#even if they're constantly in each others' way

[buddiebeginz]

Fyi these are the kind of posts that B/T stans are sharing:

I still 100% believe that Buddie is in the works for season 8 but if we want to make sure of that we can't let the 911 social media accounts be full of this crap. We need to be out there constantly reminding Tim and anyone else connected with the show how supportive of Buddie and 911 we are.

Don't forget it was our fandom that had a hand in getting the bi buck storyline to even happen. There's no way they would have done it if we hadn't been pushing for it for years. We need to continue to be just as vocal now for Buddie.

I know a lot of things didn't go how we wanted in s7 and I know things with fandom right now are frustrating (to say the least) but we still need to be a positive voice out there for Buddie. If we aren't reminding those involved with the show and the rest of the 911 audience of Buddie then the main thing they're going to be seeing on the 911 social media accounts is love for B/T.

For years people have found 911 and started watching because of Buddie. We still want that to be the case. We don't want the trajectory of the show to change in s8 where T*mmy gets more popular so they decide to keep him and Buck together for awhile longer. And like I said I don't think that will happen but shows change so you never know.

Make sure you’re liking/sharing Buddie tweets on Twitter, talking about Buddie on every official 911 account post that has Oliver and Ryan in it (including the B/T one). This includes instagram, tiktok, yt (they're not really active on twitter rn but maybe for s8). Also make sure to reblog and not just like Buddie related posts here on tumblr. It's important we are able to do things like get Buddie trending on places like tumblr and twitter. Also try and create new posts when you can even just texts posts tagged as Buddie help.

We don't just want people involved with the show to see how much love is out there for Buddie we also want people who are new to the show to see what's so great about our ship. I've seen newbies to 911 message B*mmy shippers and ask about the show because the most they know about 911 is the hype they saw around the B/T kiss. There is so much more to 911 than that and there is so much more to Buck's story than that.

A huge portion of the 911 audience is because of Buddie. People have always been drawn to the show because of Buddie and we want that to continue. It's also important that people who are new to the show feel welcomed into our fandom. Our fandom is where people can truly see Buddie for the amazing love story it is and not the warped version that B*mmy shippers have concocted.

I know everyone gets busy and doesn't always have time to devote to fandom stuff but I'm just putting this out there to as reminder that the other side is pushing for their ship. So just don't forget to show your love for Buddie even in small ways when you can. Buck deserves a better love story than the one he had in season 7 with T*mmy. Both Buck and Eddie deserve the epic love story they should have been having by now with each other and we can't stop reminding everyone of that.

[thethiefandtheairbender]

I think it's really hard to go back to a lot of fanon or even canon ships in fandom spaces in a lot of ways after watching Infinity Train and how it handles relationship conflict, tbh.

The first is that they let characters have real issues with each other — actually unhealthy / toxic individual traits and subsequently unhealthy patterns with each other — even when those characters don't know anything is wrong! They think they're fine, fun, healthy, as a dynamic and as a person, the way most people do. And we see either the characters grow and change to have healthier relationships (Ryan and Min-Gi, Lake and Jesse) or spiral into worse versions of themselves until the point the relationship deteriorates (Grace and Simon).

The second thing is that in letting the characters be wrong, the show lets both characters, every time, be wrong. And how these characters are wrong are rarely on purpose! Grace doesn't mean to be controlling, Simon doesn't mean to be so dependent on her. He feels ultra betrayed when she finds out he lied (because she thought he'd murder a child if she didn't, and honestly she was 100% right) and her wanting to protect said child also doesn't automatically make how Grace handled Simon's responses 1) perfect, 2) well communicated, or 3) make her automatically a 'Good' person.

It would be so easy for Infinity Train to just go "one half has all the problems, the other just has to help them through it". That's what a lot of shippers and shipping can boil down to.

And that exact mindset is what's 'setup' multiple times as Lake thinks all she has to do is help Jesse as a passenger, not realizing that her being domineering and Jesse listening to her pretty constantly at first is because of her own issues with identity and agency and is precisely what got him onto the Train in the first place. Or with Ryan and Min-Gi, where the second Min-Gi thinks it's just Ryan's impatience and impulsivity and that he's better / 'more mature' that their progress entirely halts. Grace tries to reason with Simon repeatedly, but he's such a die hard believer in the cult they mutually formed that he refuses to listen to anything else, and lashes out when she stops acting the way he believes she should (ie. ways that keep her tied to him and their dynamic).

Because it takes two people for communication to live and die, it takes two people for patterns to form.

I feel like Infinity Train really opens up into why certain character relationships where a show tries to paint both of them as being in the wrong (*coughs* C*tradora) despite it very much being 99% all on one person's issues can feel so uneven, lacklustre, or underdeveloped bc they just weren't willing to lean in and commit to a Both Sides relationship arc, or the urge to have characters and their relationships be deeply sanitized to the point where the only conflict they have is because of external conflicts and issues that are 'wrapped up' in 1-2 episodes at all times.

Infinity Train goes "no one is meaning to be malicious most of the time, people are just messy and even someone you love deeply or have known all your life can be people you fall into unhealthy patterns with, and it's on both of you to work to get to a better place" and it's like yeah, because that's how real life works 90% of the time. It's refreshing to say the least

[smytherines]

Tumblr won't let me post this from my drafts, but @uhhhitsme this is me responding to what you wrote yesterday!

I think that's right though. This is a long distance relationship. They live an ocean apart, they only get to see each other when their countries deem it necessary to work together. They have to have their entire relationship in secret because it is illegal. And probably treason because they work for two different countries. It is super turbo illegal.

I mean, long distance couples who don't have all those additional issues, who can call or video chat or whatever every day if they choose to, who have support networks there for them to lean on, (who aren't gay spies in the 1950s), most of the time they still don't make it because the distance is just too much to overcome. But Curt and Owen made it work. Even if it was messy and they were both assholes and nothing about it was rational. They made it work.

