#i also like how the first and last gif like . they kind of parallel each other??? i don't know the entire set is so cohesive and the reloop

[triptychgardener]

Hello sorry if this is a bother but I am asking in good faith where is the reading for transmasc nepeta. I’m asking this cuz of your last ask (the June one) and I see aradia Dirk and Jane. Thoes all I have seen post and analysis about. But I have not really seen anything about nepeta.

Okay so first thing you gotta understand is that gender in Homestuck, for lack of a better way to say it, can be understood in how characters reflect and relate to each other. That being said to understand Nepeta's gender, we gotta understand the gender of at the very least one other person.

Dave.

And more specifically.

Davepeta, Homestuck's very own first(ish) trans character.

Davepeta is noted to be a sort of platonic ideal of existence for both Dave and Nepeta. Somehow, through a strange series of cosmic coincidences, these two end up making an odd sort of parallel. Both having a strange relationship to a man who loves him some goddamn horses. The whole Akwete Purrmusk thing. I mean, Dave canonically engaged in semi-nonironic furry roleplay with Nepeta offscreen, and given what we know about what becoming a furry in Homestuck means, it's not a leap to describe this as their ideal form.

But, although we don't see a lot of Nepeta's character arc, we do see a lot of Dave's. He struggles his whole life under an incredibly oppressive masculine force (both of Bro and, indirectly, Lord English), and once the game is over ends up deconstructing and largely rejecting that.

So when Davesprite, who's also probably been thinking about this for even longer, bereft of purpose or identity, finds a kindred soul in a spunky catgirl... well the rest is Davepeta.

And similarly, there are points in the story where Nepeta acts kind of uncomfortable with how others see her as exclusively something to be protected. The whole "Dear, sweet, precious Nepeta" grates on her early on, as Equius uses it as an excuse to control her actions. The whole of moiraillegience as it is originally explained (i.e. one party helps to calm down an especially brutal and violent person from outbursts of anger, and in turn that person will protect the more docile, even-tempered soul from external harm) even kind of FEELS like the way heterosexual relationships are portrayed in a lot of conservative spaces, where women are nuturers and caretakers while men are protectors. And Nepeta is supposed to, in this situation, be the person who helps Equius manage his emotions, which she feels some consternation at!

Now, over the course of Hivebent, their relationship appears to evolve and get a bit more balanced, but it still carries these overtones of "I will protect you, and you will handle my outbursts." Notably, when Equius goes to seek the Highb100d, and leaves Nepeta behind.

And of course not after roleplaying as each other.

Which. I mean come on.

But notably, Nepeta doesn't just stay put! She doesn't really want to be protected all the time! And when push comes to shove, she leaps out to defend, or at the very least avenge, her best friend.

And then, we don't really see Nepeta for a while!

Until we get to the end of the comic.

During their whole "date", Nepeta seems a little uncomfortable with Jasprose's affections. She may be a bit flattered, but Jasprose also fully admits later that she was frankly looking for any girl she could fall in love with after the tragic death of her girlfriend and possible more tragic untimely resurrection.

But then the pivotal handshake happens, and we get to see who is perhaps the most happy being in all of Homestuck.

Then we get into some of the only actual discussion of gender in Homestuck. We don't get much besides that, for both of their lives, Dave and Nepeta both felt something was missing. Something felt wrong that they couldn't quite place that made them both miserable. I don't think it's a massive stretch to say this could be gender dysphoria.

And when they combine, they feel the fullness of the gendered experience they were missing, melded together like a two-piece puzzle.

Now while the abovementioned "strong identities as a boy and a girl" might throw you off, I would point to what Victoria Lacroix said about this passage: note the lack of the word "respectively." I rest my case.

Now full disclosure, my personal headcanon for Nepeta is genderfluid transmasc. The whole affinity for roleplaying lends itself to a more shifting identity and I just think Nepeta, given more time, would love exploring the little nooks and crannies of gender.

This isn't going into the more complicated shit with Gender when it comes to Equius and Dirk and all that other stuff. Here's a quick summary so you can see exactly how my brain is broken.

Anyways, thanks for the question! I hope I answered my thoughts on the topic adequately! If other people have more to say about this, please feel free to add on!

#whoof this was a long one #asks #anon

[fernsproutxx]

i forgot to mention that yesterday i dreamt that i went inside a fnaf themed dark ride. but not like the one we’ve already seen concept art of, i mean something completely different.

the best way to explain how it went is like the carts were some kind of spinning cups that you could turn around by yourself and could only fit one person per cart, so you couldn’t see other people riding with you. the route went presenting each of the core four inside their respective segments, they all looked like the repaired versions of the withered animatronics.

but after you finished passing the main four there was an extra character left.

the yellow rabbit.

what i failed to mention before is that while meeting the main cast their rooms were pretty sizable. but when meeting the yellow rabbit, the room shrank, making it feel claustrophobic. my first impression upon seeing it was weird, because the rabbit simply followed you with its gaze, not even waving a hello or anything.

it simply stared at you until you left the room.

then there was the last segment of the ride which i can only describe was like being inside a small maze. there’s was one set path due to the railing but it gave the illusion that there were many winding corridors like a maze. the walls were very narrow and the ceiling so low that you had to sunk inside your seat.

but the part that i remember most vividly is when i was inside my cart and suddenly felt this urge to look behind me.

so i spun my cart wheel while the contraption kept moving forward.

and there it was.

the yellow rabbit.

just staring from behind me in the darkness. and it was no longer in it’s respectful room.

it was following me.

poking its head though the walls like a ghost.

and its smile man…

then when the maze section finished i was filled with so much fucking dread thinking that it would catch me. but the ride ended by being greeted with freddy, bonnie, chica, and foxy, being played by real persons so you could properly greet them and hug them. there was also an scape room at the end but that was more of an extra part of my dream.

the funny part is that i went on that dark ride multiple times lmfao.

and i would always turn around.

when waking up i realized that the yellow rabbit following through the maze segment perfectly parallels fruity maze, like when you see that random yellow rabbit staring through a distance.

creepy as fuck.

#blah blah text post #it was so scary #just seeing that wide grin in the darkness #while feeling like the walls were closing in on you #and then ending the thing like nothing ever happened #it’s existence wasn’t even acknowledged #i kinda wanna do a quick drawing that encapsulates what i saw #but that’ll have to be later

[crash-and-cure]

If I Were You Part 5 (Yandere!Austin!Elvis x Reader)

Summary: Love is the only rational act. Call him crazy or unhinged all you want, that sounds just about right to Elvis. 

A/N: Well... it’s been a minute. Sorry y’all I’ve been having to deal with a move recently which set me back alot in terms of finding free time to write but I’d rather it be late and good than early and rushed. This chapter is going to be from Elvis POV so if it feels like there is a bit of a heel turn from reader know that that is why. We’ll also be getting insight as to how reader has been feeling these last few months and how she handles what happened in this chapter in the next.

Warnings: Yandere!Elvis so expect themes of obsessive, manipulative, jealous, and heavily delusional behavior as well as references to previous blackmail, emotional and otherwise, here too. Dubious consent in some areas. Inappropriate relationship with a Therapist (Though she is no longer one at the moment). Depictions of a therapy session. Explicit sexual content depicted that includes Penetrative sex (m/f), Daddy Kink, Praise kink, a bit of somnophilia (she does not stay asleep), vaginal fingering, and a tiny bit of anal play. Also mentions of Elvis' mommy issues, though he’ll never call them that and reader’s daddy issues because parallels. Period typical misogyny depicted and reflected by POV character’s attitude towards women in the orkplace. Finally depictions of a toxic relationship that include power imbalances, emotional manipulation, heavy use of coercion, grabbing that leads to bruising and deception. Please do not interact if you are under 18.

Word count: 14K

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4

Masterlist

Humility is something Elvis always tries to work towards. Even as his star grew to new heights he could never have dreamed of before, he always in the back of his head felt as though he was just a step away from losing it all. And he almost did, not in the sense of losing the fame or the money, but he did lose sight of what he loved, in who he loved and 

But people didn’t stop loving him. 

He’s been honest with you that this was a heavy burden he had to bear, that need to fix himself not for his own sake but for others. The idea that him running himself ragged into an early grave felt less like a fear, and more like an inevitability. 

And yet he beat the odds, and now he looks forward to all that life has to offer now.  

Elvis tries to be humble, but it’s hard to do so when every morning he gets to wake up next to the most beautiful, most intelligent, and most caring woman in the world, with the full knowledge that you’re his alone. 

He never thought it was possible to love someone so deeply like this. 

Sure at first you yourself used to see an issue in this kind of love, but he eventually brought you around. Sure it can be an awful thing when someone is vile, and taking advantage of the other, but he knows he never has to worry about that from you. 

You take care of each other, and ain’t that what it’s all about? 

Those other people don’t know what the two of you got, and have never experienced a love like yours. If they could even experience a fraction of the love he felt for you, they would understand why nothing could keep him away from you. How cruel it would in fact be to keep either of you apart. 

Now as he holds you in his arms he’s content in the knowledge that no one has any right to do so. 

Those first few months of your relationship, there would be times when he woke up and even seeing you he couldn’t entirely trust it was truly you. His mind had played tricks on him before with all those other women he had had right before you, and he would have to feel the devastating grief that these women weren’t you. 

He doesn’t even remember most of their names, considering how many of them left because of how often he would say your name when he wasn’t being careful, it was probably for the best. Part of him wonders if any of them ever figured out they were stand-ins for you, the other part worries that he doesn't feel particularly guilty even if they did. 

But these worries quickly die as he looks down on your beautiful face. 

He liked seeing you so sleepy, those early months, it’s when you were most honest he thinks. Too tired to think too hard about anything save for the feelings he knows he brings out in you. Just awake enough to know what you’re doing and more importantly to know how to enjoy yourself. When you’re soft and pliable just the way he likes you, but just as ravenous and willful as any wildcat to really make him work up an appetite. 

He lifts the covers off of the both of you and he gets to see how the hem of your baby doll had ridden up well past your hips, and he licks his lips seeing his breakfast. 

He knows that your body wanted him before your mind did. That on some deeper level you wanted him, long before you could think so, let alone admit it. And he sees it in these moments as you’re still dead asleep but you squirm under his touch. Breathy sighs fall from your plush lips as he lazily brushes his fingers along your inner thighs  

He wonders what you dream about these days. You once told him how dreams can have any meaning you assign them to have, and it’s within his power to decide. 

He once told Priscilla that he was “all outta dreams,” and he could safely say he feels the same way with you. Before those words meant how he felt hopeless in such a bleak situation, but now they mean the utter contentment he feels everyday when he’s with you. 

Something you gave him, and in spite of all that he’s done to get you here, he will happily spend the rest of his days paying you back. You’ve helped him in ways you probably couldn’t imagine, as now, he wants for nothing but you anymore. 

And when his hand finally reaches into that warm piece of heaven between your legs, there is no hiding the way he makes you feel. You squirm under his touch, not having even been anywhere close to waking up. He hopes that he now occupies your dream world now as you have done since he’s met you. 

Your eyes don’t immediately shoot open, but you jump a little as he starts to drag you back to the waking world. With a half-lidded unfocused stare, you’re all lazy smiles and breathy moans as you buck your hips against his hand all the while your ass rocks against him, stirring up little Elvis from his slumber. He wonders if you believe you’re still dreaming, after all in his mind everyday with you feels like one. 

You’ve become so compliant since you left your job for him. You don’t gotta worry about no office to be at or other patients you need to see. You don’t mind being seen with him out and about anymore. You especially don’t mind the marks he leaves on you, which is a good thing especially now as he’s in a mood to mark you where he can today. 

But you, in your half-asleep state, apparently have other plans. He feels as you blindly reach between your legs to grab a hold of him, catching him off-guard slightly as he starts to feels his cock part your folds. Then without a word of warning you close your thighs, and it’s like a punch to the gut it feels so good. You’re warm as all get out, and your thighs are still slick from last night, but the major difference between this and your little love cavern is your teasing fingers that gently bring the very tip of him up to continuously nudge at your clit. 

It’s enough to drive any man insane. 

It truly takes everything within him to pull away from you, and from the needy little whine you give, you feel the same. He turns you around and puts you right to straddle his lap. Your head lolls a bit at the swift motion, not entirely awake, but you practically jolt awake when he grabs your behind. 

“Now why you gotta go teasin’ like that Mama,” he growls relishing in the feel of your ass beneath his fingers. He wonders how hard he would need to squeeze to leave a couple marks down there. 

“‘M sorry daddy,” you mewl unconvincingly, lowering yourself to kiss him, something you’re no longer scared to initiate. A sharp slap on your ass has you realizing he meant business right now. But still you wait for him to tell you what to do. 

He’s taught you well.

“Well now you gotta fix it Sweetheart,” he purrs, and you shudder as his thumbs glide up your inner thighs, . “Can’t have your daddy goin’ out there lookin’ like this now can we?”

You shake your head no and the desire to just bend you over and take you like an animal grew but he wanted you to finish what you started. Granted you may not have started this specifically this morning but there ain’t no getting around the fact that this all started with you. 

He bites his lip to really focus on you in that moment; that little contented sigh that would fall from your lips feeling the fat head of his cock brush up against your eager clit, before turning into a lazy smile, as you slowly but surely guide him to that place he loves so much. That filthy moan that falls from your lips as he finally begins the descent into your entrance, before it turns into a needy little whine as he slowly retracts his hips and before he suddenly slams them back into you full force. 

That little wiggle your ass does as you give a breathy “daddy” is all the encouragement he needs before he presses upward. One hand threads through his own right on your hip, while the other . The whiny little noises you make each time he even nudges that precious little spot you bashfully admitted only he was ever able to reach. 

The material of your nightie by now has fully slipped off your shoulders, now leaving it only as a useless ring of fabric around your waist. You don’t seem to mind a single bit as you eagerly bounce up and down his cock, your gorgeous tits on full display and, to his chagrin, offensively clear of any bruises. In fact a quick once over of your body shows that the marks he’s left on you before were already healing up. 

He’s really gotta do something about that soon. Afterall for as smart as you can be, you’re often liable to forgetting who you belong to. 

But for as tempting as your nipples can be, he actively has to stave off his own desires, just to fully appreciate the image before him. That of the good doctor fucking herself stupid on his cock as she shamelessly licks her own juices right off his fingers, and begs for more from her daddy while the early morning rays give an almost angelic appearance. But that image of purity is swiftly done away with as he reaches around you and with his still wet fingers he lightly presses on that tight ring of muscle you’re far too demure to ever ask him about but he knew you loved when he did this. And with tears in your eyes and unrestrained cries flying from your lips, you seemingly fall apart and your walls clamp down on him like a vice.

Truly there ain’t ever gonna be a more perfect woman, he thinks as feels euphoria rocket through him and he proceeds to paint your inner walls white. Your hips stutter as you try to catch your breath, still quivering through some aftershocks, and you try to catch yourself on your hand from fully collapsing into him. Well he ain’t having none of that, and he wraps his arms around you to bring you as close as possible to him, never wanting to let you go.

Though the absolute best part for him is that you no longer get that left over guilty look afterward. The shy act was cute the first few months but as time went on it lost its appeal and he wished you would stop treating him like something you had to feel ashamed of. But now when you open your eyes to look at him all he sees are equal parts adoration and hunger. And it’s all for him.

Thanks to you he’s gotten far better in terms of communicating what he wants from people and it’s probably the worst kept secret in all of Graceland how much he wants and needs you at any given moment. You're able to ignite him in ways no girl has ever been able to do, and he doubts there will ever be another like you.

Though he thinks he most especially loves mornings like these because it’s all the proof he needs that that old job of yours wasn’t worth all the trouble it was causing in your head. After all, how can anything that doesn’t hurt no one and makes you feel this good be bad?

He ain’t one to talk though, he remembers those early months when he did try to fight off his feelings for you.

It’s wild to think he ever had doubts about therapy. Dr. Wilson was fine so far in that he was able to help him through his addiction without making him feel awful about it while also helping him realize that there was a lot more going on in his need for the drugs that he wasn’t even aware of. He was always able to remain coolly neutral no matter what ever fucked up thing the rockstar had told him. Elvis got the sense that he had been at this so long and with so many different celebrities that hardly anything phased him at this point. Which was good in a way, didn’t make him feel so outta place there but it also felt so…impersonal. As though the person that came right before him or right after him would get the same advice and insights as he did. 

Overall he was fine in terms of easing him into therapy and being able to express his thoughts and feelings with someone without having to be afraid of being judged. But he will admit that Wilson did do right by him by recommending you in the first place. 

He still remembers that day, there was an odd sense of euphoria to not only have a name for what he had but also that there were specialists who could handle this sort of thing professionally. But at the same time it clashed with his hope of his life going back to the way it was any time soon.

“Co-dependency is a relatively new term within the psychology community, so there aren’t many who are equipped to handle this condition.” Wilson says, eyes firmly on his notes. “But you’re in luck as I believe there is a specialist located in the Memphis area last I checked.”

“Doc, you sure I even need this?” he would question, as he fidgeted with the sleeve of his robe, the material having become a tad bit scratchier than when he had arrived. “I mean I don’t, even get cravin’s for them pills no more.” 

“Yes Elvis, we’ve treated the more overt and life-threatening symptoms of your addiction, but we’ve yet to truly tap into the underlying cause. Without doing that you would be liable to fall right back into old habits all over again. Maybe not with the pills, but some other vice.” he says calmly. “It’s why we enforce rules as to moderation within the facility as oftentimes getting rid of one addiction will lead to seeking solace in another. You’ve done better than most in abstaining from the more overt addictions and in order to keep up with this, I think it would be best if you continue treatment with Dr. Y/L/N.”

Elvis has a long sigh at this but he does genuinely want to get better, yet he still holds doubt as to whether more of this is necessary. He thinks at best you will be able to show him what to look out for in people that could take advantage of him again and you could go your separate ways after a few sessions. After all he did at least want to show Priscilla that he was actually making an effort to get better, and what better way than to keep going to therapy. 

He hesitated a bit during that first call, when he found out you were a woman. He knows it’s a whole new era and women can work outside the home if they want and all that, but he still wasn’t too sure about it. And he ain’t never met a woman who called herself a doctor, so there was that. 

But he also knew himself well enough to know that any excuse he could get to get out of going he would take, and having to drive all the way from Memphis to Nashville was a pretty good one. Besides women are naturally good with talking and feelings and shit, so it kinda makes sense in a way to see a woman about this kind of stuff. So it was worth a shot. 

That all changed when he met you in person for the first time. What he almost immediately noticed about you was how warm your eyes were. Not necessarily in color, but how you looked genuinely happy to see him. And not just in the way he’s used to from women who want him, but more… something he can’t quite put his finger on. But when you looked at him for the first time he felt as though he was being seen as Elvis, not just as The Elvis Presely. 

“Good afternoon, Mr. Presley, it’s nice to meet you.” You said to him with a friendly smile on your face and a firm handshake.

“Same here, Dr. Y/L/N,” he would say, as all of his doubts seemed to melt away. You were beautiful in a way he wasn’t used to, all professional and button-upped like a secretary yet also comforting and very approachable like a librarian. It was an odd combination no doubt but you pulled it off well. 

There’s something about you that just puts his mind at ease, not only as you talk but as you listen. He felt like he was being heard instead of just listened to, which isn’t something he ever realized was lacking in his life. When you sat there you looked as though you could listen to him talk for hours, not the slightest bit of impatience to be seen. And the way you looked at him as he talked, as much as you may have been trying to hide it, he saw that you felt what he felt when talking about these things, his joy in performing, his sadness over the state of his family, his anger at Colonel. 

