#random thoughts on this show i will probably be obsessed with until i die

[riality-check]

Eddie needs this to go perfectly.

He’s… okay, saying he’s not an anxious person would be a lie. Eddie is very acquainted with the fight or flight instinct, with the latter of those two options being far more familiar. He’s vaguely obsessive and twitchy and, frankly, puts way too much thought and time into planning one-shots, nevermind regular campaign sessions.

Majority of the time, he likes to have control of a situation. There are reasons for that, plenty of which he knows, some of which he’s gone to therapy for, and more that are on the bedroom and currently irrelevant side of things.

The relevant side of things is the guy in front of him who doesn’t have any sort of ear protection on.

Eddie should mind his business. He really should. Corroded Coffin isn’t even headlining. They’re the openers for the tour of a much bigger band that noticed them and asked if they wanted to tour with them and Archie fangirled so hard he passed out. It was a whole thing.

Still, it’s their first real tour, and Eddie is a control freak, and he needs it to be perfect, which means no one gets hurt. This random guy - probably a roadie of some sort from how he’s plugging cables into something Eddie doesn’t know the name of - not having any sort of ear protection counts as someone maybe getting hurt.

Eddie doesn’t even know him, but he can’t have that happen.

Hell, this guy’s friend has her earplugs looped around her neck on a string like Eddie does. But Hottie - yeah, he’s hot and Eddie’s queer with a healthy sex drive, get over it - has none in sight.

That’s a problem. Eddie can’t have problems, not tonight, not before the first show.

“Hey!” he calls, walking over to Hottie and his friend, who are setting up equipment away from the stage. “You gotta have something for your ears, dude!”

Hottie and his friend exchange a look that Eddie can’t make heads or tails of.

“Thanks man,” Hottie says, and that nickname applies to his voice, too. “But I’m good.”

Eddie frowns. “You need to protect your hearing.”

“Trust me,” Hottie says. “I’ve worked a lot of gigs. Never wore anything then, won’t wear anything now, probably won’t wear anything at the next one.”

Okay. It’s fine. Eddie should walk away now. He’s totally capable of walking away. It is, quite obviously, the better alternative to this circular conversation.

But Hottie is gonna hurt himself this way. Potentially really badly if it’s not a one time thing. This is a metal show, for G-d’s sake. He’ll do some serious damage over time.

Eddie needs this to go perfectly, and for things to go perfectly, he can’t be responsible for that.

“I don’t think you get it,” he says. “You’re gonna destroy your ears that way, especially if you do this for a long time. This show is gonna be really intense, hell, the whole tour is! You can get cheap shit at the hardware store, it’s better than nothing-”

At the beginning of his rant, lecture, whatever, Hottie stares right at him. He has a really intense stare. Pretty brown eyes set in a prettier face with even prettier hair on top of his head. Eddie gets distracted by all that pretty and by trying to make his point.

And he doesn’t notice until halfway through that Hottie isn’t looking at him anymore. He’s looking at his friend.

Eddie looks at her, too. Looks at her confused and focused expression. Looks at her hands moving rapidly.

Oh. G-d.

Hottie’s deaf, isn’t he?

“Trying my best but I’m not fluent, Steve,” she says. Her hands pause, and she looks down at them, confused.

Hottie - Steve - shrugs, and his hands move as he talks. “I’m not either. You were doing pretty good, though. I think. Or our mistakes just line up that well.”

“What’s the sign for reverb? It’s the last word he said.”

“No clue. You can just fingerspell it.”

“I can’t remember R.”

“How do you forget R? It’s in your name, Robin!”

The friend - Robin - throws her hands up. “You know I get it mixed up with X!”

Eddie wants to die. This is it. He’s going to melt into a puddle due to sheer embarrassment, fifteen minutes before the doors open to let in the biggest crowd Corroded Coffin has ever played for.

What a shitty way to go.

“I’m so sorry,” he says. “I didn’t-”

Steve cuts him off. “Normally, I can lip read enough to get the gist. But you speak too fast and trip over your words.”

Ouch. Okay.

“I do lights,” he continues. “Robin does sound. We know what we’re doing, and we don’t need you to tell us how to do our jobs, even if you mean well.”

Seriously?

Eddie should have minded his business. He knows that. But G-ddamn, that’s blunt.

He’s saved, thankfully, from digging himself into a bigger hole.

“Eddie!” Jeff hollers from the stage. “Get your ass over here!”

He turns to walk away, then turns back to Steve and Robin. “Sorry,” he says again.

He turns back around before he can see their reactions and runs back toward the stage. Intimately familiar with flight, and all that.

Shit. First night of tour, and he’s already made an enemy of the light and sound people.

And the light guy is hot.

Really hot.

And he hates Eddie.

This is gonna be a long few weeks.

Now with a continuation and a part 3!

ao3

[slay00ryu]

ronin hcs pls :3

I have barely any hcs but I will try my best!!!

Ronin headcanons made by yours truly, enjoy.

Fluffy ones:

- When you and Ronin decided to go and enjoy pride month on a parade the two of you saw a teenager. That teenager was carrying around their non-binary flag, but they were too scared to hold it out like most people did. You expected Ronin to ignore that, but instead he approached the teenager and held out their flag with them. You never saw him so attentive before.

- Ronin purposefully keeps some of his clothes in your wardrobe to see you wear them and then accuse you of stealing from him just for shits and giggles.

- When you walk past a stray cat and it happens to cling to Ronin he will stop to pat it. He would smile at the cat and say something like "Huh, you like rotten things too?" He would look at you after he said that.

- If you're also trans like he is and you have a dysphoric day he will make sure to help you with it. "Come on baby, you are who you say you are. And to me you are fucking perfect just the way you are." He would help you bind, or try to help you with your make up (probably will fuck it up on purpose if your mood gets better) or whatever else you need to help with your dysphoria.

- Ronin isn't really open about his feelings in words, yeah he will call you his darling or sometimes whisper an "I love you", but mostly he will show it through physical touch, he's touch starved after all. He will hold your hand, poke you to get a reaction, kiss your forehead, maybe even bite you. Big and small touches are just his thing.

- If you're having a shitty day then he will roll you up into a blanket burrito and watch some sappy shit with you so you would feel better. Ice cream craving? He already bought three different flavours? You want to smash something or someone? Baby, he's standing at the door with his crowbar and a baseball bat for you.

Angst shit:

- If you were to die but Ronin had zero control over it, he would be in despair. He didn't take your life, your death wasn't his plan or your pleading. You're just... Gone? He would feel empty for a while and then fill that void with more murder. If someone else dared to murder you they would be gone in a matter of days.

- If you and him broke up in bad blood and somehow you would leave that break up alive, Ronin would be closed off for some time. The server wouldn't notice the change unless they knew him really well. He would try to keep his edgy murderer persona, but if anyone even mentioned your name he would go quiet or leave the conversation.

- Sometimes he can open up about the mess in his head or what happened in his past. He wouldn't show how emotional these topics can make him, but if you've known him long enough you will see the change. Just be there for him, squeeze his hand and say that you need cuddles even if you know that he's the one who needs them, he won't cuddle you when he's sad, the devil doesn't feel sad.

Ronin™ type of shi:

- Ronin would push you until you kill him or a random person. He wants to corrupt your head completely. So as long as blood is on your hands then he will be satisfied.

- If you're obsessed with him then it will give him a strong sense of satisfaction. You not only need him, you can't live without him. His corruption worked out even better than he anticipated.

- If someone misgenders you, acts like an asshole or harasses you in any way, you can expect their aorta on a silver platter with a pair of eyes.

- Ronin will leave you a small message after a kill somewhere on a wall. "Love you rotten darlin'" or something like that. He will laugh at your reaction and say "Awh, but I thought that you would like this cheesy shit baby."

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

That's all!!! I hope you're satisfied with these <3 I don't really make hcs so it was hard

Thank you for the ask!!!

Bye bye <3

Currently writing another rq, will try to post it tmrw

[dutchdread]

A small rant

I've noticed that a lot of places that discuss the LTD are less focussed on analyzing and explaining final fantasy VII, and more focussed on throwing insults at either the characters, or the people who support them. I think I've done a fairly good job at making sure this place stays relatively matter-of-fact, and despite believing that "Cloti" is the only interpretation of the story that makes sense I am usually pretty positive about Aerith as a person, and more importantly, as a character. My stance tends to be that the only version of Aerith I think is fundamentally unlikable is the one presented by Cleriths. So permit me to slightly backtrack on that as I ask:

Am I the only one getting sick of Aeriths character?

And I don't mean "the only Cloti supporter who is sick of Aerith", I mean isn't the general fanbase of the game getting sick of her?

I ask this because I was watching the new Rebirth trailer, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes during the scenes where Aerith sings, or where it tries to survival-bait the viewer. In FFVII Aeriths death plays only a small part in the grand scheme of things. It neither prevents nor causes holy, holy was summoned before she died and is actually held back by the will of Sephiroth, which is the bulk of the external plot. And it doesn't cause Clouds mental break, which was an inevitable outcome of his history with Tifa, Sephiroth, and Nibleheim.

So why does the trailer make it feel like Final Fantasy VII is the story of Aeriths potential death? I thought the point of Aeriths death was that it comes suddenly and unexpectedly, without a large fan-fare, leaving nothing but a hole in its wake. I thought the point was to show a death that wasn't like "in hollywood". So why does her death now get it's own musical accompaniment and stage play?

Aerith was once a normal girl with a big destiny, one that she was as unsure of as any of us, she was just a person, just like us, with maybe a hint of something more. She got angry, she could be petty, she could be clueless. In another words, she was human.

But what is she now?

Aerith is now Jesus and Mary all in one. Fans got so upset at her death that Square-enix felt the need to include her in everything and every time Aerith became a bit less human, and a bit more idolized, until in remake she became a walking, talking, deus ex machina. In advent children she was presented as almost angelic, giving guidance to lost souls both good and bad and healing the children. But it was still ok because most of it was centered around Clouds psyche. The problem isn't with Aeriths death having importance to Cloud. The problem is square-enix trying to milk Aeriths death for all it's worth, making it into a soulless spectacle.

Aeriths death is now the horror monster that loses its terror once you see it. It's everywhere and everything has to revolve around it and because of it it's no longer a good story, but cheap emotional manipulation.

Within the remake Aerith is no longer the playful and innocent GIRL she once was. She's Gandalf the white, come back from the dead to pass down quests and wisdom from up on high. Step aside Cloud, this is Aeriths story, all you other side-characters are only here for back-up. Aerith is now a self-insert fan-fiction character. She has no flaws, everyone loves her, her death is more important than those of other people, the universe, time, and destiny will all bend to make sure the Mary-godessue doesn't die. Because everything has to revolve around her you know? So yeah, of course Aerith can sing! Who cares that there was never before any indication of this. Sure, Tifa will probably get to play the piano, but here is the thing….Tifa being able to play the piano has actually always been a part of the game! Since when is Aerith suddenly a broadway performer? Probably since the same time that she became a picasso at random wall art.

