#and will eventually grow up into a Recap Brain

[random-iz-stuff]

So I just learned about the lost media pilot of Very Important House (show made by Jhonen and pitched to Disney, but never made).

And I have a conspiracy theory involving it.

Frolie’s hoodie, skin and even eye colour…..

…Are near identical to that of another character made by Jhonen. Recap Kid.

They aren’t exactly the same, as Frolie and Recap Kid have completely different hair colours and even genders (and things like the skin and eye colour aren’t exactly the same), but Recap Kid can canonically shapeshift so that’s another thing to take into account. Recap Kid could have originally been Frolie, and changed how they looked through shapeshifting.

Another possibility: Invader Zim (and Very Important House) has a multiverse, so what if they’re counterparts of one another? Frolie is Recap Kid from another universe and vice versa.

There’s also one final possibility involving another entity connected to Recap Kid:

The Recap Brain. A giant brain that watches over the Invader Zim multiverse.

The Recap Brain is definitely connected to Recap Kid in some way, just look at the hoodie they wear and their name, and I’ve theorized/headcanoned that they’re actually the same species, it’s just that Recap Kid is a child and the Recap Brain is an adult, explaining the differences in appearance.

So Frolie may not be Recap Kid themselves, but they may be the same species. Another child form of a Recap Brain.

It could provide some explanation for why Frolie was chosen as a “Caretaker of The Universe”. They’re destined to eventually grow up into an entity that watches over the multiverse. Being a Caretaker is practice for something greater.

I get that none of this is intended or canon or fits into any of my headcanons on Recap Kid and Very Important House wasn’t even made, but it’s my conspiracy theory and I get to choose the details. I feel like the guy that made the 12+ YouTube videos theorizing over Mort from Madagascar.

#invader zim #Very Important House #theories #conspiracy theories #Recap Kid #Frolie is either (in order of likelihood) #A: Recap Kid before the comics happen #B: An alternate universe counterpart of Recap Kid #or C: The same species as Recap Kid #and will eventually grow up into a Recap Brain #none of this truly matters because it’s all an insane conspiracy theory but I thought it and wrote it down #so now it exists for people to read

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Always have but never hold

Previous chapter

a/n Welcome to the tenth and final part. Do tell me if you think this should go on. I'm at the crossroads. Not too fully sure where to go on with this from here. These two have had a journey so had I. Thank you for everyone who tagged along. 🤍✨

warnings: nightmares, overwhelming feelings, past trauma, miscommunication (should have been a warning from the start lol).

Parts in cursive are flashbacks.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

How surreal is the concept of meeting someone and having them change your life forever? Finding a soul that radiates the same energy, or at least the energy that attracts you. Feeling drawn to them. Craving to bask in the warmth of their presence because it just feels right. Because it feels true. Because it feels safe. And you can't help it. No matter what. No matter the obstacles. No matter the fears. That person's soul is there, and all you want to do and think about is how you can't let them go. It was weird. Everything still felt so confusing. It was surreal at times when you would wake up in your old bed, cuddled up between the sheets that you both used to lay under. All the what-ifs and why-not, questioning the choice of staying. Choosing to grow and forgive to allow someone to stay.

Carmen walked through the door. A neatly wrapped package of food was in his hands. He started doing that a lot—bringing food home from family. And not just leftovers, not just something that someone didn't eat. A whole, fully intentional meal. The apartment seemed too silent, and at first, anxiety kicked in—that same anxiety of losing. But the dull light from the living room soon chased those thoughts away. And that's when he saw you. A knitted blanket over your body. Book in your hands, the smell of the scented candles filling the room. And then there were your eyes. The gaze that found him. And Carmen was smiling, soaking up the sight in front of him.

"You're home early", you said as Carmen quickly shrugged off his jacket. "Yeah, not much we could do today. Plus, I had a meeting with the doctor". You close the book, sit up, and allow Carmen some space on the sofa. "How did it go?", the past couple of weeks have felt pretty much like a daze. After an endless amount of tears and conversations, you agreed to move back in with Carmen. Marcus had flown back to Copenhagen alongside Luca. Meaning that you would have to pay for the place you had been renting on your own. And that wasn't an option because you were already tight on money. Was Luca excited to leave you alone in Chicago? No, he was not, but he chose to not fight your choice too much.

"Just be sensible", he said, "Both with your choice and yourself", you hugged him tightly. Letting go of your lifeline felt weird. It left you vulnerable. Fully exposed to the cold world around you. But you knew that you couldn't hide behind Luca forever. "You know that I love you, right?", he muttered, pulling away slightly. "Us against the world forever", you looked at him. Truly look at the man in front of you. The person who jumped in to save you so many times. Who took the hit meant for you. Who drove for hours to get to you. Who sat in the doctor's office with you. "Do you think this is a mistake?", you asked him, but there was no suggestive reaction on Luca's face as he said, "Listen to your heart and then consult with your brain just in case", you had chuckled at his words before you pulled away.

And now you are here with Carmen. Unsure of what status you two held. Partners? Lovers? Exes? Strangers? Sitting in the apartment, which had been clear evidence of Carmen's pain. The distraction painted the apartment in a heap of mess. "I didn't like it. I mean, I never do", Carmen ran his hands through his hair. "It still feels strange. But people... like, I don't know, do they eventually stop finding it weird?", he asked you. Considering that you both were in therapy now, recapping and running through your conversations with doctors was something you did a lot. Strangely, you found comfort in it.

"I don't think you do", you whispered after a moment. "Picture it like this. Does it ever get easier to tell strangers that something in your life fucked you over so much that now you need to see a doctor?", you both snickered, and Carmen moved to open up the boxed food. It felt almost as if you were roommates once again. Just differently from that time in New York, you didn't want one to move out. You were fighting to make this work. To keep one another. To grow the roots that would hold you together.

"How was the art gallery?", you looked up at him in a way surprised that he even remembered. "Exciting. They want me to work on a project with them", you said as if it was nothing. But Carmen's eyes were big, and you could feel true joy in them. "Wait! That's awesome. That's... I'm proud of you", he muttered. You watched him. His sparkly eyes now reminded you of the time he sneaked into an art tour you were doing back in New York. Asking just the right questions. Making the lazy tourists roll their eyes. But your heart had been so full. "I'm meeting with them this Friday for dinner", you said. "Maybe they'll change their minds till then", you shrugged, reaching for the pasta in front of you. "They won't", Carmen said, making you chuckle, "You don't know that", "I know that you're awesome", you sucked in a breath as you watched him for a moment. Letting his words truly sink in.

Carmen's been watching you for a while now. Not in a creepy way, though. He was just mesmerized by how someone was capable of looking so beautiful even while fast asleep. You two had decided to watch a show after dinner. He knew you wouldn't last long. You never did. Getting sleepy almost immediately. The distance between you two seemed astronomical, yet you were only a couple of feet away. Sat at the other end of the sofa. Carmen wished he could hug you. No, he would have settled for anything. But then he at least wanted to feel your body heat. Anything to let him know that this wasn't just all in his head. That you weren't just a cruel joke of his imagination. Carmen watched your eyebrows crinkling up—another bad dream, he thought. And within moments, even while still asleep, you looked so much smaller. So much more powerless as the demons lurking in the shadows took over. Carmen wasted no time scooting closer to you, his fingers brushing the hair away from your face. A scared cry left your lips, and it was as if Carmen's body was working on autopilot. His arms sneaked around your middle as he pressed his chest against your back, bringing you closer to him. Your fingers reach out to grasp his arms. "I've got you", he muttered, "You're safe here. I'll keep you safe". His face was nuzzled in your hair as he spoke. A loud gasp filled the room as your body jerked up, only to fall against Carmen's chest. You let out a shaky breath as you tightened Carmen's hold around you. Afraid you might fall. Afraid you might crumble if he lets go. "Stay", you whispered, holding onto him even tighter. "I was not planning on going anywhere", Carmen muttered, kissing your shoulder.

"I like the black plates. He, of course, has zero opinion until he suddenly has so many opinions that I feel like I will have a whiplash", Sydney said in frustration over the phone. You giggled slightly at how she never failed to call you every time Carmen got on her nerves. "Do the gray one and meet him in the middle", you suggest, dunking your brush into the paint before adding new strokes to the canvas. "Grey, they only have grey with blue", Sydney growls, "I give up". You drop the brush into the water jug. "You want me to come down? Look through it?", you ask her softly. You've been away from the restaurant ever since the fire. Well, not fully away considering that Sydney had turned to your daily reporter, but still. You hadn't put your foot down on that property. "I... You're busy. I don't want to bother you", she dragged out. "I'll be down in a bit. Hold the front line till then, Syd", you told her before hanging up.

It felt almost like a flashback as you made your way down to the restaurant. Flashbacks of your heading there with Carmy right after the funeral. The times you ran up and down the street for nearby deliveries. The times you stood outside with him, just holding his hands and breathing. The times you smoked outside trying to fight your own overwhelming emotions. You never hated the concept of the restaurant. Quite the opposite; it was an interesting little bubble. You valued Carmy's love for food, even if it wasn't your own. Well, a lie. You learned to love food from him.

"Okay, hold it like this", he said, standing right behind you and guiding your hands. Showing you how to cut properly. "Don't use the tips of your fingers to hold", he said, carefully moving your fingers to a proper position. "And then you do that fast shit? Chop, chop, chop", Carmy lets out a low laugh at your impression. Turning to kiss the side of your head, "Maybe no chop, chop just yet. Get used to cutting veggies like this first. The speed of it will come with practice". You made a sad face before saying, "You do it then; it's captivating", you handed Carmen the knife, resting your face in your hands as you watched him do his thing with a light smirk on his face.

Carmen was feeling his anxiety beating right into his ribcage. The people around him were too loud. Too demanding. He felt like the sounds around him were slowly suffocating him. Ruthlessly dunking his head under the water. Keeping him under even as his lungs ran out of oxygen. All he heard was Carmy this and Carmy that. It felt like one of those torture techniques where your libs were tight to different horses, each pulling you to all four different sides. Carmen didn't have answers to the questions people were demanding. He simply didn't know, and now...

"What's all the shouting for?", and that's all it takes. It feels as if everything around him dies down. His lungs now easily welcomed the air around him. Mind slowing down. He lets out a deep sigh as his eyes fall over your frame. Hair up in a messy bun, the one that he loved so much, with loose pieces framing your face. You have one of Carmy's old shirts on. There's a paint stain on it, and for some reason, that makes him smile a little. His salvation. His love. His home.

"My girl", Tina rushes forward, wrapping you up in a tight embrace. "It's been weeks; let me look at you", she cups your face, looking you all over. You can't help but smile at her. Without a doubt, you missed her presence during your weeks away. "You look pale as paper", she says, shaking her head. "I'll make you my mama's soup. I will get you back on your feet", At this point, you're almost convinced that her eyes will not leave you, no matter where you go. "It's not necessarily, Ti", you move to squeeze her hands, but she only huffs, "It's a must, Mi Nino. With a man like that you have to run around", she scoffed Carmy's way, but he only clenched his jaw. Choosing to stay silent. "I'll steal Carmen for a moment and then be out to help", you glance at Sydney reassuringly, watching as her hands full of plates sag at her sides, but you don't let yourself think about it much as you step forward, brushing your fingers against Carmen's wrist before dragging him towards the office.

"You're okay?", you breathed out once the door closed behind you two. It was silent for a moment. Just Carmen's irregular breathing. Your fingers were still intertwined with his, and from the grip Carmy had on them, you knew he had no intention of letting go. "It's just... I just... don't know shit", his voice was barely a whisper. You nod. "Talk to me about it", you mutter. His eyes find you. Talk. Such an easy thing, right? Not to your two lately. But you've both been trying. Trying to not only listen but also hear. See without being asked to. "Yeah, I think I can do that", he says, nodding his head. You brush your fingers through his messy hair, nodding alongside him.

When you emerge from the office, it's a solid hour later. You have sketches in your hands. The idea of the restaurant. Visuals for plating and a whole Pinterest board just for the restaurant vibe itself. Sydney is sitting by the table, her head resting on the surface. A lot had changed while you were away. The place had been closed. At least three walls were missing. There was a mold issue. But mole issues no more... You'll get to that eventually.

"Right, so he wants a classy, sophisticated look. Something that would be good for plating different dishes in", you plop your sketchbook to the table. Reaching for the plate closest to you. "And he couldn't just tell me that?", Sydney huffed, "How do you meet his brain waves?" You let out a chuckle. Oddly enough, you had learned to read Carmy's mind as if it was a book. "So what did he say no to?", you asked her once more. "Amm, let me see. Fucking everything", Sydney gives you a fake smile, and you bit your lip, suppressing a laugh.

With your phone on the side, the mood board opened, you glance from the plaits to the visuals. Quickly making a yes and no line. Sorting everything into different plating arrangements. Mixing pricier pieces with more affordable ones. Pulling up a color palette for different napkin options. Once you were satisfied, you drew your eyes back to Sydney, who stood there with her mouth slightly open. "That's some dark magic shit", she breathed out. "Be careful; it might turn you into a frog", you shimmy your fingers in front of her face before pulling her closer. "This is... This is perfect", her eyes scanned the table in front of her. "Get everyone to vote for what they like best", you suggest; "Carmy will like this", you point to the third option. The contrasting plate colors and clean-edged dishes were something that no doubt would bring him back to Michelin-class places.

