#gotta rewatch children of the earth

[fandomtrashhh]

Updated for Episode 12

So I did a thing. I went back to every episode of The Winchesters and I wrote down everything that Dean has said so far, and I realized moreso than before how EVERYTHING he says not only is the lesson/theme of the episode, but it all also applies to himself. Also, I'm not sure if other people realize this because not everyone is into classic rock as I am, (many of the songs are rock songs) but all the songs also match what the episodes are about. Let's start with episode 1.

Sorry if I overlooked something or for any mistakes, I did not rewatch every episode to make this.

I also apologize for how long this is. If I knew how to add the "read more" on this post I totally would.

Major spoilers for all episodes of the Winchesters ahead!!!

Episode 1, "Pilot": March 3rd, 1972. The day Dad came home from the war, and the day he met Mom. Now I know this story might sound familiar, but I'm gonna put the pieces together in a way that just might surprise you. And in order to do that, I have to start all the way at the beginning.

Obviously, Dean is just starting the story. He tells us this is when John and Mary are going to meet, and he's also foreshadowing what's to come. This is why I have high hopes for this show, because Dean says so in the beginning that even though you think you might know everything, there's really more to the story.

Dean also narrated at the very end of the episode:

What they didn't know is that the Akrida weren't just a threat to Earth, but to all of existence. Now, like I told you, there's gonna be some surprises. Hell, I'm still trying to find all the puzzle pieces myself. But I'll explain everything. And until then, I'll keep picking the music.

Also something to note is that this is the only episode that has a non music related title. I'm 100% sure that if it did have a song related title, it would be "I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After. The beginning, when Dean is first narrating and while John is holding the letter that Dean gave him and pretty much up to the point where John and Mary run into each other, that song is playing. Then at the very end of the episode, when we see Dean in the flesh, it's playing again. I find this VERY interesting, especially since the music applies to everything in this show. This leads me to believe that Dean really is trying to change something because the song literally says "I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to do, so I'll leave it up to you." (The song also mentions bees, which I thought was interesting. That could be nothing, though.)

Episode 2 "Teach Your Children Well": The ties that bind a family together can be complicated. Parents raise you, teach you what's right and wrong, and in some instances, how to kill monsters. But no matter who you are, there comes a time when you have to break from them and make your own way. And if you're not careful, things can get pretty ugly.

“Teach Your Children Well” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Let me show you some of the lyrics:

“You, who are on the road

Must have a code that you can live by

And so, become yourself

Because the past is just a goodbye

Teach your children well

Their father's hell did slowly go by

And feed them on your dreams

The one they pick's the one you'll know by

Don't you ever ask them, "Why?"

If they told you, you would cry

So just look at them and sigh

And know they love you”

A big theme in this episode is parents, the guy who goes missing at the beginning for one, but mostly about John’s parents. John and Millie argue over John hunting and all around the episode is about kids forging their own paths and how it can cause issues which I feel like can definitely apply to Dean and how he discovers his identity away from his father and how the things his father put them through were wrong and how that caused issues.

Episode 3 "You’re Lost Little Girl": There's no map to being a hunter. No playbook. You gotta follow your gut. But that can only take you so far. Truth is, you can't do it all on your own. You need other people to help guide the way-- your friends, your family. Otherwise you just end up lost.

“You’re Lost Little Girl” is by The Doors. Some lyrics:

“You're lost little girl

You're lost little girl

You're lost, tell me who

Are you?

Think that you know what to do

Impossible? Yes, but it's true

I think that you know what to do

Yeah

Sure that you know what to do”

In this episode, Mary gets taken by a monster and everyone is trying to find her. Mary thinks that she doesn’t need anyone to help her because she’s a good hunter, but she ends up needing them to save her. It’s the same with Dean, Dean is an amazing hunter, but he still needs his friends and his family.

Episode 4, "Masters of War": Fighting the battle between good and evil isn't easy, especially when the first monster you have to face is the one inside yourself.

“Masters of War” is by Bob Dylan.

The lyrics for this song are very meaningful and well done. To put it simply, it’s about war and criticism of war.

“You fasten all the triggers

For the others to fire

Then you sit back and watch

When the death count gets higher

You hide in your mansion

While the young people's blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in the mud”

In this episode, John and Carlos talk about their trauma from the Vietnam War and we really get an insight to how much anger John has in him. John is Dean’s parallel in this episode because Dean has a lot of unresolved trauma and deep rooted anger that is mentioned in Supernatural and it also fits because Dean was used as a weapon in a war against the supernatural from a young age.

Episode 5, "Legacy of a Mind": Spending a lifetime of hunting monsters takes its toll. There comes a time when you gotta let out that pain inside you. If you don't, it'll eat you alive.

The song “Legacy of a Mind” is by The Moody Blues

“He'll fly his astral plane

Takes you trips around the bay

Brings you back the same day”

This can be applied to what happens in this episode where Mary is stuck in her own head and has to face her trauma, and this song pretty much talks about trippy things like the lyrics above.

This applies so well to the episode because this episode deals with the complicated relationship that Mary has with her parents and her dealing with the trauma she has with being trained to be a hunter from a very young age and how it was wrong of them to do that to her, but she still loves her parents. This also applies to Dean, since John taught him about hunting from a young age, the same way Samuel and Deanna did to Mary. Mary is once again the Dean parallel, like she often is in this show.

Episode 6 "Art of Dying": Hunting has a way of changing a person. After a while, right, wrong, good, evil, they all start to look the same. And then it makes you start to wonder, "Who's really the monster here -- them or me?"

This is the only other episode where Dean narrated at the end:

Hunting's not for everyone. You have to be strong, stay sharp, make tough decisions, and it's not easy, but then again, the righteous things never are.

The Art of Dying is by George Harrison:

"There'll come a time when all of us must leave here

Then nothing sister Mary can do

Will keep me here with you

As nothing in this life that I've been trying

Could equal or surpass the art of dying

Do you believe me?"

and then the end of the song goes:

"There'll come a time when most of us return here

Brought back by our desire to be

A perfect entity

Living through a million years of crying

Until you've realized the art of dying

Do you believe me?"

This episode the core four finds a case involving an older hunter buddy of Mary's and it turns out that the monster is the ghost of the hunter's friend who the hunter friend and her group killed because he went too dark in magic. That's how the episode applies to Dean's monologue, along with Lata's fear of turning into someone horrible and letting her anger control her. John also (kinda) confronts his anger in this episode. The monologue also talks about how being a hunter is hard, but doing the right thing never is, which also applies to the characters of this episode, especially Lata. This applies to Dean because he really dealt with feelings like that during SPN, and being angry all the time and feeling like he was a monster, and how he always chooses to do the right thing when it comes down to saving the world, even when it's near impossible to.

Episode 7 "Reflections": There comes a time in every hunt when the fightin' starts. And the difference between winning and losing isn't whether you have the holy water, the wooden stake, or the silver bullet. It's whether you've got the grit to get the job done.

Reflections is by the Supremes:

"Through the mirror of my mind

Through all these tears that I'm crying

Reflects a hurt I can't control

Although you're gone

I keep holding on

To those happy times

Oh, girl when you were mine

As I peer through the windows

Of lost time

Keeping looking over my yesterdays

And all the love I gave all in vain

(All the love) All the love

That I've wasted

(All the tears) All the tears

That I've tasted

All in vain

Through the hollow of my tears

I see a dream that's lost

From the hurt baby

That you have caused"

I think this one represents loss, especially the loss of Henry. Dean's monologue ties into this because in this episode there are multiple instances where the characters show real strength and bravery in order to come out the other side with a win. And this can obviously be applied to Dean and everything he has done and hunted and how brave he had to be to be able to actually get the job done.

Episode 8, "Hang on to Your Life”: Being a hunter, it means living a life of sacrifice-- not a lot of room for dreams. But if you open your heart and get a little lucky, you'll find you gain more than you lose.

Hang On To Your Life is by Guess Who:

“Thinking 'bout it's here and it's real

Wondering how I really should feel

Well you can sell your soul

But don't you sell it too cheap

Hang on to your life, oh life, oh life, oh life, oh life

Hang on to your life

Thinking 'bout betraying a friend

Thinking 'bout delaying the end

Well you can ride the wind

But don't you ride it too high”

This episode is about Carlos’ dream of being a musician and how he had to give that up when he became a hunter. The parts about selling his soul and betraying a friend applies to the band member that Carlos used to play with and how he accidentally made a deal and because he “betrayed” Carlos by selling him out to Loki.

Dean’s monologue applies to the theme of found family in this episode. Even though they’re all a part of this life and had to give up their dreams, there is good that came from it in the form of family and friends, the same way that Dean found himself a family in the midst of it all. This is also the episode where John and Mary decided to get together, again proving that they can find something worthwhile, right before they found the picture of Dean. (Insert Miranda Cosgrove meme)

Episode 9 "Cast Your Fate to the Wind": This isn't how I saw things going when I pushed over that first domino. Thing is, I've had more than a few dances with free will and fate, but as my dad used to say, "Fate is what you make it."

The song here is actually a song that I didn’t know. It’s a jazz song by Vince Guaraldi. Honestly, reading the lyrics to this song make me think SO MUCH of John and who he becomes, and I’m actually going to put in the entire lyrics because I can’t chose one section that I feel is most important:

“A month of nights, a year of days

Octobers drifting into Mays

I set my sail when the tide comes in

And I just cast my fate to the wind

I shift my course along the breeze

Won't sail up wind on memories

The empty sky is my best friend

And I just cast my fate to the wind

That time has a way of changing a man throughout the years

And now I’m rearranging my life through all my tears

Alone, alone, alone

There never was, there couldn't be

A place in time for men like me

Who'd drink the dark and laugh at day

And let their wildest dreams blow away

That time has a way of changing a man throughout the years

And now I’m rearranging my life through all my tears

Alone, alone, alone

So now I’m old, I’m wise, I’m smart

I’m just a man with half a heart

I wonder how it might have been

Had I not cast my fate to the wind

To the wind, to the wind”

Like, come on. This is so John coded in who he becomes and what happens to him. In terms of how this song applies to the episode though, it applies to the theme of fate throughout the episode, which ties in with what Dean says at the beginning. “Fate is what you make it.” This speaks true to John in this episode because he uses the knowledge of his death to his advantage and makes his own fate, which Millie uses the “fate is what you make it” line. I find this episode very interesting because they use the theme of fate in an episode that deals with vampires, and has a whole scene that parallels 15x18 AND Carlos gets to kiss his male love interest. Dean’s monologue at the beginning applies to himself because he’s dealt with fate and free will plenty of times in Supernatural.

I also find it interesting that Dean said that this isn't how he saw things going when he pushed over that first domino, which begs the question of what did he expect? What was his goal in doing all of this? It's also worth noting that immediately after he says that he says "fate is what you make it," saying the two apply to each other, go hand in hand. I don't think it's a stretch to say that whatever his intentions were, whatever he did, had to do with controlling his own fate.

So, just to recap: in an episode where the two main characters are dealing with being in a new relationship and whether or not they want to tell people, one of those main characters dies from a vampire in a direct parallel to the 15x18 confession, and two men have an on screen kiss for the first time, and the entire theme of the episode is fate. That's VERY interesting to me.

Episode 10 "Suspicious Minds": Hunting and happy endings don't usually mix, so when you get your chance, you got to ask yourself, "How far will I go to get it?"

This can be read as a direct tie in to his monologue in the last episode! It's along the same lines!!

Something I've noticed is that each episode I feel like the monologues get deeper and more meaningful, the farther we go the more is revealed.

This Dean monologue ends right as John and Mary get interrupted while they're kissing and Mary says "normal will have to wait another day" while there's a close up of Mary's college application as a mirror to SPN 15x20 with Dean's job application. Something I thought was interesting.

Suspicious Minds is an Elvis Presley song, which I know that the trend here is to include 60's and 70's songs, but knowing the intense meaning of Elvis in the Destiel fandom makes me feel a little unwell knowing Elvis actually gets incorporated into the text.

"Oh, let our love survive

I'll dry the tears from your eyes

Let's don't let a good thing die

When honey, you know I've never lied to you

Mmm, yeah, yeah

We're caught in a trap

I can't walk out

Because I love you too much, baby

Why can't you see

What you're doing to me

When you don't believe a word I say?"

So this is very much talking about one of the big plot points of this episode, a man who tries to bring his dead wife back to life in such desperation that he's willing to kill innocents to do it. Now the parallels drawn in this episode are very intentional to both John and Mary, even including the dialogue they speak after they kill said man and how John thinks that's love and Mary thinks it's horrible and she essentially makes him promise that that will never be them (clear foreshadowing) when in reality, even though it's showing that John already had the mindset of "doing it out of love" as he does in the future, they're both guilty of that. Mary brings John back to life when Azazel kills him, and as we all know, after Mary's death John goes on a revenge mission, wasting his life and putting his children through hell in the process. It's also just a running theme throughout SPN of toxic codependency and how almost every major character is also guilty of going to great lengths to bring the ones they love back. The song lyrics also apply to John and Mary as a romantic relationship as well and can show how their relationship is now and foreshadow what will happen in the future.

