#to be clear. i love them very much. but wtf are like half of these

[luvvsbian]

not a day goes by that i do not think about the sims 3’s disgusting moodlet icons

[cskv11]

What lore predictions do you have for the b.o.b?

I really hope we find out wtf is going on between him and the Axolotl tbh

I really hope this ages well 😭

When it comes to his personal lore (as in origin story) I believe non of it will be true; he'll dramatize every detail he's physically able to, and he won't even try masking it. We'll be able to see his lies, but the truth will come out to be real clear when we'll read between lines (as in "liberated my dimension" means " Arson is my middle name and everyone that once knew me can confirm that I love burning people). The codes and ciphers Bill will leave hanging around the pages will contain heavier lore drops, but really decontextualized, and will be mostly gossip.

He will definitely give us some juicy lore about all these "higher" beings (?) that the Gravity Falls cast has encountered throughout the series, like Time Baby and Jheselbraum. Maybe he'll introduce us to someone new characters! But the thing about unreliable narrators is that you never know where the lies end and where the truth starts, so it'll mostly be a competition on who he trash-talks about more hahaha.

Of course, OBVIOUSLY, the Axolotl will be there. Not only because of his apparent connection with Bill, but the way Alex has portrayed them both in the promos he's posted on Instagram, makes me believe there's absolutely some deep things going on between those two. Personally, I feel like he sees the Axolotl as some kind of hypocrite and coward. He's envious the Axolotl is respected while Bill is plainly feared and "betrayed" constantly. There will be a bunch of pages dedicated to this guy - half of them just insulting him, the other half explaining how they met (while insulting him, of course). He'll make sure to let us know he's infinitely better than the Axolotl, in all aspects possible.

The Henchmaniacs! They will be there! Tho, I don't know if this book is supposed to be set before or after the events of Gravity Falls. Depending on what part of the timeline the book covers, there'll be more or fewer detriments directed at them. He'll explain the nobodies they were before joining him and how they came to him, dragging on the ground, searching for divine enlightment and loyal servitude. And he, as benevolent as he is, gave them the blessing of being his henchmen. If the book is located after the events of Gravity Falls, this will be flooded with irony (or maybe he's totally oblivious and doesn't actually care they made him a statue saying he's the worst).

Weird anatomical and physiological facts about himself! He knows what we crave, and he'll give it to us. We'll regret ever thinking of wanting to know how his eye-mouth-tongue operates! This will be extensively graphical, and there will be illustrations and schematics of it! I hope!

He'll explain to us what the hell he meant when he said he eats his own exoskeleton! (WE'LL KNOW WHAT'S THERE BEHIND HIS EYE???? IS HE SOME KIND OF MR KRABS BLOB OF FAT AND MEAT UNDERNEATH HIS very jazzy triangle OUTFIT?)

He'll take credit for an innumerable quantity of cults and important historical events he claims to have influenced, participated in, or fully provoked! Ford gave us the info he had about Bill's global influence, and Bill's going to expand on it and give us his side of the story! (Maybe he'll explain more stories like the one document Ford had that talked about "Billius Cipherus"?)

He'll tell us how he got his powers cause he ain't convincing anybody saying he just popped into the Universe like that. Sweet lore. He'll give us clues he had a sibling (<- I hope). He'll justify killing his family and explain the atrocities they commited against him. Maybe there really is some deep trauma buried in there? We gonna see tear marks when (if) he talks bout his family? Man, I WISH

Enchants, curses, summonings and all that stuff. They will be there.

And I'm gonna end this here cause I already have written too much and probably won't be able to correct any grammar mistakes I've made cause I'm ecstatic:

FORD...

You know he'll be there, you know half of the book will be about this poor babygirl, and he's gonna act tough, pretending he doesn't care bout nuthin but YOU KNOW THERE WILL BE DEEP IMPLICATIONS THAT THESE TWO WERE MORE THAN "STUDENT" AND "MENTOR". HE WILL TRY TO HIDE IT BUT WE KNOWWW WHAT THESE TWO LOOSERS WERE, WE KNOWWW THEIR DIRTY LITTLE SECRETT and I'm gonna be drooling about it –I won't sleep I won't eat, I won't drink, my brain will be picturing these two lil mfs wishing each other a good night ASHDHHSHS

Anyway, this is it for now, I apologize for any grammar mistakes that could cause potential brain damage! Thanks for the ask!

[dark-and-kawaii]

ok here's a preview of what I am working on!!!!! Might be subject to change but I really wanted to show you a sneek peek hehe (also I just realized i wasn't following you wtf)

(Click Below For My Response, Jelly ♡ ♡)

*gasps dramatically* how dare you not follow me!!!! Shame!!!

Okay first of all I need to express how your insights and love for these character are as delightful as a dragon’s hoard of glittering treasures~ ♡ and whenever I read this/ read anything from you, Jelly, my little heart flutters like a little pixie on a sugar high ♡ ♡ ♡!!!

You have no idea how grateful I am for your creativity. You’re officinally the reason why we stopped our little break in our campaign and started building more to our campaign ♡ We had taken a break for a hot minute and once I started sharing this all with my DM we really got back into it and started talking about our character and adding to them.

The way you’ve been capturing everyone is so enchanting, and honestly it makes someone feel like they’re actually there reading an old tome about the Thay family ♡ ♡ ♡

The fact you even added the dead three and Baldurs Gate tells me how much thought and love you’ve been putting into this ♡ like it really makes my jaw drop in the best way possible. Also you’re sooooo right about Lofn and Zevlor forming a powerful political party. With his age/knowledge/experience and with her knowledge/ experience, they really to make a powerful couple. Not only that but they both have kind hearts ♡

I also like how you left it as a mystery about Bane ♡. I’d say he definitely threatened or made it clear to lord gortash the princess was off limits due to the dark lords relationship with her. Or my DM said that it could’ve been possible that Bane wanted the two to meet and form a partnership/ wanted to see who would come out on top. Maybe he was bored and wanted to have some fun, maybe he was doing this to gain a greater army for the wars to come in Thay. He does love war after all.

I should probably note because looking back at some lore I dropped… I didn’t make it very clear, but remember when I said Lynnania’s mother the former Queen had an affair with The King Of Cormyr? And then later lynnania fell in love with the king of cormyr’s son??? I should add that this is not the secret baby her mother had xD this was a separate son completely! Lykos has no blood relation to her whatsoever. Lorean was the half brother /secret baby. Later he was killed by Lynnania thanks to Bane (pre ally shipped) controlling him and her having no idea who he was to her. Later she discovered the truth and found a way to bring him back and free his soul from Bane’s clutches.

I honestly hope that quill of yours never runs dry, Jelly (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝)

I can’t wait to read more xoxo and I’m keeping these all in my folder to look back at whenever I need a good smile/read xoxo

- 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒦𝒾𝓌𝒾 𝓍𝑜𝓍𝑜

[lemotmo]

Ooof that finale was…..not it. Like my first issue was they for some reason let Kristen write it. I honestly thought we were free of her with the move to abc but alas apparently not. And she very much made her presence known with how off the finale felt in terms of pacing and just how ooc some of them felt at times. Not to mention the continuing saga of her former reign in making Buck an over sexualized character by turning his dad trauma into a way for Tommy to make jr into a daddy kink joke which was just…. No thanks. Otherwise it just was such a….lackluster finale? And I found myself bored at moments.

And then the season over all I’m left wondering what was the point of half of it ? Like Bathena didn’t get to enjoy their honeymoon. They have no house now. The Amir plot which while I loved the character, ultimately led to nothing? The cartel storyline didn’t need to happen and bringing them back was boring. Bobby being dead for 14 minutes and coming into the station at the end perfectly fine was such a wtf moment even for tv standards.

Henren didn’t get to adopt their baby. They got a foster daughter instead only to then….lose her ? And have her be given to Madney instead for them to visit like truly this was just drama for drama sake and ultimately pointless pain for them.

Madneys wedding got rushed and ultimately turned into a 2 minute hospital room scene. We didn’t even get to see ant build up to the wedding.

Buck: He came out as bi which yesssss 🎉🎉🎉 only to then immediately be forced back into his hamster wheel, stuck in yet another relationship with someone who doesn’t seem to even like him, and is rude to him. And then turned into essentially a background character the rest of the season. I truly feel bad for Oliver because he was so so so excited for bi buck, and so happy and hopeful they would do it right and with respect and not over sexualize it and this is what he gets. A boring rude generic LI making daddy kink jokes and no real development into this part of himself. It’s truly no surprise he did nothing to promote that relationship or this finale.

Eddie and Chris. We hardly saw Chris. And then the way they rushed him leaving at the very end was so… not it. Not to mention so out of sorts for him? Like we have seen when he’s mad at Eddie he always goes to Buck. But this time he calls his grandparents at 2 am and asks them to come rake him to Texas indefinitely? Then the Buck Chris talk. I love their scenes together but even it felt off? And then they systematically undid any progress with Eddie’s parents with Helena often coming off filled with glee over it, and Ramon taking his own guilt in Eddie to make him accept it. Then we have Eddie himself. What was the point of Marisol? There doesn’t seem to be one. And why we had to suffer Edy all season remains a mystery since Tim said she came back because he didn’t want two off screen breakups. Only to then do two off screen breakups. What was the point of Kim? I had hopes they would actually use her to move Eddie along and then they just…didn’t? Even Ryan said he thinks all she did was make it worse.

