#who else is psyched for season 3

[crazychicke]

moodboards: Sanditon season 3

[cozymochi]

Sorry for asking about the teeth 🤣 I was just extremely curious and won't ask the other question that also popped into my head about his teeth.

I am actually really interested in learning about both Nyoka and Cecil's magics. And just in general. As someone who likes to gush about their characters to my friends, I really like knowing all about characters, especially ones other people have created.

Whatever you're willing to share about them, I'd be very interested in hearing about

other question khjgh ITS FINE I THINK IT’S FUNNY, Thank you and everyone else for the interest 😭😳💖 I probably don’t say that enough I really really do appreciate it. Time to drop important lore on a random post 👍 These are gonna be super paraphrased 😭 one spell is less complicated than the other.

CECILS SIGNATURE SPELL:

“Sorcerers’ Stand-Still”

Renders a person or people frozen in place like a statue unable to move or speak until the caster either releases it, runs out of magic reserves to hold it, or it runs it’s course and wears off on it’s own.

A person is consciously aware that they are frozen in place. There’s no protection qualities here, they’re just stuck. It doesn’t seem like much, but he knows how to use it.

Inspiration: The “Standstill Stone” spell that Cedric used to briefly take over the kingdom in season 4 premiere of Sofia the First.

NYOKAS SIGNATURE SPELL:

“Mark of Evil”

intrusive thoughts the spell

His magically-infused cobra venom can affect someone's mind and remove their morals if he injects it into someone. His magic inflicts tremendous waves of pain and makes it difficult for a victim to think and control their own actions. So long as the spell is active, Nyoka can influence them almost like accomplices for his own means.

It’s not immediately obvious to anyone else that a person is under a spell at all. However, as the effect goes on, the victim becomes more and more openly uncharacteristic, irritable and difficult for Nyoka to steer influence as their psyche continues to fall apart. It’s ideal to release them before it reaches that point. Don’t worry, venom won’t kill this time because magic, but a victim’s memory will be hazy and they will be hurting quite a bit afterwards. 👍 He has more incentive not to use it.

Inspiration: The magic bite Ushari inflicts on Kion at the start of season 3 of the Lion Guard, and the maddening effects it causes from that moment on till the end of the show. (Heavily paraphrased.)

[moonlit-void-to-the-far-unknown]

The itch

An: so I’ve never written for TUA, I think, I haven’t written anything in like a long time cause my brain is made of worms most days, but the new season and mostly five in his new attitude? Personality? His almost soft tired of it all way, gives me the feelings. As a 28 year old women it’s odd that a 68 year old trapped in a 18 year old body works for me like it does but hey, I’ve liked weirder (cough I was in the Hamilton fandom cough) so enjoy this sort of bonding with Lila over the new mundane life and the exhausting reality of having to live it, because I love Lila and hate what they did to her and fives characters with the whole 7 year time line romance. Like why make her a mum of 3 and married to Fives brother just to ruin it like that. But anyway enjoy this weird fic.

Readers power: molecular manipulation, think piper from charmed, overhaul from my hero, uhhh it’s hard to explain but basically it means you can make things explode, freeze people and things by fucking with the molecular structure of said thing.

——————————————————————-

You wanted to scream, to smash things, to burn yours and fives apartment down, it had been six years of calm, six years of learning to enjoy ‘normal’. Six years of working at dead end jobs because you didn’t pass the god damn psych evaluation for the CIA, somehow you are far more ‘unhinged’ than your husband.

You and five spent 30 years together, a decade in an apocalyptic wasteland when you ended up teleported there by mistake, and then 20 years at the commission becoming trained and ruthless assassins. Now, now Five worked doing CIA investigations and you got stuck working at a grocery store gas station. It was calm, it was normal, it was absolute hell on earth and made your skin itch.

So sitting in the parking lot of the play place for your nieces 6th birthday, you didn’t know why you couldn’t make yourself leave your car, five was already here, he had texted you as much, everyone else minus Viktor who was in Canada, and Allison who hasn’t shown her face irl to any of her siblings in the 6 years, you just needed to get out of the car and walk in with the gift you signed from both you and five for Gracie. It was a set of toy weapons, knives like her dads old ones, and a few other random ‘play pretend’ things.

Closing your eyes you leaned your head back against the head rest, taking a deep breath. Almost hitting the gas when the passenger side door opened and slammed closed. Turning eyes wide you saw Lila, the exhausted mothers face blank staring forward

“I just needed a minute, just needed” you nodded

“Take all the minutes you need. I assume it’s like pulling teeth in there with Diego?” Lila nodded sighing loudly

“Fives the same way, just on other stuff, like deciding if he wants to go out to dinner or stay in and order pizza, or if he needs new underwear because the ones he has have so many holes in surprised they still count as underwear, or just simple things like the dishes, like how hard is it to wash a cup, it shouldn’t be as hard as it is, how hard is it to just tell me when you need a quiet night cause work was stressful, and you are exhausted from stupid people all day, i work retail, he acts like I don’t understand being tired of idiots…I just…” you paused looking back out the windshield

“It’s like your skin is on fire and nothing stops the itch of being a once highly skilled assassin who could fuck with peoples molecules and freeze them in time or make them explode?” You nodded looking at her

“I find myself flicking my hands out and remembering I can’t just blow up or freeze people anymore, it’s like an itch and anytime I explain it to five he just…”

“Doesn’t listen? Or doesn’t understand that you are used to how your life was and now that it’s different, it’s not bad but it’s eye burning mundane clock ticking by slower then ever reality?”

Nodding you sighed

“Diego, he wants to listen, he just, from what five always told me he had a hard time understanding others because his brain is just, frazzled and he feels inadequate, how they grew up I guess shaped them in every timeline. Five is just used to being alone he was alone for 30 years before we met, then I popped up and it’s just. I don’t think he gets that sometimes I just need him to..”

“Let you Help with the itching”

You nodded smiling at her

“He just, it’s been a lot, and we haven’t quite got the ‘normal life’ down just yet.” Lila nodded

“It’s not easy in normal marriage land either, 3 kids and a chunky husband who, doesn’t make it easier is….”

“Not helping the itching. Well how about me and you, when the itch gets too bad, we help each other? Maybe find a way to do something, go to a rage room? Do a fighting class something to feel the….rush? Of what we did before. Have Klaus or someone babysit the kids, be me and you and just….”

“Fighting each other like the before days?” You laughed nodding

“Yeah…I miss getting to kick your ass and having you kick mine…”

Lila laughed looking around

“We could start a fight club, you, me, Ben when he gets out of prison. Just….maybe we’ll get used to normal eventually….” You frowned nodding

“You know if you ever need anything, help with the kids, a friend to vent to when Diego is being Diego…I’m not to far from your guys place. I can always swing by, let the munchkin tornados beat up on auntie Y/N.” You smiled at her for all the mess you and her had been in against each other, she had become one of your closest friends and family members through it all.

Soon enough you finally made your way into the building, the screams of children everywhere, the smell of sugar and something faintly child everywhere. You spotted five by the ball pit, speaking with Ben, walking over you hugged five from behind sighing as you rested your forehead against his back

“Hello, love.” You squeezed him in response before looking up and over to Ben

“Ahh Benjamin, free from jail, good to see you didn’t die, love that you still look like you want to murder us all” Ben didn’t laugh, just glared at you before sighing

“Not in the snark mood got it.” You felt five squeeze your arm a bit pulling away from you, making you groan

Turning to fully look at you, he looked you over smiling softly

“How was work?” You looked at him blinking slowly before sighing and planting your forehead on his chest, groaning

“Ahh I see” his hand rubbed your back softly, his other lifting the beer to his lips.

“People are stupid. How hard is it to put a gas nozzle in a car….”

“Apparently impossible if what you tell me says anything” you looked at him nodding before turning to look around

“10 bucks says Diego forgets to put up the piñata like Lila asked him” five laughed slightly

“Nah 20 says Lila has a mental breakdown before cake is served” you looked over to where Lila stood with Gracie helping the young girl fix her party hat,

“Nah I think she has a breakdown after presents when she sees what we got Gracie” five laughed looking down at you, brushing the stray hair from your face, smiling at him you sighed softly again,

it seemed even if you wanted to rip your hair out from the new ‘normal’ reality you all had to live in, even if your skin itched from the need to return back to what life was before somehow, it was nice that you still had small moments, where normal wasn’t so bad, normal birthday parties for your nieces and nephews, seemingly normal holidays, and normal, non murder happy work. As much as you loathed admitting it, sometimes it was nice. Like now, now was nice.

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

The Hypocrisy of Vex'ahlia

Before you all come for me, I am a Vex stan and I will defend her until I die - she is my favorite Critical Role character and I'm so glad we're getting a deeper dive into her psyche.

The complexities of her character cannot be overstated. She has a lot going on under the surface, and the breadcrumbs of her deep-seated insecurities have been there the whole time.