The thing that is different about this episode though, is that even though the parallels in this episode can apply to Dean, the actual Dean monologue doesn't, and this is what I find really weird and what I think is honestly one of the biggest indications that Jensen really is writing a fix it fanfiction:

This is the only episode where his monologue doesn't directly apply to himself. Every other episode ties in to his own experiences, except for this one. Dean doesn't go to great lengths to get himself a happy ending. Happy endings for other characters? Absolutely. But not for himself. Why would this be the only episode that doesn't directly relate to him? Well me and a lot of other people think because it really does apply to himself. But not as something he experienced in the past or has knowledge on, but as something he is doing right now. He is actively changing his future, possibly even a future with Cas (I do really think that there's a solid possibility that Destiel will become 100% canon in this show because of how everything is being set up, all of the parallels, and the fact that some of the cast, the social media team, and an executive producer has acknowledged some of these said parallels.) So in the end, how far will Dean go to get his happy ending?

Episode 11 "You've Got a Friend": Being a hunter means always being on the move. But no matter how hard you plan, no matter how hard you work, at a certain point, we all run out of road. It's what we do with those crossroads that define us.

"You've Got a Friend" is a song by Carole King from 1971:

"When you're down and troubled

And you need some lovin' care

And nothin', nothin' is goin' right

Close your eyes and think of me

And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest night

You just call out my name

And you know, wherever I am

I'll come runnin'

To see you again

Winter, spring, summer or fall

All you have to do is call

And I'll be there

You've got a friend"

This represents Betty, and how in this episode she goes from being a potential source of trouble for the gang to becoming an ally, or a "friend" and an inside woman for them. This also can be applied to Carlos and Lata because Carlos was there for Lata and helped support her while Lata told Carlos about her childhood trauma.

In this episode, Dean's monologue is about the choices you make before you die. This can be seen in the choices made throughout this episode by multiple characters (Betty, Mary, John, etc) and this ties in with the song because no matter what choices you make, you'll have your friends by your side, which is true to Dean and just Supernatural as whole with their message of family and found family. Admittedly, I feel like the connection to Dean's voiceover and to the title of this episode aren't as strong as a lot of the previous episodes, but they're still there. (Betty, the "friend," makes a choice to work with the rest of the gang.) At the same time, I believe this can also be another instance of foreshadowing because Dean is dead, he's at that metaphorical cross road, and he's making a choice to go into the past.

As I said above, Lata faced her trauma. This is the 4th or 5th instance of someone on this show confronting their past. At this point, it's become a theme. Why would the show reiterate this point over and over? I think this will tie into Dean's reasons for why he's in the 70's. Not to mention this was yet ANOTHER episode where 2 characters are trapped in a room, and this time because of a shadow monster, and the only way to get out is if one confesses a deep secret. What the fuck.

Something to keep in mind is how much this episode emphasized secrets. This seems to foreshadow the fact that Dean is harboring some huge secrets that will soon be discovered. I think the real question now is how will these secrets be revealed to the audience and to our characters?

Episode 12 "The Tears of a Clown": Hunting is a dishonest business. You lie about who you are, and what you do. But the hardest lies aren't what you tell other people, but what you tell yourself."

The song "The Tears of a Clown" was released in 1967 by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles:

"Now if there's a smile on my face

It's only there trying to fool the public

But when it comes down to fooling you

Now honey that's quite a different subject

But don't let my glad expression

Give you the wrong impression

Really I'm sad, oh I'm sadder than sad

You're gone and I'm hurting so bad

Like a clown I appear to be glad (sad, sad, sad, sad)"

Okay, so this episode gave me a lot of brainrot. What the song is expressing is that even if you seem happy, that doesn't mean you are, and that was the big theme of this episode. Just because you seem okay or even think you're okay, that doesn't mean you are. With John, that applies to his anger issues and his unresolved issues with being charged for a murder he didn't commit. For Mary, it's the issues she already has, plus being unhappy in her relationship with John because she thinks he's using their relationship as an escape, and this also applies to her because even though she got accepted into college, she hadn't really taken any steps towards a normal life since then. In general, this episode was about a clown who lures emotionally vulnerable people into his circus tent so he can force them to be "happy" even though they aren't, like we saw with Roger.

This can very much apply to Dean's voice over, because the characters in this episode, including the clown, are actively lying to themselves.

The thing is, like a lot of Dean's voice overs, it's intentionally vague. He could be referring to literally anything. In the context of this episode, it makes the most sense that this is referring to Dean's anger issues and the fact that throughout the entirety of Supernatural, Dean oftentimes told himself and the people around him that he was okay, even though he wasn't. But at the same time, these voice overs and one like this in particular can be interpreted in different ways. What Dean says about facing the lies you tell yourself can apply to sexuality. Dean could be talking about not only his mental and emotional issues, but he could also be referencing being in love with Cas. At this point, Destiel happening feels like genuine build up. Now all we have to do is wait a couple more days to see if it all pays off.

[motsimages]

Some "subtleties" I really enjoyed in Starship Troopers during yesterday's rewatch:

Framing meteors, asteroids and other celestial bodies that are quite frequent in space as the weapon of the bugs. When the movie begins and we are informed of "another attack", is it really an attack? It's just a meteor, we haven't even seen the bugs, we have no context about this "war". It has been decided that they are attacking and invading (there is a certain level of planning and strategy for this), while at the same time, only after the second half of the movie the possibility of bugs being intelligent is mentioned. Also, Klendathu is very far from Earth, how much of a threat are they?

In the first minute of the movie, during the "I'm doing my part" ad, there is a literal child soldier. As a matter of fact, there are two ads that feature children: one giving them assault weapons and one stepping on bugs with violence. You gotta get them young.

All of the teachers in *high-school* are severely disabled by war.

Rico ("rich man" in Spanish) has no personality whatsoever. He isn't a good student and has no ambition. He ends up doing what he does by sheer luck. He goes to the Service because of a girl and to be against his father, he stays in the Service because he literally has nowhere else to go. He is so bland that even his encouraging speeches to the troops once he becomes lieutenant are exactly the same as his predecessors. He repeats the textbook definition of a citizen even after experiencing war and he still doesn't know what it means. He does what is expected of him, while the movie kind of frames him as breaking the mold and being a rebel because he doesn't do what his father wants him to do. But he does what the government needs of him and people like him.

For once, I believe having 35 year olds playing teenagers is on purpose.

Carmen is The Ideal Girl of the Federal Service. Her acting and her shots are always charming, not only is she cute, she plays cute, you have to fall in love with her and everything she does or the movie does around her supports this. Compare with Diz, who is also a very beautiful woman but her acting and her shots tell she is more of a tomboy. She is there to let the audience know that women can also become war meat soldiers.

"Service guarantees citizenship". *Guarantees*. There may be other ways of becoming a citizen, but they are harder and are never mentioned in the movie, it is all about Service as if it was the only way (and for some things, like being a politician, it is). "Citizen" is also used in opposition to "civilian" kind of implying that "civilians" are not "citizens". Again, this is a propaganda war movie from the future, so we don't get to see what it means in daily life to have this separation between "civilian" and "citizen", but we know citizens have privileges. Also: Rico is rich, his family is rich, his parents aren't citizens.

The pledge of alliance that is actually a legal waiver.

Rico saying he will join the infantry to the recruiter who has a missing arm and him proudly saying "Infantry made me the man I am today" while casually showing Rico and the audience that he is also missing both his legs. Almost all adults we've seen until this moment are disabled from war.

The shower scene. All those handsome young men and women full of energy and life who get along are asked to say why they joined while fully naked. A subliminal ad, the brochure to convince kids. Some things are the same as joining the army ("Harvard will cost *an arm and a leg* but the Federation will pay for it"), some others are painfully dystopian ("It is easier to get a license to be a mother"). So civilians need authorisation to be parents, but the Federal Service is more or less counting on survivors to motivate their children to join and keep the war machine going.

Showing an ad of a terrible bug killing a cow but censoring the cow dying immediately followed by "the mormons" (are they mormons, though? Aren't they just the squad the Roughnecks find in Planet P?) killed in terrific ways, showed in great detail of gore and blood.

The whole Doctor Mengele vibes of Carl who joins the division called "Games and Theory". *Games*. His vibes were off even in high school and his whole "mind control" (which the movie doesn't really confirm is a real thing, it makes the narrative around it as if it was but "it's afraid" is not mind reading and "it's classified" as an explanation is nothing really). I don't know if it's worse if he can actualy do telepathy or if he can't but is living off of it. Some "The men who stare at goats" army shit there.

Carl making an ad to show the superweapon they will use against the bugs, but that weapon is only used in the ad. The infantry uses their average weapons that are mostly ineffective for killing bugs.

When Carl reappears and says that his division is the one making the choices for whatever Fleet and Infantry do, and he says he sends people to their death on purpose to test theories and Rico says "That's what the infantry is for" fully convinced that yes, we came here to be killed.

Infantry is made of younger and younger people.

When Carmen, Carl and Rico meet again after the fight and they get the kind of heroic shot of the three of them together surrounded by celebrating soldiers and Carmen says something like "When the three of us are together, maybe things can work out". They spent the movie apart. Carl disappears once he joins and reappears only at the end. They didn't even capture the bug, another team did. But they are a metaphore of joined efforts of the three branches of the Federal Service, they aren't really characters.

Carmen and Rico never get serious injuries. In this scene of celebration, Carmen is bleeding from one arm (and that arm should be completely unusable and she should be in great pain) but she was able to shoot and use that arm as if nothing happened. Rico fully ricovered from his leg injury. And even, they just scaped running from an exploding cave, their hair is clean and perfectly combed even though moments before it wasn't.

The person who captured the bug was the training officer of Rico, but he had to demote himself to be able to fight and become the hero who captured the bug. The propaganda message for recruiting kids being "you get the action and the merit if you stay a private", even after most of the privates in Rico's company have been kileed in horrific ways.

How the news titles change according to the story the propaganda wants to reinforce.

Only the young, beautiful, white, smiling people survive.

Ending the movie with humans probing the bug the same way the bug was probing the humans less than 20 minutes before.

The whole cinematography that is one shot after the other of propaganda war movies and quips to create complicity with the audience.

Ay Verhoeven, qué bien lo haces, jodío. I really like how it's a movie within a movie. There are nods to the audience in the 24th Century who are watching this propaganda movie (every single scene of Carmen) and at the same time, there are nods to us watching the movie now to let us know how this is all wrong (the recruiter's "Infantry made me the man I am today").

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Me, reading some pro-Katara meta because I like the character.

The meta author: “The Legend of Korra” ruined Katara’s character! She was made Aang’s trophy wife, whose whole life is dedicated to taking care of him! She does not have a chance to fight! “The best healer” title is empty since she never succeeded in healing anyone, it is only used to show how strong the opponents are! She is not shown during the trial on Yakone or Jinora’s ceremony! She never got a statue! Bryke said that’s because she never did anything important aside from giving birth to and raising Aang’s kids! Only one of her kids cares about Southern Water Tribe culture, two other worship Air Nomads’ culture and think this one is more important! She’s such a great character, she deserves so much better!

Me, a fan of Katara: Okay, I kinda agree with the opinion on LoK, in this aspect it sucks. And if Bryke really said this thing, it sucks too. *starting learning to draw Katara to make a cool fanart with her sculpture and many other cool fanarts with her one day, because she deserves it and much more*

Me, not really a kataang shipper, reading some anti-kataang meta that I came across, because I am open to different opinions.

The meta author: We never see Katara’s POV on this relationship, only Aang’s! The kiss in “The Ember Island Players” was a horrible attack on Katara’s borders! Katara and Aang had a fight about killing Ozai and never resolved this conflict! And how can you ever ship two literal children, it’s immoral! Also, Aang is younger than Katara, he’s too immature for her! “The Legend of Korra” ruined Katara’s character! She was made Aang’s trophy wife, whose whole life is dedicated to taking care of him! She does not have a chance to fight! “The best healer” title is empty since …

Me: Well, the kiss in EIP really was not okay, and I would like to see some dialog about it before the finale. The talk solving the conflict would also be nice. I do think that this sweet embrace in the end is better than their final kiss, because yes, they are kids, I think it’s too early for them to kiss on the lips. But I know that the final kiss is important, cause this time it’s Katara making the first move, cause now Aang learned to respect her boundaries. Also, LoK sucks. With the rest I don’t agree, but people can have opinions that are different from mine…

Zutara fandom: Zutara is such a better alternative than kataang!

Me, also finding out that these meta authors – both pro-katara and anti-kataang - ship zutara: Okay, what can you offer instead?

Zutara fandom: Wouldn’t it be nice if Katara got her own chance to be a hero… by saving Zuko? Wouldn’t it be nice if Katara only ever cared for Zuko and looked after his every need? Wouldn’t it be nice if she married him and gave birth to one, two, three, four, five, six children? Also only ever helping the Fire Nation people? Wouldn’t it be nice if she cheated with Zuko on Aang? Wouldn’t it be nice if we draw zutara arts in canon setting, with Katara in Fire Nation clothes without anything blue at all/okay, some blue elements/okay, some epic or sexy blue dress that looks nothing like the Southern Water Tribe style shown in the “Avatar: the Last Airbender”, because with Zuko she will have absolutely no problems keeping her culture? Wouldn’t it be nice if she used bloodbending more often since despite everything we saw in the show there totally is something good about it?

