#quite low commitment imo

[kawareo]

Because of this post I went and binged this in a night, now one of my favorite shows by far

Been watching Kevin Can Fuck Himself on Netflix this week. It's a fascinating show, and easy to digest as background noise while working.

Kevin Can Fuck Himself is a serious drama sendup of the classic sitcom dynamic. It's two different shows mashed into one another.

The show's front is your typical Manchild Husband sitcom about a man named Kevin McRoberts. Every episode, he has a new wacky shenanigan to drag his wife and neighbors into, which usually blows up in his face spectacularly.

But Kevin is not the show's main character. Whenever he's onscreen, the show is lit and shot in sitcom fashion, with laugh track and applause and musical cues and all that jazz. The universe revolves around him and responds as sitcoms do to his every whim.

But this show is actually about his wife Allison. And whenever she's away from Kevin, the show changes genres to a serious drama piece. It's a show about the emotional and financial abuse of being tied down to the role of the Manchild Husband's "Nagging Wife", and more broadly the effects that his Comedic Sociopathy have on the put-upon supporting cast around him as well.

It's the story of a woman's quest to finally escape from the cage that her marriage to an impulsive, inconsiderate, and entirely self-centered piece of shit has trapped her in.

[codenamesazanka]

Story recognizes and is fully aware that the ideal path forward for society is for Villain rates to be down, and thus for Heroes become unnecessary. We've got two instances in chapters 430 and 431 where a character says that indeed, Villain crime rates are down. Tokoyami gives a whole speech about how they as Heroes exist to work towards their own extinction, or something to that effect. Hawks' dream of 'world where heroes have free time' was the guiding idea.

But as everything else in the story, Horikoshi pulls back his punches. All that talk about Heroes becoming unnecessary, and supposedly seeing that happen now, 8 years later, but all of Class 1A is still employed as Heroes. All 21 of them go to take down a single car thief, and then laugh that as long as impulsive idiots exist, they still have a job.

(The impulsive idiot car thief isn't 'evil to the core', as observed by Iida, but he's still treated as a Villain with a whole wave of Heroes coming down on him. No other way of doing things, apparently.)

Meanwhile, despite Hawks improving society by having a chart for non-pro-Heroes to become (competitively ranked???) heroes, we don't see this chart, or whether this new chart actually does anything for this so called new and changed society, one that allows Heroes to 'have time to kill' and thus indicative of improvement. Same with other ways regular people are 'reaching out' thanks to seeing Deku and Heroes' hard work - we should've seen things like that in the background of this 38-page epilogue epilogue, but we don't.

Shouto's full arc comes to a close when he talks about how he's using the time to figure out who he is, not who he should become (which was that tangled web of fate and born to be a strong hero), and that's great! That's perfect! But imo, I feel the most effective way to get through a message like that would be to have Shouto quit being a Hero altogether. He should've go become a celebrity chef that goes on to rank as a non-pro-hero Hero.

We really should be seeing half the class quitting being heroes. Uraraka committing to quirk counseling full time; Deku stay as just a teacher; the other kids pursuing other careers; and all of them just as much heroes as they are before, because you don't have to be a pro-Hero to be a real hero.

as it is. This is just chapter 1 HeroAcaLand, but with the students in charge now. Getting all the same glitzy glamour and fame and money and lifestyles, just with some lip service about low crime that doesn't affect their status and paycheck at all.

[averycutesalamander]

hello miss sal i hope u are doin splendidly. i am here to say ive had juno on repeat for the past week and have had. well let’s just say. Thoughts. i need to know what u think about breeding kink boothill like.. on one hand i feel like he would be sent into a total frenzy if you were so into it in the moment you let slip you wanted him to knock you up. the fact you’d want him to give you everything, to have his kids, to lock you down, even despite his current predicament. but on the other hand i also feel there’s a little twinge of sadness in his head given he can’t physically give you that. probably heavier on the former i think he would absolutely be into that and give you SO much lip for it. in that sexy as fuck drawl man so uhh yea roll credits ROLL CREDITS

BREEDING KINK GOES CRAZY WITH HIM HjafhaJWFHAJFHJ ok hi i am normal. i did something adjacent to this at the end of DDBB (shameless plug if you haven't read it) but i think it'll end up featuring in a lot of my fics because i am Obsessed with the idea LOL

but yeah i imagine him to be really into it too, not just as a kink but also because he would love to have kids with you, if you were down for that. he gets so into it that im not even confident that the sadness would register for him in the moment. the dirty talk with him is insane. if you were super into it he would absolutely make you beg for him to get you pregnant. goes completely apeshit at the thought of filling you with his come. would love to stuff you full and then keep a plug or something in you to "make sure it'll take." christ he makes me crazy

in regards to actually having children (adopted or otherwise)... i honestly think he'd be torn between wanting to wait until all of this IPC business is done and over with before committing to kids, OR wanting to make sure he has one with you now, just in case, yknow?... like, if something wildly out of his control happens and he dies, would it be better or worse if he left behind a child that you'd have to raise on your own? the idea of you having to raise your kid without him is agonizing to him, but the idea of leaving you with nothing but memories is almost worse. there's also the aspect that if you have a kid now, he'd have to be far more absent than he'd like to be until his revenge is secured - especially during your pregnancy, when he would want to stay basically glued to your side so he could take care of you. with all of that in mind, i think he might lean slightly toward wanting to wait, but you could very easily convince him to go for it now.

i imagine, in whatever wack-ass future HSR is set in, he can get some crazy operation done that samples dna from whatever remains of his human body (which in my headcanon is pretty much just his brain and spine and maybe some nerves to connect to the artificial nervous system) so he can essentially make himself fertile again? via sci-fi magic? and uhhhh not to completely show my hand or anything but. imo the ideal situation would be like.. he is technically fertile, but the success rate would be so low that.. well. the two of you have to really try to make it happen. (im in a weird limbo where i do absolutely have a breeding kink but i ALSO have a mortal fear of pregnancy. but it isn't quite as hot without the risk of getting pregnant yknow. so if the chances are low it hits that perfect sweet spot for ME, but obviously feel free to imagine that however you like)

on a vaguely related note. uhh... warnings for cnc under the cut lol

so i have a loose plan for a second cnc fic (the first is dizzy heat, cloyingly sweet) where the two of you roleplay like you're an IPC office worker or something that he's kidnapped and he's trying to get a code for a computer out of you. naturally this involves some.. uh.. unique interrogation methods, including edging you until you break and give him the code.

a snippet for you (in text form bc im on pc):

