#yeah I will definitely be stopping after this episode. rewatching the first one as well... there is a Something about the change of things

[chiropteracupola]

evil enjolras waistcoat...

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

Season 1 episode 2 [... After the Phantoms of Your Former Self] - part 2/3

- [Daniel] "White master, Black student, but equal in the quiet dark" - *spits out the water I just drunk* DANIEL MOLLOY THE QUEEN THAT YOU ARE. And Louis immediately answering the provocation with a slam down of his own. I am so here for the Louis/Daniel bromance, the way they can just spend hours snarking at each other. Saltmates, if you will.

Louis is such a Bitch, the way he decides to eat that fox in front of Daniel to remind him that "vampires are killers", and the way he lets the blood drip, when canonically vampires never waste any blood (at least in the book, that's one of the thing Lestat repeats often, a vampire's feeding is clean, no trace of blood left anywhere, but in a visual media about vampires, of course it looks better to have the blood dripping on the chin after, sometimes you gotta privilege aesthetic over function).

[Louis] "Vampires are killers, apex predators whose all-seeing eyes were meant to give them detachment, the ability to see a human life in its entirety, not with any mawkish sorrow, but with the thrilling satisfaction of being the end of that life and having a hand in the divine plan."

Yeaaah, like Daniel says, "don't expect every reader to swallow that one". Because for one thing, you don't even fully believe it, Louis, you who's about to spend several years starving yourself feeding only on rats and cats, you who just had a fox for supper instead of going hunting, you who hates feeding on humans and doesn't let even your fellow vampires witness you feeding (book canon), you who also goes during the 20th century from crisis of faith to fully atheist and uncaring about religion... Pretty words. Empty words. I'm not buying it.

"Mawkish": lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste / exaggeratedly or childishly emotional (Merriam-Webster). Well I didn't know that word. Collins Dictionary tells me that the best translation to French would be "mièvre", and now I am loving this even more. "Mièvre" is not a very used word in French, which is a shame because it's a very pretty and very evocative word, and "mawkish" definitely gives me the same impression. Yey, I learned something new today! New word to incorporate to my vocabulary.

- I swear I'm not trying to comment every single minute of this episode, but every single minute brings something interesting. I have to stop on Louis and Lestat's conversation about languages and killing being its own language, as a multilingual person myself (I could spend hours talking linguistics, sorry not sorry):

[Lestat] "'When I first started learning English, I abhorred it. Every word felt like a doorknob falling out of my mouth. Chapeau is a hat, étoile was a star...' [Louis] 'Killin' folks ain't a second language!' [Lestat] 'But when I started dreaming in English, that's when I embraced it. And now, I have English consonants to thank for this astonishing jawline.' [Louis] 'These are nightmares I'm having, Lestat, not dreams.'"

Firstly, yeah, Lestat's right, "hat" is weird. It's chapeau in French, cappello in Italian, kapela in Greek, even quba'a in Arabic, and Arabic is not even an Indo-European language... The heck does hat come from? *resists the urge to go linguistic deep dive* Secondly, yeah, he's right, he does have an amazing jawline - taking this opportunity to bring attention to the scar on the corner of his mouth, book readers know what's up. Where was I? Ah, yeah. No, Lestat's right about a foreign language sounding weird in your mouth until you start to understand its spirit instead of only its letter - words falling out of your mind versus dreaming in that language. Been talking English for long enough that I do dream in English, and been multilingual all my life so I adapt to languages fast enough, but it's still a struggle. I'm fluent in Spanish now, but I don't dream in Spanish yet, and I sometimes feel like the word sounds wrong when it actually sounds like it should.

What it means in regard to Louis is that he's a slow learner. Gotta sound the kill one by one, taking your time, before you get to be a consummate killer. Can't learn a language in a night. Can't learn a language if you don't practice. Can't get used to killing if you don't kill, and can't survive if you don't kill, and vicious circle, doesn't kill>doesn't survive>doesn't practice>doesn't learn>doesn't survive>doesn't kill... Extremely interesting to see that Lestat IS actually teaching Louis about vampire ways, but Louis is not ready to listen yet, or, to continue the metaphor, they're not speaking the same language and they haven't learned to understand each other's language (not talking about accents obviously, but once again taking the opportunity to praise both Sam and Jacob's vocal work, between Sam's French accented drawling English and Jacob's Creole slang in NOLA and flat "standard" English in Dubai, it's a feast for the ears).

Okay, while Lestat's teaching Louis how to read minds (the Mind Gift, that book!Louis actually doesn't get in the books until very, very late on, and isn't good at, and doesn't show), wanna just say: look how giddy they are! Look how soft they are with each other! Look how fondly Louis speaks to Lestat, how fondly Lestat looks at Louis! We forget, and Louis too, but in between the misunderstandings and the drama and the anguish, they DID love each other, they DID have good times, they DID build a life with each other. It wasn't complete (and no I'm not talking about darling Claudia, I'm talking about speaking the same language), but it was good enough for quite a few years.

Oh man, Louis reading his family's minds, I coulda told him that's a bad idea *points to every literature with a man reader*, but also that passage in Narnia (Dawn Trader) when Lucy spies on her school friends and hear things she didn't want to read and didn't have to know. Don't have time to go search for that passage now, but Aslan tells her something like "some things really do not need be done", or sum' like that.

- Oh, hey, look. More social commentary. That white guy's gonna get eaten if he keeps patronising Louis like that. "You truly are an exceptional Negro" - hey Lou baby, can I kill him please? Lemme kill him for you. "I had let them talk to me like that so long, I had stopped hearing it" - oh, and Louis' accent is slipping here, can you hear it. Really, REALLY love how that change from book canon adds so many layers to Louis' character. Hey, have I said lately that Louis' my favourite? 'Cause Louis is my favourite. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Subject, verb, agreement, sir. Smile, nod, yes sir." - AWARDS FOR JACOB, all the awards for Jacob please, and my gods how much do I adore Louis, that sassy, snarky, bitchy queen. I want to have a book club with him.

"But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate, the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery." - so first, Jacob keeps on flexing his vocal skills by letting Louis slip more and more back to his original accent, and then, YES KING, get his ass, DRAIN HIM. And in a more meta way, all hails liberation movements and the process of reclaiming one's identity. Maybe not through murder, we all ain't lucky enough to be vampires, but yeah, rage is a good tool actually. Rage can lead to enormous movements that change the fabric of society for the better. Never underestimate the power of repressed rage finally expressing itself when it's yielded by clever, resourceful, empathic beings. Sorry, that was the "segregated Southern States social commentary as a mirror for 21st century's current liberation movements social commentary" minute, back to the vampires.

[Lestat] "You are a library of confusion" - first of all, Sam's delivery, with the hand gestures and the head shake, MAGNIFICENT, but also, it's Lestat starting to realize that maaaaaaybe he bit more than he can chew. Maaaaaybe.

[Louis] "'There's some things you don't get about America, Lestat.' [Lestat] 'Yes, let's have this conversation again.' [Louis] 'Colored; white. Creole; French. Queer; half-queer, mostly queer, what is it?' [Lestat] 'Non-discriminating.' [Louis] 'Complicated situation we got here is what I'm saying.'"

ICONIC. And also, maaaaan do I love that that's the road RJ and Cie decided to go with, one of the only changes I've been having issues is the time skip (from 1797 to 1910, cf. episode 1 part 1 rewatch). But this little conversation here actually warms me to it! The layers, man, the layers. Also, love that Lestat self-identifies as non-discriminating, that's so totally him about basically everything: skin color and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, species, age... Drama Queen really said "everything goes, eeeeeeverything".

- "How can I say no to you?" - awwww, Lestat is so whipped for Louis.

[Louis] "From 1912 to 1917" - oooh thanks for the time stamps. So it's been two years since he's turned, and it's on for 5 years of stability. The famous "honeymoon era".

[Louis] "I made a mountain of money, enough to retire and be buried like a pharaoh" - uuuuuh *side-eyes cautiously Queen of the Damned* let's not talk about Egyptian monarchy yet, yeah, that'll come to burn us soon enough.

Oops, the baby scene. And Louis realising he can't hold on to his family, that they're about to slip between his fingers like sand... Ow. [Grace] "I'm sure Mama would love to see you" *rapid glance* *giggles* That's siblings for "yeaaaah no, lol, Mama would definitely NOT love to see me, you crazy".

[Louis] "I no longer kill. My last victim was in the year 2000." BUT DID YOU EAT THE BABY, LOUIS. "I sit here a master of my instincts." But did you eat the baby, Louis. Slight aside, but how is this dinner still on going?? WAIT, go back a second: [Daniel] "And you know this how, you guys have a thread on 8chan?" - BENJI MENTION? I sooo want to see Benji's radio. Though if we still follow book events but on show timeline, Armand hasn't met Benji and Sybelle yet, because they're turned a decade after Daniel. Repeating myself, but RJ did say he'd adapt Prince Lestat, and Benji's one of the main players of this book, so I'm sure we'll see him, but it's going to be a while, I think.