I will give the show credit because they did stick to the try for buddie scene in every episode. And they had some good scenes. Ryan and Oliver knocked their scenes out in the finale especially but once again we are at the finale and it’s left in a…. Now what ? No real movement forward. Once again all of us going oh next season for sure! And no real clear path toward it. and based on Ryan’s interviews tonight, where it once again sounds like they have no idea what to do with Eddie next season due to the vast amount of directions they seem to want to take him, including apparently Ryan saying in one of them that Tim seems to want to lean more into the Bobby Eddie similarities next season and have Eddie focus a lot more on religion, but Ryan does say he doesn’t think Eddie will become a priest. But still it’s just like… what are we doing. It’s given more we don’t wanna say yes to Buddie and follow the clear narrative direction butttttttt we want the views sooooo let’s make it open ended enough to draw them in. Again.

They said at the start they were going to give, or try to give the fans what they wanted this season and truly, I’m utterly baffled how anyone thought any of this is what we wanted. Like we wanted Henren to get their baby. Madney to have the best wedding. Bathena to thrive and get their honeymoon and have some adventures. Buddie to become buddie and enjoy the Buckley Diaz family in an official capacity. And instead we got circles upon circles with lazy choices taken where they could and next to no real character growth or movement. I’m so sorry for how long this got 😅😅😅

Oh Nonny, how I agree with everything you said here. You get me.

I just posted my episode review and most of the things I talked about are the same things you highlighted.

It was written by Kristen? Ah, that explains a lot actually.

I didn't mind the Diaz parents though. I really do think they were trying to help out in their own way. But all the rest of this post? YEEEES!!!!

I can still see the Buddie of it. I'm still hanging in there. There were too many strange choices made in season 7 to make me believe that Buddie isn't going to happen in season 8. Not to mention the amazing chemistry between Buddie compared to whatever it is they are trying to show us with BT. However, they are on thin ice here. I agree. Things need to start moving along. If not... after season 8 I will retreat to my little nook of Tumblr living off good Buddie fan fiction.

I didn't read any of the Ryan interviews yet. Him leaning into religion and the parallel with Bobby I did see coming. The prayer book was too obvious. I wonder why they had 6 interviews lined up with Ryan over this episode? I get that his storyline is important, but it doesn't warrant 6 interviews, not even the religious aspect of it. I'm going to read some of them today to try and get a clearer image.

I just feel like all of my beloved 911 characters don't have any clear direction at this point. I was surely hoping for some more insight, but all we got was superficial storytelling and no real breakthroughs for anyone.

I don't understand what all those journalists that screened this episode were talking about when they said they saw clear directions for season 8. For me it is the opposite at this point. Where are they taking all of this???

[the-great-knight-gay]

Percy is honestly the most forgiving person ever. Like I would not have forgiven most of the stuff done to him by people who are supposed to be his close friends.

First off, Chiron and Grover.

Now I know that Percy admires Chiron and Grover is his best friend, but them at the start of Book 1 really screwed Percy over.

They intentionally lied to him for a year, albeit trying to keep him safe, which ended up making him feel insane and irritable. This was the reason he got expelled from Yancy. This did spawn some mistrust from Percy to Grover as he ditched him at the bus stop but he really quickly forgave him.

Then learning that Grover was only there as a job should have affected him more. Like, imagine finding out the only reason your best friend was there was because he had too. Grover was his only friend too.

Next up, every camper in Camp Half-Blood. The moment they found out who he really was, the ostracized him. They only started to accept him after he completed his quest and became a minor celebrity to them. This isn't the only time they neglected him either but I'll get to that later.

The only people who didn't were Clarisse and Annabeth. Annabeth treated him pretty much the same, albeit with a little animosity which she quickly overcame and Clarisse who already hated him. I'm not counting Luke because he was just putting on an act.

Next up, Poseidon. Dude... wrongdoing? He's lived for thousands of years and has had more kids than Zeus (true fact zeus just has a better pr machine). You'd think he'd be better at talking to his kids, god or not. Like seriously? Who calls their kid an 'unforgiveable mistake'. Like wtf dude?

And keep in mind, this is all book 1.

Next, book 2. Their treatment is even worse.

Like seriously, when Clarisse and Percy had the least toxic friendship in the book, you know the rest have fucked up. Annabeth just constantly bullies his brother for being optically challenged (and a cyclops too but whatever) and every other camper just either avoids and make fun of him due to his brother.

Beckendorf and Silena were the only people who didn't but they were mentioned a total of once.

At least Chiron was somewhat okay.

Next up, Titan's curse.

In a few short months, Percy felt replaced by Thalia. Annabeth basically went all in with her, Chiron started giving her private lessons and there was no evidence of her being ostracized due to her parentage, despite also being a child of the Big Three.

It is very clear that Thalia was obviously preferred at camp

Like guys, she started the fight, why was Percy the one to go put the mummy away. seriously he hit her with a bit of water and threatened her with more (though he totally would have won) and she literally struck him with a bolt of lightning. Guys

Next up, BoTL.

Now this one is mostly annabeth

While I love the character, her treatment of rachel and consequently being rude to percy is just a little too much.

we were all jealous at some point tho so we can forgive that.

TLO is probably the best out of all of them because now he's kinda a legend. They cant be mean to a celebrity now can they?

I might have to reread TLO tho real quick to figure out if I missed anything.

[johnslittlespoon]

okay listen feral bikerider gale/past catching up to him/etc etc etc anon here and can I just say. thank you. I’m not overly interested in the actual violence or gang-shit or whatever. when I first read about the bikerider au all I could think about was sons of anarchy (idk if you’ve watched it, but I watched three seasons with my dad and it’s all just. gang conflict after gang conflict after gang conflict with some romance sprinkled on top and that’s not. really my thing) and I was not into it. at all. then your yapping (affectionate) converted me. hearing that it won’t be all weapon smuggling and, idk, drugs or smth is actually so reassuring lol

and!!! obviously it’s your fic/au, I’m definitely not here to try to influence you in any way whatsoever!!! I’m super excited to read it no matter what because your writing is just. lovely. I check in pretty much every morning like I’m reading the papers lmao

doing something semi-stupid in your past feels like kind of on brand for everyone, even though it might not be illegal for most. and maybe it wasn’t illegal for Gale, either, bro I am not a very good writer, I’ll leave the plotting to someone else.

but I’ll always love the idea of Gale being a little feral. or a lot feral. like John getting hurt in a bikerider au tickles my brain the same way John punching a German guard in canon centric fics does. Nevermind the guard, I just need the fallout. the angsty fallout.

John and Gale coming back home, and Gale sitting him down in the bathroom to very, very carefully patch him up (and, listen, the other guys probably just roughed him up a little. he probably got away with minor bruises and some scrapes), and Gale being insanely worried that he has scared John. John on the other hand is worried for Gale, because what if it happens again? What if the police finds out? John being worried that he somehow messed up.

and, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t mind reading feral gale beating the shit out of people. It’s just not something I want to read a full fic of.

finally, because I just need to add this, too: Gale’s knuckles being split and bleeding and John so very carefully cleaning them up, pressing gentle kisses to the cuts when he has to scrape the dried blood up to get it properly clean. Gale not being sure what he did to deserve John, being so sweet and gentle and caring.

okay, over and out 🫡 sorry for not being that clear in the other ask, I blame. idk, sleep deprivation. and sorry for making this so long, idk what I’m on about half the time and my meds are doing shit to my brain. I love your blog and your writing just. makes my fucking days. I’d wait forever for the next chapter of dog coded Bucky ❤️

YIPPIEE more leaving!bikeriders au >:) hii i meant to get back to this SO long ago, feels like good timing now with the bikeriders theatre day approaching! i'm assuming you're the anon from this post <3

i have THOUGHTS. aka this got lengthy oops, shocker. a bit of plotting and then like 2k words of drabble below the cut lmfaoo

the proper drabble will be further down, but first of all, very big agree!! and relieved i'm not the only one who feels this way omg. i haven't watched SOA for this reason specifically– i just don't have much interest in the conflict/violence–heavy plot stuff (which is ironic considering i'm excited for the bikeriders movie, but i think it's pretty clear that's because of the lovely cast lol since i don't care for bikes/cars in the slightest oops). HONOURED that my yapping converted you tho LOL i swear if something is character focussed, it can make 99% of topics at least somewhat appealing!

and please don't worry omg i don't feel influenced/pressured etc, i loveee bouncing ideas and brainrot back and forth for my aus, it's sm fun and i love trying to incorporate things other people like/suggest when i can!! <3 but omg i will weep thank you so much wtf?? :'))

for sure; even the most stoic/'put together' characters surely have done some not very bright things in their lives. i'm toying with a couple backstories for gale to establish what might catch up to him or cause conflict, but i'm gonna wait to decide until i see the movie because i have a feeling i'll get some good inspo from benny's story!

honestly it's the part i'll have to put the most effort into really thinking out in terms of plot to make it flow naturally, because all the relationship focussed things kinda write themselves as i brainrot. but i'm 99% sure i'm gonna write the fic from john's pov because it'll keep a lot of gale a mystery to the readers as well, and therefore save me from having to flesh out certain things until necessary lmfaoo

and yeah!! it's not always the events themselves that hit the hardest– it's the fact that the character could be feral enough for them to happen in the first place, and it's the outcome/fallout that's most fun to write/read (to me).

feral gale is so fun to explore in general because of how different it is to most of what we're shown of him in mota, so it's like a challenge to keep him feeling in character while also picking out the little parts of him that could be pushed to be that way. and of course the classic whump of the one person gale cares about and tries so hard to protect getting hurt because of him? endless angst possibilities.

i dig what you said, about john 'just' being roughed up a little, because i think with whatever backstory i end up forming, it's not like the 'bad guys' are gonna be some mastermind criminals extorting gale for something life or death lol. it's probably gonna be a bunch of rough and tumble biker men with some long lasting beef between their clubs, hitting gale where they know it'll hurt the worst: a loved one.