Years of fan obsession have deified away everything that once made Aerith interesting. The grand story of Final Fantasy VII, the quest to save the planet, and the internal heroes journey about accepting the past and the true self. Clouds backstory and struggles, it's all overshadowed by the once irrelevant plotpoint of "will Aerith die?".

Like with Sephiroth, fan obsession has caused square-enix to destroy all sense of mystery, magic, and restraint in order to "give fans what they want", even if it ruins the product.

While I think the cheap spectacle of hyper focussing the marketing and potentially early game around Aeriths death have already essentially poisoned the remake, making it into a mere shadow of what it could have been, I still believe that Square-enix has enough integrity left to actually kill her and move focus back on what actually matters. But I have to say, at this point it's not even just because I want the story of FFVII to be protected and experienced as it should be. But also because I am just getting sick and tired of what Aerith has become, and would now consider Sephiroth stabbing her as a mercy killing for what's left of her character.

[whatshehassaid]

The fact that they keep bringing in characters that are from later in the books (Bruce, Dr. Fareed, Raglan James) makes me think Dubai is farther along in the books than we realize. I feel like some stuff (akasha) hasn’t happened yet… but finding Claudia’s diary in New Orleans, and Louis being suicidal etc are from later in the book series. Has parts of Merrick already happened? Louis said in season 1 that he hadn’t killed since the year 2000. The book Merrick was released in 2000. Armand (as Rashid) “You’re chronicling a suicide.” The fact that they even HAVE Claudia’s diaries in the first place is farther along in the books.

Now why bring Raglan James in so early? I already have a feeling they aren’t bringing David in (they didn’t for Mayfair Witches and he was a big part of that) so why Raglan James SPECIFICALLY? Why not just some random Talamasca member? They’re trying to hint at what’s to come. Daniel being in his 70s and not having David in Mayfair Witches (or IWTV I’m assuming cause it wouldn’t make sense to have David in one but not the other) makes me think they’ve merged Daniel and David into one character.

If you know anything about what happens to David in Tale of the Body Thief you’ll understand where I’m going with this - I’ll put a spoiler warning for the books here.

At the end of Tale of the Body Thief, David gets a new body and Lestat changes him into a vampire without his consent.

If Daniel and David ARE being merged into one character (which makes sense considering David is the one who listens to Armand’s story in The Vampire Armand and the fact David was a main character in the Mayfair Witches book series but was merged with Rowan’s love interest to make Ciprien in the TV adaptation) then that means that something similar could happen to Daniel.

Armand in the books (after 10-12 years of a romantic - albeit it started off fucked up - relationship which includes Daniel being addicted to Armand’s blood and a mutual obsession between the two of them and then they fall in love) turns Daniel in 1985 I think the same night of Lestat’s concert and the awakening of Akasha if I’m remembering correctly. In the TV adaptation since the San Fransisco interview already happened that also means (quite obviously from the new promo) that Devils Minion already happened. Which means young Daniel tried everything on Earth to get Armand to change him into a Vampire. Probably bringing himself super close to death because he wanted to be with Armand forever. Armand has a major trauma from Marius (grooming, child slavery, sex slavery- but also Marius telling him over and over that every fledgling grows to hate their maker- lol ok dude, you literally groomed your first two fledglings from childhood and abandoned them both but yeah, that must be a every maker and fledgling thing). It affects Armand to the point that he vows never to turn ANYONE into a Vampire EVER. But then he meets Daniel and falls in love with him and can’t stand the thought of existing without him. So he turns him.

It seems like Armand in the show didn’t truly believe Daniel loved him. (They have a really wild relationship where Daniel will run away and come back begging for him back and Armand welcoming him with open arms over and over until Daniel finally accepts that he’s in love with Armand too). But Daniel DID love him. Just as much as Armand loved (and STILL loves- because he always will) Daniel. So instead of watching him be chronically suicidal and trying everything to get Armand to turn him he wiped Daniel’s memories thinking they wouldn’t come back. Thinking Daniel could live a normal human life without him.

From what I can see of the preview it seems like Armand and Louis had broken up long ago. Most likely after the first interview in the 70s (I’m pretty sure it’s similar in the book - Louis ends up leaving Armand once Armand tells him Lestat is still alive and he didn’t die in the theatre fire). Hence, Armand saying “I know where he is.” in the promo for 2x05.

That’s when Daniel and Armand fully happen. But in the show instead of turning Daniel he wipes his memories and tries to let him live a normal life because he loves him.

Now Lestat and Louis break up and get back together like ten fucking times in the books and Louis when he isn’t with Lestat always goes off alone or he goes to Armand. Lestat and Armand eventually come to love each other and have a mutual understanding and respect for one another - it takes a while, believe me. Lestat KNOWS he can trust Armand with Louis. That Armand loves Louis too.

What I’m thinking is going on… is some of the events of Merrick have already happened where Louis seeks out Claudia’s diaries and her spirit to try to bring peace to himself. Instead it makes it MUCH MUCH worse. To the point that Louis goes forward with killing himself by burning himself to ashes (Lestat does bring him back don’t worry). But since I think the full Akasha storyline hasn’t happened yet I feel like humans would’ve noticed that (hence the great conversion cause she ends up killing like 90% of the Vamp population…) I think what is actually happening is Louis is trying to kill himself. He’s actively trying by getting Daniel to write this book for vampires to come after him and kill him (hence the “you’re chronicling a suicide”). His depression and despair is getting worse and worse as season 2 goes on, outwardly crying to Daniel thanking him for helping him remember.

I’m not sure if Louis in Dubai knows that Lestat is alive… he certainly doesn’t during the first interview.

Armand is a complicated character and he means well (yes he does do some fucked up shit in the books- some to do with Claudia- I don’t know if they’ll have THAT part in the show). But Armand does love Louis. He feels guilt for what happened with Claudia and he will do ANYTHING to make it up to Louis. To the point of letting Louis walk all over him (he’s had a fucked up human life and vampire life, let my boy live). I have a feeling, since Lestat’s lawyer in Paris mentioned it to Louis that Lestat has gone to sleep. They do that sometimes. Bury themselves underground and sleep- sometimes for decades. If that is the case I’m not exactly sure what happened between them for Lestat to do that but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

What I think happened after the first interview? Armand was trying to protect Louis from himself. There are obvious signs of schizophrenia in Louis and they’ve been hinting at it since season one with the Paul/Bird symbolism. Louis has blackouts. He’s had them even before he and Claudia tried to kill Lestat- that’s why I think we’re getting a revisit to the fight in 1x05 and to Claudia’s turning into a vampire. Either that or we are going to get it from Lestat himself at the trial in Paris (cause yes, the real Lestat is there).

Armand was not lying when he said he protects Louis from himself. That Louis acts out sometimes. The photos of all the men I believe some of them are Louis’ victims from his blackouts. We’ve already seen a glimpse of one incident in season 2 with the man in the park and Louis leaving his dead body there. Armand has suppressed Louis’ memories of what happened in Paris. What happened with Claudia. Probably half because he doesn’t want Louis to run off without Lestat able to care for him and partly because he’s trying to prevent Louis from hurting more people viciously and then going into a guilt spiral.

Louis did know what happened to Claudia at one point… but I think it was making him so suicidal that maybe Armand and Lestat together decided it was best to have his memories suppressed so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. But now? Now Lestat is god knows where and Armand is barely holding onto control. Louis is lashing out at him. He’s lashing out at Daniel. The memories are flooding back and Louis is slowly remembering… not just what happened to Claudia… not just what Armand did… but the probably hundreds or thousands of gruesome deaths he’s caused during his blackout episodes. Including the blackout episode he had with Daniel in 1973.

Now speaking of 1973, Armand was trying even then to keep Louis’ schizophrenia and blackouts at bay. He was suppressing memories that triggered Louis - half because he didn’t want to lose Louis but I also think he genuinely was doing it for Louis’ own sanity. But then Louis goes seeking out someone who will let him speak about it and help bring those memories back - Daniel.

Armand may just think Daniel is another fuck and run, I have a feeling ever since Paris - even though Louis barely remembers it - honestly, probably before then going by the fuckboi tendencies Louis was displaying toward Armand in the last episode, he probably fucks around a lot and Armand lets him. Mostly because he’s trying desperately to make it up to Louis. As I said, he’s desperate to make it up to Louis.

So Armand says okay fine, have your fun. And Louis goes with Daniel. But what Armand DOESN’T know is that Louis isn’t going with Daniel for (or JUST for) sex. He wants him to help him remember. That’s the WHOLE POINT of the interview. Armand doesn’t know about it. The first interview happens…. And then? Daniel pisses Louis off. He triggers him off by asking him to turn him. And Louis blacks out and attacks.

Armand shows up mid attack to find Louis with the boy he spent ALL NIGHT WITH doing GOD KNOWS WHAT and he immediately thinks Louis is trying to replace him with someone else. He gets jealous. Again, he doesn’t know about the interview yet.

Louis blacked out and by that time its morning. Armand probably walked in on him (trying to be like - you’re going to get hurt if you don’t find a safe spot it’s morning!) feeding on Daniel and being burned through the sunlight coming in the window. Armand has jealousy issues. I can’t blame the guy he has a huge amount of abandonment issues and being hurt… so of course he immediately jumps to why is Louis spending all night with this boy? What is so special about this boy that he’ll spend time with him all night but he won’t even look at me the same anymore (since Claudia).

Louis has to hide from the sun… And that’s when Armand jealously curious about this human boy and why Louis is apparently so open with him from what he seen at the bar. He tries to get inside Daniel’s head. “Is that what makes you so FASCINATING?” “Leave him be Armand!”

At some point - with all this mind fuckery which of course is essentially torture and poor Daniel is probably half horny half scared to death - iykyk - Armand sees the tape. He plays it. This isn’t about the boy at all. It’s about LESTAT.

It’s always been about Lestat.

Upset (and rightly so - imagine being with someone for that long thinking they loved you and meanwhile they were still pining for their ex) he has a bit of a meltdown…. And when he calms down enough… he’s defeated and tells Louis the truth. That Lestat is alive and “I know where he is.”

Now… Armand… who is a stickler for the vampire laws… knows he’s tortured this boy… knows this boy can’t living knowing that vampires exist. Because he’s seen into his head he knows there’s pain there. Daniel is an addict for a reason though I don’t think Armand knows the reason at that point… but since he knows the boy MUST DIE because you cannot tell a human about vampires and let them live… he offers him a peaceful death. “I’m the quiet you’ve been longing for”

Daniel agrees. The kid is tired, he probably has childhood trauma hence the drug addiction. He was just attacked by one Vampire and tortured by the other.

Armand starts to drain him… and then?

I think Armand sees himself in Daniel. Whatever it is (I’m not 100% sure - maybe abuse of some kind) stops Armand from killing him. He’s found someone who understands.

He gets Louis (partly burned from the sun) to help him carry Daniel out. Not sure if they take him to a hospital or where they take him but afterwards Louis leaves Armand and goes looking for Lestat.

That’s when Devils Minion happens.

