-hair ‘n beard?… 😭

Thanks for the request, nonnie! I couldn't work in the very last bit, but hopefully you'll enjoy. Rating is NC-17, minors DNI. 1,800 words.

180

The chilly wind is not the reason Steve feels cold on his walk home. He’s living in a fully furnished home for the first time in six months, but nothing about the space feels welcoming. He can’t settle. Somehow the many barracks he’s lived in over the years made him feel more comfortable, and he knows the reason why.

You’re not there.

The thought stings, and he grits his teeth, keeping his eyes on the road. The last thing he wants to do is look familiar, and maybe that’s the problem. If he’s not allowed to be Steve Rogers, no amount of handmade quilts and cozy living room furniture will make him feel at home.

He rounds the corner, pulling out his key with a half of a block to go. The rental is quiet, out of the way, obscure, even. Half the time even he struggles to find it. From three houses away, he sees a pair of deep red heels next to his front door, as incongruous among the quaint townhomes in Willisau as a palm tree. The spasm in his chest isn’t something the serum in his veins can heal, but Steve tells himself nothing’s really there. He’s imagined your shoes waiting outside of almost every place he’s laid his head since he left, and now it’s Switzerland’s turn.

He studiously ignores his lintel as he unlocks the door and goes inside.

 Steve’s sure he’s right when everything is the same as he’d left it. You've never failed to leave your personal touch in his living spaces--a hand knit scarf hung next to his coats, a delicate bunch of flowers on the table in a vase he'd long ago forgotten he owned.

The orange of sunset stretches across the floor from a back window, and he can smell the tang of woodsmoke, a familiar occurrence in this neighborhood. It isn't until he puts his shoes and keys away and pads into the kitchen that he finally realizes he’s not alone.

The smoke smell isn’t from outside. The fireplace is lit, and when Steve steps into the doorway, he sees a familiar, precious silhouette. Even though you have to have heard him, you don’t turn around, so he chooses discretion as the better part of valor. You’ve always said a warm cup of tea is comforting after a long day, and it has been that.

He sets the temperature on the kettle, places two mugs, and then goes looking for tea, concern and frustration growing. You've never not greeted him, but those had always followed a goodbye, something Steve hadn't had the courtesy to give when he'd left. The first two cabinets yield nothing, and you haven’t spoken or come in, yet.

Then, suddenly, you’re there, walking in and showing him exactly where the tea is, right in time for the kettle’s finishing beep. You’ve always been like that, exactly what he needs at exactly the right time, and that hasn’t changed. It’s damning and loving all at once.

Steve grabs at one of the tins, but you set a light hand on his, leaving it there are you say something about temperatures and tea leaves. He’s barely listening, focused on the way your touch has jump-started his heart, his lungs, and… everything else.

“Steve!” you say, snatching your hand back and giving him an affectionate, frustrated look. It’s more the latter than the former, but at this point he’s parched soil grateful for a slight drizzle. “Did you hear any of that? I asked what temperature you set the kettle.”

“Uh, whatever the default is?”

Brand new to this kitchen though you are, you pick it up and start it again, noting that the water bubbles up right away. “212 is my guess. That’s too hot for this. It’s green.”

Steve very much wants to point out that all tea is green, but he knows better. Instead, he says, “We can pour it out and start over?”

You look at him for a long moment, your body a foot and several hard conversations away, and finally nod. Neither of you say anything as the new water heats up, but Steve feels the metaphorical distance between the two of you narrow as you breathe each other’s air for the first time in forever.

When the kettle finally sounds, it’s somehow familiar. In his head Steve feels another timer go off, and he heeds it.

“I’m--” he starts to say, but you interrupt.

“I know.”

To hide his apprehension, Steve grabs the sugar, a spoon, and an amused look. “You don’t know what I was going to say!”

“I know all of them. You’re sorry. You’re not coming home. You’re doing this for my own good. You’re lonely.”

“You’re right.”

“I know.”

The two of you settle next to each other on the couch with a not inconsiderable amount of painful distance between you. That doesn’t translate to the conversation, though. It’s full of honesty (“I didn’t want to leave. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but I’m not done with the things that need to be done, and it’s not safe for you here.”) from both sides  (“You’re physically gone and I hate that, but emotionally, I know you don’t want to let me go. I’m always with you, and I’ll always find you. There’s no one that can keep me safer than you can.”).

Once the tea’s long gone and the fire has died down to embers, neither of you have said the most important words, the healing words. 

Finally you whisper them, tears welling up in your eyes. “Steve, I love you. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

He opens his mouth, certain of his mission, as sacrificial as it is--but you slide up beside him, warm and loving and his.

“It can be like this,” you rasp, sliding your hand along his chest and up into his hair to pull his lips down to yours.

Steve groans in gratitude, angling his head in welcome and grasping at your hips to drag you onto his lap where you belong. He sends up a prayerful apology to any member of his family that still checks the earthly realm to watch him live a sinless life. Today is not that day. 

You’re wearing soft dress pants, just loose enough for him to slide his hand past your waistband, thumbing caresses along the heat of your inner thigh until your hitching ‘yes’ of a sigh gives him more explicit permission. He’d missed your body, missed this, the warm slick of your welcoming folds, the way you gasp and tense when he strokes you. This angle shouldn’t work, but he’s strong, and he knows how much you love that, so he nuzzles the join between your neck and shoulder, breathing you in.

You release your deathgrip on his shirt to snake your hand up into his hair, dragging your fingernails deliciously against his scalp. Your movements are imprecise and shaky, a testament to his own erotic movements, and Steve groans aloud at the realization. The timbre of your voice as you whisper his name hints at how close to orgasm you are, and he takes the opportunity to escalate his onslaught.

“Let go, sweetheart,” he whispers against your skin, thrusting his fingers inside at unpredictable intervals to prolong your pleasure. You have always both loved and hated that, wanting instead to lose yourself in the rhythm of predictable movements--but your most vocal climaxes come just like this.

Steve backs off again, and you roll your hips, tempting him to return. “I’ll never let go,” you growl, pushing off just far enough to start unbuckling his pants. “You should know that.”

It’s an inflection point, and though Steve’s a soldier, he doesn’t fight you. You’d been so close your whole body had started to tremble, but instead of taking what you could from him and then shifting the mood, you’d taken the route of self-sacrifice. Those thoughts flee the battlefield when you urge him to lift up enough to tug his pants out of the way. Impatience sings through his veins. He wants to take charge and--

“Oh,” he says. The whole world shifts from black and white to color as you slide down between his legs, taking him in your mouth. He’s almost too sensitive for this, grabbing a fistful of the couch instead of your hair, knowing his own strength. You anchor yourself with a hand grasping that same forearm, moaning as you suck as if feeling the flex of his muscles is itself erotic.

