#i agree with oliver btw

[gnarliest-phone-dude]

olive man why the hell are people asking for

*checks notes*

Yer fucking PISS JARS???

“Dunno, man. We don’t condone kink shamin’ here so who am I t’ ask?”

[werewolfbarista]

uungngnghghh . New Trollsona (dogy flavored)

[pneumaticshift]

Hiiii I wonder if you take batman justice league requests? If so:

Yk those "Batman gets de aged in front of the JLA" fics? Well let me raise you one:

A meeting with the JLAs primary benefactor, Bruce Wayne, goes wrong when a magician (of some sort) attacks, and so they find themselves with a Bruce Wayne who is 20 years (or so) younger than he should be.

Anf they're all like "who is this angry emo teen and what happened to the flirty bimbo that was just here."

It would be even funnier if Bruce hears about a Batman and just goes "yes that's obviously me only i could pull that off" because he's been daydreaming about bat-themed escapades since his teen years

bonus points if he immediately recognises Green Arrow ("i told you to cut off that fugly beard ages ago, Ollie,") and starts fangirling over Hal ;)

I love your Best Laid Plans series btw! You're such a great writer. This is genuinely the only series I've been actively obsessed with in a good WHILE.

Love,

Anon who probably will return to annoy you.

First of all, thank you!! 💚 Compliments like this really mean a lot to me, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series. 

And yes! I do take Justice League requests! I tried to get all your ideas crammed in there. It’s not as shippy as I was gonna make it (I wrote too much lol), but I sprinkled a smidge of a hint in there. Just a whisper. A gentle nudge. A wink from across the room. Hope you like it! 

———

It turned out that young Bruce Wayne was feral 

Not in the way rich kids thought they were when they slummed it for a summer. That faux-rebellion that came with backpacking through Europe with their parent’s black card, or spending a weekend at some overpriced retreat to find themselves.

This was actual feral. The kind of feral where he had dirt under his fingernails and wide eyes that looked for exits before they looked at people. The kind of feral where he knew exactly where to jam a shiv between Ollie’s ribs to make it count.  

Which, as it turned out, was currently very relevant information.

“This is fine,” Ollie choked out.

Ollie was a liar.

His face was turning an alarming shade of purple, which clashed spectacularly with the green of his costume. There was an arn locked too-tightly around his neck and there was, of all things, a homemade shiv pressed against the vulnerable stretch of his throat. 

It all started in Gotham, because that’s where most bad things happened. Some charity auction that had featured a plethora of ancient artefacts from exceedingly questionable sources. And because Gothamites had the distinct inability to leave cursed objects where they belonged, it was only a matter of time before one of the objects went wild. 

No one could quite agree on what triggered it. Hal was pretty sure it was the plump statue of an old eldritch matron, Diana swore it was the ancient scroll of indistinguishable language, and Ollie was confident the auctioneer had muttered something that sounded just enough like an incantation. Whatever it was — and they had already contacted some magic users to find out — the end result had been the same. 

Brucie Wayne. Handsome, vapid, as sharp as a marshmallow, had finished in a puff of old magic. And in his place…

Well, something that very much wasn’t like the Brucie the world knew and loved. Barefoot. Wild-eyed. Unkempt hair falling into his eyes and a patchy beard that was trying itself best, but wasn’t quite past puberty enough to be full. He took three very menacing steps forward before he dropped unconscious. Hard. Because he had been standing on stage at the time and had straight up fallen off when his senses failed him. 

Clark Kent and Oliver Queen, two guests in attendance, had been the only two that had not been herded out by the League when they answered the call for aid. They helped keep the peace, assuring the good people of Gotham that yes, everything was fine, no need to panic, they’re all in good hands.

And in return, those same good people of Gotham had just sneered, ordered the League to take care of their beloved Brucie, and then spat on them for not being Batman. Because this city was the worst. 

Now, instead of waking up all confused and docile and flirtatiously grateful for the assistance — you know, like the Brucie Wayne they had all met before — they had come to realise that there had been a lot of misinformation about what Bruce Wayne got up to in his youth. 

Twenty years younger than the man they read about in the tabloids, he had immediately reverted to something neolithic. He produced a goddamn shiv from his waistband and launched himself with the kind of fight-or-flight response that suggested he had a lot of experience choosing fight.

Ollie had been the closest. Which was unfortunate for Ollie. 

He was taken by surprise, and that was fair enough. Absolutely nobody in the room could have expected this level of violence from a man who, as far as the world was concerned, spent his formative years travelling the hotspots of the world to partake in the traditional aforementioned rich kid mission to find himself. 

Hal was the first to step up. “You wanna drop Robin Hood before I drop you, kid?” he said, clearly considering that maybe this was the moment to introduce Gotham’s favorite trust fund baby to the concept of a green energy muzzle.

“Easy, easy,” Clark tried, deliberately stepping in front of Hal. “No one's gonna hurt you. We just want to help."

Young Bruce did not look convinced. And maybe that was fair. From his perspective, he’d just woken up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by people he didn’t know. He was being threatened by a man in a glowing green onesie, and coddled by one with his underpants over the top of his outerpants. 

“Who the hell are you people?” he snapped. 

“We are the Justice League,” Diana said, smiling gently. “We mean you no harm, my young friend. You’ve been in an accident and we’re here to help you.” She raised a placating hand. Calm, but not condescending. They probably should have let her deal with it from the beginning. “You may keep your weapon, if you’d like. But I’d ask you to release our friend. On my honour, we are not your enemy.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes and he scanned Diana in the same way a soldier would, and she let him look. She stayed still, perfectly patient, while Bruce flickered over her stance, her posture, her weapons, the slight in weight that meant she was ready. Not aggressive, just prepared.

Then his eyes moved to Clark, to Hal, to Barry, and back again. Something about them, or about Diana at least,  must have registered as safe, because after a tense moment, Bruce’s grip on Ollie loosened. Which of course Oliver immediately took advantage of. 

He took a deep, careful breath and stepped away with all the forced casualness of a man who definitely did not just get overwhelmed by an eighteen-year-old, barefooted, trust fund baby. His neck absolutely wasn’t throbbing, and he definitely wasn’t resisting the urge to rub at it petulantly. Nope, everything was fine. 

So fine, in fact, that he joined the League’s line, crossed his arms and straightened his shoulders like he hadn’t just been manhandled by someone whose primary tabloid reputation was for shirtless boat parties.

“Mr. Wayne,” Clark started, stepping forward. Bruce didn’t look at him. His gaze was firmly locked onto Oliver with a stare so scrutinising that it could’ve burnt. He was really looking now, like he’d only just registered Ollie as a person rather than an obstacle. “You’ve been hit by… Well, we’re not sure what exactly. We’ve contacted a few people who can help, but from what we know already, we think you’ve—”

“I’ve been sent to the future,” Bruce said flatly. There was a crack in his voice that could have been nervousness covered up by the entirely blank way he stared at them. 

There was a long pause as the League collectively processed that particular statement. Hal looked at Barry. Barry looked at Clark. Clark looked at Diana. And Diana beamed brightly like she always suspected that Bruce Wayne had more than two brain cells to rub together and had finally been handed the means to prove it. 

