#or who knows maybe im just over speculating or i could be way off base!! //obligatory disclaimer in case im wrong LMAO

[libingan]

IM BACKKKKKKKK

i was rewatching b99 and theres this one scene w captain holt that gave me the inspiration to write LMAO

something about reader being able to read simon like an open book is just so amusing to me

the base is buzzing with its usual sounds—radios crackling, distant chatter, boots hitting the floor in rhythmic patterns. you’re used to it all by now, the routines and rhythms, the way everyone moves around each other like parts of a well-oiled machine. today, though, there's an odd tension in the air, a stiffness lingering on the faces of the others.

you spot johnny and gaz huddled together, throwing glances at ghost, who stands near the far wall, still as a statue. he’s in full gear, mask in place, eyes dark and unreadable beneath the skull pattern. his shoulders are squared, his stance firm, his gaze fixed somewhere distant. there’s a quiet intensity to him that feels like it could crack concrete if he willed it. with his arms crossed over his chest, the black fabric of his sleeves stretching over his muscles, he looks every bit the silent, unapproachable specter he’s known to be.

johnny tilts his head in ghost’s direction, muttering something to gaz, who nods back, looking genuinely concerned. you drift closer, catching pieces of their conversation as johnny’s low, accented voice reaches you. “tell me that doesn’t look like a man on the edge,” he says, eyeing ghost. “i don’t remember the last time i saw him lookin’ this grim.”

“maybe he got some bad news,” gaz adds, brows furrowed. “you think he’s about to lose it?”

you glance over at ghost again, taking in the hard line of his jaw beneath the mask, the set of his shoulders, the way he seems to radiate an intensity that could send most people scurrying. but to you? nothing feels particularly unusual. you’ve seen ghost like this enough times to know when he’s actually having a rough day—and this isn’t it. so you shrug, looking back at johnny and gaz with a small smirk.

“bad day?” you say, trying not to laugh. “he’s in a good mood.”

the two of them whip their heads to stare at you, disbelief clear on their faces. “a good mood?” johnny echoes, brows shooting up. “that—ye’re tellin’ me that right there’s him happy?”

“yep.” you give a simple nod. “trust me. i can tell.”

johnny and gaz share a bewildered look, glancing back at ghost with renewed confusion. “so… that’s his version of cheery?” gaz says, more to himself than anyone else.

before they can keep speculating, ghost’s gaze shifts over, locking onto the three of you. there’s no warmth in it, but there’s a strange steadiness, a weight, that makes it clear he’s noticed your conversation. he starts toward you, his steps slow, measured, each one landing with the faintest thud on the concrete floor. when he reaches you, he stops just a few feet away, gaze flicking to johnny.

johnny clears his throat, glancing nervously at gaz before finally blurting out, “l.t., we were just wonderin’... somethin’ wrong today?”

ghost’s eyes narrow slightly, and his head tilts just a fraction. “wrong?” he repeats, sounding almost amused. “no. i’m havin’ a good day, actually. got an extra hour of sleep this morning.”

you can feel the stunned silence coming off johnny and gaz, both of them frozen as they process the idea that ghost—a man they’re used to seeing as an impenetrable wall of silence and scowls—has just announced he’s in a good mood. you can’t help the grin that creeps onto your face as you turn to them.

“told you so,” you say, crossing your arms.

johnny looks from you to ghost, and back again, a mix of disbelief and exasperation coloring his expression. “bloody hell,” he mutters, shaking his head. “how… how d’ye know that?”

you just shrug, catching ghost’s gaze for a brief second. there’s no clear expression there, but you swear there’s the slightest glint in his eyes, a hint of something only you seem to recognize. you don’t need words or explanations—you just know.

[l0vem41l]

something's wrong with the morning.

「 tws + notes: no tws, unedited 2 the max, potentially ooc but WHO GAF (me. igaf), he misreads tone over text and it's totally not me projecting, bros just a little anxious and its totally not me projecting, richard "acts of service" grayson in the real, pretty heavily romantic implied but it can be interpreted as platonic becuz we fw that here!!!!! 」

「 gn!reader, can be platonic or romantic <3 」

↳ ft. richard "dick" grayson/nightwing

author's note: yes i am uh. doing More dc stuff. guys im really sorry but its literally leeching off my brain like a parasite i fear. enjoy!!!!!!! ♪(´▽｀) <3 the lyric below is what i based this off of but as usual, GENDER NEUTRAL READER!!!

"and how something's wrong with the morning / when he doesn't phone to say he loves me"

dick has been staring at the text since the minute he received it.

“gm.”

you sent two letters. and a period at the end.

immediately, there's a weird feeling he gets— a pit forming in the depths of his stomach as he reads it over and over again, as if he expects it to magically change in front of his eyes.

you usually send something… more in the morning. you greet him happily and use a silly nickname, he greets you and uses a silly nickname back. it's sort of tradition for the two of you, mainly built on the fact that him being a vigilante leaves very little time for the two of you.

so what the hell happened to that tradition? where’s his “good morning pookie!” or “hope you slept well, sunshine :]” that he's grown so accustomed to?

of course, he has to go on with his day like usual. at least, he's trying his best. to his credit, he does pretty well. after all, dick grayson is a performer at heart! even if it secretly feels like a part of his world just collapsed in on itself, he does not sulk about it.

but to the observant, there's obviously been a shift.

the slightly irritable mood he’s been in? definitely normal. the fact that he’s been swiping away every notification with disinterest if it’s not you? totally nothing.

more astute criminals in blüdhaven are a little off put by the fact that nightwing is still at full quip capacity while hitting just a little harder and being just a teeny bit more bitchy.

there nervous speculation going around that next week he'll be in the discowing fit

nightwing notices that his mask is slipping a bit. but does he care? well... not really. what's more important to him is what's going on inside his head. and he's been thinking— hardcore reflecting on every single recent previous interaction with you, looking back to everything that must’ve made things go wrong.

maybe he should’ve let you win that one argument last monday, even though he’d been pretty certain he was right because you really aren't supposed to stack cards in uno that way.

or maybe “anything’s fine” as a response to you asking what he wanted for dinner was the wrong move— he knew you hated when he didn’t help your indecisiveness.

was it the movie he picked for movie night on your hangout? fuck, that might've been it, you totally hate the main actor. how could he have forgotten?

either way, he’s dead set on the fact he did something to piss you off and now you won’t even greet him good morning.

later in the afternoon, you find a cute little basket on your doorstep containing your favorite flowers, your favorite snacks… and an apology note??

“dick,” you message, “what’s going on?”

he doesn’t reply back. instead, he calls you.

before you can even greet him, his voice chimes in with a whole spiel you didn't expect to be hit with.

“i messed up. i know i did and i should've done better. and i’m so sorry, i wanna make this work and i just— from the bottom of my heart— i really, truly apologize—”

you blink several times at your phone before interrupting. “oookay, woah, woah, woah. let's slow down. the fuck are you apologizing for?”

“...your message this morning.” he mumbles out, barely audible. you can hear the pout in his voice somehow.

“what? the one i typed up while rushing to work?” it’s hard to stifle your laughter. “dude, i just woke up a little late. i promise i still love you.”

he doesn't know whether to feel more relieved that you're not actually upset with him or embarrassed about the drastic, immediate measures he took to make things right. things being absolutely nothing, because obviously you weren't gonna be petty over uno rules, nondecisions, or movies.

"you should come over. we can share the snacks if you get here in time." click.

he'll be at your door the minute patrol is done. not for the snacks though it is a nice bonus but to see you. lord knows you need the time together.

— reblogs always appreciated!

[themageofblood]

In case I'm right... I want to be the one to call it 1st...

Nifty is roo/eve and here is my evidence.

Like I mentioned in a previous post. Nifty is presented as a joke insane character, however there are several instances in hazbin hotel that suggest Nifty is eve.

1. Husk says we don't want to even know what's going on in her mind. It may seem like a joke but I feel like that is a major foreshadowing event to prepare us for when nifty's story is told

2. In the rebuilding of the hotel everyone in the main cast has something that associates their character on the building. At the top we see the key with a giant eye that looks very similar to nifty's . And as the root of all evil wouldn't it make sense for her to be represented by a key (like the key to pandoras box if you catch my drift) not to mention the wings around the eye which supports my other theory below (#8)

3. She is a sadomasochist. She mentions that she likes being forced and likes punishing bad boys and if she were eve, Adam's 2nd wife she may have been created for Adam with traits that would likely appeal to him.(a personal maid, who doesn't mind being controlled, and is obsessed with a "bad boy" image much like adam) Her naivety and childish nature is opposite to that of Lilith's which may be because Adam wanted the exact opposite of everything Lilith was. Now I know what you're thinking "but what about her sadism traits?she expressed she likes to punish bad boys" and to that I say that may be a trauma response to having Adam as a husband who demanded control over women. Maybe getting Adam to eat the fruit of knowledge was her way of trying to get Adam punished because we know eve tempted Adam with the fruit that doomed mankind

4. Her reaction to killing Adam was,,, off. When she was stabbing already dead angels, she had a smile on her face the entire time. But when she killed Adam it's like she dissociated for a second before going into a much more manic craze then when she stabbed the other angels. Much like when she was staring into the camera and her face was just. :/ The fact that she was the one to kill Adam felt intentional. And if Adam was her abuser dissociating after killing him would make sense

5. Building off my last point nifty only does the dissociated face twice only prior to the wars events, and that was she was being videotaped. We know that Alastor owns her soul and some speculate that they may have eachother's souls and if that's the case alastors influence could be the reason for her reaction. Is she really insane, is he forcing her insanity, or is her sanity something she willing gave up with her soul in order for her to forget her pain? Is alastors aversion for video solely about him? Or is it about hiding something bigger? And if it is is nifty apart of that?

6. I know Viv said she died in the 50s but things can change since the pilot, like nifty's clothes. Either it's a roos (pun intended) or she genuinely can't remember and someone guessed for her that she was from the 50s based on her trad wife escape personality and her affliction to bad boys. A popular 50s trope And she went along with it.

7.Speaking of her clothes I know some people mentioned she may have been shot, but I think she was stabbed several times. Nifty is a very small woman. It would only take one shot to kill her and 3 seems excessive. Her 3 blood stains may be stab wounds. It would also explain why she's obsessed with stabbing. All the other sinners at the hotel seem to have addictions to the same things that have caused/lead to their deaths.

8 .im so surprised no one's mentioned this, but she's the only other character with red circles on the cheek, and who else has this? That's right Charlie, and the fallen angel lucifer. We know that all hazbin character designs relate to the characters stories and I don't think it was unintentional this detail was added to her character. We also don't see this on any of the other heaven born angels. Either she herself is a fallen angel and only fallen angels get red circles on their cheeks or she is somehow related to lucifer's story or heaven or something. Also, this may be a stretch but the poodle on a leash on her skirt may also be a hint that either she or someone else is on a leash....

9. She's the only straight character. Hear me out. Either Adam was so insecure about Lilith leaving him that eve was made to only like men to lessen her chances of leaving him (because Viv said she's the only straight character meaning Lilith is queer) or Viv chose her to be straight and a villian as a fuck you to the conservatives who have an issue with the queer themes in the show.