Armand and Daniel somehow fall in love. And a decade later he has to wipe Daniel’s memories because Daniel will not stop until he’s either dead literally or a vampire so he can be with Armand. Or so he says, Armand thinks.

Now fast forward and we have Louis self destructing. Armand trying to hold the pieces together… Louis brings Daniel in not remembering he almost killed the guy and thinking, “Well he can help me get these memories back… i know he’s Armand’s ex and he (Daniel) is missing memories too. maybe if I get his memories back we can help each other”

That’s why Louis keeps bringing things up. Daniel’s mind has filled in a decade of his life with a wife and daughter that probably don’t even exist. (I know, I know Alice is Armand theory… but the farther we get the more it makes sense). Louis is PURPOSEFULLY triggering memories to come back in Daniel so he can help HIM remember too. Armand (until last episode I think) was so focused on keeping Louis together and trying to protect him that he doesn’t even realize that Daniel is remembering him.

Until 2x04.

Daniel brings up the fire.

Armand tries to read his mind to see where he got the information from.

And he sees a flash of himself watching TV in the 70s. And that’s when he realizes Daniel DID love him. If Daniel didn’t why would he be getting flashes of Armand. Not of Louis and the first interview… not of Louis attacking him… no, he’s getting flashes of Armand.

Then he remembers that he suppressed Louis’ memory of everything to do with Claudia’s death (Louis’ main trigger). Louis confused: “the fire?”

As Daniel’s memories come back… so do Louis’. However the more Louis remembers the more unstable he’ll become. I think at a certain point when he remembers everything the suicidal part of him with reach a climax… he’ll snap. Blackout with Daniel in a parallel of what happened in 1973. And Armand is going to have no choice but to save Daniel. I feel like Lestat will sense this happening and I feel like it’ll be the PERFECT segue for present time Lestat. Now will Daniel be hurt badly? I’m not sure. Will Armand have no choice but to change him because Louis hurt him too much, maybe tried to drain him to “get back” at Armand after realizing what was happening?

Is that why Jacob is scared we may hate Louis by the end of the season? I feel like if it was just Louis trying to walk into the sun that comment wouldn’t make sense.

If he tries to hurt Daniel though…..

[weirdocat83]

obsessed with your tags, talk mdzs at me pls

Uh.

1) thank you, I really just put the random thoughts I have in the tags and/or accidentally steal other people’s tags

2) some thoughts about mdzs below the cut (I have a lot of thoughts about this novel) ye ask any ye shall receive. If you want to hear my thoughts on something specific plz ask :3

• My fav characters in MDZS are Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang. I love how WWX can be very complicated when he wants to be and has many layers and sides to him. Like, the fandom likes to simplify his character to someone self deprecating but always smiling but he is very complex. He acknowledges his faults and has only tried to do what he deemed right at the time even if he regrets what he does in hindsight. He isn’t infallible. He literally tortured a man to death (even if it felt right to do it considering said man orchestrated a massacre and tossed him into a literal pit of suffering to die in) and was a major player in a WAR. He’s probably killed more than he can count. I feel like a lot of people forget that the main cast is a bunch of war heroes that must’ve had insane kill counts. Including LWJ. It’s quite tragic that none of them really had any good authority figures to lead them seeing as the majority of them were at most 20~30ish and cultivators usually live extremely long lives (at least, that’s my assumption) anyhow, WWX is very aware of his faults, especially post-resurrection as he did kinda fuck up when he accidentally killed JZX. He acknowledges that and makes an effort to apologize and atone. That being said, his faults don’t stop him from being confident and above all likable. Yes he can be annoying but he does know how to behave himself probably better than most (unlike what many members of the fandom like to think). He knows his position well and that it is incredibly precarious (in both lives) but still manages to fit in well enough with essentially nobility that he is good competition for the best in his generation. He is a genius and a great leader and that isn’t stressed enough. Though I think one of the small details in his character that I think gets overlooked is how he “parents” A-Yuan in the burial mounds. Because for as immature as he is when he’s burying A-Yuan in the ground, he also knows that he isn’t the only one caring for A-Yuan and therefore is allowed to be silly but when they’re out at the market and A-Yuan asks for a toy he makes the mature decision to save his money (although LWJ spoils the kid immediately after). This reflects a lot on WWX because it shows he can be very mature when he needs to be but when he doesn’t need to be he’ll happily rely on others. It also reflects on his upbringing showing he knows how important money is (in contrast to the lans who are shown on various occasions to not really think about money much) Personally I love his character because he seems like a person I’d get along with if he were real (which, the incredible writing makes his seems very realistic) meanwhile my other favorite, Nie Huaisang, I love because he is misleading. Some of my favorite fictional characters are very misleading because of the masks they put up to fool people to achieve their goals. How a character will know more than they should but not let anyone know until the moment is right. NHS is someone who is easily underestimated because he seems helpless and unintelligent. And yeah, for a majority of his life he really didn’t care to further his education or really practice cultivation but later he takes this preconceived notion that everyone has of him and uses it to his advantage so nobody suspects a thing while he plans JGY’s downfall. It’s a scarily intelligent move and I think the fact that he takes pleasure in looking at art/books really adds to the fact of how intelligent he is. Most people see his art as pointless hobbies but I think it says a lot about the qualities of his character. I think a lot of people take for granted the patience it takes to make good art or the intelligence it takes to appreciate good literature. So when NHS's older brother dies under mysterious circumstances that just so happen to help the Jins? of course he catches on! He proceeds to keep his enemy close for over a decade until he finally gets his moment of revenge. Which, to me? Props, man. plus only one person even realizes what happened. WWX. 

Some things I don’t particularly like about MDZS (some people may yell at me for this and I'm sorry but this is my opinion): 

- how weird the yi city arc felt? It feels very out of place as we go on this whole journey to learn about all these people and what happened to them but after that they are pretty much no longer relevant. I only found out later that the yi city arc was initially intended to be its own story. So that might be why.

- how certain things are just *left* and never touched on again? We hear all this stuff about baoshan sanren but we never see her or really learn much about her at all. Similarly, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s parents? We hear all these things about them but never learn much at all. Which is weird all things considered when you look at it. It feels like a lot of background info for not much payoff. Yes, it gives us a lot of vital information on why things played out the way they did but it doesn’t stop the feeling that there should’ve been more. Part of me appreciated it though because it gives us no more information than the characters really have. Just passing information that is common knowledge but never really looked into just like many actual people have.

- how everything ended off. So we have that whole scene at the temple and then everything just… calms down? They all go home??? It felt anticlimactic. Especially with Nie Huaisang’s character as (in the novel at least) it sets him up to be the next chief cultivator despite being just as, if not more, sneaky than Jin Guangyao. And that’s probably intentional. The chief cultivator position was likely never meant to be a position of absolute good. It’s politics. But it is a bit weird that we never really see what happens to Nie Huaisang after, post revenge and all. 

[r3linx]

⇄ ◁◁ 𝚰𝚰 ▷▷ ↻ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⁰⁰'²⁵ ━━●━━───── ⁰²'⁰⁸

╰┈➤ characters....•`HAMNA SHUJI´•.

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡ SYNOPSIS... your tits obsessed boyfriend is simply uncapable to leave you alone and the truth pains his heart how you need some alone time. ˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡ WORDCOUNT... 1,1k ˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡ WARNINGS... sfw, fluff, final timeline!shuji, boyfriend!shuji, slight angst, female reader, mentions of female bodyparts (tits) ˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡ OTHER... reblogs, likes and requests are appreciated!

a/n: random drabble bc while a couldn't sleep.

this week was tiring. tiring like nothing you could’ve imagine in those past years of yours. going through this again would be a torture invented by satan himself to make you regret even your existence. and like this, you were laying on the bed, some loose white shirt effortlessly thrown over your upper-body, showing your back’s outline faintly, facing downwards, sighing into the pillow what was nearly suffocating the breath out of you until you heard the door open then shutting back almost immediately.

“sweets, y’know what i told you about people who lay on their chests.” you could practically hear that shit eating grin he had on his face as he scolded you —or at least pretended to, just to seem like the caring boyfriend he deep down is— a groan from your throat, muffled against the pillows.

“hamna.” this probably wasn’t the time you were in for jokes or his stupid advices thrown around in the air. he raised one eyebrow —though you still didn’t face him, you heard the killing silence in the room— shuji placed one of his hands on his hips, bucking it forward slightly and cocking his head. “i’m not in the mood for your stupid stuff..” you broke the silence, trying to shoo him shu away, but you love him. you love him truly, he always tried to accommodate you, your feelings, your thoughts, your mood-swings.

he raised his hand which was hanging low on his side in a defending manner “‘kay, ‘kay girl… goddamn..” now it was shuji’s turn to let out an exhale. “i just don’t want those pretty tits of yours hurt, y’know—” you went nuts to his words, pushing yourself away from the cushions by your hand, jaw clenching. you were pretty close to snap at him in any minute, but unfortunately for you, he continued “besides! i— uhh— i don’t want your back to— uhh— hurt. yeah—… yeah! that’s right!” the taller male’s voice didn’t break, it was as steady as before but with a little raise of his tone, “don’t be mad, sugar, just listen to me, yeah? i want your body to be as healthy as… possible… yeah..” after he finished his sentence, he couldn’t resists the urge by now, neither tried and a laugh fell from his lips. you turned slowly your head in his direction as you listened to his concern about your posture. he made his way next to you and felt the mattress shrink just beside you as you pushed your face back into the pillow’s warm and safety to try and not to get even a glance at this man at the current moment.

then silence sat between you, he just waited minutes for you to act and you also waited minutes for him to leave. it was all so beautiful and calm and quiet until.

“you’re not going to leave, are you?”

“that’s right, girl.”

a few mumbled curses sinked into the silk beige colored pillowcase which you would kill for at the moment but even so, your dear boyfriend’s request were much more important. so in defeat you rolled over, your side hitting his arm with which he leaned on in his sitting position “happy now, fucker?” you grumbled, lips in thin line and eyes smoothly rolling in annoyance. another grin curled up on his face, you examined his features, wet black and blonde locks now sticking to his forehead, taking up space so that he barely could see through past them. the thin black shirt’s edge danced on his collarbone, orbs almost piercing through you, since you know how much cockiness and arrogance that bastard held in his thick skull which you could never crack, you knew how he would rather die than breaking eye contact and seem even just by a little bit weaker than you. therefore he mocked you instead when you were the one averting his gaze, just like now. you were on the verge of pulling all his hair out from his scalp with a quick movement but decided to take it easy and simply ignore him.

“i knew you would do that.” he starts again.

“don’t speak to me.”

