#also i should tag these cause this rewatch has brought up a lot

[truedairship]

Hello! For the WIP tag game, I have to ask about Young Ashley overhearing Helen and James and Sanctuary/Stargate. 😁

Sorry it took a while! I think you’ve noticed that it sometimes takes me 3-5 business days to answer stuff😅

Helen/James fight, overheard by Ashley:

It was actually a scene in the crossover that caused this one.

Headcanons behind this:

1. When Helen and James fight, especially as the years go by, they pull no punches. And knowing each other so well while also being equally as stubborn and headstrong, they know exactly what hurts the most. (and a lot of it is John)

2. Ashley was a very energetic child, who even then enjoyed the thrill of danger. Helen taught both children necessary basic self defence, but while Henry didn’t want to learn much more than that, preferring his computers, Ashley took to it like a fish to water.

So basically, James walks in on Helen and Ashley (I’m very bad at children’s ages, but I’m thinking maybe 6 or so?) sparring. He notices that Ashley is way better than any child that age should be, and thinks Helen is teaching her too much too soon. Seeing how much Ashley enjoys it, he begins to worry about how much of it is John’s darkness (since they don’t know about the energy being, he fears that whatever (his theory either being the vampire blood or John himself) caused John to snap might lead to Ashley doing the same, and finds her enjoying the ‘violence’ of fighting worrying).

The big part is him bringing it up with Helen, and the fight that follows. Thing is, they are both afraid of the same thing. That Ashley will end up like John. But while James think the best solution is to keep her away from all violence (partially brought on by his somewhat old-fashioned victorian mindset - or at least that’s what Helen accuses him of), Helen thinks it’s better to direct Ashley’s energy into ‘productive’ violence, aka self defence and helping with the abnormals as she gets older. It essentially revolves around ‘she’s not her father’ (but what if) and ‘you loved him too’. And the fact that Helen is quite violent herself. Ashley has the blood and violence from both sides.

Problem is that Ashley overhears the fight. So far the entire scene is written from her pov. Thing is that it’s just a continuation of an old fight between them, because they both still blame themselves for what happened in Whitechapel. And missing certain points (because Helen and James certainly don’t need to say everything out loud to hurt each other), Ashley draws some right and some wrong conclusions, causing a bit of an identity crisis. It sort of ends up being the final straw that makes her stop asking about who her father is.

Crossover Sanctuary/Stargate:

Seeing how long that got, I’ll spare you an infodump about the crossover. But it was caused by reading a lot of other crossovers while also contemplating the odds of an embryo surviving through two world wars and everything else that happened in the 100 years before Ashley was carried to term.

It’s what it sounds like. Ashley ends up on the Prometheus, alternating between herself and the cabal drone. She’s brought to the SGC where everyone freaks out. Plot happens and in the end they contact the Sanctuary. Seeing Sam and Helen’s likeness, everyone freaks out again. Hearing about Ashley, Helen is in too much of a mama bear mode to care at first. Plot happens. Assured that Ashley actually is Ashley, Helen helps figuring out why they look so similar. Turns out Sam is Helen’s daughter that she thought she had lost long ago. Similarly, but not exactly the same as Ashley, she had another embryo frozen that she later lost. (Either during WW2 or in the 60s depending on some plot points)

I’m sort of torn between two major plot directions with this one, and it’s fun to come up with small in-between scenes to both of them. The challenge with this one is figuring out how to make the timelines work (I need to rewatch a lot of SG1!) and making sure certain parts don’t turn into pure exposition, characters in between.

#sanctaury #stargate sg1 #ask games #thank you for the ask!

[im-overstimulated-and-im-sad]

911 Lone Star Rewatch Season 2!!

I watched the season 2 premiere of Lone Star and I had ALL THE THOUGHTS!

It is season 2, and we are at a museum!

How awesome are museums….

More shows should feature scenes at museums.

Anyway-

The “I can’t hear with the masks” is REAL — like I know that was supposed to be oh they’re bitching about masks but I have customers at work wearing a mask and talking in the softest voice; I’m like project. Yell at me. I beg of you. I am standing over a bread slicer and I cannot fucking hear you.

A tank literally breaking free of its exhibit would be a crazy thing to see though—

Okay I know (or assume I should say) this isn’t what they were going for, but the little boy who says “they have rides?” looks like a baby TK.

Amazing Grace in action!

They really did it — with their military tank they did the action movie cliché of it out of control destruction takes out a watermelon cart for no reason. Never change, Lone Star.

You tell em Carlos! Love seeing him in action—

“And if he decides to shoot at us with the cannon?” “Duck”.

Also yay we see Carlos’s partner! He needs some coworkers who don’t suck—

Well, it was nice for him not to crush all the police cars.

Paul’s doing a thing — he figures it out.

Although for reasons to steal a tank — that is a really good reason.

This part is so good; although I am briefly distracted that the captions switched from “solemn music” to “somber music” (do those not mean the same thing?)

Everyone coming to stand beside Owen — (why is this making me think of Mulan during the battle scene)

The 126 would be so bad at social distancing — those fuckers love to hug so much.

TOMMY!!!

TOMMY IS LACING UP!!!

WE MISSED YOU DURING SEASON ONE, TOMMY!!!

(Can you tell I love her so much).

Okay, I might have forgot how fucking cute Tommy and her husband are together.

(And I lowkey feeling killing him off helped her character arc — but damn are they adorable together).

“Oh, so many stir sticks”. Charles Vega you are a PRINCE. 

They really are the cutest couple.

They have no right being this adorable for him to randomly die.

“Hey, doesn’t your mama look like a boss?” “Mama IS the boss!” THE AUDACITY. The gall of making this family so adorable.

They have two minutes of screen time and I ALREADY LOVE THEM!!

And then there’s Tim—

I kind of feel bad for that guy, like they brought him back for HIM to die…

That really could have been the tag line for season 2; we got a second year. So people are just going to start dying. Randomly. When we feel like it.

So you have that to look forward to…

Like I do not miss Michelle, like at all — And Tim, I feel bad I will not miss you.

Cause then we get paramedic TK!

And Tim is whiny!

But Nancy!

We see Nancy sassmaster!

She has LINES!

Paul has a giant ass book!

THIS ENTIRE CONVERSATION —

“I remember 2013”.

“Live concerts”.

“Nightclubs”.

“Hugs”. Oh Mateo…

Tommy and Owen!

I know this is just the beginning but their friendship is the cutest thing —

Like I feel like they never really figured out what to do with Michelle and Owen, it was like power trippy and weirdly flirty…

Like they did a lot with those ten episodes in most other aspects of the show but I feel that’s where it fell flat.

“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to—” Enter Judd, who is in AWE of Tommy and her badassery.

Like Tommy — you are Tommy MOTHERFUCKING Vega!! Don’t you forget that!

Judd is seriously the cutest that he’s so proud of her and so stoked to have her there.

Okay has anyone done roller derby? What is it like? Were you terribly injured?

It intrigues me so much and looks fun but I’ve never met anyone in life who has done it and I’m curious…

Also the captions identified the song as “Barracuda” by Heart and then labeled it “intense 80’s rock music”.

The Joan Jett song is captioned as “brash punk rock”.

Oh that is horrifying — my irrational fear of splinters feel much more rational now.

I do love they follow up with this and Marjan does join their roller derby team.

I do agree though that Kitten Crusher does sound like she is crushing kittens not the kitten who crushes.

Tim I’m sorry but you are annoying; you don’t tell YOUR CAPTAIN but you haven’t been in the field!

It’s okay Tommy! You can do it!

And she does! She saved her arm!

The furniture store in my area is running commercials for presidents day — they are so, so lame.

And I’m watching this on Hulu but I had to share that with ya;ll.

TK! Great shirt alert!

I love that TK has a whole speech with so much exposition for us prepared before he adds, “and I forgot”.

I’m chuckling at the idea of my store being arranged where everything orange… is with everything else… that is orange.

(Though I was making cookies this morning at work — SO MANY orange M and Ms. I was like why are there not more colors in this box lol).

Sorry, back to the show — how did these hangs start!

Cause did Carlos even know their names before they started doing these? (Like he knew Paul; did he know anyone else??)

Like his back is turned he’s busy at the counter when he comes in, and he’s more introverted anyway — does Carlos participate like out loud in group hangs at this point if TK isn’t in the room??

So many things to think about with this scene, and then—

AND THEN. WE FINALLY MEET HER.

GWYNETH MORGAN IS IN THE BUILDING.

I seriously cannot get over how good this casting is — like even from a physical standpoint.

Like how do people who are not related resemble each other so goddamn much??

Like if you put Ronen next to Rob’s actual sons, and said okay pick which one he’s biologically related to, you would not pick either of them (no offense, Rob’s real sons).

Lisa Edelstein is just so good — she made me want to try and watch House (I’m sorry I couldn’t make it past a few episodes. I understand this was a thing in the early 2000’s; the guy is a narcissistic abusive dick to everyone BUT HE’S RIGHT and they could get away with it then but it’s like if he wasn’t on it it would be compelling)

Sorry, back to this. Owen, if you hadn’t mentioned it, she might not have moved your hand towel.

Another topic for discussion; the lone star timeline, and how it is basically swiss cheese.

Why does Owen throw out the timeline of four months? She has to have been there for so much longer than four months. They establish (in the episode where they show Nancy they put Tim’s name on the ambulance) that it’s January 2021 like when it aired.

And like Owen says they’ve been sleeping together since before July.

And the thing that makes the most sense is that Gwyn came to see TK after he’d been shot, then the shutdown happened and she stayed (this was so a thing; like I remember this so vividly. My brother couldn’t come home for Christmas for 2019 so he came in March and just happened to come that second week of March and ended up staying with my mom for three months. He tried so hard to get me to like cooking. I’m just terrible at it; but I had really good leftovers those months cause he went to culinary school).

But the biggest thing with the lone star timeline. It makes no goddamn sense. It will turn you into Mr. Krabs from that episode of Spongebob where he is so despondent after losing his one millionth dollar he pulls his eyes out of his head and starts skipping rope with them.

Also — we were so robbed of TK introduces Carlos to his mom scene!

There’s a lot of good fic of it out there (@carlos-in-glasses has a particularly good one) but we were still robbed.

The fact that Owen and Gwyn really think TK doesn’t know what they’re doing; you beautiful, ocean-eyed dum-dums.

I just love Tommy so much — Charles is right. Woman is perfect.

Like this is the first episode we have Tommy and she just has so much life and drive and it’s like where were you the last ten episodes Tommy!

I’m sorry I don’t want to keep complaining about Michelle but just… Tommy.

She is just the best.

Do I sound completely stupid if I point out how call-heavy these early episodes are?

Like I swear season four they cap it at like two calls and then there are adventures.

I hate to be that person, but if she was last on the job in 2013, Gilmore Girls would have ended six years before that (@sznofthesticks why am I this person. I annoy myself actually lol).

Owen was almost hit by an arrow!

How could Owen possibly identify where it had come from? Is this a thing? Do people just… know directions?

I’m like the meme of GPS saying go north and I think what am I, a ship captain?

(Or a dumbass. I’m definitely that lol).

Paul’s doing a thing again!

Seriously imagine if Paul and Carlos and Grace all worked together to solve something — that would be amazing!

I love that TK’s reaction to his dad being trouble is “I NEED AN AXE!” Baby boy, I love you so much.

Judd and TK with the hose — the only thing that could make this better…

Is if CARLOS SHOWS UP!

Gone are the days where he has the one scene an episode!

“Maybe don’t make us do your job for you next time” In case anyone was wondering if Brat TK would be making an appearance.

Judd is the best hype man it’s the cutest.

Seriously Tommy and Owen just have such a mutual respect for each other and their friendship is so sweet.

The dreaded zoom freeze!!

But yay! Cancer has gone down!

And Owen is definitely freaking out and pretending he’s not.

TK is so precious, he’s so excited.

Can I just say how unnecessary the pregnancy storyline was?

Or, more specifically, why they actually had her have the baby—

Like she was planning to leave for New York when TK was still there; she could’ve done that if it had been a false alarm pregnancy, or if something had happened because it was a geriatric pregnancy which is very risky which they pointed out;

(I know that’s several episodes away but if she was ready to leave when they were both still there she could’ve done that without having another kid, especially since said kid was not mentioned AT ALL when TK got married)

Oh, Charles Vega. I’ll miss you much more than I will miss Tim.

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS.

JUDD AND GRACE!!!!

The cutest, most awkward cock block.

Tommy’s shirt is so, so very open.

It takes them way too long to realize what they walked in on.

But also, Tommy and Grace’s friendship.

Why would you go to a bridge with a million bats??

I need an answer to this — why are we past it already!

Ahh Rob and Lisa have such good chemistry together I can’t—

Also, real talk. Like I know they have to try because he’s technically the star of the show, but I don’t see them ever landing a successful Owen relationship.

No one beats this (again, just my opinion).

But  no Owen relationship we’ve seen have they been as connected and just…

(wow. I am so good at coming up with words. Good thing writing isn’t my main hobby/source of joy. Oh wait…)

TK WITH THE SUCKER!!! ICONIC.

“Who else knows?”

“Everybody”. And off he skips.

“Well, he’s a wise ass”. Yes Gwyn, yes he is. And there are two really good reasons why.

This girl with the bandanna is so cute!

She is massaging the kale and podcasting it up while there is a LITERAL inferno outside.

I do remember the next one though, and am happy no fate befalls cute bandanna girl…

Thank you for reading my unhinged thoughts! There was a lot I forgot in this episode- it's so good-

And TOMMY. She is HERE. YAYYYYYYY

#911 lone star #911 lone star rewatch 2024 #season two #back in the saddle again

[artist-fan146]

I posted 1,014 times in 2022

That's 893 more posts than 2021!

197 posts created (19%)

817 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fishstickfeind

@aurora-ze-aquarius

@penname-artist

@chicks-mustache

@disneytva

I tagged 641 of my posts in 2022

Only 37% of my posts had no tags

#disney - 183 posts

#pixar cars - 144 posts

#ducktales - 111 posts

#ducktales 2017 - 84 posts

#please don’t steal my art - 71 posts

#please don’t trace my art - 69 posts

#artist fan146 - 68 posts

#cars fandom - 52 posts

#darkwing duck - 52 posts

#cars pixar - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#'cause i started off comparing gyro's height to huey and boyd's but then you have to consider that mads stands up straight and wears heels

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

As much as I love The Owl House for its lgbtq rep on the big screen coming from Disney, I feel like Ducktales 17 should really get more credit then it deserves for its rep! I mean literally they walked so TOH can run!

- Dt17 started in 2017, TOH started in 2020

- Violet canonically has two dads

- LP is canonically Bi

- Penumbra is canonically a Lesbian

- People who worked on the show drew art of Della and Penumbra together

- Gyro is labeled as a chicken but DOESNT have features that other roosters in the show has, and his outfit from the flashbacks from Astro BOYD can probably show he is transcoded!

-Similar stuff with Violet! In real life, Violet Saberwings are only Male but in the show, she is a Violet Saberwing, hence her name and a female! She is also transcoded according to me bc I make the rules!

- Boyd was given the opportunity to chose his identity and his own proper name at the end of his episode, and he took it! and that in itself is rep!

- Lena got to choose her own identity and was still discovering herself in season 2&3

- Thanks to @bardicinspiration-blog for mentioning this! Webby is Scrooge’s clone but they are different genders! However with May and June being Webby’s clones, they are both female! Which means that either Scrooge or Webby are trans!

So as my point proves, DUCKTALES 17 DESERVES THE AWARD FOR LGBTQ REP IN DISNEY FIRST!!

@negawingduck

97 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

#4

See the full post

100 notes - Posted August 1, 2022

#3

Spoilers for Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers if you haven’t seen the movie yet!

So I was rewatching the movie on Disney +, and for a split second I noticed Launchpad in the background! It was during the scene where all the bootlegged charcters were set free! Its pretty hard to see but If you look close enough, you can see him!

And I’m going to tell you all a headcanon that I had and shared it with @negawingduck

See the full post

103 notes - Posted May 21, 2022

#2

Oh man I finished watching the new Chip ‘n Dale movie on Disney + and I have a lot to say about it! Spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet!

- I absolutely admire that they were able to incorporate so many different animation styles in this movie!

-The 2d animation is interesting and i dont hate it so that says a lot!

- The story that was told, I enjoyed it and I liked the mix of toons and the living world living together

- The elements used in this movie are really cool!

-CAMEOS!!

-I like that they brought back Gadget’s original VA for this movie

- Ugly Sonic…?!?!? And they fact they brought in the original animation style that the first Sonic movie was supposed to use before the movie got delayed and we got the new style

- Gadget and Zipper have kids? Idk how to feel bout that! 42 kids… and counting??!?! WHAT?!

- After seeing the scene where Chip and Dale were about to be bootlegged in that machine the first time, it actually freaked me out

- I absolutely loved the callbacks to the original show! So smart and since I started watching the original show I absolutely loved that!

-The Disney Afternoon era references, Genius!

-DAKRWING DUCK AT THE END?! Best part in my opinion! COME ON DISNEY, GIVE US THE REBOOT!!!!!!

See the full post

302 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

MY GOD I LOVE THESE CARTOON REFERENCES!!!!

WAIT… I NEED THAT WANDER PLUSHIE!!! SOMEONE GIVE IT TO ME!!!!

751 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[winterlovesong1]

Winter’s Nancy Drew Rewatch

Welcome to my first rewatch of my current favorite comfort show ❤️ Under the cut are my thoughts and a few insights I hope you enjoy - I’ll be going through each episode and posting these periodically with the tag winter rewatched Nancy Drew.

2x09 - The Bargain of the Blood Shroud

So post episode, I thought about the meaning of this and came the conclusion that I might be reading too much into it but here it goes anyway - bargain like a deal, maybe even a wager - ok so a wager for what for a blood covering essentially - so a covering of oneself - so the wager to cover oneself - to bet against themselves - like Nancy is doing in this episode, and in way, Ace too. 

Ok so maybe I didn’t read too much into it.

Overall MVP

Gosh, I think I’m giving it to all the guys this episode - tie all around for Nick, Ace, and Carson - they stepped up to the ladies this episode and I applaud them for it.

Nick with not taking any of George’s nonsense about literally fighting for her life at the end.

Carson with helping Bess realize that she will hold onto that next branch in life and she won’t fall (metaphorically speaking).

And Ace with also in a way not taking any of Nancy’s nonsense, pushing ahead with his own agenda because he has confidence in his own solving abilities and he can see that she’s becoming a bit adrift (he had theories as to why).

He just wishes he could pull her back to shore.

Most Heartfelt Moment

Tie again - first with Carson and the conversation he has with Bess in regards to the spider monkeys - I just love how he is such a rock for all these kids - and he’s there when they need him - he isn’t throwing himself into their lives - he’s just there when life gets them down and he offers his advice, soft and gentle and without criticism. 

