#(which is understandable)

[strange-anni]

Your answer just made me realize how weird Vickies trajectory from not caring about Robin to "falling in love with her" actually is. So lets look into it.

This is the moment where it seems like Vickie is actually done with the conversation she had with Robin. She laughed at a joke Robin repeated and then just stopped caring to keep the conversation going.

@bylerlipglances is completely right. Vickie could have said literally anything to keep talking to Robin. I mean they are at a sports event! Nothing is easier than to start a random conversation at a sports game. It could range from "Ugh. I hate it here. I hope we get to go home soon" to "Yay! I hope we can win! Go Tigers!", "The tiger mascot looks so silly," "I like the part with the cheerleaders best," or just a question like "Do you think we can win?" There are so many opportunities and Vickie takes none of them.

Even then I think it could still be possible that Vickie is just nervous and says the wrong words at the wrong time except ...

... she doesn't look like that at all. She is pointedly looking away from Robin almost like she wants to avoid getting talked to again.

This is also the first time (as far as we can tell) that Robin had let her true self slip through in front of Vickie and if that is how she reacts to it it doesn't bode that well for them I fear.

To me Vickie is giving off vibes like she doesn't want to have anything to do with Robin at all because if it'd be different and she really wanted to talk to Robin again she'd at least smile or try to get a second look at Robin to make sure she didn't accidentally hurt her feelings or anything. Yet there is nothing of the sort.

This continues here. When even Brenda and Steve share a High-Five and a moment of happiness after the Tigers won (thanks to Lucas!) Vickie still isn't looking at Robin.

How easy would it be to just turn around and say something about how happy she is that the Tigers won. Or share a half hug, an awkward High-Five like Steve and Brenda or anything at all. Robin is right there next to her and Vickie does nothing.

Fast forward to their next scene and this is what Vickie sees right after she notices Robin and Steve standing not that far away from her and Dan. She sees Robin and then Steve right behind her licking his lips.

I don't even know what to make of this whole scene were it not for the fact that I suspect this is a lot more about Steve and Vickie than Robin and Vickie.

Vickie sees Robin next to Steve giving her the information that they probably know each other which then could be revealed to her as true when Robin leaves and Steve looks after her.

This then could make her question in what kind of relationship they actually are. Are they friends? Or a couple perhaps? Vickie would not know.

Yes, I know the common interpretation of this scene is that Vickie is shown to be upset because Robin sees her with her boyfriend but that would require at least some sort of interest in Robin which she hasn't shown before. If Vickie had done anything to express interest in any form this could be the correct interpretation but she hasn't. So why would she be upset because of Robin?

Now Vickie is suddenly eager to talk to Robin which to me seems to come out of nowhere. She had no interest before but now she can't keep her mouth shut and is revealed to be pretty similar to Robin in personality. It just doesn't make any sense to me. What happened to cause that change?

After apologizing for making it sound like she isn't happy to see Robin Vickie starts talking about Dan and how she is no longer together with him before she mentions Fast Times and how he didn't like the movie. This indicates that she does in fact like the movie but she also never tells us the reason why she likes it.

Dan dislikes it because it has no plot but why does Vickie like it? Is it because of Phoebe Cates or is it because of Judge Reinhold?

Then she talks about the people who are suffering which makes her look into the general direction of where Steve is standing before she realizes she created a "peanut butter monstrosity." She apologizes again for talking to much and gifts Robin one half of her peanut butter monstrosity and we also get to see Steve again who's smiling at them.

Again, this whole interaction between Robin and Vickie ended with Steve! It started with Steve and it ended with him and I have to ask why this has to be the case if he does not play a role here?

---

Then when I try to interpret this whole chain of scenes from a standpoint in which Vickie is crushing on Steve everything just clicks together for me. So let's look into that too.

