#working with WE is a cop out and it’s very intentional because i think he knows that too

[mangoisms]

weird question. but in ur opinion, what major would tim do at college? I was thinking comp sci but making him a business major would be so funny

good question! to be honest.. i want to say it’s difficult to pin down any one major he’d choose, especially because i feel like he’s not exactly academically inclined, at least if he’s doing vigilante stuff? school was always a big issue for him hence him dropping out to focus on The Mission and that seems like All He Is Doing right now thank you dc editorial. but if he isn’t… comp sci is a good choice but for me, i lean towards maybe something like mechanical engineering? or electrical engineering? kinda feel like he has comp sci in the bag already from having to learn it/having learned it in his time as a vigilante (largely due to babs im sure!)

but mechanical or electrical engineering just because of how much stuff he created for his suit when he was robin and how he was always reconfiguring redbird and messing with all of it. although where those skills and that degree could be applied is Another Question Entirely. my best guess is — and this is probably super basic — with WE? or maybe if we want to have a little fun. somewhere like kord industries. or even STAR labs. or maybe a teaching position? could see him being down for that as he gets older

a little more indulgent would be photography but even if not a major i would like to think he at least minors in it or something!

business major would be SO funny because he would be miserable the entire time. i think.

but yeah! he’s just. idk. probably hates prerequisites. probably wants to take ten classes at once. he’d really need to slow down i think which is the goal. ultimately. for me. in any case This got very long my bad <3 i’m just. fascinated by him and his mysterious future

[haikyu-mp4]

Snitches

You and Osamu are good cop + bad cop when your daughter acts up, for my Parenting event<3

requested by @nanami2ndbureau. word count; 611 – gn!reader

Let’s just say this situation was not ideal. Not all parents got called into the principal’s office because of their children’s mischief, but you and Osamu sure did. Your teenage daughter was in a bit of a rebellious phase and was seen holding a lit cigarette on school grounds, can you believe it?

The two of you sat on either side of her as the principal detailed the report filled out by the teacher who caught them. You listened intently to the principal while your daughter fiddled with her nails. Osamu had his arms crossed, more focused on your daughter’s reaction.

“We do not condone this behaviour, sir.” You turned the charm on, a soft smile silently begging the principal to show some kindness in the situation. “She has no prior bad marks, who hasn’t tried a cigarette before?”

The principal pursed his lips, looking down at the report to give him a second away from your eyes so he could think. “Well… I would like to know who brought the cigarette onto school grounds.”

You turned to your daughter expectantly. “Go on, tell him you didn’t bring them.” You briefly looked at the principal and added a small comment. “We don’t smoke at home.” Osamu briefly thought of the pack he had in his locker at work, which you knew he used for the occasional smoke break. However, you both agreed he would never bring that habit home.

The teenager crossed her arms, looking a lot like her dad at the moment as she mumbled under her breath. “No way, my friends will get in trouble.”

“He’s giving ya a chance to get out of that trouble, stop being so stubborn.” Osamu’s voice wasn’t quite mean, but it wasn’t nice either. You gave him a look before focusing back on your daughter.

“Everybody makes mistakes, the school just wants to take the right precautions,” you assured her softly, tucking some hair behind her ear. You always insisted she wear it up more to show off her face, but that only seemed to make her more insistent on keeping it down. Teenagers.

Osamu hummed in agreement from her other side. “Tell him who brought it,” he said much more sternly than you did. That’s the moment you realised you were unintentionally doing good cop, bad cop.

“Nu-uh. My lips are sealed.”

Your eyes met Osamu’s over your daughter’s shoulders, and there was no denying you shared this though: That’s right, we didn’t raise no snitch.

Osamu looked at the principal, finally letting his arms fall loose from the tight knot. “This won’t happen again, we promise there will be consequences at home.”

Luckily, the principal let her off with a warning, but she earned a detention for not snitching. Fair enough, you decided. On the way to the car, you told your daughter that you hoped she understood that smoking, especially at her age, can be very dangerous for her health.

“Yes, mom.” She sighed dramatically, glancing at her dad who still hadn’t smiled much. The two of you would probably have a serious conversation about his habit later after your daughter went to bed. “I think you should be proud of me, though. Snitches end up with stitches in ditches, like Uncle ‘Tsumu says!”

“Nu-uh,” Osamu retorted, making you realise where your daughter got that from. “Since when did ya start taking advice from that idiot?”

“I'm going to tell him you said that,” she insisted. You had to look away from them to hide your laugh.

"Oh, so now yer a snitch?"

Sure, parenting can be hard, but at least you chose the best partner to do it with.

masterlist

for the requester: I loved your request, thank you so much<3 hope you like it!

[thepunkranger]

So I was thinking about Claire Redfield (as you do) and how much of an insane badass she is for not only holding her own in Raccoon City, but also protecting a child throughout the entire nightmare, and specifically how, for all intents and purposes, Claire in Resident Evil 2 during Raccoon City and Ashley in Resident Evil 4 are the closest thing to peers that they have.

Both of them are college-aged girls with zero combat/survival experience who've been dropped into a zombie-infested hellhole and have to find their way out, but Ashley is so starkly different of a character to Claire.

From a writing standpoint, Ashley is a very literal damsel in distress character. She's young, she's inexperienced, and she does, in fact, need a man to save her (no shade, I'd probably need Leon and his rippling abs to save me too). Now, she does grow significantly as a character throughout the events of the fourth game, and even gets to save Leon a couple of times, but she's still very much a young girl in need of help

Now, in comparison, Claire Redfield is a damsel in distress in the same way Meg from Hercules is

Claire is actually canonically younger in Resident Evil 2 than Ashley is in 4, being only 19, but goddamn is this girl not going to let that stop her. And while Claire does have a bit more skill with self-defense, all that really adds up to is forcing Chris to teach her knife fighting and probably going to the shooting range with him a couple of times. Claire is very confident in herself, but she doesn't have much real world experience to back that up. Girl rode her motorcycle into a zombie-infested city with nothing but a gun (where did she get this gun? We don't know) to do a welfare check on her brother and came out less scathed than the literal cop she made friends with.

And then, there's Sherry. Claire finds a random child hiding in the police station, saying that she's looking for her mom, and makes it her personal mission to protect her at all costs. And when said girl gets taken by the literal chief of police? Claire grabs her grenade launcher and decides that's gonna be his problem because by god is she taking care of that little girl.

By the time they make it out of the city Sherry might as well be Claire's biological daughter, and she is not about to let anything happen to her (forthcoming events out of her control notwithstanding)

Which, in a way, honestly I think makes 19-year-old Claire Redfield actually a closer peer to Ethan Winters.

Ethan is a nearly 30-year-old man who works an office job (I think he's IT?) and whose wife went missing a few years ago. When he finds out she's actually alive he grabs a flashlight and hops in his car to drive to Louisiana to bring her home.

This man finds out that his wife has been possessed, and he doesn't give a shit. He loves her. He made a vow to care for and protect her, and by god is he going to test the limits of 'til death do us part. He takes on an entire family of fucked up hillbillies and literal mold demons to bring her home. And when he does? They have a daughter, and Ethan is ready to sacrifice the world for her too.

All of Resident Evil 8 is just him fighting a pantheon of demons to save his baby girl armed with nothing but a gun he grabbed off a dead guy (he's from Texas, so I'm not gonna question it) and his innate knowledge of how to make life-saving elixirs. And yes, he does save both his wife and his daughter

Idk, I just think it's interesting that Claire and Ashley are so similar in age and life experience, but Claire winds up having the most in common with the Awkward Suburban Dad in the end

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Any Stefek fic that is based off the movie Dirty Dancing? A friend of mine said she read a few but I can not find any! Thank you!!!

Nobody puts Sterek in a corner!

Awkward Dancing by StaciNadia

(1/1 I 1,193 I Teen)

Love and dancing come together at Argent's Resort.

I Can't Live Without Your Love by Val_Brown

(1/1 I 4,898 I Not Rated)

Derek stared out the car window as the green trees of the Oregon Coast highway rolled past. Every summer since he could remember they would head to a resort just outside of Bandon, Oregon. This was the last summer before he began college. The last summer before he had to start his future. He was going to make the most of it.

I Carried a Watermelon for Werewolf Equal Rights by alphasnark

(1/6 I 5,359 I Teen)

A Dirty Dancing AU.

feel the magic between you and I by stilinskisparkles

(1/1 I 11,432 I Mature)

“See?” Derek holds his arms out, “Everything’s working out great for you, and I still have no dance partner,” he turns to Erica, “Face it, no one is as good as you.”

“We still have one more,” she sing songs.

Derek peers over to the list, flinches when he sees Stiles’ name, “No.”

“You haven’t even seen me dance, and you’re already dismissing me?” Stiles sails into the room, tossing his bag in the corner as he does so and doing a dramatic spin to face them. “I got moves.”

Hot, sweet and wild by kishmet

(2/? I 14,665 I Mature)

When his father had announced the trip to the Argents' resort, Stiles had envisioned long days spent lounging on the beach with his laptop. He'd never imagined rigorous training sessions with the world's hottest, strictest dance coach.

Nobody puts Stiles in a corner by Stephaninnie

(7/7 I 39,565 I Mature)

Dirty Dancing AU where Stiles is Baby and Derek is Johnny and some things have changed but most things have stayed the same.

Certain Kind of Fool by saraubs

(1/1 I 36,530 I Mature)

Derek, who has been dragged against his will to the same resort his family visits every summer, is determined to spend the next two and a half months sequestered in his room. His only friend, his sister Laura, is preoccupied with her newly-bonded mate, and doesn't seem to care about anything but making him happy.

