#(since I have to find a way to relate the basic info without making everything related to them into Walking Spoilers for Some charas)

[koushirouizumi]

( Koushiro's place-holder profile for my re-done Advs shrine is up! )

[bekolxeram]

No, OMG! I'm so sorry if my ask came off this way. I was genuinely curious if there was any way this could work, hence the question. I used to believe it was Tommy who flew the plane, but once I saw your explanation, I actually subscribed to your view. It does seem more believable. I wish it was Tommy, but I think you're right, it wouldn't make much sense. I was just curious if Tim and the writers were to confirm in the future that it was indeed Tommy who flew that plane, whether it would be at least somewhat believable. That was the purpose of my ask. I didn't mean to disregard your theories. I'm sorry. I LOVE your aviation analyses; I even sent you a coffee from the Kinley cafe 🫣 I hope you don't stop. Whenever I see you posted something, I have this huge smile on my face because I know I'm about to read a banger of a post. It's all so interesting!

Noooo, it’s not you. I actually really appreciate your asks. And thank you for the Kinley Café order, you have no idea how happy it made me.

I don’t get asks often, but since the 8x02 title reveal I’ve gotten a few, all aviation related. I’ve been… honestly, elated. I have the chance to yap about my passion and do deep dives on stuff that never crossed my mind before. Sometimes I get carried away, I’m very much incapable of being normal about planes. Ever since I saw those planes in bts photos, my brain has been bustling with ideas, and at times I click rb/reply before thinking because I get too excited. I would worry later that I might’ve forced my theories on others without being asked about them. But it’s not like they’re harmful rhetorics or antagonistic hot takes, just an info dump about a lot of planes. So people can ignore and I’ll move on.

I especially enjoyed doing research on that C-130 in 2x14, I learned a lot about aerial firefighting in the process. I didn’t pay attention back then, but I noticed the lack of airplanes when Tommy was giving Buck the tour in 7x04, so I went back and found the line from the TV reporter saying it was CAL FIRE.

I suspect that line was shoved in there last minute, because some technical consultants told them firefighting air tankers are never used in an urban environment, the weight of water/fire retardant can flatten cars, houses, it has gotten multiple people killed. I can think of more instances where the emergency seems unrealistic at first, but then there’s a passing line making it kind of possible, just exaggerated. I know we always joke about Tim writing soap opera level surreal emergencies, but I feel like all the other people involved in the making of this show don’t get enough credit, especially those designing the opening big disasters.

I’ve noticed multiple times that shortly after posting stuff about Tommy’s pilot career, a post would pop up in the tag asking people to stop obsessing over timeline. I paid them no mind before, they were probably not personal I thought, a subsection of the fandom does have the habit to use Tommy’s age to call him a predator. But this time, well, my theory was mentioned by name, so they were talking about me.

I can handle bad takes or even attacks from the toxic part of the fandom, I don’t value their opinion at all. Seeing rb after rb from people on our side of the fandom, some of whom I admire, basically telling me to stop being so obsessive over realism, being compared to fans who nitpick certain actors’ accents, tattoos, grooming choices, that one stings harder than I thought.

I know I’m being thin-skinned, I’m making everything about me, I’m fully aware that I’m a disaster. But I find myself hesitating to answer the other aviation related asks in my inbox, one of them particularly asking about the possibility of certain scenario in real life. I’m just not sure my input is welcomed here. I have this fear of unknowingly annoying people with my over-enthusiasm. I feel like that kid who keeps yapping about trains at school that everyone secretly hates again.

I just really, really love aviation. I thoroughly enjoy uniting these 2 things that I love and maybe learn new things from it. I don’t mean to impose. I was very excited this morning when I received asks in my inbox, but now it feels like being slammed back onto the ground, and it’s not a good feeling. I don’t know, maybe it’s time to uncouple these 2 things.

[artist-issues]

Hello! My ask is about The Rise Of Skywalker. I would like to read your analysis of Reylo's scenes such as their dialogues in the film, Rey's declaration to Ben ("I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand."), Ben's return to the light side and the reylo kiss. The declaration, Ben's return and the kiss, for me, are the only good things about this film.

I thought all of the Rise of Skywalker was really terrible. Terrible writing, terrible plot, and even some pretty terrible characterizations. (I thought the actors did their best, though.)

Basically, ROS had several threads that TLJ and TFA had braided together. All it needed to do was tie those threads off. But instead, it unraveled them and tangled them up and said “done! All tied up!”

For example:

Thread 1: Finn’s journey from fear to faith.

Thread 2: Leia’s hope for her son.

Thread 3: Poe’s journey from hero to leader.

Thread 4: Hux’s growing, rabid desire for control. (It’s why the organization’s called the First “ORDER”)

Thread 5: Kylo Ren’s learning that power won’t make him feel secure.

Thread 6: Rey’s learning that she doesn’t need to be “somebody” because it’s all about something bigger than herself.

Thread 7: Kylo Ren and Rey learning their respective lessons by finding the answers in each other.

TLJ took what TFA started and got you those threads. Then TROS said “never mind, we don’t like those threads” with most of them. For example, Poe and Finn suddenly have nothing to do. For example, Finn is not doing anything that requires the faith he began building at the end of TLJ; he’s just following Rey around. Poe is not learning how to lead, he’s just info-dumping and trying quick three-man hero missions, unlike the lesson he learned at the end of TLJ. Hux is not strategizing with rabid extremism for control; he’s just pettily throwing his life away to get back at Kylo Ren. Et Cetera. The threads all get unraveled or tangled up or left dangling uselessly.

EXCEPT for Thread 7.

They make an attempt at “Kylo Ren and Rey learning their respective lessons by deepening their bond.” The problem is, without the other threads, that one just doesn’t fit any better than the rest of the story.

First off, I 100% agree that Kylo Ren and Rey would be involved romantically, in some way, eventually. There’s literally no way around it. Romantic attachment is choosing to commit to someone on an intimate level. Because they’re Force Bonded, and because they are the only people in the universe who have similar identity crises and deep family-related angst, they were bound to intimately understand each other. They started caring about each other in TLJ. All TROS had to do was fan the flames of that care up in a way that led to their character developments concluding.

Rey just needed to demonstrate more of the letting-go she demonstrated at the end of TLJ: she wants Kylo Ren to be Light, but she realizes there’s nothing she can do to force it, even if she begs and pleads, so she just keeps doing the right thing on her end and trusts the Force, believing he’ll come to the right conclusion in the end no matter how much evil he’s done. What’s that ladies and gentlemen? It’s called ✨ unconditional love. ✨

Then Kylo Ren just needed to see that love. Literally, just see and continuously experience it. Even if he’s trying to hunt her down and kill her or take everything from her or whatever, she just keeps refusing to kill him and believing he’ll turn good. After all, that’s more than his parents did for him back when they sent him away—and since then, whatever unconditional love Rey shows him is strengthened by the examples of unconditional love Han Solo and Luke showed right before they died. Plus the alternative to accepting unconditional love—murdering everything that might give him a sense of power—hasn’t been making him feel any better. So he was primed for redemption via Rey.

That’s all they needed to do in TROS. Not so hard, just write a reason for her to save his life or spare it again, even after their previous encounter and even given his new status as Supreme Leader. He’s halfway there. Continued pushes are all that’s needed.

Just like Luke Skywalker in the Revenge of the Sith, Rey and Kylo Ren don’t really need to develop much more in the final movie of their trilogy. They just need to put what the first two movies taught them to a big final test.

Anyway. With that in mind:

Let me give you the bite-sized version 😅

The Force-Searching Scenes - I don’t like these because they’re all Kylo Ren searching for Rey, with little to no engagement from her. She feels more like she’s given up on him in these scenes and is just trying to win an argument whenever he barges into her brain. He, on the other hand, might be looking for her, but it’s with one hand on his grandfather’s mask. Which is totally the opposite of him “letting the past die. Kill it, if you have to.” So he’s taking weird steps backward, toward TFA, as if TLJ never happened… and that tarnishes his motives for finding Rey, in my mind. If he’s going back to trusting the past and the idea of his grandfather, then why does he want to turn Rey to the dark side? When Vader failed to turn Luke, he tried to murder him. Kylo Ren knows that. So meditating on a mask he should be giving up on in order to find and turn Rey makes no sense, so it takes the tension out of those scenes for me.

Fight Scenes - Again, it makes no sense that Kylo Ren would still be pursuing turning Rey to the dark side so doggedly. Neither of them could convince the other at the end of TLJ. They split a lightsaber in half to prove it. Now, that doesn’t mean they should be giving up on each other completely. But Kylo Ren should be acting like he’s given up on her, even if just to convince himself. That’s what he’s done this whole time: turned to killing the people who fail him to make himself feel more powerful. She has a reason to keep believing in him: she’s on the Light Side of the Force. But instead, she’s the one acting like she wants nothing more to do with him. He mentions how he’s going to turn her to the dark side multiple times in the movie. But she doesn’t say more than one quipped question hinting that she still wants him on the light side. So the “attachment” focus of their fights loses all it’s tension because again, it doesn’t make sense. After TLJ, he should be at least trying to give up on her and pursue killing her, if anything. And she should be steadfastly believing in him, while pursuing doing the right thing no matter what he does. That’s where they were in their character development. More fighting barely makes sense.

Healing Scene - I liked this scene only when Rey heals Kylo Ren. Their fight beforehand, and her ramming his lightsaber into him, still makes no sense. She’s angry at him because of her connection to Palpatine and she’s fighting him like that’s going to exorcise her identity…but Rey being a dark, angry descendant of Palpatine never made sense (it unravels her whole character development.) So her motivations in this scene don’t make sense…until she heals him. Then, suddenly, there’s a glimpse of that Rey we left on the Millenium Falcon in TLJ: she’s healing him, even though he might just stand up and attack her again, because she genuinely believes he’s Ben and she just needs to show him mercy until he comes around to believing it. And THAT is part of what turns him. So I like that: I just think it was executed really poorly. She should never have been healing him from a wound she caused.

