#the parallels gave me actual chills

[nostalgicninjas]

EVERY SAM AND TORY SCENE/MENTION (52/?)

“The Rise” — Cobra Kai Season 4 Episode 10

Full All Valley Fight || Part 1 || Part 2

[olsenmyolsen]

A**holes With Cameras

master list

dark master list

Actress AU (Female Reader X Actress Wanda Maximoff) I know, I know! another one??? yes!!!

Summary: As you head to your new gym, you spot your favorite actress and an annoying member of the paparazzi.

Word Count: 2.7K

Content: Fluff, paparazzi, men, flirting

You sighed as you finally parked your car after trying to parallel park on the street for about five minutes. 

It was Wednesday.

What should be the third day of your workout week was actually your first. You had been too tired to go on Monday, and honestly, yesterday, you didn't remember your promise to yourself until you were brushing your teeth after dinner.

But now here you were at the gym.

Well, technically, you were still outside of it. But this had been the closest you had been to a gym in a while.

And it's not like you were unhealthy or that you lived a terrible diet or life. It's just that you wanted to help your body before it was too late. Plus, if your Almond Mom made one more comment during your monthly FaceTime call, you would actually lose it.

So here you sat in your car on the outskirts of the city of stars outside of a gym your friend of a friend Darcy Lewis hooked you up with.

However, before you could step out, a man in an ugly shirt and fugly jeans ran up and placed his body onto the hood of your car. "What the fuck!" You yelled as the man pulled out a camera with a long lens and zoomed in on a person walking across the street at the end of the block.

An Emmy Nominated Actress and the internets Mother: Wanda Maximoff.

You found yourself stunned to see her as you looked out and to the back from your driver's side window. Your mind thinking of every piece of media and content you LOVE! While the other part of you is squealing on the inside as your stomach does flip after flip.

How the fuck was she a model in just street clothes and gym wear???

Your thoughts of Wanda came to a screeching halt when, all of a sudden, you heard this agitating male voice. "Come on, Wanda! Smile for once!" The man on the hood of your car moved off and took picture after picture of Wanda as she passed by and entered your new favorite gym.

The sight and grin of the bald man made your blood boil.

So, as he admired his pictures, you honked your horn and gave him a good scare before grabbing your phone and water bottle and exiting your car. "What the hell was that?"

The man looks you over and tilts his head. "Excuse me?"

"Excuse me?" You mock back. "Yeah, excuse you, dude! First, you climb all over my car that I'm still actively paying off! Then you just harass and take pictures of somebody??" You bark at the man as you walk onto the sidewalk.

"Chill, it's just pictures." He rolls his eyes and starts walking away from you. "Still not right, you asshole!" You yell even if you secretly love them whenever you see them on social media. But you raise your head high and watch the man walk away before you enter the gym.

The lady behind the desk looks at you with a smile. "You tell him!" She sends you a thumbs up as you smile and shake your head before scanning the special gym card Darcy had to give you.

It was metal. Like what??

Anyways. You smile and walk into the large, spacious gym. It plays quiet music as you step onto the floor. Mostly, everybody you walk past on the way to the treadmill is too busy with their music and AirPods.

Shit, you forgot yours.

You sigh, hating the thought of being alone with your own ones. Still, you set your phone and water bottle down as you hit some buttons on the treadmill. "Woah!" You jolt as the belt suddenly kicks the speed up as it slowly starts.

You chuckle nervously to yourself and look around in case anyone saw you.

No one did but one person.

But they'll show up in a second. Because right now, your eyes found the bald-ass paparazzi douche through the window waiting across the street. You let out a deep, upset sigh through your nose and gave him a glare he couldn't see before your view became obstructed.

A side profile from a face sculpted by the goddesses themselves distracts your pretty eyes as Wanda Maximoff sets up on the treadmill next to you.

She briefly glances at you before she puts in her AirPods and starts up her treadmill. You don't mean to, but you stare longer than you should before finding yourself moving down the treadmill.

You snap out of her stunning trance on you and begin your workout.

Although you'd be lying if you said it was easy to concentrate on anything other than the tremendous and beautiful Wanda Maximoff. Because your eyes kept moseying on back to her again and again, you tried to stop and be normal, but your thoughts became clouded with questions.

Should I say hi?

Do I even talk to her?

How is her garden doing?

Will she ever stop wearing that row bag?

"Excuse me?" The voice of an angel forces your eyes up and over. Wanda Maximoff removes an AirPod from her ear and looks at you before she starts speaking again. "You're the one who yelled at the paparazzi, right?"

Wanda knew it was you. She watched you yell at him before she scurried off earlier.

You nod. "Ye-yeah, that was me!" You immediately feel embarrassed by your overzealous nature before closing your eyes and sighing. You open them back up and smile at Wanda, who has the corner of her lips curled up. "Yes, that was me."

Wanda nods. "Well, thank you. It's awful to deal with them." She says as you nod. You could imagine. Her twin brother Pietro also deals with it. The Maximoffs are kind of a household name after their sister Polaris started on a show when she was a baby. "Yeah, I'm sorry you have to." You politely respond and give her a sympathetic smile before she waves you off. "I chose to become famous."

"Yeah, but that doesn't give those assholes with cameras any right." You speak, making her pull her lips in with a surprised look. "Sorry." You say after a second or two. But Wanda shakes her head. "No, you're completely right. Sorry for my face. It's just... it's just nice to have someone be so candor..."

You knew all about Wanda's ex and how they cheated on her.

You offer a smile before looking at the window. Wanda doing the same following your eye-line. "Well, it appears I didn't tell him off enough." Wanda hums and turns back to you. She looks at her AirPods. "Do you want one?"

The bald man leaves your eyesight as you look at the darling actress of your life. "I- uh, no, yeah. Yeah. Thank you." Your hands shake slightly as you take it and place it in your right ear. Wanda notices the nervousness coming from you but doesn't want to bring it up and make it worse. "Do you have anything in particular you'd like to listen to?" She asks, her voice soft after speeding up her treadmill

"No. I'm down for whatever." You answered honestly as your brain caught up to the fact that you were talking and being friendly with THE Wanda Maximoff.

Wanda hits shuffle on her Spotify before looking up to you. "Well, I hope you like The Guardians." She says as an 80's inspired synth slowly starts filling your ear before an electric guitar breaks through and a man's voice starts singing about his girlfriend. "I've never heard them!"

Wanda looks back at you. "What!?" She looks shocked. "Peter Quill, Drummer Drax, Guitarist Gamora..?" Wanda says, hoping that something would click by offering you some context of the band members.

You shake your head.

Wanda grabs her phone. "Oh my gosh. Okay. I know what we're listening to!" She queues up the band's first album, simply titled Vol. 1.

You can't help but smile.

Fuck she really was as lovely and as charming as everyone always described her.

"I've become obsessed." She says, putting her phone down. "I can tell." You joke, making her playfully roll her eyes.

Was this flirting? Oh god, am I finally doing it??

"Carol Danvers got me hooked onto them."

That name made a ding go off in your brain, and words fell from your mouth before you could stop them.

"Oh yeah, you're doing a movie together!"

You tensed up quickly after saying that. Now Wanda would know you were not just a regular fan or avid watcher. You were an 'I have updates on my phone about things you do' type of fan.

Wanda looks to you before turning down the music one or two clicks. "Oh... I didn't realize you were such a fan." She says a little coldly to her warm words from moments ago. You stumble over your words. "Yeah- no, I mean, yes, I am a fan and know who you are, but- j- just forget I said anything or ruined this nice moment." You close your eyes and feel awful before turning away to avoid her precious green eyes if they looked at you.

The music goes back up with a click.

You sigh.

And a moment passes.

"We actually finished the movie already." Wanda offers, making you look back at her. "Oh really?" She nods, and you can tell in those same green eyes that the moment between you two isn't lost. "So, a fan, huh?" You nod sheepishly as her eyes look over your face. "I would've yelled at the asshole outside regardless of if it was you or not, by the way."

Wanda likes that and chuckles a little bit. "Well, I appreciate that. Is he still there?"

You look at the window and nod. "Well, you can yell at him some more later when you walk me to my car," Wanda says without facing you. She bites back a smile. You feel your cheeks flush. "You got it." You say and focus on getting your steps in as your face reddened.

"By the way..." You look to your left. "It's okay that you're a fan, honestly. It's just sometimes nice to forget and... and to have people talk to you for you." You nod and, after a couple of quiet seconds, stick your hand out to her. "I understand. I'm Y/n."

Wanda realizes she never got your name and sends an apologetic smile. "I'm Wanda." Her soft hand shakes yours before letting go. The touch sends shivers down your sides before you smile. "Let me guess." You start. "You have the look of someone who sings for a living?" Wanda smiles and lets out a loud laugh. Shaking her head and ducking her face when people around the gym look to her. "How did you guess?" She says, making you shrug with a grand look and smile. Enjoying this second chance. Even as you two lie about her profession. "Just had a feeling."

