#i'm not saying kate has to be gay in everything

[buckxtommy]

nothing will ever convince me what neal caffrey and peter burke had was platonic like. that show is everything but a straight fbi procedural let me tell you

–the day peter catches neal for the second time, he remembers the suit peter was wearing almost 4 years ago, the day he arrested neal for the first time. in another episode, neal points out that peter got a new suit. this guy has either plenty of suits or a few suits that look pretty much identical. what do you mean you know his wardrobe like that?? why do you care ??? (rhetorical question. i know why. neal caffrey i know what you are)

– neal never once shuts up about peter like he is physically incapable of doing so. "he's like the superman without powers." (raising his glass) "to peter burke. the man who we want to be more like." & the whole conversation between him and scott (the young conman/robin hoodie) when neal tried to convince him to turn himself in. "this is not about me. this is about peter burke. he's the smartest man i've ever met. he caught me, he will catch you." "no one's that good." "but he is, scott."

– similarly peter being constantly amazed by neal's tricks ('guess the number' game, forging signatures etc) and the way he operates when they're on a mission. peter "couldn't have done it without neal." burke i know what you are too

– the most giddy and happiest neal has been throughout the entire series is when peter calls him partner for the first time

– remember how heartbroken neal was when peter said "you failed me"?? he cared less about being in jail/being falsely incriminated and more about what peter thought of him

– when peter confronts kate for the first time, he promises to get her what she wants (the music box) in exchange for letting neal go and not playing with his emotions anymore and then kate asks him the million-dollar question, "why would you do that?" like yeah?? why would he?? at that point neal was just a criminal he locked up twice and they barely knew each other back then. yet he says "because he's good. he's the smartest man i've ever met." after that, he asks her if she ever really loved neal like it's any of his business. i'm

– whatever the fuck this is:

– neal risks jail time & his life for peter more times than anyone can count (changing the federal judge's incriminating tape with a blank one, falsifying evidence in order to get peter out of jail etc). the conman, who has done everything in his life for money and his own personal gain, who never gets close to people because he knows he lives on borrowed time, gives up 2.5 million dollar ring to save the man he's not at all in love with. and he doesn't even try to take credit for it. whilst not gay

–peter canonically listened to neal's daily horoscope on the radio. peter. listened to. neal's daily horoscope. fellas is it gay

– the way they look at each other actually make me nauseous bc what the fuck !!!!!!!

[whoisthispersonwow]

Hello people of tumblr! :)

I am not used to using this app but I thought i would give it a shot as the fandom works featured here are straight up the best things i've found on the internet, and the community seems just AMAZING on all regards!!! So I thought, yk, that I would share my ideas for this AU fic that perhaps maybe I would write sometimes...... idk....

Actor Bucky x Model Buck

Set in the 90s, this AU follows this rough outline : despite the 90s being a time of counterculture for the youth, (grunge, alternative movies being pushed forward and towards larger audiences) and being out of the 80s and all it entails (glam rock and so on) there was this paradoxally reinforced idea of masculinity (leather jackets, men having to be "strong", etc.) and lattent ideas of homosexuality being a "bad, filthy thing" in some places, interlinked with the misinformations concerning the HIV epidemic (if you're gay, you'll get AIDS, you'll die in a few months, all this stuff), which causes the Bucks have to hide their relationship from the public in fear of retaliation and backlash.

Buck is a male model, in a decade in which supermodels are emerging, and put on a pedestal : it's a decent job for him, despite not being a Claudia Schiffer or a Kate Moss (as female models, especially in that decade, were getting paid way more than male models, and overall just represented couture houses more than men did.). People know his face, he's had a few campaigns, but it's not enough to make him one of the A-list celebrities, not that he minds. He's slimmer than what is the norm for male models, but compensates it with his face : it is his strength as much as his weakness concerning bookings. He is known by his peers as this wise and generally kind man, not overly flairy as people can sometimes be in their industry, and overall very discreet about his personal life. He is extremely professional, a master of his craft that knows exactly what is expected of him at any time.

Bucky, on the other hand, is an actor. Freshly discovered among the rest of a new generation of actors, he climbs steadily and surely his way to the top, and has people from all over the USA watching his career with interest. He acts in movies which in our timeline would feel like "The Matrix" ; "Trainspotting" ; "Fight Club", and all of those sorts of very "mainstream yet still posessing their bit a flair" movies. He's extending his choices and taking more risks, ones that could perhaps lead him to great rewards (not that he is especially looking for it : Bucky would be content to act in a short movie by a middle schooler if it was done with love and passion.) Charming, bubbly, he is loved by many of teenage girls (and others, ofc :p). Everyone has a story about Bucky, be it good or bad. "Oh yeah, he bought me a car when mine broke down" says a make-up artist on a set. "He got so drunk he forgot I was here and punched me square in the face when i got up to pee" says his friend Curt Biddick.

(i made an ugly ass moodboard for the vibes)

-> now i'm gonna dump random infos for no particular reasons

TW : mentions of drugs, alcohol, homophobic cliches.

-They met at a party/gala of some sort for a brand, for which Buck modeled and Bucky was ambassador : it didn't click right away, but closely enough for it to feel like fate played a part in it.

-Buck is kind of excluded during parties as he's fully sober, whether it's from drugs or alcohol : a rarity, in the modeling world, and often not a welcome one.

-Bucky on the other hand, is a bit too much of a party monster : he drinks a lot, perhaps snorts a little cocaine in the bathroom, takes a little speed... Which GREATLY concerns Buck.

-Bucky is as cocky in his confidence and his career as he fears (and represses A LOT) the possibility of everything tumbling down and just going back to being nobody (THIS MAN NEEDS TO BE LOVED BY EVERYONE)

-He's terrified that fame will change him, that he will become a parody version of himself, that people will only know and like the version of himself he presents them and nothing else, not seeing his worth as a person, as an individual of flesh and feelings.

-Between the two of them, he's the one who desperately wants to tell the general audience about their relationship, not caring about the consequences, because in his eyes, love is love, and there sure as hell ain't nothing wrong with loving Gale Cleven, and people should know that he loves him, that they love each other, that they're a pair, that life only ever feels complete when they stand side by side, hanging in each other's orbits. They sometimes argue over this.

-Buck, on the other hand, wishes for their relationship to stay a secret, as he fears if it was to be known, it would taint Bucky's image, this very manly, confident and suave man, mingle it with dumb cliches (in a gay couple one is a "Folle" and the other has to be effeminate, because they're like GIRLS yk) and that it would basically ruin his career, tarnish his talent and hard work, get him blacklisted from most studios/directors and only perhaps offered type-casted roles in homophobic movies written by straight men. Buck could not stand seeing the love of his life being disgraced in the public's eyes, just because of some dumbass cliches, because of his love for him.

-Marjorie (Marge) covers for Buck. She's his front : They are seen dining together and huddling on benches by paparazzis, giggling and talking as they walk in the street, and that's enough. Their story makes people dream, these two young people who grew up together and fell in love, still a couple until this day, still loving each other as much as they did on the first day... They are a lavender couple (when both member of a relationship are queer, and use their couple to cover any suspicions) which helps making Buck and Bucky seem like just buddies. Marjorie is most likely not famous, or if so, she'd be more of a writer than anything else.

-Bucky is EXTREMELY jealous and FUMES whenever he cannot kiss Buck in public, touch him, do his little Bucky things, make Buck feel his. Despite that, he's sort of reckless and allows himself gestures that would not fly were the two men not viewed as pinacle of masculinity and a great example of brotherly love. Buck can't even bring himself to ressent him for it, and does not hold it against him : he too wishes they could hold hands on red carpets.

-Bucky is basically a disaster waiting to happen at some point, a pressure cooker dangerously whistling : he bottles everything he feels, just grits his teeth and says he's fine when dark times arise, drowns himself in alcohol and wishes to forget about his worries, thinks about simpler times when he had none at all. Gale stays by his side, no matter what, no matter his terrifying relationship with alcohol and the memories of his father.

-They live together, despite the risks : Buck couldn't bear having to say no to Bucky when he bought their appartment with a huge check from the royalties he earned over his first blockbuster. It is approprietly cozy : most of the decorum is Buck's doing, but Bucky's things still find their ways in there ; baseball posters, pictures, awards and silly little drawings on stick-it notes... It feels like home, to both of them.

