#forgiven him for his abuse if I were lydia

[wyclair]

Sitting here and realizing how badly Teen Wolf sucked.

[makeyouminemp3]

Fictional men I'd like to drop kick with no hesitation and why:

Lucas Scott: he literally is the definition of the 'good guy' who's actually the world's largest douchebag. And he's a two timing pig. Brooke and Peyton deserved better than him

Finn Hudson: he said the f and r slur, outed Santana, was a douche to Blaine for no reason, and he's labeled as the hero because he sang a slowed down version of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and suddenly he's forgiven for outing Santana to the entire state of Ohio

Ezra Fitz: he's a fucking pedophile

Stiles Stilinski: constantly had yelled at Lydia whilst she's in a state of shock after seeing a dead body. On multiple occasions I might add. Dumped Malia then got with her best friend once Lydia saw him as more than friends, which I'd like to call the Lucas Scott Syndrome. That ableist comment he made about Liam's IED, literally treated Scott's pain like it didn't matter saying 'oh, you'll heal' when Scott still can feel pain, and then made a joke about Isaac's abuse.

Damon Salvatore: self explanatory

Alaric Saltzman: he was sending kids into prison worlds with a sociopathic murderer who had killed his wife. And thought those kids were on Kai's level. He literally was gonna send 14 year old Alyssa there, but then also had her memories wiped away as well. Never punishes Hope or his daughter's for when they break the rules, giving them privileged to do whatever the hell they want and suffer no consequences, whilst he punishes Cleo.

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

10.16: a certain doom

spoilers (both general and caryl) under the cut:

the episode iiiiiissss not super worth the six month wait (like in general, not vis a vis caryl) 

it’s marginally more exciting than the penultimate episode

marginally

i think the problem is they utilized time poorly, so the attack on hilltop was Amazing, but then they accidentally forgot to make the end of the war suspenseful or interesting lol

that being said, it had its moments, so let’s break it down, shall we?

first off, caryl have a brief scene in the beginning in the stairwell where daryl is telling carol that michonne left, and he’s like “everybody leaves and then i never see them again :( “ and carol is like “...i haven’t left” and daryl goes “-sure jan-” and leaves carol looking like a hurt puppy bc she thinks he still hasn’t forgiven her/never really will, more on that later

lydia and carol have a scene where lydia is like:

and carol was like “that’s cuz you should hate me and shouldn’t try and look to me for advice, go find your own way in life” and lydia says “k i’m not asking you to be my mom, i’m asking if we can be bros, but w/e, i’m sure this conversation isn’t foreshadowing to an event that will happen later” 

more on that later

princess & crew broke their bikes so they were running late to the rendezvous, and eugene was about to give up, but zeke gave an empowering speech about Never Giving Up (which is kinda weird coming from a dude with cancer whose wife left him and whose son got murdered, but w/e, you get on with your optimistic self, zeke) and convinced him to carry on, more on that later

(here’s an exclusive sneak peek at the scene tho:)

there’s a two hour long scene of our main peeps walking through the giant horde covered in guts, which would be more interesting if they didn’t do that all the time

beatrice got eaten which would have been more of a bummer if i remembered who beatrice was

it did get lydia involved in the fight tho, so that’s something

side note: negan gave lydia alpha’s mask as if it was supposed to be symbolic or something, instead of incredibly traumatizing to this little girl whose abusive mother just got her head chopped off, like couldn’t she have just put guts on like the other people? ok, my dude, way to be a surrogate father figure ig

while carol is still stuck in the horde daryl asks where carol is, which has been the majority of his lines this season

they try to lead the horde away by blasting talking heads, which is a little on the nose but entertaining nonetheless, but then carol had to go and say “protect the horses,” which is a guarantee that the horses will get eaten, bc it’s twd, so whomp whomp, they lose their apparently only plan for leading the horde away

(how have they not learned better by now?)

(better question: how are there any horses left??)

daryl has an unintentionally funny line where he’s like, “k so this is a super shitty idea, and i am aware of that, but let’s just go fucking kill all of the whisperers”

lydia then volunteers to go throw herself off a cliff to get rid of the horde, and daryl brushes her off, more on that later

anyway they go and just. kill all the whisperers ig? including beta? whose death took like two seconds and involved a brief flashback montage and was incredibly anticlimactic for how fucking badass he was (negan draws him away, daryl stabs him the eyes, which was kinda cool, and then he goes and stands in the middle of the horde and smiles wistfully while he’s eaten alive, like a normal person would do)

up at headquarters gabriel is about to get murdered by whisperers, but then maggie and her masked friend somehow make it past the entire horde and up the stairs in time to save him

sure

cut to lydia leading the entire horde to the cliff, but then carol jumps in and tells her to go and that she’ll do it, and is about to go for a fun tumble, BUT THEN lydia pulls her away and they have a brief argument about it

their whole plotline this episode is very:

anyway

what follows is what’s meant to be a heartwarming scene between the two of them where they put aside all their baggage and hug each other and realize they’re stronger together than at odds, and objectively it’s a good scene, but i couldn’t stop laughing bc they kept showing the walkers falling off the cliff and it looked SO STUPID, it was hilarious

they just. literally kept just stepping off the cliff and falling like bricks askdfljs

and then lydia went and threw alpha’s mask off the cliff and that Did Not make it less funny

idk, i’m probably just a bad person, but it was super fucking funny, anyway

maggie reunited with judith, which was actually very sweet, esp when you remember that she delivered her (in the most traumatic way possible)