When Derek meets Stiles Stilinski, a sharp-tongued waiter, he thinks that this summer might not be a complete waste of time. There are only two problems: First, Stiles is human. Second, he doesn't believe in mates.

Dirty Dealing by lookslikenico, winglesswarrior

(13/? I 47,100 I Teen)

Stiles had a plan for his final summer before college. He was going to intern at the Sheriff's station, get ahead on the plans for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, his dad had some hazy idea of him having 'one last summer' as a lazy teenager. Now, he's stuck cooling his heels and feeling very out of place at some stuck up country club, where he feel he has more in common with the staff than the other members. Of course, that could be because the staff include his new 'how have we never met before' best friend Scott and the 'it should be physically impossible for someone to be that perfect' new crush, Derek. Who apparently hates him - but not enough that he won't swallow his pride and put up with Stiles' presence when he's needed to help get Erica out of trouble...

I May Be Naive But I'm Not Stupid by FelOllie

(18/? I 73,472 I Explicit)

Stiles Stilinski is the young, naïve high school graduate who's headed off to Columbia University (with every intention of going on to Columbia Law) because that's what his parents expect of him. Even though, really, all he wants to do is take after his father and become a cop.

Derek Hale is the sexy, mysterious, just-this-side-of-standoffish-and-rude dance instructor. He and his partner, Lydia Martin, work the summers at the playing-at-posh mountain resort teaching the over-privileged adults and their spoiled kids how to do the merengue.

The summer proves to be exactly what Stiles needs to finally learn how to take control of his life.

But, what happens when it's over?

[alwaysshallow]

prompt: You’re a retired S-tier supervillain. After you retired, you married a B-tier hero. You are forced back onto the stage when an A-tier villain attempts to kill your spouse. Ghost x reader

A/N: i don't know if i hate this or i like, so. it's yours to decide lmfao. especially that's a tiiiiny part that i decided to wrote bc i was bored.

Everyone wants to live happily ever after.

Not exactly a quiet life, but not too loud either. A perfect balance, where you have all the things (or almost all of them) to be happy, fulfilled in life.

Life that wanted your mother for you, before it all went down. Before you turned evil, as she liked to say.

You try to tell yourself that you deserve every inch of it, but you still miss the thrill of the hunt, blood on your hands, the way you just ruled the city like you wanted. Unbothered.

When your husband doesn’t look, you take out your mask, hidden carefully behind all those unopened cartons from your wedding. He thinks you burned all of your past, and here you are. Hiding it like a precious possession, so carefully.

It took you long enough to earn it—you don’t think you quite deserve it, but it’s nice to be a wife that can greet her husband every time he comes home from work. Every time he mentions something about you joining him, but it could be quite a laugh, you say.

A retired villain turned superhero. You’d rather die than make it happen, but that’s what your husband doesn’t know.

Well, he doesn’t know a lot of things.

For example, he doesn’t know how conflicted you are. Unconsciously, you think that you sabotage all of those happy moments. Overthinking stuff, asking yourself if you’re really in a good place, if you made a right decision; if a man is worth giving up your career.

Your whole life, if you want to be petty enough. Your whole life changed because of him—hell, you even changed in some way. Less snarkier, more laid back, so you wouldn’t be degraded to trophy wife, burned out villain in front of his friends and family.

Make them proud, he said once, before a meeting with his friends. Meeting that turned to complete disaster, heading home way earlier than you were supposed to because superhero bullshit bored and annoyed you enough.

But you tried to put up with it. Convince yourself that it is your fate, not the villain route that you chose before.

Fate hits you right in the face, when you enter your apartment to see three significant changes.

Your husband is tied like a pig on the table. Tight.

The apartment looks like a tornado went through it.

And three—

“Took you long enough.”

Yeah. That’s three.

You almost want to laugh. A bandit-like balaclava could scare a lot of people, but not you—not when you know him inside out. Not when you basically competed with him your whole life before.

Yeah. Before. Before you met your husband, before you two got married, before you decided to retire. The taste of this decision is bitter on your tongue, just like the thought that you feel excited for the first time in months because there’s potential danger. Something breaking you out of the routine.

“Normal people do groceries around this hour.” You shrug casually, taking a few steps; the intention of untying your husband falters the moment Ghost blocks your way, amused. You raise your eyebrow. “Come on—”

“—What? Scared?”

“No. But he has probably nothing to do with your business,” you point out, harshly. He lets out a scoff.

“Said that he’s gonna call cops on me. Very unfriendly behavior from a superhero, won’t you agree?” He tilts his head with a theatrical manner.

“I’d do the same,” you murmur under your nose, taking out the material that Ghost gagged your husband with. Carefully, your hand lands on the ropes, until Simon stops you.

“We have better things to do,” he says, his voice low. “Gotta step out from that wife role for a moment, ‘m takin’ you. He’s gonna do fine.”

“You’re taking me?”

“I am, yeah. A problem?” He arches an eyebrow, his grip tight on your wrist. Attacking him is useless, especially when he knows how you want to do it; he’s quick to pin you down against the counter. His front is hot against your ass—he laughs, as he’s almost able to feel your humiliation. “Won’t do anythin’ right in front of your husband, don’t worry. Or, will I?” he looks down at you, expression mocking.

“I hate—”

“Mm. Yeah, won’t do me good.”

And then, you’re out.

[thatdarkfanficstuff]

Flutter - Chapter One

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Mafia AU. Characters may act darker than you are used to. There will be adult content in later chapters. Steve is unhappily married at the start so there is cheating but not on Reader.

18+ Only.

Steve Rogers preferred to have meetings in the comfort of his home. On his own territory where there was no question who was in charge. But Stark’s boy had been causing issues at one of Steve’s clubs and he needed to make certain it wasn’t the beginning of a power play. Tony Stark was one of the few in the city that could cause real problems for Steve if he so chose.

So this meeting was taking place on “neutral” territory. An exclusive restaurant with private rooms and respect for its patrons’ privacy. If it was owned by one of Rogers’ shell companies, well, no one needed to know that.

The glow of the candle on the table flickered as Steve finished his meal and leaned back in his chair. His eyes scanned the faces of his companions as they too finished eating. Bucky Barnes sat to his right as always. His best friend since childhood and the only person he trusted without question. They had always been there for one another and Steve saw no reason that would ever change. Sam Wilson was on Steve’s left. He was a newer addition to the family but had proven himself more than reliable.

Across from him, Tony Stark lounged with an easy grace that belied the tension in the room. He sipped at his drink as his dark eyes studied Steve. It wasn’t often they found themselves at odds and neither man liked it. Stark much preferred drinks in Steve’s office than an awkward meal followed by thinly veiled threats. Bruce Banner sat to Tony’s left. He looked more like an accountant than an enforcer but he was one of the most feared men in the city. He was ruthless when it came to protecting Stark and his family. Clint Barton filled the last chair. As usual the man appeared completely at ease. Steve was fairly certain Barton would have a smile on his face and a quip on his tongue in the middle of a slaughter.

“Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?” Tony began, his voice smooth and strong like aged whiskey. “I have no intention of going against you. I’m not interested in being king. I just want to run my business as I always have. Let me tinker with my toys, let the cash flow and keep the streets just clean enough that the cops stay out of our hair.”

Steve’s gaze lingered on Tony, assessing the truth of his words. They’d operated in this city side-by-side for years. He didn’t see why it should stop now. He trusted Stark. But Peter, Peter was another matter entirely. Steve knew very little about him beyond the fact Tony had adopted him as a teenager. And he was smart, just like Stark. The boy was getting older, nothing said he couldn’t be getting power hungry as he aged.

Steve leaned forward and tapped his fingers on the table. “I like to think I can trust you, Tony. We’ve worked together for a long time. But you’re not the one causing issues. I need a guarantee that this is over. You can promise me anything you want but we both know you can’t control Peter.”

Tony pursed his lips but nodded in agreement. He could try to rein Peter in but there was no guarantee he’d be cooperative. “What do you need from me, Rogers? I don’t want a war but I’m not going to hand my empire over just because my kid stirred up trouble in one of your clubs.”

Bucky snorted a humorless laugh. “Stirred up some trouble? He put two of our men in the hospital. Nearly killed one of them.”

Steve held up a hand to cut off the rant. He rubbed a hand across his mouth and sighed. “I’m not going to pretend what he did was okay but it’s the fact that he claimed to be putting them in their place when he did it that is the real issue here. I can’t have him running around on a power trip, Tony. We both know what that sort of shit leads to.”

Tony rubbed at his forehead before raking his hand through his hair. “What can we do to get back to where we were? What would make you trust us again?”

“An engagement,” Steve said. The surprise of everyone in the room was obvious though they all tried to hide it. It was an unusual move but it would bring the Starks back under his control and might rid him of the irritation of his stepson at the same time. It would make Roman someone else’s problem.

“I’m flattered, but I’m already married,” Tony finally said.

Steve’s lips twitched. “Your daughter, my stepson Roman.” He leaned back and gave a lazy grin. “Everyone knows family is everything to the Starks. So we become family. Peter won’t want to embarrass his sister, he’ll behave and I won’t question your loyalties.”

Tony’s tongue darted out to lick his lips. “An engagement.”

“Family’s important,” Bucky said. “Imagine what ours could do together.”

Tony nodded slowly as he considered his options.

“Pepper won’t like it,” Bruce muttered.

“Pepper will like us having peace with Rogers,” Tony corrected absently as his mind calculated all the possible outcomes, weighed the pros against the cons. Morgan was young yet. He could push the marriage off until she was twenty. Maybe Roman would get himself killed in the meantime. He had a tendency to piss people off. This could work.

