#LOOK AT HIM. PLEASE LOOK AT HIMMMMMMMMMMMM

[cynicalmusings]

about to start bawling (half-serious)

and not to forget this one as well:

i am not fucking okay right now.

[tauforged]

some ref pics of my baby boy laz (and some friends)! i’ve been working on fleshing him out a bit, so i’ll slap some of what i’ve got for lore thus far under a cut. post sacrifice/new war leadup spoilers ahead, ye have been warned!!! - his main deal is that he tried to retreat into a kind of void cocoon after being attacked and gravely injured by a sentient but accidentally pulled it in with him— killing it and saving himself, but now it is permanently fused with him because when he tried to heal himself in the void, pieces of the sentient got pulled into the mix and are now functionally keeping him alive. basically a tenno amalgam. -blind due to void scarring. before his void coma incident, the scars only affected his vision slightly, but because he spent so long in limbo the damage progressed to the point where he lost his vision altogether. transference into a frame with good optics allows him to see a little bit, but no detail - mostly movement and blurry outlines of shapes, so he relies on his squadmates a lot to deal with details. he still likes to go on missions, regardless - he likes to feel like he’s helping, and his friends and clanmates don’t mind keeping an eye out for him. - when he DOES go solo, his cephalon and equipped pet (usually masha because she’s my favorite, but he’s got a couple predasites too now that deimos rolled around that im working on building) will act as guides. masha handles enemies and generally just keeps guard to alert him to what’s happening, although she can seek out objectives or resources if so commanded. audri is his mission control, letting him know what he needs to be doing, how he needs to do it, and informing him of enemy movements in advance if she can. she’s not perfect, a lot of the time just warning him of a ‘projectile incoming’ without giving him a where when how or what, but they make it work. - audri is somewhere between a twitch TTS bot and glados. in orbiter she functions as a screen reader, which leads to his friends constantly sending him absurd messages knowing she’ll read it aloud and it will be funny. she cares about him and tries to be helpful, but doesn’t quite ‘get’ humans very much. she’s a little broken and glitchy but otherwise very nice :) i love her - the sentient he absorbed is still like…. sentient, i guess? its core is intact, so it’s become like an annoying little voice in the back of laz’s head that tries to convince him to kill and maim. really angry mental backseat driver. it has no real control over him and is pretty much harmless, just a pain in the ass. laz doesn’t have the heart to try to get rid of it, partially cuz he feels bad and kind of enjoys the company, but partially cuz he knows if they separate they both die. i’d imagine they grow on eachother and maybe even start working together a bit after natah’s betrayal at the end of the sacrifice and in the lead up to the new war, since it would hurt them both so deeply. generally tho i just think it’s funny if it was just there trying to be edgy but laz ignores it - the sentient limb he uses as a cane is completely unrelated. he just like ripped it off during a mission one time, decided to hold onto it so he could find his way around to get to extraction, and then decided he liked it and kept it. - the ‘void echolocation’ i originally had him doing is still there, but it doesn’t really substitute his actual guides. in a pinch he can get a decent idea of his surroundings by bouncing energy pulses off of them, but against a moving target it doesn’t do the job because it’s pretty taxing and with his current grasp on his power, there’s a long gap between pulses that isn’t conducive to combat scenarios. - he didn’t go into stasis like the other tenno - but because he was in a void pocket, he pretty much did the same thing. one of his clanmates found him and managed to pull him out, and the rest, as they say, is history. he doesn’t have a very close relationship to the lotus because she never ‘woke him up’ - as far as her connection to the tenno goes, he technically died in combat with the sentient, which broke that link off, even after he was revived. he doesn’t trust her much, but most of his information about her comes from his friends who are pretty torn up about her turning on them, since she doesn’t really… talk to him at all. because he’s technically dead. - he really likes animals. conservation is his passion. born to tranq world is a fuck 5000000000 floofs

[woodchoc-magnum]

L*ne St*r Hate Watch 3x11

Usual disclaimer: If you love this show, that's great, you don't have to read this, please keep scrolling!

Eddie Diaz to provide us with a beautiful calming energy:

I have no idea what happens in this episode at all but am encouraged because it's starting with Grace

Oh fuck a guy on meth is pouring gasoline on his partner and baby

It's a hostage situation and of course Owen wants to go in

Carlos has found the guy and is chasing after him alone

Owen's gonna be real mad if he's not the one to save the day here

OH SHIT IT'S A TRAP

He's LURED THEM INTO A TRAP

The woman and the baby weren't real!!

Is that Patrick Fugit???

No right

No it's not

Carlos has just tased him??

OH THE DUDE ACCIDENTALLY OR MAYBE ON PURPOSE STABBED HIMSELF WITH HIS KNIFE WHEN CARLOS TASED HIM

Oh this is not good for Carlos

They think it was a prank? But I feel something more nefarious is going on

This is really not good for Carlos

Holy shit you guys I'm not really into babies but Judd and Grace have THE CUTEST BABY!!!