-They probably have bought some sort of ranch or farm, somewhere, to run away from the city when things get crazy : they bask reverently in the fact that there, nothing they do or say matters, watching the sunsets on their patios, enjoying the melody of nature without any civilization.

That's pretty much it for now, I'll most likely add things later! :D I'm begging you to excuse any mistake I made, i'm just a poor French person trying her best. Don't hesitate to tell me how you feel and stuff, I am so nervous to make this post you can't imagine lmaoo

To end things, I guess I'll just post an extract of a wip, a written transcription of a fake interview Bucky probably had on some talk show!!! :]

[banamine-bananime]

kate austen has such a lesbian narrative to me. kicked out by her mom for her love - look as a lesbian i'm not saying gay love is the SAME as love for your mom that makes you kill her abuser but, hey, love is love, as they say.

cannot find a place where she's accepted within Normal Society.

she finally stops trying to explain her way back into being loved and accepted by being honest, and instead accepts that the only way she can stop running and being rejected at every turn and live the kind of Respectable life with a Respectable relationship you're Supposed to have is to lie and hide who she is.

and then living this Perfect, Respectable life where she is finally loved by this Perfect husband. it's everything she wanted. right? but she tells someone who knows who she is, who sees her, and wow! how wonderful! he will stop trying to hunt her down and arrest her if she just stays put in this perfect marriage. "But you and I both know that's not gonna happen". what? no. this is what she wants. this is perfect this is perfect she wants this she loves kevin she has to want this

she can't

her life is defined by running and never being able to find the place she'll be loved and accepted and able to just settle down. we have the ultimate proof of concept that she's not capable of it even when she's not being chased, right? if she couldn't stay with kevin, she really just intrinsically isn't capable of just letting herself love someone and be loved and stay. she's a loner who drifts on the wind, making ephemeral connections that can never be strong enough to root her! she will never be able to be part of a community.

but, wait, that's not what she does on the island. it's dangerous going off alone on the island, sure, but she's always lived in danger on her own. it could also be dangerous staying with these unknown fellow survivors who could be violent, could reject or persecute her, especially after telling jack who she is. Nice Respectable communities have always rejected and persecuted her before. why is it different now? why is she embracing the "live together, die alone" philosophy and trying so hard to protect these people and letting herself relax and be silly and make close friendships? it's interesting how this isn't a Nice, Respectable community. it's a totally new community completely marooned from any existing society, growing in a completely new and strange place from people from around the world and all different walks of life - many of them very much not Nice, Respectable walks of life. and she can just be kate, instead of having to be a Nice, Respectable All-American Girl who will get married to a Nice, Respectable All-American Man and have 2.5 kids in suburbia.

and she can be loved and love in ways no one told her she could

this is also why juliet/kate drives me so insane (pos). like.

juliet lives in a horror story about the male gaze

i think about this scene all the time.

juliet is recruited into a Very Nice, Respectable white picket fence 60s hippie-veneer-yet-still-ultimately-just-typical-suburban Americana community. the people are so nice here! all these lovely heterosexual couples (sidenote: god bless you tom friendly for taking one for the team and being a 2000s-TV-show Token. i don't support your gay wrongs but i sympathize with that nightmare). all these "we're a family here :)" potlucks and book clubs. the women on this island are dying.

your boss is such a sweet guy, he's so attentive. why does it make you feel uncomfortable. he's just being nice! you shouldn't feel uncomfortable! but you want to leave and every time there's just one more thing that happens to come up and keep you from leaving makes you a little bit more paranoid. the women on this island are dying.

and still, he's so nice. the potluck is a dinner between you. everything stays very professional, though! if you say anything no one will believe you. what would you even say? he hasn't done anything but be nice. and it makes you want to burst out of your skin and claw your way out through the Nice Respectable white picket fence and never stop running. the women on this island are still dying.

when his facade drops, it's almost a relief to have cold, hard confirmation that you're not being an ungrateful, paranoid bitch. you are very literally being held prisoner in this Nice, Respectable life because this man wants you. and he is not fucking nice, so you don't have to be either (just kidding, of course not. the rest of your Nice, Respectable community will still villainize you if you get angry about it).

juliet and kate freedom from being Supposed to be in Nice, Respectable communities of nuclear families, fulfilling the role they're Supposed to fill to be loved by and please men! juliet handcuffing herself to kate because we love a disaster fucked up MESSY gay tbh. juliet and kate holding hands.... juliet and kate making out....... fuck i distracted myself

[warriorprincesstramp]

ok LOST RANKINGS. last one before the season finale rankings. last watched ep the whole truth for the record. ok let's go shit has changed a LOT:

1. sayid. duh

2. jack. duh!

3. sun... <333. yes this is def recency bias but ummm shut up!

4. eko 🫶

5. rousseau. you know it's insane we haven't put her on these lists. as if she doesn't deserve a spot?? that's literally danielle rousseau. and she's crazyyyy love her!

6. kate. honestly I don't even know if she should be this high but I can't bring her any lower in my heart. I can't put her under ana lucia I'm sorry...

7. claire <3 maternity leave was hugeeee

8. ana lucia. look at us!! clawed her way out from the bottom... she's kind of swag now I can't lie

9. rose & bernard 😁 really they're higher up in terms of like sheer fondness but of course they're not around very much and aren't that complex unfortunately...

10. hurley. he's just chilling

11. realised I forgot locke... here seems right he's like. extremely key to everything about this show which I appreciate I appreciate his manic pixie old man swag I appreciate him getting a little gay with it... in fact I even appreciate his bitchfights with jack they're fun and interesting and make me go oooohhh. but of course say it with me now. an enemy of jack....

12. new guy... beth I don't even know if you've met him yet I don't remember his name I'm not totally sure we even know it initially he wasn't gonna be included because we know nothing about him really HOWEVER. now I think I can rank him as a mysterious figure. personally I'm having a lot of fun with him and his causing problems on purpose problematic gay swag. he's like the worst philosophy major you know. and yes he votes conservative... I like him! and I like that everyone hates his ass for almost no reason...

13. libby. I have no problems with this girl she just hasn't done anything <3

14. jin. he's on thin ice.

15. micheal. honestly I forgot about him because he's been fucking nowhereeeee when are they gonna let us see whatever stupid shit he's doing... also not including walter for this reason but on a larger scale. I like that he's doing something insane and dangerous and he's actually trying to save walter like honestly everyone's just forgot about that little kid LOL... he's having a rough month!!

16. charlie. SHUT UPPPP OH MY GODDDD.

17. sawyer. back to the bottom. well it was nice watching you die pathetically in the horrible man polycule while it lasted. KILL YOURSELF!

beth when you get to the long con episode you and I are gonna be discussing. or not even discussing we can just both be like what the fuck...

[blood-mocha-latte]

~ miscellaneous tag game ~

tagged by the lovely @mutantmanifesto and @dontirrigateme <3

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

rough draw but munich! 'twas gorgeous and also where I got engaged

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

dragging my ass through college in two years and double majoring. nearly killed me but by god it's done

Favorite books?

the awakening by kate chopin - the woman in white by wilkie collins - all quiet on the western front by erich maria remarque - a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith - letters from the 442nd by min masuda

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

mah wife (borat voice)

Favorite thing about your culture?

god what even is my culture. how unhinged would i sound if i said swamps and rigatoni

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

joined about three years ago but not on tumblr, but watched the pacific first

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

no because i. have a reading list and they aren't up in the queue lmao

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

leckie. he’s like. webster if webster was a wet cat what’s not to love. favorite moment is all moments ever EXCEPT for the sex scenes because what kind of hallucinogen did i take to have to watch that

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

i write fic and am. a little consumed by it at all times. i also make edits but am going through a bit of a rut with that so for now only writing thank you

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

eliza dushku for her wonderful performances in buffy the vampire slayer and angel (i'm gay. can you tell)

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

just this entire dick allen poem which is luztoye coded forever and ever

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

hm. idk. i once got bit by a raccoon in a bayou and had to get rabies shots for the next two weeks

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

i write everything by hand and then put in in the Computer which is like. a built in beta edit. and then mah wife (borat voice) betas for me because she's wonderful

Three things that make you smile?

mah wife (borat voice) (i'm predictable)

our air purifier (i’m old)

our vintage dog teapot

Any nicknames you like?