the caryl scene was nice. i had to watch it a couple times before i decided how nice, bc like everything else in the episode it felt kind of rushed, but essentially carol and lydia return, and daryl is standing in the exact position he was standing in “no sanctuary”, bc apparently that’s how he leans on trees, and carol approaches him super warily, and they both stare at each other, and carol asks him if he’s good, and he is visibly trying not to cry when he goes “yeah. it’s over. right?” and she says yes, and he asks her if she got what she wanted, and she says no, and he tells her she still has him, and she’s like “yeah?” while crying, bc, per earlier interaction, she was p sure she was never gonna get him back entirely, and he says yeah, and then they hug, and carol makes a little sob noise, and daryl buries his face in her shoulder and is teary, too, and then daryl brings up new mexico, and carol says “maybe someday” and daryl deffo looks disappointed but agrees, and then carol has her “we still have things to do, i’m clearly saying this as a set up for dramatic scenes that are about to follow” line

cue dramatic things following

connie is alive (we been knew), but is banged tf up, and runs into virgil. or more like collapses on the ground and virgil finds her and they stare blankly at each other until connie passes out

and then we jump back to princess & crew, who are sitting there bummed out bc stephanie isn’t there, and eugene is like, “bc of zeke’s wise words, i am Not Giving Up, we set out to find and recruit people (did they? i literally don’t remember) and so that’s what we’ll do!” 

and it’s a Big Moment of Solidarity and Strength

for all of five seconds, bc they are then accosted by stormtroopers, who presumably work for commonwealth. whether or not commonwealth is building a death star is unclear at this time, but i suppose we’ll find out soon

cue end credits!

so overall: the episode occurred. it wasn’t like, devastatingly disappointing, in that the penultimate episode didn’t really set me up for any sort of big anticipation, and also i had spoilers ahead of time. i wish there had been more time for things like beta’s death to be played out properly, but i wonder also if they were limited on what they could do bc of pandemic shit and trying to get it edited as quickly as possible

as it stands, even tho the whisperers are my favorite twd villains, i’m glad they didn’t do what they did with the saviors and have it drag on for ten million years for no reason

the bottle episodes should be interesting, and prob will lead us into commonwealth, which, again, not sure on the status of the death star, but i’m excited to see what happens regardless

on the caryl front i’m about where i was before, which is fully anticipating canon coming, and my guess is the season will really heavily set up their departure, which means we will have many more scenes to come

the end

as usual, stay hype, stan kang, and get daryl to call carol sweetheart 2k20 (i still have three months left, i’m not giving up yet, zeke wouldn’t want me to),

-diz

[egedgeger]

The big man was waiting in their rooms on the second floor

Jon watched unblinking. He dare not appear squeamish before oakley m frame ice iridium his brothers. Terrible pain, such as you have never known. Since her last LPGA tournament win in July, Ko has managed only one top five finish in nine tournaments. In four of those events Ko has finished outside the top 40 place getters.While Leadbetter yesterday took a lot of the credit for her brilliant performances over most of the last three years, he has also been heavily criticised by sections of the golf media, especially over the ill fated decision to change her swing. And most of the results that were achieved under his tutelage were hardly a surprise, given her incredible success with Wilson as a teenager.. The blade was shorter than Longclaw but made of common steel, which made it heavier. In Mr. Weld’s book, “Slavery as It Is,” under the head of Labor, p. Her sleepless night soon made itself felt. Before long she was fighting off a yawn as Reznak prattled about the craftsmen’s guilds. “Is it wise to shout through the fog at boats we cannot see?” asked Tyrion. Daenerys Stormborn.”. The big man was waiting in their rooms on the second floor. Though the inn had come well recommended by the master of the Meadowlark, that did not mean Quentyn was willing to leave their goods and gold unguarded. Before long he found himself giving more ground, trying to avoid the other’s crashing cuts and failing half the time. His shield had been reduced to kindling. Runaway from the subscriber, some time in pendientes bulgari precio March last, his servant LYDIA, and is suspected of being in Charleston. There were messages as well. The Others come when it is cold, most of the tales agree. Or else it gets cold when they come. He rolled off feeling more ashamed than sated. This was a mistake. Your personal risk would at least have proved, that though a murderer, you were not a coward. “You wanted warriors, didn’t you? Well, there they are. Every one worth six o’ your black crows.”. The pale pink light of dawn found her still out on her terrace, asleep upon the grass beneath a blanket of fine dew. When she landed in the pit she lost a sandal. Running, she could feel the sand between her jean coquelin toes, hot and rough. His eyes were brown as well, the anger in them poorly hidden. Can the child fehér női bőr csizma possibly believe in what his Christian parents have told him, when he sees this? We have spoken now of only the common advertisements of the paper; but suppose the child to live in some districts of the country, and advertisements of a still more degrading character meet his eye. From here he could see four lesser pyramids, the city’s western walls, and the camps of the Yunkishmen by the shores of Slaver’s Bay, where a thick column of greasy smoke twisted upward like some monstrous serpent. The Yunkishmen burning their dead, he realized. It was good counsel. “Yes, make it so.” Westeros. A moment’s reflection will convince him that there is no parallel between the cases. You will find no purses in blue, amber or red. On the contrary coach outlet locations increase a pattern of trustworthy accoutrements in Blush and additional colors. Now, you can see numerous accoutrements of coach are in blush otherwise blue. Once Cregan gets a child by me they won’t need me anymore. He’s buried two wives already.” She rubbed away a tear angrily, the way Arya might have done it. But my poor and affectionate mother understood and appreciated it all. War council. In this sad dilemma, sitting and consulting zapatillas de tacos futbol in a legislative capacity, they must, of two evils, choose the least. With indignant feelings towards those, who, under the influence of “seducing spirits,” had sent reebok reverse jam low and were sending among them “doctrines of devils,” but with aching hearts towards their children, they resolved that their children should not be taught to read, until the storm should be overblown; hoping that Satan’s being let loose will be but for a little season. There’s, a high-school boy who comes too. It is confessedly the izraeli kézműves ékszerek dominant power of the nation. The whole power of the government, and the whole power of the wealth, and the whole power of the fashion, and the practical organic workings of the large bodies of the church, are all gone one way. I have never known a cleaner creature, truth be scaun rulant inchiriere told. “Feast? pendientes bulgari precio Har! Now that’s a word mini melissa picole vidro I like to hear.” The wildling turned his garron toward the Wall and slapped her on the rump. Toregg and the riders followed, dismounting by the gate to lead their horses through. Possibly, it is because this healthful process is not longer continued that the agricultural societies of Louisiana are obliged to set down an annual loss of slaves on sugar plantations to the amount 43of two and a half per cent. Believers in human progress will be interested to know that since the law of 1801 there has been a reform introduced into this part of the legislation of the republic of Georgia. In 1818, a new law was passed, which, as will be seen, contains a grand remedy for the abuses of the old. It all comes from your petty vanity. “It is not for you to pry into such matters,” he said. “Who are you?”. By night distant fires could be seen. Hard by the bay was the abomination, the slave market at her door. “Shall we walk?” Dany slipped her arm through his. Tell him, too, that I’ve been reading the Gospel lately. There it says we must forgive all our enemies. Well, I’ve read that, but I’ve not forgiven him all the same; for when mother was dying and still could talk, the last thing she said was: ‘I curse him.’ And so I curse him, not on my own account but on mother’s.

