#and i don't know how season 4 will be for me because of that

[catboybiologist]

Oh btw, minor grumpus update if any of y'all were concerned:

Russian Tortoises have a full hibernation cycle that they do in the wild. As pets, full hibernation would have to be induced through a carefully controlled environment. I don't have the expertise to do this fully, however, they naturally go into states of pseudohibernation for about 4-7 months.

The Creature is an absolute weirdo that does this, but switches summer and winter for no discernible reason. He spent most his life in a completely temperature controlled environment, and I guess the lack of cues made his internal season clock drift. My apartment is slightly less temperature consistent, so I thought that might fix it, but nope! He was in pseudohibernation when I got him in July last year, stayed that way until November, spent the Winter and Spring stomping around, and in the past couple weeks, has been gradually slowing down. These past couple of days, he's had an activity level consistent with his past summers.

This unfortunately means that I can't get too many photogenic pictures of him, since he spends most of his days like this:

He's always been like this, during both the time I've had him and the 20+ years he spent as an educational/outreach animal for kids. I also worked with him for a couple years during that time before having him as a full time pet, so I know his habits pretty well at this point.

During my summer travels, he'll be left with trusted relatives who will take care of his day to day care, and I'll be periodically dropping in to check up on how everything is going. They've pet sit for him before, and know what to do.

This is honestly ideal for me, because it gives me time to get/build him a better enclosure. As a very temporary measure, he's been in a too-small habitat for the past few months, with as much outdoor and floor time as possible to give him time to exercise and roam. He spent most of his life in a tank that was 1.5'x5', also with plenty of outdoor and floor time. Both are too small as full time living situations, and its only because of letting him out that I felt comfortable with it even as a temporary measure. Of course I won't stop outdoor and floor time, but I don't want to rely on them. One of my summer projects is to sketch up plans for a larger enclosure (20 sq ft or more, still on the smaller side but still with the idea of giving him the soccer field to roam when necessary), and I want it ready by the time he wakes up. If anyone has suggestions for that, I'm all ears!!!

I'm mildly considering some kind of bioactive, but I'm worried that'll be more effort than its worth, and have a risk of breeding pathogens. Another idea I had was a kind of "seperated bioactive"- have a small glass tanks for isopods and plants separate from him enclosure, and use his food scraps and poop to supplement that enclosure. I could grow some dandelion and edible wildflowers for him in there, closing the "loop" but separating the potentially "dirty" part from the Grumpus himself.

But again, no idea if that'll also be more trouble than its worth. Just pontificating. I welcome any and all suggestions!

[loustat-0]

Your answer about why Louis and Armand stay together brought something that always made me wonder about the show. Louis is jealous in the show so how come he would not be of Armand and Daniel in the 70s? Is it a way to show that Armand is not the love of his life (unlike Lestat)? Did he have his memories changed too? Has the writing just changed from season 1 to 2? What do you think?

This one will be a long one too . So please bear with me 🙏🏻

1. I hope no one attacks me for this but I didn't buy the " love of my life " of Louis at all . And as we can see even after Lestat is supposedly dead Louis can't get over him no matter how much he tries . On the show in Paris it seems like Armand is Louis's way of distraction from Lestat even though it doesn't work all the time . Not that Louis isn't attracted to Armand no , he's gay on the show and he has quite specific taste in men but Armand is also different feeling from Lestat so he's actually looking to any vampires who aren't like Lestat at all because he's trying so hard to forget him so Armand is that person at least that's what Louis thinks . And he thinks he has a common feeling with Armand about getting hurt by Lestat .

2. And in my opinion Louis isn't the love Armand's either he's his way of having new feelings and trying a new kind of love after a century but a century after Lestat . So Armand also want to forget Lestat and he also resents him and he could be after Louis to get revenge from Lestat . For all we know Lestat could have possibly arrived in Paris even before Louis and Claudia . So Armand knows about them . Even if they arrived in Paris earlier than Lestat did Armand still knew about them and I'm sure he suspected them being Lestat's fledglings . It's still love for Louis and Armand they were together a long time but what if they BOTH tried so hard to forget their relationship with Lestat that they quite became performative love to each other ? Both of them showing a part of themselves that they hated in Lestat?

3. I don't know much about Armand and Daniel possible history on the show yet But according to the the devil's minion chapter in the 3rd book Daniel is the love of Armand's life , someone who accepted his as he was adored him for his beauty and evil , although they had a rough start but they remained a couple for years . A relationship Armand cherished more than anyone else and possibly more than even Lestat because at the point of the book Lestat was in danger in the concert but Armand found Daniel and stayed with him and protected him and then turned him . Unfortunately in the books it doesn't last too long though they separated until the prince Lestat book where they became a couple again but Marius was there too .

4. I don't think Louie would be jealous over Armand's relationships because it seems like in the 70s they're in an open relationship even before that Armand and Louis brought out other men to their relationship and Louis had possibly sex with those men and Armand probably did too and then Armand killed them or probably erased their memories of being with them and left them on their own . EXCEPT FOR YOUNG DANIEL . He probably did something to his memories but it seems like both Armand and Louis kept a close watch on Daniel too . But I think Armand is mostly pretending that Daniel was like another men they had fun with and played with him like a pet and left him to be with Louie . Armand might be jealous and possessive of Daniel though , remember when Louis offered to turn Daniel in Ep 4 in season 1 ?

5 . So I don't think Louis cares about monogamous relationships anymore maybe because the show is going to go into poly direction . OR maybe Louis only have that feeling for Lestat . That fire , that burn , that jealousy . Maybe he's not jealous over Armand's and Lestat and Nickolas relationship because he doesn't know how deep they actually were . He thinks they were both a passing thing for Lestat and maybe he's deeply hurt by that what if he was that too ? 😢

6. I'm not sure who do you mean by having his memories changed too . But if you're talking about Louis and Daniel yes their memories are probably changed or I better say tampered with .

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: "My Buddie Crack Theory"

Since the finale airs tonight, I decided I'm finally ready to share my theory with details.

Question: What is "My Buddie Crack Theory"?

Answer: Buck's still in his coma dream.

I've included the details below the cut but please note, if he is still in his coma dream, it's NOT A NEW CONCEPT because it's been done on network TV before. (Details about the TV show "Dallas" and the main character "Bobby Ewing" are below the cut.

After season 6 ended, I read a post on 911blr that contained a screen shot from the show's IG page and it included a statement from someone who works on the show. It indicated season 6 was an "experiment" and it piqued my curiosity because I remembered reading about a TV show that did something similar in the 1980s. If it's true and KR was doing an experiment, then, it's possible 9-1-1 is doing something similar with Buck's coma dream.

In 1986, a procedural drama, "Dallas" did it with one of their main characters. The gist of it is, after main character "Bobby Ewing" was killed in a car accident at the end of season 8, he came back in season 10 because one of the actors who was still on the show asked the actor who played "Bobby" to come back because their ratings dropped. He agreed and the writers retconned the entirety of season 9 and turned it into a dream sequence for Pamela, Bobby's wife. Supposedly, she dreamed everything that happened before she woke up in 10x1 and when she walked into the bathroom, he was in there taking a shower 🙄. ISTG this is true and I know it's soapy and weird but here's a link to one of the articles that discusses it (Dallas).

How does this relate to 9-1-1? Well, it relates because since the beginning of season 7, there have been many indications in the interviews from the main cast about the possibility that TM is retconning seasons 5 & 6 and doing a mirror image or carbon copy of season 4 so he can get the main characters back to the point they were at in 4x14 (Buddie and Bathena). It's when he left OG in the hands of KR since F*X wouldn't allow Buck and Eddie to go CANON.

Before I delve into this, I need to make three points. First, I'm not making this about one specific character because the show already did that so please if you're going to be salty about it, please don't read this. If the things I've identified are correct then, that's on 9-1-1 and their writers. Second, these are my interpretations and observations of all the off kilter, retconned and unhinged things I've noticed since last season. Third and finally, when the season is looked at as a whole, it appears Buck still being in a coma is the only thing that makes sense.

Disclaimer: No one has to agree with my theory and please understand I'm not asking anyone to. The purpose of me doing this post now is because I wanted to wait until just before the season ends before I posted it because I wanted to see if the trend would continue and it has, for me at least. My theory could be right and it could be wrong but the point is someone else may have a difference of opinion and if they do, it's perfectly ok because two people's opinions can co-exist.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

Several things happened in seasons 6 and 7 that caused me to believe Buck's still in his coma dream and since the beginning of season 7, I've felt like all the mains have been acting OOC at different points and their actions have been off in someway or another. I'm not the only one who noticed it and there have been viewers who've commented on this topic in post-mortem articles and on social media. When I looked at the entirety of 6B and season 7, IMO, it seems like everything is being told from one character's POV, i.e., Buck's. It's a flawed and skewed one that in order to understand, one has to go back to review the details in 6x11.