Anyway Maybe I'm biased because she's my favorite character, but that's my theory. A fan theory 😏

[clarabowmp3]

Could you please predict for me when we will be done with the meathead?

stoppp 💀💀 honestly I didn’t expect them to have lasted till now but also I fully expected that she’d end up marrying joe so what do I/anyone rlly know lmao 🤡🤡

Fully explained below but tl;dr - it’s either until the travis team (i legit forgot the name i know the colour is red or smthhhh) keeps winning the Super Bowl/maintains a relatively good reputation OR until Taylor gets bored of him and looks for another shiny toy to make a complete fool of herself over (so like by this time next year) OR they get married and ride off into the sunset towards some happily ever after.

Howeverrr just for funsies: the way I see it is by working backwards, starting with if I see them getting married, and honestly…based on ttpd, leaning towards yes. When they will get married I have no inkling and I don’t even feel like speculating cuz of all those gross pregnancy/marriage rumours going around 🤢 I think they’ll get married cuz:

their careers are such that they’re both lifting the other up when they show up for games/concerts, there is no conflict of interest (ie no competition) cuz of the vastly different fields they’re in. Also, he was more established than joe at the start of their r/ship which makes for a very rosy picturesque love story image which at least some part of Taylor desires (based on her interviews, the fearless/speak now eras) but she’s also become quite jaded (as per ttpd) so maybe she thinks this is the closest she’s going to get to it

i also think she’s in no rush to leave a r/ship this comfortable after her last 2 emotionally complex ones. Not saying this is good or bad of her; I do understand why she would want to take it easy now (and possibly forever) but given how little they seem to have in common, I don’t think she can find this r/ship as emotionally fulfilling as she would want with a life partner, so I don’t see them sticking it out forever. Ofc I could be wrong and maybe she’s changed, but based on her track record travis does not seem the type of person Taylor Swift would want to spend the rest of her life with (girlie was cringing so hard in the viva las vegas clip)

Possible triggers for the breakup and why:

She finds someone else to obsess over and for some weird reason…she suddenly realises what a temper travis has? And how aggressive he is?? Cue the breakup songs/album, swifties dig up That Clip and go omggg how did we not see this he was abusing mother 😢😢, rinse and repeat until she (hopefully) finds some self-worth NOT tied to a man

travis’ team starts losing the Super Bowl/not doing all that well in other competitions. I think the main reason swiftie are kind of sweeping his messed up tweets and behaviour under the rug is cuz they won. But what abt if/when they stop winning? All that’s left is a hot-tempered football player who isn’t even an “all-star” (am I using that term correctly?) and she’s not going to like being associated with that/have that tarnish her brand. I find it so absurdly hilarious but she would rather be seen as problematic (re: M*tty) than unsuccessful, so she’d prob drop him if this happened

very unlikely, but maybe she breaks up with him and enjoys being single for a while? No reason for thinking this tho

ngl as long as this reply is, im kind of apathetic cuz she’s changed so much recently that im becoming less and less invested in her. I’m not even rlly looking forward to rep tv despite it being such a formative album for me cuz that version/image of taylor has been sooo tarnished by recent events yk? So idc what she does, mostly cuz if I had her as an actual friend I’d cut her out of my life SO fast

again, the usual disclaimers apply, idk her/them or anything abt their relationship, I am literally just a girl sipping her ginger ale and watching this train wreck of whatever taylor swiftTM has become 🍹🍹

[frostyreturns]

“I’ve said for a long time the gmm show/guys are satanists and have speculated that the show (which is rife with pedophilia and occult symbolism) is at least occasionally a front for sex trafficking. Remember in the wikileaks docs where we found out the elites were auctioning off children under the guise of a concert, where they could covertly put children up for sale and the auctioning was mixed in with the weird show so that a casual observer would have no idea what was going on, and would just assume it was some weird avant garde thing... but people who were there to bid would know the signs and codes and how to bid. On past blogs I’ve detailed other similar epiosdes that looked to be doing the same thing... Well take a look at this gmm episode in particular. Keep in mind Rhett has claimed previously that he does have family members who belong to a secret society and has on the show been accussed of abandoning their faith to serve the devil in exchange for fame and money and his response was “that’s exactly right, how did you guess it exactly.” But he said it in that jokey I’m telling the truth in a sarcastic voice kind of way. 

Anyway not every episode looks as nefarious as this one so this kind of content is an outlier but it’s not unique and it’s loaded with red flags.

Red flag #1: Guest is accused pedophile Seth Green who was named by a man who was shortly thereafter “suicided” who claimed Seth personally approached him and revealed not only that he was a pedophile but that Seth tried to recruit him and revealed a dungeon full of chains and childrens toys that he claims Seth said “this is where we keep the “chicken” chicken being a placeholder word for children. What was that show Seth Green did again? You know the one that opens with something being strapped into a chair...robot something...

Red Flag #2 Remember me saying chicken was a common pedophile placeholder for the word children

Red Flag #3

The use of gavels...you know like at an auction

Red Flag #4 This was one of the categories of this game they made up for the episode...a game they never played previously and have not played again.

The round also required the person to give a number, that number could be associated with a monetary value and could constitute a bid or an opening bid. And the person was also asked to detail their sexual skills, which could be the covert description of the person for sale. Also a link quote from this round was “I’m going for a 5 star review and a lot of yelping” which didn’t make a ton of sense in the context unless you see it’s more nefarious potential meaning.

Red Flag #5

In the next round they were required to read out loud their last text exchange. And what he read sounded suspicious as all fuck in the context. This is supposedly the last text exchange in rhett’s phone between him and link “How long of an adventure are we looking for?” “Roughly how many days, the longer the deeper you can go.” “(redacted name) has a lot of experience with this.” “I was thinking two full days, plus a fly day on either end to keep it to four days.” Sounds like maybe what’s up for sale includes a trip somewhere...maybe an island of sorts? Links description said somethign about having a bush removed that made no sense within the context of what he was saying...but again made sense if viewed in the lense im presenting.

This is just me speculating based on what has been exposed about how these types operate, but also keep in mind this is not an isolated thing this is just one of many examples of very suspicious content these shills have put out over years. Like when they did this episode about “products for dragons” 

That episode had them “joking” about eating babies where they make hilarious jokes like speculating that babies taste like lamb, and asking for blood to wash down the immitation baby meat and wondering if it would simulate the screams of a baby being eaten as well. Link even makes a comment about it being kosher for jewish dragons. Seems weirdly edgy for such a neutered tame youtube safe channel meant to be sterilized for mass viewing no? This is also just one of many examples of them simulating eating children over the years. They’ve also eaten ribs out of baby dolls, simulated eating the face off a doll in a separate video and “joked” about eating salt brined children as a christmas snack. So it’s not just one goofy video that could be misinterpreted it’s a pattern.

Again I’m just speculating I have no inside knowledge of these guys or of the people behind their show apart from what they themselves present. But man I feel like you’d need to do more mental gymnastics to disprove what I’m saying than to confirm it...but that’s just me.

[mindrole]

some disorganized thoughts under the cut because formatting is a mess and for once i feel shame about leaving a mess laying around the dashboard (polite bow)

as you would guess, it is CoM discussion as always. it's quite long, and its partly about the literary parallels from the picture of dorian gray! (but towards the end theres a lot of speculation from my brain and not based on much also, its a mixed bag)

i appreciate any feedback!!!

thinking about it now. i think the obvious combo most people are thinking of right off the bat is

dorian = miwa lord henry = rui basil = shiharu

to some extent, sybil = dita and james = eigha

(though i am almost certain there is no "eigha" in rosemaria, its just shiharu in his full consciousness hamming it up because he's been put in the eigha role by, presumably, some kind if internal rule in rosemaria, some one that seems to block miwa from being mentioned without distorting. it's different from miwa, who seems to be confused and/or dissassociated... its hard to write this post and gloss over details but i will write my thoughts properly eventually. a lot of this hinges on findings in miwa's apartment... idk, either way, this shit is fucking weird)

probably that second part is from me, but. idk. i forgor. and this is probably true and the most direct role assignment there is

but im also thinking... what if it was a mess? since c0e had several possible assignments that could be true at any time, therefore i also feel like this can be true at the same time as the first:

dorian = shiharu lord henry = azuma basil = miwa

hear me out. its not too out there because there's actual evidence to it in the interlude but, you know

we know miwa is obsessed with shiharu. we don't know the nature of this obsession (lol) (lmao), but he keeps hydrangeas in his dressing room apparently (lol). my own guess is that its admiration mixed in with "the fragments are not normal about the haradas (and the utsugis) ever". to have such an obsession form with such little contact over such a short period of time— first report where miwa and taka discuss the eigha recast is dated to february 2018, filming had not begun yet, and presumably miwa hadn't properly met him as a result— is quite bonkers to me. but all fragments are frankly quite mentally ill, who cares, he's in show business too playing a 3D anime boy his brain is absolutely beyond fried at this point.

the interesting thing is that there is evidence that shiharu is obsessed with him too, but in a very different way. is it different...? i don't know, we don't know what miwa thinks exactly so i'm going off of my own mental image. which is miwa admires him for whatever reason, maybe he's exceeded his expectations and can hold his own as an actor for example, who knows. but it is different.

now i said earlier that i was almost certain "there is no eigha in rosemaria". i think it's because if you look at the eigha quotes in the com page, i think they are incredibly strange. eyeballing them they ARE quite chuunibyou. they're very intimidating demon lord-ish. now im not gonna translate stuff because honestly im incredibly wary of misrepresenting the work so i won't attempt to transcribe anything, though given i'll talk about it from my interpretation it's probably fine even without. anyway, when you think about it, this especially is strange:

hey, "eigha", why are you talking about miwa?!! that's clearly miwa isnt it (though i did not notice this until it was pointed out to me...tehepero)!!! eigha should be concerned about dita!! isn't this common sense?! at first, i assumed it was eigha being sentient, reaching past the curtain or fourth wall to possess either actor who portrayed him in an effort to stop ditasword from ending, trapping miwa so he can be dita forever... but it recently dawned on me that the culprit behind miwa teita's attack in july 2018 cannot be anyone but harada shiharu!!!

that's right!!

the reasoning is (not) simple!! it is (not) straightforward, really!!

i was thinking that taka, the original person who played eigha, was probably the culprit... after all miwa had to rush the production on which caused him to be recast right at his final performance. pretty kuyashii. i assumed he snapped, or someone manipulated him, or what i originally assumed about eigha, a fictional character, becoming sentient. no such thing. when you think about it... there is no clearer red herring than this. i am almost certain that he'd be the first immediate suspect in com, as he is the only one who is immediately identifiable as someone with a motive, until you check miwa's phone records and see that he attempted to call someone at the time of his disappearance. it will be him!! i can bet money on this (don't actually come after me for this plz)

that is why i say there's no eigha in rosemaria, just someone playing the part.

here are some pointers about this "eigha"

it seems like at first, he is welcoming of the party, ushering them to the world, as if they were lost lambs... ones rejected by the real world.

eventually probably when it seems like they do not want to stay, and will take miwa back with them, its full mask off (hehe), suddenly its im gonna eliminate you guys to protect this world!!! and such, so he repeatedly attacks them.

but the main issue isn't that they rejected rosemaria. it's that when rui entered, he started to influence "dita" and attempt to extract him. he is his client after all even if he's confused. it means that someone is trying to make miwa leave rosemaria. at this point, there is no bargaining anymore. anyone who attempts to do this is getting BTFO'd.

so really, this eigha's goal is to protect miwa, not dita.

to wrap it back around the literary reference. the subtitle of cell of mirage is the picture of eigha iliner.

here comes the smoking gun. as you may recall miwa had posters of both the tv series and of the latest movie. of course it's different eighas. but the movie poster was strange. the movie poster that had harada shiharu's eigha was strange. ryuu made an observation i took a little too literally for a long time (because im a cute little dummy), until the other day:

according to ryuu's observation, this eigha looks older than the first one.

