#I'm sure I'll get a lot of mileage out of this gif

[royalarchivist]

Turned the Judgemental Cucurucho Stare into a gif because it made me laugh too much.

Bonus version:

[electronickingdomfox]

Star Trek TOS slash bits (Season one)

This is my personal rundown of all the slash scenes in TOS season one. Actually, "slash" isn't an accurate descriptor, since slash was born after and because of Star Trek; but I didn't know how to call it otherwise. I've omitted episodes when I didn't find anything remarkable in them. And I've tried to be as objective as possible. Of course, this stuff depends a lot on the "eye of the beholder", so your mileage might vary.

-What I count: lingering touches or affectionate looks, clinginess, actions that show a strong concern/familiarity with each other, suggestive scenes...

-What I DON'T count: friendly gestures (like smiling or looking amused when someone says something funny), scenes taken out of context, physical proximity just because there's not enough space...

I'll try to illustrate some scenes when necessary, though screenshots usually don't do justice to it.

For season two, go here.

The Corbomite Maneuver:

Spirk: Kirk tells Spock his explanations give him "emotional security" with a loving look. Spock appears a bit embarrassed. Not counting the scene where Kirk makes a video call while shirtless (funny as it may seem out of context), since that scene has nothing to do with Spock himself. He's just calling the bridge, not Spock in particular.

McKirk: McCoy surely likes to cling to the Captain's chair a lot. He gets really close for a good chunk of the episode.

Should I count the scene where he hides a red alert in sickbay, so Kirk can keep sweating shirtless in his med bed? On the one hand, it may seem suggestive, but on the other, McCoy is just anxious about finishing his medical exam on the Captain.

Spones: McCoy tells Spock (with a somewhat hopeful look) that he'd love to teach him strip poker. Remarkable because there's no hint of sarcasm at all, and Spock answers with a mischievous smile.

The Enemy Within

Spirk: The scene where Spock enters the cabin and seems so agitated by the sight of shirtless, absurdly sensual Kirk.

Also a bit at the end, when Kirk thanks Spock on behalf of his two... halves. He has the Look in his eyes.

McKirk: McCoy is again pretty close and physical with Kirk (the good one). He stops agreeing with Spock's logical plan to merge the two halves, as soon as they discover that it may put Kirk's life in danger.

The true couple of this episode, however, is Good Kirk x Evil Kirk.

The Man Trap

McKirk: The way Kirk tells McCoy that he's not counting his errors, and how he smiles and approaches him to apologize, comes off rather flirtatious.

Also, though he's joking, Kirk can't help offering McCoy the most shitty bouquet of flowers ever, and calling him by his pet name "Plum" at the first opportunity.

The Naked Time

Spirk: "Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I'm ashamed". Also at the end, when Spock asks Kirk if he's okay, but Kirk asks Spock about his wellbeing instead, with a loving expression in his face.

Balance of Terror

McKirk: The scene where Kirk is lying in bed and he invites McCoy to enter, and then they stare at each other with such fondness. On top of that McCoy makes a heartfelt speech about the uniqueness of all lives, and begs Kirk not to sacrifice himself.

What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Spirk: This may be a stretch, but Chapel implies that she can recognize the real Corby by his voice alone, because she's in love with him. Later, Spock guesses there's something wrong with Kirk just hearing him (actually an imitation of his voice made by an android). Apart from this, Kirk's way of ensuring that his android copy is recognized as a fake, is implanting in him mean remarks about Spock.

Dagger of the Mind

McKirk: Again, McCoy has to be all over Kirk's chair whenever he's in the bridge.

Spirk: At the end, Kirk ponders about loneliness, but then he looks at Spock, smiles, and seems to get better. Spock kind of returns the smile.

Besides this, Spock's mind meld with Van Gelder is rather... well... intense.

Miri

Spirk: A brief moment, but when Spock says "Whatever happens, I can't go back to the ship, and I do want to go back to the ship, Captain", he and Kirk exchange knowing looks, and Spock even smiles a bit.

