#the dude felt bad and i had to remind him it was ok because i didnt care too much LMAO

[angryborzois]

ngl another part i miss about my old school was how interesting every day was

[possumteeths]

One thing about veilguard that bums me out is that this is the very first bioware game that I dont feel any desire to play again. All of the decisions made in the game either dont matter or are made for you so there’s no wondering like “what wouldve happened if I did this instead of that?” There’s so many moments in the game where it felt as if I should really debate what option to pick, only to realize through playing more that decisions really don’t matter. So all decisions made in later stages of the game just kinda feel meaningless.

Everything is set up so one dimensionally that the replay value is unfortunately very low. Theres very few ways to play things differently. I was incredibly disappointed that you do not have the option to kill Lucanis’s shitty cousin. You dont even get any option at ALL over what to do with him. It doesnt matter what you do with the bald warden dude, it doesnt matter whether or not you chose to kill that rando mayor… and the list goes on.

I used replay bioware games just to get different DIALOGUE! This game had very little in terms of meaningful dialogue! Much of the dialogue between characters feels so flat or unrelated to the plot. Character conflict is extremely forced so replaying the game wouldn’t necessarily give you anything new to chew on. Its frustrating that Rook is designated as the group’s therapist, but is often completely sidelined by everyone and everything going on! I romanced Lucanis and he still was hella flirting with Neve which made the romance route feel like a complete afterthought.

Approval ratings dont matter at all, theres genuinely nothing that changes besides your own insight to the different characters worldviews. If someone disliked something, you dont get different dialogue or attitude or nuffin! What does hardening even do in DAV? Neve or Lucanis being hardened has no impact on anything at all besides some rando skill buffs. I thought maybe Harding or Davrin’s endgame sacrifice wouldve meant something more if you had some way of hardening them.

It felt just kind of random to kill off one of your companions in the endgame. Especially when you’ve played through the entire game making choices that were ultimately meaningless. The choice of who dies in the endgame feels just as meaningless as everything else because you the player have spent the entire game realizing that approval ratings dont matter, plot choices dont matter, characterization choices dont matter etc. So if they want to do something as heavy hitting as killing off a main character, wouldnt it have made more sense to build it up in a way that there would be SOME emotional impact? If you were able to harden Davrin or Harding, then killing them wouldve hit harder dang it! Killing off characters feels just cheap when youre overly aware that nothing matters.

No matter your choices in this game, its still going to play the exact same every time with very little deviation. Its almost like playing a telltale game or something. The plot is pathed out for you, your choices are superfluous, your romance options are as noteworthy as skyrim’s “put on a necklace, okie doke now you’re married.”

The game itself isnt bad, but it reminds me of a mass market paperback book. The kinds that come out monthly. You know exactly what the plot is gonna be, you know there’s gonna be a cast of characters, you know theres gonna be bad guys and good guys.., and then you finish the book thinking “Yup that was ok!” Then you shelve it and never look at it again because its one amongst 17492820102 others in the genre. To use another metaphor, this game is buttered toast, it feels like something youve had before, its familiar, it tastes good… but thats it. Its just bread and butter, and theres no sense dressing it up or toasting the bread more or less because at the end of the day… its still toast.

[athenamikaelson]

War of Scars

Luke Castellan x Reader Story

Ch. 2 

Warnings- Swearing, mentions of past chapter, injuries. 

Word Count- 2.2k

The searing pain was the first thing I felt. A pain that started at my toes and crawled up into my head was all I could focus on. If this was hell then whoever was in charge of constructing my personal punishment deserves a big-ass raise. 

I use the very little strength I have to try to open my eyes. After what feels like a hundred tries, a blinding light fills my burning pupils. 

“Jesus fuck.” 

A scratchy-deep voice sounds. Wait. That voice came from me. After realizing the strangled voice came from me, my attention was drawn to the dryness of my mouth and throat. I want to swallow but I have no moisture or saliva in my mouth to even try. Water. I need water.

“Gods, took you long enough to wake up.”

A masculine voice says from somewhere around me. I strain my vision to look around and feel my eyebrows scrunch together as I take in my surroundings. 

Around me are about 6 other beds, like the one I have realized I’m lying on. Two of the beds are occupied, but my eyes can’t seem to focus on who. The beds stand against dark wood walls with what looks like two windows in the small room. The overwhelming smell of antiseptic and sweat fills my nostrils as I glance at the figure leaning over in a chair. Their whitish-blond hair is covering their face as they lay with their head in their hands. 

“I almost had to drug her to get her to get some sleep,” I whip my head to the voice I had heard earlier, “She hasn’t wanted to fall asleep in case you woke up. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out you woke up without her being awake.”

I stare at the blond boy to my right. He’s tall and conventionally attractive. About six foot, sun blond hair, pale skin, and a boyish grin that covers his face. I go to speak but stop when the scratchy feeling in my throat comes back. 

“Oh my bad dude, I bet your throat is dry as hell,” He walks over to a side table and pours water from a pitcher into a glass, “I mean not having water in three weeks will do that to you.”

He starts to walk over to me and I visibly flinch away. Fucking hell! The movement made the pain burn somehow even more than before. 

“Woah, I mean to harm,” He raises his hands innocently as he drops the glass onto the side table next to me, “I’ve been your personal nurse these past weeks. If I was going to kill you, I would’ve done it while you were out of it.”

I stare at him cautiously for a moment. The smirk on his lips reminds me of the cat from Alice in Wonderland. I know I should be weary of someone new but the look in his blue eyes almost appears to sincere, and the burning in my throat is urging for me to gulp down the water. Because of that I slowly lift my left hand, not wanting to aggravate the pain anymore, and grasp the glass. I bring it to my lips and almost moan at the feeling of the liquid coating my throat. 

“Woah girly, don’t drink too fast you haven’t had anything in your stomach for so long. You’ll get sick drinking too fast.”

I glance up at him slightly and then slow down my sips. It takes about another minute before I’ve finished up the glass and set it back down. The Cheshire cat of a boy grabs the pitcher and refills the glance again for me. I stare at him for another moment before a feeling of dread fills my body. Three weeks. 

“Three weeks? You said I’ve been out of it for three weeks!” 

He gives me a slow nod, as if scared of my reaction. I can feel my chest begin rising up and down heavily and fast at the thought. Three weeks. Three fucking weeks. 

“Ok, I heal physical wounds not emotional so before you start freaking out,” He sits himself down on the bed next to mine, “Three weeks is an incredibly fast recovery time for someone who went through what you did.”

He glances at me and then drops his eyes down to my left arm. I follow his gaze to my arm to see it covered in white bandages going all the way up to my chest. 

“Do you remember what happened?”

I scrunch my eyebrows together trying to piece together my memory. The car crash. She was telling me about Gods and monsters when we got hit by something. The monster, that lion-goat thing attacked me and Keiko. I killed it, I think. My memory comes in flashes as I try to piece everything together. My headache made me close my eyes in pain. 

“OK, just take your time. You’re finally awake I don’t want you passing back out on me.”

Cheshire places his hand on my right shoulder in a comforting way. I open my eyes and glance at his hand which makes him take it away and bring it back to his side.

“We got attacked. Keiko and I.” I glance at the hunched-over person in the corner of the room who I’ve now figured to be Keiko.

“Is she ok?”

I watch as the boy glances over me to Keiko and his smirk deepens as he rolls his blue eyes. 

“Trust me she’ll live. Koko is the most satyr I’ve ever met. Not even the Ciimera could keep her down,” His haze comes back to me and an unreadable expression comes over his face for a split second, “Speaking of the Chimera, I’ve never met a demi-god who’s been able to survive it, let alone kills it.”

My mind runs in a frenzy as he speaks. Koko? Did he really just call Keiko, Koko? What makes me freeze up though is the memory of the monster, or the Chimera as Keiko and this boy have called it. The merciless look in its eyes after it clawed up my back, the hissing of the snake as I used it to strangle the goat, and the way those merciless eyes glossed over as I impaled the beast with the goat's horn. 

“I don’t understand,” I looked back at him and tears started to blur my vision as I looked down at my wrapped arm.

“I don’t understand what happened in those woods, or the whole demi-god thing,” I turn from him and then look at my wrapped arm, “And I don’t understand why my arm is wrapped since that monster didn’t touch my arm.” 

I watch with blurred vision as the boy glances at my arm with a weary expression and a mix of sorrow. He gives me a small smile and stands up.

“I think you should hear this from a more friendly face,” He walks over to Keiko and flicks her forehead stirring her awake, “Not that I’m saying my face isn’t friendly, because it very much is.” A playful smirk crosses his face.

Keiko leans up and I look at her. She has a fading bruise on her left cheekbone and a small cut on her upper lip. She rubs her eyes and begins to scowl at the boy before she follows his gaze towards me. Her mood instantly shifts as she jumps up and starts walking towards me.

“You’re finally awake,” A smile comes over her light features, “You were touch and go for a while there, had everyone worried. But I told them you were a fighter.”

“That’s true she did.” The boy backs up Keiko.

Keiko turns back towards the boy and sends him an eye-roll.

“You can go now.” She shoos him away with one hand. 

The boy just rolls his eyes and smiles anyway as he looks at me.

“Fine, I’m leaving. I spend all my time helping you damsels in distress and I don’t even get a single thank you,” He places his hand over his heart in a fake heart and then smiles at me, “Oh, and by the way Sleeping beauty, I’m Alastair, Son of Apollo. You should know the name of your nurse.”

Alastair smiles at me and Keiko looks over her shoulder at him.

“Don’t you have a mirror to go stare at?”

Alastair laughs as he goes to walk out the screen door. 

“I actually might go walk in front of the Aphrodite cabin to bless them with my presence. The ladies have missed me since I’ve been here taking care of Sleeping Beauty. I’ll be back to check on you later Y/N.”

Alastair smirks at both of us and then opens the screen door and lets it slam behind him as he walks away. 

“Don’t mind him, he’s a flirt but harmless. He should’ve been a Son of Aphrodite with the way he is obsessed with himself.”

I stare at Keiko silently as I listen to her talk about this stranger with a smile on her face. The longer I stare at the familiarity on her face though, I’ve realized that he was only a stranger to me. 