You slipped outside for a quick smoke. Enjoying the little breeze of the evening. Needing a little moment to yourself. You breathed out the smoke carelessly before realizing that you were not alone. "Oh, sorry", you quickly chase the cloud away, adding, "You're okay?". The greenish-pale face was clear evidence of nausea. "Just... It's really warm inside", you only nodded in agreement. And then the silence falls, but the insane kind. The one that you know holds a lot of unsaid feelings. You try to ignore it but fail miserably, "Just say what's on your mind, Natalie".

The woman shakes her head. "I feel guilty", she admits, about the whole Claire situation". That name itself sends a shiver down your back. "Don't waste your breath on it; Richie already told me everything", you take another drag from your cigarette but blow out a smoke away from Nat, not wanting to make her feel any sicker. "I never had a girl friend in the family. Boys had been shit with ladies", she breathed out. "But then you came, and there were so many emotions, and I didn't know you, and maybe I got jealous", you turned to look at her once her words died down. "So... you decided to break me and Carmy apart because you were jealous?", you ask her. "Wow, this family is truly insane", you breathed out, shaking your head.

"I just needed someone familiar; we all needed someone familiar,", Natalie said, but you only shook your head. "That's very hypocritical of you. Carmy already knew me very well, may I add. You could have gotten to know me too". She falls silent for a moment. "Did Richie tell you about the letter?", she asked, not meeting your eyes. "What letter?", you breathed out. Nat nods her head as if reassuring herself before saying, "Michael wrote a letter. It didn't say anything about me and Richie besides the general love you all", she said, "But he mentioned Carmy so many times, and...", her voice died down. She looked like a frozen statue for a moment. "Your name was there too. Mikey felt like an ass that he won't get to meet Carmen's future wife. Won't get to tell you embarrassing stories. Won't hold your kids", those words make your own eyes sting. Breath hitching in your throat. You were not sure of what to say.

"I'm pregnant, you know, and he didn't say anything about my kids", she said through gritted teeth. She moved to wipe her tears away quickly. "Oh, Natalie", you said, dropping the cigarette to the side before stepping closer to her. "It was so fucking petty, and I've been feeling so guilty, but I just wanted something to finally be about me", she crocked out as more tears came rushing down her cheeks. You quickly embraced her, bringing her hiccuping body closer to your chest.

"I've never wanted to...", she cried, but you shook your head. "I was never here to take your space and take your brothers away from you. They both love you a lot, believe me", you reassured her. "You stood up for Carmy at the funeral. No one had been so direct with our mother... I just wanted", she whispered, and all you could do was nod because you knew very well what she wanted. Something that you too had been wanting for so long. Someone who could protect her. To always have her back. To turn into a shield against the harsh world around her. That's what Luca was to you. That's what you were to Carmen. "I'm so sorry", she pulled away slightly, looking into your eyes. "I know, Nat, and I forgive you", you muttered, brushing your sleeve over her damp cheeks, "Now come on, you'll get a cold here, and we need to get you something to drink".

Everyone had eventually gone home. But not before eating the soup that Tina had made while sitting on cardboard boxes together. Only now did you realize how much you had missed this in some way. The little gathering after the day. Something warming to look forward to. Sydney put Marcus on the phone, and to see his beaming face was one of the most rewarding things. You knew you had Luca to thank for that. For bringing back the passion and excitement that used to bubble in Marcus. Richie had pulled into a little side hug before he too stepped out of the place. "I'm glad to see you back", he muttered. You didn't say anything; you just squeezed his hand in return.

"What are you doing here?", Carmy's voice brought you back to the room. You had slipped away to look at the wall facing the entrance. A big white wall that was staring right at you. "Just looking", you muttered. Carmen sat down beside you, following your gaze. He didn't say anything for a while. The silence felt like a warm blanket. "You should paint this wall, or we could hand one of your paintings", Carmy said, and you quickly turned to face him. "That's the main wall", you breathed out. "Exactly why it should be painted by you. If you want to, of course", Carmen stated firmly.

He gazed at you, catching your eyes already on him. "You were thinking about it yourself, weren't you?", Carmen asked, knowing the answer right away when your checks went pink. "I was...but with everything", you breathed out, "It's weird because I love you so much, but I still feel like there are so many things that we need to rebuild".

Carmen reached for your hand, lifting it to his lips before kissing your delicate skin a couple of times. "There's no rush", he breathed out, turning the ring on your finger, "I know where I want to get to. I know what the final destination looks like". You crook your head to the side. Reaching up to brush your fingers through his hair. "Do you want to share?", you ask shyly. Carmy pulls you closer, wrapping his arms around your waist. "It's nothing complicated. You and me. That's all I need", he breathes out, his eyes darting from your eyes to your lips. You reached up, brushing your fingers across Carmy's cheek, and he instantly leaned into your touch. "I think I like that kind of future", you breathed out. His big blue eyes seize you once more. And there's a shy smile on his face. "You do?", he asks, and you nod your head. You run your thumb over his lips a couple of times, and then he's brushing his lips against your own, and it feels like the first time all over again. The same heat rushes to your cheeks. And it's nothing but slow love that you can promise each other now. Patient love that grows alongside you both. One that doesn't put labels. Just promises to keep you both warm. All you need to do is to promise to hold onto one another.

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Taglist: @nishinoyahhh @thewulf @shewasthelimit @chatitajens @azxulaa @hidingfromtex @randomhoex @hopplessdreamer @lostinheavensworld @jackierose902109 @gallaghrh @gabbycoady13 @harrysmatcha @lady-bellyn @lovejoyenjoyer @infinitelycharmed23 @royalestrellas @hanula18 @thoughtfulmoonchild911 @buckys-winter-child @arieltwvdtohamflash @simsiddy @yezzyyae @hidingfromtex @toptierbunny @rooster-bradshaws @simonsaysyasss @hannahmmarie2016 @ladygrey03 @kyushii @smoooore @domaniquessidehoe @eternallyvenus @your-favorite-god @thatonegirlwiththebeanie367 @blueberrystigma

#carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto imagine #carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto x you #carmy berzatto #carmy berzatto imagine #carmy berzatto x reader #the bear tv show #the bear x reader #carmy the bear #the bear imagine

[nephilimbrute]

with side order coming up i decided to make a recap(???) of my side order au. apologies if some of it isn't clear / doesn't make sense

it starts with the retirement of off the hook after octo expansion, roughly 2 years after splat2. (note that the chaos vs. order splatfest likely didn't happen, splat3 happens in some other way idk.) this part is a little janky but there's this "commander" (not related to tartar in any way) that decides to take over inkopolis via power and mind control. out of spite and as a first step they decided to go ahead and literally Kill pearl, who later died in marina's arms. after that marina wasn't able to do anything for the remainder of the day but hold pearl's body, and as the sun came up the next day only then did she decide to bury pearl just outside the pygmy mansion

her grief still persists, marina tried her best to keep the death of pearl a secret, during interviews she just says "oh she's been off the grid lately" or "visiting family", and when going out she'd try to make it quick to avoid being spotted by fans and it would only be for running errands. marina's grief (unfortunately) keeps her alive, she takes care of herself since its what pearl would've wanted. frequently she hallucinates pearl being there, and she's developed a fear for being around others, as well as gaslighting herself into thinking pearl is still alive, just away. she spends all of her time staying in the pygmy mansion. she waits and lingers, doing this routine over and over again for ~100 years, and eventually inkopolis itself crumbles to dust and is left barren

those 100 years pass and it's marina's time to shine!..kind of...the only feasible option for her was to brainwash everybody into a state of being "calm", making them into mindless walking zombies. despite everything she still felt guilt for what happened to pearl. inkopolis turns into a bleached dystopia, corals grow due to the neglect of it being cleaned, it becomes completely quiet and only marina is left with her thoughts

by the time the side order DLC takes place, she ""accidentally"" frees agent 8 from their "hypnosis". agent 8 suffers a splitting headache as soon as they're released and completely loses the ability to speak, their memory getting worse by each passing second. often times they get a sort of "déjà vu" or "flashbacks" of when pearl and marina were happier. marina still loves them dearly but she's afraid of hurting them, so she distances herself away from them, but 8 keeps on trying to reach her. in the DLC, marina acts like a final boss to the story, and when going against her she doesn't try to stop 8 from defeating her or attack back but instead she accepts it

extra stuff; the brain coral is used to control the minds of the inkfish, the other bleached corals represent neglect. the whole theme of side order is focusing on one's mental state and watching it deteriorate(?), memory loss (and similarly to octo expansion, 8 trying to get their memories back). marina sometimes wakes up with scratches or bruises (to which she denies), and she becomes somewhat dependent on agent 8

#splatoon #pearl houzuki #marina ida #off the hook #pearlina #side order #side order au

[anqelbean]

Sequel to this post, because the brain worms have overtaken my mind again.

So, to recap. Shen Yuan is still furious and heartbroken because the guy he's (totally not) in love with turned out to be a playboy (not). Binghe is confused and inconsolable over Shen Yuan being mad at him for (what he thinks) is no reason.

Binghe tries EVERYTHING. Flowers, chocolate, homemade food, surprise visits, compliments, gifts, acts of service. Everything he can think of. But to his dismay, not only does it not work it BACKFIRES 'cause it makes Shen Yuan even MORE mad.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan is in the background listening to every Taylor Swift break up song ever (without even wondering why he feels so heartbroken over a guy) and crying to Shang Qinghua about it, which doesn't really help cause Shang Qinghua just says "That doesn't sound very straight of you, Cucumber Bro." And offers no advice or condolences whatsoever.

SQH and MBJ are just chilling in the background in a non ending honeymoon phase, watching everything happen with popcorn in their hands. (SQH has remembered everything at this point, he just hasn't told MBJ about it because he doesn't know if he remembers anything)

Shen Jiu is just watching his didi pine helplessly over the guy that's been pestering them for months now and wondering what's wrong with him. No, he does not help Shen Yuan. He tells Qi-ge that "I've been the pining idiot in my family for long enough, it's natural for my little brother to take over the role now that I'm settled down. He's gonna be okay eventually, if he decides to get his head out of his own ass. It's not my problem."

(He's been through enough of the same thing to know it's only a matter of time before Shen Yuan's resolve breaks and they get together, so he doesn't have to worry. If he didn't know this, he wouldn't be so unconcerned. )

Shen Jiu and Binghe's relationship grows akin to the relationship between my mom and my rabbit. My mom hates animals, but still laughs fondly whenever my bun does something funny.

(I'm a very big advocate for "Qijiu deserves to be happy and not the idiots for once" and "Give Shen Jiu a break")

Binghe is just wondering what he's doing wrong. He calls for Mobei Jun's help and Shang Qinghua's there and Binghe just breaks down crying. Shang Qinghua offers no help except "Have you tried talking to him like a NORMAL PERSON?" (He's tired of their pining, he's had enough of it for 2 lives)

To everyone's surprise, he actually follows the advice!

Except, he ends up getting so emotional while trying to talk to him he just starts weeping and becomes absolutely incoherent. Shen Yuan's resolve to stay mad at him shatters immediately at the sight because the urge to wipe his tears and kiss his cheeks is stronger than anything. (He has no idea what Binghe is saying, he just hopes it's an apology)

They finally get together and Binghe finally gets his much deserved Shizun kisses.

#this entire au is just qijiu and moshang being the only ones with braincells and looking judgementally at pining bingqiu #liu qingge's in the back just waiting for his (soon to be) boyfriends to finally get together so he can ask them out btw #bingyuan reverse transmigration au #anqels ramblings #eva.txt #bingqiu #bingyuan #moshang #qijiu #svsss #scum villain self saving system #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #shen yuan #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #shang qinghua #mobei jun #mxtx

[picturejasper20]

So, i made a recent post about some issues i have with Mabel Pines' character writing in the main Gravity Falls series like how her characters flaws don't get addressed properly and they can be potrayed as something acceptable.

A mutual of mine, @amazingrich101 , told me to check out the graphic novel Gravity Falls Lost Legends since one of the stories (Don't dimension it) acts as a follow up for the Weirdmageddon and it starts Mabel as main character.

And I'm very surprised i haven't seen more people bringing up this story when it comes to Mabel's character because it addresses quite a lot of things the main series brushed off about her character and problems people have with her characterization. Because of this, i would like to do a semi-analysis about this story myself and talk about the things that explores about Mabel's character and the development she gets.

So ¨Don't Dimension It¨ starts with a semi recap of what happened post Weirdmageddon: There are dimension-rifts as consequence of Bill taking over Gravity Falls, the protagonists are going around trying to fix these rifts. In a moment Mabel pulls up Waddles from her bag, partially ignoring how Stanford said these rifts are dangerous and Dipper tells this to Mabel:

Dipper saying this of all other characters is important, since Mabel has the habit of taking advantage of Dipper quite a lot in the series and he more often than not finds himself in situations he has to go with Mabel wants to do regardless of how he feels about it.

