#Their early dynamics are SO interesting

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Who tells the story (Issue 27)

Moon Knight, Issue #27: Cop Killer! 

Opening strong here. I adore any time they do a sky type view down on the city and the characters. 

So opening on Moon Knight watching Jake drive his cab at night is just wonderful. 

....Does that sign on the side say Steven Grant is the writer? 

Let's see what Mr. Grant is writing. 

"August in New York. I hate it. Mostly I hate the heat. That sticky, damp heat that soaks you to the bone and oozes back out your pores. Some August nighs, murder is just another way for people to forget the heat.

This was going to be one of those nights. 

On each of the last six muggy nights, a cop had been killed. Same M.O. in each case. Same markings on the bullets. Too bad no one could find the gun--or any other clues. 

It was a sure bet that the killing hadn't stopped. I --Or rather, cabbie Jake Lockley--was wondering if we couldn't find a way to stop it. 

Oh yeah. They call me Steven Grant. Me and Lockley, we're Moon Knight." 

HOLY SHIT PEOPLE WE HAVE A GRANT STORY TEAM UP WITH JAKE. 

(And let's not forget that Steven later goes on to become a director for Spetor studios in Lemier's run. I am excited people.) 

"One Edge Lockley has over me or Moon Knight--When we need information, he's got the connections." 

Why Steven, you are being generous today. 

We see Jake in his cab pull up to a taxi waiting zone. 

A cop named Richardson is there waiting and Jake calls out to him with corney jokes. 

"Hey! Richardson! What's the going price for a cop these days?" 

"Two years we've known each other, Lockley, two years you've been using that same lousy Joke." 

That's my boy Jake alright. 

Richardson is reading the paper with the headlines about a cop killer being on the loose. 

Jake doesn't like that the cop killer is getting so much press. Neither does Richardson, but the commissioner is making noise to get the killer caught before the copycats start in. 

Jake remarks that it's funny how the killer only picks out the Plain clothed cops and not the ones in uniform. 

"You'd think he'd find easier targets, like uniforms. Must make you nervous, huh?" Jake jabs, considering Richardson is in plain clothes. 

Richardson agrees that it does bother him quite a lot. 

"Like...How the heck does he spot a plain clothes cop? F'r'instance, who could tell from looking which of us was the crimefighter?" 

"Boy! Nobody, I'd think. Maybe you got something there, Richarson." 

Ah, comic humor. 

Richardson heads back to work, telling Jake to be careful out there too. It's dangerous being a cabbie. 

"Richardson had tried to not tell Lockley anything, but he told him enough. It was clear the cops knew more than we did. I wondered what Moon Knight could do with their information." 

GUNFIRE! 

"The shot came from just around the corner. Richardson had gone that way." 

Jake runs towards the sound. 

"In my gut, the part of us that was Marc Spector, the ex-soldier, knew what had happened. He had known that gut feeling in more wars than he could count.  

Spector knew how fate worked. Spector wouldn't have joked about these things. Spector would have known better. 

There are times I wish I hadn't put Spector away.

Then again, Spector would have laughed this off. Lockley and I just felt sick. 

We shouldn't have left the scene, but the cops would have a field day investigating Lockley. His trail would lead them straight to Moon Knight." 

OKAY. There is a LOT going on right here. 

First, Jake makes friends so easily. Everyone is first and foremost a buddy. He’s the friendly man of New York and he knows how to get people chatting. 

Second, they talk about how Moon Knight might know how to use the information Lockley gathers. Another key indicator that Moon Knight is seen as his own separate person now. 

Jake, Steven, and Moon Knight seem to have come to an understanding and are starting to actually work as a functional system. This is pretty big news! 

It also shows that they have sorted out roles. 

Finally, we can’t overlook the way Steven talks about Marc. He addresses the fact that Marc knows how things like this work. Marc expects death and ill-fate. He also addresses that Marc has faced a LOT of death and loss. So much so that he not only expects it, but he has learned to laugh it off as a defense mechanism. 

And the BIGGEST thing here: There are times I wish I hadn't put Spector away.

