#I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS

[ckerouac]

I am completely and utterly in love with Ola Obisanya. We already knew the type of dad he is from phone calls and the way Sam talks about him, but getting to meet him? His unwavering support of Sam after he breaks down in the locker room? Making things awkward with Rebecca for funsies? Still wanting to see the restaurant his son was so proud of even after it was vandalized? His joy while cooking with Sam in the kitchen?

Him, and us, realizing who the restaurant was named for?

That Sam named his restaurant after his father should be no surprise because after meeting him it’s obvious how Sam grew up to be the wonderful man we know and love.

He takes after his father.

[island-in-the-shadows]

The realest thing Oliver said in that final bit of the monologue was not what he said so much as how he said it: By God, I loved him.

The way he says that gives up the whole: Wasn't in love with him. When you hear him say it like that, coming from his entrails, from his very soul--almost pleading to a higher power because of that love--you know he lies when he says he wasn't in love. He lies when he says he hated Felix.

He doesn't truly hate Felix. He hates what Felix made him feel. How he lost his mind about him. How he felt like he had no other choice but to kill Felix because it was preferable to being banished from his presence. He hates that he has to scramble for any piece of Felix there is left: stones, graves, houses, anything.

But, by God does he love him. By God, is he in love with him. Enough that he blows his picture a kiss. Enough that it's the stone with his name on it that he touches last. Enough that he's a mad king of a castle with no metaphorical queen. Enough that it's been 15 years and he still sees Felix in the prettiest of lights despite everything.

[theflagscene]

Can we just talk for a minute about the morning after in Tharn’s apartment during episode five while they were getting ready together and the Monk calls Tharn to speak to him, Phaya motions to Tharn to put it on speaker when he hears who it is. Tharn doesn’t question it for a second, just does it and continues listening to what he has to say only for Phaya to reply instead of Tharn, which did not surprise the Monk at all nor does Tharn react like they should be hiding that they’re cohabiting. Remembering that up until the night before, the only person who knew that Phaya would be staying with Tharn for a while was Yai (he was sent to Phaya’s place to get him some clothes and stuff). Even Chalothon wasn’t expecting to see Phaya there, and he’s a creepy green eyed stalker snake deity. But to just go on speaker phone together with the Monk (the man who basically raised Tharn) without any preamble? Like my dudes, my bros, my lil cop idiots. You’ve skipped right past the dating stage and are now 4 years into marriage.

[qqueenofhades]

Good Omens Season 2: Some Thoughts (and also Screaming)

First, /screams

Second, obligatory disclaimer that this meta contains MAJOR SPOILERS for all six episodes. If you somehow have managed to remain virginally unspoiled, look away now, scroll past, or add "good omens s2" and "good omens spoilers" to your block list, as those are the tags I have been using for all posts and reblogs.

Third, /screams more

Okay okay okay. Deep breaths.

Anyway, so, uh, how about all that, huh? First, the good thing about the tone of the season overall was that it felt considerably darker and more adult, in a good way. We didn't have the precocious kiddies, the kitsch and literally-comphet Anathema and Newt, the so-clever narration, etc. All that was gone, which makes sense when you consider that a) the end of last season saw them reboot into an entirely new universe, and b) the fact that God has gone silent is, in fact, a major plot point for the season. We don't have Her slyly telling us the story, or indeed anything, and everyone is left to make their own judgments and take their own actions. Which, obviously, gets them into a lot of trouble, especially when Metatron (the Voice of God, aka someone acting in the belief that they're speaking for God and therefore doing terrible harm) swoops in with the ultimate buzzkill at the end of episode 6. But we'll get to that.

The downside was that the main, present-day plot (hiding Gabriel in the bookshop and trying to get Nina and Maggie to fall in love) was fairly thin, felt stretched out and at times weirdly paced, and otherwise existed mostly to get us to That Ending and the setup for season 3. But the ending was so damn good (if obviously, very painful) that I can't be TOO mad, not least because we spent six episodes with them just making absolutely no pretense about the whole thing being as incredibly homosexual as possible. I'll be honest: I did not think they were going to actually, explicitly go there. Neil Gaiman has been so consistent about "your interpretations are valid and you're welcome to read it however you want, but the only canon is what's on screen," which I think is frankly a good thing (not least since the Neil GAYman Cinematic Universe is consistently very, very good to us queers), that I just... didn't quite think they'd pull the trigger. Sir Terry is dead and can't have active input, this is based on a book published 30 years ago, maybe they didn't want to make it LIKE THAT... etc. I certainly hoped, but I didn't really think they would.

