#Obviously this is paraphrased but this was the vibe

[the-halfling-prince]

Most recent episode of Outlander I watched was low key so funny at the end

Fuckin Marseli was like "listen, so... doctors take an oath to do no harm. Good thing I'm not actually a doctor" and killed that bitch. Jamie walks in to her freaking out because she killed someone and just goes "damn that sucks. But shit happens."

[gregmarriage]

x files 1x08 ‘ice’ was so fucking funny for having mulder make a joke about the size of his dick in front of two other men, and scully touch a woman’s chest as part of a medical exam, then immediately share a lesbian look with her, that has nothing to do with said medical exam

[jjsanguine]

Ye Chan: say, how old are you?

Seon Yul: I'm 27 so you can be more casual.

Ye Chan: sure thing friend :D

Seon Yul: ...?

Ye Chan: I'm 20 so I can call you friend right :D ?

Seon Yul:

Seon Yul: sure.

[scalpelsister]

not a Hel video sending me into a crisis about my own perceptions about who I am working with....

I literally just opened this video bc I found a norse witch whos like. avidly not a nazi and thats always nice yanno. and then there was a Hel video and im like eyyyy fellow death goddess follower! love to see it. but the upg section. hit.

[ckret2]

I don't know all that much about "bill is from Flatland (1884)" theory or the book Flatland at all other than that it's public domain and thus possible to get an explicit connection from an IP rights perspective, how likely do you think it is for Book of Bill to confirm vs refute it

The theory comes from this quote on the Bill Cipher AMA:

Which is, of course, the author of Flatland. And then Journal 3 features a page on Exwhylia—a dimension SO similar to Flatland that Ford's description of it is literally just a condensed & paraphrased version of the canonical description of Flatland—and then he says Bill isn't from this dimension, but is probably from a similar one.

So we have Bill himself namedropping the author, and Journal 3 describing a place so similar that it's obvious Alex read Flatland cover to cover.

So I wouldn't call it a "theory" so much as I would call it "technically barely not canon."

My personal expectation is that, if the book does describe Bill's home world in depth, it won't be precisely identical to THE Flatland, but like, it will basically be the same. In the same way that 1960s TV show Batman and 2000s movie Batman aren't THE SAME Batman, but they're obviously both Batman. It'll be impossible to say "oh yeah Bill's from the novel" but it'll probably be possible to say "this is a Gravity Falls version of the same place."

Maybe the shapes will be illustrated with eyes in their centers like Bill rather than in their corners like Flatland canon, maybe Alex will drop the Victorian-era vibes and give the dimension a more modern feel, maybe it'll keep the shape hierarchy but super simplify the details, maybe they completely scrap the whole "every thousand years a sphere tries to tell them about the third dimension" plot while still keeping the overall oppressive atmosphere—whatever. I just don't expect the book to say "I am from Flatland like in Flatland (1884) by Edwin Abbott Abbott" but likely say "I am from Flatland" (or just leave out the name of the dimension so we can draw our own conclusions).

Based on what we know about Bill's canon backstory, the way plain old vanilla Flatland would mesh with elements of Bill's character, and the fact that everything we currently know about his backstory thus far, although very slight, doesn't contradict Flatland? I'm calling Occam's Razor and expecting Alex to stick pretty close to the original for any details he ends up sharing.

[elexuscal]

Ficlet prompt idea! Interactions between ART and Pin-Lee and/or Mensah in the time after NE but before SC.

More thoughts if you wanted more inspiration than a single line. Does Pin-Lee teach ART some new curses ('cause ART curses alot more in this book, and I wanna blame Pin-Lee like how Rhatti mentions the overlap between MB and Pin-Lee's curse vocab)? How great would their banter be, lawyer vs know-it-all-AI?!

Is ART still kinda shy/excited by meeting Mensah?

Thank you~ I really love your work!!!

Awwww thank you very much!

Oh man i was so spoiled for choice here but i really really struggled to think of an interesting take on this

Big thank you to @specialagentartemis who i paraphrased a significant chunk of this from as well as general Vibes

Asshole vs Asshole

So here's the thing. Here's the fucking thing, okay?

Twenty-three days. Twenty-three fucking days of waiting, of worrying, of preparing. Of nearly chewing her own arm off. Of thinking she was walk into a fucking blood bath.

And the Preservation Alliance rescue team finally gets to the scene of the crime, and no one is dead. Which is fucking good, obviously. Okay. She gets it. No one's dead, no one's lost any limbs, and praise the dark gods of yesteryear, no one has even been kidnapped. This is literally better than the best-case scenarios they concocted.

But surely, surely, Pin-Lee can't be the only one who thinks it is fucking weird to be having tea with the person who did the kidnapping in the fist place?

"Thank you, Perihelion," Ayda says, as a shiny blue drone finishes pouring tea into a cup. Just a whiff and a glance is all Pin-Lee needs to know it was brewed exactly the way Dr. Mensah prefers it.

The drone turns to hover to her. It pours a drink into her own mug. Pin-Lee glares at it.

Ayda doesn't look at her, doesn't so much as tilt her head. But they've worked together for a long, long time now, and Pin-Lee nonetheless reads the subtler body language. She grinds out, "Thank you."

She sips the drink. It is coffee and it is extremely bitter and it's warm-but-not-quite-hot and Pin-Lee has a sneaking suspicion it is at least a few hours old.