So we have the story bringing up from near the start that Mabel can be very self-centered in occasions and ignore the potential danger in serious situations, like Dipper points out. That's a good start.

Mabel accidentally falls into one of these dimensions rifts and ends ups in a dimension that is full of different versions of Mabels that got lost and ended up in that place. One of the Mabels tells protagonist Mabel that Brain Mabel has been trying to build a spaceship to escape but she got bored and got herself distracted with stickers.

Prot Mabel tries asking for help but the rest of the Mabels don't take the situation seriously, ignore her or do their own thing, not caring about taking priority in escaping.

I think these are more extreme versions of prot Mabel but one thing that prot Mabel realizes is how irritating it is to be ignored by well... versions of herself. She wants to espace this dimension, the issue is that other Mabels are too ¨busy¨ doing their own thing that they don't care about helping.

Mabel eventually finds one Mabel that actually is helpful, lets call her ¨Mabel 2¨ for the moment. Mabel tells Mabel 2 how irritating the rest of the Mabels are and the two work together to send a signal for Stanford and Stan to pick them up from the dimension.

When the ship shows up to pick them up, Mabel 2 betrays Mabel and traps her inside a bathroom. She reveals herself to be ¨Anti-Mabel¨, the most evil Mabel in the multiverse.

....I think this writing choice for to have just ¨Mabel but bad¨ without further exploration is pretty shallow but, meh, i want to focus on Mabel's character, not the antagonist.

So prot Mabel manages to escape from the bathroom she was trapped in while Anti-Mabel takes her place in the ship. Mabel asks for help to the other Mabels again, only to be ignored... and that makes her reach her own limit.

She finds herself repeating almost the same things that Dipper told her at the start of the story and she finally realizes how self-centered she can be to others and not see when something is a bigger priority. She tells to herself that ¨i need to work on myself¨, meaning she admits she has some growing to do as person.

She tries asking for help again, which leads her to admit how she messed up by being selfish in ¨Dipper and Mabel vs The Future¨. She talks about how she negleted those around her for being so absorbed in what she wanted to do that she didn't pay enough attention how this could bother people around her. She promises that she is going to try to be a better person from now on and work on to be more caring of other people.

This is very crucial for Mabel's development because, while she learned that changing is part of growing up in Weirdmageddon, her habit of making things about herself, coming off as too self-absorbed and making people do the things she wants without considering much what others want wasn't properly addressed. And this can become a toxic trait of hers, like ignoring things that are a bigger priority and taking advantage of her friends and family.

Mabel isn't a demon because she can be very selfish at times, she is a just 13 year old teenager. However, it still an important lesson she needs to learn to mature as a person over time. This is why in this story having her confronting these problems that she has was good for her character to have.

She manages to escape along with the rest of the Mabels helping her, they stop anti-Mabel and defeat her. Mabel goes back to Gravity Falls with Stanford and Stan while the rest of the Mabels use the ship to find their way back their own homes.

When Dipper asks to Mabel how was her trip in the multiverse, she has this to say.

She apologizes to Dipper for being selfish during this summer and that must have been a lot for Dipper to deal with. Dipper makes a joke about it, implying that he accepts Mabel's apology and forgives her for her behaviour.

It isn't super big but is still really good having Mabel apologize to Dipper for how she would treat him in certain episodes. I have talked about how their dynamic could come off as toxic in certain occasions because Dipper had to do what Mabel wanted and his feelings weren't always taking into consideration. So Mabel apologizing feels proper for the situation.

I have some issues with this story (Anti-Mabel just... being a not interesting antagonist, for some reason having a meta commentary about how Stanford and Stan aren't the best caretakers which is fine but i don't think it suits Gravity Falls imo). However i do appreciate the development that Mabel gets in it, bringing up her character flaws and her realizing that she messed up in some ways, telling to herself that she needs to work on that.

It definitely leaves Mabel in a way better place than the main series did, by her recognizing she has to change her selfish tendencies and acknowledging her mistakes, a lot healthier than just waiting for others to comform to do what she always wants. Her relationship with Dipper is a better place too, apologizing for the way she would sometimes treat him during the summer. It doesn't fix *every* problem with Mabel's character writing in the series but does solve some main issues and it does leave a better conclusion to Mabel's character arc overall.

#gravity falls #mabel pines #gravity falls lost legends #dipper pines #GF analysis #I would have prefer this to be in the main series but ehh it is better than nothing #And it mostly does a good job at it

[zeroducks-2]

I need to know what the details are on Dick being Deathstroke's apprentice. Google is useless.

Alright so, where to begin.

Dick has never actually been Deathstroke's apprentice. The idea that he trained under Slade who has been his "master" for a time is essentially a fanon concept, stemming from a mix of the the Renegade arc of Nightwing 1996, and from what's become known as the Apprentice Arc of Teen Titans 2003 (the old animated series).

When it comes to the Renegade arc, here's a quick recap of what happens: Dick is in Bludhaven and has recently broken up with Barbara, lost his job as a cop and went no contact with Bruce so he's very isolated. He finds out The Society Of Supervillains has business in the Boud and needs info about them, but can't infiltrate them because Slade is on their roster and he knows Dick's real identity, therefore he would recognize (and out) him easily. So he comes up with the idea of trying to convince Slade that he's a bad guy now and he can be trusted by villains - truly Slade never actually trusts him, but in the process of testing him Rose grows very fond of Dick, and eventually Dick manages to thwart the society's plans and kick Slade out of Bludhaven.

I have a more lengthy and detailed post about it if you're interested, and you can find it here.

As for the Apprentice Arc, the situation is completely different because the characters from Teen Titans 2003 are only inspired by their comics counterpart, and have different personalities and backstories. Again to sum it up, Slade (who's not a mercenary but rather an evil, almost demonic supervillain with a fixation on tormenting the Teen Titans, especially Robin) comes up with a plan to "infect" the Titans - minus Robin - with nanomachines. If activated, these little bots cause the kids unbearable pain (which would eventually kill them if not deactivated), and with that to threaten their well-being, Slade forces Robin to work for him and do his bidding. Eventually Robin finds a way to thwart said plan and cure his friends, and it all goes down in a couple of episodes, but it's suggestive and violent enough to have rewritten thousand of folks' brain chemistry.

I have a post which describes these events in a more detailed manner too, it's here. It discusses Slade in general, the section dedicated to the Apprentice Arc is about halfway through the post.

If you have any specific detail you wanna know about feel free to ask away!

#my asks #dick grayson #slade wilson

[sinuswar]

new hsbc update was amazing. probably the best character study the new team has done so far. jane and jake are finally getting their motivations and positions firmly established. really, really into it.

also, confirmed a lot of my page classpect theories! especially vis a vis the relationship between a fully realized page and their "imaginary friend," so i'm pretty psyched.

gonna ramble a little below.

(as a recap, in homestuck, every page had an imaginary friend that served as an embodiment of their aspect. tavros had rufio, a representation of his desired rebellion. horuss... had his stuff. no comment there. and jake had brain-ghost-dirk, a combination of his self-esteem and dirk's ability to splinter his personality.)

(or, as jake put it:)

so, now that brain-ghost-dirk is out of the picture (RIP to a real one), we can see what's left behind: jake's ability to believe in himself, and believe that he can change for the better. a force that jake fears.

pages are, famously, the slowest growing class in the game. they start out weak, but eventually get strong as hell. it looks like this might be part of it: pages, fearing their aspect, and instead pushing it onto an imaginary friend to hold onto. the imaginary friend that, naturally, tries to keep them on the right track.

a page protects their aspect by developing it over the years, even as it remains separate from their "ego," and likewise their aspect protects them in turn.

unlike most other classpect relationships, this one is clearly symbiotic: their aspect is a literal guy that needs to be created and cultivated, but in return, it protects them. (like... a summoner. hm.)

so, what does that mean when a page is "fully realized?" well, a friend and i joked about how when a page levels up, they probably don't get any real stat bonuses. it probably just goes straight to their imaginary friend (who is fake, and cannot do anything), and that's why they suck shit until end-game.

(jake, whose power is to literally believe in fake shit so hard it becomes real, is the obvious exception: he could genuinely summon brain ghost dirk.)

we then said, well, if at the end-game a page is supposed to finally obtain their full powers... it makes sense for their imaginary friend to "pass along" their aspect to the page, right? like the moment where your magical ghost guide finally says the power was inside of you all along, you just needed to find it.

they're that. and that's straight-up what we see bg-dirk do for jake. it was him all along. he was always cool, confident, observant, powerful, but he just couldn't access that part of himself. he didn't want to. the imaginary friend existed to shield that part of himself, but in turn, it also handed him back the power when the time was right.

so he can kill his wife, i guess.

(would we have gotten a scene where tavros talks to dante basco in his mind and then suddenly becomes the Twister King after finding out the power was inside of him all along? maybe. who knows.)

#homestuck #hsbc #homestuck beyond canon #classpecting

[xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx]

Killjoys Never Die 14/15 - The Kobra King

Chapter Summary: With Kobra alive and back with his crew, all you now need to do is escape the BLI headquarters. Easier said than done. (eventual) Pairing: Fun Ghoul x fem!Reader Chapter Word Count: 2 348 Series Warnings:  mentions of drugs; poor mental health; suicidal tendencies; insecurities; throwing up;  jealousy; slavery (?); experiments on living humans; mentions of eating disorder; graphic descriptions of: violence, injuries, torture, death

Previous Chapter | Series Masterlist

Recap:  The interrogation room was silent. You had been too late, and the SCARECROWs had pulled the mask over Kobra’s head before you had managed to shoot them. Party was sitting with his head in Kobra’s lap, the mask you had pulled off lying in shards of glass next to you, Fun and Jet had halted in the door way. The silence felt like it was suffocating you, crushing you.

 But it was broken by a very quiet, very weak voice.

“I always knew you’d come for me.”

It took your eyes a moment to focus, even though you had stared at the brothers the whole time, but there was no doubt, no doubt whatsoever, when Party lifted his head from Kobra’s lap.

From sunken, bloodshot eyes Kobra blinked into the room, first looking at his brother, then his eyes skipped from Fun, to Jet, and eventually you. He was tired, exhausted, barely alive, but there was such gentleness in his eyes, such joy and love.

Party was still staring at his brother, having only lifted his hand to Kobra’s cheek, brushing his finger over it again and again, as if he could not believe that instead of his skin growing colder, it in fact grew warmer again.

The first one to react was Fun. With a shout of ecstasy he launched himself at Kobra, who was still tied to the chair, and chuckled softly as Fun wrapped his arms awkwardly around him, Jet following right after.

You stayed seated on the floor, still in disbelief. Maybe you had been fast enough after all, and the mask had only temporarily knocked Kobra out, not killed him, not damaging his brain yet. And now, after four years, you had them all back, your crew. Your chest tightened as you watched them, laughing, crying, brushing over Kobra’s face and hair, touching him just because they loved him so much and were desperate to show him.

Across the room his eyes met yours. He did not say the words out loud, but mouthed them at you, a quiet ‘Thank you’, so honest, so heartfelt. And suddenly you realised that he had not missed just his mates, he had missed you, too. He had missed you just as much as you had missed him. His words, knowing you would come for him, had been not only directed at Party, but at all of you, you included. In his eyes you hadn’t failed him. You had saved him.

Slowly, you got up from your spot on the floor, brushing the glass shards off your palms, not caring about the burning of the cuts, and walked over to where the group was still hugging. Leaning down, you pressed a kiss to Kobra’s hair, making him smile. His hair smelt of dead animal, just like the mask you had ripped off his head, but still you lingered, feeling his short, soft hair against your lips, the warmth of his body slowly melting through his hair into your skin. He was alive. And there was no appropriate word to call the tight feeling in your chest, as you brushed your fingertips over his skin, trying to reassure yourself that it really was him, that you really had saved him.

Well, not quite yet. You were still in the heart of BLI, and before you had gotten Kobra and the others out of here, you couldn’t relax.

“Trackers,” Kobra suddenly said, “They implanted trackers in my hands.”

His statement made you terribly aware that you were still in the middle of enemy territory, and probably should get out as fast as possible. Immediately everyone was on high alert again.

“Where,” asked Jet, already getting up from where he had knelt by Kobra’s side.

“Back of both hands,” he answered. Indeed, you could see the outline of small capsules underneath his skin.

“Party, Fun, hold him down,” Jet commanded, while he pulled a small case from a pocket. When he opened it, a collection of medical tools were revealed. You could tell how Party, Kobra and Fun all got sick at the sight of the scalpel Jet pulled out, but they kept their composure. Party and Fun gripped Kobra’s still restrained arms tightly, as Jet bent down to take a closer look. “We need bandages,” he continued, not looking at you, but you knew he was asking you to find something that would do. So you immediately turned to the two dead SCARECROWS. Strips of their white laboratory coats would do nicely. “Try to keep quiet, okay?”