I drag my eyes down to Keiko’s feet expecting to see her usual Doc Martens, but in their place are, Goat Hoaves. What the actual fuck.

“Keiko. Where the fuck are your feet?” 

Pure shock must be written on my features, matching the shock I feel in my chest because Keiko sends me a small weary smile. 

“Ya about that. Do you remember how I was telling you about the Demi-Gods and Greek stuff before we crashed?”

She questions me as I nod slowly. 

“Good. Well, I am what you call a Satyr. I have half the body of a goat and the other half of a mortal. Satyrs are also protectors of demi-gods,” She gestures to me, “like yourself. That’s why I was sent to you last year.”

I stare at her in disbelief trying to make sense of everything she’s telling me. 

“I know this can be a lot to take in and I don’t want to pressure you with everything, especially after the lightning bolt and the Chimera.”

I meet her eyes in confusion.

“Lightening bolt? What lightning? All I remember is getting attacked by the monster and then killing it.”

Keiko goes quiet for a moment and then glances at my wrapped arm. 

“After you killed the Chimera I found you covered in blood. I was so worried about you, so when I saw you standing over it with the horn in your hand I was so surprised. I had lost a lot of blood myself so when I went to go to you I fell. You came to me but when you did,” Keiko stopped and I watched her chest deepen with each breath, “It came out of nowhere. A lightning strike. It was coming right at us, but you being your sacrificial self pushed me out of the way. That’s when it struck you.”

I glance down at my bandaged arm as I try to recall what she’s telling me. But nothing comes to mind. It’s like the lightning wiped my memory. 

Keiko goes to continue talking before I raise my right hand to stop her. 

“Did you know the whole time?”

I look Keiko in the eyes and watch the confusion enter them.

“Did you know that my parents, weren’t actually my parents? That I was some Greek freak of nature,” My voice hardening with each question, “Was it all a lie? Our friendship!” 

Keiko opens and closes her mouth multiple times and I want her to lie to me and tell me that she chose to be my friend because she liked me for me. That for the first time in my life someone wanted to be my friend. But once I see the pained look in her eyes I already know my answer. 

“Get out.”

Keiko stares at me and shakes her head.

“Y/N, I know this whole thing is a shock to you but,”

“Get. The. Fuck. Out!” I yell at her.

And for the first time in our “friendship,” Keiko flinches. She flinches because of me. Good. Fuck her and fuck this demi-god thing. Keiko shakes her head solemnly, then stands up and walks to the door. 

As she reaches for the screen door handle, she pauses. 

“I might have lied about a lot during our friendship, but I never lied to you about being your friend. I truly do care about you Y/N.”

She must be waiting for me to say something but all I do is stare at the wooden wall in front of me. I hear her let out a sigh and open the door. 

“You can come find me when you want to talk.”

The screen door slams for a second time today, as the tears that were building in my eyes finally fall onto my cheeks. The truth of everything I’ve learned brings sobs to my lips and I close my eyes again hoping to wake up from this nightmarish hell.

TAGS- @luvvfromme @potatochip-111

[jungle-angel]

Playing Doctor (Rhett Abbott x Reader)

Summary: Rhett will literally do anything to get out of going to the doctor, but a little roleplaying goes a long way

Warnings: SMUT, parenthood, Rhett trying to get out of going to the doctor's, cancer scare etc.

Tagging: @floydsmuse @bradleybeachbabe @callmemana @attapullman @sebsxphia @rhettabbotts @hangmanapologist

You groaned when you saw the number for the missed call on the answering machine for the phone in the kitchen.

"You ok hon?" Cecelia asked as she began prepping the raw green beans for dinner.

"That's the third time this week," you huffed. "Rhett was supposed to go for a doctor's appointment on Friday and it's Tuesday."

Cecelia chuckled a little. "Typical Rhett," she said. "Him and Royal are two of the same. They'll think of any excuse to not go, they both hate going."

"I know Cece, it's just annoying," you sighed, helping her snap off the ends of the green beans.

"Annoying as it is, they still need to be careful," Cecelia remarked. "Still haven't forgotten Roy's reaction when they found that cyst in my left tit last year"

"Ooooooh."

"Yep," Cecelia continued. "Nasty, nasty stuff. Mom had breast cancer and so didn't Aunt Anna, Aunt Betty and Aunt Mariah."

"Isn't that what Oma Heidi had too?" you asked.

"Oh Roy's mother had it bad," Cecelia answered. "Both his father and my father had it too but part of that was because his father was over in Vietnam and my father smoked for forty two plus years."

You and Cecelia chattered away when you heard Rhett trailing through the door, groaning as he kicked off his boots and hung his tan carhartt jacket up on the hook.

"Hey Ma," he said, greeting his mother cheerfully. "Something smells real good, what's for dinner?"

"The prime rib your father had sitting in the drop freezer," Cecelia answered. "By the way, I think ya'll might've missed something this afternoon."

"Huh?" Rhett said, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"I saw a message on the answering machine from the doctor's office," you said, giving him 'the look'.

"Oh um......yeah about that......ya see, a funny thing happened, Wes called and one of the cows had a breach birth and......"

"RHETT!!!!!"

"Hey ya'll try havin some creepy old dude feelin up your nuggets!" Rhett blurted out. "It's awkward as hell!!"

"Rhett need I remind ya'll that I have to have my tits felt up every six months?" Cecelia reminded him.

"No, but it's still awkward!"

"Oh you wanna talk about awkward?" you chuckled. "You wanna hear about my last gyno appointment?"

"NO!!"

"Well first she takes a speculum, which is like a freezing cold pair of salad tongs and widens the hole a little bit," you explained, delighting in watching him squirm. "And then she takes a little stick and scrapes my cervix......."

"LA LA LA LA!!!!! I CAN'T HEAR YA'LL!!!!" Rhett interrupted, covering his ears. "I can't hear ya'll!!!!"

"MY CERVIX DAMNIT!!!"

Rhett ran right out of the room and hurried upstairs to wash up for dinner, leaving you and your mother-in-law to laugh it off.

*****************************

Rhett fucking HATED being in the doctor's office.

He hated the cold, sterile feeling of the room, the smell of rubbing alcohol, but most of all, that you had managed to lure him to the truck with a trail of mini KitKat bars and the fact that he had been gullible enough to take the bait. But here he was, sitting in Pete's exam room in nothing but his shorts and awaiting the awkwardness that was to ensue.

The door creaked open and in walked Pete, one of only a few doctors in the whole of Wabang who had known the Abbotts since Royal was knee high.

"Ah there's Wabang's favorite bull rider," Pete remarked. "How's it going Rhett?"

"Not alot of complaints Pete," Rhett said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well that's good," Pete said, glancing at his clipboard. "Wow.....looks like the last time you had a physical was the turn of the century."

Rhett made a face and nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you came in when you did," Pete remarked as he began probing Rhett's neck and along his jaw with his fingers. "According to the medical records you had some pretty nasty injuries with a bull last year."

Rhett had remembered clearly the ornery son of a bitch that had landed him in the ER right around the time of Amy's second birthday and having to have concussion tests every two weeks. "Quit the bull riding about a month ago," he said, squirming a little at the feeling of Pete's fingers on his neck.

"Good on you," Pete chuckled. "Told my son the same thing. Deep breath for me."

Rhett took four deep breaths as Pete listened to his lungs and then his heart. Good God he hated the feeling of that thing moving all over his chest and under his left tit and especially along his belly.

"Anything hurt?" Pete asked as his fingertips began probing Rhett's abdomen.

Rhett shook his head.

Good grief his hands were gnarled and cold. He winced a little when Pete felt up around his bellybutton, not from pain but from the uncomfortable wave of awkwardness that washed over him.

"Alright, looks good," Pete remarked. "Mind rolling over on your side for me?"

Rhett rolled over so Pete didn't have to see his face scrunching up, more so when Rhett heard the snap of a rubber glove.

*****************************

You came up from the basement with a pile of freshly dried laundry in the basket. The house was relatively quiet seeing as Amy had gone down for a nap, but the sight of your husband laying on the couch with a grumpy pout on his face told you that something wasn't as it seemed.

"Alright, talk to me cowboy," you said, setting the laundry down near the coffee table. "What happened?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," he said flatly.

You smiled and rolled your eyes. "Come on," you purred, slithering all over Rhett, the same way Garfield usually did. "I know something's up."

"I just had my balls and my asshole diddled by a creepy old dude with gnarled hands," Rhett answered, barely moving.

You snorted and giggled a little.

"I mean it darlin I ain't goin again," Rhett insisted.

"Rhett."

"I mean it."

"Ok, you know what you need?" you said. "I think you need a little help and that entails a little roleplaying."

Rhett arched his eyebrows. "Roleplaying?" he asked.

You nodded. It was something you did with your fifth graders when they were practicing for the spring play and had done with them ever since you had first had them in first grade.

Rhett joined you upstairs in the bedroom as you dug around looking for some things that your friend, Tara, had been storing at the house. You found her extra scrubs and medical equipment while Rhett stripped himself down to his shorts and seated himself on the edge of the bed.

"Can I get your name and date of birth sir?" you asked him.

"Only if ya'll buy me dinner first," Rhett answered, wiggling his eyebrows.

You rolled your eyes. "Name and date of birth please sir," you told him.

"Mike Rotch, January twenty-nine, ninety three," Rhett answered with a shit eating grin.

"Mike R......NO!!!!!"

Rhett laughed, an annoyed groan escaping your throat as you began to probe his neck and jaw, feeling his lymphnodes for anything out of the ordinary. You could feel the low purr in his throat as he leaned in for a kiss which you couldn't help but return.

"Mind laying back for me?" you asked him.

Rhett lay on his back before you began to gently probe his belly with your fingertips. "Lower," he said. "Just a little lower........nah that's still too high......there you go....."

You rolled your eyes, still feeling lower and lower until you hit pubes. A naughty little thought had bloomed in your head as you took his flaccid dick in your hand.

"Oh woah wait....wait a sec what are you....??" he said before sucking in a breath.

"Oh I'm sorry, where does it hurt? Here?" you asked him cheekily.

Rhett groaned as you slowly gave him a few gentle tugs and rubbed the underside of his balls. "Fuck......feels so good darlin," he hissed.