my name is three letters long like there's not a lot of leeway there. i went by adelasia for a while which is my middle name but like. that's it. does papera count

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

@lamialamia is the pillar of my entire person at all times and genuinely one of the nicest people i’ve ever met. linh wrote this wonderful fic for the secret santa exchange, which i am currently reading and fawning over

@staud is easily one of the talented people in the entire hbo war fandom and has the fucking VISION for gifs and videos. most recent of which i’ve watched (and panicked about) being an incredible eugene sledge video. erin is also just fucking funny bro idk what to tell you

@mutantmanifesto is someone that is like. genuinely a celebrity to me. every time i see lenora’s drawings anywhere i have flashbacks like i’m in the louvre. also just a wonderful person with incredible taste

@ep6bastogne is on a tumblr hiatus right now but always deserves a shoutout. she did incredible edits of skinny sisk, eugene roe, ron speirs, and david webster for the secret santa exchange that changed my brain chemistry forever and is one of the warmest people i’ve ever talked to

@ewipandora is someone that i’m ALWAYS holding hands with <3. both a genuinely funny and wonderful person and has incredible taste in reblogs. ewi is currently doing a band of brothers ship series that i plan to Consume as soon as possible because i have no doubt that they’re incredible

@dcyllom is an incredibly underrated and kind part of my Dashboard Experience™ and is also just wonderful and one of my favorite Tumblr People :)

@educationalporpoises is a genius and an INCREDIBLE writer. zee was my secret santa gifter and this luztoye fic knocked it all the way out of the park and into the cemetery, which is how hard it slayed. also wins for best mutual handle

@almost-a-class-act is ridiculously supportive and kind, and a backbone of the hbo war fandom forever and always. sam’s also one of the best fucking writers to ever grace this earth, with the most recent thing i’ve read being this top notch luztoye fic <3

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

die. girl i work in an er i'd be the first to go

Favorite movie?

ladri di biciclette for all time favorite movie ever. a perfect movie

Do you like horror movies?

it depends entirely on the level of homoerotism that can be found in those movies. and also if matthew lillard is in it

Tagging:

everyone mentioned above as well as anyone who wants to do it since i have no clue who’s been tagged :)

[witch-apologist]

Absolutely what is stopping Taylor Swift from coming out at this point? She's explicitly said she's straight and it's weird that people keep insisting she's not. I just don't understand holding onto things from over a decade ago as evidence. It seems very much grasping at straws, which is what that post is trying to tell people like you.

She has quite literally never once labeled herself or "said she's straight" y'all decided that for her and read everything she says to match that assumption. Meanwhile what y'all throw at me time and time again is either completely out of context or literally something I have known many queer ppl to say. If you can find me any instance of Taylor Swift actually saying the words "I'm straight" I will change my icon to a picture of a clown. And if you find me anything with those words , and it has to be that not something that can mean something else too. Post lover era I'll make my banner a circus.

Aside from that do you know how many NOW OUT QUEER PEOPLE called themselves straight at one point? I'm an entire lesbian and I once called myself straight, we learn things about ourselves as we grow. Like when Taylor said Untamed by Glennon Doyle (book about overcoming comphet) was really helpful to her.

Until then fuck off with "what is stopping her" first of all, there's the fact that many many artists like her exist as openly queer without an "explicit coming out" Ariana Grande for example who has literally said "I like women and men" and said she didn't want to label herself. Yet she still has ppl like you who will call her straight instead of acknowledging that she is blatantly attracted to women.

Your desire for an explicit coming out is heteronormative. I don't have to say the words "I'm a lesbian" for you to understand what I mean when I say "I only like girls." No one owes you a coming out but when someone makes it very clear they like the same gender you owe it to them to believe them without them having to tell you exactly what box to put them in.

You know what's not over a decade ago?

"Bet I could still melt your world

Argumentative antithetical dream girl"

Directed at the muse of a song from an autobiographical album. A song about how this love with the dream girl and it's subsequent breakup "hits different" than the kens she used to switch out.

The use of blatant queer symbols (flag colors, remember all those subtle pride flags stuff they used to sell on here? That's what a shit ton of her merch and visuals look like. Hairpin drop, it's nice to have a friend of Dorothea, mirroring Elton johns goodbye yellow brick road and other oz references, giant version of her dressed like Allison Bechdel from fun house screaming at the audience to look at her while the glittery popstar version sings about how she's the problem. I could literally go on forever it is that extensive and that obvious to anyone with prior knowledge of queer culture and history)

The use of queer fashion to an exhausting degree when she's literally said clothes are one of her favorite ways to communicate things to her fans.

Several sapphic love duets (Gasoline, Snow on the beach, the secret of us)

Made a HUGE POINT about how much she listens to girl in red when that was the most popular way to ask if a girl is gay at the time, to the point of posting about it on social media more than once and sending her PAINTINGS MADE BY HER OWN HAND dedicated to the music.

Lesbian salute (the Kate McKinnon one we were all celebrating being in Barbie?) many, many times

Mimics touching herself onstage every single night of her current tour while singing about how pretty a guys ex wife is (who she's, "thick as thieves" with in the song btw, also from the explicitly autographical album)

Also "what is stopping her" well idk her so I can't pretend to know what motivation she might have behind not saying the thing in exact words for YOUR benefit but just this year there was not only a FEMICIDE STABBING where LITTLE GIRLS GOT STABBED FOR THE CRIME OF LISTENING TO TAYLOR SWIFT. There was also A TERRORIST THREAT TO ONE OF HER SHOWS AND SHE YAD TO CANCEL IT. People DRIVE THEIR CARS DIRECTLY INTO PLACES SHES LIVED. She has dealt with insane levels of stalking to the point that HORDES OF STALKING FANS SHOWED UP TO HER FRIENDS WEDDING TO HARASS HER. Donald Trump just won the presidency AGAIN. What fucking rock are you living under that explicitly coming out would not at the very least be cause for increased security concern?

[outrunningthedark]

Their timing to finally decide on separating them is not my only problem. It's the act of separating them that gives me chagrin the most. It's probably me not knowing much shows, but we haven't had any good same-sex slow burn in a while and with how much of it lines up pretty well instead of adapting their story so that it can happen they... decided to make their spinoff a fanfic of this show (not just Buddie, but everything else about LS is OG fanfic). I remember someone said "They wouldn't waste a huge amount of production cost dedicated to Buck and Eddie's scenes to make them not canon in the end" but guess what? I guess those production costs are wasted after all. Not so much waste as they could lure a viewerbase out of it given their intentions are in a confusing scale of "we know what we're doing" and "very unintended," but you get the gist.

"There are other shows" but how many will have a good slowburn for same-sex couples? I understand it's more of me mourning the idea of a storyline, but it's still disheartening all the same. Sorry for being very bitter on your ask, but I don't really know where else to go.

I agree with you about Buddie not being treated like a legit slow burn, many of us do (separation is not part of the formula) and I actually put out this post that's making the rounds in my notifs which summarizes how we looked like we were starting the process in s3 and then there was backtracking to be done. I don't recall the production comment you mentioned (Maybe I blocked it out. I'm sure it came from one of the "You don't understand long form storytelling" folks.) but that sure does feel like a silly thing to say! For one, there are scenes the show spends enough time (and money) on that never see the light of day - the girl who reappeared in 5x10 after her entire arc was cut from Ghost Stories, Lucy's scenes from 5B, for ex. - and two, they're not "wasting" anything if they interpret Buddie scenes one way and allow us to think differently. How would depicting two men with a close relationship that rejects toxic masculinity be a "waste" of production? 🤔 Sounds like someone wanted to convince themselves as much as everyone else. Same-sex/queer slow burns (to reiterate: not what the show has done) are an anomaly, and I think part of it could be that The Powers That Be want their audience to know they've found one piece of media where "baiting" does not apply. (I think about the NCIS franchise and how the Hawai'i installment wrote Lucy & Kate as love interests in the pilot.) People (understandably) are just. Tired. Tired of being strung along, tired of waiting for confirmation, tired of wondering if the gays will ever get to be happy. They *welcome* pre or quickly established relationships because they *know* they'll have something to look forward to with every episode.

