#the ending of episode 106. what the fuck. what the fuck.

[chocolaminity]

I wonder when I'll get to see him again... I want to see him soon.

I hope he can teach me all sorts of things about soccer!

[nezumithewriter]

season three of the magnus archives was fucking awesome

ep 81: "guess who got framed for murder" "anyways my childhood was fucked up"

ep 82: "it was a little bloody and i didn't like daisy" - my mother

ep 83: "JON? There's a weird letter in the mailbox for you. Says.. uh... 'statement of'" jon crashing through the wall with tape recorder sfx

ep 84: I GOT A JOB AT THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE?!? (I'M INEXTRICABLY TIED TO A BEING BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION)

ep 85: The man was there but also wasn't, fuck you want from me?

ep 86: Holy fuck i love melanie king i can't think of a funny 3am joke for this one except i can WORKING MY JOB AT THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES (READ A PAPER ABOUT CHILDHOOD TRAUMA) (MY COWORKERS NEED THERAPY) but seriously i love melanie king so much i need her to get out of there and to safety

ep 87: the Stranger watching this plumber with adhd swag walk in, fix their pipes, and leave despite all of the dead people's faces being cut off around him

ep 88: DIG.

ep 89: girlboss explains her fire fetish to concerned eldritch entity in training, oh and also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

ep 90: dude calm the fuck down they're just doing some reps on the high bar so what if they have no eyes it's fine dude why are you running

ep 91: Daisy Tonner kills mr. blue sky

ep 92: Elias really said "acab, also i killed gertrude and leitner lol. we're at war with a dozen or so eldritch abominations"

ep 93: Jonathan Sims explains the magnus archives lore to his friends after reading a statement about the corruption from terraria

ep 94: "the monster stole all of my 'give a damn' many years ago"

ep 95: Basira reading her alchemy book two feet away while Martin has a crisis over the fact he can feel the emotions of the statement giver when recording

ep 96: Jon and Daisy do a silly and commit a crime or two (broke and entered, murdered a mandela catalogue alternate, etc)

ep 97: "Are you going to kill me?" "What?? No!!!" "..." "well not rn!!!"

ep 98: "Are you worried about getting fired?" Melanie on her way to commit attempted murder

ep 99: Jonathan Sims gets kidnapped by the clown police (ASMR)

ep 100: can't believe we got The Spiral, The Desolation, The Web, the Dark/Buried, the Lonely in the same episode. the statements were so well done and the were clear and precise

ep 101: "why is the door locked" michael, 2 seconds before helen has a gamer's rise up moment

ep 102: knives, beetle wives, french, oh my!

ep 103: jon really said "fuck it we ball" and decided to use his eldritch powers to be petty

ep 104: "Tim! I might be an eldritch monster but that was unacceptable!"

ep 105: "你说中文?" "no i don't speak chinese"

ep 106: FUCK YOU ELIAS (GONE WRONG) (I WANT THIS BITCH DEAD)

ep 107: JON EATS THE STATEMENTS AND ALSO TREVOR AND JULIA ARE THERE THIS IS THE FIRST EPISODE WHERE I FELT INCREDIBLY EXCITED IS THIS WHAT MCU FANS FELT LIKE ENDGAME

ep 108: "Was he… woOoOo?" -- Basira Hussain, 2017

ep 109: FNAF but with three screaming corpses and a guy

ep 110: trans cinematographer deconstructs the film industry (and mr spider is there too)

ep 111: Jon interviews an emo book (real)

ep 112: #1 Victory Royale

ep 113: "STOP-- touching the plastic explosive"

ep 114: daisy and tim getting happy over the prospect of exploding a circus

ep 115: delicious, finally some good fucking food

ep 116: fuck your dance in particular *CANNON SFX*

ep 117: "hope we don't die!" vs tim and daisy's "fuck it we ball"

ep 118: Martin gets to commit arson-- FUCK YOU ELIAS FUCK YOU ELIAS FUCK YOU ELIAS FU

ep 119: genuinely one of the coolest episodes i've ever listened to due in part to the fact that i was just as confused as the characters (i listened without a transcript). The ways the stranger fucks with the archives team while they're slowly going insane from how much they've forgotten and no longer understand is phenomenal. I'm gonna miss Tim.

ep 120: world's weirdest clipshow that ends with police brutality

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 106 (February 7, 1993) - "Q-Less"

The Breakdown

Jadzia returns from a trip to the Gamma Quadrant with a human woman named Vash, who claims to have been there for a couple years.  Regularly that wouldn’t make sense (the Gamma quadrant is very far away, and the wormhole was only just discovered a few episodes ago), but fans of TNG will recognize her as Picard’s old flame who became pet-travel-buddy to Q, a guy notable for being able to do literally anything he wants. We find out that Vash has parted ways with Q because she grew tired of dealing with his narcissistic bullshit, and she’s ready to retire on the profits of all the treasures she collected with her omnipotent sponsor.  But Q is pretty choked about Vash leaving him, and so he decides to hang around DS9 and see if he can’t change her mind.

While Quark sets up an auction for Vash’s Gamma treasures, Q sets about giving Sisko grief over the station’s latest technical troubles. It turns out one of Vash’s items-for-sale (a fancy glowing orb) is actually some kind of unhatched stingray-space-baby that’s dragging the entire station towards the wormhole (and destruction) in an attempt to return home.  Thanks to a few helpful hints from Q, along with a healthy dose of technobabble, Sisko and Co. figure out what's going on in time to beam the Stingray-baby back into space.  The Station is safe, and Q agrees to leave Vash alone.

The Verdict

The problem with this episode is that it kind of expects that you to know what Q’s deal is. The writers do their best to bring the audience up to speed on Q and Vash’s backstory, but it feels like we’re getting the sloppy seconds to a TNG story arc. At the end of the day I think Q’s dynamic is just better tailored to Picard’s more rigid demeanour; besides Sisko already has his own nonlinear space-deities to contend with.

2 Stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

(Future) Hetero-Boyfriends: It’s hard to like Julian Bashir in these early episodes. He’s fairly sexist, and trying way too hard to be a Fuck boi, but thankfully his friendship with Miles O’Brien will become a saving grace for the character. That’s still a ways off as O’Brien’s disdain over witnessing Bashir’s conduct on a date is all too apparent, and it’s fun to watch.

Q notes that Sisko is easier to provoke than Picard, but afterward the commander and his entire crew are pretty good at keeping their cool while mostly ignoring him. Maybe that’s why he never came back.

[oliviapopesgf]

To me if you truly care about Olivia and Fitz as a couple you need them to stop with what made you fall in love with them. Every time I get sad I rewatch 106 or 208 and I love those eras but that never could be sustainable. They can't be each other's everything. It's the hook that makes fans fall in love with them and root for their happiness but truly the end goal always was for them to love each other in a way that they don't become suicidal when they're apart.

Like truly the extent of Olivia's depresion in season 2 post-Defiance, the trauma after the kidnapping, Fitz after Defiance too, after Jerry's death, season 5 post that fucking break up that I haven't rewatched ever since the episode first came out bc it was that bad.

They love each other but that love can't stop their individual problems. Fitz actually tried to kill himself (which was never explored properly). Olivia was self-harming throughout the entire damn show. Let's not kid ourselves, from season 3 forward every time she fucked Jake that was an expression of her self-hatred, she hated her father but never could escape him. Always putting up with people who don't love her or respect her (we should always drag Mellie's white ass. she loves to explore black women fuck her). You can say you miss season 1 Liv but let's not act like she was doing well she was 100% lying to herself and Amanda Tanner exposed all of it.

You shouldn't be nostalgic for what never could work. Great scenes but Olivia and Fitz needed to grow before actually being together.

[yazzydream]

JJK Season 2 Episode Predictions

Manga SPOILERS for season 2. Just having fun making predictions for what chapters the episodes will cover. It's been rumored that s2 will have 23 episodes on twitter. No official source yet but it's probably from the next issue of Jump.

Season 1 ended with chapter 63. So, starting off with chapter 64!

1. Ch 64 - A super cute episode covering Ozawa's crush on Yuji. It'll be a nice nostalgic episode establishing of a better time before all our hearts are ripped to shreds later.

Hidden Inventory/Gojo's Past arc

2. Ch 65-67 - Official start of Hidden Inventory/Gojo's Past arc. Ends with the revelation of Riko's bounty.

3. Ch 68-70 - Starts with Toji explaining his plans. Satoru and Suguru deal with the bounty hunters attacking Riko's school. Kuroi gets kidnapped... which was a non-issue, so... Okinawa! Ends with Satoru getting stabbed in the back after returning to the school. Man, I can't believe these animators would be so cruel to end the episode on such a cliffhanger, amirite?

4. Ch 71-73 - Starts with that great Toji flashback.

Just an overall high tension, tragic episode where Toji fucks up all the kids. Ends with him remembering who Megumi is. Lol.