[yankyo]

accident

Chamie has a very bad day

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, blood, not a very happy time 

@realmonsterboyhours is to blame for encouraging me 

   He didn’t mean to. He didn’t mean to. But what did that matter when you were hurt and your blood was dripping from his claws? The clone curled in deeper in himself, already purple and blue hair turning black even as the other clones around him began to swarm around you both, shouting and pushing him away from you. The day had started off so well. How did it quickly become this?

   When he had woken up that morning, he awoke to his comfortable nest of stuffies and stolen clothing. Well, stolen was a stretch, it seemed you had realized he liked things that smelled like you and would wear stuff you didn’t mind him taking. Every week his nest would be deconstructed, everything would be washed and he would have a new round of clothing to curl up against.  You did so much for him, you were the most patient and caring and just the best. You deserved to be treated just as well if not better than how you treated everyone else and with that thought, Chamie got up early that morning to cook you breakfast. Eggs and toast shouldn’t be that hard, right? And a cup of coffee was the simplest thing! He had seen you brew coffee for weeks with the greatest of ease in preparation for this and he was certain he had it. Well, certain until he found himself with a watery cup of half cooked grounds and the charcoal remains of what was once food. One lecture from Ren later and a banishment from the kitchen while the mess was cleaned up, Chamie was left pacing the living room.

   OK.... cooking had been an abject failure, but that didn’t mean he should give up? Right? There was other ways he could help around the house! You had said that you needed to vacuum the other day, so while everyone else was busy in the kitchen, he dragged the vacuum into the living room and got to business. This was fairly easy! The sound was grating but he liked seeing the crumbs disappear and the dirt swirling up in dirt home was entrancing. So entrancing in fact that he didn’t realize he was vacuuming up one of his balls of yarn and the vacuum had begun to smoke until another shout from Ren caught his attention. Another lecture later and your disappointed face as you realized the vacuum couldn’t be fixed, Chamie hid away in the cupboard until it was time for you to go to work. Task one and two ended in screaming failure but that didn’t mean he should give up? Right? There had to be something that even he could do right? .........right? There was a feeling in his gut he knew very well, it was the same feeling he got whenever boss would take the other clones on a job but leave him behind, it was that feeling he got when the others would take a task right out of his hands and finish it themselves. It was this bitter, useless feeling that made him want to curl into a tiny ball and just disappear. But he hadn't tried hard enough yet! There was still something he could find around the house, still something he could do to help your day be easier! He just had to find it! So with that motivation, Chamie crawled out from the cupboard and began his search for a purpose.

   The kitchen was still a no go, he could hear Bee's and Wasp's voices from inside as they cleaned dishes.

   "What made him think he could cook today?" Bee muttered, "damn this is just baked on, we might have to let it soak and hope it didn't stain the pan..." the bitter feeling tightened his chest for a moment, but Chamie quietly pressed forwards. The living room was not much better, Cici and Ren were there still fidgeting with the yarn.

   "How did that idiot not see he was vacuuming up his own shit. Who even let him have the vacuum to begin with?" Cici grumbled as they used their claws to shred the tangled yarn from the vacuum.

