#i’ve only seen episode 1 but had to make this immediately lmao

[fridaysvalentine]

WEDNESDAY + FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

[saucerfulofsins]

I haven’t seen any posts comparing Buck’s coming out to Eddie and Tommy breaking up with Buck, which is a shame because the similarities drive me insane.

Or well. I say similarities, but that’s wrong. What I should be saying is: these scenes mirror each other. This post is more about the highlights than shot by shot comparisons – for that, I’d recommend you watch them side by side yourself.

Let’s start with the first and most obvious structural parallel: both scenes happen around 32 minutes into their respective episodes/between two-thirds to three-quarters in.

Now, for the scenes themselves. They follow the same basic outline, which I’ll discuss one by one. I’m following the same structure throughout: I discuss the coming out scene, then the breakup, and then give some analysis. At the end, I’ve included a section on further things of note that I couldn’t neatly fit into this structure and my final thoughts. Is this the first time I’m using the media analysis I was taught during my minor in Arts, Culture and Media with a focus on film in 2019? Yes, yes it is.

Buckle up, because this meta/essay is nearly 3k. For that reason (i.e. accessibility/readability and the amount of work I put in), this entire piece has been cross-post to AO3 (CLICK FOR LINK).

Opening shots

Seating 1.0

Buck in the kitchen

Seating 2.0

POV shots (both perspectives)

Eddie and Tommy leaving

Miscellany

Final thoughts

Analysis under the cut:

1. Opening shots

This part includes some of the most noticeable differences between the scenes, which explains why they feel different – at least at first.

CO: Eddie’s phone comes into view first – this is his chat conversation with Marisol, which the first part of the CO scene is about (note how this mirrors the gym scene, where Buck intended to come out before the conversation lingered on Eddie and Marisol). Eddie is also closest to the door during this part of the scene – which is where he will remain throughout.

BU: The first shot is of a closed door, which Buck opens for Tommy, i.e. Tommy certainly has no keys to Buck’s place, and this might well be a callback to doors as a recurrent theme. They greet with the briefest kiss possible. I rewatched this several times to make sure it really happened – it happens immediately after a cut and it’s filmed in such a way this could easily have been an air kiss lmao. (No seriously, I had to watch this screen by screen to properly catch it, and the audio is a lot more obvious than the visual). They make small talk about the movies and Tommy having ordered an uber (clearly a throwback to 7x05), and they switch positions so Buck is actually closest to the door.

As for clear similarities: Eddie and Tommy are standing up and remain mostly in the same place; Buck is moving around the loft – it’s an expression of his nervous energy, and the major changes in these scenes are about Buck, not Eddie or Tommy.

2. Sitting down

I made this a separate point for one reason, and one reason only: In CO, Eddie takes his own initiative to sit down, while saying he should go home and Buck offering him a beer, so clearly he won’t be leaving to go home any time soon(ilu Eddie but I’m begging you, stop putting yourself and also us through this 😭). In BU, Buck tells Tommy to sit down... which is in part to signal they need a more serious talk than can be done on the way to the cinema, but also shows a massive contrast in terms of familiarity and comfort, regardless of what Buck tries to tell Tommy later.

Both Eddie and Tommy sit down on the leftmost stool (closest to the door, i.e. it’s easiest for them to leave and Buck can’t get between them).

3. Buck in the kitchen

Fun fact! Before writing this post, I checked the scene where Buck confesses to Taylor that he kissed Lucy. During that scene, Buck is sitting down at the kitchen island, while Taylor lingers in the kitchen proper (i.e. with the island between them). She has moved in at that point – kitchens represent ‘being at home’ – but there’s a physical barrier between her and Buck, and it doesn’t actually keep from her leaving (even while saying she has nowhere to go).

CO: The camera uses a dolly shot to follow Buck throughout the kitchen – to the fridge and then back to the head of the kitchen island. He’s attentively listening to Eddie complain about Marisol and God watching him have sex (cursing God while sluttily drinking his beer).

BU: Buck walks out of view of the camera, through the kitchen, and there’s a dolly shot to the right to focus on Buck finding his place on the head of the kitchen island. He leans on the counter at this point. He does have a pretty open posture (identical to CO); Tommy sits with his hands/fingers folded together but he’s turned to Buck i.e. paying attention.

This is the position Buck has when he comes clear to Tommy about having dated Abby in the past; it’s also when his phone comes into the picture. Well. Pictures. Of Buck and Abby.

4. Seating 2.0

This is the longest section of analysis, and contains the part that makes me SCREAM but let’s start at the beginning. From the moment Buck sits down, the conversation turns serious in both scenes. This dialogue consists of mostly POV shots (which I will discuss next), and these medium shots that show Buck and Eddie, and Buck and Tommy.

CO: Buck sits down while Eddie says, “You and Tommy have the right idea, stay single.” This very clearly introduces a new section of the scene. Overall, the lighting of the loft is muted besides the yellow for visual interest and gay Eddie, thank you for your hard work Buddie colour theorists. Buck’s dining table is unlit and barely visible, so the space really takes a back seat and allows us to focus on Buck and Eddie. Please take note of the chair between them – this serves as a physical barrier, where someone is getting between them (a place for Marisol and Tommy, respectively).

BU: Here, the segway happens right after Buck’s come clear about being Abby’s ex 2.0. He sits down on the middle chair, but it’s quite obvious he’s shoved it away from Tommy. In fact, compared to CO, Buck is almost at the same distance from Tommy as he is from Eddie. There’s a barrier between Buck and Eddie, but there’s space between him and Tommy. This is emphasized by the lit dining table, which draws even more attention because of the white decorations: the loft is a space to be distracted by, focus on or even flee into.

Now. This is what kickstarted my obsession with these scenes, especially the coming out scene. The chair between them? Buck reaches out to Eddie, leans his arm onto it and in the process drawing attention to it. He actually leaves his arm there for an extended period, throughout several of the following shots, and only seems to pull back when he says he and Tommy were on a date.

The following shots – of Buck’s coming out and Eddie’s initial response – are back and forth POV shots. The first shot from medium distance, is this:

Do you see it. DO YOU SEE IT. Do you see what drives me crazy! Eddie is mirroring Buck’s earlier posture – also this is immediately after Buck says Tommy left him on the curb (i.e. Eddie realizes there’s no Tommy getting between them). Eddie’s not just opened up, he’s reaching out, extending his arm back onto that empty chair between them. And again, like Buck, he leaves it there for several shots. It’s still there when he tells Buck to call Tommy, although he briefly vaguely gestures to himself during the “He’ll love you! We all do!” It’s not clear when he takes his arm away; no shots show it and then he’s getting up.

This just. This drives me insane.

For comparison, Buck doesn’t reach out to Tommy during the BU scene. And, compare Tommy to Eddie:

5. POV shots

Okay, the section header is a bit of a misnomer because the scene consists mostly of dialogue and therefore has POV shots. Like I said, there’s also overlap between the POV shots and the wider establishing shots I used in section 4. The bulk of this part of the scene, however, shows a lot of over the shoulder close ups with quick POV switches. In both cases, this is where the subject at the heart of the scene is discussed.

Now, these differences are pretty small and they could be a consequence of these episodes having different directors. However, there’s zero doubt in my mind that Chad Lowe closely studied the CO scene for its sheer number of cinematographic parallels and therefore it might be entirely on purpose too YAY.

There’s some variation in the distance of these shots, but the most intimate ones look like this:

(Still not over that face he’s pulling here, dear Lord). Buck takes up most of the screen – his shoulders are visible, but the top of his head isn’t. I guess this is technically still an over the shoulder shot, but barely. Eddie is out of focus, just enough there to be a blurry ear. These shots are intimate. This is almost what Eddie is seeing – and actually these shots make it feel like they’re sitting a lot closer than they actually are.

"Until now.” Buck’s entire face (including hair) is in the shot, and we can see Tommy’s shirt. This is the closest/most intimate we get to see him (and Tommy, in reverse). For both sides, they’re very clear over the shoulder shots. Yes, this is intimate – but it is not intimate. A quarter to a third of the screen (esp as the conversation moves on) is dedicated to the other person. Buck is more visually interesting too. He has more colour in his face and his background is more clearly white than in CO, whereas Tommy blends in more with the brown coat rack background (shout-out to @sparklespiff for pointing out that difference while I was trying to figure out why Buck felt more noticeable, btw).

SIDENOTE: I know some posts have already been made about the pictures on Buck’s fridge and Eddie’s mantelpiece, like they seem thematically relevant (or perhaps not yet, but soon). Buck’s walls in general have more pictures on them in S8, which is evident both in Buck’s background and Tommy’s. I am nowhere near talented enough to identify them, but going by their general colour and composition, I believe all of Buck’s wall art pieces are that, art, not family photos.

6. Eddie and Tommy leaving

These scenes have some of the clearest parallels, and of course an incredibly clear difference in how Eddie and Tommy are leaving Buck.

CO: Eddie leaves not because of Buck (well, not technically), but because he has to go do something: “I gotta go talk to Marisol.” Buck is smiling while Eddie gets up and is on his way out. Of course, this is when Eddie stops, turns around, and Buck looks up. In fact, Eddie says “Come here” but he’s the one to walk up to Buck to give him a hug. Buck just stands up from the chair. During the hug, we get shots of both Eddie’s and Buck’s faces, and of course Eddie holding Buck’s shoulder. When Eddie leaves, we hear the door open and shut – the focus stays on Buck.

Again, when Tommy leaves, we only hear the door while the camera cuts to Buck. The show then picks up his response (with the same expression) during his arrival at Eddie’s, where Eddie lets him into his home.

BU: Of course, Tommy has nowhere he needs to go to (hello, return of the failed cinema date) – when he says “I should go” it is because of his conversation with Buck. There’s a medium wide shot of him getting up while Buck looks confused, looking like he’s about to reach out for Tommy – the first time during their conversation. The camera uses a slow dolly to the left, which is when Buck calls back Tommy to ask for clarification: “Did you just break up with me?” Tommy says, “Yeah, I guess I just did.” This has been pointed out before, but they’re clearly not sure. Tommy also says, “Believe me, I didn’t see it coming either.” (Was LFJ speaking from Tommy’s perspective in that interview?). That line is fascinating, actually, because only moments ago, he was incredibly adamant about being Buck’s first, not his last. This feels like a throwback to “Enjoy it while it lasts,” leaving them both overwhelmed/confused.

Look at how similar these shots are! Also, the reason I was adamant about calling these scenes mirrors and not parallels is because Buck and Tommy greet each other with a moment of physical affection (which, as I mentioned before, is incredibly short and barely visible). Eddie wouldn’t have ordinarily but feels it’s important to hug Buck to show him nothing has changed. In terms of meaning and cinematography, their interaction is a lot more substantial and reciprocal. They’re also making sure to leave on good terms – whereas Buck and Tommy meet on good terms, but part essentially as strangers. Buck and Tommy ending the scene like truly feels like an end. Buck and Eddie’s scene feels like a significant shift in their relationship, and for me part of that is a result of Eddie hugging Buck, and shaking up their routine.

7. Miscellany

Just some bits and bobs I couldn’t fit elsewhere in the analysis!

“I like him too. Just not the same way as you.” 7x05 was truly out there foreshadowing 8x06’s “I am not gay.” (I want to do a full 7x04 + 7x05 parallels post at some point, but that’s going to be a fuckload of work and possibly even larger than this post).

Like I pointed out, Buck and Eddie drink beer during their scene (which they often do during their conversations). Buck and Tommy are breaking up without accoutrements. Of course, we know Buck brings over beer to Eddie after the breakup. Because the scenes mirror each other so closely in every other aspect, it feels incredibly poignant: Eddie again fills a role in Buck’s life Tommy should have had. I also figured I’d check their fake brands, and they are different labels. I would assume Buck brought a new flavour, considering Eddie’s looks.

Speaking of continuity, Buck opening the door to Tommy in a sense mirrors Eddie opening the door to Buck at the end of 8x06. The key differences in their cinematography is that during BU, the establishing shot of the entire scene is of the closed door without a peephole shot. When Eddie opens the door, it follows his Risky Business tribute so the door takes up less presence, and even when it’s closed, Buck is clearly visible through the peephole.

Phones clearly are connected to (past) female love interests; Eddie is interacting with Marisol but it’s through text and impersonal – we don’t see the messages, we just hear Eddie complain. On the other hand, Buck is out of contact with Abby but he still treasures that relationship – otherwise he wouldn’t still have those pictures on his phone after 7 years. I guess that’s kind of cute? Idk, I never really liked Abby or how she treated Buck, but Tommy’s speech has turned me into an Abby defender lol

Like Buck, Maddie also stands at the head of the kitchen island during her conversation with Chimney. Chimney’s in the kitchen proper, though, and Maddie walks up to him so they can actually stand face to face and be happy about the new pregnancy together! (I genuinely missed that scene the first time I watched the episode, I was so caught up in the bones of it all SORRY MADNEY I LOVE YOU FOREVER).

8. Final thoughts

I mean. Are we really surprised? I’m not! Actually that’s a lie. I saw the similarities but was shocked at just how close these scenes are in full. However,I do think this scene in particular does a lot to show just how deliberate these parallels between S7 and S8 are (and between S8 and previous seasons in general – we’ve seen similar/near identical cinematography a couple of times now), and how deliberate the parallels are between Eddie and Tommy (who are literally taking up the same position in these two scenes).

And just. The fact it’s the coming out scene between Buck and Eddie, which was about opening up & telling the truth, and it doesn’t change anything (allegedly), versus Buck and Tommy, which is about opening up & telling the truth, which changes everything... it reaffirms how I feel about the coming out scene – this is a major moment of change, and that change is deeply entwined with their respective romantic relationships. AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5!

This account has tweeted a ‘scoop’ stating that Will Byers will have a love interest in season five. I’ve seen varying reports on this acc’s reliability - otoh it has apparently revealed Marvel spoilers, but on the other it’s been called out for making up things, so it’s hard to say.

It has tweeted this in the past:

That RejectedScooper person is being incredibly unreliable. First they insinuate it is Mike:

then they deny it:

then they like a byler tweet:

However, while RejectedScooper is absolutely not reliable, MyTimeToShineH is more debatable. One stranger things stan acc on twitter, an acc which closely follows filming, dm’d then and was told only that it’s a ‘new’ character, with no elaboration.

I’m sharing all of this to paint the fullest possible picture, as I know many of the accs here aren’t on twitter. It’s worth noting that they’re on filming for episode 4-5 now, and no leaks of any plausible Will LIs have emerged… but the casting for the Turnbow parents didn’t get out either, only that of the kid who has a crush on Erica.

It could be a side character whose role is to make Mike jealous. Noah was very uncertain about byler when asked back when he had only the first few episode scripts - ‘don’t be sad if it doesn’t happen’, etc. Right before filming in January, however, he went on tiktok live and read out ‘byler endgame’ and ‘byler kiss’ comments - this is after he got up to episode 7. The video of this is in my Noah Schnapp tag. Could just be a ploy to keep bylers strung along, however, and I am remaining pessimistic.

I will be sure to update the byler tag again if we get more details on this!

ETA: One last note: if you check my other posts, you’ll see that the messages Alex gets are all straightforward about Will not being over Mike in the first few eps. There’s a leak floating around stating that he’s very upset when Mike is injured and that he arrives at the hospital in an awful state.