First Steve learns that Robin has a crush on Vickie (He's learned that before S4 starts which we can assume due to Steve mentioning Vickie in the very first episode)

Then Vickie came to Family Video either to rent a movie or give it back. Steve would be the one to serve her and I think we can assume that he talked to Vickie at least for a bit especially since he knew Robin liked her

So Steve probably praised Fast Times in order to endear it to Vickie to maybe find out if she likes girls or not as it features Phoebe Cates who is objectively hot (according to the show)

Vickie gave the movie back at 53:05 which showed Judge Reinhold but Steve takes this as confirmation that she is into girls at first as Phoebe Cates shows off her chest a bit earlier in the movie (Except that is not what Vickie wanted to tell Steve at all. She paused it at Judge Reinhold to send Steve the message that she is into him as he is extremely Steve-coded - Many thanks to @greenfiend for pointing this out earlier)

Vickie laughs at a joke from Steve Robin repeats at the basketball game (Note that Vickie may or may not have realized that Steve is even there. I don't know)

Later when Vickie is with Dan at the Weapon Store she spots Robin and Steve not standing far away from them which makes her realize a few things: 1) Robin and Steve are close as they are standing together 2) Steve might have gotten the correct message she wanted to send him with Fast Times as he is licking his lips and is smiling at her and 3) Steve also knows now that she has a boyfriend which must complicate things for her

Dan leaves for college meaning Vickie is free again

Vickie meets Robin in the gym at the food stand and is surprised to see her there. Then she strikes a conversation and tells Robin exactly the things she wants to get across to Steve: 1) She doesn't have a boyfriend anymore meaning she is now available to him and 2) confirms again that she likes Fast Times (as it also features Judge Reinhold who is very reminiscent of the guy she wants to be with)

Vickie hopes Robin will take her message to Steve so they can meet and get to know each other better/ get to be a couple

It just makes so much more sense to me if viewed through that angle. Everything just clicks into place.

It's just a whole bunch of misreading each other. Steve misread Vickie when she gave the VHS back. Then Vickie misread Steve's behavior as him reciprocating her feelings and in the end Robin misreads Vickies behavior as her being interested in Robin.

It's a complete mess but it'd fit very well into the overall theme of the show where so many characters just assume things about others to be true based on their own observations about them. (Compare this with Dustin, Eddie and Robin pushing for stncy in S4. Or Will pushing for mlven. It's the exact same thing. They are all part of the club of mismatch makers)

Again, let me state that I do not think Vickie will get together with Steve as her feelings for him are not reciprocated and I doubt this is going to change in the future.

Vickie is straight

... and she has a crush on Steve

I know how controversial it is to state such an opinion given how Vickie seems to be one of the few characters in the show who actually seem queer. Yet if we are being honest she has never expressed any direct or indirect signs of actually being in love with Robin. It's Robin who is incredibly biased as she has a crush on Vickie and Steve who is trying to be supportive of Robin who gave us this assumption.

This whole thing is not as bad as it seems though. I can promise you this. So if you still care let me explain to you why I think Vickie is straight and has a crush on Steve.

Part 1: The Muppet joke

While still in the car with Steve in early S4 Robin gets reminded of her own advise: Just be true to yourself and stop pretending to be someone you're not. We need to keep this in mind as she is soon shown to not follow said advise.

When Steve reminds Robin at the basketball game that Tammy Thompson does sound like a Muppet she agrees with him. Vickie overhears this and in turn agrees with Robin.

The joke however doesn't originate from Robin. She just repeated what Steve told her before. Therefore the joke that made Vickie laugh comes from Steve. Or in other words: It was Steve who made Vickie laugh and not Robin.

We even get conformation of this a bit later in episode 2 when Steve admits and agrees out loud that it was his joke that made Vickie laugh.

Robin wasn't entirely herself.

While everyone is looking straight ahead it's Vickie who makes a point not to look in Robins direction after Robin is embarrassed of herself. There is distance between them.

Part 2: Vickie and Robin (and Steve) meet at the Weapon Store

It's Robin who notices Vickie first in the weapon store which is followed by Steve looking at her as he knows she has a crush on Vickie which is then followed by both of them looking sad as Vickies boyfriend enters the scene.

Robin is obviously sad because her crush has a boyfriend while Steve is just sad for his friend.

This shot is often brought up to proof that Robin is standing between Vickie and Dan as it's believed that her crush on Vickie is reciprocated but I don't think this is what it means exactly. It's Robins POV and she believes her feelings to Vickie are reciprocated so she sees herself as standing in between them.

But is it true? Let's look at what Vickie sees next.

Vickie notices the both of them and while Robin is just staring at her Steve is licking his lips. Then Robin turns around and leaves while Steve is still looking at Vickie and Dan and then smiles awkwardly at them.

So Steve is licking his lips and then smiles at Vickie and Dan. What message would Vickie receive here? My guess would be 1) Steve and Robin are close and 2) Steve might like Vickie as well.

This however is the last look we get of Steve in this scene. It's his back while he is still looking after Robin. So whatever made him lick his lips and smile is no longer of interest to him the moment Robin leaves. I think this means that he is Robins friend first and foremost. He is not romantically interested in Vickie and doesn't reciprocate her feelings at all.

Robin is gone and Steve has turned his back on Vickie but her gaze still lingers. Maybe her feelings towards her own boyfriend aren't as sincere as it seems and everything considered I think it's fair to ask who this is truly about? Robin or Steve? Is she saying the truth when she makes it about Robin who she did meet in band or is she using Robin as a shield as she doesn't want to admit to her boyfriend that she has a crush on another man aka Steve?

In the end she looks back towards her boyfriend and then again to the place where Robin and Steve just were. Is he perhaps still standing there?

Then we get a scene transition to Nancy holding a very long gun. It's not subtle at all.

Part 3: Providing Food for the Suffering

There is light behind Robin which can indicate that she is the one who is most sincere in this scene. This makes sense as it is true that Robin has a crush on Vickie.

It's Vickie who gives her the information that Dan is no longer her boyfriend but from the scene in the weapon store she also knows that Robin and Steve are close. So everything she says to Robin is likely to reach Steve as well which means that Robin could be the one to tell Steve that Vickie is single again and therefore available to him.

First notice how Vickie wears spiral earrings. This is very interesting to me as it's triangle imagery that is used to indicate queerness in the show. So here we have the supposed love interest of one of the only confirmed queer characters in the show not wearing triangle imagery when it really matters. Why? Because she is straight.

Vickie also mentions how she rambles about her boyfriend when there are people out there suffering at which point in time she looks up and slightly to her right. Later when the scene transitions from Robin and Vickie to Steve we also get him at a alight angle which to me indicates that Vickie was looking at him as she was lifting her head.

It's Steve who Vickie perceives as the one suffering and who she wants to provide with food. Or to put it a bit differently: It's Steve she has a crush on and who she wants to be with and support.

Steve on the other hand is also smiling and looking at Robin and Vickie. He is happy for the both of them as everything seems to be working out for Robin and Vickie which could not be further from the truth. He's also shaking his head just slightly. Most likely because he thinks a certain assumption he's made just an episode earlier turned out to be wrong.

That assumption about Vickie pausing Fast Times at 53:05 however might be true after all. Steve is just misreading the signs Robin and Vickie are giving off at the gym.

Tbc in a reblog because I almost hit image limit. Look here.

[wolfpup026]

❤️ first kiss / realization + Lokius for the prompt game! :D

Thank you for the prompt, hope you like it! 🥰

[ineffable-suffering]

Trauma-Dumping on your plants: The Anthony J. Crowley Chronicles

This has been living in my silly head rent free for so long, I finally decided to slap it on here in hopes of thinking about it a little less (than three times a day. It's been years. I need to get over it.)

Also, I'm absolutely certain I'm not even remotely the first person to realize or post about this, since it's not the hardest of parallels to figure out. Alas, I still shall, because out of mind, out of sight and all that. So:

Let's talk about how Crowley is using his houseplants to work through his own Trauma of the Fall. Or, well, maybe not work through it per se, but more so roleplay it to give it somewhat of an an outlet because he never got over it. Lol.