- Wait, I need to relisten to that conversation:

[Daniel] "'And what about the others out there? Have they mastered theirs?' [Louis] 'Just the opposite. Most of them are slaves to the blood, exhausted from decades, centuries of hiding, giddy to increase their numbers.' [...] [Daniel] 'Is the pandemic the opening they've been waiting for?' [Louis] 'Pandemic, the unravelling of geopolitical foundations. [...] One of them, a brute in Madagascar, called it 'the great conversion'.'"

Oh, lots to say here. Lots that will spoil the books too. Because hey, y'all know what happens in Queen of the Damned, after Lestat's concert? Yepppp. Pretty sure Rolin Jones just planted the seeds of seasons 3 and 4. And served on a silver platter with delicious 21st century social commentary. I'm having the time of my life.

[Daniel] "'Well most people I know like to play a little ball in the afternoon, or maybe go down to the beach, catching a few rays.' [Louis] 'Yes. What on earth would a meth-addicted son of a coal miner in West Virginia want with eternal life?' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] 'Or the Arab youth whose whole family were wiped from existence...' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] '... by a Western drone? No, I'm sure you're right.'"

SHOTS FIRED. And another Benji mention! And a personal attack. And Louis being his glorious catty self. And Daniel being his glorious one-minded self. We're heading for another "outburst", lmao.

The Damek scene is just so fucking weird, I'm wheezing. Nothing to say here, just: this show is a freaking comedy. Between Louis perfecting the Little Drink but his taste of the night just passing out, and Daniel going "you might have a drinking problem" and then going back to his idea of the night, "the goddamn baby, Louis, did you fucking eat the bloody baby", this is peak humor.

Aaaaaand we need a third part, still 15 minutes to go.

episode 1 | part 1 | part 3 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7

[glitterarygetsit]

ok ok instant rewatch of the relevant scenes - reposting because the cut didn’t work for my wall o’spoilers

Eddie’s confession: noting that after Christopher, the first person he says he lied to is Buck 👀 👀 👀

“you can even take Eddie” “really?” FORESHADOWING

buck needing to be reminded that tommy is gay because everyone is hot to him hashtag just bisexual things 🩷💜💙

HIMBO BUCK CONFIRMED

genuinely this is one of the funniest things that’s ever happened on this show

“How many men did Abby turn gay” - Abby sleep with Eddie next challenge and get this over with

Can I also just say. I love Josh’s pre- vs post-Glee speech. Not to be an old lady yelling at a cloud but even growing up in the early 2000s, when we were starting to get a little bit of rep—Gen Z has no idea. It’s a COMPLETELY different world.

I also really like how Tommy lying to Abby parallels Michael and Athena. I don’t love how close the show comes to completely condoning stealth queer folks lying to an unwitting partner for convenience but like. you cannot conceive of how different the world was, just as I can’t fully conceive of how different it was in the 80s. the 2000s seem like they were recent but the change is enormous.

Ugh I hate Eddie’s constant no homo thing. YES HOMO.

Isn’t the point of confessionals that what happens in the confessional stays in the confessional? literally no-one in this show has any professional ethics

Man this show really loves putting children in pipes huh? but also like MAJOR callback to the well episode. We Know Something LGBTQ+ Is Gonna Happen Today. further professional ethics failures.

uh huh i bet he shared his spumoni with you buck

what even is spumoni

oh it’s a creamy fruity treat 🍨 yeah he definitely shared that 👀

SELF-IDENTIFIED HIMBO BUCK

Tommy realising that if Buck is half Abby’s age… he would also have been half Tommy’s age at the time…

Groaned OUT LOUD when Buck was like “and we have that right [to get married] because of the brave people who came before” BUCK YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD FUCKING ALLY 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ he’s so embarrassing

Tommy like are you breaking up with me? UNO REVERSE BITCH

God everything hitting Tommy at once—realising he’s always known he was on borrowed time, that he needs to get out before he gets too badly hurt. on the other hand tommy you’re an idiot and you need to give buck more credit.

Tommy thinks he understands where Buck’s at because he’s gay and all his relationships with women were lies. But excited as Buck is, he’s not gay—his relationships with women were real! Abby was his “oh shit, next one could be For Real” relationship. The gender doesn’t matter! That’s how bisexuality works!! I really hope Buck gets to talk about that in later episodes.

Holy shit Eddie dancing scene sure is something. I love that they gave Ryan that chance even if it’s cheesy as hell. Also. THIGHS. BUTT. FUCKING THE COUCH ARE YOU KIDDING ME. gays we’re reclaiming couch-fucking jd vance doesn’t get to keep that one.

Eddie opening the door to Buck, seeing him devastated—he’s GOTTA know. And he doesn’t stop smiling. He takes the beer. He looks at it. He looks at Buck. He looks back at the beer, like “why not?” AND THEN THEY BOTH SIT ON THE COUCH HE WAS JUST WRITHING ON

and BUCK IS ALREADY DRINKING

holding the bottle straight like it’s a dick

AND

JUST

SECONDS

LATER

EDDIE OPENS HIS OWN BOTTLE

AND STARTS SUCKING IT OFF

🌈🔥💕👀❤️🌈🔥🍆🏳️‍🌈🔥🎉🏳️‍🌈💖🎉🏳️‍🌈🍆🔥🏳️‍🌈✨💖🌈👀🏳️‍🌈✨🔥🌈🏳️‍🌈👀💖🍆🍆💦🌈🔥💕🥰💖💕🌈👀💕🎉🍆💖✨🔥🌈💖

[missmilkie]

The Ninja From Another Land

Part One

This is a Naruto various x fem!reader fic.

wc: 1.1k

As a twenty year old young adult you lived alone. You tried having a roommate that first year you were out on your own, but you decided it wasn’t worth it. You found an apartment with cheap rent that wasn’t too bad. Yeah, you were pretty sure your neighbors did hard drugs, but not all of them. You weren’t going to get mugged or anything, so it was alright.

You didn’t make a ton of money, but you made enough. It funded your anime addiction on top of paying for your necessities. You saved money by making most of your meals at home. You had an anime cookbook that you were trying meals from. One of your favorites was the Ichiraku Ramen.

Your apartment had one bedroom and one bathroom. The living room and kitchen were a decent size as well as your closet. Your furniture wasn’t anything to brag about, but it was simple and comfy.

Your bed was a plush queen size. You spent the extra money on silk sheets and pillowcases and it was definitely worth it.

After doing your skincare, you decided to put something on while you drifted off to sleep. You took a few minutes going through different shows on your streaming service before settling on Naruto. That show was everything to you growing up, and is still one of your favorites to rewatch. The first episode played in the background as you lost consciousness.

“Who is she?”

“What are those clothes is the real question.”

“Quit being so superficial, something bad could have happened to her.”

“Probably just got lost in the woods. It shouldn’t be hard to find her parents when she wakes up.”

“Let’s hope so.”

When your eyes opened, warm sunlight blinded you. You brought your hand up to block it. You thought you left your curtains closed before you went to bed. Grunting in annoyance, you sat up.

Wait a minute. This wasn’t your bed. This wasn’t even your room. How did you get here? Where were you?

“You’re finally awake.” You turned to see a nurse at the door.

“Yes. What happened?” You didn’t feel hurt or ill.

“You were found unconscious in the forest outside of the village.” The nurse explained, “If you’re feeling alright, I’m supposed to send you to see the Hokage.”

“The Hokage?” Your head whipped around to check for cameras. “Are you messing with me?”

“Perhaps we should check you for a concussion…”

“No!” You regained your composure. “Take me to the Hokage.”

“Alright, your escort is on the other side of this door.”

You swung your legs off the bed, your pajamas wrinkled. You had no shoes, so you wore the hospital slippers out.

On the other side of the door was a tall man wearing the Konoha standard uniform. You immediately recognized his silver hair and covered face, only revealing one eye.

“Kakashi Hatake.” You murmured in surprise.

“Hm?” He looked up at me from his book.

Whoever was pranking you was good.

“Oh, um, you’re taking me to see the Hokage?”

“Yes. Follow me.” They got his voice down to a tee!

Kakashi led you out of the hospital and across the village. It looked just like the anime. Maybe this wasn’t a prank, but a dream. People looked at you funny as you made the short walk to the Hokage’s office. Your pajamas made you stick out like a sore thumb, and the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

When Kakashi stopped, it was at a large wooden door. You weren’t sure which Hokage would be behind it.

“Right through there.”

You nodded before opening the door.

The sight of the Third Hokage made your eyes widen. You knew what point in the story you were at. Orochimaru hadn’t killed Hiruzen Sarutobi yet.

“Hello, Lord Third.” You gave an awkward bow.

“It seems you know where you are and who I am. What is your name, young lady?”

“(Y/n) (L/n).”

“Where are you from?” His drooping eyes held a piercing gaze.

“Not here…I don’t think I could find it on a map.” Your eyes dropped.

“You have nowhere to go then?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you have knowledge of ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu?” He asked, to your surprise.

“Some, yes.” You looked back up at him.

“If you would like to, you may take a placement test for our ninja academy.”

“I would be honored to be given the chance to be a hidden leaf ninja.”

“Your first test will be on your chakra nature. Focus it onto the paper, and we will deduce your results.” Iruka instructed, looking up at you from his clipboard.