I have also personally seen, from a reliable source present during ep 2 hospital filming, statements that they’ve heard Will’s relationship with Mike is ‘developing’, that he’s more of a leader this season, and that Mike is having a self-discovery arc and is being more like the protector he was….

ETA 2: they’re filming eps 3 and 5 atm, and the post-production schedule has been revamped, in that post-production is happening immediately after each ep is fully filmed. They have rough copies of ep 1 and 2 rn, and since post-production is when leaks really start coming out (3000 working on it)… all of this has extra veracity.

If the love interest is real and new, and he’s a series regular from eps 1 and 2, we as Bylers are cooked lmao. If he’s an NPC designed to give Mike a taste of his own medicine make Mike jealous tho…

[agathasroad]

Glee (for the send me a show ask)

The first character I fell in love with:

That’s definitely a tie between Brittany and Santana! I still remember it pretty well - I had just joined tumblr in April 2011 and had started to see Brittana gifs everywhere (it was after Sexy but before Rumours I think) I immediately became obsessed with knowing who these adorable cheerleaders were (should have realised then and there I was gay lmao), started watching the show for them and ended up being consumed by all of it💕

The character who is my ‘baby’:

When I tell you that I will put my life on the line for Brittany S Pierce, that is a cold hard fact😌

I don’t think Brittany gets the recognition and love she truly deserves by the wider fandom and anyone who sees her as just the ‘dumb blonde’…it will be an on site fight where I will in fact win

The character who I do not understand:

Basically any of the Glee project characters (all except the powerhouse that is Unique/Alex🙌🏻) Like can someone honestly tell me that if Rory was completely removed from the plot of Season three, that anything would significantly change?? lmao Also I don’t remember much of season 4 (forced amnesia to forget it lmao) but Ryder/Blake can choke😌

I just don’t understand why they did all that and I’m only thankful for it because it brought us the talents of Alex Newall

The character that I think the show ruined:

Most of them?😅 like honestly, I think the show suffered a bit from ‘too many characters’ syndrome so there were characters who got forgotten about, got reduced to one stereotypical trait, or just got screwed over because the writers didn’t know what to do with them

One I think could have been so much more is Quinn. She was a pivotal part of season 1 and then as soon as she had her baby it was like the writers were at a loss, and by season 3 were throwing the most batshit, yet short lived, stories at her to see what would stick?? I think if they really stuck with one thing and had a long term vision for her, she could have continued to be a major player for the whole series

The most attractive male and female character:

I’m gonna say Santana (almost tied with Brittany, but I see myself in her too much so it gets weird for me lmao) because…it’s Santana, duh😌 she is just…if I could place blame on my lesbianism anywhere, it would be on Santana Lopez’s shoulders lmao

And I may be a lesbian but I still know that if there’s a chance I wasn’t, Sam Evans could get it lmao

The character death that was the worst for me:

I don’t wanna say too much because it was also a real life death, but obviously the Quarterback episode about Finn is still a really difficult watch😢

The character that is the most like me:

Oh Brittany 100%🥰 I’ve always seen myself in her in many ways. Maybe it’s fact we share the neurodivergence idk lmao

I just really relate to a majority of Brittany’s personality traits, so it makes her even more of a special character to me💕

The character I think the writer(s) love:

Like Santana said in season 3, episode 4: “this year it’s going to be the Blaine and Rachel show”👀 You cannot convince me that those two weren’t the writers golden children

The character that I just want to be happy:

I mean, as a Brittana supporter before anything, I have to say all I want is for Brittany and Santana to be the happiest married couple🥰 I want them to still be married, with their own home (maybe with a kid or two as well) and completely smashing it in their respective careers💕

My four favourite characters, past or present:

Brittany, Santana, Kurt, and Mercedes💕 (shoutout to Quinn, Unique, and Sam though, I love them a lot too🥰)

My four least favourite characters, past or present:

Blaine, Puck, Will, and Artie I guess? Purely just because I either never cared for any of their storylines or they actively started to grate on me as the show went on😌

[altschmerzes]

First Sentences Game!

tagged by @disappearinginq (thank youuuu!!!)

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

putting the rest of this under a cut so it’s not a huge long post! decided to take a leaf out of disappearinginq’s book and use only WIPs that haven’t been posted yet so >:) enjoy. we got 4 ted lasso fics, 2 9-1-1 fics, 2 locked tomb fics, 1 now you see me fic, 1 flashpoint fic, and 1 ffxv fic. yes that adds up to 11. it’s a surprise.

i have included the opening...... Couple Of Paragraphs. Or for these lmao because as always with me, i cannot help it and it is longer than intended.

tagging some folks up front no pressure but if you want an excuse to share your stories or brag on yourself this is your cue. i dont think it matters if it’s posted fics or wips - @heavensenthale @appalachianapologies @bold-and-nosy @nativestarwrites @impossiblepluto @roguelibrarian (and anyone compelled to do this who can go ahead and take this as a sign to say i tagged you and Do It)

1. Love Stuck - ted lasso

the aromantic jamie tartt fic. jamie realizes he’s aro, and this becomes a study of his and keeley’s post-breakup friendship and how aromanticism can open doors and allow for more freedom and personal choice in relationships for non-aro people too.

The only warning that Keeley gets before Jamie shows up at her house is a text message that she knows he sent by voice-to-text because of its use of capital letters and the complete lack of emojis. It announces his imminent arrival and apologizes for the lack of warning, explaining that he forgot to do that until he was almost there, all in one long, run-on sentence without punctuation. She has just enough time to grab a cardigan, because she’d been getting kind of chilly anyway, and pause the episode of Sex and the City she had been watching before he’s ringing the doorbell.

When Keeley opens the door, Jamie bypasses any kind of perhaps typically-expected greeting. While this isn’t exactly unusual for him, what he says is.

“I’ve got great news,” he tells her, smiling like he really does have great news, which helps to somewhat offset the sense of foreboding she’d been starting to feel. “I am not in love with you. Can I come in?”

2. Wriggle Up On Dry Land - ted lasso

au where everything is pretty much the same except for the part where jamie is the fifteen year old groundskeeper’s assistant who works part-time at nelson road. proceeds approximately through the timelines/events of seasons 1 and 2 (and maybe 3 depending on how that goes).

At this point, Ted has been in England for less than forty-eight hours, he’s slept for somehow both too many and not enough of those hours, and people keep saying things to him that are ostensibly in English but have no coherent meaning he can wring from his exhausted, jet lagged brain. This, he thinks, is a reasonable explanation for why it takes him several moments to process what he’s seeing when he reaches the coaching office.

One hand loosely gripping the strap of his backpack, the other holding out his keys in preparation to unlock the office, Ted stands there for a long time and blinks. The office does not need unlocking, it turns out, because the door is already open. The door is already open, and there’s what appears to be a kid crouching next to it, doing… something to the lowest hinge with a screwdriver. The boy glances up when Ted approaches, but makes no direct acknowledgement of him and goes immediately back to whatever he’s doing with the tool.

Now. On the one hand, this is a teenager Ted has never seen before and he is messing with the door of the head coaching office. That feels like bad news. On the other hand, he is wearing a grey zippered jacket with the Richmond logo on one lapel and STAFF embroidered underneath it in cursive. That, and his non-reaction to Ted catching him mid-potential-mischief, seems to indicate maybe this whole situation is above board after all.

“Uh,” Ted says after the silent pause has gone on long enough that he officially feels like he’s being rude. “Good morning?”

3. the bus curse 5+1 - ted lasso

Five Times The Curse Of The AFC Richmond Away Game Post-Game Bus Ride Home (Mostly Referred To Simply As 'The Bus Curse' For Conservation Of Time) Ruined The Night And One Time It Tried To But Couldn’t. tl;dr bus is haunted (roy voice It Is Not) (for fun and profit the chapter titles for this are ‘twitter’ ‘illness’ ‘the heavy existential burden of captaincy’ ‘nightmare’ ‘injury’ and ‘double birthday’)

The most important thing to understand about The Curse Of The AFC Richmond Away Game Post-Game Bus Ride Home (mostly referred to as ‘the bus curse’ for conservation of time) is that it doesn’t fucking exist.

Roy is fully ready and willing to die on this hill and go to his grave still swearing up and down that the ‘curse’ is superstitious bullshit, just like the one on the training room. Sure, he’s experienced two flat tires and a radiator overheating on the way home with Richmond, which never happened with any previous team, but that’s probably because management always hired the cheapest charter possible. Sure, the driver once stopped off for petrol and simply never came back from inside the station, but that’s because the bloke apparently had some kind of epiphany and decided to radically change his life, not because of the bus itself. Sure, there have been some dozen-odd other assortment of events ranging from inconveniences to calamities that have disrupted specifically the return bus journey from away matches, but there are explanations for all of them, none of which involve any kind of curse.

4. Never Been In Love - 9-1-1

the aromantic evan buckley fic. buck has a very rocky time coming to terms with being aro, and then telling everyone about it. ft internalized arophobia, romance repulsion, found family, the power of queer friendship, and the way the episode with red the retired firefighter was the perfect set-up for an aro character realization but of course they’d never go there.

The thing about dates is that, theoretically, at some point they are supposed to go well. And it’s not like Buck’s never been on dates that he has fun on. He has! A lot of them, actually! He’s a people person, he always has been, he likes spending time around others and spending time one-on-one is extra nice - it feels nice to bask in the attention and to focus his attention solely on someone else for a while. However, there always comes a point where the woman Buck is out with starts blatantly flirting and he knows he needs to flirt back, or he just… remembers that he’s out on a date and not just hanging out with a cool person he wants to get to know better, and it all goes sour.

The end of it is, even when Buck’s dates go well, they don’t. The mere fact that they’re dates is enough to thoroughly ruin the experience, either in the moment or in hindsight, particularly once there’s an expectation that there are going to be more dates and, at some point, a relationship. And that… Buck really just doesn’t know what to do with that.

5. One-Way Mirror - now you see me

oneshot set between movies 1 and 2 that gets at explaining some of the shifts in character dynamics and digs into what it would be like for dylan to mesh with the team when they were already a team and he was on the outside. lot of focus on what happened to create such a faith in him from jack specifically.

The nice thing about setting yourself up to look like the lawman who got duped by a team of criminals just a little too smart for him is that, when you announce your intention to take a sabbatical, nobody really asks too many questions. Dylan must have played his role effectively, because not an eyelid is bat when the Agent who got too invested in fugitives that ultimately eluded him decides to take off for a while. He has the leave accrued, it’s a matter of putting in the paperwork. Fuller is a little concerned but Evans waves it through with barely a thought. Cowan swans around the office dripping smug satisfaction, and Dylan keeps his head down and swallows it.

He goes to France to visit Alma first. While things are still white-hot in the fallout of the case, the Horsemen are laying low in the area. They’ll take off for a house the Eye has arranged soon enough, but in the handful of days intervening Dylan gets on a plane to Paris. Alma deserves some answers after everything she went through on this case with him, and if it means he’s going to get arrested after all, well, so be it. The others are set up, they’ll be okay.

6. untitled fic about mercymorn and augustine in a doc labeled ‘rotates them’ - the locked tomb series

this is simply me losing my mind about this dynamic, getting somewhat at how they came up with the plan they attempted to enact in ht9.

“Do you love your brother?”

Augustine stops in his tracks, facing away from her. His body twitches in a horrid, disarticulated little spasm, like a marionette that’s been electrocuted. The question has hurt him, and she can tell.

Good, Mercymorn thinks. Pain sharpens the senses.

“How dare you ask me that.”

Mercymorn does not back down. For one thing, she does not, as a rule, back down. Ever. For another, she’d caught up to him here and brought up the subject for a reason, and it isn’t just to torment him with it.

7. One Right Move - flashpoint

time loop of the episode one wrong move where lou young died. spike relives his best friend’s death over and over and over until he can figure out how to make it stop.

This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends.

This is the way the worst day of Michaelangelo Scarlatti’s life ends - not with a bang, but with the echo of one.

Explosions have not been an unusual occurrence in Spike’s world to date. Moments of ground-shaking thunder and fire have come and gone for him the way a lawyer conducts depositions or a surgeon draws a dotted line indicating where they plan to cut - something that is an incomprehensible oddity to those outside the profession, but as familiar as the tree on the corner of the street you drive down every day to those inside it. While the detonation of a bomb may be the worst or most shocking thing to happen in the life of just about any random person you grabbed off the street, it’s Tuesday for Spike. Even when they go bad, they still ultimately go. He doesn’t spend hours reliving them after the smoke has cleared.

This time, he does. Laying on his side on the couch in Greg’s living room, the moment that mine went off replays again and again. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s imagining it or if something is still actually exploding, because Spike can still feel himself shaking from the percussive force. Or maybe shaking from something else. It’s hard to tell, now, in this diluted, slipping evening that doesn’t feel remotely real.

8. Can’t Grow A Proper Branch - 9-1-1

5+1 of five times someone got one of the pieces indicating that buck’s childhood and family were Really Fucking Bad and one time he just straight out told someone.

Man plans and God laughs.

When Bobby was growing up, the Nash family’s next door neighbor had been a Rabbi and his wife whose older daughter had been his age. Often, when his parents were working late, Bobby would end up at the Rose house, playing with Sarah Rose or doing homework with her at the kitchen table under Rabbi Rose’s quiet supervision. Man plans and God laughs. A Yiddish proverb Rabbi Rose had been fond of. Even though it’s been decades since he’d lived in the house in St. Paul next door to the Roses, decades since he’d last spoken to the man at all, the phrase he’d used so often still pops into Bobby’s head sometimes. It even makes its way out of his mouth now and then.

From the moment they meet, it feels to Bobby like Evan Buckley is God laughing at his plans.

9. Game Over. Try Again? - final fantasy xv

the first time noctis had to use a phoenix down on each of his friends. exploring game resurrection mechanics from a narrative standpoint.

Gladio has been twenty years old for all of nine days when he dies in an assassination attempt that leaves Noctis without a scratch. It all happens so quickly that there’s no time to feel the energy in the air change before the shooting starts.

A second before the first bullet shatters what had been a perfectly fine, unremarkable afternoon, Gladio’s hand closes around Noctis’s arm, the other plants in the square centre of his back, and he’s being shoved so hard it propels him several feet forward. He’s all ready to be pissed, to whirl around and demand that the big dumb bastard explain what, precisely, his issue is when a chunk of concrete explodes from the waist-high wall he’s landed behind. Noctis isn’t really sure what he thinks is happening at first, but ‘someone is shooting bullets at me because they are trying very hard to kill me’ is not it.

10. baby heist au - ted lasso

the one where bex decides to leave rupert, rebecca decides to help her, an extremely unlikely friendship forms, and i cast spell of ‘hold a baby’ on the entire richmond greyhounds roster.

The first thing that enters Rebecca’s mind when she gets the initial message is suspicion. She stares at her mobile, squinting at the text from the number - unattached to anyone in her address book - and trying to piece together who it could possibly be from.

Hello Rebecca. I was wondering if you might have time for a coffee and a chat soon. I have something I’d really like to discuss with you.

It came through just as she was walking to her desk upon first arriving at the office, and caught her so off-guard that she’s still standing there in the middle of the room looking at the screen when the second message arrives.

