#i will discuss the compatibilities of my ships too

[canonicallyobserving911]

Eddie Diaz's "Ghost of a Second Chance"

IMO, in 7x7, Eddie Diaz will have a chance to see or hear how the life he always believed he was "supposed" to have with a wife and kids is not the life he's been WANTING. Based on his heart eyes and the way he's used Chris as a shield for his heart, his ideal life includes a husband (Buck) and their son (Chris).

Be clear, I ONLY SHIP BUDDIE!

I waited to post this because when season 7 started, it was unclear where the show was going to take Eddie's storyline and it appears the redirection of it that happened prior to 7x4 and 7x5 was not the original plan since it's been confirmed via interviews that Eddie was supposed to be with T*mmy instead of Buck. Also, now that it's confirmed Shannon Diaz will make a return in a future season 7 episode as either a ghost or a hallucination or whatever for Eddie, I decided I was ready to post this.

At the end of season 6 when Eddie asked Maris*l out on a date, I thought about the way the narrative has always shown Shannon is the only person who can help Eddie understand Chris doesn't need another mother. He's been carrying the weight and guilt of their relationship around with him for years because he thought him going to the Army broke her when in fact, they were two broken teenagers who were in over their heads and they were so busy trying to mimic the lives they saw Eddie's parents living that they never discussed what either of them wanted out of life.

Unpopular Opinion: Eddie and Shannon were NOT this perfect high school aged Romeo and Juliet type of romantic couple some people keep trying to make them out to be because the truth is they weren't soulmates and they weren't compatible. While it's true they were best friends, they were never on the same page and they didn't know how to communicate. Instead of talking to each other, all they did was argue and have sex but matured relationships consist of more than just sex, hence the 7x5 depiction of Eddie's relationship with Maris*l. They don't know each other and the episode title, "You don't know me" confirmed it.

Full Disclosure: I'm not a Shannon Diaz fan and it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH BUDDIE! It's strictly because she ABANDONED Chris, her biological son and the fact that she was a teen mother doesn't have anything to do with it because it does NOT excuse her behaviors. Teenage girls who were/are younger than her don't/didn't run out on their kids just because they need/needed time. If she didn't want to be with Eddie anymore that's fine but to leave and not attempt to contact her son for almost two years was NOT ok. She wrote Chris a letter that she wasn't even sure she would send but what happened to a phone call or her sending him a "Hey Chris, I love you and I miss you" email? Even back then there were too many ways she could have contacted him but the CANON FACTS are SHE CHOSE NOT TO. If Eddie wouldn't have called her to interview at Durand she would have stayed gone. Don't get it twisted because she was getting ready to leave Chris again so people should stop romanticizing their relationship and truthfully, so does Eddie. For CANON proof of these claims, all viewers have to do is LISTEN to the things she said to him in 2x17 when they were at the beach and when they were at the restaurant.

Eddie's my favorite character but he's not blameless in any of this either and by his own admission to Buck in 2x10, he left them first. But the difference is he made the DECISION to leave El Paso so he could provide a better life for him and his son even though his toxic mother, Helena (I'm not including Ramon because he had a redemption arc) offered to take Chris from him. He could have left Chris there but HE DIDN'T. He even told Shannon that being Chris' father taught him more about being a man than war ever could.

One last thing, Shannon and Maddie ARE NOT THE SAME! Maddie didn't abandon Jee-Yun, she left because she thought she was a danger to her and she went to get help. She wasn't in Boston galivanting around, shopping and partying like it was 1999, she went to a center for women to figure out what was wrong with her and why she felt like she did then she continued with therapy.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

While I don't like Shannon's actions, I do believe she's probably the only person who can help Eddie understand that he doesn't have to marry a "woman" to be happy. Why do I believe this? Well, they were best friends and they were married which means she knows things about Eddie that no one else does. She was the first woman he "pulled" away from and since they were separated for a long time while he was in the Army and after she left them, it's likely she figured some things out about what he really wants that neither of them was ready to confront.

Since 2x1, Eddie's story has been told in bits and pieces and while a lot of people romanticized what he had with her, I didn't because they were young and neither one of them knew what they wanted. Did he love her? He said he did but IMO he loved her as much as an 18-year-old could but I don't believe he was in love with her. Did she love him? She said she did but just like him, based solely on her actions, she didn't know what love was either.

Reminder, the only reason Eddie proposed they reconcile in 2x17 was because she thought she was pregnant again. He said he was looking for a sign and he thought her begin pregnant was it but before that he didn't want to do it. If you don't believe it, rewatch 2x17 and LISTEN to the conversation he had with Bobby. Bobby was the one who told him he would be a great dad to a second child but Eddie wasn't so sure. At dinner, when Shannon said, "I'm not pregnant", he paused then responded, "That doesn't change anything" but she rebutted with, "It does for me".

It appears she finally admitted to him that the life they were trying to live was NOT the one either of them wanted but he wasn't ready to admit it. He was using Chris as a shield like he always does and he was hoping her love for their son would be enough for them to reconcile and continue doing whatever they were doing. He said something similar to Ana when he broke up with her in 5x3. He said, "Chris loves you so much" but he never said he did and now he's trying to figure out where Maris*l fits since she babysat twice while he was flying in helicopters going to fight matches in Las Vegas and to karaoke with TK.

Believe it or not, Shannon was getting ready to leave again. If she wasn't then she wouldn't have brought up the letter she wrote to Chris. Also, she said she was still learning how to be someone's mother (notice she didn't say Chris' mother she said someone's) and she said maybe someday, she could learn how to be somebody's wife (not Eddie's wife but somebody's). Furthermore, when they were at the beach, she asked Eddie, "Is that all I am to you, Christopher's mother?" but he responded, "Shannon?" and deflected the conversation. Then she said if that's what it is then it's ok. She proceeded and asked him what he wanted and all he said was "All of this" with a hand wave out towards the ocean. He never admitted what he wanted and it appears the reason was because he didn't want to say.

In 2x7, while they were arguing, Eddie asked her, "What didn't I give you?" and her response was "You!" Therefore, Eddie always kept a piece of himself away from her and she admitted it to him but he wanted it to work probably for the wrong reasons.

REMINDER: In 2x17, Shannon was the one who said they needed to get a DIVORCE! She knew they needed to move on but Eddie was the one who said, "But we're still married". It appears he was the one trying to hold onto the life he believed they were supposed to have and I think it goes back to the example he saw from his parents.

Here's the thing, in 6x16, Eddie admitted he didn't propose to Shannon, he just said, "Let's get married" after they found out she was pregnant. They were best friends in high school and they started an instant family that neither of them were ready for. When she abruptly died, he didn't have a chance to discuss all the things they'd left unsaid. That's why Shannon has to be the one to tell him that it's ok for him to want who he wants. Who's that? BUCK!

Shannon vs. Buck

Please understand the show has illustrated it time and time again that Eddie wants to marry Buck so they can raise Chris together. If that wasn't the case, then Buck wouldn't have been included in Eddie's flashbacks in 3x15 while he was trapped in the well as many times as he was. He was shown with Chris more than anyone else which means Eddie thinks about the life he wants to have with Buck A LOT!

Additionally, in 7x1, Buck, Eddie and Shannon all sat on Chris' bed in the same spot to illustrate how they're his three parents while the babysitter (Maris*l) was nowhere to be found (related post linked here).

Also, Shannon's romantic relationship with Eddie and her parental one with Chris were constantly contrasted with the relationships Eddie and Chris have with Buck and Buck has always been shown to be the perfect match for Eddie. Reminder, he agreed to have Buck's back in 2x1 but Shannon told him in 2x7 that he never had her back.

Eddie needs to HEAR he can move on from the first person he married from someone other than the people who've been saying it to him. Also, in the past, someone's ALWAYS told him what to do regarding his relationships. He was "strongly encouraged" to marry Shannon because he got her pregnant. His parents and Bobby told him it was time to move on from her in season 4 (YES! His parents did too because reminder, they stopped by their house to eat on their way back to L.A. after they left Austin, TX [in the LS crossover episode, Eddie said it to Judd] and two episodes later, in 4x6, Bobby told him he needed to move on). Then in 6x14, Tia Pepa pushed him to start dating again even though he tried to tell her he wasn't ready.

The point of this post is Shannon is probably the ONLY person who can show or tell Eddie that the life he thought they should have had, wouldn't have ever been because there would have always been someone or something that was pulling him away from her the same way it did when they were married 👀.

It appears Shannon will be Eddie's "Ghost of a Second Chance" but the question is, will her reappearance as a ghost or whatever for the second time in season 7 help Eddie admit the person he's in love with is Buck? Only the showrunner, writers and producers know the answer to that question.

[ostendird-oddie]

Hoffrig: the guide to an underutilized ship

Hoffrig has a wierd placement in the fandom. Despite the pair getting pretty much a whole movie dedicated to their relationship, the ship stays relatively obscure, so it is my task today to bring it to light:

*History and Prelude*

These two have known eachother for some time now, most likely since the beginning. Mark is shown to care about Daniel, moreso than most people. He is worried about Rigg getting hurt. Even if his concern is a little backhanded, he sticks up for Rigg more than once and even attempts to comfort him somewhat (poorly of course, it's still Hoffman we're talking about)

*Compatibility*

Rigg is a much better person than Hoffman, no doubt, but Rigg was chosen for his game for a reason. He has a strong saviour complex (which they share with Mark, tho Mark's saviour complex takes on a much more horrifying form). Rigg is not afraid of getting his hands dirty when he believes the other person was let off too lightly (wife beater, Ivan, when Eric is beating up John etc). Mark sees that in him and believes that they are alike, so he tries to radicalise Rigg the only way he knows how to

*The wife shaped elephant in the room (and Eric Matthews)*

Daniel wouldn't cheat on Tracy. That's out of the question. He loves his wife, tho she suffers from saw typical hysterical unreasonable lady disease, where she has a valid point but delivers it in the worst way possible. Rigg takes his job very seriously. He truly believes himself to be a good cop. A man that helps people. Therefore he's moreso married to his job, then his actual wife. And being a SWAT guy... He probably doesn't have much time to have relationships outside of his job, so when he looses all his friends one by one his job wins the tug-of-war and tracy can't stand this anymore. I think user fate-motif put it best "i tend not to rock with rigg cheating on his wife but i think something people rarely discuss is that he's totally neglecting her emotionally already and even though he loves her the man is dropping the ball on his relationship and hoffman is the perfect embodiment of that neglect (he is both the missing cop he has to rescue and he is jigsaw)"

Rigg cares about Eric Matthews more than about Hoffman and arguably more than even about his wife. They are best friends so Hoffman kept him around as a sort of leverage over Dan. If he's not coming to save Hoffman, he's coming to save Matthews. And even before that Hoffman took up on the mission of filling the eric shaped hole in Daniels life to... Well. Mediocre success. Matthews for all his brooding and bad deeds is not an antisocial wierdo. He actually has friends and relationships outside of Rigg. There's a lot to explore in that dynamic but I won't be dipping into headcanons in this post (at least I'll try)

*Trial*

In order to become a jigsaw apprentice one must be tested. Amanda had the bear trap and arguably the uh... well we've all seen Saw 2 (the ammounts of anguish this poor gal had to go through) and Lawrence with his foot. Both were left in shambles and John put them back together haphazardly. But not Mark. Mark's trial was very milktoast. John basically let him go with a slap on the wrist. So he decided he could be more lenient towards Rigg. At least in terms of physical torment. There were no people who could put Rigg in any significant danger as a buff experienced SWAT guy. An argument could be made for the first woman but she was already bleeding out and in too much pain to think straight to think straight. Providing her with a knife was just to futher emphasize the point that she deserved what happened to her. Ivan is an obese bumbling coward. He didn't even try to fight back. I wont even explain the last pair because duh. Also a thing to note is that all of these games had something to do with sex or relationships in them. Very smooth Hoffman 😒

Ultimately Rigg not listening to Hoffman's earlier advise is what lead to his demise. And Mark put the gun in the hands of Matthews to absolve himself of the blame for Rigg's pain. Rigg wasn't indoctrinated and obedient at the end, so Mark left him to die. To be the fall guy. That leads me into my next bullet point-

*Peter Straham*

Ok im not a coffinshipper. At least not as of now and not a true one. I see hoffstraham as a logical continuation of hoffrig. Hoffman pulls almost the same tactics on Peter but instead of "reassurance" he uses intimidation and brute force. Straham is the manifestation of "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Mark settles for him as plan B because everyone he cared about are dead now. I don't believe mark tried to pull Straham into his murder cult out of any sense of affection or admiration for the guy. It all comes down to control again, something he is constantly fighting for. He doesn't like Straham but if he can't kill the bastard he'll find another way to shut him up.

