#especially in regards to kyle because that's where it gets most confusing

[ihatethiswebsite77]

Watching "it's a Jersey thing". I am beyond confused and in disbelief as to what prompted Cartman to say that

"Deep down you're a monster, but you're my little monster" line.

My working theory is that part of the reason Cartman hates and constantly rips on Kyle for things about him that he can't inherently change, and why he paints a narrative where he assigns those traits a negative meaning even tho they aren't negative in nature is because he is subconsciously annoyed that there is nothing "naturally" negative about Kyle. Kyle is pretty much a well adjusted kid for the most part, but his negative personality traits do come out a LOT when he is interacting with Cartman, but there's nothing about where he 'comes from' that's negative. He has a happy and healthy family, he knows his dad, his parents have respectable jobs, etc.

As opposed to Cartman, who is deluded about being "naturally big boned" which is something for which he is constantly being ridiculed, as well as his mother being a "crack whore" which is also something that he is constantly being ridiculed for. He can't change who his mother is, (and while he could lose weight) he doesn't really believe that cuz like I said he is deluded by his mother into thinking that that's just how his family is.

So when he finds out Kyle is from new Jersey, he immediately jumps to ripping on him about it. Because it's something that Kyle is just "naturally" that everyone in town actually considers to be a negative trait.

But then, when Kyle actually shows that Jersey side to everyone, and it stops being just a way for Cartman to do his usual thing of assigning negative traits to things Kyle is, even tho for once he actually has ground to rip on Kyle for, Cartman is very chill with him.

Almost like, knowing that deep down inside Kyle actually has that "monster" in him brings comfort to Cartman, because now he feels like Kyle is a bit more similar to him.

The "he's just like me fr" of it all.

Or maybe I'm just reaching for the high heavens with this analysis. Who knows.

[imaginationlandtrilogy]

Gerald Broflovski Analysis Project: Relationship with Kyle (2/7)

DISCLAIMER: I am aware South Park incorporates political views into its episodes, and furthermore, its characters. However, I will be looking past the deeper political meanings and looking at the characters individually. This is an analysis on Gerald Broflovski - not the political views he may have represented in some episodes.

Gerald and Kyle have a complicated relationship, likely due to their differences in personality. However, this is more prominent in mid-to-late series than early. Just as Gerald was different in early seasons, Kyle was as well. The traits that he is most known for today had not developed then, but were well on their way to.

Kyle often went to his parents, primarily Gerald, being the 'man of the house' (in par with common television stereotypes of that time), if he had questions. In some episodes, such as “Ike’s Wee Wee” (S2E03), Gerald gives his son good advice. Although Kyle doesn't ask for advice and is quite stubborn about accepting Ike as his brother, Gerald speaks gently to him about the subject anyway: “Kyle, just because Ike is adopted doesn’t make him any less your brother.” It is not until the end of the episode that Kyle accepts Ike as his brother, but we can assume Gerald’s words had a part in Kyle’s change of heart. In the early seasons of South Park, Kyle looked up to Gerald and trusted what he had to say. The most well-known instance of this is in “Chickenpox” (S2E10) when Kyle asks his father why Kenny McCormick’s family is poor and they are not. Gerald, contrary to before, instills harmful beliefs into Kyle’s mind. He tells his son Kenny’s family is happy being the way they are and in order to have a functioning society, there needs to be clods (McCormick family) and Gods (Broflovski family). At this point in the series, Kyle has not yet developed his own sense of morality - especially that exhibited in later seasons - and takes this as good advice. After all, he trusts his father to teach him about the world - there’s no reason for him not to trust him. Gerald does not understand how harmful his advice was until he reads Kyle’s paper later in the episode.

"My Final Solution by Kyle Broflovski. My dad is the smartest guy in the whole wide world. He has taught me that all poor people are actually things called clods. I wanna live in a world of only gods, so my idea to make America better is put all the poor people into camps. If we get rid of them, there will be nothing but rich people. And there won’t be any hunger, poverty, or homeless people. ‘Cause they’ll all be dead. The end."

Gerald is able to recognize how wrong this way of thinking is and does not hesitate to take the blame for Kyle’s paper, something that would be considered out of character later in the series. This realization prompts him to apologize to Stuart, saying he “shouldn’t be so cold towards people that are less fortunate than [him].”

However, this compassion does not last long, as Gerald’s selfishness overtakes him and he begins putting himself over his family. Selfishness is ultimately what puts the rift between him and those he loves, beginning with “Sexual Harassment Panda” (S3E06). This is the first episode where Kyle questions his father’s beliefs, asking him, “And you don’t see a problem with that?” regarding the money Gerald received. Gerald gives a confusing explanation, only to confirm he is trying to confuse Kyle when he asks. This is a turning point in Gerald’s relationship with his family, as he begins to put himself above instilling good morals in his children. He tried to confuse Kyle so he wouldn’t ask any questions and even confessed this to him - Gerald is sending a message that he does not care what his son thinks and only cares about the money he receives from these lawsuits. This selfishness is once more exhibited in “Red Man’s Greed” (S7E07). Gerald loses his house at the casino, and in an attempt to take the blame off of himself, twists Kyle’s statement of “I wanna go” as an excuse to leave South Park. He immediately treats Kyle as an ungrateful child in order to save himself, saying, “Kyle wants to leave! Our nice old house doesn’t interest Kyle anymore! Well, I’m calling a moving company right now!” He uses Kyle as a scapegoat, something he would do with Ike - although harsher - in season twenty.

More and more throughout the series, Gerald puts himself above his family. In “South Park is Gay” (S7E08), Kyle comes home bloodied and bruised, saying “[he] got beat up at school… for being different”. Sheila is appalled at this and immediately calls down Gerald to see. Rather than consoling his son and offering him advice, he gives in to the metrosexual fad and begins telling Kyle how he could change his appearance to adhere to metrosexual fashion. In “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina” (S9E01), he doesn’t ‘support’ Kyle until he receives his dolphinoplasty - his ‘support’ only stems from his involvement in the situation - until he could get something out of it. In “Smug Alert” (S10E02), Gerald forces Kyle and Ike to help him give out fake parking tickets. Kyle finds Stan in the parking lot, who is excited after helping his dad “pick out some cool new power tools”. When asked what he is doing, Kyle replies in an exasperated tone, “helping my dad give people fake tickets”. The comparison of what Stan is doing, something that would be regarded as a classic father-son activity, only more emphasizes how selfish Gerald is being. In “Wieners Out” (S20E04), Kyle goes to Gerald to talk to him about how he feels. He confesses he feels guilty for being a boy and speaks to his father in hopes of getting some emotional support and advice. However, Gerald is too worried about himself, and brushes his son off, saying, “Sorry, Kyle, I have to meet someone. Talk to your mother, I love you” in a very rushed tone. In “Douche and a Danish” (S21E05), Gerald is unable to see that Kyle is upset because he is too focused on what he did to divert support for Denmark. He doesn’t even realize how Kyle feels about the situation, despite the fact that he spoke his feelings to him in the previous episode. He heard him, but he wasn’t listening - he was only thinking of himself.

In “Oh, Jeez” (S20E07), Gerald delivers a blow onto Kyle that likely put an irreparable stain on their relationship. When Kyle finds Ike on the computer with Gerald, he runs over, saying he needs him back because he’s confused. Gerald replies:

"Kyle, you’ve gotta lighten the fuck up, buddy. Every day with you it’s, 'Dad, I feel guilty about this. Dad, I’m so confused about that.' You’re a kid. You’re supposed to just laugh and make fun of shit. Stop being such a pussy, okay, pal? Fuck."

In this statement, Gerald makes it clear he heard Kyle when he went to him for support, but he simply chose not to give him that support. He disagrees with what Kyle feels - something he cannot help - and instead tells him what he is feeling is wrong for someone his age. He mentions that Kyle is a kid and should be acting as a kid does. In “Fort Collins” (S20E06), Gerald confesses to Dildo Shwaggins that he trolls to laugh and to feel like a kid. He reveals he used to bully others when he was a child and call them names. With this in mind, Gerald likely picked on Kyle as he would his peers as a child. Kyle does not fit the norms of a regular child, as Gerald pointed out, so he would be the type of person Gerald would target.

A notion important enough to include is that Gerald seems to care for his children when they are in danger. It’s a pattern that is repeated with both Kyle and Ike, the latter of which will be discussed later. “HUMANCENTiPAD” (S15E01) is a somewhat Gerald-focused episode primarily in his pursuit to rescue Kyle. This takes place following the move to San Francisco - and back to South Park, respectively - but preceding the trolling. Kyle has not been in any endangering situations of Gerald’s knowledge since season fifteen, so it is unknown if he would act the same. Regardless, he exhibits genuine love and care for his son in this episode. Gerald goes through a great deal of trouble in order to help Kyle, who had gotten himself into a predicament after he skipped through the Apple ‘Terms & Conditions’. Kyle goes to his father - a lawyer - for help, who comforts Kyle immediately, saying, “Calm down, Kyle! It’s okay. You’re safe with daddy.” This is a statement that is considered somewhat out of character for Gerald at this point in the series. However, it could be that he hears genuine fear in Kyle’s tone and his fatherly nature resurfaces from earlier in the series. After Gerald witnesses Kyle’s kidnapping, he immediately drops everything in order to try to help him. He goes through numerous troubles, including switching from his trusted PC to Apple, ultimately helping Kyle in the end. Gerald is the one to deliver the ‘I learned something today’ speech in this episode, interestingly enough, as it usually belongs to Kyle. Nevertheless, his speech has an effect on freeing his son, showing that he does care for his family when their livelihood is threatened - at least before season twenty.

[charliecartters]

Do you think Cartters is 100% healthy?

I'm always asked when I say Cartters is getting healthy, some call me confused, but that's just a misinterpretation from someone who didn't understand what I meant.

I always talk about the evolution of their relationship, how it was that sad situation where all the Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Cartman, etc. boys. They ignored, treated badly and used Butters as Guinea Pig for fun, this was undoubtedly something extremely toxic, but those who follow the program saw the evolution of this situation, especially in relation to Eric and Butters, who are currently best friends with each other.

Regarding Butters, I don't need to comment, the respect and admiration for Eric is very visible, it is clear that he likes to be with Cartman and to support everything Eric does (as stated by himself, in the ep "Rehash")

So the point I'm asked about is Eric, does he act healthily towards Butters? not 100%, although he treats Butters pretty well these days compared to how he treats most people, (Eric trusts him blindly, protects him in some situations, etc.) But we're talking about South Park and Eric Cartman, we still have situations where Eric loses patience with Butters talking too much and looks at him with an angry look, repressing him, so that's a toxic attitude he still has between them;

But I think it's never going to change 100% because it's part of the mood of the show, and all south park relationships are full of problems and toxic stuff, I think it's really super annoying to keep having these complaints about this issue in South Park, in things so small in a show where giant toxic stuff happens all the time like humor and critics, I just emphasize how their relationship is much healthier currently for defense of gratuitous attacks, but let's be sincere the series is big I know, but later check out things Cartman has done for Butters on cartters wiki, things Eric has never done for another character, like when Butters asks Cartman for a special snack, and Eric finds a way to get and give Butters to please him, at another time Eric see that Butters is feeling sad and asks if okay, if anything happened, Eric worried about Butters as he noticed he wasn't so excited about the daily dancing and singing the two do together every day (ep "let them eat goo") Eric tells Butters all his feelings, asking Butters for advice which he takes seriously, etc

It is undeniable how the relationship is very healthy in several points, a problem that people do not have the maturity to accept that things change even if they don't like it and don't accept it, they insist that their relationship is the same as always. They give a tantrum and they curse anyone who disagrees, I live on the defensive, anyone who's been in the fandom for a long time has seen posts in several places of people complaining about an outbreak of Bunny shippers attacking others for free. You can't say that you ship something, for fear of being attacked for them, we've reached this point, on instagram several artists put pictures before putting Cartters fanart in fear of their free hate, so even if it gets tiring I have to keep repeating the same things, because even if I design the situation for them, they don't accept it and don't leave people alone.....

In short, It's not 100% healthy it does have its problems, Cartman is still the dominant relationship over Butters, although Butters likes it. Eric hasn't turned into another person yet he is, but he acts much healthier with Butters with each passing season, It's never the same Cartman from "Casa Bonita" and "awesome-o", that's a fact. Their relationship is going very well, but as I said I don't think it will improve these domination points, because whoever watches the show knows this has already happened, "Eric was once 100% healthy with Butters" and Butters didn't like it at all, fought with Eric, complaining that he wanted the return of the old Eric.

[platypuskenny]

So I saw in a reblog you mentioned something about a Kyle OCD headcanon. Can you elaborate?

gladly!!! i actually started writing a post in my drafts about it but never finished.

this is more of a personal headcanon than a theory, but i strongly see kyle as having OCD, especially scrupulosity. i think this originates with his mother's strict moral code, was made worse by his father's manipulation of the law and moral hypocrisy, and really made worse by his experiences with antisemitism where people (mostly cartman) act like kyle is doomed to be horrible and demonic because of his judaism. i get the impression that he obsesses strongly over being a good person, and gets extremely hung up on the idea of being bad to the point that he'll even beg for reassurance until somebody proves otherwise.

"crack baby athletic association" is a big example here because the running gag has kyle go to stan for no reason than to explain his side of the situation, not for stan's sake (because stan doesn't really care) but because kyle wants to hear stan validate his point of view. of course, kyle still does this dodgy shit to begin with, but only because cartman convincingly assuages his fears (and bribes him a bit -- kyle falling for that part feels a little OOC to me, tbh).

“the biggest douche in the universe” is another big one. in this, a phony psychic gives kyle an incredibly vague suggestion about something his grandmother wants him to do. kyle walks out completely shaky and paranoid about his grandmother watching him. he’s willing to uproot his life just to fulfill some debt to his grandma (and rid himself of these panic-inducing thoughts), just because some random guy suggested it. he believes the psychic genuinely while stan considers it all phony and i think that’s because kyle is so preoccupied with doing the wrong thing that he doesn’t want to take chances like this.

he’s also the only one in “toilet paper” to feel guilty about TP’ing the house, to the degree of having recurring nightmares where he exaggerates the impact of his actions to monstrous proportions. he’s even willing to let cartman kill him because these thoughts are so pervasive.

there's other episodes where kyle becomes convinced he has some sort of moral obligation to the rest of the world, and becomes consumed with guilt for things that aren't his fault. "the passion of the jew" is another one, which goes hand-in-hand with his frequent confusion regarding his faith and organizes all the jewish people to atone so he can feel less guilty. he obsesses over heidi's abusive relationship because he just feels guilty about not being able to fix it, even though it's not really his problem.

other episodes show that kyle tends to ruminate on other issues and become hyperaware of his surroundings to the point of panic. in "the tooth fairy's tats," he has an existential panic and questions the reality of everything, obsessively reading a book on alternate realities to better understand things. there's one telling moment when stan simply says, "stop thinking about it" and kyle replies that he can't because he's convinced that thinking about existentialism is the only thing keeping his space-time together. this is clear rumination to me.

the most recent instance of kyle having OCD traits is in "turd burglars." while kyle has had germophobic tendencies before, it's never become incapacitating for him (and it's a parody of matt's own tendencies anyway). in this episode, however, he obsesses over germs to the extent where he can't stop thinking about the organisms around him and inside his body. this plot actually plays out very similarly to "tooth fairy's tats," as kyle's thoughts overpower him until he embraces his microbes as part of him. but that paralyzing fear is still very much intact.

i’m also pretty sure he has more nightmares / nightmarish visions than the other characters, barring maybe cartman (who has a bunch of mental issues himself), so there’s some tendency for him to doom think there. 

anyway i just see a lot of my experiences with mental illness in kyle. that paranoia over what the world is made of, and how to be part of it... a lot of episodes suggests that kyle will spend days distracted by these fears, begging for some sort of answer so he doesn't go nuts. it doesn't necessarily mean he has OCD, but it definitely reminds me of it.