[yourfriendanniefish]

ok since i actually did just watch all three episodes that amazon dropped of the wheel of time i might as well talk about it a little bit.

first off, it was stupid and dumb to hold this show off for an entire fucking year so we could waste time with the rings of power's fantastical blowing of a billion dollars. it does feel to me like they're low key trying to bury this show, lord knows why

(here, let's put on a tin foil hat: it's because it came out really gay, an actual genuine rainbow of a show that actually matters in this day and age, and we can't have something this gay available to people so let's bury it)

anyways, it's almost impossible for me, personally, to rate this show. i know what i'm looking for— i read all 14 books of this fucker. the game i have to play while watching it is almost annoying to me. that doesn't mean it's bad, or any of the vast changes being made to the story aren't good ones— i'd rather see a condensed and different version of the series anyways. but there's still that string in the back of my head, that says, for example, "hey, mat and min never hung out, did they?" and like, no i don't think they did, but also, that's a heck of a way to write yourself out of the "we had to think fast when we lost an actor after season one's long covid break" hole! these two have big chemistry and i'm all in (new mat is great. he seems to have this slight touch more confidence than mat 1 did, but we'll see what happens when (/if) he links back up with the main crew (if the show goes the same route as the books, where the main cast splits up after book 2/3 and never really links back up again)).

but the changes here are mostly good— giving moiraine more of an arc than just "i am mysterious, ooooo" is great. having ran be more of a confident guy so he can fuck lanfear like a stud is hot and funny and the right kind of fucked up. like i said last post, killing that one beloved character was good because that character kinda sucked maybe and also there are too many characters. giving liandrin wayyyy more to do is great because the show clearly understands what it has with kate fleetwood.

maybe that's worth underlining more— the show really understands that it has a bangin' cast and it wants to use them well. everyone gets time to shine here, which is impressive given the size of the cast (the jumping around characters never felt disorienting, it's handled better than even the books, where the "main character" would disappear for a literal thousand pages at a time).

i want to know what happens next, and my only bad feeling is that i wish i didn't have to untangle that feeling from "i want to see how they get there," like, everything is too connected to the books to me, and i feel like the show is good and cool enough to warrant me forgetting minute plot points. they fantasy-curb-stomped ***, nothing is impossible, here.

idk,

it's a good show, and i hope people actually watch it.

[infinitelycomplexpuzzles]

“ 🔥 “ tell me more comic grievances pls 👀

// Hm. do I step on a landmine, or do I throw myself into a bonfire with this? well fuck, you're the only one who's sent one, so I guess we're just going to give you a hot take that I know is going to piss at least a few people off.

So let's talk multiverse, casting, and adaptations, yes? Because the way I see it, most people can't keep their outrage or fandom straight, and it bugs me.

Give you an example. Everyone lost their shit about the Scarlet Witch casting. Lost their shit. Torches and pitchforks and all that shit. Doesn't matter that she's a person who in her own series has an entire town begging her for death rather than living under her control, nah, the only thing anyone can talk about is who's playing her.

And you know what? They have a point. Or they would, if they didn't immediately adopt entirely counter opinions that contradict that one.

Because you know, Quicksilver is in that show too. And he's been in the MCU too. And he's had two actors. And he's her biological brother. But I don't see any huge outrage over either of them. I don't see people going 'if you use either of them as a FC I will literally call you hitler.' So what gives? Because the thing is, if you're mad about her casting, and there's good reason if you are, you also need to be mad about his, because they're the same. Imagine if some insane guy decided to cast Black Panther and Storm as white people, but people were only mad about one of their casting choices. That doesn't make sense! You either need to be mad at both of them, or neither of them, because the same rule applies to both. Both of them are whitewashing, which means that it's entirely contradictory to have a fire and brimstone take on one and not the other!

But while we're on the subject, I distinctly remember that for a while on tumblr, people were mad pissed about genderbending. And you know what? They had a point! Saying it was transphobic is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Personally, I think it's a weaker argument than saying it's sexist, as the idea that men and women live exactly the same lives with no differences is not a thing that happens, but I see the point being made with people who think it's transphobic.

And then the multiverse got popular.

Apparently, all you need to do in order to get rid of the transphobia stink is say 'oh, it's not a gender bend, it's an alternate universe.' So now we got everything from a female Batman who Laughs to female Dr. Octopus to female aquaman batman, and everyone is like 'yay! multiverse!'

Now I will say that this may be because this only seems to go one way. I'm not seeing anyone make an alternate universe version of Batwoman where Kate Kane is a gay man or anything.

But it also comes off as distinctly hypocritical because the entire argument before was 'if you change this character's sex you don't change their gender, and thus you're being transphobic by doing so.' Apparently, the only thing anyone needed to say was 'oh it's just the multiverse' and everyone agreed that was fine.

Like I have seen people's rules that say, explicitly, 'I don't write with genderbends' and then literally have multiverse characters that are exactly what they say they hate. Apparently, it doesn't count if a megacorporation does it! Then it's not bad, it's just creativity.

Sorta like how no one gives a shit if your dude is not romani, they only care that the woman is. 'The dude is hot and we like hot sexy guys, so who cares if both the guys we had play him aren't romani? I know we said that a white woman playing a romani woman is bad, but a white guy playing a romani man isn't, and I am entirely consistent!'

Drives me up the wall. Absolutely blows my mind.

All I ask is that, whatever your take, whatever your belief is, just be fucking consistent, or at least, admit what your actual beef is. Because you can't clothe yourself in moral righteousness while you're engaging in the very things you claim to hate. That's like if you claimed to hate drinking while you were four shots into a bottle of tequila.

It. Makes. No. Sense.

[ohsonowyouwantahazel]

crashing [into the floor w laughter]

e1

phoebe waller-bridge is just so wonderful at writing and playing wackadoo (see: realistic and hilarious) women. literally just looking at her is so good. fuck. makes me want to watch fleabag again.

JONATHAN BAILEY IS SO DJBSJD. gayest man. i love gay men. they're so fun.

"no one should have to go around carrying this much grief. and this much semen." he's so fucking funny

FJSBJDDBND EVERYTHING IS SO GREAT ABOUT THIS SHOW WHY IS IT SO SHORT GIVE ME 47378337 SEASONS

sam is as gay as a fucking maypole. and omg. i love fred. please get together my angelic babies.

i am so attracted to sam and jonathan bailey (i am a hardcore dyke)

did i say i absolutely love waller-bridge as weird fucked up women? yes i absolutely do. i will say it forever. my type is whatever she plays + twinky gay men who pretend to be straight

e2

THIS IS COMEDY GOLD PLEASE WRITE MORE OF THIS????

this show is just me being attracted to nearly everyone - lulu, sam, melody, jessica. i have a type.

it's so funny seeing unmasked weird fucked up women make masked weird fucked up women uncomfortable and ultimately themself

i didn't think anyone could write a one sided unrequited love w an arc-ish of emotional cheating so well but waller-bridge does it again

e3

absolutely cannot tell if indian accent is racist or not?????

FRED HAS A BF AND ITS NOT SAM?

honestly kate and lulu should just fuck it out not anthony

only waller-bridge can make a pathetic white man likeable ejdbfj melody and her obsession w crying colin

SAM IS JEALOUS OMG OMG OMG i really don't think anyone can beat jonathan bailey at being jealous

i love when groups of people are always shitshows like this and the bear are fucking awesome rhsvjfbddb

SHE'S LICKING THE CURRY OFF THE FLOOR JESUS CHRIST IN HELL

sam and lulu sound like they should fuck but it'll be funnier if they don't because idk it's just funnier that way

"i'll let you call me free" HDGSJSBF

OH MY GOD KATW EHBSDJ BC HE CRIES???? OH FUCBDBD IT'S FUCKING AMAZING OMG

e4

PAINTBALL IS THE BEST THING and omg kate djbdjf loosen up baby HELL YEAH

not enough comments because i too was having way too much fun

oof. "i pretend to be in love with you" OOF?

..... sam and lulu bye

e5

watching this episode atleast three weeks after the last one

"i fancy you"

why am i just realising the names are kate and anthony like it's a stupid coincidence but it is so funny to me thfbfjsb

EVICTION NOTICE????

will might be a good guy but i absolutely do not like him and (wow it is kinda hard to not immediately villainize him but also not that hard ngl) and HE IS GIVING STINKY ENERGY

hm. the energy is stinky because he's asking him to move in not because he wants to be with him but because he doesn't want fred to be w sam

SHE PUKES IN THE FOOD MY GOD THIS IS SO RIDICULOUSLY DIMFBSJSBDJD

......... i hate will rn but djfvf is he initiating a poly????