You took his dick in your hand again, gently massaging and caressing his shaft and his tip with your thumb until he had hardened right in your grip. "You sure it hurts there?"

"Feels so fuckin good," he groaned again, thrusting his hips into your hand.

You leaned up and kissed him full on the lips, your tongue slipping over his bottom lip and into his mouth to sneak a taste of him. "Well hello nurse," Rhett purred.

You giggled as you helped him get the scrubs off. Rhett practically tore your panties off of you, shoving his cock deep inside your already wet pussy. You moaned feeling his lips and tongue on the curve of your neck, his hips ramming into yours with so much force that the bed shook and knocked against the wall. You felt him gutter into you just moments later, the both of you out of breath and thoroughly fucked enough to forget your troubles.

"Feel better?" you asked, your head resting on Rhett's chest.

"Loads better," Rhett purred.

"Think you'll go back once a year from now on?"

Rhett kissed your lips and rolled on top of you, pressing you a bit further into the mattress. "For you darlin? Anything."

And ever since then, you never had a problem getting Rhett to go back to the doctor's office.

[loptrcoptr]

I’ve seen an awful lot of posts re: the new Murtagh book about how “unfair” Eragon and Nasuada were to Murtagh by railing at him and telling him to turn on Galbatorix in Inheritance. And I find that so shocking? what were they supposed to be doing, whispering “it’s ok sweetie, do your best alright we luv you :) uwu take your time honey”?? Dude has had his will broken and his mind enslaved by an evil mastermind, he’s full of rage and angst– shouldn’t they be trying to bring those emotions to the surface to help him break free? Also, Murtagh is not the kind of character that enjoys a pity party or is even vaguely comfortable with being vulnerable around others, including those he loves (on many levels), as a result of all those years of abuse and torture. I doubt it would’ve felt very compelling to him if his companions stayed silent or just offered platitudes and hollow encouragements– what should they have said, you got this, bro”?

Idk, I think that it’s interesting that as a fandom we can spend a lot of mental energy (and I mean a lot, 20 years of it over here on my end!!) bending over backwards being compassionate towards Broody McWarcrimes because he has been mind controlled and tortured within an inch of his life, but Goodboy Mainkid and Badass Queenieface try to get him out of his broody dark spiral of a brain for once and it’s like “oh my god, they’re so manipulative, they don’t even care”. Eragon had seen and done Some Shit and Nasuada was also a tortured mind control prisoner (by this guy!!), but for not being moody emo kids about their pain, the way Murtagh is, and compartmentalizing it differently than he does (too stoically, possibly), it’s like it erases their suffering for some people, and I think that’s an unfortunate reaction. If your traumatized friend was maybe the key to saving all your lives, wouldn’t you try to snap them out of their misery in any way you could, magic or no magic? Paolini says it himself multiple times in the new book - “Murtagh was feeling bad for himself again”. It’s the way a lot of us would cope with severely traumatic shit, I’m sure, brood and overthink and marinate in our pain. That doesn’t mean it’s compelling behavior for the people who are depending on you. I think Murtagh needed that needling, that boost from Nasuada and Eragon to get the ball rolling, or else he would not have been clear-headed enough to really think about his true name changing, because he would still have been stuck in the dark, sad spiral of the mind control, and it might have taken more time than they really had for him to get right with himself. They’re not chiding him and making light of his plight, they’re reminding him that he is even stronger than he knows and that they believe in him.

I love that little emo-boy blorbo, but he broods too much, and I think it’s ok for them to say it!

[atimeofyourlife]

@steddie-week Day 6 misunderstanding

Steve was making the most of the evening with Eddie, as he would be away in Chicago for a week with family obligations.

"So, I'm driving up tomorrow, the day after is some big family dinner thing, the day after that is the wedding. And god, I am not looking forward to it. Weddings in my family are just about showing off, it's black tie, so I know I'm just going to be uncomfortable the whole time. Maybe I should be thankful that my aunt was able to talk her down from white tie, a different cousin on the other side had a white tie wedding two years ago and honestly, it was one of the worst things I had to wear in my entire life." Steve rambled as he leaned against Eddie's shoulder.

"What the fuck is white tie?" Eddie replied.

"Even fancier than black tie. Black tie I have to wear a tuxedo. White tie includes a fucking tailcoat, and my mom basically forced me into a top hat. It's ridiculous and over the top, which is why my family loves it. If we are ever able to get married, I want it to be nothing fancier than semi-formal."

"You would marry me?" Eddie asked quietly.

"In a heartbeat." Steve pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek, before continuing. "I'll be wanting to ditch as soon as possible, so I will be driving myself no matter how much my parents protest, but I know they will kill me if I ditch too early. Then there's two days where I've got nothing, other than recovering from however much I drink at the wedding. Then it's my Nonna's birthday, so I've got to stick around for that. And then the day after that, I'm coming home. While I'm there, I'll probably spend most of my time with Danni."

"And who's Danni?"

"My favorite cousin. The only person in my family that isn't insufferable and stuck up."

-

The week away went mostly as Steve had predicted. He got constantly reminded by his parents how much of a disappointment he was. Constant questions from other family members about college, or what he wanted to do as a career, when he was going to join his father's company. If he had a girlfriend. When he was going to get married. It was draining.

But Danni was the shining light. He spent every spare minute with her. Ditching the wedding a little early, and ending up in a McDonalds in their formalwear, with her wearing his tuxedo jacket over her dress. Spending as much time as possible out in Chicago together on the days they had nothing to do. Talking and sharing stories, and gaining a deeper understanding of each other when talking about their partners, Steve mentioning Eddie, Danni bringing up her Laura.

Danni had more time to spare than Steve, so decided to join him in returning to Hawkins, to meet the friends he'd spoken so much about, especially Eddie.

-

After getting home, it all seemed to go downhill for Steve. As soon as he got in, he called Eddie, like he had promised to. But Eddie was unusually cold and dismissive on the phone, as if he didn't want to talk.

"Yeah, ok. I've got to go." Eddie hung up, and the call had barely lasted a minute. Steve felt worried, as Eddie was usually much more interested in talking to him, at any chance they got.

He called Robin next, and that didn't put his mind at ease. After a brief catch up, he brought up Eddie. She mentioned he'd been fine until a couple of days before, then had started to become a little distant, without telling anyone why.

"Maybe head over there after work tomorrow, if you've not heard from him. He's probably just throwing a hissy fit because you were away for a week without speaking to him and he thrives on attention." Robin said as the call came to an end.

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Rob."

Steve tried to make the most of the evening, hanging out with Danni. He felt a little bad that he would be leaving her alone for most of the next day.

"Dude, I'll just take advantage of your pool. I knew you have work, if I wasn't cool with hanging out by myself, I wouldn't have come with you." She assured him.

-

By the end of the next day, Steve felt more worried. He'd tried calling Eddie a number of times, but the calls were never answered. He drove over after he'd finished work, Eddie's van was missing from the spot next to Wayne's truck. He still went to the door, hoping Wayne could put his mind at ease.

"He's out with Gareth and Grant. He's fine, and whatever's bugging him, he'll get over it soon."

"Oh. Thanks, Wayne. Could you let him know I came over, and ask him to call me?"

-

Steve tried to put it out of his mind, taking Danni out to breakfast the next morning before hanging out with Robin.

As they walked into the diner, he noticed a very familiar back in the corner. He felt lost, conflicted. Unsure if he should ignore it, or confront him.

"I'm just going to the bathroom before we order." Danni said to him before they reached a table.

"I. I'm gonna be over-" Steve gestured vaguely to where Eddie was sat.

"Is that-" Steve nodded before she could finish the question. "If you need me to, I can kick his ass."

Steve nodded, before making his way over to Eddie, feeling a little nervous. The what if. He had never been good at seeing the end of a relationship, or knowing where he'd gone wrong.

"Eddie?" He said hesitantly.

Eddie looked up, and his face was unreadable. His friend's expressions varied from disgust to glee.

"Harrington, you here to confess? Tell us all about what you've been up to?" Grant asked, looking him upside down.

"What?" Steve was confused, unsure about what was going on.

"Oh, I said he would play dumb. How could he think he did anything wrong?" Gareth mocked. "We know what you've been doing."

"Seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Eddie, can we talk?" Steve asked, feeling desperate and wanting to get it over with.

"Go ahead, Harrington. We're waiting for your excuses." Jeff added.

"Can we talk outside, alone?" Steve pushed, not wanting to have to deal with Eddie's friends' comments. He knew they didn't like him, and would put the wrong ideas into Eddie's head.

There seemed to be a moment of silent conversation between them before Eddie got up. "I'll tell you guys how pathetic his excuses are."

Steve clenched his jaw, unsure of what Eddie thought he'd done wrong.

"Ok, what the hell, Eddie?" Steve demanded once they were outside.

"That's exactly what I want to know, Steve. Try telling the truth about what you were really doing this week." Eddie sneered.

"I told you what I was doing. Family wedding in Chicago and hanging out with family until my Nonna's birthday. That is exactly what happened. I mean I know I didn't call as much as I would have liked, but I was busy." Steve replied.

"But who were you busy with, huh? Because Gareth was in Chicago for a college tour and he told me everything. How he saw you out, repeatedly, and all over the same girl. Her wearing your tux jacket in a Mcdonald's late at night, looking all cosy over the table. Then seeing you out in Downtown Chicago. Holding hands, hugging, you lifting her up as you were laughing together. Then you show up here with the same slut." Eddie leant into Steve's face, spitting the final words out.

Steve was stunned for a second, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Don't fucking call her that." He burst out. He was aware of the door opening and closing nearby, but didn't pay attention to who it was that came out.

"What should I call her then? Homewrecker? Sidepiece? Whore?" Eddie drew out each word.

"She's my fucking cousin. You know, the favorite cousin I told you about that I was planning to spend all my time with. The one person in my family that isn't insufferable." Steve was fighting against his emotions.

"You said his name was Danny." Eddie accused.

"Yeah. Danni. As in short for Daniella. She's basically my best friend, and there is nothing I do with her that I don't do with Robin. Or are you going to start accusing me of cheating with Robin?"

