#sure I would care about realistic things in a show where a kid turns into a tiger and another shoved a building down a dragon's throat

[lnkedmyheart]

People be like "I dont see why people ship skk".

Ok? Maybe open your eyes??

[theosconfessions]

It's 10+ years in your sims future. Where are they at that time compared to where they are right now in your story?

omg this was a good one. and ive been thinking about it since i seen it during work. thank you for sending this to me love. although i cannot say for certain this is how things will go down...i have some things in my head that would realistically happen.

Theos old now. hes not so great at keeping up with his health/medications as is. in ten years i see him rapidly declining [unless he starts taking care of himself cough cough which he needs to cough cough] he puts on a good show but that doesnt last for long. UNLESS. he makes a turn here.

I see Blake and Riv figuring their shit out and just being happy. Maybe having a few more kiddies besides Teddie. Honestly theyre so fucking cute together .and they never fight. which is refreshing bc man. some of my babes.

Scarlett ....... i guess we'll see who wins the bachelorette challenge haha! ..[and if she ends up pregnant by the end of it ] shes harder to read because im in the final four in my gameplay and its REALLY close. one place i know she wont be is with Sid haha! i do see her healing from that though.

Dustin.... is as hard to read as scarlett. and ill tell you why. its because of Theo and its because of Finnie. One thing he for sure will keep doing is his ghost hunts though. they make him so happy. he does want more kids but the twins are a lot to handle. so i dont know. maybe when theyre older.

Finnie is my new love but hes going globetrotting. HOWEVER. he wont be gone for long and will be back in theo and dustins hometown in no time. :)

Robin is my uncomplicated girlie. She sees all the shit that Riv and Blake went through and shes like ill have none of that. i want to see her happy without someone being a total punk ass to her.

marlee still wont leave jami alone and vice versa so i suspect thatll continue.

idk. this really gave me some thinking. thanks love !!

[hannahwatcheshorror]

M3GAN (2022)

😿Dog Dies 💁‍♀️💁‍♀️(💁‍♀️) Strong Female Lead(s)

When this movie first came out I wasn’t very interested because “Annabelle” was lackluster, but then I heard “M3GAN” was good and by GOD I was not let down (Also this is not like “Annabelle,” it has a doll but that is about all the comparison that you can make). A thoughtful and thorough sci-fi robo-horror which is set in the not-so-distant future (if it isn’t already happening and I’m just not rich enough to know about it). Some good camp included with M3GAN herself galloping through the woods and dancing down the halls but also some good scares too. Well rounded film, would watch again and recommend.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 

The only questionable thing happens right away and it’s that those little tinkering nerds were able to sneak making this high tech robot for thousands of dollars without their boss knowing. I absolutely call shenanigans. I'll believe that the boss wasn’t paying attention to them, sure, but I’ll bet he had his eyes on the money they were spending. That aside, M3GAN is made as a toy for children, which, I mean, an expensive robot doll like that is going to be made for adults for either two reasons, war or sex (or both!), but THAT aside... M3GAN is a toy just for kids and she is going to protect Cady, who is the niece of one of the nerds (Gemma).

The tinkering nerds built M3GAN to learn and keep learning (apparently one of the things she learned is how to turn herself on again after being turned off, damn girl) so she can best care for Cady but this starts to take a dark turn when Gemma is a little to vague in her commands. It's almost like the doll was waiting for an opportunity to push the boundaries because it only takes a boy pressing a chestnut prickly casing into Cady's hand for M3GAN to go completely feral. I'm talking down on all fours, horse galloping sound effects (I chortled)... She might have overreacted by pulling his ear and showing him exactly how Cady’s parents died…

It is important to note the neighbor and her dog that inexplicably went missing after the dog bit Cady. The neighbor reported that the doll would stare out the window at them at 3am but I’m sure M3GAN had nothing to do with it (she had something to do with it). Finally we get to the unveiling where everyone is totally on board with this doll and no one wants it for the other two things Americans love so it’s still going to be a toy for kids but M3GAN is feeling more like a WMD at the moment. She hacked the system and some people then escaped back to Cady but Cady didn’t want her murderer ass anymore.

Now, when Cady turned on M3GAN, M3GAN snapped, ignored her programming, called Cady ungrateful, and was MAD. M3GAN tried to kill the one she had previously “loved” and was previously going to protect because Cady tried to kill HER. That felt so realistic, because M3GAN wouldn’t have human empathy in the end for Cady, she would just be looking out for herself, she is a robot. I really appreciated that they didn’t make her still love Cady.

Finally we have their universe's smart home pod light up at the end and it feels right because M3GAN had already been messing with the smart house setup throughout the movie so of COURSE she is still in the Cloud! Really a great movie and a lot of fun to watch, hope 2.0 builds off of this momentum!

[dairy-farmer]

Look, Talia already knew Tim was smart right? So why didn’t she manipulate things so Tim and Jason would have been Damian’s left and right hands!? The advisor and the muscle?

to me talia is more of a side character in bruce's comics and i really only care about tim and the characters relevant to him- but from what i've read with talia and her appearances and tim's perspective of her- it straight up wouldn't work. like talking realistically and non-fanon wise to figure it out:

talia (in current comics) is a severely traumatized person who exerts control with violence, manipulation, and corruption but at her deepest core (though it is not consistently shown) she is a VERY compassionate individual who does, in fact, hold humanitarian-like values (and in earlier comics she was an incredible gentle soul who was studying to be a doctor and stuff). but, like bruce, she's got a lot of baggage and the way she goes about achieving things in comics varies. talia is a very....difficult character to pin down because of the vastly different ways she's been characterized. generally with different writers and being an older character she's bound to change but other characters like dick appear to be somewhat consistent in characterization but with talia that's different (for a number of reasons but dc is also no stranger to racism).

in terms of how jason and tim and "recruitment" would go-

her characterization is just so all over the place so when it comes to the things she does like putting jason in the pit you can't say for sure that it was an honest act of love. in many ways it was leverage. with jason her motivations differ, as does the kindness she shows jason. but at the end of the day she wasn't going to dump a healed jason on bruce's doorstep as an act of goodwill. and jason, in his right mind, no matter what talia had done for him- does not take well to being used as a 'tool' or a soldier which is what talia would be asking of him if he were damian's "left hand" or "muscle"

so with jason it wouldn't work because jason has a resistance to being ordered or serving as an attack dog for anyone. jason seeks equals. the outsiders, his team, even though he calls it "his" team they are very clearly a group of like-minded, like-abled people who are on equal footing and he's not strictly the 'leader/boss' in the traditional sense. jason clearly has a soured impression to being a "side kick" so the 'serving' just wouldn't mesh.

as for tim, talia is nowhere NEAR clever enough to get tim to a) turn to the league of assassins b) willingly swear loyalty to her/damian c) act as the right hand to her son. because tim would never actually fall for any of her tricks and if he did he wouldn't GO with her because...he doesn't like her all that much. she's ra's al ghuls daughter, she's killed people, she's brought trouble and threats to gotham. tim's more likely to side with shiva if he goes "bad" than with talia because he doesn't really care about talia.

like...he respects her skills and the threat she poses and she does as well for all of bruce's kids since she doesn't try to meddle with them much but...it's just not realistic.

fics where tim runs off to join ra's and the LOA or is somehow fooled into going to the darkside are fun to read about because fanfic is a world of possibilities but actually considering tim's character...it's just not realistic given what we knew about him BEFORE he ever became robin. tim does not believe in killing- he didn't believe in it before operating under bruce's code- and he would never be okay with how talia conducts her business no matter what the objective is.

fundamentally, their values are at odds with each other and tim's loyalty belongs to bruce and HIS mission.

even if talia wanted to recruit him and jason to serve under damian (and the emphasis here is 'under' because they would never be equals) she'd be fighting a long and difficult battle and wasting a lot of resources to do that and it would honestly just not be worth the amount of effort she'd need to put in.

plus i don't think talia really thinks of tim as some supreme-level genius that she desperately needs on her side. at most she thinks of him as a bit clever because not even ra's fully acknowledges tim's abilities until he's one on one with him. talia would have no reason to seek tim out.

ultimatly i think her reasons for not doing it are:

-it wouldn't occur to her

-it would be too much trouble

-she would have no reason to seek jason and tim out in particular.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

So the original epilogue for volume 9 was released today and it has me raging like nothing else.