[You're welcome~] Perihelion's trills as the drone zooms away.

Peri. Fucking. Helion.

Turns out, it's the one that orchestrated this whole thing. The super-secret advanced spaceship that SecUnit apparently befriended while it was off on its journey of self-discovery or whatever decided that it knew exactly who could handle its little pest control problem, and hadn't much cared which innocent civilians got stuck in the cross-fire.

"There were extenuating circumstances," SecUnit had explained, face set like it was ready for a fight.

"It's all fine, water under the bridge," Ratthi had said. "No harm done really."

"Except for the new layers of fresh trauma," Overse had groused.

"But we're handling that, too," Arada had said, with a too-bright smile. "And it's a good thing we're here to help the colonists."

"Yeah yeah and you should see ART's hydroponics bay, it's super cool," said Amena, tugging on her arm.

So suffice to say she was kind of getting some Mixed Signals about this whole thing.

But okay! Corporates descending to steal the livelihoods of hundreds of innocents! Fine! There's a lot at stake! And this is what Pin-Lee is good at, and (sort of) what she was dragged along to handle, so she is willing to put this all aside for the greater good.

Pin-Lee sips at her under-handed-insult coffee and reads over the legal feed documents of this whole cluster-fuck of a case. "Okay," she says at last. "Okay, this is salvageable. But I'm going to need to some more info before I can fully revise this.."

"Of course," says the captain of The Perihelion, a note of genuine relief in his otherwise professional voice. "What do you need?"

"1: A full list of all the symptoms associated with the contamination, and its speed of spread. That'll influence what level of breach this is classified under. 2: Estimates for all of the colonists deaths that were directly caused due to their being stranded. 3: Monetary evaluation of all the colonists' remaining assets..."

"Of course," the captain agrees

Which is fine. Except fifteen minutes later some teenager not-much-older-than-Amena shows up and hands Pin-Lee a stack of paper.

"What's this?" Pin-Lee says, her eyes immediately skidding off of the hand-written tables and charts.

"That's our evaluation of the colonists' assets, like you asked for," the teenager (Turi?) says.

Pin-Lee looks at Turi, to the papers, and back at Turi again. "Can I get this in the feed?"

"Well.... You can..." Turi says, a bit of red in their cheeks. "But..."

"But no guarantee the numbers won't be doctored there," calls Karime from the other side of the lounge.

Teeth grinding in the back of her mouth, Pin-Lee manages, "What?"

[My numbers are perfectly accurate,] Perihelion protests. [It is hardly my fault if none of you are capable of following the calculations.]

Martyn snorts. "It would help if you bothered explaining all your sources."

[Find them yourself.]

Pin-Lee can barely believe what she's hearing. "Are you telling me... that your AI keeps fucking with the numbers so bad that you need to get a teenager to do the accounts by hand."

"I'm not a teenager, I'm twenty-three." Pin-Lee huffs; as if that's a meaningful difference. "And I'm a very, very good accountant." Turi pauses, then admits, "But that's the long and short of it, yes."

Pin-Lee can't help it. She drops her head to the table and hides it under her arms.

[Do you have a problem with this state of affairs?] the very aptly re-named Asshole Research Transport oozes in her private feed.

[You really don't need me to answer that.]

[You're right. I don't.]

She uncurls her finger and makes a rude gesture. Presumably one of its thousands of cameras will see it.

That summons SecUnit into the conversation. [Are you two fucking with each other again?]

[No,] they say in unison.

[Cut it out,] SecUnit says, and then drops away. Truly a master of conflict resolution, that one.

'I'll cut it out when you learn to make nicer friends', she almost sends, but catches the obvious come-back and stops herself. Instead she takes sip of her shitty coffee and gets to work trying to interpret hand-written accounts.

[imperatorrrrr]

My Highlights from the Q&A: (I paraphrased some of the questions/answers, but most of it is direct quotes)

Q: Out of all the different jerseys that you wear, which one is your favorite? A: The Jersey Jersey

Q: What's the most fun/exciting part of the game when you're playing hockey? A: OT Win, especially at Home

Q: What is your favorite meal to eat here in New Jersey? A: The Italian spots here. I love Italian food, I grew up next to Italy

Q: Why do you wear number thirteen? A: I wear it because of my brother, my big brother always wore 13 and kind of also a little bit because both of us had the same favorite hockey player back in the day, Pavel Datsyuk.

Q: Besides the Rock, what NHL arena do you like playing in the most? A: Vegas, T-Mobile Arena -- its a vibe there, definitely fun

Q: Favorite and memorable goal you've ever scored? A: First NHL Goal in Ottawa

Q: Top Three Moments as a New Jersey Devil? A: My first NHL game, at the Rock versus Colorado, we won 4-2. Second one is first ever playoff game at the Rock versus Tampa, and, so far, the most memorable thing would be the Game 7 win against the Rangers. Gotta go with that one.

Q: Where do you still wanna go in the NJ/NY area? A: I've been to Asbury Park and I kind of want to see some more stuff from the Shore.

Q: What do you like to do to unwind and relax in the off season? A: I love the water, so lakes, rivers, ocean, I just try to be outside when its sunny. Don't like to be at home when its sun out.

