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cookinguptales · 8 months

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The power is still out so I guess I’ll get started on that meta now.

One thing that I think is really fascinating about this season as a whole is that it’s really, really emphasizing the power Nandor and Guillermo have to accidentally hurt each other. It’s kind of fascinating, tbh, because this whole show it’s been Nandor purposefully but also accidentally hurting Guillermo — but this season, it’s been very much the other way around.

Let me start with Nandor’s history of this. It happens in almost every episode, being honest with you, but two of the clearest instances were in 1.01 and 4.09.

In the very first episode, we’re introduced to the relationship that Nandor and Guillermo have by how they behave on their 10th anniversary as a master-familiar partnership. Guillermo is practically giddy at the idea that his beloved master is finally going to make him a vampire, and he’s hurt deeply when he not only does not do so, he appears to have forgotten altogether how long Guillermo has been there.

We feel bad for Guillermo here, but… well, let’s look at it from Nandor’s perspective. Yes, he forgot how long Guillermo’s been there, but… being real with you, the vampires seem to have a very shaky grasp on time at the best of times. They don’t understand human lifespans at all, they have very fuzzy memories for when things happen, and almost every time they make time estimates they’re off by a hilarious amount. I don’t know that we can fully blame Nandor for not realizing that an entire decade has gone by — he, like the other vampires, tends to live simultaneously in the Long Time Ago and the Right Now and any time in between those periods is ?????

So to him, he’s remembered when their anniversary is (already a success) and has put hours into making a handmade art project for his very endearing familiar. He is sure that Guillermo is gonna love this. He thinks he is absolutely acing this being-a-vampiric-master thing.

But we know that his gift depicting the two of them as vampires together is really just rubbing salt in the wound, because we’re approaching this thing as humans — like Guillermo.

Then again in 4.09, Nandor straight-up steals Guillermo’s boyfriend and inadvertently puts the events in motion that will lead to Guillermo’s boyfriend leaving him for his own clone. Terrible behavior! This hurts Guillermo deeply! His very first boyfriend cheating on him (sort of) with the man he’s been in love with for over a decade and then leaving him altogether for another man he is cheating with (definitely) who also happens to be his own clone.

That’s traumatizing!

But… again, let’s look at it from Nandor’s (very stupid) POV. He knows that Guillermo losing his boyfriend will hurt him, but he also wants to have said boyfriend. So he comes up with a solution that, to his mind, will make everyone happy: let Guillermo keep his boyfriend but also make a clone of him so he can have him, too.

I think it’s very important to note here that, catty as it was to say, Nandor was right. He definitely could have stolen Guillermo’s Freddie without too much work. The guy’s a philanderer. But instead of doing that, he used up one of his last three wishes to make his own Freddie specifically to avoid hurting Guillermo. And then he seemed genuinely confused when Guillermo was hurt anyway. He then tried to do whatever he could to make Guillermo stop hurting, including offering him his own Freddie, until he ultimately gave up a toy that he truly loved so Guillermo would hurt less.

Again, from Nandor's POV he has made a significant sacrifice for Guillermo’s well-being. He has given up a man that he really, really liked so Guillermo would stop being so heartbroken. Moreover, this is a man that, to his mind, he got the hard way instead of the easy way that would have hurt Guillermo more.

So he still thinks he’s doing great at this relationship, even if we know he is ultimately breaking Guillermo’s heart.

(And as an aside here, I think it’s fascinating that Guillermo really did seem to understand exactly what was going on, too. He knew that Nandor’s decision to clone Freddie wasn’t about Nandor wanting Freddie, it was about Nandor wanting all of Guillermo’s attention on him at all times, and that’s why he was angry.)

Anyway… that’s all a really long way to get to my point, which is this. We’ve seen Nandor play this out a hundred times, doing something he thought was fine only for it to devastate Guillermo. We understand human lifetimes, relationships, and emotions, so we understand why Guillermo is upset. But, and this is key, Nandor doesn’t.

So season five finally shows this happening in reverse. I’m not going to say that Guillermo hasn’t hurt Nandor before, purposefully or otherwise, because he has. But boy did he really fuck things up this time.

Like Nandor, Guillermo didn’t do any of it on purpose. He was never trying to hurt Nandor or upset social norms when he paid Derek to bite him. But vampiric priorities are as foreign to Guillermo as human priorities are to Nandor. He did something he thought was totally fine and value-free only to find that he didn’t just transgress a social norm, he transgressed the big one. He didn’t just do something that would hurt Nandor, he did something that will destroy him.

He didn’t mean to. His misunderstanding was understandable to us, fellow humans. But that doesn’t make it okay. Just like it wasn’t okay when Nandor stole his fucking boyfriend.

It's almost like this was tailor-made to force the audience to think about how the vampires have been interacting with Guillermo for years. This time Guillermo didn't know something about their culture, and obviously we didn't either. So we felt that same dawning horror when we understood how big the accidental fuck-up was — and we had to come to terms with the fact that this is how Nandor feels about Guillermo all the time.

Anyway... Guillermo’s big angst trigger seems to be being undervalued by the people he loves. It’s when someone who he loves with everything he has does not love him back. We see that devastation hit him both of the times that Nandor accidentally hurt him in this post, along with a thousand other times. I think, in fact, it is his main drive as a character: doing everything he can to be valued. It’s why he wants to be a vampire. It’s why he serves the vampires. It’s why he lies to his family. It’s depressing and it’s codependent and it’s unhealthy, but that’s Guillermo.

Nandor’s big angst trigger, on the other hand, seems to be abandonment. He is so fucking terrified of the people that he loves leaving him, and that seems to be rooted pretty firmly in his experiences when he was still alive. (Jehan, his wives running away, etc.) He’s so scared of Gail leaving him that he just tries harder to win her back when he discovers she’s cheating on him. He’s so scared of Laszlo leaving him that he gets angry when Laszlo makes new friends. He’s so scared of Guillermo leaving him in 2.08 that he’s willing to humiliate himself to bring him home. His primary drive really seems to be hoarding the people he loves close — too close for comfort sometimes. He tries so hard to force a connection that he ironically tends to sever it. Just look at his poor descendent Madeleine. :’)

And just as Nandor constantly sets off Guillermo’s devaluation trigger, Guillermo constantly sets off Nandor’s abandonment trigger. Every time he leaves or even just threatens to do so, Nandor goes ballistic. But it seems like the only thing that sets him off more than Guillermo leaving is Guillermo staying where he is but being emotionally absent. He doesn’t know how to handle a Guillermo who has replaced him while they’re still living in the same home. Right now he thinks that Guillermo has replaced him with Laszlo as a hang-out buddy, and that’s bad enough — how will he respond when he finds out that Guillermo has replaced him with Derek in a much more intimate way?

Guillermo’s doing everything he can to spare Nandor’s feelings in this season, but it seems like every decision he makes just upsets Nandor more. Nandor feels replaced, abandoned, and neglected, and he’s going to feel that way a hell of a lot more when he sees the truth.

Guillermo has always been shown to be capable of hurting Nandor in intimate ways that no one else can. From the very first episode, we’re made abundantly aware that Guillermo chooses to take Nandor’s shit. He twitches that curtain to the side and we realize that no matter how strong Nandor is, Guillermo has the ultimate power in this relationship. Guillermo can hurt Nandor like no one else can because Nandor trusts him to protect him while he’s asleep.

Then Guillermo becomes this legendary slayer and he can actually physically hurt Nandor like no one else can just because he’s stronger than even the most powerful and respected vampires in the Tri-State Area.

But we’re seeing now that Guillermo can also hurt Nandor emotionally like no one else can. Nandor gave him that power, too, didn’t he? This whole series, Nandor has been the one hurting Guillermo over and over, but this season is making it so fucking clear that Guillermo has the power to do it right back. Even if he doesn’t mean to.

Especially if he doesn’t mean to, maybe.

The two of them are so terrible at communicating with one another. Just. So fucking terrible. And that’s a lot of how Nandor accidentally hurt Guillermo over and over throughout the years. And it’s how Guillermo has just straight-up gutted him now.

#we had electrical problems this morning and I'm operating off of very little sleep but oh well #wwdits #wwdits spoilers #wwdits meta #long post #nandermo

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thankskenpenders · 6 months

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How do you feel on the whole Misadventures arc of IDW? You touched upon it briefly, but I'm still curious. I myself found it frustrating since I despise "everyone trusts the newbie first" plotlines, and TBH "Silver and Whisper just stake out Duo and then attack him once confronted" felt like a frustratingly stupid way to resolve things. The pacing of the four issues, with how it felt like little happened, honestly made it feel like a collection of stories meant for an Annual that never came out.

I disagree. For one, I've found the pacing really refreshing. Even though this is a "breather" arc after all the stuff with Surge and Kit and the Eggperial City, it feels like we've had a lot of meaningful developments for the supporting cast in a short amount of time. Instead of spending 4+ months exclusively on one idea and one set of characters, we're hopping all around and getting these shorter stories from a wider variety of characters. But they all feel connected, primarily due to the background plot of Clutch and Mimic trying to undermine the Restoration. It feels like a whole lot of pieces are being moved into place for whatever's in store, whether it's getting Knuckles off of Angel Island more, having Silver and Blaze finally become a team, or establishing new threats for the Restoration.

And, yes, I'm even here for the silly backup story about Rough and Tumble messing up Cream's house. That stuff's fun! I've never been a person who thinks that everything has to be plot, plot, plot all the time. I love heavily episodic series. I like seeing what happens when you mash together random characters who haven't interacted before.

I kind of see why this might feel like the sort of material that's usually saved for the Annuals, but his was the norm during the Archie days. We didn't have Annuals, we'd just have backup stories about the supporting cast, or one-off issues that weren't necessarily part of a four-issue arc. That's something people have been interested in seeing from IDW from the very start, and folks like me were excited to see them finally give it a shot.

As for the stuff with Mimic/Duo: that's actually been my favorite part of all of this. I think it's made for some extremely juicy drama. Yes, it's a story about a suspicious new character showing up and people immediately trusting him, but, like... forget about the trope for a second and step back. This is just how the Restoration works. They aren't an exclusive club, they're a humanitarian volunteer group that's constantly welcoming in any help they can get. Every new character who decides to join the Restoration has immediately been welcomed in. The HQ is constantly full of randos. Amy put Jewel in charge of the whole operation after one conversation. Lanolin in particular has barely known Tangle, Whisper, or Silver any longer than she's known "Duo." She went on literally one mission with Tangle and Whisper before all this. The villains are observing the way the heroes work and taking advantage of it.

I also disagree with the claim that Whisper and Silver were being stupid in trying to confront Mimic. Well, okay, they kind of were being stupid, but it feels completely in character for them. Silver's always been a little too eager to act without thinking first. This is one of his defining character traits going back to '06. The irony here is that for once he was RIGHT, but the villain he accused of being a villain made him think it was just another case of Silver starting a fight for no good reason. And Whisper's acting rash because she ALWAYS acts rash when Mimic is involved. Any time Mimic has been a threat, Whisper has decided to go all lone wolf out of a fear that Mimic will kill Tangle like he killed the old Diamond Cutters. It's a constant struggle for her due to how deep that trauma is. It was the whole premise of the Tangle and Whisper miniseries!

But really, I just think it's so deliciously evil for Mimic to be playing the Restoration like this for so long. To me, it'd be a crime NOT to do something like this with Mimic. It's such a perfect use of his nature as a deceitful master of disguise. Whisper IMMEDIATELY figuring him out, only for Mimic to pit Whisper's allies against her, gaslighting her into trusting him and thinking that she fucked up? That's great! Well, I mean, it's terrible for her, but I'm here for the drama.

This is all a ticking time bomb that's going to impact so many characters when it goes off, and I can't wait to see how that plays out. How much damage will Mimic and Clutch be able to do to the Restoration as an organization? How will Lanolin react upon realizing her grave mistake? How will Whisper, a character who already has massive trust issues, respond to having some of her worst fears come true? She already left Restoration HQ once out of a fear that Mimic would target her friends, and then almost immediately after coming back THIS happens? How will Tangle respond to being caught in the middle of all this? And now Surge and Kit are apparently getting thrown into the mix as unexpected wild cards next issue??? This is the kind of drama I really eat up with these characters!

(If I have ONE small nitpick, though... it's that I initially misread the issue with the confrontation, and thought that Mimic really did break his own arm in his fight with Silver to help maintain his cover. I was like, holy shit! That's messed up! Mimic's messed up! But then I realized he was faking his injury. I kinda like my initial read better, but it's, you know. A kid's comic. That probably would have been a bridge too far lmao)

#overlordofcute #ask #tkp asks

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hanamiyama-basketball-club · 1 month

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So I was skimming the first episode of Bravern looking for something else entirely and ended up massively overthinking this scene in the bar instead, and I made a Tumblr to massively overthink things so here we are.

Now, I feel like there's a lot of stuff in Bravern left unsaid or up to (multiple possible) interpretations, which I guess is sort of how all of media works but somehow Bravern has turned on some kind of 101 lit brain that my mathematician ass does not usually have so bear with me here. And so the narrative I'm going to present here isn't an argument really. It's just a "wouldn't it be nice". This is the story I like to imagine in this scene. I call it A Tale of Two Wingmen.

We start out with Isami and Hibiki at the bar chatting about the war games exercise. (They seem to be the only ones at the bar rather than at a table, and don't have food; I like that Hibiki at least has a flower on her drink.) It seems clear that they're friends, probably a somewhat mismatched pair since Isami is in his dress uniform and Hibiki is out of uniform.

Isami has just started talking about the other TS that charged ahead with him when who should walk in the bar but the pilot in question with his friend Ryoma (soon to be RIP):

(I can't hear the dialogue for them tbh so I'm a little confused by the subtitles - it looks in the animation like it's Smith saying he didn't drink enough, but the phrasing makes it sound like it's Ryoma saying that. Whatever. Minor point.)

And then he sees Isami and stops suddenly, dramatically enough to get Ryoma's attention.

And heads straight for Isami (seemingly without saying anything to Ryoma, lol)

Hibiki actually spots him first, or at least reacts to him first.

Smith invites himself into the conversation:

Hibiki watches him a little warily at first and seems annoyed when he starts thumping Isami on the shoulder.

(I have a fondness for this whole interaction tbh because like Smith I am an American that reckons I can get through any social situation just by being really talkative, friendly, and complaining about authority figures. And like Smith I have often totally misjudged how to befriend people now that I'm in another country. "Mildly annoying American" is apparently louder and more negative than any Brit judging by the reactions I get, and I can only imagine the American-Japanese culture clash is worse.)

But once Smith starts praising Isami (and agreeing with the argument Hibiki was making), Hibiki seems to warm up to him:

By the time Smith starts challenging Isami to a duel, she's leaning in and grinning over her cocktail.

Ryoma also seems to be watching this conversation from across the room:

Isami needles Smith in a line that definitely isn't foreshadowing at all, and Hibiki whistles which is also very cute

Smith heads out once he has the agreement to the duel, Hibiki grinning after him

Hibiki seems deeply amused by this whole situation and entertained by Smith's laser focus on Isami (and maybe a little surprised that Isami hasn't seemed to retain as much about Smith as Smith has about him)

On the way out Smith bumps fists with Ryoma, who's also left the conversation he was in.

(Yes, they did introduce themselves; no, Isami does not seem to remember this, which is very funny considering what's going to happen tomorrow.)

So what's the narrative I'm enjoying from this scene? Basically, if you imagine that both of these friends know that their main character buddy is gay, it becomes kind of adorable. (Well, it's kind of adorable anyway, but an added layer of adorable.)

Ryoma is the guy who's been hearing all evening about this cool Japanese pilot and the way he maneuvered his TS even though they say they're not as good as the M2s, and he seems kinda shy but do you think he'd maybe go for a duel? You know, first you fight, then you team up? So he's maybe a little surprised when Smith wanders off mid-conversation, but he knows what's up. Once he hears that his bro has successfully secured the not-a-date he was hoping for, he's got to give him a celebratory fistbump.

Hibiki clearly knows Isami well, and I'm guessing that she has never known him to actually date anyone. Possibly he's never explicitly come out to her; I doubt he'd be generally out (even if that was a good idea in any military, which I imagine is rare), or that he'd talk about his personal life to most people even if he was straight. But I imagine that Hibiki teases him in a friendly way about it and, as someone who's familiar with Isami's impenetrable shell, is kind of interested to see what kind of romantic partner could possibly get through that. Kind of obnoxious but well meaning hunk shows up out of nowhere clearly hung up on Isami? This is either a love story in the making or something to tease Isami about at the bar for years, and either way she is in.

Or maybe she just thinks it's funny that he has a loud American obsessed with him now. That was my read at first, and is probably the most likely.

But if you imagine an Isami who is gay, then it's nice to think that he has somebody that he can, if not talk to about it directly, at least knows. (Obviously bisexuality exists and the above still more or less applies if he's bi rather than gay, but I personally imagine Isami as the type who has gone well I'm only interested in men so conveniently I can just put all of romance in the box of Sounds Hard, Not Doing That.)

Also considering how she reacts to Honoka I think Hibiki just thinks it's funny if anyone has a crush on Isami which is a fun relationship for a male and female best friend to have.

#bravern #overthinking it #there's so much going on in this one scene if you want it to be #again none of this is proof of any of that it's just nice if you think about it that way #I guess he kind of got that date but in the boxing ring instead?#if he had dueled bravern in his TS would bravern have let him win #bbbb #yuuki bakuhatsu bang bravern

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oddly-casual · 3 months

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Spoilers for the Tales of the Tmnt teaser trailer (This me talking abt my thoughts and stuff I noticed ;)

With screenshots baby let’s go.

I’m not comparing it to Rise, but it did give off a kind of vibe. Especially with how Leo holds his sword and Raph’s fond older brother stare.

I’m also really glad they got rid of Splinter’s whatever they were, it was a little distracting on his movie design for me so I’m glad they simplified it.

I think this might be the establishing shot of like a news report about how much the public loves the turtles now. Which is crazy bc imagine being an unsocialized shut in teenager and suddenly you have hundreds of adoring fans.

Ma’am 💀 ain’t no way this grown ass woman made that sign deadass. They really took notes on how some fans act abt the turtles that’s crazy.

Fame really does go crazy bc ain’t no way she seriously wants to be married to a crusty teenager.

They’re gonna get their ass beat

Come on now, what did he expect…he had enough sense to rip it off the wall but not throw it…

Lowkey kinda hope they get called into the principals office after this fight because of how much property damage they caused

The art style is wild, but I particularly like these two frames of Raph because they go hard like look at that.

Also maybe a Raph barn fight???

He did say he was gonna kick 🤷

I think this might be the final blow to the fight of the bots just because of how dramatic and center stage it is

The robots, most likely sent by TCRI, seem to have different materials cobbled together. So either they’re shit at making robots or they’re repairing themselves.

Or someone else repaired them with junk, maybe Donnie.

And why number your bots? Shit tagging systems tbh

April is saying like always. Though I do wonder if she’s wearing that little headband bc she’s trying to mimic aliens. It would be the right amount of cringe fail for her personally

Another thing I’m noticing is while everyone else got several shots, Donnie is only seen with a group and not by himself like his brothers are. I think this is just the pilot episode we’re seeing clips of so I’m not too judgy about it but I do wonder what the hell Donnie is doing that he can pitch in and help with the fight.

April we only see once, which is fair, again first episode. I really do hope they explore her character more than what we saw in the movie.

That’s all for now, let me know if I missed anything because you know I eat that up

#mutant mayhem #tmnt #tales of the tmnt #tottmnt #just something i noticed #mutant mayhem mikey #mutant mayhem april #mutant mayhem donatello #mutant mayhem raph #mutant mayhem spoilers

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sparring-spirals · 12 days

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I need to yell about fcg and *specifically* this great post that you wrote ( https://www.tumblr.com/sparring-spirals/747570433506902016/okay-after-some-sleep-back-on-my-bullshit-lets ) because it made me realize that I really, truly hope Laura will remember she took off her circlet moments before the bang and Imogen had the chance to hear that fcg was at peace with this decision, not because they were trying to be a martyr, but because they had a true chance to save their friends, knowing full well that detonating *would* be a sacrifice because their life *did* matter.

(I hope sending asks is okay, sorry to barge in like this)

Ahw, hell yeah, glad the post hit hard, recontextualizing it in my head helped a lot with chewing through my feelings about. All of this. I'm always okay with asks!! As long as folks are aware I am not necessarily going to agree with every ask that comes in, and more critically, sometimes I disappear off the face of the Earth for a while, dont answer asks, and then feel too embarassed about answering them so much later/get asks about something I didnt watch, go "ah ill answer when i watch it" and then. Well.

(To the various people who sent the total 12 asks that have been sitting in my box for over a year now. I am. So sorry.)

Honestly, I didnt even think about the possibility that Imogen might have heard it, goddamn. Fascinating. I was fully bracing myself for Bell's Hells just- never knowing, and them having to grapple with it. Which. Takes me out at the knees, tbh. I hesitate to speculate on it too much when the episode is going to come out Thursday and probably prove me wrong, but. God, there's no world where the Bell's Hells would instinctively know that F.C.G had made the call with that attitude, and fuck, that puts all of it into a different light, clearly.

I'm a little apprehensive and tbh deeply curious to see how the Bell's Hells take this- the depth of the loss, the sudden nature of it, the victory against Otohan probably not even feeling that way. Maybe wanting to honor F.C.G's sacrifice but. Probably. And understandably. Angry at them for making that call, but he's not. Even there for them to be angry at. So what then? So what then? They can have all these feelings and have all these questions about why he did it, about what he was thinking, and he's not there to answer them, and that's the issue.

If Imogen did hear his last thoughts, this elevates it into a different kind of heartbreaking, but probably still easier overall. The world where they don't know. Is. A more tricky one to navigate, for sure.

But also if I'm being honest. I am not opposed to how the cast would have the Bell's Hells experience and explore that scenario. So i mean. I mean. I hope so too. But if Imogen didnt. Consider me buckled in for whatever happens.

#GOD i shouldnt commit to watching the next ep when idk if i will or not but. i DO WANT TO SEE THE AFTERMATH.....#critical role #cr spoilers #spar speaks #c3e91 #ask away!#fcg #speculation #bell's hells #im really glad that meta seems to strike people. it helped me a lot to parse through my thoughts and hit that spot in my thinking so im gla #it resonates with others #sorry if this answer is kind of disjointed. im out of practice answering and have many thoughts lmao

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roxannepolice · 3 months

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I guess brainrot over the idea of an ineffable husbands style tensimm kiss won't let me sleep so.