5. 74-75 - I'd start with a scene where Toji is walking away from Suguru and cutting to Satoru's finger twitch that was shown at the end of ch 73 first. Then back to Toji, who drops off Riko's corpse. And we get the iconic battle, round II, Satoru v. Toji.

6. 76-77 - Suguru finds Satoru with Riko's body at the Time Vessal Association. The year of Suguru's downward spiral. Ends on the massacre report.

7. 78-79 - Satoru is shook. The big breakup. Satoru meeting Megumi. Satoru wakes up in the present to the first years.

Post-credits scene where the first years go find Mechamaru. Episode properly ends with Geto and Mahito approaching him.

----

Notes: I can't believe I thought Gojo's past arc would initially only take like 3-4 episodes. It's definitely closer to 5-6 now that I've typed this all up. lol. 16 episodes left now.

Shibuya Incident arc

8. Ch 79-82 - Picking up where we left off, with Mahito and Kenjaku discussing their deal with Kokichi/Mechamaru. Whole episode is just dedicated to the Mechamaru fight. Ends on this ominous scene:

9. Ch 83-85 - Welp, here's Shibuya Incident arc. Begins with incident report lessgoooo. I love this narrative framing device in JJK tbh.

Introducing our allies and antagonists. The absolute massacre that starts in Shibuya station once Satoru is confronted with the disaster curses. Ends partway through ch 85; with Satoru exorcising Hanami.

10. Ch 85-89 - An auxiliary manager explains how the curtain around Shibuya station works. Yuji v. Grasshopper Curse, I expect would be relatively short? Ends with the train packed with transfigured humans coming into the station and Satoru casting Domain. Satoru is exhausted, and then the episode ends with:

11. Ch 90-91 - Opens with the flashback of Kenjaku explaining his plan to the curses. Kenjaku reveals himself to Satoru. Portable Mechamaru appearing on Yuji's ear. Satoru... getting sealed in the Prison Realm. Omg, it's here. Ends with Satoru having "faith in everyone." 😭 Goodbye for at least another season, bby.

12. Ch 92-95 - 9:22PM Allies meeting, concerned that it's been a while since Satoru's gone in. Yuji tells all about the sealing. Ino, Megumi, and Yuji team up. Ep ends with the knowledge that Ogami, that weird grandma, is trying to resurrect Toji.

13. Ch 96-99 - Begins with the curse users' backstory; Satoru's birth. Yuji et al. fight against them. Toji resurrected. Begin Nobara v. Shigemo fight. Episode ends in affirmation of Nobara being a badass and telling Akari to hide; so it's only partway through ch 99.

14. Ch 99-102 - Continue Nobara v. Shigemo. Nanami joins in and wrecks Shigemo's shit. Mei Mei & Ui Ui v. Smallpox Curse. Choso v. Yuji begins ahhh. Ends when Mei Mei wins her fight and Kenjaku comes to compliments her.

15. Ch 103-106 Choso v. Yuji continues. Choso has the memory that never was. End with Mimiko and Nanako finding Yuji; partway through ch 106.

16. Ch 106-109 - Starting partway through ch 106; 10:20PM Naobita, Maki, and Nanami v. Dagon. Megumi to the rescue! Ends with the gang trying to escape Dagon's Domain, only for Toji to pop up like a daisy.

17. Ch 110-112 - Toji kicks Dagon's ass. Megumi separates from the others and the Naobita, Maki, and Nanami face Jogo. Mimiko, Nanako, and Jogo all feed Yuji fingers. Sukuna kills the twins. Ends with Jogo terrified; partway through ch 112.

18. Ch 112-116 - Continuing right where 112 left off; Sukuna asking what Jogo wants. Toji v. Megumi fight. Kusakabe and Panda face Suguru's curse users before they're rudely interrupted by Sukuna v. Jogo. Sukuna and Uraume reunite. Ends with Shigemo freaking out about something Megumi did.

19. Ch 117-121 - An absolutely somber as shit episode. Starts at 11:05PM Shigemo v. Megumi where Megumi initiates Mahoraga. Sukuna summons Domain and destroys Shibuya. Yuji finally regains consciousness and is devastated. Nanami is killed by Mahito, and the episode ends on Yuji's facial reaction.

20. Ch 121-124 - Start off right at that last page on ch 121; Yuji is furious. Mahito v. Yuji. Mahito v. Nobara. It's like "Accomplices" part 2. But then Mahito touches Nobara's face; partway through ch 124.

21. Ch 124-128 - Starts partway through ch 124; Nobara's childhood flashback, adult Saori, the first years hanging out, etc., etc. Mahito beats up a shocked Yuji. Todo and Aarata show up and Todo tells Yuji to get up, which where I imagine the first half of the ep to end.

The Kyoto school are on the train, where the last remnants of Mechamaru talks to Miwa. Yuji and Todo v. Mahito. Episode ends partway through ch 128 where they've "brought out 120% of their potential."

22. Ch 128-132 - Cont. right where we left off ch 128. My absolute favorite sequence where Yuji chases Mahito through the metaphorical snow drift. Can't wait to see this animated.

Episode ends on Kenjaku appearing and offering to save Mahito.

23. Ch 133-136 - Starts with catching up on what everyone was up to until this point. Kenjaku bloodies Yuji up a bit and consumes Mahito. Everyone shows up and teams up against Kenjaku. Including Choso! Then Yuki! Episode/season ends with Kenjaku bouncing with the Prison Realm.

Wow, what a foreboding and depressing end to the season. lmao.

It'll be fun to see how accurate or completely off base I was with how I divided the chapters. Just about 2 weeks left!

[foxtriestobiteandmaimandkilland]

and now my Real secret weapon. if you had to pick your top 3 favorite riptide episodes what would they be

FUCK fuc fuc fuck fuck ok. SHIT ok SO. This is an impossibly hard question but i will DO IT.

I think bc there is no way i can do them in a specific order, i will classify my 3 favourite TYPES of riptide episode. Angsty story holy shit episodes. Teehee haha feelgood episodes. And secret third type.

Examples of Angsty Story Holy Shit episodes wait omg that spells ASHS like u fr omg ...

Examples of ash episodes that i rlly like include: 97/98 duo (even tho 97 is mostly teehee haha feelgood it feels like it fits w 98 too well in the same way 52 fits with 53), 114/115, 81/82 duo YES THEYRE ALL DUOS ITS BC THEY FEEL LIKE TWO PARTERS OKAY LIKE THE ASH EPISODES HAPPEN AFTER EACH OTHER, 52/53 duo bc YES 53 is the Big Scary Episode BUT 52 LEADS UP TO IT PERFECTLY ESPECIALLYYYY W THE FUCKING MEAT ROOM AND THE SANDS OF TIME AND ye andddd all of the dunjon or dungon or dunjun or HOWEVER ITS spellt. When gilly was in the pearl in dugon. Omg dugon,...

Examples of Teehee Haha Feelgood episodes that i rlly like include: 113, 105, 99, 91/93 (we dont talk abt 92.), 70-74 is all tbh rlly fuckin good AND YES 74 WAS TEEHEE HAHA FEELGOOD IT WAS ONLY THE END THAT WAS EURGH OK. 45 i think was the one with a certain song in it that just made it feel so. Good. And 11. 11 was rlly good.

Andddd examples of Secret Third Types i rlly like: 110, 106, 61/62 ermmm tbh there arent a lotta third types. WELP

Anyways so this means rn my top 3 is 115, 114, 113, 110, 106, 105, 99, 98, 97, 93, 91, 82, 81, gilly orb time, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 62, 61, 53, 52, 45, and 11

Which is too many for a top 3.

Id say i COULD maybe categorise these into which i like more than the others but NOT a full list. Like a tier list almost except its just. S tier. S+ tier. S++ tier. Nothing bad here at all.

115, 113, 110, 105, 98, 81, gilly orb time, and. God a LOT of boat episodes. are i think the top episodes for me. Boat episodes deserve their own lisr actually fuck u i love boat episodes.

The rest dont actuallt need sorting rn bc u only want the best of the best.

115, 113, 110, 105, 98, 81 and gilly orb time are non boat episodes (shut up 113 and 98 and 81 dont count for these. 113s the only rlly boatish boat episode of these and its DIFFERENT SHES DIFFERENT OK)

83-86 and 91/93 are some of my favourite boat episodes id say. It isssss kinda hard to remember the events of specific ones soooo ill just categorise em as 2 episodes. 83-86 was a very long episode. 91/93 was a boat episode w a commercial break inbetween.

Ok now is. Time to choose. I thinkk id pick. One Angsty episode. One Feelgood episode. And one. Boat episode. The secret third option was boat all along, as all things are.

98 is probably my favourite angst episode. Its just soooo. Living forever in my mind. It is everything ive ever wanted forever and swagever and always and ever. I love 98.

105 has a certain Feel to it. Idk what the council was on that episode but it was like. Idk it felt so Alive and GOOD man. Real what the scallop vibes WAIT. 113s a feelgood episode. AND it was literal what rhe scallop vibes. Fuck it 113 gets lumped in with 105 fuck u and fuck ur train

I just. Love 91 and 93. Like all of these just feel like so. Alive. They feel like the crew, and wait. Wait.