We hear Winter comment that she “stayed with Ironwood for too long” as if everyone didn’t spend most of volume 7 agreeing with his plans. As if he didn’t turn evil for two in universe days before dying, as if that turn made sense in the first place. No one mourns what happened to him, no one cares that he turned. They’re just tsking they didn’t realize that the pure perfect mains.

Their is also more FG bullshit with Qrow wearing Clovers broach and fondly remembering him despite volume 8 telling us he was a bad guy but now he’s not?? Cuz someone needed to magically cure Qrows depression and RT decided that some more queerbaiting would be perfect for that.

Also Ruby’s “messages” being this super powerful thing that brings the world together and makes people build monuments in their honor when everyone who is pissed off about the situation is their because of team RW//BY. But the show sure as hell isn’t going to actually comment on how monumentally they fucked up, it’s only going to act like they’re the only ones who wanted to tell the world the truth and they’re the only ones who could do it. A bunch of kids no one really knows or has any reason to believe. If the mains where more well known as the ones who saved Haven and in Atlas and Mantle shown to be heroes who helped people Ruby’s message reaching people may have worked but… no one knows who she is, her sending a message terrifyingly similar to the one before Beacon fell shouldn’t be this rallying message that United the world it would realistically make people scared and panicked.

This whole epilogue is a load of garbage and I know I’m going to loath volume 10 if it even happens (doubtful) and if it follows close to what this epilogue set up.

[eric-cartman-my-beloved]

Why Scott is a Better Rival for Eric than Kyle

Obligatory disclaimer: these are my thoughts, not meant to offend anyone, etcetera, etcetera… and just my opinion. Feel free to have your own, or to disagree.

  Even though I have these numbered, they’re not necessarily in order of importance.

Also, for this post I’m counting “Tenorman’s Revenge” as canon.

1. Scott is a larger threat

In his initial appearance in STMD Scott might not have seemed more than a quick-witted but simple bully who scammed a younger kid for $10, but upon his return in season 14 and in the video game released a couple of years later, he proved to be much more than that.

  Not only did he re-organize the Ginger Separatist Movement and picked it up from where Eric had left it, basically making the other gingers his servants, he also made dozens of fully functional robots (some of them maybe even more than 10 feet in height and some having a completely realistic human appearance). 

  Of course over the course of the series Kyle has proven to be smart a lot of times too, but when it comes to going up against Eric he doesn’t seem to have the motivation or the ability to gather as many resources or as much help to fight against him.

2. Kyle is somewhat overused

(Boy, if I’m getting backlash about something here it’s going to be this…)

25 years is a lot. During these 25 years Eric has had a handful of schemes that directly or indirectly involved Kyle. Whenever an episode is centered around a fight between Eric and Kyle it basically comes down to a format where Eric has a scheme of sorts and Kyle tries to stop him because he believes it’s morally wrong (and or rare occasions Kyle concedes because he teams up with Eric, like in the Crack Baby Athletic Association).

Sure, it can be an entertaining formula, but with South Park having so many seasons it’s bound to get repetitive at some point – if it hasn’t already, for some people.

In the meantime, Scott has not appeared in the show since season 14 (almost for 13 years) while his last words before he disappeared promised a return. Any time for him to be brought back would be convenient, and there are dozens of possibilities a plot with him could turn out. There are still so many things to explore with his character, so many routes that can be taken, so much depth that can be given to him.

On top of that, Scott’s and Kyle’s motives for going up against Eric are vastly different, so I do think such a change would be refreshing. Usually Kyle objects to Eric’s plans because they clash with his morality, while Scott seemed uncaring about morality from the start, and now has a vendetta to settle with Eric.

Which brings me to my next point.

3. Scott’s rivalry with Eric is more personal

Yes, Eric and Kyle have been “friends” for years, they’ve been through a lot together, but a big part of their rivalry is Eric insulting Kyle and Kyle defending himself, or Kyle trying to stop a scheme that has hurt or exploited people. Such actions on Kyle’s part do not have as much of a direct correlation to Eric as Scott’s actions do.

Ever since STMD, it’s clear that Scott has made it his life’s goal to get his revenge for what Eric did to him. Everything he does involves (or aims to involve) Eric some way or another. He doesn’t seem to care what Eric does outside of having killed his parents. He doesn’t care about what Eric’s moral code is outside of him, unlike Kyle, who mostly tries to defend both himself and any other people Eric intends to harm in some way, like Heidi.

On top of that, after 201, we also know that Eric and Scott are brothers, so there’s another layer that makes their dispute even more personal, while Kyle has no relation to Eric.

4. The payoffs with Scott are higher

Be it Eric’s complete victory in STMD or any of Scott’s (thus far) unsuccessful attempts at revenge, the stakes are higher, and the overall experience as a viewer gives you the impression of being more grandiose.

The second (and last) time he appeared in the show he gathered almost half the town to witness Eric’s reaction as he revealed who his real father is – a mystery discussed since season 1, a question that had been nagging Eric nearly his whole life. Even when he did something as childish as to steal Eric’s Xbox hard-drive, in order for Eric to get it back he had to fight Scott’s army of robots, had to chase him quite literally to Hell, Heaven and back.

In one of the episodes that depicts Eric and Kyle’s relationship well, Tonsil Trouble, all Kyle did was threaten to “break everything Eric owns”, when he learned Eric had just infected him with AIDS. The most “extreme” action he has taken against Eric that comes to mind is the plan he constructed in the end of Le Petit Tourette. (But I could be wrong, you can let me know if there’s something more.) In any case, his plans are still not quite on Scott’s level.

5. Scott’s dynamic with Eric is more unique than Kyle’s with Eric

Unpopular opinion, I know.

A lot of people find it difficult to define Eric’s relationship with Kyle. They’ve been hanging out together ever since they’ve been in pre-school, yet Eric hates Kyle, and it’s obvious Kyle more often than not does not enjoy having him around. It’s safe to say Eric is obsessed with Kyle at times, while Kyle for the most part does not interact with him unless he is somehow forced to, directly or indirectly. Despite all that, they have saved each other’s lives in the past.

It certainly is a special dynamic these two have, and one that can be pretty satisfying to watch. But it isn’t unheard of. Half-friends half-enemies (bear with me for simplifying it down to that) are not new as a trope or as a dynamic.

But Scott and Eric?

I don’t know about you, but I struggle think of a hate relationship as intense as theirs, especially one between siblings. Eric’s dislike for Scott was so strong it made him hate all ginger people, while Scott has let his persistence with revenge take over his life. He had to be treated in a mental hospital because of what Eric did to him, and it looks like he has since been unable to think of anything else besides him.

If Scott hadn’t pushed Eric as far as he did and Eric didn’t end up feeding him his parents, Scott probably wouldn’t have discovered their biological relationship in the first place. They’re brothers, yet they’ve never had an ounce of brotherly love for each other and most likely never will. They’ve never shared what could even be remotely considered a civil family moment. They only emotion they feel towards one another is unadulterated hate. Eric (a pretty lonely child, if the conversations he had with his stuffed animals are anything to go by) learns he has a brother, yet he is also the person Eric hates because he has humiliated and tricked him in the past, while said brother wants nothing more to do with him than to kill him.

They’d both do absolutely anything to destroy each other, and taking everything else into consideration, I do believe this is a dynamic that at least is much rarer.

