#so yeah maybe watch the first 3/4 episodes and see if there's some potential!!!!!!

[stormyoceans]

We are really that good? I'm scared off by the large number of couples. Is each of the couples sufficiently disclosed in the script? You're so excited about this show. I'm skeptical, but maybe I should try?

I MEAN. MUST A SHOW BE GOOD. IS IT NOT ENOUGH FOR IT TO SPARK JOY AND GIVE YOU A BRAINROT SO DEEP THEY HAVE TO GET YOU INVOLUNTARY COMMITTED BECAUSE OF IT

but all jokes aside, let's talk about it. when it comes to reviewing shows, i always try to be as honest and objective as i can, so im not just gonna lie to you and pretend we are is a masterpiece. it's very much not. if you enjoy plot driven stories then this series is very much not for you because the plot is basically non-existent, or rather.. all the different dynamics between the characters ARE the plot. to me the show is a slice of life in the connotation that's given to it in anime and manga: a narrative that takes place in a recognisable everyday setting, often in a school, and that focuses on interpersonal relationships. this isn't to say slice of life shows with a character driven story can't be masterpieces, they absolutely can, but we are is not..very refined, there are some things that do not make much sense to me and the way the story is told can be a bit frustrating at times, not to mention that for a director who likes to show a million angles of the same moment you'd think the editing would be top notch but it's just. it's not, okay, it looks like my hair after i chop it off over the bathroom sink at 2 am when i cannot sleep, that shit's ROUGH

all this being said, im still enjoying this show TREMENDOUSLY. and believe me, no one is more surprised about this than i am. tbh i can't quite explain to you why it works for me when other (maybe even better) shows don't, it just feels very genuine, the humor isn't over the top, the characters are all extremely likeable, and i love that they're giving the platonic relationships the same weight and importance as the romantic ones. and i mean..im mostly insane about phumpeem because apparently that's THEE Dynamic™ for me, but since there are four different pairings i feel like there's something for everyone

although when it comes to development, since you asked, i do want to point out that pondphuwin and winnysatang's pairings are clearly the main ones (before anyone comes at me, i do remember the cast saying this), but aouboom still get a fair amount of screentime and they're the heart of the show tbh. the only pair that's suffering in this regard is marcpoon, but honestly it makes sense considering they had to reshoot stuff

so, um. yeah ;;;;;; this is way too long and it's probably a mess but i wanted to give you an honest and complete overview so you know what you're getting yourself into if you do decide to give it a chance. i actually started to like the show more and more after episode 3, so maybe if you have a free evening you could just try it out and see if you can get into it!!!!!!

tl;dr: it's not a masterpiece and it has its shortcomings but it's highly enjoyable and although not all couples have the same amount of screentime and development i think everyone could find something to like in the show

[sogoodtoheritsvicious]

it’s tiiiiimeee

i haven’t watched this show in full in five years 😵‍💫but it’s october and i was gonna watch thee byeler episode aka 2x02 on halloween anyway so i thought i might as well rewatch the entire show and make it everyone’s problem

forgot about the jumpscare being right at the beginning

baby will <3

they were all BABIES and now they’re all grown and the damn final season still hasn’t premiered lmao

dustin was so adorable

“it was a seven.” “huh?” “the roll, it was a seven. the demogorgon, it got me.” the way will was incapable of lying to mike, GOD, i feel sick

fun fact: will’s adorable little “see you tomorrow!” is immediately what made him my favorite

“kiss your mom ‘night for me!” lmfao

forgot how damn good the jumpscares are

gonna need mike to see will with a gun at least once before this show is over

“damn,you look like hell, chief!” “oh, yeah? well, i looked better than your wife when i left her this morning.” HELP

“lonnie used to call him queer.” “is he?” FUCKING HELL, HOPPER 😭 i completely forgot about that scene lmfao

EL, MY BABY

benny was such a good man :( he didn’t deserve to die

that poor dog was so hated irl 😭

“you think we got a problem here?” my brother in christ, a boy is missing

“i’m the only one that cares about will!” mike loves will so much, i’m gonna cry

i completely forgot about hop’s daughter

mike sneaking out while steve’s sneaking in 😭 this show is also a comedy

winona ryder the actress that you are

chapter 2

maybe i’m going to find out in this ep i can’t remember if they ever investigate benny’s death or link it to everything else that was going on

“stop it, you’re freaking her out!” “she’s freaking ME out!” lucas was the only real one in the beginning

poor baby. el didn’t even know what privacy was before this moment.

“oh, you can speak!” she gets that a lot 😭

mike and el had so much potential as friends, FUCK the duffers for ruining them by making it romantic. now they don’t even seem like they like each other

i hope s5 focuses on more on will and lucas’ friendship

jonathan was such a good brother

brenner. always at the scene of the fucking crime.

mike naming his dino ‘rory’ because he roars 🥹

FUCK BRENNER ALL MY HOMIES HATE BRENNER

karen was such a good mom in the beginning

i hate lonnie with a passion, he’s an abusive piece of shit who should’ve been killed off

i don’t blame lucas at all for the way he was acting with el at first

“one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild? some real fine parenting right there.”

they kept pointing out so many similarities between will and el, i can’t believe they didn’t go anywhere with it

“can’t ask a corpse a question.” die. just die.

nancy: *losing her virginity*

barb: *losing her life*

chapter 3

“no one breaks in here.” yeah, they just break out

love jonathan but steve wasn’t exactly wrong about the pictures

joyce byers the mother that you are

mike wanted nothing to do with el once they found will’s “body” but we’re supposed to believe that he loved her the second he saw her in the woods.

chapter 4

i can’t believe they showed that mike has all of the drawings will has created and expected us to be normal about it

“screw his funeral!” “what?!” TEARS

jonathan loves joyce and will so much 🥺

steve was such an unbearable asshole

can we PLEASE talk about charlie being able to hold his own with winona in that scene about will’s body? we already know winona’s gonna blow it out of the water but he did just as well

completely forgot about mike doing el’s makeup this episode dkfkgjd

“where are you from, exactly?” “bad place.” 😭

that troy scene still sends

“the kid is dead. end of story.”

they put too much pressure on el. i hope when all this shit is over she’s able to just be a normal kid.

this show used to be so fucking good

i love how hop tries lying to the state trooper and when that doesn’t work he just knocks him the fuck out 😭

I FUCKING HATE LONNIE

i’m so glad they had jonathan realize that joyce was telling the truth about everything that was going on instead of just dragging it all out.

chapter 5

hate lonnie for taking advantage of joyce when she’s clearly in a vulnerable position

“wait until we tell will that jennifer hayes was crying at his funeral” lmao

all this season is showing me is how severely they’ve robbed us of joyce and will scenes in future episodes

“man, these aren’t real nilla wafers.” mr. clark must think they’re horrible friends, i’m crying. dustin is right, though, fake nilla wafers suck.

“it might even swallow us whole.” and that’s exactly what’s happening by the end of s4

“he’s wanted to go to nyu since he was six. years. old!” she should’ve killed lonnie right then & there

can’t prove it but jonathan fell in love with nancy the second she shot that can on her first try

jonathan clocked nancy’s ass BAD in the woods

forgot just how much lucas hated el this season

byeler and jancy have paralleled each other too many times for it to just mean nothing in the end.

chapter 6

the jumpscares in this show are top tier

what i love about this show is how it still has me holding my breath even though i already know what’s going to happen

“i don’t wanna be alone. do you?” “no.” i was gonna say he wouldn’t be alone cause joyce is there but i remembered he doesn’t wanna tell her til it’s all over

early jancy were so awkward, i love them <3

“i could have been killed!” “which is exactly why we need her. she’s a weapon!” but mike loves her at this point, right?

lucas loves will so much, it’s a shame we haven’t seen much more of their friendship

“you’re my best friend, too.” “okay :D” dustin looked so happy 😭

“what’s the weirdest part? me or the bear trap?” “you, definitely you.” pls

jonathan beating the shit out of steve was so satisfying

“only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart.” i’m not even gonna say anything. you all know.

we don’t give mike enough appreciation for being such a selfless person. he did everything he could to find will, he almost killed himself to protect dustin, he let el live in his basement without even knowing her, etc.

“she’s our friend and she’s crazy!” i love dustin with my whole heart

BABIES 🫶🏼

chapter 7

“if anyone asks where i am, i’ve left the country.” this season is really reminding me why mike was my favorite in the beginning

i wanna hug el so bad

“our son with a girl?” ted, to mike:

“a psychotic child broke his arm!” “a little girl, chief. a little one.” “that tone! do you hear that tone?” “honestly, i’m just trying to state a fact. it was a little girl.” this entire exchange is sending me so bad

“you couldn’t take jonathan byers.” get his ass!

it was such a great choice to have joyce be the first one to ever give el comfort because she’s such a soft, comforting person and i can’t think of anyone better

chapter 8

made it to the finale! gonna be honest, i didn’t think i’d get here in only two days but this show sucked me in the exact way it did the first time

“go to hell.” joyce is everything

waiting til this episode to give flashbacks on hop’s daughter was an excellent choice

steve just wanted to apologize to jonathan and now he’s an exasperated mother of seven. life comes at ya quick!!

choosing not to acknowledge that scene beyond this for the sake of my mental health

el is a badass but she shouldn’t have to be

brenner should’ve never made it to season 4

these kids acted their ASSES off in this show

GOD THIS JOYCE, HOPPER AND WILL SCENE

you’d think everything that went down would make nancy and karen care more about mike and pay attention to him but it doesn’t. mike deserves so much better.

will is in a hospital bed worrying about jonathan’s hand. I LOVE THIS KID.

byeler hug <3

they all really wanted to tell will about jennifer hayes crying 😭

“her name’s eleven.” “like the number?” he sounded baffled lmaooo

getting will back must’ve been so bittersweet for nancy

hop keeps throwing away lit cigarettes and all i keep thinking is that he’s gonna start a wildfire eventually

mike’s soft ‘see you, will’ 🥹

the camera!!

“your wife doesn’t have time to cook for me.” pls

the byers family 🫶🏼

my love for this show has officially been revived. rewatching this reminded me why i loved this show so much in the first place. the acting is amazing, especially from the kids, the writing was great, and the fucking jumpscares were incredible. i’m so excited to start season 2!!

[mytragedyperson]

Hi....! If you don't mind, can I ask, who are your top 7 favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc (can be canon or non-canon) and your top 10 favorite characters ever from any media? Why do you love them all? Thanks if you want to answer....

Thank you for the ask. I'll start with characters. This isn't in any particular order. There are a lot of headcanons here but those headcanons are mostly based on my interpretations of their canon characters. Also these are more characters and ships I think about most often rather than favourites because I struggle with favourites

Dazai Osamu from Bungou Stray Dogs

I've always liked morally grey and manipulative characters. There's something about a character who doesn't really care either way which side he's on. Good and bad aren't important. There's simply his people and the people coming after his people. I also ship him with so many characters both for angst purposes and genuine i think they'd be good together reasons.

2. Ranpo Edogawa from Bungou Stray Dogs

I promise this is not just a list of Bungou Stray Dogs characters. But, considering Ranpo and Dazai often fight for the spot of favourite Bungou Stray Dogs characters, not including him would feel wrong. No, i always liked Ranpo. I took one look at this genius with zero ability to survive the normal world on his own and, yeah, he was funny. Then the flashback episodes happening with Ranpo fully believing in the beginning that he's not special, that everyone can just notice these things and just pretend not to know and just not get it. Like that scene may have permanently altered something in my mind. Also, him trapping Chuuya in Poe's book was just great. We stan Ranpo here. It's good for the soul

3. Kageyama Tobio from Haikyuu

I don't think this is surprising. My pfp is Kageyama for a reason. And, yes, some of it definitely comes from some well-written angsty soulmate AU fics. But also my guy Tobio here i relate to in some way. I'm no major sports file. But i get it, communication is hard. I've spoken to people and had my tone come out moody when I didn't mean to. I've struggled to explain things. And for Kageyama, a lot of his problems come from the fact that he doesn't know how to communicate. He doesn't know how to explain how to improve because he's been playing so long it's instinctual. I think there's a scene in season 1 or season 2 where Nishinoya is trying to explain something to Hinata but he keeps using onomatopoeia so no one understands what he's saying... except Kageyama, who explains things in a similar way. But also he's actually so respectful of his upperclassmen and admires his fellow setters so much. Like, yes, he's confident, but he still wants to earn his place on the court, he still wants to earn his victories. He's still willing to listen to other people, especially other setters, and learn from them. Can he be rude? Yes. Does he mean to be? Most of the time, no. Even people like Tsukishima and Hinata, they talk to him first.

Also my inner Kageyama apologist demands I add, when I look beneath the surface of how he says things (the words that actually come out), what he says (what he means, what he's trying to say) isn't actually that mean or bad. He just doesn't get how people cant love basketball as much as him.

Moving on

4. Karma Akabane from Assassination Classroom

Oh look, a character from the first anime i ever watched. Listen, can this guy be kinda embarrassing when he's trying to be badass? Yes. But also, he's in middle school, we're all embarrassing at that age. Like i struggle to explain what it is about him specifically makes him my favourite. Maybe I'm sensing angst potential. Like I've written before how I could kinda see him and Karasuma becoming a little found family and Karasuma adopting him. I have headcanons that he secretly likes studying and learning but was bullied for it so learned to fight so he could defend himself and that lead to him becoming a delinquent. This isn't to say he doesn't enjoy fighting and breaking the rules, he does. We can all like more than one thing. I have ships with him, i ship him with Nagisa, i ship him with Gakushu Asano, him and Rio Nakamura as besties, a platonic ship. Just... there's so much potential and that's without bringing crossovers into the mix. I can still picture him in My Hero Academia

5. Reki Kyan from Sk8 The Infinity

Listen, if I wanted to, this could just become a list of Sk8 the Infinity characters so I'm limiting myself to my favourite, Reki. So i don't think it's hard to see there's not many happy, sunshine characters. But here he is, my ray of sunshine, the guy i just need to see loved and protected, the reason i can never like or forgive Adam (no hate to people who like him ofc). He hurt my sunshine physically. My sunshine was hurt mentally and emotionally. His self doubt won out. But you know what, I'll say it. The found family was found because of him, he was the heart that brought them together. He got Langa into skating and brought him to S, he jumped in Shadow's car and adopted him as his uncle, he stood up for Miya and became his older brother figure, he challenged Adam, which lead to Cherry and Joe giving him advice. And then the people at S get in his head, make him doubt himself, but Langa only seems to love skating when he's skating with him. It was a fanfic, a really good fanfic that's a whole series and i'm pretty sure one of the parts is called to Build a Mechanic. But it has a lot of Reki interacting with Cherry, which i don't see terribly often and getting his confidence back. But it points out he himself hasn't been skating long and is self taught, and it's not like he's bad at skating. Like, ugh, i love him. His angst makes me sad.