He leans back onto his heels, looking you up and down, quick and noncommittal – almost unimpressed. Then, he makes a grand show of throwing up his brows in consideration. He scans you a second time, though this one is far more leisurely – almost starved; the plushness of your lips, the curve of your neck into your collarbone, the tempting swell of your breasts, the way your shirt clings to your waist, the way your pants cradle your thighs. “Well, ya might be IPC scum,” he drawls, raking his gaze up your body to meet your eyes, “but you're still quite a looker.”  The astonished look you give him isn’t quite entirely a farce; he has to wonder if he’s genuinely flustered you by just staring at you a little too hungrily. His lips twitch into a grin, his eyes narrowing lethally. “How about this?” he begins, his tone deceptively light. “Let's play a lil' game, huh?” Slowly, agonizingly, he leans forward into your space, his smile widening steadily as you flatten yourself against the wall. He presses further, dipping one knee down to rest just barely against your cunt, his teeth glinting as they hover just out of reach of your lips; he doesn’t miss the tiny breath you take as he reaches forward, hooking one finger beneath your shirt and leisurely dragging it upwards, exposing a sliver of your skin to the chill of the ship’s air.   “Let’s see how hard I can push ya before you break.”  Oh, he could die happy at the look on your face, all wide-eyed and awed, shamefully aroused and horrifically desperate. Your lips shake as you whimper, “W-Wait, please…” With a glint of red in his eyes, he snaps one hand around your throat, his gut clenching at the way you stiffen beneath him. “I don't wanna hear a word outta your mouth unless it's about that code,” he rumbles, his voice dark and husky. He squeezes around your throat once for emphasis, and he damn near growls at the tiny noise that escapes you. “Got it? Good.” 

anyway im thinking of ending that fic with him claiming that he's "still fertile" (whether or not that's true will be up to the reader's interpretation) and basically saying he's going to keep the reader as his "little breeder" and essentially baby-trapping her with the extra spice of kidnapping. the reader is like "wait no, you cant!! im ovulating!!" (also up to the reader's interpretation) and he just smiles and purrs, "even better, doll" and jesus christ i need to be euthanized bc im blushing just thinking about it LOLLLL

[eddiediazismyhusband]

if they’re legitimately planning on hitting us with someone in the hospital within the first 3 episodes of the season that doesn’t scream good things to me….

that’s a midseason finale/season finale thing, especially when bobby was just in the hospital for 2 seconds

i could see it being used as them bringing vics to the hospital (also we know the hospital set from s7 was a staging area last season which could be the same for now) or someone being reckless on a call and one of the other firefam yelling at them (like maybe eddie gets hurt not too badly but enough to get stitches or something and maybe hen is the one to yell at him bc buck is too distraught over it and hen knows what he’s going through bc she’s lost a child before, but she knows that it won’t donsny good to get yourself hurt over it or something like that) but if they’re actively putting someone in a dire enough situation that lands them in the hospital already in the first 3 ish episodes (judging on how they’ve only been shooting a couple weeks they can’t be that far into the season yet) it doesn’t give me good vibes of where they’re going with stuff if they wanna waste time and resources on something so (imo) lackluster

i don’t want the front half of the season to be a coma dream/hallucination… being a season opener is such low stakes bc there’s no “are they going to be okay??” bc of course they are… they’re not gonna kill off a main in the first couple episodes. it’s why, for me, the cruise ship arc fell a little flat because there was absolutely no way they were going to kill bobby or athena in the season opener…. people would quit watching the show if they did bc that casts a pall over the whole season that people aren’t going to want to watch.

so if someone ends up in the hospital, not only are there low stakes, but it’s opening the possibility of a coma dream/alternate universe situation (which is once again just copy/pasting a past plotline rather than coming up with something new) and it only serves to delay them actually committing to buddie canon even more…

not to mention that IF it were something intended to lead to buddie canon…. like i said before it would be so low stakes and rehashing of the lightning strike arc which would, again, be so low stakes and wouldn’t make that moment much of a desperate moment of “i thought i was going to lose you” (like maybe it would to the characters obv but we as an audience wouldn’t feel that bc again NO SHIT THEYRE NOT GONNA KILL OFF A MAIN 2 EPISODES IN so it loses that tension at least for me) maybe if they had done something in earlier seasons to set a precedent of “there’s a real chance that we are going to kill off this person” it would have a different impact, but the backlash the show would receive from actually killing off a main character in the first couple episodes would be too much of a risk this late in the game; so again it loses all of the stakes

imo it would just basically be almost a mockery of all the previous near death experiences in previous seasons that had all the promise and potential of leading to buddie canon yielding no results and it wouldn’t hold the emotional impact that i would want to have from seeing these characters hurt… it’d feel like such a waste of my time to once again be subjected to watching them get put through shit with barely any catharsis.

and it also gives them this opportunity to dangle buddie over our heads again if they went the “coma dream” route and had them being a couple or something so they could be like “see we technically gave you guys buddie in the show so we don’t have to commit to it anymore!”

the thing with previous season openers (earthquakes, tsunami, damn break) there was a sense of urgency to those situations that made the characters feel like they were both in dnager while simultaneously being okay in the kong run bc they never actually ended up seriously injured— most of the narrative tension and drama came from the unsure feeling of how they were going to get around this, and from the amount of civilians dying in the disaster/the impact those civilian deaths have on the firefam. (Even in the tsunami, we knew Buck and Chris weren’t going to die, but the tension and the emotional investment cane from actually seeing them reacting to the tragedy rather than just… one of them gets hurt and gets put in the hospital and ohhh so sad are they gonna make it???) the focus wasn’t on if they were gonna die or not, it was on how are they going to make it out of this if that makes sense; and putting someone in the hospital immediately at the start of the season doesn’t carry that same weight that these season openers need, and it would leave me as an audience member feeling like i just watched a character i love lay in a hospital bed for a few episodes and then they were fine.

yes, we knew buck wasn’t gonna die in the lightning strike arc bc ofc they aren’t going to kill off buck, but the tension came in the form of how late in the season it was, and everything that had built up to that point so far in s6 in his development. If the strike had happened in the first episode, that arc would bot have had the emotional intensity it did in canon because there was no build up.

overall, i know i’m in a low percentage of fans w this mindset but i’m kind of over the random out of nowhere trauma they put the firefam through, especially when it goes nowhere… 7x9/7x10 are prime examples of thst where they built up this whole “is bobby going to be okay” thing around the last couple episodes and then he was fine within like 15 minutes.

i don’t want them wasting their time on throwing people into comas or life threatening emergency room visits (especially this early in the season) when they have too much they need to fix narratively after s7 fucked everything up in the last episode. the beginning of the season needs to be focused on getting gerrard out of there, breaking up bt, showing tommy getting some kind of satisfying comeuppance for his awful behavior, as well as getting eddie out of this mental rut that they’ve fallen back on yet again rather than giving eddie actual development (yadda yadd smth about s hamster wheel).

i don’t want them doing another coma dream bc we already saw that in canon and it went nowhere. i don’t want eddie getting hurt and chris coming back 2 episodes in bc then what the fuck was the point of 7x10? how is that going to be him growing and moving past this mental stronghold on his past if we’re just gonna have his son come back so quickly?

i don’t want them keeping eddie on this hamster wheel of being the mental unstable one when we’ve seen this focus on him over and over and over… what was the point of his “development” in s6 of moving on and saying goodbye to shsnnon and then ripping her back out of the grave to dance her body around again if it’s not gonna finally be over and done with? chris coming back so quickly and eddie getting hurt is not a solution to that problem and it’s shitty storytelling to try and backtrack on a plot that was so forced to begin with.

and doing that through a low stakes hospital stay with a possible coma dream within the first couple episodes seems like both a cop out, and an opportunity to delay the character development they keep insisting eddie needs before he is “ready” for buck (which i have feelings on that point of view but that’s a whole different post worth entirely)

anyway, sorry for the rant. i just had that sitting on my chest and needed to get it out there… i hope this all makes sense ik sometimes brain to words filter is ehh but 🤷

[rainbowdaisy13]

Hi, I hope you're doing ok. I was browsing down your blog to read some of the asks about what is happening in the Taylor Swift fandom and I had a lot of ideas to share.