"Well, I know Robin, and she's a lesbian anyway, so I know I don't have to worry about her." Eddie dismissed what he'd said.

"But you really think I would cheat on you?" Steve couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice, and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold back the tears.

"Steve?" Danni's voice cut through the tension as she moved to Steve's side.

"How much of that did you hear?" Steve asked softly.

"Everything after this asshole calling me a homewrecker," Danni replied, venom clear in her voice. "Let's do first things first. Even if we weren't related, Steve wouldn't be anywhere in the realm of someone I'd be interested in. Because he's a man. I've got a girlfriend in New York that I'm very happy with. So I'm not happy with that accusation of me being the other woman."

"I didn't-" Eddie started to backtrack on what he'd said.

"You know, Steve had really talked up his boyfriend. Telling me how amazing this guy was. But, it seems like his taste in men is as bad as his taste in women, at least with how they treat him. Because it's real interesting that you accuse him of cheating when he has told you about his parents, about how his mother has to follow his father around on business trips to curb his affairs. When his only other serious relationship involved him getting cheated on after they'd been together for a year."

"Steve, I'm sorry, I just-" Eddie trailed off, unsure on what he was going to say, how to dig himself out of this hole.

"I can't believe you didn't just ask me. You know your friends don't like me. That they could twist things to put me in a bad light. When I called you to say I was home, you could have said that Gareth had seen us out and asked me about it. I would have told you and invited you over to meet her. But you had to assume." Steve winced as his voice cracked.

"Stevie, I can make it up to you. Let me-" Eddie hurried over his words, and stepped forward to try to comfort him.

"I think you've done enough." Danni moved so she was between them.

"You can go back in there and tell them just how pathetic I was." Steve walked away, with Danni right behind him, heading for his car without letting Eddie respond.

-

They'd picked up Robin before heading back to Steve's house.

"I can't believe that he'd just accept from Gareth that you were cheating on him. Without even talking to you about it. He could have asked me or something." Robin rambled from where she was curled up against Steve's side. "I feel like going down there and tearing him a new asshole for that. He knows how much cheating fucks you up."

"I'm with you on the tearing him a new asshole thing. Maybe we should steal Steve's keys and head over to his, I'll drive, you can direct." Danni replied.

"Can you guys leave it? At least now I know what he thinks of me. That he doesn't trust me around girls that he doesn't know. That he trusts his friends words more than he trusts me." Steve sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I love him so much, but he obviously doesn't feel the same, or he doubts how I really feel about him."

It was a few hours later when there was a banging at the door. Steve moved to get up, but Robin beat him to the door.

"Munson." Robin's tone was cold, closed off.

"Robin, I. Is Steve here? I need to talk to him. I know I fucked up." Eddie pleaded.

"Damn right he fucked up." Danni shouted from the kitchen.

"I just need to apologize to him. I feel like shit for this. It was a total misunderstanding, and it's all on me."

"Apologize? You need to fucking grovel. You accused him of cheating on you, when you know that cheating is one of his biggest insecurities. Based on what? The word of a guy that has never liked Steve. A guy that has repeatedly tried to convince you to break up with Steve. Why the hell would you believe anything he said about Steve?" Robin's voice got louder, agitation evident.

"I know. I just got caught up because Steve wasn't here and I guess I just wanted someone to blame. I need to make this right?"

"Make it right for what? So next time you hear about him hanging out with someone you don't know you can accuse him of cheating on you again?"

"Rob, it's ok. Let me speak to him." Steve came to the door, knowing he looked a mess.

"Stevie. I am so fucking sorry. I know I fucked up by listening to Gareth, I shouldn't have let him get into my head like that. I'll do anything to make it up to you. I know you wouldn't cheat, I know you're not like that. And I love you. I've never loved anyone like this, and I don't want to lose you over this. Please, give me a chance to fix this?" Eddie begged.

"I know you're sorry, but I can't forgive you. Not yet. You hurt me so much by ignoring me and assuming I had cheated on you. I was open and honest about what I was doing and who I was going to be with. And you chose to listen to Gareth. I need time to know that you'll come to me when you hear something and not just blindly take your friends side. I can't be just waiting to see if you're going to hurt me again. And I'm not the only one you need to apologize to. What you said about Danni was unacceptable. What if someone said that about Robin or one of the kids?" Steve's voice was a little rough with the emotion of the day.

"It would have been fucked up. I was wrong, I know that. I assumed something about someone I didn't know. Please? Stevie, I can't be without you."

"You don't get to choose when someone forgives you, Munson. And you're not the only one who needs to apologize. Your friends need to own up to being wrong and accept that their view of Steve is wrong. That their treatment of him has been cruel." Robin replied.

"I need time alone, Eddie. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk." Steve walked away from the door, allowing Robin to shut it in Eddie's face.

I'm sorry I am considering making a second part to this, but I don't know if or when that will happen! Also on ao3 Now with a part 2!

[makomafu]

Everyone thinks will is Trans but let's be honest here; Frankie I'd trand while will's genderfluid. I don't make the rules

OIGHHGE you just reminded me to post my Queer HCs i fucking forgor

Creeps HCs (Queer edition oooo)

Laughing Jack

I honestly can see him being aroace and non binary. The idea of gender is one that isn't like deeply pushed upon his kind, he's a children's toy and that's what he sees himself as. Boy? Sure, Isaac's a boy, he can call himself that too

Girl? Why not

he sees himself as a toy, a children's toy. Made for entertainment, and friendship.

William Grossman

The reason i see him as a trans guy is cause 1) i am trans myself, 2) i can see him wearing clothes like Jessie Pinkman from Breaking Bad or Marshall Lee, he got the top surgery and his scars look pretty sick 🔥

TbH this headcanons is also heavily tied with Isaac because i like making SO many connections between those two. He's very proud of his gender and how he looks like, and he loves how he has Jack to make him company! Jack helps him get shots lol

Oh and he's also a bisexual disaster but doesn't get many bitches

Isaac: get a girlfriend Will!

Laughing Jack: or a boyfriend, he's bi!

Isaac: Damn nobody want u fr 😭

Laughing Jack: That's what i'm saying like 😭😭😭

Will: ;-;

Frankie The Undead

Ok it first started as a silly headcanon inspired by other people's but now i can actually see it

I see this man as a trans man, and a gay man. This man has been kissing dudes since the 40s. He used to have this lover back in the 40s he always wrote letters to, they've all been burned but he sometimes remembers those times. (Also this is the willfrank shipper in me talking but his past lover looked awfully similar to William)

He's also trans because i love transmasc characters that are old i love it. He doesn't bind because he doesn't feel like it, being fat also helps lmao. He loves his body, he just fucking hates the stitches <33

Isaac Grossman

I can't decide if this guy is aro, gay, or bisexual, he's too queer for me. YES, the guy people see as queerphobic is ironically the most queer in my eyes. Imagine the repression he went through from his teenage years to adulthood, the loneliness. He only had one person that could understand him, and it was Jack. With time he forgot he was ever accepted, as he forgot Jack.

He never found any "true love", but there was a man that sticked with him even after death.

Also, yeah, i think the biggest change i gave to his original story is that he's AFAB. How does Will exist? Well, only children weren't exactly common for poor families in the 1800s England. The isolation he felt most of his life, the constant struggle of thinking, knowing, that out of everyone around you, you're alone on this one.

Jack, again, was the only place he could've feel safe, if they just didn't kill that cat. What could've been.

This man is TRAUMATIZED and my angsty teen ass is the culprit

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Thank you. I appreciate everything you've done already. I admit. I was likely being selfish sending those messages. And especially for not making sure you knew I was okay sooner.

We may not know each other, but from what I'm seen, you're very compassionate.

Thank God for that because it's a precious gift that he's given to you.

As such, I am very, very sorry for most likely having worried you. Matters not whether I did or not. It was inconsiderate regardless & I apologize for that.

And trust me, I have been praying. I've been praising His name very frequently! I certainly don't think I'd have lasted as long as I did if I didn't believe. Mentally, that is. The doctor suggested that things hadn't gone nearly as bad as it could've, which is yet another thing to thank Him for.

Like, I can't even fathom how because it was horrible already. The pain, quite possibly the worst I've ever felt.

But even after it got as bad as it ever did, I still wanted to try & stick it out at home whenever I thought I wasn't doing as badly as I had been. I thought that I was trusting God, but maybe I was actually being prideful by not accepting help when I needed it.

I'm suddenly reminded of a story I heard of a man in a flood who was so sure that God would save him & every time people came to his rescue, he denied them, so when he drowned & went to heaven, he learned that all those people trying to help him? That WAS God saving him, dude was just being stubborn & a bit dumb by not recognizing it.

So, I guess I'm the dummy in the story. *lightheartedly sardonic grin*

Finally, I gave up &, wouldn't you know it? Not too terribly long after I got to the ER & they stuck me with an IV of fluids, I started to get the heck better & all they did was give me saline!! 😆

Of course, there were still a bunch of not fun parts that took place even after it, but compared to that morning, I'd say that I got off pretty easy.

But, I won't go further. It was... it was harrowing. All I'll say is that I had, like, 3 or 4 different things happening to me at once & I wasn't even aware of the 4th until it was, like, closing time!

So, yeah. 0/10, would not recommend. 😂

But it certainly made me thankful to not be in pain at every waking moment.

Anyway, I'll let you go. I'm sure that I'm distracting you from your work. And thanks for the site recommendation & especially for the support! It helps! Like, a lot!

God bless! 🫡

It can be really hard to ask for help, it’s ok. I’m glad you got the help you needed! ❤️

Don’t be sorry! You were scared and dealing with a lot, I don’t mind helping out.

God bless you too, lovely!

[collectorcookie]

Oughfgshfh thinking of oz and figaro's development as characters. (Spoilers for uuuhh everything ozfi until ms2 i guess)

The way oz gets better while figaro gets worse. Figaro is the one who grew up with humans, he's supposed to have this having-emotions-and-morals thing down but he doesn't. His village dehumanized him for being a wizard. Yeah, he might have been revered as a god but that's also dehumanization. Serving others is the only way he knows how to love. Being needed is the only way for him to feel loved. And oz needed him. He needed him BAD.

