#im near the end of s2 and i love her so much

[brainbleedo]

Dana Scully the woman you are.

[volfoss]

my #analysis or whatever but its really interesting with how much they cut out of the Jon at the banquet 1x01 scene compared to (at least the leaked version online) the original pilot and book. like not to be like yeah grrm put this much detail in there for a reason but a lot of the detail that they removed really hurts jon as a character and its so jarring to see how much they cut to take the chapter down to about 3 minutes of the episode.

[ikealoki]

old order headshots + headcanons because hell yeah

i dont really have a hc for soren but the idea od him being missing is so interesting. its confirmed that ivor (and harper?) were on a mission to find him but obviously havent. the easiest answer is he went back to the end, but thats obvious meaning he/they probably looked there and he clearly isnt since they havent found him. so where the hell is he? theres no chance that hes in the portal network because of jesse being in posession of the flint and steel and hed have to way to get around without it, but considering hes a master builder and knew where ivors lab and enchantments are maybe he made his own?? i dunno. but its interesting. i wish that if there ever is a season 3 (highly doubt) we’ll get some closure on him. the only reason he wasnt in s2 is because the team said they wanted new characters, but considering how sparse soren was i feel like it couldve worked. but like i said i really want to know where he actually went and how his books got everywhere, its a fun concept.

gabriel!!! i dont know why he doesnt get more love hes amazing. but id like to think he lives near beacon town, not near enough to know about the admin shit but near enough to where jesse could get to him if hes needed without it being a whole ass journey. i think hed like to be more involved but feels too much guilt about the old order’s actions and feels like a fraud despite the fact that he is actually capable.

ellie my beloved. i understand any and all soregaard shipping but i like to think of them as having a sibling dynamic, like ellegaard has the older sister role whos exhausted by his “quirks” but will defend him with her life if anyone was judgemental. nerd club!!! also i feel like theres like a really intricate baroque style painting of her somewhere, maybe soren made it and its tucked away somewhere in his base. i know thats oddly specific. but it just feels right.

magnus!! (this is the one im most proud of)

i dont have many thoughts about him but i think hes bald on purpose. like his hair is too much of a fire hazard and his paranoia drives him to shave it off, even though he has his stupid ass fishbowl helmet its his way of staying on guard.

ivor!! this one isnt actually done because the filed corrupted while i eas working on it :( so i just did final editing on a separate application after screenshotting what i could

but as for hcs id like to think if he ever did/does find soren that hed encourage his work with endermen after learning what he was really doing. maybe making enchantments or potions to help him work among the endermen more freely or things like that. id ljke to imagine thered be an instance where jesse would have to go to the end for something and among the end cities theres a little cottage style structure and ivor and soren are just in there sharing their recent adventures over tea or slow dancing to one of sorens records. theyre in love JUST TRUST ME PLEA

and thats it! if u want to use any for anything feel free jusg credit meeee @ ikealoki 🗿

[foreignemotion]

Enduring in B Minor

Lestat de Lioncourt/Louis de Pointe du Lac

Summary: As a hurricane approaches New Orleans, Lestat de Lioncourt sifts through his memories of past loves, familial and romantic. Little does he know, fifty years of waiting to hear of Louis de Pointe du Lac's wellbeing is about to come to an end. Word count: 1.2k Warnings/Tags: canon compliant, missing scene, hurt/comfort, pining, memory loss, reunions. A/N: Wrote this following the finale of IWTV S2. All Lestat needs is a kiss on the forehead and he'll be good to go.

—

The advantage of ivory keys was that they did not have a tendency to wear away as easily as wooden ones. Never did Lestat miss the weight of them beneath his fingertips more than when a finger slipped into the incorrect groove. He would wince, hearing the unfitting note in his head clash with the tinny, electronic score that Siri sputtered out.

She, despite her uses, played but a caricature of what an orchestra could. She could not hold a candle to the feeling of drums that reverberated through him when he performed on stage, beating out an irregular heart’s rhythm through his undead body. She could not replicate the shrill of a too-fast violin that would sing through his veins; he would find the boy’s eyes in the orchestral pit and feel his breath catch, the play slowing around him as he stretched out time for another moment to bask in his attention.

Lestat blinked back into Louisiana. He found his hands clawed, nails sinking into the soft wood. It had been made smooth by both his hands and the humidity. He breathed in deep, scenting the Mississippi river and the hurricane that followed eagerly on its heels. The house, and the bunker he was in, seemed to quake in fearful anticipation. Siri continued her lament, awaiting his accompaniment. His fingers lay poised above the keys, yet the thoughts of Nicolas—young, sweet Niki—had made way for thoughts of another.

Louis was the stage-lights that had warmed him for so many nights. With Louis near, he was reminded of what the sun’s embrace could feel like after centuries of bleak midnights. In his absence, there was a deep ache in his bones that he refused to leave him. On the worst of the lonesome nights, when candles were his only company, his teeth would chatter until he ground his molars together. His jaw would absorb the shaking as best it could before it spread to his shoulders, his hands, his entire being. Only when he tasted iron did he realise he was crying, chest heaving with sobs.

Slowly, he lowered his hands to the wood again, fingertips finding their way into familiar grooves as he tried to shake off the ghosts of past lovers. Lestat took up the threnody again, his movements slow in their practice. With each note, he attempted to compose himself, but mistakes betrayed his usual flawless playing. If he still had use of a proper piano, he would have slammed his hands across the keys, causing the instrument to groan discordantly in protest. He could do no such thing with his wooden imitation, and he gripped it with the intention to throw it aside. After a moment’s hesitation, he loosened his grip and sat back in his chair, letting memory overtake him. There was no use fighting them off any longer; they were a monster who demanded to be heeded.

Lestat remembered the date and time exactly. 11:07; September eighth, 1973. New Orleans had been shrugging off her summer heat yet continued to wrap herself in humidity like one would a favourite shawl. Armand’s voice had come to him, his sultry tones like summer smoke, telling him that Louis had harmed himself. Lestat's breath had choked from him, throat constricting dangerously. The sun and her fledgling—fire—had taken too much from him already.

“Tell him I love him, Armand,” he had begged, “Please.”

There had been no reply. He had screamed Louis’ name long after he knew Armand could no longer hear him.

Worry still gnawed away at Lestat like a worm within an apple core. All these decades later and imagined images still haunted him. He had seen Louis burned before, and had carried him up to coffin himself, but his mind was a cruel mistress. She conjured images of fat and sinew bubbling under the sun to expose the bone beneath, of skin sloughing away into ash.

He had seen this all before. He knew the pain of losing your own flesh and blood; he had felt it in the very marrow of his bones.

He did not know if he could endure it again.

As try as he might, he could not weave together all the threads of memory about the trial. It was an incomplete tapestry, the piece long abandoned. Lestat remembered the script, the stage, the smell of singed flesh. He recalled his limbs feeling leaden, his thoughts fogged. He remembered Louis’ wavering voice, his terrified jade eyes, bloodshot and beautiful. He remembered Claudia’s defiance, her words as sharp and cutting as a razor. He reminisced on her bravery, her protectiveness. He could never forget the way she had turned to him for help. Lestat remembered his own shame in being able to only watch.

He would never forgive himself for not being able to save both of them, but most of all to not rescue Claudia.

Lestat resurfaced from the clutches of memory like a man drowning, gasping for breath. He reached blindly for his piano, clutching it in his shaking hands. The wood grounded him, reminding him that he was no longer in Paris. He hunched over the keys now, hair grazing the wood as his fingers picked up the music again. He could lose himself in the notes, to remind him of anything but those he’d lost.

The door to the bunker slammed open, kicking back against the wall. Lestat refused to let it interrupt his playing, yet the smell of warm blood was tantalising. The two rats his catcher had brought him were larger than most; their heartbeats were frantic despite their quietness. Animal blood was tarter than that of a human with a tang that clung to the back of the throat, yet Lestat could not admit he was overly fond of the taste. Yet, is hunger betrayed him, fangs pricking his tongue.