6. L from Death Note

He's the reason I watched Death Note, but I've said before that, before i knew what Death Note actually was and just heard the premise and saw the characters, i did think he was the one with the death note. I've mentoned AUs. Lawlight is a big factor but also him. A morally grey strange overly smart man child. I just wanna throw him in the Bungou Stray Dogs universe (with Light of course) and see what happens. Just watch him interact with Ranpo and Dazai and Fyodor. I want to throw him in a universe where there is no Death Note, the stakes are so low but him and Light treat it the same as they do their canon storyline. Maybe a school theatre or academic or professional rivalry. He's so unethical and I love it

7. Cale Henituse/Kim Rok Soo from Trash of the Count's Family / Lout of the Count's family.

First you can pry the name Trash of the Count's Family from my cold dead hands. That's how it was introduced to me and so that's its name for life in my head. Now the character. Ah the perils of caring too much. For people who haven't read this web novel, allow me to paint a picture. Imagine a guy who's transmigrated into a different world. He gathers multiple powers, meets main characters, turns antagonists to his side, becomes friends with leaders, gets involved in multiple wars, saves multiple people and adopts children and takes in strays. Now, imagine that same guy's main goal is to live a peaceful slacker life. Well that seems contradicting. Yep that's Cale Henituse after Kim Rok Soo transmigrate to become him. A walking talking contradiction, who leaves destruction and misunderstandings in his wake. He does the exact opposite of what he says he'll do. Wants to get rid of other characters? Adopts more. Wants to avoid war? In every battle. And the entire time he basically thinks he's the worst, greediest person to ever exist. He's so kind and so good and so giving and so in denial about all of it. He's so smart and powerful and yet wants nothing to do with that power beyond protecting his people

Wait, just realised it said 10 characters so 3 more. Let's go.

8.Nico Di Angelo from PJO, specifically the first 3 books he's in because that's all i've read. Badass 12 year old child of Hades who rocks up to a battle with 3 gods. Summons ghosts with McDonalds. Traumatised, good angst potential, lots of possible ships. Like he's still just a kid. A kid whose mom and sister died, whose dad is a god, who is 70 years in the future from when he was. Like, someone, anyone, please, love him, protect him. I don't care how powerful he is, that is a child. A child who could kill you with a snap of his fingers. But a child all the same. or at least a teenager but my point stands.

9. Natsusa Yuzuki from Number24. So manipulative. Such a little shit. So spoiled. So loved. So adored. There's something about loving a sport so much that you can't leave it even when you can't play because you're hurt. Also he just has this charm and he's so pretty. I can admit to being shallow to some extent. Like he's just a pretty, manipulative guy who has everyone wrapped around his finger and loves rugby. He is either a power bottom or a bratty sub, because i can't imagine him topping but I can imagine him as a mean dom to some people, who likes degradation and humiliation. Or a bratty sub who acts out so his top has to put him in his place. Also he's small and likes being manhandled a little.

10. Alastor from hazbin hotel. He's just a mystery. He's been gone from hell for years, he's not double dead, so where was he? Why is he back now? Who did he make a deal with? Who is he chained to? Lilith? Still doesn't explain where he was. And if not Lilith, who? Was he still in hell, just in one of the other rings? Was he out of hell entirely? How? Why? Why is he helping Charlie? Also him and Nifty are cute in like a platonic way, and him and Rosie are gossiping besties and he does seem capable of forming friendships and caring about people but it's a small list and even then I'm assuming he actually cares about Nifty, Though I will say his relationships with the female characters do seem healthier and more genuine than his relationships with the male characters. That could just be manipulation though. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a sociopath or psychopath, though i could be wrong. He's just so interesting

Okay this is ships. Ships are harder because there's a lot of ships I don't mind or like but no real "i need this" ships. But let's do it.

Lawlight from Death Note. Discussed this before in this post more detail. Is it toxic in canon? Yes. Is that part of why i ship it? Also yes. Look, for all i think of AUs where they actually work, either both being Kira or no death note, I was initially drawn to this for the canon. Chaining themselves together? Sharing a bed? L watching him on cameras? We don't need AUs. I can think of so many ideas for them in canon. Some kinky, others not. Some dark and angsty. I don't mind the idea of Misa being added but Lawlight is just fine for me, especially since I don't really ship L and Misa romantically, Though i do think them as besties could be fun. The Judas and Jesus parallels. God there's so much glorious potential. They can make each other worse.

Akutagawa x Dazai - Bungou Stray Dogs. Feel like people are gonna come for me for this one, I'm treading dangerous ground, and yet tread i must in honour of being honest. There are other Dazai ships I like, there are other Akutagawa ships I like. But this one, this one i wasn't expecting. Again i dare to ask is it toxic, and again i dare to say it is, and that's why. I felt guilty at first, then i remembered they're fictional. So wanting to see angst as Akutagawa worships Dazai and it becomes romantic and Dazai manipulates him with it. Akutagawa and Dazai with Dazai as a god figure and Akutugawa worshipping him. Listen even in the fluffiest of universes they'd still be unethical. Yandere Akutagawa meeting a Dazai who uses his yandereness to take out his enemies by flirting with them so Akutagawa kills them, until Akutagawa goes too far and kills someone Dazai cares about, maybe Oda somehow. This is where darkfics come in. Most of my ideas for them are dark and angsty. I know lots of people see them more familial but, even if they don't ever get together, in my head, Dazai was Akutagawa's first crush. Also Dazai purposely trying to make Akutagawa jealous. How obedient Akutagawa is for Dazai but how he will also go against his orders. Dom/sub, brat/brat tamer, gunplay, knifeplay. Also this is Bungou Stray Dogs, they're in the mafia, ethics and laws are unimportant here.

Karma Akabane x Asano gakushu from assassination classroom. Academic rivalry? Yes. Asano being annoyed because Karma doesn't seem to put in as much effort as him but still manages to beat him half the time? Yes. The taunts? Yes. Asano eventually finding out Karma's secret love of learning and studying? Yes. Bonding over shitty parents? Definitely. Asano finding out what went down with Korosensei. healing together. They love and hate each other. If True Love by Pink and Lily Allen was a couple. Again this is without getting into crossovers and AUs really. some headcanons but not really AU. Them competing in all areas and being equally matched. Them being a power couple. Their love language is making fun of each other but, also, headcanon/fic idea i thought of right now, Karma is secretly a pretty good chef. He makes something for Asano but they're still rivals so he can't just give it to him so he has to trick Asano into stealing it and then, when he does, he refuses to tell him where he got it. Asano only finds out when Nagisa accidentally lets it slip at some point and never lets Karma live it down but is secretly touched because he's not used to stuff like that. Them subtly caring for each other. Someone messes with them and they go full power couple and just destroy whoever it was in every way they can.

Reki Kyan x Langa Hasegawa from Sk8 the Infinity. Had to have these two here. Like there was no way I was doing this list and not mentioning this ship. Like all the reason i need is the scene where Langa thinks Reki didn't come to S and his heart just isn't in the race until Reki shouts his name. Like they just are the heart of the show. They care about each other so much. They'd be so soft towards each other, so loving, a truly sickening couple. But I need that.

Natsusa x Ibuki from Number24. Listen this ship list could just be ships with Natsusa from Number24 so easily, but this one. Natsusa sits on his crotch. Natsusa being a power bottom for Ibuki's service top (i think that's the term.) The size difference. The scene in the chapel. i think it's a chapel. I love religious imagery in ships. Not overly religious myself but there's something about partner worship. Ibuki being the reason Natsusa started playing rugby. It's so good. Like Number24 is basically one big polycule anyway. but these two, these two are it. Also Seiichirou. Add him in there too. Of all the polycule these three are it.

Todoroki Shoto x Bakugou Katsuki. This is mostly from fanfiction. I watched, like, one season of BNHA, though i do plan to watch the rest. But I've read some really good fics about them. Plus, i feel like Todoroki could bring some much needed calm to Bakugou. Also i feel like Todoroki doesn't fear his anger in the way others would and, actually, behind his sheltered upbringing he's a little shit who would love deliberately annoying Bakugou. Bakugo hates that he falls for Todoroki but, honestly, Todoroki's precious, everyone loves him, and Bakugou is just a man. He never stood a chance. And neither did Todoroki. They're an absolute power couple. They obliterate villains together. Or if they become villains or vigilantes just kick absolute ass. They both have a million fangirls. Katsuki lives to piss off Endeavour (whether Shouto forgives him or not). Also i need Todorkoki hanging out with the Bakusquad and learning internet slang and memes and being chaotic but is still very awkward and seems very stoic so no one suspects him.

Aomine Daiki and Kagami Taiga. I thought about it, who should be the last ship on the official list. In the end it could only be them. Kagami could very well be the person who makes Daiki fall in love with basketball again. They are rivals to friends to lovers. Each other's biggest competition. Supporters. Both so bad at feelings and too prideful. I don't know who falls first but they both fall hard and neither will admit it. They definitely sleep with each other multiple times before they're even friends and insist it will never happen again only to fall back into bed together. Also they're switches to me. Again there is possibility for a polycule but when i think ships i usually seek out in fanfics, it is them.

special mention: Kageyama Tobio x happiness. Couldn't decide on a specific ship because as long as he's happy, i don't care

Thank you for the ask. If anyone sees this, feel free to send asks for headcanons, drabbles, snippets or just questions like this. To see what fandoms i write for, check out my pinned post.

Side note: I realise all the ships are gay and all the characters are male. I promise I don't hate women or straight/lesbian ships. Also i do watch shows and movies and stuff that isn't anime. These are just the characters and ships and things i think about most often.

[thatgirl4815]

OF Favorites Rankings

I did this once before the series aired, but I thought it’d be fun to rank the core characters in OF in the middle of the series’ run and once more at the end.

I’m gonna tag some of my active OF moots here (and some new OF friends as well!) if any of you want to play too—no pressure at all! And of course, even if you aren’t tagged, please feel free to play along! I’m super curious to see how opinions have changed from the beginning to the middle to the end. :)

@abstractelysium @nihilisticcondensedmilk @just-gm @firstkanaphans @prapaiwife @dreamedofyou @sandrayy @fanfictionroxs @khaopybara @tiedankelstotheocean @thegalwhorants @autisticbokutoenthusiast @itsmelb @way-too-indecisive @k-white @waitmyturtles

1. Sand

Of course it was going to be Sand in first place (get it…First place?)

He might be morally dubious in Ep6, but if anything, that makes him more endearing to me (don't ask me how). If they all play dirty, he can play dirty too. Plus, he's just got the vibe. The t-shirts, the jackets, the boots, the independence. The superior music taste? Mans has it all except for money. Though tbh, the moment that solidified Sand as my favorite was when he ran after Ray at the end of Ep6--he was just dealt a personal attack by Ray in front of everyone, but he doesn't even hesitate to go after him. And that is the marker of a ✨ favorite character ✨

2. Ray

Naturally, both Sand and Ray have taken the top spots (pun intended), and it's because I have a special place in my heart for "woobified" characters (did I use that right @waitmyturtles? 😂)...and Khaotung executes his layers so beautifully. Ray did go in for a nonconsensual kiss (which he later apologized for, but I digress) and he did hash out some pretty brutal insults last episode. Irrespective of his feelings for Sand, it's indisputable that he has used him in some aspect to distract himself from Mew. So for all that, Ray is also morally dubious--but I'll use the term realistic instead.

I just want to give him a hug and tell him that he matters. Because clearly that is something he's heard only a few times in his life. And maybe if he heard it more often, we could avoid situations like the one at the end of Ep6.

3. Nick

I’m having a bit of an inner battle with myself over this one because Nick came out of the gate with some very immoral behavior, and yet I’m still putting him above Mew, because something about him is just so…pitiful. Admittedly, I've been growing more and more frustrated with him as the series goes on and he still fights for Boston's affection when Boston has proven time and time again that he just doesn't care. Boston keeps him on a rope, and in some ways I sympathize with Nick's struggles, because it isn't easy to turn the feelings off once they've already been cemented. But alas. He's digging himself further and further into this hole.

4. Mew

A lot of my gripes with Mew have been in respect to his treatment of Ray, but I go back and forth because I do understand the mental toll it must take on him. Regardless of whether or not he's responsible for helping Ray through his mental issues, as his closest friend, I think it should've been him running after Ray at the end of Ep6. Yeah, Ray said some shitty things about everybody, but Ray has only ever wanted what is best for Mew. And Mew was going to watch him run off and potentially get himself killed, even after Ray admitted what Top had done. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me.

Despite all of this, Mew does appear to be the most level-headed of the group (alongside Sand, though that was put to the test last ep). And the moment he played TopBoston’s sex audio right in Top’s ear? Phenomenal. He nailed that execution. I will laugh when he's on his revenge kick next week.

5. Cheum

Cheum is this low firstly because she doesn't get a lot of screen time, and secondly because she's made some comments that are a little questionable too. I can't remember who said it, but someone pointed out just how often she references how lucky Mew is to be with Top--which is a little strange, looking at him like he's some big prize. Also, not to bring everything back to Ray but...she contributes to the "burden" discussion quite a few times.

I do really enjoy the small snippets we've gotten of her with April. I like that they finally gave their relationship a little bit more context in Ep6. They do seem to have some pretty solid communication (at least compared to the others) so I'm pleased with that.

6. Top

I know a lot of people have felt sorry for Top. And I understand that completely. I struggle to given that he not only cheated but lied about the cheating--and likely would never have admitted to it. For Mew, someone who values communication and honesty so strongly, it's like a punch to the face. I hope Top gets what's coming to him. (Also, stealing Sand's boyfriend? Wtf dude.)

7. Boston

Not much to explain about this one--I can understand why he is some peoples' favorite for the sole reason that he is the one creating all the conflict in the first place. But he's so twisted, manipulative, and careless that I just want Mew to kick him into that pool a hundred times over. I don't expect him to rise from last place by the end, but if he does, it'll be a miracle.

[straw-beret]

The significance of the claw machines in the opening of season 2

This is the first theory I've ever really posted or even MADE, and I haven't seen anyone else address it so apologies if I'm just repeating what someone else has already said; but yeah, these are just some observations I made recently, and they mostly have to do with the the intro to season 2 and how that potentially relates to the future of a rather significant main character.

More under the cut! And spoilers for season 2, if you haven't already guessed.

Every week I tune in to watch Link Click with my friends, and only at episode 10, i.e. a week ago, did i notice that in the opening, all the stuffed animals surrounding the claw machines are bunny rabbits.

