#yesterday i watched HALF of The Sign’s ep 3

[leemeanhoe]

why r u? 🇰🇷: oh i can watch this in an evening cute

why r u? 🇹🇭: how many minutes of how many episodes???????

[st4rlabsforever]

post-episode 3 fix-it

words: 2.9k

notes: i started a long fic based on this post after watching ep 3. i cannibalized some snippets from another fic i wrote last week so if you see similar scenes, that’s why. i think this will end up being 12-15k words endgame sambucky by the end, but i refuse to post on ao3 until it’s complete. this is the first 3 scenes. feel free to comment and message me your thoughts since i’m still very much in the writing phase :)

summary: “It’s the kind of statement that should be screamed into Bucky’s face, but he’s learning that when Sam’s angry – when he’s truly angry – he’s just as soft-spoken as he is when he’s in one of his pensive moods. And he lets his anger build and build and build until it bursts in spectacular fashion.”

“I didn’t back Steve on the Sokovia Accords,” Sam says unprompted one day. They’re so close to apprehending the Flagsmashers and wrapping up this ridiculous saga.

“I don’t follow,” Bucky says.

“I was the one who refused to sign it first. Not Steve.”

Sam says it so softly that Bucky has to strain to hear him. Sam is loud and chatty and half the time he keeps up a constant stream of chatter just to get on Bucky’s nerves, but Bucky’s coming to realize that when he really wants to make himself heard, he’s soft spoken and mild. Bucky doesn’t entirely follow his train of thought, though.

The thing is, Sam is unreadable when it really matters. He offers words of comfort where needed – in Germany, after seeing Walker with the shield that wasn’t his, knowing that it had affected Bucky just as much as himself; in Madripoor, Bucky’s hand on the throat of some henchman or other, Sam’s hand on his when the Soldier’s memories threatened to overtake him; even in Riga, when Bucky’s guilt over releasing T’Chaka’s killer bubbled to the surface and Sam had checked in with him even though he couldn’t have possibly known about Bucky’s meeting with Ayo. Sam speaks with his eyes, always a searching look that leaves Bucky raw and feeling like he’s been x-rayed. I see you, is what those eyes say.

In contrast, Bucky’s words of comfort feel hollow. He knows that Isaiah is still a live wire for Sam, checks in with him after Madripoor when he can tell the conversation with Nagel weighs heavy on his mind. But he doesn’t see the way Sam does. He knows he’d missed something important because that conversation had ended in an argument and a threat from Sam to destroy the shield.

He never gets a chance to ask Sam what he’s getting at, because Torres signals to them that they’re at the drop point before all hell breaks loose.

***

In the end, after Karli and the Power Broker and whoever else decides to show their head from the emporium of supervillains are dealt with and they finally have a moment of peace, Bucky says, “The shield looks good on you.”

Sam freezes a few paces ahead of Bucky, the shield strapped loosely to his wrist.

“We make a good team,” Bucky says softly.

What he doesn’t expect is for Sam to whirl around suddenly. The look of barely restrained fury is enough to nearly knock Bucky off he’s feet. They fight without ever really fighting all the time, squabbles over who went left and who went right and who was supposed to lead and who was supposed to follow, but never has he seen Sam look like this before. The fury verges on hurt and it’s so fucking visceral that Bucky can barely breathe.

“You don’t get to say that,” Sam says quietly. His voice shakes and he closes his eyes like he’s steadying himself.

“I said I’d squash it until the mission was over, and I did. But you know what? I’m not doing this anymore.”

“Sam–”

“You don’t get to tell me what a good team is. Not after all the shit we just went through. You invited yourself to Munich, and I thought, ‘Fine. I could use the extra set of hands.’ We went through it together against Thanos and I respected that.”

Sam shakes his head. “But then you went off on some lone wolf woe-is-me bullshit, and look at where it got us. You broke Zemo out without even asking if I was down with that. You knew I wasn’t and you forced my hand. Now I’m an accomplice.”

“He was our only lead–”

“Bullshit. That field trip to Madripoor led us right back to Karli. Torres ended up tracking them to Riga anyway.”

“But the Power Broker–”

“–showed his ugly face in the end. All we got out of Madripoor was you digging up your trauma and us getting our faces plastered all over the internet. I promised Sharon one goddamn thing and I can’t even deliver on that now.”

“But I went along with it, fine,” Sam continues. “I knew it couldn’t have been easy reaching back into that headspace, doing what you did to Selby’s men.” The memory blindsides Bucky. “So I tabled it.” Sam taps out a tally with his fingers. 

“And back in Baltimore, you’d been too keyed up about Steve being wrong about you to even listen to what I had to say. Again, I tabled it.” Another tally. 

“I’ve been meeting you halfway this entire time, man, and I’ve gotten near nothing in return. You kept Isaiah a secret from me, and at first I thought you were just clueless about how damn significant it would’ve been for me to know about him.” Sam shakes his head. 

“But then we met him. You saw what they did to him. The one Black supersoldier – a fucking hero – and look what they did to him. You saw it with your own eyes and you still sat there and lectured me about what you thought I should’ve done with that goddamn shield.” 

“There’s precedent for it, you know,” Sam says. It takes Bucky a moment to realize Sam is expecting an answer.

Bucky doesn’t know, is the thing. He feels like he’s all of five years old again, put on the spot. He’s reminded of when Zemo just had to let him know about the African American experience; he’d felt chastised and embarrassed enough to pretend like he’d had any clue what themes lurked in Marvin Gaye’s work. Sam just searches him with those eyes, searches Bucky for something yet unfathomable and decides he hasn’t found it. That hurts more than anything else; Bucky wishes he could sink into the ground, make himself as small as possible. Sam doesn’t notice, or else doesn’t care, and just plows on with a scoff. 

“You don’t even know the true history of the country you’re living in. Figures.” He shakes his head. “You’re not ever going to be able to separate the shield from the history Black folks have endured at the hands of this country. Not now, not ever.”

Sam doesn’t even look angry anymore. Angry, Bucky can deal with. It would be a relief, even. 

Instead, Sam looks at him with a disappointment that somehow surpasses what Steve could have ever accomplished.

“Whatever. I tabled that, too,” Sam says. “And then after Madripoor, after we heard that doctor go on and on about Isaiah’s blood like he wasn’t even a real human-being? I said my piece and all you did was throw that shield bullshit back in my face.”

“Sam–” Bucky tries again. He’s mortified to hear the crack in his own voice.

“It’s honestly breathtaking,” Sam says with something that might be akin to genuine wonder, or maybe even morbid curiosity in his voice. “We saw the same things in Baltimore and Madripoor, but your head was so far up your own ass that you never once stopped to think all of it was just proof to me. That the shield in the hands of a Black man wouldn’t make any damn sense.”

It’s the kind of statement that should be screamed into Bucky’s face, but he’s learning that when Sam’s angry – when he’s truly angry – he’s just as soft-spoken as he is when he’s in one of his pensive moods. And he lets his anger build and build and build until it bursts in spectacular fashion.

Sam’s not even done yet. “And that’s another thing. Stealing the shield from Walker…” Sam rolls his eyes at the memory. “You want to run around with that giant frisbee, fine. That’s your business. But then you forced it on me–”

“That’s not fair,” Bucky says immediately. Desperately. “You didn’t have to accept it.”

“The whole damn country was watching,” Sam says hotly. “It was either accept it, or shit all over Steve fucking Rogers’s legacy and make myself into the villain half the country was already hoping I’d turn out to be.”

“You were dead wrong for that,” Sam says. “I stuck around until we took down Karli because it was the right thing to do. After Munich, though, this little adventure was all you. Zemo, Madripoor, the shield.”

Sam shoves the shield into Bucky’s arms, the impact so sudden that it forces him back a step.

“Since you’re so obsessed with this thing, it’s yours. Congrats,” Sam says sarcastically. “I’m sure you’ll do it proud.”

Bucky lets out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

“For what it’s worth,” Sam says, “Steve might not have understood everything about me. But in Vienna, when it came time to sign the accords? He was considering it. I put my foot down first and he listened.”

Sam shrugs. “Whatever you thought we were, it's not a team.”

Bucky knows where to drive the knife in to kill a man in as few twists of the wrist as possible – a brutal economy of movement and technique. But Sam...it pales in comparison to what Sam’s capable of. His weapons aren’t knives and his targets may not be made of flesh and blood, but he knows exactly where he needs to strike to rip Bucky open raw. Bucky feels like he’s been flayed alive.

“How about that long vacation?” Sam says, and claps Bucky on the shoulder. 

And we’ll never have to see each other ever again goes unsaid.

Fuck.

***

The thing about ignoring Sam’s texts was that Bucky responded if they were actually important. It just so happened that most of the nonsense Sam sent was inane prattling about his day, about his job, his sister, his nephews. Now that he’s on the receiving end of it, though, it feels awful.

3/25/21, 2:58 AM

I’m sorry.

Delivered

3/28/21, 1:51 AM

Can we talk?

Delivered

3/31/21, 3:05 AM

Let me know what to do and I’ll do it.

Read 3:34 AM

4/1/21, 12:42 AM

Or if there’s anything you need.

Read 1:05 AM

Yesterday, 1:00 AM

I’m available if you need another body for a mission.

Read 1:02 AM

A week into the admittedly one-sided exchange, Sam turns his damn read receipts on. It’s ridiculous and it’s fucking asinine and it gets under Bucky’s skin immediately. It’s a form of twenty-first century psychological warfare that he’s unfamiliar with and already can’t stand. Mainly, he hates that it makes him seem desperate (he’s not), needy (he might be, especially when he realizes with horror that he actually misses Sam’s rambling texts), and ridiculous (he definitely is, because he’s letting petty mind games get to him).

Normally, Sam would send him nearly daily updates on his comings and goings – whether he’d been in New York, D.C., or New Orleans. The radio silence is unsettling. Bucky wonders if Sam made good on his promise to take a long vacation. And then....

The thing about apologies is that Bucky isn’t sure he’s ever done a proper one in his entire life, at least nothing beyond a rote “I’m sorry” with the “let’s move on” part left unspoken. But it stands to reason, Bucky thinks, that a proper apology can’t be given if he’s not completely certain what he’s dealing with. That’s all well and good because he’s got the world at the tips of his fingers, is what Yori always said. And when he grows frustrated with reading on his tiny phone screen, the New York Public Library is only a train ride away.

Sam had mentioned precedent, so Bucky’s first search is for medical experimentation. He knows for a fact he was good at this once, a memory of Steve whining about him being too good at exams coming up unbidden. He reads voraciously. Anything and everything that might offer a clue on what he’d missed. And it doesn’t take long for him to find what he’s looking for. 

He reads with dawning horror. The Tuskegee syphilis experiments. Eugenics. God, the fucking Nazis had even modeled their race science on the American school of thought. The things that the history books left out. Some of it was even happening under his nose in the 30s, he’d just been blissfully unaware. He somehow ends up down a rabbit hole where words like `prison industrial complex’ and `school-to-prison pipeline’ make increasingly more persistent appearances. New Jim Crow. COINTELPRO. War on drugs. The way all of these horrors reached their long arms into the twenty-first century.

Bucky’s going to be sick. The memories come up one after another.

Just give him your ID so we can leave.

You think you can wake up one day and decide who you want to be? It doesn’t work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you.

So you’re telling me that there was a Black supersoldier decades ago and nobody knew about it.

This is what you’re not going to do. You’re not going to come here in your over-extended life and tell me about my rights.

The shield wasn’t yours to give away.

He spends the next week in his downtime reading. With the mission being over and his parole in jeopardy, his downtime mostly coincides with every day of the week.

Had Steve known?

No, he thinks. Steve was compassionate, but he wouldn’t have known because he’d taken one look at the problems of twenty-first century America and decided he’d had enough. Then he’d ran back to the 40s to live out some fantasy that simply didn’t – couldn’t – exist anymore. Had he eventually become aware of all the issues plaguing this country that they’d been able to ignore as starry-eyed kids in Brooklyn? Bucky hopes not, because that would mean he’d...no. 

A part of Bucky thinks he’s so surprised because he’d thought things – race relations, civil rights, not things, his brain amends – had been getting better in the 40s. Deep down, though, he knows that’s a lie. A 2 AM read through Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States confirms it. Shady politicians. Klansmen who went back to their day jobs as cops, judges, firefighters. Mass incarceration taking its place as the new king on the throne of segregation. Evidently, 

There had been plenty of folks – white folks – raising an uproar about these hidden horrors back then. The seeds of those movements had even been there in the 30s. Bucky tells himself that he’d been raised during the Great Depression, that his family had been too focused on putting food on the table to focus on social movements, but that, too, ends up being a lie. The poorest and working class whites – some, at least – in movement and solidarity with civil rights. Not him, though. Apparently he’d had his head up his ass back then, too.

Bucky can see the bigger picture a tiny bit more clearly, now. 

Fine. So he’s been disarmed of the little lies he’d used as shields, and he also owes Sam one hell of an apology.

Somehow, he doesn’t think “I’m sorry, I was ignorant then but I read some books and now I know better” is going to cut it. Maybe a commitment to do better would work? Perhaps after Baltimore, but not now. That ship had long since sailed. Some grand act of service, then? He’s sure he can think of something Sam needs in this post-Blip world that he can provide. He vaguely remembers Sarah mentioning something about a ship and bank loan. That could be a starting point.

