#he had more to offer on the show and his storyline was cut short and I’m so sad 😭

[paleshelter29]

Henry Sutton Peletier — The Walking Dead

[lazaruspiss]

recently realized that dick had a relationships with all three of his rapists beyond one incident, like he lived with liu and eddie for a while, mirage posed as kori for an extended period of time and we really have no way of knowing how long he was with catalina, this creates a pattern of people that he knows betraying him and using him for their own gratification

which makes me think of his relationships with his family and friends rn, if one of them started crossing boundaries would he accept it? would he even have expected it? if babs didn’t hear him say wait one night would he know that it’s a mistake or would he think “ah, you too?”

like he loves his family and trusts them with his life but I don’t think he can trust them not to hurt him and that includes sexually, part of it is the constant paranoia that comes with being a vigilante for almost two decades and part of it is unprocessed trama but thinking anyone could start to abuse him probably isn’t good for his health or for his relationships lmao

oh for sure for sure!! im also fairly convinced dick would struggle seeing any of those incidents as rape. the liu incident doesn't meet the proper legal qualifications, he was at times blamed by his own team for what happened with mirage, and so much plays into the situation with catalina that im not sure he'd even be able to process it at all. the murder takes priority, and he'd see it more through a lense of him failing to save cat than him being assaulted.

dick wouldn't /want/ to have been assaulted, so i don't think he'd categorize any of that as rape. if others cross boundaries, he might justify/minimize it out of habit. less that he thinks anyone could/would abuse him, and more that he would never recognize harm done to him as abuse.

(some notes for those without context on some of the stuff being referred to!)

liu and eddie: there's a storyline in which dick runs away at 16 (or as he puts it, one month short of 17) and lives on his own. by which i mean, most likely homeless. he works as a dishwasher iirc. one day, his coworker recommends these people who take in teenaged runaways and offers them a place to stay. it's functionally a gang that uses cult recruitment tactics to manipulate teenagers into doing their bidding. the /they/ being liu and eddie. dick is just another kid, and doesnt realize what they're doing until he's already pretty deep in it. there's a fair amount of bonding and attachment, with liu and eddie showing him favoritism and singling him out in a way that makes them his primary support network. eventually this all leads to a sexual encounter between dick and liu. something worth noting: the age of consent in new jersey (where gotham is and where this story is set) is 16, and as it was a technically consensual encounter it is incredibly unlikely for it to be legally classified as rape/sexual assault.

mirage: ok imma be real u gotta ask someone else for this one. or maybe read the actual comics bc tumblr is a mess when looking for actually useful info.

catalina: ok!! ok... from my understanding there was originally going to be a full plotline about dick being in an abusive relationship with catalina, but it was rushed/cut short so that DC could put nightwing in a batman crossover event. classic. but dick had already been trying to mentor catalina for a decent while before she started abusing him. tried to /mentor/ her. her hurting him? to dick, it would likely feel like a reflection on him. that /he/ must have fucked up for her to end up doing something like that. it's left somewhat vague, but we don't have any reason to not believe cat continued to sexually abuse dick off page. we see her get him drunk and try to get him to sign marriage documents, she wants to /possess/ him. dick is incredibly dissociative throughout the aftermath, up until DC needed to force him out of his own story arc to hold daddy bat's hand. sorry lol

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme - LINK - Update

This update is really important even though not a lot of the text has changed.

I have updated the recently added The Past section to the following:

The Past The Season 2 present day storyline is broadly solvable for the sideburns without examining the minisodes. The minisodes offer other things to examine more closely regarding the spaces themselves, but these things don't really seem to tell you how the sideburns work in the present day. One can look for parallels regarding the hair in the first two minisodes. By this point, I think the third minisode, the one where Crowley has sideburns in 1941, is intentionally set up as a test because it reverses so much of how the present day sideburns work. When things aren't reversed, they at least don't quite match the season 2 present day. I'm reasonably sure of myself in a lot of this theory for the season 2 present day, so that's why I think this test is doing what it does. I will cover it more once I reach that point. Still, the Job minisode offers a clue to pay attention to when a roof is around, which then actually gives a clue about the roof of Crowley's car in the ending credits. Generally, the minisodes suggest to keep an eye out for fire and hats or head gear too.

It has taken me days, lots of notes, contemplation, and a good chunk of this afternoon to come to that conclusion for the 1941 minisode. It was not easy, and I'll update accordingly if I ever find differently.

...

I have gone back to an older theory on an activation point for longer sideburns at the end of episode 6:

I currently think it is because of a combination of stillness and his left arm's exclusive touch on the threshold. There is plenty more going on with such a touch, but I think those two factors are what are really increasing the length.

That part used to mention the pocket touch, then added the legs being crossed, then maybe a symbol of fire, and hats, and...after awhile, those things seemed like too much and didn't quite add up based on what they show otherwise. I think I had it right the first time when generally starting out on this overall series and theory.

The pocket touch is still really important, but I don't think it's why the sideburns are long.

...

Removed saying in the past, hats could force or counter the effect, as thresholds do. I think that was incorrect and was me failing the earlier mentioned test regarding the 1941 minisode.

...

Updated about the recently noticed fleeting moment of short sideburns in episode 6 in the bookshop to the following:

-Being in the bookshop with two humans when Aziraphale enters and before the humans leave in episode 6. There are pocket touches on his pants, but pants pocket touches themselves have not been shown to change the sideburn length. If anything, the sideburn length has been shown to remain as it is during and after pants pocket touches or have other reasons for changing, such as no longer touching a door. He is shown blurred from some distance, so it's easy to miss him. He's to the camera's right behind Nina. Both humans are no longer looking at him. It's a cut that ensures Crowley is briefly visible before the next Muriel scene.

Updated some of the portion on The Door Trick to make it more clear that I think the longest-length is the door touch and stillness. Crowley's doing a lot of important, specific things, but those are the parts I think really change the length.

So, updated portion is like so:

Well, I already mentioned my answer before, but I'll go over what he's doing because it's rather specific despite how simple it looks. This character is precise in his choices, whatever this scheme really is. He is standing incredibly still. He has his legs crossed. The scene is structured to alert us that even though we can't see his feet, they are not touching the edge of the sidewalk—a threshold. He has his right hand fingers in his pocket and his thumb outside the pocket. The camera work ensures we know that he is not touching the window frame despite the incoming angle where we, otherwise, could not know. His left arm is touching the door panel. The door panel is the threshold. It is not an earthly object. He is touching his own space in his own way while watching Aziraphale's departure. I think the length is due specifically to the stillness and touch on the door of the car.

...

And that's it. Those are the changes.

[tiredassmage]

Well, I think Friday night attested enough to the fact that I'm back on a swing of Tyr brainrot, so I think it's about time I get back up on my little dynamics soapbox and talk another area of his possibly logic-defying loyalties. I miss Ardun Kothe, dude. I miss that old man.

I was gonna save this until I got far enough in... whichever number playthrough edition I'm on at this point, I've lost count, but. I'm in my feelings too much to wait.

Kind of the short of it is there's... quite a bit he pulls from his relationship with the Minister that also shows up in his relationship with Ardun. Which does put Tyr in a pretty interesting position at the end of the Agent campaign, so with that said, we're naturally in pretty decently big Agent storyline spoilers for Chapters 2 & 3, so newer friends and wanderers, that will be under a cut if you wish or need to avoid those until a later date.

I almost wish I had some eloquent way to build all of this up, but I don't really feel like I do. Because what I do have is that I think Tyr's forgiveness of Ardun for the entirety of the Castellans starts almost the moment Ardun finalizes his orders.

Of course, in the moment, his entire life's just gotten upended and his priorities are... shaken, to understate. But under Castellan orders or not, Tyr's mission orders from Imperial Intelligence were to find out Kothe's plan and only then eliminate. Standing on Nar Shadaa with a blaster leveled at the man on their first meeting was thus never part of Tyr's plan to begin with.

But Ardun says enough here that will setup the rest of their relationship. "With the lives we've saved.., maybe we'll both find forgiveness."

So, what Tyr learns about Ardun here that then tracks through the rest of his time as part of his SIS team is Ardun's respected and trusted by his team - with the same kind of trust that Tyr affords the Minister of Intelligence [that is, Tyr trusts he'll never be asked to do anything unduly harmful to himself, without very good reasoning]. What Tyr defines as "unduly harmful" is... not exactly the layman, reasonable person's "unduly harmful," as pretty much evidenced by how he responds to the introduction of the Castellan Restraints and why they were used on him, but that's it's own post and more on that with his relationship with the Minister.

More than anything, I think it's that even one second at a glimpse of some sort of remorse that Tyr gets in this initial conversation that makes Ardun Kothe a man Tyr's still willing to trust, despite this being their introduction.

Because Ardun goes on to be the kind of leader Tyr's willing to follow. Kothe trusts his team, and it's hard to trust Tyr as this would-be defector because it would backfire on his team first. One of Ardun's hard-set orders is not being able to harm the team.

Then Chance is pulled off of Taris and looked after. Chance might not be able to rejoin them, but he's getting treatment. He's taken care of. In general, broad strokes, when Tyr offers trust to Ardun, Ardun responds. They've already spoken on I wouldn't trust me, either, so there's no use dwelling on it.

In the end, Tyr's takeaway - his assessment, if you will - of Ardun Kothe is that he's a man with regrets. He's another leader trying to do his best for the people reporting to him when his hands have been bound by undesirable circumstances. Unlike the tensions that develop pretty much from the start between Tyr and Hunter, Tyr never quite finds Kothe delighting in the use of the Castellans, even if he does continue to use them. And that's enough of a difference in handling for Tyr to notice and respect.

So, Ardun Kothe survives the trip to Quesh and the Shadow Arsenal - for a mix of Tyr's respect of his leadership of his team and the absolute harrowing nature and exhaustion of the last several months of work, trying to survive acting as a double agent, trying to unravel the story behind the Castellans and their use on Intelligence operatives... Tyr lets the entire SIS team walk. [Excepting Hunter, in the end, but Tyr's not particular counting the one that was playing them all against each other for bloodsport, and that's, again, not exactly for this post lol.]