It's not rocket science to figure it out and God Herself actually gives us a pretty spot-on explanation of it in her own narration.

Crowley's plants are perfect. They're, as God Herself tells us, the most luxurious and beautiful in all of London. He takes great care of them, waters them, mists them. Does any and everything to give them the perfect conditions so they won't have a worry in the world.

And yet, we're immediately shown that despite the seemingly perfect conditions they're living in, Crowley's plants still get *gasps quietly* spots. And we all know how Crowley feels about that:

It seems like such an unnecessary tiny thing to get upset about, right? Like, plants get spots all the time. They're not perfect, they're part of nature and nothing is ever perfect in nature. Crowley would know that by now. Imperfection is the whole point of nature. If everything had stayed exactly the way it always was, nothing would have ever changed or evolved.

Besides, Crowley is a demon. If it were merely about aesthetics to him, he could easily miracle away any spot with a blink of his serpent eyes. But he gets so angry about it, it's almost comical. At first we think it's just to show us, the audience, that, in contrast to Aziraphale, who cares very dearly and lovingly for his books, Crowley is a mean, mean demon who, instead of being outwardly nice to the things he loves (like Aziraphale does), yells at his plants because he's a mean meanie.

But! If you look at the whole scene and what God says, it's pretty obvious what he's actually doing is something else entirely: "What Crowley does is he puts the fear of God in them. Or, the fear of Crowley. The plants are the most luxurious and beautiful in London. Also the most scared."

Folks, this man dude serpent is literally roleplaying the concept of God/Heaven threatening angels with their Fall in order to keep them obedient ... with his houseplants.

Have I mentioned yet that I am absolutely obsessed with him and also desperately wanna get him a therapy voucher?

Because what does he do once he sees a plant disobeying his rules of perfection and acting out? The same thing God did to her questioning, equally disobedient angels (including Crowley): Parade it in front of the very scared rest, making an example of it ...

... only to then, well ...

... quite literally chuck it out.

To anyone else, this seems like a completely ridiculous thing to do over a tiny, minuscule spot. There would have been a bunch of other ways to go about fixing that spot.

Figuring out what it was the plant needed that might not have been given to it yet.

Taking care of it in a different, individual way so it would have been able to thrive again.

Listening to the plant and letting it tell you why its spot appeared in the first place.

Telling the plant, that loves and relies on you entirely, you love it too, despite it not being without fault, despite of it not fully living up to your unreachable standards of perfection.

Caring for the plant not because you want it to be perfect, but because you're okay with it being imperfect.

(We're no longer talking about plants here, as you are probably aware.)

Alas, this isn't what Crowley does. Because it wasn't what God did, either. We still know very little about Crowley's actual Fall and the Fall of Lucifer and the rest. But we do know that Crowley was never like or even with them.

All he did was ask some questions. A tiny spot. A seemingly insignificant blemish in the luxurious, beautiful flora of Heaven.

And yet, before he knew it, he did a "million lightyear freestyle dive into a boiling pool of sulfur". Cast out, chucked away, just like his little spotty plant. And for what? Well ...

... to keep the others angels plants check, for the rest of time.

***

(Addendum from the comments: If we go by what the book tells us, Crowley doesn’t actually end up violently throwing out the ‚bad‘ plants. He just finds a different place for them and makes sure they‘re looked after. So much to him being a big, bad, meanie-mean demon.)

[woodlaflababab]

Thinking about how Zuko seems to understand Aang in some ways better than the rest of the gaang in a very short time. Recently rewatched the finale (finally finished getting my grandmother to watch the whole show, she loved it), and when Aang was having his argument with the gaang and then left, Zuko stopped Katara from going after him and said "He needs time to sort it out by himself."