We don't know how long Curt and Owen were together before the fall, but I'm guessing it was at least a couple of years? They work incredibly well together, they're bantering and giving these goofy lovesick grins to each other (they make me sick)

Even when they bicker it feels like an old married couple. And it has to be that way for the show to make sense. We get less than ten minutes to establish their relationship, and this little section of the show is what gives the staircase scene true dramatic weight. Because there is so much fucking chemistry in that first ten minutes, such a sense of intimacy between them, that when Curt says "the feelings we had" the audience is already there. We don't need to be convinced (especially queer viewers who clocked this shit right away) because yeah of course these two were together.

They were able to keep this thing going off of maybe a couple of days together every few months? Days where they were mostly risking their lives and killing people and getting shot/stabbed/tortured and then hooking up in a hotel room or safe house or whatever.

One thing I think about a lot is if they were able to be that close to each other, function that well together, be so fucking familiar and warm with each other with just those little scraps of time together, I can't even imagine what they'd be like if they actually had time to just be together. Time to learn to be in a relationship. There's a line from Black Box that goes like "a real relationship- the kind of thing with a permanent address," and that's what Curt and Owen never got to have, and its the kind of thing you have to learn, you have to practice.

That's tough though, because I also think Curt's inherent restlessness would make it very difficult for him to settle down into a comfortable quiet life away from everything. I think he's the kind of guy who theoretically wants the comfort and happiness of a happy little domestic situation, wants to be loved and wanted, but it would be torture for him to have to stay in the same place for very long. At least as a younger man. He wants the idea of it. He wants it emotionally, but couldn't handle it practically. What he truly wants is for he and Owen to eternally live out their glory days together as the world's greatest spies- constant adrenaline and pressure and excitement.

This is pure headcanon, but I picture Owen as the kind of guy who has never wanted any of that. Home is where he keeps his shit in between missions. He doesn't want a happy little domestic life, he wants to do the job he's good at until he dies. Until he meets Curt. Then he starts wanting all sorts of things he knows he can never have. He wants to keep Curt safe, wants to know that they'll be able to see each other whenever they want, they'd have control of their own lives instead of being controlled by their agencies. He wants to stop having to work so hard and think so much and constantly constantly plan for the worst.

So it's difficult to say, but in my heart I do think that if they had more time, both in the pre-fall relationship and, y'know, Curt not putting a bullet in Owen's head, I think they could have figured it out. I think if they were able to sustain the feelings they had for so long on so little actual contact, then it would be difficult and painful and even more messy than before, but eventually they could move on to something better.

I think they loved each other enough to try, but after everything they had each been through in their four years apart, after the ways they had hurt each other and broken each other's trust, they just... couldn't see that in the moment. Which is pretty tragic to me.

[obsessedwrhys]

okokokok HEAR ME OUT !… rottmnt brothers x a gn! younger adopted sibling medusa hcs… whose snakes are lowkey protective of them… sometimes they act on their own but if the reader is feeling an emotion strongly they’ll feel that emotion… yeah… (can you also make the reader calm, collected and reserved?)

(Idk if ur reqs are closed or not so u can do this later or delete it if you want)

ROTTMNT X MEDUSA!READER

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ fluff, bit of angst, reader is gn!! (Look at how cute they are)

RAPH

As babies he was always so scared of the snakes on your head. Like what do you mean it's supposed to be your hair? How does that even work?

Every now and then when he's passing by your room, he couldn't help but sneak a glance of you pampering to the snakes. It's just so amusing to see you treat them as if they have a mind of their own.

Which they do in some cases.

Growing up together, he has gotten use to the fact that the snakes happen to also feel whatever emotions you feel. Anger. Despair. Joy.

Never in his life would he ever think to see a hundred snakes smiling at him. But oh well, at least you're happy.

He is honestly very astonished with your ability to turn any living or non-living things to stone.

There was this one time where you guys were fighting and a member of the foot clan managed to sneak up behind you, but due to your enhanced reflexes, you were fast enough to turn him into stone. You simply blew at the sculpture and eventually it loses its balance and falls.

Remind him to never mess with you 'cause being turned into stone does not look fun.

Despite your scary appearance, you were the most chill person in the group. You would always be found either in the living room watching tv or in your room doing your thing.

What I'm trying to say is that you're the least expected sibling to create the huge mess of the day for everyone to deal with.

He doesn't find the snakes on your head too much of a deal, he cares and loves you all the more.

LEO

He finds the snakes on your head so cool!!

Since ya'll were kids, he's been constantly storming up with stupid tricks or ideas to do with you.

And you obliged each time because you didn't feel like it was anything dangerous. Most of the time you guys end up having fun.

He has once asked you to turn Donnie to stone. Obviously you said no.

Even though your ability to turn people to stone is irreversible, it still doesn't give you the excuse to just do it to anyone or anything as you liked. Which is the same thing you've said to Leo multiple times and he always let's out an annoyed groan at your reminder.

He 100% picks fight with the snakes on your head. Always sneakily poking one or pulling one (obvs not that hard) when it's not looking, what he doesn't realise is that you can feel it too. He's been bit many times for doing that but he never learns.

He just enjoys messing with you :(

It's the sibling energy in him.

Did I forget to mention how he managed to convince you to turn him to stone in order to escape Raph's lecture? Yeah that happened.

I've said this before and I'll say this again, he definitely makes terrible dad jokes related to snakes towards you. It always entertains him and him only.

"You know, people always say snakes are so venomous but I think they're just slitherin around"

"That was terrible Leo"

He likes to hug you because he just loves the feeling of the snakes on your head rubbing against his face. It's like the same feeling you feel when a cat rubs it's face against your face. So relaxing.

He loves to especially bury his face into them.

It weirds out the others but you don't mind as long as he doesn't hurt you or the snakes.

He just LOVE LOVE LOVESSSSS it.

Also the way your eyes glows red alongside the snakes whenever you turn something to stone? You look ethereal!!

And the tiny traces of scales across your skin??? Badass!!

He'll literally wear a cheerleader fit and swing around pong pongs to cheer you on.