You were given money for clothes, so you wore a cute ninja outfit. Being reverted back to being physically 12 years old meant you had to try things on because you couldn’t remember what size you were. Iruka had gone shopping with you so that you wouldn’t be alone in a new place.

Paper in hand, you closed your eyes and focused to feel your chakra running through your body. The flow was akin to electricity, and you felt more alive when you focused on it. Then you directed it to your hand holding the paper. Chakra pooled at your palm before you let it flow into your fingertips and then the paper.

If your zodiac is:

Aries: Fire and Earth

Taurus: Earth and Water

Gemini: Wind and Earth

Cancer: Water and Fire

Leo: Fire and Lightning

Virgo: Earth and Fire

Libra: Wind and Lightning

Scorpio: Water and Lightning

Sagittarius: Fire and Wind

Capricorn: Earth and Lightning

Aquarius: Wind and Water

Pisces: Water and Earth

“Looks like your chakra nature is both (your first nature) and (your second nature). You’re dual natured.” Iruka gave you an assuring smile. “Now, can you perform a transformation jutsu?”

“I’ve never done it before, but I can try.” You put your hands up in the sign that you recalled from the screen several times.

Chakra surged throughout your entire body. When you heard the poof, you looked at yourself. You resembled Iruka.

“Very good. I think you can be placed in the graduating class. If it’s too hard, you can go down a class. There’s no shame, especially since you’re not from a ninja village.”

Your heart damn near burst out of your chest. You couldn’t believe it. You had caught on to jutsu so quickly. Maybe you would be in the Rookie Nine’s class.

To celebrate your placement, Iruka took you to Ichiraku Ramen. You were finally getting to try the real thing!

“Um, don’t you think she’s a bit young to be your girlfriend, Mr Iruka?” You instantly recognized Naruto’s voice.

“Naruto, you idiot!” Iruka had a vein popping out of his forehead.

“Oh, I’m a new student at the ninja academy, not his date.” You explained.

“A new student? I’m Naruto Uzumaki, and I’m gonna be Hokage!”

“(Y/n) (L/n). I look forward to class.”

The three of you ate delicious ramen. It was even better than the stuff you made back in your world!

[aeviagreenleaf]

The Rings of Power season 1 episode 1 rewatch (focusing on Galadriel and Sauron/Halbrand for Haladriel/Saurondriel fic research purposes)

“Nothing is evil in the beginning” - Morfydd’s voice is PERFECT for Galadriel. It’s full of gravitas and I’ve seen this so many times but still hit hard with emotion at her first words. Also her words foretell Elrond saying the same thing and in reference to Sauron: “even Sauron was not so.”

Galadriel is so badass and sexy killing the snow-troll! I love the sequence, as I love also when she rights the orcs alone in s2.

“Then you shall do so alone” 😭😭😭😭 she already feels so alone my poor girl. why wouldn’t you follow the Galadriel wherever she wants to do?! I know they have already followed her far but it’s so gutting, and we know how much it hurts as she tells Halbrand later

Sorry sweet little harfoots but maybe next rewatch….

Elrond gosh he really feels warm as summer in his intro, I love Robert

Jeez why they have to twist the knife into him? “Elf-lords only” well jokes on them he will be onto of the greatest Elf Lords one day

I do like that in s2 we see Gil-Galad giving Elrond more opportunity even though it’s at Galadriel’s expense 😅

Stop it’s so cute how Galadriel notices Elrond mouthing Gil-Galad’s speech cause I assume he wrote it for him. Also Galadriel is clearly like this is sus, what is going on?

She almost doesn’t bow and Elrond is stressed haha

Galadriel is soooo heartbroken I want to hug her. Absolutely devastated and we see it again when she tells Halbrand how her best friend and King tried to exile her against her will. Someone hug her 😭😭

She’s still so kind to Elrond and greets him like a little brother. And now they’re arguing

I do love how Elrond promises to continue the fight for her if any of her worries come true. He genuinely wants to grant her peace and rest… but of course we know that will not happen for her for thousands of years

Arondir and Bronwyn are so adorable 🥺

What a prejudiced elf. Yeah I know what happens with some like Waldreg but you also have others like Bronwyn. I love how Arondir is so defensive and protective of the Southlanders.

It’s precious how excited Elrond is about working with Celebrimbor

Galadriel really doesn’t want to let go of her brother’s dagger 😭

They really do set up the stranger to throw people off Halbrand’s trail for a while, haha.

What an amazing first episode. Definite highlight is Galadriel and Elrond’s friendship, the devastating push and pull between them caring for each other but Elrond not trusting Galadriel despite his adoration of her.

Morfydd and Robert are just incredible.

Also I remember now how frustrated I was with Gil-Galad but it’s funny cause I adore him after the last couple episodes of season 2.

[cescalr]

Oooh, definitely glee for the fandom asks! <3

Always with the hornets' nests with these ones, I see! Though i don't think there's a fandom out there that isn't in some way a hornets' nest once it gets large enough... hm. Alright. I'm just gonna be as honest as i can be about this, and tag accordingly.

Glee:

my favourite female character: augh. argh. ouph. so difficult. so hard. Since I'm working off of half-remembered show and half recently-rewatched show... its a tossup. Mercedes, Santana, Quinn. Probably Mercedes. She did nothing wrong ever in her entire life <3 well okay maybe except that one time she smashed kurt's car windows (but it was a banger song, though). Can't say Santana because of the Biphobia TM and other things like excessive use of bigotry-based insults, and Quinn. Oh god girl. Cheating is not cool! Funnily enough! So I find them really interesting but 'favourite' is hard to say. Mercedes. Mercedes for sure <3

my favourite male character: Blaine sam blaine sam blaine sam yes. I am imitating ripping petals off of flowers and coming to a conclusion based on which is the last name i said. So I guess that means Sam! But really this is a tie.

my favourite book/season/etc: Mannnnn idk. I don't like shows for seasons as-a-whole. Also i could not tell you what happened in any given season if you held a gun to my head. I'm not good at that. The only shows i know 'seasons' of are Buffy and Teen Wolf because i've watched them like 100000000000 times (exaggeration) for various reasons (mostly fanfiction research).

my favourite episode (if its a tv show): I can tell you my LEAST favourite episode (blame it on the alcohol, thank you Kurt king of biphobia! this is a persona foible it's not the worst episode in the show. by far. by far. it's kind of an average one. I'm just angry at it.) BUT er. Favourite? Idk. Genuinely some of the earlier Kurt-centric stuff was really well done (his convo with Burt... <3) and the Quinn giving birth accompanied by bohemian rhapsody was obviously iconic, but if I'll be honest I couldn't name any episodes of this show (other than That One previously stated, anyway). And yeah most of the time they were named after song titles and No i don't remember those song titles either. I'm just so bad at this. My memory is that of a goldfish's being haphazardly bounced around on a sieve.

my favourite cast member: it would be really funny if I said Demi Lovato [she counts!] but the truth is N/A: i don't know these people !!! They are strangers!! (i don't. follow celebrities. at all. I couldn't even name most of them. They're just people doing a job and their lives are irrelevant to me beyond their ability to perform that job well. I do not need to know where they live and what coffee they drink. Stalker shit tbh. I'm kind of a very private person myself, so rpf-adjacent stuff just... creeps me out. I've never watched a single cast interview in my lifetime and I'm not about to start!)

my favourite ship: Difficult to say! Grave and obvious lie. Blam. It's blam. Quintana is a close runner up though Santana really needs to stop dating people who cheat on the regular (I'll accept Quinn has grown enough not to do this by the time a Quintana coupling would be viable - and satisfying in terms of character arcs - narratively speaking).

a character I’d die defending: Blaine Anderson did something wrong for sure but like Kurt did it first so shrugs. Cancels out. Bad for each other! Case closed!

a character I just can’t sympathize with: genuinely don't remember if I had one of those the first time around because I was like 10 and just didn't pay attention if I didn't care, but Terri and her racist self take that 'prize' this time, alongside the obvious predator in the room [original choir teacher. Sandy? I forget his name immediately after hearing it. He doesn't deserve to be remembered]. Also JBI is just.... a yikes character all around. I mean, he's a blatant stereotype for one, in a the people who wrote this person don't like jews kind of way. Unfortunately common stereotype too, for the era, so not only is he that, he's also lazy. Just a one-note pervert who's the butt of various antisemitic 'jokes' you've heard from era-peer shows a million times over, tired and awful and a sour reminder of bigotry that continues to this day. Really regrettable character who's lack of redeeming qualities was probably purposeful. (I know Rachel and tina are also jewish, but this comes up very rarely and mostly only when santana needs to say something kind of fucked up, as is her modus operandi, for 'comic relief'. Tina's jewish-ness wasn't even canon for several seasons, because she didn't have a surname or a family or anything resembling complex character depth for several seasons. The one time I really remember Rachel's religion being important was when she was pressuring Kurt into believing in some kind of god, which??? don't do that. Bad example. Trying to guilt trip a friend into faith sucks. I take back what i said earlier Mercedes did that too. Boo. Girls try again that was a bad showing all around. Though i have no idea why Kurt went the acupuncture route as his 'secular' option but i think that has to do a lot with the writers doing literally no research ever once in their lives (you can tell they don't by the way they write the football segments of the show, which make no sense according to football fans who watch Glee, of which there are numerous because real life isn't like fiction where you can only like music or sports. Most of the kids in my school year were doing the most of everything ever if they were the 'popular' ones - we do that differently; popularity isn't really based on who know know; for some bizzare reason literally everyone knew who I was? Even people I'd never spoken to?? - but more about like... how much you can do, I guess. Overachievers, but I'm not saying that negatively; these people were generally - generally - very nice, and surprisingly chill for people who had no spare time whatsoever. I'm not entirely sure when they slept; A* across the board, at least one sport, at least one instrument, several extracurriculars, parties every weekend, dozens of friends and an s.o. . Eh? Way too much going on. Scary lifestyle! Impressive burnout rate, probably. Er. Tangent! Back to the scheduled programming).) There's uhhhh there's a lot of bad characters on the show, but i'd say Sandy and Terri and her equally but more loudly racist sister are truly completely irredeemable ones. Like they're not interesting or anything, they're just there to be narrative annoyances (which, in the case of Sandy specifically, is insane. Arrest that man!!! He has actively sexually assaulted minors!!!).