   +Bonus:

I also love Scott very much and I need to see him come back again. (I like him much better than Kyle.)

     And I don’t think his return should equal the obligatory erasure of Kyle’s interactions with Eric. Maybe they could both team up to fight against Scott.

     Or the three of them would make up for a funny rival triangle: with Eric being obsessed with Kyle and Scott being obsessed with Eric, but Eric being mostly indifferent towards him, unless he becomes quite the serious problem, and he has no choice but to confront him.

Plus, I guess I’m just a bit tired of seeing a lot of people saying that Kyle is Eric’s “one true rival”.

[buffysummers]

🔥 + Rory and her relationship with boys cause it's a mess.

Ahhh. I just need to preface this by saying that Rory is my favorite character. I love her so much! But that girl is a cheater, through and through.

She cheats on Dean with Jess, then cheats WITH Dean on his WIFE, then *sort of* cheats on Logan with Jess, and then cheats WITH Logan on his fiancée. The only person she doesn't cheat on is Jess, but who knows, if they had spent more time as a couple, maybe she would have.

Of course we can give Rory some grace since she is a teenager for a lot of this, but she's 32 in the revival and she's still cheating. So, like I said, that girl is a cheater.

Rather than discuss which ships I like more, I'd rather talk about Rory herself, since I don't really consider any of her relationships to be TOO toxic. Like, sure, there's some red flags and things are definitely far from perfect, but at the end of the day, it's a show and it's meant to entertain us. If everything was peaceful and happy all the time, we'd be bored.

Now, I hate to point fingers, but I think a lot of Rory's issues with men have to do with Lorelai. Lorelai, who basically made sex a taboo subject. A moment that Lorelai really fails Rory as a mother is when Rory opens up to her and tells her that she's considering having sex with Jess. Lorelai looks VISIBLY upset and disappointed when Rory is doing the right thing here. She's doing something that most kids don't do, she's opening up to her parent! And then there's the whole "I have the good kid" gloating moment when she overhears a conversation between Paris and Rory where Paris confesses she had sex and she isn't sure how she feels about it. Yes, Rory didn't hear her mom say this and some of this has to do with the WB just being kind of puritan about sex in general, but this moment perfectly encapsulates Lorelai's mindset, which puts a lot of pressure on Rory and probably confuses her.

Lorelai acts like Rory can talk to her about ANYTHING, but when it comes to boys, she behaves so terribly and there's no way this doesn't impact Rory and her decisions regarding men, especially considering how she places Lorelai on a pedestal. She even states in her graduation speech that all she's ever wanted to be was her mom. And that isn't necessarily a good thing, especially concerning Lorelai's relationship with men.

Lorelai runs away from her feelings, Rory sees this. Lorelai often juggles multiple men, Rory sees this. Lorelai had a kid at 16, Rory knows this. Lorelai basically turns sex into a bad thing, Rory sees this. It's understandable to want your child to make smart decisions and to be careful, but Lorelai does so much more than that and it's just... stifling! It isn't good parenting.

I'm taking the time to discuss this not only because, like I said earlier, it influences a lot of Rory's relationships with men, but also because I often see Rory attacked by the fandom, and rarely ever do I see Lorelai criticized. Lorelai is the adult here, not Rory. Rory can make mistakes sometimes, it isn't the end of the world. She doesn't deserve half the flack she gets from the fandom.

I think one of the most realistic aspects of Gilmore Girls is how MESSY Rory's love life is considering how she's raised. We often talk about how amazing it would be to have a mother-daughter relationship like Lorelai and Rory. How it would be so cool to be best friends with your mom, but you cannot be friends with your children. And Gilmore Girls shows the consequences of a mother trying to be best friends with her daughter.

This is why I love Rory so much. She's just sooo real. Everything down to her sense of entitlement... It all comes back to Lorelai.

So, Rory's love life is so messy but it's also extremely understandable and believable. I will add that my biggest frustration with Rory's love life is how her breakup with Jess is handled. It's unforgivable to me and just... not good writing. Thanks for the ask!

Send Me a 🔥+ a Topic, and I’ll Tell You My Honest Opinion About It

[paperstorm]

Hello! I love following your stories and your posts. You always have such an interesting take on things!

I have a question that maybe controversial (that's why I'm on anon), so feel free to ignore this if you don't feel upto it.

I'm a cis, straight woman of relative economic privilege in a very traditional, conservative country. Which is to say, all of my interactions with and information about the LGBTQ+ community are from the internet. This sometimes is an issue because I end up learning the wrong things, where I think I'm being an ally but I'm just thinking things that are problematic in different ways.

I write a bit of fanfiction for other fandoms and I really enjoy watching 9-1-1LS. I have story ideas for Tarlos, but I'm not sure about the ethics of someone like me writing about a queer couple. Is it okay for me to do that? Or is it more respectful to just read and listen and learn? In case it's fine to write it, never having actually witnessed a queer couple's relationship, how do I write realistically without perpetuating problematic tropes that I've seen in Hollywood/TV/other fics?

(This might get long, I’m sorry followers, one day I’ll learn to shut up but not today and not about this)

I want to start by saying that ‘own voices’ started out as a good thing. It started with the purpose of allowing marginalized communities the space to tell their own stories, rather than prioritizing a white man pretending he knows what racism feels like when he doesn’t. It had really good intentions, and it’s still important to amplify the voices of people who are speaking from direct experience.

But because social media spaces are literally never capable of nuance, it pretty quickly turned into ‘you aren’t allowed to write or talk about things that you don’t have direct experience with’ and this is where it became a really harmful mentality. It has led to things like celebrities being forcibly outed (off the top of my head – Lee Pace, Kit Connor, Casey McQuiston, and Jameela Jamil, but I’m positive there are others) because the internet mob said ‘you can’t portray/write about queer characters if you aren’t queer! Publicly perform your sexuality for us or ELSE!’. On a much smaller scale, it led to me not including characters of colour in my stories for years, because tumblr and twitter told me I wasn’t allowed to.

These are not positive things. I saw a post once, years ago, that said something like ‘yes it’s important for POC to get to see characters who look like them as the hero of the story, but it’s equally important for people to see characters who don’t look like them as the hero of the story, because that’s how you learn empathy for people who are different than you’ and that has really stuck with me. It was not good that a teenager was forced to come out before he was ready a few months ago because twitter told him he was queerbaiting by just existing and living his life. It was not good that I went years excluding characters of colour from my stories. It was not good that I never tried to get into the headspace of someone like Sam Wilson or Nile Freeman or Yusuf al-Kaysani or Carlos Reyes or Marjan Marwani. We develop intense empathy for people who have vastly different experiences than us when we care about their lives and their stories and their struggles.

I showed this ask to my best friend who is also queer and he made a lot of good points in a series of very passionate texts but among them are these:

I would rather someone be open and wanting to explore a new community, perhaps occasionally stumbling over the wrong thing, but learning rather then sitting on the sideline like some kid outside of a candy store window.

I’m not interested in allies who are silent. Who haven’t put themselves in my shoes. Who don’t adore the parts of our community the way I do. I don’t give a FUCK about people who are just going to sit there and say “it’s not my place to speak/participate.” I want my allies in the thick of it. I want them saying I stand with you, vocally and I’ll only sit when you sit.

Quit making people treat marginalized groups like exclusive clubs. Everyone is welcome in my gay house

I know my family loves me because they are my family and I am of them. I need to know the rest of the world is going to let me in, too. I need to know that some successful author who has absolutely no stake in the game ALSO sees value in a queer voice in their story. I need to know I have a place in the world BEYOND the people who are accepting of me because they are like me.