Uh. Well.

As I said in my various semi-coherent liveblog posts, I honestly don't think there was a single straight person in the entire season, among both major and background characters. Aziraphale/Crowley and Maggie/Nina are the obvious paralleling couples, but Beelzebub (using "they" pronouns and addressed as "Lord" despite presenting as femme/femme-adjacent) is clearly nonbinary and therefore also queer, and the countless gay/queer side characters were just /chefs kiss. From Job's son making a sassy pass at Aziraphale, to the random Scottish goon with Grindr on his phone (which he then gives to Aziraphale, because what is subtlety), to the interracial couple with the trans spouse at the Pride and Prejudice ball, there was just a lot of casual, unremarked, non-story-critical queer representation visible at every turn. It's like the NGCU saw the bigots wailing about Sandman season 1 being extremely gay and went CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, LET'S MAKE GOOD OMENS 2 EVEN MORE GAY.

God bless.

Obviously, Jon Hamm as Amnesia!Gabriel stole the show (he was SO fucking funny) and it was also incredibly fun to watch Miranda Richardson repurposed as a scheming demon. Nina Sosanya also reappeared as Nina the coffee shop owner, which leads us into the Maggie-and-Nina subplot. They're obviously, wildly, incredibly clearly an analogue for Aziraphale and Crowley themselves, but they're also each, crucially, a mix of both. On the surface, Maggie is Aziraphale: the plump, blonde, earnest, sweet-natured one owning a slightly dated book music shop and somewhat clueless about emotional nuances, while Nina is (also on the surface) Crowley, the hard-edged dark loner who doesn't want to open herself up to people or be spotted caring. But emotionally, Maggie is Crowley: the one openly pining, clearly besotted, only wanting to hang around their crush and do whatever they can to make themselves useful, while Nina is Aziraphale. Interested but reticent, attracted but conflicted, trapped in an abusive relationship with a demanding offscreen "lover" (Lindsay/Heaven) who tries to constantly control and shame them without ever offering much, if anything in return. By the end, they bring themselves around to what Maggie/Crowley are offering, but by then, well. We've got a lot more problems on our hands.

As I also said in my earlier posts, this entire thing has always been a metaphor for religion, queerness, and what religion -- especially abusive, fundamentalist, organized religion -- does to queer people, but they really cranked the FUCK out of that metaphor this season. Aziraphale is guilt-tripped, controlled, and shamed for his attraction to Crowley at every turn. He is torn between his imagined duty to Heaven, in all its ignorant, uncaring, bureaucratic, gratuitously cruel system that he still insists on seeing the best in because he can't bear the alternative, and the chaotic and sometimes grey but genuinely more good morality that Crowley offers him. (Can I just say, we were explicitly shown that the two of them together doing "just a little miracle" are more powerful than Heaven AND Hell combined.) And at the end, he's told that the only way he can be with Crowley -- what Metatron explicitly blackmails him with -- is if they both go back to heaven, submit themselves to the cruel system again and give up everything that has made them who they are: their home in London, their human friends, their reliance on each other, their independence, their own ways of doing things. You can be queer in this (religious) framework, but only the limited, watered-down, controlled, controllable, constantly-under-supervision kind of queer, which relies on both you and your lover "converting" back to the true faith. And if you don't cooperate, they will literally kidnap you, lie to you, manipulate you, take you from your soulmate, and force you right back into doing the one thing (destroying the world) that you never, ever wanted to do in the first place, because in their minds, that is still better than this. It's for your own good.

Ouch.

And the thing is: that's why the ending a) hits so hard and b) is so fucking painful, because of course Aziraphale agrees. He has no conception of being able to defy Heaven on his own; he has always, always needed Crowley for that. In the flashbacks, when Aziraphale is faced with an order from Heaven that he desperately does not want to carry out (such as letting all Job's children get killed), he still relies completely on Crowley to "outsmart the rules" and find a better way. Crowley is A Crafty Demon; that's what he does, and so Aziraphale rationalizes it to himself that therefore that must be fine. Even in season 1, when he really didn't want the Apocalypse to happen but initially thought it was his duty as a good Heaven footsoldier, he relied on Crowley to talk him out of it and allow him to do what he really wants instead. That's their whole dynamic in a nutshell, as exemplified in that scene in episode 2, where Crowley tempts Aziraphale with the "pleasures of the flesh" while sprawled on his back in Ravish Me mode like the giant walking gay disaster that he is. (Sorry, buddy. That beard. Can't do it.) Everything that Aziraphale's existence is, that makes him who he is, that he loves and cherishes the most (in this case, food and wine) comes from Crowley. Everything else is just background noise.