The Kiss - The kiss was just basically the TROS storytellers confirming that they were romantically attached instead of just enemies-to-friends/Allie’s attached. Because…for some reason they had to confirm that visually. I just think, again, that they didn’t set it up and execute it well. They have no conversations and no significant attention paid toward each other between the healing scene and the final battle. They might be force-linked, but the audience needed to see that bond turned romantic, or him turned good before any overt romantic gestures, much earlier on. Other than that, I like that he healed her. I love Adam Driver’s acting in that whole scene. Makes me wish they gave him more to do.

The Death Scene - This should not have happened. It was lazy. Kylo Ren is a character who has been trying to fulfill himself by making BIG, final (emphasis on “final”) choices. Having him make one more big final choice, to end his own life, was not good character development. He should’ve had to live with what he’d done so he could learn from his mistakes. That’s where his whole character was headed. He’s always failed to learn from his past: he thinks he can just erase it. You know what giving up your life for a different hero and then fading away is? It’s nice, but it’s just another “erase” choice. Additionally? It’s terrible for Rey’s story, too. She finally had someone she chose, someone she waited for who actually came back, somebody who understood her…somebody who’s redemption rewarded her long faith…and she’s left alone again. That’s just the worst. Plus, what did she need him to heal her for? What exactly did she die of? He was way more injured than she was.

What they should’ve done was, Kylo Ren and Rey save the day, and then he’s condemned to death for his crimes by the New Republic, but in honor of Leia’s life of sacrifice and belief in him, he’s given enough of a pardon to simply be banished to the unknown reaches. And Rey goes with him, because she can finally stop waiting, she loves seeing the galaxy, and they can learn about the Force together…plus, they’re obviously deeply connected. And that would be a great homage to Leia’s legacy as a character who never gives up on hope, and that hope is ultimately rewarded. Instead of having her give her life to reach him…so he can live for an hour or so before also dying.

Long story short…you’re right! I just think all the elements you liked should’ve been way more central, built up to, and placed where they fit in a better movie!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA, if i told my partner to stop taking overtime without telling me first?

We just had a baby together. the baby is a month old now. Basically, this question stems from me planning on his arrival and then finding out he's not coming home for another 5 hours. He got an entire day of rest and then went to work. He deserved it. That day, he didn't do any baby related things and slept. Then he went to work. He works overnight. Usually 10 pm to 6:45 am. When we didn't have a baby, he would sometimes randomly be asked to stay extra - until 10 am or sometimes even 2 pm. He would break plans all the time since he would come home too exhausted to ever come through on dates or any other plan for the day. Now we have a baby. I was hoping for him to give me a chance to get a proper nap (infants wake up every 3ish hours, so...) but now he won't be able to because he randomly took overtime without even warning me. He's not the best at working through being tired. The second he's slightly tired or sleepy, he will go down like a light and become essentially useless.

Some things. He's a good dad, and he's always been an amazing partner. The main reason I feel like I shouldn't need to ask him is that my mom is constantly helping me and could be the one relieving me for my naps. The issue here is that I don't like leaving my baby alone with her unless I truly have to. She breaks my boundaries often. She panics a lot whenever he does anything and will often not listen to me when I tell her certain things. The worst part is that she kisses the baby sometimes. She still is a huge help, but her being alone with baby is a huge source of anxiety for me. He knows this.

I don't know if asking for him to "clear" OT with me is a normal marriage-type boundary or not. I use the quotes because it's not like I would never tell him to not take it (we need the money, we just had a baby) but I want to be warned in advanced so I know not to count on his help. It also makes me nervous for when I start working because at that point, we'd really need to coordinate our schedules.

A weird thing: We can be a pushover, especially when I ask him anything, so I don't like to place "rules" because he'll agree either way. Our relationship used to be really unhealthy. I grew a lot in the process of trying to fix everything , and he really hasn't changed that much. I try really hard to make him enforce things or have more of a "backbone" by telling him it's okay to say no. This results in me being really hesitant to ask for things because I used to be way more codependent and almost toxic. We've been together for 10 years. We got together during our dumb teenage years and grew a lot in the process. I just wanted to add this bit just in case this is a stupid question.

What are these acronyms?

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for breaking up with my girlfriend, then being upset when she gets with my best friend?

so I (17M) recently broke up with my girlfriend (15F) over an issue regarding her biological parents. It's a long story that I might get into later. She seems to think that I'm in the wrong for everything I did while we were dating, even though I told her I'd take things at her pace, and I'd be there for her on her search for her genetic parents (she needed to find them out to see if we could continue dating. It's very unlikely that we're related, but my parents need me to make sure for other reasons).

However, throughout all the time we were "together" (it wasnt entirely official), she started constantly avoiding me, and telling other people things before me. Now I know my best friend (16M) probably likes my (now ex) girlfriend. He has for a while, but it's just something we never really brought up or talked about, especially since our relationship has been getting more rocky. My girlfriend started spending more time with him, even while we were dating. I did try to be understanding, since he was going through some shit, but it's hard when everyone seems to constantly choose him over me.

Back to my girlfriend, and our breakup. So she ended up discovering one of her genetic parents, but she said she can't tell me. I tried to guess, but she shut me down and told me she needed to stop searching. I guess her biological parent that she found out turned out to be someone significant. I asked her about the match, the only way we could be together without me facing serious scorn (due to my family's reputation). We basically came to the conclusion that we couldn't, and we left it at that.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I've just found out that she kissed my best friend. And she seemed happy about it. Nervous to tell me, but happy. (Her telling me was essential for full trust, which we need in order to work together). I told her I was hurt, but our bond was stronger than ever afterwards. However, I'm still a bit upset, and I know I want to ask my best friend about it, but I know he and his bodyguard will think I'm the asshole, because all they do is villainize me and somehow say I'm too perfect at the same time.

In the end, I had to choose between my girlfriend and the Match/my family, and I chose my family. I always have. I don't really have a choice in that matter. But some people still seem to think that I'm the worst person in the world, even though I think I'm just trying my best.

So am I the asshole for expressing my disappointment after my ex kissed my best friend?

[greenconvor]

So it’s really been bothering me that Hunter’s reaction to Omega turning herself over to the Empire was almost nonexistent. Like, sure I get it could have just been writer’s choice to focus on the overall plot, but the same writers have gone out of their way to show how passionate Hunter is about keeping Omega safe and how much it effected him when she was captured at the end of season two. SO, I got an idea:

What if Omega surrendering during the invasion was always the plan?

Okay, hear me out. Omega has been very vocal about her desire to go back to Tantiss even before they’d actually escaped. Leaving the other prisoners behind never even crossed her mind. On the other hand, Crosshair has done everything he can to ignore anything remotely related to Tantiss except Omega. Hence why he won’t address the real reason behind his hand tremor.

Now consider: Omega is wracked with guilt/determination, finding it more difficult each day (especially as she sees the extent of Crosshair’s trauma) to sit back and do nothing while there are still so many clones stuck in that awful prison undergoing who knows what torture. So she goes to Hunter, resolved to do Something. Except, there’s nothing they can do until they get the base’s coordinates. Which Hunter and Wrecker already know is nearly impossible since they’ve been trying since Omega was kidnapped in s2.

THEN it becomes apparent that Crosshair isn’t telling them everything. They try to talk to him repeatedly, but nothing is working. He’s locked up tight. So someone (probably Omega) comes up with a plan.

If Omega, the only person Crosshair feels has never abandoned him as well as the one he’s the most protective of now, is taken back to Tantiss then Crosshair will have to reveal what he knows in order to rescue her.

It’s kinda mean and manipulative and very dangerous, but it’s the only feasible plan they’ve got. And as Omega says to Crosshair before she turns herself over: they need to focus on the bigger mission and they, as individuals, are only a small part of it. Omega clearly knows this and as bad as she may feel for forcing Crosshair to return, she knows they HAVE to save the imprisoned clones. It’s a matter of life and death.

And because Omega is Hunter’s weak spot (he will literally do anything for her since she’s basically his child— which makes his sudden lack of reaction even weirder) he agrees.

So Hunter approaches Cid, convincing her to tip off her Imperial informant either out of guilt or monetary incentive. Cid’s info leads CX-2 to Phee who leads him to Pabu. Then all they have to do is get Omega in a position where she seems to have no choice but surrender. It’s not hard to predict, the Empire’s done all this before.

THIS is why neither Hunter or Wrecker are losing it like everyone thought they would. It’s why they’re not blaming Crosshair or running themselves ragged or burning down the galaxy to find her. It’s why Omega is so calm even though she’s back to square one in Hemlock’s ‘care’. It’s why Crosshair seems to be the one most effected by her loss. The others knew what was going to happen; they were prepared. They trust Omega implicitly, knowing that she can keep herself safe until Crosshair leads them to Tantiss. In return, Omega trusts that they will find her. She trusts that Crosshair won’t leave her behind.

I know this is highly unlikely to become canon, but I think it would make all their seemingly uncharacteristic behavior actually very in character without the vague explanation: Writer’s Choice. Either way, that’s my headcanon and I’m sticking to it!

[justanothershippingcan]

My thoughts on the Ritsu&Shou related parts in the Fanbook

because I am kinda going insane.

The way ONE was able to melt all the gays down in one go should be studied, analysed and locked deep in the black void of Shou’s black shirt in the Cultural Festival scene in the manga, because there’s no way. 

As a warning, while I’ll be mostly talking about their relationship in terms of friendship anyway, I ship them, so this is kinda biased on this side of things. Enjoy what I have to say under the cut.

Okay, so, with the premise that the translations around on Twitter aren’t official so the info might not be 100% accurate, I am still more than willing to trust our beloved fantranslators and their hard work. Let’s actually begin this slide deep into the tunnel headed to Copium Land, shall we?

• To the question "Who are your friends, excluding your brother?" Ritsu just answers with Student Council Members and Classmates. And that we (readers) don't have to worry, since he has many people he can ask about the weather to. Now.

We... never see him hang out with his classmates, nor his Council members. Ever. Except for the whole S1 "Middle school criminals purge" fiasco and even then, it ended up with him breaking through the Student Council President Kamuro’s house. When I say Ritsu isn't normal, I mean it (go off, King). 

Ritsu is the same person who asked the other Psychic kids from the Awakening Lab their names only after they were all kidnapped. And solely for the sake of escaping. He... doesn't know how to socialize well or doesn't particularly care. 