So the police theory is that a rival drug dealer organised the fake call with the woman and the baby to lure police in and wipe out the other guy

And now Grace is taking a leave of absence

She's blaming herself for the guy dying but I think we can all agree that the guy who died – who was NOT Patrick Fugit – was a bad dude

Carlos is beating the shit out of a boxing bag so he's taking it really well

Holy fuck you guys Carlos is SO HOT

Is my type TALL DARK AND HANDSOME GUYS WITH CURLY HAIR????? YES. IT. IS.

Grace is talking to Carlos and trying to get through to him but he's not quite there yet

TK is just fucking around in the background like the useless POS he is

Grace wants to find out who set them up

"Says the guy who just solved a kidnapping case" – uh TK I'm pretty sure YOUR FATHER STOLE CARLOS' THUNDER ON THAT ONE

Holy fuck are we line dancing again

Omg we definitely are

I'm looking forward to Amy Acker DUMPING OWEN

"I don't have the cheekbones for primetime" ROB LOWE???? SOMEONE WROTE THAT LINE ABOUT ROB LOWE??? AND HE SAID THOSE WORDS OUT LOUD?????????

Is this the "writers blow Rob Lowe show"? YES

Oh they're line dancing

What's the bet that if Grace and Carlos try to find the person responsible, Owen somehow gets himself involved

Now some drunkard is heckling Amy Acker's character at the bar

He called her Ann Coulter 2.0 which is a solid burn

Is Amy Acker's character a Republican? Oh no he's pissed about oil so I'm guessing she's a Democrat

Uh oh she talked back to him and he's getting up

Owen's getting all protective, gee I wouldn't want anything to happen to his precious cheekbones

And he's punched the guy

Because how does Owen Strand solve problems? He punches the guy

I think Amy Acker might be about to dump him

Ohhhhhh she called him a MEATHEAD

Get him girl

Okay so she is NOT into the knight in shining armour routine AT ALL

Owen says that he punched the guy because he called her something he wasn't comfortable with, and she says, "Who cares what you're not comfortable with?" FUCKING AMAZING. SHE DOESN'T NEED SAVING, OWEN.

Oooh she's MAD and I'm IN LOVE WITH HER

Owen says "you'd rather have me stand back as a coward while you're bullied by a drunk" – OWEN THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU??? YOU WERE LITERALLY NOT INVOLVED AT ALL. SHE WAS HANDLING IT.

God he SUCKS HE IS THE WOOOOOORST

She's finally seeing him for the dirtbag he is

DUMP HIM

DUMPPPP HIMMMMMMMMMMMM

He is so dismissive of her honestly

He thinks her anger is misplaced oooooh he is playing with FIRE

She says "tell me more about what I should be feeling" FUCK YES GET HIM DRAG HIM STRAIGHT TO HELLLLLLLL

He looks like a scared turtle it's hilarious

Not used to having a woman talk back to him this is GREAT

DUMP HIM DUMP HIM DUMP HIM

"I don't need you or anyone else to defend me" she's AMAZING

This better not be fucking foreshadowing of something bad happening to her (Narrator: It was.)

"I know you're in the business of saving people but I did not ask to be saved" OH SHE'S SO GOOD

This BETTER NOT END UP WITH HER IN DANGER AND OWEN SAVING HER FUCK I'LL BE SO GODDAMN FUCKING MADDDD

She hasn't dumped him yet but I am still hopeful

Carlos and Grace are teaming up as the most amazing dynamic duo ever

Oh there's some kind of 911 prankster who's calling and having the police storm houses

I'm so glad TK isn't involved in this and it is the Carlos & Grace show, aka the team-up I never knew I needed

Oh it's "SWATTING" which is a thing I have heard of that happens in America

So Judd thinks it's got something to do with gaming, because this is now the Judd-Grace-Carlos team and it's amazing

Owen organises his spice rack by "flavour profile" oh god I hate him so much, like it's crazy how much the dumbest things just make me hate him more

Paul thinks Owen broke his hand punching that guy

Now Tommy's looking at it and you know she doesn't put up with any bullshit

They think he punched Billy (I LOVE YOU BILLY)

"defending his lady's honour" oh god he's the WORST

He's pissed that she got up him about it!

And Tommy's calling him out she's so great

"This is why nobody opens the door for anybody anymore" ARE YOU FUCKING. KIDDING. ME. YOU. ASSHOLE

FUCKING. ASSHOLE.

AAAAHHHHH

I need a quick five minute break to cleanse with SOMETHING ELSE BECAUSE I'M MADDDDD

Okay I am ready to resume after a quick break to eat some peanuts

Tommy says, "I'm surprised that such a progressive man as yourself would have such a traditional view" and he's spluttering

He says he's not going to roll up and punch someone in the face but like THAT'S HOW HE SOLVES EVERYTHING??