at any rate, there's no reason to doubt his point of view here. everything in the interlude is a clue put there for a purpose. so my assumption at first was, huh. is he older? is he just very ikemen or something? and was a little perplexed by it. but... this poster... which is in miwa's possession... in his bathroom... the eigha in it is aging!!! the harada shiharu in this poster is aging!!!! that's right!! they wouldn't hire someone that visibly looks older in a movie to replace someone when the movie has continuity with a tv show— and they would probably retouch the poster to hide imperfections (so signs of aging). it is... absolutely aging...

now if we recall back to the picture of dorian gray... dorian's portrait aged in his stead, absorbing all the sins he committed, as a result not only aging but also becoming more and more ugly. he would eventually go on to kill basil— who practically begged him to repent— over it in a fit of anger.

i do not need to tell you that wrath and violence is bad. so i believe that shiharu is the one that attacked miwa that night. but miwa is a fragment, he may have "died" then, but the injury was probably a trifle and he regenerated and maybe retaliated, and somehow the mirage phenomena was triggered as a result whether on purpose or not and both were transported. this is just in laconic really, there's definitely more to discuss about this but for this post this is the info i need. next post i will talk about this properly.

so they are both each other's dorians and basils in different ways. it is assured mutual destruction. also don't forget that ditasword ends with dita sacrificing himself to either kill or seal away eigha (iirc it doesn't say what exactly, but both of them are BTFO absolutely)

now this is going from speculation based on proof to fully filling in blanks that are undefined (so adjacent to fanfic really since there is little evidence) but, he may have confided in shiharu about being a fragment and possibly whatever bad things that came with it, and was wholeheartedly accepted by shiharu=miwa grew attached to him, and eventually when it felt appropriate to do so he told him that he will retire and go away forever. why tell him about his condition and not anyone else closer to him? idk, fragment interacting with a harada moment, lol.

so in this moment, if shiharu had become fiercely overprotective of him as a result to the point where he would attack him and whether on purpose or not get them both sent to rosemaria, if he would go to such an extreme... what would influence him?!! if he is the dorian in this interpretation, then he may have attempted to get answers from azuma, who is absolutely involved in like 20 things at once. like why is miwa retiring? where is he going? if he pointed him in a certain direction, like, "i know a way you can stop it[stop miwa from going away/keep protecting him]." or something like that. that is absolutely making him lord henry... in a very literal sense as he is clearly an antagonistic force who is using miwa and whoever else as pawns. though lord henry introduces dorian to indulgence and depravity just for the fuck of it, because he is a hedonist... much to think about.

conversely! the more apparent reading that comes from just guessing! miwa doesn't age by default so it superficially plays into some of the traits that dorian has, and shiharu who may be trying to protect him from the real world that hurt him, that rejected him[his fragment status], is basil. because remember, dita having pink hair and red eyes is normal in rosemaria. which means miwa is normal too. the real world is not as kind as rosemaria! or something. so i think this was miwa's dream initially (he may have even expressed this to shiharu without thinking) before he came to possibly change his mind as in the encrypted email azuma's assurance that it isn't solely his responsibility implies that miwa feels guilt over the mirage incidents = he is absolutely involved in a great capacity. imo, on top of all that, he may have also wanted to stay because he finally had someone who cared about him genuinely. too late for that, if he tried to talk sense into shiharu it didn't work, he is now in rosemaria with no sense of "miwa teita". it is not dissimilar to how dorian attacked and killed basil, hid his possessions and got someone to "disappear" the body. rui, who is trying to pry into the delusion of rosemaria to bring everyone— including miwa especially— back to the real world, is lord henry.

and these two readings coexist. they are not mutually exclusive. they build off of the exact same sentiment.

P.S. there are absolutely other combis that work with some precursory thought— but i wish there was more information out there...

P.S. P.S. woe upon thee!!!!!!!!

[boltonbritreads]

kiiiiiiiinda feel like that post about the anon being sad about not feeling like joe’s type got taken too seriously and a little patronizing

what a way to receive my first message lol 🫠 the one time I decide to come out of my shell and say something….. but honestly you may be right that it could come off as patronising or talking down to the anon, I was personally concerned that adding onto the conversation might come off that way so, fair.

but I don’t think it was taken too seriously. I think there were two aspects of that ask that are important to talk about in fandom spaces and why they’re unhealthy or invasive [especially in the joe space] 1) comparing yourself to the people he *maybe* spends time with or his likes/dislikes he’s shared and feeling down about that comparison and 2) following or seeking out info about his private life (his spotify activity in this case). I couldn’t sleep so my essay on joe and fandom/celeb culture is below the cut for the no one who will read it

I think Joe’s experienced 0-100 overnight success and being pushed into the public’s awareness at a unique time with unique factors that = a particularly unhealthy and toxic case of people either not respecting actors/celebs private lives or thinking they shouldn’t have to bc any person who happens to become famous or well known just sacrifices all privacy and basic respect I guess? (looking at u, anyone who sends things to deuxmoi).

Joe is just a 20something guy who is attractive, talented, charming and knows how to be on for an audience and seems to treat his fans well. He also is a pretty private guy who tends to purposefully not share much about his personal life and those in it, which I think then causes some fans to either try and mine online accounts and profiles to fill in the gaps (his spotfiy or the sm accounts of his friends and family) or just speculate and theorise based off tiny nuggets of info and rumors and run wild.

I think there’s also a real peak right now of people getting a serotonin boost off of engagement or attention for things like sending photos and ~exclusive~ info on a celeb into deuxmoi and getting posted or whatever goes on over on tiktok. I could write a whole essay on why I think things like gossip instas took celeb culture to the next (toxic) level, but my tl;dr is social media and people having camera phones existed before gossip instas, but there wasn’t necessarily a platform that had millions of followers and just serves as a conduit essentially where you could send in that pic of a celeb sighting or a baseless rumor and they just post it without thought. I feel like it’s also normalised treating actors/musicians/etc like zoo animals we’re trying to catch an elusive photo of in the wild or trade private info or stories as little nuggets of social capital to another level. There’s a dehumanisation to it and a commodification of information and photos of real people to trade like pokemon cards

Basically I think the mix of joe seeming like just some guy 🧍🏻‍♂️ who only like a year ago was relatively unknown and just living his life = approachable, attainable, just like us. I’m not saying he isn’t those things but in reality we know nothing about the actual real guy and he kinda now exists in a world that isn’t really accessible unless you’re part of it. That doesn’t mean Joe (or any celeb) is better than anyone else, out of anyone’s league, too good for anyone etc. it’s just the reality that hollywood and celeb world are pretty members-only and it’ll feel like he and some of the new people he meets and befriends are all in this upper echelon of unattainable

I get where the anon was coming from and when I was younger I used to have a harder time cementing the fact that my celeb crushes are strangers to me and that what im having a crush on is a public persona. I unfortunately can remember very well how bummed and sad I got many moons ago when harry styles was rumoured to be dating kendall jenner and I figured harry would never date my very opposite of a model-self🙃

But I really think just separating off the characters and the actor™️ from the private person who’s occupation happens to be acting makes existing in a fandom space a much more healthy and enjoyable experience. I think you can still have fun with the content an actor™️, or whichever type of celeb, puts out intentionally and what they purposefully share with the public - press things, photoshoots, interviews, con experiences or glimpses into their personal life if they choose to share that. But just know when to leave the private life of the real person alone and respect the privacy of what they aren’t intending - or wanting - to share with the world and general public (including their time, @ people who track down celebs when they’re on vacation aka joe in italy)

[uniformbravo]

dimitri actively sabotaging suzy’s attempts to eavesdrop on the activity club is 1) hilarious, obviously, but also 2) actually really uhhh Really Good?? his reasons for leaving the club may have been complicated but he’s still loyal enough to them to care about upholding their confidentiality, even if he evidently doesn’t even talk to any of them anymore? it kinda makes me wonder if maybe the whole reason he even joined the journalism club was specifically to stop suzy from learning and publishing any of their secrets ??

[liquidstar]

OKAY im on break now so im going to post about the new teaser trailer that dropped today too and speculate on stuff

FIRSTLY the backs we see of all the contestants 

we only see the backs of six of them, including the girls from round 1, but we KNOW there are 8 based on the tournament table. so there are two missing for one reason or another. but the six here we end up seeing more of later on, but the fact that we see them here makes it clear theyre ALL contestants

we also see earth again, making it clear that they were all taken from there when they were kids. i wonder if any people still live on earth now... it seems like its a wasteland. the flashbacks we saw of the two girls in round one LOOK like theyre on earth... but if you look closely they actually seem to be in a box. presumably thats how all of them were raised

we also see some shots of this character, i think hes the one with the frills in the lineup but im not sure. he seems interesting, the main thing thats being highlighted is how much media attention he gets. my guess is hes either a crowed favorite or may have even been a former winner re-competing, if thats possible. in any case he obviously feels incredibly trapped by this because it seems to literally be this or death

AND THEN THERES THIS PERSON WATCHING THEM? WHO ARE YOUU? he seems to be hooked up to stuff so my guess is hes being experimented on but whyyy. i have no clue. and the flower hes holding onto... something precious? or is he angry? could the flower be a clematis... they can come in that shade of red too, but i might be reaching for connections. either way though it makes it seem like blondie was someone important to him for one reason or another.

aaand we see one of the contestents in the lineup having a smoke break, but then suddenly a little kid runs by, she looks surprised, and then the kid is gone. the kid is obviously just a memory, so what happened to them? is the kid her in the past, or was it someone she was close to (the same way our girls from round 1 were)? and what happened to the kid? if they died was it because they didnt make it passed round 1, or did they not make it into the competition period? after all we only saw what happens if you PASS not if you FAIL... is it possible they were sold off somewhere?

hi singer from the thumbnail! after this we get shots of all of the contestants eyes (or 6 of them at least) i think this person is the second one from the right. then we see the contestants again as little kids being raised for the competition

the faceless ones probably didnt make it... and i have another guess for what happens to them but ill get to it later. the main thing i wanna note is that they were in fact all raised together... they all know each other. they literally have to compete to either be killed or watch their friends die. 

but also what i wanna note is who theyre standing next to! because that seems to matter... the girls from round one are both paired together and we know they had a very close relationship. the boy with the short black hair is standing next to the kid with messy gray hair, and the girl with a ponytail is standing next to the blonde kid. then the next shots we get are of the latter two pairings.

i can only assume theyd all compete against each other at some point. the two boys on top seem to have SOMEKIND of romantic relationship, but it might be more messy (or even one sided) than the two girls from round 1. and the girl with the brown hair seems to want to stab blondie for some reason, maybe he has something to do with whatever happened to the kid in her flashbacks... maybe he won or was chosen over them, and now she blames him for whatever happened. he doesnt seem to be struggling

i also wanna note that... wire? leash? attached to the neck of the gray haired boy. it might just be a fashion statement but i feel like it means something.

and speaking of collars.... these kids seem to be... pets? are they pets? to this alien. is this what happens when you dont make it in? do you get sold as a pet??? they also seem to have leashes.... and all the contestants have collars

also one thing i didnt mention is these shots 

she seems to be singing in front of robots, was this the test? or something else? the description to the other teaser said “a girl who will break the fate of humans ruled by aliens appears” is it our pinkie? anyway thats all for now

[mooshs-crack-headcanons]

Here you go, you all knew it was coming.