Oh, this is Bex by the way. Bex Harper.

A third, not a moment later.

Well. Bex Mannion I guess.

bonus 11. baby heist au 2: 2 heist, 2 baby - the locked tomb series

modern au (i know, but bear with me) where it’s like pov. you are ortus nigenad. you are in your very early twenties. you have come to the unfortunate realization that you are in a cult and you have Fucking Snapped and you cannot be here one more moment longer. on your way out, you decided to take a pair of toddlers with you. pov. you are abigail pent. you are a professor and you live with your husband in the top floor of a duplex. a young man with a pair of little girls just moved in downstairs, and you’ve got the feeling there’s something Going On with them.

The bottom unit of the building has been empty since before Abigail moved into the upstairs of the duplex on Primis Street. She’s never met the person who owns it, and so there has never been an opportunity to ask after this curiosity, despite her desire to know if there was a reason for it. Magnus tells her that it’s probably just not a keenly desired neighbourhood, especially for the university demographic comprising most of their area, but still she has always wondered.

When someone does move into it, Abigail doesn’t notice at first. It’s such a shock the first time she hears a sound and looks out of her unit just in time to see the downstairs door close behind someone that she nearly calls after him on the spot. She manages to repress the instinct, but she calls Magnus immediately upon going back inside.

“What? Since when?” he asks when Abigail tells him they’ve finally got neighbours.

“I haven’t the faintest idea! I just saw him coming home. Didn’t see much, just the door closing behind him, but I think he’s young. There’s not even a car out front! It’s all quite mysterious.”

Things do not clear up from there, especially not once Abigail catches her first glimpse of the children.

[pumpkinpie59]

Hi again!!

Here’s a question for you! If you had to pick, what would your top five episodes be from both the 1987 and 2012 series? 😃

Thanks again, and have a nice evening! 😁

hi!

this was kinda hard lol. i love so many episodes in both shows but here’s my answer right now:

1987

5. the big cufflink caper

this one was an immediate favorite. it’s fun, silly, and clever. each turtle has their time to shine. the plot is so ridiculous but i found myself intrigued by the steps taken to solve the mystery. it’s great

4. take me to your leader

i love the concept of the other 3 turtles trying to lead in leonardo’s absence. it really shows why leonardo is so needed in the team, while showing why the other turtles have other roles. raphael doesn’t want to lead but can ground the team and is most likely to see things as they are, donatello is competent beyond belief but doesn’t have the focus needed to be leader, and michelangelo has the kindness and talent to lead but is ultimately too short sighted. it’s leonardo’s drive and ambition and confidence that make him a good leader and him needing to find that again and see that his brothers need him is such an interesting premise, and the episode is great at the execution imo.

3. four musketurtles

leonardo gets hyperfixated on a book, bonks his head, and wakes up believing his is the main character. it’s just so funny and cam clarke’s british accent reminds me of liquid snake which i find hilarious. idk it’s just fun.

2. beware the lotus

lotus is my favorite character beside leonardo so of course this was gonna be on the top five lol. i love lotus and leonardo’s dynamic, and i just love lotus as a character. even if we don’t get to explore lotus’ character very much, the episode does a great job establishing lotus’ abilities: her combat prowess, her smarts, her wit, and even her self respect. and the fact that she can defeat shredder so easily … mwah i love it.

1. farewell lotus blossom

hehe now here’s the episode where we explore lotus’ character more. she’s insecure about not fitting in or having a family/clan. and the fact that she feels comfortable around leonardo enough to cry and laugh and tease like AHSKAHAK PLEASE I LOVE THEM. the whole onion scene is my favorite scene in the show. i just wish we could’ve seen how she dealt with her new life without the spirit within her. and more leolotus obviously. the one thing that bothers me about the episode is that shredder and his group don’t show up after chakahachi takes the role of villain. they just leave and we don’t see them for the rest of the episode lol.

some special mentions bc this show is great:

teenagers from dimension x

the maltese hamster

green with jealousy

raphael meets his match

donatello’s degree

leonardo versus tempestra

splinter vanishes

unidentified flying leonardo

turtles on the orient express

i’ve only seen the first 4 seasons and the europe side season tho so i’ll have more opinions once i finish it lol.

2012

5. the insecta trifecta

i think this episode explores raph’a trauma and fear really well, and it is by far the height of the later seasons (ngl i am a season 1 fan lol). i love raph’s interactions with splinter so much. it shows how much raph has grown since season 1, and splinter’s counsel reflects it. instead of teaching raph as an angry child, he teaching him as a struggling almost-adult. he’s patient and understanding with him, and raph is more respectful and is able to try and talk through his struggles more easily. i love it. also i have a horrible sense of humor and the ant french kiss scene sends me into hysterics every time lmao.

4. in dreams

hehe i’m a sucker for worst fears/nightmare type episodes. also the ANIMATION IS SO COOL IN THIS EPISODE??? AND CASEY SAVES THE DAY??? AND APRIL IS SO WORRIED ABOUT THEM THE ENTIRE TIME???? man i love it. i love most of the farmhouse arc but this one is so good x3

3. parasitica

i’m not even a mikey fan and i have a huge fear of insects, especially wasps. so i legit have no idea why i love this one as much as i do. but the plot is so … small? compared to the other episodes. a majority of it is just in the lair, and the turtles are the only characters other than the wasps. and it works so well. the story flows great and you feel the urgency of the situation. also mikey banging his head into the table so he doesn’t pass out is funny to me idk. also. ALL HAIL THE BEAN … why wasn’t april there tho? she was living with them during this time lol

2. monkey brains

this episode is the best donatello episode idc. not only is it the start of april and donnie becoming best friends (before then it was super awkward lol and april wasn’t quite used to him yet), but also it shows donnie’s flaws, strengths, and insecurities so clearly. i wish later episodes were this good at exploring his character. it’s like they hit his magnum opus way too early lmao and didn’t know where to go afterwards. he over-thinks. with fighting. with hanging out with april. and with his insecurities … doesn’t think april will just say yes to hanging out so he has to come up with an excuse of some sort … takes a lot of issue with the word “monstrosity” (thinks he’s a monster and doesn’t like to be reminded) … and i haven’t forgotten about april. this episode marks the first major glimpse of her powers. and when splinter first offers her training. LIKE IDK I JUST ADORE THIS EPISODE.

1. fungus humungous

is it wrong to have criticisms of my fav episode? xD i love leo’s fear, and april’s, and i do believe that donnie’s is appropriate (to some extent), but the others aren’t explored very well imo. and i wish mikey’s was the parasitica wasps instead of the stupid squirrelanoids smh. but i genuinely enjoy watching this episode on repeat lol. idk what to say rlly. it’s just interesting to me.

and some honorable mentions

i think his name is baxter stockman

never say xever

panic in the sewers

new girl in town

enemy of my enemy

karai’s vendetta

operation breakout

slash and destroy

the invasion

buried secrets

race with the demon

eyes of the chimera

the fourfold trap

the arena of carnage

the war for dimension x

mutant gangland (messy execution; fun premise)

tokka vs the world

when worlds collide

it’s easier for me to think about seasons as a whole rather than just episodes tho lol

season 1 is good from beginning to end. some episodes are better than others, but it all flows rlly well imo. also top tier comedic timing and i personally love the quick movements and quirky speaking animation.

season 2 has rlly good highs but boring lows? it does have the strength of flowing well tho. individual episodes aren’t easy for me to like (other than fungus humungous, slash and destroy, and the invasion), but there are good scenes throughout the season.

season 3 starts out super strong (with the exception of bigfoot episode and frog episode). i love the farmhouse arc so much. but then the rest of the season feels aimless and messy. i don’t rlly like the brain worm thing. they didn’t want karai to be a good guy yet so they drew out the villain karai thing way too long. i like the finale but there’s very little buildup.

season 4 should have been two seasons. the space arc is pretty fun, but a lot of the episodes had weird pacing and i wish there was more imo? like you have so many things you could do with a space arc but didn’t explore them. and then the last half was … meh. it could’ve been its own season to explore the arcs more. let april’s possession be more drawn out and a bigger issue, let don vizioso have more of an impact (especially for donnie), let splinter’s death be better written smh. also i hate the finale lmao

okay so … tbh i haven’t finished rewatching season 5 lmao. so i don’t remember lone rat and cubs, the usagi arc, the monster arc, the apocalypse arc, and the crossover arc very well. i’m rewatching the show with my sister tho so i’ll get there soon lol. but i really dislike the kavaxas arc?? it’s so useless imo?? why is tiger claw leading a cult?? and why are they resurrecting shredder when he already killed splinter which was his entire life goal?? and donnie had such a small murder problem THAT SHOULDVE HAD MORE IMPACT??? ugh. i like when worlds collide tho ajskahsk top tier. hehe ramona and apritello brain go brrr.

anyway sorry for my weird rant lol. thanks for the ask ^^

[elliesgaymachete]

For the writer's asks how about 8, 12 and 28?

Love your stories btw!

Ahh thanks friend, I appreciate it! 😊

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go? - ooh, I’d probably do no action! I find dialogue easier, and I’ve done a chatfic before 😅 I’ve also done epistolary stuff before which I find a lot of fun to write and also meets the rules of no action!

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules - LOL honestly, I love writing but the grind is so hard that I’ve kind of given up on most of my dreams of doing it professionally. But if I could have 3 writing related wishes, I would wish to 1. publish a novel (maaaybe duology or trilogy of I’m up for it), 2. Create and run my own TV show. This has been a dream of mine for years that I’ve definitely given up on, especially with TV becoming shorter and more inconsistent. I’d love to create and run a show with 22 episode seasons and a solid 5-7 year run, and 3. I would love to write and create a video game

I understand the publishing a book and the video game are technically realistically possible, but my wish would be able to do them without the grind. Like someone likes my idea and immediately funds it 😂 I just wanna get some of my original stories out there into the world for people to see, but I work full time and don’t really have the time or energy to put extra effort into it, so if a genie could help me out with that I’d jump on the opportunity lmao

Anyway i hate that capitalism has taken the fun out of creating art and people are only focused on making a profit so artists need to grind just to be seen/heard/make a living. I wish everyone could just chill and create what they want at their own pace. I did not mean for this to become an anticapitalist rant whoops let’s move onto the next question 😂

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why? - ooh for original characters, I have an old, kooky witch named Teva in the book I’m working on! It’s a fun character trope to write that I’ve never really done before. Kinda like Madame Razz from She Ra

[bellesowl]

kiss and make up

- multiple characters 

⤷ atsumu, sakusa

genre: (an attempt at) angst to fluff ; established relationship, timeskip 

synopsis: in which you have an almost relationship-ending argument

word count: 2.1k total - about 1k each

warnings: fighting (obv), being called a burden, the boys are kinda mean but they make up for it i swear

- a/n: tbh i was kinda getting sick of writing just fluff so i wanted to spice it up a lil! if this sucks i’m probably going to stick to fluff fics but i think it should be fine? this one also only has 2 characs cause idk how i would be at writing angst LMAO if this does well enough i’ll post the one i have written w kuroo and iwa <3 but i feel like this kinda sucks so oh well

- thank u @kybabi for beta-ing <3

- miya atsumu

you n atsumu have been together since high school which is why you’ve always been inseparable

you went to the same college & moved in together right after, but once he got his job with the jackals, he insisted that you didn’t work and focused on getting your master’s degree

you reluctantly agreed, if only to be able finish & earn your phd soon after

because atsumu is always busy, it’s kinda become commonplace for you to do the chores around the house- like doing the laundry or washing the dishes or cooking dinner for him

but it’s gotten to the point where he expects it

atsumu sighs, unlocking the door to your shared apartment. today’s practice was rough, it was a day of hard conditioning and bad sets and he wanted nothing more than a good meal and to cuddle. the first thing he noticed when he walked in was the mess. instant ramen bowls were scattered everywhere, empty coke cans and dirty napkins were all over the floor, and there you were, in the eye of the hurricane. the second thing he noticed was that there was no homecooked meal.

surprised, he walks into the dining room to see you, furiously typing away at your laptop with four different books surrounding you. you hear his footsteps and look up.

“hey baby! how was practice?” you ask with a smile

atsumu grunts in reply and gestures toward the kitchen, “so.. what’s for dinner babe?”

your eyes widen, “oh shoot! i’m sorry, i was so busy studying for this final that i forgot to cook. do you mind-“ you stop when you see him roll his eyes and head out.

“um, where are you going? you just got home?” you ask, following him.

“out. i have to get food somehow” he replies, “especially because my useless s/o can’t cook a goddamn meal for me” he mutters under his breath

you stop in shock because did he really just say that?

“i’m sorry, i don’t think i heard you right.” you start but he interrupts you

“i said, i have to go get food because someone is too busy to cook a goddamn meal. what do you even do anyways- well, besides spend my money? the least you can do is cook for me, god.” he finally turns to look at you but he feels his heart stop at the look on your face.

not wanting to escalate the situation any further, you try to calm him down, “tsum, hey, i’m sorry i forgot to cook okay? this is my last final before the year ends and i just can’t afford to fail it, so i’ve been studying all day. if you come back to the kitchen, i’ll make you something, okay?”

“i don’t want to eat your half assed attempt at a meal, y/n. the whole point is that you couldn’t get off your ass for an hour to cook when i make the money, i paid for the apartment, hell, i’m even paying for your school! is it really too much to ask for you to stop being such a burden and cook and clean everyday?” he fumed.

you gape at him, shocked that he would even say that. to hell with not escalating things

“at least i want to do something more with my life than hit balls around and retire at 35” you hiss, “and i do everything in this house! i do the laundry, i clean the bathroom, i cook - i do all the things you refuse to. and do i complain? no. i offered to get a job but you refused.”

you turn around to grab your laptop and your textbooks, “just- just do whatever the hell you want to, atsumu.” and with that you walk out the door.

atsumu’s heart drops when he realizes that you actually left. sure, you’ve had arguments here and there, but you’ve never left. he pulls out his phone to call you when he sees you’ve left yours on the counter. knowing there’s nothing to do but wait at this point, he begins to clean up and calls osamu over.

-

it’s already 3 am when you walk back into your apartment, and you blink multiple times when you open the door. it’s ... clean? you’re sure it was a mess when you left, so how would it be clean? you sigh, too tired to think about it more and walk into the kitchen. your eyes widen at the sight. not only is your favorite food on the stove, but there your boyfriend is, asleep on the dining table. you smile slightly, well that explains things.

“ ‘’mu, hey, wake up babe.” you kiss him lightly and shake him.

he grunts and sits up, “baby! i’m so so sorry for what i said. you are in no way, shape, or form a burden, i have no clue why i said that. today’s practice was just really tiring, but i know i shouldn’t have taken it out on you. just please-” he sighs, “just please don’t leave me again.”

your heart breaks your teary eyed boyfriend. “shh, of course baby. i’ll never leave you again okay?” you say, tugging on his arm, “cmon babe, let’s go to bed, okay?”

“mm okay my love.” he replies and practically pulls you into bed. “i love you, okay?”

“i love you too baby.” you reply

“to the moon and back?” he asks

“yeah, and to infinity and beyond.” you reply, your lack of sleep hitting you hard

“oh, i didn’t know i was dating buzz lightyear”

you let out a loud laugh and just like that you both fall into the same routine, love radiating off both of you in waves.