The twins loved and cherished figaro because he was their first true connection to the outside world, outside of themselves, but they protected and taught figaro, they never needed him. So he never felt loved. But oz? Oz was a very high maintenance child, i imagine. And the twins were not really the best at raising people, figaro knows this from first hand experince. It's like the twins are the traumatised parents generation who pass that trauma onto their kids (except they are the first generation ever and the trauma is the cruel and endless world in face of semi immortality), figaro is like the eldest daughter who has to raise their sibling because the parents don't know shit, and oz is the high maintenance child everyone needs to pay attention to. And just. The way that it was figaro of all people who wanted oz dead because "but what if he becomes evil and try to conquer the world" but then when oz wanted exactly that, figaro was like "Do you need me to help you conquer the world? Can i help? Pls let me help" like i need to squash this dude like a bug.

And then. Arthur became a thing in their vaguely-family-shaped small community via oz finding arthur dying in a snow field. Originally, oz wanted to kill and eat arthur but then fifi was like "how about no. Keep him for a while. See how it feels" and that's because, unlike oz, fifi and the twins actually still lived in close proximity to humans, so fifi knows a thing or two about raising children. And fifi had to constantly look over oz so that oz doesn't accidentally kill arthur. Lo and behold, after tremendous effort and guidance from fifi and the twins, arthur grows up under oz! Oz develops emotions! For the first time in his 2000 years of life, oz can now have feelings!

Except arthur was taken back to the castle. And, as depressed as oz is about this, he doesn't try to bring arthur back, or even visit him. He knows arthur is a whole ass prince and that he loves humans and that humans need him, and there's nothing in this world humans are more terrified of than oz, so he just lets arthur go, much to his heartbreak.

AND FIFI. UGH. THE TALK BETWEEN OZ AND FIFI IN ANNIVERSAY 2 STORY. Where fifi asks him "why tf did you just let him go??? You liked him???" and oz retorts with "well why did you let faust go? Wasn't he your student? You liked him too?" and figaro is like "Don't even bring that up, you wouldn't understand, we might have both lived 2000 years on this earth but YOU have only had emotions for the last decade. You wouldn't understand" and oz just had to be like "....ok". IT HURTS IT LITERALLY HURTS SO BAD. FIFI CAN YOU STOP PUSHING OTHERS AWAY. OPEN UP TO PEOPLE SOMETIME DAMN. ALSO WHY JAB AT OZ LIKE THAT.

And then. God. Main story 2. The one where oz finally tells EVERONE that arthur is going to die. Where he, once cold and uncaring to the world, is experiencing fear for the first time in his life. Begging others for help, shaking. And most importantly he is opening up about his emotions to others about it too, like damn. All the other wizards like shylock and faust were like "oh wow that must be mad hard to talk about, thank you for trusting us. We will try our hardest to prevent arthur from dying". And that reminded faust of something. And guess what happens after that. Fucking faust drags figaro out of the room to ask figaro "did you actually ever tell anyone that you, too, are literally dying as of now?" and figaro answered "Lol. Lmao. No."

After that whole ass fucking speech in anniversary 2 where he's shaming oz, GUESS WHO SUCKS AT EMOTIONS NOW???? NONE OTHER THAN FIGARO FUKCNIGN GARCIA FOLKS.

And he goes on and on about how "i don't want my loved ones to look down on me" and "pity is the worst form of scorn there is" and he literally has zero consideration for his loved ones if he suddenly dies out of the blue. He has SUCH a stereotypical northern way of thinking where his pride is above all, even in death, and it makes me SICK, because he hated north country and he hated north culture and he literally migrated south because of that. BUT THEN HE GOES AND SAYS THE MOST STEREOTYPICAL NORTHERN ATTITUDE BULLSHIT LIKE OKAY MAN.

It hurts because oz is usually described as personification of the north but now he's loving, caring, scared, vulnerable, open.

And figaro is the one who is responsible for oz becoming like that but he himself never managed to develop human morals and emotions.

And also WHAT DO YOU MEAN ONLY FAUST KNOWS FIGARO IS DYING. THE HELL KINDA BURDEN IS THAT. THAT'S SO CRUEL.

Aughfhsj. Directly after this is a scene where akira asks oz "have you noticed that figaro is getting weaker?" And oz answers "well he is pretending to be a southern wizard, he is merely concealing his powers" LIKE NO ONE WILL KNOW HE IS DYING BECAUSE THEY ALL THINK HE IS HIDING HIS POWERS, NOT THAT HIS POWER IS ACTUALLY DECLINING. WORKING OUT PERFECTLY FOR YOUR LYING ASS, DOESN'T IT, MR. GARCIA.

Narrative of figaro is actively getting worse while oz is getting better hurts so bad, man.

[saturn-sends-hugs]

ok

i had to wait ALL DAY TO BE ABLE TO WATCH THE EPISODES, but i FINALLY DID

BAD BATCH EP 7-8 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

starting with episode seven:

First off, RIYO!!! SHE ABSOLUTELY SLAYED, the way she literally went to 79’s (also AAAA 79S!!!) specifically so she could actually talk to the clones is so so important, she is incredible

Slip was so wonderful, the parallels of him at 79s and then running through Coruscant while scared for his life were very painful tho (also his number was ct-0409 and that’s literally irrelevant but like COME ON ITS ONE NUMBER OFF I COULDN’T NOT NOTICE THAT)

Bail Organa!!! He’s here and he’s so so good!!

REXXXXX!!!!!!!!!! Omg when I heard his voice on the comm I FREAKED out and then he had his silly little disguise again and that was so so sweet

The sniper clone that Rampart sent after them was so sad to see, it reminds me of how Cody’s chip clearly wore off, but he still believes he did certain things of his own volition (i.e. “We make our own choices. And we have to live with them too.”). It seems like a lot of clones don’t know what exactly they’re fighting for anymore, and the empire is just not helping at all ofc

Ok and uh… now episode eight… these are just gonna be mostly episode thoughts cause the whole Echo thing,,, that deserves its own post

Starting off, still not over that beginning. Echo IMMEDIATELY getting not just multiple lines, but lines about his TRAUMA, and he’s actually OPENING UP ABOUT IT TO OMEGA???!???!??? “I… don’t enjoy solitude.” LIKE???? OMG??? The pain, the absolute agony, that line has me in a death grip and you bet ur ass that’s ending up in a fic sometime bhskshsjsjksks

His conversation there with Omega makes me think he’d already decided here. When Omega asks if the batch rescuing him is what made him join them, he says, “This is where I fit, where I was needed.” He seems like he already knows that’s changed now

okoKOK, OMEGAS. PONCHO. OMEGAS PONCHO OMGGGSJBSJSBSJSKSLLS SHE WAS SO SO ADORABLE!!! I’ve loved seeing her in situations without the batch, it’s nice to be reminded of how determined she always is even without her brothers right next to her :) (also, really liked how this episode didn’t take her out of the action, but removed her from the fighting so the rest of them could kinda breathe without the story focusing solely on her here)

We had a lot of very long Echo shots + lines during the mission, and that immediately scared me. Rex and his conversation here has me wondering though. Because it seems like either he already talked to Rex about it, since Rex seems to be almost bringing Echo up to speed on what exactly he’s doing, or that Echo is at least really solidifying his decision here, because after Rex’s line of “Help’s hard to come by these days,” Echo looks down and just thinks for a good long time, even after Wrecker calls down to them.

oh my GOD i might make a separate post just about this and other Echo stuff but UM???? When he just took control of the venator, diverted the power, MANNED THE CANONS AND MANAGED TO SHOOT DOWN THE SHIPS HEADED FOR THEM, and then activated the engines to make it harder for the stormtroopers??? Dude???? He can just do all of that?? By himself??? No wonder he wants to fight the Empire, HE COULD LITERALLY BE SO POWERFUL

oh. my. gOD PALPATINE I HATE HIM OH I HATE HIM SO MUCH. THE ABSOLUTE FEAR I FELT WHEN HE SHOWED UP, AND THEN HE JUST SHIFTED THE BLAME ENTIRELY TO GET EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED AND BROUGHT THE CLONES INTO IT AT THE SAME TIME??? i very much so hate him.

And ofc, I felt so bad for Omega afterwards when she said “I don’t understand. We did the right thing.” :((((((

ok.

here we go

tagging @phis-writing since u wanted my thoughts lol

first off, Hunters line here. “Wherever you end up, remember what I said.” …wHAT??? WHAT DID YOU SAY I NEED TO KNOW SIR WHAT

omega slowly realizing omg ow

“Best of luck, Echo” ow ow ow omg ow help this is where i started crying

Echo looks so sad trying to tell Omega why he’s leaving, and I get why he didn’t tell her before no matter how long his mind had been made up for, but omg, that hurt so bad. “I’m going where i’m needed.” yup yup there it is, that parallels his lines from the start ow

and tHEN. she hUGS HIM. i can’t hANDLE THIS OMG that was so important

damn it im watching it again while writing this and the music has me sobbing again i cANT, him watching the marauder fly off and then OMEGA HUGGING LULA i actually can’t

I knew Echo was going to leave. Logically, I knew it was going to happen and that it was his best option, he wants to fight the Empire and save his brothers, and that’s just not something the rest of the batch wants to take the risk for. I knew he was leaving, and even though I definitely tried to see every possible way he wouldn’t, I don’t mind it.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate that it might mean he’s getting way less screen time, and I kinda hate that he’s not gonna be there to spur the batch into action anymore, but for his sake I am so so glad he went with Rex. His entire life he’s grown up surrounded by brothers, and the batch has proven time and time again how differently they feel about that. Now, Echos just been sitting back for way too long, and I honestly love the way they had him leave.