Second has to be the “I know you, I know you too” Nace scene. It’s such a tender moment to cap the end of the episode with, and the quietness about it while also edging along the serious is something I love about it. It’s subtle in how it approaches the topic of “I’m concerned for you and I care about you and I’m worried” without ever explicitly saying any of those things.

Sort of like Nace themselves, it sneaks up on you, the meaning of it, until you realize it all stems from them looking out for the other because they care for each other.

(because they love each other)

Most Comedic Moment

“They took a banana cream pie.”

Probably not meant to be funny, but I smile every time.

Special mention to Bess’s “is my crying too loud?”

But the winner has to be -

“Restrooms are for clients only.”

“That’s a shame ‘cause we’d heard great things about your restrooms.”

I love him a normal amount...

Best Overall Line

“Another suspect not of this Earth. Cool.”

Tagline brought you by Ace [beloved]

Also applause to Nace for their iconic “I know you, I know you too” scene that should be framed and hung in a gallery.

Pun intended this episode lol.

Scare Rating

Not terribly scary,  I mean there was some cringe moments, but nothing terribly frightening so to speak (except for maybe Gil Bobbsey) - maybe 3?

Nace Slow Burn Rating

This episode really showcased how the finale reveal is affecting Nancy. And for those just watching, it would seem like maybe she’s just beating herself up over all sorts of things - her identity crisis, her trying to solve everything - Bess, George, any mystery that falls into her lap - and failing - it just seems like she’s grappling with the aftermath of a lot from the end of last season and the start of this one if you were unaware of what was to be untangled (or unattached) toward the end of season two.

And so Ace is really just trying to help with all of that. He’s trying to be there for her even if he doesn’t agree with her choices or the path she’s traveling down. But what’s interesting is, even in their opposing decisions, they still are solving the same mystery this episode, just in different directions. Both are still determined and following logic to guide them - but down two different roads to showcase the opposing viewpoints and headspaces their characters are at.

But then they come together - like they always do - even with all Nancy is dealing with she still needs her anchor - so they meet at the gallery - some sort of meet up communicated off screen - a check in- and it’s interesting watching it again, because you can tell Ace wants to say something he’s not ready to - he’s ready to say I’m worried about you or how are you doing - perhaps things he’s spoken freely before, but now feels an odd to speak, almost bitter knowing that he knows the answer or reply he’d receive - I’m worried about you - don’t be - how are you doing - I’m fine -  so he leans on humor “where’s Gil? shouldn’t someone be conquering him?” He leans on humor because his anxiety overwhelming when it comes to Nancy  - he just wants her to be ok and she’s clearly not, she’s clearly spiraling and making bad choices and he’s afraid he’s losing her. 

And that scares him.

(that terrifies him more than anything he’s ever experienced)

And that could be why he also gravitates toward Amanda - yes it’s because he does find her attractive (and as I stated in 2x07, it’s also because he has this notion in his head he and Nancy could never and he couldn’t possibly) - but it’s also because he needs someone to talk to - his own anchor in Nancy has gone adrift and he just needs someone to lean on while he tries to unravel his own mysteries in his own life.

And then you have the ending scene - the sort of crux of the whole episode, the one that sets them forward even more on their separate paths  as we near the middle of the season - showcasing the juxtaposition of where Nancy has wandered off to - lost and confused and unnerved as she gravitates to Gil - to Ace who’s trying to remain steady by gaining some semblance of normalcy in his life - maybe gaining a brother, maybe gaining a girlfriend - solving everything around him other than Nancy Drew (and his feelings for her) - because like I said, he’s terrified and if he wanders down trying to figure out what’s going on with her, it’s only going to bring up the feelings he knows are there, but isn’t ready to label or speak a name to yet.

And so he dances around his worry, never saying it, instead telling her he knows her and feels like she’s getting attached.

And she voices back she knows him too and can tell he’s trying to find some steady ground - your lucky blue pullover says otherwise.

And you can tell they really miss each other. A longing for the other to return back - because they are friends - were friends - and they just want the other to be ok.

But if they get their friend back is that what they really want?

Or do they want something more? And that’s why they never say their worried. Because if they say that, that could lead to more than I’m just worried about my friend. That could mean I’m worried because you mean more than a friend to me.

Fashion Moment

Nancy’s striped shirt this episode - LOVE

Also there’s no rainbow puffy jacket, but Ace manages to wear two this episode and that deserves recognition. 

Missing Moment Drabble

Posted here

#tv: nancy drew #nace #winter rewatched nancy drew

[torturedpoetdean]

kill me 🙃🙃🙃

#this scene really just #really just made me openly weep #sam???!! LIAR #ok yea it's not sam's fault it's the writers but DABB FUCKING WROTE THIS #HE FUCKING WROTE THIS EPISODE #why am i rewatching im just breaking my heart all over again #also i should tag these cause this rewatch has brought up a lot #spn rewatch

[taki118]

Go Watch the Venture Brothers

So just heard the complete and utter Bullshit news that Adult Swim has cancelled one of (if not the best shows) they have the Venture Bros. This series is one of those shows that for WHATEVER reason never got to the level of fandom Rick and Morty has even though they’ve been at the genre parody game longer and in my opinion better. 

The series is about Rusty Venture former boy adventurer and failing super scientist who in an attempt to keep his head above water in debt goes around with his two boys Hank and Dean, and bodyguard Brock on misadventues while various legal archnemisis go after him, such as the Monarch. 

So if you never watched or never heard of this 7 season series let me give you a break down on why you should, 

1) Art Style & Animation

Venture bros is one of those rare Adult aimed animated series that that really truly tries to utilize their medium to the best of their abilities. Season 1 had like such a small budget and corners had to be cut so it can be a little hard to watch at times. 

But with each passing season they get a little better, a little more fluid, go just a little harder and it truly feels rewarding to watch. Like seeing an artist you follow online improve over the years. Like they COULD have stayed with the choppy and stiff animation from season 1 it fit right in with its fellow adult animated shows but it didn’t. They strove for quality to have something that matched the story they were telling.

2) The Writing 

Venture Bros has some of the tightest and consistently great writing of ANY serialized show I’ve seen, adult, animated or other wise. Wanna know why? Cause it’s all done by TWO people (save for like one ep each season where one other person is allowed to touch their baby). Yeah TWO people and they work their asses off every season to interject, humor, refrences, parody, plot and character development in equal measure. 

3) Character Development

Um yes in case you were wondering that’s right an adult animated show has CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  that holds as the series goes on. Not to give spoilers but characters will go through changes in alignment, relationships will develop and change, some characters will go through negative arcs where they are straight up unbareable for a season before coming out the other side even better than they were before. There is no end of epsiode or even end of season reset. Characters, settings, and dynamics all change over the course of the show and it feels just so god damn good.

4) Story Development 

Just like the characters the story of the Venture Bros grows and changes each season. Things that are set up even as early as season one are paid off as the series goes on. Like not to be that bitch but you know how RIck and Morty teases an overarching plot ALL THE TIME but like will often just spit in the face of fans hoping for more than like one episode a season addressing it? Yeahhhhhhh that doesnt happen here, fans are consistently rewarded for putting the time in to rewatch and really think about what happened in the series. Characters that are seen in the background or are just referenced by other characters will be brought in to be recurring characters, things that start off as a small detail or gag will be given larger relevance and each time they do this you get that “OH I remember that from last season! So thats what it was!” The writers WANT you to rewatch, they WANT you to analyze and they WANT you to theorize, and they give you a show that gives back the time you put in.

5) Parody & Reference 

This series does a great thing with parody. They make real characters  who are just as enjoyable as the characters they parody, they make story lines that both poke fun at the absurdity of the media but shows the writers love for it. So often parody and references are just used to mock the thing but with Venture Bros you feel the love and care so when you know the thing being parodied you can laugh but feel good about laughing cause they are never laughing at a thing maybe you cared for in your youth but rather laughing with it.

And it’s never just one thing. When they parody a thing its often layered with other things to make it even more unique. Scooby-Doo is overlayed with famous criminals, Laura Croft is mixed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, GI Joe is given the look of the Village People and so on. They never go for the easy joke or reference. Hell theres an episode that starts with them reciting the lyrics to David Bowies Space Oddity for really no reason other than they could. They weave these things in naturally with their setting and characters so nothing feels out of place. Like if you dont catch a reference or parody you dont feel like “I think this isa reference to something?” like a LOT of things do not just adult animated shows. You arent taken out of the moment cause it all feels so natural. 

6) The Characters 

God damn these characters, I could go on for hours about these characters. From main to one off these are some of the most likeable characters you can find. I mean it when I say I can’t think of a single character I wish they had cut cause they are all so well created. Even the ones I hate i have fun hating cause they were made to be that way. I’ll be good though I’ll only talk about my absolute top faves.

- The Monarchs

You ever sit and wish villain couples could have functional  healthy relationships? Well look no further than Malcom Fitzcarraldo aka The Monarch and Dr. Shelia Girlfriend (yes that is her last name). The Monarch is a high strung impulsive saturday morning cartoon villain whos tendency to over react is only matched by his unspecified hatred of Dr. Venture. And Dr. G is his nonsense partner in crime who will cut a bitch if they don’t play by their admittedly weird rules. Both characters are great on their own but are better together. Though that doesnt mean they always get along. Like a real couple they have their ups and downs they fight, break up, make-up and grow stronger in their relationship with each season. 

- Shore Leave

Ok ok so I want you to imagine James Bond, mixed with GI Joe simmering in a cocktail of the most flamboyant gay men you have ever seen and you have one of my favorite gay characters/characters in general. Shore Leave is a member of OSI (the shows SHEILD/GI Joe parody organization) he’s loud, brash, flippant, sassy and highly competent at his job loving every second of getting to beat bad guys down within an inch of their life. I love seeing him play off the stoic Brock and the two have this great brotherly dynamic that’s never called into question. He also gets to have a very cute romance with Al the Alchemist (who is also great). I could talk about this man all day.

- Dr. Rusty Venture

They did such a good job with this man. He’s a self serving, sexist, perverted, whinny, self important asshole and yet you feel pity and genuine sympathy for him and want him to succeed. You can see how Dr. V was given a raw deal by his father who seemed to care more about his adventures than his sons well being and how this molded him into the bitter man he is today, but on the flip side you can see where he chose to use that as a crutch for his worst behaviors and impulses. Seeing him slowly grow and change and be an actual good father to his boys while all the while still be a giant dick is actually really great. 

- Dr. Byron Orpheus 

Ahhhhh Dr. Orpheus part Dr. Strange Parody part busybody stay at home dad, he’s just such a delight. Dr. Orpheus is a divorcee, with an unfulfilling job of maintaining order to the cosmos (which isnt as hard as one might think), and uses his magical ablities in ways most of us would (ie menial tasks and home chores). Overly dramatic and affectionate Dr. O is a delight whenever he appears, but he’s at his best around his daughter and old friends The Order of the Triad. 

Again I can go on but all these characters ranging from main to recurring are crafted with the utmost care for you to want to see them succeed or fail, to see them again even if you know it’ll never happen, and want them to cross paths with other characters. 

The Venture Bros is one of those series that I will ALWAYS recommend even to the pickiest of humor tastes. But if you don’t believe its as good as I said or don’t think the concept is to your tastes I’ll recommend a few eps that I think best show off the base idea of the series without giving much away. In terms of plot and spoilers, though somethings wont make a lot of sense. 

- S1 ep10 "Tag Sale – You're It!" - Dr. V is having a yard sale so of course all manner of costumed weirdos show up.  - S2 ep5 "Twenty Years to Midnight" - basically a fetch quest around the world to save the planet with daddy issues - S3 ep2 "The Doctor Is Sin" - Again daddy issues but with one of the best recurring characters and a great showcase of the series deeper emotional plots - S4 ep6 "Self-Medication" - Really embraces the parody as Rusty goes to a former boy adventurer support group.  Anyway the show is 7 seasons with 80 episodes, please go watch it. I will never forgive @adultswim​ for cancelling what was to be their final season. And in closing GO TEAM VENTURE!

#venture bros #the venture bros #venture brothers #adultswim #adult animated shows #animated shows #animation #go watch this show #go watch #adult animation

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 6

a/n: now you’ll all see why i said be excited for ch. 6 lmao. (also, with ch. 5 not showing up in the tags for a minute, some might not have seen it, so i’ll link it here) but anyways, this chapter was difficult to write bc i’m not used to writing anything but angst lmao. and huge shoutout to my baby gracie for helping me out with this chapter. please enjoy and i’d love to hear feedback

also, like i told an anon, this is in memory of bee’s hair :((  (he still looks good with the new hair, don’t get me wrong)

taglist: @butgilinsky @barbienoturbby @sunsetholland​ @lovenhlboys @sortagaysortahigh @hockey-racing-fubol @oopsiedoopsie23 @iwantahockeyhimbo @dreamsndior

warnings: (2) your mom jokes, jealous!joel?, once again simp nation for the both of them, swearing (it’s a problem ngl), idiocy 

sticking it masterlist

wc: 4.1k

(gif not mine)

When you told Marcus and Michelle that you had to be out for a month, they advised you to only come to the gym three times a week for two hours for the first two weeks and you’d figure out a plan for the two weeks after, that way you could take a much needed break out of the gym. The thing stressing you out the most was gym and they obviously realized it, so they were hopeful it would give you a chance to breathe. 

You planned to go to the gym Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 6-8am and then you would spend the rest of your day at home doing whatever you needed to do that day. The first Monday you spent those two hours doing ab workouts and helping the other girls around the gym, then you went home and stayed in your room for the rest of the day. You put your phone on do not disturb, so no one heard from you, which caused Kevin to come to your apartment to make sure you were okay. 

Tuesday played out the exact same way, early practice, then going home and staying in bed, and Kevin coming to make sure you were alright. Kevin even invited you to come out with him and some of the boys, which you politely declined saying they should have their time together. Wednesday, you simply stayed in bed, choosing to actually keep your phone on today, you were just tired and felt drained from everything going on right now that you couldn’t really muster up the energy to talk to anyone. 

Wednesday night, as you were rewatching Marvel movies, your phone started ringing with a call from Ryanne. Quickly answering it, “hey Ry.”

“Hey babes, how’re you doing?”

“I’ve been better, I’ve also been worse, so.”

“Me and Claude were wondering if you’d want to come over and hang out with us and Gav for some of the day, we’ll provide food and such, but we miss you, babe. So, we figured we’d ask while you have a chance.” 

In reality, Ryanne had heard from Claude that you wouldn’t be able to do extensive training for at least a month. She might not have known much about gymnastics, but she knew you well enough to know that you were always constantly training - she was well aware that if that ever got taken from Claude that he would be devastated if he was out for that long and with two weeks to prepare for a big game.

She had checked in to see how you were with Kevin one day after practice and when he mentioned everything that was going on, she was worried about you. She knew that she likely wouldn’t be able to help much, but she did know that there was one part of the equation she could help. Knowing that she already had a plan to have a send off party before the boys went on a roadie and also knowing that everyone on the team would be there, she somehow conveniently planned to invite you over a few hours before it started. 

“Oh, yeah, I’d love to, honestly. What time do you want me over?”

“Anytime after three is fine. I’ll see you then, hun. Oh, and wear something cute.”

“Why exactly?”

“Just do it,” Ryanne said, not having time to think of an excuse, “bye.”

As you were about to say something else, the ring that told you she had hung up rang out. 

…..

Joel wasn’t doing as good as he wanted to be recently and with an upcoming roadie, he knew he needed to spend more time on the ice before the game. Having asked a few of the guys to work with him during an unscheduled morning skate, he was able to work on what he needed to. 

“Wait, so she’s out how long?” Joel overheard Travis ask Kevin as he made his way into the locker room. 

“Like four weeks, but two weeks with the brace and basically no training, then two weeks with athletic tape on her knee and no hard landings. But she’ll only have two weeks before Championships, so she's not feeling too great about it. Plus, she has to use her brace and crutches again and she didn’t enjoy that the first time,” Kevin replied. 

“Is she going to be okay?” Joel hadn’t meant to ask his question aloud, but as soon as Kevin heard his voice a smile grew on his face. 

“Yeah, Lover Boy, she’ll be fine. She hasn’t really been up to do anything recently, but other than that I think she’ll be okay. She has to use her crutches again, which is honestly very entertaining,” Kevin stated before turning to leave the locker room, turning right as he got to the doorway, “random question, are you planning on going to G’s for the send off party tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just wondering,” and with that Kevin was gone, leaving a confused Joel behind. 

Kevin knew that you had a lot on your plate right now and that you wouldn’t want to go to anyone about your problems. He also knew that the both you and Joel, were simply too stubborn to fix the problem going on between you on your own, hence why he had mentioned something to Ryanne. He knew that Ryanne would jump at the chance to be able to help you feel better and as soon as she mentioned the party set-up idea, he was in. The plan was then mentioned to most of the team, knowing that the help of many was needed in order to help the two idiots. 

….. 

After sending Kevin a quick text that you were leaving, you left your apartment and made your way to Ryanne and Claude’s house. Gently knocking on the door, you smiled when Ryanne opened the door, “awe, babe, I’m so happy you’re here, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too. Not to be rude, but where is the tiny human?” you asked, looking past Ryanne to see Gavin walking towards you, “hi, bub. Oh my god, you’re getting so big.” 

“Well if you came around more often, you’d get to see him more,” Ryanne mumbled, watching you play with the boy in front of you. 

“I heard that,” you said, in a sing-song voice.

“You were supposed to,” she replied, mocking your tone, “anyways, Claude is on his way back from the store, so he’ll be here soon, but I haven’t talked to you in forever, how’s everything? How’s gym?”

“Oh, well. I’ve been better, this last meet definitely wasn’t all that great and not being able to train doesn’t really help my case either, but I’m making the most of it,” you said, shrugging. 

“And you’re actually having to listen to Adrian this time around?” she said, pointedly, causing you to chuckle. 

“Yeah, I have to actually listen to Adrian this time,” you smiled, “I hate that I have to actually wear my knee brace, though. And I have to use crutches. Can you believe that?”

“Considering it’s you, I’m more shocked that you’re actually using them.” 

“Ry, shh, let’s not call me out too much today,” you replied. 

It wasn’t too long before you heard the front door open, Claude walking in a few seconds later, “awe, it’s my favorite babysitter. Come on, babe, let’s leave while we can.”

“Haha, I almost forgot how funny you are, G,” you said, sarcastically. 

“I’m sure, I’m sure. You know what would be nice though?”

“What?”

“Helping me put the groceries up,” he said, smiling sweetly causing you to groan. 

“Are chores and babysitting all I’m good for to you?”

“Well,” he looked up to the ceiling, as if he were thinking for another answer,”hm, nothing comes to mind, y/n/n.”

“Oh, that was mean,” Ryanne said, playfully elbowing Claude. 

“Thank-”

“She’ll never babysit again if we’re mean to her,” Ryanne smirked. 

“Oh, wow, I see how it is, don’t worry,” you said, the three of you laughing. 

