#I really did feel for debbie in this episode

[laufire]

ended up watching both seasons of invincible (apparently just in time to start the third one). I'm iffy about some of the show's choices and what I know about the original comic really sounds like typical edgelord shit, but I do like what they do with a lot of superhero genre tropes and conceits.

most of all, I'm OBSESSED with debbie and nolan. if he approached her while I was in the room I'd scream at him until he was five solar systems away from her. when he said "I deserve death. and yet, I think... I miss my wife" I took that personally. I want him on his KNEES when they see each other again.

[kabr0ztrousers]

Similar to the portal one. But reader is a chubby witch in a house full of diffret species (not picky on the type). Anything with a big size differance is chefs kiss though. She has a crush on one of them. So she puts a portal spell on a toy and leaves it out for him to find. And he does but what she didn't realize was how many of her roommates share there toys. And now she has live with the consequences or for some the reward

You can even do a continuation were they figure out what she did and they give up on the toy and just start to use her instead

Kabr0z Writes episode 68: Toying Around

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

CWs: infidelity via deception; dubcon via deception; public sex; free use; autocunnilingus

A/N: Ah, my two great loves, portals and free use... Whatever would I do without them.

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You finally figured it out. You'd had the hots for Andy for months, ever since he moved in with you. You were already living with Debbie, and the pansexual lupines Paul and Brian couldn't object to the new housemate; they were fucking practically every night, and weren't quiet about it. The only problem is, Andy only had eyes for Debbie, and you weren't about to fuck up the flat dynamic by stealing her man.

But what a man he was, the very ideal of a minotaur. Eight feet tall and as wide as a doorframe, 150 kilos of pure muscle and sinew, with biceps thicker than your plush thighs. The time you walked in on him in the shower (totally by accident, you understand) sealed it. He was equally huge down below, a cock as long and thick as your forearm. You got wet just thinking about burying that flared monster in your cunt. You just had to get around his obnoxious fidelity first.

That's where a little bit of magic comes in.

Magical study can be understood as ten domains, or spheres, interacting with one another. Forces is the flashy one for tossing fireballs, entropy is the scary one for making things degrade, life is the one for healing wounds or changing your shape, if you can think of it, there's a sphere that does it. Your speciality was a little more esoteric: correspondence. Correspondence is the magic of spatial relationship, specifically the realisation that distances are an illusion and can be subverted with a little know-how and just enough gumption. Theoretically, correspondence lets you teleport too, through a process of literally not being here and being somewhere else, but when that goes wrong it's not uncommon to accidentally become part of a building or worse, so prudent mages only pull that trick in times of direst need.

This trick was almost too easy. You'd get his usual cocksleeve, take out the insert, and link the end of it with the gusset of a pair of knickers. Barely a party trick, it's the same mechanism for pulling a rabbit out of a hat, though with any luck there wouldn't be any pulling out happening. A few magic words, and one exsanguinated mouse later, a hazy film lay on the top of the toy you'd pilfered. You pushed a finger into it, and watched it come out of the inside of the underwear you'd used for the other side. Pulling on the panties you tested again.

Yep, you could feel your finger stroking your pussy lips, a hint of wetness coming away on your hand as you did. You'd always been curious of this. You brought the tube to your face, smelling the warmth of your cunt through the portal as you licked yourself through it. Damn, you taste good. Too good, and god does it feel right. Your tongue explored your nethers, running up and down your slit, lapping up your wetness and circling your clit. Either you're a natural at this, or you're getting far too turned on by the idea of being able to really fuck yourself.

It wasn't easy to stop, but you knew if you let yourself cum like that you'd be there all day, and you wanted to be out of the house before Andy came home from work. He was always pent up when he came back, and modifying his normal cocksleeve into your enchanted pocket pussy was a simple job. He probably wouldn't notice, at least not until he was already balls deep into you. By that point, he might not care.

Replacing the toy, you slipped on a sundress and made your way to the park. You weren't going to risk being caught in the flat while he wanked off with you. There's a quiet spot under a weeping willow, right near the river, about a mile into the park where nobody goes, not even the dog walkers.

That's where you sat, channeling the power of the river and the forest, recharging as you waited. Getting fucked here would probably help, if anything, sex carries powerful magic. It's just a pity he wouldn't be here in person.

Something touched you. A gentle fingertip slid some lube over your pussy, coating your lips in a cold, slick film. The finger pushed in, rubbing the lubricant around the inside of you, feeling the texture of your inner walls. It pulled out. Moments passed. Seconds felt like hours as your mind raced. Of course he'd figure it out, he'd have to lube his toy before fucking it otherwise that huge bitch-breaker would rip it in half!

Or not. The flare pressed against your hole briefly, before forcing its way in. You groped a tit as it pushed in, filling you slowly before he started fucking himself properly. He was going fast, faster than anyone could fuck. Every push made you yelp, your eyes rolling back as it hammered into you, getting deeper and deeper with every push. Your yelps and whines reached a crescendo, the hammering cock driving you to orgasm hard against it.

You felt yourself tensing, gripping the flared beast inside you as your toes curled and your body shook. The force of the orgasm almost made you fall backwards, your arms catching you as your back arched, your hips pushing up against a man who wasn't there as you groaned.

He wasn't far behind. The flare flattened against the entrance of your womb as he pulsed into you, delivering his cum right where you wanted it. The thick liquid steamed through your cervix in a river, filling you in an instant before threatening to spray out around the sides. He held the toy down, keeping you hilted as he pumped you to bursting.

At last, the flare started to recede, he pulled out. You felt the still too wide tip pulling on your entrance before popping out in a fountain of thick cum. You lay, panting on the sparse grass, shielded from passers-by by the fronds of the willows above. It's another simple spell to prevent pregnancy, a handful of river water mixed with a little ash and daubed over your belly neutralises the semen filling your womb. Life magic wasn't your speciality, but a witch knows the rudiments.

You picked yourself up and started to walk back to the main park. It's about a 20-minute walk at a decent clip, but you were taking your time.

Something touched your pussy again. Not a finger, not Andy's flared member, something else. Thinner, shorter, already leaking fluid into you. Have you been borrowed?

The new cock was slower, fucking you like it was savoring the experience. The minotaur cum lubricating him as he slid in and out.

You looked for somewhere to duck out of the way, slipping into a bush as the cock slowly fucked you. It wasn't as big as the minotaur, but the languid pace made you squirm.

It sped up for a few pumps, making you arch yourself again, before slowing down. The cock twitching and throbbing in your cunt, it hadn't knotted you yet, the slippery precum adding to the mix of fluids dripping out of you.

Over and over, the slow stroking punctuated by fast thrusts, each time drawing moans and gasps from you as the canid cock edged inside you; each time brought you to the very edge, before slowing back down and leaving you panting.

The fast fucking started again, this time you clenched yourself against it, feeling the thickness of the cock pressing back at you. You created your peak, tears welling in your eyes as you half-moaned, half-sobbed your release. The knot filled you up, and another man's cum started to fill you.

Walking is hard when you have a tennis ball sized knot plugging you up, harder still when that knot is moving and thrusting with a mind of its own.

You staggered home, the knot staying hard, holding the rest of his cock in you as it twitched and pumped more and more into you. Lupine cum isn't as thick as a minotaur's, but there's just so much of it; you could feel it dripping down your legs, the unmistakable smell of fresh cum filling your nostrils. You were just glad you didn't need to take the bus.

You finally got home, the knot still in you, and slid into your room, waiting for it to pull out.

A knock on the door

"Hey" It's Andy "I know what you did. I gave you to Paul, he's loaded Brian up with boner pills, so don't expect to be getting out any time soon. Next time you want to hook up, just ask, OK?"

Well, looks like you're in for the long haul.

Worth it.

######################################

Not sure how I did on that. The minotaur fucking was fun, but was the lupine as good, or did it overstay its welcome? Maybe I'm being over critical because it's my work.

Either way, if you have a request for any scenarios you want to see or kinks you want me to explore, please do drop an ask! If you're not sure if it oversteps any boundaries, send it and I'll make a decision. The worst I'll say is no

[magnoliarabbit]

Protectiveness and Possessiveness in Invincible

I think Invincible did a lot to establish a core issue of Mark’s character in Season 3 — particularly how his protective instincts, while they come from pure intentions and are seen as a good masculine trait to have, can manifest in unhealthy ways.

At their core, these tendencies stem from a place of care. After what Nolan did Mark is left as the protector of his family. He steps up by offering to drop out of college to help raise Oliver, he support Debbie through her grief, he keeps them safe from people like Angstrom Levy.

Yet, when it comes to Eve, his protectiveness takes a turn, blurring a thin line from protectiveness to possessiveness.

From the beginning, Mark’s relationship with Eve brings out his irrational side. During the Flaxan invasion, he reacts aggressively and drops everything to save her. In the Season 1 finale, he insists on following her to "keep her safe," and later, he refuses to leave her hospital room—even when Cecil explicitly tells him Eve wouldn’t want him there.

His instinct isn’t to fight alongside her but to shield her from danger entirely, whether it’s against the alternate Invincible variants or Conquest. The irony is that Mark needs Eve’s help just as much as she needs his. Without her and Oliver’s intervention, he wouldn’t have survived Conquest. But he still has those expectations of himself to be the protector simply because he’s supposed to be earth strongest hero (another fun discussion to have another time about men being expected to be strong no matter what!)