I'll start off by saying I'm not American, therefore I'm not gonna actively take part in the 2024 elections and I don't know all the details about US politics outside of what my country media outlets say and write. Also English is not my first language so sorry for any misspelling or mistake.

To focus just on the Taylor Swift current matter: to me this situation is yet ANOTHER proof of her sheer disinterest in speaking up about anything polarizing and potentially dangerous for her net worth. And the worst part is that if she stays bland and money driven like this she'll only show how she considers everything an era. There is no commitment for her.

Lover era feels comically fake now for the stark contrast to nowadays, it was all a stunt. Where's all that activism now, especially as an "ally" for the LGBT+ community? How can we really define her as a feminist when she only speaks up when it affects her (let's not forget her radio silence on reproductive rights)?

And granted we will never know where "Taylor Swift real person" ends and "Taylor Swfit TM" begins, and I personally don't really care, what I mostly care about, and that I noticed recently, is the consequences she - and people like her - have directly or indirectly on media and pop culture: I may be extreme when I say that NO philanthropic billionaire/multi millionaire will ever do enough good for the world EVER, because the very same system that got them to that level of wealth is the faulty system that condemns the majority of the worlds population to exploitation and poverty.

Add this to the fact that most of the ultra rich and rich people don't give a damn about anything if it's not affecting their pockets, while they're also powerful and influential enough to drive politics and culture in their favour (ie. anything concerning taxes, systemic exploitation of low income countries, etc, and don't get me started on the absurdity of finance as a whole), we are in a situation where we actually are influenced by these people that have all the interest of staying out of anything for the sake of their money.

All of this to say that to expect Taylor Swift to be a source of information and potentially an inspiration to decide who to vote is very dangerous and takes away all the agency that every single one of us ideally has in a democratic system (let's not forget that Taylor herself keeps very conveniently reminding that she does not want to be a 'guiding light', that she's 'too soft for all of this' indeed).

I don't want I try not to and am not driven by celebrities in my choices but I do recognize their influence on pop culture as well.

I'm not the first to say that lately there has been a need of belonging to a community, to feel a part of something, and music has always had this power, but has been enhanced with social media and especially after the pandemic imo. For a lot of people, and I'm personally not totally immune to this as well, supporting an artist and interacting with their fanbase became a way to define who they are/want to be and it can be difficult to keep some distance from the idol, because you more likely support someone if they seem to have an affinity with you, your interests, what you stand for, etc. Sometimes it pushes us to believe we have more intimacy with what are complete strangers and sometimes it can bleed into parasocial relationships, which I don't think are healthy and can get quite extreme (respect Chappell Roan please!)

In the end, my personal impartial advice to this would be to discern the art from the artist, and detach the fields that don't concern the artist from said artist, unless they are active in those fields.

This doesn't mean that I don't think celebrities don't have the power to influence and change important events, nor that they shouldn't speak up and get more involved, but I find myself growing more and more disillusioned with celebrities and more and more eager to reclaim my agency as a commoner.

This doesn't even exclude the fact that we shouldn't criticize Taylor for her general inactivity (from the AI crap to the Democratic endorsement) when she has every mean avaible to do differently and actually have an impact.

P.S. I'm still uncertain about the whole matter with BM, and Taylor being surrounded by people with questionable opinions, because we can't blame her for the doings of others BUT she still hangs out with those people. But again it's very likely they don't talk/don't give a damn about politics.

Sorry for the long ass ask.

First of all, whenever you guys say English isn’t your first language it just blows me away—all of you read & write better English that many Americans, so please never feel weird about sending in asks! They are always very articulate and have less spelling mistakes than I make 😆

Secondly, you bring up lots of good points—for me, Taylor getting involved this election isn’t because I hope she will sway votes away from Trump and towards Kamala—I agree it would be dangerous to rely on wealthy entertainers and billionaires as beacons of the common persons best interests. Rather, Taylor speaking up would confirm for me and many other fans that she IS who we all thought she was back in 2018-2021. That the person she claimed to evolve into—a more empathetic socially conscious braver Taylor who knew that her voice does impact so many younger impressionable minds, one who wanted to stand up for what and who she believed in, someone who claimed the LGBTQ causes, the BLM protests, gerrymandering, etc were worth speaking up about, wasn’t just an era to try on until she got tired of it

Damn you have so many excellent points here, but yeah you’re right, at the end of the day Taylor and other billionaires aren’t going to stand against a system that is still actively keeping them at the top

Thanks so much for your input 🙏🏼

[firsttarotreader]

Ask for the cards, although i dont know if this is something appropriate to ask cards… but how much does he have to try to hide his darker side/mood swings/gloominess/grumpiness in daily life?

If this sounds weird, hear me out. I may be a bit cynical when it comes to people, but i truly believe no one is perfect (duh) and certainly no one is as nice as Pedro to everyone. Its just not possible, people are moody creatures, and cant like every single person at any given time. Life is too hectic. While to most fans this ‘everyone speaks so highly of him’ thing is ‘awww honey boo boo 🥹🥹’, to me is like 🤔 that much of a narcissist huh. Hes the same with everyone, and everyone is different so i dont see how that works. I reckon he doesnt do it for others, he does it for himself because he needs to be liked and all that jazz you know very well about. Thats why no one sticks around other than ‘friends/staff’ he keeps as a satellite because hes terrified to be alone (that says a lot about someone). It could literally be anyone who would be willing to go after him with not much commitment on his end. His standards on people are quite low imo. Now im not here to diagnose pedro’s issues for which the man needs therapy, and a lot of it, but yeah just wondering. Thank you and sorry if this is not appropriate for the cards.

Hello! I asked the cards your question and the first pull was the 7 of Coins, The Lovers and The Tower.

7 of Coins means it’s a lot about time and investment and a growing connection, with long term results. The Lovers represents harmonious friendships or partnerships, while The Tower points to things crumbling, falling apart, sudden and radical changes or shakeups. It looks like time is what makes a difference. When he invests in the friendship/relationship, you will see the great connection you can build, but you will also see whatever has to fall apart falling apart. The harmonious part is not fake, though.

The second pull was the Page of Wands, 2 of Cups and Ace of Swords. Page of Wands is the energetic, enthusiastic boy ready to start new things, to experiment the new. 2 of Cups followed by Ace of Swords makes me think that if you love that spontaneous and fiery energy you love it right because it’s all quite clear. He’s probably able to communicate and be honest and not let things in the shadows or unclear.

I did ask for a card to sum it up and it was the 4 of Swords. This card is about feeling exhausted, in need of resting and solitude in order to recharge or recover. This could mean that it all has to do with being close or taking time to develop the relationship.