“you’re at it again huh..” and in this moment you looked back at his face, seeing him now frown. your heart sank as you couldn’t decide how he truly was hurt or it was just another one from his schemes to make you feel pity towards his dear soul. he seemed bitter, it happened more and more often. how you were nothing close to kind and gentle when your mind and body was drained from work, it just left him sorrowful and the thought of him not being able to help or even cheer you with puns was a fear he always had. he missed and longed again for those times your laughter painted the walls and not yells that was closer to nails on chalkboard than anything ‘soft’.

he nodded, his fingers scratching the back of his neck, shuji faced away and gulped down a lump on his throat. “okay.. i get it.. you can talk to me if you decide to, anytime, just so you know.” his voice falters, internally reminding himself yet again to not run his mouth without any thinking. from instincts, you grasped your fingers around his wrists, with the intent keeping him in his place.

in an instant he hovered back over you, just as if your touch erased all of his earlier thoughts from his head of leaving you alone. his arm freed themself easily from your grip and his hands landed on both of your sides. shuji sat there, somehow still pinning down your relaxed body, you facing towards him.

you moved your arm past his, and cupped his cheeks hesitantly, almost as if he’s going to be hurt by your feather-light touch. he shut his eyes close, enjoying your scent, your skin’s feelings on his face. it burned deep inside his memory, stored away in the deepest and most hidden places of his mind. to remember it, to remember you, on the days when you’re not there, if fates decides that you must continue your ways separately. even though he still doesn’t probably won’t even know what to do—

“what’re you thinking about, shuji?” his eyes went wide, lips still trembling, but only listening to your voice now. you could read him, like an open book placed in front of you. you asked him, what’s he thinking about, but in reality you already knew, you already knew how paranoid he was about losing you, about forgetting you one day in the future. the depths were crazy, he found himself go to keep you. it left you shocked, thinking he would not be able to love someone truly and right in this lifetime.

“well—”

“i won’t leave you.”

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ 𓈈 ᵈᵒ ⁿᵒᵗ ᶜᵒᵖʸ, ᵐᵒᵈⁱᶠʸ ᵒʳ ᵘᵖˡᵒᵃᵈ ᵐʸ ʷᵒʳᵏ ᵃˢ ʸᵒᵘʳˢ!

[readthephible]

i've seen people talk about shaymien drifting apart and missing their dynamic- since i know you love them both dearly, what are your thoughts on this?

oh dear anon, idk if you know what you’ve signed up for letting me ramble about them. hiding this under a cut bc it will probably be very long and also like tw speculation

so i’m basically rewording what i sent in an emotional, pms-infused series of messages to my bestie arrow @feral-teeth. i have been making connections and conclusions in my head where i’m having to step back and realizing they’re so parasocial, but i think i just emotionally connect to both shayne and damien so much that it “all” has a deeper meaning to me. keep in mind that this all just thoughts i’ve had as a viewer, it’s not me trying to say that any of this is factual or encouraging anyone to pry. don’t do that please (i, avery smoshpvnk, do not endorse the act of harassing real people with my speculative thoughts of them)

my over-emotional Shaymien Thoughts™️ have progressed with my obsession, mainly looking at the wavelengths over the course of their friendship how they’ve been close, then a little more distant, close, then a little more distant. i don’t have a set in stone timeline for it ofc, especially compared to like dan and phil where we have very solid chronological factors to make sense of things, but a rough outline: so random, they become best friends. they eventually become roommates for a little while. damien moves in with an ex and they drift for a bit while shayne gets miscellaneous roles and eventually books with smosh. shayne opens the door for damien at smosh.

from the get go they’re already a solid duo like in show with no name episodes, we see them closer with the damien and shayne show - so many good moments!!!, smosh pit weekly, then into the mythical era still with a good dynamic like in tntls and stuff. eventually we get hacking off mini series (iconic and under appreciated) that starts in 2019. then they seem to still have a good, standout dynamic through the pandemic videos. hacking off comes back for a bit about 2021. there’s also some GREAT moments from like twitch / heavy baf era (basically the time when saige is there) about them seeming really close, chaotic, having fun (ex. quelf, uno, game of life) there was also a stream damien did (12/14/21) where shayne came to his apartment (that i didn’t know about until recently??? i would die for the vod)

we get closer to the renaissance aka anthony’s back era with stuff like baf legacy series (where damien is touchy with shayne as expected, and also i know at the end of the series he is proud of everyone for the commitment and character work but the way he looks at shayne, kill me) ⬇️

[Image ID: baf legacy betrayal set. the main focus is damien in the middle dressed as mr. grub, smiling up at shayne who is standing to the right of the image and posing with a katana as the chosen. angela is on the left, jaw dropped. End ID]

then, the damien and shayne show revival! that’s where damien unintentionally clears up their timeline in a sense, and it’s cute how he gives a sappy monologue about him and shayne’s friendship. it’s really sweet even though damien did make a joke at the end to deflect from it.

i watched the video when it released, and admittedly i haven’t been a recent (as in last 5 years) smosh watcher since about august, but after this, i have just noticed a bit more of a decline in “joint content” with them. the space in which we have had videos with them together since then and especially this year has been admittedly lengthy. i have respect for my fellow rarepair shippers like how we all experienced the spommy drought, but i feel like with shaymien we have an extensive history of “canon” content rather than more consistent, current content, compared to like ianthony for example where we get to see their dynamic all the time. or anyone + the frequent cast members like shayne, ian, courtney. (i don’t really count shour/tney as a ship bc it’s real and like, not to be touched how i see it. but you do you.) even the ones we’ve got, they haven’t been seated together. (except for smosh mouth, but like, that’s the guest chair.)

could this be because damien is just busy outside of smosh? of course it could. in streams and through social media posts, you can see/tell/hear that he has been traveling, auditioning and working a LOT. i feel like with smosh videos though, besides maybe through the delay of sword af, there wasn’t a huge, monumental difference that oh, damien isn’t in videos as much. like it seems a bit more balanced i guess or less noticeable. but also, shayne has been in a ton of videos this year already, so why haven’t they been casted together with how frequently we see them in videos normally??

we get the we found our so random scripts smosh mouth episode. hallelujah shaymien is reborn. right?

idk, this could be me just totally misinterpreting, but i feel like ever since about the “decline” after the d&s show returns video, i feel like there’s a bit of a disconnect. and now this is me being incredibly parasocial and self projecting, but because i relate to damien so much, i can kind of tell that he is the kind of friend that puts in the majority of the work when it comes to upholding a relationship. is this true for all of his relationships? i have no fucking clue. but it’s something i’ve noticed with shaymien specifically. how they just don’t interact the same or bounce off each other as much as they used to.

i got a comment on one of my compilations that started more of a spiral for me:

[image ID: A YouTube comment saying “The fact that Damien wasn't at Shayne's wedding can be something so shocking and sad to me personally.”End ID]

is this true? who knows, i’m not gonna try to look into it too much, but from what i’ve seen, it makes sense. extremely speculative: surely we would have gotten photos? unless it was actually really small and limited, but why would shelby young post about it then? same with renfaire. you’re telling me they both went but didn’t even meet up?

anyway, it breaks my heart. not just in a shipper sense. at the end of the day, i really just want what’s best for them, i love their friendship and i can admire a relationship being only platonic but so strong. i have a thing for duos and always have because my lack of having a best friend throughout my life. anyway

from what i’ve seen as a viewer: you can tell damien ADORES shayne. ofc in our little alternate universes we take it a step further for fictional fantasy fun purposes, but on camera, you can tell he loves shayne so much. they both have seemingly gone through some rough shit, been very vulnerable, and grew up from being 20 and 21 together - so young and figuring out the world. i believe damien’s dad died around the so random time, and being a young adult moving to la to become an actor, mental health, neurodivergence and therapy, weight issues (me coded!! damien is me!!), relationships, etc. and through 13 years, shayne has been a constant.

you can tell how grateful damien is that shayne has been there, proud of how far he’s come, and what they’ve done together. (again, he kind of summarizes it in the d&s show revival.)

how can you tell?

1.) because of how he looks at shayne when shayne isn’t looking back. the way damien looks at shayne in the smosh mouth episode makes me want to BAWL.

the heart eyes haas is INTENSE. it’s just so tender, loving, sappy, sentimental and sweet—the intimacy of getting to be nostalgic with someone about a very niche, specific time of your life is such a concept to me. only damien and shayne know what it was like to constantly be asked “where’s demi?” then have that moved to “where’s anthony?” from so random to smosh. only they (okay, and maybe some other so random cast members) know what it was like to be a “special guest” for all the episodes and never have a solidified position on a goddamn disney channel show, or what the on set pranks were like, or who the makeup artist was that made you look dead.

damien is the one to mention the “metaphysical soulmate radar”. damien is the one to say it was their big break, just not in the way they thought “for friendship and good connections”. if you are Unwell like me about them, there is still the lowkey amanda playing the third wheel bc they’ve known each other for so long dynamic, but it’s different compared to like, bad 2 sentence horror stories.

2.) how he makes references and talks about shayne when he isn’t even there (recently, jackbox video with smosh theme where he did shayne’s bananas on monday joke). a semi recent stream where a character’s name was shane and he said there was no correlation and got all 🥰 (https://www.tumblr.com/queenofcaradelle/741683580962521088/hellers-brothers)

and this:

[Image ID: A tweet from Trevor saying “shayne blocked me” with a meme image of baby Peter Griffin. Damien’s reply: “The hell did you do? I’ve been antagonizing him for 13 years, and never got so much as a shady subtweet.” End ID]

no one asked bro /lh

3.) scroll back on damien’s instagram a bit and see how much shayne appears. here’s a link: https://www.tumblr.com/smoshpvnk/735024614400524288 but to summarize that post it is THIRTY. PHOTOS. where the focus is just the two of them. the vidcon post from last year where damien shared the text exchange “WE are awful 😌”.

AND DAMIEN’S POST ABOUT SHAYNE’S FUCKING BIRTHDAY. HELLO???

also, i stalked damien’s instagram (not promoting to do that, but i did it) and he is a very, like, proud and happy lover of people! like he wants to shout about them from rooftops! i wasn’t in this fandom for saige era, and damien has deleted those public photos from his instagram, but the photos come up on pinterest for me - they’re very cute, sweet and proud.