I think, leaving aside the general collective unconscious and David Tennant in a telepathic mode of transport, the main reason the dynamic hit as so similar is this kind of. Absolute versus relational morality? I mean, this is what's on the deepest level, because the most apparent aspect is the idea that one of these semi immortal entities believes the other can be kind of restored to the state of goodness? And not just this person specifically, I think Aziraphale in general and the Doctor mainly as Twelve tbh just have this worldview where good is somehow definite and in a way natural for the universe? Oh yes, Twelve will be making speeches about whether he's a good man but the very asking of such a question implies "good man" is something definite, something that one can be. And oh yes there may be villains and monsters but you know if we all just sat down and talked then sure everything could be figured out. And this is more obvious than ever in his attitude towards Missy, where y'know. She just never heard the music. Whatever that metaphor means. Just as Aziraphale assumes Crowley can just be restored to the angelic status, because sure it was just a misunderstanding right he means he's not actually evil right? In a sense, pre-time angelicness and childhood are parallel in that they both assume a mind that hasn't developed individuality yet and I guess this is why Moffat is obsessed with throwing children at the audience 24/7.

And I find it fascinating that where everyone sees Aziraphale is wrong (or, indeed just needs to figure out Heaven is evil), Twelve's clockwork orange vault is generally hailed as reaching out to the truth behind the Master that Missy got closer to than any regeneration we've seen. For some reason, because sure as hell not because of anything that happened in EOT. And that's writing for you: if it's intelligent enough you'll look at something fundamentally similar and see completely different things.

Now, Crowley and the Master have more relational relational ethics - and relational is not the same as relative. And sure as hell don't think the universe or any individual will "naturally" veer towards good. In fact, they're both pretty cynical about, at least human, nature. Difference is Crowley needs to get drunk from Spanish inquisition, while the Master thoroughly enjoys letting future humans go murder their ancestors for fun. I mean, Missy even calls the Doctor out for his absolute and sentimental idea of good, except that's framed as her being in the wrong. And then there's the whole "Paradise. You've destroyed paradise! - They were lazy. I made them hungry" exchange between War and Saxon Masters in Masterful. Serpent in Eden, anyone?

And I think that this is why tensimm give off those vibes that they were closer to understanding each other than ever before. Obviously, the moral divide is still there, as it has to be, but I think Ten, especially in EOT, is more aware of how easily one can slip into a vengeful god, and all this to SAVE someone, than ever before. So while the moral divide is arguably widest it's ever been, the perceptual differences between the Doctor and the Master are almost gone in those episodes. And I suppose the metaphor of the Doctor hearing the drums is pretty pertinent here.

Now, before there's any accusation of moral nihilism on my part - no, there isn't. I specifically wrote of moral relationality not relativism. An action or attitude can be good or evil, the thing is that every individual exists in a net of their relations to others that they can't get out of through spontaneous epiphany. And at the same time the idea of absolute good is necessary, precisely because the general momentum is towards... the opposite. At the same time, there is nothing vile that hasn't been done in the name of higher good. Again, dialectics.

Which is why I say the Master (the Simm!Master, reduced as he was) fell where he stood no less that the Doctor in season 10. Like, this absolutely wasn't the intended point and I still say the mutual suicide was peak contrivance, but. work's intent. And all of this goes back to platonists vs. sophists, you know.

So anyway, it's still Ten that desperately grabs Saxon's lapels and kisses him in hopes of making him stay where they can be happy together.

#am i making any sense #prolly nit it's one of those cases where my brain won't shut up until i let it scream #anyway #doctor who meta #good omens meta #doctor who x good omens #the doctor #tenth doctor #twelth doctor #the master #simm!master #gomez!master #thoschei #ineffable husbands #philosophy in doctor who

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madrone33 · 3 months

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Ok, so heavy SPOILER WARNING for Pjo episode 6! And the rest of the show since I have read the book! Just, y’know, there’s your warning.

I’d also like to preface this by saying this post will be a rambling, not at all ordered, completely unscripted, kinda-rant kinda-essay of my thoughts on the episode, which means it is inherently biassed and completely composed of my thoughts, feelings, and opinions! None of this is fact, and I’m not trying to force my opinion on you. If you think differently or disagree, that’s completely fine! I would hate to live in a world full of clones of myself lol

With that out of the way, onto whatever this will turn out to be!

Ok, so I really liked the Hermes scene. That part was well written and acted. The family drama and guilt and blame is this show is really complex and everyone just needs multiple hugs tbh. Also, seeing a bit of Hermes’ powers was interesting.

I’m intrigued to know more about Percy’s flashback, while at the same time dreading it because I know it’ll be something heart wrenching and traumatic for poor Percy.

Hermes not agreeing to help them was a kinda foregone conclusion; it would be way too easy for them if he just let them into the Underworld, and we can’t make things easy for them now, can we :D

The Kronos stuff was cool to see, with Luke desperately covering his ass lmao, and Percy confiding in Annabeth. The slight change in Iris Messaging, with them not needing water and using a crystal instead was good. Both that it saved time and that it’s more believable. If your one communication tool is rainbows, of course you’d carry around a portable crystal to make ‘em.

It does make me wonder if they’re ever going to explain that technology - as in phones - makes it easier for monsters to find you. ‘Cause currently I… don’t think that’s been made clear to non-book audiences? Maybe I missed it in an earlier episode? Idk.

The scene where they released the trafficked animals was funny, and Grover completely overlooking if humans would get hurt and only thinking of the animals was a nice touch. I get why they didn’t show the animal abuse explicitly, even if I liked how in the books it was shown more clearly.

Them actually realising that the Lotus Hotel is connected to the Lotus Eaters from the Odyssey was good. I like how they’re identifying the threats faster in the show, whereas in the book they really fell for the monsters’ traps a lot. And the fact that they were on guard and were thinking that it was the food to watch out for added a different kind of danger than the books, where it was more just the readers sensing something wrong and hoping they’d not get trapped.

I like that the Lotus was actually being pumped into the air the whole time. And the fact that Percy and Annabeth being together helped them remember what they were actually there for vs Grover being alone and succumbing quicker was logical.

I didn’t like what they did with Grover so much. Him finding a fellow Satyr and trying to talk to him the way that he can’t to Percy and Annabeth was sad, but then, uh, idk he kinda just felt a bit useless? And the Satyr (who’s name I’ve completely forgotten oops) I think was supposed to be seen as funny? But he was… not. He wasn’t funny. And Grover was just very meh.

Like, this is one of those instances where I would’ve liked for them to change it from the books. In the books they all get split up become slowly addicted to the games in the Lotus Hotel and all that, and then Percy snaps out of it and he goes to wake up Annabeth and Grover, and they find Grover playing something like ‘Destroying Humanity’ and then drag him out of there. Which is basically what happens here, but it’s just-

They’ve changed so many other things for the better, turning moments from a randomness scene to a character beat. And I think they tried to do that by adding the Satyr and the ‘Finding Pan’ game, but it just. Didn’t work for me. He was just kinda there and did basically nothing and, like.

Ok ok so my main problem with this episode is the lack of tension.

First off, they were more meandering around looking for Hermes, it didn’t seem like they were that worried they might not find him. Like, they literally just wandered around and found him, without asking for any directions from strange people that might’ve given some insight into how sus this place is, or even having a quick montage cut of them jogging around peering into shady places. They just- walk around slowly and then there he is. Incredible.

Second, I know the Lotus is supposed to be like a drug, where you forget things and just focus on feeling good all the time, but I would’ve liked if Grover figured out that it was in the air, or that too much time has passed, and tries to fight it or smth?

Like, he starts to forget, and knows he’s forgetting something important, and tries to find- someone- the people he knows he came here with- not just so they can help him remember but to warn them that they were wrong, and it’s not just if you eat the food it’s everywhere and they need to go because the time- it’s all slipping away and he can’t let them be trapped here-

But something or someone stops him, hold him back, makes it so he can’t, and slowly he starts to forget why he’s fighting or what he’s fighting for and then he succumbs, and the switch you can see in him from scared-determined-panicked to dazed-confused-happy is terrifying.

And now we viewers are on the edges of our seats, because now we know that Percy and Annabeth are in so much more danger than we thought, and now there’s a time limit, and now Grover is trapped in his own mind slowly losing himself, and now we’re wondering when it’s going to start happening to Percy and Annabeth too, and now we really need them to realise and save Grover and get the fuck out of there before it’s too late-

But uh, yeah, we… didn’t get that. Instead it was almost- portrayed as comical? Like, there wasn’t a lot of weight put on it.

Old man Satyr keeps forgetting ha ha ha. Oh Grover’s forgetting too? Wow it’s gonna be super hard to get out of that one! Oh, no it’s super easy. Barely an inconvenience! Oh really? Yeah, Percy and Annabeth have barely started to forget anything important, and then they happen to look up and see the Satyr and get reminded of Grover. And then there’s a super short chase scene and then jump cut to them finding Grover playing video games and oh funny, he doesn’t remember them! But it’s fine, it actually doesn’t matter, they get him and go and he remembers on his own a few minutes later! 😀

Speaking of; I might have missed something but did Annabeth do anything at all during that chase scene? Like, I think she went another route to try and cut him off, but then she just kinda disappears, Percy tackles him, and she never shows up…? Idk, I’ll rewatch it sometime, but as of now it’s very strange in my mind.

The car scene was kinda funny, but again, not a lot of tension at all.

(Though as someone learning how to drive that scene made me cringe because of how relatable it was lmao. Honestly, Percy drove way too well for a first timer in a crowded parking lot, and the fact that he actually made that turn decently well? Yeah, someone give him a pat on the back lol.)

… Okay so I just thought of something that is unrealistic and wildly deviating from the books to the point that it’s basically just fanfic, but hey, they deviated anyway when they introduced Hermes this early and it’s my shitty tumblr post so - imagine if there was a car chase. There. I said it. If you’re going to make Percy drive a basically stolen taxi through Los Angeles, fucking commit and make him have to outrun the cops/some monster until they manage to activate whatever makes the car teleport!

Like, do an ‘IKEA after dark’ situation where things are all happy go lucky in the club at first, and then after they talk to Hermes and the Lotus starts effecting them, shit starts to get weird, and the patrons around them start becoming strange, and there’s a creeping sense of wrong wrong wrong as they rush to find Grover and then they find him but he’s wrong, and he looks at them like they’re strangers and they don’t know how to fix it, so all they can do is grab him and run, barely remembering where they’re going or why, but they’re holding themselves together, and when one starts to slip the others are there to haul them forward and remind them what they’re doing.

They have car keys in hand, and they might not know how to drive but fuck it they need to go, so bring on the dramatic dark lighting and wild driving and many bumpy, jerky, shit-we-almost-ran-over-something-important escapades, sirens closing in behind them and then he takes a wrong turn and stares wide eyed into the headlights of an incoming truck, flinches back, eyes slaming shut and-

Silence broken only by crashing waves. Insert Santa Monica scene after slightly hysterical laughter because holy fuck they survived.

