#for context - I was confused for a boy a total of two times in my life

[ask-artsy-oncie]

I'm just so sick - I'm fucking ill.

I just want someone to look at me and see a man. Please. Even if it only happens just one more time.

Is that really too much to ask for?

[yourplayersaidwhat]

Right plot twist, wrong sister

Context: I'm Dming my first ever campaign. In the very first town our group is in, the BBEG (a bard named Edin, who is evil just because she's bored) runs the local tavern, with her sister Ida (who does NOT know her sister's evil). 

Of course they entered the tavern. 

Me: You all enter the tavern. Looks like only some locals are inside. Two human women are behind the bar. Clearly related. 

*Party questions the two about local rumors and such*

Rogue: I want to insight check the two. 

Me: Go for it. One at a time though. 

Rogue: 14 for Ida, and 15 for Edin.

Me: *Rolls a random die for Ida, since she's being truthful and is pretty easy to read. Rolls a nat 19 for Edin.* 

Me: Both seem on the up and up. Everything they say seems to be truthful from what you can tell. Ida seems excited to see new people while Edin seems more guarded. 

Bard OoC: So Ida is pretty sus right?

Me: *Confusion*

Paladin OoC: Totally! She knows something. 

Rogue OoC: I can break into her room and snoop.

Me: *Rolls a die because there is no way Edin WOULDN'T pick up on an interaction like this, rolls really well.*

Wizard OoC: I think that's a good idea. 

Me: *Wondering how NONE of the party noticed me rolling dice, but rolling with it.* 

So they broke into Ida's room and really only found her diary where she detailed her fascination with dragons and her crush on the local farmer boy. They're completely convinced she's a bad guy now and it's killing me. 

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 8

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

I am back! I know it's been a few days, but this week has been the absolute pits at work. Semester start up, new students, ramp up in projects, and alarm testing; it has been A Lot.

I am back though! I'm not going to lie, I am kind of scared that this chapter is titled "death". I may not be emotionally prepared.

No cat pics this week, Charlie has decided to abandon me- but I did break out the pumpkin mug for some pumpkin tea :'3

Here we go!

I love how Shen Qingqiu seeing this fight and an out of place person is like "only one type of person is like this" and then just doesn't say anything about who/what they are. p143

Wait, why does he toss the cat in there LOL 144

I am actually so glad that Little Palace Mistress got slapped twice! no one knows who actually slapped her- I do wish it was Ning YinYing, but it doesn't say who? (Is this revealed later? or just like left to the imagination?) pp144-145

oh shit! Another sower?!?!? p146

I feel like anytime this guy (shen qingqiu) tries to save himself Without a Cure really just ends up doing him dirty. p147

omg not his right hand again (re: touched by the sower) p148

and now he's (SQQ) being blamed again for yes another death he did not do (Re: toxic demonic poison and the disciple in the water prison). p149

oh no. did Luo Binghe kill Gongyi Xiao too??? I actually liked him (him being Gongyi Xiao) :( p150

oof. again I am so mad that these sects are quick to persecute SQQ without literally any proof. I am once again having flashbacks to MDZS. p152

Oh bless Liu Qingge to the rescue (reluctantly lol) p152

and shit, we have Luo Binghe here to snatch his man once again p153

Does Luo Binghe not know Gonyi Xiao is dead? I totally thought Luo BInghe killed him? I am confused- maybe this is revealed later? p153

why do I feel like there is another plot happening Like I get this vibe that Luo BInghe did not actually kill all those people in the Water Prison or those 100 disciples. we'll see I guess? p154

and Luo BInghe is letting him go??? p154

oh gosh! Luo Binghe pulled his sword?!?!? everyone knows about the demon things now. p156

okay now they are going to attempt to "resolve" things. I'm so nervous - these two better talk. It feels like they're always having two different conversations p157

I mean I get it Luo Binghe, If that was my life I too would say "fuck fate" p157-158

wait

oh no

oh no oh no

self detonation??? My heart :'0

why am I crying right now omg

"for all that has passed, I repay you today" p159

what the fuck :'((((((((

omg the amount of pain that just happened

this boy is fully breaking down and then Ning YingYing stands in to speak up

she really has grown on me as a character. Her evolution in this is so good. Good for her for standing up to literally everyone and talking some sense. pp162-163

oh gosh, it gets worse. And then here is Luo Binghe hearing from his old sect siblings about how distraught and lost SQQ was when they all thought Luo BInghe was dead. p163

Sweet baby boy Luo BInghe, just having an entire breakdown pp164-165

Well fuck.

Fucking hell, is this fool really dead?? Where was the system in all of this- we didn't even hear from it. No rescue or usage of points :(((((

I need it to be tomorrow so I can see what happens next.

[layraket]

there was an update you know the drill. time to go nuts with each pannel.

I LOVE HOW IN THE FIRST PAGE WE DIRECTLY GET HIT WITH SO MANY EMOTIONS FROM EVERY ONE OF THE BOYS.

Wild with the realisation that he didnt finish this all, not yet. Theres still danger, the same thing that almost killed his brother is still breathing and can if it wants to do the same with the rest of his newfound family

Twilight i feel like is almost the same as Wild, but for other reasons. The Shadow almost took his life, and after he thought that it was finally dead, boom. That thing is still out there and maybe is gonna be around for some more time.

He wants to believe that theres something else also opening the gates, that the Shadow is really dead and it's just another weird monster who opened the one that Sky saw

Hyrule confirms it, and reminds Twi that no, the damn thing is still out there and will go in a hunting game with each one of them.

Wild realised his mistake, he didn't kill it, he destroyed it's defenses. What if he stayed and searched for every piece of the Shadow and destroy it? They will be having this same conversation? He hopes to at least for it to happend in another time

Wind got a point here, if youre not sure of all it's tricks it looked like it was finally dead. Wild and any of them would have never guessed if it was the end or not. Not even Time

side note but

Wild looks so sad here, no not sad. Guilty is the word. He feels like he failed, again. If he thought more what to do maybe his brothers will not be in danger

OKAY I WANT TO STOP IN HERE FOR JUST A SEC.

I know it is maybe something without importance, but the fact that Four is the one who we are focused, how he looks like he's carefull listening Wild's words of auto-inflicted guilt. He looks like hes thinking the statement carefully, Wild didn't failed shit, it wasnt his faoult that they were trapped in this whole mess across time, and Four knows it.

We are stopping being serious for a moment just to admire this. theyre confused. thinking. out of context even. idk. i love this specific pannel. theyre such a mood.

we need to stop a second more because goddamn it this pannel slaps

The representation of Time being surronded by the choice of help his descendant or kill the thing that hurted him in the first place, he's just a man who got throught a lot, and even after all thta he's still trapped in this choosing what to do (both options will have consquences) thing

and here we got more of Wars being the traditional paramedic of the group! I remember a person saying that yeah Hyrule can heal people with magic, but Warriors participated in a war, so he knows basic treathening and i think thats so perfect and true for his character

theyre still processing the fact that Twilight and Wolfie are the same, it haven't been discussed properly since Twi woke up, and i think it will be in a future when everyone is more settled down

this man doesn't regret the danger he put himself under, he knows it was for the safety of his brothers and to stop this madness

also he was tired of it running like a total coward from them, if it was going to kill them at least it shouldn't run from what it started!

oh no. he caught you Twi. now you will suffer the consequences of putting yourself in danger so many times with them not knowing

oh four. You really know what youre saying

youre the one who know the most that theyre doing better than it could

if this means that theyre finally using all their items im so in for the whole chaos that it would bring in the fights

Legend has a shit ton of items and weapons, mostly inclined to magic, i need to see that.

i remembered something

Jojo said that Hyrule will have more importance in the future, if this means something... Oh shit

im not highing up my expectations, but i know that we will see his enemies sooner than we expect

and that will not end up well for the ones who don't know how to manage them

this background, no words. 10/10.

These two pannels killed me

Time is directly watching his descendant, and Twilight knows well why. He doesn't blames him, he knows that he scared them all to death. He doesn't want to go throught that with one of them too

this confirms that Sky can sense what makes Fi react, he can feel when she's upset with something, maybe he felt the anger when Twi got hurt, her fury whne she couldn't defend him. That's her duty right? Protect and serve her masters

sky i love you this was so unserious and out of place such a perfect ending of update

NOW THE THING THAT EVERYONE WAS WAITING

WARRIORS GOT HIS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SCARF BACK!!!!1!!!

(art credits goes to @linkeduniverse ! )

[voxofthevoid]

Commencing Mundane Unclekuna Wednesday #1—yes, these names get more ridiculous by the day. The actual fic title is bloodstains on the collar means just don't ask, which is significantly cooler on account of not being mine.