And then they run into each other again on Corellia. It's for the best for both of them that Ardun believes his story when he lays out the setup of the Star Cabal. It's one interaction that could've hurt them if Ardun had insisted on taking him in - because Tyr had a job to finish, and no amount of his dissatisfaction with the Sith and the dissolution of Imperial Intelligence was going to change that Tyr believed the Star Cabal was a threat far greater than all of it. Ardun trusting his judgement.

And that leaves us with the Black Codex and the interesting... you could call it 'betrayal' of Tyr caught between his loyalty to the Minister, to Imperial Intelligence specifically, rather than the Empire as a whole, and his loyalty to his ideals, to himself - to everything Ardun is, in essence, offering by suggesting Legate stick around. Especially after the Minister just got done reminding Tyr about the difference between ideals and goals, and how theirs is a society that relies upon authority to make changes - progress.

Because there's a part of Tyr that already knows he risks the people he just spent the last several years fighting for by handing over that Codex to Ardun Kothe. Everything Tyr just spent trying to make the last gasp of Imperial Intelligence mean something, to prove their worth in their final hours is still at risk if this final proof isn't produced. If he doesn't deliver this to "safe hands."

But for all their talk of ideals... What both the Minister and Ardun Kothe have done is shown Tyr to fight for what's important to him and hang onto it with both hands, bloody knuckles and all. Because it's never guaranteed. Because someone else will always find it a risk. There's always the threat of non-conformity. The line between obedience and ingenuity, as Lokin calls it.

In a sense, choosing the Minister or Ardun, if he's able to continue working directly for either, offer him the same kind of protection: the same faith in his abilities. But behind them is still the Empire and the Republic. Neither are perfect. Tyr might be a man who's more fond of his ideals than he may realize, but he isn't naive. But the ideals of those sides on paper are not the same, and so the question becomes just as much about what are you willing to fight for? Who do you really want to be?

Ardun won't be able to magically pull him out of the precarious position Tyr ends up in by accepting Ardun's offer to maintain work as a double agent. Some might've been inclined to argue if Ardun would've ever actually pulled him out of the Empire because that wasn't even part of their original verbal agreement. In the end, the galaxy got far more messy than either of them could've predicted at the time and such musings no longer matter in an era of the Alliance.

But Tyr ultimately decided to trust the man with his life. A little remorse was enough to tell Tyr there was some recognition of the whole situation. Ardun he trusts did not do what he did out of direct malice. He looks up to him, respects him. A bit of a supportive authority and even parental figure that... Tyr didn't exactly have growing up. In this kind of work, someone like Tyr will hang on to the few people he feels he can trust and respect. There's not a lot of them. I think even just... having a connection where the openly-stated goal was to work together for something better did a lot for Tyr. There was a lot about his career in the wake of Imperial Intelligence's downfall that was isolating - and yes, some was in part because of his position as a double agent, because of that decision made with the Black Codex. But it was a reminder that it was worth it. It was possible to fight for something better. Ardun gave him that chance.

And, of course, they played a fair few hands of Centran Sabacc, by the end. Tyr will never say where he learned, but a fond, nostalgic smile will usually accompany those memories of evenings spent between missions playing cards with the SIS team, checking weapons with Saber and Wheel, wresting with Chance. Those were the kind of memories, the kind of friends worth fighting for.

[agenderakali]

The LBGT rep in League of Legends seems interesting so far!

If you had any critiques on how the rep as a whole is being portrayed, which would they be?

Sorry if this seems like too much of a hassle, you just piqued my interest, is all 😆

Oh I have SO many things to say about the LGBT representation in League, I love to talk about it. So, league started out as a very cishetereo, misogynist IP and a lot of that unfortunately shows to this day. A lot of the old designs are crappy and misogynistic, the fanbase is toxic. But over time devs have been updating their designs, lore, stories, and characters and in doing so have introduced more LGBT characters into the universe.

This pretty much started with Caitlynn and Vi all the way back in 2012. They were originally billed as the "good cop bad cop" duo from Piltover. Vi's short hair and their close working relationship got a lot of people speculating on Vi being a lesbian and them being more than business partners. Devs hinted at characters being queer, and the (predominantly cishet man) fanbase made homophobic jokes and memes about queer coded characters. Jokes, speculation, and hints from developers was all there was when it came to LGBT rep. That changed when Varus got his lore update in 2017, when they decided to totally retcon his old lore and say he is not some guy, actually is a gay couple that gave up their mortal forms to exist in the body of a darkin (?? kinda weird and complicated lore) but shortly after that, Neeko was revealed. Who was League's first openly gay champion. She had voice lines flirting with women and showing no interest in men. Beyond her sexuality though, she's just got a very funny and adorable personality and her interest in women isnt sexualized for the mostly male audience. She was very well received despite some bigoted gamers bitching.

After that more and more champions were introduced as queer or confrimed that way. Rell was introduced as openly bisexual, K'sante was openly gay, Leona and Diana got a story where they kissed and were confirmed as lovers. Arcane confirmed Vi and Caitlynn being a couple. The amount of queer content is kind of sparing since their games arent rlly story focused and only offer characterization through brief voice lines. So... to be clear its kind of just representation crumbs. But I take them anyways dfkjgh. I think at least, one of the best things they did recently was confirm Graves as a gay man, his "work" partner Twisted Fate as bisexual, and wrote a story about their burgeoning romantic interest in eachother. Many of the queer characters league introduced were new, and some ended up neglected in the vast roster of characters. League has also avoided representation of gay male characters, probably to try to avoid displeasing their mostly straight male audience. Graves and Twisted Fate however, are very established & beloved characters in league, with a complicated history with eachother that started all the way back in 2011. For many years people joked about them "bickering like an old married couple" and in a pride event they officially confirmed it... I think it was very well done and meaningful to see and I really, really hope they further explore it in future cinematics/stories with these two. I really hope it doesn't end up being confined to this one story.

All of that said, though, League's major flaw in their representation is the lack of rep for trans people. The first attempt at a trans character in League was Taliyah. Her creator revealed that they intended for her storyline to involve her experience being a trans girl, but that part of her story was cut by higher ups. Taliyah is pretty much universally accepted as being trans by the community, but the studio did tell designers to keep it on the downlow, which is bullshit. She's been left out of league's pride events and I really hope they remedy that soon.

This post is getting way long I'm sorry but I CANT go without mentioning their other trans character from Legends of Runeterra, the card game they released based of league of legends. LoR actually has more queer representation than any league media, and builds out the world a LOT, through LoR we got confirmation about established character like Miss Fortune and Nami being queer themselves. And most notably, we have a surprisingly amazing representation of a trans character.

Tyari, the Traveler starts off going by he/him, and is starting a journey up the mountain of Targon. It's a treacherous climb but if you make it to the top, you could become an ascended being, basically. So throughout the game, cards of their friends and the people around them have lines support their journey and encouraging them.

When they reach the top, Tyari becomes the Traveler, a goddess-like being with a more feminine voice and appearance. You realize that the journey up the mountain is used as an allegory for her transition, and it throws those interactions with Taric in a whole new light. She is also voiced by trans voice actress Maddie Taylor.

I literally cannot listen to these lines between Tyari and her future self without tearing up. I don't know HOW a league of legends card game managed to put together a decent trans storyline but it guts me.

Tyari is a very beloved character from the card game, many fans want to see more of her in any future league media. (me included, oh my god)

SORRY that was a lot but uh. Tl;dr League representation is hit and miss, they really need to do better and give more representation towards trans people. the only representation outside of Arcane is like. Voice lines and short stories published on their website so I hope they'll creature more in depth queer storylines in future seasons of Arcane, future shows/movies, and their upcoming games around the League IP.

[wrestlingisfake]

Hard to Kill preview

Alex Shelley vs. Moose - Shelley won the Impact men's world title in June; as of this week it's been rebranded as the TNA men's world title. Moose earned this title shot in September in a "feast or fired" match.

I'm honestly not sure there's any backstory to this match. The promotion basically went dark after December 9, and the weekly TV has been little more than clip shows and hype for the big rebranding from Impact back to TNA.

The match works without much context, though. Shelley was a mainstay with TNA from 2004 to 2012, as one of the young indy-riffic guys stuck in the midcard; since returning in 2020, he's been exalted as a veteran and a symbol of everything great about the promotion's history. Moose started with the company in 2016, a few months before Dixie Carter sold it to Anthem; he's been a mainstay ever since as they've gradually climbed out of a deep hole. In many respects, either of these men would make sense as the standard-bearer in this new era.

I don't see a title change happening here. When Shelley first won the title I figured it was a short-term thing until they could get it back on Josh Alexander, but they've seemed pretty committed to this run. My guess is that Moose is just here to give Shelley a statement win, so he can be standing tall at the end of the show when some hotter name debuts as a more serious contender. I don't know that TNA has anybody major coming in, but they made serious offers for CM Punk and Will Ospreay and didn't get either of them, so they probably spent that money on somebody...

Trinity vs. Jordynne Grace - Trinity is the defending TNA women's world champion. Grace won a "call your shot" battle royale in October to earn this match.

It's been exactly one year since Grace lost the title to Mickie James. When Mickie had to forfeit the belt due to injury, Deonna Purrazzo beat Grace to win the vacant title. Purrazzo then dropped the chammpionship to Trinity in July.

Trinity debuted with Impact/TNA back in April, almost a year after an acrimonious departure from WWE. Nevertheless, there's been a lot of rumblings about her returning to WWE very soon. Whether or not you put any stock in that, it's going to be the elephant in the room for this match.

Of course, even if Trinity is headed for the Royal Rumble in two weeks, that doesn't mean she has to lose this match. She could easily retain here and finish up at tomorrow's TV tapings. Or she could just stay in TNA. Or she could leave, but go to AEW or who-knows-where. But if I had to put money on it, I think the safest bet is on Grace winning the title.

Chris Sabin vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. KUSHIDA - This is a three-way bout for Sabin's TNA X division championship. Vikingo's AAA mega title is not at stake.