Q: What is your favorite genre of music/band/artist? A: I do like Tom Petty

Q: Besides, Nico, what other nicknames do your teammates have for you? A: Hisch, HischSHAO, HischSHAO Jr

Q: What are you personally looking forward in the leadership position on and off the ice, going into this season as the Captain? A: Just to help the team as much as I can on and off the ice. I think obviously on the ice its clear, but also off the ice, just being as good of a person I can be for guys that need me in anything and I think thats the reason why I got Captain too, so thats what's I'm trying to do.

Q: What's your favorite ice cream flavor? A: Strawberry Vanilla

Q: Do you eat bagels and what is your favorite type of bagel to eat? A: Here in Jersey there are great bagels, I like the salmon cream cheese bagel, everything bagel.

Q: What's your favorite family tradition? A: Probably sit together dinners where we eat fondue or raclette where the dinner takes a little bit longer but you have enough time to speak with your family and friends, so thats always a good time. I feel like I always try to do it with them once I come back during summer.

Q: What's your favorite place in Switzerland? A: Bern

Q: Besides anyone on the Devils, who is your favorite current player in the NHL? A: McDavid

Q: Whats been your favorite year? A: I would say last year was pretty fun

Q: Who's your best friend on the Devils? A: Those are ALL of my friends. We got a really good group of guys, so I'm doing well with everyone, but I would probably say I'll do the most together with Jonas 'cause I've known him the longest. I've been playing with him in the Swiss National Team when we were younger so I would say that's kind of the guy I'd go with dinner and stuff but obviously I like ALL of them.

Q: Hardest team to play against? A: Carolina.

Q: What's your favorite Girl Scout Cookie flavor? Do you know what those are? A: (He did not know what those were and so he said) No cookies for me.

Q: (I didn't hear the question that well, but I think it was something like this) Who on the team would you want your daughter to date? A: I would say everyone because they know if they're not nice to my daughter they'd be in trouble.

[sepublic]

I dunno if there’s a name for this type of genre/setting, but. I’m really digging how S3 seems to be going for that type of story, often coming-of-age, involving a ragtag group of tweens investigating their suburban neighborhood, performing historical research and unraveling a mystery, in response to supernatural happenings. There’s a monster lurking out there, and they have not much beyond your typical, everyday household objects to defend themselves; And of course, the beloved flashlight!

Obviously three of our protagonists DO have actual magic, but I have to wonder if prolonged separation from the Demon Realm will cause a witch’s magic bile to run out... Thus forcing the kids into a time limit and making them struggle even further against the odds, esp since even their original strength wasn’t enough to defeat Belos’ monster form. This might be why Amity has her Palisman; Willow and Gus have more innate talent and thus ‘bile’ to run off of, but Amity isn’t as gifted and so runs out a lot more quickly, and has to rely on her staff as a backup.

Which, I guess is not unlike Belos, perhaps; I can definitely see him focusing on the kids’ palismen, as he deals with his own dwindling time and energy... Anyhow, I dig this type of horror story where the kids are forced to confront the hidden sins of their town’s past, as a literal ghost comes back from the dead to haunt them.

It’s a mystery and of course you have the occasional kind adult or parent struggling to make things right; Struggling against the danger that threatens the idyllic life kids are meant to have, because these types of stories I imagine are meant to shatter the illusion of a perfect suburban neighborhood, show there’s shadows lying beneath the picturesque surface and nostalgia. A critique of that nuclear family image, because of the skeletons in the closet... Typically the ones who don’t fit in, the outcasts from whom the protagonists are, and find acceptance in fighting the idyllic facade. They too relate to being unacceptable and hidden away, hence their connection to the hidden darkness they unravel. I guess that’s what’s at root behind the fundamental appeal of these stories, what makes them resonate with audiences so much, that and the rad aesthetic of course.

It’s all really a metaphor in a way for a protagonist’s struggle with their parents and their need to be accepted, even as the parent adjusts to a shaken-up status quo they’re totally unprepared for and how they can somehow maintain their duties as an adult amidst all this, accepting that this status quo isn’t so perfect after all. Like Paranorman, Stranger Things, Deltarune. I don’t know WHAT the name is for these type of stories is, but I’m delighted to see The Owl House naturally develop our protagonists’ circumstances into this kind of familiar, recognizable story. The perfect neighborhood isn’t so perfect actually, it’s all a social critique by the end of the day.

And of course, the beta AU aspects are noticeable, especially the baseball bat that is a common trope of these kinds of stories; Which just gets back to what Dana said about her original intentions for the show to be darker, even as it literally becomes so! She DID clarify that Luz and the kids were made younger and more cheerful, precisely as her own creative choice; To paraphrase, if everybody is edgy then nobody is edgy, the brightness of someone like Luz was chosen by Dana herself, not Disney, as a way to contrast with the surroundings.

BUT... That’s how it starts for the story! But as things develop and Luz’s character grows and is hurt, experiences the loss of innocence in coming of age stories... Yeah, I can see the vibes of the Beta AU always having been the intention for the crew, they just opted to have the cast evolve into that, instead of starting off that way! Which of course, creates the nice contrast between then and now that makes the darkness of recent events all the more apparent. I dig it.

