#cosplay 2.0 is gonna look so good!

[howlingdemon13]

It’s “distress fabric, get covered in paint, and add pockets to a dress” day!

[natimiles]

LEVI IS A SMART COOKIE — HEADCANONS (AND APPRECIATION?)

🐟 Let’s start stating the obvious: he is hella smart. He’s an Admiral, he had to study and work hard for it! He might be shy and socially awkward, but we can’t invalidate his entire personality just because he actually says “ROFL” out loud. A person (or demon, in this case) can be goofy and smart — one doesn’t cancel out the other.

🐟 That settled, here is what I think about it:

🐟 From strongest to weakest (and to make things easier), I’d rank his intelligences: visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal and interpersonal.

🪸 Visual-spatial: he needs to be good at it if he’s gonna navigate. He barely leaves his room, but he’s got the whole Devildom mapped out in his head. He can walk blindfolded and still be able to arrive at RAD or anywhere he needs to go.

🪸 Logical-mathematical: he has an insanely good strategic mind. You think he’s an Admiral just because he’s one of the Seven Lords? He’s got serious skills in what he does, or it wouldn’t have worked out.

🪸 Verbal-linguistic: he might have a hard time speaking to new people, but he has good communication once he trusts you enough. He can be assertive when he needs to and, again, he has to be able to communicate when he’s commanding his crew. And he’s a really good writer.

🪸 Naturalistic: he loves animals! He looked at a giant snake and decided it was a good friend. He has Henry 2.0 for who knows how long and he takes such good care of him. For me, he loves the ocean, from both the Human and the Demon World. He is a sea serpent demon, so he can swim with all sorts of creatures, learning about them along the way. Sometimes, he even feels a connection to those deep-sea dwellers — living in the dark, solitary depths. (you’re welcome for the angst thought)

🪸 Bodily-kinesthetic: he has good coordination and no one can convince me otherwise. He likes to learn the choreographies of his favorite idols. I think he can learn it pretty fast, and he can teach it easily if you want to learn it too. Now you can dance together and it’s wholesome. Not to mention, he still is a demon and #3 in their power rank. He didn’t get that number randomly. Also, he can sew his own cosplays; he needs good coordination for sewing.

🪸 Musical: he learned about music for his pleasure. He is good at listening to the slight change in rhythm, so he knows exactly when to do a certain move when he’s dancing and all the cues when he’s singing. He will annoy you if you sing it 0.02 seconds earlier. He can play the keyboard and probably the drums.

🪸 Intrapersonal: his self-esteem is not good (we just need to help him a little), but I think he has a deep comprehension of himself. He knows what he likes and dislikes, how he’ll react when something happens and how to deal with his own outbursts. Understanding and putting it into practice, however, aren’t always the same, and that’s where emotions take the lead (hence why it’s intelligence #7). That’s when he summons Lotan.

🪸 Interpersonal: do I need to say something? I love my boy, but he has a hard time meeting new people and that's fine too.

Masterlists

[sid-the-sandwich]

'Obey Me!' character hobby mechanic

This is my second time writing this because I lost the first draft even though I saved multiple times.

Anyways, this is (Maybe) part 2 of stealing features from other games and incorporating it into the mechanics of 'Obey Me!' While writing the shops for each character, my mind wandered and I had a thought, what if there were hobbies like in 'Blush Blush'. Leveling up these hobbies would give rewards such as intimacy multiplier, icons, bonuses, and cards.

I'm a yapper, so this is going to be long. Not proof-read

--------------

firstly, i'll talk about the hobbies mechanics and what it would do:

There should be 4 types of hobbies:

Common- hobbies that almost every character has.

Uncommon- Hobbies that 5 or more characters have

Rare- Hobbies that 2, 3 or 4 characters have

Character specific- A hobby distinct to each character

the rewards for these would be:

Common/Uncommon- Grimm, AP

Rare- Grimm, AP, DP, DV, Character lines

Character specific- Grimm, AP, DP, DV, Character lines, Card pieces

NOTE: all four will add an intimacy multiplier that will apply to only characters who have that hobby

the rewards for the level max for these would be:

Common/Uncommon- an icon of Sheep MC doing the hobby

Rare- icon, Memory card of the characters with that hobby

Character specific- Icon, UR card of that character

The Hobbies:

Common:

Reading

Running

Bowling

Music

Watching TV

Board games

Uncommon:

Art

Cooking

Swimming

Sports

Dancing

Nature

Sleeping

Animal lover

Card games

Rare:

Horse riding

Gaming

Modelling

Partying

Piano

Calligraphy

Knitting

Marine Biology

Demonus tasting

Shopping

Working out

Technology

Character Specific:

Cursed Record collector

Gambling

Cosplay

Cat Enthusiast

Self-care

Competitive Eating

Stargazing

Chess

Tea tasting

Baking

Writing

Magic tricks

Trap making

Sewing

Journalism

There are a lot of hobbies listed above, however considering how long the game is running, and the amount of characters, a wide variety of hobbies make sense.

----------------

Now onto the characters:

Lucifer:

Common:

Bowling

Music

Board Games

Uncommon:

Cooking

Reading

Card games

Rare:

Demonus Tasting:

"I'd love to share a glass with you. Meet me in my study in 20 minutes" "Careful, i wouldn't want to drink too much, who knows what I might do"

Horse Riding:

"Hold on tight to my waist, I'll keep you safe" "Let's take a trip together, far from my brothers"

Piano:

"There's a piano in the music room, you're the only one i trust to use it" "Lets play a duet, naturally I'll take the lead"

Character Specific:

Cursed Record Collector:

"Come to my room, i want to show you a new record I acquired" "I used to have more records but Mammon is holding some hostage for money"

UR Card: Lucifer looking at a record player with Sheep MC on top of the record spinning.

Mammon:

Common:

Running

Watching TV

Music

Uncommon:

Card Games

Sports

Dancing

Rare:

Partying:

"YOOO! THE GREAT Mammon wants to hang out with you! lets go paint the town" "WHA! I CANT HEAR YA OVER THE MUSIC FROM YESTERDAY"

Modelling:

"You can look but ya cant touch... well, i g-guess i wouldnt complain if ya did" "Did ya see the new edition of Devucci? Top cover baby"

Shopping:

"Hey my favourite human, my first, my number one... ya really wanna pay for me today, don't ya?" "YES! I just stole Goldie back from Lucifer! let's go before he finds us!"

Character Specific:

Gambling

"Hey MC... whats your favourite number? thats gonna be my lucky number today" "MC you have to come to the casino with me! you're my good luck charm"

UR Card: Mammon holding Sheep MC running out the Casino

Leviathan:

Common:

Art

Watching TV

Music

Uncommon:

Card Games

Sleeping

Swimming

Rare:

Gaming:

"Luke befriended me in Mononoke Land... who knew he was so good" "Can you come to my room later? i brought a new game"

Marine Biology:

"Henry 2.0 is my friend... sometimes i think i should get him some siblings" "Once Belphie drifted out to sea... we didn't see him for a week"

Knitting:

"Wanna make a Ruri-chan doll with me? It's n-not like i wanna hang out with you or anything" "I'm just a Yucky otaku who likes knitting"

Character Specific:

Cosplay

"H-Henry? y-your dressed as Henry? E-eh d-dont taunt me like that" "Can you be the Azuki-tan to my Ruri-chan? BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!!!"

UR Card: A picture of Levi in a Ruri-chan costume and Sheep MC dressed as Azuki-tan

Satan:

Common:

Art

Board games

Bowling

Uncommon:

Reading

Pottery

Animal Lover

Rare:

Calligraphy:

"Don't talk, im concentrating... okay, now continue." "I wrote your name on your book for you... i know you'll enjoy it"

Piano:

"whats your favourite song? ill play it for you" "My heart is fluttering... your notes are really doing something to me"

Knitting:

"I learnt how to knit from Raphael... he's a good teacher... maybe i can teach you some tricks" "Want to knit some scarfs for each other?"

Character Specific:

Cat Enthusiasm:

"MEOW" "Sorry about that- i accidentally cursed myself again"

UR Card: Satan and Sheep MC with a cat filter

Asmodeous:

Common:

Running

Art

Music

Uncommon:

Nature

Pottery

Dancing

Rare:

Partying:

"hi <3 lets go out tonight!" "I can dance all night long! join me?"

Modelling:

"Why does Mammon have to be attractive? he's an idiot" "I'm ready for my close-up <3"

Shopping:

"You should wear an outfit i choose for you" "Lets go to the new lovers' Cafe, my treat"

Character Specific:

Self-care:

"Hehe! i have the cutest face-mask for us to try" "You have soft hands, lets join them..."

UR Card:

Beelzebub:

Common:

Running

Watching TV

Bowling

Uncommon:

Nature

Sports

Cooking

Rare:

Working Out:

"Lets play Fangol together... you remember the rules, right?" "Here... hold the stick like this... good, thats good."

Horse Riding:

"We could both ride on one horse... I'll hold you tight, I promise." "I'm not letting you ride a horse until you wear a helmet"

Gaming:

"You, me, Levi and Belphie should all play a game together sometime; its more fun with more people" "Lets play an easy game this time..."

Character Specific:

Competitive Eating:

"Woah! There's a human world sport that involves eating?" "MC, lets eat a whole pile of hot dogs together! I'll let you have the first bite"

UR Card: Beel eating from a plateful of hotdogs and Sheep MC cheering him on

Belphegor:

Common:

Board Games

Watching TV

Music

Uncommon:

Reading

Sleeping

Animal Lover

Rare:

Gaming:

"The last time i played with Simeon, i slept through 'DevilKart' and still won when i woke up" "Sleep is like life's pause button"

Knitting:

"I only started knitting because i wanted a new blanket, but its actually fun" "I can knitt in my sleep y'know... maybe i can trap you in one of my knitted blankets... heh."

Piano:

"Can you play me a lullaby?" "You really have a lot of time- huh?"

Character Specific:

Stargazing:

"You remember THOSE stars? Those are the one's Beel and I gave you" "I wonder if you think about me when you look at the stars... just like how i think of you"

UR Card: Belphie stargazing with Sheep MC on his chest looking up at the stars

Diavolo:

Common:

Running

Art

Music

Uncommon:

Pottery

Nature

Animal lover

Rare:

Horse riding:

"Lucifer, Mephistopheles, and I like to take leisurely strolls on the Horse ranches... those two are like best friends" "I wonder if Barbatos will allow me to take the day off to entertain you with a ride on my horse?"

Piano:

"Lets have a contest! Who can play better?" "I'll play a tune for you at the next Devildom festival... as our guest of honour"

Demonus tasting:

"Lucifer says the funniest things when he's drunk" "'I love you, now clean your room' such fun! Do i sound like Lucifer?"

Character Specific:

Chess:

"I've never been beat before... you really want to play against me" "If you win, I'll be your 'pawn' for the night"

UR Card: Diavolo playing Chess against Sheep MC

Barbatos:

Common:

Art

Board Games

Music

Uncommon:

Reading

Pottery

Animal Lover

Rare:

Caligraphy:

"The Young Master is lazy when it comes to learning calligraphy" "Its refreshing to see someone so young taking an interest in calligraphy"

Knitting:

"Knitting was something i didn't pick up for thousands of years, who knew it was so... amusing." "I created a quilt, a patchwork of human history as a side project"

Marine Biology:

"It's only logical to learn about the human world sea-life," "In another timeline, we are all fish."

Character Specific:

Tea Enthusiast

"It's piping hot... be careful." "Does it taste familiar? it contains ingredients from your home country"

UR Card: Barbatos and Sheep MC having a tea party

Luke:

Common:

Bowling

Watching TV

Board games

Uncommon:

Swimming

Nature

Animal Lover

Rare:

Marine Biology:

"I LOVE ALL THE CUTE FISHIES" "Barbatos likes teaching me about fish when we cook together"

Knitting:

"Simeon made me a sweater! its so cute! i wear it when i go to the human world!" "MC, can you help me start the row for my knitting?"

Gaming:

"I just sent Levi a friend request on Mononoke Land! he accepted immediately" "Simeon said I'm no longer allowed any more time on my DDD today!"

Character Specific:

Baking:

"Someone get Solomon out the kitchen. PLEASE!" "Can you reach the mixer for me? Simeon put it on the top shelf to hide it from Solomon."

UR Card: Luke and Sheep MC with chef hats and aprons mixing a batch of dough.

Simeon:

Common:

Bowling

Board games

Art

Uncommon:

Pottery

Nature

Reading

Rare:

Working out:

"Being an angel means i have to be in top shape!" "Lets do some exercises together... i'll help you do some stretches."

Modelling:

"A company called 'Majolish' asked me to be their model." "Mammon and Asmodeous gave me tips on how to pose; i could show you later if you want."

Knitting:

"I made Luke a little sweater... Raphael helped me with the design" "Solomon took a picture of me knitting... I'm hunched over."

Character Specific:

Writing:

"Leviathan keeps begging me for a new TSL novel... he really is an avid fan, huh?" "Luke said i should use a computer... i kept pressing the wrong keys..."

UR Card: Simeon typing on a computer, squinting with glasses with a Sheep MC (Also with glasses) doing the same on his shoulder

Solomon:

Common:

Art

Board games

Music

Uncommon:

Card Games

Animal lover

Sleeping

Rare:

Calligraphy:

"This is how we used to write in 'ye olden days'" "Hmm... who else can i taunt with my writing?"

Piano:

"Let me dream a little dream of you ♩" "I wonder what the others would say if i played your faverouite song?"

Marine Biology:

"I still cant believe I'm exiled from the sea" "do you think if i put Leviathan and Barbatos in a tank, they'd fight?"

Character Specific:

Magic Tricks:

"Get ready for the elusive Solomon-dini" "And for this trick, I will take your heart."

UR Card: Solomon in a magician hat with a magician wand, he points the wand at Sheep MC

Thirteen:

Common:

Art

Running

Music

Uncommon:

Sports

Nature

Swimming

Rare:

Modelling:

"I only model so that Solomon has to see my face everywhere!" "Do you... want to do a photoshoot with me?"

Partying:

"Yoooo! Lets go party, i'll sneak you outta RAD" "Lets set fireworks! hahaha!"

Demonus Tasting:

"When i first came to the Devildom, i didnt understand Demonus, now i totally get it!" "I wonder how a drunk Barbatos acts like..."

Character Specific:

Trap Making:

"If you ever need help, just text me... I'll send one of my traps over" "This is 'Spider-squid v4', i made it for you..."

UR Card: Thirteen shooting a net-trap from her contraption with Sheep MC ontop of the trap

Raphael:

Common:

Art

Board games

Music

Uncommon:

Pottery

Animal lover

Sleeping

Rare:

Calligraphy:

"You want to see my writing, why?" "I could write you a poem, I guess..."

Piano:

"I remember playing this tune in the Celestial Realm" "Could you do me a favour? Could you gather Lucifer and his brothers... i wanted to play a song for them"

Knitting:

"I made you a sweater... i heard this design was 'hip' with the humans" "Knitting is easy and repetitive, its addictive that way"

Character Specific:

Sewing:

"I remember sewing the brother's clothes in the Celestial Realm" "You know some new sowing techniques? You humans are incredible"

UR Card: Raphael sowing some clothes with Sheep MC's help

Mephistopheles:

Common:

Art

Board games

Running

Uncommon:

Sports

Pottery

Nature

Rare:

Calligraphy:

"Calligraphy is a forgotten art" "I wish to write your name in as many fonts as i can"

Piano:

"I can play a multitude of human songs I heard from the past" "Lord Diavolo once told me a story of a young boy, but he expressed it through the medium of piano... that was a long hour."

Horse Riding:

"Lord Diavolo takes Lucifer and I to ride horses sometimes, its always so... awkward" "I like racing horses, I've known how to ride horses since i was a mere boy"

Character Specific:

Journalism

"i think you should be on the front page of the school newspaper" "You enjoy spending time with me?"

UR Card: Mephisto and Sheep MC with magnifying glasses

[starablin]

Wurmple Build Log

Guess who's back to drop another overly detailed post about a cosplay project. Another Pokémon one, unsurprisingly! My dumb ass made a Nargacuga fursuit head back in 2020 so I could learn how to work with upholstery foam. It looked... alright... but I know in my heart it was a horrible, horrible mess. Fast forward to 2023, I go to a 3-day convention, wear a bunch of different heavy wigs the whole time, get a rash on my forehead and think, fuck it, I am cringe and I am free, I'm gonna finally live the dream and make a Pokémon suit. It'll be great, and I won't have to wear a wig; I'll just have to worry about heat strokes instead. Fun! Of course, in true shitpost fashion, my perfect fursuit candidate has 10 legs and is shaped like a sausage.

Click on over to read the wondrous tale of building a Wurmple Partial Suit in like two weeks.