i bet you anything (depending on how plotting goes LOL) that they don't actually even intend to mess john up to the extent they do; i bet john runs his mouth and makes some sorta escape attempt because as terrified as he is, all he can think about is how gale's gonna obviously track him down and he's more worried about what the guys are planning to do to gale when he shows up. in his naive mind, if he can get out and get to a phone or something, he can stop everything.

ofc the escape attempt is futile because it's one gangly college kid vs a couple of grown ass men, and john gets banged up in the process, seeing as being tackled to the ground with your wrists bound behind your back doesn't leave you with anything to protect your face from concrete with, and maybe then he gets a solid fist to the face to scare him out of pulling anymore shit (it sure works).

and just the act of taking john/putting him danger alone would have gale ready to wring these men out by their necks, but when he shows up and sees his baby bleeding? and he can't tell how bad he's hurt, from where he's lurking around the corner scoping out the situation? he'd see red and be pretty dang close to saying fuck it and going in there without a plan, but the fear of john getting hurt in the process would stop him, and he doesn't feel like going down for murder.

somehow he picks off the guys one by one with a generous amount of flying fists and y'know, maybe a bit of knife–work if necessary, idk, future plotting lol, and tells them they're good as dead if they pull anything like this again. that the club will be keeping an eye out for them, that they're a buncha cowards, and they can come talk to him face to face like men, next time. you get it.

and then finally, obligatory wound care ofc <3 easily top three tropes ever ugh. gale gets john the fuck out of there and to the safety of his truck, methodical and vigilant, and only then does his guarded expression drop, and his hands are shaking just as hard as john's are when he cups john's face in his hands to look him over. john gives him a shell–shocked "'m fine, gale" and hates how guilty gale looks, because there's not even the tiniest part of john that blames gale for any of it; john knew what he was getting into (to an extent) with gale.

but regardless, gale's shaken up, terrified by how much worse things could've gone and how much danger john could've been in, but also terrified of how deeply he feels for john; probably some backstory there about gale seeing someone he loved get hurt, or almost get hurt, swearing he'd never bring someone into his life again because of it, etc, and then in waltzes stubborn, loud–mouthed john egan.

but selfishly (or what he feels is selfish), gale's also terrified that this might be the final nail in the coffin for john. he knows he's not the easiest to be with (even though john thinks the exact same thing about himself lol silly boys) and he knows john's more patient than he deserves, and could find someone his own age with a normal life in a heartbeat with his sweet disposition and charming pretty boy looks. and he knows john's well within his rights to walk away from their relationship now, to be scared of the future, to decide it's too much, and part of gale would be relieved to not have to worry, even if he'd miss john like he's lost half of himself.

it's real quiet when they're back home and john's sitting on the bathroom counter, gale between his legs, patching up his face so so gently, as if each brush of a cotton swab is an apology. both of them have lots to say but neither know how to say it; john hates knowing gale's probably shouldering all the blame and he doesn't know how to reassure him in a way that'll get through to him, but he can't handle the silence. probably makes a weak joke about how "y'shoulda seen the other guy" and doesn't even get a smile out of gale.

ends up wrapping his legs around gale's hips to pull him closer but just gets a huffed out, frustrated "john" as gale swats his ankles away, and it's not that john's trying to make light of what happened, he just doesn't know how to talk about something like that, regardless of how good he and gale have gotten at communicating.

john probably gets a bit frustrated, because gale’s already so protective over him as is, which he likes, but now gale’s treating him like glass, like he’s scared to hurt him further just by touching him, and john does not like that. it feels like progress undone, like he's back at the beginning of their relationship when gale wouldn't let him in or open up to him or trust that he was capable of making his own decisions.

so when gale's done bandaging him up with practiced, meticulous hands, john doesn't give gale time to react, just slides off the counter and snatches the little first aid kit from his hands and says "okay, your turn." and it's obvious gale wants to protest, but john catches him so off guard that he stunned into silence, lets john guide him until he's leaning against the counter.

john's hands still tremble when he takes gale's hands in his, and he tries to steady them because he doesn't want gale to see how freaked out he is, but he diligently cleans away the blood around his knuckles, feeling gale's eyes on him the whole time but not looking away from his task, scared he'll shatter the moment if he does.

if he were to look up though, he'd see gale's watching him in complete awe, struck by the fiercest wave of adoration, drawing a blank while he tries to search for what he could've possibly done in this life or another to have someone like john come (crashing, stumbling, tornado–ing) into his life.

and if we wanna make it extra yowch–y and sappy and feelings heavy: as john's brushing his lips over the cuts, dusting featherlight kisses across his knuckles, john's throat goes tight and he feels his own overwhelming rush of emotions and his heart thumps and he blurts out: "i love you."

it's the first time one of them says it. and it’s a disguised i love you even so. i love you despite. i love you anyway. i love you because. months worth of reassurances wrapped into three words, and even with what john's just gone through, he's still scared when it slips out, looks up at gale with wide, searching eyes, trying to gauge whether he's overstepped or said the wrong thing.

gale's just trying to catch his breath, feeling like the wind's been knocked out of him by the admission. half of him wants to shake his head, gently push john's hands away, tell him "no you don't, hun." a tiny part of him wants to be cruel about it, to laugh the honesty off and ensure john will walk out that door far, far away from the mess that gale is, and not turn back, safe from harm.

but the other half of him, the half that holds his heart, evidently, has him cupping john's open, sincere face in his hands, looking down into bright, fearful, hopeful blue eyes, and murmuring "i love you more."

and john blushes as hard as he did the first time they'd kissed, as hard as he did the first time he was laid out in gale's bed, as if he and gale haven't said a million things much more fluster–inducing since they met. gets all shy, pouts, looks down and mumbles "that's not fair," and that finally gets the first smile out of gale all day, maybe even a breath of a laugh.

they love each other your honour </333

this got way out of hand but what else is newwww i'm so weak for these two. so so weak. i keep saying it but MAN i'm so excited to write this fic this summer omg :')

and DON'T BE SORRY!! it's so chill omg, you were perfectly clear (but i'm glad you elaborated and gave me an excuse to yap about them some more hehehe) and never apologize for long messages, i loveee reading the brainrot and hearing ur thoughts and getting to brainrot back. and thank you AGAIN sobs 😭💗 that makes MY days and ur way too kind fml. i hope the wait hasn't been too long LOL on the chapters AND a response to this ask!! tysm again mwah

[raygirlramblings]

What do you think about the Captain Laserhawk series? If you watched it yet, at least.

’If I watched it’ XD

Oh rest assured I watched it. ❤️

Overall I really liked it. The animation was SWEET HONEY GOODNESS. Bobbypills pulled out the stops and it SHOWED. I loved all the style changes, I love the pixel art, I even enjoyed the VR stuff because it was unique and weird.

The voice acting was also TRES BON. Special round of applause for Rayman’s English VA because by god he had a job and a half and he NAILED IT. Also loved Marcus’s voice, and Bullfrog of course 💚 just a lot of very high quality work went into this and the voice acting was pretty much spot on from the first episode.

I will say the series felt rushed. I know it’s only 6 episodes but with the time they had there could have been some edits and cuts to keep things snappy while also freeing up time to spend with the main 4 (and the Warden) to cement their relationship.

Believe me I was happy to see so much Rayman but his story wasn’t the main focus and should never have been. We needed more time with Jade and Pey’j. If the Warden has this deep emotional story behind her that we’re supposed to buy into we need more time with her. Sarah and Dolph having a backstory chat in VR was too little too late.

But I will forgive a lot for some stuff they did so right:

Alex is such a dick and he was so much fun to watch. His and Dolph’s relationship was fascinating, and it was so cute watching them in the first episode being a couple and it felt so NATURAL.

RED IS A MASSIVE DOUCHE FUCK HIM XD But god was it fun to have such an open bigot be an antagonist.

All the weird propaganda Eden was using Rayman for. The Rayman Kids stuff was especially grim. I want a ‘I’m a Rayman Kid’ badge SO BAD YOU GUYS.

Bullfrog was such a charming boy. I loved every moment he was on screen. It clear he was the fave character of the team. I loved his relationship with Pey’j, and I hope (if s2 is a thing) that he gets to partner up with Rayman because THAT WOULD BE GLORIOUS

RAYMAN USES HIS LIMBLESSNESS AS A TACTIC. I lost my marbles when he raises his hands and one of them is missing. YES. BOBBYPILLS NAILED IT.

All the little pixel animations were just so joyous and delightful. Perfect.

All the alternative styles for the cut-aways. For the Rayman TV spots, and the VR episode looking like a Phantasmagoria let’s play, the crazy taxi/Driver mini game, just so well observed and suitable for the time. A++++

So yeah, I give the show my thumbs up. It’s obviously not for everyone and it is QUITE THE INTENSE RIDE AND NOT APPROPRIATE FOR KIDS, but I would recommend it as a quality animated work. I hope the people sharing that handful of weird Rayman screenshots on Twitter and going ‘WTF?!?!’ Actually give the series a chance.

Obviously I can discuss every tiny detail from every episode but that would take waaaaaay too long 😩. But thank you so much for asking!

[spacemagicandlaserswords]

The Bad Batch 3.4 ‘A Different Approach’ Recap

Gif from this post by @azertyrobaz because despite my efforts, the Tumblr gif search function is trash and I couldn't find any gifs from this season.

They’re back together again! But oh boy, is that going to be one tense and fraught conversation when they finally stop staring at each other from across the large space between them that is doing an excellent job as the visual metaphor for the vast chasm that’s opened up between them. Obvious symbolism aside, onto the live blog reaction recap part.

