#i've done the same for the others but third life is the only other season i've seen every pov so the remaining 3 look a lil messy atm

[nymphaeya]

finally watched every pov and the current season's spreadsheet has now begun lol

#secret life smp #traffic smp #it's actually so satisfying to have all the povs filled in lol #(there are bound to be mistakes cause i've only seen everyone's once but shh... future me problem) #i've done the same for the others but third life is the only other season i've seen every pov so the remaining 3 look a lil messy atm #another future me problem #i'm just here to represent all the statistics-loving art and humanities students lol #my stats #my post #secret life

[bombingqueen]

Wincest Recs Part 2

Gencest/Weirdcest

patchwork scars (1000 words) by Anonymous

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Supernatural

Additional Tags: weirdcest, Biting, Love Bites, Non-Sexual Kink, Mild Painplay, discussion of incest, Possessive Dean Winchester, Kinky Gen, Light Sadism, Light Masochism

Summary:

This thing—kink, sadomasochism, whatever it is between them—goes both ways.

This is the kinkiest shit I have ever read and they didn't even have fuck.

unlike lovers (4300 words) by Anonymous

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

They’re not like that, and honestly it’s part of the problem, because how can you say ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you, like a lover would’, without all the connotations of a long-term relationship? It’s unconventional.

Then again, nothing in their lives is conventional. 

Funny story. I spent weeks searching for this fic because I thought I had dreamt it up but nope I finally found it. It's cute.

Deprivation (3339 words) by fogsrollingin

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Takes place around S14E5 "Nightmare Logic."

Sam's stressed. He's forgetting to eat and people keep waking him up the minute he salvages time for some shut-eye.

Dean's there for him.

When You're Not Here (37459 words) by raziella

Chapters: 5/5

Fandom: Supernatural

Summary:

The third time Sam Winchester comes to school with bruises, Mrs. Davidson decides it's time to intervene - before it's too late.

This is pretty much true gen despite how the fic is tagged. It involves social services and it has some outsider point of view.

What I've Done (1185 words) by Amoreanonyname

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

He wasn’t going to say anything more about it. He could tell, Dean was happy to see him, but wasn’t going to humor this topic. Dean, young Dean would jump to obey John, to answer John’s questions, but this was an older Dean who was more loyal to someone else now. More loyal to his brother. John wasn’t the priority here, and he realized with another guilty jump in his stomach that he never should have been.

I enjoyed that John remained composed and did not choose violence like other fics I have read where he discovers the extent boys relationship.

Nothing Safe Is Worth The Drive (382 words) by angelszn

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Dean came home from Hell to a demon-blood-addicted little brother. He takes it in stride.

If you like some dark!weirdcest then this is for you. Dean is very accommodating.

save it for a rainy day (917 words) by according2thelore

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Dean has a wad of money hidden in his bag. It’s folded into a skin mag that he bought in Duluth, which itself is folded into a tube of socks. He calls it his Sammy Stash. Dad and Sam don’t know about it. It’s a stack of crumpled bills he’s earned through hustling at pool and hoarded from short-term jobs he’s worked, pressed flat as they can go to look as inconspicuous as possible. It’s for one very specific purpose, in the same way Dean’s entire life has had one very specific purpose.

Well, this was a gut punch of epic proportions.

Cracked (282 words) by Linden

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It was October, the season of frost and the early dark and the slow soft dying of the year, and John’s world was ending.

These Stanford Era fics are trying to kill me. Seriously.

Through the devil softly (4888 words) by siamesedreams

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It's like walking with a permanent veil in front of his eyes, everything's blurry. He can't tell if the world around him is real, or not, if he's in Dean's arms or if he was in the Cage all along.

An infernal cursed amulet? Chief would know what this is. I'm going to have him touch it. (2441 words) by fogsrollingin

Chapters: 2/3

Summary:

"What could go wrong?"

This is incomplete but I think it does the job. It's told from an outsider's point of view. This fic and the one above deal with Sam's hallucinations.

Sins of the Father (1434 words) by Amoreanonyname

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It’s true what they say about parenthood – it causes you to look at your own parents, and their choices, a bit differently. Though for Sam, perhaps that was for different reasons.

Sam, as a parent, reflects on his three parents, living day-to-day, and trying to parent when your soulmate has died.

Flowers facing the sun (2087 words) by StripySock

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Dean is sick as hell, and Robo!Sam is the closest thing he has to comfort.

swallow my breath and take what is mine (4636 words) by according2thelore

Chapters:1/1

Summary:

Dean Winchester wakes up and it’s dark. John Winchester stands sentinel in a cemetery. Sam Winchester’s hands are bleeding. A story in three parts.

Or: John Winchester has a new training exercise for his older son.

This was fucked up. I liked it and I lowkey can see this happen if John lost his mind somewhere on his journey to Azazel.

It Goes Like This (36085 words) by sprinkles888

Chapters: 8/8

Summary:

It goes like this: They both say yes. And somehow, the world doesn't end. With little else to do, Sam and Dean take hold of an opportunity that comes their way—taking charge of a diner in a small Iowa town. But, even as the hubbub of the diner fills their day, the nights of fighting back the archangels in their heads will drive the two of them closer than ever in an effort to keep the apocalypse continually on pause.

Meanwhile, the residents of Lageme attempt to understand the two new, weird guys who took over Darla's.

This is an odd fic but it's worth a read. The struggle to remain in control was done really well. A good portion of the fic is from the perspective of an outsider.

#samdean #wincest recs #Gencest recs #wincest

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 16/02/2024

Owner of a Mahjong Board

Season 7 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Ruby Also on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 3

Ripped by circunflexo

Requested by yhenestik! (@youtubepoopmusicvideo)

Happy (late) birthday, circunflexo!!

The trilogy of "Now That's What I Call Quality!" albums are some of the most interesting on SiIvaGunner's discography. A majority of the channel's other albums can be categorized into three categories - There's the mega-albums, compiling rips from several months; the event albums, bringing together most of the rips featured in one or several channel events; and finally the themed albums, that collect rips of a similar type spread across the entire channel's life. Yet as is hinted at by their title, the Now That's What I Call Quality! albums are unique in their mission purpose: beyond featuring a handful of rips first featured at MAGFest, they also aim to be a concise bundle of some of the finest rips made during the most recent Seasons of the channel. And with Season 7 being perhaps the strongest year yet in terms of rip quality (in my eyes only truly rivaled by Season 6), it was inevitable that Now That's What I Call Quality! 3 would end up being one of the best - if not THE best - album the channel has ever released.

I've covered rips from these albums a few times before, yet its typically been ones of far larger scope. For instance, Everyday Goodbyes (SiIvaGunner Band Cover) as featured on the first Now That's What I Call Quality! album is perhaps the most pure form of a "passion project" that the channel has ever released. Much the same can also be said about the still-insanely-impressive Initial Deluxe (I've Just Raced on this Course Before) featured on this third album - yet passion comes in all sizes, all forms, and all kinds of ambitions. What Owner of a Mahjong Board, and so many of the other rips featured on these albums demonstrate, is the rippers of SiIvaGunner putting their best foot forward, showing in as many varied ways as possible just how talented they all are. The value a rip holds is not merely about its scale or complexity - crucially, as we all know, high quality rips are all about...well, quality.

Owner of a Mahjong Board, then, brings us back to the territory of Mahjong Bangers, as I first defined back in Never Gonna Give Up Mahjong and previously covered in voiceless - simple ds series vol. 01 - the mahjong (¥1480). These rips are never ones to bring in the views by pure virtue of most SiIvaGunner fans lacking nostalgic attachment to them, yet they're consistently some of the most well-done arrangement rips on the channel - simple, yet deviously effective. There's some sort of mythical curse, some sort of shared, spiked beverage that all the Mahjong game composers drink, to where they all wind up featuring incredibly distinct, banging soundscapes - most prominently on SiIvaGunner itself, showing off the pure vibes of its Nintendo DS entries in particular. Owner of a Mahjong Board's YouTube upload sits at barely about 6K views, yet in my eyes deserves so much more. Different from the prior rips of his I've covered such as You Are Book Smart or Windows Wonga Wappa, circunflexo here gets to show off his skills as a pure arranger, with this being a rendition of Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes. The dance-rock feel of Owner of a Lonely Heart lends itself perfectly to the particular instruments featured in "Simple DS Series Vol. 1 - The Mahjong" in particular - its lounge-y feel, compressed guitars, and bevvy of synths give the track such a unique yet recognizable texture, wholly identifiable as Owner of a Lonely Heart, yet also oh-so-clearly Mahjong at the same time. The premise of the rip is deceptively simple for a rip that feels so incredible layered, dense in authenticity to the original Yes song whilst showing off every little piece of the patented Mahjong Banger soundscape that earned them that title to begin with.

I could dissect Owner of a Mahjong Board layer by layer (and believe you me, the guitar solo in particular deserves special mention) yet it all amounts to the same core point: circunflexo has done an incredible job of translating a banger song in the style of games with a banging set of instruments. Be it sentence mixing, arrangements, YTPMVs or anything inbetween, the guy seems to be downright unstoppable - dare I say, one of the best rippers from the channel's recent seasons - and I cannot wait to hear what more he's got cooking for Season 8.

#Bandcamp #Youtube #todays siivagunner #season 7 #siivagunner #siiva #circunflexo #mahjong #mahjong bangers #Yes band #prog rock #progressive rock #owner of a lonely heart #90125 #nintendo ds #nintendo ds music #nds music

[coraniaid]

58 "I made a mistake" or 95 "I'm a mess" Fuffy?

Thanks! Tough choice but I went with 95 in the end.

This is another canon-divergent Season 3 AU, but it's not set in the same world as anything else of mine. (Actually, I guess it's fully canon-compliant up until the very end of Homecoming.) It's also, I think, the least angsty thing I've ever written.

It's safe to say that this isn't exactly how Faith saw her night going. 

She'd been promised a limo ride, for a start.  And, okay, she'd guessed that the whole school-sanctioned dance party thing would turn out to be a drag -- it's not like she has much experience of this sort of thing, but she definitely still remembers enough about high school to know that it sucked -- but she'd still been sort of hoping that somebody would've smuggled some alcohol in; that she wouldn't have been the only person there who knew how to have some fun. And, of course, she was supposed to have had somebody to talk to all night.  That had been the whole reason she'd invited herself to Homecoming, hadn't it?  To spend a bit more time with Buffy?

But none of that had panned out.  Things never did seem to go the way Faith wanted. Instead of a limo there'd just been a short and weirdly uncomfortable trip over here in somebody's crowded van.  The only entertainment on offer was a mediocre high school band and some free food so terrible even she hadn't felt like eating much of it.  She hadn't even known anyone at the party all night, except for Red and Xander (who had both been too busy acting even weirder than usual to spare more than a few words for her), Buffy's stuffy old Watcher (who hadn't even bothered to say hello) and that sleazebag Scott Hope (whose own night she'd maybe managed to ruin, at least).  She sure hadn't had anyone to dance with.  And Buffy herself had been hours late to the whole thing because of some sort of demon ambush that sounded a hell of a lot more fun than anything Faith had gotten up to all night.

Plus, it turns out that the kids who go to Buffy's school have kind of terrible taste -- which would at least explain the music and the finger food -- so she hadn't even had the chance to see Buffy Summers up on stage in a tiara.

At least now it's just the two of them.  The way she'd hoped it would be, months ago, when she'd set off across the country to find her way to Sunnydale, alone and desperate and not sure who else she could run to.  When she’d had nothing in the world to cling on to except for her dead Watcher's stories of another, better Slayer living somewhere out in California.  For an awful minute, after the results were read out, Faith had thought Buffy was just going to storm out of the building without even stopping to say goodbye.  She isn't sure what she'd have done if that happened.  Slunk off into the night herself, she supposes.  Found something lurking in the shadows with too many eyes or teeth and punched it and stabbed it until it stopped moving.

But Buffy hadn't abandoned her.  Hadn't forgotten about her.  They're sitting side by side outside the building now, feet up in front of them, backs against the wall, staring out into the silent darkness that surrounds the town.  Buffy's been filling her in all the stuff she missed -- Slayerfest, Lyle Gorch, Trick -- while Faith's been mostly quiet.  Just offering the occasional comment to keep the other Slayer talking, trying not to sound too bitter that she missed out on all this.  That Cordelia Chase, of all people, had had the chance to see this part of Buffy's life too.

"I really should be heading back home," Buffy says, for at least the third time tonight.

Faith mutters something non-committal, just like she had the other times.  Home isn't really an option for her.  Never has been.  At the end of the day, when Buffy finally tires of her, she's just going to creep back to the motel like she does every other night.  Maybe find something to kill along the way if she's lucky.  Hope she doesn't run into the management until she's had a chance to catch some sleep.  Not worry about where tomorrow's rent is coming from until tomorrow.

"Tomorrow I'm going to have to explain to my mom why I spent a year's allowance on this dress," Buffy says forlornly.

Faith doesn't know what to say to that either.  It's a nice enough dress, she guesses, or it was before all the mud and the demons and the explosions.  Pretty, in an old-fashioned kind of way.  She can't say she'd want to wear it herself, but that doesn't mean Buffy doesn't make it work. She hasn't got the first idea how much it costs though, and not just because it's been a while since she paid for any of her clothes. 

She doesn't know what the asking price was for her own outfit tonight, though she knows how much it cost her.  A few hours earlier that afternoon spent wandering alone around unfamiliar stores on the wealthy side of town, convinced that everyone was staring at her, that they knew she didn't belong there.  A moment of crisis; a sudden mad dash towards the exit which nobody was expecting, stolen dress clasped tightly in her hands; shouts and raised voices behind her; the lingering but distant threat of jail.

(Faith had always figured she'd end up in prison one day, with or without her powers, ever since she was old enough to know that that was where people like her belonged.  But not today.  Not tonight.  Not until she slows down enough that they can catch her.)