Jet’s last words were directed at Kobra, who nodded bravely, determination written on his face.

Quickly you busied yourself with rolling one of the SCARECROWs out of his coat, so you did not have to watch Jet bring the scalpel down on Kobra. After all these years, it probably was the last thing either of them wanted, to cut each other open. Again. But if you wanted BLI to stay clear of you, it had to be done. As you began tearing the first strip of fabric from the coat, your cut hands leaving bloodstains on the once snow white fabric, you could hear Kobra’s laboured breaths behind you. It made you feel sick.

Just as a pained groan escaped through his clenched teeth, there was the quiet clatter of something small and hard hitting the tiled floor.

“That was number one,” Jet concluded.

While he got to work on Kobra’s other hand, you began wrapping the bandages around the first hand. You could not help but notice the spider tattoo on the inside of his wrist, years old, nicely healed.

Suddenly there was the distant growling of an explosion that made the floor and the walls shake. Alarmed you gripped tightly onto Kobra, whose eyes flickered over the walls.

“What was that,” he asked, as you all halted for a moment as if you expected the ceiling to come down any moment.

“That would have been the Youngbloods,” Jet answered, over the sound of a second explosion, bigger and closer this time.

“The Youngbloods? They are-”

Kobra cut himself off with a muffled scream as Jet went back to work, trying to get the second tracker out of his hand.

“They’re our backup,” Party answered, not daring to look at Jet work or his brother’s face. “Sandman was very keen on kicking BLI’s butt for your sake.”

Kobra nodded, jaw clenched.

“Fuck, that hurts, you know,” he panted, and a moment later the second tracker hit the ground.

“But you’ve done well,” Jet assured him.

You could feel yourself sweating from all the stress you were in, as Jet quickly wrapped Kobra’s other hand in the improvised bandages, while you untied Kobra from the chair.

“Let’s get out of this shithole,” Party encouraged.

A third explosion rattled the building.

“What the hell are they doing,” Fun wondered, while he was disarming the dead SCARECROWs, throwing you one of the two ray guns he had retrieved, keeping the other for himself.

“A bit of big boom,” you recalled Phoenix’s words, making Kobra grin.

“Can you walk,” Party asked his brother, who still was sitting on the chair.

“Not sure,” he answered truthfully, and a moment latter Party had shifted to his side, and wrapped one of his arms over his shoulder.

“Jet!”

Jet joined Party on Kobra’s other side, and after exchanging a few nods, Fun was the first one to step from the tiled room into the observation room and back out into the corridor. He was followed by Party and Jet carrying Kobra, with you in the back.

Together you made your way back to the stairwell, still no DRACs, SCARECROWs or similar nightmares in sight.

Just as the door to the stairwell fell in lock behind you, the others already halfway down the first flight of stairs, there was a strange crackling. A moment later a voice echoed through the building, like an announcement from invisible speakers.

“I personally do think it is quite an achievement to make your way all across the Zones, just to break out a single man. You didn’t even give up after our little show with the doppelgänger. I’m impressed!”

Alarmed you stopped in your tracks, but after quickly exchanging glances with Fun and Party, you continued hurrying down the stairs. No time to lose.

“You even found and removed the trackers, I suppose, considering we’ve lost signal about a minute ago.” The voice was neither deep nor high, condescending, smooth, arrogant. “I just wish my men would have worked a little faster. Then you would not have had to go through the trouble of cutting the Kobra King up again. The mask was supposed to save you the trouble. Did you have fun watching that, Party Venom? You always had such a steady hand when it was your turn to cut him or Rage Ghoul open.”

Fifth floor. Five more to go. You could not wait getting out of BLI. The voice from the speakers sent shivers of the worst kind down your spine, the use of these strange names for your friends adding to the unease. To feel saver, you grabbed your ray gun from where it had been hidden underneath your BLI suit. The cool metal of it in your hand already made you feel more in control. An illusion, but better than nothing.

“And you, Mad Killjoy.” A shiver ran down your spine at the name other Killjoys had given you. “Did you enjoy it? I heard of your experiments, obviously. Really great work. And congratulations on getting all your little friends back. But did you never wonder how that was possible? Admittedly, Jet Moon was an accident. Rage Ghoul a calculated risk, which we lost. But Party Venom was thoroughly planned. I am disappointed that you never figured out why it was the Kobra King we held back. But since we’re already having such a nice chat, let me explain. Without him, you fall apart. He is the one all of you need to not tear each other’s throats out. Having the others torture him for years was just back up. In case they ever got rid of the masks. The guilt has been eating away at them constantly, hasn’t it? They grew more and more tense, more aggressive, hateful. I’m sure you have noticed that too.”

Ground floor. You felt sick. The voice was right. Without Kobra you had been falling apart. All this had been BLI’s plan for years, and you had walked right into their trap.

Fun pushed the door to the foyer open, ready to run towards the stairs that would lead to the boiler room in the basement, but came to a slithering halt no three feet outside the stairwell. When you bumped into Jet, Party and Kobra, who had stopped too, you saw why.

The way was blocked by SCARECROWs. Outside it had grown dark, and through the huge windows the flashing lights of BLI cars fell into the foyer.

“I just wonder where you plan escaping to,” the voice from the speakers continued. “I almost want to let you go, just to be able to see the look on your faces when you make it back to that Diner of yours to realise it’s been burnt to the ground. Sadly you did not drink any of the drugged water, otherwise we would have gotten quite a bit of a show here today, all of you going crazy with thirst and hallucinations from the withdrawal. So many missed opportunities for entertainment, don’t you think? Of course we noticed that the Diner was suddenly drawing water and electricity from our lines again. Did you really think we’d be stupid enough not to notice? And in case you were wondering how we knew you were coming: You didn’t really think Rage Ghoul could have broken into our outpost without us allowing him to, do you?”

Another explosion shook the building, this time right in front of it, since you could see the fireball that illuminated the scene shortly.

“Oh yes, your friends, the Youngbloods. We did not expect them, I must admit this much. Otherwise we would have prepared a welcome party for them too. They did quite a bit of damage to our weapon-arsenal, but don’t worry, we got still enough to deal with you.”

As if on command, the SCARECROWs all lifted their rifles. Frantically you scanned the room. There was no way you would make it to the boiler room. Back up the stairs would keep you trapped in the building. Your eyes flickered to the glass doors, the same ones you had had nightmares about so many nights, seeing your friends die here. This was the only way out. And a cruel joke, because this way history would be so likely to repeat itself.

“Oh, you know what happened here,” the voice from the speakers continued. “You know, how Party Venom and the Kobra King were brought down, how your sweet lover here gave his life in an attempt to save the Jet Moon.” You ignored the way the voice called Fun your lover. So did he. “Do you want me to tell you a secret, Mad Killjoy?” The voice got quiet, teasing. “If Rage Ghoul had not run straight into your hands a few weeks ago, we would have had special plans for him.”

You could see Fun shift uncomfortably from one leg to the other, his eyes flickering to the glass doors, just like yours, just like Party’s and Jet’s.

“He would’ve been the guest star for our very first human vivisection. On himself.”

Your stomach turned and if you had eaten anything in the past hours, it would have ended up on the floor of the foyer now.

Fun was shaking, and you did not have to see his face to know he was as pale as the walls around you.

“Fuck you,” he grumbled, making the voice laugh.

“Rude,” it chuckled. “But that’s enough small talk now. Let’s finish this.”

And with that the SCARECROWs opened fire.

Next Chapter - Save Yourself

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#fun ghoul x reader #fun ghoul x you #fun ghoul x fem!reader #killjoys never die multi chapter #fun ghoul imagines #fun ghoul imagine #fun ghoul fanfiction #fun ghoul fanfic #frank iero x reader #frank iero x you #frank iero x fem!reader #fem!reader #frank iero imagines #frank iero imagine #frank iero fanfic #frank iero fanfiction #danger days au #danger days fanfiction #danger days fanfic #danger days imagine #danger days imagines #my chemical romance fanfic #my chemical romance fanfiction #my chemical romance imagine #my chemical romance imagines #my chemical romance x reader #my chem imagine #my chem imagines #my chem fanfiction #my chem fanfic

[agentcable]

Mouse (2021) Ep. 10 Recap

Ba-Reum is displaying increasingly violent behaviour and struggling to control his urges, including the urge to kill. Additionally, a new murder case has emerged with similarities to the previous ones. Based on this evidence, it is possible that the transplanted brain piece in Ba-Reum's head is not from a psychopath, and therefore Yo-Han may not be the killer.

If you want to watch the series for yourself, stop reading! This post contains spoilers to the storyline.

Shortly after Han Seo-Joon's arrest for murder, his wife Ji-Eun was almost due to give birth. While leaving the hospital after a check-up, she witnesses a woman attempting to strangle her own son. Hospital staff intervene and save the child, but the woman begs Ji-Eun not to give brith to her own child.

Ji-Eun breaks away from the distressed woman and exits the building. Outside, she is horrified as the woman slams into the concrete just inches away from her. Ji-Eun looks up and sees the woman's son peering down triumphantly. She shudders as her water breaks, mingling with the dying woman's blood on the pavement.

Moo-Chi wakes up the morning after his confrontation with Ba-Reum, still at Ba-Reum's house. He has no memory of their fight, having been drunk. Ba-Reum's left hand is wrapped as if he's injured. Ba-Reum admits that they fought, but downplays what happened. He asks Moo-Chi to stop drinking, but Moo-Chi only says he'll stop once he kills Han Seo-Joon. he becomes loud and upset because he cannot get arrested to get close to Seo-Joon, no matter how hard he tries. Ba-Reum smiles and says that his hyung, Moo-Won, is looking out for him.

After Moo-Chi leaves for work, Ba-Reum discovers a bloodstained rock in the garden. He remembers how he strangled Moo-Chi last night and then picked up the rock. He heard a voice in his head telling him to kill Moo-Chi with the rock. Another voice pleaded with him not to do it. In the end, he screamed "No!" and smashed his own hand with the rock to release Moo-Chi's throat. Ba-Reum remembers a girl from the past who said that the mouse had a bad brain. He wonders if the part of Yo-Han's brain inside his head will eventually kill him from within.

Ba-Reum visits Seo-Joon, who is disappointed that Ba-Reum is keeping the world's first successful brain transplant a secret. Seo-Joon informed him that when he transplanted a violent mouse's brain into a docile mouse, the doucile mouse became violent and killed its mate. Ba-Reum confessed to almost killing someone. He wondered if the same would happen to Ba-Reum.

Detective Park was shaken to learn that the body he had buried, thinking it was his daughter Hyun-Soo's, was actually that of Jung Man-Ho's daughter, Soo-Jin. He wants to know what happened to Hyun-Soo. He goes straight to Seo-Joon to demand answers. Seo-Joon says he never said the remains were Hyun-Soo's and doesn't recall where her body is. Detective Park is escorted out while screaming. Seo-Joon warns Moo-Chi that he will regret shooting Yo-Han. Moo-Chi admits that he already regrets it and should have killed Seo-Joon first while Yo-Han watched.

During a check-up, Ba-Reum asks the doctor if he could be developing violent tendencies from Yo-Han's brain inside his head. The doctor assures him that it is not possible to inherit traits from donors, despite what many believe.

While at Moo-Chi's computer, Ba-Reum discovers graphic photos of Yo-Han's victims. He tries to convince himselfe that his reaction is only psychological and takes his medicine as a precaution. Moo-Chi catches him and Ba-Reum lies, saying he was searching for Halmoni's brooch on the evidence list because Bong-Yi wants it, but it's not in the evidence box.

Meanwhile, Kang Deok-Soo's mother accosts Bong-Yi in her neighbourhood, yelling at her to move away. Bong-Yi calmly replies that Kang Duk-Soo is at fault for his actions. The mother attacks, but thankfully Moo-Chi is there to break it up.

Later, Kang Duk-Soo grinst that Bong-Yi has grown up to be very pretty. With Kang Deok-Soo out of prison, Moo-Chi suggests that Bong-Yi live with him for safety. Bong-Yi argues that she cannot live on the run. This is the only place she can afford to live because her father built it.

Moo-Chi finds Ba-Reum planting flowers at the station. He gets loud about how they are making Ba-Reum do garden work with his broken hand. Ba-Reum notices something while watching him dig. Woo Jae-Pil confessed to digging the hole where Jung Soo-Jin's body was found. However, the angle of the hole suggests that it was dug by a right-handed person, while Jae-Pil is left-handed.

Photos show that Jae-Pil had a cast on his left hand during Soo-Jin's death. Therefore, he would have had to dig using his right hand. However, the left-leaning knots on Soo-Jin's hands could not have been tied by him. Ba-Reum believes that the knots were clumsy, as if a child had tied them. Jae-Pil's son, Hyung-Chul, was twelve years old at the time. Ba-Reum and Moo-Chi decide to focus on Hyung-Chul for now, starting with his solid alibi during Hong Na-Ri's death. During the investigation, Ba-Reum and his team visit the woman whose windows Hyung-Chul was working on at the time of Na-Ri's murder. She confirms that she was at the home the entire time he was there, except for a brief period of twenty minutes when she took her sick dog to the vet. Ba-Reum concludes that Hyung-Chul must have given something to the dog to make it sick and then left to commit the murder.