To him, friends are ones he can ask the weather to. I honestly feel like, no matter how popular he is (mostly, due to his looks... let’s remember how he is the one among the kids in the cast who gets the most chocolate on Valentine’s Day, but he finds it a nuisance) he doesn’t really know how-to-friend and how-to-people. And partially, he isn’t too focused on that due to the many things he has going on. 

I truly appreciate the idea of autistic Ritsu, because it would explain many things tbh, and this difficulty of approaching others/making friends/even having a basic understanding of friendships and what they mean would be clearer. 

Now, onto Shou. We have two questions to take into account:

• To the "What do you like doing with your friends?" he answers mentioning only Ritsu. Not even the kids that call him leader in S2,nor any classmate. Just Ritsu. And he mentions how Ritsu doesn’t like crowded spaces and noise (I'll return to that later) and how they went fishing together and Ritsu didn't manage to catch anything. From this we have: 

THEY WENT FISHING TOGETHER. Even with the whole text thing later, Ritsu still cared enough to go out with him. Without Mob being involved at all. I think it's important. They canonically hang out together.

Shou cares so much that he wanted to go to a place where Ritsu would feel comfy. Fishing is probably not an activity Shou prefers among others. But Ritsu might appreciate it and that's enough. 

Ritsu is bad at fishing and this is honestly a fun detail lol. 

• Through the same question, we have the whole text bit with Shou saying he texts Ritsu from time to time, but Ritsu answers slowly/not frequently. So-

For one, Ritsu does answer. He is a busy person with Student Council matters and he is, yk. At the top 10 of the best students in the school, in his first year competing with third years. And yet, he still answers these messages. 

Shou goes to school THIS IS A WIN BTW I KNEW IT, Shou literally emits the energy of that one kid who is actually totally listening during class, remembers everything and gets damn good marks, called it. Anyway, Shou probably isn't a slow texter like Ritsu is and has another perception of time lol, not to mention how he probably isn’t as busy. Can relate to Ritsu here. 

They still text. That's pretty good in my book (copium). 

Again, noise. They should have 2012-13 flip phones and now, I have used them in the past, but forgive me, I forgot what I did yesterday, imagine remembering 2012 phones, but I believe they did have an option to turn off notifications. And with Ritsu disliking noise... it's no wonder he would. It also helps with studying. 

•  There was a question about the Cultural Festival bit. Shou says that Ritsu didn’t ask him to come personally, he just caught wind of it and thought “why not?”, which makes more sense now that we are 100% sure he goes to school. Honestly, it’s no wonder Ritsu didn't ask Shou to go and see him. He was uncomfy with that outfit and the whole Maid idea. But as soon as Shou caught on that, he just. Went. Without honestly any other reason if not to see him. Still fruity enough in my book. 

• Last but not least. Ritsu does call Shou a friend in the World Domination Arc. And, truly, I am not willing to believe they aren’t on friendly terms after them texting together, hanging out together (fishing) and Ritsu just... accepting Shou burnt down his house and going along with his plan without a second thought lol. Hence why:

Either Ritsu truly just doesn't know where to place Shou in his mind. Thinking back also on Shou's VA interview helps with this.

Or, since he was mentioned as a friend in Shou’s profile, ONE believed it would have been redundant to put him in Ritsu’s as well. Which I believe is actually a fair point, since Ritsu wouldn’t have added that much insight, knowing him lol.

Or, regarding them being established as friends in World Domination Arc... ONE forgor. And truly, it has been years since he finished that arc, and he has written so many drafts of manga (ONE PUNCH, the rest of Mob), the new upcoming one and all of the extras since then. Wouldn’t blame him.

There is also this little important DETAIL of ONE just casually mentioning he would like a spin-off with Ritsu AND Shou. Together. Can’t separate, idc.

And... gosh, I think this is all. Thanks to all the ones that translated the bits that came out with this book and Katya’s translations of all the other interviews! Between this, the whole deal with Teru (aka his freaking terrible fashion sense and especially his parents), Reigen’s family, Serizawa’s pay, a few peculiar ages being revealed... this fanbook has been a trip and a half. But just in case, thank you all for coming to my Pep Talk, feel free to add anything if you want.

UPDATE 18/11

NEW INFO IS OUT and I reblogged this post of mine with all of such info compiled and my thoughts on it! It kinda changes a few of my highlights here and for the better. I’d say... we ultimately truly won. 

[jorrated]

Hiya Jo, sorry to come to you for this, but your post on Maya Knuckles was so cool I had to ask. You seem good at researching stuff, do you have any tips on looking for sources on specific groups of people? I've been struggling on finding good resources on indigenous groups from brasil... (I'm brazilian myself but i dont know where to start)

I wouldn't say I'm good at research, as I think I'm more insanely curious and just lucky LOL. A lot of times when I try to search for specific things I try absolutely everything until I stumble on whatever I was looking for!

But usually I start with a quick basic skim-read on whatever google gives you when you look up whatever your looking for. Most often then not it'll probably give a wikipedia page, some related news articles and some unsourced pages. A lot of times I won't use any of these, but it's a good way to get a feel for what you'll need to keep an eye for.

What I mean is that sometimes just looking for the main subject of the research wont actually give you what you're looking for. For example, when I was looking for Mayan stuff, it kept giving me Inca and Aztec info, which is cool, but wasn't what i was looking for. But since these 3 were usually grouped together, looking for Inca and Aztec books/resources actually helped me a bunch into finding what I was looking for, and more! So keep an eye out on how the subject you're looking for is COMMONLY described, what's usually associated to it, what people talk about the subject etc.

Then you can go actually searching for thing now, I recommend using DuckDuckGo! And always check if they got a source. Plenty of articles will say things that they've seen on other articles, which maybe are true! but then you always run the risk of getting incorrect facts. So always check, if it's not sourced, run another search with the info and see if another article has a source.

When you do find an article/book with a source THEN you can fall down the rabbit hole! No joke one sourced article can lead you to 5 sources, which most probably also have sources. So from there it's pretty easy to search up on references.

If you run into a dead end and still hasn't found what you're looking for I recommend checking what the wikipedia page is citing as sources. You might not be able to access everything there, but some links should be able to redirect you to somethings.

In terms of paywalled scientific articles, disabling javascript usually works (right click on the page -> inspect element -> find the gear on the top right of the window it just showed up -> scroll down until you see a checkbox saying "disable Javascript" -> and refresh page). But if that doesn't work, Sci-Hub is fucking amazing. Just put down your ref or DOI and voilá!

For books I recommend checking the Internet Archive! They usually have what you're looking for, but also half of the time you can just type "Book name PFD" and it'll usually come up after a few search pages. Just make sure you know how to download stuff without getting a virus in you PC.

Reverse image search can also be pretty useful if you find an image related to the subject, since you can link up to other articles/blogs.

If you're STILL running in dead ends, switching up languages can help (probably not your case since your brazilian and most likely already searching in portuguese but yknow). Google translate extensions can really help looking into pages with languages you don't know! It's not perfect but it might help you get a gist of it.

And lastly if you want to know more about Indigenous people from Brazil, I got a couple of reccomendations (most in portuguese btw)!

Centro de Referência Virtual Indígena

Probably the BIGGEST resource on historical and political information on Indigenous groups. It hosts around 2,3 million documents ranging from bills passed, to personal diary entries. (aaaaand can link up to a lot of other cool resources)

Observatórios dos Direitos e Políticas Indigenistas

Translated from their website: OBIND aims to obtain and systematize quantitative and qualitative data on territorialization processes, territorial management, interethnic conflicts, human rights and quality of life of indigenous peoples and populations in reserved areas or in urban contexts, in order to enable visibility, comparability, evaluation and guidance for indigenous policies and promotion of their rights, notably those pertinent to respect for their uses, customs and traditions and the exclusive enjoyment of the lands they traditionally occupy, recognizing for this the sine qua non condition of promoting indigenous autonomy and overcoming guardianship as assimilationist legacy.

Indígenas pela Terra & Vida

Youtube playlist about many different Indigenous people recounting their experiences and narratives.

GENOCÍDIO INDÍGENA E POLÍTICAS INTEGRACIONISTAS: demarcando a escrita no campo da memória

Book titled: INDIGENOUS GENOCIDE AND INTEGRATIONIST POLICIES: demarcating writing in the field of memory

[lucienarcheron]

HOFAS Thoughts and Review!

This is also my review on Goodreads. Naturally, this is full of spoilers so proceed with caution!

4 star read!

This was a wild ride from start to finish. I found that you jumped right into the action and it literally didn't stop. The crossover with ACOTAR was very info-dump but I didn't mind since a) I don't remember anything lol and b) we needed to make the connection. I really loved seeing Nesta and Azriel in this different element. Given the timeline between ACOSF and HOFAS being about 3 months, I loved that Azriel and Nesta now know how to fight together and Nesta is so in touch with her powers. I love seeing how their friendship has bloomed.

Bryce is a menace and will forever be one. She's one of Sarah's MCs I relate to the least and therefore needed to warm up to her more. I found that in this book, I could despite a lot of her arrogant moments that will rub people the wrong way. I love Quinlar's love but didn't appreciate that she minimized Hunt's reaction to basically reliving much of his trauma with the first war. I'm glad she apologized and got to the point of understanding him but it left a little meh of a taste. The ending scene where he goes after her had my heart in pieces!! Through love, all is indeed possible and I love they were always with each other through it all.

Bryce basically being the High Lady of Dusk and controlling the land was amazing! I loved seeing those scenes. Saitha being the one to kneel first, declaring her as queen? Loved that. The two fae kings dying an awful death? Fabulously done! Hunt mf Althar removing his own slave halo and then removing Isaiah's while calling out that governor lady on her shit??? ADORE! Jesiba's everything in this book? I salute you, queen! Sabine's death??? The Under-King's death??? Literally had me gasping so much.

Ruhn my love, you will always be the Crown Prince of the Fae and that soundbite will always be on repeat every time I see your name lol.