Originally, the X division was TNA's concept for showcasing smaller, flippier wrestlers without calling them "cruiserweights" or "junior heavyweights." De-emphasizing the weight classes worked out well for bringing in Samoa Joe, but eventually led to dopey storylines where Kevin Nash and Bully Ray wanted the belt because there was no rule that said they couldn't win it. At one point a weight limit was imposed to cut that shit out. Of late there's no sense that you have to be a particular size or work a particular style to be in contention for the X title. This match, though, is clearly about getting back to the tradition of flippy shit.

Sabin, who's been with the promotion for most of its 22 years, has held the X title ten times. Kushida was a six-time junior heavyweight champion in New Japan, but he's through being pigeonholed in that weight class so he's made TNA his new home. Vikingo is one of the flippiest flippy guys I've ever seen, which is saying a lot in an X division match. I'd say Vikingo would make a good titleholder for the new era, but he's signed to AEW and I'm not confident he'll be sticking around. I'm thinking Sabin retains.

Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone - Hammersone, who looks like Brock Lesnar and Pat McAfee had a baby, just entered free agency after a five-year run in MLW. Josh Alexander hasn't held a title for nearly a year, but at 36 he's clearly the guy you want to build the company around, since most of the other top acts are hitting 40. I assume Josh wins unless TNA thinks they can sign Hammerstone, or at least get him to commit to another match.

Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey & Trent Seven vs. Zack Gibson & James Drake - ABC (Austin & Bey) are defending the TNA men's tag team belts in a four-way. They won the belts from Wentz and Miguel (of the Rascalz). Seven debuted last month to team with Bailey in a winning effort against the Rascalz. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Gibson and Drake) are making their debut with the promotion after a lengthy run in NXT.

This is probably going to be a lot of action, but it probably won't matter how it turns out. No matter who wins, I expect these teams to see a lot of each other in the next couple of months. If I have to pick a winner, I guess I'll go with Gibson and Drake.

Alisha Edwards vs. Dani Luna vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Jody Threat vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Xia Brookside - This is a six-woman "ultimate X" match. The ring will have poles or scaffolding attached to the ring posts, so that two cables can be hung up, criss-crossing about ten feet above the mat. A prize is hung where the cables meet--it could be a briefcase, but it's typically a giant red "X". The first woman to recover the prize wins the match--other than that, there are no rules. The winner will earn a future women's world title match.

The women's division feels a little weak with Mickie James, Deonna Purrazzo, and (perhaps?) Trinity leaving. Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly, Jessicka Havok, and Courtney Rush aren't booked for this show (so far) and I haven't seen TNA make a big deal out of re-signing any of them (yet). So it's probably time for one or two of the women in this match to step up as a top contender. Luna and Brookside, who came over after the shutdown of NXT UK, probably have the most long-term potential. I wouldn't sleep on Steelz, though.

Anyone could win this, really. It could be someone they're building up for a big push heading into the April PPV, or it could be someone they're just feeding to the champion next week on TV.

Dirty Dango vs. PCO - Dango is the wrestler formerly known as Fandango in WWE, but of late he's reinvented himself as a bitter veteran heel, because heaven knows we don't have enough of those in wrestling. PCO is the wrestler formerly known as Quebecer Pierre in WWE, but a few years back he reinvented himself as a Frankenstein monster, which is a much cooler idea. I'm pretty sure PCO wins, unless he's leaving the promotion soon.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Crazzy Steve - This is scheduled for the pre-show. Dreamer's TNA digital media title is on the line. I think I heard Steve turned on Black Taurus and got more edgelord-y than usual, but I haven't actually seen him in a long time. Dreamer probably still has value as an old-timer wrestler, but not as a champion. I'd give the belt to Steve, but I'm not counting on a title change.

Eric Young & Frankie Kazarian vs. Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers - Another pre-show match. Edwards used to lead the "entitled journeymen" stable Honor No More, and Myers used to be in an "entitled journeymen" tag team with Matt Cardona, and somewhere along the line they just got thrown together to complain about how the promotion doesn't appreciate them enough. EY and Kaz have been in and out of this company for twenty years; I feel like they used to be in a faction together but I don't care enough to look it up. This one could go either way.

Rich Swann vs. Steve Maclin - Still another pre-show match. Both of these guys have been Impact world champions, so I'm not sure what they're doing so far down the card. I'm guessing that only the winner of this match will get a chance to do something about that. I'm thinking Maclin wins.

[tanlace]

concept: hiding from the idealistic rich folks becomes a sport. blair cameron’s reputation is her gold mine; jj maybank has never been afraid to get his knuckles bloody for anything. what’s a more chaotic pair than a girl who has all she could want but is never satisfied, and a boy whose most prized possessions are the sky and the sea?

a series of one-shots preceding valley of the dolls. does not follow the storyline of the show. all are inspired by various songs off the taylor swift albums evermore and folklore.

august: our story starts with a girl and a boy, their face basked in sunlight as they sipped on daiquiris and, for a moment, it seemed the line between the rich and the poor has faded into stardust (paper can be brutally heavy when it is stained with lipstick).

illicit affairs: in the wake of their newfound feelings, blair and jj are prepared to do anything in order to keep their clandestine meetings under wraps as autumn rolls in.

the last great american dynasty: jj is working a wedding at the country club and has no choice but to watch blair from afar as she bathes in all the riches he could never give her . . . holding the hand of a boy who can.

‘tis the damn season: as christmas settles in, blair and jj drive out to the cameron’s lakeside lodge for the weekend to bask in misty quiet the december snow so-generously offers.

mirrorball: following the surprise reemergence of her mother at her father’s birthday party, blair stains her dress with red wine and breaks down in the bathroom. jj is there to pick up the pieces, confronted to a side of the lavish girl he had never witnessed before.

invisible string: the window is always left open for the only person who felt the dire need of slithering through it way after midnight. following a fight out by the beachside, blair has her hands full with an injured jj and bloodstains on her carpet that seemed to have flocked in the shape of a bold, red string from the windowsill to the bed.

long story short: a drunken jj reminisces his failed, past relationships and comes to the conclusion that the girl he would like to spend his forever with is the one with the champagne glass, pressing a cold cloth to his forehead.

all too well: after blair abruptly cuts things off with jj on a warm april night, he finds himself struggling to pick up the pieces, finding a piece of her in everything he sees, smells and does. neither of them quite believes that this is the end . . . but the next page is blank.

[abbyholmes]

Ok. I saw THE episode.

Whoa.

Best episode of the Season so far. Maybe one of the show’s overall best. What I loved:

- The way Buck is once again amazing at calming down two scared children. I mean I‘m not a parent-y Person, but that man is so Dad-shaped it melts my heart.

- May and Athena undercover!!! I was LIVING for May‘s sarcastic addict performance. She clearly has her mom‘s investigation-genes. And I love that they are supporting Bobby in investigating his sponsor‘s death.

- I still hate the Buckley Parents but I do like that there is some kind of progress. Don‘t get me wrong I think cutting ties with bad parents is totally legit and I hope Maddie and Buck always Keep them at an arm‘s lenght. But I do like that there seems to be some kind of healing going on and I hope it will bring Maddie and Buck more peace of mind in the long run. (Bobby and Athena are still Buck‘s parents and the 118 is his found family, Zero doubts there.)

- Albert being back!!! Even though I wish he hadn‘t brought his dad. But maybe it will be good for Chim to finally tell his father how angry and hurt he really is.

- Buck‘s smile after his conversation with Maddie on a world where Daniel hadn‘t died. It was so short and yet had so many layers. Buck looks so content in this moment. As if, yes, life isn‘t perfect and his biological family is Even further from perfect, but he has Maddie and Chim and his niece and his 118 family and life is good anyway. Idk the smile did something to my heart.

- Mom-Hen. I just like her. And I hope Danny comes clean about his Dad soon and they can find a good patchwork solution that works for everyone and makes Danny feel happy, loved and protected.

- Hen saying That Karen Lobes surprises but the definitely does not. (Same, Hen. Same.)

- Athena worrying about Bobby. I just love those two so much.

- Buck offering to listen to Bobby and really actively being there for him. It is just the essence of Buck and I‘m so here for it.

- THE. CHILLI. CONVERSATION. I mean…it had me smirk with tears in my eyes. Peak Television. They are father and son, your honor. (And I prefer to put very dark chocolate in my Chilli instead of coacoa powder. But you do you, Bobby.)

- The way the pregnant Woman on the Uber was hilarious before the Crash. I love me some light-Heartedness in the darkness.

-And then: All the foreshadowing in the episode. Buck going up instead of Chimney. ‚Go get them, Cowboy‘. ‚What is that?‘ (A THUNDERSTORM, you adorable dumbass), THE SILENCE After Buck gets hit by lightning. Eddie struggling back to his feet. Buck dangling up there. The disbelief on everyone‘s faces. Eddie screaming Buck‘s name in growing desperation. ‚Come here, kid‘, Chimney forgetting Medical facts because this is Buck and Buck can‘t be in cardiac Arrest, ‚Eddie, You’re driving‘, Eddie’s desperate ‚Talk to me, Buck!‘ (IS THIS ANOTHER TOP GUN REFERENCE After ‚you can have my back anyday- or you know, you could have mine’? Is this a ‚Talk to me, Goose‘?!? I HAVE QUESTIONS), the immense shooting / Eddie trapped Below the ground Parallels!!!

- Stellar Performances all around!

This Episode has WRECKED me. My Heart hurt so much for Buck and for all of them. I am seriously worried for Bobby. It‘s going to be so difficult for him. A Part of me hopes That there might be some Buddie-Realization on the Horizon for both Eddie and Buck. (I love them both as bffs and as a ship and I think both interpretations are equally valid even though I would prefer a Potential bisexual slowburn on a popular Show actually becoming canon).

I am excited to See how Eddie will Deal with his emotions. How the Team, Maddie and Athena will Support each other through this. Who will sit watch at Buck‘s side. What Cheistopher will say. If Eddie will Talk to Coma-Buck and be angry with hin for Not Waking up. What Coma-Buck will experience. It‘s…the storyline is so sad and so intriguing and has so many layers. 911 did it again and I love it.

I‘m so glad Fox already gave us some pictures of Oliver still being on Set. I would have seriously worried if they are going to kill Buck otherwise.