I believe the glass coffin was originally intended for Rigg, in case he survived his trial, but Hoffman reused it for Peter in a last ditch effort to flex on the guy.

So uh ... I don't know how to end this post other than PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT THEM OMG I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS THAT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FIT IN HERE 😭

[carelocaiiel]

My Ships in One Piece (Mostly Talking About Vivi's Potential Mate Because Nobody Talking About it)

Okay so here's some (mostly strawhats) of my favorite ships in One Piece and i will share my thoughts regarding ships that i found hilarious or interesting. For those of you who ask whether number 1..2…3.. is a ranking..(??) No, I just sorted the strawhats members first.

Luffy x Vivi

Luffy and Vivi is perfect. They both can reaches mentally to one another and even punch like a bros in other to woke the other one. Vivi deeply trust Luffy and Luffy always think highly of her but he can be worried sometimes because he care deeply for her. I say they're perfect because Vivi can mentally reaches Luffy, and consider Luffy sometimes hard to be approach with mentally method, this is high praise for her. Luffy and Vivi shares a lot of similarities like

Both are :

Honest leader

Fearless leader

Loyal to their friends and family

Love Adventure

Have The Will of "D" in their names

Lost their family members to World Government

Targeted by Imu

I found out their compatibilities somewhat reminds me of these two MBTIs > Luffy as ESFP known for their lively and outgoing personalities while Vivi is ENFJ, the ones who make sure everyone feels included and cared for. The ESFP and ENFJ will likely care for each other quite deeply. And while im not really keen with zodiac, i really love how sometimes author use this as a hint or base of something in the story, like the magic in Black Clover characters are determined by their zodiac signs. I checked out Vivi is an Aquarius and Luffy is an Taurus. I found out Aquarius and Taurus in love can make for an interesting pairing, and it seems Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the planet that governs innovation, technology, and surprising events.. Yes Uranus.. One of the ancient weapons.

I just love how Luffy is sad that Vivi choose not to join strawhat pirate and he respected her wish. Since they're both closer in age, i think it's cute to assumed maybe there's a time Oda thought that it would be cute to use Vivi as Luffy's first crush (but Luffy himself doesn't even recognize it) before Oda make Luffy aseksual. Even he is eager to save Vivi that time when he hear she is missing. I say this because there's just noway Luffy punch Vivi so normally if he's not irritated by her. Sometimes crushes really makes we more irritated than usual. And while yes he punches other women too, he's not someone who will punch woman that he consider HIS FRIEND.. but in that scene..we can see Luffy wanted Vivi to REALLY TRUST HIM and the other crews BECAUSE THEY'RE FRIENDS And thats why his punch to Vivi is more special .. Luffy wanted Vivi to acknowledge HIM.

And what i find interesting is Igaram's dream when Vivi said she is going to be a pirate queen 😂, reminds me that she is a D. too .. So their pairing can work out like Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rouge. Also, according to Volume 76 SBS, Vivi's image number is 5.5 and Luffy is Birthday is in May 5. Their blood type also the same.. type F.

2.Nami x Sanji

Nami and Sanji is actually my VERY FIRST SHIP. If Luffy and Vivi have respect then i say Nami and Sanji have natural chemistry that of a couple. While there's a lot of fans that favors Nami x Luffy, i just see NamixLuffy's chemistry is like a Sister to her lil bro which she REALLY TRUSTED. Luffy and Nami's like two of kindred spirits. I just love how Sanji calls Nami using -san instead of -chan like other girls. Sanji respect Nami so much and treat her on the top of women. I just thought there's a lot of potential in their dynamic because their dynamic getting more interesting over time.

3.Nami x Zoro

I always have this thought that MAYBE Zoro prefer girls who is sharp and know what they want. I just saw a lot of Nami Zoro scenes that make me think " They're so funny together" because they have mutual respect for each other's strengths while often buttheads. Sometimes they can be seen talking and discussing about trivial matters.

4.Zoro x Tashigi

Yes Zoro and Tashigi… and why not ? My only comment is that their dynamic is interesting and i would love to see more of Zoro's reluctant reaction to Tashigi 😂😭.

5.Zoro x Vivi

Zoro and Vivi.. Yes this one is interesting. Zoro ALWAYS respected Vivi. He knows Vivi's characteristics and he knows she is a smart and independent woman. While there's not a lot to say about this ship, i just like how Zoro always have this concerning kind of face when he see Vivi doing something wholeheartily. And not to forget "MR. BUSHIDO" , a nickname Vivi choose for Zoro. Aint that cute ? I love their friendship too .. Like i said before, maybe zoro prefer girls who is sharp and know what they want. I just think Zoro always see Vivi as that kind of girl.. and i think Zoro's respecting people who puts others first like Luffy.. his respect for Vivi is just the same because Vivi and Luffy are that kind of people who will protect others and not afraid to do that.

6.Usop x Kaya

I will just say THEY ARE CANON and you know it 😭.The way Kaya believe in Usop ? Its just so wholesome And i LOVE IT.

7.Robin x Law

THIS! ACTUALLY ONE OF MY BIG THREE IF I RANK IT. 😭😭 Great minds think alike right ??? Yes! And that is Robin and Law! I don't know what should i say about them … They're just HIT IT OFF! 😭A VERY MATURE AND TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP .. And that is big! Considering both of them growing up struggled to trust people. Zoro x Robin is nice.. But not as nice as this . A lot of people said Law will die before the "dawn" comes.. But.. Yeah.. 😭i just can't ignore this feeling to ship them.

8.Vivi x Lucci

LEMME JUST SAY THIS STRAIGHT! THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS SHIP THAT I MYSELF CANT EVEN BELIEVE I SHIPPED THIS 😭. She already roasted Lucci WAY back there when she was Miss Wednesday riding Karoo.

We know that Nefertari is the name of an Egyptians Queen. Whats more interesting is that Egyptians believed cats were magical creatures, capable of bringing good luck to the people who housed them, Egyptians saw cats as mutually beneficial companions. Who have The Cat as their Signature Devil Fruit transformation ? LUCCI! The ancient Egyptians believed the cat was a representation of Bast, Bast also represented fertility, and also protection. Who also said their job is to protect Vivi? LUCCI also 😭.

I just can't help find this pairing hilarious… sassy vivi vs stoic lucci? Yes thats it! 😭 Whats more hilarious? HIS FACE RESEMBLE KING COBRA, VIVI's father. If theyre related, i would say like father like son.

And this just keep getting hilarious…

There's this manga cover when Lucci feeding the pigeons and one of them wearing necklace which have letter "V" as if "Vivi" .In chapter 753, SBS revealed Vivi's representative animal is PIGEON 😭 well yeah she is a pacifist thats what to be expected .. But… who have piggeon as their friend? My Man Lucci. And not to mention Vivi's representative colour is white… 😭.

Vivi is associated with marriage too .. If you guys know, there's this manga cover when Vivi's scrubbing and the flag says "Bride Training". The curious thing is… THE CATS is the ones who helped her 😤! And the name of the one who request it! "Hattori" SUS MUCH..

Im starting to believe Oda is setting up Vivi to marry someone at the end of One Piece.

Not to forget her tank top in the color spread says TIGER 😭 yes.. big cat like leopard. Maybe Tiger in here is associating with Nefertari Lily so it can be "Tiger Lily". Tiger Lily flowers were often used in rituals as an offering to invoke healing, protection, and good fortune. Furthermore, Tiger Lily flowers were also associated with the goddesses of love and fertility. It was thought that the flowers could help individuals connect with their ancestors and receive guidance from the spiritual realm. In the famous play, Peter Pan, the character Tiger Lily was named after this flower, and it symbolized her beauty and bravery.

In Chinese folklore, the Tiger Lily flower was believed to represent the love between a man and woman, and it was often planted in wedding gardens. Whats wrong with Vivi and wedding? 😂…. Dreaming of a Tiger Lily flower can be a powerful symbol of transformation, growth, and rebirth. It may indicate that a person is going through a period of personal growth or is about to embark on a new chapter in life (AND YES SHE IS GOING TO HAVE HER OWN ADVENTURE) Alternatively, it may be a sign of good luck and prosperity.

In Native American folklore, the Tiger Lily was associated with the sun and was believed to bring warmth and light to the world.Maybe if Vivi's the true Uranus (like i said before in LuffyxVivi that her zodiac is associated with Uranus), then this sentence is make sense, since a lot of people saying Uranus is the sun.

A tweet by @chanchancilchan explaining that maybe Oda is inspired by Peterpan to move Vivi as character and associated her with Tigerlily from peterpan. Both Vivi and Tigerlily refuses any suitors even though they're old enough to be married, and Tigerlily is kidnapped by Captain Hook which suspiciously resembles Sir Crocodile. WHAT SURPRISE ME IS not these thing but A CHARACTER NAMED JOHN DARLING.

From what i know, John Darling is in love with Tigerlily. In the anime Peter pan no bouken, there was a whole episode dedicated to John and Lily's first date, with John trying to be a gentleman to her only to either misfortune to happen or to have Lily utterly tsuntsun at him 😭 i dunno but this reminds me so much of Vivi and Lucci (yes im delulu). What i am trying to say is… Look at this John boy, look at that hat! and his white clothes…. But .. This tiger-vivi story feat lucci should be stopped here.. Lemme go introduce my next fav ship.

9.Vivi x Sabo

If you read my babbling about Tigerlily-Vivi feat Lucci. I think you should know that this is the continuation 😭. The thing is… John Darling reminds me SO MUCH of young Sabo. What intrigues me the most is that John is a middle child and if we see Ace, Sabo and Luffy together.. It seems Sabo is younger than Ace since his birthday is in March, so he is the middle one. John is said to be very mature but loves his time being very adventurous and playful, Sabo much ? Speaking of his appearance .. In some Disney storybooks, John's nightshirt is blue instead of white .. Yes… He wears glasses(Goggles for Sabo) , stovepipe hat. Umbrella (Pipe for Sabo) and blue clothes.

Also.. Remember when Sabo said he must marry into a royal family?

I can't wait to see Sabo meet Vivi, because Vivi has met his other two brothers, she has even had a deep talk about Luffy with Ace and has collided with Luffy.

10.Sabo x Koala

Next is Sabo and Koala, actually i don't have anything to say about them.. They're partner and their synergy is good. So well whats more to say ? 😂

11.Smoker x Hina

And last one is Smoker and Hina?? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY ? 😭 THEY'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHERS AND THAT'S FINAL. I MEGAYACHT EM!

HAHA... AND THAT'S IT MY BABBLING about My Fav Ships in One Piece ... Mostly i babbling about Vivi but that's exactly my point since not a lot of people bringing that up. Actually i'm fine If these characters end up not having a romantic relationship with each others. But that's the point of shipping, isn't it? to have fun, and I already feel very happy with these ships, especially LuffyxVivi, RobinxLaw and VivixLucci (OMG FORGIVE ME ABOUT THIS ONE).

[sporadicthingcollection]

Point Counterpoint (Tech x F!Reader)

Summary: Despite the mutual attraction, Tech thinks a relationship at time isn't a good idea. You disagree. Vehemently.

Pairing: Tech x F!Reader

Rating: Mild.

Word Count: 3.1k.

Warnings: None!