It doesn’t take much time to find the public records on the Wilson family business and then the not-so-public records on the denied bank loan. It wouldn’t take much for him to pry a little, not when seedy bankers were astonishingly amenable to the threat of violence. But he’s reminded of Zemo and figures that he ought not to do anything so drastic that could jeopardize Sam’s family situation further.

He snorts. Did growth that came several months late still count?

In the end, he decides to rip the bandage off quickly, which is how he finds himself in the sticky Louisiana heat with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, staring back at an incredulous Sam through his open door.

“I did some reading recently,” Bucky says. 

“Hmm.”

It’s not outright refusal, so Bucky continues.

“About, um, the things you mentioned last time. Precedent.”

“Huh.”

For someone who’s normally so expressive with his language, Sam’s one-word answers as nerve-wracking as anything.

“I didn’t fully appreciate the situation that you were in. That you’re still in,” Bucky amends.

Sam shrugs. “It’s cool,” he says in a way that doesn’t sound like he really believes it. Bucky wonders if this is a test; he feels just as lost as he did on that plane a week ago.

“Let’s do this outside,” Sam says, closing the door behind him and ushering Bucky away from it. “Walk with me.” 

They head down to the pier mostly in silence until Bucky breaks it. “I’m sorry for making it all about me,” he says.

Sam stares at him. It’s true Bucky might stare a little too much on occasion, but Sam’s stares are utterly unnerving in the way he seems to see right through Bucky when he really wants to, like he’s already mapped out all there is to know.

[petrosapian]

tagged by @hugbeam, answer 30 questions and tag 20 people which i agree is too much ill just tag a few ppl again recent mutuals in my notes lol feel free to do it or not 

tagging @bilqisaaliyah @audiodramatist @zanybeetle @ofdreamsanddoodles

1. name/nickname: aicha or papa

2. gender: hijabi

3. star sign: cancer

4. height: 5'10″last i checked

5. time: 1:21 am EST alas

6. birthday: june 27th im a june babey

7. favorite bands/groups: lol idk why this question is always rough im going thru my sportify for any band that appears more than once the killers, abba, boney m, fitz and the tantrums, ludo, native deen, 3oh!3, destiny’s child

8. favorite solo artist: marinaaaaaaaaa

9. song stuck in my head: babooshka baboshka yaaaa yaaaaaa

10. last movie: just finished the wedding planner yesterday bc i have bad taste

11. last show: oof i havent been watching a lot of tv lately but ive been watching scattered new girl eps most recently.

12: when did i create this blog: urk idk that was 9th grade sooooo 2012?

13. what do i post: clown shit

14. last thing googled: victoricity bc i wanna know who beth eyre plays aklsjdlkasjd

15. other blogs: i have and aesthetic side blog and a ben 10 side blog and a killers side blog all of which are essentially abbandoned. i would revive the aesthetic one if i actually had followers and i do post any submissions i get for the ben 10 one lol

16. do i get asks: nah very rarely mostly if i reblog an ask meme and even then

17. why did i choose this url: ben 10 babey but its vague anough i feel aesthetic

18. following: 369

19. followers: 1002

20. average hours of sleep: about 5 or 6 i guess depends if i have work in the morning

21. lucky number: 7 i guess 

22. instruments: took piano for about a year but unsucessful im not very musical tbh i cant keep a bea

23. what am i wearing: pink jammies and a hello kitty apron im cleaning allegedly

24: dream job: i actually really like my current job i work organizing college students politically but idk maybe id like to work in a job a bit more service oriented, i miss being in person generally. dream dream job tho is party princess for kids parties

25: dream trip: i wanted to go to argentina this past spring.summer to visit my grandmother and also wanted to my friend in singapore half way in japan. also kinda wanna go on a road trip to oklahoma to visit a family friend. any trip with people my own age sound wonderful tho

26. favorite food: i dunno kabuli pallow

27. nationality: argentinian american. feels slightly odd to say but i am technically a citizen lol

28. favorite song: idk im gonna go w the whole of the moon by the water boys

29. last book read: pls dont do this to me

30. three fictional universes you’d like to live in: ingary from howl’s moving castle, whatever the hell is going on in piffling vale, and hell what ever was going on in the sisters grimm

[tracybirds]

Venom Rewrite - Epilogue

Lol, posting with my eyes shut bc i’m very aware tonight is new TBirds Day and I won’t get to watch the new ep today, but also!!! I present to you an epilogue :D I just needed to give Scott a tiny bit more closure than he got..... is it fixed, nope, is it marginally better, yeah.

Anyway, thanks for being here for this crazy week! I’ve enjoyed the journey and @ everyone who left a comment or like I see you all and love you dearly for your support :DDD

Read Previous Parts: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4]

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Virgil spent a total of sixteen hours in the hospital where Kayo and Gordon had landed. He’d been poked and prodded by any number of specialists in that time, taking great care to ensure the antivenom had done its job and that he wasn’t about to deteriorate the second he walked out of their doors. He’d been lectured extensively about the signs of serum sickness which could develop at any point in time over the next two weeks and given strict instructions to stay on a reduced workload until the danger had passed. Scott had seized the literature the doctors had liberally handed out and Virgil suspected he had forwarded a copy to everyone in the family.

Gordon and Kayo had left in Two, volunteering to drop Dr Furnier off as soon as he had been cleared in the post rescue check-up. Virgil had been semi-conscious when they said their goodbyes, and he had a vague impression of hushed voices and a roar of green outside his window as they left.

But now, Virgil had been cleared to return home and his heart lifted at the sight of Thunderbird One gleaming in the late afternoon sun. Scott hovered as Virgil settled himself in for the journey home, only leaving to prepare for take off when he was certain Virgil was comfortable. Virgil suspected that even then, a few security cameras would be trained on him.

Within half an hour, the auto-pilot had been set and Scott returned to stare at him with anxious eyes.

“I’m fine, Scott,” said Virgil, trying to push away the twinge of irritation he felt at Scott’s insistent proximity. He knew his brother had been scared badly by the whole incident and Gordon had quietly talked to him about how Scott had reacted once he was fully awake, his worry evident even over comms.

“I know,” said Scott, leaning against the doorframe.

“Are we travelling sub-sonic?” asked Virgil, gesturing out the small window at the land passing beneath them.

“Yeah,” said Scott. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“You realise Kayo hauled ass to the hospital going at least Mach 6, right?”

“That was different,” said Scott with a scowl. “That was an emergency.”

“I just meant I’m not going to break,” said Virgil.

Scott grunted in response. Virgil eyed him carefully, considering his next move. Manipulating Scott into sharing his troubles was never a production to be taken lightly.

“I’m sorry,” said Scott, eventually.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Sorry as in a general ‘sorry this happened’ or sorry as in ‘every shit thing that I can’t prevent is my personal responsibility’?”

Scott glared at him. “I should never have sent you out there.”

“You didn’t, John did,” said Virgil with an exasperated look on his face. “And he’s not taking on blame that belongs to a literal spider.”

“You think John sent you out there?”

Virgil’s expression morphed into one of incredulity.

“Who else?”

“It wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me!”

“How do you figure that?” demanded Virgil. “Explain it to me, Scott, because I’m not seeing the connection here.”

Scott scrubbed at his face and collapsed in the chair next to Virgil, staring past him with awful, haunted eyes.

“It’s just ever since Braman, ever since we found out, it’s been playing over and over in my mind. What I chose to do, what we could have done instead.”

“Scott,” said Virgil, his heart aching. “We couldn’t have known. Dad’s not going to blame you for not acting sooner.”

“No, I know, that’s not… Virgil, that’s not the issue, that was never the issue.” Scott shook his head and let out a hollow laugh. “No, I can’t help thinking about how I was so desperate to keep a piece of Dad alive, to keep his legacy going that I never once stopped to think about how it would affect you all. How it would change me.”

Virgil’s eyes widened, but he stayed silent at his brother’s side.

“Do you really think Dad would have wanted all this? God Virg, I was so eager, I never even thought about any of you.”

“We made our choices too,” said Virgil quietly. “It’s not like you forced us.”

“No? I put Alan in a rocket when he was, what? Fourteen? What fourteen year old is going to say ‘no thanks, I think I’ll do my algebra homework instead’? Come on, not even John would have done that, I practically bribed the kid to start his training.”

“Would you prefer the alternative?” asked Virgil. “All those families with lost loved ones? Do you really think any of us could have sat by knowing we had the machines and the skillset to save them? Do you think Dad could have?”

“No, of course not, it’s just…” Scott dropped his head in his hands. “This used to be so much easier.”

“What was?”

“Letting you all go.”

“What changed?”

“What do you think? Dad’s out there, Virg. He’s out there, for real, and we have a chance at getting him back.”

Scott sighed. “It’s been getting harder for a while though,” he admitted. “It used to be really easy, we were just doing what we’d always done. And then it got harder, because I had to accept the consequences that came with the responsibility of choosing to continue, of choosing to command. I was okay with that because, even after John nearly died, I thought we were nearly invincible. But then the Hood made it all the way to Mateo. And then the Mechanic arrived. And then the Chaos Crew too. Then Gordon lying in a hospital, Alan and Kayo nearly killed trying to secure our ticket to Dad, you all but dying in front of me. Virgil, that was literally yesterday. None of you look so invincible anymore.”

Virgil looked away, staring instead at the small bump on his hand. It was still red and a little inflamed although the pain had long since faded and the swelling was no more. From this side of the emergency, it was hard to believe there had been any kind of narrow escape.

“What will you do now?” he finally asked.

“Now?” Scott was silent for a moment. “Now, I have to account for the choices I made while in command.”

He shook himself and gave Virgil an unconvincing smile.

“How about you, you’re still okay?”

Virgil knew he wouldn’t get anything more from Scott that day. None of the guilt he was feeling for continuing to send them all into danger, none of the fear of their Dad rejecting him for failing at a task no one had ever expected him to complete. He wouldn’t hear any of it. Scott wouldn’t betray how helpless he felt watching Virgil laid out on a stretcher in front of him, just like Virgil wouldn’t tell him how helpless they all felt watching their eldest brother tear himself into pieces over a worn and tattered hope that was struggling to see the light of day.

He gave Scott a tired smile, and rested his head on his brother’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”

It was enough that he was still there.

[awkwardpenguinproductions]

Okay I’m sure you’ve gotten asked about this before but how would Zuko interact with Jet assuming he was with the gang in their first meeting with him?

You’re the first one, Nonny! 🎉

So I started writing this at 12:45am my time, and finished at around 1:30pm my time. Total active writing time was probably about 3, 3.5 hours? Honestly, that kind of turnaround is unheard of for me, but IDEK, I saw this ask and this popped nearly fully formed into my head.

Nemesis

The smarmy jerk’s got style, Zuko will give him that. He still rubs Zuko the wrong way––instincts honed over years spent in the company of soldiers recognize bloodlust regardless of how well it disguises itself under smooth charm. He and Sokka exchange irritated glances, but both Aang and Katara are googly-eyed, and if half the squad is dug in, the rest aren’t going anywhere.

The hideout’s pretty cool. Zuko can appreciate the strategic genius of the location; the trees are so tall and the canopy so thick that there’s very little chance of the Freedom Fighters (oh Agni what a stupid name) being discovered––firebenders like to be rooted, and that preference informs almost all of Fire Nation military tactics, so it’ll be a rare Fire Nation soldier that would think to look up for his enemy. That speech, though... Zuko shivers and prays to Agni, Tui, La, and the Four Winds that his new squad has the sense to keep Zuko’s firebending confidential.

The guy’s a nutcase. The elder he’s just assaulted was barely able to stand up without the cane Jet had swiped out from under him, and now he’s on the ground and Zuko has a rappel line ready but for once Sokka beats him to the punch, leaping from the perch like a diving eagle-hawk. The Water Tribe warrior catches Jet’s foot with his club as it swings towards the elder’s face, and Zuko lands behind his squadmate just as Jet snarls “remember why you fight” in Sokka’s face. When they return to the hideout and Sokka tells Katara and Aang what had happened, Jet fucking lies to their faces—if that elder had actually been an assassin, Zuko will snap his bow in half and join the Imperial Firebenders.

Zuko is awake at dawn (he is a firebender after all) so he clearly hears the whispers outside the hut. Sokka hears them as well, and without a word they both slip out and follow Jet and his cronies to a cliff overlooking a nearby village and the dam that protects it. Zuko knew Jet was bloodthirsty, but wiping out an entire village just to get rid of half a garrison’s worth of soldiers? Gaipan, Zuko remembers from reading pilfered reports back at the Stronghold, is barely worth the ink that marks it on the maps. Wiping it out wouldn’t do a single thing to uproot the Fire Nation’s foothold in the Earth Kingdom. And the guy’s bullshit excuse about the demands of war makes Zuko want to either laugh hysterically or breathe fire. This kid has no idea about the demands of war; he’s just lashing out at what he perceives as monsters.

But he’s too dangerous to be pitied, and too steeped in fear and rage to be reasoned with. When Sokka refuses to go along with their plan, and Zuko makes his opinion clear by spitting in the nutcase’s face with all of the precision trained into him by the Yuyan, Jet orders Pipsqueak and Smellerbee to take them on a “long walk”. Their hands are tied behind their backs, and Smellerbee jolts them into motion with the poke of a dagger.

As they walk, Zuko is itching to fight; the odds are much better now that it’s two on two, even accounting for Pipsqueak’s size. But a single look from Sokka banks his fire. The Water Tribe warrior is subtly leading them in a specific direction, so sublty that even Zuko hadn’t noticed until just that moment.

Sokka suddenly speaks, it’s a signal, and Zuko watches carefully for signs of what to do. He knows that Sokka is going to break left the second the other boy shifts his weight, and they turn and run in unison, so suddenly that their captors are left behind to shout and give chase. Zuko immediately sees where Sokka is going with this—the same traps they had discovered yesterday are primed and waiting. The two Freedom Fighters bumble into the traps and get snapped up like hog-monkeys, and Zuko smirks as he easily snaps the shoddy vine-rope with a flex of his arms. Even spitting mad, a blush spreads across Smellerbee’s face, and Sokka laughs as he easily undoes his own bindings.

“While you’re up there and daydreaming about how ripped Zuko is, you might want to practice your knotwork,” he quips, and Zuko cuffs him under his stupid wolf-tail.

As they sprint back towards the hideout, Sokka breathlessly outlines his plan. There’s no time to argue, and Sokka isn’t yet advanced enough in Yuyan hand-language to understand him anyway, so Zuko agrees, and they pack up Appa’s saddle and race to the village. Zuko and Appa drop Sokka off to get the villagers evacuated, and then return to the hideout to pick up Aang and Katara.

Who aren’t in the hideout.

Shit.

It’s hard for Appa to punch his way through the forest’s dense canopy, and by the time they find a hole big enough for him to get through without scraping the saddle and half the fur off his back, they’re much farther from the resevoir than Zuko wants to be. They fly back as fast as Appa can manage, but the resevoir’s full, the blasting jelly is in place, and Zuko can hear a birdcall whistling through the air. Another call answers it.

A burning arrow arcs through the sky, too far away for Zuko to shoot it down. All he can do is watch.

The dam explodes.

The village floods.

Agni, please let Sokka have gotten them out in time. Please let Sokka have gotten out in time.

Heartsick, burning with fury, he directs Appa over the flooded remains of the village, following the flow of the water. There are no bodies, but that means nothing. Until they round a bend, and then it means everything.

Sokka is waving his arms and jumping around like a maniac, grinning from ear to ear, jubilant in his plan’s success. Behind him stand the entirety of the village’s residents, Earth Kingdom natives and Fire Nation colonists and soldiers. Zuko returns Sokka’s grin, and holds out an arm for the other boy to hoist himself up on Appa’s head. Sokka waves to the people, and everyone but a few shell-shocked soldiers cheer. Zuko spots the elder from the day before, tears in his eyes as he bows shakily to the two boys.

They find Katara, Aang, and Jet just inside the treeline atop the cliff. Jet is frozen to a tree, and Katara is shouting at him furiously, tears flowing down her cheeks. Aang is sitting on the forest floor with his big, stormy gray eyes staring at Jet like the asshole had broken his heart. Zuko’s fury reignites at Aang’s expression, and he glares at Jet and wishes that he could roast the bastard to ash with the strength of his gaze alone. The flinch Jet can’t supress at the sight of Zuko is satisfying enough, he supposes.

Aang and Katara climb into Appa’s saddle, Momo flutters down to wrap around Aang’s shoulders, and Sokka flicks the reins. The bison roars and lifts off, drowning out the furious, insane screams of the would-be terrorist of Gaipan. Looking at the faces of his squad, Zuko knows that this was a lesson that needed to be learned, but it was a cruel one, and he’s not looking forward to the debrief. For now, though, he’s content to act as comfort for shellshocked Aang and miserable Katara, and smirk when Aang points out to Sokka that they’re flying the wrong way.

X

And I wasn’t even planning on writing a Jet redux. “Jet” comes before “The Blue Spirit” in the series continuity, which, spoilers, is when I’m planning for Zuko to join Team Avatar, so in my outline (really more of a list with a one sentence summary/prompt, some of which I look back at and go “????” because I can’t really remember what sparked each one in the corresponding ep) Zuko and Jet don’t meet until Ba Sing Se. But to be perfectly frank— “Jet” was a filler episode. It introduced the character and his motivations, but it could’ve appeared anywhere in Book 1 and been perfectly effective. So, this takes place a week or two after “The Blue Spirit”, or at least the Dragon ‘verse version thereof.

I’ll post a more polished version of this to AO3 this weekend, but I hope this answered your question, Anon!

[lockdownuk]

Lockdown Diary Part 2

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 31: I went to Tesco’s at Hampton at @8pm. It was weird. But I made it less weird by buying (amongst all the legit stuff I needed and some stuff for Karen’s mum) more booze. I have, atm about 30 assorted cans and 60 assorted bottles. I’m gonna stop buying booze now until I’m down to the last dozen. I don’t want owt to happen and I leave many behind!

Day 32: More than a calender month! I was rung up by a recruitment agent today about a contract with DHL as a remote support engineer to their aviation section. €400 a day! I’ve applied. Few beers tonight, watching a new Netflix release (Extraction) and catching up with Fog, Ham, Andy and Rog later at 10:30pm - yikes, might be pissed.

Day 33: Typing this on day 34. Dossed around during the day, few beers and another video call with fog, Ham and Rig plus I invited John Monk along. He was his usual self and signed off from the call with a moonie! Later on I had the pleasure of Scottish Louise video calling me! She was pissed, in her shed drinking den at her home with some neighbour called Ronnie and her daughter Ellie. She was her usual outrageous self who imaprted such gems as “Tim, you look old” and “Roger on coke is the only time I’ve taken it up the arse”. Nice.

Day 34: Today I skyped Laurie and ‘met’ Matthew and Nicholas for the first time. It was bloody fantatsic. Janine was there as well.I cannot believe it takes lockdown (plus an idea to get Laurie to add me to his regular Monday skype chat with Dad) that managed to get us doing something that should have happened years ago! It was so great to talk to them all face-to-face. Janine hasn’t changed a bit, Matthew is very quiet with Nicholas being the more gregorious twin. And Laurie is still Laurie. I’m reminded of how much I sort of miss him! It was all so comfortable. I loved it! Tomorrow is Dad’s 85th hence the 3-way chat idea. I hope it comes off!

Day 35: So dad and Laurie and I skyped. It was OK but my video feed was very dark, (still dunno why) and Lauire’s kept freezing. I dropped out so as to leave them to it, my thinking being the extra person takes up bandwidth, with the promise I’d call dad later. Before I could, Rita called me and suggested Dad and I skype, which we did. So, all in all, a good day of comms! And Dad seems his happy usual self - 85 years old! Amazing.

Day 36: I am really struggling to motivate myself this week. Today, I’ve done fuck all of note. That is all.

Day 37: A similar day to yesterday. All I have really managed to do is lay down audio from Pink Floyd (Absolutely Curtains) to a video I shot of a cow on yesterday’s walk. I am having a downer of a week without any good reason why, ld aside. I have worn my new walking boots today (’cos my old ones are leaking, I found out yesterday) and they fucking hurt, despite having tried to wear them in for months, albeit pathetically. Also, a few days ago (Friday 24th April), I got notification from HM Revenue & Customs that I’m getting tax rebate (from 2018-19) of £392. Yay!

Day 38: I received notification today that I’ve got a speeding ticket…last Thursday back from Tesco’s - 87mph somewhere between the A1 and Elton. I am hoping it’s a fixed penalty. I dunno whether it is yet, I just have to send the form off confirming it’s my car and I was driving. I spoke with Lynda from Woodfords asking her to ask for a rent reduction before I sign for another year. Plus, I let her know that I will be Howard and Sue’s eyes as the look at rental properties in Oundle - I do hope they return although it would be a shame for them that their plans have been scuppered (she’s lost her job in Oz due to Covid-19)

Day 39: Today I started another piece of exercise - up and down the stairs 26 times. Not sure why 26 - it was some thing online to do with the London Marathon, I think. It fucking killed. I used 13 clothes pegs for a counting system. I asked Karen to pick up some stuff when she was shopping (burgers, radishes) - Dan dropped them off, He was with Shaggy (driving his van) and going to see Jonah. That pisses me off - they should be social distancing, ffs.

Discoevered, today, that Cornershop, post-Brinful are fucking excellent. listening to the album ‘England is a Garden’ as I type.

Day 40: That 26 times up and down the stairs is fucking hard. I did videos about it today. My legs are aching like fuck right now.

Day 41: Just done Young Sam’s (Sam Clews) quiz. 3rd week running and it’s now become a habit and something I look forward to. Out of all the internet driven socialising I’m undertaking in ld, this is the weirdest - I feel totally detatched from all others taking part but, now, would feel pissed off if I didn’t or couldn’t join in. I got 47/70 this week. My best score and only about 8 off the winning score  -  most others aren’t doing it on their own!

Today’s walk was a cloudy one - I captured some fine, dramatic pics of the clouds. I am getting into this photography lark, albeit very amateurish. But, when I post any pics online (mostly FB), they seem to be widely appreciated, which is nice.

Day 42: Applied for a remote service delivery job with a firm called TTEC. £60k. Finished watching The Outsider. The creepiest TV show I have seen in years. Really great use of background music.

Day 43: Finished Mindhunter S2 last night. It’s so good but I cannot quite put my finger on why. Today has been a nothing day apart from day 2 of me not typing the letter ‘e’ in any post or comments on FB for a week. It’s hard.

Day 44: Watch Anna last night. A Luc Besson film that starts a kick-ass suprermodel. It’s right down my street. Today I have been lazy af. I need to pick up my online learning again…tomorrow, maybe! I watched Andy Murray Resurfacing. A documentary on Amazon. Fantastic. What a top man he is. Completely human and completely inhuman!

Day 45: Much talk in the news of possible lockdown relaxation. I am off the opinion we should stay the course until we are completely assured of beathing this thing i.e. a working, widely available vaccine. Dad and I Skyped - he is doing well, as usual. So is Rita. They both seem very happy in lockdown! Today has been a glorious day, weather wise. I had my walkk at 10ish this morming and it was very warm. Hottest day of the year so far I reckon.

Day 46: Bank holiday Friday (75th anniversary of VE day). Nice walk. Chat with Karen letting her know about being caught speeding just in case I am banned and need some out of town shopping. Watched second episode of DEVS by Alex Garland. It’s good and intriguing. Now, @7pm, gonna eat and hit the beers and smokes.

Day 47: Typing this at 15:45 on day 48. I had lots of beers and a good old chat with Rog…

Day 48: Today’s daily press conference was eagerly anticipated today with rumours of a relaxation in lockdown. It seems it was a fuss about nothing with no clear instructions - I didn’t watch it but, skimming the BBC news site, I shan’t be doing anything different over the next few weeks, not that I would anyway - furlough and self isolation are the order of the day and I won’t change that until I am sure it’s safe. Meanwhile people, including Danny flaunt the rules, it’s been pointed out to me plus I know he spends time with Jonah and Marc. It really fucks me off. So, the actions of the few mean I will lock myself down for as long, if not longer, as it takes. Attended Sam Clews quiz again. It passes the time. Also, I had half a scotch bonnet chilli with tea tonight (roasted veg, cous cous and sausages). Ridiculously hot!

Day 49: Received the speaker I ordered a few days ago (from eBay). It’s an AudioPro Addon T10. I got it for a very reasonable price from a German shop. As a result, the power lead isn;t three pin and that has seriously fucked me right off!

Meanwhile, I did my 26 stair climb before my daily walk today. It was easier than usual (surprise surprise) and I did 7km - but that was tough! ‘Cos I am on (yet another) free trial of Amazon Prime, I am ramping up watching stuff available. Last night I watched Booksmart - really nice little film with a great soundtrack. I am listening to Dan the Automater as I type. Today I watched half (3 eps) of The Night Manager and the film ‘The Founder’. The former is a superb series, the latter an OK film about Ray Kroc - the supposed founder of McDonald’s. Except he wasn’t; he was the wrong side of ambitious and a cunt.

Day 50: Stripped the 2 pin cable from the speaker I received yesterday and wired up a 3 pin plug and it worked. Win. And it sounds great. Win-win. Went to go shopping in Hampton but the car wouldn’t start. Loss. But it was the battery so I managed to borrow Karen’s jump starter which worked. Win.

Spent £107. Loss. But just under £40 was booze plus £10 for two big pizzas, two sides (dirty fries) and some dips. Win. Didn’t do any online learning - seriously fucking letting myself down. Loss.

Did my usual walking and 26 stair climb. The latter is hard but defo getting easier. Win. Day 51: Sam’s 51st birthday on day 51 - coincidence! Today I received my face mask from Lou - House of Stewart tartan. I’m pleased with it and that I have got a mask now. I managed to get up at a reasonable hour, just left 09:00, and revisit my web design course. Module 1, lesson 5 and I am fucking stuck. Trying to code an online CV with a side nav bar and I cannot get it to fucking work. Grrrrrr. Later, i got into a FB dispute (easily distracted due to the above) with someone over his statement of fact (Tim Martin’s treatment of Whetherspoons’ employees) when he doesn’t know it’s fact. It probably is, but that is not the fucking point.  I wish I could leave these sort of spats alone. I am drinking, at 20:45, peppermint tea as I type. Jeez, what’s happened to me?

