#which is crazy because last season i thought they had her all wrong

[akumahoshojo]

💗 protect her smile 💗

[heartsaturn]

“i’m wearing tennessee orange for him” - lh43

luke hughes x fem!reader

summary: in which, blood doesn’t run thicker than water

warnings: nothing (??), intended lowercase, set in luke’s last season at umich, awkward!luke and a bit of shy!luke, ends in a bit of a cliffhanger so i’m open for part two requests if anyone wants it

a/n: woah !!! sara actually write a fic ?!? ik ik it’s crazy. this was requested by my one and only @daniiiboo, i deeply apologize for taking five years (a few MONTHS 😓) for this to come out. i still don’t really like this fic but i like it enough to post it.

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if one thing is true, it is that ohio state hates university of michigan. the feeling is definitely mutual. the two schools have been rivals since before you can remember. all you know is that you cannot associate with someone from michigan. you were raised a buckeye, and you will stay a loyal buckeye, right?

well, being a loyal buckeye is really damn hard right now.

it is not an abnormal thing for you and your friends to go and support the sports teams at your school. most of the time, it was football games. sometimes, it was hockey games. and now hockey season is starting. the stadium buzzes with energy at the first rival game of the season. it’s the beginning of october and the beginning of fall, which you believe is one of the best times of the year. the air finally starts to become crisp after a blazing summer. it couldn’t be a better time for a hockey game. so, you and your friend decide to go to the game for the atmosphere.

just here for the atmosphere, you try to remind yourself now. you also happen to be questioning in your mind why a hockey player just tossed you a puck. a michigan hockey player. there is no way that he thought you were a michigan fan because, first of all, there is a very minimal amount of michigan fans. you’re literally at your home arena. second of all, you and all of your friends are wearing ohio state gear. who does this stupidly gorgeous wolverine think he is?

while all of your friends start squealing because of this boy’s gesture, you sit there in shock. you look at the puck that rests in your hands. you don’t snap out of your confused daze until one of your friends nudges you.

“you think he’s cute?” she asks with a small smile on her face. her words are teasing and her smile is smug.

of course, you think he’s cute. how could you not? he is tall, has curly hair that you can see peaking through his helmet, and you note the little smirk that he had on his face as he skated away from you.

“he’s not bad-looking,” you answer. you can’t stop a small smile that grows on your face as you look down at the little gift.

during the game, you and your friends find out that this boy’s number is 43 and his last name is hughes. you can’t deny that your eyes follow him almost the whole game. you try not to let them wander, you really do. upon finding out his last name and jersey number, your friends are able to find his instagram account.

“you guys are actually insane,” you say with a snicker.

“we just found your future boyfriend on instagram, so you're welcome,” one of your friends teases sassily.

the game goes on and the whole arena is filled with chants and overwhelming school spirit as ohio state finishes off the game, winning 4-3 in overtime.

this is not good for luke. his mind has gone into a spiral of what went wrong and what the team could have done better when he remembers his bold actions during warmups. the truth is, luke isn’t some cocky hotshot hockey player. he is just an awkward college student who happens to be pretty darn good at the sport he plays. luke is charming and charismatic. he knows this, mainly because he has been told by other people. he just isn’t all that confident in using these abilities quite yet.

luke can already feel the regret bubbling inside of him because of his previous actions, certain that he has zero shot with this girl. what are the chances of him even seeing her anyway? well, apparently very high because he does see her again.

you had let your friends encourage you to wait outside the locker rooms to see if you could find the boy that they so desperately want you to meet. and then they left you. they left you wandering outside the locker rooms anxiously by yourself. in their minds, it was a way to get you alone with luke. in your mind, it was downright mean. the only people who really stand outside the locker rooms are family members and girlfriends, which you are neither of. you feel out of place and you honestly hope that luke comes out of the locker room just so that you don’t have to hover awkwardly for much longer.

then, your prayers are answered because out walks the same hockey player that had so shamelessly thrown a girl on the opposing school’s team a puck earlier. only this time, the boy looks much less intimidating. he actually looks quite friendly. when he walks out of the locker room, he is talking with one of his teammates. he looks exhausted and a bit beaten up from the loss that his team just faced, but that doesn’t make him any less attractive in your eyes.

luke sees you and immediately recognizes you. he couldn’t forget such a pretty face. honestly, that is probably the only reason that he gained the confidence to toss you a puck in the first place. seeing you smiling with your friends and looking so gorgeous while doing it made luke so desperate to try and flirt with you.

now, luke is a tad stunned. he sees you and just freezes for a moment. he decides to approach you after a few seconds of you not noticing him.

“hello,” you hear a male voice say after clearing his throat. you spin around to see the captivating wolverine from earlier.

“oh, hi..” you reply softly. both of you seem too shy to speak to the other properly.

“thanks for the puck,” you speak up, now looking up at his taller frame.

“oh yeah, no problem. i’m sure you get that all the time being as stunning as you are…” luke says back. his demeanor is still very bashful. although, he can feel his confidence swell as the conversation flows on because there is no way that he is losing his chance with you.

you find his attempt at flirting a bit amusing but still sweet. his continuous attempts to impress you and try to hold the discussion with you are honestly adorable.

“not usually, and not by anyone i would want to get to know anyway. i could make an exception for you though,” you respond, a pleased smile finding its way to your features.

“do you want to get to know me while we get lunch then?” luke asks. very smooth transition, luke. very smooth indeed.

“our schools are three hours away from each other you know…” you say. your words are meant to be taken almost as a warning. not just a warning to luke but to yourself as well.

“i have a feeling i’ll be in it for the long game,” the boy simply replies with a little grin and slight shrug. his casual answer eased you a bit and let you know that he wants to make it work out if you also want to.

you have literally known this boy for a whole two minutes of your life and you are already thinking about if you could go long distance with him. i guess he really did catch your attention on the ice.

“i’m luke by the way,” he says.

“y/n,” you reply.

you don’t dare to tell your family what school luke goes to if you guys do end up making it work.

———————————————————————-

word count: 1269

[queenvhagar]

I believe Rhys Ifans’ statement “Both sides are genocidal war criminals… I think we should all enjoy seeing how they die[,]” would be wrong because the entire time the story HOTD is fundamentally about how one group, the greens, IE Alicent, Otto, and Aegon Hightower, seek to maintain the status quo of an oppressive power structure versus Rhaenyra, the blacks, whose very existence seeks to jeopardize that power structure (the patriarchal society of Westeros).

It is made explicitly clear that the chief architect of team green in the usurpation of Rhaenyra’s throne that the only reason that they cannot have Rhaenyra on the throne is explicitly because she is a woman. It’s a theme that is present throughout the entirety of HOTD’s season one as this conflict builds up.

For instance, the conversation between Alicent and Rhaenys at the end of season one where Alicent justifies why she is participating in the usurpation of Rhaenyra’s throne to Rhaenys by saying that it is not a woman’s place to rule the Seven kingdoms and instead it is a woman’s place to gently guide the hand of the men who do rule.

The story of HOTD, the civil war for the succession of the Iron Throne following the death of Viserys, the Dance of the Dragons, is fundamentally a conflict that is built on the foundation of misogyny and the writers are making that explicitly clear.

The weird false equivalency when ppl imply that both sides are equally genocidally crazy, that treads to reduce the nature of this conflict down to just simple good old fashioned greed which it really isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Rhaenyra is perfect and of course I understand that over the course of the war, she’s going to do some pretty terrible things but it’s been made pretty clear that Rhaenyra’s done everything in her power to avoid this turning out into a war in the fist place.

I just don’t think by any stretch of the imagination regardless of what Rhaenyra does throughout this war, that you’re supposed to enjoy watching her die. I don’t think that’s how her character is written and I don’t think that’s what the narrative goal of her end is supposed to be. Her character is a character by all accounts some victim of the patriarchal society that she lives in. Even if she does go down the “mad queen route,” it will only be to explore how the patriarchal society has completely twisted her. How this war that was started because she dared to be queen of the seven kingdoms completely ruined her and ruined her family.

I would very much appreciate your thoughts on this and would like to learn more if this take of mine is confusing and blinded.

I think this take might be correct if you're solely going off of the show and its interpretation of Team Black as modern feminists attempting revolutionary societal change led by divinely ordained and pure Rhaenyra vs Team Green as conservative misogynists led by incompetent and unorganized abuser Aegon...

Fire and Blood is not this, though. Sexism and misogyny is one element of power and power imbalance in Westeros but it's not the only one, nor is it the only factor into why Rhaenyra's claim was disputed, despite what the showrunners are trying to portray on screen.

The reality is two ideologically different sides with fairly equal claims to the throne are trying to seize power, leading to a war that ruins the land and the family that started it. Team Green has Aegon, firstborn son of the last king, following Andal tradition going back thousands of years and most recently reinforced in the Council of 101 AC that made his own father king. Team Black has Rhaenyra, eldest daughter named by the previous king but not supported by precedent. Rhaenyra unfortunately also had some political scandals that went against her in having bastards, having Velaryons killed and mutilated, and marrying Daemon despite fear of him in power being the reason she was named heir in the first place. Any of these are valid reasons why some people might be against her coming into power. It's more than "she's a woman and I don't like women."

Rhaenyra did not press her claim to raise up the women of the realm, nor did she do it out of a desire to save the world. She wanted it because she wanted power that was promised to her. But the show can't let women simply want things for themselves. Rhaenyra has to be an advocate for peace and want the throne for some higher purpose instead of just wanting power for power's sake.

The Greens were motivated by power to push for Aegon's claim, and surely misogyny in the society helped to get Aegon on the throne, but they also put Aegon on the throne out of fear for the lives of all of Viserys' sons, who would have to be taken out of the picture to secure Rhaenyra's atypical claim lest war and rebellion potentially break out against her at any point in her reign, and Team Black had already shown willingness to resort to violence to help themselves (Rhea's death, Laenor's death, Vaemond's death, Velaryons' tongues getting cut out, Aemond's eye cut out without any punishment and instead Aemond threatened with torture over speaking the truth about Rhaenyra). It's not just "we hate the idea of a woman ruling, we hate women, and we're terrible, incompetent people."

Fire and Blood is a tale of two sides fighting for even more power than they already have who are willing to do horrible terrible war crimes against each other and innocents in order to obtain their end goal of the Iron Throne, and realistically you are interested in seeing all of them die and face the consequences of their actions. The story has weight, the characters are real and human and messy and tragic, the war is unjustified in its means and methods and purpose. It's the failure of Viserys' legacy and a reflection of the flaws of monarchy and specifically the ideals Targaryen supremacy. No side is right and the other wrong. Nobody's a hero.