Well that shuttle isn’t going to last long

Aw, the first thing Omega thinks to do is contact Hunter T_T

“I can see that.” — LMAO the sass XD

This shuttle feels a lot bigger than it looks. How does it have 2 levels? Tardis shuttle?

Down we go!

That’s the shot of Omega piloting a ship from the trailer

A cold planet and all they’ve got is what they’re wearing? Not good

Yus, Omega wants to go back to free the other clones! I’m glad someone hasn’t forgotten about them. They’re totally going to go back to Mount Tantiss, though Crosshair absolutely (and understandably) does not want to. I still think a theme for this season is going to be something related to what Rex is up to and freeing the clones from the Empire.

Crosshair just magically acquiring a backpack somehow

That’s the shot of the crashed shuttle from the trailer

Still really curious as to what Scorch and all the commandos with the glowing visors are up to

Nala Se regretting her life choices

“That is most surprising.” — LMAO, suuuuuuuure

Hemlock is not falling for her nonsense at all

“False positives are to be expected.” — ahahahahahaha that is a desperate deflection. She is are so screwed

“Your future, however, is less certain.” — yes good excellent tear the bitch apart

Well that clothing on the line is totally going to get stolen

Painfully clear in two shots that the locals are friendly with the Imperials

It's Star Wars, so of course that means, ponchos!

Omega and Crosshair are wearing Imperial clothing. How are they not getting spotted immediately?

“The hound” — Crosshair, her name is Batcher. He’s totally going to slowly warm up to her over the season though, culminating in finally calling Batcher by her name. Similar to Crosshair finally calling Omega by her name.

Lol called it. Clothing stolen off the line

“No.” — CACKLING 

Crosshair, wtf are you wearing?!

I think we had that shot of the shuttle flying over the town in the trailer as well. They’re really going through a lot of what was in the trailer, which is to be expected as Disney has a track record of only putting footage from the first half of a season in trailers.

Crosshair is very keen to shoot first and ask questions later

“I can hardly wait.” — More cackling. Loving Crosshairs utterly done sarcastic sass

Lmao subtle Omega xD

Crosshair is looking very dystopian sci-fi zombie apocalypse in his natty little outfit with ridiculous head tube thing

“Sounds like a you problem.” — Lol which writer has been on the internet far too much?

“Well that went well. Stow it.” — CACKLING

“Then quit wasting time complaining.” — ahahahah I’m loving Omega’s sass as well. She’s not taking any of Crosshair’s nonsense

“Of course you do.” — LMAO Crosshair is so done XD

Hmmm, that street urchin is definitely going to be important later

Crosshair is so unimpressed. What have they been teaching her while I was gone?

Really like how the only thing you can really see clearly of Crosshair’s face in his outfit is the reflection of his eyes. That’s also plenty for the tapetum lucidum fandom headcanon to run with.

Omega’s making excellent use of appearing like a cute, sweet, innocent little child in her scamming.

Why is the bartender droid Scottish?

Crosshair lurking in the shadows with about as much subtlety as Rex was in Cid's bar in season 1

Are these stormtroopers clones or natborns? I don’t think we’ve seen any clones in clone trooper armour yet this season. They do turn up eventually because you can see some of them behind Wolffe in that shot of him during the trailer. I’m guessing they’re using this as a way of visually representing the difference between the clones and stormtroopers? 

Crosshair clicking his tongue 👀 That’s going to send the Crosswhores absolutely wild.

“Never seen you or your dad around before” — He said the thing! He said the thing! CrossDad confirmed!

Scottish bartender droid has turned into exposition droid

“You seem to have misunderstood your enemy.” — hmmm, why do I have a bad feeling about this that this is going to come back and bite everyone in the ass later on in the season? 

Does anyone know what this card game is? I not sure if it’s sabacc

This Imperial Captain really is a ridiculously OTT caricature of a slimy, corrupt officer. And why does he sound like a character from Wallace and Gromit?

Those 5,000 extra credits are totally going to get swindled out of them

Crosshair ready to throw down with a kid 

Lmao doubly called it! That street urchin was gonna turn up again and the extra credits were lost almost immediately

What on earth was that cockney street urchin accent anyway. What is this, Oliver Twist?

Crosshair don’t even kid yourself, there’s no way you’re going to abandon Omega

Why is the Empire keeping even more animals in cages?

Lol of course he wasn’t going to abandon her

“But my skills are being wasted.” — Crosshair really wants to shoot things

“Noted.” — LMAO

Did the machine operator just spot Omega and Crosshair?

“Shouldn’t we free the other animals too?” — She’s totally going to free the other animals. Omega’s already done that once before when she freed Muchi as a distraction during season 1. Crosshair sounds so done XD

Well that’s gone well, and predictably

Lau? What’s Lau? Who’s Lau? Is Lau the planet they’re on? Or the town they’re in? Or is Lau the name of the Wallace and Gromit captain? What is this Lau?

The upside down cone hats on the locals look familiar. They kind of remind me of some of the hats the Neimoidians wore

We keep getting shots of that stormtrooper at the top of the tower. Are they going to be important?

Noticed that the stormtroopers seem to have 2 small vertical grey lines on the top left side of their helmets. I wonder what these signify? Or if they signify anything at all?

“Let’s try things your way.” — Time for Crosshair to shoot some things! That “Finally” was almost purred

Oh no, shaking hand. It is the one he shoots with as well

Lol called it again, Omega frees all the animals so they can escape in the chaos that ensues

Was that a rubber chicken noise?!

More shots of that stormtrooper on the top of the tower. Hmmm, who are you?

Rip the Wallace and Gromit captain. The tentacles got him

Lol @ the stormtrooper getting blasted off the top of the tower

New ship acquired! +10 space grand larceny points

Is this still Scorch talking to Hemlock at the shuttle crash site? Scorch, what are you doing? What are you up to?

“Notify all our operatives” — What operatives? Is this where the bounty hunters come in?

“I’m heading to a remote location,” — nooooooooo not Pabu

Omg are they actually going to reunite in this episode?

That was surprisingly gentle from Crosshair

Oh, not Pabu then. Random isolated moon? Where is this? Omg what if this is the same moon the Tribunal crashed on?

Aw, there’s the Marauder! Though not for long, going off what was in the new short trailer that was released today.

The music here is beautiful

Omg they’re actually reuniting. Legit tearing up

Aaaaaaah the way Wrecker hugged Omega *sobbing*

Aw they’re both crying

“Five.” — oh fuck

All the tears

Bad Batch theme?

“I had help.” — here we go

Omg the look on Hunter’s face as he looks over Omega’s shoulder

The long shot of Crosshair descending the ramp of the cargo ship on the left side of the frame and Wrecker, Omega, and Hunter on the right side of the frame is so, so good. The cinematography and framing in this is just fantastic

…Wrecker?

Oooookay, this is tense. Omega’s picked up on it too.

You can see Crosshairs face briefly look almost open before he immediately hardens and closes himself off and almost braces for a fight

Asd;flkj you can’t leave it there! Talk to each other!!!

Tbh I wasn’t expecting that reaction from Wrecker. Hunter, sure, but not Wrecker. Cautious and wary maybe but not almost openly hostile. That is going to be one awkward and fraught conversation next episode.

I’m really glad they actually showed Wrecker crying. That it’s ok for men to cry and show emotions.

[sneezemonster15]

https://www.tumblr.com/sunshinecherryblossom/732710854315933696/wtf-it-is-true-oh-my-god-when-is-this

This seems false, what do you think about it?

I find it highly unlikely. Unless someone gives me a legit link to it, I wouldn't consider it. Lots of fake interviews of Kishi are doing rounds in this fandom. And Kishi would never say something like this given how he has treated Sakura's character for 700 chapters and beyond. This part is from his 2010 interview (at Jump Fiesta Tokyo-Japan) :

When the interviewer asked Kishi about Sakura, and called her a detestable girl (most people can see how Sakura's character is written as a detestable character, can't speak for delusional people), Kishi replied in a very convenient manner - "Realistic girls are like that..."

Lol. Once he calls his character realistic, what can one say? Realistic characters are never black and white, they stand in the grey area. So you can get away by saying - "Oh, she is realistic", without expanding on it.

Shounen characters are generally larger than life type characters to create a large impact since they serve a pedagogic purpose for its target group. People who are from the good guys camp, are generally taken as good, people who are from the bad guys camp are generally perceived as bad. So of course it would confuse people when Sakura is from the good guys camp but acts like a total douchebag. And naturally they would ask questions about it. But Kishi totally avoided to take the more controversial position by saying - she is realistic.

We know Sakura's character can be realistic, many women are the way she is. But is she a good role model for women of any place at any time? No. She doesn't really serve the pedagogic purpose other characters do. She is a negative person, selfish and immature. We know that. But Kishi cannot say it explicitly in his interviews because it would lead to all the other kinds of controversial questions, and would potentially open a can of worms for him. First question would be - If she is from the good guys camp and remains till the end, why did you write her as negative, even after she got so popular? You could have used her character's popularity with the girls to say something inspiring, something kind. So why didn't you? Any other writer would have jumped at the chance. Writers are supposed to work off the popularity of characters in a medium such as commercial serialilized manga.

Kishi kept writing her as detestable. If he could, he would have told them - I wrote her that way because I needed plot device for Naruto and Sasuke's romance which I was writing in the disguise of ninja manga. Team seven is about S and N. It's a love story about them and Sakura doesn't figure anywhere in their relationship and I want to make it clear by showing why.