Ruhn x Lidia's romance fell very flat to me. I love Ruhn and hated everything he had to go through but Lidia's character felt out of left field for me. I expected better/different? We find out out of NOWHERE that she's a mom of twins and suddenly, that's her whole personality. She went from this badass agent to everything being about her kids. There is NOTHING WRONG with her being a mother but why couldn't she be a mother AND care about the cause because it's the right thing to do? This was a missed opportunity in my opinion. I also felt like this was very self-insert of Sarah being a mom to have to include another character having kids. The constant talk about all these traumatized idiots having babies is getting on my last fucken nerves tbh. They have a million years to live so can we, I don't know, let them LIVE for five seconds without the absolute need to "start a family"? Let them go to therapy damn it. Sarah constantly writes about how awful it is that fae are obsessed with breeding and whatnot, yet every single of one her characters talks about babies...pls sarah, I beg. Give me ONE otp that doesn't have children. I know she's a HEA author which is what I love about her and her romances but it doesn't always have to end with kids and I just wish we'd see that more. Ruhn and Lidia did not strike me as characters who would be parents at all but now, Ruhn is a stepdad to the Hind's secret twins? It's very weird to me but I hope maybe down the line, we get to see Lidia realize that she is a whole person outside of being a mom. Aside from all that, the rescue scene was amazing. I loved seeing her destroy that asshole she had to endure and I just want to say, Aelin would be cheering mad hard at her for it! It felt like Lidia's fire abilities, the stag relation, and her son's name were all a nod to TOG and I loved that.

As for all the other characters, I really enjoyed seeing Ithan come into his own even though my guy was making mad stupid decisions along the way. His moment with Connor will always have my heart! l also loved the little bits of Ithan and Perry so much! Tharion my love, you will always be famous for making the most desperately dumb decisions before passing that one brain cell you have to Ithan but you know what? Sathia is going to be great for him and I ship it with my whole chest. Ari was wasted in this book and her ungrateful attitude annoyed me. Sigrid's whole plotline was pointless. Declan and Flynn are the best buds and I love them so much. Baxian, you are a gem! Pax being the one responsible for the actual HOFAS while being a healer who is making those antidotes was a great twist and I love it for her. The little fire spirits were so cute and their little moment with the viper queen made me cackle. The Viper Queen can suck it but I am also so very curious about what will happen now considering how that scene ends with Tharion/Ari/Sathia/Colin. I have a feeling all these characters will be showing up again in the future and I'd be excited to read how that will go. I have a feeling it might be done ACOSF style - in that, it'll be standalone in the CC world.

Bonus Chapters:

Bryce, Azriel, Nesta - hilarious and also so cute how Nesta was fascinated by the music playing from Bryce's phone. Azriel doesn't have a mate or partner so let that be clear LOL. Also Nesta already thinking about babies makes me wanna die tbh.

RuhnLidia - It was cute that she proposed and Ruhn is such a little dork crying left and right hahaha.

Quinlar - Hilarious how the big strong thunder boy was scared of those little dolls HAHA.

Ember/Randall - This made me want the Archeron sisters to have a mother figure so badly! The moment with Nesta and Ember hugging was so sweet in the book. I know people are mad at Rhys for yelling at Nesta but y'all...the whole world was at stake and that was a scary decision to make on Nesta's part given how the Pyrthian is STILL traumatized by the Asterie. I don't love how much he yelled but I get it.

Despite having parts I didn't like, I did overall really have fun with this. I think Sarah always does a great job with the action scenes in the end and giving us that found family connection. I could do without having the whole girl boss/girl power white feminist nonsense constantly shoved in our faces but alas! As I said, I still really enjoyed it! It had a lot of moments that pulled on all my emotions as every SJM book does. I will always enjoy what she puts out because I take it all at face value and read it to have fun. Sarah always knows how to enjoy her writing and you can tell while reading and for me, that's more than enough. The lore/plot is secondary to the characters for me and that is always how she sucks me in. She writes compelling characters who have amazing adventures and friendships that you feel through the pages and I will always enjoy that. Can't wait for more books! Here's to hoping we hear something about ACOTAR soon especially now that Bryce gave both swords back to Nesta! Can't wait to see how it plays out!

[albentelisa]

In Mirrored Conviction AU which chapter will Jim find out about him being Gummar's grandson

And how will Jim and Gummar both react upon finding out? Especially since the Trollhunter is Gummars' enemy.

Hi! Thanks for the ask!

The first question is rather tricky to answer without spoiling too much, so I can't tell the exact chapter or circumstances surrounding the time when Jim learns the truth. But the thing is that Jim won't learn about Gunmar being his grandpa separately - it'll be a part of the whole truth package to make it worse.

On the other hand, Gunmar will learn the truth gradually in this AU. By this point of the story, he already knows that his daughter has a child through some reports from the Janus Order (and obviously, he's upset that Barverra wasn't the one to deliver the news). In some more chapters, Barbara will tell her father about her own life as a human and that her son is, in fact, a halfling - she's under a lot of stress and in dire need of confiding on at least one family member (she has reservations about her brother, and Jim is obviously out of the question).

Ironically, because Gunmar is still sealed, he has the luxury of time (and a great source of info in the form of Dictatious) to fully process the bombshell and even find some merits in the whole situation. Obviously, he will still miss the last piece of the truth about Jim being the Trollhunter - that one will come to light way later.

As for the reactions, for Jim the revelation will be world-destroying, causing him a major identity crisis and making him doubt himself and his own right to be the hero. The fact that he is a child who grew up in a peaceful era and tries a lot to convince himself that Gunmar, his kin, and Gumm-Gumms as a whole are the vile, irredeemable monsters who should be obliterated for the sake of the world will only make everything worse.

However, Gunmar is not the enemy Jim would have the most trouble fighting. Sure thing, they are related, but Gunmar is the family in name only and is basically a stranger. Besides, before the revelation Jim will get a chance to form a mental image of his 'grandpa' without knowing it's Gunmar, and that one won't be too favorable.

As for Gunmar himself… Well, he will be celebrating. Jim being the Trollhunter means the amulet is in his kin's hands. It's no different from Bular having it. The thing is that Gunmar strongly believes that his family members are unfaulty loyal and Jim will come to his side one way or other.

[malewife-yoomyeongwoo]

Another tsctir au idea i had is one where both the han brothers are s rank hunters; HYJ is still a perfect caregiver, he just awakens later than HYH (whose guild is already established)

The au takes place sometime after HYH went no contact (almost 3 years) with HYJ, and, in this au, HYJ ends up meeting people and finding meaning in his life and moving on from HYH (kinda; not really). So, instead of trying to awaken and getting into trouble, he ends up living domestically with YMW (due to certain events) and getting involved with BYM and maybe even Do Hamin (not 100% sure about this yet), since theyd have known each other prior to the dungeon break (in this au; probably, not sure yet)

So hes living a completely normal life as an unawakened person

Then, due to events related to BYM and her situation, HYJ ends up awakening and gaining the caregiver title as an f rank. His keyword phrase is something along the lines of “im here for you” “ill protect you” or “ive got you” (i havent decided yet)

He registers his awakening, knowing not to give out all the info related to his skills (HYJ is still kinda feral in his own way thanks to his experience dealing with adults trying to take his, and his brothers, inheritance when his parents died; hes just not as traumatized this time around) and continues living normally cause hes got people around him to keep him from trying to go into dungeons (and cause he has people around him who love him, he doesnt go into dungeons)

Except, the caregiver title doesnt work the way it does in the manhwa or LN; in this au, the skills he gains are a bit different. I havent figured out all the stuff for it yet, but one of the major changes is that he’s kinda feral about his influenced targets: like a mama bear when a person gets too close to her cubs kinda feral. Hes fiercely protective of them and is unable to tolerate when others try to do them wrong (which is basically normal manhwa/LN HYJ but cranked up to 11). Which leads to him ending up legally adopting? gaining custody of? BYM and having her live with him and being estranged from her family.

All the while, HYH is keeping tabs on HYJ and investigating all the people that consistently interact with him. On one hand, hes happy seeing pictures of his hyung smiling again, but it also makes him boil inside to know that others are able to get close to his hyung but hes stuck having to keep his distance. Hes jealous of them. His hyung awakened as an f rank so he cant get involved with him even if he wants to in order to keep his enemies eyes off of his hyung.

Seeing HYJ look at BYM and YMW with the same softness and care and consideration that he used to look at HYH with has HYH yearning for what he used to have. Part of him wishes that his hyung kept meddling and trying to be with him; to see that his hyung still thought about him and wanted to be with him. He feels worse now compared to how he used to feel before even though he doesnt have to stress about his hyung anymore

Of course, HYJ still misses HYH. YMW and BYM even notice it. But hes also hurt and bitter about what HYH did; feels resentment cause of the way HYH just abandoned him without even telling him what he’d done wrong or what hed done to deserve this kind of treatment, but hes given up trying to see HYH or get in contact after the way theyd chased him out and after his dongsaeng had said some pretty harsh things (the scar runs pretty deep for HYJ). YMW and BYM are both mad about HYH doing what he did cause it hurt HYJ and are also partly why HYJ has stopped trying to get involved with HYH.

When BYM awakens as an S rank, thats when HYJs quiet, non-hunter related, life starts to change. Even with the mixed feelings he has towards HYH, he asks BYM to join Abyss, cause, despite everything, he doesnt want HYH to have it rough and even he knows how big of a deal it is for a guild to have 2 S rank hunters. BYM initially refuses but agrees after realizing she can give HYH a piece of her mind (HYJ is unaware of her plans).

Meanwhile, HYH is angry that, despite all of his work, some brat is putting his hyung in danger thoughtlessly, but he cant show that he cares so he cant even say anything about it cause he doesnt trust a 15 year old to keep his one weakness a secret.

Eventually, HYJ is put into a situation where hes forced to realize that his stats are that of an s rank hunter (due to an effect of a different skill that he has) and that his caregiver title has been updated to perfect caregiver. However, he still Feels like an f rank hunter to other hunters cause he only has s rank stats due to a certain condition being met.

The drawback?

Due to his nature as a caregiver, he is incapable of attacking physically or using attack related skills (or using weapons). So, he has to learn to fight in a way that doesnt involve kicking or punching.

He’s essentially become an s rank support class hunter.