[nym-wibbly]

Two things; Have you read 'Down to Agincourt'? and You know how you tried giving Rumbelle a short cut to their happy ending by making a small canonical change early in their story? What change would you make for Destiel to get their happy ending?

I have not read Down to Agincourt. Should it go on my to-read list? Author/link?

And the right trouser of time to give Dean and Cas a clear path to a happily ever after, together? I... god! Lemme think.

I mean, Belle's and Rumple's jumping off point offered itself: change things just enough that when Rumple panics, thinking Belle can't possibly love him, he can't actually drive her away before they can work it through. So, I went with, "His price was her hand in marriage." It had to be a twist on the choices they made in Skin Deep—one that brought their conflict(s) to a head much, much sooner than a network TV show could possibly allow for (short of wrapping their storyline), right? Their first story, their origin story and the wider first season, has all the tools I need, because Rumple is the primary antagonist of the piece as well as a romantic lead in this particular plot thread. If Rumple chills his tits during a season one equivalent timeline, and finds his family happy place before he's pushed Regina too far—finds and believes in Belle's love, finds Bae before it's too late, finds peace of any kind and reaches the point where he's unwilling to risk losing it by meddling further with everyone else or seeking more power—none of the chaos he later unleashes ever needs to happen. It stops the dominoes falling if Rumple just does nothing. He's his own worst enemy, quite literally.

That's A Bed of Thorns, and Broken Wheel, and probably the other little pieces I wrote as well. I don't think I could do the same sort of handwave to Supernatural's storyline without actually dooming their entire world in the knock-on effects. Could I? No single choice they make would prevent the apocalypse showdown on its own, and if the apocalypse showdown happens, the consequences keep on hitting and hitting until the finish line. They're reacting rather than initiating. And their hands are so much more tied by the narrative than the Once Upon a Time characters. Their free will really... isn't... until they've dealt with Chuck once and for all. Maybe not even then. Maybe if they figured out way early on that writer-Chuck was God there'd be a way to keep a lid on everything? Gah! My brain just imploded trying to noodle it through!

Nope. No, I'd have to go with a Major Storyline Change Type AU or a Different Universe Setting AU to pull off a shortcut romance with happy ending for Cas and Dean. There'd have to be less of a cosmic threat, or the threat be easier to contain, so they had time for themselves. Dean would have to be sure Sam was safe, at the very least, before he'd let himself have a shot at love. And at the same time, the Dean-Cas relationship still needs to be forged in fire and trust and loss and differences - or some plausible plot-substitute/equivalent - to throw the same 'shippy sparks.

[cinemapremi]

Drowning in Disappointment: Aquaman 2 Review and Why It Failed to Make Waves

So, the curtains have closed on the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), or whatever we'd like to call it – Worlds of DC, SnyderVerse. And the final act is handed to none other than Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In a year where DC movies faced some setbacks, this aquatic adventure takes center stage this Christmas. But does it swim or sink? Let's unravel the depths of this cinematic sea. Vin Diesel Faces Serious Sexual Battery Accusations: What You Need to Know Salaar Review: Game of Thrones Vibes? Why ‘Salaar’ is Prabhas’s Blockbuster Return! Salaar vs Dunki Box Office Battle: Salaar’s Massive Opening Day, Is Dunki Left in the Dust?

The Opening Splash

Aquaman (Jason Momoa) returns to catch us up on his life, but the initial promise of a light-hearted tone quickly succumbs to the darker currents of the comic-book universe. Black Manta's vendetta against Aquaman takes center stage, intertwined with an ancient force threatening global destruction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGc5Tzz19UY&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Pictures

Momoa's Personal Touch

Momoa's passion for the sequel is evident as he weaves his culture into the storyline, expanding on environmental themes from the first movie. Climate change echoes through the plot, though at times, it feels like a faceless villain's agenda rather than a meaningful exploration.

Choppiness Beneath the Surface

The movie's editing raises questions, with frequent cuts to black, exposition dumps, and repeated dialogues muddying the waters. The rushed pace between action set pieces may leave you craving coherence.

The Cast and the Waves

Despite the challenges, the cast delivers commendable performances. Momoa adds layers to Aquaman, Patrick Wilson's Orm brings laughs, and supporting characters like Topo steal the show. However, Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) feels underutilized, losing the depth he had in the first movie.

A Tale of Two Acts

The initial slog of the movie may leave you questioning its direction, but once past it, the dynamic between Orm and Arthur brings a fun stretch. The buddy-comedy tone, though deviating from the rom-com style of the first movie, provides moments of levity.

Underwater Spectacle or Soggy Sequel?

The visual beauty of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom extends to vibrant production design, but the rapid-paced action set pieces, especially in 3D, can become a digital blur. The utilization of talent in a CGI-heavy environment might leave you yearning for a more grounded narrative.

The Final Act of an Era

As the last film in the DCEU continuity, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom bids farewell to a chapter that began in 2013. While not terrible, it lacks the compelling elements to spark a desire for further sequels.

The Lost Kingdom's Shallow Depths

The film, despite its cartoony undersea setting, fails to offer anything particularly thrilling or moving. It efficiently follows the blockbuster formula but falls short in originality and emotional resonance.

A New Dawn for DC

With the cinematic universe getting a reboot, starting with James Gunn's Superman: Legacy in 2025, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom stands as the final chapter in an era marked by ups and downs.

Public Reviews

https://twitter.com/cpimentelart/status/1738097311312687588 "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) offers a simple yet captivating story. Black Manta, seeking revenge, obtains a cursed trident, posing a global threat. Arthur, alongside his half-brother Orm, must save the world. While the plot lacks complexity, the visual spectacle and IMAX 3D action sequences captivate. Director James Wan maintains simplicity, highlighting the bond between half-siblings, enhancing the film's sweetness. However, editing issues are noticeable. Performances impress, with Jason Momoa excelling as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson delivering a stellar performance, and Yahya Abdul Mateen II shining as the formidable antagonist. The IMAX 3D experience enhances the overall appeal of this final DCEU film." https://twitter.com/ThatUmbrella/status/1737867020064976986

"Wow! It's amazing! I recommend watching it in 3D; it's the best 3D movie I've ever seen. Compared to Avatar, Aquaman 2 has more action, giving a mind-blowing 3D experience. The movie is super enjoyable, though a bit predictable, but the characters grow well. Forget Marvel or DC; it's perfect for Christmas holidays, a huge film. James Wan's direction is even better than the first Aquaman. If you want a fun, action-packed 3D movie, this is it. Trust me; you won't regret it. Oh, and the creatures in the movie are a blast, so much fun!" "I don't get why people dislike this movie. I saw it tonight, and I loved it! The visuals and fight scenes were awesome, almost breathtaking. It's super funny too! I laughed throughout the whole movie. I'm planning to see it again in theaters; that's how good it was. I know the first Aquaman didn't click with everyone, but I promise this one will! Do yourself a favor and go watch it; you won't regret it. If you were expecting a movie with deep character development, this isn't it. But if you want a big, action-packed movie that's fun and entertaining for the family, this is perfect! It's so much fun, and the 3D is amazing with fantastic visual effects! Just beautiful to watch! I'm going again this Friday, and trust me; this is the fun action movie you need for the holidays to watch with your family; it's non-stop fun!" https://twitter.com/only_grandma/status/1737920700529217621 Is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom a standalone film? No, it is the sequel to 2018's Aquaman and serves as the final film in the original DCEU continuity. What sets this Aquaman movie apart visually? The movie retains its predecessor's deep-sea spectacle, showcasing underwater worlds with a level of wonder. Why does Black Manta feel underused in the sequel? Despite the talent of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Black Manta's character lacks the depth and interest seen in the first movie. How does Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom contribute to the environmental theme? The sequel expands on environmental aspects, addressing rising temperatures and melting ice caps, albeit in a somewhat convoluted manner. Will there be another Aquaman movie? As of now, there are no plans for a third Aquaman movie, making Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom the conclusion of this underwater saga. In conclusion, while Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom navigates the seas of blockbuster expectations, it struggles to deliver a memorable finale to the DCEU era. The film's mix of vibrant visuals and rushed storytelling leaves audiences with a sense of closure, but not necessarily satisfaction. As DC embarks on a new cinematic journey, it remains to be seen if the reboot can create waves as mighty as its predecessor. https://cinemapremi.com/web-stories/mind-blowing-top-10-movies-of-christopher-nolan/ https://cinemapremi.com/web-stories/15-must-watch-movies-on-netflix-december-2023/ Also checkout: Read the full article

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #90: XF issue 11 and UXM issue 213

Picking up immediately after the Power Pack crossover, Hank and Bobby are ambushed by some Morlocks who think they're Marauders. Masque is one of them, joined by Berserker, an electrokinetic, Scaleface, who turns into a giant lizard, and Blow-Hard, my new favorite superhero, who blows on things really hard. The fight is interrupted when Scott, Jean, Artie, and the comatose Warren arrive and clear the air, inviting them to come with them. Just before this, Artie, attempting to convey the message Warren gave him for Jean, shows her a vision of Warren hugging her, which makes Scott get all stoic and angsty again. When they get back to HQ, Scott and Jean take Warren to a hospital, while Berserker and his gang, who don't trust X-Factor, sneak out. They run into some muggers, who tragically shoot Blow-Hard and get electrocuted in response. Scott and Jean see this on the news in the hospital waiting room and jump at the chance to go beat someone up instead of sitting around. There's a quick interlude at a veteran's hospital in Georgia, where Abe Kieros, a mutant in an iron lung with the power to make stuff blow up, is recruited by Apocalypse. Catching back up to Scott and Jean, they arrive on the scene just as the cops murder Scaleface and injure Masque, making Berserker go crazy. Scott tries to subdue him but accidentally knocks him into the water, where he electrocutes himself. To Scott, this is just more blood on his hands, but to Jean, they saved Masque's life, and that's worth something. They get back to the hospital, where the doctor tells them Warren will live, but they had to amputate his wings. In the teaser for next issue, Boom-Boom, the mutant girl from SWII, has been working as a thief for Vanisher, an old X-Men villain. She quits and threatens to call X-Factor on him. The best parts of this issue were the scenes of recovery from the Massacre, and I wish there had been more of that and less crazy Morlocks. But it was still good overall.