Spones: Spock is very tender with McCoy while he's unconscious, after testing the vaccine on himself. He holds his hands for a looooong time.

The Galileo Seven

McKirk: McCoy still seems unable to talk with Kirk at a normal distance in the bridge. Granted, he gets so close because he's gossiping about Spock's emotional reaction. But that makes it even more gay.

Spirk: "Mister Spock, you're a stubborn man." In context, he's just teasing Spock like everybody else on the bridge, but in Kirk's case, it seems more affectionate.

Court Martial

Spirk: It's normal that a First Officer would be loyal to his Captain, and testify in his favor when his career is at stake. But Spock's comparison of Kirk's inability to make a mistake, with a hammer's inability to overcome gravity, is way too much, isn't it? Specially for someone who pretends to be as logical as Spock.

The Menagerie

McSpirk McCoy refuses to believe Spock is the culprit, despite damning evidence against him. And he's barely able to arrest him, sending him to his quarters instead of the brig. Kirk is more firm in his duties as Captain, but still considers the court martial against Spock as the most difficult time in his career. At one point, he almost wishes his shuttle failed, so he didn't have to confront Spock.

This episode also shows how crazy Spock can become to protect those he loves and respects (in this case, Pike). Motherfucker just committed mutiny in the Captain's face!

Shore Leave

Spirk At the very start, Spock stands behind the Captain's chair, and Kirk complains about pain in his back. A yeoman, also behind him, starts giving Kirk a back massage. And Kirk seems to be enjoying it quite a lot... until he discovers it's not Spock doing it. Then he orders the yeoman to stop, annoyed. Also later, when the airplane is shooting at Kirk and Spock, the two of them embrace and grab each other a lot. It doesn't help that Kirk has, as usual, his tits out.

The Squire of Gothos

Spirk The best way for Trelane to ensure Kirk's cooperation is threatening Spock at gunpoint. This changes Kirk's attitude to him at once.

There's also something seductive (and masochistic) in Kirk's promise to Trelane to give him all the excitement he wants with a manhunt game.

Arena

Spones "Doctor, you're a sensualist" "You bet your pointed ears I am..." It's not just what he says, it's how he says it.

There's also a little detail, when Spock raises from the Captain's chair, and Bones purposefully follows his hand with his fingers. It's strange. Might be an unconscious action on DeForest's part?

The Alternative Factor

McKirk A similar example as the previous "sensualist" one, but this time with Kirk.

Tomorrow is Yesterday

McKirk He can't stop doing this, can he?

Besides this, McCoy gets very anxious as soon as Kirk beams down to the airforce base, and argues with Spock because he feels the Science Officer isn't doing enough to retrieve Kirk from there.

Spirk Kirk hits a guard and hurts his hand a little, so Spock goes toward him and checks the poor baby's wrist.

However, nothing in this episode compares to the truly lustful looks that Kirk directs to Captain Christopher, when he first meets him.

The Return of the Archons

Spirk At the end, Kirk keeps looking at Spock with silly heart eyes, even though the conversation is a philosophical one, about the pros and cons of a society run by computers.

A Taste of Armageddon

Spirk "Captain, you almost make me believe in luck." "Why, Mister Spock, you almost make me believe in miracles." Bonus points because it comes absolutely from nowhere, since the day was saved by Kirk's power of bluff and special brand of diplomacy. Spock hasn't done anything particularly miraculous (well, there's the mind meld with the wall, but that was a brief moment). Spock also looks confused, and there's that comedic music in the background.

Space Seed

The only thing I can think of, is the tense scene between Kahn and McCoy in sickbay, when he grabs the doctor by the neck and says he likes brave men. Followed by McCoy's statement that Kahn has a certain "magnetism, almost electric". The final confrontation between Kirk and Kahn is also a bit suggestive at times.