After 6x9 aired, to me it seemed like Buck and Eddie were already together in a romantic relationship but Buck got struck by lightning and it halted everything. If they were, then everything about Buck still being in a coma makes even more sense and it explains their actions.

Here's a brief summary of 6x11: It appears Buck woke up TWICE in his coma dream and the first time he did, he was talking to Daniel but the first person he remembered from his life was EDDIE. After Daniel told him the next time he climbed a ladder, he should be sure there was someone available to have his back to which he responded, "I did". Reminder, after his brief flashback, Eddie wasn't included in Buck's coma dream anymore in season 6. I think the second time he woke up was when he was talking to Maddie before the 118 entered his room. Also, while he was playing gin with Bobby, Bobby told him he couldn't believe Buck returned from a world where he could fix everything but he replied, "Not everything."

I think he was still in his coma but he thought he woke up and when he had a coffee date with Natalia, he told her, "I woke up in a world that was both everything and nothing I ever wanted it to be" and other than the two things he told Maddie in 6x12 (included below), that's all the audience heard about his dream.

Now, in season 7, Eddie's the ONLY person Buck keeps thinking and talking about non-stop which could mean he's still in his coma but this time he's seeing his romantic life. Reminder, he was confused in 7x4 about whose attention he was trying to get but the viewers knew it was Eddie. Additionally, everything that happened in his dream has come to pass in some form or another but it's possible it might not be real.

Maddie and Chimney got married in 7x6 but it wasn't the wedding Chimney described to the team in 6x16 they were planning before he proposed. In his dream, he told Chimney they should get married because they already had a kid and a house.

Bobby retired and he died (temporarily) in 7x9 which both of those things happening have always been part of Buck's biggest fears. In 3x10, he told Bobby he's one of the most important people in his life and in 6x11, Bobby being Buck's found dad was CANONIZED by May Grant. Reminder, Bobby was dead in Buck's coma dream when he was talking to him.

In 7x10, it's possible the 118 might get split up (hopefully they won't but with Ortiz and Gerard around 🙄 who knows what's going to happen) and that's another thing that scares Buck, him losing his family. In 3x16 he was worried about them being split up and he worried about it again in 6x5 during Hen's medical school party.

In 6x11, when he was running towards his hospital room, he ran past Chris but Chris asked him to help him find his dad but Buck told him he wasn't real but the truth is he was (related post).

After he woke up the second time, the audience didn't see Buck's recovery from him being depressed and everything they did show was kind of off but not so much that it would be noticeable. The conversation Buck and Eddie had in 6x15 in the cemetery in front of Marie's grave was interesting and that's when Buck admitted he felt like he had to be the same old Buck mostly for the sake of everyone else. Viewers who watched the last few episodes of 6B remember what a cluster "F" they were and several recurring characters acted OOC too.

Now let's fast-forward to season 7.

I've been posting about my theory since the end of season 6 but I really dialed into it after 7x1 aired because the timeline Athena stated surrounding when Bobby purchased their cruise tickets was OFF. For those who watched 5x18, they know Bobby purchased the tickets then but their trip got delayed at the end of 6x1 after Athena's father had a stroke. But in 7x1, her scene with Frank started with "Two months ago" then she said, "Last week, my husband... he did something, he... booked us on a cruise". Why is this a problem? It's an issue because the TIMING IS OFF. For Athena's timeline to be accurate, seasons 5 & 6 wouldn't exist since Bobby actually booked the cruise in 5x18 which happened more than a year before they left.

Additionally, all of Buck's biggest fears are being addressed in season 7 and they're happening one right after the other.

Bobby retiring (mentioned above).

Bobby dying (mentioned above).

The 118 being split up (mentioned above).

In 7x10, it appears the Diaz parents might be taking Chris from Eddie and moving him (hopefully temporarily to El Paso). In Buck's coma dream, he was worried that Eddie lost Chris because he wasn't there to introduce him to Carla (she hasn't been mentioned once this season - related post).

The sun setting behind Eddie and Buck in scenes during season 7 are also part of this because in 6x12, Buck told Maddie, "For some reason, it's never nighttime in my coma dream". IMO, it appears Buck's running out of time to figure things out and it's possible he just might by the end of the finale, that is if the narrative continues.

Furthermore, NONE of the things that happened to Buck in season 6 have been addressed in season 7 and they remain unresolved (related post). There hasn't been any mention of the sperm donation, the baby, his quest for captaincy, his recovery from being struck by lightning and he never had a breakdown, even though he's well overdue for one. It's kind of like everything that happened wasn't addressed on purpose and before 7x1 aired, in an interview, TM said he didn't want Buck focusing on all the stuff that happened in season 6 because he wants to be happy.

I'm including a lot of one-offs that happened to add credence to my theory. Before reading the items below, don't forget, Buck is Midge in the movie "Vertigo" and she was waiting for Scottie (Eddie) to move on from his deceased wife. Well, isn't that what Buck's kind of doing now with Eddie? YES!

I think Marisol doesn't have a last name because Buck doesn't know what it is. He met her in 6x5 the same time Eddie did and when they went back to her house, I don't think he was worried about her and Eddie dating later on. However, I do think she's the only woman Buck could think of since she was the only one he saw Eddie with before he got struck by lightning. Eddie didn't mention Buck to Felisa in 6x7 when he told her about Shannon dying and Chris getting caught in the Tsunami even though everyone knows Chris was with Buck that day. Also, Buck never met Vanessa in 6x14 since Pepa introduced her to Eddie and it was after the lightning strike anyway. It appears Marisol was the only woman he could think of that Eddie might end up dating. Eddie's never said her last name either which is suspicious. Reminder, Eddie used to say "Ana Flores" all the time which means he knew her full name.

In 7x1, Eddie said, "Welcome back to the land of the living Buck, you were truly missed". It was an odd comment because they were still working together and if they saw each other every shift, why would he say it like that? It seems like he's still waiting on him to wake up.

In 7x4, Buck told Tommy, "I haven't had this much fun since the night I got struck by lightning." 👀 IIRC, that night wasn't fun for anyone especially him, so it was a strange comment for him to make and when Tommy asked him about it, he replied, "I'm just using it as a point of reference." Therefore, it seems like the show wanted the audience to remember Buck was in a coma and it's possible he still is.

In 7x9, Tommy said it had been 5 years since he left the 118 which was WRONG because he left before Buck started which happened 7 years ago. It's another weird timing discrepancy but I think it was included for a reason and it relates to Buck and Eddie. It appears Buck was once again confusing his feelings for Eddie with Tommy since later in the same episode, Eddie told Kim it had been 5 years since his wife died but if the math is done, it's also been 5 years for Eddie working at the 118. Reminder, he quit in December 2021 and he didn't return until May 2022. Therefore, Buck's known Eddie for 6 years but Eddie's only been at the 118 for 5.5 years.

IMO, Buck's encounter with Kim in 7x9 was him coming face to face with his worst fear (related post) and it involves the way he believes he'll never be able to measure up to Eddie's first spouse, even though the audience knows he's fulfilled the role as coparent in Eddie's life since 2x4 when he stepped in and helped Eddie find childcare for Chris.

The retconned ages in season 6 have continued to be up for debate but I think while in his coma dream, Buck got Eddie's, Shannon's and Denny's and his own ages wrong and I think the show made a point to highlight them because if TM really is retconning the last two seasons, then it's true, Buck would be 30 years old since he was 29 in 4x5 and it's possible he would have had a birthday before 4x13 aired (if the show was on their normal schedule). They've never stated Eddie's age so who knows how old he is.

It's possible Tommy's a figment of Buck's imagination especially since he's so much like Eddie.

Kim's comment to Buck in 7x9 about how the firehouse looks bigger in person than it does on FaceTime was a direct callback to season 2 when Buck slide down the fireman's pole and walked up behind Eddie after he had just finished a FaceTime call with Shannon. Buck told him he should ask Bobby for a discount when Eddie asked him if he thought they'd have to get married again (Buck was being petty).