That feeling would transform into jokes and continuous small talk as you two completed your workouts together. Well, actually, you just did whatever Wanda did, which was a struggle. Her past roles in those superhero movies really upped her body fitness.

"So, how come I've never seen you at this gym before?" Wanda asked as sweat covered the both of you while she refilled her water bottle. "Did you just move here?" Wanda asks with a glint in her eyes. You shook your head. "No, I live around." You missed a smile Wanda got for one second. "I know a friend of a friend, and they got me in." Wanda nods. "Well..." She puts the top on her bottle. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

"Me too." You say like that wasn't evident as you hide your blush. But Wanda sees it like all the other ones today. Wanda knows and shares the friendly/flirty smile you send her before she leads the two of you to the doors outside.

"Shit, I almost forgot about him," Wanda mumbles as the egghead starts to take pictures of the two of you. Wanda, putting on her sunglasses, gestures for you to follow her. You join in step with her.

"Just ignore him." She mumbles as you walk closer and closer to her car. And you do ignore him and his need for attention until you feel like he crosses a line.

He brings up Wanda's ex, and you see her cringe and tense up. "It's old news! Now come on and smile!" He shouts and treats her like a dog, sending you into a blind rage as you, without thinking, shove your phone and water bottle into Wanda's hand and turn back to the man several yards away.

"Hey, Blob!" You shout, attacking how he looks. Which you would never do but fuck he deserved it as you stepped closer and closer. The man drops the camera from his eye to around his neck as Wanda and him watch you encroach. "Leave Wanda the fuck alone before the last thing that camera sees is your ass!"

The man sneers. "Touch me or the camera, and I'll see you in court." You watch him smirk and go to lift his camera back up. "That's what I thought."

Wanda watches it all unfold as you look back at her and at the man before you lift your hand. Careful not to touch him or his stupid ass camera but instead the strap around his neck. Wanda watches as, with one simple click, the strap comes undone, and his camera slips out of his hand.

Smashing onto the floor.

The man stands shocked at the damage before he steps forward. "I didn't touch you." You say with a shit-eating grin. "You fucking wrecked my camera!?" He cries out, making you smile wider. "No, I didn't. You dropped it."

You are never one for confrontation or smug comments, but there was something about Wanda and this disgusting man that made your need to protect shoot off like a flare in the night.

Plus, maybe that feeling of justice sent you flying back to Wanda's side.

"I've thought about doing something like that a million times." She beamed to you. Through her sunglasses, you couldn't tell how her eyes glossed over your face, but watching you now, something had changed for Wanda. "Well, I'm glad to make your dreams come true."

Wanda laughed as the two of you walked back to her car. Not caring for the man crying on the sidewalk.

"I must know, will you be back at this gym? I might need more cameras smashed." You smile and chuckle. "Yeah. Same time next week?" You said with confidence coursing through you now as adrenaline picked up.

Wanda shook her head as she opened her Prius door. "How about Friday? I know a great spot for some smoothies afterward."

This sounds like a date.

You did your best to hide the overwhelming excitement, but you don't think you did an outstanding job. "That sounds great!"

Wanda loved that. "Here, put your number in." She said, handing you the same device you listened to music with earlier—her phone. You looked up and back down before putting in your number.

You were not about to wake up if this indeed was a dream.

"I'll text you my schedule for Friday. See what time works best for us." Wanda sits in her driver's seat and starts the car. Letting the A/C blow her hair back. "Maybe we'll have to skip the workout and just go straight to smoothies."

You smile. "That wouldn't be so bad."

Wanda smiled back. "I thought so." She winked. "Fan."

You shook your head and closed the door for her before she rolled down her window. "Bye, Y/n!" She playfully sang before pulling out of her spot, blasting Vol. 1.

Wanda looked back at you in the rearview mirror and smiled.

By the time Friday rolled around, Wanda knew the gym wasn't happening and wore an outfit fit for a date.

Smoothies and pizza later in the night.

Wanda made a home-cooked breakfast the next morning.

dividers by @/benkeibea

[chibinasuu2]

One of my favorite ZoSan lore has got to be how their rivalry actually only started in Little Garden.

It wasn't "hate-at-first-sight" for them – believe it or not, Zoro and Sanji were quite amicable when they first met!

Exhibit A: them chilling together at the party post-Arlong Park

Exhibit B: Zoro giving Sanji an "order" at Loguetown and he just said "Got it!!" without a single name-calling or complaint?? Unheard of nowadays.

They had some other civil conversations around that time as well – no bickering in sight!

[spoilers for Little Garden below the cut]

This. This page right here is where everything started.

Ever since that first "contest", they became the ever-bickering, always-head-to-head Zoro and Sanji that we all know and love.

Their rivalry has become such a staple in all of their interactions – a force of habit, a routine, the status quo – and it has been going on for sooo long that I doubt Zoro and Sanji themselves even remember what started it anymore...

Just like another pair of rivals we know (whose 100-year rivalry also started with an argument over who caught the bigger prey).

This obvious Zoro/Sanji–Dorry/Brogy parallel has always been so interesting to me, especially since Dorry and Brogy were very explicitly presented as equals.

Those two giants had had a whopping 73,466 battles by the time the Straw Hats reached Little Garden, and not a single instance had one ever won over the other.

They were equal in strength, and even prior to their feud, they were in equal positions as co-captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates.

This is exactly the dynamic that Oda assigned Zoro and Sanji, presenting them in equal positions as the Wings of the Future Pirate King (probably also why Oda never explicitly stated that Zoro is First Mate)

Zoro and Sanji are also clearly very strong in their own rights, each with their unique abilities and skillsets. I truly believe a full-power battle between them would end up exactly like Dorry and Brogy's: a never-ending duel between two equally matched fighters.

TL;DR – I don't care what powerscalers say, Zoro and Sanji are equals in every sense of the word, period.

[spoilers for Wano and end of Egghead below]

Also, now that Dorry and Brogy are back in the picture, I really hope that Oda would circle around to this rivalry parallel in Elbaf.

I think it would be interesting to see further development in Zoro and Sanji's dynamics that goes beyond "rivals-that-actually-really-care-for-each-other-but-their-egos-are-too-big-to-show-it".

The Death Pact in Wano gave us probably the deepest glimpse so far into the nature of their relationship, showing us, clear as day, the incredible bond between them and just how far their trust for each other goes.

I mean, Dorry and Brogy ended up reconciling at the end of Little Garden and became best buddies again after fighting for one hundred years, so who knows what Oda has planned for ZoSan? I, for one, am really excited to see what he has in store for them in the Final Saga.

[ohwolfling]

Gale, Mystra, and Abuse as Mentorship

(author’s note: this is part of what I hope to be an eventual video essay on godhood/coercion/consent in BG3 - you can see my other work and help fuel this efforts via my ko-fi :) if you're so inclined - and I will of course highly consider suggested deep dives from supporters, as you help me stay alive. I still have not actually finished this game so please go easy on me in regard to spoilers and note that some of what I’m discussing is from lore & knowledge I have as a little DnD gremlin for a decade before Baldur’s Gate 3, thank u, ily)

It’s really something to go through Act I and II of Baldur’s Gate 3 and hear Gale speak about being Mysta’s chosen. The way that Gale speaks of it, of his relationship with the Weave, the way the Weave feels to YOU if you have that moment of magic with Gale… 

You feel that Mystra’s Chosen, however perilous, however imbalanced, is a term of endearment.

And then you see Gale meet with Mystra… and the context of everything Gale has shared with you shifts.

Religious trauma holds obvious weight with most characters in BG3, in subtle and unsubtle ways, but what resonates with me beyond even the queer experience with every flavor of Christianity and Evangelicalism is the way “mentors” use it to mask their own abuse. And yes, some of those mentors are gods. 

Mystra is cold and formal with Gale in a way that reminds me of the abuse typical in art spaces specifically. A mentor who crosses lines of intimacy at their convenience, but is cold to you if they’re in any way displeased. The focus always comes down to YOUR GIFT and how YOU FAILED YOUR GIFT.  This is an easier parallel for me to make because ultimately Gale reads as much as an artist as he does an academic. He’s not just interested in magical academia, he loves the ROMANCE of it. Even the way he speaks of his connection to the Weave smacks of inspiration and artistry, not rigid study and observation, “[...] could not only control the Weave, but compose it, like a musician or a poet.”

I suppose there is validity in interpreting Mystra as a reliable source, maybe she is just like this all the time and Gale was clouded by his service to her, maybe she means everything she says to and offers Gale. But that is not my interpretation (and I think that even in that interpretation there is no redeeming Mystra because she is still wholly uncaring of the serious power imbalance and just… TIME and EXPERIENCE imbalance between herself and a mortal man). 