- sakusa kiyoomi

dating sakusa was,, challenging

it definitely took him a while to get comfortable with you

so you guys have been dating for a couple years now, and at this point he’s def clingy

however there still moments when he reverts to his old self

this just happened to be one of those times

“OUT! AND JUST LIKE THAT, EJP RAIJIN TAKES THE WIN AGAINST THE BLACK JACKALS!”

the stadium is silent before the ejp cheering section erupts in cheers. you stay silent, watching your team below. you watch as sakusa stills, still in disbelief. you make your way down, practically sprinting to your boyfriend.

he sees you on the sideline and makes his way over to you. you put on your biggest smile and attempt to make him feel better.

“you did great, kiyo! you’ll get them next time, yeah?” you beam, knowing how hard he’s been training to beat his cousin

he eyes you warily, not knowing what to say.

usually, sakusa gets pretty clingy after games, so you you move to give him a hug.

“don’t touch me” he barked, jerking away from you. “if you hadn’t been distracting me, we would’ve won.”

you stare at him, refusing to let the tears flow. you both turn when you hear a certain setter yelling at the opposing middle and you sigh.

“um, okay then. i’ll see you at home, yeah?” you ask

sakusa merely nods and makes his way over to his teammates. you look around to see if anyone saw what just happened and you lock eyes with your boyfriend’s cousin, who walks over.

“congrats on the win komori! you guys did so well!” you cheered

“thanks, y/n! and i’m sorry about kiyoomi. i’m sure you know he gets that way sometimes.” he explains

you smile and shake your head, saying that you’re used to it and you both bid your farewells. as you walk out of the stadium, you think back to how your boyfriend, the one person you loved with everything you had in you, utterly embarrassed you in front of his whole team. before you know it, silent tears start streaming down your face. 

you enter your home and immediately rush to the bathroom. you draw yourself a bath and make some dinner while waiting. you assume that kiyoomi wouldn’t be home to have dinner with you anyways- and now that you think about it, you can’t remember the last time you had dinner together. after you finish your bath and eat your dinner, you decide to wait up for boyfriend and watch a couple episodes of your favorite show to pass the time. 

-

kiyoomi walks into his apartment at around 1 am, completely and utterly exhausted. he kicks his shoes off and drops his bag on the floor. The rustling rouses you from sleep and you sit up.

“hey kiyo” you say with a yawn, “where’ve you been all night?” 

sakusa ignores you in favor of getting ready for bed and you frown when he brushes past you. 

“kiyo, babe, what’s wrong? you’ve been ignoring me all night and i-” you start but he interrupts you before you can finish. 

“god, just shut up, y/n. can’t you tell i don’t want to talk to you right now? i’ve already had the worst day, i don’t need you making it any worse.” he snaps

"kiyoomi, look, i understand you’re upset but you shouldn’t take it out on me.” you reason, reaching out towards him, “listen, i’m here if you wanna-” 

“i said, do not touch me.” he seethes. “you are so fucking clingy y/n, lord, let me breathe a little.”

with those words, you explode. “you know what, sakusa,” he flinches when he hears his last name come out of your mouth, “i think i have the right to want to spend some time with my boyfriend! i haven’t seen you in god knows how long- you leave before i wake up and i fall asleep in an empty bed. i’ve been working my ass off to get some time off to watch your stupid volleyball game and what do you do? you embarrass me in front of your whole team!”

you sigh, wiping away the tears that continue that continue to fall. “listen, i don’t want to fight right now. i’m going to go stay at a friend’s house for the night, alright? i’ll see you tomorrow” you say, grabbing your purse. “if you’re even home tomorrow,” you add under your breath.

sakusa is in shock. the moment he saw your tears start to spill, he felt an undeniable and unrelenting ache in his chest that only seemed to grow with every work that came out of your mouth. and when the door shut? sakusa fell on his knees, his heart dropping. he truly couldn’t believe he said that to you. now all he had to do was wait till you got home.

-

2:38 pm - you check the time on your phone before pulling out your keys. you hope you made the right move, choosing to come back home while kiyoomi was still at practice. you open the door and the sight causes your eyes to widen.

there, on the couch with your favorite flowers in hand, is your boyfriend. he hears the door open and stands up abruptly.

“y/n, my love, i am so sorry. i truly cannot express how horrible i feel, and i cannot begin to understand how you feel.” he takes a deep breath, seemingly holding back tears. “i- i do love you. i love you more than i’ve ever loved anyone in my entire life. i know i’m not the best at expressing it, but you mean the world to me- no, you are my world. without you, i don’t know what i would do. so please-” his voice cracks, “just, please give me another chance?”

you run towards your boyfriend, practically tackling him. “kiyo, baby, of course. i love you too, you know? you just can’t do that anymore, yeah? you shouldn’t feel like you have the right to embarrass me just because you had a bad day. and please, don’t call me clingy? i know i do stick to you like glue sometimes, but that’s just because i never see you anymore.” you reply.

“that will all change, darling.” he answers sincerely, “i’ll make more time for you, i swear. in fact, i’ll take the week off, how does that sound?” at the sight of your smile, he relaxes.

“that sounds wonderful, yoomi.” you answer

sakusa feels the weight that’s been dragging him down lift and he realizes the effect you have on him- you’re his breath of fresh air. he also realizes how utterly idiotic it was to push away the one person who could make him feel better.

it’s fine, he reasons, he’ll just never make that mistake again. he swears it.

[makoandharu]

Unpopular opinion: Makoto should've been angrier with Haru during that fireworks scene. Actually, I think Haru was a bad friend (throughout S2) tbh.

Here we have a friend who has been with Haru through thick and thin, even during the time Haru and Rin had that little beef when they were kids. In Makoto's POV Haru suddenly became upset to the point where he doesn't want to swim, suddenly quits the club and distanced himself from all his friends. All without any context. So what does Makoto do?

He simply quits the club too, wasn't able to keep as close contact to his friends like before, and stayed by Haru's side all till high school- that's three years. And btw, he STILL didn't pry or ask Haru about what exactly happened to get him in such a state, he silently respected Haru's boundaries and was there for him.

So to have all his kindness and generosity of basically tending to Haru's needs before his own, thrown back at his face when Haru accused him of "meddling" and telling him to "mind his business"- EXCUSE ME? Are you KIDDING ME? He's been there for you since DAY 1, HARU. All he wants you to do is think about your future! He never even told you to have a job, he literally said "if you're happy with it, then I won't force you" but he knew you were just SCARED!

And I'm sorry, I get that Haru was just overwhelmed in the situation and felt he had no other choice... BUT- the fact that Makoto, for once, put his own life before anyone else's and found a dream for himself; he wanted to tell Haru immediately but got shot down multiple times. Only during the scene did it come out because Haru, WITHOUT TALKING TO HIM, assumed Makoto didn't figure out a dream (then said "why aren't you speaking"- lmao okay Haru real classy) and the response he gets is his most precious friend RUNNING AWAY FROM HIM.

-Like I can't explain how nonsensical Haru's accusations were in that damn fight. "Meddling?", Haru he literally never knew what got you so down during middle school but never asked to respect your boundaries. But the one time he wants to help steer you in the right direction, he's "meddling"? Okay YAH SURE.

For me, that little moment they had after the airport scene, where Haru is like "I'm sowwy 🥺"- yeah no that doesn't cut it. Makoto shouldn't have even been there at the airport. Haru should've done a little more than just words, and actively made it up to him. Because I know for someone like Makoto, words like that cut deep. It's hard to get over knowing all the time you stuck by your friend, practically boyfriend, was thought of as "meddling".

TL;DR: There should've been at least half an episode where Haru did a little more to apologise for what he said to Makoto, and I mean literally ANYTHING more. I get Haru's not like that, but if he really was sorry I feel he would've gone out of his comfort zone to convey how much he means that. Makoto, though could've forgiven him already, shouldn't have just forgotten the fight immediately, I know he's perfect but he's also human. It's fine for him to hold a grudge once in a while, especially when it wasn't even fully resolved. Maybe then it wouldn't feel so... undeserved? Having that "Okaeri, Tadaima" scene.

Honestly I could talk about this scene for days but I've already written a whole essay I'm so sorry-

Hmm i understand your reasoning completely, the things Haru said were unacceptable and we definitely shouldn't have just had a brushed aside apology.

But isn't that the apeal of Makoto and by extention Makoharu? The selflessness, the silent understanding, the immediate forgiveness? I completely get wanting a conversation with Haru begging for forgiveness, especially for calling him meddlesome. @caffernnn and i have talked endlessly about a good apology scene for the fireworks scene, bc you're right Haru was bang out of order, he knew the impact of his words, and he chose them specifically to hurt Makoto as much as possible. That's a terrible thing to do especially when, as you also pointed out, Makoto was the only one who didn't actually push him to become a swimmer but just wanted Haru's happiness.

But, Haru is borderline depressed at this point, and the one person he thought wouldn't press the matter, the one person who's always been his safety away from the prying minds and overwhelming questions and pushing and the pressure seems to now also be the same as everyone else insisting that he find a dream and just be what everyone expects of him. That kind of, what must've seemed like to Haru, betrayal must've hurt something terrible. Not saying what Haru did was right but you have to understand the pain he must've been feeling. Haru's not just Makoto's most important person, Makoto is the same for Haru. So of course he's gonna be broken, and of course he lashed out.

As for the airport scene, i completely completely disagree. That scene is SO important to me. It's integral for the Makoharu, bc they are after all home for each other. They need to have the safety of messing up without the fear of losing each other. That's what sets them apart from every other dynamic I've ever seen. They're teenagers they’re gonna do things wrong (Makoto asking Haru to race him was also EXTREMELY fucked up, and we didn't even get an apology for that; the show literally just forgot it happened) but they need to be able to stumble and fall and make mistakes without the fear that the other will lash out like Rin or become withdrawn like Ikuya.

Haru has had such a bad experience racing a friend before, and he lost Rin bc of it, and Makoto is infinitely more important and losing him is Haru's biggest fear. Yet when Makoto asked, he put aside his own feelings and fears and pain, and put Makoto's feelings first. So why wouldn't Makoto, after the fight, put aside his own for Haru's sake? When he knows better than anyone how sorry Haru's gonna be bc he knows Haru better than himself?

Basically where i agree with needing more, a better apology where Haru apologises specifically for the words he chose and the hurt they intended to cause, i don't think Makoto shouldn't have gone to the airport or been angrier and not forgiven him until Haru apologised properly bc then how is he any different to anyone else is Haru's life? The whole apeal of makoharu is their unbreakable bond and selfless love, and if they don't have that, if they don't love each other unconditionally, if they don't understand why the other lashed out or did something awful (be it the fireworks scene or the race), if they're not there for each other through every bad thing in life then what's the point?

[panelshowsource]

I throughly enjoyed the new taskmaster episode, maybe it's because of the lack of enthusiasm in the dark void of my current life, maybe because it is good indeed, or even both who knows? I like all the contestants so far, especially my beloved Alan, and I think the series is going to be a good one

let's talk about it!!!

i'm really optimistic about the series based on the first episode! i'll start off with some actual observations and slowly derail into just...all of my thoughts, probably:

victoria coren mitchell

the contestants have a bit of an older average age, interestingly! if you think back to some of the 40-something+ contestants (richard osman, bob, mel, hugh, noel, rhod, mark watson, liza, etc.), they all 1) didn't try too hard and sacrifice comedy in the meantime, and 2) had great, comfortable rapports with greg. their seniority in the industry gives them the confidence to dick about, challenge greg, question the format, flub on purpose or cheat and get away with it — and all without trying too hard. plus, a lot of these comedians know greg and alex from being in the same business for a while. so i've alwaaays loved the more mature contestants, and this season the youngest is 35! i'm so excited about that!! you can tell from the first episode alone they're mostly gonna laugh at themselves, which i love??

on the whole, the tasks weren't overly complicated — BLESS

is there a studio audience or did the editing team just NAIL the laugh track? IT'S SO MUCH BETTER WITH LAUGHS. the dry echoes of s10 (which i just rewatched) fucking scarred me oml i'm so happy with this

i think desiree dressed a little flamboyantly for the recorded tasks, but i'm actually so happy no one wore a totally ridiculous outfit for the duration of the series. it's kind of an worn gag at this point (kudos to the first contestant or two to do it, and phil wang's cock which i'll probably never forget). victoria's outfit? the long skirt with the boots and her lil gloves? so cute ogdkjfghflkdhzk

not to call victoria out but did we not all predict exactly how she was going to be? mocking/question the tasks while also being the most competitive one there? the way MORE THAN ONCE she didn't even digest all of the information on the card to do the tasks correctly yet clearly cared enough to feel a little demoralised at botching them... so victoria. WHICH WAS VERY CUTE ;_:

why is alan already so tired omg LMAO let my man take a nap and get a bonus point for no reason, he's already been through enough IN LIFE!!! also unrelated but his skin is beautiful

guz is the only contestant i wasn't really familiar with before the series but he's already...so funny. i'm CACKLING when he breaks out the pure pakistani accent and his comedic beats are gold. can't yet decide if he's an affable weirdo (à la paul chowdhry) or a lowkey nutcase (mel giedroyc) but i cannot WAIT to find out

"you may buy the tools you need with time" is not shakespeare yes i googled it

guz's fit in the studio was sick. i also love that alan's look was exactly hugh dennis', sean lock's...just. that classic 50yo button-down and kicks. which warms my heart for some reason

greg has had quite a few crushes throughout the series, i'd gander morgana is next on his list but i won't be surprised if it ends up being guz... the absolute slut that man is smh

not to put pressure on myself to make a gifset but to the people who requested it i clocked many alex breaking character moments and they have been DULY noted.......

do you want to hear how fucking delusional i am... i have been contemplating getting a second ear piercing for a couple of years and when i saw victoria laying on the car creeper and clocked her second hole i was like "okay i need to do it"

the hold she has on me...embarrassing

for the live task, i tried to play along by picking a cool hobby, a fun animal, and a famous person, and what immediately popped into my head was "ice skating, emu, david mitchell"... psychologist followers, please analyse me

victoria doing an otter at the end? cosmic hermione energy (a thesis for another time)

more cutesie greg & alex socks~ some things never change AND SHOULDN'T

let me stop here because it's 2:45am and i know i'll have some asks in the ol' inbox tomorrow! and we can talk more!!! anyone who hasn't seen it, it's already up on my drive so please enjoy!

[perlukafarinn]

I posted two polls yesterday, asking who is your favorite potential love interest for Dean besides Cas and vice versa. I’ve tallied the votes for both polls and reblogged them with the results and some commentary but I thought it’d be nice to gather them in one post, plus some extra thoughts from me below the cut.

Potential love interests for Dean:

Benny (116). And yes, correct.

Cassie (77). Also correct. A few of you pointed out that Dean should have gone to her in season six instead of Lisa and are you wrong?

Victor (34). Tbh I wasn’t expecting Victor in the top three but I am very happy with all of you!

No one (28). Very Cas coded of you, very sexy.

Crowley (25). This is the one I feel like the character in question would be the most upset about. Only number 5??

Bela (13). I’d also like to interject that demon!Dean/demon!Bela should have happened.

Lee (8). Good for him, I guess.

Jo (5). I don’t know if I’m surprised by Jo’s ranking or not.

Donna (4). This one had a lot of support when her first episode aired, if I remember correctly.

Tessa (3). Good for her, I guess.

The rest got either one or two votes. With two we’ve got: Aaron (surprised he didn’t get more), Anna, Ash, Cain (very disappointed he didn’t get more), Deacon, Garth, Ketch (uhhh), Rhonda Hurley.

One vote: Balthazar, Daphne (lowkey feel like the two people who picked them read the question wrong), Donnie, Lisa (I also don’t know whether to be surprised by this ranking or not. On the one hand she’s Dean’s longest running textual love interest. On the other, they kinda forgot to give her a personality beyond ‘love interest’ and ‘mother’), Lydia (????), Me (lmao), Michael, Mick (also ???), Robin, Ronald (ngl I had to look him up), Sam (😶), Sarah Blake (this voter did admit they might be projecting) The Impala if it turned into a guy (this one might have the most canon support), That one hot desk officer from season 1 you know the one I mean (I don’t).

Potential love interests for Cas:

No one (33). I was expecting this option to be high up but not number one! Quite a few people specified he should be a single parent but what I really appreciate are the few of you who wrote dissertations in the tags on why this makes sense for Cas’ character.

Meg (26). Correct and very sexy.

Mick (25). I’ve seen like one episode with Mick so idgi but good for him!

Balthazar (6). Thought he’d get way more votes?? Idk might be my bias speaking.

Sam (6). Love the one of you who specified that Cas should not like him back.

Luca (4). Okay so there is a canon character named Luca who is a priest but I’m pretty sure y’all mean the Luca from In the Shadow of your Wings by ao3 user Enochian Things, who is also a priest (esp since a couple of you did say he’s not a canon character) and who actually meets Cas.

Benny (3). It should be noted that two out of three of you wanted to include Dean in this ship.

Crowley (3). Just as with Dean’s list, he’d be very insulted by placing so low.

Hannah (3). Hannah got three votes, two specifying in a male vessel and one just specifying “trans”.

Kelly (3). Makes sense, as she is the mother of his child and they have a friendly relationship. Also makes sense this didn’t get more votes since they have no chemistry and she is a republican.

These all got two votes: Djinn queen, Me, Pastor Sexy.

And now, a special category of those with one vote from people I’m pretty sure read the question wrong: Cassie, Lisa, Ash, Victor.

Another special category of Dean alternates who got one vote but don’t count because they’re still Dean: AU Dean, Amnesia Dean, Dean Smith.

And the rest all got one vote: Dabb-era OC, Hypothetical guy from centuries ago (from one of those times Cas’ mind got wiped), Jesus Christ (asdjifsdkl), Miguel from The Love Story of the Runner-Up by ao3 user Margo_Kim, Sergei (???), That angel dude who wanted him for his hands (okay who and what episode).

Okay so what jumped out to me immediately was “no one” topping Cas’ list (it placed pretty high on Dean’s list but Benny, Cassie and Victor still beat that option handily). 

A lot of people straight up did not like the thought of Cas with someone else (very Dean coded of them) but a lot of others just couldn’t picture it. Which I think can be attributed to none of Cas’ relationships with others being all that developed on the show, besides with Jack which is obviously not romantic. Tbh there aren’t a lot of deeply developed relationships on Supernatural that don’t include Sam or Dean (and lbr, mostly Dean).

People were also explaining their choices a lot more in the Cas poll. Idk what that means but I just thought it was interesting. There also wasn’t a consensus on Cas’ sexuality; while Meg and other female characters got votes a lot of other voters said they see him as gay and can’t picture him with a woman.

Most delightfully surprising result: Cassie taking second place! Honestly, it’s what she deserves. And Victor in third! The taste! 

Most expected result: Benny winning the Dean poll in a landslide.

Most surprising low placement: Balthazar only getting six votes in Cas’ poll. I thought this ship was more popular but that’s probably my bias speaking since I happen to like it.

Funniest vote: Those three of you who wanna shoot your shot with Dean/Cas. Go for it, I’m rooting for you!

Favorite specification on a vote: “Meg in a deeply lavender marriage way”

[lover-of-queens]

Farah Dowling is Alive Part 2

The follow up to Part 1 or as I like to call it: look mom, I told you this degree would have uses in the real world! 

If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can find Part 1: Here 

You know the drill, under the cut cause this is probably going to get long!

Episode 4: Some Wrecked Angel

Episode opens with our favourite trio. If you’ve read the first part then you’ll be familiar with my argument that it could be possible the writers are leaving Farah x Saul threads to pick up at a later date. I think this scene has some interesting ones. There’s a lot of effort in this scene to set Farah and Saul up as parallels - in a way that also makes them stand apart from Ben. We have them saying his name together, but also, when they discover Callum’s body, both Farah and Saul are in sync as they move into a kneeling position. 

I don’t necessarily know if this could be considered an argument for them bringing Farah back, however, in the scene with Farah, Stella and Luna, Stella brings up an interesting point about Farah’s pedagogy. We’re told that Farah chooses care and time over “solely results” when it comes to teaching. In the next episode we learn Rosalind’s own teaching style involves putting her students “through hell”. I don’t necessarily know when the change will happen but given this, I don’t see any way Rosalind can remain Headmistress, especially when they’re taking pains to show Farah as better suited for the role.

Also important in this scene is Farah and Luna’s last exchange. We know what appearances Luna has helped Farah maintain - the barrier/illusion that stops Aster Dell from being seen. So, what’s interesting is Farah’s next line:

Farah: “Yes, we’ve both done a great deal to preserve Solaria’s reputation.” 

This does not get addressed during the remaining episodes. Personally, this line and the amount of tension between Farah and Luna also strikes me as a potential thread that could be picked up later. I’m going to wager that I’m not alone in wanting to know what exactly they did to “preserve” Solaria’s rep. And my guess is, because Brian has mentioned that they’re going to expand on the winx world, we’re going to be finding out more about Solaria in S2. Theoretically, I suppose whatever event that is being referenced here could be dealt with without Farah on screen, but then we’d miss out on all the fun tension! Also, as of right now, fan response to Luna is nothing compared to Farah (at least from what I’ve seen). 

Tattoo theory, several people have already spoken on this and I don’t want to speak over them. I’m still sorting out my own thoughts on whether it’s Farah’s or Eve’s but I will say that Farah is always wearing rings so it seems to me that if they wanted it covered they could easily do it with a ring (or makeup). If the tattoo is purposely put there then I’m going to assume its for a reason that the writers may want to deal with at a later date (hint, hint: bring back Farah). 

Episode 5: Wither Into the Truth

I may do another post on this at some point if I can find enough to say to warrant it but Farah’s eye colour when she does magic. Up until now every time Farah’s done magic her eyes have glowed blue and yet in the scene where she questions Beatrix they glow light orange. Now I’d always assumed that the colour of the glow = element, which was why I didn’t know why Farah’s glowed blue to begin with; she’s a mind fairy so I would have expected the purple that Musa has. And actually the confirmation of her being a mind fairy comes from Fate’s IG page shown below, I don’t know if it’s ever explicitly stated in the show? Further, to my knowledge, Farah is the only fairy we’ve seen whose eyes glow different colours. So, a thread to pick up in season 2, perhaps? 

Also I’m very interested in the use of the word “Once”. In this instance I would almost take it to mean ‘no longer is’ but the tense is present perfect (I think?) which can suggest the continuance of an action. But now I’m being overly nitpicky and technical. Also I don’t know how ‘principle’ made it through what I’m assuming are several stages before making it onto IG, but it gave me a laugh!

“Incredibly powerful” yet loses to Rosalind without a fight? Not buying it. Additionally, the use of “other forms of magic” is interesting and I figure could be taken to mean other elements. But I wonder if there’s more to it than just that. Farah shows knowledge of archaic Fairy Magic with the Nettle Amalgam, so maybe there’s more archaic knowledge out there that she knows ... that could prove helpful. 

Now, back to the episode. When Farah and Hologram Luna are talking, the fact that there are two burned ones travelling together is cause for concern. 

Farah: “There are two of them travelling together. That hasn’t happened since … In a long time.” 

Once again we are left with a thread of something that has happened. In the same IG post as above, in the section for Saul, it mentions that he and Farah became confidants “after experiencing the Black Woods Massacre”. I wonder if that could be what Farah’s referring to here? I know the massacre has come up once or twice in conversation and correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe it’s ever been properly explained? To me, it looks like a great bit of backstory to get into at a later date. It may not confirm Farah being alive necessarily, but you could take it as a sign that we might see Eve again. 

Lastly, for this episode, is the scene between Farah and Bloom. Specifically this part: 

Farah: “I will help you get the answers you need. I give you my word.” 

You can probably guess what I’m going to say at this point, a thread that can be picked up in season 2! You could counterargue that Rosalind could help Bloom with answers (as she offers in the next episode) but in my humble opinion, I don’t think it would offer narrative satisfaction. First, because we’ve been shown what a terrible mentor Rosalind is. Second, they’ve spent the first season showing how Farah and Bloom’s mentor-student relationship has developed (bloomed?) so it seems a waste to go through all of that development for nothing. 

Episode 6: A Fanatic Heart

Rosalind has her little prison break. Personally, I still think there’s a lot of unanswered questions about what happened after Aster Dell, how they imprisoned Rosalind, etc. And I do hope that we get some answers in Season 2 - again these answers may not necessarily involve Farah on the screen but as every writer gets told the age old advice of “show, don’t tell”, I think there’s potential for that. 

Farah immediately tries to disprove my points about her intelligence by wandering alone in the woods at night. But she’s pretty, so I’ll allow it. 

Rosalind gives Bloom some answers but not all, so I do think that my point above about Farah helping Bloom find more answers still stands. Further, I find the Farah is Bloom’s mother theory to be unlikely for several reasons (this is not the post for them) but I do want to draw our attention to several lines of dialogue here. 

Bloom: “You hid me from Miss Dowling.” ….

Rosalind: “The guidance you needed was love. Farah couldn’t give that to you. Vanessa and Michael could.” 

There are SO many reasons why this exchange is fascinating. I’m interested in why Bloom brings up Farah to begin with - her other points could stand alone to the same affect. I’m also really interested in the direct comparison between Farah and Bloom’s adoptive parents -- if Bloom hadn’t gone to them, she would have gone to Farah? It almost seems as though the direct comparison implies that. Also, considering Bloom’s relationship with her adoptive parents, I really doubt the validity of the statement. Plus, I wouldn’t trust Rosalind’s idea of love in general. 

Also, Rosalind is just so certain that Farah couldn’t love Bloom … can’t love in general? There’s just so much of Farah and Rosalind’s relationship that hasn’t been explored that I think really needs to be. 

Now, the scene that always makes me cry! Farah and Bloom have had a difficult time this season and it’s all lead up to this moment of trust and vulnerability - on both sides. If you ask me, this season has been setting Farah up to be the mentor figure that Rosalind was not - Rosalind’s opposite. And they’ve worked hard at it, even when they were trying to convince us Farah might be the evil one which like lmao. I find it hard to believe that they would go through all of that work just to discard it by leaving Farah dead. Especially because what Farah admits to Bloom in this sequence feels like a changing moment for her - she recognizes things she wishes she would have done differently (being less of a figurehead, being more open) and I think its only fair that Fate allows her to follow through on those things. 

And onto the scene that I really don’t want to rewatch but I’m going to do it for y’all. I’ve touched on Farah x Saul moments so it’s only fair that I touch on Farah x Rosalind ones. There is tension here (looking at each other’s lips, Rosalind getting closer to Farah, Farah grabbing her), I mean the cast has joked about shipping them. But there are several different ways to read this and you are more than welcome to your pick! It doesn’t really change my point, which is … thread to pick up in season 2? Have you started taking a shot every time I’ve said that (please don’t <3). 

Farah who has shown herself to be incredibly intelligent and cautious when it comes to Rosalind turns her back on her. And we get what is probably the most important piece of evidence: the eye glow. It can mean absolutely anything, but I’d wager one of the reasons its there is to have people do exactly what I’m doing here. Theorizing about whether Farah could still be alive. I’m going to take that as a sign there’s hope (mainly because I think it would be cruel to suggest a ‘could she come back narrative’ and then … not have her come back). Also, in the Fate novel, it describes Farah’s death as “too easy”. I absolutely refuse to believe that it could be easy to kill Farah when she’s proved time and time again how powerful she is. 

That finishes my episode by episode analysis. It totals well over 2500 words. If you can believe me, I still have more to say on this topic (discussing general counterarguments and possible logistics of Eve’s filming), so stay tuned for a Part 3?

[loki-wants-an-army]

my rambling theories... possible Loki series spoilers?

So we know the TVA is trying to collect rogue “variants” to protect a linear timeline, but we also know that time is non-linear in the MCU from the pocket dimension explanation given for Steve Rogers’ time jump. We can also speculate based on the title of the next Dr. Strange sequel being Multiverse of Madness, and from his cameo in Ragnarok that future interactions between Dr. Strange and Loki may be possible...

Episode 1 sees Mobius attempting to convince the Loki starring in the series that he is a mere variant, a mistake that should not exist, and the life intended for him was predetermined according to a sacred linear timeline, that he is limited, powerless, and that he can’t be more than/different from what he was, and that he is only meant to be an accessory to enable the Avengers to come into their own powers.

The Avengers were not considered to have committed a crime against the timeline for going back to retrieve Infinity Stones; Thanos was not considered to have committed a crime against the timeline for taking 5 years from half the population while the other half grew 5 years older in a “frozen” i.e. destroyed world system. The TVA’s only actual idea of a crime against the timeline is one which threatens their immediate existence as a collective entity, self-perception, and/or their (irrelevant, and quite frankly arbitrary,) position of “authority.”

I think this is a ruse by the TVA to convince him to help them stop the other rogue Loki variant... who is actually this Loki, further in their own future (the TVA actually seem to be the ones creating their own problem lmao). I also think it’s safe to speculate that the hooded figure we see in episode 1 burning down the minutemen and stopping the time reset grenade is actually our series’ Loki and that maybe we’ll see that same scene again later, from a different perspective. (On a side note about this, Loki actually tells the truth to Mobius when openly asked: “I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” “I don’t enjoy hurting people. I don’t enjoy it. I do it because I have to. Because I’ve had to. Because it’s part of the illusion.”)

The TVA characters mention the supposed other variant reaching close to a “red line” of irreversibility. I think they could just be pulling their own flawed version of a Dr. Strange time loop type plot, resetting every time the appearance of the already existing multiverse is revealed.

By constantly trying to forcibly merge reality into a singular, linear time line when it naturally flows in this non-linear, multiversal pattern, the TVA employees have essentially locked themselves pointlessly into a perpetual sea of paperwork and a needlessly overcomplicated bureaucracy. (The series is described in its summary as Kafkaesque, which is much better explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkPR4Rcf4ww ). We also know that there’ a multiverse and that characters have individual agency because of Dr. Strange’s “14-million+ potential timelines, and I had to figure out which one we should use” moment in Infinity War.