PEHDHFBF THIS TURNED OUT EXACTLY LIKE I EXPECTED ITS SO FUCKING HILARIOUS HEVSHDBFN

"who's the man in the picture?" "he's my father" UEGEJDBRND DELIVERY? CREATION? THEY INVENTED COMEDY?

e6

last episode? why aren't there 586374 seasons already

gdgsjdfb sam my dude

the part w melody and colin is oooooo but aw colin is a nice man

kate is not a lesbian she is just very stuck up but not in a bad way

lulu rushjdbf idc if she's messed up she's hilarious

DON'T FUCK LULU AND ANTHONY????

fred my baby :((((( sam get over yourself baby boy and be happy please?

"i'm a neither queen" AND HE SAYS IT IN THE MOST GAY ASS TWINKEST WAY

SAM KISSED FRED FHSBDJ HES SO CUTE MY BABY BOY SO CUTE PERFECTEST CUTIEST PIE

anthony is kind of a dick but not really but it's just that kate and anthony are not correct for each other or maybe i'm easily influenced

...... THAT'S THE END???? BRISGDJFGDJ BRO NO WHAT HAPPENS HELLO????

THAT IS NOT THE END? GIVE ME MORE

[castle-dominion]

castle 6x20 that 70s show

the 70s episode liveblog

I made my big bro watch this w me bc he's 70s obsessed.

Cement? mob hit? They would have had to weigh him down bc humans float in concrete. Also yeah what do you do? the one u call is the foreman. They deal with it not you. Reminds me of the ep where the police chief constable was gay & buried a body under the station & they found it while

KATE BECKETT I’ll make the coffee. CASTLE I’ll make the omelets. MARTHA RODGERS And I am going to make your day.

Love how the bells kind of slow down & go low & get weird. I mean at least the arch was nice.

MR: Richard, I am simply trying to bring a little pageantry into your wedding. But it seems that the only role you want me to play is that of guest. Fine. I can do that. I LOVE her

You can't make ANYTHING in a wedding a not-over the top disaster.

78 just like my brother's no wait falsettos was '79. disco era my beloved. RC: And a testament to the truly indestructible nature of polyester.

Milt Boyle: Vince Bianchi. Before he turned into the pile of bones you guys found. Love his VOICE

OH OH YEA DET. SANDVICH. OR SANOVICH I CAN'T TELL. HE'S THE ONE WHO SITS ACROSS FROM BECKS. I WAS TRYING TO REMEMBER THAT THIS MORNING. also under esposito's feet, he's at Det veiss(something) or messer's desk I can't tell what it says bc it is grainy & under shadow

Love the music too. Is it black or is it a dark colour? obv not powder blue... RC: It’s like being transported to a bygone era. Mickey the Blade? Louie the Lip? Where are these guys now?

Hey Frank Russo REALLY looks like the guy in the picture who, yk, went through second puberty. Love their accents. 4ksqft is a lot wow. Broke bread, shot the breeze, I love phrases. Harold Leone, as in lee-ohwn, not lee-ohwn-ee like brad leone from bon appetit Love how Becks calls Boyle on her own desk phone bc, well, yeah. Also set design my beloved, we have a pic of sanovich's kid on his desk

He knew things? Yeah ofc, he was the advisor!

Big bro thought that maybe this gal was just wearing Black fashion. Yvonne my beloved Frozen in time? Dumbass clothes? I thought it was cute. Wow it HAS been 40 years almost...

Beckett def not 70s enough.

YVONNE: Harold? You have guests. HAROLD LEONE: Huh? (he comes from the kitchen) Whoa!!! Well, this hot mama can be my guest all night long. He approaches KB and she holds out her hand. KB: Uh, sir, I’m Detective Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. HL: Captain. HL shakes RC’S hand. RC: (corrects) Castle. HL: Oh, Captain Castle. I bet you’re showing this little lady the ropes, huh? Breaking her in, huh? KB glares at RC. RC: Well, actually, um … HL: I mean, have you ever seen a cop with an ass that fine? If this is women’s lib, I’m all for it. KB: Excuse me? RC: To be fair, you do have a very fine … (off her look) never mind.

So humorous I love this man I love everything (but how does he look in the mirror w/o freaking out? it's like 50 first dates) Big bro LOOOVED the house & colours & wallpaper & stuff.

I love Harold & BECKETT SHUT UP YOU NEED TO MEET HIM ON HIS LEVEL. I know ppl who had to chase away spoon-wielding monsters every night for dementia patients, you do it & move on. It's ok.

No body no talkie. he IS delusional! "cupcake"

clipping clipping clipping I love I love I love snookie & ray the red car the absolute mess esposito pulling over ryan (giffing that) it's just... so good I'm insane

YOU MADE A CAST OF THE BODY!? Lanie just there like "what are you talking about?" unless caslte already asked her if she had any bodies to spare offscreen. LP: I’ve seen them do more with a lot less. But I don’t want to be a part of some crazy plan – RC: You have to. Because for this to work, this place has to look like the 70s. (he looks LANIE up and down) And so do you.

I love how the wife is there & he's smoking with the oxygen & I love this. Carcano: What, I’m going to bury a body in my own backyard? Plus, if I had someone disappear they’d stay that way. MC: If you boys have any more questions you can talk to my attorney. (he moves to leave) You know, after this long the truth is hard to find. If I was you I’d quit looking for it. Sometimes what’s in the past should stay there. (THIS MAN IS TELLING THEM TO STOP LOOKING. REMEMBER WHO HE IS: HEAD OF THE FAMILY, HE WAS TRYING TO MERGE FAMILIES WITH BIANCHI.)

OH SHE IS HOT Oh LANIE IS HOT TOO. (clipping) What if he touches him?

No wallet on him? or gun?

My poor harold. Hit you he's really gone? so will you come to the 2010a now? HOLY CRAP THAT'S-- STUFF IS HAPPENING. (castle flailing when the body hand was there lol. also how does that offer ANY protection from the gun?)

JE: *walks in* So I've got-- WOAH. *seeing Lanie* LP: Not a word KR: *talking abt the case* Right Javi? JE: I'm sorry what? *was staring at lanie* LP: !! *rolls eyes* & then that last little "nice dress" to her lil bro said not to clip but OOF I kind of wish I did

Tory my beloved.

Hm, ryan's pants don't match his jacket...

RC: It won’t burst his bubble... if it...looks like the 70s. Ooh she's ranking officer rn lol. WAIT CASTLE ALREADY OPENED A COSTUME ACCOUNT BEFORE ASKING BECKETT IF HE COULD DO THIS?

"let him dig on this 70s vibe" love the music coming in there the morgue was only one room? what about the drive there or the walk into the morgue? HIS MOTHER!!!??? A little bit, yes. YEAH FOR OUR WEDDING! RC: Let’s face it. We cannot let that woman anywhere near our wedding. But … she will love this. And then we get to solve the greatest mystery of the disco era. Besides the popularity of disco itself. It’s a win-win.

his little groove back Abysmal talent pool? Martha my beloved. Rick & his mom are like beckett & castle. Beckett: castle no. Castle: castle yes. Rick: mom no. Martha: YES YES OVER THE TOP YES!

Oh & the music! & I watched an abba parody production the other day before I watched this too.

LMGDAO A HIPPIE WOULD NOT BE HERE WITH THE COPS. Ooh it's a chalkboard! (So they made the photos black & white but... didn't remove them?)

Oh no snookie & ray Martha <3 ALEXIS (wearing that /gen tho)

Why would they need scripts? if they were pretending to be snookie & ray for real they'd need the mannerisms & backstory down, but ryan & esposito have interviewed ppl before. "super groovy" *ryan couching at the cigarette* Esposito frozen with his hands up p& ryan comes in to save him Righteous is in this context, not nec 80s, besides the 70s were from like 74 to 84 yk?

jive turkey again "my god who wrote this?" I love/hate the feathered chief in there

Glitterati? Do they have pagers? REACH BEHIND YOU & TURN OFF YOUR PHONE RLY QUICK, SAY IT WAS AN ALARM CLOCK IN THE OTHER ROOM. the deets? the details?