And, because HYH ends up catching sight of HYJ in a dungeon (who’s there to protect BYM cause shit went down badly), especially since HYJ really shouldnt have been in one to begin with, HYH ends up confronting HYJ and BYM, but it doesnt go well cause HYH is kinda hysterical after seeing his f rank hyung almost take the brunt of a boss monster’s attack for an s rank hunter who shouldve been protecting HYJ instead; and HYH is particularly hurt by the way HYJ steps in front of BYM and looks at HYH like hes a threat (HYH hasnt been influenced by the keyword so while HYJ does love and care for HYH, the one he’s feral over, out of the two of them, is BYM due to the influence his skill has on him).

The scene above is subject to change, but, ultimately, HYJ protects BYM and maybe acts like HYH is a threat to her? And HYH gets hurt emotionally and is getting increasingly frustrated/agitated/feral about the weirdness that keeps happening relating to his hyung and hurt cause he cant be near his hyung and his hyung doesnt Trust him.

In the LN HYJ points out how uncomfortable it makes him to see how easy it is for HYH to drink alcohol like its nothing and also how familiar HYH was with it. My guess is, HYH used to drink when shit got bad between him and his hyung or when his feelings became too much so i want to allude to that in this as well (bullying HYH is fun).

Anyways, HYJ cant apply the keyword to HYH cause the the requirements for the skill are different and arent being met. Because the keyword, in this au, affects HYJ as well, its more strict about who can be influenced and who cant. The keyword still needs to be said, but the target needs to trust the user in some capacity/have no ill intentions towards them and the user needs to feel goodwill towards the target. Once influenced, the target is added to the “Family” and become part of the group of ppl that HYJs skills force him to protect.

I want to figure out a way to get Moon Hyuna and SHJ involved with HYJ so HYH can go crazy about everyone else getting involved with his hyung while he cant seem to. So hes feeling like his hyung has left him behind which hurts. Maybe a dungeon break occurs and HYJ is using his chain of command skill which SHJ gets a vested interest in?

I feel like SHJ would call HYH to tease/harass HYH (or gauge HYHs investment in HYJ) by talking about how hes gotten involved with HYJ and asking why HYH had been hiding such a gem so far out of sight. He even talks about adding HYJ to his guild in order to improve the limits of this skill cause SHJ believes, with how dungeon difficulty is increasing, that a skill like this will be vital for the future. HYH is not happy about this development. Neither is BYM cause her ahjussi is in a different guild than she is, but HYJ isnt actually in a different guild. Hes like, an independent contractor who’s contracting with SHJ cause the benefits hes getting from it are worthwhile (they benefit his “Family” and HYH so SHJ learns that HYJ cares about HYH and suspects that HYH still cares about HYJ even tho HYH doesnt act like it; hes really enjoying pushing HYHs buttons).

Then, HYJ learns that he is able to tame dungeon monsters due to a combination of skills which gets Moon Hyuna involved with him as well. He learns this by accident during a situation where he has to protect YMW (he was able to temporarily stop the monsters from attacking him) but he cant influence them for long; maybe one or two orders will get through but thats it. Im guessing the deal he made with SHJ involves him getting baby monsters (which is how he gets peace; SHJ gets HYH to give it to him by flaunting his involvement with HYJ) and taking care of all the rearing costs so that he can try to see if taming and raising them is possible.

In this au HYJ doesnt know why HYH abandoned him. They actually have to talk about it this time and work through it properly.

But seeing HYH go kinda crazy first because of everything that’d been happening and the way he was holding everything in in a “the dam burst” kinda moment is something id also like to add in

Of course, HYH and HYJ will make up and HYH will end up influenced by the skill so, due to part of HYJs skill involving meeting the needs of his “Family”, he can get hounded/surprised by just how much reassurance and love HYH needs and how unstable hes been emotionally due to everything going on (starting with the fact he had to go no contact with his bro to begin with) (so HYH gets the affection he needs; it just takes a while to get there)

I want HYJs skills to be related to being a caregiver that protects their “Family” and helps to fulfill their needs so they can grow optimally similar to how he can optimize awakenings and growth for his influenced targets in the manhwa/LN. I also want him to gain some skills related to being a leader like his (spoilers) teacher skill which acts as a chain of command and improves group coordination. Some ideas ive had for skill titles include: “sharing is caring” where HYH can use the skills of his “Family”, “mama bear” which activates when his “Family” is harmed to a certain extent and buffs HYJ, “Mom’s intuition” a passive skill which lets him know the needs of his “Family” related to optimal growth, general wellbeing, and if theyre being targeted with ill intent, and “Mama’s here” another passive skill that soothes his “Family” and provides healing so long as theyre within a certain distance; its affects are stronger the closer they are to HYJ. Those who are part of the “Family” have accelerated growth compared to those not in the “Family”.

Maybe he gets a skill called “Leader of the Pack” which allows him to coordinate groups with ease? And its this skill that has an effect thats like, “as the leader of the pack (meaning, the “Family”), the user must also be the strongest! The users base stats will be buffed by n% as needed so that they can lead their pack properly” or maybe he gains he ability to coordinate groups when he levels up his skill? Maybe “leader of the pack” allows him to tame monsters? Cause hes exuding the presence of a leader and also has the added influence thanks to his caregiver title which makes them see him as their kin? And because hes a pack leader he naturally wants to grow his “Family” and increase the size of his pack?

I went with the names related to “mom” rather than “dad” cause in the LN most of the immoral immortals thought HYJ was a woman so, since they’re naming the skills, theyd probably call it mom rather than dad due to this. Also its funnier this way cause he wont want to state the actual names of his skills due to this; hes embarrassed by having his nature directly stated like that.

I also would like for there to be a moment where some of the s ranks realize that HYJ is much Much stronger than he seems. Hes literally an f rank. He Feels like an f rank. Stat assessments deem him as an f rank, but hes Not f rank. Maybe its when his “mama bear” skill gets activated so hes able to play it off as a temporary stat effect thing? Cause he acts like hes still an f rank too; he knows these stats arent really his so he knows better than to act like its all him.

I got some of these ideas from these amazing fanfics i read:

“S-Rank Skill Poison Nullification!” summary:

“Rather than getting famous for his taming skills, Yoojin accidentally becomes infamous for his ability to eat any and all poisons without dying.”

“by any other name” summary:

“Yoohyun-ah,” he asks, “do you want to stay with me?”

“Always,” Yoohyun promises.

Yoojin is a born S-rank, Yoohyun is an F-rank. This changes almost nothing and basically everything for them.

I highly recommend both of them!

[stargirl1331]

Petition for tumblr to let me write bibles on post comments without having to write 100 of them.

C, you've no idea the can of worms you just opened, I get so weird about this stuff and I straight up cannot form thoughts right now because my brain decided to go stupid for some reason so-

Ok, trying to write this one again because what I was going to send looked like word vomiting, I wasn't joking with my brian going stupid. Y'know that feeling when you want to say a lot but the words won't come out so you just feel dizzy and like you might throw up? That but like in a good way, like I'm having butterflies but in the brain. Anyway.

So your poem was about internet and online friends, I started thinking about relationships and how you can love people without faces and that reminded me of Her (2013), a movie about a dude that falls in love with his universe's Siri/Alexa with whom he starts to develop a wholesome and cute relationship.

And then there's the song Computer Boy by Poppy, where she falls in love with an AI (back when AIs were cool, when they were just a concept for people to go insane and write fiction about and not an actual thing that kills art) and it's basically a silly reference to online dating and I just love it.

But Poppy's character (she's a character) started with the concept of a girl who wanted to be internet famous, except she was actually an AI/robot created only and specifically to be famous (a critique of the music industry) and she actually lived ON the internet, like that was her house. There's just so many things about her- actually, there's this FANTASTIC youtube essay about her that explains everything better than me and since you seem to like her- here

https://youtu.be/DfAUfoPsFoE?si=74LKoetoDaymvBQo

Then The Machine is about so SO many things, in this specific instance I meant like the humanization of machines; when they develop consciousness, empathy and feelings and where does that leave us, how different are they from us and we from them? Can a human and a machine fall in love? Have a connection?

New Flesh is technically horror, technically transhumanism; when the human and the mechanical combine, it's about the morphing and transformation of our bodies with the coming of the future, if we're not our bodies what are we? Can we even be considered humans without one? New Flesh is all about the relationship between human/body and machine and you comparing dna with codes made me think of that when writing in the tags before going "what does this have to do with anything?" but yeah man-machine, I remember now.

Basically, your poem reminded me of loving people that don't have a physical and/or human body, I went "awww, they're in love with the computer, with the robot :3" and related it with other things that don't have that much in common but whom I'm obsessed about.

It took so long to formulate this, I short circuited for a while. I'm normal now (lie). Hope this makes at least a little bit of sense and I don't sound out of my mind.

This is all so cool???? I’m currently like absolutely obsessed with poppy.computer no I’m not chewing on things nooooooo. Dante please info dump in my inbox literally anytime ever I love hearing your thoughts they are always so awesome and I learn so much and find a new thing to hyperfixate on.

[nonbinarynightcrawler]

okok omg it's been a minute lets see if I can remember everything without having my notes in front of me (This post is going to be SO long bc I am going to attempt to include relevant art I am so sorry. There are also quite a few Fortune Looks in here since he pretty frequently switched up his disguise during this arc. Also sorry) [I reached an image limit LMAO. I will be doing a second part to this post]

You said the last time I updated properly was about him dealing with family/patron-related drama - that was back when he was about to die, panicked and used an item the Traveler gave him, and said item bamfed him directly in front of his mother. Which would be the first time he'd seen her since he ran away seven whole years ago

He was in a magical disguise, but he said exactly one word and his mother definitely recognized his voice. He bolted, because that's the only way he knows how to deal with things, and did not stop until he was off his family's estate and found a place to hide away in his hometown.

The party was still roughly a full day's ride away, and he didn't know exactly what to do. The cleric, Adelaide, called him twice while he was running. The exchange basically went.

"Fortune. Where the hell are you. I know you're not inside the big purple worm anymore because I specifically use magic to make sure I know where you're at when we're fighting but it doesn't work when we're far enough away. Are you alive." "UHHHHHH I'm home now. Please hurry. I can't be alone here."

So the party wraps up the quest the were on (killing some purple worms in a quarry) and heads off with the intent to get to Fortune's hometown as soon as possible.