This is my first non-canon JJK AU—as opposed to the canon divergence, minor or major, that I favor—and despite the name, this isn't just sukuita; there's also goyuu. Quick, act shocked.

A lot of the AU development/exposition so far has focused on adapting canon details about the Itadori family for a no-powers, all-human context—like this post shows. On the character end, sorting out a version of Sukuna who's not a cannibalistic mass murderer but is sure as hell not nice, kind, or even sane has been a fun challenge, especially when depicting him from Yuuji's perspective. Gojou and the goyuu bits also needed some work, since taking them out of the canon context while keeping their age gap and teacher–student dynamic changes the flavor of fuckery. The most fun has been Yuuji though—you can see why here.

The fic is currently 3 chapters and 14k. I have a total of 7 chapters planned, though that may increase by one or two depending on how the sex scenes come along. For this week, instead of a single scene, I've picked a goyuu section from Chapter 2 and a sukuita one from Chapter 3.

Goyuu

Satoru plucks the manga that’s been resting on the table, balancing it on a finger while watching Itadori struggle to watch Satoru’s hand, chest, and face all at the same time. “School’s a boring place to wait. You can meet up at some café, can’t you?”

“I…guess?” Itadori shrugs. “It’s fine. I mean, I don’t mind. It’s more fun to go with people.”

“Shy?” Satoru asks, setting the manga down. “Or are you afraid people will think you’re some delinquent?”

Itadori looks both bewildered and entrained. He has a very expressive face. The eyes, especially.

“Nothing like that, sensei,” he says, and Satoru leans in a little at his tone—the same amused patience Satoru’s heard in people who can tolerate him best, except they generally take months, if not years, to get to that level of resigned acceptance. Itadori leans in too, matching Satoru consciously or unconsciously. “You ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m a curious guy,” Satoru drawls. It’s not even a lie. “And you’re interesting.”

Itadori blushes again. “Oh. Um, thanks?”

Satoru smiles. This time, Itadori’s eyes drop to his mouth, and Satoru can’t help smiling a little wider.

Itadori swallows.

“Back to the question then.” Satoru links his hands and props his chin on it. Itadori’s gaze doesn’t leave his mouth. “Why’d your uncle come pick you up?”

Itadori’s well within his rights to tell Satoru to fuck off—diplomatically, maybe, since they’re teacher and student, but the sentiment would be the same. Even Satoru’s closest friends aren’t shy about firmly and often physically steering his nose out of their business.

But Itadori answers: “My parents left town pretty suddenly, and I’d forgotten my phone at home. They couldn’t tell me to go to Sukuna’s place instead. So he came here.”

Satoru hums. “I’d say you’re old enough to stay home alone. Don’t tell me you’re the sort to cause trouble with a bit of freedom.”

“No?” Itadori looks genuinely confused. “I mean, I don’t think so. I don’t mind staying alone either, but my dad worries, so…”

“So you’re being a considerate son,” Satoru finishes in his own words. “What a good boy.”

Itadori’s breath catches audibly. His eyes are darker now, giving an animal edge to his face. It’s an interesting expression, and it makes him look a bit more like his uncle.

Satoru gives him a moment.

Then— “He seems like an interesting man to live with, your uncle.”

Itadori blinks. A frown takes over his face, even though his eyes stay tellingly dark. “You could say that. Gojou-sensei, you aren’t…?”

Satoru waits, but Itadori doesn’t complete the question, just stares at Satoru like he’s trying to telepathically pour the rest of the words into his head. Unfortunately, Satoru isn’t fluent in awkward teenager.

“Go on,” Satoru prods.

Itadori grimaces, and it shows in his voice when he asks, “You’re not, like, into Sukuna, are you?”

Satoru’s dumbfounded for a moment. Then he’s stifling laughter, not all that successfully. Itadori’s expression shifts from disgusted discomfort to just plain embarrassment, but even through that, he stares at Satoru—his mouth and his eyes.

Brave boy.

“Sorry,” Satoru says, not meaning it one whit. He’s loving this. “Reasonable assumption on your part, really. But don’t worry, your uncle’s safe from me.”

Itadori seems to relax a little. “It’s more the other way around.”

“Oh?” Satoru asks, intrigued. “Is he trouble?”

Itadori squints at him. “Sensei, you sound way too excited about that.”

“I did say I’m curious! I can promise not to hit on him, if that’ll put you at ease.” Satoru holds out his hand invitingly. “Gentleman’s agreement.”

Itadori stares at the hand for a full second.

Then he slowly, warily takes it.

It’s not a small hand; Itadori’s not a small boy. Satoru is bigger though, and his hand envelops Itadori’s, the tips of his index and middle fingers coming to a gentle rest against Itadori’s pulse. His hand is shockingly rough, with hard calluses brushing Satoru’s skin.

He squeezes gently.

Itadori’s blush hasn’t faded fully since Satoru called him a good boy, but now, it flares, splattering gracelessly across his face. It goes shockingly well with his hair.

Lines are being crossed. Satoru feels it keenly, the change in the air.

He drags his hand out of Itadori’s, slower and more delicate than he needs to. His fingers trail from Itadori’s racing pulse to the trembling tips of his fingers, and even after Satoru’s leaned back again, folding his hands demurely in his lap, Itadori’s hand hovers in the air over the table for a good few seconds before dropping limply to the surface.

Satoru winks at him. “Now spill.”

Itadori blinks slowly. Satoru can practically see his brain rebooting.

“What was the question again?” Itadori asks.

Sukuita

Movement wakes him, eons before the touch.

A hand settles on his hip, searing even through the cloth. It’s limp, flopping there in a decent mimicry of a sleep-heavy limb. Sukuna knows better.

Wasn’t always like this. The kid was a kid once. More of a kid. Small, helpless, useless. A piece of shit from the start though. The first time Jin handed him to Sukuna, practically forcing his little bundle of snotty joy into his hands, the little fucker had thrown up on his face.

Jin laughed, the bastard. He didn’t mean to, that much was clear from the stifled snorts and painfully red face. Kenjaku had no such compunctions, chortling like the same brat hadn’t damn near killed them on his way out of their cunt.

Kaori had the sense to take the baby away before Sukuna could toss him out a window. The most sensible of the lot, and of course she’s the one who went and died. Sukuna’s been seeing a lot more of the kid since then. Even more since Wasuke followed suit.

Shit luck to be born into a family like this. He used to think the brat didn’t fit in, with his big baby eyes and bleeding heart. Worse than his father. Turns out he’s weirder too, but Sukuna blames Kenjaku for that.

Blood will always out.

That’s no excuse for this—the hand sliding down to his stomach, the body pressing against his back. The kid’s warm.

He’s not, usually. That body runs cold. Sukuna noticed it the first time when the kid was tiny, barely the length of his forearm. A frail mass of fabric and fluff nestled against his chest, leeching off his body heat. Not that it took much to warm that tiny thing.

’Course, then the kid woke up and promptly latched on to a nipple because he was even dumber then, and when Sukuna pried him off while yelling for Kenjaku, he’d been treated to a deranged shriek that damn near ruptured his ear drums.

Nothing much has changed over the years. The brat went from screaming at him to biting him to scowling at him to punching him to trying to fucking kill him. Wildcat, through and through. The only part of him Sukuna’s ever bothered to nurture.

It’s different when he’s asleep. The baby soaking in his warmth. The toddler sprawled on his chest. The boy curled up in his lap.

Small and weak and utterly unbothered about it.

How the fuck do you live like that, trust like that?

At least this is better. It’s not trust breathing into his nape and groping his stomach. It’s just human filth.

They’re testing touches, slow enough and idle enough that the brat probably thinks they’d pass as sleepy ministrations.

Idiot.

Nobody would miss the intent behind this. It’s scorching.

If someone held him at gunpoint and forced him to admit the one thing he has in common with his brother’s spawn, it wouldn’t be the hair or the blood or the killing rage—it’d be this, the hunger.

Sukuna can tell the exact moment the brat decides he’s actually asleep. His palm presses flat against Sukuna’s stomach, skin to skin. That’s on him for sleeping shirtless despite his impromptu bedmate, but like hell is he changing his habits just because this little creep wants to molest him in his sleep. Not like clothes would stop him anyway.

Sukuna continues to feign sleep, his breathing steady and just a little uneven—a rhythm he memorized and learned to mimic for situations a lot more dire than the badly planned porno playing out right now.

The kid’s patient. Or just a fucking virgin. Sukuna can’t imagine why else he’d spent minutes just touching his stomach, that warm palm rubbing lazy circles over his abs. Sometimes, it presses down, denting the soft layer of fat on his belly to dig into the muscle underneath. It’s a struggle not to flex then. A few muscles jump, entirely involuntary, but the brat just breathes heavier and wetter, squirming closer to Sukuna.