Now if 9-1-1 is planning to retcon seasons 5 and 6 within Buck's' coma dream, then everything makes perfect sense because in 6x11 and in 7x4, one thing was clear, IT WAS ALL BEING TOLD FROM BUCK'S POV which everyone knows was flawed. Even TM admitted Buck wasn't seeing what he thought he saw because it was from his point of view. Buck remembered things that didn't happen the way he thought they did in his coma dream. One of them includes him believing he saved Bobby but the truth is he didn't because Chimney did when he took Bobby to meet a couple whose baby was saved after they got a blood transfusion with Bobby's blood in season 1. Also, Buck's memory was so jacked up that he thought Eddie wouldn't have been able to stay at the 118 if he hadn't introduced him to Carla. He also believed Eddie would have had to fight his parents to keep custody of Chris which was WRONG for two reasons. First, Eddie will sacrifice anything for Chris and second, Bobby RECRUITED Eddie and convinced him to join the 118 instead of station 6. So logically, if Bobby would have been dead from the plane crash in season 1, Eddie NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE 118 BECAUSE BOBBY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE TO RECRUIT HIM. It also means Hen and Chimney wouldn't have met Eddie; therefore they wouldn't have known he had a son.

If 7x10 ends with Buck waking up from his coma and him remembering he's already in a relationship with Eddie, I won't be surprised because that's what the narrative was showing in season 6. Also, AB and MJW both said, "Something biblical was going to happen in the finale" and the only thing I can think of is Buck coming out of his coma.

Can the narrative change, of course it can and it has several times over this season alone with last minute scripts and storylines but hopefully, this season will end on a good note because IMO, it's been underwhelming thus far.

With regards to Buck and Eddie, I think TM (showrunner) has done his best to confuse viewers this entire season so they won't see what's coming. I'll admit, I might be completely off base with "My Buddie Crack Theory" and none of the mishaps that I've identified mean anything but it's also possible they could mean everything. Tonight's episode will tell the tale so I'm curious to see how it will all turn out.

Hopefully, it has all been a dream and Buck and Eddie will end the season together in preparation for season 8.

[zehiiro]

What Daryl and Carol mean to each other

And why France may have been the best thing for Caryl

This idea has been sitting in my drafts for about six months, but now that we're only 9 days away from the Tribeca premiere, I finally decided to flesh it out and post it.

This post can be taken as part two of my previous one on what Carol means to Daryl [here], but it can also be read independently. And just as a disclaimer, this is just my understanding and opinions on Caryl and all the scenes I mention below. So grab a nice cup of your choice beverage and get comfy 'cause I had a lot to say, and this turned out to be a long one.

I want to start by pointing out some moments where Daryl and Carol got to enjoy each other's company and talk in peace.

Yup, that's all of them... a long list of 4...

I didn't realise how rare these moments were until I started looking through season after season. Don't get me wrong; I know there are countless sweet and meaningful moments that they've shared both on screen and off screen (implied), but very few that we've seen without heartbreak, grief, or danger looming over them. And even the moments in the gifs above were still sandwiched between disasters.

I've read and received many questions, such as, "Why have we had to wait all these years and are having to continue to wait for Caryl to be canon?" and "If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now." and I feel like the above gifs answer all of that.

These two have endured unimaginable pain before and after the outbreak, and throughout it all, they have been each other's light, held each other together, helped each other heal from their past, and become the strongest versions of themselves.

However, they have never been allowed to be selfish, to take a moment to think about what they deserve, or to imagine the possibility of accepting the love they want and need; why? Because they have been so busy protecting and making sacrifices for everyone else.

For the past 13 years, they have been content as long as they have each other in their lives, accepting their current circumstances as long as the other seems happy. But during all that time, they also connected in more ways than they had realised.

The major connection I wanted to point out is that their lives depend on one another now (mutually inclusive). Whether knowingly or unknowingly, they are alive at this moment because of each other. I don't mean this just in a 'save their life when they're in danger' way but also as a 'I can't imagine my life existing beyond yours' and 'I can't distinguish between my life and yours' kind of way.

I briefly touched on this in one of my previous posts about Carol [here], and the show, in general, has been a lot more open with us regarding what Carol wants, but here are a couple of more nuanced instances from the later seasons where we see those feelings show from Daryl and Carol's perspectives:

~~~~~~~~

S10 EP3 Ghosts (Daryl)

The first scene I wanted to mentions is when Alpha confronts them about crossing her border. The moment she says, "You have to be punished," and the whisperers reach for their weapons, we see Daryl shifting on his feet as he prepares to move at a moment's notice.

And as soon as Carol talks back to Alpha, calling her words "Bullshit", Daryl is already moving.

He immediately places himself between them to shield Carol in case Alpha decides to attack her.

Then, when Carol snaps and tries to shoot Alpha, Daryl grabs and takes complete hold of her.

He's not just trying to stop her; he's using himself to shield every inch of her from any possible incoming assault from the whisperers.

Once Alpha allows them to leave, he grabs Carol and her bow and arrows without a second of hesitation (leaving behind his own crossbow) and immediately moves Carol away from the situation.

Once again, when everyone is in danger all Daryl can think about is Carol, making sure she's safe and unharmed, with no concern for himself.

I also think it's so beautiful and important to point out here that while all Daryl could think about was shielding Carol, Michonne was also there trying to protect both of them ♡

~~~~~~~~

S10 EP3 Ghosts (Daryl) - Part 2

The second one I want to mention is later in the same episode when Daryl and Michonne rush Carol back to Alexandria/Siddiq for help after she cuts her arm open badly.

We first find Daryl holding onto a column outside to steady himself while he waits to find out if she's okay.

When Siddiq comes out full of hesitation and can't find the words to answer Michone when she asks if Carol is okay, we see a look of pure fear on Daryl's face.

He freezes; he's holding his breath and won't dare move or say anything because he feels like his whole reality is hanging by a thread, and in the moment, the smallest thing or whatever Siddiq is about to say next might make it all fall apart.

~~~~~~~~

S10 EP9 Squeeze (Daryl)

The third moment I wanted to mention is when Carol is hanging off the edge of a rock in the cave, risking her life just so she can try to destroy part of Alpha's horde, but Daryl finds her and is so confused and terrified by what she's doing.

He tries to tell her, to warn her that she's gonna get herself killed if she tries to go through with what she's planning.

Look at how he flinches and instantly loses his breath when her hand slips a little... breaks my heart every time.

When she responds to him by saying, "She killed my boy", Daryl's fear is now also combined with desperation because he realised that he didn't need to warn her about the possibility of getting herself killed; he realised she knew the risk all along and was in such a low place that she was almost welcoming the consequences.

What previously was a tone of alarm in Daryl's voice turns into a whisper, and he's now pleading with her. Without saying the actual words, he's begging her to choose to live again, even if it's just for him.

~~~~~~~~

S10 EP14 Look at the Flowers (Carol)

What Caryl wants is also kind of answered in 10x14, where Carol is having an internal confrontation with herself. Subconsciously, she has chosen and manifested Alpha (who is now dead) as the face and voice of the one confronting her.

Timestamp 19:10 - 20:15

When "Alpha" says to her:

"Being out on your own... you've tried it before. They always pull you back. Always wanting more. Love. Motherhood. Death. But they don't know what you truly want. Admit it. What do you want? Say it..."

Carol responded by saying :

"I want to be alone."

To which "Alpha" says:

"Yeah. That's not it."

So the question here is, if it's not love in general, motherhood, death, or being left alone, then what does Carol actually want?

It's important here to note that Carol already knows the answer to that question. She's only asking herself this question because she hasn't accepted it; she isn't being honest with herself yet.

Timestamp 33:15 - 35:20

While Carol is stuck under the rubble and can't get out as the walker is getting closer to her, "Alpha" taunts her by saying:

"Stop fighting. No matter what you do, you lose people. Sophia, Lizzie, Mika, Henry, Ezekiel... And if you go back, Daryl could be next."

To which Carol responds:

"I could never let that happen."