Betsy takes center stage in the finale to the X-Men side of the storyline. She's using Cerebro to project her psychic self through the mansion, checking on the wounded and on the rooms of the missing New Mutants. Speaking of which, she and Doug have a weird flirty thing going on, which is so very creepy. Luckily it never goes as far as Peter and Kitty. Betsy feels out of place, not fully accepted by the X-Men. Her scans of the mansion are cut short when she detects Sabretooth entering the ground and tries to scan his mind, but is knocked for a loop by how evil his brain is, I guess. In the tunnels, Logan tells Ororo that the lightning blast wiped out all traces of the New Mutants scent. It also destroyed every last bit of the Morlocks home. Ororo wonders if its her fault; lately, there have been a lot of storms around when she's in a fight, and she fears her powers are coming back in a way she can't control. There's an interlude in LA, where Malice continues to stalk Alison, this time taking possession of her body. Back at the mansion, Anna hasn't stopped patrolling the grounds, and she's exhausted- an easy target for Sabretooth, who takes her down. He makes his way inside and attacks Betsy, who runs to draw him away from the injured Morlocks. She fights back with every weapon she can get her hands on, determined to protect people, but she's no match for Sabretooth. Logan returns just in time, though, and starts fighting with Sabretooth. Max and Ororo plan to join in, but Betsy tells them that as long as Sabretooth is distracted with Logan, she can slip into his mind and get information. Ororo tells her to go for it, and she succeeds, although we don't get to see what all info she got. When Sabretooth realizes what happened, he jumps into the lake and escapes before the X-Men gang up on him. Ororo, Logan, and Anna, the only X-Men left, unanimously offer Betsy a place on the team, which she accepts.

This might be my favorite Marvel crossover ever. It's also, I think, the most complete loss the heroes have ever had in an event this big. At this point, mutants are Marvel's most successful franchise, and Claremont and Simonson could have just coasted on that. But instead, they chose to write a story that would take several of their most popular characters out of the books and set up a bunch of bold new plot threads. I think, more than any other evil team we've seen, the Marauders are the anti-X-Men. The way they synergize their fighting styles and have a bunch of different little interpersonal relationships is very reminiscent of what makes the X-Men so interesting, except they're also completely devoid of morals. They'll be a big part of the franchise for the next few years, and bring out sides of our heroes that we haven't seen before. And even beyond them, there were so many plots set up for all three books. I've been looking forward to getting to this story, and it did not disappoint.

[kenneth-omega]

The Fear of Falling in Love

// Part 1 // Part 2 //

A Kenny Omega Short Fic

**EDITED 27/08/22**

Pairing: Kenny Omega x Female Reader

Summary: You’re a family friend of The Young Bucks who, like Matt and Nick, also became obsessed with wrestling from a young age. During Kenny’s absence from screen you were sourced into AEW by the Bucks and brought into the Undisputed Elite faction. Following the recent fall out between Adam Cole/reDragon and the Bucks over the upcoming Trios tournament you finally get to meet the great Kenny Omega. You eventually become locked into a storyline that starts out fun and harmless but soon turns sour at the prospect of real feelings being hurt and relationships tarnished.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO A TAGLIST IN FUTURE PARTS WHEN THEY’RE POSTED PLEASE LMK

Warnings: swearing (there will be more warnings to come in future parts), pure panting over kenny fuckin’ omega tbh

Word count: 1.9K

A/N: In honour of our wrestling lord and saviour ✨Kenneth Omega✨ returning to our screens this week on Dynamite I’ve decided to pull my dusty forgotten ass out of the shadows and write for him.

This short fic will have 5 parts in total!! (In this fic I am pre-empting what I think is gonna happen during the Trios Tournament and some things ((such as certain wrestlers currently off injured)) aren’t accurate to the current events, so please be gentle with me! 😊 Just think of this as an AU if it helps.)  Also, reader’s wrestling name is Cori but is called Y/N when not being referred to as Cori. There will be some personal names used but I’ll add these for each chapter where relevant like I have done below!

For Reference:

“All Ego” Ethan Page is Julian

Cori “The Alpha” Dacre is Y/N

You were excited to meet him. Understandably.

Despite your constant friendship with Matt and Nick which had remained alive for the many years since you’d moved to Canada as a teenager, you had never had the time nor the need to meet their current ring buddy and long-time pal Kenny Omega.

When you got the call back in December of last year from Matt asking if you’d want to sign with their own company All Elite Wrestling you had no idea just how ingrained into the company and their little faction you would become. Following your leave from the indie promotion you’d been wrestling for in Ontario, you hopped onto the first available flight down to Texas where their Wednesday night show Dynamite was being taped.

Matt had organised you a hotel for the night, with Nick arranging for you to meet the CEO Tony Khan.

“We’re not gonna throw you into a match, honestly, this is just a taster for you to come down, check out what we’re about and speak to Tony. Who’s a really great guy when you eventually get to meet him.” Matt reassured you down the phone the evening before.

Even though AEW was co-created by your friends, you were still extremely nervous. This would be the biggest company you had worked for, should everything go smoothly.

You hadn’t had much time to dwell on the details and the complications of coming back to the US to wrestle, having made most your career in the promotions back in Canada you were truly an indie darling.

“Which is why the fans are gonna love you even more.” Nick had patted you on the back encouragingly as you walked backstage at the show, heading towards a skinny, curly-haired man with a large headset on and a tablet in his hand.

From there on you’d shook hands, made small talk and watched the show beside Tony Khan and the Bucks. At the end of the show Tony had extended to you an offer of employment with AEW after seeing your interest.

From then on you’d started out with a couple of test matches on AEW Dark which had gained you decent praise and reactions from fans. With Tony satisfied in your capabilities and your talent, he gave the green light to get you straight onto Dynamite. Your debut came on the first Dynamite of the new year, where you cut yourself a sweet and short promo calling out Jade Cargill following her win over Ruby Soho.

There you introduced yourself under your new persona, having decided to shed the indie nickname from back home.

“And just who the hell do you think you are to come at that bitch on my show?” Jade sneered down the mic, her retained title belt proudly slung over her shoulder.

With a roll of your eyes and a determined grin, you spoke clearly into your own mic. “I’m Cori Dacre. The Alpha of the women’s division and soon to be the new TBS Champion.”

---------

“Cori! Hello?!” A hand waves in your face impatiently. Snapping from your stupor you gaze up to see who had rudely pulled you out from your daydreams. It was Ethan, holding his plate of breakfast from the hotel’s self-catering buffet.

“Hello Julian.” You chide as he takes a seat beside you. Your own plate didn’t look as appetising as his, with a bland portion of porridge and some pieces of jam covered toast.

“Wow, who pissed in your coffee this morning? You hardly ever call me that unless your upset, angry or just trying to wind me up.” Ethan counts on his fingers as he reels off the list, looking at you with an eyebrow raised in silent question.

“No one, I’m just...nervous.” You grumble, poking the wobbly gruel with your spoon and scrunching your nose up in disgust. It had practically solidified at this point and was past salvageable, you sigh and pick up one of the slices of toast instead.

“Remind me to note nervous down on the list for future reference,” Ethan jokes, catching a deathly glare from you. “...So who’s making you nervous? Want me to go beat ‘em up?” He offers, although he seems far too absorbed in his breakfast to be of any use for beating up people.

You shake your head, partially in response to him and partially due to the fact that the cold piece of toast was scratchy and tough going down your throat.

“Who said it was someone making me nervous?” You scoff, getting up from the table with your plate and heading back to the buffet, ditching the half-attempted breakfast for favour of a clean plate.

Scanning the different trays and pots of hot food you settle on some scrambled eggs, beans and another coffee.

“Are you seriously gonna try and lie to me Y/N?” Ethan’s voice echoes right beside you, causing you to fumble with your plate that you have balanced on one hand as you try to pour your coffee with the other.

“Fuck!” You hiss, keeping the plate steady and giving Ethan a look that could kill. “How about next time you wait for me to come back to the table instead of scaring the soul out of my body whilst I’m handling hot things!” You shove the plate in front of his face in a furious gesture.

Ethan grins and takes the plate from you, taking it back to the table as you grip onto your newly poured coffee like Gollum.

“I could have, but you would have just tried to move on from the subject and try distract me with new toys or something else equally as interesting. Besides, you know I’m always here for you, whether it’s back in good ol’ Canada or here in AEW. If someone’s bugging you then you can tell me.” He offers a gentle hand on your arm as he sets your plate down, before taking his seat and continuing with his own plate.

You slump into your chair and cast a steady eye around the room, mindful of the other talent that were here. Many were just minding their own business and no one seemed the least bit interested in you right now.

“I'm...meeting Kenny Omega today.” You mutter, waiting for Ethan’s response.

He raises his eyebrows as he chews on a mouthful and ponders your statement for a few seconds.

“You’ve not met Kenny before? I would’ve thought that being from Canada and what with you and the Bucks it’d have happened already.”

You shake your head, just as surprised yourself that it hadn't happened either.

“You know how much I’ve enjoyed this year right? The whole storyline with the Undisputed Elite has been great fun and me being recruited into the faction by Matt and Nick has given me such an amazing boost. But...what if Kenny hates me? What if I don’t fit into the Elite with him coming back and he wants me out?”

Ethan nods slowly as you begin to spiral into a tirade of self-doubting questions that you had yet to ask aloud to anyone. You couldn’t even bring yourself to speak to the Bucks about this.

“Are you sure you’re not just nervous about being around him? I know you’ve never met the guy but you’ve always spoke very admirably about him...as a wrestler, obviously.” Ethan adds the last part when he notices the narrow-eyed stare being cast his way.

“Obviously.” You repeat, not wanting to entertain the thought of your nerves being related to anything else other than professional. “Of course I’m nervous about that but-”

Ethan slaps your shoulder with the back of his hand repeatedly, his attention firmly focused on something to your right and no longer on the conversation. You follow his gaze and feel your heart soar with adrenaline and fear when you spot who is walking towards you.