---

But if I seem to act unkind

It's only me, it's not my mind

That is confusing things

---

Figuring out where you lived wasn’t difficult. You’ve mentioned that it’s a ten minute walk to Cid’s bar, and a fifteen minute walk to the hangar where they keep the Marauder. A third distance would have made it easier, but Tech has done more with less.

Though it would have been much easier if Omega wasn’t hovering over his shoulder.

“This seems... complicated,” she says slowly.

“Not particularly,” Tech replies. He points at the computer viewscreen. “The edge of this circle represents about a fifteen minutes walk, and this one--”

“No, I mean why do this when you could just message her? You have her comm information.”

Echo chimes in from his spot lounging on the bunk. “Because he’s scared to talk to girls.”

Tech shoots him a dry look. “There is no guarantee that she would reply in a timely manner, or that she would be willing to give the information freely. This is faster.”

Omega gives Echo an uneasy look, but he shrugs. She returns her attention to the screen. “Did she forget something?”

Tech shakes his head. “There is something I’d like to discuss with her in private.”

Echo chimes in again. “Make sure you bring flowers. I’ve heard roses are traditional for first dates.”

There’s a crash from outside the ship, and Wrecker comes barreling inside. “Tech’s goin’ on a date?!” he bellows.

Everyone flinches, with poor Omega covering her ears. But she recovers quickly. “He’s trying to figure out where she lives right now.”

Wrecker’s brow scrunches up. “Why doesn’t he just ask her?”

Tech sighs. “I am not going on a date,” he says. “Though, given that she is infatuated with me, it would be a reasonable assumption to make.”

You didn’t hide it very well. The way you’d stand a little closer to him, or play with your hair, or send him messages with hearts in them. You seem to be using them playfully, but given all of the other evidence, it’s the only logical conclusion.

Wrecker breaks into a wide grin. “Aw, lucky!” He gives Tech what is intended to be a friendly punch on the shoulder, but it nearly knocks him out of his chair.

“Don’t sound too excited, Tech,” Echo says. He sits up and swings his legs over the edge of the rack to sit.

“I am not,” Tech says. “Regretfully, I am going to talk her out of it.”

Wrecker’s voice doesn’t crack often, but it does now. “What?! Why?!”

Tech picks up the holopad on the console and passes it to him. “I have spent the last several days compiling a list of why we should not pursue a relationship. You may peruse it if you wish.”

Wrecker is more than capable of reading, but he stares at the pad like it’s written in Durese. His expression hardens and he shoves it back into Tech’s hands. “These are dumb. You’re dumb.”

“Demonstrably untrue,” he replies.

“Nah, Wrecker’s right this time,” Echo says. Tech looks to him, only to see him shake his head in disapproval. “A girl likes you, you go for it. Especially when you like her back.”

There is wisdom in his brother’s words, but how did he know he liked her back? Tech blinks at him. “And where did you hear that?”

“You act different around her,” Omega says. “You’re always standing really close to her, and your cheeks get kinda red, and you smile at things she says...” She shrugs. “It’s really obvious.”

He takes a steadying breath. “Regardless of my feelings, we are not compatible. It is as simple as that.” He stands up. “If you will excuse me, I’d like to see her before dark.”

Wrecker lets out a low grumble, not unlike that of an agitated tooka. “For someone so smart, you’re really stupid, y’know that?” He turns to Echo. “Two creds says this doesn’t go the way he thinks this will.”

“Bet,” he grunts. “She’s gonna kick him to the curb.”

Tech rolls his eyes, but says nothing. He has places to be.

Hunter almost bumps into him as he walks down the ramp, but he scoots to the side just in time. “Going to see your girlfriend?” he says with a smile.

“She is not my girlfriend,” he says flatly, “and I’m going to straighten that out now.”

---

You’re a very intelligent woman. You have an education and a career. You can usually keep up with his explanations and ask more questions. It’s one of the many things he likes about you.

Today, however, you seem to not understand a thing he’s saying. From the second you opened your door, you’ve been wide-eyed and baffled. Which is unusual, given that he’s not espousing any particularly complicated technical insights.

You stare at the holopad, eyes widening as you scan the text. They’re enormous and uncomprehending when you look up at him, blinking. You swallow, then take a deep breath.

“Tech,” you ask flatly, “what the fuck?”

That’s an unusually ignorant question coming from you. “Is it not obvious? It is a list of reasons you should pursue other men. I am not a suitable partner for you.”

You blink once. Your mouth opens, then closes. You look at the holopad and open your mouth again, only to close it again as you look back at him. “How long is this?”

“There are about thirty-five items, though some have multiple subsections. So about…” He counts in his head. “Forty-seven, in total.”

He waits for you to speak. You don’t. You just keep staring at him. You look remarkably like a fish, with your mouth opening and closing. You look between him and the holopad several times.

Unsure of what to do with his hands, he adjusts his goggles. “This is not to say that I do not wish to stay friends,” he says. “You are good company and I would like to--”

He’s about a head taller than you, but you have the element of surprise. You grab him by the collar of his breastplate and haul him into your apartment, throwing him onto your sofa. It’s quite plush and his landing is soft.

You slap the door panel to close it and then whirl around to storm towards him. “This isn’t fair,” you say. “You can’t just throw a list of reasons at me and leave.”

“I just did,” he states. He tries to stand up, but you sit him back down. “I don’t understand what you are upset about.”

With a huff, you toss the holopad at him. “At the very least, I deserve to have you tell me to my face why. And I should make an argument back.”

That’s fair. He glances at his chronometer. “I hope you have no plans for the evening.”

“Free as a purrgil,” you say, voice smooth. “So lay it on me.”

He likes that confident tone you take. It makes his insides squirm in a pleasant way. “Very well,” he says. He taps the pad. “Point one,” he begins. “I am a fugitive of the Empire.”

You scoff. “For a good reason. I’d desert too if I had people to protect.”

“Friendship is one thing, but the close contact necessitated by a romantic relationship would put you in constant danger.” He gives you a pointed look. “It is not an easy life.”

You ponder that a moment, tipping your head back and pursing your lips. “Well, yeah,” you finally say, “but I’ve known that from the jump. It’s not like you’re hiding it from me.”

That’s a good point. You’ve been nothing but gracious about his status -- helpful, even. You’ve gone so far as to warn him when inspections are to be conducted on the ship hangars.

You continue. “And in the interests of openness, I assure you I’m not hiding anything either. Except maybe my credit card number, but that’s nothing personal.”

A joke. Your mood has improved. A good sign. Perhaps you’ll be more receptive to the next point.

He adjusts his goggles. “Point two: you are far more attractive than I am.”

The right half of your smile disappears as your brows shoot up and your eyes widen, leaving you looking remarkably like an orbak in a pair of headlights. “Are you saying you wish I wasn’t pretty?”

“Nothing of the sort. You are fine the way you are. More than fine, if I may be honest. Which is what concerns me. Couples where one is perceived as more attractive than the other are subject to more scrutiny and are therefore more likely to separate.”

Your expression doesn’t change. You’re still baffled. “I’m flattered, but... what?”

For such an intelligent woman, you’re being unusually dense right now. It’s very frustrating. “Objectively speaking, you are very beautiful. Your face is symmetrical and your bust-waist-hip measurements are within ideal parameters -- based on just my visual estimates, of course.”

Somehow, your eyes get even wider. “...how long have you been looking at me?”

Too long, but he’ll keep that fact to himself. He ignores your interjection. “I, on the other hand, am a Human clone of decidedly average looks. Which brings me to my next point--”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa!” You regain your wits and flap your hands so fast that your fingers appear to smear in the air. You stick your index finger at him. “What makes you think you’re unattractive?”

He almost scoffs, but he swallows it. “The data I’ve seen suggests I am not.”

You roll yours. “Don’t care. Explain yourself.”

He’s not a fan of prolonged self-depreciation, but if you insist. “Brown hair and eyes are, according to research I’ve read on the subject, the most common hair and eye colors among Humans. Hardly unique traits. Thus, average.”

“You’re taller than most guys I’ve met and in better shape. That rates you pretty high in my book,” you say. “And your goggles are neat.”

“While your appreciation of my eyewear is, well, appreciated, you are just one woman.” Speaking of which, they’re slightly crooked again. He adjusts them.

You suck in the slightest of breaths, and the corners of your lips curl. You always seem pleased when he touches his goggles.

You shake your head as if to clear it. “There’s more to attractiveness than looks, man.” You count on your fingers. “There’s personality, interests--”

“I’m aware of that as well. Which brings me to my third point: disparate levels of intelligence.”

You abandon your counting and your gaze snaps to his like a turret locking onto a target. “Excuse me?”

“I’m far more intelligent than you are.”

While it’s the truth, the look in your eyes makes him regret saying that. “Are you calling me dumb?”

He raises his hand. “I did not mean to offend.”

“Then what did you mean?!”

It’s suddenly very hot in here. “That was-- What I mean to say is--” He swallows thickly and takes a breath. “While you are by no means unintelligent, I am an enhanced clone. I am very knowledgeable and, in past experiences, my sharing of that knowledge has led to discomfort and irritation on the part of others.”

Your anger deflates. You put your hand on your breast, and your brows knit. “Have I ever been like that?” you ask quietly.

“Not often, but on occasion.”

You deflate even more. “I’m sorry,” you say in a small voice. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

A fuzzy warmth blooms in his head, pressing against the backs of his eyes. He’s not used to apologies, and yours seems genuine. “It’s fine,” he says, willing the feeling away.

“No, it’s not.” You vault over the arm of the sofa to sit next to him. Your gaze is soft. “I hurt your feelings and I apologize for that.”

The feeling doesn’t go away. It trickles down his throat and into his chest, even fuzzier and warmer. He coughs and turns back to the datapad.

“I think it’s really neat when you go off about stuff. Like, I didn’t know that thing about getting into hyperspace faster if you use a gas giant as a slingshot. I was telling everyone that for weeks.”

He’d completely forgotten he’d told you that. Though it’s not slingshotting. “Gravity assist,” he corrects.

Your smile returns and it’s like when he takes his armor off after a long day. “Gravity assist,” you repeat. “My bad. Point is that I like it when you talk about stuff. So scratch that from your list.”

His insides are fuzzy enough that he’s suddenly worried he swallowed a mouse without noticing. “...very well,” he says. He highlights the passage and deletes it from the list. “But that doesn’t affect my next point.”

You cross your arms. “Lay it on me.”

Your casual demeanor calms him somewhat. “Point four: clones have inconsistent fertility levels. Should you desire a child, conception may be difficult--”

A peal of laughter interrupts him. You’ve got your hand on your chest as your shoulders shake, your eyes scrunched up and your smile wide.

The warm sinks into his belly. He likes it when you laugh. But this is a serious matter. “What is so funny?”

You giggle for a few moments more, then inhale. “We’re not even in a relationship and you’re talking about kids!”

“It is a genuine concern!” he says. “Numerous studies stated that infertile couples are three times more likely to separate.”

The seriousness of his tone seems to affect you, and you stop laughing. “But we’re not a couple.”

“And I would hate for that to happen if we were.”

“Tech,” you say sharply. “You just brought over a list about why you don’t want to be in a relationship. Why are you worried about it?”

“It is not that I don’t want to, it’s just that it would be unwise,” he says.

It’s the truth. He’d love nothing more than to be with you. But it’s a bad idea and he’s holding forty-seven reasons why. One of which is infertility and he would really appreciate it if you took it seriously.

And yet now you’re looking at him like he sprouted a second head. Wide eyes. Jaw lowered. Lips parted. “Say that again.”

“It is not a good idea,” he repeats.

You shake your head and speak slowly. “No, the first part.”

He swallows. His cheeks are heating up. “It is not that I don’t want to be in a relationship--”

You spring forward so fast that not even his enhanced reflexes are enough to stop you. The datapad clatters to the floor as you push him back against the sofa and position yourself above him.

“I wanna kiss you,” you whisper. “Can I kiss you?”