“Alright,” Tony murmured. “I agree.”

Steve’s lips curled up ever so slightly in the mere shadow of a smile. “Then we have an understanding.” He leaned forward slightly, the movement minor but deliberate. He held out his hand waiting for Tony to take it, to seal this agreement in the old way. Now it was all contracts and paperwork, but this family started in a time when a man’s word was law and a handshake was as good as a signature.

When Tony didn’t immediately take it, Steve arched a brow and said his name. “Tony.” There was a question in his tone, wondering if his old friend meant to keep to his word or betray it already.

Tony hesitated a moment more as his dark eyes ran over Steve. He was either questioning whether he should actually enter the arrangement or if Pepper was going to kill him for doing so. Morgan was the princess of the family. Which was why she was the perfect inducement for Peter to behave.

Finally, they clasped hands and Tony gave the ghost of a smile. “You’ve got an agreement, Rogers. Guess this makes us family.”

Bucky huffed a humorless laugh. “Make sure to point that out to your son.”

Tony’s jaw tightened. “I’ll make it clear as crystal.”

Steve leaned back and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder with more force than necessary. “Tony doesn’t need a lecture, Buck. He knows what’s at stake.”

Their business concluded, they rose to their feet in unison. Chairs scraped across the floor as they headed for the door. They exited out the back and stepped out into the quiet of the night. With one last nod goodbye they separated to their own vehicles to head to their own parts of the city.

***

Steve stepped into his house with a sigh. His gaze immediately found his stepson Roman where he sprawled sideways in a chair, one foot on the floor and the other leg draped over the arm carelessly. He was playing some sort of videogame and ignored Steve’s presence completely.

“Roman.” The name was not a greeting but a summons. A call for attention which Roman ignored as usual. “We need to talk. Now.”

When he still didn’t respond, Steve crossed the room and pushed the power button on the console.

Roman’s head snapped up. “What the fuck are you doing? I was playing that.”

“No shit. I guess you should have paid attention when I told you we needed to talk.” Steve smacked Roman’s foot that was hanging in the air. “Sit up when I talk to you.”

The boy did as instructed, though the resentment was obvious in every movement. Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I had a meeting with Stark tonight. We came to an agreement. You’re now engaged to his daughter. Congratulations.”

Roman shot up from the chair as if it were on fire. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not marrying that bitch. You’re out of your damn mind.”

“Watch the tone,” Steve snapped. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to.”

“And I suppose I’m just supposed to give up the club and the women, for what? A ring and a lifetime of catering to daddy’s little princess?”

“If you know what’s good for you, you will. You know Stark won’t stand for any disrespect. You won’t have to marry right away. Get it out of your system now.”

“What’s going on down here?” Sharon’s grating voice drifted down the stairs in front of her.

Steve glanced over and flicked his eyes over the ridiculous robe she was wearing, a pale blue satin number with fake feathers at the neck and cuffs.

“Mommy, Steve engaged me to Stark’s daughter.” The whine had a headache blossoming behind Steve’s eyes. For fuck’s sake. The kid was twenty-two not ten.

Her eyes snapped to her husband. “You can’t just make decisions like this for him. You’re not his father.”

Steve took a step forward. “Can’t I?”

Roman’s backbone was apparently restored with the presence of his mother. “No, you can’t. You don’t own me.”

The corner of Steve’s lips flicked up in amusement. “It’s cute, really, how you think you have a choice.” He brushed imaginary lint from his shoulder then slid his hands into his pockets. “You both live lavishly because I allow it. Your comfort is due solely to my generosity.”

Sharon swallowed and lifted her chin to stare him down. “If you think you can bully us into—”

“You both,” he said, cutting her off, “enjoy a life others can only dream of. My terms are simple. Comply or forfeit everything.”

He paused to give his words a chance to sink in. “Think it over. The clock is ticking and my patience is in short supply.”

Roman’s gaze dropped first, defeat coloring his features. Sharon followed suit, her defiance crumbling in the face of the reality Steve laid bare. Everything they had, they owed to him.

Steve’s gaze flicked between them. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

[yzy-dragon]

I absolutely ADORED S2E9 "Three Stories" of Link Click and was a bit surprised to see the discontent here on Tumblr, and I totally understand the reasons why people didn't like it, especially in the context of the pacing of the rest of S2 (which I also have some opinions on but I won't talk about that here), but I also felt the need to just get my heart out why I love it so much. A bit of background, I'm Chinese American but have lived in and visited China numerous times.

Music and theater. As a western classical musician and an amateur Chinese opera singer enthusiast (I saw someone else post about the possible inspo this episode got from Chinese opera), I VIBED with the artistic direction of this episode SO much. The three-part structure was almost like a sonata/symphony (and remember that one scene where Qian Jin was air-conducting in a previous episode!!) or scene changes in a Chinese opera. Nothing needs to be said about the animation style that hasn't been said already, but I like how scenes from the three individual "stories" were interwoven and reused like leitmotifs. Especially that crazy, tortured laughter. Idk if any of the parallels were intentional on the part of the director, but it's what I got from it due to my personal experiences. I know that's a highly subjective takeaway though, which brings me to my next point....

Qian Jin's "tragic" backstory. I know a lot of people were upset that the extent of Qian Jin's tragic backstory was "oh his wife cheated on him", but I think the "basicness" of his struggles was the whole point (by the way, this segment displayed various attitudes towards work, family, marriage, individual pride, and life in mainland China so subtly but so well!). I also don't think sympathy was the main thing we were supposed to feel for him, although of course there is some. The whole "tragicomedy" aspect of Qian Jin's story is that it's not some horrible, terrible, rare thing that happened to him, but a common problem faced by so many hardworking but busy married men trying to provide for their families: infidelity. But Qian Jin sees himself as the main character of an elaborate play that rivals the great dramatic classics (which, funnily enough, often depicted very DRAMATIZED versions of a rather basic series of events). And his viewpoint is validated when....

Qian Jin meets the twins. That segment is still largely from Qian Jin's perspective, because we still don't really know how LTC and LTX even feel about him. But for Qian Jin, it's a stroke of fate and fortune that could only possibly happen in theater. He's very far removed from reality at this point. Reality is that a cop whose job it is to investigate violent crime comes across two kids who are the victims of a violent crime. Again, nothing particularly special or even coincidential. It's comical like that.

The fairy tale section.  Unlike the first two, I think this segment is from Xixi’s perspective, which not only justifies the cartoony artstyle but also makes it heartbreaking, due to her childlike innocence.  Like Qian Jin, she also perceives her reality as something it’s not, but unlike him, she doesn’t have delusions of grandeur of being a tragic protagonist.  It’s just a little fox trying to survive in a forest full of predators and hunters.  

All that tortured laughter. I’ve actually noticed in a lot of Chinese media that they like to use laughter as a way of signifying a person’s complete mental breakdown due to the tragedies they’ve suffered.  It’s a very internal thing that has people on the outside going, “WTF?”  In this episode we have a lot of characters crazily laughing together at the same time and it seems like they’re relating to each other, but in reality they’re all trapped in their own nightmarish hells and motivated by selfish purposes. 

Back to the topic of Qian Jin, even though he (innaccurately) may see himself as the hero of his own story, it's not enough for him. He wants to use Cheng Xiaoshi to change the past. He wants to become the director of the play.

I know a lot of people were disappointed this episode didn't advance the plot, especially in regard to Cheng Xioashi and Lu Guang's storylines, but I was actually prepared for a backstory episode and couldn't have been more satisfied. Again, I have other opinions on the rest of S2 but at least standalone, I think this episode was nearly perfect. And I really wasn't expecting this, but it's really elevated Qian Jin to one of my top characters.

[jesncin]

Are you at all excited for the upcoming Absolute Martian Manhunter book later this year? It'll be the most high-profile launch J'onn has been a part of for a long while, being DC's attempt at an "Ultimate Marvel" line. Given how the approach seems to be defined by removing elements of the characters' status quo - Superman has no Krypton tech, Batman is not a billionaire, Wonder Woman is the last of the Amazons etc. - I think there's a very real possibility that for J'onn they'd pivot in the opposite direction and give us a living Martian society. If only because J'onn has so little anyway, there's not as much to remove as with other members of the League, so the logical thing would be adding something back in to shake things up. I'm personally hoping for some combination of Weird and Noir.

I'm absolutely (heh) excited for it (because a new refreshing change even in an elseworld story is exactly what J'onn needs right now!) but also cautious and,,, concerned. DC's revealed the Absolute gimmicks for just about all the other solo supers but J'onn is essentially still a rumor? What's going on there? I was also concerned when Superman's Absolute gimmick was supposedly "he'll be more alien than human" "he doesn't have a fortress of solitude, no Kents, etc" which,,, sounds a lot like J'onn tbh but we'll have to wait and see. Sometimes writers do this thing where they try to do something new with Superman and it's just re-worked J'onn lore. And J'onn lore is fundamentally flawed so in turn that take on Superman doesn't work, but that's just me with early concerns.

Ooh! That's a good point actually! That feels like the most logical shakeup they could do, and YJa helped warm people up to the idea of a living Mars (which I also agree would spice things up and differentiate J'onn from Clark more). And I'd absolutely (heh) love more supernatural-weird-noir for J'onn! We finally had J'onn play into being a martian detective in the 2019 Identity run, but it was more cop drama than detective noir which I would love to see. My only addendum to the idea of a living Mars as an Absolute gimmick is, since YJa popularized this already, what else will this take do to innovate on that idea? My personal wish list is:

Revitalize J'onn's cast system (a mix of old and brand new characters. Don't just make him watch tv to care about humans. Give this martian relationships!!)