Me: HOW ON EARTH THIS IS BETTER?! You know, I am growing more and more into kataang right now.

As usual, I won't comment on the Korra thing because it's been years since I last gave it a chance, and I can't remember much other than "I hate the knew characters and can barely recognize the old ones."

The very idea that we "Don't see Katara's side/interest in Aang/was never the one to make the first move before the finale" is already completely false and this fandom gotta stop repeating stuff Zutarians say without rewatching the show first.

She's immediately his best friend after meeting him, says she'll leave her tribe if he's banished (she obviously spoke without thinking and I doubt she would have done it, but still), and she says "The world can't aford to lose you to the Fire Nation, and neither can I" before he's taken away by Zuko. Her obvious affection for Aang right away is so obvious that Sokka immediately teases her by calling Aang her boyfriend.

She's jealous when he's paying more attention to his "fanclub" than to her in "Warriors of Kyoshi." She decided to kiss him on the cheek in "Bato Of The Water Tribe."

The kiss in "Cave Of Two Lovers" was her idea, she's offended when she thinks Aang is not interested, and blushing after they actually kiss. In "Bitter Work" she gets jealous when he calls Toph "Sifu", and glad when he does the same to her. She's visibly upset when Aang doesn't want to hug her in "The Serpent's pass" and is touched when he says she gives him hope. When he dies in "Crossroads of Destiny", Katara goes berserk - much like Oma did when Shu died, hence their musical theme as a couple being the same.

In "The Awakeing" She's clearly touched again when Aang realizes she didn't save his life at the last second, but actually brought him back from the dead, and is visibly grateful to her. She's jealous AGAIN in "The Headband" when she sees all the girls at the party being clearly charmed by him, and is then all cute, shy and flirty when they're dancing together. She's happy when he is proud of her for the whole "Painted Lady" thing. When he kisses her in the day of the eclipse, she's suprised but kisses back and blushes, and by the end of the episode is practically cuddling with him.

She only accepts Zuko into the group because Aang feels it would be the right thing to do, and she trusts him, and then THREATENS TO KILL ZUKO if he steps out of line and hurts her best friend again. And in Ember Island, when Aang full on asks her if it's true that she only sees him as little brother and would never even consider dating him, she says "I didn't say that, an actor said that"

A 14-year-old girl who had crushes on other boys (and ended up going nowhere) and is busy being a child soldier in the middle of a war being a little unsure if she likes her best friend or if she likes likes him is not the same as "She never demonstrated ANY interest in him." There moments of Kataang being one-sided (again, because Katara was into Haru and specially Jet for a little while), but it was always very clear that show was setting up a Kataang endgame - one Katara was clearly written to want.

Also I disagree with the "they're too young to kiss on the lips." I don't know if it's just a case of different cultures doing things differently, but at least in my experience here in Brazil, 12-14 years old is EXACTLY the age where most kids start actually acting on their crushes, dating, and kissing - I'm not even talking a quick, cutesy kiss, I'm talking "I witness the unpleasant sight of my classmates aggressively making out in/under the school's stairs more than enough times to realize I was not the only kid/pre-teen with hormones coming out my ears"

And about what Zutarians do to "fix" Katara, don't forget: she needs to lose any and all agency she had as character so she can be the damsel in distress Zuko will save.

[howlingday]

Just saw the Justice League x RWBY movie, and I gotta say I personally kinda liked it quite a bit.

Did make me pause when I thought about how different their goals are in stopping villains though.

Like when the big bad *spoilers* Kilgore *spoilers* was finally defeated in the end, the first thing 15-year old Ruby wanted to do was see if he was actually DEAD.

Kinda made me realize that while the Beacon students are taught to straight up kill a threat (whether Grimm or human/faunus) the Justice League is more about neutralizing them (mostly) regardless of power level.

Tyrian attacking Uncle Qrow? Ruby cuts off one of his limbs! Adam hunting Blake and Yang? Slice that creep up! Cinder toppled Beacon? That B&$%H Needs To DIE!

On the other hand...

Cheetah gonna kidnap kids? Gotta knock her out! Luthor shooting missiles at the moon? Put that fella in prison! Mad Hatter kidnapping children? Save the hostages and neutralize the threat!

I mean it's NOT a bad thing, but it makes me wonder how comfortable the Justice League would feel about having these teenagers "assisting". And ditto for the Hunters/Huntresses having the Justice League's "help".

What do you think?

SPOLIERS! ...is what I would scream if I actually cared.

But you definitely bring up a good point, but I feel like I should clarify certain aspects.

Now, I haven't seen RWBY/Justice League yet, but I do know a thing or two about two separate franchises.

Regarding the RWBY moments, you have to remember that RWBY is a... less civilized world compared to the DC universe. Aside from the Grimm, you have gangsters, serial killers, and terrorists running around trying to kill for one reason or another, but it's always selfish reasons. So having RWBY kill off their villains makes sense because it makes sense regarding the villains being killed.

Tyrian was a crazy guy who attacked them and potentially killed Uncle Qrow. Ruby saw an opportunity to neutralize Tyrian, who was disracted by Qrow, and took it. Her only failure there was not taking off his head, but removing his poison stinger was a good choice nonetheless.

Adam was on a homicidal rampage and was making lethal attempts at both Blake and Yang. The fact he did this while Blake's guard was down is proof he had to be put down now, or else he would keep attacking later. Also, if you rewatch what happened, Blake was shaking at the fact she just killed Adam. She was shaking because she just took a life up close and personal. The life of someone she knew. In more layman's terms, Kitty Got Trauma.

Cinder is responsible for the Fall of Beacon. She killed Pyrrha. She attacked at Haven and Atlas, and she won't stop until she gets what she wants. So yes, I would agree THAT GOD DAMN BITCH NEEDS TO DIE!

Also, as an added point, look at what happens when you lock up criminals in RWBY. They get out. They escape. Because justice. Doesn't. Work. In. Remnant. The only way to make sure the serial killers and terrorists and monsters stop is to exterminate them. End them. Permanently. And that's what these kids are taught! Compared to the other schools, from what we've seen, Beacon focuses more on the Grimm than on the other dangers of Remnant. The only defense they have is understanding from Dr. Oobleck's history class. So what happens when you pit a huntsman against the soldier? The gangster? The survivor?

So yes, Remnant is less civil than DC Earth, where the other half of our other heroes are located. In this universe, by contrast, our heroes are raised with compassion, humility, and good values for a society.

Cheetah is a tricky foe for Wonder Woman because she is Diana's best friend cursed to be transformed. There's a comic where she's struggling against Cheetah because with all of Diana's lethal moves and Cheetah's lethal intent, she knows her friend is still in there, trapped inside and crying out. When you put her against an opponent she doesn't feel all that close to, say, Maxwell Lord, who was mind controlling Superman, then yeah, she's gonna snap his neck about thirty times to be sure. It should be noted that Diana is also the kind of hero who would lead an uprising in which she aided slave women to murder their captors. So yeah, Wonder Woman will kill, but not someone she cares about.

The trouble with Lex Luthor and Superman is the classic case of Lawful Good against Lawful Evil. Lex Luthor is a public figure, and often a beloved one at that. With a sway of his silver tongue, Superman is the alien invader sent to conquer Earth, which is in a universe filled with invasive alien conquerors, while Lex freaking god damn mother friggin "Steal-Forty-Cakes, Blows-Up-Cities, Cures-Cancer-Then-Gives-Worse-Cancer" Luthor is a damn saint who donates to charities and pursues scientific breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. If Superman decided to give him that good ol Injustice high five, who do you think will look like the bad guy? Not to mention, Clark was raised better than that by Ma and Pa. Could Kal-El have been a conqueror? If given the right circumstances and the wrong parents, sure. But that's not what happened. Clark Kent grew up learning and knowing better so that he can be just like his heroes; the most loving humans on the planet.

And of course, we come to the center of this shrubbery maze that we all have to talk about. "Everything would be so much better if Batman just killed his enemies." Ugh, I am so sick of making the arguement against this because I don't like conflict, and everyone fails to understand the fucking nuance that is Batman's fucking humanity. I am literally AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!.

So, yes, Batman's enemies are most notably the criminally insane, but they are not the only threat to Gotham. You also have the Court of Owls, Gotham's 1% hunting civilians for sport, and city officials who literally want to toss the homeless into Gotham's furnace to keep themselves warm, and then you have the League of Assassins, eco-terrorists who want to blow up Gotham because it's a literal crime cancer on the planet. But do you know what Batman is in all of this? He's humanity. He's hope. He's the one-man-army fighting to protect his city that doesn't deserve to be saved because it's his home. It's his one sign of proof that his parents didn't die in vain trying to save this city. Would things be easier, or better, if Batman decided to kill? Maybe. But would he still be Batman?

Oh, and before anyone say, "Bud dah Jokah!" Joker literally has a failsafe where if he dies, someone else becomes the Joker, so don't even try.

---------------------------------------------------

There. That's all of the examples.

Now, as for your questions at the end about asking teenagers, I'll state the obvious, Teen Titans, Young Justice, Bllah, Blah, Blah...

But those kids were brought on for two reasons. 1, to help them cope with their traumas (Dick Grayson's parent's murder and Connor Kent coping with his cloned identity) and 2, to train them to be the next superhero team. So yes, I think RWBY being brought on for training would be good to help them all cope with their traumas and train them to have a little more humanity.

Think of it like adopting stray, feral cats. They're more destructive than your usual domesticated pets, but after enough time, patience, discipline, and love, they become a faithful companion. (NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADOPT WILD ANIMALS! THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS!)

So, yeah, I think the team up would be great. And as for the question,

"Should heroes be allowed to kill?"

Only as a last, reasonable resort.

[aprillikesthings]

fifteen minutes left to go sob sob

OKAY I have a lot of things to say about this

One, I read somewhere that this line was the voice actor's idea. She knew her character well enough at that point to know this is the kind of thing she'd do: just absolutely twist the knife again before going.

But yeah, she blows herself up, basically; along with the tentacle monster

Adora falls to knees, Catra just stands there, and tears roll down their faces.

But yeah it reminds me of this post:

Also this one, which I linked and screenshot way earlier because the reblogs talk about Catra's redemption as well:

There's a fic I yelled about a few times recently as I was reading it (because the vast majority of the fic was like, 100k of UST that had me pulling out my hair) but one of the things I really liked about it was that when Catra's foster mom dies (it's an AU) Catra is both furious and genuinely grieving--she basically disappears off the earth hiding in bed for two months. When Adora's mom does the same in a short sequel, it's also portrayed accurately--she's just tired and brain-fogged. And jfc I just. I remember that, after my dad died. That I didn't feel consciously sad. I felt exhausted and stupid, and I would've self-isolated REALLY bad if Daci hadn't insisted on video calling me every day of my bereavement leave.

In the long run, though; it was a relief. A relief!! Imagine being so shitty to your kids that when you die, once the worst of the grieving is over, they mostly feel relief that you're gone.

DON'T HIT YOUR KIDS, FOLKS

(I'm being sort of cavalier here but for real: do not hit or spank your children. Unless your actual goal is for them to be relieved when you die.)

But they barely get a chance to acknowledge what just happened.

I just went and flipped the laundry and stopped by where Daci is gaming to tell them "I'm halfway through the episode and Shadow Weaver fucking kicked it" and they responded "Yeah! Kill that bitch." XD

(okay not actually halfway through but near it?)

Speaking of Daci, the only other time I watched this was marathoning s5 with them a couple days after it came out, and they cried through this entire episode. ;_;

ANYWAY okay back to the show

a hug. a real hug. with both of them physically there and not half dead. ;_;

ohhh god

but they show us Shadow Weaver's shattered face mask as that sickly green starts inching towards them

Okay a montage of the people of Etheria fighting the clones and bots any way they know how. Even Double Trouble joins in, shoving clones off a cliff before shape-shifting back to themselves and smiling.

Horde Prime, watching all of this on his fancy throne TV: "Impossible."

yeah!!

IT WAS HORDAK I FUCKING KNEW IT

Catra's just like "I'll deal with that trauma later, for now I gotta make sure we all DON'T DIE"

(oh right that needs to be in my fic, have made a note in the doc. see, this is why I started rewatching this like two months ago lol)

this was only for a split second but I GOT IT

And there it is, ladies and gents and variations thereupon, the Cluster Heart of Etheria! (sorry)

Adora does a little smile at Catra and then turns towards the Heart and looks GRIM.

She tries to transform into She-Ra, and instead cries out in pain.

the poor girl sounds so panicked which is understandable

oh shit

Catra: "What does that mean? Is the Failsafe not going to work without her?"

she sounds so resigned.

yeah it'll just, y'know, kill her in the process

imagine telling Catra what to do at this moment and thinking she'll do it lol

yeah, she's putting things together here and she doesn't like it AT ALL

Adora steps away from Catra and can't face her

"Without She-Ra, the magic will destroy me. I'm sorry, Catra. I'm so sorry." She turns with tears running down her face.