It was then that another scent caught Lestat’s attention.

He continued to play, his catcher drivelling on about the hurricane, before beginning to question his own existentialism. He had heard all this before, but at least it had come from someone he had loved, let alone tolerated…

He was sure that his senses were deceiving him. Louis had always smelled exquisite, like fresh rain laced underneath cigarette smoke. It was intoxicating. It wrapped around him now, almost suffocating in its closeness. It had to be the hurricane, bringing new scents to him the closer it got to the city.

Then why could hear a third heartbeat in the room?

“Who you?” His catcher demanded; his voice had turned away from Lestat.

“Hello.” The illusion that was Louis replied.

Why did his voice sound so close?

He was in such a reverie that when Lestat answered that the name slurred on his tongue. Louis had always tasted even more deliciously than wine.

“Louis…”

Lestat lifted his head from his piano then, if only to confirm that his mind was playing tricks on him. He turned his head, and there he was, those emerald eyes finding his sapphires from across the room.

Time slowed to a halt, the world quietening around him.

“Hello, Lestat.” Louis said, voice smooth as the darkest merlot. Lestat thought he’d never hear it again, and he had to swallow the tears pricking his eyes.

“Hello, Louis.”

[melrosing]

2.07 thoughts

liked the Rhaenyra and Jace convo but feel like they could’ve managed a better build to this + drawn it out a bit more. love that Jace needs to lean into targ supremacy more than anyone bc what else does he have etc, but there’s so much they could’ve done w that in earlier eps showing where he feels insufficient and self conscious of his heritage and the lowkey resentment towards Rhaenyra for it. would also like to have seen Rhaenyra defend herself, resulting in more tangible fracture between them. she’s so diplomatic on absolutely everything and we’re near the end of S2 now! PLEASE let d’arcy do more w this role

liked the saera mention!

liked aegon rehab and larys basically tormenting him into reclaiming his role, like instead of having it thrust upon him as per S1 (which I did think was a good place to start Aegon as a character) maybe he will seize it this time bc if he doesn’t have the power of the iron throne then what does he have etc, he will never know peace, his son is gone, and so on

Alicent lake scene sure did happen. but I felt nothing like it felt lazy sorry what exactly were they trying to convey. I like being able to read my own meaning into scenes but this was like they were actively relying on the audience to do so

hilarious watching a bunch of actors in bad wigs walking into dragonstone really enjoyed that

however I think it really speaks to how little they know what to do with Rhaenyra’s interiority that you have her watching on as Vermithor burns and demolishes all the poor people she herself stuck in front of him and like. what are we supposed to understand is going through her head. she’s just fucking staring lol. and then before she can even reflect Vermithor is successfully claimed so all’s well that ends well. like my god please can someone write Rhaenyra

Daemon and the riverlords ok I liked Oscar Tully fine. but I think they’re lacking the adventure w Daemon’s interiority that they seemed to promise in the first few eps. like if you want to compare to OG bad incest man redemption anti hero Jaime Lannister and his OWN riverlands adventure….. like im sorry but this doesn’t even compare lmao

liked the dragon keepers arguing w Rhaenyra and fucking off outta there. like the framing of the dragons as gods and smallfolk claiming them as blasphemy and the way they maybe feel like Jace in that if anyone can claim these beasts maybe they’re just glorified zookeepers

excited that we get to see Dreamfyre?

v excited to see what they do w Daeron

that’s it though I was really rooting for this series but I think you can really tell they were rushing to meet deadlines and had to make a bunch of last minute edits. It’s been a 6/10 on average for me so far w a 7/10 for the high points and a 4/10 for the low. and I can’t really believe that was the penultimate episode where it’s supposed to feel everything is really coming to ahead whereas actually it feels more like the midpoint of a few fumbled arcs

[solarsleepless]

please talk more about your au I love it very much

im really glad you guys (my target audience) are enjoying this as much as you are!! im a big fan of it even if i dont have enough ideas or motivation to write it (which has been a big oof for me these last few months)

anyways, here's some more details abt the au:

inspired by @sianabird's au, birdie is a teacher and married to siana, also a teacher, and they raise nuka together. when becky goes back to school, they're both really accommodating and understanding, not questioning why becky needs a room to calm down in if she needs it. nuka made a stimming toy for siana to give to birdie and it's one of becky's favourite things.

becky in this is probably autistic, if nothing because i'm autistic and love projecting onto my favourite character <3

becky used to have stims that were more harmful to herself and many of aimee's foster kids were neurodivergent in some way (one had ocd, one had BPD, three had dyslexia, etc) so she noticed near-immediately and gave her some stimming stuff. there's a funky fluffy thing shaped like a hedgehog she can press, a necklace she can chew on, several rings which she adores which she can twist (i had them, they weren't right for me but i think becky would love them).

i may or may not project my hearing issues on her but the jury's still out there on that one LFMAIRHJFHJR

gus and wendy majorly helped becky come out of her shell (along with the animal army, who i'll get to in a bit). wendy was the only kid aimee fully adopted, and gus is wendy's best friend, so they hung around a lot inside the house. wendy knows what it's like to be in the foster system (though it didn't happen to be as cruel with her as it was with becky) and was really kind to her without being like too much. and gus hadn't spent as much time in the foster system but is so happy and full of kindness that he's just great to hang out with. they both understand when becky doesn't come out of her room a lot, but they're both accepting when she comes over to watch them play or play with them

i've updated gus's situation: he's still jepp's adopted kid, but they're only a year on from being adopted and still getting used to it!

anyways, the animal army (which is their name, despite only having like. 4 people including tiger) really helped too, as they hung out with her but without forcing her to talk, letting her just... be part of them, and it helped becky talk to them, even if she did feel like a stranger despite knowing them for little over a month already, so yeah

at the beginning of this au, becky's mental health is similar to that to mid-s3. she's not the confident leader of the animal army like in the beginning of s1/the end of s2, and doesn't have that purpose of finding and taking care of that drives her throughout all three seasons. she's lost and adrift, believing herself to unlovable, but slowly comes to find that she is loved and cared about by those around her, and shows herself to be the warm and open person we know and love <3

[tonydaddingham]

I love Aziraphale but I DO kind of feel like he was objectively more wrong than Crowley was, bc Aziraphale's plot for most of S2 comes straight out of Terry Pratchett books: he shuts down Crowley and focuses on setting up this storybook romance for them, while ignoring everyone else's distress. Like we see from the start of the season that Crowley is depressed and clearly upset, and it gets worse as it progresses, but Aziraphale doesn't even clock that something is wrong, even when Crowley is outright telling him. Of course this is going to create and nurture a situation where Crowley doesn't communicate. Aziraphale's not listening to him anyway. One of Terry's books features a witch who uses her magic to force fairy tale plots onto the people around her. It's the pinnacle of toxic positivity.

hi anon!!!✨ oooooh i have a feeling that this is going to be a long one, my apologies in advance!!! also, please forgive my ignorance on pratchett's works, im not deliberately ignoring it, but definitely not familiar with it enough to draw on any narrative similarities unfortunately!!!

so on the point of aziraphale not recognising that crowley is depressed, i do think that there are some indicators that if aziraphale paid more attention, he would pick up on it. that being said, i do think that the depth of crowley's not-okayness is largely masked from aziraphale, and is mostly shown only to other characters and obviously to the audience; the scene on the park bench with shax, for example, or any scenes between crowley in/around the bentley. one example that aziraphale could have picked up on:

c: "what i need is for him to be nowhere near me, and the precious, peaceful, fragile existence ive carved out for myself here..."

a: "i thought we carved it out for ourselves?"

c: "so did i!"

so, obviously crowley started in on the fact that gabriel threatened aziraphale in ep6, and quite rightly uses this as a reason to leave well enough alone, get rid of gabriel, and go back to their life as it was before. and crowley's language and delivery is absolutely indicative of how desperate he is to keep the status quo, that he's hanging on practically by a thread. shax and hell are keeping tabs on him, he's living in his car (which i'll come onto later), and he doesn't have much of a Purpose anymore than just existing.