   "You know how Chamie is. Once he gets an idea in his head, he goes through with it, no matter how disastrous the consequences." Ren's response made Chamie twitch, wanting to defend himself but unable to think of anything he could say back... after all, it was true he was an idiot. Everyone knew that. So instead he tiptoed past the pair into the next empty room he could find. The laundry room. You did have to clean everything up soon and you always washed his nest, so why not clean this up for you! Maybe if he got the laundry done and everyone came back to the fresh, neatly folded, clean clothes all of his mistakes that day would be forgiven!

The washer had a bunch of buttons and a large dial in the center that the demon stared hard at for a minute, trying to figure out what it all meant. Well.... the hottest water was the best, right? So he pressed that button a few times. Spin? What did that mean? He chose high, just in case. Soil level.... hmm... heavy?? With that completed Chamie looked through the various cleaners neatly set up against the wall. He knew which one bleach was because when he had attempted to drink it way back when, you had screamed because you thought it was dangerous. He gave it a cursory sniff now, licking his lips at the smell, but he couldn't drink now! If he drank it, when you got home you couldn't give him a kiss until every last trace of bleach was gone! So he set that aside and grabbed the big green bottle he deemed to be the clothes soap and poured that into the open mouth of the washer before he grabbed the clothes hamper and started stuffing in the dirty clothes. Once not a single sock more could fit, he grabbed the creamy looking liquid and poured that on top before he closed the lid and pressed start. For a minute, nothing seemed to happen, but before his eyes water started pouring in from seemingly nowhere and the clothing began to rock back and forth as it got wet. Interested, Chamie pressed closer to watch the show and between the pleasant warmness of the washer and the rocking sensation, he soon fell asleep right there.

   “Another one? Lawrence how many of these damn things you plan on making? It’s bad enough I gotta deal with your needy ass all day long.” Juno peered at him over her thick rimmed glasses, disdain clear on her face. “What’s this one even good for?” The question made the newly formed clone shiver, shrinking back under her cold gaze as his hair flashed between colors he didn’t yet understand. All he knew was this lady was bad news and he wanted to be far away from her.

   “I don’t know.” By his side, his little boss was trembling too, but his gaze was focused on the ground instead, his hands tight fists at his sides. “He just... showed up today.” The new clone wanted to hold the boss’s hand, so without thinking, that’s what he did. The hand was small like his, and similarly cold, but the child glanced his way with wide eyes, a tiny grateful smile curling at his lips at the gesture.

   “Oh I see, he’s more of that stupid sentiment you keep clinging too.” the snark made both of them jolt and back away but before the clone could escape her grasp, he was grabbed by the shoulder and yanked forwards.

   “Mom!” Beetlejuice shouted, “Please don’t!” The clone closed his eyes tightly and braced himself, but what good could that have done him when that heavy hand that dragged him along threw him back against a wall.

   “How many times do I have to teach you this lesson! Demons don’t need this kind’ve crap! I swear the only thing you manage to do is fuck everything up! No wonder even your useless father jumped ship at the mere sight of you! I wish I had done the same!” The clone knew he had broken bones, could feel them trying to reattach themselves but the sound of the crying child made him want to crawl forwards. He had to comfort him. He had to stop his tears. His limbs didn’t want to listen, but with great effort, the clone dragged himself by sinking his claws into the grounds and pulling with all his strength, inching forwards bit by bit. “great, now this stupid thing is smearing it’s blood all over my floor!” Juno’s voice was close, but it echoed as if it were far away. The clone ignored it, he had to get to boss. A sharp heel slammed into his back, the ripping pain making the clone yelp. The heel dug in deeper, tearing flesh and crushing bone, but the clone reached for the child, wishing he could stop his crying.

   Chamie jolted awake, his hand reaching for his back as if expecting to find a hole, but when he found nothing, the clone settled back down with a huff. It had been a while since he had that dream... after all, when Boss met you and trusted you enough to meet them, the clones all seemed to be rid of the nightmares that once plagued them all. All good things had their limit, he supposed and tried to shake off the memory, but he couldn’t help but scratch at the old scar that lay on the small of his back. The washer seemed to be done, at least it wasn’t shaking anymore so Chamie reached in to grab the wet clothing. They weren’t super wet anymore and they seemed to have some soap still on them, but that was probably just what happened sometimes so he threw the mass into the dryer anyway and pressed start once more. The house was fairly quiet so as the dryer sputtered to life Chamie stepped out of the laundry room to see where everyone else was. Boss was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn’t weird. He always bounced from place to place, this time Chamie supposed he had gone back to play with Lydia or something. The other's were gone and he didn't hear your voice so he assumed they were off on their own errands and you were probably still at work. That left the house to him for the time being, so Chamie looked around to see what else he could do. Living with nine other people tended to make a mess, even if the others came and went as they pleased and Ren followed after with a dustpan, so Chamie set to picking up the mess laid around.

    Jazz had a little music station to work at whenever he wanted to make a new song and in his creative process, papers and things ended up being tossed to the wayside so Chamie organized the papers to the best of his ability and took the crumpled balls off towards the trash. Better already! Cici, on the other hand left books everywhere. They would start reading one, get bored of it and leave it by the wayside to get back into later, so Chamie looked all over for their books to put them all up in the bookcase. There were a few that didn’t perfectly fit, but with a bit of extra strength and determination, Chamie was able to shove each one into place. Next came Jay’s toys. Jay left his puzzles all over the place, so to clean up, Chamie gathered up the puzzle pieces and found a box that looked like what it came in to put away. His toys were stacked neatly in his corner by Chamie’s own nest and the demon took a moment to look around the living room with satisfaction. Cleaner already! Why didn’t he do this more? This cleaning stuff was easy! He did hesitate when stepping into the kitchen, because he was sure his banishment was far from over, but he could see some unwashed dishes in the sink! Wouldn’t it be good for him to clean those up? Surely even Ren wouldn’t have any complaints if he did that!

    The dishwasher was an interesting specimen that he still was unsure of how it worked. He assumed it ate the remaining food off of the plate and licked it til it was shiny, but when he suggested that to you, you had merely giggled. The mystery still stood. But loading the dishwasher wasn’t hard at all, all he had to do was cram a dish where it fit and keep on moving! When it came time to put the shiny pod in the hole, he paused. Wouldn’t it be better if he just put soap? What was this shiny pod doing? Wouldn’t it be better if the monster in the dishwasher had soap on it’s tongue? With a silent nod to himself, Chamie instead ate the pod himself and poured in some of the soap into the hole instead. Next came finding which button to push to tell the monster it was time to start. Chamie just started pressing until he could hear a hum from the dishwasher and the sound of rushing water. Success! With things looking much cleaner, Chamie curled back into his nest to await everyone’s return home, snuggling up to a long pillow you had put one of your hoodies on to sink into your scent. Nightmares would never hurt him when he had your smell with him, after all.

    There wasn’t any telling when he had fallen asleep, but he was awoken with a start as he heard an anguished yell. The clone all but leapt to his feet to see what the matter was, but only found his fellow clones standing around the living room, all looking rather put out.

    “He ruined my puzzle! I’ve been working weeks on it!”

    “You don’t just cram them in, you moron, that ruins the cover! If even one of them rips, I swear I’ll-“

    “Where the fuck is the rest of it? I was gonna serenade Songbird on our date night!”

    “What the hell did he do? What’s with all these bubbles?” There was too much shouting. It was hurting his ears. He didn’t like it. But even as he tried to cover his ears and sink down into his nest, he was dragged out by his ankle by a very pissed off looking Jazz to face the rest of the clones, each a glaring red as they looked down on the cowering Chamie. He wanted to wail, to tell them that he was just trying to help, but as they bombarded him with questions he could feel himself retreating back further and further into his own mind. What were you thinking? How stupid can you be? You ruined everything! We’re going to have to clean up your mess again! Why can’t you just do something useful for once? His lower lip trembled, unshed tears stung his eyes, seeming unwilling to fall as the clone curled into a ball and tried to appear smaller. He wanted to disappear. Distantly, he heard the sound of the door. Heard a new voice over the chaos of the other clones. A female voice. Eyes that were no longer truly seeing what was in front of him stared blearily onwards, only really catching the motion of what looked like a hand coming at him. Don’t hurt me! He swung without thinking, baring his teeth at the threat as he scrambled back up against the wall, but instead of hearing Juno’s enraged shriek, instead he heard a pained yelp that made his world stop spinning. The fear he had once felt turned ice cold when he registered you sitting before him, your arm bleeding from where his claws had torn your skin open. His fault. His fault. The other clones swarmed the both of you, helping you up to your feet even as they shouted at Chamie, even as they gave him horrified and disgusted looks. He felt the same.

    It was an accident, but what did that matter? He was just doing what he did best, after all. Chamie’s ruined everything.

[haro-whumps]

Hi I’m the first ren anon and I was wondering if you could tell me like the specific things ren does that are Not Okay? If you don’t want to that’s totally fine I’m just trying to take ren anon #2’s advice and figure out which behaviors are Bad Ones. I also don’t have insurance , so no therapy for me lol 👌😎

RIP but also I feel that. And sure! I’ll just sorta go through as we see it happen. Under cut cause this is LONG

--Possessive and controlling of Soren’s body. They blow up when he alters his appearance without their permission and against their preferences

--Desires ownership of friends, actual literal ownership.

--” But if you feel like you need to, I won’t mind if you rough him up a little during training. It might make him even more grateful to be owned by me, haha! “ Wishes ill on friend specifically so that they can play the hero, perfectly fine with putting Soren’s well-being at risk in order to emotionally manipulate him into liking them more and seeing them in a better light

--” He could’ve always come crawling back to Ren! They would have forgiven him for acting unreasonable, just because they got mad. “ Victim blaming, claiming that SOREN should be the one apologizing to THEM

-- “ They tugged the instructions off his chest, pulling at the wrong angle so the adhesive would pull at the skin. Just a little tug, just a little poke at their boy, nothing mean, no, they could never be mean to Soren. “ “ Soren cried out sharply with the next slap, backhanded and hard, his body knocked into the rim of the box he was still sitting in. “ Ren is genuinely delighted by causing Soren pain and discomfort, but internally justifies it to themself as nothing “too mean”

--” “Testing responsiveness, mm?” Ren murmured aloud, as though to themself, but entirely for Soren’s sake. “ Saying things specifically because they know it’ll distress Soren

-- “Fragile thing,” Ren murmured, petting his pretty hair, “Delicate little thing, oh, it’s alright now, it’s alright. You’re so delicate, so delicate.” Ren hurts Soren, but then follows it up by providing comfort and affection, which “overrides” the pain that they themself caused. Also, this is more subtle victim blaming, claiming that it’s SOREN’S fault that he’s in pain from the slap because he’s delicate and fragile, instead of, yknow, being in pain because Ren slapped him

--”Master–”They slammed him to the floor, hand gripping hard over his mouth, “ Ren reacts VIOLENTLY to small mistakes. Soren DIDN’T know any better in this situation, but still Ren hurts him for the accident.