Figure out his themes outside of grief!! (I love sad Martian man but he needs to do more than that! It's been stagnating his character)

No Justice League stuff or other superhero cameos/team ups. (J'onn NEEDS to prove he can stand on his own as a solo character so he can stop being pigeonholed as the League's heart or therapist.)

Fresh new take on Martian world building (please get rid of Martian racism, it's dumb and never made sense. It's a shapeshifting society and the idea of characters like M'gann essentially "greenfacing" to "pass" is so weird)

Critical reimagining of J'onn's relationship to justice (we need to get rid of or critically examine his relationship to copaganda.)

Integrate Blackness more thoroughly into his character (CW Supergirl and that one Nubia Coronation special comic are still the only takes that have done this. Come on guys!!)

More thorough reflection of J'onn's multiple identities (undoubtedly what makes J'onn special. But the comics rarely dig into what it means for J'onn to be multiple people. I would love it if his identities [especially the racialized ones] weren't treated as so,,,disposable.)

Ma'alefa'ak please (I just want to see him again I don't even care if they do a bad job. However all I ask is he be a green martian and J'onn's twin again. And a slutty design.)

The last time we saw a big overhaul to J'onn's character was the New 52, and the major flaw of that run was that it had no clear thematic intention to how it interpreted his character. So we ended up with just a bunch of references and a convoluted edgy story that doesn't help J'onn become a self sustaining solo character. The Absolute line is the perfect platform to revitalize him as a character, but I hope the writers can think in the long term to combat his foundational issues.

[scribe-of-hael]

The Path to Hell is paved with good intentions

I think what is interesting is the drive that is the Autobots and Decpeticons. Mostly the cause of the Decpeticons and Megatron himself.

Alot of the time we see Megatron to be a crazy, battle hungry, warlord whos hel bent of causing destruction, conquering all in his path and who cares only about his goal to rule.

Over the years we have seen many version of Megatron. From silly goofy villain who's somtiems could acutally be a threat like in g1, to pash, cold, cunning like TFA, to being a crazy war lord who is incredibly cruel in TFP.

But these versions are mostly a Megatron who came from fighting, or had no good intentions to begin with besides being selfish or power hungry.

Then you have TFE and IDW/IDW2 (and possibly tf one). A different apprich to a character. Some may say its to make someone who has done cruel things as more sympathetic. But I think adds depth and personality.

Giving more than a crazy leader with silly goons, to a person who genuinely thought at the beginning, "I want things to change, for the better ,because it is broken"

Much howOptimus, the humble data clerk (hate he is a cop in idw tbh) and the hard working miner. Your everyday ppl, going through diffenrt struggles and honestly. I think woukd be fair to say that Orion wouldn't know the struggles of lower level bots that don't even have proper names..

Like D-16. The mech whis become Megatron.

Both Optimus and Megatron i think wnates to see a change , but how they both went about it i what added the conflict.

These two are basically your average everyday people. Megatron was an average everyday person. He wasn't born into the pits, net a warrior. A worker.

I think with alot of cartoon "villains" to we get older and started to see from a adult perspective. "Oh wait they are making sense." And how MESSED up the situation even was to drive these characters to this point.

Its no longer good vs evil, it is two ideals fighting aginst each other. What was once a fight for what these two sides believes in, turned into warfare and blood shed. To the mentality of Megatron being

"I can't trust anyone to right thing, besides me. I am the only one who can fix this, I can lead us."

You know what I could also see Optimus having the SAME mentality when comes to fighting megatron and restoring Cybertron. They are very much two sides of the same coin. I think that's what adds to the conflict between them. Optimus could be one bad day away from becoming Megatron onnthe sense of wanting to control the situation despite what costs just to not se Megatron when.

And you know he HAS done this. Yeeting the allspark for one to not let Megatron have ir but at the cost of Cybteron and its occupance. It was a loose loose situation regardless.

When it comes to alt-modist mentality, this high class vs low class, and the corruption of Cybertron. It is no wonder why so many people believes in the Decpeticon causes.

The reason why I clung so hard to Transformers Earthspark Megatron is because this was a break out from his character. To later learn it definitely took inspo from IDW who explored this character further sealed my admiration for him.

No one in the tf universe is less or more guilty. Both sides have done HORRIBLE things. Experimentation, brutality, killing innocence and their own soldiers just to get the won up. The autobots are not without their own blood shed. Only SOME of the autobots have a bit more regard for life and the planet they sit on. It doenst mean all of them do, and it doenst mean people within the groups around Optimus like it. But because they are painted as good guys we exapect them to.

Its when Decpeticons seem to take an interest in life do I find it way more compelling because it is out of their characteristics. They are the "bad guys"

Knockout being interested in Human cinema

Thundercracker being into writing and making movies

They are still PEOPLE. With interests and hobbies, internal conflicts and hesitations.

To see a Megatron not only fight aginst his own army , but take a human, a HUMAN as a friend that he TRUSTS?! That he gave up his Cybertronian already mode UP FOR?! Thats a bug FUCKING deal.

Just the contrast to TFW Megs to say TFP. Tfp depsite it beingbbetter for camouflage NEVER changes his alt mode. He is never willing to acutally change, he is so deeply rooted in what he is, who he is. What he is doing. That he is unwilling to change to the surroundings. No the surrounding will change BECAUSE of him.

While TFE realized a change was needed to fix things, to work together, to show I AM CHANGING, I WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

This is not a Slander Optimus rant or a WOW Megatron is such a great guy essay.

Was mostly me rambling.

[scoobydoodean]

ok lol officially most annoying anon in the world (“mischaracterization” anon who just said they were abdicating from the convo 4 being high as balls which. is real and i should stop cuz atp im p sure the whole point of what ur getting at is going over my head lmfao) BUT in terms of what u said u were getting at in ur poll (like if the writers were cognizant of it or if it’s more a display of their own internal biases? again im stupid and high sorry if im once again missing the point by a mile)… BUT

I don’t have any strong inclinations either way but if I had to choose I’d have to say it’s more their own internal/personal bias’s coming out rather than something they were expecting the audience to pick up on and maybe think about. And the only reason I say this is because the identities/status of the people she killed were never really explicitly stated (at least from what i can immediately recall of the episodes) or brought up again.

like it’s notttt rlly brought up throughout the episode aside from just learning that those people are dead and she killed them? like idk nothing about it rlly inclines me to believe it was anything more than subconscious or latent beliefs in the writers because I do think we were supposed to empathize with her so it does make sense in that sort of lens that the writers chose “criminals” or whatever to kinda “soften the blow”, if u will, of her having killed people?

idk. i wanna know what what u think tho!!! like in terms of the poll u posted what would ur answer be?

I have mixed feelings about it, because I think the previous associations the writers have made with Sam and class (as well as Dean and class—for example—in 2.20 "What Is And What Should Never Be") make it very possible it's intentional. Sam justifies Amy's actions partly based on class, and Dean condemns her actions partly for the same reason—that she doesn't get to kill people and get away with it just because they're beneath her on the social ladder. It seems so obvious that one wants to assume it's very intentionally and purposefully done.

At the same time, you are right that the presentation of the story—told through the mouth of a cop and a few newspaper clippings—is heavily biased against the victims. The cop says the third victim deserved it because he had been in and out of jail for petty offenses, and Sam calls him a "low life". You have to work very hard to capture the story of the second victim in the newspaper article. You really can't capture the story on those pages without really sitting down to read, paused on the correct frames. A prominent part of the article is focusing on the victim being a heroin addict who had relapsed and was high when he went to the park. He was vulnerable and "in the wrong place at the wrong time". What gets me the most though is the prominent headline for the first victim: "Body found in park, victim known to police". What a gross way to poison the well. The barely visible subheading reads: "Man had been arrested multiple times, had outstanding warrant". (Again—these multiple arrests indicate petty offenses rather than felonies—probably another addict). When Amy makes an attempt on another victim in the park (only to be stopped by Sam), the target is drunk and fumbling with his keys, trying to get into his locked car. So in every case, the presentation not just from Amy and Sam and the cop but the episode as a whole attempts to bias the audience against the victims, trying to paint them as people who shouldn't be missed, who deserved what they got, and/or whose vulnerability was to blame for what happened to them.

Amy seems to target people who are high or drunk in the park at night because they're vulnerable and alone. I think some fans jump to frame her choice of targets as vigilantism that helps assuage her guilt, but none of those people deserved to die—and it really isn't vigilantism—she's simply following her own mother's shrewd M.O.—you target people who are alone and whose situational awareness is impeded by substances and whose deaths the cops won't put much effort into investigating because they don't see them as victims.

I also think this episode tries very hard to paint Dean in a negative light even prior to him killing Amy. Bobby insists Dean's concern over Sam's well-being isn't warranted when it is perfectly warranted. (We've seen Bobby brush off Dean's reasonable concerns before in 6.06). Then Sam pops off, cutting Dean off to throw a bunch of nonsense in his mouth, and conflating himself with Amy in an absolutely ridiculous way. Dean's voice is suppressed (which is also imo—a prominent feature of the Dabb era in general later in the series). On top of that, this certainly isn't the only episode where Dabb and Loflin's most overt messages try to bias the audience against Dean.