All of these.

With the exception of 105.

Which still has the right vibes.

All of these r boat episodes.

[aidontdraw]

The smokes for the viewer.

Remember at age 13 he became an unpaid intern to edit Pervy Sage's novel for 2 1/2 years. A novel so raunchy that the first 31 pages has sentences Kakashi could not say out loud. If you put this code in numeralical order its 7, 8, 15, 31, 106, 207. Meaning it starts of in a sex scene, you barely even know the characters names and they're already fucking. And 13-15 year old Naruto edited all of it.

And Naruto only got this internship after showing Pervy Sage his pussy. The only reason he aggreed to mentor Naruto was Naruto showed T&A for jutsu. Considering he's a 50 year old man, whos seen a lot of bodies thoguh out his long life, and writes a popular erotic novel series. Naruto's body has to be accurate, otherwise he'd be like, "haha your such a silly kid." Instead Pervy Sage so into it he suggested Naruto stay in that naked female form the whole time hes training him.

But the real proof is, when you see Naruto from the back theirs no clouds, but once we get a front view the clouds are back.

Naruto was an unsupervised kid bassicly since he was 4 years old. Unless you count the Hokage spying on him in that crystal ball. He had a lot of unsupervised time to view & study the form of a woman. Naruto is shown looking at porn a lot in the early episodes.

We see him pass down that knowledge in episode 2, Naruto teaches an even younger boy, Konohamaru, how to read porn for free in a book shop. He also taught him how to break into women's bath houses. By the end of the episode, Konohamaru also mastered this technique.

(Edit)

This Jutsu is one of the only known jutsu that we know for a fact that Naruto improved upon during his 2 1/2 years with Pervy Sage. (I honestly struggle to remember any other one he learned) Its the first one he reveals learning to both his friends, and the audience. Whcih added to the fact at the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto didn't learn much else during that time, he's still bad at the fundamentals, didn't know his own Chakra Nature, and if anything his control on the Kyuubi is much worse... Pervy Sage is not just a negligent teacher.

We as the audience are supposed to see Pervy Sage as a (grand)father figure for Naruto... The activities they do together are very not family friendly. All we know about Naruto's time with Pervy Sage is he spent the time editing a 50 year old mans erotic novel, break into bath houses to peep at women, perfected his centerfold jutsu, when ape shit in Kyuubi Mode.

This in tandom with his other known mentor, Kakashi, being an avid reader of these books, does put some question on what Kishimoto is saying about the student teacher relationship.

(edit over)

I'm 50/50 with this decision. Because on one hand, I really enjoy that the young girls in Naruto don't get sexualized as much as other Shonens. Anytime a woman gets sexualized, we get a Johnny Bravo Moment, and beat the shit out of the man. When Naruto becomes a sexy lady, its always to point out the hypocrisy of the men in charge. Because he took out the Hokage with this technique, several times.

Considering this media is intended for teenage boys going throguh puberty, I think Naruto takes a very intresting approach to teen boys learning about sex. Could use a little less breaking into bath houses, but they are shown an immediate consequence. So I'll call it a wash.

But on the other hand if you take it seriously, Naruto had to show pussy in order to get male caregivers attention. That has a lot of implications. Especially because Sauske also had to give up his body to an older man to learn jutsu.

Which is a very concerning message to give its intended audience, that both the protagonist and deuteragonist had to give their body to very perverted 50 year old men in order to gain access to skills they otherwise wouldn't have access too. Since they are the strongest characters by the end, its proven by the narrative that it was a good idea to do so.

Something that just occurred to me is that there are two possibilities for the harem jutsu and the smoke

Naruto has been exposed to one manner of indecent material by the age of 10 amd the smoke is for viewer censorship orrrrr

The smoke isn't just for censorship but it appears to cover his female form cause he isn't sure what a naked woman looks like(and all the old guys at the thought alone)

Don't worry the concept of the harem jutsu is horrifying no matter what😐

[your-turn-to-role]

well into the final CR1 arc and I have decided to become a Sprigg stan account

LOOK BIG MOOD

darin de paul is my favourite guest on cr, hands down

like...

1) the sheer fantastic comedic energy he brought, no other guest comes close, you can see how unexpectedly delighted all the other players are just to see him work, and matt's having a lot of fun playing demistrik too, like... god i've tried to bring sprigg's energy into some of my own npcs while dming because there really is no character more fun to play than an absolutely unpredictable old man with weird strong opinions about everything

(and quirks like the "let's come up with a mnemonic device in case we need to jump him", that are way longer than the phrase itself, in full earshot of everyone, just, fantastic)

2) i love the legacy just sprigg as a character brings? i don't know if you know this already if you're just watching it, but, sprigg's been alone for 37 years because darin de paul last played sprigg 37 years ago, in a campaign with matt's mother

like! he's full of history because he literally is full of history, and it's a legacy that's deeply personal to the show by nature of being a family relation to the dm!

3) [and, spoilers for 106 and 107, don't know where you're up to] i've talked about this before i'm sure but... darin de paul could not have brought a better character for everyone's character arcs if he tried

especially vax and keyleth

bc like... what they're dealing with right now is keyleth's worst fear. she was hesitant about getting in a relationship at all because she knew her lifespan was in the thousands of years and she didn't want to get close to someone and then outlive them. she didn't want to let things matter to her and then risk losing them, and vax helped her get away from that

he convinced her it was worth it, and then this happened. they know one way or another only one of them makes it out of this alive, and it's probably not vax. (he even has the line in 107, "i know the chance you took on me, and i've confirmed your worst fears and then some")

and neither of them are okay, meeting sprigg, bc it's that huge reminder, because sprigg ran away, and his friends died, and he forgot all their names

and everyone else thinks sprigg is just talking nonsense but keyleth looks at him and sees a mirror, she understands him perfectly and it's terrifying

and like. vax and keyleth haven't talked about this, at this point, because they don't know how to, and they're scared to even face each other. and i think, had sprigg not showed up right here, they might have done that for all the time they had left. because neither of them knew how to face this, it was just too overwhelming

but here he is. keyleth's worst possible ending. alone, left with half a mind, paranoid, stuck in this hut in the forest building traps. everyone he ever cared about has faded from his mind. and vox machina, they just found out percy and vex got married in secret, and while scanlan's teasing them, vax and keyleth are angry and silently crying in a corner, because they can't ever have that, and what do they do in this meantime, where vax is a walking ghost and they know that time's almost up, and keyleth is so desperate not to be alone?

(and the gods, too, sprigg hates ioun, even though he's her champion, he doesn't think she ever helped him and he'd be better off without her. and keyleth never understood how the raven queen helped vax, she only saw the ways in which he got hurt, and she's never been one for gods either)

but those things aren't gone. none of them are gone, sprigg's just been distracted from them. he does come to remember them, with the right help, and that's the first spark of hope for keyleth. for both of them, because he is vax and keyleth in one, he's been the lone survivor, but he keeps his friends in his heart, and he chooses to fulfill his duties to ioun and stay with her as her champion. it's reassuring vax, too, that he's not just walking into oblivion.

and it's that that grants them the courage to face up to this and talk to each other, and actually maybe be somewhat okay with this

and i could be here all day if i detail everyone, but to briefly go into it, percy and scanlan too

because ioun's library is an important step in percy's arc, which has always been about legacy. he's deeply concerned with legacy above everything, and has been absolutely devastated by both the loss of his family, his city, and their family history (matt mentions at one point the briarwoods burned a lot of the family records and percy looks so angry at that), and the fact that, under the influence of a demon, he then turned his own legacy into one of mass murder. there's a lot of important steps in percy's character arc but all of them relate in some way to, what came before me, and what do i leave for others

and this is the first spark of hope he's ever seen! he argues with keyleth in 56 about the importance of monuments, they're not about pride, they're about remembering those who came before (and, again, percy and keyleth's arcs, incredibly interlinked), and percy has none. everything that makes him has been deliberately destroyed by someone, and that's incredibly difficult for him to deal with. but here, in this library, is a record of everyone who ever lived. he doesn't have to shoulder the responsibility and guilt of turning the sole legacy of hundreds of years of family history into one of destruction. because these records are permanent, no matter what happens, his family mattered, because they're here, and no amount of fuck ups on his part can destroy that

and scanlan, scanlan's singled out by sprigg immediately. and that may just be because he's the only other gnome present, but sprigg was right, they do have a connection. because scanlan ran away. he saw the tide turning into things he wasn't ready to face up to, and he did exactly what sprigg did, and didn't care about the consequences. and he's now realising how badly that hurt vox machina

but he has something sprigg doesn't, which is that his friends are still alive. sprigg's friends died because of his betrayal, but vox machina are here to give him a second chance. and this is the episode where he really steps up. he sees that, he makes a conscious decision to not be like sprigg, and for the first time in his life, he takes responsibility. and it's scanlan stepping up that saves them

[mhalachai]

I posted 2,665 times in 2022

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I tagged 1,469 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

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Longest Tag: 124 characters

#does anyone remember the time i wrote that 750k fic where stiles keeps trying to get allison to change her name to stilinski

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I happened upon Once Upon A Time and watched the pilot while I was making dinner... it’s a bit of a jarring episode, because you have everyone chewing the scenery in the fairytale scenes, then you get to Storeybrooke and the chewing continues by nearly everyone except Lana Parrilla, who is actually, you know, acting. 