DONNIE

Since you were kids, he was always drawn towards the snakes on your head. He always wondered how did it even get there.

He once accidentally pulled on one of the snakes as a kid and the bite on his hand is now scarred to life.

He doesn't tell you but he thinks the snakes looks great on you, the green matching the green in your eyes is like the cherry on top. Not to mention your fashion sense is amazing!!

He doesn't mind having you stay in his lab, you're not loud and don't disturb his work which he appreciates it.

I like to think that whenever he's bored, he'll probably approach you to examine on the snakes on your head. You don't really mind and just continue on doing whatever it is that you were doing in the first place.

Though, there was this one time you caught him waving at the snakes and smiled when they all greet him back.

He definitely asks questions about stuff.

Some of the questions that still stuck to you was "If you used a mirror and activated your power, will you be able to turn yourself to stone?" And "Do the snakes on your head grow like hair?"

The last one might be true in a way. The snakes only extends when you want it to. You just do it when it's convenient, whether to toss a bad guy away or to grab a cup of coffee on the table.

He would hyperfixate on Greek Mythology when he sees the obvious similarity. However it just made his brain spin even more. Were you also cursed? He never knew how to ask you about that since he's afraid to trigger your emotions.

The last time he did that the snakes on your head all began hissing at him, not to mention seconds away from attacking him.

But it doesn't matter, you'll tell everyone when you want to. All he knows is that you grew up together and care about each other, that's already enough.

MIKEY

Oooh snakes.

I just have a feeling that since babies, the snakes on your head has always been so affectionate towards Mikey.

Like out of all the brothers, he's the only one they let him do things with. Helping you do different hairstyles, feeding them and even giving them accessories. Anything he can do to make you look glamorous.

He also happen to name each of the snakes. He says he doesn't have a favourite but it's way too obvious that you're his favourite.

He hates it however when you're sad, the way the snakes on your head pretty much drops with a frown breaks his heart.

Everytime Leo decides to mess with you, Mikey is 100% already there and simply standing menacingly behind him, waiting for him to finally notice him.

"He's standing behind me isn't he?"

"😡"

A lot of the days where its sunny, he would definitely take you go swimming. He knows how frustrated you get when it's too hot.

Same goes to when it's winter, this boy will go out of his way to make a comfortable beanie for you to use and for the snakes to nestle in.

Also you have a big appetite but do not fear!! He will prepare you the most delicious meal you'll ever eat!!

You're surprisingly good at communicating with animals. You've befriended some of the rats in the sewer and he can't help but call you the "Rat Whisperer"

He loves hanging out with you, whether if it's doing nothing together or having fun, he likes spending every second with you.

[panelshowsource]

now that s17 is over, how did you like it? it feels like most people either thought it was mild or weak, which makes me sad, so i stopped going to the discussion threads about it :""( i also don't see much anticipation for s18...

aww anon well, first, if you had a good time then that's what matters! so i hope series 17 brought you a little joy each week, that's what panel shows are for in my humble opinion 😚

because i know i'm about to word vomit some word salad, i'll throw out some s17 reactions + s18 thoughts below the cut! that way anyone who is sick of my nonsense doesn't have to scroll past it lmaooo

series 17 was a decent one! i don't think it's in the hall of fame, but it's definitely nowhere near the couple of "unwatchables" as they're (pretty unfairly) called. i've talked before about one of the downfalls of a season is when a group doesn't harness their dynamic and take control of the show — when they're in the studio and just sit quietly, waiting for greg to give them permission to speak, things flow well for the editors but the experience lacks. this is why s1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, even 12 are so silly and chaotic: the contestants were constantly fighting, interrupting or pausing judging, trying to convince or gaslight or challenge greg, just...speaking! talking! interacting! if that doesn't happen, taskmaster can just feel like show and tell, which is not when it's at its best

ultimately, this is why too many polite and well-behaved people in a single series is a pleasant watch but doesn't hit very hard. this series was exceptionally nice, we have to admit. joanne followed by steve may have been the "hang on a second ☝️" contestants of the series, but not by a lot, meanwhile nick and sophie were the loveliest, pretty quiet people and john was dead silent most of the time. actually, that was something that ended up surprising me — john was so focused on the tasks, so focused on winning, most of the time he didn't pause to give significant, funny commentary while filming, didn't give us *nearly* the banter with alex i anticipated, and was particularly quiet in the studio. i knew he'd be in it to win it, don't get me wrong, but he approached taskmaster more as a richard herring than an ed gamble, if you know what i mean. it was very funny to me when he was on the tm podcast and was more or less like "i know i didn't prioritise being entertaining" lmao that earnestness can be sweet, because i do like to watch the show imagining how i would do each task, but his ~no nonsense~ approach was turned up to 11 for a lot more of the series than i anticipated. i almost wish john had leaned a little more into his self-aware neuroticism and competitiveness just because that's generally a good character on taskmaster — and this series was definitely missing that

(you know, talking about this really reinforces my belief that kerry godliman is perhaps the most perfect taskmaster contestant...ever. competitive, no nonsense and full of nonsense, top bantz, stands up for herself and tears down others but fights without being genuinely angry or butthurt, doesn't know enough to try and figure out a workaround for every single task, loves and bullies alex in equal measure... just love the woman. love her. fuck it, same for jess knappett. i miss my girls😭 this is ALSO why i think rosie is a great fit for tm)

anywayz i haven't read mucho mucho discourse about series 17, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's the vague "criticism" people: just more lowkey vibes than other series. but some people prefer that, so..!!!