Steve knows the whining noise he can hear is coming from his own throat, but doesn’t care about anything but the surging joy of this moment. You know exactly how to work him, adding everything he loves about you, about the ‘us’ he’d wanted to build with you. When he’s almost, almost there, when he knows your next move would be a deep-throated encouragement to spill in your mouth, you pull back.

The lesson is sharp and warranted, but Steve’s trust doesn’t waver. He looks down at you--‘submissive’ at his feet but fully in charge of the moment--and nods. I get it. Your light smile and little squeeze of his arm before you get up feels more like home than anything in months.

“I love you,” he says, and means it more than he ever, ever has.

“Hasn’t anyone told you not to say that in the middle of sex?” you tease, moving fluidly to shed the rest of your clothing. The only thing you keep on is your electric blue bra, and Steve lets out a tiny little noise of want when he sees it. It’s his favorite. Eight months ago you’d tried to get rid of it and he’d snatched it up out of the ‘to toss’ pile and buried it in his drawer, the drawer you’d given him in your bedroom for when he slept over.

He hadn’t wanted to leave it behind, to leave you behind, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. Now, looking at your sultry, challenging expression, he truly understands the mistake he made.

Steve opens his mouth to tell you how beautiful you look in the firelight, how sorry he is that he ever thought he could walk away to make your life safer, how--

“Prove it, soldier,” you tell him. The words are confident, but there’s a waver in your tone that he put there.

He reaches for you, pulling you onto him, into him, straight through his skin, your sighs writing your name on his heart. It's exactly where you, where he belongs. The result is a rolling boil, a volley of exploding shells, a Brooklyn apartment with a pair of red heels at the door.

It’s been a battle, but he’s home.

[babyintrenchcoat95]

you know what?

destiel be damned.

i am done waiting for this glorious ship to be canon.

i get it that they dont want to write about it, act for it and represent it. i am happy with it as a subtext and slash.

i just want Cas the love, support and happiness he deserves. may it not be with dean, sam or jack but please, make him smile, be content and feel accomplished, and not some taken for granted character.

i know the brothers love him, but he deserves more. i want him to feel the fruits of his labor. they sacrificed so much but it seems like he feels he’s not entitled to any incentives.

[starbuck]

Yeeahhhhhh... Muldoon’s immediately honing in on Silver’s issue re: “I know what it's like to be afraid of being the one ain't strong enough to stick.” vs. Flint’s “If you're not strong enough to do what needs to be done, then I'll do it for you,” next ep is really Something, huh?

[dragon-ball-meta]

Time to address this here.

Now to be clear, there’s not a whole lot seemingly wrong with this premise as initially described, 

Fair enough, everyone’s had moments where they make mistakes at some point. But as soon as we start getting into the alleged reasons, it becomes clear that these are being presented and framed in such a way as to deliberately make him look bad. Let’s get started.

Yes. Krillin tried to bribe his way into Roshi’s tutelage with porn. Absolutely true. However, the problem here is the assertion that Goku put in work to be accepted whereas Krillin did not. The truth of the matter is, Goku also had to do something to appeal to Roshi’s baser instincts. The difference is, Goku just doesn’t know that’s what it is. 

Roshi says that he’ll take on Goku as his pupil, but ONLY if Goku brings him a “hotty”. Which Goku actually fails at twice, once because he has no concept of what that term really means, and once because he brings... well, a mermaid.  But the fact is, even Krillin’s porn fails to get him in, as Roshi assigns the same task to both Krillin and Goku again, which is how we meet Launch.

Yes, Krillin was more willing to do whatever it took, but both had to fulfill this task to get in. Moving on...

This is... kind of valid yet not. I get why it seems this way on the surface, but at the same time, it ignores that Krillin recognized something Kami did as well; for one, the Androids actually didn’t attack them, but rather ignored them and tried to be on their way until Vegeta forced a conflict. They weren’t the mindless killing machines he’d been told about. Second, challenging them at that point would have been absolutely fruitless and foolish, as had been aptly demonstrated by the way Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo were dealt with as if they were nothing, and would have resulted in there being no one left standing to heal the others, to say nothing of informing them of the true motivations of the Androids. So really... it was actually far smarter to hang back and talk to them than to just be added to the pile of unconscious or dying bodies. But again, I do get the complaint at the surface level. This next entry, however... that’s where things get to silly levels of BS.

You’ve gotta be kidding me. They’re really playing the “he always dies” meme.

I mean firstly, he’s died a whole three times. Each time, it was a sacrificial death, either dying in an ambush meant for his friend while trying to protect a Dragon Ball, dying in combat, or sacrificing himself to try to save his family. Know who else has died three times? Goku. Vegeta. Piccolo. But for some reason, their deaths aren’t bemoaned like this. And the best part is they make no bones about implying he’s not useful... but then say no one’s holding these deaths against him.

I... genuinely have no idea how this makes him unlikable. If anything, it gives him an arc and, being honest? It’s a fairly relatable starting motivation for a lot of people. And then they go ahead and admit things changed so... no clue why it’s on a list like this, let alone so high on it.

... ... ...HE BROKE THINGS OFF WITH A WOMAN WHO WAS CONSTANTLY CHEATING ON HIM AND EVEN TRYING TO SEDUCE HIS CLOSE FRIENDS, HOW IN THE *HELL* DOES THAT MAKE *HIM* UNLIKABLE HERE? I mean my GOD that’s toxic. You can’t possibly miss the point harder than this. Or can you?

Yes. Yes you can. In this particular case, you can both miss what happened with Vegeta and Trunks as well as misread what Krillin was upset about. Vegeta and Trunks never bond in this arc. In fact, most all of it has been spent being callous and antagonistic to his son, even forcing his son to attack him in order to try to stop Cell. Vegeta only acknowledges and respects his son after that moment. Sweet indeed. The point of Krillin’s ire, however, was this.

Vegeta’s act of blind rage, rage he felt only because the son he finally respected was felled by an enemy, had wound up with Gohan seriously injured against a full-capacity Cell. Even VEGETA acknowledges he screwed up here too.

This is a pretty big misrepresentation of the situation. Krillin didn’t give Vegeta grief for mourning Trunks, but for his actions and what they resulted in. Grief Vegeta gave himself too.

...do I even need to explain this one?  The toxicity in this fandom and even the press covering the series in question is ridiculous. How on Earth does taking responsibility for your family and getting a job to provide for them make you unlikable? Look at how they treat Gohan for this too.