As the three of you were setting out groceries - you mostly sitting on the kitchen island, taking things out of the bag - the three of you caught up. Claude talking about his hopes for these next few games, Ryanne talking about how Gavin was doing - not missing the few times Gav ran through the kitchen -, and you talking about whatever you could. 

“Ok, so we haven’t brought this up yet, but I was just wondering if you had any idea what’s going on with Beezer? I know you guys had gotten closer recently and he’s just not himself, so I’m asking if you know anything,” Claude asked, closing the fridge before turning back to you. Both him and Ryanne had a pretty good idea of what happened, but if they were missing something, they wanted to know. 

“Oh, um, well, about that one,” you sighed, gathering your thoughts, “me and him kinda haven’t talked since I told him I only wanted to be friends.” 

“Ok, but from the looks of it, it looked like both of you wanted to be more than friends?” 

“Yeah, but, there’s a lot more to it, you know.”

“No, actually, I’m a tad bit lost, y/n/n.”

“Look, I can’t have any distractions right now and I was worried about it affecting gymnastics, so I told him I only want to be friends.”

“That’s dumb,” Claude replied, quickly.

“Thank you, many people have mentioned that.”

“He has no place to talk in a situation like this,” Ryanne finally spoke up, causing you to look between the pair confused, “when his life was just hockey, hockey, and hockey, nothing could fill those spots. So, when our relationship was first starting he did the same thing to me that you’re doing to Bee.”

“This was supposed to be a philosophical moment and you messed it up,” Claude replied. 

“I didn’t mess it up, you’re just mad because you basically called yourself dumb. But pushing him away isn’t a smart option and it just hurts both of you in the process,” Ryanne said before walking back to where Gavin was. 

“Look, I know you said you didn’t want distractions, but this seems to be having a worse effect on you than you hoped. From the looks of it, when you started pushing him away, it affected your performance. Just pointing that out for you.”

“Yeah, I know. You didn’t have to point it out, you know.”

“Yeah, but you would have continued to ignore the obvious fact that you were just scared of a relationship in general,” he shrugged.

“I don’t even know how to talk to him about it or at least how to start the conversation.”

“Well, lucky for you,” he looked down to check his watch, “the guys are all coming over in like 10 minutes, so you’ll see him then.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a send off party for the roadie this weekend, why do you think we got so many groceries?” and with that he left you in the kitchen by yourself. 

…..

Joel sat in the backseat of Kevin’s car, Nolan in the passenger seat, as they made their way to G’s house. By the time they got there, most of the guys had already gotten there, seeing a few familiar cars in the driveway, but one stood out in particular. He knew that it was yours from some of the times he had seen you driving, “what’s y/n/n doing here?”

Nolan and Kevin both chuckled at that, “she came over here earlier to watch Gavin, I think,” Kevin said. 

“Oh, cool,” Joel replied, attempting to sound nonchalant as possible 

“Don’t try to act like you’re not freaking out. You aren’t slick, dude,” Nolan added, shaking his head, “you two better talk, too. Because everyone is tired of the two of you being idiots and not talking shit out.” 

“We’re not idiots.”

“You are,” the other two said in unison. Joel didn’t try to argue as he followed the pair inside their captain’s house. 

As soon as he entered the house, he took note that almost all the team was here, most of the team was outside, but he immediately found you sitting on one of the barstools with Gavin sitting on your lap as you talked with Ryanne. “Go talk to her,” Nolan whispered, causing him to jump. 

“God, Pat. What the fuck?” Joel said turning around. 

“I said what I said. You’ll have to talk at some point, might as well just do it. Plus, she’s on crutches, so like, if she wants to run away it will take her a while.”

“Um, that’s- I mean, that’s valid, but-”

“At some point today, you should talk to her. I obviously can’t make you and it’s up to you, but I think it would help fix things,” Nolan said, shrugging.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I plan on it.” 

You and Ryanne had stayed inside with Gav since the boys were grilling outside, so when Nolan, Kevin, and Joel walked in, you were one of the first people to notice. Kevin made his way over to you almost as soon as he came in, “so, you enjoying the party?”

“Considering I didn’t know it was happening, sure I’m having a great time, Kev.”

“Well, I guess it’s a surprise party then,” you quickly shot him a glare, “surprise.” 

As you heard the back door open, you looked up to see Joel already looking at you, shooting you a quick smile as he followed his teammate to go outside. “I swear, if all you guys do tonight is spare glances at each other and don’t talk, I’m going to lose it,” Ryanne said from beside you. 

“I think everyone will, to be honest,” Kevin added, “well, I’m going outside. If you need any help, just let me know.” 

The boys had a few different plans in place to get the two of you to talk; conveniently sending Joel in to help while you were inside, telling Joel to go help out inside, asking Joel to get Gavin, and as a last resort, make Joel jealous. 

When everyone had been done eating, Claude asked some of the younger guys to help him clean up and bring out the cooler with drinks that was still inside. Joel had somehow conveniently avoided going inside while helping and when he did, he went straight to the kitchen and right back out. He wasn’t wanting to avoid you all night, but he didn’t know what to do. Shortly after, Claude had asked Joel to go in and get Gavin, somehow right as you had left Gavin with Ryanne, which also ruined that plan. 

Ryanne knew that it would be suspicious if they kept trying those same plans. So instead, she basically forced you to go outside with her. She helped you get outside, Kevin shooting up from his chair to help you get down the stairs of the deck, “you don’t have to help me out, Kev.”

“Knowing you, you would trip and break something. You’re already hurt enough,” he said, causing you to roll your eyes. As Kevin looked up, he didn’t miss the way Joel lit up as he saw you, “hey, your boy is looking over here.”

Looking up, your eyes once again met his, to which you sent him a light smile, “yeah, he’s been watching me since I stepped out here.”

“y/n/n, you would only know that if you were looking at him, too.”

“Yeah, I never said that I wasn’t though.” 

“You know, it’s obvious the two of you aren’t mad at each other or anything like that. So, why the fuck haven’t you talked yet?”

“Oh, um. Words are hard,” you said, walking away towards Travis and Nolan on your crutches. 

“You’re literally on crutches, you aren’t moving that fast.”

“You know who else isn’t moving that fast?”

“y/n. I swear, if this is another your-”

“Your mom,” you yelled back to him. 

“What is up with you and making your mom jokes?” Nolan asked as you got closer to them. 

“They’re funny?” 

“y/n/n just has the sense of humor of a middle school boy, that’s why her and Beezer got along so well,” Travis added, helping you move your crutches so you could sit down at the table they were at, “how are the crutches?”

“How’s your mom?” you laughed, causing the two of them to groan, “nah, they’re not fun. In any way shape or form.”

As you were talking to Nolan and Teeks, Kevin and Ryanne realized that none of the plans they had tried were working. Both of them knew that the only plan that would probably work was to make Joel jealous, so Kevin texted Carter, Morgan, Nolan, and Teeks to let them know that was the plan that they were going with. 

“y/n looks really good today,” Carter said, causing Joel to spit out his drink. 

“Better watch yourself, Hartsy,” Joel replied, shooting a glare towards his friend. 

“I was just being honest, she really does. There’s nothing going on between you guys anymore, right?” Carter watched as Joel visibly tensed at the mention of what was happening between the two of you, knowing that the plan was working he continued, “I mean, if nothings going on between you two, then she’s single, right?”

“Well, I mean-” Joel stuttered out, “we haven’t talked in a while, but that doesn’t mean-”

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Carter said, making his way over to the table you were at, causing Nolan and TK to chuckle as they saw Joel’s face drop, “hey, y/n/n.”

“Hey, Hartsy, it’s been a minute. How is everything?” you smiled. You kept talking to the group around you for a while, not noticing the way Joel was becoming visibly angry. He didn’t want to seem jealous, but he assumed that Carter had been flirting with you this whole time, so he made the executive decision to talk to you now. 

Since your back was facing him, you didn’t see him coming, but the three boys around you did, only trying to hide their smiles since the plan was actually working. “Hey y/n, can we talk?” he asked. 

You turned around to finally face the boy you had been avoiding, “yeah, hold on a sec.” As you continued some of your conversation, Joel was getting more and more irritated, mostly because Carter was sending looks his way that he couldn’t exactly read. Joel, being the impatient person he was, pulled the chair you were sitting at away from the table, pulling you up to stand before lifting you up over his shoulder, “Bee, what the fuck?”

He simply ignored you as he carried you up the stairs and back inside his captain’s house. You tried pushing yourself off as he made his way up the stairs, but it was deemed useless when he just tightened his grip, “Farabee, I swear to god. I will hurt you.”

Eventually, he opened the door to the guest bathroom and gently set you down on the counter before locking the door, “what the fuck was that for? If you want to talk, you could have just waited a second. But no, you had to be all dramatic about it,” you said, rolling your eyes. 

“Are you done?” Joel asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door.  

“I mean, yeah. Are you?” 

“Yeah, but I’m tired of us ignoring each other and I miss you, so we need to figure stuff out.”

“Awe, you miss me? That’s cute,” you smiled. 

“y/n/n, I swear, now is not the time for that one.”

“Ok, sorry. I’ll be serious now,” you said, crossing your arms to mock him. 

“I just want to know what happened at the lake?” 

“Oh, we’re going straight to the point, alright,” you sighed, “look, what I said at the lake wasn’t true. I got this idea in my head that if you were in my life, you were a distraction from what I wanted.”

“How’d that work out for you?” he said, smirking. 

“Oh, no, see that’s what we’re not going to do. No need for the attitude. Anyways, I had this idea that if anything happened between us, that I would mess it up and it would mess everything in my life up. So, pushing you away was the safest option.”

Joel took a moment to gather his thoughts before pushing himself off the door and made his way closer to you, ending up standing between your legs with his hands on either side of you, “look, I’m saying this and I mean it. I understand where you’re coming from with the fear of distractions thing, but I want you to know that I would never intentionally keep you from your goals and dreams. I’m just extra support, you know.”

“Yeah, I realized that after you ran from the lake house. We could have had this figured out by now, if you had stayed,” you said, sarcastically. Rolling your eyes for added dramatic effect. 

“Oh, shut up. You have no place to talk, babe,” he said, smiling when he heard you giggle, “what was that for?”

“I kinda missed you calling me babe, I guess. Kinda crazy, dude.”

“Awe, so you did miss me?”

“I never said I didn’t,” you said, quietly reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck. You saw the way that his eyes went from your eyes to your lips, “I also missed this,” and with that you pulled him closer until your lips met in a long awaited kiss. 

As the two of you broke away, your foreheads were still together, “hey, Bee?”

“Yeah?”

“You know who else I missed? Your mom,” you laughed. 

“Way to ruin the moment, babe,” he smiled, “That was funny though, so I respect it.”

“Dude, I’m so funny sometimes.”

“Looks aren’t everything, babe,” he said, laughing at the gasp you responded with. 

“Oh, that was rude. I’ll get you back one day though,” you watched as he went to leave the bathroom, “hey, Bee. I’m not supposed to walk without crutches, hate to break it to you.”

Rolling his eyes, he made his way back to you, turning around right in front of you, “here.” You leaned a little bit forward, wrapping your arms around his neck once again as he readjusted his grip on the back of your legs, so he could give you a piggyback ride on the way back outside. 

“You know, they didn’t tell me there was a party,” you spoke as he made his way back towards the door. 

“Oh, they said it was teammates only and then I saw your car,” he replied, pausing a moment as the two of you realized what had happened at the same time, “so, this was-”

“Yep.” 

“And Hartsy saying he was going to ask you out was part of it?”

“Hartsy said he was going to do that,” you started cackling. “Wait, were you jealous of him?” you asked laughing even harder. 

“It’s not funny.”

“Oh, yeah. I know, it’s hilarious.” 

“I will drop you right now,” he said, as he opened the door for outside, “and you’ll stuck right here, Ms. ‘I can’t walk down stairs right now’.”

“That’s a low blow,” you said, as the two of you made your way back to the table you were at. 

“Oops, sorry, babe,” he set you down close to your chair, but sat down before you could.

“Oh, so now you steal my chair, too?”

“Oh, shut up, you’re fine,” he said, pulling you to sit in his lap, “there you go.”

“So, I see the two of you made up?” Nolan asked, pointing at the two of you. 

“We also made out, in case you were wondering,” Joel replied, earning an elbow to the stomach, “ow, that hurt.”

“Sucks to suck, babe,” you replied, causing the smile on his face to grow even more. 

When Kevin and Ryanne watched the two of you walk back outside, they were happy to see that the plan worked. Ryanne simply laughed and shook her head as she heard the exchange between the two of you, “they are so in love and I don’t even think they realize it.”

“Ryanne, that is a big word, that I’m not prepared for. So, please, let’s not do that today,” Kevin replied, earning a laugh from Ryanne, “they’re happy though, that’s all that matters to me.”

#sticking it #joel farabee #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #philadelphia flyers #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #beezer #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

[mimiri22-6]

WAIT!!! PLEASE AT LEAST READ THIS, AND TAKE INTO CONSTIDERATION

WHILE PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT BE HERE STILL! I woke up after Tommy’s and Techno’s streams again, even though it’s nearing 4pm for me, and I just had an epiphany that could help with tagging and how we talk about what’s going on in the Dream SMP vs their normal stuff. It’s what we do in the Sanders Sides fandom with Character Thomas vs Thomas himself; C!Thomas.

Meaning we could take the same concept and tag everyone’s characters as Character [name] and/or C![name], as seen above with Thomas. 

Now don’t take this the wrong way, we still tag ‘Thomas Sanders’ when talking about Sanders Sides cause that’s His Show, like, kind of one of the only running things he has going on rn and he likes to see what the fans create. Not saying the Dream SMP members don’t, but they have other things going on, Very different things. And while Thomas is acting parts of himself, meaning it’s practically Thomas showing Very personal bits of his life and mind, the Dream SMP members actively play Characters Different From Themselves. Not everyone of course, because Phil is still a fairly chaotic but lovely father figure and jokingly accepts that his entire chat has made him their dad, Quackity is still loud about what he knows and believes in, Tommy’s still loud and loyal to everyone he cares about, Nikki’s a bit quiet but cares so deeply, and among other’s I’m blanking on rn. The people I feel this would be mostly for is Schlatt, Dream, and Techno; in the order of severity.

Schlatt: Even though he’s dead rn, people could still be attacking him for his character, I wouldn’t know I don’t like thinking about conflicts so I don’t pay attention to them. Anyway! Like I was saying, he was getting hate for his stellar acting as a villain on the SMP. I didn’t know of Schlatt until I got into the SMP, somewhere after the election. So I barely had any time with these people, only the multiple hour long ‘movie’ on yt and, I think, the first animatic SAD-ist did, and a few 5-10 minute clips to bring me up to speed. BUT(god, sorry, this is long as fuck) WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS, Schlatt’s character instantly put me on edge, all I had was the clips of him yelling and calling Tubbo names under his breath and just being an absolute bitch of a man. Schlatt’s character still puts me on edge, just rewatching clips of him just Talking, Just TALKING, make me queasy. like a bolder in my gut...and then I looked into Schlatt’s other stuff. Now when I’m having a bad day, I put on one of Schlatt’s videos, he’s become a comfort YouTuber to me, he on the same level of comfort as Thomas Sanders and Sanders Sides for me, even thought they are so different in every way imaginable. Schlatt’s acting is amazing in the SMP because it’s so similar yet so different from his normal self.

Dream: He’s getting brought up mostly due to recent events with Tommy and how his character is either clearly gaslighting or so dilutional that he actually thinks Tommy is his friend. Dream’s character is so hard to read, mostly because he doesn’t stream(along the same lines of Schlatt, I think? Idk if he streamed), and that makes his motives and how his mind works a complete guess to viewers and other characters. BUT Dream’s friends have described him as ‘too wholesome’ or something like that, telling us that Dream is just Super Nice. Dream the person doesn’t like the thought of people knowing who he is in real life, and that’s totally understandable. with how people are nowadays with loving who they watch a Little Too Much, that’s scary as Fuck. So he doesn’t talk too much about himself, just his videos with the Dream Team and Manhunts and just absolutely blowing up in general. He’s Young! Idk how young, but defo young adult or something, he’s still maturing(fuck I know how that be, I haven’t even eaten yet and it’s 6pm now), he’s still figuring shit out, he’s adjusting. Don’t shit on Dream himself for his ambiguity just because his character is being a real bitch to deal with rn. He’s doing some fucking A+ acting rn.

Techno: The fandom is extremely split on Tech’s character rn, half are saying that he betrayed Poggtopia and the other half are saying Poggtopia betrayed him. I am on the ‘Poggtopia betrayed him’ side. The characters had bad communication with him and didn’t tell him what was going on half the time. He thought they were Destroying Manburg, while the others knew they were Taking Back L’Manburg. He was open about hating Governments in general and Poggtopia just didn’t listen. Techno the person is also a bit ambiguous about his personal life, not as much as Dream, but sill something along those lines. He’s open about his social anxiety and ADHD, which his character also seems to have(you can not just turn that shit off, it happens). People hate on his character because he wasn’t honest about his motives, but the thing is? He is. This is mostly just to protect Techno the person. He’s become a favorite of mine, too, somehow not as much as Schlatt, but close. His character, too. They’re both honest as hell, but the thing with, kind of both, is that people don’t listen to him so they end up just assuming what he was thinking at the time. I’ve honestly been on Techno’s side every time someone comes up against his character, mostly because I understand a lot about how he is, especially the social anxiety. I have nothing wrong with his character and he doesn’t put me on complete edge like JSchlatt’s and Dream’s characters. Also, stop dissing how he’s acting! He’s doing Great when it comes down to it, improving the Theseus story was god tear, don’t @ me, I like him lots.

This was a long and convoluted way of saying we should tag Dream SMP members like Character Thomas.

Just let these people act without fear of being cancelled.

#Dream SMP #Thomas sanders mentioned #sanders sides mentioned #C!thomas mentioned #Character Thomas Mentioned #c!Dream #c!jschlatt #c!technoblade #dreamnotfound #jschlatt #technoblade #i'm tagging both now but I think we should only use their normal tags when not mentioning the smp #character jschlatt #character dream #character technoblade #philza mentioned #tommyinnit mentioned #quackity mentioned #nikki mentioned #long post #like this is too long a post and now i don't really want to post it because it feels too long #but i'm going to post it like this anyways because i don't feel like editing it

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 8, Episode 14 - The Final Word

Thoughts on the final episode of RWBY Vol 8 under the cut.

Also, I will from now on reblog spoilers for Volume 8, which will be tagged with “RWBY v8 spoilers” if you want to blacklist them.

tw: Since the episode itself had the same content warning, I should mention that I will be discussing themes of suicide in this post.

Also, everything I’m about to say is *my* personal opinion. I’m not trying to tell anyone else that they’re supposed to feel the same way about anything in this episode. In turn, please don’t tell me how to feel about it either.

- I should start by bringing up what I said in my post about episode 13, because all of that is going to become relevant now:

So... that all aged... interestingly.