i think, too, too many people look back at series 1–...7? at least and want to see the same greg–alex dynamic, approach to the prize tasks, approach to scoring, lil tricks, what have you — and that is not gonna happen again. ever. for example, greg and alex have talked too many times about how hard they try to score things "fairly" because that's become such a big point of conversation for the viewers at home and, atp, even the contestants. personally, i don't prefer that. fuck fair! this is not a real competition it's an entertainment show!! when greg was throwing out points willy nilly, bonus points for eating hair, giving 5 points to a prize just bc it's his personal sense of humour and ranking another contestant's prize low every week just bc that's a funny recurring joke/dynamic, whatever. i do not care. give phil wang 1 point every time. points schmoints. but that cannot happen anymore because the viewers starting taking the points so darn seriously. (not to mention the opportunity to do coc is now pretty coveted for its $$$ and exposure, too, i'd imagine.) the same goes for greg leaning into his dictator role, the master/slave relationship between him and alex, alex being super stoic and quiet — not only does tm think those characters and dynamics are played out, but in some ways the audience has evolved beyond all that

my point is that people get caught up in the Old Gen Taskmaster that hooked them and can't accept the ways in which the show has evolved — even if it's in their opinion for worse. do i think it would kill taskmaster to go back to slightly less convoluted tasks and commit to the 1–5 point system instead of constant ties (or "this was a 3-point effort")? no. i would like to see that lmao but i don't view the series through the lens of a series 1 fan anymore, either. a reality check would help a lot of complainers

i did read one thing i thought was interesting — that with the huge number of series we're at with tm uk, and now the accessibility of other countries' spin-offs, there is a bigger and bigger pool of God Tier Taskmaster to compare each new series to. it used to be "hmm does this new series stack up against series 4, one of the all-time greats?" but now we're stacking new series up against the top ~6 of tm uk, tm nz s2, a couple of the tm belgiums, tm aus s1, and so on. competition is stiff!! not many series can be The Very Best Of All Time, so with each new tm uk that isn't, people start to feel like the show has gone downhill when it probably is stagnant at worst. does that make sense?

i don't wanna sound like every criticism of tm can be explained away or comes from a bad place. as i've mentioned above, i have my qualms. this series, one of my major qualms and seriously unpopular opinions was that i didn't like that steve wasn't actually bringing in prizes half the time. like, he was doing bits and they were funny bits, but greg was scoring him mad high for the effort he put into his bits instead of the actual prizes he brought in for entry. i stand by that opinion, but the thing is i didn't let that ruin my experience of the show. but, maybe, it just comes down to the fact i want to like it...so i do ^^

maybe i talked way too much about criticism and negativity hahah some things i really enjoyed from this series:

nick is probably the second person following john kearns who i actively disliked before taskmaster specifically because i had only ever seen their comedy characters doing dictionary corner or a bit of standup — and i really didn't like them. (still never seen ted lasso!) lo and behold, they go on taskmaster and are S Tier Sweethearts and i see them both in totally new lights! in fact john's last standup show is being released shortly and i cannot wait to watch it — which me of the past would never believe i'm saying lmao so i'm so grateful the show opened my eyes to what a funny, sweet person nick is!! and may i say his and john's styles in the studio are massively underrated. they are both incredibly snazzy dressers!

steve and nick were a sweet little team weren't they! i think it would have been funnier to have john x sophie (the best and the worst, in their own ways) vs. the more harmonious steve x nick x sophie, but regardless it was very cute stuff

the location was great! i fucking love a big open field, i fucking love a river

greg has had some really strong intro "speeches" the last few series and i loved his this time around. they're just equal parts stupid and weird + his authoritative, classic greg delivery always makes me laugh heh

some of the strongest live tasks in a while!! catching the little monsters, passing the loo through the tube, bouncing the ball on the bar — all felt like quintessential uncomplicated classic taskmaster parlour games and they were good fun

TONS out outtakes content!

and gosh it's wonderful to have a new little hour of pleasantness to have each week :)

regarding s18... it's an interesting lineup! in a good way!! i think rosie's character is more or less a perfect fit for the taskmaster format. obviously she is one of the biggest female comedians in the uk right now, but i didn't bet on her doing tm because i didn't think the show could commit to accommodating her disability for 10 episodes. and, frankly, they may not — and i guarantee she is completely okay with that. she was born from the rhod gilbert school of showing up to fuck around, and i sleep soundly knowing she will do just that. i really like jack dee and i'm happy for alex to have made it work with him. it typically wouldn't be my choice to have two senior comedian white men on one series, and (unpopularly?) i'm not really a zaltzman person, but i have no doubt he'll be quite charming. emma sidi is part of the alex horne bubble of friends i have mentioned a few times before, but i actually don't know much about her. babatunde feels like a sensible fresh pick since he's been doing more variety/panel shows; i don't watch him on googlebox (which i love) because i don't like mo gilligan (very unsorry about this opinion heh), but what i've seen of him i've enjoyed! i don't think the group's dynamic is obvious just from their list of names, but the fact they're all comedians is VERY promising and makes me supersupersuper happy — all comedian lineups are historically the strongest. so yay!! but can you imagine who will be on a team?? god imagine a jack x rosie team lmfaoooooooooooo i live for the thought

hope that made sense and if it didn't whoops! don't mind me heheh

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

never gonna stop thinking about the fact that desire is the only one of dream's siblings who has never ignored him when he's asked for help

[silverwhittlingknife]

So you're a go to source for all things Dick&Tim bros and you tend to write primarily from Dick's POV. So, odd question, but if you were to summarize their relationship from his POV in FIVE panels which panels would you pick? Keeping in mind that one specific aspect of their relationship that you love needs to be clearly represented by each panel (loyalty, trust etc). I hope this is a fun challenge and not an annoying question so if you don't want to answer that's cool! Have a wonderful day!

No more talk. The same thoughts run through two minds... (SotB 29) / You're my equal. My closest ally. (RR 1) / I can't stop thinking how much I rely on him. (GoG 3)

25 Feelings Dick Has About Tim

This was such a kind ask & a cool challenge which I totally failed; here are TWENTY-five panels of Dick's POV on Tim sdfdsfds Look, I got carried away! Marcia and Cindy! The boys!!