Hyung-Chul would have only had a few minutes to kill Na-Ri, including travel time. To test the timing, Moo-chi has Ba-Reum tie him and strangle him, but Ba-Reum gets too into it. Luckily, Moo-Chi's timer goes off and snaps him out of it.

They realize that Hyung-Chul didn't have enough time to kill Na-Ri. Ba-Reum is shaken. Moo-Chi doesn't realize how close he came to death. He tells Ba-Reum that he's a better cop after his accident, with his newfound ability to understand killers. Ba-Reum gets Moo-Chi a beer that's been stored in a fridge that's being used to cool a pot of bone broth. Suddenly, Ba-Reum solves the mystery. He and Moo-Chi confront Hyung-Chul. Moo-Chi growls that killing is an addiction, and Hyung-Chul challenges him to crack his alibi before more people die. He begins to walk away, but Moo-Chi informs him that he became ill after consuming milk from Hong Na-Ri's refrigerator that should have been fresh.

Ba-Reum reveals that Hyung-Chul did not kill Hong Na-Ri on the day he left his job. Instead, he had killed her two days earlier and stored her body in her fridge. He then moved her body back to the position where he had killed her, making it look like Na-Ri was killed while he was working. Hyung-Chul's alibi was thus secured. When Ba-Reum shows him that Na-Ri's DNA was found inside her fridge, Hyung-Chul laughs at their wild theory. Hyung-Chul demanded a warrant, but Moo-Chi aimed his gun and pulled the trigger when he turned his back. Fortunately, Ba-Reum had removed the bullets.

Hyung-Chul attempted to flee, but Detective Kang intercepted him with an arrest warrant. Moo-Chi was angry because he wanted to kill Hyung-Chul and go to jail to kill Seo-Joon, but Ba-Reum saved him against his will, once again.

Ba-Reum is upset by the new murderous voice in his head and begs his surgeon for another transplant. However, the doctor turns him down, explaining that a brain transplant requires specific circumstances. Ba-Reum becomes angry when the doctor says that he would lose a lot if he were operated on again and snarls, "I could lose myself! Sung Yo-Han's mind might take over mine!" He storms out, and the doctor calls Chief Choi, who then makes another call to beg a favour.

Bong-Yi caught a little girl stealing food in a convenience store. Out of kindness, she bought the food for her. Bong-Yi was worried that the girl's mother didn't know that Kang Deok-Soo was back in the neighbourhood. So, she walked the girl home and advised her mother to move away quickly. However, the mother was not worried about Deok-Soo and resented Bong-Yi's advice. Bong-Yi asked if it changed anything that she was Deok-Soo's victim. She left the mother rethinking the situation. Ba-Reum was found huddled outside her house. He leaned into her arms and asked sadly if he would be alright.

The warrant against Hyung-Chul was dismissed due to lack of evidence. Moo-Chi seeks Hong-Joo's assistance in finding concrete evidence against Hyung-Chul. Hong-Joo possesses a diary written by Kim Young-Hee, which contains a picture of her with a friend. Moo-Chi requests Hong-Joo to take care of someone for him, but she declines.

While walking home, Bong-Yi scratches a man's face out of fear, but it turns out to be Moo-Chi. While patching him up, he hands her the bankbook where he has been saving all the money from Ji-Eun. He wants her to use the money to move to his neighbourhood where it is safe. However, Bong-Yi disagrees and says that running away won't solve anything. She wants to handle Deok-Soo herself. Both of them are worried about Ba-Reum, who is currently at a church. He kneels and pleads tearfully, "Please protect me, Lord. Please don't let anything happen to me. Please don't let me become a monster like Sung Yo-Han."

Shin Sang informs Ba-Reum that he will be joining Moo-Chi on the evidence managing team. During their conversation, Shin Sang receives the news of a body that shares similarities with Yo-Han's murders, including a finger pointing at a cross.

Ba-Reum meets Shin Sang at the scene where they find the body of a teenage girl who was beaten and burned, similar to Yo-Han's first murder of Song Soo-Jung. The police assume it's a copycat, a fan of Yo-han's. However, Ba-Reum believes it's the work of a professional. He also detects the scent of mint, which he used to smell at the murder site. Ba-Reum remembers Halmoni's missing brooch and asks Moo-Chi to show him the pictures of Yo-Han's basement and the video from the killer during Hong-Joo's broadcast. He notices that the walls are different, suggesting that Yo-Han may not have sent the video. Ba-Reum realizes that he only remembers hitting Song Soo-Jung, not killing him. This means that Yo-Han may not have been the killer after all.

Ba-Reum informs Moo-Chi and Shin Sang that he suspects the killer may have been someone else. Moo-Chi disputes Ba-Reum's theory, questioning why Yo-Han had those photos in his basement and why he attacked Ba-Reum. Ba-Reum explains about the mint, but Moo-Chi refuses to believe that he may have killed an innocent man and orders him to leave. Shortly after, Ba-Reum is summoned to the site of another death, initially believed to be a suicide by hanging. The mint scent in the room makes him uneasy. He notices the woman's head at her throat, as if she tired to free herself. Only one finger is stuck under the rope, which appears to have been arranged by the killer. Upon closer inspection, he sees that she's wearing Moo-Won's missing cross locket with his family's photo still inside. Ba-Reum is startled and falls, then spots something fastened to the edge of the woman's bathrobe: Halmoni's brooch. This is a message.

Ba-Reum runs out to call Moo-Chi and Shin Sang to the scene. When he returns to the body, he notices that Moo-Won's necklace and Halmoni's brooch are missing. Ba-Reum claimes to have seen them, but the other cops dismiss his claim, except for Moo-Chi. In the woman's purse, Moo-Chi finds a card for an illegal massage parlor, the same card he found in Hyung-Chul's office, and rushes back to the station.

Ba-Reum sees this as proof that Yo-Han didn't kill anyone, which gives him hope. He vows to catch Hyung-Chul and prove that he is the murderer, and that he does not have the mind of a killer.

Moo-Chi calls Ba-Reum back to the station to talk. While he waits, he messes up Ba-Reum's tidy desk just because it irritates him. He notices a paused video on Ba-Reum's computer and recognizes the girl from Young-Hee's photo. He searches for Hye-Won, but she seems to have vanished. She informed her boss that she was marrying a lawyer, but texted her friends that she was going abroad to study.

Hong-Joo and Moo-Chi have deduced that Hyung-Chul is the common denominator between the deceased girls. Hyung-Chul volunteers to counsel troubled and runaway young women, and Moo-Chi believes that he is killing women he deems "unladylike". For instance, he killed Min-Joo after seeing her enter a hotel with a man, and Na-Ri while she was dating someone else while separated from her husband. Bong-Yi was targeted because he was Deok-Soo's lawyer, and Hyung-Chul knew she was one of his victims.

Hong-Joo leaves for an appointment. Unfortunately, Hyung-Chul is at the doctor's office and sees her with her child. He asks the doctor, the same unethical jerk who proudly admits that he tipped off the reporter that she was dating Yo-Han. The doctor confirms that she was Choi Hong-Joo, the TV producer.

Ba-Reum and Shin Sang meet with the doctor who performed the autopsy on the burned high schooler. The doctor re-examines the evidence at Ba-Reum's request, but finds no signs of strangulation. Ba-Reum impresses Shin Sang with his knowledge of technical terms, but he becomes concerned about his own condition.

Jung Man-Ho, Soo-Jin's father, is upset to learn that Jae-Pil did not kill his daughter but took the blame to protect his son. He informs Moo-Chi that Hyung-Chul's mother attempted to kill her son before committing suicide. Jung Man-Ho provides Moo-Chi with information on how to locate Hyung-Chul's uncle for further details. The uncle reveals that he once accompanied Hyung-Chul's mother to meet someone named Daniel Lee. Later, he took her to a research institute. After that, her mind seemed blank. Moo-Chi notices some hydrangeas on a nearby hill, and Uncle says that Hyung-Chul planed them there.

Some of the flowers lost their colour, which Moo-Chi knows means there is iron in the soil. He digs up the flowers and finds a knife in the ground next to an as-yet undiscovered body.

Ba-Reum has been investigating Hyung-Chul and has reached the same conclusion that he is the one responsible for killing these women. Dong-Goo is waiting for him and is upset that Ba-Reum has not been responding to his messages about his wedding tomorrow. Dong-Goo brings a suit for Ba-Reum to try on, and he mentions that he has not heard from his fiancée, Seul-Gi. Only now does Ba-Reum recall that Hyung-Chul was present at the dinner where Dong-Goo's friend advised him not to marry Seul-Gi, and he becomes worried.

Hyung-Chul judged Seul-Gi unworthy and is now at her place, dressing her in her wedding gown and tying her up. He starts to strangle her, but Ba-Reum and Dong-Goo arrive just in time. Ba-Reum breaks into Seul-Gi's apartment and Hyung-Chul attacks him from behind. Dong-Goo calls for help. Ba-Reum turns the tables and throws Seul-Gi's veil over Hyung-Chul's face. Then, he starts hitting him repeatedly. He stops when he sees blood seeping through the white silk. Hyung-Chul manages to escape by jumping off the balcony. Ba-Reum chases him and catches up when Hyung-Chul's car collides with a truck. Hyung-Chul hides in an empty warehouse and knocks Ba-Reum unconscious when he shows up.

When Ba-Reum wakes up, his hands are tied behind his back. He keeps Hyung-Chul talking to buy time and instinctively works his hands from the knot. Hyung-Chul has confessed to the murders, including the killing of Soo-Jin when they were children. He had pretended it was an accident, and his father had easily believed him. His father even helped him disguise Soo-Jin's body to look like Park Hyun-Soo's. However, Hyung-Chul's mother had suspected something was wrong with her son. She had Daniel Lee test Hyung-Chul's DNA and learned that he is a psychopath. She had attempted to kill him but ended up dead herself.

Ba-Reum asked Hyung-Chul why he targeted Bong-Yi. Hyung-Chul responded by laughing evilly. Ba-Reum freed his hands and tackled Hyung-Chul to the ground, hittin ghim repeatedly. He asked why Hyung-Chul killed the other victims, including Halmoni, but Hyung-Chul insisted that Sung Yo-han killed him.

Suddenly, Ba-Reum saw images that could only have come from Yo-Han's brain: Halmoni lying dead in the alley and knocking over a barrel to set Soo-Ho's body on fire. Horrified, he realizes that it was indeed Sung Yo-Han. He grabs Hyung-Chul once again and strangles him as the voice in his head whispers that people like Hyung-Chul deserve to die. Ba-Reum only realizes what he has done when Hyung-Chul stops breathing.

He has become a murderer. Looking up, he sees Yo-Han standing in front of him, taunting him, "How does it feel? Isn't it exhilarating to kill a person?"

#Korea #TV Serie #K-Drama #2021 #Mouse

[mrfancyfoot]

Had to be put under for a minor surgery that I didn't know was general ana and a bigger deal until, like, right before it (recap: I'm in the ER stiiiill). Prior to said surgery, I warned the surgery prep and anesthesia teams (literally like 3x and this is the same place I've had all of my other surgeries where the exact same thing has happened each time) that I have some known extreme reactions when waking up (notably temporary full body paralysis that includes my ability to talk and extreme light sensitivity - informed them would be best if I woke up in a dim area/room and allowed to adjust to lighting). A quick scan to the Google says that these side effects are very well known. I have a long history of sleep paralysis, so that alone does not bother me.

I come to, predictably with the paralysis and photosensitivity, and immediately start having a panic attack because I'm under one of those bright overhead exam lights and it feels like my brain is imploding under the overwhelming stimulus. Despite just "waking up" I am fully cognizant and aware. I can't move anything but my left hand and my head from side to side (sort of). While I'm attempting to bury my face in my shoulder, I'm trying desperately to tell the tech what's wrong (I kept trying to say the word "light" as well as I could; I was snapping with my left hand and pointing up, and even fucking using ASL to literally spell "Light," and all he can think to ask is, "You have to tell us what's wrong." "You have to use your words, sweetie!" over and over.

He gets very obviously frustrated (tone, scoffing) and gives me something through my IV to "calm me down" but ends up giving too much and knocks me back out and the last thing I hear are inappropriate comments made with someone else and their laughter.

There is hardly anything scarier than being fully cognizant and trapped in your own body undergoing trauma. I was absolutely furious and felt humiliated.

His official notes from the incident state that I was crying and "mumbling and grumbling" and not coherent. They automatically assumed that I was just making a big deal of the pain from the operation (I had 0 pain from that at all at the time).

I was eventually moved back up to my room at some point. The moment I could talk again, I asked to file an official complaint. My normal care team at my room knew what was up b/c I warned them ahead of time- they were amazingly understanding and considerate and went out of their way to help me. A lovely patient representative comes up a bit later and takes my statement with her own barely hidden growing ire.