- Next, I should say that I actually did end up getting spoiled about Penny’s death. I was trying really hard and didn’t go into any tags, but literally one day before this episode was released to the public, Tumblr recommended me two blogs with the titles “Penny deserved better” and “Justice for Penny Polendina”… so I drew my conclusions from that. And while I think those blog titles are valid sentiments, I do wish people would wait a week before putting spoilers in a blog title. But then again, I was weirdly glad to get spoiled this time, because it meant I was more emotionally prepared.

- And now, on to my very controversial opinion about this finale: I… uhm… I actually liked it. There, I said it. I liked it. I’m seeing a lot of takes from people who hated it, and that’s totally fair, but personally, to my own surprise, I liked it. (It’s kind of interesting that last time I said it would be “awful writing” to kill Penny now, then it happened, now the whole fandom is complaining about it being awful writing… and I’m here going “actually… that wasn’t so bad”.) That’s not to say that I’m a fan of everything in this finale, especially re: Penny – but overall, the good outweighed the bad *for me*. (Stressing again that this is just how *I* feel.)

- I think the main reason I feel that way is because I honestly expected way worse. If you read that thing I wrote last week^, you see I expected multiple character deaths. I was incredibly nervous. And after I’d already spent a few minutes genuinely thinking Yang died (because of a badly worded episode 13 spoiler I accidently saw), I had to think about the kind of deaths that would be a dealbreaker for me and make me drop the show. (Let’s say it like this: If either of Bumbleby ever died for real, I would be done with this show immediately.) So, in short, I was terrified of the finale and expected it to be the kind of finale that ruins the show for me (which has happened in far too many fandoms so far) – and it wasn’t. I have mixed feelings about how they handled Penny’s story, too, but this finale didn’t ruin the show for me and I honestly felt way worse after the Volume 3 finale. Maybe that’s because I wasn’t prepared for it at the time, but this time I spent a whole week being super anxious, so when I’d actually finished the finale, I just felt overwhelming relief.

- Okay, so let’s talk Penny: Back in Episode 12, I already wasn’t a huge fan of the idea to make her human (if that even is what she was?), but I think I said I’d reserve judgment on it until we see where they go with it. Obviously, it feels unsatisfying to have the show just kill her off after everyone’s been trying to save her all volume. And of course, it’s never fun to see a favorite character of yours (and Penny is definitely a favorite of mine) get killed off. The way it happened (a character who’s been trying to sacrifice herself the whole volume finally doing so through assisted suicide, even though there could have been several potential ways to still save her) feels incredibly unsatisfying and depressing as well. The “heroic sacrifice” cliché isn’t new, but there’s still a difference between a sacrifice that feels necessary and like it really was the only way (Hazel, Vine) and one that feels more like a character being over-eager to sacrifice themselves even though there might have been alternatives (Penny). So really, I understand why people don’t like this, especially because the narrative, so far, seems to validate Penny’s choice by having her plan work. And that does send the opposite of the “fight for every life”, “no one is replaceable” message this volume had been going for until then.

- And this is why, I think Penny’s death is meant to be awful. Volume 9 might prove me wrong on this, but I think we haven’t seen the end of this storyline yet. For me personally, it’s too early to judge this plot-point by itself because it depends a lot on how they deal with it in the aftermath and how things go from here. (For instance: I hated Pyrrha’s death at first because going into a fight she knew she couldn’t win also felt like a needless heroic sacrifice to me. It was only how the aftermath of it was handled from there that made me be okay with it.) So basically, what I’m asking is: How will the other characters handle Penny’s death now? Will Ruby (or anyone else) get angry at Jaune for agreeing to kill her? How will Ruby grieve in general? And, most importantly: Will the narrative really treat Penny’s choice as the “right” one or will it challenge that view? (And was there maybe more going on that we know because I’ve been reading those “Penny is alive” theories and… oh boy.) So yeah – for me it depends on how it gets handled from here.

- Also, I just want to say that I really appreciate RT putting a suicide trigger warning in the beginning of the episode and I wish people wouldn’t twist that into a bad thing. (I’ve seen some takes along the lines of “If they had to put a warning, that means they were aware it’s a harmful message, so that makes it worse” and… please don’t do that. Content creators putting trigger warnings on things is a good thing. Also, this might be a controversial take, but I don’t think fiction always has to “send a good message and teach you a lesson.” The important thing is that RT were aware that this episode could be upsetting/distressing to people and that’s why they put a warning and the suicide hotline’s number in the description.)

- Anyway, I’ve been rambling for too long. My point is: I understand the criticisms and agree with some of them, but I hope the writers know what they’re doing here and I want to believe that they do. I also love all the theories about Penny coming back (in Winter’s mind, for example) and I think they’re not actually that unlikely. And if Penny doesn’t come back, then honestly, I’m okay with that, too. At the end of the day, she’s a fictional character. I can always go and read fanfictions where she’s alive and lives happily ever after with Ruby and nothing that happens in canon can ever take that away. Canon only has as much power as you want it to have. I can enjoy the canon show and the story they’re telling (even if Penny is dead for good this time), while still also enjoying my AUs where she’s fine. One doesn’t harm the other.

- (Also, let me take this moment to shamelessly promote my favorite cartoon show because I think this is relevant to the interests of anyone who hates the “person who’s been trying to sacrifice themselves the whole time ends up doing just that” story: The main character in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is self-sacrificial to the point of it being unhealthy, but the show explicitly doesn’t treat this as a good thing. When she tries to sacrifice herself for the greater good in the final arc and says it’s better that way, this is treated as a problem, and the lesson she ends up learning in the end is her life has value, too, and that she deserves to be happy. (The show’s also very gay.)

- I don’t know if brought any of this across properly. Basically… I’m not happy about where they went with Penny either, but I am okay with it. I still enjoyed the finale and will continue to enjoy the show. And I want to focus on the things that make me happy about RWBY and made me happy about the finale, so I’ll talk about the rest of the episode now (while rewatching it because I’ll forget stuff otherwise):

- Have I mentioned I really love the Volume 8 opening? Because I really do.

- That shot of the destroyed whale is still awesome.

- I love how the episode opens with all the fights we left off with (Winter vs. Ironwood, Penny vs. Cinder, Harriet vs. Qrow, Ruby vs. Neo) and cuts between them. Also, the music is amazing!

- Elm admitting that Harriet is their friend and that being what finally gets through to her was a nice conclusion to their little arc, I guess. Vine’s sacrifice and his admittance that they’re his friends and he’s doing this for them were touching. Honestly, Harriet is right to blame herself for his death. That said, while this volume made me strongly dislike her, I do hope she now gets an arc about actually dealing with her grief and changing. I think that would be way more interesting to see than still having her be bitter, especially after what happened in this episode.

- Qrow causing good luck to stop the bomb was a nice little moment and honestly makes sense. Good luck and bad luck are just a matter of perspective, after all. What’s bad luck for yourself will be good luck for your enemies and vice versa. So, maybe Qrow technically caused “bad luck” for the bomb? Either way, I like the idea of him realizing that his semblance is more than what he thought.

- Cinder breathing fire during the fight was awesome. I need GIFs of that.

- Blake was amazing in this episode! I love that she didn’t let her grief over Yang consume her, but got up and kept fighting, kicked Cinder in the face and told Weiss to get up. Good stuff!

- I wonder if Cinder’s “You should have never been born” line to Ruby was just a generic “I hate you” line or meant something more.

- Do people honestly think that Cinder betraying Neo was unexpected or like… super unreasonable for a villain? Neo did threaten her – most typical villains don’t react well to their underlings threatening them, so I really don’t see why some people are so shocked or downright offended about this (is it just because they like Neo?).

- Weiss being the last one standing and using Blake’s weapon in the fight was absolutely amazing.

- The tragedy of Jaune sending Nora to bring the Huntsmen and Huntresses back through the portal while not knowing the portal is a one-way deal…

- Cinder knowing that Salem is back because her Grimm arm started hurting was a super interesting moment. And Weiss’ shocked face in that moment was quite interesting, too.

- I wonder if Penny really meant dying when she said “Let me choose this one thing”. To me, it sounded more like she meant choosing the next Winter Maiden. Also, her “trust me” to Jaune is an interesting line. Between that and us not seeing how that conversation goes on, I wonder if there’s something we don’t know here. (*puts on my “Penny is alive” tinfoil hat*)

- I’m glad they at least didn’t graphically show Penny’s death – which is an interesting choice again, because this show doesn’t usually shy away from making deaths graphic and portraying them in all their brutality. So, the fact that we don’t see the act itself and then just cut to Penny’s conversation with Winter was interesting. (But I am glad about it because I didn’t want to see that.) It might honestly just be because of the nature of Penny’s death that they didn’t want to show it too much (and that’s fair).

- “You were my friend.” Gosh, this rewatch is making me cry now 😭. (I also think it’s interesting that Winter calls herself a machine and Penny is now the one who corrects her. It’s a nice callback to Ruby telling Penny she’s their friend and “not just a machine”.)

- I was also just reminded that Penny died thinking Ruby was dead… ouch. This possibly hurts me more than Penny’s death itself.

- People have also pointed out that when Penny transfers the powers to Winter, her aura looks yellow (like Jaune’s) with only some green sparks (like Penny’s). Hmm… I really wonder if there’s more going on here.

- “I won’t be gone. I’ll be part of you.” Who’s cutting onions in here?

- Honestly, the main reason I kind of forgave them for killing Penny was because THAT MOMENT of Winter opening her eyes with the powers while that epic music plays was just amazing to witness. And her fight with Cinder? EPIC. BREATHTAKING. BEAUTIFUL. I’m not even that into the idea of Winter as the Winter Maiden (I honestly thought Penny, the robot girl, becoming the Winter Maiden was a much more interesting plot), but the way it was done in this episode was great. I’m glad we’re finally getting that rivalry between Winter and Cinder, because their arcs parallel each other in so many ways. And I love the symbolism of Winter only getting the powers that Ironwood chose for her after she betrayed Ironwood. I like the idea that she only became worthy of them after turning on Ironwood (which does work well with her Volume 7 arc).

- Oh, by the way, I really hate the “Team RWBY will become the four maidens eventually” theory. Even if it didn’t require characters to die, I just think it would be cheap and way too obvious, and I think it’s boring to throw all the magic powers at the main characters. So, if they only made Winter the Winter Maiden so she can eventually die and pass it on to Weiss, I’ll be very annoyed. (But I hope that’s not where this is going.)

- I’m also just realizing that Cinder asking “How am I supposed to take her power if she’s dead?” about Penny a few episodes ago was foreshadowing… damn.

- Jaune’s sword breaking was a really cool and symbolic moment, too.

- Winter trying to save Weiss from falling and not reaching her in time really got to me. I’m mostly not that affected by any of Team RWBY falling into the void because… come on, we know they’ll be fine. But Winter thinking her little sister just died is… oof. Maybe it’s because I have two younger sisters, but stuff like that really gets to me.

- Also, Winter going through that portal and seeing her family after she just (as far as she knows) lost Weiss… ouch. They never got to all reunite with each other (yet).

- I absolutely LOVED that final scene between Salem and Cinder. They’re both such fascinating characters and I just live for their interactions. Cinder talking herself down (even though she got the relics, so she knows she succeeded at the most important part) was amazing on her part. She did learn from Salem! It’s also interesting that even though she got what Salem wanted, Cinder didn’t get what she herself wanted (the Maiden Powers). I feel like that’s eventually going to become important.

- I wonder if Salem believed Cinder’s lies or not. I’ve seen some interesting opinions in both directions here. (Also, again, I don’t get why some people are so shocked and offended about Cinder lying? I’ve seen so many “I hope she pays for her lies” takes and… really? That’s her biggest crime in your eyes? Lying to another villain?? I don’t think any of you villain-haters feel bad for Salem here, so why… oh. Oh, nevermind, I just understood. They’re not mad that Cinder lied, they’re mad because they wanted Salem to kill her. Gosh, that’s so dumb. Face it, people: That’s not going to happen because Salem still needs the Fall Maiden’s powers. She’s not going to kill Cinder anytime before Cinder opens the last vault.)

- Cinder killing Watts with the staff was kinda funny, tbh. Also Salem’s proud little smirk in that scene kills me.

- “And that’s checkmate.” THAT. Okay, THAT was the best line in the entire episode, I don’t make the rules. What an epic moment!! Gosh, have I mentioned I love Cinder to death? What a queen! This volume really completely changed my opinion on her. I’ve already said that she’s my standout character of the volume, and I stand by that. It was her volume in so many ways and it’s so fitting that she gets to say the last line. It’s also such an interesting line in so many ways: 1) Because this episode is called “The Final Word”, is the only episode in this volume that doesn’t have a one-word title, and the actual final word of the episode is “checkmate”, it implies that “Checkmate” is the real, hidden title of the episode. And that fits so well! They could have easily just named the episode “Checkmate”, but revealing it like this works even better. 2) I also love the chess symbolism in this volume in general. There was a really great analysis about it on here somewhere, but basically: Salem is the king, Cinder is the queen (the king can’t die and barely moves, the queen is out there getting rid of opposing player pieces). And the interesting thing about that here is that the king can’t actually checkmate anyone else, only other chess pieces can. So, it’s very fitting that Cinder is the one who says “checkmate”. Also, in a game of chess, you often have to sacrifice your own pieces to win, which is what Cinder did. 3) I also LOVE the realization on Ironwood’s face when he realizes that he’s been so paranoid about Salem, but he’s actually been playing Cinder all along. (Someone else on here pointed out that there’s something super poetic about Cinder, someone who was very much a victim of Atlas’ systemic problems, being the one to defeat Ironwood and destroy his kingdom. Ironwood was ready to sacrifice all the poor people from Mantle for his own goal, and a poor person who was hurt by people in Atlas is the one who destroyed him. Yeah, yeah, Cinder’s evil and all, but I love it! 4) It’s also really interesting to me that Salem said “This game is not yours to win, it’s mine” to Cinder in the first episode of this Volume, but in the end, Salem ended up being gone for the entire last part of the volume and Cinder is the one who got to say “checkmate.” IT’S JUST SO GOOD.

- And ngl, I’m super happy for Cinder. She really got it all. Yeah okay, she didn’t get the Maiden Powers (and I hope she never does, because one person being two maidens at once is lame), but she got the relics, got rid of her enemies and co-workers (or so she thinks), destroyed the kingdom that she was a slave to, got back into Salem’s good graces… good for her! And apparently one of the buildings that you see being flooded was the Glass Unicorn? Amazing. Love that.

- (Yes, I’m team “redemption for Cinder please”, but come on… it was never going to happen this volume. And if it never happens, that’s okay, too – I’m loving her as a villain as well!)

- Also, I hope that all the people who were specifically criticizing Cinder for not being a competent enough villain are very happy now. Because there you have the competent villain you said you wanted! I mean, I’m saying this as someone who used to criticize Cinder’s character for not being interesting/deep enough. I used to say that I’d like a backstory or something that makes her more interesting/compelling to me. But as soon as we got that backstory, I happily switched sides to team “I like Cinder now”. So, I better not hear any complaining from the “I just want her to be a more competent villain” faction now!

- Yeah, I admit I’m getting annoyed with the Cinder hate. Everyone has a right to their opinions, but it gets frustrating when you’re going through the tag of a character you like and half of the tag are people talking about how badly they want that character to die. (Maybe use a seperate tag for it?)

- (I’m just realizing that I said “Well, at least it was only one character death” earlier, but people like Ironwood and Watts actually did die… I just didn’t count those because I don’t care. Sorry not sorry.)

- We decimated Salem’s faction quite a bit this volume, didn’t we? There’s only Cinder, Tyrian, and Mercury left. I wonder if Salem will get some new people on her side.

- Overall, while I did like this episode, I feel like Volume 8 got weaker towards the end. Most Volumes were at their best towards the end, but I feel like episodes 8-11 were the strongest parts of Volume 8, while episodes 12-14 were still good, but not as good.

- My prediction is that Volume 9 will (of course) be Tearm RWBY’s way out of the void (or whatever that place where they ended up is called) – And I quite like the theory that we won’t see the other characters at all and it’ll be focused only on what’s happening in the void.

#RWBY #RWBY Vol 8 #RWBY v8 spoilers #RWBY Vol 8 spoilers #RWBY spoilers #RWBY The Final Word #suicide tw #Penny Polendina #long post #sorry this got so ramby - I don't even know if I expressed any of it properly #Winter Schnee #Cinder Fall #Salem #James Ironwood #Elm Ederne #Harriet Bree #Vine Zeki #Qrow Branwen #Blake Belladonna #Weiss Schnee #Neopolitan #Arthur Watts #Jaune Arc #Nora Valkyrie

[1337wtfomgbbq]

I gotta rant for a second here. I hate this app. Okay maybe not this whole app, more the people on here. Specifically the people in the supernatural community. Yes talking to you. I can’t believe I’m even back into this with you guys.

I know people can pick and chose which characters they like and which they dislike. I know, for some trauma and whathaveyou also plays into what they feel towards a character.

But I am just so mad. I’m on a little bit of a rewatch, as you are, of season 1 to 3 (maybe some episodes of 4 and 5) because those are the only good seasons, and I just wanna look at some posts of my favorite character.

But my favorite character happens to be John.

TLDR: John's character is complex as fuck and people like to oversimplify and villify him, for no reason other than „BuT My DaAAadYY WaS ShiTTy!!!!“

And I get it. People on here disregard season 1-3, even the writers disregarded what JDM wanted John to be: “I don’t think he’s as screwed-up as other people do,” Morgan told EW. “I think he is a guy who’s got a tremendous amount of love for his family. He was willing to die for his sons, willing to put himself in a place to where he could lose his life for revenge on what killed his wife. So as much has been said about John or that I’ve heard about John, I think what is missing is that he shows love in different ways. Maybe he wasn’t a big hugger and he didn’t say the right things when he should’ve — and there’s a bigger picture about getting your kids into hunting ghosts that I should acknowledge — but I think at his core he really loved his family and was willing to sacrifice everything. So I never looked or played John in a way that there was any malice toward his sons.”

People project what went wrong in their lifes and with their fathers on this app SO HARD. To be fair they do that everywhere. But it's so infuriating when it's done to a character you love so much.

And as much as I wanna be understanding I am just so pissed.

Hear me out: Back when I first started watching supernatural (I was fucking 12 back then, can you believe that) and my friend was all „OMG Sam is such a treat. He's mine!“ I thought, okay I'm gonna take Dean then.

The coin finally dropped on me in 'Shadow' and I realized „Heck, screw Dean, I'm taking John!“ (Not that I told my friend that, LOL. I hadn't realized just then that I prefer older guys)

And attraction is one thing, but the character spoke to me on such a deep level too. I mean, you got a dude whos wife died in a way that he cannot explain in a rational way, only to have his eyes opened to the supernatural by Missouri. And it turns out whatever killed his wife also did some fucked up shit to his kid and is after, not only his youngest but, all of them.