… Um, yeah soz, idk where that came from lmao.

Moving on! So, I didn’t mind them getting Hermes’ car too much. Like, hell yes she pickpockets a god. But I didn’t like the way that Annabeth got the keys. Like, he’s the God of Thieves and she’s pretty smart. No way she wouldn’t realise that he let her take them.

A way to make it better would’ve been if he’d done some subtle shit, and she’d done some subtle shit, and then it was shown with some shots that here he puts his keys in this pocket, and then a few shots later maybe she brushes past him, or she “leaves” the room but you can fuzzily see pot plant leaves moving in the background if you know to look for it, and then boom, no more keys in his pocket, and when Percy catches up with her she reveals that Hermes let her take them, and we’re like “ahh, of course, can’t help directly but isn’t stopping them if they take initiative, cool cool.”

But nope. She got they keys, thinks she somehow stole them without his knowledge, and then it’s revealed that, duh, he knew, and they’re just like, welp, guess we should’ve known! Yeah. You should’ve. Annabeth is just- not? She’s just not? Like this? This isn’t how she would- do stuff. She’s smarter than that.

But see what I mean? No tension. Need to find Hermes, oh there he is. He won’t help them, but they got his keys. Lost Grover, but found him almost right away. Don’t know how to drive, but whatever lets go. Grover lost his memory, but nah he’s got it back just fine.

Yeahhh. Idk it just felt weirdly lacking.

What also felt weirdly lacking was the reveal that the Solstice has passed and the gods are going to war.

So, most of that underwater bit wasn’t how the books went, but I’m kinda withholding judgement on how I feel depending on how the next two episodes handle it.

The deadline being up and the gods already going to war? I don’t like it, but yeah, I can see how it might work with the themes laid out.

This isn’t just a war, it’s a family fighting, and instead of Percy just doing it because it’s The Quest, this - his father releasing him from the quest, and Ares telling him it doesn’t matter and they’d go to war regardless of it the Bolt is found, and everyone saying it’s not his place - it gives Percy agency because he’s choosing to forge ahead and save his mother, and find the bolt, and save this family he’s become a part of from itself. It’s his choice now. I can see why they made that change.

Though for some reason the pacing was weird, and the reveal that war was literally upon them was… eh? Like, “oh btw you’re too late and now we’re going to war.” “Huh, interesting, but I’m still going.” Like I said; lack of tension. There’s just no real urgency. It went really fast, or maybe too slow? Idk, there was just something missing.

The four pearls thing? I was very thrown by that, and I’m still pretty uncertain on if that’ll remove all the tension in the Underworld part. Because the whole conflict is if he’ll choose going after the Bolt and saving the Olympians? Or will he choose his mother and doom them to war?

If he has four pearls, then he can do both, which means zero stakes. But I’ve read some other people’s opinions, and I agree that one of those pearls is definitely getting lost/broken/used up before he can give it to her, which means this was done to raise hopes and then bring them crashing down, so I’m withholding judgement and hoping that it won’t be too contrived.

And I don’t like that Poseidon basically says he wants Percy to save Sally too, because a huge part of Percy’s dilemma was that the gods didn’t understand or agree with Percy wanting to save his mum.

Poseidon being on Percy’s side certainly serves the themes the episode set up, with Hermes wanting to be there for his family and failing, this time with Poseidon trying to be there for Percy and Sally, and hopefully succeeding. But it just feels like Percy isn’t as alone as he should be, which is good for him as a person, but bad from a writing standpoint because it makes it feel too easy.

In the books, it’s kinda an act of rebellion, that he would even think of choosing a mortal over the gods, but here he’s… not? Because the gods - or at least Hephestus, Hermes and Poseidon - are on his side. So he’s not choosing a mortal over the gods, he’s just saving his mum, and half the gods have given him the thumbs up to do it.

Not saying they weren’t secretly supporting him in the books too, but Percy didn’t think they were. He felt alone. He felt the pressure of the consequences that would come with whatever descision he made. In the show he’s not really going against the gods, because the gods are actively endorsing him. Which means, say it with me, no tension.

Anyway, like I said: withholding judgment. I'll see how the next ones go, and then come to a proper conclusion based on a complete picture.

Also, side note: When the nereid said, “What belongs to the sea can always return” all I was thinking was the musical and Poseidon’s goofy ass voice saying “It’s a SeAShElL” 😂

Oh and btw, the graphics/makeup/cgi of the nereid was well done to my untrained eye. I have no idea about how it’s done, or if it’s actually shitty in the professional sphere, but I thought it was pretty, so- thumbs up from me.

Though the whole scene at the beach and swimming to her was so dark I literally had to turn my tv’s brightness up to see what was happening, which I also had to do with the Theme Park last episode, and I almost did with the Minatour. Man, they really have a problem with lighting during the night scenes.

But just throughout the whole episode, there's just this feeling of non-urgency. Like, in the episode where time is the most important thing, it... doesn't really feel like it matters all that much.

Um, yeah. I think that was all I wanted to say…

In conclusion, I liked Hermes, aaand not much else. It was still a fun episode, but just all round pretty iffy plot wise. Rip.

I shall leave this with saying WE FINALLY GOT WISE GIRL!! 🥳

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo episode 6 #spoilers #essay #rambles #my posts #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #hermes #long post #poseidon #percabeth #writing #analysis #sorry for any typos

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thefiresofpompeii · 4 months

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if you've watched nightmare in silver i'd love to hear what you think — it's a pretty good episode in my opinion and it's one of the few cybermen-as-the-main-monster episodes i actually liked, but it's also one of those episodes that takes some of its most interesting elements from something i like a lot more from the eu so that coloured my perception a bit (turns out constantly going wow just like zagreus makes you less capable of just enjoying the episode as it is. oops)

it’s… a mixed bag of an episode, honestly, provided how much stuff is actually in it. i liked select parts of it a whole lot, much room for thought there, whereas others … skeeved me out, to put it mildly. i don’t think neil could possibly have topped the masterpiece that is The Doctor’s Wife, and whatever he set out to do here… could have stood a little more editing??

to get the grumbling out of the way: the kids. Most Annoying Who Side Characters Ever award goes to them, singlehandedly taking first place away from that stuck-up nerd in Poison Sky. i don’t know if neil intended for them to act supremely slappable, but christ alive. just the constant dour negativity and ‘bored teenager’ unimpressed commentary … walking vibe drainers. made it hard to care about their fate tbh. oh they got cyberconverted? oh they got rescued and brought back? Whatever. call me a boomer apologist… i’ve never referred to a pair of children (fictional or real) as ‘ungrateful spoiled brats’ before but this could be the day i start.

additionally: the hell was that stuff about clara at the end? “too short and bossy and your nose is all funny” “mystery wrapped in an enigma stuffed into a skirt that’s just a little too tight” go to hell gaiman. genuinely. here i was relying on you, thinking you’re immune to casual misogyny. especially since it doesn’t even make sense… clara’s skirts are never tight? not once? i understand that the former comment was a bluff to get out of admitting feelings but, again it’s not even accurate, since jenna coleman’s nose completely fits the beauty standard?? baffles me

those are all minor nitpicks bc other than that the episode’s fun! and creative, especially all the scenes with the cyber-planner and their high-stakes chess game (you like chess dontcha). i haven’t listened to zagreus (YET) but from what i’ve gathered from internet osmosis the doctor gets possessed by an … evil nursery rhyme? lmao. seems legit

anyway nightmare in silver has unfortunately made me understand people who find matt smith attractive. i’ve cracked it: it’s a dormant gene that only activates when he’s playing an intimidating villain. especially here, when he’s mr clever, a warped mirror of eleven, with the boundaries between the two blurring so far as to confuse even clara. this moment is top notch:

which one of you said that? she’s right to question it.

he’s been quietly manipulative with clara for the entire duration of their travels so far, concealing from her the truth about the ‘mystery’ that her whole existence presents to him, while she remains the object of his puzzle-solving quest. a particularly odious example in this scene in Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, where the doctor is fully aware that their impending doom at the cliff is an illusion, but puts on the pretense that they’re about to fall to their deaths anyway, building all that fear just to to coax clara’s “secret” out of her (“since we’re both going to die here, you may as well tell me what you are”). as soon as he gets what he wants — or, rather, doesn’t, because there’s no satisfactory answer yet — he reveals that he’d known all this time that the TARDIS wouldn’t have let them fall.

that’s what makes mr. clever so insidiously, well, clever as a plot device: eleven’s not possessed by an external force, not quite. no: it’s his own shadow showing. he’s always been like this. the cyber-code slowly taking over the right side of his brain is just as smart as him, just as manipulative, just as much of a trickster. all his darker traits turned up to, well, 11 (sorry not sorry). “allons-y!” “fantastic!” “you’ve had some cowboys in here” mr clever is a parasite that takes the worst and best parts of the doctor, cuts them up and re-attaches them in a parodic audio-collage, and isn’t that just so fucking ingenious

another line that’s just a straight banger, not much to say about it really other than the fact that it cuts straight through to the core of the narrative:

this spun out of control and turned out far far longer than expected, my apologies (not really. you asked!)

#dw #nightmare in silver #doctor who #eleventh doctor #neil gaiman #matt smith #clara oswald #jamie catches up #jamie.txt #doctor who meta

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destinygoldenstar · 4 months

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I’ll probably post more about this in more detail, especially now that the reboot is pretty much done and dealt with. (There is no confirmed Season 3. Stop lying.)

So you know, most of what I have to say in this post is rambling and complaining, because I am ticked off. So if you like the ending of the season, good for you… this is the opposite opinion to that.

Spoilers for Season Two and it’s ending:

This season, for me, is definitely above All Stars and Paketiew. Definitely. I genuinely enjoyed the first two thirds of the season, and its slip ups weren’t too big of deal breakers for me on the season. (Except Millie. I will forever be salty about it and I can’t say I like her character anymore after what this season did with her)

The season was funny, it was engaging in a lot of plot lines, I thought the order was pretty clean, I’m enjoying it and really invested in how all of these plot lines conclude….

AAAAAAANNNND then Zee outs Caleb.

I break the season to three acts. Pre-Merge is the first act.

Episodes 6-8 is the second act.

And right when Zee outs Caleb, is where I’d say the Second Act ends, and the Third Act begins.

And the third act, in my humble opinion, is GOSH. AWFUL.

Like, OH MY GOSH, they screwed up EVERYTHING.

Except MK and Julia in Episode 9. That’s wholesome.

But other than them, literally ALL the other plot lines in the season that I was invested in were completely botched in conclusion. And I can’t like these plot lines anymore.

How do you do that?! Like, WHAT happened here?!

This may seem incohesive, but I’m just that baffled.

I don’t even care about the elimination order right now. You CAN make whatever finalist you want work so long as the story suits it. So Im not gonna say “Oh Julia should’ve won” or something like that, as a complaint. That’s personal preference.

Remember the post I made complimenting Priya and Caleb’s relationship plotline?

That aged like milk. I don’t like them anymore. They were obnoxious as I’ll get out and I just wanted them booted ASAP.

I made a post about how I thought Priya would quit instead of being eliminated. I do think that would’ve been better than what we got because at least there Priya would be making a conscious decision that no one else can factor in. Instead she acts stupid for the sake of Julia and spends the rest of the season whining about Caleb instead of the what they’ve discussed and learned from each other before.