I'm not personally looking for anything but they need some process improvement (why on earth is this not documented in my file???<--except this, I HAVE requested this AGAIN), better patient empathy, and that tech needs to work on his damn bedside manner.

A whole team of people decided that what I had painstakingly reported ahead of time wasn't worth taking seriously. At least one tech is likely making inappropriate comments when he believes that the patient under his care is "incoherent."

In contrast, as I was waking up from my hysterectomy surgery here less than a year ago, I was in a very dimly lit room, the nurses worked with me to very gradually brighten the lights, and communicated in yes/no questions I could move my head to answer until I was able to form words and sentences again. I also reported this to the patient rep as THAT is what quality care looks like and clearly showed that the hospital is capable of it.

Always self-advocate. I came here with some major impostor syndrome ("It's not so bad that I need to go to the ER and potentially take a bed from someone else.") and was told that I had 1000% made the best decision due to the severity and type of symptoms. I was almost immediately admitted into triage and then the emergency in-patient wing.

And tattle on care workers who need to be better. Most hospitals will have patient resources and representatives that you can ask to speak to and contact. If you're lucky, it may lead to better quality of care if you're stuck there and being cared for by some dolt. Even if you never have to see them again, their behavior may be addressed and save the next person.

#fancy's grumblings #venting #self advocacy #surgery #I'm terrified to see the final bill even after insurance #why yes I do live in the US why do you ask? #my dog is getting his wish of me working from home all the time in the future #gotta look for the silver linings #someone save me from the hospital food #I'm at least not stuck on a soft foods only diet anymore #fuck auto-immune disorders #disability #going on day 6 #let me ooooout

[otakusmart]

6 best fantasy K-dramas to watch after Alchemy of Souls

Our Daeho residents' tale eventually ended, leaving an immense void in our hearts that we kept looking forward to watching every week.  What can we do, though, to fill that void? Watching another epic fantasy tale is the best recipe for moving on from such an epic tale.  Here I am with some of my favorite fantasy K-dramas like Alchemy of Souls that will fill a part of that void.

Hotel Del Luna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ3_1v8sB48 When talking about fantasy dramas, we can only pass by mentioning Hotel del Luna, a fantasy drama about a 1000-year-old woman, Jang Man-Wol, who is tied to a tree for eternity as a punishment for her evil deeds.  To end that punishment, she has to help the hotel guests go to the afterlife.  Our heroine has got looks to die for, but she also has a hot temper that only our hero, Go Chan-Soong, the hotel manager, who is also a Harvard University graduate, can deal with.  Along with the rest of the hotel staff, who are ghosts with unfulfilled wishes, Man-Wol and Chan-Soong do their best to provide their guests with a comfortable stay. ALSO READ: Recap on Kdrama Brain Works Episode 1: investigative drama, high on comedy

Sell your haunted house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwkn_elMC3c Ordinary real estate could be more fun. Thus, our female lead, Hong Ji-a, specializes in selling only haunted houses.  Wherever there is a ghost messing around with the residents, Ji-a steps in and sends that ghost away.  Despite nailing her exorcisms, Ji-a faces a minor problem, though. Whenever she deals with a ghost, Ji-a's body gets extremely cold, and she can't handle it anymore. Luckily, she soon runs into our male lead, Oh In-boom, a powerful psychic who has yet to discover that ability.  Strangely enough, whenever In-beom is around, Ji-a doesn't feel cold at all.  Although she is reluctant to seek help, Ji-a suggests they start working on exorcisms together, giving us a powerful partnership that remains on top of my favorites. ALSO READ: 12 Korean Drama OSTs That Every Kdrama Enthusiasts Know By Heart (2023)

Gu Family Book

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itROM2-fy6Q A nine-tailed fox, Gu Wul-ryung, falls in love with a woman, who has no clue about his true identity, hoping he will soon become a human when the Gu family book, his family's heirloom, appears before him.  However, things don't go as planned, and Wul-ryung gets killed. Unbeknownst to him, his wife gets pregnant with a child who grows up to be a half-fox and half-human, our hero, Choi Kang-chi.  The only way for Kang-chi to live as a human is to use his supernatural powers once he becomes an adult.  That way, those powers will eventually disappear, which sure doesn't happen, and Kang-chi has now to make peace with his fate with the help of our heroine, Dam Yeo-wool. ALSO READ: 6 best inspirational K-Dramas to keep us motivated in 2023

Goblin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S94ukM8C17A A former Goryeo general, Kim Shin, gets killed as soon as he reaches the capital after his recent victory.  However, he is given a second chance at life thanks to the earnest prayers of the people he helped throughout his life.  However, our former general has to pay the price for taking many people's lives on the battlefield. He is now an immortal goblin with an invisible sword stuck through his chest.  Sending off his beloved ones one after another makes life seem meaningless to our goblin, who keeps waiting for his bride, the only one who can take out that sword and end his immortality.  However, when that so-called bride, Ji Eun-Tak, actually shows up, our goblin has a change of mind. Instead of dying, he now wishes to live happily by Eun-tak's side. ALSO READ: 8 gorgeous outfits IU (Jang Man Wol) wore in Hotel Del Luna

Tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhmxDgBxGRk Our cute and soft-hearted teddy bear of a hero, Choi Joon-woong, falls accidentally into the Han river while trying to stop someone from committing suicide.  Now, Joon-young lies in a coma and has only two choices: work for an afterlife company for six months or stay in a coma for three years, during which his family will take a severe blow.  Although reluctant, Joon-woong goes with the former, so he joins grim reapers Goo Ryeon and Lim Ryung-gu in their mission to save suicidal people before they take their own lives in despair. That mission is for sure not a walk in the park. However, with determination and earnestness, our trio manages to save people and help them get a new chance at life. ALSO READ: Extraordinary Attorney Woo and 22 K-Dramas About Disability and Mental Illness

Mystic Pop-up bar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaOkAyo0pI In the Joseon era, our heroine, Weol-ju, used to be famous for her dream reading skills, but that unique talent turned out to be a double-edged weapon.  Soon after Weol-ju helps the crown prince get rid of the nightmares plaguing his sleep, a despicable rumor spreads about Weol-ju seducing the crown prince to gain money and power.  That rumor costs the life of Weol-ju's mother, which leaves Weol-ju devastated, and she then commits suicide.  As a punishment for taking her own life, Weol-ju has to help as many as 10000 people settle their grudges.  Even with managing to help 9990, Weol-ju is stuck on the last 10 cases, so she enlists the help of Han Kang-bae, a young man with a strange ability where people can only help but tell the truth whenever he touches them.  With lots of impressive fantasy dramas out there, it will take us ages to list every single one of them.  I picked out some of my favorite ones that I hope you find enjoyable and if you have other recommendations, tell me about them in the comments, and I will gladly add them to my watchlist. ALSO READ: 10 Korean Dramas With No Romance To Kickstart Your K-drama Journey Read the full article

[canonicallysoulmates]

Jared’s appearance on Justin Wren’s podcast. September 20th, 2021. 

For those that don’t know Jared appeared on Justin Wren’s podcast, this was filmed a couple of weeks ago but it aired today. It’s pretty long, close to two hours of content. I’m going to tell y’all right now this is not going to be a recap post, it's too much content, and Justin is chatty and I just don’t have it in me even with notes taken to do a recap. But I will be linking to the podcast at the bottom of this post. I watched/listened to it through Youtube which is what I will be linking to  but it is also available on Spotify if you prefer to listen to it in a more traditional podcast format. 

Just so you know this not a promotional podcast appearance meaning if you’re hoping to get info on Walker s2 or any of Jared’s projects you’re not going to find it here, he does mention Walker and shares there was a covid related incident during s1 but that’s the extend there’s no details given on the new season because that is not the purpose of this podcast; the purpose of it is to talk about mental health. Jared opened up and shared some thing about his mental health and what he has gone through and deal with it- some of it is stuff we have heard before but there’s also things he hasn’t shared before like he told a story about when he was a child riding his bike and he came across a school bully who held a pellet gun to his head and pulled the trigger that is so fucked up. So, yeah he shared some stuff he hadn’t before so if you got the time or you can also divide and conquer listen to one hour now, another hour later go ahead give it a listen or a watch like I said it’s gonna be linked at the bottom. 

Like I said this is not a recap post, what it is is a quick opinion post about some of my thoughts on some of the things that were said, and fair warning this will probably be a bit over the place. 

Gonna say this first, Justin seems like a very lovely guy, I don’t like his podcasting style one bit. But I wish him luck with it! 

At the start of the podcast he talks a bit about having covid. He says he and the kids tested positive on the 13th, G had tested positive on the 7th/8th. If you know me you know what I think. If you don’t understand what I mean you don’t need to worry about it. And if you want to play lawyer read the tags on this post. Back to it, he talked about some of his symptoms like he would get winded very easily even going up the stairs would leave him out of breath, he lost a some muscle mass, he was suffering from brain fog and he still had some of these symptoms when he filmed this even though he was pass his two week quarantine period he was still dealing with some brain fog and in my opinion you can tell he was being careful with his words and how he articulates himself. This was filmed a couple weeks ago so hopefully he’s now feeling much better and those lingering side effects/symptoms have passed. 

He was asked about meeting G on set so naturally he segwayed away to talk about how when he was little him and his siblings wanted to be able to live in Austin, and how siblings went to UT and his first job on Gilmore Girls and the pay was good- don’t ask me what this has to do with G because even he didn’t know why he entered into this story. Eventually after the detour he circled back around to meeting G on set and then it’s the same we’ve heard before. 

Moving unto some of the more personal stuff he talks about AKF and what it means to him, he mentions for the first time outside of a Meet and Greet setting that he went to an inpatient clinic in 2015, he gave a brief rundown of what happened in Geneva which we will come back to, he also talked about growing up in an environment that was very much straighten up little soldier where it was encouraged to just run some dirt on it and suck it up if something happened and he says that's something he got really good at doing.

I'm not going to go into details about this because I'm not even sure how to word it but the environment that one grows up in leaves an impact that affects how you think about things, how you process things, the relationships one has, and even which parts of oneself are hidden away such as sexuality, gender identity, self expression. It took Jared years to just unlearn that mentality of toughening up.

He also opened up about how he was bullied in school, he still even remembers some of his bullies names; and he mentions how he's worried cause he thinks his sons have a bully, poor kiddos! 

I wasn't surprised to hear it but I still hate to get confirmation that he does sometimes see the hate that's thrown his way, as an example he brought up something that happened recently which is he'll post a link to a crowdfunding to help someone out and encourage others to donate, and he sees comments about how he should pay for it, and he mentions that he does internalize those comments sometimes like he'll see them and wonder why he doesn't pay for the whole thing. I hate that, I hate that on so many levels, I hate that he sees those kinds of comments, I hate that they get to him, that he may even for a second believe the vile people spew at him, that sometimes those taking the shots and making snarky comments are people he considers friends and the thought he might internalize them and believe them! It breaks my heart 💔

The good new is he does also see the good stuff, the love and support we have for him. I am as always left hoping that he sees more of the love we have for him, the support, how much he means to us and inspires us instead of the hate. 

I was asked about this so I am killing two birds with one stone, let's talk about Geneva. When giving his rundown of what happened in 2015, Jared mentions G and credits her with saving his life, claiming that she encouraged him to return to Austin to deal with things. I don't know the actual extent of G's involvement in his recovery, maybe he's telling the truth and she saved his life if she did that's lovely and I'm thankful because he's still here with us. That being said, personally, I don't know if I believe him, his body language seemed off in that moment, and he said Gen so did he mean it with a G or with a J. In my opinion, he is giving an edited version of the truth this doesn't mean he's using his breakdown to prop her up or that he's not being honest. At a difference, I think this is him being as open and honest as he can be and feels comfortable with about an incredibly dark point in his life not out of obligation for we are not entitled details about this but because he wants others to know they're not alone. 

Gonna wrap this up, link is below, if you get the chance give it a watch, give it a listen, you don't have to do it in one sitting feel free to spread it through your day. 

Jared on Justin Wren's podcast

#my internet crashed as i was finishing up so i had to finish typing this on my phone #not mentioned in the post but jared was looking great #anti genevieve #because lately there's always that one person that wants to defend her in my inbox #and i don't have the patience i'll be dammed if i'm gonna let them drain me of my energy in my month of September #anti jared x genevieve #jared related #mine

[dutchdread]

You seem pretty adamant about Cloud not loving Aerith in any way romantically, but if Cloud didn't have any feelings at all for Aerith, why in her resolution would she even bring up Cloud falling in love with her at all? Why would she even bring up the word "love" if he didn't have any feelings for her?

Because I am talking about the real Cloud, not Soldier Cloud. It could very well be that Soldier Cloud has at least some attraction towards Aerith. But like Aerith says "it's imaginary", as in, it's not Clouds true self that loves her. His real self decided long ago where his affections lie, had he never lost sight of his true self, he'd have never developed feelings for Aerith, and once he returns to his true self, there is again no doubt as to whom he loves, regardless of whatever fondness he developed for Aerith while in his fake persona. If you want to know more about my feelings concerning Clouds potential romantic feelings in regards to Aerith, read my article "Do I think Cloud had romantic feelings for Aerith? (plottwist, the answer is yes)" It goes into more detail and nuance concerning my stance on this. Also: "What is love, baby don't hurt me". Goes deeper into my views on love, to provide context.