1. The Worm

Wurmple started as a dumb little sketch in the corner of my notebook. I have a lot of cosplays and plushes under my belt but the last fursuit (head) kinda looked like it would belong in a bootleg Freddy Fazbear establishment, so I brainstormed over a bunch of Pokémon I like that would work as a partial and are simple enough in design to avoid accidentally creating Uncle Uncanny 2.0. The goal was something that would be relatively comfortable and easy to bring to events 'cause I'm just not mentally prepared to drag a suitcase in public transport and wear a full body sweat carpet yet. I ended up doodling a few ideas like Haunter or Koffing, but then I pictured a Bug Catcher trainer with a bug head and I thought it was funny as hell, so the choice was made. I picked up my copy of Alpha Sapphire to get a good look at the model and immediately ran into a problem; the eyes on Wurmple are literally on the side of the head. They sit so flush you literally cannot see them if you look at them from the front. Not a great start. I figured I could probably hide a small hole for vision right above the mandibles where the red and cream colors separate. I wasn't super confident it would work, but dammit, I was already commited to being a stupid Bug Bug Catcher. Similarly, I looked at the side profile and figured I could open a hole behind the mandibles at mouth height to breathe out of. With an disproportionate amount of confidence for the bullshit I'm about to summon into the world, I began the project by patterning out the tail.

2. Bug Ass

I'll be honest, I started on the tail so I wouldn't have a reason to back out of it if the head ended up being a hot mess. I've patterned out and sewn a few plush before, so making a big ol' headless grub sounded like a reasonable goal. I usually make plush patterns by building out the shape with newspaper and tape, but Wurmple's tail got pretty big when scaled to fit a human, so I searched for alternatives. I ended up building the base shape to draw a pattern out of by taping two pillows together. I tied down small sections to shape the belly and slapped a layer of masking tape over half of it to trace my pattern. Once everything looked good, I cut the pattern pieces out and laid them flat. The pillows were returned to the couch safely once they recovered from the barbaric treatment.

I dug through my materials storage (a sad lonely plastic bin) for some Trash Fabric ™ leftovers from other Trash Projects ™ and tested the pattern out to see how it looked. I made the pattern for the spikes and legs at that point based on the test build and adjusted some seams on the tape pattern to refine some shapes, but overall the first pattern was a great success!

With the mockup done, I pulled out the minky fabric and got to sewing the tail together. I picked minky for the project 'cause it felt right for the cartoony 3d models to have that smooth short-pile look in real life (kinda like the official mascots, really). I was aware the margin for error when your fur pile is 3mm long is basically non-existent, but hey, at least I could work without a respirator on unlike fur! Sewing the body of the tail was pretty straightforward; I assembled the belly panels together, stitched the darts on the red parts to form the curve, and attached the backside of the zigzag spikes to it. I assembled the top and bottom halves together, tacked each zigzag down in place by hand, and filled the whole thing with polyester stuffing to see my beautiful bug sausage take shape.

Once I was sure it everything looked good. I stitched six little white legs and attached them onto the belly by hand using the belly seams as a guide.

Before moving on to the top spikes, I took a break from handsewing to build the tail base. It's a little nub made out of sandwiched upholstery foam with a belt running through a channel carved into the foam. It's topped off with a layer of high density EVA Foam glued at the base to keep the anchor point sturdy. Huge thanks to Neffertity for her tail tutorials as this was the main inspiration behind the method I used for the tail attachment. The foam nub goes about a quarter of the way through the tail, with the rest of it being filled up with the polyester stuffing that was added earlier.

Once the tail attachment point was secured, I started sewing all the spikes for the top half of the tail, stuffed them, and then stitched each of them to the tail by hand. Once they were all stitched on securely, I sewed the back closed with one last minky piece and Wurmple's tail was complete!

(Looking back, I could probably have machine stitched the legs and spikes on... But I was watching some really good Resident Evil Randomizer streams while handsewing these, so I didn't wanna get off the couch to work on the pattern again)

I'm so glad I started with the tail. It was basically a big plush, and I was so proud of the results when I was done that I was energized to start working on the head. Oh right, the stupid worm head with no vision.

3. The Head

Building up the shape of Wurmple's head was simple enough. I began by building a bucket head base out of upholstery foam by following Skyehigh's Studios old tutorial (new one linked here) and slapped some paper on it to figure out the size of the main elements; the mandibles and the eyes. I immediately regret following the tutorial steps for the eye holes, since I Forgot We Weren't Gonna Be Doing That, and mark where my cyclops eyehole is generally going to be instead.

Once I was satisfied with my patterns, I cut some more upholstery foam slabs, carved them with scissors until I got down to the general shape of the mandibles and horns, and glued them onto the base. I immediately got another stress injury carving everything down and realized I did not learn from my wig ventilating mistakes. I took a break to add a turkey carver to my online shopping bookmarks, which I immediately forgot about until I sat down to write this post. Since I was using minky for this project, I needed to make sure my base was as smooth as possible. The fabric is so thin it would pick up every wrinkle ever and look sad if I didn't. I dug into the bin for some Trash Felt ™ and glued it over the mandibles to smooth things out and added some mesh to the holes of the bucket head base to keep the curved shape of the head going without sacrificing those sweet ventilation holes. I also added my vision hole and marveled at my horrifying Mando helmet abomination. At that point in time I'm having some big doubts about the vision hole, but I trudge on because I'm not just gonna wear a bug ass to these conventions.

With the base complete, I covered the whole thing in tape and drew over it like I did with the tail to create a pattern, made sure to forget to take pictures of said pattern so that this step is lost to time, and started sewing the head fabric so I could slap some skin on this bad boy, starting with the horns. At the same time, I stitched the darts on the mandibles, pinned that to the head for later, and assembled the red halves of the head together on the back seam to test the fit.

With the test fit successful, I pulled the red part off in order to machine stitch it to the front half of the head along the zigzag edge and slipped the whole thing over the head again. With everything in place, I painstakingly handstitched everything up, including the side of the mandibles and the horns.

Somewhere in the magical stretch of time between midnight and 5 in the morning, I somehow summoned the inner lining of the head out of french terry knit, a tape pattern and a dream. I also painted a little piece of buckram for the eye mesh to match the red fabric and glued that to the inside of the head. I included a little velcro pocket on the back of the neck in the lining to insert a powerbank for the fans (which I then proceeded to procrastinate on installing for a whole 4 months afterwards). Since I'm an idiot and took no pictures signed an NDA with the Midnight Craft Wizard, here's a picture of the fan installation in the mandibles with velcro so they can be removed to wash it. (Fan kit by Henry's Helmet Fans)

Once the head was completed, I finally went to sleep. And then I woke up at noon and remembered I forgot the eyes WHOOPS I cut four circles out of high density EVA Foam (Two of them smaller for the pupils), heat shaped a slight curve to them, and covered them with minky. I glued the pupils to the irises and then I glued those suckers to the head and NOW THE HEAD WAS ACTUALLY DONE WOOHOO

Turns out hiding the vision hole right over the mandibles was... Actually a decent idea, in the end. It blends pretty well into the face at a short distance. The mouth opening also isn't visible in most angles so I can actually breathe pretty well, and I can even wear a portable necklace fan and have it blow hair into the head without making poor Wurmple eat the fan.

I took it for a test run and realized the eye vision in the suit was actually pretty damn bad overall because the minky covered half of the original hole up, especially on the sides. I took a heat gun and some scissors to the head so I could peel it back around the vision hole, cut some material out to open it up more, and glued everything back down with a new piece of mesh. Now I have like 40 more degrees in my cone of vision, which puts me on par with some of the guys in Metal Gear Solid.

With those adjustments done, the head was finally complete!

4. Get Worm'd on

Turns out I like it a whole lot, whoops. It's definitively not perfect (what costume ever is?), but it looks leagues better than I expected it would, so it works out. Looking back, I don't think I'd really do anything else differently on the build. I still got to make the Bug Catcher outfit to go along with it, but with winter in full swing there's no rush to do so. Definitively looking forward to making a net, though!

If you're still reading, thank you for getting through my ramblings! I hope it was an interesting read, and maybe even provided some insights or inspirations for your own future projects.

❤️

[mayukis09]

Is it just me?

So I recently joined TOH fandom about a month ago and I noticed some things that no one seems to be talking about.

This could mean one of two things: either these are things everyone's already aware of and I'm just slow

OR

not

I'm leaning towards the first option, but I'm still gonna post about it bc idk maybe this will be of use to at least one person (and so I don't forget about it lol)

I am in no way, shape, or form trying to hate on TOH, it is currently my favorite thing ever. I am obsessed with it and am super hyperfixating on it. These are just some funny things I noticed and they are all meant lightly.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 3

Here we go:

Luz's name in Spanish literally just means "light" so it's kinda ironic that the first spell she learns is the light spell (also ironic when she dies she turns into light, my immediate thought was "Luz turned into luz lol" and I laughed during that part I know it was supposed to be serious but I couldn't help the irony)

At the Blight Industries secret showcases, NONE of their investors question the fact that Odalia uses CHILDREN to showcase her WEAPONRY. The only one with some kind of common sense is Alador, who at some point calls his wife out for getting all mad in an argument with a teenager and almost killing her.

In a similar category, Eda is like the only person who realizes that Luz and King are just kids and to have them be worried about the fate of the BI and feel like they're the ones responsible for fixing things is probably reeeally stressful and traumatizing for them because again, they're children and having to save an entire population is probably not good for their mental health. This goes for other shows and movies that portray children saving the world as well, with all other characters (including adults) being totally okay with it. Eda is the only one who sees this is not normal.

THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL WITH THIS SHOW IS INSANE. Luz's hair slowly getting longer as the show progresses, eventually being long enough to put in a small ponytail by the end of season two. Amity's hair color changing in the intro the episode after she changes it in the show. The end credits of season two changing from green hair Amity looking back at Luz as they walk to portray her crush to not only the hair changing, but also her and Luz hold hands once they start dating in the show. Most shows I know wouldn't even change their intro if a character's appearance changed. The backgrounds also have some super cute "blink and you miss it" details that just adds so much life to the story (i.e the L+A carvings in season 3 in Luz's desk at school AND in her room, stringbean's corner, post-its and notes and drawings in her locker, room, and house, a sign saying Eda's library card was redacted in season 1 "lost in language"). So much props to Dana and the whole team for amazing attention to detail!

Amity's mom wants her hair dyed green, but why? I think it is because Amity was born with Alador's hair color and not Odalia's and she wants to be the dominant figure in the house. She doesn't pressure Ed and Em to do this because they have a variant of her hair color, so they already resemble her more than their father. Amity dying her hair purple could be a symbol of leaving the control of her parents and branching out to be her own person.

Manny (Luz’s dad) was also into cosmic frontier and him and Camila would cosplay together as it seems from the scene in “Thanks to Them” where I believe Gus gestures to the closet full of cosmic frontier stuff. There’s a box labeled as Manny’s cosplay 2.0. It’s so wholesome that they had a similar interest! :D

This is everything I noted so far, but if I end up finding more I’ll add to this post :D

[toxicshumai]

obey me boys with baby fever (part 1)

tw: mentions of pregnancy. assumes afab reader and wanted pregnancies

Lucifer:

-look, he’s waited a long time for this and he’s finally found the perfect partner

-he’s already raised 5 brothers and one wrath baby but now they don’t need him (as much) and he has empty nester syndrome

-also his first baby was an “i didn’t know i was pregnant” scenario that ended with a rage goblin who lives to irritate him so maaaaybe he’s romanticizing this potential kid a bit

-gets emotional thinking about creating something that is part you and part him (and will also be an insanely proud papa)

-he has a whole presentation prepared on why it’s a good time to have a baby and has been doing research on human pregnancy as well as asking barb to look into human/demon hybrids

-if you’re not ready for kids, he’ll drop the topic and wait patiently for you to be the one to bring it up again

-he still looks really wistfully at couples with babies though

-he cannot show you off enough when you’re pregnant. he wants everyone to know that you’re carrying his child

-he’s too proud to ask for paternity leave but diavolo gives it to him anyway :)

-already has a (kinda) son so he secretly wants a daughter

Mammon:

-he wants to start a family with you so badly. please, mc, be a family with him.

-promises he will get his gambling in check and be the best dad ever! (he’s worried he’s not good enough but he figures with you as a co-parent, he probably won’t be able to screw the kid up that badly)

-already extremely soft for babies in general

-hopes the baby looks like you

-he didn’t really expect to ever be in a position to have kids so the urge hit him quite suddenly. just like he fell for you fast and hard, his burning desire to have little mammon’s and mc’s comes seemingly out of nowhere.

-the baby fever may have been a surprise but he’s been fantasizing about having kids with you since like the first week you started dating

-doesn’t care about gender but does want multiple kids

Levi:

-a what? no, ew why would he want such a normie-? oh shit he wants your normie babies

-cannot look at you without blushing. it’s like the beginning of your relationship all over again

-worries you’ll think he’s a weird creep who just wants to breed you. worries you’d never want a child with a yucky otaku. worries you’ll die in childbirth. worries the baby will hate him. the man is pressure cooker of anxiety and eventually he’s gonna snap and tell you he wants to have a baby

-talks to henry 2.0 about it when you’re not there.

-his failure to parent henry 1.0 doesn’t count, ok?

-between the celestial war and his naval service, he has Seen Some Shit but he’s still gonna faint in the delivery room

-didn’t care about the gender of the baby until he realized how cute his daughter would look in a tiny ruri-chan cosplay

Satan:

-extremely conflicted when he realizes his feelings because he has definitely struggled with never having asked to have been born

-he’s read all the parenting, pregnancy, and child psychiatry books in the library and taken color-coded notes

-the idea of the two of you having that kind of bond makes him feel...possessive. and then guilty.

-he agonizes over telling you what’s on his mind until you ask him directly. then he’s suddenly spilling out all of his thoughts: a tangle of research, emotions, and existential crises, all peppered with the caveat that you absolutely do not have to go through with this and he’ll be totally fine if you don’t want children and it’s your body your ch- oh. you’ve been thinking about this too?

-goes to all your appointments with you, gives you a cocktail of vitamins every morning, goes to birthing classes, contacts a lactation consultant, considers becoming a trained doula... he’s involved to the point of being a little smothering. (he’s compensating because he’s afraid of the baby inheriting his wrath and/or his wrath coming out around the baby)

-almost destroyed the nursery in a fit of rage when trying to assemble the crib

Asmo:

-like Mammon, was not expecting to feel this way

-outwardly he’s like “i’m perfect and you’re perfect so of course we should combine our powers!<3″ but he worries that his lifestyle isn’t exactly child-friendly

-on the other hand, asmo is more self aware than people think and he realizes he doesn’t want to go on partying forever. he wants something real. and maybe on some level he wants someone else in the world to love him for who he is.

-is in no rush to conceive but is really, really excited to keep trying ;)

-devoted to your comfort full-time during your pregnancy. he’s massaging your swollen feet, holding your hair back during morning sickness, rubbing your back when it hurts, basically anything to make sure you feel as comfortable as possible. expect to spend most of your last month of pregnancy in bed to avoid tiring you or the baby out

-if you don’t want to be pregnant, there’s always surrogacy or adoption!~

-posts videos of him talking to your bump on devilgram (and then pretends to be shocked when he gets comments calling him a dilf)

-does not care about the gender of the baby because his kid is going to be the most beautiful creature in the history of the universe no matter what

[ratsoh-writes]

How about the boys' reaction to a best friend who is like a Merida (minus being a princess xDD)??? Like just imagine this small feisty bean ready to defend their skeleboy from assholes with that thick scot accent and language, and fiery orange hair (or red head?).

Sans: please don’t fight anybody, violence makes him extremely uncomfortable. He’ll love your accent though, and will often copy it. Not to make fun of you (ok maybe a little), he just thinks it’s really cool! Anyways you’re going to get a lot of Scottish puns from him, and he’ll call you red

Papyrus: looks like undyne 2.0. Papyrus loves people who stick up for others, and he’s going to really admire your confidence. Plus the hair is a Huge bonus. He has a facination with human hair, and would love if his partners and friends had long hair. I can see him falling into crush territory real fast here

Star: ah yes, another victim. He’s gonna tease you so much. He can’t help it, he loves your over the top reactions. Plus your accent will get even stronger which is just hilarious!

Honey: unlike sans, honey is totally cool if you defend him from someone else (within reason of course) he hates confrontation so this is perfect. Plus if you’re a nerd, he’s going to make you go to conventions and cosplay with him. You can’t waste that accent!

Red: angry meets angrier. You two are going to have a lot of arguments, but as long as you don’t hold grudges, you’ll be able to keep your friendship. Watching you go off on other people is super entertaining though.

Edge: uh no, he can defend himself thank you very much. In fact it’ll be pretty funny, whenever something happens, you two will both be trying to play hero. Eventually you guys learn how to team up and share. Heaven help whoever pisses you both off

Mal: where have you been all his life~ Mal is very attracted to people with a bit of fire in them, so when he first meets you, he’s going to be pulling all the moves. If you want to be just friends, that’s fine too! He’ll still flirt, but it’s all in good fun

Cash: oh man, hope you have a good sense of humor, because your his favorite target now. He’s gonna prank you so hard. Anything to hear that glorious accent in its angriest state. If you prank him back, even better.

Oak: you’re going to annoy him a lot. Oak isn’t a big fan of this type of personality and prefers more laid back and soft spoken people. If you’re nice to willow though, he’ll warm up to you.

Willow: he’s a bit scared of you at first, as you remind him of undyne, but if you’re persistent, he’ll warm up pretty fast. Being around you can make him pretty nostalgic. He’ll really appreciate it when you defend him from rude people.