There’s another hand between their bodies—an entire arm, the line of it doing nothing to hide what it’s touching. It’s not moving, yet, and Sukuna still hasn’t figured out whether it’s there just for the pressure or if the stupid shit actually thinks that not digging his boner into Sukuna’s back means something.

Some line to not cross. Some precious moral to cling to.

Sukuna wouldn’t put it past him, but the brazen bullshit the other day told a different story. It sure wasn’t guilt or even shame that darkened the brat’s eyes when Sukuna tore him off his back and pinned him by the throat.

[mazzystar24]

I think we'll get a will mention but Chris will still go with the Diaz parents in the end. But only temporarily. Like they'll want to take Chris with them, saying something about how they're next in line or best suited to have him or some kind of comment that makes Eddie go "well actually, no. It's in my will that Buck gets Christopher." But Buck will give Chris the choice of what he wants to do/where he wants to go.

And I think Chris knows that if he goes with Buck, there's too much of a chance of seeing/hearing about his dad or Buck trying to make peace quicker than either of them needs, and I think Chris needs to be away from his dad (the Kim thing + general teenagerness) so he goes with his grandparents, temporarily.

And Buck is there to tell Eddie he's not a bad father, he's not a bad person, he's clearly still dealing with trauma and grief and needs to focus on himself and put himself first right now. So we end season 7 with Eddie (somewhat) isolated, working through all this, figuring some things out, and Season 8 we get fresh start Eddie 2.0

I actually think that the Diaz parents WONT be complete assholes about it but I think they’ll like be a bit confused and like pushy with why Buck is involved like they’ll be very much like this is a serious private matter why is the white boy here again? AND THEN WILL MENTION - also adding this in after I wrote the second paragraph of this so this might be out of context but that’s another way they can show their growth like sorta respond to bucks place in the Diaz family in a way that contrasts their relationship with Shannon

Like something about these two pics make me think that they’ll be really leaning into their redemption arcs and just have them be supportive and reassuring- which if they do sorta show them earning their redemption arc more I’d actually be all for, unlike the Buckley parents who they just SAY they’re redeemed while never showing us their behaviour changing

Like the second pic very much gives the same energy ramon and Eddie’s reconciliation had and maybe actually that’ll come up and ramon says something about how Eddie needs to take some time not just for Chris but for himself, to see who he is outside of being a father, maybe even talk about his own faults as a father and how Eddie’s never not had to be in dad mode cos of him

Plus I feel like the Diaz parents having more conflict with Eddie would just give too much to unpack by the time s8 comes around if that makes sense

Also totally agree they should give SOME justification for why Chris wouldn’t stay with buck instead

And totally agree with the whole last part of your ask and fingers crossed that’s what happens🤞🤞🤞

[alex51324]

Dear it/its users

OK, so this is a speech I've been working on ever since my sister told me that my two nonbinary niblings had added it/its to their list of pronouns. So far, they haven't indicated that those are their first-choice pronouns, so we've kind of been skirting the issue, but I've been getting this ready, because I love them and want to try to help them avoid long-term unintended consequences as they enter the adult world. Now I'm sharing it with you, because doing so is as nice as I know how to be.

First: If I, as a queer elder and active Tumblr user, have the initial reaction of, "Fuck, these little shits are going to get somebody fired with their 5-edgy-4-U bullshit," that is super-important context for you to know in considering taking this choice out into the larger world.

Now, I have made the effort of educating myself, and I understand that many people who make this choice have substantive reasons that go beyond edgy teen bullshit. However, you have to allow for the fact that the majority of people will not move past their first impression regarding this choice.

Being gender-nonconforming is already a strike against you in a lot of contexts--even in reasonably liberal settings, unconscious bias is a thing. Is being it/its important enough to you to add another strike against yourself?

Second: People are going to be uncomfortable calling you "it," even if you've thoroughly explained why you want them to.

This is different from people not wanting to call you by your chosen name, or wanting to call your by the pronouns for your gender assigned at birth, because these people will be coming from a place of wanting to respect you.

Yes, you can argue with them that calling you as you want to be called is the most respectful option, but they will still be uncomfortable. You can't reason them out of feeling uncomfortable, because they didn't reason themselves into it. It's a feeling. They may get over it in time.

But.

If those people do not already have some prexisting love, loyalty, or commitment toward you, that motivates them to sit with that discomfort and work through it, the easiest way out will be to simply decide that--for some totally unrelated reason, that their conscious mind will be fully convinced is true--you and they just didn't click! You don't seem like a good fit for the job, team, walking tour of the Lake District, whatever it is.

Because people don't like being uncomfortable, and if mentioning your existence puts them in an ethical dilemma, a lot of them will just nope right out of it.

And again, these will be people who are motivated in part by their desire to respect you and your autonomy. They will feel, consciously or not, that you have put them in a shitty position where no matter what they say, they'll feel like they're doing something wrong--

And they, dear nibling, will feel that way because you have. You didn't intend to, but you did.

I love you, and if that is your choice I will get used to it, but I am writing this in the second person for a reason.

Story time: I was trans/nonbinary in nine-teen-fucking-ninety-six. The LGB* organization on my college campus didn't know what the fuck to do with me. When I said in "let's go around the room and introduce yourself" time on the first day of class, that despite what the roster said, I was actually a boy called Alex, people got nervous and looked away, and kind of avoided talking about me for the rest of the semester.

(*By the time I left, it was the LGBT organization.)

And then when I was ready to go to grad school, I had professors tell me that they weren't sure how to write me a letter of recommendation, because they knew I didn't want to be called "she," but if they put "he," the recipient might be confused, and if they put "they" they'd look bad because we were in the English department and "they" is plural.

When I got to grad school, I kept "Alex," but skipped saying anything about my gender identity. It didn't help all that much. I got along well enough with my classmates, but all of the professors seemed to be waiting for me to cause trouble, and as a teaching assistant my student evaluation comments made frequent reference to my gender presentation and how they found my name "confusing." (Another grad student, whose name was James or something like that, went by Kip, and nobody gave him shit about it.) I got an anonymous rape threat in my campus email about my "indoctrinating students with my radical agenda," and the campus cop who responded to the complaint said maybe I should, "Tone it down a bit." (Tone what down? I was dressing and acting pretty much the same as the male half of my class cohort.) I ended up dropping out after the Masters, even though the plan all along had been to do the PhD and have an academic career.

Throughout all this, I was a bit more oblivious than I should have been about the underlying pattern behind all this--blame the autism, I guess.

I don't know, if I'd realized it all, whether i would have made different choices regarding my identity and presentation--since my choices were pretty much limited to "present as my gender assigned at birth, or suffer the consequences."

You, today, nibling, in 2024, have the option of being a "they/them," and if you choose your company right, it won't be a big deal--it'll close some doors, but mainly ones you don't want to go through anyway.

Or you can be an it/its, and watch doors slam in your face.

I will love you and support you either way, dear nibling, but I can't make the world love you.

I--we, my generation--changed the world enough that there's a space in it for people like us. I hope you make that space bigger, better, and brighter, but it hurts to think about you dragging yourself through the same shit we went through. We built a path behind us, so you wouldn't have to.

(P.S., For the love of god, please don't get a nonbinary gender marker on your driver's license; the last thing we need is you getting shot at a routine traffic stop.)

[chirpsythismorning]

Lets talk about Appendix #7

I won't be the first (nor the last) to admit that I’ve only ever paid super close attention to the Russia scenes during my major s4 rewatches (like 4x total). Those just don’t tend to be the scenes I rewatch looking for Easter eggs as regularly as I do with others. Though, I can say confidently now that this will not be the case anymore.

As I’ve said recently, the scenes that come off as unnecessary filler, are likely the ones hiding something deeper underneath the surface. Otherwise, why put any time into scenes that have no importance, beyond just to fill the running time? Especially in s4 when the episodes were really long and they could have easily cut out scenes if they weren't that important to the overall plot.

The reason they do this is because they can rest comfortably knowing that a vast majority of the audience will overlook these scenes, even call them pointless and boring (and they can laugh knowing they couldn't be more wrong). A vast majority of fans felt that way about the Russia plot, but even the Cali plot had a decent amount of viewers saying they were worthless all season with no importance to the overall story. And we all know that wasn’t actually the case. And so why would that be any different for the Russia plot?

And this scene right here, which I completely forgot existed (so pardon me if someone has talked about this before, because I've never seen any discourse on it), I only just remembered existed because of the Piggyback script dropping for the Emmy's.

I just want to preface that I'm being so so serious right now when I say this scene is very incriminating for Mike. Even down to the way it ends. It’s bad.