It truly feels like such a natural and perfect way to portray Luz’s arc to evolve in her return to the human world, confronting what she’s learned of it since then, and coming to terms with how she doesn’t fit the mold that Gravesfield wants, recognizing its cruelty towards those outcasts, and unveiling the truth. All while finding her acceptance from her mother and peers... Because that’s what it’s really about at the heart of the story, what it’s a metaphor for. It’s the ideal and classic genre to explore and settle her issues back home, in a home that isn’t as normal as some might claim it is away from the Demon Realm.

This could easily be its own isolated, more mundane AU and I love the range this show offers; I’m almost surprised the show didn’t go for this setting earlier, but that’s only because there’s a time and place for it and the time is now after carefully building up to it. Luz is truly disillusioned with the human world after living in a different place and seeing how it easily could and should be better, which just allows her to really make a stand against it this time. Now she knows another life is viable and isn’t interested in returning back to this one. This could be the end of her hero’s journey with how Luz has come back changed; But unlike the classic version, the beginning is not her end.

[hersterical]

I’ve been obsessively thinking about the differences between the lines ‘I would burn the world down for you’ and ‘even when the world burns down I’m never losing you again’ from the Carmilla web series (the quotes are paraphrases) for over a week now and I just have to talk about jt.

For a long time I couldn’t put what the differences were into words, I just knew the vibes but it just barely clicked in my head.

desperation vs hope

There’s more but ultimately that’s what it boils down to. The alternate universe Carmilla was desperate, empty, and insecure. She was preemptively deciding that she and Laura were doomed so she decided that she would rather doom the whole world instead. The world is the enemy. The world is the one trying to rip them apart. Not only that but it also feels like she’s trying to prove something to Laura instead of trusting that Laura was just as committed as Carmilla.

The main universe Carmilla though, she may not have much hope for the world at large, but she has hope for her and Laura. She trusts Laura. Obviously she would fight for Laura just as much, if not more, than the alternate Carmilla, but this Carm knows that she doesn’t have to. Because they love each other and they’re partners and they’re in it together. There may be difficulties. The world could be, and was, ending around them but Carm knew that it would be alright because she and Laura were going to be together no matter what. There’s still a degree of selfishness involved in this, but not nearly to the extent as there is in the other statement. And if it is a little selfish? Who cares. Sometimes you need to be a little selfish, but this feels like a healthy level of selfishness to me whereas the other statement is literally the same mindset that lead the Dean to be where she’s at.

The desperation and selfishness in ‘I would burn down the world for you’ would have lead Carmilla to be just as evil, twisted, and bitter as her mother.

The hope and devotion in ‘Even when the world burns down I’m never going to lose you again’ is what makes Carmilla Laura’s hero. It’s what makes her human.

Hope always wins out against desperation

[welcome-back-to-hoimycraf]

woe, gender hcs be upon ye

this is long so i'm putting it under the cut

(ps this is purely for fun and the vibes i get from the personas the mcyt have, not the actual people)

grian- trans man. i mean c'mon he's the embodiment of be trans do crime. he/they

mumbo- nonbinary. just. no gender. gone. probably got mugged. he/him

scar- also trans man but very flow-y with it. like boygirl vibes. he/him

doc- ALSO trans man. they just keep coming. also did his own top surgery so good for him. he/him

etho- agender. nebulous. ask them about their gender and it's just void. they/them

gem- leaning toward trans woman but will have to confirm after i finally get to her series. she/her

joe- nonbinary. every gender at once. has gender pumped directly into their veins. any pronouns

ren- rendog. RENDOG. just. so MUCH gender. absolutely too much. boy? girl? neither? both? who knows! trans masc tho. he/they/leaning towards she maybe

tango- trans masc. literally have no basis for this it's purely vibe. he/they/it

xisuma- nothing. kinda like mumbo but 10x more. gender is just Normal Dude. it/they

zedaph- like gem, i need to get around to his series but feeling like trans man. he/him

cleo- nonbinary, obviously. she/they

iskall- nonbinary! based on that dm where he said his character didn't have a gender (paraphrasing). they/them

uh that's probably it. i'll also do an empires one as well but that'll have to wait until i'm bored enough again lol

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

a list of things from my season 2 rewatch, in no particular order:

there's a mundane practicality to Nate that's kind of embarrassingly relatable. "I was going to buy a suit but it was really expensive so I borrowed one from my dad" in season 1; "he's going to use a lot of water" about Dani's breakdown in the showers in 2x01. This is... basically exactly how I would respond to both these situations

Very funny that the man Roy describes as "settling for fine" is almost exclusively shown telling stories about almost beating up elderly celebrities

"Do you believe the return of Jamie Tartt will impact that so called 'vibe'" I don't have a point I just love this line.

love everyone supporting Sam in the Dubai Air protest but I feel like researching the sponsorships is probably supposed to be someone's job? That being said they were already the sponsor in season 1 and Rupert probably wouldn't care that their parent company was polluting Nigeria, and I can see how re-doing all the due diligence on the established sponsorships wouldn't be high up in the line of priorities

start of some tonal problems — trying to reintegrate Jamie into the team by shouting and flipping tables comes off a bit weird as a comedy beat when the previous episode has Jamie openly discussing his abusive father

kind of hilarious that the kebab guy thinks Ted is Roy's dad when he's like. maybe 8 years older

the end of 2x05 is very clearly a reference to something (presumably a romcom) and I believe the fact that I don't know what it is makes it much funnier. I do feel kind of bad that Roy has to spend the entire match in a suit when it appears to be quite cold outside, though