aziraphale should be reading into this, 110%. but, crowley ends up underplaying his own struggle by talking about 'i' and 'me'. that doesn't mean its less true or valid, but to aziraphale's mind, he appears to be thinking only about how gabriel's presence would affect him. it immediately undermines how crowley first went in to trying to convince aziraphale to turn out gabriel, because it reads like crowley is revealing his true issue with the situation. we know that it's because, to crowley, aziraphale is ignoring him and his warning (which he absolutely is).

but crowley hasn't told aziraphale the full story of what happened; what gabriel said. aziraphale doesn't have the context to understand the full scope of crowley's fear and anger. i don't think knowing it would have necessarily changed the ultimate outcome/decision - i do think aziraphale is still kind and forgiving ("it's one of my favourite things!") to a fault - but it might have stopped aziraphale completely closing off and shutting down the continuance of what could have been a communicative and honest discussion. that, despite all of it, crowley is stepping away from aziraphale and planting himself on His (crowley's) Side, not Their Side.

aziraphale attempts to pull the conversation back; he tells crowley he would love for him to help, and that aziraphale is actively asking for help (which, verbally and with full intent, i don't recall aziraphale having done anywhere before this point in canon; he's intimated it, made very strong suggestions that he wants crowley to help/do something for him). this is a big show of vulnerability on aziraphale's part ("i need you!"), to literally put those words into the space between them... and crowley is silent. crowley is absolutely justified in not helping gabriel, but i think aziraphale's reaction is just as understandable.

but then moving on through to ep2, i think the next bit where aziraphale probably should have seen that crowley is Not Okay is the bentley/bookshop discussion, and crowley's reluctance to share it. from crowley's point of view, this car is literally the only tie he has left (will still get to the Sleeping In His Car debacle later) to anything permanent. this car that is literally an extension of him, comforts and shelters him, his complete Ride or Die - even to the end of the world. it is completely understandable that crowley would be jealous of it, want to keep a portion of his world for himself.

from aziraphale's point of view, as suggestive as it can be interpreted, he's opened his doors literally to crowley since at least 1941 - even earlier, if we count the 1800 scene that was cut (where, if gabriel and sandalphon hadn't turned up, i have no doubts that crowley would have been welcomed in straight away). it's definitely believable that crowley, between at least 1800 - 1827, might have been welcome in the shop... possibly even between 1827 - 1862 depending whether or not crowley spent "quite some time" in the pits of hell after edinburgh.

and this is likely to have been an exponential occurrence between 2008 - 2023, possibly even between 1967 - 2008 (depending on whether they had or had not been in continued contact follow the holy water incident). either way, again from aziraphale's perspective, the tie he has to earth and his life on it has been steadily then repeatedly shared with crowley. that's where he feels safe, and is himself, and is an extension of him. it's where they both feel like that in 2023. aziraphale has, presumably, shared that without quibble, has even been - judging by the s2 scene - something he has actively encouraged. it's definitely presumptuous, and possibly even entitled, but i think aziraphale has seen this as crowley being willing to share his life with aziraphale; why wouldn't he share the bentley? he's driven aziraphale everywhere he's wanted to go in it - doesn't crowley trust him enough to let aziraphale drive himself, for once?

ep3 sees a continuation of the above; that aziraphale changes the car, and does so without permission. whilst cute and adorable, and with the best of intentions, there is a major degree of this that is absolutely a violation on crowley, even if he logically would know that it's reversible. potentially, this is even foreshadowing of how he feels in the Final Fifteen with the angel restoration offer (im sure someone else has drawn this parallel somewhere...?).

but i do think it is absolutely a declaration from aziraphale of how wonderful he sees crowley just as he is now (his mf eyes), and how actually he doesn't want to change crowley to something better, but instead to paint the whole world in crowley's image. and its all the more powerful because a) crowley isn't there to see it, and b) he doesn't know that crowley can so viscerally detect changes made to the car.

the fact that crowley doesn't make this connection is surely a reflection of how he sees himself (see: he doesn't), and aziraphale should pick up on that... but if to aziraphale's mind crowley already knows how aziraphale feels about him through other gestures, in aziraphale's mind maybe crowley's just being coy or a bit possessive of his beloved bentley - that's fair, it's practically married behaviour! aziraphale wouldn't necessarily think to infer crowley's objections as anything different.

then we move on to ep4 (and finally talking about crowley living like a nomad), with the last scene of aziraphale helping him take out the plants to the bentley. you know - im still not 100% sure what to make of the whole situation of aziraphale not knowing that crowley is living out of his car. my main two schools of thought are that:

crowley has been spending enough time in the shop that him going out at random intervals is just normal to aziraphale - he's off doing Demon Things! he's just out on a jolly, having some time to himself! but it's okay, he always comes back! that would be possible, but we don't have any narrative to actively support this, and is practically a hc at this point. but there must be something that keeps aziraphale from digging any deeper - he is by all accounts a smart guy, and clocking that crowley has his plants in his car must get him thinking even if only for a moment... (unless he literally just chalks it up to Crowley Being Crowley, which is also feasible lbr)

the alternative thought (and not saying this is right - as i said, i literally do not have a scooby as to why aziraphale doesn't seem, on some level, to realise it) is that aziraphale does realise it, but doesn't want to face the implications of why crowley might have kept it from him, and so he buries it. i parsed this thought out more in a LWA response, full post here, but snippet screenshotted below:

i'll probably leave that bit there, but absolutely; aziraphale should be realising that something is wrong... but equally - as the king of cognitive dissonance, frankly - i don't think he wants to look deeper into something that, to him, would suggest any reason for there to be distrust between them, or a lack of openness. of course, we can see as the audience that this is a very small drop in the ocean where that's concerned, but to aziraphale - there's surely no possibility that crowley would keep something from him, not something this important.

when it comes to the Loving Gaze in ep6 (i'll come back to ep5 in a sec) that he gives when crowley admits that he's been living in his car, again - not entirely sure what to make of it. obviously it is just pure 'i utterly love/adore him', 'yes, it's you i want to be with, yes', but also maybe a measure of 'oh, you silly demon, why didn't you tell me? not that it's a problem now though, because in time we'll be together properly and you'll never have to be without a home again because your home can be with me'. he does gloss over the fact that crowley didn't tell him, and was obviously not in an okay place - but possibly in a, 'we'll talk about it later sometime, but for now - im just happy about what future we could start having from here on out. everything else is immaterial'. it's dismissive, but i also think potentially an indication that aziraphale does see, but they'll have the rest of their existence now to talk about it and heal.

anyway, back to ep5. the ball. oh lord - i honestly don't know if i have the mental acuity to even go into depth on the ball, rn. it's a Problem, and 100% on aziraphale's part. he's overcome with love, god bless him, isn't he? just so hellbent on showing crowley - it's not even about the girls, anymore, not if aziraphale really admitted it to himself - that he loves him. i think the magic spell that aziraphale creates bewitches even him, slightly - maybe not so literally, but this is a moment that has at least been decades in the making. and crowley is running around telling him there's an issue? well, they're safe in the shop (which, in a way, is absolutely true)! don't spoil this, please just hear me, hear what im trying to tell you unequivocally!

i think in aziraphale's mind, crowley tends to have a habit of overreacting (gabriel as a case in point), which is not true - but understandable when you potentially consider that aziraphale never really has all the facts. he's definitely overprotective, a point that is shown in s1 (imo, aziraphale never actively encourages the damsel-in-distress thing, but crowley just happens to show up at the slightest hint of trouble, and instead aziraphale takes this to mean that saving him, when he doesn't need saving, truly does make crowley happy). this is something crowley through his actions has encouraged - i think to assume that crowley is overreacting in this context is understandable, but yet; no, aziraphale should be listening to him. he should. and it once again feeds into the thought process that aziraphale cannot save himself - on and on it goes.

i don't think there is much to discuss in ep6 (im not going to get into the Final Fifteen - it's been analysed so much better by other people and by me too), this answer is already long enough, and i think for the most part it's fairly obvious. i do however have a dedicated FF tag in my masterpost if you do wish to peruse the various ponderings on the subject.