But to put it in bullet point format, there are a few points that I find important:

I don't say that Cloud has ZERO romantic feelings regarding Aerith, but the same thing goes for, for instance, Jessie, because:

Love isn't binary where you either love someone, or don't. Not all love is equal and not every single feeling of affection is deep and noteworthy.

Attraction is not love, infatuation is not love, they might be the seeds from which love eventually grows, but by themselves they're just physiological responses that we too quickly ascribe to love.

Time is a required element for love to develop, Cloud and Aerith didn't have any.

Love requires understanding who you are, and what the other person means to you. Cloud has no idea who he is or what he cherishes, he can't make an informed choice.

Love is something that is nurtured, your mindset determines whether it grows or shrivels, and when you're beating yourself up about letting someone die then your brain is making neural pathways connecting the other person with feelings of guilt, not infatuation.

So, to recap, I've never said that Cloud, while in his fake persona, doesn't have a crush on Aerith, and that's all that "being in love" means. It's just an annoying misuse of the the word love to pretend it's more meaningful than it is. But "being in love", and actually loving someone, are two different things. Perhaps a better way to explain this is this: the person I am is the result of everything I've been through, all the thoughts I've had, all the feelings I've had, they all molded who I am as a person, the reason I love the people I love, is because of the memories I share with them, the reason that no one could ever replace them, is because I KNOW what would need to be replaced. If I were to have a brain injury, which wipes all my memories, and leaves me with a different personality, then for all intents and purposes, that would not be "me", it would be a different person walking around in my body. And if that person were to fall in love with someone, it would not make sense to say that "I" fell in love with them. If I were to then get surgery to fix whatever was wrong with me, and regain my former memories and personality, then those memories will affect my feelings regarding the people I bonded with during my time as someone else. For instance, if I realize I've been married with someone for 30 years, have shared joy and suffering with them,etc, then that definitely impacts the feelings I'd have for whoever I happened to fall in love with during my "absence". It might even be so that certain characteristics which I found appealing while not myself would suddenly become distasteful to me when my memories are intact because I have negative connotations with them because of my experiences. The point is that my feelings while not myself can not in good faith be called genuine, or even "mine". Cloud loves Tifa, the lifestream makes that abundantly clear, her opinion is stated to be the only one that matters to him, she's the reason he became a soldier, she's the reason he developed a fake identity, she's the reason he loses sight of himself, she's what brings him back, his sub-conscious is filled with her, his entire life up to the moment he walked into Midgar essentially revolved around getting her to notice him. That is A LOT of baggage for Aerith to contend with. Had she had a year together with the real Cloud, without Tifa there, where the real Cloud could have the chance to get over Tifa, do some introspection concerning whether Tifa is really the best for him, where he and Aerith could REALLY get to know each other without all the secrets and coping mechanisms, then eventually Cloud could develop real romantic feelings for Aerith that rival the feelings he has/had for Tifa. But that never happened, it wasn't a year, it was little more than a week, during which Aerith and Cloud never spent any time together, every moment they spent together, Aerith was not truly forthcoming, using Cloud to get over Zack. And Cloud was never himself either, and by the time he was himself again, it was with Tifa, the girl he'd been infatuated with his entire life.

The fact is that it makes absolutely zero sense for Cloud to, after getting his memories of Tifa back, to go "hmm, maybe I should go after the dead girl", which means that both before and after his fake persona, his practical romantic focus would be on Tifa, which means she's the one for whom his feelings of romantic importance grow. While the fact that he was not himself while spending time with Aerith would make those feelings less "reliable". By "reliable" I mean that introspection matters. Emotions don't just happen, we look at them, evaluate them, decide which ones matter, and which ones were a fluke, or aren't desirable, we decide which ones we nurture and why. We go "no, that was just a drunk one night stand", and when we do so, we impact how we internalize our experiences. When Cloud got his real persona back, I am sure he'll have done a lot of introspection concerning everything he did and felt during his time as fake Cloud. And similarly to how I've decided "nah, that was just the booze talking", the situation regarding Aerith, Zack, and even Tifa, makes it unlikely for real Cloud to decide "no, those moments where I wasn't myself, and was acting like Zack, and had forgotten what Tifa meant to me, those were the moments that were truly genuine.". What is genuine, is his true self, which he discovers in the lifestream, and is tied to Tifa, the beautiful black haired woman lying beside him in bed, who is warm, and right there. He's not gonna lie there, with everything he's ever wanted since he was a child, and then go "nah, I am going to focus on a dead girl that I barely know and was putting up a front to while chasing after Sephiroth". And that is why his potential superficial feelings feelings of attraction towards Aerith are extremely unlikely to be viewed as "romantic love" by the real Cloud. Thanks for the question.

#Cloti #FFVII #ffvii remake

[macgyvermedical]

For the Last Time- Nerve Agents are NOT the Only Chemical Weapons: a “Golden Lancehead, Etc...” Science Review

So this one is probably going to be shorter than other ones I’ve done for this show, but having conveniently just refreshed my hospital decon team certification, taken a cumulative exam in EHS, and watched this episode (I’m a tad behind), I needed to do some talking on it.

Awl - X-Ray + Penny - Duct Tape + Jack - CD + Hoagie Foil - Guts + Fuel + Hope - Wilderness + Training + Survival - Father + Bride + Betrayal - Lidar + Rogues + Duty - Nightmares - Seeds + Permafrost + Feather - Friends + Enemies + Border - Mason + Cable + Choices - Bitter Harvest - Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck - Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac -

To recap, after Oversight’s death from cancer (season 5 has an absolutely wild timeline so far), Mac seeks out the help of former classmate Frankie to help him develop a new treatment modality based on the venom of a very rare, critically endangered lancehead viper. The venom is extremely dangerous, and can also, it turns out, be chemically altered to become a very potent nerve agent. Frankie unknowingly provides the information to create the nerve agent to the episode’s bad guy, and the race is on to stop the agent from being released into an airport and poisoning a bunch of people.

Intro to the Golden Lancehead

Since the episode centers around the Golden Lancehead Viper, we should probably start by talking about what they are:

Bozer described the Golden Lancehead as “One of the rarest and deadliest snakes in the world. Found only on one island off the coast of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian Government has made it illegal to transport or own.” Then, quoting a nature documentary: “The golden lancehead’s venom targets the nervous system of it’s prey with pinpoint accuracy- causing blood blisters, intestinal bleeding, tissue necrosis, hemmorrhage...” 

Golden Lanceheads are a real type of snake that really do only live on a tiny island off the coast of Sao Paulo, Brazil. They are 28-inch-long, cream and yellow snakes with a lance-shaped head and a diamond-like pattern of scales.

The island, called Queimada Grande, is uninhabited and travel there is forbidden, an order enforced by the Brazilian Navy. This is both to protect the viper, which is listed as critically endangered, and to protect the humans- given the remoteness of the island and the danger posed by the wildlife, it would be very dangerous for rescuers to come find you if you became injured or were bitten by any of the multiple venomous creatures that live there.

In the episode, Mac and Frankie travel to a pet shop in Sao Paulo to collect a sample of the venom from an illegally acquired snake. In real life, there is a lucrative black market for the species, which can fetch up to $30,000 per snake, meaning Mac paying $20,000 for a sample of venom would not have been necessarily unheard-of.

The pet shop owner tells them that the person who ventured to the island died from a bite, describing it as (paraphrased) “his face swelled, blood poured from everywhere, and even though they cut off his arm to try to save him at the hospital, he died anyway.”

Due in all likelihood to the fact that the island is uninhabited and forbidden, there has never actually been an official documented bite in a human from this species (though unofficial reports suggest it can indeed be deadly). Chemical analysis of the venom indicates it is likely the most potent and fastest-acting venom of it’s genus, though it is likely a lot more effective at killing birds and large insects than mammals given its primary choice of prey.

Bites from other vipers in its genus run a mortality rate of between 3% (with medical care) and 7% (without medical care). Most of their venoms are made of many different sugar-like molecules called glycans which disrupt proteins in animal cells, often killing the cells. Lancehead venom is similarly cytotoxic, causing the death of cells in tissue and blood and disruption of normal blood clotting, causing severe bleeding. Symptoms include pain and extreme swelling of the area around the bite, followed by tissue death and symptoms of nausea, dizziness, headache, and sweating. Shortly after that, there is a disruption in blood clotting, causing severe bleeding throughout the body. This severe bleeding, along with kidney failure and bleeding into the brain, is typically what causes death in those 3-7% of cases. Occasionally amputation is attempted as part of treatment, but it is usually due to the extreme amount of tissue death that occurs surrounding the bite, not necessarily to stop the spread of the venom as alleged in the episode.

So basically, Bozer and his nature documentary are largely correct in where the Golden Lancehead lives, its legal restrictions, and the symptoms resulting from envenomation by lancehead vipers. The only thing that is not accurate is the neurotoxicity part- lancehead venom is hemotoxic (blood toxic) and cytotoxic (toxic to cells and tissues), but there is no indication that it causes any kind of neurotoxicity (brain toxic).

Cancer Treatment from Snake Venoms

In the episode, Mac describes the research he and Frankie are undertaking as “The therapy uses toxins extracted from snake venom, which billions of years of evolution have taught it to attack the weakest cells in a creature’s body to target cancerous tumors.”

One of the great things about snake venoms (and honestly animal venoms) is that they are not single toxins. A single snake’s venom has nearly a hundred different bioactive proteins, enzymes, glycans, and other chemicals. One of the great things is because so many of these toxins are bioactive in some way, venoms give pharmacologists a pallette of various bioactive substances already in existence that they can test and use to create drugs.

Several chemicals we use as drugs were originally discovered in snake venom. For example, enalapril (a blood pressure lowering medicine), eptifibatide (a blood thinner), hemocoagulase (a clotting agent), and ximelagatran (a blood thinner), were all discovered originally as components in snake venom. Some studies into king cobra and saw scaled viper venom has shown possible anti-cancer properties (in the form of drugs that prevent tumors from growing, prevent blood vessels from growing in cancer cells, and prevent cancer cells from spreading throughout the body), though none of these have been developed into therapeutic drugs.

Since there are literally hundreds of bioactive chemicals, enzymes, and proteins in snake venom, it’s definitely not impossible that someone could choose to do this research, and definitely not impossible that someone would be able to find something useful in treating cancer or any other disease. In fact, since the venom is so cytotoxic, there is a possibility that there is a compound in it that has a preference for certain cancer cells. The problems with what Mac says are mainly:

1. that as far as we know, nothing in venom would selectively choose cancer cells based on their “weakness”- generally drugs that do target cancer cells target the fact that they have mutated in a certain way that lets certain chemicals find them or that they are fast-dividing cells (similar to hair or skin cells) and fast-disrupted cells get killed first if a chemical disrupts cell division.

2. Snakes have only been around for 143million years, and venomous creatures have only been around for 170million years. Even one billion years is a LOT longer than that. Mac could have said hundreds of millions and it would still have been technically correct at least grammatically.

Chemical Weapons from Snake Venom:

So what about chemical weapons?

I mean, sure, if you consider that there are hundreds of chemicals in any snake venom, at least one of them is probably going to meet at least some of the criteria for a good chemical weapon. Whether or not that chemical weapon would count as a “Nerve Agent” is kind of up to the substance itself.

Chemical weapons are weapons that fall into one of the following categories:

Nerve Agents- these are things like VX, Sarin, Tabun, and other agents that attack the system that breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Without that system, too much acetylcholine builds up, causing constricted pupils, twitching, excessive saliva and mucous, eye pain, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, seizures, and death if not treated promptly.

Blood Agents- these are things like phosgene, arsine, and cyanide that disrupt the blood’s ability to transport oxygen through the body. These cause symptoms like difficulty breathing, dizziness, headache, increased heart rate and respiratory rate, nausea and vomiting, and eventually seizures and death.

Blister Agents- These are things like lewisite and mustard gas that cause severe irritation to skin, eyes, mucous membranes, and lungs. These cause symptoms of pain, redness and large blisters on skin, difficulty breathing and swelling/blisters in the lungs and airway, loss of vision, fever, and nausea/vomiting. Death either occurs due to swelling and blisters in the airway or infection.

Choking Agents- These are things like phosgene and chlorine that irritate eyes and airways. They cause symptoms of watering eyes, coughing, chest tightness, and nausea/vomiting. They eventually cause severe pulmonary edema which can cause death.

Incapacitating Agents- These are agents like LSD, BZ, and fentanyl which are not necessarily designed to kill their targets, but leave them unable to respond to an attack either by making them less conscious (BZ, fentanyl) or by causing severe hallucinations and delusions that prevent them from being able to carry out their normal duties (BZ, LSD).