A mess of brown and highlighted curls frame a rugged, unshaven face, with steely, blue eyes boring a hole into yours. You would never admit it to a single soul, but Kenny Omega was an extremely attractive man. An extremely attractive man who was also walking straight towards you.

Before he reached the two of you, you felt Ethan nudge your leg with his knee beneath the table and his muttering comment of “Be calm, he’s just a human, he’s gonna love you.”

Not wanting to seem like a deer caught in the headlights you match Kenny’s smile with a welcoming one of your own. When he reaches your table, you actually notice that Matt and Nick had entered the room with him, but the two of them had decided to bypass you completely and head straight for the food. You catch Nick’s watchful eye as they pass, him trying to subtly observe the two of you interact for the first time.

Bastards.

“Sorry to interrupt your morning, I just wanted to stop and say hi.” Kenny admits to you and Ethan, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two of you. His voice is inviting and warm, a lot deeper than you’d expected, despite having watched countless numbers of his promos. You look over to Ethan who appears extremely interested in his food at the moment, leaving you the only person to talk.

Bastards, the lot of them.

“Oh! Um, hi. I’m Cori.” You extend a hand out to him politely, praying that it doesn’t feel clammy or too warm when he goes to take it. Maybe it’s because the hotel’s carpeted and it’s just a static shock, but when Kenny grips your hand in his you could’ve sworn that you felt a crackle of electricity pass between you both.

His hand feels large in yours and the rough skin on the pads of his fingers matches your own, a tell-tale sign that he’s recently been getting back in the ring. You knew this of course, having been told a few weeks back by Nick and Matt that Kenny would be returning onscreen this week.

Today, in fact.

You notice that both your hands stopped shaking a while ago and now you’re both just holding onto each other. You decide to break the contact, unsure how to feel under his captivating gaze as his hand engulfs yours in a comforting way.

“I’ll not bother you two any more than I have, but I really thought it was time I get to know the wrestler who Matt and Nick have been raving about endlessly to me. I’m looking forward to working with you Cori. See you later this evening?” Kenny shoots you the question, although really it could’ve been more of a statement.

You would of course be taking up the Elite’s corner tonight in the main event, acting as an insignificantly small part of Kenny’s immense return to the ring.

A short nod from you is all you can muster, still feeling slightly star-struck by the man in front of you. Kenny’s eyes have an almost mischievous twinkle to them as a grin passes across his face before he leaves. Were it not for the fact you were completely spaced out following the interaction, you wouldn’t have caught him looking back over his shoulder at you and giving you a tiny wave. A small gesture, but one that sends your veins thrumming as you realise he must’ve caught you staring.

A few seconds pass before Ethan lets out a low whistle.

“Talk about floundering, you couldn’t barely string a sentence together in front of him! This is bad!” He laughs, looking at your slightly dazed expression, cheeks a raging shade of pink.

“Fuck off Julian.”

---------

A/N: Short first chapter, sorry!! (I wanted to test the waters with me getting back into writing) I hope that this fic is interesting and people want to read more as I’ve got this story pretty much mapped out already! It’ll be a short fic but I can’t say for certain how many parts to this there’d be (estimate would be around 6/7? IDK I’m so bad at working this stuff out 🙃), although the future parts will be longer than this one.

Also, I am planning for there to be SMUT in future parts so just a lil’ wink wink 😉 for y’all and also a warning to under 18′s (I will be mentioning in the warnings where there is anything NSFW).

[imagine-all-the-fandoms]

Summer Sun - Bucky Barnes x (fem.) Reader

A/N: So... this happened in my brain tonight, and I can tell you, that was a wild dream .. 

Now thanks to @buckgasms I had this written in a little storyline. Hope you maybe enjoy this one.. or not :) 

Warnings: Smut / Metal Arm 

Sun, sweat, blue sky and no cold breeze... this is what you get for Summer when living in a city like New York. The weather has been crazy like this for a few days now and there was no opportunity to cool down.

So currently you were draped over the huge couch in the living room of the Avenger Compound, you best friend a mini ventilator, which provided only a little of the much needed cooling. The pool was currently being under construction, so you had the chance to decide if either a ventilator or a bathtub with ice cubes were the better option.

You went with the little blower, as there were also some perks of being in the compound in the summer.

The first thing you noticed as you looked out the huge window was Sam being weird. He modified Redwing, so that the little iron bird blew cold air with little wings, Sam had attached to its normal ones. Sam enjoying the breeze from a sun chair underneath it. What else to say about this ?

Laughing to yourself, so realized how happy you could actually be right now. You had a family of all your best friends and colleagues around you, no missions in sight for a few days and the weather showing his best side. So you sat there and smiled in content while you let your eyes continue to wander around. In some corner of the huge green area you saw Wanda and Natalie laying around in their Bikini's. They asked you several times to join them, but you preferred to stay inside and not melt into a puddle of sweat.

The next thing that caught your eyes, made your breath hitch in your throat and the little ventilator nearly fell down, tangling your hair. But you could catch it in time, keeping the sight ahead of you in your view.

Steve Rogers was sparring with someone who you would never fail to recognize. This back, strong and firm, showing the outline of his defined muscles. Droplets of sweat rolled down his neck, along his spine, just to disappear in the waistband of his underwear, that stuck out just a bit of his shorts.

One arm holding Steve on a constant distance to him, the other, shining in the bright light like a flame cutting through the air, to throw punches at his childhood friend.

James Buchanan Barnes. A sight for the sore eyes, you can tell.

His long brown hair was messily tied up in a bun, only loose strands hanging out of it.

No shirt on, to impress with his massive built features. Pants hanging low on his hips, dangerously low to be honest. His defined V-Line just showing out a bit, if you keep a good look at it. And which is what you did.

This is not the first time for you to imagine running your hands over his torso, tangle your fingers in his locks.. or even pull his shorts even lower.

So here you were daydreaming of nasty things with this man in the summer sun, while he kept wearing out his body with his pal.

Unbeknownst to anyone out there of course. At least that's what you thought.

“You're drooling sweetheart”, a voice interrupted your thinking.

Natasha was standing on the counter behind you with a smudge grin on her face.

“I don't. I'm just laying here trying not to melt”, you shoot her a glance and act like you didn't know what the assassin was talking about.

“Girl. You might fool those idiots outside, but you cant fool me”, she said and grabbed a cool bottle of water out of the fridge.

“I'm sure Barnes would help you cool down.. or make you even hotter”, she winked and ducked down as you grabbed a pillow and threw it into her direction.

“Shut up Nat! I wasn't even thinking about anything”, you countered, but also knew she could read you like an open book.

It was no secret between you girls that you had a thing for the former Winter Soldier and she and Wanda encouraged you to talk to him about it more than one time. Wanda even offered to use her powers for support. But of course, you always denied and talked down your crush into something more simple.

“Yes, ANYTHING that includes no clothing. But seriously Y/N, talk to him. We all see how he's looking at you as well. Just like now for example”, she hushed the last part as her eyes flicked outside just as Bucky turned around to grab a drink.

You didn't think twice and also turned your head, just to see him indeed staring inside, giving you a full blown smile. You immediately felt like he caught you at doing something you shouldn't. Well you actually did, but luckily he wasn't the one to read minds.

So you gave him a small wave and turned your attention back to Natasha, who was laughing at you ,trying not to blush like a tomato.

“Ugh please shoot me already! I give up!”, you whined and went to hide your face in the pillows around you.

“Never doing that. This show is way to interesting for me”, the red head laughed and strolled out of the room.

The rest of the afternoon you switched between staring, hiding on the couch and getting something to drink. Every once in a while someone came up to you asking to join them outside, but you decided it would be for the best to stay inside. Or else your panties might explode if the guys didn't stop their sparring anytime soon.

You might have drifted off into a little nap when you heard the door of the refrigerator being opened and closed again. When you opened your eyes, you were met with the sight of Bucky emptying a lonely water bottle and a few droplets decided to slide down his neck and over his chest.. you dared yourself to keep staring at them, vanishing just below his belly button.

You hoped he did not notice you woke up and acted like you were still fast asleep.

“Doll.. I know you are not sleeping”, his deep voice startled you.

Great. So you obviously were not a good actor at all.

“I'm resting Mr. Spy”, you said, trying not to sound impressed at all.

“Do you want to know what else did I spied today? A certain woman stealing glances at me and Steve the whole afternoon”.

“What a nasty girl what do that? That's not proper at all.”, Bucky put down the bottle and starting coming closer to the couch.

“No absolutely not. She should be ashamed, indeed. Do you think she is?”, he was nearly there.

“I don't know.. Should I?”, too late you didn't realize your mistake when you saw his grin rising to his ears and felt the blush immediately start rising in your face.

“I didn't say that you were the one, doll”, he had you and he fucking knew it. “So, you accept the accusation?”

His face now only inches away from yours and you could already feel the heat from the previous training radiate of his body. You tried your hardest to not show how much he affected your body. How badly you wanted to grab his face, mold your lips over his and bury your fingers in his hair, pulling him even closer.

His evil grin, did not help the situation at all.

“I plead guilty at all points” you whispered, hoping you'd get what you wanted and thought you had him where you wanted him the most, as he came even closer. But instead of touching your lips, he went further and whispered something into your ear, which immediately caused goose bump to rise all over your skin.

“Why don't you join me in the shower? Then I might show you how bad girls are treated”.

You thought you were dreaming. Was Bucky Barnes offering you a shower with him? Naked ? Alone ?

Not believing what you just heard, all you could do was stare while processing the words in your brain.

He went to get up and leave, suddenly feeling he might over crossed some line as you didn't respond to his words.

After a few seconds your brain finally seemed to function again and you got up, following him further into the compound but he was already out of your sight. Damn you thought, those damn super soldiers.

You knew exactly where his room was, so it didn't take you long to enter his room, already hearing the water running in the bathroom. So you entered without even thinking, just to see Bucky getting undressed.

“Doll, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..”, he started but you didn't let him finish.

Before letting your new found confidence fade again, you walked up to him and kissed him. He did not waste any time to wrap his muscular arms around you and hold you even closer. The kiss grew hotter with each second and your hands snaked into his boxers, to let the remaining part of clothing he was wearing, fall to the ground.