Tommy suggests he gives Amy Acker flowers and chocolate as an apology and Owen says he'll never understand women

Oh no he's gone WAY OVERBOARD

Oh wait I thought he'd sent her a whole trolley load of shit but instead it's just a tasteful bouquet of yellow tulips by the looks of it

She is annoyingly amused by it

OH NOOOOOOOOOO

THE FLOWERS WEREN'T FROM OWEN

AND THERE WAS WHITE POWDER IN THE CARD

GOD DAMN IT

IF AMY ACKER DIES I SWEAR TO. FUCKING. GOD.

I CAN'T GO THROUGH ANOTHER TV SHOW WHERE AMY ACKER DIES

Owen's now going in to save her and honestly you guys I fucking knew this would happen

The note says "NOW YOU'RE REALLY TOXIC"

Owen did not send the flowers but it's almost definitely the guy from the bar right

I don't think Marjan has had a single line this episode

Oh wait is this the episode with Athena?

Imagine possibly dying and having Owen Strand be one of the last people you have to spend time with

Oh shit it's a poison, the kid who delivered the flowers is dying

I am going to be so mad if Amy Acker dies

You guys. I can't sit through another fucking TV show where Amy Acker dies.

Oh now she's APOLOGISING TO HIMMMM FUCK I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN

Just absolve him of all his bad deeds and reinforce the idea that he's the hero and women need saving

IT'S NOT POISON SHE'S GONNA BE OKAY

Pretty sure the other dude just had a nosebleed and fainted

God damn it she's not breaking up with him.

This is so fucking disappointing.

I hate this show.

I thought maybe once his bad behaviour was going to be addressed but NO, he's just completely absolved. Fucking ridiculous.

Meanwhile the Carlos-and-Grace train is chugging along nicely and they're still trying to find the guy who did the swatting

Oh they've totally found the guy and he pretty much confesses to it on YouTube

He's in LA! Amazing!

Here comes ATHENAAAAAA

YESSSSS

QUEEEEEEEEN

She's amazing, best two minutes of the whole episode

And now she, Carlos and Grace are Facetiming!

Athena called Carlos "Detective" and he is SO PLEASED!!

You just know that Grace and Athena would be instant BFFs

And Judd would charm the pants off of Bobby and it would be amazing

Athena says, "I like her!" and she means it, and you know that if Grace and Judd ever come to LA they're getting invited to lunch with Bobby and Athena

Annoyingly this is ending with Amy Acker and Rob Lowe slow dancing because their relationship has been reinforced and isn't that fucking GREAT

She has just called him out on having anger issues like yeah he definitely does

Omg if I keep eye rolling my eyes are gonna stuck there

She just said that she's going to jump his bones. AMY. YOU CAN DO BETTER.

Oh hey Owen had nothing to do with Carlos finding the swatting guy!

OH SHIIIIT

There's someone after her and they've been in her house

And they've 100% left a dead pig in her bed.

Yep.

Called it.

Solid Godfather reference

Okay interesting? A stalker storyline? I'm here for it! (as long as Amy Acker doesn't die)

Final thoughts:

Look - as LS episodes go, I was... entertained? The whole time? I mean, yeah I did rage out once or twice about Owen and sure, I had to walk away from the computer to centre myself, but overall this was a pretty solid episode.

The writers' insistence on absolving Owen of all his sins and reinforcing his toxic behaviour is not great though - like, his first reaction shouldn't be to just punch someone in the face. She was handling it, and he completely overreacted - but of course, with her being in danger in the end, that meant it was all okay.

It's literally toxic masculinity at its worst and they try to play it off like "he's so hip and progressive and with it, look he has a spice rack and he does all this stuff and he's obsessed with how he looks" but like... he's a narcissistic asshole?

At this point, what is there even to like about Owen? Someone tell me, genuinely, what his good qualities are, other than being a moderately good firefighter. I'd love to know. All I'm seeing is a lot of toxic bullshit that is completely excused and dismissed by the show and honestly it's really gross.

Eddie Diaz would never.

You compare Owen with Bobby and it's honestly baffling to me why they're insisting on this characterisation - I mean, sure, I get it, Bobby's not perfect either. That's established in canon; he has his flaws, but he's not a toxic man. He's a great leader, he fosters a healthy and safe working environment for all of his employees, he's a mentor, he guides people, he cares about people other than himself...

Can you fucking say any of that about Owen? Like, honestly? And maybe there's some kind of arc that they're doing where Owen becomes a better person, but at this stage, I am not seeing it. The show seems more than happy to just laugh off all the bad stuff and be like, well, that's Owen! He's a kooky guy!

He is literally a narcissistic asshole.

Idk what they're doing, honestly.

More Eddie because we've had a hard day and we deserve it: