#just because people work their ass off on an episode that turns out disappointing in the end

[simonisferal]

not you again “scaramouche x male reader”

episode four — yes grandma, i'll rub your bare feet. just don't call grandpa over to tell his war stories again... 📖

warnings: vulgar language, toxic family relations (scara/ei)

notes: i was too lazy to think of a real plot 🫶

“We’re going to Inazuma to visit some of your aunts. When you go home, go up to your room and pack, Kunikuzushi.”

Ei stood silently, her back turned to her son as she watched the courtyard down below the principal’s office window. She was ‘patrolling’ again, some idiotic habit she developed from surveilling her past soliders. Scaramouche was sulked in a chair with his arms crossed and face and knuckles bandaged.

“Can’t I go to Sumeru? You always send me there when I do something that doesn’t fit your dumb expectations.”

Sumeru was the only place he could actually stand. The warm weather made it perfectly for the male to wear his shorts and not Liyue’s…unnecessarily disgusting uniforms.

Ei didn’t bother turning around when she responded. “Kusanali told me of your… endeavors with Inazuma. I can’t possibly send you back to Sumeru if you’re still struggling with your culture. How will you follow in your mother’s steps?”

“Step-mother’s. Just because she gets your pussy wet doesn’t mean I have to like her.”

When those words left his mouth, Scaramouche immediately pressed his lips together. He sulked lower in his chair as he waited for his mother to respond. She didn’t for a while, the silence almost deafening.

She spoke, her voice cold and stern like a dagger made of ice. “You will be going whether you want to or not. You will not disappoint me again.”

( Ningguang has sat quiet many times before. It’s not like she feared Raiden, oh no, but she has power to make the very institution that she has worked her ass off to build the most pathetic school you can send your child to.

She has a kid of her own, adopted, but very loved by her and her wife. She can’t imagine what Scaramouche is feeling right now. )

“As much as I love the punishments for someone’s actions,” Ningguang started. “This is a young man’s education we are discussing. I would suggest taking time out of your day to home school him so Scaramouche can still get his high school diploma.”

It was quiet after she spoke. Scaramouche didn’t have a loving mother, or someone he could talk to in Inazuma and homeschooling him would give him something both what he and his mother wants, 1) his high school diploma, and 2) some control over his moving situation.

Ei sighed, turning around to meet Ningguang and Scaramouche. ”…Fine.” She pauses as she looks at the time on her watch. “I suppose I should care somewhat about his future.”

“Aww Y/N! I’m gonna miss you!” Ajax hugged you really tightly, his muscles from wrestling choking you. You tap his arm repeatedly, “Too tight..!” He doesn’t let you go until Yanfei pulls him off of you, pulling his ear like a stern mother.

You catch your breath, silently thanking Yanfei for her help. “I’ll come back after the summer. Don’t miss me too much.”

Hu-Tao sulks siltently and Yanfei scolds her, “‘Tao! Aren’t you gonna say goodbye?” Hu-Tao eyes her before continuing to text on her phone.

“It’s not like we can’t call him. Y/N’ll still have his phone.” She snorts like it was an obvious fact. It was still rude but you couldn’t blame her. Hu-Tao always had a weird way of saying goodbye to people.

Xingqui speaks up, “Didn’t you hear? Y/N’s dad placed him on a phone-ban.”

Hu-Tao immediately drops her phone and runs up to hug you almost as tightly Tartaglia did. “No! This can’t be! Please tell me the boy with blue hair and pronouns is lying!” She whined, pawing at your shirt.

“He’s not. I’ma have to… email you guys.”

Childe sobs and both him and Hu-Tao get on their knees, heart broken. “E-email?! Who uses that anymore?!” Yanfei coughs and Xingqui diverts his eyes.

Before any other gay could speak, the large airport had rung its announcement. A loud speaker phone spoke, “Flight 827, Liyue to Mondstadt, please begin boarding. Flight 827, Liyue to Mondstadt, please begin boarding…”

“It’s time.” Yanfei frowns. She gives you one last hug before patting your back. “Good luck with your college applications.”

Hu-Tao looks up from her crying, “C-college?” You snort at her crying face, trying to maintain a serious composure. “M-mhmh…” You nod.

You start walking away to your flight before the announcement rings again with Hu-Tao and Childe crying louder now that they still have work to do over the summer while Yanfei and Xingqui comfort them.

Let’s just hope that nothing weird happens.

Your flight wasn’t weird, you mainly just listened to music and slept the entire four hour flight. The sweet lady seated beside you woke you up once your flight landed.

Getting off was even better, your luggage and small suitcases of clothing and necessities were the easiest things to notice in the crowd of colorful and decorated vacation luggage.

“Y/N, my sweetie! You’ve grown so big, you don’t fit in my arms anymore.” A lady runs up to you and hugged you, probably in her late forties or early fifties. She wore a pink dress for spring while a man (also looked around forty or fifty) accompanied her.

“Hi granny. Hey gramps.”

“Oh come on, give your granny a kiss! I haven’t seen my little boy in so long!” Your grandmother squishes your cheeks and stretches them. “Grandma!”

Your grandfather has to pull her off of you for her to stop. “Honey, let him be. He must be tired-sick from his long flight.”

”Oh you’re right! Come, sweetie, let’s take you home; I’ll make you the best apple pie you can eat!”

masterlist — prev — next

taglist: open! bold means i can’t tag you

beginning with... @mizumetamorphosis , @wawanluvr , @shutingstar , @pookiemax , @chemiru ,

@scaradooche , @swivy123 , @yangbbokari , @academiq , @thystarsshine ,

@zoropookie , @notrsz , @justyoureader , @mercy-not-merci , @kiekole ,

@kazumiku , @featuredtofu , @yourfavoritefreakyhan , @b2tr09 , @ell1e2010 ,

@pwaap , @vxcmx , @vamxpi , @moonslie04, @allaboutiknowthatyoubeingdead ,

@somnium-kiss , @crxwned-mxnarch

(@simonisferal 2024)

[burningcheese-merchant]

Beast-Yeast Episode 6 Predictions

Felt like popping in and listing off my ideas/predictions for the next half of the update before going back to work:

Burning Spice will not take the Soul Jam back right away. Against his better judgment, he will simply toss Golden Cheese down the cliff and lay back again. Both just to watch her suffer/squirm, and because he really is disappointed in their fight and wants more out of her, so he's being nice and giving her one more shot to get up and prove herself to him

Golden Cheese will be taken in by the kulfi monkeys, who will be extremely grateful for her essentially sacrificing herself to save one of their own (especially after they sort of threw her out of their village earlier). They, or at least that elder, will come to see that she's the god mentioned in their prophecy and will do what they can to nurse her back to health so she can get back in the ring and defeat Burning Spice once and for all

Smoked Cheese will reach the logical conclusion regarding the spices in the air being the ashes of fallen Wild Spices, and use them to create a whole army of zombie soldiers to hold the Spice Swarm at bay while Golden Cheese VS Burning Spice 2: Electric Boogaloo happens

Golden Cheese's revelation will likely be inspired by her reflecting on saving that kulfi monkey kid. Perhaps by touching on her previous thought "they're just like my treasures", on reuniting with Smoked Cheese, and on the people she's met on her journey in Beast-Yeast. She may think back to Burning Spice telling her "you will crumble and become dust, like all those trinkets you held dear" and realize that no, she shall not, for she still has trinkets to protect - her cheesebirds, Smoked Cheese, all of her citizens still waiting to be revived back home, and now, these spices she's come to care for so quickly and accepted as her own. She has endured great suffering, but she cannot and will not stand by and allow it to be inflicted on others while she's actually there to stop it

Golden Cheese's awakened form will take after Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun and leader of the Egyptian pantheon

Specific additions to above point: Awakened form will either A) look like the bennu bird (or the bennu heron), mythical animal/being in Egyptian mythology considered to be the soul of Ra himself, who rises from the ashes each morning and is seen as a symbol of creation and rebirth, B) be accessorized by all kinds of priceless jewels and minerals, as a more frank/simple nod to her love of wealth and opulence, or C) have technological augmentations of some sort as a nod to the digital version of the Golden Cheese Kingdom. (It could also be D) all of the above, but I doubt it)

Golden Cheese will win (duh), but Burning Spice will be less upset than anyone thinks. He will be glad that he finally managed to face the formidable opponent he'd always known Golden Cheese to be and was waiting to fight in the first place. Of course he'll be angry that he's been denied the return of the missing half of the Soul Jam, but... damn it, he had a blast and he can't be mad about that. But he'll be back eventually, of course... for the Soul Jam, but also - perhaps even more than that - to fight Golden Cheese again, because now he's got someone to keep him from being bored forever

The Wild Spices will be swayed to Golden Cheese's side and perhaps even want to fully become her subjects, as they respect strength/power and she just kicked their boss's ass pretty soundly so... (Not sure about Nutmeg Tiger, she'll probably be stubborn and stay under Burning Spice but secretly have her faith/loyalty shaken, if not completely shattered) Further proof of this occurring is the loading screen quote "The Wild Spices worship the Great Destroyer out of fear. But what if... they desire something more...?" Golden Cheese is that "something more". They'll see it. They'll turn away from Burning Spice and seek her leadership instead.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought of these, but I wanted to jot them down anyway. Let's see how it goes.

You all have to come back here and like/reblog if any of these turn out to be correct.

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 하이에나/Hyena.

Okay, I'm assuming I just convinced a lot of you by that poster alone. But just in case, here's a trailer along the same lines!

Hyena is a 2020 Korean drama about two lawyers who get into a relationship under false pretenses, end the relationship, and then still have to deal with one another in their professional lives, while also uncovering massive corruption in the halls of jurisprudence.

This is absolutely one of those shows where, if this is the kind of thing you like, this is a strong example of that kind of thing. You know the beats it's going to hit and the turns it's going to twist, so you're just here to watch the rest unfold. It's not really a courtroom drama; while there are court scenes, they're few and far-between. Most of it is about their lives outside of court: preparing for cases, negotiating power dynamics, and working for some shady-ass rich people alongside a cast of delightful supporting characters.

It's no great work of art, but it's a lot of fun, and it's surprisingly more complicated than it appears at first blush. It's also not a huge commitment, as shows go -- just your standard Korean block of sixteen hour-long episodes -- so here's a shortish set of five reasons I think you should give this a trial (get it? trial?) run.

1. Just fuck that pretty boy up

This show knows that women want one thing, and one thing only: Ju Jihoon in mild to moderate distress.

I love this tall drink of water in everything I've seen him in (just wait until the day I finish my rec for Kingdom!), and this is no exception. I imagine that the entire pitch for this show was, what if we put Ju Jihoon in sharp, well-tailored suits and have him menaced by a bunch of beautiful professional women 10-25 years older than he is? And the Netflix executives, in a startling moment of common sense, greenlit the heck out of that.

His character, Yoon Heejae, is a hotshot lawyer from a family of hotshot lawyers and judges who works for a hotshot law firm. He embodies that certain kind of cocky, toxic masculinity that makes you idly fantasize about getting his tie caught in the shredder so it strangles him. Over the course of the show, you get to see him taken down a peg time and again until he learns to be submissive to the right people, instead of to the wrong ones. And he's much, much happier that way! So yeah, if you enjoy seeing a beautiful man get that smug smile metaphorically and literally slapped right off his handsome mug, Hyena has you covered.