As for comics, the show appears to be drawing some interesting elements from the Agent of Asgard series: God of Stories, wanting to choose one’s own fate and counter the ideas of predestination and that destruction of something can only be harmful, as well as the (possibly only bait) idea of a “good” Loki vs. a “bad” Loki. The “good” vs “bad” dilemma in actuality may translate to judgement of character or internal awareness of motivations vs external perception of actions.

From a meta perspective, the series is both hilarious and intriguing, because it allows limitless inception and questioning of reality and identity. The TVA claims to be an all-seeing, all-knowing authority who understands everything about Loki and what his story can and cannot be, yet they are evaded in ways they cannot seem to predict. Meanwhile, we watch and can predict because we are the ones who actually know, who actually understand this Loki’s ever-shifting thoughts and motivations, the ones who have actually seen many versions of the stories play out, and can propose countless other possibilities. (also, the TVA saying Loki’s not the main character and never was, while we as the audience are literally only here to see a story with Loki at the center). The framework is also there for existential discussions critiquing endless work in a technologically advanced, late-stage-capitalist society and blind allegiance to authority. (Not to mention the obvious parallel with the soul-sucking experience of having to go to the DMV.)

Loki in myth is a shapeshifting, genderfluid deity of mischief and chaos, and of fire and hearths. Loki seeks to reveal hypocrisy and subvert attempts at control, making us see the flaws in ourselves. True power, true liberation comes from understanding and accepting the inevitability of unpredictable change as a part of life, and non-permanence as an ironically perpetual state of being. Loki’s power status as a liar and a trickster reveals truths. One difference between Loki and other powers lies in the idea that self-awareness of being a hypocrite in itself counters the hypocrisy. Loki can be a teacher through this unique perspective.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

what do you think about the aang is possessive comment? about EIP ruining kataang? also about there being an implied (and nonexistent) love triangle thrown in nearing the end of the series as a tease?

I think fandom just likes to complain, lmao, but I’ll address each of these one at a time!

1) “aang is possessive”

This argument is honestly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard because it’s just so obviously false?? Possessive is literally defined as “demanding someone’s total attention and love,” which Aang never does? Aang always respects Katara’s position in their relationship, especially after the EIP kiss, which everyone knows was entirely inappropriate and wrong of him. Aang recognizes her hesitation and makes no more romantic attempts towards her after that moment. Not one! Katara is the one who initiates them getting together in the finale because the war is finally over and she is no longer afraid of losing him. I beg people, do point to the “possessiveness” you’re referring to, because the closest we get to any character being possessive is Zuko in “The Beach”:

Zuko: [Side-view of Zuko and Mai walking.] He thinks he’s so great. [To Mai.] Well, what do you think of him?

Mai: I don’t have any opinion about him. I hardly know him.

Zuko: You like him, don’t you? [Mai sighs and walks away.]

//

Ruon-Jian: What are you doing?

Zuko: [Close-up. Angrily.] Stop talking to my girlfriend!

Ruon-Jian: [Side-view. Walks up to Zuko.] Relax. It’s just a party.

Frontal view of Ruon-Jian. Zuko knocks him across the room into a vase, which breaks from the force.

Yeah, Aang never acts like that. 🤷

Now, this isn’t to say Aang doesn’t get jealous. Jealousy is a perfectly normal and natural emotion, and honestly I’d go so far as to say that everyone has been jealous at least once in their life. What’s key about Aang is he doesn’t act on his jealousy. He doesn’t throw anybody across a room, for one. Sure, he doesn’t want Katara to kiss Jet, so he makes a little quiet comment about it. Pretty normal, and it ends there. Not dissimilar to Katara’s bit of snark about On Ji! Even the EIP comment, which everyone uses to argue that Aang is “possessive” (which again, blatantly untrue, because he does not demand or expect a relationship with Katara as a result of that scene; also all he does is nod lmao and tbh that’s such a healthy reaction to jealousy I mean he doesn’t grab Zuko and chuck him onto the stage like his name is Ruon-Jian, does he?) - Aang literally just gets upset about the implication from an imperialist play that Katara doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. Why?

Let’s be frank: Aang knows, or is fairly certain, that Katara does like him by this point in the series. That’s why he doesn’t ask her “do you like me”. Instead, he asks:

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

By this point the show, the viewers know their feelings are mutual. Katara knows how Aang feels about her, and Aang knows Katara likes him, too - he just isn’t sure about how ready she is for a relationship. So him getting upset about the propagandist, pro-imperialism play implying Katara isn’t interested in him, when he essentially knows she does like him, is honestly kind of understandable? Imagine if you were watching a really rude movie about your life and it included a scene of your best friend who you’re already kind of in a relationship with saying that they’re in love with the dude who used to bully you and only think of you as their sibling. Like, that’s kinda wack? I’d be a little upset - and definitely weirded out - too.

(I’ve also seen people argue Aang leaving Guru Pathik to save Katara also somehow demonstrates his so-called possessiveness, as if his love for her and her love for him wasn’t established mere minutes earlier to be the love of the Air Nomads reborn. I don’t think the show could have been any clearer about how mutual, powerful, and honest their love is through that scene. Also, he proceeds to let her go to enter the Avatar state at the end of what? The next episode? So again, any arguments that he was “possessive” and “didn’t let her go” are thus moot and entirely inapplicable points.)

Basically, Aang isn’t “possessive” and people who think he is are just looking for an excuse to hate on him, lmao.

2) “eip ruined kataang”

The only way EIP could have ruined Kataang would be if all the previous Kataang buildup was either terrible or near-nonexistent. And great news! Kataang was built up very well throughout the series, growing from a close, deep friendship to cute, blushy crushes to a true, lasting romance (pretty iconic of them). Even if someone doesn’t ship them, they can acknowledge that within canon, Kataang had a very strong foundation (it’s one of the core relationships of the show, the other being Zuko and Aang as narrative foils). The implication that one poorly written episode somehow cancels out the previous 56 episodes and the following four is embarrassing.

Now, I certainly wouldn’t have minded if there had been a scene dedicated to Aang and Katara discussing his poorly-timed kiss. I ship Kataang, so there is absolutely no reason for me to be opposed to more Kataang content! But A:TLA has a very clear trend of not showing such discussions on screen - example: Zuko never sits down with Katara and apologizes for using her mother’s necklace to manipulate her; Katara never apologizes to Sokka for her callous comment about their mother - so the fact that Katara is the one to initiate their relationship at the end of the serious clearly demonstrates that she has forgiven Aang for his inappropriate kiss and is ready to be with him. (And I’ve said it before - if she can forgive Zuko for all the shit he put them through, she can forgive Aang, her best friend and the guy she loves, for one poorly-timed kiss.) Narratively speaking, ’twas resolved.

Also, it’s incredibly important to consider EIP within the context of the series as a whole. If someone really feels entirely devastated by that one episode, then… their loss? I’m sorry to hear it? 56 episodes of near-flawless buildup - a slight dip + a healthy, logical finale where Katara chooses to be with Aang because she is at last no longer afraid of losing him = more than good enough for me. People can argue her decision doesn’t make sense all they want, but it actually makes perfect sense when you consider what has been built through every previous episode: she was in love with him! You can’t isolate a single episode and expect it to speak for the series as a whole, after all.

Basically, EIP gets blown out of proportion because some people like to pretend it was the only Kataang episode ever written, lmao.

3) love triangle

I always laugh when I see this because where?? The only love triangle in A:TLA was the one fandom invented. Within the canon narrative, Katara and Zuko were never romantically interested in each other. I don’t care about “shipping-goggle interpretations” or AUs or post-canon or early planning that didn’t make it into the final drafts. If you look at A:TLA, if you look at the creators’ intentions, it’s plain as day that Kataang and Maiko were the only romantic pairings planned for Katara and Zuko. And that’s okay! That’s why fanon exists. But people have got to stop whining about a love triangle and ship teases that just… didn’t occur. If they read Zuko and Katara’s interactions as romantic, well, that’s great and all, but it’s also on them, lol. That sounds so mean oml I’m sorry y’all 💀. I just mean that Kataang was very clearly written into the show from episode 1 and Maiko from Book 2 (or Book 3 if you really, really don’t like the flashback), so expecting Zuko and Katara to get together doesn’t make any sense (to me) when they never had any romantically-coded interactions.

Yes, of course I’ll admit there were a few Zvtara gags, but that’s exactly what they were - gags. There’s three primary instances:

- June calling the owner of the Water Tribe necklace (whom we know is Katara) Zuko’s girlfriend in Book 1. This moment is mainly hilarious because Zuko promptly redirects the conversation to Aang, lmao, but thinking about the context of A:TLA itself? The assumption of the Fire Nation crown prince being in a relationship with someone from the Water Tribe is honestly pretty concerning given how the Fire Nation is an imperialist conqueror and has all but destroyed the Water Tribes (and has certainly worked to sever the connection between the North and South). So, not exactly a great conclusion on June’s part.

- The EIP gag. I ALWAYS laugh at this one because their reactions are so funny? I love the little disgusted nose wrinkles and scooting away. That’s hysterical to me. But again, thinking about the show itself, EIP is an imperialist play full of Fire Nation propaganda. With that in mind, again, the implication that their crown prince was with someone from the SWT, a nation they brought to its knees by killing all of the waterbenders (but one) and thus eradicating so much of the SWT’s culture? Major red flags! People need to consider the implications of EIP as imperialist propaganda, basically, because that’s what it is. Ignoring that aspect means missing the entire point of the play.

- June part 2. What I said above still applies. Also, they both get embarrassed and hotly deny it, which is kind of the opposite of a ship tease to me? They don’t exchange like an “oh, but what if” glance or anything, lol. And June backs off immediately, so... 🤷

People who interpret that as serious ship teases are, bless their hearts, a little misguided. Those are just funny moments! It’s like Katara and Sokka dressing up as Aang’s parents in “The Headband”. It’s funny! It’s contextual! Sokka and Katara are not romantically interested in each other just because they dressed up as husband and wife (ew), just as Katara and Zuko aren’t romantically interested in each other because there were three jokes about it. I really don’t know what else to say lmao.

Now, I don’t know all about what Bryke did outside of A:TLA in regards to Zuko and Katara’s relationship and fans of it. I wasn’t here for that lol. But I do know that A:TLA built a beautiful, platonic bond akin to surrogate siblings between Zuko and Katara (highlighted by the final Agni Kai with Katara and Azula as foils). Not a love triangle. “The Southern Raiders” was an episode about Katara and Kya, not Zuko and Katara. “The Crossroads of Destiny” paints an aching, gorgeous parallel between Oma and Shu and Katara and Aang, not Katara and Zuko. “The Boiling Rock: Part 2” was an episode involving the loyalty and love of Mai and Zuko, not Katara and Zuko. Katara and Aang had romantic parallels, Mai and Zuko had romantic parallels, while Katara and Zuko - within canon - had strictly platonic development. And honestly, fandom should appreciate that more! How often do we get such an iconic relationship between a guy and a gal that isn’t shadowed by romance? (The answer: not often enough.)

Now, this doesn’t mean don’t ship Katara and Zuko. I don’t care what people ship lmao, and there are some interpretations of Zvtara that I really enjoy (post-canon Zvtara has so much potential,, I die a thousand deaths oml)! But insisting there was some love triangle thrown at the end of the series is a discredit to how well Aang and Katara’s and Zuko and Katara’s relationships were written in A:TLA, and I’m honestly tired of hearing such tomfoolery. A romantic relationship between Zuko and Katara within canon would have completely undermined his entire redemption arc, which further emphasizes that their canon bond was meant to be solely platonic, because why would the writers want to undo what most consider the best redemption arc in animated history? (Simply put, I don’t think they would.)

Also, A:TLA had a very clear history of staying away from love triangles. There’s no Aang x Katara x Jet love triangle. No Yue x Sokka x Suki love triangle. So why would there be an Aang x Katara x Zuko love triangle?

Case in point: there isn’t. Fandom invented it.

So that’s my thoughts, anon! It can be summarized as this: fandom makes up a lot of nonsense that simply rewatching the show can dispute, so maybe we should just start providing episode timestamps to people, lol.

A general note - people are free to disagree with this post, but I ain’t looking to argue, so… make your own post if you want to develop a “counterargument”, I guess? I’m just chillin™ lol I don’t want to fight with people. I can give you my PayPal if you’d really like to engage in a proper academic debate? Anyways. Much love! 💕

[lizacstuff]

Selin is the worst, but that episode was good (ep 37 asks)

The last ask down below has spoilers for 38

(asks under the cut)

Anonymous said: Selin should honestly teach a class on gaslighting because I swear I've never seen another character willing to manipulate someone THIS much just so they weren't happy.

Every time you think it’s not possible for her to go lower, she rents a backhoe and starts digging. 

They obviously never had sex in Slovenia, but she’s willing to lie and gaslight and manipulate him into thinking it happened when he was so out of it while recovering from injuries sustained in a PLANE CRASH and had amnesia.

So lets break that down. IF she had had sex with him while he was so sick, pain-riddled and groggy from a brain injury (and other physical injuries) that it’s now foggy enough for him that he doesn’t remember, that is rape. There is no way he could consent under those circumstances. Not only that but he had amnesia and had forgotten both that he had a fiancé and had kicked Selin out of his life.  Good grief, this woman is so willing to lie and manipulate him into thinking he’s the father, that’s she confessing to a rape that didn’t happen, rather than just living the truth with Deniz???

That is so SICK. 

This was a great episode, but if she doesn’t get what’s coming to her, I will scream. At least after this Serkan’s blinders will be off when it comes to her. (I mean it is pretty humiliating that she was engaged to a man who wouldn’t touch her, and Serkan is going around shouting that he didn’t touch her, but still, there needs to be more than that.) 

Anonymous said: they really threw me for a loop when they had eda tell serkan about the pregnancy like 2/3rds of the way through the episode. i was really expecting her to say it in her letter (btw, how heartbreaking was her letter jesus) serkan immediately denying it and saying it was impossible was exactly what everyone needed! i never had a doubt in my mind tbh.. but selin is REALLY psychotic by STILL manipulating him and the fact he was sick and out of it while in slovenia.

That shocked me as well. I didn’t expect it, though am glad they did it this way. I was thinking it wouldn’t be possible because I KNEW Serkan would be able to say “It’s impossible, I was never with her” and thought that would be the end of it, but this was well done. I know it was frustrating for some in the audience that Eda wasn’t communicating with him, BUT she eventually did. She ended up telling him the same day she was sure of the information. I think that is an acceptable amount of time. So there is growth there and she didn’t up and leave without him knowing her real reasons. Also we got the satisfaction of him saying no it’s impossible AND the angst of there being enough doubt because of Selin’s sick manipulations (and willingness to confess to raping him) that we got THAT letter and the magnificent end sequence. 

THIS is the good kind of angst. This is the good kind of drama. They’ve put us through weeks and weeks of bad angst and bad drama, so while this episode had heavy emotions hanging over it, it was far easier to watch than most we’ve had. 

I’m laughing that the writers finally pulled a top to bottom quality episode out of their bag of tricks (after weeks of failure) right as we’re on the verge of another writer shakeup. 

Serkan is back! That’s the character i love. We haven’t seen him since he said goodbye in 28.  I hope he sticks around.

YES! Hoşgeldiniz, Serkan Bolat!