“Okay, hold on now,” Hal said. “How the hell is that your first conclusion? You wake up in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by people you don’t know, and instead of assuming kidnapping or drug-induced hallucination or even just being really, really drunk, your first thought is time travel?”

Bruce’s eyes drifted over to Hal’s face, then lower to the logo on his suit and the ring on his finger. “Yeah.” He cocked his head. “Are you a Green Lantern?”

Hal blinked. “Uh, yeah?

The kid kept his eyes on Hal for a moment as he processed that while everyone else tried to make sense of his insane deductive skills. “We’re not saying you’re wrong,” Barry said, “but how did you even know? I mean, time travel isn’t exactly the default assumption.”

Bruce looked away from Hal and instead swept his gaze over the room. His eyes landed on a sleek, modern console with a WayneTech insignia embossed on the side. He jerked his chin towards it like someone who had just found undeniable proof that the world was, in fact, very stupid and he was the only one paying attention.

“That model doesn’t exist yet,” he said. “The closest working prototype was three years away from launch when I left Gotham. All the WayneTech in this room uses materials that aren’t aren’t widely available yet. It’s all too streamlined. Things like this only exist in concept journals.” 

“But that could mean anything,” Clark said, but he was eyeing the WayneTech like he was trying to remember what it looked like twenty years ago. 

“And you,” Bruce continued, snapping back to Oliver.

Ollie straightened up instinctively. “Me? What about me?”

“You have a goatee.”

“Uh. Yeah?”

The kid’s expression darkened with such absolute disappointment that it was almost tangible. Like he was cataloguing every single one of Ollie’s life choices and finding them completely lacking. Bruce shook his head slowly. “You had so much potential.”

Ollie made a noise of offense. "Listen, you little punk, I—” He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his perfectly respectable facial hair. “You don’t know me.”

“Of course I do, I’m not blind,” Bruce muttered. He seemed to be accepting of the situation enough to have dropped his defensive hand without letting go of the shiv. “Judging by your age, I’d say I’ve gone forward between twenty and twenty-five years. Judging by your facial hair, you’ve clearly not experience any mental development beyond—”

“You wanna go, kid?”

Bruce, with the unkempt wildman hair of someone who had been travelling rough for over a year, flicked his bangs out of his face like a little teenage bitch. “As if you could kick my ass, Queen.”

Oliver didn’t choke on air, but it was a very near thing. He kept his composure, sucked in a sharp inhale, and said, "What did you just call me?"

“Your name?”

"That is not public information!"

Bruce blinked. "Okay?"

"Okay!?" Ollie’s voice went slightly high-pitched. "How do you know that!? Does the adult version of you know?”

“Probably.”

"You’d have to ask him when he’s back to normal,” Clark said, but he was looking at Bruce with the very specific grimace of a man who didn't want to say too much just in case the kid would somehow be able to divine his identity too. Clark dealt with Bruce Wayne a lot as a reporter, he couldn’t risk it.

"Oh my God." Ollie scrubbed a hand down his face. "He’s known all this time, hasn’t he?”

Apparently, young Bruce had decided that Ollie was no longer worth his time. His assessment had been made, his conclusion reached (disappointment) and so had moved on. He barely even looked at Clark. His inner Gotham survival instincts had automatically detected Metropolis all over him and deemed him irrelevant. Diana and Barry got a slightly longer look. A tilt of his head as he clocked Diana’s armour and the lasso, and a thoughtful hum at Barry’s full-body suit clearly designed for speed. 

But it was Hal, somehow, that got his full attention. Bruce stared at him, at the glowing logo on his chest, and made no moves to make it subtle. 

“Hey, kiddo,” Hal bit out. “You keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna start thinking you got a crush."

Because young Bruce Wayne had the mental fortitude of a brick wall, apparently (which was insane, because this man was supposed to be peak himbo), he didn’t rise to the bait. He just stayed quiet, almost like he had something to say but was uncertain on how to bring it up. 

Hal had the ego the size of one of his jets and he’d seen this kind of look before. Usually on the kids who looked up to heroes and didn’t see any of the bad things that came with being someone who wielded extraordinary power. Usually on the fans. The kind of fans who had posters and encyclopaedic knowledge and way too much enthusiasm for whatever it was they were into. 

But the difference was, little Bruce wasn’t some starstruck kid who wanted an autograph. This was the intense, calculating scrutiny of someone who had just been confronted with a living, breathing legend they weren’t prepared to meet. For the first time since he’d de-aged, Bruce actually looked like a teenager.

“The suit is different,” Bruce noted, almost awkwardly. 

Hal grinned. He might have been the greatest Green Lantern, but he wasn’t the first. It had been a while since someone actually knew about Alan Scott. “Yeah,” he said, glancing down at the glowing emblem on his chest. “Different Lantern, different look. You a fan?”

Bruce hesitated, which was honestly adorable, because for all his I’ve been in a fight and I know exactly where to stab a man energy, he was still just a teenager. And, apparently, the idea of being caught liking something was so deeply offensive to him that he had to physically restrain himself from reacting. He recovered fast. Way too fast for a kid his age. The brief flicker of something genuine was gone in an instant, replaced with careful neutrality that was vaguely familiar. 

“I respect it,” he said stiffly, like he was dictating a press release rather than responding like a normal human being. “Green Lantern was the first hero I ever read about.”

 “So, you are a fan.”

Bruce blushed. Not completely, he didn’t flush completely red and start steaming at the ears, but his ears peppered a pale pink. He briefly looked away before snapping his gaze right back to stave off weakness. 

“I’m—” He stopped, exhaled through his nose, then squared his shoulders like he was preparing for war. “He protected Gotham when no one else would. When no one could.” His fingers flexed slightly, like he was gripping at something that wasn’t there. “That matters.”

Hal, still gleefully processing the fact that this angry version of Bruce Wayne had absolutely been a Green Lantern fanboy at some point in his life, let himself enjoy it for a second longer before Clark cleared his throat.

“Speaking of Gotham,” he said carefully, glancing at the others, “we should probably contact Batman. He’ll want to know what’s going on here, since Bruce is technically his problem.”

Having controlled his expression enough to stop blushing, Bruce had deliberately turned himself away from everyone and was now examining Hal’s ring. (Like a fanboy.) “What can Spooky do?” Hal asked. “He’s just gonna be pissed that we took the kid out of the city. Let's just get it fixed and let him know later.”

“He’ll need to know if there are cursed artefacts being circulated,” Diana said. “And I imagine that time displacement is not the only thing he will need to worry about.”

Ollie nodded. “Yeah, this has gotta be more than just temporal problems,” he said, frowning in Bruce’s general direction. “He’s nothing like Bruce Wayne. I’m thinking there’s been a universe switcheroo.”

“Multiversal doppelganger,” Barry agreed.

Bruce didn’t respond to those allegations, but he did say, “This Batman person operates Gotham?”

“Yeah,” Hal replied. “After your Green Lantern left, someone had to pick up the slack. Spooky gets real pissy if anyone else steps in on his turf. You’ve probably met him. Well, you will. In about twenty years or so.”

“Mm. No. He won’t be available right now,” Bruce said decidedly. He looked up. “I have a friend who can do magic. She’ll be able to help, assuming my future self is still in contact with her.”

Diana cocked her head at Bruce. “Why would you assume he would be unavailable?” she asked. 

“I’d think that would be obvious,” he replied. He looked at the blank expressions around him and rolled his eyes. “Think about it. If this person is as territorial as you say, then he would have already been aware of whatever was happening in Gotham. And if not, then news would have already spread and he would have contacted you all to confirm it. This is assuming you’re all a part of the same team, of course. With the amount of WayneTech around, Gotham definitely has a lot of input in your work, so I imagine you’ve got to be working with her vigilante.”

“That’s very astute.”

“If Batman is not here, then he’s either ignoring the issue, or he’s indisposed. I’m inclined to believe the latter.” Bruce looked at Oliver. “Did you ever wonder why I dropped out of school to go travelling?”

“I figured you were still grieving and needed time to yourself.”

Bruce bristled a little, almost like he didn’t expect to be called out on that. “I left because Gotham needed me to,” he said. 

He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. The pieces were all there. Scattered, sure, but if they were smart enough to put on their capes the right way around, then they were smart enough to figure it out. Hell, he had managed to figure it out, and he’d only been in this future for about twenty minutes. 

Diana watched him with knowing eyes like she had figured it out the moment he turned up as this angry ball of vengeance instead of the delicate heir with a silver spoon up his butt. The others took a little longer to catch up, but they’d get there eventually. Clark’s expression was already beginning to change to one of wild disbelief, while Ollie had gone completely blank like he was struggling to compute. 

Before anyone could say anything, before the trampling elephant in the room could be addressed with the appropriate amount of what the actual hell, before someone (most likely Hal) said something incredibly obnoxious, the air rippled and the deus ex machina descended. 

Magic, thick and tangible, swept through the room like the universe itself let out a sigh of relief, and Zatanna Zatara stepped into existence with the kind of exasperation of someone who had been called far too often to deal with the League’s magical problems. She scanned the room without saying anything before her gaze landed on Bruce. Barefoot, feral, still holding a shiv like it was an extension of his hand. She sighed. 

“Of course it would be you,” she said, but she was smiling as she said it. 

“Can you fix this?” Clark asked without taking his eyes off Bruce. 

“Yeah,” Zatanna nodded. 

“And it’s actually gonna be the Bruce from this universe, right?” Ollie put in, unnerved. “We’re not gonna get a whole different Wayne? Because he’s implied something really big and I don’t think I can mentally take it if it’s true.”

“Oh, he’ll be the same Bruce Wayne, alright.” She turned back to the kid, lowering her voice slightly. “Maybe you’ll just know him a little better now.

Bruce didn’t react, but the air shifted around him, like he knew exactly what she meant and didn’t particularly appreciate it. Then, with a flick of her fingers and a gentle incantation, the world twisted with a shimmer of glowing energy, reality bending in on itself— And just like that, they were gone.

An incredibly weighted, knowing silence settled over the Watchtower. For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Hal clapped his hands together and turned to the others with the slow, self-satisfied grin of someone who just found out something hilarious. 

“So.” He raised an eyebrow. “That was Batman, right?”

[bekolxeram]

During this hiatus, other than rewatching S7 for cute moments that we missed and coming up with headconons and new fic ideas, may I suggest going back to actually read/watch/listen to interviews with the cast?

Certain more dedicated members of the fandom tend to overfixate on one single sentence or even word the cast uttered and ignore all context around it. Sure, some of them might came into it with an agenda (like many journalists did sadly) and confirmation bias took care of the rest of it, but at the same time, who has time to read pages of disjointed chat with actors improvising answers without full knowledge of the production side of the show?

I've seen people proving Eddie's queerness by this quote from Lou's interview with the Hollywood Reporter in April:

This alone has been interpreted all sorts of ways, from Ryan not accepting this storyline (which doesn't make him homophobic btw, he could've simply not seen Eddie's story going this way, or he thought he wasn't equipped to do this storyline justice), to Buck's LIs not agreeing to come back because of scheduling conflict, to the writers just thought it was more appropriate for Buck to be queer.

I'm not here to speculate anything, I'm just going to point out earlier in the same interview, Lou also said he always knew this storyline would be with Oliver:

I don't know what's going on here, Lou might have insider information, but it also could be him just speculating over Tommy and Eddie's quickly formed friendship. To my knowledge, Tim has never confirmed that Tommy's queer storyline would be with Eddie before it supposedly fell through. In fact, Tim did say once it felt like Buck's story:

And then there's Lou's supposed dislike of filming make out scenes:

I do agree with him that gratuitous scenes on TV are unnecessary. I can't even count how many times I'm watching TV with my family when a graphic sex scene comes on unprompted, and my family members and I have to try our best to pretend we don't see it. But he also said that he didn't like it only when it didn't add to the story. Like we saw in 7x06, Lou gladly rubbed his face into Oliver's because this is how Buck came out.

There's also the part most people skipped through when Lou talked about the 7x04 kiss:

Lou (and everyone involved in the storyline) doesn't want Tommy to seem predatory. I have no idea if it's a reference to a possible earlier version of the script with an Eddie bi awakening instead of a Buck one. What I'm getting is that Lou and Tim tried to avoid playing into the stereotype of gay men hanging around knowingly straight men just to get into their pants.

And boy was Lou right. If they went for a full make out scene, the fandom discourse would've been so different. Naysayers wouldn't have been latching onto bachelor party costume or daddy issue joke. It would've led to much more serious allegations.

I'm happy it all worked out in universe as well. As we've seen from the past 7 seasons, Buck has no problem getting sexual partners. In the past he tried having physical relationships with women in hopes that it would lead to an emotional one, he also tried intentionally holding off intimacy just because he thought it would get in the way of boding with someone on a humanly level. This is the first time someone picked up Buck's (unintentional?) flirting, decided to break the ambiguity (landing it like a good pilot), gave him a brief peck to test the water, and then left to give Buck time to process his feelings.

Not only was it okay for Buck, it left him wanting more.

And lastly there's the allegedly "Tommy is just Buck's gay mentor to test thing out with" thing:

But earlier in the interview, it was established that Lou said it as a response to why the other shippers should still embrace Buck and Tommy's relationship. He didn't actually know what would happen in the future:

[lol-jackles]

I was pursuing your “Destiel” tag (thank you for posting it for that anon, btw, and bringing it back to my attention), and came across this statement from you:

“As a result, douchy Jensen + going off script = other actors trying to cope. My favorite was 2016 because that was when my girlfriend leaned close to the screen and said, "Jared, blink twice if you're being held against your will". Since then Jared had figured out how to handle these ~unscripted~ moments, but Misha hasn't.”

What was the moment in particular at 2016 JIB that made your girlfriend say that? Or what was Jensen going at that one? Wasn’t Gen at that one, too?

Also, what would you say Jared’s strategy has been in dealing with Jensen (when drunk) on stage at JIB? And why does Jensen seem “meaner” to Jared at JIB than at CE or AHBL cons? Which is closer to thier actual dynamic, do you think?

And I just have to add, it was pretty amusing seeing Misha momentarily (sadly not longer) regret his life choices at, was it 2019 JIB, where he pointed out the Destiel shirt and Jensen yelled about “where is it real?” Do you think Jensen was actually annoyed in this panel? I say yes, but my brother says no.