The real issue is that his protectiveness morphs into entitlement over Eve. Him staying at the hospital or following to keep her safe? Eve doesn’t welcome that level of coddling. This obsession with her and that possessiveness over her is also shown within how the alternate Marks treat Eve.

The Season 2 Episode 1 Variant Invincible feels so entitled to Eve that he paralyzes her to make her stay with him forever. He does this all while thinking he's protecting her; if he paralyzes her, then she won't fight back and he and Nolan won't need to hurt her.

Another Mark variant is searching for women who embody Eve to fill a void inside him; again, obsession and entitlement. (Comic readers know what I mean)

Even Omni-Mark harbors an unexplained hatred toward her (likely over rejection, because let’s be honest—nobody wants that guy. Or because she was a thorn in his side while conquering earth. Idk if anything was ever revealed about him).

The Mark variants show extremes of how much his flaws could corrupt him.

Our Mark isn’t innocent either. During the hospital visit Cecil’s warns him that Eve would disapprove of him putting her first. He’s overstepping just like in Season 1.

Symbolically, it makes sense for him to be so fixated on shielding her: Eve is coded as unapologetically feminine, while the Viltrumites embody toxic masculinity at its worst. Mark wants to defend her from that brutality, especially after seeing how easily Viltrumite strength can overpower her. But Eve has been a hero longer than Mark and understands the job’s risks and prioritizes saving others over her own safety. She’s feminine, that’s why she cares about helping others outside of fighting. That’s why she doesn’t want to be protected. By putting her above the mission, Mark disregards her agency—something she’s called him out for before in Season 1.

FYI, the show amplifies these flaws compared to the comics. Cecil doesn’t mention Eve would be upset with Mark over the hospital thing, so the show highlights Eve’s frustration over being coddled so much more than the comics.

Season 3 and those Mark being protective scenes in Season 1 finale felt like a set up to me. I really do believe we’re going to be tackling Mark’s possessiveness issue soon. We do discuss his obsessions over fighting to keep his people safe to an unhealthy degree in the comics but Season 3 feels like it’s kicking it up a notch and planting the seeds for something similar happening much earlier.

Mark’s heart is in the right place, but he needs to learn to respect Eve’s autonomy and that he needs her just as much as she needs him. We see what letting that unhealthy possessiveness can do to him. And again, I do think this is foreshadowing for Eve being very unhappy with Mark soon when she finds out about the hospital thing. I hope she will be, because they need to bounce back from the mid writing on Eve in Season 3.

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

ok so ive been rewatching psychoville and saw on the wikipedia that there were a bunch of websites made for the series (they were all written by reece and steve btw) which i've been looking through cos they are genuinely SO fucking funny & also just amazingly creative lol!

anyway i know people in the fandom probs already know about this (since the show came out literally 15 years ago pfft) but i thought i'd share some of my fav bits (but honestly would just recommend just checking them out if you haven't i have been crying with laughter for literally hours lol)

i will say that a lot of the media (videos, games, etc) no longer work on the archived sites rip but i'm sure people have uploaded some of the stuff (vids especially) to yt or other places lol

so a) i love that we get some background stuff on jelly and 2) 'captain CRACKERS' bernie clifton's dressing room reference question mark ??????? (ofc bcdr was AFTER this but i know love the idea that mr jelly trained under len pfft)

what that red raw stump do though 👀 (sorry pfffft)

mr jolly's website wasn't that interesting soz tho i did like him comparing being a doctor to being a clown lol

the comment about fag bears did make me wheeze i'm afraid lol i also loved the blurry photos of lomax's commodities lol (kinda reminded me of the bit in tlog w/ that terrible old photographer guy lol)

when i tell you i DIED with laughter at the 'now known as hull' bit like u just know reece wrote that bit pfft

not really a funny thing but this poem written by david honestly kinda breaks my heart lol... i think it also a lot of additional context to david's guilt when he thought he'd killed his father(faver) because perhaps he felt guilty about NOT feeling guilty you get me? like, it felt to me that when maureen told david it was SHE who killed her husband, it didn't feel like he was mad at her for doing it, but more that she kept the fact from him. it's about... the mutual oedipus-coded obsession with one another that couldn't even be destroyed in death and in this essay i will....

ghoul_lass23 is just like me but about tumblr lol fr

nothing feels more cursed than the phrases 'the river minge has burst its banks', 'crying creamy tears' and 'fleshy rapunzel' (which i've just noticed they misspelt lol... don't think that was intentional lol?) so if i had to read this so do you <3

the way that i kinda wish this actually existed tho pfft... also, it does kinda remind me of that video where jenny nicholson talked about that insane reality show 'opposite worlds' lol

'cross between seven and glee' is honestly sending me pfft

also on this part there was a script from stinkfinger (which is a show mentioned on the show) which sounded suspiciously like a reference to tlc lol

the less said about swastknickers the better

(will say i did nearly piss myself laughing at the nazi section of the hoity toity website lol which wasn't a sentence i thought i'd type today lol)

i just love these kinds of jokes pfft

also the whole biography sections of each of the pantomime cast are fab lol tho i AM kinda pissed they made debbie from yeovil and yet didn't give her a west country accent lol!!! (i guess they thought it'd be a bit much w/ joy being bristolian but i'm still mad about it lol)

also i know people have probably already pointed this out but i do find it funny that brian in the in9 episode last night of the proms is a closeted gay guy who likes watching drag was probably a reference to brian in this show that was a drag queen like... is anything these guys do NOT a reference??? u know those gaylor fans who obsessively look for clues in her songs about her apparent secret sexuality? all i'm saying is that i think they'd really like the extended reece shearsmith & steve pemberton universe pfft

all three of these made me cry with laughter lol

ohh this is interesting lol so obviously they suspected that some people might be all 'um why didn't the sprinklers go off during the fire at ravenhill? plot hole much!' so they wrote this into one of the websites so they could be like SEE! WE'RE ONE STEP AHEAD OF YOU DUMBASSES lol

both the jeremy kyle reference (remember when that was a thing? yikes... my mum used to watch his show CONSTANTLY...) and nurse kenshington's thoughts on david and maureen are interesting lol.. also there's a reference to the serial killer top trumps in this bit lol! (do people still play top trumps?? man i LOVED top trumps lol...)

the entire sunnyvale care home section is so fucking funny (both the website AND in the show lol mrs wren/mrs ladybird face is unironically probably my favourite character on the entire show) these were just some of my fav gags lol...

ok but why is this the SECOND reference to a guy punching a child who was apparently looking at his dick lol!??!! did this happen to one of you ??!!?!? reece did you punch a child ??!???!?!??

&&&& that's it lol

there were a few websites i didn't spend long on or generally weren't that interesting (coughmidgetgemscough) but honestly? i was really captivated with just how funny and well put together all these sites were! you can tell they had a lot of fun making it and i'm sure fans at the time LOVED being able to have this semi-interactive element of the show lol

there was just something so wonderfully late 00's about these websites lol i genuinely don't think i've laughed this much at anything in literal months and all of this is just solidifies that psychoville is a criminally under-appreciated masterpiece lol

[lynnsenpai]

So I was always kinda curious about this. Since Rain did eventually make public and chroncile her life as a trans woman online, I always wanted to know how Rain's former classmates outside of the Gay Table (Rain's close circle) reacted to the reveal that she's trans. Like, with Drew I can kinda guess how he reacted, probably initial surprise and then saying "I'm kinda used to this already."

Like Holly would be a fun one to imagine. Devon I don't know. Rob's reaction would be very interesting, he did have a crush on her at one point. The Vintage siblings (Madison and Aidyn) I'd kinda wanna know. Oh yeah, and Randy.

Just curious is all

I have a very clear image in my head of Debbie laughing out of pride because she totally called it... and then feeling kinda guilty about how she treated Rain back then. That said, she's still one of Emily's best friends, so Debbie may actually get a chance to apologize. I don't imagine her and Rain being particularly tight, but at least the bad blood can be cleared out. But she totally called it! Holly tries to correct Rain through the screen, "Emily is pantssexual. And you're trantsgender. Yeesh, learn the termilogimy!" Devon, it turns out, has a trans family member. Watching Rain's videos helps him adapt to this. Upon realizing Rain is trans, Rob has a massive crisis about what that means for his past feelings for her. Drew is quick to snark at him about how familiar this feels, but rather than continuing to tease, he assures Rob that this doesn't change anything. Rain was a girl then, and she's a girl now, so Rob is (likely) straight. Aidyn and Madison never really knew Rain that well, so while it's surprising, it doesn't change much for them. But once Aidyn gets to the prom night episode, he learns the truth about Ryan recontextualizing that whole night, years and years later. Aidyn feels bad about his behavior, and Madison never ever ever lets him live it down that he thought Ryan was cheating on him with Gavin. Randy makes a quiet nod of approval.