Throughout the season, what we see is Aziraphale increasingly coming around to the fantasy of being with Crowley. He's coy and flirty; he talks about "our car" and expects Crowley will let him (which he does); he wants to have a Jane Austen ball and for them to dance together (oh my heart); he even thinks, at the crucial moment, that the best way for them to be together is to go back to heaven just like they were in the beginning, once more perfect angels, as if those entire six thousand years of struggle and grief and pining and separation and falling didn't happen. And Crowley -- poor, poor, brave, devoted, heartbroken Crowley -- has just heard for the first time in said six thousand years that actually telling the person you love how you feel is an option. Maggie and Nina tell them point-blank that their whole stupid plan failed because people aren't chess pieces who can be moved and automatically achieve the desired result. And of course this gobsmacks the dearest and dumbest Ineffable Husbands, because they can't conceive of anything else. People are chess pieces in the Great War of Heaven and Hell; Aziraphale and Crowley themselves are chess pieces who have been desperately trying to get out of being moved by external forces, but that doesn't change the fact that that's what they are. They don't have volition or agency aside from that which they can sneak for themselves in brief and stolen moments. That's it.

Until, well. It's not it. They discover that this whole would-be war is actually an elaborate ruse to cover up another angel-demon romance, that of Gabriel and Beelzebub. (I'll be honest, I'm 99% sure they did this storyline because they saw the fans crackshipping them, but I appreciate a fictional narrative that values and incorporates its fans' input, rather than trying to constantly "trick" or "outsmart" them or "do what they don't expect.") And Gabriel and Beelzebub get to be together, but only by leaving their world forever. They have to desert their homes, their structures, even their own identities, and never return. And Crowley and Aziraphale are so rooted in their "precious, perfect, fragile" life in their little corner of Soho, with their bookshop and their Bentley and their dining at the Ritz (which they didn't get to do in the end because METATRON /shakes fist), that that just doesn't work. Neither of them can conceive of doing that. So Aziraphale thinks "go back to heaven and try to make the terrible system do some good and take what we can in terms of being together" and Crowley just... pours out his heart. He's ready to fucking propose. He barely stops himself from saying something to the effect of "I want to spend eternity with you." He begs, he pleads with Aziraphale to go away not in the literal sense, but the emotional/metaphysical: to finally break this toxic dependence on Heaven and tell them once and for all where to stick it. And because he is desperate to make Aziraphale understand, he finally throws all caution to the winds and recklessly, desperately, adoringly kisses him, the one thing he's wanted to do for ages and...

Gets. Shot. Down.

Ugghhhhh. I'm suffering all over again. Aziraphale wants him, hungers for it, for them, and yet he's been so abused and so conditioned by Heaven (he's still blithely repeating to Crowley's face that "Hell are the bad guys!") that he just cannot accept that kind of desperate, blind, limitless, lawless affection. He even forgives Crowley for this "transgression," just to really twist the knife, and Crowley just can't take it, can't face up to how terribly this has all gone up in flames, after he went to heaven trying to find the answer for Gabriel's situation. Gabriel, who he fucking hates. Gabriel, who tried to kill the angelic being he loves (and for which Crowley has transparently never forgiven him). And yet at one pouty puppy-eyed look from Aziraphale and a warning that whoever is harboring Gabriel might be in danger, Crowley leaps headlong into the Bentley again and rushes to the rescue while "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" is blaring. He stoutly protects Gabriel; he does a miracle to disguise him; he lets him have hot chocolate and stay in the bookshop; he guards him from the literal demonic horde outside. All because of Aziraphale. That's it. And then, it still doesn't work. Not only that, Gabriel's absence and decision to forego Armageddon gives Heaven the one tool they finally need to take Aziraphale away from him.

I repeat: Ugghhhhhhhh.

(In a good way. Ngl, I love this angst. This is the kind of angst my brain Thrives on, the Thematic Parallel Romantic Character Arc kind. Nom nom nom. But also: AGONY.)