It's a bit hard to see on account of the dim lighting, but I assure you that every single plush on the outside of those claw machines (and inside, at least in this shot) is a bunny rabbit. You can check the OP out on youtube if you want as well, if you want to confirm.

At first I thought, "Maybe the animators were just trying to save money on the budget!" But then I remembered that in the very next shot, we see other stuffed animal models that aren't rabbits:

This is the interior of one of the claw machines, presumably the one from episodes 4-5, and we can see 3D models of plushies such as bears and cats, alongside the rabbits of the outside.

And even in episodes 4-5, which are conversely animated in 2D, we can see there are a variety of other animals in each of the claw machines. And although the outlines aren't the clearest, it's still easy to discern they aren't ALL the same plushies as in the machine Tianxi is focused on:

From left to right as seen in the second image, I'll call each claw machine CM1, 2, and 3.

In CM2, we can see there's many different animals, majority with tails. I had a theory that they might be related to the animals of the Chinese zodiac, but you can't see them too clearly, so I'm not too sure.

CM3 isn't clear either, but the plushes/toys are definitely different to the other ones. On close inspection, I think there are bears and rabbits, but coloured red and white instead of pink, brown and greys/whites, like in CM1.

So clearly they didn't just have just one bunny plush model they had to reuse, and they put in the effort of hand drawing different plushies in the other claw machines. Plus, the budget for the intro must have been enormous— they weren't exactly pinching pennies. So why pile ONLY rabbits on the outside of the claw machines in the intro?

My theory is that it has something to do with my beloved Qiao Ling.

From the very first episode season 1, the show has set up a recurring rabbit motif in relation to Qiao Ling. We see this first in her phone case:

I put in a second photo of her phone for reference, and that one is from season 2, either episode 9 or 10.

So, bunny ears on the phone case. Big deal, probably just a fun piece of visual storytelling to add to her character— maybe she's into 'meng' culture. She's about the age to be into it, right?

Well, let's look at the chibi spinoff, Daily Life in Lighttime!

I don't think it's at the end of every episode this animal segment appears, but after the main events of each episode, we get to see the main characters as animals, doing animal things. Pretty straightforward— LG is a cat, CXS is a dog, and QL is a rabbit. Another thing connecting QL with the motif of rabbits.

In the official art by INPLICK, who did the character designs for the show, Qiao Ling is also commonly depicted with rabbits/a rabbit motif, and the boys with their respective animals as well.

On top of that, we know the show is set in 2021. Based on her character profiles, we know Qiao Ling is 22 years old, making her birth year 1999 (March 16th, if anyone cares). This makes her, you guessed it, year of the Rabbit!

So, let's tie this back to the claw machines. We've got a character who is established in show and in official art to be associated with rabbits, and we've got an abundance of rabbit plushes on the outside of the claw machines. Link Click is always very intentional with their imagery and mise en scene, this isn't an accident. So, what exactly does this mean?

My theory is that Qiao Ling will come to play a very significant role in the finale and upcoming season 3.

Initially, when me and my friend discussed this (shout out to Lara if you're reading this); we figured it might just be another reference to how Qiao Ling is metaphorically on the outside of the supernatural happenings. She is the only main character without powers, she didn't know what CXS and LG were doing with the photos, she was the first of the mains to get possessed by red eyes, who we now know are a wombo combo of Li Tianxi and Li Tianchen. But why go to such lengths to compound on something we already know?

So then I started to wonder, maybe it means she is less protected than the others? After all, she was the first to get possessed, she is the only one without any supernatural powers. I thought it might mean imminent doom for Qiao Ling— which would suck, because (and this is especially applicable if you've seen the most recent episode, i.e. s2e11) Link Click is not the best when it comes to leaving female characters alive!!!!!

It adds up— the animals on the inside of the claw machine are "safe", metaphorically and literally. They are protected by the glass (and also the impossibility of winning anything from a claw machine). But on the outside, they are up for grabs, easy to be destroyed or harmed. The claw machine ensures safety, and when you're outside the machine, nothing is guaranteed. So when we see the inside of the claw machine in the shot of that pink cat plush, i.e. the second image in this post, we see that there aren't as many rabbits in the claw machine, meaning less safety for QL.

(also if you want to strengthen that argument, that stuffed cat that liu lan and li tianxi won from the claw machine was torn apart by li fan when they got home).

((and even in the est. shot where we do see rabbits on the inside, there are much less than on the outside.))

So, Qiao Ling the outsider in this situation, who has as far as we know no powers and not much of a clue as to the supernatural happenings (and who let's be real only became plot significant recently, as much as i love her), her animal is on the outside of the claw machines. Simple.

And then the trailer for the finale of s2 dropped, and we got this lovely frame:

My friend and I thought it might be Qiao Ling's powers awakening, some others think it might be Tianxi transferring her powers to Qiao Ling. However, if you watch the rest of the trailer, you'll notice that Qiao Ling is left entirely defenseless, just sitting by Tianxi's body.

While the rest of the fight is presumably happening. These characters have guns and tasers! Why is she turning her back on them when she has no natural defenses of her own (save for those sick martial arts skills)?

Especially because Qian Jin, who has been established to want to harm QL and even rigged up a god damn BOMB to set off for when she and CXS went to retrieve LG:

Is on the scene with a gun!

I think that something bad is going to happen to Qiao Ling, the "outsider", either in the finale or in season 3. Could be death, could be a major injury, but whatever it is, it will have been foreshadowed through the stuffed rabbits and the claw machines.

-

kudos if you read this much lol i'm not sure if i structured my arguments well but i got really into this theory. and maybe i might make a post about the symbolism of the pacman machine in the intro as well? idk. lmk what you think!! i'd love to know if there's anything i'm missing or if there are any other interpretations to glean from this :)

[bugsbenefit]

okay actually considering what we might get today to get my mind on something different

1.) season 5 opening card? very possible but almost a bit anticlimactic now because they usually get revealed around the start of filming not the end. so yeah possible, but i could only see that in combination with something else bc as a stand alone i don't think anyone wants it or would even get hyped over

2.) episode titles? possible tbh. we're already past when we usually got those in the past. and we Do have the first episode title already as well (there's also been titles leaked a few months ago that could be real, so it'd be interesting if they'd confirm those or gave us different ones all together) i could see it

3.) some bts footage again, potentially a set tour? really possible imo, especially "safer" sets that are important and iconic but not a surprise like Mike's basement would be a pretty easy way to get content for them

4.) actual s5 footage? potentially. it's way too early for a real trailer but i could see it in the format of 1 minute of previous season's footage and then two shots from s5 or something like that

5.) there's also the possibility of them dropping plot centered clip teasers again like they did for s4. which was things like a montage from the Cali plot, or out of context flashes from what El sees in NINA etc. which would be really cool but I'm not really expecting yet because of how insanely secretive they've already been about s5 up until now. like, to the point we're 9 months into filming we've got 0 plot leaks and maybe a dozen glimpses of actors out in the wild. they're keeping that under lock and key. and based on that they might not want to tease specific plot lines yet because it would give too much of the s5 plot away

so 1-4 i could see happening, or at least some of them, not sure if they would do ALL of that lmao, they still need to keep some time slots free for arbitrary figurine marketing

5 i would want but am not keeping my hopes up for

but idk idk it could also be super lame. i think the only thing i'm actually hoping for is s5 footage. 9 months into filming is when all the other seasons started showing that so we're definitely at a point where we can start expecting something

not hoping for much but something small like one or two shots would be cool. would be really funny if they showed the s4 ending and then just played a second longer of the zoom in we didn't get in s4, i could see them be mean like that too lmfao. to be fair just continuing with that scene would be a pretty cool teaser at some point. i remember how that script ended, that scene is longer i'm dying on that hill (unintentional word play)

okay so anyway, watch ST day just be a ST themed bike class and 10 new ice cream flavours in "american" brand store. Neftlix's marketing of that show is so embarrassing i really don't need the reminder it's their biggest cash cow every time they market it

not expecting much and i can only be positively surprised lets go

[mdhwrites]

So, are you the kind of person who thinks MLP Friendship is Magic should have ended in season 3 with Magical Mystery Cure since you think it went downhill in season 4 onward?

I'm going to answer all three MLP asks you sent together, this, the one asking what I think made S4 start the decline, and if I might go back to Equestria Girls at the same time because the S4 one is short and so is the EqG one: Season 4: I can't say exactly. It's been over half a decade since I watched literally anything MLP:FiM related. I remember thinking the plots were more boring, that characters acted like assholes a lot more and just that I enjoyed it less. Like I remember people praising Rarity in Manehatten while that episode in my opinion killed the interesting elements of Rarity's character. I can't say a lot of specifics though because I just haven't even had other people talking about the show to refresh my memory like with stuff like Avatar. EqG: I have been tempted in the past to go back to it but would honestly rather not do the coin flip for it. After all, Rainbow Rocks, maybe the one MLP thing I could talk more concretely about because I talked about it a lot, I consider to almost be the epitome of all that went wrong with the show. The girls are half the problem, no one actually seems to be nice or give a fuck about one another (Rarity broke down sobbing on stage for some reason, let's YELL AT HER despite being IMMUNE to the anger magic), and the jokes, voice acting and pacing are all just worse than they used to be. So yeah, Sunset is great, I like Sunset, but... I don't want to risk just ending up liking everything less by watching more of it.

ANYWAYS, this ask:

I like S3 a LOT more than I think a lot of people did but I did agree that Magical Mystery Cure had a finality to it. The thing was that it wasn't a series finality to it: It was a character finality. It was the exact opposite of what Twilight had been like when she first entered the show (see why her regressing to make Starlight look better might have pissed me off?) while also still having her intellect. She literally joins her mentor as a peer and is no longer the student. It is a great way to end her journey and potentially bring in a new character.

Even if they didn't, there was still stuff they could have done. Her tackling what being a princess means. Her tackling the power imbalance between her and her friends. How her worldview changes. S4 is even smart enough to start with some of that. Then... Yeah, people are right to call out that they do nothing with this and seem to mostly just ignore that she is a princess.

Honestly, that lack of depth and nuance and interest in exploring the characters is part of the problem I had in the long term with MLP. Everyone was an archtype, yes, but there was a little more. Not so much to make them ever purely escape their archtypes but enough to make them feel vibrant and alive while still being malleable which made them good for the fandom. I feel like S3 was the last time, and this is the ONLY thing I might give the Fausticorn assholes, when a lot of that spark to the characters was in full force. Even then, Faust has freely admitted that other members of her team were helming the show long before she left anyways because she didn't get to do the adventure series she wanted.

The show didn't have to end at S3. Not by any means. But... It sure does feel like they started struggling for ideas more after that half season. At least that's how I remember it.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

OKAY SO it may be almost two hours past midnight for me and it may be season 4 in 2 minutes BUT I am going to make this post lol. So, it's time for HSMTMTS Appreciation Week Day Four: Favorite Episode/Season!

Honestly I don't think I have one of either xD

I love all the episodes, and most of the time when someone asks me for my favorite of something (like books or movies) I just go with the one that has the most rewatch/reread quality/potential. So, some of these episodes may just be the ones I watch the most lol.

Each season has their pros and cons for me, but I will say I think I enjoy season 2 more than most people! The ending isn't amazing, sure, but it has some really great music, ship moments, acting, and Wildcat family moments :).

Season 1, they're not all family for a little while, and we don't have as much development on some of the others, nor most of the ships. But it's also fun that it's the most grounded season lol, and it just has a special charm. Also, it really focuses on the musical lol!

And season 3, obviously I miss Seb, Big Red, Mr. Mazzara, and half Nini and Ms. Jen from it :). And sometimes the drama is a lot, but at the same time, there's so many cute and fun moments, it is absolutely HILARIOUS, and the change of setting is super cool :). Since I'm a multi shipper, it's also a con for Portwell and a pro for Rina lol xD.

Anyway! Now, a few of my favorite episodes :).

Season 2 Episode 5: is this one a surprise even xD. I love Seblos, I love the Wildcats, and I love great music! What more could you ask for? Also, it's just so sweet that they'd throw a big party for one of their friends like that :'). And it's especially cool seeing Carlos be appreciated <3. Plus, it gave us "I never learned how to lie", so you know xDD.

Season 2 Episode 10: LISTEN. Again, is it partly because of Seblos lol? . . Sh xD. But seriously, it's great Seblos drama, the music is once again amazing, and I LOVE the sleepovers :D!! The recipe for my favorite episodes is really just Seblos, Music, Wildcats xD. Lol. But seriously, it's such a good episode <3.

Season 1 Episode 6: Maybe it's just because it hits home, which is weird because that makes it bittersweet, but I love this episode. It's really focused more on them being a family than any of the ships (which is interesting and a nice change of pace :) ) and it has some great music! Plus, the photoshoot lol. And of course, a few Seblos moments, and some lovely Carlos angst xD. Justice for the Seblos deleted scenes 😤😔. Lol, but yeah, I love this episode <3.

Season 1 Episode 7: Again, my Wildcats xD. I was hesitating to put this on here because the end hurts me so much, but it's just too good :). We have Carlos inviting everyone to someone else's house (for the first time, I think, lol), Ricky and Nini being chill for a bit, Gina being adorable, and the start of Redlyn 👀. Lol, remember when one of the half jokingly proposed ship names was Big Rashlyn xD? Bring it baaaack lol, we deserve it. In a good way, not as punishment xD. Anyway! The real star of the show this episode, though, is of course the party :). We love the Wildcats being family, and I seriously love them all so much <3. And again, Seblos moment lol. The music is good this episode (I adore Out of The Old), but there's not too much of it lol, so I forgot to mention it and came back here after the next paragraph xD.

Season 3 Episode 7: LISTENNN. Once again, I can do anything I want xD. I think I said that earlier, or maybe in one of the other posts, but nonetheless lol. I say it a lot regarding things like this lol. Anyway! Obviously, SEBBB!!! HE RETURNS TO ME :'DDD!! But we also have Ricky's bucket list (ADORABLE) and everyone's ICONIC outfits :D. So sorry to Portwell though :( xd. That does hurt throughout the episode lol. Oh, and of course we have the iconic welcoming of Ashlyn to the community :'). And Wouldn't Change a Thing!!! Such a slay :D. Honestly though, I love the ending, like, after the dance. I don't know if I love it more than the prom itself, but seeing the guys come together and support each other, and the same for the girls, with a BOPPING song in the background? Amazing :'D. And, of course lol, Seblos moments <3. And the second Seblos kiss!! I love them so much :). And, like I said, amazing music!!