Day 52: Well, last night took a swift chnage. Rog message me and, to cut a long story short, I hit the beers, also called Foggy later, got trashed. I got up today at gone 1pm. Sam posted on fb that Paul had forgort her birthday yesterday. Oh dear! The 26 stair climb and walking each day is noticeable for how knackered my legs feel all the time, I noticed today!

Day 53: My birthday! Nice comments and banter of FB. Rachael brought round a bottle of whisky; gobsmacked. Karen popped round some beers and sausage rolls. Sam sent a card, as did dad with a £50 cheque. Dan’s ordering me a pizza later.

Chuffed! Day 54: I went to bed late after a lot of beers, huge pizza and chips, a few smokes and a long call with WWJ and video chats with Fog then Rog. Got up around 1pm and dossed with my usual exercises and I made fish pie with a scotch bonnet. Day 55: Late one last night but up early today (11ish). Really fretting about hospital tomorrow. Nervous anyway but the safety aspect, in terms of Covid-19, isn’t helping.

Day 56: Hospital appointment was just for an eye scan so the consultant can review it. I was very surprised to see how few people were wearing face masks! I did two lots of washing today. (After the hospital) I went to Morrsions, Asda (queue too long though), B&M (queue too long though) then Tesco’s. All to buy a baseball cap ‘cos I’m fucked if I’m going to wet my hair each time I go out and want it to look presentable! In Morrsions (no mens’ clothing apart from underwear!) I stocked up of 10 cans of sugarfree apple Caraboa….I was only thinking of this drink just the other day. Yesterday I finished The Night Manager on Amazon. I liked it a lot but, also, expected much, much more from it consdiering the hype. Hugh Laurie has come a long way from comedy sketches with Stephen Fry!

Day 57:Received an email from Sueanne yesterday asking ( as designated spokesperson for everyone) how I am. The most interestring piece of news in a rather uninformative email was that the US has started to open resorts!

Day 58: I am writing this on Day 59. I started a two walk a day regime. The first walk I do is shorter, around 4km. my aim is to be ready for 1,000,000 steps Diabetic UK challenge (throughout July, August and September). I need to do just under 11,000 steps a day. The relaxation in ld rules makes this achievable. On that score, I am allowed to visit a friend’s house, as long as it’s just the two of us, outside, 2m apart. I went round Karen’s last night. I was desperate to have a Happy Hour (I allow myself a midweek beer - today (well, yesterday) is/was Wednesday!) of sorts with another human (rather than a video chat). I was there for about 2 hours, very enjoyable, and then came home. Then I had usual roasted veg with rice and sausages but I couldn’t eat it. I used half a scotch bonnet rather than the usual birdeye chillis. It was too hot, had to sling it! Had a few more beers and, hence, neglected my diary duties!

Day 59: It’s 01:20am. I don’t know why I am still awake and up, but I am. But, also, I am now going to bed. Nothing else to report, really.

Day 60: Half way through 12 weeks furlough. I was discussing this with Dad and Rita earlier - I am expecting that, at the end of 12 weeks, I’ll be laid off. I hope I’m wrong but I reckon it’s well on the cards. Off to have a beer round Karen’s in a sec which will be pleasant. Just a hour or so. It’s fucking windy today so I shall wrap up!

[clarasimone]

A perspective on the forewarning fascist iconography in GoT

Was it yesterday ? I reacted to a mind-provoking aesthetic analysis of GoT reblogged by @felixthemudnescat ... which basically no one reacted to (LOL) but... chatting with @scratchybeardsweetmouth and @ser-jorah-the-andal, I felt like revisiting it to add observations to my initial reaction. Even if it’s too heavy-meta for such a beautiful summer day. @felixthemudnescat pardon me for not using the reblog button cause I want to do this under the dot-dot-dot so as not to weigh down the usual degree of levity in our tumblr group ;-)

Also I only realized today that you actually reblogged without commenting and I assumed, maybe wrongly, that you adhered completely to what you reblogged. And that might not be the case, so I’ll alter my text accordingly...

So here we go... (my input comes at the end)

Anonymous asked:

Girl. Gurl. Who the fuck is Leni Riefenstahl? Y'all Sansa stans pulling the most elaborate nonsense out of your asses to justify shitty writing. Or you twist everything and make D&D sound as if they're the most brilliant minds the world has ever seen LOL

fedonciadale answered:

Hi there!

If you would have taken one moment to look up Leni Riefenstahl - and I assure you that it is not difficult to look her up - you would not have combined your question with a comment about the writing…. Look her up and learn a lesson about how tyrants manipulate.

The visuals of the show are alluding to famous/ notorious shots of Leni Riefenstahl. You would agree that the visuals are something that gives us hints? In addition to the dialogue?

Sansa stans have complained about the writing since season 5…. You all - I’m just assuming you are a Dany fan, correct me if I’m wrong - had no complaints about shitty writing in season 7?

Look I am not saying that the way D&D got to DarkDany this season was well executed, but the foreshadowing and the character development are there. And actually from all the things the show did Daenerys is one of the better from book to screen. The hiding of her path to ruthlessness by filming from her POV is well done in season 1 to 6, and the triumphant visuals are part of that.

Visuals are part of the foreshadowing. It did not come out of nowhere and it was always a major plot point - as has been argued by book readers for ages. That Dany blew up King’s Landing was always to be the culmination of her arc. And it was always meant to hit you in the gut. So, as you do nicely put it : get your head out of your ass as and realise that you have been duped. And ponder about why? Was it because Dany is beautiful? Was it because she had the occasional bouts of benevolence? Was it because you thought she was entitled to an ugly chair because she suffered? Was it because she was set up against people coded as villains, so that you don’t care about how she defeated them? Was it because she is a woman and woman can’t be evil?

Take your pick and learn something about yourself and your own bias, how we can be duped by a tyrant! If you do that you are doing exactly what GRRM intended his readers to do by writing Dany like he did.

une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir

(in fiction, all these logos meant to reference the nazi flag)

fedonciadale

Reblogging for @une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir ’s excellent additions. I could not have done that because that film is actually forbidden in Germany.

justacynicalromantic

Ohhhohohoho the last one - I am😏 at people who half a year ago threw stones at me when I argued that Dany has always had parallels with Hitler.

felixthemudnescat

Found this shared on Quora, had to re-blog!

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

Hi @felixthemudnescat​ long time no see !

I had not seen the original posting of this. My first instinctual reaction to this iconographic/aesthetics research is to object to the simple equation of Daenerys with Hitler. No fiction character will ever match the scope of evil (for lack of a better word) this man and his ideology represented. By ricochet and association, it makes every fan who was moved by Daenerys a potential Nazi sympathizer and that makes no sense. It’s also unnecessarily hurtful and insulting both to these fans and the real World (those who suffered and still suffer from The Holocaust). This said, the iconographic evidence you provided through your reblog has weight and is exactly what I referred to in some of my posts as the visual clues given in the show as to Dany’s *possible* arc, its *possible* finality (more on the *possible* further down); clues which scream at you if you have the cultural baggage to recognize them, and when you binge-watch the series 3 times in one month instead of watching it an ep at the time over 8-9 years. The middle seasons are especially ripe with these visual signs because they’re tagged unto somewhat repetitious narrative (Dany freeing/conquering one city at a time with little intimate character dev scenes). And @fedonciadale is right in wanting fans to look more closely into themselves; we shouldn’t close ours eyes on the shady ideological and moral symbols casting shadows on Daenerys throughout the seasons. But they were shadows. I don’t think they were meant to be the beginning and end to all things explaining the character.

@felixthemudnescat​ or @fedonciadale don’t you think D&D were building something much more subtle than the end result they opted for and which gives weight to your comparative iconographic essay ? For many seasons, the fascist references or foreboding reminders of Targaryen madness never outweighed the characterizations of Daenerys as a young woman who, regardless (or because ?) of her thwarted and abusive upbringing was trying to conjugate her own suffering and road to affirmation with the conquerer’s path given her. She might not have questioned the necessity/validity for her to conquer her way back to Westeros, as the only way she could get home, but she didn’t do it through simple rampage either. She did care to free the people she needed to build her armies. She did have a heart. This she did spontaneously; it came from a deep source within her, not a calculated one. Even if, of course, it turned out to be an astute strategy. And that sets her apart from the Nazis and its leader. At their best, D&D conjugated the two: giving us a rounded character build-up and evolution with ominous symbolic shadows lurking about her. @scratchybeardsweetmouth also made me realize, I who have not read the novels, that this humane aspect of Daenerys is brought even more to the foreground in the books. I quote @scratchybeardsweetmouth: “In the books (...) she repeatedly communicates firsthand with her freed people. She hears their opinions, is not afraid to mingle with them, always finds a way to protect them, even went out of her way to help heal some when a disease was about...” Without getting as much detailed info on her compassionate stance and actions in the show, it’s certainly the impression she indeed left us with, and it’s what her most faithful and steadfast companion, ser Jorah, sees in her and repeatedly says out loud, lest we forget it ;-) (“You have a gentle heart,” etc.)

So I thought it was IMMENSELY daring of D&D (or the novelist I’ve not read yet) to give us that scene where Daenerys is called Mhysa/Mother by the slaves she freed because the scene was inhabited with so many conflictual signs: I was all at once moved and sooooo worried as to where this could lead. Moved because, bottom line, these slaves are freed, actually freed, it’s the start of something. Dany has always given those she freed a choice to leave if they so wished… Moved because it’s a woman effecting the freeing, not a man… Moved because it’s Dany, the girl who suffered, who was a slave of sorts, that does the freeing, not her mentors…. Moved to see a culture refer to their freer as “Mother” (what a great homage to mothers, to women in general) / buuuuut also worried to see a culture refer to their freer as “Mother” because it seems to infantilize them on screen. 

Here we could also open up a whole debate about the malaise one can feel in seeing an Aristocratic White Woman free Third World People but I urge you to go read @khaleesirin‘s meta writings on the subject. She makes a great case for us NOT to see Daenerys in this fashion. Regardless of her looks and lineage, the novels (and GoT, I insist in my chats with @khaleesirin ;-) shows her to be like the people she frees: an Other. She like then is homeless, uprooted, migrant, disenfranchised. If we fail to see it in Essos, the show really drives this home once Daenerys sets foot in Westeros where NO ONE welcomes, understands or appreciates her. (Which suddenly complexifies our rapport to Sansa and the Northerners we grew to love and respect since they seem not to be above xenophobia, and racism.) 

But to get back to the Mhysa scene. Once the worrying starts, I can’t seem to stop it, even as I am moved to tears. Literally. Because of the above-mentioned qualities of it, and also possibly because of the Christ-like iconography it uses to celebrate Dany (”Let the little children come unto me” - if I may paraphrase the New Testament -- and thanks to @ser-jorah-the-andal for the reminder). And I’m always partial to feminizations of Christ; I love it, I think it’s sublimely subversive :-) But I’m also kicking myself for liking this because I fundamentally don’t want a Messiah saving the Third World, I want the Third World to save itself... and I’m worried. I’m really worried as I watch Daenerys triumph in this scene because we know she’s lacking important elements in her “psycho-affective and socio-political tool kit” (regardless of the quality and loving care of advisers now on hand, *cough* Jorah -- in the books @scratchybeardsweetmouth tells me she needs no advisor to keep her moral compass straight) and, so, will this get to her head ? Will she get drunk on her Messiah complex (and of course she does at the end of season 8) ? And what will happen if those she freed disappoint her (again flashforward to the end of season 8) ? And how will she rule them exactly (ditto) ? And, finally, yes, worried because, the fascist iconography is there and I’m going: omg where are they going with this ?

Here I want to open another parenthesis, also brought on by something @ser-jorah-the-andal wrote me: “if this is what they meant in the first place, they sure as hell didn’t bother to tell anyone in the cast so they could act accordingly, tho a case could be made that Dany never saw herself as the villain so that’s why they didn’t tell Emilia.” Indeed I’m sure the cast, or at the very least Emilia Clarke, were never told about the endgame, or never cued to the quoting of fascist iconography in some of Daenerys’ triumphant scenes. Clarke’s shocked reaction upon reading the last screenplays is a testament to her profound surprise... and this raises ethical questions, doesn’t it ? I mean in the ethics of creative partnership. It’s a recent debate possibly because there are so many tales of directors manipulating actors into giving them the performance needed to embody and communicate the discourse they want to leave us with. But the professional in me cringes here a bit. You’d hope they would trust actors enough to let them into what it is exactly they’re supposed to be creating...

This said, up to the moment before “the bells” scene in season 8, I had nonetheless seen D+D and EC give us a woman struggling morally with her choices. That’s important to state. And to get back to the above demonstration of fascist parallels, well, please, let’s point out that the Nazis and their leader never did struggle morally with what they were doing (or if they did, History bears no markers -- I’m talking about the Nazis here, not the German people as a whole). And I was prepared to see Daenerys fail because she never healed, she never achieved psycho-affective soundness (shall we get into the chapter of her misconstruing what love is ? Her relationship arc with Jorah speaks volumes) but I was expecting her to feel remorse if she did succumb to true fascism; remorse to the point of self-execution if you will, because that’s the kind of moral person D+D had been building for 7 years.  But after D&D sent her over the edge, they erased all the previous nuances they had built into her, and I believe, tried to explained it away with a broken heart, megalomania and madness…. 