Like, what was the direction to the cast on that episode?

155 notes - Posted August 13, 2022

#4

so anyway this is unnecessary.

look, i don’t care if you hate a fic. something like this has no point except trying to make a fic author feel bad. and to what end?

I’ve been writing fic for nearly 18 years and i’ve never seen so much negativity and vitriol aimed at creators of fanworks, be they for fic or art. and it’s exhausting.

if you don’t like something written/drawn by a stranger (that you are consuming for free) you can walk away! close that tab, change your subscription notifications, unfollow someone on social.

this isn’t a side hustle. we’re not getting paid. fanworks are a labour of love; and when it starts to feel more like labour than love, you’re going to start seeing less fanworks to enjoy.

181 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

#3

tumblr has failed me why is everyone sleeping on this look?

308 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

#2

if you ever want to have a good time, head on over to AO3 and do a tag search for Jin Guangshan, there’s some pure gold in there:

glad we’re all on the same page here

1,134 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

municipal elections are coming up in my city and it’s fucking depressing that in the year of our lord 2022 i have to be reading through the school board candidate write-ups to try to figure out which of these assholes are anti-trans and pro-cops-in-schools. 

at least to make things easier those two things have a large Venn diagram overlap

1,399 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[jbreenr]

⚠ HAWKEYE 106 SPOILERS ⚠

Alright…

There are like two Spider-Man: No Way Home spoilers in here so… I warned you.

We start strongly. The suit. The posture. Vincent. I love you, Wilson!!! You, freaking bastard. Aksññdksnslñ

So, there was a (professional) relationship between Eleonor and Fiek, uh? She framed Jack and killed Armand and we already knew this but… still!

“Kate, you're my partner.” Dude, I've been waiting for this since episode two. I love them besties.

“This city belongs to me.” Ou. I'm having Daredevil flashbacks. *sobbing*

Now, I loved watching Kate and Clint working as a team, making the arrows.

And Kate, labeling them. 😂

“It's lonely. Heroes make tough decisions.” Clint, you cannot say that after I watched No Way Home. Like, did mi heart hurt your arrow?

Okay so, I was really expecting Fisk to say his iconic “When I was a boy…”, and he didn't. But Kate said something similar and I had to point it out. (:

And their gala outfits? AND THEIR ACTUAL SUITS?! *chef kiss*

Lemme just… ✨ Yelena with that hairstyle ✨. Thank you for listening.

Kate's dad owed Wilson money. Eleonor said that I would have doubt that if I hadn't watch the first few minutes of the episode.

Kate and Yelena are the best duo. Like, their fight in the elevator is hilarious. How Kate wants to desperately stop Yelena and she's like *huff, kick, stop*.

“Stop making me like you.” Sorry, Kate. Too late for that.

Dude, the Tracksuit thanked Kate for her advice. He took his gf to see Maroon 5 instead and i felt kinda bad for him, because he apologized for carrying a gun and having to fight her.

So, Jack saved Kate. The swordsman, ladies and gentlemen! I don't dislike you anymore, friend.

And the cops dressing up so people would listen to them. Looool. I love them.

When Clint sees them. “We're all gonna die.” sorry, but I think of Ned in Infinity War.

I'm obsessed with the trick arrows. That fighting was just soooo cool!

Also, i wheezed when Kate used the PYM arrow. The tiny voices and the owl. So freaking funny.

WILSON'S CLOTHES ARE JUST AS THEY ARE IN DAREDEVIL. THE CLOTHES MELVIN DESIGNED. AND, DID YOU SEE THE CUFFLINKS?!?!?

Man, Clint and Yelena suffered for Nat. And I suffered with them. My babies.):

Well, Kazi's dead. I was really hoping to see him in the Echo series. Guess i won't.

And Kate's mom is going to jail. I don't think I'm mad about it. Just a little sad for Kate because, well, it's her mom.

Clint did the secret whistle thing. He told Yelena that Nat talked about her all the time, that she always thought about her being safe.

And I'm thinking again about Nat, sacrificing herself so Yelena could come back and live her life.

I--I loved her too, guys.):

At the end, Yelena decided not to kill him, which was obvious but their expressions had me sobbing nevertheless.

It's so cute how Clint keeps thinking about Lucky. Like he's been through hell and still he remembers that they need to walk the dog.

Kate makes Clint a better person and I'm so down for it.

Now and, I'll be as calmed as possible… WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK IS HAPPENING HERE, MAYA LÓPEZ!?!??!? YOU SHOT WILSON? WHAT'S GOING ON? I NEED ANSWERS!!!

I know he's alive because why bring Vincent D'onofrio back just to kill the Kingpin? Makes no sense right?

Plus, we had Matt in NWH and they HAVE to meet again. And that's why I want to watch Echo. Matt Murdock is rumored to be in that series so, why not include Wilson Fisk, uh?

Leaving the hype and theories aside, I knew Kate would spend Christmas with the Bartons. And I love the fact that she brought Lucky with her.

So, Laura was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent? Uh. Interesting.

Clint and Kate burning the Ronin suit, putting an end to that era. Killing him (the Ronin) for good.

Kate's names were bad, and I gotta say that I screamed when Clint said he had a better idea.

Now, I was expecting a post-credit with Fisk walking away or something related to Yelena, but instead we had the Rogers musical and I'm not ashamed to admit that I know the lyrics of the song.

God, I'm gonna miss posting my spoilers. But, wait for my Eternals thoughts in January.

[radiosandrecordings]

Thinking about episode 106 again as I do every day of course, and I realised something and it means the scene isn’t actually as bad as it appears because it just... relies on you remembering one very specific line from... 18 episodes prior! 

MELANIE: No clue, and not interested! Although… according to Georgie, Jon doesn’t. BASIRA: Like, at all? MELANIE: Yeah. BASIRA: Yeah, that does explain some stuff. – wait, hang on, do I, do I know Georgie?

So as much as I adore this interaction for ace reasons, Basira’s little comment at the end “That does explain some stuff”, comes across a little odd on inspection and I’ve seen other people point that out before. Because TMA is very good at little throwaway lines and implications that make it seem like there’s context to something, and we just never hear that context. But unfortunately, when discussing a topic like being ace, specifically Jon’s sex aversion here, it’s easy to assume Basira means the good old aphobic sterotype of “Well he’s grumpy and jumpy and rude and isolating, of course he doesn’t fuck that makes sense with that archetype” and it can really sour the scene if you think about it too much! Like, it’s already “Ehh...” considering Jon is being outed, then gossiped about so that line is just not a good look. HOWEVER, I was thinking back on some of the other great throwaway lines in TMA and remembered one of my favourites, also relating to Jon’s aceness. 

BASIRA: I actually thought I misjudged him. Hell, I liked the guy. MARTIN: Wait, you mean… like you… BASIRA [Spluttering]: Oh, what? Urgh, no! Why does everyone think that? MARTIN: Right, yeah, ‘cause I don’t actually… I don’t actually think he… BASIRA: I just, I mean he was good company. Y’know, when he wasn’t being a paranoia machine. He was funny, you know?

And I’ve talked about this interaction before because here, Martin implies that he knows Jon is some variation of aspec! And I think a reason it’s rarely noted in the text is because it’s said very quickly, but also because it’s said in episode 88, when we the audience only really have Jon’s aceness pointed out to us in 106.  But clearly the implication here being, Martin is aware of this because Jon has made some kind of comment to him in the past which would imply such a thing and Martin took it in a broad reading of “doesn’t do anything relationship related” and thus was trying to ward Basira off since he knew this. And he said it TO BASIRA SPECIFICALLY. 

So I at least am choosing the nicer reading from now on and assuming when Basira said that line in 106, it wasn’t about Jon fitting into a sterotype, but rather that Martin’s comment was coming back to her and retroactively made sense, and hell, it might even imply there was more allusion to his aceness off tape that we’ll never know about. 

[iwishicanbeagoodpianist]

the Wifilcon and the Winter Router

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OC/Reader Summary: When Bucky learns that his neighbor has been stealing his wifi for months. Warnings: None A/N: I'm not a fanfic writer at all, this, like all my stories, are adaptations to fanfics. My original stories are not written in english, so this is also a translation. please do not repost my work

For an instant, Bucky thought that the knocking he was hearing was coming directly from his head, I mean, it wouldn't be the first time his mind played tricks on him, but he realized that the sound was actually coming, unluckily for him, from his apartment door. Oh no no no no no no no, I just got back from putting up with Sam for almost 6 full weeks, I don't need interaction with more people for now.