[eternalera]

no cause im actually so pissed at mark in the latest episode??? like i get why he didn't fight/hesitated to fight the first few times and stuff like that cause yknow he doesnt need to fight and he's going through some stuff right so like, i get it and also his morals and everything. but holy shit... WHY DIDNT HE FUCKING FIGHT!?!??! like there's literally no reason for him not fighting. yes he rants about how "oh what if they find eve" BUT LIKE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!??! he's a hero, yes he's traumatized and yes thats a reason to not fight but when you look at his morals and the people that he cares about and who he doesnt know are safe. like take oliver for example, he knew oliver was out there and fighting OTHER HIMS WHO ARE STRONGER THAN HIM and despite claiming how he loves oliver he doesnt do anything to find him or help him. then you have debbie. with oliver you could at least make the excuse that "oh he has powers!" BUT FUCKING DEBBIE!??! DEBBIE WHO DOESNT HAVE ANY POWERS??? also- im 90% sure that mark knows that these other hims are NOT nice or kind people and are most likely sadistic and HAVE killed debbie in their universes. but okay just fuck her i guess the girlie got her leg broken and slammed into the ground ig my bad fam also shes hooked up to probably the BEST equipment she could have at the moment in the SAFEST place possible but my b just stay there and yap about how "oh i messed up, i messed up so badly" and not to anything about it. i didnt know we were in THAT arc today alright fine go off ig. AND THEN HE HAS THE FUCKING AUDACITY TO LOOK AROUND AT ALL THE DAMAGE THAT HAPPENED FOR THREE DAYS YOU WANNA KNOW HOW LONG THAT IS!?!? THATS HALF OF A FUCKING WEEK AND GO. "damn so much death happened, man i really wish something couldve been done to stop it" LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? YOU SAT THERE. MOPING. ABOUT A GIRL YOUVE BARELY HAD A DECENT CONVERSATION WITH (that wasnt you just whining). WHILE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FUCKING DIED.

HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN THAT SHIT TO THE WORLD. "hey invincible where were you when all of this was going down? hey why didnt you help?" "ermm sorry my gf got knocked out and hurt and i just wanted to be with her instead" LIKE ?????. like oh yeah worry about fucking eve while peoples families are being destroyed!! hahaha so relatable!! and the worst part is that this wouldnt even be a problem if his morals werent so strict and if he werent such a hyopcrite. like i dont even care what happens next i just want him to feel fucking BAD about that and everything that happened because OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL.

and dont get me started on the "youve got every hero out there fighting for you right now you dont need me" bs. like hahahaha may i point you to s1 perhaps?? mark... buddy... there are 10+ (practically) VILTRUMITES FLYING AROUND AND WREAKING HAVOC EVERYWHERE.

REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!??! REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED WITH NOLAN!??!!? AND HOW NOT EVEN YOU COULD DEFEAT HIM. LIKE ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW??!?!? YEAH THEY KINDA DO NEED YOU ACTUALLY. THEY KINDA REALLY DO. like im sorry but this is so stupid, get off your ass and at least save some people. you dont even have to fight yourself if you dont want to but make sure people are safe. then you can maybe feel a little sad when you see them dead or whatever.

cause basically what he did was see a person bleeding go "oh how sad" and then did nothing to stop the bleeding, watched as they bled out and then was like "if only there was smth i couldve done :((( " LIKE WHAT!??!? im just so pissed-

[gallavich-annise]

Shameless Rewatch Thoughts! 

Survival of the Fittest

Well. Fuck. I'm here already.

Even though I've been taking this rewatch intentionally slowly it feels like this one snuck up on me. 

I also didn't watch it in the right headspace and I should have known better. You see I sometimes watch Shameless while doing the ironing and I shouldn't have for this episode, but there was a large stack of ironing so I did and I regretted it. 

So... Some of this is remembered Emotions from first time around, because it didn't land the same when my attention was partially on getting creases out... And some of it is just my usual rambling thoughts.

Because it is a really fucking good episode. It rounds off the season with a huge emotional punch. It sets up drama for next season. And I think everything emotionally lands.

So this episode has Fiona trying to come to terms with Jimmy's sudden and unexpected departure, and trying to land a permanent job. Lip graduating high school and celebrating with Frank. Sheila saying goodbye to Karen, Jody and Hymie. Kev and V finding out Carol is 12 weeks pregnant. Frank being diagnosed with liver failure. And Ian leaving to join the army.

I'm gonna start with Kev and V to get them out the way because it's by far the worst plot thread of this episode. Possibly of the season, except maybe Sheila's stint as a disability campaigner. 

Aside from talking to Fiona, Kev and V only really have one short segment where they go to the hospital for Carol's first ultrasound scan. 

Now... I know that American maternal healthcare is different from the UK, but I don't know how it differs, so I'm not able to comment on whether this is realistic. Here, you don't get a scan until around 12 weeks, which is for estimating due date and checking the basics. Then another at 20 weeks as a growth and health check. Other scans are only considered necessary in certain cases. So...I guess all I'm trying to say is that it's weird to me that they had a scan a week after a positive test result. Whatever. But then they find out that it is a 12 week baby, and V is furious that Carol was pregnant that whole time and everything was pointless. 

Firstly... The whole thing was stupid from the start and I hated it. They didn't even wait two days after the turkey baster before V got her artificial urgency bullshit and took things to a weird level. Let alone the two weeks you would actually need. They based it on "Carol always throws up the day after she conceives" which is NOT HOW ANYTHING WORKS. 

And then we find out that Carol had an inkling but didn't want to test because she liked feeling useful. I just... It's... I... 

The whole thing is so patiently ridiculous and awful that I don't know where to start. I hate it. 

At the end Kev details the argument by holding up the ultrasound picture and saying "I'm all that matters now" and... Well okay. Let's move on and forget this whole bullshit experience.

So... The other plots are so connected in this episode that doing this by character almost doesn't make sense, but I'm gonna do Fiona, then Frank and Lip, then circle back to the babies (Debbie and Carl) before finishing up with Ian.

Fiona... Is amazing in this episode. It's so up and down emotionally. A lot of it is just her calling Jimmy in various emotional states, but only getting his voicemail. It's so impressive and beautiful... You see her deal with a confused Debbie asking about Michigan, and then calling Jimmy angry at him for not calling her back after her first attempt to reconcile. 

Then she talks to Kev and V about it, and Kev makes the point that she told him to find somewhere else to sleep and he did... V and Fiona say it was heat of the moment "how is he supposed to know that". And... I love Kev, I love his intended point here about plain communication... But... She called him to try and work it out after that. So, in the universe where Steve just fucked off, he's not in the wrong for staying away, but he is in the wrong for not answering Fiona's call to apologise. 

So, mixed feelings about that... I get it, and in general I like when Kev drops that kind of truth bomb. If Fiona hadn't already called Jimmy Steve it would have been a great time for her to do so, apologise and see what happened. But she already did. So the follow up call where she explains that she didn't mean that thing she said in anger is... Superfluous except as an apology for the earlier angry call, in my opinion. And in its purpose as showing Fiona's under turmoil... So actually it's not superfluous at all, but Kev's point is not as pointy as I'd like. Also, there's the fact that most people understand that words spoken in anger are often regretted, so even if Jimmy Steve thought she meant it, a text message would not have gone amiss. 

But, again, he's not actually able to respond, so there's this whole double level of angst that I really fucking love and makes my heart hurt. 

I can't overstate that, actually... The tension between Fiona's reaction to what she thinks happened and what the viewer knows actually happened is fucking genius. Without much love left for Jimmy Steve's lying ass, it's an incredible dynamic.

Anyway, Fiona is actually worried now, so she goes to see Ned Lloyd. And... The scene really works. Ned has his view of Jimmy Steve running off when faced with conflict in the past, so tells Fiona he's probably just run for the hills because shit got hard. He's trying to be nice, let her down as easy as possible. It's valid, as it seems like something Jimmy legit did... So I see why he says it and why Fiona believes it. Believes that Jimmy just ran for the hills. Which, again, makes it SO heartbreaking that we as viewers know HE DIDN'T. His last thought before boarding that boat was to call Fiona. He said "I had an argument with my girlfriend" not "I broke up with my girlfriend". And they had argued before! Even when I hated his childish man baby whining, he stayed. He fucked Estefania about it, but he stayed. He could've run off at any point but he didn't. 

It's... It makes me insane. For all the shaky writing and moments of pure bullshit, this is such a crunchy, delicious ending for Jimmy Steve and I ADORE it. I hate what Fiona is going through just because she doesn't know. She can't know.

Then there's Beto. Beto could tell her, could end her insanity, tell her that Jimmy Steve was thinking of her when he was dragged off by the Brazilian Mafia. Maybe he's sparing her feelings by not telling her... Maybe he's not allowed. I can only imagine what finding out about Este at this point would have done to her... So maybe he's right to have her think of Jimmy as the dick that ran away (though we will see how well that goes next season). I don't know. But Beto at least gives her something, and some money, which I assume must be his own money, because I don't think Jimmy had enough to give her that... Which is adorable of Beto. You're a star and I will miss you.

Fiona then sees an opportunity. There are job applicants at her office for a sales role. She wants it. Mike says that she would need at least one proven sale. 

So, with Lip's permission (another moment I loved because it calls back so beautifully to the start of the season) she gives her money to Kev to order some cups for the Alibi and tell them she got him to order. It's a wonderful Gallagher scam. And a wholesome one. Cups he doesn't need, but it helps Fiona get a full time job with benefits that can help them all. Love it. 

And she gets the job! The final moment of this plot thread is also incredible in ways I don't think I appreciated fully first time around. Because she gets her desk and her colleagues congratulate her and Connie, her floor supervisor(?) says "you remind me of me. 22 years and here I am". And... There's just this look on Fiona's face. A look of "is this really gonna be me in 22 years?" And "I don't want that". Which is... Actually excellent foreshadowing and completely in keeping with all the dubious decisions she's made through the seasons out of boredom, or trying to avoid boredom. It's beautiful. And obviously she doesn't immediately quit because she's not stupid, but I think that is a really good moment to highlight. She doesn't look happy to get the job any more, and that stood out to me on rewatch a lot. 

