#literally the only way i accept his departure

[lucy-mclean]

I’m never gonna let you go.

Natalie Manning and Will Halstead in Chicago Med (Seasons 1 — 8)

[mc-critical]

1.10 / 1.09

[lordoflucky]

Quick over-analysis of the ways Barok and Albert address one another, because ace attorney loves showing personality through how characters refer to each other, and I love analyzing it.

Easy one out of the way, Albert exclusively refers to Barok as "Barok" regardless of the situation. He is the only character to do this, with every other character referring to him as some variation of "Prosecutor/Lord van Zieks". This establishes their friendship from the get-go, while also being a bit jarring to the audience as literally no one calls him just "Barok". Even characters who are closer to him, like Gregson and Stronghart, still call him "van Zieks". As far as Albert is concerned, that's just his good friend Barok, not the intimidating Prosecutor Lord van Zieks.

Barok meanwhile has two major ways of referring to Albert:

Firstly, "Albert". This one's simple, he's just reciprocating Albert's first name address, and further cementing their friendship. This is used almost exclusively outside of the courtroom, meanwhile within the courtroom he almost only uses "Professor Harebrayne". An exception to this is right after Albert is forced to accept that the experiment is a failure Barok says:

"And as for you… …Albert. You can't ignore this any longer."

It's a sudden departure from the distant, professional address he's been using the entire trial. It's also a much kinder approach than Barok usually takes when referring to defendants (or anyone really), something Susato comments on directly by saying she's "Never heard him speak that way before." He's breaking the Reaper Persona for just a moment to give his friend a firm, yet ultimately gentle, push.

Back to "Professor Harebrayne", while on the surface it seems distant there is one scene that shows an extra dimension. During the "Laudable not Laughable" scene, a sequence dedicated to Barok giving Albert what is essentially a pep-talk, you would expect him to return to the "Albert" address as seen earlier. Instead, he continues to use "Professor Harebrayne". My interpretation is that Barok is specifically calling attention to the fact that Albert is Professor Harebrayne. He has a title which he earned that is proof of his abilities as a scientist. Following that logic, "Professor Harebrayne" isn't just for formality's sake, but also a representation of the respect Barok holds for Albert separate from their status as friends.

However, Barok actually has a third way of referring to Albert that is used exactly once. In the line directly preceding Albert's (false) confession to murder, Barok says:

"What's all this about… Mr Harebrayne?"

Mr Harebrayne. Not Professor, not Albert, Mr.

If "Professor Harebrayne" is meant to show respect, and "Albert" is meant to show fondness, then clearly "Mr Harebrayne" is the absence of both.

He's not "Brilliant Scientist Professor Harebrayne" and he's not "Dear Friend Albert", he is Mr Harebrayne and he is about to do something so, so stupid. And there's nothing Barok can do to stop him.

My chosen interpretation is that this is Barok's desperate attempt to verbally smack some sense into Albert. This is like the Barok equivalent of grabbing Albert by the shoulders and yelling "What the hell do you think you're doing???"

As an aside, this comes right before the "...Albert. You can't ignore this any longer" line. Meaning the latter can almost been seen as an apology for being so harsh moments before.

Just, Mr Harebrayne. It's such a minor change, but I adore it so much. With how much care ace attorney puts into the way characters refer to each other, I have to assume it was intentional.

[c-rose2081]

The Fabric of Us

—

Mother was kind now.

She was good.

The time travel worked and everything was fine. Except it wasn’t fine, cause Chloe had vanished from beside her. Taking in her mother—taking in Bridget—now swathed in pink and hearts (the Queen she was always meant to be), Red smiled, but discreetly looked around the bustling quad for her friend.

Oddly, she didn’t see Queen Ella anywhere either. Hadnt she been sitting in the front row for Headmistress Uma’s presentation? King Charming was present, dressed in a blue suit instead of a white one, but his wife and daughter were nowhere to be found. Puzzled and a bit worried all of a sudden, Red felt a hand brush against her arm.

“Red? Darling, you look a million miles away.”

Red turned to her mother as she returned from the stage. “Sorry. I was just…looking for someone:”

“Oh?” Mother’s brow rose curiously high. “You’ve made a friend already? That’s my girl.”

“You could say that, I just don’t know where she went.”

“Perhaps you’ll be roommates,” mother suggested with a smile, using both hands to push her long red hair back over her shoulders. “I’m excited to have you attending Auradon Prep this year, I’m sure you’ll do well.”

Nodding but not entirely sure how to accept a compliment from her mother (someone who’d only ever scorned her), Red blinked as a head of curls bounced towards King Charming. She turned at the sight of them, heart rising, but frowned again. There wasn’t a hint of blue hair to be seen. The newcomer was partially hidden by the King’s torso as he turned to address her. She offered a polite bow, giving away that this was a servant; not the person Red wanted to see.

Yet she couldn’t help but get closer. Maybe the King would have some idea where his family went?

“…I want my daughter to be comfortable in her new dorm,” the King told the girl. “Ask your mother to bring Malia’s things around front, I’ll have them carried up by the footmen.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

Red blinked. That voice. She furrowed her brows, quickening her pace.

“If you see my daughter, would you tell her to come back here? I haven’t seen her all afternoon; it was very impolite to miss the celebration.”

“Of course, your majesty. If I see the Princess, I’ll let her know.”

Malia? Malia who? Red was becoming more and more confused by the second. What was King Charming talking about?

“And Chloe?”

Chloe. Red dug her heels in, her eyes widening a touch. She knew the servant's round face; her large dark eyes and her curls. Except they had lost their color, no longer a brilliant turquoise, but a mossy, dark brown. She had a pair of glasses sitting on her nose and wore the garb of a palace servant, rather than a princess. What in the underworld? “Tell Ella about our departure plans? I wish to be out of here before traffic gets bad.”

Chloe nodded, giving another polite bow in her long navy skirt.

“Yes, your majesty.” And then she was off, striding away from the king like she wasn’t his daughter. Puzzled and alarmed, Red ran after her, grabbing onto the girl's arm and tugging her to one side. She yelped in surprise, jerking away hard. “Get off of me.”

“Chloe! What is going on? What…you were literally right beside me, what happened?”

Chloe glanced up at Red in utter bafflement, blinking once, then twice. Her lovely face scrunched as she arched a brow, bewilderment turning to suspicion.

“Sorry,” she drawled, glancing behind Red as though looking for someone else. “But do I know you?”

—

—

Just thinking some thoughts…a little snippet of something I may or may not continue. Haven’t decided yet.