This is where the show has failed in its adaptation. It has abandoned its themes, along with several characters, characterizations, and plot points, in order to create their own narrative that fits a story that they think will sell best to the casual modern viewer: essentially, redemption for Daenerys fans after the catastrophe of Game of Thrones' ending. By making up prophecy and dream stuff to give to Rhaenyra and also giving her some of that Dany "change the world" mentality that was absent in the source material, the writers can cut apart the character of Rhaenyra and make her into a new Daenerys, and this time they can give the fans want they wanted for Daenerys. Except Rhaenyra is not Daenerys at all, and their only similarity is dragon riding queen seeking to inherit their father's throne. Changing the narrative so Rhaenyra becomes the new Daenerys and a true hero of the story ruins the underlying themes of Fire and Blood and specifically the Dance.

Rhys Ifans likely read Fire and Blood and actually knows what he's talking about. The point of the Dance isn't "heroic woman attempting to overthrow the patriarchy is burned and destroyed by the patriarchy and agents of the patriarchy." The takeaway isn't just "misogyny and sexism are bad and hurt women" like the show hammers in so heavily every single episode. It's "the pursuit of power by the already powerful comes at the cost of innocents, war is never justified no matter what (and certainly not justified by manifest destiny, someone's dream of saving the world, or even 'misogynists stole my throne') and the violence of war destroys indiscriminately." There should be catharsis when gray characters who have done good but also horrific bad in the pursuit of power finally face the consequences and die early deaths. Like, for example, the end of Succession: none of the Roy siblings get what they want, and we understand why, and even though parts of their character are sympathetic and tragic to us, we can objectively view them as flawed and selfish people whose decisions led to this ultimate, inevitable conclusion where they don't get what they want, and it's deserved. This is what House of the Dragon should have been. Tragic, flawed characters on both sides acting selfishly but realistically to seize power from each other and ultimately failing. But the writers opted for an oversimplified morality tale of good vs evil to push their version of feminism into the story where it doesn't belong, at the detriment to the characters and the story to the point it goes against the themes and messages of the source material.

[docholligay]

Immediately after season one

My brain is a puddle out my ears, but hey! Only 400 more words and I'll have managed the 3000! Wish me luck!

This is about 700 words.

Minako wasn’t stupid. She paid attention to things, even when people thought she didn’t. That was part of the game. She paid attention, and she remembered things. Okay, they weren’t the things people thought she should remember, like the capital of…Greece, or whatever, or who the fuck was emporering when, but they were more important than that.

She didn’t get confused. So why now? 

For last three weeks, Minako had felt like she was living in a snowglobe. Tokyo was as it had always been (but it isn’t) and school was boring (I’m forgetting something) and her friends still wrote from London (what was I doing in London?). But just at the edge of her life, she could see a curve, shiny and almost hidden by the falling snow around her. There was something outside, that she could not reach. 

It was like losing a limb, except if you lost a limb, you could point to it and go, “Shit, my leg’s gone,” and whoever you’re sitting there with would go, ‘oh! That fucking sucks!” and they would feel bad for you, because your leg is missing, and everyone can tell your leg is missing. 

“I feel wrong, and incomplete,” didn’t get the same reaction. Just a chuckle and a shrug that being a teenager was hard. 

Minako Aino wasn’t herself. Or, she wasn’t fully herself. Parts of her had been cut out (like a ransom note) and pasted over (worse, the magazine that wrote the note) and nobody else seemed to be able to see it. There was something (someone? someones?) missing from her. She wandered around Tokyo, trying to find it (the thing that wasn’t real, except it was) but it kept running away from her, like a scared stray cat (a cat. Was there a cat? Blending into the fog, white maybe, but no, cats can’t…) 

So Minako Aino rode the subway, and climbed up out of the station, stopping randomly to find the edge of the glass, to find a way to dig under and be free. Sadako from the volleyball team told her she was just being ridiculous and London must have made her weird. (no I’m weirder than London ever dreamed of being) English people are just weird, she said, so it made you weird. (and London was fine Londoners were fine and nothing like Tokyo or Tokyoites but also covered in all the same filter all talking that same mumble) Come to the cafe with us after school, we’re going to get melon parfaits (they don’t sell melon parfaits in London but I remember them anyway because its all the same, because this thing is bad at its job) 

Going crazy was more work than Minako had imagined. 

She almost found it, once. She felt the glass crack beneath her fingers. It nearly gave way. 

As she was walking along some prefecture, by a shrine, she smelled it. The incense. It shouldn’t have meant anything. It’s Japan. It’s lousy with shrines, which she never had an interest in (but you spent so much time here) and the shrines are all lousy with incense (you remember this one, the wood and the slight musk). But she stopped, staring up at it. 

There was a world. A world separate from this one. And she was the same person, only different. She knew different people. She did something. She had something. Life was complicated, aand she dreamed about leaving it constantly. She wanted it back, more than ever. 

The shrine maiden, long black hair, so black it was almost purple in the sunlight, like a raven’s feathers, turned toward her. Her broom stopped. They stared at each other, saying nothing, and Minako felt it. She felt the glass crack. She stepped closer, just one step. This was it. This was the bend in the sky where the dome rested, and if she could just. 

“What?!?!” The shine maiden bellowed, suddenly angry, like she could hear the crack too, like she was trying to hold up that curve of sky Minako desperately wanted to bring down. 

“Nothing.” (everything anything come back we’re almost there take my hand break it break it BREAK IT)

Minako headed back into the fog, to catch the train.

[renatogpadilla]

So much for a Witch:

Lux' goose was well and truly cooked.

Not only was this woman CLEARLY Not Okay™, she also, as it turned out, wasn't even a Mage at all.

"Yeah, the whole 'Witch of the Woods' thing is more of a nickname thing." The catscratchy voice of Isha the not-a-witch said. "People were scared of all my silly little tricks and just stuck that on me, so I just kinda ran with it."

Lux had been in Isha's hut for about an hour now while she calmed down, and so far she had far more questions than answers.

As it turned out, the reason the Mageseekers hadn't bothered with her (beyond being scared shitless, of course) was because she didn't actually do or possess any kind of natural Magic whatsoever.

Random explosions in the woods? Apparently a little contraption called 'Chompers': Small grenades with mechanical teeth that she was quite adept at making. Random bolts of lightning in the middle of a clear-sky night? That was Zapper, the little humming 'gun' of her own invention that shot electricity to paralyze whatever she was cooking for food that day.

As a matter of fact, almost every single thing in the woods that went bump! in the night could be attributed to one of her inventions.

Lux would have been impressed if she hadn't been trying to suppress a panic attack for the last 30 minutes.

The hut itself is nice, though! She thought to distract herself.

Just as scrappy inside as it looked on the outside, it was composed of exactly one big wooden table in the middle of the room, a couch, if you could call it that, and an equally ramshackle excuse of a counter where she kept the cups and other small utensils. Bits of metal trinkets hung around like small chimes with different patterns and little faces painted on them. There was a wooden door (if you could call it that) that Lux assumed led to Isha's room.

All in all, the place had some character for a one-person hut in the middle of the woods.

Still, it wasn't helping that she had been completely wrong about the kind of person she was here to meet. Lux had come to the woods thinking she would meet a kindred spirit. A fellow Mage, seasoned and unflinching, that might maybe teach her how to control her powers!

She had NOT expected to meet a mad tinkerer in the middle of the woods who wasn't even that far from her own age. She was, definitely more chill than when she first met her. Still a little jumpy, but sprawled out on her couch, Isha looked almost... Relaxed? Like there wasn't a worry or care in the world that could get to her.

If nothing else, Lux had to admire the confidence.

"So... Luxanna, right?" Isha's voice was like that of a cat playing with her food... Lux nodded her head.

"Call me Lux." She took a sip from her cup of tea. She was almost afraid to ask what the tea was made of. "And I'm sorry to bother you. I thought I was walking into something entirely different."

"Heh. If I had a nickel."

"Listen, miss Isha-"

"Just Isha's fine. No need to get formal. You're gonna make me feel old."

"Alright... Isha. I can't tell you how imperative it is that nobody knows what I just did. If the secret comes out, it could put my entire family in danger."

"What, the glowy thing? That's all you, though, right?" She answered, sitting up. She put Zapper aside, finally. Lux hadn't noticed at which point it had stopped glowing.

"Well, yes, it is innately mine, but..." How does she even explain it. Isha was definitely not Demacian... "It's not something I can entirely control."

Isha got up and sat on the table (ON the table, mind you) next to her. Definitely close to her age, now that the hood was off. Maybe a year older, tops. From this close, Lux noticed her middle finger on her left hand was mechanical. There was a story there Lux stopped herself from asking.

"Well, I can understand that. So you came out here looking for guidance and found a crazy lady living in the woods! That sounds like it sucks. So what, you tryin' to get rid of the glow?"

That question seemed to strike a nerve... "No! I... I don't think I am... I just want to learn how to control it... How to hide it." Oh, but did she? It was a part of her... But it was so dangerous!

Isha's legs swung from the table carelessly. She didn't say anything, but her eyes said that she wanted to pry. Gods, that violet was PIERCING into Lux's soul...

"Well, you're outta luck there. I can't really help you with that." Magic wasn't her strong suit. She was way better at fixing broken machines than people. Hah! There was a funny thought! Her, of all people, fixing someone! Yeah, sure. That'll be the day... "I know what it's like to walk on eggshells, though. Must feel like shit."

Lux genuinely couldn't tell if she was trying to mock her or make her feel better... And did this girl just... not blink? Ever? She felt under a microscope. She couldn't think of something to say. She just stared at her tea for a little while.

"Have you tried embracing it?"

The words themselves weren't entirely unexpected. But them coming from the girl sitting on the table was a surprise Lux wasn't ready for.

"Well, I've tried to learn what I can. But it's not as simple as deciding I want to glow every second of every day... My family... My older brother, he hunts Mages for a living. He knows about me, but it rends him in two having to choose between his duty and me. If I were to be fully outed, he'd lose everything he's ever worked for. Not to mention we'd both be imprisoned for treason..."

That's right, Lux. Make it about Garen. Don't talk about yourself at all. Why would you? What good is it thinking of yourself that much when others depend on you so much?

Something changed in Isha at that point. "Oh, Gods." She thought to herself. "Overbearing older sibling sworn to hunt you down? Yeah, I know how THAT feels..."