Season 3 Episode 5: This one is just so hilarious xD. I had to include it lol. Plus, :O drama a bleeped out curse on HSMTMTS!! We don't get many so that's a slay for being unique xD. Also yes, Carlos totally deserves it 😌😤. Like, to get one lol. Just like Natalie, lol. Anyway!! Yeah, this is so funny xD. It also has great music!! The drama hurts, of course, but we love the little moments of supporting each other xd. And again, I just have to mention how FUNNY it is, those moments xD. Plus, the fact that it's all (well, yk. Mostly xD) a plot is amazing lol. I just love this episode lol.

So yeah!! I think that'll do it for today :). I probably won't be on Season 4 for a bit tomorrow, as in it'll take me a little while lol. I still need to finish my rewatch xD. But, I will watch it!!! And I'm so excited :)) 🥰.

[beacon-lamp]

with hermitcraft season 7 slowly coming to an end, i figured it was time to consolidate all of the Informative Posts about hermitcraft that i and some of the other members of hermitblr have made over the last several months.

if you enjoy:

minecraft youtube content, but want to see more traditional vanilla minecraft gameplay like building and redstone

fun, lighthearted interactions between genuine friends including Elaborate pranks, collaborating on massive projects, light roleplay, proximity voice chat mod

weekly 20 - 40 minute long youtube videos and consistent upload schedules

chill grind stream weekends where CCs interact with chat and each other

an entire youtube channel dedicated to weekly 20-minute recap videos on what all the hermits have been up to so you don’t have to piece it together from the posts on your dash/timeline

insanely talented people who have been doing mcyt for nearly, if not more than, a decade and essentially built minecraft youtube from the ground up

give hermitcraft a try!  

you will find all of the information you will Ever Need below the cut.  it’s Very Long so view it on desktop.

and if you ever have any more questions, just shoot me an ask :)

what is hermitcraft?

the Basics: what, who, where, how

more details on the Basics

bonus: the historical impact many hermitcraft members have had on mcyt

where do i even start watching?

start with grian.

good mix of Incredible builds and fun server shenanigans.  instigator of many server-wide events.  interacts with many other hermits.  generally entertaining to watch.  but zero redstone knowledge.

check out hermitcraft recap.

great way to be introduced to other hermits and learn what everyone’s up to.  if you find what a hermit’s been working on interesting, go watch their video and maybe give them a like and subscribe.

official hermitcraft website with links to every member’s channel

more information on every hermit’s attributes and general vibes

do hermits every stream?

short answer: yes, most do!  but these streams are mostly chill grinding or buildling streams.  and you don’t have to watch the streams to be caught up on content.  check the official hermitcraft website for each member’s twitch links.

long answer that covers most of the hermits

what do they do on hermitcraft?

let’s start with some examples of their incredible builds.

hermit cribs: some of the megabases in s7

goodtimeswithscar’s s7 magical village with shaders

stressmonster’s bakery and ren’s star wars world

Capitalism

they have a shopping district where hermits can set up shops and sell items and resources that other hermits can buy with diamonds.  here’s season 7 shopping district set on a mooshroom island:

some of the most advanced redstone you’ve ever seen

if you’re more into the technical side of minecraft, you can be rest assured that hermitcraft has some of the Biggest Brains in redstone.

tangotek: a fucking madlad.  Singled-handedly created the minigame Decked Out.  im Begging you to watch his tutorial video on how to play.  currently finishing up his Among Us but in minecraft minigame. all of this was built Entirely in survival vanilla minecraft.  get this man to 1M subscribers.

mumbo jumbo: the man himself.  built a 128 x 128 block industrial district in both season 6 and 7 packed to the Brim with mechanical farms.  half the brain behind the masterpiece of engineering that was Sahara in season 6.  currently working on Pacific, the sequel to Sahara, in season 7.

iskall85: the other half of the brain behind Sahara and working on Pacific with mumbo in season 7.  also has an industrial district like mumbo’s in season 7.

xisuma: built an automatic potion brewer in the second half of season 7.  this thing churns out potions by the Shulker Box.  can also turn a shulker box full of potions into splash potions and extend duration all with a press of a button.

impulseSV: incredible example of form + function.  farms are scattered throughout his base.  he has a farm for nearly every farmable resource in vanilla minecraft.

etho: the pioneer of some of the most widely used redstone mechanisms to date.  content isn’t super redstone-focused.  mostly does compact modules that serve a specific function.

zedaph: makes strange contraptions.  he’s basically if grian knew how to redstone.  impeccable vibes and fairly underrated.

bdoubleo100: he occassionally does this segment called “redstone with bdubs” and it’s the only redstone i understand so that’s why he’s here.

what about roleplay?  and lore?  

yeah they have Plenty of that too.  

it generally comes in the form of self-contained storylines that involve most members on the server and take place over the course of several weeks in multiple videos.  it’s fairly light roleplay, if that’s not your thing.  but the plotlines also have a Massive Potential to be angsty and whatnot if you really look into it, which a lot of people also do.

here’s a more in-depth look into the Major Plotlines over the last 2 seasons (season 6 and 7).  huge spoiler warning though.

um also there’s this post that highlights how truly cursed hermitcraft can be if you dig deep enough hahaha.

so do the hermits only make hermitcraft content?

nope!!  many of them are involved in other mcyt content as well and are friends with other prominent members of the mcyt community!!  

MCC

mcc9 blue bats video essay: the time the hermit team won the whole damn competition.  a wonderfully made video worth Every second of your time.  especially if you don’t typically watch the hermit teams.

falsesymmetry: mcc10 ace and mcc’s First Back-to-Back Winner

lord grian dreamslayer: that time grian Popped Off, killing dream, tubbo, and fundy in mcc9 survival games

Vault Hunters

a modded minecraft server coded entirely by iskall85′s team.  all the content is streamed live on twitch.  

current members are: Iskall85, AntonioAsh, Stressmonster101, HBomb94, CaptainSparklez, Fundy, CaptainPuffy, 5UP and Tubbo

more info on the series 

3rd Life SMP

hardcore minecraft server with a twist that started on 4/20/21.  all content is posted to each member’s respective youtube channels.

every member has 3 lives, as indicated by the color of their name: green for 3 lives left, yellow for 2, red for 1.  if they lose all three lives, they can only spectate the world (like in hardcore mode).  the series ends when all members have lost all three lives.

the twist: once a member is on their 3rd and final life, as indicated by a red name, they are Hostile and their goal is to take the lives of the remaining players.

the members (hermits are italicized): BdoubleO100, bigbst4tz2, Etho, GoodTimesWithScar, Grian, impulseSV, InTheLittleWood, Renthedog, Skizzleman, Smajor1995, Smallishbeans, SolidarityGaming, Tango, ZombieCleo

the tumblr tag for 3rd Life is “#3rdLife”, “#3rdLifeSMP” and “#3LSMP” if you wanna see more content, as it’s Not supposed to be cross-tagged with “#hermitcraft”.

do you have any free serotonin to spare?

here’s a bunch of posts that’ll make you smile

scar’s friendship with a bunch of the hermits

grian, false, cleo, bdubs, iskall: why they deserve so much respect

same post as above but with an addition about ren

small hermit things that give you serotonin

why you should watch tfc

if you’ve made it this far you are Contractually Obligated* to watch one (1) hermitcraft episode and reblog this post.

*for legal reason, this is a joke.  you’re not contractually obligated but consider this: Please. i spent way too much time on this.

shoutout to everyone who’s posts i’ve linked and anyone who has helped answer a question about hermitcraft.  this all started because i was frustrated that people were writing the hermits off as cannon fodder in mcc and im genuinely so glad that many of you have given hermitcraft a shot.

[vividxp]

Part 4 (final) of Liveblogging my second watch of IWTV Ep 5 because I need to process and get it all out

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

When I saw the synopsis before watching the episode I was so confused. Claudia going to college? The way the synopsis sounded was like welp, she just decided to go just for the ~*experience*~ and then Louis and Lestat had to deal with being empty nesters during the  the Great Depression alone. So yeah, they really undersold the episode by a lot.

Seeing the total dump the townhouse becomes in the 7 years of Claudia’s absences was another painful thing to experience. Even if the random racoon was funny. The picture of depression and desolation, my heart felt heavy watching this. To top it all off, the argument...like this isn’t fun, I want to get off this ride. 

I do wonder why Lestat stayed, why bother? Why not leave? Did he think if he waited 20 years one day Louis would stop being depressed and they could go back to whatever fantasy he had of their relationship? 

On that note, after watching the episode for the first time I couldn’t help but think of Hades, the videogame. One of the themes of that game was the idea that being immortal meant that eventually you had to solve your issues. Some of the elements are familiar. Hades is willing to kill his son, Zagreus, over and over again to prevent him from escaping. Eventually (and as Zagreus comes into his power) you get to a place where the relationship between Hades and Zagreus, while not a-okay and not without scars...it does show some potential for reconciliation.

Anyways, to wrap up that tangent, the point is I’ve seen the ‘immortals fuck up a lot but it gets better with time’ type of story pulled off before. It’s not completely impossible, but it’s going to take a lot of work. 

So we transition to the scene between Killer and Claudia. I have to agree with a lot of people. I didn’t like that they did this to Claudia. I don’t think this added anything and it wasn’t in the book, so I didn’t like it. If the point was to show that vampires can be bad news there are many ways to show that.

We go back to Daniel questioning Louis about the 4 ripped pages. Daniel you ain’t shit and you know it. You knew where you were and who you were provoking. Like sure Louis has generally waved it off maybe with a snarky comment or two about internet classes. But even Louis, even one determined to push this suicidal quest to get the story out is dangerous. That’s his point.

But yeah Louis also deserved the slap, that shit was scary as fuck. Like these vampires are scary y’all. I also see your theories on Rashid being able to pull Louis out of that and I subscribe to them because again, something is up. I would like to get to the bottom of it. 

Lowkey as much as the whole Antoinette infuriates me, I need to know what the fuck is going on with that. Why? 

“You’re not my Louis, you can’t be”. "I prayed myself old thinking about what to do about you. God never talked back, so this is what it has to be. For me, for my family. You understand?” Ok and this is where the tears start. This was so sad.

And then we don’t get a break because Claudia returns and shit goes all the way down. But firstly, I am so here for Claudia and Louis’s vampire hunting adventures in Europe. That whole premise sounds like a good concept for a tv procedural. But would it have been necessary if Lestat told her anything she asked. She wants to know! She knows Lestat knows. But I think Lestat wants her to go and not come back. 

“That’s right keep ‘em scared. That’s his way. But I think he’s scared. And when he’s scared he ridicules.” I mean...is Claudia lying? Is this not years of experience? Louis has to know.

So okay, here’s the thing that is going to haunt me a bit. Had Lestat not attacked I really don’t know who Louis would have stayed with between the two of them. 

This scene is still shocking. I really don’t have any eloquent thoughts. I do admit screaming in shock watching it for the second time. Once again, I don’t subscribe to the ‘unreliable narrator = lying’ explanations that sometimes I see floating around on social media. I think this did happen, yes, as people pointed out there was weirdness with not being able to see everything and the dialogue in that scene. Which I do think could be interesting to explore in future episodes, but when it comes down to it, I do think this actually happened.

I don’t know, I feel a little a little lighter after writing my thoughts, but this is going to stick with me for the rest of the week. I do think the episode was gripping. I do think I enjoyed it even as dark as it is. But again, I’m curious to see where we go from here.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

BL ~ Drama Asks

Tagged by @biwichapas over two weeks ago (!) but thank you for thinking of me!

1. If you had to watch one drama forever what would it be?

This is too hard...maybe one of either Bad Buddy, To My Star (1&2), or HIStory 3: Trapped.

2. If you could change the ending of a drama which one would it be?

I have to say HIStory 3: MODC, of course, but maybe controversially I'd change He's Coming to Me. Hear me out: I cried. I cried SO MUCH when I thought Mes and Thun weren't going to get a HEA. I mean, it made sense... Mes was a ghost and Thun a human...how would this work? But the series handled that journey of grief really well so by the end I could accept it. BUT then they brought Mes back. Now, it would have worked if either a) he didn't come back at all and Thun could move on, fallen in love with someone else, and forever savoured that memory, or b) if Mes had come back as a human again - then they could have had a proper life together. As it was, coming back as a ghost still, there is an inevitability that their time together will end at some point when Mes does have to leave. I don't know... I was left unsatisfied because it was only a HFN.

3. Name your favorite drama and tell who your favorite character was.

The series currently top of my top ten list is Bad Buddy...so I should say that. Favourite character...ah this is hard...Pran? Maybe...

4. Name a drama you dropped within the first few episodes ~ we all have at least one!

Tharntype 2 (I just couldn't...), Peach of Time (partly availability issues, partly the prospect of not getting a HEA), Top Secret Together (it just got bad but I think it was a victim of the pandemic), and I have started Coffee Melody but don't know if I'll finish (It's slow and I don't have time for things that don't grab me).

5. Name a popular drama you’ve never watched and why?

I Told Sunset About You (and I Promised You the Moon). First it was availability issues, then I felt a bit wiggy about watching it because a) the characters are so young and b) I had heard it was a bit to 'real' for some people and I just didn't want to go through the angst.

6. Name a drama you regret watching.

I don't regret anything I've watched. I would have stopped watching anything that may have ended up being a 'regret watch'...so I guess I could just repeat those.

7. Name a drama you thought you’d never watch but did and did you end up liking it?

HIStory 2: Right or Wrong. It took me a while because I wasn't sure about the student/teacher dynamic...but it's a great series and the age gap/potential for abuse of power was dealt with well enough.

8. Name a pairing you want to see?

Well, I've been wanting to see Poppy in a lead for a long time and I have already suggested a polyship with him and the two Perths...but actually, thinking about it, I want to see TONG and POPPY together. Both EXCELLENT goofy/character actors but I believe could pull off something more mature and dramatic. So, yeah, them.

9. Name a pairing you didn’t think had chemistry?

Maybe controversial but I don't really think Jimmy and Tommy have chemistry, certainly not as Saifah and Zon in Why R U?

10. Name a pairing you have seen in another drama that you like?

I presume this means in a drama I haven't seen...but if I like the pairing I probably would have seen the series, so I don't really have an answer. Instead, I'll offer a few secondary pairings who I would like to see lead a series (the actors or the characters): Pitch and Bank from Golden Blood, Jack and Zhao Zi from HIStory 3: Trapped, and of course Ram and King from My Engineer.

Tagging @jemmo @liyazaki @taytawan @minhhyung @pranpats and @laowen if you haven't done it and feel like having a go...or anyone else who wants!