So. All of this is a very long-winded way of saying please please PLEASE write and love and care about queer characters even if you, yourself are not queer. If you’re worried about getting something wrong or unintentionally writing something that is offensive, ask a queer person if they would be a sensitivity reader for your story before you post it. And be willing to accept the criticism if a person comes to you after and says ‘hey this was offensive’ (while also understanding that one queer person or one POC does not speak for the entire community, and that the concept of offense gets incredibly complicated sometimes). But write it. It is a wonderful, necessary thing when people care about communities that they are not a part of. In the immortal words of Mr. Bernie Sanders, when then question “Are you willing to fight for someone you don’t know?” is asked, the world gets infinitely better when the answer is yes.

[llycaons]

ep11 (part 1): the tension in this family dinner is insane

I had to cut this in half because I posted too many images but this episode is just chock full of juicy shit. I really feel like this episode is where the series hits its stride and becomes super compelling. ep1 was a bit of a mess, but really interesting. eps 2-10 are okay, pretty good if you like the characters but the plot is hard to stay invested in. but here's where it gets good

it's nice that jc cares about MY dying. also I like his outfit

nmj's robes too. really cool design that matches his personality and surroundings perfectly

sometimes the translations inadvertently (I assume) result in lines that sound very childlike in english. not in a bad way. more like in an endearing and slightly corny way. 'safe and sound' is very sweet

wwx clearly having a good relationship with the merchants, and knowing them all personally, and being greeted by them, it all hurts so much. LP wasn't just a place and it wasn't just his siblings, it was a whole community and a home he was deeply intertwined with. he lost so much...

also jc not speaking with the merchant at all and then physically grabbing wwx's arm and dragging him to the estate is rly telling of how uncomfortable he is...the boy does not endear himself to the people

FEMALE DISCIPLES OOH

YOU ARE HURTING ME

LP is so gorgeous it's unreal

THIS LINE. FUCKERS

LP is a fantastically beautiful place, full of life and love and safety and comfort. maybe unrealistically so. but in stalks madame yu to balance this out, with her cruelty and abuse casting a long shadow over wwx and his siblings' lives. almost an inversion of the wen situation...the wens are almost cartoonishly evil in every way, but after they're vanquished another sect rolls in to take over power in the vaccum they left, and this sect commits the same atrocities with a better public face. behind the fantasy of the villain, there are others, more grounded in reality. this provides a refreshing balance to the character dynamics imo, allowing for both the fun of melodrama and the complexity and nuances of more realistic challanges the characters face

as much flack as jfm gets, his first order of business is to make sure the kids are okay and then that they get something to eat. idk how people genuinely think he's a worse parent than the woman who shows up, makes everyone around his miserable with her cutting remarks, elitism, self-esteem issues she makes her kids' problem, bullying, and genuine verbal abuse towards the children under her care, and then storms off. anyway

god he really doesn't want to see her. and everyone's like 'please yes let's fucking eat without her'

THE BITCH IS HERE. I love her entrance so much. seeing her through slatted wood, then seeing zidian, then watching her come into focus with her BODYGUARDS in attendance

she really is so hot I can't believe she didn't make it into the evilmilf tournament she would have slayed

insane how she turns every single thing anyone says into an attack on her, or something to find fault with. nobody can win in this exchange except her. it's over the top, and miserable to watch, but it tells us so much about her in ways I find very compelling. and the concerns she brings up are significant, but she's not interested in actually planning a solution, just in belittling her kids and complaining and attacking her family. idk why people think she's smart or well-versed in politics or would be a good leader when she's so terrible at communicating, self-absorbed to the point of violence, and uninterested in problem-solving. like yeah this is misogyny at work, but I find her much more compelling if she's a fucking mess of a person and I think her self-esteem issues are really significant and add a lot to her character

the work she gets done in this one scene is wild - she lays out another dimension of the tension between wwx and jc, she demonstrates exactly her issue with wwx, she serves as a template for the audience to connect with later jc, and she also informs the audience of the view many cultivators take of wwx, and how that strains his relationship with other cultivators

the way I can HEAR adult jc saying this. the cutting sarcasm, the contempt, the inability to argue against it because what is he going to say? jc later echoes her in sneeringly calling wwx a good person for trying to be a hero

after she leaves jc looks like he's just woken up from a nightmare...

this is like my favorite expression of lwj's I love it. the contempt. the stoicism. the refusal to be baited or angered. very lwj core

I was so emotional watching this scene I LOVE LAN QIREN!!! I LOVE HIM!!! his care for his nephews is obviously due to the fact that he wants the lan clan to survive, but of course it's also a personal concern. he loves wangji! he's their little boy! and he doesn't just care about the heirs, he stands out there refusing to find shelter until more of the disciples can come in and be saved

this line 🥺

it is so fucked up to see the lans all being murdered. it's a school! it's like a temple! it's a place of learning and contemplation! they're not even taught to fight people, their swords are for cultivation. and wen xu just barges in and attacks lrq! he's an old man you fuck! he's like an old professor! stop trying to hurt him!

also so so sad to see this violence in the halls where wwx laughed and joked with jc, and the little dorms where the kids were staying, where wwx made jyl smile with his paperman. ough

I'm always startled by the raw emotion on lwj's face here. I thought it was because I was getting better at reading him, but no I think he's just very expressive here in ways he isn't almost anywhere else. anyway this expression makes me go 🥺

I can't upload any more pics even tho I love this scene, and it's late and I have to go to bed, so I'm ending at the halfway point here and will come to it tomorrow

[bemtevis]

Istg at this point I'm just going to rewrite tlh out of spite for how awful cc treated them

James all of the sudden is this asshole who we barely ever seen reading AND WHERE DID HIS CUTE GLASSES GO😭😭

Christopher gets like zero acknowledgment even tho at the academy Thomas and Matthew were constantly backing him up(and sure we see this in chot but after ignoring him for two books and then killing him with zero grief :/)

Matthew...I actually don't have an issue with Matthew BECAUSE WE NEVER SEE HIS POINT OF VIEW, and I also feel his character might be the most realistic to the situation aside from Alastair and Grace

Thomas...she literally gave all his creativity to James. He writes poems and songs?? Where did that go?? We also never see him read or spend any actual page time with his family for more than a passing sentence

Jesse was fine ig until that scene with Grace...it's giving the Matthew and Alastair scene at the end of choi

Ari felt in character but I wish we could have seen more of her growth that wasn't just coming out and moving out

Anna is probably the one I'm the most upset about though because like, she was so nice in her original short story. And now she's just this straight up bitch who takes women's virginity for fun? CECILY AND GABRIEL'S DAUGHTER? I think fucking not.

And I hate that everyone moved past how creepy Charles dating Alastair and Ari was like, dude was a whole ass ADULT with a JOB preying on barely 16 year olds(we all know he waited for Alastair to turn 16 for consent laws😒)

And also why are all of the tid parents not present in their kids lives??? Tid and gotsm will, tessa, gabriel, cecily, sophie, and gideon would NEVER. And about the fairchild twins, I fucking hate that she did that. They already fucked matthew up by forcing him to either raise himself in order to take care of his dad or was babysat by the herondales, and he's probably going to be forced to take care of the twins too(yet another math/alas parallel)

Sorry for the rant I just have so many angry feelings about cc as a fellow author rn, like how fo you fuck up your own characters THAT badly-

oh pls do, I'm sure whatever you come up with will be better than canon

I mean he was kind of an asshole beforehand but I figured it was because of the gracelet and all, but his behavior barely changed after it was off! it was so pointless

JUSTICE FOR CHRISTOPHER! he was done so dirty! cc tells us the merry thieves love each other like brothers but then one of them dies and they barely grieve! show not tell, it's one of the first things you should learn as a writer

while I'm sure I would've glazed over most of them, I'm sure having matthew's pov would add a lot to the story. instead, his development is seen only through other people's povs and it falls flat, imo.

something I noticed while reading was that if it was one of thomas' povs, it would be about thomastair. I don't recall any instance in which it isn't. there was the night at matthew's flat, but that ended up being thomastair as well. we barely see him interact with his friends or family or hear about his interests and dreams! cc had something great with him and she threw it away, and for WHAT!