There was no fighting, there was no long argument where he said the batch was wrong for not fighting the Empire. He knew they wanted different things, and everyone fully supported him in his decision to step away. He left because that’s where he was needed, to fight for his other family. (Not to mention he would be an INCREDIBLE benefit to Rex like did u SEE WHAT HE DID ON THAT VENATOR??? HE TOOK THAT THING DOWN SINGLE HANDEDLY)

I think it makes complete sense that his loyalty and his drive would lead him to join the rebellion, and I’m so incredibly hopeful it means we’ll get a Rex and Echo episode, probably with Riyo too, I’m SO excited

I’m also really hoping Omega will keep thinking of him and what she saw in the senate. Right now it seems like she’s getting more and more interested in standing up to the empire, and I’m interested to see if she’ll eventually bring it up with the batch? I’m not sure she’d convince them to join the rebellion, but I really hope her drive for justice/revenge doesn’t stop here, she’s angry and she deserves to fight for whatever she believes. Echo taught her too much for her not to.

The hood thing is, he’s coming back :)

(right filoni right please please omg tell me he’s coming back pLEASE)

[anotherblblog]

Cheating McChicken Episode 5 Thoughts

I knew Wen was a messy gay! I knew it!

Alan: why’d you sleep with me? Wen: because I felt sorry for you. Alan: well feel sorry for me again!

Not knowing the inciting whatever that turned Wen off Alan is gnawing at me but maybe Wen and Jim will share those things with each other soon

That first year anniversary into the present cold war was a doozy

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm so is Gong bi representation or just a strong ally?

Ok so I think Gaipa’s mom dies and then Jim inherits the land? Is that what’s potentially being set up…

Also Gaipa get a first date or honestly first fuck and a commitment before offering a man a deed

I really wanna know more of Li Ming’s thoughts on Jim’s dating life

I wonder if Li Ming like Leng just wanna see Jim happy and Li Ming has seen Gaipa fail long enough for Li Ming to throw his support behind Wen who he probably heard him and Jim doing the moonlight.l chicken dance

Wen fonding over the baby gays was totes adorable, it’s reminding me of TanBunn and their lil baby gays

We need more queer friendships and mentorship in our bl’s

Now the Alan Wen cold war has a brief skirmish against the isolationist nation of Jim

Return to me what you took

Honestly Jim could have said, the pen chose me back and really gagged Alan (and ruined his chance to save his business but the drama might be worth it)

Listen jobs and capitalism make us do a lot of things but idk if I could help the person my ex/estranged living partner is interested in

But to Wen’s point, it wouldn’t make Wen not like Jim

Soooo I know I’m not the only one who thought Gong was 🌈

Wen: If you don’t wanna take my calls, fine I’ll come back to your place/my maybe sometimes place of employment

Ooooof that “this is really over”/no need to rekindle the fire lmao

Like it wasn’t subtle and that’s hilarious and camp and also painful

She took that ring off

See what happens when Mark Pakin isn’t in the episode a lot. People get re-dumped, people have motorcycle accidents, parents get the dressing down of the millennium

Like they’re baby gays so I’m sure they’re trigger shy but Fourth’s face on that overlook was screaming kiss me

It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had a really bad bl parent so shout out of Heart’s parents cuz damn they suck. It’s sad and not fun.

Another “serious enough for a hospital visit but not lasting or impairing the actor” bl wound

Jim kinda doesn’t stand up for Li Ming. But Li Ming is clearly responsible for the accident but idk dude, defend in public and dress down in private. Like Jim publicly implicates Li Ming and idk, I don’t like it even though I get that Li Ming is wrong or appears to be wrong in these scenarios. It’s like dude you treat him bad and then wonder why he’s distance.

Oh Wen, literally making yourself homeless to get a man. Brava you messy drama queen, Brava.

[truckfreaks]

had such an funny array of experiences the other night at that bar and I've been reflecting on it and wanting to write about it very much.....

on one hand i saw my friends sibling who i haven't seen in quite a while, and he was more outwardly open and excited and chatty than hes been for probably the whole ten years I've known him. like, he even invited me to his bands show? he never invites anyone! he's notorious in our crowd for being very, like... idk. ive heard lots of things - "particular", "difficult to work with", perfectionist... but he was totally different.

he brought his new boyfriend along, and we all had a long silly talk about sneaking into cons when we were kids, navigating the precarious world of gender soup (he understands my soup probably better than anyone, cis trans or otherwise, that I've ever met! it felt great!), the different creative projects were working on (he went to college for video game soundtrack composition at a really prestigious school - super talented!), got really excited when we realized we never had any idea one another had bugsonas and excitedly shared art of our respective bug guys... oh and his boyfriend recognized Dr. Habit on my phone lock/background?! it was the first time anyone's ever recognized anything SFM related on me in the wild ! so that was cool!

and on the other hand... my friend (his brother)'s girlfriend who i've been trying to give an honest fair shake in getting to know was there as well. and like, i think surface wise most people look at her and assume she's like, very ... leftist? and I'm sure she thinks she is, too. but every time i talk to her she sneaks in some kinda backhanded comment about women. i get a big internalized misogyny plus Italian familial politics vibe. and i found myself talking to her abt similar topics, because she said to me she's never seen her boyfriends brother so animated before! and i said well this might be my personal experience coloring things, but being out makes a massive difference in someone's ability to just, like, exist happily! and she wasn't sure what i meant by that, so i explained, and she was like "oh, well i guess i don't understand why you're choosing to identify in a neutral or masc leaning way but you dress like a girl?" and i explained that first off, i appreciate not getting it, but the first step is recognizing that there is no one right way to be a man or a woman, and if we accept gender nonconforming behavior from cis people then why don't we accept it from trans people? why do i have to be a caricature of manhood for you to see me as transmasc? and it kind of got through to her but... not entirely, because her line of questioning was a little ... invasive and unkind in a bad faith way (i have a LOT of patience for folks who may "get it wrong" but engage with me in a good faith way). like she was tryna play gotcha or something.

and i suppose the juxtaposition - people who are quietly queer suddenly becoming loudly queer and, as a result, happier, vs. people who are vocally supportive, but only when a person fits their narrative of what a queer person should look or act like... well. it was not lost on me!

and it also reminded me that sometimes, when you get a vibe about a person, you should trust your gut! it's ok to think, yeah, this isn't a nice person, im gonna protect myself! because if i continued engaging with her, the conversation might have gone very poorly. it certainly has in the past. (for example, apparently bee and puppycat was, and i quote, "too woke" for her. she got really mad when i laughed about it and realized with horror that she wasn't kidding). i feel bad for my friend (her boyfriend) for being in the middle of it, sorta. he's a easygoing simple dude who is wildly supportive of his brother and however he chooses to identify, and frankly i don't think he knows a whole lot about this side of his girlfriend because to him, he doesn't really seek out those kinda conversations. not obviously that it's never come up, but yeah. i know him well enough to know he doesn't share those feelings with her, and it's always really shocking to me to hear her express them - but always when he isn't around. so much so that in the past when I've expressed concern about it, he didn't believe me at first! (then other folks started saying the same thing.)

idk. life is cool and weird and i am happy to be a cool and weird little guy.

[angst-fairygodmother]

Hi! I'm so sorry this is late but if you're still taking requests, please could I request "new years kiss" with Derek and Ryne? I hope you are doing well 💖

A/N: Never too late darling. I take winter prompts as long as there's a chance of snow. 😊 Barely there, but I made it out for New Year’s Eve somewhere! Word Count: 1599 Rating: G - jealousy, references to Bad Samaritan, references to injury

She wasn't his girl. He had to remind himself of that for what felt like the thousandth time tonight, as he felt the heat of jealousy creeping up his neck. Just because they flirted all the time, and they'd gone to the club and been real close didn't mean she couldn't be dancing with someone else now, in her tight little dress that hugged her in all the right places and drove him crazy. 

But he couldn't help it, any more than he could look away. It was like there was no one else at the party but Ryne. Ok, Ryne and the girl she was with, the one that wasn't him making her laugh - even far enough away that he couldn't actually hear it over the crowd he loved that laugh - and sliding an arm oh so casually around her shoulders. He knew that move, he'd used it on plenty of chicks before.

“Dude, quit staring,” Sean hissed in his ear, making him jump. Derek had been so distracted he hadn't even noticed the Irishman arrive. “It's getting weird, and since it's my cousin you're creeping on, I'm gonna have to kick your arse if it goes any longer.”

Derek scoffed. “You could try man.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Either make a move, or move on.” 

“I…can't man. I want to but it's just not the right time.” Derek shoved his hands in his pockets, shrugging and hoping his best friend wouldn't ask him to explain, because he wasn't sure he could. 

Sean muttered something about him being a coward but let it go, grabbing two more beers from the bucket of ice on the table Derek was hovering by and returning to Riley somewhere in the crowd.

The countdown started. Ten.

Nine. Derek scooped a red solo cup of mystery punch and grimaced at the syrupy sweet smell wafting from it. 

Eight. He spotted Ryne and the other girl in the crowd again, and his stomach roiled with what he wished was just indigestion. 

Seven. For a brief second he thought she caught his eye in the crowd, looking past her dance partner, straight into his soul.

Six. He blinked and took a breath, steeling himself to go over and interrupt. 

Five. The moment passed and her attention turned back away from him.

Four. He sighed, shoulders sagging as he realized it was just an accident, if it had really happened at all.

Three. Ryne leaned in.

Two. Her pretty blonde companion leaned in.

One. Their lips met as people cheered and blew noisemakers or threw confetti. Derek grimaced and downed the punch in one swig, coughing as the alcohol burned.

Sean was right. He was a coward. And the punishment for cowardice was the girl he wished was his making out with someone else, and him ringing in the new year alone.

“What a goddamn idiot,” he muttered, pulling on his coat to go outside for a smoke. “Happy fucking New Year.” 

~

“Hey babe,” Derek grinned at her, patting the arm of the large plush chair he was sitting in, inviting her to come and sit beside him. He had been in the rehab facility long enough that the nurses had long given up on “discouraging” after-hour visits, especially on special occasions and he was glad of it. Now if only he could get Ryne to relax a bit more, it might almost feel like home.

“Big news,” he continued, not waiting for her. “Doc said I should get out of here on good behavior next year.” He chuckled at his own joke.

Ryne felt her heart drop, even as she forced a smile to match his own. Another year was a long time to be in a rehab facility, and even with the financial aid she’d been able to help them get, she didn’t think Derek and Bela could afford it. The donations from their mother’s church had dried up not long after the funerals, and there was no sign yet of when they could hope for a payout from the Valkenburg Trust (if there was even anything left of it after all the money laundering and fraud investigations, plus payouts to the families of the victims not so lucky as Derek or Katie). She had been quietly funneling as much money as she had toward it as well, but she wasn’t exactly making a lot, and soon her own loans and debts would come due. She wasn’t sure what would happen when their luck and money ran out, but there was no way it ended well for him, or his recovery.