This internal confrontation with herself and the realization that even when everything else in her world is dark, just having Daryl and making sure he's okay is worth living for and fighting for and that it's not too late for her to start over. The acceptance that that's who/what she truly wants gives her the strength at that moment to fight again, dislocating her shoulder to get free and killing the walker that was about to reach her.

~~~~~~~~

S10 EP16 A Certain Doom (Daryl)

Looking back at 10x01 for a second, Carol asks Daryl to run away with her, but he says no and explains that life in tiny boat cabins is not for him. Then Carol presents the idea of running away on his bike instead, and he's much more enticed by his idea; however, by the end of the episode, they both agree that they can't because they still feel responsible for the people around them and making sure that they're safe against the threat from Alpha. 

Back to 10x16, after Carol went to lead the horde off the cliff, Daryl would have almost been expecting and terrified that she wouldn't come back, that she'd take this "out" and end her own pain in a permanent and self-sacrificial way like she's tried before, but this time, he wouldn't be there to beg her to come back to him and to save her. 

Once again, we find him leaning and steadying himself against a tree, preparing for the worst possible news or, as the episode's title suggests, a certain doom.

And when he sees her again, he can't take his eyes off her.

He doesn't believe his eyes at first; he looks all over her to make sure she's not hurt, but when she speaks, asking him if he's good, he finally breathes again, letting out the breath he's been holding.

The community is safe (for now) since the horde has been dealt with, and his next immediate thought is, "You still got me" and "New Mexico is still out there." He immediately brings back the idea of running away together; why? Because he now knows that this time he got way too close to losing her forever and will not be risking that ever again. He's now ready to leave everything and everyone else he cares about behind, so he'll never risk losing her again. 

He loves her so much that, once again, all else comes second.

When he hugs her, he pulls her in tighter than ever before, making sure he's holding onto as much of her as possible because he needs to know that this is real, that he's actually holding her, that she's right there, unharmed and breathing, and not just a part of a dream of what he wants to see. 

I believe he forgives everything in that instant, including her actions that led to losing Connie, because his pain is not worth causing her any more of it. He will now carry that guilt for himself, taking as much of her burden as possible just to make living a little easier for her. Because he'd rather shoulder all the pain and guilt than lose her, and because he can live with the pain and guilt, but he can't live without her. 

~~~~~~~~

S11 EP24 Rest in Peace (Daryl & Carol)

I believe the events of the season 11 finale forced them to come to a new level of internal acceptance. Seeing the people around them lose the ones they love the most started a spark, and it started to force them to have those internal conversations.

The reality began to sink in for both of them that there had been too many close calls to keep denying themselves what they truly wanted, and It's now more true to them than ever that their tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

We all expected this to be the moment they went for what they'd wanted for so long, but we were wrong; their wounds were just too deep, and their instinct to self-sacrifice was once again too strong.

A year later, we see them once again dedicating their lives to helping others, Carol taking over Hornsby's job and helping put the commonwealth back together, and Daryl setting out to see what's left out there, hoping to find Rick and Michonne and bring them back to their family.

~~~~~~~~

TOWL S01 EP04 What We (Daryl & Carol) - A Parallel

There's a pretty important parallel that I'd like to point out as well. In episode 4 of TOWL, when Micheonne asks Rick what the CRM took from him, Rick responds to her by saying:

"When I got taken, I fought, and I fought, and not just by trying to get away, but by how I would dream. I'd meet up with Carl in my dreams. And that's how I survived in here. Kept me alive... But then I started dreaming of you [Michonne]... and it kept me going... I can't live without you. Without you, I die."

It's important here to note that Rick is speaking to his wife. When he was taken away and at his lowest, he survived because when he went to sleep, he dreamed about Carl (his son) and Michonne (his soulmate) and his happy memories with them.

So what does Daryl dream about when he's taken away and at his lowest? (TWD:DD S01 EP01)

He dreams about Judith (his surrogate daughter) and Carol (his soulmate).

He dreams about Judith telling him that he deserves a happy ending too, and his very next thought is of Carol, seeing her again and being with her again because that's the happy ending he truly wants.

And what does Carol dream about when she's at her lowest in season 10?

She dreams about Henry (her adoptive son) and Daryl (her soulmate)

She dreams about the life she's always wanted, a home, a family and a life with Daryl because that's the happy ending she truly wants.

Also, just a quick mention that even Michonne refers to Rick (her husband) as her friend when speaking to Virgil in TWD 10x08 (TS: 40:00 - 41:20)

~~~~~~~~

So why is TBOC going to be any different? And why was Daryl ending up in France the best thing that could have happened for Caryl?

Because they have finally reached a point where they almost believe they've lost the other, they have been forced to feel the dependence of their existence on the others.

They have never been truly separated before, not to this extent. And what to them was previously only a fear has now become a reality.

When they're reunited, it's going to be with a completely new perspective and total understanding of the extent of their need for one another, and the idea of just having one another in each other's lives will no longer even remotely come close to being sufficient.

I'll elaborate a little...

After all these years, we've seen them constantly save one another and be terrified of losing each other. But no matter what, nothing got them to the point where they felt they needed (more than anything) to confess to the other. So far, everything they have faced during the main show has been different shades of the same thing, and the urgency was never high enough to outweigh their self-doubt and insecurities.

What France has given us is a whole new level of steaks. Where we'll find them in season 2 is on the verge of believing that they'll never be able to see each other again; this, coupled with the fact that they don't even know if the other is even alive, and the fact that the distance and time apart has given them a true taste of how much they need the other, we now have the perfect and unique recipe for something that outweighs their self-doubts and insecurities.

It's the age-old idea of you don't know what you have until it's gone. The difference between:

Watching everyone around them lose the people they love most: they empathise with them, their heart breaks for them, they may even be devastated by that loss, and ultimately, it probably makes them cherish the ones they still have even more.

They, themselves, losing the person they love most: this is something that needs to be experienced to be understood. It's reality shifting, and the pain/loss outweighs anything else.

And now, after experiencing that loss for themselves, by some miracle, they're given another chance with that person... what a way to completely shift someone's priorities and ability to act past insecurities.

~~~~~~~~

To wrap up I wanna go back to Norman's words from the NYCC TBOC press conference:

"[Carol] feels something's wrong. They have that kind of bond, where there's a lot of unspoken things that are said... the bonds that we made in the flagship show are still very strong... [Carol] can take care of herself, of course... but the bond just keeps getting stronger and stronger..."

And David Zabel's words from his interview with Entertainment Weekly (interview link):

"The main focus of season 2 for me was always Daryl and Carol coming back together and what does that mean? And it becomes ultimately a story about how we as people can save each other. She's trying to find him, but in the process of telling that story: How are they ultimately getting to a place where they're kind of saving each other?...showing what's happening inside these characters as people in the most intimate personal way"

Daryl and Carol have loved and cared for each other so profoundly, especially when they couldn't love themselves, even to the point of sacrificing their own happiness to prioritise the others. If that is not the true meaning of soulmates, then I don't know what is. And we all know that some of the greatest loves are routed in the truest friendships.

~~~~~~~~

Thank you to everyone who read through this! I know it was an extra long one, and it could have been even longer, but I've decided to post their moments from 10C separately, as there's a lot more to break down there. I really enjoyed writing this, and I'm so happy/grateful that I have this platform to share these thoughts with you all. I'd love to know your thoughts on the things I've mentioned or missed ♡♡♡

As some of you already know, I'll be attending the Tribeca Premiere for TBOC in 9 days. After that, I'd like to write and share a spoiler-free-ish afterthought for this post, including what I've taken away from episode 1, what was said during the cast panel afterwards, and my thoughts on what's to come for Caryl. If anyone would like to be tagged when that's posted, please let me know.

I'll be posting a more detailed and spoilery analysis of Episode 1 once it's actually released.

[stereax]

☕️ things you think the nhl genuinely does well for their players? And/or things you wish could/would change in the org?

I think, to start, you need to overhaul how player safety works. The lack of consequences for players is nuts. Repeat offenders need to be penalized appropriately. You can't let dangerous players like Matt Rempe continue to be the poster children for CTE.

Player assistance - I'm not sure how effective this is. We've had players like Valeri Nichushkin fail it; we've had former players like Scott Darling deride it. We've also had players like Spencer Knight and Connor Ingram who've cited the help they get from it as crucial to their mental health.

THE MEDICAL STAFF. Oh my god the medical teams are AWFUL in the NHL. I know it's the standard to play through injuries but holy fuck. On the Devils alone we had three cases of medical staff failing to spot a concussion or other major injury after a head hit and letting players continue to play for several more shifts before pulling them. You hear actual horror stories annually of players saying "oh, I messed up my shoulder in game 4 and played with it the entire season" (Tim Stutzle) or "oh, my knee's been fucked since January, sorry for not putting up more points" (Elias Pettersson) or "oh, I played a playoff game with a broken sternum and I couldn't even dress myself, so if I got hit there, there's a chance I could have died" (Matthew Tkachuk). We're seeing that players who prioritize their health, who sit out to recover instead of pushing their bodies (think Sidney Crosby here) are able to continue playing at a high level past 35, when previously this was considered too old to be a top talent NHL player.

Tying into that, LTIR. Teams need to be incentivized to use LTIR so that their stars can heal, goddamn it. You tell me "close the cap circumvention loopholes", I reply "I'd prefer if players are playing healthy and not forced to play while hurt, and LTIR is a major step in allowing players to heal without penalizing a team for their injuries". I don't know why it's a buzz topic now that teams like Vegas are "abusing LTIR" - good??? Every team in the league should "abuse LTIR" if it means helping to preserve the quality of life for its players down the line??? Why is this controversial???