I also need to talk about Aziraphale driving the Bentley, aside from the obvious metaphor of him being in Crowley's home while Crowley is in his. Last season, we had the "you go too fast for me, Crowley" scene with them sitting in said Bentley, which was Aziraphale saying he's not ready for a relationship. In this season, as noted above, we see Aziraphale increasingly embracing the potential fantasy of being with Crowley. But here's the catch: when he's in the Bentley this time, driving it, setting the pace, acclimating to the idea, he's driving his own idea of what the Bentley/his relationship with Crowley is. It's not the real thing. He plays classical music; he supplies himself sweets; he turns it yellow; he drives too slow. Crowley calls him in another old-married-couple snitfit to complain that Aziraphale's messed it up, but what Aziraphale has actually messed up (or will, by the end of the season) is far more consequential than just a car. He's changed the entire shape of their relationship to the one he thinks can make it work, and it just doesn't. It has to be them -- "we could have been... Us" -- or it's not even close to the truth. It's not worth their time.

I repeat: Ouch.

Speaking of the writers validating fan theories, I know we all picked up and screamed about on Crowley's idea of Peak Romance Guaranteed To Fall In Love being sheltering from rain and gazing into each other's eyes, which confirms that that poor bastard was indeed ass-over-teakettle gone as soon as he met Aziraphale (again) in Eden. I also need to talk about the 1941 redux, because wow. This time, the danger comes from Hell, which we see being its usual self: gleefully, pointlessly cruel, pettily backbiting, dirty, sniping, tedious, endless, determined to mindlessly destroy because They're The Bad Guys and they like it. So they blackmail, spy on, miracle-block, illicitly photograph, and try to prove that Aziraphale and Crowley are secretly a couple, right after Aziraphale himself has just had the Light From Heaven realization that he's in love (which we all also picked up on in s1). They're forcibly outing them (to speak of more Religious Queer Trauma) in order to break them up/get them into trouble with their authorities/families. Aziraphale and Crowley manage to escape it mostly by dumb luck, but Crowley having an altogether freakout, hands shaking, barely able to actually point the gun at Aziraphale even in the knowledge that it's supposed to be fake, is just... wow. He can't even fathom the idea of ever trying to destroy him in earnest, especially when he knows on some level that Aziraphale also finally just realized his own feelings. So I just need to --

/screams

Anyway, Aziraphale's entire arc this season is doing what he thinks is the right thing and then inadvertently causing harm and damage as a result. In the Edinburgh flashbacks (live slug reaction of me: SEAN BIGGERSTAFF???!!) he tries to stop Elspeth from stealing bodies and gets Morag killed and Crowley drinking the laudanum to save him (though that part with David Tennant just riffing left and right, using his natural Scottish accent, and being Tiny Crowley/Huge Crowley was hilarious). He invites his neighbors to a Pride and Prejudice ball and makes them all the target for demonic attack. And of course the Job episode: Aziraphale, horrified at Heaven's callous cruelty, desperate not to get Job's children killed, willing to go along with Crowley's tricks to save them somehow, tempted by Crowley to do the fucknasty with their angel bits eat some food and decide that he likes it. As mentioned, the whole thing about God being silent this season is a major thematic choice. The only time we see/hear God is Her communing with Job from afar. Aziraphale enviously imagines the answers he must be getting (he's not, he's baffled and perplexed), while Crowley longs beyond words to even have the opportunity to ask the question: why? Why do this? Why is this your plan?

And of course, this absence culminates in the Metatron, the Voice of God, the person arrogantly claiming that they're speaking for God and know exactly what Heaven wants, being able to seize Aziraphale by the short hairs and absolutely fuck him over. Gabriel is gone/decommissioned/eloping with Beelzebub, so Heaven needs a Supreme Leader (God apparently is no longer a factor in the equation). And what this Supreme Leader needs to do is finally unleash the Apocalypse that Gabriel decided to pass on (the Second Coming). Aziraphale needs to be punished, taken away from Crowley's influence/love, and put back under Heaven's explicit control, so Metatron spots a great opportunity to do all three at once. It's not an accident that the exact tool he uses to get Aziraphale to agree is "now you can actually be with Crowley!" Aziraphale and Crowley have been trying so hard to hide out from their respective Head Offices, but now all at once, there's this seemingly miraculous opportunity for them not to have to do that anymore! They can be together! They can be sanctioned by Heaven! They can give up all this hiding and sneaking around and lying! Isn't that better?

... As long as, of course, they give up absolutely everything that makes them who they are. No big deal. Minor catch. Probably nothing.