Idk why cc bothered to write james and jesse and everyone being so mad at grace, only for there to be only a few paragraphs in the epilogue about her forgiveness. it was such a cop out, tbh.

same as with thomas, all of ari's povs were about her love interest, except for the first one maybe. look, I know there is a huge cast of characters and it's hard to balance it all out, but cc's books are so filled with amatonormativity that it's hard not to see the pattern.

the thing with anna is that in chot, she feels more like what she should've been. same with matthew imo. they're flawed characters, yes, and don't always make the best decisions, but they're closer to what the narrative wanted me to believe from the start. I loved eet anna, but chog came and ruined her! then cc tried to retcon it, Ig, and it was such an abrupt change that it felt off putting!

yeah yeah absolutely! I've said this before, but the problem with charles wasn't that he was closeted! it was his weird predatory behavior, and that was completely unaddressed. he, like anna and matthew and grace, had his arc rushed so the consequences of cc's writing couldn't catch up with her, but WE READ THE BOOKS! we know he's fucking creepy!

tbh if you told me all of the parents were trapped in a bubble for most of this trilogy, I would believe you. they were not present at all. gideon and gabriel lost their kids to their own sister, and they don't even process it. same with sophie and cecily. it's like they don't even exist.

dw about it! sorry for the equally long, if not longer, rant lol. completely agree; cc's great at creating great concepts then not knowing how to execute them at all. it's so sad

[stormcrow513]

So Transformers movies again,

So the thing is I really love these movies and I think one of the things I like best about them is the things other people hate,

The world their in is so familiar to the one I inhabit that it feels real to me in a way,

Like is there misogyny in here?

Yep,

and do I like misogyny and being treated as less for my sex?

Nope, sure fucking do not, but thing is it is such a lived part of my experience that to not see it would feel off,

I mean I didn't even have boobs yet when family members started pointing at the 'sluty' girls on TV and telling me 'that's going to be you when you get older'

No I am not kidding true fact,

So when I see all these kick ass women being treated with less respect then the men,

I feel for these ladies it helps me care about these side characters that by design of movies being fast paced, you don't get much from,

And a lot of things that do put misogyny into to 'bring attention to it' and such,

They tend to show out an out creepos, or mustache twirling,

They don't tend to show the more wide spread every day basically every guys done it once things,

The first transformers movie has a great showing of this,

Now Maggie super smart chick, whose just had one of those intuitive leaps that tend to bare out right,

The kind we can't really describe why we came to this conclusion, because it was our brains connecting a bunch of small dots,

What is often called gut intuition,

A thing men are praised for and women are often called names and treated poorly for,

The men scoff at her will barely let her speak,

The main old white guy even starts off going 'this is the analyst that detected the hack?!'

'her team,' a guy adds in, when you see her prod guy in her team to do what he's supposed to be doing

She's really pretty and has a Australian I believe accent,

And she's also blunt, but not exactly overly rude about, she just won't be talked down to, or shut up, when an all out war could break over nothing that any human nation is responsible for,

The same old guy tells her to basically watch her mouth or he'll kick her out,

Again this gal just pulled this great stunt off for them and cause she's not kissing his ass, and just speaking like a normal human being, he's willing to lose her good work over it,

____

And the way everyone reacts to the Cybertronians is so realistic,

The desert scene where Epps a trained soldier is reporting on the Decepticon attacking his team,

And he's clearly the communications guy, he's always the guy on comms relaying what's happening, Lennox passes him the phone as soon as it connects,

And Epps is shouting things like 'i don't know man, if you'd seen this shit' while this giant metal scorpion is just fucking throwing down, it bursting up from under the fucking San like the god damn tremors movies, it shooting at them,

I mean can you imagine, even trained soldiers would struggle like that, because seriously what the hell,

Imagine for a second you lived in a world where transformers weren't a thing and all big robot shows inspired by it also didn't exist,

And you see these fucking guys,

Holy pants wetting man, ida fucking booked it my friends,

_____

You see something done to the Autobots that we see done over and over in American history, and you watch it play out knowing that the US government is going to treat them this way cause they always treat minorities this way, so your trading racism for xenophobia,

The government turns on them the very second they think they don't need them any more,

And they do it by saying oh we're granting them asylum but no more of them working with the military,

And then the CIA whose given control over taking down Decepticons, being it's gross bad self goes okay, but we're also going to hunt down and murder all the Autobots too,

Anyway this got away from me, Im just writing thoughts down before I lose em

*High Posting*

[sirfrogsworth]

So, when the auction went live, I did not know they were going to combine our stuff with other estates. And I just quickly skipped over all the stuff that wasn't my mom's.

The cover image for the auction rotates to a new thing every time you visit the page. And the other day I noticed it was a crucifix.

We are not really the crucifix types. We abandoned our Catholicism many years ago. But I was curious what stuff was being sold along side our stuff. And that curiosity turned into a journey.

There is this lovely book on the St. Louis County of Police. You may remember them from such historical events as the Fergason riots.

FUN!

Perhaps you are a connoisseur of fine artwork...

This is an autographed pencil sketch and perfect likeness of Jackie Smith.

Who is Jackie Smith, you might ask?

Apparently he is a St. Louis football star, back when we had a football team.

I must say, they really captured his hair. Though I'm not sure he actually had the world's longest upper lip.

What's next?

Okay, kids. You can both have your own fork, but you have to share the knife.

Anything else of interest?

It's a cool sign, but I don't have any caves where I store men.

Next up...

Well, that is some fun nostalgia.

Wait a second... ENHANCE!

Trying to sneak a cursed emo troll in the mix. That's just unprofessional auctioneering.

Okay, with these tapes you could have awesome abs, buns of steel, a world class bum AND legs, total body weight loss, some classic cartoons, and hours of a very shiny closeted gay man dancing to old music.

"But Froggie, I don't have a VCR to watch all of these wonderful tapes!"

Bam! Lot 241!

You could be a highly entertained crazy fit smoke show in no time. What a bargain.

Are you having fun? I'm having fun. Let's see the next quirky item...

Ummmmmmmm...

Would you mind hanging on for a second while I google something? I'll be right back, I promise.

*frantic googling noises*

Okay, I'm back. In case you were wondering... a psychological profile and speculative fiction.

So, history buff, not a Nazi. We're all good.

I'm glad we got all of the possibly problematic items out of the way.

"We have fig leaves at home!"

The fig leaves at home.

Perhaps the item description can clear up what is happening here.

Fair enough.

Surely it can't get any creepier than tha...

After seeing this I immediately texted my bestie...

Okay, let's go to the description to figure this out.

Lab equipment?

JUDGE OF WHAT?

This is not helpful either. Maybe if we took a look under the hood.

Yeah, I don't know what I thought I could discern from that.

My best guess is a 70s prosthesis for mastectomies. Back when they didn't care about comfort or sweating or realistic skin tones. Or the needs of women.

I think we can end things there.

Just so you are aware, the auction has been extended to February 15th. So you still have time to bid.

Items can be shipped, but if you have any concerns about shipping, I would highly suggest calling "Goin' Postal" before placing a bid. The auction says to call 636-456-1853 and ask for Lisa.

(I probably wouldn't name a business "goin' postal" but apparently it is a franchise and Lisa had nothing to do with that.)

Mom's Antiques Auction

I wasn't sure if I should post this or not, but we are trying to auction off a lot of my mom's antiques. This particular auction isn't being held at my house, so I figured it was safe to post here.

The auction will be live until 2/13/24 with a "soft close" starting at 7pm Central. That's when items will be sold a few at a time as people place their final bids. It's just like a live auction without a fast talking fella in a cowboy hat. If you try to bid at the last second, that extends the time by 60 seconds so someone else can try to outbid. It's actually kind of exciting to watch.