[sturniololuv08]

Case In Point

This morning Chris was terrifyingly silent. He stayed behind at the hospital last night with Nick. I was having too much anxiety being there and needed to come back to the house for my medicine. Chris came home early and refused to acknowledge me. He was still upset with me but I wasn't entirely sure what the reason was. I couldn't help anything that happened leading Nick to this point. He might just be mad at himself for not being there and he was taking it out on me. We were getting ready to go get Nick from the hospital and bring him back home. They called Chris and told him all of Nick's imaging tests were perfect. I'm not sure what Chris said but no cops were called or involved so he was able to lie his way around authority.

"Let's go!" I slipped on some black and gold sneakers. I didn't care too much about what I was seen wearing and dressed down.

"Coming!" I grabbed a zip hoodie off my small dresser and ran out to the garage. The car ride was just more silence from Chris. It wasn't until we were in the room with Nick that Chris started speaking again.

"Ready to come home?" He flopped on the bed and Nick shuttered a little.

"Very." He stuck his hand out to emphasize his emotions.

"Let's go then." Chris shot back up. "I know Elmer wants to come over and see you. I was thinking about just having a welcome home party."

"Is that really necessary?" I rolled my eyes. Maybe Chris was just irritated with me because I challenged every dumb idea he had.

"Nick was shot and almost died; he deserves a party." Chris' intentions were there but not entirely thought out.

"Something small wouldn't hurt." Nick smiled softly at me. I knew then he was just doing the big brother thing by keeping Chris happy.

"Yeah!" He rejoiced in his win and shook Nick a little. His face contorted with the onset of pain.

"A party is fine but being touched isn't." He smacked Chris off of him.

"Got it." The nurse came in with a wheelchair.

"No." Nick said. His face was completely flat. He looked between all of us and said 'no' one more time. 

The nurse smiled softly and said, "I know it's annoying but it's protocol and we can't have you walk out. You have to be wheeled to the car. If you fell and got hurt again you could sue us." Nick sighed heavily and stood up from the bed his face was like a stone as if he was trying to prove he wasn't in any pain.

"See, I'm fine." He said.

"I think we could just forget about protocol just this one time." Chris advocated for him. She thought.

"I guess since there are three of you; the two of you," she pointed between Chris and I, "could help him walk out." She again smiled signaling she was on our side. We each shuffled to be underneath one of Nick's arms. It was a little awkward but we made it work and carefully started walking him down the hall. Once outside he shoved us out from underneath him and walked to the car the rest of the way by himself. 

On the car ride back to the house, Chris was thumbing away on his phone, inviting everyone to the welcome home party. I stared out the window in silence. I didn't want to be around people right now. With the current events that happened I was starting to question my loyalty to the gang. I didn't like that Chris and Nick often put themselves in this kind of danger. And for what? It felt like we gave everything up for Elmer's gang "project" only to receive very little in return. Our house was shitty and falling apart we didn't see profits often just enough to survive and live off of and now one of us almost lost our life entirely. It didn't seem worth it anymore. At least, not to me.

I consistently play that drop repeatedly in my head wondering what happened. I still feel like the first shot was fired from our side but that wouldn't make sense unless we truly did short them. And if that was the case, then Elmer was putting all of us in danger and lying to our faces about it. I don't want to be involved with someone like that. When we pulled up to the house Chris was immediately trying to help Nick. Nick was shutting down every attempt. I stayed in the background just watching everything happen. I was stuck in my head. I was stuck in my thoughts.

"So what time is everybody coming over?" Nick asked. I assume he was wondering because he wanted to try and rest before he was the center of attention.

"I told everybody to meet at Elmer's around 10:00. I wanted to try and give you time to rest." Chris was finally sounding considerate. "Oh, and we're having it at Elmer's instead of here because it's a little bit nicer and Elmer feels bad. He wants to contribute." Chris interjected before turning the corner out of the room. He came back with a water for Nick.

My phone started ringing in my pocket I took it out and looked at it. 2:30. It was my alarm to go and see her. I looked up to see both of them staring at me.

"It's almost 3:00," I whispered more to myself. I immediately regretted it because their faces changed to curiosity.

"So when do we get to know what your three o'clock plans are?" Nick asked. 

"Never," I replied.

"You know sooner or later you're just going to have to tell us otherwise we're just going to follow you to see what you do." Chris was always the person to take it too far. Nothing could be a joke for long with him. It was very contrast to who he used to be before all of this. He used to be loving and kind; everything was a joke to him. And now he's serious, and focused, and nothing is fun anymore. I secretly missed the old Chris.

"I guess one day you're just going to have to follow me and find out." I was still playing coy because I did not ever want them to know where I went or why I went there. I went into my bedroom to change into something a little less comfy and a little more casual. 

Once I was dressed I walked out into the living room Nick was asleep on the couch. Chris was playing Rocket League on the TV. 

"He's fine. I just gave him a sleeping pill so he didn't risk opening up his stitches."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked Chris. He paused the game, sat down the controller, and looked at me. His eyes stared right at me but I could tell he didn't see me.

"Why are you mad?" His face changed a little to show he was thinking about my question. I felt like if he had to think about his answer then it was probably a stupid reason.

"Honestly, Matt I'm not mad. I'm frustrated. Everything we do is dangerous. Everything we do puts us in harm's way and I'm frustrated because you just seem like you don't get it. You don't take it seriously or care. I can't tell which but I feel like you don't take it seriously enough and don't realize that there could be consequences around the corner because of it. I know you are not like Nick and I. Not in the slightest, but you could at least try a little harder and I can't help but feel if you had tried a little harder Nick wouldn't have gotten shot that night."

I was speechless I was well aware that I was not of the same caliber as Nick or Chris but what I wasn't aware of was that it bothered him. I didn't realize that he cared so much about me laying low and hanging back instead of being involved in everything.

"I have to go." I couldn't address what he just unloaded on me.

"Case in point." He mumbled grabbing the controller. I grabbed the car keys and drove back into town. At Grinds it was the same routine I was comfortable with. We both order. She was on her computer and phone by herself and I was watching her. You would think since I have spoken to her twice now I would be able to talk to her with ease but it actually made it worse. I wondered if she thought about 'the guy from the party' or ' the guy from the coffee shop'. She was always in her little world typing away so she didn't notice or recognize me today after running into me yesterday. She didn't stay as long today. She packed up and I watched her get into an Uber. I sighed dreading going home. I was glad Nick was back but I couldn't face Chris after what he said to me.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Monday Fandom :) This episode is all kinds of cute. I love it so much. We get to see the depth of what Lucy would do for Tim. After he just showed up what he’d do for her in 5x12. It’s so good. Let us get started.

5x13 Daddy Cop

We start with Lucy in roll call. I would like to point out Lucy picking a spot in the back of the room. She’s never once done that before. Doing it so she can check in on her husband. Lucy is somewhat subtle about it. But she can’t help but check on him. Knowing the bullet he took for them. She literally can’t help but look back on her man. Such lingering glances too. *heart clutch.* You can see in the second one he’s looking back at her too. How can these two kill me so much with such subtle glances? Damnit I love them so much.

Lucy could not be cuter running up to see Tim before her shift. Physically turning his chair around. He couldn’t be happier to see her. First time we’ve seen him light up today. You guys are so loud and I love it. Little work flirt before her shift. Lucy saying looks like he has a lot to uh....Liaise LOL Tim straight lying to his person like he thinks he can get away with that nonsense. Lucy replying she thought they would never lie to each other.

Tim shooting back 'That was a lie.' Lmao I’m dying their banter on point as usual. The sassy face she gives him. Be more married you two please. Love these idiots in love. Lucy can’t stand it and says he’s miserable. Tim with a very unconvincing ‘No…’ Lucy isn’t buying what you’re selling....Babe your girlfriend sees right through you. Always has. She has the book of Tim locked away in her head.

Tim trying to convince her it’s not that bad. 'Nice people…Low stress….'The more you speak the more she knows you’re dying Tim. A subtle cry for help. Or not so subtle really lol He doesn’t regret doing this for her at all. But she can’t stand him doing this when he’s so clearly miserable. Lucy knows this man. He will suffer in silence if it makes her happy and they get to be together. A decision I know he would make again. Because she is his person also as we saw last ep his blindspot. So he would do anything even at his own detriment.

Her big friggin dork of a man giving her a thumbs up and telling her to 'Be safe out there.' LMAO I love this man so much. Dork Tim has been activated. She loves this goober in front of her nonetheless. Lucy’s cute head tilt knowing he’s putting on an act for her. Then he lights up like a Christmas tree saying he’ll see her at the end of shift. He can’t wait because he has someone to go home to now and I love this.

The most genuine he is the entire scene. Knowing he will get to see her end of shift. The best part of his day will be seeing her and I love that. It’s written all over his beautiful face. Lucy however isn’t smiling as she walks away. Knowing this job is making him miserable and she can’t stand it. His intentions being the best and purest. But also knowing she needs to fix this for him somehow. She just doesn’t know how just yet…

Lucy sees Metro piling in and immediately thinks of her man. How well he would do there. How good he would fit in. I just adore her conferring with Harper one this. Also her spending the entire episode trying to find him a better position. Earlier in the episode they had a convo about a 5 player trade. Trying to create an opening so one could open up for Tim.

Metro has now become a potential option for Tim. She wants to start her trade. Harper warns her this could come with consequences. For her and Tim. To Lucy that’s worth it though. Tim blocked her making a sacrifice in 5x12. He is WORTH the risk of her ruffling some feathers to get him a better position. Never be over them consistently doing whatever for each other. Makes my soul happy.

So much to love about this next scene. I adore Lucy seizing the opportunity to solve Tim’s job problem with the group. They’re all gonna be at Nolan’s anyways... Might as well be one giant brain to save her man from his desk job. Super brains assemble and you know Nolan lol Their sticky note game is strong as they try to figure out an opening. Just as they crack it Tim shows up at the door.