This one gets to me pretty badly as, frankly? It misses the entire point of this story arc, Krillin’s character arc, and... well, simple details about it. First and foremost, Goku WANTED to train with Krillin, reminisce about old times, and keep his reflexes sharp. It’s not like he got roped into doing this, or that Krillin dragged him along. He WANTED to spend time with his best friend. Get that right. Secondly, nothing about this required Goku’s help. Period. In fact, nothing Goku did COULD help. The Forest of Terror was looking inside Krillin’s mind, and testing him and him alone. Nothing Goku did or could have done influenced this. It was all Krillin having to confront his fear and learn to still himself and find his center in the face of said fear. And thirdly... this was not about the Tournament of Power. At all. In fact, when the ToP comes around, Krillin is more than ready, something Goku knows and tries to convince Gohan of.  I have no idea how in the heck they missed this, but it’s simply a symptom of a bigger issue. People simply cannot give Krillin his dues. Even when he improves, even when he trains to better himself, it’s somehow just wasting the time of whomever his partner is, which they could have used to make THEMSELVES stronger, right? Good grief.

...yep, that’s right. Krillin’s single-greatest act of kindness, his refusal to blame the victims, his stance against prejudice toward someone because of circumstances outside their control, or judging them for something they MIGHT do or did in a timeline where they were very different people? That’s just downright unlikable. I could sit here and write a whole essay on how even shutting down 18 wouldn’t guarantee victory. I could. But the truth of the matter is, they’re even taking issue with removing their self-destruct devices, which are dangerous to themselves AND others, and trying to give them a chance at having the lives stolen from them back. That’s... kind of messed up, CBR. Kind of really messed up.

...the same ex they earlier acknowledged was a filler character not present in the original work. Yeah, we’re done here. This was utterly ridiculous. But when I say peeps REACH for reasons to dump on this guy, I mean it.

[girlwilde]

i think mike might die in s5. it would explain why they set up that whole “he’s the heart” bs, without the heart it would shift to a much darker tone, it would also absolutely send will and el’s character development to new levels (creating emotions powerful enough to kill vecna) and it provides the duffers a loophole to avoid the mileven vs byler discourse since neither would be endgame each can believe their ship was the “real” one

it would also subvert expectation (smt they obviously like to do, implying that steve was gonna die then killing max who was believed to be ‘safe’ since she alr dealt with vecna) since el and will are the more self sacrificial ones with ties to the upside down

and finally tying back to season 1, mike jumped of a cliff for his friends. he did not know el was there. mike made peace with killing himself for his friends without a second thought, and there’s a good chance he’d do it again

[veronicasanders]

Last Halloween ask! What is your favorite candy? Are you dressing up/doing something this weekend? I'm absolutely certain you're all througly sick of me and my bs, so this ask is just me saying thank you for indulging me and wish you a nice weekend and idk just tell me about anything you wish to talk about 😊

I could never be sick of you, my darling! BS welcome anytime! 😘

(After the jump, I will wax poetic about bittersweet chocolate…)

CANDY:

CHOCOLATE SUPREMACY! Now, I pretty much exclusively eat high-end bittersweet/dark Fair Trade chocolate, although I can slum it with Lindt if I’m desperate but I really don't like giving money to companies unless they're Fair Trade. Bittersweet has always been the pinnacle for me.

As a kid, I was all about trading away the dumb sugary shit like Skittles, War Heads, Starburst, and Blow Pops, for more chocolate. The chocolate candies were ranked into a hierarchy…

TOP TIER, PREMIUM: Anything dark (Not common in Halloween candy but sometimes you could get lucky and get a Hershey’s Special Dark in a mixed bag, a Mounds Bar - for those outside of the US, Mounds is like Bounty but with dark chocolate, or someone cool would be giving away little Doves.) 

2nd Tier: Reese’s PB cups, Almond Joy (Bounty with Almonds), Junior Mints/Andes Mints, Skor Bars, Butterfinger and Kit Kats. 

3rd Tier: M&Ms (which could be bumped up to second tier if they were peanut butter M&Ms), Snickers, Nestle Crunch, Hershey Kisses and other plain chocolate that looked decent

4th Tier: Milky Way, Mars Bars, Twix and anything else heavily featuring caramel and nougat and bullshit that made it too sweet. Also off-brand chocolate like a random pumpkin-shaped thing.

5th Tier (LOSERVILLE): Tootsie Rolls, white chocolate (wouldn’t trade for this, but sometimes I was stuck with it)

Honorable mention: The few non-chocolate candies I would eat were things like Sour Patch Kids, Smarties (not the same as British Smarties, these were just sugar), Lemonheads, Fun Dip, Pixi Stix. This was like, the shit I would eat for energy on the night while I was trick-or-treating and would *sometimes* save/not trade away. Whatever I had of this would be eaten in conjunction with the 5th Tier Loserville "chocolate" and even sometimes the 4th Tier if there was a lot of it.

✨Important notes: ✨

A full-size candy bar, as opposed to “fun sized” ones that people specifically bought for Halloween, would result in said chocolate moving up several tiers. 

In accordance with my “Save the Best for Last” policy, I would consume this candy in reverse-order. Starting with the random shit, then up through the tiers and saving the Top Tier candy for very last. 

The downside to this was that it left the premium stuff vulnerable to thievery (by my parents) for the longest. This problem was mitigated by keeping all the candy in my bedside table, and also giving a Sacrificial Offering to them every week or so as tax in exchange for keeping their mitts off my system. 

Halloween candy generally lasted until well past Valentine’s Day, when the chocolate coffers were replenished, and that in turn lasted until past Easter, which, if I was smart about it, could last until the following Halloween. 

I hope this Dickensian answer was as fun to read as it was to write. (Probably not, lmao.) This weekend, I went to a friend’s house party dressed as Wonder Woman, and tomorrow, I plan to take Dr. Fluffernutter into my morning lecture dressed as a pineapple. (I figure The Lady With a Dog Dressed as a Pineapple is crazy enough and I don’t need an additional costume.) 🍍😜🎃💖🌈

[lilithrebellion]

Not gonna lie but has Subaru ever cared about any of the other sacrificial brides or we're they not appealing to his mommy issues enough for him to care about their lives.

Seeing as we never hear him say anything about the previous victims of their little human trafficking scheme, I'd go with a firm No.

And speaking of the previous victims, I find it reaaaal interesting that Yui doesn't find out the truth about how the creepy room of wax dolls is literally their preserved bodies except in an ending where she dies🙃

Are they saying she would never "love" them if she knew about that and therefore has to die if she realizes what they are? Because it kinda sounds like it!

Also I don't think it's ever brought up in any of the later games. Soooo do they still just get to keep that after their so called "reformation and happy ending" bs? Just a serial killer trophy room in the basement, no big deal. Super easy to cover up!