And no, this is not just because of me on record being a huge fucking simp for him.

In defense of Shanks given chapter 1044:

Since english translation is out I'm going to talk about it. Spoilers below:

I don't think he's a rat or at least in the way twitter is framing him out to be.

I don't believe in the "Shanks was actually evil this entire time" theory either, Oda has made some pretty stupid writing decisions before but I refuse to believe he would actually do something as predictable and stupid like that until I see it.

The most I see him being IF we're going down this road is him being an antagonist and not a villain; think of Buggy who was the main antagonist in his own introductory arc then kind of chilled out and was an ally once Impel down/marineford happened vs someone like Doflamingo who given every single one of his interactions he's had in the story just kind of proves himself that he's a villain and he has no interest of changing not when he can have all of this power he thinks is his birthright and his birthright was wrongly taken from him and he wants the entire world to burn for it.

Now, we know basically only tiny scraps of information about Shanks. Now while this point can be used on both sides of the argument I'm going to use what Oda has made a point to show about him in my defense - that being Shanks has been shown to be very thoughtful, reasonable, and that the fucker is always planning and thinking about the future. He has motives, which granted we don’t know much about, in almost every single serious interactions we see him in and because it's Oda we're not getting a full entire picture leaving us to speculate but I think there's an Oda twist in here somewhere where at a base level things don't appear as they seem (think of the whole Oden dancing in the streets thing) but I don't think the twist here is going to be, again, something very predictable and in my opinion cheap as the "Shanks was evil the entire time" thing, personally I think it's going to be more interesting and unexpected than that, like maybe build up for the whole Shanks is Rocks' son theory which maybe deserves it's own post 👉👈

But anyway, break down time on each point twitter is throwing a hissy fit over:

I really don't think if he told the Grousei where Luffy is so they could send cp0 out to kill him he wouldn't said this shortly before he set off to see the Grousei, alone on a beach, just reading the newspaper, if he just thought Luffy would be easily taken out by CP0:

I mean come on the same newspaper article was saying how's he's a "fith emporer" even if he did tell the Grousei where he was I think there's an entirely different motive behind it at least in his eyes that he's still very sure that he and Luffy will see each other again.

Do I think he knew the true nature of Luffy's fruit at the very start? Yes. Do I think "Oh he just wanted for himself to become joyboy to make Roger proud" like some people on twitter are saying? Absolutely fucking not. This fruit, Joyboy, in the world government's eyes is absolutely fucking dangerous to them and their hold on power and the fact THEY had it makes it even more dangerous because they can just give it to Im and have them who is just living in the shadows of Pangaea Castle, the person that most likely only the grousei know about - and that's it the fruit never to be seen again unless I'm eats it and who knows what would happen next but surely nothing good but reassuring the world government's power. However, does Shanks know about Im? We don't know but still I think even if he doesn't and he knows about that fruit he can simply put two and two together that if the world government gets their hands on it that could be really really really bad and therefore he that's why he steals it.

But why the gum gum fruit thing? Simple, the grousei wants no one besides themselves to know about Joyboy so why not twist the truth of the fruit and call it the gum gum fruit so the marines/cipher pol who they hire to find it thinks nothing of it and just "Oh its just rubber powers? Ok, weird but let's go find it I guess?" and safely securing the fruit that way so no one "wants it" and so Joyboy's name can be completely erased.

How does Shanks know about it? He traveled on Roger's crew and even if he and Buggy didn't go to laughtale I still think it's perfectly reasonable for him to learn about Joyboy somehow after Roger's death, I mean Kaido knows about it, and again there's a really big blank periods with Shanks so perfect flashback material.

But why didn't he tell Luffy at the start? Luffy, who was 7, a child who wanted to become a pirate just like him, just ate the most dangerous fruit to the government's eyes - the fucking Nika fruit and expect him just to drop everything and tell him, a 7 year old, how the government is going to want him more than dead because a fruit he accidentally ate because he was hungry and crush his dreams? Nah, just tell him the lie and let him figure out on his own he'll get stronger that way. And I mean with how blunt Luffy is and how he declares who he is and what devil fruit he has I mean... it sort of helped out in the end because I'm very sure the grousei would have been much alert to the fact way sooner if he was declaring every fight he had the model Nika fruit every fight instead of the rubber fruit.

So what was Shanks' intention with his meeting with the Grousei? I still 100% the pirate Shanks went to talk about is still Blackbeard, it makes sense, even if the other two Yonko are allied with one another the two yonko in question are Kaido and Big Mom, even if they destroy the government like planned when it comes to the one piece there is absolutely no way they would ever share and even if they could get to that point, it's Kaido and Big Mom they would absolutely destroy one another over one small disagreement and that leaves of the balance then just; the world government, the warlords, and two emperor's: Shanks and Teach and it seems that Shanks is the only one that's not underestimating Blackbeard, because Teach too is a crafty planning individual and you know the moment Kaido and Big Mom fall he's going to use the fact there's two empty places of the Yonko to his advantage and act just as the world goes into hysterics over their defeat. He did it at marineford and he can easily do it again given the opportunity and that opportunity is soon coming. I fully believe the Red Haired pirates are definitely one of the strongest pirate crews, even with their small size and I'm pretty sure (as of right now that Oda has made clear and I really hope it stays this way) not a single member of his crew has a devil fruit and yet they've reached Yonko crew status - if you really think about it in comparison to the other big heavy hitting crews that's fucking insane, and it proves Shanks picks quality of quantity and it fucking works. However. This. Still. Isn't. Enough.

So here's my guess/prediction of how that Grousei meeting came to be/how it turned out:

Shanks needs allies if he even wants a chance to stand against Blackbeard given how the payback war turned out for the remains of the Whitebeard crew, which I'd like to think at the time he offered his full support to help fight in but Marco and the rest of the Whitebeard crew probably declined with something lines of: "This is a family matter." and he let them go on their own against him that time, but now things are different since at the time of the payback war Teach wasn't a Yonko just yet (I think?) and now he is and he's been relatively quiet ever since the beginning of the timeskip and that's concerning especially with this whole thing with Big Mom and Kaido kicking up. However, right now Shanks finds himself in a corner when it comes to allies - the Whitebeard crew retired and spread out, the other two Yonko are batshit and are currently fighting each other and even if they weren't Shanks clashed with Kaido before Marineford and it's implied he either won or convinced him to turn back and Big Mom... is Big Mom. Highly doubt either of them would help him out or even take Blackbeard seriously. How else does he has? Maybe reinforcements from his territory islands? Who else? I highly doubt Luffy because I don't think he'd call for Luffy to help him because he doesn't want to drag Luffy out of his own thing, especially now given Luffy's basically a phantom fith emporer that's now getting involved in both Kaido and Big Mom's business? Mihawk? Mihawk's dealing with the abolishment of the warlord system and has marines ships he has to cut up so he's unavailable? Who else?

The government.

With the marines and the cipher pol and all the shit they have just to pull a buster call is an official just as much steps in shit on island he doesn't like, the government xld very well be the last and only chance to actually fight against all the crazy shit Blackbeard has. Does Shanks like the government? No probably not, he is a pirate - an emporer at that - and out of anyone I'm pretty sure he sees its corruption and all but I think he still recognizes its power (why it's so dangerous teamed up with its corruption) but that power can be very useful in this situation where he feels need to go talk to the Grousei himself most likely with agreed he bring no weapons but given he being the most reasonable out of the Yonko is why the Grousei let him up to talk to them.

Now, if he told them everything - Luffy having the Nika fruit and his where his current location is: on wano, is it possible that maybe this could be sort of a way trade? Shanks giving Luffy's information in exchange for the Grousei sending marines, most likely the admiral, after Teach? Shanks, again very sure of himself that he'd see Luffy again soon, giving the information to the government because Luffy's already way proved his skills in order to challenge the Yonko that even if the government sends their cipher pol goons after him that they're going to be no match for him, afterall Luffy's true challenges now is knocking the Yonko themselves off their feet, yes and that even includes Shanks himself, but I really don't think he minds that much and what will make Shanks' fight differentiate from the others is the intention of it; like a challenge to be steel edge in proof of how far Luffy has come since their days together in Fuisha.

No this all is just my prediction of how Oda is approaching this but if he does it's up to him if the Grousei (more like Im's choice) take up their end of the deal or not but it's clear they've used Shanks word to their advantage to target where Luffy is now... but I highly doubt their going to get farther than that.

Now, everything I've said in this post could be wrong and that would be okay. Again, the most I see Shanks being is an antagonist and for reasons we just haven't been clued in about because Oda hasn't given that much information about him yet, given his entire role in the story since the beginning with that promise that Luffy will return that hat when he has become a great pirate - something clearly speaking for the end of the story, and personally I don't even think then he's going to accept the hat back given the whole theme of inherited will and all, meaning he's probably going to want Luffy to keep it so he can pass it along to the next generation and so on.

Oh and just the idea of evil Shanks is fucking, AGAIN, predictable as some shit you'd predictable in the early chapters of "Look at him come back and be evil and entirely different than how Luffy remembered him." is just fucking stupid and cheap and wouldn't match up with what Oda has shown and if he does go down this road I'm sure me and a lot of fans, especially EARLY EARLY fans here from the very beginning would be very disappointed with that outcome and I really hope this isn't the case and Oda can make that wait all the more interesting and worth it.

Tldr: It's okay to speculate, it's what I've been doing this entire post. But quit spreading your automatic dramatic assumptions and your "I knew he was going to be evil this whole time." bullshit about a character with as much of importance as Shanks out of here when it's fucking Oda writing the story. Just wait until he himself addresses the whole thing again with further context and hold your tongue with that or you'll risk the chance of just looking stupid.

But I've said it in a previous thirst post: I'm a ride or die for this red haired idiot no matter what so ✌😅✌ we'll have to see where this goes.