(took out the @ name of his ex - not about saige bc of date)

4.) even how he touches shayne: damien is a VERY touchy feely person and usually ghosts his hands or gives very light touches to others, but with shayne, it’s a full grab, it’s a grip on the shoulder, it’s an initiated hug. it’s “heart of the cards” with a bro handshake that shayne thinks is gonna be a high five but damien holds his hand and forces it still. even when he knows a touch wouldn’t necessarily be appropriate, with shayne, damien’s inner thoughts just seem to win so he ghosts it (ex. hacking off where shayne has oreo on his mouth and damien pretends like he’s gonna wipe it off)

— end of examples

damien just loves him so hard and so genuinely. and again, this is only speculation, but especially as of lately, it does not seem that shayne reciprocates that much admiration.

i know exactly how it feels to be damien. to need a person in your life that you can be 100% yourself with, without holding yourself back, because otherwise you feel like you’re going crazy. how you can love and appreciate someone so much it becomes obsessive. that person, that relationship, becomes a core part of your identity. how even if it’s not necessarily romantic, you can develop strong crushes on people that feel so intense and overbearing. how you want to spend so much time with them, envision the two of you becoming so close, jealousy making you really hard on yourself.

i know, and maybe damien does too, what it’s like to be the one who gives 75% in the relationship when the other person is giving 25%. the 75% person is trying so hard to keep it alive when it doesn’t seem like the other one is giving the same amount of effort, and disappointingly, unceremoniously, and ultimately — it fades away or crashes and burns.

i feel like the smosh mouth episode, as beautiful as it is, is a great example. how there is some good back and forth between them, but i feel like it’s heavily dependent on only so random nostalgia, which is great, but it’s not a lot of new information. we know they became friends from being on so random. it’s like finding one common thing you and a coworker have and being forced to work together on it to produce a result. again, i love that episode, i watched it the second it came out and blocked the world out to watch it. and maybe i need to watch it back to squash the little voice in the back of my head saying their dynamic is different now, or maybe i need to watch it again to make that voice louder, or maybe i shouldn’t even touch it bc it will break my heart to analyze.

ofc this is only based on what we see. maybe shayne just isn’t a pda person at all (not just touch, i mean other methods too like the 5 love languages. see: my edit of shaymien x everything i know about love by laufey) or damien’s is so strong it makes his look like nothing (again about the 75/25 though.)

maybe their friendship is absolutely blossoming privately and we don’t see it. maybe they will drift apart for a bit but come back together in an amazing way. maybe their friendship is so strong that it can overcome a (presumed) not speaking period like ianthony. or maybe it isn’t. maybe their friendship isn't as strong anymore because of them being busy with other things, or being on different walks of life (ex. shayne just got married which is presumably taking up a lot of time)

i don't mean that to negate any of damien's accomplishments ofc like boi is successful, but it must be hard in a way to have your best friend hitting such a huge milestone when you're just... with 2 cats. not getting to be with him as much anymore. drifting away from a relationship you thought would last forever. stuck caring so much more than the other person does. understanding that life must go on and so do people but it’s a sad event.

i know that, for me, staying busy and forcibly mindful and in the moment/present (working WAY too much) where you don't even have a choice to stop and think and be in your head sometimes just numbs it and makes you forget, and damien has seemed so busy lately. i’m glad he said in his tuesday 4/23 stream that he plans on taking a break soon and that it doesn’t feel bad to be busy. he’s an adult, he can handle his own life, i’m not trying to baby him.

also, i don’t mean to blame shayne or anyone else for my (admittedly silly) little perceptions of some guys from a youtube channel i love. this is, again, all entirely speculative.

my heart hurts thinking about the potential of them not being best friends anymore, of the lack of content we have seen with both of them recently, of my own perception of how much shayne means to damien. don’t listen to mitski (especially francis forever) and think about shaymien at the same time. but if you do, you better meet me in my dms. don’t think about how we’ve gotten, what, 4 videos with them both this year and it’s already almost may. don’t think about how we haven’t seen anything from shayne to damien lately and how it’s all been damien /about/ shayne, mostly indirectly.

who knows what’s going on. but either way, shayne is a big part of damien’s life. thanks for letting me get on my shaymien soapbox 🫡

[leoleolovesdc]

If I got the final say on Batman movies we’d have a whole film about Stephanie Brown and Bruce Wayne as the Dynamic Duo

Imagine this: Batman is already a stabilished hero, he has been doing his thing for some years now, probably never had a Robin (at best a recently-turned-Nightwing Dick Grayson who won’t appear during the story) and during a patrol night spying on the Cluemaster’s crew he finds this one kid in between 12-15 years old with a cheap domino mask and a purple cape with a hood in the same task as himself (though way more sloppily). He tries to scold her home but she claims to be a hero too and says that she’s here to spoil Cluemaster’s plans. Bruce insists that it’s not safe and she should go home, but she is persistent and doesn’t back down until he threatens to take her to the cops. She reluctantly agrees to show him the way to her house. They both walk together, the kid anxiously gripping on his arm as they approach this one dirty-looking house in a poor neighborhood, the girl points to the house and says “This one’s mine” and gingerly goes inside without saying another word.

When Batman is leaving he notices the kid stole his grappling gun. He looks upset, but doesn’t try to get it back.

Because of the little distraction Bruce can’t catch the Cluemaster (or Arthur Brown) that night, but he keeps his eyes open during patrol, always checking in on the last location of the gang’s reunion and looking for hints of where he may be hiding, but in this job he keeps running into the kid again and again, he tries a harsher approach, convinced that he’ll be able to keep her away from danger, but she only seems to get more and more persistent. Despite being worried, at some point Bruce accepts that he won’t be able to stop her from running away from home at night to “patrol” and lets it be with one condition; they meet up at a spot near her house, keep tabs on Cluemaster together and at the end of the night Bruce makes sure she is safe and sound at home and she has to accept without complaints.

Bruce starts quite enjoying the kid’s company and they get increasingly closer. They talk about their mission, but also about random things. She brings a light and mundanity to his night shift that he never thought he’d have. She eventually agrees to tell him her name, Stephanie. She gives no last names, though. Says she’ll only reveal her secret identity when he reveals his. He laughs.

Their talks on Steph’s way home become the bast part of Bruce’s day, they discuss everything and nothing, sometimes even stopping to get food and just hang out at rooftops after patrol. Occasionally she’ll manage to steal some of his batarangs and other gadgets, he notices but never complains, letting her have this small sense of victory.

But with all the small hints Bruce starts to wonder why is this girl so obsessed with getting the Cluemaster. He questions her about it. She gets very angry, says that scum like him “deserves to die”, Batman tries to lecture her about it, saying that no one deserves to die and this type of thought is what leads people to acting like Arthur Brown, she shouts at him; “Don’t ever compare me to that man!”. The walk back to the house that night is silent.

Bruce does his homework back on the batcave, having had enough with Stephanie keeping secrets, he finds out that Arthur is her father. He tries to talk to her about it but she shuts him down, they keep having silent patrols for the next week or so, when all this laying-low type of work finally leads to a proper opportunity for an “attack”, knowing this, Batman meets up with Stephanie and tells her that she won’t be coming tonight, says this is a dangerous situation and that she should just stay home and wait for him on the next night. Steph tries to discuss, but he says it’s for her own safety and doesn’t let her have a word on the matter.

Without Bruce’s blessing, Steph goes to Cluemaster’s place by herself. There she finds Bruce in a hard fight, he is outmanned by atleast five people, she is convinced he can’t take it and jumps in through a window to help. Stephanie knocks man out in her land, saving Bruce's ass from getting stabbed on the back. They both finish the fight together, when everyone is knocked out or can't get on their feet anymore, Stephanie jumps on Arthur's throat with a chain, she starts choking him with it, and too tired to fight it, he is about to die. Bruce convinces her not to do it, and she reluctantly agrees.

Batman and Steph take the men to the police, earning some strange looks from Gordon and other cops, who end deciding on not question it. Bruce invites Steph to go on a walk with him. They go around the city, discussing everything that happened, he says that murdering is not worth it. She disagrees. He says that it won't bring her any satisfaction. She stays silent. He asks if she really wants this life for herself. Not because of her father, revenge or as a game, if she actually wants to help. She says that this is all she's ever wanted. He shakes her hand.

"What's your name?"

She hesitates for a moment: "Spoiler"

"Mine is Bruce", he answers with a smile before taking his cowl off. Steph stares at him, slightly taken a back. "Batman and Spoiler, huh? I like the sound of that", he says, giving Stephanie a pat on the shoulder.

This is pretty rough and i didnt rlly re read the whole thing to check do if its incoherent, im sorry, its late, is js spent like a solid hour making this on a ipad and my brain has melted

[amethysts-tavern]

Random Gale thoughts of the day (Act 1 & 2 spoilers)

During the weave scene in Act 1: what if his intentions for sharing the weave with you originally were not about you? What if he was using you to make Mystra jealous? I mean, he starts the whole scene by conjuring her image. Then the narrator goes on to say how you can feel her presence because of the use of the weave. Gale would know that. What if he just wanted to show Mystra that he has mortal friends now?

Then, of course, Mystra makes it weird by making the moment intimate for you. Like she’s saying, “he’s all yours! I’ll light the candles and put on the soft music.” You can see the weave pushing you two together.

And then you’re putting romantic images in his head. He’s embarrassed at first because that’s not why he called you over. The thought never even crossed his mind until you suggested it (you know, because he feels unworthy). Then he gets nervous. I image he’s stuck between “why do they like me?” and “this can’t end well.” But he’s elated because you are showing him images that you like him, and that is new and exciting, because he does actually like you too, now that he thinks about it.

————

But then I wonder if the whole “blow yourself up” wasn’t just a lesson for him.

It’s like she’s saying, “you can continue to be obsessed with me and having godly power and die trying or you can choose this other person who is doing everything in their power to make sure you come out of this alive because they care deeply about you for the mortal that you are.”

I mean, she’s a goddess, she probably doesn’t give a flying f*ck if he blows himself up or not. She’s got other followers. But ultimately I think she wants him to be happy. And you’re probably the best thing for him. Your love is the only thing that will calm his yearning for magic not meant for him.

[juniperhillpatient]

random thoughts about the Kirsches because I'm obsessed with them -

I've seen the headcanons that Wayne is abusive to Ethan, I guess based on that one line about how Wayne had a special bond with his first son (Richie) but I fully reject that because it's literally not based on anything canon. Also, Ethan & Quinn both showed strong loyalty & love toward their dad as adults. There's absolutely no indication of bitterness between them & I just don't see the point of making that up when the entire thing that makes the Kirsches intriguing is their bond as a family.

I've also seen the rumors/leaks that there was at one point a reference to Wayne, Ethan & Quinn killing Mrs. Kirsch but I also fully reject that because if it doesn't make it into the final cut of the movie it's not canon & that is a HUGE plot point to just not dive into which is probably why it got cut.

I think that Wayne was a really hardworking & caring single father because to me that's what was heavily implied by the bond between Wayne, Ethan, & Quinn that we saw. They were OBVIOUSLY an extremely close family - like, codependently intensely close. We don't have canon ages for Ethan & Quinn so I love the headcanon that they were twins. Richie seems to be 2-3 years older than them & I bet they both totally looked up to & hero worshipped Richie. I feel like Richie & Quinn jokingly bullied & teased Ethan a lot but it was all in good fun, IDK Ethan just has the vibes of the sibling that gets lovingly bullied lmao

I honestly think the Kirsch's were pretty normal before Richie went down the path that he went down which makes their story way more tragic. Wayne, Quinn, & Ethan were obviously unhinged BUT they were driven to that by grief. Richie got sucked in by toxic Reddit fandom & there's no help for that but I feel like Wayne, Ethan, & Quinn were normal just maybe a LITTLE abnormally intensely close as a family until they lost Richie & it drove them insane.

I like the idea that the siblings were all extra overprotective of each other growing up & probably got into fights at school to protect each other. No one talks shit to any of them or the other two WILL knock your teeth out. This is practically canon because the main thing we know about the Kirsch siblings is that they invented being ride-or-die siblings.