And by bad I mean holy shit they are sick for potentially hiding the truth in plain sight.

For context, in this scene, Yuri represents Mike & let’s say Dmitri represents the skeptical majority, who have been confused by Mike’s behavior for the last two seasons.

A lot to unpack here.

But first I want to give a disclaimer that Yuri is not literally Mike, nor are ALL of Yuri’s scenes meant to be about Mike.

It just so happens that Mike has a unique trend of his POV being missing from the overarching narrative. And how they play with that sometimes, is by strategically displaying his POV through other characters.

You might think I'm crazy, but this has happened quite a bit. The most well recognized example of this would be with Hopper at the end of s3 with the letter.

A less well known example would be with Argyle in s4. Again not all the time, but there are a couple specific moments that come to mind, where it feels like they are hinting at Mike’s inner feelings, by having Argyle display things Mike cannot express to the audience yet.

I always thought it was weird they decided to put Mike and Argyle in almost identical hats in the airport scene. Though, it makes a lot more sense when you see Argyle call him a shitty knock off, only to watch the whole group walking through the airport, with Mike to the left of El and Argyle to the left of Will.

Mike may be standing beside El with them looking like a happy couple, but he’s actually distracted and hyperfocused on Will. And so how they reference that, is by placing Argyle standing close beside Will, sort of mirroring the blocking of Mike and El. In Argyle’s case, he is not putting on a fake smile, instead he looks almost emotionless about what's unfolding. The blocking there definitely feels intentional, as it could be the writers way of showing us where Mike's head is truly at, aka focused on Will.

The other major example I can think of (there's not too many from what I've seen, but these two definitely stand out) is at the end of s4 when the boys arrive at Nina to rescue El. We've talked about how the explosion behind Mike as he was looking between El and Will, is representative of the extreme mix of emotions he is feeling at that moment. But no one has ever talked about Argyle's reaction in that scene. Knowing what the explosion represents, I think we should consider what Argyle’s reaction to the explosion itself might represent as well.

First, Argyle interferes with the Milkvan reunion, standing in the frame behind Mike, with his hands on his head looking at the fire blazing with stress.

But it gets even more dramatic than that, when El and Will are hugging, that's when Argyle really starts freaking out, OH SHIT AW SHIT, pacing back and forth.

By doing stuff like this, they can hide hidden meanings. It also just makes it a whole lot easier to come up with ideas for scenes. Because when they have a big component that is underneath the surface, they can build anything around that, as opposed to coming up with a bunch of ideas fresh on the spot, without any reason for it.

Which is why, tbh whenever I hear someone say it's not that deep, when referring to basic filming techniques of playing with POV, I'm just sitting there thinking, do these people not know how much easier it is for artists, when it is that deep? It’s sooo much easier (and gratifying).

But back to this scene with Yuri and Dmitri.

Yuri seems to be doing a lot also while doing very little reminds me a lot of Mike's method of boyfriendism at the start of 4x02. He brings El flowers, he's got a whole inspired Cali fit, he's feening happiness the whole time, holding her hand and skating together. He's basically giving off this vibe that he's going above and beyond, when really, we know that despite all those little things, he's not doing the one thing El wants him to do, which is to say I love you.

This scene in the piggyback script initially stood out to me because of the word stalling. And this is because whenever I talk about Mike’s behavior in s3, but especially in s4, with him repeatedly putting off saying I love you to El numerous timed, I often use the word stalling to describe it.

In his letters, he avoids it. In the flowers, he avoids it on the note. When she confronts him during their fight, he deflects, and makes a point to struggle using the word care instead. Even when she's literally crying he still can't muster it. When she's getting taken by the cops, he still doesn't think to say it, even now when things are so bad and it might have given her at least some comfort. When they're separated Mike, gets reassurance from Will that he can just say it to her when they reunite, though Mike doesn't look too excited about saying it. Then not even a day later (during the Letter to Willy scene), Mike tells Will he didn't know what to say to El, even though we all know it only would have only required those 3 famous words... And then him and El are reuniting and he still doesn't say it. And then they're in surfer boy and they get interrupted, but tbh the lead up to it felt super disingenuous anyways, with him looking like he was about to say something out of obligation and not because he wanted to say it. And then the literal moment that she is choking, he stalls, until Will encourages him, and then even still then, they make a point to put dramatic beat right before, and only THEN is that when Mike finally says it.! (And all of that isn’t even including the stalling he does in s3).

Basically, Mike is the king of stalling, but especially in s4 and the Piggyback specifically, bc stalling is what has led to this grand moment of Mike quite literally having no option to stall anymore.

And so stalling being used in this conversation with Yuri and Dmitri instantly peaked my interest. I barely remembered the scene from the show and yet the instant I did, I just knew what was about to go down was something related to Mike, that we wouldn't otherwise get insight on bc we don't have his POV right now.

In contrast to the episode, the script has Yuri admitting to stalling. He doesn't seem to have remorse about it at first, he actually seems kind of like he's willing to admit it because it's the truth. Then we get a Ronald Reagan mention from Yuri, followed by him spitting with disgust, which was not included in the final cut... still sort of an off moment, considering the very few Reagan mentions we've gotten in the series, it's been through the presidential campaign sign in front of the Wheeler's house in s2 most.

But now, this is where it starts to get a little scary in terms of what Mike could be thinking. I don't know how I feel about it because it's a scary concept.

You saw it with your own eyes. You know it to be true. And yet you continue to play tricks.

This could mean one of two things, or maybe even a mix of both...

It could mean that Mike knows El doesn't need him despite her begging for him to say the words I love you (he saw it with his own eyes?), but he isn't willing to accept it. He knows his feelings deep down will never change (he doesn’t love El), making his and El's separation inevitable (also reminds me of the suicide mission comment from Yuri...). He is fixated on this idea of her needing him and if not, losing her all together, instead of what El was actually upset about, which was not being loved.

Or it could (also) mean Mike understood Will in the van. He saw it with his own eyes aka the painting, he knew it was apparently for a girl Will liked, but it ended up actually being for him. And he seemed very happy about this as a revelation, up until Will mentioned it was actually from El. Not only that, but what followed was Will monologuing about feelings that matched closer to what Mike and Will had went through over the past year, not him and El. And so Mike realizes in this moment that Will does return his feelings for him, but he isn't willing to confront it aka he chooses to play tricks instead. He saw Will crying, yet he didn't confront it nor comfort him, and I think it’s at the very least bc Will crying that hard would have definitely caused Mike to start crying himself.

I also want to add that I think supports this sort of unraveling of Mike having different assumptions about the painting at different times. Because it appears in the hospital scene with Max, based on the blocking of Will, Mike, and El according to the painting on the wall in the background, that before this moment, he may very well have assumed the painting was from Will. But upon finding out El saving Max was a miracle, the painting shifts and is suddenly behind El.

I think that’s the main issue with deciding definitely one way or another how Mike interprets what’s going down. Because arguably, his feelings about the situation could actually be evolving based on the events around him unfolding.

Now let’s move on to the Peanut Butter Smuggler line. They use this to sort of make a reference to a past version of Yuri who was revered, and irrefutably considered a hero by many’ aka the mainstream ‘I miss s1-2 Mike Wheeler’ core.

And last but definitely, almost certainly not least, they show us Yuri reaching in his coat's inner chest pocket, to pull out the reason for the issue that was causing the stalling…

And that in the context of lettergate and even pocketgate, is pretty insane.

I also noticed a lot of scenes end with 'as...' in the scripts, as it's sort of their way to emulate the smooth transitions between scenes in words. While the scene directly after this is of Max and Lucas, the scene directly after that is Mike and El in Surfer Boy, right before they eat the pineapple pizza.

'Uncertain as...' Uncertain as who?!?!?! Max uncertain about the plan she herself insisted they do? Perhaps. Or what about Mike who is very much uncertain in all of his stalling glory, not even two scenes later, after they literally just acknowledged Yuri's stalling…

A lot of the pieces are there for this to play out, so I don't really think it's a reach anymore when you really start to add it all up.

Letter to Willy is a major proof that this is important. Although Mike ‘We’ve had it this whole time’ Wheeler was referring to a pen in that moment, the pen also came from secret hero agent man’s pocket, with the number (answer) being hidden inside, and with Mike’s shirt being off in that scene, though still in the frame in the right corner.

And then there’s the whole transition from Mike in Hawkins to the mailmain in Lenora in 4x01, DONT you worry Mrs Byers, it’s coming!!

If you want to know what I think personally. I don't know....

I do feel like what would make it super easy for everyone to figure out what's going on with Mike, is for us to finally read a letter from him, and with it ending with love Mike... Like it would just be that easy. Literally all of the contents could even be written off as a friend missing his friend platonically and really struggling bc he can't reach him, with him opening up about things that we already suspected, but that he hasn't said out loud. And then by simply ending it with love Mike, the case would be closed.