OKAY SO BEFORE I GET TO THE PANELS A FEW NOTES:

WARNING THAT THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVE EMOTIONS IN HERE because I love conflict but but but you gotta remember those are not the final word!! They are complicated people and sometimes they get mad at each other BUT ultimately their relationship is so hugely important in both their lives & they love each other and rely on each other so much -!!! <3

Also I have CONCLUDING THOUGHTS at the end about what Dick's POV leaves out (mostly: a lot of Dick defending & protecting & supporting Tim, which Dick does instinctively but isn't very self-aware about most of the time)

I have loosely organized my list into 5^5 format (5 categories with 5 examples each!), so if you want to skip to a relevant one, here are the categories!!

Below the cut:

I hate him and find him infuriating (#1-5)

On second thought, he's endearing & fun (#6-10)

Grief is complicated & he's all tangled up in mine (#11-15)

I love him & think highly of him (#16-20)

I rely on him & though it's hard for me, I trust him (#21-25)

I hate him and find him infuriating (#1 - 5)

1) He thinks he’s so smart and can psychoanalyze me and Bruce, but he doesn’t know me at all, he should get lost (New Titans 61)

2) He thinks he’s so smart and can psychoanalyze Bruce but he doesn’t know Bruce at all, he should get lost (Gotham Knights 26)

3) He is so nosy about stuff that is MY business (Robin 0)

4) He sounds like an insincere suck-up half the time... but okay, fine, if you push him he's got a sense of humor about it (New Titans 65)

5) I'm sure he's a better vigilante than me. It's my fault for being a failure, but I resent him anyway. (Nightwing 9 - Dick's having a nightmare)

On second thought, he's kinda endearing (#6-10)

6) He worries too much and gets anxious so easily, but it makes him fun to tease (Robin 67)

7) I'm not that competitive - okay, so maybe I'm a little competitive, I gotta make sure he doesn't get a swelled head (Prodigal)

8) I'm supposed to be his favorite! It is not cool for him to be fanboying over my not-girlfriend's not-boyfriend!! (Birds of Prey 19)

9) We have fun together. I can kick back and relax when it's just the two of us. Plus I get to boss him around a bit. (Prodigal)

10) He’s always trying to reassure me, and I guess it's a little comforting, but also he doesn’t really get it. Or me. He makes excuses that he shouldn't, because he doesn't understand that I suck. (Nightwing 64)

Grief is complicated and he's all tangled up in mine (#11 - 15)

11) He reminds me of everything I try not to think about. Sometimes the memories are so strong it hurts to look at him. (Batman 441)

12) WHY IS HE BEING IMPOSSIBLE ALL OF A SUDDEN??? THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING (Nightwing 139)

13) We're the same. He says all the things I don't let myself think about. It's like arguing with myself. (Nightwing 139)

14) He thinks he gets to tell me what to do but he doesn’t, fuck him (Battle for the Cowl)

15) Life sucks, so what. I sucked it up so he should too (RR 1)

I love him and think highly of him (#16 - 20)

16) He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ll ever have.  If someone hurts him I will hurt them harder. (Nightwing 6)

17) I can't handle the idea of losing him. (Nightwing 97)

17) He’s so good and I’m not. I'm afraid I’m bad for him. (Nightwing 110)

18) He’s better than me, and it’s kind of a relief because I know no matter what he’ll be okay. (Gates of Gotham 3)

19) In my head he’s the responsible one.  (Gotham Knights 10)

I rely on him, and though it's hard for me, I trust him (#20-25)

20) I know I have to trust him but I'm afraid he'll make the wrong choices and get hurt (Nightwing 139)

21) I'm sure I know what he should do because I see myself in him - not that I can take my own advice, but he should (Blackest Night 3)

22) I trust him.  When I’m losing my grip on things, he pulls me back. (Gotham Knights 10)

23) I want him to trust me (Red Robin 12)

24) He can tell when I'm lying. Sometimes he sees my weaknesses better than I wish he did. (Detective Comics 874)

25) He’s always there when I need him. (Teen Titans / Outsiders Secret Files)

Final rambling thoughts:

TIM: Uhh, okay, so I'm just skimming this list - do you really trust me? you're not just saying that? - but anyway, I'm confused because you left some stuff out? Like some stuff that's kinda important? DICK: No? I think I got everything? TIM (starts counting on his fingers): The time I was having a bad day but then I called you. The time I got captured by Two-Face but then you saved me. The time I fell off a train but then you saved me. The time I fell off a building but then you saved me. The time I fell off a different building - DICK: I feel like you're trying to make some kind of point but I'm not sure what it could be.

SO THE THING IS, I put 25 panels in here and not a single one has Dick catching Tim when he’s falling!!! But I think that's a central motif of their relationship from Tim’s POV, not Dick’s. I love Dick, but in some ways I think he is spectacularly un-self-aware.

And I think he especially has a lot of blind spots about Tim. He kinda intermittently gets that Tim admires him, and he enjoys it in a playful I-get-to-boss-you-around way. But Dick tends to consistently underestimate all of his own good qualities & skills, and he meets Tim at a point in his life when he's especially down on himself & his abilities. And so he's unable to see his own influence on Tim, & therefore unable to fully understand a lot of Tim's priorities and loyalties and motivations, because you can't actually understand Tim without understanding Dick's impact on him. There's a fascinating moment in Bruce Wayne: Murderer when Dick's completely blindsided & upset to discover that Tim doesn't entirely trust Bruce, even though this has been a definitive fact of Tim's whole thing ever since he showed up with his Batman needs Robin theory, and Barbara has to actively remind Dick of the obvious-to-everyone-except-Dick fact that a lot of Tim's loyalty is to Dick, and Tim loves Bruce but feels free to be more wary of him. (And to give Bruce credit: this is not something he ever begrudges.) But anyway Babs points this out, and Dick manages to sorta process it for about five seconds, but he cannot actually accept it into his worldview so instead he discards it at the speed of light and goes off and has an argument with Tim instead sdfsfdsf

All of Dick's virtues - Dick's kindness at the circus and Dick's determination to fight through grief and Dick's rigid sense of morals and Dick's vigilante skills and every time Dick has ever backed Tim up or listened to him or protected him or saved him from something or just been casually kind to a stranger in Tim's presence etc etc etc - all these things loom really large in Tim's mental story of Who Dick Is, and What Dick And Tim's Relationship Is. Tim meets Dick before he meets Bruce, trusts Dick more than Bruce, aspires to be Robin instead of Batman. And so in Tim's default version of the story, Dick is the super-special and admirable hero and Tim is... nobody in particular, a tagalong outsider who's barely managing to be a hero, not part of Dick and Bruce's family and not part of their story, who, if he's VERY LUCKY and tries REALLY HARD, might be able to fight his way to proving himself and offering something to Dick that Dick will value, if Dick doesn't get fed up with him first.