Finally we get her "last call I promise. Wherever you are, bye" in the falling snow.

Fiona is so good in this episode and the whole thing gives me chills. 

And that's not even all! Because I left out her part in Frank's story, so I'll go there next. 

Frank starts in jail. The scene with his cellmate is funny and kinda sweet, though part of me thinks it's the one scene in this episode that could stand to be a shorter. Not that it's overlong, just that there are moments elsewhere that I would give more breathing space in preference to Frank's bullshit and his murderer cellmate. All of which is just to show Frank looking ill and gray, thinking it's withdrawal... And then collapsing. 

When he wakes up he's told by yet another uncompassionate doctor that he is dying unless he gives up booze, and he's being released so the state doesn't have to treat him. Which is cold, but... He's there for theft so also seems like something that might happen. 'Murica. Frank is in denial over the diagnosis and says it's just withdrawal. 

So on release he goes straight to the Alibi. Enter Lip. 

Lip gets his high school diploma! Which is exciting for everyone but him. He's the first of the Gallagher kids to graduate, and Fiona insists he's gonna have the full ceremony in the spring, but he resists. 

The whole thing with him taking an extra semester to graduate is, on reflection, daft... This was pointed out on the South Side Rules podcast that there should/could have been an option for him to test out early and graduate at the point he quit school to go be an idiot. But... That aside, I loved all this. I love how excited Fiona is about it and how proud she is of him, and wanting to party and celebrate the win! I love how bored he looks when he picks up the certificate from the guidance counselor. I love how the guidance counselor seems proud of Lip and he just... Asshole's back at him. And I love the way he looks at it and just folds it up and stuffs it in his pocket until later when Fiona frames it. There's so much I could unpick.

Lip is smart, he breezed through it all. He doesn't value that certificate because he doesn't really think he did anything to earn it. I may be projecting a bit here, but... I feel like that's what he's going through. And he is feeling like that's it, he's peaked, he doesn't know what he's gonna do next. I think he looks a little bit lost.

So he goes to the Alibi. Where Kate gives him a free drink and Frank is not all there but eventually cottons on and is actually proud of Lip! For the first time. And Lip is lost enough to give him the time of day. 

The push up contest between Tommy and Frank is ridiculous and stupid, and is only there to give Frank a little money to spend on lunch. It's... A weird little aside, I guess. Shows that Frank is surprisingly strong when motivated? Despite collapsing earlier that day and being diagnosed with liver failure? 

But it gives him money and he offers to buy Lip a steak (he trades for Scotch and lobster) and... Lunch is really quite sweet. Good Frank moments again. Lip doesn't get much good time with Frank, and usually views him with contempt and disdain, so this is a nice moment. And it doesn't feel weird or forced... Frank is out for a good time and Lip's there and gave him something to celebrate. It's perfect, and Lip isn't super keen at first, but then he channels a little of Fiona's "enjoy it while it lasts" attitude and makes hay.

Frank's advice is, as usual, dogshite. And I spotted another point where the show feels inconsistent. Because in later seasons, it's stated that Frank went to college for a bit before he met Monica, and it feels like that would come up here if the show runners had decided that... Instead it feels like a bit of a retcon. Not completely, because he doesn't go on a "I never finished high school or went to college" rant, which he also easily could have... It just felt to me like the kind of thing that would have come up in a "don't waste your time with college" talk. Doesn't matter, I just noticed it. 

I loved the "dine and dash" "bite and bolt" "eat it and beat it" conversation. And the execution. Delightful. Mini caper. I adore those. 

Then the skate rink! Frank ranting about stealing endangered animals from the zoo. It's all playful and cheery, Lip is clearly having a great time, and as a Watcher of Media and knowing what we know, the next thing is not entirely unexpected... But it still manages to be horrifying and shocking when Frank vomits blood all over the ice. It's really effective. Even second time when I knew it was coming.

The scene at the hospital is gorgeous... Fiona telling Carl and Debbie to wait while she goes to find out what's going on. Finding Lip and telling him to go home and sober up. Then the conversation with Frank is amazing. "I wished for your death. Prayed for it. Made wishes on my birthday candles. Now if you died I don't know if I'd feel relieved or guilty."

This scene is wonderful for its complex emotions. For the way that Fiona does and doesn't care about Frank. She tries to make it about Carl and Debbie, because they still love him, but I don't think she really wants him to die either... There's a lot in there. He's awful. He's worthless. He's still her dad. I just... There is so much between the lines that I could rewatch that scene a thousand times and still find something new to think about. I love it. So much. 

She squares on him. "Do it for them or be the narcissist you are and do it for yourself. Just do it." It's... Gut punch. I am down. 

And Fiona goes home to celebrate Lip's graduation. Because that's what Gallaghers do. Find joy where they can. Ugh. I love them so much. 

The party is sweet because it's a Gallagher party and they are joking around and having fun, and Kev shows off the ultrasound ("it looks like me" bollocks does it, that is a 12 week foetus, it looks like a potato. Sorry I'm just not sentimental about these things 😆). And it weaves around every element of the story so far... Which kind of means I have to go back to Debbie and Sheila before I say more.

In the episode we say a final farewell to Karen, Jody, and Hymie. The whole thing feels wrapped up in a bow. Bye bye. Debbie goes and says a sweet goodbye to Hymie. Lip doesn't... And I think that's fine. He was so heartbroken that the Karen he knew was gone, I can see that he wouldn't want to say goodbye properly now. I still feel bad that Jody didn't get any kind of agency or explanation in that whole thing. Seems like he wants to go. I still have no idea how he feels about Karen in general. Whatever. They're off to Arizona. 

I think the weird thing for me is that Sheila is sticking around... I don't think the writers really knew what to do with her after that point. Which is a shame. But here they make clear the intentions to make it an "empty nester" plot arc. As soon as Karen is gone, Sheila latches on to Debbie and decides to help Debbie set up for Lip's party.

There are some delightful shots of Sheila displaying loads of elaborate food at the Gallagher party... We've not had her in that environment before, so it's nice having her fanciness up against the beer and dancing. It's cute. And she tries to bond more with Debbie, who sweetly says she needs to make some friends her own age who share her interests. Someone said "Debbie is a child without a parent, and Sheila is a parent looking for a child" and their relationship is so sweet... I kind of wish it got explored more after this point, too. But the writers took Debbie in a different direction, and while Debbie isn't exactly wrong here, it's sad that it seems to mark an end to that relationship a bit, as far as the show goes. 

However, the final scene of Sheila running a sex toy party and getting a bunch of people to order stuff is hilarious and I love that. I feel like her sales pitch was lacking (she barely describes the features of the toy she shows off) but with a little polishing I think that's a perfect career choice for her. 

Aside: now that Sheila is clearly out and about, it is unclear to me whether she is still claiming disability. She was maybe living off Jody's pay as a tattoo artist? She doesn't have insurance money from Eddie. What are her plans? Is she in crippling debt from Karen's hospital bills? So her having a job now is fine, but... Is she living off this? So many questions that the show will never answer.

Debbie... Again with Debbie the show does a great job of setting up where she's going as a character. I think the line with Fiona "so I'm adult enough to fake being molested so we can keep the house, but I'm not adult enough to ask where we'll be living for the next year" sums it up. She wants to be more grown up. She wants to be treated more grown up. It's tragic and sad, but it's there and it's well done, it's in character and I want to give her a hug. 

I like that she challenges Fiona about the move to Michigan when Lip says "it's not happening, Jimmy hasn't been round in three days" and Fiona is cagey. I like that Fiona and Debbie argue in a way that beautifully treads the line between that sibling-parental relationship they have. I love that Debbie says she thought they were moving so she cut ties with a girl at school and is now worried about having to face her again... Like, that was massively presumptuous even if the move had been going ahead because they hadn't made plans, but it is funny and something that I can see her/a 12yo doing. 

And I love the scene where Fiona finally says Michigan isn't happening but I might be getting a full time job with dental. Debbie is so sweet about it! They're adorable. Excellent sisters moment. 

I guess Debbie doesn't have a lot of her own going on in this episode, but she does really shine in every scene she's in. As, actually, does Carl again... Though he is in fewer scenes. 

We see him staring through the hospital doors. We see him telling Ian he needs to keep his fucking huge knife because what if he needs to protect Debbie and Liam from zombies?! I love that scene with Ian... Where Ian is fond and gives him the knife to keep and tells him he'll teach him the hand grips. It's so sweet (but I'm coming back to Ian).

We don't really see what he thinks about Frank being in hospital. Fiona asks Debbie if she's worried but doesn't talk to Carl about it... So the scene where he leaves the house comes from almost nothing. Lip and Ian say "where's he going?" and shrug because of course it's fine for a 10/11yo to wander off in the night... 🙄 but also I get it. Then we see him get off the bus at the hospital.