And I have a feeling quite a lot of Sakura's characterisation comes from his personal experience of women. Of course he couldn't say all that. But he can be indirect about it. Although when you are indirect about something so many times, with context it becomes quite direct. Hehehe

Just look how Gege responded when he was asked a difficult question from Kubo. Female characters are not given much weight in shounen given its target audience. Most female characters in shounen aren't even given half the character development male characters get. And look at Japanese society, it's so patriarchal, who's surprised their representation of female characters is so backward? I doubt most of these mangakas get out very much, to actually put some effort in knowing how women act and why.

Look at Kubo's interview with Gege. Gege's female characters are kickass, as strong as men, as smart and well developed. They have agency, self worth and esteem. Their characters don't revolve around male characters. But female characters like these are beyond Kubo's imagination lol. Look at the female characters in Bleach hahaha. So this is what he asked Gege.

Kubo finds Jjk women formidable because he cannot even fathom independent women, women who don't depend on men for everything. Lol. They can walk shoulder to shoulder with men, they aren't less than men, like they are in most shounen. But of course, Gege cannot tell Kubo these things. Hehe. Kubo is his senior, and the Japanese have a whole set of etiquette on how to behave with one's senpai. Gege won't say anything even remotely offensive to Kubo, so the best way to deal with such things is to be vague and use self deprecating humor, so as to not appear confrontational, it's a communication tactic. I also use these kinds of tactics when talking to difficult people or people in high positions I don't agree with. I have interviewed hundreds of people in my work. So I understand that one needs to be subtle even in their disagreements.

In Shippuden, later on, Sakura was written with heroine like qualities. So what this means is that Kishi doesn't have a very good opinion on either women or women in shounen. She does get some footage in the manga, where other characters praise her skills, like one would expect a heroine to get. She confesses to Sasuke and Naruto both. Never mind the rejection from both. But it's clear that Kishi would never have made Naruto end up with Sakura who treated Naruto this badly. Kishi is not a fool. He plainly says that she comes off as detestable because that's how she was written. Lol.

Lots of rumours have been doing rounds about Naruto's remake or live action film etc. but as far as I know, nothing such has actually materialised. So I wouldn't worry about it either.

I think it's high time that SS, NH and NrSk accept the reality and move on. It's been years. Sasuke is gay. Naruto is gay. Was established as closeted gay in both parts one and two. He would not suddenly defy his character traits and become straight just because NrSk can't keep it in their pants. So pathetic tch. Guys, there is nothing for you in Naruto except heartbreak. Grow up and move on.

SNS at least have legit reason to still be hopeful. The het shippers have nada. Zilch. Zero. Hehe. But well, who can fight desperation? Not these peeps.

[wrinkly-fucking-qtip]

SHAMELESS OPINIONS: S6 (cause Mickey's write off hurt and after s5, I watched again from s1 and forced myself to keep watching + no one around me likes Shameless so I need a place to vent)

overall: it's a meh season with strong plotlines

The F Word is SUCH a bop, my boy Gus ate. Sorry Fi, I really like you, but boo, you had it coming.

I get the whole controversy with Sean, trust me I do, but I enjoyed the dramatics of the relationship. He was way too hypocritical tho, the scene with the gun, as scary as it was, rubbed me the wrong way. I wouldn't blame Fiona or Carl for that. As someone raised in a house full of guns, I was taught to never ever go near one. Curiosity killed the cat with Will and he was obviously scared, but Sean my boy, no. I felt Sean sort of blended well with the family, understood dysfunction all too well so that's probably why, but at the end of the day, it was a scabbing wound.

The wedding scene, Fuck Frank, ik he helped Fiona dodge a bullet, but at the end of the day, it was never really about Fiona, it was about his damn ego as always. The whole situation was shitty for everyone and I felt for her, really. The bridge scene was dope as hell. Bravo. Cinematic.

With the Debbie v Fiona, I was honestly on Fiona's side most of the time. A decision like this, in their way of living, oof, and Fiona made it clear she wasn't gonna be in charge of another kid. Harsh, but... I wouldn't do it either. But the reality is, Debbie has always been around kids, and very clearly wanted to be a mother, as early as s1. It's just... timing wasn't right. But to tackle a teen to the ground??? Wtf. A grown ass woman. Girl. No.

Oh Lip... his lip ain't doing good. As fucked as the whole Helene thing was, no relationship has ever made more sense to me than that one (for all the wrong reasons) Mommy issues as bright as day right there. And the fact that he couldn't recognize that and saw it as a normal college Tuesday makes me pity him. People don't agree with the relationship, and they're right, they shouldn't, but not because it's a bad storyline. It should make you feel uncomfortable because it is, but that's something that sooner or later, was bound to happen with him. That scene where he walks to the bar and yaps like Frank does with a beer in his hand, and everyone in disbelief... oof...

EMT IAN. NEED I SPEAK??? My baby... Those first episodes were so hard for him... Fucking Lip being insensitive at times... FUCK Ian makes me cry. Him standing his ground to get the job back, oh lord. There's a deleted scene that should've stayed but oh well. Anyway. I love him.

Don't even get me started on Gallavich. The scene with Lana on patsies cuts me. That prison scene breaks me without fail every time. I can't. I just couldn't envision, if things really went without having to call back Noel for ratings and views in s7, that the prison scene would be -it- for them... His leave was horribly handled too... but alas...

Caleb??? I have much to say about him in s7, but he... isn't half bad here... Don't love him, but he's alright. Motivated our ginger boy to get a job that gave him purpose, gave him soft smooches and little lunches, and taught him to receive softness. I love those things but not because it comes from him, more so because Ian deserves those gestures. The HIV conversation was handled well I think??? Don't have any particular complains... yet

Frank's storyline at the start of the season interested me, with the cancer lady and whatnot, not a fan of indulging Debbie into grooming, but it's Frank, and Frank is a fucking pos, but as soon as Queenie comes along I got so fucking BORED. Just not my cup of tea, the whole organic storyline put me to sleep. Kind of wish Debbie wasn't involved cause I think her pregnancy journey had more potential than ending up with Queenie. Idk that whole thing was just boring for me.

White boy Carl... eh, it is what it is, seemed in character enough ig, everyone expected part of this future to head that way so, yeah. Nick... so many mixed feelings like everyone else. I just feel for him man, that situation was horrendous. That, along with 3x666 are the only two scenes where I can't like... they're hard to stomach, for obvious reasons ik, but yeah. That was tough. I feel like it was fun to see Carl with his shenanigans, somewhat cringe but I can't pinpoint if it's because of E's performance or shitty writing.

Mandy and Ian's moment, holy fuck. That made me tear up. Mandy my beloved... I hope you're doing well.

SVETLANA RISE.

[tadpoles-and-daydreams]

First meditation with Khaos, the vast void of space

Quick warnings: this is a pretty long post, but I'm using it as a way to record everything I remember happening during this meditation so it has things other than just what happened with Khaos! This is also actually originally written weeks ago, I just left it in my drafts for ages whoops.

Another note: I won't be using only she/her pronouns for Khaos in the future, although I don't think they give a singular fuck either way, I just am tired today and wanted to get this posted without having to edit it.

UPG disclaimer. Even the title is UPG, my personal associations with Khaos.

So, I had things to do and decided I wanted to have a proper chat with Loki about it. I started up my meditation music, grabbed whatever crystals felt right, and laid down.

One of the first things they did was hug me. I am someone who has issues with receiving love, and this caught me entirely off guard. Of course I go "wtf bitch you can't do that???" And he basically told me something along the lines of "fuck you I do what I want." (Note: Loki is deeply salty that I cannot remember their actual wording, as it did not have the boundary breaking "I hug you if I want no matter your thoughts on it" implications this wording does. Loki is big on boundaries being respected with me. I feel the need to write that down.)

But we chatted about a spell I was planning, and Loki- who promptly draped himself across a couple logs all dramatically- was very enthusiastic about helping. We went back and forth, I also brought up Apollo to say hello, and then I felt... someone on the edge of things. Apollo was pretty abruptly gone, which makes sense for reasons I'll explain in a moment.

Loki stepped beside me, and sort of had their arm over my shoulders in a distinctly protective manner. Thing is, nothing felt malicious, and I asked them why the hell they seemed so protective when I felt perfectly safe. They explained that I was safe, but "she's pretty fucking intimidating so you might need someone to keep you steady."

Enter Khaos. I realized it was her because instead of a humanoid, or even recognizable form, suddenly within the protected astral space I go when I meditate (I'll just call it "homespace" from now on) is this massive fucking orb of void.

Except this is much bigger, and the orb I was met with was only... "half" of one. Like it'd been sliced, a few solid chunks cut out, like when a video game renders wrong and certain chunks won't load. I actively tried to imagine it as whole, to change it- it wouldn't budge. When I took the above screenshot as a reference, seeing how tiny my character was compared to the in-game thing that I compared Khaos to, it brought a whole new meaning to Loki's explanation as to why it was only half of an orb.

"She's trying not to scare you."

Loki assured me that they would be with me the whole time, that we were not leaving homespace and the orb was completely within the protection of homespace, and we walked in. It was pitch black, void all around, and I could see Loki as if he was lit up in the middle of day but that was it. Khaos came out of the void, sort of appearing out of the "wall" of darkness- being formed from it herself as if it were liquid. I asked her what she had to say.

She looked at me, just smiled, and said "good luck."

I admit, I laughed. I pointed out that THAT sounded ominous as hell. I knew what she meant- she was genuinely wishing me luck, since I have a lot of growth ahead of me and working with her is going to be a pretty big deal for me. But at the time, I couldn't help but laugh. Later, when I was recounting this to my mom, I got a very clear image of hands of darkness holding a bright orb of light. Offering it to me. It wasn't just wishing me luck. It was a gift.