I know it's mostly Kanato's thing, but the fact that Subaru (nor anyone else for that matter) doesn't say anything about it speaks volumes.

[nagiscap]

nice to meet you - chapter 117 review!

im adding the chapter name to the the title i think it is an important addition. i just wanted to give a quick update on what im working on so there are two requests im churning out rn and i am close to hitting 100 followers so i am planning on doing some type of 100 followers drabble, ficlet or smth like that event! okay without further ado let’s get into this chapter WARNING!! there will be SPOILERS AHEAD!! 

rin is giving me very ignored brother energy rn. the sae copycat behaviour is quite sad but i would love an explanation for why he is the way he is because this was quite comical to me and i was trying my best to contain myself bc i was reading this chapter in my photo class 

so basically the key to their success is practice makes perfect and itoshi rin’s awakening hmmm idk if i love it or hate it but it makes enough sense where i am not thinking wow what extreme plot armour so i am okay with it 

this mf is crazy and i love him like he really is going leaps and bounds to protect the goal which is impressive and oliver also i rlly like this panel and this chapter in general with the ball movement it looks extra good this chapter and idk why 

he is a bit of a meanie a little bit of a trash talker and i like it i like the zest 

kinda reemphazing my point from before (practice makes perfect mantra) i mean the blue lock bois did work rlly hard especially compared to the u20 team which rlly just seemed to beef bc of sae’s and shidou’s crazy asses so in a sense it does make sense that practice is a factor that makes blue lock “better” than the u20 team idk if i explained that well lmao 

the defense on the u20 team is crazy the keeper doesn’t even have to do shit oml but fr claps to them holy moly they are sacrificial 

YUP I AM BACK ON MY BS LOOKS WHO IS BACK GO BOYFIE GO DO YA THANG

ok subtle nagi evolution like i am feeling this rn as a nagi stan like yes we love a little technical development i am curious if this will occur for everyone on the team especially bc imo i think blue lock will end with a team and not just one striker this is just my opinion tho lol 

YOU TELL EM KING EXACTLY SPEAK UR NAME INTO EXISTENCE LET THEM MF KNOW WHAT NAGI DO LEGEND BEHAVIOUR YUPPPPPPP OFC NAGI THE ONE TO BRING BLUE LOCK BACK INTO THE GAME OFC NAGI IS SUPREME DUH 

i just found this to be vvv funny and a lil cute

YUP YUP YUP THIS AINT THE END OF NAGI SUPREMACY AS NAGI SAID NICE TO MEET YOU THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING AHHHHHHHH 

japan is shook to the core bc nagi did what a king do they couldnt handle it loser behaviour displayed in 4k nagi is dissapointed but i got his back lmao anyway i love seishiro nagi he is a king icon legend god etc. this chapter like others proved it again this is the nagi content i needed and i was waiting for it too because it’s been a bit of a drought and the last time we saw him it was lowkey loser behaviour but he bounced back cuz thats what legends do 

[jomeimei421]

wash, 10, 21, 24 :0

10) How they deal with pain

For physical pain, Wash likely has pretty high endurance, same as the rest of the freelancers. Seeing as they’re spec ops, they were all probably trained to withstand torture; and given Wash’s long long long list of injuries that should have killed him, I think it’s safe to say Wash has had his fair share of physical pain and can take it just fine.

As for emotional pain:

Wash has taken a lot of emotional hits, enough to change his entire personality by the time Recovery One rolls around, but he never actually becomes that jaded, cold, hateful person he seems to be during Recollections.

Wash’s attitude reflects how safe he feels, but even at his most bitter and paranoid, he seeks company. Despite being backstabbed again and again by his previous teams and partners, he looks for companionship, even if that companionship is the walking corpse of his former best friend.

When Wash feels hurt, he generally keeps it to himself. He has the paitience of a Saint, which should be obvious seeing how he’s able to deal with both Tucker and Caboose in their no-Church emotional ruts despite being pricked at by Tucker’s pointed insults for the entirety of s11.

He puts those he cares about before himself, always. This is both a very kind trait of his, and a very dangerous one; he’s self deprecating and self sacrificial to the point where it’s literally putting his life in danger. (ex. Freckles Shake, offering to stay on Chorus while the R&Bs go home, taking brain damage to fix the R&Bs mistakes) The only way for him to get upset enough to express it is to doubt or betray his trust.

It’s why he and Epsilon still have such a tense relationship and why he’s so furious with Carolina for hiding his injury from him in s16. Wash’s trust is precious. It is not given easily, and it’s not broken lightly.

21) Their fondest childhood memory

All of them. Wash has a very complicated relationship with his memory for obvious reasons, and I think he spent a lot of time in Article 12 putting things back where they belong, trying to sort out which memories and thoughts were his and which were not.

As a result, every memory that Wash still has of who he used to be is very precious to him, and he clutches to each one tightly. Even the unpleasant ones are his, and that’s more important than anything.

24) What they wish they could change about themself

Wash thinks he’s a mess. I think the thing he dislikes most about himself is that his personality, motives, and headspace have been through the wringer — multiple times. It’s a lot to handle, and it’s probably why he feels like he needs to jump in front of every bullet for the people he cares about, who he values so much more than himself.

But I’m not sure he would want to change that about himself, because, at least in S17, Wash is at peace with who he is. He’s never going to be David again, and I don’t think he wants to.

[lesbianelinordashwood]

tell me your thoughts about katherine pierce please

First off thanks for the ask and oh now this I have things to say. She was one of my favorite characters but she ended up way overstaying her welcome she should have just got out of dodge the second she could after the ritual and not come back. She was such an interesting characters with one of the more interesting backstories honestly her backstory was one of the more well done things in the story. I do hate how people try to spin it in to her being the bad guy in Klaus and Elijah’s story when it was obviously the other way around like she just didn’t want to be a human sacrifice and like sorry she didn’t trust you after you lied to her to save her like so what if she manipulated some people like sorry she isn’t “perfect Elena” who sacrificial lamb routine was just annoying and did more harm most of the time. “I’m ok dying” well what about the other two sacrifices hmm.

Now on to more complicated issues the Stefan issue they really pulled that after they had here leave pursue a relationship with Elijah one she actually seems invested in build that up just so when he left the show and Nina obviously wasn’t going over there on top of tvd so that she can go back to mystic falls to poke around stefan because “she always loved him” and apparently stalking him dong nothing to help him for a century and a half till he found Elena and she could enact her revenge like what are we supposed to ignore the Elijah in the room. That without getting into the disgustingness that is Steferine the fact that the writers room thought that was ok just shows how little they understand consent or trauma I seriously do not understand how a room of adults can’t get the glaring consent issues in Stefan and Katherine’s relationships that unlike with Damon who she just used her charms on she actually compelled him trampling on any consent he could give in the relationship so she could feed on him and continue that relationship one that she didn’t care enough about anyway because if she did she wouldn’t have abused him at all let alone if she loved him.