I'm really excited we get to explore those in season 3 through her relationship with Percy, in a way different than what we've seen in the actual play streams. I want to commend the writers for being able to convey so much in so little time.

We are introduced to Vex as a sexy, confident woman who uses her looks and charisma to her advantage. She takes charge most of the time, being the unofficial "leader" of Vox Machina. She presents herself as someone who doesn't really need anyone else and does not care about anyone outside of her brother. Keyleth even comments on this in the first episode, "Vex and Vax only care about themselves".

This, of course, is a complete fabrication, a mask she wears to hide her insecurities. A mask, she wants no one to see through. The irony here is that she can so easily see behind Percy's mask - "Darling, take off the mask". It takes one to know one, after all.

She so badly wants to get underneath Percy's mask, for him to show himself to her fully. There's something inside of her that sees the guilt and shame inside of him and that resonates with her belief that she is deeply broken. Vex truly believes that something must truly be wrong with her. And why wouldn't she? Saundor, who said he knew everything about her, saw this, too, after all.

Saundor says plainly, "you will never be enough."

So it must be true, right?

Why wouldn't something be so wrong with her? It would make sense. Her father carries no love for her, her mother died, and Vax had to sacrifice his life for hers. She knows Vax loves her, and she believes he is the only one who does. Even Kamaljiori, an ancient and all-knowing Sphinx, fed into this during their test when Vax fell: "you have no family left who cares for you".

Her hypocrisy lies in the facade she built as a woman who does not need anyone or anything. She presents herself as someone who does not need the love of others, when in reality, she desperately wants to be loved.

Saundor saw this as well.

Vex longs to love and be loved. And yet, she cannot allow herself to give up her facade and let Percy love her and admit her love for him.

The last person to see through her walls was Saundor, and we know how that went.

What he said really cut her deep, as we see after the Kevdak fight when she brushes off Pike's inquiries about her experience in the fey realm.

As we see her relationship with Percy move from harmless flirting to physical intimacy at the beginning of season 3, we see her embrace the physical closeness to Percy but starts to block him out the moment he wants to cement their relationship. But she can't let herself tell him how she feels because that would mean admitting her heart is his - and that would be doomed to end in tragedy, as Vex admits later in the cave.

Putting up this emotional wall between her and Percy will not give Vex what she wants: love.

Love is that emotional intimacy. Vex loves to point out the importance of love between other people- in season 2, pushing Keyleth to tell Vax how she feels ("it always matters"), assuring Allura that Kima's love for her will help her endure after Vorugal's attack, and putting faith in the rest of Vox Machina.

Vex understands what makes love so special, and how important truth and intimacy are to real, lasting love.

And while she comforts others and pushes them to be vulnerable and embrace love, her own fears prevent her from fully doing the same. It's ironic and sad, how one of the only people who can see through her mask is the one she's pushing away.

Trauma makes hypocrites of us all.

Image credits @blorbologist @aq2003

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

Let’s investigate the new Yellowjackets season 3 photos!

First we have Tai, Van, Jeff, and Shauna at a funeral in the adult timeline, which we can safely assume is a funeral for Nat. Misty and Lottie are notably absent. I am guessing that Misty was not invited, understandably so because she literally killed Natalie. I think Lottie is absent because she 1) also wasn’t invited because she had a hand in Nat’s death and the others are a little scared of her right now, or 2) she is locked up in the psych ward at this point in time. Or maybe Misty and Lottie are there and just out of frame.

There are some other people in the background we’ve never seen before. Maybe these are some of Nat’s past sponsors? Maybe some friends or acquaintances we didn’t know about?

Card❗️draw❗️in❗️the❗️spring/summer❗️All of the characters involved are wearing light clothing, suggesting the weather is still warm and there likely isn’t a justifiable reason to be doing a cannibalism card draw for survival. So, there are two options here: 1) they’re starting to do cannibalistic card draws as a ritual or sacrifice to the wilderness, or 2) they’re drawing cards to decide something else. Maybe they’re drawing cards to see who has to kill Coach Ben?

I believe that’s Mari on the far left, and she maybe just maybe appears to be wearing the Pit Girl nightgown??? Not looking too good for her.

Also notable: Nat appears to no longer be wearing Jackie’s heart necklace in this scene (but she was shown wearing it in the early days of filming S3). What does that mean for the status of her leadership? Who was it given to?

There are some new people we’ve never seen before here. Background extras that get a plot line now like Melissa, Gen, and Krystal from last season?

This photo appears to be the aftermath of that card draw, given that the characters are wearing the same outfits as the previous photo. I am confused by the fact that Nat and Tai are now wearing jackets/shawls that they weren’t wearing before. Did they put them on after the card draw for some reason?

This photo strengthens the theory that this card draw could be related to Coach Ben, especially considering that Nat and Misty (the ones with the most attachment to Ben) are the only ones shown crying. Maybe Tai was chosen to kill Coach? Or maybe Nat was going to (since her gun is being used here) and she couldn’t do it so Tai took over? Also, the jacket Tai is wearing here (the hoodie) is the same one Nat was wearing when she was learning how to shoot the gun in S1. I wonder if that is significant/intentional?

People who may have drawn the fateful card here (as they are not seen in this shot): Travis, Lottie, Mari, Akilah, Coach Ben, and Gen. Could this be Mari or Akilah’s death scene? Or maybe Travis pulled the card which is why Nat is crying? This would line up with the writers’ implications that whoever draws the Queen card must die eventually (even if it happens many years later). Nat and Travis both died in the adult timeline, and we know Nat’s death was the fate of that Queen card catching up to her. Maybe it caught up to Travis too?

Either way, Tai holding that gun gave me chills I can’t wait to see how this scene unfolds.

Adult Taivan!!!! We were fed with all of these Taivan sneak peeks. These shots definitely imply that Tai and Van are rekindling their relationship this season, which fills me with joy. One thing that stands out here: in the street lamp photo, Taissa’s posture seems stiff and Van almost looks like she’s trying to keep her grounded/get through to her. Maybe this is The Bad One and Van is trying to keep her from spiraling?

Misty burning the reunion photo of her, Tai, Shauna, and Nat. I have a feeling that the others are really going to shun Misty this season and it’s going to make her a little (a lot) crazy. I think she may be burning the photo spitefully after being rejected by the others. Or she could be burning it as some kind of ritual/sacrifice? I could also see the possibility that Misty is burning that photo because it’s a painful reminder of Natalie and what she did to her.

Coach is confirmed to have survived the first winter somehow. And he’s not looking too good. Not a lot to take away from this photo, other than wondering what he’s looking so intensely at and how he has survived up to this point. I think he is definitely not going to make it through this season.

Adult Lottie well-dressed, looking amazing, and seemingly not locked up in a psych ward! So that’s great. Lottie appears to be outside of Shauna’s house in this scene, as the exterior matches and the address number (1285) is the same as in the pilot episode:

I also saw someone point out that the necklace Lottie is wearing here could be a vial of Nat’s ashes?! I feel like this is unlikely but let me tell you if that’s the case I will go absolutely feral.

And we have Callie and Shauna at the dinner table! Callie is a series regular now, so I am excited to see her arc this season and how involved she will get in the wilderness rituals. They appear to be studying something in this scene. Shauna has a book or textbook and Callie has a notepad. Could be just Shauna helping Callie with homework, but it also could be them investigating something👀

[the-last-thread-of-my-sanity]

I’ve been thinking lately about how much the ‘curse of Ymir’ really does affect the psyche of each of the nine shifters and how it impacts the ending of the story.

Up until the end of Season 3/Chapter 87-88, the reader and the viewer have no idea that the shifters have a limited amount of time to live. They seem to possess this god-like power and they can rejuvenate and survive almost any injury. They seem unstoppable.

This is what motivates Erwin to create a plan to take one of the nine shifter powers with the serum- having another Titan in your arsenal would make a difference in winning the war.

But what the Paradisians don’t know is how holding the power of the Nine just perpetuates a cycle of violence and cruelty. It’s a curse as much as it is a power. No matter how brilliant or grand your scope is for what you can do with this near limitless power, you have to contend with the fact that you will only have thirteen years to do it.

This revelation to me is the what colors the entire last arc of the story leading into and after the time skip.

For Zeke, it amps up the level of desperation he has for accomplishing the euthanization plan- relying on Eren was still a variable that was largely unpredictable, and he trusted him more than he probably would have if he weren’t running out of time.

Going back further in the story, it retroactively explains why Ymir (of the cadet corps) would go back with Reiner and Bertholdt at all- a seemingly nonsensical choice when it seems she has something to live for in her relationship with Krista/Historia. But Ymir knows she has little time left. She has no future. So she chooses to surrender.

For Annie, it shows her desperation to get back to her father, a man who showed her very little affection, and yet if she could just make it back maybe she could live at least a year or two with him and make at least one happy memory with the man who raised her to kill.

Armin, I honestly feel the most for, because what he and everyone else thought of as his salvation, was actually just saddling him with a curse. And heaps of responsibility to try and be grateful for it. He went from a character with a singular and wholesome conviction, to someone wracked with guilt and forced to solve the world’s problems with limited time and resources.