"But there's no more time. It has to end here. I can still save everybody."

wahhhhhhhhh

WELL CATRA ISN'T jfc imagine if Adora had actually fucking died here, like how long would it have been before Catra either had a worse mental breakdown than she did in like s4, or just ended it all. fuck.

The Failsafe starts to glow and Adora yells in pain and collapses

aaaugh (the voice work tho)

;_;

AAAAAAAAAHHHHH I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE MOMENT THIS SCENE HAPPENS OMGHGHHGHGhelpppppp

A ginormous lightning-bolt looking thing hits the Heart of Etheria

"The Heart is mine!"

Entrapta: "You can't do this! The Heart's power is too unstable! It will take you and the whole universe with it!"

"Dispose of her now" eheheh that's not gonna happen buddy

Horde Prime: "My dominion was perfect." (yeah they used "dominion" 100% on purpose here)

Hordak has his laser gun thing aimed at Entrapta. They are making Significant Eye Contact and Hordak is clearly conflicted.

"Everything was as it should be. And so it shall be again. Did you not hear me, little brother? Do it now."

AHAHAH AND HE SHOOTS HORDE PRIME INSTEAD, he goes straight through all that glass

Once again the universe is saved by the Power of Love!!!

"I am not your brother."

I'm not some fucking virgin incel, I have a girlfriend!!!

"I made...a friend." He looks back at Entrapta, who gives him a smile. He smiles back before going stern and turning around again.

yeah!!

hit the image limit again lol brb

LAST EPISODE

s5 ep13 heart pt 2

LET'S GOOOOOOO

it's 1:21pm and I have laundry to do AND Easter Vigil service starts at 8pm, can I get this all watched before 7pm?

Or am I gonna sit there in church vibrating in place for two hours knowing I have three minutes left on the episode or some bullshit lol

(That's longer than usual, yes. Easter Vigil is actually one of my fave services of the year--we start outside lighting candles (the ones inside have been out since Thursday night, even the one we otherwise never put out), then walk into the dark church, then sorta speedrun bits of the old testament (with a hymn after every reading) and then we decide OKAY IT'S EASTER NOW :D and turn on the lights and make a lot of noise and sing a few more hymns--we don't sing or say alleluia during Lent so all the hymns have that in it. There's often MASSIVE amounts of church incense, too. Anyway by the end it's a bit of a party. Apparently some churches have an actual party after the service.)(side note if you're new-ish to these posts that I'm Episcopalian, like, the priests at my church are a gay man and a woman, we're cool people mostly I promise)

See this is why these posts take forever. Why do I keep infodumping shit. This is what it's like to watch things with me in person, though.

If I get through this episode before Easter Vigil my reward is gonna be coming home and taking an edible and rewatching the last two episodes without screenshots so I can just cry over them.

oKAY

eh? that's new. like putting that on screen like that in dead silence. No intro sequence.

oh right Adora is injured. :( And it's some kind of magical monster thing that did it--a security thing put into the Crystal Castle by the First Ones

when she touches her wound the Failsafe glows, and it's making static-y noises and looking glitchy, that can't be good

the nasty tentacle monster thing is still there buT SO IS CATRA YAYYYY she shatters at least one of its eyeballs? I think?

my brain: this is like Caitlyn helping Vi after she got stabbed by Sevika, the wound is even in the same place :D me: wrong person has the red jacket on also Catra isn't going to buy some illegal potion thing to dose Adora with

(you should watch Arcane)

DOES SHE EVER SAY IT LIKE THAT BEFORE THIS?? oh god she sounds so breathless and relieved

Adora: "You can't be here! It's too dangerous"

And she stands up and starts to fall over and fucking Shadow Weaver helps her stand up, uGH

LOOK AT MY BB KICKING ASS

oh god so Shadow Weaver basically drags off Adora, Catra's like "I'll catch up, okay?" and Adora's like "no no Catraaaaa" her voice is cracking and everything, she doesn't want to do this without her and also worries about Catra and that tentacle monster thing

I'm not gonna screenshot it but poor Glimmer is fighting her dad, who is still chipped and Evil.

Bow is fighting Scorpia, also chipped and Evil. Oh hey Melog shows up and makes Bow invisible.

Micah is MEAN when chipped. He calls Glimmer a failure.

Glimmer: "My mother raised me to be brave. My friends taught me to be kind. And I'm stubborn. I get that from you. I will never stop fighting! And I won't lose another parent! I love you, dad."

She blasts him with enough magic that he collapses.

Bow, invisible, types away on Entrapta's computer she set up in the Horde thing, but when he gets it to start to do its thing he gets excited and says "I've got it!!" and Scorpia hears it and blasts him and is standing over him about to get him.

Bow: "Prime may have made you do a lot of things, but he can't turn you into something you're not. So, right now, all I need you to do is trust me."

Her eyes get normal for a second and she yells, and Bow slams a button on Entrapta's computer. There's a bright light.

Where Sea Hawk is holding Mermista, her chip goes dead and falls off. We get a lovely montage of other characters from all over Etheria, like Huntara and the folks at Elberon, who'd been chipped having their eyes go back to normal!

Scorpia: "oh my gosh I am so sorry!!"

yeah she's definitely back to normal lol

up on Horde Prime's ship:

lol

"My device worked! I knew it would!"

Bow: "Hey, everyone. I'm Bow."

(lol there's so much story in just this frame alone)

But yeah they show people from all over Etheria stopping to watch him speak, including his dads.

"Right now, we're the only thing standing in the way of him controlling it forever. You might be feeling hopeless. You might be thinking "We don't stand a chance." And maybe we don't. Prime's too strong. His army is too powerful. But that's not gonna stop us. We need to show Prime we're not afraid of him, because we have each other. And we have love. We can't give up. And if we go down, we go down together. We need you. All of you."

"It's time to fight. For She-Ra, for our homes, for each other!"

Broadcast over, back to Horde Prime. "Put an end to this mockery."

Catra injures the tentacle monster thing, but now that green is spreading into the room, and as Catra runs down the hall towards the Heart, she stops as Horde Prime shows up in hologram form

"I had such high hopes for you." like what, dude. keeping her around and chipped like a fucking puppet as an example? eugh. (something something about how her speeches to Adora while chipped were an obvious reference to people proselytizing high-control faiths)

the moment of distraction is enough for the tentacle monster to grab one of Catra's legs and she screams in pain D:

also there's still a bunch of earthquakes happening as these two limp towards the Heart

Poor Adora is just weakly going "No...no...wait" Shadow Weaver: "Don't lose your focus. We're so close."

What's this WE shit.

But also damn one thing Shadow Weaver and Horde Prime (and Light Hope!) have in common is they both believe love and affection and "attachments" are weaknesses. Shadow Weaver just cannot seem to get it through her head that Adora's love for Catra (and vice versa) is helpful here. Not a detriment. Love isn't a distraction!!! It gives us a stable ground of security and safety from which to do hard things!!

Meanwhile poor Angella told Adora "take care of each other."

This is pulsating, and so is the Failsafe on Adora's chest

OH NO oh god Okay being near that much hardcore magic is making Shadow Weaver powerful--her hair does the floaty thing for the first time since, what, s2? And she starts reaching for it, but THEN--

Adora yells Catra's name and starts walking back towards her, and Shadow Weaver's hair falls down again and she says the most weirdly desperate-sounding "Adora, wait!"

Prime's hologram is still torturing Catra along with the actual tentacle monster

(someone has drawn rule 34 of that thing but I'm not looking for it. I am content to know it exists.)

AND THEN THE MONSTER GETS BLASTED BY SHADOW WEAVER AHAHA NICE

about time she was useful amiright

okay so is this Shadow Weaver actually realizing she's been wrong about The Power of Love, or is this just her begrudgingly accepting that these two are Sold as A Set, Do Not Separate, and unless Catra's there Adora won't be able to use the Failsafe because she'll be looking for Catra the whole time???

Like is this an emotional epiphany or just pragmatism?

oh god so she magically shoves Catra away (towards Adora), but Catra runs back to Shadow Weaver

And y'all I know I talked about this a LOT way back in earlier seasons but I cannot tell you how accurate this keeps being in regards to dealing with an abusive parent. Like if you'd asked me, even after I cut off contact, if I wanted my dad to die, I would've said No! Of course not! At that point I didn't know whether the no-contact thing was temporary or not. I just knew I needed time and space to not be constantly stressed and anxious, for a notification on my phone to not immediately fill me with so much adrenaline my hands shook.

Anyway Shadow Weaver puts up a magical shield to keep Catra back

Shadow Weaver's response is amazingly calm and quiet. "Please, Catra. You need to make sure Adora reaches the Heart. The magic must be set free."

Her fight with Tentacle Monster isn't going well.

Catra's voice is heartbreaking here. "Stop it! It's going to kill you!"

"But you, this is only the beginning for you."

;_;

STICK THAT KNIFE IN AND TWIST IT! YEAH!

Catra's crying "no...no..." and a hand reaches out and grabs hers

LOL FINALLY HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT okay going to reblog

what a moment for it pfft

[spockvarietyhour]

Jack Returning after abandoning his team, time and again.

[ray-jaykub]

Headcanons on what the turtles would do with their pregnant s/o ? And how would they react when they are in labor?

I know nothing about pregnancy 😕 but i will try... also i rewatched the 2016 movie and like... leonardo and his hot ass voice gotdamn

Leonardo:

•He has always fawned over the idea of children, always wanting a few ninjas of his own to train like his dear old dad. Never thought he would live to see the day of being a father but here he was!

•Y'know the dorky thing dads do where they put their heads to the s/o's tummy and just... talk to the baby, like it understands? Leo does that before bed EVERY night and before patrol Every night.

•Leonardo is pretty basic with name calling, pretty sure he got it out of a baby book. If it's a boy=Caleb if it's a girl=Renae. He was lucky to get the name leonardo instead of something weird like gilbert or something so he wants to make it easy for his kids

•He's like that really calm, stoic oersin when you're in labour but as soon as Donatello asks if he wants to see the baby crowning he fucking faints. Like dead, raphael had to catch him before he broke something. When he sees that baby though... oh he'll sob. Yeah he's crying real heavy, he just really loves you and the baby.

Raphael:

•This shit was not planned. Technically he knocked you up after a real bed breaking night and turns out it was just one of those days your genes become compatible. He's both scared out of his wits and more in love with you all at the same time and it's hard for him to get his duckies in order.

•Speaking of duckies, he totally decorates the baby room. Got pale green walls up and helped donatello make the furniture (although he broke many pieces in the process of making a crib) Raph will scavenge for toys and clean them up for the little tyke too

•His naming skills are a little better then leo's, nothing unique persay but just things that sounded like strong names. If it's a boy= Malikai and if it's a girl= Anastasia (yes because of the movie)

•When you go into labour he's really gentle and patient because he doesn't want you yelling at him. Raphael cannot handle mommy anger like any other parent in the room. It is scary, you are scary, but he loves you so he'll wait by your side. And when it's his turn to hold the baby it's like the first time in his entire life... Raphael is finally at peace

Donatello:

•Hell this motherfucker probably tested you himself. So 9 times outta 10 you both figur out at the same time. Doesn't mean he isn't jumping and hollering with joy though. Literally sprints to Master Splinter first thing to tell him the wonderful news. You will walk in on two wonderful men hugging and crying with eachother and then you'll start crying and it is such a mess

•Brags about the baby. Every chance he gets he will make dad jokes and show the little black and white pictures to everyone that'll let him talk about it. Always talking about how big the babies getting and what y'all are gonna name it. If it's a boy= nethaniel and if it's a girl= Melanie

•He makes toys and furniture for the baby and it's all decked out. Galaxy mobile? Check! Toys that stimulate the babies beautiful mind? Absolutely! Donnie won't expect his child to be a genius like him but he does pray for that chance

•Donatello has been with you through the entire process. From check-uos to throw-ups, he was there. So it would be the greatest honour to deliver your baby. He isn't grossed out by this stuff, he's done his homework and now he's ready. *Cue the panicked screaming as he tries to get ahold of your baby* Donnie will be the first to hold the baby and you'll have to snap him out of it if you want them. He's just so fascinated...

Michelangelo:

•Panic. He's panicking. Mikey is pretty sure he'd be the last person on earth for someone to want a baby with. Hell, he doesn't want a baby with himself! Literally has an anxiety attack, you gotta comfort and soothe this sweet turt because he will need you every step of the way.