He doesn’t seem to be hiding much of his “darker side”, but it will appear more as time goes by and as you spend time with him building something. He also might tend to distance himself from people in certain situations when he feels worn out, emotionally or physically. The distance makes a difference, and also how long this connection will be going on for.

[supercalime]

i heard about the whole jatp drama, and i totally get your worries in that regard 😭 sooo often a show has something great going for itself, just for the creators to fuck up so badly that it's almost unfathomable sksksk (also looking at the umbrella academy season 4 disaster). gotta say that at this point, i think i will leave 911 behind fr if bucktommy aren't together anymore. i am out with one foot simply because i only watch certain storylines while skipping others, some characters haven't interested or excited me in literal years. but i love buck. after so many years of watching him try to find real happiness, and with the show slowly reaching a point where imo it's seriously time to wrap it up very soon, i cannot imagine that they will manage to strike gold the way they did with bucktommy ever again. tommy is the first love interest of buck that they actually tried to integrate into the world and the firefam. tommy got the seal of approval, we see buck seemingly finally reach that point in life he was searching for. making him go through ANOTHER breakup just to introduce ANOTHER love interest, nullifying all that bucktommy has established? there is a limit for how often you can press the reset button, and we have reached it with buck a long time ago. let the man finally have something else to work towards. we need a breath of fresh air in here. i am optimistic about s8, and i will live no matter what happenes, but i think that would be my final straw to disconnect from 911 amd canon buck ngl 🤔 fingers crossed that bucktommy is alive and well because it's got sm potential!! 🙌

Couldn’t agree more bestie!

Tbf my reaction to the jatp bs is on me haha. Everything was more intense in 2020/2021 for obvious reasons so it wasn’t surprising for me to have latched on to a tv show and relying on it for my mental well being. But all that bullshit made me learn to change my mindset and behavior on how to interact with media and fandom, which is to have the bar so low it’s in hell.

Anyway, back to 911. I wouldn’t blame you for stopping to watch the show at any point if it’s not interesting any more. I’m not even a fan of this one. I saw bits and pieces throughout the years as one tends to do with procedurals and didn’t want to have my experience tainted with the fanon ship that shall not be named. In fact, I’ve followed lone star from the beginning and I think I still prefer it over the og.

Now onto buck and his relationships. I completely agree with what you said about hitting the reset button over and over. Procedurals tend to stall instead of committing to a solid change unless they get repetitive and/or write themselves into a corner (which both apply to buck here). So yeah, it would be a disservice to bucks character if he yet again goes through another breakup and the cycle keeps going, specially since tommy was pretty well received as his LI unlike all the other ones that weren’t meant to last from the beginning (Abby, Ali), were the wrong person for him (Taylor) or were forced down our throats (Natalia - there was so much telling and not showing how “right” their relationship was, it’s embarrassing).

So, unless there’s outside factors preventing tommy to come back and stay for good (contracts, conflicting schedules, etc), it makes no sense for bucktommy to not continue on the path they are going.

I want bucktommy to thrive, but I won’t hold my breath waiting just yet. If they are broken up or eventually will break up (which I must emphasize I do not want cause I ship them with all my heart) I might quit the show as well. Buck and Tommy were a breath of fresh air and I would love to see what could happen to them if we are lucky enough to see their romance continue

[whitehartlane]

okay i missed the game so i would love to know what u thought of archie (have only heard good things!) and lucas and ALSO excruciating detail about the Deki Renaissance

hellooooo gormlaith!!! obviously disclaimer that this was a preseason friendly against hearts (and their bench in the second half) and in no way an indicator for how and where we’re going to use certain youth or younger players in the upcoming season but it was rly promising!

archie originally played more as a defensive midfielder for leeds before filling in at right back for them last season and today he was asked to play centreback (for the first time in his career i think!). i was super impressed by the way he slot right in like he’s been playing in this position at this level for years. he timed his tackles very well, had a couple of clearances, won all his ground and aerial duels. committed 0 fouls! and what i rly liked seeing is how he got himself involved in the attack, he had a couple of passes into the final third (interested to see how he profiles against biss here who favours a progressive carry) and wasn’t afraid to push up high on the pitch. looks very comfortable on the ball. i do think he’ll end up playing rb or the 6/8 in our system but i didn’t mind him playing at the back today to get used to the intense way of how we play. super encouraging!

lucas is a little more raw imo which is understandable considering he’s made the jump from the swedish league to a pl team at only 18. he was a bit sloppy the first 10-15 mins he played and i think that’s due to the role he played at his old club where he had the agency to play in a more free creative role. however he settled into the game rly well and made a lot of creative forward thinking passes (and of course bagged assists!). i liked seeing him with alfie devine who had a rly underrated game. something that impressed me with lucas is his read of the game and the urgency with which he plays it. there’s this moment where he dictated play from deep which reminded me of madders. another thing is that he made a few outside of the boot passes, i’m interested to see how that translates to the pl. he was also directing other players where to position themselves and assuming that responsibility!

as for this deki remontada … i mentioned this in a post i made but i rly like the idea of deki and madders playing together in midfield. i’ve always been a deki sympathiser since i think he brings a lot to the team that we don’t have in that forward line (retaining and recycling possession mostly) even if his performances can be inconsistent. we did try the deki/madders experiment last season towards the end but it didn’t come off the way i wanted it to; i suspect bc deki was knackered and low on confidence and madders was coming back from injury. i rly liked it yesterday though! if you remember the beginning of last season we’d see madders drop as low as biss to receive the ball from the centrebacks and dictate play from deep. i have to rewatch the game in order to give any proper insight but going off memory alone we had madders dropping a little deeper and deki playing in a more advanced role (his fav role also) and pushing up onto the wing as well when necessary. i thought it worked quite well even if his cutbacks into the final third didn’t come off as well as he wanted to, but it’s preseason and the idea is there. it allows a bit more dynamism in midfield and a lot more attacking options as we saw for the first half goal (which was a pass from madders to deki at the edge of the box, backheel from deki back into madders and short cross into bren who scored). it’s not something i think we can equip against all pl teams especially if we have less possession of the ball but it’s a good option to have if we shore up defensively and are potentially chasing a goal or something. we def need reinforcements in the front line tho, a winger wouldn’t be bad 😭

you didn’t ask this but i thought i’d mention that the academy lads put in a proper shift! rly nice seeing them all gelling so quick (huge credit to wayne burnett and the rest of the academy coaches!). pretty much all of the kids had a good performance yesterday. ones for you to keep an eye on are tyrese hall, mikey moore, jamie donley, and will lankshear. there’s a few more but these are some of the ones i’ve been repping for a bit 🥰

[gothic-marsy]

I'm bored so I wanna drop some info on my versions of the Underlust skele sibs.