I had to replay the champagne scene like ten times, fuck. No, I'm not going to tell you what I mean by that. Watch the show!

2. The titular Hyena

The major disappointment I had with this show is that it did not bring up the one -- one! -- thing everybody knows about hyenas, which is that a lot of people think the females have penises. Because oh boy, Jung Geumja has the biggest dick in the show by a mile.

A lot of times when people say a female character is a disaster, they mean, tee hee, she spilled her coffee and accidentally said something she shouldn't have! Bitch, Jung Geumja said that shit on purpose.

She's an attorney who's willing to adopt some hella unethical tactics for her clients. She's got her goals, but good luck getting her to reveal what they are -- and good luck to her when it comes to achieving them, considering that she's a complete nobody who went to law school much later in life than all the other high-powered attorneys in the show did. That's okay, though! What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in balls-to-the-wall fearlessness.

I love how intentionally bad her aesthetic is. They give her awkward outfits and the worst possible haircut, to say nothing of her hideous cell phone necklace/lanyard/thing. She adopts a more professional demeanor partway through, but the second you let her off the respectability leash, the track suits and big clunky sneakers are back. The couple times she goes real femme, she looks like she's in bad drag. It's ugly-delicious.

Her actor, Kim Hyesoo, is a beautiful woman who looks very good in evening gowns and low-cut blouses. This show intentionally steers her hard in the other direction. It's a kind of protective coloration, Jung Geumja's way of telling all the other predators not to fuck with her, or she will fuck right back.

She's scrappy as hell, despite not actually being a physical fighter -- in fact, she gets the shit beat out of her a couple times. You don't get a whole lot of media where the female lead gets her face kicked in good and proper, or if you do, it's painted as a tragic, vulnerable moment. Jung Geumja slaps on a bandaid and gets right back out to the club the following night.

Her superpower is basically that she has no shame. You think ambulance-chasers are bad? She takes it to the next level.

You really don't see a lot of female characters like this! Sure, you get the Boss Bitch archetype in a lot of legal dramas, but she's always composed and dignified. Jung Geumja has no dignity. She's a sloppy bitch who makes pretty much no effort to leverage her feminine wiles in her day-to-day life (even though the show makes a point that there are men who'd be receptive to it if she did!). She's a nasty top who clearly loves to horrify dignified, presentable people with her yakuza lounge aesthetic.

You could maybe accuse Jung Geumja of being a Mary Sue, but she's, like, a middle-aged woman's Mary Sue. If your teen girl fantasies are all about how you're the most beautiful girl at prom and all the boys like you and you become independently wealthy at your dream job as an interior designer, then your middle-aged fantasies have become how you can look super-hot wearing whatever the fuck you want and still get respected by your colleagues for your extreme competency in your profession and also have handsome men with good jobs beating down your door no matter how much your hair looks like you scalped Paul McCartney c. 1964.

She's absolutely one of those characters where I'd hate her if I had to deal with her myself, but because she's fictional and can't hurt me, I support all her wrongs.

3. Everybody else!

As is the case with good legal dramas, the main lawyers are not the only lawyers! Instead, Hyena has a wonderful cast of supporting characters who become part of the legal eagle team.

They’re exactly the kind of charismatic background weirdos I’ve come to expect from Korean dramas. You’ve got the whole batch: the potential love rival, the secondary romance couple, the supportive nonthreatening bestie, the workplace misfits who are both extemely competent and completely underappreciated at their jobs, and the childhood-friend-turned-cop I couldn't find good promo pictures of for reasons prrrrrobably related to the actor's DUI arrest.

No matter how enjoyable a main romance is (and it is! see point 5!), it cannot sustain a whole sixteen-hour drama on its own. You need to mix it up and give your primary pair other party members to bounce off of! Hyena pulls together a good group of characters that are wacky enough to be entertaining, but (mostly) not so wacky you have to suspend your disbelief about how they got to where they are in life.

And they’ve also all got some interesting relationships to masculinity and/or femininity, which is pretty par for the course with how the show clearly enjoys…

4. Getting gender all up in your business

While it's not an overt, in-your-face theme, the status of women in Korean society is definitely at play in this story. The realm of law, politics, and buisness as depicted here is absolutely a man's world, where few women are allowed, and only in a very limited number of roles. Of course there are always wives/girlfriends and secretaries doing all the helper grunt work, but a token handful of ladies can be allowed into actual ranks of power ... sort of. They'll always be second best to their male peers and relatives, of course, but doesn't that gender diversity look nice in the company's annual report!

As mentioned earlier, Yoon Heejae starts out as a good ol' boy from a long line of good ol' boys, dick-measuring with the rest of them and shooting straight for the top. It's only when he's blindsided by soft power that he starts to re-evaluate what he's gotten himself into. Maybe being a good son is actually a racket! Maybe these squads of tie-wearing ass-kissers aren't actually that fun to be around at all! Maybe he's actually much better-suited to playing on the girls' team.

Meanwhile, Jung Geumja's "ruffian from the wrong side of the tracks" role is such a man's role, but she's definitely a woman inhabiting it. Hell, half the stuff she gets away with, she does because everyone's just so shocked to encounter a woman doing and saying these things. So she does weaponize gender expectations - just not in the way you might expect a woman in a romance-centered drama to.

In the aforementioned support squad, the male attorneys are all gender failures in one way or another, which is why they haven't advanced in their jobs the way their colleagues have. They cannot perform hard-drinking, ethics-ignoring, 90-hour-workweek masculinity to the standards of the high-powered suits who run their law firm. It's only Jung Geumja who, given the choice to assemble her own crew, can see that they have immense value beyond the very gendered expectations of their profession.

Meanwhile, Boon Hyunah, the only female attorney on their team, is great at both representing and subverting that Exceptional Woman femininity. I was cautious at first, because she was clearly introduced in a way that made her seem like she was going to wind up being the evil popular girl/rival bitch whose entire job was to prove by contrast that Jung Geumja is Not Like The Other Girls. Not so! They actually wind up good friends and trusted colleagues. Female solidarity is so much more fun than contrived romcom catfighting!

Maybe my favorite character in the whole show, though, is the littlest gender-nonconforming angel, professional soft butch Lee Jieun: Jung Geumja's eternally beleaguered secretary, sidekick, gofer, co-conspirator, caretaker, and only friend.

She's clearly taken her haircut notes from Jung Geumja, but instead of going the track suit route, she's dedicated herself to the tweed lifestyle. And I love that nobody ever tries to give her a makeover or make her feel bad for not being femme! She makes friends with the other, much girlier secretaries, who seem to welcome her into their group with no problems. She finishes the show as frumpy as she was when she started.

I was prepped for the drama to give her a male love interest to defuse her obvious lesbian vibes, but it does not! She does not even, to my recollection, express desire about anyone. She oohs and ahhs over flowers and other gestures of romantic interest that happen to other people, but not in a particularly jealous way. She ships Yoon Heejae and Jung Geumja, and that's what matters to her.

The entire reason I found this show in the first place is that it has a "sismance" tag on MyDramaList, presumably for the relationship between Jung Geumja and Lee Jieun. Their relationship is wonderful, but it's way more sis than 'mance. They're more like two sisters with a huge age gap, where the dweeby younger sister has dedicated herself to doing anything her cool older sister wants her to do, and the cool older sister has decided that having a minion is worth putting up with having to wrangle a dweeby younger sister.

This show is also very female-gazey. Not only does it gleefully ogle Yoon Heejae's long-legged frame pretty much every chance it gets, but it makes Jung Geumja gross-hot in a way that only a lesbian could love. And that makes the fact that she has not one but two handsome men fighting over her even better! This is a world where our gorgeous male lead has a choice between a conventionally attractive, professionally dressed, charming, dignified woman in her early twenties, and a fifty-year-old human tornado with a foul mouth and a bad haircut, and he goes straight for that cougar without even blinking. He wants her to step on him so hard.

And speaking of:

5. Law, Partners

This is a romance worth being into.

Sure, they're both real hot (at least, by my bisexual lesbian standards), but we all know by now that being hot separately doesn't always guarantee being hot together. Fortunately for this show, they very much are.

What makes this pairing so interesting is that this is a relationship between equals. They start out with huge power mismatches both ways, since he's socially her superior, while she's lying to him real hard. When they're finally at a point where they're on even footing, it's so good, especially since she's clearly on a trajectory to emerge as the senior partner in this relationship. They’re such a great team, in fact, that the kissy part of their dynamic becomes secondary by the end. Yeah, sure, they like one another -- but more importantly, they can finish one another’s closing arguments. When you're a middle-aged Mary Sue, that right there is some good fucking romance.

If you read my other rec posts, you know I'm very picky about my het. This is good het. Maybe not great het, but still very good. Solid 8/10. Their chemistry is strong. I can absolutely imagine her strap-on collection. He's like a foot taller, but we still know who's going down.

Into it?

Netflix made this one, so Netflix is where you're going to find it. This does mean, annoyingly, that a lot of the onscreen text doesn't get translated, and none of the English lines get captioned, both of which are incredibly bad practices. Come on, Netflix, you've got eleventy bajillion dollars, you can do better.

...Also, am I wrong about people knowing that other people think female hyenas have penises? Is this knowledge what I deserve for spending too much time studying the ancient world? Dammit.

Kick his ass, baby; I'll hold your track suit.

[respectthepetty]

Because I think it would be really interesting and funny - can you rank the Pit Babe characters on your Alan&Pete scale? I'm curious to see where you're at with some of them lmao. Least to Favorite (though I know who your fave already is, lol).

Only if you want to tho, lol.

@slayerkitty, honestly, this list could just be these two lying bitches:

Big Red is not on this list since he is the big bad, but since I have no idea what the plot actually is, take all of this with a grain of salt. I wrote that I think all of them have superpowers since Big Red was collecting them like X-Men's William Stryker for his super mutant army, so I think Charlie's superpower is mind control, and I think Way's is controlling people's emotions.

WHICH PISSES ME OFF!

Babe was the prized super kid, so I think Big Red is pulling out all the stops to get his trophy racer back including sending all the other super kids to manipulate Babe with their superpowers, so let me rank them from dead-to-me to love-of-my-life:

The One I'm Ready to Box - Charles

Charles keeps moving Barbie's head and body to face him. He never lets Barbie turn away from him. Then, when Barbie is clearly upset, Charles continues to kiss him, which is why I think he his mind controlling Barbie. When his arm was in the sling, Babe could push him away before Charles could start his mind control bullshit. Sometimes, it's noticeable when Babe's face softens, which should come off as sweet like "ah, look how he drops his defenses around Charlie" BUT LOOK AT THE WAY HE DROPS HIS DEFENSES AROUND CHARLIE! Charles doesn't even know how to drive, yet Babe gave him a car. Charlie's dick game may be strong, but mind control is stronger.

10/10 Petes - It's on sight.

The One I'm Disappointed In - Waymond

Waymond had me the first two episodes. I was in his second-lead-syndrome corner, then he flipped the script in the third episode, and now I can't unsee the red flags. In episode four, I noticed twice how he touched Barbie, which prompted a shift in Barbie's demeanor. Much like Charles, I would love to believe that Waymond brings happiness to Babe's life, which is the reason Babe looks less sad when Waymond touches him, but HE LOOKS LESS SAD WHEN WAYMOND TOUCHES HIM! I think Waymond is controlling Babe's emotions, yet Babe still doesn't love him. It's the only saving grace for Waymond. Charles is using his powers to make Barbie love him, but Waymond isn't.