[gobbluthbutagirl]

I’m not either of the anons but THANK YOU. I just didn’t really care about any of the characters and it all just felt a little flat. David was so extra it felt like they overbalanced by giving his partner no personality whatsoever. And there’s no real redemption? All of the characters were mean and awful at the beginning and now they’re still mean and awful but the townspeople just consider it quirky. The closest anyone got to character development was Alexis

yessss like i kept watching in part because i wanted to see david and Some Guy(i forgot his name too lol)’s relationship because i was like. Well i hate everything about this show so far but maybe having a gay couple will make it better. and it DIDN’T!!! and it’s honestly because they failed to get me emotionally invested in any of the characters. it’s like yeah it’s cute…ish…at times but like…that’s it??? and Some Guy really did only exist to be david’s partner. like he had nothing going on outside of that whatsoever. he felt less like a character and more like a vehicle for saying, “look! we’re depicting a gay relationship on our tv show!” and i think they kind of thought like, oh well people love david, people relate to david, look here’s a relationship for david with a happy ending! except that like… i did NOT love david. i thought he was kind of annoying. and then Some Guy was just like…nothing. so you’ve got a guy who’s kind of annoying and a guy who barely even exists and if you already don’t like the show that really does nothing to redeem it.

i think there’s a post i reblogged sometime in early 2021 where someone articulated this way better than i can but schitt’s creek is basically like if you took arrested development season 3 episode 9 “S.O.B.s” and removed all the irony. even in the very first episode it’s like, “oh no!!! it’s not their fault they lost all their money!!! their lawyer(or whoever) was corrupt and they didn’t even know!!! ):” and then they proceed to just be awful and it’s like. Come on man. if you’re gonna have a family of rich bastards at least lean into it. don’t give me all this corny shit about “heartwarming” and “life lessons” and “they’re not actually bad people” and whatever. like genuinely HOW do you take the concept of a rich family losing everything, which has so much potential(as evidenced by arrested development, which had already aired 4 of its 5 seasons by the time schitt’s creek aired its first), and turn it into something so lackluster???

[boomerang109]

uhhh uhhh top 5 VM head canons nobody can convince you aren't necessarily true

thank you sm for this ask bestie!!!

this will vary wildly from “basically canon,” “thing i thought of once,” and/or “found in some/many fics” and anywhere in between so just deal with it

1. non-binary keyleth! she/they pronouns and they genuinely don’t mind being called she—most people are stuck in the gender binary and don’t understand the fluidity of nature the way keyleth does and they won’t judge others for it and they don’t really care how that causes them to be perceived. however, they do wear a binder for dysphoria purposes—this is where the headcanon came from in the first place, marisha was stressed (watching grog fight in the pit maybe?) and said “i’m so stressed i’m chewing on my binder!” and my first thought was this meant keyleth was biting their clothing

1b. they’re also ace, i’m taking any and all ace rep i can get but our convo about them not actually responding to vax’s kiss as being one of many examples of their a-spec identity just made me !!! (also on ace visibility day i started writing a fic of ace keyleth coming out to percy and it then became him going ‘uhh yeah most people are like that’—he essentially thinks sexual desire is like a social construct everyone pretends to be interested in to varying degrees but they’re actually all faking—and her going ‘no i don’t think so’ which is how percy then discovers he’s also ace and idk if i’ll ever share it but yeah I really made myself laugh writing it)

2. trans vax. i think it’s very fun to say vex and vax are both trans and switched places and their father didn’t notice, however since they’re identical twins i believe it is canon that one of them is trans and i choose to believe it is vax. no real reason at this time, just trans rogue half elf! (however as i also very much want percy to be trans and am a huge Vex’ahlia shipper, i also see the potential for some great t4t content so really you cannot go wrong) (canonically i actually think there’s more support for vex being trans because we know that vax has a left nut, however as of episode 41 i have no knowledge of vex’s anatomy. but also, i have no idea how transitioning physically would work in tal’dorei so maybe grog hit vax in a left nut he didn’t have as a child, i prefer not too think too deeply into such details)

3. no because i wasn’t going to give Trans Percy his own bullet but also. he deserves it. like yes this is probably 90% projection and 30% just because talesin is himself so gender, but the other 28% deserves to be validated. just. at what point did he transition—before or after the briarwoods because yes in canon it probably can only be before (otherwise Whitestone wouldn’t all know his name) and in that case we stan supportive parents, but. imagine if he didn’t transition until after? the double blow of returning home (to Cassandra) not just to rid Whitestone of the Briarwoods, but also to re-introduce himself as Percival de Rolo. Orthax who promised more than just revenge, but also to make him exactly who he wants to be. I could go on all day about trans Percy but I think you get the idea

4. ace pike! okay okay hear me out on this one. so i don’t know if she and scanlan become a couple but in my head it’s very much “ugh he’s cute in like a small child way” for a very long time and then at some point something shifts for pike and she’s like oh shiiiit i actually like this asshole. but! being ace as a cleric has never been an issue—sarenrae doesn’t require chastity but it can show extra respect, or at least that’s what pike has been telling herself for years—but all of a sudden pike is romantically interested in scanlan, the most sexual person like…ever. so suddenly her perception of her own asexuality changes from ‘yes this is a strength that makes me an extra good cleric’ to ‘oh shit, is it even worth telling scanlan i like him back if i’m under the ace umbrella and therefore don’t know if we would be a good match as partners’ and to be clear even if pike isn’t demiace and told scanlan she’d never sleep with him, scanlan loves PIKE so he wouldn’t be weird about it, but i think it would take pike a while to realize that

5. all of the party lives forever and ever and doesn’t die until old age naturally takes them. no i don’t know any spoilers about anyone dying before old age because that doesn’t happen, everyone couples up (except grog) and lives happily ever after

[veliseraptor]

top five smiling moments in The Untamed

answering this made me realize how many good smiles there are in this series. there are a lot of good smiles. feel bad for some of the extremely good ones I’m leaving out (including every time Wen Qing smiles in particular, she has the cutest smile and it doesn’t show up all that much).

but anyway here’s a selection of five personal faves

1. End of series Wei Wuxian.

Did I almost learn to gif to answer this ask because screen stills did not fully capture the degree to which this smile is perfect? Maybe. I’m just a little too lazy to do that (yet). Anyway!! I have gone on record as saying that I really like the fact that CQL ends the way it does and a big part of that is this shot here because it really is just...transcendent. The slow turn! And then his smile that grows all the way until his eyes scrunch shut and it just warms up his whole face and - yeah, it’s extremely quality. I can only imagine I’m getting the same warm-fuzzy feelings that Lan Wangji probably is at this point.

2. Xiao Xingchen’s little head-shake smile at Xue Yang.

Look, you knew there’d be Yi City on this list, and this smile is just - augh! I mean, all Xiao Xingchen’s little smiles are so cute but I’m particularly fond of his “you’re too muuuuuch” smiles at Xue Yang (and a-Qing!). I love watching them come easier and more often over the course of the flashback, too. And this one in specific is another one where I wish I could’ve gotten the gif because it comes with this little hitch of a laugh, too. And I don’t think this one specifically gets the little “you’re too muuuuch” head shaking, but it’s definitely kin to the one(s) that do. The warmth! The fondness! The sense of the potential for unbridled joy in this daozhang! It’s perfect and he’s wonderful.

3. Lan Wangji’s startled little smile at the rabbit lantern.

I thiiiink this is the first time we see Lan Wangji smile? And (like all his smiles) it is so, so, striking.

(I mean that about all his smiles. I knew I was going to have to put a Lan Wangji smile on here and the only trouble was deciding which one I was going to use.)

But yes! Just - his sheer delight, his surprised pleasure at seeing this lantern - with a bunny! for him! - is so much. And then of course how quickly he panics about it. But yeah, the way it warms up and softens his whole face and how much younger it makes him look...

Lan Wangji smiles are treasures each and every one of them but this one does stick out for the fact that it is the first real glimpse of him we really see of a different personality, and a warmth, behind the icy exterior.

4. Jiang Cheng smile-crying at his siblings in episode 20.

This is another one where I was like “I know I’m going to have to include a Jiang Cheng smile, I just know it, but which one am I going to do” and I had to land on this one because the way Jiang Cheng looks at his siblings breaks my heart every time and just his...yeah, smile-crying! He’s so happy here, he’s so relieved, everything is fine now and Wei Wuxian is home and they’re together again! Everything will be okay! Or at least significantly more okay than it was!

This is just the face of a kid who loves his family and wants them together and is just overwhelmed with feelings he cannot really express, while no one is looking at him. He just loves them both! So much! And it kills me. Baby. I love you.

5. Xue Yang’s absolutely stupid besotted little smile(s) looking at Xiao Xingchen.

yes I know he is dead in the first one, what of it, he’s going to be fine any minute now.

Anyway though!!! I feel like I could just say “Xue Yang’s smiles, all of them, from these to the most unhinged ones” but I hard moded myself about picking one specific mood of one, and...yeah. Just. look at that face! look at him!!!! having a whole feeling and he’s not putting on a face, nobody can see him, nobody knows, but there’s just this absolute...augh. Adoration, is the best word for it, I think. This is Xue Yang’s ‘you are the only (other) person who matters in the whole world!!!’ face and it absolutely murders me.

I just want to grab his face and be like “THAT FEELING, HOLD ONTO THAT FEELING AND DON’T BLOW THIS FOR YOURSELF” but it’s too late, he kind of already did, and this is why I’m always crying about Xue Yang.

BONUS MENTIONS TO:

every time Wen Qing smiles (as mentioned above)

Lan Wangji’s staircase smile

Lan Wangji’s drunk “I like rabbits” smile

Lan Xichen’s various ‘fuck you’ smiles

Jin Guangyao’s nervous dimple smile.

[hageny]

Succession Thoughts: Gerri x Roman 

AN: Credit goes to @thinkingfixatingobsessing​ for the idea for point number one in this post. Also, this post is my lengthiest yet, but I promise it’s worth the read, lol.

1. Come Over?

This moment between Roman and Gerri is a small one, but presents an interesting thread that starts in this episode--Vaulter--and gets threaded into their phone sex scene in Safe Room. During his time working through the documents and foundations of Vaulter, Roman is stuck in the middle of the proxy battle and feeling the heat of the moment, which comes to a head in this scene. We see him wrestling with himself about what to do, throwing his phone a pathetic glance, hesitating, and then finally deciding to call Gerri for help. He divulges to her that he essentially has no clue what to do and throws out a weak ‘pivot to video’ idea that Gerri instantly reminds him was tried by the Vaulter team already and presumably fell flat. Finally, Roman breaks and asks her meekly, “Can you just come over? I want you in the room.” This is interesting because it is one of the first scenes where the show establishes the fact that Roman seeks out Gerri for comfort. This, of course, comes on the heels of their trip to Japan, so we can deduce that Roman has realized that Gerri could’ve screwed him but didn’t, and sees how he was exposed to her nurturing side when he needed it most. What’s interesting is how the dialogue in this scene mimics what comes later. He first asks her for her help, and when she balks at his request, he immediately says, “Yeah, could--yeah--fuck you!” and hangs up on her. The move from gentle and comforting to caustic is an interesting one, but it’s fascinating because for once it isn’t built into the scene to showcase that Roman needs degradation to achieve sexual pleasure. Here, he flies off the handle at Gerri, but when we think about this scene the reason why is obvious and not tied to sex: Roman gets angry because in his one weak moment the response he receives is not the sympathetic one he wants, and so he pivots back to caustic to shield himself later on. He knows that should Gerri brings this up later he can tell her he was fucking with her and didn’t mean it, but in truth, he did mean it--he did want her and need her, and Gerri didn’t understand this, and was too busy with things on her end to meet him where he needed her. Part of Roman’s hang ups, sexually, are tied to the degradation he experienced as a child, but there is also a link between his need for degradation and his realization that he never got the comfort he needed, so seeking insult was easier. He is a walking example of the quote, "All attention is good attention.” Because Roman never received the comfort he desired, he shields himself from rejection by pretending to be hardier than what he is and striving to be insulted, because to him, at this stage, it’s all the same. He could get a hug, but getting walloped and getting off are faster so he settles for that instead. This thread is later carried into the ‘shirt-button’ scene in Hunting, where Gerri walks up to Roman’s room to look in on him. Now, she has the understanding of him that is necessary to respond appropriately, and instead of berating him for being a mess she comforts him, and he responds not by pushing her away but accepting her gentility, however brief. Roman doesn’t so much need humiliation to get off--he only needs it because it’s all he thinks he deserves, and it’s served him well enough so far. It’s the key to his inability to have sex with his other girlfriends: it’s not that he can’t, it’s that sex requires intimacy and sensitivity, and Roman isn’t close enough to himself emotionally to comfortably tap into these feelings and deliver. 

2. Rejected.

As I’m re-watching the series in preparation for Season 3, there is a thread which is established early on between Kendall and Gerri that begins in Lifeboats and is expounded upon later in the show. We see Kendall at the helm of Waystar during Logan’s absence as he makes his infamous ‘Lifeboats’ speech, gathering his team together and asking for their help in moving Waystar into the future, inviting them to pool their ideas and deliver them to him, essentially attempting to depart from his father’s style of management by ostensibly establishing an ‘open door policy’ with his team. This move, however, is ironic, as immediately after this scene we have the scene between himself and Gerri, pictured above. Really, in hindsight, Kendall is as manipulative as Logan, but he is weaker in the sense that he is not as combative openly, and therefore comes across as a softer, better version of his father, which isn’t always true to his nature. We see Gerri follow Kendall after the meeting and tell him, “I want to talk options to you, okay? I’ve got some thoughts I’ve been working on for a long time--”. Kendall immediately interrupts her and replies, “I don’t want the sloppy seconds, Gerri. I’m taking five to think big.” When she presses the issue again, promising that she has some good ideas, he flat out rejects her without even listening to her, and it is here where we see shades of his father in himself. It’s also what makes Gerri’s manipulation of Kendall easier later on. We can deduce that this is not the first time that Gerri has been pushed to the sidelines by one of the Roy family members, and at a time when help is sorely needed--and on the heels of Kendall openly asking for it--he outright rejects Gerri’s and essentially makes it clear to her that her help is second-rate help--only useful to him when it can get him out of a tight squeeze, but not so useful that he believes her worth listening to when the stakes are higher. This ties into her relationship with Roman as well. While Roman is always showcased as being the one who needs her, if we pay attention we can clearly see that Gerri’s need for him is equal to his. Gerri has been a part of Waystar for decades--at one point in Pre-Nuptial commenting to Kendall that she and Frank are reminiscing about their first visit to Caroline’s estate in 1986--making her one of the most senior members of staff. But what she has--it is implied--never had is someone who genuinely valued her ideas and her input. This is also what she gets from Roman. She tells him to do something, he does it. She throws an idea out, he listens. He becomes her voice, often using the phrases, “Gerri thinks” or “Gerri says” during Season 2. Through Roman, we hear Gerri, and through Gerri we see Roman’s potential. They carry each other. Roman is always depicted by his family as being stupid, and yet who was smart enough to seek out advice from the one person with the most experience at Waystar aside from Logan? Not his siblings. Because they believe they know better, their ego will be their downfall. 