Something I've long since noticed is that one of Aang's and Katara's conflicts is that they approach problems very differently, which leads to Katara trying to comfort Aang in a way that doesn't help or Aang trying to advise Katara in a way that doesn't help. Now, before I go on, I want to clarify, does this make kataang a bad ship? Not in the slightest. Couples having a disconnect on forms of comfort is very common and the healthiest of relationships are ones in which the two learn to meet eachother in the middle and be who the other needs to be. Their conflict in this is realistic and usually shown to resolve itself as they learn to meet the other where they need them. I am in absolutely no way disparaging Katara or trying to say kataang is bad or worse than zukaang.

I'm saying that because I am going to delve deeper into this dissconnect between Aang and Katara in comparison to Zuko. Again, this is in no way me trying to say Katara is bad for Aang, all couples have their problems and zukaang absolutely has issues that kataang would never have. Please for the love of god do not take this the wrong way.

Now, back to the point, we do see a pattern throughout the show of Katara trying to reach Aang through words. She's a naturally caring person and just wants people to feel better, unfortunately, she's also 14, and thus not exactly a trained therapist, and Aang isn't receptive to that particular brand of comfort. In things like General Fong's pressure on the Avatar state, or Aang's stress after waking up from the coma, or Aang's shut down after Appa, she tries to reach him and convince him to feel better, which doesn't really work on Aang. (Usually. There are some times where it does work, like during The Storm).

She has a tendancy of trying to tell Aang she understands what he's feeling when she doesn't which just pushes Aang away. (A mistake Aang also makes with her, these are Children™ trying their best). Their disconnect comes from the fact that Aang approaches problems with a desire for a solution while Katara approaches problems with a desire to fix the emotion. Both valid, but not matching.

My zukaang brain rot ass has long since had the hc that Zuko would be a bit better on this just because of the way he approaches things. Zuko also approaches problems with a desire for a solution. We see that very clearly in his buddy-cop episodes with the gaang. He connects with each of them by trying to help them solve a problem.

I was not expecting my hc to be verbally confirmed by him though, didn't remember that part, but yeah, Zuko, within only a few weeks of knowing Aang, understands that Aang needs time to sort his emotions out on his own, something Katara still struggles to understand even after seeing it happen multiple times. (Again, she just wants to help, and it can be really hard to watch a loved one struggle, of course she wants to be able to say something that will fix it.)

Throughout the finale we see Zuko meet Aang where he's at.

The first example:

I know you're scared, and I know you're not ready to save the world. But if you don't defeat the Firelord before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore.

He acknowledges how Aang is feeling and he doesn't tell him he should feel differently, he just points out very bluntly that there is a problem. Also, just the fact that he acknowledges that Aang could be scared. It's not really something that acknowledged much. Even during Nightmares and Daydreams when Aang is literally falling apart due to nightmares and fear of what's coming, the others are more concerned with just getting him to stop. Zuko tells him that it's reasonable for him to not feel ready where everyone else constantly insists he is ready for things (like the invasion).

(Of course, again, the others are also encouraging in their own right. When Aang is starting to spiral they assure him that he's not alone and that they can fight the Firelord together)

Then, when they're all having the arguement, Zuko, clearly being on the side of "hey kill the Firelord" still doesn't ever tell Aang what he should feel.

Aang: "But he's still a human being."

Zuko: "You're doing to defend him?"

"No. I agree with you. Firelord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him, but there's got to be another way."

"Like what?"

*Gluebending Idea Tangent*

"Yeah, and then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again."

"Do you really think that would work?"

"No!"

Zuko asks questions, lets Aang lead the conversation, and when he's arguing against him, does not directly tell him he's wrong, instead tries to get Aang to see the faults in his own thinking. Zuko's approach to arguing with Aang is to get Aang to figure things out on his own, not tell him he's wrong. Even in the beginning when Zuko attacks Aang, he is trying to get Aang to understand that he's not ready and needs more training by showing him, not telling him. Zuko understands that Aang needs to be able to reach his own conclusion, not be told what his conclusion should be.