"maybe there's a good reason she hasn't replied. maybe she got hit by a bus." (Isaac) "or a train?" (Dani) they are so good at comforting

I tend to need a fair bit of personal space myself so I absolutely understand where Keeley is coming from in 2x07, and the way Roy responds to learning that she feels smothered ("I feel like a fucking idiot," "you've been making out like I'm following you around like some creepy shadow" (paraphrased)) is obviously a product of his own insecurities and he doesn't initially seem to understand that alone time is a legitimate need that doesn't inherently reflect poorly on him,  but ultimately I think the problem itself is more a result of Keeley's difficulty expressing her own needs than of Roy failing to intuit them

The first time I heard Jamie say his thing about giving Richard space I thought he was trying to subliminal message Roy. He definitely wasn't but I was very impressed for a second there

The hug. The HUUUUUG. I am having a feeling

my controversial favourite episode is Beard After Hours — it feels like an episode of a different show, but TL is a bit of an outlier in terms of my tastes and 2x09 is closer to the norm. That being said I didn't start watching until after all of season 2 had come out and might feel differently if I'd been watching the episodes as they came out

the bit where they're singing at the funeral makes me want to crawl out of my skin with vicarious embarrassment. I have never managed to listen to this entire bit with the sound up.

Is sparkling water actually much more common in the UK than in the US? I'm Canadian and it's generally not the default kind of water to offer people, but it's also not as much of a novel concept as it seems to be to Ted.

[uglypastels]

Ok ok gotta quickly talk about my fav bits from these 2 episodes

SPOILERS

LOOK, I DIDN'T WANT TO BE A HALFBLOOOOOD

Percy and Grover giving each other the ham/cheese from their sandwiches

The mrs Dodds gaslighting. Idk why i needed this to be included (more on this later)

Gabe. Why was Gabe so fucking funny in this 😭😭 like man is just a loser.

"Do you know why we come to this cabin every year" "because its next to the septic tanks' so its cheap" stop he's so unserious 😭

"Please" and the entirety of Sally talking to Gabe

I'm sure it will all get so much worse, but just the quips that were written and the pacing through the conversation of all 3 of them was really well written

Percy thinking that Sally was an atheist until she saw Jesus in her living room. (To paraphrase it)

"The important thing is not to panic" while being on the verge of a breakdown

"YOU DIDNT TELL HIM ABOUT X"

Sally making Grover swear to protect perce😭😭

YOU DROOL IN YOUR SLEEP

Basically, any time there was book accurate dialogue. It healed parts of me that I didn't even know were broken.

Mr D. I'm obsessed. The whole interaction between him and Percy. And then Mr D and Chiron 💖💖💖 (the poker later on. I love it)

The cabins and entire vibe of the camp. It feels so real i wanna go there so bad.

I could basically just list every single scene of this episode.

Luke 💖 that's it.

Mr D and Chiron forbidding Grover to tell Percy about his mom. So we got the Gaslight, now we jave Gatekeep. Where's the girlboss? Literally every other second.

Annabeth!! Annabeth's hat!! The hattttttt

"I'm fine thanks, but i appreciate you, you know, standing there silently" he's so fucking funny and it makes me want to scream. It's no original experience to have loved these books since the age of 12, but it doesnt make it any less personal. I love percy ok. And anyway not annabeth then still just standing there like 😐🤨

"When it's time, he'll be ready. I know it".... bro 😭😭

Clarisse's feral behaviour. I love her (i'll be dropping the L-bomb more and more as the show will go on. Let me be)

The bathroom scene. Obviously (i didnt even mention the episode titles yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

🔥? "I wouldn't"

Aaand cut to percy nearly setting the heph cabin on fire

"Is there a god of disppointment" "oizyz, but sje's a goddess, and her thing isnt really disappointment. It's more like failure" pls who is this kid. Fav character lol (idk maybe i should know who he is and im just stupid)

And then the look Luke gives him i'm crying

Oh my god how did not mention the blue food yet 😭😭😭😭🩵🩵🩵🩵

Percy PRAYING to Sally. And then "i'm Sally Jackson's son" aaaaaaaaaaaaah

Also, idk why but i loved Clarisse's reaction to when her spear broke. It felt so raw and it showed a glimpse of the side of her that she's clearly hiding from the world (not me already getting hyped for sea of monsters lmao)

Theres probably so much more i could add, or perhaps i should have just dropped a link to the episodes as it was all just so perfect.

Ohh oh oh i almost forgot the camp beads!!! Eeeek. So cute.

(Would have loved to have seen the grannies knitting socks of death, and the strawberry fields 🫢 but minor details)

[random-jot]

So I'm quite behind in starkid lore (haven't seen most of nightmare time or npmd yet), and have learned about the friends of wiggly mainly through tumblr posts but I have to ask. Do you know if they are only in the hatchetfield shows? Because the blinky one, the watcher? That has such tto vibes (they're always watching etc.)

So, The Lords In Black are more or less* only in the Hatchetfield shows

We obviously see Wiggly in Black Friday, and we learn A LOT more about them as individuals throughout Nightmare Time - it is well worth watching regardless but especially if you want that Lore™️

Sidenote: plus, the more people watch/rewatch Nightmare Time on YT, the higher chance of us getting NMT3, which would be pro-shot like short films instead of zoom call readings!!!!