I imagine that Quinn & Ethan watched their father losing sleep, getting bags under his eyes, & losing weight & meanwhile they're mourning their big brother that they loved more than anything too. I understand that Wayne is pushed as the mastermind in the fandom from what I've seen but I actually can see Quinn as the first to bring up revenge. She seems very calculated & I can see her as the one to decide this is wrong & something must be done. Maybe Quins brings it up to Ethan first & they talk it through & bring it to their dad together & Wayne is at a breaking point & he agrees & they all plot together from there.

anyway, there's nothing I love more than a toxic evil fucked-up family that is all for now <3

[pupcat-is-amare]

Okay I normally don’t do text posts but I need to say these things before I explode bc I have random thoughts that won’t leave me alone

Anyway! Random The Amazing Digital Circus headcanons I will die on a hill for… until the show (probably) proves me otherwise. In no particular order!

• Jax is Asexual and Aro Spec

• Zooble is Agender

• Gangle has a lot of stuffed animals and/or pillows in her room

• I don’t remember where I saw this but I saw someone else headcanons that Ragatha sows and now I’m obsessed with it

• Gangle has a touch of the ‘tism, and fiddling with her “hand” ribbons is her main form of stimming

• Caine wants to participate in the activities he makes but because of the fact it’s mostly stimulation for the humans (and also bc he already knows what’s happening), he doesn’t feel like he can participate

• Before Zooble got trapped in the Circus, they had some prosthetics

• Jax is a kleptomaniac, hence the keys bit from the first episode

• Kinger and Queenie entered the circus at the same time, hence the matching avatars

• Bubble actually finds the moon’s antics with Caine funny

• Pomni is a cat person + magnet

• Gangle has social anxiety

[ifyouhappentoremember]

Quick Thoughts - The Phantom of the Opera - February 4, 2023 - Matinee

The main trio was Ben Crawford, Julia Udine and John Riddle.

I think I’ve reached a point when I am so familiar with this trio’s acting choices, my brain just started focussing on very niche and random things, so this review is just going to be an incredibly haphazard collection of thoughts.

Joseph DePietro was on as M. Reyer and is it possible that I’ve found my new favorite Reyer? He was so incredibly sassy but it was clear that he was very good at his job, which is Reyer 101. I know I’m ride or die for Jim Weitzer’s Reyer, but DePietro is giving him a run for his money.

This is the third (or is it second?) time I’ve seen Ted Keegan as Piangi. I can barely wrap my brain around it because Keegan’s Phantom and his Piangi give off very different energies but are also somewhat similar? His Piangi is very earnest and a little goofy.

Keegan’s Piangi is first and foremost, Carlotta’s number 1 fan. The first time Keegan’s Piangi met Carlotta, he cried and would later write in his diary, “It was the best moment of my life.” 

RIP Keegan’s Piangi, you would have thrived as a stan account on Twitter.

I had thought that since New York City Ballet’s Winter season had started, I would stop focussing so intently on the ballet corps during the Dressing Room sequence and finally turn my attention to the action down stage. If anything, my scrutiny on the corps has increased.

The choreography during this sequence is so good. It’s structured to almost resemble the center portion of a ballet class but Gillian Lynn had deliberately put in references to Degas’s ballet paintings and sculptures. It’s so clever and it lends so much atmosphere to the scene.

I’m really nitpicking here but I wish the ballet corps was a little bit tighter and were more synchronized? The main issue is that each ballet dancer has trained at a different school so the little details like arm and head placement are different. Like I said, I’m nitpicking because this is such a minor detail.

I am always so obsessed with this detail during Notes. Raoul directs the sung line “Why did Christine fly from my arms?” to André. Why does Raoul think André would know the answer? Nehal Joshi’s André always looks and gestures at John Riddle’s Raoul like “Give me a minute to deal with Carlotta and then I can help you with your stupid question” and it always cracks me up.

Ok so on the rooftop sequence after All I Ask of You when Raoul says “Christine, I love you,” I always love that when he says it, Julia’s face is in shadow and when she turns back, she’s in the light again. It’s such a good visual representation of Christine ‘rejecting’ the Phantom’s world of shadow for Raoul’s world of sunlight.

Ted Keegan’s Piangi made a really good Don Juan?? I was actually really annoyed that the Phantom killed Piangi, because I actually kinda started to get into Don Juan Triumphant.

Ben got so raspy during some moments when he sang The Point of No Return and I’m annoyed because it’s going to be clattering around my brain until the next time I see Phantom.

I don’t know how Ted Keegan made his body so limp during the reveal of Piangi’s dead body, his feet were swinging around like he was a corpse. It was really disturbing.

Ben has a new line reading of ‘The world showed no compassion to me!’ I like it so much better!

I like it better when Ben’s Phantom says his second “I love you’ to the empty space Christine has left behind. I’ve seen him do it to Christine when she’s still standing in front of him, and it reads as more manipulative to me, like he’s still begging her to stay with him. When he’s by himself it reads more pathetic and sad to me.

When Meg {Polly Baird] ripped the cape from the throne to reveal the mask, someone in the audience (probably a kid) let out a giant gasp of surprise and it made me laugh. I know, I know, this means for spoiling the mood my punishment I will be forced to endure the never ending bathroom line during intermission at Phantom (I would like to throw the lady sitting next to me under the bus because she laughed too - it was not just me!!).

[goforth-ladymidnight]

@suckerpunchfemale asked: For the WIP game, The Never-Fading Flower. I'm so curious about your take on Amarantha!

I tried to save a draft of my answer for this tag game, and the whole ask disappeared. 😭

This is one of those “I have so many ideas but I have yet to put my pen to paper” WIPs I have, but at least it has a dedicated document! I have random sentences, ideas, and a couple of songs chosen to fit the vibe once I finally start writing it.

Essentially, I think there's more to Amarantha’s character than her obsession with Tamlin. We don’t know much about her, other than she was the King of Hybern’s general, she had a sister named Clythia, and she was good friends with Tamlin’s dad. There is so much fun to be had with her character! (Villains are always fun to write; for anyone wondering, I’m not condoning her actions, and it’s a shame I feel I have to say that.)

SJM only shows us the “she’s not that hot”, Tamlin-crazed, bored-with-power Amarantha. I’m more interested in the Amarantha who may have been passed over for the crown of Hybern in favor of her cousin; who probably fell in love with a certain High Lord of Spring until he met his mate and married her without warning; who avenged herself on her sister’s killer, only to be stripped of her title as general in response to the King losing the War and then being left with nothing.

To be clear, I’m not interested in writing about the Amarantha who is widely considered to be a pedophile. In my version, I imagine that Amarantha fell in love with her best friend, the future High Lord of Spring. She thought she was going to marry him and become Lady of the Spring Court herself one day, only for him to find his mate shortly thereafter and marry her. He is described in canon as fickle and vicious, after all. Can you imagine her hurt, and the betrayal? That is something worth exploring, in my opinion.

Tamlin is often headcanoned as inheriting his mother’s green eyes and blonde hair, but I imagine he looks an awful lot like his father. I imagine that Amarantha, in her own twisted way, didn’t start coming onto him until he became High Lord after his father passed. I even have a theory that Amarantha is the one responsible for arranging an attack on Rhysand’s family, but she didn’t expect Tamlin’s father to die as a result.

Which leads to her obsession with Tamlin. She’s already lost her crown, her sister, her title, and her best friend/ex-lover. She’s not going to lose Tamlin, too. But he only knows her as his father’s friend and emissary. He is repulsed by her sudden shift in attitude towards him, and he wants nothing more to do with her. Canonically, she “eventually grew to desire [him]--to lust for him with her entire wicked heart”. If he had actually been groomed by her from a young age, he might have been more inclined to give in to her demands.

I’m still working on the timeline, especially since I want this to feel like Amarantha’s POV of everything went down, but I’m probably going to condense some things. For example, I want Tamlin’s and Rhysand’s family’s deaths to be the trigger that sets the rest of Amarantha’s plans into motion. Drugging the High Lords, attending the ball where she curses Tamlin and his Court, taking over Prythian...

Anyway, that’s what I have so far! I don’t know how long it will be or when I’ll write it, but my goal is to have it done by the end of the year.

Thanks for asking!

[commenter2]

“Western Energy” breakdown

The latest episode came out sooner than I thought, which I like as now we can see I.M.P. vs. Striker and that Vivzie seems to be somewhat on schedule. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I am a bit surprised that the Striker episode came out so early, as I thought it was going to be the season finale. Hopefully it has a big moment in it that is also still pleasant.

The restaurant shows Stella still being materialistic and obsessed with her cliché rich, royal lifestyle.

I wonder what the “deal at Ozzie’s” is about? Yes it could be Blitzo related, especially with the Ozzie X Fizz episode coming up, but I wonder if it’s something bigger?

During Stolas’ rant to Stella, he never said anything about Octavia. Could this mean Stella actually cares for their daughter? Probably not but I thought I bring up the possibility.

It’s safe to say Stolas knows Stella wants him dead.

The way Stolas escapes from Striker in a ball of feathers reminds me of Ruby Rose’s (from RWBY) semblance.

At 1:11 you can see a Goetia like character have an Imp in their purse like a dog XD

You can see a wanted sign for Striker that says they prefer him dead. I’m glad I’m not the only one who wants that.

Let me guess, the reason they go to the Sloth ring is cause its Loona’s annual checkup, and she’s nervous like an actual dog XD (some time later) CALLED IT!

Stolas calling Striker sexy is the second time in the entire series that Stolas has thought someone else besides Blitzo was attractive in some way, and as he pointed out it’s with someone he met before. A bit random but because both times happened in season 2, I feel like they are an example of those mid-season changes VIvziepop said she did for the show.

I’m surprised the others didn’t have a bigger reaction to Moxxie instantly realizing the sexy imp meant Striker XD

If an angelic weapon can kill demons, and blessed ropes can nullify a demon’s powers, what would happen if an angelic bullet got lodged into a demon’s arm or other body part that doesn’t cause instant death? Would the person lose their powers or would it be like some kind of poison and the person is in a weakened state until the bullet is removed?

I do like how the situation Stolas is in is similar to other myths where powerful creatures and beings get into such a situation. I think it’s a nice way to show that it’s possible the events involving Heaven and Hell in this series likely created stores in other mythologies/religions. Fingers still crossed that they do this with other things.

Sounds like Stolas wants to have his “knight in shining armor” moment with Blitzo, but will he be happy about it at the end of the episode?

That hat on Moxxie makes him look like his father!  Could this be foreshadowing that after Crimson dies, he is going to have to take over the “family business”? That would be a cool Moxxie centered episode.

I stated this in a recent post, but it looks like the Sloth ring follows a different kind of physics. It also gives me the idea that those to dwell there have psychic, telekinetic, and/or reality bending abilities (After seeing receptionist) or maybe not.  I can at least see Belphegor having such powers. It could it being possible that him sleeping all those millenniums unlocked these powers, which handy if he is stereotypically lazy and doesn’t feel like doing anything that requires moving XD

Nice to see another demon hybrid. She seems to be part Baphomet and part octopus. Not a Von Eldritch reference, but close enough.

Striker: For HELL, where killing your hated spouse isn’t frowned upon (rides off)

Rango reference!