His surroundings, all of the tactile sensations he’s getting, every single thought swirling around in his head vanishes with a pop. All that exists is your beautiful, symmetrical face, staring down at him with glittering eyes.

A single word appears, deep in his gut. He has to grab onto it and force it up his throat, past his teeth and tongue to his numb lips, and even then it’s barely louder than the breeze through a field of grass.

“Please,” he croaks.

The glitter in your eyes turns to a shine. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, you lower yourself towards him. Your breasts make contact with his chest first, and he wishes he hadn’t worn his armor. He wishes he could feel their warmth, their weight, resting against him.

And then your lips make contact with his and he doesn’t wish for anything at all.

Tech has never been kissed before. He’s seen it, heard others talking about it, how much they crave it. He didn’t put much stock into it. It seemed like it would be unpleasant.

He was wrong.

Your lips are gentle and warm against his, soft and smooth as satin. Your muscles move beneath the skin, as if you’re putting great effort into keeping them still.

He wants to linger in this moment forever.

But all things must end, and just as soon as you make contact, you pull away. Your eyes are lidded slightly, making you look intoxicated. Your tongue peeks out from behind your lips, visible for only a moment.

He wants to taste it.

He throws his arms around your waist and pulls you flush against him. One hand snakes up to press your head back down towards his as he rises to meet you.

He's a man possessed, watching his body act of its own accord. He moves his lips against yours and, though you peep in surprise, you reciprocate. You part your lips and he feels the warmth of your breath and the coolness of your mouth and you taste like hyperspace looks.

He has no idea what that means, but it feels right.

“Tech,” you whisper into his mouth.

Hearing his name come from your lips is like heaven. He murmurs yours back, and he gets a coo so sweet in response that he gasps.

You pull away, concern knitting your brow. “You okay?” you pant.

He nods. “Yes. This is a... new experience.”

Your jaw drops. You look both sad and elated. “Well, I’m honored to be your first.”

He’s glad you’re the first as well. With any luck, you’ll be the only.

He licks his lips. They taste faintly of meiloorun. “...I would like to kiss you again.”

Your eyes sparkle with delight. They drift closed as you lean in to catch his lips in yours.

---

He doesn't know how long he lays with you atop him, exploring your mouth, but the sun has set by the time he leaves. Or you let him leave, rather. You refuse to let him go until he promises to come by tomorrow so you can buy him dinner.

The phrase walking on air never made much sense to him, but as he strolls through the streets, he thinks he gets it.

Hunter is examining the contents of a cargo crate when Tech returns. He initially doesn’t pay him any mind, but he double-takes and raises a brow. “Where’ve you been?”

“Seeing a friend.” He adjusts his goggles. “Why?”

“You got...” He rubs his thumb along his lower lip. “...on your mouth...”

Tech touches his fingertips to his mouth. Pulling away, a swash of color stains his gloves.

Uh-oh.

He scrubs the back of his hand along his mouth just as Echo pokes his head out the door of the Marauder, quickly joined by Omega and Wrecker. “So how’d it go?” he asks.

Somehow, he manages to keep his voice even. “Better than expected,” he replies. “We’re getting dinner tomorrow night.”

Echo’s eyebrows shoot up as Omega’s jaw drops. Wrecker barks a laugh and jostles Echo with his elbow. Hunter continues to look confused.

“Seriously, what happened?” he asks. “Is this about your girlfriend?”

Tech opens his mouth to respond, only to pause. Instead, he nods. “It is,” he says.

Hunter waits for the correction, but it doesn't come. His brows slowly rise, and he breaks into a knowing grin.

---

Thank you for reading! Special thanks to my bf for putting on Revolver just when I was looking for an epigraph. <3

---

⬅⬅⬅ | "Filled With Things to Say" Masterpost | To the Mastahpost | Tip Jar | ➡➡➡

[monmelia]

Monmelia Analysis Part 1: Challenge, Timing & Soulmates (20x03)

Fourteen years ago, my love for shipping began with Brittany and Santana from Glee. They were my first ship—foundational to my experience as a closeted teenager—and while they might not have been perfect, they were everything I needed at the time.

Now, in my thirties and confident in my sexual identity, I didn’t expect to feel that invested in a ship again. I’ve enjoyed seeing other wlw couples on screen, but none ever stirred the same level of attachment—until Monica and Amelia from Grey’s Anatomy (Monmelia) came along. Their dynamic brings me back to those early days of following every hint of a storyline. Watching them, I find myself excited by the possibility of watching a meaningful, slow-burn romance unfold.

I love writing, and I love analysing, so I figured while Monmelia are still in their early stages, it’s a good time to start up an analysis blog of my own. Back in my Brittana fandom days, I used to love reading stuff like this, soaking up all the content I could get and living off the mere breadcrumbs the writers gave us. This feels no different. I plan on writing a blog per episode (where they feature) and just giving my potentially delusional but hopefully insightful thoughts on all of their interactions/scenes etc. But like I said, I love analysing, so if there’s anything I miss that you want me to analyse, just ask! I’m excited to go on their journey with them, so if you’re reading along too, enjoy, and hopefully the writers are kind to us!

So taking it back to the start of Monmelia, all my feelings and observations are below.

As a long-running character on the show it makes sense to start with Amelia. She seems to be a controversial character amongst the wider Grey’s fandom, but having binged all of her Private Practice backstory and really getting to understand her, she’s undoubtedly one of my favourites. She’s loyal to her loved ones, resilient to the core, super caring and incredibly misunderstood. Her history with love has been pretty tumultuous, and I, like many others, just want to see her settle down and find her person. 

“I have fallen in love so many times in my life, and it feels like a roller coaster. It feels thrilling and consuming and sickening and desperate, and this did not feel like that. This... I think I felt seen? I felt known. And, I didn't fall in love... I kind of slid into it, like two puzzle pieces that just kind of fit.” - Amelia Shepherd (18x20)

Taking Amelia’s own analysis on her love life into consideration, it’s safe to say her relationships have always been somewhat chaotic. Despite best intentions, the relationships haven’t provided the grounding stability she so desperately needs. At the point when Amelia makes this observation she is talking about her relationship experiences prior to Kai Barley. Relationships that were fuelled by passion and urgency, often amplified by her own emotional struggles and history of addiction, which brought both intensity and instability into her romantic life.

Amelia’s reflection on her relationship with Kai highlights a different kind of connection—one based on mutual understanding, acceptance, and emotional safety. She highlights the feeling of being “seen” , indicating a love that acknowledges her as a whole person, flaws included. It suggests a level of emotional intimacy and stability she hadn’t experienced before, where she feels accepted rather than overwhelmed. The metaphor of “sliding into” love, like “two puzzle pieces that just kind of fit,” captures a sense of natural compatibility, a relationship that feels right without force or drama. A kind of love that is comforting, subtle, and enduring, contrasting with her prior experiences that were more about immediate intensity.

We of course know that this relationship with Kai didn’t work out for Amelia in the long term, but I think it’s important to discuss, as it shows Amelia’s growth in her concept of love. Instead of chasing exhilarating but destabilising relationships, she finds herself pursuing a love that feels effortless and affirming—a connection that brings peace, mutual respect, and a sense of belonging, rather than an overwhelming rush of passion. However unfortunate it is that it didn’t work out, it still feels like a turning point in Amelia’s personal journey with love. 

Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of Amelia’s relationship with Kai, and I feel Kai led Amelia on and that Amelia looks at the relationship through rose tinted glasses when making that statement, but my own personal feelings aside I want to look at the relationship focusing solely on Amelia’s part in it. Because although Amelia describes it as a love that doesn’t make her feel desperate, we see her exhibiting needy behaviour towards the end of the relationship when Kai is moving to London. As soon as the move is announced, Amelia’s sole focus is on finding a solution to help Kai stay, without taking Kai’s desires into consideration.

“From the minute I told you about London, which is the biggest career opportunity of my life, you have made it about you. There were no words of encouragement or congratulations. No acknowledgement of how hard I worked for this.” - Kai Bartley (19x15)

And listen, I get it. It’s not that Amelia is being intentionally selfish, it’s that she’s so crippled by her deep fear of abandonment, an issue that has shaped her relationships and reactions throughout her life. For Amelia, the prospect of losing someone important triggers a defensive, almost desperate response to hold on tightly—a reaction that often leads her to prioritise her own emotional needs over her partner’s happiness and success. And again, it’s not that she doesn’t care about Kai’s success, but the abandonment is at the forefront of her brain, and so all she can think about is providing solutions to prevent that from happening.

Another layer to this dynamic is Amelia’s tendency to seek validation and stability through her relationships. She craves reassurance that her partner will stay, particularly after facing so much upheaval and loss in her life. This leads her to focus on her need for closeness, security, and continuity in the relationship rather than allowing space for Kai’s achievements and aspirations to be celebrated. Her behaviour in this situation highlights a recurring struggle to balance her own needs with those of her partner—a theme we’ve seen in her past relationships as well.

I guess my overriding point here is that I don’t think Amelia has met a partner that has been a true equal for her yet. It’s been more about how they’ve made Amelia feel, and less about how Amelia has added value to their life. She frequently looks to her partner to provide validation, security and love instead of doing the inner work necessary to cultivate this herself. She becomes attached quickly, often without considering her partner’s needs or how she can contribute positively to the relationship. 

For instance, with Owen, Amelia’s trauma and issues around motherhood led her to rely on him for emotional support, but she struggled to communicate openly, which hindered any real connection. Her fear of vulnerability meant that instead of showing up for Owen in the way he needed, she frequently pulled away, avoiding conversations about her trauma, motherhood, and her real needs.

Similarly, with Link, Amelia found someone steady and reliable, and she leaned on him during a time when she was navigating pregnancy and the uncertainties of motherhood. Yet when the relationship demanded a deeper level of self-awareness and mutual support, Amelia’s insecurities resurfaced, leading her to withdraw. She questioned whether she wanted the stability and family structure Link offered, revealing her ambivalence and a lack of personal clarity. Rather than growing with Link, Amelia leaned on him as a source of comfort and stability without fully committing to the relationship or working through her underlying issues.

And then with Kai, whom Amelia felt “seen” and “known” by, her attachment quickly became about what Kai could do for her emotionally, providing her with a sense of affirmation. When Kai’s career goals and reluctance about parenthood clashed with Amelia’s desires, her initial reaction was to convince them to stay rather than supporting Kai’s achievements or seeing things from their perspective.

And this dynamic illustrates a common theme for Amelia: she seeks out relationships as a means of avoiding loneliness, filling emotional gaps, or validating her self-worth. The result is often an imbalance where her needs take precedence, leaving little room for her partners’ needs or her own personal growth. 

For the record, I love Amelia, and I’m absolutely not saying she’s the problem in all of her relationships. Believe me I could talk at length about the various failings from her previous significant others, but this blog is focusing on Amelia and Monica, and so I think it’s important to reflect on where she’s at when Monica comes into the picture. 

Because what I want for Amelia more than anything, is to see her confront her traumas and insecurities independently and build her self-worth from within rather than relying on a partner to provide this for her. I want her to do the work so she doesn’t need to be dependent on others to feel whole. And then I want her to find a lasting, healthy love who challenges her and embraces her flaws, and loves her for exactly who she is. And I want her to do that for them in return, and to show up for her partner in ways I know she’s so capable of (because duh, she’s so damn loyal and caring and loving), because her own insecurities will no longer be in the way.

And this is exactly what I think Monica is going to be for her. And it’s the reason why I love them so much and why I plan to analyse every little moment, because call me delulu, but I’m so sure the arc is setting them up for this dynamic. I’m sure that Monica is going to be Amelia’s end game, and she’s going to enrich Amelia’s life in ways we can’t even imagine right now (and vice versa).

And I’m sure of this, because we’ve already seen snippets of this, because at the time of writing this they’ve just aired 21x05 which was so pivotal to their story IMO, but this is an ep by ep blog so more on that later.