•After everything has cooled down, and mikey has gained some of his confidence back, he is instantly on board. What was he thinking? He's amazing with kids... he thinks? Either way please please please let him name your children, you won't regret it. If it's a boy= Jax or calum if it's a girl= Blair or Anaith    (forgive him he can't pick just one)

•Looks through all his really old shit to pick out some books and a blanket for the baby. Mikey has to admit that he kept this stuff with him in the hopes of being a daddy so you can imagine the smile that nearly splits his face in half. He is constantly complimenting you throughout the pregnancy, making sure you don't feel down for a second and that what you're going through is natural... even if your farts crack glass 

•The only brother whose really chill and cool during the labour and birthing process. Like he's hyped himself up for this sinse the beginning and he ain't backing down now. He'll obviously let you hold the baby first but when he gets them and they open there eye to show bright sapphires he just never wants to let go, he recalls it being almost euphoric

[cryptidbutchh]

WELCOME TO MY THOUGHTS WHILE REWATCHING THE MCU IN TIMELINE ORDER: THOR

it was a dark and stormy night when padme, an old man, and a beautiful nerd named darcy a find bright light in the sky with thunder and s giant tornado in it. AND CHRIS HEMSWORTH HOLY SHIT

STORYTELLING WITH ODIN ABOUT A FIGHT WITH ICE CREAM TROLLS. frosty the snow man is angry about it

GLOWY CUBE

agard. sounds like ass guard. baby thor and loki are adorable. story telling ended up being fairytail for children. WINGED HELMET

LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI

ah yes. the hammer named MILJinoNOR made in the heart of a star. ohshit walls got frosty. AMBUSH

“i swear, i swear, i sWEAR!” SHUSH IT AND GET TO FIGHTING. YALL GOT FROSTY BOYS INVADING ASS GUARD- oh fuck eye beam giant is OP.

thor is bloodthirsty, thats how you get the plot of the movie when you get turned mortal :/

loki is lovely i love him. he will never ever ever do anything wrong- oh hes starting drama between thor and frosty boys

WHOMST THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE??

“and who proved wrong that a young maiden could be one of the fiercesr warriors.” “i did” “true, but i supported you, sif.” JSHSKHSKSJSKSJSJ

HORSES ON THE GLITTER GLASS BRIDGE. this is all beautiful wtf i love asgard. HEIMDALL- thor stfu dont shut loki down ya fucker. yall are bullying loki and then get shocked he turns evil?

MAGIC SWORD IS THE KEY TO ALL THE REALMS. HAHA ROUND THINGY GO SPINNY SPINNY. heimdall tells em the bridge to frosty realm might fuck em over and leave em to die.

“we shouldnt be here.” MAYBE BRING THAT UP AT THE PLANNING BIT, NOT THE ‘WE’RE HERE LETS GO EXPLORE’ BIT. DEEP VOICE IS SMEXY AS FUCK

“You’re nothing but a boy. who came to prove hinself a man.”

“know your place. brother.” STOP BEING MEAN TO LOKI, THOR :(

HAMMER GO B O N K ON FROSTY BOYS SKSNSKSKSK

LOKIS MAGIC IS AMAZING YOU’RE DOING GREAT BBY- laughing during a sword fight because fuck every other emotion righ- OHSHIT NVM HE GOT IMPALED ON A SPIKE OF ICE

GIANT SNOW BEAST GO BRRRR. THUNDER ON THESE FROST COVERED ASSES- whY is he still laughing he got a spike through his chest what the hell dude you good?

HOLYSHIT THOR JUST CHUCKED MILNNOR THROUGH THE BEASTS FUCKING HEAD LIKE A KNIFE THROUGH BUTTER

ODIN TO SAVE THE DAY AND GET HIS CHILDS ASS OUT OF TROUBLE. thor started a fucking war because of this fightboner jesus christ this child. SHOUTING MATCHES

daddys angry with his child- thor is unworthy this, unworthy that. AND BANISHED TO EARTH LIKE A FUCKING LOSER SKSHSKSJSJ

and back to padme’s modern time wE GO

HA HE GOT MERKED BY A TAZER

DARCY YOU ADORABLE CHILD

“How dArE YOu aTtAcK tHE SoN oF oDIN😡😡😡” hes like an angry puppy

body in a photo?? pog info??? WHY HAS HE BEEN HIT BY A CAR TWICE ALREADY

STAN LEE

COULSON

THOR IS FUCKING RIPPED. meanwhile is ass guard. loki snitched for a good reason. but nOoOoO thors, friends, blame loki.WHY ARE THEY BLAMING LOKI FOR BRING IN THE FROSTY BOYS- oh shit he can controll the snow cube. backstory for loki? mayhaps?- HOLYSHIT HES A SMURF

“the casket wasnt the only thing you took from jotunheim that day, was it?” HES ONTO YOU ODIN. odin literally kidnapped- oh no nvm loki as a baby was left for dead. I WANNA HUG LOKI SO BAD HES IN EMOTINAL DISSTRESS :(

“because i-i-i’m the monster, parents tell their children about at night?” LOKI BABY EVERYTHINGS GONNA BE OKAY

holyshit loki’s breakdown killed odin wtf. my man collasped onto the staircase

“this drink. i like it.” “i know its gre-“ “ANOTHER! *SHATTERING GLASS*”

“myeu muh? whats a myeu muh?” DARCY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SKSHSKHSKS

man coulson thats a dick move to snatch up all of padmes shit- AND DARCYS IPOD???

loki do be looking snazzy on the throne👀 good for him. look at these fucker friends of thor tryna make him inbanish thor :/

BOOKS- on norse myth.? yeah norse myth

padme is sus of thor, and almost got em into a car crash. “god i hope you’re not crazy.” oh wait till you aee what happens

ODINS TAKING A NAP FOR THOUSNDS OF YEARS OR SUMSHIT

frigga is tryna convice loki they meant well. kinda hard too ngl. damn shield has beefed up security around this fucking hammer

oh shit electrical thunder is fucking with the shield tech once thor showed up. RAIN AND MAGIC HUMMING- thor is kicking shield’s ass- COULSON- who the fuck chooses a bow and arrow to shoot a target when they had sniper rifle- barton- HAWKEYE NVM BADASS ARROW GUY IS AMAZING

oh shit thor found miljjnor. mudfight but make it less smexy. epic momentt pogg.. its totally gonna fail him so fucking bad its gonna be funny

told you so.

now hes yelling at the sky like an insane person

AND got arrested :I

poor heimdall having to watch this all like a sad sitcom. OLDMAN STFU

“look its myeu-muh!” darcy needs to be protected at ALL COST. ohmygod they think thor is a solider from enemy lines aIshsksjskks

LOKIII- oh shit hes telling thor everything went wrong bc him and that a truce was- NVM LOKI IS TRYING THE HAMMER. YOU GOT IT LOKI

old man go save thors stupid ass. redeem yourself. bar talk is somehow wholesome. oh shit thors gotta dip outta town bc oldman said so. he didint listen to odin and ended up starting a war- OH CRAP LOKI DID LET THE FROSTY BOYS INTO ASGARD.

heimdall knows loki is causing trouble. good for loki. HA RHE OLDMAN GOT FUCKING WASTED BY THE BOOZE LIKE A COWARD.

padme is so awkward around thor. shes in looovvveee. awh thor snatched up her genius book from shield. YIGHDRISLE is such an amazing name for a tree filled with planets and worlds

DUDE DONT SHAME THE MAN FOR STRESS EATING

LOKI KNOWS HEIMDALL SNITCHED AND LET FUCKER FRIENDS THROUGH. HOLYSHIT THEY FOUND THOR SLJSOSJSKSKS

thor knows loki lied- heimdall knows loki let in the frosty boys, and is currently frozen soild by that blue cube thingy. AND NOW THE OP METAL LAZERBEAM BASTARD IS ON EARTH

OH GOD A SPEAR THROUGH THE THROAT MUST HURT LIKE A MF- SIF DONT DIE

LAZERBEAM STOP BLOWING UP BUILDINGS

dude things were getting blown up left and right but suddenly thor’s plot armor engaged and a car just flips over him and instead of going boom. standoff between lazerface and thor- whomst shall win? find out next week on: HOLYSHIT THE NORSE GODS EXIST

loki just watched thor try to give up his life and now lazerface is leav- FUCK NVM IT BITCH SLAPPED THOR SKSHSJSJSJSKKSKSJ. oH now it leaves

hammer go brrr soon? HAMMER GO BRRRRRR

PADME SAVE YOURSELF THOR JUST GOT POWERED THE FUCK UP

“oh my god” YOU JUST SAW A METAL MECH SHOOT A LAZER OUT ITS FACE AND FOUR PEOPLE IN VIKING ARMOR FIGHT. ARE YOU STILL SHOCKED???

LAZERFACE GO BOOM. THORS BACK BABYY

oh shit the frosty boys are on asgard- HEIMDALL NEEDS TO UNFREEZE AND WORK ITS MAGIC LIKE NOW

oh god the animation for some dead frosty boys got so noticable that was horrible.

TIME TO GO KICK LOKI’S ASS SKSKSJS- OHFUCK FRIGGA NOO. OHSHIT LOKI JUST MURDERED LAUGHY THE FROST KING.

lokis “ohshit thors back” face is amazing

loki hun what the fuck are you doing- stop tryna destory shit like a hero.

“I NEVER WANTED THE THRONE. I WANTED TO BE YOUR EQUAL!” my heart is torn :((

brothers fighting while a energy tree builds around him? sure why not. ohfuck loki got his ass handed to him- THOR WHY DID YOU LEAVE THE HAMMER ON HIM LIKE THAT SKSHSKSJSJSK

THOR WOKE ODIN UP BY VREAKING THE FUCKING RAINBOW BRIDGE

ODINS AWAKE AND SAVE EM AGAIN

IM CRYING LOKI JUST WANTED TO MAKE ODIN PROUD AND HE SHUT EM DOWN LIKE THAT. ODIN YOU FUCKING SUCK

awh this is making me sad i dont like this sad ending this sucks so much. loki deserved better then to die knowing odin hated him :(

heimdall is out of a job now that the bifrost is broken haha loser.

NEXT MOVIE: THE AVENGERS

ignore the misspells and the bad grammar its almost two AM by the time i finished watching and writing this up

[laissezferre]

got tagged by @watertightvines, thank you!

tag 9 people you want to know better/catch up with.

last song:  ends of the earth (lord huron), i listen to too many playlists

last film: a movie called “seven sundays”, where a father tells his grown children to spend the next 7 weekends with him bc he has late stage cancer, turns out it was a misdiagnosis but he decides to put on an act to keep his children close

currently watching: i’ve been rewatching bbc ghosts s1 in the groupwatch but boy i gotta get on hdm s2

currently reading: do plays count? currently in a1s3 of julius caesar.

currently craving: going to the theater :-( arriving just in the nick of time, the bells ringing to announce that the house is open, spending the interval going over act one in my head and deciding if the production was worth buying a playbill for, the heartstopping moment when a cast member makes eye contact with me, walking out with the throng of people with the feeling that my life has been altered just a bit, photos with the cast if lucky, oh god i miss it 

tagging @veganthranduil @darcyfirth @handfuloftime @vermontparnasse @paramaline @krissielee @kahootqueen69 @amatlapal @cinemaocd

[overdramaticly-dying]

Repo Mantis

A really cute episode with Donnie and Mikey!! Seriously they’re my favourite pairing in tmnt, and it’s really fun to see rise’s take on them!!

-It’s really cute that Donnie brings Mikey along with him in the first place, seeing as Mikey probably isn’t really allowed out on his own all that often, even if it isn’t a ‘mission’

-”Donnie... donnie doNNIE- I REALLY THINK WE SHOULD- DONNIE” 

-”Mikey, next time I would appreciate a heads-up” “ok... HEADS-UP”

-Gotta love how Repo’s cat is in the background (or foreground??? I guess???)

-”OH NO A MUTANT... wait, we’re mutants too, it’s ok”

-Repo just became a mutant... and was like “guess I don’t need pants anymore”

-I will never tire of Mikey and Donnie trying to be ‘smooth’ 

-seriously though- what’s with this family and their ability to pull sunglasses out of nowhere??? I know it’s a cartoon and all, but I’d like to think this is a skill that Splinter ensured his children possessed

-”I’ve got big silver, small silver, and I can make it rain copper, daddy” SERIOUSLY THAT’S SUCH AN ICONIC LINE, BUT I’LL NEVER GET OVER THE FACT THAT IT’S AN ACTUAL CANNON THING THAT DONNIE SAID

-”aaaaaaand sidebar-”

-Donnie and Mikey catch a ride in the back of a random guy’s truck, but judging from the map, it actually took quite a few tries, so that means they were probably jumping around from car to car???

-it’s been pointed out before, but Donnie lets Mikey hold onto him while they’re walking, and it’s honestly not noticeable by how natural he treats it?? They don’t make fun of him for being scared in rise, instead they just support him

-It’s also Donnie’s first instinct to push Mikey down to hide when he hears a noise

-I’m sorry, I love Todd, but his introduction still makes me super skeptical... with Donnie calling him ‘the spine-breaking bandit’, and several other lines from other episodes ( Origami Tsunami, the Evil Leauge of Mutants, Todd Scouts) he’s questionable at best...

-”I’m not scared of some no-good forest dweller!”

-”Maybe we should call Raph and Leo-” “no, nO NO NO NO NO- we got this! think of all the boss adventures we could have in the moon buggy!” Mikey were you planning on not telling Raph and Leo abt the buggy????

-”aaaaand sidebar-” *yeets himself at Mikey to pull him away*

-these good boi’s with straws

-”why did we just do that?” “I don’t know Michele, I don’t. know.”

-Mmmmm idk it feels like we gloss over the line “his superpower is niceness,” a little bit- his niceness convinced Donnie and Mikey to build an entire freakin theme park??? I dunno, I dunno

-then again, how on earth do you argue when Mikey’s sitting there like:

-You’d have to be heartless

-Donnie trust’s Mikey to help him work on stuff, which is really nice to see!! Not only that, but they both look like they’re really enjoying themselves!!