9/10 Alans - I'm gonna yell at him, then punch him.

The One Who Is Obvious - Jeffery

Jeffery is going to be with Alan, so I can't fully hate him since I love Alan. His superpower is apparently seeing the future, which makes sense why he was opposed to touch in the second episode, and that makes him useful in my touch=superpower theory for Charles and Waymond, so I hate him a little less. BUT if he had anything to do with Barbie's car going up in flames, so he could ensure Charles got a racing spot, -murder-

8/10 Petes - One wrong move and I'll end him where he stands.

The One Who Just Sucks - Winifred

Winifred is just a little bitch, but God is he annoying. I don't wanna know what he is saying because I'm sure it's as annoying as his face whining all the time. Only five episodes in, and the man still ain't tired of getting his ass handed to him by Barbie and Kimberly. Whatever he is plotting is dumb. Whatever he is complaining about is stupid. Whatever he is doing is already a failure.

7/10 Alans - I'm gonna push him into a real Christmas Tree, so he'll get scratched up and cry about it.

The One Who Is Gonna Suck - Decanus

Dean has yet to do anything solid, which means he is just waiting to fuck us over. I haven't seen him race or work on a car, so I'm thinking he'll be pissed that Charles is doing all the things he wanted to do, and screw over the entire team regardless of the race's outcome. Jealously makes people do crazy things, but he is going to be with Winner, so homie is going to go full crazy.

6/10 Petes - Anyone who fucks Whiny Winifred deserves to be slapped.

The Ones Who Ain't Loyal - North & Sonic

I simply don't trust them. They are too colorful in a show that's whole visual plot hinges on red versus blue. They need to pick a color. NOW.

5/10 Alans - I'll threaten them on work time, so they'll know I'm not afraid to lose my job if it means I can fight them.

The One Who Is Gonna Kill His Shitty Boss! - Kenta

Why is he still fucking with Big Red?! He would be much higher on this list but when Babe was fighting Big Red (both times), Kenta looked sad. If the flashback wouldn't have just showed Babe as a kid with his dad, I'd think Kenta was his actual brother. The way Babe yelled at him in the parking lot makes me think they have a long history, so I'm hoping once Kenta teams up with Kimberly, he'll be the good guy I know he can be.

4/10 Petes - If he kills his boss, he'll be number one in my heart forever.

The Pretty One - Peter

Pete is like a Lord of the Rings' elf. He is pretty. He is an archer. He is kinda sus. And he is the perfect ally. Much like those beautiful elves, I don't think he joined up with the blue team because he is a kind dude. This is for his own personal gain, which means he must have beef with Big Red; therefore, he has a superpower too. I think he heard Kenta or smelled Kenta's cigarette because Peter didn't turn around until Kenta turned around. He knew Kenta was there. And he sensed Waymond's emotion-changing powers too, so I'm okay with them being together (as long as he punches Waymond too).

3/10 Alans - Watching his every move . . . because I think he is pretty. Not because I think is he bad.

The One Who Will Solve It - Kimberly

Kim is a real one. He presents as red. He works for the reds. He is a red, and isn't ashamed of it. He hasn't faked his color, and in a perfect world, he'd be with Babe. I don't think he has a superpower, but if he did, it would be the power of common sense. He hates his coworker, Winifred, as any sane person would, so he gets the passenger seat in my car. He also got a handshake from Babe, so he already made friends with Babe. They would make a perfect pair. Barbie x Kimberly Ghost Ship is being captained by me.

2/10 Petes - We're frenemies!

The Main One - Barbie

Babe is the title character, and he is being manipulated and controlled by everyone around him, but . . . the boy is un pendejo. The first two episodes, he was a little too macho, and in episode three and four, he was un pendejo. He argued with Kenta when Kenta could have just kidnapped him, then he punched everyone on his way to Big Red's office, which makes no sense to walk directly up to the man who is going all out to get you back. He is in need of a good hug that does NOT lead to sex, and for someone to tell him he is more than his superpower (which is . . . being awesome at everything?).

1/10 Kanghans - I'm upset at him and for him all at once.

The One I Love - Alan

My man has committed no wrongs. He is amazing. He is fantastic. He is beauty. He is grace. He should slap all these fucking liars in the face.

But he won't because he is too pure for this world.

No Petes. No Alans. No Kanghan. Just love.

[tennessoui]

Hey Kit!! This past year when the Acolyte came out, my heart broke and I decided to step away from Star Wars. It’s fine that others liked it but personally I didn’t; actually to be frank, I REALLY didn’t like it. Star Wars and Anakin got me through a lot, so watching Disney take an actual shit on his origin and then his redemption ark by half-assing the lore, felt like a punch to the gut, and I had to step away. (This is my personal opinion, if you or others liked it that’s great! I just didn’t). However, when I saw that u published the body politics au, I decided to sit down and catch up on all your fics (btw I love the Hanahaki one!), and it got me back into the fandom. I’m glad one shitty (imo) show didn’t push me away permanently and I have you to thank for that. I’ve met so many great people thru Star Wars and made a lot friends so it had really been kind of hard to turn away from it. I just really wanted to say thank you. your writing is, as always, too beautiful and inspiring to ignore. Star Wars means so much, and I’m so thankful that your work was able to help me look past all the stuff that made me unhappy with it. I hope you have a wonderful day!!

this is very kind to send to me and a very nice morning read! i admit, i actually have not watched the acolyte, though not for any particular reason. i've definitely heard mixed reviews about the show and its take on the jedi order and the sith, which have been sorta sad to read cause i do like the jedi (though i guess i never label myself as pro-jedi cause like? they're the good guys? you're not like. pro-percy jackson or something right? pro-katniss everdeen? you just sorta read the book and you're like oh yeah these are the good guys. might find aspects of a character annoying but i'm definitely not supposed to be rooting for the Capitol or smething right)

but i've also heard from other people that as a pew-pew show, it delivers on that front! lightsaber fights are cool and everyone has a funky haircut that they pull off somehow which does feel quintessentially star wars

my general view of the disney plus star wars shows is that i'll watch the ones that strike my fancy, and if one of them doesn't then i won't. the star wars disney execs produce a lot of content (and i truly mean content, i.e. material to be consumed - not necessarily art) and a lot of it i'm probably never going to watch. it wasn't made for me, and i definitely get the lurch and disappointment you may feel if you look forward to something for ages and then it's not what you wanted in a thousand small ways or a handful of big ways. i think that's especially hard to guard against nowadays when trailers for tv shows rely more on aesthetic and punchy one-liners and brief second cameos than they do explaining the actual story of the show

but you can be a fan without loving the direction some shows go in or the choices directors make!! if that looks like only watching shows that have been peer-reviewed, or if that looks like ignoring everything but a small corner/subset of a massive fandom, or if that looks like turning from the media itself and diving further into fanart and fanfiction and interacting with people online then that's what it looks like! especially now that the world of canon star wars media isn't just 6-9 movies + 2(?) non trilogy movies, you should absolutely go about watching star wars content with a you-first mindset 100%

you know how many people were disappointed in the obi-wan kenobi series?? soooo many because he was a sad little pathetic and broken man with greasy hair. but that's exactly how i like my obi-wan kenobis, so i was thrilled every episode lol but i'm sure other people hated it and boycotted and whatever. but i found my corner of the fandom who also enjoyed that and it's been wonderful <3

so anyway thankyou so much for your very kind words i hope none of that sounded too preachy i was mostly trying to agree with you that it's really great that one (shitty) show did not keep you away from the fandom forever and that you're back!!

welcome back :)

[spiderlingh]

obx s3 thoughts (obviously contains spoilers!)

this is just my opinion, please don’t come for me if u disagree :)

i was a bit disappointed with this season ngl, definitely my least favorite season of the series so far

action sequences were really good but i felt like a few episodes were just straight meaningless action scenes and that definitely felt unnecessary to me

cleo pope jj owners of the season <3

drew starkey can certainly pull off a buzzcut but man do i miss his sexy haircut from season 2 😭😭

WAY TOO MANY BIG JOHN SCENES oh my god look i get it, it’s a miracle the guy turned up alive and shit but i am not john b i do not give two shits about this rather mean looking man and i felt like he was on my screen more than the main cast

shoutout to his actor tho. he did a great job portraying him

i thought i would be a jiara shipper but i don’t like them together at all… i lowkey hate that the writers now literally paired kie with every guy of the pogues when that seems so out of character for her

saw a post about kie being lesbian and you know what? y e s. even though i think a love interest wouldn’t be necessary for her to begin with

i’m a jjpope girlie sorry their chemistry is just chef’s kiss but it’s never gonna happen bc according to the writers there’s not a single gay on that silly lil island

(it’s completely fine if you do ship them bc they did have chemistry in the previous seasons)

not the sarah x topper drama getting reused from last season… i love sarah but girl what the hell

speaking of topper i thought it was fun how they included him in the train heist

but the way sarah manipulated him and used him… i’m no fan of his at all but i did feel for him bc he pulled so much for her and she went straight back to john b 😭

my boy really said i’m gonna light this place up like a damn bonfire lmfao

anyway back to it

the main villains (ward and rafe) of the past two seasons became pretty much irrelevant this season?? huh???

rafe did a near complete 180 out of nowhere… which was strange

like this man’s whole trauma was solely fixed on getting love and respect from his father and the whole donating the cross situation really sucked if you look at it from rafe’s perspective but i do not believe that THAT was all it took to suddenly become so hostile towards ward. even if he still ended up saving him.

this guy was so stuck in the cycle of violence from the pilot up to the final episode of season 2 and his character development was so interesting to see (that scene in s2 when he says he’s not okay and needs help and ward tells him to man up still stuck with me) and it feels like they threw it out of the window and pretty much sidelined his character for no reason at all.

new boring villain is introduced and gets killed in the same season

worst parent award goes to mike and anna

I WANT TO SEE MORE OF JJ AND SARAH WORKING TOGETHER OR JUST INTERACTING PLEASE

they’re such a fun dynamic like give me that please i’ve been asking for this before s2 even came out

the pogues had pretty much 2 scenes together and that’s it… i had hoped to see more of them and their dynamics and just more of them on that deserted island??? wasted potential oh my god

is it just me or was the filming style a lil different this season…

wasn’t rafe’s love interest supposed to be a bigger thing? because the few scenes he shared with her were completely irrelevant and so was her entire character tbh 😭

rafe and kie teaming up… was awesome i loved it

jj and kie running into pope and cleo when they were just about to get off the bus and immediately had to run from people with big ass guns is peak obx energy and i thought it was hilarious

i audibly gasped at the time jump!! such a weird way to end the season, it almost seemed like a series finale but knowing that season 4 is already confirmed i’m genuinely wondering what direction they’re gonna take this. the root of it all was that they were looking for the treasures because some of them were connected to it in their own ways (john b and the royal merchant bc of his dad, pope and the cross/denmark tanny bc family) and rafe and ward were perfect villains up until this season.

if there’s something i want to see in the next season, it’s just more pogue scenes, strengthening their own characters and developments and their dynamics with the other pogues. we really do not need the same romance drama every season. it’s boring and frankly annoying. honestly in this show there’s so much going on that i don’t feel like each one of the pogues needs to end up with someone. i would love to have jarah and jjpope as endgame and have kie and cleo end up solo or maybe have other love interests (but not really).

just give me the pogues doing what they do best — bickering while they’re off chasing some mystery and putting their lives at risk and miraculously getting out of it alive and well.

because season 3 was just weird. really weird. idk this is all for now but i might add more later!