KR: Actually, it’s been though a lot of different incarnations, but guess what? It’s back to being a 70s club again! Me: WHAT LUCK

I like his nod. "take him to glitterati-- go! go!" *gates*

RC: Captain Gates! I thought you were at a terrorism seminar? VG: It was canceled due to a bomb threat. & did he? Yes! He did! Ryan & Esposito are taking him there now!

Girl your apb thing was not FROM this charade tho "especially you" CASTLE NO DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT THEY TOOK HIM TO A DISCO!

Love the car, love the raming, love the fall, love how esposito was the one who talked ryan into this but now ryan is the one who likes it

Love the dancing & the lights & the fun & the everything! HL: *dancing really well, having fun* Dancing fellow: *also having fun dancing "with" him* HL: Hey, baby. How’re you doing, hon? That’s a nice dress. Can I talk you out of it? (kind of good, all compliments, but wow v forward.)

Yay beckett is normal now. *castle on his phone* they would SO not get his that easy with the gun & stuff. *castle banging on the door*

Always wearing the same suit, it's his club outfit! does frank STILL own it?

*esposito dancing on the clock* he does still own it. maybe that's how it connects to the murder.

HL: Oh no sweat. *SMASH* (not clipping)

I like how he doesn't want to say the year. Also he KNOWS it is not '78 but he might not know the REAL year. "It is whatever year I need it to be" that was a GOOD answer!

"The private event was frank killing him" You figured it out from the time that you got shot at.

rysposito normal looking now "we DO think you killed him?"

Last dance was on the turntable <3 <3

"someone special" we KNOW who that someone special is babes. *lunchbag of evidence*

I think I assumed he stole evidence. Ah the 70s. Gay lovers in the mob in the 70s & this is beautiful. I mean the trauma of killing someone it could totally make you think it's '78 forever. I mean, Harold was also flirting with every woman around. (Maybe that was their thing. You can sleep with any woman, but you only LOVE me) Beard, lavender marriage, his number two...

REMEMBER THE MERGER? MICHAEL CARCANO! He kept it a secret from you that you were going to propose?

for a sec I thought becks was pantsless but it was just a light brown colour.

RC: You couldn’t handle the rejection. So as he left you shot him in the back, then again in the face. You know, because it was personal. Where did she get the gun tho?

It would NOT have stayed that way, these cops would have still solved it.

CASTLE BRINGING HIM OUT TO THE CLUB

YES YES YES THIS IS THE BEST EPISODE she CAN'T disco dance tho. Yay martha & alexis! RC: I’m just glad it covers more this time. Ryan & esposito chilling having fun I love it. (Tho if esposito was born in the 70s he might remember like,, kindergarten outfits. I only remember a few that are attatched to specific memories, like that striped early 00s (or really early 2010s except it was probably a handmedown) shirt I wore during geology in elementary. Lanie is back! & her hair is normal *ryan dancing* Gates I love her I love her (reminds me of that one fic I read, it was good, I want to dance with YOU, not any of these other people who might be prettier than you, because I want you.)

Harold my beloved <3 Last Dance is def going on my playlist.

ldjsklsdfkfjsdkljf GREAT EPISODE PEOPLE

[amphibifish]

my friends got the shittier version of this essay but i don't think i'm saying much in either so

rod keeps many emotional walls up even around his best friend, who he arguably has even more walls around due to the fact he is a) gay b) in love with nicky.

this of course makes him incredibly lonely, and really emotionally constipated lmao he's a well off guy who does well in everything, while also being incredibly insecure, so he retaliates by overcompensating through the way he acts. this shows in how he yells at nicky and becomes really defensive in if you were gay and his piss poor attempt at saving face in my girlfriend who lives in canada. a lot of this is driven by fear of being ostracized or rejected by everyone, which isn't helped by the scene in which christmas eve indirectly tells him that he's good for nothing and to stay in the closet. when nicky outs him in front of everyone, of course he's gonna act irrationally. doesn't mean he should've kicked nicky out but hey rod does what rod wants.

rod is really lonely btw and he has to handle not only his identity crisis but the fact that the person he loves will never love him back. all he truly wants is to love someone and for someone to love him, and so he's envious of kate and princeton and brian and christmas eve who seem to have found such strong bonds of love.

because his guard is held up most of the time, the moments where he lets himself be comfortable with his feelings hit so much harder, such in fantasies come true where he lets himself finally freely love nicky (up until the end, of course, where his hopes and dreams are absolutely crushed), or when he lets himself cry in christmas eves arms, and admits to her that he does miss nicky, and that he was the one who made rod feel loved.

with time, and therapy, however, rod does come to accept himself, and to accept nicky back into his life. some of his traits from act i are definitely still there, he's a little bit irritable but he's much less insecure, and much happier. in the end, rods finally comfortable with himself.

i don't know how to end this but in conclusion rod is lonely and sad and then hes not i don't know what to tell you i dotn think this essay says anything that adds anything to the story i'm just thinking about rod i guess. anyways so you know how nicky's actions in act i are all basically driven by just trying to make rod feel more comfortable in his skin well in this essay i will

something i love lvoe lvoe about the way rod was written is how much he guards his heart in the musical and i just love how he goes from this kinda asshole no funny business kind of guy to a free and more relaxed person as he lets his guard down and realizes he doesn't have to be so afraid.

[hereidinathoreauwrites]

Fiona Felicity Frizzle (or: Frizzle, the younger)

Magic School Bus Rides Again one-shot drabble: the adventures of Fiona Felicity Frizzle (travels through science and time with the new teacher)

No one ever could keep me tied down. Not that anyone had ever really tried.

If there was one thing the Frizzle family was, we were proud of our eccentricity and desire to learn. We were also special. Mom used to say we all had a little touch of magic. Nothing world-shaking or time-altering but just a sparkle that let us be extraordinary. And my sister and I seemed to have more than just your average sparkle.

Of the two of us, Val had always been the golden child. She excelled in both school and the extraordinary specialties of our name. She was smart, curious, charming, and talented, even among our family. That’s why no one raised any stink when she was gifted the keys at the tender age of 16. She was ready for them; everyone could see it.

And while I wasn’t far behind her in most things, in this, she indisputably won.

I never wanted to follow in Valerie’s footsteps. No one even expected it of me. We were free to pursue whatever we wished. She was just the perfect embodiment of a Frizzle. Everyone in our extended family looked up to her and I was just Frizzle: the younger.

All the same though, when Val was handed those keys, it awoke a deep hunger in me. Hunger for the kind of adventure only having the keys could provide. But the keys were out of reach. So I’d just have to find adventure on my own.

With that spirit, one day I just grabbed up my knapsack and took off. What can I say? I was 16, it was 1993 and I had waited long enough. The world was my oyster and I intended to know everything about it that I could. Keys or no keys, I wasn’t going to let my education suffer. Maybe I should have apologized for taking Dad’s Time-Winder but the thing was just collecting dust. Wasn’t it better if it was in use?

So my curious tinkering may have set the thing off and I ended up spending quite a long time on ancient Lesbos Island helping a wonderful young woman write some very beautiful poetry. In return, she let me study her father’s books on medicine and biology. It all worked out in the end. After a while, I was able to un-tinker what I had tinkered and the Time-Winder shot me forward to the year 2016. Deciding I should maybe leave exploring time for later, I instead set off to explore space.

After a few hitch-hikes and a brief stint as a stand-up comedian in Lithuania, my lucky break got me all the way to a place I’d always wanted to go — the steppes of Mongolia in the Altai Mountains. So in a way, it was lucky my plane crashed there. I met a fascinating young girl who taught me about how her culture has hunted with golden eagles for generations. I nearly got frostbite cantering after her on her hunt. In return, I taught her everything I knew about medicine and human biology. When I was ready, I left her family to join a caravan heading east.

From Mongolia came a rather trying time in Japan, where I struggled to master calligraphy and the lost art of the sword. After that, I crossed the Pacific in a one-woman kayak and nearly drowned just off the coast of Guam. A passing freighter offered me a ride and I happily bounced from Guam to Hawai’i to the Gulf of California.

Sometime later, I found myself wandering through the Brazilian jungle and somehow ended up being adopted by a family of golden lion tamarin monkeys. I think they wanted my necklace but didn’t know how to ask. They were a lot of fun, especially when they tried to comb my hair for me. I learned a lot about climbing from them. When I left, one of them followed me. Before long, she was sitting on my shoulder, comfortably jumping from adventure to adventure with me. I called her Goldie.