“What’s the matter babe?” he asked, eyebrows dipping into a frown. She tried to find the positive in that alone: his facial paralysis was one of the things the doctors had told them at first would be among the hardest parts to recover from. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he had to transfer to an outpatient service (if they could find one for pennies) or work on exercises on his own.

“Nothing,” she lied. 

“Nuh-uh. I know that face, it’s worried face.” 

“It’s just…” she sighed, he was right, and he definitely knew her annoyingly well. “Next year? That’s…that’s a long time.”

Derek laughed, and she was instantly torn between the draw toward that warm, wonderful sound that she so recently worried she’d never hear again and the heat of embarrassment on her cheeks at the idea that he was laughing at her. 

“Did you forget what day today was?”

“I…haven’t really been paying attention.” 

“It’s six days after Christmas.”

“Yeah…and?”

“December 31. Next year is only a few hours away.”

Now she was sure that her cheeks were on fire, and she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry, relief and shame at missing the obvious and frustration all piling up and threatening to escape her. And then Derek's arms were around her waist, and his lips were pressed to her hairline. 

“I’m sorry, Ryne,” he murmured. “I’m such an idiot. I thought you knew, and it was just supposed to be a joke. I didn’t mean to stress you out. I know how hard all this has been…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Derek,” she mumbled against his shoulder as she hugged him back. “I’m just…god this year has been a fucking disaster.”

Slowly he stepped backwards, half dragging them both and half dancing, never straying far from the furniture in case he needed the extra support but trying for a second to be normal again.

“Yeah, but we made it through.”

Ryne tilted her chin up at that, meeting his earnest gaze and smiling. “Yeah, we did.” She kissed him properly then, and even though it was a little early, it was probably already the new year somewhere, and it felt like just the luck they needed. 

~

“Sorsha’s finally down again,” Ryne sighed, dropping onto the couch beside her husband, “and Alma managed to sleep through the whole thing.”

“She takes after her Mama,” Derek laughed, kissing her temple. “It takes an earthquake to wake you both.”

“Well maybe if her Daddy didn’t snore so badly, I wouldn’t have had to develop a coping mechanism.”

“Bullshit! You slept like the dead–” he sighed and shook his head, “slept that deeply waaay before we got together.”

“And just how do you know what I slept like before?”

“Cus you did the first night I slept over. And I know I rocked your world but even I ain’t that good.” 

She rolled her eyes, and gave him a teasing shove. “Whatever. Did you pick a movie?”

“Star Wars, duh. If we start it in,” he paused to check his phone, “exactly two minutes and forty seven seconds, the Death Star blows up at precisely midnight.”

“God you are such a neeerrrd. I love you.” 

“Well we did Return of the King and threw the ring in the lava last year, and you picked that.”

“And?”

“How is that less nerdy?”

“I didn’t say it was. But I never had a cool guy persona.” 

“But you thought mine was sexy,” he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.

“No accounting for taste, I guess,” she snuggled against closer. “I just got lucky it was only an act.” 

“Exactly…wait…”

“Don’t think too hard about it darling, you might sprain something. Just put your arm around me and play the movie.”

“As you wish,” he dropped his voice sultrily and whispered the words into her ear, making her shiver. 

Two hours later, the muted space station exploded and he turned to his wife, careful not to disturb the infant on his chest. Both girls had woken up during the movie, and rather than have to pause it and ruin their timing, the parents had decided to turn it into a silent film while they soothed the little ones back to sleep. But they had stirred each time they had tried to return them to their cribs, and eventually the whole family was cuddled on the couch, and all was calm.

So calm, he saw now, that he was the only one awake, even the aging cat dozing on the nearby dining room chair. 

“Ryne, baby? You gonna wake up for the New Year?” he whispered, nudging her gently. She groaned and buried her face into him, looking so adorable and cozy that he thought his heart might explode.

“Guess not,” he chuckled, bending awkwardly to kiss each of his three girls on the head with a “Happy new year” before turning off the TV and settling himself to sleep there too.

[almalvo]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY | S1E7 "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

[I will react to each episode individually and in full, raw reception and then post as is unrevised here onto my tumblr for the full span of every and all NuTrek episodes and series that have been and will be released. If this falls under your field of interest - I welcome your company in joining me. Enjoy the ride.] -------

man the intro just continues to remind me fucking ingenius the Star Trek introduction was period. Love it. forever. and always. wonder when we will see these scenes play out when we will see that big plant tentacle monster from the intro or when we will see the two hands touch etc

things are flowing so fast rn in burnham's evaluative speech at the start of this episode. even though not much has happened. and no offence but, i do not think shes earned this kind of audience? because theres like. still hardly much to like nor connect with these characters? imo. idk. idk if its just me, maybe it is. but i definitely dont really have much investment in any characters yet. actually, the one character i resonated MOST with was mega-sized space waterbear, no cap. (oh mossie i miss you i hope we can see you again) trek party lol. ok ill say this one thing DISCO has a lot of filming inconsistencies between shots. like, lets say burnham's hands will be up holding her face. but then next shot, her hands are down at her seat. then switch back and her hands are back up. that sort of thing. happens a lot all the time. stamets. happy drunk. lovey dovey. cute. ash and burnham? idk. every time lorca says saru, i just catch myself thinkning "sulu" cute mega-organisms gormagander wow. space whale sounds. amazing. is it prego. … who ANDORIAN?/ IS THAT AN ANDORIAN OML ITS HELMET SO CUTE oh nevermind its scarier. MUDD. but yes that is an andorian helmet wow so cute give me one. stella.

MUDD is so vengeful. what interesting implications for TOS. DUDE WTF the end of DISCO. man a time plot huh ok lets see how this goes a remix of stayin' alive runners said left. let me guess. burnham will later predict them coming from behind her. and then be like "huh. why did i already know this" there is something off about the delivery of these lines from so many of the actors lorca's actor feels pretty grounded same as saru which is good. something feels so weird with the line delivery. idk if it sthe actors or if its the way the filming is that just makes it feel less effective acting?? idk i think its cuz theres a lot of organic quality missing in a lot of the actors getting a decent amount of screentime? i dont want to sound rude ofc i just feel something is off yeah. man. a time jumping Mudd. now THAT'S terrifying. Poor stewart. he didnt deserve to get thrown. "went his own way"? u sure you didnt kill him. Mudd's actor is also pretty grounded. the lines roll off well and not awkwardly. Nice Stamets. this is too fast. Muidd gets shot in the back and then Stamets has a comedic line delivery that seriously needed a pause or soemthing, but we switch imediately to ending the scene and returning after what felt like a commercial break or seomthing.

yeah the pacing of the show is just RUSHING so much like WHY. it just eats up so much of any weight this show couldve had in even its smallest things. i know i sound so critical but its built up a lot and its already the 7th episode into the 1st season. Stamets actor feels pretty good too but i think its just awkward screenplay and awkward lines and weirdo af pacing/film style that ruin things. they need to let this show BREATHE more. it s such a shame they didnt. maybe not the best director. also too many zooms. the show feels so experimental, but i dont know if necessarily in a good way. i sound so pickky but bro im saying what im seeing,. ok sorry this just now, stamets talking to burnham when he says hes the one "missing from mudd's timeloop" is actually pretty bad. bad editing super inconsistent between shots and why are there like a billion camera cuts? we dont need THIS many angles to talk about one single conversational exchange no offence. this scene was pretty bad. weird screenplay, weird delivery, bad editing stamets even sounded like there was a shot with his mic off i could hear the environmental reverb why is this happening. with such a beautiful visual and constume budget such as this. also yes. that is A GORN IN LORCA'S OFFICE. oh my god that means maybe the gorn from SNW DO look humanoid fully matured. ugh cant wait to see what that means. mudd is so merciless. man lorca died like a bug so many times. wtf. why is stamets out of focus- WHAT. WHAT IS THAT. THE FUCK WAS THAT im sorry no this wasnt funny cuz it was supposed to be funny in that way im sorry but just now

when stamets tells burnham that "shes never been in love" at the party in the time loop, she says in the WEIRDEST most… sry ngl, badly acted type way, replying "why would you say that to me" that i had to actually PAUSE the episode and rewatch that again to confirm what i saw. just finished the rewatch of this one scene. wtf was that. sorry that was so poor. its soooo awkwarddddd. and flatttt. what is this ADR though. stamet's ADR in this episode is some of the worse. also sorry that lens reflection of that one green party light that hit right onto burnham's face during this exchange, its almost as if i HEARD the cameraman's thoughts going "ah shit this stupid light" as the camera moved downward to get as much of that green spot out of the direct line of her face. okay, Mr. God-Named-Stamets. is that an apron that isnt a one sided dress. dance in the hallway. ok. this wa so fast. this tone feels very not in sync with the course of this plot? where did this dance thing come from. i think im feeling such a dissonance rn when stamets is on screen because he feels like hes NOT stamets. idk its like, i get that charcters/people are hopefully more than 1-dimensional, and that we get to learn about them more as time passes, but like this kind of feels like stamets just wasnt properly developed and we the audience just didnt get enough proper exposure to him to recognise who really is his person? if that makes ANY sense to anyone. ok no offence, this episode probably is the most trash in terms of script. harry mudd, time loop, saving the ship from destruction, but then also stamets is an omniscient constant, while also flat cardboard af awkward love revelations between ash and burnham?? idk. maybe in a different writers' room, this coiuld be made compellingly and cohesively. but right now. this episode is NOT. IT. im sorry so why does it feel like its deterioriating a bit. the show had me in the beginning cuz how freaking DIFFERENT and UPGRADED it looked (gorgeous btw) compared to ALL the series that came before it in Prime-Timeline. but no matter how i fought it, my emersions been finally broken by the consistently questionable factors that keep loudly making themselves known in this show. too frequently bad deliveries from actors weird af editing bad cinematography even my great efforts to ignore it all and benefit of the doubt, it was too much. which is, based on everything ive ever watched ever, a BAD thing. also, oml lorca is so small in this episode - which actually i like. he feels so insignificant in this episode haha, small fry dying every single time. also i hope i see more creative deaths in this show, cuz everytime someone dies is them dissipating in dusty colour. come onnn, we can do better than thattt.