Metatron doesn't let Aziraphale have time to escape, or think it over, or reflect, or anything. He pressures Aziraphale to come with him immediately, or be once more subject to Heaven's implicit wrath/destruction/judgment. Believe me, Aziraphale already KNOWS he's made a huge mistake, as soon as he hears what Metatron really wants: bringing him back to unleash the Apocalypse that Aziraphale and Crowley have given up literally everything to prevent. He doesn't need time to reflect. By the time my man is in that elevator, he's well aware of what a catastrophic misjudgment he's made, and yet --

Aziraphale needs this. He has, as noted, literally always relied on Crowley outsmarting Heaven's cruel orders in order to prevent himself from having to do them. He's relied on Crowley rescuing him ("rescuing me makes him so happy," WELL BUB, IT'S BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS NEED IT). He admits to Crowley's face that "I need you!" He hates Heaven's sadistic meanness, but he has absolutely no framework, in and of himself, to defy it. When the rubber hits the road, he will crumple and try to go along with it, and now he's been put in a position where he's going to have to stand up, defy Heaven, and make the break once and for all BY HIMSELF. He doesn't have Crowley around to do it for him, he has no support, he is going to arrive in Heaven and be shuttled straight off to the Apocalypse 2.0 War Room. The only way he gets out of this is if he actively stands up, if he chooses himself and Crowley and their life, and he has to.

The thing is:

Aziraphale has lived his entire eternal existence Looking Up. Up is the direction of Goodness and Heaven. Up is where Angels go. Up is where Aziraphale comes from and where Demons and Hell are not. But now he's going Up, in a position to take over the whole shebang, and it's the last thing he wants.

So he's going to have to come back Down.

He's going to have to Fall. He's going to have to get back Below at all costs. He's going to have to finally, once and for all, understand what led Crowley to make the choice to leave Heaven and never come back. It's only then that they can possibly be together on any kind of conscious, equal, deliberate footing, claim their own agency, reject Heaven AND Hell, and try to really earn that South Downs cottage and that happy-ever-after, and it's gonna hurt so good.

Now if you will excuse me, /screams

[grooviestguru]

so i was just thinking about how, in trk, neil goes to talk to andrew for the first time since easthaven, and nicky is like, hm probably don’t give him knives??? and neil is like it’s fine -_- and he goes to andrew and they literally don’t say a word to each other, neil just gives andrew his bands and knives. we know that scene, right?

but i’m thinking that, for andrew, that neil’s first action was to give him back these things, things that make andrew feel safer on his own terms, is SO IMPORTANT. andrew surely knows that everyone else, even his brother and cousin, is nervous around him now that he isn’t medicated (nicky literally says not to give the knives back yet!). neil is the ONLY one who knows, who trusts, that andrew knows best for himself (we also know that andrew doesn’t really need knives if he feels like attacking someone, but anyway). like i just think about how sober andrew is putting all this together before he and neil even speak, how it’s adding up to an auburn haired boy who is clearly too good to be true, mostly because he respects andrew’s agency. no wonder he thinks neil’s a pipe dream

[thelaurenshippen]

yeah, sorry, I can't come in to work today. yeah, I've got to think about how the tv adaptation of the last of us expertly made you comfortable with joel's violence through making you care about ellie enough it all feels justified so that by the time he gets to the hospital, you're genuinely conflicted about the carnage he enacts, some of which may not have been strictly necessary at the level of brutality he carries it out. yeah, it's gonna be all day

[halfagone]

Let Gotham Be Terrifying

I've seen many different takes and versions of Gotham, but I would love to play into the fact that Gotham is the second most crime-ridden city in America. That's right- Gotham, for all its horrible cruelty, still does not compare to Blüdhaven. But that doesn't make it any less terrifying, especially to newcomers.

I know a lot of people say that Amity Parkers would be desensitized to the Rogue attacks, because of the ghosts that constantly haunt the streets. But I think they would actually be more horrified of Gotham because of the ghosts.

Because here's the thing about Danny's Rogues Gallery. For all intents and purposes, they don't actually want to hurt people. The ghosts might not be harmless, but neither are they expressly malicious.

The Box Ghost? Give him some of your leftover cardboard from when you were moving apartments, he'll appreciate them and leave you alone for a while as a thank you. If you catch him at the right time, he might even be willing to lend a helping hand. With the promise of the boxes afterwards, he doesn't do work for free after all.

Lunch Lady? You'll see her at the soup kitchens or the food banks lending a helping hand; sometimes she even gets invited to the soccer games to act as hostess and she makes the best main dishes. And her dessert? People have made remarks that they're to die for, which is more than a little insensitive but hey, still true.