I’m standing in a room pointing at this and screaming. Steven has accepted the role as gatekeeper. He has also deemed Marc not fit to run the body and ‘put him away’. Time and time again they try to remove Marc from their lives. Marc tries to remove himself from their lives. Steven takes the life from him and refuses to let Marc touch it. Jake will even often fight Marc out of front seat to prevent Marc from doing what Marc does. 

At this point, they all feel that Marc is not something they feel is healthy in their lives right now. Marlene hates him. Marc is self destructive. Jake and Steven feel that Marc is too violent and causes them pain and strife. With Moon Knight acting as the one that can fight, Steven keeping watch on the body and life, and Jake acting as an emotional grounder and spiritual guide, Marc is just not something they need right now. Or so they think. 

ANYWAYS. Back to the story. 

Jake heads home. 

"I called the cops from a pay phone, then beat it back to my mansion on Long Island. All the way I could hear Spector begging to get out. 

He wanted the killer's blood. Lord help me, I wanted it, too." 

Jake’s friend just died. Jake is obviously upset. Marc does not do well when people close to him are hurt. Even if he doesn’t always get along, if something happens to Jake or Steven, Marc is going to want to hurt someone. 

The second Jake walks through the door to the mansion, Steven takes charge. 

He looks for Marlene, possibly wanting some sort of comfort. 

There's a fight going on inside their head and they are in pain. 

Marlene: "Well, well. My favorite schizophrenic. Can't be Moon Knight-You're not dressed for it! WHo are you today. Steven? Jake Lockley? Marc Spector?" 

(NOTE: I had to grit my teeth SO hard at this part. We have entered the era where the Moon Knight system is often going to be called Schizophrenic. Remember everyone, this was written in 1982. Multiple Personality Disorder didn't get an officially recognized diagnosis until 1980. It was often thought of, along with MANY mental illnesses, to be a form of schizophrenia. Prior to that, in 1968 it was listed under 'hysterical neurosis'. It was often thought of as "making up people". It wasn't till 1980 that the term Dissociative was even considered a class of disorders and not at all hashed out. The term was changed to DID in 1994 but was still not fairly fleshed out and still often thought of as just an amnesiac state of the ego. It wasn't till 2013 when the DSM-5 came out that things got updated to current accepted terms and definitions of dissociation. THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF UNFAIR USE OF THE TERM SCHIZOPHRENIA. THIS HAS BEEN A WARNING. It’s also going to paint Marlene is a REALLY REALLY bad light. I’m going to try to give her the benefit of the doubt but fuck is it going to be hard when she outright starts being abusive towards them at times.) 

Marlene takes a playful jab. I don't know... Maybe this is her way of trying? Maybe she's trying to make it a game? 

It does not come off well. 

Steven is not amused. 

"Not Spector! NEVER Spector! This is MY home! I don't want HIM here!" 

Keep in mind that Steven admitted that Marc was worked up and wanted blood. Steven has been holding him off since they found their friend dead in the street. 

It's honestly probably gotten loud in there. Marc demanding to get out and DO something about it while Jake is in pain and sad about his lost friend. 

"Sorry. Didn't mean to yell. A man...A Friend...Was killed tonight. Cop. I was thirty feet away. I couldn't stop it. Didn't even know it was happening until it was over." 

Steven is struggling to handle things inside. 

Marlene: "What are you going to do about it?" 

Steven: "Me? Nothing of course. We know what Spector would do--Grab a machine gun and start cutting down suspects until he found the right one!" 

Marlene: "Moon Knight?" 

Steven: "Moon Knight." 

He tells Frenchie to get ready. He wants Moon Knight out there doing something. 

Moon Knight heads to the police precinct. 

It's a hot night in New York and this makes people dangerous. The cops are overworked and understaffed. 

We see a chaotic station of cops asking for backup, dangerous criminals starting a fight in the office, and one cop who claims to be a transfer but no one can find his paperwork. 

As the Sargent tries to figure out the paperwork on the new guy, Mondnacht, the fight gets serious and he has to run out to help. 

The new guy is left alone in the Sargent's office to start looking through files. 

Mondnacht.... Mond-nacht. REALLY? Moon-night. 