--Also just in general Ren has a NASTY, hair-trigger temper that manifests in violent ways, but they self-justify once again

--” “Now you are Soren,” they said affectionately, bestowing the name like a gift, which it was. “ Ren’s ego is MASSIVE. We see throughout the series that Ren has a RIDICULOUS god-complex and believes everything they say and do is a gift bestowed upon the people around them

--as teens they coerced him into skinny dipping, which was a violation of his boundaries but they bulldozed past them because what they wanted took greater importance in Ren’s mind than Soren’s mental/emotional well-being

--Possessive, again, Ren is so possessive, reacting violently to the thought that anyone else would even touch Soren, because they see Soren as their property and their property alone. Like really there’s a reason #possessive behavior is on p much every single post in that story

--They photograph and videotape Soren without his knowledge or consent (not that his consent is particularly meaningful in this situation), which is a violation of boundaries and privacy

Like

A serious violation

Soren is under CONSTANT surveillance and he doesn’t know it (thank god, his anxiety could turn horrific if he did, if he were less the person (doll) that he is now) and that is Not Good

“ knowing that they were seeing him naked while he didn’t know that sent a thrill up their spine “ And of course Ren gets off on that violation, too

--They frequently compare Soren to birds (and later, 02 to dogs) which is dehumanizing as shit

--” tugging at the bottom of it with a sudden spike in anxiety.“Um, Exalted?”“Yes sweetheart?”“Do I, get to wear, maybe underwear, or pants, with this?”Ren laughed, squishing his freckled cheeks. “Of course not you silly goose!” “ Ren has a TOTAL disregard for Soren’s actual comfort, if what makes him uncomfortable is something that Ren wants

--“You will never,” Ren pet the hair back from one side of his face, “ever,” they pet the other side, “belong to anyone but me. You’re mine, Soren, forever, forever and ever. No one else will ever touch you, no one else will ever get you, you’re never leaving this house unless it’s on my leash.”Soren hiccupped as he smiled up at them, pressing into their palms, cheeks tearstained and ruddy.“Never, Soren,” Ren soothed, “You’ll never leave me.” Again we see Ren “comforting” Soren, but like, they’re just taking the opportunity Soren’s nightmare has provided to further manipulate him into loving and being dependent on them while securing their own possessive behaviors

--When Ren thinks Soren’s going to cut his hair, they LOSE it, screaming and hurting him, and then make him clean up the mess claiming that he was the one to make it. Super duper victim blaming galore.

--Selecting Soren’s hobbies for him. Soren may like dancing and playing the harp, but he sure as hell didn’t get to choose to do so

--Conditioning Soren to treat his collar like a lifeline and as physical proof that he is owned, which Ren manipulates into being Soren’s primary comfort.

--Drugging Soren without his knowledge or consent

--Fucking Soren, who has no actual ability to tell them no or tell them to stop if they do something he doesn’t like

--letting other people photograph him without him having any say in it, and profiting off of Soren’s physical appearance and actions.

--” pulled Soren in by the hair so hard that he yelped. But it was just because Ren was excited, so it didn’t count as actually hurting him. “ Ren has conditioned Soren to think that nothing they do “counts” as hurting him, and Soren is willing to bend over backwards to make excuses for Ren’s actions 

--” “Is that what they told you?” Ren said derisively, snorting a little. Soren blinked, and then melted. “ GASLIGHTING. Anything that doesn’t fits Ren’s narrative, they’ll manipulate. They make Soren think he’s gullible for believing other peoples “lies,” make him think he’s got a shitty memory (which, admittedly, given the universe this takes place in it’s true, but it’s still gaslighting behavior), will do anything to make Soren question his own sanity or intelligence or understanding as long as Ren gets off scott-free

--” Ren needed to reward Soren. So brave, so useful. “ Places value on their friends’ “usefulness”

--” they glanced in their rear view mirror and saw a particularly delicious sight.Soren’s mother “ They delight in the emotional distress of others, ESPECIALLY when the other people in question aren’t anybody Ren has mentally labeled as “theirs”

--They twist chaining Soren to the bed into a “reward”

--They’re willing to discard their friends at whim, as soon as it stops being convenient or entertaining for them. Also, they’re perfectly willing to get their friends arrested if it’ll suit their own ends. ALSO they isolate Lydia from her social circle and compound on her depression, making her see them as a shining light in a darkness that they, once again, caused, gaslight the fuck out of her, and have every intention of holding “sparing her” over her head

-- They punish Soren for shit that isn’t even his fault and use it as an opportunity to psychologically manipulate him further

--All of the physical abuse Ren subjects 02 to, all of the emotional manipulation, the dehumanization and degredation, plus forcing 02 to be a vouyer to Soren and Ren’s sexual acts while neither of them had any real way to consent

And that about does it! I tried not to double up on too many points, so if you go through you’ll find an instance of something in just about every paragraph, but yeah, Ren’s a nasty, nasty enby.

I love to write them but man! They are bad...

[sweetbroloveit]

I watched the Handmaid’s Tale S2 finale

Thoughts on the episode and wild speculation for next season below.

I love the Marthas so fucking much. Like honestly, I wept into my glass of wine and uttered this phrase over and over.