3. In Logan’s Shadow.

In Sad Sack Wasp Trap, we see shades of Gerri’s eventual betrayal of Kendall begin to take shape. Having tasted his first drops of power, real power, Kendall’s ego immediately starts to swell in little ways. We hear him telling Jess that he wants to do a run on the late-night TV circuit, having gotten the idea while traveling in L.A. Gerri reacts to this with disbelief, and Kendall retorts, “What does that mean? I was fuckin’ king of the Lampoon.” Kendall��s use of the word ‘king’ is used to purposefully emphasize the way he has begun to see himself--finally in the position he desired for so long, finally out of his father’s sphere of influence. His high is interrupted by Jess’ telling him that his father has dropped into the office and wants to see him. When Kendall asks Gerri if she knew about this, she denies this, but when he says, “Shouldn’t he have told you?” all she does is shrug coolly in his direction. This begs the question: did Gerri really not know? On the surface, it seems obvious she didn’t, but we have to consider that this moment comes right after Kendall’s complete disregard for her in the previous episode. Gerri’s motivation to help Kendall would be at a fairly low point, and what could be more amusing to her than to watch him fall flat on his face so quickly again, especially considering Logan’s outrage at Kendall’s decision to bring Stewy in to help their debt issue. Maybe she genuinely didn’t know, but given what she does later on, it would seem pertinent to wonder. 

4. Take the piss.

Later in Sad Sack Wasp Trap, Kendall finds out that his father has pissed on his carpet and brings Roman, Gerri, and Frank in to assess and discuss the situation. He starts by lecturing them about what could happen if people knew Logan had done this, pointing out that this bit of knowledge could spear the company’s already flagging public persona, and trying to use that as a way to keep his father from attending the RECNY ball. He tries to drop the responsibility for fixing the situation into Gerri’s hands, telling her she needs to talk to Logan and tell him that if he intends to come back he has to do so via the proper avenues, and that he can’t just show up on a whim. Gerri listens for a while, and eventually delivers a barb that is subtle but effective. She asks Kendall, “What did you do, Kendall, when you realized he’d done this?”, referring to Logan’s pissing incident. Kendall immediately falters, stuttering that he didn’t want to embarrass his father in front of Stewy and basically admitting he did nothing. The camera sweeps over her and Roman’s faces, and they give Kendall the same look, suggesting they are disappointed but not surprised at his ineffectiveness. This moment also mirrors what Roman does later in Vaulter, undercutting his brother in front of his father to get the result he wants. The point of Gerri’s remark is to showcase her opinion of him. To Gerri, Kendall is nothing but a papa’s boy with a golden spoon in his mouth, someone who wants the power but is unwilling to work for it. And who can really blame Kendall? Considering the way his father treats him, he has learned from Logan that working is one thing, but using a by-way to get to the top faster is better, and he attempts to see this come to fruition by taking control of a company he is ill-equipped to lead. Gerri’s disgust for Kendall is fairly obvious, but to Kendall’s great misfortune, he is a swimmer in a shark tank, completely out of his league in her waters. She is faster than him, more subtle, more cunning, and lacking in conscience enough that when she disposes of him later she feels no remorse. Kendall has bad traits but he is overall not a bad character, and we see his better parts shine when he is not chasing power. But to Gerri, his better characteristics are a moot point. She undercuts him later once again, and we see how she delights in what she’s doing, how his weakness and trusting nature to her are disgusting, and if anything make it easier for her to do what she does. While Roman makes her prove herself equal, playing with her, seeing if she can give back what he puts out, Kendall takes for granted her abilities, wanting only a menial servant, and sees himself eaten alive. 

5. I Will Guide Thy Hand.

During the RECNY ball, we find out--via Connor--the Kendall has plans to make a retirement announcement in Logan’s presence, allegedly so he can usurp the throne for himself. Though Kendall later denies this, we do know that he does not want his father to speak at the ball. Allegedly, this is out of ‘good will’, his concern for his father and the company mainly influencing his decision, but truthfully Kendall is also motivated by a desire to take hold of a position his father always had at the ball--as a speaker--and be on the receiving end of the adoration Logan is so used to. He wants to be seen by the public the way his father is: competent, powerful, totally in control; he also knows that there is a chance that Logan will declare himself CEO again, knocking Kendall from his throne--which eventually comes to fruition. Gerri knows this, is smart enough to intuit why Kendall is afraid, and is calm when Kendall once again comes to her for assistance, wanting her to handle his father. Unlike earlier, she doesn’t throw any barbs his way. She calmly promises to talk to Logan about his supposed speech and to try to dissuade him--while not so convincingly claiming she knew nothing about the speech at all to begin with. Instead of doing what she promised, she walks over to Logan and simply tells him, “Good luck tonight. Gonna knock it out of the park.” She gives him the motivation he needs to move forward with his plans, especially at a point where his health is so precarious. Gerri knows this, knows Logan well enough to understand that a little reassurance will ensure that Logan will do as planned and follow through with his decision. We see her later in the episode watching the whole thing play out during Logan’s speech, a self-satisfied smirk on her face, already knowing the end from the beginning. What we’re witnessing is the blooming of the flower on the end of the thread that started when Kendall disrespected her in Lifeboats. All he had to do to save himself was listen to Gerri, and yet he chose not to, believing he knew better than her how to reposition Waystar and lead the company into the future. He, who has been to rehab, fallen prey to his addictions and vices, and only played in the big leagues when he wanted to while Gerri--and the other members of Waystar--had to be there regardless of the circumstances in their personal lives. Again we can’t solely blame Kendall--he is the person his father has allowed him to be. We can also see that what Kendall lacks is the thing that makes Gerri so capable of remaining in power--detachment. Gerri is emotionally detached enough to do her job well and not worry about what amoral things she does to maintain her position of power. This is another trait she shares with Roman, who, after hearing how beleaguered the employees of Vaulter are, still guts the company and costs them their jobs without a second thought to the damage he is doing. With regard to her relationship with Kendall, for Gerri destroying him is not only easy but pleasurable. She knows that Kendall stupidly trusts her, and will remain none the wiser to her duplicitousness, and so she operates in the background, doing what she can to ensure he will lose what is so precious to him because of her--all while believing she did what she could to help him. This theme reminded me of the movie The Witch, hence the title of this particular post. Thomasin ends up in the hands of the Devil at the end, and--believing he will give her what she wants--she gives her soul to him. Like Kendall, she doesn’t realize that the person who is giving her what she wants is really taking everything, and she, like Kendall, is left with nothing in the end. Am I comparing Gerri to the Devil? Only superficially. She is certainly not totally like Satan, but from what we see here, she has the ability to operate like him: swiftly and maliciously. 

[ontheoddoccasioniwritestuff]

The Sight of You (Spencer Reid x Reader)

Summary: Spencer’s disturbing dreams about his childhood bring him back to Las Vegas to face two of his childhood’s greatest enemies: his estranged father and his ex best friend.

AN: it’s a friends to enemies to lovers fic! Set in the episode “Memoriam” 4x07

Content Warnings: usual Criminal Minds stuff, mentions of child death, childhood trauma, descriptions of a dead body. Let me know if I missed anything!

Despite seeing Spencer around Pre-k, Y/N did not trot over to talk to him with their brightly coloured rucksack swinging vigorously and violently behind them. They walked faster instead once their parents had dropped them off. Spencer did his best to catch up to Y/N but lost them around the corner in the sea of students seeking their next class. He was meant to be one of them. Adjusting his glasses as they slipped down his nose, Spencer noted that he needed a new prescription before entering his own class and preparing to focus on a subject he was already well-versed in.

It was lunch time when Spencer finally found Y/N. They were sitting at the furthest end of the table in the canteen. But Y/N cowered away from him, his shoulders drawn up defensively.

“Are you OK, Y/N?” Spencer asked before getting to what was more significant to him: “Do you know when you will be free to play again?”

The next sentence out of Y/N’s mouth stung like a nettle. They stood up, their face contorted in their fit, and they pushed Spencer hard on the shoulders.

“Go away! I can’t look at you! You make me feel sick, you and your family!” They cried.

They went silent when Spencer was laughed at by those who heard what was said. Just grabbed their lunch and moved away, leaving Spencer spellbound in the middle of the canteen, heartbroken and with a new opening for a potential chess partner. Maybe that man they saw last week at the park would be kind enough to join him again.

But there was no replacement for Y/N, who now never said a word when they caught a glimpse of Spencer being bullied – only dithering about on the spot before fleeing the scene moments before a teacher would show up.

Spencer was hurt; that hurt warped into hatred when he was next out with his mother and father. They were at the shopping mall and had just bought Spencer his new glasses. Going down the escalator, he saw Y/N. They were smiling and skipping between their parents, a new pair of shoes shiny on their feet.

The second they spotted the Reids, Y/N ducked behind their parents. Spencer could still see their face: brow furrowed, eyes squinting, hands shaking now that nothing was holding them. Their parents didn’t seem to notice. They kept talking and walking even as Y/N stopped in time with the Reids stepping off the escalator.

Sudden footsteps running away was what dragged the public’s attention to a suddenly absent child.

“Y/N!” The parents called out as they chased after the four-year-old. They were quick past the Reids, not stopping to say ‘hello’.

Spencer kept his eyes trained after Y/N’s fleeing form, right until his mother’s face came into view. Diana looked saddened; she too was staring after the L/Ns. Turned to his father. William was composed but his eyes were turned down and watering.

For making his parents react like that to their mere presence, Spencer despised Y/N.

---> ---> ---> ---> ---> 

 The burning hatred from adolescence staled once Spencer reached adulthood. The protective nature that spawned from it for his mother remained.

Which is why, when Diana Reid casually mentioned Y/N when asked about Riley Jenkins, Spencer froze up.

“You remember Y/N?” He said stiffly.

Diana didn’t notice her son’s change in tone, “Of course, you two were opposites but you got on so well. So sad what happened to them.”

The first guess was that she was referring Y/N’s repeated attempts at running away before Reid cut contact with neighbourhood gossip at age fourteen. He didn’t bother with a second attempt to understand what his mother meant.

“I don’t care about Y/N. I want to know if you remember Riley.”

“And I told you: Riley was a boy you made up.”

“No, Mom, he was a real boy who lived in our neighbourhood, and somebody killed him. And, I don't know, I think-- I think that dad might have had something to do with it.”

“He was real?”

“Yes. And...”

“He was on that little league team, too.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

The whole case was surreal - “case” being a very loose term.

When they got into his office, Spencer thought that perhaps things might simmer down a little. Unfortunately, as soon as his father spoke about their history of similarity in appearance, Spencer’s usual comfort of statistics and facts on the elderly and pets failed to conceal his abandonment issues.

William Reid was clearly affected by Spencer’s accusations, calling the idea of fitting the profile thus being Riley’s killer “absurd”. Furthermore, he was confrontational when asked for access to his files and demanded a warrant. Coupled with Lou Jenkins’ absolute certainty that William was not involved in Riley’s murder and Penelope asking him “you sure about this?” concerning invading the aforementioned files, Spencer was very close to snapping.

“I really wish people would stop asking me that.”

Then there was the envelope posted beneath his motel room door. Suspicious timing aside, there was a brand-new suspect basically handed over on a silver platter. One Gary Michaels whom Spencer couldn’t remember him but he couldn’t be sure that he didn’t know him. Uncertainty being the feeling he hated the most.

This man could fit the profile; his previous of exposing himself to a minor was a precursor to molestation. But that wasn’t what Spencer wanted to hear from the shady file slipped to direct his attention away from William.

Garcia reported back about his father’s drives, “No kiddie porn, no membership to illicit websites, no dubious emails, no chat room history.”

“What about his finances?”

Hotch joined the conversation, “We went back ten years. No questionable transactions that we can find.”

Spencer sighed while Emily decided to crack a joke: “Well, he did buy a ticket to see Celine Dion six months ago, but I think we can overlook that.”

“He’s smart. Is it possible he kept things under the table?” Spencer persisted.

“Well, of course,” Hotch answered, “But from what we can tell, Reid, he doesn’t fit the profile.”

“We can tell you other things about him, if you want to know.”

A peace offering on behalf of Emily. Clearly she had improved after her night out and subsequent hangover. Spencer gave the go-ahead and Emily listed her profile:

“He's a workaholic, he actually logs more hours than we do. He makes decent money, but he doesn't spend a lot of it. He has a modest house. He drives a hybrid. He doesn't travel much. He stays away from the casinos. Um, and according to his veterinary bills, he has a very sick cat.”

“He appears to spend most of his free time alone,” Hotch added, “He goes to the movies a lot, and he reads. And from his collection of first editions, it seems his favourite author is-”

Spencer interrupted his boss, “Isaac Asimov, I remember that one.” He pressed his lips together. They were right; William Reid did not fit the profile.

Garcia piped up once more, “He does have one other major interest. On his home computer, he's archived, like, a ka-jillion things on one common subject.”

“What?”

“You, kiddo. He's got, like, everything that's been published online. Every article you've been quoted in, pieces you've written for behavioural science journals, He even has a copy of your dissertation.”

“He's keeping tabs on you,” Rossi said, That's saying something.”

But Spencer smoothly dismissed this attempt to make excuses for his father, “Yeah, he googled me. That makes up for everything. I'm going to get some air.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

After getting said air, Spencer went to the local bar and began playing an computerised poker game. His paying attention was only to distract himself, clear his head with something he knew he could control. And thankfully, a chance interaction with a lady at the bar spawned the inspiration for a sporadic hypnosis session.

Doctor Jan Mohikian allowed them a session. Reminded of the limitations that a four-year old’s memory could provide, not including the bias he already had as a son and a profiler, Spencer lay on the couch. His feet hung over the end so that his head could be comfortable in a pillow. There was no time for self-consciousness with Rossi in the room observing. He closed his eyes and felt his hand be placed upon Doctor Mohikian’s body.

She spoke low and calmingly, “I want you to hold my wrist in your left hand. And if you should feel any fear, I want you to squeeze, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Go back to the night you were just telling me about. You're at home, in your room. You can't sleep because your parents are arguing.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 His eyes were closed still, but the couch shifted into a bed. His bed. A floor below, the faint shouting between his mother and father was heard. There was someone else there too. A child wailing, and it wasn’t him.