How much is Buffy's allowance, anyway?  Joyce is obviously doing pretty well with the art gallery, if the big fancy house they live in is any clue, and she seems pretty cool -- seems like she cares about her daughter in a way that Faith can only envy -- but what does that mean Buffy gets as a weekly allowance, exactly?  Ten dollars?  A hundred?  More?

"I mean, look at me," Buffy says ruefully.  "I'm a mess."

Faith's been looking for a while, at this point.  Ever since that night outside the Bronze a few weeks ago.  Really, the way she sees it, the mystery is why nobody else is looking.  Why Buffy ever had to settle for the likes of Scott Hope, when by all rights she should've had her pick of any guy in her school.  Hell, Buffy had screwed the undead, hadn't she?  Why did she have to limit herself to guys from her high school anyway?  She could have anyone she wanted.  Even--

Too late, she realizes that Buffy's giving her a strange look.  Shit.  She's been staring for a little too long, hasn't she?

"Nah, the blood spatter looks kind of cute on you," she says, as breezily as she can. "Really, uh.  Brings out your eyes."

She thinks Buffy looks at her a little strangely when she says that.  She guesses it was a pretty strange thing to say.  It's true though.  Ruined dress or not, Buffy looks stunning.  Always has done.

"You ... your dress looks good, too," Buffy tells her, almost shyly.  "It's really pretty."

Faith really doesn't know what to say to that.  Shrugs, suddenly self-conscious.  She settles for clearing her throat. 

"Wanna hit the Bronze?" she asks.  "Still got time to find a couple of guys and have some fun with them, you know?"

The strange look on the other Slayer's face hasn't quite gone away.  Doesn't go away even when Faith mimes exactly the sort of fun they could be having, faking an enthusiasm she certainly doesn't feel.

"I think I'm happy to skip the stud-using part of the night," Buffy says drily. "At least, if that's okay with you?"

Faith nods, maybe a little too quickly.   Hopes her relief isn't too obvious.  She didn't really want to share Buffy with anybody else tonight.  Or ever, if she's being honest with herself.  She hadn't come all this way to California to be an afterthought or a third wheel.

"Whatever you want," she says, almost casually.  Like they're only words.

Neither of them says anything more for a few minutes.  They're just looking out into the horizon, watching the stars in the sky peeping out from behind the clouds, feeling the refreshingly cold air against their skins.  So Faith's not ready for the ambush; doesn't see it coming.

"So, uh." Buffy says. "I was thinking and ... well, this is sort of a date, isn't it?  I mean, that's what's going on here, right?"

That word 'date' comes out as almost a squeak; the rest of the question after it tumbling out faster and faster.  Faith tenses.  Has to fight a sudden urge to curl in on herself; to make herself small.  Risks a surreptitious glance to her right, a quick denial already waiting on her tongue.  She'd rather turn this into a fight than have Buffy repulsed by her or, even worse, have her feel sorry for her.

But Buffy doesn't look disgusted or dismayed. She doesn't seem mad either.  More ... embarrassed, maybe?  A little pinker in the cheeks than usual.  Faith might even say curious, if she didn't know she was just kidding herself.  After all, Buffy's got a type and she's already told Faith exactly what it is.  Buffy likes guys who are nice and normal and funny: not exactly things people have ever accused Faith of being.  Buffy likes guys who are fundamentally, alive or undead, guys.

"It's just, most girls don't ask their friends out to homecoming, you know?" Buffy continues, sounding oddly nervous for somebody who just kicked a whole bunch of demonic ass all evening in heels without breaking a sweat. "That's not something that happens very often."

Faith wouldn't really know about that.  Doesn't say anything.  She guesses she was pushing her luck a little the other day in the library.

("You've got the tickets already," she'd said, trying to sound casual, seizing the sudden unlooked-for opportunity.  "Why don't we go together?")

"I mean, none of my other friends would have offered to replace my recently ex-boyfriend, anyway." Buffy pauses.  "Well, except for Xander, and he ... you know".

Faith knows.  She's known plenty of guys like Xander.  World's full of them, as far as she can tell.  Dude somehow lucked out into dating a popular, gorgeous girl like Cordelia and he's still out there leering at any pretty girl he sees.  She wasn't surprised at all to find out he used to be even more pathetic over Buffy.  But she doesn't want to be like Xander.  Hates the thought of being compared to him, actually.  Of being told she's just some stupid kid, harboring a ridiculous and hopeless--

"But you're not like my other friends, are you?" Buffy says, mercifully cutting off that train of thought.  "You're like me.  You're the only one who I can ..."

Buffy shakes her head.  Doesn't finish the sentence.

"And if it is a date," she continues, voice still going a little high-pitched and breathless when she hits that final word, "Can we skip past the awkward figuring-things-out part too? And jump right to the part where you kiss me?"

Faith blinks.  For a second or two she's too shocked to say a word.

"You sure you want that, B?" she manages.

Her own voice sounds strange in her ears.  Much lower and huskier than usual.  Frankly, she's just impressed she was able to speak.

The other Slayer nods, almost imperceptibly, cheeks flushed and pale green eyes open wide, locked on her.  And Faith still doesn't know what to do.  She hadn't ever thought that-- 

"I know I've not been on an actual date for a while," Buffy says slowly, frowning slightly, "But I'm guessing it's still a bad sign if you have to ask the other person to kiss you tw-"

Faith kisses her. 

Maybe this isn't how she saw the night going, but it's a lot closer to how she hoped it would go than she'd dared to think.  She isn't going to screw things up this time.

So the kiss is soft, almost painfully soft.  As gentle as Faith can manage. She kisses Buffy like the other girl is something fragile, something delicate: like she's made out of glass or spun sugar.  She kisses her like she's somebody who needs to be taken care of.  She kisses her the way nobody's ever kissed Faith before.  Like this is something important; like it matters.  Like she matters.

Because this does matter.  She's kissing Buffy Summers and for a moment -- even if this is just going to turn out to be a mistake or a moment of temporary madness -- Buffy's into it.  She's kissing her too.

Faith isn't sure exactly when she closed her eyes, but when she opens them again -- when she pulls away, still gently, tentatively -- Buffy's own eyes are half-closed as well.  She's got this kind of glazed expression on her face that Faith doesn't think she's ever seen before.  She wonders for a moment if she looks anything like that herself.

"Huh," Buffy says slowly, breaking the silence.  A short, contented sound, like she's just figured something out.

And before Faith can ask herself what that means, Buffy leans in and kisses her right back.

When Buffy kisses her she presses into her slightly, pushing her back against the brick wall behind her.  She puts her weight on her, straddling her, legs resting on her until she's all but sitting in Faith's lap.  Cups her face in her hands possessively, like she's taking charge, the sort of move Faith would never have put up with if any of her loser boyfriends back in Boston had tried it.

With Buffy though, Faith guesses she doesn't mind so much.  That, actually, she doesn't mind at all.  Maybe the other Slayer isn't the only one figuring some things out tonight.

Buffy tastes like earth and sweat and flowers and scented soap. Like running for your life through a dark forest. She tastes like something achingly real, something better than Faith's ever known before.  Something she hasn't got the words to describe.

An eternity later, when the world starts moving again, Buffy asks her a question.  Has to repeat it before Faith remembers how to talk.

"I said, what have you got lined up for the next part of the date?" Buffy asks, half-smiling the way she does when she's in control. "A movie, maybe, or ..."

"Whatever you want, B," Faith tells her hoarsely.  Meaning every word this time. Meaning it like a promise.  Like an oath. Meaning whatever Faith can give her, whatever she can take.

Buffy frowns.

"Honestly, after how the whole Homecoming Queen thing went, I'd really, really like to hit something." 

Faith nods.  She gets that.   Hell, up until tonight she'd have probably said that hitting demons was the best thing she'd ever done in Sunnydale.

"I think I spotted a vamp nest on the way over here," she offers.  "Out by Shady Hill Cemetery.  Not too far to go if we hurry."

The other Slayer smiles at her, and Faith can't help grinning back.

"That has potential," Buffy says, nodding approvingly.  "Come on."

She springs to her feet, offers Faith a hand up.  And Faith doesn't hesitate.

Buffy's fingers curl around hers as she pulls her up to her level.  Then they're both running, as fast as they can, suddenly neither one of them wanting the night to end.  It's just the two of them, the way it was always meant to be.  Two girls in the dark against a world full of demons.  Laughing as they run because they know they're going to win; that they've already won the only prize that matters.  Laughing because they're young enough to tell themselves they're indestructible, and that tonight's going to last forever.

The Chosen Two, Faith tries out in her head.  She thinks she likes the sound of it.

Buffy's hand is still holding on to hers, pulling her onward, radiating warmth and strength and somehow, impossibly, real.  Gripping her tight, like Buffy's almost afraid to let her go.  Almost like Faith's the delicate one, the one who needs to be taken care of.  Like Faith's a valuable prize that the other girl's determined not to let slip away.

Faith doesn't let go either.

#asks #fanfiction #btvs #fuffy #buffy x faith #thanks again!

[bloodonhissocks]

Rewatching The 12 Step Job (1x10), I noticed a scene that I've glossed over many times before. When Hardison activates the bomb under the car by sitting in the seat, he naturally panics as Eliot assesses the situation. Hardison comes up with the idea of a bag of bricks to which Eliot says, "That only works in the movies."

The rest of the scene unfolds sort of in a comedic way, though I don't know if that's because I've seen it so many times and know that they obviously don't die. Hardison has clearly never been in such an extreme near-death situation (not yet at least) and is unfamiliar with the pressure and fear, so he starts rambling and insisting on the bag of bricks because he's panicking. On the other hand, Eliot is more calm and able to deal with the situation because, we can assume, he lives in constant high-stakes situations. He figures out that the bomb is a computer bomb.

Gosh I have so much to say about this scene haha, so I'm gonna start with the way that Hardison's and Eliot's characters are simultaneously both in a situation that is foreign yet familiar. There's a better phrase for it, but I can't think of it. Eliot is used to being close to death but is clueless about computers. Hardison works with computers, but since he's the one trapped by the bomb, he's forced to reboot it indirectly and under enormous pressure. As a result, they have to trust each other.

I think I never noticed this dynamic because I was distracted by the layer of comedy. Hardison tells Eliot that the margin of error is half a second to which Eliot responds, "Run the bag of bricks by me again." We know Eliot knows that the bag of bricks will not work, but he's so out of his depth that he circles back to an impossible idea. I can't articulate why exactly that's comedic because I haven't studied comedy, but I always thought his remark was funny along with other remarks such as Hardison saying "I'm gonna die" because he knows Eliot is out of his depth.

Right before Eliot yanks the wires, we get a close-up shot of his hand shaking and that is such an important detail to highlight. When was the last time Eliot was that afraid? He's so used to being able to take care of himself and handle things on his own, and now he's in a situation where he has to completely trust someone else with his own life. I can't even imagine how he was feeling in that moment. This speaks volumes about how much of a bond he and Hardison have at that point in season 1 and I will never shut up about how much of a family they've become in such a short (I'm assuming since it's still within season 1) period of time. Eliot could've dipped and left Hardison to die, but no, he would never have done that. I would like to think that running didn't even cross Eliot's mind.

They survive, of course, and the comedy returns for a third and final time when Hardison asks Eliot for an uncertain confirmation of whether Eliot would've dragged him under the truck as well and Eliot says, "Sure." Eliot will trust Hardison with his life but won't openly admit that, of course, he would save Hardison 🥴 FKSDHFKDSHKFSDL I just remembered that this was also the episode where Hardison pretended that he and Eliot were together so that that could both "visit" at the rehab center. That just makes everything so much better.

Anyways, I love that scene between those two. It also highlighted Eliot's jock archetype without all the bad stuff. We've had Eliot "camera was too far to punch so I threw a rock at it" Spencer who is the same exact person as Eliot "hopelessly clueless about computers and doesn't know what to do because he can't just punch it" Spencer and I am so here for that duality.

#I love them so much #their dynamic is just so beautiful and rich #actions speak louder than words #what did we do to deserve this bromance #it's already this good and it's only s1 #leverage #the 12 step job #1x10 #eliot spencer #alec hardison #mkwg4271

[bananamarshmallowz]

Where else would I rant?

This is my rant/review for Baby Reindeer. I binged it all today. (It's currently like 1 and I'm running on dr. pepper and skittles. I didn't edit this, don't came at me lmao)

It goes without saying that spoilers, SA (sexual abuse), stalking, and more are mentioned in the series and here as well.

Viewer discretion is advised.

Being based off a true story and being dark, I had to see what I was missing. It's autobiographical and that's part of why I think it's so well done. I definitely recommend watching some interviews afterwards. This one is the first I saw. And this was the second. It's all so surreal.

This is hands down, one of the best shows of all time. 

First off, it's not here to exploit money or more seasons out of anyone, unlike endless series today.  It's to share their stories. Yup, I said their stories. If it were all about him, it wouldn't show other people, would it? Second, it's a series that took ten years of his life to put together. He's a brilliant guy and one quote that's stuck with me, "I think my fear of making disingenuous art is greater than people judging me."

I've read some of the one-star reviews, and full offense; It's gone over heads. Some people go so far as to say he deserved it...  I don't have a response for them other than, did you watch the same show I did?

There are countless people who have been groomed and raped and abused by their partners and strangers alike. And some people still say "they deserved it." They revolt me.

He didn't make it for him to be the victim. He made it to be honest. (This is where some of the rant comes in) Think of it like this: you find comfort and solace in this person. They help you in your dream job, dream everything, they're a dream. They give you all you want and more, who are you to say no. You want to pay them back in anyway you can, but it isn't questioned until abuse or something similar happens. That's the only way you can pay them back, you hate yourself and your very skin and you want to clean every inch of you but you can't scrub that deep. So you keep going back to them because they give you comfort and everything you want. Until, in most cases, you've been broken. That's what being groomed is.