John says his name loudly so they all hear him. Which causes them all to scramble to disassemble their brain storm session. So funny to watch them get the post it’s down as fast as they can. Then trying to get back to their seats as John does horribly at stalling Tim. I mean it's so horrible and awkward. Tim's face when Nolan is speaking is too funny. Wondering if he made a mistake in coming over here... LOL

I love him pointing out Lucy’s car and no one else’s. Could care less there are other cars out there. He points out his girl's car only and asks about it. This makes me giddy on so many levels. The minute he enters the room they could not be more obvious. The looks say everything. Also all these scenes just hit differently knowing they’re together. Makes me so happy. Look at Lucy above she couldn't be more obvious if she tried. You're a UC Lucy you can do better LMAO Being under pressure is the name of the name and you fall like a cheap house of cards here haha. It's too cute though especially with her little eyebrow pump.

Let’s not gloss over how delicious Tim looks in this scene. I always love me some street clothes Tim. But hot damn that tight t-shirt and those jeans. His hands in his pockets showing off those biceps.*fans self* Angela’s face when he talks to Lucy I’m dying. If she didn't know at this point she sure did now. Look at her in that first gif. So telling it's hysterical. Tim sensing something is off but he isn't sure why. Like did you think your man wouldn’t notice this?

So he zero's in on his girl and asks if she's ok? Not anyone else in the room just her. I LOVE how softly he asks if she’s ok? Looking right at her. Tim lights up when he speaks to her. Which gives me all the feels. His Lucy demeanor on full display in this scene. Seriously be more obvious you two. Lucy looking smug as hell and trying to keep it under wraps. Angela continues to crack me up with her expressions. Angela Lopez you are a treasure.

Lucy comes to Smitty he is the final piece in this 5 player trade of hers. They figured out how to get it done but he is sadly an essential piece. Lucy goes into this scene prepped and ready to go because well it's Lucy. This scene is hilarious because Smitty already knows the plan if Fuji retires. Flooring Lucy completely. I commend Melissa and her facial expression here it’s so funny. She gets Smitty to agree to help her in getting his friend to retire. He wants a favor though. Lucy immediately says 'Nothing weird.' LMFAO. Oh the things we do for love.

Tim eagerly comes to find Lucy end of shift. He’s so excited he’s going to come out of his skin. He heard about Lauren Fuji retiring. He's so excited as he explains this all to her. Look at that man. Bursting with joy to share this news with her. I love the pre-excitement on her face as he speaks. Saying she doesn't know how he keeps its all straight. Well played Lucy hehe

I adore him running to his person the moment he has news for her. Lucy is his safe place. One he goes to for all things good and bad. What I love most about this is Tim allowing himself to be this excited and keyed up around her. The man is glowing most of this conversation. Not holding back one emotion from her. Being as genuine as we’ve ever seen him. It does my heart good to watch him thrive in this relationship with her.

I’ll probably say this multiple times in this season. But this is what it looks like to be truly and unconditionally loved. The background this man came from, the relationships he had before her. It's hard to express emotions when they're always suppressed like his have been in the past. It's a joy to watch him like this. He's never experienced what he's had with her before. We’re watching this new Tim come out and it glorious to watch unfold. To see what it looks like when he properly loved on. To be put first and built up.

We watch as Tim tells her his tale. Explaining what all this means. Getting more excited by the minute. The way he leans into her as he tells her everything. Lucy pretending she doesn't know any of this. Playing dumb about it all and damn well at that. He has no idea. Lucy acting like this is all "new" to her. Tim getting all amped up letting her know there's an opening in Metro now. Well that there was.... Alluding to his reply down below.

What is getting her all smiley and excited is his excitement in this moment. It’s infectious and she is beaming with happiness for him. Knowing all the effort she put in was so worth it to get this reaction. She knew he would be a good fit and this proved it. He is BEAMING with excitement when he tells her he got the Metro Job. No one else he would rather share this with. This whole relationship is such a good look on him it’s insane.

Lucy's affectionate hit is everything. He loves it and is it's only adding to his already insane amount of excitement. All his other work achievements she had to regulate herself. Now she can fully be herself and be excited for him. Hence this cute reaction of hers. Loud and proud wifey right here. She is so damn excited and proud of him. No one has been a bigger cheerleader for this man than her. it’s only amplified now that they’re together.

Tim tells her he got a rock star review from Grey. Then we get some massive heart eyes from Lucy. Look at her above. If you wanted to see what being in love look it's her expression. What I love about this is Lucy getting to tell him he’s amazing. To his face. For years she’s told everyone around her about this amazing man. Gushed about him. This is the first we get to see her say it to his face. For him to hear her say it. Not only that but to hear it with so much love, pride, and affection in her voice. Love in her eyes for him. *squee* Building him up once again in a way only Lucy can. This is so precious I cannot.

Tim is feeding off her positivity and love. That nose crinkle might be the death of me. He’s SOOO amped and being this excited in front of his girl has me feeling things. He is so bright and happy it’s making me a puddle of giddy goo. Lucy brought this man back to life in so many ways. She is bringing out this new side of him and I’m so here for it. I’m so giddy for him and Lucy is feeding off it as well. I continually ask. Have we ever seen this man this excited? This happy?

We can thank that beautiful powerhouse standing in front of him. All he wants to do now is go out and celebrate with his girl. Which is massive growth btw. He’s not one to be excited outwardly about promotions or awards. But this is post-in love with Lucy Tim Bradford. He is bouncing off the walls he’s so excited. He gets to have his cake and eat it too. See his person every day and have a new exciting position. Love this first thought being he wants to celebrate with her. This man has changed and grown so much. It's glorious to behold. Truly.

Lucy wants to go out and celebrate with him so badly. If it was up to her they would leave that station right now and do that. Sadly her favor still needs to be cashed in…I love his little puppy face when she says she can't. He wasn't expecting to be spending tonight without her and it shows. All over his handsome face. You can see it's killing her to say no to him right now. But sadly Smitty and his favor can not wait. Even if she doesn't know what the hell it is yet LOL

I adore him immediately asking if she needs any help? I love this man so very much. Such a soft puppy for her. Only ever see him like this with her. He is thinking they may going out but least he can be with and help her with whatever this favor is. Ever the sweet supportive boyfriend and I love it sfm. Man really would do whatever for that woman in front of him. They could watch paint dry and Tim would be in cause he would be with her. Lucy tells him it’s something she has to do solo.

Lucy follows up she wants to celebrate him tomorrow. I love her saying celebrate 'You.' Not his job but to celebrate YOU. Look at this man above as she says this. He is legit basking in her praise, excitement, and love right now. What I really love is as she continues to congratulate him he leans closer to her. Looks like he wants to kiss her. Once again forgetting they’re in the bullpen. Their magnetic pull activating in the final moments of this scene.

Lucy saying her line above with so much love and affection. Her words having an effect on him. It shows in this next mini moment. We can see him grab her hands and pull her towards him gently in that second gif. The amount of squeeing I'm doing. Tim friggin Bradford grabbing for her girl. Pulling her closer at work out of instinct. In the bullpen of all places. Not caring they are in public. He is high off her excitement and this new job. Looks like he just wants to kiss her in this moment. Pick her up and spin her around he’s so happy.

She has to break the spell sadly. Remembering they are at work and she has to go do her favor.. but not before telling him 'Good job!' Look at this man's face as she departs. That’s a ‘I’m going to marry that woman someday.’ face. He is glowing with love and it makes me so happy to see him loved right. He is a different man since they got together. He is exuding so much love for her and pure joy. Just looking and being happier in general since 5x10.

Gah Eric killing me softly good sir. Happiness looks SOOO good on you my love. He’s earned every ounce of what he’s getting from Lucy. Just love this character so much. To finally see him be treated right getting me all in my feels. Best girlfriend ever and he has no idea what’s she done for him. She didn’t want credit. She just wanted him to be happy at work. Once again putting that beautiful man first.

I saw someone posted watching this scene was like ship crack cocaine lmao it’s so accurate I can’t haha. I’m getting high off their happiness in this scene. Tim is bouncing off the walls and Lucy is absorbing it all. The only payment she needed was knowing he was happy. Ugh they’re so cute I love it sfm. I’m so gone for these two. I haven’t loved a ship like this in a long time. I knew when I started this show they were going to be something special. Proven me right so many times over. This season truly is a gift.

We see what the favor is. Smitty wants her to deep clean his RV. Says he hasn’t in years. Telling Lucy since the Bush administration. Lucy’s eyes bulge out. Asking 'Which Bush?' LMFAO. She finds out she’s doing it solo. We then get this great shot of her in a hazmat suit. Chemicals and cleaning supplies at the ready. Knowing it won’t be great. Her ‘Oh dear god.’ Hahaha things we do for the ones we love. Her cleaning his nasty as RV so her man could be happy ❤️❤️

~~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

I love the Cold Open for this one. Daddy Cop is hilarious. If this didn’t get stuck in your head you're lying lmao

I loved Tim helping Celina out with her mom. Also what is about this man saying Spanish words with that inflection that gets me every time? Ovary explosion for me. When her says Celina’s mom’s birds names. Lorca and Neruda does it with inflection and I’m a damn puddle.

Also her asking if she single LMFAO He very is not Mrs. Juarez haha Also the way he says Juarez does thing to me lmao I have no shame in how i feel haha

[sirianasims]

After the main course, Paul went to the kitchen to get the dessert ready before midnight. I excused myself and said I needed some fresh air.