Jensen seems to keep it together more at JIBs post pandemic, but I was at JIB 13, and he gave off a huge air of just being over the whole thing by his solo Sunday panel. And he and Rich were essentially running out the clock by being loud idiots (my ears still hurt from being near a speaker).

They all claim to love JIB, but they also all seem pretty over it come Sunday.

Sorry that got long. Would love to see your response to any parts.

This was the first time I briefly talked about the infamous Jib con. Back in 2016 I used to think their co/dependent friendship was doomed at the 10-year mark because when one isn’t adjusting to the changing time, then the idolatries friendship can’t last more than 10 years at best.  I listed a few examples (X) from a feminist blog about women ending their female friendships, a woman ending her friendship with a male friend (X) Oliver Broudy’s story of ending his 10-year friendship with a college friend (X).  These friendships ended because one of them was stuck and making more and more demands on the unstuck friend.  We know happened after season 10 wrapped up (X) (X).

Anyways, what got my girlfriend's attention was Jared looking like a tug of war rope between Gen and Jensen and the boys. Regular corporate SPN cons in the U.S are already a male-dominated atmosphere bordering on frat boy shenanigans. At least there are corporate handlers and security to help keep the actors in line, plus alcohol are banned for actors. Jib cons are fan-run with no handlers and alcohol are allowed, and usually there are no actresses because the cost of the extra Jensen/Misha and Jared/Misha panels means some actors are going to get cut out and it’s usually the actresses. Without female colleagues around, the men really rile each other up at Jib cons, it’s part of their bonding and one-upmanship rituals. I think why Gen rarely participated in SPN cons is because she didn't want to be around all that dude energy. But 2016 was different because I think she blamed herself for leaving the 2015 British con early and is still traumatize that she nearly lost Jared few days later, so Gen agreed to let Jared drag bring her to Jib con. Men don’t like wives/girlfriends homing in on their bro times and Jensen was noticeable irritated that Jared’s wife was there and during the closing ceremony Jensen used air quotations marks while talking about Gen’s marriage to Jared who had his arms wrapped around her. He looked peeved at Jensen and then then laughed it off because what else could he do on stage?

(Side note: it’s not easy for men to find male friends and keeping them.  I hated the movie I love you, man because it was too familiar, and Paterson made me uneasy because Adam Driver's character has no male friends and he's more than okay with that because he has a wife.)

Jensen seems "meaner" not just to Jared but to every actor there, especially Misha. At these fan-run conventions, there are no "scripts" (guidelines actually) to follow. Most actors were still going by the guidelines from corporate-run conventions when they're on stage, but not Jensen because it's part of his upmanship as a way to both bond and dominate others. It's a Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman type situation. Maybe Jensen learned this trick from Ryan who used to be his roommate. Misha is not a natural improviser, his guest appearance on Whose Line Is it Anyways shows that, so he's the least apt at handling Jensen's off script moments. Half the time Jensen wasn't actually drunk but acts like it to avoid the inevitable asinine Destiel-loaded questions from the hellers in the audience.

Jared's strategy was about the same at pre-2016 JIB cons and CE cons because he's pretty apt at smoothing things over between Jensen and the fans. At the infamous 2013 New Jersey con a self-claiming bisexual girl tried to ask Jensen a loaded Destiel question and he snapped at her with, “don’t ruin it for everybody” and Jared immediately calmed Jensen down and salvaged the rest of the experience for sane fans.

Stuff like this is closer to their real life dynamic as the Giver and the Taker. If you read the "codependency tag", Jared the Giver cleans up the messes the Taker make. Givers think they're helping but they're actually enabling and don't improve things. Jensen's reputation took a slight hit, and it took a few years for the New Jersey con to be memory-holed. Apparently Jensen didn't learn from this and 3 years later mocked a girl wearing a "Destiel is real" shirt at the 2019 JIB. Misha told Jensen to not “fight with fans” and Jared was gesturing to a fan in the front row as if saying don’t look at me look at him. That may answer your question, Jared stopped trying to calm Jensen down and instead focus on heading off fans who gets too snippy at Jensen, like at a DC con few years back where a girl was trying to look cool but came off sounding hostile towards Jensen, so Jared left the stage and hugged the stuffings out of the girl, deflating her hostile-sounding voice.

I don't think I've seen Jensen's solo panel at JIB13, but he's usually looks like he's watching the clock during his Jared-less panels so that's nothing new. It's been the case for many years and a common complaint by fans, it's why CE stopped having solo J panels early on because Jensen needs a scene partner. It goes back to why Jensen works better as a scene-stealing supporting actor instead of a leading man. How Jensen made Dean Winchester have memorable moments was by putting his focus on the other person.  By using this method, Jensen can stop worrying about how he’s going to say his lines and speak intuitively, this helps make Dean appear truthful to the audience.  It may be why Jensen doesn’t read scripts ahead of time.   Jensen doesn’t go into a scene looking to do a scene, instead he goes in looking to be open and give over to how the other person (in this case, Jared playing Sam) makes him feel.  This method worked great for Jensen when his character has Sam to focus on, and Jensen has Jared to react to.  It’s why Dean’s dying moments with Sam in the barn works so well in the series’ finale.

.

You probably heard of the saying, “acting is reacting”.

A demon’s acting philosophy in The Good Place: “Demons have to learn that Acting Is Reacting.  And Reacting Is Pre-acting. But Pre-acting? Well, that’s just being.”  

While “acting is reacting” gets mocked in the acting community because it’s a trap alot of actors fall into by adjusting their truthful inner life to their assumptions about the text.  Good acting is adjusting the text to your authentic emotion which is the result of the other person.  This where Jensen’s good acting comes from and it’s become his comfort zone and made him a multimillionaire by his mid 30s.  He’s in what my acting coach calls “the truthful contact”, it’s where actors are taught the first stage of authentic acting.  The next stage is “crafting”.  When you’re working solo without a screen partner, your skill at crafting becomes vital.  Crafting means anywhere from ability to endow meaning to objects so they have emotional meaning is important, or effectively get across justifications and point of views.  

[buckevantommy]

https://www.tumblr.com/buckevantommy/757878657756872704/btw-i-dont-think-we-need-to-worry-about-buck-and

Agree 100%. But, to further expand that, and going outside the world of the show.

From a GA perspective, or the audience full stop, how many partners are we willing to watch before we lose interest? By this I mean - if the writers are spending screen time / several episodes introducing a new character and a new relationship, usually we get invested. And when that person disappears, it can be frustrating, and the introduction of a new person (thus the start of the cycle again), can feel a bit tiring. Every time they need to find something that makes the audience go: okay, it’s worth for me to care about this character.

Buck’s case is a bit particular, because his relationships haven’t been all that well received (until now). Either it was an ‘okay’ situation, without much interest, or an okay reception but controversial at times (for me, Taylor - I do think the GA was okay with her, but ultimately the couple was not good). Tommy has been imo the first relationship that truly has brought in lots of positive and good reviews and a good investment of attention from fans and even GA. Tommy’s clips in any social media are usually the ones with most views, and in things like IG it goes to talk about the GA more than a focused fandom.

This to say - if Buck was to break up with Tommy, I think a lot of the audience would be frustrated or even grow bored of the constant change of partners. Even, they would be less receptive to a future new partner, because if Tommy (so well received) is gone, who would even stay?