-”NO, STOP, NO”

-Both Donnie and Mikey exit the Rv through the windows...

-”Hey, the purple one’s funny” “I keep telling you guys I’m funny”

-”I think we got a bunch of people pretty oily” he said, after dumping a bunch of oil on people. sidenote: those people were probably pretty confused, huh?

-”Really? there is a bug-zapper? But why didn’t you try that first?” “it didn’t have a ‘3000′ after it!” 

-and instead of further getting frustrated with Mikey, Donnie instead actually writes ‘3000′ just so he’d be happy- even though Mikey was already gonna push it next????? It’s so nice...

-There’s so much I love about that quick interaction, but I especially love Mikey’s face during the conversation- like I can’t describe it, but it’s just really perfect how it changes? Just do yourself a favour and go rewatch this episode, if purely for that scene

-”Hard as nails!”

tl;dr it’s a really sweet episode, and I love the interactions between Donnie and Mikey! Also Repo is a great character, and I hope we see more of him in the future!

Alright, I’m really sorry, but I cannot for the life of me find out who asked me to do this episode- like they asked me to do this one and Newsworthy (which is coming next), and I’m like 80% sure I know who they are, but there’s another person with the same profile pic as them, and I can’t figure out which one asked for it- so I’m really really sorry, but this is for you my friend!!! (I would just feel so awkward tagging u, and then getting it wrong)

[duhragonball]

I'd like to suggest Majin Buu for the character asks. He's a strange dude who stuck around longer then expected, so I'd imagine you have some mixed feelings on the character. I'd say any version of Buu applies, but thats up to you.

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: Those who know me, know that I am all about that post-Frieza era of DBZ.  That’s why I want Hit to kill him again, because it did wonders for Z, and maybe it could improve Super II or whatever they end up calling it.   I’ve already discussed why I love Cell, but for me, the Buu Saga was not much of a step down.   I came out of the Cell Games wanting more, really craving an epilogue to show how everyone was getting along after Cell’s defeat.   And the Buu Saga gave me exactly that.   

The common criticism leveled against Buu is that he isn’t much on personality.  He doesn’t have the charisma of a Frieza or Buu, but I think that works in his favor, since it gives the good guys more time to work out all their issues.   A big part of the arc was about Goku and Vegeta getting on the same page, and it’s tough to make that happen when the bad guy has his own monologue.   I think that’s why you don’t see much of them together on Namek, or during the Androids crisis.   

I’ve seen Team Four Star compare Super Buu’s absorption forms to sort of a carbon copy of Perfect Cell.    I’m not sure I agree, but 1) I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, even if it’s true, and 2) If you don’t like Buuhan, don’t worry, because he doesn’t stay that way for very long.    Majin Buu has lots of variety, is my point.    No one’s going to love all of his different forms and appearances, but you’re probably going to find a few that appeal to you.    I had trouble picking a header image for this, because it feels like it does a disservice to the character.    He’s so many different things.   He can be cute and cuddly, or vicious and terrifying, or sassy and rude.  

I also like what he represents to the series as a whole.   When he was first introduced, Buu was presented as this instant “game over” for the universe.   If Babidi reawakens him, that’s it, we all lose.   No one can stop him.    But then he breaks out anyway, and the good guys still manage to rally.    He proves too powerful to defeat, but Goku comes up with a plan, and the Supreme Kai comes up with a plan, and the Old Kai comes up with a plan, and finally Vegeta comes up with a plan, and all of them are premised on the idea that maybe we’re not so doomed after all.    Maybe the Z-Fighters are strong enough to pull this off.   And they do pull it off, and somehow turn Buu good in the process.   There’s a very hopeful message in that.   

Why I don’t: Not gonna lie, I find it somewhat uncomfy that Fat Buu survives the conflict and just... stays that way.    I’m not talking about his appearance, mind you, I mean he still seems like the same guy who gouged out Dabura’s eyes, who creeped on that one lady, and seemed unable to stop eating.   

Let me put it like this: When I first watched the episodes where Mr. Satan befriends Buu, I wasn’t entirely surprised, but what worried me was that he cooked food for Buu, and then he’d immediately demand another meal.  The implication, for me anyway, was that maybe Buu couldn’t be reformed, and he would be compelled by an endless hunger to destroy everything in his sight, regardless of how he might have felt about it.  

In hindsight, I think the “can’t-stop-eating” bit was just intended to set up the emergence of Evil Buu.   Once he got that out of his system, he was fine, but it still bugged me, and even Vegeta was concerned about Buu making another Kid Buu someday.   Because no one really understood what Buu was or how he worked, so who’s to say that he could truly shake off the ways of evil?    Also, Fat Buu owes his existence to absorbing two of the ancient Supreme Kais, so it bothered me that they got everyone else de-absorbed but not them.  

But, I can’t say that bothers me too much, since the final episodes of DBZ show that he lived peacefully with Mr. Satan for at least a decade.  Even so, I wasn’t surprised to see Dragon Ball GT merge him with Uub.   I think the urge to write him out of the story was pretty strong.    Notice how Dragon Ball Super has Majin Buu, but they hardly ever use him.   It makes you wonder.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): You know, I think I might go with the one where the Supreme Kai explains Buu’s backstory to the Old Kai.   Pretty sure that one ends with Kid Buu blowing up the world, so it’s got a lot going for it. 

Favorite season/movie: The Fusion Saga is kind of my go-to answer for the best of Buu, but after I rewatched everything last year, I think the Kid Buu Saga make be the better arc.   It’s tough to decide.

Favorite line: When Goku and Vegeta power up on the Supreme Kai Planet to draw Buu’s attention, he senses their ki and grins, saying “Dum-dums!” like he’s so excited that they’re gonna try and fight him again.   That’s in the dub, anyway, but I always liked that this was Kid Buu’s pet name for those two idiots.

Favorite outfit: I don’t think I have a preference, but it might have been nice to see more of this version:

OTP: I guess that female Buu he made so he could have children?   Honestly, the less I have to think about Buu being romantic the better I like it.  

Brotp: Gotta be Mr. Satan.

Head Canon: The Xenoverse games and Dragon Ball Online introduced this whole notion of Buu starting his own race of Majins on Earth.    I’ve been trying to figure out how to work with that in my fanfic, and the main thing that sticks out in my mind is that Buu is the progenitor of that entire population, and I’m pretty sure he’d still be alive at any given time, so it intrigues me that a Majin OC I might come up with could just stroll on over to Buu’s house and say hello.  But I’m not really sure what they’d talk about.  

Unpopular opinion: Killing him off was one of the few smart moves GT made, and providing a means for the absorbed Supreme Kai’s to escape was one of the few smart moves Toyotaro made.  

A wish: If they do another Tournament of Power, Buu should actually be in it.   He can absorb Frieza and that way they can get around the cap on team members. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: If they do another big fight, for the love of crap, don’t just have him nap through it.   I just realized he probably slept through the Broly movie too.   Lazy bastard.

5 words to best describe them: That’s the tubby custard machine.

My nickname for them: “You r--” whoa ho-hoooo.   Just kidding.  

[an-american-whovian]

- An American Whovian Reviews: 'Revolution of the Daleks' by Chris Shitnall.

• The Story Thus Far.

When we last left the Doctor she was partaking in one of the WORST Doctor Who episodes of all time. Turns out she's had, like, a billion regenerations -- and started off as a cute lil' black girl who got experimented on by some crazy TimeLord lady. Makes about as much sense as an asshole on my elbow.

I digress, after that whole REVEAL -- the Doctor is arrested by everyone's favorite space rhinos and sent to space jail much like Rick Sanchez at the end of 'Rick & Morty' season 2.

(Just not as good.)

• Recap.

The story starts off with a reminder of an even shittier story 'Resolution' in which the Doctor and "Fam'" defeat a Dalek with spare parts from a microwave. (Fuck you, Chibnall.)

Anyways, back to now: some people have the leftovers of that one Dalek in some facility. This one dude is tasked with transporting it and stops fer a hot cup of coffee -- which he chugs. (That's a thing.) Shortly thereafter, turns out he got drugged by the barista and she's, like, "Bitch, this is my truck now."

• I Loved that Show.

Curtis from 'Misfits' and Mr. Big from 'Sex & the City' meet up with some lady in which he hired some folks to "roleplay" as rioters. (I can't make this up.) He's, like, "Check this out -- I made these robots that can subdue rioters." (Where was he during the attack on the Capitol!?) Actually, Curtis from 'Misfits' supposedly made them from scratch.

Somewhere Davros is rolling in his chair.

• Political Disintrigue.

Mr. Big and the lady are in cahoots. I don't care.

• Elsewhere.

The Doctor is in jail serving her sentence and eating space brownies. She's got a Weeping Angel, Sycorax, Ood l and the Pting as neighbors. (Everyone loves call backs.) Laying on her cot she does her best quirky Matt Smith impersonation when she here's a-knocking.

WHO COULD IT BE!?

• Elsewhere, again.

We cut to the Fam' back on Earth. Yaz is living in a house that's a TARDIS in disguise; whilst Graham and Ryan could care less about what happened to the Doctor. They're, like, "Yaz, you gotta move on. However, someone leaked that footage of the roleplaying rioters versus a Dalek on DailyMotion -- so we should do something about that."

The lady and Mr. Big meet up, again, this time in some forest -- fer more expository conversation. I still can't be bothered.

Later, the Fam' just tracks down Mr. Big, like, it's nothing. Fortunately fer him, he has has guards -- and they shoo off the Fam'.

Ugh.

• Slammer Buddies.

The Doctor sees a Silence and then, say wha'!? Captain Jack is there to break he Doctor out with some doohickey he snuck up his ass. Turns out it's a giant hamster bubble that let's them break out of a MAXIMUM SECURITY SPACE JAIL! I hate this shit . . .

It's great to see Captain Jack, again, but this isn't worth it.

Only 18 minutes has passed. Fuck me.

• Exposition Earl.

Curtis from 'Misfits' is talking to Mr. Big and he's, like, "Dude, did you know there's, like, DNA samples inside that old casing you gave me!? Well, I took the time to clone it! I call it Squiggly."

Curtis from 'Misfits' cloned a Dalek. Fuuuuuuck.

Mr. Big is, like, "Yo, get that abomination out of my face and burn it!" -- which Curtis from 'Misfits' hesitantly obliges. Psyche! Squiggly takes mind control over Curtis from 'Misfits'. Who didn't see that coming!?

• Elsewhere: Part 3.

The Doctor and Captain Jack SOMEHOW just get back to the TARDIS like it's nothing. Fer some reason the Doctor is a bit of a jerk to Jack eventhough he just got her ungrateful ass out of Space Prison.

She's, like, "I gotta find my REAL friends." and meets back up with the Fam'. Yaz gets wet and Jack flirts with Graham. Turns out the Doctor has been gone fer a little less than a year. Cool. They get straight to the point and are, like, "Daleks are back. You know, the same aliens that tried to conquer Earth in series 2 and 4. Oh, no one remembers that?"

Fuck you, Chibnall.

• Hilarity ensues.

Squiggly somehow has a giant facility with other Dalek clones in Japan. Where the fuck did they come from!? Who knows -- and who cares.

The Doctor confronts Mr. Big and he's, like, "I'm 3D printing Dalek casings. It's cool, tho'. There's nothing inside of them. It's not, like, there's a facility in Osaka, Japan with a bunch of Dalek clones waiting to fill these up.

Speaking of which, Yaz and Jack are in Japan and they have a cringey convo about life with the Doctor. Rose and Sarah Jane's talk in 'School Reunion' this is not.

There's still 40 minutes to go.

After their heart to heart -- Yaz still has the audacity to insult Jack. She's fierce!

Anyways, guess what they find!? GUESS WHAT THEY FUCKING FIND!? The Dalek clone farm. Like, we weren't already shown this before. They even do a "Dun-Dun-Dun!" reveal fer this shit.

FUCK YOU, CHIBNALL.

• Facepalm.

Fer reasons unbeknownst to me the Doctor takes Mr. Big along to Japan -- you know, fer reasons. All the while, we cut to scenes of that one lady introducing Daleks to the public. No one still remembers series 2 and 4 -- or any other time Daleks have been on Earth.

At the same time, Jack and Yaz get attacked by a bunch of other Squigglies and I'm getting mad hentai vibes.

The Doctor, still back on the TARDIS, has a half hearted conversation with Ryan and tells hims it's, "Four minutes to Osaka" -- eventhough there's 50+ years of the TARDIS landing places INSTANTENOUSLY!

FUCK.

YOU.

CHIBNALL.

Ryan is, like, "Yea, I kinda prefer being back home than traveling in the TARDIS and seeing all of time and space. By the way, how'd 'The Timeless Children' go fer you?"

The Doctor is basically, like, "The less said about that -- the better." I tend to fucking agree.

Four minutes are up and Jack has and orgasm when he sees the TARDIS materialize eventhough he was just on it not too long ago.

• Git 'er Done.

Everyone's reunited along with Mr. Big as they confront mind controlled Curtis from 'Misfits'. We get more exposition as to how these Squigglies were cloned and what they eat. The big revelation is that they eat humans -- and I still can't be bothered to care.