"'Pt. Mondnacht' had a whole strategy for getting into police headquarters--and didn't need it. Life's like that. Not that it mattered. Moon Knight had what he wanted." 

Moon Knight now has a list of the duty roster. 

"The plan smacked of Spector, but it was a good one. Find out which cops were handling the case and read their files. The names were on the pilfered duty roster." 

Moon Knight heads to the office of the first name on the list. 

"The empty station house seemed full of ghosts to Moon Knight. Like he was one of them. A ghost. Or maybe it was the air. You don't get these feelings in the sunlight. 

Or maybe it was me, not Moon Knight. Where do I go when Moon Knight takes over? Or Lockley? Or Spector? Maybe WE'RE the ghosts." 

Jumping up and down screaming and pointing people. Look. Look. Steven is starting to ask questions. 

Moon Knight breaks into the office by picking a lock. "One more skill gleaned from Spector." 

Steven wonders where the skills are learned and who can access them. If Marc has a skill and Moon Knight uses it, is it Marc using his skill? How do they share? 

Moon Knight digs through the files and makes a discovery. But he's interrupted! 

The detective is not happy to have Moon Knight there. 

Moon Knight asks him why there are no suspects listed in the case after so many days and so many dead. 

The detective tries to arrest him for interfearing and breaking into the office. 

Moon Knight tells him that he's on his side. 

"Not on THIS case. This is a departmental matter." 

This gets his attention. 

"I wanted the cop to keep talking --But from somewhere, Spector screamed, 'Jump him!' Moon Knight only heard Spector." 

And there he goes… Jumping out the window again… At least Flint wasn’t there this time. Maybe I should start a ‘jumps out window counter too’. 

Moon Knight heads up to the chopter to discuss with Frenchie what he learned. 

"Ever hear of the Kingpin?" 

Oh shit! We got Wilson Fisk people! Moon Knight has officially made it into the Marvel New York Universe! 

"Few people messed with the Kingpin of crime. Fewer lived to talk about it. We had to beat the odds. The files proved that each murdered cop had busted a kingpin operation--and the fat man bore grudges." 

You don't just sneak into Kingpin's building. He's got more security than fort knox. 

So of course Moon Knight....

Right through the window… 

Well, at least Wilson is blunt about it. 

Moon Knight takes out all the goons and demands answers from Fisk. 

Fisk tells him that he bought the cops and had the cases they were working on dropped. 

Moon Knight is pretty upset, declaring that one of the cops was his friend and couldn't possibly be corrupt. 

Fisk doesn't care. He knows where his money goes. 

"My reputation for violence is useful....But there are cleaner methods of dealing with people. MOST men have their prices. I can meet most prices. Your friend and his fellow officers had their prices." 

And Moon Knight makes a rooky mistake. He lets Kingpin get up close to him. 

Everyone always assumes that the fat man is just money and blubber. 

Everyone always forgets just how freakishly powerful Kingpin really is. 

It takes one solid punch from fisk to knock him out cold. 

Luckily, Fisk has more ideas than killing. 

He tells his goons to set Moon Knight free up on the roof. He wants his contacts at the station to give Moon Knight everything he needs to solve the case. 

The cop killer is killing HIS bought cops and he wants the killings to end. 

"Though woozy, Moon Knight heard everything. He feigned unconsciousness as they dragged him up the stairs." 

The thugs drag Moon Knight to the roof. 

"Spector clicked in. He didn't like being knocked around--And he was ready to take it out on anyone." 

He springs up and knocks around the thugs a bit before heading to the copter and taking off. 

Meanwhile, the two sargents Moon Knight was looking into have also just seen the Kingpin. 

They have their orders and are on their way to carry them out. 

As they head out, another car speeds past them at top knotch. 

They call for backup as they give chase. 

Moon Knight and Frenchie catch their radio signal in the chopper. 

Frenchie asks if they should get involved. 

"Sounds like routine business. We have better things to do." 

Steven: "Moon Knight voiced Spector's thoughts. I wanted to get involved. For all his skill, Spector can be so bloody blind." 