Bucky thought for a minute to ignore the sound, to wait for the person to give up and leave, anyway he didn't spend many days on this apartment, almost no one had seen him leave or enter the building and he had no contact with the neighbors, only with the lady on the 7th floor who once lost one of her cats, which ended up in Bucky's apartment, accidentally. Not that I found the cat in the alley and actually brought him to my apartment, it doesn't mean that I stole the cat, he was in the street by himself, I rescued him.

When the banging on the door stopped and Bucky thought he could breathe calmly again, a voice between altered and annoyed was heard all the way to the living room where he was sitting trying to overcome his third panic attack and fourth existential crisis of the day .

-"I know you're in there! I saw you coming in a few hours ago! I've been waiting for days for you to come back!"-

More out of instinct than anything else, Bucky pulled out the knife hidden in his right boot as he slowly backed away from the door. Do I really have a spy as a neighbor? Should I call Sam? Is he in danger too? Never mind now, you need an escape route Bucky, concentrate, third floor, window to the alley, 2 minutes max, the bike is parked far away, I'll have to run, but to where, rendezvous point, safe place, think....

- "for God's sake, open the door, I need you to pay for your fucking internet plan, I'm in the last season of my series and I need to know if Carolina died or not!"-

- "The internet?"- Between the andrenaline from escaping and the shock of not understanding what was happening Bucky spoke louder than an assassin, with over 60 years of experience, should have spoken. Oh, shoot.

-"Yes! Your wifi, I need it to finish watching my series"-

Whispering "wifi" to himself, Bucky tries to remember where he has heard that word before, this is what I get for never listening to Sam when he talks to me. But before he can continue his mental analysis of all the conversations with Sam about such stupid things as his favorite American Football team, the New Orleans Saints, that I remember, to how Antonio could possibly leave María on the last episode of the 6 o'clock telenovela of which Sam is a fan, his apparent "neighbor" spoke up again:

-"Jesus Christ, can you open the door? So we can resolve this like adults"-

Bucky resigned to the fact that he has given his position to the "enemy", walks to the door and opens it waiting for his death. Well at least if I die I won't have to listen to Sam again talking about Antonio and María. But on the other side of the door, there was a woman, who in her pajamas, very unthreatening but cute, was watching him as if he were a ghost but still with defiance in her eyes, in one breath she introduced herself and continued her speech about her complaint to Bucky:

-"As I was saying, I need you to pay for your internet"-

-"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean"- mumbled Bucky.

- "Good Lord"- To Bucky's surprise his neighbor, pushes him and enters his home, well not so much a home home, more like the headquarters of his secret club, of which he is the president, vice president and only member, the point is that it is his place, where he can (and wants to be alone), as she lives here. This must be a dream, maybe I hit my head too hard in the last mission and I am unconscious in the hospital.

Crossing the room, Bucky's unwanted visitor looks around searching for something while whispering the words "I see you are quite minimalist, but maybe this is too much, someone urgently needs to look for some inspiration on Pinterest". She stops abruptly in front of the shelf where, in theory, a TV should go, while shouting: "EUREKA", she bends down and picks up a white device which has two antennas and like a million little blinking lights, damn, that looks like something out of a spaceship, I'm being watched by aliens? I'm being spied on by Kree?

-"This is your router, this is where the internet signal comes from, which I need you to pay for so I can finish watching my series"-.

Bucky, still in shock for the third time in less than 15 minutes, as he processes the idea that perhaps Thanos' unknowing twin is spying on him for a second invasion of earth and revenge for his brother's death. He can only nod to his now more relaxed and happy neighbor.

-"Perfect, thanks! I need to check the food I left in the oven, I'll talk to you later"- and as quickly as she came she left through the same door, leaving Bucky with more doubts than answers, peeking down the hallway, he realizes that she is the neighbor who lives next door, to his right. When Bucky comes out of his initial stupor, still not fully understanding what is going on, he decides to take his cell phone out of his pocket and call his own personal Google to solve his doubts about this century: Sam Wilson.

-"Hey Buck! What's up?"-how does he always manage to sound so happy? focus Buck.

-"What the hell is a router and why do I have one in my house?"- somehow Bucky manages to formulate, although maybe his voice cracked a little on the last words.

-"That thing's been there for at least two months and you didn't even notice it? Have you even paid the bill?"-

-"You put this in here? Without telling me????"- maybe Sam is also a Kree? Who can I trust now? It's all a trap?

Listening to Bucky's accelerated breathing, Sam tries to explain to him slowly, that in this century life without internet is not life, but obviously as Bucky does not even know how to set the alarm on his own cell phone, he was in charge of buying the router and creating the contract with the company so that, the 106 year old man could have his personal network at home. He had given it the name but he had not given it a password so that Bucky himself could set it up later. "I am an excellent friend, I mean co-worker, if I may say so"

-"Sorry man, after all that happened, we got called for a mission and I forgot to tell you, do you have your laptop over there? I'll help you set up a password, so your neighbors won't steal your internet anymore"- and with that comment everything started to make sense in Bucky's slightly screwed up but functional mind about the events with his seemingly non-spy and harmless neighbor.

Meanwhile Bucky was trying to remember his own password to unlock the laptop in front of him, also courtesy of Sam. "Bucky, when you learn about online banking and that you can pay your rent, electricity, phone and everything with a click of your computer, you will thank me". It should be noted that Bucky hasn't used that laptop once, like a good 100 year old grandpa he goes to the bank to make his deposits and pay his debts, which obviously consisted only of electricity, water, gas and phone because the man had no idea that there was a device in his house that spit out internet, apparently only his next door neighbor knew this. Buck tells Sam how he thought his router was an alien device and how he thought his neighbor was a KGB agent coming to kill him. "Relax Buck we all have undesirable neighbors that steal our internet signal sometimes", well undesirable is not the word I would use to describe her but ok.

When Sam finally explains to him how to connect his computer to the internet, Bucky can finally see the name that his wonderful co-worker, not friend, because he could never be friends with someone so stupid as to think that the name "THE WIFILCON AND THE WINTER ROUTER" was a good name.

- "my god Sam, you're such an asshole!"-

-"HEY! That's a great name!"- Sam responds with as much indignation as possible, he's the best at naming everything from dogs to wifis.

- "I can't believe you're Captain America, I can't believe we're even friends"- Bucky really can't understand his luck to have friends, well, co-workers whatever.

- "Well excuse me but we're co-workers..."-

- "Well, take this call as my formal resignation, bye"-

-"Wait a minute Buck..."- Bucky ended the call, to finish -his self-imposed- punishment of listening to Sam Wilson talk for over an hour. At least I asked him how to use the bank's website to pay for the internet. Suddenly, without warning and without explanation, the memory of his neighbor is lodged in his head, her hair in a ponytail, her reading glasses, pink shorts, her sweater from some university of which he can't even remember the name because he was watching out for other things... that she wouldn't kill me obviously, he was watching out that she wouldn't pull a knife out of her back and kill me right there. The message on his laptop indicating that he can now set a new name and password to his wifi distracts him enough to stop thinking about his sweet and cute non-spy neighbor and how she would look with her hair down and her glasses off.

Still with the sweet feeling in his chest and the desire to see her again he writes as the new name of the wifi, while laughing:

"If you want free internet, you owe me at least one free dinner"

After paying the internet debt and closing the laptop, Bucky gets up hoping to find something edible in the kitchen, while leaning over to look inside his fridge and analyzing how bad it would be to eat a fried egg with pasta and sriracha, he hears again a knock on the door, but this time it does not cause Bucky the anguish and anxiety that caused him the first time, but quite the opposite.

-"Open the door Winter Router! I prepared chicken pot pie for dinner"-.