She tells Gale that what he lacked was patience… What exactly was patience meant to get Gale? Enough magical prowess that he would no longer want to be intimate with her or please her in a human way? Enough knowledge that he would stop requiring a sense of partnership from his god, who first connected to him as a child, who returned from her presumed death (assuming a rough DnD timeline here this is the best case scenario) to take either the initial special interest in him or an increased special interest in him, to teach him with special instruction, to feed off of his own skill or potential, to take him as a lover? Gale did not wish to prove himself to the public at large. Gale wanted to be enough for her. Gale wanted to give to Mystra as Mystra (per her claims and his interpretation) gave to him so that she would take Gale further into her world and be a real partner to him. There is not a level of patience that makes a man seeking an equal partnership with a GOD able to like… be chill about what that must require of him if a lifetime of devotion and proven skill doesn’t? 

This is not to paint Gale as a man without mistakes. Of course he is flawed. Of course his choices are reckless and dumb. But he doesn’t intend to raise himself ABOVE Mystra until the Crown presents itself as an option and Gale sees that he could both save the world- particularly this new found family he cares about in a context outside of the pursuit of Weave academia, I imagine very new for him- and in his mind finally feel a sense of agency outside of his abuser, even if he still can’t really identify her as that*. Gale’s craving for validation and power is not- in my reading of this as a survivor of various DV/CA situations, salt and personal perspective to taste- inherently selfish. It exists BECAUSE of Mystra. Even some of Gale’s stories about chaotic childhood stories, depending on what he means by being connected to it at a young age, could still be from that influence. To modernize this, theater kids dramatically backstabbing theater kids via tattle-tells or sabotage is very often about the atmosphere and choices the drama teacher has on offer. They’re kids adapting to the space that was given to them. 

“But such is Mystra’s Will” - Elminster the Enabler

Elminster provides such a specific frame for this dynamic, too. He is the kinder, more reasonable, more accessible mentor theoretically… but it’s like the “nice” parent in a narcissistic household as far as I’m concerned. Any kindness, leniency, or leveling with Gale is ultimately not about showing Gale kindness or teaching Gale. It is about enabling and supporting Mystra. “Just blow yourself up, you know how she gets.” “Well, you did remind her of Karsus and that hurt her feelings.” That kinda thing. 

If your Tav pushes back the second time Elminster crashes your camp, he says something along the lines of, “yes, her actions seem cold and tyrannical but that’s because you’re a mortal. She’s a god, you can’t judge her actions.” If you made the narrative choices to get that response from Elminster, you and your Tav know that that is, for lack of a more graceful term, complete horse shit. Even the way Elminster approaches Gale and delivers the news is in service of Mystra’s coldness. Elminster appears as more of an equal to Gale, but he twists the knife in ways that Mystra can’t be bothered to. I do not interpret ambushing Gale, demanding comfort and catering, and then delivering the news that Mystra wants Gale to die with half-truths, guilt trips, and tsk-tsks as general wizard eccentricity. That is dickhead behavior. Elminster is not pained to deliver this news. He is honored to be the one chosen to do it. 

Gale’s motivation in pursuing the crown and wielding it himself, as he expresses in the Act III boat scene- and again, I can’t believe people read Gale as blindly ambition or egotistical- is that gods shouldn’t have the power that they do, shouldn’t be able to make us live for them and die for them. He speaks of gods using Ao as a shield or an excuse and in DnD lore I believe Ao is truly the only god that would outrank Mystra. 

If Gale’s orb is truly a fragment created from Karsus’ attempt at godhood, I think we have to question Mystra’s relationship to Karsus. Early on both Gale himself and the game paint parallels between Gale and Karsus. Perhaps being chosen and the power imbalance and grief that entails is implied. For me, the narrative weight is better if it is. She speaks of allowing the orb to feed on the Weave as some sort of temporary measure, some gift to Gale, some great thing she is giving up… but if it is born of the Weave, ultimately, it is enabled by Mystra. 

I don’t mean to imply that Mystra is walking around as a figure of deliberate cruelty. I’m sure in Mystra’s mind she thinks she is fair, measured, and even doting of her “chosens”. But that is not unlike any abuser- particularly in religious contexts, particularly in mentorship contexts- who grooms and crosses lines because they see “potential” in their victims. For Mystra, the potential of her Chosen does not offer them protection. It simply justifies (to her) that she can harness, wield, consume, and control them. Why else would they be so magically inclined, so skilled, so bright, if not for her to do with them as she will? In her mind, as both a goddess and arguably the Weave itself, Mystra may not even think of what she does as harming those below her for her own gain. She may see it as reasonable and necessary sacrifices to preserve magic. I won’t try to summarize 3e to present DnD here, but Mystra has died and been reborn several times, in questionable ways. She is a fractured entity, whatever you consider her, and could very well have indoctrinated HERSELF into the religion of herself, essentially. Mystra is arguably her own cult and cult leader (though almost always aided by Elminster).

Karsus and Coercion

Mystra knows anything and everything that touches the Weave. Gale tells you point blank that Mystra would know he accessed the Karsus text, that just freeing it and reading it would be like shooting up a beacon. How does this interpretation stand if Mystra saw no signs of what she was doing to Gale, did not see him researching her prior death and fracturing? Could the same be true for Karsus?

The Karsus fragments devour the Weave, but why? Do they intend to harm her? Are they desperate for her? Does it feel like agency? Is there an additional parallel between Karsus and Gale here - meaning, as Karsus sought to make himself god-like, to stand above Mystra, perhaps in some way Gale thought bringing Mystra lost fragments of her former self would at the very least mean that Mystra needed him, controlled him, fed off of him in whatever way less? 

By Mystra’s own admission (I have not found this in game, I’m going from some Candlekeep lore and deity guides in 2e to now), those who use the Weave are to love the Weave, to do magic for the love of magic, to constantly explore and create new magic, anything to preserve and empower magic. So assuming that somehow Mystra legitimately has no idea when a Karsus or a Gale is setting out on a precarious path of potential godhood or at least hubris and hamartia, how then is Gale’s pursuit of the lost fragments of Mystra herself a violation? How even is Karsus' invention of his relics doing so? Mystra has the ability to cut the Weave off entirely for people, just as she had the ability the entire time to give the orb within Gale access to the Weave directly. This has me theorizing that perhaps, just as she condemned Gale to die when him EXACTLY FOLLOWING THE PHILOSOPHY SHE HANDED DOWN upset her for whatever reason, perhaps Mystra is why Karsus was pursuing higher magics in the first place, seeking to make up for some access he may have been denied after being suddenly cut off from her? Mystra does not set boundaries or make things clear. To be her Chosen does not seem to be a process of understanding and consent. It is thrust upon mortal men, in Gale’s case a mortal man she pursues a deeper emotional and sexual connection to, and then they are meant to “be patient” and anticipate what is or isn’t acceptable to her. 

And ultimately, I want to end with this, in regards to some middling discourse I keep seeing around Mystra that I think is well-intentioned but disastrous if we apply it to the reality of imbalance power dynamics, abuse, and trauma with any sense of realism** -

Grooming is not just sexual - Mystra being the provider of the magic Gale is naturally inclined to is enough of a power imbalance from the jump. The man repeatedly responsible for enabling new forms of Mystra being a close mentor to Gale and possibly responsible for his education is in itself a gateway of grooming. Institutions and systems use grooming as a tool as well. 

There is not an age at which you become immune to abuse or at which abuse is less abusive. Grooming and harming a teenager is neurologically different from doing so to an adult, but both are still incredibly common, and again, see number one. 

Abuses within any system- be it a church, an outright cult, an educational system, a dojo, a theatre, a volunteer organization- are significantly harder to escape because the isolation and indoctrination are built in. Group-think, the affects of trauma on the brain, etc, legitimately stunt a person’s cognitive development in relationship to the subject. A god waiting until a wizard is of age to fuck him when said wizard has been attuned to and charmed by the magic that is a part of herself since childhood would certainly fall under this category. 

There is not a way that Gale- or any real world person harmed on a scale of toxic relationship to outright abuse- can respond to abuse that legitimizes the introduction of abuse and coercion in the first place.

*note - depending on your Tav’s relationship to Gale, I DO THINK this is something Gale is beginning to identify… His comment when in a romantic partnership with Tav are that essentially everything he thought Mystra was is fading away because she condemned him to die when giving up the crown to her was always on the table, done after a year plus of shutting him out for his “folly,” and he speaks of "tenderness" and "feeling" from Tav, the subtext there being he knows now he never received that from Mystra but I want to leave room in this conversation for folks who didn’t romance Gale or didn’t romance him in service of the Gale the Man is Enough narrative to explore this topic

**Pretend is pretend and a valid way to explore so many things but as a survivor of various kinds of abuse who lives with C-PTSD every day, I think it’s important we apply some level of weight and realism to portrayals of these dynamics, even when the metaphor is literal magic, because 1- how we speak about abusers and the abused in fiction historically reflects our real world feelings on them, often to the point of LEGISLATION and 2- trauma should not be a sandbox for the unscathed to play in more than it should be a space for exploration, catharsis, and perhaps even healing for the many of us who have survived or are trying to survive those dynamics. If you don’t agree with that, that is technically legal but my interpretations will annoy you until the end of time always. 