Ember McLain? Phantom's made a deal with her: so long as she keeps her mind control out of her music, she can play however much she wants. They hold weekly concerts in the park, you just gotta make sure everyone scatters by the time the Fentons arrive, and don't say shit to the GIW when they come around asking, and everyone comes out of this happy.

Kitty and Johnny? Sure, their arguments always cause a ruckus, and it can be more than a little awkward to watch a couple scream at each other in public. But if you're willing to lend a kind ear to Kitty when she's upset, she's far less likely to lash out and hurt people as a result. As for Johnny, let him do a couple laps around town and he'll get his head on straight. If the Red Huntress doesn't do it for him, of course. And when they're on good terms, you'll sometimes see them walking about town, holding hands and just having fun. Sometimes they'll buy some ice cream or other treats from stores. No one really knows where they got the money, but it's legit and no one feels the need to turn them away, if they're respectful about private property.

Youngblood? He's a bit brash and immature, but sometimes you'll catch him hanging out with Phantom playing astronauts. Sometimes you'll even see him hanging out with that girl Phantom playing cowboys. He likes to play at the parks and playgrounds with the other kids his age. And yeah, sometimes he hogs the toys a little too long, but he's the best storyteller the kids on the yard have ever seen. He's a great playmate once you get the hang of it.

As for Skulker... eh, he and Phantom have their fights but honestly, it's the collateral damage that causes more problems than the ghosts themselves. The morning commute should not take this long.

Spectra got ran out of town forever ago and at this point, people can recognize her on sight. If your mental health has taken a startling downturn, contact one of the helplines and if worse comes to worst, reach out to Phantom to make sure she's not sticking her nose where no one wants her.

Desiree- watch your mouth and stop saying the word 'wish' and you're set for life. She can be petty sometimes, but again, that's why you watch your mouth.

For 7 out of the 9 cases here, the ghosts don't actually mean much harm. Other, more powerful ghosts like Vortex or Nocturn don't come around often. They might think Phantom is a little bitch, but they respect his territory. They would do the same if they were in his place. Predator acknowledging predator, as I like to say.

But that's the distinct difference. The ghosts can be bargained with, reasoned with. If you give them some other outlet, more often than not they're willing to take it and don't bother anyone first.

The Gotham Rogues on the other hand? There is no indulging the Joker or Black Mask or Scarecrow. In some cases, even when Mr. Freeze's wife is cured or he's finally let her go, he still keeps to his life of crime. What about Harvey Dent? Zsasz? Manbat? A lot of these Rogues cannot be reasoned with.

And this isn't even including the drug dealers and the muggers and the traffickers. This isn't even including the corrupt police and the even more corrupt local government. This isn't even including the likes of the Court of Owls and the rich and elite that run the show. This isn't even including the League of Assassins, who've always had a vested interest in the city.

And isn't that sad? Doesn't that say something when the living are crueler than the dead?

So give me a Danny or a Jazz or a Tucker or a Sam- any Amity Park citizen you want- that is disturbed by the thoughtless destruction and murders. Give me a Jazz that takes one look at the Arkham Asylum patients and is unnerved by their incapability to change. Give me a Danny that visits Gotham one time to lend a hand, and by the end of it, he turns to Batman and he says, "I don't know how you do it."

Because this is a family of vigilantes, who all besides one, do not have powers. They have to cover a city filled with millions of people, watch over them every night, and try to stop any possible terrible atrocities. Because even if every single member of Batman's Rogues Gallery suddenly dropped dead, Gotham has far deeper issues than just them. That is why Batman's crusade is endless. That's why it's not as simple as flicking a switch.

Gotham is terrifying. And what does it say when the Batman can put the fear of god into a city like that?

Batman is terrifying, and I think sometimes that can be a reminder to us all.

[blondephenobarbitol]

I understand that Linda Monroe is a bad person. I understand that the way she treats people is unacceptable.

But I also understand that she just wanted Roman to be proud of her. For once in her life, she wanted her father to see her as something other than a barn animal; a pig. Because that's all she was to him. A little piggy. She wanted his approval. She wanted to impress him. And at every chance, he took that, and turned it into an opportunity to degrade her. Make fun of her for trying. Disregard what she has to say.

At the end of Honey Queen, Linda sees that Roman is proud of her for the first time in her life, and she starts crying. She can't help it. It's all she's worked for. She is finally more than a pig to him--she's a queen. The sweetest woman in town. The way all fathers should view their daughters. For a single, happy moment, she gets what she's always dreamed of.