the only thing i guess that's really left for me to parse out is s1; aziraphale does lie to crowley. a lot. most egregious is lying about finding the antichrist but, i will say, in his defence - crowley has repeatedly asserted that they should straight-up murder a child. aziraphale drew his boundary, and crowley kept pushing, even going so far as to try tempting (and then practically demanding) that aziraphale be the one to do it. i don't think it's unjustified in that respect that aziraphale would keep that knowledge, therefore, from him - and instead turn to heaven. obviously that doesn't work out, in that respect crowley is proven right, and aziraphale immediately takes action to remedy it (calls crowley after the 9-1-metatron call).

but, it's an interesting mirror to what goes on in s2 in the theme of mutual trust and openness between them. crowley doesn't trust aziraphale not to dismiss him and run back to heaven when the going gets tough, nor does he trust him to have any sense of self-preservation (despite, yk, being a literal miracle worker and being the one to actual save their bacon in the 40s s2 minisode). but aziraphale similarly doesn't trust crowley not to try making him do something he has expressly said he will not do, and would betray a core tenet of who he is - temptation, which they both know works on aziraphale, and crowley could arguably exploit as he sees fit if aziraphale were to let him be completely vulnerable to crowley. in this respect, the foundations of their relationship, such as it is, is quite demonstrably built on sand of the quick variety.

so in essence, anon (honestly - gold star for you if you've made it to here), i don't disagree with you at all. but i think it's slightly reductive to not see that they are just as bad as each other. each have their trauma and unreconciled issues that directly inform on the action or inaction they take, and both are completely justified in that. i think it's more than possible to be empathetic to both of their perspectives, because ultimately, imo, their relationship as it was where we left it at the end of s2 was practically doomed right from where we first - in 2008 - properly join their story. im all for a huge, screaming row, and the promise of quieter, more delicate conversations thereafter, in s3; boy, do they need it!✨

[yourwolfmuzzle]

This episode was...not okay.

I have so many problems with a lot of thing in this episode, but i kinda dont want just rant there too much (i get back into tumblr to post my stuff and not for this?? :”D).

I rewatch this episode multiple times and i still thinking that this episode is “shock content for shock content (and fanservice because OH BOI WE NEED ONE TO MAKE VOLUME 10 HAPPENS) because people love edgy drama” and again im love edgy dark bloody stuff but this was mine “hello wtf and why”. I love my dark stories and i love when characters falls for one reason and another. This is no about “never do this” its about “you can do better and not just shock stuff”.

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Listen. Its hard to trigger me with blood or with killing someone. But for a love of god, WHY not put AT LEAST “contains suicidal themes”? You didnt spoiler anything (especially since episode already did You already did stuff like this in volume 8 with Penny! EVEN if you dont think that because “oh she still alive and tree will bring her back” - Rudy is still pretty suicidal with this whole “i dont want to be me anymore” and she did “drink forever tea”.

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No matter if the tree will make “a new person” (just hardcore reset, dead, that on paper sound unique ngl - but again, you can do this without suicide), reset her depression into “oh wow i want to fight again! C:” (no development into Ruby emotions which is very sad because it was one of the most interesting parts of this season for me) or bring her back to home (...gen:lock s2, when everybody basicly “dissolved themself” to safe the world, but there is “do this to yourself so you can fix one of the problems!”) or even evil!Rudy (which is..sound like a cool idea for me personally, but you can do this without commit “tea party” u know?) or EVEN Summer Rose transformation (...YEAH UH THANK NO?) - this whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth.

Was wishing to see how Rudy can “fall so low and painfully and then get up slowly to keep fighting” or “run away from problems and everyone, reaching the lowest point, but stand up again”. By “falling so low” i didnt mean “metaphorical suicide for good thing” for fuck sake!

-----

Also pls can people stop use excuse “they are shocked!”, there was 20+ seconds after they got in Neo house and all they did was stand a little closer to her and watch her drink tea with NEO NEAR THEM. This is not the first time when “they was in shock” was using for argument. I dont even ask them to success to help Rudy, but they didnt even try to do something, and that make this whole episode even worst. (i have a small theory that in first drafts they were not in this scene or WAS but after Rudy “fall”. But because they want to make this dramatic, like OHH SHE DID THIS INFRON OF HER TEAM OHHHHH they decide to put them in the final script and didnt have time to polish this idea? Or they will use “bu-but this is animation error!” again?)

And i will not talk about Yang stuff, all this “she dont know/have hard time to real emotions” please did people sleep volume 4 with volume 3 ending? You tell me that after she was in depression she didnt “tried to compare” why Rudy didnt talk to her?

-----

Do u just love, when you think antagonist, who in series for pretty long time (even if we will not count volumes, whe she was “dead”) who was just assistant for other bad guys, finally will be main villain...only to find out that ACTUALLY she is not main evil girl - but this brand new character who is TWISTED VILLAIN? I know, there is still a chance that evil!Rudy can happens and she will be kinda main “bad guy” for final episodes but...yeah. I didnt think they will have “gray morally character” because they have REALLY hard time to write one like this

-----

I guess the only thing i did like-like is “the fanservice” with characters, who i love to see again but its impossible because...they dead or in real world (or they can be there, but not because Neo semblance, but this is absolutely different script...), or characters who dont even have maya models. Like...i will not lie, okay? I lost my SHIT when i saw spoilers because OHOHOH ROMAN OHOHOH PYRRHA OHOHOH CLOVER AND IRONWOOD AND A LITTLE BIT OZPIN (i know we already saw his maya model, but he was active only in openings). Like good for uuuu using characters who is not longer there to make fanservice (even know...there is no reasons for Lionheart and Clover to be there outside of...symbolism maybe? Also NOOO dont transform Clover into Qrow, whyyyyy pain again). Wish that what Ironwood said was something, that main cast finally (or writers) analyse more, because rn i feel like its will be “Oh its was Neo manipulate Rudy AND Ironwood was a baaad guy, so who cares?”. Like the fact that Rudy shout at Little and then was aggressive with Neo-Roman. Absolutely love the beginning of the scene where Rudy “Im sorry, i dont want to be me anymore” and Curious Cat starts to calm her down. For a seconds i was hoping there will be calming scene after such a breakdown. Something soft. But oh well, only in my dreams.

[blueiight]

My issue with Louis lack of role in Lestat's murder is litearlly the show made Lestat more explicitly abusive SO Louis could be the one to slice his throat. The escalation of violence was in part as the creatives have said to justify latter, both of which didn't exist in the book. If you take away Louis's agency in the murder, I think the domestic violence feels much more like a cheap shock value stunt.

to suggest book lestat is less crueler than his show counterpart just cuz his cruelty in earlier arcs was subtler than str8 up assault is a bit.. lestat cannot thrive w/o being the center of attention & will force u to look at him #byanymeans. show wise ep1 dude literally said i got my daddy temper off the jump #hewasboundtobcrazy lovebombs louis welcome to the monster’s web🧛🏾‍♀️. white master black student equals in the dark like danny said. the show begs u to look at the violence in these power dynamics off rip. show louis in the modern interview literally admits to having uneasy/complex feelings [yk. the whole my lover maker murderer bit] on lestat. im not negating the fact that louis literally slit his throat nor am i taking away his ~agency~. what im saying is claudia knew that louis had love for their abusive maker & used that for her/their own ends.. & its also trapping lestat cuz he could delude himself into thinking him& louis back in love again n ~claudia’s getting in the way~. which is why louis issuing the killer blow is a statement in of itself to his own feelings about the abuse he faced, as well as how someone pointed out, claudia & louis ripped the same body parts off the guests in ep7 that was shattered when louis was physically assaulted in ep5. what im saying is 1) to a certain extent the murder plot is also about claudia asserting her idea of revenge at what she feell like lestat (& louis) took away from her. its infant death v. gentleman death, both warring for different things they want out of louis. lover or brother, companion all the same, the third party has to be eliminated. the nuclear family died. u got multiple shots where claudia & lestat r glaring at eachother anytime louis smiles at or pays one of them (& not the other) any mind. & 2) louis in the modern day tries to sell daniel an easy story of triumph over a past love gone sour, where louis seeks liberation w claudia [the image of them holding hands as antoinette burn] from lestat when thats not how the story finished at all.. like obviously claudia isnt even around in the modern day & the vampire armand is for one. louis cant even stomach himself to say the rest of the story, digging his feet into artificial sand and daniel’s badgering his ass og damn near boutta push louis into another break& this triggers armand into dropping his rashid ruse n finishing the story louis couldnt bring himself to tell [s2]. & we, the audience, get a view into another angle of louis memory, where we see louis cry over lestat’s body and go into quite frankly hysterics at claudia suggesting alone burn lestat as they did antoinette, choking claudia out. [baby these characters is throwed the fuck off]