That aquatic lady is still a better mother then Stella.

Another example of how Imps are treated in Hell’s hierarchy. Though a very dark result, at least Blitzo stood up for himself. Seriously people never do what Blitzo did.

GO MOXXIE! I wonder how Millie would have reacted to see her husband in that brawl :3

Wait did those singing Imps die?

Though cliché as Striker is, at least he is still more developed than Stella. Sorry but I still can’t fully get over what the writers did to her. At least my comments are tamed compared to others I’ve seen on YouTube.

Stolas is more durable than I thought. Heck you think with legs like that, especially with how fragile bird bones can be, you think it would be broken by now and of course he is thinking about Blitzo the whole time.

The shot of Andrealphus’ house shows us he lives somewhere in a barren part of the Wrath ring, which INSTANTLY gives us a strong reason for why he would want to help Stella take out Stolas. For those that don’t know, Andre is one rank lower than Stolas in the Goetia royal hierarchy and that small difference SHOWS as while Stolas has a walled off mansion in the middle of a city, Andre is in the middle of nowhere in the Wrath ring and likely only has some Imps for subjects. I also bet the constant heat in the ring is why he has that cold aura around his house, as it would probably melt in seconds.  Sure the difference could also be because Stolas is the son of Paimon, and maybe Andre has some generic similarities to the Yuki-onna yokai and wherever he goes it gets colder to the point he snows but if I was in his spot, I’d also try and do anything to get out of a position like that, and luckily for him his sister has given him an opportunity. I hope this is true as I could see this eventually leading to one of my previous ideas of Andre wanting more power and after dealing with Stolas, goes after Stella and Octavia so he could eventually try and overthrow Paimon, and Paimon does seem like the kind of guy who could easily be overthrown.

YES! Andre is smarter the Stella, and what he said brings him closer to what I just said and my headcanon of him becoming the main antagonist of the series! I also like how it sounds like they could eventually do my “expose Stolas’ crimes and get him to lose his royal status” idea.

Also I doubt that all of Stolas’ stuff would go straight to Octavia. If so then just like how child arrange marriage are apparently okay in Hell, I’m surprise Queen Lilith never passed a law that prevents such a thing especially in cases when the lesser royal really needed some resources, given again how Andre is treated with his status.

Also again Octavia is brought up in front of Stella, but she doesn’t think or say anything about her. I think it safe to say, regrettably, that Stella doesn’t care about Octavia. Again can’t we have levels of bad parenting on this show?

I do question a bit on how keeping Stolas alive won’t just easily go against Stella, but they could just threaten to reveal his crimes to Hell’s government to keep his silence. This could then lead to them just blackmailing him exchange for his money and such until the time is right.

A missed opportunity to have Moxxie use the heaven gun they got from Striker in their last fight.

Moxxie and Mille are perfect as always.

WAIT what is Millie’s axe made of if it can destroy angelic metal? I rather learn about that then see Blitzo and the Doc fail to give Loona her shot.

(seeing axe coming at Millie but luckily misses her) DON’ T SCARE ME LIKE THAT VIVZIE!

Wrong move Loona, those horse riding lessons and all that time with his own horse has made Blitzo a pro XD. Also you have to admit, that scene was gross.

Good distraction Moxxie. That was a distraction…right?

Dammit Striker got away again. At least I could see him going after Stella and other Goetias now that they no longer need him.

The 4 eyed demon lady near the hospital looks like she could be a child or descendant of Asmodeus, mixed with some Imp and Baphomet. I mean he’s defiantly the kind of demon to have illegitimate kids/descendants running around.

Blitzo caring for Stolas moment.

There was another missed opportunity for a scene of having Stella cover her tracks by pretending she cared about Stolas getting hurt. Actually as I write this, given she does stuff like post newspaper articles about “not divorced” parties I wonder if the public would even buy into it?

The writers finally bring up the events of Ozzie’s after all this time but its via text. Though better than nothing, I bet some people are going to be annoyed by this.  It also references “Seeing Stars” and that Stolas wants to actually be closer to Blitzo. Be nice if he actually SHOWED it to him. Huh I was right about using text to explain things getting people annoyed. Sadly it seems too late as it seems like Stolas has finally taken the hint, too bad he doesn’t know the truth.

On a similar note, since the writers are clearly not going to do anything love triangle related involving Stolas and Bltizo, can we at least have Blitzo and Stolas end up together soon, as the “main romantically involved characters getting together at the VERY END of the series” trope is another trope I really despise.

That was another intense episode, and I’m usually don’t get like that for Stolas episodes. I have the usual pros and cons for the episode like good animation and humor, how they are advancing some plot points that I like, an unnecessary subplot that took time away from more important stuff, my still present feelings on how I don’t the direction the writers went with for Stella, and not exploring much of the Sloth ring.

My favorite thing from the episode would have to be Andre and how the writers do seem to have plans for him that could happen later in the season, like the eventual Stolas going to court idea (as stated in my anti IMP post) and my ideas for the aftermath of such a thing.

My least favorite thing I guess would have to be how the ending was similar to the Ozzie episode with both Blitzo and Stolas obviously hurt emotionally. Maybe if the Loona thing didn’t happen, they could have talked and maybe have finally gotten together? IDK but I don’t how again they used something similar to a previous Helluva Boss episode. Also what is with that Ozzie reminder Stolas got? Was it related to how he wants to talk to Blitzo about the events of Ozzie’s OR a wilder theory is that Ozzie knows about Stolas’ crimes and maybe Stolas was going to try and get Ozzie to forget about them which will happen during the upcoming Ozzie X Fizz episode.

Also after all he went through only for Stella to no longer want him dead at the moment, Stolas must now wonder what she could be up to next and I think it would be cool to see how he could try and counter her plans if he’s not too late (it likely will).

Still it was a good episode and now I’m actually excited for the next Stolas episode, but I’m glad we will be taking a break…. I think. There is a scene in the 2022 trailer of what looks like him getting out of the hospital and after seeing that notification, again maybe this happens in the Ozzie X Fizz episode.  Maybe while Blitzo and Stolas (along with Ozzie and Fizz) get together at the end of the episode, there is now tension between the groups which could backfire on Stolas one day AKA his crimes. This could then play in the Barbie Wire episode as when I.M.P. get caught, people find a connection between them and Stolas leading to the new finale where Stolas and the others are put on trial.

Till the next episode, I got some good news, I’ve been able to catch up on all my stuff so now I can FINALLY start posting my Helluva Boss rewrite that I’ve been talking about for some time now soon, hopefully before May ends. Now it’s not going to be a word for word rewrite of the series but a series of summaries, the first few going over how the characters are different in this version and then I will go over how the episodes are different, including adding a few new original episodes that fit in my rewrite so if you like my way of writing, then give me a follow.

And those was my thoughts on the episode, and things Helluva Boss related, but I want to hear your thoughts.

[mycatismyeditor]

Supergirl episode idea my brain won't give up on...

So because I’m a huge story nerd and like fixing things I think about Supergirl a lot, because that show was a mess and the greatest waste of potential I think I’ve seen… possibly ever. Anyway, I’ve had this idea about an episode that won't go away so I’m sharing it here in the hopes it stops coming to me at 3am and I can finally get some sleep.

I feel like an episode like this, one where the focus was on Kara and her emotions and letting her talk, could have been useful in terms of character development and I think Melissa is more than capable as a dramatic actress of holding our attention without needing a million other things going on around her and an episode like this would have given her a chance to actually show that as Supergirl. I also think it would have been a good chance to show some actual processing of emotions and issues without it being about fighting someone (because really too much of that show was about fighting someone over actual story and character development).

So this idea is set early S3, when Kara is struggling with her identity and not wanting to be Kara and all that jazz. Please note this is not an attack on the writers or suggesting what they used in S3 instead was bad or anything like that, this is just an example of the kind of stories and character based episodes I really wish we’d gotten on the show because honestly I haven't even been able to finish watching most of it as the writing is just so... honestly boring. But I love the characters so I keep trying.

Also it's a bit long so sorry about that.

......

We open with Kara having just done some kind of fight and the DEO are collecting like a Fort Rozz detainee or something. Have Alex say something about how that’s all wrapped up and suggesting Kara get some rest because she’s really been putting in extra hours and it’s getting late. Kara saying she’s just going to do a short flight before she goes home. Alex reluctantly agrees. Maybe have Alex (or possibly Winn over coms) say something about reports of some hikers setting off fireworks in the National park.

Result, Kara is flying over the mountains around National City and then her powers falter and then she tries to recover but not very well. She barely manages to give Alex a warning before she crashes into a cliff having blown out her powers.

Her earpiece is destroyed in the crash and she’s a little beaten up but otherwise okay. She sighs and takes out her phone and tries to call Alex (no service) then sees a picture of her and Mon-el as her phone background. She starts breaking down a bit her head in her hands tears coming and then there’s a voice calling from somewhere nearby.

“Hello! Is anyone there? Please, I need help!”

Kara of course follows the voice and goes into a cave to find a rock climber trapped in the cave partway down on a ledge under a small rockslide with a large boulder pinning his legs.

“Supergirl!” he says excitedly. “Wow, am I glad to see you. Can you get me out?”

Then Kara has a bit of an extension to her breakdown because she looks at this guy who’s evidently trapped suddenly so excited thinking he’s saved. She gets down to him and tearfully has to tell him she’s so sorry she actually blew out her powers so she’s only human right now.

He just looks at her and sighs.

“Well… that sucks,” he said giving her a smile. “How’d you blow out your powers?”

“I uh… I haven’t really… slept in… like a week.”

He looked at her and nodded slowly. Maybe here she notices he's shivering and so shifts to be holding him and wrap him in her cape or something to keep him warm.

“Well uh, since it seems we’re both stuck here why don’t you tell me why you haven't slept in a week.”

Kara lets out a surprised laugh and wipes at her tears.

“You want me to tell you about my problems right now?”

He nodded.

“Well I think my problems are pretty obvious,” he motioned to the rocks covering his lower half. “Big rocks stuck on my legs, slowly bleeding out. Yours seem much less obvious and far more interesting, come on tell me all about it. I’ve been told I’m a good listener. At least that’s what my wife says, she always tells me Pete you might drive me mad but at least I know you’ll listen as I complain about it.”

He gives her a bright smile and Kara thinks about it. She looks at him and then the rocks and back again.

“Normally I wouldn’t rush you, but I don’t wanna pass out from blood loss halfway through something important, you might think I’m being rude.”

“How can you joke about that?” Kara asked horrified. “Maybe I can move the rocks and free you and-”

“And I’ll die much faster,” he said giving her another smile. “Some of this is actually stopping me from bleeding out. And before you suggest going for help the nearest person is a three hour hike, and I’ll be dead by then.”

Kara looked at him alarmed.

“I’m a pretty experienced climber, not that it looks like it right now but…” He sighed. “I know I’m dying Supergirl, but... I’d rather not die alone in the cold and dark.”

Moment of quiet then another smile from the guy and he pats her hand.