[lambourngb]

re: your tags on that one post abt plotholes in rnm: what are the plotholes that make you lose the most sleep?

(this is my main btw, my rnm blog is @curlyguerin )

Hi! Okay... strap in, because there are a lot of little and big things that wiggle into my thoughts and makes me wonder ...am I the only one who couldn't follow that plotline?

In my opinion RNM suffers more from abandoned narratives and continuity errors than plot holes I guess, since we only have 2 seasons, with at least 2 more to go I guess I can hope they come back to these issues... but: [Under the cut plus some spoilers for season 3]

Things I would like explained :

1. What did Jesse Manes fund with family money in 1x08 ? I'm guessing it was surveillance of the town and the search for more aliens that could have escaped the military in 1947-1948. The idea that Jesse funded Caulfield is just laughable to me, along with how he was able to get his Army-assigned son moved from Germany to New Mexico for 5 years and no one noticed?? Caulfield has to be separate from whatever Jesse was doing in Roswell. Clearly there is still an ACTIVE military project focused on aliens because Flint isn't AWOL, Flint also takes Noah's body to Area 51, so where was Jesse in violation of his orders (Alex's threat to Jesse in 1x08 and then shipping him to Niger)? Surveilling citizens and setting up cameras all over town?

2. Did they ever build an Air Force base on the Fosters Homestead Ranch? (1x01-1x02) ...then it's never mentioned again.

3. I am aware I am the only one who cares about this little bit, but the show seemed to set up a narrative in season 1 about the spotlight Roswell shined white victims of crimes - like Katie and Jasmine, that the town of Roswell holds quite a lot of racism regarding justice- vilifying Rosa for over 10 years, ignoring the deaths of people around Ranchero Night, and then Noah kills Wyatt Long's best friend Hank Gibbons in 1x13. I dunno, I was expecting more from Wyatt in season 2 about this than picking a fight with Michael over Mimi's missing persons sheet and showing up with a crossbow in 2x04. And like, there was a theme of people going missing in season 2!! Mimi, Jenna, the weird twins from 2x06, Charlie -- but yet, no closer scrutiny by Sheriff Valenti other than her focus on Max Evans and the story about Mexico- Like this felt not like a plot hole, but a dropped narrative -- to wrap up the fate of Racist Hank in a missing persons sheet in 2x01. To treat him weirdly like all of Noah's other victims (who were women and men of color and poor), but for a few factors like he was white, he had actual lines in the show over a couple of episodes, and he's one of the few townspeople we learn his first and last name still sticks out in my mind as strange. The Doylist explanation is the actor wasn't available for season 2, but the Watson-perspective of this is just someone the in-show universe doesn't care about ...? Okay. I will keep that in mind, and try to ignore the fact that the town of Roswell swings wildly back to caring about white victims again in 2x13 with Jesse Manes.

4. The Alighting from 1x13 - just how far away was it from happening? Noah was ready to stick a sheriff's deputy, the town event planner and Michael (who probably would be been the only one to go missing without much fanfare, except maybe by Alex) into a pod...for how long? Months? Years? What was his endgame? how did he expect to go unnoticed by the town while he waited for his alien salvation/alien UBER to arrive? Could he just mindwarp everyone into forgetting about the pod squad? Since we didn't see any alien ships show up in the six months from 1x13 to 2x13, and no further follow up by any of our heroes about what Noah was babbling about... I'm going to say this should come back into play for season 3, otherwise it's the most egregious plot hole from season 1.

5. Why did Flint want to work with Helena? Jesse had this master plan that Helena knew all about apparently but she never shares the plan with Flint? Jesse never shares this plan with Flint either? Why? As far as I can tell from the plot of season 2, Jesse takes the console piece from Alex, he was going to kill Alex to keep him out of the way, use the console to blow up civilians, he created a paper trail that pointed the finger at Max, and then when everyone knew the truth about aliens, he was going to use HIS atomizer bomb to release the toxin that Charlie had already developed for Project Shepherd to kill all the aliens.... WHY would Flint want to stop that, especially since they fight in 2x11 over how slow Jesse was moving in his plans? Other than objecting to killing Alex, why would Flint turn Alex over to Helena to blackmail Michael into building a second atomizer bomb? He should have just kept Alex out of the way until it was all over and let Jesse proceed with his plans. Flint's desire to work with Helena Ortecho remains a plot hole to me, that is explained in the most flimsy way of he thinks his dad isn't serious about killing all the aliens even though he has the means? And if he takes Alex from Jesse's control so easily, why not steal the bomb Jesse had too?

6. These are more gripes about continuity, not really plot holes, but the fact we have this loose timeline of events but it doesn't match the weather of filming.... Like Heather Hemmens looked so gorgeous in that little silk outfit in 2x01, but she's wandering outside in Dec in Roswell New Mexico looking like that. I get that it was filmed in August/Sept of 2019 but come on... so my main frustration is I have no idea what season and month is supposed to be on screen. Universe timeline says Winter but filming schedule meant it was early fall with still having the heat of summer there...then the show ends in May/June in the universe, but we all know RNM wrapped in Dec 2019/Jan 2020 so they are all bundled up in winter again.

7. Also on continuity, small things like Rosa's birthday being wrong, the fact her astrological sign isn't Pieces for either date, openly letting Greg Manes see Rosa, not seeming to care that Liz's ex-fiance hears that Rosa is alive - like i'm sure her "dead" sister came up in conversation between Liz/Diego

- the show gives us this beautiful conversation with Michael sharing his background with Alex in 1x10, but then Alex completely forgets it in 2x04 by dropping some line like "this is what you do with family" when Michael expresses confusion about a height chart. Also, on the same note- the jabs about the Library being a dive bar, also felt like a drop in continuity because Alex knows that Michael just lost his mom (1x12) , the government IS studying aliens, and his brother is in a pod, so like, he has some very valid reasons to drink if that's what he wanted to do with in his life in early season 2!! but, also he knows Michael is a genius??

- Why Alex never mentions Rosa, Isobel's blackouts/why Michael gave up UNM, or even hint about what happened with his dad in the shed during his conversation with Maria in 2x05 is also beyond bizarre to me. It was an "information" dump conversation that Alex still doesn't share all the information he has about a situation and just ends up looking kind of judgmental in my opinion.

- the truck conversation in 2x06 between Maria and Alex, why Maria prompts a girl's name when Alex says he's never been in a real relationship INSTEAD of addressing the very real elephant in the room, Michael Guerin, that they had a conversation about in 2x05- also feels like a gap in continuity.

8. Science wise- the pathogen that Charlie developed? It was supposed to be so specific that it could kill a leader of Al Quada and all of their direct descendants but leave the rest of the population unharmed. [Which um, that's a war crime, but whatever!] How was Maria affected? the DNA they had at Caulfield to develop it - like, Maria was descended from Louise and Louise lived free. The only person that pathogen SHOULD have affected was Michael (if they used Nora to base it on) Unless you're telling me that there's some protein in "alien dna" that is so specific to aliens, that no other human shares it, but also so completely undetectable that Kyle couldn't find it in Maria's blood... ? I suppose it's possible. I hope we get more explanation about that in season 3. It makes me wonder why Caulfield/Project Shepherd ever let Patty Harris go after she volunteered for some study then, and remained content to just pay her medical bills through a fake insurance company? [But also didn't flag Mimi and all the doctors that Maria took her to???]

9. Michael's hand. I'm going to reserve judgment about this, because some of my salt on this is based on season 3 promo pictures, but I really thought that moment in 2x13 when he takes off his hat, while Alex is singing, you see him without the wrapping on his hand, that maybe he found some peace with Jesse dead and demolishing the shed with Alex. But then it looks like the hand-danna is all over season 3, right up until the finale of season 3, so... was that a mistake in wardrobe AND not a beautiful moment of character growth??? I wish I could extend some grace to RNM about that, but alas... see above for why I have trust issues.

10. Perhaps I wasn't watching season 1 closely, but I thought Noah's madness was brought on by the fact he was stuck in his pod? That it was "lower class travel accommodations" and Isobel's scream at 13 got his attention? I assumed that he stayed in the pod, possessing Isobel on and off, right up until he used her body to kill Rosa in 2008, absorbing enough power to break out. So how did Noah find Jim Valenti so quickly? If it was through Isobel's memories, then why did Jim not immediately have Noah, some random alien approaching him about his recently dead daughter, hauled off to Caulfield? Jim pays $1,000 for Rosa's body, putting her in a pod [Noah's broken pod??] and stores her, waiting for...something? An alien to come along to bring her back. So did Jim know about The Savior? Why would Jim work with Noah and vice versa? Again, I'm hoping we get more about this in season 3.

11. Was there a point of keeping Alex in the Air Force? He arranges a place for them to work on bringing Max back, but I feel like anyone could have done that? Like Isobel had money, she could have rented a storage facility. All of the equipment was borrowed from the hospital, not the military. The information about 1947-1948 was from the drives decoded from Caulfield or the AAR report left by Flint in the Project Shepherd bunker (which again was decommissioned, not an active military installation). I could support the decision if it had provided some richness to the plot or some conflict within the character, neither of which really happened. Alex hacking the government and going undercover in the Air Force to protect Michael is basically fanon. I love that fanon, but alas...

12. Finally, the time jump. What year are we jumping into? 2020? 2021? Why does it make me think none of those questions above will be answered.

[planetsam]

“Look if you don’t want her she’s going to the pound,” Wyatt says, “she’s too fat to be of any good on the farm.”

“Do you need to think of the most dickish thing to say? Or does it just naturally come out of your mouth?”

Wyatt’s face screws up but Alex snatches the leash from him before he can say anything. He’s done listening to assholes with the last name Long. On the other end of the leash Buffy regards him with a mix of wariness and disgust. It’s more tempting than Alex would like to admit to shove it back at Wyatt, but his grip tightens on the leash.

“Glad you got a souvenir,” Wyatt sneers and storms off.

Alex tries not to rub the most recent addition to his scar collection and instead looks down at the dog. Buffy whines loudly and the sound matches whatever’s going on his recently repaired gut. Emotionally at least. Physically he’s been given the almost all clear, which for him is good enough. He kneels down and looks at the beagle who backs away.

“Yeah, I get that,” Alex tells her, “do you remember me?” He holds a hand out for her to sniff but she turns her snout up, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He straightens up. Buffy looks in the direction she came from but Wyatt’s long gone. Alex has no idea what to do with a dog, much less a beagle who seems to like him about as much as her owner actually did, but standing in the road with her leash he realizes they’re in the same boat. Both left standing there, wondering what the hell they’re supposed to do now. When he glances down again, Buffy is looking up at him. She’s still reproachful but she hasn’t run and Alex is at a point where he’ll take what he can get.

“You wanna go home or should we go to the pet store first?” He asks. She perks up slightly at that, “pet store it is,” he says, “come on.”

* Since losing his leg Alex has been in several hand to hand situations, gotten kidnapped, discovered aliens and blown up a handful of buildings. He’d say he’s good with his prosthetic. Some days he uses his cane but it’s far and few between. He’s good but he hasn’t had a consistently strong pressure yanking his cane arm walk after walk. And there have been so many fucking walks. Buffy is overweight and though her diet is the main thing, walking helps. It helps one of them at least.

“Buffy, come on,” he says, “heel.”

Buffy huffs, lowers her body and digs in her paws.

Her blatant disregard makes the military man in him seethe. He doesn’t know how one beagle is more difficult to control than than a group of soldiers, but here they are. Buffy does not respect the chain of command. Or maybe she just doesn’t respect him. Alex thinks he’d be used to the universe ignoring what he wants but the manifestation of it in an overweight beagle left behind by a man who manipulated him so openly is a fresh wound on his ruined ego.

“Buffy,” he says.

Buffy puffs herself up and erupts into her signature barks. How such a loud noise can come out of such a small creature is beyond him. Buffy spends a lot of her time napping and laying on her back, but when she gets going it’s impossible to stop or ignore. Alex is used to people staring at him on the street. He’s learned to dismiss the judgement about things he knows he can’t change. For the first time though he gets it. He’s pretty sure he’d cross the street too if he saw what was happening.

“Buffy—“ he starts. She keeps going crazy, “Buffy come on,” he’s got nothing else so he scoops her up again. Immediately she stops barking, “seriously?” He sighs, “you know we’re both supposed to be walking,” Buffy looks over her shoulder at him, “God, fine,” he shifts the weight in his arms and starts walking, “I need the workout anyway.”

“Aren’t you both supposed to be walking?”

Alex turns around to see Michael standing there looking confused. He’s not close enough to hear what he just said, but the fact that it’s the first thing that comes to his mind makes Alex’s chest tight. Buffy gives Michael a look of complete disdain. Michael raises his eyebrows at the dog’s reaction, though Alex is fairly certain Michael is just glad to have an excuse not to look at him. Not that he can fully blame him, not with everything that’s happened recently.

“When did you get a dog?” Michael asks.

“A few days ago,” Alex says, “it was me or the pound,” he explains, “I wasn’t looking to get one.”

“Right,” Michael says slowly.

“Her name’s Buffy,” Alex volunteers. Michael finally meets his eye, arching his eyebrows at him.

“You sure you weren’t looking to get a dog?” Michael asks. Alex looks at him questioningly, “if I had to guess what you would name a dog, Buffy’s pretty high on the list—“

The truth smacks him across the face. Buffy squirms in his arms and he’s all too glad to put her down, even though that means he’s forced to figure out something else to do with his hands. Something that doesn’t involve punching things. All he can do is laugh bitterly at how stupid he is. Laugh and pretend that he doesn’t see the alarm on Michael’s face.

“You okay?” Michael asks. 
“I’m good,” Alex says, shaking his head, “I just realized how much of an idiot I am,” he looks at Michael who looks confused still, “Buffy was Forrest’s dog,” he explains, “he left her behind,” he sighs, “I thought the dog was real.”

“She looks real to me,” Michael says.

“He named her Buffy,” Alex retorts. Michael winces, “like I said, I’m an idiot.”

They both look at Buffy who gives them a look back that says they are both idiots. Alex doesn’t think either of them would disagree after the things that have happened lately. But realizing that there’s a good chance the dog was adopted just to manipulate him is salt in that wound. Not by Forrest necessarily but by someone in Deep Sky.

“Your dog seems to agree,” Michael points out.

“Shit,” Alex mutters looking down at the beagle, then he looks at Michael, “what do you know about microchips?
 “What do I know about what?” Michael asks blankly. 
“I need your help,” Alex says.

It’s got nothing to do with what just happened but Michael goes serious and nods. Alex tries not to be affected by it. Or by how Michael seems committed to being open after months of them lying to each other. 
“Whatever you need,” he says.

There’s a weight to his words that lasts a moment before Buffy decides right there is a good place to go potty.

* “Up you go,” Alex says and gets Buffy onto the table, “good girl.”

Buffy huffs at the compliment but when she spots Kyle she immediately starts wagging her tail. Because Kyle has that effect. He grins and scratches her ears as Buffy rolls onto her back. Alex looks over at Michael who seems surprised by this turn of events. 
“Good thing he wasn’t trying to seduce you,” Michael says, “she’s already fallen for it.”

Kyle looks at him sharply and Michael realizes his mistake with a swear but Alex waves him off. Whether or not there were genuine feelings is an issue for another day. Or another lifetime, if he gets his way. Thankfully neither Michael nor Kyle have made the mistake of suggesting he get rid of the dog in case Deep Sky is spying on him with her. Kyle picks up the device and scans Buffy as best he can until Alex reaches out to help hold her steady. They find the first microchip easily enough. It’s just surprising how easily they also find the second one.

“They put a tracker in the dog?” Kyle shakes his head.

Alex agrees. It seems stupid with all the messed up shit they’ve done, but looking at Buffy with her upturned nose and disdainful glares and imagining her being picked out and named and then used like that makes him ache. Especially if it was in the pursuit of him. It’s not the only thing that’s wrong but Alex has always had a soft spot for animals and it’s the first thing that makes his throat tighten.

“We have to get them out of her.”

“We will,” Michael says, “first lemme make sure they don’t work.”

“It’s not going to hurt her, is it?” Alex asks as Michael reaches out.

Kyle and Michael trade looks and Alex knows his voice sounds odd but the dog’s been through enough. Especially on his behalf. A part of him thinks giving her away might be best but if Deep Sky is still using her then who knows. He could give her away and bring more people into this.

“Alex,” Michael comes around the table and stands next to him, doesn’t say anything when Alex shifts back, “look, it’s not gonna hurt her. I’m going to just disable them. We’ll figure out how to get them out of her after.”

Buffy rolls over and gives Kyle’s hands a lick before she reluctantly belly crawls to Alex. She doesn’t look thrilled about having to come to him, but she sits in between him and Michael and looks at Michael with her usual disdain. It’s not full on affection but Alex appreciates the defense all the same. He looks up at Michael.

“Okay, do it,” he says.

Michael puts his hands on Buffy’s shoulders and focuses. Alex waits for her to yelp or do anything but she just glares at Michael like this is the most ridiculous thing she’s ever been subjected to. He pulls his hands back and blinks rapidly, going a little pale. It’s one of the effects of whatever they did to him, his powers are there but using them takes more effort than it did. No-one knows when they’ll fully return.

“Kyle get the—“

Kyle gets the bin just in time for Michael to puke in it. Buffy flattens her ears and decides she’s done enough comfort one day. She trots back over to Kyle and flops on her back, bracing a paw against his arm so he has maximum access to her belly. Before Alex can think about what he’s doing his hand settles on Michael’s shoulder as he heaves. It’s another sign of how badly he’s fucked up and Michael consenting to it under duress doesn’t make him feel any better. But he forces himself to hold onto Michael’s shoulder as he empties his stomach.

“Shit that sucks,” he mutters, unthinkingly wrapping his hand around Alex’s elbow. Alex doesn’t let go of his shoulder as he wipes the back of his mouth. He looks up at Alex and gives a quick, shaky smile, “I disabled the chips on both, they’re dead,” he says.

“Thank you.”

Michael nods, looking more relieved than Alex is comfortable with at the words. He tears his eyes away to look at the love fest going on between Buffy and Kyle. It’s honestly hard to say whose fallen more for who. Alex pulls away and tries not to focus on how cold his elbow and palm feel without Michael’s signature heat.

“Now we just gotta get them out,” Michael says.

Kyle seems to be aware they are all looking at him intently. He opens his mouth to reject whatever they’re going to say and Buffy whines for him to continue the belly rubs. It’s written all over his face that of all the ways he saw his life going, this definitely wasn’t one of them. He looks down at Buffy.

“Am I still gonna be your favorite?” He asks her.

Buffy huffs.

“I think that’s a yes,” Michael says.

* “Your back hurting?”

Alex winces at the question, he thought he had done a good job of hiding it. The concern is there in Michael’s voice and it’s not well hidden at all. Alex looks over at him, seeing the guilt in his eyes.

“It’s from picking up Buffy,” he says, “she’s having trouble getting on the furniture.”

It’s almost laughable how furniture is so complicated in his house. Alex never thought the height of a seat could make such a difference in someone’s life. The perfect height for him though is apparently too much for his still overweight beagle. His best solution is to pick her up but for all her laziness Buffy isn’t good at staying put. It’s not overly painful but it’s not ideal while he’s still healing.

“Oh,” Michael says.

“She’ll get better,” Alex says, “she just has to lose some weight,” he rolls his shoulder, “and I have to heal.”

“She can’t stay off the furniture?” Michael asks. Alex glares, “just asking!” Michael says holding up his hands, “I never had a pet. I had a foster home where I wasn’t allowed on the couch once, it sucked.”

Alex doesn’t know how Michael can stand to be so casual about things like that. Mentioning something so devastating hasn’t even interrupted his rhythm in eating his fries.

“I’m sorry,” Alex says quietly. Michael acknowledges it with a quick nod, “I want her to be able to go where she wants,” he explains.

“Except maybe the bunker,” Michael points out.

“Okay maybe the bunker,” Alex agrees.

“What about stairs?” Michael asks, “they make stairs for dogs right?” His brow furrows, “your furniture is custom heigh though, right?” Then he perks up, “I can make her stairs.”

Alex almost chokes on his water. Michael’s response to everything was to throw his tools in his bunker and seal it up. Alex isn’t even sure he has the materials to build dog stairs. But it’s the first time he’s seen Michael look excited about building something.

“Are you okay with that?” He asks, “I can pay you.”

“You don’t have to,” Michael says, “if it gets Buffy to stop constantly stink eyeing me we’re good.”

“Just tell me how much they cost,” Alex says after a moment’s consideration.

He texts Michael the asked for measurements.

Michael doesn’t want to be alone with him and Alex can’t blame him. He doesn’t really want to be alone with Michael either. Not yet. It’s not until he hears the truck in the driveway that he even thinks more about it. The truck pulls in, parks and Michael gets out before Buffy starts going crazy. Alex feels a rush of affection for her.

“It’s Michael,” he says, “and he’s already almost inside.”

Buffy still puffs up like she’s done her job and Alex scratches her ears before he opens the door. Michael is standing there with two stairs in either hand and a black bag slung over his shoulder.

“Can I come in?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Alex says, his mouth dry, “of course,” he says, “come in.”

“Thanks,” Michael says. Buffy looks at him and howls. Michael glares, “the hat isn’t negotiable,” he tells her firmly, even as he takes it off and sets it aside.

Michael puts one of the stairs by the couch and hands Alex the other for his bed. Alex puts it down where it is and follows Michael to the back part of the house. Michael drops the bag and picks out a few tools before moving to the trap door.

“What’s all of this?” Alex asks.

“Eh I could tell you didn’t mean it when I said Buffy wasn’t allowed in the bunker,” he says, “so I put something together.”

“You built her an elevator?”

Michael shrugs and goes pink around the ears.

“Yeah I mean I want her to feel welcome,” he says, “and if you gotta hide I know you aren’t leaving her behind.”

Alex looks over at Buffy whose stink eyeing the stairs like she’d prefer to be carried. He wouldn’t leave her behind. He wouldn’t leave Michael behind either but just being alone in the same room is a lot. He doesn’t want to push this. He doesn’t know if Michael feels that as well.

“Can I get you anything?” He offers, “I have lemonade?”

Michael hesitates for a moment. Alex wonders if he’s read this wrong before Michael nods and Alex finds he can breathe again.

“That sounds good,” Michael says, “thanks.”

[sugar-coated-saphic]

Erica Yurken-bisexuality or compulsory heterosexuality (part 1)

(Spoiler warning!)

So I found myself really thinking about this character and this film, and how she interacts with the characters in the film. Namely various women and her designated love interest, Barry Hollis (who wasn’t originally a love interest in the book mind you).

For a while I headcannoned Erica as bisexual, the haircut and especially her interactions with both women and Barry at the time seemed to point to bisexuality. I definitely see Erica as lgbt, she is clearly not straight and I’m not the only one to see this. But then I began to dig a little deeper and analyse a bit more, was it my shipping lenses which made me think she was bi (even if she’s not into him, it was at least a well written and natural relationship progression and Barry seemed to genuinely like her) or was she actually bi? I’m here to analyse that based on what I’ve found.

To start off, the link provided and many others is what I used to base my assumptions on, you can find more by searching compulsory heterosexuality on tumblr. This is the link I’ve used. Within the first 5 minutes of the film, were introduced to miss Belmont, and she asks Erica her name. The children begin to make fun of her and miss Belmont tells them to be quiet, which Erica then tells her, her name. The exchange goes as follows ( 5:14-5:48)

Miss Belmont: “Erica, is a very beautiful name. Do you know that it means great heroine?”

To which Erica then faints and says

Erica (monologueing): “miss Belmont made me feel so special, I was in heaven..”

Very early on its made clear that Erica sees women differently, almost as if she is in love with some and very much enjoys female attention. However, with men this doesn’t seem to be the case, as with the first proper exchange between Erica and Barry (2:18-2:31)

Miss Belmont: “Erica, I know I can rely on you to show Alison around.”

Erica (rather excitedly and enthusiasticly)” sure miss Belmont!”

Enter Barry, who is also in the hall

“Yeah I’ll come too, after Erica gives you the freak show, I’ll show you the good stuff.”

During this, Erica is quick to pull Alison away and ignore him, while Alison seems to show interest in him. Erica is quick to dismiss him however.

Erica: “Alison, this is Barry Hollis. My stalker.”

Also something that’s worth pointing out Is when Alison is first introduced to the class and Is seated next to Erica, not only Erica is constantly staring at Alison once she sits down, but how she describes her (0:30-0:37)

Erica, gazing at Alison with amazement and infatuation (monloguing): Alison ashley was the most exquisite thing you ever saw. It was like she cast a light over everything around her”.

It’s made clear at this point that Erica has a clear interest in women, Alison especially. But Is quite dismissive in regards to men and their advances.

Another romantic interest in women is shown when Alison and Erica are discussing the school she wants to attend (Kyle grammar). The scene goes as follows (here)

Erica (monologueing): “I would have loved to go to a school like that, beautiful girls thinking beautiful thoughts. Was where I belonged.”

Once again, this very much comes off as romantically as opposed to jealousy. She clearly shows interest in women more so then men, speaking of which.

Fast forward to halfway through the film, when the bus breaks down and everyone is forced to get off. It’s been Made clear to the audience that Erica’s aspirations In life are becoming a great actress and a good place for her to start would be the camp play, Romeo and Juliet. Here’s an example of compulsory heterosexuality in the link provided:

“I’m constantly testing my attraction to men. I pick one or more conventionally attractive men in the room, and try to force myself to be attracted to them.”

Let’s see how this scene matches up to the description given (3:39-3:55)

Erica, looking at all the boys standing outside in front of her (monologueing): “ I decided to spend the time casting my Romeo, but things looked bleak they were all such repulsive options. Least Barry Hollis was a tall repulsive option, and there was no other choice for Juliet, was there.”

She then smiles, rather awkwardly, though it’s unclear if it’s forced. Comparing the scene with the example show above, gives off strong vibes that Erica doesn’t actually like Barry, but rather tolerates him. Not even calling him the exception to the rest of the “repulsive options” , instead as the least repulsive option. Like she’s picking whom she can tolerate most rather than feeling actually attraction to someone. Something to note is even though she fantasises about acting in the play Romeo and Juliet, when an actual romantic gesture happens on Barry’s part...Erica’s reaction is quite interesting (8:00-8:17)

Erica is sitting on a bench outside, thinking yo herself (monologueing): “ alisons kimono was perfect, it looked perfect, it felt perfect, just like everything else about her”.

Barry quietly comes up behind her and puts his hand on her shoulder, then leans in to kiss her. Erica responds by standing up, startled and pushes him away.

It’s interesting to note how even with jealousy, Erica still regards Alison as perfect. This scene is interesting, as even with how there has been jealousy towards Alison liking Barry (which I will get to in part 2), once Barry actually makes a move, she gets incredibly uncomfortable and backs off, tying in with another symptom of compulsory heterosexuality

“I like the idea of being with a man, but any time a man makes a move on me I get incredibly uncomfortable.”

When Erica is not dismissive or uncomfortable near Barry Hollis, she can be quite quick tempered with him and physically violent; hitting him when he sneaks up on her private phone call to her mum (4:18-4:24) or slapping him very hard after he upsets her by giving her the harsh reality that she can’t act (2:01) [howver as mentioned in the audio commentary, Barry’s intention was not to humiliate her, but to tell her the harsh reality because he loved her and cared about her to some extent]. Throughout this, even despite the major conflicts Alison and Erica are going through, the attraction to her and women seem to be much more realistic than those to men.

Here is one of the last scenes between her and another woman which is clearly shown to be romantic (save for Erica staring lovingly at Alison towards the end of the film and gently wiping her tear away, as well as helping her and being overall soft and gentle with her).

Erica is sat down at a bus stop, after a confrontation between her and Allison occurs in which she decides its best to give up on her dreams of being an actress and tries to escape camp. She then begins to have her last fantasy sequence in the film, wherein she is laying on a hospital bed and presumable dying, with her fellow teachers playing role of the nurses. Soon in the scene, miss Belmont ( dressed as a nurse) begins to stroke/caress Erica’s hair, while Erica makes this face, blushes and gazes into her eyes.

What’s interesting to note is that this doesn’t actually happen, this is what Erica imagines. She actively thinks about women in a romantic way, and even fantasies about her teacher miss Belmont in a homoerotic way (she might be her teacher but nothing comes of it and it’s one sided-making this not creepy). This seems to very much contrast how she views real interactions with men vs any interaction or view of women, real or in her imagination.