Bullshit to all the one star reviewers, "Gross I hated the fourth episode" That's the fucking point you single-celled-organism. You're not supposed to like it. It's supposed to be gross and filthy because it is. Grooming and raping another being is disgusting and abhorrent. It's not supposed to be enjoyable. It's supposed to show how nauseated and how confused he felt.

It deals with hard-to-talk-about topics and carries you through them like a rollercoaster. Because that's what SA is. It just happens and you can't control it. How it portrayed a bunch of feelings and things that don't get talked about enough is phenomenal. It's dark in the way that life is. Aggressive and passive, his feelings of struggling to cope with being a victim of rape, grooming, and stalking. It all crumples together. He never said it out loud until that moment on stage.

The acting, the script, and the filming are amazing! 

I will be honest, the first episode started so slowly, and I was wondering if that was going to be the whole series; I've seen a few that have been exactly that. It was a bit cringey and bite the lip embarrassing, but it was an honest to god hook.

I got hooked on the second episode. And things started falling into place; the story and how it was done were amazing. 

Third episode, you understand just how out of hand it could get and the weight of it.

Until episode 4. It takes us through before he was being stalked and I was not at all prepared for this episode. There is a warning on it, not on any other episodes and that stood out to me, when it's dark and only one episode has a warning on it, it's going to be DARK.

He is mentally struggling with all of it sitting in his head. He can't even describe it to others until he breaks down and it all spills out. We don't get to see any of the past yet until it is all revealed at the end.

That's why it's so beautiful in filming. It shows hardships and things people can't talk about.

It's beyond words for me; it was gorgeous. 

It all felt so real and that we were truly there with him. We were the audience, listening to his story, it took my breath away a few times.

After his breakdown, he goes and gets his dream gigs and people actually want to listen to his stuff.

Then when everything feels just right, he gets a call from his stalker, "how fucking dare you" "you're a fucking pig" a bunch of other insults and we sit in how scary it is, after months(?) of not being stalked to everything in under hours is overwhelming. She says something that really strikes him and he can't stand the thought of her going to his parents and telling them his deepest secrets.

He then goes and sits down with his parents, and he needs to tell them before anyone else does. The way Gadd portrays the feelings and raw emotion. Holy shit.

"-I didn't want you to think of me as less of me. you know, as a man-" "I just feel less of one, having let something like that happen to me."

"But you didn't let it happen. You weren't to blame."

His father's expression is still and his voice soft, "Would you see me as less of one?"

Made me sob violently.

The conflicting feelings it ended on describes life perfectly. We're all fucked up.

This is art. And Richard Gadd is a genius.

#baby reindeer #richard gadd #cw sa #netflix #holy shit #holy fuck #what the absolute fuck

[sanaserena]

First impressions of the OPLA? I loved it. Yes, it has its flaws, and yes, there are some big changes, but the essence of the show, the heart and soul? It's still One Piece. All the main characters are who they are supposed to be, their back stories are still the same. I thought Inaki, Emily, Mackenyu, Jacob, and Taz all did wonderful jobs bring Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji to life. I'm going to write a more comprehensive review sometime soon, once I've re-watched the entire eight episodes slowllyyyyy this time 😅😅😅😅.

But for now, here are some screenshots from Episode 1 (and only from Ep 1 for this post)!!! I've done my best to avoid spoiling too much with the screenshots, but also looking for some shots that weren't in the trailer or pre-release promo stuff.

This is literally one of my favourite episodes. On watching it the third time, I still really enjoy it and think it's a great opener to the One Piece Live Action. Plus, it's one of the episodes that has the most amount of comedy and action. I also loved the little references. (Sorry some of the screenshots suck, because capturing fights as stills is clearly the best way to go. I wanted to get a good shot of Luffy in the air hurtling towards Morgan, but that was an utter faillll. I haven't figured out gifs for netflix tv series/movies yet - if you know how, please let me know!)

Shanks is actually pretty damn charming and fun his scenes.

Luffy mentioned flying into the base - by bird!!! iykyk. (And there's reference to the fact that pretty bad at directions, but not as bad as Zoro.)

Zoro is super cool, his fight scenes here are wipe outs for his opponents.

Nami is badass with a bo staff (I did wish there was more of this towards the end of the season though.)

Helmeppo is an ass (sometimes...literally...)

Koby is endearing, and I think he had a good character arc all through the season. It took growth, and we got to see more of it than we do in the manga.

Inaki is a cute Luffy, though sometimes the acting is a little much. He was still very much Luffy to me many times throughout the season.

And the Buggy end scene was nice xD (Buggy himself is very interesting in the other episodes).

I failed to get a screenshot of Garp, but it's okay, my next post!

P.s. I just noticed the screenshots come out a little darker on my laptop 🤔🤔 (it's a new laptop for me so....) The actual colour grading is brighter on Netflix 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. Another thing I need to figure out eventually...

#one piece #one piece live action #one piece netflix #one piece screenshots #One piece live action episode 1 #first impressions #opla #hopefully opla spoiler free #luffy #nami #roronoa zoro #helmeppo #buggy the clown #koby one piece #I need to figure out how to make gifs from netflix work 🤔

[dude1818]

Anime Year in Review

Last year I made a silly post ranking the three shows I happened to watch. This year, I got way more into anime (and manga), so let's do it properly this time

Revue Starlight* - Easy top star spot. This anime was flawless. I watched it twice this year and will be watching it again. The story, the animation, the music were all impeccable. The music, oh my god; I listen to the soundtrack every day. Some of my other favorites on this list I'd only recommend based on your personal tastes, but this show should be watched by everyone. (The sequel and spin-offs, not so much. They all use the revues in a way that completely undermines the premise of the main series)

Heavenly Delusion - So fucking good. Second on this list, but I think it's the best show that came out this year. Deeply traumatic, but in such a satisfying way. The horror elements were so brutal and so well done, and I love that the man-eating monsters were the least gruesome part of the show. If it wasn't for the stinker of the ice monster episode, I think this could've been my favorite anime

Call of the Night* - Adored this show. Yes it's a celebration of the hedonism of vampires, but it's so earnest and down-to-earth with it that it feels so good to watch that I did it twice (sub and dub). I also got into the manga, which is sadly wrapping up next month, but hopefully that prompts an announcement about season 2

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Super chill show, which is a great way to wind down the week. It's such a cool concept too, following the adventurer after the adventure is over. It's just a reflection on life and I love it

The Witch from Mercury (cour 2) - Given that I run a sideblog just for this show, it might be surprising that it's so low on my list, but the second cour was a lot weaker than the first. Not nearly enough of Suletta and Miorine interacting, and way too much chaff following Guel's B-plot. I've said it before, but I think the worst part of this Gundam show is that it's a Gundam show. A+ epilogue though, and Suletta is still my favorite character this year

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - I enjoyed the original comic and the live action movie. I didn't realize this new adaption was really a sequel, but it ended up being a great way to bring the old story to the modern decade. (Two decades later isn't much, but it was very of-its-time)

Spy x Family (cour 2) - Very fun show. Following several viewpoint characters means the individual episodes might be hit-or-miss (as much as I love Anya, the episodes at the school are relatively bland), but the overall package was sweet and enjoyable

Nimona - Another comic I really enjoyed. The movie was strong, although it cut a lot of parts out that I thought were important to the original story

The Orbital Children - Directed by the same person who directed one of my long-time favorites (Dennou Coil), the first two acts of this really felt like a modern update. Stunning visuals, great sci-fi, thrilling adventure. Went totally off the deep in the third act, though

Joshiraku* - As the characters pointed out, adapting a manga that takes entirely inside the green room of a stand-up comedy club is an odd choice. It was off-the-charts hilarious, though. Considering some of the scripts were entirely pun-based, it must've been an immense amount of work to translate, but they absolutely pulled it off

Oshi no Ko - The only reason I watched this show was because the OP was such a banger. (Several fantastic anime songs by YOASOBI this year, and Idol is easily my favorite.) The first, feature-length episode was incredible and I literally cried at the end. If it was a stand-alone movie, it would be a couple of spots higher on this list. The rest of the show was fine, but not really what I was here for. I'll probably still watch season 2 though

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn* - I bounced off the gacha game immediately, but the worldbuilding and character designs seemed cool, so I wanted to give the anime adaptation a chance. The plot was very thin but serviceable enough. At least it looked nice to watch.

The Magical Revolution of ... - Not typing that whole thing out. It was a cute show. The yuri stuff was nice, but I wish for a show about a magical inventor, there was a non-zero amount of magical inventing shown on screen

* indicates the show aired prior to 2023

A lot of shows I really loved this year. Looking forward to next year, the anime I'm most hyped for is obviously Dungeon Meshi. It looks like it's going to be incredible. The second season of Arcane is also scheduled to come out late next year, which is also very exciting. Technically Frieren has a second cour in January, but they're airing both cours as basically a single 24-episode season, so that doesn't really count

For older shows I mean to catch up on, YouTube has recced me clips of probably every single joke from K-On!, and it's really grown on me. Definitely going to watch that soon. I'm also in the mood to watch Bocchi the Rock! again. I should also make myself watch the first couple episodes of PMMM. Nothing I've seen on Tumblr has grabbed me for that one, but it's right in the middle of some of the other shows I was gushing about here and it would be dumb not to try it

#anime review #revue starlight #heavenly delusion #cotn #yofukashi no uta #frieren #sousou no frieren #gundam #the witch from mercury #g witch #scott pilgrim #scott pilgram takes off #spy x family #sxf #nimona #the orbital children #joshiraku #oshi no ko #onk #arknights #magirevo #the magical revolution of the reincarnated princess and the genius young lady #dungeon meshi #arcane #k on #bocchi #bocchi the rock! #pmmm

[madamescarlette]

Webcomics For Your Consideration

This started out as a recommendation list for @magpie-trove, but as it started getting longer and longer I decided to make it its own post! I hear there's a general migratory shift to Webtoon since Wayne Family Adventures started, so I thought I would recommend some of my favorites here.

Gourmet Hound (Completed, 166 chapters): This will probably head the list of any recommendations I make because it is quite simply my forever favorite. This is a slice-of-life story about a girl with a heightened sense of smell (and thus taste) who is reeling after the death of her grandmother who raised her, and her friendship with a former chef who is struggling after leaving his former job. This is one of the very few pieces of media that is able to describe food in the same way that I love it, with all the wonder and joy of being near it, and while it is combined with the characters' trying to find their way towards healing after their respective losses, somehow it manages to make me instantly happy every time I read it. Light, fluffy, and deeply, deeply emotional in the best way!

Your Letter (Completed, 10 chapters): A quite short comic about an elementary schoolgirl who transfers to a new school and her adventures in finding letters from the boy who used to sit at her desk. It is incredibly solid, perhaps due to its being so short, and it brushes up against the joy of being alive in a very gracious, sweet manner.

Nothing Special (Ongoing, 150 chapters): This was created by an artist who is involved in traditional comics, and it shows to very good effect! A fun, delightful romp about a high school girl who lives on the border between the magical and modern worlds, and a boy she befriends who finds out he is magical for the first time. A good 25% of my enjoyment from reading this is just reading all the extra little messages scrawled in the margins or to the side of the main conversation, and overall the tone has a happy kookiness that makes it a delight to return to.

Marry Me! (Completed, 134 chapters): Another slice-of-life manga about a civil servant who through his work ends up marrying an unemployed women, and their whole story about what it means to be a family and to actively learn to care for other people. This is a comic where very little goes on except the everyday lives of the main characters, but the sweetness of watching these two form a little family and make deeper and better friendships and gradually care for each other is SO good and calming to my heart.

Seasons of Blossom (Ongoing, 95 chapters): This story is like a coming-of-age story distilled to its very essences. It follows a revolving set of characters and focuses on a different one for every arc, each of the cast being a high school or college student in modern-day Korea. This is another one of my favorites, though the second and third arcs deal closely with heavy themes (i.e. suicide, self-harm) but in all honesty it is done in such a gentle, kind way that is deeply comforting to me. But, if those are too heavy at present, the first arc (Spring) is pretty much entirely happy, joyful fluff about a girl who tries to avoid liking the same guy as her best friend and the hijinks that ensue that can be read like a self-encapsulated story.

House of Stars (Completed, 26 chapters): If any story on this list can be knitting-circle-coded, this one would be! Though I never watched enough to be able to say this, it has vague Alice Syfy vibes. It is the story of a girl who ends up in the land of stories who takes on a quest to save them from the reign of an evil queen who watches over them all. Primo fairytale vibes, that's all I'm saying.

Knights of Asherah (Ongoing, 86 chapters): This is probably the only story I've read since Percy Jackson that gives me the same feeling as the original series did, so bear that in mind! A story about a world where people have different elemental powers, an orphan girl who finds out about her own powers for the first time, and the training/adventures that she goes on.

The Last Human (in a Crowded Galaxy) (Ongoing, 39 chapters): The story of an alien spider who decides to raise and mother a human child, and their various difficulties with concealing the child's identity as a human. This is less comforting than most of the rest of these comics, but the core relationship is so strong and lovely that it is definitely worth the stress.

Stray Souls (Ongoing, 105 chapters): Another of my favorites! It's hard to specifically describe what this is (since half the fun is figuring it out as you go along) but essentially, the story of a girl who has lost her memories and her quest to regain them and come to understand her own powers. It has my specific kryptonite in that the core relationship mirrors the princess-and-her-bodyguard dynamic that I love (if any of you read Yona of the Dawn, you'll know what I'm talking about) and the second main character is my favorite pathetic little dude that I've seen in a long while. Yet another story that I need SOMEBODY to scream over with, if anyone is out there!

