#the one thing i WILL NOT forgive is what they did to barry

[jerreeeeeee]

"Don't think I didn't notice you slip out when we had Lucretia over yesterday," Lup says. She and Barry had a nice enough lunch with her, did their best to pretend they weren't all drowning, but the third member of their household had made himself conspicuously absent all afternoon. In fact, this is the first time she's been able to catch him still, not in between some task or other. He's kept himself busy lately.

Taako rolls his eyes, trying, in the way he does, to hide the way his shoulders start to creep towards his back-angled ears. "It's not really a secret I don't want to see her."

Lup sighs. "Taako, she's already apologized. What more do you want from her?"

"I don't want anything from her," he says, voice tight, eyes down. "I thought I made that pretty clear."

Lup flinches, despite herself. "Then what, you just.... never talk to her again?" Could he really just cut her out like that? After everything? Could they really go back to how they used to be? After everything?

His eyes stay on the floor, and he shrugs like he doesn't care. Maybe he really doesn't anymore. "That's the idea."

Read on ao3 or continue below

"That's awful," Lup says. "For both of you. That doesn't make you sad?" She wants to believe it does, but she just doesn't know anymore. Her brother has always had hidden depths, but they've never been hidden to her. Is his anger and hurt really stronger than the bond he and Lucretia had built? What if—

"It makes me less sad than the thought of you left to rot in an umbrella for ten years. I robbed your body, Lup." Taako only meets her eyes then, and his are so anguished, she knows there's no convincing him. From the tiny slivers of the intensity of his hurt she's seen—all that he's allowed her to see—she's starting to understand why.

Still, she tries for defense. "She didn't mean for any of that—she couldn't have known—" It's weak, and she knows it.

Taako scoffs, carefully avoiding her gaze. She wishes he'd just look at her. "It still did, though! It all still happened!"

Her heart sinks in her chest and she tries one more time. "She only did what she thought was right!"

His eyes would be ablaze, if she could just see them. "Well, she was wrong!"

"Stop blaming her for my mistake!" Lup finally shouts, and it all comes rushing out. "I came up with the relic plan in the first place, Lucretia only did what she could in the face of my mess! It was all me! I disappeared! I left you!" I'm the one you should be angry with, she doesn't say. I'm the one you are angry with. You just can't say it.

Taako can only stare at her, openly shocked. "No," he says, "no, Lup, I don't blame you—" He does, though. Everything he'd said was true of her, too.

"It doesn't matter if you blame me," she says bitterly. "It's still true." Of course he doesn't want to blame her. Of course it's easier to foist it all onto Lucretia and then cut her off—but it's not quite the full scope of the thing. He was left alone before Lucretia ever made her mistake.

Taako looks at her helplessly. "Well. I... I will make up with her. If that's what you want. I don't—I don't think I can forgive her. But I will move on. For you."

"I'm not—I’m not asking you to do anything you aren’t ready for," Lup says, regretful. She should've known this is what he'd say, but she wouldn’t ever try to pressure him into anything. "Your relationship with her is your business. I didn’t mean to make you think you have to do anything for me. I just—I've already lost too much from my mistakes, and gods know you have. So I don't want you to push her away as—as a proxy. She did her best with what I left her."

"She's an adult, Lup," Taako says, his eyes flinty and cold. "I know you have a hard time seeing her as anything but the Starblaster's baby, but I got to know Madame Director. She made her choices. And she knew the consequences. For all of us.”

“Yeah. So did I.” Lup looks away, eyes watering. “Gods, don’t you get it, that’s why I feel so bad for her—she didn’t know how bad it would get, she didn't know the consequences. ‘It’s only for a little while,’ that’s what I told myself, too.”

“But you—no,” Taako says, “no, I don’t see it that way. You didn’t betray us. Lup, it’s not the same. If everything had gone right you would’ve been right back. And it's—you sacrificed yourself, you know? I don't think it was a good decision, but it was your decision. You and your fucking martyr complex—" It's meant to be teasing, but now's not the time, and it comes out bitter.

He continues, "But she made the decision for everyone else. Lucretia always knew what she was doing. She doesn't get to do that to us. To me. Take away everything good I've ever had. Even if it had only been a year—even if it had only been a day! I’m not only angry because she took time I could’ve spent finding you, because she's the reason you were trapped so long, I was fucking miserable, too, it hurt like half my fucking life was missing, like everyone I loved was gone, all the time, and I couldn’t even understand why—"

He cuts himself off, eyes wet, jaw set, and looks away, like he doesn't want her to see. Like he can’t bring himself to let her see how badly he’s wounded; and it's her fault. "And she saw how it left me, she could've ended it any time, and she didn't. It’s not the same, Lup, it’s not.”

“It’s close enough,” Lup says, swiping at her eyes. “We both hurt you. You wouldn't be so angry—so hurt—if I'd stayed. You can say you would, but we both know you wouldn't. I didn’t betray you, but I abandoned you, she and I both thought we could fix things alone and we were both so stupid for it—“

“God damn it, stop!” Taako shouts, flings his arms out from where he'd been still and tense, takes a step forward, and another, closing the gap between them, the gap Lucretia left, the gap Lup left, shrinking it by explosive force of will. “Fucking stop. You don’t get to decide, Lup! You don’t get to decide if I forgive Lucretia and you sure as hell don’t get to decide if I forgive you. Stop pitying yourself and just fucking listen to me!"

His eyes are wide, he looms as she shrinks back, and isn't that an odd reversal. She's almost glad he's angry with her. She knows she deserves it, and he certainly deserves to get it off his chest. It's just more volatile than she'd expected. She's not afraid of him, she never could be, but she is afraid for him. Something's broken and wild in him now, and she doesn’t know how to restore it.

So he just raves, untethered, "It’s not up to you! It’s too late! I already forgave you! I forgave you as soon as it happened! Just fucking let me!”

“Taako,” Lup gasps, finally weeping, as he takes the last step to bring them together, and she lets his arms sweep around her, falls into them. Her eyes squeeze shut and she wipes her tears in his shoulder, lets his words sink in.

“It’s over,” he says, holding her tight. “It’s all over now.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, one last time.

He only grips her tighter. “Stop being sorry.”

They stand there for a few minutes, and Lup does her best to quell the guilt that threatens to rise like bile in her throat. It won't do any good to hold on to it. Taako said he forgave her. She should believe him. She still feels she shouldn't be letting him hold her while she tries to get her tears under control. He's more hurt, she shouldn't be making him comfort her, it's not fair that he always has to be the one propping her up, holding her together while she falls apart, just like before, and then she just went and left him all on his own—

"I said, stop being sorry," Taako says quietly, after she's been silent.

Lup becomes aware of herself, like waking up for the first time, like being in her body for the first time again—it happens sometimes, she doesn't realize she's been caught in her mind until she's back. But she's here now. This is real. She feels her soft sweater, Taako's arms around her pressing the fabric into her back, his hair tickling her face, a little longer than she's used to, and she realizes she's gripping the shoulders of his shirt in tight fists.

"It's not that easy," she mumbles, unwinding her hands. "But. Thank you."

"'Course." He pulls away and holds her by the shoulders, looking suddenly sheepish. "Uh, sorry for yelling at you." He softens for her, makes himself gentle as best he can, like always, though it's slow and awkward now. He's out of practice.

"Nah," she says with a small smile, reassuring, "I needed to hear it." He's spent too long not being listened to. They both have.

"I did mean it," Taako says. "I'm not angry at you. I'm really not. I should've—nothing I said about Lucretia was about you. I didn't mean to make you think that. And I... I will make up with her, someday."

"You don't have to, Taako," Lup says. "I shouldn't have come at you about it. You're right, it's not for me to decide."

"Yeah, but..." He trails off and then switches to another thought, sure she'll be able to follow, and she does, of course she does. "I just have a hard time getting it into my head that Lucretia's the same person as Madame Director, you know?"

"Yeah," Lup says. She almost knows, but she only has the one memory, and even after everything she still can't look at the old, weary woman without seeing their Lucy.

"I just—I might take a while," Taako says, squeezes her shoulders even as his eyes drift away. "I don't know."

"That's okay," Lup says. "Babe, you don't have to rush anything."

"I do, though, don't I?" He frowns, face open, eyes flicking toward her. "We're mortal now. Most of us," he gives her a fragile smile.

"Some of us are also grim reapers, bud," she says, and takes his hands, holds them between the two of them. "And Lucretia looks older than she is. From stress, not just magic."

"Yeah," he says, unsure. "Maybe."

"Are we..." she starts, suddenly afraid, her ears tilted back, and this time it's her that glances away. "Are we okay?"

He gives her a strange look. "Yeah, I just said so."

"I mean, in general," Lup says, voice gone thin. "Everything's different, it's..." She can't express it. After a lifetime of profound understanding, the tiny space still left between them feels vaster than words.

But even still, after everything, Taako understands her. He tugs on their clasped hands, pulls her closer, and step by step, the gulf shrinks. "We're gonna get there," he says. He lets her hands go, and for a moment she's lost again, floating in endless darkness, but then she's shocked back into presence as his hands cradle her face, and he's right there in front of her, eyes locked to hers, trying for a reassuring smile. He presses their foreheads together and she finally feels solid, real, safe.

Lup tries to push her uncertainty down, and then thinks better of it. Taako's never cared about nobility. Martyring herself hasn't ever helped anyone she loves. He'll never be able to lean on her if she doesn't trust him enough to lean on him first. She lets her voice be small and scared. "Promise?"

"Yeah," he says, quiet and something approaching gentle, only a little hoarse around the edges, but he's getting there. "Yeah, Lup, I promise."

[leletha-jann]

Went outside to pull velcro plant out of the yard, which let me tell you does not take brain cells, so also spent the time thinking about the "WTF, Bill Heterodyne, why trust Lucrezia and not the Jägermonsters" dilemma.

And what I settled on was the concept of - indeed, the allure of - redemption.

Long post under the cut...

Bill Heterodyne, after all, could have inherently been a Thing of Evil (as he saw it; I'll put the more pulp black-and-white concepts in capitals), but instead was Redeemed by the Love of his mother Theodora, who stood between her children and their objectively monstrous father. Bill's entire life story, which he would have profoundly internalized, is that he would have been something else, something dangerous, if he and the people around him hadn't worked - constantly! - to make him a Force for Good instead.

And indeed, he and Barry went out and performed this redemption narrative in their role as the Heterodyne Boys. They were famously active, visible, persistent Heroes, trying to rewrite the story the rest of the world (after a thousand years of "Heterodyne" meaning something quite different) wanted to put them into. And it worked!