That was another thing, the little tidbits of advice you gave, that in retrospect seem so obvious, but hearing it from you that Parker didn't have any control over him anymore and he didn’t have to call him something that made it look like that. It’s hard to believe you're younger than him and yet so much wiser.

There was one thing you said to him toward the end of that first session and you were talking about his goals overall. 

“There’s a lotta things I want Doc,” he says. “I want my family back. I want to get back with ‘Cilla. I want to get back into music and perform again. I… want to know what to look out for so I don’t make the same mistake again.”

That last one apparently peaks your interest, as you say with a gentle smile on your lips, “Mr. Presley, many people when they walk into my office expect to be given answers as to their conditions or the issues ongoing in their lives. But the reality is that I don’t have the answers but what I can do is act as a guide so that you may be able to find what you may be looking for in a healthy and effective manner.” 

”I-I think I see what you’re sayin’ Doc,” he says. “A-and you can call me Elvis,” he states, ifa bit shyer this time around.

“Of course Elvis,” you say with a smile radiating warmth. “Now, as we’re getting towards the end of our session, I would like to express my goals for you.” 

He’s very curious as to what you have to say, so he leans forward eager to listen.

“Elvis, contrary to what it may sound like, my goal is not to espouse total self-reliance and to never trust anyone again. Nor is it for you to simply find ‘better’ people to rely on totally,” you say. “My goal for you, as it is for all of my patients, is to trust yourself most of all to know what’s best for you. Good or bad, regardless of another's opinions, these are your choices to make.” 

Those are simple words but they have a monumental impact on his perspective of things. And for the first time in a long time he looks at you and sees someone he can trust to do right by him. 

And now the first thing he’s gonna trust himself about, it’s that you’re gonna be good for him overall.

It was a bit difficult to get into the whole routine of seeing you, especially as he didn’t want certain people in his circle knowing that he was even still going to therapy. Not even necessarily because he feared it would somehow get back to the papers but because most of them were all under the same belief that therapy was just a crock of shit and all he needed to do was man up. So he just simply didn’t bring it up to them specifically and let only a few people really know what he was doing. And only they know just so they can sufficiently cover his ass when he’s out with you. 

None of them seemed to mind his scheduled “alone times” too much since he always came back and nothing newsworthy would happen so they let him be. 

Over the next few weeks he found himself looking forward to sessions with you. He’s taking his health seriously, he’s getting to see Lisa more and more, he’s sleeping better, everything in his life is slowly but surely improving thanks to you. Though the better sleep had its flaws as he had been having some weird dreams for awhile. Not so much nightmares, but they definitely left him with some odd feelings in the morning. 

They almost always started off the same way, he was back on that couch in Dr. Wilson’s office and the way he was being spoken to, it felt less like therapy and more like an interrogation. He would never remember what he was being asked, but the longer it went on the worse he would feel. 

And then you walk into the office and Wilson disappears. In the beginning you would simply take Wilson’s seat, and he feels himself start to relax. Something about you just made it easy to do so. You could even be asking the same questions Wilson was asking, but you’re far gentler in your delivery, and it helps ease the answers out.

A lot of his dreams have been going this way but recently you’ve been getting closer and closer, and now you sit beside him on the sofa. You would rub his back, play with his hair and even sometimes hold his hand all the while listening to what he had to say. Which then progressed to him even laying his head in your lap.

He vividly remembers how he would nuzzle into your chest as you continuously ran your nails through his hair. Neither of you speak but he can’t recall ever feeling so at peace than in those imaginary moments with you. 

Of course there were also less than wholesome dreams where he the ones where you ride him right into the couch or he takes you on your desk. Though arguably the most memorable had to be when he rested his head on your lap as he’d done in his dreams a million times before and you would slowly unbutton your blouse. 

Undoubtedly one of the most fucked up things he’s ever dreamt as you proceeded to jerk him off as he sucked on those gorgeous tits of yours. But still he couldn’t get out of his head that look of utter adoration in your eyes as you threaded your fingers in his hair and whispered how he was a good boy.

He woke up that morning needing to literally peel his pants off of him. 

He’s not an idiot. He has a daughter and so he knows what that could only look like from the outside. He has a pretty good idea what it may mean, seeing you in such a motherly role, but he’s also seen Psycho and knows he’s far from dressing up as his Mama to stab women in the shower. So really it doesn’t mean anything.

“Doc?” he asks, and you look up from your notes. He knows he should probably bring up the dreams, as you’ll definitely have something to say about it. But seeing you in that Turtleneck that made your tits look phenomenal made his brain short circuit a bit, and he worries even hinting at anything like this may scare you off and have you believing he’s a Norman Bates type. So instead he asks, “Why don’t you got one a them couches?”

Your brow furrows at that. “A… fainting couch?” You ask tentatively.

“That’s the one,” he snaps his fingers. “Why don’tcha got one of those?”

“Oh, well…” you say, pausing to bite your lip, looking for the right words. This simple act causes him to swallow hard, and he prays you don’t notice as you continue. “Given the patients I work with, I find that keeping us on the same level is far more beneficial than the alternative. It acts as a good reminder that we’re equals in this environment,” you explain with a gentle smile.

“Same level huh?” he questions. “So if I sat down on the floor you would follow?”

“If that’s where you feel most comfortable,” you say amused.

He doesn’t exactly know why, but part of his brain took that as a challenge, while the other part wanted to really test as to whether or not you would follow through. In either case he gets off his chair only to lie flat on his back on the shag carpet of your office. He looks back up and sees you raise an eyebrow at his antics, with a look of “seriously?” on your face. There is a bit of a stare down before you let out a small defeated sigh before you make motions to follow suit. 

“Don’t say I’m not a woman of my word,” you would explain as you lay down on the floor parallel to him, though the table kept a good distance between the two of you. Not an easy feat for you considering you were wearing a skirt that day, but in spite of that you were somehow able to make the act look as dignified as possible. Though that doesn’t prevent a brief but very dangerous image of you hiking up your skirt and taking a seat over his face. 

Woah… Where did that come from? he would ask himself as he ripped his eyes away from you and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Comfortable?” Both real and fantasy you would question. 

“Very,” he would answer, lying only slightly.

You give a mirthful smile before you get right back to business. “Now that we’re down here, I would like to discuss some of your risk-taking behavior upon your return from Germany,” 

“I wouldn’t say layin’ down on the floor is risky,” he quips. He’s trying hard to not focus on the gap that’s appeared between the buttons of your shirt nor the way that your notebook keeps your skirt from sliding down further. But at the same time focusing on your face right now feels dangerous for some reason he can’t quite place.

Something blooms in his chest when he hears you huff in amusement at him. “I’ll admit not my most graceful of transitions, but my point still stands. When you look back on your time after your return stateside, do you believe you were doing things that were considered far more risky?”

“I mean… I guess,” he would admit. “Aside from the drugs, nothin’ too wild, really. Just pushin’ each other down… and drivin’ around real fast… and shootin’ fireworks at each other… I see what your sayin’.” It’s funny that he only now realizes just by talking to you about them. 

“And nobody ever protested to you doing these things?” 

“Well my daddy did at first, but then stopped once he figured I wouldn’t stop. Most times it was The Colo-shit! Parker… he was the one who always made big stink ‘bout what I was doin’ if it was dangerous or made me look bad.” 

You bring your pen to your mouth, simply resting it on your lips, mulling over his words before you say, “Elvis correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds to me that Parker occupied a very… parental role in your life?”

“I guess,” he says, unsure of it until a long dormant memory comes barreling to mind as he recalls his own words to that man from what felt a lifetime ago. “I even said as much to him at my own Mama’s funeral.” He says covering his eyes, and taking a deep breath, willing no tears to fall right in front of you. “I feel like such a fool.”

And then he feels something on his palm. He looks to his side to see that your hand now holds his. It’s such a simple gesture, one that anybody could have done, but coming from you it feels like everything.

“Elvis…” you start off slowly, your thumb rubbing soothing lines onto the back of his hand. “Grief is a terrible thing to experience. It can knock out your knees and snatch the breath right out of your lungs. And it’s certainly not uncommon for people like that to take advantage of those in such a vulnerable position.” you say in your most soothing voice. 

“Don’t think less of yourself for staying as long as you did. Instead I ask you to think of it as you left when you were ready to do so.”

He has to pause to contemplate your words for a second there, because it’s such a simple twist of perspective but it seems to make all the difference as he feels a long present weight of guilt lift. “Yeah… yeah you’re right,” he says, his chest filling with a sense of warmth he hadn’t realized he’s been missing for a while now. “I-I took all of the rat bastards shit for years, because I could take it… a-and I left when I didn’t want to do that no more.” 

“Exactly,” you say, slipping out of his grasp and giving a friendly pat on his hands as you return to your side of the table. 

The rest of the session is pretty light, all things considered, talking about Music, something he can do at literally any given moment and he left your office that day with a newfound appreciation for women’s office wear. He gets the sense that it’s very intentional on your part. The way you can steer a conversation is so fucking impressive and it served you well when you were dodging something.

But he eventually learned your ways. And he was able to get you to open up about yourself like when you learned his favorite hero growing up was Captain Marvel Jr. and you confided in him your favorite was Wonder Woman, and how you learned to appreciate her even more when you learned she was created by a Psychologist. Or when he told you about his sleep troubles and you taught him your trick to falling asleep was to eat Pancakes, something that came as a bit of a routine from your waitressing days since that was your usual order at the end of your shift. Little things that made you more than just his shrink to him. 

He swears he didn’t realize what he was doing at first, and it wasn’t until Jerry pointed it out to him that same night. He and the rest were at some show that he doesn’t really remember, and he sees you walk past the table he was at. He’s so caught off guard that he even turns his head fully around as you walk away.

Jerry knows about his therapy and tends to cover for him when he goes to see you, but has never actually met you, so it surprised him when Jerry asked if he wanted him to go get you for him. 

He’s glad for the low lighting of this place as he doubts he would otherwise be able to hide his inflamed face right now. “What? No… No. Wh-why’d ya’ think I want her?”

“Well she’s your type ain’t she?” he asks, glancing at the bar behind Elvis’ shoulder where you’re standing. Elvis is trying hard not to look back because the dress you’re wearing is far more revealing than he’s ever seen you wear, and he doubts if he keeps looking he’ll be able to stop, still that question eats at him. 

“The hell are you on Jer?” 

“EP, you’re a lot a things,” Jerry says as he gets up, patting him on the back. “Subtle ain’t one a them.” 

He knows one more word and Jerry will stop and not approach you, but something stops him from doing so. He figures you’re going to say no anyway, as you made it clear in your first session that you were never going to approach a patient in public, and that’ll be the end of that. Still the thought of you saying no does leave a sour taste in his mouth that the whiskey can’t quite chase away. He steals a glance over his shoulder and with the better lighting at the bar he realizes that that girl ain’t you. Her nose is a different shape, hair color is not quite right in the new light, and this girl doesn’t have quite the same dignified posture that you’ve got.

He shakes his head at these thoughts. It’s ridiculous that he even thought that was you for even a second. You work everyday and he doubts this would be your scene on a Thursday night. He imagines you would be in bed by now or at least settling by this time. You have the look of a good girl who reads at night to fall asleep and he can just about picture the way you would look lounging against a headboard that looks suspiciously familiar. This line of thought leads to him idly wondering what you wear to bed at night, which is quickly broken when Jerry approaches with the girl. 

The girl has a face-splitting grin and in her eyes, he finds that star-struck look he’s seen in hundreds of other women's eyes before her. Despite her eyes being similar in color he can’t help but be reminded of the stark difference in your eyes when he met you for the first time. She’s seeing a god where you saw a man.

Still he tries to give the girl, Jackie, a fair shake, but the longer the night goes on the more he has to pick apart. Her voice is a little too high-pitched to be yours. Her make-up, not as pristine as yours usually is. Even her nails seem to annoy him as they are a little longer than how you usually keep them, and they only really drew his attention while she was drumming them along the table as he spoke. The girl is practically shaking in her seat, itching to get out of here with him. 

Well at least this one knows what she wants, he thinks to himself as he asks if she would mind a more quiet place to talk. 

It’s wrong on so many levels what he’s doing, and he recognizes that as he puts his arm around her shoulders and leads her out of the place. Jane gushes about how big of a fan she’s been since she was a kid and how this is a dream come true. All Elvis could really focus on is if he squints just hard enough he can almost see you saying that to him, and that’s just enough to get him going, as he buries his face into the girl's neck, and he hears sweet moans he wishes came from you. 

Jenna was gone come morning, and Elvis is glad for that small mercy. And in the early morning rays, Elvis is left alone with his thoughts, and he gets to truly think about the women he’s been with recently. He thinks of Shannon who drew his eye when he got a whiff of her perfume, and it happened to be the same one he knows you’ve worn before, and he would bury his face in her neck as he pounded into her. Amy whose hair was almost the exact same color as yours and whom he really only liked taking from the behind without truly looking at her face. Carol whose voice sounded eerily close to yours and in the dark he was able to imagine someone else entirely as she moaned his name over and over again. And finally there was Jamie who was almost the spitting image of you save for a few things here and there.

It’s nothing, he tries to lie to himself. 

It doesn’t matter.

They don’t matter. 

They shouldn’t matter really, they were all gone before the morning came, so obviously none of them weren’t interested in anything serious. Which is good…

…Right?

It fucks with his head something fierce, that he ends up bringing it up the next time he sees you. “I think I lost my way with women.” he would say as soon as he sat down, before you even got a chance to crack open your little notebook. 

You quickly put the pen between your lips, in that cute way he likes, to hold while you open your notebook, and ask “in what regard Elvis?” This has got to be a sign as to how comfortable he’s gotten with you. He would never have dared to talk about something like this with anyone else, not so much because he feared that he would be laughed at, but because more than likely he would be plastered with denials and reassurances as to how much of a ladies man he still is, without ever even getting into detail why he felt like that. 

Still he finds himself clamming up, wishing to take the words back, shame burning in his belly over these thoughts. You were having none of it, as you put down your notebook and pen on the table between the two of you and lean forward. “Elvis you can talk about this with me,” you coax in your softest voice, something he’s come to expect look forward to. 

He smiles at this as he’s come to appreciate this about you. You get right to work and listen as he expresses his fears about his romantic life. You’re a great listener, though he supposes that comes with the job, but in the way you move and watch him, he never doubts that you are. You’re always watching him, you rarely if ever glance at the clock, and nothing about your body language ever says that you’re getting tired of hearing him talk. Even Wilson had that annoying leg bounce thing toward the end of sessions with him. 

The only thing he could really complain about was how often you touched your lips while listening. Whether it was simply resting a fist to your mouth or pinching your bottom lip, you’re almost always doing something of the like when you’re concentrating he’s noticed. He doubts you’re doing it on purpose, but he still finds it very distracting. That being said he was never about to tell you to stop. 

“Elvis as I understand this dilemma you’re having,” you say. “You’re worried that the only type of women you attract these days are women who are not seeking long-term relationships.” 

“I don’t know Doc, it might be nothin’,” he says, still trying to downplay how uncomfortable the concept makes him. “

“If it bothers you Elvis, then it’s not nothing,” you gently encourage. “People thrive on connections to one another, and I’m glad to see that you’re taking steps to establish new connections after all that you’ve faced before. Perhaps these women aren’t all opposed to a romantic relationship, but they may perhaps be under the impression that you are, given your fame.” 

“So my reputations workin’ against me on this,” he asks solemnly. 

“In a sense, yes. Reputation is a bit of a funny thing like that,” you say. “It’s not so much your actions that make it up, but other’s perceptions of said actions. And if you feel you’re ready to embark on a new long-term relationship, then I would encourage you to start on a solid foundation of honesty.”

“What do you mean? Tell them I’m lookin’ to get married again?”

This gets a small huff of laughter out of you, “Perhaps not that strong in the beginning,” you say. “But something along the lines of… ‘when can we meet up again?’ just a little something like that to establish that you are at the very least interested in a long-term relationship.”

“Doc, would you wanna be with me,” he says, and he would be lying if he says he didn’t enjoy the way your eyes practically bugged out of your head before he recovered with a “or someone with a reputation like me?”

You try to pass off your sigh of relief as simply a deep breath before you answer with, “I personally try not to let others' perceptions of potential partners affect my own feelings toward them. And I reassure you that there are others of the same mind and should you signal that you want something more… permanent, you’ll find someone.” you say with a reassuring smile on your face. “While we’re still on this topic as to your romantic life…” you trail off slightly. “You stated one of your goals in therapy was to rekindle your relationship with your Ex-Wife. Is she the one you’re talking about trying to have a relationship with?”

“... no,” he sighs, as he eyes you sitting directly across from him. “I-I love her and all but… I-I don’t know if I want her in the same way I did before. And… I-I think I want someone else.” He thinks this is the first time he’s been able to say this out loud, but it admittedly does feel like a weight lifted off his shoulders as he admits to it. You give a soft, reassuring smile at his words, and while he knows that it’s probably because you’re happy to see him moving forward with his life, a small part of him wants to believe it’s because you want him to be available.

“I understand, Elvis,” you reassure him. “And rest assured that should you at any point choose otherwise you’re, of course, free to do so.”

He leaves later on reassured in his worth as a partner, but the thought that you had been approached by men before leaves an otherwise good meeting with a sour note. That’s the first time he realizes that you have a life outside of your office and somehow worse, you have other patients you talk to. It’s like seeing a teacher at a grocery store and realizing they don’t live at school.

He knows it ain’t right to feel this way, that you’re a person too, who has more to offer than just what you do for your job. But he can’t help the way he feels. Saddest part is the person he would go to talk about these feelings with is the person he has to talk about. 

And so rather than actually dealing with it, head on he tried to satisfy these feelings for you in other ways, but he promised himself he would never act on them. 

At least… not yet.

It was working for a time, he would see you twice a week, he would bear his soul to you alone, and slowly but surely you also opened up to him as well. There were small comments here and there about simple preferences which eventually gave way to you talking a bit about your time and school and your friends, and to his relief you never brought up any sort of boyfriend. But outside of your office he accepted that he did in fact have a “type” and most of his boys made it their mission to find girls that look even a little bit like you. 

And yet the more he saw you, the more he fell for you. 

After the wine incident he knew he couldn’t deny himself what he wanted anymore and he gradually started to lay the groundwork in order to make that happen. 

When he would casually slip in pet names for you, kiss the back of your hand, or even when he would linger a little too long after a session you never said anything about it. And he always took that as an opportunity to go further and further each time. 

He even started reading up on Psychology, and to his surprise some of it was down right fascinating, especially learning how it stems from Physiology meeting Philosophy. Sure the dog studies and the Milgram experiment ended up being very useful to him later on, but he does believe Freud was onto something there. But he can’t wrap his head around why you tend to get very skittish when you do on occasion bring up his Mama.

He likes to think she would’ve liked you very much for how smart and responsible you are. She maybe wouldn’t have loved the whole working outside of home thing, but he eventually fixed that. 

The same way he taught himself to play music was the same way  he got you to fall in love with him: laser-sharp focus and unwavering persistence.

But then you had to go and almost throw that all away. You spat in the face of his gift and tried to reprimand him for doing a nice thing for you. So he had to play it cool for a while after that. You seemed to retreat a bit from him, but you were no less warm and caring for him. You even stopped really remarking when he would “accidentally” bump into you when you’re out and about. 

But no dice the next time he tried. It was only as Jerry returned with a guilty look on his face did he realize his mistake in A. sending someone else and B. not framing it as a part of his therapy, which he knows you wouldn’t have refused. 