But also - players who are definitely not coming back to play in the NHL (think Shea Weber, Carey Price, Nicklas Backstrom) should have the ability to retire without losing out on the final years of their contract while not penalizing the teams with them on their roster. Currently, these players undergo "LTIRetirement", a process where they're stashed on the LTIR until their contract is up, at which point they officially retire. This not only disadvantages the teams carrying these contracts but also puts unnecessary burdens on these players. Think how the 2018 WJC perpetrators were considered "NHL non-roster", effectively having no cap hit, and do something similar for LTIRetirement.

Just... eugh, I really wish some fundamentals about hockey culture and the culture of injury were changed. Every time I hear about how a player is trying to regain day-to-day functioning after an injury (go read up on Tanner Pearson's hand injuries and how the Canucks bungled the surgeries), part of me dies inside. Jack Eichel literally had to force his own trade out of his team because the Sabres weren't willing to give him medical autonomy. Which is another thing - the player should ALWAYS have final say in their injury treatment, not the teams. Whoever decided that... I'm shaking my fist.

[swan2swan]

Let's talk about what happened with Brookenji.

And no, I don't mean the fallout in Chaos Theory. I mean what happened in the original show. At least, what I believe happened. This is--mind you--total Conspiracy Board style speculation based on little pieces of evidence collected and gathered throughout my years looking into behind-the-scenes stuff and following social media. It would really help if I could find one particularly tweet, but I think it was deleted either in anticipation of spoilers or just because he regularly deletes them.

But...here's the one responsible for that:

Xi.

Xi was the Original Ben, as you can see. Young and nervous. While Ben was...

Well. Ben. Big Ben. But obviously the jock character. The tall, smarmy, rich white guy.

You may be able to see where this is going, but I submit this evidence to you from my memory, and you'll just have to trust me:

One of the showrunners of Camp Cretaceous tweeted ages ago (Season 1-2, well before Season 4 and the Nonsense), tweeted about how there's a disappointing lack of Asian romantic leads in media.

And you know what? He's right. Very much so! Think of ten major tentpole movies from the past thirty years and pull a Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Vietnamese romantic lead. No, no, no, not the women! The men. An Asian man.

"Oh, well, Shang Chi--" no. Don't get cute.

The fact is, it's just...not a thing that happens. And I think one of the goals with Camp Cretaceous was to change that. Just like they struck ground with Yaz and Sammy being an interracial wlw romance in a children's cartoon, they were gonna put an Asian dude in the romantic partner position.

By now, you obviously see where this is going...and what happened:

If Xi had remained the scared kid, he would have fallen from the train. He would have grown in the jungle and emerged as a wild child. He would have an mmensely different feel in Season 3 where he was breaking away from the group and determining to stay on the island...until the end, when he bonded with the group.

And that is when Brooklynn--or Jules, rather--would have suddenly taken interest in him. Xi and Jules, the wild kid and the rich girl. It would be cute!

But they changed things and took them in a different direction--possibly pretty close to the time the show started. Which meant that the whole first half of the show barely had any setup planned for Kenji and Brooklynn, as they were now known...and they didn't really want to go with Ben and Brooklynn. Especially with how strong the dynamics between Ben and Bumpy and Ben and Darius became.

But they still had to set up the Brookenji romance, and the plans for OG Ben and his Rich Dad to shatter the group dynamic suddenly had to adjust...and you know what? Throwing the romantic strain into it was a pretty good idea! Not bad! But...with the timing of his arrival, the writers only had one season left to them. So they had to jam it all into one season, because there was a little race-swapping done at the last minute that wound up being super-crucial to the endgame.

And personally?

As messy as Brookenji was, I think it was better for them not to remain rigidly focused Xi-Jules and turn it into Ben-Brooklynn. While it would have neatly paired off everyone for the final seasons--Ben and Brooklynn having their Rich Girl/Wild Child romance, Kenji and Darius having their Friends-to-Brothers arc as Kenji betrays the group for his dad (SEE HOW SMOOTHLY THAT WORKS, TOO?), and Yaz and Sammy...well, you know...I think I like what we got with Ben a lot more.

But you can see how the original plan of broad strokes would have been a lot smoother. Turned out that the characters evolved more than planned. And obviously they could have stuck with the Kenji/Darius focus being the main fallout of the group...but that also sort of leaves Brooklynn high and dry with regards to the plot. What's she got left? Though, also...looking back on those seasons...even her romance with Kenji didn't do much for her. Probably because it wasn't really supposed to be a thing. We don't know what the plans for Jules were in the original script, but when those got ditched (PRESUMABLY. THIS IS ALL ME SPECULATING!!!), they had to scramble with her. Maybe she was supposed to have more parental issues. I dunno.

But whatever the truth is, I do still maintain that Kenji was written to be a romantic guy with that in mind. Listening to Brooklynn's color preferences, feeling awkward, being protective...eck, he even kept that rizz through to the new series:

But the bottom line is that Kenji isn't Xi. He didn't have the growth that was planned for Xi, which would have tsngentially influenced Brooklynn/Jules's sudden interest in him.

This is also one of the consequences that comes with having shows compressed and rushed so much in the modern era. If we'd been getting filler episodes over the seasons, they might have been able to start building Kenji and Brooklynn up during the E750 arc, if not sooner.

NOTE: I'm not sure what the scripting and planning timetables were with this show. But from what I've gathered, the characters were swapped well after the conceptual stages. And they made it work! There's still a coherent story! I think the sloppiness just came because they had to hurriedly change tracks on some parts, and we noticed.

[rmd-writes]

Tag Game Tuesday Wednesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Tagged by @liminalmemories21 and @freneticfloetry thanks, and good timing! You both caught me on my lunch break

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I can't remember the exact timing, but I'm pretty sure I watched the first two seasons while s3 was airing and then caught up after - I wanted to start earlier but I had some issues finding a way to watch the show here!

My introduction to the show was via @three-drink-amy telling me to watch it (repeatedly), @clottedcreamfudge's judicious use of gifs from the show in the gc and a bunch of SC mutuals yelling about the gay howdy wee woo show on my dash every week.

Season 4 was the first season that I watched "live" which I did with @welcometololaland, both of us texting and screaming as we watched each episode together hours and hours after everyone else had.

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, hands down. I don't know that they'll ever beat it?

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

Other than Carlos and TK, I think it's Grace. I just adore the her energy and the way that she takes everything in her stride and even when things are hard, she's very practical about it. Also she doesn't take shit from anyone.

Top five episodes. Go!

I don't think I've ever tried to do this? I'm generally very bad at choosing, my SC fave ep list contains three episodes that I insist must be watched together so they only count as one ep hahahaha Anyway, in no particular order, and not necessarily by episode title or number because I can't be arsed looking them up:

Push, my beloved

3 x 13

the one with Lou

Bad Call

the Soulmates one

Bonus: the Marjan ep in s4 which was just so, so good

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Either Nancy because we know nothing about her and I want to know, or Paul because I think he's had such an interesting journey.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

I love @liminalmemories21's idea of a Halloween ep! It would be so fun!

We probably won't get it because of the shorter season, but I'd love more Lonestar-is-a-comedy-actually episodes like Red vs Blue and the (original) Lou arc.

More realistically, I'd love to see Carlos actually grappling with the consequences of his actions in s4 and also working through his grief and TK helping him do that. And I'd like to see an absence of Owen love interests.

What do you think is going on in this still?

I want it to be something silly like Lou 2 is lost in the loft and Carlos is Not Happy about it (the reason for TK's posture) and then he answers his phone in the middle of all of that, hence the facial expression. The phone call isn't that important, it's Owen asking Carlos for help on a side quest.

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

I don't know about a prediction, but I'd love to see them getting distracted from getting ready in the morning. Carlos (in just his underwear) waking TK up with a kiss and TK pulling him back into bed for a good make out session and that turning into more. A very different vibe to 1x02 but hot nonetheless.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

I think it was somewhere close to home - with the accelerated wedding timeline (lol) they didn't have time for a long trip for to somewhere far away, and by all accounts, travelling overseas wasn't on their radar anyway (see: TK's disbelief when Carlos says he wants to go to Tuscany). So a long weekend at a nice resort somewhere. Enzo paid for it as their wedding gift because he couldn't make it to the wedding when they moved the date up.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

Just one (1)? Impossible! This Rafa fan art by @ambiguouspenny made me actually say "oh fuck" the first time I saw it. I adore the way @whatsintheboxmh uses light in all of her fan art. I love @howtosingit's Carlos episode edits because they a) let me watch all of the Tarlos scenes on repeat (and before I actually get to the watch the episodes when they air because time zones), b) give me an easy way to check canon dialogue and c) make it easy to convince new people to watch the show when they sneak into my DMs and tell me that the number of Tarlos gifs I am putting on their dash is tempting them. @liminalmemories21's Knave-verse might be my favourite Tarlos AU, everything about it makes me swoon. Okay, cutting myself off now.