Not long after that, I was suddenly made more aware of my physical body in the form of an ant crawling across me. I got the ant off of me, and went back- only to find that I couldn't just go back to the void we were standing in. Loki met me where we originally had started, and confirmed that I wasn't able to go into her space uninvited. I told them I couldn't go through the process of getting further into a meditative state and walking back into the void, and they said it was okay.

And I swear to you, I'm not fucking with you when I say this is exactly what was said next.

Me: "So... It's so interesting- Is the only way to talk to her to go into the void, be consumed by her energy entirely?"

Khaos, suddenly behind me: "Sort of, but not entirely no."

Me, finding out that my startle reflex is just as bad in the astral: "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST-"

Khaos: "No." (As in no, she's not Jesus. /Lh I just feel like it might not be clear!)

You guys. She wasn't even trying to be funny. I adore Khaos already I'm gonna have a fucking great time.

[john-bitchester]

Bubbles watches Supernatural season 5, episode 22: swan song.

This is a 42 minute episode. It took me 2 hours and a half to get through becase I had so many feelings and thoughts. Enjoy

CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SOOOON, THERE'LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DOOONEEE. LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REEEST, DON’T YOU CRY NO MOOOOORREEEEE

Ah gabe how I miss you

Not you zacharia I hate you

I never cared about a car as much as I have about a 1967 chevrolet impala

I love that Dean canonically picks out his dads car, because it is the same as his dads car, who chose it because is son recommended it to hem because it reminded the son of his dads car who...

IM SORRY

Sammy sitting on the hood like that does things to me

No no no dean youre being stupid

Wdym youre on board

AAAH DEAN LOOK AT YOU GROWING UP SEEING SAMMY AS A BIG BOY

Its still a stupid plan tho

Not normal about them

Nomnom blood

This gives a whole new meaning to milking

No poor sam look at his face he is stressed

'Angels don't sleep'

Didnt we already establish that he is humaned

WE TALKED ABOUT STAGE 2 SUICIDE IDIATION

'You go to lisa and pray to god shes dumb enough to take you in' HAHAHHAHA spoken like a true sibling

You're so silly sam you know dean would start a second apocalypse for you

SEE YA IN HELL

NO

The way I screamed

'When he gets in, keep fighting, don't give an inch'

'Yes sir'

NO SAM THATS BOBBY DONT YOU DARE YES SIR HIM

I cant tell if it's because this was how dickchester always talked to him so it's reflex, or if it’s Sam's way of saying 'youre like a father to me'

Imma go with both for my sanity

My friend bunbun: that john issues run deep with these boys

Me: The mariana trench would be impressed

'Oh I'm supposed to lie'

'Suuure... they'll be.. fiiiiine'

Cass I love you so, you are so real for this

That cannot be tasty

Or good for the stoomy

Oh my god Sam is high as a kite

Nooo not chuck going over the impala memoriessss

Noooooo

I need you to know that I'm watching this, hand clasped over my mouth, going NoOoOoOoOo

I have a feeling that the memories of the car will make sam able to grasp control again or smt

Also, dean is such a sentimental washcloth, rebuilding the car with the legos and the soldier man

Oh sam that was sexy of you (Zapping the demons by just closing his eyes)

'I live, he lives, we get our parents back'

Heres the thing, from videos and fic I know that at some point sam lives for a year or so without dean

So now im like, uh oh

I feel like this is an act

Its all an act

Ofcourse they knew the devil would know about the horsemen

Theyre his main henchmen, it would be stupid to think that the devil wouldnt know about the rings

Finally, the boy has memorised something (The spell for the cage)

aaaaaaaaahgg

COME ON SAMMY

aaaahshfhm fukb fgbukgxfubkrgxukb

NO NO NO NO NO

SAAAAM BE STRONG

......

Wtf Lucy that is so not funny

Pretend that Sam had won the fight with lucy in his brain

Only to then be like "jk"

Dean you shouldve just kicked him in the hole while his back was at you

Fidget spinner of power hihi

Why would he let dean live

Michael's vessel

NAH THE DEVIL JUST MADE A VERY FUNNY STAR WARS REFERNCE'

I suggest we become drunk' -cass

Oph my god these dumbasses really did think lucy wouldn't know of the rings

NoOoOoOo Bobby mourning his sooon

I am not well

I know what you can do, dean

You can have some gay sex with the angel

Knowing this was meant to be the end end makes it so much worse

I cant do this in my own oh my gosh

Im literally going like 'crying noise, noohoo Bunbuuun'

Them gazing th stars togehter on clear nights🥺🥺🥺🥺

Driving 2 days for a game, and a week for a concert

Heart goes auch

Nooooooo

Not okay about this

Its the Good Omens finale all over again

Chuck has grown on me

WELL THEN I AINT GONNA LET HIM DIE ALONE

Winchester pt3 you fool

I cant say i trust lucy, but hes making some good points

God is giving abusive father for sure

'You made me do this' he tells his kids

Another thougth, actually

Sam and dean where the perfect vessels because of ther lineage, cain and abel, i believe

But also bc they were representative of michael and lucy themselves

But hear me out. What if john and god are also reminiscent of each other

After all, the brothers couldn't be who they became without their father, have it be winchester or the angels

Both brothers (lucy & michael vs winchester) didnt have a mother

Had a father who was demanding

And both pairs of brothers, as established by the shwo, are the same. The loyal warrior who never doubted the father, and the fallen, who did

They could never become these people without the father, ergo, without god and john

We know john was a horrible father

So even ingoring what lucy is proposing here (god made me as I am) and my own opinions on God, the train of logic still assumes that God had to be, is, equally as abusive towards the brothers as z

John was towards the winchester brothers

Please tell me that cassete is 'Carry on wayward son' by kansas

Or no, even better, the one song by asia hahahha

WTF DEAN HAHAHAH THAT WAS NOT THE MUSIC I EXPECTED

SORRY AM I INTERUPTING SOMETHING

You know, whenever I'm annotating the episodes lke I'm doing now, it always takes me an hour to watch an episode instead of the forty minutes that it actually last

but at the speed I am annotating and thinking right now , it will genuinely take me twice as long.

like it will take me an hour and a half at least I think. (Ha! Bubbles. You fool. It nearly took you 2 hours and a half)

Youre next on my list buttercup

CASS WHERE THOSE YOUR FIRST BIG BOY WORDS! (Hey, assbutt!)

Not the molotov cocktail fhrnifhhf

WHAT THE FUCJ

CASTI3L WHAT THE DU JDUCK

Holy fuck

I need a moment

No

Sammy it's okay I'm here

Bunbun I am so unwell about this

Unwell

I KNEW IT

OH MY GOD I FUCKING CALLED IT

Im not crying youcrying

I love that they do this flasback bit with jus wind, and the 'tok' sound every now and then

Makes it a very strong scene

SCREAMING

ENDING ON THE HUG SCREAMING

The fact that the actual hug removes the white noise

Unwell

oh

Oh my god

Sam is going to pull michael with him

I can feel it

Okay I think this is one of the few times the bad cgi actually kinda ruined it for me

No

Hes all alone

He cant be

No one who could possibly begin to understand left

Have I mentioned Im not okay

Cass

The relief in my voice when I whispered this out loud just now is ludicrous

And now, kiss

'Cass are you god?' Oh sweetie

BOBBY

this is making me think of john milton

'And as they walk hand in hand, slowly their way through eden"

Along those lines

Chuck quit yer bitchin

Dean really went, 'okay god, its personal now'

Peace, or freedom?

Holy fuck

Because he made a promise

My stomach is genuinly physically aching

The fact that even deans voice sounds broken

Actually crying rn

What if chuck is god

WHAT THE FUCK CHUCK WHERE DID YOU GO

NAH DONT TELL ME IM FUCKING RIGHT

SAM WTF

Sam? Lucy?

Sam

Oh im sorry it cant stop here wtf

How where they ever plannning on stopping like this that is unholy

1h 30 later:

I know i started spn on my own accord, but I hope you know what you did

I was eating with my parent just now, and during the entired meal (now still) carry on was playing on repeat in my head. Coming from someone who typically lives a soundtrack-free life

Another hour later:

Still recovering

Have been having imaginative co-star interviews with jared padalecki for about 2 hours now. It's a coping mechanisnm

Literally my whole day was spn

I woke up with fic. Ate lunch with an episode. Watched the finale, read more fic

I am unwell

[alyjojo]

Twin Flame 🔥 Journey - June 2024 - Scorpio

Your Energy:

King of Wands rev - Page of Pentacles - 4 Wands

I try to do these one area at a time, but here I needed your Twin’s energy just to decipher yours, I can only see you’re upset. Your person moved onto someone else, maybe got engaged, moved out even, could’ve broken a lease and left you with the bag…maybe even left behind your child (that I assume you share). Just woke up one day and decided to be with someone else, commit to someone else…or they’re doing things with other people they never would’ve done for you. You’re like WTF? Angry, hurt, bitter, fuck them 💯 Why couldn’t they have shown you half of that, or made those decisions for you? It’s made you feel like you were chopped liver, or I’m seeing “friend-zoned” for someone.

For the friend story, there was never talk of love, this person was never yours, and even you’re aware you can’t really be mad and yet, you are. Or this person may have just ended things suddenly and wasn’t clear as to why - but it’s because they’re moving on with another person and never mentioned it. A house or lease may have been involved, or an engagement even, breaking one or forming one very quickly - so fast your head spins. And you’re left feeling overwhelmed, hurt, and angry. Never speaking to them again 😞😡

Oracle:

NOT TODAY 😤

- Boundaries & Hurt

- Avoiding Conversation

- Not Dealing

- Still Upset

11 Overwhelm

The hard work we love can leave us feeling burdened, drained, and burnt out, among other problems.