And, I’m guessing you’ve already seen the pics and gifs, but they all show up in NPMD at one point

*So is Blinky not The Watcher With A Thousand Eyes from Trail To Oregon???

Well, Yes and No. TTO was not written or intended to be a part of The Hatchetfield Saga, but in response to this exact question in a Q&A after NMT1 dropped, Nick said this:

"The only way I could see it working is if The Trail To Oregon, the play, was a play that existed within Hatchetfield that was put on at the Starlight Theatre"

And I'm paraphrasing there, 'cause it was a while ago, but that's the gist — if TTO and Hatchetfield are connected it's because TTO is a fictional play within Hatchetfield, same as Santa Claus Is Going To Highschool

Whether it's a harmless reference to a previous SK play, or the actor playing Jack Bauer in TTO genuinely saw Blinky, is up to the us, the audience to decide.

I believe the majority of the fandom do accept this retcon headcanon that TTO was in fact a play put on at the Starlight Theatre, and it exists as a fiction within the Hatchetfield universe

Hope this was helpful!

And hope you’re able to catch up with the SK stuff soon, you’ve got some really cool stuff to look forward to! 😄

[wherewhereare]

This is especially for the newbies. @formdetective went under the the guise of @shefaniscience. She was one of the very early Shefani blogs/fans. I have used a lot of her posts to work on my timelines. I always found that in very many cases, in the beginning, she was not very far off on her discussions of the relationship. She still follows on occasions, but I have not seen her post anything Shefani wise in a very long time. At the request of her followers, she took the lyrics of GAABMH and put forward what she thought were the thought processes that Blake and Gwen were having in relation to, in my opinion, the most important Shefani song. It is the only song written by them with their own personal thoughts deriving the lyrics. It is in keeping with every song Gwen has written to this date. Even though, NBY and HA really fit them, only GAABMH lays out their very real thoughts at the time.

There are a couple of others she did, and if your interested, I can share those also. Her discussions about the lyrics really bring out, from her opinion, what Gwen was feeling and thinking about when she wrote them. Let me know if you're interested. I have found that her most profound statement, paraphrasing a bit here, is that when she met Blake, it was the first time she could write a love song without caveats. She put that out in 2016 while writing the TIWTTFL album.

formerdetective May 13, 2016 Go Ahead and Break My Heart Lyrics Analysis Okay so a bunch of people requested this but I didn’t have any prompts that really fit with what I wanted to say, so here is a text post!!

First of all, I don’t think this song had anything to do with HOW they figured out the next step of their relationship. I know he said he was trying to impress her and “get somewhere with her,” but I think he was just trying to sound charming. I mean, I’m pretty sure he tries to “impress” her like almost every day. Remember when he bought his and hers horses? Or flew overnight to go to her son’s birthday party. Anyway, I think this song is about that process obviously, but I don’t think it’s a part of it. I’m sure it did help solidify things though. <3

So my interpretation of the song comes in the context of all the other things we know. Splash was July, then I’m pretty sure Getting Warmer was in early September, and then Make Me Like You, Misery were September 22 & 23, and Truth was October 23. Also in mid and late September, Blake and Gwen both said some pretty cool/magical things were happening in their lives during interviews.

So anyway that’s kind of where I’m coming from with this analysis. To me, the emotional vibe is the most like Getting Warmer. I recommend listening to that right before this for more of Gwen’s mental state.

Go Ahead and Break My Heart

Blake’s verse: Most people seem to be assuming that Blake’s lyrics mean Gwen was trying to ease off or actually tried to break up with him or something like that. But I disagree. I think Blake’s verse is mostly the result of his own insecurity. Like we know obviously that she was really scared, but I think that was stopping her from communicating, rather than from seeing him.

You know how I’ve gotten what feels like dozens of messages asking/complaining about how Gwen won’t say the word boyfriend/doesn’t want to talk about Blake/isn’t a good speaker? Imagine if you were the person she didn’t want to talk about, trying to talk about it. I love her so much but she is not good at expressing herself in situations that make her uncomfortable. And she was so nervous and confused herself. If you needed answers and were getting sort of circular, non-committal responses, that would be confusing as hell.

Trying to navigate all of that would be especially confusing if you were already super insecure yourself, and in particular were 100% convinced the woman you fell for was out of your league.

So this is the situation they’re left with. Gwen avoids the conversation or muddles her way through it, and Blake takes her nervousness, not as a sign that she wants more, but as a sign that she doesn’t know how to break up with him, because he literally can’t believe she wants to be with him. (poor babe.)

The sun is setting on your last good try: So we know based on her lyrics, and and interviews and how happy they were on the voice in battles/knockouts, things seem to have been pretty great between them…but then I imagine Blake would start to have the dreaded DTR (define the relationship) and she would start to stumble and second guess everything and leave them both thinking WTF:

Here I am with a half goodbye, wonder if you’re really gone this time: See to me this is where his own insecurities come in. Gwen is being wishy washy and unclear, and he assumes the worst. Gwen talks a lot about being broken but she wasn’t the only one who was damaged by their previous relationship.

The problem, too, is that this isn’t the type of partner he’s used to. He’s used to someone more assertive, and not as much of a sensitive cinnamon role. And based on comments he’d make, I don’t think he was used to being the one who needed to lead discussions. Plus, go back and watch some late 2014/early 2015 B interviews. He’s not used to someone being this sweet to him or being so intensely emotional over him.