[garlic-gun]

shit dust says

(do people still use that format)

after four months (EXTREMELY on and off), i've officially watched half of dbz. to commemorate this milestone, i invite you into my mind... i've been taking notes for each episode, and honestly sometimes i just kinda be saying shit. without further ado, notes without context

(also it got kinda long so it's under the cut but there are also image descriptions for each image)

[ID: Text that says "Mole", followed by a smiley face. Below the text is a screenshot of Dragon Ball Z of a small brown creature peeking out of a burrow in a field. End ID]

[ID: The first image is three screenshots of Dragon Ball Z. Goku, holding Raditz's tail, asks "You really mean it?". Raditz, incapacitated on the ground, pleads "I really do! I'm begging you, Kakarot! Believe me!" End ID]

[ID: The second image is a screenshot in which Raditz, after being freed, elbows Goku, sending him flying back. The image below is a dramatic, black and white edit of a dog in high winds with the words "He was lying" along the top in all caps. End ID]

[ID: Text that says "creatura", followed by a pleading emoji. The "creatura" in question is a small orange mammal with a face vaguely reminiscent of both a rabbit and a small dog. It has whiskers, longer hair on its head, and arms tucked near its chest that end in claws. It is in a somewhat alien jungle, with vegetation in a blue-green hue and trees bearing fluffy blue fruit. End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Gohan, at about 4 years old. He's visibly trying not to cry, with tears in the corners of his large, round eyes. Text below says "boy said (pleading emoji)". End ID]

[ID: The first image has "E023" on the first line, acting as a label for episode 23 in my notes. The next line is "it hurts." Below is a screenshot of the title card of the episode, titled "Saibamen Attack!", with the captions reading "Yamucha dies! The terror of the Saibaimen." End ID]

[ID: The second image is a screenshot of Yamcha with a smirk on his face, saying "Let me handle this. I'm going to take care of the other five all at the same time." I salute him in the form of text. End ID]

[ID: This first image is exclusively text, in which I reflect on the artstyle shift from late Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z to what Dragon Ball Z will look like later on. It reads "Okay, looking back, it's a thing that varies but I think there really is some precedent to the idea that 'the way it looks during fights' ends up becoming just 'the way it looks', with the straighter stress of the tensed eyes. But again, from what I've seen, it doesn't really take full effect until... probably post-Frieza." The focus quickly shifts completely, in all caps with typos as I frantically type, "It's unhinged Salmon Run for the next hour and a half I gotta finish this fucking episode right now". End ID]

[ID: The second image is also only text. It's dated May 30th of 2022. The notes read "Thirteen hours later I am fucking... It started with deciding to play Splatoon and it ended with... 4AM. Anyways". End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "Goku, meanwhile, is itching to leave, having recovered significantly, and Chichi is knitting the world's smallest sweater. I don't think it would fit Gohan so I can only assume someone has a chihuahua." End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "Oh, also Goku turned himself into a piñata". End ID]

[ID: This image is a mixture of text and screenshots of Vegeta in which, frankly, his ass is fat. It's labeled episode 106, with two lines following which say "I am being killed", with emphasis placed on the words "being" and "killed", and "I saw this and started fucking breaking down", though "started" is misspelled. Directly below is Vegeta turning toward the camera with a strange smile. The next lines are attributed to Vegeta. Facing away from the camera, he starts, "What is it, Kakarot? Could it be..." He turns with a smirk. "You're craving my McNuggies?" End ID]

[ID: A note for episode 109. It says "I want to leave", followed by a smiley face. End ID]

[ID: Notes taken while watching an episode. I wrote "You know, I think purling is basically just knitting but coming around the other side of the needle so hypothetically I can just—", I interrupt myself, incredulous, "His hair is prehensile??", before returning to my train of thought "Hypothetically I can just go on and do whatever." End ID]

[ID: The first image is Future Trunks looking downward with a smile, though his forehead is a little large. Text below reads "I think this is an omen". End ID] [ID: The second image has text reading "Boy's forehead got me flabbergasted", emphasis on the final word, followed by two screenshots of Future Trunks, one in his base form and one as a Super Saiyan where his forehead has so much real estate on his face that he looks like Jimmy Neutron. End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, and Krillin with the caption "All right, let's go! We have to find it before Vegeta does!". Text above says "Bald podcast". End ID]

[ID: Android 17 smirks with a forehead somehow larger than usual, while Android 18 stands in the background. They're in Gero's lab. Text above reads "No future?" End ID]

[ID: Notes for episode 141. The text says "Stop making me look at Mr. Popo". End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "The Kamehameha is a Son Goku Original (Trademarked). He invented it when he got really annoyed at a car because it wasn't a firetruck". End ID]

[c-is-for-circinate]

Post-ep 106 reaction

I have many disparate thoughts tonight, and as usual I’m sure I’ll be more coherent tomorrow if I remember to post at all, but here are some things I’m thinking right now:

Someday, SOMEDAY, I am going to put together the essay I’ve been sitting on for ages about Critical Role (and d&d in general) and how it impacts the dynamics of religion to turn gods into actual people who you can have individual person-like relationships with.  It is far too late for that tonight, but I am SAYING IT NOW because fuck, it’s coming.

I think I’m finally on board with Beau and Yasha.  I’ve fluttered between vaguely interested and vaguely disappointed for such a long time, not because I don’t adore both Yasha and Beau and their interactions with one another, but because in some ways it just felt so very... “these are the two lesbians, they are the Only Two Lesbians In The Main Cast, of course they’re endgame,” and that bothers me as both a queer lady and as a storyteller.  Tonight’s glorious awkwardness aside, though (and fuck that awkwardness was glorious), I’m having some real feelings about the fundamental attractiveness of someone being attracted to you. Pining for someone unattainable is romantic, of course, but it gets old, and grown-ups learn how to get over it sooner or later.  Pining for someone who might be unattainable but might not be, well, that’s complicated, and that can go on for ages, but the longer a situation like that goes on, the more it becomes something you don’t expect or even really want to be resolved.  If you really thought it could work, you’d say something.  And there’s a lot of emotion that goes into wishing something could work, and hoping maybe it could, and wanting-but-not-daring, and complicated layers of self esteem, etc etc etc, but-- Look, you can pine for the perfect unattainable maybe-straight girl who you’ll never have to negotiate an actual relationship with forever, but sometimes right in front of you there’s somebody who actually looks back when you look.  And that looking back is worth so much.  It means so much.  It’s worth choosing to look at someone who looks at you back.  That’s a love story I’m here for.

Partway through the episode I was thinking about my meta for tonight, and I was thinking about Beau and Yasha, and it occurred to me to wonder just why the fuck there’s shipping discourse everywhere you look in CR fandom these days.  I know it’s always been around, but it’s felt so virulent lately, and I wondered why, and then I came up with a theory for part of it. I think it’s been really easy to focus on ships lately because the characters are mostly at a point in their own personal journeys where a lot of their other, intense and non-romantic development has...not ended, and not even gone away, but reached a natural plateau for the moment.  The war between the Empire and the Dynasty is over, and the Mighty Nein made it happen.  Holy shit, right?  It meant so much, and it cost so much, and it forced them to make decisions and grow and choose sides and stick to things in ways they never had before, and it was so much all the time.  And meanwhile in the background, Fjord kicked a patron to the side and got a new goddess, and Veth battled alcoholism and lost and won and lost and then also got her fucking body and family back, and Beau faced her father and Caleb faced Trent and Caduceus found his family and Yasha lost herself and then found herself and then had to face what she found.  It’s been so much, for so long. And now it’s not, really, any more.  Sure, they all still have issues--but those issues are for the moment avoidable.  Caduceus’s family is safe and his duty is discharged and he doesn’t have to deal with the reasons why he didn’t go home with them if he just keeps not going home.  Veth doesn’t know how to be a mother and a wife and an adventurer, but hey, she’s on Rumblecusp now, right?  It’s the same for (ALMOST) all of them: personal growth has been exhausting and they are Not Worrying About It right now. Which leaves room for character analysis to head in a more romantic direction.  And yes, it is super fucking pertinent that the one character who is drowning in the very throes of intense personal arc stuff is Jester--the object not just of various party members’ affection, but of 95% of shipping vitriol that’s been thrown around lately.  She’s the one person who is too busy dealing with or trying not to deal with her own shit to have time for romance right now, and she’s the center of everyone’s focus--of course it’s a mess. And like, I think about “no romance before level 10!”, and I think about how these characters have grown and changed, and I think this particular plateau is pertinent not just because it’s a resting place for these character arcs, but also because of where these characters have gotten to.  Right now, finally, finally, the M9 have each collectively and individually figured out so much about who they are.  They know themselves, what they want and care about and will stand for, so much better than they did at the beginning of the campaign.  What they don’t know yet, and the question they’re all vaguely avoiding and feeling their way around the edges of trying to answer, is what happens next? And romance is part of that.  Falling in love is about saying I want, which most of the M9 have just barely grown into being able to admit.  Actual romance and relationships are in a sense about saying I can have.  Not just the wanting, but the getting.  Making choices, going after things, making plans for the future--that’s all inherent in the situation. And those are the things the M9, without a clear direction or goal in sight, are set up to start really tackling next.  Which puts them in a position where romance is an obvious and focal part of character interactions.  Both for themselves, and for us as audience.

At some point, I need to do some serious thinking about Beau and Caducues, and about when and where we see Beau actually asking for things.  She asks him for things: tea, more tea, food, caretaking things, but she doesn’t whine at him for healing spells like she’ll whine at him for caffeine, just offer a general “I mean, if anyone wants to do some healing” to the group.  It’s interesting.  I’m interested.  I think I’d need to backwtch some episodes to decide what I think.  (But also: Caduceus gives Beau things, readily and sometimes even more than the others.  He gives her Tongues and Holy Weapon.  And what does that mean, for him?)

I know there was more but that has hit the limit of what I can do at 1:30 AM.  Thank you, all, and have a good night.