Tagging: @welcometololaland @howtosingit @three-drink-amy just so they know my earlier tags in this post were tags to do this and also @lightningboltreader @orchidscript

@danieljradcliffe @guardian-angle22 @reasonandfaithinharmony @alrightbuckaroo

@cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @nancys-braids @heartstringsduet and anyone else who wants to play 💖 PS. if ao3 user olympia2007 is here on tumblr, I'm tagging you too (and please come say hi)

[strandnreyes]

Tag Game Tuesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

thanks for the tag and for creating this @tellmegoodbye !

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I saw a commercial for it during the superbowl in 2020 and wanted a new weekly show to watch so I caught up on the first three episodes in time to watch 1x04 live

Which season is your favorite?

Honestly it’s a toss up between 3 and 4. I think there are more episodes I like in season 3, but tarlos’ storyline in season 4 is so layered and feels a bit more deep and meaningful to me

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

TK and Carlos are my favorites and it would be impossible to choose between them, but I think my second favorite would be Marjan or Judd

Top five episodes. Go!

In no particular order:

Push (3x04)

Yee-Haw (1x02)

Swipe Left (4x12)

The Big Heat (2x12)

In Sickness and In Health (4x18)

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Carlos. I think the more we learn about him, the more questions I have. It would be fun to actually see his past and his relationships with his parents and Iris or when or why he decided he wanted to become a police officer and what that conversation looked like with his family. I think there are a lot of things that would parallel nicely with present day.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

I've talked about this a little bit before, but I think it would be tarlos starting off in a good spot at the beginning of the season until something pulls Carlos back into looking for the killer. TK would be involved too, whether that's being threatened or helping Carlos look, with all of it building into this big intense episode with a sweet and sexy relief

What do you think is going on in this still?

It would be fun if they're being threatened by the killer because Carlos is digging too much. I think a more realistic scenario could be someone from AFD or the Rangers calling about a lead in the case

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

I think it'll be a catharsis of sorts, maybe after a fight or time spent apart. I think it'll be the two of them desperate for each other, knowing the other is safe and they're okay. maybe a parallel to 1x02 except one of them is already home and meets the other at the door. there's a trail of clothes as they kiss their way to their bedroom this time. probably some kind of emotional music and the low light of some lamps. bonus points if they get their pants off before the fade to black

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

I had them go to puerto vallarta in my honeymoon fic, but I could see it being along the gulf too. I know one of them said at a con that they spent it at home and it’s a sweet concept but we literally see them at a pool so sknajdnsjs

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

I just read this the other day so it's fresh in my mind, but Cause It's Your Life by GoOffCredits (I don't think they're on tumblr) had me hanging onto every word. it's the perfect kind of emotional angst I love

tagging @reyesstrand @paperstorm @sheholdsthemoon @welcomehometk @carlos-in-glasses @chicgeekgirl89 + open tag for anyone who wants to play along!

[ebbarights]

roman's sex thing means so much to me i am both excited to see where they will take it and scared they will fuck it up because there is no season 5 to fix it if they do

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[kyouka-supremacy]

I thought about putting the bsd trailers and manga equivalent panels side by side because clearly there is something wrong with me (open the images to be able to read for better quality)

[artetass]

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

Hi! I’ve sent you two asks already, sorry for bothering you. I just can’t stop thinking about nhthcth, but I was wondering, does Jon get paid? Was he getting paid as a child?

For some reason I got this idea in my head that if Jon didn’t get paid the contract wouldn’t work. Because like, contracts are usually an agreement that one person does one thing and gets another thing in return. Like the Magnus Institute’s contract is like “you work here and never leave and sell your soul to me and I’ll give you maybe more than minimum wage,” so if Jon didn’t get paid, the Institute wouldn’t be holding up their end of the contract, so Jon wouldn’t need to hold up his end and he could leave.

Although I don’t know how that would work when Jon’s a child, he wouldn’t have a bank account, (does he have one as an adult?) I assume it would just go to his legal guardian’s bank account, which I guess would be Elias, but did Elias ever fully adopt Jon? Like legally? Did Elias have to forge adoption papers and stuff or did he just kidnap a child and hoped he’d get away with it. (I suppose he did get away with it) does Jon even have an ID? How did he go to university when he doesn’t have any school history past third grade?

Anyway, sorry I started rambling, you of course don’t have to answer this (nor do you need my permission not to answer, so I’m not sure why I said that) this is just a funny little question I was thinking about. Also, sorry if you’ve answered this already or there’s something in the fic that would answer it and I didn’t notice. Thank you for the amazing story and answering my other asks.

So, you've actually hit the nail on the head on one of the very important rules for nhthcth as a universe, insofar as like, magic systems (for lack of a better word) goes. That being said, a lot of the specifics of this ask is something that I can't answer due to spoilers (like how he went to university, whether elias ever adopted him, whether he has an ID). Those will receive direct explanations in the course of the fic so I can't answer them here.

But as to like, the magic system itself, it's already been seen/addressed in the fic (in a lot of disparate bits and pieces), so I don't have a problem with a more detailed explanation below the cut.

so, most of this system has been in subtext and broken up amongst a lot of little moments in the fic itself. its there but figuring it out takes a lot of patchwork. I don't currently have a more explicit breakdown of the system in the narrative itself because having like, Jon explain it super explicitly feels a bit too much like those internal monologues of an anime fight scene where the characters are having these really in-depth breakdowns of what they're planning and what's happening while they're throwing each other through walls. I just like more subtle storytelling, personally? A lot of the time, it just becomes so painfully obvious that they're talking to the audience and it feels clunky and unnatural. So I scattered the foundation of this amongst a bunch of little moments throughout.

You're absolutely dead on about contracts needing to be "one person gets one thing and the other person gets the other." That is a hard and fast rule in nhthcth, and it has everything to do with what the Web is.

One of my favorite bits about TMA world building is that the fears as so metaphysical. Which makes for a very fun (again, for lack of a better word) magic system. I hate it when magic systems break their own rules or become too powerful and you can just supercharge on the Power Of Friendship to do basically anything if you Believe Enough. Personally, I think characters get to really shine and show their intelligence when you stick them with very narrow and firm rules and make them work inside that system without breaking it. TMA in particular does an amazing job with that.

The Fears are the platonic ideals of their own identities and they legitimately cannot resist what they are. The episode with the Web's theatre production best encapsulated this: The Web said something along the lines of "If only you could see the strings on me."

In that same episode, Jon almost got trapped in the Web domain watching endless plays, because the Eye could not resist what it is, and what it is is something that spectates pain endlessly. The Web couldn't resist trapping Jon in there, because that's what it is, despite the fact that it would have fucked its own endgame if it trapped the Archivist in its fucked up theatre production until the End claimed them all. They're incredibly powerful beings, but they're still, in a way, trapped by their own nature. Humans can change, adapt, be different, but the Entities can't be anything but what they are.

In nhthcth there's a line that i tend to use again and again to encapsulate this, and it's usually something along the lines of "These things only are what they are."

They're not versatile forces. They're not a flexible tool like most magic systems where you can use this abstract and malleable force to cast the Spell of Fire and the Spell of Healing and the Spell of Ketamine Ape. They can only do what their own existence allows them and they cannot resist their own nature. It's one of the reasons why Jon in nhthcth is so insistent that the Eye can't be used as a force for good--good is completely outside of its existence. If you know anything about Greek philosophy, I think Plato's idea of the forms is pretty analogous to what the Entities are and how they work.

Which is also why Jon's like, "Duh, of course it's the Web that's got us bound and not the Eye. That's what the Web does."

The Eye just isn't about binding and trapping. What Jonah can use it to do is completely limited to stuff that falls under the Eye's umbrella. He could have the most powerful connection to the Eye on the planet (he doesn't), but that doesn't mean he can supercharge on Eye God Juice and blast a hole through the wall with the power of his mind, right? That would make the entire magic system in TMA ridiculous. In the same way, he can't use the Eye to enforce contract terms. That's not what the Eye does.

That's the Web, through and through. So when you're considering the contract, you have to think in terms of what the Web is.

The thing about the Fears is that they're shown to be a little multifaceted in that multiple distinct fears fit beneath the same umbrella with them. Take the Eye. The fear of someone knowing your deepest, darkest secrets fits beneath it, right? And that's very much Jonah's area of expertise. He probably fed on Martin's terror about being discovered for forging his CV for years. He neutralized Daisy by finding out the secrets that hurt her and using them against you. He's the invasive, watching part of the eye that may know your secrets and want to use it against you.

but the Eye is also the fear of someone watching your pain, your suffering, and (for lack of a better term) getting off on it. Enjoying it. It's bleeding out in the street and, when help finally arrives, they just sit down next to you and watch eagerly as you die.