This did feel like the old Serkan. He did a lot of things right this episode. I absolutely loved that through the whole thing he was focused on Eda and doing everything in his power to make her feel comfortable, safe and loved. She had just rejected, in front of everyone, his marriage proposal and yet he was only focused on making sure she was okay. He was so loving and the writers finally found the romantic robot within him, you know, the guy who spouts heart-stoppingly romantic lines without even thinking.  I was afraid we’d lost that guy for good.

Kerem was wonderful in this episode, he did such a great job. As did Hande, but while 29 was her episode, I felt like this one was his.  Serkan was on the edge of a breakdown the whole episode, he was frantic, he was in-love, he was heartbroken and thanks to Kerem’s performance we could feel all of it.

Oh, and on a side note, how I want that vacation in the Maldives for Eda and Serkan. They deserve it. 

Anonymous said:   THAT ENDING WAS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION HANDS DOWN BEST OF THE SERIES I FUCKING KNEW THEYD DO THE SOULMATE HEART THING!!!! IN FACT BEST EPISODE OF THE SERIES BC THE ANGST WAS SO GOOD WTF (okay maybe not the best episode ever but I’m not calm rn)

That ending was sooooo good, probably up there with 1, 5, 11 and 26 for me. 

The whole time, I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath. The running, Eda looking at the Little Prince book, her heart pains, Serkan in pain, but so focused on getting to Eda. I love, love, love the soulmate heart thing. The fact that she was experiencing pain, but she didn’t know why, that’s the goods right there.  

I also really love that while she was helped along by her heart pain, she made the decision herself to turn around. She’s ultimately following her own heart, which didn’t want to leave and knew it wasn’t the right course of action. We all know Serkan could have convinced her to stay if he reached her, but this way it’s fully her own decision and that will ultimately make them stronger.  

Anonymous said: They were really going for the ep 11 parallels this ep more than I thought they would. By Eda "feeling sick" and them bringing back The Little Prince.. The last scene was honestly soooo good. The emotion, the music, the angst of it all! Totally lived up to my expectations.. I just KNEW they would bring back the "connected hearts/soulmate" thing they had going on and have Eda turn around.. I'm so excited for what's next.. have you by chance seen the tattoo spoilers?

Definitely episode 11 feels, which was another episode with the right kind of angst. So many good Edser scenes in this episode. 

All the scenes in the loft were gold, in different ways. From the fun scenes of them in the kitchen making pizza (once again both Serkan and Kerem being willing to eat “after” someone else, lmao) to the heart-stopping romance of him taking care of her when she was sick and telling her he will love her forever to the angst and longing of their “last” night together.  I need to go rewatch all of them!

Yes, I saw those tattoo spoilers. An infinity symbol made from their initials E x S I ‘bout fainted when I saw them on their ring fingers!  And then in the episode when Serkan said “I love you to infinity.” Oh man, my heart.  

So what does this mean? Because we saw them with those tattoos while they were dressed in the same outfits from the airport. Does he recover from his PTSD/panic attack and they go directly to a tattoo parlor/wedding venue?  I mean... what is happening? Did they elope, or just get the rings as a promise?  

In any case, I think it’s amazing. What a wonderful way to solve the conundrum of their rings and which ones to use and worrying about them being cursed. Can’t wait to see how it comes about. 

[prongsmydeer]

Ayesha liveblogs Hook S1

My first three thoughts about this show: 1) The theme song is a bop 2) This is the second Thai series I’ve seen with a main character called Man, is it that common a nickname in Thailand? and 3) The fact it took them less than a minute to make a pun about his name is promising 

It is slightly inconvenient when their name is Man because it makes describing the men a little more confusing kjhgkjhg 

“You’re the Man... We’ll see” Already Tracksuit Guy is giving off suspicious vibes 

“Your favourite horoscope app also says you shouldn’t fight” I feel like Man’s motivation is like 35% loyalty to friends, 65% loving to pick fights

I didn’t actually retain who the love interest was from the intro song so now I’m just looking at every guy who crosses Man’s path like 👀👀👀👀👀👀

LMAO WAS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO CUT TO BLACK JUST TO CONVEY A 10 SECOND FIGHT SCENE  

This is the first show I’ve watched where the characters actually could take a punch (or the makeup department was not brought in) because there ain’t a mark on either of those boys

I know Man started this fight during the middle of a volleyball practice but does the entire volleyball team all really need to chase Man at once?? Ten to one doesn’t seem fair 

I hope his lover is not introduced via fight scene fkhfkjfh but I feel it will be a much more dramatic entrance than this

Update from 30 seconds later: I KNEW IT, the slow pan and perturbed look scream, “I am about to go on a love journey against my better judgement” 

THEM TAG-TEAM FIGHTING THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM IMMEDIATELY AFTER MEETING IS SO MUCH FUNNIER THAN THEM TAKING OPPOSITE SIDES IN A FIGHT KJHGKJHGKH OH MY GOD

THE BOYS ARE RUNNNNNNNINGGGGG

Saifah is immediately more open and friendly than I thought he was going to be jkhgkjhkgj guess I should not judge a perturbed look by its cover

Does the “Mr. Saifah” thing mean they’re different ages or is it just a politeness thing I can’t tell both of their uniforms look like university ones jkhgkjgh 

Even if her path with Saifah may not go anywhere I like Dao she’s neat

Wow these volleyball guys are assholes they can’t beat Saifah and Man by double-teaming them in a fist fight so they resort to pulling a box cutter??? THIS IS EXTREME ESCALATION WHO LET YOU IN THIS SCHOOL

Dad’s not-so-subtle World-Thought-You-Fixed-Your-Match trauma seems like it’s going to be a real downer throughout the coming episodes

“If you want dad to care, you have to do something to show him,” That’s a lot to put on Man; I’m not sure that academic or social achievement really can fix years of grief and alcoholism, Ying

The makeup department was brought in for Saifah’s bruises, RIP

Oh good, the dramatic black cutaways are back, it’s really selling me on Saifah and Man’s common ground that they both have only one braincell and that braincell is going (ง'̀-'́)ง

Visual demonstration:

[Upon realizing Saifah got beaten up by the volleyball team] “You sit this one out Mr. Saifah” Well, based on everything we’ve learned about Man so far, this response tracks

Pop and Jay are incredibly patient friends to deal with Man running around campus challenging whoever bugs his friends to a fist fight 

I feel that it was very relevant information for Saifah to disclose that Man was about to go chase some guys who had just threatened to STAB BOTH SAIFAH AND DAO

I realize that the volleyball team is probably necessary to the plot movement of the show I just don’t like it 

“It’s in your pocket” “She’s a witch!” Why is Dandao’s hobby being a magician it’s very funny 

I knew Man and Saifah would eventually fight but wow it worked its way in much sooner than I thought and on the most minor of their daddy issues (daddy won’t spend time with me)

I know there hasn’t been even the barest hint of romance yet but hmmmmmmmmmmmmm don’t like this

Every man in this show needs therapy but Man Capital M is certainly moving himself up higher on the list why are you fighting and crying at this nice boy who has been nothing but kind to you just because your dad doesn’t pay attention to you GET A JOURNAL, MAN

“Perhaps I was wrong for thinking you loved him,” said Ying to her dad, carrying literally all the emotional intelligence and labour of this whole family on her back

“What happened to your face?” Hongyok really needs to have some boundaries kjhgkhg she has broken into Saifah’s apartment and crawled into his bed what part of this seems like he should be volunteering information for you

I’m glad she’s his sister but that only makes this SLIGHTLY less weird

As a side note am I crazy or should they have cast the sisters opposite looks-wise because Ying resembles Saifah more and Hongyok resembles Man more

They are so convincing with the Saifah/Dandao energy I had to look up if this is actually a gay romance and I think it is but I didn’t look that hard

“How can you have a boyfriend?” Hahah they are both going to have boyfriends (also yikes @ Mon and Saifah’s friendship with Dao being centred around her romantic availability)

Why does Hongyok make it sound like their father is a minor crime lord: 

“This gym belongs to our dad, so the money isn’t going anywhere” So Man’s dad works there but Saifah’s dad owns it? Ooooh that sounds messy

“I didn’t expect [Man] to grow up to be this hot” “I also didn’t expect.. that my little sister would grow up and be this way” Saifah had me in the first half of that sentence, not gonna lie

I can only imagine that the Hongyok actress does not have a brother because her acting says more “obsessive neighbour lady” than sister

As a fellow little sister to an older brother, I do not relate

On the other hand, Ying is giving off INCDREDIBLY accurate oldest daughter energy, being her family’s therapist, making sure they keep going, running the gym, training her brother, etc.

“I’ll help you” Fatherhood ended with Wanchai, now Ying is Man’s Best Dad:

I haven’t found a moment to comment on Man’s Metallic Jumpsuit yet but it’s certainly something 

“If you quit, then it won’t be as much fun for me” FINALLY an an iota of relationship-building jkjhgkhg

Very glad Man is apologizing and being honest about why he was upset. COMMUNICATION!!!!

The layers to all these dynamics (Saifah liking Dao, Hongyok liking Man, Saifah and Man eventually supposed to fall in love -- so much to unpack here)

“If you like her, then go after her” Terrible advice, do not listen to ur sister Saifah

“Your love life is on the rise. Women will approach you. Choose wisely and be sure to use that charm of yours” notice that the Fortune Teller did not tell Man he had to choose one of the women approaching him. Tarot Reader said Gay Rights 

“He needs to learn how to talk to women first” I mean,,,, does he though? Ghjghkg perhaps not for romance anyway

Why is the only cheerleading move in these fictional Thai universities making a V with your hands:

Fhkjhgkjhg Saifah has flirted more in the past 30 seconds with this Cheer Captain than he has with Man in the past two and a half episodes 

LMAO I love that Saifah’s first interaction with Man’s friends is bamboozling them into cheering practice

I very much knew that a double date is where this whole sibling scheme was going Saifah and Hongyok really need to coordinate their Tricking People Into Dating Me activities 

Everything Man and Dao do to convey that they are similar simply foreshadows that Saifah has a type lmao (rowdy people who enjoy magic and boxing I guess)

THE BOYS ARE FIGHTINGGGGGGGGG

Saifah remembering that he can kick one of the volleyball team members while his arms are bound is character development 

YESSSSSSSSSS KNOWING JUST WHAT THE OTHER PERSON IS GOING TO DO JUST BY SAYING EACH OTHER’S NAMES THIS IS THE SHIT I’M HERE FOR

“This is not over” How many times do you have to outnumber and jump someone to realize that the feud isn’t worth it 

“You have taken the Risk Management class with Ms. Ann haven’t you? You should be able to see it” This professor is a little aggressive and negative but educators be like that sometimes (also bc of the braces and the babyface I really thought for a sec she was just a very sassy student asking questions kjhgjhgg)

They’re really making a point of the class difference here with Saifah’s fancy sports car and Man’s earlier counting money for his food

“If you want to participate in any kind of sport, I’ll support you, but not boxing” is this bc of the rigged match accusation or some other Mysterious Dad Reason

Why does Saifah’s family keep saying the dad’s tagline like this kjhgkhgkh it really is giving Minor Crime Lord energy:

KGHKJHGKHGKHG Saifah’s shirt has a brand or a phrase on it so instead of making him change or refilming the scene they just BLURRED IT OUT HAHAHAH

IS this a gay romance? Again, so far all we have seen is heterosexual crushes and while I’m not opposed to either of them being bi (hey me too) I’m like,,,, where is The Energy, you know???? 

Which isn’t to say like every romance (or every queer romance specifically) needs to move fast or start early or whtv but I’m just looking for a sign that they are even getting closer? Is the end goal for them to be BFF Boxing Rivals or Boxing Lovers?? I simply cannot tell

“She’s cute; No!” it’s possible that I misremembered why I put this on my watch list fjkfjfk disappointing 

I’m not sure what I like less the fact that the one fat character in this show always has to have food in their hands or the way that Saifah and Mon behave with a slightly possessive energy towards Dao (like she is ur friend u are not entitled to more than that sorry)

Maybe it IS gay? This face says gay and nervous but perhaps I only see this because I am gay and nervous 

“I would never think of Dandao that way” I CAN’T READ THIS SITUATION

It’s anyone’s guess where this show is going but my current hypothesis for the love formation is: 

Hongyok <3 Man <3 Saifah <3 Dandao <3 Man

Idk where the BF plays into this but he hasn’t shown up yet

Dao seems like a piece of work around Man but she is also a bro bc she didn’t leave him in the lurch for his shopping date with Hongyok

SAIFAH YOU’RE REALLY MAKING YOURSELF LOOK WEIRD BY HOVERING OVER DAO IN THIS WAY KGHKJHJKH

This whole time I thought that Saifah’s Dad Arun and Man’s Dad Wanchai were both boxers and fought against one another but it now seems like Arun was Wanchai’s manager? This show confuses me at every turn 

“I don’t care about anyone else” Thank u Man for carrying all of gay energy of this show in your eyes

“I never thought you so low as to gang up on us” Not to poke holes in your smack talk, Man, but the volleyball team has literally been doing this since the first ten minutes of this show

“Can I punch this asshole in the face one time?” Based on how bad a dad he’s been so far I bet Wanchai is going to say yes but wow the volleyball captain is so disadvantaged in a fight against Man and Saifah that he has to ask permission from Man’s Dad for a freebie punch

“Then do whatever you want” WANCHAI YOU SUCK!!!!!!!! 

I guess all of the bonding between Man and Saifah will take place exclusively through them fighting people together and I’m willing to accept that

“The look in your eyes is scary,” said the Opposing Boxer, while Saifah looked sort of like he wanted to throw up

Take a shot every time Man starts crying at the end of a fight 

TRAINING MONTAGE <33333333333333 

LMAO @ HONGYOK THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY THAT IS JUST THE FOUR OF THEM THESE SIBLINGS ARE A MESS

“My brother is very busy” my money is on Kawin the Opposing Boxer from the Rival Gym being Dandao’s brother lol

Also my money is on the boyfriend not existing loooool

“Where’s the toilet?” said Man, as if he were not outside of the apartment building, jkhgjhgkjh excellent excuse-forming

Update on the Kawin situation: He’s def who is picking Dandao up, just not sure if she was lying about who he was (my guess is he is bro and not bf but that would be a weird lie)

I like Sing it’s about time an adult man in this show displayed some emotional warmth towards a young man

“I was the obstetrician for both of you” First of all, not how I thought this elevator exchange was going to go, second of all, how did u know that Saifah was Saifah he wasn’t mentioned by name kjghjkghgjh

I guess he didn’t know who was who, but even so how did the doctor figure that one of them was Arun’s kid??? Was he just creeping on the guest sign-in orrrrrrr

Hahahah Dao’s magic tricks really add something to the show 

“Besides, I don’t want to love anyone right now,” Dao’s bf confirmed for fake, Kawin confirmed for brother?

Hahaha Man is about to be forcefully recruited into the cheerleading team and I’m thrilled what a fun turn

Aside from their general bravado, Man’s growing list of parallels with Tine of 2gether include 1) Joining the cheerleading squad 2) Being roped into schemes by his friends and 3) Being both highly confrontational and also unable to say no to people kjhgkjhgkjhg

Update from later: Also the double competition day

I’m growing more convinced of my love hypothesis, Dao def is catching feelings for Man and Man is not yet giving straight vibes 

“Can you address me more casually” “I don’t think that is a good idea” is it because YOU don’t want to catch feelings Man 👀👀👀👀👀👀

IT’S A METAPHOR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man: I think we should start slow and build our way there

Saifah: No, I think we should just go for it!