So he's forced to take his kids on the run. But, he's also an ex-marine, he's a soldier and he can't leave other people to die at the hands and claws and teeth of monsters and ghosts and strigas and whathaveyou. Which leaves him struggling to ballance protecting and caring for his kids and saving people and hunting things, AND finding the thing that killed his wife.

The way John's situation was set up (ignoring for a second what we learn in later seasons) and the way Sam was brought up by him created a relationship that was bound to escalate; it was only a matter of time.

Season 1 to 3 we got a John that was distant and rough, but a John that recognized he fucked up along the way and who saught to rectify where he went wrong with his boys.

Season 1 episode 20: „You gotta understand something. After your mother passed all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you...prepared. Ready. Except somewhere along the line I ... uh ... I stopped being your father and I ... I became your, your drill sergeant. So when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about, my only thought was, that you were gonna be alone. Vulnerable. Sammy, it just... it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me -- We're just different.“

And guess what, Sam admits seconds later: „We're not different. Not anymore. With what happened to Mom and Jess... Well we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone.“

Season 1 episode 21: „I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school, I want Dean to have a home. I want....I want Mary alive. It's just....I just want this to be over.“

John literally on the show in person, Jeffrey Dean Morgan Season 1, admits that he didn't want ANYTHING OF WHAT HAPPENED, AND WHAT HE HAD TO DO TO HAPPEN!!!!

Sure, Sam suggested to Dean that John's just „working overtime on Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later“ in the very first episode but we never see John drink alcohol, for all he's on screen in season one, ONCE. (1x1) Suggesting that John did have a drinking problem but somewhere between Sam going off to college and the pilot he kicked that habit.

Sure, Sam is clearly vindictive BUT, when faced with a kid with a clearly abusive father, he also says that, „Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we coulda had Max' childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him.“ (1x14)

We see him cry on multible occasions in season one and two, we see him hug both Sam and Dean and tell BOTH OF THEM that he is proud of them. Heck, he couldn't shut up about how proud he was of them. Like Jerry told Sam in 1x4 „Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell, He talked about you all the time.“ He kept Sam's soccer trophie, and Dean's first sawed off. He fucking died to safe Dean.

Yeah, he told Dean that he'd have to kill Sam if he goes evil but...

Let's take into consideration season 4 and 5, and John wasn't all too wrong for telling Dean this. Even if we ignore all that, as John probably didn't have the full picture, John didn't knew the extend of Sam's powers. As is always said, „With great power comes great responsibility“. We have seen in comics, shows, movies, all over pop culture and history, how easily great power can corrupt, don't matter how nice and righteous that person is.

Let's take into consideration what was added in season 4 and 5: Like John having another family, the fact that cupid had to get him and Mary together, Mary making a deal with Azazel, the few demons (not even all of them) Lucifer showed Sam who had been put into his life by yellow eyes; even that just adds more credence to the already established character.

Of course John was bound to have flings after Mary, you can't expect a widower to just be celibate forever. And it wasn't even that he bailed on her, he literally didn't know there was a child until twelve years later.

And considering John's erratic 'work schedule' and how little we know of Kate, maybe it was her that wanted John not to have much contact to her son. The whole situation with Adam isn't exactly clear, and told through the eyes of a ghoul. Plus, we all saw where John's decision to leave Adam in the dark about the supernatural had him end up (namely killed by a ghoul).

The fact that cupid had to get John and Mary together only gives more ammunition for my argument that John was only working with what was given to him. Pretty much everyone from hell to heaven was meddling in his life.

Getting ahead with headcanons here but, for all we know John and Mary would've never ended up together; for all we know Mary was a lesbian and John was bi; for all we know they could've still worked out without cupid's help. Who knows? We don't because heaven took that decision away from both John and Mary.

The fact that Mary made a deal with Azazel to safe John's life in exchange for Azazel to be able to enter her home in ten years time, again, caused something to happen down the line that affected John and the boys that John had no control over.

And I gotta thank Lucifer for his part, because it gives EVEN MORE credence as to why John couldn't give Dean and Sam a normal life. He reveals SOME of the people Azazel planted into Sam's life that were actually possessed by demons.

„LUCIFER: Look closely. None of these little devils look familiar to you? SAM: That's Mr. Bensman... One of my grade-school teachers. LUCIFER: And that's your friend Doug from that time in East Lansing. And Rachel... your prom date. Sam Winchester, this is your life. Azazel's gang – watching you since you were a rugrat, jerking you around like a dog on a leash. I know how you feel about them. Me too. So, what do you say you and I blow off a little steam?“ (5x22)

A few episodes earlier we found out that his friend Brady, the one that introduced him to Jess, was actually possessed by a demon, and the one that fucking killed her.

„BRADY (chuckles): Brady hasn't been Brady in years. Not since, oh... middle of our sophomore year?

SAM: What?

BRADY: That's right. You had a devil on your shoulder even back then. All right, now, let it all sink in.

SAM: You son of a bitch. You son of a bitch! (Sam approaches Brady, Dean holds him back) You introduced me to Jess!

BRADY: Ding, ding! I think he's got it!“ (5x20)

All of this paints a clear picture for me, of a man that got played by fate and heaven and hell and was only trying to play the cards all of them dealt him to the best of his ability. Did he fuck up along the way, yes, did he show remorse for that and did he wish he could've given Sam and Dean a better life, Yes.

I completely understand people liking one character and disliking another, even projecting onto characters I get. And I get that people's life experiances lead them to different conclusions.

But it pisses me off so much that I can't go into the 'John Winchester' tag without having to read some shit as fuck take on John.

I have to read people saying that he never told Dean he was proud of him and that the only time he did so he was possessed by Azazel. Which isn't even true, but a motherfucking lie.

Season 2, episode 1; when John WASN'T POSSESSED ANYMORE he said to Dean: „You know, when you were a kid... I'd come home from a hunt. And after what I'd seen... I'd be wrecked. And you... You'd come up to me... you'd put your hand on my shoulder, and you'd look me in the eye. You'd say, "It's okay, Dad." Dean. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to say that to me. I should've been saying that to you. You know, I put... I put too much on your shoulders. I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sam, and you took care of me. You did that. And you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know... that I am so proud of you.“

I have to read people forget or disregard that John was literally a righteous man. Alastair tried to break John and John didn't break for a century and then clawed his way OUT OF HELL TO SAFE HIS SONS IN 2x22. John must've had righteousness in heaven (which would come through faith in Jesus) and righteousness on earth (which would come through living through the commandments) as long as that's what the writers meant with 'righteous man'.

I have to read stuff John would apparently do only because we learn in 'Dark side of the Moon' that John and Mary's marriage wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and that John even moved out for a period. Even though we don't know who caused that fight and what it was about, literally it could've been Mary's fault and John only left to cool off. And even if not, marriages aren't just sunshines and rainbows. Fights happen, bad stuff is worked out. That would be true even without the cupid spell.

I have to read someone projecting their experiance with their father onto John. I have to read about someone saying John would've been such a dick because he was in the military and fought in the vietnam war, and we all know that's what all sodiers back then were (dicks). I have to read about how homophobic and transphobic John obviously was. I have to read about how much John would've been racist to Sam and Dean if they'd been mixed.

John was born in 1954, he has to be homophobic and transphobic and racist and bigoted and everthing you can think of. It can't be possible for someone to be born during that time and not be, right. (I hope you recognize the sarcasm)

Everybody is screaming 'child abuse' as loud as they can without taking into account the unique world those characters inhabit and the situation fate, heaven and hell put John and the boys into.

Dean could dig himself out of his grave because John used to bury them alive and had them dig their way out of a coffin as training!!!? Are yall good?? Literally what did your parents do to you, what went wront in your life that you think shit like this?!

And I get it, you can headcanon all you want. I myself headcanon John as bi and that Azazel knew and used this fact.

The writers did John so dirty in later seasons, and I'm not even alone in this, JDM agrees with me.

„But it always bugged me that the John that I played is different than the John that has been portrayed since I haven't been around. I really wanted the opportunity to be able to come back and make amends in a way and try to fix the sullied name of this character. But more than that, it's three friends, life lived. It feels like we've been friends for a lifetime now, getting to reunite in a place that we love and that we met and do what we do and I think that is super cool. So not only does John win in getting to come back and see his boys and Mary again and hopefully make some amends, it's just as cool for me, the actor, to be able to come back and see everybody.“

I'm sorry, but if Snape fans are allowed to be pissed about people suggesting Snape would've been creeping on Harry if he had been female and looked like Lilly, I can be pissed about everybody and their grandma in this fucking fandom painting John in the worst light possible.

JDM created such a great character with depth and who was interesting, even in season 4 and 5 they were still respectfull to his character, but the later seasons were just *throws up *

And I mean, I get it, I disregard canon too. Like, I disregard everything after season 5, that's Sam hallucinating in hell to me. Sometimes even after season 3, cause I don't feel like dealing with the angels, and cas and destiel and all that.

I get it, I get it, I get it.

But I too have the right to be pissed off about the way people like to shit on my fav.

Long story short, I love John and how complex and grey his character is and I HATE IT how simple and 'black and white' people wanna make him out to be. I wanna punch a bitch. I wanna throw hands right now.

#supernatural #spn #john winchester #john winchester defense #john winchester defense squad #I am heated #I literally wanna throw hands right now #I wanna be understanding of you guys #but yall are *tears at hair * #I don't get yall

[headoverhiddles]

Hide Your Hand - Marilyn Manson x Reader [Smut]

Synopsis: You can throw your rock and hide your hand, working in the dark against your fellow man. As sure as god made black and white, what's done in the dark will be brought to the light. 

Notes: Started this when the God's Gonna Cut You Down video came out, and it's been a while, but I rewatched it and finished this! The ending is kinda up for interpretation. Also, this is kinda based on the idea that this video is a sequel of sorts to Man That You Fear. Enjoy! 

Tagging: @blueinkblot​ @antichristsuperslut​ @skin-slave​ @peachynun​ @plagued-rat​ @livelifewondering​ @elrosew​

His eyes open.

The lids crack with falling dust as he attempts to move his head, but notices white plastic in his peripherals. Confirming his suspicions, he finds his limbs packed too tight to move as well. Flexing the muscles in his shoulders and making fists, he begins to rock, the necessary evil of desert dirt filling his mouth as he cracks his confines. Tattooed fingers break ground, and blunt fingernails pick their way out of the makedo grave.

Thankfully the coward who buried him didn't do a very good job. Then again, not many people expect a dead man to emerge from the dirt, especially when they can't see past the ends of their noses. A reanimated corpse would have given whatever bastard who did this a heart attack; then he'd be the one holding the shovel.

Shaking the dry dirt from his black hair, he tries to remember why he was buried in the first place. It's as if he's half brain dead-- or half his brain hasn't been awakened yet. Every time he tries to think of his past, it's as if a mental dam would go up, blocking him access. But it isn't mechanical-- no, he is the opposite of mechanical. He is biodegradable, or he should have been. The only undeniable clarity in his mind is one single fact: he should be dead, and he should've stayed dead.

Seeing as it isn't really an option to get back in the hole and cover himself up again, he starts walking. He has hopes that this was some kind of underworldly mirage in a sea of punishment, that he'd wake up and see some nightmare only he would be capable of dreaming up. But thus far, the devil wasn't popping up to laugh in his face, so he supposed he could stop being so cynical.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Why the fuck is that? Who had done the proverbial biting? What had happened, and how had he awakened? He lets out a long sigh, the air in his lungs brittle and unnatural. What he does remember of his life before, is there was an element of relief found in simple country indulgence. Whoever he is, he recalls the taste of whiskey sour and the satisfying singe of burning herb on his tongue, filling his mouth, filling his dry lungs.

He has to find a bar.

 -

You feel like the ice box in front of the motel you passed on the highway: melting slowly in the desert heat.

A single coin, older than three of your lifetimes, tumbles down your fingers like a staircase, swiped up into your palm and placed again at the top. The pure silver glints under the bar lights, and your drink is placed in front of you.

"On the house," the bearded man, who was as close to a modern day cowboy as he could get, smiles at you. You tip your wide brimmed hat. Nobody questioned why you were wearing a hat and dark glasses inside, or why you had taken the very end of the bar, farthest away from everyone. Southwestern places like this get people from all walks of life passing through, and people, in general, were all just as fundamentally odd as they pretend not to be.

Finally placing the coin heads up on the cracked wooden table, you swirl your drink and observe.

Something had drawn you to this town. Last time you had contacted the other world, they had directed you here, and though you hadn't studied the occult for long, you understood that that many signs, from the living world or otherwise, meant something catastrophic had just happened out here in the desert. You'd wait it out, and see if whatever it was would come to you first. You can already feel it, whatever it is-- you can feel the energy, and it makes you shiver. Fermented hatred, violent impulse, and bitter restlessness buzz beneath your skin, and you're dying to figure out where-- or who-- this bad mix of hoodoo is coming from.

-

A white pickup truck, damaged by some kind of weather, sits abandoned on the side of the road. He looks around, and as he suspected, there isn't another soul as far as the eye can see. That, by his standards, makes this his pickup truck.

As if a gift from god, the keys are still in the ignition, and he doesn't have time to worry about the two bloody bullet holes in the seat. He drives out of there in a cloud of dust, hoping for civilization.

Civilization, and people.

He suddenly swerves violently, eyes snapping shut.

He had a wife. She looked somewhat like him, only more feminine. Her name was Marilyn.

He wore a hat. He had long hair back then, hair that would get tugged in moments of passion and brushed in moments of vulnerability. Soft hands interrupted rivulets of warm water cascading down his back as he sat under a showerhead and let tears fall.

He lived in a small community. A cult created out of fear. A pointing finger, blindfolded shot caller.

He had been a scapegoat.

Bare chest, open palms, and a deep, aching pain, repetitive, blood running down into his eyes, until...

Those eyes snap open, and he swerves back onto the road. Narrowly missing a white painted cross, he looks back to see a graveyard.

"Marilyn," he says to himself. His voice sounds like paper ripping, and he coughs, growling a little until his throat begins to feel normal again. He still doesn't remember what they called him, or who he properly was... his wife wouldn't be needing her name anymore, since she must be long dead; he decided it suited him.

 -

The sun is just going down over the Mojave hills as you finger the black crystals dangling between your breasts. Whatever it is, it's taking its time.

Licking a small sheet of rolling paper, you fill it with some of your own homegrown bud, and strike a match off your boot.

"You waiting for someone?" the bearded cowboy asks you, and you recognize the charming glint in his eye as someone who's barking up the wrong tree.

"I don't know yet," you reply honestly, and leave it at that. The man presses.

"What do you mean? You've been sitting here all day." He leans in. "My name's Shooter. What's yours?"

"Call me Clint Eastwood, cause I'm the Woman With No Name," you answer drily.

"Hey now..." Shooter leans in, "It would just break my heart if a pretty little lady like you got stood up... left lonely for the night."

You meet his gaze. "I'm far from lonely. And the night is far from over."

Just then, a breeze blows the door open, and someone walks in. It's a man in a white wife beater and a plaid button up over it, jet black hair covered in dust and dirt. His eyes are dark, just like the rest of his aura, and you're drawn to him. This is him. This is the feeling.

He sits next to you at the bar, but doesn't look over immediately. First, he checks the place out... then his eyes land on you.

"Thirsty?" he asks. You nod, smiling.

The twitch of his lips carve a mysterious half smile in his face as he lifts his fingers to catch the bartender's attention. Not like he hadn't already.

A drink is placed in front of you, not on the house as it was when you were "lonely and pretty". The man takes his own glass of dark amber liquid. Nursing his own poison and seeming to revel in it, he lifts it to his lips. You notice the alchemical symbols tattooed onto his fingers. 

"Marilyn," he glances up, catching a newspaper clipping of the old Tate murders glued to the wall, "-Manson."

"Manson," you nod, "I'm (y/n) (y/l/n)."

"Pretty name." You wait for the "for a pretty girl", but that part never comes. You tilt your head, intrigued.

"Where are you from?"

He gives a mirthless chuckle, voice still caked with dust and the unfortunate secret that he had just freed himself from his own grave. "I have no goddamn idea where I'm from."

Now you're very interested. “You have amnesia or something?”

He considers this. “Maybe. I just woke up this morning in a body bag out in the middle of devil’s asshole, Nevada.”

“Sounds like someone tried to kill you,” you say softly, heartbeat picking up. He drains his glass, pushing it forward for another.

“Mhm. The strange part is, it feels like they succeeded.” The crystals hanging around your neck begin to warm against your chest, and you look down. He spots your dwindling joint in the nearby ashtray, and sees that half of it is ash now. “If you’re not gonna finish that, hun,” he nods to it. You gesture to it for him to take. He does, studies you, and puts it to his lips. His eyes squint through the haze, and his mouth opens in an ‘o’ to free the smoke. You feel a different sort of warmth fill you.

“You live here?” he asks.

“No.”

“Why you here?”

“I felt like I should be.”

He looks around slowly. “Sure. This is really the place to be, huh?” A fly lands on your glass, and a bearded guy burps over by the cobwebbed jukebox. You look down, smiling.

“I have my reasons.”

He watches how your lips graze the mouth of the glass, leaving a faint red imprint. He feels something rouse inside of him. Now that drinking’s out of the way, he’s suddenly reminded of another need. But he's not certain how everything's working just yet... best to make sure. Shooter fills up Manson's glass again, turned away but intent on eavesdropping.

Manson lifts it to his lips, drinking the Tennessee Whiskey down like it's water from a mirage. Finally, he decides he can trust you.

"I have something inside of me," he murmurs. You rest your elbow on the bar.

"Like what?"

"A sort of intuition. There's somebody I need to kill. Lots of people." 

"I hope you don't mean everyone in this bar," you joke.

He smiles, looking down. "Wouldn't kill you. And that guy over there by the jukebox looks like he's on a mission from God to drink the most whiskey any man's ever drunk, and I'm not about to stop him on his righteous path."

You laugh. "I think you're well on your way to getting there first."

He looks back down to his now emptied glass. "That's another thing. I can't even feel the effects." He cocks his head. "Fuckin' awful. That was the best part about living."

"Was?" you ask in amusement.

"I'm telling you. I can't be alive. Something brought me back, and it's not for good."

"That's it," Shooter says, loading a rifle from behind the bar and pointing it at Manson. "You two take your devilspeak and you get the hell outta here before I blow you away." Manson lifts his eyes to Shooter, taking in the man's much smaller form. He stands, and it all happens in a blur. You snatch the rifle in what can only be described as symbiotic intuition on both your parts, and Manson rushes Shooter, grabbing him by the vest and pulling him over the bar.

"M-Mister I'm--" the bartender begins to say, but Manson impales him with a sickening crack on the deer antlers hanging on the wall below the Budweiser sign.

You pass Manson the rifle, watching the drunk in the corner try and decipher what just happened. He's no threat. Manson slings the rifle over his shoulder, and grabs the bottle from the other side of the bar, drinking from it. He passes it to you, where you’re standing, leaning with your back against the bar. You take the bottle, swirling your tongue around the top, before drinking. You watch the body drip blood from where it’s hanging. He watches you.

 As he stares at your lips, the need building inside of him is almost undeterrable. He remembers what it was like before, to be deep inside a woman, to get everything he can take from a willing, welcoming girl.

"What makes you tick?" he murmurs.

You exhale. "I'm certain you could find out."

He drives toward the address of the motel you had given him, shotgun in the backseat for safe keeping, and parks the truck in the front. You unlock the door, ignoring the strange look from the motel owner, and let Manson in. He sits down on the edge of the bed, and you take your jacket off. Sensing how he reacts to that, you pause, and begin to unbutton your shirt. You turn to him, and take the rest of your top off. 

Manson stares, watching every movement closely. You take off your shorts slowly, and your panties with it. Soon, you're fully naked, and his breathing has increased. He's aroused even more when you walk toward and get in his lap on the edge of the bed, breasts pressed against his chest. 

He brings his hands up to feel your back, and smooths them all the way down to your ass. You straddle him, helping him take his shirt off. You trace his mosaic of tattoos with your fingertips, and cup his cheeks, pressing your lips to his. They're dry, cracked, but you don't care, and neither does he. He kisses back, and a surge of violent desire prompts him to pick you up, clearing everything off the table and sitting you there. You help him work at his pants, and he finally gets them down just enough to lay you on your back on the table and push into you.

You groan, reaching down to help yourself along. He takes a black rosary hanging from the TV set, and ties your hands together with it, keeping them above your head. You whine as he fucks into you, moans increasing as he touches your clit. He uses one hand to massage your breasts, giving attention to both, and his hips stutter. 

"It's... okay," you breathe out, "You can..."

He grunts, but refuses to cum before you, no matter how long it's been. He picks you up and moves you to the bed, lying you on your back. Your hands fist the sheets as his lips move down your body, pressing kisses down your chest, between your breasts, to your stomach, sucking hickies down your inner thighs, licking down your legs to your feet. Then he finally kisses back up to your pussy, watching the wetness leak to the mattress.

"I want to hear you," he rasps, and you sigh, appreciative noises building as he darts his tongue out to make small circles around your clit.

"Oh," you whisper, "Oh yeah."

"Louder," he growls, licking faster.

"Please, please!" you whine, "Right there!"

You cry out loudly as he brings you to the edge of your peak, but he disappears from between your legs before you can cum. Disoriented, you wiggle your hips, but look up to find him standing at the foot of the bed. He tugs you by your ankles down to where he is, and lifts you up. You arch your back in relief as he slides his cock back into you, like it’s your lifeline. That's all it takes for you to come undone, crying out his name as you cum on his cock. 

"Baby, baby... so good," he grumbles, drawing out almost all the way and slamming back in deep. He keeps up his bruising, thorough pace until he too becomes erratic, leaning his head back and groaning your name. You feel him finish inside you, and sigh contentedly, spreading your arms out. 

He drops your legs, and you crawl back up to the pillows. He lays down on the other side of the single bed, letting you cuddle into his space. Your head rests on Manson’s chest, as you close your eyes and search for the stranger’s heartbeat. 

You're awakened from your dreamlike state as you notice he doesn't have one.

--

It's 3 am. Hours have gone by, and he can't sleep.

He realizes, hands behind his head, that nobody who killed him is still around. They all must have died years ago, that he would be chasing ghosts. That's just what he was... a ghost. Or a demon. Maybe he was the devil himself. Sooner or later, he knew that the darkness would return. It came for them, it would come for him. 

He turns to look down at your sleeping, naked form, and strokes you. You look like an angel, sleeping on a halo of the hair spread out over his chest. He defiled you last night, spread his darkness over you. 

Maybe he wasn't a scapegoat after all. Maybe he deserved everything he got. Maybe he wasn't an avenging angel. Maybe he was chaos on earth, brought back for a short time. But his feelings, his human urges were so real when he felt them raging through him. He felt like he needed to kill everyone who wronged him, but he didn’t know how to find them. So many unanswered questions, and the sun would rise on them all in a few hours.

The dim TV with the rosary draped over it glitches, and turns from snowy static to a black fuzz.

-

You wake up in the morning, and find that the spot next to you is empty. You expected that-- the man was on a mission, but it was a nice detour. Still, you get up, and look out the motel window. 

That's strange. His car is still there. You start to search the bed for your panties, but stop. There's a strange dust left in his side of the bed, and a note on the bedside table. 

You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God'll cut you down.

- The Stranger

#marilyn manson #marilyn manson x reader #reader x marilyn manson #brian warner #brian warner x reader #reader x brian warner #brian hugh warner #god's gonna cut you down #johnny cash #music video #marilyn manson fanfiction #marilyn manson imagine #marilyn manson imagines #marilyn manson fandom #marilyn manson smut #mansonite #mansonites #heavy metal #heavy metal fanfiction #bandom

[apiratecalledav]

Is there other stuff that makes you think hbo messed with gendrya?

Oh, man, I’m probably gonna be thought of as the Murray Bauman of the fandom…. But yeah, there’s actually quite a bit that makes me think that it’s possible. When season 8 first aired, I thought that maybe executive meddling shot them down for some reason, most logically to protect spinoff potential.  They might have let the show “test the waters” but ultimately wanted them left ambiguous.

I thought it was… interesting… that Gendry and Arya had by far the gentlest, most amicable breakup in the entire series— and that it was over Gendry’s lordship that he straight up said wasn’t worth anything without Arya—when HBO UK made a cryptic tweet that made me wonder if someone high up was leery of the pairing/fan reaction.  If they wanted the option for an Arya Stark spinoff someday, I could see why they wouldn’t want her to end in a relationship they thought might be poorly received.  

I also thought that maybe since Gendrya went so far out of the show’s usual M.O. (to the point that it was one of the very few things about season 8 that I was wildly off about) that their thought process might have plausibly been something like, “Gendrya can’t be endgame? Well, fuck it. We’ll go all out and have them do pretty much everything else: Make out, spend the night together, save the world, say, ‘I love you,’ and get down on one knee to propose.”

I also thought that I was probably just a tinfoil-hat-wearing weirdo saying, “My OTP wasn’t definitively endgame! It must be a conspiracy.”

But I rewatched the whole season a little while ago and I noticed some things that I think are… interesting. Although, you should keep in mind that it was during two VERY long and VERY boring days at work where I had nothing to do.

I could just be shipper trash, seeing what I wanna see. Maybe not. I’m just saying that I’d believe it if something was up. From the way they portrayed Arya and Gendry, in general and especially in comparison to Jon/D-ny (I’ve anti tagged but if you don’t have blacklisting enabled, this is your fair warning), I could believe that the writers like the ship. And while Arya is certainly not the poster child for perfect mental health, there isn’t anything to suggest she would be toxic in a long term relationship. She isn’t selfish or cruel. I also don’t think that she hates herself the way that Sandor and Jaime did and that she believes she deserves to be “punished” or alone. She didn’t say anything to Gendry about not wanting to be a wife, just not a lady. 

They’re consistently portrayed as a healthier/more favorable foil to Jon and D-ny:

In 8x01, D-ny swoops down on Winterfell and is cavalier as fuck about resources.  She has no comment about food except that dragons eat “whatever they want.” The next scene, we see Gendry running to catch a chunk of dragonglass that was about to tumble out of the wagon. He tells everyone to be careful because they need every last bit of it. He then goes on to climb up the wagon, much like Arya did in the pilot episode. I think it’s even in the same spot. If not, it’s very similar.

Also 8x01, D-ny tells Jon, “keep your Queen warm” and while they are kissing, Jon keeps opening his eyes and freaking out because scary dragons are eyeballing him. And D-ny is pretty much like, “Don’t worry about it, it’s cool.” Even though she’s already made a few jokes about how if they decide to roast Jon then he’s shit outta luck and she threatened Sansa. Then the very next scene is Gendry and Sandor just before Arya finds them. Arya teases Gendry as well but she also defends him from Sandor, compliments him, jokes he should “keep close to that forge” if he’s cold and tells him not to call her Lady Stark. They laugh and banter and all awkwardness fades away and they’re both grinning like dorks. Arya actively wants Gendry to see them as equals; D-ny subconsciously wants Jon in his place.

Even as the dead are practically in their backyard, D-ny keeps obsessing about the throne. Meanwhile, Arya’s station doesn’t bother Gendry anymore because he knows it doesn’t matter. He also signed up to help Jon immediately without asking for anything in return.

Arya and Gendry each seek the other out in 8x02 but Jon spends a lot of it trying to avoid D-ny until the last moment

8x02 Arya and D-ny find out Gendry’s and Jon’s parentages. It makes no difference to Arya, she loved Gendry when he was a barmaid’s bastard and she loves him when he’s a king’s son. Jon’s  bio father shatters D-ny’s whole world.

Most of Jon’s family (this includes Sam) distrust and fear D-ny. Jon and Sandor like Gendry and Sansa and Bran have no complaints at least.

Their ~love scenes~ have a few shots that mirror each other, too.  But we see the buildup for Arya and Gendry, their conversation, their first kiss, undressing each other. We see Jon and D-ny and in the middle of things, during a montage explaining how they’re closely related and narrated by Jon’s little brother. Not exactly sexy. Then it cuts to Tyrion lurking nearby looking troubled and finally ends with an ominous shot of the Targ flagship in the dark and gloom. Meanwhile, Arya and Gendry are alone, not related, and are the sole focus of the scene. There’s not even music.

In 8x04, at the funeral, Gendry and Arya are initially a good distance apart. Then after they light the pyres, you get a shot of Arya with (an admittedly very blurry) Gendry visible over her shoulder. Meanwhile, Jon and D-ny stand together while lighting the fire and then they part.  

Gendry’s “I love you” to Arya is enthusiastic and happy and D-ny’s to Jon is coming from a place of mourning at best and it’s straight up manipulative at worst.  The words “I love you” are rare in this show. I can only remember Jorah saying it a couple of times, Littlefinger to Cat and Sansa, Joffrey pledging to wed Margaery, and Robb to Talisa. The only times it’s not sad or creepy are Robb and Gendry.

These two scenes are the most glaringly obvious. But to summarize, Arya tries to set Gendry “free” when his life changes in a direction she doesn’t want for herself and D-ny tries to put Jon into a corner and make sure his life CAN’T change into one that she doesn’t want. 

So with that stuff in mind, I could buy that maybe they wanted Arya and Gendry to reunite in King’s Landing and try to save civilians together.  Or maybe have Jon ask Gendry to take Arya as far away as he can before Jon goes to that throne room to do what he has to do. Hell, look at Arya’s final scene as is: She’s on a ship and then you see her Stark sigil on the sail against the sunlight… If Gendry was with her, that’d sure look like a happier version of D-ny and Jon’s scene from the end of season 7…   While probably a bit too on the nose for GRRM’s books, I could see the show implying that Gendry and Arya are the second, more hopeful verse of the Song of Ice and Fire…

Other Season 8 Subtext-y things:

Marriage imagery; Arya under Gendry’s cloak. Bonus points for it being shown during these lines from Jenny’s song: “spun away all her sorrow and pain/and she never wanted to leave.”  “She spun away and said to him, ‘no featherbed for me.’”

Pretty much all of Gendry’s scenes in season 8 are with Arya or he’s with Sandor, talking about her. The small handful of times he’s not with either of them, he’s with her siblings and other people connected to House Stark like Tormund and Davos and even Sam and Edd.  After their “breakup” he virtually disappears. Pretty much the ENTIRE reason they brought him back was for Arya and to be tied strongly to House Stark.

Beric and Melissandre, who once wanted to sacrifice Gendry for “the greater good” and caused Arya to turn towards a darker path, sacrifice themselves to defeat the dead, not only saving Arya’s and Gendry’s lives but guiding Arya further into “light.” To the point where she literally ends the Long Night.

Gendry tells Arya that she’s beautiful and he loves her and gets down on one knee to ask her to marry him… Which is so wildly uncharacteristic for this show that I still can’t believe that it’s real. It’s by far the most traditional romantic moment in the entire series.  I suppose it could just be fan service, but 8x02 would have sufficed on that front. Not to mention that “fan service” in this show has never been something so wholesome.  

They could have done the proposal differently. They could have had Gendry say crap like, “Now we can settle down and live a boring, respectable life” or something else that would have been really unappealing to Arya. It actually would have been another connection to Robert/Lyanna, where Robert only loved his idea of Lyanna. But nope. They could have framed it as Gendry trying to do the honorable thing or “they’re gonna marry us off anyway, at least we like each other.” But nope.

Gendry could have been put off by Arya’s combat skills but he was turned on by it. She even used her “game of faces” voice on him and it didn’t send him running for the hills.

They also could have easily had Gendry be too “tame” for Arya but nope.  Her face at this part just kills me.

They made a thing out of Gendry being “forever loyal” to D-ny after she legitimized him but he had jack shit to say about her at the Great Council and was all too happy to vote for King Bran, even after Arya had turned him down.

A follow up to that other post in regards to a Gendry-ish looking guy grabbing Arya and asking if she’s seen his wife, Alanna: Magaery’s cousin with the same sounding name gets a GRRM-esque weird spelling: Allana with two Ls and one N. As opposed to the more traditional spelling that looks more like Lyanna….

One of the surviving lords at the Great Council is specifically from the Storm Lands. He’s probably who has had Storm’s End for the last few years and maybe he doesn’t deserve to get kicked out by a boy who doesn’t have any idea how to be a lord and doesn’t even want to be a lord without Arya.  He even has a name: Lord Une.  The Dornish prince doesn’t have a first name but this guy does?

Also, Une is a very unusual name. It’s not from the books and it doesn’t really sound Medieval Europe-y, either. Maybe there’s an inside joke or something? That’s definitely not a name you just pull from the air.  

Arya lights Beric’s funeral pyre but if Sandor didn’t have issues with fire, I think he probably would have done it as Beric’s last surviving friend. It kind of gives us the sense that Arya can do what Sandor can’t—which of course, she ultimately does when she decides to leave Cersei while Sandor, who has missed so much being hurt and angry, can only have peace/forgive himself is if he stops Gregor forever. 

In the very next scene after the funeral, we see Gendry and Sandor talk about Arya. Sandor basically says that normal, living people have emotions and hormones and it’s not a bad thing.  Sometime later, we see Sandor scare off a girl who makes a pass at him. The next scene is Gendry and Arya. Arya also ‘rejects’ her love interest but it’s in an infinitely more thoughtful way. We already know that it’s easier for Arya to be close to other people than it was for Sandor. Arya just has a little bit more to go until she’s completely ready for something serious.  

Episodes 1 and 2 establish a pattern of “Sandor then Gendry.” It’s how they arrive at Winterfell. It’s how they reunite with Arya. It’s how Arya visits them towards the end of 8x02. Sooo again, I could see at one point the intention was for them to reunite in King’s Landing. Possibly during that bit where it keeps cutting back and forth between Sandor and Arya; “hateful” Gregor grabs Sandor up to throw him around and “loving” Gendry lifts Arya to save her from getting trampled. Nora, the name of the kind stranger who does help Arya, is essentially the “female equivalent” of Gendry’s name.    

According to the leaked outline of season 7, Gendry was originally supposed to be rescued by Benjen beyond the wall. In season 8, he has scenes with Jon, Sansa, and Bran, and even Edmure and Robin. ALMOST LIKE THEY WANTED HIM TO MEET *ALL* OF ARYA’S FAMILY. I’m pretty sure only Tyrion has met more Starks and Tullys than Gendry.

The “Ice battle” was at Arya’s childhood home and the “Fire battle” was at Gendry’s. And yeah, I think it’s pretty damn weird that a capable, uninjured soldier who has knowledge of King’s Landing isn’t there.

They gave them a reference to The Princess Bride: “As you wish.” Comparing them to a beloved couple from a modern classic is a good sign. Comparing them to most likely a childhood favorite? Even better. Comparing them to a couple where their other famous line is “Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a little while.” And Arya and Gendry are still alive.  Actually, it might be a coincidence but they do have a SHIT-TON in common with The Princess Bride. GRRM is a fan, too, so maybe it was discussed at some point. It’s certainly uncanny if it wasn’t at least partially intentional. But that’s a different post.  

Sandor knows about Gendry and Arya and he doesn’t rip Gendry’s head off. Gendry basically got a blessing from Arya’s last legal guardian.

Their outfits reflect each other’s houses, Gendry’s clothes having some very Stark direwolf-like scratch marks and Arya’s scabbard is yellow and black aka Baratheon colors.

I haven’t listened to it yet, but apparently in the leaked audio commentary for 8x06, they talked about how Joe wanted Arya to notice how hot Gendry looked.

Other stuff that makes me think that the writers like Gendrya:

They gave them a lot of time and focus. Even in season 8 where they had very limited time. And objectively speaking, that time probably should have been spent with Arya and her siblings.

They had Arya befriend Gendry earlier and easier than she does in the books.

In behind the episode of 8x02, Benioff talked about how you choose to spend your last night on earth says a lot about you. The very first example he gives is Arya wanting to be with Gendry.

They are always depicted positively:  They trust each other; they respect each other; they make each other laugh; they protect each other.  Even during their “breakups” in season 3 and 8; they are honest and accepting of each other’s decisions.  These two are young and inexperienced but they manage to be more mature and healthier than 95% of the other couples.  Their relationship also doesn’t doom them the way that Robb and Talisa’s did.

They changed stuff from the books to make it– not more romantic per se given Arya’s age– but certainly shipping fuel that fit more into romantic tropes: How they meet, how Gendry discovers that she’s a girl, how Arya blatantly checks him out when he’s shirtless. Their long one-on-one and emotional “goodbye” scene where Arya says, “I can be your family.”

They changed/added lines to foreshadow “My Featherbed,” aka where Gendry is legitimized but gives it up for Arya: “I have a son, you have a daughter. We’ll join our houses” but leaving out how Robert specified Joffrey and Sansa. Changing “you’ll marry a king” and “no, that’s Sansa” to “you’ll marry a high lord” and “no, that’s not me.”  Davos telling Gendry how he became a lord to help his son and it actually got Mathos killed in battle.

The main bullet points of season 8 were largely what I was expecting and I was at least in the ballpark about a lot of the details. Like did I predict King Bran? No, but I knew he belonged in the south because he named his direwolf Summer. I knew the king or queen would be a dark horse and I was fairly certain Tyrion would be Hand. The few things I didn’t anticipate still seemed to validate the main themes and messages I thought that GRRM was going for. Like King Bran. Now I can’t believe I didn’t see it. Who better to “end the game of thrones” than someone who doesn’t want to play and also can’t be plotted against?

Gendrya is the one major thing that tripped me up. Seriously. I would have bet my fucking car that if Gendry didn’t die, he’d walk away from a lordship and be with Arya on her ship, even if the nature of their relationship was ambiguous.  

So I could believe that they wanted or at least expected Gendrya to be endgame since season 1 and someone told them no. It could have been GRRM but I must admit that I have a difficult time believing that.

I guess I could see GRRM having the point of their relationship be that Arya is upfront and honest about what she wants and Gendry respects her decision and doesn’t turn into a bitter/mopey drunk. Or that Gendry dies and Arya doesn’t wallow in it forever… But there’s so much that makes me think that Gendry is meant to be the “sweet” part of Arya’s bittersweet ending, and at least be her True Companion.  Not to mention they’re still too young to really have a relationship in the books. Well, at least Arya is. And those particular parallels to Robert and Lyanna fall pretty flat in my opinion if they’re not romantically involved.   I mean, come ON. How the hell could it NOT end with the possibility of Lyanna’s niece/ Jon’s sister and Robert’s son/D-ny+Rags cousin???

Possible HBO Shenanigans:  

I thought it was kinda funny that HBO UK–not Game of Thrones but an official HBO account– made a tweet shortly before 8x02 aired implying that Arya is eighteen… when she’s more likely sixteen (lots of reasons, not to mention that Maisie has even said that Arya is sixteen.) And sixteen is the age of consent in the UK anyway.  As far as I know, that was the only public attempt by HBO to quell controversy in an already hugely controversial season. Like, after The Bells, I don’t think anyone at HBO tweeted about “Ideally, good rulers don’t commit 2.5 times the amount of war crimes as the Night King.” So I do have to wonder if there’s a reason that they’re particularly invested and protective about Arya’s reception…

There was a huge shitstorm when Tommen and Margaery got married and pretty much most of that stuff was off screen.  Sure, Arya’s a bit older and Maisie was in her 20s while Dean-Charles was still in his teens… but people do tend to get much more outraged when it’s a girl with an older guy than vice versa.

There was also a big shakeup when AT&T acquired HBO and they got a new CEO early in 2019, a couple of months before season 8 aired. The former CEO seemed to have been championing Bloodmoon, that prequel that got canceled recently. He might have been pulling more for a potential Arya show back when the season was still being written… the new people at AT&T also seemed extremely upset over what the budgets for GoT and Big Little Lies did for their bottom line.  

While HBO has stated emphatically that there are no current plans for an Arya spinoff, they were sure to tack on a “right now, a sequel […] doesn’t make sense for us.” I do believe that this is something they want to have in their back pocket.  There’s a lot of interest in the idea and if House of the Dragon does well, I won’t be shocked if five+ years down the line we get at least a movie or a limited series about Arya. It’s by far the easiest, since her character can be isolated from everyone else and there are tons of cool places to explore. Hell, if they were really desperate, they wouldn’t even need Maisie Williams to come back. They could just recast and say she’s wearing someone else’s face to hide from mercenaries or something.  

GRRM gave an interview talking about how certain characters who have “a high Q rating” (popular) get pushed into more screen time. Bronn is almost certainly one of those characters. He’s always been a self-serving asshole, but the things that made him feel more like an affable rascal—his funny lines, his genuine and open fondness for Podrick—are all but gone in season 8. Not to mention that there’s the implied possibility he’s dying from some “pox.” In the outline for season 7, he’s much closer to “Season 8 Bronn.” Like, he was the one who was originally going to ask Jaime about Widow’s Wail and call Joffrey a “See-You-Next-Tuesday.” When Olenna said it, it was pretty funny. But coming from Bronn, it was a real dick move. I could believe that their “treatment” of Bronn in season 8 was a bit of a middle finger to him. The same way I could perceive Gendrya’s portrayal as being a “fuck you” if they weren’t allowed to actually be endgame.

TL;DR: Gendry and Arya are one of the very few healthy couples in the entire series,  and it could be argued that they even get “special” treatment. Both of them lived and while Arya certainly has been traumatized, she is not a walking dumpster fire who wouldn’t be good for him. It would have been only too easy for them to be portrayed as incompatible or worse but they weren’t. Their breakup is over a virtual nonissue. So it’s not out of the range possibility that they were a victim of executive meddling.  

And please spare me any “bUt D&D aRe ToO STuPId tO dO tHis.” I’m not campaigning for them to win Pulitzers any time soon, but the notion that they’re complete nitwits is just silly. They both have M.F.A.s  from very good schools and their scripts/outlines that I’ve read have a lot of really clever and really well-thought-out references, ranging from history to poetry to literature to even The Rolling Stones.  

I’m not saying that they intentionally did all this stuff but they certainly could have if they wanted to.

#gendrya #gendrya positivity #arya x gendry #gendry #arya stark #anti jonerys #anti daenerys #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire

[parvasilvi]

Endeavour Fandom Meme tagged by @wherehefoundtheporcupine​, thanks!

Top 5 Episodes

Ride is my absolute #1 favourite. I’ve watched it so many times. The plot is so ridiculous. Great Gatsby&the Prestige crossover? I love it. Morse taking the time to heal after trauma? I needed so much more of that. THE HAIR? Forever in love. Home is also a favourite. Endeavour’s so YOUNG there. We get to see some of his family. We get some Thursday backstory. They take down the (former) mob-boss together. Morse looks so terribly fragile at the end. I just love it. Trove, immediately following Home, also great. Morse slowly piecing himself back together after being shot in the pevious season’s finale. Protective Dad!Thursday. The way Morse snarks at the snooty professor. The kindness he shows Frida Yelen’s dad. The tender moment with Monica. There’s a lot to love in this episode. Neverland almost didn’t make it in the top 5, because the puppet CREEPS me out, but I had to have it here, if only for Morse standing with Thursday, doing what’s right, despite the (DIRE) consequences. AND the POEM! I could listen to that on repeat except I cant handle the emotions. And lastly Deguello, andother episode where Morse takes on the corrupt upper layers, only this time with the Cowley team standing by him. Also by this episode I had gotten used to the Morsestache and could almost live with it.

Runner-up for Quartet for fantastic spy shenanigans, and also just mentioning Coda as a runner-up because I enjoy the angst of the bankrobbery but am not really here for manipulation-via-women that’s the plot of this episode.

Seasons in Order of Preference (or tops)

Gods must you do this to me? There’s highs and lows in all things. S3, S1, S2, S5, S4, S6. I haven’t brought myself to watch S7 yet, I worry it’ll make me dislike the show. It all seems so DIRE. I prefer the earlier seasons where there wasn’t AS much strife between Thursday and Morse, though the differences were always there I suppose. S3 is a definite fave, I love all 4 films that year. S4, the season where Joan left without saying anything, is only so low because it hurts my heart soo much. I cannot bear Win’s suffering. She breaks my heart in season 4, what a phenomenal performance with the little screentime she has. I love Win so much.

Favourite Scene(s)

Season 3, episode 1; Morse is back in Oxford, where he belongs, and he’s sitting on a bench next to Thursday. They discuss the case, Morse predicts the sandwich. And then, finally FINALLY. Morse talks about what prison was like. He tries to keep it light, but it’s... it’s still so fresh. But Thursday listens, and reassures him when he starts to doubt himself. And these actors, their faces, it’s just. I love it.

Honorary mentions for the bed-shopping scene with Monica which is adorable and I love their love, the scene where Morse and Claudine discuss rain and sex because I like when Morse is happy, the exact way in which Thursday says "He's an idealist" in S6 finale Deguello as he's explaining why he can't get Morse to back off, and the scene after Fancy’s death, between Morse and Frazil because the way Morse says “he was 23″ and the look on Frazil’s face always brings tears to my eyes.

Favourite Musical Piece or Moment

I don’t really know? Despite the imporance of music in the show, I don’t really pay too much attention. I wish we had more of Morse’s singing. If I had to pick something I’d pick have Ein Deutches Requiem from Trove, but that’s mostly because I recognised it from when I sang it with my choir, and then I listened to (and hummed) the whole Requiem for about a month because of nostalgia and for the max Endeavour vibes it was giving me.

Also, I agree with wherehfoundtheporcupine; the theme tune. It’s so... wistful? I think? Just the association with the show I love, but also the soft beginning, swelling to that dramatic rolling melody and then the tender ending. Yeah. 

Favourite Cinematography/Imagery (season, ep, whatever)

Probably this shot from Ride:

(gif by @guardiansinferno​)

I’m also a big fan of the way Morse never looks at bodies for long, and he’s always angled away from them in groupshots. He can’t escape it, but he’ll never be comfortable around death, and turn away as soon as he can.

Favourite Ensemble Character that isn’t Morse

Win. I just love her. I love how Caroline O’Neill plays her. I love how gentle and kind and supportive and welcoming and caring she is. But I also love how she stands up for herself, how strong she must be, as we see in glimpses of her life as a policeman’s wife. She’s amazing.

Runner up for Bright, who I’ll be honest I didn’t like at first, but now even on rewatches is always a joy to behold. Look at that man. He got where he is by doing things by the book, but he’s slowly learning that sometimes justice trumps order, and that it’s the people that are important, not the laws.

Favourite One-episode Character

Probably Bettina Pettybon, bless her poor heart. She has such a huge arc in the one episode she’s in. I hope she’s out there living her best life.

Favourite Morse Look (season, ep, whatever)

Smiling (gif by @snappyjenkins​) The scarf (despite the negative connotations) also looks really good on him.

Runner up for this look (gif by @mykingackles​):

Biggest Disappointment

The unresolved plot with Joan Thursday. Actually, the confusing character development of Joan Thursday. I wish we knew more about her mindset after Coda, and after coming back. I wish they hadn’t done the will-they-won’t-they-no-of-course-they-won’t-cause-canon thing for so long. Now they both just seem wishy-washy.

Provide some Spicy Takes (on canon, fandom, anything)

I keep forgetting that Morse has a sister, and I think the show should cater to me in that regard and actually mention her every once in a while. Let him talk about calling his sister, or end an episode with him dialing her number or something if you can’t afford to get the actress back.  Actually, extrapolating from that I’m done with Endeavour - Lone Wolf. Let him make (and keep!) some friends, even outside the precinct. He’s a prickly bugger at the best of times, but even prickly buggers find soft pincushions to stick to. I don’t know where this metaphor is going, let’s get back on track - Morse is kind in his own way. He cares, almost too much sometimes. Give us someone who cares back. I miss the Monica seasons.

Free Space! (Make up something - anything - you want to share or say)

I haven’t given enough love to Dorothea Frazil in all the previous questions. She’s such a great character, we really should’ve gotten more from her. I love the dynamic she has with the main duo, the way she and Morse seem to always be on the same wavelength, and how antagonistic Thursday is towards her. I wonder if it’s because he’s so old-fashioned and she’s not having that patriarchal bullshit, or if it’s just because she’s a journalist. I should go back and add Game to my favourite episodes, just because of her scenes in that, and the way Morse doesn’t even have to say what happened to her protogé. Also the way Trewlove puts that asshat who underestimates her chess knowledge in his place. God this show has so many amazing moments.

I have the feeling this game is spreading like wildfire through the fandom, I’ve seen it on my dash a lot, but I’m going to tag @endeavourous​ and @snappyjenkins​ cause I don’t think I’ve seen theirs yet?

#itv endeavour #that took a long time to put together #such difficult questions! #but fun #fun to think about it so thoroughly #fun to review all the episodes again #endeavour

[littlebleubirb]

So, I've seen this going around on some blogs I follow and decided, why not?? Imma do it too!!!

3 Ships

Graham/Vee from King's Quest - I've only played the 2015 KQ game, so my knowledge of these two is constricted to just...one game....out of many.....and some books....BUT I love these two!!!! Happy go lucky characters that compliment each other so well!!!!!! They both have interests they share while also being very different characters on their own. Loveable dorks who like going on adventures and helping others and just....good. it's good. I love them.

Cassandra/Rapunzel from Tangled the Series - I don't think this is a surprise based on my recent reblogs... But gosh dang do I love this ship!!! The classic grumpy character and sunshine character somehow falling in love?? Cass can't talk about her feelings??? Raps refuses to give up on her??? And those scene during the final!!! (You know the ones.) I just love these two!!!! And while Eugene/Rapunzel is still undeniably an amazing ship, I just love.......cassunzel....... more......

Fredric/Gustav from The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom - This has been my #1 otp for the past decade. I. Love. This. Ship. It has one of my favorite takes on enemies to lovers, er well, rather unwilling to work together but have to to friends to lovers. I love how these two, like the rest of the League of Princes, are only brought together because they're prince charming and gotta find n save Ella and yadda yadda, plot. But the bonding???? Over time???? Little hints of something more????? The SLOWBURN????? I LOVE a good slow burn!!! The moment I knew I shipped these two was (spoilers) at the end of book one, fredric sacrificing himself and Gustav feeling something he's never felt for anyone before; fear. He's afraid he'll lose fredric forever. And than him calling him a friend and Rapunzel being like, "huh Gustav has never called anyone a friend before." It both makes me very happy and very sad cause if the author wanted, he could have it change over the course of the books to more than friends....but noo...just friends. Anyway there's some more hinted gay stuff that I love, and I'm sad cause I know it'll never go canon. And while the canon ship with fredric and Rapunzel is a good ship too, I just..... I like this ship more.....

Last Song - Green by Cavetown

Last Movie - Well.... I don't remember the last movie I watched, but I've been watching lots of video essays on YouTube. Specifically by Big Joel (surprisingly deep and analytical take on the lion King 2??) And Sarah Z (watch the Dashcon one)

Currently Reading - I read multiple series at the same time cause I'm chaotic. The Magnus Chase series, the Guardians of Ga'hoole series, Heros guide to saving your kingdom (I reread this one too often), and the Nevernight series (rereading this one too)

Currently Watching - ……… rewatching Tangled the Series……………again

Currently Craving - Something with chicken broth in it. Also ice cream. And a will to start working on school projects.

Alrighty, imma tag @bunni-art-929 to take a shot at this, but anyone who wants to can and should do it too!!!! (・∀・)

#birb babbles #yall i never make posts so this is new for me #i apologize #for what???? um..... #thats a good question #oh for all my rambling on fredric n gustav!!! i apologize for that #i never talk about them irl or on the interent #so whever im given the oppertunity.....i ramble

[unsettledink]

Quarantine Tag Game

Tagged by @heartbreak-now, thanks!

· Are you staying home from school/work? I'm very lucky in that my workplace has gone almost completely work from home, and even though there isn't a lot of work at the moment, they aren't doing layoffs or cutting hours. So I'm still working 40hrs a week, which great! Except for the part of watching everyone suddenly have free time and I have less somehow? (I think because the few places I need to go have reduced hours, so it's hard to go after my shift.)

· If you’re staying home, who is there with you? My lovely roommate, the-me09. Who is also working from home and having a harder time with quarantine than I. And the cats which is …. ahhhhh. So early March we brought in boys somewhere around seven months, and then a week after that brought in a pregnant cat. We managed to get the boys decently integrated with the rest of the cat household (five), but then Diva had her babies and we couldn't really do introductions, and also she did not want anyone around. Last week we finally got her out of the bathroom and into a pen in the living room, but she still doesn't like anyone so it's been a game of 'who gets to stay in the basement, who gets to stay in which bedroom, when does Diva get some free roaming time, where is everyone settled for the night'. Then Monday we got the boys fixed, and ever since they've gotten back it's been DRAMA almost nonstop. Plus they're just at that age where they want to challenge everything. It is all very stressful, but on the plus side at least we're home to referee.

· Are you a homebody? YUP. I mean, granted, I don't know how much of that is mental health issues, but I have not felt the urge to leave the house once since uh … March 16th? I have, cause groceries and vet, but I haven't needed or wanted to. Generally I don't even look outside tbh.

· An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled? Nope.

· What movies have you watched recently? Uh, we ended up watching Shazam and The Hitman's Bodyguard a week or two ago. There was a Hunger Games marathon I skimmed a while ago. Wonder Woman was on at one point. Should probably do a Far From Home rewatch soon, but I haven't really had that much free time.

· What shows are you watching? Megan's been working through Parks and Recs again, which is new to me. I caught up on the new season of Westworld yesterday – kinda missing the park element.

· What music are you listening to? I go back and forth between not listening to anything and listening to a lot. Recently, it's been a lot of percussive soundtracks – MM Fury Road, King Arthur, John Wick, HiFinesse. Paloma Faith, Florence and the Machine, Emeli Sande, Five Finger Death Punch, Lifehouse, Shinedown, Delta Rae, Zayde Wolf. It's also so weird to me what I fixate on before I drop it completely for ages, and like, what relation do any of those have to each other???

· What are you reading? Not much in the way of books, unfortunately. I reread some older Phule's Company books for fluff. Been reading a lot of fanfic, a lot of rereads. Beta read a couple things. I don't seem to be able to focus very well, even on things I've read before much less anything new, which sucks.

· What are you doing for self-care? I'm not, really. I'm terrible at distinguishing self care from bad decisions, so...

· Any big projects you’re working on? Fucking Gotcha, forever, eternally, this will never be finished. 300K+ and I'm like slightly less then half through. I haven't even really been working on it that much, which KILLS me. Instead I wrote Indefensible, so like, yikes brain.

· Plans for when the quarantine is over? Go grocery shopping at midnight. See about setting up some doctor's appointments now that I have insurance. Take books to the trade bookstore. Take in the recycling/cans.

Tagging, uh, anyone who wants to do it!

#ask games #unsettled rambles #is this the real life

[tomeandflickcorner]

Umbrella Academy Rewatch 1x09

1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08

Last episode left us with a pretty big cliffhanger, with Allison grievously injured.  So how does this episode resolve that?

Before we get to that resolution, the episode gives us a flashback to 1993, before Reginald started suppressing Vanya’s powers with her medication.  Back then, Vanya appeared to be a bit of a picky eater, absolutely refusing to eat her oatmeal.  Can’t say I blame her, of course.  I never cared for oatmeal, either.  But, rather than meet her halfway and come up with an alternative nutritious breakfast that she would eat (because it’s completely okay to not like certain foods), the nannies Reginald hired to take care of the Hargreeves Siblings’ daily needs attempted to use every trick in the book to force her to eat her oatmeal. This always led to Vanya’s powers bursting out of her, resulting in the hired nannies all meeting an untimely end, much to Reginald’s disappointment.  So, after losing an undetermined number of nannies, Reginald ended up constructing Grace, who the Hargreeves Siblings would eventually view as their mother.  When Grace attempted to get Young Vanya to eat her oatmeal, she was sent flying across the room like all the other nannies.  But, since Grace was a robot, she could simply get back to her feet and dust herself off, completely unfazed.  The sight of Grace being able to readjust her head, which had been knocked 180 degrees around when she collided with the far wall, manages to scare Young Vanya into obedience, with her wordlessly eating her oatmeal as Reginald looked on in satisfaction.