The later Steferine stuff was only there to do the Doppelganger plot that honestly didn’t makes sense and felt like in contradicted canon of what was already established doppelgänger lore that Amaras doppelgänger line being the same one as tatias like it was so unnessacary and honestly it left more questions then answers and I could so rant about that more like honestly it either didn’t need to happen or they could have made someone else be that doppelgänger.

Sorry back to Katherine and Stefan that stuff also felt like they tried to make Damons trauma worse because WAAA she didn’t love him but she loved stefan even though the situation stefan in was already worse seeing how Katherine didn’t take Damons free will just played him(though he wasn’t really a good guy then anyway but) they then used the whole she picked stefan storyline to basically give Damon the “No one ever chooses me” trauma that they basically stole from Caroline for some reason to make Delena seem better like Elena and him getting together immediately after she dumps stefan is ok because well Katherine loved stefan and now Damon gets the girl or what ever bs. It makes no sense outside of I guess magic doppelgänger soulmate pull or what ever to even make them hooking up after what she did then they had stefan forgive her because he is ohh so nice or what ever and Damon can just continue o hating her or what ever the passenger nonsense like just let the girl die please. Then she pulls all that shit when in Elena like why aren’t you tired like I get your a survivor and all but come on.

Then after everything girls dead and she comes back as the end game villain and stefan who she abused in that was and manipulated and put through so much has to die on his wedding day and Damon gets to live like it especially annoying because they try to be like the people who died even if they are the “good guys” deserved to die so why did Damon get to survive wen stefan died just so he and Elena could get there happy ending when it either being both or Damon would have been more satisfying because Damon had such unresolved issues with Katherine and then stefan doesn’t have to go out taking out his abuser while Damon gets the revenge he deserves and the death they both do. Though I hate her as the end game villain or what ever it like why.

Like does anything makes sense idk the rant just started coming out.

[janexeu]

     though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, JANE MÁRQUEZ is actually a descendent of HYPNOS. it’s still a question of whether or not the TWENTY-SIX year old DEMIGOD ELEMENTARY EDUCATION MAJOR from NEW ORLEANS, USA has taken after HER godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite SACRIFICIAL & STUBBORN.

( she’s b-b-b-back on her bs : katya ! tis uhm ,,,, a lil bit of a chonk of an intro but ill try 2 b cute w it. any time u wanna yeet jus peep the gif again & forgive me bc Look At Her ! )

POWERS ( more info here )

hypnokinesis  — p much made her a glorified babysitter w lynch-esque wacko dreams. it got stronger naturally as she got older, but jus w herself n eventually the ppl shes real close w. its also gotten a lot better since comin to eonia 

seeing gods in dreams  — she doesnt hang out w em every fridays at tgifs but like ,,, if she had Pertinent Questions she cud smhw make it happen. found out abt her being a demigod at age 10 when she met hypnos

memory retrieval — shes got great memry of her own but bc she knows it can help w grief n all that, shes been learnin in eonia how to do it 4 others if they mayb wanted it

BIO POINTS 

her single ma died during childbirth so jane's been in the foster care system since 5ever. attempts at reunification nvr worked out but thankfully she got real lucky w her group home and foster families. twas stable enough to not emotionally scar her even further but the instability of it all was fosho a big ol’ lot and has influenced her rigidness in sum aspects of her life

she lived p much as a mortal even tho her powers r a lil freaky. never went to camp but it worked out bc all her abilities r internal and cannot be Perceived by others. she had a talk w hypnos abt what 2 do n he mentioned camps but also gave sum monster avoidance tips ( like rarely use ur powers, maybe learn self defense, yada yada ) n she jus ,,, did that so she cud continue livin real normal w the mortals. logistics of camp stressed her out esp bc shes livin w non-family n stuff yk it was All Too Much, miss her w the added demigod stress tyvm

got married at 23 to her childhood sweetums luis, but he ,,, died abt a yr later fr a car accident. coma for 2 weeks n jane p much slept the entire time in his hospital room, visitin his dreams n talkin to him. twas a life support sitch so they eventually decided to pull da plug whch was real sad but like she's processed it 2 da best of her abilities. her powers helped a lot in the coping too n she visits memories of him in her dreams smtms when it gets real sad then shes ok again bc life goes on n life is pretty uwu

bc of her bg round kids of all kinds, shes always been passionate abt em. always takin babysittin/tutor gigs and went to community college so she cud teach n then worked as an elem teacher. only started considerin goin 2 eonia 4 postgrad when she had a student who showed signs n strugglez of bein a demigod. she eventually got to talk to their godly parent 2 confirm n she was shocked pikachu meme, real concerned for all those youngins who hav no clue what to do ! or how to cope ! bc they cant facetime w the olympians lyk she can ! so cue her discussin eonia w luis a lot then a year after the accident, broke out the pro-con list again. took abt *checks watch* another yr til she finally decided to zoom 2 athens but then whoosh she did !

PERSONALITY

yearning ? idk her — shes can be a bit of a take it as is typa chick. can be a lil literal jsksj not dumb but like ,,, def doesnt read into things enuff to pine n long n year yk. some things might def fly over her head. she says Yes To Serotonin in this house. she dk the the mitskis n the sikens n the carsons ; its all mary oliver up in this joint. we just tryna luv life n be grateful folkz

le freak, say chic ! — control freak, that is. growin up in an unstable envi meant shed cling 2 stability n independence, wrvr she cud get it. so when it comes 2 the way she does things, she can be real a heel digger. also bc she has 2 deal w kids yk so it can b A Lot n shes v stern lyk dat. ofc she wont infantilize the eonians .,,,. or will she ? big sis vibes outta control. she means well tho always always means well. itll also b v hard to get her 2 giv up on sum1 bc life ? she luvs it n knows u can too

changes by david bowie — is decidedly skipped on the playlist. she doesnt like change !!! i mean she knows its inevitable but still not entire unavoidable. ever since she got out of the system, shes had a partner n her own way of doing things n its been workin out so why change it yk ? she says time may change me but jokes on u i can sorta trace time 

rip but im different — this goes out to all em whores in this house. she respectz ur hustle but like ,,,, not her thang. girl doesnt even get drunk when she drinks bc she doesnt rlly drink sksjsk doesnt like the taste of it, big baby ! but like she's Lived, its more like. ok tried it, not for me. thanks tho. also for all the meanies in the house, y’all perplex her. shes empathetic n wont show the judgement but smtms shes lowkey lyk .,., ur how old n u had all this goin 4 u n ur still so rotten ? how u actin like a 7yo w a trantrum ? scratch head, make it make sense