But in essence, we already saw growth from Amelia in changing her concept of love during her relationship with Kai, but with Monica I feel we’re going to see even more growth in terms of a truly balanced partnership due to the fact Amelia is going to shift the emphasis of finding fulfilment via someone else.

Because when we meet Monica in 20x03, Amelia is already working towards being in that space. She light-heartedly tells Meredith that she’s got a cat because she’s given up on finding a human soulmate. This is important because it shows that since her fairly recent breakup with Kai, Amelia has opted to do something for herself that will meet her emotional needs, outside of a romantic relationship. It would be easy for Amelia to seek happiness from a meaningless rebound or jump into another relationship, but instead she decides to heal and directs her energy on doing something for herself.

The other important factor of that scene is the timing. And timing is something I feel will be discussed a lot in this blog. Just as Amelia is talking about giving up on her human soulmate, we get our first proper introduction to Monica as she beeps her horn at Amelia. In the context of the scene, she beeps because Amelia has taken her parking spot, but I can’t help but think that this is foreshadowing. As viewers we see Monica beep loudly right after Amelia’s statement of giving up on love, as if to say “Don’t give up yet, I’m right here!”. When someone honks their horn at you, it’s often startling and unexpected, much like Amelia’s romance (or crush for now) with Monica is. I don’t think Amelia is planning on finding love. She’s healing, seemingly working on herself and has declared she’s given up.

It’s apt (but also always the way it happens because there’s no better time for a relationship than when you’re hyper focused on yourself) that Monica would come in at this time. Nothing can convince me that the timing of Amelia announcing she’s given up on her soulmate coinciding with Monica’s first scene isn’t significant.

I could further deep this by analysing the fact Monica is distracted on her phone. She’s not paying attention until Amelia takes her spot. She only notices the spot becomes free when Amelia takes it, and then she gets all mad at her. It could possibly foreshadow the wider dynamic of Monica being too distracted by her divorce to pursue anything with Amelia, and perhaps like with the parking spot situation, Amelia will have to do something to get her attention (not necessarily intentional) and prompt Monica to realise her feelings and make her notice. It would be an interesting future parallel if this plays out. Of course this is all just speculation and we have no idea where the writers are going to go with this. And do I think the writers put this much attention to detail into callbacks and parallels? No. But I definitely think there’s a lot of intentional set up between these two. The soulmate line at the very least. And Amelia stealing Monica's parking spot like she's about to steal her heart.

Then we get to the scene in the hospital and both Monia and Amelia are surprised to find they’re working together after the earlier parking incident. Amelia is visibly embarrassed and it shows in her demeanour, and there’s clear tension in the air, but they put it aside to care of their patient. Monica immediately challenges Amelia, she talks over her during the consult and it clearly catches Amelia off guard and causes her some frustration. Monica is new to the hospital, so it could be that she’s trying to establish her authority. It sets a precedent of tension for them in their first few scenes, but more importantly it sets a precedent of Monica challenging and pushing Amelia further than she’s used to being pushed.

We see this dynamic explored further when they’re discussing surgical options for their patient. Amelia immediately dismisses Monica’s idea and Monica retorts by telling her to take a minute to think about it. Though Amelia is initially defensive to the suggestion, and Monica is seemingly unfazed by Amelia’s admission that she’s the Chief of Neurosurgery (plus the fact she doesn’t know Amelia), we can surmise that Monica is instantly confident in Amelia’s surgical abilities. She’s confident enough to challenge her and push her boundaries, and she knows she can get more out of Amelia. When we translate that to a future romantic relationship, it’s a good dynamic to have, and I think Amelia would really benefit from a partner who isn’t afraid to challenge her and push her to go deeper than she’s used to going. 

When Amelia is reluctant, Monica notes that impatience must be her thing. From the minute I heard this I assumed it was going to have deeper meaning to their arc, and knowing what we know now about Monica going through a divorce and not being ready for a serious relationship, I’m sure this is going to be significant for them. My initial thoughts at this point are that it’s going to be a slow burn and Monica isn’t going to be ready for a relationship for some time. They’ll undoubtedly grow closer, and Amelia is going to inevitably feel some impatience waiting for the relationship to progress. Perhaps she’ll even move on herself. I feel like this comment from Monica will for sure be a future parallel in which Amelia just needs to be patient to get her girl.

Amelia later confides in Richard that she is being pushed by the new peds surgeon to consider an alternative option that has more risks. Could that be foreshadowing Monica pushing Amelia to consider alternative options to love with more risks? Because with soulmate love, of course comes more risk of being hurt. He also notably points out that Monica is a boundary pusher, and draws comparison between her and Amelia. This has to be symbolic and perhaps a sign that both of them are going to push boundaries and open up new depths in each other.

Monica’s pushing works and Amelia figures out an alternative option. Yay for cute girlfriend knowing her full potential.

“Finally!” Amelia says as Monica and Blue enter the room.

“You do know we were waiting for you, right?” Monica flirts playfully responds.

The delusional deep thinker in me wants to say that this could be another potential foreshadow into their arc. Because although we know Monica isn’t going to be initially ready for a relationship with Amelia, it could be that the dynamic switches and in true Grey’s style, Monica will realise she’s ready just as Amelia has either started to move on (albeit casually) or maybe she’s just decided to stay single and focus on herself (which tbh would be huge growth for her), Basically, by the time Monica comes around, maybe Amelia just isn’t going to be available anymore (whether that be emotionally or physically). So when they finally get it together, it could be that they both had to do an element of waiting but in different ways. So for Amelia it’s like “Finally!” since she made the first move, but maybe it’s actually Amelia who delays them actually being together, hence Monica’s “You do know we were waiting for you.” But again, this is all just speculation. It could just be that the scenes are what they are at face value and there’s no deeper meaning. But I definitely think all this talk around patience and taking time has to mean something. There’s too many references to it.

The whole episode centres on Monica influencing Amelia to take time and have patience, and the success that follows when she does that, so it’s interesting to think how this could apply to a romantic relationship between them. It’s even more pivotal given their dynamic, and the obstacles between them on both sides (Monica’s divorce and Amelia’s own issues she needs to work on).

Time is clearly going to be of the essence for them, and I kind of hope that if they do go down the route of Amelia holding them up getting together that it’s because she’s decided to work on herself as opposed to her moving on with someone else, because that would be the ultimate growth for her. For her to have Monica finally want to date her but for her to be strong enough to say no until she’s ready and healthy in her own self, just like how Monica waits to date Amelia until she's ready and had dealt with the issues that came with her divorce. That would be symbolic of the message in this episode around patience and timing and how taking the alternative longer route can lead to the more successful ending, so I hope that’s what this episode was foreshadowing.

If Monica and Amelia could translate the way they work together, communicate and find solutions as effectively as they do in surgery to a romantic relationship, I’m telling you, they’d be a dream team!

“I’m thinking you’re much more effective when you take your time.”- Monica Beltram (20x03)

Could that quote from Monica be in relation to the context of the episode with Amelia finding an alternative option to the surgical procedure? Yes. But the deep thinker in me wants to believe it foreshadows Amelia either  a) Taking her time in waiting for Monica to come around by being her supportive friend during her divorce in the meantime, b) Taking the time to work on herself before pursuing a relationship with Monica, just like Monica has done with her by not jumping into anything.

Or it could be both?

Or neither.

Even the lighter scenes in this episode feel meaningful. Whether it be the bashful back and forth of “go ahead” when they reach for the same scrub brush, the persistent challenge from Monica or the lingering glances during surgery, there’s a clear set up of underlying tension right from the start with these two.

After a successful surgery, they’re told they make a great team, and Monica glances at Amelia. Before Amelia can fully acknowledge this, she hears the door slam and Monica has left. Perhaps a metaphorical sign of things to come with Monica not being ready to embrace everything between them?

But I can’t help but agree that Monica and Amelia are a great team, and as you can probably tell by my ramblings, I think that their dynamic at work could absolutely extend to a romantic relationship. 

And I’m optimistic enough to say I think this could be the relationship that Amelia needs. But also, one that Monica needs. And I’m excited to find out more about Monica as a character. But ultimately I think it will be a relationship that is going to equally push them both to grow. A relationship that’s all about challenge and timing and patience, but most importantly, about soulmates.

So Amelia, I hope you haven’t given up on finding your human soulmate. Because Monica is right there!

I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings, I try and make it as cohesive as possible I swear. I’ve already started writing up my thoughts on 20x04 so I hope you stick around for that, and for whatever else the Monmelia journey brings!

[mystreet-liveblog]

Its not even the voices Aphmau needed to do in early seasons. I just have troubles where I take shows really seriously, so the no warning / no consent kissing or the people trying to find out everything about Aphmau's love life is just frustrating for me.

Autistic people taking things too seriously, what else is new?

I hear that, I too have the “tism”

But on the rewatch I kind of read it differently. It makes sense that Aph’s friends would be concerned about her love life since she hasn’t been interested in anyone since high school, her mom is notorious for hating boys, and half her male friends have crushes on her and she doesn’t reciprocate any of them. It’s an interesting situation and I know I’d be concerned, especially if I was Katelyn or KC

Katelyn sees Aph as a sister and knows that she’s had bad experiences with boys in the past (Gene and Ein, though I haven’t gotten to Ein in the rewatch yet so I may be misremembering some details) so of course she’d be suspicious of Laurance and the others across the street, Aaron who’s super suspicious and used to be a bully, and Zane who is literally Zane hahah

Meanwhile, KC is obsessed with shipping and she stands as an outlier who actively analyzes relationships and pairs them together in her mind as possible relationships, with her favorites being expressed more openly and verbally like a hyperfixation. It’s problematic but also not unheard of, and I can relate to analyzing your friends and deducing their compatibility (though not so much pressuring them into pursuing that compatibility :/). In the end she just wants to see all her friends happy, and she projects her own love of romantic love onto them

(KC actually reminds me a bit of Nepeta from Homestuck but that’s a conversation for a different day)

I do think the lack of consent coming from Laurance and his roommates is very weird and disturbing, but the conscious narrative seems aware that it’s problematic while the subconscious narrative plays it off as a joke. It’s not really that funny, but I guess that’s just part of the anime tropiness of the season.

The entire show, or at least the first seasons of MyStreet and PDH, was made to feel anime tropey and unfortunately that kind of nonconsensual humor is very anime. It’s a little nuanced tho that the rest of the show explores the “after they get together” situations rarely seen in romance anime, though, as well as abandoning the nonconsensual humor in favor of villainizing it and using it to characterize antagonists (sorry Laurance fans your fav is problematic <3)

I actually kind of realized through my rewatch that Laurance was the main instigator of these inappropriate actions and it’s really his own problem to work through. The rest follow him with the frat boy mindset and only come to their senses when actually thinking on their own lol

Like, I remember as a kid there being so many jokes about Travis touching peoples butts, but as far as I remember from my rewatch they were all accidents! That’s kind of funny actually! But the normalization of predatory behavior is very weird in S1 and I’m glad it’s gone in S2

In PDH S1, it’s only slightly justified by the students all being literal children who are working through their hormones and poor coping mechanisms. Both Laurance and Garroth kiss Aphmau without her consent and then swear her to secrecy, which is toxic as hell and its protrayed as such. Gene even threatens to kiss her in front of Aaron which is a whole other thing we don’t need to discuss at length cause I’m sure you get the point by now

But PDH-Aaron notably asks permission every time he does anything romantic with Aph and it’s sweet. In S1 of MyStreet, he does kiss her after the play without verbal consent, but it’s implied she did at least nonverbally consent in later episodes when discussing what happened. Regardless, that sort of content in S1 isn’t touched upon as the story goes on which makes it a lot better to me, and it shows the growth of the author alongside her characters

WOAH— SORRY FOR THE LONG RESPONSE!!!! I just found this topic interesting!!!! Hope you have fun reading this MOUNTAIN wow—

[hibiscus-reign]

I mean, I don’t know if it’s that people suck at shipping, so much as some people might just genuinely not be interested in shipping Buck with Eddie? And I’m not even talking about the shipping war debacle going on. For example, I’m a huuuge multi-shipper. Pairing up different people, or even shipping throuples, is my jam! But with Eddie, shipping him with Buck is honestly the farthest thing from my mind. I just don’t find Eddie all that interesting, tbh. As for the whole top and bottom discussion, I’ve known many men who identify as bottoms who still looove checking out a man’s ass (a cute ass is a cute ass, regardless of orientation or persuasion), so I’ve just never really cared about that? Also, Tim Minear probably isn’t going to care or even put much thought into that either? If I’m being real, I actually find the obsession with whether Buck and Tommy are tops or bottoms to be a bit excessive in the BuckTommy fandom and I say this as a gay person who knows the importance of compatibility when it concerns that type of preference. People seem so damn OBSESSED with Buck and Tommy fucking, like that’s all their relationship consists of, and THAT’S actually what has me thinking, “You guys kinda suck at this. Where’s the drama? Where’s the hurt and comfort? Where’s the hobby exploration that doesn’t involve sex, sex, sex? Two men in romantic relationships are not constantly thinking about or engaging in fucking, I promise you. We have so much more depth to us than that! But that’s just me. I also think, as a gay person, some of my frustration with the fandom making everything about sex stems from feeling like some of these BuckTommy fans are straight women who can’t help but fetishize two gay men. It happens in every single fandom featuring a slash pairing, canon or not, and it can feel gross to witness, again, as a gay. It’s most definitely not just a BuckTommy thing (god knows buddie shippers and every other slash pairing ship known to man has this problem), so I don’t want to give the impression I’m trying to single them out (I am, after all, a huge BuckTommy shipper). But anyway, I guess that’s a whole other topic for another day, and this message is already hella long as it is.