“EP…” Jerry says lightly. “Y-your shrink…”

“What ‘bout her Jerry,” Elvis asks in no mood after your refusal.  

“I-I noticed that she-she kinda looks like some a the girls you been seein’,” he swallows a bit. Seemingly praying to god he’s wrong about this.

“No,” the rockstar says simply, not really caring to beat around the bush anymore, and Jerry seems almost relieved until he continues. “They look like her,” and for as callous as it sounds he can’t even muster an ounce of sympathy for them, as though it’s their fault that they’re not you. But the reality is, none of them could hold a candle to you, and they only matter so far in preventing him from getting too frustrated with how slow you're taking things. 

“Elvis… I-I don’t think it-it’s such a good idea to get so… involved with your doctor again,” Jerry would say tentatively, unsure how he would react. 

“Jerry,” he says, trying to control his temper, and remembering those breathing exercises you went over with him. “I think my business is my business.”

“I-I know but-”

“But nothin’ Jerry!” he yells. “Y’all had fuck all to say when I was runnin’ myself in the grave! And now that I’m gettin back on track, now you wanna step in?!” Jerry gaped at him, before quickly shutting his mouth, a guilty look taking over his face as he looked down at the ground, having nothing to say. “Get the fuck outta my face Jerry.”

Jerry and the rest that knew about you since the beginning would eventually come around on you, seeing hat you did for him and how much he needed you. It served him all the better later on. Though now that all feels like ancient history now, especially now that you’re together in private, in public, and pretty soon under the eyes of the lord.

As far as you know Elvis didn’t want to acknowledge the “blackmail” and simply announced your engagement. He didn’t even want to acknowledge Parker, as that would imply there’s anything wrong with your relationship that he could have exploited.

The way he tells the story is that a couple months after rehab, he was out and about in Memphis when you caught his eye from across the room. He described it as nothing short of love at first sight, but the problem was he had no idea how to approach a woman as sophisticated as you. It was made all the worse when he did approach and you introduced yourself as Dr. Y/L/N, you weren’t so awestruck by him, and in fact talked to him like a normal person. He was so caught off guard that when you had revealed that you were a therapist he jumped at the chance and said he had been looking for one in the area after rehab and you had given him your business card.

How the next few months were about how you became his therapist, and how he was more or less scheming to sweep you off your feet the moment he could. How you tried your best to keep things professional until you could no longer deny your feelings nor could he deny his. None of which was a lie, but he did have to clean up the story for the reporters (didn’t stop Penthouse from begging for the dirtier details).

The story was simple, almost the ideal story of the recovery of a troubled man and how it was the love of a good woman that helped him heal from all of it (Say what you will, he knows you’ve loved him longer than you’re willing to admit). And the people ate it up. 

Everybody could see how good you were for him, how he’s back and better than ever because of your efforts. 

He wishes you wouldn’t focus so much on the others who want to make this out as a bad thing for either of you. They don’t know you and they especially don't know him, so how can they judge what either of you do. That board of therapists may say that the two of you being together is wrong, and for a time you may even have believed that but he knows in his heart of hearts that this was meant to be. 

Afterall you yourself showed him how other people’s perceptions of you shouldn’t affect your own perception of yourself. 

As far as days in Graceland it’s a pretty typical and quiet one, Mary makes the two of you breakfast, you both practice tai chi while it’s still early, you sit with him at the piano as he worked on music, and later he would bend you over the piano so you could make some music for him, you have lunch. It’s looking to be a perfect day. 

You’re never too far from him anymore but he doesn’t think he’ll ever have enough of you. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Sometime after lunch, Jerry comes around with those books you ordered. As much as you tried to hide it at first, he could see you were excited for the world tour. Studying up on the history of practically every city he was going to be performing in, trying to learn a couple languages, sharing almost everything with him. 

You look so in your element when you’re reading, and he can’t help but intrude and make his dreams into a reality. You're startled at first as he rests his head in your lap, but you quickly adjust and ease into the new position.

He’s close to purring with the way you run your nails along his scalp, so familiar and comforting a gesture that it’s not long before his eyelids go heavy and he finds himself drifting off to sleep with a smile on his face. 

With you around, sleep is coming easier and easier these days. You worry about this, fearing that he would become too dependent on you for sleep. 

He can’t help it that you’re such a dependable person. 

He would wake up later, only the slightest bit distressed that you were gone, but he knows that you wouldn’t have gone too far. And he didn’t have to look too hard to find you, as you stepped out of your dressing room, and sees you wearing something very familiar.

He doesn’t think he'll ever forget that night.

He thought at the time that nothing could happen between you two. He had accepted that at first, tried to content himself to having you in his life in whatever way he could, even if only platonically. He admits he may have stalled some days, especially the sessions after you would remark how far he’s come in therapy, all in order to drag out his time with you. 

It truly felt like the stars had aligned for the both of you that night. He wasn’t really one for fancy places like this, any other day he would have taken a cheap little diner, but he had been craving a real good steak for a while and figured some fancy place like this would be his best bet. Imagine his surprise when he just idly glanced down at the reservation book and saw your name.

He had been hoping to build something between the two of you outside of your office for a while by that point, but that day you just so happened to have ended up at the same restaurant as him. This just solidified in his head that the two of you were meant to be, because it couldn’t be just a coincidence that the two of you ended up at the same place that night. He gathered up the nerve to approach you that night, thinking about what you said as to how you would like to be approached by a man, ready to put himself out there. 

His breath hitches as he sees the little white dress you’re wearing and his palms sweat a bit when he approaches. Overall he feels like a kid trying to ask the prettiest girl for a dance, terrifying yet exhilarating all the same.

“Dr. Y/L/N, funny meeting you here,” Elvis would say in his best attempt to sound casual. 

“Mr. Presley, how are you?” you would say, surprise evident in your eyes but the small smile on your face genuine as any. 

“I’m doin’ just fine.” 

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad.”

“Are you here alone?” he gently probes, trying to figure out a way to get the rest to leave the table if he can get you to join him. 

“No, my date is just in the restroom.” you say pointing in the general direction of the bathroom.

Something almost akin to betrayal flashes through him in that moment, but he quickly tries to stamp it down as even he realizes that he had no right to feel that way. “Well, have a good night.” he says, trying to be as amiable as possible. 

“You too,” you say with an uneasy look in your eyes. 

Gorgeous girl like her, it’d be crazy for her not to have a date, he thinks, sitting back down with his buddies. Not a single one of them acknowledges what just happened and somehow it feels all the worse. Still it doesn’t sit right with him, the idea of you being out of your office and looking so beautiful and only to waste it on some undeserving mook. 

But… in all the months he’s been seeing you, he ain’t ever seen a ring on your finger, so he doubts it’s that serious. He can’t see your table, which he’s thankful for, because it at least removes the temptation to keep looking your way. But with how sparsely populated the restaurant is at this point he can just barely make out your voice, and he can clearly hear your laugh. It’s such a beautiful thing to hear, and it takes him fully out of the conversation he’s having with Sonny, which pretty much makes all of them take notice of how weird he’s acting but they won’t say anything about it. 

But quickly bitterness takes over in his mouth when he hears the accompanying chuckle from your faceless companion. Especially when he’s only ever awarded small huffs of amusement in your office while that motherfucker can get you to laugh like that.

… He really shouldn’t be thinking like this… 

It practically spits in the face of all you’ve been doing for him to go back to his old jealous ways. He drinks some of the wine to calm himself down and earnestly tries to go back to the talk he was having. 

He does try, but by the third glass in, he becomes a bit distracted by the wine. He’s not usually much of a fan of the stuff, but even he can appreciate a good bottle when he has it. Not too sweet but just enough to mask the burn of alcohol, while pairing well with his steak.

All he’s really thinking at that moment is how much you would probably appreciate it too. So he flags down the stuffy waiter and insists that a similar bottle be brought to your table, on him of course. 

He doesn’t really think too much of it, and later as Charlie’s doing his best impression of Parker to a host of hoots and hollers from the rest, does the waiter return. “Your friends send their thanks for the wine,” he says simply walking away. 

So you took it… he finds it very interesting. 

If there was nothing there, you could have said no and he would’ve put it behind him. But you accepted the wine… there had to be something more to it. Especially since you were on a “date” with another man, and what woman accepts a drink from another man if she wasn’t at the very least interested. 

As he leaves, there is a part of him that aches leaving you behind, especially with another man, and the only solace he takes is that you accepting that bottle of wine had to mean something. 

His home feels achingly empty as he walks in, even as he’s surrounded by his buddies. He’s trying to follow your advice with the whole set sleep schedule thing so it’s only midnight by the time he walks through his front door. 

Even if come Monday you flat out reject him, he tries to content himself to have you just be his therapist. How maybe even after you graduate him out you can still continue being friends outside of your office and he won’t have to lose you as well.

Still all of that rings hollow that night as he recalls furiously jerking himself off in his bed, tears streaming down his face and your name on his lips, as he thought of you in that dress. What’s worse is that the fantasy he has of you is not even necessarily erotic, and by most standards, it’s practically mundane. But it’s precisely because of how normal it is that it feels so foreign yet nonetheless attractive to him, and thus far more dangerous than any wet dream he’s had of you before. 

He imagines bringing you to Graceland from the restaurant. How you would strip yourself of that dress, effortlessly seductive as you swap it for a nightie, and how you would get a little bashful as you notice him staring before crawling into bed beside him. But unlike other dreams he has of you, you simply lay back and allow him to bury his face in your chest. “What’s on your mind Elvis?” you would ask him. 

He can almost feel the scrape of your nails on his scalp, as you listen to his woes. The slight rise and fall of your chest as he rests his head on it. How all of your ministrations are comforting and relaxing rather than teasing or playful, like your content to simply sit and be with him alone rather than doing anything else. Like you’re there for him, not for Elvis Presley.

He wanted that. He wanted you. 

And now he has you.

And nothing will ever take you away.

“Mmm, I remember this,” he hums to you while wrapping his arms around your waist as you put the finishing touches to your face. You preen under his attention, and wriggle a little as his fingers brush the hem of your skirt, both of you practically itching for a repeat of that first concert. 

While in general he would have preferred you wore something he gave you, he has no doubt that the dress is not gonna survive the night once you get home. 

“Where you headin’ lookin’ this good?” he asks, trying not to sound too sore about it. 

You sigh as you put down your brush, squaring your shoulders as though you’re about to step into a battlefield. “Ma’s throwing me a Bridal shower remember,” you answer. 

Yeah he does remember, but he honestly wishes you hadn’t. Though he can hardly begrudge you for being less than ecstatic about your party, as he also doesn’t want you to go but for very different reasons. Try as he might, he couldn’t justify going with you, and just the idea of you being out of reach made his stomach uneasy. His only solace in the situation was that he was able to convince your Mama to not invite any of your old college girlfriends, as the last thing he needs is for any of them to be putting ideas in your head again. 

Besides, it marks the first time in awhile since he’s gotten all of his buddies together at once, so he’s determined to enjoy the night as much as he can without you. He thinks he’s had his fill of the bachelor life, so his party ain’t nothing too crazy all things considered. 

For as much as he did clean house once he booted Parker out, there were still those in his circle he could do without personally but still served their purposes well. 

He’s made it clear he won’t stand for any of them talking any kind of nonsense about you, but that doesn’t stop them from bemoaning the “life” he’s giving up all in order to get hitched yet again. The partying, the girls, the drugs he would give up ten times over for you. 

By midnight he’s even close to calling it for the night hoping that you’ll be home soon.

For as much as they rag on him for becoming so domesticated he’s well aware of the fact that they are nonetheless happy for your presence in his life. He knows that while some of them are genuinely glad that he’s now better for his own sake, he’s all too aware that some of them only “care” because their very livelihoods depend on him.

Not you though. What you gave up when you thought you were protecting him, you proved yourself to be far more caring and loyal than anyone he’s ever met. And he rests easier knowing you’re watching out for him, even at a great cost to yourself. 

It almost makes him feel guilty for what he had to do.

Almost.

And, as though summoned, you make your way through the front door. The second you walk in, he loses interest in just about everything else in the room. You look like you just got through twelve rounds with Muhammad Ali.

He already knows you don’t got the best relationship with your folks but understands you couldn’t get out of going without raising questions. But if it went bad it saves him the trouble from having to talk you out of visiting them too often. 

Truly it makes his heart soar the way you light up a bit upon seeing him and he hopes 

And then it goes to shit. 

He sees you lazily look around the room, probably trying to figure out a tactful way to get rid of them all. But then your brow furrows, and you give the entire room a once over again, and then you seem to look intently at every single person in the room as though you’re tallying them up. And once you finish that, it only seems to distress you more. 

You’ve got that same look in your eye when you’re reading your mysteries, with your brow furrowed and your hands to your lips. He’s confused as to what may be going on in that pretty little head of yours, until he looks around and remembers that ALL of his buddies are here now.

Something that shouldn’t be if he had really handled the ones that had apparently squealed the two of you out to Parker.

Huh… you figured it out just like that, he thinks. This is honestly what he gets for choosing a smart one like you, but he can't say he’s not a little proud that you were able to do so. Besides it’s not much of a choice when it’s meant to be. 

He takes one last puff off his cigar before stamping it out into the accompanying ashtray, after all no use in trying to pretend anymore. You're cracking a case wide open in your head and he figures there ain’t no point in drawing it out for much longer. 

“Hey Charlie,” he draws out, and your eyes snap back to him, apparently terrified to be proven right. 

“Yeah EP?” he answers, always the good friend who would go along with any plan regardless of how he personally felt about it if it meant getting him back on track. 

“Why don’tcha do that voice,” he says smiling a bit as his friends goes a bit ashen at the request. “Always gets a good laugh.”

Charlie thinks he’s subtle when he steals a glance your way. He is not. 

“You sure ‘bout that EP,” he asks, nervously swallowing, his eyes begging to not have to do this. Which gets the attention of all of them, and some of them shift uncomfortably at what’s about to go down, downing the last of their drinks and nervously gathering their things hoping to make a quick getaway. The ones who don’t know are looking at Charlie anticipating a good laugh but they quickly pick up on how worried he looks and quickly follow suit, figuring nothing good would come of this. 

Elvis only has eyes for you though, morbidly curious as to how you’re going to react, the same way your eyes are firmly fixed on him, no doubt fearing that you’re right. He almost calls it off at that point, but call it what you want he believes that once this secret is over and done with, the two of you will be all the stronger for it and there will be absolutely nothing to hold you back.  

“Who am I talkin’ to?” Elvis asks Charlie all the while making full eye contact with you. Contrary to what you may believe he doesn’t in fact enjoy hurting you with these hard truths, he’s just not as skilled as you in breaking them to you in a more delicate manner.

Charlie lets out a deep, tired sigh before, without any more preamble, he says, “You’re talking to the man that gave the world Elvis Presley,” in his most perfect Parker impression. 

Your face fully falls. 

Once upon a time you had told him how sometimes people need to be guided by another to get what they wanted. And he knows for a fact that you wanted him, it was only your damn job and it’s rules that held you back. That’s where his head was at after that fucking anniversary party.

You are the only woman alive who can proudly say she’s broken his heart not once, not twice, but three times. The first time being when you threatened to switch him to another therapist, but luckily he saw right through that ploy. 

The next time when you had the gall to lie to his face about where you were going. When you started speaking about Saturday, he could feel his heart flutter a bit, truly believing you were gonna invite him to meet your folks. Even now he could imagine how it would have felt to be offered such a thing, to be brought home and be introduced as your boyfriend proper. Even after you brought up your friends he could have dealed with that if only it would bring him much more into your life. Only for you to bring him back down to Earth with your refusal to bring him.

The last time was when you couldn’t say you loved him back. God was that a kick to the chest because he may not be the smartest man, but even he knew that it meant one of two things. Either you wanted to say it and you couldn’t for whatever reason… or you didn’t love him and you were just feeling particularly guilty about it that day. ‘

He couldn’t accept that though. Something in your life was preventing you from saying it back and really he knew there could only be one thing. Was it really so monstrous to remove it if it left you feeling like this?

You love him, he knows that you do and you only need a push in the right direction in order to admit it.  

And if you didn’t… he couldn’t afford to think like that. 

So he had to push through. Had to do what was necessary. Had to believe you love him. 

Had to believe he was still worth loving.

He knew words meant nothing at the end of the day (you taught him as much) he had to find a way to prove you did love him and that you weren’t in it for yourself. 

The only question was how.

After he sees you leave that place, looking devastated, it takes everything within him to not take you in his arms. But he has a goal in mind and he has to figure out where exactly you're at mentally in order to push through. 

For all he knows you’re on your way to pack up your office right now, but he has to be sure. 

Red tries to stop him before he gets out of the car, but ends up backing off, with a single glare his way. He waits for a bit before approaching the modest looking house after you had left, and knocks on the door, and once it opens he has to remind himself who he’s doing this for, and knock that fucker’s lights out. 

Even when he has never met them before, people weirdly enough have a lot of trust in him. And Mark Whatever his last name is, proves to be no different. Elvis greets him with his first name and a quick hug as though they were old friends and lets himself into the house as Mark still gapes at the doorway. 

He finds a den with two identical mugs on a coffee table, and he finds a very familiar lipstick color on one of them (how could he not there’s still a ring of it around his cock). Mark shuffles his way into the sitting room, absolutely struck dumb by Elvis' presence, and Elvis finds it hard to believe that he ever saw him as a rival for your love. 

Mark notices the mugs still on the coffee table and makes a motion to grab them, stammering out an apology about the mess. Before he could do so, Elvis notices the light color from your mug and hides a self satisfied smirk at that. Where once you only took your coffee black, your tastes have now become closer aligned to his own. 

Elvis puts a hand down on the mug as he says, “Why dontcha take a seat right down there Mark?” It’s kind of pathetic really seeing a man take orders from a stranger in his own house, but it serves Elvis’ purposes all the better. And with the way Mark awkwardly takes a seat it’s apparent that he is still flustered at Elvis’ presence in his den. 

Good, he thinks. Should keep him honest.

“Wh-what’s this about?” Mark asks, uneasily.

“It’s about our good friend, Y/N of course,” he says as though it were so obvious.

“O-Oh, uh, she was over here not too long ago,” he stammered out, before his brows furrowed even more confused. “How do you know her?” 

“Through her daddy,” Elvis lies coolly. “I don’t know if you noticed but she’s been a bit outta sorts recently. And I’m hopin’ you could help me figure out what’s been botherin’ her.”

“I-I don’t think it’s my place to say,” Mark sputters out.

“C’mon Matt,” he says, leaning forward just a little bit to really sell the concern. “You can talk to me ‘bout this,” echoing your own words from way back when. 

If he noticed the wrong name he didn’t say anything as he nervously looks down at his own hands, before muttering out a soft “she’s been having some trouble with a patient of hers.”

“Huh…” he says, raising his brows a bit at this. “She tell you who?”

“She would never tell me anything like that,” he quickly defends and Elvis relaxes a bit. “But ummm… she-she just needed some advice as to how to handle this patient. And I-I let her know that whatever consequences she imagines would happen, are not as bad as the reality. So it would be better to act now as opposed to later.”

“Hmmm…” he hums, and just like that he can already feel you slipping through his fingers. But he holds on to that look you had leaving. How distressed you looked at the idea of having to drop him all together, but he also knows you’re a tough one that can make the right decisions, even when they’re hard, and that’s why he loves you so. “Tell me Max, what would you do if you were in her situation?” he asks even though he already figures the answer.