In Reiner’s case, I actually think the fact that he knows he is going to die is the only thing actually keeping him alive in the tail end of the story. He wants so badly to face retribution for his deeds, and he can only find the strength to keep towing the line because he knows his violent demise is guaranteed.

Characters like Pieck and Bertholdt seem to accept their lot in life- but deal with this internally and develop their own sense of morals despite it- albeit in different ways and in Pieck’s case with a shade of pessimism. Falco and Marcel stand out as a characters who see the farce for what it is- but still want to subject themselves to it in order to prevent someone they love from suffering through it in their place.

Eren, though, it’s easy to see how discovering he has already lived more of his life in powerless ignorance than what he has left is what ultimately causes the collapse in his character. Combine that with the way that he sees ‘future memories’ and doesn’t see any future beyond his own, and suddenly you have a naturally impulsive and violent person living in the most fatalistic reality ever. It makes perfect sense that his fall from grace is near immediate and precipitous.

What difference does all that power make if all it means is that you become a tool for destruction with no future? That you will be forced to curse someone else so that this cruel power will continue to exist? That is the true legacy of Ymir and the Eldian Empire- you can have near limitless power, but you will never have true control over your own life.

And it makes for such interesting discussions and questions about power and mortality and agency- and all the seemingly ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ ways to respond to their dilemma.

Anyway, it is always ‘thinking about the moral quandary of the titan shifters’ hours around here…

[iridiss]

I think because Aphmau is a self-insert character, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what her personality is, because her personality is just…Jess’s personality. If a little different. Which makes it hard for me to get into Aphmau’s head, to see exactly how she works, what makes her tick—it doesn’t come naturally to me at all, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t alone in that regard

Now that I’m finally working on my MCD rewrite, I really want to make sure I get Aphmau’s personality right, especially since she’s literally the protagonist character and likely the most common POV I’ll be using. I want to find a way to copy how watching her POV in-game felt, and make it so that it feels the same when I’m writing the fic. Lately, it hasn’t been feeling the same at all, and that’s mostly intentional, since I want her to evolve into the “unintentionally badass” woman that she is in the canon series. I want her to start off as kind of bright-eyed and naive, similar to Mystreet!Aphmau, as a newcomer to the world whose never seen a lick of war and violence in her life. Mainly because I know she’s going to be exposed to all of that later and fundamentally changed by it. But as I’m studying canon MCD Aphmau and trying to break down everything she does, how she thinks, the choices she makes and the patterns therein that define her, what choices she doesn’t make and what that says about her as a person… I think I have already strayed too far from the original in places.

Additionally, though Aphmau was still significantly emotionally affected by every little heinous thing that happened to her and her people, throughout season 1 she didn’t experience any sudden shift in who she was as a person. I’ve yet to finish rewatching season 2, so I could be wrong, but to me, it more seems like she held herself together and stayed largely the same person. But she was being slowly chipped away emotionally by everything that got added to the pile. From Brendan getting shot to Aaron’s death, it’s like there’s a million different little nicks and cuts in her mental health and psyche that have simply built up over time. Some of those scars are larger than others, like the 15 year timeskip and losing Aaron/Garroth/Laurance, but they all weigh on her psyche and make her progressively more anxious, more careful, more…traumatized? She’s traumatized and she’s not. I’d like to at least headcanon her as traumatized, probably severely by season 3. I’d like to think she’s a woman with the whole entire world on her shoulders and a million ghosts haunting her wherever she goes, and all of this leads to a great deal of stress and anxiety in her day-to-day life that she’s just kinda… Living With. She muscles through it. She keeps going. There are even moments I’m noticing in canon where she doesn’t allow herself to fully dwell on her grief and stress, saying it’s “selfish” to let them consume her, and then moving on to check on literally everyone else in the village and make sure they’re okay first.

Aphmau is a character that’s hard to understand in the broad strokes, like how you can see Laurance’s broad strokes of “Casanova” and “fiercely loyal” and “in love with Aphmau” and make a pretty easy surface mold of what he’s like. It’s like every other character has at least one or two giant, broad strokes of paint on the wall that distinguish them as unique.

Garroth is a gentleman, Kiki loves her animals and can be stubbornly gullible. Donna is sassy, Dale is an alcoholic, Katelyn is fierce, Travis is playful and flirtatious, Aaron is brooding and guarded, Logan has a stick up his ass, so on and so forth. But they all have really easy to find smaller pieces that you can find and study as well. MCD!Katelyn is much more calm and reserved and proper than her Mystreet counterpart, and on occasion waxes philosophical and drinks tea. Kiki has always wanted to be a mother. Brendan is a horse girl. Garroth is terrible at being ~romantically forward~ like Laurance is, and instead he gets flustered and stuttery and shy and struggles to talk about his feelings with others. Laurance is gentle and caring and will tenderly take care of you and nurse you back to health with a mature, gentle warmth that puts his cocky Casanova personality aside, still flirting and teasing every now and then, but only for the purpose of cracking a joke that would make you smile. And then he reminds you right after how fondly he loves you and how he will never, not ever, leave your side.

Laurance grew up not knowing how to talk to girls, and Sasha was the only female friend he could actually speak to and connect with. Garroth checks on Aphmau in the mornings, asking how she slept and reporting back to her on all the duties she has to tend to for the day. Dale is a brilliant accountant, and that’s his calling in life. Zoey used to regularly prepare tea for Aphmau at night to help her sleep. Logan helped Zoey raise Levin and Malachi during the 15 year timeskip and “secretly” very much loves children. You can find all the little kernels of character and personality and heart in all of them.

But for MCD!Aphmau, it’s like she has one single broad stroke. “Helps others, kind, caring.” And everything else is invisible to me. Mystreet!Aphmau might have a second broad stroke, of “silly and childish and whimsical,” a stroke that MCD!Aphmau has much less of. It’s still there, she still teases and cracks dumb jokes on occasion, but it’s dwarfed in comparison by MCD’s more serious, mature tone and the sheer emotional weight of everything she keeps going through. It’s hard to be silly and have stupid fun when you’re fighting for your life, so in a way, MCD!Aphmau had to grow up in a way that Mystreet!Aphmau never had to. Mystreet!Aphmau’s worst problem (before emerald secret) is “oh no! which cute boy am I gonna date?! Gene is so mean to me in highschool!! Gawd, I wish my mom would let me bring boys home without making it weird, jeez.” She gets to keep her innocence. She doesn’t have to grow up and face the brutality of killers and monsters and the cruelty of the gods, and even after When Angels Fall, I don’t see her heavily maturing and growing as serious as MCD!Aphmau already is on main.

So if MCD!Aphmau has one single broad stroke that, for a protagonist, is actually vague as hell to work with, then maybe she’s a character who is revealed by all the little things that slip through the cracks. Maybe I can paint a picture of what she’s truly, really like (not what I want her to be like) by looking at all the little things, and then working inwards from there,,,

I know she’s at the very least a good person. A very good person. Better than canon Garroth, who has far too many asshole tendencies for my liking after the whole Incel Hell Irene Dimension fiasco (also why the FUCK is he racist—) Better than canon Laurance, better than most people honestly. Which is kind of the point, as an Irene. She’s supposed to be inherently a good, pure-hearted soul, whose destiny and sole calling in life is to help everyone around her. She seems to display a great fear and distress over violence and war. She’s always anxious and freaking the fuck out when she’s in combat (during S1), and building up to the Phoenix War, she was absolutely mortified by the idea of going to war, and yet that distress NEVER boiled over into cowardice. She always chose what was right and stuck to it, stubbornly. Even when faced with the worst of dilemmas, she refuses to succumb to her fear and run away, or pick the easy (and scummy) way out. She cares a great deal about the greater good, even if it comes at a devastating cost to achieve, and by god, she’ll achieve it. When presented with the option of fight or flight, she NEVER picks flight. So she’s brave? Has a strong natural sense of justice? Would she ever make cruel sacrifices, if it was for a greater good? I think I at least know that if I presented her with the option of “kill Garroth and Laurance, or save the entire world,” she would refuse the dilemma entirely and go to EXTREME lengths to forge a third option where she gets to keep the world AND her boys, and everyone comes out unharmed. (And in my mind, this is what distinguishes her from the old Irene…)

She is a herald for peace, above anything else. When Scaleswind destroyed her home as an act of violent rage, she didn’t seek revenge or even allow herself to feel vitriol or resentment for the man that attacked her people. Instead, she (cautiously and hesitantly) accepted his pleas for forgiveness if it meant she could have peace for Phoenix Drop. She held him accountable for his crimes, yes, but she forgave him, trusted him with the Phoenix Drop Alliance, and even trusted him with her people. All the while reiterating to him that she is an agent working for peace, and he needs to get on her level if he wants her forgiveness. She even offers care and aid to all of the rotten O’khasis knights that still swear their fealty to Zane. She brings them to court for their crimes, but she also offers them her care and a place to stay if they need it. She believes in justice, but not cruel retribution. The moral high ground isn’t a weapon she uses to bludgeon others with. She draws her strength by pulling others up with her. Even putting her trust in those unworthy of it at times, but that then inspires them to make better choices and pledge themselves to her cause. Even if you were a horrible, terrible person, she refuses to be downright cruel. It’s very rare to see her anger get the best of her (not that I don’t doubt that has happened at least once or twice in the series, I’m just saying it’s not her go-to choice when resolving any conflict). She will always give people the benefit of the doubt.