She was beginning to relate to the little glowing girl in her living room... That could be a problem...

But maybe (and she REALLY wished she didn't feel this in the moment) maybe it was something she could fix.

"Tell you what. If you've nowhere to stay tonight, you can sleep on the couch." She said it non-chalantly, but Lux still perked up like a meerkat. Damn, her eyes are HUGE, thought the not-witch.

"I couldn't possibly trouble you."

"it's no trouble. Call it... Professional curiosity." She REALLY wanted to see how much damage that light of hers could cause... Helping the girl was secondary. Yeah. That was it. She was in it for the chaos. That's all it was. When was it ever anything else? "Tomorrow, when you wake up, we can explore that little light of yours."

The words "little light" made something in Lux twist and churn, but she knew Isha meant well. Nevermind what Sylas called her in their own time...

"Is that really right with you? You don't even know me." She HAD to ask... Maybe this was another trap.

"I don't mind either way. I'll be real with you, Flashlight, I've been here a while now and you're the most interesting thing that's happened so far. I REALLY shouldn't get involved with this, but what can I say? I see something go 'boom!' and I just gotta see what makes it tick."

That was... disturbingly reassuring. Lux thought she might be going crazy... But maybe it was just the tea.

"I appreciate it, but my horse will be wondering where I am."

"Suit yourself. Maybe you can bring it around next time."

"Next... time?" Lux was beginning to think Isha might actually want to help. "You're asking me to come back?"

"Sure! Like I said. You're interesting. And I'm nothing if not prodigiously inquisitive." That's right. Big words. Sound important.

"Then I suppose", said Lux, sipping the last of her tea and getting up from the only chair. "I could risk visiting again, if you really want to talk more."

Jinx saw her outside, and made the glowy Demacian girl promise to not tell anyone where she was as she left. Couldn't have anyone interfering with her research, after all... But she'd give Pow-Pow and Fishbones a good polish, just to be safe.

And as Lux left the woods and made it back to Starfire, she wondered if her curiosity was about to lead her into more trouble than it was worth... Or maybe, at the very least, it would lead her to a strange new friend.

And she WAS curious about those little gadgets of hers...

[moldybonessmell]

Sevika character analysis post

Because it feels like everyone's miscaharcterises her and she's being treated only like a "hot mommy" I think I got an aneyrism writing this sentence sorry

// ARCANE spoilers season 1 & 2

So, a little disclaimer, I haven't rewatched season 1 so I might get some stuff wrong from it, feel free to correct me in case I get facts wrong

I want to start from the first impression we get from her. In season one she's a brutal right hand of an undercity mafia basically, a gambler and a card player, smokes, a frequent visitor in brothels (tiktok thinks she and Ambessa fucked the same twink and it changed the course of my life, I feel). She's a brutal and strong fighter. All in all, scary bitch (slay, if I may).

But the other aspect of her charcter in season 1 is that she's ridiculously loyal. She's loyal to Silco like a dog. The way she kept following him even after many many opportunities to get deals with his enemies. What it tells us is that even if she seems like a typical villian, she has a strong moral code. "But what about Vander?" You may ask. Well, her moral code also tells her to support the idea she sees as right. Her and Silco both disagreed on Vander's view, and decided to go their separate way. So even if she's loyal, she's still not going to support someone she doesn't agree with, which distinguishes her from a common minion trope.

In the same loyal theme, I would like to touch upon her relationship with Jinx. Yes, they were openly hostile to each other, but in season 2 Sevika decides to follow Jinx at some point. I have yet to decide if it's just because of Jinx being dear to Silco (a gesture of goodwill) or Sevika actually saw the girl growing up and had warm feelings. I firstly thought Sevika collaborated with Jinx on attack on Cait n Vi just for the sake of revenge (the entire Grey ordeal), but the way she instinctively covered Jinx n Isha with her entire body in this one scene, I fall more on "warm feelings" scale than "cold alliance".

Also don't forget the episode where Jinx gifted Sevika her new hand (which didn't last long but oh well). That was a gesture of goodwill, which is crazy concidering all the curcumstances ngl.

The way Sevika told everyone about Jinx they are not handing over their people even before she knew Jinx was relatively stable or even if she wanted to kill Sevika or not shows really well where her loyalties lie. Whether it was in memory of Silco or Sevika changing to be more like Vander and prioritize community.

And now her relationship with Jinx leads us to a revolution in Piltover. Right after Silco's death Sevika, who has always been a number 2, a right hand, tries to become a leader... but kinda fails. Which is expected. If you folow orders your entire life, it's difficult to make people listen to you even if you have a strong character and morals. And she tries again with leading a revolution against the Piltovian regime.. and fails again. But Jinx somehow has people folowing her without even trying. And Sevika decides to support her in hopes of making Zaun's life easier.

I bet she has complicated feelings about Jinx: maybe some warm ones from seeing her growing up, definitely hatred from all the stuff Jinx did (we still don't know if she knows Jinx killed Silco, right? I bet she figured out tbh), but also the sense of hope for change. And so Sevika becomes a number 2 again. The problem is, this new leader to follow doen't have any ambition or even care about community (she only cares about Isha let's be fr).

And Sevika, who very obviously craves community and connection loses everyone. No Vander, no Silco, and now no Jinx.

But you know what she has? The strong desire to make people's lifes better.

And this is why she doesn't stay back during the Ambessa's attack on Piltover, even tho it's not her, as a zauntie, fight. There's a possibility of Zaun getting in danger (bc let's be honest, Ambessa would just obliterate Zaun in case she reighns) and Sevika stands up for a fight.

And this is why I think she's the perfect candidate to end up in the new Piltover senate.

Tbh the first one would definitely be Ekko with the way he build up his community. Yeah he seems kinda down after all that, but for me personally it's a weak plot to make him all about Jinx in the end, sorry, we need TWO places in the council, you know (on my planet they are both there together)

Sevika tried several times in the past to be a leader and failed, but she still tries again, as her sense of responsibility for her people is stronger than her personal doubts.

(And you know she would have them after whole 2 times oof)

I've seen people on multiple platforms make jokes about Sevika in the council being ridiculous, but I strongly disagree, as you can see. No, she does not have anger issues, Jinx's just annoying/j

All in all, I think she's a very interesting and complex character.

Thank you for reading, feel free to share your thoughts.

[beehunterkisser]

Have you watched the season 2 premieres of Hamster and Gretel?

I HAVE!!! Im assuming you want to know what i thought of em so spoiler warning for any dwampyheads who havent watched it yet. LOOK OUT!!!! also this is long as hell so be careful

Hakuna Ma Kevin

ok first and foremost. the ANIMATION WAS INCREDIBLE I WAS SO SHOCKED.. The budget mustve been crazy everything was so smooth. It really impressed me.. especially the action scenes and the hair movements. it was all super good

his va did a great job of being like annoyingly calm. its so kevin to somehow take a relaxation camp way too seriously (also the fact his life was so ruined by his date with hiromi flopping that he had to go on a 2 week retreat to find inner peace).

i was actually really interested in how they were gonna tackle that but a timeskip makes sense.

skip past kevins initial extreme misery and leave it up for the audience to make up. i am still curious as to what his friendgroup looks like because. did thjey stop hanging out. ARE hiromi and kevin too awkward to see eachother. anthony and fred are children of divorce. its so sad. well we'll see what happened eventually

It was great to see veronica hill back again too i missed my queen. i hope she finds love on the open sea.

actually speaking of that i was so sure that that was gonna be the boat from that sinking feeling and it was going to change the trajectory of the dwampyverse timeline forever but i think that was just a tease or a really really vague reference

the villain was also incredibly funny. great voicework too im sure it was some guest voice or something that i just dont recognize because it just feels that way to me.

great guy hope he comes back. and the reocurring THERE ARE NO LAWS ON INTERATIONAL WATERS BABY was actually funny.

also i cant not mention the CANON DWAMPYVERSE LESBIANS were BACK BABY women FIND EACHOTHER AT CLAM FEASTS ITS REAL AND TRUE.

it really made me happy to see that especially since i was so positive that we werent gonne get any rep from dwampyverse but obviously im WRONG and there are 2 beautiful women loving eachother and eating clams out there.

he played it so cool too. an ally.

I was almost disappointed the song was so early because i wanted a dramatic clam musical number but thats literally minimal complaint i have about that episode because it was such a strong opener.

also congrats to the newlyweds lunchlady and piano key vendor i think they will have a long lasting and beautiful relationship.

also when i saw those 2 old man leaving i was like wow are we getting a double whammy with gays but that was just a cameo. next time though

The Great American Telenovella

THE RETURN OF MY QUEEN. the opening in the hospital made me think it was gonna go in a completely different direction.

Both of these episodes had the songs super early on interestingly enough. i didnt even realise the Fresas De Amor theme song was THE song of the episode. i thought it was just a jingle..

i was really happy that we got a carolina-centered (well a stretch but she was there a lot) episode. i really like her.

the animation was back to normal in this episode too which was a little sad and maybe skewed my opinion of the episode a little bit but not TOO much. i think.

despite being tricked on where the episode was going the gimmick with making fun of telenovella tropes was really really fun.

it felt almost like a rarity investigates type thing where they get really into character trope LOL

the first lady they interrogated (THE VILLAIN IS THE VILLAIN!!) had such a great design too i really like her.. the whole bit with her abandoning the show to become a taco crunchies commercial star was great too she gagged me.

and also her being like ok ill just sit here and watch all my personal belongings burn. I giggled..i cant lie..i did giggle a little...

ok i cannot dance around it any longer but THE RETURN OF LA CEBOLLA. I REALLY DIDNT THINK ITD BE THIS EARLY I WAS SO HAPPY.

i saw her in the back as the lunchlady and i knew everything was going to be ok.. I was safe in her hands..

also her powers were used super clever i really enjoyed the Onion Fists. and also the dramatic shot of hamster getting concussed by an onion.

this kind of goes back to me being shocked the telenovella intro was the episodes song because i was really hoping we'd get another la cebolla number akin to fighting facial hair again

i also get another shot of her lying in a hospital bed. the one from her song is literally one of my favourite pictures ever so its great to have another equally as bizarre one

shes definitely maybe my FAVOURITE hng villain so it was great to see her again.

im biased so i wished she had gotten more time to shine but also i think that entire scene with hamster pretending to be her son la cebollito.

it was really funny karina did great with the line delivery there. i loved how she was like But why are you so small!??!?!?! i love that she runs on telenovella logic. a true method actor

i really did enjoy that episode but hakuna ma kevin really felt like the stronger episode to me maybe SOLEY because of the animation. im an artist im easily pleased. they cant just tease me with god tier animated hng and then rip it from my hands as soon as i get it. its ok...ill get over it..ill forget it soon... (single tear falls from my eye)

I HOPE THAT WAS READABLE i might do more of these for the rest of the episodes as they release its actually really fun. we;re so back. hng season 2 Is already peak. Its my favourite dwampy show for a reason. i am hng strongest warrior. WERE SO BACK

[folklore-barnes]

Grotesquerie 1x08 | 1x09

Thoughts

We need to discuss how Redd used the word “ritual” twice in her scene with Marshall, and then later used it again when talking to Lois. Like????