Basically Red and Chloe’s meddling in time results in Ella no longer being royalty, King Charming having met and married a different girl when she didn’t attend Castlecoming.

Chloe still exists (the fabric of time will always reassert itself), but not in the way Red remembers.

[jesncin]

So Two Face in Caped Crusader (spoilers)

Out of all the characters that were announced for Caped Crusader, I was most intrigued over their potential re-imagining of Harvey Dent as Two Face. His description as "a corrupt DA who uses his position to help rich criminals evade justice [...] when he gets his face disfigured, for the first time in his life he actually feels empathy for other people" felt the most substantially interesting a change, even if it sounded like a huge departure from his standard origin. I'm here for shakeups, this show is already establishing itself as having an out there elseworld energy to it so I was curious.

for reference, this is how I'd visualize a very standard Harvey origin story. It's a typical, straightforward tragedy that works. A mix of Harvey's fall from grace as Gotham's good boy to a criminal makes it all the more devastating when he's close friends with Bruce Wayne- someone who keeps giving Harvey second chances because he feels he can see just a glimpse of his old friend there. A great dark reflection of Bats, 10/10, no wonder people consider Harvey as strong an arch-enemy as Joker. Simple, effective, functional.

This is what I thought Caped Crusader was going to do based on what Bruce Timm said in promotion. It's a take with some good merit- I'm imagining a Harvey who's a corrupt, privileged hot jerk who gets humbled when that corruption bites back and disfigures him. But instead of that accident awakening "previous violent tendencies" or an alter identity, perhaps (as a switch up) it's instead something that marginalizes him. His pretty privilege is literally half effective now, and suddenly he is on the receiving end of judgement he so willingly gave others. He'd be depressed, anxious, maybe some PTSD going on over the acid face incident- recognizing that many of the rogues are like him but he chooses empathy instead.

The standard tragedy of Bruce seeing glimpses of his "old friend" in Two Face would have to be changed. Maybe this time Bruce is surprised at this change of heart? Believes in second chances even if Harvey's methods can be sorta out there (kinda reminds him of himself)? Would Harvey even be violent at all? Perhaps he genuinely became a kinder, empathetic guy but has a tragic end- forcing Bruce to wonder if that kind of hope for change is possible. Or bolder yet, make him a redeemed bad guy and one of the people on team good. Maybe he's the exception to the One Bad Day theme- perhaps Gotham doesn't poison everything good.

I'm not saying my take on their description is perfect or anything (it's certainly not as perennial and self-sustaining a villain motive. Feels more built for a tragic end or redemption, etc.), just that this is where my brain went, and thought "yeah there's something here, sure I'll hear you out."

So imagine my surprise when Caped Crusader delivered what's basically a very non-committal version of Two Face's standard origin???

The lack of contrast between his pre and post-accident transformation (other than "he's more extreme now") makes the change way less dramatic. Harvey starts off as a corrupt DA who butts heads with Good Lawyer Barbara Gordon, but apparently he's not corrupt enough to take an offer from the mob. So when he does eventually accept their offer out of pressure, it doesn't feel as dramatic a descent since he was already set up to be some level of corrupt. His "good change of heart" post-accident doesn't feel that dramatic when the whole reason he got acid-faced is because he grew the morals to reject the mob's assistance.

Then there's his relationship with Bruce. It's worthy of a whole other post so I won't go too deep into it, but Caped Crusader makes it clear that Bruce Wayne in this take is a performance. Not only do we barely see Bruce and Harvey interact throughout the first half of the show, but when they finally do they don't feel particularly close. Bruce went missing one time and Harvey was concerned for him, but they forgot to wrap that up. Later after Harvey's acid-accident, Bruce takes him out to dinner. This is revealed to be a play Batman's doing to pressure Harvey into telling Bruce who assaulted him. It's framed... very strangely. The show makes it look like Bruce pushed Harvey over the edge to get answers, but what Bruce did wasn't particularly cruel or unique to him. If it wasn't Bruce, someone else would have asked Harvey out to dinner eventually. If Bruce forced him to do a public interview with the press (putting Harvey on the spot publicly before he's ready), then I'd get it. But taking Harvey out to dinner among friends isn't the cruel and inconsiderate act the show frames it to be. Then they have a meet up again in Arkham, where Bruce attempts to comfort Harvey into accepting Barbara's offer to represent him. It's still not a very genuine interaction. "Don't start growing a conscience now, Dent." it still feels like a play on Batman's part. Like he wants to protect Harvey so that a less-evil politician is in charge of Gotham. Not as a friend.

By creating a Bruce that isn't personally close to Harvey, we lose what makes their standard dynamic so tragic. There's literally a line of dialogue where Harvey has to tell us, the audience, that Bruce is his old friend because what they've shown us isn't very convincing. So who does that leave as his foil? Barbara Gordon. Yes, because when you make a Batman that doesn't care to have genuine relationships with his cast system because he's so dedicated to the mission, that means other characters who care more (Barbara) have to fill that void. There's a reason why it's Barbara who causes Harley to turn over a new leaf, the reason why the police force are more centered in the narrative compared to Bats, why she's the one targeted with an assassination attempt.

I was honestly surprised that post-acid face incident, Two-Face's arc was fairly standard? He goes on a killing spree and doesn't believe in the Justice system anymore. Only this time Harvey's moments of "humanity" are signaled with him covering his pretty boy face, framing his disfigured side as the empathetic one instead of his pretty boy side. That's basically it though, it's an aesthetic change and the story would play out the same regardless of which half of his face he covered during those moments. I thought the disfigured face representing empathy was meant to symbolize something. Like marginalization of a sort? But it really was just that- "it's the other side that's the nice one now".

After Harvey's murder spree he's shown to be kinder, but I wouldn't really call it empathy (as described in the promotion). It felt more like guilt. Harvey felt he wasn't worth saving or protecting because of his actions (pre and post acid face). He's disgusted by what he's able to get away with because of his privilege, but that's not exactly empathy is it? There's that moment Harvey helps an Arkham inmate get his comfort plush returned to him, but we don't know where that kindness comes from. What informs his empathy to criminals? It just sorta happened, unmotivated or thematic.

I figured if they're not committing to a drastically different Harvey, it meant they wanted to keep him as a long standing rogue so they made noncommittal changes to his origin. But nope, they killed him off in the last episode! Which makes me think "well then if you were going to kill him, then why not go all the way with a drastically different Harvey then??" That very obviously click-bait moment where Batman picks up a gun and fake-shoots a corrupt cop after Harvey is killed didn't even feel motivated because he was barely friends with Harvey. I'm not even convinced he's sad about his supposed friend being killed. Harvey risks his life to save Barbara after all.