[inutaffy]

🧍🧍🧍

im not sorry. im pulling up a chair and you will be stuck here for a millennia

SO. NUMBER 1. “do you know why you’re leader of this team?” “well uh yeah. bc i asked to be? u said it wasnt bc of my skills.” THIS RIGHT THE FUCK HERE. OKAY. BITCH.

LEO ALREADY HAD SO MANY DOUBTS ABT BEING LEADER MAN ITS AWFUL. LIKE. FUCK. and this isnt to say that leo is like confident in his abilities bc HE IS. HE REALLY IS HE KNOWS HE’S GOOD WHEN HE NEEDS TO BE but like that doesn’t immediately get rid of the feelings of inadequacy, ESPECIALLY after he got beat down by shredder in s2 and the earth got destroyed in s3

to him, he’s just leader bc he asked to be, nothing special abt it. its not bc he’s the smartest or the strongest or fastest. he just asked and splinter said lmao sure why not (LISTEN I KNOW THAT THAT WASNT REALLY SPLINTERS REASONING. leo was always gonna end up as leader bc he IS GOOD AT IT. he knows how to lead n he’s inspiring or whatever but he doesnt say this to leo until later) so to him there’s NOTHING STOPPING HIM FROM BEING REPLACED IF BE SCREWS UP ONE TO MANY TIMES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? IT LITERALLY MAKES EVERYTHING MAKE SENSE. like the shift in how he views leadership after s1. how he CONSTANTLY sacrifices himself for the cause bc WHAT ELSE IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN THINGS SPIRAL OUT OF HIS CONTROL?? just. dude. i fucking hate this. he sacrifices himself at any minor inconvenience (not really but 😐) and i hate that it makes since. he is only leader bc he asked, there isnt some special skill keeping him in this position (THERE IS. the others would be soo screwed if he wasnt leader. they’d make it obviously but DAMN) so he’s easily replaceable, and if something goes wrong to the point where he needs to REALLY get his shit together and DO SOMETHING TO FIX IT, HE SACRIFICES HIMSELF. BC WHAT ELSE IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO. he does it when they had to destroy the technodrome, he does it when he goes to fight shredder alone, he does it when they needed to get that black hole generator piece from that one lady, and he does it when trying to destroy the triceraton mothership. its the worst thing in the whole fucking world

number 2. “i knew that one day you would grow up to be the leader of this team, and when I pass on to be like a father as well.” OUGH. this hurts me so much. this is damn near the center of a good chunk of raph and leo’s fighting. not ALL of it obviously bc they’ve got their own stuff to work out but this definitely plays a part bc above all he wants leo to be HIS BROTHER. not his dad. NEVER HIS DAD. leo IS NOT their fucking dad and when he tries to act all high and mighty it IRRITATES HIM. WHICH IS SO VALID BC WHY ARE YOU THE WAY THAT YOU ARE. STOP. SERIOUSLY. WHO ARE YOU. yk? like fuck. he doesnt want leo to parent them dammit. imagine your dad dies or something and then your older brother is trying to fill that gap instead of taking time to GREIVE

AND TBH. I DONT THINK SPLINTER MEANT IT LIKE THAT EITHER. splinter probably meant this in a “when i die i trust you to take care of this family and be there for each other and support each other” way. not in a SINGLE MOM WHO WORKS TWO JOBS WHO LOVES HER KIDS WND NEVER STOPS WITH GETNLE HANDS AND THE HEART OF A FIGHTER IM A SURVIVOR kinda way

this gets lost in translation tho bc leo totally takes this and runs in the opposite ducking direction for a while which just

NUMBER 3. AND THEN WHEN SPLINTER OFFERS HIM SOME ADVICE/WISDOM LEO JUST. HE CLOSES HIS EYES AND SHAKES HIS HEAD AND TELLS HIM THAT EVERYTHING IS FINE. YOU ARE FINE. BC HE NEEDS THIS TO BE TRUE LIKE. ISNT THAT JUST AWFUL? you watch your dad get killed in front of you, then you go back in time and save him, only for him TO STILL DIE. that is AWFUL MAN.

“i dont get it, you’re fine father. is there something your not telling me?”

I HATE EVERYTHING. leo is dodging EVERY hint that his dad could die soon, he refuses to even entertain the idea. like at all. and its so fuckinf sad bc he is clinging to this hope that no matter what everything will work out fine just like it did before, they’re going to come out on the other side bruised but whole, and it HURTS bc that is not what happens at all. splinter is still killed right in front of them and they carry his body away and bury him and that’s it. that’s fucking it and it’s TERRIBLE.

and its not just awful bc of that its awful bc splinter is trying so hard to prepare them for this, he knows he died once, and has come close numerous times, so its gotta stick eventually right? so the least he can do is make sure his family isnt without closure yk? he can make it so that he torn from them without any warning or goodbye, without something to remember him by, so he goes and he has a moment with each of them in this season before he gets killed and it hurts me so much bc he’s trying to gently prepare them and its just. ough. OUGH. can we just take these mfckers out of situations ffs

NUMBER 4. THIS SHIT.

HIS FUCKING FACE???? AS THEH WALK AWAY???????? KILL ME NOW PLEASE???????? he literally just wants his family to be ok and theh ARENT and it hurts me so. his brothers and dad look so fucking happy too but just. OUGH. the HORRORS man the horrors are coming

anyways. timestamp 3:25am. this is just my rambling from the first few minutes and these are all the scenes from the clip i tagged u in. we haven’t even gotten to splinters death or what leads up to it yet, things are deceptively calm rn and im so scared

GO TO BED

[brainrotgoblin]

ok SO. this is a long one, I apologize in advance.

Without knowing your personal tastes in shows/media, I'm going to give my favorites.

My personal favorite anime is Bungo Stray Dogs. A detective anime where real world authors are imagined as characters with special abilities based off of the books they wrote. It's sort of a crack show that turns into a really well fleshed out story with more serious themes. Heavy cw for suicide/mental health tho with that one. For fanservice/ick levels in BSD, there's a joke incest couple (a common happenstance in anime unfortunately but its a common comedy trope in japanese media), but it's not prominent at all minus a few jokes in the first few episodes.

The Promised Neverland is a psychological horror anime, and I wont say too much about it because *spoilers* :) Its seriously amazing. For fanservice, absolutely none. However. There is a character midway through season 1 named Sister Krone, her character is fleshed out writing-wise, but her design is a racist caricature of sorts. Otherwise I recommend the show so highly, its a show i wish i could see for the first time again. (also season 1 is where it ends. i prommy. Dont watch past that if you watch TPN for the sake of your own mental health).