“Personally… I would’ve dropped the patient a long time ago,” he says without any remorse. He says this next part so coldly that he finds it hard to imagine that you have ever had anything in common with him save for your chosen field. “Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because, for as little information as I have about the situation, this patient is simply not worth all the grief they’re causing her.” 

But it’s not me, Elvis wanted to defend. It’s her work, if it weren’t for that gettin’ in the way she wouldn’t have to be so goddamn worried all the time. 

“And did you tell her that?” Elvis asks, worried as to what may be brewing in that little head of yours if this son of a bitch has been whispering in your ear.

“God no,” the professor says. “I told her to do what she can live with. But I know her,” he says leaning back, sure in his opinion, though unaware that these words perhaps just saved his life. “She’s gonna make the right choice on her own or it won’t mean much.”

For all his degrees, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, is all Elvis can really think in that moment. He can’t possibly even begin to understand the kind of relationship you have with him, and how in fact he is the right choice for you, as you’re his. 

If a baby was about to walk into a pool, would he just let it happen because it was it’s choice? That’s downright evil in his book. Sometimes you need to make the decision for others and step in when they’re about to make the wrong ones. And if that’s what he has to do to for you then goddamnit he will. 

“Well, I think I best get going,” Elvis would say after contemplating this man's words. He knew how impressionable you can be, so he needs to act fast to undo whatever poison this asshole put in your head.

“O-oh of course,” he stutters. “Umm.. thank you for stopping by today.” 

“Now Mark, that fancy title you got, tells me you’re a smart man, right?” Elvis says a hand on his shoulder as he makes his way to the door. 

“...yes?” he answers tentatively.

“Now this story, I think it best you keep it to yourself.” he says, and he watches the man's brow furrowed in confusion. “Afterall I don’t think you wanna be known in your field for blabbin’ anything to anyone who just walks in your door.” 

“Of course not,” he says uneasily. “Thank you for your concern for Y/N, Elvis. Hopefully she’ll be back to normal soon.”

“Course,” Elvis would reply, holding out his hand for the professor, which Mark takes. “And please, call me Mr. Presley,” and on that confusing note he turns around and heads back to the car. 

He stews on that asshole’s words the whole way home, no one daring to talk about it until he did. He wants to trust 

But he knows if he lets this stand and doesn’t interfere, you’re going to make the wrong choice. Ultimately he decides to make the choice for you for your own good. He’s let chance rule his life for far too long, so he’s gotta make his own luck.

He cycles through just about everything he knows about you and tries to figure out how it could possibly help him.

And then he remembers how you once told him how your worst fear is seeing your patients fall back to their old ways, especially with those who abused them. 

Just the thought of going back to Parker makes him sick to his stomach. For as much as he loves you, he’s not willing to do anything that will bring that bastard back into the fold, and he doubts you would want that either. But he almost resolves himself to do it until he’s pulling into the driveway and sees Charlie’s car. 

And then he’s reminded that Charlie always did do a pretty spot on Parker impression. Especially if you ain’t ever heard that old toad talk before. And finally an awful plan began to form in his head.

It’s sneaky and underhanded, and it literally leaves a bad taste in his mouth that could only be chased away by that Wine. That sweet taste on his tongue reminds him of that first night in your office. He remembers how you cried so sweetly for him. How you pushed him away so overwhelmed with what you felt for him. How excited you got when he called you by your name. How you called him daddy for the first time. 

What he remembers most of all is how he had to apply some pressure to you in order to break through that tough professional wall you’ve set between the two of you. But it was worth that sweet sweet outcome. 

And if he gets the answer he wants from you, it would be worth it yet again. 

You wanted him to take charge then, and you want him to take charge now. 

So this is something he has to do and this is his cross to bear.

Ideally you never had to know. 

Once the call was over Charlie could hardly look him in the eye, and practically scrambles to get the hell out of there once given the signal. He feels a twinge of guilt and hopes that this be the last morally bad thing he asks of the man. But with the way you’ve been able to keep him on the straight and narrow since you’ve met him, he thinks it will be. 

Still he welcomes the solitude, knowing that this is undoubtedly going to be the worst minutes of his life, and the only one he could even fathom spending them with is the one he’s currently waiting on. He knows you well enough that you wouldn’t be one to sit on this for too long, so tonight he’s going to learn one of two things about you: either you tell him about “Parker” and try to help save him from the rat bastard… or you say yes to “Parker” and you prove yourself to be like the rest.  

He tries to chase that nasty feeling out of his head with the wine, and the sweet taste of it reminds him of that first night with you. How for all of your fighting and protesting you still gave in, how you kept coming back even as he knowingly put you through the wringer. How you would settle just as easily in his arms as he did in yours. 

If that ain't love, then I guess I don’t know what the hell is, he remembers thinking. You’re the last hope he has to believe that he can be loved for him, not for Elvis Presley. To love him through his fears, his hopes, his anxiousness, his temper, his jealousy, his dreams, all of it. 

And his faith in you is rewarded as you as his phone rings within minutes.

Where most people would blow up in a rage and scream and curse till their hoarse about something like this, you’re not like most people. No you’re far too composed to ever do that. Growing up in a house where your wants and feelings were second to everything will do that to you he guesses. 

You’re like that with everyone… except for him. You freely express all your thoughts and opinions with him, never afraid to give him the business when necessary but always honest in a way few people in his life are these days. 

You’re at your most vulnerable with him. You’re so used to hiding how you feel for others' benefits, and he’s glad you don’t have to do that with him. It was a long hard road to get to this point but goddamn if it wasn't worth every moment.  

He’s almost… giddy knowing that you’re going to be mad and he’s gonna be the only witness to it.

But for all your anger and fury, righteous or not. Ain’t none of it will change the fact that at the end of the day you still chose him. 

And even as you wordlessly turn and walk almost robotically up the stairs he’s confident that you’re going to choose him again. 

He barely has time to get the words out before the rest of them are in a frenzy to get out of the house, apparently unwilling to stick around for the fireworks. He doesn’t know what they're so squeamish about, he knows for a fact that they would’ve done worse if he asked them to. 

He trots up the stairs, maybe going a little slower, wanting to really rile you up. When he gets to your shared bedroom, you’re packing up a storm. 

It’s honestly cute that you think you’re going anywhere. 

A part of him knows he should feel more guilty about it. He does feel some guilt of course he’s not a monster, but it does feel roughly the same amount of guilt if he had broken a vase or something. It felt bad in the moment, and he tried his damndest to hide it, but ultimately it didn’t mean much. 

Sure you had been upset those first few weeks after the story dropped but eventually you did get over it and finally learned to enjoy your newfound life as his girl. Yes it cost you your job, but in the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter much. 

And if he’s being honest it only really mattered in getting you to meet him.

Most people would be either on their knees begging for forgiveness from you or continuing to feign ignorance to all of it.

But he’s not most people. He knows what he did and he knows he ain’t got nothing to be sorry over. 

“Can you believe them Hollywood producers ain’t never wanted me in no serious movies?” he says casually, now that there are no more secrets between either of you. 

You throw a bottle of wine at him. 

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

Ending Note: As Battie as my witness I’ve had this twist planned since the beginning. It’s up to you if I did enough to justify this choice but I am happy with the results. 

Taglist

@venus-haze​ @djsjs13949​ @ilovehobi101​ @butlerslut​ @richardslady121​ @giabelia​ @sydneyyyya @meetme0614 @tacozebra051​ @myradiaz​  @thelifes-world @maythesunshineagain @rakitirakiti @lostteenagetale​ @j-v-9-2  @eliseinmemphis​ @dkayfixates​  @immi547 @thatbanditqueen​   @marriedtoeddie​ @cuteejeno​ @itlover8000​  @isthlsfate​  @mgparker​  @thatbanditqueen​   @softsatnin  @literally-just-elvis-fics​ @adaydreamaway08​ @airyx0x0 @domoron​​ @angelborn-1998

#elvis presley #elvis #elvis presely smut #austin butler elvis #austin butler #austin!elvis presley x reader #austin!elvis x reader #austin!elvis fic #austin!elvis smut #austin butler x reader #yandere elvis #yandere austin!elvis x reader #yandere elvis x reader #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere!elvis x reader #elvis presley x reader #austin!elvis #elvis 2022 #elvis x reader #sorry its super late #yandere!elvis

[myloveismineallmine]

Sydcarmy & Beauty and The Beast

So, The Bear is a story with many themes and messages in it. The process of creating a story a lot times is just frankenstein-ing other stories and elements you like plus your owned lived experience.

I don't really remember how I started thinking about it, I do remember it was like 3am so that definitely has something to do with it, but I started thinking about Beauty and The Beast. And then I started comparing certain elements of it with The Bear. And then I started reading the Wikipedia page for Beauty and The Beast. And then I looked at the clock and it was like 4am so I was like okay, I should sleep now actually.

I did notice a lot of interesting similarities between the two, so I wanted to compare some of them in this post here. I think it's a really interesting lens to look at the story of The Bear from.

Chapter 1: The Beast

So, while it would be cool to do some kind of role reversal with the two romantic leads, this story does not do that, and the obvious parallel for Carmy is The Beast.

Rundown of The Beast's character traits, via wikipedia:

"In the original tale, the Beast is seen to be kind-hearted for the most part, and gentleman-like, with only an occasional tendency to be hot-tempered. Disney's interpretation of the Beast made him more constantly angry and depressed, due to the shame from his unkind actions which led to his transformation, and particularly his struggle of reconciling his hideous appearance with his inner humanity which made him feel hopeless about breaking the curse. Supervising animator Glen Keane describes The Beast as "a twenty-one-year-old guy who's insecure, wants to be loved, wants to love, but has this ugly exterior and has to overcome this." Upon his reform under his love interest Belle, his personality changes to refined and more even-tempered, while naive about the world at the same time."

Obviously this isn't to shame JAW's appearance, he's a pretty attractive dude, I'm looking more at the personality traits here.

The Disney version of him is way more unhinged and animal-like, which I'm not sure perfectly fits Carmy, but I feel like the insecurity, anger and depression is pretty accurate.

I don't think the "beast" element is entirely irrelevant, however. Let's think about what the namesake of the show is: The Bear. In reference, or course, to the main family having the last name Berzatto. They do also refer to each other as "Bear."

It's Cousin Michelle who makes the connection between the Berzattos and literal bears:

When she mentions this quote someone had said to her.

Stevie likens the Berzattos to bears later on in this episode:

It's pretty clear that the Berzattos = bears. Aggressive, but also kind and emphatic.

I also want to talk about the very first scene of The Bear:

Carmy is letting the bear out of it's cage, walking slowly towards it. He says "I know" to the bear, trying to calm it, or maybe trying to empathize with it. The bear growls and attacks him, and he wakes up from the nightmare.

It's clear that the caged bear represents something in Carmy. His rage, his stress, his grief. And he can't control it, it escapes and it consumes him.

Backstory of The Beast, extremely paraphrased:

Disney version: A prince is spoiled, cold-hearted and extremely selfish. He's transformed into a hideous beast as punishment, and told he won't transform back unless he earns the love a beautiful young woman.

Fairytale version: The prince's father died before he was born, and his bio mother leaves him in the care of an evil fairy godmother. Things get weird and incesty, this was the 1700s ig, the godmother tries to seduce the prince when he's an adult. He rejects her and she curses him to become a beast and says the curse won't be broken until he receives a maiden's act of true love. There's then a lot of really irrelevant fairy-lore and other stuff that I don't really want or need to get into.

I feel like evil mother figure one might be more accurate? Especially because Donna's one of the people who gave him so much trauma that he still carries with him? Generational trauma and addiction is "a curse" in a way.

Chapter 2: The Beauty

So it's very clearly Sydney.

Beauty in the OG fairytale doesn't have a super interesting personality outside of "pretty, caring and kind." so I think we'll look more at the Disney version here:

"While the studio wanted Beauty and the Beast to resemble an old-fashioned film, the writers envisioned Belle as "a woman that was ahead of her time"."

"...  the screenwriter conceived Belle as a headstrong feminist to avoid creating another "insipid" Disney princess."

"Beauty and the Beast's story department was predominantly male. Woolverton often argued with the more traditional story artists over Belle's role and personality, but continued to be supported by Katzenberg and lyricist Howard Ashman, the latter of whom also lobbied for "a thinker and a reader" who "wasn't a victim"."

So, Belle was basically a strong and independent woman for Disney at the time. I wanna hone in more on these character traits they mention specifically.

Sydney is very intelligent, even an overthinker at times. She literally shows up to, like, week 2 of work with a full book written on how the business can be improved.

We know she's a reader. Not only from the coach K book, she also mentions lending Marcus books at some point.

I also think Sydney fits the "not a victim" criteria. Sydney is shown pretty consistently to stand up for herself and fight back in situations.

On Beauty's backstory:

In every version of The Beauty and The Beast, Beauty's a daughter to a widower (much like Sydney is.) Beauty has many siblings, most notably her evil older sisters. They are omitted from the Disney version, and Belle is an only child.

In the Disney version, Belle is well known for her beauty, but looked down upon for not conforming to more traditional feminine roles.

Being a headstrong woman of color in the very white and male dominated world of fine dining, I can see how she fits this.

Her father has doubts about her career as a chef, she has had bad experience with chefs in leadership positions before, and the crew of The Beef really looks down on her at the beginning of the series.

Chapter 3: Beauty and The Beast

So now let's talk about the actual relationship of the Beauty and The Beast.

Belle/Beauty is lured into The Beast's castle because her father is being held captive inside. And interestingly....

Sydney references her father as the reason for why she applies for The Beef.

In the fairytale, The Beast is immediately smitten with Beauty and asks her to marry him every day. That would be a very obvious HR violation in The Bear, so I think it might be better to look at the Disney version of this story.

So in the Disney version, The Beast is more annoyed that Belle and her father showed up at all, but he does know she's a pretty woman and allows the release of her father so she will be his prisoner instead.

Their relationship is pretty bad at first, like you'd expect a captor and prisoner relationship to be, but he does allow her a nice lavish room. He orders her to have dinner with him, and she refuses to leave her room to protest against him.

Carmy and Sydney were friendly at first meeting, but after The Stock Incident, their cracks really start to show. It's when Sydney really stands her ground and argues back at him. This is not the end of the arguments and tension between them.

Belle and the Beast end up getting in a fight when Belle snoops around his room. He yells at her more loudly this time, and Belle flees the castle on horseback. She gets attacked by a pack of wolves and The Beast saves her. She takes him back to the castle and nurses his wounds.

This to me matches with the final fight Sydney and Carmy have in season 1. Carmy displays the worst of his anger, and it causes Sydney to want to wipe her hands with him completely. She grabs her stuff and leaves, telling him she's quitting.

She comes back when he apologizes to her, and they have a real bonding moment when they decide to open a restaurant together.

The Beast and Belle start to have a better relationship after The Beast heals. They become more friendly, The Beast more docile, and they're both really happy for the first time in the film. There's a scene where The Beast shows Belle the castle library and tells her it's hers.

I think the equivalent would be seeing Carmy and Sydney plan the menu together. In those scenes they seem less like co-workers and more like friends. You can also tell it's one of the few things they get actual real enjoyment doing.

I think the main parallel I see for this relationship is how Carmy and Sydney improve each other. Like with Belle and The Beast, you can actually see Carmy learn how to better handle conflict and communicate more efficiently when he's placed with Sydney.

He's more vulnerable. He apologizes more. He's able to better control his temper.

There's two very concrete examples of Sydney being able to help stabilize his emotions, actually.

Sydney is quite literally "taming the beast" in Carmy. Cognitive behavioral therapy would also achieve that, but Carmy is too much of a workaholic to attend a session, so Sydney will have to do for now. They didn't have CBT in 1700s France, either, unfortunately.

I will also say that this isn't a 90 minute Disney movie, so the slow-burn will be slow-buring for awhile until we get to the actual conclusion of the fairytale.

Chapter 4: Gaston

so I have two characters in mind for this role: Richie and Marcus. But def more heavy on Richie than Marcus.

Gaston is a villain made exclusively for the Disney movie. Here's some description for him:

"In direct contrast to his adversary the Beast, Gaston is depicted as physically handsome with an unattractive personality, both physically and emotionally embodying hypermasculinity. "

"Gaston has been generally positively received by film critics, as his lack of "magic power or political influence" means that his villainy tends to resonate with audiences who often identify someone similar to him in real life, although critics regard him as a less memorable villain than some of the studio's previous efforts."

"The Huffington Post described early drafts of Gaston as "a weaselly, sort of wimpy character." In fact, Gaston was originally intended to resemble more of an annoying than antagonistic character,"

So I think Richie kind of fits the "hypermasculinity" thing, in terms of some of his mindset and sexist behaviors.

Richie, for at least the first season, really looks down on fine dining as a concept. He makes fun of Carmy and Syd for their background in it and makes snide comments about it whenever possible.

Gaston also looks down on Belle for liking books, and encourages her to live a more "simple" life with him instead.

Here's a really interesting parallel I found with these two:

Making fun of the main character's book and then throwing it away? In the intro of the story? Very interesting.....

As far as the similarity with Marcus: it begins and ends with Marcus and Gaston both having unrequited feelings for the main female protagonist.

Other than that, Richie is way more Gaston coded in the grand scheme of things. Just not as evil. I feel like he gives first-draft Gaston with being "More annoying than antagonistic."

Chapter 5: What about Claire?

I see Claire fitting into this as almost like a faux-Belle. The love interest that's supposed to "fix" the main protagonist, but something doesn't work.

Again, there's two scenes I wanna look at specifically to showcase this:

This reaction shot of Carmy. This is the last shot of the sex scene, and there are some other previous shots of the sex scene overlaying this at times. But I've been wanting to do a deep dive into it for awhile-- why have this shot? What's the purpose of it?

I think that this shot clearly tells us that Carmy is either pensive and/or dissatisfied with what has happened. Laying with his eyes open and just staring at the wall, deep in thought, possibly regretful. This isn't the expression a man who's just had sex with a pretty woman usually has. This is one of many clues that this relationship isn't something that he really wants or enjoys.

Aaaand, the panic attack scene again. If Claire was his "true love", she would be able to quell his anxiety and panic, if this whole "beauty and the beast" story arc I'm putting together is to be believed.

Claire is the perfect girl. She's pretty, smart, talented. His family loves her. She loves him. But she does nothing to fix his problems. Because it's not true love.

Carmy not being happy at the thought of Claire vs Carmy cracking a smile because he looks at containers of radichio + fennel, ingredients Sydney cooked him once.

It is ABUNDANTLY clear that his feelings for Syd help his mental state in ways his feelings for Claire do not. Because what he feels for Sydney is closer to true love.

Conclusion:

Am I saying Christopher Storer took the plot beats and characters 1 for 1 from Beauty and The Beast? No, obviously not. Am I saying that maybe he sat down one day and this movie was on and he was like "hey maybe i can do something with this"? Possibly!

This is just speculation at the end of the day, but I really loved looking at all the possible connections between these two things. Tell me your thoughts on all of this: cool interpretation or am I just talking out of my ass?

#thank u for reading all of this if u did because holy shit #this is a long one #the bear meta #sydcarmy #anti claire bear

[luka-couffaine-ship-tournament]

Round 1 Side A - Pair 1

CAMPAIGN

Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

-They‘re just so good for each other. Luka is such a calming presence in Marinette‘s chaotic life and helps her relax when she feels anxious and unsure of herself, always willing to be there for her and offer a helping hand during tough times. Marinette has a deep appreciation not only for Luka‘s ability to play music but also hear heart songs, as if she understood immediately what he meant after listening to him play for the first time. They feed off each other‘s creative energy and are just generally so wholesome together. I could talk about them forever, they make me so happy!!