The last moment between Erica and Barry is after the play is finished. There is some small talk before something happens (5:51-5:57)

Barry Hollis: look about the other night...next time, I’m sticking the tongue in (implying he would like to perhaps date her)

Erica then responds with this face

It’s somewhat ambiguous as to how Erica feels about this, the expression on her face is that of a slightly uncomfortable smile or confused genuine delight? With how she has responded to things like this in the past, I feel compelled to agree with the former. One could make the argument that she is only 14, so things like this seem very big for her and mature, and it’s also a possibility.

Conclusion: Erica Yurken gives off many vibes that she may only be interested in women, and that her attraction to men is only a result of compulsory heterosexuality. However I am not done with this topic, tomorrow I will be dabbling into why Erica may be bisexual and discuss those too. Scenes which were purposefully left out here was so I can compare tomorrow and see how they fare. As here I only wanted to focus on compulsory heterosexuality and wlw/same sex attraction

Thank you for listening to my ted talk, I am extremely tired so I’m going to sleep, goodnight. Part 2 will be up sometime tomorrow (this was written 31/8/2020)

[alexmanesairstream]

Okay. Time for my ramblings. You're all free to not read a word of this but I just needed to put my thoughts out there. So. Going into s2, my only reason for watching the show was seeing Alex Manes (bc Tyler is one of my all time favourite actors and also just ALEX MANES). But after seeing the promo and fan chatter before the premier I admit getting my hopes up and becoming a little more open to the entire show as a whole again. I had hoped that s2 would be a huge improvement in terms of writing, consistency, good representation and overall storytelling. Anyways, here’s just some thoughts I’ve had after the first episode if you care to read it. I've left the Malex (and Maria) thoughts to the end bc I wanted to speak about the entire episode first. The Malex part is right at the end if anyone is reading this and only wants to read that part.

Firstly, the episode felt very disconnected. I know there was a time jump but that also left so many questions unanswered.

Kyle and Alex are well aware of the alien secret, so it made no sense that they were in the dark about Rosa being alive and Max being dead. I would've thought that both of them would've been made aware of it immediately.

This may be more of a personal preference but I've always been more interested in sci-fi aspects of the show since I always find supernatural elements on shows to become repetitive and far fetched (yes I know it's supernatural but I've always liked when there was a scientific or logical explanation behind something). Ep1 (and I know Carina said this season would explore supernatural elements and not the sci-fi aspects of it) hinted a very big supernatural storyline which I wasn't too keen on- it just gave off some big vampire diaries 'the other side' vibes. I really wish they would've explores a more unique and original storyline rather than something so repetitive with regards to Max.

Now for the science and little sci-fi parts, I know they're strained for time so there's a lot that they have to leave out but most of the science seemed far fetched or rather lacking any good grounding explanation. I get that it's a show but I would've liked for it to have made some sense rather than the random stuff Michael and Liz would say that seemingly came out of thin air. Especially when they were having their science Bro moments and interacting with substances etc- where are these substances from? What to they do? How did you get it? Idk maybe I'm being overly obsessive over this but it irks me bc I always lose interest when I can't coherently follow a storyline with logic

Rosa being back. I don't have much to say on this. The sister dynamic is kinda cute. I really don't like this weird supernatural connection thing she has with Max. Like I said, very vampire diaries like and it's just not making sense (maybe I didn't pay close enough attention idk). Also, can we get some clarity on her age. She was 19 when she died. So she should be 29 in the present day. But she mentioned something about being the hottest 31 year old when Liz told her to get a license in California. So what's up with that.

Isobel pregnancy : Yeah there's a lot I could say here. I'm assuming they're trying to do a storyline on abortion and a woman's right to her own body which I would be eager to see but at the same time, Isobel being pregnant with her dead abusive rapist's baby seems a lot like it was done for drama (sigh). It also has me wondering how since it was clear in s1 that Isobel didn't want children while Noah did- obviously she may have changed her mind after their reconciliation after she came out of the pod and also bc I accidents happen (do condoms even work with aliens???).

Now for the Malex and Maria part of it:

Since Alex was not aware of Max dying, wouldn't he have then made an effort to speak to Michael again in those two weeks since the finale. I would understand him wanting to give Michael space if he had known about Max dying but since he didn't know, did he just accept that Michael left him waiting at the trailer and leave it at that until after Noah's funeral? That just doesn't make sense to me but moving on

So Michael says that Alex told him he was going to leave the airforce to play music. Lol lots to get into here. Firstly, kinda strange that Alex would have told him that specifically that night in the trailer. Also, I was under the impression that what we were shown on screen was all that there was in that interaction. I don't see at which point Alex could've mentioned him leaving the airforce before Michael had to run out. Secondly, Alex leaving the airforce to play music? That just seems hella out of character and frankly completely unrealistic. Alex has spent the last 10 years gaining different skills, learning new things about himself, evolving and changing as a person. While he may have always had this dream about making music the fact is most people end up studying something or doing something in a different direction than their teenage self wanted. Alex is no different. While he may have wanted to leave the airforce it just doesn't seem plausible that he'd want to explore an entirely new career path as a musician. It would've made more sense for him to go into a career with cyber security and his skills in hacking, coding and programming instead. Also, unless he's got hell money from somewhere it's just completely unrealistic. He's a veteran (there are so many homeless, unemployed, uninsured, struggling veterans) who surely would need a stable income. It just feels like it's some a random storyline to have when there's been no indication of it, and it's completely out of character for Alex to decide to pursue music after 10 years in the airforce when we aren't even sure if he's done anything related to it in the last 10 years. Maybe I'm being harsh because personally I would've liked Alex to pursue something with the skills he gained in the airforce and also bc I rarely believe anyone is the same person with the same dreams and passions they had when they were a teenager. I mean, we all grow, evolve and change and that's okay. I would've really liked for Alex storyline to have been along those lines- taking what he's learned out of something he didn't necessarily want and taking control of who he is with those skills and his future (apparently in order to be a captain and also to be a code breaker Alex would've need to have gone to college while in the airforce). Idk maybe I'm bias bc I absolutely love seeing BAMF Alex Manes and how smart he is when he's working and code breaking.

Hmm Alex has a house. Like an actual house. And not a single person in the fandom knew this. In fact if Carina hadn't clarified on Twitter, we'd all be confused as hell. Literally everyone thought he lived at the cabin and rightfully so. It also makes me question why Alex had been at the cabin the day Kyle was there if he doesn't live at the cabin. But anyways small details. I'm trying not to be petty. I also really would like to know how Michael knows where Alex lives hmmm

I absolutely loved that Alex's first thought was to give Michael a guitar bc he remembers what he lost when Jesse ruined his hand. I am HERE for Alex Manes' kindness and wholesomeness.

Alex has PTSD. He would never be sitting with his back towards an entry point and music blaring loudly while he didn't have his prosthetic on. Carina responded on Twitter saying his PTSD is from childhood and not the war. I can't really understand how the war and losing a limb would not affect him and his existing PTSD at all. But again, I'll overlook this inconsistency

Michael's little confrontation speech to Alex- totally get it. It makes a lot of sense from Michael's perspective. I do however still have an issue with this thing of Alex 'leaving'. The ONLY time Alex actively left was when he enlisted. Any time after that was beyond his control. He was in the military. He had no choice. I really wish we could at some point see how all of this affected Alex instead of constantly seeing it from a one- sided Michael perspective.

And now Maria and Michael. Just a few words. What the fuck. I say all of this as someone who absolutely believes Malex shouldn't be together right now and who is fully on board with them just being friends right now:

- As someone who loved Maria in the first season and as a woman of colour, I fucking hate her storyline and what they're making her character do. It was cringe and desperate and humiliating for her to be running after Michael after one kiss. And also, SO out of character for her. Maria Deluca is her own saviour and would never run after someone who behaved the way Michael had in that ep. She would abso-fucking-lutely not chase after a man and put herself out there in such a desperate way like that.

- Secondly, has she just forgotten Alex exists? This is so not the Maria we know. Chasing after a man for something when he's not giving anything back in return and not even bothering to speak to Alex or attempt any sort of communication with him before she continues pursuing Michael. It makes no sense. I only see the Maria hate escalating at this point and I don't blame anyone for it. At this point she 100% deserves it. It's so so out of character for her not to have spoken to Alex and to continue pursuing Michael before speaking to Alex.

Honestly I've said it since the start- I hate love triangles and this one in particular rubs me the wrong way for so many reasons. I honestly don't see how we can redeem Maria's character after this mess. The whole Michael and Maria thing is just messy (and not in a cool dramatic TV show way), and is for a lot of us straight up character assassination for both Michael and Maria. I'm just so put off by both of their characters. If they were adamant about this storyline, I wish they'd done it and left Alex out from the start (I said Kylex rights!).

In conclusion, it's a shitshow. The show is just all over the place and the writing doesn't seem to have improved from the inconsistencies and plot holes. There's a lot more I could say but this was all I thought about right now for that episode. I also have so many thoughts on what Carina has recently said but I'm not in the right space of mind to address that rn. She's hell problematic lmao. But anyways, going forward, I'm just here for my Tyler Blackburn and watching him kill it as Alex Manes and I'm kinda really excited to see him with his new love interest.

[chasingshhadows]

I probably shouldn’t jump in on this but it’s bugging me so I’m just gonna say this and then be done with it.

There’s a lot of talk in the Roswell fandom right now about biphobia, specifically around characters (Michael) being made to “prove” their bisexuality, and perpetuating negative stereotypes (promiscuity).

And I really, really don’t want to invalidate anyone’s feelings because if that’s what you’re seeing in this show, that’s valid and it’s hurtful and I’m sorry you’re hurting. I’m not writing this post as a way to brush your feelings under the rug and say your experiences and trauma are negligible- I’m writing this because I’m seeing a lot of people that I’ve come to care about hurting and maybe, just maybe, I can show a perspective that doesn’t hurt.

(and also before I say any of this - I am an unrepentant Michael stan and an endgame, soulmates, nothing-will-ever-compare Malex shipper, so, context is key.)

Because I just... don’t agree that what we’re seeing is hurtful to the bisexual community. 

The first part, regarding characters needing to “prove” their bisexuality in order to be seen as “true” bisexuals is in fact a massive problem in the bisexual community - every day, we’re told we’re not really bisexual unless we’ve “done both” - the moment we end up in a relationship where our partner is the same gender as our most recent partner, we’re suddenly “no longer” bisexual, because we’ve finally “picked one.” If we don’t literally keep a 1:1 ratio and jump back and forth like hopscotch, our identity is erased.

I’ve experienced this and it’s damaging. My father literally told me that I needed to sleep with multiple people of both genders for him to see me as valid - I was 18. He also told me once I “settled” (read: married) - I would either be lesbian or straight depending on the gender of my partner. My best friend, who is gay, told me “hmm I just feel like you’re gonna end up with a guy, in the end.” And that’s just the beginning. So when I say what I say next, I hope you know that I do it from a place of experience and solidarity.

Michael sleeping with, and catching feelings for, two people of differing genders on the show is not the show making him prove his bisexuality - it’s the show letting him express it. Your best friend telling you she won’t believe you’re bi until you’ve slept with “both” and a show portraying a character that sleeps with people from different genders are two very different things. 

I have watched a lot of queer television. There’s a queer character on a show? especially a bisexual one? Holy shit I am so there. It is the one and sole reason I started watching Roswell. I chase representation, hard. There is nothing more enticing in a new show than the idea that I might get to see myself in it.

That said, it is still incredibly rare to see bisexual characters on television, especially bisexual men. And I’m not talking about in the last 5 years, because in just five years I have witnessed a rapid shift in television to include more queer characters. 

But I didn’t grow up in the last 5 years, I grew up in the last 20. So I can count on one hand the number of bisexual characters I have ever seen that have been with (romantically or sexually) people of differing genders in any meaningful way, and I don’t know, probably never that those people weren’t just side characters.

So this is new, for us. Having a character canonically attracted to multiple people, regardless of gender, is a new thing we’re getting to see on television. And of course Michael shouldn’t have to sleep with people of different genders for people to believe that he’s bi, but no one whose opinion mattered ever doubted that he was bi when he said he was bi. So for me, this representation of him being with different people is representation of me. And I am Here For It.

More than that, there’s this idea that if a bisexual character enters a differing-gender relationship after leaving a same-gender one, that a show is abandoning queer representation because that relationship is “basically het.” 

I’m not het. I’m not straight, none of my experiences are straight. I am queer (of the bisexual variety) and any relationship I enter into will by default not be straight because I’m not straight. There is more to the queer experience than the way that people look at you on the street and there is abso-fucking-lutely more to the bisexual experience than the way you’re treated when you’re in a same-gender relationship. 

No this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a difference in experience (and oppression) between same-gender and differing-gender relationships from the perspective of the bi person - there absolutely is. But in both cases, a bisexual person will always always always feel unseen. So that difference is one of content, not quantity. 

So - I don’t think that Michael dating/sleeping with/whatever he’s doing with Maria is invalidating to the bisexual experience. I think it’s a chance for us to finally see the bisexual experience. Finally see that it can just be that easy, to find a connection with anyone and see that gender just doesn’t really come into play at all because it’s not relevant to bisexual people - at least, not to me. 

Now, the second part, the part where people are feeling... insulted, I think, that Michael sleeping with Maria after sleeping with Alex is perpetuating this very damaging stereotype of promiscuous, incapable-of-committing bisexuals.

I’m gonna take those one at a time (promiscuous/commitment issues) because I think they’re two different things.

I think a character, bisexual or not, being portrayed as promiscuous (by definition:  having or characterized by many transient sexual relationships) is 100% a non-issue. 

The real issue is that promiscuity is seen as a negative stereotype at all. The real issue is that being sexually expressive or sexually active is seen as morally reprehensible, as something that damages their character as a person.

And unfortunately this is a two-sided coin, the other side being that asexual, sexually shy, or sexually non-expressive is also seen as negative, but while I deeply feel it’s important enough to mention, it’s not the issue on Roswell right now.

The argument here is that the show is portraying Michael as promiscuous, which feeds into this stereotype that bisexual people can’t make up their minds and just go around sleeping with anyone and everyone without reservation or caring about anyone’s feelings and that not only is that the norm, it’s basically expected (see: my father). 

And if Michael were the only character on the show displaying these behaviors, I could understand why people thought that the show were actively trying to push said stereotype - even if I don’t see that stereotype as a bad thing anyway. 

But he’s not - not even close. Max and Cameron and Liz and Kyle - all of them have engaged in casual sex and both Max and Liz have hopped beds during this season. Casual sex (while again, not a universal experience by any means, nor should it be) is normal for adults of this age, and the show is portraying it as normal.

And by normal I don’t mean that like, it’s not messy - of course it’s messy and people get hurt and people do and say shitty things because they’re human. But the fact of engaging in casual sex, or sex with multiple partners within a short(ish) time frame, is not in and of itself problematic. 

Now, to the part about the commitment issues - there’s this notion that the show is trying to portray Michael as having abandoned his feelings for Alex to hop on Maria... and here I’m kinda just.....confused. 

“Where I stand, nothing’s changed.” “I never look away, not really.” 