at least u tried — dad jokes, bad puns, tries to be big jokester but isn't funny. she's pretty tho so she gets away with it. idk wht else 2 say ur honor. shes the type thatll embarrass u w affection

well that was Awkward — probably sum1 abt her if  they see her actin a Fool bc shes in a foreign sitch or topic. when shes a fish outta water then she can be so ! easily ! flustered ! which is p much her in eonia. shes not new new but theres way 2 much godly shennanigans for her to wrap her head ‘round n sis has never gone to camp so its ice bucket challenge level shock from time to time still w da magics n lore

til death do us part — yknow when death cab for cutie said i knew that u wer a truth i wud rather lose than 2 hav nvr lain beside at all ? how abt when they wrecked me by rudely sayin love is watching sum1 die ? yes ? no ? nywy thats jane 4 ya. if she loves then shes in and if shes in then she is all in, luke danes stylez

was that a vivid enough picture or did i just word vom the same things agen n agen sjksjs jus know shes cute n sweet if a lil frustrating n annoying bc shes stubbornpants mcgee. may or may not have a slight compulsion to help fix other ppl ..,,.. someone set her str8 n tell her fix u by coldplay isnt it !!!  

OTHER INFO 

5′9″ born 4 october 1994, virgo sun n moon

not a freshie ! idk how long her program is but like ,,, lets ignore that 4 now ok jus kno that she been here a while

yogi & boxing enthusiast back at home. hc her mans got real into the martial arts w her when hypnos told her she gotta learn how 2 defend so that was one of their things : bonding by workouts so jane cud protecc herself if need be

her maiden name’s jane fulton. got her mommas surname but the name jane ? thats some jane doe bs some rando picked out for her which she hated at first but then seeing tarzan made her go hmmm, ok bet !

lgbtq+ alliance president ! identifies as pan

she met her late hubbie when they were abt 7ish, real friends 2 lovers cuteness. jane was there for him throughout his entire coming out & transition ergo her passion for the community esp queer kids bc she was That Cis Ally for her mans. wears her ring as a real lowkey necklace now

shes also real passionate abt sleep. will ask u how did u sleep last night p much every day u see her bc ppl spend like half their lives asleep catherine ofc shes gonna ask

her fave thing abt eonia ?  the whole siblings bit. shes had 2 make do w what she got n build a family from scratch so this ? she luvs it a lot let her give u kithes hypnos babies

shes p well versed in the greek thingies but only thru the knowledge mortals gets + dream info. after her realizin who she is, all things ancient greek jus sorta became her niche interest ykwim ? shes not like Super Learned abt it more like ,,, ok i gotta at least make Sum sense outta all this, gotta learn what i can. imagin how embarrassin it wud b 2 see a god in ur dream n then go : sorry to this man. nope. not jane, not her, nuh-uh 

luv languages : words, acts of service, physical touch !

useless hcs but she loves disney sfm ok. smtms dresses up as princess tiana for bday parties n shit bc shell do nythin 2 put a smile on the kids n babs faces

ya like jazz ? bc jane surely does ! adores motown & 60s music. nina simone owns her. no one drag peggy lee from 101 dalmatians ! not an important hc but i jus wanted to quote my bubble butt winged bee lover barry

POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS

children ! infants ! babies !

demigods that make her scratch head damn u live like this ? but also wud knife emoji to protect n care for. shes not the oldest on campus but shes been livin independently p much her entire life so she finks shes got a tight grasp on the myth that is Adulting  

srsly tho the Big Sis vibes is off the charts w this one. shell perserve u dumdums

baddie influencies !

convince her 2 get drunk at a party ! bc she never does. convince her to maybe try drugs ! or go hook up ! do smths impulsive idk jus smth new !

gl tho bc shes not rlly ,,, easily influenced But she can b reasoned w ! in general i fink its just gonna be a fun dynamic if y/m knows how to coax sum wildness outta her or w/e bc thotty yummy theyre hotty yolo rzning jus wont do w this gal. will most likely get argumentative like a big ol momma hen but if u win then ur winning big

Sleep Now or forever hold ur peace !

idk sum1 she helps w their messy sleep ? shes def not super public w it, surely knows her other siblings r Better at it but if  y’all are close, she probs enjoys doin it 4 ya. she runs her hair thru fingers a lot when she does it. like a lot a lot unless u tell her to get lost

lover boi, lover gorl, lover enby !

she can be a lil traditional when it comes to how she views rels. she wants all that meetcute courting bs ! no gender roles tho n u best be sure shes not constantly comparin w her late hubbie ,,, but she jus wants smth magical n 2 be wooed again yk ?

so yea ,,, crushers mayhaps ? sum1 who is tryin 2 woo her ? sum1 she had a meetcute w and now janes got lowkey heart eyes for em ? idk lotsa possiblities but pls keep in mind she is not good at the flirtings so hav mercy on her 

eonia tour guide !

or jus friends who like ,,, constnatly fill her in w all the godly stuff n whatnot. years of not goin 2 camps mean u miss out on a lot ! explore ruins w her n get her info her mortal educ didnt make her privy 2 yk 

head real empty atm i will think of sum n let y’all know when i do, but give us all the conekshunz. friends, enemies, the usual bit, lgbtq alliance peeps, lmk whats up whats done whats cookin we want it all

( shes p much a new muse n da result of me tryna bring in an emotionally healthy kid to this sad sad university. janes in a v good well-adjusted place rn n is my therapy muse bc that other bitch m** is a messy handful. but wbk life aint linear so mayhaps shit’ll hit da fan or one of y/m will ruin her lmfao press f pls ! but also color me eyes emoji bc we love to see it )

[misskatesharma]

enough has been said about spn’s queerbaiting so i’m not gonna add to it and i was never even invested in deancas still the way they handled all that was complete bs.

no what i wanted to talk about is that FOR FIFTEEN FUCKING SEASONS all dean winchester did was take care of everyone else and save the world over and over again while being treated as the narrative’s punching bag and for the goddamn season finale they could have taken the opportunity to show him the tiniest bit of appreciation but no. they didn’t do that.

he got taken down by a nail. DEAN WINCHESTER FOUGHT GOD. AND WON. and he got taken down by a nail. the level of motherfucking disrespect is fucking egregious.

meanwhile precious little sammy WHOSE ROLE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE LITERAL GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING SACRIFICIAL LAMB got to live a long a long life and have a family and whatever the fuck. he should have stayed in the fucking pit.

and spn should have ended with swan song.

i haven’t watched this show in years and they still managed to spit on me.