Goldie made my adventures more interesting by far. She was curious and sneaky, often getting her fingers into things people didn’t want them in. One time, I’d had to pry her away from a bakery in Germany after she’d discovered banana crème filling. I don’t think we’re welcome in that bakery anymore…

She’d also once pilfered the Hope Diamond. I don’t think anyone noticed though; I had recently perfected my espionage skills in study with the KGB and CIA (independently, of course) and those transferred rather well to breaking into the Smithsonian to restore the jewel.

Goldie eventually learned though that some times were better than others for sticking her fingers into things. It took a few years (and a lot of stern reprimands and banana crème pastries) but I eventually taught her.

If there was one thing I never did, it was settle down. There was just too much to see and learn. I had barely cracked into world languages, let alone the dead ones! My pack was always home to half a dozen books or so that I swapped out as I finished them. Reading a chapter or two of a classic before falling asleep at night was the best way to finish off a day of adventure. And long flights between new adventures were perfect for picking up phrases in other languages.

Goldie and I traversed the world, never once looking back in our endless thirst for knowledge and adventure.

At some point while rocketing down the Alps on stolen skis, I realized I had turned 33 somewhere in my wanderlust.

And for some reason, that made me more homesick than anything else. I debated going home but never made a move to. For one, I had effectively vanished for twenty-three years when I’d used the Time-Winder the first time. I’d be the wrong age if I went home. Val would be nearly twice my age now. It just seemed wrong. And I hadn’t even told my parents when I left.

I didn’t belong at home.

After that, I stopped counting my numerical age. I measured my life in adventures and I had more of those than I had years on this Earth. Besides, it was harder to keep track of one’s age when one was leaping through time constantly.

Despite the inherent danger I’d found in using the Time-Winder, it was irresistible to have that power and not use it. What was an adventure without a little risk after all?

And use it I did.

It was finicky but functional. I couldn’t choose the destination precisely but it always seemed to take Goldie and me where we needed to go.

1567 was an incredible year. Yes, I may have romanced both the captain’s wife and the captain himself aboard a trading vessel and then accidentally won a sword duel to become captain of a passing pirate schooner but life was so dull without conflict. So I may have picked those fights deliberately. Elizabeth was an incredible woman though…she didn’t even care that I was a woman.

Shame the pirates learned I was a woman as well and chased me halfway across the Caribbean before I managed to slip into Costa Rica and vanish.

Nikola Tesla was a surprising ally in my quest to explore time. He was fascinated by my Time-Winder, even though I’m not sure he completely understood what it was. I spent many months at his side, studying engineering, chemistry, and electricity alongside him. Leaving was difficult but I had to. Edison was getting suspicious and I wasn’t looking to end up in any history books.

I picked up guitar somewhere between Han dynasty China and 1980’s New York, which surprisingly opened up more doors for me than my newly-cultivated ability to speak 14 different languages (2 of which were dead languages!) fluently. Seems throughout most of history, people have had more use for music performers than they have for reliable translators. Goldie and I played our way across America and Russia during two different centuries on the pennies cast by passersby and the tips of the tipsy.

Splashing along the tide lines with Rachel Carson was a truly illuminating experience. Was there nothing that woman didn’t know about the ocean? She was an incredible friend and companion to me in the 1950s when I’d stopped to study the early days of space exploration and the rise of the environmental movement. And who better to apprentice myself to than Rachel herself? We took a great many tidepool specimens back to her study and spent many weeks identifying each one and making small sketches. I even offered my critiques on some of her writings.

But when she mentioned Val, I knew it was time to leave her. Coming so close to my sister while she was chasing her own adventure was jarring and it brought back feelings I hadn’t realized I’d buried so long ago.

I could pretend all I wanted but what I knew I craved, I couldn’t have. Without the keys, I was imprisoned in this life of wandering. The most I could hope for was a surface look at whatever phenomenon or historical event caught my eye. I was doomed to see everything through unbreakable glass.

But still, it was all I had. Val had inherited the keys. That left me with whatever I could take and whatever I could explore on my own. So I got even more daring.

Maybe Alcatraz was a step too far though...

Goldie and I were sailing down the Colorado River on a raft I’d constructed on my own sometime in 1842 when my real adventure finally began.

As I struggled to both man the tiller and the sail (Goldie scouting ahead from our mast), an anachronistic ringing sound came from my pack.

Strange…I wouldn’t have thought my phone would work in a time before it was invented…

Risking letting go of the tiller, I dug into the pocket and pulled out the ringing device.  Wow, cell reception was surprisingly strong out here.

I answered the phone with one hand. “Hello? What’s up?” The sail rope slackened and I leaned on it to rig my sail back up.

“Hello Fi!” It had been years since I’d heard that voice.

“Val!” Goldie shrieked, drawing my attention back to the river. “Can you hold on one second?” I tucked the phone between my teeth so I could hold the sail with one hand and adjust the rudder with the other. Goldie and I shot down the river, dodging nimbly between the rapids. The rope burned into my hands and I smiled around the phone in my mouth. This was just as incredible as I had imagined!

We burst out into some steady water a few seconds later and I finally released my grip on the sail.

“Sorry about that, rapids.” I continued, holding the phone to my ear again. “What can I do you for, Val?”

“I’ve got a proposition for you, dearest sister of mine.”

“Oh yeah? What?”

“How do you feel about teaching?”

“Teaching…?”

“Yes. You’d have to give up your lonely quest to explore all of time though. How does 2017 sound?”

“Does this mean…!”

“Yes Fiona. The keys are being passed. It’s your turn to inherit the Bus.”

I didn’t wait a second. Barely giving Goldie time to jump onto my shoulder, I scooped up my bag and tinkered the Time-Winder one last time.

At last, I was stepping right through that glass door.

[binary-not-found]

Episode 8 season 2 🎈

I'm not going to apologize for the fact that it's taken me so long to post this, I'm always doing it and this time I literally everything happen over the past week and the weekend, so thanks for the patience and here it is 🙌🏼

Lucy and Kate making us feel single even when Lucy isn't on screen 😢

Hey, I know that smile!

Are you trying to tell me that Kai has seen Kate on the phone with Lucy more than once? Or maybe it's just the fact that everyone knows the goofy smile they both have when talking to each other 😅

Well she's a quick learner, she'll be running that place soon

Kate is Lucy's #1 fan 🥳 and we all love that she lets it show 🥰

I must say the fact that Kai mentioned that Kate misses Lucy took me by surprise, I was expecting some comment about Lucy in the water or something, but that was his way of checking in on her, like letting her know he knows how she feels and trying to care about her and not just about how Lucy is doing 😌

Let's appreciate for a moment the way Kate sits and settles into the seat, because I'm gay and I just can't ignore something like this. Okay, let's move on 😁

Kai talks to her about the case, not saying much about why the case interests him, but we know Kate and she notices the way he's presenting the problem to her and almost immediately notices that there's something more to why he's interested

And that's when he tells the truth, it's personal, it's not just about protecting the community as he was saying or doing the right thing, he wants to prove a point, and one thing I love about Kate is that she doesn't judge him, she doesn't downplay it

What she does is simply make it clear to him that if she mentions the case to her boss then he should stay in line, he should know that no matter how much it's his community and it's about people he knows, it's about her work and he needs to respect that

Now, I don't remember exactly who I was mentioning this to, but the fact that Kate went to talk to Kai letting him know about her dad speaks to the type of person she is and how much she cares about the team - in this case Kai -

It wasn't her obligation to tell him, but she took the time to let him know, so he and his dad can prepare for what's coming. Kai wants to protect his community and Kate is protecting him with this

Even when Kai reacts a little defensive and tells her that nothing is certain about what happened, she stays calm, because she knows it's too much to take in and that's precisely why she decided to tell him

And that last look before she leaves, just making sure once again that he will be okay. It may be hard for Kate to show how she feels, but she is one of the most empathetic and caring people around, she always helps in any way she can and I love her

Honorary Mention ✨

Because obviously I couldn't leave out Kate being the best at everything she does, saving the day just by making a couple of phone calls and doing her best to say "federales" in decent spanish 💖

*Mi país, mi país 🇲🇽*

This post is quite short compared to the ones in the last episode, but to be fair my blondie was in 4 minutes of the episode, I did my best

[natashasbitxh]

I love Spies Are Forever.