Purple Hyacinth (Ongoing, 136 chapters): A crime/mystery steampunk thriller about a women who works as a detective in a city due to her obsession with an event that killed both her parents and her best friend, and how she comes to partner up with an assassin to take down the organization responsible from the inside out. This is by far the most violent option on this list, as it involves a murderous criminal organization, but the dynamic of the two main characters is again what sets it apart and helps it rise above. However, I would highly recommend building up a big backlog on this if you can, because they LOOOVE cliffhangers and the stress is. A Lot sometimes.

Like Wind on a Dry Branch (Ongoing, 91 chapters): A high fantasy story about a woman who is saved from the brink of death to be adopted into the duchy of an exiled prince who is at odds with his family. What I think is so special about this comic is that it is first and foremost the story of somebody who is coming back to life after being pushed to her limit in every other respect, and it is incredibly cathartic to watch the main character begin to want to learn and to live again. The angst is real with this one, though, but it encapsulates a good amount of restraint that I miss sorely in a lot of romance.

Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid (Completed, 101 chapters): A recent read of mine, that is all about a girl who was born a mermaid who never learned to swim, and who now resides on land with her father apart from the rest of her siblings, and a swimmer who offers to teach her to swim. This is purely sweet, happy fluff, all about kids in high school who care deeply for each other and are toddling around trying to learn how to navigate relationships with each other, but something about the simple sincerity of it touched my heart. A good read for when you just want something happy!

Extras not on Webtoon:

Plume: I read this on its original run, and though it's been a good five years since I read it last it sits well in my memory! This is the story of a girl whose father is a treasure hunter, and the magical guardian that he leaves to watch over her and their various adventures. This is a story with all the vibes of adventure films like The Mummy and Indiana Jones, combined with the very sweet friendships between the main characters that I remember fondly, and is now easily binged as its own pdf.

Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast: This is actually a rec I picked up from @ihaveonlymydreams (waves hi to Dr. Maria thank you darling!!!) that is just a simple, perfect adaption of BatB in comic form. It is just straight up sweet light happy fairytale, exactly what it says on the tin, and it's lovely.

#i recommend gourmet hound and marry me the most i think #i also keep up with others like odd girl out / cursed princess club / lore olympus and others but i trust their hearts less than these #i should also say that raven saga & suitor armor also have good fairytale vibes but i haven't read them extensively yet #so i don't know their hearts that well!! but just so you know! #reading tag

[hjellacott]

The problem with diversity, Woke and Cancel Culture in TV & film (written by an actual filmmaker)

These days you surely have noticed plenty of attempts to "mend history". People destroy Christopher Columbus memorials, pretend like their ancestors didn't violently conquer territory that was already occupied (by either native tribes or other established civilizations), and try to rewrite history in a way that is less offensive, as if that undoes the "wrongs" that were done. And I say "wrongs" because of course the past is always going to look wrong if you look at it with the lenses of the present. For example, think of the most embarrassing thing you ever did in childhood; the reason why you think it was embarrassing is only that you're looking at it now as a grown-up, and grown-up you wouldn't do that thing - doesn't mean it was wrong for a child to do it, nor even really embarrassing.

The same goes to history. Imagine if Germany had spent its post WW2 years destroying every evidence of the holocaust, Nazism and WW2 and pretending it didn't happen. Not only would it have been incredibly offensive and hurtful to the victims and their descendants, but also, erasing history means forgetting history, and when you forget history, you're doomed to repeat it. Yet somehow, it's been OK to do this with literally anything else, leading to the phenomenom of "Cancel Culture".

Now everyone's getting hurt, offended and ashamed by things that are well in the past, and instead of looking at them like a repressentative of the past, people seek to erase them, pretend they never happened, cancel them, try to vanish them from the Earth. For example when they throw Columbus' monuments into the ocean, or rewrite school books and neglect to inform children of how truly sad our past as human race is (and all these things have actually happened, I'm not exaggerating).

But when it comes to TV and film, you can't make them disappear, specially not in the era of Netflix, so what do they do? Try to redo them but "better". And then, legendary products of TV and film, such as Charmed, Friends, and so on, get either rebooted or attempted to be repeated in some similar fashion, and the "copy" sinks abysmally, while the popularity of the original rises.

There's a reason why the Charmed reboot hasn't been even a third of well-known as the original, why HIMYF sank after only two seasons, why there has never been anything quite like Friends, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, why the new Star Wars movies don't get as popular as the original six, why Modern Family couldn't be done today, why TV and film are running out of original ideas and getting stupider and stupider, why Woke and Cancel Culture are setting fire to the world of good film and TV, or why the only good reboot I can think of was The Ghostbusters (women's version). Spending life trying to do the past again but "better" (or what you think is better according to your present lenses), instead of accepting the past as it is and coming up with new, original things that revolutionise film and TV, doesn't lead to anything but boredom and failure.

I've been working in film for years, it's what I studied, what I devoted my life to, and over and over, we all in the industry keep discussing the same thing: there are no new ideas, and this "diversity" thing is a farce. Diversity cannot come from non-diversity. Until you have diversity in production companies, script writers, show creators, directors... there won't be diversity. Not for real. Taking a show as great as Charmed for example and do it again "but with POC actors" is NOT diversity, is a joke. Same can be said about HIMYF.

And thing is, there is nothing wrong with having shows without diversity, or with barely any. There is nothing wrong with having shows or movies where everyone is white or male, I mean, look at the Marvel Universe, it's mostly built around grown-up white men with good looks playing superheroes. Men like it because it's got superheroes and action, women like it because the men look great, and children like it for the great special effects. Thing is, the writer's mantra is "write about what you know". So if you're white, went to Harvard in the 1980s, and grew up in say, Ohio, you should totally be writing about white people, because anything else is dishonest, with yourself and everyone else. How are you going to write about the lived experiences of people who you aren't even friends with? who you don't know anything about but stereotypes? No. If what you know about is a bunch of white men in NYC, then that's what you fucking write about. Yes, you do your research, but you, white boy from Arizona, don't start to do research about a lesbian girl from Sri Lanka to make her your main character in your new TV series, because all the research in the world won't make it right, unless you actually know well a real lesbian girl from Sri Lanka (or a country with a similar culture). Because your research will end up in stereotypes, trust me. And it'll suck.

And you definitely don't write about diversity behaving and pretending to be white men. For example, HIMYF. A show that attempts to be the diverse version of HIMYM. But it's not funny. It's not half as great. Why? Because it's too Woke. It showcases POC and women trying to behave like white American men, and it doesn't work.

I could go on about this for years and years (and please do feel free to ask anything) because it's such a massive issue, truly, and as a filmmaker, my ovaries are fucking huge with rage about the whole thing. But I'll leave it at this. We as a civilization need to develop thicker skin and learn to laugh at ourselves. No kidding the new generation is being called "crystal", damn, it's so bloody fragile. We need to be OK with jokes and even insults, and take them as what they are: the real repressentation of somebody's lived experience. I'm not saying racism is OK, but I am saying that I'd much rather someone is true to themselves so I know they're racists and choose not to be mates with them, than creating a fake world where everyone's fake and dishonest and pretending to be what they're not. Fake it until you make it never works. Not even actors do it.

What we see today in film and TV with the reboots and the "correction" is precisely that: fake and dishonest. Pretending like black actors have it as easy as white actors to get cast, like black stories can be identical to white stories, like producers and big companies aren't racist and sexist and homophobic because they make rainbow T-Shirts and say Love is Love like they're being paid for it (because they are), is fooling yourself and giving money to actual assholes pretending to be angels. We're forgetting what it means to have actual principles set in stone, and we're being content with people simply "pretending" for the sake of money and fame.

And I'll tell you one last thing: consume things and accept them and love them for what they are. I'm a woman and I come from minorities, but do I laugh when Barney Stinson says a sexist joke? yes. Because I accept he's a sexist asshole and I don't pretend to change him, I laugh and roll my eyes and think "typical Barney", and so far, having seen HIMYM several times, I haven't heard him say something so hurtful and inconsiderate that I actually got offended, mostly because I understand he's not a bad guy, he's just a product of the way he was raised and that's the whole point. To put it simple: don't get angry at a cat because it won't bark. And when I want to watch something that's feminist and all about female empowerment, I watch Charmed and see guys like Barney getting their arse handed to them by ferocious women.

And when I want badass POC or LGBT stories, guess what? Nothing, because we're yet to give POC or LGBT people enough of a platform as producers, script writers and creators to create badass LGBT or POC stories, so all we have is white people dressed as LGBT/POC in white shows dressing-up as diversity shows, and that's ladies and gentlemen how Sex and the City the reboot was born.

#diversity #tv #film #himym #friends #himyf #charmed #charmed reboot #modern family #history #race #war #natives #cancel culture #cancelling #harry potter #star wars #the lord of the rings #the ghostbusters #woke #sex and the city

[wheeler-things]

Mike Wheeler, the Hand and Eye of Vecna, and D&D as Foreshadowing

I'm about to say something unhinged.

It's going to take a fair amount of words to unpack (sorry about that) because I need to give context before I just come out and say it. And I'm fully aware that it's just one of hundreds of possible options for s5, so I'm really not trying to convince anybody of anything just... I was thinking about foreshadowing and analogies again, and something occurred to me and then it snowballed and.... hm.

Okay, so, I talked about it a lot more in this post, but the key point for what I'm talking about here is my belief that the Party's first D&D game in s1 actually foreshadows all of the main Upside Down antagonists from seasons 1-4, with the D&D Demogorgon actually representing Henry. Essentially, my breakdown came down to this:

"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood." -> s1 -> the Demogorgon. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness." -> s2 -> the shadow monster. "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" -> s3 -> the Mind Flayer and the Flayed. "The Demogorgon!" -> s4 -> Henry Creel.

So, the remaining unaccounted for villains (assuming that the way the characters use D&D enemies as analogies is not necessarily representative of/accurate to what they actually foreshadow within the narrative) are:

Mike's Thessalhydra

Will's Juju hoard

Eddie's Vecna

I have some speculation on the first two, but it's the third that I'm going to do a deep dive into my thoughts on.

Since this is pretty long and it takes a bit of time to get through the contextualizing, let me clarify up front that this ties into the "Mike has a connection to the Upside Down" theories which I love, but which I know are not to everyone's tastes.

Who IS Vecna (in Stranger Things)?

From the campaign in s4e1, we learn:

Vecna is hiding in plain sight among his own cultists

"His skin is shrivelled. Desiccated. And [...] he is not only missing his left arm, but his left eye"

Vecna was believed to be dead/killed by Kas

An 11 isn't enough to defeat him, but a 20 is (notably, we don't actually hear what Dustin and Erica were trying to roll to do-- based on the context of the scene, we assume that it was combat-based, but it is not explicitly laid out)

Later, in s4e2, Vecna is described (in terms that the characters start to tie to the entity we later learn is Henry, in an effort to theorize about what's going on) as:

An undead creature of great power

A spellcaster

A dark wizard

Note: In the context of Eddie's description of what happened to Chrissy, the term "Vecna's curse" is brought up. This leads into the description of Vecna's characteristics listed above, but no further details (as far as I can find or remember) are given about what Vecna's curse is like in Eddie's game. Which leads me to...

Who IS Vecna (in D&D)?

Alright, I have to admit-- I've played D&D before, but my friends have a tendency to prefer MotW/PbtA-based games, and even when we HAVE done D&D, the storylines and characters have been entirely from the DM's mind/not from anything official. As a result, everything I'm about to say here is based on what Google can tell me (I'm aware others have talked about this before, but I think it gives some useful context for where I'm going to go in this analysis, if I make sure we’re all on the same page about the background D&D lore).

The main websites that I used to get information for this part can be found here, here, and here.

So! The long and short of it seems to be that in life, Vecna was a wizard who built a "terrible empire". In order to avoid death, he turned himself into a lich, and in undeath, he continued to grow his empire. He had a lieutenant named Kas, who Vecna gifted a sword to. For unknown (though the speculation does not paint him in a positive light) reasons, Kas murdered Vecna, leaving behind only Vecna's eye and left hand along with a pile of ash. However, his spirit survived the attack and he spent "eons" regaining his former power. In the meantime, his artifacts, cults, and "dark secrets" continued corrupting others/pushing them towards evil.

It may also be notable that Vecna was known to have a "formidable and hideous" temper.

And... that's the short version of everything that I could find about Vecna in D&D.

Henry Creel as Vecna

So, this is the obvious conclusion, because the characters call Henry "Vecna", which seems to have largely lead to the audience assumption that the Vecna in Eddie's campaign definitely foreshadows Henry. And I want to start out by acknowledging that I do think this is absolutely a possibility! I could 100% be wrong about the Demogorgon in Mike's campaign representing Henry, and even if I'm not, there's nothing that says there can't be two moments of foreshadowing for the same antagonist.

If Henry is Vecna, I know there are a lot of theories about who Kas is, and I'm not interested in getting too deep into the weeds on that particular debate. With that being said, I will say that when I first watched s4 I personally thought it was obvious that, if Henry was actually the person foreshadowed by Eddie's Vecna, then El was clearly Kas and had already fulfilled her part in that role?

I mean, Henry didn't have any real power in the lab so obviously El wasn't his lieutenant. But she was clearly his favourite (or, depending on how you read his character, he at least did a good job of pretending that she was his favourite). He gave her a weapon (in that he taught her to use her anger to weaponize her powers). At first she helped him with things (ie. getting Soteria out of his neck), but later she turned against him and used the "weapon" he "gave" her in order to, as far as she understood at the time, kill him (literally turned him to ash, and he appears when we see him next in the Upside Down). But, of course, he wasn't actually dead, and in line with Eddie's campaign, he came back. El tried to face him alone, but it failed/missed just like the eleven roll.

You may or may not agree with me on that, but I personally think it's the most likely scenario. I just... can't see them recreating everyone thinking Henry has been killed for a THIRD time only to bring him back AGAIN. And in my opinion, El-as-Kas (but she's already fulfilled the role) does fit very well with what we know about Vecna from Eddie's campaign/with a number of the details from D&D.