The show has made clear, intentional, explicit attempts to show that Michael is ass over teakettle in love with Alex and has been since he was a kid. But they’ve also made it clear that Michael hasn’t been celibate since Alex left - casual sex is a part of his life, he said it episode one.  

And Michael tried with Alex - and Alex turned him down (honestly, for good fucking reasons, even if they break my heart). He tried and gave Alex everything he had and Alex walked away. 

And Michael ... has no choice but to try and move on. And he doesn’t even do it right away, it’s not like it’s the next day or even the next week. His bed has been cold for weeks, months, before he even looks at Maria like that. And him looking at Maria like that? Caring about her and finding her attractive and wanting to touch her and be touched? Does not in any way negate the way he feels about Alex even if he’s trying to make everyone, including himself, believe that it does. 

Is sleeping with his ex’s friend a shitty thing to do? Sure. I personally have very nuanced feelings about that whole thing and its place in media, but I won’t deny that what they’re doing is not just hurtful to Alex, it’s knowingly hurtful - Michael knows that what they’re doing will hurt him and he does it anyway.

But them making choices that are hurtful doesn’t make Michael a poor representation of bisexuality - not every underrepresented character needs to be a paragon of the moral high ground for them to be subversive to their stereotypes. In fact, I really believe that forcing underrepresented identities to always be perfect and do the right thing and make no mistakes and subvert every stereotype is far more problematic because it makes a statement that that identity is only worthy of respect and love when they behave.

So - let Michael misbehave. Let him sleep around. Let him try to drown his heartache in another person. Why should he have to be perfect when everyone else gets to be flawed?

No one is harder on queer representation and queer media than queer people - and I get it. We’ve had so much bad representation and we’re sick of it and that’s understandable. But it’s turned into this thing where every slice of representation has to be Perfect or it’s Garbage, and it’s leading creators to not want to try because they’re so harshly run off every time they do. And when they don’t try, they don’t learn, and when they don’t learn, they don’t do better.

And even if the show decides to ignore literally every precedent they’ve set thus far (would not be a first, believe me) and call it quits on Malex for good, Malex isn’t theirs anymore anyway. The instant the first fanfic posted to AO3, the millisecond that first AU gifset hit Tumblr - Malex became ours. We have enough on screen and off screen content to play around in for years to come and I really hope to see all of you on that journey with me. 

If even after reading this, you still feel hurt and misrepresented and insulted by Michael’s relationship with Maria, come pop into my chat or my inbox and let me weave you tales of how that never happened, let me erase that reality from your whiteboard and replace it with something you love. Canon is just a craft store of materials - if you don’t want to use the red beads, then don’t. There’s a whole aisle of blue ones just down the way.

[pianoperson]

Cradlesona

I have worked on this for two days but I am finally done with my Cradlesona!!

@lovingsiriusoswald Thank you for starting this trend!

Now, introducing my Cradlesona: Angel Burnham! (or is it really her name...)

This is my first digital drawing so it looks wack shhhhhhh

A brief warning, though: Personality might confuse you because of the way I wrote it. I’ll make a much better version of this, however.

Basic Info:

Name: Angel Burnham (It is not her real name, however.)

Nickname: Angel

Birthday: December 12

Age: 22

Height: 150cm

Blood Type: O+

Physical:

Eyes: Her right eye is a natural brown color. Her left eye, however, is akin to a galaxy. It became like so when her magical abilities decided to show themselves while playing the piano one day. Nobody knows how the galaxy pattern was made permanent on her eye (nor do they know why her eyes become the colors of space when she uses magic instead of the typical red).

Hair: Dark brown hair, which can look black in some angles, while in other angles, it looks more brown (the image shows it brown however).

Accessories: She has two rosary bracelets on her left wrist and a St. Benedict ring on her left middle finger.

Features: Other than her left eye, there isn’t anything about her that stands out.

Illnesses: Aside from allergies to most seafood except fish, none

Social:

Affiliation: Neutral at first, Red Army later on

Occupations: Originally worked as a waitress in a cafe, but sometime after the day she found out about her magic, she was recruited by the Red Army to help them in the war.

Relationships:

Blanc: He and Angel are friends. Blanc let her stay in his house, gave her a place to stay when she wanted to move out, and was the one who helped her find a job in Cradle. He does this as an apology for accidentally bringing her to Cradle. Blanc, alongside Oliver, are the only ones who really know where Angel is from.

Oliver: At first, Angel was intimidated by him due to his less than friendly first impression. But within the time she spent living with him and Blanc, they were able to get to know each other and become friends through ranting.

Fenrir: When he stops by to pick up something from Oliver, he would occasionally chat with Angel. He gave her a tour around Cradle as well.

Edgar: Edgar may be kind to her, but something about his smile was sketchy to her. She doesn’t pry, however, mostly because she doesn’t have much concrete reason as to why he felt sketchy to her. Edgar would occasionally tease Angel about her crush, however, much to her annoyance.

Kyle: Angel loves his chill self and admires his dedication as a doctor. They’re friends and sometimes, if she feels like going out, Angel would accompany Kyle to the bar. She never drinks, however, so she’s stuck with bringing Kyle home.

Lancelot: She was intimidated by him, but after learning what Lancelot means to the army through Kyle and Jonah, she realized that the King of Hearts is actually nicer than he lets on. 

Zero: They don’t talk much but Angel thinks he’s great company.

Jonah: Angel has a crush on him. She found him attractive when she first saw him, but after Blanc’s brief descriptions of the Queen of Hearts and seeing him looking happy while eating a strawberry mille-feuille one day, she found herself crushing on him.  

Personality:

Race/Ethnicity: Half Filipino-Cradle blood

Type of clothes/How they wear it: When she first fell into Cradle, Angel wore a long-sleeved dark blue-and-white striped shirt, with dark blue jeans and black sandals. Due to 19th century customs for women, she had to wear a couple of dresses. She has three favorite dresses that she wears nearly every day: the premium dresses from Jonah, Sirius, and Lancelot. 

Mannerisms: She mostly doesn’t care and likes to act as how she wants to act. She can behave and be formal if necessary, but otherwise, she definitely does not have the manners of Lancelot, Jonah, and Edgar. When it comes to taking care of herself, she tries but it’s not enough. She brushes her hair and takes a bath every day, but her hair can still look like it hasn’t been brushed. 

Favorite subject: Math because there is something about the numbers that captivates her and she feels pride over the fact that she can do math while her other classmates struggle.

How do they want to be seen by others: Angel hopes that people see her as a decent human being and not someone who seems to be bad-mannered or mean to others.

How people see them: Angel isn’t really sure on that aspect, but she did get a few comments from people who say that they were initially intimidated by her due to her serious expression. It’s most likely that she’s too serious for people to feel like they can easily approach her.

Introverted or extroverted: Angel is an introvert. She likes to hang around with friends, but that would mean staying in her place or being alone the next day to recharge. She isn’t the type to initiate conversation, but she would gladly engage in one if she feels like it.

What makes them laugh out loud: A lot of things actually. Snarky comments, roast comments, someone’s rather enthusiastic way of telling a story, dissing other friends, and the list goes on.

Do they make snap judgements or take time to consider: Angel doesn’t judge people, especially if they’re strangers because she is aware that they both come from different places. However, she will judge if someone makes a stupid move, including herself.

How do they react to praise: Angel’s reactions can vary. If she is proud of what she did, she’ll say thank you, but if she does not find a reason to deserve the compliment, she gets bashful. Either way, her day will feel better, knowing she did something right.

“” criticism: Angel accepts it with grace. She does not want to make a fuss, nor does she want to reveal any negative feelings towards said criticism. 

How do they treat anyone: If Angel is with a close person, she’s much louder and more carefree. She looks more cheerful. If Angel is with a person who dislikes her or she dislikes, she still acts polite, even if she is tempted to show her irritation.

What is their view on lying: Angel absolutely hates lying. It’s not to say she’s above it, but in the moments she doesn’t say the exact truth, she feels guilty. This extends to her friendships; she strives to not lie to her friends about anything and will always try to keep her word. This honesty, however, can sometimes cause her to say an off-handed comment, which she’ll regret saying later on.

Favorite animal: Her dog from the Land of Reason. When he pops into her head, she hopes that he is still alive.

Music, art, or reading: This is a hard choice for Angel, since she likes all three, but she’ll choose music. All three keep her entertained, especially when she can barely do anything without WiFi for her phone.

Favorite color: Darker hues of blue and gold

Favorite day of the week: Wednesday, because that day tends to be her most relaxing day

Most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen: Angel tends to find so many things beautiful. She can find beauty in even the way the stones on a cobblestone pathway are arranged. Deep down, however, she will say Jonah Clemence (lmao).

Political views: In the context of the conflict within Cradle, Angel is neutral. As someone who lives in the Philippines, she can’t help but note the disadvantages of the dictatorship that the Red Army advocates for. On the other hand, democracy can be somehow difficult to manage. Therefore, she prefers to not think about it.

How do they deal with conflict: She doesn’t. Angel tries to avoid arguments most of the time. However, she will speak up if she feels there is something wrong. When she does argue with someone, she tries to keep her inner peace without blowing up. However, when faced with conflicts regarding personal problems, she can get stressed easily and lose it.

Are they more likely to fight with their fists or their tongue: Angel prefers to speak. She is doubtful that she can fight, even with magic and the resistance to it in her arsenal.

How do they deal with stress: Angel will rant to herself when she’s completely alone. Sometimes, she’ll also rant to Oliver. If what is stressing her is sadness, however, she will keep it in and not tell anyone. 

What is their biggest regret: Angel is the type to regret a lot of things and when she least expects it, the things she regrets will enter her head and she will clench her fist and shut her eyes tight to make it go away. Her biggest regret, however, is when she played Sonata Pathetique mvm. 3 in a restaurant, the day she found out her magical abilities.

What is their greatest fear: Angel is secretly scared of one thing: being unwanted and consequently alone. She’s scared that she won’t get a man who would love her unconditionally because she’s not good enough or she’s scared that her friends gossip behind her back or love each other more than her because she’s not good enough. This fear worsens after she found out about her magic.

When was the last time they cried: Angel hates crying, more so in front of others. She doesn’t know why she even does; it was a thing she knew ever since she was a child. Because of this, she doesn’t normally cry, even if she bottles up depressing thoughts. She does cry, however, when the guilt from the day she found out her magic and the fear of not being loved by anyone ate her up.

What is their philosophy of life: Angel likes to go with the flow but she has to establish a few things she wants in life to make it easier.

What will they stand up for: Angel doesn’t have much she particularly feels passionate about, as she’s the type who would rather chill and not be caught in conflict. But if there’s one thing that would irk her, it’s people being mean. She doesn’t get why people would betray their friends nor would she understand why people are jerks. Therefore, she tries to be nice to everyone she meets.

Is it easy to admit their mistake: Yes. Angel will know if it was her mistake or not. 

Is it easy to forgive others: Definitely. Angel can’t hold a grudge.

Weak traits: Angel can be lazy and won’t complete a project she started on. Angel also has some level of arrogance, born out of the fear that she isn’t good enough and that no one would want her.

Strong traits: Angel will always try to be a trustworthy person and someone who tries her best. 

Family and History:

Angel is actually from the 21st century who recently graduated from college with a degree in music. While walking back to a condo her family owns, Blanc bumps into her and drops his pocket watch, which she picked up. She chased him and called him but he was too fast. Eventually, he disappears, confusing Angel, and standing on the spot where he was, she ended up falling to 19th century Cradle.

Angel’s family is actually a mix of two worlds. Her mother was a Cradle citizen, born into a family of magic users, while her father was from the Land of Reason. Her mother, for some reason, entered the Garden on the full moon and accidentally ended up being transported to 21st century Earth, where she met Angel’s father and fell in love. They hid this from Angel and her other siblings and she only found out during a chance encounter with her mother’s parents. Because of the magic and resistance to it being passed down, she inherited both abilities, which are most powerful in music.

Skills and Special Abilities:

Magic: Angel can cast magic like typical magic users. When she uses magic normally, it’s far from the power of magic users such as Lancelot and Harr. However, when she plays piano or flute, her magic becomes much stronger, possibly stronger than the aforementioned two. Using it, however, can cause fatigue, fever, and even fainting.

Magic Resistance: Due to her roots in the Land of Reason, she also has the ability to nullify magic, making her one of the most powerful people in Cradle– and a target. Strangely, when she makes TwoSetViolin references, her magic nullification ability is more powerful. (It was how she even found out about her magic resistance. She remarked “iNtErEsTiNg” once and the nearby lights went off. The crystals in the light bulbs were newly installed.)

Pianist: She has a decade and a half worth of experience.

Flutist: While not as experienced with the flute (only having played it for around 5 years), she can still play it.

Paired with: Currently no one, but she has a crush on Jonah

Life in Cradle:

Angel just recently graduated from college when she first encountered Blanc, who bumped into her. Blanc seemed very antsy and, after apologizing to her, ran off. He dropped his pocket watch, however. The same thing that happened to Alice the Second occurred, except Blanc actually was nearby when Angel was falling to 19th century Cradle.

The portal closed immediately after Blanc caught Angel, so she was trapped in the unknown world.

On the first days staying in Cradle, Angel was nervous, even with Blanc and Oliver helping her. Often, she was reminded of how tense she was.

During one of the days Blanc showed her around, Angel saw a troop of Red Army soldiers, being led by Jonah. Angel found him attractive and kept glancing at him. 

Eventually, Angel asked Blanc if she can get a job and her own living space, since she didn’t want to burden him. Blanc helped her find a job as a waitress in a cafe and got her an apartment to stay in.

She found out about her magic nullification abilities when she moved in to her apartment.

For two months, she carried a rather mundane life as a worker in a cafe. There was a day when, during break, she ate in another cafe at the same time as Jonah (and found him cute as he ate his mille-fueille).

A few days after the news of the former King of Hearts being assassinated was announced, Angel was eating out with some friends from work. The restaurant had a piano, so she decided to play Sonata Pathetique mvm. 3. Midway through the piece, she heard screams and shouts of pain. That was when she found out that she was unleashing magical attacks through her playing and started to panic when she realized her hands were moving on their own. That was when an explosion occurred.

She was brought to Kyle thanks to Oliver. She was the only one who survived the fiasco, which was dubbed Perish Song Night. She also found out her left eye changed color.

Because of the fiasco, she was fired from her job. 

A week later, Red Army declared war on the Black Army. The next day, they faced off. Angel was nearby when it happened and was praying in her head for nothing bad to happen. That was when she accidentally repelled Lancelot’s magic, confusing everyone. It was enough for Blanc and Oliver to arrive and stop the conflict.

Two days after the face-off, Edgar finds Angel in her apartment, taking her to the Red Army HQ. There, Angel is made to serve the Red Army by using her magical abilities against the Black Army.