So if their plan was truly to make us see her as a fascist leader of the scope we’re talking about here, the way the above visual essay seems to suggest, they would have fleshed out her character’s arc accordingly throughout the seasons, and they didn’t. There were clues as to the possibilities -- yes, Dany stepping out for her final speech is absolutely shot like Triumph of the Will by Riefenstahl… but it’s also infused with other iconographic references. That image of her merging with Drogon’s wings belongs to the fantastic, and makes her into a formidable and powerful Id, which can be construed as a positive subversive marker. And some of us do celebrate WrathfulDany for this reason.... 

The reality of GoT is that there were no actual scenes developing her fascist ideology. So let’s not confuse allusions to fascism with actual fascism. With all D+D’s failings towards the end, Daenerys remained a more nuanced and contradictory character than that. She is NOT Hitler, please...... 

The iconographic research you provided in your reblog @felixthemudnescat show us one important aspect of Dany’s subtextual arc but not the full picture. It’s missing the heart and the suffering behind the soul who fell from grace.

I hope you don’t construe this long winding reaction as a slam. I know you come from a very specific place in regards to Daenerys. I just thought the excellent research you provided deserved to be reblogged, but with an added perspective ;-)

[ybyg]

Another round of TGD theories (no reviews and The Guest this time, because I’m feeling like shit and I can’t think. Give me 10 drinks, then we can talk.)

After the Chuseok cutoff, it’s hard to make any theories and that’s sad because two of my theories from last week were debunked. The ‘cliffhanger’ timings are all off due to this. I meant to discuss, but I don’t feel like it. Maybe in a few days when my brain works again.

If you’ve read my posts before, you know the drill: This Post Contains Ghost Detective Spoilers because I’m an asshole who has to reveal everything, so if you’re trying to avoid spoilers, don’t read until you’re all caught up. I have no idea how to write a goddamn show and I have no idea what I’m talking about, but I just love typing and talking and thinking and giving unsolicited opinions. No, seriously. Ask my friends.

BTW, if you’re reading this, why are you reading this?!

How did Dail end up in the middle of the street?

Let's get one thing straight: the 'jump' between 'Dail in the interrogation room' scene and 'Dail in the middle of the street in broad daylight with bloodshot eyes and seemingly had sucked out the bad juju' scene is... drastic. So who did he meet in between these scenes?

Based on the first scene, Dail entered the interrogation room in the most dramatic way possible. He forcefully turned Deokjoong's face as he realised that the latter was mind-controlled by Hye because the sclera turned red (heh I slept in science class, so thanks Google). In order to turn Deokjoong's face, he has to touch him. Right, there was no pain response from Dail. Should he be in pain, the response would be immediate. Cut to: Jungdae in his superior's office. Then, we were greeted by a shot of Dail somewhere in Seoul with bloodshot eyes, black veins visible underneath his skin, in pain, and he looked lost.

It's worth noting that all the pain responses Dail has gotten were moments he touches ghosts like Hye and the tunnel ghosts. When it comes to the victims of mind control, like Deokjoong in the interrogation room and the boy at the hospital, Dail has made contact with them, and yet hasn't shown any signs of being affected by the pain. But why were his eyes red? He could touch ghosts without his eyes turning red. So this means he was angry, and his evil side emerged (since Evil!Dail will only make an appearance when he's angry).

What happened in between the two scenes? Who did he meet that made him angry and simultaneously sucked the bad jujus from? He can't meet Alive!Hye, because, at that point of the story, they have yet to cross paths. He won't be able to meet the tunnel ghost because the helpful half (Chaewon's spirit mother) is gone for good (or is she?)

Since TGD has a track record for answering theories (doesn't matter if they're debunked or turned out to be true), I should expect to find out about this bit because it's been bugging me. If the intention of this scene was used in a way to establish the moment of realisation where he had heard the tourism fair jingle, then it's a huge loss for the story. If it's left unanswered, then it will be a frustrating loophole, and we want to avoid that.

The 'Can Chaewon Hear Dail' Saga Continues (because it's been bothering me)

We've previously established that Chaewon is one of the mysterious characters in the show. This has led me to believe that one of my theories about her to turned out to be true: as much as she's the outgoing character we all have fallen for, she's secretive and has a dark past. In this section, we'll talk about how this very character fucks with my emotion and why I'm starting to doubt my formerly 'confirmed' theory.

In the last review/theories post and also on Reddit, I theorised that she hasn't told the truth about the ghosts she can hear or see hence, we get to see her interacting with the grandpa ghost in Ep. 7/Ep. 14. But in Ep. 8, she was in a 'conversation' with Dail (patience... we'll get to this), it seemed like she could only see the silhouettes of the ghosts and not hear them, just like how we see Dail through her eyes. As of now, it's conclusive she's able to see only ghost grandpa and the tunnel ghost.

...or is it?

[Dail enters the elevator. We don't see Dail, but we know Chaewon does.]

Chaewon: Did you find anything?

Dail: Sunwoo Hye isn't here. Maybe she already approached everyone and controlled them to commit suicide.

Chaewon: It's impossible to control many people at once.

[Dail does a double-take. He expects to be in a one-handed conversation because Chaewon can't hear him.]

Chaewon: [cont.] If that was possible, she should've done it when she was in a coma. Point 1

[Dail looks at her up and down in confusion.]

Dail: You can hear me? Point 2

[Chaewon smirks.]

Chaewon: You're quite taken aback, aren't you? Point 3

[Dail looks away. Possibly feels awkward, but definitely confused.]

Chaewon: [cont.] I don't know about anything else, but I know what you might want to ask me. Point 4

[At this point, Dail shoots her another bewildered look in her direction. After she says her line, he relaxes.] Point 5

Dail: We need to find out how she's going to try and kill everyone.

[An idea hits Chaewon.]

Chaewon: Let me tell you something I found out yesterday.

Okay, let's stop right there and try to analyse the italicised dialogues and action.

It sounded like she could hear him and replied his query. She answered his question and didn't even hesitate. Her timing was spot-on too. Interesting.

Dail looked genuinely perplexed. He wasn't sure if he heard her right. Honestly, same. For that one second, he seemed convinced that she could hear him and that she replied to his remark. Remember: she wasn't supposed to hear him, but we've seen her doing this before and it was revealed that she could see him... well, not like how Yeowool sees him, but you get the picture.

Again, she answered him, but in an indirect manner. Instead, she posed him a rhetorical question or Dail simply just couldn't reply because he was baffled. Yay vagueness! On the other hand, Chaewon also didn't answer him with a definite answer like "Yes, I could hear you all along!" and we don't know for certain if she could hear him. We know that she is secretive and we discover more about Chaewon when she thinks if it's appropriate for her or when someone finds out about her (examples: Yeowool instructing Sangseob to find out about Chaewon, and when Jungdae finds out about her ability as he peeks from afar.)

This one frustrates me because I'm not sure if it's something that gets lost in translation, or if I'm the one who just couldn't understand it. If it's the former, I'm not blaming the translators because these things happen and not everything is translatable. K-dramas have the tendency to use flowery, vague-ass language, and since we only have one line to work with, let's try to dissect it. I'll be honest: I don't see how that very line connects with their previous questions or remarks. What about Chaewon expecting Dail to ask her a question, and her knowledge on this 'thing' is limited? We might be able to look at it this way: she can't hear him, but anticipates questions from him; basically, she'll blurt whatever she thinks Dail wants to know. If that's the case, how could she be certain that's what answers his questions? And her reply to him ten seconds prior to this 'revelation' was very specific. From here, the Dail's-and-Chaewon's-conversation end up being a one-sided conversation once again. Is this the writer's way to tease (in both sense) the viewers?

And Dail lets his guard down. Why? Probably there are more important matters at hand? Could he realise that Chaewon was just pulling his legs? So far, Chaewon hasn't tricked him about her abilities and everything she said and had done reveals that she knows what she's saying and doing, and she had done it with purpose. If this character is just playing that 'Haha, got you!" card, then it's a waste of time and is directionless.

As I rewatch the flashback scene with Chaewon and ghost grandpa, she did make an attempt at talking to the ghost child by asking it a question. She asked, "What do you want?" before ghost grandpa interjected with the information about how the other ghosts died.

Once again, when it comes to revealing her secrets, Chaewon does them whenever no one's watching, especially without Yeowool, Sangseob and Jungdae around. By right, based on this elevator scene, this means she could hear him.

So, could she really hear Dail? Is Chaewon taking a shot at answering Dail's questions, hoping that she answers his question? Could she just be playful and tricking him?

Why is Hye still so powerful?

Trigger warning: mentions of suicide.

So... Hye's not dead? And she's committed to terrorise everyone's lives, especially our Korean Scoobies'. We have six episodes (or twelve episodes, depending on how you see it) left for this drama, and we've just witnessed what might be one hell of a stretch so far... but with worldbuilding (which is our keyword), anything is possible.

The biggest questions like why Hye is the murderous rampaging bitch she is and why is she adamant on killing everyone have been answered. I guess in this particular story, anger is justifiable for acts of violence and manipulation... by a 12-year-old. Young!Hye didn't want to die, so she switched the laced Coke with her father's and fessed up to Dail, saying, "Yes, I killed [my father]!" rather than rationalising it as an act of self-defence. What can a 12-year-old do except to feel angry about what she had done when she was alive? Also, what can a child rationalise?

I have to say I don't get why Deokjoong said those words because he was the only adult who was with her since the death of her family. This is why Hye was angry: to hear someone say that she should be killed and that she's not able to survive alone is disheartening. He was guilty of encouraging a traumatised 12-year-old to attempt suicide, and he hasn't made an attempt to rectify his words or tell her what she's done is wrong and it's not her fault. What the writer didn't explain was this: was Deokjoong an idiot that he didn't realise how damaging his words were, or was he under some kind of influence (at this point, not Hye's) to say those horrible things? Could it also mean that 12 years-old Hye misinterpreted what Deokjoong was saying?

Alright, let's talk about why Hye might be able to retain her psychic powers. (Again, this is worldbuilding and has got nothing to do with how real life operates. Duh.)

Theory 1: Dail realises and knows a fetch's powers are learned skills. For example, if you know how to build a table from scratch, you should be able to do it from scratch, regardless of your form as a person or a fetch. Like Dail, he's still a sharp detective, and he knows his shit even when he's a fetch because that's what he's good at. Whereas Hye who have been a fetch the majority of her existence is good at mind manipulation. What she learned as a ghost gets carried to when she's alive.

Theory 2: I've mentioned show Hye's a great manipulator, and how she tricked both Dail and Yeowool into believing that only one of them has the power to kill her. Let's say Dail was the one who wasn't supposed to kill her, and it's Yeowool who was supposed to do it (which I think is the truth), Hye wasn't 'properly' killed, and with him doing the deed, he entrapped her spirit. Someone who's been in comatose for 25 years is basically dead, for lack of better word, despite Deokjoong going out of his way to keep her alive, hence why he wanted Yeowool's body to become Hye's new host. But what had happened was that it was Dail who'd done it, and he used the weapon that killed Yirang. So back to Theory 1: because of this, she was able to return to her body along with her powers.

It's safe to say that in a fictitious story, in my aunt's words, the bad guys will have the advantage, and the good guys will need to struggle in order to defeat the bad guys. However, there's a downside to Hye being advantageous (alive and possesses mind manipulation powers).

I'm not going to pretend as if I liked this Alive!Hye thing. I genuinely don't like where it's going. We've seen Dail and Yeowool in distress in their attempts at defeating her, and Hye's always been the strongest, and just like a sadist, I love it. To end Fetch!Hye, it'll be an equivalent to a boss level fight. It would've been fun to watch them go through Hell in order to defeat her, and in return, we'll be able to see better characters' development especially Dail, Yeowool, Sangseob, and Chaewon. It could be done with the involvement of Dail's newfound powers; how he insists on gaining and perfecting the powers he gain, and he ends up being an evil spirit (because we can't all win.)

Alive!Hye's appearance was great -- it created a buzz. Despite it being exciting, I can't help to feel like the writer chickened out from a crazy yet effective plan because they can't outline what will lead to the final battle. It's too easy to kill Alive!Hye, but had it been harder, it'd be worthwhile. For the sake of the story in a long run, it's a half-hearted and desperate attempt to find an easy way out/way to end the story after what the writer had panned out at the beginning of the drama which was very promising.

I enjoy overthinking things. Anything you folks have in mind? :)

[hopeymchope]

Random thoughts about bad/dumb/good things that happen in the back nine episodes of ‘Darling in the Franxx’

This post is long, and it’s mostly me griping about how Darling in the Franxx failed to stick its landing. I’ve got a lot of bullet points about what annoyed me, as well as some points about what I still liked in the back half, and eventually I’m just like “yeah, fuck this.”

That’s the short version: You had a lot going for you but ultimately blew it really bad for me, so like... fuck this.

Damn right Mitsu-WAIT, I forgot when Mitsuru had this much emotion! WHO DIS?!

The long version is more complicated, though, and I feel like rambling/ranting on, so here it goes.

There is no way to stress enough that Zero-Two literally transforms into a giant part-human part-mech creature that Hiro literally rides inside of. She becomes a skyscraper-sized girl that you can climb inside the skull of, and EVERYBODY IS OKAY WITH THIS AND DELIGHTED BY IT. There is NOT a moment where Zorome cries “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUUUUUUUUCK?!?” when she appears, flying in space, at a mass so large she could easily swallow the whole team in one gulp. Nothing like that.