72 Nature

Go out in Nature as much as you can, for it’s pure creativity can teach you everything you need to know.

Messages:

- I just want to talk to you.

- New Perspective.

Their Energy:

5 Pentacles rev - 2 Cups - 8 Pentacles

This person is extremely immature, and they’re a coward. That’s why. They knew how you’d react, how it would make you feel, and that terrifies them. They aren’t one to be held accountable for their actions, certainly not publically, and they’re accountable enough, but it’s like “we move on now”, they’re not going to linger in that energy. You’re over here lingering in the hurt and they know that, they can’t face it. They’re not sorry 🤷 It’s what they want. Now I’ll describe their character here, because it may help this New Perspective for you.

This person is superficial, materially oriented, all about status and reputation. They don’t care if the inside matches the outside, yanno? Depth doesn’t matter, TRUTH doesn’t matter. It only matters what people see, so if they wear a suit everyday looking like a boss and actually live in their car - it’s no one’s business. They’re not wrong, lots of people are like this. When it comes to this new love interest, I assume they met at or through work, because they have work in common. High standards, reputation, a healthy bank account, perfectionist tendencies, they want it all - and by all - material shit. They want other people to think they have it all, that’s all that matters. Do they have feelings for this person, yes, and it’s meant to be this way. Right now as it stands they are not good for you and would only bring you down. Justice at the bottom with giving up, seems like it’s more for you than them. They’re a lost cause for any depth or spiritual meaning, and a Twin connection involves all of that - showing how spiritually “off” they are right now. Not aware at all. And they’re not sorry, that’s important, they’re more relieved it’s finally come to light - so I’m not sure how long this was going on beforehand tbh. And they can’t face you.

Oracle:

DRAGONFLY 🌾

- Light-hearted & Adapt

- Finding Out & Change

- Things Coming to Light & Heal

6 Habits

Examine habits that may impede the pathways to your goals and encourage beneficial ones.

20 Willpower

Use your willpower to bravely overcome thoughts of compromise and defeat.

Messages:

- What other people say matters too much to me.

- I don’t know how to communicate!

Mutual Energy/What is Mirrored:

Judgment - 8 Wands - Queen of Swords rev

There will be a return at some point, enough to bite each other’s heads off for what happened between you. Holding the other accountable. Calling each other out with a big “fuck you” and other bitter feelings that still exist between you, or just you, because you’re trapped in rumination. Trauma. Grief. And they will not reciprocate whatsoever, the reading shows there is no point. Some people just suck, they have no regard for your feelings or what they’ve done, they just want it to be over and onto the next thing. Snake 🐍 at the bottom of the oracles makes it clear. In your case, and especially being Scorpio, I don’t see reconciliation ever being possible here - this is a perfect example of why it’s sometimes not. You’re likely to tell them to go fk themselves until the day you die, the next life, and all of the lives thereafter 💯

Oracle:

OLD SCHOOL 👵🏾

- Outdated Thinking

- Conditioning

- Replaying Events Over in Your Head

Possible Signs:

Heavy Virgo, Cancer, Scorpio & Taurus

Charms:

Optimistic ♐️ on Partnership (both) shows there is reason to look positively towards the future. You aren’t cursed, you don’t deserve shitty people, there’s no little black cloud of karma following you around to zap you every time you fall in love - it’s one experience, and it’s here for a reason: to remind you what you’re worth so that you appreciate it when it comes in. To show you the worst of a person so you can sense it when someone is not the right fit. More or less. That’s it. I get they already are optimistic about love and will get their karma in other ways - financially 💯

Clover 🍀 rev on King of Pentacles is their energy, the career-oriented, responsible, reputation & status obsessed King that doesn’t want to feel things is going to get knocked, time after time, where work is concerned. Because that’s all that matters, it’s the only lessons they learn, love is not considered as important unless it makes them look/feel important, you see? It’s not you, it’s them, and Spirit has to move in different ways with this person because they literally live in a 3D material vacuum. Probably an earth sign or has that heavy in their chart, or they may get with someone who simply cannot get it together financially, after all of that judgment on you/others for the same thing. Reconciliation isn’t the goal in this one, Growth is. At least that I can see. You deserve better than this, and someday they will be forced to see that too.

[schrodingers-hoarding-problem]

I have gotten a singular like on my iron widow post thus you are all now subjected to some of my favorite quotes!

also beware of spoilers (plus a bit of commentary on some of the later ones)

“Welcome to your nightmare” (82) 

“It’s hilarious. Men want us so badly for our bodies, yet hate us so much for our minds” (94) 

“Be their nightmare, Wu Zetian.” (95) 

“There’s no guilt, no rage, no hesitation in his eyes. Only a resolve so clear it steals my breath away.” (99) 

“I’m becoming no less of a monster, but that’s ok. It takes a monster to slay a monster.” (102) 

“Our fingers curl together, much gentler than when we were trying to take each other’s lives.” (109) 

“‘A funeral?’ I say with mock casualness. ‘Did the attendees know he died like a girl?’” (113) 

“Too bad. I am exactly the kind of ice-blooded, rotten-hearted girl he fears I am. And I am fine with that.” (114) 

“‘You think this scares me?’ I say, unbelievably calm for how rabidly I’m fraying apart on the inside. ‘You think I ever liked being alive? Go ahead. Do me a favor.’” (118) 

“Okay. So Li Shimin is absolutely fucking bonkers, I guess.” (127) 

“Oh no. I am also absolutely fucking bonkers.” (130) 

“The bloodlust in his eyes rouses something primal and deep-rooted inside me, something that finds it so… Utterly relatable.” (153) 

“Yizhi gulps. A blush reddens his ears, and a quizzical feeling stirs inside me.” (171) 

YES!! i am seeing the poly vision 

“He should be the Iron King, and I should be the Iron Queen. Yet Iron Demon and Iron Widow is all they’ll let us be.” (199) 

“How do you take the fight out of half the population and render them willing slaves? … You tell them over and over, until it’s the only truth they’re capable of living.” (210) 

“We are wholly the Vermillion Bird, commanding it in sync.” (239) 

“No one’s sure why it worked out for us.” (248) 

because of the poly vision ofc 

i’m so excited for it 

“This isn’t his victory. This is my temporary mercy. With a head full of fantasies of how I’ll flag him alive after he outlived his use, I unzip my pilot coat.” (264) 

“Despite their best efforts, I find myself worthy of happiness.“ (276) 

“I will slather him for what he did to Shimin. He has shot to the top of my ever-growing hit list. It’s the least I can do.” (283) 

“We can live for more. We can live for justice. Change. Vengeance. Power.” (298) 

“I like him a lot better than his distant cousin who I killed.” (302) 

Me too 

“Despite the endless horrors that we’ve both been through, I really am grateful that we survived to meet each other.” (311) 

“He snaps the collar off his neck and hurls it to the ground with the force of a thunderclap.” (325) 

holy shit these last two pages (324-325) are insane and giving me everything i want YES my vengeance driven queen and king i love you both so so so much 

“Before you die, let me confirm something for you: girls like me are everywhere, barely putting up the facade of wives and daughters and concubines. And I don’t think they’ll be very happy about the army’s lies.” (327) 

“Perks of refusing to play by the rules: you don’t have to choose between the boy who’d torture a man to death with you and the boy who’d welcome you back with pastries after.” (328) 

Yizhi looks at a loss for words for a few seconds, then schools his expression. ‘Don’t be, handsome.’ He winks. I have to bite my lip not to laugh at the look on Shimin’s face.” (331) 

“I roll my eyes, make a triangle out of my fingers, and nod.” (331) 

YES the poly vision has been realized 

i love it here 

Xiran Jay Zhao i owe everything to you 

“She is perfectly aware and in control of what they’re doing.” (353) 

Xiuying wtf i liked you 

Qieluo is my only friend now 

“Cure the Emperor.” (359) 

ooooo yes 

“But it doesn’t matter. Male, female, it doesn’t matter when piloting.” (367) 

“Her face is stunning, yet her eyes seethe with the deepest, blackest hatred.” (372) 

“Wu Zetian … Be their nightmare.” (373) 

“Even though everything feels impossible, even though I will never be the same, even though all I want to do is lie down and give up, I make myself keep going.” (373) 

“There will be no redemption. It is not me who is wrong. It’s everyone else.” (380) 

“I know what real mercy would be. ‘Sorry,’ I say, cold as Big Sister’s ashes. ‘You’re in my way.’” (383) 

“Yellow-green lightning bursts across the air.” (386) 

HELL YEAH YIZHI patricide win 

“Let’s rule the world.” (388) 

“The Hunduns are the natives, not—!” (390) 

wooooow 

honestly i was kinda suspecting it based on what the emperor class hunduns were saying but that’s still insane 

ahhhh i can’t wait for the heavenly tyrant 

also bring back my boy shimin i miss him 

[bloodmoon24]

Hi, its me again (📼 anon) and I hope you don't mind if I vent a little since you seem the kind of person to talk to. My main topic on this vent is about abuse so just a heads-up as a trigger warning.

So I'm going to admit this to you: a while back before Helluva Boss was out, I was a HUGE Vivziepop hater--like, I use to hate on her nonstop and not to mention I would also interact with antis and "critics" and rant with them. However, I was young and stupid and, honestly, I don't remember why I even started to hate her--probably because I was one of those people who seem to join in groups without any second thought.