Moving on to Sk8 the Infinity. Another personal favorite of mine, a goofy skateboarding show with the most endearing characters ever and gutwrenching (imo) interpersonal issues between the characters. Its also heavily queer coded which is cool, and is getting a second season sometime in the near future :). Another one i wish i could see for the first time again. It's only main issue imo is it's villain being pretty heavily coded as a groomer, but the show doesnt justify it really. Come for the goofy skateboarders stay for the queer couples that are basically canon ("Reki my love... of skateboarding-" a real quote from the show btw these boys are STUPID) and the kind of insane plot. Fanservice: not much, sorta just a lack of diversity with this one. Hoping it improves in s2

Death Note. what is there to say about death note that hasnt already been said. A classic anime with extremely impressive writing depicting god complexes, and the consequences of what it means to inflict personal justice. It's another detective show but the core of it is a commentary on black and white thinking. I think about this show so often osduifjowisejf. Fanservice/ick: none as far as i remember. I need to rewatch the show but any sort of sexual comments (of which there aren't many) are used in a way to further develop existing characters and how they interact with others. No weirdos in this one just psychological horror and a pinch of existential dread <3.

BNA (Brand New Animal). A lesser known anime about furry city and societal commentary. It does do the whole animals as a metaphor for racism bit but its not the main focus of the show and has more of a focus on class struggle (..and religious imagery. for some reason) and interpersonal conflicts! A bonus to this anime is also that it's absolutely STUNNING, I love Studio Triggers art and the COLORS ough. Scrumptious. There's no icks or fanservice in this show from what I remember, the mc is a woman (and is sort of a metaphor for a mixed race kid) and we love her for that. Extremely strong characters all around. Good show :) (sidenote! BNA did get discontinued due to lack of popularity so theres a few loose plot threads that will unfortunately never get tied up. Just a fair warning).

My last anime rec. I think. Im listing off the less offensive ones, so theres not as many in my immediate list. Saiki K! A comedy anime that focuses primarily on subverting anime tropes. The main character Saiki has basically every power under the sun, and would be a typical mary sue esc character but his main goal in life is to be the most unnoticed person ever. I dont think any summary i write could do it justice so I'm just gonna promise that this show is genuinely so good and I highly recommend it. Fair warning that most of the characters aren't the most developed as they're meant to be direct characterizations of tropes and not much more than that. For fanservice and icky stuff theres none that I can remember. I haven't seen season 2 though, as theres no english dub.

(also i agree with the dunmeshi recs i just saw it recommended like 3 times so i dont need to repeat it)

There's my unnecessarily lengthy opinions :) I wish you happy anime watching, its a really fun category of media!

wanna try watching some kind of anime at some point because they look cool but a. i know there's a misogyny and racism problem and im not sure which ones are bad about it and b. i have no idea where to even start with that

[iiruwu]

give us some harringrove recs bestie!

i gotchu bae!! but be warned, many of these are pretty much just the ones i've read at the top of the list, filtered by most kudos b/c thats just how i find all my fics. so, there's a chance you might've gone through them already. regardless these are some of my faves and have stuck with me for years after reading them. (this was also requested by @roseinthewoods so here you go!)

let us begin:

Under the Covers by ToAStranger -> my all-time fave harringrove fic. this absolutely deserves its popularity and has one of the best characterizations i've ever seen of the entire cast post-s2. not only are billy and steve super fleshed out, but i just adored how steve interacted with jonathon and nancy (who were equally great as far as characterization goes) along with many other characters. but steve rlly shines in this one! this author truly brings the world to life with their writing and makes you feel like you're really watching everyone's lives unfold in an organic, but also bittersweet story :)

dried up, half full by lymricks -> SUCH a good billy characterization. i mean, truly. also one of the best interpretations i've seen of what could have been billy's journey towards becoming a better person. lots of angst and inner turmoil. made me feel like i was truly in billy's shoes and rlly conveyed this sense of just not being able catch a break in any aspect of life throughout the story. im also gonna throw a quote in here that i have had saved for a while just 'cause it was so heartbreakingly good:

we could be heroes (just for one day) by brawls, ToAStranger -> another fic with really good characterization overall. unfortunately this one is unfinished but as im skimming this im remembering that the dynamic between steve and billy for this was just AGHHHH i was frothing at the mouth the whole time. so funny and sweet and very slowww to build up. it was a very realistic take on billy in specific post-s3, but, more than that, i loved the inclusion of almost the entire ensemble throughout this fic. the kids were such rays of light, it rlly made this fic that much better :)

master of puppets, i'm pulling your strings by wearealltalesintheend -> ONE OF MY FAVES!! this fic hooked me on the idea of billy & robin being friends and i was totally obsessed for a little while afterwards. the author wrote the two of them so damn well together in the s3 plotline and i just love how they were snarky as hell but also progressively more friendly and deeply trusting of each other as billy continued to open up. its also refreshing to see harringrove from an outsider perspective, with robin being there to help them connect the dots. (also characterization was an a+ as usual!)

Don't Leave Me (Hanging on the Telephone) by Glitter_Bug -> this is a fic that is a lottt more recent in comparison to the others. i've been reading this since it was about halfway done and i must say - the banter is PHENOMENAL between steve and billy. the dialogue alone hooked me in with how accurate to the 1980s it was with references and had me reading non-stop. the concept of billy being stuck in the upside-down and only able to contact the real world through the phone at steve's house is sooo damn good. it rlly offered a lot of opportunity for fun scenes with them through phone calls. this is also a fic that is actively being updated and is nearing the end soon!

Renegade (Who Had It Made) by moonflowers -> this was a very tender fic about billy's supposed death and included multiple POVs. i found max's POV abt her grief and coming to terms with his death to be such a nice inclusion that added a great touch to the story and also the many journal entries that she found as well!!! this fic felt very human and personal, like it was something not meant for ppl to see - which, considering the concept of max finding billy's journal with notes about steve in it and giving it to steve, makes sense. it was a nice harringrove slowburn overall!

andddd there we go! these are the most memorable ones i've read but there are so so many more harringrove fics out there that are just as good. i found some interesting ones just while skimming the tag alone. hopefully you liked this anon!!! these are very near and dear to my heart :')

[joysmercer]

college peddie hcs? (also bc of you im starting to become obsessed with the idea of nina/amber meeting up again in America and falling in love <3)

haha love that <3

as far as headcanons, thank you so much for asking!!! i have a shit ton and this got super ridiculously long so under the cut :D

basic background stuff (details are in the end section):

they go to uni in the US. they don't go to the same school but they're fairly close to each other (≤1hr travel)

ok up until literally yesterday i figured they were on the east coast to be near eddie's mom but then i was like. what if they're in california instead. so idk lmfao but they both do go back to eddie's house for thanksgiving/winter/spring breaks and patricia also spends the breaks she has between summer classes over there as well. nina and amber are both in/near NJ/NY so they hang out during said breaks

piper gets a scholarship to berkelee so she's in the US too

kt's uni is also near-ish to theirs so they see her on long weekends and stuff occasionally, whereas Mick's on a sports team at UCLA (soccer?) and travels across the country with it so when he visits patricia she introduces him to eddie and they immediately hit it off

patricia's a psych major and eddie starts off in psych but switches to education at the end of his first year, but decides his third year to become a firefighter or paramedic

ok on to the fun stuff:

halfway through the summer after grad/before college, they get into a huge fight because they bump into a girl patricia thinks eddie's a little too friendly with while eddie thinks she's overreacting and he says something like "im tired of trying to convince you to trust me"

they almost break up for good but after 3 days of silent-treatment they instead actually have a conversation! and set some actual boundaries and expectations! i wont bore you with the details because they dont fight about this particular issue ever again so it doesn't matter

they have date nights every friday, sometimes in each other's college towns or somewhere halfway between them. obviously if one of them has an exam or something, they reschedule, but this is something they do their absolute best to maintain

patricia lives in a suite like the one in tslocg and her three room/suitemates are stereotypical mean sorority girls who judge her for no reason so she doesn't spend a lot of time there if she doesn't have to.

she made the mistake of mentioning she had a boyfriend to them during their first week (when they were still acting nice) and she has to deal with a lot of snarky comments behind her back about who would possibly want to date her…cue them hitting on eddie when they first meet not realizing who he is lfksjl

eddie's in a tiny triple with a super studious premed roommate and some guy who's on the school football team and almost never there, but all three of them do get on fairly well and occasionally have video game competitions that get so boisterous their RA has to come and tell them to shut up