I know she struggles with sleeping problems, mainly due to her stress. She did for most of the latter quarter of S1 and when I skipped ahead and watched a few snippets of S2, she was STILL bringing up how poorly she slept last night, so like. You could make a case that she has insomnia. She could have insomnia. And PTSD but that’s a given

She finds babies absolutely adorable and has strong maternal instincts. (a connection between this and her great care for Phoenix Drop as a whole could possibly be strung… I don’t think “maternal instincts” is at all why she helps PD though. I think she just does that…because…you should. Because it’s the right thing to do. Obviously. If given the choice to be kind and help someone, she will always pick that choice, because,,,she just does)

you could make an argument that she has dyslexia. if you made a drinking game out of every time she flubbed reading the lines on the screen you would keel over and die by episode 15 I think.

you could make an argument that she needs glasses because Jess wears glasses for the first little while of S1 before she seems to have switched to contacts for the rest of the aphverse

She loves animals and has more animals than she has children

She seems very slow to develop romantic feelings for anyone. I think she only really started to develop little bits of romantic feelings for Garroth come late S1, and for Laurance probably like. around episode 95ish if you’re pushing it early, but honestly she probably only developed feelings for him after the entirety of season 1. after Laurance and her had already become very close and intimate on a platonic level. And any of his flirtatious advances prior to that she CONSISTENTLY responded to with flat out rejection, disgust, exasperation and annoyance with zero romance in sight. meanwhile she’s been very affectionate with Zoey from the beginning and is much more sweet and domestic with her than any of the boys, so like. I can definitely see where all the aroace spectrum aphmau headcanons in the fandom are coming from now and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was some form of demiromantic as well, but that’s straying out of canon aphmau territory and into headcanon land

Her worst fear, confirmed by Malachi, is seeing the entire village be burned to the ground with everyone she loves inside. Seeing Garroth and Laurance and every single villager murdered before she can do anything to stop it. She’s scared of losing them (and wow guess exactly what ends up happening… Garroth gets lost in the Irene dimension…Laurance becomes a cold and cruel shadow knight and she loses him to the nether… Aaron dies and becomes the shadow lord… girlie can just not win. and I’d like to explore more of the deep emotional impact that could’ve had on her—your worst fear is losing everyone you loved, seeing them get torn out of your hands brutally and violently, and..that happens. that happens to her anyway. to all of her boys, individually. there’s no way that’s not traumatic and emotional as hell for her) maybe you could even play into the idea that she has abandonment issues…

Every now and then she shows a few signs of toxic positivity and emotional repression. “Smile and be happy, focus on the work that’s important right now instead of completely and utterly crumbling under the weight of my grief and trauma” type shit. I feel like I can’t help but notice a running pattern that she keeps being presented with dialogue options that are emotionally vulnerable and intimate in some way, usually ones that progress her relationships with others (both romantically and platonically) and express a great deal of care or feeling…and then there’s the exposition dump dialogue option that continues her constant search for information that furthers the plot, and she often chooses that instead. Like for example, in one dialogue option with Aaron, she doesn’t say, “I really care about you, please, can’t you trust me?” Instead, she chooses to say, “What will you do?” Which is much more business talk as opposed to spilling her heart out to people. She seems to apologize for herself whenever she expresses a heightened amount of emotion, especially if it’s sadness or grief or anger, and again, I’d like to point to her taking 90+ fucking episodes to allow herself to feel any sort of intimacy with Laurance, the very man who has been constantly showering her with affection, and not just the dumb flirty stuff!! But like deep, sincere proclamations of “you matter to me,” and “I’ll never leave your side” and “you are my world, aphmau”!!! Bro I would have MELTED into his arms 70 fucking episodes ago if I met a man that talked to me like he does!! But she doesn’t!! SHE KEEPS HIM AT ARMS LENGTH!! THATS NOT NORMAL!!! Especially when EVERY OTHER character in the cast keeps falling in love at first sight. (so intimacy issues? trust issues? probably not trust issues. fear? too much on her mind? demiromantic ?? or probably a mix of all of the above + a dash of headcanon for the sexuality part)

And it’s so fascinating to see what she could say, but doesn’t. And sometimes you’ll even see her hesitate over the other, more intimate dialogue options, and then decide otherwise. It’s utterly fascinating to think that a character hugely defined by her heart might struggle with vulnerability.

She also hesitates over funny options a lot but decides against them because the serious, emotionally mature options are more appropriate and polite for the situation at hand lol. Laurance is a frequent exception to this rule, she will tease him no matter how serious their conversation is lmao (Laurance brings out her more forgotten whimsical side…?)

So on and so forth while I continue my binge rewatch of the entire series and collect more. So far, she seems to be overall: Kind. Gentle. Soft, warm, friendly, forgiving, understanding, merciful, patient. Playful and whimsical, though that’s become more forgotten with time and hardship. Serious, very emotionally mature, very much a source of wisdom among her peers. Inherently strong sense of justice, will always fight for the right thing. Brave and persistent. Refuses to ever back down from a challenge. Probably at least a little emotionally avoidant and I would not be surprised if she struggled with a particularly harsh inner critic. Optimistic. Never lets go of her heart, led by her heart much more than her brain, though that isn’t to say she isn’t smart, she’s not an idiot. Loves animals. Natural leader. Maternal. Insomniac. Probably neurodivergent, possibly aroace, possibly dyslexic, most likely needs glasses. Traumatized, very much so. Very stressed and anxious (please god someone give her a break). Carries the weight of the world on her shoulders but refuses to let herself crumble, even if she is exhausted and worn down and at her limit. you also cannot look at Zoey and Aphmau’s daily interactions and tell me there isn’t at least a little bit of sapphicism going on there. they love each other so much <3 and if not, she is a single mother going through literal actual hell and hanging on by a string but through the force of necessity and probably at least a little bit of toxic positivity and emotional avoidance she will persevere whether she wants to or not

and I will continue to learn more as we go along 👍

[theanalyzerguy]

In Defense of Van

I've seen some hate for Adult Van because of her actions in the season 2 finale of Yellowjackets, and with season 3 about a month away, I want to give my perspective on her actions during the hunt. I'll give a spoiler warning from this point on, just in case.

First of all, does Van believe as an adult?

I don't think so. She was nowhere near Lottie and didn't even know she wasn't in Switzerland anymore when Tai came to her shop, and she was originally going to leave after dropping Tai off. She never seemed particularly happy to be there and wasn't enthusiastic to see Lottie, and none of them wanted to go on the hunt. She seemed to have accepted her cancer diagnosis and was as content as someone could be in that situation. Her face when she saw Lottie was one of shock, not one of reverence.

Why does she ask Tai to call off the psych team?

Van tells Tai why she wants her to call off the psych team. She wants to help Lottie on their own because they made a pact to watch out for each other. Putting her back in a mental health facility wouldn't help her. Just because Van doesn't believe anymore doesn't mean she doesn't care about Lottie. They were close in the Wilderness, and that's not going to go away. When she says, "We made her like this." she is expressing her guilt for what happened in the Wilderness and why she wants them to help her on their own.

What about her actions during the hunt?

This is where a theory I came up with after watching the episode comes into play. I think Van managed to rig the deck to make sure none of them got the queen card on the first draw. After they all picked a card, she nodded her head like she was happy with the outcome. Then Lottie told them to draw again, and the face she made definitely wasn't happy. She looked upset and scared because she likely wanted to reason with Lottie after that, but the opportunity was taken away. They all start following Shauna after she gets the queen the second time, but it doesn't look like any of them, except Lottie, are really into it. None of them are screaming or even seem like they are having any kind of fun. This is in stark contrast with the hunt in the teen timeline when they are going after Natalie.

What about the aftermath of the hunt?

Van definitely didn't want to see anyone killed. I don't believe she would have killed Shauna, and they were all upset when Natalie was killed. She isn't really responsible for Natalie's death since she had no idea about Lisa or Misty's weapon, but that doesn't mean she and everyone else don't feel guilty. I don't think the idea even crossed her mind to have someone sacrificed to cure her cancer because her entire demeanor is one of acceptance, and she doesn't believe in the Wilderness as an adult. When Lottie says, "The Wilderness has been fed. You'll see." She grimaces. Again, it is not a happy expression. She knows what Lottie means, but she doesn't believe it anymore, plus Natalie is dead.