The scene with Frank where he shaves his head is beautiful and perfect. Carl is caring in the way he knows. Let the sunlight in. And Frank? Could so easily brush him off, text with anger and reveal his lie about the cancer... But he doesn't. He lets Carl shave off his glossy locks and there is such a meaningful look. Like he sees the reason to care whether he lives or dies. Like Carl, in this one tiny, very Carl, act gives Frank exactly what he needs. It's... Well it does things to my insides. I hate Frank so much, but I just realised I haven't done a "fuck you, Frank" for a couple of episodes because... Season 3 did so much better a job of handling him as a character. He's so awful, granted. I haven't forgotten him reporting his own kids to CPS. He is the absolute worst. But in these moments they still fucking made me give a shit. 

When it hits, it hits. 

Which leaves me with Ian. Ian darling. My baby. I just... This episode kills me for everyone, but especially for Ian and Mickey. 

Ian is just so... Invisible. Lip is glad that he's up and about, but easily accepts Ian's lies about an ROTC event. He really accepts Ian's lie that he's "moved on" because "how many times do you have to hear no". And I get it... Lip is at least asking and trying. He's not used to having Ian lie to him, perhaps, so isn't calibrated to it like he is with Fiona. And Lip certainly isn't expecting Ian to do something drastic... He's worried about him, and he's perhaps the only person in the family with the wherewithal *to* worry about him. The only one who knows about Mickey and the shit that went down. So he's worried, but he accepts Ian's lies. 

It's... Heartbreaking. Ian who wants to be seen knows exactly how to hide. 

Seeing Ian at the enlistment office, knowing exactly what to say and side-stepping the awkward questions is all very sad. And the army guy makes a brief attempt at working it out but ultimately doesn't try hard because he has recruitment targets and this is a keen applicant. 

So... A bit of my reality checking nature wonders. Ian hands over his "transcripts"... Presumably from ROTC? I guess maybe from school? Hard to know... And as I say the army guy doesn't have a strong incentive to look into this... But if it's ROTC transcripts, and he's changed the name, it would presumably take one check of a database or a phone call to show Lip Gallagher never did ROTC. And if it's school, it would have to be Lip's transcripts and wouldn't they wonder why someone so academically exceptional is joining the army like that?!

It wouldn't stand up to a moment of scrutiny. And I guess the point is that they're not going to give it that moment of scrutiny. They're going to accept the willing fit young human and not look the gift horse in the mouth. Poor Ian. Poor every army recruit ever. 

It's Carl that catches him packing. ROTC retreat. Last minute. Carl isn't going to question it too much. He does ask "at Christmas?" Because yeah, that's odd. But Carl didn't question that he had cancer, why would he question his older brother going away with ROTC like he presumably has several times before? If Lip caught him, it would probably be game over. Fiona would want details that he might not be able to lie his way through. Debbie would ask the right questions and tell Lip or Fiona. But Carl? Carl doesn't. It works. 

And then. He goes to see Mandy. This sequence is so fucking... Ow. It makes me insane. I am insane about it. 

You know it. You've seen the gifs. 

But the whole thing from start to finish is so good. Mandy knows now. Ian wants to see her, so she's instantly like "we need drugs for this conversation" and even if he isn't going to tell her, it's still sweet. Best friends. Ian still doesn't know about Karen and the car, but even if he did? I think he'd still be there. 

And then. Mickey. I love this scene, and I love Mickey in it. The pretense. The attempt to act like nothing's changed when everything has. The fact that he seems to flat refuse to acknowledge Ian's body language and facial expression. He wants to work Ian round. He has a chance... I bet he was planning to find him another time to work things through, but he's turned up so now it's as good a time as any!

It makes me insane that it's so different from their last moment together before the wedding. When Mickey saw Ian's heart breaking. It makes me insane that we don't know if Mickey saw Ian's outburst at the wedding. Because that piece of information changes how I view Mickey's approach here and how deluded he's being. 

It's also... Mickey wants to show him something. It's a pretext for getting him alone... Nazi shit's gone from the walls. Does he think Ian will care? He talks about Svet, offhand. Wants to talk about it, to pretend that it's okay that it's normal, perhaps?! And Ian just stares. Just watches. Stands in the doorway. 

Maybe he wants to show Ian the sleeping bag on the double bed. A cry for help. 

(Personally, I am curious about "she can drink me under the table" because... That means she's drinking while pregnant. I wonder if that's because Svet doesn't know that you shouldn't, or because she does and doesn't care. From how she is later... I have to wonder.)

The whole conversation is... So good. It's such an amazing scene. Ian's cold responses and the way Mickey doesn't know how to deal with it. The way you see him deny, deflect, and then panic. The way he still can't say it. Can't say don't go don't leave me. The way Ian needed just that. The way Ian is dead and done... It makes my stomach hurt.

And then... I get why Mandy says he's a pussy for it. They're alone, Terry's not going to hear him if he'd made an impassioned plea for Ian to stay. But Mickey also knows that he can't meaningfully change anything. And he's terrified of Terry and of what he feels. There's that post again about Mandy's response here being about her own Gallagher relationship feels, wishing she'd said more to Lip, perhaps (not that it would have changed anything there). 

Again, so much going on there that I could write a whole essay. 

And Noel Fisher is just so good at this. He winds my emotions around his little fingers and garottes me with them. Fuck.

I also wonder how much Mandy overheard. Did she hear Ian say he's leaving for the army? Does she try and stop him after? Does she tell Ian's family later when he's missing? So many questions that will never be answered.

The last sequence with the intercut scenes is really effective. We see Lip get mystery mail, and go to see Mandy to tell her he got into MIT, and thanking her. We see Fiona starting her new job. We see Frank unhook his IV and walk off in his hospital gown into the falling snow. And Ian getting his fake ID and getting on the army bus. 

There was that beautiful gifset of all the times early Mickey calls him "Gallagher" followed by that moment with the recruiter saying "it's just Gallagher now" and Ian making that face. I will never unsee it in that scene. It's beautiful. 

So... I may not have been in the best mindset to watch, but writing this has pulled ALL of the emotions about this episode out of me. 

Shameless has always mixed drama with its often black comedy... But I think this episode was one of the first (and few) where they got the balance right everywhere. I can't think of a single moment where there's emotional whiplash or a joke doesn't land because it is punching in the wrong direction. This episode was the beginning of the best. 

I think season 3 is better than I remembered by the time I got to season 11. It has significant flaws and plot threads I wish had been handled better or left out entirely, but the overall emotional arc of it is good and powerful and there is so much good shit in there. Like the show was finally starting to run after a solid first season and an uneven second. 

And holy fuck am I looking forward to season 4.

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017) vs. Kyle (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Y'all Hate Kids: Screwed By The Writers

Propaganda below the cut.

Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017)

She is such a good character, but what they do to her in the finale is so bafflingly stupid. She starts off the finale feeling somewhat insecure about not being blood related to the McDuck family and whether she really belongs there. Then she finds that she has two clones who start further convincing her that they are her real family and not the McDucks. Then they these feelings are furthered by revealing that she was actually an experiment by FOWL and she isn't even biologically related to her grandmother. This sets up a great conflict to do with the themes of the show about found family. AND THEN THEY RESOLVE IT BY MAKING HER A CLONE OF SCROOGE. AND THATS IT. FUCK THEMES OF FOUND FAMILY SHE BELONGS IN THE MCDUCK FAMILY BECAUSE SHES BIOLOGICALLY RELATED TO THEM I GUESS. (note I don't really completely blame the writers for this as it was probably because they had to shove Debby's arc into one episode since the show got cancelled and this web story was probably meant to be a full season).

Kyle (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Cw: bullying, near-death (?)

Kyle was treated unfairly and was used as a scapegoat (a.k.a. blaming him for things he didn’t do) by his friends.

With Kyle being mistreated by his friends being viewed and used as a joke within the writing of the series. Which is something that occurs all the way until Season 4 in the series.

Why is it so funny and a butt of a joke for a young teenager being repeatedly mistreated and not valued by his “friends” within the series? A teen who literally did nothing wrong to anyone?!

Kyle never even did anything wrong to be treated in this way. Kyle is just himself and isn’t that great at fighting, yet is treated unfairly and poorly because of that.

And while yes, his friends did start to value him in Season 4, that was only when he literally near DIED risking his life for himself and all of them by nearly being burned to death from a spore storm.

Kyle deserved much better: from the writing of the series and from the characters around him too.

[the-rorster]

Hey, if MBAV did have merch, what would be your dream to own? What would be the ideal piece of MBAV merch for you personally?

A SINGLE TEAR SHIRT OH MY GOODNESS.

EVERY TIME I WATCH THAT EPISODE I WEEP.