also just fyi, understand that i am NOT advocating for a super "serious/dire" star trek, weve had a bit of that in random episodes thoruhgout the franchise and moveis too - so no, i also absolutely love silly mad crazy trek plots too, but like. DISCO i think is probably handling this in a way that is the worst ever in Star Trek so far, even among its whacky insane moments. I am keeping to the series and going to stick it through all the way to the end of course. but yeah, i was never here to just be some blind non-insightful talking head that just admired this show unconditionally. if you thought so, then you should try again. i will say whats good, but likewise whats bad. and right now, the good things are things that i have already said, but the bad is really kicking up a storm right now. captain mudd. amazing. its so off-balance, this show. some deliveries are great, pacing is great. but then its like so sporadic and everywhere too often etc yes. delivery is REALLY weird and super weak in too many scenes. idk. maybe construction of the show itself is just weak in too many areas. so so strange. with a show that LOOKS genuinely this good. im just so perplexed. the shows construction feels so amateurish i guess? in not a very good way. "nobody beats Mudd, huh." a businessman is correct, lorca. these camera zoomes are really distasteful. like lorca over here making some consistently really solid deliveries, and the stupid camera cuts and zooms and unnecessary movements just cheapen it all. it makes me so angry. this show needed a better writers' room and better directing. and terrible ADR. its liek they use different mics every 2 lines. i can HEAR the discrepancies, even without my audiophile headphones.

im so mad and sad by this. because the threads of the issues i was sensing since episode 1 are now kind of unforgiveable. i can no longer look over them. so im here really speaking about them in this reaction this time. no offence it kind of feels like nothing much happened this whole episode. and im literally 3 minutes away from finishing this episode. im sorry im not impressed with this ending in how mudd was caught. i feel like this show didnt know how to quite handle the crazy nature of Trek. Bad editing yeah. i keep consistently seeing how for example Mudd is talking, and the camera cuts to a different angle shot of the same line delivery that has to get repeated and edited in, but i can physically see Mudd's jaw still moving in speech despite his dialogue halting from the ADR of the other camera shot. THIS ^ stuff KEEPS happening. and it shouldnt. its super BASIC stuff relatively speaking. and there wasnt this much of an obvious degree of this problematic editing in even older series of trek. so strange. 'i hate how it lifted me out of immersion of this show, this list of issues. you know, id LOVE to see ANY scene of conversation withOUT the stupid slow-creep zoom. listen, i KNOW that this is very often used everywhere in media, but it doesnt mean "always'. in this case DISCO does it poorly. ok episode over. i am not convinced over ANYTHING that just happened. its a 44 minute long episode, but it felt brief as fuck. it didnt feel like it had much substance at all - and im NOT talking some kind of "moral message" shit - things do NOT have to have a real message to be good. and this episode was actually not. it felt so criminally underwhelming. like ok, stamets had augmentation that let him resist the time loop.... and? so what. so what about that. nothing significant happened except apparently blossoming love story between Ash and Burnham, which- Ash x Burnham?

bullshit.

bro that was terrible. and they got zero chemistry no sorry no. get outta here.

burnham had more chemistry with the fucking captain than ash. (i dont support either one dw.) ok. well. ima continue the trip ofc. but mmmmm stupid peripheral things are really not doing this show justice. i fear that DISCO is a show that couldve been great but just wasnt even good. bad writing, bad directing, bad editing, bad delivery - i am far from being sold than I was in episode 1. i gave the excuse of the first episode feeling so brisk because it was an exposition….. but the show quickly tired out my benefit-of-the-doubt with how i see that ep 1 wasnt so much a mere exposition, but that its kind of ACTUALLY what this show IS. i cant lie. im p nervous for this show. SNW was fucking good, so i just hope that this show improves to SNW's level where all these questionable issues resolve at some point, more or less.

guess i'll see.

[tonya-the-chicken]

I mean though Enji could have been a little less OTT and not done everything wrong. Its just too much really. Like his predecessors being Gaara's dad or Shinji Ikari(or Zuko's dad) more or less were just fated to be villains who die or get a redemption that now feels quite deserved for Erina's dad but none of them did anything as much as Enji. At this point Endeavor has more number of villainous acts depicted than AFO and his kids together.

I feel like it's less about what he objectively did or didn't and way more about the way it is depicted, ye

Some bad fathers are written in a way that hints they are meant to be perceived as the flattest most one-sided dudes out there. And I think it's ok because sometimes you just can't dwell on the character for too long, you have to make priorities. And when you make more complex characters you have to prioritize where you spend your time too

In Horikoshi's case FOR SOME REASON the need to balance between "Enji did all those horrible things and tormented all his family members" and "Enji is capable of growth and has some genuine care for his family and is a person with his own struggles" is resolved by gently writing how his desires overshadowed any care he had and how he had bad ideas he might've not registered as *that* bad and how he didn't necessarily have intended to cause all that harm but he did anyway and he is analyzing he is growing he is finding new priorities trying to become better REMEMBER HOW HE BEAT UP SHOUTO???? LOOK AT THAT. IT IS SO CRUEL HE IS A MONSTER and the way he felt he can't stop if he went so far already and how he once took a genuine interest in his wife and he remember it for years HE IS A VIOLENT ABUSER DO YOU REMEMBER THAT???? OK???? MAYBE A RAPIST TOO and the way he tries to fix things that can be fixed and we see him worrying about Natsuo and others... And how he cried after finding out Touya is alive. Like, he is so deeply human A LITERAL MONSTER LOOK AT THIS FACE

I don't think anyone else receives this kind of treatment. Dabi almost caused Natsuo's death and openly says he wants to kill Shouto but that doesn't influence the way he is treated by the narrative. There are no constant throwbacks to him hurting someone. No trauma in our protagonist, whom he attacked and Shouto has no hard feelings, only a desire to save him. Enji is trapped in the past he can't fix but none of the literal villains terrorists mass murderers are treated this way. Sure, their storyline is different but how come the things THEY did in the past can be forgiven and forgotten but with Enji we have to constantly keep in mind all the evil he did. Like, if the manga doesn't end with him alive and moderately well while redeeming someone like Shigaraki or Dabi I'll tell you honestly I think it would be the most trash writing ever. You can put all the effort into becoming a better person and all you get is "past never dies" or you can put zero effort but have sad childhood so of course you will be saved!!! Let's forget everyone who ever suffered from your treatment. We are not mad at you

It's confusing and inconsistent. It reminds me of the way people would write something and then get mad if others don't see certain characters as bad/good enough. Like, why do you love this and not that? And so they start being aggressive at fans. How dare they liked someone I created not in the way I want it!

But then, I don't want to be too mean to Horikoshi. Maybe he is just that shit at keeping a balance. A sorta straight line between past Enji and present Enji though I feel like it would be easier if we had his motives explained in detail. Past Enji and present Enji don't feel consistent with each other enough which makes little sense when he is the one telling the story of his past. "I didn't mean to neglect you" but no sign of him thinking about not neglecting them in the past? You have the opportunity to confirm every Enji's word. Idk man

It's a lot about perception and depiction and what is important to the plotline. If you are going to drag the backstory so much and keep on returning to it, then shape it out nicely, show new details, change perspectives. We don't dwell on anyone's backstory for as long as todofam

Sometimes I just feel I like the idea he wanted to write but not what he actually wrote you know? But then, how do I know what was his idea

[iboatedhere]

I missed the reason why you dislike the blake family, and that might be horrible timing but would you mind telling me? (I've been wanting to ask for days but bc I stupidly thought they would not write that dumbass Carlos/Iris marriage thing I wanted to wait for the season to start)

But anyway I just hate this storyline so much, it's not in character, it's nonsensical and it's getting on my damn nerves. How does any of it get rationalized as anything other than "the writers thought they were too clever by half". I mean, we're supposed to buy that a freshly out Carlos, just out of high school, married (why would he marry her at 18? Why not just live together?) his best friend to? fight rejection? Gain his parents' approval? (And we're being told that knowing it didn't work ,since we saw 2x04). Ok let's say I'm ok with that. Then she goes missing, he doesn't care? Nobody cares? Yeah that's the gay cop with the missing wife, you know, who's dad is a ranger ? Then he meets TK at a honky tonk for 1st responders and no cop is like "hey, this dude is really enjoying that danse with the hot new yorker for a man whose wife is missing" Then she turns up and they have a joyous reunion where they decide to stay married for insurance fraud reasons? And then TK meets his parents and no one is like "Hey, remember that girl you married and is still alive and married to you? How does your live in boyfriend feel about that?" And now, we're supposed to accept "I'm so happy to be marrying TK soon, oh damn, that reminds me I'm still married to this girl I haven't bothered to check up on in a minute, hope she doesn't think I'm a bad friend or anything, what do you think, fiancé who's just now learned of my pre-existing marriage ?"

The Michelle storyline in season 1 was the worst by far because it was so isolated. She didn't interact with anyone else (save for Owen in a few scenes) and she didn't seem like she was that great of a Captain, to the point where Tim and Nancy had to be like "I don't think you've ever told us good job" or whatever.

She repeatedly violated a restraining order against a man that was innocent to the point where she got him fired from his job.

She was also incredibly selfish and bratty to Carlos while they were "looking" for Iris--he went out of his way to set up a meeting with Detective Washington, asked her to be nice, and then .5 seconds into it she turned into a snob.

Carlos had to guilt her into asking how he was doing and if he was seeing anyone and when she did she still didn't have the capacity to connect the dots that he hooked up with TK. Not only was she a terrible friend she was also a terrible sister-in-law.

If he felt he had to marry her at that time, fine, whatever, that's fine. He felt he had to stay married to her to give her insurance, that's less okay, that's fraud and even Gabriel should've been like "well actually!" There were other avenues, people find them everyday. The second he and TK got serious that should've come out. TK might have been okay with it at the start but I don't think he should just be fine with it now.