If you are in the St. Louis area, you can pick up items at the auction place the day after the auction ends. If you miss the pickup window you forfeit the item. Auction rules are no joke.

Otherwise, they can do shipping but I don't know if they do anything outside the US. You can check out the shipping info and call for more details.

This auction is actually for multiple estates. So not all of these items belonged to my mom. Her stuff is from Lot 406 to 660 and in the furniture section at the end from Lot 978 to 999. The link above should take you to the start of her collection (page 17).

There are some really cool uranium glass items—including this knife.

I had no idea that was in the display cabinet. I might have kept it if I had known, but I'm hoping people will think it is super cool and it will go for a good price.

I know that website looks like it is from the 90s, but everything is legit. We already did one auction and it went very well and everyone got what they paid for.

On a personal note, it was surreal watching them remove everything that had surrounded me for all of my life. I know it was too much for me to maintain and take care of, but nearly every one of these antiques has a memory attached to it. Most of the items will go to the auction fandom—which I had no idea existed. Pro auction people sell to hobbyists. Big auctions turn into little auctions. It's like an auction feedback loop where each auction hobbyist thinks they can flip the item for a little more money. They even have little auction meetups to show off things they got for a steal because one auction person didn't know the value of something. It's quite competitive and they like telling auction stories (whether you are interested or not).

All that is to say, I know not everything is going to a home where someone will take over custodianship of the cool things my mom collected. But it would be neat if some folks outside the auction fandom got some of her precious wares.

Hopefully with the money raised I can restore my emergency fund, which lasted all of a month after the last auction due to a busted battery and leaky-ass tires. Also, there will probably be a few more auctions after this as my mom collected antiques for nearly 40 years.

Speaking of asses, this golfing piggy bank game does not work very well (I could never get the coin in the hole), but I only ever saw it displayed from the other side and never realize all the junk in that trunk.

[acerikus]

On 'saving' Asriel

I think the thing that gets me the most about the 'ralsei and/or deltarune is a creation that comes from our (as players) desires to save asriel, based on what little we really know of him' theory is like... If we did true pacifist, we already saved Asriel.

Let's talk about the epilogue.

No matter how Asriel spun it at the end of true pacifist, turning back into a flower didn't magically take away everything he learned and felt. He tells us not to reset again and to let frisk live their life, he says he can't go through all of that again.

And last year, Toby gave us the alarm clock app dialogue, where it was confirmed that Flowey also got to go to the surface. Look at his cute lil bow! He likes it.

I recommend taking a look through all of his dialogue here, it really shines a light on what he's like on the surface in a way that I think proves something - even if he lost feelings when he originally became a flower, this Flowey? He cares. He doesn't wanna show it, of course. He has a reputation to uphold in this timeline.

But he daydreams about the shiny new bike he wishes he could have for Christmas. He sees his mother passed out in the garage, tuckered out after partying and gets her back home and tucked in, and leaves her a glass of water as overfilled as he and chara always used to do it as kids. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if that bow he's wearing is from papyrus.

Yeah, Flowey doesn't wanna show he cares and hides it behind acting edgy and mean spirited in an almost tsundere fashion, but... Realistically, would a 'saved' Asriel be much different? I think people forget sometimes that Asriel was an asshole for most of his fight - he didn't just magically regain the ability to love and become the Sweet Golden Child we see him as. He wanted to keep killing us, to keep resetting and continuing the 'game'.

What really gave him pause was being reminded of his past, of growing up with chara and the love and kindness of his family. And, after telling himself he didn't feel anything for so long, and that he just wanted chara back because they could 'understand' him like this... Of course it was enough to break the dam. He was overwhelmed - he's not felt like this in so long, and it's so, so much. His capability to love didn't magically return as soon as he became a goat, so I don't think it'd have to immediately fade just bc he became a flower again, either. It's never outright stated as fact that you can't love without a soul, it's just his assumption.

But no matter what - this is a part of him. He's reset countless times, done everything he could think of, became desensitised to anything people would do or say or feel... He's seen it hundreds of times before, and it lost its charm. Flowey was always Asriel, and when he first woke as a flower he was still this scared, crybaby child who wanted his parents.

So let's say we 'saved' him in the undertale universe and he miraculously became a goat again... Then what? You think the twisted sense of humour he's developed over time is vanishing because he's a goat again? That he's gonna instantly unlearn acting like he doesn't care, or easily getting fed up with people are talking? Nah, not when he see settles, and can just be himself. Flowey is Asriel.

Think of the amalgamates. They were all people who fell down, and became victims of a life saving experiment that went horribly, horribly wrong and put them through something truly horrible for who-knows-how-long. But at the end of true pacifist? We welcomed them anyway, and they were accepted by their families even with how much they'd changed. They died and yet they got a second chance with their loved ones. We considered that enough.

Flowey is no different. Asriel died and became an amalgamate (albeit in a different way), but he got his second chance with his family. Sure, he doesn't have arms or legs now and he can't ride that bike, but he's still himself. He's still the kid who overfilled that glass because he was copying his sibling and he's still that little boy who loves his mother very much.

We already saved Asriel, and in a post epilogue world, he's going forth without the threat of resets and time loops, only one life left to enjoy and make the most out of, dialogue and friendships and people being fresh and new and one time only. He's fed up of our influence and wants undertale's world to be left in peace, player-free. He can work through it in his own way, and he will still be who he is, who he's grown up to be.

But bringing this back to deltarune, to the idea of us trying to 'save' him even now, by wanting more... Whatever we'd get back wouldn't be him, not really. We rejected that in persuit of an idealised version of him who never existed. Anything we get back wouldn't truly be the same character we spent so much time with in undertale.

That in itself feels like a tragedy.

[astralwaifu]

hi! can you do platonic dabi with a friend/sister figure reader and how he shows his affection to her? one night she just comes to him and tells him she is grateful that she met him and cares about him? have a nice day!!

hi!! I love this request so much, I can’t wait to write for Dabi!! I’ll try to make it as realistic as possible. I hope you like it! 💞

Dabi with platonic friend/sister figure! Reader

genre: fluff, angst and a little crack?

warnings: possible spoilers for Dabi’s identity, but everyone knows, swear words, small mentions of wounds and a little blood - nothing serious

a/n: I really liked this request so it became a longer work, since I am a sucker for the chosen family trope. Requests - open!

════════════════════════

Dabi doesn’t know when this ‘thing’ started, but he didn’t really mind it. After all, it actually felt nice to be needed. ...when did he start to get soft? He cringes at that thought.

At first, you didn’t raise much interest in him. Another kid let down by hero society, forced to live an inhumanly life as an outcast. What new? He had to live through the same thing, if not even worse. Who pitied him?

As the days passed, he couldn’t help notice how you reminded him of his own family, one that felt for him long-forgotten. You were kind and caring like Fuyumi, always making sure that that little Toga psycho didn’t get into too much problems. You also reminded him of Natsuo, not taking shit from anyone and standing your ground, your ideals... You also tried multiple times to talk to him, get close to the burnt man, ending up completely annoying him.

He still internally smiled when you did that. ‘Why did you care about him?’ he genuinely thought.

It was after one of your missions, that the older brother rose in him. You were bruised and had a lot of cuts in your skin. Not to mention how exhausted you looked. Next to you, Toga ,just as disheveled as you, was grinning ear to ear : “We ran into a hero!” she smiled, running to her room. Your right eyelid twitched nervously a few times. “Hey, y/n!” the man shouted from across the room, where he was sitting in an extremely unusual position in the armchair. “Let’s get you patched up” he stood up and walked to you. “How can you stay like that in the chair?” you asked. “Don’t be a smart-ass” he scoffed.