We then flash forward to the present day.  Harold/Leonard has brought Vanya back to his place after the incident at the cabin.  He announces that they have to hurry and pack up their things, as they’re going to have to go on the run.  Although, when he notices that Vanya is still in shock over what just happened, he brings her into the bathroom to clean her up, seeing as she’s still covered in Allison’s blood.  As Harold/Leonard washes the blood off Vanya’s hands, he tells her that the other Hargreeves Siblings will surely view her as an enemy now and come after her to avenge Allison’s death.  Vanya is still a bit shell-shocked, but she doesn’t share that viewpoint.  She’s sure that, if she just explains to her brothers that it had just been an accident, then they’ll understand.  Harold/Leonard, however, tells her that he’s the only one on her side, the only one who sees how special she is, and how her brothers will never understand.  Which is a pretty chilling line, considering working to completely isolate someone from their friends and family is practically the first chapter in the abusive relationship handbook.

Elsewhere, the Hargreeves Brothers have brought the injured Allison back to the Umbrella Academy mansion.  Which doesn’t seem like the most logical destination.  Why didn’t they just bring her to the hospital?  Considering Allison was losing a a lot of blood, time was clearly of the essence. I’m willing to wager that hospital we saw in the last episode was closer to Grandma Jenkins’ cottage than the mansion was.  Regardless of how it doesn’t make much logical sense, they carry Allison inside, where Grace is quick to start administering first aid.  Grace announces that, for Allison to survive, someone is going to have to donate some blood.  Immediately, all the Hargreeves Brothers volunteer.    Though Pogo informs Luther that, due to Reginald’s serum that had given him his ape body, his blood is more compatible with Pogo than to Allison.  Pogo also states Klaus’ blood is likewise off the table, as his blood is too contaminated with drugs.  (Question- does Pogo not realize Klaus has achieved sobriety?  So doesn’t that mean his blood is clean now?  Or do the chemicals from drugs remain in the blood for a longer period of time?   Granted, I do see from the website for the American Red Cross that people who used intravenous drugs must wait three months before they can be allowed to donate blood, but I don’t recall any evidence that Klaus took heroin or anything like it.  We only saw him popping pills.)  In any event, Diego is the one who is selected to donate his blood, even though he faints at the sight of the needle.  Which is rather unusual, when you think about it.  The man whose entire schtick is throwing knives can’t handle needles?  How’s that for irony?

A little while later, Klaus is in his room, searching for something.  Ghost Ben appears and is clearly disappointed when he learns that Klaus is looking for more drugs.  And he doesn’t hesitate to voice that disappointment, stating that Klaus has finally managed to achieve sobriety for the first time in a while and questions why he’d just throw it all away.  To this, Klaus vents his frustrations.  Yes, he managed to get sober, but what’s the point of staying that way?  He hasn’t been able to make contact with Dave and his siblings still treat him like a screwup.  (Perhaps Pogo turning down his offer to donate his blood for Allison hurt him more than he let on.)  Klaus says that if nobody takes him seriously anyway, then he’d rather just be numb.  Ghost Ben tells Klaus that he’s tired of seeing him give in to defeat and that he’s better than that.  He even goes so far as to say that Dave knew he was better than that, too. But Klaus still doesn’t listen and ends up popping some pills into his mouth.  Before Klaus can swallow, however, Ghost Ben punches him hard across the face, resulting in the pills flying out of his mouth. This act visibly stuns both of them.  Because, as we’ve already established, Ben is a ghost.  He’s not physically there, and therefore cannot make direct contact with anyone.  Episode 7 even highlighted this fact by showing us that Klaus could walk right though him.  So how was Ghost Ben’s fist able to connect with Klaus just now?  Ghost Ben surmises that it must have been Klaus who made it possible.  Does this have something to do with Klaus’ true potential that Reginald hinted at during Klaus’ out-of-body experience?

Downstairs, The Hargreeves Brothers are discussing their next move.  Diego is fully ready to go after Harold/Leonard, believing that he was responsible to Allison’s injury, and that it’s imperative that they do whatever they can to save Vanya from him.  Number 5, on the other hand, while he does say he’s concerned for Vanya’s safety, believes their first priority should be taking down Harold Jenkins, as the apocalypse is supposed to happen that very day.  And if they can’t stop it, Vanya will die anyway, along with everyone else in the world.  So Diego and Number 5 start to head out to find Harold/Leonard.  Klaus, still trying to wrap his head around what had happened with him and Ghost Ben, tries to duck out.  But Diego indirectly threatens him into tagging along by throwing one of his knives at him, with the knife just barely missing Klaus’ crotch.  

Over at Harold/Leonard’s place, Vanya is unable to stop reliving her last terrible interaction with Allison.  Trying to settle her nerves, she heads over to the sink to splash some water on her face.  But when she reaches for a towel to dry off, she ends up knocking Harold/Leonard’s bag off the counter, causing Reginald’s stolen journal to slip out.  When Vanya opens the journal to read it, she finds all the information Reginald had written about her.  She instantly realizes that, if Harold/Leonard had that journal in his possession, it means he must have known all about her powers this the whole time.  And that means he was just manipulating her from the very start.  So she confronts Harold/Leonard about the matter.  Harold/Leonard tries to worm his way out of it by spouting off a bunch of flowery lines, about how Reginald had been afraid of her and put her on those pills because he didn’t believe she could learn to control him, how he was the only one who believed in her and embraced her for who she really was, etc. etc.  But it seems that Vanya’s trust in him has been broken.  Remembering what Allison had tried to tell her before, she asks him who Harold Jenkins is.  Realizing the jig is up, Harold/Leonard drops the nice guy act and, when Vanya tries to get away, he physically stops her while angrily asking her what her family ever did her her, as well as asking her who helped her get first chair in the orchestra.  He asks if she really believed the spot opened up on its own, all but directly admitting that he murdered Helen to pave the way for Vanya.  Naturally, Vanya is horrified by this revelation and tries even harder to get away from him.  In the end, when Harold/Leonard realizes that he’s forever lost his physiological grip on Vanya, he begins deriding her, stating that perhaps Reginald had been right.  Perhaps she really was too weak and pathetic to control her own powers.  As you might expect, Harold/Leonard’s cruel berating leads to Vanya tapping into her powers, with her creating a whirlwind of multiple sharp objects that collides with Harold/Leonard, resulting in his death.  Vanya looks coldly down at his body and walks out without even shedding a tear.

Sometime later, Diego, Klaus and Number 5 find Harold/Leonard’s body.  Number 5 tries out the glass eye he’s been carrying around for all this time by inserting it into Harold/Leonard’s empty eye socket.  In doing so, he confirms that this is indeed the man who was supposed to have brought about the apocalypse.  So, now that he’s dead, it looks like they don’t have to worry about that anymore.  But Number 5 isn’t satisfied.  He can’t accept it had been this easy, and wonders who killed Harold/Leonard.  He then teleports off as Klaus suggests finding Vanya so they can ask her about it.  Diego figures she might have headed back to the Umbrella Academy mansion, so they decide to go back there.

Back at the mansion, Grace has finished tending to Allison’s injury, as Luther keeps vigil nearby.  It seems as if Allison will live, but Grace announces her vocal cords were badly damaged, and there’s no way to tell if she’ll be able to talk again.  Pogo suggests that Luther go get some rest, but Luther snubs the advice, announcing that Pogo is the last one he’d take advice from.  It’s clear he’s still angry at Pogo for keeping so many secrets from them.  Once they’re alone, Luther apologies to the unconscious Allison for not being there when she needed him, realizing that, if he had gone with her, Diego and Number 5 when they headed out to find Harold Jenkins instead of staying behind to look for his old moon mission reports, Allison wouldn’t have had to go off on her own.

Meanwhile, since they’ve determined Vanya hadn’t shown up at the mansion, Diego decides to head off again.  He still wants to settle his score with Hazel and Cha-Cha.  After he leaves, Number 5 starts grilling Klaus, asking him if Reginald told him anything more about the apocalypse when he’d spoken to him during Klaus’ out-of-body experience.  However, Klaus only wants to figure out more about how to continue to advance his ability, as he’s concluded that the fact that Ghost Ben was able to punch him had something to do with Reginald’s hint that Klaus’ true power went beyond simply communicating with the dead.  So he tries to ask Number 5 how he managed to figure out how to time travel on top of his ability to teleport.  As this conversation continues, Klaus informs Number 5 that they’re both addicts.  Number 5 denies this, but Klaus insists it is true- Number 5 has become addicted to stopping the apocalypse.  So much so that, now that it looks as if they’ve successfully stopped it, Number 5 is unable to accept that, as he no longer has a purpose in life.

Of course, we can’t forget we also have the subplot with Hazel, Cha-Cha and Agnes to deal with.  Agnes arrives back at her motel room at the bird sanctuary.  Hearing someone in the bathroom, she grows elated, thinking that Hazel had returned.  Only for her to find it isn’t Hazel.  Cha-Cha has managed to track her down.  Valiantly, Agnes tries to tell her that Hazel left her and isn’t coming back, but it’s clear Cha-Cha doesn’t buy it.

Hazel, not knowing the danger Agnes is in, comes to the Umbrella Academy mansion to seek an audience with Number 5.  Number 5 allows Hazel to come in and they begin to talk civilly for a bit.  But right when Number 5 asks him directly why he’s there, Hazel doesn’t get a chance to answer.  Because Diego appears quite literally out of nowhere and begins whaling on Hazel.  At first, Number 5 tries to tell Diego to calm down and just give Hazel a chance to speak, but Diego is past the point of being reasoned with.  So Number 5 just sits back and watches the fight continue for a bit.  (Hazel, to his credit, manages to get a few good hits in himself.)  Eventually, though, Number 5 decides things have gone on long enough, and he interferes, breaking up the fight by smashing some glass object over Diego’s head, knocking him out. Now that he’s able to get a word in edgewise, Hazel announces that he’s left The Commission and wants to volunteer to help stop the apocalypse.  Number 5 tells him that it’s too late, as the apocalypse has been successfully prevented with Harold Jenkins’ death.  So Hazel breaths a sigh of relief, knowing he can now have a long, happy life with Agnes.  He and Number 5 then elect to part ways in peace, with them wishing each other luck with the rest of their lives.  Before Hazel leaves, however, Number 5 announces that he has one last question for his former adversary- which of them killed Detective Patch.  Hazel states that Cha-Cha was the one who murdered her.  He then gives Number 5 the gun Cha-Cha used to kill her so Diego’s name could be cleared.  When Diego wakes up again, Hazel is long gone.  Number 5 tells him that, now that the apocalypse has been prevented, its time to stop fighting.  But Diego’s rage hasn’t subsided, still wanting to go after Hazel.  Even after Number 5 tells him that Cha-Cha was the one who killed Detective Patch, Diego insists it doesn’t matter, as Hazel was also there that night.  Therefore, in Diego’s eyes, Hazel is equally guilty.  But in the end, Number 5 is able to talk sense into Diego by helping him remember that the thing he liked best about Detective Patch was that she always saw the good inside people.  So him killing Hazel and Cha-Cha would be a poor way to honor her memory.  With his point made, Number 5 leaves the room with Delores, leaving Diego with Cha-Cha and Hazel’s guns, which could be used to clear his name, as ballistics would match the bullets found at the crime scene with the ones used in Cha-Cha’s gun.

We then see Vanya has returned to her apartment,  Upon her arrival, she listens to the messages on her answering machine.  As a result, she finally is able to hear the voicemail Allison left her a few episodes ago, about how she only wanted to be a good sister to her, and that she loves her.  Hearing this message, combined with the fact that Vanya thinks she killed Allison, leaves her devastated, especially when she sees the strings on her violin bow are still stained with Allison’s blood.  She breaks down into tears, sobbing openly.

Back at the Umbrella Academy mansion, Allison has regained consciousness.  But because of the damage to her vocal cords, she cannot speak, as Grace predicted.  So she signals to Luther, who is still keeping vigil at her side, for a pen and paper.  When he complies, Allison hurriedly writes him a message, attempting to inform him that Vanya actually has powers.  Luther doesn’t really understand what Allison is trying to say, but Pogo, who had been within earshot, decides that there’s no point in keeping it covered up anymore.  So he tells Luther the truth about Vanya.

So, by the time Vanya is able to bring herself to return to the mansion herself, Luther knows all about what really happened.  And he is the one who meets her upon her arrival.  He tells her that Allison survived, and Vanya is relieved by this.  She then explains that she and Allison had gotten into an argument and things had simply gotten out of control.  Vanya tells Luther that she hadn’t meant to hurt Allison, and that it had been an accident.  Luther assures her that he knows it was an accident, and then holds out his arms in a clear invitation for a hug.  Tearfully, Vanya moves into the hug, once again saying she was sorry.

But then, things abruptly go downhill, as Luther immediately starts squeezing Vanya, utilizing his super strength against her until she passes out.  When Vanya comes to again, she is nothing short of horrified to find herself in the same soundproof room Reginald placed her in when she was 4.  When she sees Luther, Diego and Klaus standing outside the room, she tries to call out to them.  But because the room is soundproofed, they cannot hear what she’s saying, and she also can’t hear them.

Outside, it seems that Luther has already told Diego and Klaus about Vanya’s powers.  They are both in disbelief at the revelation.  However, it soon becomes clear that they are both against the idea of keeping Vanya locked up like this.  After all, this is their sister, who always cried when they stepped on ants as kids.   Diego declares that if Vanya does indeed have powers, it’s obvious that she needs their help now.  And they can’t help her if she’s locked in a cage.  Klaus is in agreement with this sentiment, adding that Vanya is most likely struggling with her new power, which must be scary for her to deal with after years of believing she was ordinary.  Allison, who has also made her way down to the soundproof room, states through written message that she wants Luther to let Vanya out of her cell, too, stating that what happened had been her own fault, not Vanya’s.  But, despite all of this, Luther digs his heels in, stating Vanya is a danger to herself and others.  So she must stay put until they know how to deal with it.  He then all but forces Allison and his brothers to walk away, leaving Vanya alone as she pounds on the door, screaming that she’s sorry.

Okay.  I gotta say this.  I was pretty much on the fence about him up until this point, neither liking or hating him.  But this moment made up my mind about him.  Out of all the Hargreeves Siblings, Luther is the one I like the least.  I don’t care if he was trying to think about what was best for everyone.  I don’t care if he was just trying to keep everyone safe.  At the end of the day, Luther is supposed to be the leader of the team.  But this scene made it clear to me that he is the worst candidate for team leader.  Because a real leader isn’t just about being the one in charge and forcing everyone to go along with your decisions.  A true leader also has to listen to the rest of their teammates.   And if the rest of your team is all in agreement about something, you don’t get to just overrule them as if your word automatically vetoes theirs.  So much for sentiment they had back in Episode 4, when they were deciding things with a vote.  Because if they were still honoring those rules, then Luther would be outvoted.  Yes, Number 5 wasn’t around to voice his thoughts on the matter, but I have a hard time believing that Number 5 would be okay with Luther’s decision to lock Vanya up like this.  Especially since it was established in the first episode that he and Vanya were once pretty close themselves.  After all, when Number 5 disappeared when he got trapped in the future,  Vanya was the one who left the lights on for him in case he ever came back during the night, also leaving out a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich for him every night.  And it was Vanya who Number 5 sought refuge with following his run-in with the first batch of temporal assassins at Griddy’s Donuts.  But even IF Number 5 sided with Luther on this one, it would still have been three to two in favor of letting Vanya out.  But instead, Luther is all ‘I’m team leader, so I get to have the final say in everything.’ As far as I’m concerned, Luther is going to have to perform a pretty epic makeup for this before he can be redeemed in my eyes.

Anyway, another drama is going down elsewhere.  Hazel arrives back at the bird sanctuary to rejoin Agnes.  But when he enters their motel room, he is met with a chilling scene.  Cha-Cha has tied Anges to a chair positioned in front of the hot tub embedded in the motel room floor.  All Cha-Cha has to do is pull the rope she’s holding, and Agnes will be pulled back into the hot tub to drown.  Hazel tells Cha-Cha that she can do whatever she wants to him, as long as she lets Agnes go.  To this, Cha-Cha states that she fully intends to kill him, but first, she’s going to make him watch as Agnes dies.  Before Cha-Cha can do anything, however, Hazel lunges forward and a full-on fist fight erupts between him and Cha-Cha, with both of them during a deaf ear to Agnes’ pleas for them to stop.  After this goes on for a while, Cha-Cha manages to get the upper hand over Hazel, wrapping a cord around his throat until he no longer has the energy to fight back.  She then leaves Hazel lying on the floor, gasping for breath, and heads back to Agnes, instructing him to watch as she forces her back into the hot tub.

Before Agnes can hit the surface of the water, however, time suddenly stops and everything freezing in place, with only Hazel and Cha-Cha being able to move about.  As Hazel and Cha-Cha look around in confusion, the door to the motel room opens and The Handler strides in, announcing they really screwed things up.  Not sure how she survived the exploding grenade with nothing but a scar, but whatever.

As this episode comes to a close, we see the Hargeeves Siblings as they try to take stock of everything that’s happened.  Luther tries to convince Allison that he did what he had to do, but she’s not having it, proceeding to give him the cold shoulder.  (Good!  He deserves it!)  Diego is sitting alone in the kitchen playing with a lucky rabbit’s foot that I guess belonged to Detective Patch, only looking up when Grace places a plate of smiley faced pancakes in front of him.  Klaus is in his room, attempting to play pat-a-cake with Ghost Ben in an effort to try and make physical contact with him again.  And Number 5 brings Delores back to the department store where he found her.  As he gets ready to leave her there, he makes a heartfelt goodbye speech to her, with him talking about how they’d been through a lot together and that he’ll never forget her.  As he turns and walks away, he requests one of the people working at the department store to give Delores something new to wear, stating she likes sequins. Naturally, the department store worker is visibly confused by this but says nothing.

But then, as the episode wraps up, we see Vanya down in the soundproof room.  As she gives into despair, she has some sort of mental breakdown, with her reflection on the glass door being replaced by the image of her younger self.  The Young Vanya Hallucination declares that the others are still scared of them and their power.  The hallucination, apparently voicing Vanya’s darkest thoughts, encourages Vanya to accept the fact that the other Hargreeves Siblings are just like Reginald and will keep her down there forever, so the only thing they can do is embrace who they are.  That’s when Vanya notices there is one sound the soundproof room cannot muffle- the sound of her own heartbeat.  So she ends up using that sound to activate her power, successfully breaking herself out of her cell.  The sound of the door to the soundproof room crashing down is so loud, it can be heard throughout the mansion, with Luther instantly realizing what it means.

Final notes/questions

Seriously, how did The Handler survive the explosion?

What’s going to happen with Hazel and Cha-Cha?  And will Agnes make it out okay?

Boy, Luther really botched that one.  He should had listened to Diego, Klaus and Allison.  Now Vanya is on the warpath.

No, I’m sorry, I’m still peeved with Luther.  After all the indications that Reginald was the worst person in making judgement calls (sending Luther up to the moon for no real reason other than just giving him something to do, committing suicide and making it look like a murder mystery to trick everyone to reunite and lying to them all about Vanya’s powers, among other things), and was therefore not someone anyone should be emulating, he still thought copying his methods by locking Vanya up in the soundproof room was the way to go?

Is Klaus going to be able to master his new ability?

#umbrella acedmy #umbrella academy 1x09