a character I grew to love: difficult to say because I tend to just make an opinion and stick to it. Also i don't remember who i liked at first and who i didn't, this show came out when i was eight. I didn't watch it until I was a little older than that, of course, but I frankly have spotty memory until my late teens, so! I'm not sure!! Quinn, probably. Pink-hair-era Quinn helped me understand her more, and seeing the moments of kindness hidden behind practical cruelty, when you understand her family and situation, makes things make a lot more sense. It takes a lot to get me to sympathise with a cheater, but I can see where Quinn was getting all turned around in her head about life because of her upbringing and socialisation, not to mention the profoundly negative impact cheerios had on her mentally and that the school's culture in general was not exactly a breeding ground for empathy and optimism.

my anti otp: can you tell (klaine). I don't dislike Kurt!!! Please let him have a fun chillaxed boyfriend in new york with his vogue friends. But also please stop attempting to control other people's diets thank you!! Thank you!! I'm of mixed feelings. Blaine and Kurt both did at least one bad, relationship-ending thing, and proved over and over again that they just weren't on the same wavelength in regards to life goals and ways of living it. They can't even share the same living space, which is kind of required for a functional marriage. I don't know, it just seems like they settled for their first proper, serious boyfriend even if that's not really the best match, and I... wish they'd just got to see more of life first, you know? They got married at like 20! Or something! I'm 23, I cannot imagine getting married at 20. That's a baby. Let them live first!

(same for Santana and Brittney, imo. I also don't really like them together because Santana and Brittney have very different ideas regarding monogamy, which is just never going to go down well in the long run. If your girl cheats on you like twenty times and tells you to your face its not cheating in her view of things, but you think it is, break up with her because you'll just make each other miserable. Brittney sort of seems incapable of feeling guilt but if she were, this kind of moral pressure would be Not Good, and obviously Santana isn't comfortable with the idea and doesn't have to be!! Just move on!!! Find other people!!!! Don't marry your first girlfriend if you've broken up like ten times this is simple!!!! Please!!!! But Klaine wins out over Brittana because - in my opinion, glee fandom please do not persecute me, I am known for this specific thing - I see... interactions that verge on abusive between Klaine that I don't see in Brittana. So. Oof? Ex; use of public perception to disguise attack; deliberately hurting Blaine in a stage-combat fencing match (you are not meant to make actual contact in these) and thus using Blaine's own dislike of making his difficulties common knowledge against him in order to 'punish' him. This is no good! Don't do this!!.[Also just to err vaguepost about a comment.... that is. not. what i would call passive aggressive. Physically attacking someone with a sword - no matter the type of sword, fencing foils hurt just as much, they're just not stab-you sharp... er, these days - is just straight-up aggressive.]).

Note that negative things stick in the mind better than positive ones; on a rewatch I may well alter my opinion!

But also I'm really, really stubborn. So it's not likely. Klaine.

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S03E10 - Fanning the Flames

I don't have a clear image of this episode, aside from the major plot points and that Charlie and Rex almost got blown up again but that's what the rewatch is for.

Fogo mentioned again. At this point it sounds to me like Newfoundland's Mykonos, maybe without the terrible crowds.

"I'm going to put all that performance in case someone is watching, even though there's no one but my now murdered by me husband at home."

I wonder where they get generic firetruck footage from.

No, but she did give a great performance as the grieving wife. I believed her for a while.

Charlie: "What do you say, partner? Go pay a visit to Sarah?" Rex: "You'll pay a visit to Sarah, I'll get stuck outside. Life is unfair."

"Coffee with Jesse? I'm saved!"

Yeah, Rex is totally a chick magnet. Speaking as a chick.

Rex: "Double date? Say yes, Jesse! I need to expand my social circle."

Someone got away from Rex? Is that even possible?

Why is this shot funny?

"Everybody loved him" is one of the quotes that should disappear from crime shows. He was murdered.

"Why, thank you very much, Sarah. It will be torn to pieces by the end of the week."

Why the tongue, sir?

Again???

Definitely funny.

It's a good thing that Rex is observant.

Joe: "You sure you're okay?" Charlie: *brushes it off like a good crime show lead character*

Jesse: "This weekend I was thinking of going for a big, long walk". Rex: "You had me at 'walk'."

Sarah: "How are you two doing?" Charlie: "Rex is fine". Sarah: *unimpressed don't-bullshit-me look* "And you?" Charlie: "You know. Shaken, no stirred". I would have smacked him. Sarah is way more patient than I am.

"We may be dealing with a serial bomber". We should only be so lucky. (We're not.)

"Something tells me she's holding something back". The murder.

So we are on the third floor. Glad to know.

That might have been the first show where I heard the term "porch pirate".

Undercover stint!

Looking good even in that outfit.

Why are they putting heist music in the stakeout, I can't with them.

Charlie and Sarah listening to Jesse stuttering about his love life.

"Everyone thinks they can outrun Rex". Well, this kid actually escaped him twice.

Level B has to be the basement, right?

Again, if they wanted to have a storyline where the teen has a mom with an abusive boyfriend, they should have put the word abuse somewhere in there. This is still a cop show, storylines like these should be written in there without having to tip-toe around certain words.

"Hold on, I think I can open this one."

"Why do we attract all the crazies?"

"You're not just a pretty face". Why do I have the feeling that if she'd had the time, she'd have tried to romance Charlie too?

"Wow, you really fall in and out of love a lot." "I have commitment issues". Among other issues that she's got.

Rex about to thwart one more well-thought out plan. Poor criminals, they keep stumbling upon the most clever dog this side of the Atlantic.

"I'll tell them you sacrificed yourself getting me to safety outside but died heroically trying to stop Phil from detonating one of his bombs". Charlie is probably wishing criminals will stop telling him what they'll do after they kill him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were these wires important?"

Uh-oh. Imminent disaster. That's what happens when you lie to people, Jesse.

I like this episode. I would have maybe pushed it a bit further on the back because the brushes with death kept piling up.

[fantaatix]

did moxxie know his mom was dead? (exes and oohs thoughts :])

returning from the depths to ask a silly little question. an inquiry. just a little proposal. something to think about.

until exes and oohs, does moxxie even KNOW his mom is dead?

well, he saw her shoe in the water, right? yeah yeah hold on just a sec. we need to get something straight here. the way flashbacks have been presented this season have some subtleties that i think are worth defining.

heads up this is a bit of a long one (i think about helluva boss too much and probably more often than i should), and it has a lot more to do with moxxie than anyone else i might mention. i know i'm definitely late to the party but i hold this episode very dearly, because i got into the fandom shortly after it was released.

you have been warned.

in "the circus", the entire first 2/3 of the episode is a flashback, and when we come back to present, stolas is waking up drunk, presumably having passed out; it wasn't a dream--he was out cold, and we see multiple povs. the history isn't tainted/altered by stolas' perspective. this all happened, this was real.

buuuut, in the next episode, blitzo is the one having a flashback. like, an ACTIVE flashback, from 5 or so years ago, triggered by the fake conversation he was having a moment prior;

blitzo: oh, uggie! you’ve gone and done it again! that’s the fifth couch this year! you know, maybe it’s about time i find you a new home! one that can put up with your attitude!

girl: i can take him, mr. ronnie! i’d be happy to adopt old uggie, and give him the attention he needs!

blitzo: yeah…yeah, ma-m-maybe you should adopt…

cue flashback, adoption center lady notes loona's "serious attitude problems", and how she'll age out next month.