[wentian]

and your favorite swtor npc, whoever that may be

It was hard to pick between Lana and Theron, because I love them both and they’re both amazing characters, but let it be Theron.

Favorite thing(s) about them

His easy charm. His undying loyalty to the Commander and the Alliance. His voice as well (damn it, Troy). His golden eyes. Red jacket. How he saved the galaxy in his underwear. There’re a lot of things I love about Theron actually. I like how kind and compassionate he is, but not afraid to get his hands dirty for his family. His self-sacrificial nature, how he was ready to die and let everyone believe that he was a traitor, even though he was doing everything to save them. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself on the line for others countless times and mostly never speak of it.

Least favorite thing about them

The fact that there’s an option to kill him, which removes him from the future DLCs as one of the protagonists 😔

Favorite line(s)

Every line he says to a romanced Commander during “Order of Zildrog” arc (”I will do ANYTHING to protect you”)

“And they said if I ever kissed an Imp I’d spontaneously implode“ is the best thing to tell your crash after you just kissed them, sure 🤡.

“Wow... I mean... WOW!“

“People keep trying to break us up. They never learn.“

brOTP

Lana Beniko. Seriously, who else? Also, let me appreciate that for once Bioware didn’t pull “if you didn’t romance any of them they’ll get together” bs. That would be wierd af.

OTP

My imperial agent 💔 Two rival spies who fell for each other in the middle of galactic war? Working together and slowly discarding prejudices? Lying their whole lives and manipulating others to... tell the truth to your enemy? What is there not to like?! 😻

nOTP

A Jedi Knight/Consular PC? I don’t mind people shipping their OCs with him, no matter which class they play. It’s their right to do it, I’m not judging anyone! But *I* personally wouldn’t romance him with any of my Force-sensitive characters. Sorry for a rant, but... *proceeds to write 242352 pages on the subject*

Theron is a son of the Grandmaster of the Order. His greatgrandfather was Revan. He was raised as a youngling, told that he would be a Jedi one day, maybe he hoped he would be able to meet his mother when he's a Jedi... But nope, his whole world was crashed when it became clear that he didn’t have the talent. For many years it hurt him and haunted him, made him bitter. His mother didn’t want him because... He wasn’t a Jedi? Because he wasn’t good enough? Yeah, his friendship with Lana mended some old wounds, but when your beloved can crash bones with their mind and you only have a blaster it doesn’t feel balanced.

I understand that for some people such relationship would be a logical resolution to his trauma, and that’s fine. I just like my two non Force-sensitive badasses who don’t need the Force to save the world better :D

Random headcanon

Hm... My agent and him are gonna have a cute blue son (people in this universe can clone other people, travel through space and they also have an ancient intelligent machine that can create life, so don’t see a problem here) and Theron will be the best dad in the universe. 

Unpopular opinion(s)

I don’t know what is the popular opinion, because I don’t interact with the fandom that much, but I don’t think Theron is a good flirt. He’s awkward af because he’s a miserable workaholic who doesn’t have a personal life. His romance with PC happened mostly because they were about to die so he didn’t care much about doing things right at first. He just went for it and it was good. 

Also, Theron doesn’t need his fucked up family to be happy. Lana, the Commander and Teff’ith are his family. He doesn’t need some grand reunion with his mother, he had one and it didn’t end well. So I think letting Malcom die on Iokath works better and does justice to the Empire. Long live Empress Acina!

Song(s) I associate with them

Writing's On The Wall (Sam Smith) & Feel Invincible (Skillet) for him and my agent.

Favorite picture of them

“I aim to please.”

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 129: Stuck Together

“I’m afraid right now.”

And here, after almost a hundred and thirty episodes of waiting, do we finally see that Lars can make a change.

The Good Lars was a great start, with Lars opening up enough to suggest that he might take a risk and let the Cool Kids know something real about himself. But he never makes it to the party, and as we learn here, it wasn’t because he was abducted. I Am My Mom proves that those events didn’t transform Lars, as when the going gets tough his instinct is self-preservation over all else. But these two incidents in quick succession, combined with his capture and uncertain future, yank him kicking and screaming into the realm of sincerity.

But not at first. After Aquamarine starts the episode off with Steven, reminding us of the recent plot and her all-around awfulness, Lars is discovered just in time to prove that he’s frustrating as well. It’s a different shade, as Aquamarine is a bully at every opportunity while Lars lashes out as a reaction to feeling pathetic, but he has the chance to be an ally when Steven needs one the most, and it’s lousy that he chooses spite.

Don’t get me wrong, Aquamarine is worse for sure: there’s no reason to further ensnare her captives now that they’re on the ship, and the process is uncomfortable for the humans and Topaz, but she orders it anyway. She goes back on her word by refusing to return Lars, which is predictable given they’re already in space, but still displays her lack of honor. She’s not even good at telling jokes, unhelpfully explaining that her fake tear is her gem. And while Lars evolves over the course of the episode, the idea that she would do likewise is silly enough to fuel the episode’s best sight gag.

Still, I’ll give her this: considering how she revels in lording over Topaz, and considering Topaz not only disobeys her but attacks her, Aquamarine has a single quiet moment of empathy when she chooses to let bygones be bygones. It’s the lowest of bars, as she only does so after breaking Topaz’s will and on the condition that Topaz follow her commands, and saying that “we’ll never speak of this again” shows that she wants this toxic status quo to remain forever, but this is a character who takes glee in cruelty, so it’s fascinating that she doesn’t leap at the chance to punish Topaz further. It’s the tiniest speck of affection you could hope for, and it doesn’t come close to “redeeming” Aquamarine, but it’s there, showing that even this little monster has an ounce of depth.

While Lars might have similar jerk vibes, railing against Steven and refusing to even try and break free, it’s just his starting point. Stuck Together crystallizes the loop that has defined Lars up to this point: he’s mean, then he gets some sympathy, then he seems ready to change, then he’s mean again. But there’s a big difference this time, and it’s not just the setting: after putting up with it for the entire series, Steven is done with Lars’s nonsense.

When Lars blames Steven for the alien invasion, Steven doesn’t even apologize, instead saying that of course he’s the reason aliens invaded, but he did everything he could to help and Lars should’ve escaped better. This is huge, as it not only breaks with Steven’s usual patience for Lars’s behavior, but comes at a time when Steven is feeling so low that we might expect more than ever for him to wallow in his failure. We then get into miscommunication: first Steven calls Lars worthless, meaning well but feeding into Lars’s insecurities, then Steven does a shoddy job of explaining a shoddy plan (how the heck was Lars supposed to lasso anything on the other side of the room?). This is not his best self, but if he was thinking things through he probably wouldn’t be on a ship hurtling towards the Diamonds in the first place.