I needed Megan to murder that nasty man so bad. I was so ready to ride at dawn for her, but thankfully Lois took care of it, and it was so satisfying.

Marshall is so diabolical, pls😭. Whisphering in Lois' ear that he wanted her to “fucking die” was insane. And then calling her a c***???? Like ik we're using that word a little more lightly these days (I still can't bring myself to say it or even write it), but the way he said it was crazy. Like he really meant every bit of what he said. I'm giving all the flowers of the world to Courtney B. Vance.

I wanted to be suspicious of the psychiatrist, but he looked so nice, like I could not see an ounce of evil in his eyes. And that's precisely why a part of me still believes there's something wrong with him.

I loved the confirmation that Megan was possessed in Lois' dream because I love being right.

Lois and Megan's chemistry still intact. You love to see it.

Doctor Charlie looking a little worried when Lois said that she heard everything, like... sir what are you hiding? A part of me thinks that he's obviously very evil, and another part of me thinks he said freaky things to Lois while she was asleep and maybe that's why she pictured him as freaky in her dream. Which would explain why he seemed to look at her with desire when he approached her the second time.

Maisie started off creepy, but when just got really endearing and funny, but with some creepiness still lingering.

I could feel Merritt's disdain towards Lois through the screen. Oh, Raven Godwin, the queen that you are.

Guys... wdym Merritt was in a cult?🧍🏽‍♀️

I'm sorry but Lois being in a coma 'cause of COVID out of all things was so stupid to me. Like I genuinely thought it would've been something bigger that could've been possibly related to the story, so it was a little disappointing to know that it was because of that.

Redd wanting to go to the same place that Lois suggested she'd move away too pissed me off so bad. Like okay, so now you want everything Lois wants or has??? That aside, I love Redd idc. She's so wholesome.

That last scene of Ep 9 was so weird and satisfying at the same time. Like a part of me is questioning that reality as well, especially 'cause Ryan mentioned there'd be more than one “reset” in the last episodes. But another part of me thought that Megan and that asshole were saying it wasn't real to use her former state against her and confuse her, so she wouldn't do anything. And ALSO???? That Justin guy was repeating the same thing that the old man said in the conference the psychiatrist had attended to. What the hell was that about???

The cross in the knife that Megan cut Lois has me wondering a lot 'cause wth was that about as well.

In conclusion, I'd lie to you if I said I wasn't expecting something else. I was expecting them to wrap it up a little bit quicker and for us to see more than one of the crimes. But looking back at it, I'm glad they didn't because now it makes even more sense for them to have a second season like Ryan mentioned because there'd still so many things to wonder about. I know some folks have been saying that it was boring after the twist and I understand where they're coming from, but I'm glad that they took some time to show us Lois coming to terms with her new reality, trying to make sense of it and dealing with the people in her life that were affected by her bad decisions. That led to some great acting performances from all of the main cast members, especially Niecy, Courtney, Raven and Micaela, who we got to see the most on the screen. I also think there's a lot more going on than we think, so I'm very intrigued to see what that's about.

Teaser

At first I just thought the three men are guilty. But there's no way they're telling us that in the teaser, so my guess is Ed and Marshall will be framed or are doing some sus activity that's being misunderstood or is not as bad as what the actual brains of the operation is doing. I have no idea.

Creepy dude in the shadow looks a lot like Charlie and the shot that is shown after hints at it. It's making him look hella sus, but a part of me thinks there's no way they're making it that obvious. So we'll see...

[whateverisbeautiful]

Are u going to do a Richonne in Retrospect for TOWL? How do you feel about the show breaking up the friendship with Michonne and Maggie? How do you think Richonne would react to Daryl leaving to find them? What do you think about a TWD season 12?

Thanks for these questions! I hadn’t thought about doing Richonne in Retrospect for TOWL. I’m really looking forward to rewatching TOWL when it comes to Nextflix next month tho and since it’s been a minute since my last rewatch I know watching it again will stir up even more thoughts and observations than the hundreds I’ve already had. Depending on what additional thoughts come to me I know I probably won’t be able to resist putting it in writing and sharing it here. 😊 Wrote out my response to the rest of the questions below ⬇️💗:

How do you feel about the show breaking up the friendship with Michonne and Maggie?

When it comes to Michonne and Maggie, I think it was definitely sad to see the sour note that ended on because they did seem to have a sweet friendship at one point. They could have been a real support system to each other as they navigated raising sons who both (at the time) weren’t getting to have their fathers in their lives.

However, when some of us say that team family sorta stopped feeling like family at some point, I think Maggie is an example of that as someone who still loved the group but definitely branched off into other territories. Which is fine, it’s just sad thatshe didn’t even want to inform Michonne about her going off to establish community elsewhere and that their friendship remained fractured.

I stand by thinking that Maggie had every right to feel hurt that Rick made the executive decision to spare Negan. Where Maggie loses me tho, is in how she went about navigating her hurt by going behind Rick and Michonne’s back. If Maggie had stayed post-Rick’s departure, I’d be curious how Michonne and Maggie would or wouldn’t reconcile their friendship after everything that went down.

How do you think Richonne would react to Daryl leaving to find them?

I might be wrong but I think I saw some people clarify that Daryl hadn’t left at the end of TWD with the primary goal of looking for Rick and Michonne but instead was on some mission from Maggie? And during his travels, he told Judith he’ll be on the lookout for her parents as well? I only saw the series finale once and none of the other spin-offs so I really don’t know the specifics with that. But either way, I believe Daryl was hoping to potentially locate them while he was out and I think Rick and Michonne would appreciate that Daryl wanted to find them.

I think if he’s been gone for a lot longer than expected, they’d worry about him and they’d want him to come back home. But Rick and Michonne would know that they need to stay home with their kids and they’d probably trust that Carol will be successful in finding him. Maybe someone can fill me in - when Carol reunites with Daryl in their show do they at all imply that she knows Rick and Michonne are back home? 

What do you think about a TWD season 12?

I wouldn't be crazy about a TWD Season 12. I would watch for Rick and Michonne but I personally think it would be a better idea to wrap everything up with a TOWL Season 2 instead. And I don’t just think that cuz I'm biased about Richonne even tho I am biased about Richonne. 😋

I think TWD already has such a reputation as neverending and a lot of people are weary about this franchise not knowing when to hang it up. A Season 12 will attract the most loyal in their fanbase but would likely be viewed negatively overall. Especially if they just repeat some of the bad habits new TWD developed.

But if they did a TOWL Season 2 where they maybe make it 8-10 eps instead of 6 and they keep Rick and Michonne the main characters at the forefront while including familiar faces from the TWD cast, that could have a more successful result imo. Rather than feel like a stale continuation, TOWL was a refreshing improvement and promoting a season 2 that incorporates important TWD characters could feel more fresh and exciting than stale and drawn out.

As talented as the TWD ensemble is and has been since the start, Rick Grimes is the franchise’s ultimate protagonist and so ensuring that the season is still built around him and Michonne will keep the story focused and grounded. That'd be key - TOWL season 2 still should be Rick and Michonne's and the cast shouldn’t be bloated with a hodgepodge of characters and storylines. I know expanding and continuing the TWDU has become the network’s priority so I doubt that they’d want to wrap everything up or even be able to wrap everything up in a TOWL season 2 now that timelines and locations are so widespread. But in my mind that'd be a good way to close out the franchise. Let Rick and Michonne band with their family to take on one last major threat (a threat that should feel unique and not just a rehashing of former big bads) and save the world one last time.

If they can do that in a way that includes tight compelling storytelling from beginning to end, I’d want that. Especially just to be able to know for certain that this story is officially closed and the actors can get their flowers for playing roles that saw a confirmed beginning, middle, and end (and end doesn’t mean death, I gotta just make sure I put that out there lol. Cuz I only want Rick and Michonne to return if they get to both live long lives). But if not, then TOWL Season One’s final note is great as is. 👌🏽

[ghostnotoast]

I'm having withdrawal symptoms from waiting for the new episode to come out, and this has been buzzing around my head since this part came out (also I wanna talk about my wife Lily)

Relistening to this part twice made me cry I'm not even gonna lie but weirdly enough it made me think of the end of season 1 where John gets a taste of being the king for a split second but then chooses to go back to Arthur. After he returns, he says:

"But it was in that time in the hospital, that month alone. Trapped in this body without you, when something changed"

"I found meaning. I found that the challenges of life within the boundaries of death were not only acceptable, but could be meaningful. That without a purpose I could forge my own. Is that humanity?"

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was Lily who was fully responsible for giving John humanity - if anything, that's the mistake Arthur makes in season 3 when comparing John to Yellow (which John calls him out for). It was Arthur who laid out the pieces, and Lily was basically the one to make it click.

Buttt I think reducing John's reason for humanity to only one thing is almost a disservice- because developing a sense of self is so much more complex than that.

It was Arthur's love, it was the stories and thoughts he would share with John, it was being in awe of seeing trees and nature again after so long of living in the dark, it was hearing music, it was listening to the radio, it was the joy he felt after they complished something and he was finally able to feel something other than fear, it was seeing the wraith help them, it was holding a cute baby and picturing her future as a pianist, it was seeing her mother and recognising that she had just lost something priceless, it was having to hold onto hope that anyone is capable of redemption, it was defending and having empathy for the widow despite what Arthur had said.

The last moment is paralleled in season 3 with their conversation about Yellow. Listening to all these makes me realise just how much Yellow missed out on.

Arthur no doubt played a massive role in helping John find humanity and meaning, but honesty? I don't know if purely being with Arthur is what made John who he is. John himself has a conscious and had to make decisions on his own and, on multiple occasions, fights Arthur about ideology with basically little to no outside influence (e.g, their infamous first divorce).