I had been to Del Sol Valley a few times when I was little, visiting my grandparents, but I didn’t remember much about the city itself.

The back of Paul’s mansion was the only thing not surrounded by fences, and the view was both breathtaking and terrifying. Bright lights as far as the eye could see, occasional premature fireworks going off, faint background noise from traffic that never stopped.

It felt like we were gilded birds in a cage up here, always on display yet forever out of reach.

I couldn’t imagine anything further from Copperdale and the quiet, snow-covered forests around it.

I wondered if Paul would expect me to move in with him at some point. I didn’t see how he’d be able to work from anywhere else. I could work wherever, but could I live here? Surrounded by fences and cameras and security guards in a huge, empty house?

I pushed the thought away as I heard the clacking of heels behind me.

“Julia, can I talk to you for a moment?”, Sierra asked softly. “I would really like to apologise for what I said earlier. It was never my intention to insult you.”

“I know you didn’t mean it like that, but I still can’t help feeling that you don’t like me very much. Or maybe you just don’t think I’m good enough for Paul?”

Sierra bit her lip.

“I shouldn’t have brought up his exes, especially not in front of you. The thing is, they rarely lasted long enough for the media to catch on – half the time I didn’t even get to meet them before he ended things. So when Paul first told us about you, I got worried. I saw him falling harder and faster than ever before, but you’re so much younger than him and I was struggling to see how it could possibly end well.”

“Right. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m just being honest with you. I tend to be, perhaps, overly protective of Paul. He was even younger than you when we met, we shared a shitty apartment with a few other aspiring actors, all trying to break through. We cheered each other on, audition after audition, practicing lines, commiserating over rejection letters… And then he got the call for Llama Man, and I ended up as an extra in a cop series which later got me the lead in Cop & Llama, but I’ve fought hard to escape that, branch out to other roles, and Paul just… didn’t even try.”

“But he says he prefers the voice acting, though. If you’re his friend, why do you keep pushing him if he’s perfectly happy?”

“Because I’m his friend. Sure, he says he’s happy. Maybe he even believes it. But Paul was always the best of us, and he never took his talent seriously. He’s a great voice actor, but it always felt like he secretly wanted more, he’s just scared. What if he sucked? The media would have a field day, writing about how he should just stick to his cartoons. You’ve seen what they’re like, you just had your first front page. Which, by the way, must be rough. I’m sorry for adding to the stress you must be under right now. Can we maybe start over?”

“Apology accepted, I’m too much of a fangirl to be mad at you anyway. And I’m managing, but I must say, being on the cover of a magazine is a lot less fun than advertised.”

“Trust me, it depends heavily on the kind of magazine. But being hung out to dry by some gossip rag is a rite of passage in this business. You should have seen the frenzy when rumours about me and Dave started circulating. It was wild. I once walked out of an interview because they asked me if the llama costume stayed on during sex!”

“Well? Did it ever?”

Sierra grinned.

“No way – do you have any idea how heavy and warm that costume is? It’s not exactly a sexy superhero muscle suit, it’s a full size sports mascot.”

“True. Although I’m not sure I’d appreciate it if Paul kept his costume on either.”

We both laughed, and I barely registered the steps behind me before I felt Pauls arms around me, his warm hands covering my eyes.

“Guess who.”

I heard Sierra chuckle. “Actually, Paul, we were kinda busy out here, bonding over the trials of dating men in llama costumes. It’s a very exclusive club.”

“I guess Dave and I have to start our own club then. But it's almost midnight and I would like to borrow my girlfriend, if you don’t mind.”

“Fine, you can have her back. I’ll just go get myself one of those fruit tarts before Lee and Dave eat them all.”

She walked back inside without waiting for a response.

She wouldn’t have gotten one anyway.

beginning / previous / next

[spotlightlowlife]

I think we're forgetting a few things but WTH, improvement

and you can't tell me that these improvements didn't involve going back to the drawing board and using the critics that crazed fans want to attack as source and inspiration. The shorts, sluggish releases dispite this season supposedly being near complete years ago and now the leaks being branded fake, no, I call BS.

We finally got Millie and Blitzø's teamwork, friendships and first meeting rolled into one episode and all these things were good.

The flashback shows Millie looking like someone else all together, once was a rough looking, thought talking bar scraper who beleived that someone like her were only fit for bruiser lacky jobs. Charmed by Blitzø who was widely oppose to her beliefs but reached out to her to join his new business, so with a job, which makes her joining IMP, make sense.

What was a really good fit was Millie believing that IMP moving up in the world was too good to be true and too good for her, who knew the options of farm girl or bruiser. It fits her families attitude of her work not being a real job.

As said, Millie looks like someone else, I don't know how anyone would have identified her without being told who she was. The lack of height consistency was a major part of this, did people (who were maybe overworked and even outsourced) not think, notice or care? These are leading characters and their backstory together a long time coming, was there little communication for such a crucial scene? Were some of the cells recycled for this animation from another character or two?

Unless it's somehow intentional that Millie was physically taller and meanmugged when she was a tough and independent bandit, who then shrunk and got more girly looking as she got sweeter and friendlier with a relationship that's just one year into marriage?

Or was it the case that having work provided by from this great true friend who we're only seeing as her bestie now was what caused her to glow up? We fight see her interact with Moxxie at all even though he discovered her and it's not obvious that they have ever spoke when they move to their office and where were they before when on their way up?

If scenario 1 was the case, it's not like this show doesn't have a pattern of turning someone with charisma and influence into vulnerable and childlike damsel dependent on their lover

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

If scenario 2 is the case, then this is another example of not being able to pull off the many ideas that are presented, because these two being best friends and Blitzø being the one to build Millie up just happened.

Millie x Moxxie have near no connection at this point. They have had about two episodes were they set off on missions together and aside from Unhappy Campers, the long anticipated 'Millie' episode, I don't remember anything of them working together in the episode Stolas got abducted and later hospitalized, same episode Striker returned, same episode Blitzø took Loona to a long overdue medical appointment.

Even meeting the in laws managed to do nothing for their paring, nothing at all for Millie and Moxxie needed to be incapacitated for Millie to flex.

Moxxie holds up against other characters, we see that he wants the business to work, he has a buddy cop dynamic with his opposite Blitzø and Blitzø sexual harrassment directed towards him serve as a further reminder of their differences, one of them is happily married the other has flings and difficulty sticking around, we see how Loona is mostly a liability who gets away with anything from their interactions, even his brief meeting with Blitzø was enough during is backstory, their desperation and willingness to make their own path made sense, yet content with his own wife revolves around their sex life, what do we know about them?

Millie is gradually getting her time but it's in a clumsy manner in which Moxxie is absolutely absent, which I'm guessing is in direct response to the very fair criticism of Millie moments becoming Moxxie moment and her simply acting as his cheerleader/fangirl in response to drama which she should be more involved in, or at his grand gestures.

Millie and Loona's exchanges are no different to the last time they really interacted back in the first half of season one, the whole episode set up is nearly the same, Millie needs to fix things, only Millie and Loona are of any use, Loona makes remarks about Millie's age before reluctantly agreeing to fill her role and like an even earlier episode, Moxxie needs to be out of his mind for Millie to shine.

Bonus Blitzø out if it too because that's what worked before.

Remember how Millie opened up about enjoying being the centre of attention and that Moxxie was putting her low with his time wasting ideas and sulky attitude?

He had to realise he wasn't being supportive and let Millie have her time to shine, she got to flex which made little difference to the plot and Moxxie was elsewhere at the time.

In anotheter instances Moxxie has to quietly slip through his own home. Millie has her sister over, her sister who like the rest of the family was rude to Moxxie the last time we saw them together and clearly that was nothing new.

Yes, I know Sallie was chilling with Millie when Moxxie slipped by, yet the episode starts with Sallie arriving to visit Millie, the two of them spending the day at bars and shops, a totally forced and out of place sob story that would change a big fat nothing before the two of them fell chilled on Millie and Moxxie's sofa, clearly Moxxie would kill their vibe just by being seen, clearly there was no intention of really showing Millie stand up for her new life and marriage or any intention of showing any family member accept these things.

Millie having autonomy when Moxxie is totally sidelined hardly works for Millie since they are the leading couple and Moxxie has a more extra personality and connections, good or bad with others. As much as this episode worked, gave her more personality and established the relationship she has with her boss, yet again a set up of desperation and separation was needed

along with responding to criticism

It's sad that shorts and the pilot that may have been branded irrelevant are manditory viewing in order to give the main show it's needed extra substance, it seems Millie x Moxxie need a short or two about their get together, romance and what they actually like about each.

Blitzø content was good.

It was a pity to see a brief illusion of his mother were he wouldfeel relieved to that his many traumas were a dream, only for this scene to be done, dusted and mean nothing

then for the biggest reaction and majority of bad memories to be of his Stolas drama

but this was truly a Millie episode and no complaints on that part.

Since now the leaks are being conveniently called fake, it may be a good idea to scrap what leaks remain and turn the recent Stolas content into the straw that broke the camels back for someone who has been through a lot? Can't say I have much faith in this though, since the sped through apologies to those who don't make any difference yet Blitzø knew he hurt, the watering down of Stolas and Fizz, dismissal of Barbie and Verosika's shift from fun scorned woman who rightfully looked down on Blitzø to spiteful tragic heartbroken ex who stalks his life. As usual, too much offered, too little focus. I can't see the direction steering in any other direction that hooking up Blitzø x Stolas, even though both characters have things to offer independent of one another

and they're a horrid ship.

So returning to the episodes story, I don't even know how to review it other than barely existent.