In that light, we have two separate case studies:

Lucrezia's story, at this point, parallels Bill's in ways that he would have been drawn to. (We are, of course, not looking at everything that's happened to Lucrezia since then. We're in pre-canon Lucrezia territory.) Young Lucrezia Mongfish comes from a similar background - a powerful Spark from a family of Deep Evil. But in flashback, we see her choosing - performatively or not, however sincerely or not - a different path by choosing to become one of the Good Guys and marry Bill. (These things seem to have gone together, which is a whole different story.) This is an active choice. This, I argue, is what Bill was attracted to: the idea that you, no matter who you are, can choose your nature and your fate. You can become Good - but it is a choice.

That was, after all, the story Bill was telling himself. Lucrezia's choice validated his - and his mother's choices too. The choices Theodora had died for. The Path of Righteousness could be chosen - indeed, had to be. And it's that element of choice that makes the difference here.

It's a very tempting narrative, for someone raised to despise and fear the more infamous side of his family - and indeed himself.

The Jägermonsters, on the other hand, take orders from the Heterodynes, and always have. Are famous for it, actually. Bill could have told them to be Good Guys now, and they would have listened! Dimo tells Agatha that it sounded like fun, and they wanted to try! If Bill had only enlisted them in this fine new game. But it would have had to come as an order from the Heterodyne. It wasn't their idea, and they wouldn't have done it on their own. Do you see the Horde sitting down and considering their ways and having a mass - or even individual - change of heart? No, me neither, and neither did Bill. Receiving and obeying an order to "be good guys now", to Bill, wouldn't count. Not with centuries of destruction apiece behind them. That wouldn't be a true change of heart, it would just be another order.

If just one or two Jägers had gone to Bill, individually, and said, (in the appropriate accent) "Master, we understand, we want to Be Good and do better, can you show us how?", would Bill have believed them? Welcomed them as converts? Could things have been different? I don't know, but I think yes.

Redemption is active. Redemption is a thing you do. It's a thing you work at. That's what Bill was drawn to. Not Evil itself, but the refutation of it.

Forgiveness, by comparison, is passive. Forgiveness is a thing you receive, sometimes whether you work for it or not.

(We're also into pretty solid Catholic guilt territory here, by the way, rarely to be overlooked with creators with Italian surnames. I could cite Bible verses if I really wanted to take the time, but I DO NOT.)

...I don't know if this is coherent, or new, or relevant, but those weeds were really boring, so this is what you get when I have to do yardwork.

[sabrondabrainrot]

Getting more caught up in LAES!!!

Tee Hee

I'm really loving Earth's growth! Lunar did messed up stuff but he's finally growing up maybe?

Spoilers to where I'm at for the Lunar and Earth show below!

I have a comic idea for tsams should I do one?

I just want to rant about the shows and why I like Sun in them 😂 + more observations and theories.

Warning vague spoilers for tsams laws and fams (I think it's eaps now?)

☀️SUN LOVE AHEAD ☀️

I'm to the point Earth was threatened by the Creator and Lunar killed Eclipse and Gemini had to leave, Solar tried to intervene and have them conversate but it blew up on him.

I really like the progression of things. Every time I'm on the fence or in doubt of what's going to happen next I'm blown out of the water. I think I'm enjoying Earth's growth the most. Lunar is regressing but it makes sense for him because he tends to literally run from every problem. Again, it's hard to change and I can actually see that Lunar is ready to grow up and change for the better so I'm excited to see how that goes.

I was at first mad at Moon but I'm convinced there's more nuance. Now I forgive pookie.

☀️

Guys Sun, he's just so great. Like... Now that I'm getting caught up again I'm realizing just how much he deals with and I'm not talking about the ✨trauma✨ but just the day to day. Like LAES definitely helped bridge the gap of what goes in the daily lives for the family.

First of all, people like Sun's daycare. (let's be honest it's always been HIS daycare) He's so good at what he does. People bring their actual eldritch abominations, literal hell spawns, and freaks of nature in to be watched by him. The kids of the daycare at this point can't even be considered human. Think about it, the actual Devil from the Bible brings his hellspawn kid in to be watched (I think it's funny he's implied to be rude to Sun, besties with Moon, and nice to Earth). There was an episode dedicated to the possibility of Sun in sheer popularity and merch sales alone could replace Glamrock Freddy (the only reason he didn't take the offer had to do with being uncomfortable on stage!). Plus, most problem-kids end up liking him. Example being Barry and FC (I count Gregory's ghost friends too).

We all know he was built to be a daycare attendant but the Creator literally said "I didn't install any information on that in you because I wanted you to learn it." Sun taught himself all his child care skills and figured it out (while dealing with 5 years of the added stress of Old Moon doing his thangy thang). Childcare is so stressful, I've worked all kinds of jobs and childcare is absolutely one of the hardest I've done.

Childcare is one of the most physically and emotionally demanding jobs and no two methods work on the same kid. You have to be highly adaptive and patient.

One of the biggest things I've noticed is that in the show when kids start being bad instead of telling them "No" or getting frustrated (Earth and Lunar both do this to a degree) Sun knows to redirect them. He redirected Barry as much as he could (it was funny when Barry kept stabbing funtime Freddy). I think he's also the biggest help to Foxy with FC (except Monty and Puppet, they help a lot too). I still think it's funny how FC likes Sun, he told Stitchwraith he's like a toy so he likes playing with him (again something like that, not gonna rewatch the ep to get the exact quote)... Then seeing him vibe with the ghost kids Gregory is friends with? Mwah perfection. I also love his dynamic with Francine, him getting tackle hugged at her birthday party and even consenting to turning into a dragon for her? SO CUTE 🥰

I haven't even gotten to the part when he meets Dazzle and hangs with Jack more but I know it's gonna be so perfect. I really like Jack he's so silly. The broken Ipad bit was comedy gold.

Back to Sun!

It's just a nice reminder Sun earned his skills through hard work. It's great when he gets to shine and teach others about his skill. Childcare in general is so hard, so he needs to know how valued that is.

UGH I just love him.

From what I've seen, he takes such good care of his family too.

He's just so playful and ready to hang with them at the drop of a hat. He let Earth vent to him. He makes sure Lunar is ok and is the only one that doesn't baby him. He asked Earth to reach out to Lunar because he could tell Lunar wasn't comfortable to ask him. He also makes sure Solar gets breaks (it's hard for the show to implement that on screen due to them having the same va but it's still shown he gets Solar to rest). I remember he was one of the first people Ruin really decided to speak to and he didn't just outright kick Ruin out of the daycare.

Then just everything with the current Moon too. He comforts him, gets him to rest, and was there when he broke down over Solar. I also like that he's actually the voice of reason for the current Moon and he feels comfortable enough to argue back (it's big for him. I still get goosebumps from when he was learning star power in secret and actually had a shouting match over it with Moon)

I haven't gotten to the part when he tells Earth and Lunar about Solar's death and Ruin's betrayal but I know he's going to be there for them too when he does.

I understand the fandom perceives Old Moon as the older brother but I just disagree with that fundamentally. Sun was the first one awake so to me that makes him the oldest. I think KC likes to claim the oldest but idk how that works programming-code creation wise? In one of the most recent episodes I watched Lunar called Old Moon the big brother but idk man....I don't see it. To me Sun has always been the oldest.

I love seeing him get to be a big brother to people who genuinely fight over his attention. It's just so warm and fuzzy. Like Lunar and Earth going to him to literally just be pampered? And he was so ready to? He went to the store to make them a charcuterie board. They just showed up uninvited and immediately demanded love and my home boy delivered.

"Sun you're the big brother and we're babies, we are babies . Take care of us big bro we want your love 🥺 we're the baby siblings take care of us"

Good stuff.

I like how in the Therapy ep Sun sussed out invisible Lunar. I think he's one of the only people to know when Lunar is invisible.

Ok so my theories and stuff

So like... Am I imagining that Moon's eyes are suddenly glowing purple? They didn't used to do that. I paused my progress of the sams watch through but in the ep I'm watching with him having his total mental break (having a realistic dream Sun died would do that) I noticed it seems like his eyes have a purple glow. And I'm really certain they didn't used to do that.

I was told to watch him and that's like the biggest thing I'm noticing with him. He seems sick? I can tell Earth, Monty, and Sun are trying to help him but like I've seen the spoilers on Tumblr and in fics so I'm sure he's going to push them away...... But yeah he's absolutely sick and the purple is not good. :(

Other than that....

I have more to say but I've put a lot in this post lol. I'll talk more about Sun in my next post.

[dogs2shouldvote]

in contrast with my last post, in my latest relisten of taz balance i also recorded a bunch of quotes that felt like a punch to the gut (with zero context mostly). here’s some that made me a) cry or b) freak out because foreshadowing

MAJOR taz balance spoilers ahead; if you haven’t already listened to this amazing show, you should!

- “you can’t kill robbie, i have some big franchise plans for robbie”

- “you found her?“

- “one of you isn’t a lich, are you?”

- “tell julia i said i love her”

- “your staff, you lost control of it, and you blasted the letters L U P into the wall”

- “you look familiar too. have we met?” (this one i did put context for, it’s ren speaking to magnus in the eleventh hour during one of the early loops)

- “is there anything else you can edit in our past?” (this one also had context, magnus to istus i believe)

- “you’re going to be amazing”

- “there’s a long span of time that’s just not there” … “while you’re looking through these memories… there is something about the memory is a little bit off. there’s parts of it that are a little bit staticky.”

- “i named my fish after him”

- “he didn’t want to be a hero. it wasn’t his desire.”

- “Do you remember the last thing you said?”

“I said ‘I love you, Jules.’”

- “lup. they don’t trust me. i cant do it anymore, lup. i’m sorry”

- “the hunger is almost here. and when it arrives, the world will be lost.”

- “and it’s an incredibly familiar face, because it’s your face, magnus. this figure in the red robe is you.”

- “why are you doing this, taako?”

“because i’m worried no one else will have me”

- “you see this red robe put a single skeletal finger to its nonexistent lips”

- ”i’ll be having my body back you undead fuck”

- “trust barry. love barry. taako… it’s me… it’s *static*”

- “when there was trouble, you took the big hit. didn’t you, bud?”

- “and taako you remember lup now. how could you forget lup?”

- “are we just gonna burn every world that we can’t save just to keep the hunger from getting its hands on them? how does that make us any better than them?”

- “this is where we get to decide who we are”

- “show them the duck. it’s a good duck. i think they’ll like it!”

- “your journey could have ended anywhere… but it ended here. and you’re so grateful for that.”

- “sometimes there aren’t right decisions. sometimes there’s just decisions.”