Babe, I’m sorry if this came across so serious, but I meant this as a joke.

You don’t have to ship Buck and Eddie together. I don’t either.

This is just me trying to show the community that we can put our differences aside, and make stupid posts like this one.

As for the sex thing, I agree that being fetishized can be heavy, but as a gay person unless you know it’s a woman doing this, you should be careful calling it out. Sex has always been a touchy subject, often used against us by homophobes, and policing sexuality just works in their favor. I know there’s a lot of discourse about that with the younger gays, but they need to know sex has always been a part of lgbt history, and no it’s not like the media likes to portray it. I found a post speaking on this if you’d be interested. I haven’t read it all the way yet, but so far it’s been a good read, and it’s more educational than accusatory.

As for the people making sexual posts about Buck and Tommy, I agree it can get too much, but that’s not for us to confront. We can just scroll past it.

But the major take away about my post, this is really me extending my hand to any buddie shipper (who doesn’t have to ship BuckTommy) who would like to form a friendship. Posts like these are in good fun and it bonds us if we don’t take it too seriously. I did the same thing in a different fandom and the community was more receptive, so why not try again?

[quantumripple]

Figured it might be neat to give post-mortems of fics I’ve written (in no particular order)

Gonna call this Quantum’s Post-Moretem Mondays even though I’m almost certain I’m never going to post this again on a Monday (work was just suuuuper slow)

So to start off we’ve got Pen Pals: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51609454

Premise: in early 2010 Taylor and Sveta become pen pals (hence the name).

Very much the definition of a rarepair since there’s only one other Taylor/Sveta fic that I’m aware of and it’s not even tagged.

And honestly hot take: the reason it’s a rarepair is that it lowkey just does not work as a ship. Taylor and Sveta are just not compatible, Taylor is far too… her. Sveta deserves better honestly.

What I like about the fic:

The bits of humour always blindside me when I do a reread. This one definitely leans on the sort of online humour you sometimes get with lesbians. Particularly the meme of two girls commiserating you each other that they “wish they could get a gf frfr”

I also just stole some funny bits from worm and adapted them but idk if I should count those bc they were just yoinked from worm.

I’m pretty proud of the background plot that’s happening in the fic. It’s pretty fun to explore those through only the lens of texts between two people. Things diverge a little bit and we end up with Echidna happening early, but the fight goes a lot differently. Ends up being a much longer fight/conflict but upside is case 53 stuff didn’t get leaked. Taylor eventually ended it by tag-teaming with a few heroes, getting the right power combo. S9 shows up after and a while after they’re there Amy takes Victoria. Taylor, thinking the s9 did it went on the warpath, she broke into the prt hq and stole the Bakuda bombs which she used to take out a few members before she found Amy and Victoria, made Amy fix her, then just fully executed her.

What I don’t like:

Taylor is extremely out of character. She’s too like… it’s hard to explain but she’s too cutesy, or dorky in a way that doesn’t really fit with how she is in canon. Triple especially anytime they’re discussing feelings. Honestly the only parts of her that feels in character is latter on in the fic when it starts getting into the broader hero plot stuff.

Sveta is also pretty ooc but not quite as bad as Taylor. She’s a hard character to write because while yea she’s got a lot going on at the end of the day she’s just a really nice person and that’s hard to write out unless you want something super fluffy.

And speaking of: the fic is just way too fluffy for my tastes these days. Like I had to skim the final scene where they’re being all sappy and confessional bc it made me feel ill lmao.

What I would do if I were to redo/re-explore:

Honestly this might be one of my few fics where I’d just cop it and say that it kinda doesn’t work conceptually. Taylor and Sveta just aren’t really compatible without changing one or the other.

Honestly if I were returning to it I’d probably drop Sveta (sorry) and actually just focus on the Brockton Bay plot stuff. So it’d be Taylor joining the wards, getting frustrated and then leaving and teaming up w Victoria and the focus is more in them becoming friends. And the other changes with Echidna and the s9 could be fun to explore.

Or alternatively I keep Sveta and lean into the doomed nature of the relationship, have it be a much more deep exploration of their characters and how they could interact. Follow Sveta as she makes an online friend but slowly realise that this friend of hers is weirdly violent as a cape. Have that introduce a lot more friction with Sveta judging Taylors methods more and more and Taylor just getting really defensive etc. and like…. It wouldn’t even need to have a bad ending per se. It would just be them realising that they’re really not compatible and that getting this invested in each other was a bad idea. Or the super good ending where Sveta comes around to Taylor’s way of thinking and they wage bloody war against evil, that could also be p fun. And not entirely impossible especially if Taylor is literally Svetas only friend.

Final thoughts:

This is one of those fics that still gets the odd random comment on ao3 which makes me remember it more often than other fics despite the fact that I don’t really have much to say/think about the fic beyond what I’ve already thrown up. It sits in my mind as a firm “basically ok, has its moments”

Curious to know what others think of it because honestly I barely do. I think I just picked it bc it was one of my shorter fics and sfw so I could read it between waiting for stuff to happen at work.

[elleseekswritingpartners]

searching for aot/attack on titan writing partners (updated NEVER EXPIRES)

Elle. 20+. GMT. discord/tumblr/docs. I'm a long-term roleplayer and I will literally send you memes and HCs and create Pinterest boards and google docs one hour after we start talking because I'm both stupid and unhinged. I joke around a lot but be critical of the media you consume or leave, also this is a no bigotry zone.

WE'LL GET ALONG IF:

You are older than 19 years old.

You’re not interested in smut-centered plots.

You’re genuinely ok with doubling up. I've been roleplaying for over a decade, trust me it's blatant when someone is forcing themselves to write a character they don't want to write.

You're okay with discussing family-centered content, even if it's not realistic / just in an AU - I love talking about families and our characters as parents, so this is a must for me.

You don’t care intensely about following what’s canon: my philosophy is to look at the world that is provided to us and turn it into our playground.

You like plots with a mixture of realism and clichés: realism is VERY important to me especially when writing ships, but i WILL conjugate that realism with more cringy elements (like love triangles, pinning, and accidental pregnancies).

You’ll match my energy. I'm going to jump right to plotting and shipping to gauge if we’ll be compatible or not because I don’t like to waste time.

You can communicate and be enthusiastic: I'm a very devoted roleplay partner. I don't expect us to talk every day and I don't expect fast replies, but if we don’t interact for 2 weeks, I'll clock out.  

You'll explore mature topics with respect. I don't have trigger warnings and enjoy writing potentially triggering topics like manipulation, religious themes, and memory loss etc, but let's always be respectful. 

what i'm interested in writing:

please know that ilse langnar, mike/miche zacharias, and eld gin are my main characters and i will always want to throw them at you, in a ship or in a brotp or i any other dynamic.

i only write m/f ships with new writing partners, sorry!

erwin smith x f oc

zeke yeager x f oc or pieck finger (i can write either)

porco galliard x f oc or pieck finger (i can write either)

marcel galliard x f oc

levi ackerman x f oc

and also:

reiner braun x f oc (selective with this one, need to discuss plot ideas first)

jean kirstein x f oc

jean kirstein x hitch dreyse

erwin smith x f oc

zeke yeager x f oc

mike zacharias x f oc

gunther schultz x f oc

eld gin x f oc

petra rall x m oc

hanji/hange zoe x levi ackerman (i can write either)

hanji/hange zoe x erwin smith (i can write either)

absolute massive bonus points if you do a mumu with me bc i love connecting characters and plots. i write ilse (and lynne) and if you give me a brotp for her with any of these characters : marlene, nabana, hange i will deadass cry. if you let me write mike or eld against erwin in a brotp i will deadass cry too.

ty for reading!! don't forget to say hi if you're interested. ✨

[cyanoticfireflies]

Hazbin Hotel - Rewatch Thoughts (Episode 1, Part 1)

Notes: As I’ve been re-reading some of my favorite things (as in, not necessarily just fanfics, but other stuff that I enjoy) I got part of the way through @canary3d-obsessed’s “Restless Rewatch: The Untamed” and thought to myself that I should do one of these for Hazbin Hotel!  I can’t do a first time reacting to, because by this point I’ve watched it a good eight times -_- But this way I can point out some of the things that I’ve noticed on multiple rewatches, some of which prove just how clever the team behind this show is!  Also, you will get unapologetic Huskerdust shipping.  This is just my life now.

__________

Episode 1

So we start off with Charlie giving us the background story on Heaven, Hell, daddy Lucy, mama Lili, and all of that.  Heaven was “good,” Lucifer was a dreamer who thought of free will, the elders of Heaven said “nah,” Lucifer said “but what if yea,” and shit went sideways.

As someone who likes watching reaction videos on YouTube, I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have watched this intro and gone “Who’s Lilith?”  And then there are the ones who say they heard about her from Diablo 4.  I feel like Lilith isn’t… rare lore?  I don’t know where or when I first heard about Lilith, but that kind of supports my stance of surprise?

(I tried to show my religious friend Hazbin – leaning on the “it’s about redemption” point – and it was actually the mention of Lilith that first triggered her?  Because “you have to get really deep into things to find out about Lilith”?  I am confused.)

I won’t go into my theories too heavily at this point – I’ll put up a final chapter for those so I can take it down in humiliation when the show laughs in my face later – but Eve looks very, very evil when she gets that fruit…

Anyway, Luci and Lili got exiled, Luci developed depression, Lili developed magic song powers then fluffed off seven years ago.  Don’t worry, Charlie – your mom just went to go get some milk and cigarettes.

Genuinely, is Lilith being a song demon why everyone in Hell has pre-choreographed musical numbers?  If she “empowered demon-kind” with her songs, does that include giving them all baby song powers?  We know that these songs aren’t reality breaks because at the end of “Loser, Baby” the sharks comment on the song.  (There’s also Vaggie and Angel’s discussion in “Happy Day in Hell” but since that’s in-song it feels like a less-strong argument.) 

So it turns out that Charlie has been speaking this whole prolog bit aloud to herself.  Relatable, girl – me dictating to myself the entire course of actions it takes to get through my email inbox.  My officemate wears headphones so she won’t think I’m talking to her when I start talking to myself.

Also, poof – kitty! 