And Caleb being a finalist? After what he’d done I’m shocked he wasn’t booted in a heartbeat after that.

I don’t think they should’ve became a couple tbh. Apologize and make up, sure, but not get together in this whole mess. With how the story was going, it seemed they’d realize and recognize that. But no. It lead to nothing. Way to go.

Damien? I don’t care if you thought he should’ve won or not. That’s not the point. The writers didn’t want Damien to be a finalist. Fine. Okay. Just make an elimination that’s logical and wraps up his storyline-

NOPE. Julia stole the idol. Which I expected, but it’s something she somehow managed to do when paranoid Damien was always around it btw. She did this OFF SCREEN. So even the writers don’t want to come up how she managed to do that difficult task. YOU COULDNT AT LEAST SHOW US?!

Why would they even eliminate Damien? No one was even after him. It’s because they didn’t want to separate Priya and Caleb…

Stupid.

It really solidified to me that Damien had no relevance to this seasons story and could’ve been written out of the story. As tragic as that is to say. Like, make Priya or anyone on the Rats the one Millie pushes down the 4 Point Slide, make Priya find the idol and lose it at her elimination to Julia, and nothing changes.

What a waste of Damien’s character.

I love Julia in both seasons. So you know. I genuinely think she and Bowie have the best character arcs of the two seasons combined. I was actually kind of routing for her in the finale?? Ngl???? Like, I didn’t hate her, I found a nastier World Tour Heather, someone who WORKED for her goals. Good person? No. But an intriguing one to follow.

But this is the definition of plot armor. Multiple times they had to make the other characters act irrationally just so they don’t vote Julia’s ass off in a heartbeat. Which, if they were rational, would do cause everyone KNOWS that Julia is a bad person!

That’s why in the first season and the first half of this season, she had to make herself getting voted off NOT an option for the others. So she won challenges to get immunity. She allied herself with MK to get an extra vote. She got on Bowies worst side to make him want to work with her.

But in the second half it’s pure plot armor.

I thought Bowies elimination and how she managed to convince an entire team to go with it was stretching things. But I could push it aside cause it made sense for Bowie to leave in that episode.

It just got worse.

Once MK is gone, Julia has nobody on her side and no excuse. They should all vote her off in a heartbeat. But they don’t because they are stupid.

They somehow trust her?! With everything she says?!

Even the smartest characters like Priya trust her. She says she knows she’s being used, but decides to let it happen. That is very OOC for Priya. One of the most game-smart characters in the entire series!

Julia being a finalist is actually an idea I’m on board for on paper. But it was just illogical how she got there.

Also, they cut the villains hair off AGAIN.

TOTAL DRAMA, PLEASE STOP SHAVING CHARACTERS HEADS. IT WAS GOOD EITH HEATHER CAUSE IT MADE SENSE FOR HER CHARACTER AND THE STORY. AFTER THAT ITS ILLOGICAL AND CRUEL FOR NO REASON. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS FOR VILLAINS TO GET COMEUPPANCE BUT YOU KEEP USING THE SAME ONE EVEN WHEN IT MAKES NO SENSE. ITS NOT FULFILLING ANYMORE AND WERE ALL SICK AND SEEING IT. YOU DRAGGED THIS THROUGH THE MUD, KILLED IT, AND NOW REVIVED IT JUST TO SMACK IT WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER.

STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!

*breathes*

At least Julia and MK were great. Mostly because they mostly weren’t in the third act together.

Oh yeah, and there’s also Wayne and Raj. I like them. They’re fun. I like their pre-merge story.

And then Wayne won??

Yeah, Wayne, you know, the comic relief character with no strategy in a very strategic-centric season. Winning.

I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be a joke or not.

If it is, it’s funny like, the first time you see it.

If it’s not, and we’re supposed to take that seriously…

Ooh boy.

I see people compare this to Owen. I don’t think that’s fair given both seasons separate contexts, the characters screen time impact, and theming.

I personally compare this to Beth. Both are tied to someone very similar to them until the very end where their partner, who got more to do, gets eliminated, and then they proceed to fly under the radar because they’re the least nasty people left in a nasty cast remaining.

Now HOLD ON. I am NOT saying Wayne is on the same quality of a character as Beth. Far from it. Wayne will always be the better one of the two for me, because I actually enjoy him on screen, and most importantly, he wasn’t a hypocritical gross cheating creep.

Wayne winning a season CAN work on paper. I’m not opposed to it.

But this is not the way to do it.

This isn’t a guy who has won people’s hearts through being great towards them, he’s only interacted with Raj. This isn’t a guy who has quietly played his cards when necessary. This isnt a guy who has flown under the radar due to being the lesser evil. This isn’t a guy who has clear skills apparent to the viewer but not the characters.

He has done next to NOTHING all season.

I can defend Wayne having some variety of character in season 1, where he was sometimes capable of holding a leadership position, and willing to be patient and loyal, but NONE of these were portrayed in THIS season.

So pretty much, he has won by doing pretty much NOTHING.

At least Raj got a plotline that wasn’t being comic relief 24/7. And I’m not saying Raj should’ve won. Wayne can definitely be his own character, but Raj got eliminated in episode 11/13. Too little. Too late. Honestly, if you’re gonna have Wayne win, eliminate Raj earlier. Swap Raj and MK’s eliminations. At least then Julia making it far is justified cause in Episode 12 she has the idol.

I’m sorry if this is me rambling, but I was genuinely insulted and baffled by the ending of this season. This season started out really good, then declined in quality as it went on.

I definitely prefer the first season. While it’s not as funny as season two’s first two thirds, and has weaker challenges, it’s more cohesive and consistent in quality that reached logical conclusions for almost every character. Love or hate them.

This season, to me, is proof that you cannot botch endings to stories. You try something fancy and screw up, people are gonna remember the mess of an ending, and not the journey. I think that’s apparent with the reactions I’ve seen so far.

You can have a bad beginning. You can even have a bad middle. You can salvage those. But the ending is what you can’t afford to mess up because that’s what your audience will walk away from and remember.

When people look at this season, they’re gonna remember the badly handled ending rather than the good stuff in the first half.

That’s just sad, honestly.

#total drama #total drama 2023 #td priya #td julia #td wayne #td mk #td damien #td caleb #td raj

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incandescentflower · 8 days

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I finished unknown. I know the last few episodes are not fully released so I will put my thoughts under a cut.

forewarned, this is mostly me processing things that didn't make sense to me with spoilers from ep 10, 11, 12 all mashed together

I have been thinking it's the tumbling in the gray-area that had me appreciating this show, but also maybe not having it make me a little insane. And that's totally fine. Although I wasn't feeling nutty over it, I was liking it quite a bit so maybe that's why there were holes for me in the last few episodes.

I thought it was well done up until 10. The build up was good. The emotional stakes were clear. The stepping into their new relationship was given the screen time it needed. And they had been building up to the issue that Qian would need to see Yuan as more of an equal to rely on if this relationship was going to work.

But then Qian didn't go to Yuan. It was Yuan who went to him. But he didn't try to hide the information about his illness and I guess that's baby steps. It was satisfying enough.

But the ending wasn't the best for me. I was confused the entire time if we were going to get a resolution to the health issue they spent an episode stressing about. I wonder if they resolve it in the novel or not? Is this a drama choice or a novel choice? I don't know. It felt so strange to just be like "we'll deal with it someday." Almost as if they ran out of time. A blood clot in the brain sounds deathly serious and they should have picked another illness if they wanted to just shrug it off.

Edit: Apparently the health thing was not in the novel. That is just more confusing to me tbh. A very weird choice overall.

The build up to the kiss also felt weirdly jarring to me. They cut to the kiss immediately after the credits and then flashed back to the conversation before, which ironically felt anti-climactic to me considering where they go next. (har har) The bed scenes were truly beautiful and sexy, although having them cut with all the childhood flashbacks was weird to me since to me the focus was on how their relationship had changed, but whatever, personal preference.

Also, I feel dense to not understand what Lili told Yuan when she found out about their relationship. Is it about Qian being abused? I had thought Yuan already knew about that. I'm not sure why this scene was important. They don't show why that scene impacts Qian and Yuan at all so it was just confusing to me.

Edit: A kind mutual hit me over the head with the fact that Yuan was enlisted to help Lili to tell Qian about the baby. Makes sense. I had no ability to connect those dots. I also thought more time had passed between the first scene to the time when they tell Qian due to their emotional detachment from the health scare, but that was clearly just me being silly.

And a small quibble, but for a show with so little screen time, I was so confused about the inclusion of the scene with the doctor and the mob guy, except to give Sam Lin more screen time which, look, I love him too, but give him his own show again already.

And also the whole coworkers scene made me roll my eyes at more top/bottom stuff but also die a thousand deaths of embarrassment.

Overall the series was enjoyable. It didn't go off the cliff for me like some have, but the end felt rushed to me in some ways and then wasted in others.

#unknown the series #spoilers #just clearing out my thoughts #unknown the series spoilers #sorry I didn't see anything about this specific tagging before now

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torchickentacos · 28 days

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This April 1st, I'm going to be normal about pokeani <3

LMAO GOTTEM GET REKT ok so

Can we talk about the characters of the day from AG014. What the fuck. Why are they so weird. They're twins. Forrest and Forrester, surname Franklin. They both go by Franklin for some ungodly reason. They look identical with only a minor difference in their outfits. Forrest is a ranger. Of the park variety and not a pokemon ranger. Forrester, his twin, is not a ranger afaik, I think he's just kind of there???? They were both born right outside of Rustboro, but both brothers only have Johto bug type pokemon, and we know that Forrest has never been to Johto because his whole episode arc is May inspiring him to travel on his own, because he's too scared to. He admires her strength and independence or whatever, but we're on AG014, May's only been doing this traveling gig for like a week and she is comically terrible at it for the entire first season and a half. She’s incompetent, said with utmost love and respect. She's only got a torchic and a wurmple right now. Forrest admiring her traveling abilities is like admiring a microwave's ability to be an industrial kitchen. They also give him some pseudo-romance plot with her, because pokeani May was out here captivating multiple people with her dumbass swag. Drew, Forrest, and Sid being the canon ones I remember off the top of my head, but also probably Dawn tbh, and I’m like 85 percent sure she accidentally homewrecked Pacifidlog Joshua even if he didn’t actually like her but I last saw that episode when I was maybe eight years old, so grain of salt. What the fuck. Anyways, Forrest’s all "Oh, seeing you all independent makes me want to travel with you guys! :)" and between that and the weird crush subplot, you'd think they were setting him up to be this important next traveling companion. He's set up as this important guy who's going to stick around. Nope. We never see this guy or his brother ever again. Never again. He shows up in one episode, doesn't elaborate on literally anything, and then leaves. Let's go back to the fact that he has an identical twin, their names are Forrest Franklin and Forrester Franklin, AND THEY BOTH INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AS FRANKLIN? YOUR FIRST NAMES ARE ALREADY BASICALLY THE SAME THING ANYWAYS. WHAT FRESH HELL.