[backwzzds]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ princess & the frog, trafalgar law

law would do anything to make his little princess happy

thinking about baby daddy!law who’s spending the day at home with his precious girl while you went out with your girls for the night. law constantly worked as a medical student while you stayed home with baby lea, but this time you convinced him to take the day off so you can finally go out.

the hot summer july sun practically shoved its heat inside the house as the AC did nearly nothing to keep the atmosphere chilled. law remained shirtless for the morning as baby lea only sat in a cute shirt, diaper freshly changed.

the little girl rested her head of unruly curls on her father’s tatted chest as she sucked on her sippy cup full of porridge (you were caribbean, there was no way your baby wasn’t gonna grow up eating porridge for breakfast) and watching her favorite movie, the princess and the frog. occasionally, she’d used her small tiny finger to trace over the dark skin of law’s ink.

even he sat with his eyes fully invested in the disney movie, and he couldn’t help but think about you and him as parallels to the beautiful story. it was interesting the way your lives played out. you two’ve known each other since teenagers, been through undergrad together and now here you were, engaged and the mother of his child.

it’s a bit…uncanny to say that lea was completely planned—far from it—but you both where only 20 and 22 when she was born, so it was safe to say that she practically lived through college with you both and your group of friends you were proud to call family.

lea sat babbling strings of incoherent phrases, the only words being audible was dada and daddy as she watched her favorite movie. it wasn’t until she caught law’s attention by calling out for him louder with a smile on her face as she turned to look up at him.

“daddy!,” law looked down at her with a small grin as he let out a hum, a sign she learned to understand that he was all hers. “cookie,” lea gave a near toothless grin as she shoved her cookie into her father’s mouth. what law didn’t realize was that the cookie was damn near soft from being soaked in her drool for a few minutes.

usually, if it were anyone else, law would have spit the cookie out and been furious that he just ate a drool filled snack from a sticky fingered kid. but his baby girl was so cute, he had no choice but to eat the cookie whole, and with the biggest grin on his face. lea giggled at his expression before exclaiming, “cookie!”

law looks over at the mini packet of sweets that he mindlessly allowed his princess to devour, and couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of all the crumbs the bed was littered in. lea crawled up to his face and placed a wet kiss on his lips before shoving another soggy cookie in his mouth. “cookie!”

it was ironic, really. you were more of the softer one when it came to letting your baby girl eat up sugary things with moderation, and law being the doctor always advised against you spoiling her sweet tooth (the one she actually inherited from him but fails to admit it). but he figured that he loved seeing baby lea happy, and if that meant feeding into her sugar crash that was bound to happen later on, he was gonna do it.

with a smug grin, he placed a kiss on lea’s light brown skin and hugged her small body tight to his own. “yeah, mommy’s gonna kill me when she finds out just how much sugar i let you eat today.”

[starlightshadowsworld]

Concept: After everything at the airport Mori brings Atsushi to the Port Mafia. And even with the deal in place Atsushi has to plead his case.

(Since we’re talking about the parallels between Atsushi and Chuuya.)

Mori’s expression didn’t change as Atsushi gave him the full run down of events. He was the picture of calm and composed. It made Atsushi wonder how much of it was how he actually felt.

If Fukuchi had been the man of a thousand faces. Then who knew how many masks Mori had at his disposal.

“You’ve had quite the day” Mori said finally. As if Atsushi had been talking about the weather. He wasn’t sat at his desk but a lone chair infront of the large windows of his office.

“You could say that again…” mumbled Atsushi before he could stop himself. He felt so small in this large imposing room. The guards by the door only reinforcing that he was in enemy territory.

One wrong move and he was dead.

“But while I offer my sincere condolences, I fail to see how any of this is my responsibility.” Said Mori, sounded almost bored by the whole interaction. Atsushi stared at him in surprise as he continued.

“The Port Mafia has sacrificed a great deal in the name of aiding the Armed Detective Agency.” Said Mori, eyes sharp as he took in Atsushi. “So give me one good reason why I should help you.”

A cold chill went down Atsushi’s spine.

Mori’s words rang in his ears like alarm bells. It was true that the Port Mafia had suffered in this battle with Fyodor. Akutagawa’s death, being the centre of the vampire outbreak.

And yet, Mori had never shied away from helping the Agency. Even when he said no to the initial alliance offer, Mori still offered his aid over and over again.

If he truly saw no reason to work with Atsushi. Then why did he save him at the airport? Any alliance between the two organisations would’ve died with the Agency. And even then Mori only worked in his own interest. He had no reason to save Atsushi.

Or did he?

And just like that everything clicked into place.

“Game theory dictates that the optimal response to an enemies attack is to fight back with everything you have.” Recalled Atsushi. “That was the advice you gave me back in Anne’s Room.” He shook his head “you could’ve let me escape.“

He could’ve chosen not to intervene as he had done prior. He could’ve let Atsushi abandon his friends behind. But Mori had instead stepped in and given Atsushi the resolve to fight.

“It would’ve weakened the Agency and benefited the Port Mafia. But you wouldn’t let me because it would’ve harmed the city.” The love for this great city was the one thing that Fukuzawa and Mori could ever agree on.

It was why Atsushi proposed an alliance between the two organisations in the first place. Despite everything the Port Mafia had done to him. Atsushi had looked past his anger for them and seen how far they were willing to go to protect the city.

And taking out the Agency meant that the Tripartite framework would no longer be effective.

“You could’ve left me at the airport to die. But you know what my ability is capable of.” In a glow of blue light his arm transformed. It alerted the guards but Mori stopped them by simply raising a hand. His eyes trained on Atsushi’s tiger claws.

Bingo.

“And you know how powerful mine and Akutagawa’s abilities are when we work together. And when they’re combined. That kind of power will be needed to end this enemy before they have another chance to strike.”

Fukuchi had said that day that “the reason you lost is because you let me draw this sword’ that’s what Fukuchi had said that day. They’d won in another time, Fukuchi had all but confirmed it. But drawing that sword and striking it before death had saved him.

It was a mistake that could not be made again.

Mori hummed thoughtfully. “That may be true. But your power on its own was said to be the key to destroying the enemy. And yet here you stand before me as the sole survivor of the Armed Detective Agency.”

His gaze seemed to pierce into Atsushi’s soul.

“If your the key, then why is the Agency not here?” It felt like a taunt and Atsushi should’ve gotten mad. Instead all he felt was despair. His own failures striking him over again.

The blood on his hands that Atsushi could never wash away.

“They were taken out one by one. We barely had time to act. That…thing moved faster than light. But the reason the enemy is still here is because everyone was trying to protect me.“ Said Atsushi quietly.

He hung his head in shame.

“It’s all my fault.”

He clenches his fist as it returns to normal. He didn’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.

“But all that matters now is stopping Fyodor. You saw what he did at the airport. That’s only the beginning.” After all Fyodor wanted the book above anything else and the book was in Yokohama.

“I’m not smart enough nor am I strong enough to go against him alone. My friends are gone. And you’re all I have to turn too to defeat him and save this city. To that end….”

Atsushi dropped onto one knee before Mori.

“I will dedicate my blood and all that I am to you, Mori Ougai of the Port Mafia. I will protect this city and this organisation that you head. And I will work for you to decimate our enemies. To follow the plans you have carefully laid.”

The silence that followed threatened to engulf him but Atsushi didn’t move.

“Welcome to the Port Mafia, Atsushi Nakajima.” Atsushi raised his head, surprised. And for the first time since he’d entered this office Mori’s expression changed to a pleased smile.

This test was one Atsushi had passed.

“Come now, we have much to discuss.” Said Mori, the guards parting to let them both pass. With Atsushi walking behind him. “There is something you forgot from our talk that day” said Mori. His voice a lot more pleasant and like the shy doctor Atsushi met in Anne’s Room.

But there was a strength, an assurance within him that made it clear to all he was in charge here.

“What did I miss?”

“No enemy is more vulnerable than one convinced they can’t lose.”

[q8qwertyuiop8p]

My thoughts on arcane season 2 act one, part two

The grey is also confusing. So the industrialization Silco caused made the air worse, but he was able to build ventilation systems to keep it at bay? Is the grey alive? Why does it keep having a face? Is that what silco used against the chembarons, meaning he is immune? Did the grey kill Margot and her allies?

Also is Lest male or female? A transwoman? I'm having flashbacks to when I wasn't sure of greyson's gender. I think Lest is also a woman but I'm not sure.

I thought Ambessa actually wasn't so bad this time around, until we find out she was behind everything. How long has ambessa known about leblanc?

The Hellfire scene was super cool, the music was neat and we got a really good shot of Vi. The scene with Caitlyn and the funeral was also neat, how it explored a graphite style.

I'm mad that bilbok, hoskel, and Cassandra were the only ones to die. Why did shoola and Salo also have to live?

I don't like season 2 jinx so far. Similarly to Vi, I can understand why she acts the way she does, but I really don't like it. And why are Smeech's followers trying to kidnap all these children?