And then, HB came out--and so I decided to watch it. I watched episode after episode, and I did rant after rant about how much wrong each episode was and did "critques" on them (it was only just stupid shit--even nitpicking the little things and just doung overlooked dumbass rants). However, one thing about Helluva Boss antis/critiques just LOVE to bash about was Stolitz--though, for me, I started to love the ship itself. Though, in fear of me of not wanting to look like I was starting to like it, I pretended to hate it even though I was starting to make it my OTP.

But then, when the first episode of the second season came out, that was when I made an 180 about my views on the show--mostly cuz I was now being more mature and I was now starting to notice how none of these critiques made no sense and/or they were just dumb because these antis were just hating on vivienne for no reason other than she just existed. Yeah, I know, its terrible because it is; not to also mention that most of these antis/critics always made assumptions that made me go "woah, wtf???"

One of the things antis/critics made it clear was one thing: Stella is a victim and Stolas is not and he's a bad guy cuz he cheated on her + many other ""opinions"" as to why she's a "good guy". This made me cringe and VERY infuriating on my part. I, a bi/pan genderqueer guy, was in a toxic and abusive relationship with an ex-girlfriend of mine who was also like Stella (minus being British)--she would hit me, calls me harsh names and insults, and would also throw things at me. I was with her for a good three years, before I decided I had enough of her shit and I promptly dumped her and called the police (she's still in prison to this day since I wanted to press charges and took this to court with a ton of evidence I collected to prove that she did those things). I've been with my boyfriend (non-binary demiromantic gay guy) for two-and-a-half years now and he makes me more happier than what my ex had for me. Obviously, I still have trauma from her, but I'm still trying to work it out with my best friend who is a therapist to go through it.

Seeing how these people will defend Stella, who is an ABUSER, just boggles me because I'm a victim of abuse and antis/critics will be like "stolas abuses blitz cuz he uses him for sex!!" but at the same time they'll support Stella and praise her for when there is implement/reference to her abusing Stolas. Like, I get it to how ppl will say she's a victim as well cuz she was forced into marriage with Stolas--which I get it, no doubt. I am not denying that--but people seem to forget that, in forced marriages, there is that one "spouse" who is a horrible person and will abuse the other. My oldest cousin on my mother's side is a victim of forced marriage, and he was abused by his "wife" for five years until he gained his independence by the help of his friends (including myself) to help move out and divorce her. He's now openly gay, and getting married to his fiancé in late October of this year.

It grosses me out, because I know damn well Stella is not a victim and these people are so hypocritical when it comes to it. She's not a savior, she's not a hero, nor does she deserve praise. I know Stolas is not perfect, but neither is Blitz and that's TOTALLY okay since no relationship is built to perfectness--and it were, then that's just being toxic and unrealistic. And since then, I am now a huge fan of Vivziepop and I rightfully got merch of both shows.

So yeah, that's my vent. Sorry if you had to read this wall of text in your inbox, but I know you would understand on why I had to vent like this. I kinda accidentally doom-scrolled the "anti stolitz" tag and I came across a post of someone cheering on for stella on abusing Stolas (ew, yucky, gross). But yeah, tl;dr: was a huge anti, turned my life around and became a fan after seeing ppl defend Stella of abuse as some who was a victim of said abuse, and fuck stella defenders :)

First of all, thank you for venting. You look like you really needed it, and I appreciate it

Second of all, thank you for telling me. Haters just don’t know when to shut up about these kinds of things. For me, I just ignore their ranting and just enjoy both shows that Viv made. There was literally no reason to hate on her. I JUST WANNA ENJOY A SHOW ABOUT GAY DEMONS WITHOUT PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT

Third of all, Stella defenders are also idiots as well. To be honest, I thought Stella was a victim in the second episode, until we saw her again, and now I’m like, “Yup. Stella’s a bitch, and she can fuck off”

Fourth of all, I’m so sorry you had to went through that kind of stuff with your Stella (glad you broke it off with her. She just seems terrible), and found someone that actually cares and loves you. It just seems so sweet

Fifth of all, congratulations for your cousin

Sixth of all, I’m glad you turn things around for your point of view, and that just makes me happy

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s3 ep3: The Chute

I hadn't watched this one since it originally aired. It's not one I disliked, per se, it's just one I didn't enjoy, since it's not any fun to watch your favorite space bros get put through horrors. Looking at it through a more critical lens as an adult, though, I can at least appreciate it more than I could as a 9 year old kid, who was experiencing it more viscerally as something bad happening to characters I liked.

This was a pretty big episode for Harry, since most of the focus was on him for the first time since season 1. Less so for Tom, because he was basically dying from a stab wound for most of it, but their friendship was the main theme of the episode.

I didn't like the cold open starting right in the prison setting, since it felt like playing catch up to figure out the context of what was happening. I'm sure they were going for shock value for the audience, presumably because they thought it would mirror the characters disorientation, but the characters would have had some context for where they were from the events that preceded being sent there. I would have liked to have had a scene on the planet, so we get the sense of surprise and dread as one minute everything is fine, then the next minute they're hauled away. (And it really should have been an actual away mission- are they kidding us that it was shore leave?! Seriously?! The Captain just let the crew beam down to some unknown planet without knowing anything of their society or their laws?? Did everyone simply forget that time on the Enterprise when they did that, and a bunch of half-naked blonde people tried to kill Wesley Crusher for stepping on a plant?? Really?!)

But we just get exposition dialog instead, and find out about the implants in ther heads that make everyone more violent, and we find out that Tom apparently just carries a knife around when he goes on shore leave?? What?? Maybe he's meant to have stolen it from another inmate, idk, but that probably should have been explained, since that's very much not a Starfleet thing. (I mean, sure, he's been in prison before, but Federation prison seems more like a nice vacation than a gritty dog eat dog hellscape like this one lol.)

We finally get a little respite from gritty prison hell with some scenes on the ship with Captain Janeway and crew trying to find Tom and Harry (with bonus concerned B'Elanna- I love that she's become bffs with Harry and Tom now, aww).

Anyway, Tom saves Harry from becoming some other prisoner's bitch, I guess?? It's never actually clear what exactly the other guy wants Harry for, but in the context of actual prisons, one can imagine what they'd want the young pretty boy for, ew. But Tom makes it very clear that Harry is his bitch belongs to him (nope, still sounds pretty gay, lol die mad about it Berman!) and they plot an escape. Harry tries to rewire the chute they came in through, but Tom gets stabbed defending him, and 100s of whump fics on Ao3 were born now Harry is the one who has to take care of Tom.

They make an alliance with the resident crazy manifesto guy so he'll let them share his shelter (though why any of them need a shelter when they're indoors is a bit of mystery- y'all are all under one roof dudes, just pick any corner, you don't need a tent over you, it's not gonna rain inside a room!! The ceiling doesn't have weather patterns!! Lol wtf??) and he tries to convince Harry to give up on Tom and let him die to save himself, which Tom, who loves risking his life to save other people every other episode, does too. But of course, even starving and beaten and with an agression chip in his head, Harry would never do that to his bff. One of the things I feel worked in this episode was seeing Harry get put in this truly awful situation, and never break. For all he's the inexperienced baby marshmallow of the Voyager crew, we see him really grit his teeth and fight through it all with his Starfleet ideals held firm. There's a rather nice shot that follows him walking around the prison, and stays on his face as he goes through all the emotions of anger and frustration and doubt as he struggles to ignore manifesto guy's defeatism and stick to his course of saving himself and Tom. It's a really nice moment where we get to see that sweet little Harry actually has an iron will underneath it all.

And of course, the scene where he takes care of Tom while he's sitting there dying is just heartbreakingly tender. When Tom gets so sick that he stops being self-sacrificing and tells Harry not to leave him, it's hurts, for Harry and for us. Of course it spurs Harry on to take on an entire prison to protect him, but luckily, their mom comes to pick them up in the nick of time- Captain Janeway has been working to track them down, and when diplomacy fails, she opts for a prison break. She jumps right in there with a rifle to get her boys home- and it's honestly glorious. Prudently, she did bring back up, but tbh, you believe this one tiny woman could terrify a horde of violent men singlehandedly. All hail our badass space mom!

In the last scene back home on Voyager, Harry is visibly still shaken, as anyone would be. Tom is chatting away normally, as if he hadn't just been on death's door, because he knew he had Harry to get him through it. Which is very sweet, but honestly it felt a little too shallow, given the circumstances. Tom was mind controlled, starved, stabbed, and almost died, that's some pretty traumatic stuff he should be processing, it shouldn't be cutesy time at that point yet. If they wanted the cute ending, why do this story? Why did they have to go through hell just to say 'hey, I appreciate you being my friend and looking out for me'?? And if they really wanted to do this story- at least have the characters process the trauma, and like, give each other a hug, for crying out loud!

I couldn't get away from the feeling that this whole story was kind of predicated on an underlying toxic masculine sensibility that men can only express love and devotion to another man if one or both of them are dying. It reminded me of that art piece I've seen around, the one that says something to the effect of 'you construct elaborate rituals to touch the skin of other men'. Which also reminds me thematically of another Voyager ep that's coming up later, where Captain Janeway goes through this elaborate ritual and puts herself through trials she didn't really need to because she thinks you're supposed to suffer to gain the prize or knowledge you need. This episode felt like that, on a meta level- while I appreciated highlighting the unshakeable bond between Harry and Tom, why did we have to put them through hell, and mind control, starve, beat and almost kill them, to do it? It's not pleasant to watch, and I never have rewatched in all these years till now, because whatever good there was here- and there was some good- it didn't feel justified, in a way. I knew Tom and Harry loved each other and would do anything for each other already, without having to torture them to get them to show it. And I have to believe that by the 24th century, we'll have a better society, where men can tell other men how much they love them without having to suffer to justify it.