[0dirty-deals0]

Tall Mc headcanons!

Warnings: None, reader is gender neutral

Lucifer (6'3):

♤Upon first meeting you he'd be rather surprised to see your height. He knew humans could be just as tall as them (in their normal form at least) but seeing you up close is impressive.

♤Not very insecure if you happen to be almost as tall or taller than him. He's still a demon after all and height doesn't help much against what he can do to a human. He does get a bit shook if you happen to stand rather close to him and he notices your height.

♤Romantically, it is a bit of a pleasant surprise when you kiss the top of his head out of nowhere. It's a sure fire way to get him flustered though expect a bit of scolding if it's in public.

♤If you were to wear shoes to make yourself taller he wouldn't hesitate to compliment you in private.

♤"Feeling a little high and mighty today, love? Ah, no need to take them off, it was a compliment. You look stunning."

Mammon (6'0):

◇Another one who'd be surprised to see you close to his eye level. Would probably blurt out asking how you were so freakin' tall for a human.

◇Is a bit insecure when he stands beside you even if you were still slightly shorter than him, though he'd be relieved since you being tall means he doesn't have to worry much about other demons messing with you physically. You bet your ass he's still gonna hover around you though, height won't change his protectiveness over you.

◇Romantically, he starts to adore the height difference when it comes to affection. Despite his intial 'protests', he loves that you're able to give him kisses and hugs easily and the fact that you just cover him easily when you do so. Makes him feel safe.

◇Wearing shoes that make you taller and tower over him makes him flustered so fast when he sees you.

◇"H-how did you get so much taller!? They're your new shoes-? NO! You don't have to take them off, you look good, f-for a human! Really good- don't give me that adorable smile!" (Help him)

Leviathan (6'0):

♤Definitely not aware of your height difference at all when you two first met but when he notices one day he does a quick double take.

♤Is a bit jealous that you're close to his height or taller than him despite being human but overtime he does grow used to it. Does get impressed if you manage to tower over his taller brothers.

♤Romantically, he starts to really enjoy you being taller than him. He can sit in your lap and game and you can also pt him and give him head kisses while he does so. He's over the moon even if he is super super shy about it.

♤Gets incredibly shy and flustered when you really tower over him with taller shoes. May ask you to cosplay tall characters he knows in the long run.

♤"U-uwah, this is just like the anime, 'The foreign exchange is a giant and I think I want them to top me.' N-No, don't take off your shoes yet! C-Can I get a pat first?" (Help him 2.0)

Satan (6'1):

◇Is more aware than his brothers that some humans do tower over some demons in their normal form so he's heavily unphased.

◇Doesn't stop him from being hella impressed when he does notice that you're taller or almost taller than him. May ask if anyone else in your family is as tall as you. He finds it amusing if you happen to be taller than Lucifer or Beel.

◇Romantically, another one who loves sitting in your lap while he does things like read. The feeling of your head resting on top of his is comforting and he's a sucker for you playing with his hair. You swear he purrs.

◇Is incredibly attracted when you wear something to make you taller, it makes him want to see you submit to him more if he's being honest. Firm believer in the saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" when it comes to the physical dynamic between you two.

◇"New shoes? You look absolutely lovely, pet. Why not come closer to really show them off to me? Ah, don't be embarassed, you're simply breathtaking."

Asmodeus (5'9):

♤Another brother whose heavily aware that some humans tower over them in their normal forms. A human whose taller than him is certainly nothing new, doesn't mean he doesn't find it attractive though.

♤Loves standing beside you just to feel how you're almost as tall or taller than him. May or may not ask you if you can carry him bridal style once you two are close enough.

♤Romantically, HE'S SO INTO YOUR HEIGHT IT AIN'T FUNNY ANYMORE. Loves being in your arms to recieve your hugs, kisses, literally anything physical. Since you're tall he can comfortably hug one of your arms as you two walk around and that's like the highlight of his day when he gets to do so.

♤He's totally the one who suggests you get shoes to make you taller, he's LIVING whenever he sees you in a pair he chose specifically for you.

♤"Ah, you look gorgeous, dearest! Almost as gorgeous as me. Hm? You feel too tall? Nonsense, you look absolutely divine, sweetheart. Come, let's knock them dead together."

Beelzebub (6'4):

◇H e c k, this man's a giant. His height also isn't exactly on his mind a lot of the time so he doesn't really notice your height at first.

◇Probably notices how tall you were while he went down to the kitchen and saw you casually reach for something high up without much hassle. He was impressed for a split moment and finally took notice of your height.

◇Romantically, not a lot would change even if you were taller than him. He would still bear hug you and give you kisses. The only difference would be that if you were taller than him, you'd be dishing out the head pats or kisses. He'll also offer piggyback rides to make you two an unstoppable looming tower.

◇He wouldn't be blown out of his seat if you were to wear shoes that made you taller but he'd still compliment you.

◇"Your new shoes make you look a lot taller. Hmm? No I don't think it's weird, you're still my cupcake, just a bit taller... and cuter"

Belphegor (5'10):

♤Okay gonna be real, with the situation you meet him in your height is literally the last thing he'd notice about you.

♤Once you grow closer though, he does notice how you almost tower over a few of his brothers and like some of his brothers he's impressed. He'll be even more impressed if you do happen to be as tall as Beel.

♤Romantically, nothing changes between the two of you. You just so happen to be better at really covering him with your limbs when you two cuddle. You also have a bit more surface area for him to lay on. If you and Beel were to sleep together in the same bed as him it's a mess of tangled limbs but he's in bliss.

♤Wouldn't really notice how tall you grew in the shoes you wear, but wouldn't hesistate to shut down all your insecure thoughts if you had doubts.

♤"Mmh? Your new shoes? They look good as always... What? No you don't look bad at all, even if are taller than Beel. Listen, no matter how tall you are in what you wear, you're still going to be my teddy bear. That's never going to change"

Others: Ahhh, I tried to upload this many times. Tumblr please accept this- Anyways, THANK YOU FOR THE FIRST REQUEST ANON! I'm sorry it took so long! It seems that tumblr only allows me to post during certain times, I think- I hope you enjoyed reading this and don't be afraid to tell me if this isn't what you were expecting! Thank you for reading!

[awkward-marinette]

Unprofessional “Desperada” Recap

It’s been a day after “Desperada” aired and I decided to do a rewatch of this episode. I’ve watched it 3 times already and I’ve changed opinions about many scenes that initially made me mad so that’s why I’m doing a recap. Be prepared because it’s going to be a long one. It’s going to contain unprofessional, sometimes blurry screenshots, Luka praise and grammar mistakes but... let’s get to it. 

- Lukanette in this episode was kinda ruined by how Marinette considered Luka her second chance choice. I know it's related to snake miraculous but still... My boi deserves better. Hell, MARINETTE deserves better than being written like that and those are main reasons why I was so pissed after watching "Desperada" for the first time

- girls (Alya, Alix and Mylene) are noticing Lukanette only now? I thought it was obvious that the chemistry is there - but also, I agree with their opinions with my whole heart

And I'm also starting to see that girls are getting tired of Marinette's obsession which Adrien which is understandable. They help her all the time trying to get her with the boy of her dreams and nothing happens. Yeah, I would be pushy and annoyed as well. But it makes me worried for one of next episodes which title I can’t remember but in the description it said that Marinette’s friends will be group akumatized because of something that Marinette is going to do. 

- quality Adrigami right there - I need to double check correct episodes order (by production number) to be 100% sure but I'm convinced that this episode is before "Ikari Gozen" otherwise I don't see the reason why Kagami is so distant towards Marinette again. But I appreciate scenes with them, especially when they rebel against their overprotective, overcontrolling parents

- about this disastrous greeting Adrien and Kagami scene - it's not easy seeing your crush laughing and being comfortable with someone else and we see it on Marinette's face. And yet again she decides to interrupt it by getting in their space. Doing and saying stupid things because of her skyrocketing nerves caused by Adrien's presence. Without thinking leaving Luka’s side to run to her crush like she did a bad thing. During my first watching, I didn't notice just how nervous she was until everyone started to look at her after Kagami's comment implying Luka is Marinette's boyfriend, waiting for her reaction. We know that for most of the time Marinette is not doing well under the pressure from other characters and this scene is no exception to that. No wonder she messed up later too, being looked at from all sides makes you super nervous. I can sympathize with that

Also, wow, Kagami, you don’t need to cling that much to Adrien. It’s not like Marinette is gonna attack him or something. 

- "he's just a friend" - Marinette, you're definitely spending too much time around Adrien. As the blond is doing the same with his feelings towards her vs. Ladybug, she openly denies her feelings for Luka despite having them. That's why she brushed off what Alya said and will continue to do that until she realizes it herself. It’s as if those two didn’t know that you can have multiple crushes on people

- Jagged/Anarka scene - there's some backstory here and I need to know more! I don't think it was just playing together in a band and there were some romantic feelings involved. Although I don't like the idea of Jagged being Juleka and Luka's father (that would be lame), it would definitely be an interesting plot to explore for the sake of Couffaine family story arc. Especially after seeing Anarka's steel refusal and Couffaine siblings being shocked that their mom was once working with their music idol

- Jagged having a soft spot for Marinette is still one of the cutest things ever. Mere concept of an international music star acting as a cool uncle for ordinary artist girl is awesome. I really like that he always seems to actually listen to what she has to say and doesn't treat her as a kid who don't know anything. And asking her if she knows some talented guitarists although he probably has lots of connections in the industry just proves how big that soft spot for her is. He visibly perked up at her sight and started playing happier melody!

- nominating Adrien for new guitarist disastrous scene - OH MY PLAGG, I don't know what to say about the scene everyone is talking about. This is definitely one big triggering scene and if I was annoyed at Marinette when she dropped Luka to greet Adrien earlier, this one made me: mad, sad, embarassed at the same time. Cringefest at its finest.

You know what I mean? Look at everyone’s reactions: 

BRUH. 

Plus: 

Even Rose was shocked! Yeah, Rose who always seems to be in her own little world!

It made me regret that she didn't decide to give up on Adrien in "Puppeteer 2.0" (yeah, I know episodes are not in the order and it seems that "Desperada" is chronologically after that). I mean, girl, even being under the pressure is not gonna save you this time in my eyes. You had the right to be super nervous around your crush and babbling incoherently when you didn’t expect to see him but trying to impress him by recommending him for skills you know he doesn’t have? Your feelings for that boy are not healthy for you and you need to see that. If Adrien visibly has doubts and says he's more of a pianist AND JAGGED STONE HIMSELF IS QUESTIONING THAT CHOICE AND POINTS AT LUKA, it should give you a signal that you're not in your right senses. I really want live to the day that in one episode she finally realises that and will start to move on. I bet it will improve her character and relationships with everyone around her. And I can't believe that writers decided to include that scene - there were probably few different ways that this scene could go without making Marinette a fool blinded by her love.

And man, I was feeling so sad for Luka there. Being overlooked like that just because the girl he likes nominated a guy she loves when it's clear that he's not suited for the job must be hard to accept. And how does he manage to make me like him more every time he shows up? He handled that situation with levels of maturity he should teach main charactes about.

- Desperada - it was this rare kind of episodes when we didn't get akumatised character's backstory first, that's why sometimes I thought this episode had quicker pacing than usual. We got more information from the villain herself this time and it was a nice change of routine. Also, Desperada was so cool! Her design is absolutely fantastic (one of the best in the show imo), her powers were deadly, she had amazing voice and she was competent enough to create such a threat that it forced Ladybug and Chat Noir to reach for miraculous that could mess with time. And it wasn't obvious she could be this dangerous at first glance! The only thing I didn’t like about her is why she was akumatized - REALLY, JAGGED?! Come on, dude! 

I would totally cosplay that if I wasn’t a complete disaster with instruments.

Her trumpets made funny noises when she shot from them, it cracked me up a little. And I need that guitar axe for... reasons...

- yo, Kagami proving she's worthy of dragon miraculous! She charged at Desperada without hesitation although she just met Anarka! 

- Rose went through a surprising change in last two seasons - I never expected to see her do things like shielding someone from the villain. On second thought, she was protecting her dear Juleka so it shouldn’t be that surprising. But it is, at least for me. 

- Marinette realised she wasn't in her right mind after all - well, better late than never, right? What Tikki said about her having a troubled heart - I want to believe it's something that will make her rethinking few things and will be a spark that will eventually ignite character development. I hate seeing her like this when she proved many times she’s better than that

- Lukadrien - you know, on one hand it's good to see two male love rivals being on good terms with each other (although I wonder how long it's going to last after Adrien gets to his senses regarding liking Marinette as more than JuSt A fRiEnD), on the other it's depressing when you look at how girls are treated, all hating each other (well, except Marinette and Kagami now). Why can't we have nice things... Also, Lukadrien was strong in this one.

- Luka proving he deserves to be a hero - it's not usual for civilians in this show to willingly put themselves in villain's path to help heroes but it's always appreciated when it happens if that civilian isn't hurt in the process. Luka managed to distract Desperada so that Ladybug could corporate a plan that helped trio to escape her.

- Ladybug, Adrien and Luka in sewers - so she gets the message to go to Master Fu for new miraculous, meanwhile we continue with Lukadrien scenes. They find a locker room for employees and Adrien finally can separate from Luka to transform into Chat Noir. I'm surprised that Luka didn't hear door opening and closing again despite being right next to it. Or maybe... he did since I suspect he knows Ladybug’s identity so him knowing Chat’s identity would be pretty funny. 

- snake miraculous - Master Fu said that this miraculous is really powerful (duh) and must be used by wise person who can resist a temptation to abuse its power. Kinda foreshadowing for what's going to happen later, isn't it? I've got no idea how Marinette could think Adrien was suited to be a snake. It doesn't fit him at all. There must be other miraculouses in the box that would be more fitting for him. I need to do a research.

- Adrien gets his chance with Ladybug - well, he wasn't against the idea of her giving miraculous to Adrien despite his identity crisis (cue: “Onii-chan” and the scene where Chat Noir lands on the billboard with Adrien’s commercial on it). It's clear he didn't think about risking being discovered as Chat Noir and jumped in this train because he was blinded by the opportunity to finally get his Lady to love him as Adrien. After rewatching the episode I've changed my opinion about this moment and I think that it was somehow needed at this point in the show. It can be treated as a simulation what would happen if the reveal happened right now, when Adrien/Chat Noir is blinded by his love for Ladybug and Marinette/Ladybug is being blinded by her love for Adrien. And it does not end well.

I can't at Plagg when he realises that Adrien is going to use new miraculous offered by Ladybug so quickly and willingly. When PLAGG drops his usual behaviour and channels his inner TIkki by saying serious, wise things, you should know that this is a huge mistake, Adrien. Just look at his face:

And I suspect that Plagg has some history with Sass because it's not the first time he acts weird around snake kwami. Yet again, I want to know!

- Adrien is (temporary) a character with the highest amount of magic transformations - and, tbh, Aspik’s transformation wasn't very good. His suit looks weird in motion, although I understand choice with a cowl to not look similar to Chat Noir. But Aspik's final pose is so ridiculous it hurts - even Kim's wasn't at that level. 

But maybe, it was another element that proved Adrien wasn't the right choice for snake miraculous. 

Also, him acting oblivious to what kwami is and "What am I supposed to do?!" were priceless. Very subtle acting, Adrien. A+.

- blinded by love - this is the theme of this episode. But this time it was from both sides. We got used to it coming from Marinette in most episodes and fandom has made many creative works with how it could happen from Adrien's side, and we finally could see it in cannon. Since we know how it is with Marinette when it comes to Adrien, I'm going to focus more on him and Ladybug.

  So Marinette as Ladybug makes mistake twice in this episode. This time with more serious repercussions since it concerns miraculous and success of the mission. Focusing more on giving miraculous to Adrien and his presence by her side, she isn't able to focus on defeating akuma at all. 

She compliements him for the smallest things (like choosing his hero name), laugh at the joke that was so Chat Noir, looks at him all the time. She even went to that extreme as saying that they don't need Chat at all! BOI WASN’T HAPPY: 

Ladybug has always been the responsible one and always puts the mission first. But here, she wasn't even caring for her own safety by checking her surroundings, something that you thought could never happen.

As for Adrien, he knew how powerful snake miraculous is. But because he prefered to woo Ladybug instead of eliminating akuma threat first, he failed to prove he was the right guy for the job as Aspik. 

And failed miserably. I won't go as far as saying that he deserved to end up with PSTD syndrome after failing to save her so many times but if he was smarter, he could pull himself together much sooner and fix it without hurting. He had a tool that could cut his pain and suffering of losing Ladybug short. But his determination/obsession made him overlook that simple fact. I mean, dude, it took you THREE MONTHS to realise it's not working?! And what irked me is the fact that despite all those chances he had, he was still prioritizing flirting with Ladybug instead of defeating Desperada. 

I'm sorry but after that confession, he lost another points in my eyes. Also, it showed that he is more like his father than we gave him credit for with that unhealthy determination to achieve his goal. It's downright scary.

But one good thing emerged from this horrible montage of his failures: Ladybug’s reaction to the reveal he’s Chat Noir. In spare of few seconds she went through all package of emotions - confusion, shock, bewilderment, comprehension, anger. It was delightful. 

After thinking about it for some time, I came to a conclusion that this plot is kind of a warning from writers. We, as a fandom, want The Reveal to happen, some of us want it now, others (like me) don't want it fastforwarded and now I see why it's not a good idea. Adrien and Marinette are at that moment that both still have an unhealthy perception of love and their feelings are more like obsession. They're both putting other one on the pedestal as a person completely rid of flaws and ability to make mistakes. They have tunnel visions and don't see anything around but the person they love. So if they knew each others’ identities now when their feelings are in such underdeveloped stages, they would fail as superheroes because those feelings would got in the way. And it's something that they can't allow since Hawkmoth is getting stronger and is plotting something big. The message is clear: don't expect The Reveal to become cannon now because it's not the right moment.

But I'm not trying to give writers enough credit - at least, this time. I want to see characters learning from events that took place in this episode. I want to see them actually realise that their concept of love is flawed and decide to be better than they are right now. I want to see Love Square finally going somewhere rather than being constantly stuck in nowhere. That's why I have high hopes for the rest of season 3 and have big expectations from season 4 (because, if Love Square developing will happen, it's now or never).

Ok, let's continue.

- Sass - poor kwami was active for months, didn't get a snack, had a short break in the box and was summoned again very quickly (although refreshed). #letsassrest2019

- Luka being the chosen one - ok, as funny as it sounds, there's no better summary why Luka got snake miraculous in the end. When he reentered the scene, he witnessed some serious talk between Ladybug and Adrien, the latter obviously crying, both visibly down and disstressed and, blessed his soul, said he's glad that Adrien was found because he was worried (Lukadrien fans must have gone wild at that). Adrien looked at him and made this face:

The face of realization. Because, as he experienced, snake miraculous requires to be used wisely while keeping a cold head. Something that he couldn't do. And before him stood a guy who's really calm, collected but brave and caring (Adrien's words). Fortunately, Adrien didn't continue to pout but immediately suggested to Ladybug to give Luka a miraculous. After saying goodbye (with bittersweet Ladrien moment), Ladybug turned to confused Luka and it was his time to shine. And boiii, he shone alright! I mean, look at those majestic screenshots of his transformation:

Sidenote: this tranformation was probably the longest one but it could give Chloe a run for her money in fabulous department.

- new trio of Paris - and we got cool trio of superheroes to deal with Desperada (who was still laying down in sniper position on Eiffel Tower, lol) who were working very well together. Main duo was back in their game and overall I'm here for Chat Noir/Viperion bro ship.

- plan to take down Desperada - as I said earlier in the recap, Desperada didn't seem that threatening at first but she quickly showed that I was mistaken. It was no overexaggeration when Marinette said that there is no room for error with her because of variety of weapons she used. That's why they needed to plan their ambush from A to Z and that's why snake miraculous was better for this mission than, for example, rabbit miraculous. It's good that Viperion wasn't hit during those chances because they would be screwed and Hawkmoth would probably win.

As I predicted, Viperion needed considerably less time to figure out how to get the upper hand in the fight. And although it was strange that both Ladybug and Chat Noir struggled more than usual with defeating an akuma, it was nice seeing other hero forming a plan in the meantime. 

Now I wonder if Viperion's lyre has the function to distract opponents with its melody or it was the fact that Desperada was just sensitive for hearing music in general. Also, lyre can be used in other ways:

- I need a confirmation that those two are officially together (and Fang is their pet)! Pleeeeaaaaaseeeee!

- Vivica is so cute! And I love that heroes always do "pound it" next to confused victims

Luka is so freaking tall here! And I thought that Adrien got taller this season! He looks so small compared to Viperion!

- oh yeah, with that look he gave her, it's pretty much confirmed that Luka knows Marinette is Ladybug. Otherwise it wouldn't be shown like that.

- Kagami giving Marinette an opening for fair rivalry is something you don't see everyday. Kagami encourages her to make up her mind with all that Adrien-Luka thing - another motivation for Marinette to push her character development ahead.

Alya chimes in saying that boys also have to decide. We know what Luka thinks but Adrien still needs more time to clarify that. And waiting for that is going to kill us all.

So that’s all, folks! TL;DR, thanks for coming to my ML Talk! Man, why am I doing these only when an episode creates a lot of fandom salt?

[lunammoon]

Three Houses Characters as seen by @yeetx4

Byleth: Strong, Very Intimidating, Is actually a softie.

Edelgard: Level 1 Peasant => Level 50 Empress. Probably has a Male consort. Mpreg kid

Hubert: Snape 2.0 grumpy professor Edgar Allen Poe looking ass. Is probably happy MCR reunited

Ferdinand: Soft baby prince. Named Lance. Goofy

Lindhardt: Friend of Lance. Confused for a girl. Constantly flirted with. Has to keep Lance in line.

Caspar: Pre time skip: Trying to cosplay MHA. Baby Post-time skip: Looks like Sonic

Bernadetta: Babey: Level 1 Peasant => Level 50 empress. Grew up on the street. Doesn’t talk. Loves friendship. Standard anime girl.

Petra: Queen. Tsundere. Strong Independent WomanTM. Cool post timeskip hair

Dorothea: Catgirl. Big personality.

Dimitri: Pre-Timeskip: *laughter* is this Seto Kaiba? Hates the main character for no reason. Probably has a little sibling that they hate. Probally says: Then Perish or Begone Thot, Rich

Post-Timeskip: Looks like Miral & Lucio. Feral Boy. Ratman. Very sad. Kingdom fell. Looking for honor. Living in the woods. Disowned

Dedue: Supporting advisor for MC. Probably and Uncle or Dad to the MC. Dad energy.

Felix: *oooo* pretty boy. Used to work for MC. Chaotic neutral. Can’t tell if I trust him or not. Looks like Sebastian from black butler

Ashe: Childhood friend of MC. Seperated for a bit. rouge agent. neutral good. very baby. good fighter. maybe a spy.

Sylvain: Another Babey. The friendly rival of the MC. They are really close. “As much as love and adore you, I’m gonna kick your ass”. Turns into a general or knight.

Mercedes: *groans* oh dear. Pre-Timeskip: Anime mom. She looks like she’s sick. Strong mom vibes. Very sweet. Post-Timeskip: Something bad happened to her. “Then Perish”

Annette: Begins as baby. Has an older brother figure. Constantly underestimated. Does something cool when she grows up. Childish. Remains baby. Probably religious.

Ingrid: Probably the child of a priest or a noble. Hangs out in the library. Disney Princess. An interpreter or diplomat.

Claude: Oh I’ve seen him before. Really pretty boy. Pre-Timeskip: Noble. From another country. Goofy

Post-Timeskip: Becomes a pirate. Chaotic good.

Lorenz: Oh dear. Looks like he’s the head of the propaganda machine in Ba Sing Se. Snape 2.0. Had a psychotic break post time skip. Nice guy TM. Insults women.

Raphael: Soft bear vibes. Has a daughter or wife he cherished. Blacksmith/Carpenter. “why is his shirt so tight” Post Timeskip: Soldier or Blacksmith.

Ignatz: Soft baby. Advisor vibes. Friend of the MC. Keeps the MC in line and teachers her stuff. Low-key dad energy. Librarian friend.

Lysithea: Looks like she could kill you and will. Uncontrollable. She learns manners as she gets older. Acts as a spy.

Marianne: You know how sometimes there is a prince/good girl who meets a rouge with a tragic backstory. Works as a spy/assassin. Gets more chill and stable. Helps out the MC.

Hilda: Toga? Doesn’t give crazy vibes. Something is vaguely unsettling about here. There is something not right about her. Low-key tsundere.

Leonie: OOOOO. Probably an archer. Wasn’t taken seriously as a kid. Trying to get people’s attention so that people will know what she’s doing. Very good gal. Says “fuck it, I’ll do what I want.”

Seteth: Leader energy. All about rules. Professor. Has a daughter whom he loves. Doesn’t constantly talk about her. Looks serious but isn’t

Flayn: Daughter of Seteth. Powerful healer. Loves flowers and rabbits. Super OP. Soft-spoken.

Hannerman: Professor. People think he’s evil. Not that bad. Possibly the principle. Posh and has an accent “pip cheerio, want some tea”

Manuela: Definitely a MILF. Reminds me of Midnight from MHA. Kind of strict but also a little crazy. Probably flirts with Seteth.

Gilbert: oh dear. very serious. a librarian or a priest. not bad, just has RBF

Alois: Nice dude. He adopts every child that he sees. Uncle energy. Really strong and respects women.

Catherine: Ursa from fairy tales vibes. Absolute queen and unit. 

Shamir: Related to Felix.  hard to get a read on.

Cyril: Tragic past. Had a huge family. Knows everyone. Meets a general who inspires him to join the army. Is an archer, kinda serious. Doesn’t talk

Jeralt: Rouge king. Maybe a bit barbaric. A known and feared soldier/warrior. Probably still friendly. He has a son who he wants to become the next king.

Rhea: She seems nice and gentle but she’s probally nuts.

Sothis: God’s a literal child. Chaotic child god. is a gazillion years old. no one takes her seriously. could probally destroy the world. stays in heaven because she fears what she’s created

[mittensmorgul]

So I’m still out ahead of the TNT loop, but I think 13.08 aired today for everyone still chained to the broadcast schedule. But I want everyone to pay attention to it, and then continue thinking about it while watching 13.15.

Remember back in s13, when people were like... why do we need TWO episodes about heists like this in one season? Well, I’m gonna venture to say that these were two thematically similar episodes that escalated the concept in a very specific way. And post 14.20, they are rather instructive of the largest narrative arc-- the overarching spiral of the entire story.

I’d first venture to say that these episodes are two similar yet distinctly different genres: the Heist and the Noir. 13.08 is Oceans 11, and 14.15 is The Maltese Falcon. And we wrote loads of meta on this back during s13.

But post 14.20, both of these episodes look like the Big Picture Narrative Spiral in microcosm, at two different levels. And therein lies their fundamental similarity.

1. Sam and Dean are baited into the scenario with something they want and need:

-in 13.08 it’s the spell to locate a nephilim -in 13.15 it’s the blood of a most holy man

2. The thing they want is dangled in front of them by someone who recruits them to do a different job for them in exchange for the thing they want/need:

-in 13.08 it’s to steal a chest from a vault protected by a lock that only Dean can open because he was resurrected after serving time in Hell after making a demon deal in exchange for Sam’s life (as Shrike had done in exchange for his son) -in 13.15 it’s a larger series of machinations all going back to a stolen holy relic

3. The motives of the person sending them on this quest are hidden from them at first:

-in 13.08 they’re of course suspicious of the entire deal because Crowley-cosplaying demon wants something from them, and of course they’re wary -in 13.15, they initially have no reason to doubt Greenstreet’s offer for a trade for a specific relic that he sends them off on a wild goose chase for

4. Their quest for The MacGuffin in each of these episodes leads them to uncover layer upon layer of machinations and deceptions, and in the end the motives of the people they’re theoretically working for are finally uncovered to be personal greed:

-in 13.08, the motive was Barthamus retrieving his bones, which Shrike held hostage in exchange for the cancellation of the demon deal he’d made-- because Barthamus had failed to live up to the spirit of the bargain (i.e. Shrikes son he sold his soul for died anyway, even before the expiration of his 10 year contract, cheating him out of what he paid for, effectively) -in 13.15, it’s a bit more complicated, because Sam and Dean are drawn through this intricate web of setups needed to gather ALL of these people so their original “in” on the case could maliciously essentially have all of them murdered to secure sole claim to this holy relic-- just to be able to be the one who owns it.

5. During the course of the episode, Sam and Dean discover something about one of the people they’re working alongside has been motivated to be there against their will, or not by their own free choice:

-in 13.08 it’s Alice “Snatch”, who feels compelled to continue working for Barthamus so he won’t cash in on her demon deal that she now wishes she could take back... what’s become of her life because of that bad choice turns out not to have been worth it in the present -in 13.15 it’s Father Camilleri, who had been the entrusted keeper of the relic that Greenstreet greedily wanted for himself, which was stolen from its place of veneration by his congregation, his people who had put their faith in their sacred duty to preserve it for their entire community.

6. In the end, it comes down to a heroic act by said person, made of their own free will:

-in 13.08, it’s Alice choosing to free herself from barthamus by burning his bones -in 13.15 it’s Father Camilleri literally taking a bullet for them

7. One turns out to be a huge loss, while the other a surprising gain:

-in 13.08, Alice freeing herself from the demon inadvertently burns up the other half of the spell he’d promised to Sam and Dean, rendering their entire mission effectively pointless-- except Alice does free herself and another demon is removed from the playing field... but Sam and Dean are still left without hope on their specific mission to find Jack -in 13.15, All the Bad Guys plotting and scheming to buy/steal the relic end up either dead or likely to be imprisoned, and the relic is returned to its rightful place with Father Camilleri. It looks like Sam and Dean are at another dead end for their personal quest, but because they chose to give up their quest in order to do the right thing by Camilleri and his congregation, they learn that the man himself has been accorded the title “A Most Holy Man” by the pope himself, and readily gives them the blood they’d been seeking the entire time. Twist and Win.

One is a deal with hell, the other a deal with heaven. One ends up a loss, the other appears to be a win. But what does this win actually mean at the end of the day? What does this piece in the puzzle that will help them unlock the doorway to another world provide them?

(I was about to watch 13.16 when I stopped to type this, and it’s a beautiful little detour through Cas’s mission to secure the Fruit of the Tree of Life and his “marriage” to the queen of the djinn, and there’s our “false reality” connection as plain as they can make it, while they’re trapped in a literal cartoon for most of the episode... but I’m gonna skip the rest of these “tricks,” even including Gabriel having tricked everyone and Asmodeus having tricked them all, because that entire circle of plot burns itself down in a matter of episodes, too... although I realize I could also include 13.20 in this comparison of 13.08 and 13.15, because it also fits all of these themes aptly, from a third narrative genre-- the Revenge Quest of Kill Bill, based on spaghetti westerns and martial arts films, wherein they agree to help Gabriel get his revenge in exchange for his help opening the rift-- this is the same story over and over again, told through three different narrative lenses, each with a slightly different outcome bringing them all ever closer to what they think, what they hope is finally the outcome they wanted all along... and yet... just as they secure their ultimate win, another wrench is thrown into their plans, which brings me to...)

13.23: Everyone is saved, life begins to seem like it’s returning to normal. TFW 2.0 is happily hunting together, and even talking about being able to take time off and finally get that beach vacation. I think this is the magical phrase that summons Cosmic Wrenches. Those wrenches come flying through the rift to screw them over in the form of Lucifer and Michael. And the Narrative Loop loops again.

But after 14.20, this is exactly what Chuck has been doing to them since the start. All of it. It’s all clearly encapsulated in these episodes. Even when they believe they’re acting of their own free will, their choices and actions have very little bearing on the effectiveness of their own plans. There could never be a true win for them as long as the Cosmic Wrenches continued flying, and we learned in 14.20 that Chuck never intended to stop throwing them.

Because he’s entertained watching them scramble to catch wrenches.

So here, have the takeaway from 13.15 to sum up this futility:

Dean: What? Come on. I know that look. What's on your mind? Sam: I don't know. Nothing. I mean -- I mean, you know... You ever feel like we're -- we're doing nothing but playing defense? You know, bouncing from one apocalypse to the next? Dean: Well, it's not exactly our call. Sam: I know that, and I'm not saying we don't do good. But -- but no matter how many people we save, there will always be more people that need saving. No matter how many monsters we kill-- Dean: There's always gonna be another one around the corner. Sam: Exactly. Dean: Mm-hmm. Sam: You think we could ever change things? I mean, really change things? You know, stop all the monsters, all the bad? Dean: That would be nice. Sam: Yeah. So what are you thinkin'? Think that'll work? Dean: I have faith.

Turns out they don’t need to stop “all the monsters.” They just need to stop the one wielding all the wrenches aimed directly at them.

[thelowlysatsuma]

Ramble in whatever form you choose. I won’t be able to be active all the time so if you want to be able to do it whenever you want I’d say text posts but I’ll also try to occasionally ask you about them so there’s some variety

!!! okay! well i think i’ll choose a couple from the list that i haven’t made many posts about before (aka no ts or go) and ramble on here!

oof under the cut bc idk how long this will get

steven universe

oh hon don’t even get me STARTED on su like that shit? that shit is so good? okay first of all i love the cast so much? gosh they’re just all so sweet and cool and sometimes they collab w/ thomas sanders and i love rebecca sugar and im gonna cry they’re so sweet im so soft

okay SECONDLY the show itself oof

okay okay im just? god im so soft?? like the music is so good, i can (and do) watch it w/ my parents, GOD do i wanna cosplay pearl’s new outfit (and rainbow 2.0, if i can pull it off), im in love with the concept and all the fusions and the story and the worldbuilding and god, this made me realize my utter love and adoration of COLOURS like they’re so PRETTY im in LOVE oh my gOD and just

god it has such a good message and such a good plot and such good characters i wanna be steven’s friend i wanna be all of their friends oh man i just can’t wait until my baby cousins are old enough for me to show this to them because i’m going to enjoy that experience so much

ducktales

oh jfc where the fuck do i even start with ducktales okay david tennant as scrooge mcduck makes my fucking life literally he’sthe best goddamn charaacter in the show – well, best besides the triplets (my BOYS), webby (!!! my KID), f e n t o n (god i love that nerd), mark beaks (what an asshole), mrs beakley (i wanna be her when i grow up), launchpad (!!! he!!), and so many others??? this is like serious every character in the show erasure but hot damn duck tales says gay rights and it does so in style (oh yeah also i love lena della donald oh webby’s new friend whose name i forget uhhh herules oh the inventor guy fenton’s boss that dipshit love him uhhh gandra dee who’s voiced by jameela jamil if im not mistaken??????) and yeah it’s a hilarious show but it’s also just a really good one for me to watch whenever i start to like. feel empty inside?? but then like i’ll put on ducktales and i’ll feel better

gravity falls

this show. this show RUINED ME. i started watching it like four years late (aka last year lmao) but GOD, im so in love with it. def another one i wanna show my cousins.

like?? just??? the ciphers and mysteries appeal so much to me and my love of mystery and crime novels, the characters are all amazing, alex hirsch himself is just such a g?? and like. it’s so good. it hurts me so much but then it’s all okay in the end and it’s just. it’s so good.

yeah i sobbed my eyes out when i watched that series finale.

camp camp, which somehow i forgot on my other list

god, is this show hilarious. like, fuck is it funny. it’s so good. it’s so fucking good. i was a little shocked when i saw the first episode but i’m so into it now, and i’m so attatched to all the characters bc they’re just dumbasses trying their best (or worst, in a few cases) and i love them for it. that’s peak fool energy right there and it speaks to me

orphan black

okay okay okay veering now into a much darker type of television, orphan black is??? phenominal???

okay so my best friend @fuck-me-gently-with-a-slurpee got me into it when i was like 14 or 15 i think and i honestly cannot thank her enough because this show is incredible. the plot’s super engaging, i literally cannot say anything about it without giving away spoilers, and the main character has quite possibly the best actor i’ve ever seen playing her

like. you think thomas sanders is good? he ain’t got SHIT on tatianna maslany

mythbusters

you guys. you guys. mythbusters was my childhood. like seriously, i watched that show religiously.

it’s what first got me into science, and it’s what kept me interested in explosions. it’s light and funny and ridiculous and scientifically accurate in the dumbest ways possible. i swear to god the main cast nearly dies once an episode

these guys are my idols. like, i seriously cannot overstate how much i love the mythbusters. adam and jamie, tori, kari, and grant.

when i was a kid, i wanted to be a mythbuster when i grew up, and god damnit, i still do. they mean that much to me

bill nye

fun fact! i actually had no fuckin clue who bill nye was until seventh grade, when i had to watch an episode of his show for homework because i missed a day of class. it was the episode on static electricity, and i remember sitting at my dining room table in the dim winter afternoon light, squinting at my computer, and thinking “what the FUCK am i WATCHING?”

needless to say, i’ve seen more since then, but that initial what the fuckery is still present and i love it.

not only is bill nye the science guy a flippin fantstic show, but bill nye himself? the coolest guy alive. god, i love him. what a g.

various comedians including but not limited to john mulaney,john oliver, and hasan minhaj

okay, as a gay, i am legally required to love john mulaney, but seriously that guy is so. fuckin. funny that i can’t help myself. his timing is priceless, the way he moves onstage is hysterical, just. god i love his stuff.

literally his comedic timing and style is half the reason people find me funny. i just phrase my sentences the way he would because, you know, i’m good at stealing things, and people laugh, and i go “hey. that actually worked”. and then i keep doing it

next, john oliver. okay, so while i don’t watch his show religiously, i do watch it when my parents do every now and again, and fuck is his stuff funny. like. just. shit.

finally, hasan minhaj’s patriot act is just. one of my favourite current events comedy shows out there. it’s in a similar vein to john oliver’s stuff, just more international, and shit, is he good at what he does. i lvoe it.

hoodwinked the movie (i am dead serious)

okay, while i haven’t seen it in over four years, this is still my favourite movie of all time. it also has one of my favourite villain songs of all times, and some of the best character exchanges just. ever. especially with wolf and twitchy

...god, i love twitchy. also the goat. i’m probably gonna be the goat when i grow up, let’s be honest

one day at a time

i just.

there’s so much to say about odaat. like. it’s so funny. it makes me nearly cry every episode (and makes my mother actually cry every episode). the characters, god, the characters

like. alex is such a cute dumb kid (who’s smarter than he looks), penelope is so salty constantly and i love her but she’s genuinely so cool and such a good mom and i cry??? elena is so amazing like god she’s such a fuckin nerd but she’s also so salty (takes after her mom) and is literally the best????

and then there’s abuelita, whom i adore. like, god, rita moreno is SO cool and SUCH a great actress and has SUCH an amazing sense of comedic timing and GOD, i LOVE HER

can’t forget about syd and doc berkowitz, which like. okay first off the good doc. just. god i love the doc. he’s so sweet and such a genuinely good dude and he’s a bit of a coward at heart but that’s okay because he genuinely cares and does his best and god he’s just such an amazing character im !!!!! and then syd is such a dork and i love them and elena and god, it made me so happy to see not only an actual enby character on a big sitcom, but also just?? like??? it’s not forced but it’s still there??? like there’s one episode where one of the plots is just syd and elena trying to figure out what elena should call them, since neither of them are comfy using “girlfriend” for syd since they’re not a girl, and they finally agree on “significant other” and schneider imMEDIATELY says “dont you mean, SYDnificant other?” and then they use that for the REST OF THE SHOW IT”S SO CUTE OKAY

and finally, schneider. he might be my favourite character in the entire show (which is a damn hard list to pick from!!!), but he’s just. he’s so sweet, he and penelope have one of the absolute best male/female friendships i’ve ever seen (which! never! turns! romantic! ever!!!), he’s actually got surprising depths but he’s also like such a nice goofball that when they get revealed, it hurts, and he’s just this canadian dumbass (heyyyyy repreSENT) with the worst goddamn canadian accent sometimes and he’s a hipster and The Dumb Friend and the weird uncle all rolled into one and GOD, i love him so much

the good place and brooklyn 99

okay, i love these two both so, so much, but i’m lumping them together because a) they’re both mike schur shows with a similar sense of humour, that say gay rights, and with characters who’d definitely love each other if they met and b) my hand is getting tired from all this typing but i still have so much  love to go around!!!!

okay so so SO! they’re both so good. they’re so fucking funny and amazing and i was immediately hooked on both of their pilots. their characters are all so genuine and flawed and fucking hysterical to watch, and the ships and friendships are all so amazing and pure and good and soft and they have their problems and they WORK THEM OUT HEALTHILY AND IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY OKAY!!!

god, i literally cannot overstate how much i adore these two shows. mike schur, you’re a wonderful, wonderful dude. thank you so much

many musicals (top faves include BOM, hamilton, legally blonde, chicago, matilda, and more!)

i’m putting the musicals together because while i do adore each and every one of them individually, i also just have great big deep-seated love of the art of musical theatre itself in general, ya feel?

like, as someone who’s been both performing and viewing them from a very young age, the sheer sense of utter joy they bring is almost unparalleled

not to be That Bitch who quotes musicals, but “and that hop in our hearts as the overture starts lets us know how lucky we are” might be the closest i’ve ever gotten to finding words to fit the feeling when the lights go down and the show begins. it’s simply phenomenal

the others series by anne bishop

okay, OKAY, if you haven’t read this series (first book called written in red – they have terrible titles but god, they’re worth it), then what are you doing with your life? like, not only is there the perfect logicality au to them (just sayin’), but god, it’s such an incredible series

the worldbbuilding is so cool and the characters are all great and god the ships are the damn hill i die on it’s got literally such a good “sort of enemies mostly just dislike each other to reluctant acquaintances to friends to lovers” ship and it deals with some serious issues rlly well and it’s got baby puppies!!!

like, they’re wolf puppies, but still, they are b a b e y

and finally (for now, at least), the mysterious benedict society, by trenton lee stewart

this book series was my childhood. i mean, there are so many other books i could be talking about right now that i utterly adore (the artemis fowl series springs to mind), but gosh, MBS just brings me such absolute joy to read that i just had to have it on here.

i’m not thinking straight at this point in the evening, but i just wanna say that i will never, not ever forget about reynie. about kate. about sticky. about constance. about rhonda and number two and milligan and miss perumal and my absolute son sq pedalian and, of course, i will never, never forget about mr benedict

it’s bright, and it’s bittersweet, and it’s beautiful.

and it’s good. simply, utterly, wonderfully good.

thank you for the ask, anon.

thank you.

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[elizabethrobertajones]

14x06 watching notes

Bugs 2.0

this is more like a sleepy note to self from last night (hi future me in the morning, you better have coffee) but I can't believe Yockey is sending Jack, who is consumptive, caught in a crisis of personal identity, and sworn to kill his AUncle who is blurred dangerously with one of his fathers, WITH said father on a hunt, while Dean is so messed up about Michael and guilt and all he's coming at the angsty nonsense from the complete other side... And that's still like half the story because also Sam and AUCharlie and a giant fly monster or something...

Anyway last time a Yockey episode showed up I wrote 100k words of watching notes, broke down crying over the elevated Shakespearean drama, and astral projected into watching the final five-ten minutes in the Globe Theatre.

What we know so far about this episode has me legitimately terrified to the point I'm writing preemptive episode notes the night before so maybe I will fall asleep and dream in such a way I sort this all out and can come to it with Secret Dream Knowledge.

-

Mittens had the audacity to remind me that Speight directed as soon as I rolled out of bed as well

-

Oh no the recap is awful in moments. Please leave Jack alone. He is small and young and doesn't deserve anything bad that has ever happened to him.

The ticking and chiming of this all coming due is a great way to raise blood pressure, and as I was saying last night, we get both Dean blurring with Jack in his issues as well as Dean blurring with Michael

I remain eternally optimistic that seeing Christian Keyes in the recap means he might get smuggled back into the show.

I WILL say this every time it happens and refuse to back down on that :P

Anyway, tying the two main points of plot stress together - what is wrong with Jack, and what is wrong with Dean. We KNOW what is wrong with Dean - he said yes to Michael, and got taken for a ride and sorely used. Don’t know if there’s a ticking time bomb about Dean and something Michael did to him. We can guess a few avenues of where the awful comes from for Jack, but I suspect it's going to be at least another full episode of Rowena poking him next time to figure it out, if not an ongoing mystery so his consumptiveness can be dragged out as a point of tension.

His is so obvious that equating Dean's tick tock clock with it is considerably more alarming on Dean's behalf, since we have a much better visual of what's up with Jack, and just "djinn didn't like the inside of Dean's head despite dealing in nightmares" to wonder about Dean.

We get the recap that Jack's being given his hunter go ahead, but then Dean's dismal "it's all on me, it's my fault" over a dark screen and even the "Now" which is a very over dramatic way to press home the sense of ongoing trauma and how that line is going to be affecting him.

Not that we haven't seen him very visibly affected already, behaviourally, but this seems like a clock reaches the end of its countdown episode now >.>

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ANYWAY HAVE SOME UPBEAT MUSIC AND THE KOOKY STATUE GUY

Ooh dear, here's bandanna girl from the promo pics, but wearing......... would you fukkin believe it............................................. a long tan coat with large dark buttons up the front. Hilariously, I nearly mentioned when chatting about ascots yesterday morning, that ties made of ribbons were a modern equivalent you see in the same professions so maybe she is just visually connected to these sort of neck ties. Her floofy shirt and that ribbon tie has both shades of people's fem!Cas cosplay and also the sort of faux puritan modern witch look from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so. I'm gonna assume whether they know it or not she's a witch.

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Aww she is the librarian :')

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I love her already because she said good morning to the old person sitting by the statue, but also because she did that and therefore is emotionally completely at odds with the show and her personal theme music means she's in for it and I already feel protective that her jaunty tune is going to get interrupted.

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Why do I feel like at least 4 of the library rules are going to be broken

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Aww the floofy frills go all around her shoulders. She's so upbeat! Shelving books like it is the most thrilling and wonderful thing to be doing on this sunny morning after rain :')

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She looks so much like Bela when she talks... good grief... I wonder if she's related. Anyway first jump scare is her library boyfriend because she was just so caught up in shelving.

Listen I get names wrong or ignore them constantly but for some reason I do not understand them at all so it sounded like Ambraubry to me and probably isn't Amber or Aubrey and also how comes I understand all the other dialogue but not this??? To the point that in multiple past episodes despite my slow and steady approach to understanding an episode, I've completely and utterly mangled understanding or missed entirely the name introductions D:

I really am going to try and do better this episode, because it's so awkward.

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"Harper, are you okay?"

Adsjfhdkjsfhskjfds

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She's an angel. Wings, trenchcoat, tie, harp -

-

Anyway she appears to have the affections of at least two dudes, one of whom will defend her with a stapler, and we're lucky the detective pikachu trailer came out like 2 days ago because the kid in that does it but it's too late to be an homage.

Obviously Harper's knight in dark plaid is brooding, gingery, and armed with a projectile weapon. *fires staples at sweater nice!guy*

"Put the stapler down"

*Dean Winchester's it back into the safety setting*

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"That guy's always been creepy" See that was hilarious but now I like sweater guy better.

"He's just overreacting because nothing ever happens here" Is this Cas defending Dean to the bitter end, even when it might literally involve watching him murder the world for his own personal angst?

-

Harper is very clearly setting boundaries while being a total sweetie about being sad no one goes to libraries or reading time. She's almost too frighteningly well put together. No one is this well-adjusted :P

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Aaand sweater!guy loses points for nice!guying his way into assuming he has a date

dear lord the music

-

RIP Sweater Guy.

We hardly knew ye.

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Dear lord I love Yockey characters

And Speight directing

this is truly as unholy fun as I was fearing D:

-

Also re: something from 14x04... nice guy characters again being portrayed in this way where the old school "geek" coding (or at least, beta male who is small and wearing a sweater and such in this very old-school way which honestly I think is fashionable again or was recently... It's a coding which comes with not just the appearance but also the attitude, and if he'd been cool and charismatic, the same costume could have done something very different). It isn't so much the problem as the attitude... Nerds are beloved on this show, but people with gross toxic attitudes such as insisting dinner is a date and not taking no for an answer on that are going to be summarily murdered round back for hubris.

I mean the title is "optimism" and he was WILDLY over-optimistic about his chance of getting with Harper, so. I mean. If that's the magnetism that pulls the monster in...

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On the other side of the title card, Jack is stayin alive, and curiously pouring way too much sugar in his coffee as the title comes up - there's an immediate irony that he may be optimistic that he is doing better and on his way to hunting with all his dads and being part of the team again and also optimistic that this much sugar will not ruin the coffee... It's also a little worrying though I doubt he thinks this far ahead, in the sense that too much sugar is bad for you and like Dean being thrilled at the thought of bacon killing him, Jack risking the health damage from drinking sugar-coffee-sludge is an endgame beyond his current consumptive state.

See also: tragic or byronic heroes who are gonna self-destruct because they have mayfly lives in the age of consumption. Jack again being at genre odds with himself as part of an internal conflict...

"What's with the sugar?"

"without my powers, everything tastes different, and I can't get this how I like it"

Maybe you aren't meant to be drinking coffee if it's too bitter for you. I mean in your current state what is chugging red bull gonna do to kill you faster.

It's very Cas in 9x11, commenting on being an angel again after being human. But we know Jack's still in that state. It's interesting because we know he has a sweet tooth because literally the first thing he ever eats is nougat and now we all call him nougat child, but I feel like with powers he was probably rather less discerning because nothing would kill him and everything was digestible... Coffee tastes bitter because it's technically a bitter poison warning, telling us not to consume because caffeine bad... Er, yeah, sorry, coffee plants. But bitterness to humans is supposed to repel us on a “is this food safe?” level, and kids have trouble with bitter foods, and prefer sweetness and uncomplicated flavours because they're instinctively safer.

Jack's struggling to consume the bitter adult juice that makes the hunters run, and is dealing with it by a Sisyphean task of just adding more and more sugar to taste. It reminds me of when I was smol and wanted to drink cranberry juice because I thought it would make me more sophisticated, but it was too bitter, so I kept adding more and more water until it went from even remotely resembling juice to sort of pinkish tart water that still tasted gross and made my mouth dry and didn't even taste like juice any more. At no point did I hit the sweet spot where it was drinkable, because I wasn't even putting the right stuff in to make it taste better. In that case, a spoonful of sugar. In Jack's case... dude. A splash of milk. You don't have to drink it angsty black-like-his-soul like Dean does.

Anyway, "I can't get it how I like it" is very telling of Jack's current overall mindset and sense of place and all. Now he's human but despite having chosen his family and even declared himself human before his powers were stolen, he now has no powers and is consumptive to boot, so the balance has swung way too far over from super powerful cosmic entity to sick kid who can't keep up with the adults. No amount of sugar can change that to something he WANTS to drink when there's still a fundamentally fatal problem with his situation. Sure the dangers of being cosmic lil nephilim on everyone's radar is over, but as this show always does, it swings over to an ironic flip of the first problem, and he's too weak to help.

I suppose the optimism is that he can change this scenario by pouring sugar into it - hunting with the dads - when he needs a different drink.

-

Whoops already with the dramatic irony - Jack's excited and admiring of heroes Sam and AUCharlie (ChAUrlie?) and just assumes they're having the time of their lives. He's yet to solo hunt with either Sam or Dean, but he'll tick Dean off the list today. For now, what No.1 Dad gets up to (no offence to other dads, this one just tackled Lucifer for him that one time) is mythically amazing, so probably why it's the last on the list... if we'll ever see it. After all, Sam and Jack had their whole season structured around their dynamic from open to close, while actual conflict and confusion remains between his dynamics with both Cas and Dean, as much more complicated, less ideal dads.

Meanwhile: Sam is discovering that it's SUPER AWKWARD to go on a stake out with an AU version hardened by war and with like at least 5-10 years less pop culture than the Charlie you knew, loved, and got murdered by accident that one time.

Which I am totally sure is not on Yockey's mind at all now he's caught the Charlie ball that Buckleming threw recklessly out there.

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Anyway. Dean not sugarcoating (haha) "he just left you here" "yeeeep." Obviously Jack's spent a LOT of time in the Bunker recovering and training (he's back in his tracksuit top at least here) but Cas declared him fit for service and they even seem to have survived that hunt together. Somehow. (No slight on their competency, but it's Cas and Jack. Come on, that was a TRIP and I'm so bitter we didn't see it :P) So now Dean can say this in a way that makes it sound like Jack's being left out and get his bitterness immediately on the surface, as he doesn't really have filters.

More bitterness you can't pour sugar over.

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The fact that Jack is sitting with his back to Kevin's coffee machine is the worst thing ever.

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LOL, poor Dean. Sam deputised Jack to wait for Dean to get back from his supply run to the love cabin, because he was worried about him, which means that Dean now has his own kick from Sam which I am assuming is the spite motivator to take the boy out hunting with him, that he thinks that *Jack* now has to look after *Dean* at least emotionally.

Obviously, like. Yeah. They're good for each other especially if they can bond some more. But like. Try telling Dean that while insisting it's mandatory father son bonding time out of CONCERN.

*cat falling in a bathtub and freaking out and reaching supersonic speeds out the door gif*

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Nougat Son attempts a pep talk anyway because he is good and pure of heart and adores his pop pop, even if by sheer lack of interaction or early interest he technically does rank at no.3 in the charts. Listen, Dean WOULD tackle Lucifer for you if he had to, but the story wasn't framed in such a way that he COULD over Sam's narrative need to tackle Lucifer for you.

-

Dean rebuffs it not out of harshness to Jack but to himself - Jack repeats the line that no one blames Dean, but Dean is like "i do"... Honestly I'm curious for the Dean n Cas version of this because Cas was there in the room and he so far hasn't given Dean the pep talk. Mostly out of them not spending any time together, and I'm sure Dean has a lot of shame that Cas saw him do it, but for as much as Cas blatantly loves Dean still and all on first sight, does he have a more complicated view on it, given he was in the room and tried to argue Dean down?

Anyway Dean and Jack share a very knowing silence of mutual self-loathing and wow this is hilaaaaarious that that's their mutual relationship bedrock but yeah. Last season the most bonding they did was in 13x23 when Dean was like yeah we all get horrifying nightmares kiddo.

-

*consumptive noises* *Dean's eyes immediately shoot over to the kid*

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"Maybe I'm allergic to sitting around doing nothing"

THERE HE IS. THERE'S MY SARCASTIC LIL NOUGAT

-

We do not get enough of him. I mean, like, maybe since 13x04? He had a rough childhood but now he is a Teen, with all the door slamming and threatening to kill dad no.3 that entails.

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"What do you want to do?" We really are getting Dean coming towards Jack from arms' length even now, so he sits down with him and NOW and only now he stops the pretence of being a somewhat disinterested grumpy adult talking to another angst ball adult - very 13x02 last scene kinda wary understanding but without the threat of murder - to sitting at the table with Jack (who of course is in Sam's place) and reaches out to him with a very clear opening up of father son bonding time. I think obviously Jack has grown on him and he cares but he's resisted overt responsibility and their connection has been tentative and weird, and as paternal as Dean can be and has been since the start of the show, with Jack only he's been very careful about opening himself up, specifically for reasons of not wanting to get lumped with another baby to care for right when he was truly setting Sam down at last, and also for like, the whole getting Cas killed thing, and even a year and a half later, he may actually HAVE tentative paternal feelings towards Jack, but he's very much intent on keeping himself Dad no.3, and to only open himself up when it's necessary or else he's emotionally ready for it.

(The description of next episode makes me pretty sure Dean is the worst person of them all to have to discover Consumptive Nougat Son issues which is why I’m assuming he’ll figure it out)

In this case, this appears to be a mutual distraction from their angst - "HUNT" Jack says, with the kind of horrifying enthusiasm of one who still doesn't see it as nightmarish as Dean does.

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"Cas is an insurance policy on those hunts" Awww Dean loves his hubby and thinks he's still the biggest BAMF ever, even when Cas has, er, a patchy record lately. Though perhaps low-level monster nonsense is still within his scope...

Anyway, after the Sam n Cas nurturing Jack conspiracy (how dare they love and care for him!!!) Dean straight-talks the kid that he's still very much on hunter probation and has been tagging along with Cas specifically for his own protection. Again, Dean never sugarcoats for Jack, but that honesty has always been a core part of their relationship, even when things were really, really, really bad. Jack still cared what Dean thought and Dean, eternally bitter from his own childhood, gave it to Jack straight, even if it would hurt. No fairytales for Jack.

Even though he has fanciful notions of sleeping beauty from his more whimsical fathers and whatever Kelly left in there :P

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Why does Sam have a fidget spinner except that Charlie may be about to declare HIM the monster of the week and kill him.

I mean, dramatic irony and making him look goofy. And Sam is very very very hard to make look goofy because he had all his funny bones replaced with serious bones.

It is very embarrassing to watch him be a goof for this exact reason.

I suppose it is a way to make us start to sympathise with AUCharlie and start to get into HER headspace. We're seeing Sam from an outside perspective - Jack and Dean saying admiring things about him, while looping over to Sam to show us what CHARLIE is experiencing of this. Especially as she's spent a lot of time on the road being an independent agent, rather than sticking with the AU Peeps all the time, she's very much a strong personality of her own as a former rebel leader, and yet knowing OUR Charlie it's less the leading and more the rebellion that would have drawn her. Though she makes a great Queen of Moondoor, that's her softer, nerdy side, and she very clearly had a hunter!Charlie persona of a rebel that struck out on her own, and even when she was a civilian whistleblower/hacker from within RRE, she was acting on her own initiative against the corporate enemy. With her trip to Oz she also had a similar role as AUCharlie of being perhaps a general to a higher leader such as AUBobby in Dorothy.

-

The adverts on the McCook Sentinel are for TRAVEL, retirement funds, eating healthy and a local student initiative cleaning up the park - the next generation doing their bit to make the world better.

-

Oh dear, Winston "sweater guy" Mathers - the same name as Dave Mathers in 13x06 - was bitten all over and it was probably bath salts. Case closed.

-

Now the negotiations and loopholes: Sam said we all need partners now "so we can be hunting buddies!!" Oh Jack. Alex really is good at sounding innocently purely enthusiastic with total childish glee.

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"A: don't call it that."

-

Dean snarks at Jack that HE is going to back ME up? Nah kid. Mistake - this is the key to the angst floodgates. Honestly pausing just after the "I could have killed Michael when i was strong enough!!" declaration is enough info for me to accept a smash cut to Dean and Jack kitted out and on the case, guilt trip accomplished.

It's also very familiar to Dean to have the guilt of having not done enough, to find someone else also specifically feels responsible for what Michael is off doing. And Jack's claim to guilt lies like a whole FIVE MINUTES earlier than DEAN'S claim to guilt. If Jack had killed Michael, Dean wouldn't have had him there to say yes to.

Check and mate.

-

Sorry, Jack is saying he was distracted and stupid so now Dean is legally obligated to take him hunting to cheer him up.

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"You didn't do anything wrong."

"AND NEITHER DID YOU, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY EASIER, DOES IT?"

Okay, what is the one that comes after check mate but even more vicious because Jack's running loops around his old man.

-

Dean is making.... left over noodle... taco.....

Jack, knock him out, drag him to the impala, and start driving before he can eat it

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He also sharply identifies hunting as the coping mechanism and how they don't just sit around in the Bunker feeling sorry for themselves, and Dean not only can relate but he is being wildly called out by someone who has no filters and also will tell him the absolute truth about it. More than Cas, these days, who carries so much of his guilt and shame secretly so as not to burden Dean, that Jack is now the refreshing voice who cuts through all their crap and shows it for what it is.

-

Dean is like, man, I never wanted kids. Because they do this to you.

-

Thank god Jack won that argument with the final emotional appeal and we shifted over to Sam and AUCharlie's adventure.

-

They really are not getting along.

-

Charlie just has a jar of sloppy goo. What did she get it from? How did she get so much in the jar when it's so runny? Why does she still have it? Why did Sam put it on the dash? How comes they have Bobby's truck?

Or do the AU Peeps have a whole collection of identical beaten up blue trucks as part of their uniform shabby hunter look?

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It's super weird having Charlie pull out an old book instead of a laptop. How do you do product placement????

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Dick's Red Rooster diner!

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There's a massive photo of a barn at sunset behind them. Putting them out to pasture??

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"Yeah, when a young guy dies they never know what to put in those things." Ouch, Dean. Spent a lifetime reading obits, he has a deep insider knowledge of the writing style of them.

The line itself in a more meta way is really sad to think about contemplating anyone having that thought to write it in the first place :( It's deep enough that it doesn't seem an obvious thing to occur to you unless you're super morbid or have first hand experience with this.

Let's just go with these writers all have to write fake obits all the time for their show(s) so they know the struggle of trying to pass off the obit as legit sounding while also contemplating what to even say about their fake people who of course they have just imagined up so don't even know anything about them to start with.

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Cocks, everywhere.

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(Man, I really hope there aren't people who read these notes before/instead of the episode also hi if you do, you weird wonderful people) (the diner has a heavy red rooster theme and there's metal cockerels all over the place)

(I assume they're for Dick Speight)

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Oh dear, Dean is indeed going to have to be the parent who gives Jack the birds and the bees talk, because they've left their kid to learn what he can from TV while creating a perfect circle of Cas assuming Sam will do it, Sam assuming Dean will do it, Dean assuming it's not his problem but it would be hilarious if Cas did it...

So of course Dean ends up being the one on the hunt with Jack where he goes down the sudden horrifying rabbit hole from explaining courting to hearing Jack say "the sex" like he's freakin swap-meated Sam...

-

Worst case scenario: Cas has ALREADY given Jack the talk but Dean's now going to have to fix that damage :P

-

Oh teenagers. You want them to stay disturbingly 1 day old naked manchildren forever.

-

Of course the waitress leans in like "sometimes you just have 'the sex'"

Dean shifts uncomfortably and rotates the cock that had been staring right at his midsection away, like he'd not only clocked it earlier, thought about what it innuendoed, but now in the moment where they're thinking about all this stuff surface text, he's too uncomfortable to deal with cocks right now.

-

Thank god Dean is as uncomfortable as I am dealing with the concept of Jack being adult bodied and now emotionally teenaged, because he puts the conversation back on track before I actually expire of horror.

Me and Dean are mutually uncomfortable at the realisation that Jack is catching up fast with his outward age. More than halfway there, probably. Only just started bonding with the kid and now we have to let him fly the nest :P

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Awww we're getting the everyone loves Harper montage of townsfolk. I love one of these things.

We're spending a LOT of time on the Dean n Jack side of things, which is making me wonder if Sam and Charlie will play catch up later, or if they really are a comic cutaway case to the real angst. That Yockey really really wanted to get our two tragic main dorks into one room alone to work through their issues of guilt and murder and stuff and Sam is too emotionally well-balanced currently to be around that.

-

I'm pretty sure one set of the townsfolk are two married women

-

Oh Harper. She's so bubbly and she keeps losing people D: Is there a Nice Guy latched onto you?

(Is it stapler!guy? Nooo I was rooting for him. Maybe he's innocent but will be the next victim... Or maybe not. He DID just see Winston trying to pick her up moments before he died)

-

"She's bad luck" "real shame."

Yeah, something wants her for itself >.>

-

Maybe Harper is the one doing the murdering and eating

Probably not.

-

Sam sits there picking his teeth and AUCharlie finally snaps and tries reaching out to him if it will make him a less annoying stakeout partner. She also does not come under the bracket of Sam's hunter army in the sense of being inexperienced and over grateful of the rescue - that fierce Charlie spark clearly sets her aside not to treat him like the Chief in the same way of needing to be coached and looked after and she was immediately free last season to head off with main named characters like Rowena for side adventures. 

It's interesting just because WE know better that she's interesting and Charlie-like so obviously worth a main side character promotion, but in-universe in a practical way, on the surface there might not initially be anything to set her aside from why she gets special treatment except that she had a former leadership role and clearly more experience and innate feeling towards hunting and rebellion than the rest, compared with Maggie who clearly comes across as a refugee wanting to make a new life and learn the ropes of this world with skills she didn't even develop growing to adulthood in the AU.

Anyway, AUCharlie's attempts to shore Sam up end up with Sam throwing the awkwardness back on her and finally opening up the emotional heart of their story - telling her that Charlie was Dean's old wingman and that she'd been a best friend of his (see also: they'd been going to Moondoor meets off-screen)

-

This is also hilarious that they're using the term wingman when Cas is blatantly the "wing man" in Dean's life and yet Sam is of course focused on Charlie when it comes to dealing with the awkwards of being in a car with AUCharlie but also this skips over Cas's place in the order of best friendyness, because Cas is so much beyond that with his family status.

-

Anyway Sam uses "you" to refer to Charlie to AUCharlie, which is a direct comment on how they find it weird to have her around and she recoils also from the weirdness that they'd been so close to her in their universe. Their mutual discomfort with each other probably also being why she's been happy to go off on extended adventures on her own getting to grips with this world.

"I'm just saying, I'm not surprised you survived the apocalypse" "Well, I am!"

Sam and AUCharlie going back and forth on his uncomfortable admiration of the other Charlie, while AUCharlie is of course having to fill the shoes of the dear departed first Charlie, a harsh copy of her to Sam's eyes and she can feel that because of course of the weird hug when they first met, it's clear that he, like Dean, struggles to separate her - even in a way where she's AU Charlie but Bobby is "new bobby" which is a distinction which shows more awareness of Bobby as a clean replacement while Charlie is a murky zone where should she be treated like just having another Charlie dropped in their laps, or should she be seen clearly as a completely different person from the one she's replacing for them?

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Oh nooo this Charlie worked for RRE but she had a love of her life unlike our singleton Charlie. Just like AUBobby had managed to have Daniel with Karen so things were clearly easier between them than our version... It seems like Mary's sacrifice to not have John somehow boosted the relationships of all the AU people except maybe poor old Kevin :P

-

Oh noooo what if AUCharlie goes to find this universe Cara??

-

Oh goodness actual details of the "angel wars" - a massive EMP that put Charlie out of a job just for starters.

"We banded together, thought, someone will save us! No one ever did." Probably not a commentary on the effectiveness of the current government/world leadership at protecting us from disaster >.>

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You made AUCharlie cry, you asshole. D:

It's mass grief vs personal grief - the AU peeps lost their world, Sam and Dean saved their world at great personal loss. They took on every one of these deaths into their own personal angst machine, so no wonder it's still rolling on :P

Because in the AU everyone has a Karen or a Cara - everyone who was left lost everything and everyone who was gone.

In Sam n Dean's world, paradise world, the heroes had their own grief, but it's a mythologised version, the great mytharc of losing Mary, Jess, etc that powered the intense personal angst of the apocalypse. But that angst which was so intensely forged in Sam and Dean for taking on the entire burden of everyone's angst that made them the heroes who stopped the apocalypse.

And literally one episode later I'm back to Dean's 2x20 speech about why does it have to be us who saves the world and sacrifices happy normal lives - throw "Carmen" into the Karen, Cara collection.

-

"One day the water gets shut off. The next day, people are on fire."

-

Anyway, AUCharlie is intensely hardened to the point of "it all falls apart" because of course she's seen their world crumble.

And again, the outside view point where she's not got the perspective that Sam is the hero that saved the world - it's for us to remember that Sam is the reason this world hasn't crumbled, that hunters are the secret glue holding this world together and we can correct Charlie about their world.

Going too deep is quite uncomfortable to end up comparing 2 worlds, one with a set of destined heroes who are just about holding this one together from at least supernatural threats, and one which immediately fell to pieces when the damage came. In 13x14 AUBobby said that their world just had him, again leaving that empty space that Sam and Dean fixed. But implies the everyday heroism of the AU peeps who managed to hold it together enough to rebuild communities and organise fighting back in their spaces, even heroic-minded people like Bobby and Charlie... AUBobby reckoned he didn't have it together as much as Sam, but in our world, Bobby was a pillar who held the boys and hunting community together much of the time. And Charlie helped save the world once, yet this one felt it crumble around her.

There's something vaguely divine right of kings going on with Sam and Dean at this point, that whole Chuck getting personally involved and calling Dean the firewall between light and dark, that puts their role in a much stranger and more cosmic position. The same thing that made Billie angrily stop pursuing the Winchesters and sit back to read Dean's books in bafflement about how he doesn't die every other day of the week, but is so important on the grand scheme.

To go another step beyond that into meta realms, they have a main character narrative purpose in their own world, so embedded that in the world building of a similar universe, there's no one remotely fit for purpose to step up because no one else was narratively placed to do what they did. And that's their tragedy that they were the people singled out by the narrative, that it's character fights god, directly and on a meta level at times, yelling "why me" and getting "because you're the main character, dumbass, now get back to work" as the answer.

Sam has CONSIDERABLY less interaction across the entire show with being the more meta character, as Dean has genre savvy and was the onlooker to Sam being the one in the crosshairs, that the choice was on Lucifer's vessel to say no or yes, or crack him out of the cage or put him back in. Michael's only purpose was to kill Lucifer, and the rest was free character development space for Dean to yell about how unfair it was that he was there and Sam was being forced this way and that to fulfill his destiny. Even in some meta episodes Sam stayed within the lines or played a role while Dean was the one critiquing and going to speak to the manager, as per the metaphor of Swan Song - 4x18 is the best example of that.

So I think Sam having to confront this here and now is really interesting that he seems considerably less challenged over time to think of himself as the centre of this narrative and what causes and effects this has caused, and to see himself from outside eyes rather than being the one trapped in the middle of it. Lucifer showed him a clip of Swan Song from outside eyes, but it's just not been enough for Sam to really conceptualise himself in this way. Perhaps it'll help him appreciate more what he's done for the universe. I think 6x15 might be the only time he showed more interest than Dean, and that also was about an alternate universe and working out their effect or lack of on it. Of course it was a branch AU from OUR world, while Apocalypse AU is a branch AU from THEIR world.

"not here"

"not yet"

-

More sugar for Jack. Dean rewards him for finding a case with PIE. Not cake though there was a lot in the displays.

There's still cocks in the background. In the old season 10 pie vs cake thing (10x12 and 10x13 and 10x15 working HARD on it) cake was the forbidden option and pie was the sexy thing that literally was used as a yonic symbol. I'm beginning to dread that Jack's going to get the talk, if for no other reason that Dabb's pre-episode tweets of Jack as Fabio on romance novel covers, but the previous conversation sure didn't help. We're visually and show-language primed for Some Nonsense.

-

Oh Christ Jack starts asking about courting, and he says he's never experienced it "unless what you said about Rowena and Gabriel counts"

This dumb lump of nougat has witnessed one of the most ridiculous chapters of Dean n Cas angst and hasn't got a clue.

"No, definitely doesn't count."

He never saw them together, but he would have been there when they broke the news to Rowena I guess. Maybe had some innocent questions then too.

Maybe was advised not to touch the books on that side of the library until someone hosed them down with holy oil.

-

I've been avoiding watching more for like. 2-3 hours. I mean I've been dipping in and out but the mere prospect of this conversation has had me noping out for extended chunks of time to knit and stare into the void and I just realised it's 9am and I started at 5 and only some of that was typing.

My second hand embarrassment squick is barely able to cope with this concept. Now I'm IN this scene I've watched all of Rachel Maddow and nearly checked my dash before I remembered I'm avoiding watching the new episode because Dean has to give Jack the talk so I still have an unwatched episode and spoilers to avoid.

I'm ranking this episode right up there with my conceptual horror at 11x04 just for the prospect of Jack and sex in the same sentence.

-

Oh thank GOD "when we get back I promise I'll give you the Talk" I should have pressed play so much sooner.

(No, you're fooling yourself Lizzy. This concept doesn't just come up in the first quarter of an episode and then go away)

-

Oh. Oh Dear. Yeah, trying to do a trust fall with the rest of the scene just meant I walked right in to Dean proposing, I think, using this strapping young lad he has with him as bait to investigate Harper, by sending him to meet cute with her. You know, Jack, dressed in his tan coat, Harper now dressed with her red bandanna ascoting around her throat and a black shirt so she's more Dean-like.

Bless, Jack's all grown up, he's in a Destiel parallel :')

-

A Ploy! Father Son roleplay! Dean plays the horrible looming FBI man who is threatening a smol lady with only a book for protection to interview her aggressively... And in steps the hero, in his red shirt and still tan coat of course, primed for young love and a hunger for local history books! :P

Well at least maybe stapler!guy might be protected by this if he's not the monster :P

-

Dean has watched enough rom coms/read enough romance novels to know how to set this up even if Jack doesn't. Canon.

-

Put that nasty FBI man in his place! Bam! Jack's getting another one in over Dean in the roleplay which mirrors their starting conversation of him emotionally triple-checkmating Dean over letting him come.

It is also a position of trust to let him do the work to chat up Harper.

-

Gosh I am curious about the endgame of where the Jack vs Dean conflict goes. Jack was literally yelling at Cas that they might have to murder Dean to get Michael a few weeks ago. There's shit going on here and the self-aware staged conflict really makes a curious sort of play within a play aspect, where it mirrors the dynamic. Set a play to catch the conscience of the king.

In this case, Dean being overbearing and threatening to a young woman mirrors Kaia and his treatment of both versions of her, but this time someone is here to step in and stop him, when Jack has been a bystander in the past. And in 13x09 of course, when they first met Kaia, Jack was being really grabby and possessive of her, and she had to beat him off and when Sam and Dean caught up with Jack, Dean immediately said "Good!" about Kaia hitting him, because Jack really was overstepping lines and was wavering one way and the other about being a Joffrey.

Jack is again playing the hero - he's been the prince to sleeping beauty and now he's the Fabio to this love-challenged cursed town darling. This is about perceptions and surface levels - playing the games of being the hero while still working out his own place in the world and discovering that heroism can sometimes mean a murderous revenge quest against the AUncle and the high collateral damage of achieving that. Despite Jack's full on tragic narrative he's battling it hard to dabble in other more light-hearted genres, and join his dads who have all survived by travelling between genre lines and becoming action heroes instead of tragic heroes.

And why is Dean now the possessive and grabby one when he was possessed and grabbed? Or is he still the one who did the grabbing? He CAN'T be Just Michael for all this time, but what's the secret Michael has set up? We can't know it yet but there must be clues, and more we'll work out when we know and can look back on these episodes with hindsight...

But Dean also was presumably the one to come up with the ploy so is it HIS play, and we're getting the boy king (v.2) conscience caught here?

"Why don't you back off kid?"

"You back off... Old man" Jack suddenly sounds threatening enough that Dean recoils, having never been on that end of Jack's terrifying switch Alex can make to being a truly frightening presence, at least not when Jack wasn't naked and lashing out dumbly because he was literally hours old. Jack's never threatened Dean with intent because why would he.

Dean's caught off guard and makes a genuinely "uh" noise in his throat while recovering from the threat, but it impresses Harper so I suppose that's what matters.

Dean vs Jack is very much the Dean and John version of this whole thing, except Dean tried to launch himself to Mars rather than parent Jack and give him the same experience... While accidentally doing stuff like handing Jack a shovel and dismissively telling him to dig which had the exact same effect of being raised as he was. Because like it or not, by 13x02, Jack was mimicking Dean and idolised him a little all along. And now of course, with Daniel laying into Bobby and probably a bunch of other stuff I can't recall mid sentence, we're deep into confronting father figure territory, with John's ghost looming over them all.  

-

"This isn't over" after a moment of comical blustering, the squint Dean gives Jack is almost imperceptible but there's a bit of confusion/curiosity there about just where Jack's assertiveness came from, because DEAN didn't teach him to disrespect authority like that (he totally got it from you Dean). The warning is of course nice and meta in the sense that this staged conflict probably is over, but the Dean vs Jack stuff is only just kicking off.

-

Jack... Smith.

Aw hon.

Still no surname then? Not Kline or Winchester or... whatever Cas's surname is.

-

"Dean what do you mean you don't know Jack's surname? It's the same as mine!" Dean stares blankly at Cas. Cas squints at Dean. Dean slowly, slowly, sinks to the floor and crab-walks backwards out of the room.

-

Anyway awwwwwww romance hero Jack! You play those genres! Find the one where you don't have to be consumptive and murderous!

-

Aha, Stapler Guy is probably called Miles, since Dean is getting perfect audio on this conversation from the car.

Jack is the politest nougat ever, and wants to shake hands with everyone. SOMEONE raised him right. Probably Kelly. I can't even begin to imagine where else he gets it so it must be an instinct she hammered into him from the womb.

Anyway as soon as another guy leaves to get coffee with Harper, Miles comes shooting out of the library to ask what's up, so he's looking more and more like the monster. Grabbiness as the motw!

-

Oooh she's taking Jack to her apartment to get him a book. Oh dear, Jack, this is what Dean did in 9x08.

Be careful, sweetie. No one's given you the Talk yet D:

-

"You don't even know this guy!" "Miles, stop it!"

Yeah, staples guy is definitely my no.1 suspect.

-

Oh.

Is staples guy about to be eaten?

-

Whoops, me and Dean both made the wrong call there. And I was just about to tell Dean he should have been following him in case he was the monster, which would have at least saved him.

-

Apparently just crushing on Harper is dangerous enough. Though Staples Guy crushed hard enough to be a threat. Which means, I would guess, that the MotW feeds on toxic masculinity.

-

Oh my GOD Sam is still stuck in the truck with AUCharlie.

-

"Who wants to be a hunter? Just a lot of tears and death." Yeah, our Charlie got into it with only personal sacrifice of broken arms in exchange for a bunch of thrill-seeking adventure. Until she died, of course. AUCharlie is what you get when Charlie has a tragic backstory involving monsters. I think she must still be hunting for the same principle Charlie had on our first meeting, of what sort of douchebag doesn't help when monsters are eating people in your very building you work... But at the same time, AUCharlie has none of the sunshine, because it was already all taken from her, and she never started hunting to save people, only to fight angels and survive. I suppose the only difference in this world is that now there's no angels to fight, she's outcast from society by default and  has ended up with the same asocial vigilante skills from guerrilla warfare as hunters use day by day for their less world ends stakes job.

-

Sam says "you" and then corrects to "our Charlie" - I can't remember exactly when this was but I think it was 10x18, after Charlie had been through enough that she was starting to lose the shine and Robbie knew he was writing a Charlie who was about to be chewed up and devoured by the story. By Sam's man pain in the story.

This is a baton that Yockey is having to take very seriously and carefully, because of course AUCharlie is so different but the meta perspective on bringing her back is very much about replacement and loss of a fave and facing what the story did to Charlie and for what stakes, vs what was she brought back for and can just shoving a new different Charlie into the story actually make up for doing what they did to her.

-

"So glad this is my last case" aw no she's retiring to the beach. Has she just been working with them while she gets enough resources to start over?

She's going "away" - from monsters and people. Go live on a mountaintop or something. Again, this is more about the trauma she's been through and how she copes, and what she needs to do to settle herself.

(PS: I will weep openly if the last shot of this is Charlie outside a cupcake shop)

I don't think this means she's necessarily out of the story or that through this van conversation bottle episode, Sam might not convince her to at least just take a break like Mobby are doing, but she's clearly there in the collection with them and Dean of people who have been so badly hurt that they need to retreat from the hunting frontlines. Dean NEEDED to watch 2 weeks worth of horror movies and take it easy. He's not exactly describing himself as really ready for action now either. Charlie may end up a mirror that's a fair bit darker, because while AUBobby is full of grief and self-destruction, it's open and explosive, while she's cold and retreating and surrounded by people who see the wrong person when they look at her - the bubbly fun Charlie we used to know. In the same way, if Dean has changed, people look at him and see the Dean THEY used to know and expect things of him he's sometimes not ready to offer. He made a big step in letting Sam take charge of the operation, in the sense of acknowledging himself under Sam's direction.

It's interesting now that both AUBobby and Charlie lost romantic loved ones, when we saw Dean change so dramatically in season 13 without Cas and that being the beginning of Sam's tentative need to take control and start to be right about his hunches like nurturing Jack. The swap in the roles and Sam struggling to understand Dean, and in 13x05 - the Yockey episode - failing so desperately to help Dean on his chosen cheer up hunt compared to acing it the same time next year.

-

LOL Harper's house has "AMOUR" and a huge love heart on the wall. This poor romantic sap. I'm so sorry a monster is eating all your prospective boyfriends.

She has stuffed toys on her bed and so many shelves of books. I love her. She's the best. Protect her, please, Jack.

-

His "??" over the "moves" also is a great way to make her way more the flustered one, because Jack could be way more awkward with inexperience except he's literally transcended it, as Cas often does, back out the other side of obliviousness :')

-

He leaps into action to prepare to test her for monstery things :') He's been trained well!!

-

On the other hand it does look like he now has REALLLLLLLY sweaty hands after covering them in holy water.

-

Oh christ, Jack, this is why we don't do Christo any more. Also. You shouldn't be aggravating your cough. You could really set yourself off.

-

"I'm just nervous"

Harper goes through the correct range of emotions for how adorable Jack is.

Charlie's "I got something" is layered over Jack being invited to sit with her - both of them just got a break on the case, though for Jack it is being prey for the boyfriend eater, and Charlie has read enough books.

-

Muscas look horrifying. I love the 17th century illustration of one.

-

Awww AUCharlie calling him a nerd. Those awful flashes of her being the Charlie they once knew.

-

LOLLLLL the Musca has a "bad egg" who FAILS TO FIND A MATE and goes bad, and starts killing people to nest. So we're really roasting beta males who fall into the woe is me victimisation trap of incels and would rather kill people (literally, unfortunately, in some cases) than address their own issues, get help, and find some peace and probably, honestly, a girlfriend as soon as they stop behaving like that and learn to see women as people, not mating-prey >.>

Why do I feel like whatever has latched onto Harper is going to have a suspiciously similar motivation where it's picking off men in order to leave her single...

-

Not that I have the best judgement on her case, but it's B L A T A N T L Y about courting.

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And these guys are courting her - lots of innocent courtly gestures like dinner dates, protecting her nobly with a stapler, fighting off the nasty FBI man... She's their damsel.

-

"Our perp might just be a giant fly with low self-esteem" Don't sugar coat it Sam.

-

Is this episode "wow look at this hetero bullshit by Steve Yockey"

-

AHAHAH THE GIANT FLY IS MANSPREADING AT THE BUS SHELTER

It also has ribbons at the front of its cloak. The design is both modern with the suit and boots, but with enough of that old 17th century twist to give it a nice spooky old fashioned uncanniness. it's not of this time, place, world, etc...

-

Awww Harper has a halo with the lamp!

-

Oh Jack no, I told you not to aggravate the cough.

-

Vance... probable monster. (I say that a lot but we’re past the elimination round)

She didn't want to leave town... we could see the world in books!

You are also adorable and not quite of this town or modern world. Her "sappiness" does make her a weirdly good match for Jack, though, just because of the pure-heartedness they exude.

-

Jack can not IMAGINE someone leaving Harper behind.

-

"That was the beginning of my bad luck" Fancy that.

Also you still keep a photo of your ex in your apartment.

That’s weird, hon.

-

Oh dear, now Jack's opening up. "I try to stay optimistic." "Me too."

Awww sweetie. for all the bad that's happened he keeps on powering through, because sometimes that can be powered by optimism for a happy ending

Unfortunately, we're in irony town where the grimmer you are about your fate the more chance you have of surviving just to spite that. And, you know, vice versa, it gives you consumption just to make it harder... like, how much can we throw at this kid before he stops?

-

"Do you believe in love in first sight?" "Harper..... do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

Unlike 9x08, Jack is rather less distracted by being adorably hit on by the sweetest romantic. Time to flee.

-

Dean has been standing awkwardly at the corpse this entire time.

-

The bathroom has dragonflies all over it which I assume are interesting symbolically in a way which relates to her love struggles. Also the other side of the story's bug struggles.

-

"Harper is not a monster. And i'm 99% sure she's in love with me."

-

"She was looking at me with these googly eyes"

This is like, warning for next time Cas and Dean are in the same room because you SAW them last time

Next time, you will be prepared.

-

Dean is convinced she couldn't be in love with him so instantly. What do YOU know about love, Dean?

-

"But if she is I need to know everything about sex. Go:"

Kid, there isn't time in the world to tell you everything Dean knows about sex. Also, are you really going to pull a Dean and hook up despite all the deaths in town? ALSO dude, courting. Court her first. You know NOTHING about this or what you're feeling.

-

Teenagers are the worst.

-

Ooops Dean just stood around talking and now he's been eaten.

Guess it's time for Jack to SAVE HIM

-

"You're fine. I'm fine." No you aren't Jack, stop kidding yourself.

-

Oh good, she's scaling back to saying they should get coffee.

This is sensible and take notes, Jack, but also disregard this offer of a date entirely and go save your dad, you're not in a romance novel.

-

"I... don't know" this was Jack's stock response when he was younger to encountering new things about himself and deep philosophical questions which he just had not had time to ponder but in the world he had been thrust into, he was being asked to immediately have an opinion on.