(eddie absolutely spends the emergency $ his mom gave him for food in case he runs out of swipes on a tv that barely fits in the room)

eddie has a tiny wallet-sized pic of him and patricia at junior prom (which presumably took place after s2) on his desk and his roommates tease him endlessly about it (in a good-natured way)

no but seriously though

maybe depressing but i think patricia ends up with a very low self-esteem after graduation because of how little "help" she perceived herself as being to sibuna during the events of 3b/tor and so she kinda decides to become a "better" student in uni and be "good" at that (quotes because it's not true but that's how she feels about herself, if that makes sense). eddie's a little shocked by this sudden change considering she was never as intense as mara or fabian in high school, and makes sure she's taking breaks and not putting too much pressure on herself

due to her not-nice room situation, patricia's also quite lonely her first year. going from having all your friends literally next door to you to everyone you live with hating you and being stuck in new country is…a lot.

eddie's super worried but she closes herself off until she bursts into tears at some point over thanksgiving break when ms. miller asks something like "how are classes going" and it's just :(

but things get better second semester and its fine

eddie has this (financially not-smart but very cute) habit of randomly showing up at patricia's school to hang out/study/grab dinner in the middle of the week

valentine's day their first year is a friday, when they have a scheduled date anyway, but patricia decides to return the favor and surprise him a little earlier.

his (very single) roommates let her in while he's in class and she decorates it (aka buys a boquet of flowers and puts string lights up) and makes a lil pyramid of burgers and fries from in & out/shake shack bc she knows he hasn’t had breakfast

he comes back from his 10am math class and almost cries

they eat n walk to his next class together

neither of them are particularly into stereotypical valentine's day couples activities so instead he takes her to costco so they can eat their hearts out on samples

they then share a pizza on the beach or a park bench or something

it's such a fun day that they end up doing something similar all four years

she takes classes every summer (to avoid going home). eddie just chills at home the first summer but does random internships the other two because he was so bored. these are the only times they're truly "long distance" while undergraduates, but they still manage to see each other in-person

they both move out of the dorms after a year. eddie gets a 3 bed apartment with his roommates and 2 other guys (so none of them are in a triple anymore lol); patricia shares a 1-bed with a friend from her club soccer team.

facetime study dates become far more common as she joins a lab that takes up a ton of time and he starts his teaching practicum

honestly, they just spend a lot of time on facetime, keeping each other company as they walk to-and-from class or do homework or cook dinner (patricia's spotted a fire in eddie's kitchen before he has more than once)

they both go back to the uk the december of their third-year at sweet's/the williamson's insistances. amber organizes a reunion at a mansion her family owns and all the newly-minted and/or "almost" 21-year-olds (remember, most of them have spent the better part of the last two years in the US and, with the exception of Mick, aren't keen on breaking yet another law more than occasionally) get super drunk for the first time in a while. at some point eddie goes up to fabian and says something like "you were wrong, she is the one, she always has been" and patricia hears and it's cute idk idc

eddie accidentally gets 4 tickets to see waitress on broadway in september of their third year (like 2 weeks after opening) except it's a weekday matinee so he recruits piper (aka bribes her with a date with his rommate) to convince patricia to skip class to see it

(she didn't need convincing; she just wanted to see piper on a date with a football player alksfj)

anyway eddie’s obsessed and patricia’s like eh about it but sees his excitement and buys their cookbook and surprises him with a homemade pie every week for the next six months

anyway piper's never seen patricia's college campus so the three of them go tour around and piper texts joy right after like "how did they get even more annoying together since high school"

like they've never been mushy or into pda but at this point. they just make sense together. piper's a bit shocked tbh

ok that's all iv got for now but yeah!!

ok some details on the background things I wrote above. this might be boring to most of you which is why it's here but i adore this kind of thing so i'm writing it:

while they both apply to both UK and US unis, they both would prefer to go to the US so that's what they do. they don't go to the same one because a) admissions for patricia are already difficult being an intl student without the limitation of both of them getting into the same one, and b) frankly they both need/prefer different school environments so it wouldn't make much sense for them both to choose the same place.

i do think both of them have very good grades from their first two years of hs and sweet helps a little with their last two (as he should tbh) so I would put their unweighted GPAs around 3.7+? they both do fairly well on their SATs/ACTs too so while they certainly aren't shoe-ins to, like, ivy leagues or UC Berkeley or something, they do have some very good options when acceptances come in

(this would be a good time to mention that I'm assuming Frobisher Academy or Amun or whatever it's called is basically an American school following the IB curriculum plopped in liverpool because we never see these guys taking their GCSEs/A levels and they all appear to be in the same classes all throughout the show which wouldn't make sense if they were supposed to be in A-level classes in seasons 2 and 3. also that would just make nina/eddie/kt's school situation a hot mess. plus I'm American and while my school did AP, I'm more comfortable writing with the US school system lol)

that one line about patricia not wanting to become a guidance counselor has made me fall in love with psych major!patricia. i have no idea what career she ends up in tbh but psych is broad enough it doesnt rlly matter

she also takes a ton of summer classes so she doesn't have to go home and ends up being able to graduate in 3 years but stays an extra year to do a minor in business or food studies or something "because why not"

(at least at my college you have to have your minor declared by halfway through third-year and she misses the deadline by 2 days and begs and maybe threatens the counselor until she's admitted afklsj)

she ends up graduating summa cum laude and goes on to do grad school during which she moves across the country from where eddie is

eddie on the other hand maintains a solid 3.6 and is perfectly fine with that

@/yackers came up with the idea of Firefighter Eddie which I absolutely love and am adopting into my own hc but i think he decides to do that only after his pre-med roommate becomes an EMT in third-year. so until then he just kinda follows patricia into a psych major because he has no idea what he wants to do but switches to education his first year after he actually genuinely enjoys his intro bio class due to a truly phenomenal teacher and thinks it might be fun to do that (his mom's the one who tells his dad though). basically he changes his mind a ton of times during uni but really enjoys whatever it is he's doing at the moment lol

[megaruquin]

my top 5 lion guard characters bc idk im rooting for this show again

also uh s2-s3 spoilers of tlg

5. dhahabu

honestly she’s probably one of the only few visually appealing characters and plus she’s voiced by renee elise goldsberry and i watched hamilton so 🤷‍♀️ and i stg i rewatched her song like 50 million times as a kid

4. makuu

omfg before my 10 year old self used to fucking hate makuu so damn much but ever since he had a redemption arc i just loved him. he’s actually a pretty good leader and just needed people to give him a chance instead of assuming the worst will come from him just because of who he was in the past

3. ono

before i didn’t rlly like him bc he was so nerdy and i didn’t rlly like that about him but ever since the time skip i just liked him more idk why and especially after that ep when ono babysits a bird i loved ono so much it was just so wholesome to see ono doing something else instead of just spitting facts at the lion guard and looking around in the sky

2. janja

jesus fucking christ i am so glad he got a redemption arc bc it was great. janja was such a cool villain although i have to admit his schemes (pre scar’s revival) are so dumb and it’s no surprise how his ass gets kicked by the lion guard every single time but oh well it’s a kids show so what can i say

1. jasiri

i have to fucking thank jasiri for being a good influence on janja bc it actually worked. like before i just thought to myself that there’s no way janja would ever turn to jasiri and hell maybe even fall in love with her bc all jasiri kept saying to janja was ‘si si ni sawa, we are the same’ and at first janja brushed it off as some cringey and untrue saying but at some point janja actually for once took it into consideration and when jasiri says that janja doesn’t have to side with scar janja full on hesitates for a long time but still refuses but u could tell by the sound of his voice he was very unsure. after the skinks report to scar about janja’s hesitation scar decides to throw the hyenas under the bus by misinforming them about a plan which subsequently causes the near death of janja’s clan and of course janja realizes that scar never cared for those who worked under him and in the end they were just tokens to scar’s disposal when and wherever