I WANT MY SHIRT BACK MAN

See also

Dusk book covers. I’m not a big reader but imagine you look over and see some chick reading Dusk III: Unbitten. I would giggle

Single Tear bracelet

I really wish I could have a poster in my room but I just feel like we look so stupid in all of those like. Group pictures

A COMIC !!! you know how some shows get graphic novels . I would murder multiple people for the same episodes I’ve watched over and over again in graphic novel form . Or like . What if it was The Adventures of Vampire Ninja and it was just some LIES that Rory MADE UP wouldn’t that be so awesome

anything Jane related man idec what a little tiara in some Jane packaging I just. Need something Jane

Bennys spellbook the way Gravity Falls has the journals

literally any of the franchises stuff?? The coffee shops menu, the monster hunter guy calendar, that game from the episode Sarah gets possessed, (I honestly don’t remember a thing about that episode so sorry if I just said something stupid) Debbie Dazzle dolls, anything along those lines

dumb valentines. You know the kind. I see them going around tumblr sometimes. I need them in real life. I need to give my crush a sucker that’s attached to a little piece of cardboard with a picture of Rory standing all awkwardly that says “you’re my spice angel”

I think back when Ethan was still active we had a High School Musical themed diary? MBaV diary would go SO FUCKING HARD

I think that may be all of my mbav merch ideas SINGLE TEAR PHONE CASE

okay I think THATS all of my ideas

I do have a Mbav bracelet I got from @comicbookddr s shop. I wear it every day I love it so much. I’m wanting to get the pride one too. I also have a button (I HAD TWO BUT I LOST ONE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭) I have ask me about my babysitters a vampire which is surprisingly gets a lot of use . People ask me about it all the time and I get flustered (I lost Mbav ruined my life) I’m very thankful for these two things I have in my real life . Ty for those 🥺

and thanks for the ask this was SO FUN TO THINK ABOUT

[laufire]

I watched the new Invincible episodes, so now that I'm all caught up with the show, here are some thoughts (spoilers from the last episodes but really it's about the show at large. Bitching and Negativity Be Upon Ye xD).

My favourite characters are, in order, Debbie (queen), Nolan (he sucks sooooo bad), and as of now, Cecil. Debbie has barely had anything interesting to do so far, and Nolan had ONE measley mid-credits scene. I can't wait for him to return to earth to stir up drama, tbh. I need a Deblan reunion like I need air.

Cecil was the only one really giving me something but he DELIVERS. This is why he suddenly raised so high. I did like his deal but in my bingewatch I was all about The Deblan Drama lol. These episodes really showcased him though. The flashbacks!! The prison!! The implant!!

If I went to pick my next faves it'd be ALLEN THE ALIEN (I just think he's a neat guy!), and Rudy (I love a weirdo with zero social skills that treats relationships like math problems).

This show's politics suck so bad man. If I hadn't fallen so hard for Debbie and Deblan I would drop it just for how much its commitment to centrism annoys me (every scene of Doc Seismic or whatever he's called is painful to watch). Also the way it writes women other than Debbie or brown characters in general is just. So bad.

Like. If I were to compare it to the OTHER ultraviolent superhero Amazon show based on an comic book where some random edgelord thought he needed to answer the question "hey, what if Superman BUT EVOL" for the 800th time... Again, outside s1-s2 Debbie (I'm withholding my feelings on S3 until it's done), THE BOYS had this show beat, for what I remember...

Speaking of, I'm sure there's been comparisons already but Nolan and Homelander are very different responses to that question and it's interesting to watch (this might get me to finish S3 of The Boys and catch up with S4 for a more in-depth analysis). I will say that Homelander was on another level, though. Without Deblan, Nolan would be nothing to me lol. BUT. Homelander doesn't have a Deblan to soften me up to him even a little bit xD

I know it goes with the name but I hate that out if all the original Guardians, the Immortal is the only one that survived. They were ALL so much more interesting than him... And despite only having them for a brief moment in that first episode, the show managed to endear me to them.

Eve/Mark is such a nothingburger of a ship sns. I wish I liked them given that they're the Designated Endgame for the lead guy and all that but I can't help but feel that there's zero effort put into it, and it's all shoddily built on having Amber as the Discarded Black Love Interest in a frankly appalling way. I'd rather they cut her all together than having her return solely to tell Eve how cool she is with her dating Mark now!! This girl she used to go for relationship advice and venting is now dating her ex and hey, she always knew he pinned after her the whole time they were together, and Amber's SO fine and mature about this!! Dating some random guy even!! Cmon.

I might not care for her as a love interest but I definitely enjoyed Eve's origins episode. That was some hardcore shit.

I'm wonder how things will develop with Oliver (though idc for how Debbie's written with him) because. Yikes what the fuck is wrong with that kid, lol. That brief interaction with Cecil makes me want to see more of the two of them, but tbh at this point I'm very iffy about what they're doing with him.

lakdkdjdhf this turned more negative than I intended but I swear that the parts I like, I like a lot xDD. Unfortunately the parts I really really like are Debbie and Debbie/Nolan and there was very little about them 😔

(though I See that moment where Debbie impulsively shares all the family secrets with her new boyfriend because she doesn't want to lie in a relationship the way Nolan did. Many ways to go with this in my head, even if the show won't).

[stealerofthe2ndbraincell]

Had a rough morning, so I ended up rewatching Zanzibar at like 5AM.

And oh Henry you beautiful, beautiful dumbass....

(This is just me rambling btw lol)

I see people give Viktor in Once Removed a lot of (light hearted) flack for the utter shit show that was his assassination attempt. Whilst I do agree, the circumstances in that episode (through May's meddling with the door and everything else about where he ended up lol) were accidentally set up against him throughout.

How he handled it was definitely debatable (although without that we wouldn't have gotten the beautiful silk, pink dressing gown<3), but he certainly did have a disadvantage.

HENRY, HOWEVER, HAS NO EXCUSE.

Whilst a mystery twin brother being in the exact same hotel as Rico and swapping rooms with him was out of Henry's control, it really shouldn't have gotten to that point.

Henry is introduced as Rico's diligent literal security advisor and seemingly main line of defence most of the time. Ergo, Henry should be the main and only person that knows where Rico is at all times, especially if he has plans to MURDER HIM.

Not only that, but he also straight up just did not have a plan. 💀

In fairness, Henry does start to work out a plan. E.g. He wonders if he should create a story involving trying to "save" Rico before backing out of it, considers even thinking of an alibi at all and then questions if he has left his microphone on before committing the act. The problem is this is literal moments before he was "planning" to kill Rico. And none of them are thought through.

"No longer in the shadows can I lurk"

Henry leaves his room to attack at that point with no plan (that line may be implying that he is acting earlier than he should), completely forgetting if he left his microphone on (which would reveal EVERYTHING), and also having not even made a start on considering an alibi.

Henry's regicide "plan" feels mostly based on impulse and a severe lack of restraint.

He also straight up does not know how alibis work.

If Rico died whilst Henry was at the hypnotist's show, then he would have a fairly good alibi, but Henry plans is to kill him now AFTER - which destroys it entirely.

And he completely switches gears the moment Tracey ("Red") becomes an option.... and chooses to pay her to drug Rico so he can kill him later... Giving him a loose end that could definitely be traced back to him and kind losing an easy person to frame.

Whilst he couldn't fully plan around the mystery twin (although, being the security advisor of a literal Prince, Henry may have had access to potential "threats" of Rico's there. He even mentions said "enemies" to warn the guy at the start), Henry had all the resources at his fingertips to pull off the murder cleanly (unlike Viktor who had everyone else and a wrong victim in the way) and seems to not be aware of it or actively squanders it.

And then he completely screws any chance of getting away with a murder by needlessly threatening Rico's biological Dad to get to him with multiple witnesses in a public hotel hallway!!!

I'm almost convinced this Regicide bit was just an excuse for Henry to get some stabbing done with his tiny, bloody baby knife.

I do love it all though ofc.

I like to picture Zanzibar taking place just after various silly, failed murder attempts where Rico survives out of pure obliviousness à la Debbie and Fester's honeymoon in Addams Family Values (with a sprinkly of utter incompetence on Henry's side).

Also bonus bit that I find kinda cute nice:

I love a dumbass. <3

[cassidy273]

Watching Shameless (US version) for the first time. I'll update this as I go.

Note: Please don't spoil anything. The most I know is a character named Debbie has a kid eventually.

Season 1 Episode 1: I'm sorry who the fuck names their child LIP-

Ian is giving off LGBTQIA vibes. Idk tho I might be wrong.

Did...did that child murder a cat?

LIAM IS SO CUTE OMG MY HEARTTTT

Kev and Veronica goddamn-

Why is Frank kinda...

Damn six updates before the fucking title screen.

GODDAMN FRANK AND FIONA ARE BOTH KINDA...

"You're almost nine, you're gonna have to start pulling your weight." made me CACKLE

THIS BITCH REALLY BROUGHT A WHOLE ASS BABY TO SHOW AND TELL-

I wanna execute those two guys who were saying that shit about Fiona at her job.

Midget Naked Witch Bending Over is a really good band name

Why is she going under the table I'm literally so confused-

WHAT THE FUCK

HOW THE FUCK DOES SCIENCE TURN YOU ON KAREN

Why was showing his bare ass necessary?

Lovely. I really wanted to see a guy looking at pictures of boobs today.

Those aren't boobs.

Wait omg my prediction was actually correct what the fuck-

Fiona's dress is literally so pretty omfg

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP DISRESPECTING FIONA FIRST THOSE GUYS MAKE WEIRD COMMENTS ABOUT HER THEN SHE GETS FUCKING ROBBED

DON'T CALL HER A SKANK YOU DICK

Goddamn I forgot that guy's name but he punched that dick so I love him

I'm gonna take a shower I'll watch the rest after

I'm back y'all

The word 'knob-job' just rubs me the wrong way it just sounds so gross-

I was happy that the poor kid's name wasn't Lip but then I heard his name was Philip and that's even worse omg I feel so bad for him

Veronica is an ICON

WHY DID THEY START MAKING OUT WHAT THAT WAS LITERALLY SO RANDOM

Guys I don't think this show is very kid-friendly

BOTH OF THEM ARE ATTRACTIVE TO ME IDK WHO TO LOOK AT I THINK THIS IS WHAT A BI PANIC FEELS LIKE

THEY'RE NOT EVEN TRYING TO BE QUIET WHAT THE FUCK

I feel so bad for her she was almost there and then a fucking garda showed up

I'm gonna leave my laptop for a while sorry

I'm back again

Frank get out of the bar and take care of your kids omfg

He's such an asshole I love him-

OMGOMGOMGSTEVE'SBACK

Aw he's such a nice guy he's not bullying Philip because y'know his name is fucking Philip <3

I think Steve and Fiona might be the first straight ship I've liked in a long time-

Oh my god imagine being Ian like 'Hey, so um, I know I'm your brother and all, but I found your secret gay porn stash and also here's a blowjob from a girl who gave one to me. Enjoy!'