"good riddance if you ask me, she'll never amount to anything much..."

with the last line, you can't really trust blitzo's pov anymore. what are the chances this woman actually said this? this is blitzo projecting.

he saw loona alone and in trouble and he wanted to help because he saw himself, alone, trapped, no one to love him. and remember, at the office he was talking about replacing her because of her attitude with clients. he starts panicking because he realises he may have hurt someone he actually cared about, and upon seeing her again he apologizes profusely.

so now it comes to exes and oohs.

moxxie's dad grabs him by the chin. "don't cross me…"

[edit: little side note--on rewatch, moxxie isn't shown to have a flashback the same way blitz has a flashback; crimson is 'experiencing' it as well, which means moxxie isn't altering the story, this all happened. we even have something to compare it to, because earlier in the episode when recalling his time with chaz, he romanticizes the relationship and we don't see chaz's pov. he has to confirm it all happened to everyone else.

all of the violence, cruelty, and criminal behavior moxxie is recalling was real, but crimson just doesn't feel bad about any of it. he is threatening moxxie with a phrase he knows holds importance to him. i think only now is moxxie truly realizing the implications of it.]

a flashback, from his childhood no less--likely memories he's suppressed for years. he's recalling all this, all these memories from when he was probably no older than 5 or 6. the pov of a child.

he saw his mom lead him away from his dad, he saw their altercation, and he saw his mom walk out of the door and not come back. leaving him with this cruel, dangerous, violent man.

little moxxie felt it was his fault; it explains the people pleasing, the fear of rejection, not feeling "strong enough". maybe his mom got tired of protecting him?

but now that he's remembering all this, this horrifying moment on the lake without his mom to stop it from happening, he remembers crimson's warning to him.

"let this be a lesson, moxxie…this is what happens when you cross me."

HE DID NOT SEE THE SHOE!

HE WAS NOT LOOKING! which means he has to assume, based on crimson's vague threat, that his mom is dead. she's gone. she was killed and disposed of, because she crossed him.

this is crimson's way of saying, "i killed her and i will kill you too if you don't start complying to me starting now."

he relishes in moxxie's fear. he knows he knows.

"oh, and mox...if you ever talk back to me again, you and that pretty little thing you brought here are going home in boxes...capiche?"

"yes, sir..."

and like that, he has control again. supposedly.

this is where crimson slips up. moxxie is not a little kid anymore.

if not for this little business venture, moxxie may have never known she was dead. sure, it doesn't take a genius (you don't just "leave" a mob family, clearly), but he had left those memories behind and wasn't ever expecting to return to that house.

he is a skilled assassin and now he knows what you did.

you hurt his family.

and you can hurt him, but you will never hurt millie. no, sir!

this is one of the most inspirational little details i've ever seen in media. crimson might not know it yet, but moxxie revokes his compliance. he stands up to crimson emotionally. and later literally.

"i said i'm not doing it, sir. i've spent my whole life being afraid of you, but i'm not giving up the only good thing i've ever had just so you can keep your fragile little sense of control over everything...millie is a good woman! a better woman than i deserve! and there's nothing that scares me more than hurting her, not even you! i'm leaving, dad, and if you or herpes the clown over here try to stop me, you'll learn firsthand just how good i've gotten at my job."

he throws his first threat towards his dad, and even when crimson restrains him, still, he fights.

it's comparable that freaky scene towards the end of tangled where mother gothel is trying to drag her into the cellar or something and she goes, "rapunzel, really. enough already! stop fighting me!"

"no! i won't stop, for every minute for the rest of my life, i will fight! i will never stop trying to get away from you!"

his confidence had already been growing since truth seekers, but it literally spiked after this whole thing, maybe a bit too much. he uses close-combat when dealing with the cowboys in wrath, he actively volunteers to go fuck up a guy who nearly killed him and his wife, etc.

he obviously wasn't ready to be thrusted into this situation, but i think it ultimately changed him for the better. instead of repressing all of these memories from his past he can finally learn to work through them more effectively, as opposed to blitz, who has only just begun doing so.

i think this is also why unhappy campers is such a slap in the face if you're a moxxie enjoyer. it's him at his worst (so far), but it's supposed to be. he's approaching all these new insecurities with confidence, and he made a promise to himself to speak his mind more often, but he ends up doing so in a way that hurt millie--his greatest fear. it's not him "out of character." he's learning.

both him and millie found new insecurities about themselves and they got through them, and hopefully moxxie doesn't care so much about what everyone thinks and millie realizes she's very much appreciated and important to the people in her life :]

okay i THINK that's all i had to say in relation to this post, might come back with some more moxxie/fizz parallels but yeah that's about all i needed to get out.

also this took hours (mostly because i get distracted easily) so consider following if you're into that idk. kay bye

[thefandomenchantress]

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 11 OF CHAPTER 2 IN DRDT

Alright, so I may be overthinking this...Like, a lot...but I've got a theory (Also this is copy and pasted from my comment on YouTube).

So something interesting I only caught on a rewatch is that David does not actually confirm all of Ace's testimony.  Here's the quote:

"But I will admit, I did indeed meet Arei last night in the relaxation room.  As for what I actually talked to her about...Well, I've already forgotten!  She's dead now, so who cares?"

Now what I gathered from this was that while he is confirming that he met with Arei in the relaxation room, he is not confirming that their conversation contained the information Ace said that it did.

Which struck me as odd, since you'd think after giving that whole speech about just admitting the truth, David would just admit that Arei accused him of having that secret.  But he doesn't.  Instead, he keeps repeating that Ace is lying about something, (Since he says he wants to call Ace a "worthless lying piece of shit") but doesn't bother actually calling him out on it.  Not because of his pride or anything, like he said was his reason for revealing his secret, but because he thought that the rest of the cast wouldn't listen, implying this was the truth but that none of them were willing to hear it anymore.  And so he drops the topic and Ace's entire testimony is just kinda confirmed in the rest of the cast's eyes, even the stuff that wasn't confirmed by David.

So in my opinion, with all that evidence...Ace is definitely lying about the stuff that happened when David and Arei met up.  I'm not sure what they actually talked about, but it probably wasn't related to David's secret, since David seemed so surprised Ace knew about his secret even though his conversation with Arei could've easily been overheard.

But the next question we have to address is...Why would Ace even lie in the first place?

The obvious answer is that he was being suspected of murder and wanted to throw the blame onto David, and that might be true.  But if Ace was lying about this entire interaction like I suspect, that would require him to have already picked up on the fact that David was a lying manipulator, something no one besides Teruko had noticed.

And if Ace already knew that, without overhearing anything, you'd think he'd just tell everyone, 'Hey, David is a manipulating scumbag', not make up an elaborate story about how he'd overheard Arei say it.

But here's the thing: Ace has stated over and over that he doesn't want to die, and that it's one of his greatest fears.  Veronika told him that being so mean to everyone would make them want to kill him, and that's true for murders like the one Nico pulled, that was done purely on emotion and no regards for what could happen in result of their actions.  But if you really thought about it for more than a few seconds, you'd realize that if you really wanted to get away with murder, you'd aim to kill the people who you'd think could solve the murder.  You wouldn't go for the idiot jockey who wouldn't be able to solve the case no matter how hard he tried.

But if Ace were to say that he has more observational skills than literally everyone else in the room, since he managed to catch onto the fact that David was a manipulator when no one else did, (Besides Teruko, who only knew because of her first interaction with David when he broke character), then that would be all the reason a killer would need to justify killing Ace.  He was a complete jerk and could potentially notice things the others didn't.

So instead of telling the rest of the class that he was the one who caught onto David's false persona, he claimed Arei figured it out, simply by reading the secret over Whit's shoulder, something he oh-so-conveniently didn't notice at all.

...So yeah.  That's why I think David was calling Ace a liar even after he said he'd stop denying things that weren't true.  I'm probably waaaay overthinking this, but that's my theory.

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich questions

thanks for the tag (and the questions) @callivich !!

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? intro to quantum dating by @spoonfulstar, i think i've read it 3 or 4 times now, it's one of my all time favorites

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? anytime i see a gifset from that one s5 deleted scene, yeah that one, i have to reblog

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? i have a very specific headcanon for a tattoo ian gets post-canon for mickey, and i hesitate to even explain it now bc i think one day i do wanna write a fic about him getting it, but whatever--my headcanon is that he gets an M tattooed on his left ring finger and it's a subtle yet sweet nod to his husband. (i could talk about this for 9 hours but i will limit myself and stop here)

What’s a fanart you love looking at? i've spent an obscene amount of time staring at this fanart by @doodlevich it just checks all my boxes (domestic, husbands, fluff, etc.) and it's so well done, i'm obsessed with this pieces

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? listen, i have this idea for a rock band au that lives rent fucking free in my head, and if i can find the time and the inspiration to actually turn these vibes and unorganized plot points into actual words and a coherent story in the new year, then maybe it'll see the light of day in 2024 but no promises. for now, i leave you with this: four milkovich siblings are in a rock band that is rising to success with the launch of their second studio album and subsequent tour, and ian gallagher is lead singer mandy's (fake) boyfriend--at least in the eyes of the public--and he spends some time that summer touring with the band and hooking up with their lead guitarist in secret until the band's manager/father catches wind of what's going on behind closed doors

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? i've always been a post-canon enthusiast for almost all of my ships, but i think before gallavich i always envisioned them with a very cookie cutter standard american dream family with the house and the careers and the 2.5 kids, which usually fits a lot of my ships, but with gallavich i... don't have that same vision ?? i think they're actually my first ship that i hc more often than not without kids in their post canon life, which is a new vibe for me entirely but i kinda love reading/writing it. idk if that answers the question you asked, but it definitely answered a question

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? honestly i want more s9/10 prison era gallavich fics (and/or fanart). i think it's a gold mine era with so much untapped potential, and there are very few fics/series/whatever that really get deep with it and get to the good stuff of these two boys who haven't spent any significant time together in years but still love each other like they did way back when

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show? it flip-flops for me between s4 and s5, like right now i think it's s5 but idk if i could actually pick one or the other as my absolute favorite

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? i would give my left arm to know how the fuck (and why the fuck) mickey started rolling with his dad again in post-prison s10 era, like in 10x08 he's going to terry for advice on how to protect ian, just for terry to try to kill him again 3 episodes later ??? make it make sense john wells i'm under your bed

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? personally i think the promise ring scene in 10x09 is criminally underrated and not talked about nearly enough, like you don't understand how happy that scene made me (stay with me here) seeing mickey stand up and fight for the future he really wants with ian and not settling for anything less

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? can i do song lyrics? i'm gonna do song lyrics--i've always thought the song godlight by noah kahan was very gallavich, especially the chorus, and especially during s4/5/6 era and it may or may not be a piece of inspiration for my big bang canon divergent fic

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale? i think they take a while to really settle into their new place and and make it their own, and it's a bit of an adjustment (for both of them) to fit in with this new crowd and this new environment, but they're learning how to grow and evolve together and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to the both of them

tagging: literally anyone who wants to play bc my brain is tired and i am too tired to try and remember everyone i probably should tag

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Honorable Ones"

Kallus starts growing the nigglings of a conscience and also I never want to visit Bahryn ever.