It would also perhaps explain Mike's inablity to write love to El in their letters. You’d think there had to have been something that made him overthink not doing that in the first place? And arguably, him having done it for Will when he tried to write a letter(s) to him, only to end it with love, followed by panicking and making the choice to never write Will a letter and instead focus on sending them to El (bc she’s his gf) it sort of starts to add up.

I also think I have a theory for when this letter will come into play in s5.

In the flashback of Suzie getting her computer taken by her dad, the last shot is of her night stand, which has a letter from Dustin, with a watch laying on top of it, also accompanied by an alarm clock that reads 5:02… I think it’s possible we could get lettergate being addressed as early as the second episode of s5. And with all the time/clock imagery surrounding it, there’s a good chance the cliffhanger of that episode could send us straight to the time jump…

Just a theory for now based on a lot of piling evidence. But it’s all very incriminating for Mike…

[aranarumei]

how much does sasaki talk about hirano?

hey everyone. I’m coming to you live with an INVESTIGATIVE REPORT about the one and only sasaki shuumei. the question above pretty much summarizes what I'm trying to find out. so I’ll expand on this under the cut. apologies in advance for any typos

—

there’s a scene that’s always made me confused ever since I first read it (which wow. I’ve been reading this manga as it updates since partly through volume 3… crazy how far its come!) and that is this sequence of two pages in the extras of Vol 7 (39.5), below:

hirano’s like “well, it’s fine to talk about me to miyano as long as you didn’t say any weird stuff about me” and sasaki goes. Silent. Now I at the time assumed like. ah sasaki’s talking about the hirano and kagiura relationshipisms. or the whole uke thing. right?

…right?

see, the thing is: when sasaki visits campus in ch 46, he asks the basketball team about a kagi-kun, and then when miyano questions him about what he was doing, he’s like “oh I just remembered hirano’s old roommate was on the basketball team,” and then refuses to even tell miyano his name. so it’s like… did sasaki EVER talk about hirano’s roommate to Miyano? like of his own initiative? did he offer any information? so I decided that instead of just bringing that question up, I’d reread all of sasaki to miyano and get my answer.

disclaimer that this deals with exclusively the manga: I have this hidden fear that I’m going to post this and get a reply like “oh this is 50% of the entire novel content” but! the scene in question comes up in the manga! I think it ought to then refer to an event in the manga! but seriously if stuff like that does come up in the novel feel free to chime in. also bc I was rereading the whole manga I have Other Thoughts Too but. those can hopefully marinate their way into other posts.

ch 2:

miyano: But I saw you! I saw you laughing as you chatted with a first-year boy from class 1A in the basketball club with a lovely smile!

this does not count. miyano brings this up to hirano himself. in fact a lot of miyano putting hirano into bl contexts happens In Front Of Hirano’s Face. not really a conversation starter for sasaki. it does make ch 46 way more interesting bc it means like. sasaki has remembered that kagiura’s on the basketball team to the point that he wants to check in on him? whereas miyano like Knows this info yet never really pursues it. suppose it’d be awkward to just go up and try to find him without knowing his name, though.

ch 4:

sasaki says “but hirano can handle alcohol fine” which is perfectly on topic since they were just discussing how sasaki can’t handle it. it’s miyano that spins into bl fantasies afterwards. also hirano is right there in this situation. does not count.

ch 5:

sasaki: Hirano’s playing Oiwa-san for the haunted house. Want to see? He’s crossdressing and wearing a wig.

this does count. sasaki is bringing up hirano and telling miyano something that miyano would totally get excited about. it is, I would say, not brought up out of nowhere, since they discuss crossdressing right before. unrelated to this I would love to see the image of sasaki as hanako-san of the toilet.

ch 6:

sasaki asks about miyano’s love life and when miyano says that he’s not romantically interested in anyone around here, and sasaki asks “what about hirano?” miyano says he ships him with his roommate and the conversation ends there. I would say this also does not count—yeah, he’s perhaps bringing up hirano as a romantic prospect, but I think this is more sasaki like. being jealous more than it is using him as a reason to talk to miyano. he’s like. a pretty jealous guy.

ch 8:

sasaki tells miyano that his grades suck and hirano’s been tutoring him. this does not count.

ch 11:

sasaki says “don’t you prefer black-haired ukes?” and “ah, you mean like hirano?” when miyano says he prefers manly ukes. this does count. while it’s in the topic of conversation, there’s not a real reason he has to bring hirano up. plus, he even continues it with “hirano’s pretty tall. can he still not be a seme?” so it’s using hirano to keep a conversation going with miyano, but I will note it’s not what starts the conversation.

ch 13:

sasaki talks about hirano getting banned from doing the ball toss. this does not count.

ch 24.5:

“ooh, if it was hirano, it would be taiko” says sasaki when miyano brings up all the girl names that he and his classmates would have. this does not count. it’s a natural extension of the various female names they’ve been talking about, sasaki included, and hirano’s their mutual friend.

ch 33:

sasaki brings up hirano’s dedication to studying and how he says that getting accepted to university isn’t the finish line. says hirano’s pretty cool for that mindset. this does not count.

ch 41:

sasaki says "haha, yikes! hirano was a terrible influence!" when miyano tells him about kuresawa getting a piercing. this does not count. it’s also after graduation, where the scene happened.

ch 42.5:

sasaki is like wow I can't believe hirano's roommate does THAT in the mornings to miyano, regarding vol 2 of sasaki to miyano. however this kind of thing isn't quite canonical since they know there are books being published about them so. this does not count.

halloween 2018 extra:

miyano asks if sasaki's friends got their items confiscated, and sasaki replies by saying that hirano's in charge of confiscation for their class, so their class had the idea to overwhelm him. this does not count.

dvd extra 4:

sasaki tells miyano about how they ripped the wallpaper on accident, and once he said it kind of gave it a badboy feel, they started doing it on purpose. hirano participated in it too. this does not count.

I’ve probably missed some, but we can see that out of all of these situations, only TWO are actually what I’d qualify as “weird” by hirano’s metrics. unless sasaki talking about the wild stuff Hirano gets up to includes his ball toss strategy and him ripping up wallpaper. then it’s four. my point is that sasaki says it’s “a lot” when it’s not. so… why is that?

I’ve been mulling over a couple of ideas regarding this, but I kind of don’t want to offer up my own interpretations first? plus when I tried writing my answer I spun off into a really bad tangent, so… post ends here. hope we all learned something here!

[thefootnotes]

nico and the niners mv

oh its dema. hey dema.

bitchass vulture

hi tyler<3 how are u<3

oh hes still got the flower???

wait so is it like. nico took clancy back in the jumpsuit mv? and this is the follow-on, now that he's in dema?

wait if he has all those flowers, does he have, like. one for every time he's left and had to come back? is that why he has them in the box like that?

JOSH HI

TORCHBEARING JOSH LOML

blurryface has a sceptre. ok sure

"some fire from nico and the niners" so is it fire on fire. would normally kill us. but this much desi- *gunshot*

ok so like. the banditos are getting clancy out of dema? is that whats happening?

so what are nico and the other bishops doing?

are they performing some ritual or smth

i think i understand whats happened thus far with clancy and nico and josh but i seriously dont know what the fuck the bishops are doing with the neon light of the grave and shit

wait wait wait wait waaaaaaaait. at the start i thought nico and the niners meant nico and his people, but are "the niners" the bishops? because theres nine of them, and nico only has hte fourth tower.

what is this ballerina ass pose doing here brother. what is that about

did they just fucking. dap up.

now is not the time to be dapping, boys

in fact thats not even a dap-up thats the elaborate handshake i designed with my best friend in the fourth grade

literally how did they do that so perfectly and without laughing. i want to see the outtakes

i also want to know how many people made that Look that they gave each other a Gay Thing

is there clancy fanfiction on ao3? asking for a friend.

WHERE DID THE FUCKING DRUMS COME FROM

the banditos were only ever in it because they wanted a twenty one pilots performance. by torchlight

OH ITS A DIVERSION sure. suuuure

seriously whered the drums come from

i would totally rebel against dictators to hear tyler joseph sing nico and the niners. #relatable

not everyone will get out?? who wont get out????

as long as josh gets out. cause hes the loml

whats witht he water tho

OH THE NAKED BALLERINA IS A STATUE I GET IT NOW

i'm still confused about the drums btw

two lil chilren finding the gear is so fucking funny i cant breathe

nico you asshole

i love the bandito putting the tape on without stopping walking or asking tyler at all. thats so funny to me for no reason

so clancy escaped. again.

wait who didnt get out. im so confused about that line in this context actually

wait also did the bishops punish the kids for having the gear and shit

and also how the fuck did the drums get there

[blackjackkent]

OK time for yet another boss battle combat report!