Only for him to betray her. To reveal that she will meet a terrible fate, a vessel for a dark lord. He is not happy for her, he's happy to give her up for something he's decided is better. More worthy. Linda is murdered by the man who should have protected her from the beginning.

And that's the tragedy of Honey Queen. Let the starving woman be picked apart, used for all she is worth, and finally discarded while her father watches and smiles.

[andorerso]

Cassian “don’t touch me” Andor vs. Cassian “what is personal space” Andor

[bogkeep]

[in stars and time spoilers]

something i really really appreciate about the worldbuilding in ISAT is that being queer or trans or polyam is just, baked into the worldbuilding in a way that feels very natural and interesting and makes perfect sense for the setting. like don't get me wrong, all of these things ARE natural but the way *we* talk about these things in this world and our languages can often be very awkward to translate into the worldbuilding of a fantasy story - especially because a lot of the vocabulary and culture we have for queerness is as something that has been Othered, while cishet is the Default, and if you want a world where being trans is just a normal everyday thing you have to do a whole overhaul of how it's treated, right. it's tricky to make it feel natural!! though i DO think a lot of stories do it well, and ISAT is 10000% one of them. BUT HERE'S THE THING THAT'S FASCINATING. vaugarde is really chill with all this - but amatonormativity is still an issue. but the story *addresses* this!!!!!! which makes it a deliberate and super interesting part of the worldbuilding!!! you have the exposition about the bonding earrings (WHICH I THINK IS A FANTASTIC PIECE OF WORLDBUILDING) and sif pointing out that most vaugardians seem to be wearing earrings from a young age and wondering if maybe they're being primed to bond with someone early on. and of course mirabelle struggling with her faith, feeling perfectly comfortable with her aroace self but feeling pressured into dating. like i think the change religion rules and i LOVE that there's aspects of it that are Flawed, even for some of its most loyal followers. SO GOOD.

so here's what i really super appreciate - all the characters have very different relationships to romance. i love mirabelle with my whole heart, and i ALSO love that odile does experience romantic feelings and has just decided it's not a priority for her(!!!!!). isabeau is very clearly super romantic and into romance, and while he's definitely struggling a lot with the confession part - and it does get exceedingly heartbreaking as the loops go on - i do actually really like that he's like. you know what! the confession is not that important right now, you'r every clearly distraught, there will be time later (HERE'S WHERE I WOULD PUT A ""LATER""" IF I HAD ONE), my big romantic moment is *not* top priority. like none of these characters treat romance as the Most Important Thing in the world!!!! WILD!!!!!! i mean it's pretty clear that the focal relationship of the game is the found family, just like straight up spelled out for us, and i just... i think it's lovely. i love the romantic plot thread and i love that it's just one of many threads. (hear me out. hear me out............ queerplatonic mirabelle & siffrin..............) like this game chose to portray amatonormativity but the *game* is dismantling it. A TASTY MEAL FOR ME. GIVES THIS GAME A BIG STAMP OF AROACE APPROVAL

[missygoesmeow]

POV you barged into the Devil's Den. teeny tiny ficlet under the cut

You don’t bother to knock when you reach the door with the little shiny plaque that says “Devil’s Den” in an ornate script. The door isn’t locked, so it swings open effortlessly when you barge in. The tirade ready to fall from your lips falters as the door closes with a soft click behind you; the hand you had raised in righteous anger pauses before limply falling to your side. Raphael is lounging in one of the overly gilded armchairs that furnish the den, a glass of something that looks both incredibly alcoholic and expensive dangling from one hand as he regards you with that infuriatingly knowing smile. None of that is why the cat suddenly has your tongue; it's that he has shrugged off the outer layer of his clothing and sits there with his white shirt unbuttoned. The view of his bare chest isn't a particularly novel sight - after all, you share a camp with several people, and some - like a certain large elf - enjoy being one with nature on any occasion they can get. It's more of a shock to see Raphael in such a state of undress; it would be a lie to say you had never considered what lay beneath his neatly tailored clothes. But you would have bet money that Korilla stitched him into them every morning to make sure they stayed perfectly in place. Right now he looked so...deliciously dishevelled.

“My, my," comes his amused voice, "does the squirming tadpole hinder your manners as well, little mouse?” The gentle timbre of his voice washes over you and it's enough to snap your attention to his face. “Or have you always been an uncouth little beast that flounces in without knocking?”