I mean, because if Gwen’s problem was she was in love with him but didn’t know if he liked her as much, that’s not a reason to dump someone. It’s a reason to be hesitant in messing things up that are already going well. But Blake doesn’t know any of this, so he just thinks she’s too sweet to let him know she wants to break up. Like I said, he assumes the worst because he’s insecure and a bit broken himself. So when she doesn’t give him a straightforward answer he assumes the worst. But it’s actually the opposite.

And just when I’m about to lose my mind

He said in interviews that they were having trouble opening up and letting their guards down, and I think that definitely went for both of them. So he probably didn’t want to push the issue too much, so when he didn’t get the answers he wanted when he tried to talk about it, he just tried to go with the flow even though it was driving him nuts. Like he didn’t want to scare her off, so when he still didn’t know what she wanted at the end of the conversation, he’d just leave it because it was scary to push too much.

There you are again on my phone, moon is rising and you’re all alone: So basically Blake is going crazy worrying but she calls him like right away and wants to hang out some more. Because of course she does. She’s obsessed.

Maybe we can just hang a while, maybe we can make each other smile: But he’s still confused, still insecure, still doesn’t know what she wants, so he’s like we can just hang and see what happens! Like basically, I’ll take anything.

Oh no, here I go: I think ‘here I go’ is here i go falling in love, and it’s a problem because he doesn’t know what he’s gonna get from her. Like maybe she’s just gonna break his heart.

Chorus: So the lyrics of the chorus pretty much sum up Blake’s frustration.

Literally he’s like, “if you want to end this, then just do it.” I’m not gonna type out the whole thing because they are pretty much just one thought. Except for this:

Why are you waiting is it way too hard? See this line especially makes me think it was as much Blake’s insecurity as Gwen’s that was causing them “problems.” She was waiting because she didn’t have any interest in breaking his heart. She just didn’t know how to tell him that (and was also terrified to admit she wanted more.)

But the rest of the chorus just kind of sums up like, I want you completely. So if you don’t want that too, then you gotta go.

Oh but also: You can’t tell me that we’ll still be friends, and maybe someday we can try again. To me this is emphasizing that bb is in DEEP and he’s gonna be so heartbroken that if it’s not gonna continue then that has to be the end of it.

Gwen’s verse: So gwen’s verse is a combination of reassuring him that his insecurities are for nothing, she is literally in love with him, but she’s scared of how much she’s into him. And the lyrics of her verse are why I don’t think she was ever actually trying to say goodbye or whatever. I think she probably had no idea what to do and word vomitted her way through that conversation(s) and he took that to mean she wanted to breakup but felt bad about it, when it was really the opposite.

I never ever meant to get so into you, thought I was using you just to get me through: I think when they first started hanging out and then unexpectedly switched from friends to romance or more likely, some kind of facebook style it’s complicated, gray in-between situation, and she was trying hard to just keep on living in the moment, without thinking about what might happen between them down the road.

You know I’m broken I don’t trust anyone, last thing I needed was to fall in love: So she didn’t start hanging out with him with the intention of falling in love. She needed time to heal, and between that and everything else in her life it’s actually hella inconvenient, but that’s what happened. But it is scary because she has trust issues…which kind of takes me back to what I said about Getting Warmer…she’s not sure she believes she can trust him to love her the way she loves him…the problem she’s had in the past. But that doesn’t mean she’s not in love with him.

You got me dreaming, got me thinkin I’ve got some hope; there is nobody else I wanna get to know: So it’s not like she wants to break up at all. She doesn’t want to see anyone else, or even be without him, because it’s exciting and she’s starting to move beyond living in the moment towards maybe this is gonna be forever. Or maybe this can be what she’s always wanted, unlike the other two tries.

But I’m so scared I don’t know what to do, how did you get me so into you? And this is back to her struggling to let her guard down. Feelings are not the issue. It’s just fear. But still she does have that shred of hope so she doesn’t want to break up.

Then again, with her trust issues, she’s not that confident he won’t break her heart either. But oh no, here I go: it’s pretty much too late for her. She’s too in love to give in to her fear.

Chorus again: So frankly, it would probably be just as well for Gwen too if Blake isn’t gonna come through and give her the love and partnership she wants then she doesn’t have time for this.

Bridge: So literally, those are the reasons each of them are acting how they are. They’re both scared, both having trouble saying exactly what they want (until now), but they’re both in love with each other. There’s your cards: Cards on the table, everything exposed, it’s scary but maybe it’s worth it.

Because even though it ends on the chorus, I take a pretty optimistic view of the end. The bridge asks What are you waiting for? And to me, that’s really the conclusion. They aren’t waiting for anything. Even though it’s hard and it’s gonna take maybe a little time, they have no interest in breaking each other’s hearts.

-the end.

[peachjagiya]

Yes to talking about the dynamics between the individual members and the company. I was started thinking about this again because of Bam's insta, actually, haha.

I agree that I think JK and Tae have a different relationship with the company, as opposed to other members like Namjoon or Jimin. And I definitely think there are similarities between Jk and Tae's approach -- and I think that is based on their own personalities as well as their closeness/influence on each other. Probably a better way to put it but I think they understand their responsibilities when it comes to the company but they have both decided to trust themselves first and foremost. I think about JK's "I'd never do something that everyone thought was wrong but when there are multiple ways, I'm going to do it my way" (paraphrased) and Tae's point about "being free" and his definition of free being different than others.