(Everyone seemed to like the Iron Throne play-by-play so I guess I'm getting more thorough with these. XD )

We get to fight big boy, who i'm not referencing by name till under the cut, and his three lady friends from the other thrones, plus the three guards from the front door.

Sarevok is quite beefy - 206HP. Surprisingly, the guards from the front door are the other scary ones; That Which Guards has 236HP and the other two are 162. Amelyssan and her cronies are a much more reasonable 72, which means that they're our first targets to get off the field as quickly as possible.

springagainafter: hee hee I've been waiting for you to get to the bit where Sarevok shows up springagainafter: ghost Melissan too UGH springagainafter: PUNCH SAREVOK, HECTOR springagainafter: do it for Rasaad, it's what he would want XD blackjackkent: heeeeee blackjackkent: hell yeah

Let's see how well Team Juggernaut holds up to this challenge.

Minsc was able to open the fight by taking out Amelyssan at once. (He gets five attacks with Nyrulna on the first turn of the fight due to Dread Ambusher and Enraged Throw and he used them all on her.) I like to think that this was not actually strategy but just him zeroing in on her immediately as the person he hates second most on the field (but was most likely to kill quickly) and wanting her GONE.

I backed up out of combat for a bit so I could look at Sarevok's inspect screen and he's a spooky boy. Among his Exciting Features are: Legendary Resistance (unsurprising), Exceptional Plate (decreased physical damage), multiattack, bleed infliction on enemies with full health, and 20AC. Fundamentally, though, the scariest thing about him is that he has a number of equally scary friends and a lot of health, so we'll be better off taking the friends out of the equation fast. We've dealt with Steel Watchers, so as long as Sarevok doesn't start exploding, I'm not as worried as I was with them. XD

The three echoes also turn out to be primary targets because they cast Haste on Sarevok and Slow on our party, both of which are TERRIFYING in this context, so good to get them off the field as quickly as possible.

As the fight goes on, though, things get... interesting. Every time our boy Sarevok hits something he gets a stack of "Murderous Strikes", and when it hits 4 he can cast "Deathbringer's Legacy" which basically allows him to do a four-strike multihit. And when hastened he can get that VERY often.

On her second turn, Jaheira DISCONNECTS HERSELF FROM THE PARTY because she doesn't have time for my mediocre combat skills, casts Confusion on all three of the weird scary guards, and beelines straight for Sarevok like a house on fire entirely without my input.

CORRECTION: The above point seriously confused me through quite a few reloads and I couldn't figure out what was causing it bc it only seemed to happen sometimes. Turns out that one of the Big Scary Guards cast "Compelled Duel" on her, which I think broke her out of my control briefly even though it's supposed to just prevent her from attacking anyone other than the caster. And then I think her casting Confusion caused the control to drop (when the BSG failed its save) but didn't put her back in the party.

I like my interpretation better, though, that she's so pissed off with Sarevok that she doesn't have time for my bullshit.

Honestly Hector's brute force punching is carrying the day. (The spirit of Rasaad moves within him indeed.) His second turn he got a starting topple on Sarevok and melted him for a total of [does hasty math] A HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE DAMAGE. My boy is a guided missile and we love that for him! This build is so broken oh my god, Zen. XD

Looking more closely at the Big Scary Guards, I noticed this:

This is good news actually and means we probably don't have to kill them, just keep them from killing US long enough to deal with Sarevok.

Having finally, after a number of confused reloads, figured out what was going on with Jaheira, it was time to bring out the owlbear to smack Sarevok around, and leave Karlach in the back to deal with the BSGs. Four owlbear claw hits in a row for ~22 damage each is spicy, plus each of them does knockback, which gives us the incredibly satisfying image of Sarevok Anchev bouncing across the floor like an errant ping-pong ball.

Eventually we whittled him down! The BSGs, as expected, despawned when Sarevok died, and we just had to clear out the remainder of the echoes in order to finish the fight.

Yasssss. SAREVOK ANCHEV IS NO MORE!

*loud cheering from Faenya-Dail*

I would damn well hope the Murder Tribunal are impressed after that display. XD

I didn't even know that was an option but I think I'm glad we didn't become whatever that is. XD

Excellent. That will be Thursday's project since I have raids tomorrow. XD

[eywaseclipse]

I totally forgot to post this excerpt from the comics. Way back when I talked about the lack of context in the film and my confusion on a time jump on date night. This provides a good amount of insight!! Got it from the avatar wiki page

“After the two put their kids to sleep, Jake and Neytiri go on a night date, riding their ikrans across the floating mountains. As they rest on the ground, Jake looks up and sees a massive light in the sky, making him realize the RDA is back.

The Conflict in Outer Space (Avatar: The High Ground)

Later, Jake holds a group meeting with the Na'vi where he insists they must fight the Sky People again to drive them away. For now, Jake insists everyone move to the Hallelujah Mountains which causes controversy. Meanwhile, one member of the RDA is tasked with killing Jake. Jake and Norm go to Hell's Gate where they discover there are 10 RDA ships. The Na'vi begin training in zero gravity, although Jake refuses to let one of his boys fight in the upcoming battle.

In a council meeting, Jake insists the Na'vi fight and tries to convince Yeyatley to agree, but Yeyatley instead insists the Na'vi offer peace instead. Akwey supports Jake's choice, though before the group can continue debating, they notice Jake's children are gone with the exception of Neteyam. They eventually find the children. Jake blames Lo'ak, though Spider admits he also deserves some blame. Neytiri agrees that Spider is at fault and orders him to stay away from Kiri, claiming they will never see each other again

A widespread message from General Frances Ardmore is heard, offering amnesty for those "illegally" occupying Hell's Gate. This causes many of the humans to panic and feel defeated. Jake tries to motivate the humans, but Mary expresses her concerns on why they should probably surrender. Jake says those who wish to fight to come with him for now to evacuate. Jake and Neytiri talk about their upcoming plan to fight the RDA in space. Neteyam does not wish to remain at High Camp, instead wishing to fight, though Jake again declines the offer. As the Sully family prepares to go their own ways, Kiri cannot be found. Jake and Neytiri find Kiri and Spider talking to Nash McCosker. Although Jake and Neytiri think Spider is best with his foster family, Kiri is upset and flees.

Jake and Neytiri "purify" their spirits with Mo'at by inflicting pain on themselves because they believe it should be done before they betray Eywa by using steel weapons and breaking the Three Laws of Eywa. Jake visits a tree and uses it to string himself up and inflict great pain on his body; the pain makes him remember the suffering of his deceased allies, and he reflects on how much he values Neytiri and his children. They depart on their space shuttle and Ardmore contacts them via a video message. Jake's team tries to blackmail the RDA by threatening destroy Hell's Gate and several other structures on Pandora that the RDA desire to reclaim. Ardmore's team agrees they will talk physically. As the Na'vi are in their shuttle, Jake and Neytiri are displeased to see that Neteyam has sneaked on board.

The Na'vi meet the RDA on their ship, though interactions between the two groups prove tense. Jake and Neytiri meet with Ardmore and Jake reveals that there is 3.2 trillion dollars worth of unobtanium stashed away on a derelict ship in space which is also rigged with explosive. He suggests that the RDA take this material and go, but General Ardmore remains adamant. In response to this, Jake orders his ground team to blow the refinery on Pandora, which they do. The RDA turns hostile but Jake reveals other buildings are still intact. Though Jake briefly attempts a treaty, he then goes onto say that the RDA would just break it again. Back at Hell's Gate, Jake's ally Meg Elkins is murdered by McCosker who then appears on a radio message saying the explosives on Pandora are disarmed and the Sully children have been captured. Jake and Neytiri are horrified that their plan seems to have failed by this unexpected turn of events. Jake orders Norm to use an explosion on the RDA ship. The commotion lets Jake and Neytiri separate and, with Josh Winslow, they decide to find the ship's auxiliary weapons to threaten the other RDA ships. It works, but Winslow ends up dying. After a large battle in space, Jake and Neytiri manage to get away, though Ardmore refuses to give up and proceeds to follow.

The ship carrying Jake, Neytiri and Neteyam descends back to Earth, with RDA ships chasing after them. Jake and Neytiri fly to Hell's Gate on their banshees to rescue the children with Neteyam following after them. Jake and Neytiri catch up with their children in the forest and the whole family reunites. Jake sends a radio message to Wu Mingxia for backup. After the slaughter of some RDA members, the Sully family makes it to a beanstalk where a Samson corners them. Ming arrives in a shuttle to fight off the Samson and opens a hatch for the family to jump into. The Samson fires missiles at the shuttle while they are over the ocean, causing its engines to fail and everyone prepares for a rough landing. Their shuttle must land somewhere, making the ocean the safest place. Water then begins to fill their room, leaving the family to flee outside. The group uses a beacon and Norm rescues them in a Samson.