Not to say this means Tommy is Buck’s endgame, because no one knows. But at some point the constant change of partners gets old, and we know Tim agrees when he expressed wanting to get Buck off the hamster wheel (something Oliver agreed on), and Tommy is a really strong character to have Buck settle with.

Long story short: not only from a SL perspective, but Bucktommy being long lasting makes sense for the overall image of the show.

You're absolutely right nonny.

bc if we think about bucktommy in terms of it being Buck's relationship aka. a main character's relationship, enough is enough on dragging him from illfit to illfit - that guy deserves to be settled, at ease in himself, as Bobby once told him, and we've already seen Tommy help make that happen for him.

and if we look back at Buck's relationship history: we're 7 years into poor matches for a guy who has always wanted to love and be loved - and Tommy can be that for him! he has been that for him so far and could so easily fit into the narrative as Buck's significant other moving forward indefinitely. Tommy already feels like the missing piece to Buck's story the same way Karen was for Hen and Maddie was for Chim and Athena was for Bobby - and he's a fleshed out character in his own right just as those partners are.

enough screwing around with Buck's relationships. sometimes it feels like just bc he started out as a fuckboy he somehow doesn't deserve a stable, healthy, loving relationship, like the narrative is going out of its way to ruin any chance he has at that for the sake of drama (but again: none of his previous partners were the right match for him).

i'm going to mention dear dean winchester again bc he has so much in common with Buck, and these kinds of characters (male, strong, macho, attractive, swagger, charming, sexually active, presumably bisexual) always cycle through relationships that never pan out - bc they're not the right fit, but moreover bc these partners seem written in just to be eventually written out, there to help the main character's plot along, aid in some personal growth and add drama, maybe attract more viewership for those interested in seeing more (temporary) female characters.

but it is.. *sigh* tiresome, indeed. let Buck have a stable partner - like Hen, and Chim, and Bobby do - and let their relationship be woven into the narrative to create a richer tapestry like those other pairings do. that is so much more satisfying in terms of storytelling and character growth, than trying to insert drama snags that threaten to unravel things. you can still have drama with committed pairings - every other committed pairing in the show is proof of that.

and if we take off the shipper googles: Tommy is good as Buck's partner, he makes sense, and he has great potential in the longrun both as Buck's boyfriend/husband and as his own character within the wider narrative of the show. he's a natural fit, but he's also entertaining and he has history with most of the main characters already.

i really do see Tommy as Buck's endgame btw, bc they work so well together as a pairing but also as independant characters. BUT i wouldn't be mad about them breaking up/taking a break (as i mentioned in that post: uncertainty about having kids; a potential permanent job position out of state) and then come back together stronger for it. we saw it happen with Henren (but i don't want to see cheating with our boys bc it doesn't fit who they are) so we know if they do breakup it doesn't have to be permanent - and i actually would love the mirror to Buck's first serious relationship where Abby leaves him - only Tommy comes back to him.

[magnusunpopularopinions]

very unpopular opinion im sure so ill just spit it out: jons "loss of humanity" arc is... bad. it's written badly.

i'll preface with this: the rest of the fandom (generally) really loves monster jon and the whole humanity debate so if you disagree with me there is a host of other people that support your take instead! dont let me discourage you from what you enjoy, im just some random guy.

that being said- when i first listened to tma and it was all "this is a story about losing your humanity!!" and i just didnt like it, i thought i wasnt a fan of that type of story. and that's perfectly okay! but, as ive branched out into a lot more horror media, i've found such juicy and truly torturous depictions of "loss of humanity" that jon "i read words and feel sad" sims just seems so silly to me. i mean, with characters like daisy that fight with needing to literally kill innocent people to live, knowing she can lose herself to becoming a feral police brutality beast, is it really THAT bad that jon... reads statements?? he doesn't SEE the people he's haunting the dreams of. he hardly seems aware that the trauma eating has any effect at all until someone brings it up to him.

maybe it's just me reading a lot of other books where people can't recognize their faces in the mirror anymore or become bound to blood promises or vampirism or something... but... the eye does not seem like a "am i even human anymore" thing. not like the stranger or the flesh or the hunt. if it's supposed to tell us that jon is just that sad about making people sad, then i didn't really feel anything about that either. hell, i even felt more attached to oliver's statements, and he doesn't have a monster form either. i think the fandom does the thing with all the floating eyes and moth-inspired jons because it's just a little hard to believe that he's "lost what it is that makes him human" when he.. to our knowledge.. just looks like a normal guy that is sad. get some zoloft buddy!!!

Thanks for sharing! Let’s chat!

I see what you’re saying anon! You made your own point really well! I’ll have to… sort of? Agree with you? Most disagree because I enjoyed the arc, but you definitely proved your point well!

I think, to play devil’s advocate for you, that it’s sort of a ‘to-each-his-own’ thing. Sure, in comparison to other characters, Jon’s descent into… avatar-hood may not come off as ‘humanity-losing,’ but I think, for Jon, he certainly doesn’t feel like himself. I think the scary part of it is that he’s looking in the mirror and he’s not seeing himself. And it’s not necessarily as scary to us as it is that we are watching him become scared of himself.

And then, of course, there is the question of what makes us human. What is humanity?

(Buckle up folks-)

I recently took a class where we read “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Phillip K. Dick. (This is the book that inspired Blade Runner, btw.)

The basic plot is as follows: Humans live in a dystopian version of earth alongside androids. There are a couple different characters, and I can’t remember people’s names right this second, so let’s just say this- Android Hunter goes to work to make sure that androids are identified and kept track of. He encounters a new line of androids that are so nearly identical to humans that they pass the android/human test. This leads him to question:

what makes us human?

The test is based off of intelligence and compassion. If an android could feel compassion, love even, then could it be human? And vice versa- there’s another character who is mentally handicapped and therefore could not get a human score on an android test, even though he’s fully human. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to answer fast enough/with “enough compassion” to pass as human.

So then, what is it? What makes humans human?

To make a novel short: Hope. Hope is what makes us human.

And I don’t just want to say that one book determines our humanity, but I have been applying it to lots of other media recently, and it’s held up really well.

So back to Magnus ((but definitely go read the book I just talked about!)), Jon’s loss of hope- in himself, in his co-workers, in nearly everyone and thing- that’s the horror.

Jon is gone, and to Jon… wow. That’s scary….

ALL that to say: awesome thoughts anon, thanks for being respectful and writing all that out! I love a well-thought out opinion and it’s lots of fun to think about (clearly!).

Again, thanks for sharing and remember to keep your words kind!

-E

>Hello! I’m E, and I created this blog to be a safe space to share Magnus Archives/Protocol opinions in! If you are seeing this in a reblog, I want you to know three things:

1) I value respect and kindness over anything.

2) I cannot control what others say in response to anyone’s opinions.

3) Only you can control your emotions/actions/words. Choose to respond with gentleness, not anger. After all, we all are here for the same reason- why not enjoy each other’s company?

Thanks, and have an awesome day/night!<

[s4vcu]

knb, hq and bllk boys as songs from my playlist!

(a/n): random idea i got tbh but for fun! maybe some of ygs will agree w some of them..but anyways enjoy this random post!

featuring: my fav hq, bllk and knb boys (+ momoi!!)