[kpchrs]

warren is creepy though. he thinks snuff films are funny. he says to max's face that he's disappointed she won't have sex with him within 3 weeks of knowing him. he plays max and brooke off each other by lying about the tickets for the drive in. he knows how to build pipe bombs. he almost beat nathan to death because he was angry.

I was so surprised seeing this LOL I didn't know that that reached people because I thought my hashtags never worked. Not that I expected it to or that I'm great at writing them down either tho. (Turned out seeing the few likes, it did reach people lol). But, well, obviously I didn't go to law school, Anon, you haven't given me time to do it (heh, and also because obviously that's a joke).

I read this on the day you sent the ask to me btw (which was months ago), but it took me a long time to write this because I got distracted so BADLY. So, sorry for the wait... if you are waiting xD I won’t expect anyone, even you, Anon, to read this. I genuinely don’t give a shit if no one reads this, but I still want to try to argue back. My mindset throughout this eSsAy will be as open and fair as I can.

1. "he thinks snuff films are funny."

Okay, let's pull up the script.

Warren: Haha. Make sure you watch Cannibal Holocaust. Max: No fucking way will I watch that. My mind is twisted enough... Warren: I laughed my ass off. (Episode 1: Crystallis)

Okay, first off, Cannibal Holocaust is not a snuff. That’s false. It is a cult classic horror film. It’s one because it’s (one of?) the first of its kind. Also, while it IS controversial and violent and there ARE something inside that are SO BAD WHYDIDTHEYHAVETODOIT, the film actually has an interesting and legit message. I think it’s not weird if Warren, being a fan of disturbing films or obscure films in general, will be interested in watching the so-called “cult classics”.

So regarding why he laughs, a possibility is that he laughs to pretend/show off to Max that he is tough. I mean, he literally shows off his car in that scene, to impress her. Weird flex but okay, bro.

Another possibility which is more probable is it’s because Warren has a dark sense of humour. Max knows this the day she meets him for the first time, that “he’s dark”. You can read it from her diary.

I think he has a higher tolerance than the average person after getting desensitised watching too much horror, which is why he laughs. Because he sees the comedy somewhere. And I think I have an idea where it is. Hint: It’s connected to the message of the film.

The message is the irony of how fast the characters adapt to savagery and exploit the tribe and their culture for the media, which raises the question: “So which one is the savage one? The tribe who people think should have been the ‘uncivilised’ or the characters who should have been the ‘civilised’ ones?” That twist can be funny with a dark sense of humour. Or it can be as simple as how the climax is satisfying/amusing with the characters getting what they deserve after all they have done fucking with the tribe. Hell, if you want to be meta and look into the background story of the filming, you can laugh too at the hypocrisy between the message and the film’s status as an exploitation film.

2. "he says to max's face that he's disappointed she won't have sex with him within 3 weeks of knowing him."

Hmm, that got filtered by your interpretation so let's go back to the root again aka the script to be objective.

Max: So you're sensitive... Warren: Ouch... That sounds awful the way you say it. Max: How so? Warren: Sensitive usually means "won't be having sex with you." Max: Oh, gawd! You need a sensitive woman to kick your ass. (Episode 1: Crystallis)

I want to confess. I had to think hard about what this means, maybe because I didn’t get the reference, because I’m not a native, or just because it’s a bad dialogue. I mean, of course, it sounded bad but I didn’t know EXACTLY what it meant. It took me 6 months to get it… somewhat… From my understanding, he means that “sensitive/nice guys finish last”, no? So the concern is about Nice Guys™?

I won’t wave this off, Anon, it’s still a distasteful comment to say, I admit. But I believe it’s a bad joke made by Warren, an awkward kid, who tries to hit on the girl he got a crush on. The whole scene is about him trying to be smooth, but failing miserably because (1) as I said, he’s awkward, you are not smooth enough, bro; (2) that’s the wrong thing to say, bro; (3) Max is not interested in you, bro (unless you make her be, I guess).

Warren is cringey. I have facepalmed a lot of times listening to him or reading his texts to Max, but we are all cringey in our teenage years. I don’t want to elaborate on my cringey-ness but I want to at least tell you that I did have a Warren, Anon. I rejected him hard and harshly (which I regret but I was also a teenage kid). But he was ultimately a good kid and we are still close friends. He’s matured and thriving now and I have no doubt if Warren were real, he would mature and thrive too now.

3. "he plays max and brooke off each other by lying about the tickets for the drive in."

Okay, let’s search for those. 

Warren: BTW, the drive-in is actually popular so I'm buying the tix now. Warren: I'll have an extra one. In case you change your mind. [Wed; morning] (Warren’s text messages in Episode 3: The Chaos Theory if you decline the invitation.)

Warren does talk about two tickets but the drive-in charges per car, not per person (based on the poster). What’s the subtext of this dialogue? It’s saying that Warren still hopes that Max comes with him. Even deeper is Warren nudging Max to convince her subtly to go with him. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I don’t know why these inconsistencies happen, but inconsistencies are not uncommon in the game. So let’s rewrite the text message dialogues to remove the inconsistency, but keep the subtext.

Warren: BTW, the drive-in is actually popular so I'm buying the tix now. Warren: I’ll keep your spot open. In case you change your mind.

Nothing is different. The subtext is still the same. So if his narrative is to… I don’t know, to manipulate Max to go with him, I don’t see why he has to lie in the first place. Because my rewrite does the same job of the subtext. Maybe it is a development mistake.

These are the dialogues that are relevant, right after Max accepts or declines the invitation:

If Max accepts: Warren: I have to tell Brooke I'm going with you to the movies instead. I'll text you later? If Max declines: Warren: Uh, I have to see if Brooke wants to go to the drive-in, Max. Maybe I'll see you later. [Tue; morning] (Episode 2: Out of Time)

Okay, the first one sounds like Warren has invited Brooke first before Max with that “instead” and the second one sounds like Warren hasn’t invited Brooke at all. Weird, isn’t it? This is why people say Warren is playing off both girls. But there’s this dialogue:

Brooke: That's so ironic that Warren asked Max to the drive-in. Brooke: It's not like I don't own all the original "Apes" films. Brooke: Maybe I should've asked Warren to go... [Thu; afternoon] (Episode 4: Dark Room) [Max accepts Warren’s invitation route]

“Maybe I should’ve asked Warren to go”? In the narrative of if like you say, Warren playing them off, this dialogue doesn’t really add up, does it? It sounds like Warren never invites Brooke at all, or at the very least, they talk about wanting to go but never commit to doing it together. Does this make sense?

So what is this? Which one is right? Are these inconsistencies again? Maybe? Am I wrong? Tbh, my head hurts already LOL Tell me what you think. I’m so tired of this game’s inconsistencies.

Brooke is the second choice here. I don’t deny that. She always is even in the alternate universe, poor girl. Even after Warren says that he will ask Brooke instead after Max declines that morning, I think he still procrastinates on that and keeps hoping Max will change her mind until the next day. That’s why later he says: “I’ll have an extra one” (or “keep your spot open” in my rewrite) [Wed; morning].

And then, there’s the scene where Max is dared to kiss or not kiss Chloe [Wed; morning] (Episode 3: Chaos Theory). Regardless of whether Max kisses her or not, Chloe will text Warren later [Thu; morning]. In the route of Max declining Warren’s invitation, it sounds like he finally gets that Max is either not interested in romance or is interested in Chloe. So Warren gives up and he finally invites Brooke to the drive-in (Episode 4: Dark Room) [Thu; afternoon].

Just like Max is not interested in Warren and prioritising Chloe, Warren doesn’t seem to be interested in Brooke and he prioritises Max. Insensitive? Yes lol But, they are teenagers having a crush.

I hope all this makes sense.

4. "he knows how to build pipe bombs."

Because he's a nerd. A nerd who spends his time experimenting with chemistry. Pipe bombs are simple to make too. Max can even make it with his instructions. It's not weird if he knows how to build a lot of stuff. When you are passionate about something, you will want to learn more stuff, right?

Also, Anon, in high school, we begged our chemistry teacher to put potassium inside the water after we heard it would explode. She reluctantly yielded and yeah, it exploded and we screamed and laughed. She immediately regretted her decision. My point is explosion is exciting, Anon. There’s a reason why teenagers like to play with fireworks. Dangerous? Duh. It’s exciting tho, said a lot of teenagers.

God knows I got knowledge on weird stuff just because of some morbid curiosity or because one of my interests gets me interested in researching weird stuff. But my point is, it’s the same with Warren in this case. It’s not weird at all that a science nerd knows how to build a pipe bomb.

5. "he almost beat nathan to death because he was angry."

This, is my favourite point you made. Because despite all the people who decided to let Warren beat up Nathan, you use this point to imply that this isn't right, which weirdly makes me happy to see that it's acknowledged. Because it IS not right! Sorry, I'm just a Nathan trash (who wants to punch him too ironically but of course, I wouldn’t do it lol Sorry, Nate). Of course, you may say this with the intention of “there is something wrong with Warren based on this scene, some anger issues or something which is… dangerous.” Well…

You know, Anon, the thing with Warren is, the game subtly told us that he is bullied. And I was spending time trying to find evidence but I’m frankly so tired of combing the Wikia HAHAHA Turned out, someone has talked about it already.

There’s no confirmation on who bullies him (eh), but my guess is having a room across the kInG oF bLaCkWeLl's (I hate that dumb cheesy nickname lol) is not a good time for him. People can interpret it as him being angry because his crush is getting attacked by Nathan again, but I don't really see that tbh. Maybe it starts off as that, but later it explodes because of the pent-up anger he feels inside after all the bullying he has experienced. That’s the first time he beats up someone. He doesn’t even know he could do that.

Of course, this is just a different interpretation. Some people choose to interpret something from this side of the spectrum and there are people who choose to do it from the other side of the spectrum. I chose “this side of the spectrum” to give you a different interpretation to ponder upon.

People could scoff and say, “Now you are just being biased.” Well… That’s what Warren haters do too. Being biased. Because Warren has so many positive things too, you know? It’s just the same as how Chloe haters are biased and ridiculously bash her hard outside of the fandom, when she has so many positive things.

People could scoff again and say, “You are using ‘him being a teenager’ too much as an excuse.” I believe we are too hard on teenagers. Yes, even the 18-year-old kids. You don’t magically mature and know everything about yourself or the world once you are 18 years old (or 19), even if society deems them as young adults. I sure didn’t when I was 18 (or 19). I only knew what my favourite colours are in my 20s! (Answer: the shades of pink, red-purple, and true red.) Everyone has their own pace. Warren is approximately a month before 17.

Also, I believe in mental growth. If people love the idea of flawed Warren as a character and then they write a fanfiction about him maturing and growing as a person and Max is in the picture, is that a bad thing? Of course not, it’s just them believing in the potential inside a character and character dynamic and using it as a creative outlet. Characters in “Life is Strange” are created to be in the grey shades. From the almost-white (like Kate and Samuel maybe) to the almost-black (like Jefferson). Max is grey. Chloe is grey. Rachel is grey. Warren is also grey. It’s not a bad thing to love fictional grey characters or even villains.