We see the Sargents corner the speeding car. They recognize the driver. Just as they are about to ask why he's speeding around so fast, he pulls a gun on them and opens fire. 

The suspect yells "I know what you're doing and I know where you've been!" as he fires. 

So he has been gunning down the crooked cops working for Kingpin. 

One cop is dead, the other frantically calls for help on the radio. 

Moon Knight picks up the signal and they rush over in the chopper. 

Moon Knight arrives too late to stop it.

Moon Knight arrives as the one cop tries to warn him. He manages to get out “Looey”, but it all sounds like gibberish. 

The suspect comes from behind and pulls his gun on Moon Knight. 

"I only want the bad ones. Not you. Investigations don't stop them. Commissions don't stop them. When a cop turns bad, nobody's safe! You know what I mean! I never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it!" 

As the man rants, Moon Knight quietly reaches for his truncheon under his cape. 

He's too late! When he turns around, the suspect is gone. 

"Moon Knight had failed to stop the killer -- And deep inside, we weren't sure now we wanted to." 

The killer is going after crooked cops working for kingpin. 

Before he can think about it, the police show up. Moon Knight makes a break for it and the cops prepare to open fire. 

A Sargent steps in and tells them all to hold their fire. 

"He has it on good authority that Moon Knight's not our man!" 

And an old partner shows up late, claiming he was stuck in traffic. 

Now, if I know my Moon Knight crime comics, I'm willing to bet one of these men is the killer. Let's see if I'm right. 

Back at headquarters, we see the old partner returning. He's there to fill out paperwork and Moon Knight follows. 

"Don't turn around, De Rais! You gave me a break--and I'm giving you one! I know your secret--and I sympathize. I know what it's like to do evil in the name of good!" 

Moon Knight explains that he knew the matters were a departmental matter, leading him to believe it was a cop that was the killer. He also theorizes that Looey meant Lieutenant, which is what De Rais is. 

He warns him that Kingpin has a man inside the investigation. Since it isn't him, that leaves the Sargent. 

He tells him that the killing must stop. "Stop now, before you're caught -- Or you mke me come after you!" 

And Moon Knight leaves him. 

Of course the guy figures his next move is to take care of the Sargent and then worry about Moon Knight later. 

Steven is...Idealistic. 

"That was supposed to be the end of it. Time would pass and people would forget and the case would go unsolved, like the Jack the Ripper killings. It was clear when I returned to my mansion that it wouldn't work that way." 

Marlene can't believe that they let the killer go. 

"He's not a mad dog, Marlene--And his victims deserved what they got! I found that out!" 

"His motives don't matter! He's still a killer!" 

"You forget--So am I!" 

Marc is still angry and fighting for a say in it all. Steven puts the reigns back on him, but Marc is still pretty upset. 

I find it funny that Steven KNOWS Marc used to box, and when he’s angry and struggling with Marc, he always goes to the punching bag to work out the angry Marc energy. 

We see the sargent return to his home across town. It's a lavish apartment that far exceeds a police officer's payrole. 

He finds an envelope of cash on his table and gets a phone call. He has orders to take out his partner, permanently. 

Sargent calls his old partner, asking to meet him at his place. 

Both men are setting a trap. 

Steven tries to call De Rais but gets no answer. He worries that De Rais is going after the Sargent. 

While looking up the Sargent's number, Marlene takes pause. The Sargent's full name is Louis Fulcanelli. LOOEY! 

So is it the Sargent or is it the lieutenant?? 

Spector wants to go seek out the Sargent's home. Moon Knight decides to head to De Rais's place. 

For once, Moon Knight takes the lead. 

The two cops meet up and Sargent gets the upper hand, holding De Rais at gun point. 

It's all laid out on the table now. Sargent Louie is the cop killer and De Rais is working for Kingpin. 

They argue on who is in the right. De Rais gets the upper hand and takes a shot, hitting Sargent in the shoulder. 

Look at that dramatic entrance. He’s always gotta make an entrance and an exit. 

Sargent cheers that Moon Knight is on his side. 

"We can work together! CLean up the department for good..." 

Moon Knight turns to Sargent. He tells him that after a trip to the hospital for the gunshot wound, he's going to jail. 