Fortune holes up in his favorite old cafe for a while, but he's nervous and antsy and his thoughts are going a mile a minute, so he only sits still for about 45 minutes before taking off again. He has time, and he needs to do something before he reached full panic attack mode.

So he goes to his old best friend/arranged fiancé's family estate. He's been thinking about his friend, Kel, basically since he knew they were going to be passing through the city. He sent Kel a letter that essentially said "hey uhhhh I'm gonna be in town. can we talk? also my name is Fortune now xoxo" He has no idea if it has gotten to him yet.

So he ends up at the estate. He finds one of Kel's little sisters, and asks if Kel is home. He's not, but she goes to get her other older brother, Nasar. Fortune claims to be an old family friend, and makes sure the two of them are alone before dropping his magical disguise and going "haha uh... surprise?"

Nasar, bless him, took things pretty in stride. Even as Fortune was all fucked up and covered in worm guts and trying very hard to explain himself. He asks if Nasar can hide him from his parents, since he can't exactly go home right now. Since he ran away and everything.

Apparently, Fortune's family said he had been sent to a convent as an explanation for his disappearance - because he was so against the idea of getting married.

Nasar kind of shrugs and said that all "worked out" in the end. Because the engagement agreement wasn't fully broken off, but just shifted - the Sabets promised a daughter to the Summercrowns, and they had a whole other daughter to promise. They had to extend the engagement since Fortune's younger sister (Bless) just very recently turned 18 etc etc.

Fortune tries to explain a little more, Nasar still takes it very in stride.

King shit.

There's some more back and forth. It is determined that Kel is not actually at home today, Fortune cleans up a little, gets some more info, and leaves another little letter with Nasar to give to Kel when he comes back. Some of the info includes - The Sabets are throwing a party soon. Fortune could just talk to him then - Bless has been given a lot of control recently, and she seems to be the one in charge of her social calendar/party planning etc. - There is also a chance that Fortune's parents will not make an appearance at said party. That's odd.

As he is heading back to the cafe, he catches somebody tracking him. It's been a long day, he's not happy. It is determined this person has been hired by his family. Several years of pent up paranoia come crashing into place as he realizes that yes, his family has definitely been having him tracked since the second he left home. (He's the one on the right here)

Back at his little cafe spot, Fortune tries to hold it together.

It's fine. He's fine.

The Traveler pops in, says some cryptic shit as they do, and bamfs back out. They finally confirm that Fortune's mother is the one that originally invoked the rite that has caused them to watch over Fortune, but doesn't elaborate at all. Fortune, already mid-crisis, tries to compartmentalize the idea that the ONE thing he thought he did for himself was actually STILL caused by his family's influence. He's doing great.

Which is DEFINITELY helped when his sister straight up just sits down in front of him and starts talking.

She throws a lot of information at him. The biggest one being "I don't really mind being married to Kel, but it's not my first choice. I won't be crushed if it happens, but it doesn't seem fair to him. Break up my engagement for me so that you take all the heat for it k bye~"

The party finally gets to town, Fortune tries his best to get them up to speed, and he buys them some fancy outfits for the party the next day. They take a lot of what he says in stride, but also don't seem to fully grasp the gravity of anything. (Fair)

As they approach the party the next day, the group finally starts to realize exactly how much money Fortune comes from. We're talking "most influential family in the province, name recognition in most circles" levels of money.

He tells them who they're looking for, briefs them on the protocol for a Fancy Fantasy Regency Party, and they all go off to enjoy themselves.

By "enjoy themselves" I mean, Hazel and Blue (the druid and the wizard) sneak into the house and start snoopin' on Fortune's sister. God bless them. They manage to break into her room, and then break into a secondary secret room hidden behind her wardrobe.

Inside, they find a MASSIVE crystal ball, a book of notes, and a bundle of Fortune's hair. She has very clearly been spying on him, and has been using a WICKED powerful magical artifact to do so. A magic item that belongs to the cleric's church, and might actually be a relic that has been missing for several hundred years.

They grab the relic, Fortune's hair, and Hazel also digs out a bundle of what appears to be secret love letters from one of Bless's drawers. Hazel thinks blackmail might be needed in the near future.

While all this is going on, Fortune has manage to locate Kel. Parties aren't really his scene, so he's hanging out at the stables behind the estate. Nice and quiet, probably even a little bit of privacy. Fortune is excited and terrified. It is nice to see him enjoying himself out with the horses, though. Kel always liked horses.

Also it uh. Turns out the sickly lil firbolg kid he knew got very tall and very hot.

Fortune takes that well.

They have a very long talk. Fortune apologizes a lot, and tries to explain that he didn't leave entirely because of his arrangement to Kel. It did factor into things, but it was less that it was Kel and more that Fortune hadn't figured out his identity yet and the thought of being someone's wife made him feel sick. The chat is awkward, but they seem to work most things out, and Kel says he's just happy to have his friend back.

They hug, I scream, Fortune tries his best to NOT be his weird gay self about it because their regency-ass hometown has a lot of rules about public displays of affection. Fortune introduces Kel to the party, and they're all as normal as they can be about it. Adelaide gives him some knowing eyebrow wiggles, Blue climbs up onto his shoulders to get his vibe. Fortune continues to be extremely gay.

Kel informs them that he can't hang out to get to know them better because the Sabets have invited him to dinner. Fortune decides to crash said dinner. Kel is visibly excited that he gets to spend more time with Fortune. After Adelaide sends a message to Fortune's dad about them attending (not asking), they all regroup and kill time before then.

Dinner is. Tense. The party gets to learn just what Fortune's family is like. And that Fortune is visibly afraid of his father. Bless spends a lot of time being weirdly touchy-feely with Kel and trying to one-up Fortune's friends. His mother is quiet and makes a few jabs about him leaving, and his father is openly hostile, interrogating him about what he's been up to and how any of it has been helpful to the family. Even so, it's pretty clear the only reason he is there is because his wife asked him to behave. After a particularly terrible jab about Fortune always dragging the family name through the mud, Fortune stands up and has to step away for a minute to avoid getting them all thrown out.

Hazel tries to probe into Bless's mind while they're chatting, and immediately gets slapped back out. She hears a little chastisement from the Traveler (Fortune's patron) and has her passive mind link ability temporarily severed for the first time in her life. Understandably, she freaks out.

Meanwhile, Fortune's mom has gone after him. Her demeanor has changed completely, and she shares a very sweet moment with him. She uses his chosen name, and says she was hoping his scars were part of the disguise he's still wearing. (This entire time, he's been in that purple look, which makes him look much more like his sister. He refuses to unpack that at all.)

Fortune takes a moment to regroup as his mom goes back to dinner, and Hazel sprints out to find him and let him know there's something weird going on with the Traveler and his sister. Fortune is hanging on by less than a thread at this point, and takes it as much in stride as he can. He's basically reached emotional capacity.

After dinner, Blue convinces Fortune's dad to chat with them about their mission into the desert. They learned Fortune's family has been sending expeditions out there to retrieve magical artifacts, and Blue figures they could at least get some idea of what they're getting into. For Regency Reasons, the men go to talk business and the women split off to go chat. Fortune is, to his dad's credit, allowed to join in on the business talks.

The ladies (Hazel, Adelaide, Bless, and Fortune's mom) have a very tense conversation. Adelaide very pointedly praises Fortune as much as she can. After she mentions that Fortune is very good at protecting her and the party, Bless suddenly stands up and walks out. We file that information away.

The guys hammer out an agreement to get in contact with the Sabet's guide. Fortune isn't... really in a place to talk much in front of his dad, so he slips out and goes to see what state his old room is in. Everything is under a dust cover but basically untouched. He pokes around, picks up his old favorite book, and is about to leave when a letter falls out.

Said letter is from uh. One of the BBEGs of the campaign. The Shadow, specifically, who is kind of half posessing the wizard. Said letter is dated about five years back (well within the memories that we know Blue is missing, it's a whole thing) and is extremely manipulative. Even Fortune can kind of see it, but he gets a little distracted.

A little spooky shard of black glass falls out too. Fortune takes a deep breath and quietly compartmentalizes, like a lot of things that have happened in the last 24 hours.

The party manages to convince Kel to meet up with them after dinner. They have to kinda do it secretly because of more Regency Rules, and they'd like to chat with him without a chaperone there.

For the first time, Fortune drops his magical disguise around Kel. He seems pretty relieved. He missed his friend.

This does not last long. Remember that relic that Blue and Hazel snagged after breaking into Bless's room? And Fortune's hair? And how she was spying on them? And that Kel is engaged to Bless? Well. They immediately start sharing this information in front of Kel, leading to a lot of confused and alarmed nodding.

And Adelaide is furious. That a teenager had a relic of her church. That she was able to use it. That Blue and Hazel kept this information from her. She and Blue have a shouting match out on the balcony while Fortune tries to do damage control, which doesn't go great because Atlas and Hazel start telling Kel about Fortune's magic and his link to the Traveler.

Adelaide storms back into the room, pushes her face against the giant crystal ball (known as the Eye of Darya, rumored to be her actual third eye that she dropped onto the material plane before leaving it) and immediately passes out and starts bleeding from her eyes.

A mortal wasn't meant to use the item like that. Adelaide basically saw all of time and space condensed into one second. It ripped up her mind pretty badly, to the point that she got some stat debuffs she's STILL trying to figure out how to fix. She gets a vision about the temple we're going to, and then gets zapped. It is also implied that every time she uses her divination magic, she will be open to entities other than her god influencing her. Remember this.

The party revive her after some panic (Kel tries to help, despite almost passing out at seeing the blood, bless him) and Fortune tries to get Kel away from the party once it's clear Adelaide is not dead. He tries to do more damage control while walking Kel down to the stables, but things seem off. Kel says he's going to ask Bless about some of the stuff the party said, insisting that she's his fiancée and even if he's not thrilled about the arrangement, she still should share with him.

While Fortune has a mini breakdown while Kel rides off, the party sees a little raven perched on the balcony. It looks suspiciously similar to the bird we saw hanging around the Sabet estate, and because we were still under the impression she's a warlock of the Traveler at this point, we do not like that. Hazel blasts the sucker out of the sky. She gets some psychic damage, but thing is gone for now. HOWEVER... by the time Fortune makes it up to the room, the party has been kicked out. It seems like Bless bought out basically... every free room in the city to displace them and be petty.

The party packs up and goes to find a camping spot outside the city. Fortune, still deeply fucked up by the events of the last 48 hours, says he'll catch up with everyone because he needs to go get drunk for just a little bit. Everyone is understandably preoccupied with Adelaide, who looks like death, and they wave him off to go do that. Atlas sends his familiar off to keep an eye on Fortune, but isn't clear enough with his instructions. We will get back to that.

While the party settles in for bed, Fortune is approached by someone at the bar. His mother, deeply upset and disappointed, tells him to follow her. And when he doesn't listen, she casts Command on him. My poor low wisdom boy doesn't have a choice, and climbs into her carriage with her. While on the way to the estate, they have a couple very odd conversations.

Fortune is drunk and fed up with everything, and keeps just. Saying things. He ends up learning that his mother doesn't actually seem to be in direct contact with the Traveler, and that his fancy magic sword is apparently a lost family heirloom. His mother seems... sad. She asks for his help, admitting that neither of her children seem happy. Ever. Fortune, being a drunk asshole, just kinda shrugs and says "yeah, we're fucked. if Bless is anything like me I think we're just like this. Shit, that." He also lets slip that maybe he does not always enjoy being alive. This seems to upset her even more, understandably.

His mother has essentially placed him under house arrest. He's lead to his room and locked inside, where he has a sad little drunk tantrum before passing out.

He doesn't get to sleep for very long. His sister wakes him up, slaps him across the face with a glove, and demands a duel. She's furious for a lot of reasons, but the only reason she'll own up to is Fortune running around her fiancé without supervision. Sure, Bless. Fortune is still drunk and absolutely close to a meltdown and almost immediately agrees.

They've dueled before. Their father would regularly pit them against one another as children. Bless is pretty convinced she's a much better fighter than Fortune, but he also absolutely was never fighting her for real. At the oldest, she was ten during their duels. He wasn't about to really fight someone in the single digits when he was almost a legal adult. He probes a bit as they prepare for the fight, and learns that she has no idea who the Traveler is. She is able to summon a sword just like he does, but the magic feels... spooky and wrong.

He doesn't get to think about that very long. He's drunk, exhausted, pulled his first strike out of habit, and she gets multiple attacks per round. Two rounds in and he's almost down. And the whole time, Bless is berating him (honestly, rightfully) about how he left and how he was a terrible older brother. Their parents have apparently been fighting about him since the moment he ran away. When she nearly breaks down and tells him that she was there the night he left, waiting for him to come back and take her with him, he fully stops fighting.

He apologizes for not protecting her from their parents, but undercuts the whole thing by being VERY dramatic and shitty about things. He tells her to kill him. Actively guides the sword to where she should hit him. She implies he won't be the first man she's killed before, but hesitates while he keeps talking. It's a lot of dramatic, self hating bullshit, and after a point she just... kinda sneers at him and walks away.

She leaves him bleeding out on the ballroom floor. He drags himself back to bed, has a nice cry about it, and falls asleep.

Atlas tries to check in with his familiar, Luka. She kept an eye on all this going on, and catches him up on the situation. He takes a moment, kind of sighs, and says as long as Fortune isn't in immediate danger, they can figure out what to do tomorrow when Adelaide isn't actively dying. He catches Hazel up before swapping the watch out and heading to bed.

On her watch, Hazel tries to contact the Traveler. They show up, and she kinda tears into them. They more or less throw their hands up and say that it isn't their job to keep Fortune SAFE, just to watch him, and anyway he's home now which is what his mom wanted in the first place.

After some more back and forth, Hazel trades a bit of gossip for a lore drop. She learns that there is a connection between druid magic and the divine gate. That druids are part of the balance between the material and the divine planes, and the reason they were systematically hunted down a century ago in an attempt to break the gate down. Poor Hazel has a lot to take in about her heritage, and the Traveler refuses to elaborate further.

The next morning, the party makes Plans. Atlas is on edge about Fortune being stuck at home. He sends a message through his familiar, but Fortune is essentially... broken at this point. He's tired. He's stuck at home. He hasn't had a long rest and is functionally a light slap away from death. He doesn't believe his family will let him leave. He insists that the party doesn't need to save him. Again. Like they always do. Atlas does not listen.

While the party groups up, Fortune is taken to breakfast with his mother. He is not given a choice. Exhausted but still kind of angry and attempting to be rebellious, he rejects the outfit she picked out for him and puts on his old pirate getup, open shirt and all. When he gets to breakfast, he sees that his sister and Kel are there as well.

Fortune immediately rats his sister out for the duel, and his mother says they'll deal with that later. She seems to be trying to pretend that nothing has happened, and even that Fortune never left. She has the day planned for them, and has decided Fortune is going to help her plan Bless's wedding. He sasses her as much as he's able, but is also reminded that he is, in fact, still scared of his parents.

[I HAVE REACHED THE IMAGE LIMIT PLS HOLD]

[gobbinhalfglass]

Advice for DMs when making puzzles and rooms, but also advice for players interacting with those spaces.

The eternal struggle of the DM is making content that the players will find, but won’t find easily. Players tend to either follow the path of least resistance or yeet the gnome at everything to see what happens; there’s rarely an in-between. If you know, you know.

A trick that often helps: the Insight check.

Insight, for those who perhaps skimmed that section, is basically one’s instincts. It relies on past experience to provide context and so relates to the Wisdom ability score

Just like Insight can famously be used on sus NPCs, it can also be used on a sus wall or room; basically anything that may conceal something. A successful check may not always yield the answer, but it will virtually always give you a hint.

For players, that means if the party is looking around an area and you suspect there might be something not visible to the naked eye, it is entirely within reason to ask your DM “Can I make an Insight check on (Target item or area)?” and then it is up to the DM whether that’s applicable. If the answer is “no,” that can mean either the puzzle present is not one that can be intuited or there isn’t one. Either way, it only costa you a moment and gives info.

For DMs, an insight check can be your excuse to give the party a hint to a hidden door, a hidden threat, or some bonus loot.

It is up to the DM to decide when it would be appropriate to make skill checks or saving throws outside of combat-stipulated scenarios. This power is, without exaggeration, your best and most versatile tool, especially when used deceptively; having the party make Perception checks when nothing is there to perceive can make players a touch nervous and lend to a tense atmosphere, for example.

You can also simply offer the opportunity to make checks to the players. You can pick a DC on the fly, or just play it cavalier and decide whether the roll is good enough after it happens. Since you are not obligated to reveal the DC to the players, you can do whatever works. This pertains to the current topic; if the party is struggling to figure something out, you can simply offer an Insight check to see if any of the player characters can instinctively find some detail they’ve missed until now. You don’t even have to worry about the roll; a DC1 means they will win with any non-negative Wisdom modifier. If the target is a hidden door you can tell them something like “The western wall has a suspiciously bare spot, devoid of furnishings.” or perhaps “You notice the locked chest appears to be slowly breathing.” Enough to tell the party what is relevant, but not enough to tell them how to access and/or avoid it.

Hope this helps!

[matan4il]

Buddie 505 meta

In an ep that’s all about Buck and Ravi getting to the point where they can work well together, what screams out to me is the parallels to Eddie’s introduction in 201. On the surface, the storylines are very similar: while Buck’s going through some personal stuff, he has issues with a teammate, but those get resolved by the end of the ep, with one key moment along the way when Buck, without appearing too happy about it, congratulates said teammate on their work. But the truth is these similarities actually emphasize the differences. For starters, remember how Buck insisted on finding Eddie a nickname? He tried “Diaz” as well as “G.I”. Interestingly, Buck says they have to find Eddie a nickname because everyone on the team had one. But he never called Eddie by the more generic “probie,” all of his attempts were more personalized, tailored specifically for Buck. It’s as if even during the time Buck thought he was rejecting Eddie, on some level he was already accepting him into the fold.

More than that, if Hen points out to Ravi in this ep that Buck wants to make sure he’s worthy, back in 201 Buck never seemed to doubt that Eddie was. That’s another reason why he never tried “probie” as a nickname for Eddie, it was clear it wouldn’t do. I wrote in my pre-season 3B meta that the real underlying reason for Buck’s immediate hostility towards Eddie was never that Eddie was awful, it was actually because Buck was overwhelmed by how awesome he thought this new guy was. Everything about the storyline with Ravi makes that even clearer.

But it doesn’t stop there either. When Ravi is hiding from Buck, Hen tells him this isn’t about what he’s doing wrong, it’s about Buck’s personal issues. I’ve always thought (and first mentioned in my 406 meta) that there was a good chance Eddie asked to hear more about Buck, since at the gym confrontation in 201 he knew Buck was going through a crisis, Abby leaving. We don’t know for sure, but the fact that we’re not shown a scene where this info about Buck is offered without Eddie asking for it (which is what happened in Ravi’s case, we’re clearly shown that Hen was the one to bring up Buck’s personal life), framing this info as more closely related to Eddie, and when he was also clearly trying to win Buck over at the beginning of the gym scene, that Eddie openly talked about this info with Buck while Ravi only discussed it in private with Hen, it makes it feel like from the start, Eddie had a level of interest in Buck that Ravi just doesn’t have. It’s the small difference between teammates and soulmates...

And of course, Buck is never truly hostile towards Ravi. He’s tough, but it’s because he feels responsible for him. He wants to help Ravi be better, make less mistakes. Buck told Eddie, “you’re meant to respect your elders,” but he never acted like he was an elder vis-a-vis Eddie, not like Buck did with Ravi. If anything, Buck was intimidated by how good Eddie was from the very first call they went on together. It’s what makes his “good job” admission to Eddie at the end of that call painful - it’s this moment where he has to entertain the possibility that he might be replaceable with the team. But the resolution to that storyline was that Eddie turned out every bit as good as he seemed and even better, he was the first person who saw Buck’s competence as a firefighter AND said that to his face, which clearly left Buck basically enamored with Eddie. In contrast, when Buck comes to the conclusion that Ravi is good enough to replace him, he decides they need to do it, that Buck has to ask for a transfer. Because in 201, the issue really was that he was intimidated by how amazing Eddie was and was scared of being replaced. Abby’s leaving might have made it harder to deal with, but it wasn’t the real cause. But in 505, the personal matter Buck struggles with IS the real reason why he was treating Ravi differently than before. The storyline even concludes with Ravi declaring his independence from Buck and that he’s content with it. That’s because this storyline was never about Ravi and his connection with Buck, not in the same way that 201 was about Eddie and the bond that was beginning to form between Buddie. But the 505 Ravi storyline does prove just how hard 911 decided to go when it introduced and integrated Eddie into Buck’s life.

Oh, and that Buddie connection is another aspect that is emphasized in this ep through contrast. Because from the moment Buck and Eddie had reached the resolution of their issues in 201, they’re never out of sync on the field. Actually, even before that, since Buck chose to go in with Eddie into the ambulance where a live grenade was awaiting them. Bobby even asked Buck if he was sure and he doubled down on his choice. In 505, he doesn’t choose to be paired up with Ravi. In fact, I find it interesting to see exactly how Bobby, who is the one to make the decision, declares the new pairings. He could have just said “Hen, you’re with Eddie, Ravi, you’ll team up with Buck.” But instead, he tells Buck that Eddie has to be paired up with Hen, so that leaves Ravi as Buck’s partner. It’s small, but the phrasing stresses that Bobby understands this will not be easy for Buck, to be separated from Eddie. It’s followed by showing us that both Buck and Eddie struggle with their new partners far more than we’ve ever seen either of them struggle with each other even before they struck up a friendship. In fact, in this ep, while Ravi’s rookie mistakes are essential to Buck’s storyline, Eddie constantly getting in Hen’s way (and a little on her nerves) isn’t essential to any plot, yet the show makes sure we witness that, too. Just to stress the point even more, we still get moments between Buddie in the field. The two of them exchange the kind of look spouses who know each other all too well do when Buck begrudgingly tells Ravi that he’s going to get the honors of breaking the door at the fitness mirror call, they do it again when the vic there exclaims that they’re pretty jacked (the guy is all of us, LBR), and then during the saw call, after Buck sends Ravi to throw up away from the vic, he himself kneels down and, again without even needing words, works together with Eddie seamlessly. Because they ARE battlefield boyfriends, alright? Always have been, always will be.

One of my fave recurring themes on this show is connected to that. It’s that we’re shown Buck and Eddie struggle on the job when the other one isn’t there. Eddie is the only one out of the 118 to voice his displeasure in ep 218 because Buck isn’t with them (even though the others have worked with Buck for longer), while Buck echoes the sentiment over Eddie’s absence in 414. In 505 he’s once more saying it’s weird at work. Without a doubt he’s talking about Chim’s absence, but the word “weird” itself threw me back to his choice of the same exact word in 414. So I do think that while the bigger issue is the guilt Buck feels over Chim’s departure, the fact that he was no longer being paired with Eddie added to that.

~

Which brought us to a scene with Taylor. Back in ep 408, she had told Buck (when she was hurt, angry and intent on getting back at him), that he’s needy and desperate for people to like him, meaning she knows these are sore spots for him. In this ep, despite not being angry or hurt, she said something very similar - that he’s making everything about himself. Ep 316 has shown us how much this idea hurts Buck, so I have to admit that I cringed. Especially when comparing this with Eddie’s words to Buck in 504, “you’re the guy who likes to fix things.” Eddie sets Buck straight, yes. But he does so while seeing the good in Buck and reflecting that back to him.

I guess that’s the thing we’re meant to see with Taylor here. In eps 501-4, she has been an absent gf (even when she was physically there). This is the first ep where she’s both present and focused on Buck. And she tries to be a good gf in this ep, that’s evident in the scene where she has bought him breakfast. Yet, throughout her scenes, she doesn’t quite get it right. First, there’s the fact that she did tell him something she knows would hurt him before he goes off to work, and it’s easy to tell that while her overall intention is to be reassuring, it doesn’t quite land. Then, there’s how Taylor tries to do something domestic for him, but everything about this screams that it’s not really her thing. She didn’t cook herself, which is itself isn’t that big of an issue, but she’s also dressed more like they’re about to go out for a night on the town, and add to this that she’s pouring an alcoholic beverage into a cup of orange juice for a firefighter who’s just come home early in the morning after a 24 hour shift, and it’s all just… it’s well meaning, but it IS off and ends up demonstrating that she knows how to celebrate and have fun more than how to be domestic and care for a partner. She does try, and Buck is clearly both surprised and touched by this. His surprise tells us that this is an unusual occurrence, and while he is touched, his reaction is also kinda subdued. His little “thank you” is cute, and he smiles, but it’s shot in profile and some shade, so we don’t really get its full effect. Compare that with the way he was absolutely beaming at Eddie in 504 and it was filmed from the front, in the open air and sunlight, so the shot was fully focused on Buck’s reaction. Then, after he updates Taylor on what he’s learned at work, he looks sad and she seems a bit upset as they hug. Presumably she’s reacting to his sadness, and Buck is feeling down because while things with the 118 have been resolved, Maddie and Chim are still away. But again, compare this to how at the end of the balcony scene, with Chim and Maddie being away AND while being physically hurt himself, Buck actually looks happier than in this hug scene with Taylor. On top of all that, Taylor’s absence up until this ep goes undiscussed, which in itself spells trouble for them in upcoming eps (just think for example about Ana being there for Eddie to help him crack the mystery of what’s wrong with Charlie in 413 while Eddie ignores the question of whether he’s following his heart when he’s with her). In 505, unlike the previous s5 eps, Taylor is actually making an effort. She’s trying to be a good gf, and yet she’s still not the person who can bring Buck comfort in times of distress.

Not like Eddie can, when even at that dramatic dinner table, where Buck was vulnerable and expressed his guilt through his tendency to self-sacrifice for his team, Eddie jokingly asked who’ll be replacing him, clearly doing so in order to make Buck laugh. The first sign of anyone breaking through to him. Then, add to this that Buck’s answer is Bobby will figure it out. Meaning that even when Buck is at his lowest point, concocting this scenario where everyone on the team can be replaced by someone else, including himself, he still couldn’t even throw a random name out there as a suggestion in response to that question. Eddie is irreplaceable to him.

And while we’re on the topic of that dinner, I just love every single thing Eddie does during the scene, every reaction, that question about himself which was clearly meant to tease Buck, the way Eddie reassures him that he’s stuck with the 118 (and how absolutely over the top content Eddie was over this fact… please, we all know he would never have let his baby daddy transfer away on his own) and of course, the part I just had to gif, the way he shakes his head in dismay when hearing Buck blaming himself for Chim leaving and the effect it had on the team. Of course the head shaking isn’t anything seemingly out of the ordinary, any friend could do that for Buck. Yet, we have a scene full of people who love Buck and care about him, who don’t want Buck to feel guilty or to leave, but it’s only Eddie that we see expressly shaking his head ‘no’ at Buck’s words. More than that, Eddie’s actually framed in the same shot with Buck as he speaks. That is not coincidental and it speaks volumes IMO. In an ep framed by Buck’s gf trying to be there for him, it’s Eddie who is still Buck’s person, the one who knows him best and can make things better.

~~~ Thank you so much to the beautiful @judsonryder​ for making my meta better with her incredible gifs! If you like my perspective on Buddie, you can find more of my meta and fics here. Thank you for reading and for any like, comment and of course reblog! I read every tag, every comment, they all matter so much! xoxox

[i-hate-liking-batman]

UNDERGROUND HERO ALL MIGHT AU

PEOPLE. My friend gave me this idea and they way we ran with it is driving me insane I'm having so much fun. This I'm making this post so I can get all the info into posts before I lose all the details. So this au basically has three major things to focus on that I might write fic for. For this one I'll focus on underground hero All Might and how he relates to Midoriya.

All Might has been an underground hero his entire career- he really wanted to take his responsibility of OFA seriously by saving the people hidden in the shadows

All Might focused his genius on underground tactics like reconnaissance and how to get the drop on people

With that in mind All Might is the new Villain Boogeyman- he comes in and wipes them all out

All Might finds out about Tomura and saves him- specifics are yet to be had here

Number 1 Hero has been endeavor for 20 years by the time Shouto makes it to UA but Endeavor is not aware he has children (baby steps au- first idea of this mess)

Heroes with Endeavor as #1 believe they can be like him with hard work and since endeavor can't take care of everything more heroes step up to ease his burden

All Might takes care of A LOT of villain problems just by getting to the heart of villain things underground- villainy is now so much more dangerous lol

After taking out AFO without injury to himself- we get his nemesis in jail but All Might then finds out AFO has a son-Izuku

All Might finds Midoriya to see how he is doing and check up on the kid- his dad is a supervillain and he is unaware of how much influence AFO had

Bakugou (and Mineta) doesn't exist in this au so Izuku is actually a intelligent kid with confidence and a determination to do well despite being quirkless

All Might and Midoriya get on like a house on fire- eventually Izuku finds out AM is a underground hero and is given OFA

The end goal of this partnership is to make Izuku help out AM as a intelligence "guy behind the chair" first and then when he is ready, for the two of them to switch roles

Shirakumo doesn't die (AM took care of it) and so now Eraserhead is a daylight hero with the agency the three of them have

He's like Superman though take his scarf away and no one recognizes him

With a buff role model with a "villainous quirk" Shinsou buffs up and makes into UA hero course

Inasa also stays bc Todoroki took the normal test and also bc shouto has no grudges (doesn't know his dad is endeavor and endeavor is good here)

Tododeku things when both him and Midoriya meet-

Todoroki's quirk isn't as strong without the training but he will get there at UA.

And that's all for this part of the AU!!!! I'll probably add more later but this is a big part of it. UNDERGROUND ALL MIGHT IS ALL I NEED IT FIXES ALL MY PROBLEMS. MY CROPS ARE WATERED MY SKIN IS CLEAR. The other two ideas is basically a silly fic where Rei and Endeavor have 4 kids together unknowningly(baby steps au) and get a romance at 45 and a dabihawks thing I set up. These all happen in the same universe and I think I'll call the overall au for this mess "Saved By Your Heart" for reasons to be explained. Feel free to ask questions!!!

Part 1 Part 3