- “back soon”

- “as his body falls further and further down, you realize you don’t know who that is.”

- “magnus. i’m going to find a place for you to be happy. it’ll just be for a little bit. i can do this. i love you magnus. i love all of you *fading into static*”

- “you *fucking took everything. from me*.”

- “i needed to say goodbye to someone

- “i don’t expect you all to forgive me…”

“i run over and hug her”

- “there’s magic in a bards song. they call it is inspiration and it tells the listener what they need to hear when they need to hear it… and you hear johann’s voice and it says: ‘you’re gonna have to fight… and *you’re gonna win!*’”

- “how does magnus die?”

- “and thus ends adventure zone balance. the story of four idiots who played dnd so hard they made themselves cry.”

[puckpocketed]

inspired by yesterday’s ovechkin-posting and the stick story, because. i had as much fun as anyone with the idea that riding a camel over all-star break is what jostled the goal-scoring back out of him, but at the same time... i am frothing at the fucking mouth about ovi × The League × national hockey media. where is his respect? where is his hype? where are his roses???? please !!!! understand !!!! that i find sidney endearing as a guy and he is undeniably incredible as a player and he deserves the love that he gets. but from day one, ovi has only existed to them in relation to sid and that makes me lose my fucking mind. 

and general hockey fans through the years loved ovi, and then they hated him, and then they said he was an overhyped washed-up old man who doesn't care anymore (starting in like 2013 lmfao). like, I'M sorry, back in the late '00s and early '10s he was being hounded for days about his cellies, and being booed every time he came out on the ice—and you're mad? that he looks like he's lost his love and enthusiasm for the game???? (i cannot for the LIFE of me find the podcast ep where i heard this, so. grain of salt. but a former teammate talked about how startling and upsetting ovi found the booing, bc it was such a sudden change, and meanwhile, ovi was just the same guy he’d always been 😭).

and then, idk, we went through hate again, and then indifference, and now in the 2020s we're back to "oh, his production has dropped so therefore he's overhyped, can’t wait ‘til he’s gone"?? the season ovi was 36 he had more points per game than sid did last year at 36 (90 in 77 vs 94 in 82). or how about. please remind me how many goals gretz scored the season he was 36 (25 goals compared to ovi's 50). or what about when gretz was 38 (9 goals compared to ovi's 31)? i am NOT trying to say that ovi is "better" than either of them—this is just me saying that people are completely irrational about him. like back when he was drafted and people were saying "oh, he's not actually as good as he looks, because he's lying about his age" bc he looked 25 instead of 18. like. okay lmao. and then what? his NINE rocket richards count less bc he started later? he's actually older now and scoring more per game than gordie howe was the first time he retired? like what are we doing here??? i'm not an empty-netters-pod guy, but they talked about it in the first few minutes of this ep; like... yeah, why was everyone so fucking excited to dance on his grave at the start of last season? and then again in the playoffs? he’s NOT DONE YET, and even if he were, i would hope to see a modicum of respect for the player he’s been and the career he’s had! 

the point is. ovi has scored 30+ goals per season every single year since his debut except the pandemic-shortened season. his teammates, current and former, love him and say what an awesome, generous, team-focused guy he is. he has literally dozens of nhl records already, some of them previously belonging to gretzky. and yet! general hockey fans and the league and national hockey media all refuse to take him seriously. and caps fans (mostly) and dc hockey media (mostly) (barry svrlugas i do not forgive you... dan holmi i would just like to have a fucking word with you....) are all just standing here like hello? alexander ovechkin is RIGHT HERE and he is very good at hockey. hello he is GOOD at HOCKEY, can you hear me????? is anyone seeing this, HELLO???? 

i don’t get it. i simply and entirely don’t get it. there are so many excellent players on teams that i hate! there are players i dislike and i can still point to many impressive things about their game!!! WHAT is the mental block that happens for everyone when it comes to ovi, and how tf has it been going strong for nineteen fucking years? 

thank you for listening!! i swear to you that the vast majority of the time i am simply having a fun time with whatever my terrible children decide to do, admiring ovi’s fashion choices, cheering on my number one babygirl dylan strome, and enjoying whatever horny, incomprehensible nonsense they get up to. it’s just that sometimes i gotta go guard dog mode about alex ovechkin 😅

Hello!!! First of all, thanks for going to all the trouble of typing all that out and including links. I have loved sifting through your citations, and felt very much like a floor dwelling sea creature eating nutrients from the silt <3

I believe you all when you say Ovechkin's not done yet. Shaking my entire clenched fin at everyone calling him a washed up old man!! Fascinated by the Caps' attempt to pivot into being competitive long enough for him to break the record, because what of the After? The Rebuild of Damocles beckons!! Except, having paid some attention to prospects I see they've got a pretty interesting crop of talent coming through. And there are those big contracts they just acquired (hello Dubie and Roy). I just feel like have to be on this train so I can say I was there to see how it all shakes out. History Witnessing type beat <3

and I'm SO endeared to Caps rituals. What little I've seen of them is so fun, so silly. Exactly my vibe. MUST a team "Play Hockey Well"?? can't they just be obsessed with each other . can't they torture and embarrass each other . being stressed about strange concepts such as ""Winning"" is so., passé .

Thank you again for dropping by and for the essay! and I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you, it was such a meal I was digesting it for days :>

extended thoughts/discussion under the cut.

From the outside looking in, I think can speak to how compelling it is to pit Crosby and Ovechkin against each other. As your ESPN article puts it: "Crosby was careful, corporate. Ovechkin was unpredictable, borderline dangerous. The key word was passion, and even though Crosby had it inside, Ovechkin oozed it. He was the anti-Sid, possibly the better player, and soon a cult hero." (x, y) I know you're frustrated by this, but they do sort of exist in relation to each other. Maybe I've fallen for the propaganda, but it's very literary <3 You could write their story down and present it to a novel studies class, and the easiest thread to pull on would be all the ways in which they're each other's narrative foils.

IF you held a gun to my head and made me guess at the 'why' of it, I'd probably agree with Eric Adelson! It really does feel like Crosby's image is who hockey wants to be seen as. A Good Canadian Boy; humble, no conspicuous expressions of his wealth, no partying, and of course no on-ice flash! I think I can understand the backlash somewhat; in such a team-oriented game, one with all these arcane honour codes and the emphasis on humility and respect and not rocking the boat, I could see why the spectacle of Ovechkin's personality would've grated. Crosby's an easier pill to swallow for the conservatism of hockey culture. (And I specified 'image' because there's the reality of what it is to be famous, deified, and torn apart each time you don't quite measure up. I hate to be the guy who says there's another side to this but, like, I'm sure plenty of people who are more familiar with Crosby's story could come out and tell me about the unique challenges that come with being considered The Next One.)

And obviously, your specific frustration is coming from the fact that Ovechkin is, somehow, seen as the inferior superstar, and that his achievements - which either equal or surpass Crosby's - go uncelebrated by mainstream media. and ough. man. I'm not as invested in this as you given I just got here, but your emotion is palpable!! I have... complicated feelings about his whole deal wrt geopolitics I won't lie, but I am serious about the whole "Is it the Russian thing?" I wouldn't, like, submit this as a legal document or anything, and I doubt I'd be the first to point it out, but there has to be a level of Othering that comes from his nationality, right?

So there's my thesis: he's not like them, he's not from there, and his image is not who they want for a star. Being so undeniably good for so long probably bought him some time in their good books, but the moment he looked a little bit mortal any grace they had to give was dispensed with. It sucks for you as a fan of course </3 I don't mean to sound so morbidly curious about it all,,, like i get that a real wrong was done to Ovechkin by the establishment that refused to recognise him!! But . well. I'm looking at this through a nonfiction writer's lens. I do hope someone who was there for the whole thing writes a book or two about this, because it would make for a really interesting story. I get the feeling people will look back on this stretch of time and think the world went a bit crazy for believing Alex Ovechkin was done.

[siremasterlawrence]

The Private Harem

She is the most beautiful thing I have see since I started this long journey but luxury ship to that private island, apparently I am sharing it with this swinging couple who saw me earlier surprisingly cornering me for a chat. I do not swing so I did my best to dismiss myself from the conversation but she has a way of tracking me down and leaving me no choice but to sit and talk for a bit. I told her a bit about me which was a major mistake on my part because she fell deeply off after that and ran away.Annoyed I thought what I was wrong with me but anyway before I could go to sleep I had this weird sensation to go for a walk and get some cool air instead putting on my jacket and I must have wondered off because I was cornered by her once more accosting me by the wall. This time asking for my forgiveness about her reaction as she is coming to my side, she introduces me to her needy husband who has a thing for me apparently as well and they ask if I could put them under. He puts a cigarette to his mouth all the while maintaining contact with me as he retrieves his liter fluid, he lifts it pressing the tigger his fear melts away as he takes a drag leaving me disgusted but I decide to have a bit of fun with my built in rage.

“Hey Tyler! Why do you like to smoke? “

“It relaxes me, great distress here”

“Precisely! You can feel it now deep inside “

“The tingling pricking sensation in your nerves.”

“Instant release”

“Take another drag”

“There you go”

“Feels good”

“Every drag takes you deeper “

“As you do I what you to turn to her “

“Blow smoke in her face what “

“Wait! No…I”

“You like it? I want you to count to thirty and sleep”

“Yes! One”

“Fuck….thirty”

“Yyyyeeeesssss”

The next day I snap both Tyler and Bitsie back to reality as they come to their eyes betray them, face me completely at a loss for words taking in there surroundings far from the ship but they oh so much moreprivate a revelation. I agree to meet them after we back at my agreed spot but as I made my way their I am greeted by a strange guy a bit older than mr with a arrow in his hands pointing it at me till he realized I am guest, he freaks out putting it to his snide he apologizes to me but I am not in the mood and I refuse to hear it from him despite his efforts. Never the less the day passes by in to night my eyes begin to sleep closing in, my body falls back head first into the cushy soft and colorful pillowcases and then all went down straight to hell at the sound of heavy rapid knocks on my door as if someone a lunatic is trying to break in. I open the door to see him. The same guy with this apologetic look on his face, his expression was almost kind of pathetic I wanted to laugh but I was so infuriated. He studies my face in explosive intent hoping to see some sign of me being understanding about the situation, but I am beyond angry and not in the mood to have any discussions on the topic. He continues to press on even getting to a point where I can see he’s getting extremely tired but refusing to look away for me as to say we can be here all night and I sigh finally giving in and accepting. His lips being spread into a smile, showcasing his white teeth looking stunning as usual, but that definitely is to be well expected from his type of course as we all know. I know his eyes hit the corner of the room completely enamored by the burning of the candlelight stick calling him as his feet attempting to barely walk right in the moment of enlightenment I strike. My two slaves come in to the light taking his hands and lead him to a table with the light as his mind goes in to overdrive the door opens to reveal his partner Barry who is quickly injected.