"You're a killer...As Bad in your way as the men you've killed... And I have to be better than that!" Moon Knight kicks away the gun and calls the police. 

We jump ahead to a fancy restaurant where Steven is dining with Marlene. 

She asks what happened with Sargent. 

Steven tells her that he was put away under psychiatric observation, though he believes that in a way he is saner than a lot of people and in a way, a good man. 

"You did the right thing, Steven." 

"Too bad the right thing isn't always the decent thing. Well, I can live with that. And if Marc Spector would ever accept it--He might become a whole man again." 

And we end on glasses of wine clinking. 

OKAY. There was a lot in this comic. Like..A LOT. 

Steven narrating (And this is big because we don’t get a lot of Steven’s perspective in the old runs, much less in current runs where half the time they forget Steven exists!), Jake being the good buddy he is and losing friends despite it all, and Marc fighting with Steven and Moon Knight. 

We get Moon Knight acting on his own, but also under heavy influence from Steven and Marc. Moon Knight is a really special case and I’d need to do more research into alter roles and presentation to really speculate what sort of person he is. He’s his own person, but sometimes he seems to act under heavy direction from the others. And I have my suspicions but I don’t feel it’s my place to do a full call out. 

We also have another moral decision on their hands. The choice they were forced to make with Stained Glass Scarlet still weighs heavily on them and not all of them are in agreement that it was the right choice. It haunts them and will continue to do so for a long time. 

Being faced with a killer who is trying to clean up a corrupt department of cops, and the corrupt cops…. The system is at odds on what to do. 

And Steven Grant chooses what he views as the high road. He strives to be better than Marc Spector. He feels like he and Moon Knight and Jake HAVE to be better than Marc, or it was all for not. Sometimes this leads them to go against Marc just to be contrary. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. 

We see Marc argue to do things that could have saved some of the cops, but we also see Marc argue to do some things that lead to deaths. 

Steven is taking the role of Gate Keeper and in his eyes, this means keeping Marc out. He views Marc as a threat to their very wellbeing. Unfortunately, this is also causing strife in the system and inter-system arguments and fights for control. 

We also start to see Steven view Marc as a wounded man that needs to be corrected and healed. He starts to get notions that if Marc can see and start to act in a more just manner without his temper and urge to hurt those that hurt them, then maybe they can heal and become overall a single better person. 

We see what is often seen as a huge controversial problem solve of “Final Fusion” when it comes to DID. I’m not going to get into that. I have my own opinions on it, but it isn’t my place to discuss them without someone that actually has any say on it present. 

Steven believes that Marc can go away and they can start to live as one man that can act justly. He sees Marc as “THE PROBLEM”. And this is going to cause further issues in their system that is just starting to figure itself out. 

We’ll see more of this start to pop up later on. 

Pretty excited about this issue! Hope you liked it! 

[ahalliance]

antoine + étoiles insane moments, p.2. aka the ass saga. p1 here

transcript + context for some of the clips below

[Video Transcript:

[First clip plays.]

Rivenzi: You want to see Etoiles’ ass, of course…

Antoine: Yeah, I’m gonna stare at your ass, Etoiles…

Etoiles: Fuck, what dread, during Popcorn [a talkshow Etoiles had been invited on the previous week], when I went up to the map and you said that, and I thought ‘whoa—‘

Antoine: Sorry

[Second clip plays: the moment during Popcorn]

PA/Domingo: Antoine Daniel has posted a tweet for us: ‘I wanted to look at this map of Africa, but Etoiles’ ass in the shape of a standing bell is driving me crazy. Smiley face with eyes in the shape of hearts.’

[Third clip plays: a continuation of the first clip.]

Antoine: Sorry, bro…

Ponce: Oh but that tweet, besides

Rivenzi: A standing bell…

Antoine: What’s more is that I never tweet and when I do it’s to tweet this sort of shit

Ponce: That’s exactly what I told myself. When PA read the tweet, I thought to myself, ‘but he never tweets!’ And he tweets to talk about Etoiles’ ass

Antoine: There needs to be a good reason, you see

[Fourth clip plays: a clip from the Team du Lundi’s minecraft server.]