Van in the teen timeline

A lot of people seem to think what she said to Travis after Javi died makes her a horrible person, but while it was maybe a little heartless and harsh, it makes perfect sense why she said it. Van is a survivor. She is happy to be alive in a situation where she has almost died multiple times, and realistically they're all happy they will live another day. Also, at this point, she believes in the Wilderness. When she says, "Don't let his sacrifice go to waste." she is not manipulating him. As a believer, she really does believe that the Wilderness chose, and it would be wrong not to eat what they were given.

This isn't to absolve Van of all guilt or turn her into a saint, I just wanted to share my interpretation of her character and give another perspective to those who dislike her.

[bwat5-blog]

Father Of Madness: A Clear Look At Silco And Jinx

**Spoilers for all of arcane**

Silco is one of the best villains I’ve ever seen on screen. His complexity is endless. A ruthless murderer, a doting father, a criminal kingpin, a revolutionary…

Silco understandably appeals to many of us in the fandom for a variety of reasons. And if he is your favorite character, I have not come here to judge or look down on you... There is a lot of negative discourse regarding people who enjoy his character and that’s not at all my purpose. There is much that can be discussed regarding this man, his relationship with Vander, how much good he has or has not done for the lanes, and more. I will be focusing on his relationship with and impact on Jinx. As we dive in, there are two truths that we must accept:

1. Silco loves Jinx as his daughter fully and completely, and never intentionally harms her

2. Silco’s broken and warped psyche has twisted his love for Jinx into a cycle of violence and self-loathing that almost destroys her

Prior To Season 1: What To Know About Silco

1. Best Friend/ Brother to Vander in his youth

2. Worked with Vander on the idea of "The Nation Of Zaun"

3. Close to Felicia, Vi and Jinx's mom: Vowed to build a safer Zaun for the unborn Vi at that time

4. Parted ways with Vander after massacre on The Bridge Of Progress-- After Silco's actions (his actual culpability is never confirmed) lead to an incident on the bridge becoming a massacre, Felicia and Connol are killed, and Vander almost kills Silco leaving him disfigured in one eye. It seems like the fight between them is a different incident? Hard to say. Like maybe they met afterwards.

5. Vanished for years, amassing followers and resources, reinvents himself out of response to trauma

The Bridge Of Progress Massacre:

I have been unable to find a firm answer regarding how this incident began. Some say it was an uprising, some say it was simply a peaceful march. My assumption, is that it a peaceful event lead by Silco that was exacerbated in someway by the Enforcers, eventually leading to violence. My reasoning is as follows:

1. While we of course don't spend enough time with Felicia and Connol to say this with confidence, I don't think children as young as Vi and Powder would have been there if the plan was violence to begin with.

2. Despite his conflict with Silco over his actions in the present day, Vander is unflinchingly apologetic to Silco regarding what he did. That would not have been the case if he genuinely believed Silco to have been at fault for what occurred.

The aftermath of this incident is the birth of Silco's new self. He lost someone he was extremely close to in Felicia, his dream of Zaun has failed for at least the time being, and the man he loved as a brother tried to end his life leaving him maimed and abandoned. This is period of immense psychological trauma gives rise to his new belief in strength over all else.

1. "Real power... comes to those who will do anything to achieve it"

2. "It's a little crude I'll admit, the base violence necessary for change... but we both know, topside won't listen to anything else"

3. "The only way to defeat a superior enemy is to stop at nothing... to become what they fear"

This all ties in with his relationship with Vander, which is hugely important but not my focus tonight. What does matter, is that Silco's revenge against his former brother by taking him, is what sets off the chain of events that will impact almost every part of this story. Including my purpose here this evening. Meeting Powder.

What To Know About Powder Before They Meet:

In terms of what we need to understand about Powder, there are two primary issues to draw attention to

1. First and foremost is quite simply the loss she has already been through. She lost her birth parents. She has spent her early childhood in the lanes only a step away from danger. And when he finds her, she is attempting to grapple with the emotional overload of having killed her second family, and believing she has been abandoned (and has been hit) by Vi.

2. Her intense fear of abandonment, and the link to her feelings of insecurity. We see quickly that she is constantly picked on and teased by her male siblings, her worth as part of their team questioned. This all culminates in her being left behind during Vander's rescue. Vi was extremely gentle and kind with her in telling her to stay behind, but she did tell her she was not ready. And we later see Powder alone, having a panic attack and preparing to smash the symbol of her insecurity or inability to contribute, her monkey bomb.

*** As I always make sure to mention when talking about this wonderful character, I am not a mental health professional in any way. However research as a fan and reading people's thoughts online have suggested the two disorders below as conditions Powder may be suffering from in this early stage of her life for those interested***

The End Of Powder:

Silco has taken his revenge on Vander leaving he, Mylo and Clagger dead, and as we will come to know he believes Vi is dead as well... The same Vi he once made an promise to fight for to her mother... his friend. He stalks down the alley to a sobbing Powder, who is grappling with her bomb killing her family, and her beloved older sister having left her behind after striking her and calling her a jinx.

And even when he approaches Powder, he is clearly still carrying a knife slick with the blood of Vander. Now like anything we don't see go a certain way, speculation is required. Was he going to kill her? I think so. He had shown no hesitation at all in killing thus far. Which begs the question, why did he take Powder instead?:

1. He sees himself in her, she was "abandoned" by a "sibling", has no family, and is full of rage and pain

2. Remorse over Vander. the GIF is too short to get a good look, but re-watching the scene shows us him staring at the mutated body of his former best friend and comrade in arms, emotion clear on his face

3. She looks like Felicia and although he had clearly dishonored his oath to her, I imagine in this moment he can see his departed friend in this little girl

4. Quite simply it could be that there is enough good in him left that he couldn't bring himself to end a child's life who was clinging to him and grieving.

The last we see of them, Silco wraps her in a protective embrace, claiming her as is own.

"Its okay... we'll show them. We will show them all"

The Rise Of Jinx:

Seven years have passed and we find that Powder has indeed grown up. She now goes by the name Jinx, and has become a ferocious warrior with a reputation in her own right as someone to be feared. But we also quite quickly learn as the rest of season one progresses, that she has never healed from her trauma and pain. The specters of those she lost haunt her, she hears their voices, and although outwardly she has become strong and dangerous, inside her head remains the shadow of a guilt stricken young girl who only wanted to help.

Let me be clear, I am in no way suggesting that Silco does not love Jinx. I firmly believe he has come to love her as a daughter. The issue, is that Silco himself is a broken and traumatized man. And the way in which he loves her, and has raised her regarding processing and healing from what she has been through, has only strained her already fractured mind. He took that child in his arms and spoke to her of revenge and justice. Instead of safety, and healing.

Driven By Fear-

As previously discussed. When she was still that little girl named Powder, Jinx displayed intense fear of abandonment even before losing her second family and Vi "leaving" her. Now as a member of Silco's organization, those seven years of unresolved trauma have not improved. After the incident with the firelights in which Jinx broke down, due to hallucinating Vi being there, Silco benches her. We see her in her workshop, she is angry, she is increasingly agitated, and the voices of her fallen family push her until, in a bid to regain his favor, she kills six enforcers, and steals the hex gemstone. This of course pleases him, when he realizes what she has taken. He is happy, so she will not be abandoned. We see this moving forward as well.

An Impossible Standard-

"You need to let Powder die, so the fear of pain will no longer control you... your strong now, like you were always meant to be. Jinx is perfect"- Silco trying to baptize Jinx in his ways in Season 1 Episode 5.

Silco speaks a great deal on strength. About surrendering your fear of pain, and about becoming what your enemies fear. And in a way, Jinx has done that to a point. But here's the problem. There is a part of Powder in her that has never healed, never truly grieved. A primal, long buried part that she has no control over. She has now spent years learning to weaponize her deep seated fear and guilt to survive. But that is not healing. And now she finds herself in an unwinnable situation slowly tearing her apart.

So, in summary, she is not mentally capable of meeting his standards, and terrified that if she does meet said standards, she will be abandoned, and alone. I can't speak for you, but to me, that sounds like a very young woman, in a terrible amount of pain.

*For clarity and fairness, he is trying to help her survive in the same way he did. But he is broken as well, and he cannot see that he is handing his adopted daughter the gasoline and matches that lit the flame already consuming his soul*

Vi's Return-

As soon as Silco finds out Vi is alive, he starts making moves to have her murdered. Even knowing that Jinx is still struggling with guilt and closure over what happened those years ago, he is determined to keep them apart. Because he to has been abandoned, hurt and alone. And he knows that if Vi finds Jinx, there is a chance she will leave him. Or perhaps even worse, Jinx will remember that Silco killed Vander... Mylo... Clagger.. That it was his puppet who took Vi and hid her away even if Silco didn't know.

And so it is that to prevent their reunion, Silco tries to end Vi and Caitlyn both, as well as poisoning Jinx against Caitlyn by lying, claiming he knows why she is there. Sevika does this as well, even with the express purpose of destabilizing Jinx to the point Silco may throw her out.