I will also concede that you could make the case that Henry was hiding in plain sight among his cultists during the time when he was interacting with baby!El (as in, he was disguised as a lab assistant, and obviously the whole Lab is dedicated to, essentially, recreating Henry's powers so that's sort of like a cult to him, I suppose), and that he is certainly, as of the present timeline in s4, something like an undead creature as well was being very powerful and functionally a dark wizard. His flesh is even shrivelled and desiccated after his time in the Upside Down.

All of which is to say, without speculating heavily about the potential events of s5, Henry does look incredibly appealing as the thing foreshadowed by Eddie's campaign.

But…

The Case for Someone Else as Vecna

There are a few main reasons why I think that Henry is a red herring as the thing Vecna was foreshadowing.

Firstly, and least compellingly (I have to mention it, but it's not evidence that stands on its own), if Mike's Demogorgon foreshadows Henry, but the Party mis-used its name for the UD's Demogorgon because it was the monster they happened to be fighting at the time, then it stands to reason that it's possible that they may have mis-used Vecna's name to apply it to Henry for the same reason-- it was the most recent/most superficially relevant enemy the Party had fought in D&D and, as such, made for a decent enough analogy to the current situation.

Secondly, just on a narrative scale, if El has already played the Kas role in the s4 flashbacks and then has also already made her failed roll in present day s4... then literally all that's left is to roll a 20 and win? It's too smooth/too easy to take up a whole season. Obviously, the writers can throw in extra drama and struggle and tension, but if we're already past the failed 11 roll, then... it can't be too intense or else the foreshadowing loses its tight 1:1 dynamic with what's happening in the plot. And “not too intense” is very rarely what people are going for when they write a finale season.

Thirdly... despite how well Henry aligns with almost all of the descriptions of Eddie's Vecna, he does not align with what I would argue are the two most emphasized descriptors (the two that Eddie puts the most passion and physicality into describing, and the two which seem to actually make it clear to the Club that the unknown cultist is Vecna). Namely: Henry very much is not missing an eye or an arm. His left arm is odd looking, but that's not because he ever lost it and had to replace it. It appears to just be part of whatever the Upside down is doing to him/turning him into (God, I hope he's turning into a Demogorgon-- I saw someone suggest that at one point and I wish I could find the post to link it here, because I think it would be the funniest and most fitting option). And Henry's eyes both look kind of odd/cloudy now, but not only does he have both of them, but the flashback to him wandering the Upside Down after El threw him in there make it explicitly clear that his injured/initially damaged eye was his right eye. It would have been just as easy, and changed nothing about the overall narrative, if they had made Henry’s left eye blind instead/to subtly align with the Vecna analogy, so the fact that they so pointedly didn’t suggests to me that, in terms of foreshadowing, Henry may not actually be Vecna at all. In fact, there is nothing at all that I can remember connecting Henry to the idea of left eyes, except that the characters call him Vecna, and Eddie's Vecna is described as being devoid of one.

Also (and this is just a small point), I do think that it's interesting that in D&D, Vecna's backstory includes him creating a dark empire, and there are a lot of theories abounding about the idea that someone in the main cast created or significantly altered the Upside Down (I've mostly seen them about Will and Mike, but I imagine there are other similar theories for other characters). Because what we know for sure is that Henry absolutely did not create it, and likely did not significantly alter it either (at least not until he met the shadow monster), I do think that it's worth noting that this is another way in which Henry's character diverges from at least the D&D version of Vecna.

Detour: How do Superpowers Work in Stranger Things?

I may or may not have driven myself mad trying to figure this out. And I also may or may not have spent a long time resigned to the idea that Kali had been retconned by s4 showing that all the other numbers seem to have basically the same powers as Henry and El (with the possible exception of El's ability to open portals into the UD-- unless Henry had this ability as well before the Mind Flayer took a chunk out of El in s3... we simply don't know yet).

I feel like I maybe heard something, at one point, that suggested that all of the kids in the lab had telekinesis and then also at least one other power. However, I can't find a source on that? Also, I don't believe there's any direct evidence of this shown in s4 (and Kali's powers outright contradict it), given that the only non-telekinetic power that we were shown by anybody but Henry and El was 010 who was able to see what others were doing in his mind (which seemed to be very similar to El's mind void abilities, if maybe a little stronger or more well-practised).

Either way, I think the evidence given in the show suggests that there are three possible ways to develop or obtain supernatural abilities in the Stranger Things universe.

Via experimentation. This was the case for El, and very likely also most of the other kids in the Lab. It also seems to have been the case for El's mother, who we see being able to flicker the lights and change the channels on her television with her mind.

Through infiltration by and/or extended exposure to the Upside Down. I'm a little more tentative on this one, because my main example of this is Will, and we all know that there are a LOT of theories about Will's abilities. And I want to stress that I cannot definitively say they're wrong. All I can say is that, as the show exists right now, one of many possible readings is that Will's abilities, such as sensing the Mind Flayer, seem to be a result of his experiences with the Upside Down. If this is accurate, then it represents a method of obtaining powers that is distinct from how El got hers. I’m not at all trying to discount the possibility that Will could have other powers that he was born with or developed due to experimentation (I love a good Will-born-with-powers theory!), I just want to consider the possibility that Will’s powers could be a result of his experiences with the Upside Down.

Being born with them/developing them spontaneously. Henry is the obvious example of this, but I also believe that Kali is another example. Her powers are completely different than those of the other numbers. Moreover, Kali was abducted when she was five, unlike El who was abducted as an infant. To me, this suggests that Kali was likely not the result of Brenner's experimentation, but rather, more similar to Henry in that she spontaneously developed powers, and Brenner took advantage of that fact. If this is the case, it would explain why Kali's powers are so different from those of everybody else that we've seen-- because it is likely that Brenner used Henry Creel as the basis upon which his experiments were developed, explaining why they largely seem to have powers very similar to Henry.

If this assessment is correct (and I cannot stress enough how speculative I am being here because this is still a huge mystery in the show itself), then I do think it's interesting that Henry (who is almost certainly going to be the main/active antagonist for the vast majority of s4, even if he doesn't turn out to be "Vecna" from Eddie's campaign in the end) represents 3/3 of these points (he was experimented on by Brenner, he has been changed by the Upside Down, and he developed his powers spontaneously), and yet, out of our protagonists, only 2/3 of those points are currently represented (El who developed her powers via experimentation, and Will who likely/possibly-- I know everyone has their own strong opinions on this developed them via exposure to the Upside Down)?

In reality, I think that if my interpretation of how getting superpowers works in this universe is accurate, then it seems to me that we will very likely have a character with powers that developed naturally to complement El and Will.

However, both for narrative reasons (it would feel too shoehorned in/too Deus ex Machina) and for fitting in with the other established characters who seem to have spontaneously developed powers reasons, it would not make sense for any of our protagonists to all of a sudden start moving things with their minds. Narratively, it would just seem like it was being added in at the last minute and, anyway, it seems like Kali developed her powers/showed clear signs of them before the age of five, and Henry developed his around the age of twelve, so it’s likely that if any of our characters were going to develop powers, it would start before their teenage years.

So, assuming we're not getting Erica (God, I wish) or Holly (...I mean, I wouldn't complain) suddenly developing powers of their own, it seems likely that if any of our characters are going to have spontaneous powers, they likely already have them/are already using them. However, I don't think any of our beloved ensemble cast would know they have powers and not share that with the class. They all want to beat the Upside Down, and El and Will have already more than shown how useful superpowers are in that effort.

And... on a narrative level, let's be real. If this is the direction things are going, the reveal of these powers/abilities cannot be a joyous occasion. It has to hurt. Because if it doesn't hurt, we're back to the Deus ex Machina issue. But if it hurts-- if the reveal causes severe conflict for the character in question and with the people around them, if it breaks them down and reveals new things about them, if the reveal feels like a loss, in the moment when it comes about, rather than a win for the cast... then it might work.

For that to happen, the repressed/extant but unknown powers have to connect to the Upside Down. They have to have had a significant hand in all the pain that our characters have gone through. Possibly via either creating the Upside Down or the shadow monster, or else through some other connection. But the connection has to be there, because the reveal needs to cause fear, pain, and conflict for the characters.

Detour Cont'd: So... Who Is It?

So... if my wild speculation above is in any way accurate, I think it's worth taking a look at our established characters to see who could have done it.

So, Henry was wandering the Upside Down from 1979 onwards, El opened her first gate in that same year, so I suspect that if any of our characters did accidentally create/influence the Upside Down it likely happened starting around this time. In '79 (dangerously assuming my math is correct), Nancy (also Jonathan and Robin) would have been 11-12, and the Party would have been 7-8, making them the primary possibilities. - I think it's fair to assume that if they're doing this, it would be a major character that we've known since s1, so that discounts Robin and Max. - Additionally, given the composition of the final shot of s4, I think it's reasonable to assume that this character would be in that final shot, because they would have a significant role to play in s5. That cuts out Lucas and Dustin as well. - I'll also say that we can cut out El and Will, since their powers are (under this specific interpretation) already accounted for. - That leaves the remaining options as: Nancy, Jonathan, and Mike. - And, I mean... Mike's the one who's in the middle of that final shot, just as much as Will is. Mike's the one who always knows weird random stuff about the Upside Down and about El's powers. Mike's the one whose plans always work out. Mike's the only one who has never managed to land a punch/at least not managed to land a punch in the A plot of a season climax. Mike's the one whose emotions are a total mystery to the audience (outside of those who engage in intense rewatching and analysis to pick it apart lol). And… Mike’s the one who’s always depicted in a trio with El and Will (I know this is love triangle imagery, but it could potentially have a double meaning). - My point being-- if all of my previous reasoning/interpreting is accurate, then Mike is the only character who makes any sense in this role.

Also, just talking about logistics here-- in order to be comprehensible to audience members who are not about to sit down and rewatch the show a million times in order to pick up on subtle clues and hints, there are a few issues that are going to require a decent amount of screen time in order to explain/develop in s5. To my mind, (outside of ship dynamics) those are:

Where is Max? Why can't El find her?

What is Will's connection to the Upside Down? Did the Demogorgon really take Will in s1? Why is Henry/the Mind Flayer so focused on him?

Why is the Upside Down stuck in time/why and how did it start looking like Hawkins?

What the hell is going on in Mike Wheeler's head?

How will everybody react to the Upside Down and its monsters now that they're bound to start becoming common knowledge around Hawkins?

How are they going to deal with the military? What is going to happen to El if her location is compromised? How will this impact the fight against Henry/the Upside Down?

What is the relationship between Henry and the shadow monster/Mind Flayer? Is it possible for the gang to kill/destroy/incapacitate both? How will they do that?

My point is, there's one question on this list that doesn't seem to be connected into the Upside Down plot in any way-- and that's point 4. The question about Mike. Because realistically speaking, Stranger Things has a Mike Wheeler-shaped problem. He's a protagonist every season, and he's literally equally sharing the centre of the screen with Will in the final shot of s4, so if we're getting a Will Byers protagonist moment in s5, I think it's safe to suggest that we're also getting a Mike Wheeler protagonist moment.

But generally speaking, people don't want a Mike Wheeler protagonist moment, because people don't like him. And obviously that's because the underlying issues that he's going through have been hidden from plain view, but, like... you don't do that for no reason. Narratively speaking, you only do that if you're amping up for a big reveal.

And, yes. Mike and Will getting together would absolutely be a massive reveal and I can fully understand why they wouldn't want to spoil it... but. To get people to care about Mike again, and to believe that he "deserves" Will, they need to devote time and narrative space to explaining Mike's emotional state, both regarding his sexuality, and regarding whatever mental health issues he's struggling with. And they could have put more of this in s4! Mike and Will had FOUR heart to hearts, discounting the van scene. They very much could have had Mike express some of his (likely) experiences with depression and/or PTSD, without having to show their hand about his sexuality/feelings for Will. Doing so would have helped the audience have more sympathy for/understanding of Mike, AND would have significantly cut down on the ground they have to cover with his character in s5.

Because... they're going to need to take up a fair amount of time in s5 to show all of the stuff they need to cover with Mike if they actually are intending to follow through with him being queer and also, like, not beloathed by a large swath of the audience, they're going to need to connect his emotional issues to the Upside Down/A plot somehow. Which they can absolutely do! Henry's whole thing is perfect for that. And it worked with Max-- but there's a difference.

Because, with Max, her experiences with Henry/Vecna's curse were used to give the audience new information to help solve the mystery of the season. But we don't need that again. And... sure, Mike could get cursed/attacked and learn something useful in the fight against Henry, in addition to showcasing all the stuff that's going on inside his head, but given that Will's back in town and is already psychically linked with Henry/the Mind Flayer... I mean, it seems more natural to have that dynamic fall to Will?

This is a lot of talking, but my POINT is... they did not have to hold Mike's emotional state so close to their chests. Let's be real-- they could have at least started to outline the idea that Mike might be struggling with mental health issues, and nobody who isn't already reading the writing on the wall for Mike/Will would be jumping to assume it meant he was struggling with any gay feelings. Like, let's be absolutely real here: they could have had Mike outright say "I don't know, it's like you left and all of a sudden I didn't have the energy to do anything all I could do was sit around and miss you" to Will and people would have understood it as "ohhhh he was depressed because he missed El/has trauma about El disappearing on him/leaving him".

So, if we're reading Mike correctly-- if he's struggling with mental health issues and they're putting in all the little clues and hints to it that we're picking up on/that will be obvious on a rewatch after some huge reveal... then whatever he's going through has to tie into the supernatural plot in a big way. And, more than that, it needs to be linked to it in a way that is surprising enough/enough of a twist to warrant all this secrecy about it.