Rose/Paps-

Rose is an interesting one to talk about. As much as I love Papyton, I don't think they'd work out in UL. I think they'd be better off as friends ngl, mostly for Mettaton's sake. I also make Rose transgender (ftm). His music taste is very fun! You either get the most heartbreaking songs in his playlist (mitski), the freaky ones, emo music, or the most hopeless romantic song you can ever find (mostly Hot Freaks songs). He's pretty tall, actually. Almost 7 feet!! He's a little taller than Fell Paps, imo. He HATED his junior/high school years, he would hate to talk about them. Now, with relationships, he's not quite good with them. Due to him having done sex work, he doesn't quite understand things. I also gave him Borderline, because I feel like it would make sense with the way he lives. He can also get extremely anxious, but would love giving his lover gift.

Rai/Sans-

I love Rai as much as the next person, but since I want more character depth for them, they're an angry, semi-horny bastard. Sansby doesn't happen in my version, because I give Rai the fear of commitment (and anger issues). Rai is actually non-binary, they dont really feel like theyre male or female. They also rarely do sex work, due to their body semi giving out on them. When they were injected with lust, their magic decreased and made them weaker than most Sanses. Think of it like low iron, or pots if you wanna make It really hard on them. Rai is VERRYYY much a punk. They never enjoyed being under monarch rules. In fact, they were a goth in highschool. While their sense of fashion has.somewhat changed, they still enjoy the music and politics. They're a little under 6 foot as well.

Both-

Now, for both of the siblings, their Canon selves plays a big part in their mental health. They veiw themselves as the caricatures people have painted of their canon selves. Rose can have frequent panic attacks from this, thinking he's a horrible person. Rai gets episodes of anger and resentment towards the world they live in.

Yeah that's it tho :3

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine - Propaganda Post

S-Class Heroine is my all-time favourite Otome Isekai for sure. I've reread the available webtoon chapters a stupid number of times, then read the webnovel and became even more insane about the story. Here's why you should read it too!

---

The premise of the story is pretty standard. Lady in her 20s gets hit by a truck and is reincarnated as a mob character who's destined to die early. Her new world is full of danger because dungeons filled with demons can spring up whenever, but she has the help of a game system and its benevolent moderators (the gods that transmigrated her there) cheering her on.

Top 3 things that make the story stand out from other OIs:

No romance while they're children

It's a low bar but one that lots of OIs fail anyway, so it's worth mentioning.

Excellent Pacing

Speaking of childhood arcs, the author has the good sense to skip all the unnecessary skill grinding. We're only with the MC in the important parts where (1) worldbuilding mechanics are introduced (2) she makes important friends, or (3) she acquires fundamental skills that she's going to use for the rest of the story. You never lose track of the stakes involved because the story isn't dragged out. But it also isn't rushed; the story takes the time to pause for jokes and small moments too.

The in-universe the tutorial/childhood period is 10 years long, but we're only with the MC for like a couple of months in total. Can't imagine being in the childhood arc for 100+ chapters. (sorry Matriarch. I did love you but I simply cannot see why the last 3 arcs I read needed to exist at all)

ML doesn't fall into any of the typical archetypes.

I dunno how to describe Tesilid. He's a hero, he's a damsel in distress. He behaves saint-like but he doesn't even really want to be that way.

His character revolves around some magic restrictions on his behaviour. He has to adhere to the 7 heavenly virtues and abstain from the 7 deadly sins, which basically means that he's always very kind and gentlemanly. He's also a doormat who's constantly betrayed and taken advantage of because he's essentially not allowed to stand up for himself.

He's such a funny guy ever because when he's like 10 and still not very great at handling himself, he petulantly mutters and complains under his breath about why he's the only one who has to live so rigidly. You can definitely tell that if he were given the choice, he definitely wouldn't be doing so many saintly things, but here he is anyway and looking like an angel while at it. But he's also not a selfish prick. He's the guy who in the original novel died 80+ times trying to save the world. He consistently wishes for others to avoid living the same restrictive life as he does in the in-universe church, even though this incurs penalties from committing the sin of envy.

imo Tesilid doesn't feel like a typical bland ML, maybe because he's quite literally an action fantasy MC who's now in a rofan lol. By the grace of the transmigration gods he now has a transmigrator who wants, above all, for him to have a freer and happier life.

His interactions with FL are both very cute and somehow devastatingly sad and hopeful at the same time. She's the only one with whom he is exempt from the penalties of committing the seven deadly sins, which means he can actually be himself around her. If she's the one giving him food, he can eat it without it counting as the sin of gluttony. So after the childhood arc they have this wordless agreement where she piles food on his plate without being asked and he cleans the plate. They look like a married couple to everyone else, but they're probably rationalising it on the inside. It makes me want to combust.

FL also became strong in order to defend him. I love how narratively speaking, lots of times Tesilid is the damsel in distress. There's no ML coming in to solve all the FL's problems, because he's constantly weaker than her. But it's not demeaning, because it means that for the first time ever, someone is there to catch him when he falls. And despite being weaker and being rescued by the FL lots of times, he's also never stripped of agency. He's always thinking and acting to protect her in turn. And as he gets stronger, she sometimes ends up having to keep up with his plans and antics instead.

TLDR; romance aside, Tesilid is a really interesting main character because his entire thing is about resisting the Saint-like character and destiny imposed onto him. I know OIs are about romance, and this one does have (slow-burn) romance, but I love it when stories transcend that and make their characters more than just their relationship with their love interests. Also it's very nice how he and FL flipped the damsel in distress dynamic and without making it emasculating or demeaning for either party.

—

Anyway there's more good things about the story, like it being really funny and having excellent art. I would explain and also talk about the MC who's also so funny and so driven, but unfortunately Tesilid has my entire brain in his grip. I could talk about him forever but he has already made this post long enough.

Please read S-Class Heroine ❤️ The pacing is so good and also Tesilid exists. Thank you for listening to my TedTalk.

[centrally-unplanned]

VOR on the other Progressive Presidents -- Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson?

Not a strong areas for me, so my low confidence quick appraisals: Teddy: Probably mid-low, C+? A lot of his progressive economic actions were either very much in the zeitgeist and similar actions would have been taken by others, who didn't have that much impact all said and done (like his monopoly 'breakups'). He is an ideas man though for sure, and I think on conservation in particular that wasn't something any old president would have done and has had as very long legacy, so he gets points for that. I also guess handing Wilson the presidency after splitting the vote in 1912 was not something anyone else could have done lol.

Taft: I think the consensus is right on him being low VOR. I want to credit what he was trying to do - seeing growing radicalism in Roosevelt, and growing corruption & reactionary politics in the right-wing of the Republican party, and chart a new course. He just failed at it in the end, and didn't do much that stands out to me as having lasting import or wasn't what many would have done in his shoes. Lets go with D.

Wilson: More confident on this one, quite high VOR. Foreign policy is always an area where US presidents have more VOR opportunities - they have more agency and are less constrained by domestic political factions. Wilson took that to the absolute hilt. Intervening in WWI is not that high VOR, to be clear - in the end the majority was for it after repeated German (foolish) violations of US policy around sea trade. But reshaping WWI into an ideological battle for nationalism and republicanism absolutely was his project and not at all the default state of things. And he did is very, very actively - you can assign a good amount of the credit/blame for the dissolution of Austria-Hungary on Wilson for the ways he pre-committed nationalist factions to independence or bust, for example. All his domestic policy is washed away by this imo. Though in the end still just an outside factor on all this, so I would go with B+.