We see how this plays out, Silco's attempts to keep them from reuniting causing Jinx more and more pain as things build to a head:

1. First Reunion-

When Vi finally finds her sister after all those years, things seem to be going shockingly well. Until seeing Caitlyn, who Jinx would know and suspect nothing about if not for Silco and Sevika, she immediately becomes agitated, the voices chattering in her head, even putting her minigun under Vi's chin.

2. Closing her wound-

After the fight with the firelights, Jinx is trying to staple her wound. The perpetually tormenting specter of Mylo is trying to convince her Vi had only come for the stone, only cared about Caitlyn, while Jinx is trying to push back. But with every spike of pain she gets worse until finally she focuses on Caitlyn alone.

3. The Bridge-

First and foremost, Jinx could have attacked at any point if all she wanted was to hurt Vi, Cait or Ekko. she watches them walking down the bridge while the specter of Mylo hovers like a giant spider. She even insists that Vi is just telling Caitlyn goodbye because she wouldn’t leave her again when they hug. It’s not until she sees the stone…. Sees that object that means Silco’s approval, his love, that she launches her assault. And for all the brutality of that attack, if you notice she is extremely calm. Until she sees Vi holding Caitlyn. And her fractured psyche shows her evil faces dancing across Caitlyn’s features. Jinx unloads almost killing them both before Ekko stops her, and she tries to kill both of them.

4. Singed-

She is tied to a table, critically injured from the blast, and going through terrible pain from the shimmer Singed is filling her with. In a short moment of quiet, when she is afraid and in pain, she hallucinates Vi. And when it’s just Vi, she is comforting, loving, there to help. But then Caitlyn appears. Caitlyn who again, has done NOTHING to Jinx at this point. But Silco has made her a demon in Jinx’s mind.

5. Taking Caitlyn-

This is an extremely dark moment that shows a notable shift in how unstable Jinx has become at this point. This is not an explosive episode where they just run into one another. This was deliberate, thought out, and with intention to terrify her target. Now, ultimately, Jinx chooses to do this. But again my point is that how did this all start? With Silco using Caitlyn as a tool to keep Vi and Jinx apart.

The Dinner Party:

Jinx’s dinner party is the culmination of the mental tug-of-war that has been going on within her and ultimately driven her almost past the point of no return. I have broken down this scene many times. So I’m not going through a point-by-point again. But for our purposes here what does this boil down to?

Vi believes she is only Powder and tries to get through to her, while Silco insists she is only Jinx. They are both wrong, and it is that fracturing in her that made things get so out of hand, as when we see them both yelling to get through to her.

The visions and sounds grow worse and worse, beating her down more and more until Silco frees himself, and she is forced to kill him to save Vi. As she cries and apologizes, he assures her he never would have let Topside take her. She’s perfect. And with the sight of Silco’s lifelong enemy looming over them, Vi and Caitlyn watch helplessly as she attacks the council of Piltover. A last attempt to honor the man who made her what she is.

*Regarding Vi’s contributing to her dissonance by insisting she is the Powder she was, I’ll say this. Was Vi unintentionally making her worse? It seems so based off of that last scene. But Vi is trying to remind her of everyone who loved her and who she was before Silco took that from her. So while I can admit Vi’s inability to see JUST how different her sister was before this was a mistake, if you believe Jinx would have been better off left alone on Silco’s path, that is not a stance I can understand*

Aftermath:

Ultimately, Jinx goes through a lot more after this until she starts to find her way out of the dark, but from this point on, it is without Silco. We see a few times instances where that influence threatens her, such as Sevika demanding she honor Silco’s sacrifice and the brief moment of glitchy chaos in her before she regains control. But I would say the ultimate proof we need to understand the toxicity of Silco’s influence upon her rests in their conversation in season two. Her mind could have presented the lesson of breaking the cycle to her in any form. But ultimately, it was the man whose shadow would fall over her even in death, who told her to break the cycle, and find a new life.

As always, to anyone who reads these I really appreciate you. Til next time.

[terapsina]

And those rarest of creatures...

My Top 10 Favorite Canon ENDGAME OTPs

(and I realize some of these will be a surprise because I haven't posted that much about them but... well, when everything is perfect and nothing hurts there's less need for venting... also a bunch of them don't align with my Tumblr heavy periods or precede them entirely, so...)

1. Parker and Hardison - Leverage

The absolute sweetest couple maybe ever. The way Hardison just... loves Parker, without ultimatums or impatience. Just there once she's ready to meet his feelings with her own. And Parker, knowing she's developed feelings for... 'pretzels' and admitting it in the only way she can initially. So good.

---

2. Aneela and Kendry - Killjoys

You give me two amoral queens, have them be evil and immortal, and have them fall in love? I was a goner from the word go. Giving them a sci-fi kid just added fuel to the fire.

---

3. Jo and Zane - Eureka

I shipped the 1.0 version too. But when they accidentally erased the original timeline and had Jo remembering being in love and nearly engaged and having Zane not? Damn. Talk about angsty ship bait.

---

4. Kensi and Deeks - NCIS: Los Angeles

Sunshine and gunpowder. Freaking made for each other and doing a proper piney slow burn. My jam.

---

5. Magnus and Alec - Shadowhunters

I mean. Do you think I could resist a grand wedding crash with a 'if your son wants me gone he's going to have to say it to me himself' with the widely grinning sister of the miserable groom going 'I invited him'? What am I, made of stone? (War of Hearts is tattooed on the inside of my eardrums).

---

6. Nico and Karolina - Runaways

Okay. But like, even beyond the flawless imagery of Gothic Witch Queen and Royal Heir of Sunshine and Rainbows... they were so captivating. So ready to sacrifice anything for each other's happiness. I love them your honor.

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7. Xiao Lanhua and Dongfang Qingcang - Love Between Fairy and Devil

"Everything in this world is fate. Only love is not fate."

Talk about ripping out my heart. In a story built around two people more trapped by fate than anyone, they save each other by doing the one thing fate has no say over.

(I usually prefer my romances to be the B and C plots, but these two? They are the exception that proves the rule. This whole show is their love story and I was spellbound for 36 episodes straight).

---

8. Shawn and Jules - Psych

So. Much. Pining. And the inclusion of the cruelest 'I love you' known to man, because who doesn't love a good 'I've been shot, and the guy who shot me just let me call my girlfriend but I'm using the call to give out clues about how to find me, so I'm pretending you're Abigail, but he's listening and he wants me to tell you that I love you and I know... think... suspect... that saying it will hurt you, but I don't have a choice and I'm so sorry'.

---

9. Nikita and Michael - Nikita

They both know what it feels like to lose someone you love. Which is why the way them kinda having at least a scene a season where one of them thinks the other just got killed is brutal. But I live for the looks on their faces when they figure out they're wrong.

---

10. Korra and Asami - Legend of Korra

What's more fun than falling in love with the ex boyfriend's ex girlfriend? Nothing. They got me to stand up and pay attention right quick once I realized where this was going (and the finale was how I started watching reaction videos... it made me so happy watching everyone else cry, cheer and squee too)

[charliewinter60]

Charlie and Elle's identity arc - Heartstopper Season 3

Both characters have conversations with people who "don't mean any harm or ill intent", but say things that are very ignorant or offensive towards Charlie and Elle. Elle has that fucking interviewer going on about the "trans debate" (And like Elle said, trans people aren't a debate, they are human beings), reducing her whole person to just being "the trans girl", completely ignoring the fact they were gonna talk about Elle's art and rise to fame: and Charlie has a conversation with his uncle at Christmas, and while Charlie has had a shit ton of things going on in his life (His new boyfriend, him playing the drums, Uni being soon, his french trip, etc.), the only thing his uncle asked him was him going to the psych ward and nothing else (And then the cousins chiming in and the unnecessary comments early that day about his weight from his grandparents.)

First of all, this does amazing commentary and presents how people who don't even have bad intentions, can still cause harm to others even if they don't mean it. Not meaning to do something doesn't mean you didn't do anything. That fucking interviewer may have just wanted to be an Ally and try to defend trans people, and Charlie's family may have just wanted to get to know Charlie and genuinely ask how he is doing, but there's a time, place and language for that.

And if you don't know some things about certain topics, there's this cool thing called Google, because the other (ex. Charlie and Elle) don't have to numb their pains so you (ex. Charlie's family, that fucking interviewer.) can understand a topic. Only if they are okay with it, they are not mandated to be your encyclopedia's in topics you don't understand just because they do.

If you really love or care about someone, you would do the effort to be respectful. Isaac literally told Charlie he didn't want to give a vocab lessons about aromanticism to all his friends and when Charlie asked what aromanticism was, Isaac told him to google it and he did. It's a very tiny scene, but Charlie researching what aromanticism is shows how much he loves and cares for his friend. Isaac showed his boundaries and Charlie respected them. Charlie's family should've asked if it was okay for him to talk about it. (Especially since they keep asking if there were straight jackets and all that? Like? They are all shits and giggles about that, but wouldn't Charlie be traumatized if he did have an experience as they describe it? Why would he talk about it like it's the gossip of the week? Fucking hell.) And well, that fucking interviewer is just evil. Why would this 16 year old be pleased to talk about her sole existence making bigots pissed, wishing she didn't exist? Huuuh? Manipulative fuck.