Moving to the Metkayina Clan (Avatar: The Way of Water)

Sometime after the RDA returns, several of their ships, including the ISV Manifest Destiny, descend downwards through the moon's atmosphere rather than staying in orbit. Their high engines' thrust send firestorms right down to the ground and into the jungle, causing a region of the forest to be burned down and the local fauna that were evacuating from the firestorms were burned to death as a result. When the RDA dropped their Landing Module onto the scorched land, they started removing the remains of the animals and vegetation of the forest with their bulldozers.

Jake and Neytiri reached safely to higher ground along with the surviving animals and started watching the fires from afar. After seeing the burning, Jake cradles a distraught Neytiri as she started weeping due to the horror of the sight of the burned forest along with the rest of the animals as the destruction lead to the Omatikaya's land becoming torn apart due to the ongoing actions of the RDA.”

[starsscarmyceiling]

have you finished battle scars? 😐

Oh damn nonnie. I mean sit the fuck down and get comfortable because I have a lot of feelings on this. Please keep in mind that these are my opinions and takes. I am not looking to fight or argue. If your experience differs from mine and you have different opinions, you are still totally valid.

Alright my babies, let's get into it...

It’s difficult. I feel like I—well, have a lot of feelings, like I said. And upon further contemplation the more time passes (which I know it’s only been out for like a week and a half, but still), the more aspects of it tend to confuse and baffle me.

Because yes, am I happy there was a Merrical implied ending? I mean, of course. What kind of Merrical shipper would I be if I wasn’t? I guess my main frustrations therein lie with the overall story that was told. Because first of all, I thought the story was kind of weak. But Merrin having her moment and being able to process her trauma? Yes. The Mantis, attempting and sorting out the internal issues amongst them? Yes. Cal, attempting to challenge his beliefs of everything he has been taught within the context of this new galaxy? Yes. Merrin and Cal ultimately choosing to stay with each other because they want to? YES.

I understand why Merrin did what she did throughout the book. She was still in a cycle of heavy depression, and there was a vicious cycle of her not having any source to fill herself back up because one, she never had the opportunity to process her trauma (apparently), and two, nor was there an environment that was actively being fostered for her to do so. The Jedi are known of course, to be in line with that toxic positivity, but what frustrated me was all of the juicy potential that we could have had.

What actually bothered me about her so called “development” is that it happened off screen. It was all like, well just take our word, she is like finding all of these things out over here we promise. Because the whole time she was doing this, it was completely dependent on another character that was not Cal, just some random bitch we don’t care about, instead of coming to these things on her own or with someone she has an actual bond with. The way in which these things came about pissed me off so much because she could have had these moments with Cal, whom apparently she had this amazing developed relationship with, of which we never got to actually see. They went back and forth saying the Mantis crew wasn’t touchy feely, but then talked about how her and Cal had all these long, meaningful conversations…so like…what the fuck were these conversations actually about? They never talked about themselves or their traumas at all???? Merrin literally thinks at one point, up until she met Fret, Cal was the only person she felt like she could share things about herself with…but the way in which this was written really doesn’t make me believe that at all. It was just cheaply done like, lol, well just again trust us that these two people have developed relationship here in the interim. It was like, so unsatisfying to read. At no point did they actually show how and why her and Cal grew to care about one another other than us being told they were. That is what I am truly pressed about.

Also, I truly am not a fan of how Cal’s characterization was handled. I feel like he was just written like he was like seven years old or something. Cal can be awkward and aloof, sure…but I feel like this was just taken too far. Not only did he get cucked (in his own fucking BED; idc I will never get over that), but he also got reduced to a seven year old boy that didn’t have nearly as much depth as he could have had. I liked him questioning his ideology, but I felt like these topics were brought up and not really resolved. When I write Cal, I feel like all of the potential lies in using what has already been given to us. I see Cal as someone who is well versed at understanding people’s emotions, an empath, compassionate, protective, and obviously having such a big heart, especially for those he cares about and loves. And is this because of his psychometry? Or just how he is naturally, who knows it could be a combination of both. Think about it, this is a person that has been experiencing what could be complex adult emotions his whole life. And you’re telling me that he’s still that oblivious? Hmm, I don’t think. And wtf he doesn’t feel that many echoes? Mf was going around that whole game feelings those all the fucking time.

If I could quote a frond, @wayfaringjedi, this was a pretty hot take:

“How much stronger would it have been for Cal to confront that he has to allow her to feel anger to heal, and that anger is a useful emotion

How much stronger would it have been for Merrin to realise that safety exists, that she will not be rejected for being herself or being difficult or being angry, that she has her place

How could it have been for Cal to realise that he had made Merrin feel that he was not a safe person to disclose this to? How would that have challenged his ideology?

Or for Merrin to realise her refusal to try to access peace like Cal does is what alienates her from others?”

And honestly, couldn’t have said it better myself. Like, do you know how many amazing fics I've read out there, where it's Merrin and Cal, getting to have these moments in the engine room? Where it's them having pillow talk and growing closer? God this whole thing really felt like a slap in the face I was not prepared for.

These characters weren’t really handled with care. I didn’t hate the whole book, but I just feel like it just could have been better. I am veryyyyy much interested in what’s going to happen in Survivor, I mean we all are, obviously. I was taking comfort in Merrin saying they were probably never going to see Fret again. I really don’t understand why Fret was there. There is a way to create situations and tension and conflict and making important realizations between them without inserting some random purple bitch. Because istfg, if at some point in Survivor, we have to go like pick up Merrin and she is with Fret, I am going to throw my PS5 out the window and scream and rage in the streets. (Respawnnnnn, I know where you live do not TEST me). I am obviously hoping for canon Merrical, which I do think is a distinct possibility. Because if we don’t, then what the fuck was all of that for?

I feel like BS (heh, aptly named) has suffered the TROS problem of not being able to satisfy anyone lol. Okay because who the FUCK is this book for dude?

Because it’s obviously pissed off all the Merricals. We would have never wanted this.

And it doesn’t really satisfy those who don’t ship either because there is so much Merrical subtext.

But, I mean, I do have to say this book did make me grow to love Greez even more. He was 👑💩 the whole fucking time. Throwing shade at Fret throughout, I was living for it. When he went off on Fret after he woke up from getting his arm cut off, I was fucking eating my popcorn like pop offfff. And I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved Cal in his petty jealous area. Obsessed. He deserves it completely like also go off 👑. Him and Greez were my only bright spots throughout this experience. So glad he got to have his moment too when he "I KNOW HOW IT FEELS!" God I love it. We should all just listen to Greez at all times, like yes please let us drop that Fret bitch off on Batuu with a fruit cake bing bang boom.

I also did enjoy the moments between Cere and Cal together really trying to navigate what it means to be a Jedi in this galaxy in this so entirely dangerous climate for them. Glad Cere is embracing her as a Jedi and using the force again. Totally got the foreshadowing of her being in some kind of archives that we saw in the trailer, preserving the ways of the Jedi. Very fitting for her.

And yesss, there were a few cute moments. Those first two chapters were LIT I gotta say. Like TOGETHER THEY WERE THE LIGHT AND THE DARK CAL WAS THE STAR THAT ILLUMINATED HER SHADOW, that did murder me. And the fucking wound cleaning scene, omfg. I know that murdered ALL of us. Jfc.

I also feel like it would have been a lot more interesting for Fret to just be there to betray them. It would have taught Merrin a lesson of not just diving into something with someone that is entirely based on lust. The fact that she got a redemption was idk…just boring to me I guess. And I know I am biased because I don’t like her, but I mean come on I am a feral fucking Merrical over here is anyone surprised???

Okay lol, have I complained enough? Haha I am guessing you knew what you were getting into anon when you came to my ask box. Lol everyone knows I can never stfu. Anyway, hope that satisfied you.