This is not adequately set up, but it IS understandable with some thought: I mean, we are told in a previous ep that the franxx are essentially just recreated, retrofitted klaxosaurs. We also have seen how klaxosaurs are part-organic, part-mechanical beings, and we are told by the Klaxo Princess they are, in fact, the new version of the organic klaxosapiens, now retrofitted for war. In addition, we know that Zero-Two is part Klaxosaur - a clone of the last klaxosapien. So you see how the idea that Zero-Two could somehow “retrofit” or “transition” into a giant cybernetic war mode similar to how the klaxosapiens somehow did the same thing... you could justify that! Once I thought it all through, it kinda worked. But none of this is laid out for you, and it comes off as laugh-out-loud ridiculous in the moment that it happens. Only later, when my brain was piecing the evidence together, did I get somewhere that made sense out of it.

The Nines remained bitterly loyal to Papa when we last see them in Episode 20, snapping at Squad 13 for not showing due respect. When they return in Episode 23, Nine Alpha is suddenly on the side of Squad 13. Because Papa turned out to be an alien, you see. But like... you’ve been fighting klaxosaurs and feeling extreme loyalty to Papa your entire lives up until like, yesterday, so seeing you suddenly join the pro-klaxo side of the war is perhaps too hard a turn. Granted, a lot of time passes off-screen during this period, but still it’s sort of “Hey it’s me, Alpha. Remember how I was never anything but a total asshole to you guys? Remember how I hated emotions and shit? Yeah I wanna help Hiro reunite with Zero Two now.” Um. Okay?

Mitsuru’s speech to Kokoro about how “I want to be with you not because I love you, but because I believe that I did love you once, and I don’t remember that feeling anymore, but I still believe it existed, and I want to respect it!” is literally the worst, least-romantic declaration of non-love I’ve ever heard in my life. The music swells romantically and Kokoro seemingly weeps out of joy over it. I prefer to think she’s crying because it’s so fucking awful. It is actively offensive to real emotions and logic

Remember when Mitsuru talked about he always wished he and Hiro could co-pilot a franxx together? Remember his debilitating rage at Hiro for forgetting their promise to become soldiers together? It really feels like we had a gay or bi character here, and that maybe we were setting something up for his character. but the entire fixation on Hiro is utterly ignored once he gets reduced to “Kokoro’s sperm donor.” I mean, jeez, “my homosexual fixation on Hiro has filled me with an incoherent rage” just gave me flashbacks to Juzo from Danganronpa 3, and that’s not good, but at least it was more personality than he ultimately got.

WHY are we left with the strong sense that Ikuno is dying of the accelerated aging (she is the only one who loses ALL color in her hair and the only one we last see in a hospital bed on an IV drip, so it’s pretty blatant) even though literally no one else in the squad is suffering from it anymore, supposedly thanks to HER research?!... I assume because she’s gay. After all, the extremely gay Nines were all killed off by a mysterious ailment due to a lack of “maintenance” so we might as well kill off Ikuno too, right?! BURY YOUR GAYS. And FUCK YOU.

Goro somehow gets together with Ichigo. We do not get to see how/whether he won he over. Given that the final episode includes multiple scenes of her really missing Hiro along with a scene of her not caring much that Goro is going to travel the world without her (repeatedly), it comes off as though Itchy settled for Goro because he was the best available penis. I AM NOT ENDEARED.

We are also told that Goro has “really changed’ since the beginning of the series. There is no evidence to back this statement up. In fact, he is acting exactly the same in this scene as he always has. Granted, he had a moment in the previous episode where he got pissed and punched Hiro, and that was a big change... but he apologized and it’s not discussed again, so um. Huh. The thing that seems to be a sign of his “change” is his desire to go out alone into the world in an act of self-sacrifice for the good of everyone. Which is LITERALLY THE GORO WE’VE ALWAYS KNOWN. File his change under “informed attributes.”

By the end of the series, Hiro is full-on turning more into a Klaxosapien than a human because... honestly, I’m not sure. It’s possible it’s because he’s been “plugged into” Zero-Two, but it seems like the process is mostly done by then, because he’s immediately able to live without food or water or sleep once he plugs in, and he already had his horns glow with rage in the ep previous to this. So I think he transformed due to the fact that one time, as a kid, he licked Zero-Two’s blood, and as a teen, he’s kissed her a bunch of times. Which is... pretty goddamn extreme. I mean, I know fluid transfer can be a powerful experience — just ask Sandra Bullock — but this is some real next-level shit.

We waited all series for shit to “get real” and someone in Squad 13 to die. It takes until the very last episode for it to happen, and — in a desperate bid to make us care about what’s happening — it’s the two characters who got the most development and who most people care about. The two leads. Which comes off as too little, too late for me to even feel it, seeing as how they’re only vaguely human or relatable by this point. But I AM weirdly bitter that they kept alive everyone else, even the many people we didn’t give much of a shit about (Zorome? Miku?), so that none of the battles in the series EVER had to have real consequences for our heroes. I hate to sound bloodthirsty, and yet....

Hey, speaking of Zorome, remember how him being exposed to the “adult” in the first half of the show made her get sick? Remember how she was also immediately fascinated by and kind to him and it made you wonder how that would affect the other adults? None of this goes anywhere, because the adults all get spirited away as souls to be part of the VIRM hive-mind, so whatever, they’re gone now.

Why are these people all standing around a statue and screaming at the sky and praying? Most of them don’t even know who this girl was. This doesn’t come off as “moving” so much as a terrifying parable about religious fanaticism in cult groups. You see a group of people screaming and praying at idols you don’t understand, and gradually, more and more people just copy the behavior without understanding it. *shiver*

Was there EVER a hint that the adults watching over the squad were friggin’ IMMORTAL?! Because I don’t think there was. I’d need to go way back into earlier episodes to be sure, though.

It’s not that the ENTIRE back half of the show is awful, really. There are some legitimately excellent moments.

Good Stuff

Right when we first come back after episode 15′s big midway point in the story, the subtle way that Zero-Two discovering the gray hair on Miku’s head was handled - during a warm, lighthearted scene to boot - really made it hit home.

The overt anger and defiance of Hiro in the face of “Papa” and APE really made me like him even more. He had some great moments there, including possibly the greatest episode-ending dialogue when he declared just how fucking DONE they all are with their so-called “Papa.”

Zorome’s inability to fully embrace the idea that “Papa” could be so wrong and bad was another good touch.

The big “backstory” episode served to make me really care for Dr. Franxx in a surprise late-game twist. He goes from being a shadowy sinister presence to becoming one of the more sympathetic characters... right before getting killed shortly thereafter.

The big promise scene between Zero-Two and Hiro, where they swear to always come for each other... that one really pulled at my heart.

Also, Hiro’s dedication to caring for the ailing, zombie-like Zero-Two was both devastating and touching. It’s one of the final bits that actually hits any kind of emotion for me in the series.

I actually didn’t mind the alien twist with the VIRM very much like so damn many people did. APE was long portrayed as this unknowable higher power that was clearly hiding something while simultaneously enforcing a 1984-esque obedience and loyalty... and there’s only so many places to go with such a setup, honestly. Much more shocking, to me, is how little is done to build up to/justify the true origin of the klaxosaurs.

But, well, yeah. Like most, I wound up feeling like DitF had a couple of really excellent characters in the lead, and then proceeded to go nowhere worthwhile once it got them to finally be together. Ultimately, they didn’t even get to grow up or have real sex or face the new world. They just get shuffled off into weirdness and death so we can have a bigger cycle of disappointment.

This one has a lot of themes that feel unexplored, and maybe further analysis would make it all gel together more comprehensibly. There is definitely a lot of effort put into thematic hints and worldbuilding in the first half, some of it done in a subtle background way that recalls my favorite aspects of The Future Diary — a favorite anime of mine that ALSO admittedly fails to adequately explain some parts of the world it builds, but it keeps most of its logic intact and is so emotionally engaging that I ultimately went along for the ride and was willing to explore the background justifications and themes later in order to fully grasp that world.

In comparison, I don’t really want to put in the effort to glean the underlying details of DitF. It didn’t leave me feeling like the writers put in the work to keep me invested, so why would I?

[partlycharlie-archive]

EP: things leo does; by jason grace

chapter 1. realization link to chapter 2

summary: 1. no, mom, i'm not in love with leo. yes, i know, his hair is very curly and very cute and his smile is adorable and his suspenders basically make my day and the way his eyes crinkle at the corners makes me want to Die but - fuck. word count: 2,246 warnings: i don’t think there’s anything but let me know a/n: a birthday fic for @caiprisa i love you!!! i'm sorry i couldn't get this out yesterday >:( but here it is i hope yall like it ahh!!! read on ao3

1. chews on the end of pencils when he's concentrating

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Hey, Leo.”

“Hey, Jason.”

“Hey, Leo. Guess what.”

“Hey, Jason. What.”

“Hey, Leo? Stop chewing on your fucking pencil.”

Leo finally looks up from the blueprints he's working on, bright red mechanical pencil still shoved in between his teeth.

“Okay…” he says, eyes tracking the movement of the lead as it bobs up and down in time with his words. “Am I distracting you?”

Jason’s eyes track the movements too, until he realizes that he’s literally watching Leo’s mouth and hurriedly glances away. “Okay - first, I’m literally doing nothing? I’m just sitting here, I dunno what you could be distracting me from. Second, no , but you tend to complain way too fuckin’ much when you go to erase some mistake or whatever and realize that you’ve bitten all the erasers off of your ridiculously expensive pencils.”

The brunet grins reluctantly in response, slowly letting the rubber end of his pencil tip until it falls out of his mouth, and they both watch as it lands on the wooden floor with a decisive crack . “Well, then.” He turns back to his sketch - an outline for Jason’s newest cabin, since Hera knows he’d never be able to do it himself (and boy, does she love to complain about how he can’t do any of his fucking work) - and silence overtakes the bunker.

Jason glances over at the flashing dialog clock stationed on the wall, squinting when the neon red numbers swim in front of his eyes before settling into straight lines.

3:06 AM.

Holy shit - when the hell did it get this late? He looks at Leo again and finds bloodshot eyes, ruffled hair that’s had a hand pushed through it one too many times, bags under his eyes and an almost manic smile on his face that stays present even as he grumbles at himself for a mistake in his measurements. Jason’s eyebrows scrunch up and he leans back into the swivel chair he uses whenever he and Leo are in the bunker together. He decides not to focus on the fact that he’s there so often that he has a designated place to chill - that, and the sudden realization that Leo made it that way.

Anyway.

“Leo.”

The boy in question throws his hands up and spins around wildly in his chair, going in circles for a while before finally settling to meet Jason's eyes. “¿Que quieres de mi?” [t - What do you want from me?]

Jason smiles a tiny bit- just a lift of the corners of his mouth, really. “You realize it's 3am, right?”

Leo's mouth drops open and he scrambles out of his chair, almost falling onto the floor in his search for his watch. Jason doesn’t tell him about the giant neon clock that he built, perfectly content to watch him look around like a maniac. “Shit, Jake's gonna kill me…” he finally mumbles, burying his face in his hands.

Jason smiled, “It'll be fine. C'mon, let's start heading back.”

  2. forms one hand into a peace sign when he takes photos

Jason's eyes widen as a blur of Piper-shaped color speeds past he and Leo, holding something vaguely similar to a Polaroid camera.

"You do realize that's not an actual Polaroid camera, right? The Polaroid company stopped making the original cameras like a decade ago or somethin’." Leo looks up at him with a mildly amused expression, as if he thinks the statement is common knowledge. Leo thinks this, of course, because he is a weirdo with obscure immediate processing camera knowledge.

Is he thinking out loud?

“Nah, not really,” Leo says, shrugging his shoulders and adjusting the straps of his suspenders almost immediately after. Apparently Jason had immediately continued thinking out loud while wondering whether he was thinking out loud, because that’s just his life. “You just mumbled something about Polaroids and I figured it was in reference to the running Piper blob.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. Everyone just calls them Polaroids, so I guess I never really thought about it. What are they called, then?”

Leo pauses for a second. “Well. I don’t think the film or pictures or whatever has an actual name - which is why everyone just calls the pictures Polaroids - but I’m vaguely sure the brand of camera is Fujifilm or something. I haven’t used one of those since I got my DSLR one, but I’m pretty sure they sell for, like, 60 bucks in the city.” Jason nods, a thoughtful look settling on his face in the form of a tilted eyebrow.

“THERE YOU ARE!” Leo and he jump about a foot in the air (Jason having to fight his instinct yelling at him to fly the fuck away, and Leo almost slamming himself into Jason’s back) when Piper runs back to stand in front of them. She’s got a hopeful look on her face and a wild look in her eyes, and neither of the conflicting emotions make Jason feel any better about the camera in her hands.

“I’ve been looking for you guys everywhere! Where the hell have you been?” she asks, breath still shaky from all the running she’s probably been doing. Leo and Jason share a amused glance.

Leo speaks up. “We’ve been here for like an hour, Pipes. I dunno how you haven’t seen us yes - we’ve been sitting here for like half an hour and you ran right past us only a minute ago."

Piper narrows her eyes at Leo, seemingly reluctant to accept his explanation, but shrugs and settles on the soles of her feet with a goofy grin. “Well, it doesn't really matter now that I've found you, right? Anyway, I need your help with something. It's not serious, don't worry about that, but I'd really really really appreciate it.”