AND (and this is a hill I am prepared to die on)... Will and El are both main characters, but so is Mike. The plot would not have started without Will. The plot would not have started without El. But also... the plot would not have started without Mike. Without Mike things are totally different, because whoever found El instead would not have been the exact combination of nurturing and feral that made s1 Mike hide her in his basement/believe her the instant she implied she even maybe knew how to find Will. And that's just the first thing that he did which unquestionably pushed the plot in the direction it's going. There's a reason he shares centre screen with Will at the end of s4 (after El had her extended closeup because I'm sure she's going to continue having her protagonist moment in s5, AS SHE SHOULD). Mike isn't just a love interest. He's a protagonist in his own right-- this is his coming of age story, just as much as it is Will's and El's. And, while it's entirely possible that they might have a plan that includes him being the only one of the trio without any particular personal connection to the supernatural plot, I do think it's worth considering that, just as is the case for Will and El, it's at least possible that Mike might have a plotline outside of his romantic relationships, and that, as the third protagonist/third leg of the protagonist trio... it's at least possible that said plotline might have direct ties to the supernatural A plot.

(Also, yes, the ending shot does also suggest that Hop, Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan are also protagonists for s5-- I feel like this tracks with their roles in s1, and I fully expect them to play major roles in s5, but if this is actually a coming of age story, then it's the Party who are, really, the ones spending this whole time coming of age. That's why I'm making the distinction.)

I bring all of this up, because I believe that it lends context to why I think it is possible that Eddie's Vecna actually references/foreshadows Mike, in particular's, s5 role.

Mike as Vecna

So, here's the thing. If Mike did create the Upside Down, or at least the shadow monster, then he (or at least his repressed emotions and/or dark thoughts) is an antagonistic force in the show. That doesn't mean he's bad or evil (Will was an antagonistic force in s2, and he's sort of the exact opposite of bad or evil). Meaning that it would make sense to foreshadow him as an antagonist, even if ultimately he is a protagonist/on the side of the rest of the gang.

Returning to what we know about Vecna from the show, I'd like to combine it with some of the common theories/ideas that I've seen floating around regarding Mike's potential plot/future in s5.

First of all, Eddie's Vecna is shown hiding among the cultists. Mike obviously doesn't have a cult, although, if he is (unintentionally) the cause of all the Upside Down business, he is hiding in plain sight, both to the other characters and to the audience.

^ Bringing back this screenshot for absolutely no reason at all

I would also point out that Mike is the only character, of the viable list (even expanded back out to include Will and El) of those who could even maybe have played the role in creating/influencing the Upside Down, who is also a member of the Hellfire Club. By which I mean, Mike might not actually be in a cult, but Hawkins at large sure thinks he is.

Now, obviously, Mike isn't dead/hasn't been killed by anybody. But everybody is always talking about all of he death flags around Mike coming into s5, and I, at least, am of the opinion that he can't die permanently (for the same reason that Will and El can't perma-die-- all of them are way too self-sacrificial and willing to throw their lives away for everyone else, so killing them would literally just be them... doing what they always do, which is not ideal for a death scene, especially in a show where the death of major characters is used as infrequently as it is in Stranger Things). If he dies and then comes back to life, or at least seems to have died, this might fulfill the "undead" requirement.

Obviously, how the issue of Kas would come up in this storyline, would be much more questionable than in Henry's. If I'm on the right track here, though, I wouldn't really expect us to know at this point, because it would likely come up in s5 anyway. What I will say is that, if I were to speculate about s5... since Mike is the leader of the Party, and Kas was Vecna's lieutenant, if this is the direction they're going, then I would expect one of the Party members (probably not Will or El because I have some... thoughts about them in the context of the Vecna analogy) to play the role. However, I really can't see any of them intentionally killing/betraying Mike, so my best guess is that if this is happening, it's going to be more a thing of Mike self-sacrificing/endangering himself in order to protect one of the Party members, rather than them intentionally/personally striking the blow. That's SUPER speculative, though, and not founded in very much except... Mike's character as a whole. Also, in D&D's lore, all that was left of Vecna after Kas had killed him, besides the Hand and the Eye, was a pile of ashes-- which fits really seamlessly into Mike's narration of his D&D character dying a fiery, self-sacrificial death at the end of Will's campaign.

Eddie's Vecna is a spellcaster/dark wizard, which are terms that would fit anyone, Mike included, in the scenario where they created/significantly influenced the Upside Down/shadow monster.

In terms of Mike's appearance, obviously he does not appear shrivelled and desiccated (though we'll have to see what s5 brings on that front), but I will note that there are a LOT of theories about Mike losing an arm and possibly an eye as well. Additionally, Mike's left eye, in particular, is often shrouded in shadow. I've already written a different post about that, so I won't go too into detail, but you can look at it here.

^ A sample of some of the left eye shadows

If the theories about Mike creating the Upside Down or at least the shadow monster are accurate, then that fulfills the D&D Vecna's backstory of having built a dark empire before his undeath.

In the context of Mike, I also think it's interesting that one of the things D&D's Vecna is known for is his "dark secrets". Like... I mean, we all know Mike is full of secrets. And it's very likely that they're "dark"-- not necessarily in the way that D&D Vecna's secrets are dark, but more so in the way of, like, mental health issues can be very dark when you're living through them. I mean... Max had "dark secrets" this season, too (though, obviously, totally different in nature and context than Mike's), but the narrative difference (outside of all the cool character stuff they were doing with Max-- this is not a Max post so I won't get too into it, but I just want to make it super clear that Max has a LOT of interesting stuff going on in s4 in her own right) is that those came to light, while Mike's stayed hidden.

Also... okay let me just put this here:

(Link to the site I got that from is in the Vecna in D&D section)

"The godlike supremacy they crave". Does that... not sound like Henry? I mentioned Henry turning into a Demogorgon back in the Henry as Vecna section of this post, but... I think I'm just saying that it could legitimately be happening? I don't know. Maybe I'm just being overly enticed by the idea of Henry's hubris making him believe that he's the one in control of the Upside Down/the shadow monster/Mind Flayer when, in reality, the truth is that he's simply blinded to what's happening to him by his own arrogance and ambition.

Anyway... finally, I'll point out that D&D's Vecna is also known for his "formidable temper". And, like... I just... okay, so a lot of characters in Stranger Things have tempers and anger issues. But the thing with Mike's is that it's portrayed... kind of differently? Like, if you push Jonathan or Steve hard enough on the right pressure points, they'll snap and physically fight you (we've seen it), and El's basically the same except that she generally has the psychic force to skip the fight and simply toss you aside like a ragdoll. If you push Will or Nancy or Hopper hard enough on the right pressure points, they'll get sarcastic and frustrated and snippy (and depending on who you are, Hopper and maybe also Nancy might also punch you lbr-- here's hoping for Nancy punching someone out in s5). But Mike?

a) Mike's kind of constantly on the verge of getting mad (except, typically, when he's alone with Will and usually also El pre-s4). He's annoyed by everything, prickly towards basically everyone unless he knows them very well, and easily upset if he doesn't get his way/doesn't feel consulted about what's happening. None of which erases his positive qualities, and all of which are explainable, but it's undeniable that there's an angry element to his character.

b) When Mike does actually get properly mad, he shoots to kill. "What is WRONG with you?" "It's not MY fault you don't like girls!" "She didn't LOOK fine...", like. Every season, he says something so harsh it leaves the other person/people speechless. And that's NOT to say that Mike's a bad kid. He's a child who has suffered a lot of trauma, and who was already prone to fits of annoyance before all the bad stuff started happening. Of course he lashes out. AND it does seem like he's making an attempt to improve especially as of s4 (probably because the rain fight really scared him tbh). I'm not saying he's bad, I'm just saying that one of his flaws, which he does seem to be working on, is that he has a tendency to get angry and say things that he might mean in the moment, but which are more hurtful than he wants them to be.

c) I find the scene where Mike breaks down in Hopper's arms in s2 incredibly telling. Obviously, this was Mike under extreme circumstances. I'm not suggesting that level of rage and pain is Mike's typical baseline level. But what I am saying is... that breakdown did not develop overnight. That was something Mike was building towards since s1e1. And then he lets it out with fists and screams and sobs. And then he boxes it away and gets back to plotting how to stop the Mind Flayer and save Will like nothing happened. And nobody brings it up ever again (I mean... let's be honest... the only person who WOULD 100% have brought it up later was passed out in a drug-induced nap at the time, so it's very likely that Will doesn't know about that breakdown... just like he probably doesn't know about the quarry). And just like every other character, Mike keeps getting traumatized on top of all the pain that caused that original breakdown. And...

I don't know. I guess I'm just saying that it's undeniable that Mike has a temper, though he's not the only character who does. And that Mike's inevitable s5 breakdown will probably involve rage as well as tears. Does Mike have a "formidable and hideous temper"? I don't know. I think that sort of depends on who is judging. I am pretty sure that Mike thinks he does, though.

And... lastly... this is just a parallel that I thought was interesting, which probably doesn't mean anything, probably it's just a coincidence, but I'm already deep enough into this analysis that I've lost my mind so...

^ s1 Mike covers his left eye while indicating/faking a headache

^ s4 Eddie covers his left eye with an upside down hand to mimic being Vecna

The Eye and Hand of Vecna in This Context

Something that has been bothering me is this:

Mike, Will, and El are obviously paralleled to two trios from other franchises, with Will and El, respectively, as the "head"/primary character in the trio.

They're paralleled to Harry/Ron/Hermione (no, I don't like talking about HP parallels very much because //gestures at everything about JKR with my very trans hands, but I don't think that discomfort on my end negates the obvious parallels), with Will generally functioning as Harry (although I'm aware that Will and Mike get the Ron/Hermione treatment in the airport), with everything to do with his connection with Henry.

They're also paralleled to Luke/Leia/Han, with El generally functioning as Luke.

So, the thing that has been bothering me is: if Mike is just as much a protagonist as Will and El are, and not just a romantic interest for the two of them, why isn't there also a trio in which Mike gets to play the leading role? And, uh... so... I have a thought about that, but it requires me to dig a bit deeper into the lore behind the artifacts left after Kas (nominally) killed Vecna in D&D lore: the Hand and the Eye.

The Hand of Vecna:

The Eye of Vecna:

(link to the site where I took these screenshots from is included in the section about Vecna in D&D)

So... if (and I'm very aware that it's a big if) Mike is going to turn out to have been foreshadowed by Eddie's Vecna, then I believe that this is the trio he's at the head of. Vecna/Eye of Vecna/Hand of Vecna, with El as the Hand and Will as the Eye.

I mean, the Hand's thing is strength (El's telekinesis lends strength to her/anybody she is helping use it for-- ie. flipping the car in s3, where flipping it back over requires multiple people and Mike's lever system). It improves attacks during combat (again... El's telekinesis sort of makes her the gang's heavy hitter). It can apparently also freeze creatures (we see El do this at least twice in s1-- she freezes Troy in place after he tries to attack Mike, and freezes the Demogorgon in place when it's trying to attack the Party). And it can be used to cast a number of different spells including Teleport (El can't exactly teleport, but she can use the mind void to travel anywhere a given person is in her mind) and some necromantic spells.

Interestingly, although they're not spells the Hand can provide according to screenshot above, bringing back the dead, like El does to Max at the end of s4, can be done using a necromantic spell in D&D.

And the Eye... I mean. Truesight is right there. But in general, it's a lot about being able to see through just about everything (including time, which is pretty interesting), with fits pretty well with Will as the spy/Will as the sensor of all things Upside Down. The spells it can cast are pretty interesting as well, and do make me wonder if the fact that Will was (or possibly still ever so slightly is?) part of the hivemind might give him some ability to control what the hivemind does? I don't know, but it's a thought.

Also, the effect of using the Eye is really interesting, given the fact that Will was infected by the shadow monster/Mind Flayer right at the moment when he tried to order it to "go away" (failed Dominate Monster?), and then the whole possession got worse/his soul was almost consumed leaving him essentially a puppet under the control of the shadow monster/Mind Flayer after he attempted to spy back (possibly failed Clairvoyance?). Also, fun fact: Disintegrate causes a "thin green ray" to "spring from your finger" in order to turn a target to dust. I can't help but think about Will the Wise's green fireballs.

I don't know… I just think the parallels are worth thinking about.

To be 100% clear, I'm not saying that Will and El's powers/abilities come from Mike (just like in the HP parallel, Will paralleling Harry/the Chosen One doesn't take away from El or Mike's positions as co-protagonists with him, or in the SW parallel, El paralleling Luke doesn't mean that she's the only protagonist/Chosen One in ST). Nor am I suggesting that Mike in any way owns Will or El. I'm only pointing out that there are some striking similarities between their powers/experiences and the effects of Hand and Eye in D&D, so if the theories about Mike creating the Upside Down/shadow monster are correct, then... those similarities are interesting.

(But, hey, I mean, fun fact-- if this is actually the intended read, then all three are paralleling powerful wizards in popular culture, which is fun.)

Also also... something I've always found super weird is that Will's eyes go brown when he's possessed, never black. Which... is odd, because black is traditional for possessions, and it would look more unnatural, it would align more with the shadow monster's colours, and it would be a really clear signal to the audience that there's something wrong with the colour of his eyes because as it stands, unless you already know that Will has hazel eyes, nothing seems off (especially because the characters never mention the change either). I mean, the shadow monster is black/dark grey. Henry's eyes are blue and never go darker than that. But Mike's eyes are just about that same shade of brown that Will's were when they were at their darkest...

I mean, if nothing else, Mike as Vecna and Will and El as the Eye and Hand would explain why Mike keeps losing (being cut off from) both of them.

And, I mean... we all know Will tends to hang out on Mike's left, but so does El (it's just less obvious with El, because she also has a motif of facing Mike head on). Largely (though not always-- if there's a true pattern, I can't tell what it is), when they're not in this alignment is when they're disagreeing/not on the same page/not pretending to be on the same page with Mike. I mean... you know. Something something, Vecna's left hand and left eye?