“I will take care of the thing between Kawin and Dandao” Well aside from the fact I’m pretty sure they’re brother and sister, I think Man, Saifah and Dandao have been super patient with your teenage meddling in things that aren’t really any of your business thus far, Hongyok

At least Saifah and Man seem amused by it lmaoooo

“I just moved” AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES? OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES

“His name is John Boy, and he’s half-American” John Boy certainly seems like a stereotypical name for an American Character

Hongyok’s behaviour is really escalating is it really necessary to stake out someone’s workplace in order to investigate whether your brother’s crush has a fake boyfriend 

You can’t mope every time that Man hangs out with Dao, Saifah, u do not have a monopoly on her time

I know Hongyok’s dad technically owns the gym but I wish she would read the emotional room clearly Man isn’t interested eeeeeeeeep

It’s stopped having any ounce of comedy to it even if that’s what the show is intending STOP MAKING MOVES ON SOMEONE WHO IS VISIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE AROUND YOU

Fjghkjhgkjhgjk I guess it was time for some plot tension anyway they haven’t had the Hammer of Saifah’s Dad come down so a double contest day is a fair point of stress

Are they seriously HELICOPTERING TO THE BOXING MATCH RICH PEOPLE ARE CRAZY (also Saifah better pray his dad doesn’t look at his bank statements)

“Man? You can keep your underwear on” All I’m saying is if this show is truly supposed to lead SOMEWHERE gay I would like a little more romantic tension 

I’m not an expert in muscle mass but I feel like Saifah should weigh significantly more than 145 pounds when you consider how tall he is and how muscular 

“That’s our friend,” said Pop and Jay, as if their only interaction with Saifah had not been him tricking them into attending cheer practice in Dandao’s stead

“There’s a TV at the hospital“ if Ying and Wanchai can see the boxing match at the hospital how is Arun not yet aware of his son’s Boxing Contest Betrayal 

That didn’t take long to become relevant it’s lecture time

“You don’t know a thing. You should keep your mouth shut!” Aside from the fact that Arun is making some valid points about the danger/career path of boxing, the weird sensitivity he has around the topic of Wanchai, and the fact he has kept his run down gym running for this long, makes me feel like the real love story is Wanchai x Arun

Same energy as Rasa x Fugaku there’s something about the Bad Dad x Mediocre Dad energy that makes this concept kinda great

“If you disobey me, I’ll close the gym” Eat the rich

“Don’t worry buddy, I’m fucking cool with it” jkhkjhgkj maybe this doesn’t translate well but what a funny way to offer your support to Saifah, Man 

I feel that this show is headed in the direction of a Kawin and Hongyok romance which is even weirder considering that he’s in med school so he’s probably at least in his mid-20s and she’s presumably still in high school

SIR??? That is a child you have in your arms [Stanley from the Office voice] Have you lost your mind? ‘Cause I’ll help you find it!!!

Saifah has invited both Dandao and Man to his family reunion so it’s about that time in the show where I start asking for a throuple

Arun has decided the correct course of action in witnessing Man and Saifah’s friendship is to simply ignore Man’s existence

“Don’t you like to box too?” ARUN HAS BEEN CALLED OUT BY GRANDMA 

“I don’t trust anyone but you,” said Arun, like he didn’t have a wholeass other child (I mean I’m just saying that Hongyok already seems pretty driven and business-minded)

All thing said though, Saifah and Arun fight pretty politely vs Man and his dad with Wanchai’s cutting comments about Man’s abilities and pushing him into strangers to get beaten

“Everything in your life belongs to me” Saifah really needs to check out the raisedbynarcissists subreddit 

At this point it’s almost good that there’s been no romance between Saifah and Man because running away from home to be a boxer AND be in gay love would make his situation even more complicated

“I don’t want to go home” “You don’t have to” 🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️

The Costuming vs Background choices in the past few eps have been VERY good

“Then you should come to my house” It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going, the Kawin/Saifah/Dandao/Hongyok trains are all about to collide 

Good for the boys for making it to the next round!!! Also an incredibly expected turn of events that Arun is using his son’s stress-related hospitalization to be an ass towards an injured Saifah 

The Collision of Stupidity I was waiting for (there’s a lot to unpack here but let’s just throw out the whole suitcase):

Dandao (left): Pretending that her brother is her boyfriend for no clear reason except to drive men away (which, fair); Man (centre):  Slowly being absorbed into a throuple-esque dynamic between Dandao and Saifah; Saifah (right): Has recently run away from home and been hospitalized on account of Daddy Issues and His Boxing Dreams, staring at his sister in the arms of his crush's boyfriend-brother and his sort-of boxing rival

And on the other side we have: Hongyok (left): In the aforementioned arms of the boyfriend-brother; initially trying to suss out Dandao's lies but now just deep into hanging out with Kawin under the guise of tutoring;   Kawin (right): Medical student/boxer who has been trying to be left alone but now has a tutoring gig with some moderately weird vibes with this teenager, sister of his sort-of Boxing Rival

I take back everything I said about Saifah’s perturbed look during his introduction, clearly, the image above is his perturbed look

Also, why is Kawin hiding behind Hongyok??? What is he afraid of?? The fact that he’s hanging out with a teenager in his house because that is kind of weird

“You two are twins” This only makes the situation like 5% less weird (mostly bc it means Hongyok and Kawin are a lot closer in age than I thought - like a year or two at most)

You know, that’s on me for forgetting that not every system requires a bachelors degree to join a medical program 

“Think of me as garlic for vampires,” said Kawin, of pretending to be his twin sister's boyfriend to keep men away

Why does it have to be because of her mom’s car accident can’t Dandao just not want to date people out of her own volition lmao

LMAO @ Kawin throwing his ankle weights down before leaving like an anime protagonist

I knew the boys would eventually have to fight but I’m sad because I want them both to win

“You like those two, don’t you?” I’m just saying a throuple would really answer a lot of your existing relationship issues

“You have to choose. Just like how I’m going to go for Kawin” Well, that one was fairly obvious and I guess not as weird as I thought it was

Ghkhgkhgkjg did Man not think to ask permission before inviting Saifah to stay at Pop and Jay’s place? Unbelievable but also completely believable 

“I forgot you’re here” Gkjhgkhgkhg even funnier

Awww they’re still training together even though they’re opponents I’m love them <333333

You do not sound convinced about your romantic stances, Man: 

Also it is not lost upon me that the above sentence can be read in two ways (you would be a better fit for Dandao than I would) (Dandao would be a better fit for you than I would) 

“I don’t know what I would do if you had said you like her too” this is literally the exact same thing that happened in Good Morning Call and the answer is THROUPLE

“Dandao and Saifah are meant to be together” I don’t care if there hasn’t been any romantic tension alluded to I choose to believe that Man is in unrequited love with Saifah (and also with Dandao but that’s a different thing) here are my reasons:

1) I’m 70% sure lgbtq+ was in the genre listing 

2) Man hasn’t been very clear about his romantic feelings in any particular direction

3) Man did both boxing and cheering because he goes both ways

4) Let me have this 

I did see the awkward kiss between Saifah and Dao coming but NOT THE CAR ACCIDENT

“What’s your relation to the patient” “I’m his father” YOU’RE HIS WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE WRONG ABOUT A SHOW IN MY LIFE 

You know what, this is my fault, Saifah warned me early on about the family angle and I chose to assume it was a Naruto and Sasuke kind of thing 

“Saifah is my son! Man is your son! I switched them myself.” OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

Also I am so glad they’re not brothers that makes the lens through which I was viewing this show much less uncomfortable my life flashed before my eyes (though admittedly it no longer makes sense for there to be romance in any case the vibes are too weird)

As a side note: Big ick for Hongyok since Man is HER brother??

Also I really didn’t think the errant comment from the obstetrician in the elevator was going to be a PLOT POINT (BUT REMEMBER HOW LIKE 8 EPISODES AGO I WAS COMMENTING ON HOW MAN LOOKED MORE LIKE HONGYOK AND YING LOOKED MORE LIKE SAIFAH; JESUS CHRIST. I NEED A MINUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

AND THE OBSTETRICIAN THOUGHT THEY WERE OPPOSITE NAMES OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

I figured after they revealed that Arun was Wanchai’s manager that he was the one who fixed the match but STEALING SOMEONE’S BABY AND BEING A SHITTY PARENT TO THEM IS NOT APPROPRIATE REVENGE, WANCHAI, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!

“My son could live a comfortable life. He wouldn’t have to struggle as the son of a boxer who had to serve a man like you” INTERESTING MOTIVE, STILL NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO KIDNAP SOMEONE’S CHILD AND COMMIT???? PATERNITY FRAUD? IDENTITY THEFT? I DON’T KNOW BUT IT’S VERY ILLEGAL!!!

“And Man... I wouldn’t have to take that good care of him.” So it was a CONSCIOUS CHOICE to be a neglectful father???? You do see how that’s worse, right!!!! I hope all of your kids past and present punch you in the face

“Everything’s going to be okay,” said Dandao, as if Man’s adopted father and the man who raised him had not just confessed to kidnapping him and purposely neglecting him while his best friend lies in critical condition after a car accident 

“Is there a worse thing that could’ve happened?” You know what, that’s fair, this probably is the worst case scenario

“And Ying isn’t even my sister” [Ying as Yondu from GOTG voice] He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy

“And when he wakes up, please tell him that I care about him very much. And that I love him very much too.” YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN YING IS THE SISTER/PARENTAL FIGURE THAT MAN NEEDS

I’ll acknowledge the irony of Yondu also technically being a kidnapper but he loved and nurtured his adoptive son unlike SOME people 

“Saifah is not my real brother” he’s not your biological brother, Hongyok, but he’s your real brother he’s the real brother that you lived with for your wholeass life

Well this is an incredibly awkward breakfast hangout: 

I guess this means that Man and Saifah are going to be adoptive bros now??? I can’t see Saifah’s parents being cool with Saifah going home with Wanchai, Child Kidnapper Extraordinaire 

“I’ll try and get custody of both of you” Yeah, I thought so 

“You can call me, Dad” You’re moving a little fast, Arun, Man still needs time to adjust to his new set of family

Also what you wanna bet Arun tries to pass on his business to Man, New Old Son, Fine Arts Student, and Business Hater 

Saifah’s Mom/Man’s New Old Mom has had weirdly few lines for her amount of screen time lmao like I know it’s not about her but she BIRTHED him

“No matter, what you and Man are BOTH my brothers” I love Ying 

“When Saifah wakes up, imagine how he will feel” I’ve been thinking about this nonstop how do you explain this kind of thing to someone after they wake up from a medical coma 

I know Hongyok and Kawin are a thing now but HOW MANY SIBLING DUO DOUBLE DATES MUST I ENDURE DON’T YOU GUYS HAVE OTHER FRIENDS

“Both of you are like my brothers” Ying and Hongyok are the pillars of this weird, weird family

What I wanna know is who told Saifah this whole fucked up story?? Was it Hongyok?? A nurse??? A distraught voicemail from Man??? The newspapers?!

“My parents told me” Well I guess that answers that question -- what an uno reverse card “you are not adopted but we did take custody of you unknowingly”

I’m glad that Saifah and Man still have each other, their sisters, and their sense of humour

“I was wrong for giving you mixed signals when I knew you had feelings for me,” That was a surprisingly mature and self-reflective response to your romantic issues, Dandao

This has been a rough week for Saifah, he got hit by a car, needed a major medical procedure, found out he was reversed kidnapped and his biological father sucks, broke his leg and therefore his boxing dreams, got rejected by his crush, AND found out she likes his best friend, what more can life throw at him

“I want you to come home” NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU WANT WANCHAI

“I’m not running away” “If that’s the case you should face your problems” (“It’s me, I’m your problems,” said Wanchai in the subtext)

“Thank you, my son,” said Wanchai, as if that would fix any of the years of trauma Man has accumulated as a direct result of his actions

Also!!!!!!!!! You thought you’d raise a baby his whole goddamn life and you wouldn’t have any parental feelings towards him??? WANCHAI WHAT WAS YOUR GAME PLAN

ALSO WOULD YOUUUUUUU GO BACK TO THE PARENT WHO KIDNAPPED YOU????

Dandao’s mom’s sassy “What do I do with this” look towards Dandao and Man’s candlelit antics is a much needed reprieve from the depressing reality that them getting together will break Saifah’s heart in two

Gkjhkjhgkjhg I know Kawin told her to get them to talk but why does Hongyok think that her birthday party is a good place for settling a custody battle 

“I didn’t even raise Pop. But he chose to give me a chance and forgive me,” what is Pop’s father, the Fairy Godfather of Deadbeat Dads kjghkghkgjh?

“Think carefully, and you’ll know who loves you the most, and who you love the most,” I don’t think this advice applies to WILFUL KIDNAPPING AND NEGLECT

I hate to agree with Arun, but much like he said I do not forgive Wanchai but respect Man’s right to choose where to live

From the outside perspective people will see Saifah and Man calling both Wanchai and Arun their dads and assume they are the sons of a gay couple so eventually we have circled back to Rasa x Fugaku energy 

Good for them though:

It doesn’t really seem fair for Ying and Wanchai to be upset by an article quote from Man which misrepresented his statement and came in the aftermath of his father confessing to KINDAPPING HIM 

While I appreciate Wanchai being there for Man, I’m still “EUGHH” every time he says “my son” to him

Highkey love Saifah’s ringside analysis of Kawin and Man’s fight  

“Remember, it’s about having fun” non-traditional advice from Wanchai for this point in a sports tournament but fair 

Good for Man!! It was an expected victory but a deserved one nonetheless

“After having many punches thrown at you, you’ve learned to keep a tighter guard. Just like in life,” What a pointed simile from Kawin lol

Fugaku x Rasa Boxing AU that I never asked for but will accept with mixed emotions 5ever:

Yay for Ying going back to school! And yay for Saifah getting to run the gym like he wanted! All good things

“I’m going to tell you, I got into medical school“ Hongyok’s tutoring sessions with Kawin were actually tutoring sessions who knew!!

A much more convincing assertion of romantic opinion than Man’s was:

“Do you know why all of the cards you picked were hearts? It’s because all of my heart belongs to you” Dandao is right this is v cheesy but a sweet gesture from Man

“All of this while, it’s like my life was hit with hook after hook. I almost got knocked out many times. But it was you who were always there for me,” r u telling me that’s why this show is called Hook oh my god

“As things are starting to settle down, I’m starting to feel that I don’t really deserve to be here with everyone,” You’re not wrong Wanchai but do u really want to disrupt your children’s lives AGAIN

“So I’ve decided to go my own path. Don’t look for me, Man. I’ll love you always.” Come on dude it’s the last six minutes of the show do you have to inflict endless trauma around everyone around you and also did you forget you have a whole other son my god  

I’m happy things worked out in the end for Man and Saifah but hoo boy what a journey

Re: the genre question, it seems I was subject to a vague synopsis and an inaccurate episode summary, and I feel that my confusion was understandable:

(They did not start a boxing club at their university, and they did not fall in love, they were just very nice friends and later, convoluted family)