[demaury]

Game On – High School AU | Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers AU (chap.3)

Ten years after his father shipped him off to boarding school, Jude is back to Los Angeles for his senior year. As it turns out, relinking with his childhood friend isn’t nearly as hard as it is to deal with his almost estranged father. Zero is the typical high school heartthrob and a basketball prodigy on the way to make a name for himself. Everything should be easy, but years in foster care and physical abuse don’t make for the smoothest reunion with former teen-mom  and her perfect family. 

Really. They have a lot on their plate already. 

Falling in love was not supposed to be an option. (read on ao3)

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

The next couple of days were better… and worse, all at the same time.

Better, because nothing could beat the nervousness of his first day at school. Worse, because he had, amongst other things, spent his first weekend at home in ages and he wasn’t particularly thrilled to have that experience repeat itself for the next three months.

His parents’ mansion was a particularly weird mix of deserted and crowded, welcoming and gloomy, spacious and suffocating. His parents were never really home, with Oscar, forever away on business, and Lionel busy with her hundreds of various activities that constantly kept her out and about. Yet the house was buzzing with activity, a staff of at least twenty (most of whom Jude barely even knew and some not at all) at any given time, keeping the household clean and running smoothly. The house always felt warm and cozy, flooded with light, spotless and ready to be featured in Harper’s Bazaar. But the memories it held of Jude’s troubled childhood were anything but. This was no sanctuary for Jude.  20,000 square feet and yet the only privacy he could get, away from his parents, staff, or even security cameras, was only in his own bedroom.

Life was still a little bit surreal at times. He was still nodding vaguely to the house’s personnel he recognized every once in a while, and he was constantly mixing up Lionel’s personal assistant, Abigail, with Amanda, the landscape architect — which wasn’t nearly as harmless a mistake as he had thought in the beginning, judging by Abigail’s penchant for glaring. He kept forgetting his teachers’ names, turning to people who weren't there to share a joke, and wondering who the hell were those people everybody kept gossiping so eagerly about. On the second day, he contemplated sending a text to Cem, his former roommate, to enquire about the follow-up at Ellis Harwood, but quickly dropped the idea. The following weekend, he faced the fact that if he hadn’t received a single notification from the group chat he shared with his former swim team; he simply wasn’t one of them anymore, he didn’t belong.  

Fortunately, he wasn’t completely alone.  He could say he had officially befriended Jelena and Raquel (or at least Jelena had deemed it so). He still had to get used to the rest of the gang though. Terrence was nice, but Jude assumed he was biased based solely on the fact that he was Jelena’s boyfriend. As for Derek, he seemed a decent guy once you managed to get past his ever-judgmental expression.

That left Kyle and Zero.

Kyle was brutally honest and straight-forward, and Jude had realized pretty quickly that she wasn’t someone he wanted to have prying into his business, whatever that business may be. And Zero… Well, to be fair, Zero was almost never there, although conversations within the gang sometimes turned out to be about him. Jude couldn’t care less. Okay, yeah, he definitely could, but it was only because Zero had that whole… asshole attitude directed right the fuck at him since they met in the Cafeteria. As if he had said something truly offensive, while it was at worst extremely dumb — he hadn’t expected that tiny, scrawny, annoying kid from second grade to become a monster of a baller, all ripped and muscular like that, alright?

Kyle, of all people, seemed to act differently whenever he was around, and Jude had come to the conclusion that those two had some kind of weird chemistry. He didn’t know what their deal was, but he wasn’t particularly keen to find out.

What about school?

He was already bored by his AP Calculus and really didn’t care about his AP Biology course. He wasn’t great in literature but he wondered for a while what it’d be like to attend a class where he wouldn’t be three steps ahead of the teacher before he even finished writing the equations on the board.

In a word? Boring.

That was, until Thursday. He had barely even stepped inside the school when a short girl hovered in his personal space by the lockers. She was ironically wearing a NASA shirt, obviously more of a fashion statement than an actual interest in aerospace engineering, because her very first words were: “Hi there. I’m Emmy. Like the Emmy Awards.”

Honest to God he thought it was a joke at first. But it wasn’t, and his lack of a response didn’t seem to faze her. “I was wondering if maybe you had heard about a party at my place?  It’s on Saturday night.”

“I’ve got other plans,” Jude replied instinctively.

He very much didn’t, right now his social life was as exciting as a suicide letter, but this wasn’t what would make it relevant all of a sudden.

“But it’s on Saturday night,” Emmy pointed out with a chuckle. “Parent free. You could meet a lot of new people there!” And without even taking a breath, she added, her face lighting up: “Is it true that you know the Kardashians?”

He stared at her blankly. “My stepmom does.” And despises them more than you could imagine.

“That’s awesome, oh my god,” she squealed excitedly. “So you’ll come?”

“He’s got other plans, and so do most seniors next Saturday,” a profoundly annoyed voice intervened.

Jude’s head snapped to see Jelena standing beside him. She didn’t look like she had just barged into a conversation that she had no business being in, in the first place. Emmy’s eyes darted to her too, her mouth hanging open a little.

“The party at Xander’s is on Friday night,” Emmy objected.

“It’s been moved to Saturday,” Jelena said without a blink.

There was a short, one-second awkward silence, then Emmy simply shrugged. “Another time maybe?” and with a wave she twirled around and walked away, almost throwing her long hair in Jude’s face in the process.

He groaned to himself, then caught Jelena’s pointed stare. “What?”

She shrugged. “Nothing, just wondering if you’re trying to break a record or something.”

“What record?” he asked, now mildly annoyed.

“I don’t know,” she scoffed, “maybe the number of girls you turned down in a week?”

He snorted. “She’s the only one.”

Jelena let out a small “uh huh”, as if she was giving it a real thought. “Interesting,” she said casually. “You should definitely get yourself a better ‘thanks but no’ answer for the next ones, then.”

And with that she left, heading back towards the entrance of the building. He frowned, confused, and quickly strode behind her. “What next ones?!”

*

“Look at us, sharing breakfast. Isn’t it great?” Lionel said enthusiastically into her cup of coffee.

Not knowing Lionel, anybody would have probably expected it to be some sort of fake-joy, but her stepson knew better. Jude had been suspecting for a while that her over-eagerness when it came to him probably had to do with the fact that after nearly eight years of marriage with his dad, there hadn’t been another little Kinkade strolling through the house while he was away — he had never known if it was on purpose or not, nor had he found the time or the energy to ask.

Jude hummed unconvincingly at his plate of pancakes. It wasn’t like he didn’t find it great, but it wasn’t like he had many other family breakfasts to compare. As always, his stepmom was going over the top, and the grand mahogany table was disappearing under, like, a hundred different plates. He highly doubted that even if his dad was looking up from his phone long enough to finish his second cup of coffee any of them would return empty to the kitchen.

“Sure,” his dad replied, probably firing off his fifteenth text since they had all sat down around the table.

There was a short silence, only disturbed by the sound of Jude’s fork tinkling on his plate.

“Jude, honey, do you have any plans for this weekend?” Lionel asked casually.

He shouldn’t have told her he had met nice enough people, especially when he was still very committed to making his dad understand that pulling him out of Ellis Harwood hadn’t been okay, thank you very much. That would have, of course, required his dad to even pay attention to the outside world though.

“I don’t know,” Jude replied slowly after swallowing his bite of pancake. “There might be some sort of party tonight.”

He expected his stepmom to talk him out of going — his Centurion card was still confiscated from the time they had found out that his friend, Marcus’, seventeenth birthday party didn’t have a Greek theme but had been organized on a Greek island. But instead of frowning, Lionel smiled, her face lighting up. “That’s wonderful! You should go. Take advantage of some real high school experience.”

“I was in a real high school,” Jude countered, offended. “One I didn’t have to take the bus to.”

Lionel waved dismissively. “You’re being dramatic, nobody has been talking about taking the bus. I told you that Eric could drive you there.”

“I’m attending a public school. It’s not really the norm to have a chauffeur.”

“Jude doesn’t need a chauffeur, he needs a car,” his dad intervened, finally putting his phone on the table. “I got a call yesterday, it should be delivered on Monday.”

Jude almost dropped his fork in surprise. “A car?” he repeated, confused.

His dad arched an eyebrow, as if he had asked a very stupid question, but as far as Jude was concerned, he had never heard of any plans regarding a car whatsoever. He had his driver’s license, and his dad had signed for a few rentals during vacations so he could wander around a bit. But it wasn’t like an actual car had been any use to him up until now, with him on one Coast and any hypothetical car of his on the other one.

Lionel seemed a little taken aback as well. “A car? What car?”

His dad discarded his napkin on the table as he stood up, smoothing his tie. “One that I hope he will have the decency to care for,” then he looked at Jude from across the table, with his ever so slightly annoyed expression, as he put his suit jacket on. “I had expected a better reaction, for an $87,000 welcome gift.”

“Er, thank you?” Jude tried awkwardly, still clutching his fork a little too tightly. His dad grabbed his phone with a snort and left the room without so much as a look back. “Should I thank you too?” Jude asked carefully as he glanced at Lionel.

She gave him a pointed look. “Listen to me, young man,” she said, openly ignoring his question, “you’re going to this party. I will not have you moping around this house till Christmas.”

*

I hate this, Jude thought bitterly as he progressed through the crowded hall, full of teens his age who were far less bothered than he was about tripping over somebody else, apparently. I hate this so freaking much.

He barely resisted the temptation to shove away the couple who had just bumped into him, too busy making out to notice there was a freaking outside world. The beer was warm and slightly gross, he hadn’t found a single one of the few people he had met so far who were supposed to be here, and he had already fought with Lionel over the matter of his curfew… not to come home two hours earlier than planned.

“If you want extra hours of freedom, you take Ludovico with you,” she had shrugged casually when he had protested against being expected home by half past midnight.

“I’m not taking Ludovico with me,” he had scoffed, mildly horrified at the thought of having to walk around with a goddamn bodyguard. Jeez, his dad was an estate mogul, not a member of a Cartel or the President.

“Then I think we are done here,” Lionel had said sweetly.

Now he was regretting even being talked into coming here in the first place. He wasn’t one of those nerds who had no social life. His was actually just fine, on the East Coast, where he knew people. People who knew the basic rule of not serving freaking warm beer.

He didn’t even know who this “Xander” guy was, who lived in this stupid house. He followed a group of giggling girls into what he assumed was the living room. If he didn’t find anybody he knew, then he’d just leave, and to hell with his-

A hand wrapped around his wrist and made him spin around. “Hey, you came!” Kyle grinned, and Jude wondered how the hell he could have missed her with her shiny silver bomber jacket.

“Thought you guys had a change of plans.”

Kyle raised her red cup. “Kinkade, you’ll figure out that I’m always up for free drinks. C’mon!”

She dragged him through the living room and headed directly through the French doors opening to the backyard. A group of loud people were playing beer pong on the deck, while others were sitting on a blanket laid out on the grass around an improvised table made from a pile of empty pizza boxes.

Okay nobody could make fun of him for not thinking to check outside right away. In his world, October tended to be chilly and windy, with temperatures around 50°F, not 70°F.

“Look who I found once again,” Kyle exclaimed, walking directly to the second group.

Now he recognized a few faces… Raquel, at least. Kyle plopped down next to a guy with messy dark hair whom Jude was sure he had seen in a couple of his classes, and when Raquel gave a nudge to a ginger girl sitting next to her, he vaguely remembered her from his English class.

“Have a seat,” Raquel grinned, patting at the small spot on the blanket.

The girl next to her looked at him. “Seven minutes in heaven, wanna play?”

Jude glanced at the girls, who seemed like they were having too much of a good time to move onto another game — like drinking themselves silly, which would have been an activity he could get behind. “Yeah, why not,” he shrugged.

What were the odds that he’d be picked anyway? There were eight people around the makeshift table, statistics were on his side.

“You sure?” Raquel asked. “You do know that the rule implies that the last one to join is automatically part of the next round, right?”

Uh-uh, no. He didn’t remember that. But given that the only few times he had played he was practically a citizen in Tequila City, it wasn’t hard to see why.

“Er, yeah, yeah, ‘course,” he muttered, awkwardly standing there and seemingly unable to move. Is this something he really wanted to participate in? Should he risk kissing a stranger just to fit in with the group? What was he supposed to do? Sit down to spin the bottle himself, or stay standing because he’d have to get up for his turn anyway? Of course he realized he couldn’t just leave, he’d risk being labeled as the biggest pussy ever.

The guy next to Kyle groaned with impatience and spun the bottle for him. “There.”

Ok… fine. A kiss wouldn’t kill him.

He definitely had kissed girls before. Two, in fact — because he had been dared to do so, but that was beside the point. This time wouldn’t be any different. The empty bottle started to slow down on the pile of empty pizza boxes, settling on Raquel.

He didn’t know if it was for better or for worse. Maybe for the better. Yeah, for the better. At least it wasn’t a guy. Some heterosexual dumbass who would scoff and try to wriggle his way out of it because really, who could ask him to kiss a boy, that was gross, right? He could suddenly remember parties of card kissing back at Ellis Harwood — no lips touching, and that was already far more than most could take.

Raquel stood up and he held his hand out to help her steady herself. “The shed,” she said as he quirked a brow and looked vaguely around.

“Ah, ok… yeah.”

They made their way to the small garden shed standing by the fence in the backyard, closing the door behind them. It only muffled the sounds of the party outside, and if he was listening carefully, he could probably make out the conversations and giggles from the group they had just left. He tried not to.

There was an awkward silence between them as he shoved his hands in his pockets, and Raquel’s high heels echoed against the wooden floor as she slowly took a couple of steps towards him.

She cleared her throat just as he was about to suggest they should get down to business, if only to get it out of the way. “So, uhm. Any chance you might be interested in someone?”

Jude looked at her, slightly taken aback. “Not- uh. Not really,” he admitted. “This is all a bit… it’s a bit new.”

“Makes sense,” she conceded. There was another pause. Outside someone burst out in laughter, and they exchanged a small wince as the sound turned into a cackle. “Look, if you don’t want to, it’s fine, really. We aren’t forced to do this, we can just talk.”

Jude considered her, pondering his answer. “You sure?” he asked carefully.

She grinned. “Yeah, sure. Totally fine.”

He let out a small breath he didn’t know he had been holding in when she perched herself on a pile of plastic chairs, putting a little more distance between them.

“So, what’s up in your life?”

He stared down at the ground a little, and shrugged. “My dad got remarried. That’s about the most thrilling thing that happened to me.”

This was a lie.

Smooth and believable, but still a lie nonetheless. He wasn’t so bad at switching between truth and made-up truth whenever it was called for, but the fact that Raquel was giving him a way out of this slightly awkward situation made it hard to look her right in the eye while doing so.

The most thrilling part of the last decade was not Lionel, although Jude couldn’t deny that she had brought a certain sparkle to his life — no, the most thrilling part was a six-foot-something Lacrosse Team Captain named Connor. Connor Studwick, the heir to the Studwick Hotels all across the world. The guy with a worldwide pedigree, great abs, and a snarkiness that Jude had at first mistaken for pure pettiness, but had turned out to be his classmate’s favorite coping mechanism whenever he was pining for someone — and he would be damned if he said he hadn’t found it hot.