The fight between Smeech and Sevika was off to a good start. But once we really start to focus on sevika's arm (cue yet another glaringly obvious parallel in the way Sevika takes off her cape) things got very... strange. I personally wasn't into the style they used for Sevika's arm, along with the constant arcade noises. It felt spider-verse esque (along with the smoke of Jinx's gun making the word POW) and did not fit well into arcane. I also don't like the way Sevika's arm works- you have to pull the lever, wait for the slot machine, and whatever random combination you get dictates what the arm does. It's incredibly counterintuitive and again, how did jinx, as genius as she is, just build this so quickly? I do like the way sevika's new arm looks and how she can shoot the chomper and pull it back, but I have to say I prefer her old arm.

The fight between Vi and Jinx was heartbreaking and incredibly done. The song gave me chills and we got some incredibly beautiful scenes out of it, plus it was neat learning that Vander used to tell them stories about Janna. The only thing I didn't like about it was how rushed this, too, felt.

[lovebitesandcrosses]

I have got to talk a little bit about S2 E8 and the insane end of season that was.

Spoiler warning obviously so scroll now if you don’t want that //

First of all the parallels between the beginning and end of episode, right? Start of episode, Louis considers himself as good as dead. Claudia is gone, he’s resigned to his fate. The rocks being still embedded in his feet is kind of an obvious metaphor to me and the way Armand dismisses it as a dramatic gesture and nothing more because he could remove them any time. End of episode Louis, circling his feet in his stone garden, almost like they’re still ‘circling round the insulating rocks of my death bed’, didn’t he say??? And are we forgetting that they slap you in the face with the fact that he considers this apartment basically a coffin? When he’s doing the end monologue I wonder how much of himself he feels died with Claudia, maybe he doesn’t care what any of them could do to him, maybe it all circles back to him still being mentally trapped in that coffin. But I think it goes deeper than that. We have hints of Akasha now and Lestat directly references having her blood, not being capable of dying if he doesn’t will it. It’s technically possible he was fully just fucking with Louis, it’s also possible the blood Louis got was a lot more diluted so it didn’t pass to him, but what I wonder is whether, during whatever reunion Louis and Lestat had that we didn’t get to see, Lestat gave Louis the information he’d been hiding from him. Some of it, anyway. Whether Louis also has this power, and that’s why Louis is completely fearless. He knows they couldn’t do shit to him. I imagine none of my theorising is super unique on this.

What I really want to point out from the beginning though, is what Daniel says in response to Armand’s comment to Louis. ‘And he’s been lying to you all these years for effect’. Daniel knows, and he knows what he’s doing. We know he had the script at this point, we know he’s put the pieces together that Louis didn’t and is waiting to drop the bomb. Just like Armand calls out after it happens. (And the acting is fucking incredible because the look Armand gives Daniel??? So many layers to this. How does he say so much.) This is the exact weird game playing chess move only makes sense hundreds of years later with hindsight shit that all the vampires in this god damn show seem to get off on more than actual sex. Moreover, Armand gets off on it and I think especially when he sees it in Daniel. Daniel has been doing the vampire shit before he ever fucking turned, he knows the game. He delights in getting to play it. I think this is a lot more of the reasoning behind Armand’s decision to turn Daniel than keeping his word to Louis but I want to talk more about all that in its own right at some point.

The cinematography/direction as the whole thing is unraveled at the reveal is absolutely brilliant to me. It kind of flawlessly captures the absolutely horrifying and creeping feeling of finally putting something together, watching it sneak up on you until it clicks and everything shatters. Seeing Daniel in dead silence staring at the ‘GET OUT. GET OUT NOW.’ message as Louis and Armand leave the room, realising he dropped this bomb on himself. When we look to the beginning of the episode right before this, Daniel is telling the agent he wants to survive this. The agent tells him he should be fearing Louis, not ‘the other one’. Ironically Louis clearly wants Daniel protected and would not harm him now, maybe purely out of desire to get that damn book out though, knowing Armand would hate it, I don’t know. Still, he turns Daniel anyway. I cannot wait to see more vampire Daniel btw, I always wonder how much more chill vampires would be when they turned after living out a more natural length of human lifespan first. In vampire media we don’t get to see a lot of older looking vampires that are just regular people who got turned after aging, we just see completely smooth looking young adults or completely shrivelled and withered up unwell old world monster vampires. We see some of how this has given Daniel more confidence possibly, he’s being completely himself he’s just going for it a bit harder I guess. It’s gonna be really interesting to get a more in depth look at his experience though, because wouldn’t it be the best possible time to turn in some ways? The power dynamic between him and the vampires is super weird because you can tell he knows he’s in over his head but is refusing to show it and he’s able to play their games on their level, until they get into the powers and shit and he’s forced to remember he cannot be in control here. But now he’s a vampire??? Shit is gonna get interesting.

Man I didn’t even get onto discussing the Louis/Lestat reunion we got and the insane amount of shit to read into there. This is already crazy long and it’s from my thoughts on literally just a few minutes, I have like 20 more paragraphs on this episode alone in me easily, so I’m probably going to tag these under ‘vamp analysis’ so people can filter them out or go find them easier.

[strange-anni]

Mayor Larry and the events of the 22nd of March 1979

Mayor Larry and Wills father Lonnie Byers are heavily paralleled. Therefore I think it can be worthwhile to examine him and the events of the Fun Fair on July the 4th to possibly get some clues as to what happened on Wills birthday on March the 22nd in 1979.

This is meant response to the birthday gate theory by @greenfiend and you can read up on it here. It's also aligned with the Will Byers has DID theory

Long post ahead and warning for discussions of murder

First let's look at some more general clues a to why I think the two events (Wills birthday in 1979 and Mayor Larrys Fun Fair in 1985) are connected starting with Billys magazines

Penthouse

The first clue is major as it tells us of how One killed 360 people. It's the most chilling interview ever. (He likes it cold) 360 may be a bit much but I'll come back to the 36 later. That's an obvious hint for a massacre.

Then we have some other headlines like Sex, drugs and scandals and then something with the lid on Wall Street (Can't make that out exactly but this could refer to the general situation; or it could refer to a Street leading to a wall -> The Demogorgon coming out of the wall or will communication with Joyce through a wall)

How even you can save 100,000 Dollar (A guide to save a lot of people)

An unholy alliance between fascist (?) feminists and the moral majority (That's an interesting one! Was Joyce friends with a woman who wanted her to leave Lonnie? Plus there is the unholy alliance which could indicate that this friend of hers tried to align herself with authorities like the police)

___USE

Crime of Passion: The Professor and the prostitute (Did Joyce have an affair or did someone suspect her to have an affair? I'm also thinking of Neil suspecting that Billys mom was with another man)

Does Mark Breland have the right stuff? (Not sure about this one but it could relate to drugs)

April Fools - The greatest jokes ever (Not sure either)

African slaughterhouse (I don't even want to comment on this)

The war on elephants (not sure either)

can't read the last line

Also the fact that USE is the only word we can make out makes me think that these are things Lonnie might have used in one way or another. Either directly or indirectly.

Then there is this poster at the swimming pool which gave me the idea how the entire plot of S3 may be connected to the massacre in 1979 in the first place.

These posters right there give us so many clues

3rd Annual reworks it says but the 3 is cut in a way where you could also think it's actually an 8 (giving us the 8th annual event show or Wills 8th birthday in 1979)

Erica on Parade (You can't spell America without Erica; makes me think of Erica of cause and all of Wills alters)

76 - 1985 (It started in 76 and it still lasts to the present day in 1985 in Season 3)

Happy Birthday USA (because what is the 4th of July if not a celebration of the birthday of the United States, am I right?)

He held on tight to his Dream (I am sure young Will did, didn't he?)

Thursday 4th of July at 3 PM on Main Street (they give us the exact time and date of the parade)

This is what both the 22nd of March 1979 and the 4th of July have in common. Both are on a Thursday, both celebrate a great event/ a birthday and both bring great festivities.

Therefore I think whatever happened in 1979 was already somewhat foreshadowed in Season 3. I can't piece it all together so bear with me but I will try to collect some clues.

First things first. It didn't start at the 4th of July. It started earlier when Mom and Pop stores started to disappear which caused a lot of upset among the people so they decided to protest. Mayor Larry though thought they're a nuisance and successfully got rid of them.

This however could have had long time consequences as it could have put his reelection in danger so he thought of a trick to make the people forget what happened. He organized great festivities on July the 4th as a distraction. To lift their spirits and make them forget why they were upset in the first place.

It's noteworthy that Larry specifically mentions the disappearance Mom and Pop stores. This happened because Larry was selling off property to the Russians (This could hint that something happened to two people who might be Joyce and Hopper - "mom and pop" - before the party even started.)

Larry and Lonnie share the same name.

The Russian guy Grigori who visits Larry rides a motorcycle just like Lonnie.

As for the property: Well... Lonnie doesn't have property but he does have sons.

So my guess is that Lonnie did something terrible shortly before Wills birthday in 1979 which caused Will to get really upset and to placate his feelings Lonnie organized a birthday party for him. So all bad feelings will be forgotten and only the positive ones of the party will remain. It's a manipulation tactic.