This episode was full of women supporting other women: The Marthas helping June and her daughter escape; June comforting Serena after she tried to stand up to the Commanders and lost a finger in the process; the wives trying to stand together to improve the futures of their daughters (even though some of them lost courage towards the end, them rebelling in the first place is a huge step forward); and even June and Rita trying to defend/honour Eden.

I love how Eden’s sacrifice had such a ripple effect on Rita, Serena and June. Despite the differences in their “stations” they are all somehow bound together whether they like it or not.

As excited as I was by the elaborate escape plan and all the people who risked their lives to make it happen, by the time June pulled out the photo of Hannah I knew she would never leave. And I’m honestly not mad. I get it. From the writers’ point of view they can’t have June out of the action in Canada. And I don’t think June would be able to achieve much from outside Gilead to be honest. Look how little Luke has been able to do to get June and Hannah out. And it’s not his fault, it’s just that Gilead is locked up so tight, he is sort of waiting around for the Canadian government or the refugee centre to do something and they must have thousands of cases. So I get it, once June leaves Gilead she won’t be able to get back in and rescue Hannah, so she has to stay. I have a feeling she’ll go underground, I seriously doubt she’ll return to the Waterford house. I agree with those who say her taking up Fred’s offer and staying on as his handmaid would be redundant from a storytelling perspective. We’ve endured 2 seasons of watching June being abused by the Waterfords, we don’t need to see more. Maybe I’m wrong, but I hope she goes into hiding, or moves into the Lawrence house and starts taking an active role in the resistance. Hopefully by uniting Mayday, the Handmaids and the Marthas (and hell, maybe even some of the wives?) in their efforts to bring down Gilead.

The only thing I don’t get is why June told Emily to call the baby Nichole. That made no sense to me. Because she still referred to her as Holly when she was telling the baby about Hannah. Maybe the reason will be revealed next season. But I will be pissed if it was some concession to Serena for letting them leave Gilead.

I also think Nick was definitely in on the escape plan. He was guiding traffic away, looked up at the house and approached before seeing June and Holly on the stairs. He didn’t look even remotely surprised, he just gave June the nod to say goodbye and go. Plus when he did come back into the house he and Rita didn’t even need to talk, she just gave him a look and he immediately followed Fred upstairs and kept him there. I am 100% convinced that Rita filled him in on the Marthas’ plan beforehand.

Speaking of Nick, he was unusually quiet this episode. Granted, he’s not the biggest talker, but even scenes where it would have made sense for him to have lines he just used a look or an exhale to communicate. Props to Max Minghella, ‘cause he made it work. But I do wonder if that was a purposeful choice or if there was something else? Because he seemed to whisper a few words in the scene with Holly (“hi sweetie” etc.) that weren’t in the script, but they were merely murmurs. Maybe Max was sick or lost his voice? Anyway, just something I noticed. Also: that scene with Nick, June and Holly was EVERYTHING! He got to hold his daughter! I had to pause so I could bawl for a good minute. And June told him she loved him finally! I love them so much. Obviously Holly will be in Canada but I also feel like they’re going to separate Nick and June next season. That scene in nursery was like their family’s goodbye for the time being. They both know how they feel about each other, they are on the same page, their daughter is safe, everyone in the Waterford household knows about them, Eden is gone, so there’s no more tension to tease in their relationship. Except for the Luke triangle thing. And I have a feeling that will only come into play further down the road. So the only way to create angst is to separate them. Which sucks, as someone who loves that relationship and the hope it brings to the overall story. But if they do intend on having June be more engaged in the rebellion next season, there should be other storylines to act as the light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m so glad Emily is getting out, I really hope she finds her wife and son next season. It will be interesting to see how she reconnects to the person she used to be. Stabbing Aunt Lydia was impulsive and reckless, not that it’s the first time she’s done something like that, but still. She has so much (understandable) anger now, I think it will be hard for her to adjust to normal life after this. I also really hope she finds Moria and Luke too and that their stories are closely intertwined. They need to expand the Canadian story, maybe start to build the rebellion that side? I kind of want Emily to give Holly to Moria and Luke as well. It will be fascinating to see how Luke reacts to June’s child with another man, particularly since he believes Fred, her rapist, is the father.

I’m also worried about Janine. I know that ever since the Red centre she’s had a very fragile mental state, but she really does seem to have accepted Gilead’s bullshit. Despite her “may the force be with you” joke earlier in the season, I don’t think she would be down for a revolution anytime soon.

Rita, I love you. No explanation necessary. Please be okay next season. She is smart though, I think she covered her tracks enough.

Oh Serena. I hate you but also feel desperately sorry for you. It was so sad to see how brave and strong she looked as she read aloud from the bible and then 5 minutes later to see how broken she was. Fred betrayed her, Gilead betrayed her, God abandoned her. Ugh. I really think she is the only person in the entire show who is a true believer – in the spiritual sense. While Fred has used their religion to suit his own agenda, twisted the parts that help him and ignored the parts that don’t, Serena seems to really believe it’s God’s will. I was really pleased she let June and Holly go. But who knows if next season, once she’s less fragile, she’ll change her mind and try track them down again. You never know with Serena. People often talk about whether or not Serena can be redeemed. I personally don’t think she can ever be forgiven for the things she’s done – there is only one ending for her – however she does have a choice about her actions going forward. The damage is done, but she can still choose to not cause any further damage.