Connor was the most exciting thing that had happened to him.

And that’s exactly what had been the problem since the beginning.

Because all the time they spent fooling around, heavily making out in locker rooms, sneaking out after sunset to wander lazily among the pine trees, all along Jude had forgotten that Connor was very obviously never going to come out. He had never planned for Jude to be more than a distraction, the embodiment of something delicious and forbidden. Jude had been fine with it… for a time. Except that after Jude had turned seventeen, and with a whole summer to reflect on it, he had started to wonder what it’d be like to actually date someone. He liked how it was with Connor, but he wanted more than a few rushed blowjobs behind the science building. He shouldn’t have built castles in the sky, but it wasn’t like he could have helped it.

Then everything had crashed. When the news of their Principal’s involvement in an embezzlement scandal started to spread, the Studwicks had been among the first to pull Connor out. Too fast for them to even discuss what would happen after that.

Jude felt his throat tighten a little and as if the walls of the shed were quickly closing in on him. “I’m still thinking about someone from boarding school,” he admitted quietly, not looking at her.

There was another long pause between them, as the news probably made its way through her brain and she put it together with other various pieces of information he had given her so far.

“So you’re… you’re into boys then?” she asked after a moment.

“Yeah, seems so,” he said with a small, uncertain smile, finally looking back at her.

Her dark-brown eyes were pitch-black in the darkness of the shed and he waited for a rejection of some sort as she kept staring blankly at him, her expression unreadable while she tugged at her choker. It was the first time he was admitting it out loud. Not that he had trouble admitting it to himself, it’s just that up until now it had never come into question openly. He had been tempted to tell his former roommate, Cem, but by the time he had gotten the nerves to do so the moment had passed and the conversation had drifted on to something far less personal — it’d have been just weird.

Connor had never exactly needed for him to actually say it. And the rest of his friends were probably as straight as it was possible to be.

Raquel tilted her head to the side. “Do you want to keep it secret?”

“I don’t know,” Jude huffed. “Whatever happens I just don’t want it to be a big deal, you know?”

She nodded thoughtfully. “They won’t leave you alone until they get you to kiss someone. This thing,” she said, pointing around at the shed, “is just the first part of the game. They just like to mess with the new kids.”

Jude groaned and kicked at the ground with his foot. She chuckled and he glared at her instinctively.

“Relax,” she said as she hopped off the pile of chairs, “I’ve got an idea.”

He stood still as she walked into his personal space and took his chin. He wondered for a second if she hadn’t decided all of a sudden to forget that they had both agreed on not kissing and that he had literally come out to her as gay five seconds ago, until she ran her thumb on her purple-coated lips a couple of times. She then proceeded to do the same onto his mouth, spreading evident traces of lipstick. The concentrated frown on her face turned into a broad grin as she took a step back to admire her work.

“And now you look like someone who just made out with a hot girl,” she decided, sounding rather proud.

Jude let out a laugh as she then proceeded to add the final touch by messing up his hair a little bit. “Thanks, that’s nice.”

“You’re welcome,” she shrugged, waving with her hand just as someone knocked at the door.

“Are you guys decent?” a voice giggled outside.

“Isa you’re the slut in here, not me,” Raquel yelled back, running a hand through her hair.

“Rude,” the girl muttered outside as Raquel grabbed Jude’s hand and dragged him out of the shed.

The music seemed to have gotten louder inside of the house and new faces had appeared in the group they had left seven minutes ago. A concert of giggles and whistles welcomed the slightly debauched look Raquel had created from scratch for them.

“I gotta go to the bathroom,” Jude said, not very keen on going back for another round.

“I’ll save a seat for you if you decide to come back,” Raquel said, pulling a face, before she sauntered back to her own spot.

Jude hopped onto the deck and got back inside the house. He remembered walking past a passably busy bathroom on the first floor when he was still trying to find someone he knew, and it took him only a minute or two to reach it. Just as he was about to pull the door handle, the door swung open and Jude found himself face to face with Zero.

The baller stared at him for a second. “You got lipstick all over,” he commented dryly with a disgusted scrunch of his nose, before walking past him.

[wavemaker9]

sorbetshark replied to your post: Hey time to make things worse! [[MOR] I started...

but you just dont fuck with daliah! end of story! mel would have a hard time not going in to kick his ass herself!! she’s grown a lot with austin’s help but shes so hurt for her daughter– for /their/ daughter she just cant be patient enough to wait this out anymore

sorbetshark replied to your post: Hey time to make things worse! [[MOR] I started...

and maybe this is some crisis, some relapse into a shitty part of his life but he’d had to have previously voiced to amelia, too, how much he values the impact daliah has had on their life, even if not especially because she was an accident? so mel finding out about that, about everything he said to dal is just. end of the line. she loves austin, she wanted to help and wait and be patient in the best way she could while austin figured himself out

sorbetshark replied to your post: Hey time to make things worse! [[MOR] I started...

mel definitely doesn’t want dal to speak to austin alone once is behavior changes but again, definitely not after the attack on kyle. she wouldn’t be mad at dal for trying to talk to her dad, but thats….. thats the last of her patience for this austin, i think? again, some of this behavior is similar to how he’d acted in his past– she was used to it, it could be expected, it took a long time for him to talk to her with respect so it sucks but not new

oh he absolutely would have brought that up to mel before. i think there was some post of him mentioning as much to mel over photo albums from their wedding, coming to a conclusion that he gets that back then he wasn’t ready yet for any of this, but that he feels incredible lucky now to have mel and dal in his life. there was another bit of like even austin’s parents talking to mel about how much happier austin seemed to them and that they knew it was rough on the pair but they were really very thankful to see austin grow to love dal so much. like you’re 100% right. everything mel’s heard over years of knowing current austin clashes so much with now. + like kyle at least knows if he didn’t mention it to mel (and he might now in light of all this, to express his utter confusion over this) that austin /did/ have a bit of a panic when he first started caring about dal, that he did consider trying to shut down to prevent it, but kyle had helped talked him out of it. and like, if i didn’t already say it in a post, you /know/ austin probably came back to kyle a few years later to thank him for that talk, that normally kyle’s advice is terrible ("Thanks, Tin.") but this time around it was one of the most important things kyle could have told him and he doesn’t regret listening to him for a second. like almost everyone around him /knows/ that he was well past the expected point where he'd suddenly fall back on his own ways. sure it could happen, it's just so unlikely that given this change happening slowly and starting years and years ago, that he would flip back to that terrible shit he said he was glad to not be like anymore and all seemingly overnight. none of it makes sense but yeah. exactly the same with kyle. there's wanting to help figure out what's going on with austin, giving him multiple chances to explain himself + making excuses for him of this not being like him, oh that's not him who knows what's up with him but that's not austin. and then there's stepping in and being like no your shitty careless damage towards anyone who gave two shits about you stops now. the more i think about it the more i do like mel swapping too at least possibly being canon just because. fucking. f!austin doesn't deserve this shit? he doesn't deserve everything s!austin is doing being tied to his name and him having to live with it. i just want someone else to be able to even privately confirm for him that they know that wasn't him, that they know he's made himself better than that. it doesn't have to be mel but also, mel prolly relieved to know /why/ austin's behaving like this in her world and know that the austin she knows is still a good person. also panicked because /oh/ so the you back there with our daughter isn't just you being a piece of shit but an actual murderer with no regard for human life, /fuck/. whoever it is, austin finding out what other austin has been doing earlier than expected and just panicks all over again. silver lining, he's not /murdering/ my family, but also he's tearing it apart and i need to get back so he's stopped! another plus for if it’s mel, but idk if they'd both be able to help dal cope more about what happened. i just. i don't want f!austin and dal and anyone else to go through this shit. s!austin is bad and he corrupts everything he touches and he should have never been allowed to touch family au, said the woman who let him touch family au.

[justgotham]

The ever-changing power dynamic on Fox’s Gotham has left Selina Kyle in a precarious situation. Typically a loner, the young cat burglar played by Camren Bicondova has been forced to join the Sirens – Tabitha and Barbara Kean – in order to survive and thrive in the mercurial city. That alliance brought the trio into conflict with other villains, most notably against Oswald Cobblepot. However, in tonight’s midseason premiere, “Pieces of a Broken Mirror,” Selina bumps into two friends, Bruce Wayne and Ivy Pepper, with shocking results.

Bicondova recently spoke with CBR and Selina cracking a whip, her strained relationship with Bruce, getting into trouble with Ivy, and what needs to happen before Selina can become Catwoman.

CBR: There are certain fundamental elements associated with Catwoman. How excited were you for Selina to crack that whip last season? Camren Bicondova: I was super-excited. I was nervous because that is such an iconic part of that character and mythology. I didn’t even practice using the whip until the day I was supposed to shoot that scene. Production didn’t really think about the fact that I should look like I could do it naturally, and do it perfectly. So, I was going on YouTube and looking at tutorials on how to use a bullwhip, but it’s not really helpful unless you actually do it. Finally, I got to set, and I asked if there could be whips in my dressing room so I could practice. They had Turner [Smith], who is Ben McKenzie’s stunt double, for a total of 40 minutes. We practiced, and he taught me how to do it. Then, it was just going on set and getting the shot. It was exciting and nerve-racking all at once.

What has Selina learned about herself by spending time with the Sirens?

She’s definitely learned how to react to various situations differently. Selina has figured out that she doesn’t always have to be so tense. It’s a difficult question, because it’s not one thing that she’s realized. Selina has grown as a person in general. By seeing how Barbara reacts to different situations in very violent ways, whereas Tabitha is calmer and put together, Selina has learned you can’t act the same way around every person. You have to adapt to different personalities.

Selina has a run-in with Bruce. What does she make of this new, self-absorbed playboy billionaire?

Selina cannot stand him. She is so confused. She knows it’s not really him. Selina knows Bruce is putting on this front, but she doesn’t understand why. She is disheartened when she sees him. Selina is looking at him like he’s crazy, because he is.

Selina calls out Bruce on his bad behavior, and her words seem to sting him. How much pull does she still have with him?

She will always have a significant pull on the way he thinks and the way that he does things; they have that connection. Even if he is stubborn, Selina always has a way of getting through to him. I think that’s what makes their relationship so special. She is the only one who can get through to him. Selina and Alfred can say the exact same thing, and Bruce will listen to her before he listens to Alfred. That will never change. That’s why their relationship is so iconic and has lived on for 75-plus years. They share this natural connection that they have that neither of them can explain. Selina will always be there for Bruce, even when he doesn’t think she is.

An old ally gets reinvented in this episode. What can you preview about Selina’s reunion with an older Ivy?

It’s an interesting one. Selina is definitely confused because it’s a very weird thing to happen. You see your friend one day and then a few weeks later, they look like a completely different person with a different personality. It’s definitely not a platonic reunion.

Tabitha rubs Ivy the wrong way. In what ways does Selina’s association with Ivy put her at odds with the Sirens?

It definitely puts Selina in the middle, but not in any significant amount where she feels conflicted. We will see through the arc that Selina figures out that Ivy is not necessarily on the right side of the tracks when it comes to what she’s talking about. In this case, it doesn’t cause a rift because Selina is more mature than Ivy is, so she can see Ivy is in the wrong. Something happens that causes Selina to be in the middle, but it’s not with Ivy. It’s with a different character.

Who do you feel that Selina can trust at this point?

If you asked me that question last season, I would say she didn’t trust anyone. Now, the only person she feels she can trust completely is Tabitha. Her relationship with Barbara is more business because Selina knows she is crazy and doesn’t want to be friends with her. In a similar way that Selina can get through to Bruce no matter what, Tabitha can get through to Selina much easier than Barbara can.

What else can we expect to see from Selina in the back-end of the season?

You will see Selina dabbling into different pools of what’s right and what’s wrong. You will see her struggle with that. It’s not necessarily with herself regarding what is right or wrong, but with other people. In this case, Selina will be the one to try and bring everyone together and try to form a solution, where everyone can work together, and everyone can work as a team, no matter their differences. That’s exciting to me because a lot of the time, Selina is placed in a position where she can be the cause of a problem. For once, she’s the person trying to make things better and put ego aside and work together.

In your mind, what steps does Selina still have to take on her path to becoming Catwoman?

I think she has a long way to go. Catwoman is more than just a whip. She’s more than just a suit. She’s more than just the acrobatics. Selina has emotional progression to do. People have been asking me, “How does it feel to play Catwoman,” especially when she’s been using the whip more. People get excited and say, “Oh, my gosh, she’s Catwoman.” I don’t feel like Catwoman.

I feel like Selina. I think something will have to push Selina to her breaking point, basically to rock bottom, where she has nothing. At that point, she will say, “I’m not going to do this anymore,” and then make the choice to have an alter ego. I don’t think she’s at that point to have a reason for an alter ego. A lot of times, people have an alter-ego to escape and have a release. Right now, she doesn’t have a reason to do that. Something needs to happen for that to click.

[avengers-nextgen]

QUESTION OF THE DAY!!! Do the kids have any exes??? Cuz I’ll kill anyone who hurt my babies!!!! Thanks

Scout: Scout was really close friends with an agent’s son named Liam. They were going through training at about the same time and were two peas in a pod. They bonded over books and random facts for years. Unfortunately the two had a falling out after a mission. Scot got a little head strong and ‘know it all-ish’ leading Liam and his team into a bad situation. Liam ended up getting his leg blasted off and had to have a prosthetic made. Scout tried to rekindle the friendship but Liam won’t even look at him. He blames Scout for all of it even if he could have denied orders. Of course Scout didn’t really take a ‘no’ as a justifiable answer and essentially rejected it and tried to mend the relationship to no avail. Scout being Scout he was never good at a lot of social queues. It wasn’t until Liam practically screamed at him that he wanted Scout to leave him alone-that Scout even got the defeat sting hint that Liam was really not his friend anymore.

James: James has had a few girlfriends. Most of them are other agents his age and they’ve been pretty alright. Sweet, caring, independent, and they all had a strong work ethic. Unfortunately James was always so reserved and work oriented that it was hard for him to find comfort in a partner who was the exact same way. Essentially it was like dating himself. The best relationship he had was with a girl named Mia. She was different from the others, less head strong, quieter, a follower more than a leader, definitely more creative and artsy than anyone else. The two were very adorable together and Alex even liked her whereas she hadn’t liked the other girls much in the past. Of course when your passion is art it conflicts with being an agent. Mia ultimately resigned from shield a month or two after Active Duty. She enrolled in an Arts college and moved leaving James to stick to his work. It’s part of his reserved nature. Alex had to help his broken heart which was tough. James is typically pretty stoic so it was hard seeing him so confused and hurt. James specifically stays away from people like Mia because it brings up bad feelings. He’s glad she followed her passion though and he does keep in touch, which is really sweet, and she likes to hear about his work too.