Does this count as Friendship Fetch Quest episode? I mean... we do technically recruit an ally, albeit we make one out of a consistent former enemy, and he is important to things later...

Yeah, you know what, I'm counting it.

Geonosis looks gorgeous.

Oooooof SO many Death Star foreshadowings in this conversation. This is in fact where they started construction on the Mark I, as far back as the Clone Wars. Some time between now and then (Wookiepedia thinks it's between "Breaking Ranks" and now), the project was moved, the orbital stations scrapped, and the entire population of Geonosis genocided to conceal the project's existence.

Just, you know, your ordinary Tuesday for the Empire.

Hi Kallus!

Love Chopper getting to be an absolutely murderous psychopath again lolol.

Ohhhh hey, this cue is from back in "Droids In Distress" when they were about to blow up the ion disruptors. How fitting, lol.

Ezra is still Not Fond of leaving people behind.

He looks so worried. :(

Love how Kallus and Zeb stop fighting for a second when they realize they're about to crash. Matching Oh Crap expressions and everything.

Ngl, I felt that cry of agony deep in the recesses of my childhood.

(I fell off some parallel bars once in gym, didn't break anything, but my first scream? Sounded not too unlike that.)

Lol Ezra banging on Chopper. "Yes, we want him back! Don't be a sleemo!"

Jeez, how terrified Kallus must have been, stuck in the exact scenario that traumatized him so in the past. Lucky for our favorite asshole Zeb is the honorable type.

Yup, yeah, pissing his pants terrified. David does a really good job with Kallus this episode, it's one of the first times they let him show a bit more range and he does shrill and hysterical very nicely, if I may say so.

Kallus is so assured of the Empire's fairness and nobility, aww let's shatter that to pieces this episode. :D

Worried Ezra continues to be worried. <3

He is already shivering, nice little animation here. Also lol @ Zeb pettily pulling the heater closer towards him.

Ahhh the glowing rock of friendship. Love that Kallus keeps it after this.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" <3 See this mother hen behavior right here is why I stuck the Iron Squadron kids with him in my Mirrorverse series, Kallus being a fussy fretful Team Mom is hilarious.

Ah NOPE, nope, nah-uh. Nooooooo thank you.

The bonzami are actually really well-designed. They look like prehistoric dinosaurs of some kind. Definitely evocative of all my childhood nightmares about T-Rexes.

Kallus parroting the Might Makes Right and Social Darwinism of the Empire, leading to Zeb beginning to ask pointed questions.

Oh man there was a really good analysis on here someone did about Kallus's fighting style, how he's better at close quarters than distance/ranged, I wish I remembered who wrote it.

Subtle animation appreciation detail: That pinched guilt in Kallus's expression.

Oooh yeah, that's the good stuff.

Kallus launches into his tragic backstory, possibly to try and remind himself why he personally hates Lasats, rejustify in his head how it was okay for him not to question orders when told to use the ion disruptors--("They deserve it, they're bad people, they kill the injured!")--and the connection to Saw is not a coincidence I think, the writers expand heavily on the whole "It's how we fight that matters." and "The ends justify the means." conflict later on down the line. Numerous characters on this show like Saw and Thrawn and Kallus to an extent represent what happens when you go too far to fight those you consider monsters. I've always loved how firmly Rebels comes down on the side of "The means do matter."

Probably one of the reasons I'm still kind of relucant to watch Andor, I know fandom loves that "I burn myself for a sunrise I'll never see." quote but eehhhhhhhhh.

The exchange right after Kallus's story is a bit clunky, I get what the intent was--that there are people in the Empire who aren't cold and bloodthirsty and evil and the Rebels shouldn't write them all off like they're the same--but it's clumsily executed.

PPFFFFTTTTTT LOLOLOL. KALLUS CANNOT BELIEVE THE SHEER PETTINESS IN ZEB HURLING THE BO-RIFLE OUT OF THE CAVE RATHER THAN LET HIM HOLD IT.

Hey remember when I said I love David Oyelowo's hysterical Kallus voice? Yeah.

Zeb's prehensile feet put to good use again.

Ohhhhh yeah no that's absolutely a terrifying concept for me. Nope.

"Hey we didn't get eaten! Are we friends now?"

There's some debate in the fandom about the inconsistency of the stories Kallus tells from "Droids In Distress" to here. Some parts of fandom point to how he almost gleefully bragged about giving the order to use the ion disruptors and others point out that he couldn't possibly have been high enough in the ranks at that point to actually have the authority to do that.

I tend to fall more towards the latter camp, that he wasn't actually THE one to give the order but he didn't question it and passed it right along due to his prejudice against the Lasat, and only said what he said to Zeb to rile him up. As much as he hated Lasats though, there has been some guilt severely weighing on him since then, and I'm pretty sure it's partly due to his confusion over the Honor Guardsman giving him his bo-rifle. There was a note of aggravated self-defense in Kallus's voice when he explains to Zeb how it was given to him, like he's dispensing with an act and being all, "All right look here's how it really happened."

This conversation is slightly less clear but to me reads like Kallus is detailing his thoughts from the moment he'd been given the order. Like it's mid-battle and it's going harder than they anticipated and the weapons are handed out and he's told to use them and he realizes, "Oh. The Empire is not playing around are they?" and he shoves down his own potential qualms about it and just passes on the order.

Zeb, having had his character development, is dismissive of Kallus's attempt to explain the massacre, saying that it doesn't affect him anymore, basically.

They're so happy to see him. <3

Awwwwwww.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Zeb's little elbow bump to Ezra's arm as they climb up the ramp.

Ohhhhhh man the behind the scenes had a little plot bit that they should have kept, basically it was not the Empire that retrieved Kallus from Bahryn, it was a scavenger ship, the Empire spent a paltry two rotations looking for him and then wrote him off, he had to make his way back to them on his own.

Konstantine doesn't even look at him.

:((((((

Kallus's redemption is a bit of a polarizing topic in fandom. Personally I'm very fond of it, I like Kallus as an antagonist-turned-Rebel, I think he's a lot of fun post Heel Face Turn and the many myriad fanfics that bridge the gap between "Zero Hour" and Season 4 featuring Kallus slowly blending in to the Spectres are among some of my favorites.

But it's also one of my major nitpicks because it's a bit lacking in legwork. Show👏me👏the legwork!👏 Like 90% of all writing problems can be solved just by expending some effort. Don't just have Kallus as the new Fulcrum offscreen between seasons I need to SEE it.

That being said, this is a mostly tightly written Locked In A Room type episode, well-paced, decently animated. Fandom definitely loves it and I'll still give it fairly regular rewatches since it's another of the husband's favorites.

Next up, we return again to Lothal for Force Weirdness.

[day-mark]

I love Voltron with my whole heart but yeag,,, it had a lot of flaws. I love that it genuinely tried to address that Killing Zarkon wouldn't be enough to stop the entire Empire and end the war. The show had a good balance of politics, crazy weird magic, and fun family bonding for the first two seasons.

I also think it's kind of insane that the show sidelined Three Entire characters after s3-4 (Shiro, Keith, and Hunk <- especially) but didn't develop the others with that new space and time.

Allura dying just made me sad. She was such an amazing character. I was insane back then so I can't really look at Lance with an analytical eye without rewatching the show, but I can tell he didn't get the moment he deserved either. He should've been Black Paladin!! Keith in my opinion, should've switched from Shiro's right hand to Lance's!! Keith just fundamentally didn't work as a leader (to me) and the focus of his arc should've been his mommy/being Galra issues!!!

I dunno wtf happened with Shiro. They kind of scooped out his guts by the end of the show. (My in-world explanation is that by s7 he's just so beyond traumatized to think all that much.) Hunk's also been done dirty. He's like, amazing, he's so sweet and kind but also an asshole when he wants to be. He deserved way more attention, he had insane amount of potential!!!