It's all just a mess of pieces. They want to make brave new changes to Harvey's origin, but are held back by their noncommittal choices and their "crime fighting machine" version of Bruce. Out of all the rogues, Harvey was essentially the only one we got to see his fall from grace happen in real time. The rest of the rogues skipped to having a gimmick/costume/villain motive already and I think that robs us of being able to empathize with them. Yet even Harvey struggles thematically. The duality theme is absent, the tragedy of a childhood friend gone rogue doesn't exist, and the inclusion of the coin toss felt like an obligation instead of an integrated part of his ideals.

Batman said "Dent put his thumb on the scale in court sometimes, but he did care about justice." Really? Because the show started with Dent trying to get an innocent boy convicted as an ad for his mayoral campaign. You can't keep telling me this version of Harvey "cares about Justice" only to show me something else. If you had a Harvey who faked evidence or forced witnesses to lie in order to convict a bad guy Barbara didn't realize she was defending, then we'd have a properly morally grey situation that matches how Batman describes him in the show. Alfred ended the season saying "Harvey Dent was twisted by ambition. He lost sight of his own humanity." That's not what I watched. The Harvey Caped Crusader showed me started off as corrupt and every now and then did the right thing, and felt guilt over his power, post-acid face incident. It means something that the show essentially had to tell us how to feel about him, because the show itself certainly wasn't sure what to do with him.

[hanafubukki]

Diasomnia’s Self-loathing/Hatred

While re-reading chapter 2 of book 7 and thinking of all the events that took place upto chapter 6, I can’t help but think that for such a prideful and confident dorm, they are filled with self-hatred.

Silver and his view of himself. How he hasn’t done enough for Lilia. How he can’t do something as simply as smile as Lilia wished before his departure. How he never returned the love that his father gave him. As if love is a transaction? How 17 years to Lilia might mean nothing, but we know how wrong that is, don’t we?

Additionally, we saw how angry Silver was at his baby self. How he told his baby self he didn’t deserve to cry. The frustration his heritage caused him because of the pain it caused his loved ones. Even though the ring showed Silver all the happy moments Lilia had with him, Silver just felt more depressed. Thinking he doesn’t deserve the love.

But Lilia loves Silver. He raised him, taught him to fight, stayed with him all night when he was sick and so much more. Always spoke of his love in his actions. And Silver realized that at the end of chapter 5, how these actions are confirmation of Lilia’s love for him.

Then we have Malleus, and you can tell from his actions how frustrated and angry he is. He can’t tell Lilia how he truly feels because it was Lilia’s wish to leave. He can’t express himself because of his status as a Prince. For so much power he has at his disposal, he literally says he’s useless. His emotions only shown through the weather change that only Silvee noticed.

And then we have the egg hatching incident, Malleus instead of acknowledging that despite all the pain Lilia went through his happiest moment was still Malleus’ birth, focused on the pain that his birth caused. He offered to give Lilia a happier dream with his parents or with Silver. To acknowledge such would mean he has to accept what he couldn’t have.

(I cant help but wonder if this also means that Lilia wasn’t treated well at the castle and that’s why Malleus visited the cottage instead. Why he grew up isolated because he didn’t want to cause Lilia more trouble because of the senate)

We have seen how much Lilia loves Malleus as well and again it is through actions. Constantly checking up on the egg and giving it compliments, telling the egg how much he’ll take care and love him, giving his life and magic to Malleus, singing him a lullaby, all the gifts he would bring back, and we have seen Lilia learn to love eating and cooking more because of Malleus because Malleus would be happy, and so much more.

And then we have Lilia and his self hatred, how he felt he failed Meleanor and Levan, how he was desperate to find a way to hatch malleus and cure silver, he went through exile, and he was insulted for “tainting” the heir.

And yet, he learned to adapt and learned to love. He heard the cries of his sons from afar. He cradled them in his arms and loves them, but his insecurity is still there. He doesn’t want to be vulnerable to them nor have them waste their time on him. And you can’t help but think, has he truly healed? Or does a part of him still have that self-hatred?

We have seen how loved Lilia is as well, how much Silver loves his father greatly and wants to be there for him, how much Malleus loves him and Silver and visits them at their cottage and help raises Silver, the pain they both felt at Lilia’s departure, how they always think of bringing back gifts because it makes everyone happy, and how they both wanted Lilia to always be happy.

With Sebek, it’s an identity issue because of his background and because of his struggle with magic. But also, I can also see it be a struggle of the expectations laid on him. He’s a half human and fae. Not only does he have to manage himself in two worlds but now he also represents the peace between two races. His actions and demeanor will always be a reflection of this bridge. So he has to work hard and meet both sides, but it isn’t easy and he’s always training to be better. But at least, Sebek knows what he has and how privileged he is to have it unlike the other three. Whom his ultimate wish was for them to be happy.

There’s a saying about learned habits of love, but it’s also surprising how Diasomnia also has learned habits of self-hate.

In a book about love, it’s ultimately sad to see these characters always giving others their all but do not accept it themselves nor do they believe they deserve it.

[tending-the-hearth]

seeing percy, annabeth, and grover in the show, finally getting our first, real looks at them, and i can't stop thinking about the bridge from "try", one of the cut songs from the lightning thief musical.

The weight of the world's on my shoulders Like Atlas is crushing me down We're not brave, we're not strong, we're not soldiers My heart's just a drum, and, damn, does it pound

(not even touching on the atlas foreshadowing bc that gets me in a completely different way)

they're CHILDREN. this trio is a group of twelve-year-olds who have never faced this sort of danger before. not to mention what they've been through prior to this quest.

annabeth's run away from home because of her stepmother's hatred towards her. she's lost the person she sees as her older sister, and has pretty much no one who understands her.

percy has no one. from where he stands, his mother is dead, and his father doesn't care about him. he's been thrown into this world and all he knows is that everyone either thinks he should be dead or wants him dead.

grover's a failure. his father and uncle were killed, and his first time escorting half-bloods, he gets mixed around, and the daughter of zeus dies. this is his only chance to prove himself and find pan.

they're not soldiers. they're just trying to prove themselves and find somewhere they belong. they're not being brave, they're literally doing this because they have to. percy's the only one in the group with some kind of power, but even then, he hasn't been trained long, and doesn't know how to control it.

the tv series is going to absolutely wreck me because we know how traumatized and changed this trio becomes. we're going to see percy go from being bright-eyed and hopeful to weighed down and realistic. we're going to watch annabeth's heart break so many times, between thalia's death, luke's betrayal, and further down the road, thalia's departure with the hunt and luke's death. we're going to see grover's grief, his guilt, his desperation to be accepted and respected.

but we're also going to see them become a family, become an inseparable tangle of threads woven together by fate, and i cannot wait to see that.