This Side of Paradise

Spones MCCOY: That didn't sound at all like Spock, Jim. KIRK: No. I thought you said you might like him if he mellowed a little. MCCOY: I didn't say that. KIRK: You said that. MCCOY: Not exactly. He might be in trouble.

Notice how quick Bones denies having said he might like Spock... Almost as if embarrassed. Does he think often about how Spock could be more to his liking?

Spirk It's possible to see some jealousy from Kirk about Spock and Leila's relationship. In particular during the fight, when he confronts Spock about his courtship of Leila. That came a bit out of nowhere. On the other hand, I disagree with the common idea that his parting from Leila has spirk undertones. On the contrary, he's just talking about his responsibility to the ship and "that man on the bridge" (the Captain; first Pike, now Kirk). And I think there's genuine regret in his abandonment of the simple happiness in the colony, to take care of these responsibilities. His mention of "purgatory" reinforces that.

The Devil in the Dark

Spirk Spock is very protective of Kirk in this episode. First, he invents some bullshit excuse to stay in the cave with him, instead of helping Scotty with the reactor (Kirk sees through his bullshit, by the way). Then he's quite unwilling to proceed separately through the tunnels. And finally, he gets really emotional when Kirk's alone with the horta, and asks him to kill the creature, even though Spock was the one who wanted to protect her first. Apart from this, Kirk supports Spock for a while, after being hurt by the mind meld with the horta.

Errand of Mercy

One name: Kor. Interesting that the episode that introduced Klingons, did so by showing their commander lusting so much after Kirk. Kor checks Kirk out almost from the second he lays eyes upon him, tells him he'll "teach him how to use his tongue", invites him to a drink while Kirk sits suggestively, and both are somehow fascinated by their similarities as commanders (despite their opposite outlooks on life). Definitely one of the most obvious examples in season one.

City on the Edge of Forever

Spirk This exchange:

SPOCK: Interesting. Where would you estimate we belong, Miss Keeler? EDITH: You? At his side, as if you've always been there and always will.

Some people have said that, since Spock's computer contraption occupies one bed, Kirk and Spock would need to sleep together on the other bed. I don't agree though; I see no reason why they couldn't move the thing to the floor at night. It's not that big.

McSpirk How they run to embrace Bones when they finally find him. Even Spock is overcome by emotion.

Operation: Annihillate!

McSpirk Both Kirk and McCoy are very concerned about Spock having lost his sight (much more than Spock himself). Though they react differently. McCoy is heartbroken and blames himself. Kirk reacts with anger and lashes out at Bones, which makes him feel even more guilty. Though later he apologizes. There's also this scene where the three get ridiculously pressed together.

Doesn't count in part, because there's not that much space. McCoy didn't need to come bumping into the other two, though (someone could have moved a bit forward).

Spones McCoy is offended about Spock not appreciating his face upon recovering sight, and complains that he just can't recognize beauty. He's also quite embarrassed because Spock heard him saying he was the best officer in Starfleet.

Summary

Spirk: 16 out of 29 episodes Spones: 5/29 McKirk: 8/29 McSpirk: 3/29

[mlobsters]

supernatural s6e18 frontierland (teleplay: andrew dabb, daniel loflin; story: andrew dabb, daniel loflin, jackson stewart)

i know vaguely of dean's cowboy thing. i may expire from embarrassment. (telling myself to just let dean enjoy things). supernatural i will pay you $5 if you stop including bobby's bad evil ear worm speech in the recaps

wait so are all the campbells dead now? wiped out the family. *research montage to funky jazzy rock*

sam and dean's mutual excitement over the colt journal is about the cutest thing. a genuinely happy moment for them both at the same time, in my supernatural?! (thank you, writers)

DEAN Like the Colt. From... Samuel Colt's Journal.

SAM What?! That's his?

DEAN Yeah.

SAM Dude, no.

DEAN Dude, yes.

--

RACHEL I'm his friend.

SAM What, you think we're not?

RACHEL I think you call him when you need something.

i mean, show me the lie. he's like... a work friend.