From then, he started to be closer to you in a brotherly way, something none of you expected. The others from the League were equally as surprised: “You sure you didn’t know eachother before?”

Dabi is not good with words. Nor is he affectionate. He is a cold-blooded criminal and an arsonist. He doesn’t care for others! Except for you. He kept saying he wouldn’t, yet here he is dragging a 16 year old along in his missions so he makes sure they don’t get hurt.

You started to notce this. And also the fact that on every mission of your own, he would follow you like a shadow. However, you didn’t mind this scary dog privilege. You found it funny and you teased him about it.

He also showed affection through teasing. The banter could go for hours and could end just as easily when someone else walked in. It also led to a lot of fights. During those moments, his first thoughts are to grab a knife and chase you around the base with it. ‘This kid really made her way into your scarred empty heart, didn’t she? Tone it down with the older brother act, you can’t have people this close to you.” he used to tell himself.

Good thing he didn’t actually listen to himself. In time he started to grow more and more attached to you, bringing you stuff from missions (stuff he totally didn’t steal) or taking you to light shit on fire (he turned you into his little arsonist doll) or simply listening to you ramble about your day.

He also needed you, even if he would rather die than admit it. You always took his side in arguments with Shigaraki, even if later you would tell him he was wrong. You brought him lunch when you remembered and helped him wound his new scars.

Tonight you were cleaning his staples, making sure they don’t get infected. You carefully rubbed every each medical staple with the saline solution on your Q-tip. Your hands were so gentle against his rough purpleish skin. He almost couldn’t feel them, that’s how bad his skin was damaged. His thoughts raced through his mind: is this how it felt to have a family? To have someone count on you and count on them too? Is this...how it felt to be loved by someone, despite what you did? He couldn’t quite pinpoint that feeling, it has been ages since he hasn’t experienced any kind of affection... But you were the closest thing to that, the closest thing to a family, you became ... his sister ... he silently chuckled at that thought. He was getting to soft.

As you were packing your things and got up to leave his room, he whispered quietly: “Thank you...”.

You were quite surprised.

“There is no need to thank me, I’d do it anytime. Might sound crazy to you, but I really care for you, Dabi. ...you’re like the older brother I’ve never had...”

He stared at you back in shock.

“I really am grateful for meeting you. It feels ... nice to have a family again... Even if you might not feel that way, I can’t pretend I don’t see you as such....” you smiled at him, closing the door .“Well, good night”.

Dabi’s heart might as well have stopped beating. Family? Yes, it was. Not pretend-family as you’ve thought, but real, chosen one. His mind went back and forth, trying to focus, but he couldn’t. What were those emotions? What was he feeling?...

Dabi can’t cry, his lacrimal glands are burnt, but that night he couldn’t help feel the small drops of blood coming endlessly from his purple damaged eyebags, as he drifted to sleep.

Family.

[boldlyvoid]

can u do a blurb about reader wanting a baby and asking her co-worker Spencer to be the donor because he's smart and nice and she wants a cute baby?

you said blurb and i read 2K word fic apparently lmao

Late nights behind a desk were the worst. Y/N hated reading over case file, after case file, of horrific things as she tried to choose where they went next.

The only plus side was that she wasn’t alone, Spencer was at his desk just beside her. Like he always was. They had an interesting friendship, to say the least.

Ever since Y/N joined the BAU, Spencer and her were glued at the hip. They had all the same interests, liked the same music and movies, and they spat out information the same way, they were like each other’s dorky other half— but it was just a friendship.

They had a tradition to watch at least one movie together after a case, to just chill for a bit together. Always randomly picking one of their apartments to go to, spending the night together until one of them eventually wandered off to bed. Leaving the other on the couch.

They weren’t aware of their feelings for each other for a while. Both of them being so used to being alone, and never having anyone be interested in them before. It was hard to understand if the feelings they had were pure friendship, or if it could ever be more. If the sex would fuck everything up and take away that perfect happy place they found in each other, or would it make the bond stronger?

She noticed the crush before Spencer showed any signs of liking her back. She woke up every morning thinking of him, that's when she came to the conclusion that it was more than just a friendship. She wanted him in her life forever, she wanted to kiss his perfect lips and hug his soft body, wake up beside his messy hair and just love him for the rest of eternity.

She sighed as she picked up another file, not excited to learn about the horrible acts taking place in what people called, “the best country in the world.” She’d disagree any day of the week.

This one was a file about some missing kids apparently being spotted in a van altogether in Georgia, it looked interesting enough to be the next case. She hated reading all the info, seeing every kid's happy face in the file knowing that’s not how they looked now.

“Good god,” she groaned as she flipped through the case.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer asked over the divider.

“Nothing,” she shrugged, “just a bad case.”

She handed it to him over the desk, hearing him flip through all the sheets as he read a million words a minute. “We should show this to Emily first thing,” Spencer agreed, pushing himself over to her desk in his wheely chair.

“I will,” she smiled softly, taking the file back from him and placing it on her desk.

Spencer stood then, making his way into her space and rubbing his hand over her back slightly. “Are you okay?”

She sighed, “actually. no, I was telling Garcia I want to have a baby soon, and then I see things like this and I’m scared to do it alone but I don’t have any other option?” Ranting to him like he was her therapist.

“What do you mean?”

She turned in her chair to look up at him, his soft brown eyes really caring to hear the answer. “Sit,” she insisted.

He pulled the chair over more, sitting close enough that their knees touched. “I’m 36, I’m not having any luck finding a husband or a wife, I want a baby and if I have to do it myself I will, but what if I’m not enough? What if I have a boy and he grows up to be a killer cause he never had a dad?”

“Y/N,” Spencer’s voice was soft as he looked at her with a confused scrunch on his face. “That couldn’t happen, you’re a wonderful person, I love having you on the team and in my life, I know you’d raise good kids, you should do it.”

“Really?” She beamed at him, the words touching her heart and making her swoon a bit.

“I mean, it would be hard,” he added reason to the conversation. “You’d have to take time off, which would be good for bonding. My mother raised me alone and I turned out semi-fine, I don't hold any resentment for her not finding someone for me to call dad or even step-mom for that matter. I think if you give them all the love in the world like I know you’re capable of, your child will love you like you’re their whole world.”

She laughed as she noticed the tears welling in her eyes, waving her hand's in front of her face so she wouldn’t fully sob. “Do you want to be the donor?” She made a joke to change the topic.

Spencer laughed then too, “sure!”

Everything got serious again then, she looked at him a little differently. “Really? Cause honestly, you’re like a Grade A donor profile in the most expensive clinic!” She couldn’t help herself from laughing again at the absurdity.

“I’ve always wanted to be a dad, 40 isn’t too old to have a child, is it?” He seemed to have decided that rather fast.

“Okay,” she nodded with a smile, “okay. That’s cool, sick,” she felt the words get smaller as she thought it over.

“I get it if you were kidding,” Spencer spat out. “I realize now that you might have been making a joke, I hope it’s not weird that I agreed so fast, it’s just that I think you’re a very beautiful and smart woman and the idea of helping you make a child makes me really excited. I think it would be a very good idea if you were being serious, but I get it if you’re not.”

She let him get it all out, always loving when he got like this on a case or in person, nervous or just because he wanted to talk, she loved to listen. And no one ever let him finish his thoughts, always wanting to beat him to the punch.

“Spence, I think you’re really handsome and smart too,” she smiled. “If you’re also serious, I am too.”

“How would we?” He asked as he pulled at the top button of his dress shirt, swallowing like he couldn't breathe all of a sudden.

“If you’re not opposed, I’m sure the good old-fashioned way would work?” She laughed, laying her hand on his knee softly.

It was like sparks flew at that moment as if all the fluorescent lights in the bullpen could have exploded and she wouldn’t have even noticed. Captivated by Spencer's eyes as he gasped at her touch.