JDG: Someone (in chat) said, ‘I can’t tell whether the atmosphere is good tonight or—‘

Antoine: It sucks, it sucks

Florence: You don’t need to ask every time, it always sucks

Baghera: Always sucks. Especially when Etoiles talks about ass [which had been a previous topic of discussion for him that night]

Antoine: Stooop, I enjoy it

Mynthos: You enjoy it?

JDG: It’s true tonight that it’s more weird than bad

Antoine: I like it when Etoiles talks about ass….

[Fifth clip plays: a second and different clip from Popcorn.]

Etoiles: —you’re not allowed to tell me that [Xari claimed to not know much about cinema]. I know you, I studied, because you’re my rival [in pop culture]. I really enjoy what you do in life, Xari, and you’re really knowledgeable about cinema

Antoine: What do you mean he’s your rival? And I’m just shit?

Etoiles: You, you’re my lover

Antoine: Oh yeah, sorry, my bad

PA/Domingo: One of the three is gonna die soon. There’s a whole situation, there’s a whole lore

[Sixth clip plays: a clip from the QSMP.]

Antoine: Don’t you want to get married, dude?

Etoiles: Well, I don’t have the time to fuck

Antoine: What the fuck?!

Etoiles: I don’t have time to fuck, dude. I just need to kill everyone

Antoine: No but just a marriage, you see. You’ve watched Game of Thrones— you haven’t watched Game of Thrones, you can’t know how marriages work in that series

Etoiles: I’ve watched it, but I’m married to the street, dude. I can’t give out my heart that quickly

Antoine: Yeah but you can give out your ass quickly, no?

Etoiles: No, frankly, my ass—

Antoine: What the fuck?!

Etoiles: Giving out your ass takes time, dude

Antoine: What the fuck…

Etoiles: Then again, I need to think about it. I’ll give you my answer. I need to discuss, and everything

Antoine: I’m tired of getting betrayed. You get married with someone else—

Etoiles: Never in a million years!

Antoine: —it’s like yesterday. Apparently Maximus got the mic from his ass removed while I wasn’t there. I was supposed to be the one to do it

Etoiles: Oh okay, so I’m your second choice?

[Overlapping]

Antoine: No! It was just to help him—

Etoiles: No, but, okay

Antoine: He got— listen—

Etoiles: There’s no problem!

Antoine: Fuck, nevermind

Etoiles: There’s no issue! Oh, so you’re opening my chest and stealing?

Antoine: I was just looking! Out of curiosity

Etoiles: Yeah, that’s it

Antoine: I don’t even understand what’s in it

Etoiles: Yeah, out of curiosity. Dude, your opinion on my cave?

Antoine: Well frankly it’s big

end Video Transcript.]

[neuvifuri]

i was hoping neuvillette and furina would be cunt4cunt, but turns out they are cringe4cringe

[antisocialxconstruct]

the rituals continue to be intricate

[willowser]

i love the idea of young dad, touya, honestly, like i think it could really work for him in a way.

you meet him when he's much older of course, because he comes by the restaurant you work at on his lunch break, and he's always taking over for anyone that tries to give your car an oil change or tire rotation. and he's always talking about his kids ! his daughter and son, the prides of his life, his reasons for living and best friends.

he never shows you any pictures of them, not at the start, and it's not until your relationship takes a more serious turn that you actually meet them — and you're expecting young kids. seven and five or ten and eight or something near there.

you're not expecting thirty-one year old touya to have a fourteen year old daughter, with green-lined braces and acne on her cheeks, or his quiet, glasses-wearing eleven year old boy that looks just like him.