You frown at him, your irritation flaring up again. Your fingers flex - though not in a fit of pique but because your mind has been lost to the thought of running your fingers through the hairs on his tanned chest. That bloody distracting devil. Why did you come here again? "Did you come all this way to gawk like a gutted fish or did you have something you wished to say?" He raises a brow, tipping his drink towards you. "If you wish to stare, I am, of course, happy to oblige - though that will cost you. This establishment operates on a quid pro quo basis, you know." edit: i ended up writing the rest and you can read it here

thank you to @angellayercake for the idea!🖤🖤

[fernacular]

something I really dont get, when a chracter whose gender identity is a lil ambiguous gets headcanoned as a trans man or nonbinary or even gnc by some people, and then a bunch of other people get all up in arms about how theyre trying to erase a strong female character and “just let them be a woman you misogynist” and shit like that and Im like.

Why do they specifically have to be a cis woman for their story to resonate with you?

now im not transmasculine but I know a lot of transmasculine people have experienced a lot of the same shit a lot of women have to deal with, because the overarching powers of the world we live in dont want to recognize them as anything other than women as well. Transmasc people do have to deal with mysogyny, with pressure to just be feminine in a “normal” way, with threats against their ability to control their own reproduction, with people trying to squash them into a restrictive little box and control every aspect of their lives, with threats of violence if they deviate.

I dont want to insinuate its all exactly the same, transmasculine people obviously have their own specific contexts for it, but like, it fucking resonantes, doesn’t it? Do you really see nothing to relate to? Does all of that extremely recognizeable bullshit just… not count anymore when it’s happening to a dude? We dont have a monopoly on this, it happens to trans guys all the time. Hell it happens to a lot of cis dudes! And transfeminine people! Most people actually! so many fuckin’ people are effected by sexist heteronormative fuckery, and I think its kinda messed up that the only time you can empathize with it in another person is when they look and act exactly like you.

[leonsgotit]

OFMD 2 spoilers ‼️

the way izzy keeps trying to desperately get some sort of reaction out of stede every time they’re in the same room together, with either mentioning that he’s the one who stabbed the painting on the revenge or trying to thank stede for rescuing them, and yet stede ignores him, doesn’t give him the time of day—because izzy doesn’t deserve it. he doesn’t deserve anything from stede, not his forgiveness and not even his anger.

i just think that, regardless of whether or not izzy is going through a redemption arc, it’s so important that stede is reacting to him the way he is (in that, he isn’t reacting at all). because for stede, izzy went above and beyond to ruin his life, to ruin his relationship with edward, and to ruin his crew. and even if izzy feels bad about that and wants to make amends, the fact that stede is STANDING UP FOR HIMSELF by ignoring izzy is so important for stede’s character.

and maybe by the end of it all, stede and izzy WILL be some what tentative allies, or even friends, but for now stede won’t even acknowledge him and that in and of itself is stede advocating for himself. and that’s really important.

i just think it’s great.

[five-and-dimes]

I keep thinking about Destruction as a trans man.

Everytime a conservative or a terf talks about trans people "destroying their bodies", Destruction is there with a grin saying "Yes." Destruction whispering to every angry trans person, "destroy the fear, destroy the expectations, destroy everything you don't want. Take the shrapnel and rebuild. Re-create."

Destruction over the shoulder of every trans person who views their past self as "they're dead and I killed them".

Destruction leaving his realm, telling his family it's not who he is and getting mixed reactions. Leaving and surrounding himself with people who didn't know who he used to be. Destruction grappling with the fact that for so much of history, destruction has been associated with men. Destroying the idea of what a man should be and deciding for himself what masculinity means to him.

Just. Destruction. But trans.

(disclaimer: I can totally see an interpretation of Destruction as a trans woman, I just went trans man because, y'know, *gestures as my trans man-ness*)

[drifting-wreckers]

Ok, um…got a little closer and actually center stage tonight…

Which means I 100% saw Aurora shoving Swiss’s head between her legs with her foot on his shoulder at the start of Cirice and I have feelings.

Also means I saw the skeleton dancers swing up onto the others shoulders and grind on their face during Dance Macabre.

…also…Papa yelled at Kevin to get him “a new pair of fucking shoes”.

…and a new challenger entered the chat - Ashley - brought him a new pair of shoes and fucking changed his shoes on stage.

I’m starting to feel like these two shows were just fever dreams and can this footage be out like yesterday????

[mythicamagic]

My two favourites making something (Xiao his lantern and Neuvillette the ladle) gives me joy bc these two are so overworked to the point that they don't have hobbies and find it difficult to interact smoothly with people - so them making things with their own two hands to share with others is great. It's a little stepping stone of connection that art can bring ❤️