You pulled apart, catching your breaths as you admired the god created masterpiece of man in front of you. Bucky was the one to break the silence first.

“You can't shower with that much clothing on”, he whispered in a husky voice and pulled your shirt over your head, ripping your bra with his metal arm and not even caring about it.

Your mouth found his again in another heated kiss, while he worked on getting your clothes off in a matter of minutes.

“God you're so fucking beautiful”, his words affected you in many ways. They made your heart flutter and beat even faster, but also they went down straight to your core.

Muscular arms snaked around your hips and he hoisted you up, without any effort. You both went into the huge shower, being welcomed by the warm water running over both of your bodies.

You couldn't believe that you actually found yourself in this situation. Sure, you imagined it many times, but now finally being caged in his arms seemed more like a dream..

Your fingers tangled into his wet hair, as he pressed you into the cold tiles, making your back arch into his chest. You could already feel his semi hard erection being present between your thighs and the only thing you could do was to moan into the kiss.

The kiss grew hotter with each passing second and then he let his mouth wander from your lips to your neck, pressing gentle kissed there and making sure to leave marks in his way, to mark you as his.

Your moans increased as he sucked on your delicate skin, and you felt your arousal increasing as he did so.

It's been ages since you've been with a guy that treated you properly and Bucky seemed to push at all the right buttons right away, leaving you a panting mess.

As he worked his mouth on your neck, you felt him balancing you out on his flesh arm and used his metal arm to grab your neck keeping you attached to him.

He then caressed down to your breast, toying with your nipples and enjoying the reaction he caused on you.

Your hand was still buried in his hair, while the other supported yourself on his shoulder to keep you steady. You wanted to touch him everywhere.. getting to know what his skin feels like, feel the way his muscles worked under your hands but currently you were too focused on the pleasure he was giving you.

After he made sure to treat each breast with the same attention, his skilled fingers went even lower and caressed your thigh in a way like he wanted to savor each moment.

Suddenly you felt his metal finger on your clit. And heaven, never did you felt anything like this before.

The firm metal, heated from the water was applying a gentle pressure on your bud he rubbed it just the right way to make you lose control. Your hips rocked on his finger, wanting more of him, but he kept you in place while continuing to explore your mound with his fingers.

“Bucky..”, you moaned out.

“Didn't I tell you that you're still need your punishment for staring shamless at me?”

His finger slid into your wet folds and you moaned out at the feeling of it.

Dangerously slow he pulled his finger out and slid it back into your heat.

The pleasure you were feeling was already incredible and you knew he had barely done anything.

You wiggled trying to get more friction, but still, his hold kept you in place while he added another finger into your heat, but not speeding up the pace.

He kept finger fucking you on a slow pace until he felt your walls starting to flutter around his fingers, just to pull them out when your moans increased as well.

“Bucky please.. I was so close”, you whined.

“I know.. that's why I stopped doll”, you heard him whisper and he pulled you in another kiss.

Then he let you down and dropped on his knees in front of you. Looking up at you like an innocent angel, he gently spread your legs and kissed your clit. Not sucking, just a single kiss that made your heart rate speed up. Your hands found their way into his hair again, trying to push him gently closer to your heat.

He let you do this, so he went straight to devouring your clit with his mouth, while his tongue played with it.

If that wasn't already enough to drive you crazy, you felt his fingers on the back of your thighs pushing you closer onto his mouth.

Your legs spread automatically and you tried to support you as best as possible, fearing your legs would give in due to the pleasure he created.

Sinful moans flooded the bathroom and echoed back into his ears, so Bucky let his metal fingers find their way back into your heat, just where they left off their unfinished work.

He licked you like there was no tomorrow and he never heard any more beautiful sounds as in this moment as you tried not to fall apart right now.

Once again, he felt you getting closer to your high as he speed up his fingers and his tongue working wonders on your clitoris.

You were just about to climax, when all friction was pulled away from you again.

Not believing, you looked down at Bucky, your wetness on his face and an evil smirk written on his lips.

You just opened your mouth to say something, when he lifted you up once again and entered you with his now very hard manhood without a warning.

The moan leaving your mouth was the most erotic sound he ever heard in his life and he was enjoying that he was the one causing it.

Your hands gripped his shoulders as you tried to adjust to his size. He filled you up perfectly, like his dick was only made for you.

“I only want you to come around my dick, you hear me?”, he whispered into your ear and the words went straight to your core as you nodded.

“Say it”, Bucky commanded.

“I only come around your dick Buck. But please let me come”, you sounded too needy but you didn't care.

Bucky started thrusting gently into you, after you adjusted to his size. No pleasure you received before, was comparing to what he did to you. Sure you imagined this in your head, but the actual feeling of him inside of you made you see starts and never wanting to feel anything else.

His lips captured your in a passionate kiss, while his hips snapped into yours, making your grip on him tighten even more.

The feeling of indescribable pleasure starting to rise in your body once again.

“I feel you getting closer doll. You want to come ?, Bucky knew how to tease you to no limit and he had you in the palm of his hand.

“Yes Bucky, please. You feel too good”, you moan.

“Let go doll, I know you can't hold on any longer”, he gently bit down on your neck and that was all it took for you to lose control.

The feeling of pure pleasure exploded and your walls contracted around his cock. Your back arched shamlessly into his chest and your moans came out uncontrollably.

You never came this hard in your life and it felt just perfect.

With the feeling of your walls faltering around him, it was hard for Bucky to hold on any longer, but when he wanted to pull out of you to finish, your legs tightened around him and keeping him inside.

“I want to feel you James”, you whispered into his ear, still in the afterglow of your own orgasm.

Hearing you say his actual name instead of Bucky, he fell apart and came right into your, letting your juices flow together.

Not being able to keep up any longer, he pushed you back into the wall with his body, clinging to you.

“Fuck..doll”, he smiled and looked at you. “I hope to catch you staring more often”.

“If that's my punishment, then I will gladly accept it”, you said and pulled him into another passionate kiss.

[nancylou444]

In my opinion, the problem with the angels, being a result of the writer's strike and Erik Kripke, needing a way to get Dean out of Hell, wasn't the issue that angels got introduced. Sometimes you need a bit of a short cut to get from one point to the next. I think the problem was that they as in Castiel massively overstayed their welcome. For Season 5, they worked fine. They offered a very unique conflict with the topics of belief and non-believers and how despair can make you cling to ridiculous hopes. I just think that Kripke could have maybe polished the whole true vessel stuff a bit more to show what makes Sam and Dean so unique, and why they have to be picked.

But yeah, in the storyline, they were supposed to be in, aka season 4 till 5, maybe till the begin of season 7, if you really wanna stretch it, they worked. But as soon as Castiel got resurrected with that weird trench coat scenes (seriously, why the heck would Dean keep this coat around; I could see him maybe burn it in sort of a symbolic funeral), it was over. Like that was the moment, where Castiel was beginning to seriously overstay his welcome and the writers scramble their brains for some new ideas. I am not gonna lie, I did enjoy Gadreel's introduction, but that's probably because I love story arcs, where Sam is evil or gets possessed, so I am biased in this field.

But when it came to Castiel, the writers seem to no longer know what the heck, they wanna do with him. He got extremely dummed down, reckless and a hypocrite (now that wouldn't be a problem if the writers actually chose to make that a character trait and not some accident). Honestly during the latter seasons, I became increasingly annoyed with his scenes, because I had no clue how the heck they were advancing the plot along. It all felt like pointless detours. If anything, shouldn't the angels have just evicerated him for casting him out? Like shouldn't it all have been on sight? Honestly, the writers legit can only bring him back, because Gadreel is there!

But for me, the moment where I really started to hate Castiel, where I was like Okay, you lost any saving grace, was the moment where he allowed Lucifer to possess him. Especially given that he did it, because he couldn't stand being on the sidelines. He had to play hero and did so by releasing his own murderer and Sam's tormentor. My brain legit just went What the fuck? Did your memories hit a hard reset or are you just that stupid?.

Leave alone, that Misha cannot act as Lucifer at all. At least with Mark and Jared (especially in season 5), you have the feeling that this is the same character, who just happens to be in a different body. With Misha, I am like Am I watching Lucifer or did one of the Leviathans accidentally yeeted its ass out of purgatory again? Because that is the only comparison, I can draw. Honestly Casifer is so badly acted, it makes Season 11 such a slog to get through. I am literally dreading the episodes he appears in. And problem is, I don't think I can skip them. Ugh.

But yeah, in summary, what Kripke used as a short cut got expanded upon way what was necessary and ended up overstaying its welcome. Hope you don't mind me adding my two cents to this. :)

So much agree with this. 💖

I liked Castiel up to when he died in Hello Cruel World. He had redemption before he walked into the water.

Dean (and Sam) should have salt and burned the trenchcoat NOT cleaned and neatly folded it THEN moved if from one car to another. Remember Baby was put away and they were using random cars, so IF (and that's a mighty big OOC if) Dean was 'saving' the trenchcoat, why not leave it safe in Baby's trunk?

Castiel should have stayed dead with the angels storyline in general ending with his death.

Bringing him back was a disservice to a great character because his return only led to fanservice. What purpose did Cass' return bring to the show? What purpose did the continued existence of angels bring to the show?

Bringing Claire and Lucifer back for the sole reason of giving Cass a storyline shows that he had NO reason for still being in SPN.

Having Cass say 'yes' to Lucifer makes you wonder if season 4-6 Castiel was a different character from Cass, since Castiel would never have fallen for that bullshit. Castiel was a badass warrior angel, Cass was an eunuch.

Killing Cass in All along the Watchtower only to bring him back AGAIN continued to make a mockery of an once great character.

Misha acted in his first go around, but once Singer bought him back, MC had job security so that's why we got Lucifer!Cass, Empty!Cass and whatever he was in the AU.

Kripke's shortcut was fine BUT he allowed Misha's "popularity" to dictate killing Anna and promoting Castiel to top angel. I'm sure if he had stuck to his original angel plan, angels would have been a done deal a long time ago.