It's my fav musical ever and simply my fav thing ever. I can't help but think abt it 24/7 and I think everybody should watch it.

I love the music, the characters, the cast, the story but I think one of the things I appreciate the most is that curtwen is canon.

Like, how crazy is that? The main romance is between two men, one of them being the main characters, and that's not even something the fandom made up. (Although on the subject of the fandom, I adore literally everything created for it. I eat up everybody's creations cause ur all so fucking AMAZING)

And I really do appreciate that the Tin Can Brothers did that; they didn't have to, nobody forced them to do it.

They just did it. And Lord did they do it well.

They leave little hints for you to pick up on if your really looking for them, but they allow you to fully form ur own opinion on Curt (and Owen ig) before revealing he's gay. I adore how they trick you a little bit and follow the bond stereotype with his love interests before flipping it on its head.

Before it was revealed Curt was gay, I kinda just accepted him ending up with Tatiana. I didn't question it, I just kinda went along with it.

But I like that 'Doing This' just makes you go, Why? Why are they a good couple? They barely know each other and there's nothing particularly grabbing abt a romantic relationship between them, it's simply because that's the "norm", like the song says: "I'm a girl", "I'm a guy", "It's meant to be because we're both spies." Honestly, as a lesbian I'm almost disappointed in myself that I gave into it so easily and I think that it says a lot about me personally.

I also really appreciate the cast, specifically Mary Kate and Joey, but even more specifically Curt (as in the actor)

(This paragraph refers to the actor) Curt played his character amazingly. I don't exactly know what Curt's sexual orientation is and that's none of our business, but regardless I really appreciate that he didn't lean into stereotypes. His character is so much more complex than just simply being gay. The character cares for his family, friends and job, but he also has his flaws yet very easily none of these flaws have anything to do with his sexuality. I just really appreciate this.

And finally Curtwen. What a beautiful, gut wrenching, horrible relationship. There's so much of their relationship there, we don't even need Owen to be there for the whole musical for us to know how deep this relationship was. Things such as "spy again", the hallucinations and Curt's heart to heart with Tatiana, we're able to fully understand that Curt was down BAD. Owen's death shattered him and completely changed him as a person, not to mention his betrayal hurt him even more; up until the very end Curt is still trying to get Owen back, trying to convince him to join his side again.

This post has become WAY too long but to quickly summarise their interactions in Act 1 Part 1, was that gay or what? The hug? The dance? THE LINGERING LOOKS? I cannot make this shit up.

But basically, Tin Can Brothers and EVERYBODY involved with Spies, I adore you and appreciate you all so much ❤️❤️

[thekatebridgerton]

The one bed trope!! (1 being most nervous, 8 being totally chill)

lol also one of my favorite tropes. This post is a little long so you'll have to read it full under the cut. Because I covered all the 16 main

okay ladies first for this one

scenario being "we are in a situation where sharing the bed is really unavoidable"

1) Kate: would go into low key panic, she simply doesn't strike me as the type who shares things. Even her bed. She'd be the most nervous out of all here. I think she's only shared her bed with 1 person in her life and that's Edwina, during her childhood. Kate would not take well to having to share a bed, and depending on who her partner is, she'd go as far as sleeping on the floor to prove her point. if you want Kate Sharma to Share a bed with someone, that person would have to wait until she falls asleep in the couch/floor and carry her to the bed they're sharing together

2) Sophie: would protest a lot, she'd agree to share a bed against her better judgement AND STAY AWAKE ALL NIGHT because she's a cuddler and what if she rolls over when she sleeps and accidentally molests the person who is in the same bed as her. With Sophie, if there is only one bed, both people are getting cero sleep because she'd be too nervous to calm down and the other person would be too fidgety paying attention to her. So good luck with the sleep deprivation

3) Penelope: Acts like she knows a lot of what happens when people share a bed, but is in fact, super nervous, Penelope would blush a lot, offer to take the couch. But ultimately share the bed with her potential love interest. Only for them to find out that she talks in her sleep when she's had a night of stress. So, yeah Penelope gets some sleep, but her bed partner does not. (Hopefully the next time they share a bed, her partner makes sure Penelope relaxed and blissful). And yes, Penelope IS a cuddler when she's not under stress.

4) Daphne: Would be nervous, but not show it, she would put a barrier of pillows in between and go to sleep. only to find out she demolished them during the night and now is waking up with her head in her bed partner's chest.

5) Lucy: Same as Daphne but with the added self reassurance of 'I have a fiancé so I'm safe from you', poor Lucy has no idea her gay fiancé fools nobody. And that she could turn on literally anyone else by sharing a bed with them, because Lucy, is..um.. lets just say she looks like the type who wakes up in the middle of the night feeling too hot and ends up sleeping in the lightest, skimpiest pajamas she owns entirely by accident. and I HC this because she's the one who's had the most children in cannon.

6) Francesca: would blush, but she'd get over her nervousness pretty quick and pretend nothing is wrong when she's freaking out inside. You know, standard Frannie behavior. Although, she does wait until the other person is asleep to completely relax and let go.

7) Eloise: Look as long as she's wearing a decent pair of comfy pajamas she doesn't care who she shares her bed, she values her sleep and gives cero f about everything else, and if you don't get on with the program and agree to share the bed, then she will not respect for you. In the meantime, Eloise has already finished her nighttime routine, and is stealing all the pillows. whatever the other person does or feel about sharing the bed, its their business. But she's also a cuddler so, beware. Sleeping Eloise is part Koala.

8) Hyacinth: It's no secret I am scared of Hyacinth's crazy. If there was only one bed, this girl would not only be super chill about it, she would sleep in her underwear, hog all the covers and push the poor unfortunate person out of the bed somewhere in the middle of the night. Also, she’d have the best sleep of her life while all that is happening. 

If I had to pick, I'd share a bed with Eloise or Francesca. they value sleep.

now on for the men of Brigerton

1) Gregory: out of all the himbos in this list, Gregory is the one who gives more, scandalized virgin vibes. He’d be super nervous and it would show and his partner would spend half the night teasing him about it. So he’d do the gentleman thing and sleep on the floor and wake up with a backache. 

2) Phillip: Would try to be respectful and also do the gentleman thing and try to sleep on the floor, but is likely to wake up in the middle of the night, forget where he even is, and crawl into the only bed there is anyway. He is a cuddler. And is likely to apologize profusely in the morning with the deepest of embarrassments for accidentally taking liberties. pff we all know he’s lying. but he looks so apologetic. 

3) Simon: would be the one doing a bit of teasing about having to share a bed, he’d be full wiggling hips and mock seriousness. when in fact he’s very nervous, but isn’t about to give up a good night rest. Simon would probably sleep on top the covers and have a fitful rest that his bed partner would have to wake him from. leading to some meaningful heart to heart

4) Benedict: Shares the bed, warns his partner that he gets a little bit handsy when he’s sleeping. listens to the protests if there’s any and does his best to calm his partner down, then he just goes to sleep. Benedict is a chill guy

5) Colin: Listens to his partners concerns about sharing the bed, does not heed them, even more chill than Benedict, Colin wouldn’t even care about appropriate sleeping clothes. There’s only one bed, he’s tired, you’re tired, why are we still having this conversation, of course he’s not going to put clothes on, the night is hot.

6) Gareth: Just like Hyacinth, this guy gives cero f about his bed partner, he’s offered to share the bed, didn’t even wait for a response, too late, Gareth is already sleeping and not listening to nonsense. Hope that makes his bed partner feel comfortable enough to take the other side of the bed that he conveniently left open. Although, Gareth does share the covers and the pillows, so maybe he should be higher up in this list.

7) Anthony: Is the one calling the manager about why there is only one bed. He likes to sleep alone! who did this? why does he have to share, he’s fancy Viscount Bridgerton. Anthony takes one look at his bed partner, and while keeping eye contact, he tries to intimidate them by changing into his sleeping clothes and flopping down in the bed, in a star position. there’s an invitation to share the bed. If you dare. because he’s not moving from where he is. 

8) Michael: Is the most unaffected by having only one bed. He’s been to India, he’s had to share a bed with strangers before, he knows nothing will happen and is willing to convince his partner that nothing happens because it’s just a bed and they are just going to sleep, like normal people. (he is lying, things do happen, Michael is surprised by how much happens ok)

And that’s the tea