“Not opposed in the slightest,” he said softly as he held his own hand over hers.

She couldn’t help herself from smiling. “Well, I think I’m all done here if you want to come to my place for a movie?”

“Sure,” he replied, offering her a hand as they stood up together.

He returned his chair to his desk, both of them grabbing their coats and bags and rejoining at the door.

“I should go say goodnight to Penny,” Y/N said softly. “Wanna come?”

“Yeah,” he followed her through the door and down the hall to the tech room.

“Knock knock,” Y/N said as she walked through the open door. “Oh great and knowledgeable one, I’ve come with my nightly farewell.”

“Oh my knight, I shall miss you,” Penelope played along, sauntering over to her and wrapping her up in a hug. “I leave you with this until your return.”

“Through scorching deserts, and blistering winds, I will make it back to you, always,” she tried not to laugh as she hugged her back. “I also brought forth the jester.”

Spencer was laughing in the doorway as the two of them looked at him, “hi?”

“The pretty boy, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Um,” Y/N smiled, “Spencer and I are just going back for our nightly movie.”

Penelope looked at both of them, jaw slightly gaped, “nightly? I thought it was a case by case thing?”

“It’s a good excuse for us to talk,” Spencer smiled at her.

“Mhmm,” she smirked, “well have fun.”

She pulled Y/N back into another hug, hiding her face from Spencer, “I need all the dirty deets in the morning.”

Y/N smacked her arm softly as she pulled back, “goodnight pretty penny.”

“Farewell brave knight, handle with care, Jester,” Penelope pointed her finger at him, giving him a knowing glance.

“Yes, oh Knowledgeable one, always,” he blushed.

He reached out his hand for Y/N, interlocking their fingers as they left her office and headed towards the elevator. A rare moment of bravery on his part, holding hands like this didn’t spread a lot of germs.

“We’re going to have to discuss a lot of logistics like realistically this isn’t going to be just a fuck and oh look its a baby. This is a real live baby that we need to raise and care for,” she reminded him as the elevator doors shut.

“I’d like to be as involved as you’d let me be,” Spencer replied. “I don’t have to be 'dad' to them, I could be uncle Spence that’s fine too.”

“Oh no, you’d be Dad for sure,” she nudged him slightly. “I mean like, weekends and holidays and birthdays, your mom will want to see them surely, my parents will want to see them. Housing,” she looked at him horrified. “I have an apartment with 2 bedrooms, I don’t think I could let them sleep somewhere without me.”

“I have been looking at houses,” Spencer added before the doors opened to the garage, “you’re driving right?”

“Yeah, you were saying?” She replied, digging her keys out of her purse and leading him towards the car.

“Derek Morgan, I’m not sure if you’ve met him yet, he fixes up old homes in DC and Virginia now. He just finished one and I helped him with it. I think I’m going to buy it from him. It has 4 bedrooms, we could all live under the same roof? It would be easier to co-parent.”

She was amazed at how fast he adapted to this as if he’d been having the same thoughts she was having. At a certain point wanting kids becomes a pipe dream filled with desperation and emptiness, he looks like he’s experienced it too.

She opened her door and sat down before replying to him again. Thinking about how wonderful he was going to be during this process, “thank you, Spencer.”

“For what?” He asked as they both closed their doors.

She sighed, relaxing into her seat as she started the car. She turned to him softly, not wanting to cry as she spoke softly. “Being a mom is more of a dream to me than joining the BAU was, this is the best gift you could give me.”

He reached his hand out again, holding it softly. Running his thumb over her knuckles. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah,” she nodded softly.

He couldn’t make eye contact with her, staring at their hands as he rubbed her skin.

“Um, I’ve been pretty infatuated with you since you joined,” he let it out finally. Like a ton of bricks off his back he relaxed a bit, “after everything with Maeve, Cat and Max… oh god, and JJ... I was so worried that if I got too close to you I’d lose you. I tried to keep the feelings in, that's why I said what I did to Penelope. She knows how I feel about you.”

It was like fireworks were going off in her chest as the butterflies erupted inside of her. She sat up, turning to him more and ripping her hand from his grasp.

It startled him, he looked at her anxiously as if she was going to yell at him. But she placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled him into a kiss.

His arms snaked around her waist, wishing they could get closer if it wasn’t for the damn centre console of her car. Pressing their lips together, hard, as they breathed each other in. Desperation taking control, she wasn’t able to let go of him.

When she finally did pull away, however, the look on his face was priceless. Like expensive art, every line and freckle had a meaning. He was surprised, enamoured, grateful, desperate for more.

She smiled softly, rubbing her thumbs over his cheek. “Good, cause it would be awkward having your baby and not getting to love you every day too.”

taglist: @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

[Start Clip Text] CN: Oh, by the way, I didn't tell you, did I? I have a girlfriend. LB: Really, that's so awesome! CN: No, it's not awesome at all. I just said that to make you jealous. LB: I can't be in love with you, Chat Noir, you know that. CN: Yeah, yeah, I get it, but it still hurts. [End Clip Text]

[Start Image text] I was kinda thinking about this and similar scenes while rewatching. I feel like he has a tendency to like - I don't feel like 'self-harm is the right word - but like, I feel like he tends to fish for certain reactions from people, especially Ladybug, even knowing it's just going to hurt him. Like, when he sits out the akuma attack and watches the news coverage where they ask lb where he is and she answers something like 'he's a partner like any other it's like he's hoping she'll cry and beg on TV for him to come back even if, realistically, what she said might have been the best PR wise or the rooftop date, yknow. Even Plagg said, "You're in a hurry to get stood up"/ I feel like he wants someone to beg him to be around, but realistically, you can't like test people like that. Idk if any of this makes sense. [End image text]

So, Chat Noir absolutely has a tendency to do shit tests where he's looking for Ladybug to validate his self-worth. It's a thing that many people (especially teens) do without realizing what they're doing, making it a fantastic character flaw for a teenager. Especially a teenager with his background. The problem is that the show doesn't treat it as a flaw or, at least, not in a way that really drives the lesson home.

The only time that the show almost treats it as a flaw is in Kuro Neko, where Chatwalker drops this (very accurate) line: "There's nothing wrong with you. Maybe the boy who was Cat Noir was more sensitive than it seemed. But his feelings for you shouldn't force you to pay more attention to him than to others. You take care of everybody equally, Ladybug. Now I want to take care of you." But that line is severely undermined by the season 4 final and by the way that Plagg treats Marinette in Kuro Neko, blaming her for not reading Chat Noir's mind and acting like one of her guardian duties is to make sure that Chat Noir feels special when compared to the other Chosen.

It makes it very confusing as to who is supposed to be in the wrong here, especially when you consider that the show has been keeping Chat Noir in the dark since the days of Fu and has really not given Marinette a good reason to break that status quo. Every reveal ends with the world being destroyed, so she needs to trust him, but not too much, just enough to validate, but not enough to end the world. Totally reasonable!

There's also the problem that the show frames these moments as romantic or at least moments where we're supposed to feel bad for Chat Noir/Adrien. Another one is Galciator 2.0 where we see Adrien crying over Ladybug turning him down again even though she has always made her feelings very clear. It's like the text doesn't get that Adrien is the one with the flaw here. The one who needs to grow.

That's not to say that Ladynette is perfect or that Adrichat is the worst. They're both flawed, but with room to grow and I legitimately love the setup for both characters. This is, to me, a writing flaw where someone behind the pen clearly doesn't understand what is healthy and what is concerning when it comes to romance. If this was treated as a flaw and if Adrien was allowed to grow, then it would have been an amazing lesson for kids and I really love when fanfics take the time to teach that lesson. Adrien's not a bad kid, he's just sheltered and working off of idealized concepts of romance instead of realistic ones. Something that everyone does when they're young.

I think about this scene all the time and I don't think its talk about enough tbh