Leo smiles widely at her, his eyes crinkling at the edges. “Sure, as long as it doesn’t lead to the possibility of my graceful, yet horrific and destructive death. What's up?”

She rolls her eyes and ignores him, turning just the slightest bit to face Jason instead. “Do you think you could help me get pictures of everyone? I’m, uh, planning on heading to New Rome in a bit- with Nico? If he’ll take me, y'know." She shrugs. "It’s summer, though, and since everyone’s here I’d, uh," she coughs suddenly, "like to get as many pictures as I can.” Jason can hear the tone of wistfulness in Piper’s voice, and he winces internally in sympathy.

The war hadn't ended all that long ago - neither had their relationship - and the wounds were still fresh, in both cases. He, at least, could understand the desire to make memories that would last.

Heads turns towards Leo as he starts bouncing on the tips of his toes, his face lit up in excitement. “Yeah, sure! Sounds awesome to me! How many people do you want to take photos of? Do you have enough film? Do you want to be in the photos? Do you want us to be in the photos? Are they going to be candids? Where are you going to put them? When do you-”

“Leo, chill, okay? I’m taking things one step at a time.” Leo grins sheepishly and stops bouncing ignoring the confused stares from bystanders (fucking New York - Jason can never get a break from staring people, he swears ). “Can I take a photo of you two first?” she asks.

Jason and Leo both nod at Piper simultaneously, then look at each other with happy grins on their faces. "Yeah, let's do it!"

Piper steps forward, pulling her camera out of the case hanging from her neck. Jason and Leo both scramble to get into some kind of position for the picture. The shorter of the two slings an arm around the taller boy’s shoulder- Jason, in turn, wraps his arm around Leo's waist, his thumb brushing against Leo's slender hipbone.

Piper beams, aiming it towards the two.

"Alright, ready? One, two, th - Connor I swear to god if you don’t get out of the shot I’m going to literally murder you - okay, ready? - alright, here we go -" Jason feels a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye but ignores it until the flash of the camera goes off. He turns to face Leo, who, at the last moment, had thrown up a peace sign in front of his face. With wide eyes, Jason slowly looks back at Piper, who has lowered the camera and is waiting for the picture to come out. She doesn’t seem very surprised- all she does is raise an eyebrow in response. What?

Jason’s face twists. Does he always do that?

She shrugs, and Leo shifts under Jason’s weight. Jason draws back a bit, surprised by Leo’s casual acceptance of his arm in such an intimate position, and Leo looks up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

You okay?

Jason smiles widely, running a thumb over the smooth skin on Leo’s hip and pretending to ignore the small shudder that goes through the smaller boy. Yeah, I’m fine.

  3. covers his mouth with his hand while laughing

"Hey, Leo." Jason's voice is colored with hidden amusement.

The brunette in question lifts his head briefly from where he's hunched over, playing with some sort of toy helicopter.

"Yeah?" he asks, already starting to smile.

"What did the Vikings name their plant?"

Leo snorts. "Fuck if I know."

Jason starts laughing before he even starts the sentence. "L-LEAF Erikson!"

Leo, despite himself, feels his mouth start to stretch wide into a grin. Before he knows it, Jason and he are both sitting on the ground, heads buried in their hands and shoulders shaking with giggles.

"H-hey, hey, Leo," Jason manages.

Leo doesn't bother trying to respond, instead just flopping a hand in Jason general's vicinity.

"Wh-why did the s-skeleton wan-want a friend?"

Leo sighs in mock exasperation, his raucous laughter finally dying down in favor of a response. "Why?"

Jason's eyes crinkle. "Because he was BONELY!" Leo immediately bursts out in laughter, slapping a hand across his mouth in what appears to be a reflex.

How has he never noticed that before?

God, he loves Leo’s laugh. It’s more like a giggle than anything - all high-pitched and bubbly; his mouth stretches into the widest smile Jason’s ever seen, and his tongue sticks out between his teeth just a little bit, and holy fuck Jason’s in love with Leo.

Shit.

  4. talks in spanish when he gets frustrated

“ … ¿y por qué? Porque Nyssa es una puta, y no puede hacer una tarea tan simple como esta - y ahora tengo que hacer esta mierda yo solo, porque todos los demás son demasiado jodidamente estúpido para hacerlo. Dios mio… ” [t -  …and why? Because Nyssa’s a whore, and can’t complete a task as simple as this - and now I need to do this shit by myself, because everyone else is too fucking stupid to do it. My god…]

Jason’s eyes widen minutely - he isn’t fluent by any means, but he knows enough to get by, and to tell that Leo is seriously pissed.

He raps on the door of the Hephaestus cabin softly, poking his head in and watching as sunlight starts to filter in through the doorway. Leo sets his hammer down with a bang , and Jason twitches.

“ Jesuchristo… yes, Chris, I know I haven’t eaten in fourteen hours, yes, Chris, I’m aware that I haven’t eaten in longer, but if none of you are willing to help me finish this I don’t really have any other option.” Leo trails off into a series of angry mumbles as he lets out a soft sigh, and Jason frowns worriedly.

“Not Chris, but I can’t say I blame him for being worried about you.” Leo’s face transforms as he turns around in his chair; his eyebrows smooth out and he gets a tiny smile on his face and his eyes crinkle at the corners and he’s fucking gorgeous .

Ahem.

Jason clears his throat (and his mind, though less successfully) and shifts the tray balanced in his hands, holding it up for Leo’s inspection.

Leo finally looks down at the food on the tray and almost immediately stands up, grin getting wider despite his stumbling over the tool left on the floor next to his chair. Jason bites his lower lip in an attempt to hide the fond smile he knows he gets whenever Leo does something dumb.

“Damn,” Leo mutters, walking over to grab the tray from him. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

Jason swallows harshly. “Y’know, ‘loved’ kind of implies you don’t love me now - I’ve gotta admit, that’s a little disheartening.” Leo rolls his eyes exaggeratedly from where he’s setting down the overflowing tray of food (okay, yes, maybe Jason went a little overboard when wishing up food for Leo to eat, but what do you expect?) on his bed. He straightens up and lifts an outstretched hand in Jason’s direction, twisting his face into something vaguely representing heartbreak.

“Alas,” Leo says with conviction, “mine boiling love for thee hath faded into somethink simmering, not nearly as warming underneath thy soul!”

Jason starts to form a properly Shakespearean response in his head, then stops. “What the hell is that even supposed to mean?”

Leo shrugs. “I think I stopped being in love with you. Not that that would ever happen in real life, obviously.” He winks.

“Right. Obviously.”

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Analyzing Sneak Peeks - They’re SO Giving Me the TD Tingles!

Good morning! First let me say that it doesn’t look like I’ll get the Titles meta up until next week. My apologies. I’m still wrestling with it, and there’s just so much going on this week with the premiere so close.

Yesterday, my FB group was just afire with all the stuff we saw in the recently-released sneak peeks. They make me super-happy, so I wanted to go over them with you.

First there’s this sneak peek. Watch it here:

Yeah, a certain dark ship is freaking out about the hug, but whatevs. As I said in my group yesterday, Daryl seems utterly uninterested. But that’s not even what I want to talk about here. What caught my attention is the dialogue. After the hug, Daryl says, “It’s gonna be fun.” Carol answers, “No it isn’t.”

Sound familiar? It should:

That’s the exact same phrasing used in Still. And no one’s talked about killing walkers being fun or not fun since Beth and Daryl did. This whole thing FEELS a lot like Operation Lead the Walkers Away in 6x01, but they didn’t say anything like this in S6.

Other things in this sneak peak:

When we first see Morgan walk toward the group, there’s a crashed, upside-down car behind him. Despite being upside down, it STILL has it’s trunk open. What are the odds of that?

Side Note: Also notice the fire hydrant on the left. There are actually 3 in this scene. The other two are in the other direction. One on the left of the red car (which is red, but looks a lot like the one Carol drove when Rick exiled her from the prison in S4) and the other in the distance on the corner. 

What block has 3 fire hydrants so close together? Goes back to the Daryl = Fire, Beth = Water Theory.

I’m curious about Tara’s line: Pleasure doing business with you. Not sure what it means or if it’s even a TD thing. It’s just an odd thing to say at a time like this. It has the ring of a deal, like the way things are run at Grady or the Sanctuary. Or even the prisoner exchange?

Daryl’s, “Better than letting things be though, right?” just reminds me a lot of, “We might as well do something.” Even if it’s not an exact dialogue parallel.

Same when Carol says, “It’s started.” And Daryl says, “Yeah, it was always gonna be that way.” Kind of like, “It went the way it had to, the way it was always going to.”

Onto the next promo. 

This one’s way crazier. Watch it here:

Okay, so let me just go over the symbols I’m seeing quickly and then we’ll talk about the super-important ones we can really sink our teeth into.

There’s the clock, which I’ll come back to.

Purple flowers by the bedside. This mirrors the purple flowers Rick saw in 1x01, as well as the ones Maggie saw when she woke up at Hilltop in 7x05. Tons of Beth parallels there. 

There’s a repeat sign in the metal work.

Kind of like we saw in the trees here: 

Kinda points to Oceanside maybe? Although we do also see them around Morgan and the mailboxes a lot. Actually, given the clock stuff you’ll read below, I’m wondering for the first time if this could represent the V-shape of the clock hands.

I like that Daryl sends a message with an arrow. Not sure how to interpret that yet, but I think it’s interesting. I think Daryl is showing lots of self-control by NOT shooting Dwight just like Dwight did to Denise. And for the record, watching Dwight look terrified when the arrow hits, I almost feel like it’s a death foreshadow for him. Who knows when he’ll die–maybe not for a long time–but I wonder if they’ll kill him just like he killed Denise?

We see him through the spokes of a bike. (X, X, X) And even the “tomorrow” on his note is important. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll talk about it more in my Titles meta when I get it posted. In short, we think “tomorrow” = war, but also winning the war and also probably Beth in some way. Again, details coming.

Tara writes in a journal (like Beth’s journal), has red licorice in her mouth (Red Object) and is wearing the sunglasses she found in 7x06. (Linked to Beth’s possible blindness.)

There are school buses in the background when Rick is giving his speech. I’ll come back to that one too. 

Okay, that’s most of the small things. Just lots of symbols we’ve seen a lot in recent seasons. 

Onto the two BIG Things:

1. School Bus Parallels.

Just a few bars of a song are played at the beginning. It sounds a bit like an Irish jig, but M-Nonny was able to identify the song as a parody of “Another One Bites the Dust” done by Weird Al. It’s called, “Another One Rides the Bus.”

I’m sorry? The bus? As in School bus parallels? (X, X)

Two thing about this:

1) In S4, Maggie thought Glenn was on the school bus. He wasn’t. They did a minor death fake out for him. It turned out he was back where they’d originally come from at the prison. No one knew he was back there or thought to look for him there. Massive Beth parallels there, because they went back looking for her in a car, but she was back at Grady, where they’d come from. No one thought to look for her there. Chances are they circled out from the car, just as Bob said they’d made circles out from the bus, looking for Glenn.

2) The other major bus they used was the one Abraham and Team D.C. took toward the capital in 5x05, Self-Help. Remember that this bus had the same license plate as the car that kidnapped Beth in Alone. That bus was headed to D.C. So “another one rides the bus” suggests some other character we haven’t see that fits into both these molds. In other words, Beth.

2. Let’s talk about this damn clock. Did it strike anyone else as SUPER suspicious?

First of all, we’ve seen this time before. In 7x06, at Oceanside, Cindy looks at a clock that reads the same time: 8:22. In terms of episodes, that points to 8x04, which is the episode I personally think Beth will show up in. But it’s SO much more than that.

It’s an upside-down mirror image of the clock from Still. Look:

In Still, the clock’s hands point out and up. The time is 2:52, which is 8 minutes before the hour. Remember that it says this time the first time Beth and Daryl pass it. After going into the gift shop room, where Beth puts on her yellow polo (escape), they pass the clock again and it chimes the hour, which means 8 minutes have passed. Probably an indication that things will come back around in season 8.

This clock that we saw Oceanside and now in this sneak peek has hands that mirror the Still clock, but they point out and down, with the time at 8:22, or 8 minutes before the half hour. Not entirely sure what that points to, but no way it’s a coincidence, especially as we’ve seen it twice now. Could mean something big for 8x06, or for the MSF (8x08) which is half way through the season.

Either one works as ep 6 would mirror 6x06, Always Accountable and 7x06, Swear, which were both super-heavy on the Beth symbolism. And of course the MSF could also potentially be big. Not only bc it’s the MSF, but also it will be exactly 3 (Rule of Threes) seasons after Coda, and it’s also the second date listed on the headstone in Alone. All of which make me happy.

@bluesandbeth also noted that this clock had no second hand. What came to mind for me is the clock from 5x09. This one:

@paolo_pedini (IG) told me that the red dial there isn’t a second hand. (I wouldn’t have even thought about it on my own.) If you watch, it doesn’t move. It stays in place. It has something to do with the fact that this is an alarm clock.

So this clock from the sneak peek mirrors the clock BETH CONTINUALLY STARES AT in 5x09, in that there is no second hand.