This show had so much to offer! Genuinely awesome worldbuilding, comedy, the team who grow to love each other even with all their neurotic issues, and the Galra themselves were fucking icons!!

vld will always have my heart, I love the mall episode it was so beautiful sorry for rambling so much (but the juiciness of dteamxvld ooooiughgh)

my memory of it isn't so great anymore but yeah your feelings do line up with mine pretty well from what i remember 😞

the characters were definitely my biggest gripe cause they were so interesting in the first couple of seasons!! but then in the later ones they were so flat?? uninteresting ??? like idk what happened but nothing makes me more irritated than when characters start getting butchered. and yeah hunk getting that treatment in particular was Very noticeable

i didnt watch the last season cause i heard it was so bad and by that point the previous seasons already disappointed me so i just couldnt be bothered to watch it, but yeah ??? killing allura was... definitely a choice 💀

and lance my fucking lance, he was my favorite and seeing him get done so dirty made me so sad 😭 black paladin lance was my damn roman empire... anfd fucking farmer my ass HE WANTED TO BE A PILOTTTTT

and ngl i really dont remember what happened with shiro near the end of the show but i know at some point i started thinking of him as just being there for torture porn 😭

but yeah, despite the Many gripes i have with the show it was still really neat to be apart of and will have a special place in my heart. i did really like the premise and ideas they had. they had a solid set of characters, designs, and dynamics that i do still really love! and i still love the beginning seasons and the fanartists and writers definitely helped carry with their amazing art and fics.

[immernichts]

Arcane Ramblings (spoilers!)

•I reallyyyy should’ve rewatched S1 before starting S2, oops.

•Whenever a song started playing, a common reaction I had was “hmm this sounds weird, I don’t like it” *1 minute later* “wait this actually sounds good, I love it!”

I think I enjoyed the second season’s music more than I did the first’s.

•I’m in love with Sevika. Why did she suddenly disappear for most of the season >:( And after getting a really hot haircut too!!

•omg Cait stop being problematic

But actually I really liked her character arc, and uhh while I don’t excuse her being a cop, I think some people (mainly on the bird hellsite) are going a little too far with their hate for her.

•Violet’s pit fighter makeover…. Waow…

•I like Steb

•I feel like Arcane does a really good job of making graphic violence feel impactful and shocking.

•Oh so this is what people meant by “who hurt the Arcane writers?”

•I honestly did not think they were actually going to kill off the little girl, wow. I kind of wish we’d seen the immediate aftermath of it, with everyone’s reactions. I have some mixed feelings on it, on one hand I think it’s a development that makes sense with Isha’s character, on the other hand it kind of felt like a waste.

•I like Ekko/Jinx as a pairing, I think they’re really cute together. However, I wish their relationship had gotten more screentime, because unfortunately the pairing felt a little underdeveloped.

Actually Ekko in general needed more screentime :(

•I didn’t have much interest in CaitVi during the early part of the season, but sometime near the end I felt my interest in them as a pairing rekindle. Screamed (internally) with happiness when I got to the horny lesbian jail scene. Now show me the full version!! 👀

•You know, I was all like “I’m happy that CaitVi is a thing now but I hope Maddie isn’t hurt by it, she seemed really nice” and then this bitch—!!! I don’t know if her and Cait were in an actual relationship or if they were just sleeping together, but I do wish it had been built up more, to make her betrayal hit harder.

Also I couldn’t stop thinking about how much this scene felt like something that would’ve happened in a CaitVi fanfic lmao. Just a very sudden “actually, I’m evil” moment that screams Die For Our Ship.

•Ambessa and Victor were wonderful villains. Whatever problems I had with the season, I think both of them were written and handled really well.

•I didn’t care for Jayvik during the first season, in fact I really didn’t care for Jayce at all, but wow I really liked their relationship throughout this one. That final episode was beautiful.

•Me: of course Jinx isn’t going to die, she’s in LoL. *Jinx falls to her death* Me: o_O ???

Apparently(?) she is implied to be alive at the end, but wow I was really confused by that.

•Yeah the pacing this season was definitely a little odd.

•But honestly…… I didn’t think this season, and the ending, were that bad. It had flaws, but for me it was still an enjoyable ride.

[spoopydooblr]

My King Will Be Kind Chapter 7 / Kendall Roy x OC

an: YALL ITS BEEN A MIN! my bad!!! ive just been doing my thang and honestly fell out of love with this story for a sec.  i had to rewatch some episodes of s4 to get myself back into it and here we are!  this chapter is a bit of a filler, as next chapter is going to be Living Plus which should be a shitshow lmao.  PLEASE enjoy and lmk what u think!  i love getting your messages it literally makes my day! 

tw: mentions of death, cursing

Even when the first season of Delirium came out and was trending on every platform, Stella was still flying mostly under the radar. Sure, she had her fans, but the hype around her was nothing like it was now.

Stella had given up on Twitter, as the reactions to her and Kendall were not so great. People either had no fucking idea who she was or were completely disappointed in her choice in men.

im not gonna lie idk who tf stella allen is

Stella...girl...kendall roy...?

E! News even did a segment on her a few nights ago.

"Who is Kendall Roy's new girlfriend?" The peppy anchor said. "Well I've got you covered, folks!"

Some of Stella's scenes from Delirium flashed across the screen. They even had a blurry pap picture from the wedding to complete the package.

After the segment, her mother called her, almost in tears.

"Stelly, baby, what have you gotten yourself into?" She asked.

"Everything's fine, Mom, please don't worry."

"I don't want you involved with that family. Your dad hated ATN, remember? And that guy...how old is he?"

She cringed. "I know, I know."

"I thought you liked that boy from the movie?" Her mother mentioned.

"You mean Damien?" Damien was a costar who she went on two dates with over a year ago. she knew her mom wanted the best for her, but that had been over.

"He was such a nice boy. Why don't you call him?"

"He broke up with me, remember?"

"Oh." She thought for a moment. "What about--"

"I like Kendall, Mom."

"Really, babes?"

"Yeah..." Stella paused. "I mean, he's actually a really good guy."

"I'm sure he is, but doesn't he have kids? Doesn't he have an addiction problem? Are you really ready to deal with all that?"

"He's clean now, he told me."

"Isn't that what every addict says?"

"He barely has time to use, Mom, he's so busy."

"How does he make time for you, then?"

Stella thought for a moment. To be honest, she didn't know how to answer her mother's question. Things were hectic, to say the least, for the Roy's right now.

As she sat in her apartment, scrolling through Twitter and defending herself against her mother, Kendall was at his father's wake. He had invited her to go with him, but warned that all of his family and company would be there.

"It's gonna be a fucking fuckfest." He had told her.

Though meeting Shiv was definitely on her radar, Stella couldn't bring herself to go. It wasn't even really a wake, it was more like a business meeting in a dead man's penthouse. There wasn't a place for her there, and she didn't want one. Kendall didn't seem disappointed, as there were other things on his mind. Neither of them wanted to be questioned by his family when there were important decisions to be made.

"It's going to be tough, Mom, but I like him. It'll be okay."

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

It was later that night when Kendall appeared on Stella' doorstep again. They had been texting every day, but with Logan dying, Kendall and his siblings were busy. It almost felt like things were back to normal, if it weren't for the thousands of tweets about their relationship. She thought that Logan's death would have surpassed them in the news, but it only intensified the spotlight on her and Kendall.

Again, it was late at night when Kendall called her, saying he was at the front door. This time Stella was more prepared, as she was still up doing work. Still, she was eating cold pizza out of the box and wearing a big t-shirt and shorts when he called.

"You need to stop doing this." She teased, opening the door for him.

He was quiet as he stepped into the threshold of her tiny apartment. For once, he had nothing to say to her as he entered.

"What's up? How was the wake?" She ran her hands down his arms, genuinely concerned about his mood.

"It's--" He started. "It's me."

"What do you mean, baby?"

"It's me. I'm...I'm CEO. Me and Rome, we're gonna do it but it's me, mostly."

Stella's jaw dropped. Sure, she was used to having Kendall as COO of WayStar, but CEO? This was on a whole different level.

"You're what?"

"I'm the fucking CEO." He said, looking at her, his hazel eyes brimming with tears.

"You're the fucking CEO."

"Yeah."

Stella threw her arms around him. Though it was a bit of a shock, she knew that CEO was Kendall's dream. He worked his entire life to be in this position and he was finally getting to it. He returned the hug, picking her up.

"H-how did this even happen?"

"Dad wrote it down. Before he died. The board still has to decide, and the GoJo deal is still there, but for now, yeah, I'm it."

"Oh my God. That's insane."

"I know. Fuck."

"What have you done to celebrate?" She asked.

"Well, I just got out of the wake." He sat down on her couch. "I came right here."

Stella's heart soared. It made her incredibly happy that Kendall wanted to share this news with her first. She sat down next to him, trying to ignore the pizza crusts on the table next to them.

"Well what do you want to do?" She genuinely meant it, not in a sexual way.

"Honestly, I just really need to sleep. I, uh, have to be in the office tomorrow at eight."

"Oh, shit, okay."

"It's okay. I wanted to see you before the shit show starts tomorrow."

"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you want, but I don't want to keep you."

"No, no." He pulled her into him. "You're stuck with me."