[tomlinfonda]

The thing that gets me about the "laugh police" scene is that, for some reason, I think this is the most obvious Trent's love for Ted has ever been.

It's not only Trent's "I just want you to like it", but everything that led to it: His anxious glances, nervous nail-biting, his sighs and his high pitched tone when he sprinted across the room over to Ted's chair and got SO CLOSE to him... (their hands are almost touching...)

And then he was cut down by Ted and his entire demeanor changed, he lowered his voice and looked away and my heart just sank.

The way he looks down and then back up after telling Ted that he just wants him to like the book that he wrote about him and named after him...

This is blatant "in love" behaviour, Mr. Crimm! Your crush is showing!

And even after they say "Good night", he still lingers in the doorway, moves his chair, just hoping to steal one more minute together with Ted, who is leaving so soon.

Something else I find interesting is Trent's movement across the office.

He starts in his chair, then sprints at Ted's side, gets close to him, and after Ted's "laugh police" comment, he slowly moves away until he's out of the room. Ted's comment literally put distance between them. And again, they were so close to each other before.

My interpretation right now is that Ted, who does have feelings for Trent as well, forces this distance between them, maybe because he's not ready to accept his bisexuality, especially in the wake of Dottie's visit, especially with his departure imminent. Maybe he knows that getting closer to Trent would wreck his plans. He seems so determined to lock himself back into the suburban heteronormative box, and he can't risk jeopardizing that now.

And yet, when Trent is turned away, Ted looks at him like this:

[anghraine]

this is entirely unprompted on your end, but i love your darcy and faramir takes and wanted to get your opinion on aragorn/faramir as a ship.

i'm salivating over it and nobody. cares. but i just love how it can show the possibilities of book faramir being a "threat" to aragorn's kingship in a way that nobody else is...how they can relate through their shared ancestry but the entirely different ways it impacted them in their respective lives - something about aragorn being the heir of isildur, growing up surrounded by elves, arnor. something about faramir being distinctly aware of the legacy of the stewards, his numenorean heritage and how it's fading away in the world of men, gondor (my fav world in lotr, you are so under-appreciated, gondor.) i personally adhere to the stewards-were-most-likely-also-royalty headcanon because of that extra juicy tension. throw in the i-knew-your-father-as-a-young-man aspect, the whole steward-quite-literally-serving-in-wait-of-the-true-king aspect? it's everything.

i dunno. the natural cause and effect of "return of the king" & "departure of the steward" is so interesting to play with in a romantic context, especially if it keeps both of them in the limelight when naturally, it should only be one of them? i think it's the aragorn ship that pushes his character and ambition the most, and in the same way, it can push faramir to show more machiavellian traits, more of him utilizing his political power and/or personal strengths. especially since his canonical fate is extremely satisfying but also...very conclusively an *ending* if that makes sense.

i might just want to see faramir clashing with aragorn wanting to wage more war. let him cook! let the man speak about "queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves"!!!!

also must admit that it's my contrarian ass wanting to rebel against the fanon "aragorn never ever wanted to be king" + "faramir is a pathetic meow meow" headcanons. the existing faramir x aragorn fics i've read all adhere to it which is frustrating.

anyways, any thoughts on this ship i randomly latched on to?

Anon, this is my #1 Tolkien ship and actually one of the only m/m ships I've ever been super into. I used to guiltily sneak-read Aragorn/Faramir as a teenager because I grew up in a conservative community and hadn't come to terms with my own queerness at the time, and was still figuring out how to get by in that community just as a Democrat, much less a lesbian.

Anyway, I got a huge kick out of your ask because it's basically point-for-point my own feelings about them. If you haven't seen it, I even wrote a ship manifesto for them over ten years ago.

And unfortunately I do also agree that the (very PJ film-inflected) fanons around both characters have made it very difficult to find fic for the ship that isn't deeply OOC for the original versions of the characters (tbh the last time I looked, it was hard enough to even find F/A fics where Faramir had black hair, much less his deeper canon characteristics). Add in the fanon depictions of Gondor and the Stewardship, and a lot of what appeals about the pairing is lost for me. I read some good ones a longggg time ago, but wouldn't begin to know where to find them now.

(I know I should be the change I want to see and write some myself, but apart from the AU f/f and m/f/f versions, I think the closest I ever came to it was this post about a mostly-the-same-as-LOTR AU only with Faramir/Aragorn and this feeling explosion about "Faramir actually does accepts the dream-visions obviously intending him to be the one going to Rivendell but also it's Faramir/Aragorn.")

And if you haven't found it yet, my ship tag is #otp: love was kindled.

I hope you enjoy <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you think that Malleus would’ve had a different/harsher reaction to someone other than Silver being “awake”?

Also on a less serious note, that entire interaction gave me the vibes of an older sibling getting mad at a younger sibling for playing a game “wrong” which is odd bc I don’t really see Malleus and Silver as having that dynamic usually. I doubt it was purposeful but it was all that was running through my mind when reading the translations.

On the contrary, I feel like Malleus is madder that it's Silver who is "awake" and openly defying him than if it were anyone else doing it. (Yes, Yuu and Grim are also present but it is Silver and Silver alone who willfully turns down Malleus's manipulative tactics to get him to stay there in bliss and also "wakes" Sebek to join his cause.) I still think Malleus would be upset and try to force anyone else that was awake back into a slumber (as we see with Malleus attacking Silver, Sebek, Yuu, and Grim at the end of part 3 update), but the fact that it's Silver confronting him hits a particular nerve.