Lastly, let this be a reminder, not only for Anon, but for people in general, that… you don’t know why someone loves something. They may have nuanced reasons that they can’t explain fully if they don’t write long-ass essays and even if they do write one, sometimes people don’t even care about reading it. But if you keep an open mind and listen, maybe you won’t agree, but at least you understand a little bit and respect the opinion. Like, for example, hell, if I hear someone seriously loves Jefferson I will be so baffled (I hate him), but I will be so interested in hearing it and I'll still be so baffled but I’ll respect that, you know? Maybe I'll laugh a lot but only because I’m entertained and happy that they explain it to me. (I’m seriously interested so hit me up if any lol)

But that’s only me and my mindset. The general rule is just please be respectful.

Maybe after this, more people will come to my inbox and point out more things to argue. While… um, okay, I did say I claim to be Warren’s personal lawyer (and I was obviously joking) but until when will you people do this? xD Okay, I can’t stop it, or I can but I don’t want to block the few anonymous asks to my inbox, but since my lawyering is not paid by Warren, whether I will write an essay like this again or not will depend on my time and mood hehehehe xD

Thank you for the ask. I enjoy writing this! For Warren sympathisers, I hope I do him justice. If not, I’m sorry, but let’s hear it.

I'm shocked if someone is actually reading this, but if so, thanks for reading.

Kris

[norellenilia]

Damn, I remember the first time I watched FMA 03, when I was 16 or 17, I stayed up until 1 am to finish it, and today, watching episodes 38 through 42 turned me into such an emotional mess that I have to take a break lmao what happened??? My own emotional traumas, that's what happened

I'm feeling so many things again

In episode 38, when Ed and Al are fighting, Al drenches Ed in water and he says "it's going to rain!!!" and I'm like haha no don't try to pull a Mustang on me I know this episode won't make me cry and GUESS WHAT the flashback with Trisha convincing Ed to go and find Al so they can talk things out and Al looking so happy that Ed isn't upset with him anymore it's so cute I CRIED

I need -- no, I DEMAND a spin-off series where Winry and Scziezka solve murder mysteries together (I'd love to write it myself but I know I'm not nearly good enough at coming up with mystery stories lol), they're adorable I'm so happy they totally get together post CoS

Martel's death hits SO MUCH HARDER than I remembered holy shit, she and Al actually got close, we see more of her, her death is so horrific and hearing sweet sweet baby boy Alphonse cry just BROKE MY HEART I never wanted to hug an armor so badly

Scar's brother's last moments, the way he looks so terrified and desperate to protect his little brother from Kimblee and Scar being so devastated when he dies I just-- *clenches fist*

Sloth using Ed's PTSD against him that's so UNFAIR; also I was thinking that I was a bit disappointed that this anime did not include the nightmare that Ed has at some point in the manga where he sees his mom saying "why didn't you make me right" etc but this is it, this is this scene, and it's worse because he's hearing it for real, he is very much awake, he has the real voice of his mom in his ears and she's saying this to him and I'm-- *clenches fist harder*

Rose's story, I'm still so mad, she deserves all the happiness in the world

Speaking of Rose, it's so funny how the moment Al is like "I wonder how Rose is doing" the show just full on goes "Ed/Rose shipper" mode lmao, with Ed blushing while pretending not to remember her, him being so awkward when he speaks to her just before they go on their separate ways and her son just smiling and giggling when he speaks (first time we see the baby laugh, he had only been crying up until then) :') To be honest it feels a bit out of the blue to me but idk

Dante sporting Lyra's white ass in the town of brown people and speaking as if she was part of them just because she's following Rose around to manipulate her is incredibly cringe, but then again, it's Dante, she's the villain and we're already supposed to know something is up with "Lyra". But still.

Very random but Al pulling objects from or putting objects inside his armor from behind the cloth always looks very awkward lol

I used to never really care about Scar but I have learned the errors of my way as I now realize he is actually one of the best characters in this goddamn series, even with the orb of knowledge and the three arm losses, and Mangahood!Scar being much more villainized and ending up working with the military will never come even CLOSE to 03!Scar using his last bit of strength to save Alphonse to honor his love for his lost brother and take his ultimate revenge on those who murdered his people in the goal of protecting oppressed people, all of this while an epic music is playing (honestly it even feels like Ed is made to be seen as an obstacle as he tries to prevent the soldiers from entering Liore lol)

Sorry but Wrath is annoying as hell, I know that I'll probably have a different opinion if I rewatch CoS after that, but for now I hate him

We're finally entering the "Rewrite" era of the show and I had forgotten how much it rocks (Ed's hair animation at the beginning fhjkfhkdhjk)

I only have 9 episodes left but between Lust and Sloth in the upcoming episodes I'm not even sure I'll be able to watch it all in one go lol. Still excited to see more of Winry and Scziezka and remembering how much Hohenheim is absolutely useless in this x)

[cringefaecompilation]

(Haven't seen much of MN, so this is a very incomplete view)

The thing that puts me off trying to get back into it is what seemed a lack of character responsibility/consequence - to npcs, and each other. (again, just from first impressions, and a few things you've mentioned about MN)

I find the suspension of disbelief harder when you feel a person realistically shouldn't be able to act a certain way without push back. (Chetney attacking that shopkeeper then being capture dozens of episodes later for it, people being scared when Laudna does something scary...)

All I can remember is Beau getting flack from the other pcs for being rude, but that's about it?

I'd like to enjoy MN, and you're pretty objective about it, so would you say I'm way off base with my impression of it?

this is kind of a tricky subject to talk about given i doubt i’m very objective but i’ll try my best to work it out. for the most part, i would say your initial impression feels like it's very much rooted in early c2, so we'll work from there.

if it’s a “how dare nobody yell at jester or punch her in the mouth for being annoying to soldiers or goofing off in temples! she should have been punished for not taking things seriously!” put off, that gives off vibes of “how dare fearne never face legitimate consequences for stealing or trying to steal!” sometimes a joke is just a joke and i feel if jester was given anything harsher than getting thrown out of a library it’d feel gratuitous and kind of cruel. i don’t want to watch jester lavorre get the shit kicked out of her for drawing a dick on a building.

if it’s a “i’m disappointed that the characters will make super important game-changing dice rolls that allow them to coast by in the story without much conflict that would have been interesting to explore” put off, then on some level it does bug me too, but what am i supposed to do if the dice decide beau and veth should get out of jail free by jester giving the hag a cupcake or caduceus sneezing and sinking a million ships or bringing back a fan-favorite character? i do not control the way the dice roll. the same thing just happened with laudna and briarflop

but if it’s a “this serious rp moment was ruined by a joke or they straight-up forgot it happened or refused to engage with it because it didn’t personally affect them at the time” put off, now we’re getting somewhere. i did notice that post-bowlgate the players basically got scared into being a little less punchy with each other in ways that felt realistic (there’s way more gifsets of beau and caleb being actively aggressive at each other post-molly’s death than prior to it, let’s put it that way) and while i do appreciate a lot of the heart-to-hearts i feel like they can get a little… too nice to each other? some of the best moments in the campaigns are when tensions ride high and it isn’t so "yay look at us we are friends" coded. angel of irons arc you will always be famous!

(will say was horrified when both liam and travis said they might have left the nein 80-90 episodes in. because, holy shit what do you mean you were going to abandon everybody?)

this is a problem with all the campaigns; for example, in campaign three they sped right on past the talking tree the second it gave ashton the info he needed and nobody else got a turn with it, which pissed me right the fuck off. though i appreciate that for the most part we always get conclusions to small things that come back to bite the cast later on even though it has been a pain in the ass watching orym’s arduous journey into class consciousness for the past 40 episodes because of the plot getting in the way of the character moments and i just want it to happen already. i know it’s going to happen but fucking when

the one time i genuinely think there was a moment with an utter lack of responsibility or consequences was how they handled xhorhaus and the kryn dynasty. on some level, sure, ashley had a busy schedule and they didn’t have a lot of time to get into her backstory with it but they really did just speedrun getting the bright queen on their side and the moment they had her trust, away went them interacting with the war or with anti-monster sentiment. which felt double weird given fjord and how he was bullied for being half-orc but when it came to that possibly getting addressed in that context… crickets.

and of course… essek. the guy who kind of ruined countless lives without them knowing it. and i agree with caduceus that punishing him then and there wouldn’t bring back all the people he hurt. i can see how caleb could tie his own struggle believing the lies of a superior to his. but then, it’s kind of uneven. caleb was a teenage boy and essek was an adult man. nothing that the nein did or attempted to do (veth threatening to reignite the war as payment for the hag does not count as actually doing it!) possibly matched up to the actions he chose to perform with no coercion. they were also under no pact to allow him to brainwash someone into thinking they did it with the only excuse being “he was a jerk to essek and we like essek!” and having that total stranger getting his life ruined to end the war with zero fanfare.

there could have been an interesting story beat there with someone they trusted and saw as a friend turning out to be a traitor, but they said no, so let’s throw in a sexy beholder to be the last bbeg! and then we can mug an old guy and oops we only have five minutes left in the campaign, let’s set up a five-year-plan to stop the empire which we just now decided needs to go.

i was told there apparently was a huge argument at the end of campaign two about the ending feeling like neoliberal feel-good “change the system from the inside!” trash and while i wouldn’t go that far, i’d say it’s so disappointing because you know it’s not going to work. you know that you can’t change the system incrementally and eventually it’ll be too much to handle and blow up in your face.

conversely, campaign three’s biggest flaw is how violently it shatters the illusion of a perfect fantasy world and makes it impossible to enjoy previous campaigns without that nagging feeling in the back of your head. it shows the world’s ugliness in full overdrive that even a fantasy world is not exempt from. and that can be jarring for people who were just here to turn their brains off and enjoy people doing stuff alongside blue people and magic and the lack of downtime added to that can make people feel like they're just going through the motions or listening to a boring worldbuilding infodump

so i guess, sure, if you’re annoyed by a noticeable lack of consequences with character actions that either get brushed off as jokes or are never fully explored due to the players’ own incuriousness, then you might wanna watch crit recap animated for mighty nein or wait until the cartoon comes out. if you can overlook that, i say give it a shot! it’s still a good story even if i feel like it could have been better had they tried to take more risks and not be so safe with it.

[murphallo]

Your thoughts on Chenford and their relationship moving forward?