Between the stress of recent events and his frustration with Lars, Steven snaps in a way that’s reminiscent of, well, Lars: short-tempered and impulsive and frazzled and loud. Lars admits at last that he’s always been driven by fear, and that Steven’s enduring faith in him only makes the problem worse. In the same way Lars thinks baking is lame because he likes doing it and he’s lame, he takes it as a given that he’s a wuss, so hearing anyone say otherwise is annoying rather than encouraging. But by explaining it aloud, the flip of personalities begins to form: now Lars is pepping up an ornery Steven, and Steven completes the puzzle by admitting his own fear.

It’s not as simple as Lars becoming Steven and Steven becoming Lars, but both take major cues from the other. And when Lars goes further in his tentative enthusiasm, Steven cuts him off by revealing a brilliant new wrinkle in their relationship: because he’s an optimistic kid with parent figures who have always sugarcoated the bitterness of life, he appreciates the one person who's willing to talk about how much things can suck. And in this new era of his life, where it’s become clear that the sugarcoating extends past white lies and into major secret territory, it’s more important than ever to have a friend who tells it like it is. There’s been an underlying notion in their entire relationship that Steven wants to help Lars out, but it’s so much more meaningful to hear that Steven hangs out with Lars because Lars is a crank. 

This doesn’t mean Lars was perfect the way he was, or else his arc wouldn’t involve him changing. But there’s a huge difference between changing because it’s what makes other people comfortable and changing because it’s good for your soul, and this would be a very different story if Lars only grew to make Steven’s life better. Instead, it takes Steven showing Lars the value of his flaws for Lars to see enough value in himself to want to improve. 

We wait just long enough on Topaz for her voice to matter most, threading the needle between emotional beat and punchline. Martha Higareda sells her change of heart in no time, showing the first instance of a same-Gem fusion having the deep relationship we’ve seen from cross-Gem fusions like Garnet; perhaps our ornery rubies are closer than we think when they form Big Ole Ruby, but we haven’t seen any evidence of it. 

In lesser hands it might be hackneyed for the stoic character to reveal a soft heart, because the gentle giant is a bog-standard “don’t judge a book by its cover” trope. But this is our fifth episode in a row featuring Topaz as a wordless brute, first as a silhouette and then contrasted with a talkative brat of a partner. Are You My Dad in takes her into monster movie territory, complete with bloodcurdling music and tree-clearing stomps when she reveals her body full of writhing captives, and squeezing Jamie’s head in I Am My Mom is the most visceral threat we’ve seen a human face on the show. This isn’t just some big galoot opening up, it’s a Terminator showing she was a real girl all along.

A big reason why this works is that we don’t go full cloying, instead tempering the reveal with humor that’s both inherent (we don’t expect Topaz to get this emotional) and specific (using Steven’s pants to wipe the tears away). Instead of swinging for a Big Moment that exposes Topaz’s turmoil in a dramatic fashion, the mood is quiet and sweet. Topaz isn’t just a softy, she’s sort of a dork, and that extra bit of characterization for someone we’ll never see again in the original series is what makes Steven Universe so great. Effort always matters!

After seeing Steven help not one but two people begin to change, we see that he’s still stuck in his own rut of martyrdom: he plans to send Lars back alone and continue along his sacrificial path. Perhaps there’s a level of rationality to this, as if they both escaped then the ship would turn right back around to Earth. But Steven isn’t operating on rational thought, and he hasn’t been since his friends were first endangered: going to the Diamonds as Rose Quartz might secure his friends’ safety, but at the cost of near-certain death, so from a pure odds perspective it’d be better to go to the Zoo incognito where known allies like the Zoomans and Famethyst could help out. But he’s acting out of a misguided sense of duty, so he doesn’t express any tactical purpose for sending Lars away, instead repeating the idea that he must pay for Rose’s actions.

The perfect response to the downside of Steven’s selflessness is Lars presenting the upside of his selfishness. It might not be brave to run away, and Lars might only be on the ship in the first place because he ran away, but he’s right: if Steven doesn’t want to be punished for his mother’s mistakes, he shouldn’t have to be. It might be the easy way out, but we just saw Steven praise Lars’s ability to cut through the BS and find the truth, and here we see a prime example. And for just a second, Steven thinks about it.

But then Aquamarine barges in, because Steven isn’t allowed to learn his lesson quite yet. In the same way corruption is the Diamonds’ greatest sin, attacking many of their own troops to spite their foes, this is perhaps Aquamarine at her worst: it’s one thing to bully your enemies, but cruelty to a partner is a step beyond. Contrast has defined Topaz and Aquamarine from the moment we saw their shadows, and this is the final stage. We already knew one was big and the other was small, one was quiet and the other was chatty, but both acted as a single front with different but united antagonism. Now one is an ally and the other is an opponent, one is cute and the other is vicious, and while Topaz might have the upper hand in a physical fight and the heart to do the right thing, Aquamarine only needs her words and her ruthlessness to win the day.

This is the last we’ll see of Topaz and Aquamarine until the time jump, and it’s surprisingly brutal. We got a test-run of this story with Holly Blue Agate, another cerulean tyrant dominating a larger, friendlier force (this time in terms of size as well as numbers), and it ended with our new friends overcoming their oppressor. Not this time. Aquamarine emerges victorious, while Topaz splits up and slumps away in defeat, and that’s it until Steven Universe Future gives the latter a happy ending at Little Homeschool and the former a new role as Team Rocket villain.

Topaz getting her brief burst of joy snatched away sets the mood for our Homeworld adventure. We’ve long known that the Crystal Gems are a stubborn group of rocks, but at least they have the freedom to change if they wish. Homeworld Gem stubbornness is reinforced by a society that persecutes anyone that doesn’t fall in line, from the outcast Off Colors to the Diamonds themselves. 

But the mood of this arc is also set by Lars, because like the ending of Stuck Together, this is a story about Lars being taken away from Steven. But it’s also a story where Steven helps Lars change, and with change comes a glimmer of hope.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

A great showcase for Steven and Lars, and a great coda for Aquamarine and Topaz. There’s not quite enough going on for it to make my favorites list, but it’s up there.

Top Twenty-Five

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

When It Rains

The Good Lars

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

I Am My Mom

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Room for Ruby

Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Doug Out

Are You My Dad?

Stuck Together

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Rocknaldo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

Tiger Philanthropist

No Thanks!

     6. Horror Club      5. Fusion Cuisine      4. House Guest      3. Onion Gang      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

(No promo art for this one, so I went with Jastea’s gorgeous take on Topaz.)