[lazyypumpkin]

Vampire movies I have been watching to keep me sane until season 3 of iwtv (Part 2)

Moving on to the sapphic vampire movies I’ve watched thus far

Wir Sind Die Nacht/ We Are The Night 4/5🌟

•does this movie really deserve 4 stars? Maybe not but I love it dearly anyway

•has the same feel as those slightly shitty fantasy books one consumes as a pre teen when one grows up in the 2010’s (based on a purely hypothetical example of course, I personally obviously never did that haha ha ha)

•could be SO good if they would’ve had the balls to make the main character bi

•shitty cop character that you just have to ignore to enjoy the movie

•One of the characters (Louise) is low key a genderbent Lestat?? Blonde ✔️ Obsessive about her love interests ✔️ Also insane but in a glamorous way ✔️

And did I mention a lesbian???????

•anyhow can you tell I’m obsessed with her

•loved the other characters as well, specially Nora and Charlotte (the main character is ok too)

•loved the atmosphere& cinematography

•the first 2/3rds of this movie are fantastic

•one of my favorite vampire turning/transformation scenes

•one of my favorite vampires being vampires and messing around montages

•this could really be a cult classic imo (specially if they just would have committed to the gayness even more)

•LESBIAN VAMPIRE YEARNING!!!!

The Hunger (1983) 4/5🌟

•didn’t like this one much either on my first watch and then rewatched it and was utterly convinced I loved it until right before the ending happened lol

•starts off with a goth club scene where Bela Lugosi Is Dead is playing (it’s so iconic)

•very cool cinematography

•Bisexual Vampire Yearning& Angst

•like seriously this movie is beautifully queer

•thought all the characters were interesting but did not buy that Catherine Deneuve was a vampire from ancient Egypt lmfao

•honestly feels quite anne rice-esque in essence to me

Carmilla (2019) 3,5/5🌟

•didn’t like it the first time I watched it but appreciate it more upon rewatching it several times

•i loved the idea of this movie but am not sold on the execution

•needed more scenes to build up the romance

•actors sort of have a face that looks like it knows what an iPhone is and that took me out of it

•Miss Fontaine was low key annoying and not in an intentional way

•loved the anatomy scenes, the insects& scenes of slow decay

•loved the cinematography& visuals

•BLOODY! SAPPHIC! KISSES!!!!!

•like genuinely when the movie was good it was very good but when it wasn’t good it was kind of meh???

•it could have been such a good movie smh

I still have a lot of lesbian vampire movies from the 70’s on my list so I will expand this sapphic section considerably (and probably cringe at a lot of male gaze-y shit lol)

[torschlusspanikattack]

This superficially resembles a silly point, but is not quite identical to caring, not caring = same—

All the ‘anti-voting’ arguments being discoursed across my dash mostly seem like caring a lot about voting; all the effort spent arguing against voting could easily…

(actually, not easily, bc political change is hard—

even knowing what you need to know how to do (i.e. knowing what alternative would actually accomplish anything if executed properly) is recursively challenging (e.g. an effective protest movement is defined by employing means that actually work, which requires knowing both the right target and the right execution, each defined in terms of the other: the right target is one that can be successfully achieved via execution and the right execution is one that can successfully achieve the target)

—, but not doing something is even easier)

…be spent on arguing for the alternatives without even bringing up voting (since they basically don’t conflict) and would function exactly the same 90% (100% made-up number) of the time, assuming you actually didn’t believe in the impact of voting instead of being crypto-electoralists that at least act as though they believe not voting is meaningful (which is just electoralism).

All the actual anti-electoralists I know, either for normie-adj reasons or rejecting bourgeois democracy reasons don’t talk about voting or not voting, they just talk about what they’re doing instead (non-politics and non-electoral organising, etc, respectively).

Even on the marquee issue, US elections and Palestine, if you actually believe elections / bourgeois democracy are pointless, then the votes for Joey B’s ancien régime are irrelevant in any direction, so there’s no benefit of even bringing up the election at all—if you’re trying to persuade at all (which has to be assumed if you’re spending time discoursing about voting), should just be organising as you think is viable for Palestine—acting like people demanding votes for American Democrats is counterproductive****** or harmful is implicitly conceding that the votes matter at all (electoralism!).

Now, to be fair and charitable, the main reason behind the anti-voting posts is not to persuade or affect anything; it’s that American election posts are annoying and it feels good to counter-post and present a backlash to very common annoying opinions online. But this just means that at best. such discourse and posts are the most literal example of saying words recreationally, posting just because it feels good to react against annoyances, and at ‘worst’ (it’s posting, the ceiling is low for benefit, but so too is the ceiling for harm) it means that getting mad online has escaped brain containment and negatively polarised you/them (feel attacked or smug as you wish) into sincere/unironic nega-electoralism.

*****if your position is that people voting matters (negatively) because it counterproductively or harmfully distracts real efforts, so does arguing about it (as much as posts are anything, as previously discussed)—>

if you’re committed, just ignore elections and start organising: if you get results, people will see the effectiveness of dual power (dual power isn’t the exact concept I am thinking of, but I can’t remember the English word for it, close enough imo) and it will be easy to direct the efforts of—

[anyone who was focused on elections because that represented best avenue for making a difference (vs those pro-elections because it represents a cap on the effort they’re willing to commit)]

—to a process that actually results in change; —>

if you don’t get results from it, then people being distracted from ‘the real movement’ doesn’t matter anyway, that’s tough, move to Finland/Switzerland/France/Poland/Switzerland and wait for the next crisis of capital I guess.

[plasmalink]

Asuka Spells Tier List (from a floor 9 player)

Because I can't find an Asuka discord, and barely hear about people talking about the character, I'm putting myself out here to talk about his spells.

warning! long ass text ahead!!!!

S - Mana regen is by far the best spell. It gives you so much more leeway on offense and defense, and easily pays for itself. This is the main reason to go into Test Case 3 IMO. Lets you regain resources just by playing defensively without needing to commit to recovering mana. Green cubes are also fantastic in neutral, usually forcing your opponent to block or commit to something huge. Gives you a moment to breathe, and it catches people way more than I'd expect. Auto Import is also huge, the other half of exodia (the former being regen) that allows you to just go NUTS with your spells. However, it fucks with my muscle memory not needing to redraw spells, meaning I frequently cast a spell, then discard the spell I just got. Oops.