Suddenly his father was at his side, touching his arm, saying, “I know you’re awake. Daddy loves you; you know that?”

Spencer didn’t want to be there, and then it was the following morning.

Putting his glasses, the room fell into focus. His mother was there, she didn’t see him because she was too busy looking out the window. Her body language told him that this was not a meltdown, but what she saw was distressing. She’d been crying. As she walked away into the house, she hid her face as if she knew Spencer was watching and she wanted to hide her reaction from him.

Spencer ran to the window the second Diana had left the room.

His father was in the back garden and burning clothes. A bloody shirt, a tiny cardigan, landed on top of the pile already set alight.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and wake.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 And Spencer was shocked out of the scene, back to the doctor’s couch and gripping her wrist with an iron grip. Rossi was by his side, bringing him back to peace with his voice.

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 Derek was clearly disturbed that Spencer was very set on his father being a paedophilic murderer as much as he had been that Spencer was taking something that was said after his mother’s fit seriously. He continued however to assist with Rossi in Spencer’s investigation.

As if everything else hadn’t been hard enough, the captain took some time to agree to holding William Reid in custody. Finally, he settled for twenty-four hours. William was as resistant to the questions as he had been upon the initial reunion. All he could say was that he didn’t hurt Riley. Spencer wore him down, getting him to drop the Gary Michaels bomb plus the threat that he “didn’t want to go down that road”.

Garcia’s search of Gary Michaels’ DNA on the databases brought to light that their suspect was dead. Buried across state lines, beat over the head with a pipe or bat, and the body was discovered in 2001.

“Maybe it wasn’t Riley’s blood on the clothes he was burning.” Derek was about to hang up when Garcia began to speak again, a new discovery ready for her team.

“Also, Todd found something in your father’s finances. There was a standing order for a therapist, specifically a child therapist from 1985 to 1995. I thought it was for Spencer, but William left when you were twelve, and these sessions continue irregularly after he left you!”

“Who was the patient?”

“One Y/N L/N. Local to North Vegas, born 1980 to Shelly and Finley L/N.”

Both Rossi and Derek looked away from the phone to Spencer and he knew. He knew he’d have to face another villain from the past – like a knight in one of Y/N’s stories.

“Still alive?”

“Yep, already pulling up an address. There’s a lot of short leases attached to this name. Lucky for you, they keep going back to live with their parents.”

Spencer wasn’t entirely sure that he could handle two bitter reunions in one day.

“We’ll send off the fingerprint while we visit Y/N. They could have been a potential victim of Michaels before he died. They might know something.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

It was a normal home in a normal neighbourhood. Spencer had never visited Y/N’s house. Their play-dates were always at the park.

“Hello, Mr L/N,” held up their badges, “I’m Agent Derek Morgan, this is Agent David Rossi and Doctor Spencer Reid. May we come in and ask you some questions?”

“Sure. My wife is uh out at work at the moment,” Finley opened the door wider and stepped aside for the trio to enter, “I’m the house husband as it were.”

Looking about the kitchen, Spencer spied several photos of an adult Y/N but very few of them as a toddler and even less as a teenager.

“You have a child, Mr L/N?” Rossi asked.

“All grown up now, Y/N,” Finley smiled with a nod. Then he squinted at Spencer, “You’re not related to William Reid by chance, are you?”

Masking his bitterness, Spencer said shortly, “He’s my father.”

Finley seemed in awe at the prospect, so Derek redirected the conversation back to the matter at hand, “What was Y/N like as a child?”

Nodding still, like a bobble head, Finley looked weary at the notion, “Troubled. They were very young when they withdrew into themselves. Used to run away from home a lot. I don’t know what happened, but Y/N never told us.” He then jumped to protect his child’s reputation at present, “They’re doing better now, went to therapy and they’re doing very well for themselves.”

“I’m glad to hear.” Rossi replied.

Finley continued his defence of Y/N, “They’re a published author, they write fantasy things for kids and young adults. We’re very proud of them.”

“Did Y/N know Riley Jenkins when they were a child?”

“Riley Jenkins, that’s Lou’s kid who died, right?” Finley sought confirmation and, when he had it, he spoke, “Not personally. I think they might have played at the park once or twice. Before he died, Y/N would play with anyone. But you… you know that.” And Finley gestured to Spencer, much to his disgust.

“Is Y/N in the area?” Spencer asked briskly.

“Well, they’re due for a visit in a few hours. They went on holiday.”

“They still live with you?”

“A month ago, they got a new flat in the city. But they’ve got their own room here, for whenever they need it.”

“May we see it?”

The wallpaper was barely visible beneath exam revision notes, posters of Fresh sheets on the bed and the clear space on the floor were the only tidy things about the place. It was a haven of organised clutter.

A chess set caught Spencer’s eye. It sat upon the windowsill, recently dusted. The pieces were not that of a classic set; each was painted prettily but with enough error to indicate it was a personal touch.

“You and Y/N were close then?” Derek was holding up a photo album. Upon inspection, the photograph the page was open on was of Spencer and Y/N dressed up for Halloween as Doctor Frankenstein and the Monster respectively – accurate to the book of course.

“Yeah, ‘were’,” Spencer turned back to the chess set. He didn’t bother to ask when his friends had figured out he knew Y/N.

Rossi decided to further test the waters, “You think that Y/N could have killed Riley?”

“Of course not. A four-year-old couldn’t kidnap, tie up, rape, and kill a boy their own age. No violent history that indicates they would ever do something like this. Do I think that Y/N knows something about what happened and my father is trying to keep them quiet? Yes.”

Rossi moved beside Spencer, picking up the knight. Except it wasn’t a knight. It was a wizard of some kind in purple robes.

“We’ll stay up here for a bit then go down once Y/N’s inside and settled,” He gestured with the knight to the window. Spencer blanched as he spied a cab at the end of the driveway. The trunk was open and someone was retrieving a suitcase from within.

Y/N appeared around the corner, waving off the cab and turning to the house. Mr L/N appeared on the drive and they met in the middle for a hug. Over Mr L/N’s shoulder, Spencer could see that Y/N had grown into their chubby childhood features. They looked genuinely happy.

He would have to go through with it, but he didn’t have to like it. And he couldn’t go hide in the bathroom like with his father.

The trio plodded down the stairs when the sound of the front door closing was replaced with a joyous gathering in the kitchen. It all changed when Y/N went to take off their jacket and caught sight of the three FBI agents standing in the doorway. Taking out his badge, Rossi led the way.

“Hello, Y/N, I’m Agent David Rossi, this is Agent Derek Morgan, and Doctor Spencer Reid. We’re looking into the death of Riley Jenkins, and we were hoping to ask you some questions.”

To the naked eye, very little changed about Y/N’s appearance. To the three profilers, there was a visceral reaction: Y/N’s right hand started trembling, the hard swallow, the dropping of their gaze from Spencer to the floor.

“OK,” They said, a great deal quieter than they had been with their father.

Rossi sat next to Y/N at the dinner table. Derek was beside Rossi; Spencer stayed standing. Mr L/N stayed in the kitchen, at Y/N’s request.

“Can you tell us what you remember about Riley?” Rossi began.

“Not very much, I don’t really remember much about school.”

“Oh, you don’t?” Spencer blurted, “Well, I do.”

Derek glanced back at him with a look that just screamed “shut the hell up”. It seemed to cut down Y/N’s resolve, their jaw quivering.

“Sorry, can you give me a moment?” They stood up quick, the chair legs scraping loudly against the floor as they walked just as fast to the kitchen. Through the open door, Rossi, Derek, and Spencer watched Y/N grab a glass from the open dishwasher. The water from the tap hit the bottom of the glass harsh, crashing out like a wave of the ocean hitting a cliff. Y/N didn’t seem to care. Their hand dripped water onto the surface as they chugged back some of the drink before returning to the table with a topped-up glass.

“Are you alright?” Rossi inquired, leaning closer to Y/N.

They answered wearily, “Fine, just feeling woozy.”

“You’re a writer?”

“Yeah, you’re a writer too. My mom reads your stuff before bed.”

“Bit of an odd nightcap,” Rossi said with a little chuckle.

Y/N shared that smile for the briefest of moments, replying “You’re telling me.”

From their pocket, they pulled out some painkillers, popping them back with a slug of water then speaking again. “I remember Riley was smaller than me. Still figuring out coordination, but he liked to play chase. I know he was killed; I didn’t find out how until I looked into it last year.”

“Why did you look into it?” Rossi gently probed.

Y/N rubbed two fingers back and forth across their head as they spoke, “I was back here, I felt sick so I went for a walk in the park, and I just remembered him tripping over while trying to tag me. No one ever told me what happened, just that he had to go away. I wanted to know what happened to him.”

“Are you sick often?” Derek asked suddenly, his voice soft to match Rossi. Spencer grimaced at the treatment Y/N was receiving but said nothing.

“Headaches and stomach aches mostly.”

“You get them whenever you come home?”

“I do. Figured I was allergic to something but never figured out what.”

That would have to be a very quick response, like a dog allergy. And coincidental, seeing as the symptoms didn’t start until they saw Spencer.

“Y/N?” called their father, “Can you come here a moment please?”

“May I?”

“Of course,” said Derek and Y/N was out of the room. Derek pivoted in his chair to include Spencer in his theory, “I think they know something, but they don’t know they know it. I think they repressed this memory like you did, Spencer. We should take him to the therapist, see if we can jog his memory.”

“You can’t be serious,” Spencer covered his face with his hands, dragging them down with irritation.

Derek was persistent though, “Spencer, like it or not, Y/N’s linked to this investigation. Put aside your differences for a moment, please.”

Spencer all but squawked, “Put aside my differences?”

“You have brought a lot of bias to this case. Let us at least pursue this lead.”

“Sorry,” Y/N interrupted Spencer’s retort, sitting back at the table, “He needed someone to get unhook the loft door. Mom usually does it.”

“That’s alright.” Rossi waved a hand dismissively. Once Y/N accepted that, he moved in with Derek’s suggestion, “You know, some people have strong physical reactions to memories, trauma. Maybe you’re not getting sick. You’re rejecting something.”

“Rejecting?” repeated Y/N. There was no doubt in their voice, more cautious curiosity.

Derek nodded, “A memory, repressing it, and your body has linked the physical responses to your home. We think it has something to do with this case, and we’d like to see if we can retrieve any memories you might have. Would you be alright to come with us?”

“Yeah,” said Y/N, though they didn’t sound too certain, “Yeah sure.”

The resigned, too tired look on their face, and Spencer felt a tug in his chest. A longing to see Y/N smile like they had when they first entered the house. He’d rather hate someone who was happy than someone who suffered the same as him.

Leaving the house, Spencer took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Spencer?”

He ignored Y/N’s voice for a moment, but he couldn’t disregard Y/N standing in front of him and speaking again, “Spencer, can we talk please?”

“I’m busy,” He said, already walking off as he pretended to call someone, “Hey Garcia.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 “Hold onto my hand, use it as an anchor, and squeeze when you feel fear.” Doctor Mohikian accepted Y/N’s hand on her wrist and their silence nod as they lay back on the same couch Spencer had been just hours before.

“I want you to think back to your childhood, back to when you were five. You’re at the park, your parents are on a bench watching nearby to keep you safe. What do you see?”

“Spencer Reid.”

Derek and Rossi glanced at Spencer, who did not react. They kept quiet so that Y/N could immerse themselves in the hypnosis.

“What’s he doing?” Doctor Mohikian continued.

“Teaching me chess.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

Sat on opposite sides of the table, Spencer and Y/N’s eyes were glued to the chess pieces that were neatly organised between them. Spencer was thinking strategy. He could not say the same for his companion Y/N. They reached a hand out and hovered over the pieces before finally selecting their last knight.

Their tongue clicked as Y/N trotted the piece on the spot.

“What’s this one again?”

“The knight,” Spencer recited, “It moves two spaces up, down, left or right, and another step perpendicular to the first direction.”

“Brave creatures riding into battle,” Y/N narrated before continuing their clip-clopping to its new position, “Pawns in the game of war.”

Spencer didn’t understand how they were coming up with this whilst playing. Well, actually, he did. Because Y/N was clearly not playing to win. They were playing for the best possible story.

“Where do you think this story will end?” Y/N asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying,” said Y/N, pushing back the sleeves of their white cardigan, “Come on, you can tell me, with your magic powers.”

“It’s not magic. It’s logic.”

“That’s magic to me,”

Narrowing his eyes, Spencer decided that he should give his friend the information they sought: “I see checkmate in fifteen moves.”

“See? Magic! The gift of sight!” crowed Y/N, clapping their hands together. The cardigan sleeves fell back in place as they did so. Spencer felt his cheeks heat up; he dropped his head so he could smile in privacy while Y/N began to decide their next move.

“How’s your mommy today?”

Shrugging, Spencer said, “Better than normal. But that means a bad day is around the corner.”

Y/N nodded solemnly. “Do you want another ice cream? I got more birthday money.”

“No thank you.” Spencer moved the piece but was immediately intercepted by Y/N, “You’re getting better.”

“Fank you.”

“You’ll have to wait longer to beat me though.” And he snatched Y/N’s knight away, just as planned and much to Y/N’s dismay.

A new voice from their left spoke, “Hey you’re pretty good.”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 Y/N’s grip tightened on Doctor Mohikian’s wrist, “Someone’s with us.”

“Who do you see?” Doctor Mohikian asked patiently.

“A man. He’s asking us if he can watch us play, listen to the story.”

“Do you want him to stay?”

“No,” Y/N flinched, “But Spencer keeps talking to him. The man won’t go away.”

“It’s OK, it’s OK, you’re safe, Y/N.”

Y/N flinched again, this time letting out a whimper, “He’s on the floor.”

“Spencer is?”

“No, the man.”

“What’s he doing on the floor?”

“He’s,” Y/N began panting, their face tensing and body jerking, “I can’t get to him. There’s glass in the way and the ground is shaking.”

“Y/N.”

“I can’t look, I’ll be sick! Whenever I see them, sick.”

“OK, you’re going to wake up in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”

Their eyes snapped open with the click of the fingers and Y/N leapt out of Doctor Mohikian’s couch. Their head aimed over the bin by the door and they retched. Nothing came up but their stomach continued to squeeze up

Spencer fidgeted in his seat, trying his best not to look at Y/N. The choice words of the session, three in particular, wrapped around his head.

“Floor”.

Y/N had seen Gary Michaels inside, somewhere that wasn’t the park.

“Glass”.

A window, Y/N was watching what Gary Michaels was doing.