Somehow the cloned Squigglies can teleport to those empty Dalek casings and proceed to wreck havoc to the masses. I will NEVER grow tired of Daleks massacaring people. "EXTERMINATE!"

(I finally have a non ironic smile on my face.)

Squiggly kills Curtis from 'Misfits' and the only one to give a shit is Mr. Big. The Doctor tries her best at a, "I am the Doctor and I save people!" speech which falls flat. She's got a plan, tho'!

She beeps up real Daleks -- and she's, like, "These REAL Daleks are gonna kill those fake Daleks! It's okay if they come -- fer REASONS they wont kill any humans. Just these fake Daleks. The story demands it."

• Invasion of the Dalek Snatchers.

We finally get the revolution in "Revolution of the Daleks". The real Daleks are, like, "Y'all, mother fuckers, are impure!" All the while, Mr. Big is, like, "I like these real Daleks. I wanna be friends with them -- you know, 'cause I'm a bad guy. Take me to yer leader." (That last bit was a direct quote.)

The boys leave the girls behind to go destroy the Dalek ship. We get some more poorly written dialogue.

Mr. Big tells the real Daleks about the Doctor -- which they should've been already privy to. Luckily, Jack informs the Doctor about Mr. big's treacherous ways and she's got another trick up her sleeve! All the while, Jack and the boys blow up the Dalek ship and the Doctor reveals her ruse. She sucked the Daleks into the spare TARDIS that Yaz was living in and has it collapse on itself.

Aren't TARDIS kind of, like, living creatures? They've been known to have a consciousness. Whatever.

• The Home Stretch.

Fer REASONS Mr. Big is considered a hero. Captain Jack is, like, "I'm out and I'm gonna go find my Torchwood friends. Fuck you guys."

Ryan is, like, "Yea, no more trips fer me either. I wanna stay home and play football with me mates and eat fish and chips." Graham agrees, too. So it's just Yaz and the Doctor now. I'm excited fer that potential porn parody.

Then we get a call back to 'The Girl Who Fell to Earth' and Ryan trying to ride a bike. I forgot that was a thing. They babble about facing off alien threats on Earth and fer other REASONS Grace shows up a, like, a fucking Jedi Force Ghost. 😂😭🤤

• The Good, the Bad and the Fugly.

The best I can say about this story is that Doctor Who, aesthetically, has never looked better. The Daleks inside and out were REALLY well done; and I fucking love the look of the TARDIS traveling through the time vortex. Unfortunately, that's it about it.

This was god awful. Maybe in time I can rewatch this in a it's so bad it's good capacity; but I won't be doing that any time soon. Chibnall has lost his goddamn mind.

Why is everyone so mean to Captain Jack!? I don't fucking get it. Graham and Ryan wanting to leave the TARDIS just 'cause they're, like, "Meh. It's been done.? Why is Mr. Big in this, at all!? Also, somebody fire that composer! I'm tired of his ambient noises.

Seriously, this was bad.

Zero stars.

[jlf23tumble]

diggin’ deeper

I was tagged by @promisethatillnevertell, and it’s day three of a metric shit-tonne of work, I need a break, so I’m gonna bore everyone accordingly!  I’ll tag @alienfuckeronmain, @newleafover, @got2ghost, @vibey-lesbian, @kerasines, @statementsue, @pattern-pals, @setsailtomorrow, @dulcimerharry, @calmrry and anyone else who wants to! And yeah, LONG, oops!

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? Blue

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? City (I grew up in country)

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? Too many, but probably fluency in at least three languages and/or the ability to draw

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? NO

5. What was your favourite book as a child? The creepy Time-Life series of books on unusual phenomena that my aunt had

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? Showers, the water roar is incredibly soothing

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would it be? Loch Ness monster (I really enjoy Scotland, okay?)

8. Paper or electronic books? Paper

9. What is your favourite item of clothing? Anything with roomy pockets

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? It’s incredibly generic, but nah, wouldn’t change it! You gotta live with and own it!

11. Who is a mentor to you? The whole mentor/mentee dynamic is inherently flawed because it puts the mentor on some kind of god-like pedestal, while the mentee just laps it up, but there are plenty of people (real and fake-real) who give off that inspiration sensation

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? NO

13. Are you a restless sleeper? Very much so

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? Absolutely!

15. Which element best represents you? Water

16. Who do you want to be closer to? Dunno, I’m not one to pine silently, I tend to throw myself in and get chatty if I’m interested in being closer

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? In this quarantined economy? Very much so, yes, and very many!

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. One of my aunts lives in Alaska, and I remember we flew up there when I was really young one summer--I could not wrap myself around it being so light all night! Who can sleep like that??

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? My grandma was big on making really fucked-up, very white lady, 1950s-style jello salads, like, literally lettuce and carrots and tomatoes encased in jello (topped with mayo “dressing”)

20. What are you most thankful for? Friends and family!

21. Do you like spicy food? YES, and with it being so hot lately, I’m craving the spicy cold noodles I tend to get this time of year with a friend up in Koreatown

22. Have you ever met someone famous? I’ve met tons of famous people, but I’ve only hugged Jeff Goldblum and Orville Peck (separate occasions, of course)

23. Do you do you keep a diary or journal? No, not since middle school (and that was a disaster, so never again)

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil? Pen

25. What is your star sign? Pisces

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? Crunchy

27. What would you want your legacy to be? That I made someone someone laugh when they needed it most

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? I LOVE READING, I love it so much I get paid to do it, lmao, but the last book I read for fun is something I’m still midway through, Mindy Kaling’s “Why Not Me”

29. How do you show someone you love them? I gift them with weird things I think they’ll like (either IRL or virtually)

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? Yep!

31. What are you afraid of? Flying

32. What is your favourite scent? The ocean

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? Uh, what? Their name!! What, I’m just gonna be some kind of jock who says, “Hey, Jones!”

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? I’d have homes dotted around the world, preferably near friends and family, and I’d visit a lot; when I wasn’t traveling, I’d probably volunteer and/or work on my fluency and drawing skills

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? Pools (I’ve been pulled under too many times in the ocean)

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? If someone’s frantically scanning for it, fork it over, if not, keep half/donate half

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did you make a wish? I always feel like shooting stars are errant meteors, and I’ve seen too many Russian dashcams to think that what’s hurling toward earth is a good thing

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? To be aware of their privilege and to use it to help people instead of being an asshole 

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? “Had to,” please, I have some! And I want more, same place (upper arms)

40. What can you hear now? Various nocturnal trash animals getting up for the night shift, low hum of the ceiling fan, one or two cars 

41. Where do you feel the safest? My mom’s house

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? Giving in to self-indulgence, especially if it’s based on something petty or useless

43. Of you could travel back to any era, what would it be? Too many to choose! Most of them equally good/bad!

44. What is your most used emoji? I’m on desktop, bb, can’t help ya!

45. Describe yourself using one word. What?

46. What do you regret the most? Things I either said or didn’t say

47. Last movie you saw? New movie? Probably Star Wars whatever. Old movie? Mildred Pierce (because i rewatched a parody of it called Mildred Fierce and wanted to rewatch the source material)

48. Last tv show you watched? Does the Untamed count as a tv show? It feels like a mini series, but I’m watching that (just finished the 2019 Great British Bakeoff and have a lot of Feelings about it, if you mean something more TV tv)

49. Invent a word and it’s meaning. Chard...a mix of ketchup and mustard

[waithyuck]

extra elongated tag game

tagged by @gohyuck my love

tagging: @kwantified @honeyyu @jensungf @renjunwrites @neo-shitty @suingjaehyun

O N E

tell me the first song that made you stan your current fave group and why did your faves attract you so much?

okay so my ult group is nct and I can’t remember what song exactly but i remember not being a stan and LOVING back 2 u so much that I had to look into nct

for bts is was serendipity and blood sweat & tears

ateez was pirate king bc we stanned since debut 😔✊

T W O

rule: answer the ten questions and write your own!

favorite item of clothing?

I own a lot of hoodies but my fav is my dark gray we go up hoodie and it’s big n comfy....yeah

if you had to smell like one scent for the rest of your life what would it be?

I think I would want to smell like vanilla or lavender

favorite painter? why?

frida kahlo bc she embraced everything about herself and did wonderful self portraits

what’s your favorite horror movie (and if you don’t like horror, why not?)?

I don’t like jumpscares so most horror is not to my taste....however give a psychological horror and I’ll go off ab how much I love it (like idk if it’s considered horror but ‘a cure for wellness’ anyone???)

iphone or android?

iPhone dude

favorite tiktok trend (and if you don’t like tiktok, you can talk about how much influencers suck)?

i only go on tiktok for the kpop content I don’t know trends,,,,also can be talk about how most influencers on that app manipulate literal children into giving them money?? for doing absolutely nothing??

if you could wake up with any new ability what would it be?

the ability to read others emotions and make them happy no matter what (call me a corny ass bitch but it’s true)

favorite superhero/supervillain/antihero?

people consider her a ‘villain’ so I’m saying maleficent (from the movie maleficent) bc ??? she fell in love with a man and he fuckin just,,,,did her so dirty and left her broken-hearted and cut off her wings like ??? hell I’d be mad too I’d curse the little ass baby he had with another woman just as fast as she did. also how about that character development??? she cursed aurora but always looked out for her and eventually came to love her?? and that’s the kiss that broke the spell and woke aurora up?? call that motherly love we stan

if you could only dress in one color for the rest of your life which color would it be?

realistically black is prob the way I would go but gray is also a valid option

who’s your ult and give me five reasons why.

oof y’all already know it’s my boy lee donghyuck

1. his vocals??? the vocals alone are enough reason to stan

2. his dancing??? he is so incredibly talented and I love watching him move

3. his hardwork and dedication to his career, like he loves what he does so much and I love seeing him shine (but also like, pls let him sit the fuck down for a sec)

4. his aura and personality !!!!! is just so loveable !!! he brightens the room with his mood-making personality and I’m just in love with him god

5. okay okay now I’ll touch on the fact that he’s so fucking handsome??? a visual king ???? look at that face, look at those legs, JUST LOOK AT HIS BODY PROPORTIONS. PERFECT.

my questions:

what is your favorite memory from your childhood?

If you could travel anywhere in the world with just a snap of your fingers, where would you go and why?

describe your personality in three (3) words.

what is your favorite thing that you have ever read? (anything you’ve ever read counts! fanfiction, poems, novels etc.) why?

are you the studying type of person or the type to just ‘wing it’ when you have a big test coming up?

between bold colors and pastel colors, which do you prefer?

do you live life in the moment or do you plan every action you take?

what is your favorite holiday and why? (all holidays count! across all religions and cultures 😄)

would you rather stay up to stargaze in the middle of the night or wake up early to watch the sunrise?

what is your favorite eye color on another person?

T H R E E

rule: bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, then tag nine people.

AIR ༉⋆͙̈

i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see the dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE ༉⋆

i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing

WATER ༉⋆͙̈

i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love simply lit dinners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words

EARTH ༉⋆͙̈

i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love this chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER ༉⋆͙̈

i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally

F O U R

the ultimate tag: answer whichever ones you want to because there are a lot and then tag a few blogs you’d like to get to know better!

PERSONAL

name: samantha

nickname: sam

birthday: march 9

zodiac: pisces sun

nationality: american

languages: english, currently learning korean

gender: female

sexuality: pansexual :)

height: 5’2” (157 cm)

BLOG STUFF

inspiration for muse: music, tv, movies

meaning behind my url: hyuck is doin too much he’s gotta just give me a break and wAIT A SEC = waithyuck

blog established: 2020 but I’ve been on tumblr since 2015

followers: 791

FAVORITES

favorite animals: pigs, cats, dogs, snakes

favorite books: lord of the flies, the great gatsby, hamlet even tho it wasn’t technically a book

favorite color: yellow, orange, pink

favorite fictional characters: gilbert blythe, prince zuko from atla idk who else

favorite flower: sunflowers, carnations, roses

favorite scent: vanilla, citrus, lavender

favorite season: spring or fall

RANDOM

average hours of sleep: like 4-5

cats or dogs: both

coffee, tea or hot chocolate: hot chocolate

current time: 2:23 p.m.

dream trip: seoul, rome, greece in general, london, dublin

dream job: teaching english as a second language, linguist, translator

hobbies: writing, drawing, singing

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

last movie watched: burlesque lmao

last song listened to: kick it - nct 127

no. of blankets you sleep with: 1

random fact(s): my fingers are double jointed lmaO idk

F I V E

10 things i can’t stop listening to

slow down - chase atlantic

watermelon sugar - harry styles

to die for - sam smith

we go up - nct dream

blue side - j-hope

god’s menu - stray kids

inception - ateez

love me right - rendezvous at two

renegade - aaryan shah

HER - chase atlantic

[thisislizheather]

July Jiffs 2020

This was me all month.

The key word being was. We bought an air conditioner! We’ve been an A/C-free family for some time now, but since we’re spending so much time at home, we figured now was the time to be cool. In other news, everything still blows! What a shock! Here’s how I spent July.

I didn’t even know another Halloween movie was being made but of course I’ll go see it even if it turns out to be trash, you gotta support classic horror franchises, that’s just basic horror etiquette 101.