Siyanda: Siyanda would always get flustered around the girl who was tasked as being her royal guard. Everywhere Siyanda went this girl went too. She was strong, fierce, determined, and rising to be one of the best military minds in Wakanda. She had a hard shell and Siyanda hesitantly broke it down. The two often stayed up late discussing technology or military tactics. It never advanced into an actual relationship but their were always intimate and hesitant undertones to it. After all, they were both young and naive and awkward regarding any romance at all. Siyanda grew up in the presence of her guard and there was always this comfort in the knowledge that she always had someone to support her. No matter where she went somewhere-Acacia, which Siyanda took a week to finally coax the name out of-was there watching. However, Acacia was extremely adamant that she didn’t want Siyanda to go to the city let alone to work with such an industrialized enterprise like Shield. Not to mention America! Siyanda insisted that it was her duty especially when friends needed her. Acacia was adamant that since Siyanda had never met them (the other kids) they couldn’t possibly be friends. A very heated argument followed and in the end Siyanda left anyways leaving Acacia to look over her things until she returns.

Nathaniel: Nathaniel had a girlfriend once. Only once. She was the sweetest thing in the entire world and he loved her with all of his goofy heart. He was entirely head over heels for her. He made her little doodles, have her flowers, braided her hair. Clint had never seen his son so happy. Her name was Ellie and she was the only person Nathaniel ever told his real job too. She always worried about him and patched him up when she could. To Nathaniel she was the epitome of spring personified in a beautiful girl, but spring dies. Ellie developed cancer not long after their two year anniversary. It was something that was supposed to go away but the doctors messed up on the treatment. There was a lot of emotion going on during this time in Nathaniel’s life. He had a lot of anger and hate. To him doctors couldn’t mess up-and if they did the universe had no right to take Ellie away because of their mistakes. He spent a lot of time away from work and missions and most of his days existed in the hospital. It’s heartbreaking seeing your girlfriend lose her hair, lose weight, lose her smile. Nathaniel took each of his friends to see her one at a time. He always promised she’d get to meet them eventually. After Ellie died Nathaniel actually struggled with depression for a bit. He’s better now and he’s a happy boy who loves him family and friends dearly but he’s closed himself off to the idea of ever loving anyone else. To him it’s almost like a sin. It wouldn’t be fair.

Fox: Fox takes whatever she can get whenever she can. She’s absolutely desperate for genuine affection to the point that she often overlooks the fact that the affection she actually receives is completely fake. Her parents don’t pay any attention to her and she’s so used to the kind of scum that fill the bar she really doesn’t have a healthy role model for what a proper relationship should look like. There was her first boyfriend Kyle who only wanted one thing which she refused and he lost his mind. That ended in a lot of tears because Fox didn’t really understand what she’d done wrong. After that she developed a pretty intense fear when it came to saying ‘No’ to people. The next boyfriend was Tim who was better than Kyle by only a little. Except, Tim got bored easily and would purposefully flirt with other people in tony of Fox just to get her worked up because he liked it when she got angry. The last boyfriend Fox had was Jeremy and he was the worst. Every chance he got he threatened to leave and he was very happy to use his hands on her. There were at least two new bruises a day on the poor girl. Fox eventually managed to drop his ass on the curb and has been single ever since. Unfortunately she’s so shielded no one ever gets close to her because she makes herself absolutely certain that she will be protected. Never receiving any legitimate affection or prostration she’s so driven by her own survival that she purposefully remains alone.

Thoughts? Opinions? Message me, comment, or send an ask!

[tessatechaitea]

Dark Nights: Batman the Drowned #1

I can't wait to find out how Bruce Wayne got such a fantastic pair of tits.

"This is my wish! And I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back!"

The explanation for Bruce Wayne having magnificent tits occurs in a brief Narration Box where Aquabat thinks, "The gender roles are reversed here." I used the word "explanation" incorrectly in the last sentence. By saying the gender roles are reversed, does he mean the people who are women on Earth-Negative-Guys-With-Awesome-Tits are men on Earth-Main-Earth? Does that explain why he's a woman named Bruce? Or is he a man but men on Earth-Negative-Guys-With-Awesome-Tits would be considered women on Earth-Main-Earth? Am I using the correct pronoun for Aquabat? I can't tell because is being a woman actually considered being a man from his Dark Earth? Is that what he means by the gender roles being reversed"? My boner is super confused right now! Oh! Everything becomes clear when the flashback happens and this is taking place on Earth-Negative-Eleven and also when I check back to the panel I scanned to see that Bruce Wayne is actually called Bryce Wayne. Is Bryce a non-gender specific name? Is any name, in this day and age, non-gender specific?! Down with parental labels that force a person (and others!) into seeing them as a specific gender! That's the fight we should be fighting! Also maybe the fight against circumcision. Can that be a major fight too? Hello? Anybody? Babies being mutilated here! Anyway, now I have a question. If the Batman on Earth-Main-Earth is the Batman that Barbatos is obsessed with, why are all these Dark Earths, created by Earth-Main-Earth Batman's dark thoughts, not versions of Earth-Main-Earth? Oh wait! I have an answer to my question! Because Batjoker is actually the Dark Version of Earth-Main-Earth Batman. He just happened to recruit other versions of Dark Multiverse Batman before coming to the main universe. So Aquabat wasn't created from a stray thought of Earth-Main-Earth Batman. She was created by a stray thought from gender bent Earth-11 Batman! Okay, everything is straight now! Oh, I didn't mean that to sound like a micro-aggression! I just meant everything was back to normal! Oh man. That was a micro-aggression too, wasn't it? I just reiterated my implication that straight is normal! Batwoman on Earth-Negative-Eleven decided to kill all the bad guys just like the Batperson on all the other negative Earths. Apparently that's Batman's constant dark thought on every world in which he exists. He just goes around thinking, "Why don't I just kill all of these assholes? Stupid Bat-Rules." On this world, he killed them all because they killed his lover Catman. Not that Catman! Differently gendered Selina Kyle! His name was Sylvester Kyle and my boner is disappointed that Catwoman had to get the gender bent treatment. I want to see Bryce and Selina make out. And yes that means I want to co-opt their lesbianism for my own heterosexual turn-ons! We can't all be saints!

Is the trident regarded as a phallic weapon or am I picturing dicks incorrectly?

I know I have a lot of fun attacking bad writers and artists in a hyperbolic way but whenever I hear Jim Lee give an interview, I feel bad about complaining about his scribbles all over the art he does. I genuinely like Jim Lee so much that it makes me hate myself for every time I critiqued a piece of his art that I didn't care for. Even though my hyperbolic rants are meant to be taken as the over-the-top ridiculous rantings of a rabid comic book fan, I know many people take this shit seriously instead of absorbing the whimsical feeling I have while while writing it. And since I like Jim Lee so much, I have to confront the fact that I might even like Scott Lobdell or (God forbid!) Cullen Bunn! Maybe I should stop being so mean? I mean so directly mean! I can be indirectly mean by making fun of the comic book and specific pieces of art that I scan because there's something wrong with them (like the way every colorist always fucks up the stripes in the American flag)! What I'm trying to say is this: "Jim Lee, I love you and I wish you were my father." So Bryce transformed herself into Aquabat to defeat all of the Atlanteans on Earth-Negative-Eleven. You know the story from the past Dark Nights books. Batperson wins but still can't save the world. Batjoker arrives with the shuttle to Earth-Main-Earth. Everybody rides the train to funkytown. Earth-Main-Earth suffers horribly because the Justice League are terrible at saving the lives of people who don't get to be characters in the comic book. It seems it's okay to kill thousands of people nowadays and still finish the story with the idea that the good guys somehow won. Aquabat turns Mera into one of its drowned henchman and then Doctor Fate saves Aquaman. Couldn't he have gotten there a bit sooner and saved Mera too? Or just saved Mera, really. Nobody cares about Aquaman. Dark Nights: Batman the Drowned #1 Rating: Apparently I'm reading a different comic book than all of the comic book review sites on the Internet. According to the advertisement for Metal in this issue, other reviewers are saying embarrassing things like "Like a good guitar lick, it'll melt your face off." Who writes that and thinks it's clever? Worse, who reads that and thinks it's clever enough to be used as a review blurb?! Here's another good one because it shows they know all about the metal music genre: "Just hold on tight and ride the lightning." Since it's an Internet quote, I'm surprised they weren't asking us to ride the "lightening." It's as if these reviewers heard about the concept of this comic series and wrote their reviews on that! Because I agree with the review that said "one of the most viscerally exciting comics series to kick off this year." But I only agreed with it before I read all of these tie-in Dark Nights books! And I only agreed with it before I had to actually think about most of Scott Snyder's plot points! I mean, I still agree with it in that I love this kind of comic book shit! And I'll love it even when it's not as good as I was hoping it would be. It's just that I can't bring myself to laud something in this way simply because it gets the comic book nerd inside me erect. I expect the writing to give me that same visceral feeling! It's just that it never does. Especially these fucking Dark Knight Origin Stories that are all basically the same. I think to write the kind of glowing reviews that Internet comic book lovers write, I need to just read the comic book without writing about it, not think about it while I'm not writing about it, somehow maintain a boner through whatever means necessary while reading it (to, you know, keep my interest and keep some of the blood out of my brain), and then talk about it with a really stupid friend who can't get enough of all the comic books. Then maybe I'd walk away thinking, "That was fucking awesome!" It's also possible I'm simply dead inside.

[atopfourthwall]

Hey Linkara, as a Teen Titans fan maybe you can clear something up for me. For the last few years it seems like DC has been pushing Cyborg more and more as a member of the Justice League (being a founding member in the new 52, helping them out in Justice League Doom, being in the Justice League movie coming up). Why is that when he was already a member of the Titans, and why haven't any of the others become Justice League members?

Short answer: too many white people and some of them actually were on the team.

Long answer: A loooot of characters associated with the Justice League, particularly their founding members, were white dudes. The only non-white founding member was Martian Manhunter… which, you know, is kind of different from having someone of a different ethnicity since Martians are not real. It’s a bit of a problem with the Justice League, to the point where even when in the late-90s when there was a decision to re-emphasize “The Big Seven,” AKA the seven most powerful JLA members, it was still pretty much everybody but Martian Manhunter was white.

Now, already some of you may be raising your hands and thinking of prominent black heroes (or many other POC characters) who could have been JLA members in the film and were already in the League before. And you are correct to do so! In fact, I can name a few off the top of my head - Steel, Black Lightning, John Stewart Green Lantern, Vixen, and many, many more. Buuuuuut just going by those four (whom I think of as definitely ones in terms of popularity both inside of comic fans and out), there are some problems.

Now let me be clear here with these “problems.” These are not REAL problems, just the kind of problems that I feel Hollywood and DC would try to use ill-conceived logic to justify their decisions based on past thoughts they’ve given.

Steel: while I doubt that the flop of the Shaq Steel movie would affect the decision to not have him in a movie, it IS possible that that might be going through some minds. More likely is that he would be seen as redundant - while intelligent and an engineer, he’s a character without superpowers closely associated with Superman - so he could be thought of as redundant next to both Batman AND Superman.

Black Lightning: There is a thought process, much like the one associated with making the Black Ranger black - basically the idea of “that’s all their character is about!” It’s bullcrap, but it’s there. However, while that may have been EXTRA logic on top of it, Black Lightning actually has LEGAL issues associated with him, as creator Tony Isabella has said that he was not created under a Work-for-Hire contract and thus HE is the actual legal owner of the character and DC being DC has been kind of crappy about that (although apparently in 2015 they’ve started mending fences).

Vixen: I think the biggest issue here is just recognition. I think Vixen is great and she’d be a logical addition to a Justice League movie and team, but she’s not well-known outside of comic circles AFAIK. MAYBE as a supporting character from the DCAU, but unlike the next character, she only made a handful of appearances instead of being there from the start.

John Stewart Green Lantern: Now this one just has a ton of really stupid problems associated with it. One is his name, since the name John Stewart nowadays is associated with the Daily Show host, though that can be worked around easily enough. However there is this really dumb thought process, started by Geoff Johns, that Hal Jordan is the “iconic” Green Lantern, AKA the one most people associate with the character and recognize… and of course it’s kind of bullcrap these days. Even if you were a fan of the Superfriends back in the day, most characters didn’t have their civilian identities spoken aloud, so most people would probably just know the NAME Green Lantern as opposed to Hal Jordan, but a bigger issue is that a generation has since grown up NOT with Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, but John Stewart because he was in the Justice League cartoon - there were many anecdotes of people going to the Green Lantern movie and confused why this random white guy was Green Lantern - and bear in mind that even in the DCAU, Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern before John - he was THAT much more recognizable. That movie is also probably a bit of stigma for people. While I personally liked the movie and didn’t think it was as bad as people seem to make it out to be, the lack of a Green Lantern at all in Justice League implies to me that WB is embarrassed by the film and wants to have people forget about it by not having a Green Lantern at all.

So, this brings us back to Cyborg. Why him, then? Well, for two reasons: one is that Cyborg actually DID have some association with the Justice League on TV - as a part of the final season of the Superfriends (called “The Super Powers Team - Galactic Guardians) in 1985. It’s likely that, with the popularity of the New Teen Titans at the time, he would cross over there. TV is where we get into our next major thing - the Teen Titans cartoon. Wildly popular, and whatever your feelings about Teen Titans Go, the character STILL has prominence in pop culture as a result of that and is recognizable then to both kids and adults (especially to adults who grew up on Teen Titans). He’s a non-white character with a unique skillset and powers and a great character dynamic for pathos and, if Batman v. Superman is any indication, tying him into the story they’re telling involving Apokalips and Darkseid.

And when it comes to DC comics up until the New 52, there was a bit of a thought process that said that the New Teen Titans characters, for the most part, had really elevated themselves and grown up to be the equals of the bigger hitters - Cyborg in particular. The 2003 Geoff Johns-written Teen Titans saw Cyborg taking up a much larger leadership role in the team and to many fans it felt like he had graduated to the big leagues and his placement on the JLA seemed only natural.

And it actually happened, along with several other Titans.

After Blackest Night, a version of the Justice League written by James Robinson was created that starred Dick Grayson (then acting as Batman), Donna Troy, Starfire, AND Cyborg (plus a bunch of other members, but I’m focusing on Titans here). I quite enjoyed it for the brief time I read it, but of course the book ran into some problems for whatever reason (probably editorial mandates) and the book eventually ended right before Flashpoint.

But the fact that the character, in the minds of many fans, had really gotten to the point where he was a natural shoe-in for the Justice League translated itself to both the New 52 AND Hollywood - a black character who was recognizable to the public, lacked any legal issues, and no fans could really deny his character growth put him as one of the greatest DC heroes (we’ll forgive that both the New 52 and the Justice League movie are reset his character growth to square one with no history associated with the Titans).

But yeah, that’s where I think they’re coming from here. I definitely think it’s bullcrap that he’s the ONLY one and there are many other characters who should be given a shot (hell, especially in relation to the brief list I made above in regards to lesser-known chaarcters, recall that Marvel has had tremendous success with pushing characters in movies who are relative unknowns into the spotlight), but this is what I think is going on.