Firstly, Silver is someone that Malleus has known for years (even if it's a relationship of a prince and his knight), so it hurts close to home that this person with whom Malleus shares a bond with is disagreeing with him on such a big issue. It feels like a betrayal, especially considering that knights are supposed to be loyal to their masters. And even more importantly, Silver has also known Lilia--the character that triggered Malleus's initial anxieties regarding loneliness and the loss of loved ones--for years as well. In this way, they are all connected in a “found family” sense. Of all people, Silver should be the one who understands how Malleus is feeling and would theoretically support him, yet Silver instead denies and actively opposes Malleus's way of thinking, calling it "just a bad dream". Consider also that Silver rarely, if ever, raises his voice--so when he does yell, it's significant and big deal. Yeah, he'll raise his volume to like, call out for Malleus if he's looking for the young master, but Silver does not usually shout to the point where his voice breaks. The only other instance I can think of when Silver gets legitimately upset and yells is during Endless Halloween Night when he was concerned about the safety of Malleus and Lilia and also rightfully mad that it turned out to be an elaborate trick. The second instance is here and now, in book 7. In the scene where Silver rejects the happiness of being able to stay in his childhood home in the forest with Lilia forever and ever, he becomes a foil character to Malleus, the metaphorical light to his darkness. Both Silver and Malleus have a personal connection with Lilia and are deeply saddened by Lilia's departure (and potential death). The difference between them is that Silver is accepting it as an inevitability even if it hurts his feelings and he'll miss his father greatly... whereas Malleus stubbornly refuses to accept it. At that moment, Malleus is looking at a "mirror" (a common motif in Twisted Wonderland) of himself, at someone who IS able to deal with reality, no matter how cruel or harsh it is to them or what joy reality deprives them of. They are both fiercely demonstrating their love for Lilia in just as fierce(ly) opposing ways.

Here is Silver, staring his master right in the face and declaring that the dream Malleus is forcing on them is twisted and wrong, and that he won't have Malleus violating the final request Lilia made to them: to see him off with a smile. This dream isn't what Silver's father wanted, so he's willing to defy even his lord and make himself go through saying good-bye to Lilia to see that the wish is fulfilled. The nature of Silver’s UM even stands in direct opposition to Malleus’s. Silver is, quite literally, the sword to Malleus (the dragon).

WHAT'S CRAZY IS YOU CAN HEAR SILVER'S VOICE CRACKING BEFORE HE REJECTS THE DREAM'S VERY TEMPTING OFFER. Silver even confesses that he would like nothing more than to take Lilia's hand and to live out the rest of their lives together. It would be so, so, SO easy for him to embrace this convenient world where all his dreams come true and his father never leaves. But Silver would rather take the hard route and live "awake" being aware of life's difficulties and experiencing pain than live in denial and blissful ignorance (a route which Malleus has chosen to pursue). That's the thing with book 7; Malleus may technically BE "awake", but in reality he's (metaphorically) still dreaming, because he's constantly averting his eyes away from the truth, from reality, and from genuinely "waking".

... Anyway, that was all to say that I think Malleus is more upset that it's Silver--someone whom he has an established relationship and extensive history with, someone who is so alike him yet also different in very glaringly obvious ways--opposing him instead of another person.

[xcyphoz0a]

We’ll meet again

Gender neutral reader, angst TW/CW: you die, yeah. Character(s): Tighnari Word count: 1411 Proofread: n/a | Love is felt the most at times of farewells. | A/N: So I hit everyone with angst at the starting week of 2024, hehe. i quite literally wrote this at the asscrack of dawn so this might not have the best grammar

It’s quite common to hear the most affectionate, loving yet heartbreaking wails when people fall into the hands of farewells and departures, separated from each other.

You– being one of the nurses in the Akademiya run hospital, Bimarstan– knew it quite well.

You’ve heard more prayers to the archons in the hospital’s walls more than you’ve ever heard when you had visited Mondstadt’s cathedral.

Since then, you knew that these partings, goodbyes, were the situations when one had felt the emotion, ‘love’, the strongest.

Perhaps, it could also be felt the most at the most joyous and wonderful times– but it also depended on the person.

An individual could feel the most emotion when the two takes coerced separate ways, or vice versa.

Maybe this was the reason why so much fiction of star-crossed lovers were popular; holding the most emotion and grief that one could ever pour into words and paragraphs, bringing a reader to tears and puddles of overwhelming sorrow.

You would never have expected for this exact situation to happen to you– out of all the people in Teyvat, it had to be you, forced to live as a bedridden patient in the familar, alcohol scented walls of the hospital.

It was probably more likely that you would’ve lived life, awaiting your own death on the cold hospital bed, watching as your family members come and go, leaving flowers and heartfelt messages on the bedside. You wouldn’t have really felt much emotion of that common ‘love’ that you’ve ever wished for since you were little.

You wouldn’t have, though it wasn’t the trajectory that you had followed; rather something more meaningful, as you watched your lover take your hand, tracing the colder knuckles with his own warm hands– you know that when your time would grace your frail lying form, that emotion, that feeling of love, warmth and affection would wash over you with waves and waves of anguish and grief, spraying you with the cold while the warmth you missed would be pulling away and away from you, watching you with those wicked eyes, waiting for you to crash as the string you held frayed away, dropping you to the cold, hard arms of death itself.

Tighnari, by all means, was no idiot to the obvious signs of creeping death that had started to crawl its way into your health. He knew when your temperature started to drop, your breaths becoming rapid, how you started to lack the most simplest and the necessary energy to even lift your hand–he knew that it was best for you to let the dreams of normal life go, and give you time to accept yourself slowly into the arms of eternal slumber.

He disliked the feeling.

He wanted you to live more; he wanted you to become better.

Yet he knew that this ailment of yours would be something that current medical technology wouldn’t be able to fix. You knew– you knew from the start.

You had told him– and he remembers every last bit, that you wanted to live until the cold had finally taken over, slowly wiping his tears away gingerly as you smiled in response, attempting to reassure him.

He’d rather have you have Eleazar instead– at least that had something for someone to live, but this… this illness that only seldom heard about, wasn’t fixable, curable– it had no medication to alleviate whatever you had temporarily.

Despite the raging negativity swirling in his mind like sandstorms, your own reassuring had allowed him to find at least a source of comfort– ironic, he thinks, when he’s the one perfectly fine, and you’re on the bed, waiting for the time to come.

Though he thinks for the better– at least he had met you before the bedridden stage, at least he knows how bright yet calm you are, at least, he found someone to love– someone that taught him the new knowledge and emotion of love, affection, adoration…

He’s still grateful for your impact in his own life.

You’d tell him every night, when he visits, for him to find someone else, for him to find someone that has interests and activities aligned to his– for him to find someone to love again, more actively and more affectionately instead of someone on their deathbed–like you. Nevertheless he’d shake his head, ears swishing from left to right as he raises your hand to his mouth, mumbling how he’d never leave or find someone even after the the end of your time– how he wouldn’t, couldn’t, forget you.

In no given circumstances would Tighnari leave you forever. He reminds you, fennec foxes are partners for life, and I’d never leave you.

You’d always chuckle, finding the negation to your words amusing and adorable, wanting to take your hand and brush through the soft locks of his hair– but it takes too much energy in doing so. He knows. He’d notice the small twitches that your fingers would make, and bring your hand to his head, aiding you as you make small movements to brush his hair and ears–which no one had the privilege to, except for you.

The days and nights pass, and he’s always there, at your bedside as you two make little quiet jokes.

Soon enough, you find how even breathing becomes taxing–your muscles wanting you to rest, as you notice how talking becomes impossible without you stretching out the syllables to form a word.

Tighnari still comes and visits, staying near your bed until the red orange sun peeks through. He notices how you’ve become more quiet, and how you’d only stare at him with tired eyes as he speaks, talking about his day and how Collei, Cyno and the others are doing.

Sometimes the traveller visits along with Paimon, wishing you the best as you form a small smile, staring at your lover who talks in your stead.

Other times, Collei shuffles in with your partner, eyes scrunched in concern and worry for the two of you as she’d sometimes take a small nap near your side as you smile.

Seldom comes Cyno, with his busy schedule, still makes time to bid you the best, attempting to make some good and horrible jokes here and there to liven up the mood.

On the rare days, Alhaitham comes with Kaveh in tow, brought in by a much more tired Tighnari, wishing you the best as the two bicker, bringing out a small tired smile from you and your lover.

And perhaps, on one day does the small dendro archon come in with a slightly irked puppet, enjoying talking to you about her day while the Wanderer–or Scaramouche was it? – sits near his so called caretaker, both providing you their own farewell and wishes as Nahida holds your colder hand with her smaller pair, telling you how she hopes your dreams come true.

Your lover sits at the opposite side of the bed as he watches you interact with your visitors and friends, smiling at how despite the lack of communication, they all–including him, can feel the gratitude swooning from the bottom of your heart.

And despite the more uplifted mood with your visitors, you’d like your last moments to be with Tighnari, as he holds your hands, leant over as he presses a kiss on your lips, watching you take deep breaths, forming a sentence albeit slowly than the normal person, yet he waits.

“I… love… you… so…” you take another breath in, finding the weight on your chest increase exponentially.

“...much. …We…’ll… meet… again…”

You force your eyes to open as you feel the warmth of your lover’s tears on the side of your cheek, listening a faint, 

“I love you too… (Y/n).”

You close your eyes, finding peace as the room is filled with chokes and wails from the dark green haired man as he hugs your form tighter and tighter, awaiting for the smallest response– and he wishes at that moment, for your words to be real, as he helplessly latches on to your form as the waves of desolation comes and crashes in colossal waves, grappling on to him as it pulls him into the arms of grief.

Yet nothing happens, as he’s met with the chirps of birds and the sunlight that shines into the little window of the room that seem to mock him from afar, revelling in his grief and anguish in the alcohol scented walls of the hospital room.

[mindibindi]

Sometimes Things Just Work Out

Re-watching season 24 of SVU and some shippy themes emerged post-"Blood Out" that I haven't seen commented on, at least on here. So as we all know, Blood Out (24.12) gives us this telling moment:

The VERY NEXT EPISODE, "Intersection" (24.13) opens with a pretty extended proposal scene for what is just the teaser. The couple is played by two very appealing actors who get to establish their history and exchange cute banter, and there are some definite Bensler undertones:

New York is also Elliot and Olivia's city, bringing them together the first time around to fight crime and reuniting them more recently. Their entire relationship has taken place within the city limits. Without it, Elliot might still be back in Italy (or Queens) with Kathy and Olivia would be a single mom with a solid career and 5-star therapy routine. You might think the comparison is a stretch....UNTIL Josh with the cute topknot turns to his wisecracking gf and says she taught him the most important lesson of his life, which is:

Josh proposes, Emma joyfully accepts. But in the car ride home, there is a touch of sadness to their happy moment as Emma invokes her recently deceased sister. In EO terms, this loss could be said to reflect the shadow of Serena Benson, who never got to watch her daughter marry, settle down and have a family with the love of her life. Emma also worries about losing her engagement ring, which she of course does, when disaster quite literally hits them.

I won't go into the crime, which is horrific, but Emma and Josh's reactions are also reflective of Olivia and Elliot. Olivia meets with Emma a couple of times, noting that they seem to love each other very much and assuring Emma that she and Josh will get through this trauma. At their second meet, they discuss the fact that Josh has ghosted Emma and SVU, which...I dunno about anyone else, but that sounds pretty fucking Elliot Stabler to me. Speaking about the loss of Emma's sister, Olivia fills in the blanks with this:

...which is interesting. It implies that Olivia has used that enormous, unhealed wound of Elliot's departure to dwarf and diminish subsequent traumas and, in particular, her assault at the hands of William Lewis. Much like she used her mother's neglect and ultimate abandonment to shield her from feeling the impact of the many professional and personal wounds she experienced during her tenure as Elliot's partner. By using these deep personal wounds, inflicted by the two people most important to her, most loved and formative, she can shield herself from incoming hurts that are less personal, less predictable and less familiar. If so, if holding onto those familiar, formative wounds acts for Olivia as some kind of strange protection, that simultaneously honours those she loves most, then that would explain her resistance to letting go of the hurt Elliot caused when he walked away. Hence, her not being ready for a relationship after two plus decades.

While Emma refuses to give in to the trauma of her attack, Josh, much like Elliot falls into self-pity and self-blame, distancing himself from his fiance:

This whole ep gives "Paternity" vibes, since the couple are hit in much the same way that Olivia and Kathy were, triggering Elliot's chronic catholic guilt. And as the case continues, there's a whole web of marital affairs, because we're working on a theme here. Another EO parallel emerges with Bruno's marriage breakup. After visiting his ex, it's revealed that he drunk-dialled her, only not really cos he wasn't drunk. You know, kind of like Elliot showing up drugged to Olivia's apartment to spill his long withheld, deeply smitten guts. Bruno knows the fault is his and holds out hope for a reconciliation, to which, Liv gives a qualified maybe:

So...Olivia believes in love when it's new and fresh, even believes love can survive massive trauma. Buuuuut she isn't quite so sure of how to change directions on a love that has been heading in one direction for a long time.

The case concludes with a tense confrontation between a cheating wife and her rapist husband: bitter accusations and droll comments ensue. But the happy couple from the beginning survive their trauma and vow to protect one another from then on. The lost engagement ring is returned to Emma (analogous perhaps to the compass necklace that will no doubt return to Olivia at some meaningful point in time). It is at this point that Liv tells them:

Well. That's quite the pivot.

Oh, but wait, Benson ain't done being hopeful about mending fractured relationships yet. Because then she turns to Bruno, who admits that (like Elliot) he wasn't unfaithful (to Olivia). He was just unreachable, unavailable, avoidant. It wasn't a lack of feeling. It was just a lack of action, a lack of courage. Olivia's reply echoes the hope Bruno expressed earlier:

All of this is highly suggestive of Liv either consciously or unconsciously working through what happened at the end of "Blood Out" with Elliot, her questioning her words to him and mulling over his reply. It reflects EO's recent history of fracture and hesitant attempts at mending, despite their counter-productive coping strategies. That last line certainly suggests that she wants to be won back by the love of her life, even if she isn't too sure how to let go of the hurt she's used as a shield for ten plus years. Her changing comments throughout the episode suggest she does believe in love, she believes it can survive the worst traumas imaginable. She has absolute conviction in the possibility, the right even, of victims, survivors and even detectives she barely knows to pursue love and healing, reconciliation and fulfillment. The question is whether she believes in that possibility as strongly for herself and Elliot Stabler.

[tonydaddingham]

i know loads of other people have written and theorised about this, and there was an amazing post about how someone knew the actual owner of the bentley and how things had to get swapped around*, but for the sake of my own bloody sanity i needed to go through all the bentley snippets we see re: seat colours, interior door panel colours, and the bond transfers because otherwise it was going to drive me loopy-

*if anyone has a link for this post, please wing it over to me and i will link, it was really interesting!!!

let's start with the 1941 and 1967 flashbacks where we see the bentley: ✅ brown seats ✅ brown panels (as far as i can tell) ✅ bullet decal (1967):

then let's move to s1. tbh, i've only done this for the sake of full disclosure, but as far as i can tell, ✅ brown seats ✅ brown panels ✅ bullet decal (no pics but fairly content that they're there in all scenes):

*correction, apologies! middle right should be ep4!

and then, post bentley going up like kindling, and being resurrected by adam, we can see what looks to be black seats and, i'd hazard is an open window (given the lack of shimmer/reflection compared to the window on its left) - see we can't confirm the bullet decals. however - and mainly because it doesnt fit the pattern im about to lay out - this image is very zoomed in, and lighting quality isn't quite reliable. so personally, im considering this as inconclusive:

so now let's move onto s2. eps 1 and 2 are fairly straightforward, ✅ brown seats ✅ brown panels ✅ bullet decal:

episode 1: (3rd and 4th images are before and after the beelzebub interaction)

episode 2:

but here's where things get interesting (stating the obvious, i know that everyone knows this), but given that this is when aziraphale takes the bentley - after the very poignant "our car' discussion - we can see the following:

setting off from soho: ✅ brown seats ✅ bullet decal ❓brown panels, but likely

on the way to edinburgh: ❌ black seats ✅ bullet decal ❌ black panels

arrival in edinburgh: ❌ black seats ✅ bullet decal ❌ black panels

okay, well, he changed the bodywork and hubcaps too, so this makes sense. but black? for aziraphale? feels somewhat like it's a compromise; he's gone ostentatious on the outside, literally the colour of crowley's eyes, but red leather for the interior... is a little much. so he compromises - keeps the decals (to honour his knight in turtleneck armour), but changes the inside to a cool, suave black. very 007.

but then we go to ep4, and specifically when aziraphale is accosted by shax. now, clear point to remember - shax has to have permission to enter, and compared to ep2 when she asks but materialises inside anyway, she now waits for aziraphale to acquiesce. this is the difference between a demon's car, and a demon-and-angel-couple-who-arent-quite-yet-a-couple-but-thats-just-semantics' car. by this point, crowley has accepted, agreed, that it is their car.

hitchhiker: ❌ black seats ✅ bullet decal ❌ black panels

return to soho: ❌ black seats ✅ bullet decal ❌ black panels

ep5 carries on in much the same way as the end of ep4 - crowley has not changed anything since edinburgh, ❌ black seats ✅ bullet decal ❌ black panels (not pictured, but can be seen in the same bit as the first pic):

and then ep6, beloved. again, nothing has changed. crowley's window is, however, rolled down in the departure scene, so the decal can't be accounted for. that being said, im fairly sure we can be certain it's there (and i have a thought about why it's rolled down but tbh it's so arbitrary that it's barely worth mentioning imo). in any case, ❌ black seats ❓ bullet decal ❌ black panels:

now i know there's the whole separate thing about the exterior changing from light grey to dark grey/black, but tbh i think that is going to be down to the continuity issue with the original bentley used in s1. as for neil's answers on his asks, here and here... look. could be something of nothing, but i don't think personally it's a wider conspiracy; i think it could be just be either that yeah, maybe some of my colour assignments in the above screenshots are wrong, or he's doing his parent-teacher-writing thing of what do you think?

maybe not, maybe it was a continuity issue, and we just have to apply hc to this to get an explanation.

well, mine is just simply that it's not a nefarious issue or mucking about with time etc... i think crowley just accepted aziraphale's ownership, and whilst he drew the line at yellow bodywork (the respectable choice imo, tbh), he kept everything else.

[dangermousie]

One of the things I find so interesting is how Jing is so very much not what a FL’s endgame love interest, especially in an epic xianxia, looks like (I mean in terms of character and narrative, not physical looks. Deng Wei is a ridiculously handsome man, like the rest of XY’s choices.)

I wonder if that is where at least some of puzzlement over XY’s choice/dislike of Jing as endgame that I’ve seen come from.

Jing is NOT the male lead - that is Cang Xuan, XY’s cousin who she never has even a glimmer of romantic feeling or attraction to. But Jing is also not the biggest badass or most magically powerful or most ambitious or with most status or most grand gestures or most epic story or even most outsize interaction with FL (vampy took her on dates to freaking underwater with his magic while Jing got her a practical gadget to use to go underwater herself; Vampy gave up one of his nine lives to heal her; Jing was only able to preserve her body so it would not be beyond saving and also try to die himself. Vampy’s power is battle while Jing is a tracker. Jing’s love is all-consuming and devoted but it’s also quiet.)

Jing does not come out first in anything except possibly torture (tho honestly that’s a bit of an open season on that one) and abnegation for FL’s sake. I mean the three guys are (future) emperor, a legendary rebel general with nine lives and an insane amount of magic and a…wealthy merchant.

And in a lot of ways it goes against the accepted usual narrative. Of course the top alpha dog would get the FL - the biggest bestest dude!!!! There are not many dramas where FL ends up not with ML and the ones I can think of still have a guy with outsize power/not that quiet/unhinged charisma - think of Ji Chang Wook in Empress Ki for example. The closest I can think of is in The King Loves also based on a novel where FL did not end up with the royal ML but the SML, the quiet royal bodyguard (but even there Rin was the best fighter in the drama.)

And of course the other thing that reinforces this whole departure from the usual narrative and can drive frustration is if you look at the three arcs/obstacles to FL for the three men. Cang Xuan is freaking fighting and scheming to win an empire! And accepting the whole drama maxim “love is never fated for an emperor.” Vampy is literally a sworn enemy of XY’s brother and fights to restore the long-defunct kingdom. So we have a would be emperor and a rebel leader. And then Jing’s problem is getting out of his engagement to an awful woman to be free to marry XY and/or leaving his monster family and abandoning his name to follow XY. I can see someone going “that’s nothing!”

BUT!

I love the narrative for getting that to a person living it, it’s all-consuming but also sticking to its guns that who XY will end up with is not about the usual tropes but what makes sense for her as a character. And so there is a reason Cang Xuan is the ML but Jing is the endgame and she does not end up with Vampy either. Cang Xuan’s wishes and plans drive the plot but that is precisely both why Jing is secondary in the plot but the one XY picks - she wants someone who will not drive the plot because what she wants is someone she wants cottagecore life with and there is no plot in cottagecore. The very fact that all Jing yearns for and all he fights for is domestic bliss (a traditionally FL obsession) - even all his scheming to help CX ascend is because he wants to assist FL’s desires - is why she ends up with him.

As she pretty much point blank stated in 33, everyone in her life put her second to a great cause and she’s done with that. The girl does not want a man who will change the world, she wants someone who is content to live in it with her.

ETA: I keep saying it but what the audience would pick in her place remains irrelevant. I mean I would not pick any of the three myself - I don’t feel like eternally sharing my man with 100 women as anyone with Cang Xuan would have to, Vampy’s greatest desire is to perish in the fight and the lack of appeal of that as a dating quality is obvious, and with his fam, marrying Jing would be like marrying into the Manson Family. But I am not XY so here we are.

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveblog - Dofus, livre 1 : Julith [PART 14]

Joris's face here goes hard. His lifelong streak of being disappointed in everything begins here.

:(

I genuinely have no comment beyond wanting to hug him. And also the fact that the way he says "LEGENDARY BUT DEAD FATHER (derogatory)" is so fucking iconic.

They're a lot alike. No matter how she feels about Joris, or her issues, she's not a fail-aunt.... shes the aunt that Stepped Up. She understands. As she understands, they both lost someone to Julith, and that unites them.

I like to think that, while their relationship post-movie is would probably be turbulent at times, — because they're similar, and hate themselves for similar things, but have different ways of processing these things, — that they were close.

He put on a brave face. But Bakara knows him too well.

I really doubt that Jahash and Kerubim had a close co-working relationship like Julith and Atcham seem to have.

Here's some conjecture/headcanons: I think that Bakara and Jahash's father has passed away at this point, which is why Joris was given to Kerubim. Kerubim was probably summoned to Bonta/went there to help people of his own volition, despite already being retired. Jahash just had no one else to entrust Joris to, — other than the kind, elderly man who always told stories as they walked to the battlefield during the war.

It's kind of sad.

I wonder what Jahash asked of him. "Find him a loving family"? "Take care of him"? "Keep him safe"? Or was he completely silent?

No matter what he said, or didn't say, Kerubim has always wanted to be a father. Even if, in his old age, he has long accepted that it simply wasn't his fate.

I bet it felt like the world was making a cruel joke on all of their expenses.

Kerubim knows what is going to happen to her, going forward.

Do you ever think about the fact that this was the last time Jahash could ever hold her?

He was probably just as outwardly serene, yet utterly devastated, when she was a child, and he could do nothing but watch, as their father saved her from drowning.

As he said in the Julith et Jahash comic: It's why he learned how to help people.

"Bakara, for her part, needed much more... with Jahash's departure, her world collapsed."

He was so scared he couldn't even move. He could only clutch this child closer.

I think it's easy for him to compartmentalize what happened to Kerubim, while realizing that Lilotte's life is at stake. It's not the time to be emotional. And, he and Bakara have a shared enemy, who killed people they love dearly.

Another plea from Bakara as a person who is quite sure she was personally orphaned by Julith, to Joris as someone who was literally orphaned by Julith.

And a not-so-subtle implication of "and you have to be one too, this time," is here too, I suppose.

If papycha was in this situation, he would have been brave too. There will be time to be sad, but not now.

When the push really comes to shove, he's pretty good at suppressing his sadness. We've seen this from his meltdown during the argument with Kerubim, and some select moments of Aux Tresors.

Anyway, do you think Kerubim went back for his stupid hole armour when he could finally form conscious thoughts, and brought it back to Joris's horror, — or do you think that by that time, random other demigods have stolen it, and he had to go on a wild goosechase to retrieve it (so he could keep using it) (while not fixing the FUCKING HOLE IN THE CHEST!!!)?

His 22 sons and NONE of his daughters. #misogyny

Someone loved Kerubim as much as Joris does.

[elysiumnotes]

This will be a departure from my usual ramblings but I need to talk to literally anyone about this.

One thing to know about me is that I like Spanish children’s television shows that are basically like telenovelas. And a lot of that comes in the form of things like Violetta or Soy Luna or Bia and other shows like that, so even as like elder Gen Z, I still do watch these shows because they are interesting, fun, and cheekily dramatic.

Anyway to the point..I just recently started watching Ayla y Los Mirrors and it’s cheesy in the classic Disney channel fashion.

It’s fine but I just need to talk literally anybody about it because I need to know if I’m the only one who believes that Ayla should be with Kako instead of the two ML that they have vying for her attention. Because I don’t care about either boy but I see genuine chemistry between her and Kako. She sees the real him and accepts his goofy self without demeaning him and he accepts her uptight posh nature but also lets her be down to earth and just normal with him. They would be kinda like a mini-Dair.

Another thing to talk about is that we have too many silly characters. Between the glasses girl, the Aunt’s henchman and the guy from the group home, it’s to much comedic relief that doesn’t really land. I would actually love to see development for the dude who is at the group home. I would like to see him become a father figure to Ayla and become sorta a serious guy who can be lighthearted but can also be counted upon when dealing with the heavier topics, like genuine person with development that way. Although I don’t think they will actually ever do that since these shows tend make characters like that pretty one-dimensions but I hope they would.

Anyway tl;dr, Does anyone else ship this because I do wish they could subvert expectations for this type of show and making the this third option canon instead rather going the typical love triangle route with the two plain MLs.