“Sick”.

“Go away! I can’t look at you! You make me feel sick, you and your family!”

“Them”.

It wasn’t just Michaels in the room alone. They had been a witness to his murder.

Derek’s movement to help Y/N took Spencer out of his analysis. Sweaty, Y/N was led back to the couch, the bin between their legs, head lolling forward. Spencer tried to move beside them for questioning, but Y/N winced and began heaving again. He felt that ache in his chest again. He was causing this and nothing he could do would change that. Not until they both knew what happened to Riley and Y/N got help through it.

“What did you see, Y/N?” Derek asked as he replaced Spencer’s spot beside them.

With watering eyes, Y/N looked at Spencer, “The man we played with, he was on the floor. His head – thank you.” They accepted the water from Doctor Mohikian, gulping some back, “It was smashed in.”

The three agents left the room, Doctor Mohikian following after Y/N left to get some air.

“It’s logical to assume that Y/N tied that sickness, that repulsion because of what they thought they saw your mother be involved with, to you and your family,” Doctor Mohikian evaluated.

Interrupting again, Spencer stammered his way through his analysis, “That’s why they avoided me. They associated me with being ill. It’s probably also why they ran away so much; they had to get away from this horrible feeling they had associated with their home.”

Doctor Mohikian shook her head, “We won’t be able to use this in court, I told you when we started.”

Derek’s phone started to ring. As he answered, Spencer somehow managed to slip away for long enough to find Y/N. They were leaning against the ramp’s railing in front of the practice, their body lifting and slumping with each deep breath they took. Against his better judgement, he moved toward them.

“Y/N? Can I have your number?”

The breathing slowed again.

“I need it to call you with an update on the situation as soon as we get one.”

Without looking up, Y/N pulled out their phone and handed it over to Spencer. He punched his number in a new contact, using this time to gather the courage to maybe say something else. The hurt and pain went beyond him now. Y/N was suffering and had been much longer than he had.

“Thank you, Y/N,” Spencer said quietly, hoping that his didn’t add to the illness, “I hope you feel better soon.”

Their head still down, Y/N croaked, “You too, Spencer.”

“Spencer, get over here! We got a match on a print on Michaels’ body!”

 ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

“What makes you think Gary Michaels killed your boy?”

“He admitted it,” Lou Jenkins said, as monotonous as he had been for the last fifteen minutes of the interrogation.

Derek’s quickfire was on Jenkins instantly, “You beat a guy with a baseball bat, he's going to admit to a lot of things. How do you know he was the right guy?”

“I know. He approached another kid in the neighbourhood.”

“And how do you know that?

“I was told by a concerned party.”

“Who? Another parent?”

Jenkins leant back in his chair, “That's all I'm going to say on the subject.”

“Who was it?” Spencer suddenly spoke up.

Caught off guard at his interjection, Jenkins awkwardly parroted himself, “I told you that's all I'm going to say on the sub—"

Reid slammed his hands on the table, getting right up in Lou’s face, “Who was it?”

The door opened, Detective Hyde appeared, “Agent Reid?”

“Do not interfere with this interrogation, detective,” shouted Spencer, “This is not your case anymore!”

Once again, he was cut off. This time, by the arrival of his own mother, Diana, and her admission of guilt: “Spencer, it was me”.

  ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> 

  Of all the things this case had brought him, Spencer least expected to be sitting in a room with his mother and father together for the first time in years. To have Diana explain to him how she was involved in a child’s murder was also up there with the unthinkable.

But he stayed quiet and listened to her confession.

The reveal that she had seen Gary Michaels playing chess with him and Y/N, that she and got a feeling that something was wrong before anything had even happened, opened the story. Lou Jenkins’ involvement was next on the menu. Two days after the chess game, he drove Diana to Michaels’ house, disclosed his history of child abuse, and demanded she leave while he went into the house.

Upon reaching the point where she entered the house, Diana struggled with her words. William reached over and took her hand.

She described seeing Lou with the bat, standing over the body, slipping in the pool of blood, finding Y/N standing in the window and their face, their little face as innocent as the white cardigan that covered their shoulders and absorbed the blood from Diana’s hands as she shook their shoulders.

“And the rest... It's all dark after that.”

William continued for her. Diana came home and brought Y/N with her. Eventually he came to understand what had happened and decided that nobody could ever know.

“You were burning her bloody clothes,” Spencer concluded.

His father nodded, “But the knowing, you can't burn that away. It changes everything.”

“You paid for Y/N to go to therapy.”

William didn’t seem surprised that Spencer knew this, going straight into explaining: “They went into a dissociative fugue state after seeing what Lou had done. When Diana brought them home, they were just stiff. I asked them for their home number, to call their parents, but they started screaming and throwing up. We had to take them to the police station.” He mopped his brow with a handkerchief, “They needed help, but their parents couldn’t afford it. And they didn’t know what had happened. I couldn’t drag another person into this, Spencer.”

“Is this why you left?”

“I tried to keep us together, Spencer. I swear to you, but the weight of that knowledge, it was too much.”

“You could have come back. Could have started over.”

“I didn't know how to take care of you anymore. When I lost that confidence, there was no going back. What's done is done.”

“At least now you know the truth,” Diana made an effort to smile at her son

Choking on his words and the overwhelming remorse he felt, Spencer refused to look at his parents any longer, “I was wrong about everything. I'm sorry.”

And William said something that Spencer had been waiting for, for a long time, “I am, too, Spencer.”

  ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> 

  All of this was repeated when Spencer walked with Y/N through their old park the following day. Filling the final gaps in the memory would hopefully bring some respite to them both. Or at least maybe something to start the recovery process, easing Y/N’s sickness and Spencer’s pain.

“I’m sorry for my behaviour during this case,” Spencer sniffed, “When you said we made you sick, back when we were four, I thought you had seen my mom during one of her episodes and thought she was a freak, like everyone else.”

That stopped Y/N in their tracks, their hands coming up to cover their mouth, their eyes misty, “Oh Spencer, I’m sorry too, I’m so, so sorry I caused you so much pain.”

Spencer’s hands rushed up as if to create belated damage control, “It’s ok! I hurt you too. I made you sick.”

“That wasn’t your fault though.”

“It wasn’t yours either. We were kids.”

Almost pedantic, stropping, like a child again, Y/N moaned, “It’s all been such a waste. We could have been friends all this time!”

“We can be friends now,” Spencer pushed his hands down into his pockets to stop them flailing about anymore. His sentence was phrased more like a question.

One that Y/N gladly answered, “I would like really that.”

Sitting in the reply for a moment, Spencer followed up on his concerns, “How are you feeling? I mean, are you feeling sick again?”

“A bit, but I can handle it.”

Spencer could not see any changes in their behaviour from the day before. So obviously they were lying about that. But he didn’t protest. The lie meant Y/N wanted to stay with him, which was good - Spencer wanted that too.

They kept walking, only in silence for half a minute before Spencer broke it again, “I read your books last night.”

“Yeah?”

“‘The Siege of the Lost Faiths’ in Rogue’s Mask, that was our first game of chess.”

“It had by far the best narrative,” Y/N dragged their shoe a little on the grass before coming to a stop, “Do you still play?”

“All the time.”

They nodded over to where the old chess tables still stood, “Fancy a game before you go?”

Spencer grinned, “Just promise that this is the only setting where we’ll be on conflicting sides from now on.”

“Promise.”

Brushing the debris from the table, they both took their places opposite each other. From Y/N’s bag was revealed a box, spilling their painted chess pieces across the board. Remembering how they had stood in Y/N’s room, Spencer helped to set up the match. They took their seats opposite one another. Y/N was the green side, Spencer the purple.

Spencer moved first. After a second’s deliberation, Y/n moved their pawn.

“Isn’t there a story with this one?” Spencer said, an implicated teasing in his tone despite his shyness.

With an equally bashful eye roll, Y/N started their new story, “First begins the battle with the royals on both sides sending intrepid messengers to meet and pass along their deeds.”

Spencer took Y/N’s pawn. As he lifted their piece away, he spoke quietly, “One not as intrepid as the other.”

A gasp dropped from Y/N’s smile. He had never joined in the narrative telling before, always too taken up in the match to invest in whatever story they spun. 

“He’s not a coward,” They said, still smiling, much to Spencer’s delight, “Prisoner’s dilemma, he just couldn’t trust the other with his life.”

“Did they know each other before this battle?”

“Yes,” Y/N moved a knight across, stealing Spencer’s pawn, “They were brothers who once shared a crib and now they share a grave.”

Throughout the game, Y/N continued the story with Spencer asking questions just to hear them talk more. The maturity of the stories had grown just as Y/N’s voice had. They knuckled their eyes a few times, but they didn’t complain about the headache.

“I know what endings you like,” Spencer moved his rook, “Checkmate in five.”

Y/N didn’t seem to mind that little dig, “This’ll have to be a short story instead then.”

Spencer’s next sentence got away from him, trailing off the closer he got to the end of it, “You could write an anthology series, if we see each other again and play more games.”

Where Spencer’s voice disappeared, Y/N’s returned with invigoration, “That’s not a half bad idea, Spencer.”

The checkmate never came. Y/N diverted the ending into a draw.

“A peace treaty has been forged by the survivors, because too many lives have been lost to justify this violence anymore. If only they realised sooner that no blood had to be shed for peace to rule the lands.” And they smiled at Spencer, clearly chuffed as they leaned back in their chair, “Bit of an upgrade from the horse noises, I’ll say.”

Spencer rotated the purple knight – the illusionist – between his thumb and forefinger, “I liked the horse noises.”

“You should have said during the match! I’d recreate them, for you.”

One by one, the pieces were placed back into their box until the last piece remained in Spencer’s palm: the knight or Soren the Illusionist, distractions and deceptions but he loved the tricks that delighted most of all. Just like Spencer with his magic tricks but a little to the left. The character was always one of Y/N’s favourites. Some solace away from the pain of thinking of who he was based on.

Y/N pushed Spencer’s hand away, closes his fist around it, “Keep him. He was made with you in mind anyway.”

The information sank in and Spencer’s nose wrinkled with the little smile on his face as he cupped the little Illusionist, “I’m Soren?”

Nodding, Y/N confirmed, “You’re Soren.”

“But what about your set though?”

“I can always make and paint another knight,” and Y/N tilted the piece upside down in Spencer’s hand, revealing the signature on the underside, “You and him are the originals, it’s only fair you stay together.”

In a moment of pure instinct and nostalgia, Spencer clicked his tongue as he twisted Soren in time with the noise. Y/N let out a burst of laughter that dragged the air out of Spencer’s chest.

“Hey, do you wanna get dinner tonight?” He said, running out of breath very quickly as a result.

It had a similar effect on Y/N, “I thought you – don’t you have to get back to Virginia?”

“I have time for dinner. For you.”

  ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

 The bookstore was packed but the breath of the patrons was held as one. All eyes were watching the mini stage where a crouching figure lifted their head up slowly. A jump as the tension broke with the figure leaping up to their feet with a bang.

Y/N pushed up the brim of their cap. Snatching a deep green hoodie from the purple trunk – silver constellations painted on the sides – they swung it over their back before picking up the page where they had left off.

“Nasima looked up at Mason and said, ‘Well that was just unnecessary.’”

A burst of laughter shot through the pre-teens in the front row, spreading to the adolescents sitting further back who had grown up with the author’s other works, finally reaching the adults at the back where Spencer was fiddling with his cane. He adjusted the sleeve of his costume absentmindedly. He was just like everyone else in the room: captivated by how Y/N was so immersed in their reading.

They had just mimed kicking down a door, plus sound effects from their mouth. Swapping back and forth between the two conflicting characters arguing with one another, changing between the hoodie and the cap with every other line of dialogue and taking both off for the role of the narrator, it was certainly a workout.

An exaggerated breath was drawn into Y/N’s lungs, flopping over in a melodramatic state, which caused another laugh in the audience.

Spencer’s nose scrunched up as he grinned. He knew this was part of the scene; he’d seen Y/N rehearse this story in their sitting room. It was so much better to share this with an audience, for their reactions to fuel Y/N’s energy.

Y/N finished the short story A Battle of Bent Truths with a flourish, leaving the rest of the anthology for their audience to read in their own time. The kids were up on their feet first. Some of them were jumping up and down as they applauded with the rest of the shop. Y/N gave a big grin as they bowed, sweeping their cap off for extra drama.

There was a book signing and a photographer that followed, and Spencer waited patiently at the end of the queue, thankful that the store allowed him to bring a chair along with him. He was happy to entertain his godson and friends with a few tricks to pass the time.

“Another one please!” Henry jumped up and down when Spencer revealed his card.

A minor commotion arose by the photographer’s backdrop. There was a teenager was crying; she was clutching her copy of Untold Tales of Human Nature. Y/N was holding their shoulders, rubbing gently and speaking softly. Only half paying attention to his next trick, Spencer kept an eye on Y/N as they hugged the teenager, looking near tears themselves.

“Spencer?” J.J tapped him on the shoulder and Spencer realised that Henry was looking a little mad to have lost his godfather’s attention so easily.

“Sorry, Henry, can you pick another card please?”

When they reached the front of the queue, JJ went up first and took Henry and his pals up to see Y/N. They instantly recognised JJ and welcomed her with a tight hug. Henry was delighted to see his favourite babysitter and show them off to his school friends, boasting that they had read to him before today.

“They read me bits for bedtime, Mommy!”

“I know!” JJ tickled his cheek, “I read them to you too.”

“Who do you like better?”

“Mommy,”

Y/N gasped, dropping to their knees which made Spencer wince, “Henry, you wound me!”

Rossi approach next, knowing that once Spencer got to Y/N, they would not be left alone.

“You really know how to captivate an audience,” He kissed them on both cheeks, “Though don’t take offence if I don’t use the same tricks at my readings.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it! Thank you for coming.”

Y/N then caught Spencer’s eye and began meandering over to him with a smile they were desperately trying to stifle. Spencer rose from his chair, meeting Y/N in the middle.

“Hi, Spencer.”

With his free arm, Spencer flaunted his cloak, “Who is Spencer? I’m Soren the Illusionist!”

Giggles from his godson, his godson’s gang, his co-workers and friends, they almost caused Y/N to lose their composure. They held on just long enough to continue the banter.

“Oh, forgive me, you look so much like my boyfriend.”

“Hmmm, he must be very handsome,”

And Y/N burst into peals of laughter, waving their hands about, “OK, stop, stop, stop, I can’t.”

“Hey!” Spencer pretended to take offence, pouting as Y/N brought him into a hug.

“Don’t worry,” They kissed his cheek between giggles, “You are so very handsome.”

“To think you were once sick at the sight of me.”