Thoughts on 5.13?

i’m having a bad time lol

i’ve been ranting and raving about this in detail for the better part of two months so i’ll try to keep this to bulletpoints. i think the way they got together was rushed (yes, rushed), poorly written, and i think they cut the burn off before the part a LOT of people waited so long for (angst, pining, arc, plot whatsoever) i think it was a bonkers decision to get such a well set up ship together in the midseason bc they were just like “eh fuck it here is good” and i have no beef with people who are satisfied with how it went down but i think when people who are disappointed express their gripes on their own damn account, people tend to purposely misunderstand. examples include “how can chenford be rushed if they took 4.5 seasons to get together?” to which i’d answer a. we are not saying chenford is rushed we’re saying the way they got together was rushed. b. it’s funny to me how people think that investing years of time and effort and heart to a ship should make us LESS invested in how they get together. c. bruh i’m asking myself the same question it’s actually kinda impressive that they managed to rush a ship after that long.

as for the story going forward, i’ve kinda lost hope in 5b at least. it’s beautiful to see them so enamored with each other and i will watch the scenes and smile at them bc they are adorable in a vacuum but as for the big picture, i find the writing overall to be quite dumb lately. i find it dumb that their biggest boundary to being together was work and they solved that in one episode in the most boring way they could muster. i find it dumb that it seems like we did not get to see the team find out they’re together. i find it dumb that we were given no reason for them “taking it slow” and then giving in after a couple weeks even though that pre sex makeout was hot as hell ngl (see what i mean?? in a vacuum!!) i find many many things dumb and weird and even though the scenes give me buzz, chenford used to have chem and story for me and tho the chem remains higher than it’s ever been, the story has, in my opinion, been shot in the face.

last week with the work thing was kinda my last straw so i am taking a break from the rookie and watching the chenford scenes on twitter bc i was getting way way too hateful watching week to week. i’d rather be a positive presence in a fandom im in so i don’t go out of my way to stare my displeasure publicly, i only do to reach out to other people who feel the way i do and want to vent bc nothing starts internet friendships like a good bitching session. i do feel like because the relationship is hitting the gas like this, we might??? be on our way to the other shoe dropping and me personally………. my prayer is a breakup lol i’m hoping they break up and then we’re actually given some proper angst and pining (even though i think we should’ve gotten that BEFORE they went canon but what do i know) now… i don’t know what they would break up over with the work issue out of the way and it would probably be something, say it with me, DUMB, but i would be willing to consider tuning in again if my trust miraculously grew back lol so YEAH those are my thoughts.

if you’re happy with how they got together, i truly honestly do not care and i’m happy you’re satisfied lol at a certain point it all comes down to personal preference, and for me personally, it feels like they went out of their way to miss every box on my checklist which is a bummer bc i used to love literally every scene interaction and bit of writing between them and now… not so much. i still love them, and i love the first four seasons, i just think the writing took a huge ass stumble at the literal worst time possible. but it would take a stronger person than i to turn my nose up at gifs of the 5x12 makeout so if absolutely nothing else, at least i’ll always have that 🤡🤡

[she-karev]

Mama Bear (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister Imagine)

Previous Chapter Here

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Canon Season and Episode: Season 19 episode 9

AN: This chapter is set a few days after the first one. I’ll try to post the final chapter tomorrow so bear with me and I hope you enjoy.

Summary: Amber confronts Hunt after Allison bit Lucy again that turns physical. Later Andrew tells her their plans that night that shock her.

Words: 2270

January 13th, 2023

I sling my bag over my shoulder barely able to contain my anger as I exit the resident’s lounge. I slam the door loudly behind me causing some of the staff members to look at me but I ignore them so I can march straight to daycare. I was ready to clock out early happy when while I was changing into my red shirt and jeans, I got a call from the people at daycare who called to tell me to come down to file another incident report…against Allison Hunt.

It’s been a few days since she bit Lucy the first time and I calmed down enough and told myself kids bite and that it won’t happen again. But then it happened again and I never felt like tearing into a three-year-old girl until now. My baby is being bullied and I will be damned if I let it happen again even if it means threatening her parents who are my bosses. Alex and Jo follow me no doubt concerned after I nearly slammed the door off its hinges.

“Hey what’s going on?” Jo asks.

I rant to them, “That little bitch thinks she can ruin my family well she has got another thing coming.”

“Did DeLuca cheat?” Alex asks no doubt in fury, “Do I need to kick his ass for you?”

“No DeLuca is an angel Hunt and Altman’s kid on the other hand was handpicked by the devil to reign chaos in the daycare.” I growl angry as I get in the elevator with Alex and Jo, “Allison bit Lucy again. Two times that little demon has sunk her teeth into my baby, it’s not a coincidence it’s a problem and she is a problem child.”

“Okay I can see why your so angry.” Jo says understanding, “You’re not gonna kill her though, are you? Because I feel the need to report you if you’re planning a baby murder.”

“I’m not crazy of course I’m not gonna kill her. I’m gonna kill her parents.”

“I feel the need to remind you that Altman is the chief now and lashing out at her and punching her husband could cost you, your job.” Alex tells me.

“I don’t care!” Alex winces at my yelling, “Her child is bullying my baby and I am not gonna stand for it even if I lose my job. I am not a resident and she is not my boss right now, I am a mama bear and Altman and her spawn are hunting my cub and I will slash her face off if I see her pointing a gun at my baby.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared of you.” Alex admits fearfully, “And you put a garter snake in my shower while I was using it.”

“You did?” Jo asks, astonished.

“It was a pet of mine I found him in the yard and he escaped.” I explain and turn to Alex, “Just be glad I got to Snakey before he bit off your snake.”

“Snakey?” Jo asks with a chuckle.

“I was six sue me.” The elevator doors open and I march down the hall until I spot Bailey, Hunt and Ben Warren outside the daycare waiting for us. I stand in front of them with an angry frown directed at Hunt who clears his throat. I turn to Bailey and Warren, “His daughter bit yours again too?”

“Yep.” Warren confirms with a calm voice but disappointed frown.

“Look I’m sorry I-I really can’t apologize enough.” Hunt tells us but it doesn’t make me feel better, “Now I will talk to my wife and she will come to you and figure out what to do moving forward.”

I chuckle darkly, “Hiding behind your chief wife that’s classy.”

Alex tries to step in, “Amber why don’t we-”

“Shut up.” I command in a harsh voice and he does so as I turn to Hunt, “Hunt I don’t want to be at work worried over my baby being around your devil spawn child.”

Hunt looks at me offended, “Excuse me I will thank you kindly not to insult my daughter.”

“So long as your daughter doesn’t assault ours again.” I point out, “Now I can’t reprimand your wife but I can reprimand you because you have less power here than my five-month-old. Do something or I will take matters into my own hands.”

Hunt sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “I have to pick up my kids and take them home.”

“I’m not done here.” I tell him but he starts to turn and I react by pure rage and grab him by his ear pinching my thumb nail against his scapha causing him to yell out in pain as I bring him back outside leaning down so he can look up at me, “I said I am not done.”

Hunt groans in pain as I keep a hold of his ear, “What are you doing?”

“Taking matters into my own hands.” I coldly inform him.

Bailey tries to step in but Warren stops her, “No, no we should stay out of it those nails look sharp.”

Hunt groans in pain, “They are!”

I press my thumb nail down harder to make my point, “Now listen to me Hunt and listen to me good if your little brat doesn’t stop picking on my daughter not only will I give her full permission to kick her ass when their grown but I’ll be kicking yours and your wife’s right alongside her, do you understand?”

“I think I feel blood.” Hunt informs me and I press my thumb nail harder causing him to groan in pain, “Yes! Yes, I understand!” I let go of him and he rubs his ear after my vice grip looking at me like I could snap at any minute, “I’ll talk to Teddy I will just…Jesus.” He goes inside to pick up his kids and I look to see the others looking at me frightened.

“What? The man needed a lesson on what kind of family he’s messing with.”

“Hey, I am on your side.” Jo looks at Alex surprised, “That’s my niece his daughter bit.”

“Thank you.” I turn to Bailey and Warren, “And unlike the two of you I have an insurmountable rage inside me that can’t be contained.”

“Clearly.” Bailey confirms, “I think I saw your rage bleeding out of Hunt’s ear.” I see Hunt walking his kids out of daycare and I go in to check my daughter out so I can forget this horrible day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of garlic hits me as soon I open the front door carrying Lucy in her car seat. I follow the scent to the kitchen where I find Andrew in full cooking mode wearing a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron and sauteing the peeled peppers in garlic over the stove. I smile at the sight and get Lucy out of her car seat so I can hold her as we get closer to her dad while he’s cooking.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Andrew smiles at us, “I see you two got out early.”

I hold Lucy against my hip, “Yeah I got a resident to take over so I could spend the night with you guys.” I inhale the sweet aroma deeply moaning in pleasure, “Roasted peppers on olive oil?”

Andrew nods, “Yep, with lots of garlic.”

I kiss his cheek, “You spoil me. I could really use some of your Italian cuisine after the day I had.”

“Well don’t get mad but this isn’t all for us.” I look at him confused, “It’s for the dinner party tonight.”

“What dinner party?”

“At Hunt and Altman’s.” My eyes widened at that information, “She invited us yesterday as a way to apologize for what happened at daycare. Ben and Bailey are coming too. I already got Carina to babysit tonight don’t worry she was actually more than happy to do it.” He notices my shocked face, “Didn’t I tell you about the dinner?”

“Um no but then again we’ve been so busy we’ve barely had time to shower let alone catch up.” I move to sit in a chair by the island, “I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that Allison bit Pru and Lucy again.”

He looks at me shocked as he puts the peppers in a glassware dish, “What? When did this happen?”

“Today I went there before I came here.”

He groans, “Okay it’s fine the dinner might be awkward but we’ll talk and hopefully resolve this with clear eyes and full hearts.”

I clear my throat, “I think I should tell you that I confronted Hunt about Allison and…blood was literally spilled.”

He looks at me scared but treads carefully, “What did you do?”

“Um…” I scratch my head to find the words, “I might have grabbed him by the ear and told him to keep his brat in line or me and our daughter would give him hell in the future.” My husband reacts with wide eyes, “Also there might have been some blood from the pinching his ear.”

“…Well at least you got your point across.” I look at him blankly, “I mean I don’t really know what to say here. On the one hand I’m shocked you would stoop to physical blows but on the other I’m a little turned on by this badass side of you.”

I groan at the unfortunate timing, “Let’s skip it, it’s gonna get bad and I am in no mood for a showdown with the Hunt’s.”

“We’re not gonna skip it.” Andrew stands next to me holding Lucy’s tiny hand, “It would send the wrong message and we should apologize for you manhandling Hunt so we can continue to afford our comfortable lifestyle.”

“I did not manhandle him.” He raises a suspicious eyebrow at me and I break. “Okay fine I did but he asked for it! Their daughter has now bitten our daughter. Twice. It’s a problem and making them your heavenly peppers sends the wrong message.”

“What message?” He asks dumbfounded, “That we’re Italian?”

“No, it sends a message that what their daughter did is okay and it’s not! I made that clear to Hunt. I have to protect my child even if you won’t.” Lucy starts to get fussy.

“Whoa hey of course I want to protect Lucy, I’m just saying physical blows are gonna make this worse not better.”

I scoff, “It started getting worse when their child bit our child for a second time!” Lucy cries in my arms and I rock her to soothe her, “Great and now Hunt and Altman are upsetting her at home. Something needs to be done because short of getting a nanny Hunt and Altman need to fix their problem child. Let’s just stay in and watch Moana for the hundredth time it’ll be better than what ever that dinner will entail.”

Andrew sighs and Lucy calms down, “Look we’ll go we’ll eat the peppers with Altman’s dry chicken and politely talk to them about Allison. Perhaps this feud of ours will be resolved if we talk to them and use our words instead of our fists.”

I stand up and go to the diaper bag to get Lucy’s dragon for her to play with, “You know calling it a feud sounds a little melodramatic.”

“Okay and what would you call it?”

“It’s a war.” Andrew chuckles at that. Lucy is holding her dragon as I sit on the couch with her on my lap, “They declared war on us when they didn’t do squat and let their daughter bite our daughter again. Now we’re the Montagues and Capulets, the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s it’s a war between the DeLuca’s and the Hunts and going over to their territory for false promises of peace is like asking out loud where the trap is and how hard we should step on it.”