-Luka is the best boy, and deserves love from the girl he adores

-I just woke up and am too lazy to think of words for my favorite couple so here's some gifs as propaganda

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Gif de notasiren21

Luka Couffaine/Sabrina Raincomprix

-Listen, Sabrina needs someone who treats her well, she needs someone who considers her an equal and someone to show her what real love is like. And I truly and honestly think that she would try her best to understand and appreciate Luka but who he really is (if she can see the good in Chloe she is capable of seeing a God when she meets one)

-Vote lukabrina people. We cant lose this!

-This is just unfair we need to help our girl out!

I'll start!

Item Number One: Viperhound Is S Tier

This is the fucking duo right here, this is endlessly clever and positive tag team action, this is a pair who will NOT fail the mission alright?

They are designed so interestingly parallel and then put right next to each other in this sweeping shot of the new miraculous squad???

Like, am I supposed to not assume something about it??

Item Number Two: opposites contrast

Orange and Blue, extremely Sun and Moon energy, but I don't think that would make this ship sail smoothly. See, Luka likes being a moon. He is happy to support and enjoys being someone's shining beacon in the endless dark of night, and no one needs that kind of anchor to hold onto more than Sabrina right now. Sabrina cut ties with her best and only friend and while we see her hanging out with other classmates just fine, we don't really know how she is with being actual friends with people. I don't think anyone has tries to reach out to her since evillustrator and we saw in that episode how she approaches new potential connections. Overwhelmingly cheerful and warm and oppressively clingy, like a ray of sunlight that won't leave your eyesight on the hottest day of the year. She means well but, boy, she can be a lot. And more importantly, she needs to be the one helping because, what kind of friend is she if she isn't? Who is she if she's not doing everything for everybody else? It would, amusingly and annoyingly and endearingly, put her into conflict with Luka, who is similarly always pushing his own problems aside to help people with theirs. This would lead them into a loving rivalry of "take care of yourself" "no u" that goes both ways, a back and forth that ends with them reluctantly letting the other help them. And after so many years as someone's shadow, Sabrina deserves to have someone in her orbit, someone she shines a light on when he needs to be seen.

Item Number Three: YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE

Look I'm SORRY okay, but I have to say this even tho I also think their ship got done dirty by the show, I still think they wouldn't have lasted. I think Marinette and Luka being "too easy" is exactly their problem, as even if they didn't have everything else to worry about Marinette needs complexity or she starts to lose her mind overthinking things and goes looking for it. The simple nature of her relationship with Luka is what 13 year old Marinette needed, the Marinette who wasn't Ladybug yet, who hadn't stood up to Chloe and maybe even just had her heart broken in a mean prank. It makes sense she'd fall in love with and gravitate towards this living embodiment of all the comfort and security she wished she had, she had desperately needed at that time. But that's just it, she needed it then. And now she can rely on herself a lot better, she has a whole support system to fall back on, and what she needs from a romantic partner is something else. But Sabrina? She's done horrible things in the name of her friendship with Chloe and even enjoyed some of them, but had finally hit her limit of how much abuse she can both dish out and take herself. Sabrina can definitely recognize that Luka is a good person, but more importantly Luka would have to actually try to sympathize with a person, rather than just immedietely like them. Lest we forget, Sabrina is the one who locked Juleka in the bathroom on picture day. Chloe told her to but Sabrina physically did it. Being confronted with someone who hurt his sister but is, herself, hurting, and is determined to help everyone but herself will be a lot of conflicting emotions for Luka, and Sabrina would need to get used to being the center of someone else's attention in a way not entirely dissimilar to how Chloe was for her, although significantly less codependent.

What makes Lukabrina interesting isn't that they're perfect for each other or that it's immedietly easy.

It's awkward and messy and they clash, they push each other out of their comfort zones and find a new one to settle in together.

It isn't instant or love at first sight, but by resolving their issues with each other through communication, honesty and trust, they are able to become a happy and wholesome couple.

Don't fucking tell me the odds lol, I know they're probably not winning but they deserve a fighting chance. So please feel free to add your own Lukabrina Viperhound propaganda!

TAG:

Luka/Marinette - @mikoriin

Luka - Twitter @Karma_sensei_

@lukacouffaineappreciation

#luka couffaine #miraculous ladybug #viperion #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #ship tournament #tournament poll #tumblr polls #tumblr tournament #fandom polls #polls #luka x marinette #lukanette #luka x sabrina #sabrina raincomprix #marinette dupain cheng #mlb marinette #mlb sabrina

[loveyourownsmiilee]

Talking Buddie Language: Ep 6.01

Episode 6.01 gave us so many wonderful Buck and Eddie moments. There is so much to analyze that my mind was working overtime trying to distinguish everything and what that all means for them.

Firefighter's Buckley and Diaz & their partnership:

We finally get Eddie back as a full fledged firefighter but only get a tiny moment of him and Buck acting like partners. Buck is paired off with Hen, while Eddie is paired off with Chim to go save the two captains. Now I think it was brilliant to show Eddie being the one to do the big save since this is the first time we see him back as a firefighter. They wanted to show us that he is back and better than ever.

I did appreciate Bobby sending Buck up to help Eddie. He knows they work best when they're working together. That comes from years of seamless partnership and just knowing the other like they were an extension of their self. Buck runs up because he will always be there to have Eddie's back. His cute worried face let us know that he was of course worried about Eddie's wellbeing but was going to do everything in his power to make sure Eddie and the other captain got out of the blimp safely. His soft, “Eddie Hey” alerting Eddie that he’s there and he’s got his back was so perfectly them. They don’t need to talk to do their jobs. They’re in each other’s head. But it was great to see that little soft interaction between them. It's interesting to me that we didn't get any other moment of them two afterwards to discuss any emotions they were feeling during those tense few minutes.

The Interim Captain Debacle:

I loved this scene very much. Eddie is being sassy whilst speaking to Lucy, which indicates that there's still a lack of closeness between the two. His voice did not sound genuine enough when he asked her how she broke her foot off duty.

The parallel between this scene and the one from 3.01 is amazing in how they're different. In 3.01, Bobby is telling the team that Buck isn't getting out of bed and that he's not taking this whole unemployed thing well. Eddie's initial reaction is, "He's just sulking Cap, he'll get over it...Look I know it sucks, but that's life right? Whenever stuff didn't work out for me, my dad always told me to brush it off, keep moving forward." They then discuss how Buck has them, the team, because they're his family and that's the thing that makes Eddie realize he has to check in on his partner. Because until Bobby said that, Eddie wasn't taking Buck's duress seriously due to the way he was raised. He didn't realize it himself that he may need to check in with his friend and see if he needs some kind of support.

The difference with this scene in 6.01 is that Eddie notices something is wrong with Buck almost immediately. He immediately looks up from what he's doing because the tone of Buck's voice is enough to make him realize that this may be a deeper issue for Buck. You can tell by the raise of his brow and the way he doesn't take his eyes off Buck. I did a mini analysis of this scene already, so I will just link it here so I am not repeating myself. My entire point is that Eddie has let go of the toxic bullshit his father instilled in him and he's allowed himself to be more in tune with Buck. He doesn't need Bobby or anyone else to tell him something is bothering Buck, he knows it before anyone else. That is massive development for not only Eddie, but his relationship with Buck.

(Gif by @whattarush)

The Buckley-Diaz domestic Family Dinner:

There’s so much to unpack here. First and foremost this is the first Buckley-Diaz family scene we have gotten in such a long time. The last time we saw these three together was in 5.14 and it was during the equine therapy scene. And the last time we saw them having a family dinner, it wasn't just them three because Taylor was also present.

Before anything, I just want to focus on Eddie’s reaction to Buck dismissing Lucy by saying, “She’s whatever you know she’s great. But she’s out.” The man looked up from what he was doing to give Buck the fondest heart eyes ever. He kind of looked at Buck almost as if to say, “Stop talking about other women when I’m sitting in front of you with our child.” It was the second heart eyes we got from him this episode and it was so beautiful to see how Eddie doesn’t even try to hide them at all.

I will say however, that way he raises his right brow and kinda sighs to himself really indicates minor jealousy/hurt over simply hearing her name. It’s almost as if he’s thinking, “Not this again”, which is common when someone is pining for the other person. Which can be the case here. But it’s not something too important for him to dwell on it for long. He just can’t help his reaction to hearing about Buck speak about someone else, especially given he has had some sort of history with that person.

(Gif by @swiftiebuck)

Buck and Eddie, to me at least, were having two different conversations simultaneously while at Buck’s loft. I think it’s so important that Eddie is sat facing towards Buck during this entire exchange. He’s facing him head on and letting him know he can tell him anything he wants.

B: “So it doesn’t bother you that Bobby didn’t even consider either one of us for interim captain?”

E: “Not really. Just got back to the 118. But clearly it’s bothering you.”

This is very important because this is Eddie taking that leap and bringing up something that is bothering Buck more than he is letting on. It is his way of showing that he is in a better mental health space now and that he is so in tune to Buck’s own emotions. He is confident enough to broach this topic with Buck first and have a normal conversation on what is bothering him. He isn’t letting Buck just sulk until the gets over it. He is breaching the door and allowing Buck to confide in him, without judgement. Also it’s important to note his tone of voice because it’s soft and he doesn’t have all his usual sass underlying his words. He does tend to tease Buck often but right now he is letting Buck know is not one of those times. It is also interesting to note how this conversation, Eddie bringing up that something is bothering Buck is very much something that goes on between couples. It is how longterm partners/spouses approach their significant other to let them know, “Hey, I see you, I know you, you can trust me. I’m here whenever you are ready to unburden your problems.”

B: “When he has so many other excellent options right under his nose.”

E: “Like you.”

Now see Eddie isn’t asking this. Eddie is simply stating that he knows what is on Buck’s mind because he knows him. Knows that this is the root of his problem.

B: “It’s like he’s choosing not to see them & everything they have to offer.”

E: “Time.”

Eddie doesn't respond to Buck’s remark then. He busies himself with Christopher to gather his thoughts. Because Buck seems to not only be talking about Bobby choosing someone else to be interim captain. This is where I believe the two simultaneous conversations begin.

I find it very interesting that Eddie is the one who shifts the conversation into another direction. Sure they can still be talking about the interim captaincy. But he asks Buck plain and simple, “What are you offering?” The way he tilts his head to the left and looks up at him indicates that he genuinely wants to know the answer to that question. Now see, I don’t believe for one moment he wants to know the answer solely for why Buck thinks he should be interim captain. I think this is Eddie’s way of asking in general what Buck is offering to other’s around him, possibly even Eddie himself.

(Gif by @whattarush)

Buck chooses that moment to offer Eddie and Christopher lasagna, which happens to be Bobby’s famous lasagna. Again, the saying about the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach is very prevalent here and it parallels Eddie cooking dinner for Buck in 5.11.

Eddie’s body language throughout their entire exchange is very open. When he asks what Buck is offering, he spread his arms wide open in a welcoming stance. He’s welcoming whatever Buck’s response is going to be because he’s already welcomed Buck into his life fully. There’s nothing closed about him in thet moment. On the contrary, it’s almost as if Eddie is also giving himself up to Buck by the way he’s spread his arms and offered himself for the taking.

Eddie’s immediate response is to look proud and fond, and respond with, “It does look good.” That is basically Eddie’s way of saying, “I see you, I see what you bring to the table, and I love it. I want what you're offering.”

Buck emphasizing that it took him 3 tries to perfect what he offered Eddie and Christopher is very interesting because he has had 3 previous failed relationships. It took him 3 tries to perfect this dinner for his boys. He is offering not only his lasagna, but himself after these 3 failed relationships, in the hope that he is enough for them. You guys see how Buck and Eddie seem to be dancing around one another with their words?

The Buddie Couch Debacle:

The couch metaphor has me in the tightest chokehold. I remember I answered an ask last season about the symbolism of Taylor’s and Eddie’s couch and what that means to Buck. I unfortunately cannot locate the ask so just bare with me please.

B: “My last two couches came with girlfriends.”

E: “I think you mean your last two girlfriends came with couches.”

The way Eddie says that in a confident but sassy way makes me laugh. Because he’s very well aware of Buck’s previous girlfriends and the baggage (couch) they brought into Buck’s life. What’s interesting is Buck’s eye squint in response. Because he’s looking at Eddie as if to ask him, with their seamless nonverbal communication, what he’s getting at?

E: “Taylor moved out 4 months ago.”

He’s emphasizing that she’s been gone for months and Buck still hasn’t “moved on”. Moved on in the sense that he wasn’t out actively looking for another couch/girlfriend. These two words are being used in place of each other. They’re using couches as a metaphor for his previous girlfriends/relationships.

Eddie is suggesting that Buck could’ve found another girlfriend with her own couch if he had wanted to, but he hasn’t. His tone of voice is interesting to me because he’s not necessarily jealous but it does come off as somewhat passive.

B: “Maybe I don’t want to pick the wrong couch again.”

As Buck says these words, he holds intense eye contact with Eddie. It’s a heated look for sure because he’s trying to make Eddie understand that sure he couldn’t gotten another couch/girlfriend but he’s worried about finding another wrong person. He’s been burnt a few times and his last relationship was all kinds of wrong, which Eddie knows. So the fact that Buck is looking him in the eyes while saying that, slightly raising his brows to challenge Eddie to say something in return is very interesting. Again it’s like they’re definitely not talking about couches but instead talking about the fact that Eddie basically asked Buck why he hasn’t put himself out there again. Meanwhile Buck is informing Eddie that he’s not actively looking for anybody because he doesn’t want to jump into things and risk the next person being a wrong choice again. 

(Gif by @whosoldherout)

I also find Buck’s look to have underlying fond tones. Because even when he’s questioning Eddie, he can’t help the love and fondness that is directed towards him everytime he looks his way. You can see it in his eyes, they’re open and it’s his special look he has reserved for Eddie. But there’s a definite underlying heat to them. Something’s changed because the looks they shared back and forth felt charged with something. They definitely have a sorta flirting back and forth going on in that moment and it’s so similar to how they used to be before their respective girlfriends.

One thing I want to mention is I love how both Eddie and Christopher show their love through teasing. That is sort of their own special love language and I think it was so cute and important for it to be Christopher who started the entire couch conversation by simple telling Buck that he “Doesn’t even have a couch.”

Exasperated Fond Husband Mode Activated:

During the scene in the golf course, I just want to mention how married they are. Buck is acting like an overactive puppy but only so he can prove to Bobby that he is a great candidate for interim captain. Eddie catches on almost immediately to his behavior. The part where Buck is closing off the entire area with caution tape and Eddie glances over his shoulder to where Buck is being Buck, it’s typical exasperated husband energy. He rolls his eyes and looks away in a I can’t believe I love this idiot kinda way. You can tell there isn’t anything malicious behind this look. On the contrary, it’s Eddie’s patented fond, exasperated husband look that is only for Buck. We’ve seen many other instances where he looks at him like this. One prime example is when Buck was teaching Ravi how to break the door in 5.04 and Eddie looked back and rolled his eyes again. This look only comes out when Buck is trying to put on a façade and overcompensate at work. I believe it’s because Eddie knows how capable and what a good firefighter Buck is. So he doesn’t think Buck needs to put on an act and be someone he isn’t to do the job they do. Hence the exasperated fond eye roll.

(Gif by @aa-lionheart)

Saws and Jaws Bring Out the Heart Eyes:

Eddie Diaz is completely smitten over on excitable Evan Buckley. Especially when it comes to Evan Buckley with his saw. You see Eddie standing behind Buck and I love how they immediately share a moment where they have a conversation with their eyes. They always seek each other on the job for any reassurance or just to check in with the one person they’re so close to.

(Gif by @jakejensen)

The heart eyes he can’t help but bring out when Buck is in his element just goes to show that Eddie likes when Buck is Buck. He loves his Buck and doesn’t think he should change himself because he’s perfect the way he is. It’s a vast difference to his exasperated look when Buck is trying to overcompensate and do more than he needs to and it shows. Eddie is at ease and when he’s at ease, his natural love and fondness for Buck just comes out. It’s like second nature for Eddie to look at Buck like this. His little smile and proud stance further proves that he likes when Buck is like this, in his element, doing what he’s best at.

Bobby and Buck + Couch Debacle Part 2:

Adding to the entire couch discussion, I think it was very important for Buck and Bobby to have the discussion they did at the station. It’s no surprise that Buck looks up to Bobby as a father figure and he was hurting inside over the fact that Bobby didn’t even think of him as a candidate for interim captain.

Buck asking Bobby if the reason for him not choosing him was “Because I don’t have a couch” was a great leeway into Bobby tackling what’s really bothering Buck. When Bobby asks Buck why he doesn’t have a couch, he opens up the floor for discussing what the real issue is that is bothering Buck.

Buck explains how he’s been having trouble picking one out because he’s afraid of making another mistake. Him confiding in Bobby that his previous relationship was a mistake is huge because again he views Bobby like a father figure. He feels comfortable enough to let him on his worries because he knows Bobby won’t diminish his feelings. On the contrary, he’ll help him out, which is exactly what happens here. He uses his own life experiences to try and connect with Buck so that it’s done on a more personal level.

BN: “In AA, there’s this idea that you take inventory of your life, admit your shortcomings, and hope that one day, you can look at the world straight in the eye and be alone at perfect peace and ease.”

B: “You uh, don’t think I’m at ease?”

BN: “I think the important thing is that you answer that question yourself. But when you are, you’ll know. And then you’ll be ready.”

Now here is another example of two conversations occurring simultaneously. They’re not really talking about couches and Bobby knows that to an extent. He knows what Buck suffers with the most and that is finding who he is and what his place is in the world. He’s looking for a partner that will stay and love him now he seeks. He’s been searching for that kinda love for a long time and Bobby knows that. Bobby in his own words is basically saying that he shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes or find the wrong person. There’s nothing wrong with being single for a bit and figuring out who you are while single. He wants him to embrace this about himself so that eventually when the right person does come along he will be ready. 

That then leads to the final scene where we have Eddie and Christopher at home playing their game. The next clip is of Buck in his living room. He grabs the lone arm chair and moves it so that it’s in the middle of the living room, where the couch should be. This is him embracing his single hood for the time being and not being in any rush to go out and get a new couch (meet a new person). This is him being secure in himself and maybe taking this time to learn who he is without being in a relationship and who he is outside of his job. For now he’s happy with his choice but it leaves so many things open for interpretation. Because his conversation with Eddie is still a major factor in his decision to not get a couch. And a part of me thinks that we probably won’t even see Buck get another couch because the couch he’s been looking for, the right couch has been in front of him this entire time. And this perfect couch will be there waiting for Buck for whenever he’s finally ready to choose it.

(Gif by @911verse)

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie díaz #christopher diaz #bobby nash #911 spoilers #911 meta #buddie meta #jujus having thoughts #I’m naming this #buddie language meta #tagging it that too

[hamliet]

Never Have I Ever... Been So Grateful For a Show

Well, NHIE finished strong after the fourth season got off to a rocky start. The first three episodes were... messy, honestly, but then the story picked up steam. By the time we got to the final two episodes I was bawling pretty much the full way through.

NHIE also continued to flex its mature understanding of nuance, its appreciation for cultural differences, and its determination to keep its characters flawed and realistic. And including a game of Never Have I Ever in the finale? Fab.

All in all, it's a great ending to a great show. I loved it.