While there are many neurotoxic snake venoms that are known to have chemicals that interact with acetylcholine (causing paralysis, respiratory failure, and seizures), as far as I was able to find, the lancehead viper genus is not one of them. In fact, despite what Bozer said, there’s not a lot of neurotoxicity at all in the Golden Lancehead Viper’s venom- it’s primarily hemotoxic and cytotoxic.

So, basically, while it might be possible to make a nerve agent out of certain types of venom (though why would you, exactly? We’ve got tons of nerve agents, we know a lot about them, and they’re not exactly hard to create in a lab.) it would be more likely that you’d be in the market to find a new blood agent, blister agent, or even a choking or incapacitating agent if you were using Golden Lancehead Viper venom to discover it.

Just seems like a lot of work when you could get potentially a lot more useful venom legally and less dangerously.

But the more I think about it, I think the writers chose the snake due to it’s difficulty to acquire and it’s mystery, the chemical agent due to it’s well-known-ness, and fudged things so they worked together in the story.

But Now, the Real Question:

Could snake venoms eat through metal using acid, and would ionizing radiation change that? 

“Here’s another fun fact- when a Golden Lancehead attacks, it’s venom reacts with the iron in the red blood cells of it’s prey, creating an acidic byproduct strong enough to eat flesh and corrode metal.” -Mac

Certain snake venoms actually do become more acidic or more alkaline in their victim’s bodies, and in the presence of certain metal ions. However, as far as I was able to tell, the most acidic a venom would normally become was about a pH of 4 (somewhere between soda and coffee) and the most alkaline was about 9 (somewhere around baking soda). So not really capable of “eating flesh” (though enzymatic activity could digest proteins in the victims’ tissues) and it would take a lot longer than the episode showed to cause the corrosion necessary to dissolve a lock.

That’s not to say that a specially designed and purified chemical weapon created from a compound in snake venom would be different than the og snake venom, but the likelihood that ionizing radiation would change it so drastically would be a real bummer for a terrorist, since uncontrolled releases of your weapons are definitely not ideal.

Conclusion:

Overall, there was definitely some real passable science in here, but some of the dialogue choices were so poor that it made it difficult to respect. But generally decent science, even if the “cooler” stuff wouldn’t necessarily have worked.

#MacGyver #MacGyver Reboot #whump reference #writing reference #chemical weapons #snakes #venom

[sketch--booked]

I had another dream, it was simple and wasn't about Echo this time. It was about the Ice Emperor.

.

So my dream brain seemed to recall how, when the ninja left the never realm, they left the land bounty. Maybe semi-destroyed but in good enough condition for some ragtag bandits to take apart and understand.

So they, during many decades (since the time in the never realm is so disconnected to the time in ninjago) begin to make far more advanced tech than they had before. They basically make a ninjago 2.0 but still never realm-y?

Eventually, one of the leaders comes across the buried up history of the "Ice Emperor", a tyrant who, with his staff, froze and destroyed nearly the entire realm, all because one man made him forget who he was and used the fake emperor as a tool. This new leader quite likes the way this old man once thought. And finds that the Emperor never seemed to age or grow during his reign.

So this new leader, is the antagonist of the dream.

He decides to, in a way, idolise the Ice Emperor and finds out that he is now situated in a distant realm and begins to construct weapons and tools to allow passage into Ninjago.

.

So now with that lore out the way, we get to the present day, with the ninja. The dream seemed to happen after Season 12 but I'd say it can probably happen anywhere, really. The more time between season 11, the more time the new leader has to grow his forces.

So the ninja are vibing in the Monastery, nothing really happening, when Jay and Lloyd rush inside from training to say they can see something happening in ninjago city (damns they got good eyes fhdhdhd). So the ninja hop on over, Kai is doing the "recap our previous villains to the audience"

And when they get there, they see these giant ass portals bringing huge machines into the city. And as the ninja are fighting them. We see the new leader in all his glory. He calls out to the ninja from the top of a building (its not too high but his flying vessel is behind him)

He says to the ninja that he's looking for someone, and that he knows the ninja once dethroned him.

Ninja are stupid confused, but they see the designs of their clothes, their weapons, and the portals and conclude they are from another realm, likely the never realm.

The ninja then realise that the ruler he's looking for is Zane... Uh oh moment.

New leader doesnt know that it was one of the ninja that was the Ice Emperor. But he does mention that there is one more in their lineup than in the stories.

The ninja tell him that the Ice Emperor is no more, that man doesn't exist now, but the new leader doesn't believe them since the stories say they never killed the Emperor, and he is aware of the time displacement, meaning it hasn't been that long since they left the never realm.

This is not a stupid man, he did his research nd he made machines. Machines that can counter their powers. They find this out when Lloyd tries to fire energy at him but the leader pulls a sword which deflects it.

The ninja, especially Zane, all gasp when they see that the sword is made of Ice.

"Corrupt ice. Beautiful, isn't it? You may have taken down the Emperor but you cannot cover up everything. You'll find, a lot more of his power stained the land than you thought"

(I remembered that bit hdhdj)

Then the ninja are surrounded by soldiers with corrupted weapons.

.

.

And that's when my alarm woke me up djdjdjd. Y a y.

Have fun with that idea fellers 👋

#sketch has a dream #Also I told you I wouldn't be totally inactive hdjdjdj #ninjago #Not re read I'm tired okay djdjdjd #Ilya 💙💙💙

[shirtlesssammy]

5x07: The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

A woman sits at home reading tabloid news. Her husband rushes in and doesn’t even greet her as he runs for the bathroom. Once there, he quickly transforms into an old man, and dies. 

The CDC is on the case! Sam and Dean check out the victim -and he does not look like he was born in 1984. Dean calls Bobby to give him the heads up on the case. Dean then asks Bobby how he’s doing, but Bobby isn’t one for emotions.

The brothers then go to interview the wife of another missing man. Dean sneaks off to rifle through the man’s things and finds a receipt to Madame Liu’s Golden Palace. Bingo. 

When Dean and Sam go to investigate the hotel of fun, they don’t find the old man they’re expecting, but a much younger man. 

They almost don’t realize that he’s who they're looking for but Sam notices he has the same tattoo on his arm and Dean had to confirm by looking under the sheets. Oh Dean. Dean also tells the guy he looks great. 

Cliff begs the brothers to not tell his wife. They want to know what his story is. He tells them it’s poker --chips are for years of your life. He won big. The guy running the game is an Irish man named Patrick and he moves around from bar to bar. 

On the phone, Bobby confirms that there’s a lot of lore on this. Sam and Dean split up to find the guy. Bobby grabs his keys. 

Dean stops at a bar and tries talking up the bartender. The bartender tells him where to go with a little bribe. Dean heads to where the game is played, only to run into Bobby. Dean asks Bobby what he’s doing there. Bobby played the game, and lost. BOBBY. 

Dean storms off to find the (man)witch. Dean threatens him with a gun (pre-witch killing bullet days make me laugh --like that isn’t a threat, Dean!) but Patrick tells Dean that if he wants to get Bobby’s years back (WHICH HE DIDN’T HAVE ANYWAY UGH UGH UGH) he’ll have to play for them. 

Dean bets 50 years. He cashes out Bobby’s 25 right away, and Bobby returns to normal. Dean needs to win them back. 

Sam gets back to the motel with food to find an old man there. Well, not really --it’s Dean! They exchange fun barbs about what Dean looks like as an old man while Dean digs into his burger. Bobby pops in and Sam gets to watch a live recreation of Grumpy Old Men, which he’s enjoying IMMENSELY. 

Dean continues to chastise Bobby for being so reckless. Bobby tells Dean he doesn’t understand. Dean then collapses into a chair with heart attack pains. Bobby tells him it’s acid reflux and he’ll “have to put down the cheeseburger.” The struggle is real, Dean. 

They need to head out and win back the 50 years for Dean. As they’re leaving, the housekeeper arrives and finds old man Dean cute as a button. Your charms are worthless, Dean --and Sam and Bobby are delighted. 

They track Patrick, who steals a car, and heads to a high rise apartment building. When he leaves again, they head inside. The elevator is out of service so Sam and Dean head up the stairs alone. Dean’s near exhaustion by the second floor.

 Sam (and eventually Dean) find Patrick’s apartment and break in. There are a lot of unattended candles burning --stressing me out. 

They find a safe but Dean can’t focus on the numbers, lol. Sam breaks it though and they find coins inside. A woman finds them and asks what they're doing (so the candles weren’t unattended, whew.) 

Also, she’s a witch, and Patrick is also there and tells them they can gladly take the chips --they’re just chips. Patrick tells them they’ll have to play if they want the years. 

He won’t play Dean though --he’s not a murderer. They leave, but Patrick gives Sam a parting gift BY CLAPPING.

Sam “Why Do I Get All the Venereal Diseases” Winchester wants to play the poker game. “When you get to be our age,” Dean tells Sam condescendingly as they try to talk him out of it. 

“You’re thirty, Dean!” Sam retorts. Cracks me up EVERY TIME. 

Bobby follows the Winchester playbook by offering to play again - this time for Dean. He argues that it’s worth risking his life. That way, he misses out on the apocalypse. Also, we’re reminded that Bobby hates his paralysis and thinks he’s useless. “I’m old...I’m broke down. I ain't a hunter no more. I'm useless.” I tell Bobby that his role was lore and manning the phones for most of the series so far and ANYWAY he ain’t useless. 

Lia greets them at their motel. 

She offers them “the most powerful reversal spell you ever laid your eyes on.” First of all, love the confidence! She tells them that it’ll undo all of Patrick’s spellwork - including her artificial youth. She mysteriously fondles a heart locket at her throat, but I’m sure it isn’t important. 

Patrick plays another game of poker. He’s got a pair of kings, but he folds so the old man he’s playing can live to see his grandchild’s bat mitzvah. Sam enters and remarks on Patrick’s kindness. Then he deals in. 

Meanwhile, Bobby and Dean grouse at each other over a grave. Dean’s OLD and he does not LIKE IT. Bobby has ZERO SYMPATHY. 

For Shadow Puppet Theatre Science:

Sam faces down Patrick, ignoring the gambler’s strategic talk. While Lia distracts Patrick during a break in the game, Sam heads outside and hands Dean Patrick’s toothpick for a little witch DNA. Dean and Bobby do the spell and Dean gets ready to shed several decades. Dean’s “old man” actor continues to delight me. 

Back at the gambler’s den, Patrick taunts Sam with a toothpick. Sam stole the wrong one...no DNA. Patrick tries to force-choke Sam in retaliation.

Lia begs Patrick to stop and confesses that she gave the Winchesters the spell. As for her reasons? Well, she fondles the locket meaningfully. They keep playing. 

Bobby and Dean race to save Sam - they’ve got to get some DNA before the spell will work. At Patrick’s place, Dean tries to find some trace of hair, spit, whatever he can find. Back at the gambling table, Sam places his final bet.

Patrick folds, only to discover that Sam’s bluffing. He tells Sam that Dean’s on the verge of death. (In Patrick’s place, Dean clutches his chest dramatically.) Patrick notes that imperiling Dean turns Sam’s brain into an emotional slush pit. Sam shoves all his chips into the pot. It’s time to end the game. 

Dean rattles out his final breaths as the game wraps up. It looks like Patrick wins, and Lia starts to cry. “For a witch, you're so nice,” Sam notes. “it's actually kind of creepy.” SAM! Don’t be rude. (Can’t wait ‘til you become Witch!Sam.) Sam pauses for dramatic effect and...I remind him that his brother is still dying? He reveals his cards. Sam won!

Dean runs out of the building, leaping with joy at the return of his youth. 

Patrick and Lia sit together. She opens her locket to reveal her daughter...dead from extreme old age and buried long ago. Lia is tired of seemingly eternal youth. She puts in all her chips and they finish the game. They share an emotional farewell as she ages in front of Patrick. 

Back at the motel, Sam “The Clap” Winchester heads out to get a booster shot. Dean apologizes to Bobby for being so hard on him. “You’re not useless, Bobby.”

“You don’t stop being a soldier ‘cause you got wounded in battle. Bottom line is, you’re family. I can’t do this without you.” Dean targets Bobby with his MOST EMOTIONAL FACE and tells him he can’t check out early. Dean needs him. 

Bobby promises, thanks Dean for the sentiment, and then growls about needing to drop the emotional talk before they start growing “lady parts.” SIGH. Dean drops a burger, having learned for one episode to avoid cholesterol. They head out into the sunshine. I marinate in the emotion, until I realize that they never defeated Patrick? Have a nice life, I guess, ManWitch!

Boris: I absolutely adore this episode every time I watch it. I think we praise the actors who play the younger version of Dean so much, but I almost never consciously think about whether that’s a version of Dean or another actor playing Dean ---this actor seamlessly became Dean to me. Magic! Maybe because Dean’s already an old man. I love the case--I love Patrick--I love the look into Bobby’s struggle.

Benjamin Quotin’:

I'm just weepin' in my Haagen-Dazs. Idjit

Look at me! My junk's rustier than yours! You hear me bellyaching?

Pound it up your ass, ironsides

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#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #spn 5x07 #the curious case of dean winchester #supernatural season 5