Before we go on I want to make a quick Interlude to remind us of what Joyce said happened on Wills 8th birthday in 1979

Joyce: Do you know what March 22nd is? It's your birthday. Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box.

Will got a big box of crayons from his mom and drew a big space ship while using every color in the box. His rainbow ship. This is important and this spaceship will play a big part later.

So back to the preparations for the Fair

50s One is here as well as three frogs, two bears who seem to wear traditional Bavarian clothing. A Dirndl which is woman's clothing. Men would wear Lederhosen which would look a bit different.

Another brown bear is in the back as well as something which I cannot make out entirely but looks like a bird to me.

Three frogs make me think of Mike Wheeler who is called Frogface by Troy but he is not the only one here. There are two more members of the frog family which makes me think that Mike wasn't the only one who attended or was supposed to attend the birthday party (My best guess as to who the others are is Nancy and Karen BUT it could also just be Karen and Holly if she was already pregnant at the time)

The two almost identical bears in Dirndl do make me think of the Byers. Bavaria where these clothes are sometimes worn at festivals is called Bayern in german and it's almost pronounced like Byers. As to why they are both wearing traditional woman's clothing I have no idea. There is only one woman in the Byers family and it's Joyce.

The brown bear and the other bird(?) I cannot make sense of.

There is also a Silver Streak Ride and a big bear in the back of a car.

Here we have our Spaceship but it's not turned on yet and Grigori who is the one with the motorcycle is right in front of it.

There is also a 6 printed on the spaceship as well which may indicate that this was used six years prior to the current events (1985) in 1979.

1985 - 6 = 1979

Larry: My friends in state PD, highway patrol, they're all on the lookout. I got eyes everywhere. The second he pops up I get a call. Grigori: A call? Larry: Yes. A call. I mean, what more do you people want me to do? Grigori: We want you to find him.

Larry and Grigori are going inside to talk about Hopper. Grigori and the Russians want to find him. Larrys choice of words is rather interesting. "The second he pops up" Larry gets a call and refers to Hopper who is pop. Remember the disappearance of mom and pop stores? Yeah, that's suspicious. Not to mention the whole phone thing. Larry constantly wants a phone in his vicinity while Will is afraid of phones and phone calls.

Nevertheless while inside they accidentally put the spaceship in motion and get booted into space/ the UD. The ship wasn't meant for them but it brought them there anyway.

It also happens before the big event even starts.

Just after the Fun Fair starts as Major Larry announces the fireworks, Ted, Karen and Holly go on the Farris Wheel. They are riding clockwise to the top. Right when they are at the peak, the ride stops giving them the best view of the fireworks.

It's Ted Wheeler who notices that they stopped and it's Karen Wheeler who's responsible for it. Karen slipped Jimmy a five. She bribed someone with a five to get the best seats in the house. It's Jimmy who took the bribery and this makes me think of Hopper.

But what about the five? I'm not sure but Will was five years old when it all started in 1976. If Karen somehow found out something wasn't right and told the police/Hopper about it it could make sense. (I'm also thinking about the fascist feminist in Billys magazine here. If Joyce had a female friend before it was most likely Karen. Plus Karen also knows it's very dark at night in the Byers driveway making me think she's been there before at night. Most likely to pick up Mike but I do wonder if she saw something else as well)

Then there is still the disappearance of mom and pop before the events. Karen is also a mom. Therefore it might also refer to her.

It's Holly who notices the trees moving in the distance but Karen doesn't want her look at them. She should focus on the fireworks instead. The trees which are moving because because of the Mind Flayer who is a shadowy representation of Lonnie.

Meanwhile Hopper and Joyce also arrive at the Fair and then notice Ted, Karen and Holy broad the Spaceship. They decide to jon them.

Karen thinks it's funny to see Joyce in the ship. She seems happy to see her but is surprised as well. It's almost like Karen thinks Joyce doesn't belong there. I do think it's noteworthy that she asks this while they on the spaceship. It's the spaceship that is meant to take everyone in and bring them to the UD/ save them so they can live on.

The only thing Joyce wants to know though is where the kids are. They are obviously not on the spaceship. Perhaps this indicates that they should have been there but for some reason aren't. We as the audience do know where they are and what they are occupied with though. They are trying to beat the Mind Flayer in Starcourt Mall.

According to Karen the kids are also not yet here (at the Spaceship or the Fair in general) This could also indicate that they are to arrive later in events that happened in 1979. First some adults died and later a lot of kids also got killed. I am pretty sure though that Karen Wheeler was among those who died back then as she is the only one who seemed comfortable on the ship like she belongs there.

Here we do get a look at the passenger seats and it does remind me of the number of people who were killed by One according to Billys magazine. Seat No. 33 is empty while No. 34 belongs to Karen, No. 35 to Holly, No. 36 to Ted, No. 37 to Joyce and then there is Hopper who's seat number is 8 (because the 8 is the only visible figure)

It's tricky to find out what this means though because if we were to go back in time to 1979 Holly either wouldn't have existed yet or she would have shared her seat with Karen. if Karen was even pregnant back then she must have been in her very first weeks.

Yet according to Billys magazine One killed 36 people meaning that it could have been Joyce who survived for real after all. Or she died at an earlier date and wasn't supposed to be on the spaceship. Again it's the disappearance of mom and pop which make me wonder. (Mom is either Joyce or Karen I'm sure)

Then the spaceship lifts off into space/the UD without the kids but with the parents and Holly instead.

Later on as Alexei gets murdered by Grigori at the Fair he notices two clowns and a mime. I do not know what it means but I do know that young Will was afraid of clowns.

Alexei being Russian and Grigori also being Russian make me think that there may have been a traitor among the Motorcyle gang Lonnie seemed to have dealings with who then got shot at Wills birthday party by his own men.

However with the exception of Murray who then calls for Joyces and Hoppers help no one seems to have noticed Alexei die.

In the end the kids never arrive at Larrys Fun Fair and never entered the Spaceship but that doesn't mean that they are safe as the news tells us that the Mall, the Mayor and a power supply were also turned upside down (were lifted into space and the UD)

I might continue this at a later date but for now I've almost reached picture limit and this post is already too long as it is

[lvpislvzuli]

No spoilers review for KotPotA

I saw Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes last night and it was WONDERFUL!

Opening scene made me cry 😭 APES TOGETHER STRONG!!!

Noa is the sweetest ape with great potential to become a leader like Caesar. His journey was exciting and emotional. He really leveled up in the third act showdown. Owen Teague is perfect casting—incredible performance, great physicality and voice. I saw and felt his every emotion. He was surprisingly funny too, especially in his scenes with Raka and Mae. Loved his subtle attitude. LOVED that he had beef with a bird.

Anaya and Soona are good friends for Noa and I appreciated some focus on a female ape who actually speaks. Anaya is loveable comedic relief and Soona is a badass. Also, her character design is so pretty.

Koro and Dar were kind and loving parents. It’s unusual for main characters to even have parents in these epic stories, so I appreciated their inclusion, as short as their scenes were. Wished we learned more about Koro. The Master of Birds was an intriguing character.

Raka was such a nice surprise. Good in the trailers but an Instant Icon in the film. Very loveable. Another great mentor character. Up there with Yoda in my opinion—just as funny too. Soooo funny. Peter Macon owned this role.

Proximus Caesar was deliciously maniacal. Stellar acting from Kevin Durand. Chilling voice work. Great character design and movement. Proximus is a natural performer—he knows how to play for a crowd. I was just as hyped as his followers. Semi-spoiler: The way he responded to the gun was hilarious.

Mae has so many secrets. I heard some of them were spoiled in the ad campaign but luckily I went in blind. She and Noa are perfect co-leads and do a great job portraying another tense ape/human relationship. Very nuanced performances in their shared scenes. You want them to trust each other.

But can they trust each other moving forward?Hopefully. Mae made some controversial decisions that affected both humans and apes, but I feel that Freya Allan was able to walk that fine line. I loved her final scene with Noa and the gift he gave her.

Overall, this is Wes Ball’s best film so far. Great directing. He really knows how to shoot an action scene. The choreography was 🔥. I never got tired of watching the apes climbing around.

The world building was thorough and I loved the visual aesthetics of the film. They felt very 1968 Planet of the Apes.

As expected, the visual effects were out of this world. Seriously, how does Weta do it? The apes look more real than real apes.

Great score by John Paesano. Nods to Michael Giacchino and Jerry Goldsmith. Also adored the inclusion of apes singing.

The ending sets up some interesting ideas for a next installment—which I really want to see. I liked the parallel of Noa and Mae both looking up at the sky. It made them feel connected despite their physical and (somewhat) emotional distance, and it solidified their status as our two lead characters.

So yes, I loved this movie. 10/10.

Let me know what you thought!

[mzannthropy]

The Count of Monte Cristo limited series Episode 3 - heeee's heeeere, it's everyone's favourite smuggler, Jacopo!