Andrew sits next to us and grins at Lucy who’s busy biting her dragon’s arm, “Be honest Lucia who’s more melodramatic, me or your mama?”

“You really don’t want us ganging up on you when she’s a teenager because you don’t stand a chance.” I coldly inform him.

“Amber all I’m saying is that tonight don’t think of it as a dinner table, think of it as a peace table. And I’m sure as mad as Altman is at him, I don’t know if she’ll approve of you making her husband bleed. I mean come on I think this war of ours is at a standstill after the ear assault. It’s just a couple of hours and if it comes down to it, we will leave. Plus, when was the last time you and I had a night out with our adult friends without a baby present?”

I think on it for a moment with Lucy in my lap and come up empty, “Fine we’ll go but if they piss me off, we tag team with Bailey and Warren and go all Rocky and Creed on their Drago.”

“I’m pretty sure Creed died.” Andrew reminds me.

“Because he didn’t tag out with Rocky do you see what we’ll do differently?” Andrew chuckles and kisses me and then Lucy and goes back to the kitchen to his peppers. I exhale at the predicament I got myself in while my daughter is oblivious as she plays with her plush dragon. I grin at her in envy kissing her on top of her soft dark hair, “Your lucky to have parents who are willing to fight in the ring for you baby.”

[maschotch]

Few different thoughts on 701 and 702.

The unsub in 702 is so creepy and f'd up. It was pretty good writing.

I don't really understand the fued between JJ and Reid because at the end of 701 everyone is in the meeting room and looks fine. If they had written that Reid wasn't there then it would've made more sense in 702.

Also I didn't like the writing when Reid yells at JJ, it just didn't flow well.

I don't understand the whole "what if I had started taking Dilaudid again would you have let me part?"

Specifically the "would you have let me" part.

It should have ended at "What if I started taking Dilaudid again?"

And going to JJ's house crying. That's not really Reid's character...he doesn't really ask for help, people usually ask him if he's okay and eventually he may say something...like with the drug problem or the headaches...

What do you think?

701 was one of their worst episodes honestly. the whole doyle arc was done so well, which makes it so much worse when the finale falls flat. i think bringing declan’s mom as a foil for lauren was cool (and low empathy emily interacting w no empathy doyle is fucking hilarious), but other than that, it was just so… disappointing. all that build up for nothing. even the reunion felt insincere (other than shemar who acted his fuckijg ass off w that kicked puppy look). no one really reacted. idk they just made that whole ep so… uninteresting. like it wasnt entertaining at all and made absolutely no sense for anyone. truly a waste. the doyle arc couldve been so good if they just managed to stick the landing

702 was definitely the most blatant ableism in a while.. that being said, it’s a fun episode bc they make him so vile. and tbh i kinda like the little reid jj drama.. it does admittedly feel like it comes outta nowhere, and it’s not even bc the last episode didnt build up to it—we just haven’t seen jj/reid interact in an emotionally vulnerable way? like of all people, jj feels like the last person reid would go to if he needed to cry. she’s shown him nothing but disdain or indifference when he’s ever emotional around her. but i do think it’s fun that they played w the betrayal. jj’s annoyance that reid hadn’t forgiven her yet was so in character and it was interesting to see that confrontation

i dont mind their fight honestly. yeah it’s a little choppy and all over the place w reid jumping from one point to another, but i think it works bc 1) when anger reaches a certain point it becomes difficult to think linearly and 2) reid in particular isn’t exactly known for being in touch with his feelings, so he’s dealing with it while arguing. all his emotions are bubbling up at once, all the different reasons he has to be (rightfully btw) upset. reid is already a little scatterbrained and has a hard time focusing—he has so much going on in his mind at any given time that it’s hard for him to control when he’s this frustrated. all things considered i think he got his points across pretty well

i think it’s interesting that he brings up his addiction now when it’s gone unmentioned for like three seasons. i think it shows that (yeah the writers probably just forgot/didnt care) he’s pretty private about it. it’s something that was embarrassing for him, and we know he doesnt have the healthiest standards for deserving self respect. it’s partly bc he wants to be private about it and partly bc his attempts to reach out went ignored in the early stages of his addiction. so he’s been quietly struggling in the background all this time—recovery isn’t linear either. it’s definitely realistic for him to want to turn to a familiar sense of release. i think that’s what he was trying to convey: how deeply this hurt him. he was in genuine pain, and he resents jj for letting him suffer when she knew emily was still alive. to be fair i dont think he’s processed that she didnt really have a choice, or thought at all about the repercussions of jj telling the truth. bringing up dilaudid was his way of saying “what if it got that bad? how miserable do i have to be to earn mercy, to earn the truth? do i have to risk ruining my life for you to be honest?”

idk. jj was doing what she could (what she had been ordered to do) to protect emily, so i dont blame her for keeping quiet. but reid is also entitled to his anger—it’s very fair of him to be upset at the perceived betrayal from a (supposedly) close friend. the problem is that jj is rejecting reid’s emotions for a second time, this time without reason. she expects him to be perfectly understanding and everything to go back to normal as if nothing has changed. but that’s her own fucked up little coping mechanism lol. im actually a big fan of this moment (even if they didnt provide any fucking context)

[hahahahahangst]

Nothing else matters (Be The Young 19)

GIANT TW which will be valid for each episode for suicidal thoughts, self-h*rm, violence, cursing, relatives dying, mentions of s*x, s*xual assault

All chapter titles are song titles, some of them translated from Italian songs. We start from the first season and make out way through the series. I will break canon (mostly from the S2 finale) but will try to get back into it for the sake of ✨ lore ✨ .

Summary: Emily's life used to be normal. Until one day, her family died, leaving behind just one letter.

"After reading this whole letter, call John Winchester. [...] He’s your real father."

MASTERLIST

Nothing else matters

Never opened myself this way Life is ours, we live it our way All these words, I don't just say And nothing else matters

“Dean, I can’t.” Cried Emily. “I can’t see him like that.” Dean exhaled, quickly gazing behind him to make sure Sam was still passed out. 

“Emily, he’s going to be just fine. It’s just holy water. He won’t even feel it.” 

“You don’t know that, okay? You’ve seen the marks it leaves. It’s like acid.” 

“So what, we let the demon in there?” 

“What- no! I’m just saying I don’t want to look while you hurt Sam!” 

Dean glared behind him again, impatient. “You know what? Grow a pair. You can’t be a hunter and a little scared girl in distress.” He dismissed her and turned back. 

“Really? Grow a pair? You want me to act like I lost my mind? Randomly punch people, shoot my brother- what’s your problem?”

“Not like you lost your mind, like a hunter!” Dean turned back to look at her. “You’ve been in the life for years and still get stuck in this crap? You want to be a hunter? Prove it.” He handed her the bucket he had filled with holy water. “Be the though bitch you’ve been pretending to be.”  

Emily’s heart started to race. Dean wanted her to be tough? She could definitely satisfy him. Vexed, Emily grabbed the bucket from Dean’s hands and looked at Sam. His head was dangling from his shoulder and he was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. 

Maybe she could be tough. She could try. 

She took a deep breath. “So?” Asked Dean, impatient. 

“Give me a second.” 

“We don’t have a second. Just- watch and learn, okay?” He walked towards her and snatched the bucket away from her, disappointed. He immediately threw the entire content of it on Sam. With a strong sizzling sound, Sam woke up screaming. Emily cringed to the horrible mix of sounds.

“Would you look at that…“ He said, heavy breathing. “The Olsen twins, back from the dead.” 

“How about I smack that smartass right out of your mouth?” Said Dean. 

“Sam's still my meat puppet. I'll make him bite off his tongue.”

“No, you won't be in him long enough. Bobby.” 

The man, who had been standing in a corner, angrily looking at the two siblings argue, started reciting an exorcism. Dean talked over him. 

“See, whatever bitch-boy master plan you demons are cooking up? You're not getting Sam. You understand me? 'Cause I'm gonna kill every one of you first.” He said, bitter. Sam seemed to struggle, in pain, but then started laughing maniacally. Bobby looked up, surprised, but kept reciting.

“You really think that's what this is about? The master plan? I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan.” Said Sam, with a smug expression, suddenly not in pain anymore. 

“Oops. Doesn't seem to be working. See, I learned a few new tricks.” He continued. Then, he started reciting something in Latin of his own. Emily looked at Bobby. 

“What is that?” She asked, not recognizing the spell. The man didn’t have the time to answer her, because the room started shaking. Feeling something falling on her, Emily looked up and saw the demon’s trap Bobby had set up, breaking with the ceiling. After a couple of seconds of chaos, the room went silent.

“There, that’s better.” Said Sam, evil. With a nod, Dean and Bobby flew against the walls of the room. Sam looked up, confused, and saw Emily still standing. She raised a hand at her. Emily felt a force trying to push her away, but was able to resist it. It felt the same way it would have felt if it was a kid pushing her. Sam looked even more confused, which suggested Emily that maybe something wasn’t going according to plan. 

“Trouble in paradise, fella?” She asked, trying to think of something she could do. Dean and Bobby were on the floor, passed out, and she was on her own. 

“What’s going on?!” Asked Sam, angry. “You’re not supposed to be this strong!” The demon’s words caught Emily’s attention. Sam walked towards her, visibly upset. “That’s okay-” He said, punching her. “We can settle this the old way.” Sam grabbed Emily from her hair, making her scream in pain. As much as she tried to set herself free, she couldn’t. Sam was stronger than her, so possessed Sam could only be extremely stronger than her. “Has anybody told you you’re a real bitch?” Said the demon, punching Emily’s already broken nose. “Sending me back to hell like that- real slut move.” The third punch almost made Emily lost her senses, but she finally recognized who was inside Sam. It was Meg. Emily looked around, knowing full well she had to do something. “By the way, I saw your dad down there.” Continued the demon. “He doesn’t say hi.” Emily scoffed, angry. “And Sam? Oh, if he could talk about you…“ Meg held Emily higher and closer to her, pulling her up from her hair and sustaining the rest of her weight by holding her neck. As she spoke, Emily felt angrier and angrier. “He knows full well that you’re gonna be the one that goes dark side first.” She hissed. Emily felt a sudden wind filling the room, getting stronger as she got angrier. “He can’t wait to shoot you in the face and get it over with.” Suddenly, a book, coming out of nowhere, hit Sam’s head, making the demon lose their concentration and take a step back. Emily knew she had to make her move. If she could move the door, she could for sure move bodies as well. But was it going to be harder? What if she failed? All her doubts were wiped when she saw Sam stand back up and lead towards her. She just had to think it, and his body flew towards the wall, slamming against it violently. A shiver went down her spine as she realized Sam had passed out again. Pinned there, his sleeve had moved up, exposing a mark on his forearm. Emily recognized it from one of Bobby’s books as a binding lock, something that kept the demon inside of Sam’s body despite the exorcism. She knew exactly what to do. She approached his body carefully, scared he might wake up all of a sudden. 

“Sam, if you can hear me, I’m very sorry.” She said, as she extracted a knife from her back pocket and used it cut through the mark. With the mark broken, Sam’s eyes shot open, black as the night, and then he screamed, vomiting a huge amount of black smoke. 