That is so much the Archivists role.

Sometimes, I think of how terrifying the Archivist would be if it wasn't Jon in the role. Don't get me wrong--he has his moments of terrifying power, and he definitely didn't get good reviews on yelp from statement givers. But, fundamentally, he does care.

But imagine you go to the Magnus Institute under the assumption that they may help. You sit there and you tell them the worst fucking thing that ever happened to you. It's like you're experiencing it a second time, in all the horrific detail. You're retraumatized all over again, and then the Statement ends and you're sitting there, tape recorder still running, and you realize the person you went to for help just... enjoyed every second of pain you went through. There's one episode in particular that I think pulled this feeling off so well--the one where the guy in Scotland who found Gertrude's circle opened with something along the lines of "I don't care about any of this. I just want to know if you'll save my son." Like, imagine the horrible, crushing horror of going to someone for help and the moment you realize that were never going to do anything. They just wanted to watch you die too.

It's also one of the reasons that I think that Jon, for all he thrived as the Archivist, kept so much of who he was because of the inaction part specifically. In Season 1, he makes these vague mentions to fights he's getting into with Elias. Elias keeps lecturing him about noninterference, how they're here to research and not interfere, and Jon has these moments were he's like "anyway I don't give a fuck there's fucking leitners out there and if i have my way there will be a hell of a lot less of them." He legitimately says at one point that he's going to get another lecture about Institute mission statements and watching without interference.

Jon made so many bad choices when he was Becoming, but the one he consistently made against Becoming was that, almost against his will, he wanted to save people. That's picking the opposite of what the Eye is, and I think that that's the part of him that he got to keep.

that was more of an aside and not so relevant to the question. i got on a tangent. but it's here now so it stays. i already typed it. Anywho.

Jonah can't do what Jon does. He can't compel answers out of people. He's a panopticon, and the fear he embodies is that someone may be watching you and catch you in the act. It's not the fear of someone forcing the information out of you. But Jon can't do with Jonah does either. He can't just hop through eyes and spy on people. That's not his relationship with the Eye or the part of it he embodies.

They both have a very metaphysical limitation to their own experience with the Eye, because the idea of the Eye itself is just a human classification. Maybe Jon's sky blue and Jonah's dark blue and the Eye's all the blues, but at the end of the day, we just made up the idea of "blue" to explain our own experience with colors. They don't get to wield the full spectrum of "colors" available under the Eye. They can both be attached to the Eye but they're completely limited to what it means to be sky blue versus dark blue.

So it's important to remember that when you consider the contract, because it's just an aspect of the Web. It's not every aspect of the Web.

The Web is the fear of being totally under control of another--think raymond fielding in Hill Top Road, Mr. Spider, forcing people to walk, that kind of thing--but it's not just that. It's also the fear of being manipulated. Of being outmaneuvered. And I think that fits much more metaphysically with what a contract is than being under total and absolute control.

A contract is just an agreement of rules that two parties have to abide by, right? And sometimes the contract is way more favorable to one party than the other, but we also recognize that there's limits to that. You named a very big one--"this for that." For contracts to be enforceable, there has to be this thing we call "consideration." I get this, you get that. If the contract read "I have to give you one million dollars and you don't have to do anything" that'd be a gratuitous promise and it wouldn't be an enforceable contract.

That being said, consideration doesn't have to be balanced. The contract doesn't have to be fair. I don't know a super huge amount of British law (though a lot of American law is derived from it) but in american contract law we have a standard that basically says there has to be a "mere peppercorn" of consideration. We're not going to see if the exchange is fair, just if there is an exchange. there's this huge body of law around what's allowed in contracts and how contracts should be interpreted because we recognize that, at a certain point, something isn't a contract anymore. It breaks the rules of exchange.

And I think that very much goes towards the real fear the Web would be working with when it comes to the contracts. Think of like, law dramas. People like law dramas because the characters show off how clever they are. They're working in some system of rules and then at the eleventh hour they pull out some kind of loophole or interpretation that saves the day, right? The fact that there are limits and rules to what the characters can do is exactly what makes it so exciting when they figure out how to flip them in their favor. You need to have the chance to succeed in the system, however small, or it all just kind of becomes meaningless. There's no point in manipulation or machinations if you instantly lose no matter what.

That's the exact fear the Web would be playing on with the contracts, in my mind. It's being at the mercy of someone who has to follow the same rules as you, but they're grossly skewed in the other person's favor and the other person is better at using them. It's being stuck in a game where both players have to follow the rules but you have no idea what the rules are, and the other player gets to know them and have them severely favor them.

But the entire fear just becomes kind of ridiculous if it's not limited. It kind of becomes like a game of make believe between little kids if you can just write something in the contract without limitation. Like saying "well, my power is at one million percent" "my power is at one BILLION percent" "my power is at FIVE TRILLION percent." Right? Like, if you're playing that game, the rules don't really mean anything. It's all just bullshit. It doesn't invoke the fear of someone manipulating the rules against you. If the contract terms don't enforce obligations against Jonah too, it just sort of leaves the realm of what fear this is, which breaks the rules of the magic system. Being totally at someone's mercy is just a different fear than having someone outmaneuvering you at rules you both are stuck with.

Which means that, for the contract to be what it is, Jonah has to be bound by it in some way. It has to follow some kind of rules that bind him too. It can be very unbalanced and favor him greatly, but it still needs to set some kind of obligation and limit on him or the entire thing becomes ridiculous.

That's why Jonah so aggressively tries to keep Jon from trying to learn the terms of the contract. If Jon knew the way Jonah was bound by the contract, he'd be able to use the rules against him. Jon's playing the same game as Jonah, but he never got to see the rulebook.

We know two ways from canon that you can use to escape the contract: (1) gouge out your own eyes and (2) the archivist dies and the assistants can leave. but we never see the terms of the contract itself, and the fact that option #2 popped up in season 5 when all we knew before that was option #1 means that maybe there are more ways to break the contract and maybe there aren't. Maybe it's just options 1 and 2, or maybe there's other ways to escape we never figured out. Why do options 1 & 2 work? Is it explicitly written out somewhere in the binding instrument? Is it some loophole that not even elias expected? All we know for certain is that ways out of the contract include but may not be limited to options 1 and 2.

So, yes, Jon gets paid. But is that a term of the contract? Was that the consideration that Jonah wrote down in the Web's binding contract, or is there something else? Jon doesn't know, so he can't use it against him.

Maybe Jonah does have to pay Jon under the contract. Or he's only paying Jon to keep up appearances. Like, yeah, maybe the metaphysically binding contract would allow him to chain people here without paying them, but payroll would still have massive questions about why the Institute Head's angry adoptive son has been the Institute's unpaid slave worker for the past decade.

One of Jonah's biggest strategies to keep Jon from escaping is to abide very strictly by what may or may not be the terms of the Web's contract. Jon can't deduce what the rules are if Jonah voluntarily plays by more rules than he has to.

Take Elias's promise to Tim, for example. Jon still doesn't even know how the Web contract is formed. It sure as hell isn't simply the contract that most employees see--there's no clause that says "and by the way you can never ever quit or leave or you will die xoxoxoxo." Are all the terms already written down somewhere he can't find? Could oral promises be binding? He has no idea, because Elias is never going to act in a way that lets him eliminate the possibility. He'll follow the letter of his promise, and maybe that's because he has to or he'll breach the contract, or maybe that's because he's choosing to keep his promise when he doesn't have to. Elias keeps the terms of the contract unclear by following more rules than he has to.

It's one of the reasons why he uses so much doublespeak. Elias says something like "I'll keep my word, and you'll have to do the same." That only tells us things we already knew--Tim would have to be bound by the contract and wouldn't be able to leave. He'll keep his word, but does Elias have to under the contract? If he broke his word, Jon would be able to conclusively tell that oral conditions are non-binding. He'd know that there's some kind of outside binding instrument that has the rules already set out, and Elias can't change them with an oral promise. But if Elias toes the letter of the oral condition no matter what, then it could be because he has to or it could be because he chose to.

There are rules that Elias has to abide by, but Jon is only pretty certain of a few: 1) He has to have Jon's signature before he moves people into his department. He can't give him assistants unless Jon signs off on it first. Jon only got that much because Elias tried so damn hard to get his signature for the transfer. If Elias could break that rule, there's a pretty good chance that he would have, but he didn't so it probably means he can't. It's a place the contract almost definitely binds him too. 2) the contract kills you if you spend too long away from the Institute, but Elias has a way of letting you stay away for longer. If Jon leaves without approval, then he gets sick within a few weeks. But he's made it months away from the Institute just because Elias approved the leave.