Despite all that though, I still do think Arthur was one of the biggest reasons, I mean just look at Yellow 😭 I'll write an entire essay about him one day

But this entire yap session was basically me trying to imagine what exactly was so special about that month at the hospital because let's be real if I were John I would go crazy BUT sometimes i just imagine John being there, in a hospital without Arthur, being able to do nothing but think

He thinks about the bright clear blue sky he saw, a bird that landed on the windowsill when they were at the library, he thinks about how alive this world is compared to where he came from, he thinks about the radio that's playing, he thinks about the piano, and then he thinks about Arthur

And I imagine he looks at Lily, at her tending to them, at her chatting to them, at her turning on the radio for them so they're not bored and even though people would call all these extra bits of care pointless - she does it anyway, and she does it for them, and John is there to witness this, and that's the moment where it clicks.

I imagine it sort of being like being moved back to see a finished puzzle and finally understanding what you've been making this entire time after spending so long up close looking at individual pieces

And I think that's what the witch didn't understand about John's story. Lily's care was the climax of John becoming John, and even though John acknowledges that for her it was probably another Tuesday - it still doesn't dampen the fondness and love he has for her, he just loves for the sake of it

[pearlescent-poppies]

Hello Hello Hello!!!!

And welcome to my 12 Days Of Christmas event!!!

What is this?

Well I’m so glad you asked!

I have four wonderful, incredible, and amazing friends (@theseusmc, @tazzomi, @valeriistars, @starrysilv3rse) I was trying to figure out how to give Christmas gifts seeing as they’re online and I came up with this: For the 12 days leading up to Christmas I’m posting a fic of one of their top three favourite (mcyt, because you know how we do it over here) ships! Each fic also has a “prompt” and they’ll get more and more Christmasy as time goes on!

I felt so smart coming up with this, and honestly I still think it’s brilliant. 12/4=3 after all so really it couldn’t have been more perfect! Whoever said gays can’t do math was clearly wrong (lol).

To my friends: I sincerely hope you all enjoy this, it was so fun for me to create and despite how absolutely suspicious I’ve been I hope you didn’t catch on too much. I’ve been excited to start posting this since right before Halloween when I came up with it on a call! I mean- it only felt right to give you guys a bunch of silly fics since I’ve become a much better writer thanks to your help. And- I know I say it all the time, but I really do love you guys so very much and I hope this silly little thing I put together can further prove just how much I mean it. You all mean the world to me <3

To everyone else: I hope you enjoy the Christmasy fics and the excitement of daily posting which is crazy! So crazy actually! Any support means the world to me and if you did enjoy, I would really appreciate either comments or reblogs on here or on AO3. Share your thoughts with me! I live for that.

Anyways, without further ado I give you:

GemPearl: Snowball Fight

For: @tazzomi

I hope you enjoy this Tazz! And if you don’t, don’t tell me /vsilly

(Fic underneath the cut)

“Pearl, Pearl, Pearl, Pearl!” Gem runs up to her girlfriend excitedly. The Christmas season is getting underway and Hermitcraft has just seen its first snow. Snow has always been the elf’s favourite weather, and she wanted to celebrate the first snowfall with her favourite person in the whole world.

“Yes, Gem?” Pearl giggles. She’s been waiting for Gem to come bug her all morning.

“It snowed! It finally snowed!” she shouts excitedly as she bounces on her heels.

“It did!” She matches Gem’s enthusiasm. Pearl watches lovingly as Gem waves her hands around in her elation. The avian thinks her girlfriend looks especially pretty in this moment, cheeks flushed pink from the cold and bundled up in her green coat. She’d foregone her usual skirt and swapped it for brown trousers, though she looks as beautiful as ever.

The red head takes a deep breath, the air cold in her lungs; when she breathes out it’s with a white puff. “Come celebrate with me?” she asks.

“Of course! I don’t think my base is the place for it though,” Pearl smiles and reaches out to intertwine their hands.

“My base then?”

“Sounds perfect,” Pearl agrees and connects their lips for a chaste moment before they begin their short walk.

———

They had been enjoying the scenery for a while now, hand in hand as they meandered down the paths of Gem’s little kingdom. It’s gorgeous like this in the snow but well- the peace could only last for so long.

Pearl gives her girlfriend an inquisitive look as she lets go of her hand. The taller watches with a small smile as Gem walks off the path and into a much snowier area. When she bends over, back to Pearl, and reaches down, she figures it’s so Gem could feel the snow in her gloved hands.

Colour Pearl surprised when Gem whips around and throws a snowball at her. It hits right in the dead center of her chest just as Gem doubles over in laughter at her shocked expression, “Ha! I got you!” She teases with a shout.

After she recovers, Pearl laughs and darts somewhere opposite Gem, “Oh you’re on,” She starts to make a snowball as fast as she can, but not quick enough before two more hit her in rapid succession.

Then comes Pearl’s first snowball, barely making her mark. It hits the elf’s arm and causes her to squeal. The avian’s wings flutter with her laughter, oh this is so much fun, she thinks; and quickly sets to making more snowballs.

———

They run around pelting snow at each other for a whole half an hour. Smiles never leaving their faces and bright laughter ringing through the area. It’s the best way to spend a day. In the company of their other half, causing chaos, and laughing so much it hurts.

They finally pause, looking at each other with eyes full of adoration as they come down from the rush of the last while.

Though- Pearl does have one last trick up her sleeve. She inches her way steadily towards her girlfriend, trying to will her wings to keep her inconspicuous, as she throws one final snowball with all her might.

Gem doesn’t notice till it’s too late, and the thing is making contact with her face. She falls to the ground, blinking a few times from the impact. It hadn’t been quite hard enough to knock her to the ground, that was the shock more than anything. She’s giggling again soon after though, laying on the ground and letting the cold snow dampen her hair.

“Oh stars! Gem! I’m so sorry!” Pearl shouts and runs over to where the elf is lying on the ground.

As soon as Pearl is close enough Gem pulls her to the ground with her. With Pearl now over top of her and looking more concerned than she should, Gem giggles softly as she cups her face in her hands, “It’s okay! You didn’t mean to. It was fun regardless.”

“But I-” the avian frowns, the tightness of her little headwings giving away just how sorry she is.

“Nuh uh,” Gem says with a fond roll of her eyes. She connects their lips shortly after, a much longer kiss than the one they’d shared over an hour ago. The contact is a warm contrast to the cold surrounding them on all sides. It’s nice, and they both melt into it until it’s broken by too broad smiles and… the trickle of something wet?

Pearl’s mouth forms an o shape as she takes in the sight of blood trickling from Gem’s nose.

“Oh my stars, Gem you’re bleeding,” she whines and wipes at the trail.

“I’m fine! It could’ve been from the cold too, my nose gets dry. You know that!” She brushes it off.

“I think that means it’s time to go inside,” she Pearl sighs and gets off of Gem.

Once they’re both standing and dusted off of snow, Pearl sweeps her into a bridal carry, ignoring Gem’s surprised squeak.

“Pearl! I’m fine!” She laughs even as she wraps her arms around her neck.

“Well what if I just wanna hold my girlfriend then, hm?” She inquires with a raised eyebrow and a partly mischievous grin.

“Guess I can’t complain then,” she sighs and tries not to wipe at her nose, knowing it’ll stain the white gloves she’s wearing.

“Your place?” The brunette asks as she begins walking.

“Mhm, that sounds good. Oh! We can have hot chocolate! Only way to end a snow day y’know,” she hums and lays her head on Pearl’s shoulder. Just because she’s a very strong woman, thank you very much, does not mean she doesn’t want to be carried around by her equally strong girlfriend. That would be silly when Pearl is so warm and comfortable, god she’s gay.

The red head giggles to herself at her own thoughts and winks when Pearl asks her about it. She mutters something along the lines of, ‘Oh just you’, and settles in for the short walk to her castle.

———

Once inside Pearl sets Gem on the couch, then briskly walks to the kitchen. Once there, she fills a kettle with water and sets it on the furnace (which had already been lit) to boil. She also dampens a towel before rejoining Gem who from the looks of it, had just taken off her coat and shoes.

Even with blood running from her poor nose she’s the picture of beauty and elegance. Red curls tied in a braid that falls over her shoulder just right and her off the shoulder shirt that shows off the milky skin of her collarbone and chest area. When she gets closer, she sees the little gold snowflake necklace she’d gifted her girlfriend a while before they’d joined Hermitcraft. She loves her more than words can describe.

“C’mere,” Pearl calls softly, still in the throes of her admiration as she sits down next to Gem. She uses one hand to cup Gem’s face, and one to delicately wipe the blood from her face with the damp towel.

They both sit there in silence, just enjoying the quiet and each other’s presence. Gem’s the one to break first, “Thank you,” she murmurs, “For hanging out with me today and just- well for everything really. I love you Pearlie.”

“I love you too Gemmy, and you don’t need to thank me. I do it because I love you,” she giggles and sets the towel down so she can lean in.

Just as their lips are about to connect again, the kettle starts whistling. Pearl groans dramatically and stands, “We’ll continue this in a second,” she giggles.

After re-entering the kitchen, Pearl expertly takes two matching mugs from a cupboard and pours boiling water in each. Next, she takes chocolate powder mix and stirs both of the drinks together. After topping with marshmallows, they’re good to go!

She takes the mugs in her hands carefully and walks back to where Gem is still sitting. Her girlfriend's eyes light up as she claps excitedly causing Pearl to smile wider. She hands her mug as soon as she’s close enough, and before settling in herself, her mug goes on the coffee table so she can grab a blanket. The fireplace is already burning strong, but the extra fluffy blanket will be a nice layer anyways, especially seeing as they were out in the cold for so long.

Pearl lifts Gem slightly as she sits down. Once her girlfriend is comfortable in her lap, blanket covering both of their legs, and limbs all tangled together, Pearl loosely settles her wings around the both of them. She places a kiss on her cheek and finally takes her own mug in her still cold hands.

Gem hums at the taste of her hot chocolate and melts into Pearl behind her. “This is perfect, I love you,” she says with a smile.

“I love you too, and yeah, it really is.”

They stay like that for the rest of the day, empty cups long discarded in favour of cuddling closer. Warm and safe in the arms of their lover.

[drinkabletoxicdishsoap]

If Dev ever does get redeemed in season 2 (PLEASE WATCH FAIRLY ODD PARENTS A NEW WISH WHEN IT DROPS ON NETFLIX NOVEMBER 14), I NEED to see Jasmine and Dev interact as friends 😭 We know how he feels about Winn (he thinks they’re really cool) and we DEFINITELY knows how he feels about Hazel 💀 but I don’t really think we got any interactions or like any mentions about how he feels about her in like any episode besides maybe him introducing Hazel to everyone?? I could be missing something and if I am please correct me!