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 314:

1) Clarke!!! I like his air of cockiness when he do all this things, and especially when Hope break this air😂😂😂 I think since the show is constantly letting him show up like this, maybe at some point he will eventually turn up or be brought back by my Sowanby team? Oh my Holarke heart! I just love their dynamic like how I’m entertained by Lizdon dynamics🤣🤣

2) I still see that artifact that was broken because of Landon unnecessary move, why? I thought the arc was over? It’s just hilarious when Clark tried so hard to break it, even using explosives, but Landon just break it by throwing it to the monster😂 these brothers, I can’t 😂 (I know it’s because of the presence of Cleo, but still, funny!)

3) Okay, the way Hope just ended up with Wade, doing a drama about undying teenage love, I can’t imagine 🤣🤣 sorry Hope, but Wade can be a good teammate. And Wade has a last name - Rivers! Congrats! Poor Jed, another person that’s appear later than him and got a last name.

4) I just inevitably thought about the other witch Gaby, and relates back to Penelope😆. What if Penelope comes back and starts a war with Finch, that would be fun🤣 I can imagine they somehow would have to work together to protect Josie if something happens to her. They can look past that because they both care for Josie so much. Penelope/Josie/Finch anyone? (I’m secretly shipping Penelope and Finch too in my head, OMG can you imagine the volcano erupting? Enemies to lovers trope??)

5) Finally SBS has a teacher other than Alaric now.

6) I do think that the compelling works. Anyway, considering what’s going to happen, I’m certain that somehow Ethan is going to remember what happened with MG. If he’s going to be a supernatural, I’m rooting for vampire. We are really lacking vampires here.

7) I love Hope’s magical surges♥️ and how other students is taking that like it’s a normal thing around them. Unlike the school tour.

8) I love Hope needn’t to turn around to know that it’s Josie right away♥️ and Josie do catch up things around Hope when she’s not around after she returns.

9) Josie lied to Hope that Lizzie needs help(even though it turns out to be true doesn’t mean she didn’t lie), to help Hope with her mental state. Is this toxic or supportive?? Maybe I should just count it separately?

10) The twins clothes!! Contrast colours, love them!

11) I wonder who drove there....Hope didn’t have a dl in s1 (but two years has past now?) while in 307, Josie apparently walked to Mystic Grill to find Finch(but Lizzie did drive before in s2)....so? I bet it’s Hope...but how the hell did they even have time for driving education?

12) Hope, looking at Josie: like I said, trap. 😂😂but she just doesn’t even get mad at Josie?? Exactly how many times did she let Josie escape like that?? Poor Landon got grilled when he lied😂

13) We don’t worry about dick here🤣🤣🤣🤣

14) I love Finch just confidently stand up for herself, challenging Jed. But no, I don’t like Jed being thrown down by a new wolf again. But having female alpha is appealing too, I love to see that when Finch challenge the old system, then get to improve the abusive hierarchy towards the omega/new wolf in the pack. I was conflicted. I love how they resolved the issue in the end! It’s win-win situation and I love how Jed and Finch bond! Brotp/Sistp! And I love that from Finch perspective, we can see that the wolves let Jed win because they love Jed as much because they know Jed cares about them a lot and just willing to let him win. Not because Jed was oppressing them.

15) Btw, I can’t believe they are using pool/billiards/snooker to decide who becomes the alpha. Really I just don’t like how it works, like leading a pack is a game. But some wolves are born alpha. In real life, a pack’s alpha is always the one to lead hunting, be vigilant of any threat that can harm the pack, they really care for their packs, like Jed. Whilst there’s this beta position in the pack, they recognise the alpha’s leadership, help the alpha keeping others in line, help take care of other members too. Just like what I’d imagined, Finch can fit the beta position very well, for the time being, because of their dynamics. I’m not saying that Finch doesn’t fit as alpha, I think that beta always has the potential to be the alpha of a pack. I just love that now the dynamics in the pack somehow really resembles how the social hierarchy of a pack of wolves in real life.

16) appreciation to Finch being badass at pool/snooker/billiards

17) when Andy just called Hope’s name, why don’t the trio be surprised? It’s not like they even meet before?

18) when MG showed up, I just immediately believe in him. Love that Alaric defended him. I understand Dorian though, he’s always sensitive of rippers as his family was butchered by one. Please don’t blame him too much. MG living in a cave breaks my heart, I just recalled that Hope was homeless when she’s out of Malivore too! Double heart breaks.

19) MG diaries! I’m so proud of him, even Alaric validates his effort and his kind heart! I just rewatched 106 last night to do some fact checking for my hosie interactions 2.0 and twins relationships 1.0. MG has always wanted to be a superhero that saves lives. He has grown so much, from first fighting zombies, to super squad fighting monster, until now, saving normal people lives. I bet now Penelope can’t laugh at him when he first pitched his feelings to Penelope. Good job!

20) I’ve talked about the Finsie sitting together, so I only want to talk about how the relationship between Finsie is healthy for one another (for now, and at least they are not cringy for these two episode).They function independently and Finch doesn’t need to constantly worry about Josie all the time, like what Penelope fear of. Ofc it may also because that the twins have grown healthier.

21) even though Hosie were mind controlled, I just love how they have unspoken understanding between each other😂 Josie doesn’t need to tell Hope to make Lizzie stay with them to have Hope “as sonnum” Lizzie. Then only Josie said “stay with us”.

22) Hizzie hugs, and HOPE ANDREA MIKAELSON 🤣

23) I just love how Lizzie knows what to say to break Josie’s peace, while Josie knows how to break Hope’s peace. I see another spoken parallel from 308 about blindspot😂 Lizzie -> Josie -> Hope.

24) so if the drug sometimes doesn’t work on Lizzie, that means that there are times that Lizzie is really blue! Really at peace! I’m so proud and happy for her! Go Lizzie!

25) “ALL I WANTED FOR YOU IS YOUR HAPPINESS” this is so powerful! My Hosie heart! And really the last painful sentence, is fact. I’m sad for Hope because she’s so into that relationship until she can’t bring herself to do it and only leads to Landon leaving, but it’s also classic Mikaelsons(I feel), never giving up for their love ones. Appreciation to Landon, but still it’s strike three for leaving, please don’t let them be together again. It’s derogatory to Hope’s self-esteem.

26) I love badass Hope so much!! All the bodies she left! If I’m not already gay, she would have bent me into a mosquito coil by that scene, (so bent that I can’t be straight anymore). I love how Josie just let Hope outing her anger on these witches, freeze Andy, waited patiently for Lizzie and Hope to deal with Andy together.

27) I died laughing at these Pandemonium 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the badass trio in panda suit😂😂😂😂 I can’t! They’re so cute! And the height difference🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

28) How Hope tries to focus and dead serious in dealing with the upcoming monster but fails inevitably and miserably at Josie’s antics! All Josie does is laughing cutely at Hope and poking(?) her.

29) I love the trio so much!

30) haven’t watched any Star Wars, so I really thought that the one in the mask was Clarke until the Star Wars theme song started😫 too bad that Landon must have missed it.

31) Lizzie kissing Ethan is the last thing ever to have crossed my mind, so again, what the fuck?(sorry, language)

32) when I first thought about team building, I was thinking about finch + MG + Jed + Kaleb, but pack bonding, I’m satisfied too.

[buckybarnesbingo]

BBB Week 6 Roundup!

Little bit late, Mod Meg was on vacay over the weekend.

Title: Cute Quaterbacks Collaborator(s): Tori/samandbucky Link: AO3 Square: B4 - Sharing Clothes Rating: Teen Ship(s): Steve/Tony Major tags/warnings: AU, School, Fake Relationship, Protective!Bucky Summary: Steve and Bucky grew up as childhood best friends and are now roommates in college. Bucky dares Steve to bring a date to one of his upcoming football games after Steve suggests he could date anyone he wanted to. Enter Tony Stark. Word count: 1767

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Title: The Curse Collaborator(s): Tori/samandbucky Link: AO3 Square: K4 - Kiss Rating: Teen Ship(s): Bucky/Clint Major tags/warnings: Fluff, Established Relationship, Magic, Curses Summary: Clint gets hit during an alien attack with some dark magic, Bucky and Steve can't wake him, so they go to the only person they know who can undo the curse: Stephen Strange. Word count: 1364

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Title: A Regular Harry Houdini Collaborator(s): Bird Link: AO3 Square: K4 - Prisoners/Captives Together Rating: Teen Ship(s): Sam/Bucky Major tags/warnings: Minor Episode 5 Spoilers, Post-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captured, First Kiss Summary: “You know, if Steve kissed me in the middle of an escape attempt, he would bring it up after,” Sam said. “I thought we weren’t talking about Steve,” Bucky grunted, closing his eyes. “I’m going to take a nap.” “I can’t believe you’re pretending to take a nap right now.” “I’m 106, Sam. I’m allowed to fall asleep whenever I want.” Word count: 1365

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Title: K5 Card B096 Soulbond Collaborator(s): Rufferto Link: Tumblr Square: K5 - High Fantasy, Curses, Shiny Sword Steve Rating: Teen Ship(s): Stucky Major tags/warnings: Fantasy Warrior Bucky, Curses, Art, Sword Steve Summary: When Bucky went off to war Steve was cursed into a sword. Bucky managed to find him because they share a bond but he's cursed. Bucky now carries Steve into battle wherever he goes looking for a way to have Steve at his side again. This was done on Hot Press Water Color Paper with Windsor & Newton and Arteza paints. I don’t much like the scan, there’s something always lost when a watercolor image is scanned but I will try some other time to get a better photo of it. Word count: none it is art.