But that's not Dick's version of the story!!!

Dick's version of the story is almost the exact opposite, a story where Dick's an outcast failure black sheep who's screwing up everything he tries, and meanwhile Tim is The Sudden New Perfect Robin Who's Better Than Me And Probably Bruce Loves Him More And Probably They Gossip About What A Loser I Am, mixed with a complicated edge of Tim Thinks He's So Smart But He Doesn't Know Me/Us At All. Dick gets much more attached to Tim over time, and Tim gets unnervingly better at the know-it-all psychoanalysis so then Dick gets to have complicated feelings about him being right instead of just annoyance at him for being wrong, plus Dick's relationship with Bruce improves a lot, so Tim stops feeling so threatening. But Dick never fundamentally changes his basic theory of their relationship in which Tim is highly impressive and capable, and Dick is not so much.

And so asking Dick about Tim is kinda like if you asked George Bailey to tell you about Harry Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life; like, you'll be there for five hours while he tells you how great Harry is, and how accomplished Harry is, and how he doesn't really get how or why Harry does the things he does, and maybe George does feel a little resentful or jealous sometimes, but that pales in comparison to all his admiration and trust for Harry who he loves so much, who's better than him in so many ways, and he's not gonna openly gripe but secretly he can't help but feel sometimes like he's such a failure in comparison to Harry, a perfect person who emerged fully formed from Zeus's head with all the virtues and also all the accomplishments, etc. etc. etc. --

-- and he will not actually remember the part where he changed and saved Harry's whole entire life unless you literally send him to an alternate timeline in order to force him to remember it. <3

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Ok. I need to talk about S5E23: The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present because it's a) a damn good episode and b) so filled with Blanche/Dorothy (and a good pinch of Golden Wives too) I can feel my gay power level increase minute by minute every time I watch it. Under a cut because I (unsurprisingly) got verbose about it.

First of all: the whole thing with Blanche 'lending' one of her men to Dorothy for the wedding. The concept alone is just -- I've said before, several times, that the Girls treat their men as accessories, and this episode just spells it out.

Dorothy doesn't really want a date per se, she's mostly upset because of social expectations:

"I still don't have a date for Jenny's wedding. My own goddaughter, and I'm gonna show up alone."

She's worried because weddings are events where you typically bring a +1 along, especially if you're closely related (either as family or via friendship) to one of the spouses. She's worried about the social norm! This is a bit of a general thing in the series, especially for Dorothy, I think; there are several instances when she's upset at not having a date for a specific event, rather than not dating in general. Plus, she gets over it fairly quickly! Before Blanche agrees to lend her the judge, she tells Sophia that she's just going to go alone!

Speaking of Blanche, look at how she describes her men! Here's some quotes:

"You can borrow one of my extras. What kind of guy would you like?"

"Oh, Dorothy, come on. Borrow one of my men. One of my many, many, many, many, many, many men!"

"Oh, Dorothy, not Doug! I couldn't possibly. He's on my A-list."

"Oh, Dorothy, let me get you somebody hot off my A-list. Somebody tall, good-looking, goes with everything!"

"Don't you forget, you be careful. This man is on loan from the Blanche Devereaux collection."

I mean -- she might as well be talking about a purse or a pair of shoes! (As a side note: yes, all those lines begin with 'Oh, Dorothy'. I checked.)

Dorothy fully embraces this point of view, too:

"You always do this, Blanche. You always keep all the good guys for yourself and you give us the leftovers."

She complains about Blanche's lack of generosity -- and this might just be my personal opinion, but generosity is usually connected to material things. Once again: she might as well be getting upset because Blanche refuses to let her borrow a purse.

Rose is the only one who's somewhat concerned at not having Miles as a +1, but it seems to me that's essentially because of the 'getting hot at weddings' thing. When she introduces the problem, we get this dialogue between her and Dorothy:

"Miles can't take me to the wedding. He's going to be out of town at a teaching seminar. Now I can't go."

"That shouldn't keep you from going."

"Oh, I have my reasons."

And then she says:

"So now you see why I can't go if Miles is gonna be out of town. I might end up almost going to bed with the caterer again."

It seems to me she's not that upset because of Miles's absence; she would have gone anyway without a care in the world if the event wasn't a wedding. She doesn't necessarily treat Miles like an accessory, but she's not particularly saddened by his absence, either -- just worried about the effect weddings have on her.

And then, with all this established: the toilet scene. When the scene returns on Dorothy keeping Blanche trapped in the toilet, there's already a couple of guests looking at them and whispering among themselves (which isn't strange at all: they're making A Scene™ right there in the ladies' room!). The whole fight has such an incredible Married Couple Quarrel energy:

"Dorothy, let me out of here right now!"

"There's only one way out, Blanche, and I don't think you can hold your breath long enough."

"You're just making a mountain out of a molehill."

"Five years of molehills. They add up."

"I didn't know Doug meant this much to you."

"I'm not talking about Doug, this is about you."

Talking to the small group of guests that gathered at the scene, she then adds:

"She asked me for another chance, I gave it to her. I trusted her. Biggest mistake I ever made."

Tell me those lines aren't the most married thing you've ever heard. I'm almost tempted to make a poll and ask people what they think about this quote; I'm sure at least a good 85% would assume this is being said by someone to their lover (or ex-lover, at least!).