More random facts. He looks vaguely like Kenny to me. He made his way into one of those pinterest edits. He shares a name with one of Brock's little brothers. His ship name with May is Bugshipping. You know. Because of the bugs. He's voiced by ANDREW RANNELLS. READ THAT AGAIN. He shares a VA with Harley. I’m just at a loss. Pokeani voice acting is its own rabbithole that leads you places like knowing that the following characters share a voice actor: Drew, Brock, Scott, that Magnemite from Journeys, Ghetsis, and King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. Also the red and yellow M&M in the 2008 M&M wii game. There were four voice acting credits for that game. He was three of them. The only character he didn’t voice seems to be the green M&M, which is actually hilarious given the whole Drew and Ghetsis thing. Anyways.

I'm sure I could go on. Pokeani has so many COTDs that are like this (weird). I could talk about the watermelon farmer. I could talk about Samurai. There's Max (no, not that one). I could talk about fucking. sigh. TOMMY/TOMO/WHATEVER HIS NAME IS. WHATEVER THAT EPISODE WAS. Lord knows I could talk about Brianna (girl... /judgmental). There's essays to be written about Mikey and his weird brothers. I could talk about the dead guy that May and Meowth saved and created a new timeline for, because this dude knocked up his wife and then died in a snow-induced train crash before his wife could tell him about their child, and their grandchild looks weirdly like Brianna. But the dead guy is fine. Don’t worry. May and Meowth saved him with the help of a magical locket. Unclear how or why or literally anything. Just not worrying about it. And there’s the whole split timeline thing. Thanks pokeani. Back to other characters. I need to study Roderick and his little bellsprout and wynaut army and the fact that Paul’s his grandson (allegedly) under a microscope. Solidad might as well be a COTD, but lord knows now isn’t the time for The Solidad Rant. Then there's this next guy with a fucked up family situation. Timmy Grimm. He sounds like a Wizard 101 necromancer. Nobody in pokeani gets a last name but for some reason TIMMY GRIMM did. There's Damian and Seymour and Bill and honestly every single person who showed up in OS tbh. Then there's like. Marble. Old Man Swamp. STEVELAND AND HALVERSON. WHAT KIND OF NAMES EVEN ARE THOSE. S T E V E L A N D AND H A L V E R S O N . Steveland……………

You guys wanna know the worst part. Not a single damn thing I said here was an April Fool’s joke. None of it. Everything here is true. I have the world’s most fucked up citations list to prove it. Here. Have it. I don’t even care. It’s in MLA 8 format, but probably wrong because I always lose points for messing up on citations on every paper I write. I’m posting this post and then calling it a day. I’m going to go make some coffee. No in text citations because I can't actually be bothered to put that much effort into this tbh, so. Here. World's worst citations list. I don't even care.

Works Cited

Behindthevoiceactors.com. “Bill Rogers (visual voices guide).” Behind The Voice Actors, https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Bill-Rogers/. Accessed 1 April 2024.

Behindthevoiceactors.com. “M&M's Adventure (2008 Video Game).” Behind The Voice Actors, https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/MMs-Adventure/. Accessed 1 April 2024.

Bulbapedia. “Forrest Franklin - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.” Bulbapedia, https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Forrest_Franklin. Accessed 1 April 2024.

Bulbapedia. “Joshua (Coordinator) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.” Bulbapedia, https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Joshua_(Coordinator). Accessed 1 April 2024.

#taylor's tag #shitpost hours #'was this just an excuse to post a ramble-' yes. next

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haileymorelikestupid · 1 year

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The Joy of Loving with Marcus Pike

Pairing: Marcus Pike x reader

Summary: Working late on a Friday night is hardly Marcus Pike’s favorite thing in the world, but if it means he gets to come home to see you soundtracked by the soft sounds of a paintbrush on canvas and even softer life advice, he thinks it might not always be bad.

Warnings/Tags: fluff like fr so much fluff, some language, no use of Y/N, mentions of marriage, not a lot of dialogue tbh just a lot of background and introspection

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: me, falling asleep last night with the joy of painting with bob ross playing to soothe me to sleep: oh marcus pike would LOVE this (this is actually what happened i came up with this idea as i was falling asleep and then it became 3000 words longer than i thought it would HA n e ways enjoy!)

Marcus wouldn’t go so far as to say that Bob Ross was his biggest inspiration when he chose a career path, but he sure loved him.

He was just a kid the first time he saw the painter with the big hair and bigger heart. It was a sick day for Marcus, an unfortunate bout of whatever had been going around his school finally making it to him. He wasn’t a kid that got sick often and he didn’t like missing school, but he supposed it was kind of nice to get to lay on the couch and watch TV while his mom occasionally kissed his forehead and made him soup. What sucked, though, was the lack of good cartoons on in the middle of the day.

There was no way he was going to spend his precious extra TV time watching boring soap operas, and he didn’t have the energy to focus on something with an actual plotline. His mom knew this somehow, without asking, in that way that moms seem to know things, especially about their sick kids. So she flipped through until she stopped on a channel where there was a man holding a palette and speaking softly to the camera as he brushed paint onto the canvas with an elegant but sure hand.

Marcus’s mom hummed in approval under her breath before running a hand through his hair and offering a gentle, “See how you like this one, baby.” He just blinked slowly at the comfort of her touch and kept his eyes on the screen as she walked out of the living room.

Up to that point, Marcus’s interest in art hadn’t been much more than what could be expected of a kid his age. He thought painting was fun when his art teacher let his class do it, and he was no stranger to sitting at the kitchen table with a coloring sheet, swinging his legs as he colored in a picture that would probably end up on the fridge when he gave it to his mom later.

But this. Well, this was a new level of interest and intrigue and peace all at the same time. Marcus was entranced by the way the man knew exactly how to angle his brush and the movements to make to add life to the painting. The man’s voice seemed to caress Marcus the way his mom’s hand just had, soft and full of love, and he couldn’t help but giggle with the man when he cleaned his brush off with the instruction to “beat the devil out of it.”

He made it through the episode, marveling in quiet awe at the finished painting, and was pleased to see a new episode start immediately after. His mom walked over to him on the couch as the intro music started, bending over to set a cup of water down on the coffee table in front of him and press another kiss to his forehead. She hummed again as she stood straight and asked, “Did you like it, baby?”

He nodded, the movement slightly hindered by her hand running through his hair again. He was so at peace from the gentle affection and the cozy feeling watching the man paint gave him that he drifted to sleep five minutes into the new episode.

Marcus’s love for Bob Ross never diminished over the years. In fact, the show was something that both comforted him when he needed it and led him to explore. Just like before, his mom somehow knew, and he beamed when he unwrapped the beginner’s paint set she bought him for the first birthday he had since watching that first episode. She even occasionally helped him set up in front of the TV so he could try to paint along with the episode. It admittedly never turned out quite the way he hoped it would, but his mom always helped him lay it out to dry, and the next morning he would find it on the fridge.

When he got older and was able to choose the classes he took at school, he always made sure he had room for art class. He wouldn’t say he was an absolute natural, but he loved putting in the effort to create something new. Projects where he could paint were always the ones he looked forward to the most, and he was even able to repeat his childhood and paint along with an episode for part of a senior project.

As he headed into college, Marcus knew that he wasn’t ready to let go of art entirely, but he knew he didn’t really want to turn it into his profession. He knew that art would feel a lot different if it was the thing he had to do to survive rather than the thing that made life worth living. The day he could figure out a steady job that involved art in some way, though maybe not directly, would be his lucky day. Until then, he thought, he would figure out what he could see himself doing for the rest of his life.

He was fortunate enough to find another interest in the field of criminal justice. One introductory class was all it took to pique his interest, and soon enough he knew the kind of path he wanted to take. He took enough art and art history classes for a minor, though, even if he wasn’t sure it would ever prove particularly helpful to him. He just found it all far too interesting to let go of.

Honestly, Marcus doesn’t quite remember how he found out about the art crimes unit, but he remembers the total elation that filled him, the sense of rightness that came with finding the intersection of his interests, his knowledge, his talents. He was beyond excited about it, dedicated to achieving this new dream, but he couldn’t keep the nerves out of his tone when he told his parents about it for the first time.

Not that he had a reason to be nervous. He tried to downplay how badly he wanted it, but his mom just knew, like she always has. “That sounds perfect for you, honey,” she said, and his dad even nodded along in instant agreement. Once he had that approval, he threw himself headfirst into figuring out his path to the art crimes unit of the FBI.

It was a long journey, and not exactly the easiest, but he cried tears of pure joy when he got the call that the job was his for the taking. That night, he was still buzzing but trying to wind down so that he could actually fall asleep. He turned on the TV, flipped through the channels, and couldn’t help but laugh when he found a rerun of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Admittedly, the laugh turned into more tears when he discovered that it was the exact episode he watched on his sick day all those years ago.

All of these things come rushing to his mind when he walks through the front door and sees you.

He knew he’d be working late tonight and had told you as much apologetically both last night and this morning. As he always did when he had to work late, he told you not to wait up for him, that he was sorry he would miss dinner with you, that he’d make it up to you over the course of the weekend.

And as you always did, you answered with a simple okay with every intention of doing the exact opposite. You stayed up for him more often than you didn’t, honestly, even though he always told you not to, and you always, always waited when he had to work late on a Friday. He’d come home to see you curled up on the couch, and he would always sigh in fond exasperation if only to cover up how warm it always made him feel.

One part of Marcus wanted you to go to bed without him those nights, if only to ensure that you got proper rest in your comfortable bed. The other part of him was endlessly pleased at your thoughtfulness and want to be right there when he walked in the door. He was never disappointed on the nights he walked in to discover that you actually had gone to bed before he got home, but he always high tailed it down the hall to your bedroom on those occasions, wanting to be near you as quickly as he could manage.

Most of the time when you waited up, you were awake when he got home. You would turn your head at the sound of his keys in the door and beam as soon as you made eye contact, a soft but excited greeting pouring off your lips and stretching across the empty space between you.

Sometimes, though, when you’d had a long day or he got home particularly late, he’d find you asleep on the couch. Those nights, there was usually some indication that you really had tried to stay awake but just couldn’t – a book spread across your chest beneath your hands, the TV on a rerun of some sitcom or another. He could never help the deep sigh that puffed his chest before it passed through his lips, totally content to watch the love of his life sleep for a moment before he woke you. He’d stroke his hand over the side of your face or lean down to press a kiss to your head, and you’d stir, his name leaving your mouth in a whisper before you’d even opened your eyes. He’d lead you down the hall and tuck you into bed before doing his nightly routine and joining you there.

This Friday night was one of the latter of these two nights. He came in the door, fully expecting to find you on the couch, and was unsurprised to see you lying there. You didn’t tend to fall asleep on Fridays, though, insisting that you had Saturday to sleep in so you could handle staying up for him. He figures you must have had a busier day than usual or something like that and toes his shoes off before making his way over to you in his familiar song and dance.

He stops short, though, when he catches a glimpse of the TV. There’s a familiar slapping sound followed by a laugh-laced voice uttering, “Beat the devil out of it.”

Marcus is standing by the side of the couch, mouth slightly agape in wonder as the same painting from his childhood sick day and the day his dream job called fills the screen.

It hits him in the chest then. He is going to spend the rest of his life loving you.

He’s known this, of course. But this relationship is the slowest he’s ever gone, and for good reason. He didn’t want to repeat past mistakes. You were special, so special, and he’d be damned if he went too fast and lost you.