[kakyoinryoko]

im curious what u think jotaros life pre sdc was like

probably not good from what we see but i’m not super into speculation about this sort of thing beyond what can be inferred on a pretty base level... like, i feel no need to have detailed headcanons about everything that happened to him exactly. i have vague ideas but nothing super in depth outside of how him being gay and trans affects things already established or implied. i don’t know what exactly jotaro’s high school fights would revolve around, for example, and i don’t particularly have any desire to come up with any headcanons for this. i say this but i’m about to drop an entire essay here i guess. cool, embarrassing, etc

i’ve talked about it a little before but i think Something happened to him between entering high school and reaching his third year that kinda fucked him up, and whatever it was caused him to start acting more coldly and harshly towards his mother, who he previously was very openly loving towards. i’ve heard people say that the only reason holly sees him that way at the beginning of sdc is because she has illusions about her son being a better and kinder person than he is, but that’s just not true. i don’t think the imagery of him dressing like a proper student and being happy to receive a valentine and smiling at her and openly expressing his love for her cooking were false memories, i think he actually said and did those things, it was just stuff that happened when he was younger, probably a first year. i’ve said it over and over, but as it is, in the present day (as of sdc), she fully understands what her son is like. she’s introduced into the series asking the cops how many people he killed. that was her instinctual guess upon hearing he was arrested—this says to me 1) he’s never been arrested before, but 2) she knows about the fighting he gets up to and has feared that this is where it would end at some point. she also emphasizes the fact that he can’t fool her when it comes to his tough guy act—she realizes that it’s deep beneath his extremely rough exterior, but he IS a good and caring person at heart. she never says anything about him that isn’t true, and anyone brushing her off as a dumb naive woman just isn’t reading between the lines. or maybe isn’t reading at all frankly. it’s all right there in front of you.

as for his past. at a guess. it seems like he doesn’t really have any friends at all, at any point in the manga, outside of the people we see him interacting with in the parts themselves. as of his childhood and teen years, the fact that he’s half american and his father is largely absent is one possible reason i have heard brought up before, but i think it’s also because he comes across as pretty weird and hard to get along with. as an autistic person i see a lot of myself and my own struggles with interpersonal relationships in jotaro, so i think his issues with people are in no small part because he is autistic himself. i’m not going to belabor the explanation here because others have made better posts than i could about why he reads so heavily as autistic, but i think it comes down to him missing social cues, and not coming across the way he intends to, and not being able to read the implications in the things people say to him, and him being trans on top of that would make him feel like even more of an odd one out. i think he would deal with that by being kind of a sukeban type, so at least his ostracization feels like he’s in control of it and he’s being strong, but even so, acting like a scary tough girl isn’t a replacement for transitioning.

i think he would start transitioning (which is to say, changing his name and presentation and starting testosterone, but that’s about all) late in middle school, around 14, so that by the time he’s a first year in high school he’s fully stealth. and it makes him happy at first, because people are talking to him as a boy, and using a boy’s name for him (perhaps part of why he’s so chill about people calling him by first name the second they meet him, since that’s a little odd to do otherwise), so for a time he’s a happy enough kid. i think t hits him pretty hard and fast, and he shoots up almost immediately and gets to be like six feet tall and buff and deep voiced by the time he’s like 15, so suddenly he’s not so much the awkward american girl as he is the super tall strong guy that the guys all fear and respect and the girls all have a crush on, which is maybe nice at first, but i think the allure would wear off pretty fast.

i don’t think he necessarily realizes that it’s because he’s gay, but we see ourselves pretty clearly that he doesn’t enjoy the attention from girls beyond maybe thinking it’s a better alternative to having them mock him like when he was younger. he hates having them crowd around him and fawn over him—he has no interest in any of them in the first place, and none of them ACTUALLY care who he is, just that he’s tall and strong and handsome, and he hates that. and then, of course, guys fearing and respecting him turns into people wanting to fight him, and something terrible happens as a result of that, and he ends up an extremely guarded and hostile person as a result, even to the ones he loves. it gets to the point where he’s a target for actual serious violence, even from grown adult gang members as we see at the start of sdc, so his desire to keep people away from him as a means of keeping them safe kicks in—and this is something that sticks with him for the rest of his life, even into his 40s with his daughter. only tangentially related but i think the true tragedy of part 3 is that he was finally getting over that mindset, he was finally starting to see value in keeping people close to him and trusting in and relying on others. but primarily we see him express this sentiment towards kakyoin. and kakyoin dies. and more specifically dies for jotaro. so that all comes crashing down hard, and he’s right back where he started.

back to the main point i also feel i should mention i’m 100% of the belief he has perfect grades and attendance even when he’s more into the delinquent act. i say act mostly because i don’t think he’s actually hugely into the whole bancho subculture; i don’t think he would actually join any gangs, i think he prefers to keep to himself until other people go looking to start shit with him, which he always finishes handily (allegedly, no one has ever seen him get hurt before). probably including the teacher who he ran off, regardless of whatever happened then—he says himself that injustice and harming the weak makes him extremely mad, so there was definitely more going on there than just “jotaro got mad at a teacher because he’s a violent person and beat the shit out of him for no reason and so the guy got scared and quit,” though i don’t really care to speculate deeper than that. the teacher was not an innocent party is all i’m saying.

i suppose this is all just an unreasonably long winded way of saying “idk but i sure think about it a lot.” basically just extrapolations from the way he interacts with his peers from what little we see, and from the bio about him coming across in a much more cold and aloof way than he thinks he does, and from his relationship with his mom, and from what we see based on her memories of him when he was younger.

[phoneybeatlemania-bit-the-dust]

I’d disagree with the anon that Paul was “incapable” of love, but I do agree he was very distanced, and pretty cruel (to women) when he was younger. (It was unfortunate they bought into the love at first sight myth, but he was also a charmer, and dropped affection and got colder after fucking them.)

But I just can’t see romantic interest on Paul’s end. I’m sure he loved John, but a lot of the “sexual/Romantic evidence” really can just be as construed as platonic love. I feel there may be some confirmation bias looking for “clues”. (Not an attack on anyone, but some of the analysises seem to try too hard, really).

He does make references, with the whole “calling him babe during concerts”, and “in bed” but that could just mean he’s not uncomfortable with coming off “gay”. He has a quote about it somewhere I think. He’s supportive of the community at any rate.

This is kind of my own bias, but at times I think he…plays it up a little during the present day? Again, I’m positive he did love John a lot, but with how he is, a charmer, good at manipulating his image, he knows there is a benefit to building up the “magical” Lennon McCartney dynamic. John’s dead, and the old conflicts have faded, so he has no reason not to. I don’t think he’s anti-social, or a psycho or anything, but he certainly does put a lot of thought into his image, especially now, with how he wants to leave his legacy.

I’m less knowledgeable about John, and the speculation about his mental illnesses, but on his end, I can certainly see it. Maybe he’s just blind, but the looks are very much…yeah. He does seem to rely Paul a lot, and hold him in very high regard (REGARDLESS of what those old male biographers might make of him). You just know he was suffering over Paul, poor bastard.

Not sure if anything happened. I think Paul knew though, and either ignored it, or was kind, knowing John wouldn’t act on it. OR he didn’t notice! With the whole “we shared beds A LOT. you would think he’d make a pass at me, darling~”

I guess that’s how I see it. I don’t really have strong feelings on the nature of their relationship, or want them to be “confirmed”, so I try to be as objective as possible! Not a shipper, but not a male biographer. In fact, I was very put off learning the ship was a thing at first! With every fan base “having to” ship the main male leads, that’s what I thought this was. But after three years, reading actual books, primary stuff, I’ve began to change my mind on its legitimacy, and this was my conclusion. But new information can always change!

(Sorry for the long long analysis, god! I just took my adderall and I should go eat! Feel free to block me for spam/harassment.)

Yeah, this is basically my big mclennon dilemma: did Paul love John?

Of course he loved him, but I mean did he harbour any homosexual feelings towards John - and I just go back and fourth on that a lot.

In my last response to an anon I wasn’t necessarily trying to argue that Paul was romantically/sexually attached to John, because all in all, I don’t believe he did - but it probably came off that way because I didn’t particularly like the way the anon had phrased some stuff (like calling him “a master manipulator” and “incapable of love”) and so I just sort of wanted to show that the relationship was more nuanced then just “john was simping for paul”. My overall point with that response was more so that whilst I think Paul struggles in showing real affection and emotions, I don’t think he was incapable of love prior to Linda. I think he did really love John (in whichever form of love you want to take it: romantically, platonically etc.)

And so my point I guess wasnt so much that Paul was always capable of love (because I think he did at least love his family, his close-friends, probably Jane etc.), but maybe more so that he was always capable of intimacy with another person, though he struggled with it.

But yeah, he was quite cruel to a lot of the girls he slept with in the 60s, but I wouldn’t say that suggests he was incapable of love (i know thats not what you’re saying but other people might interpret it through that lens) I would just say he was young, dumb, ridiculously rich and famous and not emotionally mature enough yet to really empathise with most of those girls. Not trying to completely excuse him, but like, i dunno, i always just try to view people from the most human perspective. Everyones an twat sometimes yknow

I also really struggle to see romance on Pauls behalf towards John - the only times I think “wait but maybe he did fancy john back” is when I read some of his lyrics (like in ‘Coming Up’, ‘Yvonne’s The One’, and to some extent ‘Here Today’ - though I think interpreting Here Today as strictly platonic love is still a valid interpretation). I mentioned this in a different post though, that analysing his lyrics just isnt particularly convincing for me, because it feels more like speculation - and also as someone who does write songs, I know that a lot of lyrics just arent as deep as we wish they were. It is really difficult to be truly introspective and honest in a song, without exaggerating or hyperbolising or fictionalising any autobiographical aspects.

I do see your point with Paul possibly playing up the “Lennon/McCartney m a g i c” - im not entirely sure how much I agree, but I do agree to some extent. I think he’s always been very image conscious, and being in what is probably the all-time most famous pop band definitely wouldve heightened that. Even as a teenager I think he’s always just had this natural charm about him, and that tends to stem I guess from a need to be liked; I think you can see it in every interview he’s ever done to be honest. Its not necessarily a bad thing, (because id take a charmer over a rude knobhead any day) but I guess it sort of just shows that Paul is flawed like everybody else. Also, just read @mothernatures-sons tags and I agree with her - Paul just knows when to be a nice person! Nothing wrong with that! It isnt manipulative like the last anon suggested, its just how most people are: polite :) Ive heard a lot of anecdotes from people who have worked with or met Paul and the majority of them say he was a just a nice guy. Not saying he was never an arsehole (cause yeah he was pretty cruel to those girls in the 60s) but I think overall, hes a pretty good guy 👍

On the other hand though, you could also say that superficial journalists are looking for superficial answers - and Paul knows what the people want to hear. But occasionally ill hear an interview that does seem more intimate then most - I havent listened to it in awhile, but the interview he did with Sean I remember felt more honest to me then most. And when he said he’d like to spend the day “in bed” with John, to me that felt like a genuine and fitting response. Because, whilst it has sexual connotations, it also just feels like he’s saying he’d just like to sit around, chat, dont chat, just whatever with John for a day. Like he would just like another moment of intimacy with him.

I think we are pretty much in agreement on most of this though! At first I was also like “nah, mclennon isnt real, teenage girls just love shipping guys!” (I am a teenaged girl and I can confirm this lol) but then it just sort of became apparent to me through reading more and more about their relationship that there probably was something more on Johns behalf. If John wasnt in love with Paul, then it feels as though a lot of things he said and did just dont add up (the big one for me is him marrying Yoko so soon after Paul married Linda - like I really cannot come up with a heterosexual explanation for that!)

But when it comes to Paul, though ill have moments of doubt, I dont think he was in love with John (homosexually) and I do think a lot of the evidence on Pauls behalf seems like a stretch (but like you, im not having a go at anyone, because I understand that it is easy to carried away, plus its fun - but realistically, most of Pauls evidence just is not convincing to me). He’s comfortable with his sexuality, and I really do try to respect that and not force a gay interpretation of quotes or songs from him, unless it is genuinely making me question his sexuality and mclennon.

PS dont worry, I didn’t take this is spam at all!! And also, I would never block someone just for disagreeing with me! I enjoy discussion and I think its good to engage with people who disagree with you! To be honest, id only block someone if they were purposely being a real arsehole <3

[9worldstales]

Loki & Thor in “Thor & Loki – Double Trouble” n° 2

I really, really, really wanted to read this one from when it was announced so here are my two cents on the new number.

BEWARE FOR SPOILERS?

So, “Double trouble” continues on the same line on which it’s started. It’s fun and cute and it’s based on having a funny situation after another, in total contrast with “Thor” of this month.

Anyway, where were we?

We’ve left Thor and Loki having to deal with Mildred, the sister of the Midgard serpent, which is really not happy at having been summoned.

The story starts… showing us two panels. In one we can see Thor’s eyes, in the other Loki’s.

Although they’re physically different, the fact they’re shown in the same way, remarks a similarity. It’ll be something recurring in this episode.

Thor is conveniently saying it’s all Loki’s fault.