Then the bride (because let's remember, this is all happening at a wedding) appears and likens the situation between Dorothy and Blanche to what's happening between her and the groom -- so we have a clear line drawn between Blanche/Dorothy and a committed romantic relationship. She calls Dorothy 'Aunt Dorothy', as is expected since Dorothy is her godmother, but she also calls Blanche 'Aunt Blanche', because... I don't know, there's no heterosexual explanation for it. Note that this girl invited Dorothy and Sophia to her wedding (no wonder: her godmother and her godmother's mother; they must be close) but she also invited Blanche and Rose, whom she technically has no relation to -- we have to assume they were invited because of their relation to Dorothy (she's possibly close to them too, considering she calls Blanche her 'aunt', but that's still due to their relation to Dorothy, of course). I mean -- would you invite your godmother's roommates to your wedding, as a general rule?

And!! After all this, the whole talking/not talking thing! Dorothy tells Jen:

"Jen, honey, I think you should go and talk to Joey. The best thing to do in any relationship is talk."

She says this right after she found an excuse to speak to Blanche in private and trapped her into a toilet because she wanted to talk:

"Listen, Blanche, we have to talk."

"Not now, Dorothy."

"Suit yourself."

"Dorothy, will you let me out of here?"

"No way, Blanche."

Once they turn to helping Jen and Blanche finally escapes the toilet, Dorothy is understandably upset and refuses to talk to her, and this makes Blanche very upset in turn. I'll let the dialogue speak for me on this one because there's no way I can say it any better:

"Dorothy, I wish you'd talk to me."

"..."

"I really do, 'cause what I need is a good talking-to."

"..."

"I don't care what you say, just so long as you care enough to say it."

"You stink."

"God bless you, Dorothy."

Yeah. Married. Blanche is so relieved and reassured once Dorothy starts talking to her again that she follows the conversation for just a little while after that (just as long as they're talking about Rose) and then immediately zones out again, because she's back in her comfort zone. Dorothy's talking to her! Dorothy forgave her! Everything's fine -- back to your regularly scheduled Blanche Devereaux™ content. (Note that she also pointedly does not dance with Doug after he comes back, even though he's from her A-list. This episode should have ended with a Blanche/Dorothy dance, if only to spite Doug.)

Rose is mostly busy dealing with her own thing in this one, but you all know I love the Golden Wives, so let me point out a couple of things:

Blanche and Dorothy (especially Dorothy) really do take care of Rose at the wedding! ... well, at the beginning of the party, at least. But they do genuinely try to reassure her! It's sweet! "Rose, honey, take it easy. Breathe deeply. It'll be all right." "Don't worry, honey. Nothing to worry about. We're here to look out for you." [...] "We're gonna have to keep an eye on her." "Hmm." We see her flirt with a couple of men during the party, but she only ends up going away with Doug and only while Dorothy and Blanche are having their little moment in the ladies' room, so it seems like they did keep her out of trouble after all! Until they got tangled up in their own thing, that is.

Right after they get out of the ladies' room (i.e., right after Dorothy tells Blanche 'I have nothing to say to you") Dorothy immediately notices that Rose isn't around, and talks to Blanche about it, despite the fact that she's supposedly not talking to her at all.

Blanche manages to keep her attention up as long as she and Dorothy worry about Rose, then gets immediately distracted by a man in the band. This exchange specifically is really touching to me: "Oh, I hope she can forgive us." "She will. That's what she does best." Just -- the complete certainty... my heart...

Blanche is really aggressive to Doug when he comes back! She was using every trick in her book to get him to act as her date earlier on, but as soon as she gets the hint that he took advantage of Rose, she immediately enters Protective Wife Mode™.

This line by Dorothy: "He must really be something." "So is Rose." This line? Said with the most affectionate smile in the world? Yeah. Yeah.

So anyway. I just spent like an hour and a half writing all this down, I love this episode, I adore these ladies and I am going to scream, thank you, goodbye.

[lady-corrine]

You know, I always suspected that the tvd fandom wasn't the brightest in terms of media literacy, but seeing some specific shippers claim that Lisa portrayed the relationship between Damon and Elena in a positive light in her continuations is certainly... interesting? To say the least. Because:

He’s saying that right now Elena is up for grabs.

But at the mention of Elena, Damon felt at a flush of pure greed that started in his jaws and spread outward.

If I have to, I’ll Influence you to agree with me. I probably should have done that in the beginning. I seem to remember promising I wouldn’t, but I believe that promise also had a time limit that ran out.

Now to each their own, but 😬

[alchemiclee]

I hate that whenever there's a gay ship, people immediately het-ify it. people are so obsessed with making one the "man" and one the "woman" when that's completely unnecessary, because they are both the man or the woman. It's extremely annoying. these people will completely mischaracterize a character to fit into their stupid little het roles they force on them.

for example, you don't need to make one man the "wife" and feminized him to the extreme and fit him in a traditional "woman" role so the other man can be the big strong masculine manly man. they can both be masculine or both be feminine or both be both at the same time! they do NOT need to be gendered opposites to fit het roles. crazy, I know! it's like no one considers it a possibility! or sees how good it can be to have them be equals without gendered nonsense.

when there's a gay relationship, you have the perfect opportunity for the couple to stand on equal ground. they get to be equals who are just as strong and just as soft as each other. there's no faulty power dynamics where one is above the other (because let's face it, society unfortunately deems masculinity > femininity). one doesn't need to protect the other. they can protect themsleves, fight aide by side as equals. one doesn't do all the housework. they share that duty equally. one isn't weak and pretty, while they other strong and manly. they both are strong and pretty, or masculine and weak at the same time.

equal relationships are amazing and need to be explored more and appreciated. there can be more understanding and working together. i'm bad at explaining what I mean, but I prefer these equal relationships over forcing them into opposite roles to mirror het relationships, which are usually extremely unbalanced and unequal. especially because these not het relationships! so why must they look like one? they can and should look different! so why does literally every shipper and writer out there make them so het coded?

I don't understand why people do this. do they actually believe all romantic relationships must mimic het ones to exist and thrive and purposely force that on them? or have they genuinely just not fathamed that they can be different and dont need to follow the expected het standards?