This is the most basic, boring-sounding sandwich on planet earth, but it tastes incredible I promise you (I didn’t add bacon, but I did add fresh mozzarella) and whatever bread you use, it’ll still be great. I find myself constantly forgetting about the greatness of mayo because I, my dear, am an idiot.

I ordered a bunch of new address labels on Zazzle because they were having a Christmas in July sale, so I bought some seasonally inspired labels to use over the next few months. If you’re not seasonally co-ordinating your return address labels, are you even living?

I’m still doing Nathan’s podcast on Patreon incase you’re interested. (You can find more clips on his Instagram.)

I attempted to watch the new Baby-Sitter’s Club on Netflix and it’s really not meant for me. I was never into the books or the movie or any of it, I never liked the idea of kids caring about making money, it seemed too sad to me. “Just be a kid!” I’d always thought.

Speaking of childhood nostalgia, I have started to watch reruns online of Sweet Valley High, which I loved as a kid. It’s no Breaker High, but it’s still pretty great to rewatch. God, Jessica really was an absolute bitch.

Some other things that I’ve rewatched: Con Air (practically a perfect movie, will always love, *Nic Cage forever* might be the only tattoo I’d ever get), Supermarket Sweep is on American Netflix and I was so excited (for about three episodes) then I moved on with my life, Sleepless in Seattle (still a very nice, average, reliable movie), Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (actually a really great summer movie, will always be a fun time to watch, will forever be a huge Keanu fan, I just feel like I could trust him??), and Dick Tracy (will always love this movie even if it has eight million too many montages, the set design is gorgeous, and this one outfit that Madonna wears makes me question… everything).

Some new movies that I’ve watched: Always Be My Maybe (so, so great! How did it take me so long to see this! So many good scenes, such a good movie), The Karate Kid (insane that I hadn’t seen it before, kids were uncomfortably mean in the 80s, favourite part was when Mr. Miyagi beats up the children, great movie), The Stepfather (pretty fun time, so happy we’ve starting watching horror movies again), Eat Pray Love (ugh, I don’t know, I do love movies about women just leaving and doing fun shit alone and abandoning their lives, but this was pretty lame, I hated James Franco’s character more than life and truly didn’t understand how Julia Roberts was even briefly into him), and finally the original The Hills Have Eyes (which I loved weirdly enough despite being incredibly tense the entire movie, I just thought it was so well done and scary and incredible, the rape scene is of course awful and I shut my eyes for that part, but that was the only thing I hated, it doesn’t make sense that I liked this movie so much).

I don’t know how to word this, but something is off with the reasonably priced (and almost too cheap) parmesan sold at Trader Joe’s. It melts weird. It doesn’t taste like normal cheese. Something is afoot and I won’t buy it any longer. I’m truly dreading and equally anticipating the day that all of Trader Joe’s secrets are exposed. Be warned.

That being said, obviously I’m in love with the seasonal summer candles that TJ just released. We have a complicated relationship.

I made this gruyere mac and cheese with caramelized onions (I used almond milk and it still came out good) and can every recipe just include caramelized onions? The world is ending, let’s just put sweet, tiny, brown onions on everything and call it a day.

Ennio Morricone passed away last month and I find myself listening to the Cinema Paradiso soundtrack on repeat.

Read this great piece about summer blockbuster movies which also has just some great ideas for movies to rewatch right now.

I have to remember that Essie’s vibrant colours just f-ing suck. Only their muted/bland colours are good. They should really just stick to those. And if you’re looking for loud colours that stand out, the summer collection at Urban Outfitters is my go-to (and there’s always a 3 for $10 sale with them).

I listened to Taylor Swift’s new album and so far my favourites are definitely: the 1 and this is me trying.

Ugh, Astoriaaaaaa, DO BETTER.

I’ve been thinking about cancelling my Ipsy subscription again (because I think I don’t care about makeup at this current moment in time) and when I logged on to cancel, they let me choose one of the items being sent next month as if they knew I wanted to leave! So I chose a Sunday Riley product (because any sample I’ve tried from them, I’ve loved) so maybe I’ll cancel next month?

I tried a sample of Drunk Elephant’s shampoo & conditioner (which smelled so lovely) and my hair did seem softer the next day. There’s something about this brand though, I feel like they might be tricking us with their beautiful packaging and minimalist persona.

I bought and tried the ancient Biore Strips and I have absolutely no idea if they did what they’re supposed to do. Are you supposed to see the blackheads or whiteheads come off onto the strip? It felt like it just tried to peel my face off. No idea what’s going on with these.

I have been in love with the Peter Thomas Roth Correction Pads, I use one pad before bed each night and I think they’re doing something good because I always wake up with no new pimples. It has even started erasing all of the redness I’ve been experiencing lately from the summer heat and sweat and mask-wearing. At this point, I can definitely see myself rebuying when I run out, and if I do then I’ll definitely not get them from Sephora because you can get them way cheaper at other online retailers.

I’ve also started using this Dr. Dennis Gross All-In-One face cleanser and I think it’s a good one. It’s hard to tell because I started using it the same day at the correction pads I mentioned above (yes that was a bad idea but here we are), so maybe they’re working together to make my face good? We’ll revisit this. 

I finally opened up this Belif set I bought a few months ago and it’s really nothing special. I think the face cream is probably the best item in there because you truly don’t need to use a lot to feel moisturized. But the face cleanser? Meh. I don’t think it does very much, it definitely didn’t help any redness. And the toner? Don’t get me started on how I kind of think toner might be a scam. And the “eye moisturizer”? Seems superfluous. My eye area is plenty moist, thanks.

Perfect summer soap scent: Fresh Rainfall. If I can’t travel this year, I will escape into this scent. (Send help.)

Very excited to hear about Lindy West’s new book.

So I heard that Lady M now ships their cakes to Canada and I was able to scream in excitement for approx. four seconds before looking into it and seeing that it’ll cost you over $100 to get ONE cake sent. THE GALL, I tell you. THE GALL.

I briefly looked into the app Sweatcoin after hearing good things, but it really just seems like an app where its main goal is to track you. And yes, your phone already does that whether you’re aware or not, but I think I’ll pass on the extra tracking.

I heard that the upcoming Halloween Bob’s Burgers episode will “follow the kids as they try to deliver a burger to the hotel on their street.” It’s such a sad little bit of tiny information, but I love their seasonal episodes so much that I’ll take any crumbs available.

Actually helpful tips on how to clean your home efficiently.

Christ, why do I keep forgetting that Bareburger is absolutely nothing special? Why in the good fuck is it taking so long for a Shake Shack to come to Astoria?!

I ate on the patio at Hoja Santa in Astoria and the tacos were nothing to write home about. The service, drinks and chips were outstanding though, so I may have just ordered badly.

New favourite beer alert.

Best tweets of the month over here.

I tried Thai iced coffee and it was so wildly sweet and too aromatic, I probably wouldn’t get it again. And I also tried a Vietnamese iced coffee and it was the perfect level of sweet! What’s the difference between the two, you ask?

I finally tried the katsu sandwich at Hi-Collar as takeout in the East Village and it was absolutely nothing special. No idea why people are so into it.

I haven’t been to Bite in so many months, so it was nice to get takeout earlier this week. God how I’ve missed their ciabatta bread. They use it on their sandwiches and it comes from Balthazar each morning and it’s always heavenly.

I have found the perfect, light summer blanket and I’m trying not to focus on the fact that it came from Amazon.

I tried a grapefruit shandy and holy shit, it might be my favourite new summer drink. 

I ate on the patio at L’Artusi since it just reopened and good god, that carbonara will change you. So psyched to see they have the wagyu steak tartare on the menu now, too. The burger, the panzanella salad and the charred corn were all great, but that carbonara was the standout.

Some things I’d like to do this month: I’d love to try this tomato toast with blue cheese mayo, I’m going to start using a new clothes steamer I just bought with the hopes of getting rid of my iron & ironing board, I rebought a tube of Revitalash because of how great my lashes were looking when I used it a few years ago so I’ll start using it on August 1st and track my progress to prove how great this product is, I can’t wait for Moesha to be coming to Netflix this month, and I am waiting waiting waiting until I can find time to return to Lilia (on the patio) to eat this incredible tomato focaccia & garlic butter (shown below).

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in June over here.

[philosopherking1887]

I also forgot to mention that TW, a ~man of color~ wrote a movie where a white colonizer (ODIN) was PRAISED, UPLIFTED, & CELEBRATED BY THE NARRATIVE AND OUR PROTAGONIST. TW even made sure Thor got an eyepatch at the end as symbolic emulation. A man of color made THAT MOVIE, and they're stanning? Because he's brown?? By their own logic, TW suffers from internalized racism bc he wrote that shit, and anyone who likes the movie is racist/has internalized racism. Not my black ass. Fuck that movie.

I’m so sorry that it’s taken me so long to answer this… I had to get through a mountain of grading in a hurry because I have stupid grading anxiety so I procrastinate, which makes everything worse because I have to do it all at once instead of spreading it out.

I found the post where I talk about how benevolent racism is part of the reason people aren’t allowed to criticize Ragnarok or Taika Waititi. Even if there are genuine, serious problems with the work of a POC—not just the characterization mess or the complete unlikability of the main characters (I gotta majorly side-eye the people who find Ragnarok!Thor “relatable”), but the Social Justice-y problems that you would think they would take seriously (the stereotypically queer-coded villains; the implicit slut-shaming of Loki; the toxic masculinity all over the place; the one-line dismissal of Jane Foster, a brilliant female scientist, to be replaced by a woman who is considered more powerful and therefore “more Thor’s equal” because she can beat people up)—you’re not allowed to point them out, especially if you’re white, because all criticism of a POC constitutes racism.

Honestly, this kind of reminds me of the standard Leftist line that westerners are not allowed to condemn human rights abuses in non-western countries, especially formerly colonized countries, because (A) western countries aren’t perfect (duh) and (B) everything that’s wrong in formerly colonized countries is to be blamed on European colonialism. It seems to me that (B) is extraordinarily patronizing: it’s like they’re saying that victims of colonialism (always people of color) can’t be held responsible for anything because they can’t be expected to know better, almost as if they’re children whose wrongdoing is always to be blamed on the adults’ bad parenting.

I also found the post where I discussed how Loki’s story could (and should) have fit in with the (purported) anti-colonialism message. And there’s another post from someone else that’s been in my drafts folder for a while because I wanted to say something about it but I never seem to have time, which is very relevant. The OP is gushing about how Ragnarok is this groundbreaking, subversive critique of colonialism… but then someone with American indigenous heritage reblogs to add that Loki is also a victim of colonialism and makes the comparison with Native American/ First Nations children who were taken from their parents and adopted out to white parents or indoctrinated in abusive boarding schools. That essay was presented not as a criticism of Ragnarok—which the reblogger seemed to think had sufficiently dealt with Loki’s trauma in the “fictional retelling of his relationship with Odin” presented in Loki’s play about himself—but as a rebuttal to the claim in a “literary review” of Ragnarok (which falls all over itself to hail TR as “the coolest, slickest, funniest indictment of white supremacy that you’re likely to see for a long, long time”) that Loki has no relationship to Asgard’s imperialist past and is just “a character who doesn’t care as long as he gets his.”

Interestingly, the reviewer added a note in response to criticism of that characterization saying that he “personally really like[s] the character” and acknowledges “his complicated, and often tragic, backstory of otherness and biculturalism,” but insists that that “do[es] not make him NOT fundamentally power hungry.” Which… kind of wasn’t the point of the criticism? It was that in a rundown of how the various characters were related to the history of imperialism, all he said about Loki was that he “doesn’t care as long as he gets his.” Whether or not Loki can rightly be characterized as “fundamentally power-hungry” is a complicated question and depends on how sincere you think his “I never wanted the throne” protestation was and how much you think conquering Earth was his idea as opposed to Thanos’s.

But the fact that the reviewer had to be reminded of Loki’s connection with Asgardian imperialism—as a victim of it, not just as a beneficiary—points to a basic problem with Loki’s depiction in Ragnarok, which is obviously what was freshest in the writer’s mind (and I doubt he had rewatched the other movies recently): that despite its claims to provide a comprehensive critique of colonialism (and no, it wasn’t being subtle), it was so intent on ridiculing Loki and minimizing all of his problems that it had to downplay or dismiss any respect in which he could be considered a victim of colonialism. That would have made Loki sympathetic, which the movie wanted to avoid at all costs.

It is completely baffling to me that Thor turns to Odin’s Force ghost for strength and guidance and this is not problematized at all. If Ragnarok was trying to make anti-colonialism its theme, that scene seems like it should have been from a different movie. I wonder if that came from the aspect of the movie whose message was (in the words of an interview with Waititi, which I found screenshotted in this post, and which I presume is a paraphrase of something he said) that “a home is still a home, however you may feel about its inhabitants.” This message is presented in the context of TW’s insistence that Loki needs to “put away his childish fixations” and “put into perspective his petty family squabbles.” Let’s just think about that for a second: in a movie that is supposed to be an indictment of colonialism, a stolen child being lied to about his heritage and indoctrinated with racist beliefs about his own people is a “petty family squabble” and his resentment about it is a “childish fixation.”