Expect some changes from this episode on. However, as I've just talked with my cherished mutual @jesstasticvoyage, some of this actually works better on screen. (Spoilers under the cut.)

Basically what I'm talking about is that Edmond reveals his identity, and his plans for revenge, to Jacopo pretty early on as he hires him to be his, essentially, right hand man. Caderousse re-appears and once again, Edmond tells him who he is. He gives him a chance by offering him a job of a spy. (I expect, if the series keeps to the spirit of the book, Caderousse will fuck up later.)

I've been thinking about this lately, bc this is something I criticised the French film for as well, that the count works alone, but maybe in an onscreen adaptation it works better, bc otherwise it would get too confusing for the viewers. And it provides good entertainment value. It's a delight to watch characters scheming together. So I don't think it's that big of an issue? Obviously, the thing with his name is that, we don't hear his real name for the whole second part of the story, but there was an interesting scene where Jacopo called him Edmond, and Edmond said, don't ever call me that again, I am the count of Monte Cristo now.

Oh yeah, and that part with him finding the treasure was quite tense, he went to the island twice, he didn't find it the first time.

So far no disguises, they worked in Sinbad the Sailor by having Edmond introduce himself to Jacopo with that moniker. Edmond saves him from the the gendarmes (presumably Jacopo got arrested for smuggling), so that's why Jacopo is so loyal to him and starts following him, even though Edmond at first urges him to stay away. (It reminded me of Xena and Gabrielle a bit, you know how I'm like with my parallels, lol. (Or if you don't, you do now.))

Julie and Maximilien are introduced as Edmond rewards the Morrels. M Morrel recognises the purse he gave to Edmond for his engagement (in the first episode), so I guess we're not getting 'Maximilien, it was Edmond Dantes' line, one of those lines from the book that gave me chills. But as far as Morrel is concerned, Edmond is dead. So it might make an appearance later.

Sam Claflin still flawless. Just as we expected. This will turn out to be his best role yet!

[azure-firecracker]

ATLA Live Action Stream of Consciousness (Episode 6, Part 2).

THE AANG/ZUKO HEIGHT DIFFERENCE!

This section is basically a copy of the original show which is why I have no problems with it lmao.

Zhao’s poor scribe is just trying to do his job.

Tell me why Zuko is better at sword fighting than all of these adults.

TEAMWORK!! FORESHADOWING!!

I want to marry a Yuyan archer part 2.

Ooh a longer Aang/Zuko convo? It’s all generic and I don’t care I like it anyway.

Aang being cute and funny is everything I need. He needs to do more of it.

Of course Zuko has a favorite kind of pen.

Their friendship is everything to me.

“Of course it’s what everyone expects of me” ME ON THE FLOOR! (I like that we know it’s not what Zuko really wants-what he wants is way more complicated. Same goes for Azula but she’s not here and I doubt they’ll give her something like this).

Oh Aang Zuko isn’t ready to be better yet.

Zuko your trauma is showing.

Agni Kai flashback.

THEY GAVE BABY AZULA BANGS?!?! Amazing decision.

Ozai are you actually mad rn? (In the OG it seemed like he was asserting his power rather than really caring).

Ooh Iroh’s trying to intervene that’s an interesting take.

I knew Zuko was going to fight and unlike the rest of the fandom I don’t have strong feelings about it. It’s clear he only fights back because he thinks that’s what Ozai wants.

Azula definitely looks concerned/in shock in these shots imo. I do like that change from the original show since they’re showing her humanity.

Nice callback on “compassion is a sign of weakness.”

Azula’s expression during the Agni Kai with Zuko and Ozai is the same one she had on when Ozai burned the spy in episode 3. I think it’s dissociation mostly, not wanting to acknowledge what’s happening or having to not process it because she knows it could happen to her. (Or a trauma response)

How did Iroh get his hair bun back?

Zuko does care too much Iroh’s right.

Ozai playing fake nice in this scene is chilling, and a welcome update.

“Sometimes the weak can become stronger. Sometimes you have to give them a chance.” Zuko we know you’re talking about yourself (still a great line though)

URSA MENTION?! I need more fire family flashbacks if they get book 2.

Does Ozai think this is good parenting?

I knew the 41st was Zuko’s crew already but I love that change just like everyone else.

Zuko saying “I’m fine” is peak teenager core.

Zuko and Iroh are giving parent child here.

This is a great scene with the crew it’s so sweet.

This episode has Zuko crying too much it’s not good for me.

I like the theme of friendship in this little monologue. If they’d build up the gaang’s friendship more it would mean more to me.

Wait what happened to Gyatso? I don’t get it.

The parallel father figure narrations in episodes 5 and 6 are good.

Zuko’s mirror bit ofc reminded me of Azula’s mirror in book 3.

THAT WAS A GOOD LAST LINE!

[arondight-overload]

Alrighty, first thoughts on Metaphor Refantazio.

The demo is damn good. They gave us a really nice little chunk of the game. Spoilers to follow, since I'm talking about the whole thing and speculating.

Gut feeling first thoughts off the cuff, Strohl's VA understood the assignment, damn. Gonna be hard pressed to do an awakening cooler. Hope he doesn't outshine anyone else.

Rip Grius. Knew he was a dead man as soon as he didn't form a bond.

Would like the church guy to not be a fucker. “Evil church” is a little overdone in jrpgs these days. I could vibe with an actually chill priest with some shitty subordinates.

Just by existing, Louis draws Griffith parallels, and I hope that they actually knew that when creating him. He's got necromancer subordinates, so he definitely seems likely to be even more shady than just starting a coup.

Hulkenburg is interesting, but not necessarily the sort of character I go for. She is for someone though, since my partner is obviously feral for the “duty bound knight” trope.

Since we're not in persona land anymore, I truly hope we see some more permanent party divides as ideologies change. I can totally see Strohl deciding to go his own way, for example, and even supporting him in doing so.

Why does More have my name? That's not gonna come back in a wild reveal or anything. More is fun. Miss Igor. Miss fusion in general. Hope Archetype evolution is a good replacement.

Love synthesis attacks. Especially the one that triggers an extra turn pip if it kills. Love overworld passives that give mana on overworld kill.

Was sad to see health costs go, so yayyy, Brawler!

Multi target magic being pretty synthesis heavy is really neat.

Would really like Archetype switching out of combat without going to Akademia. Not in combat though, I like the limitation.

100000% sure the Prince is gonna be evil.

Loved the dragon optional boss. Give more of that.

Archetypes at the moment go Brawler > Mage > Healer > everybody else.

Why is everyone so racist to protagonist :(

Buttons are annoyingly mapped or at least interfering with p5 muscle memory.

But yeah anyway this game looks to be really good so far. Two weeks can't go fast enough. I'm gonna bootstrap this fandom by any means necessary, so my Metaphor people, hit me up.

[c0la-queen]

Hidden Eyes | Red Leader x Reader

This is one of many random drabbles that I have collected in my laptop files, and I kind of like the concept for this one, so let me know if any of you guys would want to see more of this!

Concept: Phantom of the Opera-ish AU?

Warnings: Stalking-ish, Being watched, This particular part isn't dark but the story would be dark if I continue it, Reader is in college but she's a senior/around 22 years old

Words: 1.1K

---

"Attention, everyone."

As you gave your attention to the Director, like he asked, he wrung his hands nervously. He seemed anxious, akin to that of a child waiting for a scolding.

Despite being part of a well known London college, your theatre group was only moderate in size. The addition of this year's freshman was a boost, but it barely put a dent in the damage done by the graduation of last year's seniors. Not too many were interested in theatre this year; more attracted by the rising popularity of the university's athletics.

"I am happy to announce that we have a brand new sponsor for our program!"

It was great news. However, the Director didn't mirror the group's excitement. A new sponsor meant more money. Which meant more things to be used for productions. In an instant, your hand was raised.

"Ah, yes?"

"Can we use some of these new funds to finally get another handheld mic for the booth?"

The younger group members shifted awkwardly in their seats. The Director didn't usually take attitude from his members, but being the oldest member of the tech team had its perks. The Director's laugh held no amusement, only anxiety. He glanced around the auditorium, almost as if he was looking for a sniper that was about to take him out.

"We'll... see about that. First, we have to impress our new sponsor. And in order to do that, a cast is required, yes? So let's get these auditions started."

With that cue, you wished your friends luck and retreated into the tech booth where your chair was waiting. There wasn't actually anything for you to do, but you wanted to see what the fresh meat had to offer. Plus, it was a quiet place outside of your dorm to get homework done. For some aesthetic, you shut off all the house lights so the stage was illuminated.

--

A call of your last name broke you from the hazy thoughts of color theory swirling in your mind. Leaning out of the booth window, you strained your voice to echo across the auditorium.

"Sir?"

"I need you to come down here and fill in this duet scene. His partner flaked on him."

With a sigh, you made your way down the dark aisle. It didn't hurt to return to the stage now and then. It reminded you of youth theatre and how bright eyed you were, basking in the spotlight and not yet realizing just how much they would burn.