In my personal opinion, I feel they’d be gossip besties?? I could definitely be reading into Jasmine’s character wrong and if I am, I apologize but I desperately need interactions with them 💔 they remind me of that one Henry Danger Musical song 😭 I think it’s called You’ll Never Believe What Happened (I’ll copy and paste the lyrics to match them and the situation)

Dev: Sorry it took me so—

Jasmine: Ooh, Dev, you'll never believe what happened!

Dev: No, I know.

Jasmine: There's a musical curse over Dimmadelphia!

Dev: Yeah, I know.

Jasmine: And you'll never believe who did it!

Dev: Irep? (I couldn’t think of a better replacement 😭)

Jasmine: Irep!

Dev: Yeah, I know.

Jasmine: Ooh, Dev, you'll never believe how he did it!

Dev: The speakers.

Jasmine: He took control of the speakers.

Dev: Yeah, I know.

Dev & Jasmine: And then put out a weird kind of frequency and now we have to sing!

Dev: Jasmine!

Jasmine: Yeah?

Dev: Thanks for filling me in.

Jasmine: Sure!

They also remind me of the smartphone hour if we’re going the gossip bestie route:

Jasmine: O-M-G Dev, answer me! Woah, wait until I tell you what I heard! It's too fucked to type. This shit is ripe! Call back, I'll yell you every word.

Dev: Jasmine Tran calling, Jasmine Tran calling, Jasmine Tran calling. Hey!

Jasmine: Oh my God, oh my God, okay so, at the end of last night's party, very end of last night's party, Did you see Rich? (I couldn’t think of a replacement ☹️)

Dev: Oh, I saw Rich.

Jasmine: So he's behaving hazy like a tweakin' junkie, flailing crazy like a freakin' monkey!

Dev: He's gotta learn to handle his high, shouldn't drink so much for a small guy.

Jasmine: Right, but, he wasn't drunk.

Dev: The hell you say, Jasmine?

Jasmine: Yo, he wasn't drunk!

Dev: The hell you say, Jasmine?

Jasmine: No! Because I heard from Whispers Fred (I tried to think of a good replacement), that Rich had barely touched a drop. Which means that you can't blame the things he did on alcohol. It's just so terrible, I don't want to relive it all! But do you want me to tell you?

Dev: Spit it out! Spit it out!

Jasmine: You really want me to tell you?

Dev: Spit it out! Spit it out!

Jasmine: I'll tell you 'cause you are my closest friend!

Dev: No I'm not.

Jasmine: Yeah, I know. But here's what happened at the party's end. Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! Woah! Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! Ohh, I thought I was dreamin', everybody was screamin', when Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!

Sorry for another very long post but thank you so much for reading <3 I hope you have a great day or night!

[thecoolerliauditore]

big post now that the adrenaline is cooled down a bit. thoughts on each team so far.

overall: ohh I really didn't think I would be enraptured again I really didn't think I would be. Like don't get me wrong I'm not one for wanting the series to end or anything but I was very, very happy about the year long break after Secret Life because it was feeling like quite a lot of content to the point where it was overwhelming.

That break was crucial, I think, to the vibes since I don't know if it's just me but the players just feel like they have so much more energy and excitement for the new season. Etho and Mumbo especially are so quirky this session.

The new mechanic is. shrugs. Really no way to judge it yet seeing as we've pretty much barely seen what it can entail. The fact that everyone has six lives though is making me think some of them are gonna be crazy in future sessions cus that's a ridiculously generous number otherwise and I assume Grian doesn't intend for this season to be twice Third Life's length.

EIGHTEEN PLAYERS! EIGHTEEN PLAYERS! Lizzie, Mumbo, Rendog, Gem 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 I don't have much to add I'm just so happy we're finally getting a season with All of Them. Rendog Ren Ren Diggity Dawg I'm so happy. I'm so happy.

The lag on the server looks um ..... ? Aternos lookin ass. I hope it doesnt impact them too much beyond this episode and they get that fixed cus whoagh that is um bad. Joel being soooo fucking angry about it is so funny please never change Joel.

~

Renwood Mound: First of all horrid name but I would be disappointed by anything less sexually suggestive. Second of all please check up on your Treebark mutuals this is a difficult time. Refeeding syndrome might just kill a couple of you I'm so sorry.

I'm not a big Ren/Martyn understander but my dash has been more celebrating their reunion than crying tears of anguish like the other toxic rebounds (ethubs, tango, pearl) that have popped up so I can only assume it's going to be okay we're all gonna make it.

If they do stay as a duo this season is going to be crazy for Martyn specifically I think. He's already gotten the betrayal he wants, he's already achieved the villainous role he so wants to play, and now it's just him and Ren together with no Dogwarts to lead. I genuinely have no idea where this one will go. o7

~

BAM Boys: I really hope the "boys" part stays in the name despite Lizzie joining them at the end for my very specific Lizzie headcanons. It would tickle me.

Anyway we're finally freed from the grasps of blue man and get the Scar/Jimmy team up this time with added Lizzie flavour. I'm very excited and like. I've seen a lot of people doubting this team will go far which confuses me because I don't know if you guys are aware but Scar won last season. And Lizzie, despite her early death in SL, really is no pushover either (she had one of the highest body counts in LL and I wish more people talked about that).

Scar specifically is in a great spot with pretty much full diamond armour already. He gets all giddy while mining and says to himself something like "ooh I get to share some with Jimmy!" which is so sweet to me.

Scar remaking the reputation board from Third Life is actually insane. What is he doing.

All this to say I think this team looks wholesome and I'm optimistic for their future. This could be Jimmy's Mounders. Or it could be Fairy Fort 2 idk let's see.

~

I think Bigb's possessed again.

~

The Hobbits(???): Hilarious to me that they stole Flower Husbands' original branding. Anyway Grumbo is back idk if I know them well enough to make a statement but I'm mentally chucking them into the toxic rebound box in my head just to get the number up.

This is the POV I've seen the least of but they seem fun. I wonder if being out of the horrific environment that was the Southlanders will do any good for Grumbo's relationship. Skizz being there also tends to bring the mood up 400% (unless it's Dogwarts).

~

Joel & Gem: IM SO EXCITED. This is pretty much the Bdubs/Joel team-up I wanted originally but now we get Ethubs too which is even more awesome for me. Very cringe take from me but they are both shounen anime.

Despite what Scott says I really don't think they'll "spontaneously combust". They're both high energy and aggressive but historically loyal to the people who accept them, the sample rate for Gem is not exactly scientifically viable but. Vaguely gestures to all of Secret Life.

I kind of wanna see Gem kill Pearl.

~

Whatever the fuck the Ethubs + Tango team is called: Why.

No like seriously Tango I thought you hated these bitches why are you third wheeling them. He's also surprisingly Bdubspilled like he sides with him on the horse thing and tries to warn Bdubs about Etho lying later. Like, don't get me wrong I really don't think Tango has spite for Bdubs comparable to like. Pearl for Scott for example but he certainly isn't fond of him after he um Fucking Murdered Him and was completely unapologetic.

I'm not really a Tango guy so I can't speak on what's going on inside his head regarding that it's just. Interesting to observe. At least the brief ranchers interaction was cute (and really funny to see in the background of ethubs yelling at eachother).

Anyway Ethubs are insane. It's so funny to me that their horse argument literally lasted an entire in game day.

It's fun for me specifically because I always viewed Secret Life as somewhat of a soft end/reboot point for the series for multiple reasons - the year long hiatus, scars win bookending things really well, pearl and scotts arcs wrapping up (oh how naive) and, of course, the conclusion ethubs reached.

I think I've made a post before about how beautiful of an ending SL is for Ethubs. The distance allowing them to overcome their own personal issues with Bdubs learning he's capable and to care for people who aren't himself or Etho and Etho learning relationships don't have to be minefields, leading into HC10 where Bdubs moves into the rural countryside away from everything and Etho hanging out with his new coworkers at the post office. They can still talk and visit, of course, but the time away from eachother does them wonders and adds a bit of hope for how they will be in the future.

So how should I even fucking feel about Etho pulling a Limited Life and almost killing Bdubs for a prank. Or Etho asking Bdubs what he's done for him. Or Etho in general being a little shit about the horse thing and Bdubs being equally stubborn.

Bdubs even kinda?? Talks like they're a couple who've gone to therapy with the "I should express how I feel and how I feel is.." and the way he catches himself when he's halfway through yelling. Like I'm not insane you guys hear it too right.

Like don't get me wrong I'm very stuck in my ways of insisting Ethubs isn't really toxic, at least not anymore, but I can totally see someone else being horrified by them and I would cheer them on for it. This episode is especially going to be horrible for that person. At least for me it seems like Bdubs' character development is very real i.e. him rejecting Etho's chestplate with the classic "I can take care of myself", a stark contrast to LL/DL Bdubs and he bites back when Etho is weird.

I have hope for Ethubs is what I'm trying to say and it's totallyyyy not because they're my first ship and I'm biased. I need to figure out what's wrong with Etho and why he's doing this. I saw a post that theorized Etho wanted Bdubs to get mad at him and kill him this season which I'm rotating a bit but I'll have to keep watching. Ethubs girls we're in for it we really are. Tango girls I'm um sorry.

~

PICS / the Islanders: My 13th reason why.

Trying to not repeat too much here from whatever happened to me emotionally last night but this is what hell looks like. It's what I expected but like. DAMN. I wasn't expecting it to be. That bad.

Seeing a lot of people say that the team is just. Pearl, The Horrors and Impulse who is just 🧍‍♂️and I don't think that's completely wrong or anything however ☝️I must say that Impulse continues to frighten me and him being here is making me personally shake like a chihuahua. Like I can't really explain his character if you put a gun to my head I just think the guy might have some issues communicating emotions and prefers to hold grudges/be passive aggressive like with the psychological horror that was the impdubs DL POV and I can't imagine him being particularly Good for Pearl. Also he's done several insane things in the past e.g. the Bdubs grudge, laughing at Tango when he tries to kill himself in SL, being excited(??) for gem to kill him in SL, trying to kill Skizz in SL wow wait maybe it's just proximity to gem and scott that fucks this guy up. Idk though I don't trust his ass.