“So come on, tell me what’s going on. I promise I won’t tell anyone else. And I could uh, I could really use a distraction.”

Kara looks at him and then sighs and nods.

“So I… I had a boyfriend. And I had to uh… he was…”

She took a deep breath.

“He was so annoying! He would never do what I told him and he was always getting into trouble and I would have to drag him out of it and it was so…” She made a strangling motion with her hands. “Like I got him a job, at my workplace, and he of course got fired on day one. Not, get this, not for sleeping with one of my coworkers in the printing room but because he gave her all his work to do.”

Pete laughs and then so does Kara

“Like seriously. I…”

She starts to cry.

“He was so… sweet. And he was… he tried. He was awful when we first met and then he, he changed. He was hopeless at it sometimes but he kept trying and he made me laugh as much as he drove me crazy and I just… I loved him. I really loved him. And then I had to send him away because he was a Daxamite, the Prince of the Daxamites! Which he didn’t tell me! No, he kept that a secret so when they demanded his return I thought he was going to his execution or something so I…”

Cut away to Alex and the DEO desperately trying to find where Kara is to save her. They’re all stressing out. Alex most of all. J’onn being the best space dad reassuring Alex and promising her they’ll find her eventually. Winn desperately trying to use some advanced modelling to work out her flight path and it not really working which frustrates Alex. Maybe he’s trying to trace her radiation signature but because she’s blown out her powers it’s not really working so they’re trying to find her phone and using advanced hacking into satellites. Lot’s of ultra technical advanced stuff and none of it’s working. (Maybe have a side thing of instead of trying to do something technical the best idea would be to actually get out there in force and manually look becuse the damage to the cliff is pretty obvious.)

Most of the episode is Kara just talking with Pete. Firstly about her relationship with Mon-el and her unresolved feelings and grief at losing him and the fears she has about where he’s going to end up since she sent him away. Maybe a few small connections to her trauma from seeing her planet explodeand being stuck in the Phantom zone.

Then she asks about why he’s down there alone against all cave diving rules. Turns out the guy is there because he did this cave with his little brother years ago. It goes really deep and there’s a few water sections but when you get to the end there’s this amazing hidden spot with rock carvings or something. On their climb his brother panicked when they got down near the bottom where it’s really dark and there's water.

“And I got… short with him and he-” Pete cleared his throat. “He made a mistake and he died. I uh… I know it wasn’t really my fault but… I still think about all the ways I could have saved him, you know. Even though I logically know I did all I could. I got him out of the water and did CPR and I tried and it… I did everything right but… Do you ever have a moment where even though you did everything you could, more than anyone would have asked of you, when you nearly die yourself trying to save them and they still…”

“Yes,” Kara said softly.

Pete looked at her and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you do.”

They’re quiet for a minute.

“I came out today to get something, his, his watch. It’s a dumb thing. A kid watch really with Snoopy on it for God’s sake. But he loved it because it was a gift from me. The first gift I gave him actually. We were… he’s my step brother. We didn’t get along at first. Classic step family issues. I thought he was trying to muscle in on my space with my dad and I didn’t want anyone replacing my mum and… well I was an idiot. when we were kids”

He sighed heavily and looked at her again.

“One day after school I was running late when I went to get my bike and I saw him getting his butt kicked by one of my friends and well... no one picks on my brother but me.”

Kara laughed softly.

“So I jump in started beating up my friend then a teacher came along because of all the noise. We all got in a lot of trouble until I managed to con this teacher into thinking we’d all had an accident on our bikes and well… I think she just pretended she believed us because we were all spouting the same story and it was late in the afternoon. But my brother’s watch got damaged and he was so weird about it at the time. He kept going on about how he would be late for all his music lessons without it so I dragged him into the first store I found with watches and bought him a cheap one just to shut him up. Then he never took it off.”

Pete smiled softly clearly lost in some memory. He let out a laugh.

“He showered with one hand up for four years because the damn thing wasn’t waterproof. I called him an idiot everytime I saw him do it but he always smiled back insisting it was his most prized possession. Proof his dumb jock brother did care.”

Pete fell silent for a moment.

“I just… the watch wasn’t on his body when they got him out. It’s um… it’s gotta be down there and I wanted to see if I could get it back. This isn’t my first time trying but it’s in the water, well I think it is. I wanted- I wanted to give it back to Mum. But she um… she died last year and I- I know it’s stupid. I know it’s just a watch and it doesn’t really matter. But I… Just finding it I’m sure it’ll give me… closure or something.”

Kara nodded.

She talks about something she had on Krypton, maybe the spy beacon with her aunt and how much it would mean to be able to have that again. We could get some nice closure discussion here about her feelings from the end of S01.

Kara breaks down crying again apologising to Pete and saying how she shouldn’t have been so wrapped up in her own issues that she let herself blow out her powers. If she hadn’t then she’d have been able to rescue him within minutes and… none of this would have happened if she’d just been better.

“Superman never has this problem. He always saves everyone!” she yelled frustrated.

Pete put his hand on her arm.

“Hey, no he doesn’t. No one can, not even superheroes. It’s not your job to save everyone Supergirl. You gotta put your own oxygen on first before you help others.” (if there's some cave diving saying that's similar just switch it out for that here)

Kara looked at him.

“But you’re going to die… and I- I can’t save you.”

Pete shrugged.

“That was going to happen anyway. You might not be able to save me because you blew out your powers but…” He gave her a very gentle smile. “Now I won’t die cold and alone in a dark cave. I’ll have someone here. Someone who will be able to tell my wife what happened to me, and where to find my body so she can bury me. Someone who will be able to tell her I love her and that I’m sorry for being such a stubborn fool and not listening to her.”

Pete’s fading a bit. Kara cries a bit.

“But I’m a hero, I’m supposed to save you!” she said.

He smiles at her.

“You don’t need to save me,” he whispered. “Just stay until the end.”

Then they hear voices in the distance. They both look up as powerful torches cut through the darkness above them.

“Pete!” someone calls. “Pete Davis! Are you able to respond? Your wife said to tell you you’re in big trouble!”

Pete laughed and looked at Kara.

“He’s down here!” she yelled.

Pete smiles at Kara.

“You know, you’re not the only hero around here Supergirl. Sometimes us humans manage to save each other.”

Kara laughed and hugged him as a rope was dropped down and a man in rescue gear dropped down with them.

“Hi- Supergirl!”

She gave him an awkward smile.

“Hi, I uh, kinda blew out my powers and crash landed here…”

“And she still came to help me,” Pete muttered. "Kept me from freezing to death before you got here."

The rescue guy laughs and then smiles at Kara.

“Even powerless you’re is still saving someone.”

Kara smiles back and awkwardly shrugs.

“I guess so.”

Pete smiles at her and then there’s more search and rescue guys coming down. They’re looking at the big rock and Kara says if they can let her use a radio she can get someone to help with that.

“Superman?”

“I know someone a bit more local.”

J’onn arrives (as Martian Manhunter) and lifts the rock so the rescue team can get Pete out and onto a stretcher medical personnel already working on him.

Kara says something to J’onn and he nods.

Then we see Pete in an ambulance and Kara comes over and holds out a watch (covered in grime but we can see Snoopy on it). Pete takes it and holds it close.

“Thank you,” he said. “For… for coming when you did. I was starting to lose hope.”

“I think I should be the one thanking you, for the reminder,” she replied.

“Reminder of what?”

“Of what this symbol means.”

She taps the symbol on her chest.

“Superhero?”

“No, El Mayarah. Stronger together. I had kind of forgotten that meant I didn’t have to do everything alone.”

Pete nods they smile at each other for a moment then we hear Alex racing over.

“Supergirl!”

“Alex!”

We get a lovely emotional Danvers sisters hug. Then Alex telling Kara off and threatening her for pulling a stunt like that and she’s going to be under the sunlamps the moment they get back and she better not complain about it because after the night she’s put her through…

Camera backs up showing Kara cowering slightly as Alex gives her hell for the stress she’s experienced. Kara nodding and the ambulance doors closing as Pete smiles at Kara.

(And as a little continuation progression thing)

At the start of the next episode when she’s going int to work or something as a little visual of her moving on a bit we see her phone screen is of her and Alex or, because I am supercorp trash, her and Lena.

[suzukiblu]

Long time no write but here’s some further adventures in Mace Windu unfucking the timeline for @twird96. 

Currently obsessed with “has just taken charge of the Chosen One oh dammit” Mace, so for starters: he is thinking of Anakin as “Skywalker” and Anakin is calling him “Master” and there’s definitely, DEFINITELY going to have to be a moment where Mace just, like . . . stops, and Realizes. Specifically realizes that calling the kid “Skywalker” is not great master/padawan relations, for one, and VERY specifically realizes that Anakin calling HIM “Master” is EVEN WORSE. Just . . . dammit. Damn it and damn all the things and WHY DID HE NOT THINK OF THIS IMMEDIATELY, FOR FORCE’S SAKE. WHY. 

The conversation where Mace finally explains “no seriously call me Anything But That” is an incredibly awkward/stilted conversation, and this will probably not be helped by the fact that he’s gonna have it the literal SECOND he realizes it’s a problem, never mind what kind of what else might be going on (i.e., training, an argument with Qui-Gon, an active firefight, whatever!). Once Anakin gets the idea in his head he is gonna live and die by it, though. He will call him “Mace”, he will call him “Mom”, he will call him all sorts of random weird shit that makes only the barest threads of sense until he settles down about the whole concept and settles on alternating Mace/Mom. And one day he will be a Jedi Knight in his own right and then he will ABSOLUTELY call Mace “Master” all the ding-dang time just because he can. Mace will not understand this logic but he’ll have hands so whatever. Whatever!! 

Also yeah, Mace, just bite the blaster bolt and call him “Ani”. Don’t go all weird and formal with your new padawan, forreal. And of course if MACE is calling him Ani, so is Depa, and Qui-Gon probably never stopped, and Obi-Wan picks it up from Qui-Gon, and yeah by the time we get to the clones it is feared Vaapad master, powerful Jedi, hotshot pilot, and accomplished commander Ani Skywalker. Possibly the clones will not know the name “Anakin” until the first time one of them goes to space Sunday dinner and Shmi just casually drops it over space casserole for whatever random reason, after which point ALL THE CLONES know and also all have to admit that most of them thought “Ani” was a Korun term of endearment but they were still using it anyway. 

Speaking of space Sunday dinners, there’s gonna be at least one or twelve of those where Shmi randomly spends the whole weekend cooking and then just shows up with C-3PO and All The Food like “hey Mace I brought the entire 187th dinner” and Mace just sighs and calls out for space ice cream for dessert, because of course he does, this is just his life now, of course this is happening. 

Anakin is not going to get to be a knight until after the war because Mace trusts NO ONE letting his padawan go off and be a general without the buddy system going, and Anakin is perfectly happy with this lot in life because being a general would imply a) less time to hang out with Mace and cause temple mayhem together and b) less time to hang out with Ahsoka and cause temple mayhem with HER. Also, probably less Padme-time, which would be a whole other crisis altogether.