I think one of the similarities between JK and Tae is their comfort doing "non idol" things.

So the pup-stagram lead in. JK deleting his very popular instagram right before his solo launch simply because he didn't want to have it anymore (and sure, he's using weverse which benefits the company but seriously what doesn't). How does he spend his time on the social media: dance challenges, tipsy midnight lives and, now, managing an instagram for his dog. Carefully curated social media presence. My man said, Imma do me, thankyouverymuch. And let's not forget Tae. THE visual of K-pop. The face that launched a thousand ships. World's most handsome man. He goes to literally anything and grown men for miles lose their minds. What does he do with his anticipated solo launch? A close up of Yeontan. BRILLIANT. They both have different tastes and sounds (yet still have shared playlists!) but both so clearly have decided they are doing to redefine "idol" in a way that works for them.

Obviously there are differences. The company has goals (take over the western world!) and JK is central to that. And that supports his goals. So he benefits more directly from the company than Tae. I cannot articulate how much I love Tae's album strategy - from the sound, the visual, the vibes and the choice not to use the same in house team that has overlooked and undervalued him for 10 years.

I also agree with the point about Jin and Yoongi. I think they maintain a slightly more distanced or level perspective. I think it comes from age/maturity. When they started, they were young but not children. It's also interesting to think about how personal confidence and insecurity plays into it. I think Yoongi was confident in his abilities (he had been working on music prior) but had insecurities/anger about what it meant to be doing this in a k-pop space. Jin may have been insecure about his dancing or singing but he immediately stepped into the role of (handsome) hyung and knew it was needed of him (Yoongi's chicken blender meal, ew). I also think it comes from Jin having some security in his family background and him taking the role of hyung very seriously (more so than "idol"). Yoongi's relationship I think has evolved as he has gotten older, less angry and more successful. I think he has seen it for what it is and understood what needed to be done but that he also understand that changes as they literally built that company into what it is today.

Jimin and Hobi (until this documentary) are interesting because I'm not sure we ever really see them outside of idol mode. JM has acknowledged that even at the beginning he was hyper focused on roles and responsibilities. Maybe because they are performers and dancers. Namjoon used to be more that like that too -- the weight of being the leader - but I think we started to see that shift once he got to released Indigo. In fact, I think their solo careers are really how we can sort of tell so much about not only their tastes but their approach. Ok, this is getting too long. sorry for the rambling.

All of this, yes.

Their solo careers really did show much more authentic sides of themselves. I am so here for who Namjoon became in lives last year. Just a bit more free. When he has so much pressure on him to lead and maintain, I really enjoyed seeing him talking openly and standing up for himself.

Here's a thing I'm pondering: I wonder if they'll find it hard going back into a group setting. I think these guys love each other so much on a personal level but their different professional approaches could create... Hmm, not tension as such...

Maybe just a tiny bit of the awkward initially? Or you might start to see these differences a bit more clearly? This is all just supposition though and they're veterans by now.

It's interesting to think about how they'll navigate this after a period where they've been separated for a long time though. Naturally you'd fall into a routine with each other if you spend most days together but the seven of them are distinctly separate now and did a lot of growing professionally last year. Obviously they all still talk but they're not spending a lot of time working together.

Clear subunits have developed and matured over this period too. JK and Tae, Jimin and Yoongi. But then Jimin and JK are going to have a shared experience, Joonie and Tae too. Yoongi has a very different experience from the other six. And some things might be exactly the same: maknae line still a natural trio (thinking of Jeju), Jin still everyone's mummy, Jimin and Hobi still super close, everyone still holds Namjoon to the highest regard.

The dynamics will be super interesting.

I have a hunch - and honestly I'm just thinking out loud, these aren't hard and fast opinions as such - that JK might be key. He's interesting to me because I think his age and role in the hierarchy of the band has made him at times compliant with the requirements of being an idol and recognises how the company aligns with his goals and yet sometimes he seems extremely weary of it. He seems the most conflicted, maybe. I wonder what 2025 will be like for him most of all.

(the delulu in me says his conflict is very heart versus head but... Let's leave that out of this post for now.)

I'm really intrigued and excited to see. Whether they slip back into full group or if a solo-but-together approach helps them out. I personally would love a tour to include their solo stuff.

Now I'm getting rambly. Thanks anon, this is so interesting to think about 💜

[philosopherking1887]

Oswald and Ed have a combination of strong married couple and comedy duo vibes in the last few episodes of season 5, particularly 5.10: "I Am Bane" -- the one where Barbara is in labor and steals the submarine part and they have to follow her to the clinic and help hold off Bane and his pseudo-military goons.

That whole "Did you decide to stay and risk our lives (after you'd already taken the sub part back) for the purpose of protecting Lee?"/ "Do you want to know the answer to that or do you want to get out of here?"/ "Bon voyage!" exchange (paraphrased) was clearly a moment of "one of us still has feelings for his ex, but it's better for our relationship if we don't touch that." Which shows some growth in emotional maturity on Oswald's part -- he obviously still has jealous tendencies, but he's able to set them aside in the name of shalom bayit, so to speak.