“Who are you? Why did you do tthhiiss”

“Well being nosey is a no no”

“Besides you feel good”

“Oh right!”

“You like me”

“We met earlier “

“Hey! How are you ?”

“I am doing fine “

“Wonderful really “

“Perfect “

“What do you think?”

“I love you “

“Hey Stephen “

“You met Master Grant”

“I love Master”

“We both do”

“We had him first “

“So what? Go kick rocks”

The party event planners on the event are at my door immediately popping up upon me in my sights because with a bright smile he is walking in and placing his giant planner on the table spreading it out over the next hour or so. I watch in awe and amazement as he details the events unveiling my corporate take over of this island paradise in a matter of a day because I own them all for life now and I flip my back to him opening a Chester drawer to find a letter in bold gold and red letters. Handing it to him he stares at it strangely in in confusion he picks up a envelope opener to the back slowly undoing it as the back of it keels to the side and a load of purple dust blows our from the envelope instantly hits him head on. It is on impact as Jensen’s facial expression goes dim with a beautiful, silly and sexy as fuck smile covering his face while his body is letting go he relaxed his back slamming into the floor head first he floats in to a state of mindless. “Nighty night sleepy boi dream of me and serving me.” I whisper in to his ears. Across the street his co-event planner continues the work so deeply invested as he jumps up at the knock on the door and has no idea why he is receiving flowers but once it it handed to him book the gas seeps right to his nose boop he is out.

“Wonderful! Why don’t the two of you sleep “

“Sleep it away “

“Let ours wash you “

“Wash you of everything “

“Your independence “

“Your life “

“Your wants”

“Needs and desires”

“Personalities ”

“What makes you tick”

“Your essence “

“Who are you ?”

“Answer me”

“Who am I?”

“I don’t know “

“My slaves “

“Yes! My pleasure”

“My purpose “

The gym is wonderful be facility I created the blue prints, commissioned and paid for It houses all sports, gym and a sauna in new original ways.

Speaking of new looking at Brenton’s heavy breathing in our state of the art wild house set for camping he is lost and stranded till the day is over and he can’t be happier as he sweats his life and brains away in deep heat. The heat causing him to hallucinating him in a sea of pure imagination he seas me across the pond someone he would pass and never pay attention to come to his side in a ability to help him. His days are over dropping on to my are he succumbs to my will like the big piece clay he is, I will mold him till perfection with my every whim and desire for my own personal enjoyment and no one else can no how it is to occupy one’s mind.

Colton exits the sauna feeling rejuvenation in the midst he walks out much shorter, gay, younger and so hot for what’s to come and it will be magnificent.

“Ugh! I need to go home!”

“Are you sore?”

“How are you here?”

“I am everything and everything “

“Invading my privacy “

“So are everyone else”

“Stop laughing “

“Who’s laughing? You must be high”

“Not possible”

“Didn’t the steam smell odd”

“You drugged me”

“I did no such thing “

“I simply applied some changes”

“You are so in to me”

“No…I am…hot”

“Yeah you are “

“What ins flaming hell? I am yours bro”

“Mwahahahahaha…Correct Dumbass”

“So who did you co-opt all of this?”

“Oh detectives if you have to ask?”

“Asshole! I’ll kill you”

“Chill”

“So naive “

“Who is ?”

“You stepped in to my trap “

“Let the games begin”

“What is that liquid “

“Your rebirth “

“Nnnnooo”

“For Master”

The end

[writeforfandoms]

Fall Into Me 10

Find the series masterlist

We finally get a Ghost POV chapter! This will certainly help show his viewing of the situation, both with Rose and with the spraypaint incident.

Warnings: Brief mention of violence, Ghost being Ghost, threatening, SoapGhost, implied sex between Soap and Ghost, kissing.

Word count: 1.2k

Ghost would be the first to admit that he wasn’t as emotionally invested as the others. He didn’t trust easily, and he preferred to know the measure of a person before he made any real decisions. 

This had gotten him closer to knowing her measure, though. Too soft, certainly. Too kind. Too forgiving. 

That’s alright. Ghost didn’t mind stepping up to exact a little vengeance for her. Even if she hadn’t asked for it. 

Even though she hadn’t known to ask for it.

She’d learn. 

Following her home after work was easy. She didn’t look behind her, just walked with purpose and kept her head up. He approved. She looked confident, looked like nothing could touch her. It was a pretty good illusion, fooled most people. Even though Ghost knew she was too damn gentle to do any harm herself. 

He didn’t follow her all the way to her apartment, just to her building. He noted which one it was (with no small amount of amusement) before he continued on his way.

After all, he had other quarry to hunt tonight. 

Barry Russell was a low-grade asshole with one restraining order against him and a couple of minor offenses from when he was a teenager. He was also the idiot who’d decided to spraypaint Rose’s store. Which had just earned him a visit from Ghost. 

He wasn’t hard to find, and he was a creature of habit. Really, this was almost too easy. (Except it wasn’t too easy, it would be too easy to kill him. Ghost had seen Rose when he’d come in, had seen the red eyes and the shaky hands. Someone as gentle as her didn’t deserve that kind of shit.) 

Did he need his full skull balaclava to scare the shit out of this asshole? No, probably not. But it was satisfying to wear it anyway. 

It was less than a full night of hunting, all told. Barry Russell was a coward and a pushover, marked by the sharp stench as he pissed himself in fear. 

Ghost was confident he’d leave Rose alone. And if he didn’t… Well. Barry had been warned.

It was a lot more than many people got, and Ghost wouldn’t have mercy a second time. 

Ghost sauntered his way back to his own apartment, in no hurry. The boots just inside the door were not his, and he huffed softly in amusement. 

“Johnny,” he drawled, unsurprised to see the Scot sprawled across his couch, containers of Thai on the coffee table. 

“Hiya LT.” Soap grinned at him. “Brought dinner.” 

Ghost grunted once, leaving his keys and wallet in their customary place. His jacket was hung up neatly on the hook, boots left beside the door. He looked at Johnny for a moment before he pulled the balaclava off, tossing it onto the coffee table. 

“Good hunting?” Soap asked, taking a moment to look at Simon before he went back to his dinner. 

“Good enough.” Simon shrugged a little, settling onto the couch after shoving Johnny’s leg over out of the way. “Too quiet?”

Johnny shrugged. “Somethin’ like that,” he agreed softly, poking at his food. 

Simon let the silence sit, picking up his own container. At least Johnny knew his tastes, knew what he liked. He also knew Johnny, knew the fidgeting and the playing with his food.

“What’s on your mind?” He didn’t look at Johnny, giving him a little space.

Johnny huffed, shoving one foot against his thigh. Simon didn’t budge, waiting him out. He knew he’d won when Johnny puffed out a loud breath and set his food aside for the moment. 

“Just… Seems unfair, ye ken?” 

Simon made a noncommittal sound, gently encouraging. 

“All the shit we’ve seen, and still enough in the world for some entitled arsewipe to be a right cunt.” 

That got Simon to laugh, just a breathy little thing. “Such a way with words.” 

“Not wrong, am I?” Johnny’s lips quirked before he shrugged, picking up his food again. “You haven’t watched without me, have you?”

“Would I do that?” 

“Aye.”

Simon snickered but grabbed the remote, dropping it on Johnny’s thigh. Clean up was quick after dinner, and Simon settled into his spot again. 

Somehow, he was entirely unsurprised to have a lapful of cuddly Scot approximately a second and a half later. 

“Somethin’ you want, Johnny?” He smirked, leaning back into the couch, one hand curled around a hip. 

“Me? Never.” But Johnny was grinning, bright and easy. 

So it would be one of those nights. That was more than fine with Simon, and he rose to the challenge when Johnny kissed him. This was familiar. Easy.

Well. As easy as anything ever was with Johnny. 

They’d had an understanding for a while now. Things were easy between them - they knew each other well enough, worked well enough together, that they’d fallen into bed together. But they didn’t restrict each other. Sometimes one of them wanted a pretty bird, and that was fine. 

Honestly, Simon wouldn’t be surprised if he and Johnny ended up sharing Rose at some point. Not like they weren’t close enough.

(Not like the whole team wasn’t close enough, when it came down to it.) 

Later, watching Johnny sprawled out and snoring softly, Simon reached a hand down to smooth over his head. This life suited him, not quite as well as being an operator, but not so poorly as being a regular civvie. It suited most of them, really. It was safer (which he didn’t care about, but he did care about his sergeant not acquiring new bullet holes), but still provided enough of a challenge to them (especially given the diversity of swearing that occasionally came from Price’s office). 

It wasn’t a bad move, all told. Though it had taken him a while to accept it. 

He’d only gone along initially because the rest did, and he didn’t want to be without them. 

But it was nice. To see them relax a little. To watch Ale and Rudy adapt and integrate. To see them forming bonds outside of the team. 

Price had always had a sort of moral high ground. They did the shitty job, got dirty, so the world stayed clean. For once, it was nice to see what keeping the world clean looked like from this standpoint. Where he could actually enjoy the view, more or less. 

Simon doubted he’d ever feel fully comfortable with this life, but. Same could be said of him before, too. Even when he’d spent 90% of his time being Ghost, he’d not been fully comfortable.

That just wasn’t a thing he got to experience anymore.

Except, perhaps, in these quiet moments. Johnny muttered something in his sleep, one hand curling around Simon’s ribs. Simon huffed. Johnny always was handsy, even asleep. 

This kind of peaceful sleep was its own balm. One Simon was getting used to. And enjoying. 

His gaze drifted back up to the plain ceiling and he shifted just slightly to adjust for Johnny. This certainly wasn’t where he’d seen himself ending up, but… He couldn’t regret it. 

And he had to admit to a certain level of curiosity as to where this would go. How they’d all end up. 

Not that it would make any difference as to where he’d be. Covering their six. 

The only question that really mattered was who all would comprise “them”.

[goldshirtleia]

Hello yes it is that time of year again, I am listening to the 1970 OG recording of JCS on vinyl and have decided to finally make a list my rankings for every role and aspect of this show. For the record I am a pagan whose only real knowledge of the Jesus story is from this show so forgive my unhinged takes.

Characters:

Jesus:

Ian Gillan (OG album/broadway)

Ted Neeley (1973)

Ola Sålo (Swedish 2014)

Jack Hopewell (North American Tour 2022)

Morgan James (all female cast 2022)

Judas:

Carl Anderson (1973)

Brandon Victor Dixon (2018)

Murray Head (OG album)

Shoshana Bean (all female cast 2022)

Peter Johannson (Swedish 2014)

Honourable mention to Colm Wilkinson (it is a CRIME that there isn't a full recording of the Irish cast)

Mary Magdalene:

Yvonne Elliman (OG album/broadway/1973)

That's it, no one else even comes close

(Maybe an honourable mention for Gunilla Backman)

Pontius Pilate:

Barry Dennen (OG album/1973)

Filippo Strocchi (Vienna 2018)

Orfeh (all female cast 2022)

Caiaphas:

Bob Bingham (OG broadway/1973)

Norm Lewis (NBC 2018) I will ALWAYS stan Norm

Victor Brox (OG album)

Simon Zealotes:

TIE - Larry Marshall (1971)

TIE - Eric Grönwall (NBC 2018)

John Gustafson (OG album)

Tony Vincent (2000)

Herod:

Alice Cooper (NBC 2018)

Mike D'Abo (OG album)

Chris Moyles (Arena Tour 2012)

Overall - staging/set design/costumes:

1973 Movie

NBC 2018

North American Tour 2022

Arena Tour 2012

Honourable mention to the OG broadway production -- I haven't seen enough footage to accurately rank it but I LOVE Jesus's cape in Superstar.

Best overall rendition of Superstar (incl. staging, costumes, etc)

1973 Movie

NBC 2018

Arena Tour 2012

Swedish 2014

Best facial expressions:

Carl Anderson during Simon Zealotes

Carl Anderson right before he engages in respectability politics to slut shame Mary

Tim Minchin when the priests take his joint lmao

Best Superstar costume:

Carl Anderson's white maxi fringe jumpsuit (come ON)

Peter Johannson's shirtless #lewk (I have a whole thing about how Judas should not look like a demon but the sparkly red pants and the Legolas hair are too fantastic)

Brandon Victor Dixon in the full silver fit

Best WTF moments:

That bit in the 1973 film where they all form The Last Supper for a quick second and no one comments on it

When the 1973 crowd says "won't you die for me?" in Hosanna and it just FREEZES on Jesus's face

The Swedish cast pushing Jesus into Jerusalem in a shopping cart

The fighter pilots swooping at Judas after Blood Money in 1973. What WAS that. How did they get that.

That is all lol. Every time we watch even a clip of a new production my mother and I spend 2-3 hours discussing how it fits into our rankings, so this could change.

[lestatslestits]

i would love to hear about your 24 copies of the wind in the willows if you feel like talking about it

Anon, I don't think you understand how much I want to talk about this.

I'll start by saying, this order may or may not be a bit confusing, mostly because I'm attempting to group editions together in a way that makes some sort of sense.

Roughly, I'll group them as follows:

Annotated Editions

Vintage Editions

Mass Market Paperbacks

Other Paperbacks*

Small Hardcover Editions*

Other Hardcover Editions*

*Not including editions shown previously

Finally, this will not include abridged editions, retellings, or books that adapt small segments of the text

This is going to be a long post. There will be photos. I'm putting the rest under a cut!

Annotated Editions

I own three separate annotated editions

The Annotated Wind in the Willows, annotated by Annie Gauger

The Wind in the Willows: An Annotated Edition, annotated by Seth Lerer

The Annotated Wind in the Willows: For Adults and Sensible Children (Or Possibly, for Children and Sensible Adults), annotated by GMW Wemyss and Markham Shaw Pyle

These account for a total of six copies, because I have doubles of each of these editions so that I have a "clean" copy and one where I can write my own notes. Currently, I've only managed to add my notes to the Gauger edition. Here's an example of my personal notes (forgive my handwriting, I was having issues with my pen)

The Gauger edition uses illustrations from multiple illustrators, as well as historic photographs. Additionally, this edition has segments on Grahame's life, including copies of the Dearest Mouse letters (the letters that Grahame wrote to his son, Alastair, which eventually formed the basis for Wind in the Willows). The Lerer edition used Ernest Shepard's illustrations, and the GMW Wemyss/Markham Shaw Pyle edition is un-illustrated.

As an aside, I purchased the other two online, but the Gauger edition (well, one of them) was a gift from a dear friend.

Vintage Editions

These copies were all printed prior to the mid 1960s.

This is my most fragile copy. It was printed in 1926, by Metheun (the original British publishers of The Wind in the Willows). I got this edition online from someone who didn't quite seem to know what it was (the listing mentioned J.M. Barrie as the author). I know very little about this edition, but there is an inscription inside that reads "To Jacky, from Elspeth - 1926." This gets a little interesting because Elspeth was the name of Kenneth Grahame's wife, and she was very much alive in 1926. Will I ever know if this edition was given to someone by the Elspeth? Probably not. Examples of her handwriting that I've been able to track down have been very minimal. But it's certainly an interesting thing to daydream about!

I own two (non-annotated) copies with Ernest Shepard's illustrations. Both of these were published in the early 1960s. The first one you see is an ex-library copy that I bought at a Friends of the Library book sale. It was described as being from the first edition with color illustrations, which is hilarious because 1) the illustrations are not colored in this edition and 2) there were at least two other illustrators prior to Ernest Shepard whose illustrations were in color. I nearly ended up in an argument with an elderly lady over this, but I bought it anyways.

The other does have several colored illustrations, which are lovely (originally, Shepard's illustrations were black and white, but later some full color illustrations were added. In my experience, you see the full color illustrations much less regularly). I got this edition online because, at the time, I did not have a Shepard edition.

Ernest Shepard is better known as the illustrator for the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne.

The copyright date on this Thrushwood edition is listed as the being from the 1910s, but the inscription is from 1948. I love to purchase copies with inscriptions (or even just the scribbles of kids) inside. This is another edition that I purchased online.

As a note, this edition is illustrated, but I did forget to take a picture of the illustrations. My apologies!

This is another edition from the 1960s. This is my newest (to me) edition, which I purchased online. It was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. This edition has by far the loveliest inscription I've seen (and is the primary reason I bought the book).

My dear Susie, If you like this story one half as much as I do, it will still be your favorite book. Merry Christmas kid. Love, Karen

Mass Market Paperbacks

These are some mass market editions I've acquired over the years. Most of these were purchased from used bookstores, although the Dell Yearling Classic edition was a gift from a friend. The Tor edition has by far one of my favorite blurbs ever.

They're just strange little guys!

Other Paperbacks

This is an edition that I bought online. This particular edition is illustrated by Patrick Benson, who also illustrated the series The Willows and Beyond by William Horwood. This edition has an introduction by Horwood as well, so they definitely feel like a set.

This is a fun one! It's an Illustrate Your Own edition. I bought this one new for obvious reasons. I have doodled in it a bit, but I'll spare you my own drawings.

I got this edition last year from the Strand Bookstore in New York City. This was my first trip to NYC and I looked for The Wind in the Willows in every book store I visited! This cover is one of my favorites: it appears embroidered on the front, and on the inside of the cover you get the messy "back side" of the embroidery. This is such a fun edition and one I had wanted for a while before I found it in a store!

Small Hardcover Editions

I got the top two editions from used bookstores, and they don't have any major illustrations in them. The edition on the bottom came from Barnes and Noble, and it features Nancy Bernhardt's illustrations. Bernhardt was an early illustrator (pre-Shepard!), and her illustrations were very unique (and often a little strange). I prefer her smaller black and white drawings throughout the book, but the full color illustrations are fascinating!

Other Hardcover Editions

And finally, here are some of my very favorites. These are all hardcover editions that I find particularly beautiful.

This edition was illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith. I love the classic feeling of the cover. There are smaller sepia-toned illustrations, as well as some absolutely unique full color illustrations like the one pictured above. It's one of my favorite illustrations in the book, and one of my favorite illustrations of the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn." I would kill for a print of this particular illustration. I got this edition at a local bookstore that is no longer in business.

This edition was illustrated by Robert Ingpen, and it's the first edition I really fell in love with. I'm actually not always a fan of illustrators who draw Rat as very mouse-like (more on that below), but Ingpen's illustrations are so beautiful and feel so rich and warm. In particular, Ingpen probably has my favorite illustrations of Badger. I believe this was the first edition that I purchased! (I don't have an exciting story for how I purchased this one, it honestly came from Amazon because I had been given a gift card).

And finally, this edition is illustrated by Chris Dunn. I got this one through a Kickstarter that I funded. I had been dreaming of an English language edition with Dunn's illustrations for years, you have no idea how excited I was when this Kickstarter was launched. Dunn's illustrations are so unique because he is one of the only illustrators who very clearly and distinctly illustrates Rat as a water vole. Although Ratty is called The Water Rat throughout the text, he's actually a water vole, and that often gets lost in modern contexts. Dunn's illustrations are absolute favorites of mine, and this edition is so extremely special to me. It's massive and absolutely gorgeous.

And that's it! I own a LOT of books related to The Wind in the Willows (including a first edition of First Whisper of The Wind in the Willows, a book created by Elspeth Grahame after her husband's death). But going over ALL of my Wind in the Willows collection would make this post even more impossibly long than it already is.

Thanks so much for the ask! I hope you enjoyed this tour and that it's not completely overwhelming or boring.

[zeroducks-2]

💜 Eobarry!

💜 surprise kiss / impulsive kiss

(imagine this happens at the end of The Flash Age, but Iris isn't there and August keeps his hands to himself <3)

«Good team-up, guys. See you later.» Thawne says amicably enough, raising his hand in a gesture of goodbye. As if they weren't all still breathless for having run from a world which was decaying right under their feet.

«Hey. Wait a second...» Barry surges up as if to grab his arm, side-stepping August, but stops just shy of touching his Reverse. «No need to keep running, let's take a breather.» He tries, and doesn't really understand the way Thawne's expression grows dark, the corners of his mouth curling downwards.

«So that you can get an opening and toss me back in one of your prisons? I'll pass.»

Barry did not expect to hear that and it almost makes him recoil. He feels righteous anger bubbling up - yes, this man should be behind bars and for so many good reasons, but no, it was not in Barry's intention to sort of ambush him to incapacitate and imprison him. He never even thought about it.

«Would that be my style?» He asks back, offering a half smile in an attempt to keep everything on amicable tones. «You did the right thing, Eobard. And then came back for us, without strings attached.» He takes a tentative step forward. «And our truce is still on anyway. Stay a minute, tell me about what happened with Chris... I want to know the details of how it went down.»

The other speedster's expression twitches and his posture grows minutely more tense. He seems to be hesitant on both what to do and what to say, but that's alright, Barry can allow him a minute.

«He's right, Barry. We should make sure he ends up in jail.» August chimes in, arms crossed and his scowl visible from the ripped bits of his mask. «I am grateful for his help, but now you're acting like one good action would make him a reformed man. Have you somehow forgotten he killed your mother...?»

«What?» Barry snaps, wide-eyed as he looks back at August. «This is not about what happened in the past, it's about what happened today.» He ends up saying in the steadiest tone he can manage. «Wasn't it for him, we wouldn't even be here having this conversation.»

«So you'd forgive him, just like that?» August looks between frustrated and incredulous. «You tossed me in jail without a second thought, and now claim you're going to let this guy go?»

«You...» You killed children for no reason, Barry wants to say but refrains, that's not the point. This isn't about who's guilty and who isn't, it's something else entirely.

«You should listen to him, Barry.» Eobard observes placidly, a smile on his face and his pose now relaxed, which is not what Barry expected to see. «I don't belong with heroes. You made damn sure I never would.»

He feels another twinge of resentment at that, but before he can phrase a retort the other speedster is upon him, closing the small distance by pulling Barry against himself. Then their lips are crashing together, Barry's breath is stuck in his throat, and Thawne's palm is cradling his nape.

«But thank you for today. It was fun.» Eobard adds quietly enough it's just for them to hear, disentangling Barry's fingers from how they were gripping the front of his suit.

«Wait-!» He tries again but the other speedster has bolted away already, and Barry is left with the inexplicable urge to run after him, and August's nonplussed expression.

kiss ask game here!

[weirdestcornelius]

Before I knew sparklecritisim even existed (thanks kittycorn for letting me know about it in that one vent post lol I'm sure I wasn't the only one hearing about it for the first time) but I actually thought I was crazy like I was being gaslit to think Doom wasn't a bit of a woman hater. Like I even had sent an ask to KC about the consistency of his character between v2 and current day like a year ago maybe and never got a response I thought I was mad

Adding both of these in

But this is EXACTLY what I've been saying man. I fucking love Darkmagic I love them more than Barruni (isn't saying much since I don't care for Barruni. But) but it felt so out of character. I feel like it was just ship content for the fandom and that's about it.

Doom could have SUCH an interesting character arc too. Like yeah they're a bit of a bitch in the beginning and he pretends not to care about anybody, but the longer the comic goes on we could see him open up more and become more trusting around others. We could see them learn to be comfortable with their own gender and start wearing more feminine stuff despite his misogynistic tendencies in the earlier volumes! That's what character GROWTH is, but then again character growth is irrelevant in this comic.

It feels like every character, especially Doom, is being tumblrified into a harmless little baby except for Cuddles. Characters can have bad traits without making them a bad person for fucks sake! Kittycorn once said something "I feel like it wouldn't be interesting if they all got along all the time" referring to the CC family; but that's EXACTLY how the characters act in Sparklecare. They are all kittens and rainbows until Cuddles shows up to fuck shit up and leave. There literally wouldn't have been any plot to v4 if Cuddles hadn't berated Uni, it would've just been "Barry is mean to Uni, Uni gets horny over it, Barry has to go to therapy to sort through his issues, and Uni makes a puppet instead of doing what she was originally going to do".

Now I'm no script writing genius, but I feel like the plot shouldn't revolve around one character being mean. Barry berated Uni and called her all sorts of stuff, but since it's BARRY it's okay. "B-but Cuddles was mean!!! He was super mean to Uni and that's why he's bad!!!!". We ALL know that if that was Barry he would've been perfectly fine and the fandom would still like him. More importantly, Cuddles just disappears into the phantom-zone after he insults Uni. I would've figured the hospital OWNER would be concerned if a sentient puppet is running around messing with people and causing property damage, but nope.

Doom is also shallow as hell in that volume. Despite literally being set on fucking FIRE and almost DYING because of something Uni brought to life, he forgives her the moment she apologizes for what Kneevil did. The Doom we had in v1-v2 would've been pissed no matter what Uni said! It's been stated before that their cloak is a very important thing to them and again, more importantly, he could've DIED. I feel like that's not something anyone, even the nicest character, would just brush off because "it's not Uni's fault!! She's a precious little critter who can do no wrong!!"

[shrinkthisviolet]

37 + Iris for angsty writing prompts.

This takes place during s3...and aside from the major divergence featured here, it's canon-compliant, so you can interpret Caitlin and KF as separate people or the same person. Also, this could be considered a mini follow-up to this, though it can also stand on its own:

Iris had failed.

She’d really thought she could get through to Savitar, touch at the heart of Barry inside him and pull the darkness out…she’d gotten so close—

But she’d failed, and off he’d gone, and she was going to die in a few hours’ time.

And by the hand of an evil version of her fiancé. And only to hurt Barry. It was just about the most devastating thing ever. Iris barely held it together until he left before finally breaking down sobbing.

What kind of fiancée—what kind of best friend—was she, that she couldn’t save him even when her own life was at stake?

What happened to you, Barry? What did this to you? Who did?

Iris wasn’t sure how long she spent crying before someone shook her sharply. “Come on, West. Dry your eyes. We don’t have time for that.”

“Wh…?” She startled backwards upon seeing Killer Frost approaching. “What are you doing here?”

The other woman arched an eyebrow and held up a gleaming knife. “I could just leave you bound up here to die, if you’d prefer.”

Iris pursed her lips, locked in a stalemate with her former friend, before nodded—Killer Frost knelt down to cut her bindings.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you helping me?”

Killer Frost pursed her lips but didn’t speak for a while. Finally, she said, “What you said, before. If Savitar gets his memory back, what’s in it for you?”

Iris scoffed. “Took you that long to decide you deserved better?”

Killer Frost scowled. “Someone’s being awfully testy to her rescuer.”

“Trying to get my bearings,” Iris replied tightly, “that’s all. I can’t make my situation any worse, anyway.”

Caitlin pursed her lips, speaking again when one wrist was free. “Well, it wasn’t just you. It was Cisco too. Never wanting to hurt me, even at my worst…reminding me that Savitar was only using me.”

“That was Barry.”

“Cisco too,” Killer Frost retorted sharply, “and I wasn’t gonna take any guidance from the man who couldn’t be bothered about me once your life was on the line.”

Iris frowned. “That’s not—”

“Fair? Oh yes it is.” Killer Frost sighed. “But that’s not your fault. From what Cisco says…you were the person most worried about me. Well…second-most. And you don’t deserve to die over all this. Not for Barry’s sake…or for anyone’s. I realized I deserve better…and so do you. Better than these roles Savitar has shoved us in.”

“And yet you stay with him.”

“Not anymore. Pull your left wrist.” Iris did so, finding it free to move. “You’re free now, so take my advice, Iris: run on back home to your knight in shining armor, leave me be. I have my own destination in mind.”

Iris frowned.

Killer Frost scoffed. “If I wanted to kill you myself, I’d do it right here and now.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

“You.” Iris stood up, grabbing the other woman’s hands and squeezing. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Killer Frost hesitated. For a moment, Iris could swear her eyes turned brown.

But only for a moment, and Killer Frost yanked her hands away. “Worry about yourself, West.”

Iris’s heart sank. “Caitlin—”

“Frost,” came the sharp correction. “If you ever speak of me again, if we ever meet again, call me that. Until then…Savitar won’t be gone long. You should hurry. This place isn’t too far from STAR if you head east.”

“You should hurry too,” Iris said softly. K—Frost didn’t respond, though, so Iris sighed, slowly walking towards the exit. At the last moment, though, she turned. “Frost?”

“…yes?” Came the hesitant reply, though Frost didn’t look at her

“I forgive you. Please take care of yourself.”

Iris could swear Frost’s shoulders tensed at that, but she didn’t wait to be sure—Frost was right about the time limit, and Iris didn’t have much time.

As she ran out the door, though, stealthily making her way back—it was sunset, thank God, so she headed away from the sun…and sure enough, she was back at STAR Labs before long.

Barry was the first to see her, the first to sweep her up in a hug and whisper a shaky “Thank God,” and Iris kissed him soundly and nestled into his hug with an overwhelming sense of relief.

All the while, though…she kept thinking of Frost. Of Caitlin, though evidently her friend had shed that name.

Iris knew how to read people—she’d taken classes on it, to boot, and being a journalist had given her much more practice—and she knew one thing for certain:

Frost had the same look in her eyes that Caitlin got when she was scared.

And Iris could almost weep for how helpless she was in the face of that.

prompt list!

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

Sorry, it's kind of a long ask...

hi hello!! I really enjoy your au, and the small tidbits I find here and there paint such a vivid picture in my mind. I was wondering if you could indulge me just a little. What where the moms' reactions to meeting the Omega daddies? Specifically Samantha?

Canonically, I don't think Ron ever talked about his father besides the fact that his dad died on a fishing trip and was never proud of him. I imagine he probably opened up a little to his wife, but that was it.

Followup on that tidbit, how would Ron's anchor work? Is it like traveling through Willy's mind and seeing things from his perspective, or is it an owl house "jump through these paintings of his memories and see for yourself" situation? And since we know about the doodler's influence on that course of events, do the moms see it? (Let's be honest, the dad's are not perceptive enough to see anything besides Ron struggling).

I really enjoy your au and artwork, keep up the good work :D

(sorry that only willy and barry get neat sketches here, i realized i had no real design for either of them and so took a second pass with references LMAO)

no need to apologize for a long ask! im really glad you like the au and my art, thank you so much!! sorry this reply took so long ":]

i actually think about this a LOT, because a massive staple of my specific take on this au is that the moms... arent supposed to be here! the dads were supposed to be taken instead, just like in canon, and so everyone is quite confused throughout their interactions XD like you point out - samantha doesnt know who willy is, and in fact, no one knows who anybody else is besides morgan and bill :]

their first interactions, pre-reveal, are mostly confusion on both ends. the moms have no fuckin clue whats going on. the omega daddies are scrambling to figure out what went wrong and come up with reasons why the moms suck (not hard to do). by the time the reveal comes around, the o-dads are on steadier footing, but the moms are still utterly flabbergasted. only morgan and carol ever met their fathers-in-law, and well. obviously frank is not a villain here, so only morgan recognizes anyone LMAO

as for what samantha knows of willy and how she reacted... she doesnt (didnt) know what he looks like, and she doesnt know the full of ron's experiences in childhood. she just knows, like you said, he was an abusive father who died on a fishing trip when ron was young. she definitely knows more than most, ron has opened up to her about it, but she doesnt know the details. upon meeting him, shes. well. less than impressed! samantha is notably a very forgiving and kind character, even to those they are enemies with, but willy (and the o-dads as a whole) is someone she never gives any benefit of the doubt. as soon as she learns who he is, shes over it and very on board with "well lets just kill the guy." she hates his ass!!

as for rons anchor, im still uh. not entirely sure! but it would be more an owl house jumping-into-memories thing, not traveling through willys mind instead. though that would definitely be an interesting take... not what im going for, but something to explore in the future :3c and i dont know if the moms are all that observant either LMAO so while theyd probably have a better chance of noticing the doodler, i think they would still be mostly focused on little ron :') i do really wanna do a bigger post talking about the anchors at some point, since i have them all more figured out now than i did initially. however, logically, i should just get over myself and write the fanfiction LMAO i just am not a long form writer so that seems daunting ":]

[reverseflashes]

Hello!

I’m trying to write a story or at least a short one. Where Constantine and Raven cross paths with the Rogues. I have a pretty good idea for it but even though I’ve read comics. I still don’t fully understand them I need an idea about there personality and fighting style. I’m hoping that with your help and a few other Rogue fans. I can get a better idea. Cause finding proper information is like finding a needle in a haystack for them. Constantine is literally the easiest out of all of them.😭

I really hope for good information. I want to do right by them.🥺

Anyway my chosen Rogue’s are… Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Captain Boomerang and Trickster (Axel Walker).

Basically the ones in comics right now.

P.S. I’m also mad about Owen. He had so much potential.

Every time I checked my inbox and saw this meage on top, I reminded myself to answer it some time the same day. And every time, I forgot. I don't even know where to begin to apologize, nonnie, especially it's been exactly a month since you've sent me this. I hope, if you are still around, and if you see this, you can forgive me. And if you are pissed at me, then you are completely right too I'M SO SORRY I SWEAR

To be honest, I can read every issue every Rogues member has ever appeared in (and for some members, I did lol) and still would not be good at answering questions like this. I'll tag few blogs I know post about the Rogues at the end of my response and tag this properly so that more people will see it and hopefully share their opinions as well. :)

I apologize in advance if this is very scattered, all over the place but I've never been very good at explaining stuff like this so... yeah.

I'm assuming the fight takes between John&Raven and the Rogues.

The Rogues are Flash's villains. And Flash has superspeed; and having superspeed comes with infinite amount of skills and abilities. There is really nothing a speedster can't do. So how does the Rogues, a bunch of non-powered criminals (except for Mark, if we want to go into a bit detail lol) with only their gadgets and costumes keep up with him? How can a speedster like Barry Allen can struggle against the Rogues sometimes?

The answer is that the Rogues have the advantage of planning their heists in advance. Excessive planning, may I add! Rogues don't have to keep up with Flash's whereabouts, because Flash will always go where the Rogues exactly want him. But the Flash doesn't have the advantage of always anticipating the Rogues' next move. There are so many other reasons of course but no need to go into more details. So, in your story, whether the Rogues plans the fight with John and Raven ahead or if it occurs completely spontaneous, I believe the Rogues wouldn't be caught off guard. I mean, they fight speedsters on a weekly basis, so it is hard for them to get intimitated by anyone else.

Now another thing, and I don't know if it's just me or if it is a fandom thing, but I always got the impression that Rogues hate magic. Like I always believed that to be a fact. They don't like it at all. Maybe "superpowers" is what they really don't like but I guess, to them, it's all the same.

Len in The Flash #750

Rogues don't want to get involved in anything that is above their paygrade. They hate their plans getting out of control and things getting messy and magic IS messy, that is an understatement. So you can use this in the story; they will fight John and Raven if they have to, but they won't care about winning. Of course, they CAN win the fight, but if you use the canon fact that the Rogues never faced John and Raven before in your story, then I assume winning wouldn't be their priority. They'll buy themselves time while putting the capes through their paces (damn right 😎).

You can focus on the Rogues' gadgets as well. In my personal opinion, Mirror Gun is the most powerful and dangerous out of all of them: it can open portals, it can create duplicates, it can fire bolts of light energy, IT CAN HYPNOTIZE AND MIND CONTROL PEOPLE, it can be used to transmute objects into glass, it can be used for dimensional travel, it can trap people inside those mirror dimensions etc... (SOURCES: here and here)

Here is a panel of Sam blinding Wonder Woman with his Mirror Gun. Justice League America #158

I put this panel especially because Wonder Woman is heavily affiliated with magic.

You can find more info on their gadgets on the internet, and if you'd like, I can look into it and send you some links if I can find anything.

I was gonna mention Hartley and his flute too but I realized that he isn't in the Rogues in your story so I'll skip that.

And lastly, I'd recommend you read New Year's Evil: Rogues, a one-shot where the Rogues are in the land of Zhutan searching for a powerful sun disk of Meshta (the creator god of the Saravistraism- DC’s version of Zoroastrianism) to make their souls eternally free from Neron (DC’s version of Satan). It involves heavy supernatural themes so maybe it helps.

Also, Teen Titans: Cold Case might be a good read. There is a fight between Teen Titans and the Rogues and although magic isn't in the center, Rogues fight against members Cyborg, Red Devil and Wonder Girl (Cassie). (And Vic and Tim actually admit that they couldn't take the Rogues!)

And most importantly, they fight as a TEAM and a FAMILY. Their diverse skills and abilities complete each other, thanks years of working and planning and fighting together side by side.

Soooo yeah. I'm pretty sure I forgot half the things I was gonna add and forty thousand anecdotes but that's why I'll tag some of the awesome people in the Rogues fandom underneath this so that they can add their own opinions as well. If they want, of course, no pressure! Please feel free to ignore this.

Thank you so very very very much for your message nonnie. And I'm so so so very sorry for taking so long to answer it. I hope I made it up to you a little.

@gorogues @tricksterrune @t-bombs @longitudinalwaveme @belphegor1982 @saltywithsarcasm @smartshipfriday my brain is all over the place rn i can't think of anyone else but if you see this in the search or on your dash pls feel free to reblog it and share your opinions <33

[poisonousroxstar]

Imagine:

Barry redeeming the son of Archie

Request: "Hi may I request a Barry x male reader son of Archie leader of team aqua headcannons of Barry redeeming him from being evil and helping him through not being accepted by society until they become co gym leaders . Male reader trains Dragon type Pokemon. Thank you for your time" - @zenitsuharadagoku

Plot summary: Though a loyal son to your father and his plans, you had began to notice the dark consequences for his actions, and eventually help in the downfall of his mission. When team aqua is disbanded, not everyone is willing to forgive you for your crimes. Only Barry, the boy who pulled you from the darkness, is able to see the changes you've undergone, and he is determined to help the rest of world see that too.

This Contains: Betrayal (giving).

Note: Fun fact: Barry use to be a huge childhood crush of mine, so seeing this request I just HAD to do it. Ah, childhood memories 💕 did both platonic and romantic headcanons. It's long, hence the cut. Enjoy!

Note 2: Apologizes for nearly a year of waiting! In the end I rushed a bit, so I hope you can forgive it if it seems to fall flat. Feel free to request again!

Growing up, you not only had your father caring for you, but also the rest of his main team too. They were as much family as Archie was, and you loved them all as they loved you.

So when your father wanted to awaken the legendary Pokémon Kyogre, you were easily on board.

You were his second in command, and by far one of his more diligent lieutenants. A skilled pokemon trainer with strong dragon types, and an efficient member of Team Aqua that always completed his mission.

Of course, there were people who opposed this plan, one of them being a hyperactive boy named Barry. A sinnohnite visiting the hoenn region and helping to put an end at the chaos ensuing.

Originally, Barry was completely against you, seeing you as nothing more but trouble. And in truth, you weren't exactly a big fan of him either.

The two of you clashed often, him always trying to stop and you always trying to stop him from stopping you. It wasn't easy, Barry did have strong pokemon on his side, but you were smarter and more resilient, so the battle usually leaned to your favour due to Barry's rashness and headstrong approach.

If there's one thing you could applaud him for, it was his perseverance. Even when you beat him, that didn't stop Barry from trying again, and again, and again. He'd simply get back on his feet and run at you at full speed.

You and Barry's interactions only ever happened like at, with him rushing at you to battle and both of you clashing it out. That's all there was. At first.

But as time went on, you began to show doubts in Archie's plan. I mean... He literally wanted to WRESTLE KYOGRE?! At first it sounded cool but....now that you put more thought into it rather then blind devotion, you came to realize it wasn't nearly as black and white as it seemed.

But Archie was stubborn, really stubborn. At first, you tried to subtly imply that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, but it never seemed to register in his head. He'd simply laugh at your hints, tossing an arm around you and proclaiming that "your old man's got it all under control!"

And you love your dad, so you complied nonetheless. At first.

Losing to you really hurt Barry's ego. Again and again, he was never able to trump you. But as time progressed, he realized his headstrong approaches weren't working. From his humility, he learned to be more patient, less rash, and less impulsive. Mostly.

But while Barry began to thrive, you began to crumble. You felt conflicted, guilty and unsure. You knew what you were doing was wrong... But, your dad. You didn't want to let him down. He couldn't realize just how dangerous his mission had become. And it was tearing you apart.

You're not on your A-Game anymore. You actually begin losing to Barry, and your part in Archie's plans became stagnant. Maybe it was a subconscious thing, your mind trying to thwart your mission. Maybe your dragon types saw how this was effecting you, their strong and beloved trainer, so they began to faint on purpose. Or maybe he had just improved since before. Either way, it was clear you weren't on track anymore. You're sure even Barry notices this.

Your loses and guilt eventually helped push you to betray your father's mission, though it wasn't without pain. The look he gave you when he saw you sabotaging his plans, confused and hurt, and so betrayed, when running away was heartbreaking...

Switching over to the good guys isn't an easy transition at all. Nobody trusts you, and rightfully so. Funnily enough, it's Barry that trusts you the quickest -- well, it still took a bit of time, but considering many others weren't budging, yeah he was the fastest.

At first, he didn't believe you at all when you said you wanted to help, thinking this was just another ploy by Team Aqua. But as you proved yourself to everyone, working hard and taking down other Aqua grunts with and even for them, Barry began to believe what you said.

He went from being the first one to accuse you of doing bad things, to the first one defending you when others believed you were still doing bad things. It's such a quick change, it surprises enough -- especially when they all thought he hated you the most. A genuine relationship had formed between the both of you. A deep understanding.