——————————————————————————

| kageyama tobio: crybaby by SZA

you CANNNOTT tell me that you don’t see some sort of connection.

“maybe if that attitude took a backseat (mr) know it all..” - that’s all it took for me to think of him 🥲😭

| akaashi keiji: my heart it beats for you by grent perez and the most beautiful thing by bruno major

ofc for THHEEE most definite gentleman akaashi AUSGSHGAH 🥹 these songs especially remind me of him just because. no explanation needed. mac demarco songs also give off akaashi vibes but those two songs in specific for sure!!

| hajime iwaizumi: close with desires by teo glacier

close with desires reminds me of this idea of him being a second option. i rmbr i read this one fic of how the reader chooses oikawa despite reader and iwa having a unique connection w each other. quite literally the definition of “maybe right person wrong timing” lyric �� LIKEEE COME HERE IWA I WILL GLADLY CHOOSE U 🙁

| rensuke kunigami: calling on you by jon b and 20191009 i like her by mac demarco

CALLING ON YOU CUZ MANS IS JUST AUSGSHAGHAH. felt like love at first sight when i first saw this guy cuz DAYUMM. anyways also 20191009 i like her because this guy would MOST DEF be a great bf, i just can’t explain it. he just gives off that kinda vibe. tho i can’t rlly say the same for post wild card tho..

| seishiro nagi: nobody but you by teo glacier and blue by yung kai

nobody but you gives off that laid back kinda vibe but at the same time still hits diff cuz of its lyrics. imo it matches perf w his laid back personality and also from knowing more of his character throughout the show that makes him hit diff too! an immediate fav. lately tho, i keep thinking of him whenever i listen to blue..hence my recent work 😭✨

| rin itoshi: spread thin by mariah the scientist

the whole younger and older brother situation BRREAAKKSS me everytime, and this song somehow gives that vibe. can we agree that it needs to stop 💔 (the shinazugawa and uchiha brothers did enough damage. i didn’t ask for another, okay?..)

| oliver aiku: her old friends by pnd

LIKEE HOW, WHYY. how can u be FINEE and rank top 3 in the gentleman category but at the same time canonically be a CHEATER, a PLAYER, whatever it is..like WHYY. this song reminds me of him period. no explanation is needed. 😭💀

| daiki aomine: make it to the morning and some of your love by pnd

ACC SO FINE PERIOD. my jersey number matches his. my fav member of the gom fs 🙂‍↕️ plus those edits on tiktok w make it to the morning and him (AND ALSO KISE!!) was just WOWOOWW DAYUMMM. but anyways i’ve never not liked him and his character ever. he alr caught my eye and became an immediate fav since day 1. i associate pnd songs w bb the most so yurr

| taiga kagami: sugar by brockhampton

he honestly gives off this song esp when in the lyrics where it says “spending all my nights alone, waiting for you to call me”. it makes me think of whether this is how he would feel thinking of kuroko after leaving him behind for the nba. and prob does. SIGHH

| satsuki momoi: venus by regina song

SHE DEFF gives off this song. honestly even the cutest pair and love at first sight, BOTH by regina song too btw, would match her also. she is so me when i like smo unfortunately.. 💔💔

[sylenth-l]

Hi hello, I love your art so much LIKE MY BROTHER. IT'S SO YUMMY, THE SHADOWS THE EXPRESSIONS, I love how you draw Timur , Felwinter and Osiris together 🙏 little bird with his two funky adoptive parents. I stare at your art like , I'm always ready and hyped to give traditional art another try ✨

If I was to go back, any tips for which watercolours to pick? I so far got only aniline colours.

Aah, thank you so much!! 😳💙

Hmmm, the thing is, I use fountain pen inks almost always for painting. I don't use watercolour much, so I can't really suggest anything in particular… I have a selection of colours from different brands, of course, I know quite a lot about pigments, and I like using watercolour from time to time to add some special effects to my works. For sketching outdoors it's also the easiest to use among all other paints, probably. But painting a whole artwork with it……… I try doing it sometimes, but every single time I end up thinking "God, I wish I used inks instead, I hate this so much, why is it so BLEURGH". I guess watercolour just isn't my medium 😂 

I can share my thinking process when building up a palette though, I use it with all mixable mediums I use, be it inks, watercolour, gouache, etc. I found it to be the most effective (and money-saving, lol) approach for me.

So what I want for my main mixing palette is to have 3 sets of primary trios. All colours also must be as smooth as possible, with no surprises or unwanted colour separation. For watercolour - not granulating ones.

(my camera tends to make all colours brighter and also fails to see the subtle difference between some shades, but you can still get the idea)

The first trio is extremely vivid, consisting of bright cool colours - lemon yellow, cyan, magenta-leaning pink. It gives you access to all the bright, open colours.

Second is the classic they teach in all art schools (probably, from what I've heard, I never went into one alkjdshfk) - sunshine yellow, bright warm red and ultramarine blue. This gives you a huge selection of warmer, natural colours, like all shades of golds, eggplant purples, olive greens, etc. It also allows some nice selection of wood browns.

Third is my personal favorite, the muted trio. You kinda can get similar colours from the previous trio, but I prefer having these separately, because of how often I use them all. It consists of golden ochre-leaning yellow, dark bloody red and dark indanthrone blue. It gives you the most beautiful browns, beiges, blacks and other rich, deep colours.

On top of that I also like to have at least one decent black (in my case it's Quink Black ink, I cannot live without it).  And these 10 would be my essentials. Other colours I add to my mixing palette are basically shortcuts to the shades I find myself mixing the most - like a few browns and violets. There are also a few inks that I need for some very specific purposes - like, I have a very vivid cold magenta ink to mix a certain bright cold shade of the Void, and also a fluorescent orange for adding shiny Exo LED lights. And etc.

(Actually I'm currently in the process of re-organizing my main palette and also considering making a few small sets for painting some characters specifically)

I also have a separate selection of chromatographic inks, which can probably be compared to granulating watercolours… But not quite. A few examples:

Here I don't have any special notes or advices, just get the ink you like and enjoy it. Some of these I use so often that I always keep them in my main palette, and others I only get out for some special occasion. These are also mixable btw - I constantly add other ink in Quink Black to get different shades of it.

However, I must say that not all of the ~special effects~ inks are polite and well-behaved, some will agree to work only on some specific paper after a significant amount of coaxing, and others will straight out say "fuck you" at the most crucial moment, even if they worked perfectly just a moment ago.

Btw, when working with inks, I really recommend to put it into smaller bottles with a dropper, so you don't have to open the big bottle each time. It's both easier to use for you and much safer for inks! 

ANYWAY, I hope this post was of some use for you 🌈

[marzthealien]

Underworld Office headcannon (Mostly with Charlie) because why not

Tw for spoilers for Charlie in Underworld btw

✂️ I feel like Charlie's dad would be really religious and in turn wouldn't let Charlie celebrate Halloween despite them always wanting too. (No offense to people who don't celebrate Halloween btw!)

✂️ So when Eugene (during Underworld Office/aka after Charlie died) told them that Halloween is his favorite holiday, Charlie told him that they never celebrated.

✂️ Eugene would have an idea to put a sheet over their head (Like those sheet ghost costumes) so people could see them, and they could go trick or treating together.