I think we ought to file courting and sex under those headings for now :P He will figure it out but not at this breakneck speed, no matter how fast he grew up.

-

Bam, Dean bursts in on them - is there remotely time for him to have done this fast enough? Is this really Dean? Are we supposed to be doubting who Dean is?

-

Vance has literally come back from the dead to bother her about having new boyfriends. Great.

-

Oh, okay, this looks pretty cut and dry that it's a zombie now he's in the room :P

-

he looks like Archie Andrews. Is this the crossover we've been waiting for?

-

"Archie! Hey!"

oops.

*puts another penny in the "quoted Dean before he said the line" jar*

-

I can't believe Dean watches Riverdale.

-

I mean, yeah he grew up reading the comics, but you know it's on his netflix queue.

-

Stop smashing up Harper's bookshelves! Dean's all "let's dance," still looking waaay too excited to get to wrestle monsters to take his mind off of all his angst.

-

Why are Sam and Charlie still sitting in the truck instead of following their weirdo fly? 

-

"You can't just quit and go live on a mountain somewhere"

Somehow when he sits in cars with female characters in Yockey episodes he ends up saying a lot of things like this. Bless your heart, you just described my whole life.

-

"People need people." "We're social animals" Sam is finally starting to realise that maaaybe that bit in 8x10 where he and Dean removed everyone they cared about from their lives and sat gloomily in silence anger-eating chilli in a dank cabin in the backwoods was PERHAPS not the best way to be people.

He's really starting to like having a squad around him... Maybe this is awakening a bit of Sam that he never had except in college when he got to have people around him without too much fear about having to leave them behind because he was so determined to stick to his new life there.

-

Sam pulls that not only he tried and failed to quit hunting, but our Charlie did too.

"She ain't me!" but you are still cut from the same cloth whether you like it or not.

"It's my life, Sam! not hers and not yours" basically no one else can tell me whether I should be here or not, and it's on my terms if i am or not. Which is very healthy but kind of sad about the commentary on having a Charlie on the show if she's so insistent to escape hunting. Because it killed our Charlie so we should want AUCharlie to be safe. But at the same time, bringing her back then sending her off to a mountain... it's a cold comfort that a version of her survived, that they saw her face again before she left in slightly better terms. But what does it bring to the show to have had her back but then to let her go again?

And, on a character level, can Boss Sam wrangle a great asset and potential amazing friend to stay and work with them and be a key part of his hunter squad, or will he have to let her go and fail to achieve some networking people skills.

-

They have a funny friend potential moment as sam says we don't want to tackle him in case it’s a guy into weird fashion and she's all, don't we?

-

This hesitation was enough for that poor guy to get grabbed under cover of the bus.

Though perhaps the hesitation was also timed to stop Sam and AUCharlie getting mowed down by a bus and very disappointingly ending both their careers.

-

Harper stops and demands to know what's happening. Jack throws aside the book that was the ruse, and holds out his hand for trust with open honesty now and she takes it, and he continues to pull her away to protect her. Awwwww.

-

Has Dean been wrestling in her apartment since it got dark?

How has no one called the cops.

-

Vance gets a spidey sense tingle that someone is holding Harper's hand, and marches out of the apartment, to Dean's disappointment that he didn't get to smash a chair over his head. Because that was a totally normal amount of enthusiasm for a fight.

-

Jack is clever, Harper is snarky... aw :P

-

I can't believe Sam and Charlie can walk after sitting all day.

-

"Brass nail dipped in sugar water" lol flies are drawn to sugar. More flies with honey than vinegar.

If you creatively mock that up using American beverages I will be horrified that corn syrup counts as sugar. Charlie literally just reminded us of Dick Roman taking advantage of your industry's corn fetish

-

BUGS

-

Those who don't learn from history etc

-

I don't think that's enough fly papers

-

Sam just sniffed a chloroform rag. Er.

-

Oh that is disgusting. Why weren't you wearing the orange jacket so we could ritually burn it.

-

Oooh gross. (pt.2 - Yockey was only warming us up with bug juice)

Harper let the zombie in and now she's kissing him? She better be mind controlled or this is a whole level of weird Jack should not have had to deal with because no one should start the Talk at necrophilia and work backwards from there D:

-

Oh NO this is going to be the Talk Dean has to give Jack, and to top it off they have a jealous boyfriend stalking roleplay kink, AND she threw in a bunch of other things for Jack to ask questions about >.>

-

Told you she was a witch. It was the Sabrina-like collar that gave it away.

Who knew my dorkiest joke about my suspicions was the most accurate.

She's even wearing a red jacket, just like Sabrina has her signature red coats.

-

This is a CW cross-promotion episode.

-

"It's first love, Jack. The best kind. Without baggage or compromise. I mean. I did have to kill him to keep him here after college..."

She's a Mary mirror. This is Mary and young!John. Oh god. Azazel's deal is her raising the dead, and sharing a gross kiss to boot... And Harper is from a long line of necromancers and Mary was from a long line of hunters, the last of them...

Of course, Mary has all that baggage from her first love but has moved on and is now having a happy vacation with Bobby but I don't think it's symbolically unimportant that that was literally last episode and now we're seeing first loves with an undead boyfriend, that Harper couldn't let slip out of her hands so she did the most toxic thing to bring him back. It's very much like the Plum sisters being the zombie-raising parallels to Sam and Dean and their need to bring Mary back come what may - which of course after Jack's vision in 13x09 made Dean threaten Kaia in the first place

-

Can't spell Necromancer without "Romance"

-

I love the hiding from the zombie chase going on here. Vance is dumb as a box of rocks and we’re getting lots of new gifs of Jack being “sneaky”

-

Ahaha she has a romance novel called "Lances and Laces" (i think?)

-

Awww Jack is doing a Ruse again, playing dumb for her. "I thought we fell in love at first sight!"

-

Awwwwww he's proposing to her. The allure of un-undead love.

-

"But I tried to kill you!" "Every relationship has its stuff, right?"

pffffffffffffffft

You aren't officially in love on this show UNTIL you try and kill each other

-

Ow, Jack. That's going to shake some bloody phlegm loose.

-

FATHER SON TEAMWORK SAVES THE DAY

-

Lol, Vance got ditched as soon as it was awkward to have a zombie boyfriend

-

Sam is seriously using the fly as a parallel to Charlie being a loner. I wonder what you could put in front of him that he WOULDN'T be able to twist into a moral. He really is the camp leader :P

-

Awww the gross bug thing's people came for it

-

Sam I can not hear a word of your motivating speech over these terrifying things and their nightmare aesthetic taking home one of their own who strayed from the swarm to swooping music.

-

AUCharlie relents enough to have a door open... Yeah, she did also get knocked out when trying to hunt on her own and though she wanted to retire, well...

-

I can't believe Yockey metaphorically compared the hunter community to the fly swarm. Like, Charlie was all blurr the metaphor has holes but they had no idea the bugs looked after their own like that D: Dramatic irony again - this time against Charlie to make her more right than she knew that she has people who would care for her.

-

Oh NO, Jack has left an impression on Harper... Oh dear oh dear oh dear. You can NOT have a necromancer long distance girlfriend.

-

Even though she's in a different diner there's still a cock in the window.

-

"I'm sorry I have to kill you!" heee she's so cute. In a very twisted way, I still like her even though the necromancy thing is gross, and Jack should steer WAY clear.

But awwwwwwwww.

-

"And that's love."

Dean saying it can get crazier than that... Dude, just give him the talk, I'll turn off the last 2 minutes of the episode. You clearly need to. Or at the very least start the ball rolling on suggesting Sam do it, Sam asks Cas if he’d want to, Cas comes and asks you for help to do it and you end up being the one to try after all.

-

I LOVE Jack hanging with Dean, with his too-sweet coffee, angling to make Dean let him come on hunts more because he was right.

-

I think Dean just pointed out neither of them are ready to be hunters if they can't cope with the mistakes they make without feeling super guilty, since they had the guilt Olympics at the beginning.

-

Oh Jack, no.

-

OH NO HIS NOSE IS BLEEDING

-

Down he goes!

-

This is what happens when you meddle in genres you don't belong.

Tragedy comes back and kicks you in the face.

-

Dean on his knees by Jack yelling his name: same. D:

[manicjimmy]

I'm bored and lonely so TIME TO TALK ABOUT MORE COSPLAY. XD

Okay but I was looking over my neck speaker I made for Mic and was gonna alter it to have real speakers in it and decided...it would be a lot easier to make a whole new one and tailor it to these designs rather than try to mod the old one.

SO SOON I WILL BE WORKING ON NECK SPEAKER 2.0!

I'm gonna kinda use my old one as a base and change things where needed. Meanwhile I found a cheap-ass bluetooth speaker on eBay for less than $5 to test shit with. Hell, it may not be good for everyday use but it might be good for cosplay! GUESS WE'LL SEE!

[dream-fighter]

Johnny's Countdown 18-19 Thoughts in Order

- ……Who? - Oh KAT-TUN… I can’t even make fun of you at this point, but I *can* say that at least y'all are making more money than Meisa Kuroki’s baby daddy - H!S!J, my kids that made me feel weird when they debuted but grew on me after getting past 20 and moving out of my house - Arashi is… Arashi lol - A.B.C-ZZZZZZZZ STUNT ON THESE HOES WITH YOUR BACKFLIP - OMG Pi. These struggle vocals are just SAD, even for you. -Kanjani stay being the drunk uncles at the holiday cookout lmaooo - Are… Are Tegoshi and Masu trying to out-Mariah Carey each other? - Johnny’s WEST stays being cute so I can’t say anything shady lol - OMG WHERE DID THAT SEXY ZONE KID FALL INTO?! WHY ARE NONE OF THE OTHER MEMBERS FAZED?!?! - YASSSSSSS V6!! LOOK AT THESE FLAW FREE UNCLES. HEAR THEM GIVING Y'ALL FLAW FREE LIVE VOCALS. LOOK AT KEN NOT GIVING A SHIT ABOUT EVERYONE AGREEING ON A COLOR THEME FOR THEIR SUITS AND HE WENT THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. WE STAN A QUEEN.

- Oh man… Taichi being alone is so sad. - Fuuuuuuck, the “Tackey & Tsubasa final stage” mention right into the KinKi Kids cover with neither of them there. I’m not ready for this. 😢 - OK Paradise Ginga makes up for this because THE SKATES AND ACRO - Why was this not just a Tainocchi solo? Kame and Pi weren’t needed lbr. - THE HIGASHIIIIIIII. THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD. I thought he was gonna be like out on a gondola in Italy with his fab wife celebrating New Years but look at him. Blessing us again with his presence. Putting all the Jrs to shame by dancing better than them at over double their age. We peasants are not worthy. - SMAP songs should be banned from all post-breakup countdowns. - Of cooooourse you get on the moving carts for MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE. Y'all just don’t want Sakamoto to upstage you with his leg lift (who, by the way, was fucking adorable in the boar headband). - This recording cuts at the TOKIO cover straight to Matchy’s set and I’m again at mixed feelings. - …. I could’ve done without Matchy. Sorry, Okada. - Zukkoke Otokomichi stays being a bop!  - I WILL NEVER NOT CRINGE WHEN YASU SHOWS UP AND I’M NOT PREPARED (NGL it looks like he’s trying to hard carry K8 as a Subaru 2.0) - Give Me Love def could’ve been a KAT-TUN song. HSJ doing Keep the faith tho? Nah. - WHO OKAYED THIS FREDDIE MERCURY COSPLAY? SOMEONE COLLECT THESE CHILDREN. - Oh hay, the Sexy Zone kid made his way back from the stage black hole! XD - I stand by weeeek should’ve been a V6 track. - God damn it, now I’m obligated to respect KMF2 in 2019 for doing TAKE ME HIGHER on skates. - Aaaaaand I see the Baka Kyoudai just had to make an appearance lololol - They gave them K8’s weakest single??? How dare you do A.B.C-Z this dirty. - … WHO??? - Ah, Arashi are here and actually doing a song I like (Happiness)! Sho can stop yelling tho. - HOOOOOOLY SHIT THEY BUSTED OUT THE KANSHA KANGEKI AME ARASHI. My old soul left my body.💀 - NOOOOOOO, I’M NOT READY FOR THE TxT FINAL PERFORMANCE. THIS OVERTURE SOUNDS LIKE THEY DIED. - Tsubasa coming out clutching his chest was enough to make me shed a tear. I hate this sfm… - Four Tops! With Toma!! They resurrected Four Tops from the grave!!! FOUR 👏TOPS 👏 AS 👏 BACK 👏 DANCERS 👏 - Venus with all the Johnny’s holding Tackey & Tsubasa uchiwas has sent me over the edge. - All the younger Johnny’s dancing to Yume Monogatari because you know they all had to learn and perform it lord knows how many times. THEIR IMPACT. - That’s it?! This should be longer. Where X ~DAME~? Ho! SUMMER?? Samurai??? - I was about to start bawling when the sempai came out to greet them but then Koichi rolled up with Tsuyoshi on his suit I fucking can’t rn. - I can’t tell if Toma and Ken were crying… which is probs a good thing cuz I can’t be crying anymore. - Thank you for everything, Tackey and Tsubasa (I still think they did my boo dirty). This is another end of an era. - YOU CAN’T MAKE ME FEEL BETTER WITH CAN DO! CAN GO!

[skittidyne]

thank you for bell, book, and candle!

yes, that’s aimed at you. i know it’s a sappy sentiment that sounds pretty trite, but it’s true - the story really couldn’t have been finished without its readers. i’m thankful for absolutely every one of you. 

thank you to @hoshikyuu, @plumfragments, and @preciouscrowchild for being my absolutely stellar betas for this - you are all fucking amazing and i’m so grateful i can count you among my friends

thank you to fightchat, both 1.0 and 2.0, for dragging me through bbac like the fucking trenches. thank you to all of my patreon supporters, because your screaming and plot stuff has been hilarious and filling. thank you to the people who helped me write the smut, and figure out asahi’s fate, and all of the absolutely inane research i had to do for meat, dogs, and tea. 

thank you for all of the amazing people who’ve drawn art, written fic, made & wore cosplay, put together mixes, and all of the stuff i never would have expected but goddamn delighted me like polls, and essays, and powerpoints. 

more under the cut, because i just wrote 750k and i’m allowed to be fucking sappy for a few paragraphs

nope, still hasn’t hit me, but it’s getting more and more goddamn close the more i write on this post. 

i’m throwing a bbac is over party this weekend for those who are close enough to visit me, so that is when i’ll be answering questions - please contribute to my q&a it’s so lonely - and i’ll probably make another thank-you video then. i’ll also be very drunk. i’m not a crier, but emotionally, i’ll probably be weepy. we’ll see! (we’re also making themed drinks, so if my mouth is stained black or i’m covered in gold glitter, please ignore that.) 

writing bbac has been a 3.5 year journey that’s been... a hell of a ride. it’s had its high points and low points, but i’m very, very proud to have been able to share this with everyone and get to the ending intact. things changed along the way -i’ve already talked about akaashi’s role, but hey, i can finally talk about the other big changes! - but at its heart, bbac had always been started with necromancer suga, the apocalypse, and kiyoko sacrificing herself for the greater good. everyone, thank @tarotdactyl for throwing the idea at me! it’s all his fault. he needs to stop making me write novels. 

i will be reworking the plot into an original series, probably about 5 books, but bbac as it is on ao3 & ff.net will always remain as it is - available and free. i hope everyone looks forward to it! i’ll also be putting a print-ready pdf up on my gumroad with a pay what you want price - yes, that means free! - in coming months, so anyone who wants to try to tackle that, be my guest. spoiler alert: it’s too long for createspace to print as one project. 

i’ve made so many great friends in hq fandom, and i’m so grateful for my time spent here. (no, this isn’t a fandom goodbye. i’m just glad to have met y’all!) hq is the first fandom i’ve actively participated in to this degree in a long fucking time, and despite what people may say, it’s a fantastic fandom that i’m glad to be a part of. 

thank you to my darling cat lulubell, too, since she ultimately decided akaashi’s fate. (it was them or hinata. she chose.) 

he won’t read this, but thank you to my roommate, who always told me to add more stabbing. 

thank you, again, everyone who’s joined me on this journey. 

i know a lot of people have admired all of the research that has gone into bbac, but honestly, it’s not what you’d think. for your consideration and perhaps to lessen the sting of a story ending, here are some of the things i have had to research in my course of writing bbac: 

dogs - so much dog research

tea - i do not drink the hot leaf juice and only ellie can make me

meat - i was informed that filet mignon is not, in fact, fish as i had previously assumed

the exact width of a city street

so much alcohol 

fucking. r’lyehian. 

bbac didn’t exactly start out as heavily lovecraftian as it ended up - a lot of my story planning, and bbac is no exception, is a long case of “haha what if”. i don’t thank lovecraft himself bc he’s an ass, but i thank the mythos that sprung up around his creations and developed into what they are today. cosmic horror is fun! and now, accessible to all in the hq fandom in a neatly completed story. 

as you can likely tell, i did not plan any part of this post out in advance. 

i’m gonna go eat my muffins now. thanks, y’all, for everything. 

skitty out

[ecoamerica]

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