A - All of these are really close. Blue cube is just a really nice, fast projectile that establishes a threat. Accipiter metron is great both if your opponent does or does not read your spells, either threatening or surprising an overhead. The bounce is huge too, giving you plenty of time to confirm into a full combo. I don't think many other characters have fast grounded overheads into full combo. Screamer just WINS round start. There's enough in TC1 to be somewhat consistent about it, too. It's also fantastic at just catching the opponent pressing buttons, or low airdashes, not even mentioning its guard crush. Fire cubes are great, but their levelling system makes them a little bit awkward to use at times. Still, a consistent level 4 or 5 fire cubes would make S tier easy. Terra metron is actually like, way better in the air? Even though it's no longer a low, it just hits at such a weird angle and distance that nobody expects, also with a nice pop-up. Works great on the ground too, but you already have your e-sports 2D in a similar niche, though with less reward. Electric cube I find is a bit worse than the speedy blue cube, but not by much. Fantastic if you're already in a combo, but it losing to a single hit or projectile makes it slightly sad in neutral. Mana discount is store brand mana regen. Similar end result, but while Mana Regen lets you take your time, get you out of mana-less state faster, and even works while you're getting comboed, discount only does anything when you are casting spells. Nice if you've already gotten a solid footing, but sometimes doesn't help.

B - Restock is nice. It's saved my ass quite a few times when I had no meter and no spells. It's also sat on my spell bar doing nothing because I have other spells I don't need to refill (Or worse, I have like two staves I can't find a moment to discard/cast). Tardus metron is mainly an Oki tool, but a very good one. The fact that it still dies in one hit or projectile gives it limited neutral use, but it certainly does lock down an opponent. Also fun when you have a staff down. Teleport is pretty situational, and I think 4 is too many copies of it in TC3. I don't like having more than two in hand at once. It raises Arpeggio and itself both a full tier when you have both, though. Great against people who don't read your spells. Boost zap is kind of a worse screamer? I rarely see it outside of level 1. Still, a worse screamer is still pretty nice. I think it's also possible to combo from midscreen? Though going fullscreen with screamer is also perfectly fine for Asuka. Arpeggio is undoubtedly cool as FUCK. However, it's slow and expensive (24% mana! That's 3 blue cubes!) to cast. Sampler is okay. Copy of the next spell you cast. Also fucks with my muscle memory like auto import. I wish it was in the same test case as Accipiter, it would be very funny for multiple overheads in a row. Aquila kind of sucks but it's also very nice to have, if that makes sense? Your only invincible move, metered or otherwise. Very nice against people who DO read your spells, as they might opt to forgo meaties on your wakeup unless they have a safejump.

C - It's hard to be mad at chaotic option, it does have some nice ass spells, but I'd also much rather just draw those spells in the first place rather than needing to cast this to draw them though. Suck staff is the funniest one, lets you perform the most heavily scaled combos known to man. One thing I'll say about all the staves though, it's annoying to have to actually cast them. They take about as much time as an electric cube, and sometimes my hand gets clogged with them and I need to manually discard them. Fast staff gives you some nice guard crushes, makes your pressure up close very nice and very annoying from afar. Slow staff is worse than fast staff, but it makes people freeze up when they see a wall of cubes, giving you plenty of time to get your shit in order and regenerate some mana. Nice after a burst. Instant mana, I don't like very much. The mana boost is appreciated, but leaving yourself without spells sucks. 53% mana on an otherwise empty hand isn't bad though. Use it when you have 50 meter to go into full order. Random import does address my issue of being stuck with 2 staffs and a teleport in your hand, but the fact that it doesn't import on empty slots hurts it.

D - Repel staff, meh. Don't like it much. Still kind of funny though Down staff: Has that instant overhead with Jump D, but I still struggle to find much use. Up staff: boing! good against may maybe? Or anyone else who really likes jump-ins?

Alright, that's the list. Any other Asuka players, feel free to light me up.

[practicemyfall]

😈

i wanna know your thoughts on the pure kino we were robbed of, that is Marshall x Ivy, my two spicy favs 😭❤️‍🔥

YES!!! One thing about me is I'm gonna be an Ivy apologist, she was a victim of poor writing and imo the season really hit a slog post Ivy departure because I feel like as a character she had so much potential to grow as MCs Friend/advocate for her most out of pocket urges. Bella is too docile, Chloe is too lukewarm and Grace isn't really on your side even when you're off the Ozzy path and have proven time and time again that you're her friend and want to do right by her. Had there been an opportunity for her to have a friendship with MC if there was a near skirmish with a dumping only for her to be saved at the last minute (perhaps if Amelia was instead dumped in her place), I think she'd really come into her own as a character and be the closest friend MC had in there. So let's say Amelia is the one that gets dumped instead of Ivy, what happens is Ivy is most likely making an attempt to reconcile with Ryan but finds they don't really mesh as well as they could do, they find ways of grating one another and he's low-key a bit too idealistic and far from grounded for her liking. She needs somebody with proper, bona-fide drive. Bella/Lewie Bella/Jamal get dumped as well as MCs fake out dumping, Casa Amor comes along and lo and behold, there's an assemblage of overly earnest men just vying for their spot in that main Villa. One in particular, a certain Marshall, is hung up on letting people know that Ozzy is potentially the worst person of all time and deserves a trial by the UN for the crimes he's committed.

Ivy humours him for a little while - leads conversations with little feelers for him to talk about just why Ozzy is the worst person of all time, but she’s got that ability to just lance through the bullshit and find out what's really going on. Beyond his weird begrudgement, what Ivy notices is just how driven he is. How far he'll go to get what he wants. It's unfortunate, really, that the person coming into casa with some hokey vendetta induced plan is the one person that ticks off every single criteria on her list, and as terrible as she undoubtedly knows it is, she doesn't quite mind the idea of taking him from whichever dolt is bringing him back into the Villa, Ryan's eventual upset be damned.

She's not going to outwardly express her interest in him, and he's a bit too blinded by his hateritis to notice that there's somebody interested in him on Love Island of all places, and it only really comes to a head on movie night when there's a bit too much footage of Ivy slandering the man on show. Marshall's ire is aimed elsewhere, and when he prods her for an explanation, she lets rip and verbally eviscerates him with the precision of somebody dissecting a frog. He's too stunned to respond, has a bit of a sulk, and lo and behold-

The man is just hit with it. Like I'm not being funny but he loves being given commands, and is there anyone more bossy and commanding than Ivy? This is like some Lee/E Edward Grey shit, this is next fucking level. Man's getting railed into the mattress. But he's also getting somebody that just tells him things how they are and gets him to dig deeper into himself beyond his resentment of Ozzy. Expect playful bickering, subtle flirtation and above all else, a couple that actually manages to triumph against the odds.

[ten-cent-sleuth]

Hi!! Nice to meet another Zibell fan and fic writer! I have to admit that my time on Tumblr is a bit sporadic (real life is way too busy), but I'm always glad to talk about Zibell and writing fic for them. I've written a lot of romantic fic for them, but I definitely enjoy the platonic friendship on screen, so I could really go either way with them. Do you ship them romantically at all or just platonically? Any favorite moments?

[Disclaimer: I am only on S3 of the show, so some of my comments might not be (as) applicable anymore. Also, there might be some prime Zibell moments from S4 and S5 that I don’t mention when talking about my favourites because I haven’t seen them yet. Sorry!]

I could go either way with them too! I read (and write…maybe… 👀) romantic fanfic for them, and I’m definitely on the lookout for budding feelings between them when I watch the show. However, when it comes to their canon relationship atm, I only ship them in the sense of “I’m rooting for them”, not in the sense of “I want them to be together”. It’s like you said on another post: I’d like their professional dynamic and platonic intimacy to develop some more before they drop any romantic ILYs (I’d be down for some platonic ones though; tv needs more of those!) or passionate embraces. I think there are some things they can discover about each other more meaningfully (to me) if they aren’t in an exclusive, committed relationship when they learn them.