Charlie is not just "a boy with anoxeria and OCD.". He is a very smart boy who loves astronomy, Greek literature, plays the drums and Mario Kart, loves scary movies and dislikes Marvel movies, and more.

Elle is not just "a trans girl." She is a very creative girl who loves to paint and draw, as it lets her express feelings she can't really put into words; a girl who can make her own clothes, a girl who wants to see the world and see what's out there, a girl who deep down is a very silly and goofy but still stylish and loves to party and more.

And yes, Elle is trans and Charlie does have anorexia and OCD, but you don't just simply ignore those facts, but you also don't reduce them to that. People are so much more than the one thing they are "known" for. if we loved and care for those people, we will do our research and respect their boundaries. 🍂

[9lives2mics]

What are your thoughts on how to support Melissa going forward?

The Book of Carol has been an absolute disaster for Carol and Melissa fans, and season 3 filming is already underway. Melissa wants to play Carol and she wants to work with Norman, so I want to support her. But I actively don't want to support everything else about what this show is doing to her.

It feels like most fans who are left vocalising their views are the ones who still feel positive about the spin-off. I really want to know more about the thoughts of those of us who are more critical of it, because I just don't know what the best thing is to do here.

Mental health wise, it's probably easier to withdraw from the future of TWDU entirely - to not watch season 3 and to not be invested in it anymore. But again, Melissa is still there, and she needs allies, and she needs people who genuinely respect her to see her for her work. It makes me so sad to think how hard she works and nobody is watching - all because her colleagues have pushed us away.

I just want to hear from more people who care about Melissa about how we're responding, and how we can support her.

Hello, dear Anon. I'm sorry this is affecting your mental health. You're right that Melissa deserves our support. I answered this question in the latest podcast episode.

The condensed version of what I said is that your voice matters. It's easy to feel discouraged sometimes, especially when you're speaking up about something important to you. But if you have the capacity to speak up, now is the time.

The teaser + David Zabel's latest comments continue to show us that he has no intention of giving Daryl and Carol a compelling story. Worse, his writing for Daryl and (especially) Carol is downright disrespectful to the characters.

When you're sharing feedback online, remember to be very specific about what changes need to happen for you to stick around. Center your posts around Melissa and Carol. Talk about why her character is important to you. Here are some pointers to keep in mind.

Please remember to take care of yourself too.

For us, it's important that the leadership changes. It's also important that Melissa McBride gets equal billing, an inclusive title, and a showrunner who respects her character and doesn't write her to be a piece in the male protagonist's story or, worse, doesn't make her pick up the pieces of the male protagonist's story.

Carol Peletier broke stereotypes and gender norms. She was the central focus of some of the highest-rated episodes of TWD. She can draw in audiences from different demographics. She's consistently proven to be one of the most resourceful female characters of the flagship show and beyond. And all of this is because Melissa McBride is an intuitive actress with a rare talent and ability to effortlessly tap into the depths of Carol's psyche. She's also a PR person's dream because she's an eloquent and charming speaker. She has a spotless reputation and the ability to garner audience loyalty that builds the audience base for the creative projects she is a part of.

She deserves respect on her own fucking show.

A showrunner who elevates her and writes compelling stories for Daryl and Carol is the only way to ensure the show's ROI and audience retention. We have no interest in investing in S3 otherwise.

— Shalaka

[itookyoudown]

i need ur thoughts on what a post-canon (post-raylan) tim would be like (for science)

hi justie (justified bestie) 🖤

let's do some science! i really truly feel 100% in my heart that Tim "powder keg" Gutterson finally blows within 2-3 months of Raylan leaving for Miami.

that's with my givenson shipper hat on and off.

i feel Tim's due for a blow-up + burn out (season 4 teased us SO BAD with it and did a whole ass set-up and never went anywhere with it RIP) and Raylan's leaving (whether or not they were fucking or broke up or went LDR or never speak again) is the perfect catalyst for that.

in their last scene together, Tim is visibly distraught. boy swallows down a lump and makes himself not cry. what's all this then??

Tim is weird in season 6 and not in his usual gay little weirdo way. i mean he's concerning "oh i'd consider him a suicide risk" way.

he spends season 4/5 on the ratty side with his hair and then come season 6 he has a minor glow-up. they go back to styling his hair, his face has that clean-cut boy scout look again, he's back in layers (though to be fair this could just be because the show is trying to trick us into believing it's winter time and they're not shooting in California 🫠), and there's just something a lil feral in the way he speaks/acts that makes me think he's shaking a warning bell.

sure, we could attribute it all to some behind the scenes change regarding the crew or cast (i'm not sure here but someday i want to research the makeup and costume department to see who's who there exactly you know).

however, i think the tidying up Tim does to his appearance in season 6 is just a band-aid over how unwell he's doing mentally and emotionally. looking fine on the outside, but sick on the inside.

i think whether it was romantic or platonic, Raylan leaving is a big loss for Tim and he doesn't adjust well to losing his desk mate and deputy partner.

i'd say it really makes Tim have to confront and process Mark's death (and might also bring up his daddy's death and the death or loss of anyone else he's ever served with) and Tim just...doesn't do well with that on his own.

i like to imagine it triggers Tim's alcoholism big time and its a speedy spiral. does something extremely stupid (drunk driving again, fight at a bar, suicide attempt). he ends up in rehab or a psych ward or goes on leave from work. something that gets him some help with the alcohol + PTSD so he does some measure of healing to make himself functional again.

i don't think Tim stays in Lexington or even Kentucky post-canon. we know there's no family tying Tim there (if it was his hometown or home state they would have said so -- the US marshals apparently love to assign deputies to where they grew up). i think the Lexington office is just Tim's initial duty station and he'll move on once he's eligible to leave.

i like to think after Tim shapes up and sorts himself out a bit, he ends up out west in a big city like LA. or once he qualifies he's pulled into something like SOG due to his skillset.

to me, Tim's a lifer in law enforcement and he'd stick with the US marshals. long-term, i love the idea that he ends up settling down in Louisiana and becomes some sort of teacher/trainer at Camp Beauregard for the marshals.

and I really do believe Tim stays Tim for his whole life. i think he stays a little weirdo and he's forever closeted at work. i can't see him undergoing any softening or massive change as he gets older.

i also think alcohol and his PTSD is a lifelong struggle for him, but he does get better about making local connections with veteran support groups and gets himself a real friend or two through some nerdy hobby (he seems like a prime candidate to do D&D or something) or at a shooting range.

anyways, there's my post-canon Tim talk 🤠

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 28 Thoughts: Spooky Scary Skeleton

We're in the final stretch now. I'm curious to see exactly how things will wrap up but I have a feeling we might see it all unfold in the same night now. As an episode though I've got mixed feelings. Mostly because I'm not really sure I needed to hear much of what happened in this episode's statement. It'll be an episode that will either get better or worse with context for me. If there is a compelling point to this beyond exposition that will shape my feelings on it more than the episode in isolation.

Spoilers for episode 28 below the cut.

This will be a short one, I think. There truly isn't much to comment on IMO. Very explicit and mostly pay offs to a few bits that have happened before.

Trevor is exactly what I was expecting him to be. I've seen some comments about how shockingly different he is but I'm not sure I see it. Sure, his background is different. He's well off now. He's not a better person though, he's still just a ruthless grouchy old man. A treat to have him back. His issue with the contract is a little interesting though. Because, if anything, that proves the opposite of his claim. Presumably Ink5oul didn't actually sign that contract and so isn't actually employed in any capacity but the OIAR. It's not a good look certainly but it's not actually

The data processing and amalgamation tools are locked into a 24-hour cycle

This isn't quite the explanation I was expecting but it makes about as much sense as anything else does really.

It's nice to see Gwen selling out Lena and fulfilling part of her character's promise. Her introduction is basically "I'm going to take your job, Lena" and it's nice to see that's not been forgotten in all the trauma. Personally, I'm most interested in how it all relates to Klaus. He's not likely her major source for all the dirt she's got but he is a character I'm very interested in. He was a large part of the ARG and some of the more interesting background detail of the show.

Sam's run in the not one and only Archivist is pretty straightforward. There aren't really many details in the encounter nor the statement itself I think need picking apart. The bits I think are interesting are mostly things I've covered before too so I won't re-tread much of that. Firstly, the tests Sam talks about are a series of developmental and ethical surveys. We're actually fortunate enough to not only know what tests he was subjected to but how he did on them thanks to the ARG. During that we found CHDB which is a spreadsheet of exactly that. Test results from a lot of kids that the Magnus Institute was conducting. I have the whole thing on my masterdoc which can be found here and each column contains and explanation of what the tests are. Gerry and maybe Alice is on there too. Although I hope Alice isn't.