Karen's dad is such an asshole omg kiss your wife dude.

OH MY FUCKING GOD IF I WAS IAN I WOULD LITERALLY EXPLODE RIGHT THERE IMAGINE A GIRL IS SUCKING YOUR YOU KNOW WHAT UNDER THE TABLE AND THEN HER DAD PULLS BACK THE TABLECLOTH I WOULD ACTUALLY DIE

I'M SORRY IS HE TRYING TO BEAT UP THESE KIDS FOR HAVING SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS WITH HIS DAUGHTER

I'm actually dying oh my god that fucking greenscreen as Lip jumped out the window-

I love all of Veronica's outfits she slays so hard

Ew uncensored penis

HE BOUGHT HER A NEW WASHER STEVE IS SO NICE

"Hey! You honour thy father!" "GET FUCKED!" Karen is so iconic

Fiona going 'Please tell me you didn't get some girl pregnant' to her gay brother killed me

DEBBIE IS LITERALLY SO INNOCENT AND KIND I LOVE HER SO MUCH I HOPE SHE DOESN'T TURN OUT LIKE HER DAD-

Steve is the only straight man other than Robert Smith we need as a society.

Never mind. The phrase 'This whole city belongs to the Jennas, and I'm sick of them' sounded a lot like 'You're not like other girls' which is the worst compliment ever.

NEVER MIND X2 I WISH SOMEONE WOULD TALK TO ME LIKE THIS-

Omg I thought he left her for a second and I was so fucking pissed

Imagine you gave a bj to two different guys (WHO ARE BROTHERS) and the first guy's all like 'Hey, did you give my brother a BONER??'

WAIT HOW OLD IS IAN AND HOW OLD IS THE MARRIED SHOP GUY BECAUSE IF THEY'RE HAVING AN AFFAIR I GOTTA GOOGLE THIS

IAN'S FUCKING FIFTEEN WHAT THE ACTUAL DAMN DIDDLY FUCK

'He's done nothing to be sorry for' AYO DUDE

I love Frank so fucking much-

SHOTSSHOTSHOTSHOTSHOTSHOTSSHOTS

I literally forgot Carl existed I feel so bad

Is it just me, or does Lip kinda look like Shia LaBeouf when he played Stanley Yelnats?

AWWW STEVE IS SO NICE

Final Thoughts:

That was so good, and I'm probably gonna not watch it again for a few weeks like what normally happens with shows I like.

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

i will never not feel so bad for ian because of how his parents treated him.

as far as we know, ian was the only one who was physically abused by frank throughout his childhood. frank hated ian the most because he “looked the most like his mother” (and the most like frank’s brother, clayton, ian’s actual dad clayton, but nobody actually ever says that) and ian thinking that he looks/acts like monica seriously effects him later on. frank treats him like absolute dog shit, and we hear ian say that when he was six frank locked him in the basement for days. one of the biggest things about shameless is the “cycle of abuse” and frank’s treatment of ian is ironic because from what we know, frank was the only one his parents ever abused (physically, at least).

and for monica, ian was his favorite. i don’t give a shit if fiona says that lip is her favorite, from monica’s first episode’s it’s been apparent that it’s ian. for example- not giving a shit about any of her children’s accomplishments until it comes to ian, and her eyes light up, or making lasagna “ian’s favorite” (it’s not). but being monica’s favorite isn’t actually a good thing. monica seriously abused ian, too, and people don’t always awknolege that. their relationship was built on manipulation, monica’s victim complex, and neglect. she did nothing but use and hurt him, and whether or not she really loved him doesn’t really matter because either way it just hurt him. and the saddest thing is no matter how far away he pushes her, he’s still attached and he still loves her. we don’t know what she truly put him through as a child, but we can assume that it was hell. from ian’s whole speech to her in 7x09 we can tell that he definitely needed her, but she was never there. this is also apparent in fiona’s monologue in 7x12.

also, in season 11 when debbie tells frank, “you ruined love for me!” that definitely also applies to what ian was saying in season 10 about having frank and monica as role models for love. they damaged him so fucking badly and even though he did get a happy ending, he got totally screwed over.

i get that people hate ian for saying that frank was worse than terry in hall of shame, and i made a whole post about that (here!), and although if we’re really thinking about it, yeah, terry was technically worse; ian still went through so much traumatic shit that needs to be taken into account.

[dasinclair]

what did you think of Invincible season 3?

very mixed feelings!

i found the first few episodes lacking, and i hate the way mark/eve was handled. mark kept pissing me off. cecil and oliver were high points, though - i really enjoyed cecil's backstory and oliver's interactions with mark and debbie

the last three episodes were pretty fantastic. i really like how powerplex and conquest were expanded on here, and the alternate marks to some extent... i'd like to make a longer post soon going into detail about my Pros and Cons of the season overall

[howsitduud]

INVINCIBLE SEASON 3 REVIEW

SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON. I WILL BE SPOILING MAJOR EVENTS THAT HAPPEN. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED THEN STOP READING HERE.

Ok, so I have some fucking beef here. I usually want to watch episodes of this show when they release, because I really like this show, and I want to be eagerly anticipating the new season. Except, for some godforsaken reason, the episodes release at 3:00 IN THE MORNING in my time zone. Why? Doing some math, I found out that the episodes would be coming out at midnight in Seattle, Washington, where Amazon headquarters are. WHY MUST YOU GATEKEEP ME LIKE THIS JEFFERY BEZOS?

Anyway, this season was good.

Like I said, I really like the Invincible show thus far, so I was really looking forward to the new season. So much so, that I read ahead in the comics up until the final arc, which is something that not many fans of Invincible have done. I really like the comics, and I'd say that the show is on a similar level of quality. There are some moments from the comics that I think were translated pretty well onscreen. I'm not gonna refer to the comics too much, though, since there are a few changes made to the show that cement it as its own thing, like Rae being alive after being eaten.

This season mainly focuses on the relationship between Mark and Cecil, where Mark is frustrated with Cecil for trying to rehabilitate criminals who did unspeakable things so that they can get another shot helping out the good guys. I have seen so many posts by people who have the reading comprehension of a fourth grader saying things like, "What's Mark's problem? Why is he tring to fight Cecil on rehabilitating criminals? Is he stupid?" Yes. That's his arc throughout the season. Mark is tested time and time again throughout this season with his identity as a now-independent superhero, and he comes face-to-face with the consequences of the actions of him, like in episode 2 and episode 6, or the actions of other versions of himself, like in episode 4 and episode 7.

Speaking of episode 7, I was really looking forward to the Invincible war and it was so fucking good. This entire season was bleak, with Mark forced to kill a future version of The Immortal and with Mark's new brother killing the Maulers in cold blood, but episode 7 really upped the dark elements of this show. Omni-Man destroying Chicago for no reason was bad enough, but Angstrom Levy getting an army of evil Invincibles to cause what is essentially the apocalypse for no reason is just another level of dismal. So much so that when Conquest showed up for the final episode and destroyed more of the city, my brain just got numb to it.

Yeah, my biggest issue with this season happens in the episode that currently has a 9.9 on IMDB. Maybe I'm the problem, but oh well. I'm not big on some of what happens in Mark's fight with Conquest because it feels like it's retreading on stuff we've already seen. Cities getting destroyed like in the last episode, Conquest uses Mark to splatter innocent civilians just like Omni-Man did in season 1, and Mark beats him to near-death just like he did to Angstrom Levy. It also doesn't help that I'm not a big fan of Conquest. He feels like a C-tier redo of Battle Beast and the thing where he explains his entire backstory and motivation to Mark just before Eve comes in with the clutch of a lifetime was especially stupid. And his characterization in the comics doesn't leave me especially excited for him in the future.

You may have noticed that I haven't talked about a lot of the side characters, and they were good in this season, but nothing could compare to Mark's storyline. Rae surviving the Lizard League fight was pretty cool, since it gives her time to spend dating Rex. Normally, I absolutely despise Rex as a character, but this season made him tolerable. I even liked him when he sacrificed himself to kill one of the Invincibles. All he had to do was die. Kate, Immortal, Debbie all have their moments, but they were fine here. Amanda and Rudy (or Rex) are the most adorable couple in the show, and Oliver is a great addition to the cast since he doesn't have the same contempt for Nolan that the other characters do. Powerplex, though, is my favorite new addition to the cast, and he's the focus of my favorite episode in the show. Aaron Paul stays winning.

Nolan and Allen also get half of episode 4 all to themselves, which was great to see. Their jailbreak was some of the best action in the entire show thus far, and it keeps up the great animation that's a consistent highlight of the show for me. I especially love how the animators lock the fuck in for the Mark vs Conquest fight, it was so beautiful to watch. Absolute Cinema.