Anyway. Yes like we are all Martyn Inthelittlewooding it up for Pearl in here. I have so many somewhat misogynistic fantasies in my head about her being saved by Gem or Bdubs or Joel or Bigb for that matter. Emotionally that's what I would want. HOWEVER I don't think that would actually be anything that would help Pearl in fact I think she'd just run back to her team because she's loyal like that. So now I kind of just want to see the consequences of her actions. Whittle her down to nothing 💥💥💥💥💥It would break me it genuinely would.

Cleo fucking catching herself and correcting "trauma" to "damage" mid sentence is insane can we kill. can we kill them.

So yeah um I'm excited for this season

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

IG this might be the wrong blog to ask (do you have a main?) but what are some things you hate about the show/fandom that don’t relate to Zutara? Is “The Great Divide” really that bad? The comics? The Legend of Korra?

Okay, let's split these in categories

What I dislike about the original show

How we never really see much about the cultures of the Air Nomads and Water Tribes, and that the planned episode about Aang's parents was scrapped.

How Ty Lee basically has no arc and just went from "Hates being part of a matched set" to "Happily part of a matched set."

How Toph didn't really get any resolution with her parents, be it a reconciliation or a decision to cut contact like Zuko did with Ozai.

How the Lion Turtle wasnot introduced much earlier and instead used a Deux Ex Machina. We all know Aang won't kill Ozai, guys, you don't have to pretent, just let us know there's something Aang can to do avoid it and go revealing stuff about energybending little by little, then give us the final piece of the puzzle in the finale.

How the White Lotus was clearly a retcon that stopped making any sense after season two and that they're actually pretty fucking useless when you think about it.

How the show basically forgot that Iroh was very much a villain in season one, and for most of his life, therefore he has no right to call Azula crazy and dismiss her as a lost cause.

How Iroh says it wouldn't be right for him to kill Ozai, even if he could, because history would just see it as just a brother killing another brother for power, then IMMEDIATELY sending his 16-year-old nephew to a battle to the death with his 14-year-old niece - all while the White Lotus FINALLY decides to do SOMETHING and frees Ba Sing Se...

...Which looks horrible for Iroh when we think "Oh shit, last time he tried to capture it because he thought it was his destiny, his son died, and now he sent his nephew to a battle in which nearly dies and gets another scar while he's off trying to free that same city because of destiny again." (Seriously, when it comes to Ba Sing Se, don't let Iroh do ANYTHING other run a tea-shop in it. Somehow it always shows the ugly side of his personality).

How "Sokka's Master" is really an episode that did not need to exist at all because while Sokka had always wanted to be a warrior, he never really expressed any insecurity about being a non-bender and was only ever teased about it once. It just felt like an obligatory "The dude with no powers is important too!" episode and not a natural stepping stone of the narrative.

As for "The Great Divide" it is a pretty boring episode... but it's not as bad as people say. I don't think the original Avatar had any episodes in which nothing is important or at least creative and/or cool. I like the music in it, the world-building is kind of neat, the theme of helping refugees is pretty coherent with a show about war, and the animation changes when we are told the versions of the story on what these people hate each other was pretty cool.

What I dislike about the novelizations of the show

While some of the attempts of exploring how characters felt in some scenes really works and provides some interesting interpretations, others just fall completely flat and feel a bit OOC.

What I dislike about The Lost Adventures comics

That ridiculous story with Katara being way too pushy with Aang's training for no reason and refusing to communicate with him when he wants to talk about the kiss on the day of the invasion. She would never treat him like this.

What I dislike about the Azula In The Spirit Temple comic

The bits that remind me "Oh yeah, that's supposed to be set in the same universe of the Yang comics." Other than that, it is a pretty good stand-alone story and it allowed Azula to be turned into a deeply offensive stereotype about the mentally ill.

What I dislike about (most of) the comics and Korra

Nearly everything. Seriously, I don't know how the reception to these were mostly mixed instead of on the same level of hatred the fandom has to the Shyaman movie. The character assassination and lack of understanding of what made the original story good is EXACTLY the same, yet because it had Bryke's approval/involvement people expect me to take it as canon and it's NOT gonna happen.

What I dislike about the Netflix version

It exists. I'm sick of all the bullshit, souless remakes/reboots that are clearly just crash-grabs for companies that completely forgot they can make money AND art at the same time. I especially hate the trend of beautiful 2D animation being replaced with cheap cosplays, ugly CGI and poor lighting to pretend it is the "dark, mature version of the story"

What I dislike about the fandom itself

To make a really, really, REALLY long list very short and not really rank them 'cause it'd take forever:

1 - The blatant ableism towards Toph and Azula.

2 - The constant delusion about Avatar being "just like Game Of Thrones" and "not a kid's show."

3 - The people still insisting that the Netflix version, Korra, and the comics are good or "not that bad."

4 - The weird way some people act like Zuko was the first character to ever get a redemption arc and that everyone who does it now is taking inspiration from it.

5 - The refusal to accept that uncle Iroh was never perfect, both due to oversight of the writers AND deliberate narrative choices.

6 - The people that act like the show was trash just because of a few bad choices.

7 - The people that act like the show is perfect.

8 - The people that act like Bryke's interpretations are the only ones that matter.

9 - The inability to not harrass others for not agreeing with them.

10 - The weird, stupid people that act like Sozin and Azulon were not that bad and not just as power-hungry, racist and cruel as Ozai.

11 - The people that don't understand how Aang killing Ozai would be character assassination AND a deep betrayal of the themes and morals of the story.

12 - The people that keep losing their shit if you want a character like Azula to have a redemption arc because it'd "make Zuko's less especial" (it wouldn't, and I know that because HE WASN'T THE ONLY CHARACTER TO GET REDEEMED IN THE STORY, hell, he wasn't even the first).

13 - The downright offensive and disgusting need the fandom feels of sweeping Zuko's mistakes under the rug, no matter how bad they are, because they think he needs to be perfect otherwise he was not truly a victim of abuse.

14 - The way people just full on make shit up to support their headcanons, ships and theories.

15 - The blatant racism.

[theothergal]

As a certified Season 3 costumes hater, I think they did Kate especially dirty. In my opinion, Kate's outfits in Season 2 outshine all other outfits in the whole Bridgerton.

Meanwhile, in Season 3, they gave her these muted, drab dresses that don't do her justice. Her worst outfit in Season 2 Is still 10 times better than any of these, in my opinion.

Actually, almost all the costumes in Season 3 look bad: tacky, cheap looking and often not even vaguely regency inspired.

Only Penelope looked nice (and sporadically, Francesca and Alice Mondrich), and even then, I wasn't crazy about her outfits, I only really liked a couple of them.

Talking about Kate's outfits, though, they are lucky that Simone's face card saved the whole situation, otherwhise most of these costumes would be indefendible, and I say this as somebody with very bad taste, clothing wise.

The first one Is...bah. Just bah. Stiff looking, not obscenely ugly, not too nice either.

The red spencer and blue dress combo was actually, cute, especially since it actually has COLOR, something really lacking in Kate's dresses this season. If only It had lasted for more than 3 seconds...

The saree inspired dress leaves me with mixed opinions. I don't hate the cut (though I've heard indian reviewers say that the draping Is nothing like a saree), but the colors don't do It.

The peacock silver overdress Is... something. Now, unlike other people, I won't complain that It looks too matronly, even thought It does, because I actually like this style. It's the rest that bothers me. The ugly plastic-y fabric, the colors that make poor Simone look ashy, the peacock prints that don't match the rest of the outfit...Terrible, truly terrible.

That gown they had her wear at Polin's engagement party Is also a big no-no for me. First, the color doesn't flatter her at all. Second, It looks way too modern even for Bridgerton's standards. I swear, I've seen something similar in that shopping center close to my former high school, sold for 20 euros. And those thin straps bother me. Don't know why, they just do.

The outfit she wears the night before Polin's wedding also leaves me with mixed opinions. The overdress Is nice, but the fabric of the dress Is weird, I cannot quite point out what Is wrong, I simply don't like It.

The dress she wears for Polin's wedding Is my least favorite. Sorry, I hate It. I hate the sheer fabric on the top and the sleeves, I hate that silhouette, I hate those hideous prints. And also the makeup.

The nightswear Is very cute, nothing bad to say about it. Again, if only we saw It for more than 3 seconds...

[zenmastercharles]

Hypothetical Cobra Kai Musical Songs (Season 3)

Sorry this took a while, school was cooking me like turkey. 

What if Cobra Kai was or had a Musical? Well, this is what I think a couple of the songs in Season 3 would be like.

First up is DEFINITELY a song about the community reacting to the whole karate war situation. It ranges from negative takes to positive takes, basically a bunch of random people singing and maybe some of the secondary characters can throw in their two cents. As a base, think Hatchet Town from Nerdy Prudes Must Die. Wow, crazy how that’s not the first time I’ll be referencing NPMD.The second to last verse is a mashup of everyone else’s. Anyway, I’m thinking maybe Johnny can have the last verse as he laments over what could’ve possibly gone so wrong. I’d just call it Aftermath, after the episode. 

Now, Episode 1 has a ton of moments that could be musicalified, but I narrowed it down to just two, the second of which being a reprise of Fall Again from Season 2, but this time sung about and to Miguel as he’s in comatose.

Okay so, I completely forgot that Miguel wakes up from his coma in Episode 1, I had a song idea for that I guess I can just put it here. It’s like Courage in Me (Christina Vee Cover) from the Miraculous Movie had a baby with Scarface. It’s a blood-pumping, dance-rock track about Miguel fighting to wake up from the coma, lighting the fire within him to win in the mind tournament his comatose-ness was portrayed as. I’d call it Power In Me, and yes I know it’s dangerously close to Courage In Me, shush.(Off topic but I’m surprised they haven’t used Scarface on the show yet).

Now, to Episode 2. This episode is kind of all over the place in terms of events, so I was only able to find one place where a song would be appropriate. Remember that hypothetical Kreese solo I mentioned in Season 2. Here it is, at the tail end of the episode. It’s called Black and White, and it’s inspired by Be Prepared and military rock. He basically sings about his world view, about how all their lives they’re told to be good, but good is a matter of perspective. He tells his students that their enemies view themselves as heroes, and them as villains, and that they must shed their weakness like true cobras. It’s basically just Kreese’s villain song.

Hmmm, from what I’m thinking, I can’t come up with a song for Episode 3. This might change as I continue through the doc. For now, just imagine a reprise of Clockwork.

Next is an admittedly odd choice, but it’s a Kumiko song. It’s a ‘Colors of the Wind’-esque song about their past and their connection and how far Daniel’s come. I don’t have many thoughts on it and honestly it’s just a song I put in because 1, I feel like this musical’s become too rock heavy, and 2, I didn’t want to leave two episodes in a row songless.