You took the script from the table and hoisted yourself up on the stage. It was more fun than taking the stairs.

"Alright, I'm reading the female part?"

After a nod of confirmation, you signaled for your impromptu partner to begin the scene. The lines came to you naturally, speaking clearly as if you were back in 7th grade again. You weren't anything special, an average actor at best. But, it wasn't difficult to grasp the emotion of the character you were reading for, pouring it into your words like syrup dripping down thickly.

A chill abruptly washed over you. The previously stuffy auditorium became all too cold. Your heartbeat rushed to your ears, nearly drowning out the boy next to you.

Someone was watching you.

Not the Director.

This was different. It drew your eyes to the back corner of the seats, where you saw a figure lurking in the shadows. Whoever it was had their eyes focused on you. It unnerved you, making your stomach churn. It-

"That was perfect, thank you."

You snapped back to reality when the Director spoke. All you gave was a nod before heading back to the booth. As you did, you examined the dark corner parallel to the booth door. There was no shadowy figure sitting in the corner seat. Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you.

When it was time to wrap up, you flicked the lights back up. On your way out the door, you stopped. Your eyes were drawn once again to the back corner, now revealed. It was empty. You must have been coming down with a fever or something. Though, one thing did bother you.

The chill never left.

--

"Det var litt av et utvalg, regissør."

The Director jumped as an all too familiar presence made himself known. Like before, he stuck to the shadows. This time, he found leisure in one of the auditorium chairs. The darkness of the room hid his face. However, he could just make out the silhouette of two protruding shapes- the shape of horns. He played around with the idea that this man was the actual devil. If so, then he had truly sold his soul.

"Mr. Red! I, um, wasn't expecting your audience so soon!"

"I did tell you I was going to be observing your group, did I not?"

The Director shuffled the binders in his arms, trying to discreetly wipe his sweaty hands on his pants.

"I guess I just thought you would have chosen one of our performances, not the auditions."

"Should the actors not be as good at the preliminaries as they are in the finale?"

He made a good point. But why was he still here?

"That girl. The one who filled in. Who is she?"

He sorted through his brain for the duet that matched the sponsor's description. Upon realizing which one, your name slipped from his lips questioningly.

"She's a senior here at the university. She's our head light technician."

"She is not an actor?"

The Director internally winced at the hint of disdain in the man's voice. How was he supposed to answer that?

"Is she not good enough for your tastes? Do you not think her talented?"

"You have it all wrong, sir! Sh... She came to me and asked for her position personally. We were short a technician, so I happily accepted her."

The older man shrunk back as the sponsor stood. Still, no light reached him, keeping his features unknown. The tone of his voice was deadly, and rang out clearly in the acoustic room.

"I will sponsor your program. But listen to my words closely, and do not disregard my requests. If you do, expect a sudden and tragic misfortune to fall upon this theatre group- and upon yourself."

"Requests?"

"Indeed. In fact, I have my first as of right now. That girl will play the role that she read for today. See to it that this is done immediately. I don't care if you have to run the lights yourself."

There was no room for discussion. The Director nodded.

"Good. I look forward to continuing to support your productions, lille venn."

[rxyhiraeth]

SO PJO CAME OUT TODAY

and i have a lot of thoughts

this is just me screaming into the void about this show that i’ve been excited about since it’s been announced.

i haven’t personally really read the books in a bit, so if i am remembering things incorrectly or forgetting if something was in the books or not, forgive me (and correct me and my terrible memory)

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS AHEAD

EPISODE 1: I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

first off - chapter titles. i knew about this a while ago but im so happy we are doing this

getting the whole speech from percy in the beginning oh we are so back

blackjack??? that was blackjack right??

MYTHOMAGIC CARDS

if this gets us actual mythomagic cards we can buy, so help me god. i’m gonna spend all my money on them

i will never be able to speak highly enough about sally jackson. best fictional mom ever and i love her with all of my heart.

the “hold fast perseus. brave the storm” parallel at the beginning and end of the episode oh i’m sick to my stomach

the fountain scene felt a little… goofy? from what i remember percy just remembers her ending up in the fountain,like it sounds like he kinda blacks out. maybe that’s actually how it was in the books, but i did imagine it differently.

grover and brunner being the KINGS of gaslighting

percy is stronger than i could ever be if grover exposed me like that i couldn’t talk to him for like a year.

the biggest issue i’ve seen everyone talk about: gabe. i understand WHY they made him how he is in the tv show. it’s a disney show, they can’t have him be completely book accurate putting his hands on sally and threatening percy for money so he can play poker, but i feel like this doesn’t fit with how he ends up at the end of book 1. maybe we will see a more ‘evil’ side to him through the news interviews and stuff, or he will have a different ending, but i feel like the way he acts now doesn’t justify his end in book 1 that i expect to see in the tv show.

sally in the rain listening to olivia rodrigo i love her so much 😭😭😭

d’angelos??? it’s spelled differently but reference perhaps? i cannot WAIT to see nico i hope we get to see him in the casino

i didn’t get this until i saw someone point it out but the cuts to black were ends of chapters!! and it makes so much more sense. i will say it feels a bit odd?? but i honestly prefer it more as someone who has read the books.

i find the whole sally explaining the gods to percy interesting. it fits for the tv show more, but i love book percy just getting forced into camp half blood without any real knowledge just like “what the fuck is going on”

“Like… like Jesus?” PERCY PLS

i love this grover reveal, but the BEST will forever be the musical

“She was a fury!” “YOU’RE a furry, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEGS?!?”

grover dropping the fact he is 24 in a super intense scene is very grover

that first shot of thalia’s tree lit up by the LIGHTNING gave me CHILLS

the entire minotaur scene was incredible. sally’s speech to grover and percy. percy killing the minotaur. insane

not to mention sally taking percy’s jacket to throw off the minotaurs scent? such a cool choice

EPISODE 2: I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

"you droll when you sleep" YUPPP MHMM YUP

ik that the whole 'Mr. D trying to use percy to get a drink' thing is supposed to be a little joke, but its also such a good way to explain the whole "gods can get their kids to steal shit for them because they can't do it themselves" without having a whole dramatic moment explaining it.

in my head I imagined the entire camp being very heavily wooded, maybe that's just the movies having some influence over me when it comes to visualization, but it was cool to see the camp in the actually valley in a very book accurate portrayal.

OH THE CABINS MY EYES WERE GLUED THE WHOLE TIME

THEY LOOK SO GOOD

this tv show has already captured the two personally traits of percy jackson: 1. he loves his mom 2. he hates the gods

the jelly beans

seeing Luke befriend percy and be his first friend at camp luke I am in your fucking walls

I personally feel like the way they have chosen to portray clarisse is quite different from the books, but I absolutely love it. i was not a fan of her for a while in the books, but I love her immediately in this version.

also did we get to 'see' the cloven council in tlt? I don't think we did, and I like seeing it in prep for sea of monsters.

the entire scene of percy praying to his mom breaks me. oh my god. favorite scene in the entire show so far. it breaks my heart he loves and misses her so much.

"I think I've made some friends here. like real friends" luke I have a gun

the whole bathroom scene. that's it.

ANNABETH

maybe its just different seeing all these characters portrayed well on the screen, but she feels super different than book annabeth but also exactly the same. im not 100% how to explain it but there is no one better to play annabeth than leah

I am so excited to see this slowburn all over again

"she my little sister" luke please

thalia name pronunciation how are we feeling team

i have 100% been pronouncing it the other way this whole time but oh well

"sunshine" hey! when we get the first "seaweed brain" I am going to go crazy

"percy's on it. when its time he's gonna be ready" are you sure about that luke

in the books the main 'introduction scene' we got with clarisse was the bathrooms, but this scene with her in the woods feel much more like an introduction scene and im not sure if this was done on purpose, but I love her and this scene.

annabeth. I cannot stress my love for her enough

annabeth pushing him into the water instead of him falling. love her

percy FINALLY finding a place he belongs only to be forced out on a quest for his dad that he fucking hates

"good kid" from tlt musical was so right

"I am Sally Jackson's son!" what if I just started eating glass rn

anyway I am absolutely obsessed with this show already. I am so sorry to anyone who doesn't want pjo on their feed you are getting it anyway.

if this show is your first introduction to the series. read the books! or at least the lightning thief. and for the love of god LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL. I cannot stress enough how good of a portrayal of the book it is and it is my all time favorite interpretation of the books (although this show may take that top spot soon).

[beanghostprincess]

Hello! Wat are your thoughts in the latest OP manga release especially the page spread?

!!!!!!! Chapter 1121, right? <3 Overall, I really like how the story's going and I can't wait for the next chapter. Lots of my favorite characters showed up (even if it was just for one panel) and it gave me CHILLS. Literal chills. I'm so invested I wish I could eat this manga, actually. Those are my thoughts. If you're asking me to say something more coherent after seeing Sabo and Buggy finally you won't get anything because I'm just shaking waiting for MORE. (But something about Buggy crying and Shanks drinking makes me want to throw up because their parallels with Rayleigh and Roger never end)