But look at this clock in 5x09 more closely. Yes, it is a different time. It says 5:10, not 8:22. But if you look at it, including the red hand, it points to three of the four directions we’ve had indicated here. We have one roughly on the two (ten after the hour), roughly on the 4/5, and roughly on the 8. The only one we’re missing is the one pointing to the 10.

Not sure how to interpret that, but maybe as an “in-between”? The clocks prior to Beth being shot (the one in Still and the 10:10, Get Well Soon on her wall) point upward. All the clocks in 5x09 point to 5:10 (which also point to the episode where the music box wakes up) and now in S7 and S8, the clock hands are all pointing downward. Do what that what you will.

M-Nonny also pointed out that we see presentations of the positions these hands point to in the second hand of Beth’s ticking clock in Slabtown.

See? The meaning of these clocks is SO much more complex than we ever realized!

I also looked into the Westclox brand. It’s a company that’s been around a long time. Since pre-WWII. They’re best known for their alarm clocks and, wait for it, pocket watches. Glenn anyone? Also, randomly, their headquarters was burnt down back in 2010. The work of two arsonists, who were convicted. No idea if that went into the planning, but Still didn’t air until 2014. Beth and Daryl would qualify as two arsonists in Still. And then there’s The Arsonist’s Lullaby. Now that brand of clock is being shown, front and center, in S8. Just saying.

Just gonna throw in the 8 here in the background (on the black back pack on the right side of the picture) while Beth plays, still sings, and looks at the 5:10 alarm clock.

(Creds to a Nonny in my inbox who I haven’t answered yet for pointing this out to me. 😉💖)

Okay, that’s basically all I have. If you’re anything like us in the Safe Zone, you should be freaking out about now. Happy Saturday, Everyone. ;D Episode 1 tomorrow night!

[bangtan-for-life]

💬 Weverse • V + j-hope + Jin

Reddit Compilation: https://www.reddit.com/flwwjs

V, Weverse 200321 💜 Taehyung oppa, was I the only one to cry watching Itaewon Class today ? 🐯 Knees [Note: Did he just spoil Ep 15 💀 Guess I’ll find out?? DM me if you want to join me in a Netflix Party for it in 7.5 hours!] pic.twitter.com/mLegGwPmFX

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 20, 2020

👤taehyung i miss youㅠㅠㅠㅠpost a selca😭😭😭 v: hold on pic.twitter.com/2OeWm5lotO

— 스튜디오⁷ (@STUDIO_0613) March 20, 2020

200321 / 12:38AM KST 🐯 30 seconds..😏 pic.twitter.com/zbuIlXDHTs

— haruharu (@haruharu_w_bts) March 20, 2020

taehyung weverse post 200321 i'm looking at/keeping an eye on [every] post 🧐 pic.twitter.com/74CIQ20uiC

— 스튜디오⁷ (@STUDIO_0613) March 20, 2020

👤: taehyung-oppa, while ur here can u recommend a song for us armys?? V: i’m writing about 3 songs right now, i’ll let u listen to it once I’m finished. @BTS_twt pic.twitter.com/R4y3QFfYyV

— SPOTLIGHT BTS⁷ (@SPOTLIGHTBTS) March 20, 2020

j-hope, Weverse 200321 🐿 luh-byu nam-jyun pic.twitter.com/GNb08S1hTx

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

j-hope, Weverse 200321 🐿 Jjwekee 🐿 I felt it, jweke 🐿 They’re fish eyes jweke 👀 🐿 Pi shwi ai i jeu https://t.co/x7f57Yv4hJ pic.twitter.com/F5XJMwMBNA

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

j-hope, Weverse 200321 🐿 My dream was scawee 🐿 It’s my first pilates [class] at lunch; if I sleep again, will I able to wake up 💜 My my, what kind of dream was it Dreams worldwide, reveal yourself!!!! Which one of them is the one that tormented you?? 🐿 Kim Seokjjwin~ pic.twitter.com/SXG6v6Ye87

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

j-hope, Weverse 200321 💜 Where is hobi?😯🤔🥺 🐿 hobi here 🤫🤗 pic.twitter.com/Rg3AdZ236v

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

j-hope, 200321 🐿 I miss Tanieㅠㅠ [Note: 보고싶음 ➡️ 보고시픔 탄이 ➡️ 타니 - In both instances, he’s brought the final consonant of the first syllable to become the starter of the second. It doesn’t change the sound, so the purposeful spelling errors just make it cuter. 😔] https://t.co/dyz0OXmTEG pic.twitter.com/hfRwtmLup5

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

Jin, Weverse 200321 💜 Hobi oppa, I miss you ㅠㅠ😭😭😭 🐹 Jjwehope drank about half a can of beer with me yesterday before saying “ohh, hyung, my body’s hot” and stopped drinking pic.twitter.com/0Kp8Ne5lOr

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

Jin, Weverse 200321 💜 Seokjin oppa, please say a dad joke 🐹 Last time, I said to j-hope, “jwehope what’re you doing” and he said ‘jjwehope’, ‘jjuihope’, ‘jjuehope’ are all okay, but to not say ‘jwehope’ because it felt as if he had sinned. [Note: 죄 (jwe) is sin!] pic.twitter.com/JU2O38fBJZ

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

j-hope, Weverse 200321 💜 How’s a hyung like this?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 🐿 I really like having this sort of hyung 🐿 I like it most in the world 🐿 This is crazy funny, I’ll watch this when I’m exhausted or having a hard time 🐿 I don’t think I could live without this sort of hyung pic.twitter.com/QSsnmsMlI5

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

V, Weverse 200321 💜 Taehyung oppa, it looked like you were signing in your twitter video - what were you signing on? 🐯 It’s our album of course, hahah pic.twitter.com/ugrVkfZrIl

— wisha⁷ (@doyou_bangtan) March 21, 2020

💜 Taehyungie got a pretty hair cut. Our Taehyungie is pretty in long hair and also pretty in short hair I love you 🐯 We can't see the permed hair anymore, what should we do.. pic.twitter.com/lZffWlvfTa

— 🐢아미살롱 ᴀʀᴍʏ sᴀʟᴏɴ (@BTSARMY_Salon) March 21, 2020

[newtguyzler-archive]

I'm tired and out of sorts bc this was my day yesterday:

bro6 and I went to walmart at 11am to pick up the tv, brought it home and spent some time setting it up and making sure it was talking to the internet properly

had cereal for lunch

bro7 stopped by around 1:30 to watch a movie and have bro6 look at his car, the prognosis wasn't great, he finally left around 4

bro6 spent far too long showing me dumb youtube videos on the big tv instead of starting the next movie we were going to watch

started it at 5:30, which meant we'd only have time for one instead of the two we had planned and would be cutting it close for the dirk gently premiere

movie ended at 7:20ish, giving us enough time to find a stream and make dinner before the premiere

but WAIT, dghda starts at NINE, not eight

sit on the floor in front of the tv eating while the bbca livestream buffers and glitches for an hour, growing increasingly worried about the possibility of missing it completely

try two more streams before giving up and signing up for a free trial of sling, which would at least ensure HD quality

SHOW FINALLY STARTS AND IT'S RAD

.... until the stream abruptly stops working 30 minutes in

spend 15 minutes refreshing the page, trying to get it to work again before giving up and waiting until it should have ended

trawl the internet for the next two hours searching for a crappy upload at the very least, find nothing

bro6 finally gives up and goes to his room to get ready for bed, only to text me a few minutes later to warn me that we had visitors on the way

???

apparently bro4 was in town and wanted to see our house since he... hadn't yet obviously, and was bringing bro7 back with him

AT 12:45 AM

they finally arrive around 1 and I give them a quick tour in an effort to get rid of them faster, but WAIT! BRO4 BROUGHT CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY WITH HIM

so of course, we had to play

you might be thinking, 'finn, why didn't you just go to bed anyway??' well my friend, that would be bc bro4 has one of the loudest normal talking voices I've ever heard, and that's before factoring in CAH-induced euphoria and the fact that our entire house is made of concrete

play that shit for a few hours before bro4 and 7 start getting ready to leave at 3am, I was already edging towards my room bc I was extremely tired and still annoyed about dghda at this point...

when I hear an odd noise against the front door

a sort of... pattering knock that sounded as if it was designed to freak us out

look around and realize no one else heard it, so I wait for a moment hoping I just imagined it.... but no! there it goes again!

STILL no one else heard it, so I casually edged over to bro6 in the kitchen (who is definitely the strongest of us in case anything went down) and told him what I heard just as it happened a THIRD TIME

everyone's heads swivel to the front door bc we were ALL hearing it now

it's silent for a moment as we contemplate what to do, gryffindor bro6 peeks out the window in the front door but claims he sees nothing, ends up jumping back in surprise when it happens a fourth time with him standing right there

ravenclaw bro4 starts reasoning out anything natural it could be: tree branches, rain, ANYTHING but a terrifying start to a horror movie

bro7 and I, slytherins through and through, stand well back and privately consider our courses of action in case this takes a bad turn

until all of bro4's babbling reminds me that the landlord put a sprinkler in the front yard (bc he was trying to grow more grass after the landscaping work he'd done right before we moved in)

IMMEDIATE relief, everyone runs to the door to confirm it and yep, there it is, spraying the entire yard, hitting the front door, and finally explaining why our front mat is always wet (and starting to get moldy tbh)

all feeling ridiculous and over-tired, bro4 and bro7 time their exit so they can avoid getting sprayed, and bro6 and I can finally head to bed for real around 3:45

(but not before I do another search for the dghda ep) (it's unsuccessful)

I woke up abruptly at 6:57am for no reason, decided to check my notifications just in case and discover a working link(!), watched the second half of the episode before passing out again, woke up for real around 10 and second guessed all my life decisions that led to me feeling crusty eyed and hungover even though I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in about a month

[changbinsplushie]

I was tagged by @seungminies and @leader-chan to do it, and i’ll of course. I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN I SAW THIS... THANKS FOR MAKING ME FEEL WELCOME MAR AND PAULA ❤❤❤

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

1. nickname: Tami

2. gender: Female

3. star sign: Cancer

4. height: 5’4’’ i guess (166cm)

5. time: 8:19 PM

6. birthday: July 04 1999

7. favorite bands: I’ll try making a list... Got7, Stray Kids, Uniq, KARD, (can i still put One Direction here ??), McFly, The 1975, The Vamps, Little mix and Twenty One Pilots... I think it’s all but i’m not sure ???

8. favorite solo artists: Harry Styles, Halsey, Melanie Martinez, Marina and The Diamonds, Louis Tomlinson, Kehlani, Dua Lipa (THE RULEEEES GUYS THE RULESSSS) and Bea Miller ?? I think these are the ones I'm listening more in the moment...

9. song stuck in my head: I feel like the answer is To Me or Moon U.... BECAUSE THEY RANDOMLY START PLAYING IN MY HEAD ALL THE TIME AND I CAN’T AVOID IT 

10. last movie I watched: It was The Babadook (IT’S REALLY GREAT!! IF YOU LIKE HORROR I RECOMMEND IT!)

11. last show I watched: Stranger Things, like 3 eps of stranger things. that was it. 

12. when did I create my blog: yesterday.... I JUST WANTED TO JOIN THE FUN...

13. what do I post/reblog: Stray Kids

14. last thing I googled: The price of the NY subway in 1984 (don’t ask me why... just don’t.)

15. other blogs: I have 2 tumblrs that i’m active the most. both of them are for rpg purpose (again, don’t ask...) just to let it be here it is @hardthorn (where i post some gifsets i do based on my chars and stuff) and @plrsmuse (that i post some inspo and sometimes got7 shit)

16. do I get asks: i haven’t been here long enough... and i feel like i’ll not.

17. why I choose my URL: okay i don’t know how to explain (its almost self-explanatory). I thought all the URLS were taken idk and i stopped and said to myself “one of the moments that made me so happy was changbin with his plushie” i laughed so hard about that because he is like “my concept is dark” and then he fails because he is so soft to his plushie. That’s the meaning... I talk a lot. 

18. following: 24 (i made this yesterday..)

19. followers: 3 love beans that put cereal first i hope

20. average hours of sleep: What is sleeping? Is it really useful?? I normally go on with 3-5 hours... or less... like none...

21. lucky number: are lucky numbers a thing? i don’t think i have one because i have no luck but i’d say 8 (it called out to me)

22. instruments: im useless 

23. what I’m wearing: the shirt of my college course, a jeans and a converse... because i got home and i’m a useless even to take the clothes i go to college off my body. 

24. dream job: i’m just studying to become a psychologist, hoping that’s what i wanna do with my life...

25. dream trip: I wanna go to lots of places but I feel like i should say India BECAUSE MAN I WANNA GO THERE SO BADLYYYYY!!!

26. favorite food: piZZA

27. nationality: I’m Brazilian (like pls if there’s a lot wrong in this post it’s because english is not my first language)

28. favorite song right now: Moon U, Hellevator and Teenager (I listen to them a lot !!!)

29. last book I read: Was an Edgar Allan Poe.... One with some of his works...

30. Top Three Fictional Universes You’d Want to Join: Like can i join the sims and just die in the pool?? thanks. Now for real, i guess... Hogwarts and maybe camp half blood ??? there are more from series but i can’t remember them now so i’ll leave you with these.

Tag: I feel like there’s no one else for me to tag.... I don’t know lots of you guys but i think almost everyone i follow were already tagged.... Anyone that wants do it feel free to do it... I’m tagging you.