"In that case..." She kissed him softly. "Do you wanna smoke some weed?" Stella nodded towards the pipe on her endtable. There was a half-smoked bowl inside already.

Kendall smiled, "I think you read my mind, pretty girl."

She laughed, trying to reach the pipe while still in his grasp. Her hands reached the bowl and Kendall magically produced a lighter.

They sat across from each other on the couch, Stella handing the pipe to Kendall.

"You first, Mr. CEO." She giggled when a giant smile spread across his face.

He thanked her, taking the bowl and lighting it.

"Wait," Kendall said. "Won't this set off the alarm?"

"Oh, they're broken, don't worry." Stella laughed.

He nodded, lighting the pipe and inhaling.

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

After twenty minutes and a few too many puffs later, Stella was curled into Kendall's arms on her tiny couch.

"The wedding was nice, you know." She whispered into the cold morning air.

"I'm sure it was. Con planned the whole thing."

"It was beautiful. Even the loony cake."

Kendall chuckled. "I'm glad you stayed. It says a lot about you."

"I love family. And I love weddings."

"You want a big wedding, Stella girl?" He said, weed clouding their minds.

"Yeah." She said, eyes glazed over. "I want a huge ring too. You think you can do that, Ken?"

"Definitely." He smiled, secretly promising to himself that he would actually, one day, make that happen.

"Not a boat though. Kinda tacky."

"Anything you want, Stell."

"Think you can get both of our families to get along?"

"That, I'm not so sure about."

She was quiet for a second. As much as talking about weddings was fun, it just reminded her of her father. Who would walk her down the aisle? Who would she dance with at her first dance?

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, I--" She started, "I miss my Dad."

"Me too." Kendall said.

She immediately felt bad for even thinking about her own grief. Kendall's wound was still fresh while Stella had grieved over a year ago.

"What happened to him?"

"He, um, went to sleep one night and didn't wake up." Hot tears pricked at her eyes. "My mom woke up next to his body. It was like, the worst thing ever."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about it right now. You're like, grieving your own loss."

"My Dad was a piece of shit." Kendall laughed. "But he was still my Dad."

"I know baby." She looked up at him, both holding back tears. "I know."

He kissed her softly.  All she could see in the dark room was his face.  

"I think I love you."  Kendall said, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"What?"  Stella sat up.  She was not expecting to hear those words.

"Sorry, uh--"  Kendall stuttered, and for once, he didn't really know what to say.  

"You love me?"

"Yeah.  I fucking do."  They sat across from each other on the couch again, Stella frowning to herself.  

She had no fucking idea what to say, but she knew one thing.  "I love you too, Ken."  Stella mirrored the goofy smile plastered on his face.

"I fucking love you, Stella girl."  He kissed her face all over, pushing her down on the couch.  "Let me make you mine."

She hummed as his lips traveled down her neck.  "I'm yours, Kendall."  Stella giggled as his cold hands reached under her shirt.  

"As much as I'd like to fuck you, I really have to get some rest."  He whispered, putting his head on her collarbone.

Stella nodded, knowing tomorrow was just first day as CEO and staying up late wasn't exactly the best idea.  "Do you wanna stay?"

Kendall's face lit up.  He nodded eagerly.

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

Stella was awoken the next morning by her dog growling and barking from the kitchen.  He probably wanted to be taken out.  She rubbed her eyes, realizing that there was barely any light coming from the curtains.  It had to be four in the morning.  She rolled over, expecting to find Kendall, but he was nowhere to be found.  

"Ken?"

"In here!"  His voice boomed from the kitchen.  

Stella reluctantly got out of bed, walking to the kitchen and seeing possibly the funniest thing she had ever seen.  

Kendall was sitting criss-cross on the counter, hiding away from her dog.  Stella couldn't help but laugh.  Her dog was less than 15 pounds and was all bark and no bite.  Of course, Kendall didn't know that and probably had never been around dogs in his life.  

"Ken, oh my God."  She giggled, taking a picture of his scared state on top of the counter.  

"He was barking at me!"

"He's a chihuahua, Kendall."  Stella said as she scooped up the little dog.

"Last time I checked, chihuahuas were mean."

"Okay, true.  But Kurt is a sweetie, right baby?"  She kissed the dog on the forehead.  "Don't be mean to mommy's friend."

"Friend?"  Kendall pretended to be hurt.  

"Sorry.  Don't be mean to mommy's boyfriend."

Kendall got down from the counter where Stella noticed he had been trying to make coffee with her old ass coffee maker.

"Oh, God, you didn't try to make coffee, did you?"

Kendall looked at her sheepishly.  "When did you get this fucking thing?  1998?"

"When I was two years old?  No."

"Jesus, you're a baby."  He smiled at her.  The age-gap thing was kind of weird for her still, as she had never dated someone as old as Kendall.  

"And you're fucking old."  She said, rummaging around to make coffee for him.  "This coffee isn't great, sorry."

"It's okay.  I'll have Fikret get me some.  He's on his way."

Stella frowned, not ready to let Kendall leave their little bubble yet.  "I'm so excited for you, Mr. CEO."  She wrapped her arms around his neck.  "You're gonna kill it."

[cosmical-flowers]

Getting a bit bored sooo based off my mutual, what I think Shinobu’s opinions on shows (+ some movies) from my childhood would be!!! (From the pov of my s/i hehe)

[Tags since I think yall wouldn’t mind: @aroace-poly-show @eekykins @mutsuowo @transgender-eichi + @maoisarap since I got inspired from you!!!]

1. Wild Kratts - I have a feeling he’d really like this show!!! Probably one of his favorites Sakura would show him

2. TAWOG (The amazing world of gumball) - I think he’d also like this show! Not as much as Wild Kratts but still!

3. Glitter Force (/Precure dub for america) - They’d be like 2 episodes in and Shinobu would casually mention that Ryuseitai saw this before and Sakura would be in disbelief. Cue Sakura and Chiaki talking about Precure / Magical girl shows / Shojo shows for a whole afternoon. I think he would prefer the og version of it though.

4. Some Assembly Required - He’d look at Sakura after watching the first ep and say “Yeah. Makes sense.” And Sakura would be really confused. Perhaps he would find it really silly but not connect with it as much.

5. The Lego Movie - (UNRELATED MINI RANT BUT THIS IS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE MOVIE. I LOVE THAT MOVIE SO MUCH AHHHHHH!!!) I feel like he would really like it! After seeing it, Sakura would tell him about a bunch of other movies / shows as lego. She then tells him about Lego Ninjago and whoops! They ended up staying really late and watching it all in a week.

6. Phineas and Ferb - Another show I think he’d like!!! I think he’d like some of the musical aspects of it as well :D

7. Avatar The Last Airbender - OHHH HE WOULD LOVE THIS ONE!!! I think he’d really enjoy the arc / season they went to the Earth Kingdom the most! Plus, the world building was really cool to him too!

8. Over the Garden Wall - I think Sakura would have to admit she was a bit afraid of some shows / movies when she was growing up, so she only saw a bit of this one. But still, they would enjoy watching it!

9. Summer Camp Island - I think they would both enjoy watching this show soooo much! Sakura would definitely get nostalgia watching this show again and love it! They would enjoy this so much tee hee

10. Coraline - Another movie Sakura would have been afraid of when she was younger. After some time to convince her to rewatch it, they ended up seeing it again. (Not without Sakura irrationally clinging onto him a bit while seeing it!) They would still enjoy watching the movie! I ahve a feeling Shinobu would also like stop motion animation a lot as well!

[hood-ex]

As someone who’s run a largely vld centric blog since 2017: respectfully, why would you do that to yourself.

But also I went straight from blorbo-fixating on Keith to Dick earlier this year; I think they’re kind of similar in certain ways even if it’s definitely not obvious on the surface. On the surface Dick would probably get compared more to Lance, maybe Shiro but probably not that much.

Anyways I hope you’re having fun but I recommend stopping the moment it stops being fun because it doesn’t really get better after whenever you stop having fun (have you seen that one chart of the ratings for every season??? 💀) and it’s such a train crash at the end that despite fixating on the show for… 6 years? (👵🏻) I have not rewatched it since the day the final season dropped, a whole 5 years ago. Killed any interest I had in revisiting it in its entirety on the spot. I’ll still go to bat for the animation, the music, the voice acting, etc, basically everything but the writing. I don’t want to sound too down on it if you’re enjoying it and I remember it being really fun in the beginning but like. Beware I guess, because I joined exactly at the midpoint of its run and it was the start of it all going downhill but we didn’t know that at the time and I really wish I’d known what I was getting into. Then again, I was 16 and way too invested in that show; it probably doesn’t matter that much. But yeah have fun!

(Also you said a while back that you were watching Being Human UK and the venn diagram between VLD ‘fans’, BH fans and DC/Nightwing fans is seemingly non existent, so welcome!!)

Peaky Blinders was actually what I meant to try and watch this weekend, but I fell asleep during the first episode, so decided I might as well give it up and go watch something else instead 😆.

If I got through all the nonsense that went on in SPN, I can probably handle the bumps and avalanches that come with Voltron 😆. No but yeah it sucks when a good series starts to fray apart in the later seasons.

Lol you just reminded me that I never finished Being Human. I stopped two episodes before Mitchell died 😩.