With the demon gone, Emily fell to the ground, exhausted. She leaned on a pile of books which has crashed down during the fight, and tried to calm herself down. Everything around her was spinning, her body slowly going numb, her breath becoming shorter and shorter and panic making way into all her limbs. She opened her eyes and saw Sam’s bleeding arm. 

She had to do something. 

She had to stop the bleeding, but she couldn’t, her legs won’t move, her hands won’t be steady enough. 

“Emily!” Called Dean’s voice, barely overcoming Emily’s thoughts. A lightbulb exploded over her, making both Emily and Dean flinch. Emily looked at Dean helping Sam up. He took a step, but almost fell again, holding his arm, in pain. Emily heard the sound of a window breaking behind her. “Emily!” Called Dean again, alarmingly looking at her while he wrapped Sam’s arm in a piece of fabric. “Stop!” That was when she realized, the lightbulb, the window, it was all her. With a dull thud, a whole stack of books fell over. Emily looked at Dean, short of breath, and pleaded for help. 

Probably for the first time since they had met each other, Dean seemed to understand exactly what was going on with her. She couldn’t stop, she couldn’t control anything, not even her thoughts.

What was she becoming?

Why was it happening? 

Why did she seem to have the same powers as demons? 

Was she one of them? 

How long before Dean was going to kill her? 

Was she turning into something evil? 

Was she evil?   

“Emily!” Dean’s voice finally rose over everything else. Emily looked at him and regained consciousness of her surroundings long enough to realize she was lying on the floor, uncontrollably crying and trying to scratch the floor beneath her to release the tension that was building in her body. Dean towered over her, worried. “Look at me!” She said, stopping her from scratching the floor any longer. “It’s over, it’s okay.” The tension kept building up and with it, the urge to get rid of it. She closed her eyes and started banging her head on the floor. Dean quickly let go of her arm. “Emily- STOP!” He said pushing her head on the floor to stop Emily from hurting herself. “It’s over. You’re safe now.”

[a-persistent-cat]

I finally got around to watching The Witcher : Blood Origin, and I’m just super confused why everyone hates it so much. I mean yeah, okay, it wasn’t exactly God Tier Cinema or anything, but neither was The Witcher. It definitely took itself more seriously, and I wonder if maybe people went into it expecting the same light hearted camp that came from The Witcher? But that doesn’t change the fact that while Blood Origin did have some issues, and it took a different approach that The Witcher, it was still entertaining.

My overactive mind wants to say people’s seemingly uncalled for hate has more to do with the current state of society and perhaps how the plot gets a little too close to the truth for some people’s comfort. You know, a young idealistic girl with good intentions but no firm grasp on reality tries to fix things that SHE thinks are unfair and and only makes things worse for everyone… I mean, honestly, I was on her side right up until the point where she started trying to actively take control of the situation. But I also realized from the very beginning how badly that was going to end, where she was too naive to realize what she was going up against. I will admit, her ending was unsatisfying. Like you see the moment she realizes what she did, and then decided at the very end, rather than acknowledge it or apologize, she uses that opportunity to tell people not to forget her? It’s like a 180 followed by another 180 three seconds later.

Fucking Balor. He was such an amazing villain, okay? This is what I want all of my villains to be like. A guy who worked his ass off to overcome every obstacle in his way and make a life for himself while simultaneously holding the trauma of being a low born until it basically turned him into something so much worse than the monsters that had been holding him back his whole life. It’s just. Guh. Like I hate you because you’re awful, but also I feel for you because you’re a product of your environment.

Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I get it. You have these seven heroes, the main characters, who you spend a majority of the show watching, but they’re all kind of underdeveloped compared to the villains. They’re boring archetypes with no real soul. You can root for them because they’re the “good guys”, but they’re not terribly interesting. Except for Meldof (anyone else feel super weird when writing fantasy names? Like where does this shit even come from? A random letter generator?). But even Scian is kind of a cliche, but I do think she did so well at pulling that cliche off that it wasn’t quite as annoying as it could have been. And even they are slightly off to the side main characters. And Eile, who does have an interesting back story, the concept of a warrior deciding to become a traveling bard then going back to being a warrior for revenge or redemption is another cliche. And I’m sorry, but major Mary Sue alert, okay? Then you have Fjall, who is straight up boring. And they’re the two main characters. Why wasn’t the same amount of thought put into developing the TWO MAIN CHARACTERS as was put into the two main villains?

And yeah, it was predictable. So, so predictable. The only time I was caught off guard was when it turned out that Callan followed them because he wanted to help them, not turn them in for the bounty. And when Scian went to the palace, I had a brief moment of surprise before I realized what she was doing. But honestly, I never really go into anything expecting to be surprised, so I’m never disappointed in that respect.

I might eventually go through an episode by episode recap or review or whatever thingy. Because I actually really enjoyed this one.

[passionpluto]

4 and 10 for MLP

4) Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

go back to sleep coco x mosely isn't real it only exists in your imagination

Warning: this is gonna be petty as all hell, but I'm going to have to say Sparity for one big reason--my first ex shipped it hard. He wrote Sparity fics and everything, and got fairly big in the fandom for doing so. Now, I was always a little uncomfy with Sparity due to the age gap, but was fine with it just being a cute little crush, but after we broke up, I suddenly found myself losing any love I might've had for it. I still think Spike and Rarity are very cute as friends, especially as Rarity grows to view Spike as an equal rather than just as her other friend's kid brother, but fan content of them anything other than that is an instant turn-off for me.

On a much shorter note, I've also never liked Spike and Sweetie Belle together (even when I did tolerate Sparity) for a much different, yet similar reason. Sweetie Belle is her own filly and deserves to be evaluated on her own merits, and I feel like that would be just about impossible when your BF spent a good chunk of his childhood crushing on your older sister. Obviously, Spike wouldn't mean to do that, but I feel like it'd be almost impossible to not have these types of insecurities in a situation like this, because intrusive thoughts are assholes. Plus it just reminds me of that whole thing in Great Expectations when the losing childhood friend in the love triangle gets together with the dude's brother-in-law, and as an English major, I'd really prefer not to remember that Charles Fucking Dickens wrote that kind of end-of-romance-novel plot twist crap.

in short my headcanon is that spike is a short king, a bisexual king, and that's he's in love with a...well, you get the idea

10) Most disliked arc? Why?

The OG Crystal Empire arc, hands down. While the Pony of Shadows arc also disappointed me a bit for similar reasons as I'm about to go into here, it saved itself from this fate by at least having some pieces of interesting lore, mostly with regards to Stygian. The idea of the one normal guy in a group of legendary magical people turning to dark magic to catch up to their level and having that backfire on him is heartbreaking to me, so I'm able to forgive the rest of the arc's shortcomings as a result.

However, the Crystal Empire arc...didn't really have that much lore going for it. While the show progressed a bit towards it later on, I found myself really not caring about Twilight's test during the two-parter compared to all the lore the episode could have had.

The Crystal Empire itself is a really fascinating concept--imagine a land made entirely of crystal, where even the beings themselves are made of crystal, ruled over by a dark, shadowy king with Sauron vibes. Sounds cool, right? Let's not focus on that and instead focus on the Mane Six setting up a festival! How does Cadence tie into this empire's history? Let's literally never explain that outside of expanded universe stories fans have to go out of their way to read! And nerf Shining Armor again for his second two-parter in a row! All while airing copious amounts of Gak commercials! (God, does anyone still remember that meme?)

And speaking of remembering stuff, does anyone remember that cool-ass thing Legend of Korra did where it cut to the first Avatar for a couple of episodes, allowing us to learn about the ancient stuff in the ancient world before going back and showing the implications it had on the modern world? If the Crystal Empire arc had been like that, if we'd gotten to see how the Empire worked before Twilight's test, the story we got in the S3 premiere would have been so much better as a result. And who knows, maybe that's the direction things could've gone if S3 hadn't been a lower-budget half-season due to Equestria Girls. I like to think there's a universe somewhere where we somehow got Equestria Girls, a full Crystal Empire arc, and at least 3 more Babs-focused episodes in S3, but them's the breaks. Blame Lightning Dust for glitching out and attempting to destroy the VR used to create the AI ponies, causing the programmers/writers to run out of budget for the rest of S3 (yes, this is an actual fanfic plot I wrote).

I never really realized how much of an issue I had with this arc until I sat down to put it into words and now...yeah, taken as its own story without later seasons in mind, it doesn't really have many redeeming qualities to me. At least The Success Song helps pump me up before tests, though!

[earth4angels]

Hey I just wanted to drop by to say that you have nothing to be worried about regarding writing and posting the second part of To Love.

I know I’m just the local weirdo who pops in your ask box with story ideas and theories and you probably think I’m annoying and strange but I just wanted to say that you are an amazing writer, hands down one of the best writers in the Jace fandom in particular like you just have such an amazing grasp on his character. You have been working so hard and stressing and it’s because you really care about your characters and your writing and you want to make your fans happy.

I get why you’ve been stressed about the anons who are freaking out about To Love chapter 3. But I just wanted to give some words of encouragement. At the end of th day, it is your story and you know and understand Jacaerys better than a lot of people in this fandom.

Your story is yours and yes you get requests and feedback but please just follow your instincts and trust yourself and write the story that you want.

To help your stress about the anons freaking out about Jace and his girlfriends and potential drama and bumps in college, just try to turn it into a positive: you have so many fans that are so invested in this story that you posted about a week ago like that is huge accomplishment that you should be proud of.

Yes some of the anons are kind of rude, pushy, demanding and stressful but try turn that into a positive as well: they freaking out and worried because they really care about your story and the world and lore that you have created from scratch. They want to see Jace and his girlfriend be happy because you have created and woven such a beautiful relationship in a few thousand words. Like we just got a small window, a peak, a glimpse into this established relationship which was built off of a years-long bond. You are a masterful writer who implied so much history and lore and love between not only the couple but their families as well.

Like your fans want to see more of this amazing couple that you have established and they are so worried because with your story, they care and love it so much. Like a few anons were talking about calling out of work or pretending to be sick at work to read it.

Overall, please don’t be worried. You writing is fantastic and everyone is dying to read what you have planned to write next. Also, please don’t feel bad about the 9,000-10,000 word count. You did not get carried away and everyone loves long fanfictions, especially when it comes to one shots. You clearly worked your ass off on this and stress and worry because care so much about your work, your magnum opus if you will

You got this ❤️Just try to turn every criticism into a positive because you are amazing and deserve all the praise you have been getting. Please try not to doubt yourself. I bet if you posted To Love, Chapter 2 right after the episode, your fans will be so happy.

But most importantly, I think you will be happy when you finally post it and see everyone lose their minds and you get to see all the positive feedback! Trust me

IM GETTING TO THIS SO LATE BUT I PROMISE I HAVE AO MANY ASKS !! i love u so much my angel , ure literally a light in my life 🤍🐇 this meant the entire world to me you don’t know how much im smiling and kicking my feet at this — you’re kind and adorable and i love when you come on my asks with new things like it’s just so sweet!!

your words of encouragement is everything bc i use all the feedback now to push me to write more, to deliver something beautiful for you all, ill work hard to not disappoint, i love you so much ill keep saying it again and again.

i wish i can pin this for my own sake to encourage me every day when i’m overthinking something.. (i’ve been on a writers block for three days now)

gah you don’t know how much i needed this 🤍🐇💭