#b4 i was sad i used to be like why do people just eat tiny sticks of cheese lmao

[nomaian]

current depression meal: a cup of yogurt and two sticks of cheese

[seraphcelene]

TV: The Passage: 01x06 - I Want to Know What You Taste Like

So, the end of the world continues apace. Pre-teens are pre-teens and we learn some interesting things about the Virals.

Also, and unrelated .... I acknowledge that I’m an episode, about to be two episodes behind on Roswell, New Mexico. Work is a little cray. Hopefully, I’ll rectify this miss soon.

On with episode six!

There's something rotten in the state of Denmark as Winslow who made a mad-dash escape from B4 last week, headed out into the world and wreaked havoc and mayhem. This was not, apparently, part of the plan, but a small rebellion on the part of Winslow. Fanning isn't too happy about it and, to be honest, doesn't really know what to do with it and has no power to change it. It's an interesting peak into the interior life and power strata of the Virals, one that until now has been viewed through the lens of our resident Power Couple: Fanning and Babcock.

There still isn't any enlightenment on why there has to be twelve Virals in order for the New World order that Fanning has planned to come to fruition, but the fact that he isn't as in control as we've been led to believe or that he is presenting to the outside world is a pretty telling. For all that he suggests that the end is nigh and inevitable, this episode reminds us that it is not. His authority is dubious and his prescience, apparently, is mostly mind fuckery. He doesn’t know what Amy is or how the virus has mutated with her and he was UTTERLY surprised when Dr. Lear decided to light them all up at the end of the episode.

I'm also much more curious about the other Virals and their agendas. We got a peek at Babcock's agenda which has as much to do with her anger at Sykes as it does with whatever misplaced loyalties she may have gifted Fanning.

Babcock targeting Clarke becomes very personal. She is, also, even before the turn, a Master Manipulator. She played Sykes from jump, picking at her and looking for weaknesses and connections even when she, ostensibly, had nothing to gain from it. It draws an interesting line in the sand for the future of the Virals and how this revolution might play out. There are the Manipulators with a plan, like Babcock and Fanning who play excellent mind games. Psyhic chess, really, as they feint and parry and test and push and try to build a strategy before their opponents figure out whVt they're doing. Then there are the Virals like Winston, who are all about the immediate thrill. Id vs Ego, I guess. The Virals ruled by their passions, who want what they want right now without really thinking it through.

I also wonder how much of the difference is determined by the varying degrees of imprisonment that the virals are under. Does the physical body have any driving will that might trump the mental prowess that Fanning was so quick to brag about to Elizabeth. From the outside looking in, they are mindless zombie monsters. Is that a disguise or is it a reality that the virals aren't admitting to. Is that rich, interior life that Fanning is clinging to and sliding through people's dreams projecting something that will translate into physical reality once he's outside of the cage he's in?

Babcock, for all that she is planning and strategizing, is also very clearly targeting Skyes. I love that Sykes figures it out and was so completely unsurpised when Shauna showed up in the lab. Despite her fear, she was clearly aware of what was happening and I LOVED that and I LOVED that she admitted right away and without qualms what had happened to Lear. I am sick unto death of these supposedly intelligent people lying and carrying on. I also LOVED how Dr. Lear was like, yep, time to go kill 'em all. Sad though it may be, and yes, they were people and yes this was my fault and yes, I'm going to kill them anyway.

The most sound decision that I have heard so far. The not so great part of that? The realization that killing the Viral kills everyone their tied to and how that means Amy and Elizabeth. It was a dumb move for them to stop considering how it was all the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few way back in the beginning of this little endeavor. Of course, I realize that then there would be no show, but this particular way out was too obvious and completely in contention with the intial directive that Project Noah seemed to exsit under.

Other Things: * What is up, Dr. Lila?! Running through the woods when you see monsters in the road is not the best decision ever. I thought she was going to jump into the front seat and drive away. That made more sense. Alas, she ran through the woods and wound up in a cabin where Winston had just been ... of course. She then patches up a woman who turns rather quickly and proceeds to try to eat her throat out.

* Along with Shauna stalking Dr. Sykes and her statement that she wants to know what Sykes tastes like, i.e. she wants to kill her personally, the new Viral that Lila found recites an interesting little litany that sounds like a baking receipt that quickly devolved into a blood craving, eliding the people as food theme pretty creatively.

* So, on an interesting note, the Virals turned via Bite change MUCH more rapidly than the people who are injected with the Virus. I was wondering about that because Vampire stories are intrinsically infection stories and this one was a little shaky seeing as how controlled the spread was presented. We've drifted very far from the Pilot episode and Fanning's bite and subsequent re-awakening. We were never given a timeline for how quickly he changed, so this episode was eye opening.

* Pre-teen!Amy!!!!! For the win. Okay, she was being bratty, but I love that in the middle of all the madness, she is still a little girl grieving for her mother and pissed off at her surrogate Dad for being overprotective and not listening. Plus, she's just pissed at her Dad and sometimes kids are just pissed at their parents. Her siding with Guilder was REAL pointed and not in the least Subtle. She was mad and she wanted to make sure that he knew it even though she really didn't want him very far away. Kids!

* The hug at the end and that giant breath that Wolgast exhaled make my heart constrict. He was so relieved that they had made up and I did not believe for even one tiny little second that he really believed or mean any of that clap trap about not being her dad. He is TOTALLY all about being her dad.

* Amy totes knows it, too.

* I love that he told Amy about his daughter and that Amy recognized how important that information was and made a point to turn around and look him in the face while he apologized and told her Important and Personal Things. I really love those two.

* Clark. Interesting, he's less of an asshole when away from Shauna. And apparently he gets is common sense back the further away from her that he gets. Nice to see that he understands, finally, that everything is going to shit. I feel like that's poor writing, but I guess he supposed to be a little bit of a good guy somewhere in there.

* I am baffled as to how Horace Guider managed to survive that little ambush in the Water Resovior or wherever they were.

[purgatoryandme]

Hey its thunderiron anon again and I am just utterly curious....if you were to write about this pairing how would you do it 🤗🤗 (also I'm now crazy about addition of bucky to this ship to after reading that ask and your answer to it)(winteriron and thunderiron are my top otps why didn't I think of 3 of them together b4 this🤔🙄) anyways if you would have a crack at it(Thortony) how will it go.

I’d probably do ThunderIron with a post-Ragnarok Thor and an older more mature Tony having difficulty relating to the people around them and naturally turning to each other for companionship. Both of them have been responsible for the lives and wellbeing of thousands of people, have failed those people, and have struggled to be better as a consequence of that. The struggles of a king aren’t exactly relatable for most folks. Thor’s probably the more trusting of the two of them, so he’d make the approach. All of his gestures would just be these quiet requests for comfort, for acknowledgement, for friendship - like the scene of them meeting again in IM, Thor is a social guy who gets lonely easily. Tony’s ultimately a giver and wouldn’t be able to resist the opportunity to spoil someone - that’s how Tony practices self-care. Thor wants company and contact so badly.They always find themselves talking at night, drifting through the halls alone and wondering what they could have done better. Tony is usually angry when confronted with his anxieties, but he just can’t snap back at Thor, not when he’s got this whole…gentle giant thing going on. The fact that Thor respects him also makes him reluctant to be rude - respect is in such short supply for Tony these days. So instead he turns to talking in riddles and metaphor. Thor meets him line for line. They begin discussing philosophy when really what they are discussing is both of their struggles. They talk about literature when they are really trying to see if they’re both ok. They poke fun at themselves and their families and their old pains. They drink and watch the stars and murmur about their most epic adventures, trying to pretend it doesn’t make them sad. And then they find that huh, it actually doesn’t make them sad anymore. Because Thor’s old war stories bring a sparkle to Tony’s eyes. Tony’s party day tales make Thor laugh like he used to. They don’t need to be ashamed about the past around each other. And when they are anyway, they’re there for each other to build a better future. At this point, because I love Extremis Tony, I’d probably pull some grand symbolic stunt of Tony repeating his and Thor’s first meeting in the MCU - the suit being charged by Thor attacking him. Tony would be all, “Charge me up, Big Guy.” and it’s dangerous, it’s stupid, but Thor has seen the way the little sparks from his skin just sink right into Tony and make him glow. So he goes for it. And Tony is incandescent - lightning in human form. Without even thinking about it, Thor kisses him and they short out every single circuit in a five mile radius. Basically it’d be an old souls romance with making each other feel young again, but also “damn it all we need to take command of large numbers of people and the responsibility sucks, BUT it also looks REALLY GOOD on you”. Including Bucky would be such a shakeup because Bucky isn’t the leader type. He’s a huge caretaker and I have no idea how he’d handle two sad kings who are also big caretaker types without just up and murdering them. I could see some kind of platonic relationship forming with Thor because honestly idk if Bucky, loyalty incarnate, could handle two romantic relationships AND take care of himself at the same time. So maybe Thor and Tony fall in love, however the pressures of world crisis after world crisis keep them too busy to see each the way they want to and so they both resign themselves to sadness. Bucky’s having a hard time connecting to everyone on the Old Avengers team besides Steve, who has so many people caring for him these days that Bucky doesn’t really know what to do with himself. And one day he comes across the two most elusive Avengers, the two busiest ones who are never around, slow dancing to some classical waltz. Tony’s arms are wrapped around Thor, gently lowering his head into Tony’s neck in a surprisingly protective gesture, and one of Thor’s hands is over Tony’s heart. As Bucky watches, Tony’s heart begins to glow, his skin showering sparks as Tony laughs softly. “I’ll be up all night if you keep that up, Thunder Struck.”Tony says, turning electric blue eyes on Thor’s hand. Said hand drifts up to cup Tony’s jaw, turning it away from Bucky as Thor steals a kiss. “Sleep is just another death, Anthony, and I don’t want tonight to die. I miss you as soon as the sun rises - let me have a little longer.” Thor tells him and oh, oh shit, wow Bucky never realized they were together. He also never realized how beautiful they were together. Or how…lonely. When Tony leaves the next day, Bucky finds himself naturally drifting into Thor’s space and requesting his help with various tasks for the day. Then he finds himself checking that Thor is eating enough. And then he finds himself asking for book recommendations. When Thor leaves, a quizzical sort of smile on his face, Tony comes back and Bucky does the same thing. Tony is tiny and difficult to care for. It makes him feel…more like himself, really. Tony is easy to talk to. He wants to make Tony smile like Thor does.He keeps switching off between the two of them, carrying messages back and forth, and finally starts quietly threatening everyone keeping them as busy as they are. He chases off the other Avengers when they try to infringe on Tony and Thor’s private time. Then, to his utter bewilderment, he’s included in that private time. Then Thor’s hand, his other hand clutched in Tony’s to ground it, presses into Bucky’s. Tony is pressing a kiss to his neck with the slightest hint of teeth, making him shudder, and Thor brushes their entwined hands against Tony’s chest, sparking that beautiful glow Bucky has obsessed over for months. “He wants you, Soldier.”Thor says cheekily, glancing between Bucky and Tony under his thick lashes. Bucky is just…wow…he’s dying a little bit? Because he felt terrible about wanting Tony when he was such good friends with Thor, but Thor was looking very interested in what Tony was doing, and what Tony was doing was sucking a love bite into Bucky’s neck. Bucky squeaks out an, “Oh God yes.”Before finding himself in an incredibly hot threesome.