DEAN This here is, uh, Walker. He's a Texas Ranger.

LOL okay. played the long game on that role, apparently!

SHERIFF So, what can I do for you boys?

SAM Uh, we're looking for a man.

JUDGE MORTIMER I'll bet. (gesturing to Dean) Nice shirt, there.

le sigh. as ever, side eyeing the gay joke there.

listen. i just. if dean was going to buy clothes to wear in this time period, i don't believe he'd be going for something so relatively flashy. having seen all those movies a million times, he knows the aesthetic. the bad period clothing for time travel low hanging fruit was done in back to the future 3 (he also stepped in horse shit)

back to the future part 3 (1990)

*deep breaths* i can do this. just get through this saloon scene.

okay. the posse magnet thing. something a fic made me appreciate, or maybe try to reflect on, when dean is being a goober and embarrassing himself; sam expects him to be like this and rolls with it. trying to channel the fond little brother vibe so i can roll my eyes with a smile instead of wanting to shrivel up and hide under a rock

thinking to myself, well j2 are from texas, surely they know their way around horses. but then, i lived in phoenix for half my childhood (in an area with a lot of semi-rural horse people), had family we visited semi-regularly with a farm and horses in nebraska. and i've never been on a horse! okay but padalecki clearly has LOL riding just fine before hamming it up

RACHEL Castiel, I've been hearing things. Things I don't want to believe. Just tell me if it's true.

CASTIEL If what's true?

RACHEL You know. Your dirty little secret.

CASTIEL I have to defeat Raphael.

i'm guessing this is the souls thing but i still don't get it. but i guess they're throwing down in this warehouse abandoned factory or whatever over it

uh oh cas sprung a leak, how's he gonna get the boys home now

SAMUEL COLT Well, when you've done this job as long as I have...a giant from the future with some magic brick doesn't exactly give you the vapors.

cute

SAMUEL COLT You go put on a few more miles and come back, and we'll talk.

SAM Trust me, I've got plenty of mileage.

thanks for reminding me of all the suffering in hell he's got cooped up in his brain

all right so, souls are like. batteries. for the angels??? slippery slope this rebelling and free willing, apparently

all right so they had to give the phoenix a tragic event to turn all this on, of course it's the sexual assault and murder of his wife. OF COURSE.

he's swimming in that coat 😔

LOLOL how exactly did samuel colt get the address off his phone? just gonna ignore that ridiculousness.

made it through in one sitting, it's a miracle. surely gotta be done with the cringey episodes until next season. suffering and misery from here on out?

[thedragonlover]

The Short Okami Ramble Post So My Friends, Mutuals and Followers Who Haven't Already Might Go Play It

Note: I'll try to keep spoiling the fun surprises to a minimum but obviously I'll be talking a lot about the game. I'm sure others have done a better job of explaining it but, eh, who cares? This is just an excuse to gush about it.

So, for the basics, this game came out on the PS2 back in 2006/2007 (depending on your region), made by Clover Studios (which sadly closed a few months after its release). It has since been ported to the Wii, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and onto PC through Steam. The name "Okami" is actually a pun, something I didn't get until my friend (the one who's playing it) recently told me that (as the Wiki puts it)

' the word ōkami (狼) in Japanese means "wolf". The kanji characters (大神), pronounced identically, mean "great deity", so the main character is a great wolf deity.'

I must've known on a spiritual level with how much I adored this game lmao.

Also I mean, look at it. The game's art style is... gorgeous.

Like??? I love it so much!!!

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STORY

It obviously takes a LOT of inspiration from Japanese mythology. The main character is a wolf named Amaterasu (after the Shinto sun goddess). She is the wielder of the Celestial Brush (her tail, something my friend didn't notice at first) with a collection of techniques that, when you start the game, have been scattered across the land of Nippon among the gods to which she is the "mother" of. Gotta collect em all!