Next up it's Dr. Welling. A character who's shown up a fair bit but we know very little about. He was first mentioned in episode 17 as the namesake of the Welling Mutare Materia research centre that Darrien 3 got locked up in. In episode 21 he's mentioned through as the PoV character complains a lot about him. We don't really know much more beyond this though and I'm expecting he'll play more of a role in season 2.

Finally, it's just the yellow light to talk about really. This is one of those classic alchemical things that we know very little about these days, most source for it are terribly cited, and extant documentation from the era is either vague or treats it as common knowledge so little rigorous explanation exists. There are basically two things this could be, if it's anything, and that's a reference to sulphur or to citrinitas/yellowing. Sulphur is, well, sulphur. In the alchemical context it's part of the tria prima and as such represents the soul. The soul in this context is the Greek psyche rather than an Abrahamic conception. So it's more about emotion and desire. Citrinitas is one of those bits we know incredibly little about. What we do know is that it's one of the classical 4 steps to create the magnum opus, AKA the great work, AKA the philosopher's stone. Often you'll see people talk about a solar light, or a light from the soul, in this context but, again, we don't really know much about it and I'm not sure I've ever seen someone cite a historical source for that.

Outside of that I'm pretty sure everything is pretty clear. Sam's got some fucked up skellington trauma. What's interesting is what this implies about the other compelled statements we've seen. This one is undeniably Sam's own experiences from his own PoV. That didn't appear to the case with Drowning Victim, as the PoV character seemed to die and then they died. It was hard to tell with the autopsy statement but it didn't seem to be the case as they were, y'know, dead. Which seemed to make the inference that when Gwen had her run in that what she was talking about were someone else's experience. Especially when the context of that statement didn't seem to really match her upbringing. With this one being obviously and undeniably Sam's experiences that one could have been Gwen's and might warrant a little more examination.

Also, just to throw this one out there. I wonder if this Archivist represents the rebis.

leaving the tape recorder to flounder in the rain and stop.

That's a fun, albeit strange, visual.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet and Terminology Sheet

DPHW Theory: 2578 is a fairly uninteresting set for this incident. Which is good but there is little to comment on.

CAT# Theory: I've still not sat down and worked through a few of my ideas on these. CAT2 is another of those very strange picks if it's Person/Place/Object. Even if the place itself is supernatural in some capacity there are some more obvious things it could be and so that makes this another mostly useless data point.

R# Theory: B seems about right for my ideas.

Header talk: Transmutation (Human) -/- Ceremony (Academic). They're doing it on purpose. I can feel the malice on these now. I'm attuned to the negative vibes. However, this—even more than Gwen's encounter with Ink5oul—raises the question of how this was filed. Metatextually we've had Alex talk about how the headings are written by these characters but this one doesn't seem to be the case. So this is either meta information or there is someone else filing these.

[wrenwinchester]

Reasons Psych and Supernatural should have a crossover:

1. Woody (the coroner from Psych) being Zachariah’s vessel.

2. Shawn and Cas talking about cats, possibly talking to cats/interrogating them

3. There are so many shared actors between Psych and Supernatural (Woody/Zachariah, Lassiter/Cain and many more)

4. Just the fact that there are literally so many “references” to Supernatural in Psych and the fact that Shawn and Gus are essentially a slightly less codependent version of Sam and Dean (anything can be a supernatural reference if you try hard enough.)

5. It would mean Metatron occasionally works part time as a security guard at an old folks home as a guy named Jervis.

6. Shawn and Gus could meet the ghost facers who got lost in their way to LA and ended up in Santa Barbara.

7. It would mean at some point Cain decided to go to the Police academy and join the Santa Barbara police department. (Alternatively one of his descendants looks just like him) (However I’m going with the first option because it definitely explains Lassiter’s fascination with the Civil War.

8. Fake FBI/Fake Psychic hijinks

9. Shawn would be a role model/older brother figure for Dean (he’s two years older than him).

10. Both Shawn and Gus and Sam and Dean get mistaken as a couple occasionally.

11. Shawn likes Bees, Cas likes Bees, and Cain (thereby Lassiter) likes Bees.

12. Shawn and Dean fangirling over cowboys.

13. The dual ADHD hijinks of Dean and Shawn, mixed with Sam and Gus being over their shit.

14. Dean hitting on Juliet only to get shit from Shawn even thought they aren’t dating yet.

15. Juliet flirting back with Dean to mess with Shawn

16. Lassiter recognizing Sam and Dean from the FBI’s most wanted from 2006-2007ish and trying to prove it’s actually them but failing.

17. Shawn Spencer, Psych season 5 episode 2, “nothing shuts my pie hole but pie.” Just another reason Shawn and Dean would be best friends.

18. Shawn and Dean both have an obsession with scooby doo.

Just Please.

P.S. I love the idea of Shawn and Dean being best friends for many reasons, however, Shawn being a passenger Princess, and Dean not allowing anyone else to drive is just too perfect.

P.P.S. Also Woody being Zachariah’s vessel is just hilarious to me.

Edit: added #16+

[foundfam2754]

S17e7 live reactions!

spoilers...obviously

am i the only one who's always nervous before a new episode? i just might too invested in this show after all

i have avoided spoilers all day, let's do this thing

why hasn't this FBI director ever come back into the storyline? i feel like it means a big twist might come back in the season finale...

is this unsub connected to gold star???

oh my god his skin jfc

man you know the quiet unsubs are the scariest

WHAT THE FUCK HIS SKULL

this guy is just saying what he needs to isn't he to get out

holy crap okay what a start to this episode

i'm closing my eyes omg

how do you even build something like that in your apartment - WITHOUT getting hurt

OMG WHAT. THE. FUCK. holy crap aisha did you direct this to scare the bejeesus out of me THAT IS HIS ACTUAL SKULL

OH I JUST SAW FELICITY'S NAME COME UP - welcome, dr. jill gideon!!

damn damn damn PG's outfits this ep!! damn

where are tara and dave? and tyler? and everyone else lol

wait also is my favorite friendship group - penelope, her best friends, and her boyfriend

HAHA emily, poor tyler

ok I kinda love tyler the profiler

"flex" lol why did that sound so wrong coming out of paget's mouth

"mr. sensitive" lol buddy's getting hit left and right

i feel like....that's not a lot of files for 4 years

anyone getting "don't 'Emily' me" vibes

not sure you can say that dave - emily "died", and you were buried underground

lol "that's adorable!"

"i don't have asthma" "you will in a minute" lmao i love their friendship

that's an incredible shot omg (of them turned back from each other, holding hands in bed)

okay as a psych major, this whitepaper stuff is really intellectually interesting

OH THE STARE TO MR GREEN

"of course I am, but not with this" lol i love chaotic emily

"Garcia" ah so he's not so in love anymore is he

aww i never really connected with gideon, but I do miss him <3

EMILY YOU WERE FORBIDDEN

aww road trip!

ergh... smarmy lawyer

elias does love a good contingency

man sicarius is a good profiler

holy crap elias you are straight up horrifyingly evil

"polite. nonviolent" lol i love how funny this season is

YOU ARE NOT FRIENDS YOU LOVE HIM HE LOVES YOU PENELOPE YOU ARE KILLING ME

also don't tell me "it's why you and i are finally friends" ISN'T flirting

"thanks, friend!" "you're welcome, friend!" okay they are straight up flirting, listen to the tone, her facial expression, his facial expression, THEY ARE FLIRTING

also calm down kids, jj's right there

"how's hotch?" "what about derek morgan?" "spencer?" lol they're really honing in that our bois are gone :(

AW BB JASON IN THE CORNER IN THE PHOTO FRAME

oh there's a difference between fiancé and fianceé? i didn't think there was

"has a goatee he thinks makes him look very distinguished" lmao

oh my god he slept with her didn't he

HOW WERE GIDEON AND HE FRIENDS AFTER THAT

lol rossi was such a player

HAHA omg EMILY YOU ARE SO BAD. i love how chaotic she's being

why do i have a feeling emma may be a figment of his imagination?

sir, she's bleeding

damn luke's so hot as he's profiling

WHAT? Okay I did not see that coming

BRO I KNEW IT EMMA'S A FIGMENT

luke and the megaphone!! i repeat, luke and the megaphone!!

lol i just realized this show is always sending luke and jj into very dangerous situations

wait this ep is so good man, the plot's amazing and heartbreaking at the same time, we got garvez nuggets, em's hilarious, and aisha's directing is goddamn incredible

NO WAY, THERE'S ANOTHER KIT?

elias is such a good villain, damn

lawyer man, maybe listen to the scary man? don't open it?

and as jill walks in, we continue the trend in this show of david rossi's ex-girlfriends showing up years later to shock him (oh god they’re gonna get married, aren’t they)

tara and luke be like "who's this lady?"

OKAY I'M SO EXCITED FOR NEXT WEEK LFG