However, what I will NOT call an odd choice is my next song, a Chozen solo. It’s basically Chozen telling Daniel about Miyagi’s forced-to-kill scenarios, and teaching him how to do pressure points. He explains that defense takes many forms. I’d probably name it True Devotion, but it’d be one of those songs where the name doesn’t pop up in the actual song because I’m not too sure about the name.

HAZBIN HOTEL SEASON 2 LEAK SPOILERS ALERT 

Now, I don’t know where to put this, but I’d really like to fit a Tory villain song somewhere, I mean, she’s a genuine cartoon villain in Seasons 2-3. Her song would be….okay, I know it’s very bad to spread leaks, I myself was pissed after I watched this because I thought it was a fanwork and later realized it was a leak, but it’s just perfect for comparison. It would be almost exactly like Like Gravity from the Hazbin Hotel S2 leaks. I imagine it would have Kreese as ad libs pulling her to the dark side. I’d call it Run Dry, with the lyric “And now the patience well’s run dry”.

ALRIGHT LEAK SPOILERS OVER

Afterwards, a Sam solo taking place after the arcade fight, all about how afraid she feels of Tory after the school fight. She admonishes herself for being too cowardly to save her friend, admits that she’s terrified of being hunted and hurt like that again. She also links fighting Tory to Miguel’s injury, which is just not great for her. It’d probably be similar in genre to Familiar from Steven Universe, a soft, boopy, sad song that makes you feel bad for the gorl. Maybe I’ll call it Frozen, link it with the lyric “Frozen in fear” maybe? Not exactly sure. I’d probably base it on like, the first verse and chorus of Speechless, the hopeless tone of it would be pungent in this song. A unique idea for this is that it’d be short, like a minute and a half, for reasons you will find out later in this post.

And now…for the Binary Bros.

After the arm-breaking thing, you’d expect me to have a song idea for them right. WRONG. I have THREE song ideas for them, but they can’t all coexist because giving them like, 3 songs seems like dragging the issue out. One of them is a duet, and the other two are solos for both of them, so I’ll dive into them now.

The duet first. Kind of off-topic but did you know that Diary of a Wimpy Kid has a musical? Well, there’s a song in this musical called ‘Dear Diary’, and that song has the exact vibe I want for this one. I want it to be both of them lamenting and wondering how their friendship could’ve gotten to this point, and how they both still yearn for each other (platonically or romantically if you’re into the ship), despite being on opposite sides of the karate war. 

It would first show Hawk alone trying to convince himself that what he did was right, but then the mask comes off and he sullenly sings about how much he regrets what he did, and how the nature of his actions in the past few months are slowly starting to set in. It would have remnants of his sonata from Season 2 and it would all be about the regret.

And then Demetri’s verse would kick in, and it would have the structure of Under The Radar, but be as sullen as Hawk’s verse. Demetri is singing that he physically cannot believe that they’ve stooped this low as he looks over old pictures of the two of them, reminiscing on the old days and how good they used to be. He looks inward, thinking about how he could’ve stopped this, how he could’ve helped his friend before he turned to the dark side. 

And then the last chorus would start and it would just be a crushing duet between the two of them, both of them essentially saying the same thing with different words: I miss my friend.

I don’t talk about the visuals of these hypothetical songs enough, let me do it now. The visuals would be of them soaring through the universe, dodging planets and astroids and other astronomical objects to get to each other, which would represent how they’ve overcome every obstacle in their friendship until now. And then they would get to one planet, one half of it is black with the Cobra Kai logo, and the other is white with the Miyagi Do logo, and no matter how much they fly around it, the planet rotates to keep them both on their respective sides. They plant their hands on the planet, and the colors of their sides start to take over their bodies as they passionately sing the final lyrics. And then, when they repeat the last lyric, all of the visuals fade away and it shows them just standing with their heads against the wall, but it’s shown in a split-screen kinda way so it looks like their touching foreheads.  I don’t know if I explained that well enough, but this section is long enough.The song would be called My Other Half. 

On to the solos, first, Demetri’s, a few weeks ago I wrote a Demetri version of All 2 U from Helluva Boss, it’s not perfect but I put my whole writerussy into it. Anyway, I think this hypothetical song would be like a cross between All 2 U and Lost In The Woods from Frozen 2. In my mind, it has the emotional rawness of All 2 U, but the message is a mix of both. You know that one interview where Gianni says that Demetri can’t function without Eli, so I’m taking that and running with it. This song is basically Demetri’s mini-mental breakdown, where the mask comes off and he reveals just how much he has been hurting emotionally, having had his other half ripped away from him. It would have guitars, drums, just like the songs I mentioned as basises, it would be all around depressing. But it would end on a sort of happy determined note of Demetri saying he’ll wait for Eli to come back to him and see the light.The song would literally be called Back To Me. 

And then, Hawk’s solo, Hawk would try a little bit harder to keep the mask on, singing about how this is the right way and he deserves to be strong after everything he’s been through, he needs to be strong after all the ways he’s grown. And then it comes off as he sings, “But what if I’m the monster?” It’s basically everything his verse in My Other Half is but longer. I think it’d be similar to Loser Geek Whatever (casually steals @embryoed’s idea), but like, crossed with Micheal in the Bathroom. I’d just call it Monster. 

WOO finally, that section’s over. God DAMN. After that absolute trio of terror, I think we deserve a fun song.

This next song is called Who Are We, and it’s centered around Johnny, Miguel, and the rest of the soon-to-be Eagle Fang coming up with a cool name. It’s a kooky, chill, pump up fun song of Johnny trying to get the eagles hyped up in hopes that they’ll help him come up with a name. Everyone suggests horrid names. 

And then, next a Carmen solo. It’s basically that moment where she apologizes for blaming Johnny and that she was hurt by what happened. She exposits almost the whole story about their life, how they immigrated in from Mexico because Miguel’s father was a horrible man, and how he’s had complications his whole life and how she’d do anything for him, yada yada. I’d probably call it Historia De Nuestras Vidas, or ‘Story of our Lives’ in Spanish…probably, idk I used Google Translate because I cheated my way through spanish class last year. It’d sound slow and sultry like something you’d hear in a musical episode of a telenovela. Oddly I’d want the verses to sound like the verses in Bum Biddy from Eight Crazy Nights, which is funny as hell. That song just has a really good structure.

After that, a song that takes place in the appeal. It starts out with Kreese pulling a Kreese, waving his ex-military status and PTSD around like a get out of jail free card and claiming that Miyagi-Do started the violence, painting them as the villain and infuriating Daniel and Amanda.Then, Daniel steps in, singing about the true story of how it all started, which not a lot of people actually believe because of Daniel’s history. Then, Johnny interjects, actually supporting Daniel (partially), and sharing about how Kreese’s methods destroyed his life and sent him on a downwards spiral. It devolves into an argument until Miguel shows up, singing the last verse about how he was bullied before he started learning karate, about how there will always be bullies and karate is all about standing up to them. I’d call the song Karate Belongs In Northridge, but the title wouldn’t show up in the song lol.

Then…alright, you’ve had a break from the emotional hits, it’s time for another. 

Robby’s pseudo-villain song, let’s GO. I call it a ‘pseudo-villain’ song because honestly, compared to what I have coming up for this guy, this song is child’s play.

Anyway, it’s basically Crossing the Line from Tangled with more guitars, it takes place after he finds Miguel and Sam kissing, and he’s on his way to Cobra Kai. Like Clockwork, it starts with him singing about everyone who’s screwed him over, starting with Johnny, the sperm donor who abandoned him for years, made a weak attempt to reconnect just to be able to say that he did, and then replaced him with another teenage boy.

And then Miguel, who he felt he could never measure up to for anyone, the boy who took everything away from him.

And then Sam, who made him feel like he could be loved and then it turned out he was basically a placeholder to her.

And finally, the one that stung the most: Daniel. He made Robby feel important and that he had potential, only to throw him away at the slightest inconvenience. 

After that, he launches into the chorus, singing about how he’s putting the walls back up stronger than ever before, about how he’s learned from every betrayal and figured out that he can only trust and look after himself. He’s been the scapegoat for far too long, so he’s taking his life back, and Shifting the Narrative. (That’s the name of the song if you couldn’t already tell, which you probably could)

And then, no more songs. That’s right, Episode 9 doesn’t get a song, because we have to prepare for the next and final song: a Sam-Tory duet (kind of).

It starts with Tory, singing in a similar manner Hawk did when hunting Demetri in Season 2’s finale. She’s singing about how karma’s caught up to Sam and now she pays for everything she’s done. She calls Sam a snob, a nepotism baby, one of those people who thinks the world should all that usual rhetoric she used to throw around to excuse her actions, and Sam’s taking the brunt of her rant and attacks…until she shatters the Miyagi Do picture.

Every memory she’s had of Miyagi flashes through her mind at once, and she gets so pissed off that the trauma literally gets scared and leaves. It’s like an unforgiving, cold rage, which leads me into my next sentence: the reason Frozen is so short is because it’s the first half of this song. And now, we enter the second half: Avalanche. 

I literally wrote up these lyrics:

Every sting, every lesson, every tear, every second wasted petrified and fearing for my life

Every dream, every vision, every nightmarish decision piercing straight through my psyche like a knife

I’ve listened to all your baseless accusations, your bold and faceless condemnation

And it’s built up in my soul with the goal to take control until it all bubbles over like an avalanche

So yeah, this song is intense. It’s Sam saying she is DONE with Tory’s bullshit and beating her ass while singing. Honestly, I’d probably compare it to Stronger Than You in terms of message. Tory thinks she knows exactly who and what Sam is, but she hasn’t even begun to understand who Sam is, everything that she’s been through, everything that’s made her who she is today. And now, she’s going to show her. 

And yeah, that’s the last song of the season. An intense bop about Sam owning tf out of Tory. 

This was honestly the funnest season to conceptualize for so far. I especially liked thinking about Avalanche, if someone takes my idea and makes it a reality, that song is going to be therapeutic. And I do hope I broke some hearts with the trio of terror that is the binary bros’ songs.

These posts got a lot more attention than I though they would. Off topic, but sometime in the near future I’m thinking about writing a kind of Cobra Kai parody/rewrite fanfic, it would exaggerate some plot points for laughs while completely changing others, and I would structure it like a normal TV show (26 episodes per season). It would also be a jukebox musical, probably using the songs I used as basis’ in these post.  Would y’all read that? Let me know. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and as always, if you have suggestions, don’t hesitate to share.