I love KeeKee (pronounced “key-key” because, and this is true, she’s a key).  But I also don’t know what the point of KeeKee is?  If it’s just to give Charlie a pet, that’s totally fine.  She also has Razzle and Dazzle, but Charlie could be one of those people with two cats, a full fishtank, a canary, and a husky and that’s totally chill.

(Why yes, my in-laws’ place is a zoo, why do you ask?)

I think I saw somewhere that KeeKee is the key to the hotel?  But when Lucifer pops up later he immediately coos over KeeKee like Charlie has had her forever, so she obviously didn’t come with the hotel.  Did Charlie change the locks on the hotel to KeeKee-compatible locks after she bought the place?  I assume this is a metaphorical key? 

(Lucifer and KeeKee in episode 5.)

Vivienne has said that KeeKee is a “physical manifestation of the hotel” but even that doesn’t make a lot of sense with the timeline…  *Shrugs*

Charlie and Vaggie talk, and I honestly get so much amusement out of people who are like “Is that her sister?  Are they best friends?”  And I know that they didn’t, like, make out in their opening scene.  But I didn’t ever suspect that they weren’t girlfriends?  Maybe it’s just because I read into pretty much all media from a queer lens.

(Right here, ma’am.)

Charlie will go on to call Vaggie her girlfriend much later in episode 5 and make it official-official, but if you don’t go into everything with a straight-is-default mindset I’m not sure how you miss it.

We blip into Alastor’s take on a commercial for a hotel.  Which is thoroughly enticing to exactly… Alastor.

(Quick question on the sinner designs – and I won’t stop every time we see a cluster of sinners to do this.  But everyone’s design has something to do with how they lived or died, right?  Angel is from a “web of crime” family, Husk is an unlucky black cat [I know, he’s a tuxedo cat not a fully black cat], Alastor was shot by a hunter like a deer… was grenade man some type of bomber?  A war criminal?  What is his story???)

His little hand-drawn picture is kind of cute, but it also makes me laugh because we actually see another character do something similar later on: Vox!

(And, yeah, Charlie obviously.)

I want someone to write the fic where Alastor and Vox’s relationship started in an introductory art class before descending into the chaos we see in episodes 2 and 8.

Vaggie does not like Alastor’s sense of humor and starts yelling at him.  Charlie tries the *kindergarten teacher* nice feedback.  “I love your use of color,” she says, staring at his construction paper covered in scribbled blobs of blue and orange.  “Very creative.”

(“Maybe if you crumpled your drawing into a little ball like this, it would look better in the trashcan, honey!”)

Alastor doesn’t see the problem here.  Alastor seems to have exactly zero capacity to accept anything that isn’t Alastor’s way, so this is unsurprising.

And then, with the sultry wail of a saxophone, we’re introduced to the bestest spider (and the only spider this horrifically arachnophobia author actually adores:) Angel Dust

Angel is totally willing to shoot an amateur porno right there on the sofa if it will help draw sinners to the hotel for Charlie.

And this would actually probably work in Hell, honestly.  The horniest sinners actually would be knocking the walls down if they thought that with every night’s stay you got a free round with Hell’s most famous porn star.  “Cum to the Hazbin Hotel for some ‘quality time’ with our singular resident.”

I am curious what Angel’s concept for his porno commercial was.  Just him and Alastor banging dirty on the coffee table in the foyer?  Night in the life of the brothel that is Angel’s bedroom?

(Also, I know Val owns Angel in the studio and Angel has some freedom outside of it, but does that include shooting his own pornos?  Is it okay if they’re not for money?  Or is it still not okay because Angel doesn’t own rights to his own image?  Would Angel have to charge so Val could get his cut?)

Charlie doesn’t want to exploit Angel that way, but Angel starts listing off all of his highly exploitable attributes.  He lists the legs twice, which is hilarious, but I’m immediately zeroed in on “the gag reflex.” 

You’d think that for someone who makes a significant amount of his living sucking dick that it should be “the lack of a gag reflex” but the thing about Angel is that he’s not exactly sucking dick for the nicest guys around.  Honestly, the fact that he does have a gag reflex and therefore will be gagging and choking and drooling is probably a turn-on for his usual partners.

We’re interrupted from Angel attempting to “keep going all night, baby,” by Lucifer calling, and the fact that his contact image in Charlie’s phone is a rubber duck in Lucifer’s top hat is honestly too cute?

Angel wants to know why Alastor can’t just make people stay in the hotel.  And the timing on this animation is actually a little weird.  After he says that he can, Husk chimes in with “Why do you think I’m here?” but Alastor is already moving to see around Vaggie as Husk starts talking.  Has he primed Husk to be his hype man if someone starts asking questions like this?

Here's Alastor, looking at Husk before Angel and Vaggie even turn their heads – and Alastor had to move his whole *torso* to see around Vaggie.

A: “Now, remember.  If anyone starts asking if I’m big and bad, you say yes.”

H: “Sure, Alastor.”

A: “I mean, I’ll say so first.  But then you jump in and talk me up.”

H: “Yeah, all right.”

A: “But, like, right away.”

H: “Uh-huh.”

A: “Should we practice?  We should practice.”

I do find it funny that we know the timeline – Alastor, Husk, and Niffty have been at the hotel a week per Vaggie’s words earlier.  But Husk is already grousing about them bitching and moaning all the time.  It’s been seven days?!  How much bitching and moaning are you guys doing?!  And it’s not just listening to, like, Angel bitch and moan.  It’s “you fucks.” 

(Or “you fuck’s” because Amazon doesn’t know how to pluralize a swear word?) 

Vaggie didn’t even want a bar, but I’m betting it took her about two piscos on the rocks to be over that.

We also get our official series intro to Niffty here when she says “I like being forced!” in her happy little voice with a wide smile. 

(God, I want the Niffty episode.)

Angel starts hitting on Husk, but (YMMV) I feel like at this point Angel isn’t trampling all over Husk’s boundaries the way he does later.  He’s just throwing passes and Husk is kind of engaging him?  By responding?  He threatens Angel, making it clear that the flirting is unwelcome, absolutely. 

But I kind of want to see where the conversation would have gone if Vaggie hadn’t stepped in.  At some point it might have gotten snappier, but Angel wasn’t in meltdown mode like he is in “Masquerade” so they probably could have kept bickering for a bit.

Vaggie and Angel start talking about the core premise of the show.  Is Hell the end of the road?  Maybe, but also maybe not.  Charlie thinks that it’s worth trying so that’s what Vaggie is going to do.

We as rewatchers know that where you end up in the afterlife isn’t as permanent of an assignment as the show makes it sound.  And Vaggie I’m sure highly suspects so as well.  This conversation is literally happening with one person who was in Heaven and now lives in Hell.

Though I do have to wonder if there’s a teeny tiny part of Vaggie that hopes the hotel fails, though?  If Sinners really can be redeemed into Heaven, then she has to double/triple/quadruple think about what she’s done as an Exorcist.  If the Sinners prove irredeemable, it doesn’t *justify* what she did or anything, but it could potentially relieve some of the guilt for her.

(Blake Roman’s delivery on “crack is expensive” is my favorite moment from episode 1.)

If we didn’t know that Charlie was drowning in daddy issues, I feel like we get a good demonstration at the end of her phone call.  Yes, she’s excited and happy and hopeful.  But she also says “Okay” and hangs up. 

Maybe Lucifer said, “I’ll talk to you soon” or something and she said “okay” back.  But I never hang up after a call with my dad without a “love you, bye.”

IDK why Charlie calls Vaggie over except to show her hyperactive squirrel brain going wild.  Alastor and Angel are staring at them and seem like they can hear every word even after Charlie had Vaggie come around the corner.

Vaggie knows that Charlie means Adam, right?  She has to.  Charlie says “the leader of the angel army” and as of now, I mean… that’s Adam.

Also, initially I missed the detail that Adam was the one to call the meeting. 

Was he going to inform Lucifer face-to-(virtual)-face that they were moving up the next extermination?  Do Lucifer and Adam meet regularly?  I think not from some of the dialogue in episode 8, but then what is the Heaven Embassy for?

(We'll pick up in Episode 1, Part 2 due to Tumblr's 30 images-per-post limit.)

[weekend-whip]

Ninjago Fic Rec Week: Day 6

Prompts: Dynamic Duos / Zane Recs! (I uh used up a lot of my dynamic duo recs already THUS here is a Zane-centric list. With perhaps some duos sprinkled in. But Mostly Zane.)

Zane Recs-

My Battery is Low (And It's Getting Dark): THE PEAKEST ZANE THAT EVER PEAKED!!! There's so many little pieces of this I could quote and quote and gnaw on forever (and I wILL) because mmmm. It's just so good. Zane being (mostly) alone with his thoughts prior to Vex interfering in NS11, with the most pointed Zane's perspective I have ever borne witness to *bows in respect*

upon these ashes, hope can grow: Or, five times the group ordered takeout and one time they didn't (or, Zane learns how to love his once-favorite pastime once again). It's snappy, well-placed, and oozes with Zane's character, although I'm so used to fluffy fics about Zane's cooking skills that this one hit me like a brick! But, that would make sense, given that it takes place after NS11 ;w;

Five Times Zane Was a Nurse: And the one time he wasn't! Ninjago is a really good series for 5+1 fics, lemme tell ya. And DietCokeIsLife definitely sits at the top of t hem!

Fractal: Zane reflects upon being a robot Nindroid and it is beautiful ;w;

MAKING ELECTRICITY// YOU CAN FEEL IT IN YOUR MIND: Zane gets struck by lightning and a cacophony of very vivid descriptions and punchy character moments follow after. A little bit bittersweet, but lovely and with a nice ending!

Cut the Act: A movie!verse Zane fic chronicling how this once "just a normal teen" has to explain what he really is to his friends...even if he is pretty sure they already know. ...Maybe. The ending made me grin like an idiot, though.

Backwards Compatibility: Zane and Pixal go on a date for the first time! ...despite being "together" for such a long time beforehand. They're still very sweet, though. Recc'ing this entirely for the snappy title ;P

From Sunrise: Zane, and the view of what the world looks like from his eyes compared to that of his friends (or, Zane likes waking up early and cold environments. Everyone else does not.)

Snow: POST-PILOTS ZANE with his cold snow day logic getting in the way of some realities for Cole and Jay. Extremely fluffy and full of fun and interesting dynamics and just all-around super cute~!!! (and Kai and Nya are there too <3)

doesn't have a title but Zane is curious to a fault: And that's all you need to know! But, I will tell you that the ending has such a glorious bite of bitter irony to it~

Wobble: Zane and Cole discuss some aftermaths of Cole's fault, all while guilt eats Zane alive. The uneasy TENSION in this one??? Delicious??? Also sad ;w;

more title-less goodness: Zane and Cole discuss the former's break up with Pixal, with neither mentioning the underlying implications in between. You know I love me some Zane and Cole interaction, but this one is zested with, like, dread and a really good, if not somewhat devastating, point to be made.

Crushing loneliness is what he leaves this world with: *lies down* How does spinchip always have such a way with words aaaaaaa (prose about Zane's S3 sacrifice that consumes my mind constantly)

Ship of Theseus: AUGH I ALMOST FORGOT THIS ONE, despite the fact I go back to it aaaaaaaaall the time????? Definitely counts as a Zane fic despite the fact he is "Unavailable" for most of it, but in the quest to get Zane back online from an anonymous viral attack, the group reflects on the Nindroid and the impact he's had on all of them, even outside of their own little group ;w; Also shoutout to the antagonist for this one, it's actually quite a fun little twist~

[agentrouka-blog]

Why is it so uncommon for people to like both Dany and Sansa? They are both my favorites. Unlike a lot of Dany fans I’d be okay with it if Danny becomes a villain and I’ll like as a villain if that does happen. I see a lot of parallels and antiparallels in the characters but nobody is willing to talk with me about it. I get ignored or sometimes accused of secretly being anti Dany or anti Sansa, depending on who I’m trying to engage with. I don’t get why there is such a strict polarization where so many Sansa fans actively dislike Dany and vice versa. Is it just because of shipping? Am I one of the only people who loves both Dany and Sansa just because I like both Jonerys and Jonsa?????