The pre-main menu video talks about the legend of Shiranui (aka Amaterasu's previous incarnation), a white wolf that helped Nagi (a fabled human warrior) defeat and seal the dreadful eight-headed serpent Orochi (based of course off of the Yamata no Orochi) that was eating the maidens of Kamiki Village year after year. Before this climactic fight, the villagers had assumed the wolf was another minion of Orochi--but then Shiranui ran in after Nagi like "yo worm catch these PAWS", and then strange miracles occurred that gave them the upper hand. Sadly, Shiranui's wounds from the fight were too great. A statue was erected in a small shrine to honor the wolf for helping save the village.

Then the game starts a hundred years later, when darkness was unleashed once more. The guardian wood sprite of Kamiki, named Sakuya, protected the village within a peach on her tree, and using the last of her power summoned Amaterasu back into the world. The goddess had weakened in her absence, losing many of her abilities, hence the player has to go retrieve them all to become stronger and defeat evil. (By the way, learned that the game director loved The Legend of Zelda games and, yeah, I can tell.) You don't say much, being a wolf, but you are joined by a little buddy named Issun, a traveling painter who is interested in acquiring the Celestial Brush techniques himself and so decides to come along for the ride.

And boy, is it one fun ride! A lot of stuff happens after this but, of course, I'd rather you play and experience it for yourself. Even if I'd love to ramble about all the different characters lmao

NOTE: It's a dated game, so it will have some tropes of the times and jokes that might not land well nowadays. I don't think it has anything horrible in it, but obviously your mileage may vary, so keep the ratings in mind before you decide to play.

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GAMEPLAY

Speaking of brush techniques! They're the power-ups and abilities of the game. You start out with the Sunrise ability because. Y'know. Sun goddess. But you acquire many many more throughout the game. Thirteen total techniques exist--plus upgrades! Moves like Power Slash, Inferno, Cherry Bomb, Waterspout, Bloom, etc. They're used for combat, transport, finding secrets etc.

There are other abilities in the game too, most you get by going to one of the dojos to be taught by Onigiri-sensei. Yes, this old man will teach a dog new tricks. AND! There are several weapons of three different types: Reflectors, rosaries, and glaives. Each type, and each individual weapon even, has its own playstyle and abilities--and you can have two equipped, with one main and one secondary, giving even MORE customization to your combat style. I used rosaries my first few playthroughs with the other two types as secondaries, though nowadays I like to mix it up; my friend mains glaive, with rosaries as secondary.

The way you enter most combats is by running into a floating "demon scroll" that wanders the overworld, which then spawns a barrier around a small arena filled with various demons. There's also Demon Gates, which are cursed gates that sorta sit there messing up the place until you run through it and trigger an unescapable fight. Clearing those up often cleanses the land and gains you rewards, or unlocks new areas, so knock em dead!

Boss fights, well, they're generally very obvious when they'll start. Most are behind save points or checkpoints, and have a lot of build-up in the game. You generally won't get caught off-guard, but saving often and with multiple save files is still a good tactic to make sure you don't get your tail whooped or accidentally miss something you can't get back to. (Says I, the spastic saver.)

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RECOMMENDED? HELL YES.

This game was obviously something I latched onto as a kid, but I've replayed it from start to finish so many times because I truly do enjoy the whole experience.

The characters are interesting and fun, the plot weaves together a lot of smaller stories into the larger whole, and the art style and gameplay really caught my eye and still kind of wows me. The themes of the game involve a lot of duty, honor, loyalty, heroism, compassion, and faith (which, while obviously used a lot in the heavenly sense, since you're playing AS the deity, I always felt like ended up more as a "faith in your friends" kind of way).

And there are so many ports and remasters of this game that it's pretty much available to everyone nowadays! If you haven't already played this game, I highly recommend giving it a try, if only to run around freely as a wolf and kick some tail to save the world.

Even if you don't pick it up though, I highly recommend looking at the art and listening to the soundtrack, because they are gorgeous even without any of the context! Some may have spoilers of course. But, there's a reason why this game was often used as proof of the argument that Video Games Are Art.