The two of you had been neighbors from the moment he arrived in D.C., you having moved in a mere three months before he did. Just neighbors were all you were to each other, for a while. You seemed kind and friendly, but when Teresa never arrived in D.C., he couldn’t do anything but put his head down and work. He survived off take out and whatever shitty meals he could throw together with minimal effort, volunteered to work extra hours that needed to be worked but that no one else wanted, told himself that he would eventually find ways to enjoy himself in this new city.

He occasionally saw you coming out of your door as he went through his or vice versa and always exchanged at least a small smile, but that was the extent of your interaction. But then, in the middle of November, there was a knock on his door and he was too tired to worry much about who it could possibly be.

He opened it and found you twisting your fingers around each other. He probably could have been more polite about it in hindsight, but he was so exhausted and confused that the only thing he could muster up was, “Um, hi?”

“Hi,” you breathed, a nervous grin accompanying it, before your next words came out in a rush. “I’m sorry this is so weird but I’m having this Friendsgiving thing and I decided I needed to practice making what I’m bringing but now I have way too much food for just me to eat and do you want some dinner?”

“Do I want some dinner?”

“I’m sorry, I know I sound like some psycho because we’re just neighbors but I seriously have way too much food and I also want someone else’s input on whether it even tastes good and oh my gosh you can say no this is so awkward I’m sorry.”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it, you were just so nervous to be offering him a literal homecooked meal and it was so sweet and he was still so startled and he didn’t know what else to do. He just laughed.

You seemed to get more flustered even as you giggled along with him. When his laughter died down a little, you decided to speak once more. “Sorry, I just panicked when I realized I definitely do not have enough Tupperware to keep it all as leftovers and then I thought of you and I rushed over here and now I’m embarrassed because I’m not sure you even remember my name, much less trust me enough to eat food I cooked.”

His answer was to say your name to you, having remembered it from the time you introduced yourself to him the day after he moved in. You lit up at that, and your smile was as clear in your voice as it was on your face when you said, “So, what do you say, Marcus? Dinner?”

That had been the beginning of your friendship. You were friends for a while; he was still healing, trying to work through his heartache rather than ignoring its existence. You understood, especially once he actually worked up the courage to tell you the whole sad story. Through it all, you were just… there, and somewhere along the way, you became all that there was for him.

But he was terrified. He couldn’t jump back in, couldn’t risk not only the heartache of screwing up another relationship, but screwing up a relationship with you. He let himself pine for far too long, but he’s not even sure that he would have acted sooner even if he’d known that you were pining, too.

And then it happened. You started a glorious relationship, communicated beautifully about boundaries and expectations and wants and fears. He was beyond relieved when you admitted that you didn’t want to go too fast either, that it scared you just the same, even if your relationship history didn’t look like his. You worked through it, and you worked through it together.

After a year together, your lease was coming to an end and it just felt right to ask you to move in with him. It’s been another year since, and it’s been magnificent. He knows that you’re it for him, knows that he’s it for you, but he’s held back from thinking too much about that next big step.

But now, seeing you curled up on the couch after falling asleep while waiting for him to come home and watching not only the show that has always radiated kindness and comfort and love and affection for him, but the specific episode that has seen some of the biggest turning points of Marcus Pike’s life?

He’s never felt like this before. Not with his ex-wife, not with Teresa, hadn’t even been able to imagine this kind of love when he pictured a nameless, faceless partner when he had no one to picture in their place. You are the rest of his life. He knows it the way he knows his own name, the way he knew that you would be waiting here for him tonight, the way he knows that his name will come in a whisper from your lips when you wake up to him there.

He squats down in front of you and just takes you in for a moment. He can feel his eyes tearing up, unable and unwilling to quash the well of emotion sitting in his chest, heavy yet somehow also lighter than air. He breathes in a sigh as you exhale one of your own before moving his hand to stroke down your cheek.

As his hand smooths over your temple and down your cheek to rest in a slight grasp at your chin, the end credits of the episode roll behind him, and the change in volume due to the end music along with the warmth of his hand causes you to stir.

Your eyelids flutter, and you whisper it before they even open. “Marcus.”

The tears bead at the corners of his eyes when he leans forward to press a kiss to your forehead, leaving his lips there when he answers, “Hi, my love.”

His lips trail over your face, pressing sweet kisses to your forehead, temple, cheeks, nose, chin, the corners of your mouth, and by the time he makes it to your lips, you’re awake enough to return it in full. When you pull away from each other, you catch it immediately. Maybe you see the glassiness through your sleep-bleary gaze, or maybe you hear it in his voice, or maybe you just know, because you furrow your brows a little and ask, “You okay, baby?”

You are the rest of my life. Marry me. “You watched Bob Ross without me?” he teases.

“Missed you. Reminds me of you. Comforts me.”

Marry me.

He hums, kisses your forehead again as he smooths his palm over your shoulder and responds, “Missed you, too, sweetheart. Ready for bed?”

You hum an affirmative response and let him help you sit up straight, then you both rise to your feet together, hands intertwined. He lets go only to wrap his arms around you, drawing you into his chest. Your own arms slide around his waist like they belong there because they do.

It’s not an abnormal show of affection from Marcus, but it is slightly rare for nights he wakes you from the couch. He’d normally have you down the hall by now, on his way to tuck you into bed and give you a few more kisses before he hustles through his routine to join you. It makes you ask once more, “You okay?”

He won’t ask right now. He wants to, it’s practically begging to come out of his mouth, but he wants to think of a special plan just for you and have a ring when he actually asks, so he won’t yet. He will give you something, though. “Gonna love you for the rest of my life. My love. My life. My everything.”

He doesn’t say it outright, but you know. In that way of yours, you just know. And you look up at him, a shimmer matching his reflecting in your eyes, the love of a thousand lifetimes filling his very being with light as you answer, “Gonna love you all my life, Marcus. All my life.”

#marcus pike x reader #pedro pascal x reader #marcus pike #the mentalist #pedro pascal #marcus pike fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfiction #marcus pike fluff #pedro pascal fluff #my writing #marcus pike is the love of my life fr #i want to give him the world on a silver platter #best i can do is hastily written fanfic tho so it'll have to suffice #please like comment and/or reblog!#or slide into my ask box tbh that works too #every notif makes my day :)

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lifesver · 2 months

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GET TO KNOW THE MUN !

what made you pick up the muse you have ? : my friend typecasted my muse type when the victims concept art was announced. just immediately pointed out the horror jock like yep. that'll be the one u like. and then i played the tcsm beta back in may me and rae started wildly theorycrafting.... and well my demons have been winning since. i love a jock who is kind of fail but trying his best like you got me there.

is there anything you really enjoy writing ? : i'm a creep i'm a weirdo i love exploring horror and the many themes that can coexist in it. ig i like to kind of examine trauma and the healing process through the lens of the slasher genre, as well as where horror and love coincide as themes. i think there is underrepresentation in just....... letting slasher final kids have some kind of healing arc, or letting their story continue in general? seeing them before and after the things that happen to them? and i can't always do it but i do also like to kind of dive down into slasher horror and light gore and just practicing writing dynamic action scenes and what a character's thought process is like during those kinds of moments. i love an opportunity to be mean to my blorbo

is there anything you don't like to write ? : probably just anything needlessly like... melodramatic between characters? i have no interest in plots like genuine jealousy and love triangles and interpersonal shit like that, mostly because i write horror and there are so many more interesting things to focus on imo? and because not enough slasher content casts seem like they actually care about each other lmaooo. is this a callout post about gun.'s take on the friend group? perhaps.

how do you come up with your headcanons ? : dude i just receive the prophecies and act like im on twitter tossing my every stupid thought into the void.

do you write in silence or listen to music ? : tbh i usually write either in silence or in a deranged third way (writing between games of overwatch) my adhd sometimes demands that i am doing several things at the same time and sometimes i can sit down at the coffee shop put on some instrumentals and just slam some replies in

do you plan your replies or wing them ? : hmmm a bit of both? i usually have to start by winging it, which usually involves me dropping in whatever reaction dialogue immediately comes to me. kind of work around that, save and close the draft, and then think about the reply a bit until i eventually know where i'm going with it LOL

do you enjoy shipping ? : i do with friends! i'm not actually a huge like... ships person in a general fandom sense and i rarely feel any particular way until something is compelling to me in fanon, but i can ship most things if it's with a writing partner i like! simply ask rae we will be creating ships 0 people are thinking about shout out leland/connie tcsm tommy/jenny f13 and jake/adam dbd. i also usually go hard on the slowburn, and that's just like, personal comfort for getting to know my muse and my writing partner's muse, but also just think slowburn rules

what's your alias / name ? : kels.

zodiac sign ? : pisces sun, gemini moon, aries rising.

Birthday? : march 20th!

favorite color ? : a sort of pastel pink-lilac

favorite song ? : feel that it must be go your own way / fleetwood mac

last movie you watched ? : oh jesus i fear it was hellraiser: revelations

last show you watched ? : icr if it was an episode of goosebumps or true detective tbh

last song you listened to ? : putting the dog to sleep by the antlers....

favorite food ? : veggie burritos probably. or honestly like. just a really good bagel cream cheese LMFAO

favorite season ? : spring (:

do you have a tumblr best friend ? : rae and i have been in and out of these trenches for years i fear

TAGGED BY : @solarisgod thank u!!! mwah mwah <3

TAGGING : all my fellas

#:3c #readmore'd bc it's kinda long

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wigglebox · 1 year

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Queer? In my John Winchester?

It’s more likely than you think!

Sorry — but not really.

So, it’s 2022, there’s a Supernatural show on, and I am sitting at my desk wondering how to actually start talking about a queer reading for a character that many don’t like the idea of being queer.

No I’m not talking about Dean Winchester — I’m talking about John.

I remember waaaay back when in Ye Olden Times of June 2021 when the show’s script commitment was leaked, myself and a few others on Tumblr tossed around the idea of “Omg what if they make John queer, he’s in a relationship with another guy, and then heaven forces them apart because he has to be with Mary.”

And that wasn’t out of a desire to just have a slash ship. Those happen regardless, all the time, with little to no warning and little to no reason sometimes. Shipping happens. Shipping doesn’t have to be canon, doesn’t really have to make sense, and is a personal thing between you and your AO3 account.

From my perspective, I had been wondering if they’d do it simply because the meta symbolism comparison — whatever — would be so great for Destiel and that ship’s journey.

And, I still stand by that, and if anything, even more so now that I’ve had more time to think about it and see the characters on my screen.

While watching 1x04 of The Winchesters, Masters of War, even mid-episode, Twitter and Tumblr and likely your Discord servers were all ablaze with “What was that look that John just gave Carlos in that uniform? Millie? What?” and especially after this tweet:

Just gonna do one of these while I’m at it:

Anyway —

But for me, that wasn’t the only moment my brain starting firing when it came to the possibility of John and Carlos.

First of all, since we know where John and Mary are eventually going to end up, this show can’t hurt me. I’m already expecting to be hurt. It’s not queerbaiting, it’s not anything like that. Also, especially now, very much not queerbaiting. Coding is not baiting. But regardless, I had gone into this show fully expecting to just start shipping everyone for everyone just because why not?

But after 1x04 I legitimately will be paying more attention to John/Carlos.