[bloomingbluebell]

since playing twilight princess again i cannot get behind the lu fandom characterization of twilight and wild i'm sorry. like i think twilight would be an overprotective big brother figure towards wild, absolutely. but wild doesn't take that sitting down. he doesn't like being coddled, and it's pretty clear (side note: i do really appreciate the analysis posts about wars and how hard he's been on wild potentially pushing wild closer and closer to a rather big memory. you can sort of see how twilight is not happy with how warriors is acting, but he's not saying anything right now. probably because it's not his place to, and also probably because wild wouldn't want him to right now).

i think that twilight and wild have a very different relationship to what most of the lu fandom thinks. they're close - that much is obvious from how they react when the other is hurt, and how twilight pushed through the rest to get to wild during the memories comic. but i think that a lot of the time, it feels like wild only exists around twilight, or he can't be left without twi otherwise he'll "do something stupid" or whatever. wild doesn't exactly appreciate twi's protectiveness or his advice all of the time, but he still looks up to twilight. despite whatever went down when they first met, wild worked to gain twi's trust in order for them to be so close. they're equals - just like the rest of the chain are equals. and yes, wild does a fair amount of dumb things and he's impulsive about it, but i would like to argue that twilight also does a fair amount of dumb things (in game and in comic)

(i think it also kinda feeds in to how wild is sort of infantilized by the fanbase. he's already not exactly trusted by the rest of the chain (legend especially, for some reason), and i think i'd like to explore that and how his relationship with legend formed. they seem to think he's sort of a loose cannon, especially after the previous arcs. wild hasn't seemed to realize it yet, but i do think something is coming, especially with him and warriors)

[cherrymoonvol6]

the spiritual love triangle of eclipse lake is just too good. the way amity tells hunter: "there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. you just have to let yourself meet them", and GOD, that's luz, right? that's what luz does for hunter in the show... because she also happens to be that person for amity too. amity doesn't have any idea that this person she's talking about is her girlfriend, that luz will be the first person to ever make hunter feel valued as he is. and i think that's sooooo fucking delicious yum yum

[grinchwrapsupreme]

OUGH thinking about Phillip Morgan's hands as a defining feature of his character.... Phillip tightening the rope that kills Kenneth with his hands... Brandon gently pulling the gloves off of Phillip's hands... Phillip playing the piano with his hands... Phillip opening the champagne bottle for Brandon with his hands... Phillip breaking the glass with his hands... Phillip cutting getting cut on the stem and spreading blood on his hands... Phillip getting his fortune read by his hands... Phillip grabbing and aiming the gun with his hands... "these hands will bring you great fame"

[wellnoe]

if it were up to ME i would have pulled the teen o5 to the present day like. pretty much immediately after charles faked his death and while everyone still thought he was dead. bc then to me you get the fun thing of the o5 x-men being forced together in the future at a time when they are becoming more separated in their present, and you also get the fun dynamic of all the x-men in the 'present' being mad at scott for killing xavier while all the o5 x-men are mad at jean for lying about xavier being dead.

[fannfish]

(pose ref by: someone... look its really hard to track down the creator when all you have is a disembodied Pinterest post)

basically i drew the girls (mary rose and rosemary) having a romantic stroll yesterday and i was gonna post that but, i messed up on rosemary's face and i don't wanna fix it right now.

and then i drew this... look im bad at talking

[necrotic-nephilim]

I’m here to bother you again!!!

You don’t have to if you don’t want to but maybe dark ship bingo with timjay or brudick????

hELLO i love being bothered by you this is delightful omg thank you, i would love to

Here is JayTim, I can't believe I only got one bingo for them. Ironically I genuinely don't view Jason and Tim as family, even when I'm not shipping them, I think they're tentative allies at best and you can only brother-ify them if you're doing very generously OOC fluff, a la WFA-style. They're absolutely toxic and codependent on each other's existence, Tim wouldn't exist without Jason and Jason is Undeniably Weird about Tim, but not brothers so I can't check off the familial squares. Also, I have no idea if I've been blocked by 10+ people, but it'd be funny if I am. And funnily enough, I don't think Tim or Jason are vanilla in any capacity even when they're not fucking. Especially not Tim, that boy is Certified Weird.

and ofc BruDick I nearly blacked out the whole board because they absolutely are weird and unwell. Some of these only apply to certain AUs of BruDick (like an idea I have rattling in my skull rn with Talon!Dick) but most of it applies to them all the time. I really need to write some fucked up BruDick, it's tragic I haven't yet. Right now the two fics I'm working on are a weird JayDick and a more fluffy DamiDick, but I have Plans™ for BruDick too. They are the OG and deserve their flowers for being the most toxic mess you've ever seen.