Now... I won’t deny Loki has a HUGE share of the blame, but Thor knew they shouldn’t take the lur, knew it could be dangerous, and that giving it to his brother was a bad idea and yet did it anyway over a dare. He was a willing accomplice and, while he couldn’t figure out the full extent of what this would have caused, he could have avoided the whole thing by saying ‘no, I’m not retrieving the lur’. He didn’t, afraid he would look a coward so yes, he’s also to blame.

Loki, who’s still being held there by Thor, points out whoever is the fault (and he remarks he’s not conceding anything), this doesn’t matter as they’re both doomed.

He seems relatively calm and rational (really, Loki, shouldn’t you worry a little?) and I really wonder why he wanted to play that lur so badly, he recognized Mildred so maybe he knew what playing it would cause, beyond causing mischief.

I mean, to use a way to say from my country which is particularly fitting here, was the play worth the candle?

Mildred attacks, parting them and sending them both flying.

Thor says he guess it’s up to the more HEROIC brother to make short work of this mess as he tried to use his hammer against Mildred.

Indeed, the siblings have a poor relation, as this is also a jab implying Loki is ‘less heroic’ (coward), as well as a demonstration of Thor’s big ego. Loki doesn’t seem offended though as he pats dust away from his clothes and smiles as he agrees and look at his brother.

There’s to wonder why Thor kept him there if he thought he could solve it on his own, did he want to show off?

Mjolnir hits Mildred. Thor seems proud of this but Loki is much faster to understand this only angered her more.

As the siblings hurriedly and not so heroically run away (in an hilarious way... I mean, look at them!), chased by a furious Mildred, Thor tells Loki to be the one to think of something.

Loki’s plan… is to have a bouquet of roses magically appear and then to try to swoon Mildred over.

Honestly it’s hilarious (he even has a shine effect around) and, considering the cover, one might even think it would work (it doesn’t as Mildred uses her tongue to toss him away) but it’s not really particularly clever or make special use of magic, which should be Loki’s two strongest points.

Still it’s interesting how he tries to deal with her pacifically, not fighting but trying to ‘make friends’.

Anyway, as Loki flies away, Thor comments he’s not her type.

Mildred heads for the market, devastating it. It’s probably a good thing this is meant to be a funny thing or there would be a massacre. Instead the market place seems to be empty.

Thor points out they need a new, new plan to which Loki retorts it’s Thor’s turn.

I like the visual of the panel, with Mildred’s body cutting the 4 panels in halves and Loki and Thor alternating between panels, Loki on a side and Thor in the other, well balancing the symmetry of the scene.

Thor spots the lur and makes a run for it, telling Loki to distract Mildred. Loki points out that was what he was trying to do previously but it didn’t work.

So… I take if this was what he was trying to do when he attempted to seduce her, Thor didn’t realize and he didn’t take the hint.

It’s also clear Loki doesn’t look pleased with this plan, yet he still does what his brother says and, after catching Mildred’s attention, since Thor has previously suggested he was rejected because he wasn’t her type, he turns himself in a snake… maybe thinking she might like him more in this form.

She doesn’t.

As Thor grabs the ‘dreaded object of his brother’s schemes’ (which actually belonged to Odin and Thor totally contributed in handing it to Loki) Loki, in his snake form, escapes from Mildred, urging him to act.

Thor explains he believes if a note summoned her, another note might send her back so he bets on him guessing it. I’ll say it would have been better ask Loki first if he had an idea which one it could be as it’s Loki who’s the magician but whatever, Thor has the good luck of being the heroic main character.

Loki, still in snake form, comments it’s a solid plan… (it’s not really, it’s more a risky bet in Loki’s style) and then we see him draped on his brother’s shoulders, which is kind of cute, as he wonders if it did work, wearing the same expression as his brother.

Call me weird but I find adourable Loki crawled on Thor’s shoulders in snake form and Thor isn’t even fazed by it, as if this was perfectly normal for him.

Anyway turns out Thor has summoned an even bigger snake, which Loki recognizes as Mildred’s mom.

Mildred is dragged home by her mother and while Thor and Loki comment on how she’s going to be grounded, a voice calls them, saying their names in 2 different fonts. It’s Odin who wants to know what’s going on.

In the most (im)mature manner the siblings blame each other in a mirroring way, each refusing to act as an adult and take his share of the blame.

Odin though, is distraught over the loss of his favourite ice cream stall (who cares about the rest of the market and possibly of the city being in ruin?) and, as the siblings get another image in which their position mirror each other...

...he condemns them to clean up duty.

Thor is pissed but, as he carries a huge load of ruins, comments maybe this will curb Loki’s craving for mischief. Obviously not, as Loki, who’s carrying just a rock, immediately starts suggesting something. Thor cuts him, insisting he doesn’t want to hear it.

Loki is disappointed, he doesn’t get what Thor’s problem is.

Thor, covering his ears, insists Loki does this to him every! Time!

Loki still doesn’t get the problem, saying he’s just trying to keep the days lively with intriguing solutions to their problems and asks him if he wouldn’t like the cleanup done faster… so Thor can go chase his adouring fans.

Really, I do wonder if Loki does all this not so much for the mischief but because this is the only way he knows to have Thor paying him attention. He really doesn’t seem to get what he’s doing that’s so bad… but he seems to get that Thor would prefer to be elsewhere than with him.

Anyway Loki’s ‘brilliant’ plan is to use his cunning and genius and… some sort of crystal ball he has snatched from Odin’s vault while Thor was escaping from the guards because sacred objects can be useful and it’s better to be prepared. When Thor asks what the ball does Loki claims he’s glad Thor asked… but it turns out he has no idea what it does and discovers it just by testing the ball.

I take back my previous speculation about Loki having better chances than Thor to know which note to play with the lur. It seems Loki’s way to deal with magical objects it’s not to read instructions but to test try it on the nearby object. Really Thor, why would you trust ANYTHING in your brother’s hands?

Well, credits when it’s due, Thor tells him to put it back and, after finding back his hammer that he has somehow left behind, that it will be a bad idea.

I’m not really sure why we had this scene with Thor searching for his hammer. Is it a clue Thor isn’t the ordered type? Is it going to be relevant later on because, let’s say, Thor picked up the wrong hammer or something like that? Or it’s just to fill space? No idea.

Anyway as Loki asks him if he wants to resume clean up duty, Thor gives up.

Loki tells him to then shut up and let the smart brother do some cool magic.

Now… hum… I’m not really sure it’s smart to use some magical artifact Loki doesn’t really know how it works but whatever, we know this is just the prelude for another disaster.

Again they reinforce the previous dynamics, where Thor defined himself the heroic brother, Loki calls himself the smart brother… and even if Thor knows it’s a bad idea, ultimately he plays along because he doesn’t want to do the clean up.

Anyway the panel with Loki holding the ball is quite awesome, there’s the focus on the shining ball, Loki on the front in a powerful position and Thor behind, which causes him to seem conveniently of the same idea as his brother, which, symbolically, proves how they’re actually the same. Loki partially standing in front of him connects their figures, reinforcing the idea they’re on the same page.

In a way this episode showed them more similar than they seem to think to be, remember also how they previously blamed each other in an almost mirroring manner?

Or how Thor totally risked everything randomly playing the lur even if he had no idea if it would make matters better or worse?

I don’t know if there’s a goal in this comic beyond being funny, but I wonder if it could be they could understand they’re more similar than they think.

Whatever, Loki is clearly very happy to do his cool magic to the point he doesn’t even notice some sort of hole is opening up below them. Thor does and manages to warn his brother about it just in time for Loki to begin to say he is sure it’s noth—before they fall through it, losing hold of the hammer and the ball..

Thor blames Loki for this (forgetting he has allowed him to play in hope he wouldn’t have to clean up things) while Loki insists he maintains no responsibility.

Again though the image plays on how they’re similar. Both let go of their objects and both are in almost exactly the same pose, although Thor is upside down compared to Loki.

The comic ends here.

I’ve to say this volume was very well balanced in term of portraying both the siblings, with the visual depicting them often in the same position or in a mirroring one, but also with them making mistakes similar to their counterpart, or adopting their same behaviour.

So, as I said before, I don’t know if this comic has a point beyond the cute and funny tales but maybe it’s trying to set up the brothers so that they’ll realize they’re more similar than different?

We’ll see, maybe the meaning is just to make us smile, and in these times of pandemic this too is an important goal.

Anyway I love how cute and funny it is, I love the characters’ expressions and the dynamic of her art, the costant bitching of the siblings and... everything really.

Really, maybe it’s just a weird AU universe story but it’s lovely, you must read it.

As for me I just can’t wait to see the next episode!

[softrenjunnie]

“we can’t do this” kisses

pairing: slytherin!chenle x gryffindor!reader

genre: fluff, slight angst?? idk tbh, harry potter!au

warnings: none, maybe a swearword somewhere

wordcount: 1.6k

message: thank you for all of the love on my “collection” posts, aswell as everything else i’ve posted. i really really appreciate it and it means a lot to me. i honestly dont know about this one, i had a good thought but then... idk what the end is. anywayssss i hope you enjoy? feedback is always gladly accepted but pls be easy on me about this one lmao :// also you dont even wanna know how many times i typen cnehle instead of chenle, ive seen that video too many times.... second also; sorry for being so slow w my updates, ive been having less time and inspiration to write recently... :( third also: not spellchecked aaaah gonna try to do that tomorrow but im too tired rn :/

21 kisses masterlist l Full masterlist

Many months had passed since you last spoke to Chenle. Heck, if it hadn’t been for the fact that you were seated next to him in muggle studies (because the seats were fixed and you had decided on the first day of classes that you wanted to sit together), you wouldn’t even have been near him. 

You’re a Gryffindor, Chenle is a Slytherin. Your mother is an auror and your father works for the Minister for Magic, while both Chenle’s parents were known death eaters. Or, well, they weren’t known when you started dating him, and if they had been back then you wouldn’t have gotten yourself involved with him.

Your parents had met Chenle several times, and they were always supportive of your relationship. But you wished you could say that they had been equally as supportive after it was discovered that his parents were death eaters. Your mother had sent you a letter the day they found out, and when you didn’t respond, your father traveled all the way to Hogwarts to talk to you in person and ban you from ever speaking to Chenle again, by threatening to take you out of hogwarts if you didn’t follow his orders. They had even made sure your friends and most of your teachers knew you weren’t supposed to meet him, so they would drag you away from him if you even as much as tried to talk to him.

But that didn’t mean that you weren’t looking at him. Or talking about him. Or thinking about him. That didn’t mean that you didn’t know exactly where he was at 99% of the time or that you didn’t know what was happening in his life. And it most certainly didn’t mean that you didn’t love him. Because you did. You couldn’t just shut off your feelings, no matter what your parents wanted.

Many parents had sent in threatening letters to the headmaster, telling him to expel Chenle because his behavior could inspire other students to learn about dark magic. But the headmaster always responded by saying that there would be no punishment for anyone based on what their parents had done, because children don’t necessarily take after their parents. And you were so thankful for that - because he was completely right. Chenle was not at all like that. He had been distancing himself from his parents as much as he could since the moment he found out about them over seven years ago; he’d even left them to live with his grandmother instead. You just wished your parents understood that. 

You often found yourself looking down the hallway in the dungeon when you had finished potions class, hoping to see Chenle strutting to or from his common room with his friends. Or thinking of him when his favorite dish was sitting right in front of you at dinner, making you throw a glance over at his usual spot by the slytherin table to make sure he was digging into it as usual. 