(I answer the rest of your question below the cut, but it’s looong so be warned lol.)

Like, some things are kind of expected to be shared when you’re dating someone, and the idea of Maggie and OA sharing those things with each other just because they want to instead—just because they feel comfortable turning to each other before any friend or family member or even side character love interest, even though on paper they’re simply colleagues!—is really quite special to me. For example, when OA shows up at Maggie’s place and confides in her: his seeking her out means more in my eyes because, traditionally, he’d be expected to disclose what’s troubling him about his past if Maggie were a romantic partner, but not when she is merely a professional one—at least, not the details, not in such a personal setting, not when their job is already done. Plus, the fact that they don’t always share these kinds of things with each other (e.g., Maggie doesn’t tell OA that she suspects Erin has relapsed and that she is making the big decision to help her move back to a rehab centre) suggests that they aren’t yet at a place to let each other in so completely. That being said, I don’t want to suffer through another Bensler torture method! There is a difference between a tasteful slow burn and a fourth-degree scorch, Dick Wolf! And it’s not just the length of it, either, but the pacing! I could last twenty-four seasons of romantic tension between Zibell as long as it’s not a dragged-along, low-key out-of-character romantic tension, y’know?!

[deep breath] Sorry. Where was I? Right, I ship them platonically and would like them to get a happy ending together romantically at some point, but that should be a decent way off imo. On the show, at least. I’m an impatient, lovesick twat and will absolutely peddle and plead for romantic art, fic, and edits on Tumblr, YouTube, and AO3. :)

As for favourite moments… If you mean scenes that won points for their relationship in my book, I would say any where there was a Thing they had to talk about but were resisting until the crucial instant where they chose to let down their walls to the other. So when a case directly hits close to home, when something personal is bothering them and affecting their job, when the two of them are disagreeing and need to get on the same page… Those moments. Those conversations. I live for those small, subtle relationship development milestones! Also, anytime they back each other up. I’ve said this before, but when one of them gets snarky and the other smirks to themself, or when one of them successfully captures a person of interest and the other smiles in gratitude/pride, or when one of them seconds the other’s hunch against the rest of the JOC… I also live for those small, subtle signs of a healthy, stable foundation, ’cause that’s what any future romance—if there will be any—will be laid upon, y’know?

Now, if you’d prefer my list of scenes that I obsessively re-watch for the Drama and Feels, I can definitely be more precise. ;P

1x01 (their banter about OA’s arachnophobia and drawing; Maggie struggles with Emmett’s death and OA reassures her that her evac order was the right move; when OA goes to take down Bernardo and Maggie runs after him, their conversation was hilarious; their side whispering like the person they’re discussing isn’t right there; OA brings up Maggie’s husband and she shuts him out but also thanks him! OA and Maggie smiling at each other after the case; “All you need is a ride?” “For now”)

1x03 (the “Is it true? One in four women…?” conversation; the fight in the stairwell; “I always got your back, Mags”)

1x04 (Maggie tries to talk down the sniper and OA gives her Concerned Looks in the background)

1x07 (OA talks about his experiences in Iraq and Maggie gives him Concerned Looks in the background; Maggie tells him he can talk to her, and he takes her up on his offer!!)

1x14 (Maggie trusts OA with her suspicion, and OA trusts her instincts—and cares about her concerns—enough to look into it; OA accompanies and comforts Maggie at the hospital; “Wherever this goes, I’m with you”)

1x16 (OA gets shot, and Maggie is like “Don’t do that to me again” but also acknowledges he did a Good Thing)

1x19 (OA insists on hearing Maggie’s opinion about his friend; Maggie gives him Concerned Looks in the background whenever he gets worked up, and she mediates between him and Jubal)

2x01 (OA goes to Maggie for comfort; later, he apologises for not taking her advice but she apologises for offering it)

2x03 (at the end, when OA tells an embarrassing story to cheer Maggie up despite his having warned her about Caldwell, and it works <3)

2x05 (protective!OA when Maggie and Kristen briefly go UC)

2x06 (Maggie meets Mona ahaha, plus OA admits his insecurities about their relationship to Maggie and she reassures the heck out of him)

2x08 (Maggie sympathises with the widow and OA gives her Concerned Looks in the background; Maggie wrestles with one of the Russian spies and OA is worried until he finds her the victor and is subsequently all proud smiles; Maggie tries to persuade Isobel that the widow should know her husband was murdered and OA gives her Concerned Looks in the background)

2x09 (“Don’t touch her” … “Then do your job without putting hands on my partner” … need I say more?)

2x11 (basically all of their scenes this episode; protective!OA is always a win, and Maggie being scared to see Kristen but being supported by OA 100% was just <3)

2x16 (OA immediately knows something is up and wants to know what; OA doesn’t want Maggie to leave, and she knew that he would have been able to dissuade her from taking the UC case so she already accepted it before telling him hwkrhfjs)

3x01 (Maggie returns! HUG!! Maggie is standoffish but eventually confides in OA about what went down on her UC case; OA is impressed with and proud of his partner’s success…as well as her sharp clothes at the end of the ep hehe, though also maybe a little hmmmm when he first meets Nestor; also, Maggie backs OA up against Nestor!)

3x04 (judgemental was not a good look for OA lol, but he made up for it; also, the “I’m gonna be a little overprotective and make sure the guy you’re seeing is a good guy” speech was 10/10, was surprised a tv show had a man actually use the word “overprotective” about himself lol)

3x08 (Maggie backs OA up to outsiders but is upfront with him one-on-one)

3x11 (OA meets Erin; Maggie talks about Erin’s addiction and OA gives her Concerned Looks in the background, plus Maggie touching his arm to signal she’ll take the lead for the interrogation and him understanding; Maggie talks the bomber down and OA cuffs him, the touches and “Good job”s afterwards)

4x09 (Maggie gets shot and OA reacts; “I thought I almost lost you for a second”; Maggie offers herself up as a hostage and OA is…not thrilled)

4x12 (OA repeatedly checks in on Maggie’s state of mind; Maggie drives off with the bomb with OA begging her not to; OA helps her up after the car explodes; the two talk after the paramedics clear her)

4x18 (the hdqkrhcnekfhj breakfast they were having together) (…and ofc the whole sarin gas thing—“I can’t really breathe anymore”, OA’s desperation and continual “It’s going to be okay”s, OA carrying her—and OA’s speech and Maggie’s nod)

5x07 (Maggie returns! HUG!! OA being worried, Maggie confiding in him, the “Count them” confrontation, hooo boy I love me some angst)

Note that I’m only on S3, yet I know about some S4/S5 scenes and have jumped ahead to watch those lmao. I did say I was an impatient, lovesick twat!

Wow, okay, I talk a lot! Thank you so much for the ask—feel free to come back anytime, if you dare risk another rambling answer haha. :) Take care! <3