Ben and Devi

I've seen people complaining that the end relationship was predictable, or that Devi should be single, and kindly: no. <3

It fit Devi's character to end up in romantic love with someone, because the entire show has been about love for her. Love for her family, love for those who have died, love for her friends, love for her mentors, and yes, romantic love in all the aspects that entails (physical, intellectual, emotional).

The other thing that I think is beautiful about their relationship is that they both push each other in all these ways--physical (obviously), emotionally (Ben's final realization in New York was chef's kiss), and intellectual. They both get to go to their dream schools in part because of each other. Not only have they been pushing each other to excel since before the show started, but Devi helps Ben finish his schoolwork, and Ben encourages Devi to write that final letter to get into Princeton.

Ben's early acceptance to Columbia, which seemed a given given, well, his father and nepotism (I appreciated the show behind upfront about this), ultimately still almost gets sabotaged by his own repressing of other aspects of his life (which parallels Paxton, Blair Quan, and more, and isn't exactly new--see Ben's physical issues last season). This contrasts him with Devi, whose self-sabotage is always doing too much too suddenly. She's been trying so hard all along, but sometimes you need a final cheer to push you over the finish line.

Ben and Devi, Ethan and Margot

Ethan is dark!Ben. Margot is dark!Devi. On paper it's great.

Except... Margot was really, really annoying. I'm sorry, I found nothing remotely redeeming about her. Ethan at least served a purpose. The reason I think the first three episodes are so rough is that they focus on Margot but seem to not know what to do with her. But more about that later on.

Ben's speech about why he chooses to be with Margot in the first episode is well done and shows how much growth he still has to do. Because an essential part of love--of a mature kind of love and relationship--is that you are challenged to become a better version of yourself. Ben and Trent, in episode 2, shy away from this. Trent breaks up with Eleanor because he's afraid she'll break up with him, and he wants to do it first. Ben stays with Margot because she offers him superficial challenges, but nothing substantial in terms of his flaws.

That said, Devi making peace with Margot (numerous times) was narratively necessary because, of course, Margot's kind of a literary shadow (just not really well done). It also showed how much Devi's grown.

Trent + Eleanor

Trent's character is also really well done. That's how you deepen a comedic character. (Ethan was also dark!Trent in some ways; hence, Eleanor's crush on him.) Yeah, Trent's a stoner and not so bright. But, he loves Eleanor. He adores her, and he wholeheartedly believes in her. It's heartwarming to see.

I wasn't surprised they broke up early on, but was relieved they got back together. I think it was a funny inversion of what you'd expect, because El moving on to bigger and better things seemed like a natural progression. Yet, as the scene with El's mom showed... that's not what bigger and better is for Eleanor.

Yes, Eleanor still wants to grow. Yes, she still wants to be an actress and a director, and she's good at it.

But she doesn't want to leave her family and loved ones behind.

Eleanor knows what it's like to be left behind. And obviously it's not the same to leave a teenage boyfriend as to leave your own child like her mom. But, Eleanor ending up back with Trent was, frankly, narratively perfect for both their characters. Because Trent was helping her in her growth, and always had been from Season 3.

I also think they handled Eleanor's dreams and her complicated mother relationship well. The dream itself, even if it is far-fetched, even if it is unlikely to happen, is not bad. Pursuing it also is, in fact, positive (they paralleled this with Devi's dreams of Princeton). But, one of the best parts of dreams? Is the people you meet along the way, the people who cheer you on. It's a metaphor for life.

Paxton (and Lindsay)

Paxton's arc I think is one of the best in the series. I loved his journey from boy who was considered "hot guy" who sucked at school to the point where it was comic becoming a teacher. The episode where he helped Eric join the swim team was actually really powerful.

And, I didn't even roll my eyes when Devi told him he was an even better friend than boyfriend. On paper it's a cliche line, but it totally works within the characters' arcs (and of course the actors' portrayals!). Lindsay also seemed like much more than just a consolation prize to the guy who ends up outside the triangle--their relationship paralleled his with Devi, and quickly got me invested.

His final advice to Devi: "don't reinvent anything" also fits really well, because when Paxton at first refused to be Devi's boyfriend it was because Devi's image wasn't acceptable after the two-timing thing. Then, Devi's anxiety during their public relationship, the anxiety that actually ruined their romance, was because she didn't think she fit with Paxton or "made any sense" with him. But, she does fit with him. As a friend, and as herself.

Blair Quan + College

Blair Quan was also dark!Paxton--someone who lost themselves because they were always the Best in high school. The best student, the most popular. And then at college, everyone was the Best. And suddenly you're nothing.

The situation with Blair Quan was really realistic for how college can be for people, and in how the show (admittedly briefly) addressed the fundamental unfairness of college admissions. I work in higher ed, and... it's not fair. Nothing about it is fair. Professor Warner telling Devi outright that she "should have" gotten into all the Ivies actually meant a lot to me, because it's true.

For any readers of this who are applying to schools, there's a degree to which your merit matters, and there's a degree to which it's up to sheer luck. If they reject you, it's almost certainly not because you're not on par with other applicants. Hard work does not get you into prestigious schools. That's a lie. It gets you to a point, but it also gets a lot of other people to that same point, and then there is nothing at all you can do. It's up to luck.

Fab (and Addison. Kind of).

Fab's arc was interesting, but I feel like it peaked in season 2. I did like her conflict this season though, particularly with messing up about lying to Devi. The scene where she and Devi reconcile was beautiful, and the show handled it really well--giving empathy for Fab as for why she kept it a secret, while also pointing out that the lying was the fact greater problem than the initial applying.

The negative is that... I like Addison, but I wanted more. It kind of sucks that the queer character is the one whose romance doesn't come with two complex characters getting development. And sure, Fab isn't as important as Devi, Ben, or Paxton, but the fact that they wrote a compelling romance between Trent and Eleanor and gave Trent some damn deep character development despite him being a comedic character shows they were more than capable of writing a complex character romance for Fab. Addison is really just... kinda there, and we get no development for them at all.  Which sucks because I would like to have learned more about them! They had potential, especially as a parallel to Trent!

Nalini and Andres

Nalini and Andres were a little more out of left field... that said, Nalini clearly has a type! She likes guys whom she argues with first. I still preferred the hot doctor from Season 2, but that had less to do with Andres and more to do with the fact that I found Margot so irredeemably annoying. Still, I appreciated Andres' growth in realizing that he'd been spoiling Margot by catering to her every whim. This was itself a nice contrast to Nalini, who hurts Devi by being too hard on her.

That was especially a flaw in the early seasons, but Season 4 really showed how much Nalini has grown. She does mess up with her response to the college debacle, so her flaws are still there, but she's so much better than in Season 1. For example, Devi lashing out at her mom after she got deferred was irrational; Nalini really didn't deserve any of that, and yet Nalini still met Devi where she was at: with a chip salad, addressing her fears. It was heartwarming.

Even when Nalini then does mess up with the "stupid" comment, we know she didn't mean it in the same way Devi fears she did (that that's all she can be, rather than that yes, Devi did a dumb thing). When she comes to help Devi pack, it's genuinely heartwarming. I honestly think Nalini and Devi's relationship is one of the best in the show, if not the beating heart at the center of it.

Pati and Len

Now, Pati. Pati and Lens' relationship parallels Kamala's romantic drama--not just with Manish in Season 3, but also with Steve in Season 1. Pati is also very clearly where Devi gets her drama from, and I stan.

I also liked the parallels between Len and Pati and Ben and Devi. They are both Indian-Jewish couples, and Pati and Len's wedding of course marks a grand romance for them... and a grand romantic gesture for Ben, who arrives to tell Devi he loves her.

Kamala (and Manish)

Kamala's arc this season was good as well; I just wish we had seen more Manish than just in the finale. Still, at least Manish did have an arc in the previous season. Though, it was a nice twist to have Kamala's arc be not about romance, but about her career.

Where Art Thou?

I also missed some other side characters, like Rebecca Hall-Yoshida and Jonah.

Margot & Aneesa

The overall show was filled with callbacks to past seasons that were really well utilized, in that they showed the character's growth. Unfortunately, in one instance, this came back for the worse when they repeated one of their biggest writing mistakes from Season 2.

Devi is, simply put, absolutely not morally responsible for reporting Margot to have lied about her alibi for vandalism. Yeah, Margot ultimately didn't do it--but Devi didn't do anything wrong by reporting that. In fact, the principal should have actually done her job and checked the alibi with the teacher; it's like 101 common sense.

Clearly this is a callback to Aneesa (the episode even has Devi reclaiming the nickname "crazy Devi," which started there). However, the shame is that the writers didn't learn from how they bungled the Aneesa plotline, and they did. Here again they hold Devi responsible for something she frankly is not morally in the wrong for. The show also mentions the Aneesa incident and calls Devi "a liar and a bully" for it, but she objectively didn't lie? And frankly Aneesa bullied Devi more than Devi bullied her and was never called out for it.

While I think it's a flaw, it COULD theoretically work from a psychoanalytic theory in that really all that Devi can control is herself. She can't force others to do what she wants, even if it's unfair. And that's part of maturing is realizing that (and it's not the same thing as selfish focus). You can't control the world, even when it's unfair and even when other people are frankly wrong.

I did like more or less how Margot was resolved in the end; namely, that she was not there among Devi's friends at the end. I also liked that Aneesa did defend Devi in the final episode from someone mocking her about the Clean Sweep. It just would've matter more if Aneesa's actions had ever been addressed.

The Principal + Professor Warner

Also, while in general the show is great in its portrayal of teachers and satire of other teachers, the principal sucks and she's not actually funny. She acts like another teenager, but unlike some of the other teachers/adults who are framed well, she's framed as being more or less fine instead of with the critical lens of the others. And she isn't.

Professor Warner stands in stark contrast, because she is wise even though flawed. The principal is just... awful. I'd never liked her, but this season made me hate her.

The Therapist + Grief

Now that I've gotten my salt out of the way, let's end with a positive and a theme.

The therapist's final session with Devi in the penultimate episode--I bawled.

“When I first met you, you were a closed-off, angry little thing... But look at you. Look how far you’ve come. You faced your trauma, and you came out on the other side.” 

They used this to emphasize the show's main theme: grief. Despite how this quote makes it sound, the show doesn't actually frame grief as something to move on from. Instead, it's something that accompanies you.

Grief is like chasing a dream. Grief is part of life. It is love itself, but a painful part of it, and grief never, ever stops. You never "get over" someone's loss. You never stop loving them.

But, you learn to see them around you, and in you. In the dreams you planted together, like Devi's dad telling her about Princeton. In the loved ones you shared, like how Devi yells at her imagination of her father that he's not here, but then Nalini arrives to help her pack.

Just because someone's gone doesn't mean they stop influencing you, or stop being a part of your life.

There will always be moments of pain, like Devi in the final episode with the imagination of her dad. But, there will also be moments of feeling them again.

#nhie #never have i ever #nhie season 4 #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #ben gross #ben x devi #bevi #bendevi #fabiola torres #eleanor wong #trent harrison #eleanor x trent #hamliet reviews #nalini vishwakumar #kamala nandiwadal #manish kulkarni #nhie finale #nhie netflix #nhie review #nhie 4

[sollucets]

beloveds @khaotunq, @pranink & @alexshenry tagged me to do:

every month of 2023! list your favorite/most popular gifset for each month.

i started making gifs in march this year, so january/february are off the table for this. it's funny that it hasn't even been a full year yet. it seems both somehow a lot longer and also like i remain some kind of photoshop baby at the same time. the images in this post will remain undescribed until i have some energy in my failing body, unfortunately

in any case:

march: midnight museum invades all 2 of my braincells. i download photoshop. the end is nigh

most popular: msp/eclipse pool parallel set

favorite: the bams i made for sof

(notes: it's hard to look back at these lmao. what is coloring and why don't i know her. why is everything so dark. who told me to use noise dithering and why did i ever think that was a good idea. anyway)

april: the eighth sense is airing! i meet many mutuals and friends. i figure out about the curves tool (thank god)

most popular: taehyung getting dunked on

(very deserved dunk; very bad set. the coloring of this scene was extremely questionable and i did nothing to fix it it looks so dull and gray. augh)

favorite: feet lining up / jihyun & jaewon on the beach

i really like this coloring actually. it's bright enough to actually see them, their skin doesn't look as weird, and i like the soft pink i made the beach. a win for baby photoshop user rowan

may: the purple is in full swing now

most popular: purple yok

first set to cross 1k! the purple is still very good but in hindsight there are things i now know i couldve done to help his skin. in any case. a banger. beloved

favorite: pink our skyy 2 hands set

[through tears] you're my space. also my first try at typography

june: i lose the will to gif some in the back half of this month, but i also learn to do a Lot of new things, like gradient maps & more complicated typography and transitions and such

most popular: puzzle piece hugs!

deserved! hard to gif and fun to look at

favorite: i think it might be the heartliming i made for vi now! but i still like khathadome from eden too.

july: i try giffing a few different shows. the only friends trailer comes out on the last day and i enter some kind of terrifying fugue state

most popular: sand and ray fighting / crying in the ofts trailer

do you guys remember the trailer 1080p? life was so good

favorite: nobody appreciates my ride enough

august: only friends airs, eclipse anniversary is concurrent, i lose my mind. i also learn to use the method of brightening that i still use & several other fundamental gif tricks

most popular: sandray car makeout

good for them! i start using significant grain on my ofts gifs from here on out and can never decide how i feel about that

favorite: orange/blue eclipse episode seven set

september: the madness continues

most popular: sand cooking for ray / special

ive giffed this scene three times and this is my least favorite coloring but what can you do. this is my third post to cross 1k

favorite: new rules set! i had mixed feelings when i posted it but it's really grown on me.

october: the madness is so much worse. only friends ends and i am left near-catatonic immediately, apparently. also, i learn to blend and use overlays and some other cool things. i join userdramas :'>

most popular: raysand afterglow. as it should be. cheek kissie

favorite: space girl!! show me the stars!!!

loved making this. purple and sparkly and gay. still super proud. that said other runner-up favorites in october are ray's o-face & the boyfriend shirt & akkaye's thumb thing collection

november: i am left cavernously empty after ofts ends and i fill the void with namtan

most popular: last twilight episode one porjai

she <3

favorite: gaipa userdramas set

again, i learned to use musescore for this set just so i could have those pretty notes. :')

december: i am punched in the face by seasonal depression. all is not well. i made just one gifset this month, but at least it was good? :')

and here we are today !! it was very fun to look over everything; thanks so much for playing and have a happy new year everyone

#tagged in <3 #long post #cw flashing #ro's ps adventures #never a better use of that tag tbh

[dorizardthewizard]

Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 25 - 26

The final let's go!

Episode 25:

Mei has a plushy awwww

Announcer: And now, here are Callie, Nork and Barry! Artegor: And Artegor ☝.

LOL he says it so calmly. The disrespect tho

Sonny: Still looking for the multi-flux bomb. Clamp: Let's just hope they find it in time. Otherwise Akillian will share the same fate as the Shadows planet in the last GFC. And the Breath could disappear, definitely not what we need right now

Yes Clamp, the Breath disappearing is the main concern if there is a big explosion on your planet

Remind me again why Sonny and the gang don't run over to Akillian to find the bomb? Or why no one alerts Akillian authorities at all? Shouldn't we get SOMEONE other than Aarch and Norata to look for it?

Aww Tia getting Mark to open up, she's such a good captain and friend to everyone <3 She's come far from her more distant self at the very beginning

Mark: Thanks Tia, maybe you're right. It must be my imagination!

Mark how on earth did you come to that conclusion from what Tia just said

So on Sinedd's integration in the team...

While everyone else, even D'jok, seem to have accepted Sinedd back well enough, Mice still hates him and literally gags at the idea of him being on the team. I kind of wish his objection was taken more seriously in the writing – the narrative acts as if D'jok is the main person that has to settle his scores with Sinedd, but forgets that Micro-Ice was Sinedd's main target for years, and according to that flashback, they used to be a trio (although from the flashback you could also say Sinedd didn't care for him back then either lol). His reaction is pretty understandable and although he should still be keeping it professional, they shouldn't really expect him to forgive him. That dynamic could have been interesting, but we never get a confrontation or any closure between the two because Micro-Ice as a character is just there to be laughed at this season.

When Maya calls D'jok she kind of makes it sound like they should accept Sinedd because he's had it hard, which I'm not a huge fan of. First of all because in this season they had her act more as a guardian to Sinedd than D'jok, who also lost himself down the wrong path for a while there, but also because I think the reasoning for accepting him should be that he has swallowed his pride and is genuinely trying to be a better person. Otherwise it sounds a bit like “having a sob story is a justification for acting out”. I know that wasn't the intention, but still, it's in the details.

But Maya is right that D'jok and Sinedd are parallels of each other. Both grew up without their biological parents, both are extremely competitive and put huge importance on their ambitions and success, both are prone to lashing out at others when distressed. But D'jok was luckier and had an adoptive mother, and ended up with good friends who could keep him in check. They turned out differently due to different upbringing but both made mistakes and hurt others – D'jok knows this so is more humble and doesn't give Sinedd a hard time. Sinedd also saved his life, so there's that too.

Rocket: Even if D'jok and Sinedd are rivals, they're still like brothers.

UMMMMMMMMM that's taking it too far. Sinedd running off to the Shadows wasn't what put them against each other, neither was the fact he dated Mei. He was already being unpleasant all the time in season 1 and it was implied it has been that way for a long time. D'jok didn't show any regret or whatever in season 1 - he had no problem responding to Sinedd's provocations with taunts about him not having friends LOL. If they were like brothers, it was way too long ago for Rocket to be making that comment

When bro grabs your wrist instead of giving you a normal handshake #nohomo

Anyway I like this convo between D'jok and Sinedd and how it ends, for all the reasons that they're parallels as I mentioned above. But the first few lines are a bit funny because D'jok actually HASN'T been fighting him lately, it sounds as if they're making up after fighting about Mei but that's... not really what's been happening? But moving on, this is functionally an apology from Sinedd, but again he should apologise to Mice too.

Also with Sinedd saying he wants to be a good person now so his family can be proud of him... ehhhh I still think his development should have started earlier. His whole problem was that his response to growing up without family was to put others down – so the solution is to... give him a family so he'll stop doing that? I'm simplifying it but I just think it would be more impactful if he tried to turn things around before meeting his actual parents. Sure, they can still be a motivation and encourage him, but yeah.

I mean it still works with him finding his parents, realising that love and affection was all he wanted and that he was wrong to take it out on others... but at least bring the parents in earlier in the season because as it is, it's just too rushed. Honestly you could just get rid of the fake parents storyline – it was done so we can see Sinedd at his low point, but you could already have him like that after the events of season 2. It would feel like a natural continuation and you can bring the real parents in earlier.

Last note: MAN does the voice acting suck here lol

SDJHSDFHJSDF AARCH AND NORATA ON THE SNOWMOBILE I LOVE OLDER MEN ACTION

Norata, watching Rocket use the jet ski is not the same as knowing how to use the jet ski. Wait why does Aarch call it a jet ski, it's a snowmobile. A jet ski is on water lmao – his mind is still in Paradisia. I get it, Aarch, I get it

Aw Dame Simbai stepping in to do the speech giving now that Aarch is gone, it's nice to see how much she cares about this team succeeding too. But a bit hyperbolic to say this is the most important match of their lives, as opposed to the other finals :P

Technoid's security is on maximum alert? So barely functioning then

Nikki-4's voice is so surly I love it lol

I was complaining about Aarch leaving the team but him getting to have galaxy-saving shenanigans with Norata? Iconic actually

Aarch: Holy ice age!