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Title: Benevolent Overlord Collaborator(s): IndigoNight Link: AO3 Square: K1 - Bucky Bear Rating: Gen Ship(s): Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers Major tags/warnings: Fluff, PTSD, Codependency, Alpine the Cat Summary: “Hi,” Bucky says, wincing a little at how hoarse and rough his voice sounds from disuse. The kitten just hisses at him again, huge green eyes narrowed into slits. “Yeah, I get it,” he agrees with a grimace and a commiserating nod. Word count: 4921

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Title: I'm James Buchanan Barnes Collaborator(s): e_hytes Link: Tumblr Square: C2 - Art Style: Black and White Rating: Gen Ship(s): No pairing/ship Major tags/warnings: #buckybarnes #wintersoldier #jamesbuchananbarnes #mcu Summary: A drawing of Bucky/Winter Soldier black and white Word count: N/A

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Title: Someone Like You Collaborator(s): Nicnac Link: AO3 Square: C4 - Prison Rating: Mature Ship(s): Bucky/Reader Major tags/warnings: Enemies, Uneasy Allies, Hydra Agent Reader, Negotiations Summary: Taken from their SHIELD prison cell, the reader finds themself alone with The Winter Soldier negotiating for their life. Word count: 2693

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Title: Sambucky Incorrect Quotes Collaborator(s): snowstark Link: Tumblr Square: U2 - Partner-In-Crime Rating: Teen Ship(s): Sam/Bucky Major tags/warnings: Enemies to lovers vibe, Humour Summary: “Bucky, we tried things your way already.” “No we didn’t.” “I did it in my head and it didn’t work.” Word count: N/A

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Title: darling, you’re the one i want in paper rings Collaborator(s): cyanica Link: AO3 Square: C5 - teasing Rating: Gen Ship(s): steve/bucky Major tags/warnings: first time, demisexuality, period-typical homophobia, fluff, friends to lovers Summary: "Okay, I don't know why I’ve never – you know!” Bucky said after a moment, a soft laugh spilling from his lips – something so genuine and bashful, that Steve wasn’t so sure what to make of. “You're just – you're the only one I've ever had eyes for. You're the only one I’ve ever wanted.” Or, whatever deity had constructed the fragmented pieces of their souls together, they were made of the same smithereens, and Steve was sure he had known that as a child, holding Bucky’s slightly larger hand and accepting that they were of the same love, without even knowing what such a concept was. Word count: 1630

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Title: Unexpected Alliances - Chapter 4 Collaborator(s): PoliZ Link: AO3 Square: C5 - Lending a Hand Rating: Mature Ship(s): Stucky Major tags/warnings: Fantasy AU, enemies to friends/lovers, referenced/implied torture Summary: Buckthorn’s refusal to use his fae magic to support his captor’s cause has left him battered and broken; when he is given a dangerous shifter as his cellmate, they overcome their differences to become allies and perhaps something more. Chapter 4: Upon reaching the shifters’ camp, Buckthorn meets another of Stephen’s companions who seems to have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to fae folk. Word count: 1034

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Title: A Story Told in Flesh, Chapter 3: Together In Dreams Collaborator(s): ChrissiHR Link: AO3 Square: B2 - Rocket Racoon Rating: Explicit Ship(s): Bucky x Darcy x Steve Major tags/warnings: Big Swingin’ Dick!Steve, smut, nsfw, dream sex, sex positive Summary: Bucky and Darcy get massages and discuss Aesir medical treatments; Darcy has an erotic dream about Bucky & Steve. Word count: 1270

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Title: Written In The Scars (On My Heart) Collaborator(s): IndigoNight Link: AO3 Square: K5 - Just Do It Rating: Explicit Ship(s): Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Major tags/warnings: Past Rape/Non-con, In Heat (but not A/B/O) Masturbation, Sex Toys, Mildly Dubious Consent, Body Worship, Self Body Worship, Rimming, Fuck Or Die (sort of), Porn with Feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Inability to Orgasm, Body Image, Reference to Past Medical Experimentation, Self-Lubrication, Touch-Starved, Touch-Averse Summary: He swallows hard, struggling with himself one last time and losing. “I need your help,” he manages to whisper, voice cracking. The air in the room immediately changes. The wound up tension drains out of Steve, his posture and voice going soft. “Sure, Buck,” he says, cautiously moving back toward him. Bucky can’t move, his arms locked tight around his knees, and he can’t lift his gaze higher than Steve’s knees either. Steve pauses when he’s still a few feet away, squatting down and angling his head in an effort to see Bucky’s face through the curtain of his hair. “Anything. What do you need?” It’s everything Bucky can do to hold still, every cell in his body vibrating with the need to throw himself into Steve’s arms. He opens his mouth, but his throat sticks and he has to swallow again before he can force the words out. Slowly, by sheer force of will, he drags his gaze up to meet Steve’s eyes. “I need you to fuck me.” Word count: 41k

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Title: Acceptance is the first part of Healing Collaborator(s): Laevateinn Link: AO3 Square: C4 - Denial Rating: Teen Ship(s): N/A Major tags/warnings: 1e3 : Power Broker, TFATWS coda, TW for : implied sexual abuse/assault, dissociation, PTSD, flashbacks, Angst, hopeful(ish) ending Summary: "You good ?" Wilson asks him, after he fought against eight men. "You okay ?" Wilson asks him, when they get to Sharon’s house. "You hurt ?" Wilson asks him, when they get out of the car. Yes, Wilson. All good. Now if the guy could shut up and carry on, that'd be great. Why would he be "not fine" anyway ? It's not as if anything that happened that day hasn't happened before. Word count: 906

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Title: The Maze Stumbler (Moodboard) Collaborator(s): Turtles Link: Tumblr Square: B3 - Labyrinth Rating: Teen Ship(s): Darcy Lewis & Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Major tags/warnings: Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Thor, Cocktail, Labyrinth Summary: Something, something, Thor spikes the punch at the party and they all decide to re enact the Maze Runner… or something like that. Sam and Bucky wake up in the middle of a maze, nothing but Darcy’s voice in their ear giving them directions and critiquing their methodology Word count: N/A

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Title: The Maze Stumbler (Fic) Collaborator(s): Turtles Link: AO3 Square: C1 - Stranded Rating: Teen Ship(s): Darcy Lewis & Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Major tags/warnings: Thor's Asgardian Booze, a labyrinth, Dubious Timeline, Everybody Lives, Crack Summary: Don’t drink Thor’s Asgardian booze. Ever. Word count: 1657

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Title: 5 Times Steve Received Plums from Natasha or Sam and the 1 Time Steve Realized the Plums weren’t from Them Collaborator(s): Girl_Back_There Link: AO3 Square: K5 - Bucky/Steve Rating: Teen Ship(s): Bucky/Steve Major tags/warnings: 5 + 1, Bucky and his Plums, Angst and Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug Summary: Steve keeps finding plums in his hotel rooms or his bag. He thinks it is Natasha or Sam trying to be a good friend by making sure he is eating and keeping up his energy in the search for Bucky. Each plum he finds reminds him of Bucky growing up in pre-WWII New York. The times they would give each other a plum as a way of saying “I’m sorry” or “I love you.” Word count: 2998

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Title: Faith and Desire and the Swing of Your Hips Collaborator(s): IndigoNight Link: AO3 Square: U2 - French Kiss Rating: Explicit Ship(s): Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Major tags/warnings: Crossdressing, Nonbinary Steve Rogers, Oral Sex, Body Dysphoria, Gender Exploration, Supportive Flirting Summary: “You look gorgeous, doll,” he drawls, dragging up as much of old Brooklyn as he can to infuse into the words. Steve startles, even though the doorway and Bucky in it are clearly reflected behind him in the mirror. Steve’s eyes flick to him and away again, his face going pink from the tips of his ears and spreading all the way down to his chest. He fidgets with his skirt, hands smoothing over the folds of it self consciously. “It looks a little silly,” he mutters, chewing on his already chapped lower lip. Word count: 5470

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Title: Stay Collaborator(s): Bird/plutosrose Link: AO3 Square: C3 - Free Square Rating: Explicit Ship(s): Sam/Bucky Major tags/warnings: Post-Canon, First Time Summary: “So, are you keeping the outfit?” Word count: 1919

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Title: It's Not a Miracle You Need Collaborator(s): UisceOneLove Link: AO3 Square: Y3 - At a Crossroads Rating: Teen Ship(s): James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers Major tags/warnings: Post-Endgame, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hopeful Ending Summary: Sitting out on the dock of Tony's lakehouse while the others slept, Steve thought about where he was expected to go from here. It's a good thing Bucky's around to help him see where that can be. Word count: 1584