✂️ Charlie is hesitant at first but agrees to the plan.

✂️ On Halloween, Eugene introduces Charlie as their mute friend to Luke, Joy, and Oliver.

✂️ Charlie doesn't really take much enjoyment from getting candy because they can't eat. They are also a bit hostile towards Eugene's friends.

✂️ Eventually, Charlie starts warming up to them and tries their best to be friendly. (It's hard when they can't hear you)

✂️ Soon, Oliver trips and falls, they try to grab on to Charlie, but end up pulling the sheet off.

✂️ They all see nothing behind the sheet, and Oliver starts panicking.

✂️ Charlie just stands there like a deer in headlights.

✂️ Eugene tells everyone that Charlie just went home.

✂️ Oliver and Joy are VERY confused, but believe it

✂️ Luke knows it must be ghost stuff though

(Can't really think of anything else so that's it :3)

Random thing: Charlie and Eugene are Boss's adoptive children. It's canon, trust me, I was the adoption papers/j

[leothil]

tbh i can see feeling like the breakup was a little rushed this episode. but this season has been the rushed resolution season lol so what do you expect. it’s the being so blindsided by a breakup at all that i don’t get? and i actually do feel bad some people are so crushed because they built this relationship up into more than what it was.

Yeah I mean people are entitled to feel whatever, I just won't agree lmao. This show has a history of bringing back the LI more prominently right before they break up for a reason; they need to remind the audience that they exist and potentially set up the hurdles that lead to the separation. So showing Tommy in 8x05 and have them break up in 8x06 isn't any weirder than having Ana involved a lot more in 5x01-02 before the breakup in 5x03, having Ali at Buck's bedside in 2x18, or involving Taylor in the Jonah storyline in 5x17 (but she was so present the whole season it's hard to make a direct comparison using her tbh).

I am sorry for people who are sad about this. It sucks when your ship breaks up! But my sympathy ends exactly when and where they 1) start blaming Oliver for the breakup, 2) start blaming buddie fans for the breakup, 3) are saying Buck isn't queer anymore because he isn't in a relationship with a man, 4) start blaming RYAN for the breakup and, 5) keep harassing fans who weren't onboard the bt train.

(None of these are hypothetical, btw, every single example is straight from posts I've seen this morning)

[britney-rosberg06]

re bearnelli - i didnt know this was a controversial opinion?????? i thought this was generally agreed upon

i know but if you go through the tags it’s majority bottom oliver which is ABSURD??

Happy smiley sunshine does NAWT equal bottom/sub btw

[mellohiizz]

thinking back to the parrot finding out that ken's a wanted criminal and wifies chases after him again

i think when wifies finds parrot, i think he'd be wrapped up in wemmbu's arms slumped over, i don't think that wifies could even see parrot's expression, even if he could i don't think he has it in him to look at parrot's hurt face that he's partially responsible for

when he tries to go near them, to try to at least explain things to parrot, wemmbu would just glare at him, a silent threat that he'd at the very least get a nasty gash on his face before he's any way allowed to go near parrot, he knew about ken's secret, he didn't even tell parrot about ken, or advised ken to possibly tell him, wemmbu wasn't going to let him anywhere near his flock

it takes parrot's slightest movement for wemmbu to take his attention away from wifies to check up on parrot. As parrot turns his head to look at wifies, all wifies could feel is the guilt he has from seeing parrot's conflicted and pained look, before could turn away, thinking that he might not be wanted there, parrot extends a wing to him, a silent olive branch, wifies takes it and sits close to them, not as close as either of them wanted, but as close as parrot's comfort

after the awkward silence goes on for what felt like hours, parrot asks wifies why would ken hide this from him? did he not trust him enough?

i don't think wifies would know how to answer that, he thinks that there's a lot of reason why ken wouldn't tell parrot, may that be because she was ashamed about it, didn't want parrot to think less of her, or maybe she doesn't trust him, wifies isn't entirely sure what it is

so i think the only thing wifies says that he doesn't know why, that the only person who knows is ken, it wasn't the answer that parrot wanted, he didn't know what kind of answer he wanted really, so he'll accept this one for now

so the three of them just sit there for a while before wemmbu decides that it was time to go back to wato's place, the problems weren't fixed yet but wifies is trying to make sure that none of them fall apart

anyways, yeah, i'm gonna head to bed now see you laterrrr <3

oughhhh.... wemmbu being protective over parrot ☹️☹️ justice duo crumbs...

i totally agree with everything, btw. the issue is definitely still there, and parrot is still upset, but he's at least willing to give both ken and wifies another chance. mostly give ken a chance to actually explain everything, because it was still mostly on her.

yes, wifies also knew and didn't tell him, but it was still on ken to actually tell what happened, because he's the one who's apparently a wanted criminal, so it was his story to tell.

it will still be mostly tense, but i think they'll work it out eventually.

[bidisasterevankinard]

I'd have put my money on the conflict being Buck charging full speed ahead with the relationship (eg wanting to move in) while Tommy sort of puts the brakes because of past relationship trauma and not fully believing Buck's committed enough. BUT a bigger storyline wouldn't be just about this so I'm very curious

I see your vision and I agree I'm sure the main problem wouldn't be the argument itself, yet I don't think it's gonna be helicopter crush, but some other thing or maybe car crush or bad call, but I'm not sure it's Buck who will run too fast. Because he tried to commit to fast (Abby), to commit slowly (Ali) and commit in good tempo but because of bad reasons (Taylor) and because of different reasons it bit him in his ass. Ofc he wasn't the one who was on the blame relationship fall(with Abby and Ali it's hard to find his fault at all) but it still I'm sure it made him scared bc he doesn't know how to commit to a person as he should in good tempo bc of good reasons. I kinda feel it's gonna be Buck's problem. To be able to say why he wants to be "it" with Tommy, but not to get back to his clinging phase (also btw 8x5/6 it's time Gerard is back so maybe he will add to the problems for Buck to get over. Now i also think maybe Buck will be met with the close to Athena's situation in season 2 when she had a chance to get new higher job but she loved her life like that and only Bobby wasn't the one to tell her to go and change her life. Maybe Gerard would offer Buck smt in the other station and it will lead to Buck need to address what he wants from his future and from his life rn)

As for Tommy it's harder to say anything bc we don't know his love life story except that he came out only in 2017. There's a lot of hcs and I see Tommy as the person who had little slut phase but then tried serious relationships and bc of smt it never clicked. Is that possible he wouldn't want to be more serious with Buck? Ofc, but there's also can be that he actually the one who feels like Buck is less commited after he went over his panic and trying to chase Tommy. Maybe Tommy would feel insecure about smt

Everything is possible. Also ofc i wouldn't be so against moving in in episode 6, but my gut tells me it's not gonna be it. I think I love you scene more possible. And i bet moving in it's at least middle season finale if not the season finale. Bc how Tim and Oliver talked about this season I feel like they would try to get Buck and Tommy to get to know each other really really good and overcome some difficulties first, before moving them together(especially if they would decide bucktommy it's not it break them before they moved on together would be easier. I see bucktommy moving in together close the them getting engaged). Madney and BuckTaylor both moved together only in second part of the seasons where they officially dated (3 and 5s), bathena also moved together only in second part of the season they officially dated (2s) but yeah it was definitely faster. My bet bucktommy gonna move together around 10 months of dating, not 6 as I suspect it's gonna be in 8x5-6