Ah so there's our expletive stand-in

Damn that was an intense face-off, Nikki-4 is so strong

Tia earlier this episode: Don't worry Mark you won't have to face off against Nina -> FAST FORWARD OOPS

GO MARK!

Why is there a cloud of dust every time someone gets thrown to the floor, do y'all not clean it

Why is confetti already flying? Must be reused footage.

Tia telling Ahito to pay attention but this goal? That didn't happen because he woke up too late lol, defence should have been helping more

Ayo why do other goalies not have protective gloves like Ahito? I guess most aliens can take it

In hindsight they should have really predicted there would be some sort of security around the bomb

I just wanna showcase this comment and all it implies:

Episode 26:

Oooo Aarch and Norata are using the Breath to fight this robot, I wonder if this will have consequences. Perhaps they would have shown it in season 4?

Yaaay Micro-Ice with the sick dribbling!

SDFJKDFSJK THEY'RE JUST CHILLING THERE LIKE THEY'RE IN A LOONEY TUNES CARTOON

Aarch pressing the big red button before Norata that's SUCH a sibling moment, reminds me of when my brother and I would fight to push the button for the lift

The players have been using the flux more externally lately, like shooting it at the ball instead of just using it to power themselves up. I feel like this has been happening more since the Paradisia final where they had to use flux to evacuate the planet, which makes sense

Bennett: Someone has activated the bomb, it's going to explode any second! Sonny: Did you hear him? Get out of there, now! Aarch: We're not going anywhere! Meanwhile, Norata: 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

Honestly what a comedic duo I'm enjoying this

The solution is to just yeet the bomb into space ahhahahahha I know the Breath makes them strong, but THAT strong?

It's so funny how due to losing the Breath, Sinedd is just free-falling for like 100m but it cuts away to show the other players losing their flux LOL. RIP Sinedd, what a way to go.

Kind of interesting that compared to the Shadows last season, who physically didn't seem affected by the loss of flux (they just suddenly sucked at football. love that match), the Akillians are immediately drained physically and wiping out.

Wait..... being tired out.......... is Ahito gonna restore their flux because he's been storing it inside him?

Omg yes he is

Woahh!! He not only drew the Breath back to the Snow Kids, but pulled in so much it manifested in all flux holders around him! Ahito so powerful they had to nerf him with the narcolepsy

Sonja has the Breath! Wait so even before the glaciation and the ban on flux, only certain people could manifest it? Interesting

Maybe one day Sonny can just watch his son play in the GFC final without having to save the galaxy at the exact same time, but until then it's business as usual

Is it just me or does the Breath look like a deeper shade of blue sometimes in this season

Artegor: And he passes to Tia, who takes flight!

Yeaaaaahhh angel Tia imagery again

Y'know considering how much time D'jok spent with team Paradisia I feel like they should have had more moments of rivalry in this match but hey ho

I know it's just animation reuse but Sinedd scoring the final goal with the exact same move D'jok scored his first epic goal with is pretty poetic. And of course Sinedd generally being the one to score that point (but still, couldn't we get some new animation for the winning goal?)

The way they animate Harris really looks like they wanted him to be like the Joker

Mark jumping up to save Nina from falling – oh so NOW falling from a great height can kill them! Honestly there have probably been fatalities in this sport

Awww Tia getting them to all hold the cup, that's so sweet. I love her

Iconic last shot, I'm not crying you're crying ;v;

Yes one last Mice delight advert is exactly what this season needed in its finale /s

So looks like Mei and Sinedd are going ahead as a couple

They really settled the Team Paradisia stuff with one sentence about them being taken care of by Chief Maddox huh. I suppose they were gonna put the Mark x Nina resolution in season 4? Idk, Team Paradisia deserved better

So Aarch is back to coaching, but for Club Galactik right? Makes sense, he still wants the job but this will be less intensive and will allow him more time to settle down with Adim and their future child. The Snow Kids will be just fine on their own. Well, when it comes to football anyway. Can't make any promises about Pirate-related adventures :P

Aaaaaand there it is... ok I always knew this was coming even when I watched the show for the first time, but it must have been so insane to watch back when it first aired. Like, everything is calmly wrapping up and then SUDDENLY the holo-trainer goes weird and the kids disappear with Mei and Micro-Ice. We linger on this for a few seconds aaaaaand.... THAT'S IT! END OF SEASON! I would have gone apeshit too

This is like a transporter malfunction from Star Trek lol, although I'm wondering how that can even happen, like does the holo-trainer actually teleport people then? Anyway I honestly don't care THAT much about the ending if I'm honest, like I get that it was a last ditch effort to get the show renewed as the higher ups obviously didn't have much faith in it with that budget slash, so I can easily just pretend those last few seconds didn't happen and it ended with the Snow Kids happily going into the holo-trainer to help teach the next generation. It's not great, but it doesn't really ruin the season for me

Soooooooooo uuuuuuhhhh.... that was it! Yeeeah I'm not a huge fan of this season, but I don't hate it with a burning passion. Except at certain points. As a whole it's more,, disappointment for what could have been. I think I'm glad we have it, because it really is jam packed with interesting concepts and I think if the writing were better, it genuinely could have been the best season. The previous seasons certainly aren't ATLA-levels of writing either but the main emotional beats worked well, whereas here it's a lot more all over the place.

Generally I feel like the team behind this season had the ambition and the vision, I mean we have Sinedd redeeming himself, a multi-flux tournament, a non-Akillian joining the team, players leaving for other teams, Aarch deciding to retire and the Snow Kids being experienced and mature enough to handle that, a "main" couple not staying together since they were teenagers... all interesting things! It's not a soulless production that doesn't try to change the status quo, but I think they just didn't manage to pull it together. There was a LOT going on with a lot of characters but ultimately there wasn't enough time for the development to feel natural and stick.

Outside of that, some characters were flanderised, yeah. Looking at you, Micro-Ice. Wait, they never even finished that plotline about him, Yuki and Zo-leen! Wtf! On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised at how some characters were handled, like Mei. It would have been so easy to villainise her but they treated her with respect, which was cool. As for the other Snow Kids, a lot of it was just romance drama shoehorned in, which gets boring when the supporting cast don't have anything else going on.

Production-wise, they did the best with the budget they got but yeah it does suck because the matches with all the cool moves were one of the selling points of the series. But here most of the games just felt like "A, B and C needs to happen, and for the rest let's just throw in some filler moves". Direction is not just down to the animation itself - types of shots, camera movement, transitions, music... all these little details were lacking so the matches ended up being kinda bland in comparison to the previous seasons. There were some creative additions though, like the Elektra's flux.

I think I've already expressed my thoughts on everything else during the commentaries, so yeah it's been fun! Hope they've been fun to read ^^

#galactik football #dori watches galactik football #my posts

[buckybarnesss]

I think one of the best things later seasons did was force Scott to become more mature than the kid he was in s1 and s2. For example, Liam.

Yes, he's an OBVIOUS parallel to being bitten without consent, and his fear of turning into a monster is even bigger than Scott's sometimes, but Scott now an alphaz KNOWS how to deal with it, and how to support him.

Mellowing Derek down and making him more of a team player concerned about the kids FIRST was also a good move.

this ask is so topical. forgive my star wars comparisons but i've been watching ahsoka.

i often consider the derek --> scott --> liam storyline to be comparable to that of a master and padawan relationship in a lot of ways. all their knowledge becomes your knowledge. the teacher's failures are the student's lessons.

i'm not the biggest fan of the last jedi but there are some really great moments especially the scene between luke and yoda.

"the greatest teacher failure is" and "we are what they grow beyond" applies heavily to the story of derek hale, scott mccall and liam dunbar.

the show even places a lampshade on this kind of connection early on when stiles makes the yoda joke in heart monitor.

all throughout season 1 derek is desperately trying to protect scott to varying levels of success. derek doesn't want scott to become him but derek is also clouded by anger and self-hatred at his younger self for his perceived failures and sins. scott despite his huge, glaring issues with male authority figures does learn from derek but it takes him a while to recognize that. derek is a convenient target for scott's anger at what happened to him.

their fear, their anger, their resentments are what they have to grow beyond with each other and that doesn't happen till around season 3.

season 3 even shines a spotlight on how young derek was a lot like scott.

visionary is one of the most important episodes of the entire series and does a lot of heavy lifting for the lore of the universe, the narrative of the season, the backstory of the hales, the relationships between characters -- like it's a juicy episode if only the fandom stopped taking peter and gerard's words as unadulterated truth.

it also gives us the most obvious parallel between derek and scott. i think it's pretty obvious they wrote the paige storyline knowing allison's fate. they wanted this parallel on purpose.

paige is bit without her consent and derek has to mercy kill her to spare her the slow and painful death the rejection of the bite is putting her through. derek did not do anything bad here. this was an act of compassion but it deeply traumatized and hurt derek.

while i do not believe derek's eyes changed color due to any sort of killing an innocent nonsense as peter suggests symbolically derek's innocence died with paige. it left a physical mark on him. she is there every time he shows his eyes. he carries her with him.

allison in contrast to paige has agency in her choice. she willingly goes to save lydia and even ignores lydia's warning. she chooses to save isaac which leaves her open to being stabbed.

allison does not suffer a slow, painful death like paige. scott holds her in comfort and hears her last words.

allison's body wasn't removed and abandoned to be chalked up to an animal attack. scott gets held by his mother, isaac is taken in by chris whereas derek was left alone in the cellar and left to flounder in grief ripe for the picking by kate argent.

so much of derek and scott's relationship is about reflection. they see each other like one only sees their flaws in a mirror. it's why their goodbye in smoke and mirrors is so important. it's acceptance, it's thank you, it's i'm sorry and it's goodbye and good luck.

scott and stiles are a better version of derek and peter. they are less toxic but they have their issues. scott and stiles have a hard time with communication but there's co-dependency.

this brings us to liam dunbar. liam is a precious nugget but liam has derek's anger issues and scott's fear of becoming a monster.

if stiles and scott are a better version of derek and peter than liam and mason are a better version of all them.

it is liam who is able to overcome derek and scott's failures.

liam is able to reconcile with theo.

liam makes the effort to make peace with corey.

liam doesn't lose his first love.

liam overcomes derek and scott's failures and learns lessons from their mistakes.

with liam there's a lot of reprised beats that show how far these characters have come. teen wolf subscribes to george lucas's maxmum:

scott bites liam without his consent but scott doesn't leave him like peter did him. scott tries to support him through the transformation even going as far as to try the whole "the bite is a gift" and "we're brothers now" on for size.

argent comes not to harm them but he saves them.

liam is the best of scott and derek.

derek even gets to gloat a little and have his obi-wan watching anakin deal with ahsoka moment

he is delighted.

we rightfully rip into teen wolf for it's failures but one thing about the show that i think it did fairly well was demonstrate how the entire narrative revolves around generational trauma.

the derek, scott and liam relationship is an excellent example of it.

people say that scott doesn't grow as a character which is a lie. you don't have to like the trajectory of his character arc but he does have one. the show is about him growing up. it's about these kids dealing with the grief and trauma of their lives including that of growing up.

derek was stuck in his grief and anger for a long time. he had lost so much. derek's storyline i think isn't so much a growing up arc but rather one of choosing to live not just survive. scott forced him to confront the anger he carried at his younger self. to realize he was just a child and no one protected him.

derek had a choice.

derek is also a product of peter's lessons and teachings. i think he grapples with some of this in s2 where we see derek in his quote villainy era unquote.

instead derek chose to be a protector and he evolves. he is not peter. he is not kate. derek is not a monster others wanted him to become.

instead he inherits the gift of his mother and sister becoming more at peace with himself.

he is the person that paige loved and accepted. he is deserving of stiles's loyalty and affection.

but he can scare some kids on halloween as a treat.

#my blog #thoughts on teen wolf #teen wolf #derek hale #scott mccall #liam dunbar

[gxilds]

the borderlands

for dummies

I guess

now that we have reached the conclusion of the original manga series in the show, a lot of my friends seemed to be confused about the ending or what exactly the borderlands is. And while I haven’t finished the show (wether I am or not is debatable, granted i’m just dramatic and will get over my qualms with it fairly quickly) I have read the manga which gives you more clues as to how you should interpret it.

the mass majority of this post will be the last few chapters of the manga which stay relatively true to what the show has in it (other that some stuff that is not relevant to this post) so take that how you will.

this post will be divided into a few parts

what created the borderlands

what we can interpret the borderlands is

how it affected the players

in the last chapter we are met with this group of panels at the start

We are informed of a meteorite attack that happened two years prior to the events of this final chapter. we can grab two things from this:

this meteorite attack is relevant to the story

the story probably spans over two years

Using that first and second point, we can assume that it is not just relevant but that it is probably what the fireworks were in the beginning of the series was.

and in chapter 63 they also use fireworks for parallel as to them finishing all of them games and show is a meteorite hitting what we can assume to be shibuya

so a meteorite hit them? cool, I guess… what can we do with this information?

I’m so glad I asked, narrator me!

this leads me to the second question

how can we interpret this?

I guess… it’s more simple now that I put it into words.

Essentially,

it’s a collective state of limbo.

I guess?

It’s a point between life and death where it seems the borderlands are used to create judgment as to if the characters should really die or not.

in order to prove this we have to mix the third point into this

how has it affected the players?

in the end we find the players in the hospital with no memories of what happened in the borderlands but clearly affected

(For some reason I can’t find any panels online for this but I do still have the one of chishiya stocked up because I’m so not normal about him)

for example, Chishiya is affected emotionally and is left feeling better after his clear change of heart in the end of the series.

Niragi lays next to him burnt to a crisp and as far as we know chishiya seems to be hurt as well from the damage caused by niragi. so they’re all obviously somewhat affected by what happens inside when they leave.

Everyone else wakes up from their 2 year (supposedly) coma and is left without memory of the borderland but totally cool with each other. Arisu and Usagi ask each other out (my parents fr fr, thank you AIB Retry), Kuina is being my pookie and they’re all having fun… other than those who aren’t there.

People who died in the borderlands seem to have not made it (Karube, chota, etc), which puts the limbo theory into prospective.

as for the collective part of it… I thought that was obvious

all the meteorite victims are in the borderlands with each other and interact in ways that leave impressions on each other

duh

Look, I know the way I word this makes the writers sound dumb but I actually think it’s creative and kind of refreshing. I half expected to have them turn this shit into as the gods will when I first read the manga…and then I would’ve been left disappointed. and while there is a sequel series to cover I’m glad there’s a happy (albeit, tentative and not long lasted) ending.

I don’t think they’re going to do the sequel manga in the show, sadly. I also feel like it goes without saying that if they continue the show without using the source material other than to give us tooth rotting chishiya fluff and him living his best life after the borderlands then I’m not tuning in 😮‍💨 sorry to whatever this joker bullshit is that i’m hearing about but… lawd 😭😭

🏷️: @clearskiesandmistyeyes @irehluvr

#alice in borderland #aib #borderlands for dummies

[kittick-art]

Wahoo, time for another Animatic Deep Dive!

I did this on twitter after my jeanmarco animatic came out last year, and I wanted to do something similar for the Royai animatic! This post will include HD stills from the animatic, as well as some nerdy insight into some shot choices and such, bc I need an outlet to geek out about it. Everything is under the ‘keep reading’ break! :]

Ok to start off, I wanted to show some behind-the-scenes stuff, including my first thumbnails I drew in my sketchbook, as well as part of the shot sheet that kept me organized (and sane) throughout the animatic.

Also, fun fact is that I'm primarily a 3D animator, so I used that knowledge to sculpt a rough version of Mustang's office for the final shot :]

Ok so now for actual stills...starting with one of my FAVORITE sequences to draw, which I have dubbed 'the scrolling bit.'

And a fun little composition tidbit about this sequence is that I tried to show the passage of time through Roy & Riza's placement in the shots. So in order, they progressively go from the right of the screen to the left. It was actually a really last-minute decision, bc originally I had two different shots (see below) which got scrapped in order to do that silly compositional thing. I think it was a worthy sacrifice because that drawing of Black Hayate on Mustang's head was just so fun to draw.

OKAY, now I want to move onto my favorite part of any animatic, which is the pretentious stuff about 'character placement' and "the deeper meaning." Blah blah, all that art-school kind of stuff that you'd hear in some film analysis class.

It's not intentional whatsoever, but I realized after the animatic was finished that Hawkeye is almost always on Mustang's righthand side, other than a select few times when he's the one supporting her. Feel free to look into that if you'd like, but just know it was not intentional and isn't consistent 100% of the time.

What was intentional, however, were these 4 shots, and specifically the placement of Mustang & Hawkeye within them:

These 2 sequences are meant to be direct parallels to each other, in everything including how Mustang turns to Hawkeye, and Hawkeye is already facing him. They were also my favorite shots to animate, especially with Riza coming out of her salute. Seeing them in the final animatic almost made me tear up, ngl. They're just so dang in love!

Finally, the last part that holds some artsy deeper meaning is a sequence I actually shared a long long time ago. I've dubbed it the 'spotlight section' bc idk how else to describe it.

Back when I teased this sequence, I alluded to some "deeper meaning" behind the use of red in the tags. And while the use of red is a pivotal thing throughout the entire animatic, it's most important here. It starts on Hawkeye's back, then transfers to Mustang's glove, and finally goes back to Hawkeye as her blood. Basically what I was trying to get at was something about consequences, and where flame alchemy has led them. In some way or another, Riza's decision to show Roy her tattoo ended up leading to her own (near) demise. So the red was supposed to show that transfer of consequence, if that makes sense.

ANYWAYS. Enough of me rambling. Thank you for reading if you somehow made it this far. All the love on this animatic - even since I first started teasing it back in November - has been insane to me. I still feel like I can't wrap my head around it. I'll leave you all with one last sketch from when I first started making the animatic. Have a good night, everyone!

#WOO THIS IS A LONG POST #basically just me rambling about my own work #and some exclusive behind the scenes stuff ;) #props to you if you make it all the way through #royai #animatic deep dive

[aannonn]

Opinion: My own view on HanaNeneTsuka ship because- why not? lol

Finally done with the TeruAoiKane post! ...Now moving on to (Ama)HanaNeneTsuka!

First things first; No. I do not ship Tsukasa x Amane, nor do I support incest in fiction or in real life. This post will be mostly about me analysing the TsuNene and (Ama)HanaNene relationship, and Tsukasa & Amane's fraternal (platonic) relationship. And my final opinion about this trio in a both romantic and platonic way. Lil' notes: this post may contain sensitive topics.

That's it for the notes! Now, let's start with...

TsuNene!

To be honest with you guys... I don't even remember when did I even start shipping those 2 lol Like- I seriously do not remember. Not even a vague memory of it. I just know that, one day, I got tired of HanaNene and started to ship TsuNene. And soon they become my Top 1 favorite ship. I don't know if it was the fanarts, the manga itself, the official AUs of them together, the fanfictions, or something else. I just started to ship them and that's it.What I do know, though, is that there is something that made me continue shipping them, regardless of what happened in the manga between them.. lol

Just like in my last post about TeruAoi; The way both Tsukasa and Nene are so similar is what kept me shipping them.

Like- They both are so similar to each other in so many ways. They have so much in common!

Both wish to know more about Amane.

Both are kind of interested in romance in their own ways. (Read this analysis if u wish to understand what I'm talking about!)

In many official arts and even bonus pages, we can see them both parallelling each other in their own different way. (this. And the fact that Tsukasa is singing Over The Rainbow while Nene is wearing Dorothy's dress- I found it a nice similarity lol Also, singing duo.)

They are both equally chaotic. (In basically all official AUs, too! Especially in monster nursery AU, where Nene it's basically a Tsukasa 2.0 lol)

Both seems to really like puzzles games.