And hm should you guys be looking out on the horizon for something? Well let’s just say I am definitely using all of these feelings that I have and am putting them somewhere 💅🏻

Anyway, I hope all the Merricals out there are having a great day. Meet me at Applebees and we can cry together 💕💕💕

[rurugumi]

Admittedly I didn't really plan two steps forward, one step back very well. I have like... a general idea of the timeline and of the main events that happen, but I definitely didn't think that far ahead and I keep coming up with new ideas that can fit somewhere in between (hence the interludes)

So, yeah, Roy also time travelled. Don't ask me how. I never planned the context of whatever was going on when Jason got sent back. A wizard did it, I guess???? The only thing I know is that it happened during one of those world-ending crisis events and pretty much everyone Jason cared about was dead, and Jason was one of the last ones left standing

Jason and Roy, actually

Then, whatever sent Jason back also sent Roy back, but they have no idea that the other time travelled

Realistically, the reason why Roy doesn't try to find Jason right away when he comes back is that... I only came up with Time Traveller Roy when I was writing Holy Interlude, Batman, which was only written after I had already finished the main fic (and the roy part was one of the last scenes I wrote, too dhsksnksjs)

If I had to give an in-universe answer, though? Hooo, boy, I'm really good at making shit up so buckle up:

Roy wasn't expecting to time travel in the first place, so when he woke up in the past he was confused and disoriented. On top of that general confusion, he was back to a time when he was struggling with addiction

Because of this Roy struggled more than Jason with this new situation. I mean, for Jason, this was a second (or third, rather) opportunity. He went back to a somewhat good point in his life, so his mindset was more of a "I can turn this around for the better before I go back", and then when he remembers that there's nothing to go back to he's like "oh, well, gotta roll with it, I guess". But for Roy? In the future he had been doing well, he was living his best life! He had his daughter and his family and friends. Then he gets sent back to a pretty rough moment of his life, where he was alone (again, not very sure of actual dc timeline stuff, but this is my au so I can take some liberties, so I'm saying this was before Lian, even though I'm pretty sure she was already in his life by this point) and when he remembers that there's no future to go back to? He's devastated. I imagine this happens sometime before Dick goes to visit him, which is why he looks worse for wear when Dick first sees him. But then Roy starts doing better because he figures out that Jason is here too! That's his Jason! The Red Hood! He's not totally alone in this hopeless past! And if Jason is doing better for himself, Roy is just going to have to match him step by step

Why didn't Roy tell anyone about his time travel stuff? Because he didn't think he could trust anyone to trust him, and that messed with him too. Was he right? Who knows. He didn't even try because he couldn't stand the thought of his family not trusting him again

Keep in mind that since I didn't plan this from the start, this is mostly held together with duct tape, effort and lots and lots of creativity.

Also, as time goes on, Dick actually brings Jason to hang out with the Titans and Jason takes one look at Roy and realizes that he's from the future too. They're both really excited about this and they start slowly becoming closer as to not make Dick suspicious, but the joke's on them because Dick is already suspicious. He doesn't know if he's more jealous of Jay for stealing his friend, or of Roy for stealing his little brother

In another of the accompanying fics for this series, Jason and Roy's friendship makes another appearance! But telling more than that would be a spoiler so I'm shutting up now lol

[lady-green-sleeves]

Since I don’t want to be another broken record talking about how b&c wasn’t the same as the books, instead I’m gonna give my husbands thoughts on it as someone who’s never read the books and doesn’t know what’s gonna happen.

So first off he was confused by the motivations of the characters, not being able to tell if blood & cheese were only in it for money ,or if they also felt some sense of loyalty to Daemon/Rhaenyra/team black.

He was also confused if Haelena knew what was gonna happen like exactly or just a vague unclear idea of what might happen, so far it seems she kinda knows what’s gonna go down. He felt like that along with her just offering only a single necklace made it feel like she had excepted her sons fate and that’s why she didn’t offer more jewelry or money or anything, or why she didn’t beg them to spare her children.

The comment about giving up the kings heir made him feel like Haelena didn’t even like her son bc she saw him as an extension of his father who she clearly has a bad or at least strained relationship with. He also didn’t feel like the whole ‘which ones the boy’ thing made a ton of sense like they easily could have “checked” off camera but instead they make her pick and then still almost go to kill Jaehaera (which ik is supposed to be a Lowkey callback to the book but it’s not well done) instead bc they think she’s lying. But also at the end of the day doubtfully anyone on team black would be able to tell the difference between one head vs the other and if they were wrong by the time the news was out that it was the princess and not the prince b&c could have been long gone with their money (going back to what exactly are their motivations)

Which I do honestly agree with, it’s hard to tell the exact motivations of the characters there must be more than one necklace in that room, it does seem like Haelena had already excepted that Jaehaerys would die. But as someone who has read the book I can see them maybe using her relative ease in giving up jaeherace as the guilt that eventually drives to her suicide instead of it being her picking between her sons.

We both also agreed that the AliCole sex scene Haelena walks in on after is so unnecessary and seems only for extra like shock value. We thought they were gonna keep the relationship between those two more psychosexual than actually sexual so having multiple sex scenes with them kinda dulls the ship down for us (I liked that alicent was followed around by a bunch of freaky men who would do anything for her but she still won’t have sex with them).

I’m not upset that they didn’t follow the book for this scene, they haven’t been following the book that closely since the beginning. I’m upset that they’re trying to tell their own story while also trying to take parts from the book and it’s not working. They just need to pick one story and stick with it. The whole ‘pick one’ scenario doesn’t really work in the context of the story you’ve written so then write something that does. Or make Daemons offer different so the picking makes more sense, so many changes (some relatively minor) could have been made to make the story more coherent and none were taken. It’s one of the most impactful moments in the book imo and they managed to make it confusing along with some cheap gore sounds and unnecessary sex scenes.

The thing that saved the scene imo was Phia’s facial acting you could really see the total horror and helplessness written across her face. Emma and Phoebe also ate up and left no crumbs during their scenes at Luke’s funeral, their grief is portrayed so nicely. I absolutely can’t wait to see more of Phoebe/Rhaena this season, her face card never declined even at a funeral. These three women got barely any screen time but they still managed to save the episode with their grade A expressions and acting.

Some unrelated things I liked about the episode was the little Daeneys the dreamer lore drop (which I absolutely didn’t notice till I saw someone mention it on here) that if confirmed to be true is honestly so cool and could have some fun even if ultimately unimportant plot implications. The costumes seem to be better so far we’re only one episode in but still imo they’re already better than majority of S1E1 outfits. Who was the random north boy in the beginning and why did he look so much like season one Jace, pretty sure it was the same bad wig and all. The writers kinda did the Velaryon/Strong boys dirty with that one lmao they are def not letting them beat the bastard allegations.

Sorry this is so long is you made it to the end thanks for coming to my TED talk and if I said something blatantly wrong feel free to destroy my media literacy in the comments💕

[wholesomemorbid]

What Price, Pegi?

Part One

Description of the images above, written in an expanded format. This comic is drawn in an expressive, cartoony, monochrome ink style, spread across thirteen pages.

It begins with a title card saying WHAT PRICE, PEGI?, which shows a confused half-Tellarite captain in front of her ship, The Truckee, which appears to be menaced by giant red hands in space.

~

Captain Piggy played a flute in her ready room, like good captains do. Commander Len Mesze stuck his head in to talk to her. "We're ready to beam down to the planet," he said. "I could handle this one. You look busy."

The planet Beta Tarsinus swam slowly behind her through the window. She replied, "Don't be silly! I wouldn't miss my first away mission as captain!!"

"Of course not," Mesze said through a clenched-tooth smile. "That would be terrible. But an -- er -- experienced commander might be good on this one..."

The captain dismissed his fears. "Stop worrying! I've been studying great captains!" She's thinking about people like Captain Picard, Captain Janeway, Captain Pike, Captain Mariner... But she threw herself laughing over Mesze's shoulder, unaware he looked *very* annoyed. "Boy those nerds BARELY knew what they were doing!!!"

She walked down a hall toward the transporters, which were in the shuttle bay, cheerfully greeting a passing crewman in a skirt uniform.

"The crew seems to have accepted me! They like my style!" she said cheerfully. "And I can't go wrong with an amazing away team!"

Her away team is already waiting on the transporter pad. One of them is a dolphin from Cetacean Ops, and the other is Chief Medical Officer T'Bok.

So annoyed that one of his eyes has blown out, Mesze said, "Yes okay good, at least I'll be in command up here."

Pegi jumped onto the transporter pad with her team. "Make it so!" she said in the wrong context.

VWINNGGG! The trio transported to the surface of Beta Tarsinus. The Cetacean officer beamed straight into a nearby body of water, singing "ee ee ee!" while T'Bok and Pegi landed on a walkway.

"I have reservations about Mesze in command of the Truckee," T'Bok said as they beamed in.

"Don't worry! This will be a routine away mission! Totally routine!" Pegi replied cheerfully.

T'Bok noticed something ahead of them. "Doctor..."

Pegi wasn't looking. "We'll be back in no time!"

"Are you quite sure about that?" asked T'Bok, pointing out the issue at hand. Literally at hand. Because there are two giant red hands menacing the city where they've arrived, floating in the sky over the buildings...

~

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1 like = 1 phaser blast set to sweet little kisses