Except, one day, he wasn’t at dinner. You didn’t stop looking when you couln’t see him in his usual seat; you searched the entire slytherin table from your place across the room with your eyes, in case he’d decided to get a new seat; and then you searched the rest of the great hall in case he was talking to a teacher or someone from another house. But there was no Chenle. You thought it was very strange, as he never missed a meal - so you excused yourself from your seat and instead walked over to the slytherin table. By the end of it sat the people who you recognized as Chenle’s best friends, Renjun and Jisung, two full blood slytherins whose parents were speculated to be working with Chenle’s. They didn’t look too happy to see you.

“What are you doing here?” Jisung sneered at you once you came close enough to hear.

“I’m just wondering if you know where Chenle is,” you said, voice much calmer than the one that spoke before you.

“Why do you care,” Renjun spat right after swallowing down a piece of chicken. “You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t want anything to do with him anymore.”

“Oh, and you are mad about that?” Even though you had tried to remain calm, you could feel the anger boiling inside of you.

“Yes, Chenle is-“

He had barely just started talking when you cut him off. “You think you’re mad? There are people who are suffering way more from this than you, you idiot. Try to get that thought through your small brain. Maybe the person who’s been ignored, or maybe the person who’s going to be kicked out of hogwarts if she is seen speaking to Chenle.” You hadn’t been able to hold back - but it felt good. When you were done with your mini-rant, you straightened your posture again and looked at the boys with calmer eyes. They seemed surprised, and possibly a bit scared, and Jisung had dropped his fork from his mouth to his plate with a loud thud when you started. “So, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me where Chenle is at.”

Even though they were frightened of what Chenle had threatened them with doing if they spoke about his whereabouts, they told you about how Chenle had said that he wasn’t feeling like having lunch and was probably sitting in the library to study for his exam the next day. Forgetting all about your friends back at your table (and the risk of them seeing you by the slytherin table and connecting the dots), you hurried out of the great hall and made your way down the hallway towards the library.

Your mind was blank, you didn’t know at all what to say to Chenle if you even found him. Yet there was something telling you to go; something inside of you forcing you find him. He had his favorite spot in the library, by one of the windows deep inside, so when you finally made it into the library, you knew exactly where to look. And sure enough, staring into his history of magic book, he sat by the same table as he always did. He hadn’t heard you as your last few steps had been soft, so you faked a quiet cough to get his attention. 

“What are you doing here?”

You sighed at the tone in his voice - you had been a bit surprised before you reminded yourself that you shouldn’t have expected anything. Instead of answering his question, you asked him one. “Why weren’t you at dinner?”

He put his book down and stood up, frowning at you. “Did you seriously come here just to ask me why I didn’t have dinner?”

You shrugged and looked down at your feet, suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah,” you mumbled.

“Okay, so,” he started, pacing slowly towards you. “you don’t speak to me for weeks, maybe even months, and then you come all the way to the library to ask why I didn’t have dinner?” You looked up from the ground to see him staring right into your eyes. “Not really that believeable.”

You didn’t know what to say. The day you had been banned from speaking to him, you had walked straight up to him to tell him that you wanted to break up with him. That’s it. No explanation, not giving him any chance to talk to you. And you hated it, but you weren’t sure how to make it better.

“Shit, Chenle, I’m sorry. I really am,” you sighed, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall from your eyes at any moment now from seeing how angry he was. He had never before looked at you with such flames in his eyes as he was right now. “I... I don’t know what to do to make you understand-“

He cut you off, his tone piercingly sharp. “Just tell me. Tell me the truth.” You blinked a couple of times, hoping that it would help push the water in your eyes back. “Is it because of my parents that you act like I suddenly don’t exist?”

“Yes but-“

And again, he didn’t let you speak. “I though you knew me. I thought you saw me for who I am, not for who my parents are.”

You couldn’t hold back. You stepped towards him, cupping his face in your hands and scanned his eyes for any sign of doubt (except for his continuedly frowned eyebrows). It was like a magnetic force pulled you to him, that pulled your mouth to his. You could instantly feel how much you’d missed this feeling, even though it was barely just a brush. 

Chenle pulled away almost the exact moment you’d launched forward, and though his expression was hard to read, it told you that he wasn’t angry at you. He let out a shaky breath, as he dropped his head to let his forehead rest on your shoulder. “We can’t do this...” he mumbled, his arms snaking around your lower back to hold you close. 

You held him around his shoulders, leaning your head on top of yours. “I’m so sorry, Chenle. I’m going to find a way to fix this,” you mumbled. “My parents... they made sure I didn’t talk to you. I’ll do something to make this right.” 

“But before that, can you just hold me?” 

You might have ignored him for such a long time, but that didn’t mean that you had stopped loving him. Nor that you weren’t ready to fight for your relationship. 

[carmenxjulia]

do you ever just think about how carmen's first reaction after hearing julia's voice in the fashion caper went from mild surprise to a smile? or how after she quickly disarmed julia, she gently put her gun back in her coat. or how carmen grabbed julia's hand? or how she made julia iin charge of her group despite barely knowing her? im still thinking about it and i cant fully explain why these small moments are so good? can you, please?

Absolutely. You’re talking to a person who created a 20,000 word fanfic based on a 45 second interaction. You want a Carmen and Julia analysis? I’d say you’ve come to the right place.

Yes, I do think about that scene a lot.

Let us begin.

Last season, Carmen and Julia interacted for less than a single minute. In that time, Carmen came to know and trust her enough to pass off the Magna Carta to her for safekeeping. And Julia got to have a real conversation with someone who was an international criminal and by some, might have even been branded as dangerous.

But Julia had always believed in her innocence and clung to the idea that there was more to each theft that most people didn’t see. Carmen leaving the Magna Carta was solid proof towards her theory that Carmen was one of the good guys. And it was a show of goodwill, a symbol of trust, that Carmen was banking on Julia doing the right thing and not taking full credit for its safe return (at least among her colleagues).

Then we get to season 2. Julia has, almost inexplicably, doubled down on her insistence that Carmen Sandiego is doing good in the world and is not actually a criminal at all. From the very first moment that we see her, she is trying prove her innocence. She asks Chase to wake up so that he can clear her name. She tries everything she can to wake him, and we as the audience are made to think it’s because she is concerned for his well-being… until the scene ends with, “we need you to tell us that she did not do this to you.”

Now, while I’m sure Julia would never wish death or permanent damage to Chase, she’s not trying to wake him because she particularly cares about him. He was rude and selfish and constantly dismissed her and yeah, Julia is the type of person who would still care after all that (refer to the first sentence of this paragraph), but it’s really really important to recognize that she’s not there for him. She’s there on behalf of Carmen.

So, what does that have to do with “The Fashionista Caper”?

We, the audience, are privy to Julia’s private conversations with Chief and other members of A.C.M.E. We get to see her defending Carmen, over and over, in the episodes leading up to episode 4. It’s not just speculation anymore! In Season 1, Julia had her theories, but was actively open to being proven wrong when provided with evidence to the contrary of her hunches. In Season 2, she is certain she’s right, and she stands by her belief that Carmen is good.

Carmen doesn’t see/hear any of that. She has literally no idea Julia has been defending her behind her back. No idea just how hard Julia has been fighting to clear her name with A.C.M.E. Not a single clue how conflicted Julia actually is, with having a job to do versus wanting to stand by the facts right in front of her.

She doesn’t see Julia again after the train incident (“The Chasing Paper Caper”) until they meet in Italy (”The Fashionista Caper”). All Carmen knows is that Julia is not as hellbent on catching her as Chase was, and that the Magna Carta were returned safely.

We, the audience, have a front row seat to watch Julia go from shaky theories to boldly proclaiming Carmen Sandiego is not who everyone thinks she is, despite seeming to be the only person who actually believes that.

Legitimately, Carmen has very little reason to trust Julia other than a gut feeling. There is no explanation for not only roping her into the caper, but immediately giving Julia her gun back and fully trusting she wouldn’t use it. Any other agent would have ignored Carmen’s request for help and gassed her right then and there. Carmen just inherently knows Julia is different.

We actually see an example of this just a few moments earlier. When Agent Zari tells Carmen to freeze, Carmen sets the gun off and turns it on her right away. When Julia shows up and demands more or less the same thing, the two have a little back and fourth banter. Carmen, no doubt, notes Agent Argent’s hesitation.

Carmen’s surprise no doubt came from her not expecting another agent, or at least, not expecting an agent to give her a chance to respond. Whereas Zari wasn’t afraid to get up close and point the gun directly at her face, Julia is standing quite far off. It probably took Carmen a moment to register who was speaking to her, and once she realized it was Julia, she relaxed, and smiled.

Julia helped her before, with the Magna Carta. So, why not seek her help more directly? Test the waters with the one agent who was willing to give her the time of day.

Not only that, but undoubtedly Carmen was re-formulating her plan to include Julia in it, right at that very moment. Honestly, the whole thing went far better with 4 people instead of the initial 3 (Carmen, Ivy, and Zack). So Carmen was probably like ‘oh hey that very reasonable agent from the train that I can probably count on to help me out if I also present myself as a sane and reasonable person.’ And then it actually worked.

But we can dissect this small change in her expression even further. Carmen is genuinely happy to see her/hear her voice. Not just because she knows Julia is raw and untrained and easily disarmed, no. Upon their first meeting, Carmen gave her the nickname “Jules”. In fact, Carmen has literally never spoken her full name, “Julia”. Even when passing off leadership in front of Ivy and Zack, Carmen still sticks to the Jules nickname. She doesn’t do this with anyone else. (Sure, Player is “Player”, but that’s purely upon his own request.) Maybe this is a reach, but, it feels like this indicates a completely different type of relationship and level of intimacy that Carmen shares with Julia and no one else.

Getting back on track.

Carmen probably took her hand as an extra precaution to prevent Julia from deciding to whip out her gun again. I mean, sure, it was also faster and easier to lead her by holding her hand. But also consider that the gun was holstered against her left hip, making it awkward to try to maneuver around her jacket with her left hand to try and grab it. With her right hand occupied, it would have taken too long for her to pull it out again, even if she’d tried. Honestly, taking her hand was the most practical action in this scenario, even if it was a bit intimate. It doesn’t have to mean anything, but it can.

It is also worth noting that although Julia believes Carmen is on the same side as A.C.M.E., she is probably rightfully confused starting from the moment Carmen takes her gun and then doesn’t gas her.

Julia’s orders from A.C.M.E. were to capture Carmen Sandiego in order to protect the Medici gowns. So when it turned out Carmen wasn’t planning to take the gowns, Julia had to decide that saving the dresses overruled the order to capture Carmen. The original mission she was given changed in a matter of seconds, making her have to pick a priority (Carmen or dresses). It also gave her an opportunity to work with Carmen and show A.C.M.E. she’d been right all along. But Julia, much like Carmen, had to trust her gut about this woman she barely knew, but had the utmost faith in.

As far as putting Julia in charge of getting the gowns to safety, that was probably the easiest decision of the evening for either of them. Carmen already knows Julia is one of the good guys. She doesn’t need to question her motives, at all. Not only that, but as mentioned above, Julia had already proven she could be trusted by ensuring the safe return of the Magna Carta.

Carmen knew V.I.L.E. wouldn’t be far behind, and dividing her attention could have been disastrous for the mission overall. I mean, she’s Carmen Sandiego, so, she could have probably handled it. But it was a much smarter move to put Julia in charge. She knew that Ivy and Zack were better at taking orders than giving them. She knew Player wouldn’t be able to coordinate well enough from his location. Carmen needed someone on the ground, right there, right then. Julia was available.