It may not really have much relevance, but I really love seeing how similar they are.

Their dynamics in each different official AUs is pretty nice to see, too! We have Father and Daughter dynamic, Rivalry dynamic, Friendly? dynamic, Friends? dynamic; Each different dynamic in each different AU. It's always interesting and fun for me to see them interacting!

Though, I have to admit that this ship wouldn't really work out in canon, since Tsukasa still have that demon inside him and both him and Amane are dead, while Nene is still alive.

Besides, Tsukasa sexually harassed her. I know that Nene apparently doesn't seem to think too much about it, but it was still sexually harassment.

Honestly, I feel like if Nene and Tsukasa had met under different circumstances with no demons or supernaturals in the mix, I feel like they would have be really good friends; Maybe even a sibling dynamic!

I just love to see my 2 favorite characters of all time interacting together.

Now let's go to... (Ama)HanaNene!

Honestly, do I even need to explain? They are canon. They are perfect.

Hanako's first love was Nene. Nene finally found someone who loves her for who she is. Nene is Hanako's first ever friend (most likely). They both genuinely love each other. They are absolutely perfect

It's practically canon, too, so I feel like I don't have much to say about them- But I'll try to say how do I feel about this ship!

Honestly, this is one of my top 2 favorite- Literally my comfort ship.

Their personality matches each other very well, and the way their relationship slowly gets their development through out the whole manga is actually really adorable!

I absolutely screamed and giggled like a lil' kid when I first saw their panel of them officially kissing; If u were there, you could clearly tell how happy I was when I saw them kissing after waiting for literal years. ❤

They feel mutual care, respect and love for each other; They would do anything for each other and that's clear.

Nene ran away with Hanako the moment they met again - She felt practically devastated when Hanako fell apart before her eyes. You can tell she cares a lot about him.

And Hanako literally sacrificed everything in his power to see Nene happy and alive, even if it meant trapping her in a fake world or sacrificing her own best friend.

Besides, the way they act around each other really feels like a really clingy and touch-starved couple. I love them.

I feel like I've never shipped a canon ship as much as I do now. HanaNene was definitely the first canonical ship in the whole world that I genuinely wanted to for them to be together and work out, and I never ever gave up on the ship even after years of shipping them.

They just make so much sense and I love them so very much. ❤

Though, this ship does has its flaws. I can see why some people doesn't really ship HanaNene.

Hanako already sexually harassed Nene. Even Nene herself said that many things that Hanako did to her was sexually harassment.

And Hanako is pretty possessive that even Nene noticed it; Whenever he feels jealous about Nene, he throws water at her or even threatens to turn her into a fish. He even trapped Nene into a fake world.

The thing is; Hanako himself said that no matter what Kou or the others say- He wants to be the one who saves Nene. Not Kou nor anyone else, just him being the one who changes her future.

The jealousy and possessiveness he feels around Nene could soon become a problem in the future.

Though, Nene also has her own flaws in this ship..

She often slaps him and, as much as Hanako often deserves a slap of reality to learn not to be selfish when it comes to saving Nene's life without thinking about the consequences of his actions for it, I don't think violence is the answer.

She also, for some strange reason, still chooses to admire Teru's presence even though she knows what he did to Hanako and what he planned to do to Hanako.

I understand that she doesn't feel any kind of romantic attraction towards him and all she feels is just admiration, but still... Nene, are you sure you don't feel any kind of resentment towards Teru after finding out what he planned to do with Hanako? Like, not even a little bit?

Although, if I'm only blaming Nene in this case, I would be being unfair, because Kou also doesn't seem to hold any kind of grudge against Teru even after seeing what he did to Hanako. What he almost successfully did to Hanako.

But then again, Kou and Teru are brothers; Nene and Teru are just friendly acquaintances...

I can't say anything either, since no matter how hard I try, I can't hold a grudge against anyone even after so much has happened. (I can dislike them, I just cannot hold a grudge nor hate them.)

Nene may just really have a heart of gold and be too naive for her own good, but still…

Welp- This ship has its ups and downs, its flaws and its goods; But, in my opinion, I still think HanaNene is still a pretty adorable ship. They still need some development on their relationship, though.

Now let's move on to... (Hanako-kun) Yugi Amane & Yugi Tsukasa! Not a ship btw!. Just analysing their relationship.

Honestly- I don't even know what to say, I just know that i love their sibling relationship so much.

Ofc, their sibling relationship isn't my top favorite, but I definitely love to see them interacting in such a healthy and normal way. Just them being the adorable twinnies they are.

I was always a sucker for healthy siblings relatioship, so you can tell how much I love those 2 dorks even though their relationship isn't my top favorite.

You can tell how much they love and care for each other; Of course they do, they are brothers after all! Though, I feel like their relationship is more deep and unhealthy than it actually seems...

Tsukasa seems to think that Amane hates him, which most likely explain his apathyness in leaving his family just so his brother could live.

Also, I can't be the only one who thinks that Tsukasa may hold some kind of grudge against Amane, right...? I mean, think about that;

Don't get me wrong, it is pretty clear as the sun that Tsukasa and Amane both mutually and equally care for and love each other, but I feel like that there are so many misunderstandings between them that they may have some negative feelings between them.

If u have/had a sibling, wouldn't you be mad if, even after everything you did for your sibling, they still decides to kill you? I think it would be a bit unrealistic if Tsukasa didn't feel even a hint of resentment against Amane for killing him.

The fact that it is revealed to us that Tsukasa is a yorishiro, and that Sumire - as a human yorishiro herself, had to experience her death in a total loop for God knows how long...

Tsukasa, for also being a yorishiro, probably had to experience his death in loop, too. And without any visits from his brother, either.

It's already bad enough that he was 'trapped' in the red house for decades, but he also had to put up with experience his death over and over again without even a single visit from his brother.

I don't blame Amane; He was probably too scared to face the brother he killed. Probably afraid of hurting him again.

But still.. Tsukasa had to endure all of that for decades, all for Amane. Tsukasa was willing to endure being without his family for decades, to endure having to experience his death over and over again, to endure all of this, just for Amane.

No wonder he went insane, especially with a demon inside him.

Amane also has his negative feelings towards Tsukasa; Imagine if you had killed your loved one without actually meaning to kill them? You didn't want to kill them, but you still killed them.

Amane probably feels immense guilt, so much so that it's probably why Tsukasa says it's been "10 or 20 years" since they've seen each other, implying that Amane hasn't come to visit him in decades simply because of the fear he feels.

There are a lot of people saying that Amane is afraid of Tsukasa, but honestly? I think Amane is afraid of himself. (Based on an analysis that I'm too lazy to try to find right now lol)

Amane is scared to face Tsukasa; Not because he is afraid of him, but of himself. He's afraid of hurting his loved one again. He's afraid of having to see Tsukasa's reaction; The person behind Amane that we saw in the opening (in 0:36) is not Tsukasa, but rather the immense guilt he feels.

He feels like someone is holding him, a person whispering all the bad things he did when he was alive, a shadow making him relive the memories of what he did to his little brother.

Basically; There are a lot of misunderstandings surrounding them that still need to be resolved, and there is their past for us to unravel, too.

Based on AidaIro's old works, it seems that they both really like complicated sibling relationships in fiction lol

I'm not sure if Jibaku Shounen Hanako Kun will have a happy ending for these two, but let's wait and see. xd

Now.. All of them together!

Alright... Honestly, I don't view those three in a poly relationship. More like a love triangle where both of the twins are in love with Nene and Nene is in love with them (sounds cliché, I know lol). I really feel umconfortable with the incest, honestly. - Saying that as someone who has also has a brother.

Honestly, I feel like they could be a really chaotic trio. They would get into every lil' adventure and trouble, honestly- lol

I don't have much to say about them, just that I really love their friendship. Like I said before; I feel like Nene and Tsukasa would be such good friends if met in different circumstances, and the platonic AmaNene/HanaNene is really underrated tbh lol

To be honest, there were times where it felt like HanaNene would be better off as best friends... And the platonic TsukaNene is such an concept that it's understandably loved by the fandom xD

In a platonic matter, I like to think that Nene would be a like a big sister or like a 'lost' triplet for them. They are all so similar to each other and I really love the friendship/sibling dynamic potential TsukaNene have, while platonic! AmaNene/HanaNene is such a reaaaally underrated concept.

For me, it's adorable to see all three of them just happily bonding like the chaotic trio they are. I love romance but I would choose the found-family trope over it anytime.

They would be the all time besties fr

In my personal opinion, I think the platonic! HanaNene/AmaNene is much better than romantic! HanaNene/AmaNene... I still like the romance between them tho lol

In a romantic matter, however, I like to think that the twins are inlove with Nene only and not with each other, since it makes me highly umconfortable when that's the case.

Though, I prefer much more the platonic! HanaNeneTsuka. It just holds so much more power. lol

In a HanaNeneTsuka fic, I like to see the twins ready to fight each other for a girl's attention, but still willing to die for each other at the end of the day. They are twinnies and they love each other, no one, not even the girl they both like, can surpass that.

Final opinion; Platonic! HanaNeneTsuka solos. okno- Xd I love both HanaNene and TsuNene, in a both platonic and romantic way. HanaTsuka/TsukAmane makes me umconfortable, though I won't hate on people who ships them.

They all gives me chaotic good vibes, and I love it.

Platonic! HanaNene is underrated and I wish the fandom would stop with the romance for five seconds and appreciate the platonic.

Romantic! TsuNene have its potential to be a really nice and fun dynamic, I'm still wishing the fandom could be open-minded about it instead of losing their time in trying to force people into stop shipping them.

Weell.. I think that's it-? lol lmao i spent the whole day trying to finish this... Only for the HanaNeneTsuka part to look like it was rushed😭

Well, what can I do... I think i've rambled too much about TsuNene and HanaNene that my energy has gone down...

Cya u all in the next post! Bye-bye! &lt;3

lil' reminder; Feel free to add your own thoughts into it or correct me about something! Just be respectful about it, please. &lt;3

lil' update; Edited! Had soo many grammatical errors omg- Welp. Also added and fixed some other things even though this opinion of mine is kind of outdated by now lol

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk #tbhk #manga spoilers #tbhk official art #jshk official art #ship dynamics #have a good day! #have a good afternoon! #have a good night! #⋆୨୧˚

[4ft10tvlandfangirl]

I'm a week late on 9-1-1 so I just watched 6x15 and 6x16 together. Kind of glad I got the news of the abc move first because now the hopeful feeling I always have during the buddie scenes was turned up a notch. I'm legit excited.

Eddie and Chris having a graveside conversation then Buck and Eddie doing the same thing was interesting. We've never seen them visit Shannon's grave before & while I know processing death and moving on from it was the point here, Eddie being apart of both convos is important. Like how he deals with death/will deal with it is important.

Chris obviously misses his mom but Eddie does too despite the difficulties he and Shannon had. She was a part of his life, will always be Christopher's mother, so it's still good to see him mourn her loss. Now Marie is no one to Buck or Eddie but she affected them both in their brief interaction. For Eddie she highlighted something he is clearly concerned about, dying alone. For Buck, he respected the ease with which she confronted her death (with help from Natalia who is lovely & I genuinely like her). Buck still doesn't know how to deal with his death but he seems to want to choose the positive way.

"From here on out, it's all a gift."

I'm not upset about the 'she really sees me' line. Eddie's immediate side eye and expression was worth it imo 😅

I don't feel like it was romantic either. This is a stranger who has no connection to Buck. When they talk about his death it feels purely from a fascination & wanting to understand perspective. Not the heavy, "You died Buck." (we almost lost you) that he hears when his sister or Bobby or Eddie says it. Buck wants to process it all without the weight of that I think and that's why talking to Natalia about it is so appealing to him.

Buck and Eddie wearing similar earthy tones throughout the episode and looking very complimentary had me feeling like Tía Pepa somewhere saying, "You two are still dressing alike I see..." 👀

Also! Buck is wearing a similar plaid jacket to the one he wore in 5x14 when he introduced Eddie to equine therapy and they had that first meaningful talk about the shooting & second chances at life.

They were wearing complimentary shades then too. In both instances talking about the 'after' of a near death experience and what it all means. Buck in each instance seemed to be the more positive while Eddie was quietly reflective. Although, Eddie is in a much better place now because he was being positive too.

I love that he reaffirmed what seems to be the prevailing idea between them this season; 'you don't have to put on a show/act or pretend for me anybody'. 👀👀👀

We got another shout out to the universe in all her glory when the picture of Shannon fell off the fridge. Like unprovoked, it was perfectly fine there all along and then it just fell? Talk about a SIGN.

Last but not least, the couch of it all! Chris falling asleep in almost exactly the same way Buck had right after Eddie went to go get something for them from the kitchen?

Yeah...these parallels are not even subtle. I can't be normal about any of these scenes at all and I refuse to be! Straight clowning but with renewed hope. Thanks abc 😅

#911 6x15 #buddie #buckley diaz family #911 parallels #eddie the universe is screaming again #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #christopher diaz

[deluweil]

I’m so done with this Eddie-wasn’t-in-a-dream-because-he’s-not-a-parent-figure-or-a-sibling-to-Buck take, like how can people be that delusional?

As for the episode, I didn’t have any expectations as the show has been a disappointment for the last 1,5 seasons but I’m still super salty about them reducing Eddie to a barely there background character (not in a buddie sense, just generally). This season has too much Buck, every episode so far makes me like him less and less.

I think Eddie wasn't in the dream coma because an Eddie that never met Buck, that lost his son to his parents after fighting like hell to keep him, with a boss who is not as lenient as Bobby, who didn't have Buck to introduce him to Carla, is another kind of Eddie.

I would like to take a second and throw us all back to 5x05, where Buck tries to leave the 118, Eddie asks, "Who's going to replace me?"

The answer is that no one can. In Buck's mind there is no sufficient replacement to one Eddie diaz.

There is a reason Buck's first memory upon awakening in his coma dream was of a real one, with Eddie, because nothing can erase that. Buck only asks about Eddie, once he realizes the implications of him not being there for Bobby, so then he has to know what became of Eddie and Christopher.

And from that moment on, he was working harder on getting out of his own mind. Even dream Christopher wasn't enough to stop him, because at that point Buck knows that Christopher in his dream is with his grandparents in Texas.

All that's left for him is to get out and get back to the real Christopher, the one waiting for him in LA with Eddie.

As for reducing Eddie, we got an Eddie focused storyline in S5b (along with Maddie and Chimney, don't even get me started about the parallels). This season focused more on Hen and Buck.

Hen's storyline wrapped in S6a, along with the realization that her place is with Karen, Denny and the 118.

Buck's storyline has started, but it didn't really get anywhere, so that's what we're getting now.

I'm hoping that Eddie’s role in Buck's recovery will be more significant from what we've seen in the hospital.

I would like for Eddie to finally tell Buck how much he loves him (platonically or otherwise. At this point, I just want acknowledgment of Buck’s significance for Eddie said out loud already!) While Buck is present and conscious to hear it.

I also think that somewhere, Eddie is trying really hard not to repeat Buck's parents' mistakes (and by proxy Taylor's), where they only show affection when Buck nearly dies.

But that might just be me and my interpretation of things.

As for liking Buck, I gotta say that while I'm an Eddie girl through and through, Buck's character development made him grow on me more and more with each season.

So if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the showrunners, whom, at times, seem like they aren't completely sure what they're doing.

Because both Oliver and Ryan are giving it their all, and for that, they earned our (at least my) respect and love.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me 🙏💜💜

#911 ask #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie #hen wilson #911 5x05 #911 6x11 #911 spoilers #911 speculation #911 on fox #911 cast #911 fox #oliver stark #ryan guzman #deluweil answers

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

Just got back from Godzilla X Kong!

First off, just a warning, there are some intense scenes of strobing lights and sound so be prepared if you have epilepsy. Likewise, it is a constant stream of loud sounds and colors with many fast cuts and no room to breath, which means my autistic ass got extremely overstimulated in the IMAX theater and had to cover my eyes and plug my ears at times to calm myself down, so be prepared for that too.

Now, on to my rambly and mildly spoilery first impressions under the cut.

Like I said, this movie has absolutely zero room to breathe. They sliced away every millisecond they could to keep the runtime below two hours and it translates into a film that just not shut up. It's like every scene lasts 30 seconds, even the kaiju battles are so quickly cut that it feels like this gif:

That being said, the actual story when you think about it, before the searing stream of action melts your brain, is very good. It's about how your home is your family, and that's paralleled in both Kong's story and the human story. Jia and her mom are the heart of the film and they've easily become some of my favorite human characters in the Monsterverse.

I'm not sure how to articulate my thoughts the best, so I guess I'll just talk about each of the kaiju and how I felt about them.

Despite getting top billing, Godzilla just straight up does not matter in this movie. It's %100 Kong's story, Godzilla really only matters at the end when he joins up for the big finale fight and even then it kind of feels like Kong had this all handled. In fact, don't kill me, but Godzilla being here just makes the movie worse. Time given to Godzilla takes away time from Kong's story, which as I said feels really rushed. If anything Goji is a fucking asshole, he goes around slaughtering Titans that're just minding their business. What happened to balancing nature? You're going to kill some kaiju peacefully sleeping in the arctic because you want to glow pink now? BTW the power up is completely pointless, he doesn't even seem to do it for any good reason he just felt like a make over I guess.

Kong on the other hand was great, literally just the main character of the movie, he's the one with the most growth and who goes through a character arc. There are some wonderful scenes far away from any humans of just him doing his own thing, having his own adventure. I'm not sure I've ever seen a kaiju movie do that besides, funny enough, the much maligned Son of Godzilla. Kong finds his people, liberates them from a cruel tyrant, and proves himself king of the apes. The scenes of him and Suko bonding are especially strong in my opinion, showing Kong as an ultimately very kind and patient beast with a big heart that he desperately wants to share even with someone who hurt him. By this point, Kong is the most developed kaiju in the series, I love him.

Mothra is in the movie. Yeah, that's about it. Her presence doesn't actually make much sense, the whole "only an Iwi from Skull Island can summon her" meanwhile she just popped out of the ground herself a few years ago to fight Ghidorah. Likewise I was disappointed that she didn't really do anything, she doesn't even have a moment with Godzilla. I thought they were all symbiotically linked and whatnot? Why didn't she join the fight in Rio? Yeah, how about this, cut Godzilla from the movie and have her be the big help at the end. The story spends so much time on summoning her, about as much time as Godzilla goes stomping around, why not have her be the support for the big battle at the end? Also she's straight up magic now, materializing out of thin air, sure. Why not?

Skar King was a fun villain, I can definitely see him becoming a fan favorite. You can kind of tell with the fandom that nobody really cares about the MUTOs or the Mamma Skullcrawler despite being in some of the most beloved Monsterverse films, and that's because they're mostly treated as animals. Ghidorah was the first one really personified and for that he was a wonderful villain that the fandom could latch on to, and Skar King has a lot of moments where his personality shines. Likewise Shimo was great too, a sort of tragic mix of a war mount and a kicked puppy. I'm excited to see how the fandom reacts to her, most of the pre-movie art I've seen makes her out to be this omega asshole but in the film she's arguably nicer that Godzilla.

Yeah, having an hour and a half to calm down, I can say I had a lot of problems with the film. Likewise though, there was also a lot to love. I think I may try to watch it again, on a standard screening next time, to form some more solid thoughts. For now though, I can hope that this movie does well, because even if I'm not the biggest fan I still want to see the Monsterverse continue.

#kaiju #godzilla #godzilla vs kong