There's bad blood in the fandom, because a certain subset of Dany's fans have been very aggressive toward Sansa fans (or anyone criticising Dany) in the past, which has made it difficult to establish any shared corners, I suppose.

Beside that, I think there are just very few people who are equally drawn to both characters and also perceive them in the same way.

What draws Sansa fans to Sansa and Dany fans to Dany tends to correlate with fundamentally different perceptions of the same source material. Relative power dynamics and the relationship with "righteous violence" tend to be very different. Hence you, too, acknowledging that many Dany fans reject the idea that she is on a villain path, while many many many Sansa fans clearly perceive her in this way. Just a very different reading of the text that leads to incompatible takes on the characters. There is simply not that much overlap. That's the polarization you speak of.

It is definitely not primarily about shipping. That's an oversimplification that dismisses the real meat of the issue. My opinion on Dany doesn't even require Jon Snow to exist, let alone be romantically involved with either of them.

I know there are Sansa fans who do like Dany (as a tragic figure, as a compelling villain, as an entertaining character, even as a not-yet-villain like you do, as daensa shippers) and that's perfectly lovely. I'm not one of them, but I respect them fully. I tag my critical posts with "anti daenerys targaryen" so her fans can filter them and ignore my posts or even my existence.

I can and do have discussions about Dany on a sympathetic level (as a past victim, as a rootless child, as a deeply lonely person) and I agree that there are parallels to explore with Sansa, but they happen within the frame that Dany is a villain while Sansa is not, that they are ultimately foils. That's a premise I can't budge from.

In theory, we could all happily ignore each other, where our views are not compatible. Alas.

[elbiotipo]

I'm doing some political fixing to my Campoestela setting...

The main thing that was bothering me is how humans fit. Since this is a setting with multiple sentient species, each with their own civilizations and cultures (because I dislike the recent trend of human-only sci-fi setting, it's an intentional retro throw). However, the main thing here that allows such a diverse setting is the presence of diplomats/traders (because no universal translator!) and standarized equipment. Where did the latter come from, though? If there are older space civilizations than humanity, it must be humans who adapt to that standard, and I'm not nearly creative enough to build an entire alien technology set. If it was humans who "created" space civilization, it would mean they're way too important in the setting and I want humans just to be one civilization out of many.

My solution is that there would be a mix of both; humans have their own set of technology but they have adopted some alien tech and customs. This also throws me back to the early history of this setting. My idea is that humanity spread on its own on the Solar System, developing some standard space technology (perhaps there are equivalents of the Soyuz running around) before they invented FTL and added other alien standards to their own technological base. So human spaceships are similar and quite compatible, but they are very different to other civilizations. FTL is a whole discussion on itself, how did things come from big slow generation ships to aircraft-sized spaceships? I'll deal with that later.

Another thing I was never happy with was with the "Confederación Esteloplatense" thing, it's an ugly name (ironically it sounds better in English, Silverstar Confederation). OF COURSE there is a Space Argentina, and more accurately they are the descendants of the generation ship Esperanza, which had a mostly Argentine crew. But I've decided that, at least loosely, Argentina is part of a larger whole that includes the whole of South America or Latin America. I'm going to call it the Cruzur Union, the Union of the Southern Cross (Cruz del Sur). Rioplatenses, or Esteloplatenses, are just one nation inside of this wider... nation.

To see it from a wider perspective now, I'm picturing humanity in Campoestela much like the Ancient Greeks and Phoenicians (the Poleis model), establishing trading posts, colonies, communities and such all over space, but these are mostly independent from each other and only organized in very loose trade leagues and cultural alliances, with exceptions, there are few truly interstellar states beyond that. This is the Poleis model I made in my Space Empires post.

Ancient Greeks poleis were sorted by dialect and cultures (Doric, Aeolic, Attican, Ionic, real stuff) and their mother cities (the metropolis. And so, the human communities, all very independent and belonging to many overlapping organizations and alliances are also loosely grouped by their origins back on Earth. I'm imagining there were a couple wars and conflicts between the Western Powers (US/Europe) and the Eastern Powers (Russia/China), with other blocs such as the Cruzur, the African Union, the Arab League, India and more eventually overtaking the two. This is in the far past by now, it's like talking about the Habsburgs in the context of the modern European Union.

So, in this context, Beto, our loveable Argentine space trucker, is from the Esperanza Federation (name pending), a loose interstellar trade alliance of the descendants of generation ship of the same name. However, this alliance itself is part of the Cruzur, the old goverment of South America which still has a deep cultural and political influence. And Beto himself considers himself Rioplatense or Argentine, depending on the context. Oh, and he is part of a spacer syndicate that might or might not be international too. And of course he does belong to a wider human civilization or cultural sphere. If this is all complicated, it's because it's supposed to be, this setting is a bit of a reaction against single-culture, single-empire civilizations in space opera.

Why am I not making it the URSAL? Because this is a retro setting in the style of space opera. In real life sooner or later, we're gonna become all Star Trek communists (this is not a joke)

It's funny that this is all just background for a space trucker and a gamer girl having silly adventures.

[suguru-getos]

Oh. INTRESTING. I just realised I should think about self ships more 😭 but okay here we go 😎

my self ship would be with Suguru. Definitely. Not the cult leader tho 😭 just a little rewind right there. You see the high school Suguru? Yeah cool. I only claim him.

>>> How would be better like when I'm off?

It'd definitely hurt him too with me. (because that's what I've seen with people around me, you know when that loud and bubbly one goes silent ?! Even though you know they'd be fine it's just so ouch. As if something's missing. Yeah, my personality is more or less like Satoru, he's ENTP I'm ENFP. which by the way, did you know? Fits INTJ in compatibility better hehe yeah I see him as a threat so what? 😤) and since his rationality is something I"d value, he'd have to do the tougher job of being my backbone rather than getting away with just sympathizing and giving me rational and "harsh truth" perspectives when I come to him with the problem that's bothering me. He knows if tries to be soft with me or bullshit me with sympathy I'd see it right away. So that.

>>> I HC our relationship to be such that it makes everyone jealous because he's definitely smiling and laughing around me more (not because he's smitten or sth, because I'm his personal clown ✨). That's what I am about most of the times. Hyped up over the smallest things. Hehe.

>>> Jealous. Huh. Interesting. I'm a women in stem, and you must know how the ratio is always so heavy on men"s side. So naturally I have a lot of them hitting on me at all the points of time. 😂

>>>And another thing is, I'm an extrovert socialising with people all the time so he might be annoyed on how to get my attention on him out of all the other people i hangout with (Again, not my words 😂😭) little does he know he has all of it since day 1. But that'd be only an issue before we get together, because he'd never know if I view him differently/romantically or not 😭 because "you're this energetic with everyone. How am I to know?"

>>> I and Satoru would definitely always be bickering over how he lets me get away with spam texting but not him. Hehe. Suguru's reasoning? "You're annoying, she's not *shrug*"

I say I don't think any self ships but then I go on full on spam mode (I hope you don't mind it, if you do please be honest about it and lmk like "I just asked for headcanons not a ONESHOT you idiot🔪) somehow wow😭 but yeah. That's how I see it, sunshine x grumpy (kind of?) Trope.

(Which made me think, neither of us actually like yapping about ourselves too much so we'd just be having hours and hours of discussions about different topics. The quality time discussion is a love language kinda couple. )

Now YOUR TURN. *hands over the pen*

lmfaoooo why not the cult leader sugu? he has such a dominant rizzly energy my self ship revolves around him and i’d bark like an animal for cult leader sugs 🙇🏻‍♀️🥹

-> also that’s so cute omg?? i am an intj/entj hybrid so i love myself enfps 🫵🏻 they bring such a lovely vibe around. (my irl best friend is an enfp) & i’d die for her. <33 suguru would love you so much, you’d be his breath of fresh air & when you go down, so does his existence. i hc him as super empathetic to people he cares about, so if you’re down, he’s rock bottom. :33 hello 👋 another stem major here’s your crown 👑 gorgeous ‼️ i’ve graduated in 2022 from stem so i know how the life’s like. 😉 suguru would be disgustingly jealous fr fr you attract everyone with your positivity.

-> suguru would definitely appreciate your bickering with satoru & blabbering. it would make him feel good that two of the people he loves the most are talking/being together 💋

grumpy x sunshine is my favorite troupe so this post made me intensely happy. 🪷🥰 also, that’s alright for the long post, only made fun of how people can see a character so similarly yet so differently!!

-> as of my own self ship headcanons, i’ll post them cus i’d yap more than you istg 😭 he’d love when i wear a saree tho ‼️🙇🏻‍♀️

[ips-northstar-official]

hey, why's the sales page for the perpetual momentum drive say that it can sustain a "passive .000001 ls charge"?? like, that's 300 meters. just say 300 meters. i think y'all might have accidentally hired an ex-SSC guy to write your sales copy or something, because that reads exactly like some of the pseudointellectual bullshit they do. as a loyal customer, i expect my IPS-N branded high-octane death machines to contain a comparatively small amount of pseudointellectual bullshit.

Hello! This is a good question, and one we’re happy to answer. While we are aware that .000001 ls is equal to 300 m, we used ls when talking about the perpetual momentum drive because it is based on and compatible with our line of ship drives. Galactic standards of measurement define the light-second as the unit of measure for discussing such charges on ships, and so to avoid confusion we used the same for the Nelson’s equipment too.

We guarantee that we have no intention of spouting “pseudointellectual” advertising speech in the way that some of our competitors do. With IPS-Northstar’s products, what you see is what you get.

[molinaskies]

Favorite relationship in the franchise?

Sonamy.

sonamy sonamy sonamy.

I’m surprised this is an ask, tbh. Nothing against you, Anon—I just feel like I never shut up about them lol. My love for their love is endless.

These are my general, summarized thoughts, but I’ll link some of my other posts, too!

——

Sonamy works because Sonic and Amy have a few fundamental aspects going for them:

They each offer the other something that supplements them: Sonic gives Amy encouragement and inspiration to use her skills for good (emotion, love, and physical prowess), as well as opportunities to actually use her skills with his adventures (and her own). Conversely, Amy gives Sonic a safe place to land and to engage with his emotions, something he struggles immensely with. In short, Amy unlocks a lot of Sonic's emotions and helps him feel and navigate them. No other character makes Sonic react with such a wide range of emotions, and no other character allows Sonic to be fully and completely himself--with and without the hero mask.

The relationship (and its romantic qualities) is extremely subtle in nature, which adds to its appeal and sense of depth: I can only truly get behind ships when they go beyond just potential--I need to see it supported by canon, and Sonamy is in the best ways. Sonic and Amy understand each other on such an intricate level that they don't often need to use words to communicate. There's an air of connection that floats between them that, combined with their history, shows exactly what they're thinking--they never state the obvious because they don't need to, which makes the moments where they do state the obvious a lot more impactful. Words aren't wasted between them. Their relationship is described by canon sources (like Sonic Channel, for instance) as nuanced, complicated, and multi-faceted--what looks from the outside as something confusing or otherwise questionable is bathed in layers of meaning for the hedgehogs. Their love is visible (especially from Amy), but the depths of it are private, intimate, and expansive--and that makes it so special.

They have a lot in common, which makes their lifestyles compatible long-term, but they're also not afraid of each other: they both hate boredom and actively seek out adventure (alone and together), they're highly emotionally charged and passionate (positive and negative emotions), and have strong desires for justice and good in the world. At the same time, though, they're not blinded by their affections--Sonic stands up to Amy when he needs to (most recently in Frontiers), and Amy definitely stands up to Sonic when she needs to. In fact, going back to unlocking emotions, Amy is by far the character with the most success in cutting through Sonic's stubbornness and getting him to reconsider something. This willingness to communicate on both fronts is extremely healthy and good for both of them.

——

(Sonic Frontiers Spoilers^^^)

I also adore knuxouge

And shadamy is a guilty pleasure occasionally