One final piece of this scene, that although it was not mentioned in the original ask, I feel is worth noting. Julia is actively worried about Carmen Sandiego’s safety. She outright asks, “what about you?” when Carmen instructs the others to get the gowns to safety. Why should she care? Her mission, saving the  Medici’s, is about to be complete. She’s about to really and truly prove herself to A.C.M.E. by being the agent responsible for saving the gowns. And yet she pauses, wanting to ensure Carmen is safe before she goes anywhere. A person that is supposed to be her enemy, although Julia has never truly believed that.

This is followed by Carmen pushing Julia back, not only urging her to leave with the gowns and Carmen’s own team, but moving her further away from danger as well as physically putting her body between Julia and potential harm. There are smashing sounds coming from the ceiling; clearly something bad is on its way. As usual, Carmen puts the safety of her friends before her own, which is a completely new experience for Julia. She is getting to see a caring and protective side of the super thief, one she was previously unaware of. Even for someone she barely knows, she’s willing to put her life on the line to save that of someone else.

And finally, even after Julia runs after Ivy and Zack, she turns back one last time to see how Carmen is doing. She doesn’t want to leave her behind, but ultimately realizes she has no choice. She certainly wouldn’t be any use in a fight. Plus, her number one objective is to save the gowns. Carmen Sandiego is probably going to get away. But the items she was sent to protect are now in A.C.M.E. hands. Job well done.

But Julia is left with the knowledge that Carmen Sandiego played an integral part in the success of the mission. She and Zari could not have saved the gowns alone (especially with the knowledge that Carmen was being attacked). Carmen Sandiego did in fact steal things- but it was to get the jump on another person or organization before they could do so themselves, smuggling the valuables away and returning them at a later date. Just as was the pattern Carmen laid out in Season 1.

Julia not only had her long-standing theory validated, but she got to see just how self-sacrificing Carmen could be. Putting herself in harms way while everyone else was encouraged to find somewhere safer. For someone labeled as a criminal, that was probably completely unexpected. Among a multitude of other unexpected things that had just happened. But that one may have been the most surprising.

All in all, there is a lot to say about this scene, and I could honestly go through it frame by frame and write a comprehensive essay. But hopefully this will sufficiently answer your query, and if not, feel free to send another ask.

[wolfwhiteflowers]

My mixed thoughts on Carol and Daryl/Caryl in s11 and the spin-off show.

 I think my thoughts are a bit unpopular or mixed.. Idk. I’m overthinking. I’m really am. LOL  It’s a long ranty post and with some spoilers and speculations! (I’m kinda a hate-watcher but I want or keep hoping for good writing. Oh I’m also more of an ensemble-show/TF fan too. So I'm like yeah u know twd/cheesey-ok-writing but I'm also taking it serious. I want good story telling/writing. Sigh, anyway.)

vvvvvv

 So everybody have these expectations and speculations on the TWD shows and shipping Caryl of s11, Rick movies, spin-off show. I feel like Carylers are all not the same page /different opinions on it. I feel weird and awkward about it. I mean it means people are gonna agree or (majority/petty) disagree with me or not like the idea of what the future will bring. So it means that there will be some fandomwank or debbie downers around. (Idk I’m thinking of the BeIIarke fandom.) It’s like oh well...but we’re all in the same team. Well it's always just gonna be up to me deciding if I like it/trust the writers. Eh it’s just right now it’s a waiting-game on what these shows or future will be like. 

Like recently Kang mentioned Caryl as “platonic friends” (im not sure what she means..like s1-10? but she mentions them as soulmates last year) and NR talking about the Caryl spin-off show that he wanted ages ago. I think all these lil hints on what the Caryl spin-off show will be like, I don’t think they’re gonna spoil it to us and it’s also this story-plot comes after s11. So it’s like they can’t really tell us all what it’s about really. So..idk be hopeful or whatever you wanna do till the show comes. 2023. Caryl on. Fics, pls.

And there’s still s11, the series’s last season that Kang have to work on. I guess I feel I don’t know Kang well yet or trust her. So I think Kang might put a love triangle plot and tropey soapy love story going on with Caryl. Like she might want to play into it. And she might want to tease the fandom with the “will they-won’t they”.  S10c-s11f is 30 episodes that is a lot story needed going on. Eh I don’t want a love triangle plot and I hope Kang does something interesting with Caryl in s11 and make them canon! (I also want Conni3 to be like a Sasha and not  a Beth. I want Conni3 to be her own character and bond with her sister, Kelly.)  So.. it’s gonna be a lot we go through before the spin-off show.

So what I mainly want from “TWD Universe” .. And hoping for is... that I think Gimple had always planned to have these TWD shows & movies be connected like “TWD Universe”. I want the (ship canon) Caryl spin-off show connected to the Rick's story in the movies in some way and Caryl(and others) be in the movie(s) too. The spin-off show could be Caryl looking for Rick (with Lydia and Grimes kids), looking for supporters (idk like FTWD?/Morgan), OR eventually later on they helped Rick before they go be part of the movie(s). Idk just something related to Rick grimes movies. Even though like most Carol fans don't like Rick or don’t want the show to be connected at all to the other shows (and no kids). :\ IMO!

*This here I rant about Carol’s story arc and spin-off show. -Lydia.

Recently I watched s10 finale, it hit me that TWD show is ending next season, s11. Like, it’s the end of seeing Team Family and the Grimes/comic-based story. The s10 finale ep kinda also pointed on what I am feeling lately on TWD show and Caryl spin-off. I actually want to see how s11/TWD/Grimes show goes and ends first. I know Caryl are already TV leads, Maggie returns, comic things and drama are back for one more season, but me as a Caryler, I’m also fan of Carol and Daryl individually. (Well I'm more a Carol stan.) Anyway I'm trying to say that I want to see how Carol's or/and Daryl's story ends in the TWD show with TF. I want it to be good writing and story. Like seeing Carol and Lydia in s10f made me cry because it was so good, but what does it mean in s11 and so on? I'm gonna miss Caryl with TF and ASZ. I’m gonna miss some things of TWD too. Idk what the Caryl spin-off show will be like exactly. Will Lydia and others be there too or ..it's the end for them s11? It's sad to me.

 I want more Carol and Lydia to well.. be like mother and daughter or friends. I think of them as “Carol and mini-Carol.” Why should I be invested in them then if it all ends next season and Carol rides off? Idk I'm like, is it bad writing if Caryl spin-off show just be Caryl road-tripping? Idk what I'm saying. I want Carol's/Daryl's story to be good and in character, in end of s11 and spin-off show. Idk... It's like, writing-wise, is Carol always meant (or it’s in-character for her story?) to then look after Lydia and grow old with TF in ASZ..Or was Carol always meant to leave to go to New Mexico away from TF and on the spin-off show( or it’s just show business?) It's almost like there's two endgames that I want with Caryl in s11 and spin-off show. There's two endings on how Caryl's journey ends with TF AND how they will be like in s11 finale/spin-off. Like there’s Caryl and TF’s story ending and Caryl’s TWD show-arcs ending. And will it be in character and be an interesting story? Sigh idk it’s just a lot of hoping and trusting on these writers, and wondering if I still like the story. A lot of changes to get through. 

 Although, I recently read some comments about Carol and Lydia and thought about s11 and the spin-off show. If Lydia isn’t part of the spin-off show, I think I would be okay, story-wise, if Lydia is always meant to be a plot to end Carol’s (TWD show)arc on TWD show. In the finale, Lydia mentioned that they don’t have to be like a mother and daughter which Carol is probably already thinking of it and had this unlucky past with kids. Lydia said they could be friends. Then Carol told Lydia to find her own path, her own way in life. I think the writers are like wrapping or going over the whole Carol and kids arc since s4. Carol have this long traumatic past with kids. Carol wants to protect her/the kids and it’s like Carol realizes that she can’t always protect them, the kids also have to be their own and survive and it’s a rough life. It’s not all Carol’s fault in a way that if/when they die. If that make sense. So with Carol and Lydia since s9f, I feel they have this different adult-kid storyline than Carol with the other kids. I see it as a Carol and mini-Carol storyline. It’s probably all about Carol and all kids/Lydia storyline too. Later in the s10f, Lydia saved Carol, like Carol saved Lydia in s9f. They’re so like similar, mirrored. I’m really interested in them. I think I would be okay if the writers focus on them in s11, if it’s about Carol’s arc-with-kids ends. She learns to not to feel like a bad mother and letting go of this protecting-kids-thing but try her best to protect them and not blame herself. Learn to see how much she grown and love herself by being around Lydia. So yeah just overthinking on this and it would be nice if the writers go there next season because it’s seems like a in-character (TWD show) arc to end for Carol. (I don’t care about Negan and I don’t want the kids with Negan. :\ I also don’t want Daryl to be friends with Negan. maybe just tolerate him.)

Another thing .. Is idk how the Caryl spin-off show will go for Carol and Daryl. At first I'm like whatever they have fun on their road trip but thinking on it and with TWD, I'm like I don't want the spin-off be like a ‘Mcreedus on the road in their costumes show’. Like that's not what the Caryl spin-off show is right? So like I'm overthinking on it I know I am but really .. Now I’m wondering how this spin-off show really goes with Carol and Daryl and still being in-character. I feel there's gonna be some main motivation or arc in spin-off show. The core storyline and character's core storyline. Idk what it is for Caryl/Carol and Daryl. I think of other shows like this and there are reasons to it. Like all of this, it's really a whole new show and it gotta start with all these usual basics in the show. I think of other shows that might be similar to the spin-off show. Right now I'm thinking Avatar:TLA and Telltale games’ (comic) Michonne or TWD game s3: New Frontier (Clementine and Javier). Lol, yeah random. These are I think traveling stories and the main characters have a motivation or whatever. And it’s a hero’s journey/redemption, finding her lil bro(AJ), or with Michonne it was going through stages of grief in six (?) episodes. So my point is I don't want the spin-off show be pointless and OOC and just Mcreedus riding around with no plot. Ok, it’s still a story about Carol and Daryl. Idk what the show’s arc will be about. Maybe it’s them helping people, them finding peace and learn to love themselves. Maybe to find Rick. Idk. I want Carol and Daryl story be good and ended good. And related to Rick's story....I kinda don't mind if Caryl bring the Grimes kids (and Lydia) along. As long as the story is good to me. So, I just wanna point out that it’s still Carol’s and Daryl’s story going on. 

Another thing with Caryl’s relationship, I'm thinking on what makes sense to me on Caryl's relationship is that if the Caryl spin-off show will be them as already a couple. Then I think Caryl should be canon in 10c or s11 finale or earlier. I think to have a spin-off be separated from main TWD, it will go smoothly to me if they are already a couple in the spin-off show. If they don't then I feel the writers lost their chance and/or baiting shippers. I don't feel like waiting for them to be canon in spin-off show, because it's like previous TWD seasons. I find it tiring and boring and it’s the same as before. If they're confirmed as just friends then I feel that the characters' story is wasted or shorten/OOC. They deserved more in their life. It’s not good writing or story to me. And if one finds a bf or gf like... who wants to see that and I guess we assume it won't last that long because Caryl are the mains. It would be OOC to me and not interesting. Anyway, I hope Caryl are a canon couple in the spin-off show by then. Oh I also think the show would be at least 2 seasons. But you know show business u never know.

Oof high expectations. Caryl on.