And then there’s Fred. I hate him so much. No redemption, no pity, can’t wait for him to be set on fire and pushed off a cliff. He is just the grossest man. Trying to bribe June with seeing her stolen children, suggesting it would be fun to “try for a boy” even though they both know he is fucking sterile, and expecting her to acquiesce to his continued rape of her for no reason other than his pleasure and power trip. What an awful creep. I cheered for my girl June as she smacked the shit out of him and told him off, cheered for my boy Nick as held him back and flashed his gun. To quote June, go fuck yourself Fred. The end.

[aion-rsa]

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 5 Review: Could a Resistance Grow Inside Gilead’s Top Ranks?

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This The Handmaid’s Tale review contains spoilers.

That ending was earned. Under ordinary circumstances, the un-ironic use of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ over a slo-mo reunion scene would result in disciplinary action from the mawkishness police, but The Handmaid’s Tale gets away with it. This drama has been feel-bad for so long, it’s saved up enough feel-good pennies to splurge on moments just like this one: June and Moira, reunited. Drink it in. 

The moment was staged by director Christina Choe with dialled-up emotion and zero edge. A silhouetted Moira emerged from the battlefield smoke like a wartime sweetheart as the love song soared. It couldn’t have been played bigger if Moira had swept a fainting June up in her arms and carried her to safety. And you know what? After what these characters have been through, she’d have been welcome to do just that. This show has paid its debt to pain many times over. It’s time for some joy.

The joy wasn’t uncomplicated. We don’t yet know if Janine survived that air raid, and until that beautiful weirdo is safe and well and eating edamame beans in the Canadian sunshine, there can be no celebration. 

Like a bulldog and a butterfly that team up in an animated movie, June and Janine have made such a good dramatic contrast in season four. Their scenes together in ‘Chicago’ were intensely emotional and posed a couple of satisfyingly chewy character questions. Who is better adapted to survival – June, hell-bent on hell-raising, or Janine, who understands that life is short and grabs happiness where she finds it? And who was sounding more like Aunt Lydia in that argument – bossy, judgmental June, or motherhood-glorifying Janine?

Janine’s bright-eyed excitement about Steven – and her audible excitement in that opening sex scene – were challenging developments to watch. Last episode, Omar Maskati’s character represented a symbolic anti-climax in June and Janine’s escape from Gilead. (“You’re not Mayday, are you?, “What’s Mayday?”) When Steven demanded sex for food and shelter, he illustrated the disheartening truth that not all men whose politics should make them allies to women, are allies to women. 

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 4 Review: Gilead Doesn’t Have the Monopoly on Abuse

By Louisa Mellor

TV

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode Release Guide

By Louisa Mellor

That seemed to be the lesson The Handmaid’s Tale was teaching, until Janine fell for Steven and started imagining a future with him. That was another meaty character question from writers Nina Fiore and John Herrera: is Janine so damaged that she can’t tell when she’s being exploited, or in a show filled with high-ranking pragmatists from Commanders Lawrence and Blaine to Aunt Lydia, is Janine “I see fine” Lindo simply the chief pragmatist of them all? Unlike June, she didn’t even give her Handmaid’s cloak a second glance when she gave it up for that Cubs cap.  

On the subject of pragmatism, ‘Chicago’ saw an unlikely alliance struck between Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia, both of whom reversed their demotions and blackmailed their way back into Gilead’s top ranks. As punishment for her Handmaids’ latest escape, Aunt Lydia had been consigned to the retirement home for a life of jigsaw puzzles and crochet. Removed from the stewardship of the new Handmaids, and thus from what she considers her calling, Lydia was incandescent with rage. Her exchange with the unbending Aunt Ruth was an exhibition in passive aggression. Every “Praise be” and “Godspeed” was really another veiled “Fuck you.” And what about that cheery “Blessed Day” chirped out by the running machine? Branding is everything to a regime as morally bankrupt as Gilead.

Morally bankrupt and soon, financially too, according to Commander Lawrence. “Guns alone will not win a war, we need money as well,” he told the Council in that dramatically lit room. The Sons dismissed his words and lorded it over him like the douchebags they are. Nick betrayed Lawrence by not supporting his ceasefire, then Lawrence betrayed Nick by putting June in direct danger. There’s no honour among Commanders, it seems.

Lawrence remains a slippery customer. When he urged Aunt Lydia to help him “fix this country” and “make things right again”, was he talking about Gilead, or America? He readily agreed to give up June to Aunt Lydia for punishment, and pushed through the military action that saw June bombed, but he was also responsible for the aid mission that saw June reunited with Moira. Who really benefits from his battle plans?

Aunt Lydia’s position on Gilead has to be similarly conflicted. Thanks to her blackmail plan, she’s once again wearing its uniform, but has she really forgiven being side-lined her from her sacred duty in the first place? The new alliance is a fascinating dynamic inside Gilead’s ruling class. With Nick already operating as a double agent of sorts, could another kind of resistance be forming? 

Lydia and Lawrence might be back where they started, but June’s journey has finally taken her somewhere new, a development that’s hopefully irreversible. After years apart, she and Moira came back together in one of this series’ most moving moments and tantalising cliff-hangers. Surely this is one plot progression that can’t be rewound and reset, and other reunions will follow. Coldplay songs at the ready…

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The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 streams weekly on Hulu in the US. It will air on Channel 4 in the UK at a later date. 

The post The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 5 Review: Could a Resistance Grow Inside Gilead’s Top Ranks? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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