Meanwhile, the rest of the conversation goes sharply downhill as Sokka and Katara directly just tell Aang that what he says he's feeling isn't correct.

Aang: "I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!"

Sokka: "Sure you can, you're the avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you."

Aang: "This isn't a joke Sokka! None of you understand the position I'm in!"

Katara: "Aang, we do understand, it's just-"

Aang: "Just what Katara, what?"

Katara: "We're trying to help!"

Which is another one of those situations I mentioned where Katara tells Aang she understands what he's feeling when she does not. She's trying to help, but that is not helpful.

Then, of course, the line I mentioned earlier.

Katara: "Aang, don't walk away from this!"

Zuko: "Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself."

Again, Zuko has only been there a few weeks, the water tribe siblings have known Aang for the better part of a year. Yet, Zuko tells Katara with certainty that Aang needs time and space, which he does.

I think there's also something to be said for the fact that Zuko, before anyone else, even Aang, noticed the conflict between Aang's values and his mission. When Aang says violence is never the answer in The Southern Raiders, Zuko asks (notably asks) what he's going to do when he faces Ozai.

Also:

Sokka, in response to Aang disappearing: "It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously dissapears before an important battle? He's definitely on a spirit world journey!"

Zuko: "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?"

Sokka: "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Like, Sokka, honey, baby, you've known this kid for nine months now, come on.

Anyway, there's a lot of subtle zukaang moments in the finale that I may write a post about later. I just really like Zuko's quick and inherent understanding of who Aang is as a person.

[marcelthemoon]

did the girl I JUST started hooking up with stop talking to me? yes

but she did say I was phenomenal at sex so that's all I'm gonna focus on ✨

[justfriendsbestthings]

☀️ Omar Rudberg ☀️

[bahgasdump]

Drunk Bunny (Drunski) is canonically the Queen in @gear-shift

Trust me, I know. I see the creator/owner of Gear-Shift every time I look in the mirror

Also yeah, here's Sans' design in Gearshift like, way sooner than you would've expected I'm certain

It's literally just Sans with a paper crown and emblem lol

[distantvictories]

You can see Carl’s face in this one. He is so sweet.

[arctixout]

Favorite thing about the jo fandom is that no matter who you stan the most if one of the members has a fire fit then at least half the fandom is dead on the ground.

[st-hedge]

Genderbends are apparently problematic now. I wouldn't do Ganondorf though. I fear those epic tits would just bring more fearless followers.

The concept of fem ww ganon makes my palms sweaty

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Someone: Gwen's story is a trans allegory - there's clear parallels of her hiding her secret identity and being closeted as a transfem that enrich her story and arc while representing queer youth-

Audience: *cheers and claps*

Me: I agree and also Miguel's story is a trans allegory - there's clear parallels of his injections and desire for roles like fatherhood being like HRT and social transition, that enriches his story and arc while representing transmas-

Audience: *Begins to BOO me vehemently* *A rotten tomato flies from the crowd and knocks me unconscious*

[pumpumpuli]

Been sketching requests on a discord server and this one ended up being so nice I decided to polish it up. This is a design for 𝙱𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙳𝟶𝚆𝙻𝟻𝟽's character concept "Queen Lysara - The Black Dominion's Queen."

[cameronsbabydoll]

i think i need to write a post on “getting to know my !readers” cause i fear some of yall don’t really understand them 😭

[noctiva]

OH MY GOD YES!! DO IT! DO THE TOBY CUCK FIC!!!

Not tying to be demanding I just don’t know if you’re asking legitimate questions like “should I do this?” Or rhetorical-ish ones that are more like “should I do this? I’m gonna do this”

🦎

ON IT BOSS 🫡

you’re all good tho!! usually it’s a little bit of both to see what the reception would be like for smth like that hehe

at the end of the day I just wanna write stuff you guys would enjoy!

[ode-on-a-grecian-butt]

My head has been schlecked to a fine gleam by a small baked potato