I wonder, it feels like no one actually knows how non-het relationships are meant to be and how they could work, since het ones are always forced down our throats since birth. it becomes The Standard that everyone thinks they must follow. maybe it's all people know since they don't see any other possibilities. their preferred dynamics for their ships are what we are taught and nothing different, because they don't know it can be different. i also think people might be obsessed with that whole "opposites attract" trope. but that opposite doesn't have to be the traditional het-fueld feminine vs masculine or wife vs husband characteristics. it can be other personality things like one is loud and one is quiet, one is dumb and one is overly smart, one is rich and one poor, etc. it doesn't have to be masculine vs feminine!

BREAK OUT OF THE HET NORMS!!!!! TEAR DOWN HETERONORMATIVITY!!!!!!!!! FREE THE GAYS

(disclaimer, not saying masculine vs feminine ships are all bad/shouldn't be done ever. but it doesn't need to be 100% of the time either 😅 can't think of one ship people dont do this with lol)

[honestlyvan]

(Now on DW!)

One of the joys of a dormant fandom is that I can just show up and prop my feet on the table and start talking about divine horror and how sometimes a computer program is an angel and how humans are obsessed with taking the power of the heavens and putting it in a box for themselves to use.

Like.

God exists and she's a nice girl and she worked hard to be born, but she also has a temper and humans keep trying to put her in a box so she got fed up with it and hid from them. From her mother, she inherited eight powerful champions, and as a reward for their service she left them to roam as they pleased, but when humans couldn't trap her, they chose to trap those champions instead, and put them in a box, except now that box was a human, and that human was meant to take the power of the god that the humans couldn't steal, because humans made the divine realm that god and her angels inhabit and want to control it (as humans do).

And now you've got a bunch of humans who don't know they're being given a box with an angel in it and putting that box in their own bodies, and nobody can really figure out why these angel bodies keep going out of control and driving their hosts to madness, and oh, hey, the mother of god made these champions for a purpose and the humans in the driver seat don't know about that, either, even though the humans who gave them the angel bodies do know about that, because they want to use those angel bodies to make another god.

So congratulations! You're a prophet now! You are being called to do battle for your god, because you've been granted a divine body that has an angel in it, that is an angel. You're being called to do as your nature as an angel requires of you! And the entire time you're just a human, and the thing in your head feels too big for your mortal body, it feels too big for your divine body, and you're just watching things spiral out of control, wondering why you feel like you'd bleed mercury if they scratched you too deep.

[mymarifae]

good akian morning

[alienescence]

Recently discovered that there are people that ship dbhks ONLY within fanon, which is so wild to me because I personally think that so much of their appeal is within their canon!

[lillybearrie]

I saw someone compare the stoliz breakup to the ineffable divorce and no just-

Now on the surface yeah two people who've practically already been in a relationship have a fight resulting in them going their separate ways when one decides to tell the other they wanna be official due to severe miscommunication

But that's where the similarities stop

And don't get me wrong I love blitzø and stolas just it's not even the same ballpark

Crowley and Aziraphale are two beings that have known one another since before the dawn of time the have shielded one another from the first rains and the first meteor showers with their own wings. Neither fitting into the molds they were supposed to and spending thousands of years carving out a precious peaceful fragile existence for themselves together on earth. They are an angel and a demon who have made themselves equals when everything in their society tells them otherwise they lie to protect the other and they meet inconspicuously not for their own safety but for that of the other for should their respective sides find out the possibility of a fate worse than death is astronomical. They stopped the damn apocalypse because they wanted to continue living together undisturbed. They swapped bodies so that they were the ones feared in the face of death. So they could be left alone for a short while. They spend over 6000 years carefully crafting a language of silence that it is only when words are used that the can no longer understand. The spent so long looking between the lines that when there's nothing there they don't know how to look at what's right on the page anymore. It is only Crowley gives up and starts speaking their language of unsaid words saying "no Nightingales" instead of "so this is it then?" That Aziraphale finally understands but it's to late what's done is done and Aziraphale is nothing if not a stubborn basterd. So he leaves alone after begging for Crowley to come with him and not hearing Crowley's pleas for him to stay and neither is happy about it they both are ready to break completely.

The stoliz breakup is 2 demons of different classes getting into a fight because the noble decided that after 2 season maybe pinning after the guy who literally can't run his small business without you and what you give him is very illegal but he doesn't give a fuck as long as he can do his job isn't the most ethical idea so he instead decides to gift the lower class demon a legal way to carry out business in hopes of fixing the power imbalance so the other demon no longer needs him then gets upset when his chronically stupid 'needs a neon sign to understand jackshit' partner who can't take squat seriously because then it's to real doesn't understand his love confession right away and takes it unseriously. Stolas takes it as an immediate rejection because he loves blitzø but doesn't know the first thing about him past bedroom preferences and the same goes for Blitzø himself. They don't know how to communicate because they've never needed to understand what the other was saying their relationship was purely transactional previously and blitzø has spent the entire show believing he is just another imp providing stolas with a service in exchange of something like the rest of stolas's staff that he's confused when stolas reveals that's not the case. And stolas for his part is extremely sensitive to rejection given literally every aspect of his life and currently his only Frame of reference for romance is his abusive ex-wife and romance novels of course when blitzø didn't immediately reciprocate his sentiments he took it as rejection. He shuts down and attempts to remove himself aggravating blitzø because this is something entirely different from what he expected and the fucker who sprung this on him didn't even give him a second to think as his entire understanding of their relationship is being rewritten.

While both victims of severe miscommunication

Crowley and Aziraphale get mistaken for an old married couple so often that they no longer correct people while stolas and blitzø are seen as Stolas being in a phase

They are not the same

Thank you and goodnight

[taylorshope]

This is kinda weird since they spend all their time together fighting but I kinda love Charlie and Kate's dynamic

[spitblaze]

what if my Void and @doktorpeace's Erato had spiderverse counterparts....and they were both spidermen.......and they kissed.........