No, Seriously, Will and El are So Often on Mike's Left

^ Just a sample of the relevant shots

The Good News

Now that I've gotten through all of this, I do want to say that, even if Eddie's Vecna is foreshadowing something about Mike's role in the supernatural plot of s5, I don't believe they're setting him up to be a true villain. Like... if Mike did actually create the Upside Down/the shadow monster/in some way impact them, I very much do not believe that he is aware of it as of s4, nor do I believe that he would ever intentionally hurt any of the people that the Upside Down has tormented all these years. Well, except himself [gunshot]

Obviously he would be absolutely ripped open if he learned any of what happened was in any way his fault. He'd be absolutely gutted. If you're a "Mike needs to have a sobbing, screaming breakdown in s5" kind of person, man would you get your wish and then some.

My point is, even if they're setting up a twist where Mike('s repressed emotions) have been an antagonistic force all along, I very much do not believe that Mike is being set up as an antagonist, in his own right.

This is where I'm going to bring it back to the fact that we don't actually know what Dustin or Erica were rolling to do. Most likely, in the game itself, they were rolling for various attacks. But we don't hear that. And we don't actually hear Eddie ever say that Vecna was killed, it's just implied from the context of the scene. Which to me means that the ending is not set in even analogous stone. If Vecna does foreshadow Mike's role in the supernatural plot, then all we know is that an Eleven alone can't defeat/solve whatever's going wrong with him, but a twenty (whatever is defined as a twenty) can.

By which I mean, I don't think Mike has to die in the end in order to fit with the analogy.

Also! I think it's really important that Eddie's D&D session is the only one that we see Mike participating in, where he doesn't do any active narrating. Obviously he narrates for the Demogorgon and Thessalhydra campaigns. However, he also takes over narrating for Will's campaign, when he decides to light a fire and sacrifice himself to destroy the Juju hoard.

In Eddie's campaign, though, he follows along. His PC 0's out (which could reference a future physical injury, or an inability on his part to keep fighting for some other reason), and they call a time out to discuss. During that conversation, Dustin specifically asks Mike for his opinion on what they should do (which I have some Thoughts about in the broader context of Dustin's characterization in s4, but those are so wildly outside the bounds of this post-- I'll make a different post later), and Mike really does act like a good leader. He asks Dustin and Erica for context on their HP, and assesses that if they keep fighting it will be difficult, but in the end he tells them that the call is up to them, because their characters are the only ones left on the battle field. That's all he says about the game. And I think the fact that all he says is that the fight will be "difficult" is really good news, because it means that the ending is more open.

Finally, it's possible that if Mike is actually the person being foreshadowed by the use of Vecna in Eddie's campaign, and if Will and El are intentionally paralleled to the Eye and the Hand respectively, then Mike's lost hand/eye signals may not necessarily literally mean that he's going to lose his body parts, but rather that he's going to lose or feel like he's lost both Will and El one more time before everything is over.

The Bad News

IF any of this is correct-- specifically, IF Mike did create the shadow monster or the Upside Down or even just influenced it in some way... even if Henry was somehow exercising power over it to make it more dangerous than necessary... I'm just not convinced that everybody would be able to forgive him.

I mean... Will, obviously would. That's kind of a foregone conclusion, especially since at least in the scenario I'm speculating about, none of what happened would be anything Mike knew he was in any way complicit in until after the fact.

I also think El would probably be able to understand pretty quickly given that she knows what it's like to do something without knowing you can do it, and to have to come to terms with the fact that others have suffered as a result. That being said, if we DO get Mike in the scenario I've been outlining, and then we DON'T get a parallel to the s1 "I'm the monster" "no you're not the monster-- you saved me" scene, except with Mike saying that he's the monster, and El assuring him that he's not because there's no such thing as being a monster or a superhero, but he was her first ever friend so she could never consider him a monster? I'll sue.

A lot of the others I'm way more up in the air about, because I really think it would come down to a lot of context in how it was portrayed, whether the others could manage to get into a somewhat normal groove with him ever again (though I highly doubt they'd have the Party end the show broken up, so I suspect they, at least, would find a way to come to terms with what happened).

But really... it's Nancy that concerns me? In literally any scenario where Mike might have had ANYTHING to do with the Upside Down in any capacity outside of what we've explicitly seen in the show. Whether he knew what he was doing or not. Whether Henry was the one orchestrating things in s1-s4/presumably at least early s5 or not. I just...

I can see a path where she could forgive him, right? Though I'm really worried that's a path where she would forgive him and take all that blame and put it onto herself because he was he little brother and she didn't notice.

But I just... I don't know.

I just know how horribly she's raked herself over the coals over Barb's death ever since s1, and I just worry about whether she would be able to accept that, in the scenario I've been outlining, Mike didn't actually mean to do anything/couldn't actually have stopped it because he didn't know it was happening. Because I suspect that in order for Nancy to get to that place, she'd have to confront the fact that SHE isn't at fault for what happened to Barb, either. That she did not do anything wrong (at least, not wrong enough that she deserves to be still agonizing over it four years later) by telling Barb to go home that night. That there was no way Nancy could have known that something bad was happening to Barb, and that the fact that she didn't stop what was happening BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ANYTHING FOR HER TO STOP, doesn't mean she's in any way at fault.

And... I REALLY hope we're going to get to see Nancy confronting that head on in s5. But it just.... concerns me in the context of these theories about Mike's potential supernatural role.

#mike wheeler #byler #my analysis #I feel like there HAS to be a tag for all this Mike-and-the-Upside-Down stuff? #but I legitimately don't know what it is #long post #<- as always //sigh #I don't know what brevity is I guess #also #if Mike DOES have literally any sort of supernatural abilities #I fully believe that Karen knows/suspects somehow #100% because of that super coded “I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me” conversation #which YEAH does read like she's encouraging him that he can tell her if he's queer #but like #I've always thought she picked a SUPER weird time to have that conversation?? #“oh your best friend who I suspect you might have feelings for is missing? Okay well just so you know it's okay if you're gay” #like #just a really weird time when Mike isn't even a little volunteering that info #but if she knew somehow that Mike had supernatural abilities + knew somehow that something supernaturally fishy had gone down with Will #I feel like yeah no that would be the exact RIGHT time to try and assure him he could tell her “anything” lol #which now I'm thinking about this the context of Troy's “killed by some other queer” comment #idk idk idk I'm just thinking thoughts at this point

[herefortarlos]

Hello! Nice ask week asks for you! 1) What are your top three Tarlos moments? 2) Have you ever been the same again since discovering Tarlos? 3) If you could hang out with TK and Carlos for a day and you chose the activities, what would you get up to?

Awww, thank you for the ask, Cig 🥰 I can answer question 2 real quick; no I have not been the same since discovering Tarlos 😆! Tarlos is my 3rd extreme hyper fixation I've had over a fictional couple, but it is the first time that I've not only found 2 characters I absolutely love but they are also canonically a couple! It is becoming more common thankfully, but it is still so hard to find a well written AND canon gay couple in media! Tarlos has been such a nice change where I don't have to imagine these two wonderful characters being together and only having fanfic and some scenes to base that on, they are officially together, they have many on screen kisses and they're married!! And I've made so many wonderful friends and have also been more open about my sexuality and who I share that with because of Tarlos! 🥹 So I hope my obsession is here to stay for a long time!

Oh jeez, my top 3 Tarlos moments?!? But there are so many to choose from and it's always changing 😆 Get ready for my long winded thoughts! I do think my #1 has to be the wedding! I still can't watch the vows scene and listen to them without crying, I just loved their vows to each other sooo much, they were perfect to me and who TK and Carlos are as people and how they have grown since season 1 to now! And I loved TK asking Tommy to sing Being Alive for him as a gift to Carlos and to me that's not a spur of the moment thing, that is a, TK asked Tommy weeks ago if she would do this and why this specific song was so meaningful and I cry just thinking about that conversation and how honored Tommy felt that TK went to her 🥹. And the way TK and Carlos cry and hold each other during her singing is just too much and I love it! I'm so happy they're married!

For my second top moment I am including the entirety of s3e13 Riddle of the Sphynx! I rewatched that episode and skipped to all the Tarlos scenes the other night and I was a wreck! I loved all the domesticity and flirty Tarlos we got, I loved jealous Carlos and that dinner table conversation is still one of the absolute best scenes that Rafa and Ronen have acted together. TK trying to explain to Carlos why he can't help with this and Carlos begrudgingly accepting it and then fully realizing, when TK is looking through photos of his mom, that he is out of his depth and if he wants to help TK then he needs to get in contact with the person that can truly empathize and help him, and that is nothing against Carlos! Him realizing that this isn't about him, it's about the man he loves, and that little "I love you. I know" moment, TK knowing then for sure that he is going to marry Carlos, and then Carlos' little happy, satisfied smile as he leaves the loft, all of it made me a mushy, blubbering mess and absolutely blew me away again, after seeing that episode like 10 times now! Oh and the use of Transatlanticism was amazing as well!

Phew, and finally for my third moment, I am going to cheat and say TK's and Carlos' proposals!! TK's proposal being at 3 in the morning in their bed, where it's soft and quiet and just meant for TK and Carlos 😭 absolutely perfect! I loved that TK was no longer afraid of love or losing it and it was such a pinnacle moment to show that TK is done running from Carlos and then he proved that time and again in season 4! I also loved him petting Carlos' hair and rubbing his ear!

Then at the end of season 4 we get the gift we didn't know we needed in Carlos proposing to TK! Them saying that they have saved each other, Carlos realizing that TK and wanting to be married to him are the only things in his life he is 100% certain of! TK getting the joy of being proposed to and Carlos smiling for the first time in days when he sees that he made TK smile 🥹 My favorites may change again but these are the moments that first came to mind and I love them all so much!

Okay and finally, if I could hang out with TK and Carlos for one day and do anything, I would honestly want them to show me around Austin! We would need to go to a cat cafe, I looked it up and Austin has a couple! (I am currently watching a stream of a cat cafe and that is influencing my choice 🤣) because Carlos could finally pet an animal and TK and animals are a match made in heaven, and can you imagine how cute they would be surrounded by cats 🥹 I would also want to go clothes shopping with them because Carlos needs some more variety aside from all the plaid dad shirts, just a little bit of style and color! And seeing some of the research that people have put into looking up TK's clothes, that man has expensive tastes and I want to know if he actually looks at price tags or just grabs all the things he likes without looking 😆 And I would want to go back to the loft and eat some of Carlos' cooking! Give me some ropa vieja and tamales, please 🤤. And then I would want to go out to a queer club where this supposed night life is that we haven't gotten to see 🤣 Ohh, what a dream that would be!!

#thank you so much for the ask Cig! ❤️ #I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it #My mind has been mush and I wanted to write a good response when I was feeling up to it! #1 more ask to go! #nice ask week #part 2 😆 #911 lone star #tarlos #desi answers

[bookworm-2692]

🌲 favourite member/character?

🧨 favourite season and why?

🔥 if you were in the life games, how would you play it?

⚡️most cinematic death?

🌿 any favourite interpretations?

🔮 predict the winner of secret life

<3 love to hear your thoughts

Uhhhh sorry about the delay getting to answer this! I first saw the ask on my phone and wanted to wait until I got to my laptop and then forgot until I got another ask haha.

🌲 favourite member/character?

Oh man this is hard! I'm really liking Gem this season, and Pearl is always fantastic. Her Double Life was extra great, but I've loved her loyalty to her team and the way she's trying to get them to win in both Limited Life and Secret Life, even when her teammates are a bit pathetic (affectionate) sometimes (BigB and Mumbo...). I loved Impulse in Limited Life and how much he was trying to win without letting on that he was tryharding it... Also Skizz Limited Life my beloved <3. Skizz is wonderful and I wish he was in Double Life so I could've been introduced to him at the same time I was introduced to the rest of cast (apart from the two I had known about for a decade already). They're all fun and so wonderful!

🧨 favourite season and why?

Third Life and Last Life are excluded because I have only seen three sessions of Third Life (was about to start session 4 when Limited Life was released) and none of Last Life (because I was gonna watch it when I finished Third Life and that hasn't happened yet). I think Double Life will always have a soft spot in my heart because it was the first one I saw and I loved the soulmates mechanic (I still wonder how things may have changed if, on a red life death, the one who died still dies, but their soulmate gets like a totem effect and continues playing as a solo red... I think that would have made it interesting, especially to see Pearl hunt Scott. I've noodled this as an au but not really come to any conclusions yet. Also what would Tango have done, being alone so early?? That sort of thing). Also I watched Pearl's POV first each week because she uploaded just before I went to bed on Friday night, and everyone else would upload while I was asleep, so that just made her win that much better <3.

I also loved Limited Life because Skizz my beloved <3. I loved how they had solid teams but the alliances between teams changed every five minutes it was so funny. I loved how cavalier they were with dying until they were like "oh shit" because it was the end and they were desperate. I loved making my life tracker graph for this season. Limited Life was a lot of fun.

Secret Life is also fantastic so far. I love the tasks and the interactions (and canon Gem in the life series!). Unfortunately, Secret Life is uploading concurrently with Decked Out running. During Double Life I managed to watch every single POV each week. During Limited Life I was busier, so I only managed to watch most POVs each week. For Decked Out, I was mostly keeping up with everyone's streamed runs, but behind on videos... and now Secret Life is happening... so I'm way behind on both, because keeping up with just one is a full time job and I like both. So I will definitely have to go back later and watch more Secret Life POVs because I just can't keep up with Decked Out at the same time.

So all in all... I think Double Life is my favourite. The Divorce Quartet stuff was great, and I loved Pearl so much. I might go have a poke again at some point about what may have happened if the final death disconnected the soulbond (especially if they players weren't aware that would happen, so Jimmy still dies first but Tango is alive... and then the chaos as everyone realises their red soulmate is no longer safe...)

🔥 if you were in the life games, how would you play it?

Oh man, this is hard! I'll be honest, I've hardly played minecraft in years other than a few hours here and there starting a new world and then getting too busy to continue. So I definitely don't have PVP skills and would probably honestly be a pretty wet cat. I guess try to find a solid team and try to build some houses/some basic wheat farms, and try not to die pathetically too quickly??? I don't like lying, so I'd be really bad at being boogeyman if that was in play. I don't think I'd betray my teammate, but I would probably be pretty easy to betray. I would definitely die in the bottom half of the rankings lmao.

⚡️most cinematic death?

This one is also hard. Ren and BigB in Double Life was good, with the absolute fluke of a dripstone kill. Also Double Life, but when Bdubs and Impulse became red as Ren was hunting Bdubs, and Impulse took the time to change the music disc to be thematically appropriate is absolutely iconic. In Limited Life, I think Jimmy's final death was fairly cinematic - surrounded by everyone, the fall, the lightning... the tragedy of it all really makes it. Grian's final death is only cinematic in its parallels - falling in the same manner as Jimmy, from skynet, especially as both of them are often interpreted as being birds. I think also Scott's death from green to yellow is cinematic, when the entire yellow server was chasing him, so it involves him escaping everyone, and then the swimming through water, Jimmy trying to kill him, and Scott desperately trying to swim to Martyn so that Martyn can get his time instead of an enemy. I'm not sure if Secret Life has had any cinematic deaths so far... wait actually. Jimmy and Martyn becoming red. From Impulse's POV he (or nvbzy) did a lot of awesome cinematic shots of the dragon fight, including the moment the intruders appeared and then two of them immediately died. Was very cinematic from Impulse's POV, though I haven't seen it from their POVs yet.

🌿 any favourite interpretations?

Hmm. I like that Pearl canonised Tilly having three lives too, she died on her yellow life at the end of the season, which means she's technically still there on her red life. I also like where I saw somewhere about Matchbox potentially being a reincarnation of Tilly?? This is less an interpretation and more based on the skin, but I love that Gem is corrupted by the End now due to the circumstances involved with how she became yellow. I am also now suddenly incapable of remembering any other interpretations, or at least forgetting what is canon and what is an interpretation haha.

Wait I do also love the post that mentions Gem being brought in as a Listener agent simply because Martyn and Jimmy are too pathetic right now lmao

🔮 predict the winner of secret life

I think Impulse has a good chance this time. He's a solid player, and his team is solid and loyal. He came second in Limited Life, and was fairly high in the previous seasons too. Limited Life really showed how much he's willing to work to win, and this time he won't have Scott kill him three times in a row lmao. Scott is also a really good player, but because he's won, he won't want to win again (Pearl has explicitly stated this as well, but Scott hasn't stated it but has shown it with his actions in Double and Limited Life where he very easily could have won again twice over but chose not to), so he will be able to help his teammates. Gem is good at PVP but she's a little more reckless with her hearts than Impulse - actually, Impulse and Skizz both have an advantage with experience being in UHC mode. So yeah, Impulse makes sense to me. And after Limited Life he deserves it. It would be funny if like Gem won on her first season though, or if somehow Jimmy won after becoming the second red so early. I don't think Jimmy will win but it'd be so funny if he did (and so cathartic if he broke the canary curse by winning).

Thank you so much for sending these asks in, and apologies for the week and a half delay in answering!!

Ask game questions here

#traffic life smp #double life smp #limited life smp #secret life smp #ask

[digikate813]

I know The Nice and Accurate Prophecies Week ended a few days ago, but I hope it's still alright to throw in my two cents on the final prompt for that week:

“It’s starts, as it will end, with a garden.”

This is all about speculating on how the show will end in it's (hopefully please God please) upcoming third and final season. I've seen a lot of answers to this question pretty much since the second I finished Season 2. Aziraphale and Crowley becoming human, retiring to that famous South Downs cottage, running away among the stars together, or just going back to the way things were and have been for the last 6,000 years. But here's the idea I've been thinking of for a while, that I want to put out there.

What if, Aziraphale and Crowley become guardians to Earth?

As great as Aziraphale and Crowley are together, I think it often gets overlooked, by them and the audience, how much of that relationship is owed to the time they've spent on Earth. The only reason they concoct that plan to stop the Apocalypse at the beginning of the series is because they love their lives on Earth so much, that they don't want to see it destroyed.

I've seen a lot of people (predictably) judge and call out Aziraphale for the decisions he made in the Season 2 finale, but Crowley has his own moments of... just not getting it. There have been plenty of instances of Crowley insisting they "run away together" because "it's a big universe out there". But if they did that... it wouldn't be the same. The reason Aziraphale and Crowley are so close, is because they got to know each other through the experiences they had on Earth all these years. An the reason I think that's going to be significant going forward is because as it turns out, Aziraphale and Crowley are not the only ones that's happened to.

Season 2 portrayed another pair between an angel and a demon, Gabriel and Beelzebub, who formed an attachment to each other through their frequent meetings on Earth. They spent time in intimate settings, far away from their respective sides, soaked in the culture and atmosphere that a simple pub has to offer, and just got to know each other. From there, they starting changing their viewpoints and reassessing their stances on things like ending the world to prove a point. Because now, to them, it would mean losing something really special that brought them closer together. That sounds familiar doesn't it?!

Then there's Muriel. Who becomes enamored with life on Earth almost immediately. They're so enthusiastic about just being down there and gets wrapped up in books and reading so much, that they're left in charge of the bookshop. And if Beauty and the Beast taught us anything, it's that once people start reading, soon they start "getting ideas and thinking".

There's a sort of wonder to life on Earth that transforms these beings who are often so divided and closed off in this echo chamber of ideals that must never be questioned. And I could see the few beings that have stepped outside of that chamber being the ones to poke holes in those proverbial bubbles during the events of season 3. Remember we still need to get to what Crowley was talking about at the end of the first season. "All of us against all of them"

The joys and innovations of life on Earth. how it constantly changes and evolves and faces set backs and tragedies but manages to just keep on going, is something that changes something in these beings the more they experience it. When all is said and done, I could see Aziraphale and Crowley leading, a movement. A third side that looks after life on Earth. Whether through intervention or temptation, but never for the side either of those represent. Just to, keep things interesting let's say.

Obviously Heaven and Hell will continue to exist and dictate what happens to humans after their time on Earth. They've been there since the beginning, they always will be there. But as far as that time being alive is concerned. For that lovely, precious time spent on this planet full of possibilities. Maybe that should be watched over by the few who walk among them from generation to generation, who understand what's so special about that life. It's not just a pawn in a game played by highly competitive beings, it's something else entirely. Something that deserves to be protected. Perhaps best protected, by the two who have been there since the beginning, and understand it better than anyone above or below ever will.

It would encourage breaking out of those molds angels and demons are smushed into. Giving those who feel or think differently, another option. Somewhere to encourage their curiosities and stretch their moral muscles.

I feel like in order for the arc of this series to be completely satisfying, there needs to be some shift in the status quo. If Aziraphale and Crowley go back to how they were before, then what was the point of putting them through all of this?

Much like the people they've been living amongst for thousands of years, they need to change. They've already challenged the idea of what it means to be angelic or demonic. They've already developed a friendship that has evolved into truly loving each other more than anyone else (it's tough to say relationship right now because they lowkey broke up, but I'm sure they'll fix that). They need to understand what's really important, and what's really worth fighting for. To me at least, that doesn't just mean truly being there for each other (although that is part of it), but for everything around them, that allowed them to grow so close, and see this system as something that should change. That is a change, that they need to make happen. Because they're the only ones that can. Together.

Now granted I don't know how the events of Season 3 would leadup to something like this (there's a reason why Neil Gaiman gets a bunch of money and awards and I'm some rando on the Internet commenting on it in the middle of the night), and I wont' be upset if the show chooses to go a different direction then what I've just described here (except making them human, I don't really like that), but given everything that's happened so far, how far Aziraphale and Crowley have come and how far they still have to go, I think, making them.... "godfathers to humanity" of sorts, could be a strong way for them to affirm their love for Earth, to remove themselves form Heaven and Hell entirely and just be themselves, and show once and for all what it means for them to.

Be Their Own Side

#good omens #analysis #gomensnaap #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands

[twelverriver]

gonna go with the obvious and say buffy for the tv show ask game (also saw you reblogged some ouat and dw so if you want to do those too 👀)

hello lovely anon i'm gonna do all three shows thank you for asking!!! see below this is gonna get LONG

buffy:

Favourite character: buffy summers <3 the one and only!!

Funniest character: look buffy isn't the pun master for nothing!!! she's working hard on those!! i gotta appreciate good effort

Best-looking character: okay so the thing is here at jana summrsbuffy no one is suprised when i say buffy a third time but ALSO it's faith for obvious reasons but also it's s6 willow but also it's cordelia in every scene she's in same as jenny & tara & so on and so on

3 favourite ships: buffy x faith, buffy x spike, buffy x cordelia (also special mention to spike and dru bc literally WHO is doing like them. they said we're just gonna redefine your definition of love & vampirism on this show real quick. they said what if we're just a wifeguy & his vampiric seer wife and we were sooo insanely devoted 2 each other n also hot <3)

Least favourite character: oh many!!! my first thought was warren and i'm sticking with it

Least favourite ship: hmmm i don't really like buffy x riley, no surprise, i also don't like buffy x xander, i think that's about it???

Reason why I watch it: buffy summers is the actual love of my life i'd trust her with my life more readily than anyone else fictional or real <3 okay but also bc it's gotten a hold on my brain that literally no other show has done it is literally changing my brain chemistry it is so good it is so rich in neurodivergent and queer characters. i love characters with Such Issues <3

Why I started watching it: my sister watched it and i just started watching with her sometime and then i was like wait. this is actually cool i need 2 go back to the start and see everything

doctor who:

Favourite character: river song!! also twelve. it's river for when someone asks me but it's also twelve in my heart <3

Funniest character: hmm i think bill and rory are underrated comedic geniuses actually

Best-looking character: river song duh. also this is so rude to ask bc there are sooo many good looking women.... i keep getting tormented with choosing the prettiest girl...

3 favourite ships: river song x the doctor (especially river x twelve) is my favourite ship of all time and it probably always will be, the doctor x the master (especially twelve x missy) and rory x amy . all of them rotate in my brain like crazy

Least favourite character: okay choosing a least favourite character for a show this vast seems soo impossible... i'm not the biggest fan of clara i also dislike donna's mom... i don't know i'm not a hater at heart :/

Least favourite ship: oh definitely the doctor x clara no doubt no doubt 0/10 ship. also for a less serious note i heavily disliked ten and the woman he was married to in fob though that was mostly on her... anyway it Counts.

Reason why I watch it: it's my favourite show it's my special interest it's soooo !!!!! i love doctor who so much i've rewatched it plenty of times, it says such beautiful things about being human, space but mostly about LOVE !!! life is all about the beautiful things and having a friend actually so true <3

Why I started watching it: my best friend watched heaven sent years ago when i came over and she said hey do you mind me finishing up this episode while we eat lunch and i was immediately intrigued and then watched all seasons <3 she literally changed the trajectory of my life forever <3

ouat:

Favourite character: REGINA MILLS !!!!

Funniest character: hmm also regina also zelena has her moments

Best-looking character: sorry for going regina a third time but i'm also a lesbian and i love regina milfs ok

3 favourite ships: ouat is the swanqueen show to me, i don't really have any other ships :/

Least favourite character: hmm probably mary margaret ngl. i take my further statement back i AM a hater when it comes to ouat <3

Least favourite ship: uhh i don't really like emma x killian they're like spuffy but with much less flavour and spice... ok actually i think zelena and hades annoyed me more for the short time they had. okay final answer is rumple x belle i can't believe they weren't my first thought...

Reason why I watch it: for regina mills and for swanqueen <3 also it had a musical ep. what more do i need 2 say

Why I started watching it: my sister! also my best friend at the time was also a big fan and rewatched it

#i've got mail💌 #sorry i really did hate on ouat sjdjgj #i have a complicated relationship with it where i love it very much and i also hate it very much and i also really want it to be #better than it is SO badly bc i do feel very fondly about it #anyway <3 thank u for asking!!! #anonymous

[larathia]

Third Wheel’s The Charm: Coda

Ch. 34: Coda

Summary (series): At the end of Season 4, Keith tried a suicide run at Haggar's ship in a desperate bid to save Voltron. A run that only a few people realized was happening, and no one brought up later; after all, Lotor had made it all unneccessary and no one got hurt. But what if Matt had made sure the other paladins knew what had happened, and the people near Keith cared enough to do something about it? That's where this AU starts. While the problems the paladins face broadly parallel canon, events definitely do NOT unfold in the same ways.

Summary (this fic): At last the Paladins return to Earth. But Sendak and Haggar got there first, and nothing about this is going to go the way canon took it.

Rating: Mature (violence, language, sexual situations aren't DETAILED but they're THERE.)

Ships: Shiro/Keith, Matt/Lance, Lotor/Allura sortakinda. (Allura's life is COMPLICATED.) Most of the series is ship-free, but round about Palen-Bol things start developing. My focus is more on plots than ships and I do not write sex scenes, but there you go.

Warnings: Bad things have happened to pretty much everyone. I've done what I can to give each person some support, but...yeah. BAD THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO EVERYONE.

Castles in the Sky That Which Yet May Be Finding Shiro Palen-Bol Third Wheel's the Charm

This chapter:

A little taste of the lazy (or at least lazier) days of peace. As promised, it's more of an epilogue than a chapter, but I wanted to give you all a feeling of how it all might stretch forward.

Despite my choice of final paragraph, for me this saga ends here. Hopefully, I've carried this AU to a reasonably satisfying ending. I thank you all for coming along on this wacky and way-too-long ride.

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#voltron legendary defender #vld #sheith #shieth #matt/lance #larathia writes #vld au #longfic