[tinyplanetss]

okay yayyy rewatch thoughts

on a rewatch the first half of the season was much more enjoyable with all the character moments without worrying about the plot stuff. i just care about these characters a lottttt

the latter half however. i do not enjoy mk's self sacrificial mindset. it just doesn't track to me. he's always done everything for his friends, and even when he hid stuff from them it was to protect them. but spending so long just accepting that he was born to die is just. it doesnt track for me. too angsty chill out my guy. he loves his friends so much that he wouldnt WANT to leave them alone based on. destiny? even though he had this GREAT speech AGAINST destiny with lbd!! why would 1. mk believe this guy instantly 2. why does this guy care 3. i preferred lbd's canon sendoff. i liked her lasts words being genuine "to pain" while tattered spoken only to mk. so good man.

i still feel that they missed the mark on the immersion that the other finales had. why is the bad guy so insistent on restarting the cycle early if he "gets out either way"? he says hes finally going back but he has a way out????

anyway. too angsty i wish it had the balance of the s4 finale which went back and forth SO well despite having the same world ending stakes.

why was a sacrifice needed to restart the cycle. i just dont understand. im gonna go rewatch s4. im just a bit of an angst hater and this is all hurt no comfort lmaooooooo. "it needs to mean something i dont understand" SO TRUE MK. SO TRUE. i dont GET IT it just doesnt feel necessary. i feel like this season shouldve focused on character stuff more and then done more plot in s6 like how lbd was laid out with s2 focusing on her building up + mk powering up and growing as a person -> s3 going against her. s4 and azure worked because he was deeply intertwined with wukong's past, so those scenes pulled double duty for plot and character stuff!

mk says "we choose to fight" and then they immediately lay down and accept death together?? idk man. im lost. i want to like the plot but i simply do not. power of friendship has literally solved every finale why is this surprising. im still baffled. whatever

my positivity ran out around ep 7 when they made direct animation comparisons😭😭 im sorry i definitely had enjoyable moments but it is not even on par with the rest of the show. its okay thoughhhh i still have four damn near perfect seasons which i will continue to loop

lego monkie kid s5 spoilers !

i won't say too much here as it definitely needs a rewatch but. i enjoyed many of the character moments but was utterly BAFFLED by the overarching plot. i felt like i had NO idea what was going on the whole time, and they didn't introduce their antagonist until episode 8 and then he disappeared saying it was up to mk or something? i dont know. im baffled. this was very much the Hey guys! We have a lot of questions to answer and instead of taking our time and letting the answers come out naturally we are going to speedrun them! so we get one samadhi fire episode, one mystic monkey powers episode, and i just wish they had taken their time!!!!! idk. i did enjoy a lot of aspects of it but ive been so spoiled by s1-4 i forgot was it was like to watch a show with major lost potential. man. i probably wont say much on the animation, besides the fact that wildbrain clearly did their best with what they had and had a lot of moments that emulated the cartoonish style pretty well. although the animation definitely took me out of the moment fairly often. but again. please put me in the alternate universe where lego just waited for flying bark to be free and gave these subplots time to breathe. okay im done i dont want to be too negative i just want to get my thoughts out👍 when i rewatch i may try and do some rewritten oneshots if i feel up to it because so many of these moments were barely touched on that couldve been HUUUUGE scenes!! will ponder it. lots of spaghetti was thrown at a few too many walls we just gotta let the ideas breeeeeeeathe <3

tldr; this is something that will probably become more clear with a rewatch but the plot did not feel immersive to me though i enjoyed the silly and emotional character moments, the latter felt a bit bogged down by the animation unfortunately. i wanted to be on the edge of my seat again like with the lbd or azure finale!!! but i was kinda just sitting here like but. we talked about other options. why is this his only choice i thought we threw off destiny alreadyyyyy why would they write him fated to die if he already BEAT the whole destiny controlling him thing idk

post post script: THEY DIDNT LET THE MONKIES HOLD HANDSSSSSSS <- remembering the stuff i really liked about the season because I SWEAR THERE WAS POSITIVE my literary analysis brain just took over tryimg to solve it 😭😭 i promise i liked soooo much of the voice acting and stuff

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

BFF WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON VOLUME 2??

BFF IM GLAD YOU ASKED, HERES A LIST OF STUFF I REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY MIND

Spoilers below (obv)

NANCY?? Really thought she was gonna die right out the gate but I'm so glad she didn't

That "Byler" scene in the van...

Honestly I'm already so numb to this shit and the near identical parallels to me and an ex friend of mine since s3 and Will and Mike I was just shut down completely and wasn't surprised or had any kind of noticeable reaction at all. I'm just numb cause that shit (literally almost exactly, including the abandoning me despite me telling them how much they were hurting me and bringing up past trauma and just said a half ass sorry and kept doing it, the breakdown and now I've got the weeping silently right in front of them and them not doing shit about it and even trying to change the subject). Except, ya know 🙃🙃🙃 they had to throw in the words like "mistake" and shit so salt in the wound, but that's fine cause it's not like they built it up during pride month of all times just to get more people to watch it so that we could be mocked and feel even more like a mistake, right??

Which brings me to my next point

ELLLLMAAAXXXXXXXX

Ya know what I've unintentionally rewrote my brain to forget the whole "byler/mileven" mess as much as humanly possible and only remember about three ships; Lumax, Elmax, and Jopper (aka mom and dad :D)

I thought I reached my capacity for loving Elmax in season 3 but I was 😭 so wrong 😭

Inject that shit in my VEINS

El learning not only her friends in general are in danger but Max specifically and immediately doing everything in her literal power to get to her and save her (I'm actually tearing up rn, it's affecting me too much) is replenishing everything in me

Like these girls had alone time for barely an hour and they decided for life: "this is my human, I'm gonna go to the ends of the earth to protect my human, build my human up. no one is like my human, my human is THE BEST and deserves the best. my human is one of my biggest sources of joy". That was mall rats and it's just been golden for those two ever since and I went into season 4 prepared for everything between these two to revert back to s2

But it was SO

MUCH

BETTER

For one thing, El's determination to save Max

HER DRAWING 😭😭😭😭

First of all... the sheer anger El must have been feeling towards Vecna to have ripped him away from Max as such velocity to knock him out as long as he was knocked out. It wasn't forever but consider how much time they got. She had to have been pissed

Max's plan to "run towards the light" and the things that make her happiest and a) that being the snowball where she had her moment with Lucas and danced with her friends b) she then saw no one else was there but El and assumed that was her mind saving her -- someone who brings light to her life

Her not believing she was real

Her not believing she was real

Her not believing she was real 😭

Still cupping at El's face and shoulders (in such a Max way, and El just being totally fine with it) like a lifeline in doubt and El lovingly taking her hand and cupping it and saying so sweetly

"I'm real"

And ofc the adorable "I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer !!"

And what I immediately had to re-watch like seven times and silently cheer in victory at like 3 am:

"Stay back," and "If you touch her again, I will kill you again"

I'm sorry but its all im thinking about

Oh god that and

Caleb's stellar performance that actually ripped my heart out, stomped on it and then put it in a blender (all of s4 honestly, he's always been amazing but they actually gave him room to really shine

It's the "Erica help" that murdered me and it's enough to make me tear up again just thinking about it [EDIT: okay I literally just learned that line was all caleb and OF COURSE IT WAS]

Everyone's performance in that scene honestly was unlike anything I've seen and so beyond intense but Caleb, as I've said, really got me

Max and Lucas love each other so much and if I don't see them go to the movies together in s5 I--

I'm not sure what I'll do

Ugh there's so much other stuff I haven't even mentioned (mainly cause Elmax is taking up my entire life) but

OH YEAH

EL AND LUCAS FINALLY INTERACTING AGAIN?!? HUGGING ?!

OH MY GOD EL AND HOPPER

I was literally so paranoid he was Vecna getting into El's mind actually that I couldn't properly enjoy it wasn't until she thanked Joyce I started to realize it might've been real and then when realized was SURE there wasn't anything left of the episode, I cried and went back and cried harder lmao 😭

Again, I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of right now

Honestly it feels so good to rant - bestie what about you?? What did you think??

💕💕💕 - Yurtle