The villain seemed a massive waste, not only was he voiced by someone very popular but he seems yet another interesting idea for a character, but where was his point other than tormenting Blitzø who stepped into his territory? Is this it for this villain? Why wasn't another big hotel a bigger deal?Leading on to the sinner we met at the start having her subplot was quickly forgotten.

What do we have to talk about when it comes to these introduced individuals?They told us why they were here but nobody cared. Other than the lore of this type of demon and them being voiced by a godfather of strange and queer adult media and Charlie?

Too many things are taken on when the show has a tendency to have too few things matter.

[jesncin]

Hi! I just saw your post about Caped Crusader and the problems with the way they handled their characters who are poc, specifically when it comes to 'diversifying' formerly white characters by giving them the MAWS Lois treatment and not really bothering to actually think about how being a different ethnicity would affect them (btw why is CC Flass a black man?? Flass, out of all the cops??? really??)

So I wanted ro ask if you ever talked about how Batman: Unburied/ Secrets in the Dark handled this? (Including the spin-off here since Unburied doesn't actually mention anything about what the characters look like despite the casting choices implying intentional changes in that regard)

asdfasf I hope we normalize saying "giving them the MAWS Lois treatment" because if that ends up being my legacy I'd be happy. Yeah I have no idea why they picked Flass of all the cops to be Black specifically. Like sure Bullock is the bumbling guy but he has more potential as someone who gets taken advantage of and is famously skeptical of Bats.

I've mentioned Batman Unburied a lot because I adore it! But I haven't really talked about it, and for Secrets in the Dark I haven't listened to it yet (I'm deep in scripting work and I've been saving video essays + podcasts for my eventual comics grind so I'm very behind on that stuff). While yes, in Unburied characters don't clarify explicitly in the dialogue of the podcast what their race/ethnicity is, I consider Unburied to be a case of "race conscious casting" as opposed to "colorblind casting"- because it isn't just Bruce that's Black this time, both his parents are casted that way too. And you feel that attention given to other characters.

Unburied has a special place in my heart as one of the few Batman media that is 100% ACAB. You could argue Battison 2022 is anti-cop as well, but it's more like "the cops are corrupt because they're associating with the mafia, Gordon is the one good cop" [they emphasize Batman saying this even] instead of "cops are corrupt because the police system is inherently corrupt". In Unburied, when Barbara says "that's Gotham for you", Bruce responds "that's cops for you." Jim Gordon is kicked out of the police, and it's clear Barbara just ends up going through the same thing her father did, and gets kicked out as well. I love Riddler telling Babs that she's too good to be working for the cops like he gets it. So yeah, I love Unburied and I can't wait to listen to the sequel series! The only thing I don't like is Winston Duke's Batman voice. Too much bear growl. His Bruce voice is excellent though.

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

DFF - Character Reveals and Why Some Work and Some Don't

I have been thinking about Phee and Tan and why the Tan reveal was so amazing while the Phee character reveal post episode 9 destroyed the character for a big chunk of the audience.

It all started with a post from @mikuni14 here is the link with a couple of additions and back and forths, from me, op and @leconcombrerit and the comments in the notes by @kerrikins which I just say today and accidently helped me figure out why I don't like post episode 9 Phee.

Set Up to The Reveal

I think most of us can agree that Tan and Phee have been suspicious since episode 1. The key to the later reveals was for Phee to appear the one in charage as highlighten in this excellent post episode 9 post from @lurkingshan

So for 8 weeks of real world time, everyone who watched live spend that time with this image of Phee: A loyal, smart, leader oriented teen that made a mistake in anger and betrayal and is now trying to make up for it. Someone who is charge and on top of this revenge plan. Someone who is willing to get their hands dirty.

While Tan came across as someone who wants answears, who likes to get high with these people but is only for real close to Phee, and fades into the background unleass you are specifically analyzing his character.

Speaking from me only, even while I was obsessing over Mio's microexpression I was skeptical over the Tan is the brother reveal, I was coinvinced that I wasn't going to suspend my disbelief over Mio's age and that it didn't make any sense because Phee looked to be so much more in charge.

Writers don't know what the audience is going to like about the character before the reveal happens. And with every character you ran the risk of that reveal destroying the audience's attachment by changing the wrong things.

The Reveals in Ep 9

While DFF had other reveals, specifically with Phee, all those revealed only served to strengthen the audience initial perception of Phee.

Then came episode 9. And while the Tan is New reveal blew everyone including me out of the water over how good it was, seriously Mio was amazing in this role and the writing for him was insanly good, Phee's episode 9 reveals didn't work as much.

Why?

It's simple because Tan was very much non entity pre-reveal. If you weren't obssessing over everything like myself you barely payed attention to him.

There was no character for the reveal to assinate, Tan never came across as someone who was especially close to any of the others except for Phee, at the most he Fluke and Top were his weed buddies and that is the extent of the friendships you saw between Tan and the group.

The reveal strengthents the character, they make it better, they make you go back and appriciate everything you didn't notice. All the little moments of barely concealed disdain.

While with Phee it's the opposite. Phee was a strong character already, and everything that we saw seem to reinforced that.

But episode 9 changed that. Episode 9 destroyed all of it, and while it worked fine at the time, the cracks started to appear as soon as episode 10 rolled around.

Because everything we learn from episode 9 destroyes everything we know about Phee as a character.

Loyal = He flipped on the boys as soon as they were nice to him and Tan [Read: OUR FRIENDS NEED HELP - I haven't forgotten, OUR FRIENDS I wanted to kill him]. Falls in love with Jin in three scenes (and yeah I know that it might have been weeks of real world time, BUT FOR US it was 3 scenes, in 3 scenes he was over Non and totally lovey dovey with Jin.), Enables New's revenge and pretends to be on his side still all the while not doing anything to help or not even wanting to do anything that doesn't help his guilt anymore.

Smart = Are we really supposed to believe that Phee had no idea that New had the intention of seeing the boys die? Am I really supposed to believe that the son of a cop, saw New totally loose everything, ask to die, profess revenge [the flashback scene I'll Make Them Pay in episode 12] and then heard "This won't killed them" in that tone and not made 2 + 2??? Are we for real right now??????

Leader Oriented = Not in charge of their mission, taking New's lead

Teen who made a mistake and said something in anger = This one is still valid, but it lessened by knowing he never actually confronted that what happened to Non was predatory and a little more complicated then actual cheating. Or the fact that he dismissed Non's call or explanations. The fact that he seemingly gets over Non and totally falls for Jin within a week of meeting him fits with stupid teen boy, but really doesn't help.

In charged and on top of this revenge plan = Again, not in charge of the plan seemingly just going along for the ride.

Someone who is willing to get their hands dirty = He has ethics about muder completely OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE!! It is valid to not want to kill people but I'm sorry where the fuck were this boy ethics before? An incompelte lists of things Phee did that he was somehow totally fine with despite his so called "ethics":

Sleeps with Jin under false pretenses

Lied to his father and implicated himself in a crime just to help Non.

Ok with drugging people with a dangerous experimental drugs that causes fear and paranoia after New's reassurance that it tots won't kill them trust me bro.

Sleeping with Jin while he was definately 100% under the influence of New's drugs (the fail blow job in episode one) [We know they were still influenced because if the hand groping Tee was an hallucination then all the characters were still drugged]

Enabled New's revenge quest for three years whithout ever trying to get New to go back to his family (we didn't see it or have it mention so it didn't happen within the text)

Totally ok with sending Top with New post Uncle Dang getting his head chopped off while under the impression that New is responsible for said head chopping

Under the impression that New caused Por getting impaled but still not saying anything (we know that he could have said something because that is what he does later)

Learns that Jin filmed Non and posted the video and reacts with: So we were both hurting him and is fine with it in 5 minutes.

Apparently never fucking interrogated or contronted what happened to Non with Keng, never calls it grooming or abuse. Never recognizes that there were deeper motivations. In three years he manged to do 0 internal searching on it. Despite the fact that Por (who is a dick and the same age as the other boys and Phee) managed to come that conclusion right away.

There's probably more. His ethics come out of nowhere and feel like he is betraying New and being a dysloyal dick, because this character doesn't and has never come across as someone who gives a shit about ethics.

Like ok none of those things are muder fair enough, but a story needs to set up a character internal conflict over murder on a revenge quest a little better then a simple "This won't kill them right?"

Phee post episode 9 character falls apart because it is simply not the same character we thought we were getting for the previous 8 episodes. If you are not a PheeJin shipper there is not much post episode 9 to like about Phee. In the most charitable of read he comes across as bellyflopping follower who couldn't make a decision about what he wanted for 3 years.

I think somewhere along the lines something from the original idea got lost in the writing. To the writers who know this character inside and out and created him, Phee probably comes across as someone who struggled for years and was very conflicted and tourtured, unfortunatly the structure the chose for the plot doesn't have much time to show that to us.

Character reveals should always feel like they make sense, you should be able to go back and fit what you previously knew about the character with the new reveal. The reveal should feel like something that re-orients the puzzle, or helps you to put something in a different prospective. Not something that totally breaks everything that came before.

Reveals that are meant to make you feel like everything you knew about that character was a lie are much trickier to writer and balance, and crucially YOU MUST TREAT THEM LIKE THEY DO.

I never got the sense that the show wanted me to see Phee's betrayal and flipping on New as a bad thing, as something that goes against what the audience believed the character to be.

It just comes across that he is going from sympathic villain to tourtured anti-hero. At least that is what it feels like the writer wanted to show with that. Not that I see Tan or Post episode 9 Phee as sympathic villains. It feels like the writers saw them like that.