[watiamdoingwithmylife666]

Hey! Saw that you were doing request could you maybe write a story about Erwin first meeting then marrying Levi's older sister? Thanks!

I can't even imagine how difficult Levi would be as a brother so can you imagine how he would act with Erwin? it's killing me lmao!

I didn't knew if you wanted a story based on the canonverse or not so I did follow the storyline of the show with little modification, Also the reader is not described, it can be either someone really physically close to Levi or someone adopted by Kuchel before Levi or by Kenny later. It's as you like! (Just like the gender is specified in the request but I don't think I specify it in the story) hope you still gonna like it!

Being the oldest Ackerman mean that you are the one that had been the roughest trained by Kenny when you were young, meaning that you are strong enough to defend yourself. But does Levi care about this fact? Not really. You were both of you the last family that you had, and the only one you could count on when needed.

It's only later after Levi enroll in force in the survey corp that you were feeling the most alone in your life. You still manage to live well on the upper ground, enjoying the sun and the wind. Seeing Levi on his day off. You kinda live a peaceful life and were happy with it, after the life in the underground you didn't expect anything in life. Plus, you had one time talk with your brother about joining the Survey but he has instantly forbidden you to do it.

You argue with him, telling him that you were probably far more suited for the job than half of the men in this group, but still, Levi refused to listen. Even forbidding you to talk to the people of the survey corp.

That without counting on Erwin Smith. This man needed a new "sponsor" for the Survey, he always does need new funds. And as he always does, Erwin goes for a walk around the city. Not far from your little tea shop. A cute little shop, that you decided to open with the encouragement of your brother. Tea was something luxurious in the underground that always fascinated the both of you. It was like a little revenge in life to open your own tea shop where you were selling your own tea mix that you chose with your brother every month.

The tall blond enters in the shop, a big smile on his face he comes to the counter ready to do his speech.

"What can I serve you, sir?" you ask politely, your eyes are scanning the tall man in front of you, and before he can speak, you notice the survey corp sigil on his jacket. "I'm sorry, did my brother Levi okay?"

Your question took Erwin by surprise, and you didn't know how rare it was. He was looking at you a little more before answering.

"I am sorry, your brother never told me he had siblings." his hand rub the back of his neck, before smiling at you again. Is this right at this moment Erwin won your heart? "May I offer you a cup of tea as an excuse to talk with you a little more... ?" Probably, since you accept his cup of tea. (You may have chosen the more expensive one tho, it's something Levi would have done and you are not siblings for nothing)

What you thought would be a little conversation had been keeping you the whole day. The conversation had been at first really classic, "did you get along with your brother?" or "Since how much time do you own the tea shop ?" kind of questions, but slowly it grow about happiness, grief, friendship, and some sneaky questions about your relationship status. You did enjoy your chat with Erwin, and so he does. It's had been a long time when he didn't enjoy talking about anything with someone, he did even let himself fade away his commander facade, to be the young and enthusiastic Erwin smith when you had talk about your idea of titans and how it was no way you were all alone in this earth.

It caught him by surprise. Because Erwin is not the kind to open up so easily, neither you do. But the chemistry happen and it was like your soul knew each other for more than you could know.

When you close the shop, Erwin proposed to walk with you to your home. And you did accept.

It's only far more later that Levi understood that something was happening. You were more joyful than usual and weirdly far more better dressed than he used to see you. But weirdly when he questioned it, you brush it off, saying that you were always dressed well and happy.

Levi get his answer one night when he was coming back home. As he enter in the living room, he saw you and Erwin on the couch laughing and drinking tea. His face was livid and Erwin almost choke to death with his tea.

"What the fuck Erwin ?" is the only thing that Levi could think at this moment. On your side, you were quick to grab a towel and clean the mess that Erwin did when he choke himself, who on his side was laughing at the situation.

"Levi, I'm sorry. I didn't tell you about this, I do know how you would react and - " Levi cut short the blond before he could talk more and tried to convince him by his talent of speeching "how you shouldn't be mad at me for not telling you I am seducing your sibling behind your back".

Your romantic night turn out in an argument between your brother and your date. Not gonna lie, Levi kinda makes it a big deal, telling Erwin how he took advantage of his trust, and how he should be shameful to stick his enormous nose in other people's things. He also get even more upset when he knew that you had come to the survey and meet Miche and Hange and that both of them had keep it secret.

So obviously, years later of a happy life together. You and Erwin decide to get married. And as an excuse for the first argument with his now brother-in-law. Erwin decide that Levi would be the first to know about your wedding.

Just like the first meeting. You and Erwin were sitting on the couch, this time waiting for Levi to take the tea. When he finally sits with you, you could tell him the news. This time it was him choking himself with the hot tea.

"You sure you want to spend the rest of your life with this annoying brat?" is the only thing he asked you before giving his congratulation to the both of you.

note: Someone asked Erwin why the day he meet you he didn't do the job he had to do. His answer? "My job was to find new funds for the survey corp, and I did, to your notice the Y/N tea shop did give us funds. I just had to negotiate really well."

[kitkatpancakestack]

Still tumbling headfirst through my 9-1-1 re-watch and now I'm throwing this into the abyss: the parallel between 3.12 (Fools) and 2.01 (Under Pressure).

I know it is well established that 70% of Ana's existence is just to parallel Buck in regards to Eddie, but I still don't think we talk about it enough! It's kind of unhinged?! Fools is an insane episode for setting up the Buck/Ana dichotomy, and the context within which that dichotomy is explored is essentially what is revisited in season 4.

Don't be fooled (lmao), this is absolutely a there's-no-way-buddie-isn't-endgame post.

All the rest under the cut, because ya girl is about to monologue.

Okay, so the episode opens immediately on the group of kids trying to be internet famous. These are the same kids in 2.01 with the whole microwave and cement fiasco. It's easy to make this connection because they had a memorable emergency. Right off the bat the show is more or less forcing a recollection of what happened in 2.01 onto the viewers, and since it is literally the opening minutes of the episode, that collective acknowledgement now exists, and will be (at least it was for me) a parallel undercutting the entire episode.

Let's summarize real quick what this episode was about. Yes, Ana is introduced, and it seems like the show is hinting at Eddie maybe moving on with her now or in the future. But the main storyline follows Eddie and Christopher, and Eddie figuring out how to show his son how to navigate the world with CP. It's important that this episode isn't just Eddie-centric, it's Eddie and Christopher-centric.

Additionally, the emergencies in this episode are about relationships either not being what they seem, or pulling through when it seemed like they were doomed from the start (the kid at the beginning "needing new friends," the woman who got shot by her husband, the woman who got stuck in the window on her first date). Yes these relate to Eddie and Ana, obviously, but dare I say this also relates to Eddie and Buck? Humor me here:

Besides the 2.01 implication at the beginning of the episode, there's a moment with Eddie and Carla walking through the hallway of Christopher's new school. It's probably tinhatty and purely conspiratorial, but the first thing out of Eddie's mouth is about the room number 201. I just . . . I spit out my drink. It could have been any room number - in fact they could have worked the script a dozen different ways so as not to necessitate a room number - but they do and then they just happen to land on 201? *side-eye intensifies*

(side-bar: there's something about the science teacher, in a classroom painted with solar system paraphernalia, talking about how "Christopher tells everybody Tsunamis are no big deal," literally bringing Buck into the scene even though he isn't physically there. Hello seemingly pointless dialogue???? Things that make you go "Hmmmm.")

And the parallels don't stop there! I know this one has been mentioned before on this site but it bears repeating for this post. When Eddie and Ana meet, we have yet another callback to episode 2.01, when Ana correctly guesses Eddie is short for Edmundo, and Eddie says, "Most people guess Eduardo." Most people who, Eddie? I know one person and that person is Buck, and it occurred back in 2.01 when they were still in the thick of their enemies to lovers speed-run. Once again Buck is insinuated into the space without being physically present.

And then the scene with the woman stuck in the window, and Eddie and Buck divided on either side of her. The way this scene starts disastrously but ultimately ends on a positive note. The way Buck airs Eddie's laundry out of nowhere after remarking how he himself is indeed single. The way the scene tells the audience that even when things go wrong, everything will work out in the end if you're with the right person. The way the next scene is Eddie and Buck sitting down to discuss Christopher and the skateboarding incident.

I know I'm deep in crackheadery territory at this point in the hiatus but I cannot get the weird feeling out of my gut when I think about this episode. Superficially, yes, it appeared to be about Eddie and Ana's rocky start to their relationship. But with all the mentions of 2.01 and knowing what I know now about how heavily Buck and Ana are paralleled, the ep starts to feel like a metaphor for Buck and Eddie: the rocky start to their relationship, how far they've come, the fact that with the right person everything works out (see: the advice Eddie chooses to follow regarding the skateboarding incident)

It's almost like they created that divergence on purpose. They gave us two episodes, one where Buck met Eddie and things went wrong, and another where Eddie met Ana and things went wrong, where both conflicts are eventually resolved, as if they want us to consider their standing in Eddie's life side-by-side. They tacked 2.01 as an undercurrent to the events of 3.12 from the very beginning because they want us to pit these two against each other. Not to mention heavily, heavily foreshadowing Eddie's main conflicts in the next season, which we couldn't see when Fools aired, but with season 4 hindsight is 20/20.

I feel like the show just knocks us over the head with it sometimes. The parallels demand us to consider which of these two people, who represent different things Eddie is looking for in his life, is the correct fit. And (especially considering season 4) it unsubtly suggests that the surface appeal of Ana is chronically incomparable to what Evan Buckley brings to the table for the Diaz family. Eddie spent the entire episode searching for very specific advice regarding Christopher, advice he wouldn't know until he heard it, and for that matter of the three people who offered advice about Christopher, Buck was the only person Eddie actually requested it from. I don't fault Carla because she needed to say what she said, but it was still mostly unsolicited. We won't even talk about Ana and her fundamentally incorrect assumptions about Christopher's needs. But we see Eddie seeking out Buck's opinion and support, and just . . . holy cow. We know how it ends, too.

Ana and Buck just aren't even on the same level, they never have been, and I don't think anybody could be. And I think by the end of season 4, Eddie is finally starting to realize this, too.