[madtomedgar]

Sometimes I think about how much (cql) Meng Yao must have loved Nie Mingjue early in their relationship and it makes me sad. I don't necessarily means romance, I don't think that was an important part of it, though I would buy that there were maybe some confused "where is the line between devotion and crush" feelings. But. Nie Mingjue would have been the first person of the gentry who even tried to stand up for him, or recognized his merit in any way. He also gives him an initial framework for how to be in this world and how to handle the issue of his reputation and status. It's all very, very badly done. But. There is something really special about that first person who reaches out and tells you you're worth something, and tries to help and gives you a chance. Like. Especially before you know better, you absolutely will follow that person into hell. And it is true that Meng Yao had a shitty time there, but i think it's also true that he had a kind of devotion to Nie Mingjue that went beyond the ordinary, and was a lot about gratitude but it's also admiration and also a lot of other things. He throws himself on a sword for him. And I know that's to an extent expected but I also think the way the shots are framed sets it up as an exceptional act. He is heartbroken when he's kicked out, because of a lot of reasons, but one of them is that he has disappointed someone he cares about a lot and whose opinions he cares about a lot, so much that he wants nothing more to do with him. And so in light of all that, the way Nie Mingjue becomes this irrational, suspicious, violent person who treats him so badly must have hurt so, so badly. Yeah.

[flovverworks]

something something about the lgbtq+ cast in gbf & promise of wizard and how important it is to me personally that akiras not cishet

[midnightcowboy1969]

this is how Michael & Joey watch movies when Nicole's not home

sorry for putting rich & mike rlm on your dash

[shallowseeker]

Thinkin about Dean's complicated desires to protect and be protected; the competing desire to be trusted with and shielded from

////

One of the first scenes that epitomized Dean's warring needs re: Cas was in 5x18.

CASTIEL: Because there are at least five angels in there. DEAN: So? You’re fast. CASTIEL: They’re faster. CASTIEL takes off his tie and wraps it around his palm. CASTIEL: I’ll clear them out. You two grab the boy. This is our only chance. DEAN: Whoa, wait. You’re gonna take on five angels?

///

There are many ways to deal with this deranged, contradictory emotion. To (A) goad him into being faster, harder, stronger or (B) call him a baby and a whiner and hope that he steps up or (C) take him out of the fight all together "Just stay here and get better!"

///

SNIPPET from this conversation:

(In season 14)

...there's the irrational desire of Dean's that Cas would just fix it all and shield Dean from all of it. This is something that Dean's scripted irrationality in Game 14x18 Absence accomplishes so, so well:

CAS: "Are you mad because I didn't tell you-- or that I'm telling you at all?" DEAN: "BOTH!"

It's both!!!!!

He craves Cas's protection. But he resents it, too. It's what he loves about him. It's what he hates about him. It's the power dynamic that brings him simultaneous comfort and pain.

The sad thing is, if Cas had solved Jack's soul problem on his own, Dean would have probably been elated and relieved. Just like how he was in total awe when Cas got the Leviathan blossom on his own. Dean was weak in the knees for it-- ready to tell Cas something big for it. It's so messy and dualistic and complicated.

///

Anyway, that protectorship of it all is complicated. That's what this spooky line is about in 15x02. Everyone everywhere is reminding Cas of his failed familial obligations. Here are the civilians in the gym, getting frustrated with Cas:

ANDY: First Nan went missing. Now Dave and Sheri. CASTIEL: We are looking for them everywhere. ANDY:You said you'd keep us safe. [Cas has no better answers for him. He pauses, closes his eyes for a moment, and then walks away]

Cas is the failed protector, the absent soldier who's trying his best to be on ALL impossible fronts: battlefield, home, marriage, work.

It's the same raw frustration we see out of a distraught Dean in 3x10:

DEAN: He's the one who couldn't protect his family. He- (DEAN steps back and swings the weapon again, hitting DREAM DEAN twice.) He's the one who let Mom die.

Cas was supposed to succeed where John failed! But it's too much weight. No one can be that strong. Not even Cas.