Even though I loved a lot of what this season offered, I don't feel it hit the insane highs that season 1 did, which is still not a bad thing in the slightest. This season is on a similar level of quality to the last season, so I am giving it the same score I gave season 2, an 8/10.

[forensicated]

What are some of your favourite episodes of the bill?

Oooh crikey, so many! Thank you for the question! These are in no particular order. Also apologies for the formatting, I'm on my phone trying to reply and remember which numbered episode is which and have to go check some of them to ensure they're right as I've bounced everywhere around timelines the last couple of years doing the recaps and they blurred.

* All Change, the millennium new years eve when cid became uniform for the night.

* Respect 1 and 2, the end episodes. I don't like the way some of the character storylines were wound up but those two episodes were an amazing tribute.

* The Chief Super's Party, June and Roy flirting at the bar, Brownlow deeply unimpressed by the company that Roy kept. Roy getting one over on the super without Brownlow even realising which allowed him to support Ted. Ted's drunk driving crash ending up with him sleeping on a boat overnight and solving a robbery to save his job whilst hungover.

* The Target Trilogy, June and Steve get shot at. It's thought that it's Steve being targeted but they soon realise how wrong they are. Poor Jo 😕

* An Honour To Serve, Gina's last episodes. Smithy's kiss on the cheek and how much he respects her 💔❤️ "Goodnight Ma'am" (RIP Roberta ❤️)

* Lullaby with Smithy going from reading Tim a bedtime story in a cell with absolutely no feeling in his voice through to him singing 5 little speckled frogs to try keep him calm and not worry him when they were kidnapped.

* Integrity, Nicks first episodes. The contrast of him and Smithy paired together is awesome. Especially when they unite.

* Gunrunner, Smithy and guns...

* Witness and the episodes featuring Carly in the run up. Smithy really became the paternal figure that he didn't want to initially and cared about her, Leanne and Brooke. (& laughing at Nate when he runs the wrong way after sending him to chase after her whilst he stands and has a nice little chat.)

* Righteous Kill 1 and 2, Max protecting the wife and son of a man he shot in S019.

* Brittaniamania, Mickey undercover as a football hooligan and Debbie pretending to be his girlfriend with Dave and Paul his workmates though Paul being shit at plastering almost got them caught.

* Episode 154, the aftermath of Mickeys rape. The acting is incredible.

* Tinderbox, Brownlow, Conway and Meadows in an outward bounds team building course against Manion and his cocky cheating team.

* Conviction - particularly the riot training episode where Smithy and Callum end up having a physical fight to end their frustration over what happened with Devlin. The last episode of that is a bit frustrating though as I don't think Smithy could give his guilt over that quickly to accept a promotion when it was eating him alive. It made out he and Stevie had continued a thing from Gunrunner too that they hadn't. (the promotion thing bugged me so much I made a fic about it)

* First Impressions 1 and 2, purely for WUK (or "WUS!") and nick and uniform hiding in Diane's cupboard to watch Ben on cctv.

* Blurred Around The Edges, Smithy's army friend makes an appearance and turns his world upside down. (another I did a fic about!)

* Soft Talking, Smithy delivers a baby in the middle of a street and has to try and find the mother when she disappears and get her away from the abusive boyfriend and dad.

* When the snow lay roundabout, Danny the elf knowing what Matt secretly wished, Reg being the only copper out because of the snow (he'd only gone to get a Christmas tree) Rod trying to scam uniform, a cheeky kid outing him and helping polly and Gary trim the tree and the barbershop quartet!

* PC Smith, Needing to show himself in a good light, Smithy volunteers with Nick to look after a gay couple who are receiving homophobic threats. Everyone is surprised, not least Smithy himself.

*Episode 372, Cop The Lot "Simon Cowell eat your heart out!"

* Cowboy Country, Max ends up using his mother's priest to try track a Polish criminal down

*Game Plan, Max goes undercover with the Monks family.

* Tolerance, Smithy's C019 training and interview.

* Episode 69 and 70, cop idol and Cass being taken hostage and murdered by the serial killer 💔

* 117 and 118 Smithy's first 2 Sgt episodes including singing at the gay club.

* Good Cop Bad Cop , callum's first. Smithy leaps on him twice and Dan is NOT impressed when Callum acts all dodgy and tries to shut him out.

* 131 Smithy goes undercover in prison to try locate some expensive cars and Ken's son.

* 138 and 139 Smithy and Gina go out for a drink and end up in a drinking game. Smithy cheats! "You're a cab!" The next morning Gina had a little prang and all hell breaks loose.

* 162 the first live episode

* 205 206 Nicks last episodes before going into witness protection. I hate that they didn't make more of his and Sgt!smithy's past but at least they acknowledge it in this episode. It's just a shame that a lot of newer viewers would have been confused as hell at what was going on with their goodbye.

* 214 215 the start of Gina and Jonathan properly.

* Appropriate Force, Callum comes face to face with his ex and her criminal husband. Smithy has to literally pull him away from beating the husband into a pulp for attacking his wife.

* 237 Jim and June get married. For the cast dressed up, Smithy teasing Gina about settling down and shoving her forward to catch the bouquet and the beautiful Gina and Jonathan moments. Though sadly they do end up breaking up.

Killer On The Run, Ryan Jones blames Smithy for him killing his wife. (Smithy had let slip that Ryan was infatuated with a prostitute the episode before) and tries to take revenge, holding both Smithy and Pauline, Smithy's mother at gunpoint at various times

* 272 273 Gina taken hostage by Irene Radford and the story of their history and how alike they were falls out.

* 286 Dan's first appearance at the driving school with Amber and Leela. Amber's attempts to get in with the instructor once she finds out she's a lesbian is hilarious.

* 288 289 Andrea is found out and the station explodes in a fireball thanks to Colin Fairfax. Smithy and Ken's final scene is heartbreaking 💔

*298 Dan transfers and puts himself in danger rescuing a woman who is treated as a slave by those she works for as well as being raped by the father. Rosa is terrified but Dan tries to help, made harder by the fact she's deaf and doesn't speak English.

* 302 303 Mickey returns with MIT colleagues and arrests Neil. It's a heartbreaking look at what the rape had done to Mickey or "Michael" as he insists he is now and then something further breaks his heart....

* 327 Gina is found having collapsed at home by Smithy and Jonathan. Gina and Jonathan have a heart to heart and she almost tells him she wants to reunite... Right as he tells her he has a girlfriend. She forces herself to let him go for good 💔💔

* 349 second live episode and the end of Prosser.

* 360 and 361 Dan finally discovers who it is that has been blackmailing him about his affair and a lot is revealed about his history in these 2.

* 402 403 Smithy returns to work after the Larson debarkle to find Gina graffiting his welcome back posters and his first case involving his ex cellmate

* The Fat Lady Sings, Dave is approached by an opera singer who tells him she's being stalked. He ignores her and soon regrets it. Duncan arrives and arouses suspicions when the others realise he lives in a fancy penthouse apartment and has connections in the operatic world.

* Whose Side Are You On?, Dashers arranges a football match against a group of teens and lets Viv play in goal. (Vivs only experience being netball) so he doesn't have to let Bob Cryer play.

* Square Peg Round Hole, John Boulton is stuck with a needle during an arrest and worries he might have HIV but being John he won't stay at home.

*Wannabe, A young girl makes her attraction to Rod very obvious and he uses it to get her druggy parents.

* Team Play, Jack forces Duncan to take part in a compulsory training course with him. Duncan wants to skip it and work a sexual assault case with Liz. Poor Tom keeps being chucked off the case everyrime Duncan can slip out or take calls before he's dragged back in again to unwillingly participate in the exercise 😂

Badlands, the episode with Daves assault and those leading up to it (and after) with Boultons obsession with the Lovers and trying to nail Mick. The one where George loses it and goes for John when he goads him is perfect. Just a shame it leads the the Dave, Jenny, George, Polly mess.

* Trial Run, Rod calls in sick to Moonlight as a bodyguard. He thinks he's getting a female model but ends up with his hands full with two rich kids, one of which is a little shit.

* 427 Dan at the go kart center

* 481 It's Smithy's birthday, but noone will leave him alone.

* In The Know, Leon finds himself under suspicion when he's spotted being roughed up by a target of CID

* That's Love For You & Rescue Me, Leon struggles with a case where the parents of a baby he has bonded with are suspected of abusing her.

* The Truth Will Out, Smithy asks callum to apologise to a bloke who is accusing him of pushing him. He helps out unofficially when a young kid goes missing and panics when he thinks Smithy had gotten stuck during an underwater rescue. Their final scene is amazing.

* Hide and Seek, Leon finds a little girl hiding in a fireplace and they bond a she looks after her whilst they try to find her mother. They have tea parties and pretend to be invisible and all sorts ❤️ and then Tilly breaks his heart when she says "I thought you were my friend." he later risks his job doing something naughty that is seen by Rachel...

* Solace and The Calling. Dominic is incredible in these episodes, it's a real masterclass of how he can show every bit of what Leon is feeling with the slightest change of expression.

* Tombstone, Callum tries to deal with the death of his estranged father and the knowledge that he was a rapist.

Twanky, Sun Hill put on a panto and catch a criminal attempting to off an officer during it, hopefully without the audience realising.

Sorry, went a little overboard there! Interested to hear about yours (and everyone else's!), Anon!? Could have gone on all night naming eps.