In the end, Kyogre and Groudon are quelled by Rayquaza thanks to May/Brendan. Archie came to regret his choices by then, having realized far too late just the magnitude of what he'd done and what else would've came. When he sees you his first instinct is to charge straight ahead and hug you with enough pressure to almost crush a rock. He's tearing up and apologizing profusely for what his actions, and hopes you'll forgive him. Archie is especially surprised with your new relationship with Barry, and does through some heat his way initially. But he warms up to him, if only for you.

Since this incident, not many people see you favorably, even if you did help. Those you worked closely with have come to forgive you, the general public haven't. So Barry's taken it upon himself to change this nasty image you had. You've changed, he knows you have, and he's gonna make everyone see it. It takes years of hard work and equal dedication to change this perspective to everyone, but it eventually does work. Mostly. There are still some out there who haven't forgiven you and there's no changing that, but you're no longer getting as many nasty stares or hearing as much gossip about you anymore. And you have Barry to thank for that, which he will gladly take praise for *ahem*

In this time, you and Barry have only grown closer together. It's funny how you two started out as enemies and ended up with something so much more. You are both two peas in a pod, knowing each other like the back of your hand.

You and Barry eventually became dual gym leaders together. It had been in the works for awhile now, but you didn't want to open it until the general public had grown to trust you. This was especially hard as Barry was always pestering you to open the gym already, a bit of his impatient past shining through. When it does become official however, it's a time for celebration! All your friends, families, and pokemon gather together to celebrate this new endeavor for you two. A new beginning.

Archie is especially proud, swinging an arm around your shoulder and loudly shouting "THAT'S MY BOY". You can definitely see some proud tears at the corners of his eyes.

Platonic:

Though the start was rocky, you and Barry have forged an unbreakable bond together. Akin to brothers. He has your back and you have his, and neither of you plan to ever change that. As a result of this friendship, I could see Archie becoming more fatherly Barry and vice verse for Barry's dad, Palmer.

While you're both the best of friends, you're also each other's biggest rivals. It isn't uncommon to see one competing against the other, usually Barry. It's never anything truly serious, though Barry may make it so, but none of it will ever shatter the bond you both have.

You both are like brothers at the end of the day, a bond built from

Romantic:

At some point, the feelings you and Barry have for each other deepen into something more. You're not sure when or why, but they do, and it feels good... it feels right.

Barry is real flustered and even a bit shy at times, and may come off as a bit of a tsundere here and there. Demands to hold your hand or else you'll owe him a million dollars!! He's kidding, he's kidding-

You're often the one who does the teasing in the relationship, with Barry usually helpless to your teases. It's cute, watching him get all red face.

If you two ever have a wedding, Archie is going to be so proud... and loud... and sobbing. He'll grab the nearest man, woman, or person in between and yell with the most prideful voice ever "THAT'S MY SON THERE!!". Everyone else who served under will definitely join his cheers.

Overall, romantic life with Barry will remain relatively the same. Yet, there's something new there now. Something to explore your bond deeper. A happy ending, for a new beginning.

[y2ksnowglobe]

Deep appreciation for episode 30 (Van on the Run)

This is a long post where I just ramble on all the moments that make me love this episode.

The dethroning of fleshlight tag as the worst thing that anyone ever said.

The "Hey Andrew" story

Big old butt crack down the middle of the orb

Terry Jr. asking why Ron isn't wearing pants

"I'd better write that down as a note. Terry Jr., easy to lie to."

Lark literally taking a note about how unpaid interns die sometimes. (This turns into my firm belief that Mae Hailes is a paid intern)

Ron insisting Paeden is his half-brother. "My dad is my dad too!"

just gonna weep and tear my hair out real quick over that one.

Ron's insights on the patriarchy

"My stepson is here, and I am looking at him in the eye right now and it's not weird at all. It's not weird. We're just making eye contact right here." "It's a little weird. You have not blinked in several minutes." "Now it hurts to blink, so I'm not going to ever…" "That's not how it works. You have to blink." "No. It's like my eyes are getting…" "Dad, blink." Like what a way to start normalizing Terry Jr. calling Ron "Dad"

Sparrow's stealth hug

Just...starting to really see the dead inside Grant is both heartbreaking and really funny.

Nick's shaky fist bump makes me wanna cry.

I am always there for a good low perception roll joke.

Reveal that Ron just carries to lure that killed Willy around with him.

"Yeah! Your dad is George Washington!"

THEORY TIME: Like this episode is where we get most of our information about the kids' time in Ravenloft, and like...I don't buy it. Looking at how the kids phrase things, I've been solidly convinced that the O-Dads have Geas'ed the hell out of these kids so they can't give any specific details about what was done to them, but I feel like there's a loophole where they can talk about things that weren't done. So, for example: Nick specifies that Bill ignored him. I'll keep coming back to this as we keep going.

Weird detail: Darryl is with Glenn on the murder Henry's dad train at the start.

God I love to hate Barry Oak so much, he makes me skin crawl and he is in top form in this episode.

"I AM DRIVING WITH MY FRIENDS, FATHER! I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER!" It's such a teenager-y thing to say and I feel like it really gives a snapshot into what their relationship was like back in the day.

I really wanna get a snapshot into Nick's mind as he hears his dad completely lose his cool about Barry. Like, my boy did such a good job trying to act unbothered and brave, and then Glenn just is deeply and visibly upset about Barry almost killing him (which is valid, I just feel like it's a new experience for Nick)

Lark and Sparrow jumping in to drive when Henry lets go of the wheel. Like, not sure what happened with Sparrow, but Lark has been an epic driver from the get-go.

ANOTHER THEORY: Sparrow is really interesting in this episode. He willingly covers his ears when asked by Henry, and he's the one who hits the brakes when Henry tells them to stop the car. He's also just weirdly chill and forgiving, and like...I do not buy this as love wolf shit, he is clearly under some kind of magical influence to make him more compliant. You do not get the Sparrow that looks scared in the drone footage in episode 28 to this remarkably chill and forgiving kid without magical interference.

Freddie putting his foot down that Glenn would not mess with firearms while drunk

Barry's "Oh kakaw kakaw" when he's shot is probably in my top ten vocal stims from this show.

Lark enthusiastically supporting Glenn shooting Barry makes me so happy

Henry going from trying to be firm and calm as Glenn loses his shit, and immediately shifting to "ooooh, I hate you so much" as soon as Barry starts talking to him is so funny. Just all the ideals fly out the window.

Find it super interesting how Henry cites "respecting his choices" as a thing here considering what happens later on with the bracelets.

I both do and don't want to know if Anthony already had the idea for the Lark and Sparrow homunculi when Barry offers letting Henry take his kids and run and giving up all the other kids. Like regardless of whether or not it was planned, I do love the idea that Barry is giving this offer because he knows he's got the real ones tucked back in Oakvale.

I love the word abscond, okay?

Love Barry framing his failure as a father as disappointment in Henry's choices. I want to kick him in the face.

Mr. Mustache calling Ron "Honey"

"No. You just exasperatedly asked why a bunch of times. A.k.a. the Henry Oak special."

Geas theory follow up: Lark telling them they forgot to feed them fits into the loophole of being something the granddads didn't do, so they're allowed to mention it. Also this part of starting to hint at what exactly went down is so just *chefs kiss.*

Freddie's "WHY?" When Matt asks if Darryl can perceive that Ron peed his pants.

Freddie being told the charm needs to be in an enclosed space and immediately going "What if we had an umbrella?"

Freddie picking the first audio result for Fantasy Tavern for the sound.

"Bring us your hottest moms!"

This next bit always slays me and I don't even know why:

The jokes about the level one adventurer group is beautiful. I hope things turned out okay for that fighter and four rogues.

Henry making up Mr. X only for Mr. X to be real.

Ron thoroughly describing the fake voice he's going to do, only to reveal it's just his normal voice.

Ron's whole exchange with the other rogues.

Henry describing Glenn's fantasy voice as Italian

Anthony trying to keep up with what the crew are trying to do as they're attempting to get a room.

Also, everything is in shillings now for no adequately explained reason?

The random bar patrons who are gonna be so disappointed when they make it to the other side of town to find out that Hi I'm Ron is not playing.

The start of the NPCs realizing they could have asked for more money gag.

Glenn almost going to see what's up with Mr. X but then getting bored.

Anthony doing a C3P0 impression

Geas Theory update: Grant phrases it as "they weren't nice" and the most detail we get from Grant is that "Willy's really mean" only for him to then say, "It was fine, I guess." Terry tops out at saying that Willy "shouted at them a fair number of times" and that's as intense as any of their descriptions get. Like this is sus as heck. Especially since at minimum, we know that Lark and Sparrow got homunclui'd and that somehow, Barry got the twins to sit quietly. The boys are underselling this and the only one that would be in character for would be like...Nick (who we already saw was super shaky). Darryl even prompts Grant saying it's okay if it was rough and they were scared and we still get no further information.

Ron's scary story is so good for so many reasons. Like the way he tries to make it spookier by making Willy a man with a fishingpole for an arm, by calling fish "food that breathes underwater" like that mixed with the realization that he's telling the story of how Willy died is just...an excellent combo of scary and not scary and it's just a baffling bunch of weird that is pure Ron.

Terry being baffled by Ron asking if they want to sing Rock-a-bye Baby, only for it to turn out Ron doesn't know the words.

"You find more knives than not knife in his pants."

The fact that Lark was smuggling knives for a breakout attempt is just so lovely, go off my murderous little weirdo.

Also seeing Henry taking weapons from his kids knowing where this ends up is just (collapses into a ball of sad)

Henry deflecting from the werewolf questions by just switching to the topic of puberty, only for Sparrow to be too receptive to wanting to learn.

Darryl overhearing Paeden saying that Grant's dad is cool only for Grant to not say anything in response.

"Did Ron kill his dad?"

Seeing Darryl be actually upset about the fact that he's the only one who'd want to see his dad, but his dad's not there. And seeing Darryl actually grapple with the idea that he doesn't understand Glenn, Henry, and Ron's relationships with their dads, and like the weird feeling of not being able to relate being isolating, but still realizing it's an isolation you should be thankful for.

Ghost football ft. George Washington and one of his slaves

"Dude, that was the entire snarling id of the American masculine psyche in one image…It was like football, George Washington, your dad, and the Sword of Damocles that is slavery."

Glenn in the dream space

Bill Close calling Glenn tiger is just like such a small detail but it's like one of those moments that we really can actually see him being a dad, I think?

The gut punch of "Do you love me?" and "You wake up." like God DAMN!!!!!

Like this episode is such a buffet of character dynamics, and jokes, and lore, and room for theories, and I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO REALIZE IT'S MY FAVORITE????????