[outrunningthedark]

Kenneth likes some of Lou’s IG stuff. I don’t think he is as activate on social media like the others. Also some crew members have liked some of his recent posts too. Including an executive producer/director for the show as well. So that whole narrative of the everyone on the crew hates him. Clearly always has been a lie and all some of fantasy from the wild Stans of an actor.

https://www.tumblr.com/outrunningthedark/778119180955336705/also-idec-what-lous-relationship-to-any-of-the

Thank you for the excuse to remind people about how happy Kenny was to see Buck find love ;) "There's no sit down, there's no big discussion or talk about it. It's what it would be. This guy has found love fina.... Well, I think love finally. And they come in and we see their facese [covered in the same soot] and at first it is shock bcause you're like, "Oh?" but then after it's, "Oh, oh, okay." It just kind of makes sense, right? (He said this to a Buddie shipper journalist, btw. No surprise Ryan would align himself with Kenny while pushing Oliver away. LMAO.) You know what's great about "They all hate Lou" being code for "Oliver hates Lou and BuckTommy"? Even if true, Oliver is the one who had to go along with Timothy's plans because he agreed to the story line without even knowing the guy he'd be kissing and obsessing over on screen 🤭 Do I think Oliver hates Lou? No. If he genuinely did, Lou wouldn't be back. At worst, they're coworkers instead of BFFs (something Ryan won't even claim now, oops) and if I had to guess...Lou's presence was less about the relationship as it was Oliver worrying about what the relationship would do to the most rabid members of the fan base. But with Eddie gone? And no timetable for a return? Well that's not Oliver's problem because - stop me if you've heard this one before - Oliver isn't writing the show! 😝

[invinciblerodent]

Musings about the Thorm family

(HEAVY Act 2 spoilers ahead!)

As I'm replaying the game and mucking around the Shadow-Cursed Lands, I... can't seem to stop thinking about the Thorms.

I could be interpreting things all wrong here, but it seems to me that Thisobald, Malus, and Gerringothe Thorm, they're... all supposed to be Ketheric's relatives, no? The information on how exactly they're related is confusing (I've found places on their wiki pages where they call them all Ketheric's siblings, one where Malus is said to be Ketheric's uncle, but Thisobald keeps referring to Ketheric as "father" which I don't know if he means more as creator, as in if he's supposed to be Balthazar's twisted creation that merely sees Ketheric as a father or what) so it's unclear how exactly they're supposed to be related, but... they are still Thorms. Ketheric's, and by extension Isobel's family, who were all alive before Reithwin would have succumbed to the shadows and the Dark Justiciars.

Like, I don't claim to have perfect understanding of the timeline at all, I could totally be seeing this all wrong, but as I'm interpreting things now... it's said that the Thorms were a powerful Selûnite family, and the patriarch, Ketheric, a renowned general and paladin(?), turned to Shar worship in his devastation over the loss of his wife Melodia, and his daughter Isobel. He turned his back on Selûne, and led an army of Dark Justiciars against the Selûnite town of which he had once been in control, and both kidnapped her daughter's lover and Selûne's own daughter Aylin, and before his defeat, unleashed the Shadow-Curse that ended up corrupting the very spirit of the land, Thaniel. (My guess is that the intent was to kill Thaniel, but he was merely torn asunder by the curse, and the part of him that stayed himself managed to flee to the Shadowfell before he would have lost his power, while the damaged part of him that stayed behind made a home in Oliver's body.) Then, as he was brought back to life by Myrkul, Ketheric agreed to sell his soul in exchange for his daughter to also be brought back to life; true resurrection. On this much, I'm (mostly) clear. This mostly makes sense to me.

..... But the rest of the family... also all watched this entire thing happen. They too lost first Melodia, then Isobel, to death, then Ketheric to madness and then death, and then themselves as well.

Sure, they were likely corrupt even while alive, I'm not arguing that they weren't. Of course they were. But the little notes around town, they only say that Ketheric put his relatives in charge, and that the Thorms had the "cushy jobs". And I assume they were... all pretty normal people then, all things considered, because none of the notes I've found mention that, btw, the tollmaster has recently taken to wearing a suit of gold, dunno what that's about, or that the surgeon had blades for fingers, idk if you noticed, though those would be pretty important things to note about them.

Malus was likely the worst, with how ardently he seems to have taken to true Shar-worship, even with a clear mind (the medical textbook he wrote is described as crisp and detailed, blending Sharran aphorisms with genuine medical science), and how many atrocities it's suggested that he's committed, but... before getting his fantasy!medical license revoked, he likely was a genuine healer, a doctor. Not a cleric, but a surgeon. The head to the House of Healing as more than just a figurehead, before his curse-warped mind would have led him down this dark path, and since none of the memos and notes seem to have been dated, we don't actually know how far gone he was when he wrote things like "anaesthetic is a tool to relieve my ears of my subject's screams as I apply the blade, not a mercy to be freely dispersed to living corpses". Could have been during the assault, could have been decades later, we don't actually know.

Gerringothe, sure, she was greedy and corrupt, but she was... just a clerk, a toll collector. She pinched and pilfered valuables, but the curse, it amplified all her worst qualities, and I think drove her to madness quickly- likely even before things got so bad as for her to become what we meet her as, this devilish-looking, emaciated being masquerading as a golden statue. She seems to have quickly devolved to having horrible outbursts of anger that had her employees hide in safes to save themselves from her, but before? I... don't know if I've found anything to suggest that she was likely to have been all that much worse than many other characters in similar positions. She was likely just a corrupt official with a mean streak, looking to make a buck on the side. (I can't figure out why she is the only one of the three with the "fey ancestry" passive feature though. Ketheric and Isobel have it as well, but the others don't seem to??? Are they just too far gone???? Idk????)

And Thisobald... I think he was a pretty young man when he was put in charge of The Waning Moon. And even in undeath, he's very gregarious, genuinely friendly for someone in his situation, and he sounds almost innocent as he ushers you to the bar, sits you down, and requests that you drink with him and delight him, tell him stories about your adventures for which he rewards you by answering your questions to the best of his ability. (He makes a silly li'l poop joke when you talk about the Grymforge, ffs! He's just a chap! A dude! A sweet little fella!)

The undead patrons' dialogue and the book in the backroom at least reveals that Thisobald was a distiller, a brewer once- but as the curse (and likely Balthazar, given the extensive disfigurement of his body, what with the four legs, the tail, and the tank on his back) warped his mind, he seems to have turned more and more towards stronger and stronger toxins, poisons. (Because, well, what is alcohol if not a less harmful poison?) He seems to have become obsessed with creating a deadly powerful toxin, and then, once his mind was too warped but before he could finish it, he seems to have lost interest in that as well, and "lived" from that point only to drink his poisonous brews, and be merry.

It's just... all so sad. How just one man's inability to cope with loss ruined him, his remaining family, his town, and so many lives after as well; how he blighted the land for a hundred years and caused so much suffering, just because he could not accept the loss which he alleged to turn to worship.

Ketheric was never a true worshipper of Shar. He could never actually embrace loss or absence as holy. But he did drag everyone still dear to him down with him for it.

edit- just fixed a typo