For me, the most interesting thing about Destiel was that it kinda was born organically. Cas wasn’t meant to be a character that stuck around but the chemistry was too good to get rid of him, and the story just made sense with him there tbh. It was over the years and years that these two were on screen together in which it went from “Yay, a slash ship that’s not with his brother!” to “Oh my God are they going to make this canon? It makes the most sense!”

The thing with Destiel is that since it was organic, it was born outside of the narrative. Cas was the first one to “make it up as we go,” he exists outside the narrative.

The whole thing when it comes to Chuck Won theory for me is that Cas is a threat to Chuck because he exists outside of the narrative and kept trying to get Dean to go along with him — subconciously of course lol. [Side note, this is why I don’t believe Cas is in heaven, because if indeed Chuck won, Cas wouldn’t be there. Cas is ‘real’, he’s ‘truth’].

Destiel is a pairing, a love story, outside of the actual story while directly influencing the narrative that Chuck is trying to dole out to us.

It was a brat, the suits/Chuck couldn’t control it, and once it started rolling down the hill, no one could stop it.

Destiel was the character pairing that broke the narrative.

Now, when it comes to The Winchesters, we have a bit of a thing going on here don’t we? We have four characers: Two young women, two young men. This is actually prime fodder for a shipping free for all.

Carlos already expressed his once crush on Mary, Latika [to me at least] is kind of crushing on John, and John and Mary, we know, wind up together regardless.

However — John and Mary are the narrative. That’s The Plan TM. That’s heaven’s outcome, that’s Chuck’s outcome, that’s the thing that needs to happen for the story to play out how they want it to. John and Mary don’t have a choice in this.

But, they both still need a relationship outside of the narrative for contrast.

The thing with Supernatural is that we never had Sam or Dean have ‘narrative compliant’ relationships. There was no need to have them hook up with someone to make children who are destined to bring about the apocalypse or whatever. That was all on them. That was supposed to end with Sam and Dean.

But The Winchesters has a narrative couple, even if they don’t know it yet. For me, John and Mary still seem like just friends, they all do really, and while sometimes they’ll have talks in the van or heartfelt speeches to each other already with piano music softly playing overhead — it still doesn’t feel like romance. If anything, in 1x03 with John’s words about Mary and having to save her, it felt more like we’re inching more towards brother co-dependency than not.

Since we have a narrative couple, and we already know what that is, we need a non-narrative couple. We need John and Mary to seek relationships with others, and probably get a little farther with it than just one date. We need something outside of the narrative that’s threatening to also take John and Mary along as well. John and Mary need their Cas, because they certainnly aren’t Dean and Cas to each other.

“But Jen, why not just have John with Latika?”

Because I said so! No, just kidding, because Carlos makes more sense to me in this case.

It’s been clear to a lot of us watching that Carlos really captures the attitude and spirit of early seasons Dean. A little over confident, likely compensating for something. Withholding emotional stuff, maybe a little cavelier in his love life, and hell we even got a “why does paper even beat a rock” reference in 1x04.

But in 1x04, it feels like Carlos was also set up with Cas parallels.

Carlos was in the Navy, he was in the service, just like John. Dean and Cas were also ordered basically to “fight” by their fathers, and were essentially soldiers of their own corners of the narrative.

But, Carlos isn’t a soldier. He’s a medic. He’s a healer. First thing I thought of was “Oh, Cas healed people and Dean all the time.” That’s one of the things I associate with Cas a lot is just healing, both physical wounds and emotional ones.

I find it interestingly fasincating that Carlos was put in contrast to John like this. Dean and Cas to me were on the same level whereas Carlos felt like almost the polar opposite to John. He didn’t illegally sign up for the war while underaged, he wasn’t really looking for a fight, and he did none of the fighting but instead helped those who were wounded in the fighting. Whereas John entered the war underaged, was a Marine, and likely saw so many atrocities unfold before him including the death of his friend Murphy.

The Destiel parallels didn’t end there for me.

It seems like we’re test driving John with the different characters. He’s with Mary, alone. Then he’s with Latika, alone. And now he’s with Carlos for most of the episode, alone. So it feels like it’s almost like I’m watching The Bachelor lol. You have the winner who was engineered by producers to be the pick at the end of the competition [Mary], the one who actually was in it to find love with the Bachelor [Latika] and the one that the Bachelor actually fell in love with [Carlos].

[I’ve never seen this show lmao I’m actually modeling this off of Flavor Of Love but shh don’t tell anyone]

Obviously, my saying John is in love with Carlos is literally just me saying that. Literally no proof of that right now. I’m just saying if we’re going to throw some tropes in there, that’s where I’d slot him in.

So getting back to Destiel parallels — I found the jungle space that John and Carlos wound up in so interesting. It really reminded me of Purgaytory. Yes I’m spelling it that way.

When Carlos stepped on the mine and said John’s name like that, like Murphy did but also just like that, idk. Struck something in me. But I also found it interesting that he was in there at all. All the other people that this god killed were on their own. But now it’s both Carlos and John, and the god is using Carlos to try and like, convince John to do what it wants John to do.

Obviously, we know that despite his claims otherwise, John did wind up doing what the god wanted him to do and did in fact kinda give into his inner demons, which we saw play out the entire episode as John struggled hard.

For me, John needs someone who’s going to tempt him away from the narrative, away from going down this bad path of running instead of confronting his inner demons, and away from the narrative pairing that will eventually be with Mary. He needs someone who will help steer him away from all of this, because the narrative has to have something to rip away from him. And progress would be that thing that the narrative strips away.

And to me, yes I wouldn’t mind it being Latika either but I’m aligning her more with Mary at the moment. So for me, it’d be Carlos. Another ‘brother in arms’ [see what I did there], someone who does understand the trauma of seeing what he saw, and experienced more or less what he experienced. Someone who is that beacon of hope and light [even though I’m sure Carlos has his own issues obviously] that would make John want to confront his issues intead of run from them.

So, when I see fun Destiel parallels to John and Carlos I like them, but I’m also thinking about the meta narrative implications of this. A queer ship, for outside of the narrative, that will wind up getting the axe in order to serve the narrative. Because isn’t that what happened with Destiel, and Dean’s right to reciprocate being taken away from him [literally. the final monsters ripped people’s tongues out and he never said Cas’ name after that phone call in 15x19].

To mark a full tragedy and degradation of John Winchester, it’d be great to me anyway if they do the same with him.

Now —

I know post-episode there were some loud dissenters and those who aren’t happy about this concept that John could be queer, especially if it’s more upfront about it than Dean ever truly got a chance to do.

And for that, I understand, however I’m choosing to view this as a good thing because if they can slap on as many callbacks to Destiel as they can with these two, but knowing that with these two it’s going to fail while with Destiel more or less succeeded*, I’m choosing to call a win a win. I also don’t believe symbolism, meta, and story for The Winchesters should be sacrificed because of decisions made for a separate show that began in 2005 and tried its hardest to deliver undeniably queer Dean in its 15 year long run.

*Dean never go to say I Love You back, however I’m a continuation believer, and I also think the metaphorical silence was pretty loud.

A lot of folks choose to see adult John as homophobic, a headcanon/fanon trait that I can 100% understand where folks come from. However it’s not canon that he is, and it’s never been implied in the show either. Therefore, I feel like that point of debate is one I don’t really take all that seriously, because it’s someone’s personal reading of a character, and not tangible canon.

A queer John Winchester would I think give us the chance to add more fuel to the Destiel fire, while also giving us the chance to grieve a love story that could have been, and grieve a person that John could have been instead of the one that he became. Queer people aren’t always good, kind, reasonable, and understanding. Sometimes they can, indeed, grow into being terrible people.

The Winchesters is ultimately a tragedy. No one is going to win at the end of the day. It’s like watching a run away train and being unable to stop the characters from making the choices that we know will lead them not to safety but to mortal danger.

But if they can give us peeks into what could have been, that’ll make it so much more tragic in a way that really resonates with us.

#long post #spnwin #spnwin meta #john winchester #jarlos #1x04 #0104 #I'M SORRY GOD THIS IS SO FUCKING LONG #I HOPE I MADE SENSE #I WROTE THIS ON MY BREAK #i'm not going to let jarlos go #now that i have it in my hands you're never going to pry it from me

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random-person10 · 4 days

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Heartbreak High

The new one, not the old one.

This show has always managed to confuse me and I don't know if it's an Australian thing or a writer's thing. I'm pretty sure it's the former coz it happens every time I watch anything Australian.

But this season was even more confusing than the first. Like in the first season, it was chaotic to me how everyone ended up fucking almost everyone, I could not guess who was going to get together at fucking all. All it took is for these fuckers to make 4-second eye-contact and BAM sex, get a grip. Ig teenagers are actually like that and I'm just a loser. Anywho, this season, the only thing that confused me was Rowan's whole character arc.

Let me break this down:

He said that when he came to Hartley High, he was just ready to move on from his brother's death, or maybe he wanted to move on in Dubbo, I dunno I kind of didn't pay attention. But like, he started killing birds and terrorizing Amerie with them on the first fucking day of being there, because she didn't remember him?

This motherfucker went into the forest, while Ant was busy threatening to cut his dick off, killed a bird, and put it on her bag? Sorry but how fast does this man act? What a machine.

Then he dated her ex-boyfriend? For what reason? Was it strategic? I still haven't figured that one out yet. Like sure it'll make Amerie jealous but he seemed genuinely into him so I don't think that's it. Actually, thinking about it now, Malakai is hot and Rowan was all "forget Amerie" or whatever so that bit does make sense tbh. I cried when they broke up go away, imagine the person you're dating calls u by their ex's name? ugh sad

Then after breaking up with Malakai and getting his heart savagely broken, he just starts dating Amerie? At first, I assumed that was because he planned to hurt her emotions, but he literally spoke about her to 'Jett' like he was into her, so that confused me. I thought he hated her?

Like bro seemed to not have a plan. I know he's not mentally stable and all that but like what was going on in his mind? He's trying to ruin her life, but also likes her, but also thinks she murdered his brother.

And why did he tell Malakai to fuck off when he started dating Amerie? Like was that genuine possessiveness or was that part of the plan? (My little brain was like "awe he wants to protect Malakai from whatever he has planned at that dance so he's telling him to go away, cutee he still likes him" but I'm delulu so ignore that)

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF

His delusions just vanished with Amerie saying: "he died because he loved you" and a clip of Jett not being a part of Rowan's hallucination anymore... like excuse me, I need a clip of this man going to a therapist and actually acknowledging his schizophrenia, not whatever this form of fucking 'closure' is.

It was so half-arsed, it made me mad.

Man, I genuinely liked the guy, but it seemed like they created his plot 4 episodes into the season. Nothing linked.

Still was very obsessed with the show tho. The sarcasm and the sibling vibes were very entertaining. STILL THE PLOT MAKES VERY LITTLE SENSE. But, again I'm very bad at paying attention so I might've got it all wrong.

Side note: the principal's dog (Joan of Arc) with her little fuchsia-coloured vest were the highlight of this show for me, isn't that kinda sad? There is a scene where the principal is talking to Cash, and Joan is facing the opposite direction and I laughed at that for like 30 minutes, tragic.

#heartbreak high 2022 #rowan callaghan #amerie wadia #malakai mitchell #I need to get a fucking life this is sad #Joan of Arc the dog #Yes I'm making a tag for her #she stole the show for me

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