So is that because Elias is the one who triggers the contract killing you in the first place? Or does he have a way of stopping a power that will automatically go off.

If the contract reads, "In the case of unapproved absences, the Head of the Institute may file Form B45, the 'Kill My Errant Employees' Form, and the employee will suffer a heart attack within a period not to exceed fourteen (14) days," then they'd be able to pretty effectively escape just by finding a way to immobilize Elias permanently--chuck him in the Buried, he'll never die but he also won't be able to file a Kill My Errant Employee Form. But if the contract reads "In the case of unapproved absences, the employee will suffer a heart attack within a period not to exceed fourteen (14) days unless the Head of The Institute files Form U95, Approved Leave of Absences," then they need him alive and mobile to file a leave of absence form so Jon won't fucking die the next time he's kidnapped for a month. Or maybe a leave of absence form isn't necessary if Jon's only kept away because of a kidnapping. Maybe the contract reads "In the case of unapproved and voluntary absences" and being involuntarily missing isn't a breach at all. They don't know, because Elias is going to file the fucking leave of absence form whether or not he has to.

If they knew the exact rules and minute details of the contract terms, they could wriggle their way into an exception that makes their conditions more livable. Instead, they're just stuck with a very broad correlation between Elias's action and/or inaction and the contract not killing you when you leave for long periods on approved absences. Maybe they could just chuck him in the Buried and fuck off, but fuck if they know, and that's the sort of risk you really can't take unless you're certain.

A lot of Jon testing boundaries with Elias has been trying to figure out the boundaries of the contract. Remember in the martyrs chapter, where Martin is like "jon why do you have an employee email you're like sixteen???" it's because jon was already an employee, and employees are required to have an official email. He knew it and Elias knew it even if no one else did.

If Elias refused him an official institute email, Jon would know that the contract does not require him to provide all employees with Institute-standard resources as outlined in the employee manual. Maybe sections of the employee manual isn't binding, maybe the entire thing isn't binding. Jon knows breaking the Institute dress code probably isn't a part of the binding contract because of his Epic Fashion Moments (or, if it is, the penalty isn't death like leaving is), but does that apply to all parts of the employee manual? If he doesn't get an official email at the shiny age of sixteen when he's Not Supposed To Be Employed, then he knows another section of the employee manual just doesn't have teeth. But if Elias just gives him what any employee would be entitled to, then it could be because he had to or it could be because he chose to.

It's also the reason why getting people to quit was important to jon--yes, he was trying to get people free of the Institute, but if he pushed someone into quitting, he'd be able to test out some very valuable information about the contract. Can people quit if Elias allows it? Maybe the rule is that the Archives can't quit, but everyone else can if Elias allows it. Maybe everyone can quit if Elias lets them. Maybe no one can quit and they're all fucked. If Elias can let some people quit but never lets them quit, then Jon has no data points to work with when trying to figure out how people escape the contract.

Which is also why elias flipped his shit and burned the HR records the one time Jon managed to get his hands on them. Over the years, there have been people who unknowingly stumbled into one of the rules binding Elias, and he let them quit without protest. There's a very good chance that that's because he had to let them quit. If Jon could find the common denominator between people who quit successfully, then maybe he could figure out how to do the same, which is why Elias has spent so long making sure he gets as little information as possible to work with. Jon can't win the game if he never learns the rules.

It is important to note that Elias breaking the terms of the contract that bind him may not be "and now Jon can finally go home oh my fucking god." The penalties for breach of contract, that we know of, are death. Does Elias face the same penalties if he breaches? Does he face some kind of other penalty? We don't know yet, because Elias is guarding those terms like his fucking life depends on it.

[miraculouscontent]

A semi-random thought that occurred to me today and a good example of why I will never go out of my way/seek out the arguments of love square stans:

Let’s talk about That Scene in “Truth” real quick with the Adrien pictures, and I mean seriously talk about it from both a writing perspective and in-universe. The simplified version is simply that it has nothing to do with the actual break-up and actually damages the argument of love square stans rather than helps, but I’ll explain in more detail.

Firstly, it’s an actual, literal fact that Adrien himself has nothing to do with the break-up between Marinette and Luka. If you were able to magically edit out the Adrien pictures from Marinette’s wall and all scenes/lines that mention him, nothing would change: we’d be watching an episode where Marinette tries to date Luka, is cut off at every chance due to Ladybug duties (which stress her out so much to the point of being even more forgetful than usual), he gets akumatized, they break up because they’re unable to have the honest relationship that both Marinette and Luka want, and Marinette sobs to herself in her room because she can’t date due to being Ladybug.

Any mentions of Adrien do nothing for the actual story, which brings me to my next point:

Both in-universe and narratively speaking, the show already makes it obvious before The Call happens that this is not just a Marinette problem, but a universe problem. The girls, Ziggy, Luka, and the girls again drag in Adrien to be the topic of discussion at different points in the stories without Marinette’s direct input. At no point during the episode does Marinette herself bring up Adrien without him being the topic first.

This tells us two things:

1 - Marinette’s problem with Adrien extends to other people bringing him up to her unnecessarily. The argument can’t be made that Marinette and only Marinette brought it on herself, because the fact that it’s a problem at all should dictate that the others should stop enabling it by bringing Adrien up.

2 - Marinette can and does have the capacity to not make things about Adrien, but the mention of him makes her lose all sense of self.

If the intent of mentioning Adrien is to imply that Marinette is using Luka as a replacement for him, that disregards what actually happens in the episode. In “Truth,” Marinette is near Adrien on two separate occasions (with Luka directly nearby) and doesn’t have a reaction to him, choosing instead to favor Luka. This contradicts The Call, which suddenly looks more like a moment of panic of her magically-reappearing Adrien wall than Marinette viewing Luka as an Adrien substitute. Marinette also gives Luka a gift specific to him, meaning she thought very much of him and what he would want.

While stans would argue the point that Marinette forgot her date with Luka, she clearly didn’t forget The Gift despite showing in later episode that she forgets virtually everything. This is even disregarding the fact that Marinette essentially tells the audience directly that her memory is shot because of her responsibilities (and any arguing beyond that is gaslighting people with horrible memories into thinking they don’t care about people simply because they’ve forgotten something important about them; S T O P).

A properly-written story would show more evidence to its case, such as Marinette seeing Adrien in place of Luka when they hang out, Marinette whispering Adrien’s name just before she and Luka (try to) kiss, Marinette giving Luka a gift she’d once intended for Adrien (but failed to give him), and Marinette admitting to herself at the end that she was settling for Luka. Not only do none of these things happen, but the show tells its audience in “Gang of Secrets” that Marinette fell for Luka and that she didn’t break up with him due to not liking him. The show, naturally, tries to retcon that in “Crocoduel,” but the retcon proves that they saw the “issue” and didn’t know how to fix it.

Stans will of course continue to argue then about The Call and all the supposed “pro love square implications” it has without realizing the very hole they’re digging themselves into. I mean, this is even going beyond the fact that they will repeatedly bash Marinette for her behavior concerning Adrien whilst they still ship the love square we have in canon.

Basically, everything in “Truth” is explained with one simple sentence: Marinette is obsessed with Adrien, but in love with Luka, and everyone mistakes Marinette being obsessed with being “in true love.”

Obsession takes over Marinette’s mind, her life, everything, and I’ve done whole posts about how thoroughly Marinette’s Adrien crush has ruined her life rather than made it better. Case in point, Marinette wouldn’t even be guardian in the first place had it not been for the Adrien obsession, meaning the Season 4 finale wouldn’t have happened.

Using The Call to prove Love Square Supremacy isn’t furthering their point, but rather shining a spotlight on the exact issue with the love square and why it should never have been endgame in the first place.

[cloud-somersault]

it's kinda hard for me to discuss canon things because I always am like "oh yeah! in my AU--" and people are like "no...i meant in canon" and it's just

i don't wanna talk about canon LMFAO why would i do that when i've sunk all these hours into this fucking AU man

[essektheylyss]

Because I mentioned my Heroes fandom time and once I start thinking about Heroes I will not stop, it remains funny as shit that Heroes was like, "Here's our serial killer villain. He's not a sociopath or mentally ill or any of that bullshit, he doesn't even need to resort to this to get what he wants, he's just a fucked up little freak obsessed with power and he can stop anytime he likes. We're going to give him an utterly incomprehensible redemption arc for no reason. And it's gonna slap."